A/N: Hey guys! Long time no see!

This is just a short one, sorry about that! The next one will most likely be longer, I promise XD Thank you all for the support, I really needed it, since some stuff has been happening at home and all.

I OWN NOTHING!

Enjoy!

Chapter 43

"When you're young, you're very reckless. Then you get conservative. Then you get reckless again."

–Clint Eastwood

"Shall we review what we have learned today, April?"

"Always think on your feet."

"Correct."

"Never hesitate; it can make you vulnerable, or make mistakes, which can lead to disaster."

"Precisely."

"Speed and dexterity are key."

"Very good. And what else?"

"…sewer pipes and sewer water are the absolute worst, and they will make you stink all the live long day."

At that, the old rat chuckled as he nodded, folding his arms behind his back as he walked side by side with the disgruntled red-head, who was busy retying her damp tangled locks back into is usual ponytail. "Yes. Yes they are," he said, not trying to hide the grin he wore as he looked down at April, who was now doing her best to wring out the water from her drenched clothing. Unclasping his hands, he reached out to pat her shoulder. "Do not fret, my child; I know from experience that sewage washes out quite easily."

April looked up at him. "Really?" she asked, hope sparkling within her blue eyes.

Splinter nodded once, releasing her shoulder. "Yes. After four or five cycles in the washing machine, of course."

April's jaw dropped in disbelief, much to the further amusement of the ninja master. "Are you serious? Ugh, that's just fantastic," she huffed. Splinter chuckled again, and April had to fight the urge to mutter something back under her breath, knowing that the ninja master would hear whatever she'd planned to say.

When April had agreed to train with Splinter to become a kunoichi, despite her playful dismissal of his warnings, she'd known fully that she wouldn't – and couldn't – become one overnight or at the flip of a switch. Learning the art of the ninja took time, it took patience, and an outrageous amount of effort and sacrifice. It meant endless hours of practice, getting into shape, taking risks, getting hurt, having to think of excuses for the growing multitude of bruises she attained after every session…

And yet, April had been fully prepared to endure all of that, and more. She had to become stronger, so she could help her boys fight the battles, help them find her father, and reunite their broken family. Also, if she hadn't accepted Splinter's offer, she probably wouldn't have become as close to the turtles as she was now. She wouldn't have found her inner strength, or an outlet for the mounting stress…

…and her confrontation with Karai would've gone very different, had she not been able to hold her own against the deadly kunoichi. Well, sort of.

However, out of all the things she'd expected, of all the things she'd endured, she hadn't been prepared for the training exercise Splinter had decided to take her on within the sewers. She hadn't expected to leap across sewer pipes – hanging over a very, very long drop – with only her wits and speed to rely on. She hadn't expected to become drenched from head to toe in dirty, smelly water after several slips and falls into puddles of varying size – and depth. But above all, she hadn't expected, after much failure and frustration, to actually succeed.

Scratch that. She hadn't expected to get this far in her training period.

Now, as she and her Sensei traveled back to the lair side by side, though every inch of her ached and screamed for rest and a good, long shower, April felt pretty good about herself. She'd passed yet another test, and had gained the approval of them man whom she'd come to see as a second father in the process. And hey, now she had a good story to tell the boys when they returned –

"MIKEY!"

Both April and Splinter came to a sudden halt at Raphael's furious voice echoing from the tunnels beyond, closely followed by Michelangelo's cries for mercy.

The rat and the girl shared a brief look, before quickening their pace. Hearing Raphael shouting wasn't exactly out of the ordinary, nor was Michelangelo's screaming; more often than not, those two were bound to be at each other's throats. Still, both April and the ninja master deemed it wise to find out what was going on and put a stop to it before things got a little too out of hand.

When they finally reached the abandoned subway station, they came upon a truly odd sight indeed.

