A/N: Thanks again to Ozlex!
Mike sat rubbing his brother's back as he coughed up more blood. Raph had brought them a bowl with water, towels and more tea for Don. There was nothing else they could do. Every so often, Raph would wipe up the blood off Don's face. He hacked and hacked, each one sounding worse than the next, until finally, Don just passed out.
Mike carefully laid him down on his side and covered with as many blankets as he could.
"Is he going to be okay?" Raph asked Mikey as he hobbled over to where he stood watching in the doorway.
Mike shrugged, looking terrified "I don't know. His fever's really high."
The main door opened and Leo lumbered in carrying a barrel. "Put it in Donatello's room my son." Splinter ordered as he gathered items to burn and put them on the table.
"How is he?" Leo grunted as Mike and Raph let him pass.
"Bad," Mike and Raph said together.
Splinter turned to them then hurried passed into the room kneeling down next to Don. Mike watched as Splinter felt his head, took his pulse, and listened to him breathe. "Leonardo, start a fire now, Raphael, bring in water, Michelangelo, sit your brother up."
"What's wrong," Raph asked worriedly.
"Your brother's illness is now at its most dangerous."
"Is he going to make it?" Mike asked quietly, as he hobbled over to the bed.
Splinter didn't answer; he kneeled next to his son and wiped his face with the towel that Raph had been using. Mike sighed as he moved to his brother's side and pulled his him into a sitting position.
"Now, lay him against you, so that he can still rest, but he is sitting up."
Mike rearranged himself so that he was sitting behind Don and Don was against his plastron like Splinter wanted. Leo returned with matches and a huge collection of newspapers. Throwing about a quarter of the paper in the barrel, he attempted to set them alight. After a few more attempts, the paper finally caught allowing Leo to throw some cardboard and a few pieces of discarded lumber into the flames. Within a few minutes the whole room grew noticeably warmer and was filled with a orange glow.
Raph returned to the sick room with a bucket of water. "Where do you want this?" he asked Splinter not entirely sure what he was supposed to be doing.
"Pour the water into a pot and place it over the fire, my son. We need steam," Splinter explained.
"A pot?" Raph asked, looking glum. "Of course ye'h need a pot. Leo, why don't you give me a hand?"
It took both Raph and Leo over ten minutes to get it worked out. There were no pots, so they ended up using a coffee can, after dumping all the coffee out. Don wasn't going to be happy about that one, but hopefully he'd be alive to be unhappy about it. Then they had to figure out how to suspend it. This took another twenty minutes until finally Raph punched holes in the top of the can, used some wire he found in Don's lab and rigged up a hanger. Using Donny's bo to hang the 'pot' from, they duct taped the pole to two book shelves after clearing away all the books. Once again Don was not going to be happy.
Raph retreated to the corner and Leo stood by the door once the task was complete. They silently watched while Master Splinter forced some kind of drink down Don's throat.
The moments strung together like a never ending nightmare. Don was semiconscious through the whole thing, his body thrashing, covered in a sheen of sweat. He mumbled incoherently as the room got warm, then hot. Eventually the water started to boil, causing the room to fill with steam. Mike tried to his best to hold his brother as his body was wracked with coughs and Splinter tried to force more tea down his throat.
Leo asked from the doorway, "Was it this bad when he was kid?"
Splinter shook his head sadly, "No I believe his life is in much greater peril this time around. Fight, my son." He ordered softly, gently toweling off the sweat on Don's face. "Fight."
From the looks of it though, Don was struggling. For awhile his coughs were sharp, painful and bloody, until the added heat and steam seemed to help. He started bringing up more mucus, though it was still tinged with blood. After an hour, he slumped in Mike's arms seemingly like he couldn't go on. His coughs became weaker and weaker and his breathing became more ragged.
"Come on," Mike urged in his ear. "Keep fighting, bro."
Unexpectedly Don replied his voice so quiet Mikey almost didn't hear him. "Mikey…I'm so tired," Don rasped.
Splinter placed his hand on his son's forehead. "Then rest my son, we will be here when you wake up."
Don gave an almost imperceptible nod, and fell limply into Mikey's plastron his head resting against his shoulder.
Leo asked from the door, "Is there anything more we can do, master?"
"I fear not," Splinter sighed regretfully.
