(6 Months Later)


"Careful - real careful now, hold it steady." Donatello instructed his brothers as they carried Michelangelo between them, keeping his right leg stationary. "Good job not moving the knife. How are you holding up Mike?"

"I'm just great - now can you get it out?"

"You're lucky I stopped you Mikey, you're not 'spose to touch it until you get to help, right Donnie?" Raphael spoke up.

"Right Raph - can you bring him into the Lab so I can get a better look at how deep it is?"

Donatello went ahead of them to brush a few things off the table, and his brothers put him down under his watchful eye. He had stayed behind to work on debugging some camera issues that night when the others had left on patrol. They'd been gone for a little over an hour when he'd received the call that they were heading back immediately.

"Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and get this out Mikey. Can you guys help me for a minute maybe?" Donnie asked them.

"Sure Donnie, what can we do?" Leo spoke first.

"I need a good amount of gauze to help stop the bleeding. Just to be safe, grab a pint of negative out of the fridge, and get one of the IV units out of the closet."

Donatello very carefully removed the knife from his calf, setting it aside on a tray. He took just a few seconds to get a quick look at the wound before applying heavy pressure. It was deeper than he was expecting it to be, and already severely inflamed.

That's weird. It can't be infected that quickly. Maybe there's some kind of allergen involved here. I guess I should call Doc, tell him what's up.

He let Raphael take over pressure for him while he delved more seriously into Mike's vital information. Nothing was jumping out at him - his pulse was slightly elevated, but given the circumstances that didn't seem unusual. Still, he didn't like the look of that wound at all. He was probably going to need a very strong dose of the antibiotic.

Luke and Marcus had taken the girls away for a few days, a trip that April had actually begun planning over a year in advance. They'd wanted to cancel it altogether with it only being a month since losing Master Splinter, but the guys wouldn't hear of it. Donatello didn't want to call Luke about this at all, but he knew the man would kick his shell for it later if he didn't at least check in.

Donatello got him on the second ring, explained the situation, and then tried to assure Luke that he didn't need to return to the city for it. He answered all the questions Doc came up with for several minutes, hoping to satisfy the man. He was just filing his closing argument and trying to get off the phone.

"Yes, it is a nasty puncture Luke, the wound itself is already inflamed, it needs to be irrigated. Now that the bleeding is under control, that was going to be my next task. Listen, I've got a handle on this, I don't want you rushing back here to do some stitches. I can close him up on my own."

Raphael had been cautiously eyeing Mike over the last fifteen minutes as he become increasingly uneasy and seemed a little flustered. He was about to assure him it would be alright for the 20th time, when his brother's eyes suddenly rolled back.

"Donnie?" Raph called out questioningly, and then shot upright to his feet a second later when Mike was seized with a violent tremor that didn't seem to want to let go.

"DONNIE!"

He glanced over from the desk, nearly dropping the phone in his haste to get his scanner and get over to them. "Doc I gotta go, I'll call you back!" He exclaimed, hanging up without even waiting for a response.

Mike was still shuddering, and Leo and Raph seemed to be absolutely frozen.

"What's goin' on?" Raphael asked anxiously.

"He's having a seizure - I need you guys to hold him down! It's gonna be alright, we just have to let him ride it out!"

"What are you saying?"

"I can't stop it, but it won't last! Just hold him down so he doesn't fall or hurt himself!"

Raphael and Leonardo did as they were told to try and ease the thrashing, while Donatello swiftly took vital information again, and tried to mask his own confusion from the others.

"Donnie..." Raphael started again when another minute had passed, and it was continuing.

"Don't panic Raph, it's gonna be over soon. Just keep it together."

Raphael swallowed hard to hold back tears and received a reassuring glance from Leonardo. It was yet another minute before the seizure finally quit, and he went absolutely still.

"Mike?" Donnie called over him. "Do you hear me? Give me a sign, something."

"Donnie what's wrong with him?" Raphael demanded when he didn't respond.

