The Price of Genius

Donatello sat staring at the two DNA profiles spinning side by side on his largest monitor and let out a long suffering sigh as he rubbed his temple. Both samples were from Leo; one taken months ago before his contact with Sol, the other taken after the battle with the wraiths. He'd postulated a further DNA mutation and hoped to see a difference in the two samples. But no such luck.

Yet another theory to be crossed off the list of possible causes for the mental and physical powers his brothers had unlocked when they agreed to a soulbond with Luna. Though the others didn't understand the urgency, Don felt it was necessary to isolate the mechanism by which their powers had been activated as soon as possible.

More and more immortals kept intruding into their lives. Diana was just the latest and most violent occurrence. Donatello felt at a distinct disadvantage with Leo and Raph having to compensate for his and Mikey's inability to innately affect beings from the other plane.

Donatello had the strongest feeling that time was against them. It would not be much longer before Charon figured out that Luna was still alive, if he hadn't already, and then they could be dealing with any number of other planer creatures; possibly right here in their home.

If he could figure out what the trigger was and use it to unlock their powers, it would even the playing field. Don worried about the consequences of that, of course, but Luna had said they would grow into their powers eventually, so it shouldn't hurt to unlock them early. They certainly had need of them and now they had Luna to train them.

It had been a week since Diana had pulled her little stunt. Don had spent most of it closeted in the lab working on a multitude of tests designed to prove some theories or disprove others.

Luna was coaching Raph and Leo through a series of exercises designed to improve their energy control in case of another immortal perimeter breach. Even Sol and Fina were helping by providing the targets.

Michelangelo was trying to piece together the motives of the players in this drama, so he spent hours with Luna, learning about Olympus and day to day life there, combing through her enemies to see who might be involved. Even April dropped by a time or two to add her perspective.

Something has to break soon.

Everyone was jumpy and on edge, knowing an attack could come at any time. Patrols of the entire home had been assigned in eight hour shifts, during which they wandered from room to room, seeking any difference in their surroundings.

It's a hell of a way to live.

Don sighed again and stared mournfully into his long empty coffee cup. He needed a break but it just seemed like too much effort to get out of the chair to make more coffee. He hated to admit it but he was reaching burnout. He needed something new to concentrate on, something that could really get his creative juices flowing, or there would be no new breakthroughs.

The sound of light footsteps approaching made him suddenly jerk to attention; sitting up straight in his chair then slouching back down as he tried for nonchalance. It could only be Luna making her way toward him. All his brothers, except Leo, had heavier steps; Leo he never heard at all.

Her scent hit him next, as he kept his back diffidently turned to the door. Lilies and hyacinths, a combination that epitomized her essence, swirled around the doorframe and washed over him.

It brought to mind images of her that he should, in all propriety, forget.

She was no longer his patient. Now that Leo could heal, Don's skills were no longer required. He had no more need to be examining her in detail as he had before; not even in his mind. But it was hard to let go of those images. Even as damaged as she had been Luna was beautiful.

Donatello admired beauty in all it's forms, but Luna embodied something special.

She's like a work of art.

Something one could gaze upon and worship from afar but could never dream of owning. He had been her conservator; carefully nurturing and restoring her for the benefit of others. Always for others.

Like all great works she was bound to attract attention. There would always be those who coveted her and those who would give anything to keep her safe and whole. Donnie classed himself firmly into the latter category.

Don shook himself and looked up with a grateful smile as another scent came to him. Luna stood beside him now holding out a steaming mug of fresh dark roast coffee; prepared just the way he liked it.

The fact that he had noticed her scent before the overpowering aroma of the coffee warned him that his thoughts were becoming too preoccupied with her. He needed, once again, to lock those thoughts away but he allowed himself one quick moment to run his eyes over her from head to toe. Just to be sure she was all right.

Now that she was fully recovered and mostly rested, she was more than all right; she was radiant.

Don quickly diverted his gaze to his coffee as she smiled at him in return. Her smile did things to him that he didn't even want to admit to himself.

He cleared his throat rather abruptly.