Donatello was crouched by the Shellraiser, a blowtorch in hand, staring disinterestedly over his shoulder at Raph, who had his foot planted on Mikey's shell, a mop – dripping with a strange foul smelling yellow gunk that April didn't even try to identify – raised threateningly over his head as he prepared to bring it down upon the unfortunate orange clad turtle.

"I'M A HERO!" Mikey wailed, trying to wriggle his way from under Raph's foot.

"YOU USED MY MODERN NINJA MAGAZINE AS TOILET PAPER!" Raph bellowed back, a fire in his eyes as he glared down at his youngest brother.

"I told you; I didn't do it for real! It was just pretend, I swear!"

"Oh yeah?! Well, this is just 'pretend', too!"

Donnie shook his head with an intolerant roll of his eyes, already turning back to repairing the Shellraiser's door, when he caught sight of April and Splinter in the corner of his eye. Instantly he straightened, eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and something akin to the look a guilty child would have upon being caught in the act of stealing candy. "S-Sensei, April!" he exclaimed, dropping his blowtorch and hopping to his feet, plastering an innocent smile across his face as he laced his hands behind his back. "Y-You're back! Um…w-welcome home!"

Ceasing the torment of his younger brother, Raph's head snapped to glance over his shoulder, and Mikey lifted his face from the ground. Upon seeing their father and April, they froze, exchanging guilty looks with each other, before Raph stepped off Mikey and let the mop drop onto the messy platform with a sickening 'splat'. "Um, hey guys," Raph greeted awkwardly. "How, uh…how'd the training go?"

"Whatup?" Mikey grinned from the floor with a wave and a silly grin. "You guys won't believe what happened to us while you were away –"

"Mikey!" his older brothers hissed testily, making the youngest turtle shrink under their combined glares. The two of them looked ready to pounce on him again, but were promptly stopped when Splinter cleared his throat sharply, and three sets of eyes snapped back up to him in panic.

Following their gazes, April looked up to find the rat frowning deeply, pinning his sons with a look that was stern, frustrated and inquisitive all at once. She then watched as the three turtles visibly braced themselves for the worst, and she couldn't help but do the same as she took a small step to the side, away from the giant rat.

However, he only shook his head with a light chuckle. "Michelangelo, my son," he said, with the fondness of any father, "with what situations you three get yourselves into these days, I am sure I will believe it."

At this, the boys blinked hard as they shared yet another look. Then their faces broke out into wide smiles, giddy with relief. "Well, he's not exactly wrong, I suppose," Donnie shrugged helplessly. Mikey and Raph sniggered in response.

And it was infectious, for April soon found herself grinning along with them as she fondly shook her head, planting her hands on her hips as she giggled. "Boys," she said under her breath, watching as Splinter moved over to help Mikey back to his feet, using a spare cloth he drew out from his robe to wipe the remaining gunk off his freckled face. And she'd be lying if she said her heart didn't melt at the sight of the father's doting, yet exasperated smile as he looked down at his messy, ginning youngest child, who beamed right back at him.

It appeared that whilst the lair was partly a mess from whatever shenanigans had ensued in the absence of their teacher, this time they were off the hook…well, partly. And a part of her was almost eager to hear the story of their latest 'adventure'. Knowing them, it was bound to be just as exciting and as thrilling as any other they'd been on within the last few months…and maybe, just maybe, it could be something worthy of retelling to Leonardo, if she ever saw him again.

However, once all was said and done, the lair cleaned from top to bottom and the story unveiled through the eyes of an enthusiastic Mikey, April decided, as she lay her head down to sleep later that night, that she'd found a whole new reason to be terrified of wasps. Especially the parasitic mutant kind. Eugh.

And she'd thought slipping off pipes and landing in puddles of sewage had been bad enough…

He wasn't sure how long he'd been locked up in this cell for. In fact, he wasn't sure of anything anymore.

The days and nights he'd spent as their prisoner blurred together; time had little to no meaning. His thoughts had become a tangled mess, his mind unfocused, his body exhausted, stiff, his skin paler, and the wrinkles on his face increasing in number.

