Rating: Overall story rated T

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Warnings: Overall story contains disturbing imagery such as blood, gore and the like, and disturbing situations.

Summary: The world as they knew it has gone to ruins. The shadows, once their greatest allies, now harbour threats so great it's safer to risk walking in open daylight and Mikey and April will do anything to keep what remains of their family safe; even if it means abandoning home and everything they knew. This story is AU and a collaboration between sampsonknightand Zelgadis55.

Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.


Guest: You're welcome and sorry for the wait. Due to the meshing of two of us having written it with very different styles, editing to make it flow better can be harder than it is when working on something only I've written. Thanks! Mikey's my favourite character and I love writing him so I'm glad you like how I portray him :-)

Minnie1015: Welcome aboard! Mikey and April miss adult Leo, Donnie and Raphie too XD And yeah, Sampsonknight in particular specialises in having a lot going on in her stories, heh and when we bounce off each other as we have in this particular story, that only gets exacerbated XD


Fandom Announcement!

Turtle Wishes is on again, this time for Easter!

What is this?

Basically, this is an e-card service, featuring our favourite foursome. You can choose up to 4 people to send Wishes to, whether they be friends or someone you admire, to show them you care or that you appreciate them. You choose the brother featured on the card and the message and Turtle Wishes sends them on your behalf come Easter morning.

What do the cards look like? Well, that you'll find out once the cards are delivered as you don't want to ruin the surprise.

For more information and the link to the form https{:/}www{.}tumblr{.}com/blog/view/turtle-wishes or https{:/}www{.}deviantart{.}com/sampsonknight/journal/Turtle-Wishes-Easter-2021-Forms-Open-872664412 - just remove the {} to use the links.


Sekai no Owari

Ch 15

"That said, there is one other problem," April sighed, gazing balefully at the formula in front of her, "We actually have less than a day to figure out if we are going to inject them or not."

"Wait, what? Less than a day?" Mikey blurted desperately. "But I told Donnie he could have time! Why wouldn't you say anything then?"

"For how adamant he was on not wanting to stay at that age for starters and also... with how unstable the formula is, I don't think it will be effective or should be used after the next twelve hours," April pointed out with a wince. "Besides, I don't think Donnie wants or needs to have this decision on his head and you seemed to not want it either but you need to realise, this is your decision, Mikey."

Mikey stumbled backwards, falling onto the nearby desk. "You should have said something at the time, April," he exclaimed. "Now he thinks he has time but he doesn't. That's gonna kill him. You're absolutely, positively sure about this, April?"

She nodded reluctantly. "I'm sorry Mikey, I... I found an envelope with the formula with my results I think, hidden away, and it made me wonder why he hid that formula with it. I know I sound like I have a double motive but I'm trying to protect him by not letting him know what he was up to in this lab, what he was trying to achieve. Hell, I have no clue of it myself. You saw how he was, how he... started to change and the more I searched through this lab, the more I became aware of how many secrets he held... I don't know what I'm doing anymore Mikey. I don't know what is right and wrong, especially with him at this age..." April trailed off, sitting down and placing her hands on her lap, "I don't want him to go into this research any further. If he knew he only had roughly twelve hours he would be so stubborn about figuring it out that maybe he'd come across old secrets he held. Secrets that were eating him alive under our very noses. Ones which no one even noticed, including me and you."

"I guess..." Mikey acquiesced softly, feeling sick. "Trouble is though, how's he going to feel when he's already having a hard time accepting all this." 'Accepting you...' he thought, not wanting to say it out loud. With how Donnie clearly felt about April, it was likely he'd blame her for not being open with the truth.

"I'm still running tests. He's aware we'll have the results in the morning on the formula so I'll bring up the time frame then. He doesn't need to know I already figured that part out tonight," April suggested, feeling like she'd messed this one up. Unfortunately, she couldn't see any way around it without him asking the wrong questions.

"Even at twelve, Donnie is scary-smart," Mikey warned. "Be careful how you tread, he'll probably see right through you."

"It doesn't matter," April stood up, walking towards the door. "It seems he already does see what he wants to see. Besides, can you really stand there, Mikey and tell him he used unorthodox methods to make that formula and tell him to go ahead and search the lab to recreate it? Do you want him to go back to that state of mind? You said he was distant at this age, what do you think would happen if you let him be subjugated to the same environment that was breaking him down at twenty-two?"

