A/N.
Greetings from LunaOdin1234, and welcome back!

I'm so sorry this took so long! I've been extremely busy, because I'm now part of another local theater production (The Addams Family. I'm Grandma's understudy, and I get to do one show as her), I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a second time on Broadway, and a lot of things have distracted me. I'm glad I finally got around to working on this.

So, I really hope you enjoy this chapter, and once you're done, leave a review, favorite, follow, and as always…

Enjoy!

Chapter Four
From The Ground Up.
(Casey's POV).
"YOU HAVE TO BE THE BIGGEST IDIOT I'VE EVER SEEN!"

I winced as I got my well-deserved chastisement from Raph. He was right. What was I thinking?! Those Footbots were too much after all. I ended up having to call the guys. They fought with raging amounts of fury. Shredder fled before they arrived though. Maybe he didn't want to have to face just three of them. Maybe he wanted the Hamatos all together first before he tried to kill them.

Anyways, I was sitting in the living room, on the couch, while Mikey tried to fix me up. It was a definite fact that he would never be as good as Donnie. Oh gosh, I'm thinking about them again…Donnie...Karai...

Come on, Casey! You can't think about them right now. You're gonna blow your cover!

Leo, who was sitting a few feet away from us, sighed and shook his head. "Raph's right, Casey. You can't just throw yourself into danger like that." he said. "Well, what else was I supposed to do. I don't know if you've noticed in the past two months that you've known me now, but I have trouble sitting still and doing nothing, unlike you guys!" I said. I didn't mean for it to sound harsh, but it did. "You seem to have perfect practice with that!"

Raph looked ready to pummel me, but Mikey put a hand on his shoulder. "Raph...don't even think about it. What does it even matter? It's not gonna help." he said. "That's exactly what I've been trying to tell you!" I said. "Are you just gonna sit around at do nothing?! Donnie could be in serious trouble!" I said. "How should you know?! You two were the ones who always fought!" said Raph. I was getting angry. Really angry. I shouted, not even caring about my wounds, "So you're just gonna let him die out there?! Wow, really good of you all, not lifting a finger for his well-being! Even if you did get him back, it still wouldn't fix anything, because he's pretty much psycho, right?! That's how it is?! Well then maybe if you don't even care that he's not dead, then you've pretty much failed him as his brothers!"

I was ranting and screaming at the top of my lungs. The expressions on their faces were shocked and hurt. Raph made a grab for his sai, but Mikey stopped him, tears pouring down his face. I've never seen a more lost and shattered soul than his was at the moment. All three of them were slowly losing themselves, slipping into the deep abyss of depression, where there was no savior from hopelessness, or total destruction. This was ridiculous. I had to talk some sense into these guys. I gathered up some courage, and said, "At least Karai had the mind to go look for him." I said. I was expecting Raph to let me have it, but his expression softened to sadness again. At least he was calm, and not raving like a lunatic. "She's really not trying to do anything bad." I said. "It was no one's fault but Shredder's. And we may not be able to do anything about it, but what's done is done, and we have to make the best of a bad situation. You guys are the strongest family I know. Don't let that end now…" I said.

Silence. At first, anyways. Then, Mikey got up, walked over, and wrapped his arms around me for comfort. I returned the hug, and we didn't break apart for a long time. "I believe you, Casey." he said. "I don't blame anyone either."

For the first time that day, I really smiled. "Thank you, Mikey." I whispered into his ear. "We have to get through to the others. No matter what." We broke apart. "I have to leave." I said. "My dad's gonna want me home. He never asks about any injuries. He knows I know how to handle them." I said. Then I left. There was still one more thing I had to do today. Just one more thing I had to set right…..

(April's POV).
"Come on, April, you've got to eat something."

I pushed away the plate. What was it worth, anyways? Nothing to me. Dad sighed and put my dinner in the fridge. "It'll be here, in case you get hungry later." he said. I didn't do anything to even acknowledge that I had heard him. He was actually okay with that. I was glad that he at least knew I was grieving. When mom disappeared, he had to grieve too.

Now we both knew what it was like to lose the love of our lives.