However, despite everything he'd endured, despite the experiments, the constant moving from one cell to another, despite the fear of not knowing what the next day would bring him, he continued to hold onto one thing and one thing only…

He held onto the memories of his daughter.

The days he'd spent with her by his side, the times they cherished, the moments they'd grieved or laughed or cried…they were what kept him sane. They helped him to keep going despite the torture, keep hoping despite the darkness that surrounded him from every corner, keep praying despite the chances of freedom becoming slimmer with each passing day...

April was, and had always been, his little ray of sunshine, his north star, his map to grace, his reason for living. The thought of seeing her again, holding her in his arms again, was what spurred him on. And knowing that she, along with the three turtles who'd rescued her the night they were separated, was still looking for him, gave him all the more reason to not give in. Not to the Kraang, not to anyone or anything…

A crack and a groan startled him out of his reverie. The door of his cell had been opened.

Looking up from where he sat in the far corner of this forsaken room, Kirby blinked hard in surprise at what he saw enter the darkened cell. For the first time, it wasn't a Kraang. It was a new, yet familiar, face.

His eyes widened. It was a turtle. A turtle, about an inch or so taller than his daughter, with ocean blue eyes that gazed at him levelly, a blue mask over his eyes and a matching scarf draped around his neck, twin swords sheathed in leather scabbards attached to his shell, and leather tape around his arms, ankles and legs. Metal padding guarded his elbows and knees, bound by strips of blue ribbons.

He looked so different compared to the other ones. And yet…

"Kirby O'Neil?" the turtle asked, his voice smooth and composed as he stepped further inside. He didn't shut the door. "How are you, sir?"

Shakily rising to his feet, Kirby continued to stare at the young turtle. A smile crept across his aged features for the first time in months as he slowly approached him. "…you…are you one of the turtles?" he asked. "The ones who'd rescued my daughter?"

The turtle boy looked up at Kirby evenly, though at his side, his three fingered hand clenched into a tight, shaking fist.

"…yes. I am," he replied. "I'm their older brother, Leonardo. I wasn't present the night you were taken, but I've met your daughter, and I can assure you, she is safe with me and my brothers." He then bowed his head, a sign of respect and greeting. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, sir. I've come here to –"

Kirby didn't give him the chance to finish his sentence as he lunged forwards, wrapping his arms around the boys' neck, pulling him close for a tight, desperate embrace. Leonardo froze, having not expected this in the least, but Kirby didn't relinquish his hold.

"Thank you," he said, his voice trembling violently as he squeezed his eyes shut, fighting to keep his tears at bay. "Thank you, Leonardo. Thank you."

The turtles had found him. They'd come to rescue him, to deliver him from the wretched hands of the Kraang. And, finally, reunite him with his daughter, at long last. All the pain, the waiting, the enduring, it had all finally paid off.

Had he been looking, Kirby would've noticed how Leonardo's eyes, wide and full of shame as they stared vacantly at the wall, had brimmed with tears of his own. He would've noticed how his lower lip trembled as his arms hesitantly came around Kirby's waist to return the embrace. He would've noticed how the boy had then clenched his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, raising one hand to rest against the back of Kirby's neck.

"…I'm sorry, sir," Leonardo whispered, making Kirby's brow furrow in confusion as he opened his eyes. Leonardo tightened his grip. "Believe me, I don't want to do this, not to you, not to April…but I…I have no choice…"

Kirby's only warning was a sharp, painful pinch on the back of his neck. He gasped, eyes widening in shock, his mouth agape.

"I'm sorry, Mr. O'Neil…I'm so sorry."

Leonardo's broken, wavering voice was the last thing he heard, before his body became numb, and everything faded to black…

The following morning, having recovered from the events of what would from then on be referred to as 'The Day Mikey Saved the World from the Attack of the Killer Wasps' – by Mikey only, of course, since he was the only one willing to remember such an exhausting name – the Hamato's were gathered in the dojo for their daily training session, joined by April, no longer smelling like sewage and eager to train with her boys again despite the dull ache of her multiple bruises.

