"Leonardo and Donatello; Raphael and Michelangelo." Splinter called out the teams calmly, watching as the four paired up.

For several weeks, Leo, Raph, and Mikey had been allowed to train, as their wounds were healed considerably. Donnie, though, had been a different story. For those two weeks Master Splinter had designed a workout schedule that Donnie would do while they trained so that he didn't feel entirely left out. But now that Leatherhead had officially cleared him fit for training, they could finally train evenly.

Their sparring lessons would be even now; one on one instead of their usual two on one.

Leo bowed and Donnie mimicked him, each readying to spar with the other.

Neither of them had any weapons as this was a more hand to hand training, something that Leo quickly figured out was not one of Donnie's strong suits.

Weaponless hand to hand combat seemed to be one thing that Donnie was simply unable to do, or maybe unwilling was a better word.

Forward attacks were rare with him, as he seemed more comfortable defending himself than actually going on the offensive.

It reminded Leo of when Baron had made the two of them fight; how Donnie would rarely land a blow of his own and would much rather defend.

And though the situation was entirely different, Leo couldn't help but think about it and wonder if Donnie was thinking along the same lines.

It wasn't difficult for Leo to get his brother on the ground, even as easy as he was going. Truthfully, Leo was afraid of hurting his younger brother so he wasn't trying as hard as he usually would.

Sensei called their match to end and Leo quickly helped Donnie to stand, pretending he didn't see his brother's wince as he did so. They both kneeled beside Sensei and watched Raph and Mikey's match begin.

Leo tried to ignore the way Donnie leaned so far away from Sensei, how he averted his eyes away from him.

He spoke when Sensei addressed him, but everything he said was short and to the point. Not disrespectful, rather the opposite actually. Granted, Raph, Mikey, and Leo were all respectful of Sensei, but their estranged brother took it to the extreme.

What was worse was that they had realized that this was how Donnie must have learned to respond to Shredder and that he didn't even seem to realize that it was abnormal, and none of the family knew how to approach him on the subject.

So while Donnie's relationship had gotten better with his brothers, he still continued to respond distantly to Master Splinter.

Mikey danced around a glaring Raph with accompanying hits when he didn't expect it, teasing and taunting him as Raph attempted to think through his anger long enough to land a hit- something the hot head had never been good at.

"Come on Raphie. Catch me if you ca-" Mikey taunted and stuck his tongue out, only to scream when Raph lunged for him and grabbed him in a chokehold.

"Oww!" Mikey yelled, trying and failing to wiggle out of his hot-headed brother's hold. "Oww, Raphie let me go!"

"What did I tell you about calling me Raphie?" The resident hot-head thundered.

Leo noticed that Donnie was suddenly very tense and had leaned forward on his knees like he was prepared to get between the two.

"Don't worry, they do this all the time." Leo whispered to his second youngest brother. "Mikey's just overreacting; Raph wouldn't really hurt him that bad."

Donnie glanced at him then relaxed after a moment, but the older turtle could tell that it took a lot of effort to do so.

"Yame!"

Both of Leo's brothers immediately stopped their actions and, both grumbling, stood up and kneeled beside their brothers.

"Raphael, you allowed yourself to be distracted with comments and let your anger take control. If that had been a real enemy, you would have been easily defeated." Master Splinter admonished and Raph grimaced but conceded.

"Michelangelo, you let your guard down and when you had the opportunity to strike, you instead chose to taunt your brother, giving him the opportunity to defeat you." Master Splinter chided. Mikey tilted his head down and laughed nervously.

"Leonardo, your attacks were hesitant and though this is only training, they were softer than usual. In battle, your enemy will not reciprocate this." Master Splinter said, and Leo caught sight of Donnie's grimace.

"Donatello, you refused to make a forward attack and you only raised your defenses when necessary. In battle this will not be adequate enough to keep you alive."

Donnie winced and bit his lip at the admonishment, not meeting anyone's eyes.

Leo caught Sensei's eyes and saw a flicker of determination there before he moved away again.

"That is all for today, my sons." Master Splinter said as a way of departure.

Mikey bounded up from his position and Raph soon followed, talking about possibly meeting up with Casey later.

