April strolls into Donnie's lab and absentmindedly drops her brown satchel on his chair. It was a habit of hers now, to wander into his lab to sit and stare at his belongings or the walls. The room welcomed her, like the purple banded turtle did whenever she walked in, and he would always scramble some object and paper on his desk before greeting her properly with a friendly hug or small wave. The red headed teen sighed sadly at the memory. She collapsed into the chair adjacent to the office chair that held her brown satchel, and the furniture squeaked as she did so.

Her blue orbs drifted over the objects on his work desk, as her hand glided over the things, synchronized with the movement of her eyes. She paused though when her hand came to a halt at a photo with a purple frame and four pink hearts around it. She grasped the photo and brought in up close, finally realizing that it was a photo of Donnie pushing her on the swings in the park. The image brought her more memories of the times she spent with him, and it tore her heart even more. Her grip on the photo became loose, and it slipped out of her hands, letting out a clatter as it hit the floor.

She gasped and instantly bent down to pick up the photo. April flipped it around and saw a small crack on the top left corner of the glass. The damage was not too bad so she breathed a sigh of relief.

The sound of fast footsteps from outside the lab caught her attention once she stood up. "Donnie you're back!" Mikey exclaimed as he burst into the room. His feet skidded on the floor when he came to a halt, but seeing April instead of his elder brother in the room brought him back to his miserable mood and sad expression. The sound of the photo April dropped, hitting the ground caused the young turtle to think it was his purple banded brother dropping a beaker or test tube, especially since it came from the lab.

"I'm sorry Mikey, it's just me April", the sixteen year old said; Mikey wished she hadn't. He didn't need her to remind him that his brother was gone because her presence already indicated it. He was not saying he didn't want April to be here, but he preferred to have no one inside Donnie's lab, touching his precious belongings. The atmosphere was too quiet for his liking; he was used to hearing the welding torch being used or some sort of hammering, pounding sound, so he scurried outside and made a beeline back to his room without saying goodnight to April. She would understand he was trying to calm himself down and not yell at her to leave his brother's things alone.

The red headed teen turned around to place the photo back on Donnie's desk as Mikey left the room, knowing there was nothing to say or do to help him. Besides, she was feeling the same thing and knew he didn't want her in the room, but her heart said she should stay, though her mind disagreed. The sound of shuffling, like someone was entering the lab, occurred near the doorway; she assumed it was the orange banded turtle again because he was experiencing paracusia.

"Mikey, I told you Donnie isn't he–", she began, but her sentence was cut off with the appearance of a red banded turtle instead of his younger brother. He came in, rubbing his eyes and trudging slowly like a turtle would do. "Raph? What are you doing here?" April asked and only then did he realize he red headed teen was in the room. He gave her a puzzled look and countered with, "Me? What are you doing here in my brother's lab?"

And crossed his arms over his chest while raising his eyebrow. The sixteen year old blushed, unable to answer his question because she honestly did not have a proper reason to why she was always in here. She rubbed her left leg against the calf of her right leg uncomfortably, but saved herself with the question, "Um, what happened to your eyes?"

The red banded turtle seemed to forget about her reason to why she was here; shrugged as a response to her question. He didn't think it was important sparring with Karai since she didn't give him any information of his brother's whereabouts, and he was losing the battle anyway, so telling April every single detail was not an option. From her expression, he could tell she was not convinced that it wasn't a big deal and when she tapped her foot on the floor. "Fine, I was sparring with Karai and she sprayed blinding powder in my eyes", he said grumpily before pushing past her to look for something to help with his eyes.

The sixteen year old stepped to one side without hesitation, not wanting to get in the way of a bad-tempered Raph after his battle with Karai.

"I think I might have something", she declared once she became aware that he was empty-handed, plus he did not know Donnie's lab as well as she did, strangely enough. After a couple of seconds digging through the cupboards and drawers, she pulled out an eye drop and smirked with her victory. Raph snatched the small bottle out of her hands and a smile sparked up, as he was quite interested in how she found the eye drop so quickly. Guess she spent a lot of time in here with Donnie, he thought.