"Thank you, Luna. I really needed this," Don said, holding up the cup in salute. After a slight pause in which she said nothing, he added, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes- maybe, oh I hope so. Donnie, this is driving me crazy!" Luna burst out in her bell like voice.

Donatello blinked. That was the first time she had ever called him 'Donnie' to his face. He knew she had latched on to all of their nicknames, and she'd probably referred to him that way to his brothers, but she'd never said it directly to him before. It felt special somehow; intimate.

Donatello- focus! It's not decent to be thinking such things. He berated himself sharply.

"Well, I'll certainly try. What's bothering you, Luna?" Don's voice, at least, remained steady even as his pulse began to race.

"There's a solution- I think- to the problem we've been having with the immortals just showing up here," she began and suddenly had his undivided attention.

This sounded like just the sort of distraction he needed. His gazed sharpened, he forgot his misgivings, and looked directly into her face. Her eyes were blue and her hair was red. She had both souls with her; that meant she was operating at top capacity. Usually in this state she really challenged him.

When we find the other souls I probably won't be able to follow her thought process anymore.

"That's welcome news," he replied. "What are you struggling with?"

"Energy conversion," she said.

Don raised a brow, intrigued, inviting her to continue.

"Ok, Remember when I was describing to Raph and Leo the kind of personal shields they should be practicing?" she asked. "Particularly the physical ones?"

Don nodded. He had hung on every word of that conversation. The idea that aural energy could be transformed into matter that would become a barrier to physical objects was a fascinating concept. Essentially, it was a force field they could activate at will, powered by their own personal energy.

When Luna had proven that concept with a demonstration, he had been amazed. Leo and Raph were slowly getting the hang of projecting those barriers but it took a lot out of them to maintain one. The longest they could hold it, so far, was around 3 minutes.

"There are other variations on that type of shielding. One of them only blocks what you've been referring too as other planer energy. Most immortals are composed of that energy and they would be unable to enter if we constructed such a shield around our home," she said.

Our home. Not the lair, the sewers, or your home; ours. Could she really want to stay here with us long term?

He buried his surprise, forcing a neutral expression. He had thought she would return to Olympus after her punishment ended; even if she visited to spend time with Raph and Leo. That she would want to live with them permanently? It seemed so improbable he hadn't even calculated the odds.

"That's sounds like a feasible concept, but how would we power and support such a construct?" Don said, forcing his thoughts back on track, "Right now, you're the only one who can hold a shield for any length of time."

"That's where I need your help. The construct doesn't have to be held in place by a person, it just needs to be a framework that supports a difference engine and a sensor that recognizes the other planer energy signatures. All it needs to do is tell the barrier to be on or off."

Don's mind reeled. "You're talking about a simple computer program."

Luna nodded. "Another program could provide the parameters to determine the actual structure of the barrier and it's location. Really, all the energy needs is a set of instructions."

"Ok, but even if I wrote such a program, where would we get the energy to power the shield?" Don asked.

"Leonardo already solved that one for us," Luna laughed. "Remember his little mistake in the dojo?"

"The modular energy vortex!" Don exclaimed. "Wait! Can he make another one?"

"He doesn't need to. I grounded the first one into a batch of crystal under us," she said casually. "It's been feeding itself and has become it's own stable energy node; totally unconnected to the local ley lines. It's strong enough now that we could probably shield all of Manhattan if we wanted too but that might draw some unwanted attention."

Don sat back in his chair, stunned. This might actually work, and if it did, it would provide them with the peace of mind to sleep at night. It would allow them to stop patrolling the house. Plus it would give them a defensible position they could fall back to if attacked outside.

"Luna... that's amazing!" Donatello said, a little breathless.

In his excitement, he rose from his chair and gripped her upper arms gently, staring into her eyes. Her intellect was staggering, but her ability to assemble disparate elements into a new whole was so akin to his own method of working that it was easy to fall into a rapport with her.

She made a little face, a sort of sideways grimace, and Don thought he might have overstepped. He dropped his arms and moved away; putting a careful distance between them.

"There's still a problem," she groused, turning to half lean, half sit on the edge of his desk and crossing her arms over her chest, "The energy conversion. Somehow we've got to get it out of the crystal and projected through the program. I've been thinking about it for days and that's the part driving me crazy."

