(Don's POV)

Gathering Sophie up bridal style, I quickly realized how underweight she was. Nodding it off, he carried the young turtle to his lab to put in a new IV. I had bought the bags of IV saline off a pharmaceutical website as soon as I and my brothers had discovered Sophie's eating disorder well over a year ago. At first I thought it would be simple, I simply had to use a sedative and put in the IV and wait. It wasn't. This wasn't just a matter of the weight she gained from food, it was how Sophie coped with the loss of Master Splinter.

That I couldn't fix. Two weeks after the first treatment, not only did Sophie not trust me, she also had started purging whenever she was forced to eat. Unfortunately, it became a bi-weekly habit. Relentless exercising, and a box of laxative I had discovered soon after made me go back and research how to emotionally and mentally help her.

As I flushed the chosen vein in her leg, I heard a growl as Raph stomped into the room. "What is it Raph? I'm busy." I said, all his concentration still on the IV. Raph impatiently waited until I finished and turned to him. "How can I help you?" I asked, a mild tone of sarcasm, annoyed with Raph's impatient grunting and growling.

"Who's gonna take care of the kid? His antics are driving me nuts!" Raph yelled. I sighed, I had promised Sophie he would take care of Thomas too. Well, at least having Thomas in the lab would allow me to examine his specific autistic behaviors.

"Just bring him here, and I'll look after him." I said, pulling up the document on his laptop that had Thomas's schedule on it. Raph nodded, and a minute later Raph brought in Thomas who seemed very distressed. He was covering his ears while rocking his head back and forth, while hissing extremely loud as tears were running down his face. This seemed to be his reaction to every one of us except Sophie. I wondered why that was.

X X X

(Raph's POV)

After carrying that kid into Donnie's lab, I went back to watch more TV. Sitting down on the couch, I tried to affix my concentration back to the wrestling match, but found my own thoughts clouding it. Why would sensei have wanted this kid to help Sophie instead of us? We didn't even know who he was, and yet had decided to keep him.

What if his folks were looking for them? Don said no one would look in the sewers, but since the Kraang invasion when they were teenagers, plus the mutagen they had cleaned up in the whole city, many more humans came snooping around in the New York sewers. We, of course were safe with our ninja training, but what about him? If he ever got out of the lair without our knowledge, he'd be an easy target.

Finding myself switching to the news channel, I decided to watch for anything about the fire. I soon found a report and turned up the volume. "Local reporters are still trying to find out what caused a ferocious fire at a Brooklyn apartment complex just three days ago. Over 70 people were killed and nearly 35 wounded. On the scene is our field reporter James Mars, gathering information from locals on the event. Jason, what have you found out?" The anchorwoman asked as the screen changed to another reporter on a Brooklyn street.

"Well Carol, citizens have told us this fire was first seen at around eight thirty that morning and it could soon be clearly viewed about fifteen minutes later engulfing the whole building. Upon further investigation, local police soon discovered that although there were many exits, the building wasn't up to city safety codes. Faulty fire alarms, expired fire extinguishers, and many other factors led to the quick destruction of this building. While many people are injured, there are also a few missing. Specific details of these missing have not been released to the public yet, but until then, the city is reminding everyone to make sure you have working fire alarms, and up-to-date fire equipment." Jason said.

I switched off the TV, getting the information I had needed. Thinking again, maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on Thomas, it wasn't his fault and he was still bound to be shaken up after what had happened. My thoughts then turned again to Sophie, he thought about the night before she found Thomas. I wanted to help her, but didn't know how. I couldn't understand why she kept starving herself. She wasn't fat, far from it, and it wasn't gonna bring sensei back. of course I'd find himself thinking about my father.

I had always known he and Sophie had a friendship, but until he died, I didn't realize how close they'd been. I remembered the funeral. Mikey had been forced to Sophie to come to the funeral, although she had wanted to stay in bed and cry. For a few days after, she wouldn't eat, but soon ate. I knew she hadn't started starving until a few months later. I remembered being angry, at his father at first for leaving them, but weeks after I'd find myself lashing out for no other reason than just losing my temper.

X X X

(Leo's POV)

I sat in the dojo, wondering what to do about this situation. Sensei's death, although timely was very sudden. He'd been seventy years old, but in perfect health. He had still had his hearing and vision, mostly, he hadn't been sick or unwell, it had just been old age. Although the reason was natural, I knew Don blamed himself for it, which is why he was taking on so much work, even getting a job as an IT guy part time.