With the bottle grasped tightly, he raised it so the tip was pointed at his eye; gently squeezed it, the drop of liquid plopping on the sclera of his eye. He repeated it with his other eye, and soon, his vision was beginning to clear. It was not a dramatic change because it takes place overtime, but the eye drop helped.

"Thank you April", Raph said and handed the small bottle back to her. The red headed teen smiled inwardly and grabbed the bottle; walked to Donnie's medical equipment cupboard to place the eye drop where she found it. As she crouched down in front of the cupboard shelves, she asked him another question, one that reminded him of something he was given earlier. "Did she say anything to you that could lead us to Donnie?" the sixteen year old wondered, clueless to the details of his battle.

The note, Karai's note, the words echoed in the red banded turtle's head, and he reached for the small, scrunched up paper in his belt. He could not read what was written since the blinding powder blurred his vision, but now that he was able to see slightly better, he could finally read it.

It seems that you have forgotten about the first, and most important note, so capturing your brother was a penalty for your mistake. Jaylene must come to me as an exchange to take Donatello's place, otherwise I will kill him. You have 24 hours to make your choice. I have kept my part of the deal, so you keep yours.

Karai

Raph stared at the words dumbfounded. He didn't know what she was talking about, and what was 'the first note'? But Jaylene taking Donnie's place? He remembered a few days ago, Jaylene said Karai wanted her to join Shredder's side. He knew there was a link somehow, and he needed to find out all the details, but he couldn't bear the thought that Donnie was being used as ransom to lure Jaylene. Though he was still mad at her for not defeating Darryl, he didn't want her to give herself up for his brother. As hard as he might, he wouldn't forget his love for her; he didn't like calling her his 'ex'. It just seemed strange to him.

Raph stepped backwards, rubbing his temples; trying to clear his mind, but bumped into Donnie's desk behind him and slipped. He reached out to hold onto the desk to prevent himself from falling, but his hand slid across the flat surface, and he fell on his shell, with the papers on Donnie's table now flittering in the air around him.

"Raph, are you okay?" April asked as she grasped his hand and pulled him back on his feet. She had only finished sorting out the equipment in Donnie's cupboard, and heard the sound of someone falling, and turned around to find Raphael on the ground like he had fallen.

He was dazed and awestruck from his sudden fall and all the thoughts in his head that he replied to her question with a small nod, and this gesture caused the red headed teen to worry about him even more. "Well we'd better clean up first", she said to the red banded turtle with her arm pointing to the papers all over the floor, exhaustion evident in her voice.

He nodded slowly again, and the two knelt down to gather the papers sprawled across the floor. After a couple of minutes picking the papers up, Raph stumbled over a piece of paper with a smaller wrinkled paper stapled onto the larger paper. He grasped the papers and read the title aloud without realizing his actions. "Pros and Cons", he said what was written on the larger piece of paper. His sudden statement caught April's attention, and she stopped picking up the papers to walk over to where he was kneeling on the ground, two papers in his hand.

He started to skim read over the wrinkled, smaller piece of paper and his eyes widened at the words, before his eyes averted to the larger paper with the title 'Pros and cons', and repeated the process, with the result of his eyes widening even more. He couldn't believe that his younger brother kept a secret from him, Jaylene, the whole family; it created a quizzical look to spread across his face. Karai has been after her for so many months, and we had no clue about it the whole time. Even Jaylene didn't know about all of it, and this message was supposed to be for her. Why would Donnie do this?, he thought as he stared blankly at the two sheets of paper.

The sound of April's footsteps vibrated on the floor; it alerted him of her presence approaching him. He knew April deserved to know, and so did his whole family. He wasn't going to keep it a secret like his brother did.

Raph tossed the two pieces of paper accurately at the sixteen year old, and she was taken aback by his action. She clumsily caught them, and looked back up at the turtle now sitting on the stretcher. "What's this?" she asked while clutching tightly onto the papers and glanced at them. The red banded turtle replied to her question with sadness and bitterness, clearly expressed in his tone.

"A note from Karai."

/

Jaylene sat at on a stool pulled up in front of the kitchen table at the lair, consumed in sadness and heartbreak as she stirred her hot chocolate with a teaspoon. The only turtle accompanying her was Mikey; he was also sitting on the stool across from her, slowly chewing a slice of pizza. He too seemed to be in a state of depression, though his reasons were different for hers.

