When Shunshi walked off the elevator, his breathing automatically quickened. He wasn't sure how to feel when he received the request to come see the purple-masked turtle after dinner. He was elated to be able to visit his friend, but the mistake with Viper had nearly cost him his life, and he knew it was going to be addressed.

Shun didn't expect to come into an empty Great Room. The hour was too early in the evening for everyone to have retired, yet there wasn't a soul in sight. The boy shrugged to himself and continued toward the sitting area, heading for the Lab. He was so intent on the destination, he nearly passed by the figure waiting in the wheel chair.

The turtle waved to him. "Hi."

The teen desperately tried to camouflage his surprise. "Donatello-san." He stopped within a couple feet of his friend and bowed stiffly.

Donny gave him a strange look. "What's with the formality, Shun? Come over here, would you?"

He took the last few painful steps and stared down at the floor rather than looking the turtle in the eyes.

"Hey," his mentor said pointedly. "What's wrong?"

Shunshi cleared his throat. "Donatello-san, I recognize my mistake. I'm sure you have things to say, but I want you to know that I understand how I failed."

"How you failed…?" The turtle seemed confused.

Shunshi sighed inwardly. He must know what happened, even if he did not see it with his own eyes. I hope he will not force me to repeat the entire experience back to him. "I was distracted, and I put myself in danger. I could have been the reason someone else was hurt too."

Donatello shook his head. "Shun, will you sit down for a minute?"

He sank into an adjacent chair obediently. Shunshi forced himself to hold the turtle's gaze and words began spilling out rapidly. "I know I'm not ready. I am nothing like you or your brothers were at my age. I was not even trying to copy you that night; I did not have time to think-"

"Shunshi, wait. I haven't even said anything to you yet."

"You have all warned me of the danger involved, and I still managed to almost get killed."

"So did we," Donny inserted. "Shunshi, my brothers and I are the ones who got in trouble. We're the ones who walked into a trap, and ended up putting ourselves in danger. Do you honestly think I asked you to come down here so I could lecture you on being caught off guard?"

Shunshi was silent for several seconds. "Well, I guess…I'm sorry. I am disappointed in what happened, and I thought you would be too."

"I'm not disappointed in you, Shunshi; I just have a couple of questions. Is that okay?"

Feeling cautiously relieved, the teen sat back in his chair. "Yes, Donny-san."

"I've heard the gist of things, but I'd rather get some specific details from you. Will you tell me what happened after you kicked the door open?"

"The door hit the man outside. I did not realize it was this 'Viper' at the time. My only intention was to surprise him, so that I might have an advantage. When he fell, he lost control of his gun. I attempted to kick his weapon out of the way, but it ran into the building instead. Viper tried to retrieve it, but I managed to slow him down with a spinning back kick, and sent the gun down the stairs."

"What made you push the gun away? Why didn't you try to pick it up?"

Shunshi swallowed. "I was not thinking clearly, Donny-san. My first reaction was to get rid of it."

"It was your instinct," Don corrected. "And you have a reason for doing it. Why do you think that is?"

"It was a large gun. I don't think I would have used it correctly…nor did I want my opponent to have a chance to get it back." Shunshi paused for another long moment. "I was not prepared to kill him either, even had I been trained properly."

Donatello nodded. "For the record, I believe getting rid of the gun was the right choice. Because you didn't hesitate, you were able to contain your attacker, and change the entire momentum of the fight. There is a very short window of time in which you can go from being the victim to successfully overwhelming your assailant. From what April and your sister filled in for me, that's exactly what you did."

"But you realize how the fight ended, Donny-san? Not only did I fail to control him, I became a hostage."

"Getting distracted can be deadly in a fight," the turtle allowed. "But it can also happen to any of us. Every time my brothers and I come home from a serious confrontation, we take the chance to review what happened. There have been too many mistakes to count through the years, Shun. The best thing you can do after an experience like that one is learn from it.

"Don't let it throw off your training, or make you feel like a failure. Your instinct and your skills allowed you to prevail over a man who's more than twice your age. Viper was a blood-thirsty thug who's run the streets for more than a decade, and you took him down."

Shunshi allowed himself to smile for the first time. "I almost beat him."

The purple-masked turtle grinned. "You got a lot closer than I or my brothers did. I'm not disappointed in you, Shunshi, and I don't believe anyone else is either."

Donatello extended his good arm toward him, and the teen got to his feet, then bent down to the turtle's level. Shunshi felt a little awkward in the position, but being able to embrace his mentor after everything that had occurred was a gift he wouldn't pass up for anything.

After a couple of seconds Shunshi pulled away with a solemn expression. "Do you remember when you asked me to search my motivation, to discover why I want to be a ninja?"

Don nodded once more. "I recall that."

"I don't see myself as one of you four, patrolling the city to help keep peace every night. But the value of being able to protect myself and my friends from trouble would still be worth it. I know that it will take time, but if you are willing to teach me, I want to learn much more."