Sitting beside Mikey, she watched as Donatello and Raphael circled each other, their gazes locked, mouths set into determined frowns, weapons readily poised as they awaited the order of their teacher to begin the sparring match.

Out of the two, Raphael, of course, was far more eager than his younger brother to get started as he grinned wickedly, his Sais spinning atop his hands in a flashy manner. "Don't worry Donnie, I'm in a good mood today; I'll go easy on ya," he teased with a wicked grin.

"Don't do me any favors, Raph," Donnie snapped back, casting a side-glance over at April.

Meeting his gaze, April offered him a smile, nodding her head once encouragingly. She knew he would do his best against Raph in spite of how much stronger Raph was. Donnie was tougher than most would think of him at first glance; she'd seen so first-hand many times.

Her smile seemed to have undone something within the lanky turtle as he blushed hard, before turning his attention back to Raph. "Um, in fact, maybe you'll be the one…who gets gone easy on…by me! So…yeah!" he declared clumsily, spinning his Bo staff left and right in what April could only assume was an imposing manner.

She raised a brow. Was that supposed to sound tough, or stupid?

Beside her, Mikey leaned in close to her. "Worst smack-talk ever," he whispered.

Despite herself, April couldn't help but snicker under her breath with a nod of agreement. "Well, at least he tried," she whispered back, earning a giggle from the youngest turtle.

Standing in front of the tree, hands folded behind his back and his brow furrowed, Splinter dismissed the awkward exchange of attempted banter with a shake of his head. "Hajime!" he announced.

Spinning his Sais readily, Raph charged for Donnie. Twirling his staff in one hand, Donnie leapt at Raph, swinging his staff at his head. Raph ducked into a roll, appearing behind Donnie and striking out with his Sai, which Donnie parried before spinning on his heel, Bo staff held sideways behind his head to block a downward swipe from both Raph's Sais. Like a serpent, Donnie slid behind Raph, jabbing him in the carapace with end of his staff, throwing the turtle off-balance long enough for him to go straight for his weak spot.

Donnie grinned with grim satisfaction. Raph had always had problems with his knees, hence the extra padding he wore beneath his knee-pads; years of pushing himself too far and injuring himself in the process had ensured that. And though a part of him felt a little dirty for it, Donnie slapped his staff against both of them, earning a pained grunt from the older turtle as he fought to keep his balance. Spinning his staff, Donnie swung it behind Raph's legs, sending him flying off his feet with a surprised cry before he hit the dojo mats.

For a moment, Donnie just stared down at his brother in bewilderment. Had he really just bested Raph? He'd hardly ever managed to get the drop on Raph. That was awesome!

And better still, April had been there to see it!

"Hey, I got 'im!" Donnie cheered, grinning brighter than the sun. "April, didja see?!"

He was rewarded by yet another smile from the beautiful kunoichi in training, along with an adorable tilt of her head that made her hair shine stunningly in the light from the grates overhead, her eyes sparkling like the stars in the heavens. Heat crept across his cheeks as he soon became lost within the pair of vibrant blue eyes –

"WHOA!"

Of course he'd let himself forget that Raph was still there. Of course he didn't notice the second in which Raph's temper spiked, leaving himself wide open as Raph spun, hooking his foot behind Donnie's ankle and knocking Donnie off his feet, his Bo staff slipping from his hand and rolling out of reach across the floor.

Of freaking course.

Rolling out of the way mere seconds before Raph could stomp on him, Donnie hopped to his feet and attained a defensive stance, but was too late to move out of the way when Raph hooked his wrist between the tongs of his Sai, spinning him around so that his left arm was pinned behind his back. Donnie grunted in pain, attempting to wriggle his way out of the hold until Raph hooked his other wrist, bringing his hand up to that it looked as though he was waving. He was trapped.