My thoughts turned to Mikey and Sophia. When they had appeared at the lair that Friday evening, they'd all been shocked. It had been a regular scheduled movie night. Casey and April had brought down, Dr. Acula, a hilarious parody of Dracula that was so witty, even I found it hilarious. That night however, my whole family had been presented with an unexpected surprise, our brother's return.

Mikey, we soon discovered had been severely hurt, being captured and tortured by the Shredder, meeting the love of his life, losing her, and caring for a young daughter all in five years time. He had come back broken, but also a lot stronger and more mature. Painfully though, the Shredder had left his mark, Mikey upon returning dealt with horrible seizures after prolonged exposure to many raw toxic plants and herbs.

Mikey had also been hesitant to live with them again for fear of Shredder and Karai's return. I had told him that we had defeated them while looking for him. Although that had been a great relief to him, Mikey had been hesitant to move back to New York permanently.

Sophia, on the other hand had been very excited. At the tender age of five, she had been excited to explore not only the lair, but as she got older she loved exploring the sewer tunnels surrounding their home. She hadn't been too much of a troublemaker, Mikey being a disciplinary father, as Splinter had been to them. I thought about what sensei had told Sophie, that Thomas was gonna save her life. That was a lot to put on a small, autistic boy. He just hoped Master Splinter was also keeping an eye on her.

My thoughts finally turned to Thomas. Raph was right about one thing, someone was bound to look for him. Although I doubted they would look in the sewers, he's have Donnie set some more alarms around the tunnels closest to our home. He was so innocent, and small. I quickly understood why Sophie kept such an eye of him. He wondered how this small boy would help Sophie overcome her eating disorder, when her own father couldn't help her.

X X X

(Mikey's POV)

I sat in my room, ashamed of myself. When Splinter died, I could see Sophie isolating herself more and more. I should've known something like this would happen. I had let someone else down. Suddenly, images of Karai's attacks on me flashed through my head. I tried to swat it away, but the thoughts kept coming. Then, my mind went to Marie, and how she had jumped in just when Karai was swinging her final blow. Karai had saved up all her power for this last attack, Marie hadn't stood a chance.

The katana had sheathed cleanly right through her plastron and heart. I had looked at Karai, unimaginable anger in my eyes. Then, realizing she had the edge, she done the most cruel thing anyone could, stepping down on Marie's plastron, she pulled the katana out as cleanly and ruthlessly as she could. I stood, and roared. Making her trip with my nunchuck, I grabbed the fallen katana and slashed it down her left arm, cutting it right off.

Running to Marie, I heard her utter her last words. "Mikey...I love you. Take our daughter and r..ru..run" The word run followed by a violent moan as she painfully breathed her last breath.

My mind finally snapped back at the knock on my door. I opened it, looking at the turtle on the other side. Oddly enough, it wasn't a turtle, it was April. I growled in the back of my throat, remembering what she and Casey had done, taking Sophie's only support away from her. Nevertheless, I opened the door, allowing her in.

X X X

(April's POV)

Casey told me what happened the other night. Raph had called him in anger, accusing them of hurting his niece with their insensitivity. Casey had also gotten into a rage, saying they only wanted to protect Jasmine and had never meant to hurt Sophie. When Casey had told me however, he had said he felt extremely guilty. In reality, we both knew how close Sophie and Jasmine were. Jasmine had even begun being really moody and negative since the loss of one of her closest friends.

We had even found her one night, trying to climb down the fire escape into the sewers to see Sophie. Of course we punished her, although her intentions were noble, wanting to be a good friend. As I woke up this morning, I knew I'd be the one who would have to clear things with Mikey. That night, I swallowed all my pride as a mother and forced myself to go down and clear things up with Mikey.

In the lair, I was immediately met with unhappy faces. Leo stared at me, before nodding in disappointment and going into the dojo to meditate. Seeing my face, Raph had muttered some curses in Japanese before going to work on the Shell cycle. Oddly, Don had not been out where he could see me. I walked and looked in the crack of his door as his gaze was shifting from a toddler on the floor to his computer screen. I decided not to even ask.

I approached Mikey's room, knocking the door...

TBC