Donny smiled. "No more solo studies or stunt attempts?"

Shunshi nearly cringed at the thought of the attempted board-breaking several days before, though he sensed the turtle was joking. "No, Donny-san. I will follow you and your brothers…whenever you are ready to teach me, that is."

The turtle laughed humorlessly. "I think we'll all be limited to supervising some katas for a while. I bet Brandon and Kat wouldn't mind getting hands-on with you though."

Shunshi cocked his head. "I started with karate, am learning ninjutsu with you…and those two are experts in Taikwondo. It makes me wonder what kind of fighter I will become."

Donatello snorted. "With many teachers comes a blend of skills. Hopefully you can get the best from all our worlds."

Donatello knew that his reprieve was short-lived, but he meant to enjoy the "freedom" while it lasted. Jayden was busy running circles around the wheel chair, having been firmly reprimanded by Jenna not to try pushing the tires again. Charlotte was content to lie in his lap and ask questions. The little girl had shown tremendous curiosity over his injuries.

Her fingers lightly traced his sling. "Daddy, what is this?"

He smiled, even though it was the third time she'd asked. Don was avoiding wearing the sling for long periods of time to prevent his arm from becoming too stiff, but it was a good visual reminder for the twins to be more gentle than normal. "It's helping keep my shoulder safe while it heals."

"Oh. Can I touch it?"

"As long as you keep being careful."

"Does it hurt?"

"Sometimes, but our docs give me medicine. That helps."

"Can I look at it?" She grasped the edge of the sling and tried to peer inside.

He chuckled. "You won't be able to see much. Most of the injury is on the inside."

"Daddy, is your arm broken?"

"Not really, no; there's nothing wrong with my bones. It's got more to do with um…the tendons in my muscles." Donatello intentionally searched for words that would make sense to her, and then flexed his left arm. "We have a special set of muscles that helps our shoulder do all kinds of things, and the tendons work together to connect them to our bones. I accidentally tore a couple of those tendons, and that's why my arm is hurt."

"Oh. Then will it get better?"

"It'll take some time and special exercises, but it should heal just fine, Charlotte."

"And you can play with us again."

"Yes, Hime." (Princess) He stroked the top of her head and brushed a finger over her lighter purple bandana. "It won't be that long." He glanced back as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Jenna smiled down at him. "You have to wait for your permission slip. Doc hasn't even 'let' you out of the Lab yet."

"That's only because he doesn't want me climbing the stairs."

"They know best for you guys…and I know best for these scamps. It's past somebody's bedtime."

Don snorted. "Are you talking about me, or our kids?"

"If it was past your curfew, you can bet we'd have heard from the warden already. C'mere, Charlotte, it's time for bed." Jenna held out her arms to the little girl, and she willingly went to her mother.

Jayden circled around the front of the wheelchair with one of his trademark grins. "Daddy, can I kiss your leg?"

Donny nodded with amusement, but controlled the urge to laugh while his son bent down to kiss his ankle.

"Mommy, I want to kiss Daddy's leg," Charlotte requested.

The raven-haired woman put the turtle down, and Charlotte wrapped both arms around his foot before kissing his ankle too.

"Night, Daddy! Love you so much, love you too!" she proclaimed.

"Love you so much, love you too!" Jayden added.

The pair went back and forth several times with the phrase before allowing Donatello to get a word in edgewise.

"I love you so much, love you too, twins. Good night."

The two small turtles ran for the stairs, and Jenna followed behind them. The woman stopped about halfway and threw another glance over her shoulder.

"Let me get them settled, and I'll be back in a bit."

"The warden may have come to retrieve me by then," he called impishly.

"I still know where to find you." Jenna returned to chasing the twins, and disappeared from sight into the upstairs hallway.

The purple-masked turtle exhaled softly. Luke had given him a longer trip outside the Lab than he'd expected, but that would be coming to an end soon. He was satisfied enough by the opportunity to talk to Shunshi and see his twins outside of the medical environment that he willed himself not to complain when the doctor came down on him.

He'd only been alone in the sitting area for a couple of minutes when the uncomfortable stillness began to weigh on him. The turtle squirmed in his chair, puzzled by the sudden increase in his pulse rate. Donny took a couple of slow breaths to counteract the confusing feeling, but was secretly thankful when he heard the door of the Lab opening.

Donatello looked back to see Luke coming and shot the man a grin. "Have you come to repossess me?"

"Did you get to see everyone you needed to?"

He nodded. "I'm ready to go back."

Luke's gaze perused him like a hawk. "Are you feeling that bad?"

"I'm just tired, Doc," he said quickly.

"I can't imagine why."

"I can't figure out why you're not. We're going to have to pay you guys overtime for this month."

The blond man rolled his eyes. "Since when have you ever paid me for overtime? You'd be bankrupt."

Donatello chuckled. "You've got us where you want us, Doc. If I were you, I'd be renegotiating my contract."