"B-but I saw him! He was standing right here! I saw him! Don't you believe me?" A look of sadness flashed through Leo's eyes. "Mikey, I'm sorry. I just… I can't…" A dark figure's drifting through the woods at Casey's grandma's house. Mikey's the only one to notice it and he has a growing feeling it wants something… and it won't leave until it has it… (2K3 TMNT)

"Raph! Raph wake up!"

With a shake of his shoulder, Raph was dragged out of his sleep by one of his pestering brothers. He briefly wondered if he broke his alarm clock again and was late for practice before the night before came rushing back into his memory. Holding back an annoyed growl, he blinked slowly, eyes roaming for the source that disturbed his slumber. The light in the room was dim but it didn't take long for his eyes to adjust and find Don shaking his shoulder.

"Rise and shine." Don's voice came more clearly now Raph was awake and soon his brother came into a fuller view as he moved from behind Raph to across from him on the other side of the bed.

"Sleep well?" Don asked lightheartedly. Raph felt annoyed that despite the lack of sleep Don seemed well-rested and wide awake. The genius was too much of an early bird for his liking. The one thing he could agree with Mikey on was that early mornings suck.

Slowly coming back to the land of the living, Raph realized he was leaning on Mikey's temporary bed, head pillowed on his arms. He sat up and grimaced as his stiff neck popped. He stretched his arms up and yawned before making a face at the tension of the muscles under his shell. His back hurt from sleeping in such an awkward position.

"Never better," Raph muttered sarcastically, stretching his aching back some more. "We leavin'?"

"Not quite," Don told him. "Casey called and said he'll be here in about fifteen minutes. We need to get Mikey moving."

At the mention of his sick youngest brother, Raph's attention turned from Don towards Mikey's prone form. The blankets were still pulled up to his chin. In his sleep, Mikey's brow was pulled into a deep crease of discomfort. His skin was pallid but a sheen of sweat covered him, indicating his fever had lowered.

"His fever has gone down from last night," Don confirmed for Raph. "It's still high but it's gone down at least. I'm worried though. He hasn't had any liquids since before we left and whatever he did drink he probably threw up on the way here. If we don't get him to keep some liquids down, we're going to run into some major problems. Last night I just wanted him to get some rest but he needs to try to get some water down."

"No time's better than the present," Raph replied. "We need ta get him up anyway."

"Yeah, I guess." Don agreed with a sigh.

Raph reached out and shook Mikey's shoulder. At first, he didn't stir but Raph pushed a little harder. "Mike. Wake up, Mikey."

Suddenly a soft moan broke from their younger brother. His heavy eyelids pried themselves open enough to barely be able to see. Mikey blinked slowly, not too concerned with Raph's forcefulness.

"How ya feelin' bro?" Raph asked, trying to keep him awake.

"Tired," Mikey mumbled. His eyes drifted closed again.

"Raph, help me get him up," Don told him.

Mikey shook with effort as they helped him sit up. He groaned as he slumped forward, barely having the strength to stay upright. Don let go of Mikey as soon as he was upright. Raph scooted onto the bed, bringing his arm around Mikey's shoulder as he attempted to keep his brother sitting upright.

Mikey moaned, licking his chapped lips. "Thirsty."

"That's what I have this for." Don picked up the water bottle on the nightstand. Their youngest brother asking for water must have been music to Donnie's ears. Mikey eyed the bottle greedily and licked his dry lips again. Don brought the bottle to Mikey's lips and Mikey brought his hand up over Don's as he took a large gulp of water. Don immediately jerked the bottle back before Mikey could take another drink.

"Slow Mikey. I know you're thirsty but you need to take it easy. I don't want you to throw up again. Small sips."

Mikey gave a weak nod and the bottle was brought back to his lips. He sipped slowly though Raph could tell by his tense form and thirsty gleam in his eyes, Mikey wanted to tear the bottle out of Don's hand and gulp the whole thing down.