Ah, she's frustrated. That frown wasn't because of me…

Don smiled.

"There I think I can help you. If this crystal formation is what I think it is, we're not going to have any problems." Don said. "It may take a little time to salvage the parts, but I think we can put something together."

Before something really bad gets in here.

Charon knelt on the top of the building in the pale light of the setting sun. There was just enough twilight left to make out the large blood stain, long since dried, near the elevator. But he didn't need light to know it was there. The Guardian of the Dead could sense such things. The blood called to him. A signal of a brush with death.

This was what he was here to see.

He hadn't truly believed the human magician when he claimed that Luna was still alive. The idea was ludicrous. She had been confined to a mortal, human body, and denied her powers. Charon had seen her death through the eyes of the mortals he had hired to end her.

But the description of the woman on fire, who had blasted his wraiths to pieces as they traced an echo of one of the souls, was too much of a coincidence to simply be ignored. If she were alive and if she had somehow regained her power than this had become a different kind of hunt entirely; with a far more dangerous and intriguing query.

There was more blood on the rooftop than Charon was expecting. Aside from the large pool, there were spatters all over the area. This battle must have been epic and yet someone, somehow, had kept it quiet.

At least four different beings had bled in this space. None of them were human, but one was definitely female. He brought that sample to his lips and tasted it. It burned in his mouth with a familiar cinnamon-like sting; igniting an almost irresistible desire for more.

Oh it was her. He'd never expected to experience that addictive flavor again. Yet here it was.

He forced himself to leave the rest of the sample untasted and brought his full talent to bear on the remaining blood; learning all he could. She was alive, with at least some power intact. She was and yet, was not, mortal any longer. This confused him. He could not tell her location, so she was obviously strong enough to block that.

It didn't matter. With this little bit of blood, he could send a bevy of creatures to bring her to him.

This was his chance. A chance to have the very thing he thought he'd destroyed because it was forever out of his reach. He would not make that mistake again. He would no longer settle for just her power. He would have the whole goddess. And in her weakened state, he would control her mind, body and soul.

Luna was screaming.

Horrible, pain filled cries that pierced straight to the heart. The agonizing screams of a tormented soul for whom there is no escape.

Donatello was awake instantly. His worst fears fully realized. Something had found it's way to them, evaded their patrols, and now she was suffering. Suffering horribly.

He vaulted out of bed and shot out the door, snatching up his bo from where it rested against the frame. He didn't pause, leaping straight over the railing of the balcony to land directly in front of the infirmary as the heart-rending cries went on and on.

Raphael was right behind him, a knife in his hand.

They burst through the door together, Raph going high with an immense jump and summersault; Don sliding in low on his knees, bent so far back his shell scraped across the floor. Neither where an enemy would expect them to be. Raph landed easily on the stainless table and immediately began fending off dark flying creatures that were almost, but not quite, bats.

If bats were the size of chickens and had talons as big as Don's hands.

"Luna!" Raph gasped in horror, as his gaze fastened on her still shrieking form.

A number of the creatures gripped Luna's arms, legs, and night clothes; straining to lift her towards a glowing portal that hovered above them. She struggled to break free. Her body was coated in silver but every time she she attempted to direct her power at the creatures her form was rocked with horrible spasms. It looked as if she were being electrocuted.

Rage blossomed and fire was born as Raph growled, "Let 'er go!"

He concentrated and the creatures nearest him began to crash down in flames. It was hard to tell how many of them there were. For each one Raph destroyed several more swooped in through the portal to take their place.

Don's eyes rapidly scanned Luna as he slid across the floor searching for the source of the current. If there was electricity running through her, he couldn't touch her without falling prey to it as well. Don reared up on his knees, still several feet away and took out a group of creatures with three sharp strokes of his bo. His lips thinned in satisfaction as they flew across the room.

At least these creatures have some sort of physical substance I can affect.

But Luna was still screaming; he had to help her. Finally he saw it, just as Michelangelo and Leonardo entered the fray. Around Luna's neck was a strange metal collar with a large green jewel in the front. The portal throbbed in time with the light in that stone.

