"Hey, Leo, where will you be sleeping?" Raph asked as settled down in the bed beside Mikey. Mikey was half asleep and curled against his second oldest brother taking comfort from the closeness. Leo glanced over at the second bed where Donnie was laying. He had fallen back asleep not that long ago, his face turned away from his brothers.

"Either the couch downstairs or the floor here," Leo sighed as his gaze returned to the ground "I have a feeling, D, doesn't want me near him right now.".

"You didn't do anything to piss him off did you?" Raph asked accusatorially.

"Nothing like that…" Leo answered. "It's because…I don't know…I think it's something that might have to do with the brain worms."

His mind reeled back to the comments Donnie had said when he was under the influence of the worms.

"Don't talk to me as though you care about me! We both know I'm worthless and pathetic."

"You've all thought it! You've probably wished I wasn't even your brother!"

"Oh don't act so high and mighty. Don't think I don't know what you talk about behind my back."

"The brain worms?" Raph asked as he sat up. He knew from experience how painful those disgusting maggots were as they tore through his ear canal.

"Yeah…unlike you or Karai," Leo continued. "Donnie was struggling to resist them and managed to break through on his own a few times. It was like they managed to find something to latch on to you in order to get you to turn…but with Donnie it was like they were forcing a baser emotion to so they could get a hold ."

Raph glanced at Donnie, then down towards the floor his scowl deepening.

"I remember one of those worms clawing through my brain," Raph admitted. "And then all I could remember were all the times the three of you made me angry. Of course among those were the moments I hated you because you were so much better than me at…well, everything. Everything I did, you did better. Compared to you I was always second best."

Leo quietly listened as Raph spoke. While he had understood a lot of Raph's anger and aggression stemmed from jealousy towards him and insecurities about his place in the family. It wasn't usual to hear Raph be so open about things like this.

"When you, Mikey and Donnie arrived to come to my rescue I was happy," Raph continued "But it felt like all the times I hated you were cranked up to eleven and all I wanted to do was see you in particular dead by my own hand. When you got me to cough up the worm, however, it's like all the anger I was feeling towards you at that moment was bringing forward just disappeared."

"Raph…you're a genius. I think you just figured something out for me." Leo stated as he looked up. "You, Karai, Slash, Rockwell. The one thing you all share is anger…"

"Huh?" Raph asked. Mikey also opened his eyes as he listened curiously to his brothers.

"Think about it, your anger partly comes from jealousy," Leo pointed out. "Karai's anger comes from pain caused by what has been taken from her and from all the crap, the Shredder has drummed into her head ever since she had been an infant. Slash's anger and hostility, no offense, is influenced by living as your pet for years."

"Yeah dude," Mikey agreed. "You may have been talking out of your shell, but Spike could have thought you were being serious." Raph gave a sour expression at his youngest brother but didn't argue.

"So where does that leave Rockwell?" Raph asked. "Aside from being mutated into a chimp, he's fairly easy going. That is unless he's picking intellectual pissing contests with Donnie."

"Duh, he's psychic," Mikey said.

"Sort of…" Leo pointed out. "Yes he's psychic, but his initial psychic powers centered on empathy. So he reacted and responded to any emotion around him. Such as attacking Donnie back when we first met Rockwell. Donnie may have only been protecting April, but Rockwell sensed the hostility and responded with it."

"That and the fact that Don and April had just left Falco's office," Raph added. "As far as Rockwell knew they could have been working for Falco."

"But still, you see..." Leo continued. "Each of you was able to be influenced by the brain worms because of your anger. Donnie, on the other hand, has been known to have a fierce temper, but his anger isn't a defining trait of his personality. So in order to get him to the mindset they wanted they needed to force him into the mindset where they can gain a hold. Such as…"

"Such as screwing up his memories," Raph completed. "When we were in the tub, it was like he didn't even know either of us…well rather he knew 'us', but more like a different version of us."

"Exactly…the panic he expressed in the tub may have been part of what was done with him before he was whipped." Leo said. "Because I could hear water gushing before I heard the first strike. At times when in the past a prisoner would be doused with ice water because it caused the skin to tighten and thus made the beatings hurt more. Perhaps like you the worms also may have taken all the times you…me…maybe all three of us have teased him, or generally given him a hard time and made those memories appear worse than they actually are."

Mikey looked over at Donnie's sleeping form and whimpered at the thought of what his genius older brother just endured. And if what Raph and Leo said was true, did that mean Donnie wouldn't remember him either. What did that mean for them? After being tortured physically, mentally, and even emotionally he wasn't even sure the Donnie he knew was there anymore.