Mikey whimpered painfully halfway through the bottle and shifted stiffly. He closed his eyes tightly and let out labored pants of hot breath. Preparing for the worst, Don immediately drew the bottle away. He tensed up, ready to jump out of the way in case the water decided to make a reappearance. "What's wrong Mikey?"

"M'fine. Jus' achy." Mikey explained in his scratchy voice. He shifted uncomfortably, curling in on himself. "My whole body hurts. Like the day after Sensei's double training when we get grounded. That type of hurt."

"Considering you walked almost two miles last night with a fever, I'm sure it does," Don replied lightly. "Anything else? Headache?"

"Yeah," Mikey muttered, opening his eyes again to squint at Don. "Throbbing one."

"Alright." Don nodded. "I'll get you some acetaminophen. That should help alleviate your fever too. Raph, stay with him."

"Got it," Raph grunted in agreement.

Don left, leaving Raph alone with Mikey. Mikey's eyes were closing again and Raph shook his shoulder slightly. "Hey Mikey, ya gotta stay awake for a while."

Mikey grunted then whined. "I'm so tired."

"I know," Raph said. "You can sleep in the van."

"You guys ready?"

The new voice startled Raph and he turned to find Leo standing in the doorway. He looked awake and alert but Raph could tell by his stance he was still tired. Heck, all of them were still tired.

"Not quite Fearless." Raph greeted. "Don went ta get Mike some pain meds. We're going slow."

"How are you feeling Mikey?" Leo addressed his baby brother, taking a step into the room.

Mikey's eyes were already drooping shut again as he slumped forward in the bed. He grunted and opened his eyes a little wider at the mention of his name but he was quickly becoming unable to stay awake. "Hmmm.."

"I don't think yer gonna get much outta Mike this morning," Raph answered for his brother. Mikey looked so tired Raph didn't bother shaking him awake again. "Shell, he's still exhausted even though he slept the night through."

Leo nodded and smiled knowingly at him.

"What?" Raph asked gruffly, annoyed with Leo's sudden mischievousness.

"I thought you were telling me off for staying with Mikey all night. Then you did the exact thing you called me out for." Leo replied. He shook his head. "You're such a hypocrite Raphael."

"Hey, whoa, back up," Raph said, holding up his hand. "Ya carried Mike for a whole block and up the manhole to get here. I know that ain't no walk in the park. I didn't do shell. Ya needed the rest bro. I was fine."

"Well, I won't argue with that," Leo replied playfully. His look suddenly turned serious. "I just hope this isn't one of those things that gets worse before it gets better."

"Stop bein' a worrywart Leo," Raph told him. "This is Mikey. Y'know he bounces back quicker than a yoyo. He'll be his usual annoying' self in no time."

"I know. I just get this feeling-"

"Hold up." Raph held up a hand to stop him. "Nope. We ain't doin' this. Whenever someone starts talking' about feelin' weird something weird happens. We're just going to the farmhouse, waitin' out the Foot, and gettin' Mikey betta'. There ain't gonna be any crap happening this time. I refuse."

"Okay, okay." Leo submitted. He sighed. "I'm being paranoid. And it's probably for all the reasons you just said."

"That's better," Raph told him. "This time there ain't gonna be any weird stuff."

The three-hour car ride to North Hampton was eventless for the most part besides stopping for gas an hour in. The gas mileage of the van was probably the worst out of all vehicles made in the history of humankind (or turtlekind). Don officially declared he was taking a look at it when they got to the farmhouse to see if he couldn't do something about the inefficient system. Knowing Don, it probably would end up not even running on fuel anymore.

The early March temperatures were melting patches of snow, leaving the naked dormant earth visible. It seemed to be one of the warmest temperatures outside all year. Despite it being one of the warmest days it was still in the cool 50's, meaning they hurried inside of the antique house as fast as they could for Mikey's comfort rather than their own.