A couple hours later, Mike was still holding Don while Leo sat crossed leg in front of the bed. Don's fever was still burning, and unless Mike was wrong, it had actually gone up. Then again it might be just the fact he was getting so hot.
"I don't know how much more of this he can take," Mike said, trying to sit up without disturbing his brother.
"I know what you mean," Leo said. "He's never been the strong one of the team."
"Yeah he is! You just haven't seen it." said a voice from the corner.
Mike turned to see Raph leaning against the wall.
"What do you mean?" Leo asked turning to face Raph.
"He's not a fighter, no." Raph explained, "He never has been. But is he a bad ninja?"
"No," Leo said, "I didn't say that. I was just saying he doesn't like to fight."
"Your right, he doesn't, and he's still one of the best ninja that I know. How can you pull that off and not be tough? He's not the fastest, not the strongest, not the stealthiest, and I can kick his shell, but still..."
"Don't… get… cocky… " Don whispered from his pillow.
"Donny," Leo and Mike said together, as Raph got up and joined them at his bedside. Mike rubbed his brother's shell, and Leo took a towel and wiped the sweat off his face. Don reached out a hand to Raph, who took it.
"As soon... as I... can breathe," Don whispered hoarsely, "you and me… rematch. Loser… has vehicle maintenance… duties for three months."
"Make it a year," Raph said. "Seeing as I'm stuck with you. I can't even move out without your tail following me around."
Don smiled and Raph returned it.
"Get some rest," Raph said. "If these two wackos give you too much trouble, I'll rough em up for you."
"They're cool," Don said tiredly, pain still obvious in his voice. Don grabbed Mike's hand with his other one. Letting go of Raph's hand, he grabbed Leo's wrist. "They just… worry too much."
"Ain't that the truth," Raph said with a chuckle. He sat back down in his corner. Don let go of each of his brother's hands before promptly falling back to sleep.
When Don woke, he wasn't sure how much time had passed. Mikey was still lying next to him, his arm over his shoulder. Leo's arm hung down from the bunk over head and Raph was curled up in the corner. Splinter sat in front of him, his eyes open and a sad expression on his face.
"My son," he said, stroking his head.
"Master Splinter," Don whispered in a hoarse voice before coughing again.
"Raph and I talked."
"And?" Splinter asked curiously.
"Why?"
It was a simple question, partially because he could hardly talk and partially because there could be so many answers to the question. Which one would Splinter chose to answer? Don thought before he started to hack again.
"I never meant to hurt you, my son. I did not mean to break your spirit. I just wanted to keep you and your brothers safe and well. To keep you safe was a challenge beyond my skills as a father. It was the only way I could cope." Splinter's voice was as sad as Don had ever heard it.
"But what… about now?" Don croaked.
"The sky is the limit for you, my son. Your judgment is excellent and I will not stand in your way."
Don rasped. "I'm sorry… I was… so much… trouble.."
"It is I who is sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for, my son. He stroked Don's face. "But you are still ill, and you need rest."
Don nodded before he closed his eyes and was out like a light once again.
A few hours later, as Splinter was meditating in the living room he heard Leo's panicked voice from Don's bedroom, "Master Splinter."
Splinter dashed into the room where his sons were all keeping vigil. The room was now blessedly warm, almost too warm. Even his healthy sons shone with sweat. Looking to his stricken son Splinter noticed Don wasn't awake, but he was thrashing and moaning. Mike held him as best he could, but it was like holding a fish out of water. Leo and Raph were sitting next him, watching tensely.
"The moment has come," Splinter said. He sat down next to his sons. "Michelangelo, let him go. This part he needs to do on his own."
Mike nodded, and scooted out from behind his brother. Splinter watched as his son fought for his life, his body shivering. Eventually after about a half hour of this, the thrashing grew weaker until Don rested quietly on the bed.
"Donny?" Mike cried out from his spot next to Leo silent tears streaming down his face. Leo put a hand on his arm.
"What?" Don whispered, from the bed, his eyes still closed, "… did you break?"
A small grin spread across Mike's face and quickly spread to his brothers. Splinter put his hand to his sons face. Thankfully he had cooled greatly. "Donatello," he whispered in relief. "Rest now, my son. Rest."
A week passed and Don slowly regained his health. One morning Leo woke up from his bed over Mike and Don to find Mike sound asleep sprawled over the bed and Don nowhere to be seen. Leo hopped down and quietly padded through their home.
