Chapter 20 - The Things That Drive Us

A very special 'Thank you' to Poleepkwana/Suthnmeh for her amazing help on this chapter. She went above and beyond the duties of Beta and really helped me clean this chapter up and add more depth. Thank you!

Without any further delay, here you go!

XX

It felt like hours that the two young wannabe scientists had been furiously working on creating a cure. Donatello had left April and Mikey with an outline of instructions to go along with their basic understanding of chemistry, but there was still some fear that they weren't doing it right. And the time in which Donnie was still cognizant enough to answer questions had long since passed.

Worst of all, they had no idea what the other two infected brothers were doing or what had become of their Sensei. They couldn't risk allowing themselves to become victims and so remained locked within the lab. Only the perimeter of the lair was equipped with security cameras, so the only thing they could be certain of, was that neither Leo or Raph had left the confines of their home.

With no other options, they continued to work quickly, neither willing to voice their fear of what they would do if their only plan didn't work.

"Ok ok, according to D's notes, we just need to…." Mikey squinted his eyes in an effort to make sense of his brother's messy scrawl. "Cob..ah…ie.… the two samples?"

April leaned over his shoulder and inspected the word in question. To an outside observer they may have guessed that it wasn't a word at all, but perhaps an equation or a loopy doodle of sorts. But after the many hours she'd spent helping him with projects in the lab and reading over his notes, she'd gotten rather good at deciphering his unique handwriting.

"Combine."

"Ah yeah, that makes more sense." He gave a little snicker, before spinning around to face the far corner of the lab, and shouting a bit to be heard. "Hey Donnie, you need to brush up on your penmanship skills, dude!"

His brother was sitting where April had left him much earlier; on the cold floor with his knees tucked up to his chest, and his head buried in his knee pads. If he had heard the taunt, he gave no indication.

April winced at the lack of response. Mikey had been doing his best to keep Donnie in good spirits, but this process was taking so long. She had been periodically visiting his dark corner to keep a close eye on him, squatting beside him to try and chat, but about an hour ago, he'd asked her to stay away, and had been silent ever since.

Getting back to work, Mikey used a dropper to suck up a sample from the freshly prepared beaker and squeezed one drop onto a glass slide, watching the colorful liquid swirl together with the original sample. Grabbing another rectangle of glass, he sandwiched the combined elixir onto the slide and gently placed it under the microscope for inspection.

"Ok, fingers crossed." The green freckled teen held up his two over-sized fingers and made the gesture.

April held up her own slender digits, mimicking his move. "If this works, we just have to heat the sample to 400˚, so the reaction will set. And then it's done!"

Taking a slow deep breath, he leaned over the eyepiece and closed his other eye. One hand slowly turned the fine adjustment knob, as he got the setting just right.

"April… I don't want to celebrate yet, but I think we did it."

April practically bounded over to the viewfinder to confirm that the intended reaction was indeed taking place. "Oh my god! You DID do it!"

Having everything prepped in the event of success, April promptly poured the beaker into a glass dish and very carefully placed it into the small battered lab oven and started the machine's cycle. Donatello's notes were very clear that heating the sample at the correct temperature for the exact amount of time was crucial in finalizing the antidote.

She spun around, squealing in delight, an enormous smile aimed at the youngest brother, just as he enveloped her in one of his bone-crushing hugs.

Mikey eased up on his grip, but kept his hands at her shoulders as he looked at her beaming expression. "WE did it! We were like totally one of those cool science teams on TV, like Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, or Walter White and that meth dealer."

"Let's maybe work on some better examples." She suggested with a grin, her messy ginger bangs hanging in her relieved eyes.

She spun to look for Donnie as she called out to him. "Donnie! We—" She let out a loud gasp.

At an unknown point in time Donatello had relocated himself to stand just a few feet away. His tall stature loomed over them and his now inky black eyes stared into space.

"Holy crap dude!" Mikey flinched back from him in response, pulling April by the shoulders to move less than a few inches, before being stopped by the large counter.

April could see Donnie's unfamiliar eyes following their movements as he stood unnervingly still. He'd taken notice of Mikey's hands still on her, and she quickly shook her arms free of his grasp and turned to face him.

"Donnie, it's me, April." She spoke soothingly, before hesitantly reaching out with one hand, palm up, in an effort to seem non-threatening. "Listen to my voice."

