Well howdy do! Look who decided to update! *dodges rocks and tomatoes* ack! Hey! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But either way, hope you had a happy New Years.

…Who cares if I'm four days late?! I still hope you enjoyed it!

Yeah, I'm gonna shut up now. Enjoy!

The tension was so thick Danica could have cut it with her tessen. She could hear his breathing, heavy and labored as if he'd just run twenty miles, practically hyperventilating. Why was he so nervous? Perhaps he was anthropophobic? Hm, it was possible, she supposed. She couldn't see much without her glasses, but there was no mistaking the vague form of a person walking toward her. She had to squint, but she was pretty sure he was… green?

Whaaaaaa…?

One arm was slung across his chest, gripping his shoulder nervously, head bowed, eyes on the floor. He looked… ashamed. "Here I am," his voice was low and quiet. "Go ahead, scream. I won't hold you to your promise."

Danica blinked owlish eyes. He was standing right beside her now, and she tried her hardest to meet his eyes. He wouldn't look at her. He just continued to stare at the floor in a mournful, lost and remorseful way, as if gazing at a loved one's grave, chewing his lip, which, was it just her imagination, or was it trembling a bit?

"Wow…" her voice came out just a smidge higher than usual. "I… I…"

"I know," he sounded heartbroken, voice weak and pitiful. "I'm horrible to look at." Moving lightning fast, the kunoich was suddenly sitting up, arms hooking around his neck before he could react. In response, the turtle blanched, startled, eyes widening to a whole new level of big, and he could only stutter helplessly. "Um… I… uh… huh…?"

"Don't say that about yourself," she insisted quietly, her breath tickling his neck. "I think you're perfect."

"What?"

She giggled softly, patting his back once, which she noticed was covered in a hard shell. "You heard me. You're perfect this way."

As she pulled back, he gazed at her numbly, shock written all over his face. "Are… Aren't you afraid of me?"

She laughed as if genuinely humored. "Should I be?"

"Well… logically..."

"I mean, do I have any reason to be afraid?"

"…No."

"There's your answer. Look, till you give me a reason to be afraid, I'm not gonna be. Besides," then she looked a little shy. "You saved my life. It was you, wasn't it? You're my hero. " He looked ready to fall over at this point, so she merely put on a smile, and said, "I don't think I ever got your name. So, let's try this again." She put out her hand. "Hi, I'm Danica. What's your name?"

"Ugh… I… um… you… whaaat…?" he seemed to still be attempting to process, head tilted and eye twitching.

"Easy bud," she laughed. She reached out, gently taking one of his hands, which had three fingers, and curled her fingers around his, gently shaking it up and down. "What's your name?"

"D… D…" forcing himself to swallow, he blinked several times. "Donatello,"

"I love his work," she commented softly. "So, we've been introduced, um… care to give me a run down of what's been going on?"

"Um, I… s- sure…" still getting over his initial shock, he gave her a stumbling explanation, and she listened intently, soaking up the details. She was worried for her sisters, naturally, and asked to see them immediately.

"I- I don't know if they're awake or not," he informed her softly. "And then there's the issue with your legs…"

She smiled gently at him, though squinting slightly. "Well, if I had to guess, I would say I've just lost blood circulation from lying down so long. Help me stand up?"

"…" pretty much trembling from nerves, he gently, ever so gently, let his hand slide over her much smaller one after a moment. She didn't flinch away, and instead gripped his hand in hers, bringing up her other hand to grab into his forearm, using it to hold herself steady as she slid over the edge of the examination table. As her bare feet hit the ground, she very nearly went tumbling to the ground, if not for the mutant supporting her. In that moment, Donatello couldn't help noticing just how tiny and petite she truly was. Resituating themselves slightly, they got to the point where he had a hold of one of her elbows, the other on her back.

"Thank you," she said, slightly breathless from the odd feeling of being numb, pretty much forcing her lower half to move. "Which way to my sisters?"

"Um…" the closest room belonged to that of his eldest brother, just across the hall, so they headed in that direction. As soon as the door propped open, Danica couldn't keep a squeal in as she saw her big sister, and promptly attempted to scurry to her side.

