Author's Note: Sooo… where did I leave? Ah, yes. Right at a cliffhanger. *cough* Time to go on!


In the Eye of the Storm


The smoke was suffocating, and Donatello fought to find his breath again. His shell had taken most of the blast - one of those times when he was grateful to be a turtle.

"Is everyone alright?" he coughed more than spoke, reaching for his T-Phone to light the scenery. They had made it into the sewer tunnels, but the lights had gone out.

"Ice Cream Kitty and I are okay," Michelangelo answered in a small voice.

"I'll be fine, my son."

Donatello's heart skipped a beat at Splinter's use of the future. He turned his T-Phone's light on to look at him.

Both he and Michelangelo started and rushed to him.

"Sensei!"

Splinter was bleeding and limping. Unlike his sons, he didn't have a shell - and he had been the last to leave. He put a hand on their shoulders.

"This is nothing, my sons. I'm grateful that we are all alive. I'll heal."

Donatello gave him a brief nod. All alive… but were they? Had they condemned Raphael by triggering that bomb?

As if he was reading his thoughts, Michelangelo grabbed his shoulder. "We would know if Raph was… gone... Right?" he pleaded.

Donatello turned his head to hide his expression. "Of course, Mikey."

He then busied himself with assessing the damage done to the lair. Well, that was a quick task. It had entirely collapsed. He wasn't sure what could have stayed intact in the wreckage, but he knew they weren't going to find out any time soon - and not without the proper equipment.

For the time being, they had lost everything they possessed.

Again.

At his side, Michelangelo sighed. "It was a good lair. I'll miss it."

"Meow," Ice Cream Kitty added comfortingly.

Donatello closed his eyes and allowed his rational mind to run free. He couldn't let despair take over his soul.

It wasn't true that they had lost everything. They still had their weapons and everything that had been in the Shellraiser, including his medical bag, which meant that Raphael's rescue could still be performed - with the assumption that there still was a Raphael to rescue. He estimated that probability to a good 34.5 percent, with a confidence interval of 5.6 percent. His brothers and himself had survived odds way worse than that, hadn't they? However…

"The vial!" Donatello shouted, immediately upset. "It was in my lab."

He looked at the remnants of their lair again, as if the walls would suddenly reform and allow him to go inside said lab to retrieve the precious item. Like Michelangelo would have said, it had been a good lab. Solid, faithful, the companion of many a sleepless night. It had tolerated his craziest experiments and never once complained. And now, it had ceased to exist.

Michelangelo looked at him sheepishly. "Uhhh... About that…"

Donatello turned to him, a tiny hope forming in his heart. "Or wasn't it?"

"I thought it would be safer with me," Michelangelo admitted with a sheepish smile, producing the vial in his right hand while the left was nervously stroking his pet.

Donatello was too relieved to argue that he couldn't see how anything this scientifically dangerous would be safer with Michelangelo. "Give it to me."

Michelangelo almost looked like he wouldn't, but in the end, he handed the vial to Donatello, who hid it in his belt.

Splinter cleared his throat to get their attention.

"We must go. We don't want to meet sewer workers alerted by the noise."

"Yes, Master Splinter." With a last glance at the place where he had, all in all, been happy, he began walking in the sewer tunnel next to his father.

"Where are we going to live now?" Michelangelo asked with concern.

"This is a question for another time, my son. Right now, we should focus on finding your brothers."

"You're right, Sensei. I should probably warn Leo. He'll have a heart attack if he comes back to this and we're nowhere to be seen." Donatello pressed the button that would automatically call his brother.

It didn't work.

"No reception?" Donatello frowned. Has the phone been damaged in the explosion? "Mikey, can you try?"

"On it, Dee." Michelangelo took his own T-Phone, covering it in ice cream. "Uh… It's not working."

"Maybe the magnetic storm has begun," Donatello muttered to himself. Raphael's survival chances had just increased by a solid 12.8 percent. "Let's go!"

With renewed determination, he made for the closest manhole cover.

"Donatello!" Splinter called him back. "Do not forget that it's still daytime. Maybe we should choose another path to the surface."

Donatello didn't hesitate. "I think we should still try it, Sensei. I need to know if the magnetic storm has indeed begun. Besides, Leo should be near. In fact, he…" Donatello shut his mouth before it could finish forming the sentence in his head. He should already be back. He said he was going to hurry.

Splinter sighed. "Alright, my son. Just be careful."

Donatello heard Michelangelo chuckle.

"When are we not?"


They surfaced in their favorite alleyway, which had the good taste to be deserted.

As he raised his head to look at the sky, Donatello immediately had his first answer.

"Wow," Michelangelo whispered. "Do you see that, Kitty?"

"Meow."

"Northern lights." Despite the situation, Donatello smiled. "I never thought I would see them in New York."

"This is beautiful indeed," Splinter whispered.

The green veils in the sky were moving as if they were alive. It was an amazing sight, which was brutally interrupted by an upset shout.

"Guys! What happened? And… Sensei? You're here too? And you're hurt!"

Donatello snapped back to reality and offered Leonardo a relieved smile, while Michelangelo embraced him. "Leo! You're here!"