He did not move, but his gaze focused back on her face, his eyes still black and threatening, his hands in tight fists at his sides.

"I don't know if that's going to work." Mikey spoke so quietly it was almost a whisper.

The pair stood staring at the statuesque brother, waiting for him to give some indication that he had heard April's plea. When without warning, he sprang forward, grabbing Mikey around the middle and effortlessly throwing him across the room. His shell let out a horrifying smack as it collided with the cement wall, tearing down the anatomy posters as his limp body slid to the floor. As he flew by, he'd clipped the edge of a large metal shelf causing it to tip to the side, boxes and heavy books pouring out on top of him.

April let out a scream, and moved as though to run to his aid, before Donnie sidestepped to block her path.

Swiftly, she reeled around and made a mad dash for the back of the garage. Realizing she didn't have her tessen, her mind quickly calculated what she could use as a make-shift weapon to keep him at bay without doing too much damage. She swiped a large flashlight off the tool cart, catching the pocket of her hoodie on the edge and getting delayed just long enough that Donatello had caught up with her.

He practically rammed into her, tackling her to the ground. Causing her to let out a grunt as her back collided with the hard cement. The base of the flashlight hit the ground, the force of the impact causing the device to fling out of her hand and skid across the floor just out of her reach.

Landing on top of her, he straddled her narrow hips between his thighs, easily grabbing her small arms to pin them to the ground. He stared at her pale skin, glistening with sweat, her hoodie falling open to reveal a large freckled swatch from her chin to her collarbone, as she struggled beneath him. He cast an unfocused look, his free-will vacant from his eyes, before baring his teeth like some kind of wild animal and leaning down to find his target.

"Donnie no!" April shrieked, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

And just as she felt his hot breath on her shoulder, he paused.

April continued to cry, afraid for her friend and for what was to become of all of them if she failed. "Donnie please. Please, it's me." She kept begging between sobs.

Donatello sat back upright, he closed his eyes and shook his head for a moment, before opening them to reveal his chocolate brown orbs. His eyes widened when he realized his position and he quickly loosened his grip on her wrist. Pulling his hands up towards his body.

"April?" He asked confused. He took in the tears streaking down her face and the fear in her eyes and quickly moved off of her, scooting back on his rear.

"What's… what's happening?" He looked around the dark area of the lab they were in, when suddenly it came to him.

"I attacked you!" He shook his head in denial. His hands flew to either side of his skull, cupping around his ears as if he could stop the terrible memories from flooding their way back in.

April scrambled to get up and compose herself as best as possible, swiping a sleeve across her face to mop up any lingering tears. They had just started the heating process, and the antidote wasn't quite done baking yet. She could hear the mechanical whir of the old timer ticking away, as though mocking her by not yet being complete. She needed to keep his emotions stable, just long enough for the heating cycle to complete so she could administer the cure. Very aware of the state they had just left Mikey, she prayed it wouldn't take long.

"Donnie, it's okay. You're not yourself, the venom is making you do things." She assured as she shuffled up on her knees in front of him.

"No! There's no way this is 'OKAY'" He emphasized the last word and hung his head, his hands still cupping the sides.

April didn't know what else to say that could possibly make him feel any better. She truly couldn't hold his actions against him, she knew that it was the control of the wasp that was causing the erratic behavior, and that he'd never treat her poorly otherwise. In the absence of words, she chose instead to lean over him and wrap his shoulders in a gentle hug.

He sat still for a minute before his posture relaxed and he dropped his hands to his side and sat back up, causing April to sit back as well. His face was painted in confusion.

His gaze was on her as she tried her best to look relaxed and keep him calm. She mentally calculated how long it had been since she'd started the heating process. How long had Donnie's notes said it would take? It couldn't possibly be too much longer. Just stay calm.

Relieved that he appeared to be mostly himself again, she smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"You're so beautiful." His voice broke the silence between them, surprising her with the random topic and mood change.

"Um, thanks." She smiled in return, feeling her cheeks warm, despite her panic.

"I love the way you play with your hair when you're nervous." His grin turned goofy and a little lopsided. Had her heart not still been racing from just moments earlier, it might have made her chuckle.

Mahogany eyes bright and round, he looked right into her own blue ones. His expression changed from casual, to more of a look of admiration. She absolutely loved the way he could look at her and make her feel like the most important thing in the world.