"Say 'hi' to Mikey," Raph said, then in a high-pitched voice, he added "Hi, Mikey!", moving his Sai and making Donnie's hand move up and down in a wave.

Whilst April winced in sympathy for Donnie, Mikey was grinning. "Donnie, haha! Amazing!" he crowed, turning to April. "I didn't even see his lips move! He's like a puppet, who can throw his voice…to himself…wait…"

April stared flatly at Mikey as the younger turtle seemed to deeply ponder the meaning of life. And across the room, still trapped in Raph's unyielding hold, Donnie was deeply pondering the meaning of why his life was just so damn rotten right now.

"Yame!" said Splinter with a disapproving frown. "Raphael, that is enough."

Frowning for a moment at the fact that the fun was over, Raph spun on his heel, tugging Donnie with him, and threw said unfortunate turtle over his shoulder with little effort. With a shrill cry, Donnie landed flat on his back, and then grunted in pain at the weight Raph added as he promptly sat on his stomach, looking very proud of himself as he smirked down at his younger brother. "Thanks for going easy on me," he said, giving Donnie a pat before hopping back to his feet and sauntering away.

However, Donnie lay there for a moment longer, his vision a haze of stars and spots, and his mind a tangled mess, apart from one simple thought…

April was watching…

Later, when the lesson was over and the young teens were free to do as they pleased for the rest of the afternoon, Donnie reached out to grab Raph by the arm halfway down the stairs leading to the dojo. When Raph turned to look up expectantly at his leader, his expression made it clear that the purple clad turtle was less than pleased.

"What the heck was that?" Donnie snapped.

Raph raised a brow and shrugged. "What? Just havin' fun; you know how much Mikey loves the 'Donnie-Puppet'," he grinned, moving his arms up and down as though he were a puppet on a string.

Donnie made a face, less than impressed by his older brother's blatant dismissal of his prior humiliation. "Dude, April was watching!" he hissed, gesturing wildly over to the red-head currently sitting in the pit, her laptop in hand as she scrolled through her list of e-mails; probably from her friend, Irma, sending her the homework assignments from the classes she'd missed during her time underground.

Following Donnie's gaze, Raph remained indifferent as he looked back up at Donnie. "Pretty sure she liked it…too…"

He trailed off, noticing the look in Donnie's eyes – a look he'd seen over a billion times in the last few months – as his younger brother frowned sadly at him, and his grin faded.

"Wait," he said, eyes widening in realization, "do you still think you have a shot with her?"

Donnie stiffened, eyes darting from side to side as he began to sweat nervously. "W-Well," he stammered, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head anxiously, and wishing he could just sink through the floor and never emerge under Raph's calculating stare. "I-I-I mean, I –"

"Wow," Raph interjected, and much to Donnie's surprise – and growing dread – he was grinning again. "That is so adorable – and sad. It's…sadorable."

At that, Donnie's eyes widened. He'd heard those same mocking words from someone else.

"Oh, Donatello. You can't be serious. You're in love with April O'Neil, aren't you? Oh, that's adorable…and rather sad, I must say."

That's right. Leonardo had said the same thing the night he'd first come into contact with April, after discovering Donnie's deep affection for her. Back then, Leo had grinned aloofly, coldly mocking him for his feelings…just as Raph was doing right now.

Those words had stung him then, pierced his heart like a spear of ice, and they cut into him now as he stared down at Raph.

"If you wanna impress April," Raph continued, prodding Donnie in the chest with a finger as he frowned deeply, "better leave me out of it."

With that, Raph spun on his heel and walked away, leaving Donnie standing at the foot of the stairs, staring after his older brother. Then, lowering his eyes to the ground, feeling his heart shatter and sink into the pits of his chest, he sullenly trudged down the rest of the stairs. Passing Mikey on his way to his lab, whose focus was on the 'Skull-A-Rex' game machine, Donnie cast a final gaze down at April. He sighed.