Leo stood up and Donnie followed, seeming all too happy to follow his eldest brother on his way out of the dojo.

"Donatello, stay for a moment." Came Sensei's stern request.

Donnie froze for a moment, still facing the entrance, before hesitantly turning around and murmuring a soft, "Hai"

Leo hesitated as well in the doorway, unsure of leaving his second youngest brother alone with Sensei. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sensei- of course he did!- and it wasn't even that he didn't trust Donnie. It was that he didn't want his brother to be uncomfortable or afraid.

Leo shared a look with his Sensei, silently pleading for permission to stay in the room, to which Sensei gave a slight shake of his head.

Leo had to bite his tongue against the argument that wanted to come out. As much as he wanted Donnie to be comfortable, he also knew that this conversation was a long time coming and desperately needed.

So keeping that in mind, Leo turned and exited the dojo, giving his suddenly anxious brother a reassuring smile on his way out and closing the doors to give them some privacy.

Leo sat down at the island in the kitchen so he had a good view of the dojo doors for when they opened, wanting to be able to go to his second youngest brother as soon as he could.

Splinter watched his agitated son as he stood in a rigid position that he himself would never force his sons to preform, and he had an idea of who he had learned it from.

This distance had gone on between him and his estranged son for as long as the father could bare and he knew that it couldn't continue any longer. If not for his own heartache at each encounter, then so his son wouldn't worry that Splinter was suddenly going to lash out at him, as this was what the old father suspected that his son was expecting from him.

But how to approach it? How could he convince his son that he wasn't like Saki, as that was surely how he saw him.

Splinter ensured that he was a fair distance away from his second youngest son, so as to not make him feel enclosed or pressured, but close enough that his son would know that he was there for him if he realized it.

Donatello didn't move from his position or even lift his eyes from the floor, as if he thought he wasn't allowed.

"Donatello, please relax my son." Splinter requested gently. "I simply wish to speak with you."

To his disappointment, his words did nothing to soothe his overly tense son, who still stubbornly refused to move.

Splinter considered the position they were in. He could hardly get through to his son when he refused to even move into a more comfortable position.

Splinter silently sat on the floor, much like he had when they had meditated, waiting until his son's eyes flickered over to him before motioning in front of him.

Splinter understood that as it was, despite his efforts over the weeks, his second youngest son still saw him as a danger and thus would react like so. And so Splinter put himself into a position where he would be a lesser threat and hoped his son would understand.

After a moment of hesitation, and obvious confusion, Donatello moved to kneel in front of him, though he ensured that there was a large amount of space between them and Splinter realized that he had put the distance between them so that there was space for him to defend himself if need be.

"My son, have I done something to make you afraid?" Splinter asked after a moment of silence.

Donatello's eyes snapped up to meet his, startled at the blunt inquiry, before meeting the ground again.

"No, of course not, Master Splinter." Donatello was quick to deny and Splinter couldn't help but hear the formality there.

He was long used to his sons referring to him as 'Sensei' in most situations.

"Then why do you act afraid in my presence?" Splinter asked, making sure to keep his tone quiet. "Why are you afraid to be alone with me?"

Donatello opened his mouth to respond only to snap it shut again.

"I don't." Donatello grimaced at the blatant lie. "I'm not- I don't think- I mean-"

"My son, calm yourself." Splinter reminded his son gently.

Donatello rubbed his neck with his hand nervously and glanced at the ground.

Splinter took a deep breath and willed himself forward in the conversation.

"My son, look at me." Splinter leaned forward slightly, not allowing himself to be put off when Donatello flinched and leaned back.

"Donatello, I am not Oroku Saki. I will not act like him- ever. That I promise you." Splinter vowed, his heart soaring when Donatello finally met his eyes again. "I will not loose my temper at minor infractions and I will not punish you harshly. I will never hit you or-"

Splinter hesitated, his mind going back to what Leatherhead had been telling him about his son's prior treatment. He didn't want to push his second youngest son back into his shell- figuratively, that is- but he also knew that this needed to be addressed, even if it was for the sole purpose of letting his son know that Splinter knew and could talk to him if he needed.