He was gone. Donnie was gone. There was a possibility that he was never coming back.

I got up, pushed my chair back into place, and silently walked back to my own room. There, I unfolded myself out onto the quilt, and glanced out the window at the sunset. The rain stopped this morning, and now shades of pink and orange flooded the sky as the sun, a gorgeous red orb in the distance, started it's descent. I would normally have watched it with wonder, taking in all its glory, and wishing it would last a lifetime. Now I wanted it to go away. It was just a sunset. Nothing special to me. Just another day gone. And the start of another day without my heart. I rolled over to face the door, so I didn't still have to look outside. The lights were all off, and it radiated a sense of calmness. I sighed and closed my eyes.

I wish I hadn't. The image of the familier olive-green figure with warm crimson eyes and the kind, gap-toothed smile appeared in my brain. An exact copy of him, burned into my memory, forever. Does he still remember me anymore?

I have to admit, I didn't know if I did love him at first. It was a little awkward, because I knew he liked me. But it wasn't until I discovered that he would risk his life for me that I really began to understand just how devoted to me he was. And then...I guess I fell for him. Now I never got to tell him. I wanted to wait, because this was so new for me. But I waited too long, and now it's too late. I said all the wrong things, when I should have been telling him how much I appreciated him.

I suddenly remembered what had happened when my dad got mutated. I had been heartbroken as well. All I had wanted to do was cry and let my anger out. I was angry at myself at first. I had thought it was my fault. That somehow I caused my father to be mutated. Until Mikey had accidentally let it slip that he and his brothers had mistakenly been responsible for the mutagen spill on the city. Suddenly, I was angry. But not at myself. At the turtles. I thought they were to blame. And I had let everything loose.

"No! Don't touch me! Keep away from me! I never want to see your faces, ever again!"

Those were the last words I had spoken to them for days before I ran off. I tried to cut all contact with them, and didn't feel guilty at all when I should have been crushed with guilt. I had spoken those words directly to Donnie's face. I pushed and encouraged myself to make him miserable. To make him pay for what he had supposedly done. It was a miracle it didn't last too long. If he still didn't believe he could make things right, who knows where I would be. I had ended up getting attacked, and when Donnie saved me, that was when I realized the truth. When I realized just how awful I had acted. We made up, and...I actually kissed him. I knew I was starting to become madly in love. I didn't say anything, because I wanted to wait after what had happened.

But I hadn't acted in time. And I hadn't known until this morning…

(Earlier…)
"April? April, honey…"

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. My dad was standing over me. I groaned. "Dad...why are we up so early?..." I asked. I glanced over at the alarm clock. It was only a little past two a.m.! I looked at dad to ask what the heck was going on, but stopped dead when I saw the expression on his face. He looked sad. Sad for me. I sat up, more alert and awake. I was scared. I knew that look. Something was wrong.

"Dad...what's going on?" I asked. My voice sounded meek and shaky. Dad motioned for me to get out of bed. I put on my slippers and walked out into the living room with him. He placed his hands on my shoulders and sat me down on the couch. My heart was beating restlessly now, because I knew what was going to happen. There was an incident, somewhere, with someone I loved. "Honey...listen. One of the guys missions went badly." he said. I gasped. "No!" I said. "Yes, and…" he trailed off. It looked like he didn't know what to say.

My breathing caught in my throat. No. Please, don't say something happened to him…

"Donnie was double mutated. I'm so sorry, baby."

I lost sense of everything when the wail of horror and grief came up my throat and out past my lips. I then buried my face in dad's chest and bawled for all it was worth. Which was nothing anymore. Nothing was worth anything anymore.

It couldn't have been Donnie...not my Donnie…

Now, hours later, I've come to the conclusion. He was never coming back. My sun has permanently fallen. Permanently set.

A gentle tap on my window sent me gasping and accidentally sliding off the bed. I looked up through my tear soaked eyelids and saw Casey. He looked beat up, badly. 'Can I come in?' he mouthed to me. I reluctantly dragged myself over to the window, and unlatched it with almost limp fingers. He slipped over the windowsill, closed the window behind him, turned back around, and pulled me into an embrace. I didn't return it though. I wasn't even looking at him. I was staring into space, drowned in thoughts of my lost beloved.

