After his panic attack, and receiving some comfort from Leonardo, Donatello had gotten rather clingy. He still worked day and night on the EDS, but he no longer wanted to be left behind at the Lair during patrol. The Purple Dragons were still causing trouble all over the City, so Leo couldn't just stay home all day in the hopes that Don would too. So, as much as it stunk, all four turtles were back on the streets.
"You okay?" Raphael asked Don, who had been lagging behind all night.
Everything was hurting. Don wanted to complain, but he didn't dare. He knew that they would be forced to go home if he did. "I'm fine. Nice to be getting some fresh air and exercise."
Raphael was not convinced.
Someone screamed, and the brothers set off at a run. Leonardo arrived first and saw two men rolling around on the sidewalk. He didn't intervene right away, for fear of being recognized as a mutant. He gestured for his brothers to hang back in an alley while he figured out what was going on.
Don banged his shell into a wall and rubbed his belly with both hands as he panted.
"You sure you're okay?" Michelangelo asked.
"Yeah. You really don't look like you should be out here, bro," Raphael agreed.
"I'm fine," Don puffed. "They're just...moving a lot." Don white-knuckled his middle and doubled over. "Oh!" he gasped.
"What?!" Raphael snapped. "What?! I can't take this!"
"Someone kicked me where it hurt," Don tried to explain.
Leonardo returned to the group. "Attempted carjacking. The police are on the way. We'd better scramble."
"You good to go?" Michelangelo asked Don.
Don nodded and set off at a jog to prove his point. He had no particular destination. The turtles hadn't taken the van today. It was just a foot patrol.
Don stopped and leaned hard against another wall. "Where to, Leo?" he asked.
"Maybe we should get you home, Don," Leonardo answered. "We've had a productive night already."
Don was hesitant to reply. Home sounded amazing, but he hated to be the reason that they called it a night early. He knew his brothers didn't really enjoy having him along for patrol, and they'd only been out for a couple of hours. Aside from preventing a robbery and breaking up a bar fight, they hadn't really seen much action.
Don had not yet responded when Raphael spoke up. "What's going on over there?" he wondered. Raphael always did have a nose for trouble.
Leonardo looked a few rooftops over, to where Raphael was pointing. "Isn't that one of Hun's men?" Leonardo asked.
Don reluctantly pushed off of the wall and limped over. He put on his binoculars. "It is," Don confirmed. "It's one of the guys who was in the apartment that we broke into."
"Who's with him?" Leonardo asked.
"Don't nnn-know," Don grimaced, grabbing his stomach again.
Leonardo looked at his brother with concern. "I doubt it's urgent. Let's just head in."
"It's okay," Don said with closed eyes. "You guys can stay out and keep an eye on things here. I'll go home."
Don handed the binoculars to a doubtful looking Leonardo.
"I'll go back with Don," Michelangelo volunteered. "I've got some new comics that I've been dying to tear into."
"Um. Okay," Leonardo decided. "Give us a call if you need us."
It wasn't a good sign that Don pulled out his bo staff to help him walk when he'd been running around mere minutes ago.
Leonardo waited until they were out of sight. "I wish that I knew what I was doing," he confessed to Raphael.
Raphael laughed. "I wish that you knew what you were doing too!" The two exchanged a rare smile.
Meanwhile, Michelangelo and Donatello meandered through back alleys for a few blocks, working their way towards home. Mikey was troubled that Don was moving slower and slower, and also grabbing at his back and his belly with increasing frequency. Mikey stopped at the nearest manhole. He looked at it, and then back at Don. "We might, uh, need a bigger one," he worried.
Don frowned. He was pretty sure that he could squeeze through, but it would be a disaster if he got stuck halfway. Given his current condition, he doubted that he'd be able to wriggle himself free. "Better safe than sorry. Let's just find another."
Michelangelo nodded and peeked around the corner of the building. They would have to cross the street. When the coast was clear, the two brothers hustled. They had no sooner made it across the street and into the next alley when a side door opened and two inebriated Purple Dragons stumbled out. They were laughing and holding fistfuls of cash.
Knowing that Don was in no shape for a fight, Michelangelo pushed his brother back into the shadows. Don bit his lip to suppress a cry and grabbed his middle again. These sudden shifts in momentum were very painful.
The turtles were just about to sneak around the corner when they heard screaming. "Give me back my money or I'm calling the cops!"
