This chapter is dedicated to BrightLotusMoon and Celeste38 for being good friends. Also, I'd like to thank all the people here on FanFiction who have been so good to me. I love you all. :)

NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.

Gaia woke up sad and depressed that morning, missing her gap-toothed Turtle badly. Even Celeste couldn't lift her spirits as the cat purred and rubbed against her legs affectionately.

She'd spent the whole night painting in her private art room, and all she could think about was Donnie, so she ended up with a beautiful portrait of her lover. But staring at it caused her heart to ache even more and she had to cover it with a cloth. Yet she could not resist walking into the room the following morning and removing it so that she could look at that face she loved so much.

She gently brushed her palm against the portrait's cheek, wishing with a heavy heart that she was touching the real deal. But thanks to her insensitivy and insecurities, she may never be able to ever again. She knew deep down that Donnie would always love and cherish her unlike the other previous men in her life, so why couldn't she say yes to his proposal?

"I will marry him," she said to herself with finality. "I will propose to him myself." She giggled at the concept, since it's usually the man who proposes to the woman, not the other way around. But she had to make it up to him somehow. And since Donnie wasn't a ring person, she could get him a watch, or better yet, a Rolex.

She quickly got dressed in a purple silk, knee-length dress, which was Donnie's personal favorite, and put on her favorite teardrop-shaped orange beryl earrings and turtle-shaped pendant. Before she walked out the door, she knelt down to scratch Celeste's back and the cat purred and lifted her rear and tail in response.

"Mommy will be back later tonight," Gaia cooed. "Wish me luck."

...

"This is perfect."

Her eyes sparkled with the purple iolite gemstones that adorned the white gold Rolex in her hand. The price for the luxurious watch was ridiculously high and she couldn't afford it with her current teacher salary, but his forgiveness was worth every penny.

"You won't find a better Rolex anywhere else in New York," the store owner said as he carefully wrapped the watch in paper. "You must really love this guy."

Gaia smiled to herself. "Yeah, I really do," she softly said as she placed the wrapped up watch in her purse.

The door behind her dinged as it opened and the owner looked up from his desk to greet the customer with a smile. "Hello! Welcome to Jesse's Divine..." His smile and jaw dropped when he saw who it was.

When Gaia saw his reaction, she curiously glanced back at the door...

...and then a cold, metallic hand firmly grabbed her by the throat. She let out a strangled gasp as the Shredder looked straight into her amber eyes with his red glowing ones.

"Gaia Anastasia Mako," he growled in his chilling mechanical voice.

The store owner slowly reached under his desk to push the panic button, but the Shredder stabbed the desk and the blades pierced right through the emergency device. He turned his attention back to Gaia and narrowed his eyes at her.

"You are coming with me," he declared as he dragged her out of the store.

Gaia struggled to get out of his grasp, and when she figured that she wasn't physically strong enough, she resorted to using her powers. But before she could even concentrate, something cold and metallic was suddenly placed on her forehead and her mind went blank.

"Ah, ah, ah, sweetheart!" Subprime chuckled darkly as he adjusted the mind-controlling device on her head. The former Kraang commander was back in his usual Irma-bot body and carried the now unconscious Gaia in his mechanical arms.

But then all of a sudden her body started going into spasms and Subprime almost dropped her. He quickly but gently set her down on the sidewalk as she continued to writhe wildly.

"Knight, what is happening?" Shredder demanded.

"I...I don't know," Subprime stammered. "I-I think she's having a-a seizure."

"Seizure?!" Shredder stomped over to Subprime and pointed his blades inches from the other Utrom's face. "This had better not be your fault," he threatened.

"H-Hey!" Subprime gulped. "M-Maybe it's natural! You know how weak and fragile humans are!"

"For your sake," Shredder growled as he stepped away and lowered his blades, "you had better hope that is the case, because she is the only known gifted human left in the world. And if she dies...then so will you."

"She won't! She'll be fine! Look! See? She's stopped seizing!" Subprime pointed to the now limp Gaia on the floor. "And my sensors are picking up a heartbeat. It's slow but it's there." He bent down to pick her up again. "Now can we get to the lab already?"

"Gaia?"

Donnie walked into her apartment several hours later with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Lilies and cherry blossoms, her favorite.

When she didn't answer, he called out to her again. "Gaia? Babe? It's Donnie. You home?"

He heard a faint meow coming from the kitchen and saw Celeste resting on the counter. The cat flattened her ears and hissed at him as usual.

"Yeah, nice to see you, too, Celeste," Donnie deadpanned. He then took a vase out from one of the cabinets and filled it with water before placing the flowers in it. He smiled at the thought of Gaia walking in and being pleasantly surprised by his visit and gift for her, if she wasn't too mad at him. Was she even in the apartment?

He decided to go look for her and started with the art room. When he walked inside, he was surprised to see that she had painted a portrait of himself. She even included his robotic body parts instead of improving his image by making him appear completely normal. His heart clenched when he realized that she loved him for who he was and wouldn't change a thing about him, not even his cybernetic implants.

And how did he repay her for her undying and total commitment? By acting like an angry fool and slamming the door in her face. Letting out a shaky sigh, he closed the door and looked for her some more. But she was nowhere in the apartment and he figured that she was running errands, so he decided to call her.

