Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles belong to Nickelodeon.

"Pete!"

Nothing. She tried again, hitting her palm against the tree trunk. "Pete! Pete, wake up!"

Still, nothing. She sighed, worry creasing her brow. Christina had been at it for the past ten minutes. Either he was just that heavy of a sleeper, or something was very, very wrong. Deciding to try one more time, she jumped up and down, clapping and squawking. She stopped when a bulging eye blinked blearily down at her. "Hey, Chris."

Christina gasped. Was this really Pete talking? His voice was deeper and a bit raspy. "Pete, is that really you?"

"Yeah," he flapped to the ground and landed flat on his stomach. Groaning, the mutant slowly stood and let out a few coughs. Additionally, he was shivering.

"Oh, Pete," the human frowned sympathetically and moved toward her feathery friend. "You sound awful!"

"Thanks," the bird answered drily, sniffing.

"Can I check your forehead?" Christina asked, extending a hand. Nodding, the other bowed his head. she touched his forehead and immediately pulled away. "You're burning up!"

"I am?" Pete touched his forehead, and his eyes went wide. "Whoa, I am!"

"there's a pharmacy close by. I could get some medicine and water," Christina offered gently.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden," the birdman said hesitantly, frowning.

"I'm sure. Anything for a friend," Christina responded determinedly. She turned and headed to her car. Opening the driver's side door, she faced him. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes."

"Chris?" he moved to stand before her, head bowed sadly. "I'm sorry this isn't turning out to be much of a play date. I should have let you know sooner."

"How? You don't have a cell phone, and you probably woke up feeling like that," Christina put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, looking him dead in the eye. "Pete, it's fine, don't worry. As long as I'm spending time with you, nothing else matters. I'll be back."

"Okay," his reply was cut short when he covered his beak, and a violent sneeze burst forth, followed by more coughing.

As Christina backed out of the park, she rolled down her window and called, "Bless you!"

"Thank you!" Pete croaked, turning to go back to the tree. He flapped up to the lowest set of branches, feeling too dreary to go any higher. The pigeon leaned against the trunk with a content sigh.

The resonating noise of a car door slamming reached the pigeon man's ears. Looking down from his perch, he smiled when he saw his companion walking his way, carrying shopping bags. Placing them down, she untied the first one. "Hey, I bought you some things."

"I can see that," Pete grinned.

"Okay, I got some tissues, aspirin, and water, and in this one…" she placed said items aside and moved to the second bag. "I got you a warm blanket and pillow."

"Jeez, doting on me much?" the mutant quipped with a laugh, resulting in another short coughing fit.

"Well, I thought you needed to feel more comfortable. You're always sleeping on those tree branches," Christina picked up the medicine and water and reached up. Nodding gratefully, he accepted them. Placing the bottle in his lap, the bird opened the bottle containing the pills. Popping one in his mouth, he closed it, handed it back to his friend, uncapped the water, and took some big gulps, wincing at the burning sensation in his throat.

"Done?" his friend asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Pete answered, handing the two items back to her.

"You're welcome, Petey Bird," she said with a benign smile, passing up the box of tissues.

"Petey Bird?" the bird canted his head, descending clumsily to the ground and taking it. Heading to the nearest waste basket, he pulled the strip of cardboard off the top and tossed it. Poking his large fingers through the thin plastic, he withdrew a tissue and blew his nose into it.

"Yeah, I mean, you call me 'Chris,' so I thought I give you a nickname. Why, you don't like it?" she inquired.

After repeating the process three more times, the mutant tucked the box under an arm and retreated to the tree. He offered her a bright smile. "Actually, I kind of like it."

"Good," the female laughed.

After settling himself back in the tree, a yawn exploded from the birdman. He closed his eyes briefly, rubbing them. Witnessing this, his friend frowned. "Tired?"

"Mmmm-hmmmm."

Reaching into the other plastic bag, she pulled out a green, soft blanket with a matching pillow and held them up to him. "Go ahead and take a nap. I'll be here when you wake up."

Nodding, he took the pillow and propped it against the tree trunk. Grabbing the blanket, he cocooned himself in the warm fabric, laying down and closing his yellow eyes. Facing his friend, he smiled warmly. "Chris?"

The human inched closer. "Yeah?"

"You're the best," those were the last words Pete muttered, before drifting into a sound sleep.

"Yeah? You too, buddy," Christina whispered, returning the smile and patting his knee.