Michelangelo bent over his notebook in concentration, trying hard to focus on the pages he wanted to finish. He was a little over halfway through the chapter, but weariness was pulling on his eyelids. He rested his forehead on the desk allowing visions of Aidan Starr, his female heroine, to run through his subconscious. He'd been having a hard time capturing the setting to his satisfaction, and sometimes it helped to stop and envision the scene happening in front of him, like a moving picture on a screen. Mike's imagination wasn't cooperating today; he simply felt like he was about to fall asleep.

A knock at the door had him raising his head and looking over his shoulder. "What's the password?"

"Cocoa," came the response from the hall.

Mike sat up further in his chair. "Marshmallows?"

"Yep."

"Okay, come in," Mike called amiably, grinning when his purple-masked brother opened the door. "Hey, Bro. Descending from on high to mingle with the common folk? Isn't it a little early in the day for that?"

"Had to get out of that Lab for a while."

"Tell the truth, Don. You got kicked out, didn't you?"

"I left voluntarily; it's not the same thing."

"Uh huh. So where is this cocoa of which you speak?"

"Oh, Leo's bringing it. He'll be here in a minute - I think he was waiting on the popcorn too."

"He didn't make it, did he?"

Donatello chuckled. "Do you smell anything burning? That ought to tell you something. He's just delivering it. We thought we'd invade you for a little bit. I'm not interrupting your flow, am I?" He indicated the notebook Mike still had sitting open on the desk.

"No," he said dismissively. "I'm not getting anywhere today."

"Are you still trying to figure out which guy Aidan is going to end up with?"

Mike smiled. "She hasn't made up her mind. I don't see how anyone could be that confused over two guys."

Donny shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time in history that someone wasn't sure who they loved more, Mike."

"I guess not. The guys are so different though, like night and day. I don't know why she even started falling for the chemist - she wasn't supposed to. I set this whole plot up from the start for her and Grant to finally end up together. Now he's leaving the Agency, and she's supposed to follow him, only Aidan isn't cooperating with me. She's too busy pining after the dude who she and Grant were supposed to protect."

"Maybe you shouldn't have given her so much alone time with the chemist. What did you think was going to happen?"

"Andrew isn't even her type," Mike protested. "He's about the furthest thing from someone she'd be interested in. The guy doesn't even know how to get his hands dirty."

"But no one before him has ever treated Aidan like a lady; you told me that yourself."

The orange-masked turtle threw up his hands helplessly. "I don't know. I just need her to make a decision, so I can move on."

"Did you decide if she's going to find her missing brother before it's too late?"

"I'm not gonna be able to kill Blake. I thought about it, but..." Mike trailed off for a moment. "It hits too close to home. All those times we've been separated and in those awful spots...the idea of her not finding him in time is like fulfilling my greatest fear."

Don nodded. "I definitely agree with you there. It's your story, but I'd hate to see Aidan lose her brother before she even learns that he never sold her out."

"She already knows that deep down," Mike affirmed. "I mean, it's her brother. He's almost died to protect her before, and Aidan can't accept that he'd betray her like that. All the evidence in the world doesn't add up to much when you really know someone."

Donatello smiled. "I love how much thought you put into this. When I'm reading, Aidan feels just as real to me as one of our other friends. I just hope she picks the right guy to be with. Which one is the right choice, Mike?"

"I already know you favor the chemist, Don. Brainiacs stick together."

"It's not just that, Mike. Andrew brings a different reaction out of her than anyone else has ever gotten. I think that's significant. Grant is the obvious choice. They have so much in common, it makes sense. But I think Aidan and Andrew would really complement each other."

"Yeah, well...she's still thinking about it."

"That's fair," Don replied. "Gotta give a woman the time she needs."

Leonardo edged the bedroom door fully open with his foot, as he crossed into the room with a tray. Mike perked up with interest as his blue-masked brother dropped off a mug at the desk first.

"Got a little held up," Leo said apologetically. "Calley and I couldn't find the popcorn."