Don was in his lab, crouched in front of the robot that he and Raph had recovered a few nights back. Don coughed again, but he stared at the robot intently, like he expected it to jump to life.
"What are you doing?" Leo asked. "You should be resting."
"You worry too much," Don said, not looking up. "Trust me, I'm not going to risk a relapse."
"Trust you?" Leo asked. "I trust you with everything…. Except maybe your own health."
"Well," Don said. "You'll just have to trust with that too."
There was resistance in his tone, not the outright belligerence that Raph was known for, but the quiet resistance that was Don's signature style. It was comforting actually. A good sign his Donny was back with them.
"What do you think?" Leo asked.
"That I need to take this guy apart."
"Right now?" Leo asked.
"No," Don admitted standing up and finally facing Leo. He still looked pale and weak. "When I'm feeling up to it. I think you and Raph need to have a fight first. Then I'll get stressed out about it and then I'll feel like working."
Leo started laughing. Don was back.
A few days later, Raph had stormed off, Leo was practicing katas in the living room and Don welded his screwdriver. A couple of minutes later, he exchanged the screwdriver for an acetylene torch. When he brought it to life, a curious Mikey appeared at his door. Don chucked him a set of sunglasses and then cut into the body of the robot. He cut a square into the chest plate of the robot, exposing his insides of multiple wires and circuits. Don studied it for a few minutes before extracting a small green computer card from inside.
"What's that?" Mike asked, shedding his sunglasses.
"It's a network card."
"Okay," Mike said obviously still confused.
Don smiled, "A network card is the way a computer, or a robot in this case, gets commands from the system it's tuned too. It's like the thing's ears. So if we plug this baby in my computer…"
"Then we might get to hear what's going on."
"Exactly," Don said, giving him a smile. "Shall we?"
After Raph returned, thankfully with 4 pizza boxes in tow, Don and Mike sat everyone down in the kitchen. Figuratively anyway, there weren't enough chairs for all of them. Mike, Don, and Splinter sat the table, Raph sat on the refrigerator, and Leo was stuck with standing.
"We've been listening to the chatter across the network card," Don said. "We haven't picked up anything definite, but if we keep at it, we might be able to figure out some of their overall plans."
"Can't we use that card to figure out where the thing's home base is?" Leo asked.
"No," Don said. "I need three points to triangulate a position"
"What if we got two more robots?" Raph asked.
"It might work, but we need to have networked computers in two other locations receiving the signal. Even then it still might not work, due to amplification towers and multiple signal sources, and there is a huge margin of error, so big it might not..."
"Can we find anymore?" Leo asked.
"Robots?" Don asked. "I can look for clues in the commands. They seem to be almost like ninja. They stay in the shadows, sticking to crimes and places where the police wouldn't look."
"Are they trying to secure the criminal underworld?" Leo queried as much to himself then to Don.
"I don't know." Don replied anyway.
"Maybe they are picking up where the foot left off?" Splinter suggested. "Only with technology."
"Advanced technology," Don added. "To fight as well as they do, without someone guiding them, is impressive…and expensive."
"So do we have a plan?" Raph asked.
"Yes," Leo said. "We are going to take down two more robots, and then use them to find the home base." He looked to Don to confirm. Don merely shrugged, "It might not work…"
"So where do we find them." Raph asked.
"Let's wander around. They'll probably find us," Leo said.
As they emerged from the manhole a few hours later, Don took his first deep breath in weeks. The night air was musty with smog, but it still felt good, until he started to cough. Raph hit him on the back and then pulled Mike up out of the hole.
"Why did we have to bring Hop Along and Mr. Asthmatic?" Raph complained to Leo as Mike pulled out his crutches and hobbled a few steps away.
"They're less trouble with us here, than following us later on their own," Leo said, putting the cover back on the hole. The four of them faced the street.
"Okay," Leo said, "I didn't think I'd ever say this, but let's be conspicuous."
The four turtles wandered around on the street, lightly disguised and getting plenty of strange looks. At least a half dozen people crossed the street to avoid walking past them as they ambled along.
After about a half an hour of aimless wandering, a group of robots approached them from an alley.
"Okay," Leo said quietly. "We just need two. Raph and Don, you take on one, Mike and I…"
Unfortunately whatever Leo was going to say was drowned out but the clank of the robots encircling them.