"Yes. Sewer workers were blocking the way to the garage, so I parked the Shellraiser not far from there and decided to come home on foot. What happened down there?"

Donatello took a deep breath. "Let's put it that way. Remember when you said we needed a second basis? You were right at the time. And it's still true."

Leonardo opened his mouth, but no sound left it.

"It went boom," Michelangelo added in Leonardo's ear. "Boooooom."

"Meoow," Ice Cream Kitty emphasized, leaving some ice cream on Leonardo's cheek.

"What about your mission?" Donatello went on as if this was the most sensible thing to say. He felt too tired to expand on the loss of their lair.

"I was delayed for a while, but the mission is accomplished," Leonardo answered mechanically. "Let's go back to the Shellraiser. It's not safe here."

As Michelangelo was filling their brother in, Donatello rested a brief second against the wall. The recent events were taking his toll in him. As if he needed to push his body even further.

As soon as they were settled inside Donatello's creation - it felt so good, so familiar - he began tapping away at his control panel.

Leonardo ran to the wheel while Michelangelo helped Splinter with the first-aid kit. "Donnie, are you positive that the storm has begun?"

"Did you see the lights?" Donatello answered derisively.

His brother glared at him, prompting him to elaborate.

"Yes. Communication networks are down… So is GPS… Oh, and part of the electrical network too, if I judge by the absence of traffic lights."

A car emerged from a nearby street and beeped. Leonardo barely avoided it. Donatello noticed how Splinter was gritting his teeth at the sudden move.

"Then let's go to the docks. We don't want to keep Raph waiting, do we?"

"It's so silent," Michelangelo mused. "I had imagined… I don't know, an actual storm. With clouds and thunder, you see?"

"Oh, don't worry. This storm will cause a lot of damage nonetheless. I wonder how many transformers have already been lost."

"Didn't the city prepare for that? We knew it was coming," Leonardo remarked.

Donatello shrugged. "I guess after an alien invasion, a magnetic storm doesn't seem that big a hassle."

Ice Cream Kitty meowed, and Michelangelo put her in the Shellraiser's freezer. "Donnie, why did you build it so narrow?" he complained.

"Be glad that I added a freezer at all, Mikey." Donatello patted his head absent-mindedly. He was beginning to worry. He had counted on Splinter's help to remove the bomb from Raphael's body, but it was clear that their father wasn't going to move from the Shellraiser anytime soon.

Which meant that he would have to do it, alone. While he felt tired to his bones. When a wrong move could mean death.

He felt his father's gaze upon him and gave Splinter a questioning look.

"My son," Splinter whispered. "I know you can do this." He smiled tenderly at Donatello, who felt on the verge of tears.

"Thank you, Father."


A surprise awaited them at the docks.

Two surprises, in fact.

"April? Casey? What are you doing here?"

Michelangelo had long jumped out of the Shellraiser to welcome their friends that Donatello was still hiding inside it. Splinter, who was obviously avoiding moving, raised a hand to cover his mouth.

Donatello could hear April's voice very clearly from his position under his seat.

"As soon as we realized that our phones weren't working, we understood that the storm had begun and we decided to wait for you at the docks," she explained. "Where's Donnie?"

"Inside," Michelangelo supplied helpfully.

Traitor, Donatello thought. He wondered whether there was a chance that April wouldn't notice him, but the awkward, logical answer was no. Not in a million years. So he stood up and dusted himself before going outside to meet April, keeping his arms and their unhealthy white spots carefully behind his back.

"Hi, April."

"Donnie!" April ran and embraced him. "Oh my gosh, Donnie, I was so worried!"

Donatello tried to find something clever to say. In the end, he opted for a clever silence and patted April's back.

April was examining him closely, and he shifted uncomfortably, hoping he didn't look too bad. "I wonder how you're still standing," she muttered.

So much for that.

"I'm a stubborn turtle."

April shook her head. "You should be at home, resting."

"We don't have a home anymore," Michelangelo's voice said sadly, and April's eyes widened.

"Long story short." Donatello shook his head. "Don't trigger bombs in your floor."

April gaped, and Casey, who had kept a low profile until then, swore.

"Then…" April asked. "Where is Master Splinter?"

"In the Shellraiser. He was hurt. But he'll be fine," he added when he saw April's expression. "He's not hurt like that."

"April has a point, though," Casey interjected. "You should be resting, dude. You look terrible."

Donatello glared at him. Casey shrugged.

"Just telling the truth. You look like you could collapse every second. And what are these spots on your wrists?"

"What spots?" April turned around Donatello so she could see his arms. "Donnie!"

"You're so not helping, Casey Jones," Donatello muttered. He shook his head. "Sorry if I'm not in the best of shapes, but it'll have to do. Unless one of you knows how to remove a bomb from a mutant turtle's body? No, nobody? I thought so." He took a deep breath. "Now let's go find Raph." He couldn't wait to see him. He needed to make sure that he was still there, that he was still alive, that the bomb inside of him hadn't exploded…

Raph, please. Be there. We need you.

"Oh, we already found him," Casey said matter-of-factly. "He's right there." He pointed at a nearby pontoon. "He says he's not going out of the water."

