Donatello sat in front of the main terminal in his lab and stared for most of an hour at a blinking cursor on a blank screen. He wasn't really looking at it, it was just a convenient place to rest his eyes while his brain worked overtime. And it felt like his was going a mile a minute.

He'd spent the last few days checking and rechecking the program for the crystal shield, going through the code line by line to establish if there were any nasty subroutines incorporated by the false soul. He needed to get this protection up and running soon. Things were coming to a head and with Master Splinter now back in the lair, Don was even more anxious to contribute to the family's protection.

But that wasn't his only project at the moment. Leo was helping him create some immortal boobie traps and he was putting the finishing touches on his new medical scanning device as well.

Of course, just because Don looked entirely spaced out, didn't mean that he was. He was more than aware of where everybody was in the lair at any given time. It had become vital for all of them to be on the highest levels of alert with gods and immortals popping in and out. So, despite appearances, Don knew that Hades had entered his lab long before the god reached the back of his chair.

If he thought to catch Don unprepared in some way, he was sadly mistaken.

"Be careful where you're stepping, Hades," Don warned without looking up, "That floor plate in front of you is charged with one of Leo's plasma bolts."

The god may not really have been testing Don's alertness but with him it was hard to tell. Hades was an odd duck and Donatello was still trying to figure him out. Sometimes he was as playful as a ten year old up to mischief, then he would revert to a soul older than dirt and you could see the years weighing heavily in his eyes.

Either way, Don didn't want to have a pissed off god on his hands. That trap would pack quite a jolt to any immortal who crossed it. Probably not enough to take out a god, but Don was positive it wouldn't feel very nice.

"Thank you for the warning, young one," Hades replied and proceeded to levitate right over the offending obstacle.

Don sighed and made a mental note to include some sensors on the trap that extended to the area above the plate before he pushed himself away from the desk and turned his chair to face the god. Hades was examining the prototype carefully.

"Sorry, Hades. It's not meant for you or any of Luna's family. Leo and I have just been trying to come up with additional ways to protect ourselves," Don said, "I know it won't trip up someone who's really paying attention but it might slow down the unwary."

"It's actually quite clever, Donatello," the god replied. "You'd be surprised by how many gods you would catch with such a device. We are far too used to being indestructible to pay attention to where we are putting our feet."

Despite his irritation over the interruption, Don felt himself flushing from the praise. He'd postulated that himself but hadn't wanted to offend by pointing it out when there were actual gods present.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Donatello asked lightly, turning his attention back to his terminal.

In the two weeks since the god had befriended them, Don had learned it was best to inquire directly what Hades really wanted when he came calling rather than waiting around for some kind of clue. When you'd lived for thousands of years, Don assumed, getting to the point quickly wasn't too high on your agenda and Hades was prone to hanging about all afternoon if Don didn't immediately ask. Today seemed to be different.

"Luna is ill. She needs your help," Hades said bluntly.

Hades suddenly had Donatello's undivided attention. Don's head snapped around faster than a cracked whip and his eyes were sharp and focused. If he hadn't been a god, Hades would have taken a step back from the depth of intelligence revealed in those eyes and the fierce protectiveness that his declaration invoked. As it was, he merely blinked owlishly at Don and waited to see what that intelligence would make of his statement.

"I think you have the wrong brother, Hades," Don said carefully, his gaze unwavering. "Leonardo is the one with the bond and the healing gift."

Even as he said it, however, Don was cataloging a list of symptoms he had observed in the goddess over the last few days. His initial assessment of illness from the day of the apology notwithstanding, he had noticed apathy, lethargy, and despondence; despite Splinter's successful return and the discovery of the location of Trine. She was limp, lacking in her usual grace and self confidence. All her sparkle was absent.

He didn't have enough information to form a hypothesis yet for the cause, but he certainly did not like the effects. Only the thought that Leonardo had things under control where her health was concerned had kept him from investigating already.

"Not at all," Hades replied softly, his own gaze piercing and direct, "I have already spoken with Leonardo and though he is keeping up with the problem, barely... he can't fix it. And before you ask, neither can I."

Don sincerely doubted that. Hades had brought him back from the brink of death. Why couldn't he handle what was happening to Luna?

"What is it exactly that you can't fix?" Don asked suspiciously. "You give the appearance of being all powerful."

"It is not a matter of power, Donatello. It is a matter of permission," Hades said.

Then, as if to distract Don from that topic, Hades added, "I would be intrigued to learn what your new invention makes of her illness."

Don wasn't thrown by this seeming shift in the conversation. Hades was dancing around something he wasn't supposed to say. Something to do with Luna's current situation. Don had seen him pull this maneuver before with Raphael. It had driven his brother to distraction but Don had understood that, on some level, even the gods were bound to certain rules. And breaking rules had consequences.

Don was under no illusions that mortals would escape punishment if those consequences were enacted. So instead, Don considered Hades statement and tried to read between the lines of what he did not say. Apparently Hades thought Don would find some clue to her supposed illness with his invention.

Truthfully, Don wasn't sure what his machine would make of a half mortal goddess. He'd barely calibrated it to a healthy human and had yet to do the same for his brothers, much less an immortal or god.