"April, I…." His voice cracked gently, in the way it typically did when he was making loving confessions.

But then it happened again, Donatello paused before the next word could exit, his brow scrunched in confusion. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, looking every bit like a fish out of water. "I… I…." He managed to squeak out before fading into silence.

April had to hold back a tear threatening to escape down her cheek, seeing exactly when his moment of lucidity had worn off and the confusion had again taken over.

"Donatello?" She moved back to again wrap her arms around him as he looked about disoriented.

His eyelids drifted shut and he leaned into her embrace, pressing his cheek up against hers. "April, I'm losing you."

"No, no, no, I'm right here." She soothed into his ear.

"I can't remember… I'm forgetting…" He choked back what sounded like a sob.

"We'll fix this, Donnie," She sat back to place a soft palm on either side of his face and a loving kiss to his cheek. "I'll help you remember. Mikey and I have almost finished the cure…"

At the mention of his brother's name, Donatello's expression instantly changed from calm to panicked. "Mikey!" He leaped to his feet and scanned the room looking for his brother, not quite remembering what had happened, but knowing he'd done something terrible.

April followed him as he rushed back into the front of the lab. The youngest brother's crumpled form could barely be seen settled amongst a pile of toppled over boxes. A half-empty metal bookcase tipped precariously against the pile of its own contents, threatening to fall over and trap the young man.

"No…" It came out as barely a breath, as Donatello surveyed the damage he had caused.

"Uggggh." Mikey let out a groan and slowly started to move, causing more piles to shift and books and folders to slide to the floor.

Expecting Donnie to follow her, April rushed to the scene to grab ahold of the bookcase and keep it in place until Mikey could unbury himself. "Donnie, help me!"

The tall terrapin stood rooted to the spot, as he watched the woman he cared so deeply for, rush to the aid of his baby brother.

"I did this." He muttered to himself, so quietly it almost couldn't be heard.

He looked down at his large olive hands as if he did not recognize himself anymore. Seeing the bandage wrapped around the infected bite on his arm, he was quickly reminded of why he was out of control. He wanted to help Mikey, but was terrified that if he didn't leave now, he might end up doing something even worse.

"I have to get away!" Donnie whispered before turning to run for the door.

The metal shelf swayed as another pile shifted beside it, and April had to summon her inner strength to hold it in place. She looked up to see if Donnie was about to grab the other side, but was stunned to find that he'd gone missing.

"Donnie?!" She screamed out, before grunting at the strain of the shelf. For a fraction of a second she debated chasing after him, but if she let go now, this shelf was going to collapse.

A heavy box spilled as it was pushed to the side and Mikey was able to sit up from beneath it.

"Mikey, you need to move now!" She warned through gritted teeth.

She could make out his bright blue eyes from behind his mask go wide in realization. Shoving aside another heavy box filled with unidentifiable metal objects, he managed to free his leg and practically dove to the side just as April lost her grasp on the shelf and it crashed to the floor. The remaining text books and what looked like engine parts banged to the ground in a triumphant crash.

"Donnie wait!" April shouted out, spinning in place, desperately searching for him to still he near. Ultimately she knew that he had made a run for it, and was probably already out of the lab. He didn't want to be stopped, and she wasn't going to be able to change his mind.

Turning her attention back to the wounded brother, she ran over to him, still on the floor beside the giant pile of rubble.

"Mikey! Are you okay?" She called out, watching his eyes flutter up at her.

"Ugh, has Donnie started lifting weights? He threw me like a frisbee." He half joked, unable to stop his goofball nature. Scooting away from the messy pile, he allowed April to help him to his feet.

Feeling a little off-balance, he rolled his neck and shoulders and did a couple of quick squats, checking for other injuries. Noting that the bandage so carefully applied by Donatello himself, a few days before, hung loosely from his upper arm.

"You're bleeding!" April chirped, seeing the red staining the gauze.

"Nah, I just tore my stitches." He shrugged with a look, trying his best to not let it show, how much it hurt.

And then, as if suddenly realizing why Donnie would have been tossing him aside like a rag doll, he spun to April, eyes wide with terror. "Are you okay?!" He quickly scanned her neck and bare arms, where her sleeves were pushed up past her elbow. "Did he bite you?"

"No." April shook her head a little too much. "I mean, he tried, but he was able to snap out of it just in time. ...But he ran off."