They settled him on the couch as they had to get the beds upstairs made before anyone could sleep up there. They learned the last time they came to the farmhouse that leaving the bedding out on the beds for months between visits was not a good idea. In the old house, it was easy for mice to get in and comforters and bed sheets made a perfect nest for a mouse. Needless to say, they now brought bedding with them every time they came, meaning the beds were not currently ready to be slept in.

Splinter was watching over Mikey and after unloading the van of the bags, Casey and April drove off to find the nearest town to buy some groceries. Don went to check the heating system before they started the fire downstairs. The last time they had been at the farmhouse Don had done some repairs on it and he wanted to make sure things were still functioning correctly. Leo and Raph headed upstairs to make the beds and it didn't take long for them to get most of the beds made.

Leo helped Raph straighten the quilt on the last of the beds. "We should probably do a quick check around the farm after this. Just to make sure nothing's out of place."

Raph nodded as he sat down on the bed. "Yeah. Don'll probably want to come too. He said he was going to bring some of them security cameras with him."

Leo looked at Raph, taking a seat next to him. "Why'd he do that?"

"Said he needed to try them out. He upgraded them or something." Raph said. "'Cept he didn't have time to put 'em up back home."

The stairs creaked and Leo and Ralph glanced over toward the other side of the room. Don peeked out around the corner. "The heat's up and ready to run. Casey's lighting a fire soon. You guys done yet?"

"Just finished," Leo said. "We should bring Mikey up here. It would be a lot more comfortable than the couch."

"Then let's move it before he falls asleep on us downstairs," Raph said, standing up.

They walked down, the floorboards creaking under their feet. Splinter was sitting in the armchair across from Mikey who was wrapped up and dozing on the couch.

"Too late Raph," Don whispered as they all came to ground level. "Now what?"

"Let's wake him up later," Leo said. "He needs sleep. Raph mentioned you have some cameras to set up Donnie?"

"Yeah. I was going to set them up just to see how they would work in the sewers." Donnie said. "Maybe we can catch some wildlife on camera too."

"Let's go do that then," Leo said. "We need to do a perimeter check anyway. Are you okay watching over Mikey for a while, Sensei?"

Splinter nodded. "Yes, my son."

"Thanks, Sensei."

With that, they headed outside.

"This set-up should give us a nice view around the perimeter."

Don finished putting up the last camera, securing it to the tree branch it was on, and making sure it was sufficiently hidden.

"What's so special about these cameras Donnie?" Raph asked, looking up at Don from the ground. "Dontcha already got a bunch of them around back home?"

"These are more advanced Raph. I've been meaning to set them up for a long time now but never got around to it. More important things kept getting in the way." Don said.

Don continued. "The last ones were just plain old cameras with infrared. These can zoom in and they have audio on them. They're smaller and have motion sensing. That way we don't have to wait for the perimeter alarm to go off before knowing something's out in the sewers. I have them set up to send me a message on my devices when it detects something moving. However, I need to adjust them so they don't send me a message every time, say, a rat walks by. Hence, that's what I'm trying to work out while we're here."

Don smoothly jumped off the branch he was clinging to as he finished his mini-lecture and landed on the ground without a sound.

"Anything else we have to do?" Raph asked.

"That's it." Don said. "I should be able to pull their feed up on my tablet back at the house."

"We should probably just get back to the house then," Leo said. "Casey and April will be back soon. We should help bring in groceries."

"Sounds good," Raph said.

They made their way back to the house and went inside, careful to keep the floor from getting wet. Making April mad by dirtying the floor wasn't going to do them any favors.

Mikey was still on the couch but their sensei was nowhere to be seen. Leo called out. "Sensei?"

"I am in the kitchen, Leonardo." Splinter called back. He appeared shortly in the doorway with a cup of tea in his hands.

"Mikey wake up yet, Master Splinter?" Raph asked.

Splinter crossed the room to take a seat in the armchair again. "Not yet, my son."

"We really should get him upstairs into a real bed soon," Don said. "Otherwise, he's going to be sore from sleeping on that old couch."