Mike scooped the bowl off the tray he was holding. "Good. What are you guys gonna eat?"

Leonardo shook his head as he sat down on the end of the bed by Donny.

Mike blew on his cocoa before taking a tentative sip. "That's good stuff," he remarked. "Is it very cold outside?"

Donatello glanced at the window. "It's a little cooler today; it probably won't get out of the forties. It's going to rain eventually. The backdrop of the leaves against the dark sky was still pretty impressive on our run."

"I miss working out with you guys," Mike confessed. He'd watched Leo and Don leave the property earlier that day, and counted the minutes for almost an hour before they returned. "I'm going to have to find some way to vent that doesn't leave me breathless."

"We miss you too, Mikey," Leonardo returned. "This is temporary though. They're getting closer to the transplant every day, aren't you guys, Donny?"

It had been almost a month since Caleb had arrived at Lotus Salvus, and all the doctors had been in deep research mode ever since. Donny coming to simply "hang out" had become somewhat rare as the purple-masked turtle and Luke had been focusing on the receptor blocker for which they were responsible. The fact that Donatello had come to simply be with him gave Mike the sense that his brother was feeling confident.

When Don's unsure, he'd rather avoid me altogether. His being here this casually has to be a good thing.

Donatello sipped what was presumably cocoa from his own mug, but Mike had to wonder if he was still riding on a caffeine trip.

"Caleb's reproduction equipment doesn't have to be monitored constantly, so the machine has been running almost 24 hours a day." Donatello hesitated before continuing. "Luke and I finished the preliminary testing on the receptor blocker."

"What does that mean for me?" Mike asked.

"It means we'll be ready to start implanting some new stem cells in a couple of days."

The orange-masked turtle swallowed, but managed to smile. "Caleb still likes what he's seen from the samples?"

"Raph's culture has stood up to being the best candidate for reproduction, and believe me, Caleb went over a lot of samples."

Mike groaned. "Great. Now Raph's gonna think he's the savior of the world or something."

Leonardo smiled. "He can think what he wants to think. The important thing is that they're getting somewhere."

Mike nodded, focusing on Donny again. "Are you nervous about this?"

His brother didn't seem to want to meet his gaze. "You could say that. It's uh...it's not like anything we've done before."

"Y'know, Don, if this doesn't work..." Mike searched for the best words, but then decided to take the plunge. "If I don't make it, you're not allowed to feel responsible. You guys have been doing everything you can, and I'd be really mad to know that you didn't give yourselves any credit for that."

Donatello nodded slowly. "I know, Mike. I feel calm about the procedure as a whole, it's just...wondering whether these iPs cells will actually perform the same way that embryonic stem cells do, and hoping that the receptor blocker will effectively trick your T-cells into accepting them. These are things that we won't know for sure until we try. I'd sure like to do more testing, but..."

His brother didn't finish, but Mike knew what he was thinking. The more time passes, the more tissue is being killed off. They can't afford to wait any longer than they have to.

"But enough of this positive conversation." Mike offered both his brothers a grin.

"Some of it is positive, Mike," Leo replied. "Moving is better than standing still."

Mike took the popcorn bowl off the desk where he'd been hogging it, and held it out to Leo. "I don't know about you guys, but this puts me in the mood for a movie. It almost feels like a day for a horror flick."

Don's eye ridges rose. "You and scary movies haven't always mixed well."

"You're thinking of Raph, Donny, and he'll be fine as long as we don't bring up Amityville Horror. I've sure hung out in my room long enough today. I want to see something besides these walls."

Truth be told, he'd slept in for hours longer than was usual, and was frustrated when he still felt tired. I need something to liven me up, and I think a scary movie would do the trick.

At that moment a black and white head peered through the open door. Mike chuckled at the way Molly snuck into the room, and jumped onto the bed behind Donatello. "Hey, Bro, your girlfriend found you."

"She's a dog, Mike. I keep telling you she can't have a crush on me," Donatello protested.