"Oh man." His words flat and serious now.

April could feel the pricks of tears burning at the back of her eyes at the look of fear crossing the younger boy's features. But she wouldn't allow herself to cry any more today.

"We can't wait any longer. The heat cycle should be almost done and then all we have to do is inject the guys and destroy that egg before it hatches." She made a curt nod at the end of her statement.

"Hell, is that all?" Mikey's jovial tone was back in play. And he grinned mischievously before also nodding in return. "Let's do this!"

XX

Splinter opened his eyes slowly as the room spun around him. At the feeling of the pounding behind his temple, he moved to pinch the bridge of his nose before realizing that his hands were bound behind him. Suddenly more alert, his eyes snapped open once more and he quickly surveyed the room before letting his eyelids fall closed.

He was lying on the floor in the main living room, that was for certain. In the corner, over by the TV. The throbbing headache was an affirmation that he had indeed been hit with a tranquilizer. His hazy memory tried to recall what had happened, when he remembered the dark black orbs of his eldest son's eyes. The dead stare he had locked on him before he could fully acknowledge how dire the situation was.

Not wanting to bring to attention the fact that he had awoken, he let his eyelids barely crack open a slit, so he could once again get a glance of the room and try to assess the level of danger. Peering through his long black eyelashes, he could make out the feet of both Leonardo and Raphael, who seemed to be slowly rocking in place a few yards away.

He was unable to ascertain what exactly they were looking at, but they appeared to be concentrating on some other object in the room. Closing his eyes again, he let his other senses take over. Having his DNA combined with that of a rat, had left him with a heightened sense of both smell and sound. Both of which came along with a much larger nose and ears in comparison, but in moments like this, he was quite grateful for it.

There was definitely another life form in the room with them. A smell that he couldn't place tipped him off, along with a fast-paced heartbeat and a strange buzzing sound that he couldn't quite identify.

"It is time!" Came a shout from his eldest son. His voice was so altered he almost couldn't recognize him. A voice that he thought he'd never question, having been the very first of his children that had spoken, some 12 years ago.

"It is glorious!" Raphael replied, also in a voice so warped, it was barely his own.

What had happened in the short time he and April had been away? Something had clearly taken possession of his two eldest sons. And he was rocked with a thought that he knew would do him no good to dwell on; If only these two were here, what had happened to the others? Donatello, Mikey and April - what had become of them?

His brow knit with worry, but he could not spend too much time concerning himself over it, as he felt a shift in the room and could sense Raphael approaching him. Relaxing his features once more, he attempted to remain motionless except for the steady rise and fall of his own breathing.

"He is awake." Raphael spoke again from right beside him, the cold sound almost invoking a shiver.

Splinter could sense him leaning in closely, feeling his breath shifting the fur on the back of his neck, before he moved back over beside Leonardo.

"The venom has not yet taken hold."

Splinter felt his heart jump in fear at this remark. What else had they done to him while he was unconscious?

"We knew he was resistant to toxins, but it is no matter." The other replied, having not even turned to look. "The time is here. There is nothing for him to do now, but provide a first meal to our new queen."

Dropping the pretense, Splinter opened his eyes and struggled to sit up, but finding it difficult when discovering his feet were tightly bound and chained to a nearby grate. Struggling against a wave of vertigo, an after-effect of the tranquilizer, he continued to push himself upright, unwilling to give up.

A pain shot up his arm as he twisted against the chains, and his earlier question was answered when he discovered the bite-shaped bruise on his forearm.

"My sons, what are you doing?" He pleaded, praying that perhaps the familiarity of his voice could pull them out of their daze. But neither turtle even flinched at the sound.

"You must stop this at once. Where are your brothers?" He questioned them again, but as he feared, no response was returned.

Managing to prop himself up on one elbow, enough to push his back up against one of the large benches, he was able to better survey the room. The boys were standing in the very center, designated by the grate that marked it. They stood on either side of one of the large blue bean bags and resting on top of that appeared to be the focus of their attention.

He could not quite discern what it was, but despite the large size, he could only imagine by the shape and the sound it gave off, that it was some kind of an egg. An insect egg, if he had to hazard a guess.

As though the egg itself was somehow speaking to them, the two brothers began to raise their arms in unison, forming almost a kind of chanting circle around the strange intruder. Their own will was long gone and they seemed to obey whatever the creature was asking of them.