"I don't know yet." He answered simply, stopping to take a look at his pupils. "Can you guys stick with him over here? I need to digest his vitals again. When he comes around he might be disoriented, confused...he might not know what happened at all. Reassure him, try to keep him calm, and I'm gonna get on this."

They nodded wordlessly, just as he felt like his head was starting to spin. This didn't make any sense at all. The vital picture he was looking at now was dramatically changed from the scan he'd taken only a few minutes ago. He made a rapid list to take back to Luke, while going through the circumstances in his own head that could cause such a rapid onset of symptoms.

Mike was stirring now, opening eyes that seemed to stare directly into space. He blinked several times as if having a difficult time, and his breath seemed to catch in his chest. When he didn't release it immediately, Leonardo bent over him.

"Mike? Are you okay?"

"W...Why can't I see anything?" He murmured.

"What?"

"I...I can't see. What happened?" His voice clearly trembled.

"Don!" Raphael called sharply again, and he hurried back over.

"Donnie...where are you?" Mike asked him.

"I'm right here Mikey - I'm gonna take another look at you for a second." He examined his pupils a second time, and tried to comfort him. "I don't want you to panic, this is temporary."

"Why would I panic? I'm only blind."

"You've got to try and relax for me Mike, I swear I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Can you take longer breathes?"

"No...it's hard..."

"Leo, grab me the Oxi." He told his older brother, and quickly set it up for Mike.

"Why are you so far away?" Mike asked softly.

"I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere. I do need to call Doc back, but I'll still be in the room."

"Donnie don't leave me."

"I'm not, I'm not leaving, and Leo and Raph are here too."

Raphael seemed to snap to attention at that, immediately grabbing his younger brother's hand. "Can you feel that Mikey?"

"Uh huh."

"Then you know I'm here...it's gonna be okay."


Donatello sprinted across the room, adding the new symptom to the growing list, and quickly called Luke back.

"What the heck?" Luke demanded.

"Sorry Doc, Mike had a seizure, and now he's displaying all these symptoms he didn't have half an hour ago!"

"Such as?"

"He's having trouble breathing, his temperature is spiking, pulse is through the roof, pupils are enlarged...do you want me to go on? He just came back around a couple minutes ago, says that he can't see!"

"That could be related to the seizure--"

"I figured that, but why would he even have one?"

"Donnie, this sounds like a reaction to some kind of toxin. You need to take a blood sample and start analyzing it right away. You'd better find out exactly where and what your brothers were doing tonight. If it's environmental, they all could have been exposed!"

Donatello was listening to Luke, but his gaze had been resting on Mike's injured calf. "Or maybe not." He said mechanically. "Doc, hang on a second."

"Don't you dare hang up again!"

"I'm not, I need to talk to the guys! Hold on." He put the phone down on the desk and called for their attention. "Who did you tangle with tonight, you said they belonged to a gang? Which one was it?"

"Uh...Dagos, they were Dagos." Leo answered, surprised by the reaction it elicited from Donatello. He had staggered backward slightly, as if physically ill himself.

"What is genius? What's with the Dagos?" Raphael asked him.

"I heard the tail end of a report on TV last week. It was just on in the background, I hadn't really been paying attention to it. I just remember something about people ending up in the hospital because of Dagos, related to poison somehow. Darn it, I didn't even think of that until just now!"

"What are you saying, how were they poisoned?" Leo pursued.

"It has to be the blade." Donatello said emphatically, carefully retrieving it by the handle. "They must have treated it with something - and whatever that is must be causing this." He carried it back over to the desk, and asked one of his brothers to turn off the overhead lights so he could check something with his infrared lamp. "Turn it back on." He called flatly, and the picked up the waiting cellphone.

"Doc, I'm sorry, I know the source now, but not the type! Those morons have started poisoning their blades!"

"Can you safely get a sample off it?"

"I think so."

"Start analysis, and treat whatever symptoms that you can! Marc and I will be there as fast as possible!"