Mikey sighed. April was right, he knew that, but lying? To Donnie? That could prove more harmful than good and that's what worried him. It was no wonder Splinter had always been so against them lying. He moaned and held his head, his headache suddenly far worse.

Sighing, April placed her arm around Mikey, whispering to him, "Please don't worry about this, okay? I will take full responsibility and any repercussions from this. We both know it has to be done and yes, this might not be the correct way of doing it but we don't have the luxury to do this right. Besides, when it comes down to it, I don't have his trust anyway and while this might make it worse, that trust was never gained to break in the first place so I can just try to gain it later when the time is right but you can't lose his trust or you might never gain it again. So leave this to me, okay and the only reason I'm telling you this stuff is that I promised no more secrets with you."

Mikey shook his head adamantly, "I can't let you sacrifice yourself like that, dudette. Like you said earlier, we're in this together."

Pressing her head against his, she took a breath, "But I don't want him to hate you for it... he needs you."

Mikey immediately corrected her, "He needs both of us, they all do."

-:-

The two alarms going off eventually awoke Donatello at quarter past five and yawning, he crossed the room to turn them off. Then, practically sleepwalking back, flopped down on top of his bedding as he tried to wake up. Blinking, he wondered why his alarm went off so early, after all, Master Splinter didn't require them up for training for another five hours yet. That's when he remembered a five-year-old Leonardo so rudely awakening him the morning before and that Master Splinter was long gone...

His heart clenched painfully in his chest and Donnie blinked back tears. Practically overnight, everything had become like a waking nightmare for him. Everyone was different to what he remembered; this wasn't his home, his father was gone and they'd apparently befriended a human, something their father had repeatedly warned against since the day they were mutated.

Donnie sniffled and furiously wiped at his eyes. He had to fix this! No matter that he couldn't remember the skills and knowledge he'd acquired; he'd done it once, he could do it again, he thought fiercely. In a thrice, Donnie was on his feet, removing the barricade from his door and on his way to the lab.

Reaching the lab undisturbed, he glanced around and switched on the computer screen, wondering if the analysis April had begun the night before would be finished yet. Seeing it wasn't quite done, Donnie settled down and began to read the recovered files instead.

-:-

"Leo, could you go wake Donnie for breakfast?" Mikey asked as he pulled the porridge off the stove.

The little turtle suddenly perked up, "Yay! I like waking Donnie up."

"No spitting!" Mikey warned, "or April will hear about it."

Cringing, Leo's eyes widened in horror, "Do you have eyes everywhere too?"

"And ears," Mikey smiled sweetly.

Gulping, Leo shuddered, "I thought only dad could do that... hell has frozen over like that guy said in that movie." Leo walked off all paranoid and looking over his shoulder.

Mikey chuckled as he began dishing out bowls of food around the table, including a bowl of mashed up and watered down turtle pellets for Raphael.

Entering the room, April gave Mikey an odd look as she juggled the irritable baby turtle who didn't want to do anything but move about on his own.

"What's wrong with Leo? I said good morning and he jumped in the air and scampered off, saying I have to do this before the lair turns to ice and warn Donnie it has begun."

Grinning, Mikey shrugged and simply said, 'Kids.'

Raising an eyebrow, she nodded, "Yes, I can see now why he said that. Has hell frozen over then?"

"Heh! Apparently."

April shook her head, placing Raph down. He finally stopped squirming and instead explored the table, finding a spoon to play with. April let out an exhausted sigh, slumping down into her chair, "He was up at five, the both of them..."

"Both of them?" Mikey asked in confusion, placing glasses of water around the table and sitting down.

Letting out a yawn, she answered, "Yeah, this little monster decided he didn't want to sleep anymore and made it I had to get what little I could on the floor since he only wanted to play. Not long after, I heard someone trying to be quiet, sneaking through the hallway. I figured it was Leo and believed he was up to no good, perhaps planning to perform some sneak attack on Donnie again. However, it was Donnie sneaking towards what is obviously the lab."

Mikey groaned, closing his eyes. "Why didn't you stop him?"

Sighing, she pointed to Raph, "One him and two, what could have I said to him to stop him? It was five after all and there's nothing saying it wasn't okay for him to be up."

"Good point..." Mikey grumbled in dismay.

"Yep," she yawned. "Raph is your problem tonight."

