Michelangelo juggled his cereal bowl in the crook of his arm as he also carried a mug in each hand through the kitchen door. He was disappointed to see that Leonardo had already taken up residence in the living area with the remote control, but didn't bother saying anything to his brother yet. He needed to give the docs their coffee delivery before he did anything else.

Leaving his cereal bowl on a side-table, he rapped his elbow on the door to the lab. Marcus appeared after a few moments, and Mike grinned at the man. "Morning. Are you the gatekeeper?"

The dark-haired doctor made a menacing face. "Sure. Do I look scary enough?"

"Mmm…I think you need some work on that, Marc." The orange-masked turtle held out both of the coffee mugs. "Cream and two sugars for Doc…and your health kick, Marc." Mike made a face, and Marcus laughed.

"You can't blame a guy for trying."

"Breakfast will not be sugar free – I'm just warning you."

"Thanks, Mike," Luke called over from across the room.

"Did Donny go to bed okay for ya? I didn't even hear him come in."

"It was a little after six, and Don didn't fight me too hard. I'm sure he was ready to sleep, what with barely being a 100% himself." Luke came over to retrieve his coffee and fixed Mike with steely eye contact. "If Donny ever tries to keep me out of the loop again, it'd better be you calling me. Is that understood?"

Mike took an unconscious step backwards. "Um…yeah, Doc. I'm your turtle."

"I thought so."

"How's Raph?"

Luke shook his head. "Not so good right now. We're just waiting on his fever to break."

Michelangelo grimaced. "No fun. You guys let me know when you're ready for real food, okay?"

"We're looking at implementing a couple of natural methods to help reduce Raph's temperature before we can address other things. We might be ready for something in about an hour, but it'll depend on what we decide," Luke replied.

"What 'other' things?"

"Cleaning up the congestion from his lungs, most importantly. We'll update you guys periodically, all right?"

That's my cue to skedaddle. "Okay, Doc. Later."

Mike backed up into the living area and sat down on the couch next to where he'd left his cereal. He sighed loudly when he realized that his oldest brother was watching the News.

"It's Saturday, Leo. Can't you ever take a day off? Power Rangers is on."

"And there will be a second one on in fifteen minutes," Leo returned. "It is just a TV show, Mikey."

"It's better than the boring stuff you're subjecting me to."

"You can have the TV at the top of the hour, okay, Bro?"

The orange-masked turtle was surprised by how quickly Leonardo gave in. Granted, he was used to fighting Raph for control of the remote, but even his oldest brother was prone to force the 'work first-play later' mantra, and there had been no mention of katas.

"You okay, Leo?"

The blue-masked turtle made eye contact with him. "I'll be better when the docs have a handle on Raph. It's the same old waiting game."

Mike nodded. "But the whole medical team is here at work now. Doc will whip Raph back into shape."

"He might whip all of us if Don ever waits that long to call him again."

Mike grinned. "Did Doc already get to you too? I almost feared for my life for a second there."

Leonardo chuckled, and Mike enjoyed the sound. "It's amazing how frightening a man with a stethoscope can be." Leo glanced at the TV again. "I guess I don't really need to watch this. I'll go ahead and loosen up a little. You could join me later." The blue-masked turtle nudged the remote toward him, and trotted to the hallway.

The youngest turtle was all set to change the channel, when the flash of a familiar-looking storefront made his finger freeze in mid-air. Could that be…he trailed off as the announced started speaking.

"Up next is a deeper look at the bizarre situation one family awoke to this morning, when they discovered themselves to be prisoners inside their own home. Our Shelley Rudolph is reporting."

"Leo!" he called quickly. "You'd better come see this! Hurry up!"

Leonardo gave him a quizzical look as he returned, and Mike rapidly motioned to the TV screen, where a woman was already standing on a street corner.

"This morning started like any other for Albert Chavez, who rises early to prepare for his customers who are being hit hard by this flu season…"

Leo gasped when the camera panned over the store front of the Pharmacy once more. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Listen, Leo!" he urged.

"…no evidence of foul play until he went to open the front door, and discovered that he'd been locked in from the outside. Bystanders who stopped to assist the family found that every exit of the building which serves as both business and home to the Chavez family was blocked by these."

The camera view switched to a large pile of chains and padlocks, and Mike grabbed his brother's arm as something occurred to him. "Bro. Those men that Raph caught up with—"

"They weren't just trying to burn down a building," Leo filled in grimly. "They meant to murder that family. If Raph knew, if he'd heard something…I might understand him getting involved, even if he wasn't physically up for it."

