*Disclaimer: I do not own the characters Donatello, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Splinter, April O'Neil, or Casey Jones.  The rest of them are mine; please don't borrow them without permission.  Thanks!

Chapter 9

Athena:

I headed back down the hall, teacup and saucer in hand.  I'd thrown on one of my training suits since it was the nearest available clothing.  As I entered the room again, it was obvious the mood had changed in my absence.

Only Michaelangelo looked up as I came in, the others were too occupied with their own thoughts.  Leonardo was repeating the scene I'd witnessed yesterday, trying to accept what was in front of him.  I was glad they were the ones to break the news.

"Here you go.  I put honey and lemon in it, I hope you don't mind."

He gave me a weak smile and accepted the tea.

"I'm sure they've told you all of the important stuff—are there any questions I can answer for you?"

He took a few sips of tea before replying.  "How long have we been here?"

"Almost two weeks now."

"Don't worry, we already called Splinter and April."  Michaelangelo attempted to put his brother at ease.

"Donatello said that you have four sisters, that you all live here."

"Yes.  Speaking of which, I should probably go wake Panaceia.  She'll have a fit when she finds out you're awake and I didn't call her…"

"You saved our lives."

I didn't really know what to say to that.  I looked up at him, trying to communicate in a look what I couldn't in words.  I didn't need his gratitude, I didn't want it.  They probably would have lived if we hadn't taken them out of there, though I doubted that they would have wanted to live that life.  I just wished that it had never happened, although I was glad they were with us now.

None of us spoke for a few minutes.  Suddenly it dawned on me that the other three were out of bed—and standing! 

"Wait a minute!  You know you guys aren't supposed to be out of bed!"

Michaelangelo's eyes got wide as though he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  Donatello lowered his head a little and Raphael just looked anywhere but me. 

"I feel fine."  Donatello sheepishly replied.

"That's not really the point; we haven't even completed all of the exams to make sure that it's okay for you to be walking around!"

"Well, obviously it is."  Raphael said sarcastically.

"Obviously nothing.  Panaceia would kick all of our asses if she saw this!  Quick—back in bed before I get her down here!"

"But, what about Leo?"

"Michaelangelo, I'll bring him next door with the rest of you as soon as Panaceia says it's okay.  The sooner you go get back in bed, the sooner we can make that happen."

They grumbled and whined, but did as they were told.  Once I was sure they were all settled in, I paged Panaceia and returned to Leonardo.

He was lying on the bed, staring blankly in front of him.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?"

"Mmm…okay, I guess, considering…"

"I'm really sorry, Leonardo."

"Why?  It's not your fault."

"I just wish we could have been there sooner."

He didn't say anything for a moment, but looked at me intently.

"Our sensei would say that everything happens for a reason and that you were never meant to find us before you did."

"Ah, the "leave it to fate" perspective.  I struggle with that.  I have a hard time accepting the idea that our lives are all planned out for us before we begin."

"You like thinking you're in control of your destiny."

"Don't you?"

Again he didn't reply right away.  "I suppose I do, but at the same time I think that's a weakness.  To struggle against fate is a fight you can't win."

"So you believe it was your destiny to have your shell removed, almost die, and end up in my basement to be nursed back to health?"

"But I didn't die.  I'm here, and my brothers are here.  Despite what's happened, we're all in pretty good shape.  I'd call that destiny."

"I'd call it luck."

"Well, whatever you want to call it, we're in debt to you and your sisters."

Before I could reply, Panaceia came bursting into the room.  She fussed over Leonardo, who started to look uncomfortable with the whole thing, for a good 20 minutes before deciding that we could move him next door with the others.  We've called her "mother hen" before.  I chuckled to myself as she played her role perfectly.

We moved Leonardo next door, which made everyone happy.  It was going to make things easier for us too, having them all in one room.  Panaceia then fussed over the other three, then double-checked everyone before finally leaving them alone to rest.  We slipped out the doors as Michaelangelo was already starting to snore.

"You're awfully quiet."

"Me?"

"No, the other Athena."

"Haha."

"Anything on your mind?"

"Is that a trick question?  When is there not something on my mind?"

"No, I guess that was more like, is there anything on your mind that you're actually going to share with me?"

"Oh."  I smiled as we stepped into the lift.

"Well?"

"I was just thinking about a conversation that Leonardo and I were having before you came in.  I've been feeling badly ever since they got here, thinking that there was more we could have done, that we should have gotten there sooner."

"I've felt like that too."

"Yet, there's Leonardo, the worst of the four, thanking us for saving them, and just accepting what's happened as their destiny."

"Destiny, huh?"

"Some destiny."

"Now, weren't you the one telling me that it would all work out for them and I needed to look on the bright side of the situation?"

I didn't reply.

"He's just trying to deal with what's happened in the way he knows best, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"For someone who doesn't know him, you seem to know him pretty well."

"Yeah, and all this time I thought that was your department."

"Ha!"

Panaceia:

We didn't say anything as we got off the lift and headed to our rooms, but there was one question I still wanted to ask.

"Hey, Athena?"

"Yeah?"  She paused in the doorway of her room.

"How did you know?"

"About Leonardo?"

"Yeah."

"I just felt it.  I woke up in a complete panic."

"Oh."  That was so like Athena.

"Funny thing, though…from now on I'm going to have to wear real pajamas to bed."

"Why?  You hate pajamas."  Ever since we were kids, Athena would sleep with the least amount of clothing on as possible.  Thank god we had our own rooms.

"Yeah, I know, but it's better than standing around in front of company in your skimpy little baby blue underwear."

"You didn't…"

"I did."  She started to blush a little.

"Oh my…"

"Night, Panaceia."

"Good night Athena."  I had all I could do not to laugh before the doors to my room slid shut.

I smiled to myself as I got back in bed.  It had been an eventful 24 hours, to say the least.  Psyche and Nemesis were scheduled to return in the afternoon.  Hopefully they would be bringing some answers with them.  I would have liked to ask Athena a few more questions, but they could wait. 

Now that our guests were all awake and in far more stabile condition, I felt as thought I should have been feeling better about the whole situation.  Instead I couldn't ignore the feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad was coming; I just didn't know what.