"Raph's been my problem for like twenty-two years, I'm happy to let you have him a couple more," Mikey said cheerfully. "Besides, you really want him on my bunk bed? It's high~" he singsonged.

"You can have my bed and I'll watch Leo in yours," April grinned. "Besides he is more cuddly and cute and he promises not to piss or puke on you while you sleep. You two need to catch up and I swear on my life that he will be good, though he might... poke you, slap your face, kick you, make adorable coos and... Fuck it, he is yours tonight and no if, buts or maybes about it!"

"Shh!" Mikey warned, a faux stern expression on his face, "Language around the baby. You know how impressionable Raphie is."

"Is that so? Then where did he pick up shell and fuck then? I doubt Master Splinter made such slips... did he?" April asked suddenly very curiously.

"Definitely not," Mikey chuckled. "Like I said, he's impressionable. He picked it up from the humans on the streets when we watched them through sewer grates. Oh and from TV."

"What about the shell part? You guys told me you said it because Master Splinter approved it more than saying anything else because I really doubt that humans said that," she smiled more, leaning forward and tickling Raph's toes. "Where did you learn to say shell huh, little one?" Raph squealed in delight with a kick and then crawled up to her to grasp a handful of her hair. "Ow!" April cried in sudden surprised pain. God but Raph had surprisingly strong fists for a baby.

"Fast thinking on our parts when correcting what we said around Master Splinter," Mikey snickered. "Probably like pretty much any other kid."

"Oh I see, so who was the faster one to correct themselves, huh?" April poked.

"Who can remember, all so long ago," Mikey laughed again, thinking of a specific brother in purple.

"Sure there Mikey, admit it was you..." April started to tease when Leonardo shuffled in, all pouting and disappointed. He sat down with a thud, crossing his arms and grumbling unhappily under his breath.

"What's wrong, Leo?" April asked warily.

Looking up at her, he huffed, "Mikey," Leo pointed to Mikey, "was mean to me!"

"What?" Mikey protested indignantly. "How and when was I ever mean to you?"

"You said I can wake Donnie up but he wasn't there. You did that to be mean to me," he whined resentfully.

"I didn't know he was already up until April told me and she didn't tell me until after she came in here after passing you!"

"Meanie!" Leo accused once more.

"Never! I'm too innocent for that," Mikey protested again as April sprayed her water, all but choking on it with laughter, half soaking Raph who giggled with glee.

Right then, Donnie appeared in the doorway, searching the room until his gaze landed on April. Mikey canted his head at him curiously, wondering what was wrong.

"We have no choice," Donnie rasped, staring accusingly at April as she turned to look at him.

Wondering what he was talking about, April suddenly recalled the time frame and that the results were due in about now. She dried Raph off with her shirt as she tried to answer, hinting she had no clue what he was talking about, "What do you mean?"

"The results of your test came in about fifteen minutes ago and according to those, if we don't have the inoculations within the next fifty minutes, the formula will have broken down to the point where it starts becoming ineffective," Donnie explained as he walked over to his chair and fell into it miserably. "The longer we wait, the less chance of it working..."

Startled, April's eyes widened, "Fifty minutes? Wait that can't be right! I mean, I know everything has expiration dates but the formula is only roughly a month old max and it's already at that point?"

Turning wide eyes on April, Donnie swallowed, "You knew the time would be limited?" he asked carefully.

"To a point yes, everything expires eventually but I never thought it would be this short!" April pointed out, hiding how shorter she actually thought it would be. She was hoping it would say a little more time then she had originally thought it was to give Donnie time to cope with this but now she wished she brought it up last night after all.

"We're fucked then," Donnie whispered, beyond upset. "We either don't take it and risk becoming a..." he swallowed, not wanting to say it, "killed if we get bitten or we risk being stuck like this, having to grow up all over again... Assuming we even grow up again at all!"

Mikey was immediately out of his seat and by Donatello, wrapping his arm around him as Leo looked on in confusion. "It'll be okay, Donnie," he soothed, ignoring his brother's bad word choice. "Whatever happens, you, Leo and Raphie are still my brothers and you know I'll always be there for you all. So will April." He knew mentioning April being there might make Donnie baulk but at the same time, he had to reiterate just how important she was to them and trusted. "Besides, it's just a chance, a theory. There's no guarantee the inoculation will prevent you guys from being able to get back to normal. Right, April?" he asked, glancing her way beseechingly.

