When Mikey and Raph arrived at Donnie's lab, the door was locked. At first, Raph wanted to smash it, but Mikey stopped him.
"Let me try this first", he said. Raph nodded and Mikey knocked at the door.
"Donnie?", he asked "are you in there?" No response.
Raph sighed: "Great. Now, we've got to deal with a moping brainiac! Just open up, dude! We wanna talk!" After saying (read: yelling) this, he walked up to the door and smashed his fists against it.

Finally, they heard the door unlock. But it stayed closed. When Mikey pushed the door, it opened immediately. "Donnie?", Mikey asked once he had entered the lab.
"Watch out where you step, Mikey. You never know what our genius has been doing in here…", Raph warned.
It didn't take them very long to find Donnie. He was sitting at his desk, leaning over his notebook.
"Don?", Mikey asked "are you okay?". Donnie didn't answer, he just leaned a little further over his notes.
"I'll take that as a no", Mikey said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Raph put his hand on Mikey's shoulder and pulled him over to where Donnie was sitting.

"Dude, what's the matter? You know Leo doesn't mean it that bad!", Raph said "So why are you taking this so hard?"
Donnie just sighed and pulled his shoulders up.
"Yea, come on Don!", Mikey said "Raph's defending Leo! And he's being nice to make you feel better! That has got to mean something!"
Now, Donnie chuckled. He looked up and faced his brothers with a small smile on his face.
"Much better!", Mikey said with a huge smile on his face.

Raph let go of his shoulder and now put both his hands on Don's shoulders: "We're on the same side on this one. We both need our freedom and our privacy. We both think we don't need help and we can take the world on by ourselves. But sometimes, it's nice if there's someone who's standing by your side to help you out if you need it. And yeah, sometimes even when you're able to do it by yourself. But what do you prefer? Someone who's there a little too often or someone who's never there at all?"
Now, Donnie was smiling: "Where did you get such wise words?"
Raph glanced at Mikey when he answered: "A very wise guy once told me that"
Mikey started to blush a little when he heard this.

"So, does this mean we're cool again?", Mikey asked.
"I guess", Donnie answered. Raph nodded and turned around so he could face Mikey again. As soon as he had done that, he gasped and looked at the door in horror.

When Mikey and Donnie also turned around, they saw Leo standing in the doorway with a small smile on his face: "Hi"
Mikey gulped: "Hi… euhm… How long have you been standing there?"
"Since you two walked in here", Leo answered with a grin.
"Darn it!", Raph cursed.
Leo chuckled and walked over to his brothers: "Look, I still wanted to apologize for being so protective. I never meant to do anything to upset you guys."

"We know, Leo.", Raph replied "And we appreciate everything you do for us. But if you could just drop it a level or two…"
Leo nodded: "Okay, I'll try."
Now, Raph smiled: "Good enough for me!"
Before he could blink, Leo was stuck in a headlock under Raph's arm.

Everybody was laughing and having fun. That night, patrol was nothing but one big game.
They were laughing, chasing each other,…
And for once, Leo wasn't complaining about having to be silent. He had thought about saying it, of course. But he just couldn't bring himself to ruin this moment.
Because for the first time in forever, they were acting like four regular guys.

Author's note: Hi! Once again, late update. I know! Sorry! :( Homework, exams,… :P
Anyway, there will be two more chapters. After that, something completely different!
Check my profile to find out what's next! ;)
Also, a little extra… There's a reference in here to a movie. Be the first one to find it and send it to me in a PM! I'll mention your name in the next chapter! :D