Splinter's right ear twitched, and turned outward. Glancing over at the boys, to confirm their focus was back on the egg, he cautioned a quick glimpse up into the rafters of the room. In the spiraling remains of a staircase that still loomed above them, a flash of orange caught his attention.

XX

April crouched next to Mikey as they both slunk into the shadows amongst the ceiling, keeping themselves hidden from the two eldest brothers below them. She noted the twitch of Splinter's ear and the small glance he made up towards them, relieved to see that he was not only alive, but also appeared to not be under control of the wasp. One small favor at least.

Squinting, she surveyed the dark corners of the room again, looking for any sign of Donatello, but wherever he had run off when he left the lab, it didn't seem to be around here. It was something she couldn't worry herself over at this moment. They had the perfect opportunity to drop down on the boys unnoticed and hopefully inject them with the cure and destroy the egg before either of them even realized what was happening. They would just have to wing it, when it came time to finding Donnie afterwards.

Placing a gentle hand on Mikey's shoulder, the young boy turned to her and nodded. This was it, the moment they had been planning for. In the likely event that Donnie wasn't present, she was to go for Raph and he was to get Leo. Mikey had shown an open distaste for allowing April to be near Raphael while still under the control of the wasp, but ultimately it was decided that his obvious "affection" towards her could be used to their advantage. Mostly due to the fact that he seemed less likely to toss her across the room. Either way, they needed any advantage they could get.

Looking down at the syringe injection gun they each held in a hand, she wished (for not the first time) that they had some kind of an actual gun they could shoot across the room. But they required a specific and rather large dosage, and it was very important to make sure they pulled the trigger, causing the healing fluid to enter the blood streams of their infected brothers. They couldn't risk flinging darts across the room hoping to miss their protective shell and hit an arm or a leg, or one of them possibly pulling the dart back out before all of the medicine was injected.

Startled by a loud clattering of metal on cement, April looked down to see that the two eldest boys had dropped their weapons beside their feet and began to raise their arms in a weird sort of trance. April and Mikey exchanged a quick look; they weren't going to get a better opening than this. Before either had the opportunity to second guess themselves, they both silently jumped down from the remains of the staircase, syringe in hand. Out of the corner of her eye, April tracked Mikey approaching Leonardo in a stealthy manner while she kept her focus trained on Raphael. Trying their best to sync up their attack.

Moving swiftly towards him, coming up behind his shell, she lifted the syringe gun and prepared to stab it into the first bit of flesh she could reach. Three more fast steps and she was to his back, reaching out around the side and going for the taut muscle of his upper arm. She had been expecting him to flinch or attempt to dodge, but nothing quite prepared her for the ninja-fast reflexes as he spun towards her and grabbed her wrist with his large hands before she could break his skin.

His black eyes burned with anger as his over-sized hand wrapped around both her wrist and her grip on the syringe, pulling her forward. She twisted in defense to break free. He'd practiced similar holds on her many times, and warned her that if she didn't get out right away, it would only get worse. Apparently remembering his own lesson, he tightened his grip on her even more and in a fluid motion, pulled forward on her arm with one hand, while his other came up into her armpit lifting her up off of the ground. The move had left her in a bad position for any rebuttal; dangling from one arm, the tips of her sneakers barely brushing across the floor.

She let out a grunt of pain from the sensation of her own body weight pulling against her shoulder socket as she attempted to wriggle free. Using her loose arm, she punched at his tight grasp on her appendage, a futile attempt to loosen his fingers enough to allow her to slide out. Somewhere in the back of her focus, she could hear Mikey let out a squawk of surprise, they had both managed to have their advances thwarted by the seemingly entranced brothers. Apparently Donnie wasn't kidding about heightened senses.

"You're interrupting the hatching!" Raph snarled.

April glanced back at the egg, still nestled in the beanbag and practically vibrating from the buzzing movement within it. An audible crack rang out as a narrow line zagged it's way across the outer shell. Within minutes, it would be free.

Raph growled and his eyes narrowed in anger as he held the slender girl by her arm and inspected her as though deciding what to do next with her. For a fleeting moment, Raphael's menacing green face and Hulk-like strength oddly reminded her of an Avengers movie they had all watched together not that long ago. The thought quickly vanished when she saw the look on his face change from hatred to lust.