"I will never cut you. Or have someone do it." Splinter watched as Donatello tensed and stared at him with wide eyes.

"I don't- I don't know what you're talking about." Donatello stuttered out the lie as he glanced about, his hands balled at his sides.

"Donatello, I know." Splinter told him gently. "Leatherhead found... scars. Old scars, some newer. He found that." Splinter nodded to his son's still wrapped plastron.

Donatello visibly shivered and he thought he saw a shadow of betrayal in his eyes.

"Leatherhead only told me because he was concerned." Splinter assured him quickly.

"That's not what happened." Donatello argued, though with the way that he shifted, Splinter could tell that it wasn't true. Donatello motioned to the smaller of the two wraps, the one that Leatherhead had suspected was deliberate. "It happened during training. It was an accident."

Splinter didn't understand why his son was so vehemently denying what seemed undoubtable in Splinter's mind. He suspected that part of it was pride, or perhaps shame at being unable to stop it.

"My son, I know exactly what happened." Splinter assured him, cutting off the half hearted attempts his son gave at denying it. "I knew Saki at one point. I know how... cruel he can be."

Donatello hung his head at that, no longer seeing the point but not confirming it either.

"I know he can do horrible, horrible things. Even to children." Splinter watched his son's barely perceptible nod, silently confirming Splinter's suspicions. "My son, I am truly sorry that I did not come for you. I believed that you were gone and I thought that I had to focus on keeping your brothers out of Saki's hands as well." Splinter watched his son's face for any clue that he was getting through. "I am truly sorry, my son."

Donatello didn't seem like he was going to respond at first, seeming too lost in his thoughts, and Splinter debated on whether this was enough for now because he didn't want to push his son too far.

"I don't remember any of that." Donatello said finally. "I don't remember you or Raph or Mikey or Leo. I don't remember ever having a family and I don't know why I can't remember. I thought that it would come back to me if I had been here long enough and it hasn't-"

Donatello cut himself off with a shaky breath before swallowing and continuing.

"I keep waiting to remember you guys, to remember so it doesn't feel like I'm talking to a stranger but I can't." Donatello looked up at him with almost pleading eyes and Splinter understood that he was looking for an answer to his unspoken question.

"My s- Donatello," He amended quickly. If his son still saw him as a stranger, it would do more harm than good to keep referring to a role that he doesn't remember ever having. "We may never know what Saki did to make you forget, but I can try to help you if you would like. But if it cannot be undone, you can make new ones. You were gone for a very long time, but we are still your family, Donatello."

Donatello met his eyes briefly, searchingly, before nodding. Splinter wasn't exactly sure what his son was agreeing with, but at that moment he didn't want to ask.

Splinter looked at his son's bandaged plastron again and knew that their conversation wasn't over.

"Donatello, I need to know what happened." Splinter pleaded gently, his meaning clear as Donatello shifted. "It isn't good for you to keep those things inside your mind. They fester there. Speaking to someone can help."

Splinter at first thought that his son was going to refuse, but then seemed to change his mind, finally accepting Splinter's help.

"It uh-" Donatello coughed to clear his throat. "It didn't happen during training. Did they tell you about what happened in the warehouse?"

Splinter remembered the major details- how his sons had escaped, the ninja that had given them so much trouble, who they later found to be the one who had taken Donatello.

Donatello continued.

"I attacked Baron. He was going after Mikey and I didn't think, I just-" Donatello sighed. "I attacked him and some of the mutated rats got loose during the fight. When we got back, Baron lied to Saki and said that I was trying to save him, but he was still angry." Donatello paled before he swallowed a lump in his throat. "He ordered me to Dr. Roland with orders to find out ways to weaken your sons and, well, Baron took those orders seriously."

Splinter had to stuff down the fury that he felt, aimed particularly at Saki and this so called Doctor. His son didn't need his anger right now, he needed his calm. But the idea of his son being intentionally harmed by a man trying to find a weakness to use against his family- it was infuriating.

Donatello glanced at the dojo doors with a worried expression on his face and Splinter understood.

