Disclaimer & Warnings:

I do not own the Turtles, as much as I would love to.

Eventual romantic pairings include 'turtlecest': OCxDonnie; LeoxRaph.

*These later chapters are converting the story to an M rating for language and innuendo / adult content.

Summary:

Splinter brings home the daughter of his old friend to help cope with her mother's death. As she befriends each of the Turtles, they deal with their own awakening feelings for her... and possibly each other.

Chapter Twenty-One

Pain lanced through his head, and some part of Donnie's conscious brain recognized that if he fully woke up, he was going to regret it. He rolled in bed slightly, and the pain repeated, insistent. He groaned as sleep slowly faded away, and he mentally assessed himself.

His arms were killing him. His legs were killing him. Hell, his whole body hurt. But not like his head. He felt like there were a thousand tiny Technodromes trying to drill their way out from behind his eyes, and he kept them closed, horrified to open them.

He sighed softly. Even that hurt. Whimpering, he crushed his pillow to his chest, wanting desperately to go back to sleep.

His pillow moved.

He tensed, making a great effort to open one bloodshot eye. A mass of golden brown curls were tickling his chin, and he blinked at it stupidly. What the hell was that?

"Mmm," Alex muttered, turning in her sleep to get more comfortable in his arms.

He opened his mouth to scream, but his throat was so dry no sound came. He settled instead for gripping her shoulders and pushing her away violently.

"Wha-," she snorted, rubbing her eyes.

Terrified, unable to think, he scrambled away from her, but he hadn't realized he was quite so close to the edge of the bed. With a dull thud, he fell to the floor, and he finally found his voice.

"Oh fuck," he moaned, clutching his head. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck."

"Wuzzat for?" she asked sleepily then blinked. Where'd he gone? She scooted to the edge of the bed and peered down at him. "Hey, you okay?"

"No," he mouthed back at her.

She watched him for a moment, then sighed and crawled out of bed. She pulled a faded blue bathrobe over her pajamas and knelt by him. She spoke in whispers.

"I'm going to help you get back onto the bed," she said gently.

"No," he moaned. He never wanted to move again as long as he lived.

"It'll hurt for a moment but that will pass. C'mon. You can't lie on the floor all day." She hooked her hands under his arms. "On the count of three."

It took two tries, but finally she had him sitting up on the bed. He gripped the edge of the mattress, swaying dangerously.

"I'll be right back. You stay there," she said.

"B- but-,"

"Stay there," she replied more firmly. With a swish of blue, she disappeared from his vision and he heard the door click shut.

Wearily he tried to focus his thoughts. He remembered the pub. He remembered talking to Raph. He furrowed his brow in concentration then moaned softly as his eyes ached in response.

He could remember four- or was it five?- shots he'd had. Surely he'd only had five. Hell, he'd only wanted one. Damn Raphael.

He barely recalled the trip home, but he was sure he'd thrown up at least once.

Carefully he tilted his head, looking around the room. It was definitely his room, not the lab. He must've come here by mistake last night.

His head throbbed as heat crept up his face. Had he done anything to Lexi?

Had they done anything…?

When Alex returned, Donnie was in full panic mode, his eyes wide and his breaths shallow and ragged.

"Shhh," she said soothingly, sitting beside him and rubbing his shoulder gently. He winced at the touch but didn't have the energy to move away. She pressed two aspirin into his hand.

"Take these," she said. She then handed him a tall glass of water after he'd put those on his tongue. He noticed she'd put a straw in the glass so he wouldn't have to tilt his head. She was an angel.

"Drink as much of that as you can. Take your time," she whispered encouragingly.

He slowly emptied the glass, and although his stomach didn't appreciate the water, his throat began to feel better.

"I am- I am so sorry," he stuttered, but she hushed him.

"Just drink."

Obediently he sipped the last bit of water down. She took the glass and set it on the dresser, where he saw another full one waiting for later.

Careful to not jostle him, she crawled behind him on the bed and fluffed his pillow, setting it vertically against the wall. "Lean back here," she said, putting a hand on his arm to guide him.

"Wanna lay down," he groaned, but she shook her head.

"You can lie down after you've drank the second glass of water." She reached up and gingerly untied his bandana, and he sighed in relief when she removed it. "Now lean your head back."

Cautiously he tilted his head back, his neck screaming in pain, and nestled it into the pillow.

"I'm going to put something on your forehead," she warned. "Keep your eyes closed." She placed a cool, damp rag on his face, and he sighed again.

"I'm gonna kill Raph," he whispered. "When I can move."

She chuckled softly. "Rough night, huh?"

"Bastard," he muttered. "Lexi, I don't even remember getting home last night."

She grabbed her pillow and placed it next to his, settling down beside him. She rested her head on his shoulder gently. "I was pretty surprised."

"I'm so sorry."

"I'm not." She cuddled closer to him. "Donnie, do you know I slept for almost eight hours last night?"

He grimaced as her voice raised, and she dropped it back to a whisper.

"I've been having night terrors," she explained. "Raph told me Leo used to have them. I haven't gotten more than three or four hours of sleep a night for over a month."

He frowned silently.

"But last night, after you got home," she said, her voice full of amazement, "I could go right back to sleep after I woke up. I would reach over," she closed her hand around his shyly, "and hold your hand, and go right back to sleep." She looked up at him in concern. "I hope you don't mind."

"Lexi," he said, doing his best to sound frustrated, "I'm the one who should ask you that. I invaded your privacy in the most barbaric fashion." He reached up to press the cloth to his forehead, feeling the coolness leaving.

"Well, I'm glad you did," she replied stubbornly. She reached up and plucked the rag from beneath his fingers, and he whimpered as it left his face. "Shhh, I'm just going to cool it back down." She twirled it in the air for a moment before refolding it and returning it.

"I- I don't know what to say," he finally admitted.

"Then don't say anything."

"Except I'm never, ever drinking again."

"Might be a good idea," she chuckled. She reached up and put a finger to his lips. "Just rest. I'll get you the other glass of water whenever you want it."

They sat in silence, each wrapped in their own thoughts. Donnie's initial panic subsided finally, as Lexi didn't appear upset in the least. His head throbbed slightly less as he calmed down, and he occupied his mind with the many and varied ways he was going to punish his brother.

Alex was still sleepy and was quite content to rest. She was fairly sure this was Donnie's first hangover, and she felt awful for him. She wished she could do more, but his body was going to have to detox over the day. All she could do was make him keep drinking water. Maybe she could tempt him with some lunch later. She looked down at her hand still entwined with his, and smiled.

A few moments later, her head drooped and she began snoring softly. Slowly he reached for the second glass, placing the straw in it and leaning back with it. He raised his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, moaning as pain danced on his supersensitive skin. She settled against his chest and he sat there sipping his water.

Sure, he felt like he'd been hit by a bus.

But Lexi made it all okay.