"Danny?!" Casey turned around at the sound of April's yell. There was a young boy in the closet of the sewer hideout.

Apparently his name is Danny.

"Don't shoot!" Danny shouted, trying to protect his face by turning away.

Shoot? Pretty sure that's a sword, short stuff.

"I don't think it's loaded, kid." Raph scoffed, speaking Casey's thoughts. April stepped in to pull the kid out of the closet. "Danny, what are you doing here?"

She knows this guy?

"Hey, where'd he come from?" Mikey questioned. "Beats me." Donnie answered.

"I-I ran away from home.." Danny said sheepishly.

"Oh God, you're father's gonna have kittens!" April exclaimed, quickly placing her hand on the kid's cheek and walking briskly towards the old pay phone in the corner, almost knocking Danny over in the process. "Does this thing work?"

The kid was quick to follow her; frantic about something. "No, no! Please don't call, just- just let me stay here the night with you."

Stay the night? Oh hell no.

"We can call him in the morning, I promise." Danny pleaded as April sighed, shaking his head at him. "Danny, listen. Your dad-"

"H-Hold on, hold it, hold it. Okay?" Casey looked at both of them. "Now, what is all this talk about spending the night down here?" Donnie stepped in and interrupted Casey's question.

"You're a claustrophobic!"

That's it. This green freak is gonna get it.

Donnie chuckled mockingly as Casey shot daggers at him. "You want a fist in the mouth?" He threatened, a small piece of wood at the ready to beat Donnie into submission. April stepped closer in case things escalated. Donatello held his hands up and shook his head.

"I never even looked at another guy before." Casey stated, taking a step toward the purple-masked turtle, who was now trying not to laugh.

"What he means is that you're afraid of enclosed areas." April explained as Donnie continued to laugh.

"Afraid? What, me?" Casey looked around at everyone. They were all trying not to laugh at him.

Traitors.

"Is that what you think?"

Donatello smugly nodded in agreement. "Ah. Hey, I don't have to take this stuff about bein' afraid." Casey stood his ground while walking backwards towards the exit, running into a light fixture on the way.

Don't make a fool of yourself, Jones.

"I'm gonna sleep in the truck." He turned to leave when April spoke up. "Casey, come on. Just stay here, okay? It'll be fine. Donnie will stop bugging you, right Don?" She asked him.

Donnie tried to hide his smile and nodded. "Sure, I'll lay off. Just don't wake us up with your crying tonight." He laughed but was quickly interrupted by Casey chasing him around the hideout. "You big, ugly, green piece of-!"

"Alright! Okay, that's enough, boys!" April stood between them. "We need to get some rest." The two boys finally gave it up and everyone got ready for bed.

The turtles slept in their own "rooms" which were smaller caves along the sewer walls. April slept on the couch in the main room while Casey slept on the floor by the wall. It had been a few hours since everyone fell asleep, and Casey was still tossing and turning.

Come on, Casey. It's just a sewer. Go to sleep.

He slowly looked around at the hideout and in the dark it seemed like the walls were getting smaller. His breath quickened as the room got darker and the walls continued to shrink.

Get a grip, you sissy. You're not gonna embarrass yourself like this. Close your eyes and go to sleep.

Still breathing heavily, Casey closed his eyes and tried to relax. Behind his closed eyes he still saw the room shrinking; getting so small that the walls almost touched his arms and head. He laid still for a few minutes, trying his hardest to fall asleep, but it was getting to be too much for him to bear.

God... stop, please..

His body begged his mind to stop tormenting him, but to no avail. He was almost at the point of hyperventilating as he sat up against the wall and hugged his knees, cursing himself for acting like a scared child. His shaking hands ran through his long dark hair, his chest rising and falling rapidly as his heart pounded in his ears.

Please stop please I can't I can't get out the walls are closing I'm gonna die here-

"Casey?" A quiet voice startled him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Donatello standing outside of his room, watching him. Casey looked away and kept trying to control his breathing. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm... fine.. I don't need you... making f-fun of me... r-right now.." He struggled to speak clearly through his gasping.

"You're not fine, and I'm not gonna make fun of you." Donnie whispered. "Come with me." He carefully helped Casey up and led him to Donnie's room. He sat Casey down on his bed and knelt down in front of him. "Okay, Casey. Look at me."

Casey looked up at Donnie, his chest tightening even more. He was hyperventilating and couldn't talk.

"Alright Casey, you gotta slow down your breathing, okay? Everything is okay." Donnie said calmly. Casey nodded quickly and tried to take deep breaths. He made very little progress as his chest tightened even more. He put his hand on his chest as his wheezing got louder.

icantbreatheicantbreatheICANTBREATHE-

Tears welled up in his eyes and he turned away quickly as they ran down his cheeks. He whimpered as he struggled to take even the smallest breath.

"Hey hey hey.. it's alright. Look at me, Casey." Donnie gently turned Casey's face towards him and looked into his eyes. "You need to breathe. Breathe with me, okay?" He took a deep breath in, and let it out to demonstrate. "Just like I do."

Casey kept his eyes on Donnie and tried to copy his breathing. He managed to take a bigger breath in and out. His friend nodded and kept breathing slowly with him. "You're doing good. Keep going." Casey kept breathing and eventually the tightening in his chest went away, and he could breathe properly again. Donnie smiled and put his hands on his shoulders. "Great. Do you feel better?" He asked genuinely.

Casey nodded slowly and looked down. A few tears ran down his cheeks and he wiped his eyes quickly, embarrassed.

"Hey. It's okay. You don't need to feel embarrassed. It's a perfectly normal reaction to panic attacks. You feel what you need to feel; I'm right here for you." Donnie kept a hand on his shoulder. Casey put his hand on Donnie's shoulder to show his appreciation and sighed.

"I uh..." He shook his head. "Thanks, Don."

Donnie was happy he could help. "Anytime. Now, let's get you back to your bed. You must be exhausted." He got up and helped Casey stand up. They went back to Casey's makeshift bed and the tired man laid down, already falling asleep. "Thank you.." He mumbled tiredly, dozing off.

Donnie stood up and smiled. "Goodnight, Casey."