"I will not be telling your brothers anything you are not comfortable telling them yourself." Splinter assured him quickly and his son relaxed. "You said that Baron lied. Why did he lie to Saki?" Splinter asked, needing to hear as much as his son was willing to speak.

Donatello rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"He wanted leverage to use against me. He was going to split from the Foot clan soon and wanted me to go with him and he knew that I wouldn't so he gave me an ultimatum: go with him when he left or die when he told Saki that I attacked a superior." Donatello explained. "But he kind of doomed himself because once you tell Saki something, if you admit to lying about it, you're pretty much dead anyway."

"He would see it as a betrayal or mutiny." Splinter agreed. His son looked almost relieved that he had understood.

"Yes. So we were kind of blackmailing each other. He couldn't tell Saki what I did and I couldn't tell Saki that he was planning on breaking off. He tried to get Leonardo to kill me, so that he didn't have to worry about me ratting, I suppose. Forgive the analogy." Donatello grinned sheepishly at him and Splinter smiled back at the first gesture that didn't seem tainted by fear. "It didn't work, obviously, but I made a program that would tell Saki what he did if I wasn't there to put in the password every day, so he knew that option was closed."

Splinter silently approved of his son's approach to the situation, but didn't want to interrupt his story to tell him.

"Of course, it's been weeks, so he's either dead or he split from the Foot clan by now." Donatello finished in a matter of fact tone.

"If he has gone off on his own, is he likely to be working alone or will others have joined him?" Splinter asked, wary of the possibility of a new threat to his family.

"Oh, he's not alone." His son confirmed immediately. "Saki authorized Baron to head a section of the Foot clan a few years back, and Baron turned them into elite ninjas, from what I was able to dig up. If he's split from the Foot, they'll be with him."

"Thank you, Donatello." Splinter said. He would have to look into this possibility.

Donatello glanced back toward the door and Splinter understood that he was done talking fir the time being.

"You may go, Donatello. But I need you to know that I will listen, if you need to speak with someone." Splinter said.

Donatello nodded and stood but turned back before he opened the door.

"Thank you, Master Splinter." He said and slipped out the door.

Splinter wanted to tell him to call him Sensei, perhaps to put the boy at ease, but he knew that the word may not come naturally to his second youngest son and promised himself not to push the issue.

He had gotten through, at least a little. It was by far an improvement over the last few weeks.

Splinter smiled to himself and slipped into a meditative position.

Leo almost jumped out of his seat when the doors to the dojo opened and Donnie walked out.

He looked worn and tired but he also stood a little straighter too, like a weight had been lifted.

"Hey Donnie." Leo greeted as Donnie sat down beside him.

"Hey." Donnie replied and started looking around the room.

"Mikey went to watch T.V. and Raph's in the garage." Leo explained before his brother could ask.

"Oh." Was his brother's only response.

Donnie didn't say anything more and Leo could almost see Donnie falling back into himself, loosing himself in his head again- something that the brothers had quickly figured out was not a good place to be sometimes.

"Want to play Go?" Leo asked in an attempt to distract his younger brother. When he didn't immediately respond, Leo shook his shoulder to get his attention. "Come on."

His second youngest brother's eyes followed him as he set out the board between them.

Donnie, who hadn't really been paying attention at all up until that point, raised an eyebrow at the game.

"This is Wei-Chi, isn't it?" Donnie asked.

Leo shrugged. "That's another name for it I guess. I call it Go."

Leo allowed his younger brother to make the first move and they began. Much like how he had been with chess, Donnie was calm and thoughtful, planning every move before he made it.

Leo was pleasantly surprised that his brother knew how to play so well and it must have shown on his face because Donnie grinned at him.

"I've played. I just hadn't heard it called that before." Donnie explained as he made another calculated move.

"Who did you play with?" Leo asked, almost certain that he knew the answer.

"Karai." Donnie answered. "She's a good strategist."

Leo considered that for a moment. He couldn't really say that he was surprised with his brother's declaration. He had seen for himself just how clever Karai could be when she wanted something.

"You're really complimenting that witch?" Raph scoffed as he walked into the kitchen, catching the end of their conversation as he did. He threw both of his brothers a look of disgust as he opened the fridge.

