Don ushered Valeria into his home. It was smaller than she expected, and emptier. "Your brothers aren't home?" she asked.

"They don't live here," Donatello explained. Valeria wanted to ask for details, but from the pained look that crossed the turtle's face, she decided it would be best not to.

Don was eminently grateful to take off his tactical vest. He hadn't worn it in weeks and hadn't ever anticipated getting as big as he was now. He'd thought that he'd sewn in more than enough elastic, but the joke was on him. Once the zipper was down, it snapped open almost violently.

Don hung it up and put on a flannel shirt in its place. He rolled up the sleeves but left the front open to show the plain tee-shirt underneath. He felt that this combination of clothes made him look a little smaller, so it had become a go-to whenever people were around him. Usually, he wore it with plain slacks or joggers, but he didn't bother changing out of the cargo pants he'd worn to get Valeria.

It was a lot more comfortable being out of the tight vest. Apparently, his kids were happy too. They were rolling around and kicking up a storm, to the point that it was visible even through his support garment and tee-shirt. Don stayed turned to the wall and looked over his shoulder at Valeria. How was he going to explain this? "Make yourself at home," he squeaked, buying himself a minute.

Valeria took the opportunity to look around. Donatello's apartment, if that's what you could call it, was definitely a work in progress. The main door had been upgraded, secured, and expertly hidden. She hadn't even noticed that it was there until Don stopped in front of it and worked some sort of magic to make it open up. It connected to a living room with a kitchenette off to the side. There was a fridge and an old stove. The cabinets and counters were hung at differing heights, as though Don had been working to adjust them. There was a battered old sink set in the counter, but a newer one was sitting nearby, ready to be installed.

The living room itself had an old oversized sofa, and an extra-large, pillow-covered chair and ottoman. There was a homemade coffee table, as well as an end table with a lamp sitting on it. A television was hanging on the wall. There were no decorations, no pictures or rugs, but there were a few boxes and a large red mechanic's toolbox. Valeria could see some doors, which must lead to the bedroom and bathroom.

"I know it's late, but are you hungry?" Don asked softly.

Valeria turned to see that he was watching her. He seemed tentative and shy, as though he wasn't used to company. She was sure that this was the case, but he hadn't really ever acted that way around her before. "Not really. My adrenaline is still running high," she answered.

Don pulled some saltines and peanut butter out of the cupboard and set them out anyway. Valeria took it to mean that he still had problems with nausea like he had been experiencing at Area 51. Not wanting him to feel awkward, she joined him in nibbling on a few crackers. Don steeped some tea as well and made them each a cup. "It's soothing, I promise," he vowed. "I definitely still prefer coffee, but you get used to it."

Valeria smiled. "Well, you are pretty smart. I'll take your word for it."

The two sat in awkward silence for a while longer. It was funny, their chemistry had been so good before now. They had been quiet on the walk over, but she had assumed that it was just because of the fear of being tracked.

"So, other than tonight's excitement, how have you been?" Don asked.

"I've been fine," Valeria chuckled. "How about you?"

"I've been… busy. It's been a little rough," Don admitted. In truth, it had been very rough, but he wasn't about to dump all of that on her.

"I'm sorry," Valeria replied. "But, it's good to see you again. I missed you."

Donatello looked her in the eyes. "I've missed you too. Although these aren't the circumstances that I would have hoped to see you under."

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Valeria asked. "You already know my drama, after all."

Don sighed. He really didn't want to. If she didn't think of him as a freak already, this was certainly going to do the trick. He looked at her sadly. "Do you really need me to say it? I mean, it's exactly what it looks like."

"Don, are you… pregnant?"

"Bingo," Don said with a decided air of moroseness.

"Well, I guess that explains… a lot. So, who's the father?" Valeria had hoped to sound casual. She thought that Donatello and his (her?) brothers were the only ones of their kind. The list of suspects was pretty short, and honestly, rather stomach-turning. But, Don was her friend and she wasn't about to judge.

