Donatello's mind was racing with the number of things that needed to happen when they made it back to the den. He didn't give his younger brother a chance to step off the Slider. "Mike, go meet Marcus, would you? He'll be at the van entrance soon if he isn't already."

The orange-masked turtle saluted. "On it, Bro."

Don got the main door open so that his oldest brother could carry Raphael inside.

"Am I heading for the lab?" Leo asked.

Donny shook his head. "Bathroom. We need to get the gasoline washed off first. Turn the water on, and make sure it's lukewarm, okay? I'll be up in a minute. I'm going to touch base with Sensei and sort of bring him up to speed."

"Sort of?"

The purple-masked turtle shrugged. "You can't blame me for being a little vague. The circumstances we found him in weren't exactly ideal."

"Whatever you think." Leo's dismissive tone indicated that he didn't want to waste time debating the issue.

Donatello headed down the hall to Splinter's quarters while Leo carried the red-masked turtle up the steps. His Sensei was already sitting up partially when Don entered the room, though his eyes were closed. The moment he opened his mouth, the rat turned his head toward him.

"Is Raphael home? Is he safe?"

"Yes, Master. He's a little rough right now, and he needs my full attention. I just wanted to let you know that we're back, and Raph is okay."

"Was he injured?"

Don nodded. "It's nothing we can't handle; Marc is on his way. Raph feels warm to me, so he might be coming down with something too."

Onyx eyes studied him sharply, as if Splinter was well aware that he was withholding details. "Keep me informed," he said flatly.

"Yes, Sensei. I will, Sensei."

Donatello gratefully backed out of the room, and took the stairs two at a time to get to the second floor. The bathroom door was ajar, and he found Leonardo wrestling to get their brother out of his layers. He strode to the cabinet over the sink and retrieved a pair of scissors for the blue-masked turtle.

"Don't fight with it, Leo. We're going to have to pitch those clothes anyway."

His brother accepted the scissors and immediately began cutting through material. "Are you going to call, Doc?" he asked without looking up.

Don squirmed uncomfortably. "I know that I probably should, and I'll definitely hear it from him if I don't call Doc right away."

"But?"

"But someone needs to be well rested in order to take shifts with Raph. I was considering letting him sleep for as long as I can."

"Mike and I could help some too, couldn't we?"

"Absolutely not. If Raph has what I did, it's contagious. Even if it's something different, that possibility still exists."

"Don, I've been around Raph. We share a room…for the most part."

"The germs aren't necessarily airborne, but it's not worth the risk. With as much as you've handled him, I want you to take a shower of your own."

"You're serious?"

"Does it sound like I'm kidding? I get to pull rank in this matter."

Leo glanced up uncertainly. "So you're not going to call Doc."

"Not right away."

The older turtle shrugged. "I guess you know what you're doing."

Donatello tested the temperature of the running water, and adjusted the faucet a little colder. "Would you like to help me with him again?"

Leonardo wordlessly drew Raphael off the bathroom floor and brought him over to the tub. Don reached down to slip off his red mask.

"Probably need to toss this too," he said softly.

The blue-masked turtle heaved a giant sigh. "How in the world did this happen, Don? How many times has he disappeared, and I worried over nothing? Then I let him go without even caring, and he almost doesn't come back at all."

Don shook his head. "You can't predict these things, Leo. I'm sure Raph didn't plan for it to happen."

"I don't understand why he didn't call for help. Shell, Don, if Marc hadn't followed him…"

"Leo, do yourself a favor and don't focus on what could have happened. Raph's alive, so we can be grateful for that."

His brother looked away. "It's hard not to think about." Leonardo knelt down on the rug behind him, lingering while Don scrubbed his brother's skin as hard as he dared. "I can't do this, Don."

The purple-masked turtle glanced over his shoulder. "You can't do what?"

"Raph doesn't like listening to me. He never has. There's probably a good reason for that."

"Leo, don't do this right now."

"Sorry. I'm honestly not trying to make this about me, it's just…when I screw up this way, it makes me question things. Like whether I'm cut out to handle this team on my own."

Donny exhaled. "I have to wonder why every time something goes wrong, it somehow ends up being your fault. Do you really want to know what your issue with Raph is? I can sum it up in one word."

"If you can actually do that, I'll hug you."

"It's called 'misunderstanding'. Both of you assume too much and don't communicate enough. You put words into each other's mouths, and believe you know exactly what the other is thinking. Nothing will improve between the two of you until you learn to listen."

Leonardo was silent for a long moment. "I thought you said you could sum it up in one word."