"No one was talking to you, Raph." Leo replied for his younger brother sternly, too aware of how quickly he had clammed up.

"Well, forgive me Fearless leader for being concerned when our brother compliments our enemy." Raph retorted.

"Raph, seriously, butt out." Leo snapped in a tone that warned his brother not to try him.

"You know, I was your enemy too at one point." Donnie pointed out, his voice stern.

Raph rolled his eyes as if the logic was nonsense. "But you're our brother, Genius. That's different."

"How?" Donnie demanded, his tone colder. "Karai is only doing what she's told, just like I was."

"But you chose to help us, though, didn't you?" Leo pointed out, hoping to end the argument before it could take form. "So it doesn't matter."

"Yeah, you had the brains not to listen to Shred-head anymore. Karai just follows whatever he says like a lost pup-" Raph started up again and Leo sighed as his point was completely missed.

"She doesn't exactly have a choice, Raphael." Donnie snapped, glaring at his immediate older brother with cold eyes. "If she rebelled in any way from Saki, he would at the least send her to Dr. Roland, at the worst torture her to death. He has no reservations about that. She has nowhere to go where Saki wouldn't have eyes on her. She was raised to fear everything he could and very much would do. Tell me, what is the acceptable choice there?"

Raph and Leo didn't know how to respond to that and Leo caught Mikey staring at them with wide eyes from his position on the couch.

Donnie angrily stood up and pushed past Raph and headed in the direction of the lab, ignoring it when Leo called out to him.

"Let him go, Fearless." Raph muttered and tried to act like it didn't matter, but Leo could see how rattled he was.

"You just couldn't stop yourself, could you Raph?" Leo demanded as he stood. "You couldn't just leave it alone and not butt your head in for once?"

"He seemed to think that Karai was some saint or something!" Raph defended himself, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut at his younger brother's previous words.

"No he didn't Raph!" Leo retorted. "He was sympathizing with her! Something you know nothing about!"

"Raphael, Leonardo, enough!"

The three remaining turtles turned toward their father, who had obviously been listening, standing in the doorway of the dojo, looking at his sons with a stern expression.

"Raphael, respecting your enemy and understanding them is an invaluable tool if you are to fight them and should not be ignored." Splinter chastised. "Your brother has a unique insight to our enemy that will be very useful with time. He knows them better than we do by association, and he will undoubtably have a different view of them."

Leo couldn't help but feel a bit smug at his Sensei's confirmation at what he had been saying.

"But Donatello must also understand the difference between having compassion and being blinded by it." Splinter continued, eyeing Leo as he did, as if sensing his thoughts. "You must look out for him in that respect."

Leo lowered his head and the brief smugness disappeared.

"Michelangelo, why don't you go see what your brother is doing?" Splinter asked, noting that his youngest son was the only one who hadn't been in the argument.

Leo watched as Mikey enthusiastically nodded and bounded up from his seat, running in the direction of the lab before either older brother could volunteer themselves.

Mikey hesitated outside of the closed door, staining to hear what was going on on the other side of it.

There was a light mumbling on the other side of the door but Mikey couldn't pick out any words.

Taking a breath, Mikey knocked several times on the door in quick succession.

"D? Bro you in there?"

There was a shuffle before the lab door opened slightly and Mikey quickly pushed his way through.

"Hey, D!" Mikey greeted his brother brightly.

"Hey, Mikey." Was Donnie's simple response as he moved to the computer where Mikey guessed he had been before.

"Whatcha doing bro?" Mikey asked with interest and leaned over his brother's shoulder to have a look at what his immediate older brother was doing.

The screen of the computer was filled from top to bottom with odd-looking numbers that made absolutely no sense to Mikey, but by the way his older brother was looking at them- not in confusion, but in contemplation- you would think it was in simple English.

"I don't know." Donnie responded with a sigh.

Mikey hesitated.

"Is it about what Raph said?" Mikey asked. "You know, Raph can be really thick headed sometimes; you can't always take him seriously. He just kinda looks at Foot like punching bags, ya know?"

Donnie sighed again and shook his head.

