Sorry this one took longer than usual to post - shouldn't be the case for the next one. My semester officially ends on Friday, so I'll be out for the summer and then updates will probably start happening quickly. As for now, read, enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think :)

Also, some more POV changes in this one.

He stopped just a few feet down the hall and arched his back with his hands on his shell, grimacing as his bones popped and settled back in place. He had woken that morning with a sharp pain throbbing at the back of his skull and it had now successfully spread down his neck and through his spine.

He sighed and slouched against the archway, gazing left toward Karai and April who were still talking. It was an interesting sight, watching them interact with one another. Karai may have looked a little uncomfortable with her knees together and her back straight, hands clasped in her lap, but he was ninety-five percent positive that had nothing to do with April who was sitting directly next her with her legs pulled up to her chest. Her arms were folded on top of her knees, and she was nodding with a sympathetic frown.

He didn't have firsthand observational experience with girls and how they acted around one another, but from what he knew through concept, April and Karai were being quite normal, like they'd been friends for years. It was comforting, and not to mention refreshing, to observe people who actually had the sensibility to get along and carry out a nice, quiet conversation.

His lips turned down into a frown. He was so tired of all this.

He wouldn't admit it to his brothers, and least of all his sensei, but the fighting was stressing him out. He longed to wake up one day and find that the haze of tension that had spread across his home months ago was finally gone. He could even imagine himself breathing easier, moving easier, and not having to wait until his eyes began to slide shut on their own before he could get any sleep. He'd been foolish enough to hope for a while that when they found Karai everything would magically be okay again. But that had been a silly thing to hope for, let alone to even consider. It wasn't just Raph that was making things hard, and every day that Leo came storming up to him to complain, Donnie wished that his older brother would walk away realizing that. Donnie had tried his best to drop hint after hint without blatantly screaming that Leo was being just as stubborn. He didn't mind being someone that his brother could talk to, but every day that Leo turned away after a conversation now, Donnie could feel himself sinking under a weight that wouldn't budge. He was willing to help Leo carry his burdens, but not by himself and definitely not for the rest of his life.

He was glad Splinter had forced him and Raph to have a conversation. Hopefully he'd enlightened his ill-tempered older brother in some way and they could be one step closer to diminishing this family drama. Donnie could swear sometimes he felt like he was a supporting character in a soap opera. And the story just wouldn't end.

I need air, he thought to himself.

He was about to quietly slide his way into the lab and let Karai and April finish their girl-talk, but he stopped at the corner of the pit, and instead ended up staring over at April as a warm fog spread through his chest. He felt a tiny twinge of sadness.

The first time they'd actually gotten to hang out in weeks was moments ago and that had been cut short when Leo busted down the lab door. April had been busy with school and exams, and none of the Hamatos had been allowed to run around the city at night like they normally would. Splinter was worried that the Foot was still prowling around for Karai, and had intelligently mentioned that very many problems could arise if they all went out together but couldn't get along while they did it. Donnie didn't blame him for worrying, but he had to know how crowded it got when they couldn't resurface at the very least when they found the need. Being stuck underground with his three brothers was enough to handle on its own, adding Karai to the mix hadn't exactly made it any better.

"Hellooo … Donnie?"

Donatello blinked, realizing that April had called his name multiple times. A blush ripened in his cheeks and he tried to shake off the haze.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

Both girls were looking at him, either with concern or unease, he couldn't tell which. April's gaze was softer than Karai's.

He shuddered and brushed off the itch to blame Karai for the knot in his stomach, the way that Raph wanted to blame her for everything. But he had to remain sensible. It wouldn't be fair of him to do that.

"Yeah. Um …" He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced to the side. "I-I just spaced out for a second. It's a little hot. I think I need some air. Do you need some air? W-We should go get some air." His words stumbled over themselves as he blurted them out in a rush, and once they hung there in the air he didn't know what to do. So he just stared.

April graced him with a smile, as though she found his bumbling cute. In fact, it was the same kind of smile Mikey sometimes gave Ice Cream Kitty … That was embarrassing.

"You want to go up top, maybe grab some pizza gyoza?" she asked.

He found himself nodding. "Y-Yeah, that'd be … I mean as long as it's okay with Splinter … I'll go ask him."

No sooner had he said this than he turned on the ball of his foot and walked stiffly to the kitchen as though the concept of putting one foot in front of the other was brand new to him.

Splinter was sitting at one end of the island, calmly sipping on a cup of tea with his eyes closed. Leo was sitting to his left, staring down into his own cup with his shoulders hunched and a frown pasted to his face. Mikey was humming to himself as he dumped an entire bag of chocolate chips into a mixing bowl.