"Let him rest Donatello." Splinter said. "I believe Michelangelo's had trouble sleeping as of late. You and your brothers can move him upstairs once he wakes up."

The sound of car doors slamming outside tore them out of their conversation. They all turned to look out the window to see April and Casey outside, getting out of the van.

"Let's go help April and Casey bring in the groceries guys," Leo said.

"Sounds good to me," Raph said.

The three of them left the house once more and headed for the parked van. April's face brightened when she saw them coming to the back to help.

"Thanks, guys!" April said as she handed a bag to Casey. "We won't even have to make two trips now."

"No problem, April," Donnie said, grabbing his own bag. His eyes scanned the multiple bags of food. Not only were they feeding seven people, but four of them were also teenage boys. What's more, is it wasn't the first time she had done it. Every time they came up to Northampton, Casey and April would have to do the shopping for seven people. It had to be at least a little suspicious. "Does anyone ever ask why you guys need so much food.?"

"You know Don, the cashier did ask if it was a special occasion," April said. "I told her Casey had some family in town. It's not really far from the truth."

Don laughed.

They made their way back inside and dropped their bags off in the kitchen. April began putting the groceries away and Casey insisted on helping her. Seeing as any more of them in the kitchen would just be a nuisance, the boys once again moved to the living room.

Leo looked around the room. There wasn't much else to be done for the moment. Until Mikey woke up, they had to keep themselves busy. "Well, now we have everything settled, what should we do now?"

"I believe I can answer that, my sons."

The three of them turned to find their master smiling slightly at them with the tell-tale gleam in his eyes. "We have yet to complete your morning training and today is becoming such a beautiful day outside..."

"HIYAH!"

Don had to admit, practice was a lot less fun without Michaelangelo.

Their most sporadic brother brought a lighthearted balance to the more serious nature of the rest of their family. At times Mikey could be annoying but when he was gone, Don found himself missing him immediately.

With Mikey sick, training revolved around sparring, individual weapons training, and reviewing their mastered katas. Master Splinter didn't like for any of them to get too far ahead of each other in their katas. Mikey already had two days of the current kata they were working on to catch up on. They probably wouldn't be having any more moves added to their current kata or any special lessons until Mikey was better.

Master Splinter gave a kiai, signaling for them to perform the next move of their current kata they were reviewing. They all moved forward with the next move, returning their own kiai in unison to Master Splinter. "HIYAH!"

They all landed in a front stance and held their positions as Master Splinter circled back in front of them. He bowed. "That will be all for today."

Don bowed with his other two brothers in unison and spoke together. "Thank you Sensei."

They followed their Sensei back to the front door, as they had been doing their training in the front yard. Sensei walked in first followed by Raph and Leo, Donnie taking the caboose of their train. Donnie closed the door behind him, blocking out the cold air. His skin buzzed at the balmy temperature of the room and his eyes immediately caught the burning fire in the fireplace on the other side of the room. Finally, the heat had caught up.

"Whoa, something smells good," Raph said seconds after they stepped inside.

Don took a deep breath himself and sighed at the smell of cooking food. His stomach rumbled gently with hunger. None of them had had time for breakfast that morning and it was almost lunchtime.

April must have heard the door close behind them. She called to them from the other room "Food's in the kitchen! Lunch is ready if you guys want to eat!"

"Thanks, April!" Leo called back.

Don turned in curiosity as Splinter broke off from their gathering in front of the door and glided into the living room. He stopped in front of Mikey's sleeping form on the couch and brushed a hand gently on the youngest's forehead. "Go eat, my sons. I wish to sit with Michelangelo for a while."

The implied word was alone. None of them needed to be told twice. They wasted no time hurrying to the kitchen. Don heard the sound of April humming and the scent of food became heavy in the air as they entered the kitchen.

"What'd you make April?" Don asked as he stepped into the room after his brothers. April turned over her shoulder from where she was rearranging the cupboards.