"Sounds like him," Donatello mumbled, barely hiding the relief overwhelming him. He walked to the pontoon and bent over. "Raph!"

No answer.

"Raph, I know you're here," Donatello added. "And unless you want me to open your skin in this filthy water full of germs, I suggest you join me on the land."

He heard a grumble, then Raphael spoke. Donatello smiled at hearing the beloved gruff voice of his brother.

"Stay away from me. I'm dangerous."

Now he could see two eyes and a skull in the water below.

"Raph, don't be so stubborn," he chided. "We only have so much time before the storm ends, or somebody comes. You're not dangerous right now, I promise."

Unless I make a mistake in the procedure, in which case we'll both be dead.

Raphael seemed to think about this.

"Fine. But the others stay away."

Donatello looked at his friends and brothers. Leonardo nodded.

"We'll have it your way," he said soothingly. "Now come out."


While Raphael swam to a part of the docks a little apart from the one where the Shellraiser was parked, and where they could hide behind containers, Donatello retrieved his medical bag.

"Are you sure you don't want help?" Casey asked, his fists clenching and unclenching. "I'm not afraid of blood. I could…"

April put a hand on his arm. "Casey, Raph will be fine. Donnie won't let anything happen to him, right Donnie?"

Donatello forced the corners of his mouth to go up.

"Of course not."

He didn't add that in case he couldn't prevent it, it would be better if the others weren't nearby.

His family smiled at him, and he nodded to them.

On his way to the containers, he realized that he had an unexpected problem.

His fingers were shaking.

He swore inwardly. As if he needed that in top of everything else. Was it a withdrawal symptom because he had stopped taking drops from the vial?

There was no way he could perform surgery with shaking hands.

Taking his decision, he checked that nobody could see what he was doing and took Irma's vial from his belt. The blue liquid inside looked as dangerous as ever. Gritting his teeth, he opened it and quickly drank from it. He had no pipette, so he couldn't make sure he was only taking one drop, but it would have to do. Hiding the vial in his belt again, he hurried to meet Raphael.

His brother was crouching behind a container. Donatello wanted to run to him and hug him, he was so happy to see him in one healthy piece.

"Took you long enough," Raphael said.

Donatello rolled his eyes, grinning, and noted with secret relief that his hands weren't shaking anymore.

"Nothing like a warm welcome to fill a turtle's heart with joy. Are you ready?"

"Ready to let you butcher me? Never," Raphael grumbled.

"Perfect. Turn around, I need to see your shoulder."

"What if it still explodes?" Raphael whispered as he obeyed.

"There is zero chance of that happening," Donatello bluffed. Either he was right and it was true, or he wasn't and it wouldn't matter. Because, well, there wouldn't be a Raphael or a Donatello left to care.

With this strangely comforting thought, Donatello set to work. He put on gloves and began disinfecting them, his tools, and Raphael's skin. He injected a painkiller to desensitize the area.

"By the way, do you remember anything about when it happened?" he asked, in the hope of distracting Raphael's attention. His brother, like all of them, wasn't particularly fond of needles. Maybe it was because way too many people - especially alien people - wanted to dissect them.

"I don't remember." Raphael's face was paling a little more every second.

Donatello took his scalpel. "Okay, here goes nothing. Tell me if you don't feel well. I'll work as fast as I can, and… Raph!"

Raphael had snatched the scalpel from his fingers and sliced his own skin open, way deeper than Donatello would have.

"Raphael!" he insisted, furious.

"Just take the blasted thing away, Donnie," Raphael retorted.

Donatello carefully took the scalpel back.

"And to think that you were afraid of me butchering you," he muttered.

"I wasn't afraid of anything."

Donatello glared at his brother. "Not another move. I mean it."

Thankfully, Raphael complied. In a matter of minutes, Donatello had found the tiny metallic orb that had been key to his obedience towards Irma. He removed it with gentle gestures, before throwing it into the water as far as he could. It detonated inside the water, causing a wave to crash against the docks.

"It's gone," he whispered.

"It is? Donnie, you're the best!" Raphael grinned and hugged his brother, forgetting that the operation wasn't over yet.

Donatello couldn't help smiling. "Wait, I still need to stitch the wound."

"Oh. Sorry."

A few minutes later, it was finally done. Raphael looked at his shoulder, his face reflecting his mixed feelings, before he shrugged and turned back to Donatello with a grin.

"Thank you, Donnie."

Donatello nodded weakly.

His brother was safe.

He was safe.

Finally.

Donatello closed his eyes. Now that it was over, he felt the exhaustion, the doubt and the fear that he had fought so hard to keep at bay rush to him. Engulf him. He had no energy left to repel them, no energy left at all…

"Donnie? Donnie!"

Donatello wanted to soothe his panicking brother. It was to be expected. He had known he was pushing himself too far all along.

He had known…

But what else could he have done?

He tried to speak, to comment on how enduring the body was, when you thought about it, but even that had become too much. Soon he didn't see the docks, the containers, or Raphael's face anymore.

Only darkness.


Author's Note: I know, I know.

See you next chapter! (Or sooner in the review section, if you want to comment or complain.)