Mike had been fading in and out of consciousness and lucid thought. He was talking less, and not responding to outward stimuli supplied by Leonardo and Raphael, as his breathing became increasingly labored.

"Donnie, is there something we should be doing to help you?" Leo called to him.

"You're already doing it." He replied. "Keep him as calm as possible, talk to him whether you think he understands it or not. If you notice anything else unusual, let me know right away. If he has another seizure--"

"You think he's gonna have another one?" Raphael interrupted.

"It's a possibility Raph. Look, the docs are coming, but they're a good three hours out! We're not gonna be able to just put a lid on this until then. I can't be in two places at once, meaning I can't get a fix on this poison and keep a hand on him at the same time. I need your help, can you guys do this? Can you hold it together for me?"

"We can, and we will." Leonardo answered firmly.

Raphael nodded with yet another swallow.

When Mike trembled again a couple minutes later they both tensed, but it didn't last this time. His breathing however had slackened somewhat more, and he was forced to push harder to get it out. His obvious turmoil distressed Leonardo and Raphael greatly. As many times as one of their lives had been threatened, they'd never been this closely involved before.

Leonardo lightly stroked his younger brother's forehead, trying to soothe him the only way he knew how.

"Sensei..." Mike gasped. "Where are you?"

Leo and Raph exchanged a stricken look, and Raphael openly winced.

"He's uh...he's not here Mikey. But we are, me and Leo, we're not going anywhere." He told him gently again.

"I ca-can't...hardly breathe." He said with difficulty, slowly closing heavy eyes again.


Both brothers were shocked when Donatello suddenly bolted upright from the computer about ten mintues later, and dashed into the adjoining closet. He quickly returned, dragging the respirator with him.

"Donnie, what's happened? Do you know what it is?" Leo asked.

"Yes! Let me just get him hooked up and I'll explain." He answered. Mike didn't have a clue what was going on around him, and was fighting Donnie hard from inserting the tube.

"Guys hold him down, I have to get this in!" He urged the others. They got him from both sides immediately, but it only solved the thrashing - he was still making it impossible for Donnie to get the tube properly in his throat.

"Hon'in nou sono temae hia touhou. Shuushi kono, orera ketsubou tame fujo." Leonardo quietly said over him.

His glassy stare didn't seem to focus, but his body relaxed almost immediately, and he allowed Donatello to get the respirator in.

Donatello exhaled sharply, wiping beads of sweat away from his eyes. "Thanks."

"What is it Donnie? Tell us." Raphael said as calmly as he could manage.

"Don't leave anything out." Leonardo added.

"The knife blade was laced with snake venom, that part wasn't hard to figure out. I spent the last few minutes trying to determine what type we're dealing with. It's your standard cobra, so we're in a bad news/good news type of situation."

"How can there be good news in that?" Raphael asked. "Would some kind of antivenin help?"

"Not at this point it wouldn't, and we don't have access to that anyway. There's a very limited time frame from the instant that someone is envemoninated in which the antivenin can be be successfully administered, and we're way past that window."

"So the good news is what?" Raphael repeated.

"The good news is that since we have a respirator in place, we should be able to wait him out until the toxins can be filtered out of his system. Cobra venom works by blocking the receptor sites on the diaphragm muscle, disrupting and eventually paralyzing it so that you stop breathing altogether. The paralysis isn't permanent, so as long as we have a method of life support for him in the meantime, it should hold him until he can breathe on his own."

"So that's it? He's on that thing, and he'll be okay?" Leo asked.

"I can't guarantee that there won't be any more complications, but yes, I'm certain this is the right thing to do for him. It also means that it's safe for me to go ahead and start him on a couple of other IV's, without having to worry about drug interactions."

"What are you puttin' him on?" Raph asked.

"I'm going heavy on the tetrozine to fend off secondary infection, and I'll start hydralin to see if I can get his temperature to start coming down to a better place. Please just stay where you are with him for the moment. If he wakes up we've got to keep him under control so that the respirator stays in, I don't want to risk throwing a sedative in there right now."