"They're people too, Michelangelo." Donnie said quietly and folded his arms over his plastron. "Not punching bags: people. Not all of them chose to be there, not all of them have the privilege of being there on their own free will. If you have something he wants, or he needs your service, he'll do anything necessary to get what he wants. He'll threaten their families or brainwash them or torture them until they conform- it's not always as simple as good and bad."

"Would he really do that?" Mikey asked.

He knew that Shredder was an evil dude, but to actually tor- okay, so not so far fetched, Mikey amended, remembering all too vividly just how painful Shredder could make things.

"Yes." Was his brother's simple response.

Donnie's eyes were dark, shadowed, Mikey realized, and he didn't like it one bit.

"You're never going back there, D." Mikey said in a rarely used serious tone and placed his hand on his older brother's shoulder comfortingly. "You know that, don't you?"

Mikey saw Donnie let out a breath and nodded, reaching over to squeeze his wrist in a rare- for him- show of affection.

That was something Mikey had realized about his immediate older brother. For as much as he hated to be touched- to which they had actually made some progress on, but Mikey was still careful of it- he was as equally unappealing to the idea of touching someone else.

"Thanks, Mikey." Donnie murmured quietly and let go.

"No problem, D." Mikey replied brightly and resisted the urge to wrap his brother in a hug. Baby steps, he told himself.

Donnie looked back toward the computer and Mikey saw him bite his lip, which Mikey had long ago picked up meant that he was thinking about something.

"So what is this?" Mikey asked, pointing to the screen.

"Well, um, I was thinking-" Donnie hesitated and rubbed the back of his neck, a habit that Mikey had noticed his older brother indulged whenever he was nervous.

"You're always thinking, D." Mikey interrupted with a playful roll of his eyes.

Donnie grinned slightly but continued as if he hadn't said anything.

"I was thinking about, well, my file." Donnie explained with hesitance.

"Your file?" Mikey repeated.

"His file from the Foot." A gruff voice contributed from the doorway. "You can't seriously tell me you forgot about that."

Both of the youngest brothers looked up to see the two eldest in the doorway, who taking their silence as permission to enter, crossed over to see what they were looking at.

Raph leaned on Donnie's right and gave him a playful push and Donnie gave a slight smile back, and Mikey knew that it was easy waters again between the two.

"So what about your file, Donnie?" Leo asked, motioning to the screen, which Mikey could tell by their faces, meant as much sense to them as it had to the youngest.

Donnie cleared his throat nervously at the bigger audience.

"Well, I was thinking about our files. Or, yours at first. I was going to delete them and anything connected to you guys so they couldn't use it- and I will. But then I got to thinking about my file." Donnie explained in a voice that sounded very similar to a teacher's as he stood up and began pacing the floor. "I know now that the file I had access to for all these years must've been faked so it got me thinking-"

"-Where's the real one?" Leo guessed for him, sitting up a little straighter.

Donnie nodded quickly and continued his pacing.

"Exactly. Now, I've been all through the Foot mainframe since before I could remember, but I never saw anything remotely looking like it could be mine." Donnie continued.

"How do you know it's not on paper?" Raph grunted.

Donnie shook his head. "No, they put everything on digital files. It's so superiors can monitor high risk missions and failures accounted for- something that can be too easily manipulated if it's on paper."

"Okay, so how Shredder hide things he didn't want anyone else to know?" Leo asked, realizing that asking questions seemed to stimulate his brother's thinking process.

"Oh, he has his own network designed by Stockman. See, Stockman and I designed the main network, but he alone designed Saki's. So, in theory, my original file could be on there."

From the way that their brother spoke they could tell that he was hesitant about it.

"Do you think you could do it?" Leo asked, interrupting the silence.

Donnie almost immediately nodded, seeming confident in the task.

"Of that I'm sure." He said. "Stockman is arrogant and his programming often had key chinks in the armor that I had to fix. I can get in, it's just that..."

Donnie stopped pacing.

There was a hesitant expression on his face, like he was certain that he just wasn't capable of it, or maybe was unwilling.

Leo frowned. He had no doubt in his brother's ability to get into Shredder's system, but he seemed to be almost afraid of doing it and Leo had to wonder exactly what had happened to instill that fear in him.