"Ow!" both presences gasped as she collapsed gracelessly to the floor. "I- I'm ok!"

"Dani?!" in an instant Lindreanna was out of bed and helping her sister into a sitting position, despite her closed eyes, relying solely on touch and sound to find her. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live…" she rubbed a sore spot on her arm, before surging forward and throwing her arms around her sister. "Oh Lindie! I missed you!"

She didn't even bother telling her not to call her that. "Oh Danica…" she murmured, holding her tight, running her fingers through her tangled caramel tresses. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Me too! Oh! Don't know if you heard, but I got my vision! Everything's kinda blurry… but I don't care! I'm just so gold to see you! Have you seen Rey or Mickie?"

"Not since I got here, no." she leaned back slightly, just enough to properly access her sister's face using just her hands, thumbs and fingers carefully gliding over her pale, freckled skin in a careful analysis. Not a blemish, not a scratch. Good. "But are you sure you're ok? He behaved himself?"

Both of the 'smart ones' as they'd been vaguely dubbed in their families, brushed to the point of impossibility. While Donnie turned a much darker shade of green, Danica put scarlet to shame and stammered "L- Lindie! Was that necessary?! Donatello's been a perfect gentleman, thank you!" his blush deepened, if at all possible. "He's taken perfectly good care of me; he's very gentle and sweet. So don't get your tessen bent!" Lindreanna laughed. Honestly laughed, for the first time she'd arrived, and ruffled her sister's hair, ignoring her indignant cry of "Come on! My bed head is probably already awful!"

"Well Lil' Sis, excuuuse me for watching out for you. You're right; the next time we're abducted"

"Saved,"

"Whatever. By teenage boys our age and are unconscious and completely defenseless, I won't question their motives at all."

Danica swatted her, though still leaning lovingly on her sister, content as she turned her oddly colored sea foam green eyes back to Donatello, who by now was standing there and feeling very awkward. "Donatello, will you be the sweetie I can tell you are and get me my glasses? I'm kinda getting a headache."

"What? O- Oh yeah, of- of course," she giggled as he stammered, clearly unsure of himself, and went scurrying out the door with his head ducked.

When he was done, she looked back at her sister, who was smirking and shaking her head. "Well, that was cute."

"Shut up." Danica made a face. "So, after I get the feeling back in my legs, you wanna be nosey and poke around?"

The eldest grinned, looking every bit like a devious child. "Chance to get under Kame Dearest's skin? Count me in."

Danica chuckled as her big sister helped her up, and they slowly made it back over to the bed and settled down, Lindreanna settling in the lotus pose, and Dani leaving her legs draped over the edge to assist the blood flow. "So," she began, massaging her thighs. "Why are you so interested in this…" she giggled a little. "'Kame Dearest'?"

Lindie giggled back at her, sounding much more like the teenage girl she was than the mature adult she usually came across as. "He's just so much fun to annoy. He gets so ticked so easily when he knows someone is playing him. And-"

At that moment, Donatello arrived back, handing the frames back to Danica. She thanked him, sliding them onto her face and then carefully pushing them up the bridge of her nose. "Oh, Donatello," Lindreanna faced him, and he shifted on the spot, nervous under her too cool, too collected, and forcedly polite front. "Won't you be a good little Kame and fetch my sister and I some tea?"

"I, um-"

"You will? Thank you."

While he left, looking frazzled and confused, the pair broke into giggles, clearly enjoying themselves. "Oh Lindie, you're so mean!"

"Its called being assertive. Try it some time."

"No, I think you were just being bossy." She giggled again. "But anyway, tell me, what's with you and this other one, 'Kame Dearest'?"

"Well, his name is Leonardo, and, well, um…" suddenly she looked uncomfortable, the mood changing drastically, a frown making its way onto her face. "I may or may not have encountered him in the past."

"Huh?" her eyes bulged from behind her glasses lenses. "No way! What, where… wh- when?!"

Yup. That happened. Admittedly, that was mostly filler, sorry. Um… *shifts around nervously* review? *holds up plate of fresh baked cookies* review and you shall receive a treat! ;)