The new scanner tapped into the enormous power contained in the crystal node that Luna and Leo had created and was focused through a prism made from the same substance. Don had managed, with some trial and error, to cut the prism in such a way as to refract only a certain wavelength of power. Consequently, it produced the same silver-white light that Luna and her mother used to scan mortals for injuries.

But Don had discovered it did a lot more than just locate and report the severity of injuries. When diffused at a low level across a wide plane it could monitor all the vital signs of a person without any need for connected sensors. And, at a slightly higher intensity, the light infused mortal tissue with small amounts of energy and improved the efficiency of the cellular process, in effect making the cells rejuvenate. It wasn't healing, but it stopped cellular decay or at least slowed it down to a point Don could no longer track it.

In effect, Don had created his own Fountain of Youth. But he had no idea what that would translate into when applied to a healthy Luna, much less an ill one. Slowly he turned his piercing gaze back to the God of the Underworld.

"I suppose," Don said slowly, "that it is time to give the machine a test run. But not before I've calibrated it fully."

Don raised a brow ridge and a challenging look appeared in his eyes.

"I don't suppose you would care to volunteer to be a control subject?"

Splinter slowly raised his eyelids and contemplated the room around him, feeling at peace with his surroundings and almost completely whole for the first time in seven years. Outside of meditation, he had not felt his family's presence for so long that returning had been a most overwhelming experience. But now he was settling in at last and the joy he felt at being reunited with his sons, and finding them not only whole but thriving, was incomparable.

One by one, over the last two weeks, they had sought him out and reconnected with him. Each one sharing the vital elements and events of their lives during this time of separation. And though there were many more conversations yet to be had, Splinter was well pleased with the way his family had prospered and cared for one another during his absence.

His sons had matured very well indeed and he was proud of all of their accomplishments. But there remained a member of his family he had not yet consulted with in private. In fact, he had barely seen her in the public areas of their home since his return.

Luna had become reticent and withdrawn. A mere ghost of the confident and powerful young goddess who had done the impossible and brought his whole life and family back together with simply the force of her will. Splinter wished she would come to him. He did not know the root cause of her current trouble, but he wanted to help his daughter in any way that he could and Trine had suggested his involvement may be vital to the outcome of their struggle.

A light tap on the shoji screen that stretched across the entrance to his new quarters distracted him and he twitched an ear in surprise. He had neither heard nor sensed this visitor approaching, but the shadowy outline of a female form suggested it was the very person he wished to see. She must be strictly controlling her aura to have approached so unnoticed. This should be interesting.

"Enter," Splinter called quietly.

The panel slid softly aside and Luna stood, wavering somewhat on his doorstep.

"Please come in, my child," Splinter said soothingly. "Have some tea."

He gestured to the low table in front of him where a steaming pot lay waiting as Luna slid the door shut and sank gratefully to the cushion in front of it. Splinter reached across and poured, mindful of her watchful gaze as he completed the tea ceremony and pushed the cup gently towards her with his paw.

She said nothing but her eyes were full of questions as she took the proffered drink and sipped it delicately. He raised his own cup to his lips as he waited for her to collect her thoughts and stretched all his senses to take the measure of this young woman in front of him.

For a moment he was overwhelmed with the information that returned but he hid his reaction, dropping his gaze to a nearby candle to contemplate what he had learned.

He knew she was not the tender age which she appeared. She had seen centuries come and go; empires rise and fall. But he had touched the auras of long lived beings before and it was not that which startled him.

Nor was it the fractured state of her soul which confounded him. When viewed with his second sight she appeared incomplete and misregistered, with many overlapping colored outlines that confused the eye, but he was well aware of her current plight and had been apprised of the various aspects of her complex tale by his sons.

No, his greatest disquiet lay in the in simple sound of her heartbeat.

There was a dark resonance in each, reflecting a duality of nature that had not been present during their last meeting. It echoed in bleak counterpoint to the silvery white light of her existence and conjured images of death, pain, and madness.

It felt far too familiar and Splinter searched his mind and heart for a parallel. Why did he know this darkness? Had he encountered it before? He closed his eyes briefly in meditation.

What was this shadowy essence that lay on the pure heart of his daughter?

Moments later his eyes sprang open again in horror. He knew this evil. It was the demon that had haunted his precognitive dreams since the youth of his sons. The darkness that had started all of them on this path, so many years ago.

Her clear blue eyes met his piercing black gaze and she stilled. Even her breathing ceased as she read the answer she had been fearing in his gaze.

He saw.

He knew.

With great care, she set the cup softly on the table and made a peculiar gesture over her forehead. Color drained from her eyes and her hair, taking on life of their own as Sol and Fina regained their forms beside her.

"Leave us."

Her voice was a ringing command to the two small souls, resonating with all the echoed power at her command. It should have sent them bolting from the room without hesitation. Fina went, dissolving right through the screen, heading straight for Raphael. Sol lingered, hovering with gentle curiosity near her face.

why?

This hesitant question, with all the love of her bonded behind it, was her undoing. She collapsed upon the table, hid her head in her arms, and wept.