"And reveal your illegal gambling operation?" someone else yelled. "Why don't you go ahead and do that?"
"Those are my winnings!" the first voice cried.
"Just let them go," another voice begged. "They're armed and you aren't."
This made the turtles stand stock still. This was a busy part of town. People were pouring in and out of nearby restaurants and shops. They couldn't let any innocent bystanders in the street get hurt on their watch.
"I can't let them go," the first voice yelled. "This is my place and I have a reputation to uphold. If I let these apes steal from me, everybody will."
"And just cause he ain't armed don't mean I ain't," a new voice spoke up. The turtles keen hearing picked up on the sound of a gun being cocked.
Don and Mikey nodded at each other before sneaking back the way they came. All it would take was a few well-aimed shurikens to disable any guns that were present. The turtles returned to the barside alley and stayed hidden in the shadows.
They would have to do this all at once, in order to avoid giving away their location and being spotted by the humans. There were a half dozen men involved in the argument and four of them had guns. Donatello pointed to the two he wanted, and Michelangelo acknowledged him by slinking into a better position to hit the other two.
He Iocked eyes with Don and nodded. The two of them began a synchronized mental countdown… five, four, three, two, one!
They both hurled their shuriken as hard as they could towards the guns. All four hit their marks. The turtles had no way of knowing this, as they couldn't wait around to see the aftermath. They immediately began running as fast as they could for the nearest manhole.
Fortunately, they were not followed, as the gamblers didn't know what had hit them. Unfortunately, Don had felt an awful pulling in his belly when he threw the two shurikens, and it had tightened all the way to his back. It had only gotten worse as he ran, but he knew better than to stop.
Michelangelo worked the manhole cover as fast as he could, but he stopped when Donatello dropped to his knees beside him, clearly in agony. "M-Mikey. Oh, something's wrong!"
Michelangelo almost dropped the manhole cover, but he had to get Don into the sewers where they would be hidden. He flung it aside, grabbed Don and half carried him down. He set the panting genius down in the muck. "I've gotta put the lid back on or they might figure out where we went," Mikey realized.
Don's eyes were squeezed shut but he nodded. Michelangelo made fast work of climbing up and putting the cover back on. He went back to his brother and found him doubled over in pain. Mikey put a hand on Don's heaving shell. "What's wrong, bro? Tell me where it hurts."
"My stomach, a-and my back," Donatello gasped. "It's tugging. I'm afraid...a-fraid these are contractions."
"What do we do?" Michelangelo asked.
"A-pril, call April," Don panted.
Mikey nodded and pulled out his phone. He knew that he should call Leonardo, but Don shouldn't walk right now. April could get here faster, given that Leo would have to go back home to fetch a vehicle before picking up Don. That and April would have a better idea of what to do.
It took April and Casey less than ten minutes to arrive and park beside the manhole. They jumped into the sewer, not even bothering with the ladder.
"Don!" April gasped as she saw where he was huddled.
"I think I'm having contractions," he moaned. "It's too soon!"
April looked to Casey. "Let's get him to our place," she ordered.
"Shouldn't we get him home?" Michelangelo asked. "That's where all the medical stuff is."
"How're we gonna get our car into the sewers to drive him there, dumb-dumb?" Casey jeered.
April almost pointed out that they could have driven up close to the Lair and moved Don into the sewers, but it didn't seem worth discussing. Don was clearly agitated, and at this point, she just wanted to get him comfortable as quickly as possible. Her place was closer. "I don't think that we need any medical equipment yet," April said calmly. "Can you walk, Don?"
Donatello nodded and carefully got to his feet. He was between spasms at the moment. Everyone piled into the van and made the quick trip to April's place. Don had another contraction while climbing out of the van and up the stairs. April helped him onto the sofa and encouraged him to breathe through the pain.
"We've got to make this stop," Don cried.
"Are you sure?" Michelangelo asked. "Maybe it's time?" Mikey didn't know that much about pregnancy, but Donatello sure looked big enough to him.
"I'm only five months along!" Don moaned. "They won't be able to survive if they're born now."
"But do you know that for sure?" Michelangelo asked. "They're part turtle, and they're mutants. Maybe they don't need the full nine months?"
"Their lungs aren't developed enough. They won't be able to breathe if they're born now!" Don huffed.
