Chapter 11

Donnie P.O.V

Despite acting as if he was concerned about April and Casey going off together into the woods, Donnie couldn't actually care about the two teens. He had only second guessed Leo's orders for his elder brother's sake, hoping that he would feel a bit more like he had before the dreaded invasion. But what had scared Donnie was how Leo had spoken with April, "Besides, I won't be much help out there anyway…" The sheer depression and hopelessness which had filled his eldest brother's tone was odd and the way he hadn't even tried to come and search for Raph was even more of a worry.

"I don't know, D," Mikey's whining voice cut through the scientist's thoughts, "You think he got lost?" Donnie was about to say 'obviously' but then realised Mikey needed comforting more than anything. The youngest had been so happy when Leo had awoken that he had drawn out a plan of all Leo's favourite katas and training exercises, but when reality struck home, Mikey took it hard. Donnie had seen Mikey's shock at Leo's barely functioning body, how he had witnessed the seemingly invincible Leo wince with every step and how Mikey had become aware that it was now the eldest who was the one in need of support rather than Leo helping others.

As the youngest, Mikey had the most idealistic view of his big brother due to always being sheltered from the harsh truths about leadership which Donnie and Raph had both seen. Mikey hadn't seen the way Raph had frozen up when taking Leo's place for a day, nor had he treated Leo for various bouts of depression, insomnia and night terrors like Donnie had. Mikey wasn't aware of the suffering of Leo because the eldest was just too stubborn to reveal anything.

"No, Mikey." Donnie eventually answered, "I think he just forgot the time."

"Maybe he got eaten by a rabid squirrel?" Mikey continued, his innocent eyes wide. Donnie smiled to himself at his brother, but decided the best way to calm him down would be through distraction.

"I do not think that, no. I'm just freaking because April and Casey went off on their own. Alone."

"Why?" Mikey asked, seeming genuinely puzzled. Donnie dropped his head in defeat, attempting to come up with a way to continue his false problem, but before he could say anything, Mikey carried on himself, "Because they forgot to bring a compass?"

"No, genius, what happens when two teenagers who like each other go out into the woods alone?" Rolling his eyes, Donnie watched his younger brother tap his chin with eth torch, apparently thinking hard about the question. He paused, clicked the torch on and shone it over to a nearby tree, saw some squirrels and screamed.

"They get eaten by squirrels!" With a sigh, Donnie realised there was no point in attempting anything else, Mikey was just too much of a one track minded sort of turtle.

"You know what," he muttered, beginning to walk again, "Forget I said anything." After a moment or two of following the path, the two turtles came across a derelict building, "What's this?" Donnie muttered to himself. The shed looked as if it hadn't been used for years, but then again, April and her dad had left this place long ago so it should be no surprise.

"Let's check it out," Mikey came up alongside the directly older turtle and tapped Donnie's arm with an almost Leo like authority, but this moment was ruined by a Mikey-ish statement of a timid, "You first." Nope. No young version of Leo, this turtle was still Mikey.

Mikey continued to stand back as Donnie pushed open the shed door and swung his torch around revealing a vast array of tools, yet for the purple banded turtle, it was what lay on the work bench which captured his attention.

"Hello there…" He muttered as he bent down slightly to have a look at the glass bottle of Leo's medicine- the one Raph had admitted to leaving out by the lake after it having a bad effect on Leo's digestive system. But if Raph had left it- that meant that there was someone else out in the woods, and by the look of the circle of candles surrounding the bottle- that someone must be a fan of mutagen… Looking closer, Donnie thought he saw a smudge of something mud-like on the side of the bottle when suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand caught him around the mouth and pulled him closer, muffling his strangled shout of surprise. Following the shaking beam of light which Mikey was holding out, Donnie followed his little brother's gaze towards the pile of grass.

"Hello?" Mikey called uncertainly, releasing Donnie and once again reminding him of how much Mikey could take the lead like Leo. But the speaking out may not have been a good plan as with a growl, the pile of grass jumped up and charged at the two brothers, who only just managed to get out of the way in time while the creature fell onto its face- obviously some restraints were stopping it from moving any more. As the creature looked up, it's 'face' hostile, Donnie sucked in a shocked breath.

"I… I think it's Raph…" He muttered, taking in the red bandana.

"But he's all leafy and weird looking- like a salad!" Mikey half exclaimed, half joked, but Donnie's brain was on full blast- ignoring his younger brother's words.

"Something must have infected him," he continued to mutter to himself, "But what and how?" That was when he realised he sounded calm, yet in all reality he was stressing. There were both mental and physical sides to this problem- for both the eldest turtles. Physically, Leo was seriously wounded and side-lined for quite possibly a long time and Raph had been transformed into a savage grass monster with no recollection of the turtle he once was. That meant that the two strongest members of their team were down, but mentally there was another issue.

If- no- when Raph transformed back- how would he hold up? Would there be a lasting effect on his body or mind? Would be suffer from nightmares of grass? Who knew- for Donnie sure didn't…? The purple banded turtle was a scientist and mechanic- not a doctor- for when Leo had been suffering with various disorders- it had taken Donnie months to notice, and by then it was nearly too late to do anything for his brother. That time was directly after they had lost Karai in the mutagen, and as the eldest, Leo had held himself responsible, but after a month it became apparent something was amiss with their eldest, for although Rapha and Mikey had celebrated a much more slack training schedule and less extra patrols, Donnie had begun to notice how Leo was moving with much less energy and had thick dark circles under his eyes, only seen when he once came out of his room forgetting his mask. When Donnie had approached Leo, the eldest had been reluctant to share what was going on, but eventually he had told the second youngest turtle that he wasn't sleeping as he kept having night terrors of Karai turning into a mutant as he had failed her and was forced to watch Karai attack their father. Leo had also shown signs of depression and there were even a few small cuts on his arms which did not look accidental, so Donnie had given Leo some sedative sleeping drugs so his brother could sleep, and thankfully, the leader had returned to normal after another month but Donnie still kept an eye out for such symptoms reoccurring. After Leo's fight with the Shredder, Donnie had been on high alert, but now, when he learnt about Raph- how would Leo react? Would this throw him right back into the arms of depression for if that did, Donnie was terrified he wouldn't be able to do anything as there was no way to get a hold of those drugs out here, miles away from the city…

But what stressed Donnie out the most was that, once again, it had fallen to him to patch up the team. But if- like he had for Leo- failed to find an instant cure- could they afford to lose another brother or would it sign the definite end to the Hamato clan?

Aww poor old Raph (for being turned into a plant), Leo (for suffering so much), Donnie (for the weight of responsibility), and Mikey (for just being so naive!)

SO:

Will Raph have lasting side effects?

Will Leo be thrown back into that vicious state of depression?

Will Donnie keep his head? (Quite literally as well as I mean he does get a pitchfork thrown at his face!)

Will Mikey ever understand the idea of teenagers going out into the woods?!

Thanks as always to you great people who have reviewed and don't worry there will be a much slower recovery to everyone than in the series! ;)

LL99 OUT!