Intuitively he understood. Luna was the power source. The energy she was releasing in her struggle to get free was not only generating the portal above her, but also causing the electric shock. She had to stop the flow.

Donatello had no way to get through to her. She could not hear him over her own screams. He couldn't speak to her soul like his brother's could and any moment now she might kill herself; her heart stopped forever by her own power.

Don saw only one way to end this. Though it practically killed him to do it, he swung his bo around her, reversed his strike, and landed a carefully gauged blow to the back of Luna's head; knocking her unconscious.

Leonardo watched in alarm, countering his own attackers, as Donnie raised his bo. He had seen Don perform this move before and could not believe he would follow through. But the trajectory was easy enough to read. Don was going to strike her.

"No!" shouted Leo, but he was too far away to stop it. Mikey and Raph spun to look just as Don's weapon collided with her head.

Luna went limp. The portal flickered and went out. The remaining creatures supporting her blurred into smoke and disappeared; she fell. Donatello dropped his weapon, launched himself into the air, and caught her. He landed hard, going down on one knee to absorb the impact and cushioning Luna with his arms.

Don looked up from his kneeling position to find Leo's katana at his throat. He froze.

"Raph," Leo barked in command, territorial rage in his eyes, "Take her."

Raphael swooped in like a stooping hawk and snatched Luna from Don's arms. Don released her quickly and swallowed hard. He locked his gaze with Leo's but said nothing. Mikey's eyes flitted to Don's face then back to Leo's.

Don remained motionless. Leo wasn't looking at him sternly like a brother who'd done something wrong; Leo was looking at him ruthlessly like an enemy who deserved to die.

Mikey approached them slowly, giving Leo plenty of time to see him coming, before he reached up and rested a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"You don't want to do this. Donnie is your bro and your best friend," Mikey reminded him quietly. "He loves Luna. He wouldn't have hurt her unless it was the only solution."

"He should never hurt Luna," Leo hissed, but his eyes were less piercing; less certain. Mikey drew back his hand in surprise.

"I'm sure there was a very good reason…" Mikey trailed off turning to Don.

"She was killing herself," Don said simply.

"That's a good reason," Mikey said, nodding in agreement.

"How?" Leo spat, his tone still hostile. The sword in his hand did not waver.

"There's a collar around her neck. It looked like it was draining her to produce that portal and shocking her." Don said. "The more power she poured into her defence the worse the effect. In another moment, her heart would have stopped."

"Raph?" Leo called roughly, asking his brother to check Luna's neck. Leo refused to look away from where he held Don at sword point.

Raphael had laid Luna gently out on the treatment table and was now examining the collar; trying to see how it worked.

"She has got something 'round 'er neck. I haven't seen it before. It don't look like jewelry," Raph said. He fiddled with it a moment longer. "It won't come off."

With Raph's confirmation, the anger died in Leo's gaze. Draining away as quickly as it had appeared. Horror at what he had almost done took it's place. His sword fell to the floor with a clatter and he dropped to his knees beside Don; his head bowed.

"I am so sorry, Donatello," Leo said. "You have never given me any reason to distrust your actions. I- I completely lost it. I must have been out of my mind, to even think that..."

Leonardo felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, stopping his words. He looked up to find nothing but forgiveness and warmth in Donatello's eyes.

"She is your mate," Don reassured him quietly. "None of us have experienced that before. There was no way you could have known, or prepared for, that kind of rage."

"I didn't see Raph holding a sword to your throat, Don," Leo said sadly.

"D'at's only 'cause ya beat me to it bro," Raph spoke gruffly from the other side of the table.

"Sorry Don," he added sheepishly.

Donatello smiled back. Two apologies from his older brothers in one day. That had to be one for the record books.

"S'okay Raph. I'm just glad I could stop her before it was too late. Now, let's see about getting that collar off. Then Leo can heal her. I'm sure there are some internal burns," Don said, worriedly.

Leo's hand on his shoulder stopped Don in his tracks as he stepped to Luna's side.

"Tomorrow, Don," Leo said, decisively. "As long as she's fit to move around, we'll take her to get those parts. We can't put it off, we need that shield."

Don nodded grimly. There was no other way. Tomorrow they would take her home.