Chapter 20: A Stunning Reunion

Everything had moved into a somewhat new kind of normalcy. It had been a month since the turtles rescued Karai and Donatello from Shredder's stronghold and they were no closer to finding a cure. Stockman's notes did help give Rockwell a start but he needed to find a perfect retromutagen that would revert Donatello back to his normal self, not the small turtle he started as.

Everyone else generally left the doctor to his work and focused on making sure Donatello was comfortable and had everything he needed. Although recently, Donnie had been traveling to person to person, asking for something that no one could figure out the answer for.

"You hungry, D? I'm sure you're hungry! I've got some pizza for you."

"What's wrong, Don? How about we go to the living room and watch something?"

"Donnie? I already gave you plenty of exercise this morning. What else do you want?"

"My friend, I'm not sure what you are asking for."

"Oh! I know what you want! Bread! So do I!"

"Donatello, I can wrestle with you some if you want. Just don't use your teeth."

"I'm sorry, Donatello. I'm not sure what you want. Are hungry? Tired? Restless?"

"Donatello, you aren't really much help. Your notes are wondrous, though."

Donatello sighed as he laid on the floor. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Even if he could form the words in his mind, he had no way to communicate it. Plus, no one was understanding what he was trying to say. It was so frustrating but he had one more person to go. His father would be able to tell something was wrong.

Donnie slowly pulled himself up from the floor, glancing around the room to see if he could see his father. Mikey had roped Pete and Raph into some kind of video game while Leo, Slash, and Leatherhead were doing something in the kitchen. Rockwell was holed up in his lab. That meant his father and Karai had to be in the dojo.

It took more focus than Donnie care to mention to move one foot in front of the other as he slowly made his way to the dojo. He was forced to stop for a second when his vision swam but continued on. He knew his father would be able to figure out something was wrong.

Donnie nosed the door open further to be able to walk in the dojo. Splinter and Karai were sitting at a low table, drinking tea and probably talking about the past. As much as Donnie hated to interrupt father-daughter bonding time, he needed someone to figure out what was wrong. Splinter had to figure it out.

"My son? Come here." Donnie lumbered over to his father's outstretched hands, putting his head in those familiar hands. Splinter gazed at his son, carefully looking in the brown eyes. "What is wrong, my son?" Donnie rumbled low in his throat, trying to explain that something was wrong.

"He's been going around to everyone but no one can figure out what he wants," Karai inputted.

Splinter carefully looked deep into his brown eyes. "There is something wrong. I'm sorry, my son, but I don't know what you are trying to tell me." Splinter gently ran his fingers over the large head, trying to apologize to his son.

Donnie sighed. No one had figured out what was wrong. He didn't know what was wrong. He gave his father an affectionate nudge before walking back out of the dojo. Maybe he could find Raphael. Raph was nice to just hang with. Donnie walked into the living room, glancing around to try to find Raph. He found him still by the television playing a video game. Maybe Leo would be some nice company…..

"Hey guys! Where's Donnie?"

A familiar scent assaulted his nostrils and fear overpowered everything. This was bad. Donnie backed up, swinging his head around to search for the source. This was very bad. Where was Snakelady? Snakelady could protect him.

"Hey guys! Where's Donnie?"

"April? Casey? What are you doing here?" Raphael asked, jumping to his feet, looking around the room quickly.

"We thought we told you to stay away," Leonardo stated, walking out of the kitchen, trying to intercept the two teens.

"I wanted to see Donnie," April said, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's been over a month since you got him back. I want to see him!"

"Yeah, where's Gap Tooth?" Casey asked.

A loud roar echoed through the lair as a large mutant turtle showed off its sharp teeth, baring them at the two humans. April screamed, pulling out her tessen, and sending it flying at the mutant.

"No!"

"Don't!"

The fan went flying through the air and sliced the mutant's face. The turtle cried out in pain and reared back in fear.