"Nothing fancy. Canned soup and grilled cheese" She replied. She gestured to the gas stove where two pots sat. A plate of the sandwiches sat next to the stove. On the other side sat some bowls, plates, and spoons, ready for serving. "I made tomato and chicken noodle."

"This is great April," Leo said. He and Raph went straight for the food. "Thanks."

"No problem." She said. "Casey and I already ate. He went out the back to work on bringing some wood to the house from the barn. We're completely empty here."

"We'll help him after we're done eating," Leo said as he came to sit at the table next to Raph with his food. "The more hands, the faster it gets done."

Don got his own bowl and sandwich and it down at the table next to Leo. However, he didn't sit. "I'm going to see if Sensei wants anything."

Leo and Raph both nodded. Don left the room and walked into the living room again. Splinter was still standing next to Mikey, gently adjusting the blankets wrapping their youngest.

"Sensei?" Donnie called to him.

Splinter turned and looked up. "Yes, Donatello?"

"April made food," Don said. "Would you like some?"

Splinter hummed. "Perhaps just a cup of tea, for now, Donatello. I will eat a little later."

Don nodded. "Yes, Master Splinter."

Don left and went back into the kitchen, crossing over to the stove.

"Do you need any help getting anything for Sensei, Don?" Leo asked from the table.

Don shook his head and grabbed the kettle off the stove. "Sensei just wants some tea for now."

"Ya gonna eat yourself, brainiac?" Raph questioned from his place at the table next to Leo. Both he and Leo were already halfway through their meal.

Don rolled his eyes. "Yes, Raph. Just let me get this on the stove."

Don filled the kettle with water from the sink. After lighting a burner on the old stove, Don set the tea kettle on the burner. He pulled out the needed materials to prepare tea before he turned back to his older brothers. He walked back to the table and sat down in front of his cooling meal. Don gave Raph a pointed look before taking a bite of his sandwich, chewed slowly, and swallowed. "Happy?"

Raph grunted noncommittally. Leo gave a light laugh.

Don slowly started in on his meal. Raph and Leo were done soon after he started eating and both dropped their dishes in the sink. They sped off to the outdoors after another hurried thanks to April for the meal. April busied herself with reorganizing the shelves and checking what they had stocked up for the time being.

It was almost when Don was done with his meal that the tea kettle started to whistle. He stood and went to the stove, taking the kettle off of the burner. Don was halfway done pouring the hot water into a teacup for Splinter when the sound of coughing came from the other room.

"It sounds like Mikey's awake," April said from where she had started to wash the dishes.

"I'll go check." Don quickly picked up Splinter's cup and made his way to the living room.

Splinter was still at the head of the youngest, now kneeling on the hardwood floor. He had a hand on the youngest's forehead. Mikey was still sleeping from what Don could see but he seemed to be stirring, shifting a little on the couch. Donnie approached quietly and held out the teacup for his master to take. Splinter took it with a nod of thanks. "Is he awake Master Splinter?"

"Not quite, my son." Splinter said. "I believe he is waking up."

Don extended his own hand to rest on Mikey's brow. He felt a little tension leave him. "His fever feels like it went down a little."

As if sensing him, Mikey let out a soft groan and a few soft coughs. His eyes struggled to flutter open. Don looked down at him. "Mikey? You awake?"

Mikey blinked sluggishly. He hummed. "Mm-hmm."

"How are you feeling?" Don asked.

Mikey pushed the blanket pulled up to his neck down a little, clearing his throat. "Kinda warm. Tired."

"Anything else? Any problems breathing or weird pains?" Don asked, trying to fish more out of his brother.

Mikey shook his head, bringing an arm up to cover a few heavy coughs. "My throat tickles. Feel like I need to cough."

"Okay. I think April picked up some cough drops at the store. I can get you some." Don said.

"Think…" Mikey trailed off, face pinching with thought for a few seconds. "I think I'm kinda hungry."

