Ok, so this is like the third day in a row of being snowed in, and the third day of no school. So, that's the reason I have been able to update so frequently as of late. Why am I telling you this? Well, I just you guys to be prepared for when I do have to go back to school, because then I'm probably not going to be able to update as quickly. I can try, but I'm not making any promises.

And, in case you're wondering, I had this part of the story written down quite a bit ago. If you'll recall, I started this story way back before a lot of stuff happened in the show, so things might not be really up to speed. Oh well, who cares?

Anyways, here's chapter 12, dripping with angst and emotion. Just how you like it.


Worry invaded Splinter's mind as he, once again, cast his tired, burnt sienna eyes at the clock that hung above the kitchen doorway, his cup of tea long forgotten. His sons should have been back by now, at the very least, they should have contacted him with news of their brother. Fear swirled around inside him, making his stomach feel like stone, his heart like a drum. He could sense something was wrong, very wrong. His sons were in trouble.

In an instant, the calm and collected sensei was replace by the concerned, overprotective father. Standing, his face set into a look of grim determination, he came to a decision. His boys needed him, it was time to come out of hiding. Splinter quickly grabbed his staff as he rushed to the turnstiles, not even bothering to call out to April as he ran out the entrance and into the tunnels. Knowing he wasn't come back unless he had his sons with him, all of them.

As he raced down the sewers, his thoughts drifted to the most concerning of his sons, Donatello. Judging from his previous vision, his son was in great peril. The same feeling of dread filled Splinter just thinking about what his gentlest, and most caring son has been put through.

He knew that if...when his son was home safe and sound, the road to recovery in front him, in front of all of them, would be very difficult. Very long, very tiresome, and very painful. But, he was going to make sure that Donatello had the chance to recover, had the chance to live. The nearest manhole cover came into view, he quickly and silently made his way up the ladder, to the streets above, and in the direction of his sons, and his enemy.


The three remaining turtles ran down the seemingly endless stretch of hallway that would lead them to their brother. His previous scream still echoed in their ears as they raced towards its source. That scream that was laced with so much anguish, so much panic, it made their blood pound, their hearts crack. They feared the cause of such a scream.

Up ahead they each caught sight of two large, metal swinging doors. They looked like the doors you would see at a hospital, the ones that the doctors would burst through with a patient on a stretcher, shouting and cursing as they tried to save the patient's life. With a sudden burst of speed, the three continued towards them. That had to be where Donnie was.

Without a second of hesitation, all three brothers rammed into the doors, flinging them wide open with a resounding crash. Skidding to a stop, the brothers froze. The room was completely empty, no foot soldiers, no henchmen, and no Shredder.

Their eyes immediately caught sight of the strange glass box in the center of the room. It wasn't very big, someone about as tall as Donatello would fit perfectly inside of it. It was filled to the top with liquid, red liquid. Blood.

Leo gasped, horrified, realizing what it was. He immediately rushed to the box, where he proceded to pound his fistis into it repeatedly. "Donnie!" he called out to the box, knowing his brother probably couldn't hear him. He didn't even know if he was alive.

This made Leonardo pound harder on the glass. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Raphael tearing away the large black tubes that connected to the box. Water instantly sprayed out, splashing everywhere and covering the floor. Mikey and Raph ran to their blue banded brother's side, using all the force they could muster into their strikes as they punched and kicked at the glass. Desperation overtook them, with each blow the case cracked a tiny bit, but it just wouldn't break!

Leonardo faintly remembered the kunai stashed away in his belt, he thought of trying to pick the lock that held the lid in place, but immediately dismissed the idea. It would take much longer than trying to simply break the thing. Tears rolled down his baby brother's face, tears stung the back of his own eyes. They wouldn't break it in time.

Raphael growled like a wild beast as he stood up. "Stand back!" he shouted to his brothers, anger overtaking his muscles, his mind. Transferring into his arm and driving his fist forward with one last, desperate yell. He landed, the hardest, most forceful punch of his life, right into the center of the glass lid. His brothers stood, gaping at him.

Upon impact, the glass immediately shattered, shards plopping into the water below and splashing the red liquid all over the red banded turtle. Not caring that his hand hurt like shell, and that it was most likely broken, Raph plunged his hands into the freezing, bloody water. He curled his fingers around the hard surface of his brother's shell and pulled his limp body out of the water. Donatello's head lolled back, his arms hanging limply at his sides, as his body was lifted out of the glass, water rolling off of him, dripping onto the concrete floor below as Raph placed his lifeless body on the ground.

Leo, Raph, and Mikey crowded around limp body of their brother. His pale skin had taken on a bluish tint, it was icy cold to the touch, no warmth flowed through him at all. The room was completely silent, the constant drip, drip, drip, of their brother's blood landing in the water the turtles kneeled in, the only noise; echoing around the still room, red mixing with the water, pooling around them as they watched, with baited breath, for any sign of life from the purple banded turtle who's mask would forever be stained with his own blood.

Leo tenderly put his head up to his brother's shattered chest, listening for a breath, for a heart beat. There was nothing. The silence was broken by Leo's anguished cry.

"Nooo! Please, Donnie! Don't do this to us!" he pleas fell on deaf ears, tears gushed out unchecked down his face. Mikey began to sob, his body practically convulsing with the force of each one. He felt like throwing up, he wanted to just die, right then and there. He curled up in a ball and rocked back and forth as the sobs continued.

Raph couldn't breathe, his entire body shook as he held his head in anguish. "No." he sobbed, tears falling from his own eyes. "Why, Donnie, why?" he squeezed his eyes shut, all the emotion bubbling up inside him, forcing its way into his lungs. "Whyyyy!" he let it all release into one big shout of pure saddness and rage that practically shook the room.