Donnie's eyes twitched on the bottle of hot sauce sitting out on the counter, and he made a mental note not to eat whatever Mikey was making.

He wasn't sure what he'd expected to find upon entering the kitchen, but it sure wasn't silence. He shuffled his feet and clung to the curtain in the doorway.

"Uh … Sensei?"

Splinter opened his eyes and turned them on Donatello serenely. "How is Raphael?"

"He's fine," Donnie said, keeping his eyes from shifting to Leo. "Is it alright if I step out for a minute?"

Splinter's brow rose. "What do you mean?"

It was hard to meet his father's amber gaze. Splinter's tone was curious and innocent, but those eyes always made Donnie feel like there was nothing he could hide.

"I mean, is it alright if I go up top with April? Just for a little while," he added quickly.

The look Splinter gave him was none too reassuring, and Donnie's stomach clenched even tighter. "I understand you must be anxious, my son. It is not easy being confined to the lair. But I am afraid it is much too dangerous for you to spend time on the surface. We are safe here."

Donatello tried not to raise his voice in an act of desperation. He tightened his fist around the curtain. "Hai, Sensei. I understand. But I wouldn't be gone for long. And April would be with me. We'll be extra careful, I promise."

Donnie could've sworn he caught his father grimacing. "I am sorry, musuko. But it simply does not feel like the right moment."

Donnie tensed. "But you've been saying that for weeks. What are we supposed to do, go back to the way we used to live and hide out down here for the rest of our lives? I'm suffocating, Sensei. I can't take it down here. I know how to protect myself—"

"You are still weak, my son."

"I am not!"

"Donatello—"

"I'm not helpless, Sensei. I feel fine. You don't have to keep treating me like a wounded animal. I can—"

"Donatello!"

Donnie pressed his lips together and tensed his shoulders.

"Another time," Splinter said, his eyes glinting with a severity Donnie knew was final. There would be no arguing.

He couldn't stop the angry flow of hot blood that shook his fists and made his teeth clench, but he sucked in a breath through his nose and bowed, turning his glare on the floor.

"Hai, Sensei," he said before turning stiffly on his heel and leaving the kitchen.

He resisted the urge to kick something. He wouldn't allow himself to be driven down to his brothers' level of aggression. He wasn't like them. No kicking boxes, he told himself. Such a childish thing to do. Instead, he allowed his feet to carry him back to the pit where April was standing, waiting for him to return.

"So, what'd he say?"

He kept his eyes on the floor, allowing his mind to race through responses. He had to get air. He couldn't breathe. He wanted to be alone with April. He wanted to forget he had brothers—and a sister—for five minutes. Didn't he have a right to that? After putting up with them for this long and keeping his mouth shut about how much they frustrated him?

He narrowed his eyes at the floor and then allowed himself to smile as he turned his gaze back on April. He held out a hand for her and she took it.

"He said don't stay out too late," he answered as they walked toward the turnstiles.

It was hard to miss the bitterness in Donatello's expression, and it gave Splinter's stomach a twist of guilt. He hated limiting his children's freedom and he was far too aware that it had been much too long since they'd been allowed to resurface.

But even as Splinter watched him walk rigidly out of the room, he would not change his mind. Ever since his sons had come back from their last horrific attempt to save Karai from the Foot, his very soul had acquired an ever-present feeling of dread, and it made his fur stand on end. He had told himself that, until it lifted, he could not allow his children to leave the sewers, however much it pained him to watch them struggle. He had to remind himself that to lose them altogether would invite a far worse amount of pain.

He let out a long breath, and it was a moment before he finally set down his mug and looked toward his eldest son. Leonardo had neither touched his tea nor looked up once since Splinter had entered the kitchen, and the young turtle had remained in a stoic silence all the while. Splinter's whiskers twitched, and he prayed for patience.

"I take it you know what is wrong with your brother," he said quietly, also electing to keep his eyes on Michelangelo who was decent enough not to acknowledge the conversation.

Leo shifted, but that was all.

Splinter allowed his shoulders to drop. "It is a very delicate thing, knowing when and when not to intervene. I have recently come to a very disturbing realization … Would you like to know what it is?"

With this he turned his eyes down on his son who peeked back meekly. Splinter took this as a yes.

"You have grown up," he said, a hint of sadness escaping through his voice that he did not mean to release. "You and your brothers have experienced much of life's trials and then some. You have learned a lot from these experiences and I know I can trust you all to make … fairly responsible decisions. You are practically young men. And as a parent at this stage in your lives, I admit it is difficult for me to know where my boundaries are, when I should step in and lead you by the hand, and when I should allow you to make discoveries on your own."