"Maybe it's eggs after all?" Mikey considered. "So maybe they don't have to breathe quite yet?"
"It's not eggs!" Don hollered. "Did you see any eggshells on the ultrasound?"
"Noooo," Michelangelo mouthed. "But maybe-"
"But nothing! We need to stop this or they'll die! Will you please stop being so stupid!" Don put both hands on his belly and doubled over.
Mikey tried not to be offended.
April came over with a glass of water. "Another one?" she asked.
Don was in too much pain to answer.
"I think so," Michelangelo said.
April put her hand on Don's belly. It was tough to tell through his protective clothing and his plastron, but it did feel like it was tensing. She rubbed his back until he relaxed a little, then she handed him the glass of water. "Drink this."
Don swallowed about half the glass. "Have you been drinking enough?" April asked. "Dehydration can cause cramping and contractions."
Don searched his mind. "Don't know," he admitted. "Drinking too much gives me heartburn. Maybe I haven't had much lately."
"Finish the glass," April said, levelly. "Then another."
Don didn't dare argue. He drank both glasses, then April helped him out of his armored vest, in the hopes that it would make him more comfortable. "Do you need some food?" April asked.
Don shrugged.
"I don't think so," Michelangelo answered for him. "He ate something before patrol."
"You need to just lie down and try to relax," April ordered. She pulled down the purple mask around Don's eyes to reveal worryingly dark circles. It made her feel more irritated than sympathetic. "When is the last time that you slept?" she glowered.
"I try, but it's so hard right now," Don weakly defended. "I can't ever get comfortable."
April threw her hands up. "So rather than trying harder you decide to galavant around the city?"
Rather than defend his actions, Don looked at her with big brown puppy dog eyes. The anger flowed out of April. Leonardo had told her about the panic attack, so she could only assume that had something to do with his exhaustion and inability to be alone.
April sighed. "Oh, Don. You're smart enough to know that something like this was bound to happen if you didn't take proper care of yourself."
Don stretched out on the sofa while April gathered some pillows and blankets. She came back to the sofa and found him on his back, clutching his belly. "Another one?" she asked.
Don nodded. April placed a hand on his stomach. Now that his vest was off, it was easier to feel the muscles tensing. These were definitely contractions, but the timing was irregular. It was nothing to worry about, yet.
"You seem to get them when you move," April noticed. "I think these are probably just Braxton Hicks, not true pre-term labor."
"Braxton Hicks aren't supposed to hurt so much," Don whined.
April rubbed his midsection while he rode out the latest wave of pain. "Maybe not so much for human women, but it might be different for you," she guessed. "When you're ready, roll onto your side and try to sleep a little."
Don complied and closed his eyes. "Did you call Leo?" he sleepily asked Michelangelo.
"Yeah," Mikey said. "I told him that April was taking good care of you."
"Thanks," Don muttered, closing his eyes again and pulling the blanket closer. "Sorry that I yelled at you."
"And called me stupid?" Michelangelo added.
Don opened one eye. "Did I?"
"Kind of," Mikey replied.
"Sorry." Don yawned. "Didn't mean to. You're not stupid."
April gave Michelangelo a shove. "Sit near your brother," she hissed.
Mikey moved the coffee table and sat on the floor near Don's head. "I forgive you," he whispered. "Get some rest."
Don immediately let himself drift off. He hadn't realized how tired he was.
Leonardo and Raphael showed up half an hour later. Don was fast asleep, and Michelangelo was still sitting near him on the floor. "He's okay," Mikey explained. "False alarm."
Leonardo heaved a sigh of relief, but his demeanor was firm. "I'm putting my foot down. Don's through with patrol until after the babies are born."
"I think that's a good idea," April agreed. "Why don't you just leave him here tonight. He's completely exhausted."
Casey reappeared from his hiding spot. He'd essentially disappeared after they had gotten home, and it was obvious that Don was out of the woods. The whole thing gave him the creeps, and he was only underfoot anyway. "So what were Hun's men up to?" he asked.
Leonardo shook his head, clearly frustrated. "Don't know. Hun must still be out of commission because they don't seem to have any real sense of direction right now."
"Then what were they doing on a roof, of all places?" April asked.
"I kind of got the impression that they were looking for us," Raphael said. He then laughed mischievously. "Sure as heck didn't find us, though."