"Was getting surrounded in the master plan?" Mike asked.
"Well it wasn't plan A." Leo said.
The robots closed in on them, until they were all standing shell to shell with ten unstoppable monsters only feet away. Raph rushed the one nearest to him trying to embed his sai into its forehead. The robot caught him by the arms and pitched him back into the group, knocking over Mike, unbalancing Leo, and sending Don to his knees.
One of the robots pulled out a tranquilizer gun and shot it point blank into the compact group of turtle. Leo managed to catch it as it went whizzing past him and crushed it in his hands. The others kept inching forward enclosing them in a tighter and tighter net. The situation wasn't looking good.
"I wonder if this will work?" Don said as he flicked a small round metallic disk from his hand. It emitted a low hum and suddenly all the robots stopped, mid move.
Leo turned his head to his brother, "What did you just do?"
"It's electromagnet. It might – and stress might – have wiped their hard drives clean."
"Why didn't you tell me about it before we left the liar?" Leo asked annoyed.
"You weren't listening. And besides, I didn't know if it would work." Don said checking the robot in front of him. "I still don't."
Mike tentatively hobbled forward and waved his hand in front of one's face. Nothing happened. "I'd say it worked bro."
Don moved forward, grabbing a small dagger off of his belt. He pried apart the head and neck of the nearest bot and cut the power cords. "Come one guys, let's take them out."
As Don approached the next one, it abruptly woke up, grabbed him and pitched him across the alley where he landed with a thud. "Like I said, I wasn't sure it was going to work."
Leo landed next to him and Mike and Raph landed in a thud at the far end of the alley as the robots they were facing also chose that moment to come back to life.
"Any more tricks up your sleeve, Einstein?" Raph growled from where he was still regaining his feet.
"Just one," Don said, pulling out another gadget, like a tiny laptop.
"What is that?" Leo asked.
"It's a blackberry, with a computer virus. Denial of service attack. Quick and dirty."
"What?" Leo asked completely confused.
"Denial of Service attack, it's… Never mind." Don punched in a couple of commands and then looked up at the robots coming for them.
Leo placed himself between Don and the three marching robots.
"Don't move Leo. Don't provoke them in anyway." Don hissed and he hit the last command.
"But they're going to kill us," Leo protested, "We have to defend ourselves."
"Just wait. Give it a minute to see if this works."
The robots were within five feet of them and weren't slowing down. "We're going to be surrounded here in about three seconds," Leo hissed. "Let me attack. It's the only hope."
"No," Don said. "I launched a computer virus into their network. I have just asked them "Are you there?" a thousand times each second. They have to answer. It is going to chew up their processor time and prevent any new messages getting in. They're relying on their own inborn programming which should be less robust then what they get from their home base."
"Huh?"
"I just cut them off from their home base. They're confused. They might not remember what they are supposed to be doing. But if we attack them, they'll know enough to defend themselves."
Don called in a loud whisper to his brothers. "Don't fight them; just stay cool for another minute."
Leo hissed under his breath, "This is Raph we're talking about."
Sure enough, Raph gave a bellow and attacked, despite Don's warning. He picked the one closest to him and Mikey. He got in a few got shots with his Sai until the robot managed to get in a crushing blow to his shell. Raph fell to his knees as Mike jumped forward, on his crutches, and caught the next shot with his nun chuck, deflecting the blow to the side.
Raph struggled up and they both backed away. The robot didn't follow. It moved to the wall and studied it like a painting. Don slowly got to his feet. He walked passed Leo and the robot that'd stopped three feet in front of him. Walking over to Raph and Mike, Don gave them a look and then beckoned with his head from them to follow him. They did, slowly, walking through crowd and exiting at the end of the alley. Mike leaned up against the store front and gave a heavy sigh. Leo met them there, his eyes never leaving the warriors behind him.
"Now what" Raph asked.
"There's one down," Mike said. "Do you suppose we could go get it?"
"Don?" Leo asked.
"I don't know what to tell you. It could work, but it might provoke them. There is no way to know."
"That's what we came here to do so let's do it. Raph, you're with me," Leo said.
They walked into the center of the alley, glancing nervously between the robots but fortunately they didn't stop their approach. Some stood still, some walked in slow circles, but not one came toward either of the green brothers. Raph and Leo picked up the dead bot and carried it back out of the alley.
"Okay, one down," Don said as his brother's dropped it at their feet.