Don rolled his eyes. "I did my best." He glanced down at the inadequate lather he'd built. "I don't think this soap will be strong enough to do the trick. Do me a favor and grab the new bottle of Dawn from the kitchen."

"For real?"

"There's a reason experts use it to clean up after oil spills. It works."

His brother nodded and got swiftly to his feet. Donatello shot him a parting glance as he left the bathroom. He and Raph have got to learn how to talk to each other, and Leo needs to stop blaming himself for every disaster. He carefully brushed his fingers over Raphael's head injury. It's going to be a long night.

Leonardo had just finished bringing Don the new soap when he heard the door close downstairs.

"Do you care if I go touch base with Marcus real fast? I'll come back to help you," Leo assured him.

"Leo, there's only room for one us to do this. Having you watch is a bit awkward," his brother admitted.

"Okay, then call me when you're ready to bring him back downstairs."

"Will do."

The blue-masked turtle hurried down the steps and met his youngest brother and Marcus in the living area.

"What's going on?" The man sounded as breathless as if he'd been running. "Has Raph come around at all?"

Leo shook his head. "No, and he'd be embarrassed if he did. Don's getting him washed up, but he still smells like gasoline."

"He will for a while," Marc told him. "It'll fade eventually. Maybe I'll head up there too."

"It didn't sound like Don wants an audience. I need to talk to you for a minute, in any case."

Marcus swallowed like he knew what the turtle was going to ask.

"I need to know exactly what happened out there."

"You do realize I didn't see most of it," the man countered. "I was in my car, where I was supposed to be."

"That part I understand. But what made the bad guys run away and leave Raph?"

Marcus folded his arms across his chest. "They ran away from my Avalanche. Apparently it's a lot scarier looking than I realized."

"I told you not to expose yourself, Marc! We were coming—"

"Not fast enough!" he interrupted, an unusual defiant light shining in his eyes. "You weren't there! You don't know what was going on."

"I know that those men could have killed you. I'm surprised that they didn't try!"

"What was I supposed to DO?" The mild-mannered doctor's voice rose higher than Leo had ever heard. "Your brother screamed for help! Should I have asked him to wait a few more minutes until you could get there to save him? You didn't hear the desperation in his voice, but I'm sure you can imagine what it would take to force yourself to risk exposure.

"It didn't matter what the situation in the alley was, I knew right then that I had to do something! Yes, those men could have killed me, and I don't know why they didn't. One of them started to pull a gun, and another literally stopped him from shooting me…then they fled. But so help me, even if he'd pulled the trigger, I would do it again. I will never sit idly by when one of you could be dying, so don't you dare tell me to!"

Rebuffed, the blue-masked turtle rubbed his eyes. "Marc, I…I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be ungrateful, but we would never want something to happen to you or Doc because of us. It's not worth it."

"It's worth it to me," the man emphasized. "I may not be as able-bodied as one of you, but you can't blame me for stepping in during an emergency."

Mike cleared his throat. "No, we can't, dude. That doesn't mean we have to like it. We pretty much want to make sure you guys get to stick around."

The orange-masked turtle threw an arm around Marc's back, and the man gave him a look.

"I have to be given some allowances from time-to-time."

Leonardo snorted. "Not happening. We're not giving you a death clause in your contract, Marc."

"Who said anything about a contract? I never signed anything."

"That's about to change," Mike muttered.

"I don't need a contract. The way those men ran tonight, it feels like some of your 'turtle luck' is wearing off on me."

"There are a lot of people who think that a bullet combined with gasoline vapors can start a fire," Mike said importantly. "That's just Hollywood for ya."

Leo's eye ridges rose questioningly. "Who are all of these people, and how you know them?"

"C'mon, bro, that episode of Mythbusters was classic. They couldn't get those gasoline vapors to ignite for nothing!"

The blue-masked turtle smiled in spite of himself. "That, or the men could have been concerned about the noise factor. I doubt they wanted to attract attention. I'm very happy they didn't kill you, Marc."

"Me too," he replied, looking down when his phone vibrated. "It's April. She'll probably be headed here next."

"I'll get the pull-out set up for you guys in the lounge," Mike volunteered.

"Thanks, Mike. Excuse me."

Leonardo couldn't help watching the man while he answered the phone and had a quiet conversation with their red-haired friend. We're lucky and unfortunate in a way. We have great friends who'd do anything for us…and sometimes that's the problem.

He looked down at his watch, and noticed it was closing in on midnight. I wonder how much sleep anyone will be getting tonight. Aside from Doc that is. It's in Don's hands, but I hope he doesn't wait too long to call him.