'Maybe they're right. Maybe I really don't have a chance with April…after all, I'm just a mutant. What can I possibly do for her?'

Moments before he could disappear through the doors of his lab and wallow in self-pity for the rest of the day, a loud, high-pitched series of auto tuned buzzing sounds began blasting from April's laptop, taking everyone in the room by surprise as they all turned to stare at the device. The owner of said laptop gawked down at the machine in abject shock.

"Not bad!" Mikey called over the noise, abandoning his game as he plopped down on the bench next to April. "Needs more drums, though."

The noise continued for a few more seconds before abruptly stopping, the message she'd opened within her inbox closing again with a 'pop'.

Quirking a brow, Raph came to sit on April's other side, staring at her computer quizzically. "What the hell was that?" he barked, turning to look at April, who shrugged with a befuddled shake of her head.

"I dunno; some random email I got," she said, turning to Donnie as the purple clad leader came to sit beside Mikey. "It just started playing by itself."

Regarding the device, Donnie hummed in thought, tapping a finger against his chin. "It sounds like some kind of telemetric sine wave sub-carrier," he mused.

Three sets of eyes stared at him uncomprehendingly in silence. Then Mikey blinked, lifting up a finger. "…uh, you wanna dumb that down a notch, Dee?" he asked.

Donnie frowned. "It's an interference modulation used to encrypt covert transmi – mph!"

Mikey pressed his raised finger against Donnie's lips, silencing him as he sent his older brother a flat look, which was mirrored by Raphael on April's other side. "Not enough notches," Mikey said with a slow shake of his head.

With a hard roll of his eyes, Donnie slapped Mikey's hand away. "A secret message," he clarified irritably, and narrowed his eyes with a growl when Mikey nodded in understanding with an exaggerated smile. Honestly, sometimes it was like he was talking to a cactus; a big, freckled-faced, blue-eyed cactus that just loved being an annoying little prick.

Her brows furrowing, ignoring the silent banter between the youngest of the Hamatos, April looked back at her laptop screen. "Who would be sending me a secret message?" she muttered aloud, staring at the message she'd been sent.

Looking over Mikey's head, Donnie followed her gaze, narrowing his eyes as they scanned the page. There was no name, no email address she could reply to, nothing that they could use to identify the sender. Well, that certainly wasn't suspicious in the least. For all they know, it could be an attempt for someone – though he knew not who – to hack into April's computer and gather all her personal data. Or worse, pinpoint its current location.

Donnie hummed again, turning back to April. "Y'know, I'm pretty sure I can run a decryption on the message, see who sent it, from where, and maybe find out why," he offered. "I mean, if you want me to, that is. It might take a while, though, but hey, better safe than sorry, am I right?"

Sharing a brief look of surprise with Mikey, who just shrugged his shoulders in response – of course he had little to no idea what Donnie was talking about, being a cactus and all – April looked over at Donnie and smiled. "You sure it's not too much trouble for you, Donnie?" she asked, though she was already handing over the device.

Grinning, Donnie stood up, taking the laptop before making his way out of the pit, heading towards his lab. "Oh ye of little faith, my lady," he said. "Building a robot is tricky. Translating Kraang codes is a challenge. Heck, hacking into the Kraang storage files was hard…"

Then he paused in front of the double doors, casting a confident look over his shoulder. "…but decrypting a secret message? Heh. Mere child's play," he said smoothly with a wink for extra measure.

He was rewarded with April's beautiful smile, and even a discreet thumbs-up and praising nod from Mikey, whilst Raph just rolled his eyes at his unnecessary theatrics.

Said theatrics were soon ruined when Donnie walked straight into the lab doors, having forgotten that they weren't open, and all Donnie could hear were Mikey and Raph's thunderous bouts of laughter.

His face squished against the solid metal, Donnie groaned.

'April had been watching that too. Dammit.'

It wasn't until late in the night, when everyone else had gone to bed – or in this case, slept on the floor or on the bench in front of the T.V after a Cowboy movie marathon – that Donnie had finally managed to decrypt the message.