Leo couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it. He glanced at his brother's shattered, unmoving chest. He brought his hands up and gently laid them on top. He froze, his chest was so broken, what if it causes more damage. Leo glanced up at Donnie's still face, his eyes and mouth shut, peace etched on his features. He started to tenderly push down on Donatello's plastron, he wasn't giving up.

"Come on, Donnie" Leo spoke quietly, tears still rolling down his cheeks, every word getting forced out with each push on his brother's chest. "I know you, Donatello. You're not a quitter. You didn't give up before, and you're not going to now. So, wake up. Wake up!" Leo slammed his palms down on Donnie's plastron. He sobbed uncontrollably. "Please." he whispered between sobs. "I need my brother back."

Faint foot steps could be heard approaching. "Boys?" Their heads perked up at the thickly accented voice. Master Splinter.

"Father." Leo whispered brokenly. Splinter stood frozen in place, taking in the sight before him. Three of his sons kneeled on the water covered ground, tears flooding their eyes and sliding down their faces. His youngest son's body was still wracking with sobs. They were all huddled around a pale, broken figure laying on the ground, surrounded by blood. Splinter's heart plummetted, his heart shattered. Donatello.

"No." he whispered as he rushed to his son's side. Donatello's pale, lifeless body lay before him. He fell, defeated, to his knees. His shaking paw reached out to stroke his son's cold cheek, tears ran down the side of his snout, making their way into his open mouth. His eyes swept over the prone form of his son, taking in the countless injuries, the growing puddle of blood, the unmoving chest.

A memory flashed before his eyes. A memory of flames, of screams and crying. He remembered calling out to his beloved daughter and wife, begging for them to answer, to be alright. He remembered cradling his lover's lifeless body in his arms, unable to find his daughter's. Knowing his precious daughter was gone just like her mother.

"Nooo!" Splinter cried out to the heavens. He abruptly stood up and rushed to the other side of the room, shocking his students. He searched frantically for something to help, something to bring his son back. That's when he saw it, an old, worn machine he has seen in many hospitals, a machine that would save his son's life. He quickly grabbed the defribillator, rushing back to his dead child. Dropping back onto his knees, and quickly wiping his son's plastron of any and all water with his sleeve, he turned the machine on and grabbed the two pads that was placed on a patient's chest. He could hear the crackle of electricity and the familiar screech of it powering up as he rubbed the pads together.

"I have already lost one child. I will not lose another!" With that, Splinter slammed the pads onto Donatello's broken chest. Electricity transferred into his son's chest and into his heart, making Donnie's body jerk upwards. Splinter removed the pads and looked at his son, he remained still. With a shout, he repeated the process. They could hear the shattered fragments of Donatello's plastron shifting with strike after strike, after strike.

His body remained still, silent. Splinter panted hard, eyes wide with desperation. This couldn't be it, his son couldn't be gone. He brought the pads back up and closed his eyes. "Please." he whispered brokenly, his sons huddled together as they began to lose hope. "Please, don't take him from me." He opened his eyes and rubbed the pads together. He kept his eyes trained on his son's face. With one, final strike of electricity, Donatello's heart pounded as life flowed back into him. The darkness vanished from his mind, feeling entered his body. He was alive.

A strangled gasp escaped the injured turtle's lips as air rushed back into his lungs. His eyes remained closed, too exhausted to pry open. His body trembled with pain and exhaustion, his chest heaved painfully, but he was alive. He was alive.

"Donnie!" Leo, Raph, and Mikey all shouted, rushing to their brother's side. They all sobbed around him, tears dripping onto Donatello's face. They all immediately hugged him, carefully, not wanting to injure him furter, but unable to contain their pure joy.

Donnie managed to crack his eyes open a tiny bit, still gasping. The look on his brother's and father's faces made his weak heart practically burst with happiness. He thought he would never see them again.

Mikey sobbed into his brother's hand, which he had picked up as soon as he sat down. It was still cold, it was still pale, but there was a pulse beating within it. As weak and thready as it might have been, it was still there. "I-thought-we lost-you, bro." Mikey gasped out between sob after heart-wrenching sob.

"Don't you ever, ever scare us like that again!" Raph's voice cracked with the raw emotion he couldn't contain. He stared Donnie straight in the eyes, his eyes full of life, and a smile stretched across his face, tears still falling from his eyes.

Leo rubbed his brother's head affectionately, the same mixture of saddness and happiness etched on his face. " It's good to have you back, little brother." he whispered.

Splinter kneeled on the ground near his son's head. He gently laid Donatello's pale face in his lap as he lovingly storked his cheek. Donnie glanced up him through exhausted, pain-filled eyes, his blurry vision abstructing the view of his father's face, but still able to make out the grateful smile on his lips. Splinter bent down and place a soft kiss on his son's cold forehead.

Donatello's eyes slid closed as a tiny, exhausted but relieved smile graced his scarred, worn face. He was alive.

"How sweet." A familiar, evil voice boomed around the mutated family, ruining joy of being together that they felt. Shredder stood tall in front of them, Foot soldiers crowded behind them, awaiting their master's order. A dark chuckle sounded from behind Shredder's mask, sending shivers down the spines of everyone present.

"Sorry to ruin the family moment," Shredder unsheathed his gauntlet. "but I have business to attend to."


Woo! Take that, death! See, I told you Donnie would be fine. Except, now they have Shredder to deal with... Anyways, please review, favorite, follow, etc. etc.