"Yeah! Get that thing, Red!" Casey yelled, pulling out his hockey stick as April caught the tessen.

Leo, Raph, and Mikey rushed between the teens and the large mutant. Mikey and Raph immediately went to the mutant while Leo stepped in front of the humans.

"Hurry! We gotta get that thing from your home!" April called out, ready to fling the tessen again.

"Put your weapons down now!" Leo yelled, pulling out his katanas.

"Leo! What in the world are you doing?" April yelled. "There is a monster in your home!"

"It's okay, Donnie!" Mikey cried out, trying to calm down his brother.

"Easy, bro."

"That's Donnie?"

"Raphael! Michelangelo! Get away at once! It's not safe!" Master Splinter cried out, racing out of the dojo with Karai on his heels. Karai quickly shifted from her human form to the snake one and got in front of the other two turtles. Mikey and Raph both backed away from the distressed turtle.

"Easy Donnie. It's okay. How about you come with me? That's it, that's it," Karai spoke softly, trying to soothe the turtle. Donnie whimpered and backed away, pressing himself to the ground, the burning red eyes staring down April and Casey as he tried to stay close to Karai.

"How in the world is that thing Donnie?" Casey asked, staring as the large mutant followed Karai out of the room.

Leo sighed as he put away his katanas, making sure the tessen was put away. "The Shredder put Donnie into a vat of mutagen. He was mutated again."

"Poor Donnie," April cried out, covering her mouth with her hand. "But why did he freak out when he saw us?"

"He now has a fear of humans," Raph growled, his eyes on the dojo.

"Why would he be afraid of us? He's known us for so long!" Casey yelled.

"After his mutation, the only human contact he was exposed to was the Shredder," Master Splinter said.

April glanced at the dojo. "But, he knows us….."

"His instinct overpowers his mind when he's scared," Mikey said. "He just needs to calm down. I'm sure Donnie will be back in his mind with some time. Karai will be able to calm him down."

Karai left the door to the dojo slightly open, leaving a place for Donatello to escape if everything was too much for him. Once Donnie was in the safety of the dojo, he immediately laid down on the far wall, the one he spent most of his time while regaining his mind. A low whimper sounded through the room which brought Karai to Donnie's side.

"It's alright, Donatello," Karai whispered, stroking his head. Her fingers hit something wet. She slowly turned his head to the side to see a slice across the face, vertical from the top of his head to almost his chin, almost hitting his eye. "Oh, Donnie. I'm sorry you got hurt." Donnie rumbled in his throat, flinching away from her hand. Donnie rumbled in his throat, flinching away from her hand.

Karai turned away from Donnie, looking for the medical kit she knew Donnie had placed in there before she even arrived. Karai took a step away and heard a whimper at her step. "It's okay, Donnie. I'll be right back. I'm just going to get a bandage for that little cut." Donnie laid back down, his red eyes dimming as Karai left to get the kit. It only took a second before she was back at Donnie's side. She gently cleaned the cut and put a small bandage over it, trying to ignore the whimper that escaped his throat. "You'll be alright, little bro. You're safe." Donnie sighed again, pushing his head into her hands, wanting reassurance.

"Hey, Karai?" Karai looked up to see Michelangelo watching from the doorway. Donnie flinched and tucked himself into Karai's side. "Is D okay?"

Karai sighed, petting the angular head. "He has a little slice on his face from the tessen. Plus, he's still scared." Mikey's eyes filled with tears as he turned away from the dojo, letting Karai to calm down his brother.

Author's Note: So all those who have been asking about Casey and April, I've had a plan. I figured if something were to happen like this, Splinter would want to limit contact to prevent any injury happening to either party. Also, 106 reviews! Woo! Special thanks to TheEquestrainIdiot 2.0, Sonic155, awesome5689, BipperCipher3, Pilyartquitect, BlueFireReturns, Andraia452, and Fever To Write for the review. Also, shout out to Sonic155 for being the 100th reviewer! Thanks guys!