He dialed her number and waited for her response, but it went straight to voicemail and he began to worry. "Why aren't you answering?" he muttered as he walked into the kitchen and sat down at the counter. "Hey, Celeste, you wouldn't happen to know where Momma went, would you?"

The cat licked her jaw and yawned before she curled up in a ball and went to sleep. Donnie sighed and rested his chin in one hand while reaching to stroke Celeste with the other. "I just hope she's okay."

"...all the gifted humans, it had to be her."

"Hey, don't look at me, Ch'rell! You were the one who operated on April O'Neil and removed the Kraang components from her brain!"

Gaia groggily opened her eyes and tried to move her hands, but they were restrained. She looked down and saw that she had been strapped to a metal table. She appeared to be in a dark lab and was surrounded by all kinds of strange technology and equipment. She could also feel the cold metal of the strange headband that prevented her from using her powers.

Shredder and Subprime were standing at the far side of the room arguing. "If we are to use her," the Foot Clan leader pointed to her as he spoke to his comrade, "then we must surgically remove whatever is causing those frequent seizures."

"No! If you performe surgery on her, you could damage her brain!" Subprime angrily yelled. "And then she'll be useless to us!"

"Would you rather that she have a seizure while she's in the machine and inadvertently set off the bomb? She could kill us all."

"Yeah, I know, but you-" Subprime froze when he noticed that Gaia was awake and listening in on their conversation.

Shredder turned and narrowed his red eyes atu her. "Ah, Ms. Mako. You are awake."

Gaia scowled at him and tugged at the straps that held her wrists down. "What do you want with me, creep?" she demanded.

"To put it simply," he chuckled darkly as he approached the table, "your mind. You posses the same mental abilities that April O'Neil possessed...and so much more."

"Why do you want my mind?"

"Why don't you go into his mind and find out?" Subprime snickered. "Oh, that's right. You can't!" The Utrom laughed maniacally but neither Gaia nor Shredder were amused.

"Knight, shut up," Shredder growled threateningly at him.

Subprime immediately stopped laughing and pouted, crossing his mechanical arms. "Oh, come on. You gotta admit that was pretty funny."

Shredder ignored him and continued to speak to Gaia. "We've read your files and looked up your history. Your grandmother was abducted and experimented on by the Kraang when she was a child. Your mother inherited her Kraang DNA and therefore passed it on to you. You have a very powerful mind, Ms. Mako, but you've barely even tapped your full potential. And with your help, I will cleanse this planet of all humanity and recreate it into world of mutants."

Gaia stared up at him with disbelieving eyes. "Wow. Donnie was right...you are insane. If you think I'm going to help you destroy the world-"

"Of course you won't, Ms. Mako...at least not of your own free will." He tapped her headband twice, making her shiver. "This little device not only serves as a power nullifier, but it also controls the mind of whoever wears it. You will obey my every command, Ms. Mako, and you will use your powers to unleash my judgement upon mankind."

"And...what happens to me after you destroy mankind?" Gaia nervously asked, dreading the answer.

"I'm not expecting you to survive," he coldly stated. "But take comfort in knowing that your sacrifice will create a better world for your mutant friends."

Shredder left the table and gestured for Subprime to follow him to the door. "Come, Knight. We have much work to do."

"Donnie will come for me!" Gaia shouted, catching Shredder's attention. She flashed him a smug smirk. "And when he gets here, you'll be sorry you ever messed with me!"

Shredder chuckled and nodded. "Oh, he will come for you, alright, but I'm not the one who's going to be sorry." To Gaia's horror, he pulled out her Rolex watch from under his belt. He held it out for her to see before he completely crushed it in his hand. The gemstones, bits of glass, and gears clattered on the floor, and Gaia's amber eyes filled with tears as the two villains left her alone in the dark room.

She clenched her eyes shut as she laid her head back on the table, the hot tears flowing down her cold cheeks. "Donnie...I'm so sorry."

"Mghh...Gaia...sorry...'ove you...huh?"

Donnie's eyes slowly fluttered open as he reached for the warm pillow on his head. It felt awfully fluffy, almost like a...

"OW!"

He yelped when he felt sharp teeth bite down on his finger. The "pillow" jumped off his head and he sat upright, looking at his surroundings. To his dismay, he realized that he had fallen asleep on the kitchen counter waiting for Gaia to return. Celeste jumped to the floor and hissed at him before she dashed into the living room.

Donnie sighed and brushed the white fur off his head. "I hate it when she sleeps on my head," he grumbled. He glanced up at the clock and was shocked to learn that it was almost 10:00 pm.

"Gaia?" he called out again. "You home yet?"

No one answered back, and now Donnie was beginning to worry about his girlfriend. He pulled out his phone and tried calling her again.

And once again, it went straight to voicemail.

At that moment, Raph's words from last night echoed in his mind. "Don, what if something happens to her before you two get a chance to make up?"

"Oh, god..." Donnie's voice trembled as the realization slapped him hard in the face and the fear stabbed his heart. "What have I done? Gaia...!"

Gaia's been captured! Will Donnie save her before it's too late?! :0