"Of course it's not a guarantee that it will prevent any reversal, it just a theory based on what facts we have. However, there are still too many variables at this point to say if that theory is right or wrong. I only mentioned it because it was leaning to that conclusion but like I said it's just a theory that can be proven wrong once I put together another scenario program to help figure this out," April assured him. Unfortunately, she felt it was more than a theory. In fact, deep down she felt the dreadful sensation it was true and she couldn't do anything about it. She knew there was no way she could duplicate the drug or anything close to it and as things stood, they were not in a good place to take such risks.

-:-

The banshee-like scream echoed in the air, rattling the nearby glass tubes and revealing a healthy set of lungs that made this task more difficult.

Trying not to cringe or let the little guy pull her heartstrings to a regretful train of thoughts, April continue to press the syringe, injecting Raphael with the immunity drug.

Having actually forgotten how painful the drug was, April regretted doing Raph first before Leo, seeing the wide-eyed child, chilled to the bone in horror.

Coating her words later by stating this would not hurt much wouldn't pass with Leo now, she realised, wondering if jabbing Donnie next would be the best choice to help with the con. Unfortunately, though, she'd made the decision to let him prepare himself first. He needed to and probably needed to see he wasn't alone in being subjugated to this fate.

Mikey held their baby brother. His mouth was sealed shut, as were his eyes, no doubt trying to save what little he had left of his hearing. At least, if Raph hadn't ruptured his eardrums by now at any rate.

Once the shot was done, April removed the needle quickly, placing gauze in its place and then a bandage.

Raphael stared at April in fear, crying more and squirming away from her when she tried to reach out to comfort him. Though she knew he was just upset with her at the moment and would be forgiving later when he wanted something, she still felt a bit heartbroken. Unfortunately, right now, time wasn't on their side and she needed to make sure all three brothers had the injection before it was too late. There was no choice now and no turning back.

Turing her head towards Donnie, she gave him his task, "Donnie, I need you to take Raphael, while Mikey and I get Leo ready and…"

"NO!" Leonardo screamed in terror, "I don't want it!" he backed away, trembling like a leaf with eyes large as saucers.

Moving forward, April cajoled, "Leo, it will not hurt as much as Raph made it look, he's too young to understand, that's all."

Mikey snorted, shooting April a look of amusement. "Weak, April," he laughed. April shot him a venomous look of betrayal.

Donnie walked straight to his brothers and April to take Raph, "It's alright, Raphie, I won't let the mean human hurt you again," he cooed softly, rocking Raph gently like he'd seen April do as he walked away.

Blinking at them both, she sighed, "Thanks for the double slap in the face there, you two."

Mikey grinned broadly, shooting Donnie a triumphant look that wasn't returned. "You're welcome, Ape!" He then turned to Leo and said soothingly, "I'm sorry, Leo but you need to have this needle. I know you're scared but you're the strongest person I know. You conquered your fear of heights when you saved Master Splinter before so I know you can conquer your fear of this too."

"No, I didn't... I never saved Master..." he whimpered, backing up more, looking for a way to escape.

"Yes you did," Donnie said softly without looking up, "but you may be several months too young to remember."

Mikey glanced over to Donnie, paling as he realised what Donnie meant. Now he thought about it, they'd been nearly seven when Leo had 'saved' their father and Leo wouldn't even be six for another week according to his memories. "Shell," Mikey murmured softly, earning a concerned look from April. That was something else he'd have to find a way to explain; according to Leo, the day they turned six was only days away and yet, their actual mutation day wasn't for four more months yet.

He sighed, then walked over to the corner Leo had backed himself up into and crouched down to meet his brother's eyes. "Leo, I won't lie to you, this will hurt but it'll only hurt for a short time and then you'll feel better again. But if you don't let April give you the injection, then... if one of the monsters outside bites you or even scratches you, then you'll die. I don't want that to happen. I can't lose anyone else and you, Raphie, Donnie and April are the only people I have left. Everyone but you and Donnie has had the injection and now it's your turn."

Mikey glanced over to the worried-looking April and then smiled back at Leo, winking, "And if you let us give it to you without any fuss, I'll give you a piece of chocolate."

Leo stood there for a moment in indecision, biting his lip, "Did you get it done and sis?"

"Yes, we did, like nearly a month ago."

"Did it really hurt a lot, did it make you sick in your stomach?" Leo asked next.