"How do we get the next one?" Raph asked.
"Theoretically,"
"I hate when you say that Donny," Raph grumbled.
"Fine," Don said, looking annoyed, before he started coughing again. "They didn't attack you when you took that one out. So say we picked a fight with one of them, we might just be fighting one. The others might not know enough to respond. I mean there are four of us. We could handle one, right?"
Raph and Leo exchanged looks as if sizing each other up. And then the both looked over Mike and Don.
Leo said to Raph, "Could we do it? Without Hop Along and Mr. Asthmatic?"
"Hell yeah," Raph said vehemently. "You two stay here," Leo ordered, giving Mike and Don a long stare.
Raph and Leo stood at the end of the alley, looking for the most likely candidate. They finally agreed on a robot, halfway down the alley, separated from the rest by a good twenty feet, and slowly walking in circles.
Leo extended a hand to his brother, "If you'd the honors."
Raph gave him an evil grin and charged at the robot. He hit it with a flying kick and it toppled over. Leo, a second behind, drove his katana deep into the slot between the neck and shoulder. Pulling up hard, he watched as the lights in the robot's eyes faded out.
The only problem was when they picked it up, the others robots seemed to snap out of it. The nearest four started to close in. Raph picked up the dead robot and spun it around and around by its feet. He let go of it with a cry of, "Mikey, Donny, catch!" The robot sailed over the heads of their oncoming opponents. Raph didn't have to time to see if they caught it, but by the sound of the grunts and a mumbled ouch from Mike, they must have managed it.
The group closed in around Leo and Raph and the pair clicked their shells together slowly spinning in a circle, looking for the best opening. Leo stopped the circle, sheathed his swords, and tapped Raph's shoulders twice, without turning around. Raph gave a quick grunt in agreement and stuffed his sai's in his belt.
Raph grabbed both of Leo's hands as Leo leaned back into Raph's shell, and then flipped his brother over his head, dropping to his knees in the process. Raph landed in front of him. Leo cupped his hands. Raph put his left foot into them and Leo threw him into the air. Raph did a back flip and landed behind the circle of the robots. He kicked low and swept the feet out from under the nearest one. Leo did a diving leap through the gap that Raph made, landing in a somersaulting roll.
Leo popped back to his feet and the two brothers sprinted to the end of the alley where Don already had one of the bots on his shoulder, which he handed off to Leo as soon as he approached. Raph stooped to grab the other and raced ahead towards Mikey who had already started limping down the street.
Instead of moving forward, Don stood at the mouth of the alley, still holding his tiny handheld computer. "Get moving," Don said. "I'm going to stay here for a couple more minutes to keep up the virus attack."
Before Leo could protest, Don cut him off. "I'm not going fight, if it gets hairy, I'll take off. It'll give you at least a five minute head start. With Mikey the way he is, I'll catch up easily."
"Come on, Leo," Raph grunted. "He'll be fine. Let's move."
Instead Leo paused and studied his purple masked brother. There was something in his eyes. Something that Leo didn't like. Something that made him nervous.
"Look," Don said, when Leo still didn't move. "If I turn off this virus attack now, they're going to follow us, they always have before. This way we get away clean."
"No, not we, only three. We'd leave you behind."
"Leo, let's move," Raph yelled.
"What aren't you telling me?" Leo ordered Don, his voice angry.
"It'd take too long to explain. Just go, I'll be no more than ten minutes behind you."
"Why do I get the feeling that you are going to do something crazy and stupid?" Leo said.
"I swear on my honor that I'm doing nothing stupid. I'm just giving our mission a greater chance of success. I will be ten minutes behind you, no more. Go."
"Don," Leo said, his teeth clenched.
"Leo," Raph snapped. "He's fine… he knows what he's doing. Let's go."
"If eleven minutes after we get to the lair, you aren't there, Raph and I are going to personally kick your tail."
Don smiled. "At this point, I'll probably beat you back. Now go."
Leo turned and jogged up to where Raph and Mike were standing. He gave Don one more fleeting look and then disappeared into the shadows.
Don smiled to himself. He swore on his honor that he wasn't going to do anything stupid. He didn't say anything about crazy.
A/N take 2. Thanks again to everyone who is reading. :) The next chapter may take awhile... it gets complicated. If it goes well, three left, if it doesn't four. But we are so close... so close now.