"You're hungry?" Don asked skeptically. Mikey hadn't had much of an appetite for the last few days.

Mikey looked at him with sleepy eyes but nodded anyway. Don couldn't help giving him a smile.

"How's soup sound?" Don asked. "Do you think you can stomach some chicken soup?"

"Yeah." Mikey rasped. He gave Don a muted grin back but it was a shadow of his usual wide smile. However, any smile right now from Mikey was an achievement.

Don nodded. "Good. That's good. How about I also get you some medicine?"

"Water too?" Mikey said. He coughed once and pressed his hand to his chest.

"Definitely," Don said. He stood again. "I'll be back soon. Don't fall asleep on me."

Mikey nodded. "Kay."

Don turned back to Master Splinter who sat quietly through the whole conversation. "Would you like me to bring you anything else Sensei? I'll bring you in a chair from the kitchen so you can be more comfortable."

"That will be much appreciated, Donatello." Splinter said, as he slowly and stiffly pushed himself to his feet. "Thank you, my son."

A short trip back to the kitchen and Don was carrying a wooden chair in one arm and a bowl of soup with the other. A bottle of Nyquil and a bag of cough drops were tucked into his belt as well. He set the chair down where Master Splinter had been kneeling and Splinter took his place by Mikey's head once again.

"You're not going to do the whole 'here comes the airplane' schtick are you Donnie?" Mikey asked, shifting on the couch as if he was preparing to sit up. "I can feed myself."

"Well, if you insist on doing it on your own..." Don said playfully.

Mikey nodded.

Don smiled. "Okay then, let's sit you up."

Master Splinter took the warm bowl of soup from Don as Don helped Mikey get upright. They went slowly as Mikey was stiff, just as Don predicted he would be if he slept on the couch. Don wrapped the blanket Mikey had pushed down to his feet around his brother's shoulders.

"Do you think you can get some medicine down before you eat?" Don asked, pulling the Nyquil and cough drops out of his belt. He set the bag on the end table but began unscrewing the cap to the bottle before Mikey even answered.

Mikey stifled a cough into his fist. "Yeah."

"Okay." Don measure out the medicine before handing the cup to Mikey. Mikey threw it back like a shot, making a face as he handed the cup back to Don.

Mikey eyed Don pleadingly. "Water?"

"Oh, shoot." Don said, realizing he had forgotten the water. "I'll get you some real quick."

Splinter held the bowl of soup out for Mikey to take. "The soup should help with the taste, Michelangelo."

Mikey took the bowl with shaky hands, nodding. Don watched as he shakily brought the spoon in the bowl to his mouth. With how unsteady Mikey was, Don almost felt like he should be doing the whole airplane schtick as Mikey had dubbed it.

However, if Mikey was feeling well enough to eat and feed himself, he wasn't going to push it. Mikey was obviously feeling better than the night before. He looked better too. He wasn't so pale and the flush of fever no longer dusted his cheeks.

Don still felt a little worried despite the positive turn in Mikey's health. Mikey was feeling better but he was still feeling bad enough not to protest the medicine. That was that deal-breaker. You knew Mikey was actually sick, the kind of sick you were in bed all day sleeping for when he didn't complain about taking medicine.

Still, Don smiled as Mikey swallowed another spoonful of soup. "I'll go get that glass of water now."

Splinter nodded and answered for Mikey. "Thank you, Donatello."

"You're welcome." Don nodded and spun on his heel to leave. He walked to the kitchen, feeling lighter than he had the whole morning.

Maybe things were getting better.

Back in New York the streets were as busy and bustling as ever. Though it was daylight, shadows drifted on the roofs. Specifically, the roofs near a small antique store. However, only one murmured into a phone, in urgent robotic tones.

"The creatures have changed their location, just as you suspected sir. The intel team has tracked them upstate." She said. "They're in the mouse trap."

"Proceed as planned, Miss X." The suave voice on the other end of the line said. "We will move the operation tonight."