The cold air flowed across the rooftop like a river, biting Don's green skin and blowing his mask tails behind his head. He squinted against the wind, looking out over the glowing city lights and flat roofs on every side of him.

He dropped down into a crouch, glancing down at the Battle Shell parked in the alley down below him. He could see Mikey and Raph down there, conversing with Casey, and he could sense Leo lurking on the rooftop behind him. His brothers had agreed immediately to his decision to go out that evening, to fight the Purple Dragons, but he could feel concern radiating from Leo like the pale light shining from the moon above.

His resolve hardened. This was something he had to do — he had known it from the moment he had heard Raph and Casey declaring that they knew where the rogue Purple Dragons were. The silent, piercing knowledge of what he had to do had appeared in his heart, and it hadn't even occurred to him to not heed its call.

For the past five months, he had been tearing back little pieces of his life — venturing back out of the lair, finding his way to April, pushing his way past his trauma to his brothers. Confronting his tormenters and fighting them was something more that he had to do, something dark and inevitable that had settled inside him. He had to do it. There was no choice. If he was ever going to find peace again, he had to reclaim this part of his life.

"Are you okay, Donnie?" Leo's voice said behind him.

He broke out of his trance, and looked back at the blue-masked face behind him. "I'm okay," he said, his hand automatically slipping down to touch the tip of his bo.

"You looked kind of tense. Are you sure you're able to go on this mission?"

"Yes!" The word exploded from Don's lips.

Leo drew back slightly, and Don quickly moderated his voice. "Yes, Leo. I really feel that this is — is necessary for me. I can't explain exactly why or how." He looked back down towards the Battle Shell, and shivered a little as another gust of icy wind flowed over his shell.

"We can wait for another night if you need any more time," Leo said.

"It has to be tonight," Don said. "They might move if we wait any longer."

Leo sighed, and bowed his head slightly. "I'm with you, Don," he said in a low voice. "I'm just worried that you're plunging into this too fast, and that you're not ready."

"I might never be ready," Don said.

"That's true…"

"Leo," Don said, standing to face his brother. The tails of his mask slipped over his shoulder and whipped against his face. "I can do this. I have to do this, no matter what."

Leo's dark eyes rose to meet Don's, unreadable and glinting faintly in the moonlight. Then he nodded, and rested a hand on Don's shoulder, squeezing it slightly. "I'm with you," he repeated quietly. "Just don't go too far, and don't take any risks you don't need to take. You're not tackling this alone, and you're stronger with the rest of us than you are by yourself. Don't forget that, and shut us out again."

Don smiled slightly, his mind flying back to the night when his brothers had found him scrubbing himself raw in the shower. Of their hands and arms holding him immobile, and their voices speaking words of comfort, anger, reassurance. "I won't."

They leaped down the fire escape into the darkness of the alley, where their armored vehicle was waiting for them. Don landed lightly on the dirty concrete and scattered newspapers beside the Battle Shell, and stepped inside. The walls of the truck glowed with readouts and computer screens, and Raph's Shell Cycle rested near the rear, ready to burst out and zoom into traffic at a moment's notice.

"All aboard the Dragon-hunting express," Mikey said cheerily, plopping himself into the nearest seat.

"Casey's gonna drive to the place on his bike, and we're gonna follow him," Raph said, sitting opposite him. "You okay, Don? You look a little peaky, especially for a green guy."

Don slid into the driver's seat and settled behind the wheel. "It must be the light," he replied.

The engine roared to life as Leo stepped inside, and the rear door swung shut behind him. Don waited until Casey had blasted out into the road on his motorcycle before backing out into the street, knowing that the vigilante would wait for them. Indeed, Casey's motorcycle idled beside the sidewalk, his hockey-masked face turned back toward them until the Battle Shell was facing him. Then both vehicles roared forward into the night, leaving trails of scarlet light behind them.

Don felt a thrill of exhilaration as he followed Casey's tail light, feeling the power vibrating through the steel skeleton of his vehicle. Maybe this was something he had been building towards ever since the night when he and his brothers had seen the Purple Dragons being dragged into the hospital. Time to put a few of them in the hospital himself.

"Slow down a little, Don," Mikey piped up, just before his seat slid back into the wall. "Ow! You didn't add a rocket to this thing, did you?"

Don eased his foot from the gas pedal, slowing the Battle Shell until Mikey's yelps of pain had ceased. Still, the armored vehicle shot around a corner after Casey, fast enough that Don felt himself sliding in his seat. He recognized the streets they were speeding through — they were heading towards the waterfront, which would be fairly quiet by this time of the night. The perfect place for the renegade Dragons to lie low, in a corner where Hun and the Foot might not notice them…

His mind flew back to April, who was waiting alone in the lair for them to return. She had been supportive when he declared that he needed to go after the Purple Dragons, but he had seen concern glimmering in her eyes. He hadn't meant to alarm her. But he had nonetheless done it, and some part of him knew that she wouldn't feel relieved until they were all home again, safe and unhurt.

She would be all right, he assured himself. The lair was secret and secure, and he had barricaded it with security that was nearly impenetrable. No one would get to her and the baby.

Casey took another sweeping turn in the street ahead, and Don turned again after him. The thought of April and the sight of Casey made his heart clench unexpectedly, and for what felt like the thousandth time, he tried to push the unease out of his heart. Tried not to think about the percolating feeling inside him that April would slip away from him, and that Casey would be a part of it. Casey was the world that April belonged to, no matter how close she was to the Turtles. He was part of the life that she should have, in the human world.

Nothing April had said or done had created or fed this belief, but Don felt the fear growing in him nonetheless. He knew he had to simply treasure what time he had with her, and love her with everything that he could. But the fear was there all the time, like a knot of rags, bones and rotten leaves lodged in his stomach when he thought of the future.

She had promised not to abandon him. But Don wasn't sure what that meant. Did she mean that she would always be a part of his life, no matter what happened? Did that mean that she would still be in contact with him, even if she left him?

"You're slowing down, Donnie," Leo said beside him. "Is something wrong?"

Don blinked, breaking out of his thoughts, and quickly sped up the Battle Shell, until Casey's rear light had filled the windshield. "I just got caught up in my thoughts," he said.

The motorcycle turned another corner, and the Battle Shell followed out into a sweeping expanse of riverfront dotted with long docks stretching out over the water. Don slowed the vehicle again as Casey pulled into a spot between two nearby warehouses, and slid into the narrow space along with their human friend.

"Okay, guys," Leo said, taking a deep breath. "It's time. Let's go."