Donatello looked horrified, nonetheless. "I am," he said firmly. "Valeria, just to be perfectly clear, I am a dude."

Valeria fumbled for words. "Oh, so are you-"

"Don't look so surprised," Don cut in.

"I'm not!" Valeria shot back. "I always thought you were a male. I just don't understand how you're capable of conceiving and carrying a child if that's the case."

Don frowned. "I'm not really. Turns out that I was the unwitting victim of one of Bishop's little side projects. None of this would be possible without his secret genetic experiments and involuntary surgical manipulation. I have to pump myself full of artificial hormones every day to keep it going."

"Oh, Donatello… I'm…" she tried to read his face, "sorry?"

"Don't be. I'll be happy to have them. But now you understand why I needed to escape Area 51 so badly."

"I always understood that," Valeria assured him. "Even before all of this. You were a prisoner. I guess you were a test subject too."

Don nodded sadly and didn't say anything else.

"So do you know when you're due?" Valeria asked.

"Not for another two months," Don answered quietly.

Valeria looked down at his very large belly. "Oh, Don. Are you sure about that?" She was trying to sound lighthearted and sympathetic, but it fell flat.

"Yes," Don answered bitterly. "It's triplets. That's why I'm so big. I've still got a ways to go."

"Triplets, wow. That's… that's really something," Valeria blathered. "Congratulations?"

"I'm still me, okay?" Don said with surprising passion. "I know that this is weird, but I'm still me."

Valeria put her hand over his. "I know."

"And, when you get right down to it, I've been in this condition for as long as we've known each other."

"So Bishop did this to you right away?"

"My very first night. Apparently, it was a sort of a welcome gift."

Valeria laughed. "Glad I didn't get one."

"Most people would settle for a nice fruit basket, but I suppose that Bishop always was the go-big-or-go-home type," Don said, wryly. Valeria was happy to hear him sounding more like the Donatello that she knew and had grown so fond of.

Don stretched his arms above his head and his legs out beneath the table. It felt good to have gotten that talk out of the way. "So, tell me more about what your team was supposed to be doing in New York."

Valeria cupped her mug a little tighter. "Well, as I told you before, we've been able to figure out that Hun's goal is to recruit Triceraton sympathizers here on Earth. They'll help suppress humans during the invasion, to cut down on Triceraton losses. In exchange, they're supposed to be paid handsomely and given special privileges after the invasion."

Don nodded. "Makes good tactical sense."

"Hun is spearheading the operation, but his group isn't the only one participating in this. There are similar groups in at least ten different major cities, and those are just the ones we know about," Valeria continued. "Bishop wanted us to run surveillance, and see just how large this operation is. My job was to study the messages Hun was sending out, now that the transmitter that you partially dismantled is active again. We think it's only for intergalactic communication, but it's possible that it's also being used to communicate with these other groups. It would explain why the government hadn't been able to pick up on any of the chatter."

"An operation this large is bound to get sloppy at some point," Don opined.

"I know," Valeria agreed. "I think that they were starting to. After you disabled the transmitter, things sort of fell into disarray."

"Go me," Don boasted. "Or, more accurately, go Leo. I didn't really want to raid the apartment."

"I think it's a good thing that you guys did. It set Hun's recruitment efforts way back, which probably set the timeline for the invasion back as well."

Don gave a sad smile, then shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Leo's a good leader. His instincts are usually dead on."

"With the transmitter down, and Hun out of commission, they had to switch to more traditional means of communication. After you tipped us off, Bishop began tracking and intercepting the Purple Dragon's email messages, since they're known associates of Hun. One of them contained the code that Hun was using to encrypt his messages to the Triceraton. So, once the transmitter came back online, we were able to figure out what he was saying to them."

"And that's how you found out about the recruitment plans and the groups in other cities?" Don reasoned.

"Yes, but that's about all I found out. This mission was primarily supposed to be about scanning for shorter range transmissions between the different groups of sympathizers in other cities. Once that part of the job was complete, we were going to attempt to seize the equipment and send out that warning message that I told you about. Obviously, it never got that far. I'd barely even unpacked my own equipment when my hotel room was broken into. I mean, I've been here less than 24 hours, Don."

