Thank you to everyone's who's alerted and reviewed so far.

See chapter 1 for the disclaimer.

As Mikey approached Donny's lab he could hear clanking and hammering from inside. It sounded like the tin man was doing his dance in there.

Stopping outside the door – always preferable to walking into it – he knocked sharply three times. The clanging stopped and the door was opened by his immediate older brother, who was smiling widely.

"Ah, Mikey! What can I do for you?" Then his face abruptly changed and he asked. "Have I missed dinner again?"

Mikey waved a hand in a fifty-fifty gesture. "Dinner - no. Bed – yes."

Donnie ran a hand across his forehead. "I'll go to bed in a while. I'm in the middle of something and it's only what? 11 o clock?"

"Er – try five past midnight. You're going to be shattered during training."

"Training?" Donnie had a look on his face that suggested he'd never even heard of the idea before.

Resisting the urge to shake Donatello by the shoulders, Mikey instead said patiently. "Yes training. It's been at five o clock very morning since we were old enough to be up at five o clock every morning and it's not going to change any time soon. Unless Splinter wants it to and considering he's the reason I'm standing here now, I don't think it is. You comprehend?"

There was a pause, then Donnie said. "Is it really minding?"

"Seven past! Look, what are you working on?"

The light returned to Donnie's eyes and before Mikey knew what was going he'd been grabbed by his bicep and was being pulled into the lab. "I'm working on the battle shell. I'm updating the engine so it'll go faster. What do you think?"

"Does it need to go faster? It's awesome enough as it is. And that's awesome times 100 – no – a thousand."

"Ah thanks Mikey! But, no, it could be better. If it's faster we can get away from situations quicker, you see?"

So that was it. "Is this about the purple dragons running the Battle shell earlier on?"

Donnie scrunched his beak up. "They came very close to breaking the windows. They would have if they didn't have such terrible aim."

Mikey chuckled. "They are bad aren't they? But that's the thing they're so bad they're not going to hit the windows, or anything for that matter, are they?"

"They might."

"But they won't, because you are going to make the battle shell faster and we will be zipping along at the speed of light, but however as it is now ten past midnight, I think – and Splinter definitely thinks – it would be best if you went to bed. You remember where your bedroom is, don't you?"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "I do."

Mikey opened the door and indicated the hallway. Donnie sighed before following his brother out. The minute he got into said hallway he yawned widely. Catching Mikey's eye he said, tiredly. "Okay, point taken."

With that Donnie finally went to bed.

Mikey knocked at splinters door. "Come in, my son!"

Opening the door, Mikey gave his father a mock-salute. "Mission completed, father. The genius brother – otherwise known as Donatello – has now retired to bed. I can't guarantee that he'd be fully awake at five o clock – or that I'll be for that matter- but I've done it."

Splinter smiled and with twinkling eyes said. "Thank you, my son. It's much appreciated."

With that Mikey bowed and left the room, going to bed himself.