April sighed as she put the last of the dishes away. All the Turtles were resting upstairs and they were safe, but she couldn't shake the feeling something was bugging her. Donnie had barely touched his oatmeal when Splinter was done tending to his injuries. He at first had been hesitant about eating it and had to be convinced that it wasn't poisoned or rancid before he dared to take a single bite. And even then he only ate two partial spoon fulls of the oatmeal before he put it down and curled into a ball and went back to sleep again.

She wasn't offended by all this after all they were dealing with the shock and distress of all that happened. It was only natural some of them would have a harder time getting back to themselves than others. And yet she couldn't shake the feeling something was completely off about Donnie. She knew she wasn't the only one who had sensed it as Mikey had also stated he felt something off and while Splinter wasn't vocal about it, she knew that Splinter could sense it as well.

The sound of the door open made her close her eyes in irritation. She could fill her teeth grind together as she heard Casey's voice and footsteps approach the kitchen.

"Hey Red," Casey stated as he entered the kitchen.

"How was your Uber-mensch Omelet?" April asked somewhat coldly as she put a water kettle onto the stove before trying to find the tea, hoping a little chamomile would sooth her nerves.

"The uber-meat…It wasn't as good as I expected…." Casey said glumly. April's eye twitched in irritation, she knew that he wasn't actually disappointed he was only ramping up for a crow.

"It was the biggest, meatiest, wickedest omelet ever!" Casey enthusiastically said.

"I'm so glad you enjoyed your breakfast." April sniped with a bite of irritation in her voice.

"You should have joined me so you could have seen it for yourself," Casey stated. "You would have said 'I don't know, Casey. That looks a bit too big for any normal person to eat.' And I woulda said 'Hey, Casey Jones ain't a normal person.' And then you woulda said…"

"Okay Casey, I get it. You can shut up now!" April nearly shouted.

"Whoa…" Casey became surprised. "Where's all this hostility coming from?"

"Hostile? Oh, I'm not being hostile," April seethed. "I'm just irritated that Raph and his brothers just went through the worst day in their lives and all you care about is getting a stupid egg dish."

"Hey, I care!" Casey insisted. "But the guys have been hurt before, they'll be back on their feet again."

"Not like this Casey," April said. "I'm worried…I'm worried Donnie might do the same thing he did the last time we were here…when Leo had been injured."

At the sound of his rival's name Casey grit his teeth. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but time and again he had noticed an almost budding infatuation between April and Donatello. He had noticed it ever since the guys had been plagued by the Dream Beavers…no earlier than that. He remembered glancing out of the window of the room he shared with Raph and Mikey…though it was just him and Mikey now that Leo was awake. April was outside chopping wood in the early morning, Casey just couldn't help watching her slender but well-muscled arms heft the heavy ax and bring it down splitting the log in two. Then Donnie came up to her as though something was on his mind. Casey couldn't hear what was being said between them as they talked. But when April stood up on her toes and planted a kiss on the gap-toothed turtle's lips he found himself punching a pillow until all the goose down came flying out of it. He tried not to let it get to him; perhaps he was reading things wrong. That had to have been it; maybe the kiss was nothing after all Donnie didn't seem to expect it nor had shown any elation. If anything he seemed more confused than he had been before.

Then during the whole Dream Beavers event, the way April almost lovingly held him against her and the way she panicked when Donnie had stopped breathing. Those behaviors were not something Casey had ever experienced from the Redhead. A friendly hug every once in a while perhaps enjoying a day on the town or at the movies, but beyond that was always something guarded about her. Something she never expressed around the Turtles, perhaps it was due to how well she knew them. But it still pissed him off that there were things April could trust and confide in with Donnie and the other Turtles, and yet couldn't trust him in the same way.

"You like him, don't you?" Casey said with a bitter tone. "I saw you kiss him when we were here months ago. You think I don't see how you act around him? It's time I knew the truth, what am I to you…some play thing that you feel you can string along when it suits your needs?!"

"What do you even want from me, Casey?!" April demanded. "I like the both of you…"

"That's not saying much…" Casey said.

"Honestly, Casey," April nearly screamed. "Having a boyfriend is the furthest thing from my mind. Yes, I have kissed Donnie…a few times. But that has generally been as appreciation for all he's done for me."

"And…what about me?!" Casey nearly yelled back. "I've done things for you too, Red! Why aren't you kissing me with appreciation?"

"I might consider doing so…" April growled as she stormed out of the kitchen. "Once you grow up and realize I'm not a prize to be won!"