Don hummed. "Sounds like they knew you were coming."

Valeria nodded. "I know, and my teammates' cell phones going dead makes this even more suspicious. It's got to be an inside job, right?"

"It certainly seems that way," Don agreed.

"So what do I do?" Valeria asked helplessly. She may be smart and brave, but she was young, and she wasn't a fully trained field operative.

Don considered her question. "Did you set up an emergency rally point with your teammates?"

"I did, but I don't think that it would be safe to go there," Valeria explained.

"You're right about that, but we could get some eyes on it, see who shows up," Don recommended.

"Maybe that would work," Valeria considered. "At least I can be fairly certain that Jeff wasn't involved. I hope that he ran straight to the police."

"Can you send a message to Bishop?" Don asked. "He should probably know about all of this. Say what you will about that guy, he does put earth's safety above all else. I'm sure he'd be quick to deal with someone betraying him to aid the enemy."

Valeria perked up. "I can send him a secure email. I wrote the encryption program myself, so I'm sure that's not compromised."

Don used the table to help regain his feet. "Let me get my laptop fired up," he offered. Valeria watched him lumber over to a makeshift desk in the corner, then limp back to the table, laptop now in hand. He booted it up and got her logged on, then sunk down into his battered old armchair. He was hurting badly, after all of the night's antics, and he was beginning to suffer intermittent contractions. He had no choice but to rest for a while.

Valeria sent her message directly to Bishop. Given the time of night, she doubted that he would answer right away. She logged off of her email but left the laptop open on the kitchen table. Then, she went to join Don. The turtle opened his tired eyes and gave her a kind smile. "You're welcome to stay here until you hear back from Bishop. Or, I have some trusted friends that could help you out, if you'd be more comfortable above ground and amongst your own kind."

"You are my kind," Valeria replied. "I think I'd feel safer with you if it's not putting you out."

"I'd be happy to have you," Don assured her.

Valeria gave him a hug, then went to freshen up in the bathroom. When he had a moment to himself, Don texted April and asked her not to log into his security cameras or come over for the next few days. He didn't mind her keeping tabs on him, but he didn't want to have to explain why he had a lady friend in his apartment. April was mindful of his privacy and promised to stay offline as long as he texted regularly to let her know he was okay. Don promised to do just that.

Despite the fact that they were both utterly exhausted, Valeria and Donatello spent hours catching up. Eventually, Val fell asleep on the sofa. Don slipped a pillow under her head and laid a blanket over her. He considered turning in himself but then decided to sleep in his armchair. He didn't want his guest to wake up and forget where she was.

Don was up early the next morning, thanks to an intense bout of back pain coupled with a baby sitting on his bladder. He cooked a cheap but nutritious breakfast and even managed to secretly eat some of it before Val woke up. He was still sensitive about his appetite. He brewed a pot of coffee for her. He kept the good stuff around for April and Casey, even though he couldn't drink it until after the babies were born. The smell was so tempting. He brewed some decaf for himself and took a long sip.

"You're not wearing your mask," a sleepy voice piped up from the sofa.

Don turned to Valeria, his fingers tracing a line where it should be. "No. I usually don't sleep in it."

"I would imagine not." Valeria yawned. "It's just that I've never seen you without it before."

"Oh, well, this is what it looks like." Don bashfully took another sip out of his mug. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah. I don't even remember falling asleep, honestly."

Don chuckled. "Yeah. You were kind of in the middle of a sentence." He left off the part about how cute he had found it. "Anyway, I made breakfast, and you should probably check in with Bishop."

"I can't eat right after waking up," Valeria told him. "But is that coffee I smell?"

"Made some of the strong stuff just for you. I can't drink it, though goodness knows I'd love to," Don lamented.

"I can take it off your hands," Valeria offered.

Don grinned as he handed her a mug. It felt nice to have company.