He flicked his attention back to the egg still wiggling and cracking and then back to April's face; at war with which desire had greater control over him. In three large strides, he had moved away from the egg, stepping up out of the living room and to one of the brick columns outlining the large interior.

He carried April with little effort, still dangling from her shoulder socket as she kicked her legs aimlessly in a fruitless attempt to stop him.

"Raphael, STOP!" She heard Splinter call out in worry, as he watched from his chains, unable to help.

April let out a puff of air as her side connected with the column, before sliding down enough for her feet to touch the ground. She tried her best to get in a kick to his groin, but he easily maneuvered aside while twisting her arm back, as he grabbed her free one. Pulling both hands together into a lock behind her back, he pressed her chest and chin forward into the brick.

"April!" She heard Mikey shout before letting out his own grunt along with the sound of something colliding with the pinball machine, making the sound effects chime and the flashing lights flicker about the dim room.

She couldn't see behind her, with the way she was being pushed into the wall, but from the sounds of it, Mikey's fight was not going much better.

Just then, Raphael adjusted his grasp on her arms, so he could reach around and hook an elbow under her chin, pulling her head back into a strangle hold. She felt his cool snout press into the back of her neck. The second time in one day for the unnerving sensation of his hot breath on her skin.

He took a large sniff as he tipped her head to the side, revealing her smooth neck. But before he had the chance to consider biting her, a force plowed into their side causing Raph to falter back a step and release his hold on her in the process. Without his grip holding her up, the impact knocked her clumsily to the ground, the syringe gun flying from her hand in the process. It was then that she made out the snarl from above her as she caught sight of a blur of purple bandana. Donatello had apparently shown up to join the fight.

She could hear him shouting above her, but her mind was completely focused on locating the syringe gun that had fallen to the floor in the tussle. They were right beside the small "pool" that Mikey's tire swing hung above, but she thankfully hadn't heard a splash. Spotting it only a couple of feet away, near the edge of the water, she crawled towards it. Reaching out to grab the handle, a sense of urgency flooded over her once she felt the cool metal in her hand. She whipped around to plunge the needle into the back of Raphael's calf muscle as he stepped around her, too busy throwing punches at Donnie to notice her.

He let out a growl of pain and turned his attention from the jealous brother in front of him, to the sneaky redhead at his ankles. He raised a fist and April put up an arm to shield her face from the blow, but his strike was halted by Donatello's bo appearing between them.

"Don't you touch her!"

April dodged and rolled off to the side, jumping back up to her feet before Raphael could get the chance to swing again. She tried to make eye-contact with Donnie, but was alerted to find the soul-less carbon colored orbs gracing his usually gentle face. Somehow, even under the influence of the wasp, he was still choosing to protect her, or at least momentarily he was. She knew she had very little time to get to Donnie before his mind was gone again.

Glancing back to check on Mikey, she could vaguely make-out that he was still caught up in his own tussle with Leonardo. The mindless elder swung his lethal blades with no regard to the fact that it was his own brother he was attacking. Luckily Mikey was a master at evasion and was skillfully flipping and ducking and rolling every which way avoiding any real battle. The brief glance eased her mind enough, so she could turn her focus back to her own fight.

Suddenly, Raph dove towards the center of the room, and for a split-second April worried the egg had hatched, but she could still see it writhing around in its makeshift nest. Avoiding the egg altogether, Raph only seemed focused on collecting his sai from the floor. He swooped them up without slowing, before darting with one massive leap over the sunken benches, and back towards Donnie.

Avoiding the two brothers as they brawled, both now with weapons in action, ringing out in an angry chorus of clanks and chinks, she quickly unscrewed the used canister from the gun and tossed it aside. Digging into her pocket, she fished out another vial of the serum and ducked just in time to avoid the tire swing swooshing past her face, having been pushed by a stray limb.

Another crash resonated in the room and she turned to see the last bit of life spark from the old television set as it lay in a heap on the ground beside Splinter.

"No-ho-ho! Not the TV!" Mikey cried out dramatically, before Splinter barked something at him in Japanese, causing him to jolt from his stupor before Leonardo could land a kick to his shell.

"How could you!?" Donatello roared so close by, it made April jump. "You KNEW I had feelings for her - And… and you were sneaking around, making your move!" He barked again at his brother.