It wouldn't take a scientist to figure out that the orange banded turtle was feeling miserable about his elder brother's capture. He had been acting like this for more than a week, and it made her sick to the stomach seeing him this way. He was the only one that showed he was feeling depressed, while Leo was stuck in the dojo most of the time meditating. He was currently in there now; she guessed he was either trying to connect to Donnie through meditation, or he needed to calm himself down.

And Raph, she couldn't describe how he was feeling. She knew he was angry at her, no furious, because she lost her fight with Darryl. She tried to convince herself that is was the angry side of him talking, but she somehow felt that maybe it was her fault. The pain in her arm suddenly interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced at it with irritation showing in her expression.

The brunette was not used to the sling, and she had to stay over at the Lair for the next three months because it was difficult for her to complete some tasks with her injured arm, so the turtles and April had to take care of her for now.

The sound of an object that fell rang through the atmosphere; Mikey shot out from his seat all of a sudden, like he was going to investigate where the sound came from, but the look of hope in his eyes confused her. She was also curious about what caused the sound, but her feet were rooted to the ground. The fourteen year old was left alone in the kitchen as she continued to stir her hot chocolate.

A couple of minutes passed; Mikey didn't return, leaving his half-eaten pizza to go cold and forgotten. He must've gone to bed, she thought and she came to realize her hot chocolate was now cold because she was constantly stirring it with the spoon. Jaylene sighed, feeling annoyed; walked out the kitchen door.

In the living room, she spotted the red banded turtle trudging down the steps of the entrance. She suddenly felt that the air in the room was uncomfortable; she made a beeline to the dojo to meditate with Leo instead. She was about to sit and watch TV, but with Raphael there, she couldn't think straight with his eyes on her.

She tiptoed through the doorway with the thoughts of Raph blaming at her for Donnie's capture, and found Leo sitting a few meters in front of the tree, meditating, just like she suspected. The brunette knelt down beside him, mimicking his meditation position, but not too close because she knew he was concentrating. "May I join you Leonardo?" she asked timidly.

The blue banded turtle twitched from hearing her voice out of nowhere and only nodded in return. He didn't know why she had come, but he didn't mind her presence. Leo was soon sucked back into the pitch black, peaceful atmosphere once he was concentrating again. Straight after he patched up Jaylene's wounds with Splinter, he began to have a meditation session every day, attempting to connect with his captured brother. Once and only once, did he accomplish it, and could touch Donnie's subconscious, but the two were able to communicate for a few minutes, before their communication was cut off. His suggestion was that his brother was interrupted and snapped out of his meditation, so they lost their connection, but he was able to receive from his brother that he was not harmed or injured; that the Shredder does not know of his location, which is why he is not dead yet.

Much like their meditation conversation, Leo was interrupted by the sound of a sharp intake of breaths and quiet sobbing. He assumed it was Mikey crying on the couch again because though it was quiet sobbing, he could hear it from the dojo. The blue banded turtle's eyes flew open and he turned his head in the direction to where the sound was coming from, but to his surprise, it was not his younger brother. Instead, it was the petite brunette beside him.

Tears were streaming down her face, and dripped down onto her lap and the back of her clenched hands that were placed on her thighs. Her body was trembling; by the looks of it, she was trying her best to hold it in, but was not strong enough to. Leo didn't need a single word to tell him that the reason for her tears was because of Raph dumping her. He knew that she was beginning to think what his brother said was right, that it was her fault for Donatello's capture.

The blue banded turtle scooted close to Jaylene and wrapped his arms around her body, bringing her close to his chest and onto his lap. He rested his chin on top of her head, her brown curls felt as soft as a pillow as he breathed in her scent. He hoped that she would not see this as an intimate act, and more of a 'big brother', comforting act.

The brunette relaxed into the hug and continued to cry softly. Her tears dropped onto his arms and hands, but he didn't mind. Like his brothers, they have never comforted a girl before, only April and Donnie was usually the one to comfort her, so this was an awkward situation for Leo.