"It did hurt, but nowhere near as much as Raphie made it look. I wasn't sick in my stomach after but I did feel a bit lightheaded and dizzy for a couple of hours," Mikey explained honestly.

"Sis, did it hurt you too? Did it make you sick?" Leo asked April as she sighed.

"I won't lie, yes it hurt but it wasn't worse than a bee sting to me so it wasn't something I couldn't handle. It came and left just as quickly. However, I did get very sick but that is probably due to the fact I'm human," April explained, then added, "and a girl, so that could have affected me differently too. That said, you're way younger than your ancient brother here so I wouldn't worry about getting sick. Leo, you will be fine and I know you can handle this a lot better than him, in his old, decrepit age."

"Old age, huh?" Mikey cheekily asked with a pointed look at April, knowing she was pushing thirty while he was still a spring turtle of a tender twenty-two. He turned his attention back to Leo and whispered so only he could hear, "I'm younger than her but always remember she's young and pretty, even when she's old and grey."

Leo nodded, acknowledging the wise wisdom, then took Mikey's hand, "Will you hold my hand?"

"I'll hold both of them if you want me to," Mikey smiled warmly.

"Okay," Leo answered, waiting for Mikey to take the lead so he could follow.

Mikey bounced quickly to his feet and swooped Leo into his arms upside down as he pranced with the protesting, yet laughing child over to the medical bed. Grinning, Mikey flipped Leo around again and sat on the bed with Leo on his lap and his arms around him, gripping both hands comfortingly.

"Are you ready, Leo?" April asked, getting everything ready.

Slowly whimpering, he closed his eyes, "Will you tell me when it starts?"

"I will and when I'm done so you know," April promised, then gently sterilised the area with some rubbing alcohol. "Now, you going to feel a slight pinch," she warned as Leo started to quiver.

Mikey squeezed his arms tighter around his brother for a moment, wordlessly letting him know it was okay.

Slowly, April injected Leo as he suddenly started to cry heavily and squirmed in Mikey's arms.

"Almost done, Leo, you can do this," April assured him gently, wishing she could speed this up for him, even as Leo cried more, begging them to stop and how much it hurt.

"It's okay, Leo, it's nearly over," Mikey repeated softly into Leo's earslit, tightening his hold on his brother to let him know he wasn't alone.

"It hurts! It hurts! It burns!" Leo screamed, kicking his legs next.

"I know, I know but it'll be over really soon," Mikey soothed, his heart aching at the sight of his brother in pain. He looked up to meet April's gaze though she didn't return it as she was focusing on Leo. He wasn't used to his leader like this. Leonardo was always the strongest of them all, always standing tall and proud against any odds, always stoic against physical and emotional pain and yet, here he was at five, long before he learned that behaviour and it shook Mikey to the core at the realisation of how much he changed over the years.

How much he pushed that part of himself to the side to be strong for the rest of them.

The last of it finally injected into Leo's arm and April removed the syringe quickly, patching the small wound up, "It's done now, Leo," April told him as she moved away, figuring she was the last person he wanted to be near. Slowly, he started to calm down in his bigger brother's arms.

Mikey held him close, stroking Leo's head softly. He looked up to meet April's horrified eyes. "How much time do we have left? Still need to do Donnie yet," he reminded her, aware of how traumatised she was from inoculating the two youngest brothers.

"Ten minutes I think; we need to get Donnie's shot done," April said slowly, snapping out of it. She turned to look at the turtle in question, wondering how he was going to react to this. So far both brothers seemed not to want to be near her anymore.

Donnie looked up as if startled. Knowing he really had no choice, he swallowed and nodded, moving closer.

"Are you okay with this, Donnie?" Mikey asked cautiously as he continued comforting Leo with warm, generous arms and hugs.

"No, not really," Donnie admitted softly. "I want us to return to normal and doing this could ruin our chances but..." he sighed and refused to look up at April, "just get it over with, April."

"Okay, I will make this as quick as possible. You might want to sit down," April suggested, getting the last dosage ready for him.

"Fine," Donnie muttered, sitting near Mikey on the bed and placing Raph between them. Mikey released one arm from Leo and reached out to connect with Donnie's closest shoulder.

Sterilising the area, April took a breath, aiming the needle close to his skin, "Here is the pinch."

Donnie nodded, hiding his wince as the serum began to flow into him. After a moment, it began to burn like Leo had claimed and stiffening, he bit his lip, trying not to gasp. Mikey's hand on his shoulder tightened a little and Donnie tried not to lean into the touch, afraid that if he moved it could make it harder for April and as a result, more painful for himself.