"Donnie, he can't get you here, you know that right?" Leo asked quietly, ignoring his other two brother's glances.

Donnie briefly looked embarrassed before giving a single silent nod and going back to the computer.

The three brothers leaned in to watch their brother work as his fingers flew across the keyboard at lightning speed before he glanced up at them.

"Um, guys? A little room? A turtle has to breathe at some point."

They mumbled embarrassed apologies and took several steps back to allow their brother some breathing room though they still, at a distance, looked over his shoulder to watch him work.

"Yes! Knew I could get in!"

At their brother's exclamation, the three brothers were immediately back in their spots, only this time Donnie didn't protest about space as he was too busy grinning.

"You got in?" Leo asked.

"Well of course he did, Fearless." Raph grunted unhelpfully from behind them. "Why else would he say that? You know, sometimes I think you're a bigger bone-head than Mikey here."

Mikey started to laugh before it dawned on him that the comment was supposed to be insulting and frowned in thought.

"Wait- Hey!"

"Oh shut it shell for brains. You know it's true." Was Raph's only response.

Leo and Donnie shared a look that so clearly said, "Brothers, what can you do?" that neither of them could help but grin.

"Yes, I got in." Donnie confirmed to them. "Now to search..."

Leo watched Donnie click through file after file, closing them only a few seconds after opening them. Leo didn't know how his brother read that fast, but he wasn't about to question it.

Leo noticed that a small frown had settled on his brother's face.

"What is it, Donnie?" He asked, leaning forward.

"A bunch of these are about future missions." Donnie explained. "Deals with out of state gangs to protect cargo, some blackmail on officials, drug and weapons imports..."

"Is that not something that usually happens?" Leo asked.

"Oh no, this is usual." Donnie said and waved a hand over the screen as is it were nothing. "But this stuff is usually on the mainframe, and there's nothing here that the other ninjas haven't done before, so I don't know why it would be here."

"Maybe he thought you wouldn't be able to get in there." Leo guessed. "Maybe he thought they would be protected by Stockman's program."

A small smile made it's way to Donnie's lips.

"Well, he was wrong then." Donnie declared. "It'll just take some looking, but I should be able to-"

Donnie stopped talking then, staring at the screen as the files one by one began to disappear.

"Woah, woah-" Leo protested. "What's that? What's it doing?"

"They're erasing themselves." Donnie said with wide eyes before smiling and shaking his head. "I've gotta give Stockman more credit. Sometimes I forget that he can actually be smart."

"So why're you smiling, genius?" Raph demanded as he glared at his still grinning brother.

"Because I'm smarter." He retorted and relaxed back into the chair. "Stockman must have programmed the system to self destruct when an unknown source tapped into it. That's why Saki used him."

"Well, that's just great. Now it's all useless." Raph growled, throwing up his hands in aggravation.

"Oh calm down, Raph." Donnie laughed. "I know how Stockman thinks. I was prepared for this." Donnie grinned. "It's all on a backup drive, ready to be sorted through."

Leo grinned at his second youngest brother and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good thinking, Donnie." Leo said.

Donnie grinned at the compliment.

"So what?" Raph asked. "Now we have to go through all these files until our eyes bleed?"

Donnie shrugged. "You're welcome to do what you want, but I'm gonna stay."

"I'll help." Leo offered immediately and sat down beside his brother.

"Me too, bros." Mikey declared and jumped into the rolling chair, almost falling back in doing so.

The three brothers then looked up at their hot-headed brother, each willing him to stay.

Raph finally gave in with a long, drawled out groan and took his own seat.

"Fine, fine! I'm in, happy now?" Raph demanded.

Mikey grinned.

"Peer pressure's awesome, isn't it Raphie?"

Raph sneered and leaned forward to place his foot beneath one of the wheels of the chair and lifted it up, tipping Mikey onto the floor and taking his seat in one fluid motion.

"Don't call me Raphie." Raph growled while Mikey sat on the floor and pouted.

Thank you too those who are following this story! And a special thanks to Ramica for the suggestion of the Go game. Thank you so much!