A couple of moments passed, and it was Jaylene who chose to pull away. Still sitting on his lap, she rested her head against the top of his plastron and blushed. "Sorry Leo, but I have a force of habit with R-Raph", she said and stuttered his brother's name. The blue banded turtle smirked at the idea of his brother comforting Jaylene. He himself would admit he had no experience in comforting girls, let alone his bad-tempered brother. She looked up at his face and his expression conveyed understanding of how she felt. He knew that she was crying because of Raph breaking up with her.

"I just, thought that Darryl was going to stop and give up when I took his mask off. He had the look of regret written all over him, so I thought he wanted to join our side. I was a fool to think that, so I guess it is my fault Donnie was taken", she said sadly. Leo clenched his fists as memories flooded in his head. Memories of him thinking that Karai had good in her and would join their side.

"No Jaylene", he spoke; the fourteen year old was stunned at the tone of his voice. "It isn't your fault. Raph needs to get his head straight and control his temper. You know that it wasn't the real Raph talking to you that day. It was the angry turtle inside of him that took over. It may seem like it's your fault, but there was nothing you could do or we could do", Leo paused to let his opinion sink in and linger in the air. "Look, I had the same problem with Karai and I thought she has good in her, and it almost cost some of our battles and my choices, but when I found out she is Shredder's daughter, I knew she would never join our side."

Jaylene opened her mouth to tell him the truth about Karai, but quickly shut it. She needed permission from Splinter first, just in case. But besides that, Leo was right. It wasn't her fault and Raph reacted irrationally. She leapt up from his lap and took one step towards the exit of the dojo, when a hand grasped her wrist.

"This may not be the best way to solve your problem, and something you might not want to hear, but I think you should apologize if he won't say anything to you first. It's still not your fault for Donnie's capture, but Raph is not the one to apologize first, unless he knows what he did was a big mistake. Say something that shows you prefer him over Darryl, since that's why he was angry", the blue banded turtle gave her one last pointer before he released his grip on her wrist.

Jaylene was quite confused, yet understood the reason to why she should apologize first. Raph wasn't a negotiator and never showed regret, though she was pretty sure she detected the look in his eyes several times she passed him. "Thank you Leonardo", the brunette thanks and loops her arms around his neck in a tight, friendly hug. Before Leo could react, she shot out of his arms and dashed out the dojo, with the blue banded turtle smiling softly once she left; resumed to his meditating.

"Raph?" Jaylene says, standing in the middle of the living room; hoping to catch a glimpse of his red mask. She saw him earlier, but didn't see the direction he went. Just as she was going to enter the kitchen, muffled voices echoed from Donnie's lab. She walked to the door of the lab and raised her hand to knock, but stopped when she heard a feminine voice say, "Do you think we should tell her?"

The fourteen year old scrunches her eyebrow in confusion and peeks through the crack between the doors. She sees two figures in the dim light, sitting side by side; when she squints, she realizes that the two figures are Raph and April. They are sitting too close for her comfort, and the sixteen year old's head is rested on the red banded turtle's shoulder. She deeply inhales a breath as Raph replies to April's question. "No, we can't tell her. She can't find out."

Their words are processed through her head, and there was only one solution. No, this can't be true!, she exclaims when a suggestion appears in her head. Raph and April. He must've been so frustrated with her that he decided to go with April; her heart shattered from that thought. April wouldn't betray her, but that opinion was debated. Jaylene glanced back at the two on the stretcher, and the red headed teen shuffles closer to Raphael, until their legs were pressed together. "I miss Donnie, but you're right, we shouldn't tell her. She wouldn't like what she is going to hear", April spoke once again, and her voice makes the brunette feel queasy. I-I can't, I can't listen any longer! They are together!

She chokes back some tears and sprints out the Lair, not wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation anymore. Jaylene didn't care about her injured arm; she couldn't stay at the Lair seeing the two 'reds' together.

She had been feeling heartbreak for a week and possibly longer, but she can never get rid of it.

Fin

I updated way too late this time! I'm so sorry to everyone especially since the story was shorter than some others, but I guess I was nervous writing this because it's the second to last chapter so I tried my best, though it was shorter than I wanted it to be. Well the title explains everything and just so everyone understands, Raph and April are not together. Jaylene misunderstood, hence the title. Please review and I do not own TMNT.