Donatello's attacks were relentless. This was no longer about protecting her and clearly an act of retribution. As they continued to fight, the two opponents degressed to a series of unintelligible hisses and grunts as they fought, but April could still make out caveman-like barks of words here and there. Stay away. You marked her. She's mine. rang out, evoking a special kind of fear deep within her.

Donatello was not a violent person by nature. He had trained and fought alongside his brothers and could carry his own when it came to it, but there was no way he'd do serious harm if it could be avoided. But the swirling storm of emotions that had overtaken him, were rolling off of his aura in waves.

April always felt as though she had a special sense for empathy, a talent that Splinter had been keen to train her on. Usually, even with concentration, she found it hard to define one single emotion, but Donatello's were practically a blinking neon light announcing them all. Jealousy. Rage. Love. Fear. Desire. Insecurity. All intensified by the wasp's venom, and at least a couple of them caused by herself. If she didn't do something soon, he was going to end up doing some serious harm, and he'd never be able to forgive himself.

She watched Raph stumble after a particularly sharp jab to his side from Donatello's bo. The cure had already started to pump through his veins, carried even faster through his bloodstream by the frantic adrenaline-induced beat of his heart. Donnie's notes had warned them that the concoction they had created would have a very strong sedative-like effect, and the warning seemed to be holding true. She could already visibly see his eyelids growing heavy, and the speed of his reactions were not up to his usual standards, which only left him vulnerable to every attack Donatello hit him with.

The red banded brother spun a kick through the air, landing off-kilter and leaving his side open to a direct hit as Donnie swung his bo at it like a golf club, catching the side of his shell with a crack. Raph grunted and sputtered, turning his attention forward again. With a sharp jab he shot a fist up past Donnie's face, but the taller brother was able to avoid it with little effort. Annoyed by the cheap-shot, Donatello seemed to forget his bo for a moment and with his free hand, returned his own punch that landed a direct hit with Raphael's right cheek.

The hit knocked him back a few steps and his left knee had actually touched down on the ground, seemingly the keystone to keeping him upright. The acrid smell of copper hit the air as he turned to spit a mouthful of blood onto the floor beside him. Donnie's staff spun around in a blur before hitting his brother square in the chest and sending him backwards.

"Donnie no!" April screamed out, the new canister finally screwed into place as she jumped forward to grab Donatello's arm.

Somehow the touch of her fingers on his cool pebbled bicep grabbed his attention, and he halted his movement before twisting his face to glare at her.

"Donnie please don't." She pleaded, her other hand behind her back, frantically trying to cock the syringe gun into place.

"He… He ruined everything!" Donnie's thoughts seemed mixed up and unintelligible, purely acting on impulse by this point. He turned again with a growl focused on his brother who had finally succumbed to the sedative, lying unconscious at his feet. "He made you leave!"

"No! Please… it wasn't his fault! It… it was me. Please don't–" She pleaded, wanting to explain herself, but only able to grasp enough of her frantic thoughts to get out bits and pieces.

She pulled on his upper arm again, trying to get his focus off of Raphael. "This isn't you. Let me fix this." The words held more than one meaning, whether Donatello was coherent enough to realize it or not.

The clunk of his wooden staff hitting the ground as he dropped it was the first sign, and within a second his knees dropped to the floor beside it. Feeling the trigger of the gun finally click into place, April stepped forward and softly injected it into his neck, the ideal place for a quick absorption into his bloodstream. Pulling the trigger and hearing the satisfying spring of the plunger releasing the cure into his system. Donatello let his chin drop to his chest, and his arms hang by his side as he knelt before his beaten brother.

Forgetting that she was in the middle of a battlefield, the desire to comfort him took over. Throwing caution aside, April wrapped her arms around his large shoulders, in an awkward hug.

"Look out!"

She whipped around as Mikey's voice rang out through the large room. Somehow in all of the commotion she'd lost track of both Mikey and the egg. What she saw when she turned back was Mikey wrestling a sedated Leo to the floor while a newly hatched and enormous angry wasp finished emerging from its prison.

Mikey had shown her the photo they had collected in the Kraang lab, so she had been expecting the creature to be large, but actually seeing it in person was even more intimidating than she'd expected.

Seeming unfazed by the fact that it was essentially a newborn, it appeared to possess only the goal of feasting on large catatonic turtles. It hovered in place for only a few seconds before flying straight at them!

