A/N: I edited the last chapter slightly...decided not to put in amy temperatures, I just confused myself. lol.My high school hasn't lost an f-ball game yet! 4 wins 0 losses! woo! Homecoming week and the Homecoming itself was a blast!

Anyway, Happy Reading!

"That cannot be possible." Leatherhead replied, shaking his head after the three eldest brothers explained what happened throughtout the week. "It's rare to contract such an infection from a rodent - rabies, no. In this case, however Michelangelo is cold blooded he cannot get rabies..."

"So what else could it be?" Donatello inquired.

"It is hard to say, my friends." Leatherhead said softly as he spread out varoius materials on the lab counter. "Just a precaution, though...I will need a strep and blood culture."

Michelangelo perked up he watched Donatello comply to the order. "Was' that mean?" he slurred, still under the affects of exhaustion. He never felt so tired in his life.

"A blood culture..." started Leatherhead.

Donatello inturrupted him, "Use small words, L.H." he teased with a knowing smile. The others laughed while Michelangelo just pouted with a hurtfelt look, but a small lopsided smile graced his lips nonetheless.

"A blood culture, my friend," Leatherhead continued, "Are used to check prescence of systematic insanitations and a - Donatello have you finished?" the mutated crocodile, stepped away from Michelangelo's side to aide the purple banded turtle.

"Uhh..."

"It's a test to see if you have any infections in you bloodstream, Mike." Leonardo inserted, nudging the youngest brother with a sigh of exaggeration. "Nothing to worry about."

"..Kay," Michelangelo replied softly, his eyes drooping. Leonardo shook him, bringing the nunchuck holder back into wake. "What...?"

"You have to stay awake for the tests, Mikey."

Michelangelo rolled his eyes and groaned, "Go 'way...'M tired."

"Stop bein' a baby, Mikey!" Raphael said firmly as he came to stand by him. "Don and L.H are doin' these tests that might save ya life!"

"I'm dying...?" Michelangelo stirred, lifting his head up at the statement with widening eyes.

Master Splinter glared at the red banded turtle and smacked him with the end of his walking stick. "This is no time to be fooling around with your brother's head, Raphael. He is ill, you would do well to have patience with him." Raphael clenched his fists, his eyes glued on his sick brother before storming out of the lab. Master Splinter closed his eyes briefly, in a way to calm himself. "Michelangelo, you must forgive your brother. He is just overwhelmed by all that is happening. This is the first time one of you have become so suddenly ill. The only way he deals with his emotions is through anger..."

Surprisingly, Michelangelo had listened intently and nodded in understanding. " 'S jus' Raphie.." he said quietly, then added. "I'm not dyin'..am I?"

"No, my son." Master Splinter assured gently. "You are far from it."

Leonardo stood up as Master Splinter took his place. "I'll go keep Raphael at bay. The last thing we need is to go looking for him topside." he said. "I'll have my cell shell on...you know, if anything - "

"Don't fret, Leonardo." Master Splinter advised. "All will be well. You go and watch out for your brother."

Leonardo nodded, glancing back briefly at Michelangelo, who was straining to stay awake before he took off after their tempermental brother. He fully understood how his younger brother felt about the whole situation. If Michelangelo could just take one look at himself, then he'd know why they were all so worked up. He was pale. Pale as a green mutant turtle could get. He was like a mint green color now, maybe even lighter and his eyes were bloodshot and droopy, the exhaution clearly seen. Not to mention the nasty blotches that his rat bite wounds had appeared as.

With something like this, Donatello had no clue what he was dealing with. Thus, the reason they had called in for Leatherhead.

He could still see the strained smile that was plastered stupidly on his youngest brother's face. "You just don't know, Mike..." he muttered to himself as he went to leave the lair.

"Yah damn right he don't know..." came a sharp reply from the kitchen.

Leonardo stopped, shook his head and turned to face Raphael, who was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. "Not exactly good for you at the moment, ya know."

"Might as well," was the remark. "Not like I'm gonna sleep anyway."

"You know," Leonardo began, walking over and pulling up a chair."

"If this is tha start of some bullshit lecture..." Raphael growled, eyeing his older brother.

Leonardo ignored the comment. "You're getting yourself all worked up for nothing, Raph. You're acting as if he's going to die or has some life-threatening disease. He just has a mild fever."

"He can't even pick up his head!" Raphael argued, slamming his cup down on the table. Some of the black coffee inside sloshed onto the table's surface.

"Don figures it's just a harmless effect because of the rat bites." Leonardo stated. "Besides, we have L.H now. If he knew something was up, he would have sent up red flag warnings at us."

"THAT'S HUGE!" a wail burst from the lab. "NOOOO!"

Leonardo and Raphael exchanged glances, making to stand and see what was going on when Donatello stepped out of the lab, fuming. He shook his heads and waved at them to sit down. "We now know that Mikey has a high fear of needles."

"Since when?" Raphael asked, siting back down and smirking at the new information. "We faced the shredhead and let's face it..he's got the whole wolverine thing goin' on." he mimicked the three knifed swipe.

"I'm thinking that's probably what started it." Donatello concluded with a slight shrug. "L.H sent me out here for a breather. He said I was too wound up and needed to relax and let him handle everything unless he really needed my aide."

Leonardo grinned. "That and the fact you can't stop asking him questions about what he's doing." Donatello slouched grumpily over the table at the remark.

"Needles.." Raphael was saying as he set down his coffee. "What a nutjob."

"Hey, Raph." Donatello said, looking at a point just over his brother's shoulder. "You have a spider on your shoulder, I think it might be - "

"ARRRGHHH!" Rapahel lept up and started swatting at himself. "Get 'er off! Get 'er off!"

The two remaining, dissolved into fits of laugher.

"So, is this an unknown disease or somethin'?" Raphael demanded.

Leatherhead sighed. "Everything came out normal. His strep culture was normal, all his vitals were normal as well as his white blood cell count. I could not pick up on anything foul in his bloodstream. Perhaps, it could be an after effect of the rat bites, Michelangelo received." he explained, then shrugged. "He simply has a fever. Most likey the flu, which you should moderate so it does not transfer into phenomia."

"I think I can handle that." Donatello said, nodding.

"Let's just hope that's all it is and nothing more." Leonardo said.

"Thank you, Leatherhead." Master Splinter replied. "You have helped us greatly."

"It's never a problem, my friends." Leatherhead said solemnly. "If anything changes, you know where to find me."

They all nodded as they watched him exit the lair.

"So...who wants to be second player?" Michelangelo asked slicing the silence. He coughed into his blanket that he had wrapped around his shoulders and settled himself onto the floor in front of the couch. "I think a good game of - hey!" the game and the television were both shut off before his eyes.

"Mikey, you're sick, you have to be in bed." Donatello instructed.

"Dudes, it's only 7 at night!" Michelangelo pointed out. "How about you all come back in about five more hours?" he stiflied a yawn, but it didn't go unnoticed as he sagged against the couch.

"You are more tired than you think, my son." Master Splinter told him. "It is good that you catch up on some rest. Donatello will be up with some medication to ease your fever."

Michelangelo muttered under his breath as he marched towards his room, absentmindedly to scratching at his ankles.

"I think some calimi lotion that Leatherhead brought should be put on those bits to stop him from scratching." Leonardo said, grabbing a pink bottle off the counter. He read over the label. "Once a day."

"I'll miss those mittens." Donatello joked as he and the family follwoed their youngest member.

"Nah," Raphael piped up, smirking. "I took a picture."

So...what do you think? Please Review!

Caro