"…the evidence of gasoline wasn't discovered until after the police had been notified. NYPD have been canvassing the neighborhood since, searching for additional clues concerning the nature of the crime that could have taken five lives in the overnight hours.

"At least one witness has already come forward to identify a vehicle that he saw leaving the scene of the crime. Police are also on the look out for what's being described as a dark blue or black Chevrolet Suburban."

Both turtles released a deep breath at the same time.

"It's okay," Mike said uncertainly. "They got the car wrong."

Leonardo shot a glance at the lab. "Just the same, Marc can't take the Avalanche anywhere until Don has a chance to work on it. That was way too close."

Mike wasn't in the mood for any more TV after catching the news report, so he decided to check if Splinter was awake. He hesitated for almost a full minute outside his Master's quarters, trying to work up the positivity that wasn't coming easily today. When the orange-masked turtle inched the door open, he found Splinter resting on his side.

"Michelangelo. What is happening with your brother?" Splinter's lack of a greeting could only mean he'd been worrying.

"What'd Donny tell you last night?"

"Next to nothing," the rat growled. "I know you will not make the same mistake."

"He's just been busy. I don't think Donny would wanna hide everything from you, Sensei."

"No, just most things. How is Raphael hurt?"

"He has a head injury, but Donny already fixed it up. He said it wasn't 'that' bad."

"What else? Your brother also said that Raphael might be running a fever."

"Uh…yeah, Sensei, Raph's sick all right, but the docs are looking after him."

Splinter's brow creased. "I want to speak with one of them when we are finished, Michelangelo."

"Hai, Sensei. Do you want me to get Doc for you right now?"

"No, my son, not until we are finished," he repeated.

"You've gotta be hungry too, Master."

The rat sighed achingly. "It can wait but a little while, Michelangelo." Keen onyx eyes probed the turtle. "You are disturbed by the events of last night."

"Men tried to hurt Raph a lot worse than they managed to," he admitted. "If Marc hadn't been around, they woulda killed him."

"I see. But Dr. Sloan was able to…stop them?"

Mike nodded. "He seriously risked his bu—his life, Sensei. Marcus could have been killed too."

"I have a feeling there is a very long story behind all of this." Splinter sounded tired.

"Yeah," Mike said quietly. "Sure you don't want to eat something first?"

"It will not help me to discover the truth behind what happened." Splinter settled on his back to stare up at the ceiling. "I am sick, Michelangelo, but I am not feeble of mind, even if the rest of my body is betraying me. Being treated in this 'careful' manner is almost as frustrating as the symptoms I deal with every day."

Mike cringed. "We're not hurting you on purpose, Sensei. I guess we're trying to make things…easier. You're already dealing with a lot, and no one wants to stress you out."

"Keeping me in the dark will also 'stress me out.'"

"I understand, Sensei." Mike's voice suddenly felt hoarse. "And I'm sorry."

Splinter's eyes returned to him. "You can still talk to me, Michelangelo. You and your brothers are not a burden. You never have been, at least not in the sense that you were difficult to carry. The four of you have been my greatest joy for decades, and your mere presence is enough yet to make me smile."

Mike hesitated. "I miss you. Having you around to correct me is great incentive," he added, trying to lighten up the admission.

"Your growth does not require as much correction now, Michelangelo."

"That's not true, Sensei. I know you've got at least twenty more years of discipline to go with me." He passed the words off as a joke, but he was certain his Master sensed their deeper meaning.

"You and your brothers have developed into adults, my son. You are no longer little children that I must lead by the hand."

"That doesn't meant we don't need you. There're a lot of things I don't know, Sensei. It could take a long time to straighten me out completely."

"Much of what the four of you lack are things that I cannot teach you, Michelangelo. Such lessons can come only through experience. You have become fine ninja warriors with hearts that value honor and compassion above anything else. I could not ask for better students or sons."

The orange-masked turtle tried to smile. "I still think you have a few things left to grind into me, Master. I'm a slow learner," Mike exaggerated.

Splinter's chest heaved with the effort it took to draw a good breath. "You are many things, Michelangelo, but slow is not one of them."

Mike's brow furrowed as he sensed true resignation behind his father's eyes. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to run out of the room and forget what he'd seen, but he knew it would be impossible. "Sensei, you're not…Y-you can't…" The rest of the words stuck in his throat, refusing to emerge.

The orange-masked turtle turned his head so that Splinter couldn't see his face. "I…I'm going to start your breakfast, Master. I'll send one of the docs to talk to you about Raph."

"Michelangelo, you don't need to go."

"Yeah, I kinda do." Mike quickly left the room, not trusting himself to hold it together for another second.