The giant insect zoomed past them with terrifying speed, and Donnie pushed her aside before it could graze her with its stinger. But the creature did not even stray from its path as it headed straight for Raphael's unconscious form, eager to prey on the first victim and satisfy an intense hunger.

"NO!" She could hear the sound of several voices ringing out in alarm simultaneously with her own. Both Master Splinter and Mikey were apparently situated just right to see the events play out before them, yet too far away to reach them in time.

April jumped to her feet, ready to spring forward and wrestle the giant beast to the ground with her bare hands if she had to, but before she could, a battle cry tore from the depths of Donatello's chest. He heaved forward, and as if moving in slow motion, simultaneously pushed April to one side, out of harms way, while grabbing his bo staff with his free hand from the floor beside him. In one leap he was on his feet, the blade ejecting from the end of his staff as he struck it forward and impaled the body of the wasp hovering just inches above Raphael's face.

The insect let out a terrifying screech as the life escaped from its thorax. Donatello heaved his staff off to the side, the twitching body of the mutant insect still kabobed on the end, as he slunk down to the ground beside his brother. His own heavy eyelids falling shut as he collapsed.

"Whoah." Mikey muttered from across the room. "That was a little too close for comfort."

Rushing over to the two siblings sprawled on the ground, April checked their pulses, feeling a slow and steady beat beneath her fingertips from each. She let her head fall forward with a relieved sigh. Looking back up to meet her eyes with their concerned father on the other side of the room, she nodded that his sons were indeed alive and well.

Taking the cue from April, Mikey mimicked her movements and checked on Leonardo beside him, also finding his pulse to be strong. Curiosity taking over, he gently pulled up on one of Leonardo's eyelids to peek beneath it. Relief washed over him when his brother's protective membrane slid into place, and already most of the black staining had faded away.

Kneeling on the cold hard cement between the crumbled forms of the two brothers that harbored feelings for her, April was suddenly hit was a storm of emotions. She took in a gasp of air as she realized just how close they had come to losing each other.

The worries that she had carried when she had trudged down the tunnels early this morning, now seemed so trivial. Second guessing Donnie's feelings for her and finding a way to come to terms with Raphael's crush seemed so simple in comparison to what they had just overcome.

She was a part of this family now, and having almost lost it, had only made that connection stronger. She had always known that she'd do anything to protect these men in her life, but today she had really proven it, not only to them, but also to herself.

Any other doubts she had about her own feelings for Donatello were washed away as she looked down at his relaxed face, fast asleep and all she could think about, was how much she loved him.

Hearing Mikey in the distance, giving his father a better explanation of what was going on, she was reminded that they needed to administer one last vial of the cure to Splinter, before he showed any signs of infection.

Looking over the wreckage around the room, she knew that it was going to take some time to fix the events of today. The television and broken pinball machine were innocent bystanders, but easy to repair; the emotional damage of what these boys had experienced was going to take much longer to heal. But she was ready to make sure that they didn't have to go through it alone.

Placing a light hand on Donatello's cheek, she leaned down to softly kiss his forehead. Then reaching over, she gave Raphael's shoulder a squeeze, smiling at her friend. Pausing a moment to study Raphael's features, she noted that even in his sleep he appeared angry and upset. Making a small prayer that he would not remember the events of the day, she stood to go help Michelangelo.

XX

***END Chapter 20 - The Things That Drive Us****

A/N - oh my gosh you guys! I'm seriously so sorry this was delayed! I know I've left you hanging for way too long and I apologize! June was crazy with a huge family vacation (planned by me!) and birthday's galore! I left this chapter an extra long one to help make-up for it!

Hopefully you enjoyed my version of the giant wasp take-down, and the added bonus of getting April and Splinter involved in that storyline. Writing intense scenes like that, and fights with a whole lot of characters in one place, is not my strong point, so I hope it lived up to your expectations! As I mentioned above, my dear Beta: Poleepkwana/Suthnmeh helped me clean this up a ton and I think (hope) it paid off!

There's a lot of healing and fluffiness ahead to round off all this tension and excitement - I'm curious if there's anything in particular you are hoping to see! :)

As always, reviews are my fuel! Each and every one makes me SO SO happy! I adore hearing what all my dear readers are thinking and it makes me so excited to dish out more!