As Donatello drove them home, Jenna felt him tremble in front of her a few times. She lightly squeezed his shoulder a few minutes later when they pulled up near the front door.

"Are you alright?" She asked him.

"I'll be fine Jen, don't worry." He assured her, even as he fought off another tremor.

"You've been shivering the whole way back."

"You don't need to worry until I stop shivering." He cracked with a grin. "Let's get inside."

Donatello headed straight for the Lab, knocking on the closed door.

"C'mon in." He heard Katherine call a moment later, and peered inside to find the woman sitting up beside Luke.

"Excuse me for a second - I just need to grab something." Donnie said apologetically, and Luke sat up further when he noticed him going for the meds.

"Hey, what are you looking for?" Luke called over.

"I just need the adrenal-heat."

"For who?"

"It's for me Doc - I just got a little cold up on the surface."

"What's your temperature?"

"Doc, don't fret about it. You can see I'm taking care of things." Donnie told him evenly as he unwrapped a new needle.

"Well you've gotta keep an eye on it over the next couple of hours too, okay?"

"Will do Doc."

While he was preparing the solution, Jenna ventured into the Lab to check on him as well.

"What's that?" She asked of the bottle he was dealing with.

"A newer formula that Doc and I worked on over the summer - it's designed to raise our core temperature in minutes. I want to eventually get it set up with an epi-pen style of delivery system, so that we could just carry it around easily with us." He explained to her, and then went ahead and injected himself.

"So you've tested it and all that?" She asked.

"No, I just thought I'd shoot up and hope for the best." He said seriously, and then laughed at the stricken look in her eyes. "I'm kidding Jen - we don't put anything into our blood stream if it hasn't been thoroughly tested."

She laughed with a little relief and threw her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry I got you so cold." She said with a playful whine, and he turned to kiss her.

"It was worth it babe."

"Mike was making ya something hot. Do you wanna stay here? I could bring it to you." She offered.

"Nah, Raph said something about a movie, I told him I'd be back. We should let these two be." He finished with a secret smile.

"Keep an eye on it!" Luke yelled after him as a reminder.

"I will Doc, take it easy alright? I'll come back and see you later."


Luke shook his head as Donnie and Jenna left the room.

"It's so hard letting go." He murmured to himself, and looked up at Katherine to see a pensive look in her amber eyes.

"What?" He asked curiously.

"I was just thinking. If the two of them have been able to make it work for this long...torn between families, two different continents, and the biggest physiological barrier I've ever seen...what exactly do I have to be so scared of?"

She reached for his right hand suddenly. "If they can make it, why can't we?"

"I didn't realize that was in question." Luke said quietly. "Is this just because of Thanksgiving?"

"That's part of it...I don't ever want to see anyone get hurt because of me Luke. But sometimes I'm scared of getting hurt too. And it's like the deeper we go, the less chance I have of coming out unscathed if..."

"If I change my mind? If you change your mind?"

"I don't know if I can change my mind."

"So you're worried that I will."

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "That's just it, things happen, people change. My father didn't start out as Hyde, not that I'm trying to insinuate that you're anything like him. I readily admit that it feels like irrational fear. Watching the two of them forced to face so many obstacles, I feel so ashamed for it. What I want is right in front of me, with very little complications except for the normal relationship/personality clashes. I'm not trying to make this more complicated. What I'm saying is I'm going to attempt to stop worrying so much, and start just trying to enjoy the ride."

"Kat, you've got to tell me what's going on in there. I don't share your super powers, remember? This isn't going to work if we can't be honest with each other, right?"

"Right." She answered softly.

"For instance, we've known each other for over two months...and if I'm being completely honest, I have to tell you that I think I'm falling in love with you." He said with a half smile.

She was so startled that it came out like that she nearly laughed, but fought to keep it down. Katherine rose carefully off the chair to reach him as he sat up further, leaning against the bed to keep her weight off of her left leg. She kissed him deeply, running a hand through his blond hair that had grown out more while he was in the hospital.

"I love you too."


The guys had made room on the couch for Donnie and Jenna, and they had only just started to relax when Mike returned with a tray.

"Figured you didn't need the caffeine, so I went with tea. Are you gettin' warm enough?" He asked Donnie as he pulled his arms out of the blanket to take the mug from him.

"Yeah - it's doing the trick, and this'll help too. Thanks."

"Your welcome. Now you too Jenna, I know you don't like the green stuff, so I fixed the raspberry special for you."

"Thanks Mikey."

He sat down on the other end of the couch and looked at Raphael over in the easy chair.

"Did you pick a movie?" He asked him.

"We've narrowed it down to two, Leo can make the final cut when he gets back, it's his turn."

Leonardo had left a few minutes ago to pick up Victoria from the van entrance. Another fifteen minutes passed before he and Victoria walked in the door, toting a few bags.

"What's all that Mom?" Jenna asked her.

"None of your business." She called back. "I need to go upstairs for awhile - no snooping."


Victoria went to work in the guest room, while Leonardo settled down in the living area with the others and cast his pick for the movie. It had been a little over an hour when Victoria set her packages aside and wandered onto the landing to see how things were going downstairs. A fond smile grew as she watched Jenna, enjoying every spare moment of happiness the girl was able to steal. She'd been so quiet that morning, obviously somewhat down when they had last spoken.

Victoria drew her sweater tighter around her shoulders, and fidgeted with her wedding band. The idea of not wearing it was still unthinkable. She walked back into the bedroom and sat down against the headboard, staring at the ceiling. The emptiness had bee threatening to consume her for days, and tonight was no exception. The time she had spent underground getting to know everyone had proved a helpful distraction, but Michael was by no means removed from her mind. Sometimes she ached for him so much that she could hardly breathe.

A light knock on the partially open door caused her to sit up slightly.

"Is it safe to come in?" Jenna asked.

"Uh huh, everything is wrapped." Victoria replied, and would have gotten up if Jenna hadn't motioned for her to stay. She darted over and climbed onto the bed with her. Victoria kissed her forehead and entwined both arms around her.

"Did you have an okay day?" She asked her.

"Tried to stay busy. Worked on some music with the guys. I'm still not sure about it, but I'm pushing forward anyway. How was yours?"

"Alright." Victoria said quietly, and Jenna looked at her to see if she would elaborate. When she didn't, Jenna nestled further against her.

"I miss him too Mom. I'm sorry."