As the serum flowed in, his hopes flowed out. Donnie wanted to remember his older life, he needed to remember all the times with his brothers and father. Sure, he could make new memories with his brothers but he'd never have that chance again with his father. He wanted to remember all his achievements, rather than simply being told them or reading about them.

With rising desperation, Donnie wanted his life back and yet with each moment the inoculation burned into his bloodstream, the further away it all felt.

"It's done, Donnie," April said softly, placing a Band-Aid onto the area.

There was no response from the young genius and Mikey twisted in his spot to look more closely at his brother without disturbing Leo who'd fallen limp with exhaustion on his lap. Mikey was shocked to see tears prickling the edges of his brother's eyes and he glanced to April, motioning his head towards the door, silently asking for some privacy.

April nodded slowly, picking up Raph who, despite his continued sniffling, appeared to have fallen asleep. He nuzzled into her chest for comfort as she took her leave.

Careful not to disturb Leo, Mikey shuffled closer to Donnie and nudged his shoulder to get his attention. "It's over now, little bro."

"Don't call me that," Donnie sniffed, scrubbing furiously at his eyes. "We're meant to be the same age..."

"I know," Mikey replied softly. "This scares me too."

"I'm not scared!" Donnie immediately retorted, then amended, "Well, I kind of am, but not... What if she was right and now this can't be reversed?"

"Then we'll have to do what we've always done," Mikey replied matter-of-factly.

"Which is what?" Donnie asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Make the best of it," Mikey answered with a small smile. "We've still got each other, Donnie. Things are different, way different, both with us and in the outside world but we're still together and we'll always be together and that's what's important."

"But we're not together," Donnie muttered unhappily. "Master Splinter's gone..."

"Yeah," Mikey agreed sadly.

"At least I have some memories of him, Leo too but you know how much Leo looked up to him and to lose all that... As for Raph... Mikey, this isn't fair!" Donnie suddenly blurted, looking wildly up at Mikey.

"I know, Donnie. I wish I could change things but honestly, even if it was me that was younger now and you that was still the same, I doubt even you could fix things this time."

"You don't think I was good enough?" Donnie asked, trying to conceal his hurt and failing.

"Shell no, Donnie! You've always been the best! Trouble is, what's left of New York is barely holding itself together and we've been barely holding things together as it is," Mikey exclaimed in shock that Donnie thought that. "I don't know if even you would be able to get the resources to fix this one. You don't know how bad things are out there. That's one of the things Raph and Leo were always arguing about."

"Oh..."

"It doesn't help either that most of your notes and stuff were destroyed when Raph wrecked your computer," Mikey pointed out, deliberately looking about the diminished lab.

"April managed to recover most of that. Didn't she tell you?" Donnie asked.

Mikey hesitated a moment. "She did, but also said there was still a lot missing."

"I see," Donnie said distantly. "Mikey? How much do you trust her?"

"With all of our lives," Mikey replied without hesitation. "Why?"

"Because I get the feeling she's hiding something and I don't know if it's just from me or from all of us," Donnie admitted, looking across his lab to the security computer.

"Everyone hides things, it's natural," Mikey admitted, confirming Donatello's suspicions. "Sometimes it's to protect themselves, sometimes it's to protect those they care about and sometimes they outright lie for self-gain but I promise you, April would never deliberately hurt any of us, any more than I would or you would and she's just as hurt and upset by what happened as you and I are."

Donnie nodded solemnly, taking in his brother's reassurances and buoyed by the knowledge that Mikey had always been good at reading others. Suddenly he smiled, "I just noticed something, Mikey."

"What's that?"

"You finally learnt to say 'you and I' instead of 'me and you'."

-:-


Disclaimer: The pain the brothers felt from the inoculation wasn't from the needle itself but the formula and it in no way represents any real vaccination. This is fiction, after all.

A/N: These parts of the story were written a good three or more years ago. Sampsonknight and I are still working on the story, albeit more slowly than we used to but we are a lot closer to the end than this. This story was never planned with any sort of outline as such (though yes, we have a goal we are working towards) so we have taken a lot of twists and turns along the way and just had fun with it. A lot of editing needs to take place before this is presentable to share due to our very differing styles and each paragraph, depending on who wrote it, often switching hard from one character's POV to the next.