After hours of remaining cooped up within his lab, staring at the screen and entering hundreds of codes, only stopping to eat whatever food Mikey brought for him – he made a mental note to thank his doting little brother for that later – it had all finally paid off as Donnie pressed the 'Enter' key.

When he reopened the audio file, he'd expected some kind of spam message, or even a complex virus or something, both of which he could quickly deal with without so much as batting an eye. What he hadn't expected was –

"April, it's dad."

Donnie gasped, his eyes widening. "Mr. O'Neil?!"

"I pray you get this message. I've been moved to a secret Kraang facility. If you can, send help."

With that, the message ended, a map of the city popping up on a small window on the left hand side of the screen. A blinking red dot hovered over a particular location…and it was only a few blocks away.

Donnie rose from his chair, his heart in his throat. "Oh man," he breathed. This was it. They'd found Mr. O'Neil. They actually had a chance to finally – finally – reunite April with her father, fulfill the promise they'd made to her on that fateful night, several months ago. "Guys!" he called out, his heart beating rapidly against his rib-cage. "Listen to –"

He stopped short.

Hold on a second. He'd found Mr. O'Neil.

He'd been the one to decipher the secret message, and was the only one on the team who could have done it, with only a limited amount of resources at his disposal. And since he was the only one currently aware of the whereabouts of April's father…

"If you wanna impress April, better leave me out of it…"

His eyes drifting back to April's laptop, Donnie's jaw clenched, his mind reeling.

Well…there was no reason why he couldn't rescue April's dad by himself. It wasn't all that far from the lair, nor was it too early to venture topside for him to leave right now; looking at the time displayed on the laptop, dawn had just arrived, meaning few humans – if any at all – would be awake and wandering the streets. And besides, if Kirby had managed to send out a secret message to April without being detected by the Kraang, it must've meant that security in that facility was limited, weak compared to the other Kraang compounds they'd broken into. It couldn't be all that dangerous, could it?

Also, if he went alone…perhaps April would finally see him in a different light…

His mind made up, Donnie took out his T-Phone, linking it up with the map on the screen. Grabbing his Bo staff on the way out of his lab, he crept his way across the lair, making sure his steps were light and cautious. Mikey and Raph, though both were heavy sleepers, were still trained ninja warriors; the slightest sound would wake them up, which was the last thing he wanted.

He reached the turnstiles without incident, and he cast a final glance over his shoulder at his sleeping brothers. He made a face, looking down at his feet in thought as he bit his lip. Perhaps he was being a little reckless. Perhaps he should wake the others up and tell them what he'd found. As the undisputed leader of his team, that was what he was supposed to do, not wander off without so much as saying 'goodbye'.

But…he wanted to do this mission alone this time, without the help of his team. He had to prove to April, to Raphael, to himself, that he could do this with no one having to bail him out. He had to prove that he was strong enough, smart enough, and skilled enough to save Mr. O'Neil…and maybe then, she would…

Sheathing his staff, Donnie leapt over the turnstiles and headed into the sewer tunnels, not looking back once. He could do this. But he wasn't doing it just so he could look good for a girl he liked. He was doing this to fulfill a promise. He was doing this to reunite a family, one that had done nothing wrong to deserve the heartache they'd been forced to endure in their time apart from each other. After all, before she'd been taken to live underground, April had tried to do the same for them, with Leonardo…

However, as he ran through the familiar passes, following the map on his T-Phone, he couldn't help but grin smugly to himself at the thought of what a certain red clad turtle had told him earlier.

"We'll see who's sadorable."

A/N: Donnie, you dummy. XD I hope you enjoyed that, and more are on the way!

Next Chapter: Donnie goes solo to save April's dad, which doesn't sit well with Mikey and Raph. Splinter discovers something about April that might shed light on the Kraang's main goal, and when a newt threat is released, the turtles might need a little help...