"Karai went after him this morning. They're coming back, no matter what."

What? What did he say?

I looked at him. "What?..." I trailed off. He smiled. "April, you don't have to worry. He's coming home." We sat down on the bed, still holding each other. I rested my head on his shoulder and let my tears run as Casey said quietly, "He's coming home. Soon. Really soon, April."

I couldn't get the thick tear trail to stop flowing from my eyes. No matter how much I reached up and brushed them away, they came back, much worse than they had been just seconds before. Casey smiled at me. "Hey, it's okay." he said. "He's coming back. You have nothing to be sad about. He's alright. As soon as I hear back from Karai, I'll give you an update on the situation. Okay?"

I was crying harder now, but this time, I was happy. My world hadn't gone dark after all. I nodded, sniffling. This nightmare was going to be over soon. My Donnie was coming back to me. Soon, I would be in his arms again, drinking in the loving embrace, and I would finally get to tell him just how much he mattered to me. I was ready now. More than ready for his return, so when I looked into those eyes, he could know his dream came true, after long last.

Then, as if my day couldn't brighten even more, Casey's phone rang.

(Karai's POV).
"Okay. Let's hope this works!" I said enthusiastically. Wow. Never thought I'd hear myself say that.

Clearly, Donnie didn't either. He tilted his head to the side, confused. I couldn't help but laugh at the expression. "Yeah, it's bizarre." I said. I was never cheery. You wouldn't catch me dead acting like I was. But now I was gonna have to be a little more brighter if I was going to be a good sister.

I pressed the 'call' button and listened to the phone ringing. I then quickly put the volume on speaker, so Donnie could hear too. A few rings, then someone picked up. "Karai!" said Casey. "Hi Casey." I answered. "Um...are you alone right now?" I then asked. "Actually, I'm with April. We're at her apartment. She needed a little cheering up." said Casey. "Hi Karai." I heard April say. Casey's phone must have been on speaker too. I looked back at Donnie, who looked overjoyed to hear April again. I giggled. "Donnie's getting excited." I said.

"WAIT! YOU FOUND HIM?!" they both shrieked at the same time. "Oh, right! That's what I was calling about!" I said. Excited screams erupted from the other side of the phone. Donnie and I both jumped and I had to hold the phone away, but I could barely do that because I was laughing so much. "Can I talk to him?!" asked April once they finished celebrating.

Uh oh. I didn't think she would ask that. "Um...well, he can't exactly talk right now." I said. "But he can hear you, you're on speaker." Donnie looked disappointed. I placed my hand on his shoulder softly. "Oh...okay. Donnie! I'm so glad you're okay!" April called through the phone. He sighed happily. It was a very strange sounding sigh, because it sounded as if it was mixed with a hiss. "I think he's happy." I said. Casey and April both laughed, and then Casey said, "April's crying again. She's happy too."

"How are the others doing?" I asked. "Oh boy. Um...I ended up yelling at them. Donnie's brothers anyways. They're devastated. And they seem to be taking out their anger on both me and you, Karai. And I haven't seen Splinter since this morning when he disappeared into the dojo." I did a facepalm. "You've gotta be kidding me." I said. "Did you make them angry somehow?"

I heard Casey gulp. "Yeah, well...about that...listen, I know this was extremely stupid, and I'm not supposed to interfere with the Foot Clan in any way…"

Oh crap. Now this was getting serious. "Casey...what did you do?" I asked.

"I snuck into Shredder's lair to take out a Footbot or two. There ended up being way more of them than I could handle."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" April and I both shouted from different sides of the phone. He didn't just say what I thought he said, did he?! Even Donnie seemed shocked. "...You…...idiot!..." he hissed into the phone. Casey and April went silent. I did too. Donnie just looked grouchy at Casey's bad decision making.

"Okay...Casey, be more rational next time. We don't really have time to deal with that right now. So another thing I should tell you about, is that Donnie has a few broken bones, so we're gonna wait to come back. Is that okay?" I asked. "Yeah sure." answered Casey. "By the way, where are you right now?" Oh dear. Another mystery in need of solving. "Um, April. Does your family happen to own a farmhouse in Northampton?" I asked.