Leonardo laughed. "She's certainly attached to your shell, Don. She was waiting outside your bedroom door this morning."

The purple-masked turtle rolled his eyes. "See what you started, Mike?"

Michelangelo rose from the desk chair to steal a handful of popcorn, and dropped a few kernels where Molly would find them. "I can try and bribe her, Donny, but you'll still be her favorite. Embrace it."

Donatello had probably been resisting the urge to pet the Border Collie because of his teasing, but he couldn't hold off forever. Molly rested her head on Donny's knee as he lightly scratched her ears.

"Can you actually keep denying it, Don?" Mike snickered.

"I'm not listening to you."

"Then why'd you just respond?"

"I said, I'm not listening."

Mike grinned as he headed to the hall with his mug still in hand. "I'm gonna find out what our movie options are. You comin', Leo? I bet Molly would like some 'alone time' with our brother."

"If you don't quit it, I'm going to make a special note to kick your shell on a later date," Donatello warned him.

"But you can't touch me now."

"You're seriously tempting me."

Leonardo gave Mike a small nudge from behind to get him moving. "All right, you two, neutral corners."

Mike shot Donny one more teasing smile, and walked down toward the Great Room with Leo while his purple-masked brother headed back to the Lab. Leonardo rested an arm on his shoulder as they entered the room together, and Mike sensed the encouragement and support in the older turtle's touch without Leo saying a word. With a parting pat, the blue-masked turtle headed for the kitchen.

Mike gazed roamed appreciatively over the roaring fire before coming to rest on Becky. The woman was sitting on the end of one of the couches with her legs curled up underneath her.

"Did you get anything written?" she asked.

"A little - not as much as I wanted to. Are you warm enough, Beck?"

The young woman nodded. "Are you going to keep me company now?" she asked impishly.

"You bet. Is there room for my big shell over there?"

"There might be." Becky patted the cushion beside her.

As Mike sat down he tugged on the stray curl that had escaped from her ponytail, and she turned her head to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"You're not getting off with that," he chided, wrapping both arms around her. She kissed him squarely on the lips, and the turtle nodded. "Better. We can practice more later."

"Are you saying I need work?"

Mike shook his head. "No. I just think it would be fun."

"You'll make any excuse to get us alone."

"You know it, babe."

"What do you want to do in the meantime?"

"I was thinking about a scary movie."

"Doesn't that count Raph out?"

"Don't let him hear you say that. I wasn't supposed to tell you about Amityville."

Becky gave him a soft smile. "Whatever makes you happy makes me happy. I think the remote is around here somewhere."

Mike spied it on the floor by the coffee table and scooped it up. "Hey, Leo!" he called toward the kitchen. "C'mere and help us pick a movie!"

Leonardo came back into the Great Room with Calley at his side. The blond woman had one of the most amused expressions that Mike had ever seen on her.

"Are you in the mood to actually scare yourself, or do you want to laugh at something so ridiculous that you can't believe anyone would take it seriously?" Calley asked Mike.

"I'm not sure. I'm feeling the second option more, unless we can get Raph down here. Then I'd say go with the first one." He smiled deviously. "Are you like some secret expert on all things horror?"

Calley chuckled. "No, it's just my dad used to like to make fun of some of those old scary movies with me."

"What's the weirdest one you ever watched?" Becky asked.

"That would have to be 'The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies.'"

"I call bull on that title." Mike laughed.

"Google it, Mikey. It's a real movie."

"The title alone makes me want to see it." Rebecca giggled.

"No kidding. You'd think they could have made it a little longer, so it definitely wouldn't fit on a movie poster," Leonardo offered.

"It doesn't have quite the same ring as 'Halloween', does it?" Calley replied.

"I think we're going to be stuck with whatever's on the satellite dish," Becky spoke up. "Unless you carry that other movie on you randomly."

"It was released on DVD," Calley told her.

Leo shook his head. "Is there anything people won't buy? Let's find something a little worthwhile."

"That's asking a lot of a horror movie, bro." Mike snorted.