April gasped. "How did you...how did you know that?" she said. "He came here. And I followed." I said. Silence. April must have been speechless. "How do you think he knew?" she asked. I turned to Donnie. "How did you know?" I asked. Donnie looked at me as if the answer was clear as day. "...April….." he hissed quietly. Oh my gosh. "April, he knew you had been here before." I said.

More tears were heard. "Hey, it's alright." I said. "Right, Donnie?" I asked, turning back to my little brother. There was an obvious blush creeping onto his cheeks. It was adorable. "You're blushing." I said. He giggled and attempted to cover it with him arm. We were all laughing now. "I can still clearly see it!" I managed to get out through our laughter. He kept shaking his head, trying to deny any hint of a blush, but his smile was wide.

"So, while we're here, can you two try to get through to father and our brothers?" I asked. "For Donnie's sake?" Casey sighed. "Of course. Well, Mikey thinks you haven't done anything wrong, so that's good. Leo, Raph, and Splinter on the other hand...they may take a little longer. April and I will try our best." he said. "Also, when you get back...how are we gonna fix Donnie?"

I hadn't even begun to think of that. Casey was right. He couldn't stay this way forever. I glanced back at him, sitting there on the bed, and judging by his expression, he heard Casey's question. He looked scared. He had no idea what was going to happen to him now. I sat down with him again. "Well...I don't exactly know. To be honest, I didn't think that far ahead. All I had in mind was to know if Donnie was safe. But, like you said, we'll do our best, and if there's nothing we can do…" I trailed off. What if there was nothing we could do. No. There had to be something. I pushed the thought into the back of my mind. "Then we'll just have to make the best of a bad situation." I finished quickly. Donnie frowned. Something told me he knew what I was thinking.

"What are we going to tell the guys?" asked April. "We know Donnie's okay, but how are they gonna react?" Perfect. Yet another bad question. "Maybe we should wait to tell them until we get home again." I said. "If we tell them now, they'll just come rushing up here to take him away and won't believe a word I say about me trying to help. And who knows what they'll do when they see the condition he's in." My eyes glanced at the stitches and bandages that covered the scaly skin. "We should wait. Then once they've calmed down, and Donnie's healed up a little bit, we'll come home."

"Sounds alright." said Casey. "Maybe April and I can see if we can come up there soon. It might look suspicious to the guys though. We'll do what we can."

"Okay." I answered. "I think I've gotta hang up. I'll talk to you guys soon." I said. "Alright. I'll get in touch as soon as I can. Bye Karai!" said Casey. "Bye." said April quietly. I hung up and sighed, then laid back on the pillow. "Man, we've had a long day." I said. Donnie looked confused. "Well, you were unconscious for most of it." I said. "But we've definitely had a long day." Donnie nodded, carefully curled up next to me, and placed his head next to mine. "Was it nice hearing April again?" I asked. "...Yes…" he said.

"Well that's good. And, you're gonna get to see her again soon. We're gonna see all of them again soon, and then this nightmare will be over." I explained. He smiled at first, but then it turned to a look of worry. I knew what he was thinking. So I moved over a little closer, and let him rest his head on my shoulder. "You'll be okay. I promised, remember?" I said. He nodded again, and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, I realized he had fallen grin on my face stretched to unmeasurable lengths. "That's my baby brother." I said. He let out a peaceful-sounding sigh, and I pulled up a blanket, to keep him warm.

"Sleep tight, Donnie. It's gonna be better from here on out." I said.

And just before I fell asleep, I couldn't help but feel as if it were really true.

A/N.
AHHHHHHHHHHHH! THE AGONY! AND THE FLUFFINESS!...

I'm sorry, I'm really getting into this.

That chapter was both agonizing and amazing to write. I mean, it's good that in the midst of everything, at least a few of them can still find happiness. And...yeah, I think this was one of my favorite chapters. Especially all of Karai's POV.

Well, that's it for this time. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of 'Sissy.' And once you're done, leave a review, favorite, follow, and as always…

Stay tuned! ;)