He tugged on his beard and stared deeply as his youngest dropped spoon-sized dollops of cookie dough onto a baking sheet. "With Raphael especially, sometimes I cannot be sure …"

He bowed his head in thought and then turned his eyes on his son. "He frightens me," he admitted, careful not to let his gaze falter as Leonardo's blue eyes scanned him for hints of weakness. He noticed too that Michelangelo peeked over at him upon this confession. "Do you know why?"

Leo shook his head.

"It is because he reminds me of myself."

"You were like Raph?" Mikey said.

Splinter graced him with a smile and nodded. "I used to be quite an aggressive young man, determined, protective, proud certainly, and also very angry, most specifically when Oroku Saki turned on our clan. My father was a very strict man. And whenever I lost my temper, he was quick to teach me a very harsh lesson, and I vowed I would not be the same with my own children. But it seems we all say this about our parents—are so determined not to be the way they were with us. But since I began raising the four of you, I have come to better appreciate my father and the way he and my mother raised me. I was very fortunate. And only now do I know the battles that they must have gone through to make me who I am today."

He shifted and glanced toward his eldest. "You see, my sons, for us fathers who only wish to see happiness in our children, it is very painful to watch you struggle. My duty to you and your brothers is to make sure you live your lives with purpose and are fulfilled and content, and seeing as there is not much else for me to do, you can imagine that when I see you are all unsettled and fighting with one another it makes me feel that I have failed you."

Leonardo blinked and straightened his back. "No you haven't, Sensei. You … You're a great father."

"Yeah," Mikey said. "I mean, at least three out of four of us turned out alright."

Splinter smiled. "Everyone has their moments, Michelangelo. I ask you not to be so hard on your brother. But I thank you. I cannot tell you what it means to hear this from you both. But I am very aware that having such a title automatically makes it difficult for you and your brothers to speak to me about certain things." He watched his eldest son out of the corner of his eye as Leo's cheeks acquired a blush and his eyes fell to the table.

"Of course," he looked forward again, "I would never force any of you to talk about anything you do not wish to discuss. But I hope you know that, when a certain amount of tension befalls this household, I must do something about it, even if it is very little. And in order to do this, I must know what is happening."

Splinter glanced back down at Leonardo whose blue eyes looked about as ready to speak honestly as Raph's had moments ago. Internally, the great rat sighed, but he kept his eyes focused and his spine straight, assuring himself that he was doing the right thing. Part of growing up was learning how to make decisions, and they could not do that if he insisted on making those decisions for them. So he waited.

"N- … Nothing's happening, Sensei," Leonardo whispered feebly, his eyes still staring uneasily at the table.

Splinter couldn't deny the rush of disappointment that hit his heart with a certain amount of pain, but he remained composed. He glanced toward his youngest who quickly occupied himself with his cookies again. Splinter nodded.

"I see," he said, pulling on his beard. "Your brother had very much the same response. Though, I should admit, after his actions this morning I find that rather hard to believe."

He peeked again. Leo tensed, but didn't respond. He found it rather humorous, actually, that his two rivaling sons were working so well together to keep their silence. He wondered if they were aware of this pact that they seemed to have created.

"I will not press you forward, my son," Splinter said. "Being a parent also entails a certain amount of faith, and from me you have earned that. I simply ask for your assurance that, should you find the situation becoming too overwhelming, you will not be afraid to ask for my assistance."

The young turtle bowed his head respectfully though he still did not look up. "Hai, Sensei," he said. After a shaky pause he added, "Thank you."

Splinter allowed himself another smile. Whoever said being a father was an easy job was a liar.

"Sensei?"

"Yes, my son?"

Leonardo's eyes shifted restlessly and he twisted his fingers together. "Can I go now?"

Again, Splinter found himself sighing but let none of the exhaustion pass through his voice. "As long as you promise me one last thing."

Leo finally looked up at him, a glimmer of anxiety crossing his eyes.

Splinter's gaze darted toward Michelangelo who had begun to hum again, and he lowered his voice. "You must at least try one of your brother's cookies," he whispered.

The anxiety left Leonardo with a blink, but it was replaced instantly by a grimace of revulsion. The young turtle glanced toward his younger brother and lowered his voice too. "Sensei," he said. "Did you see what he put in that stuff?"

The great rat held down his smile. He rolled his shoulders back. "Leonardo," he said sternly. "I held you in my arms for many years. I sang you to sleep, wiped your tears away, defeated every monster that hid itself beneath your bed. The least you could do is agree to my condition now." In a murmur he added, "Do not make me face the obscure trials of your brother's baking by myself."

At this Leonardo finally flashed a smile, and it released a few knots of tension from the rat's muscles. "Hai, Sensei. I guess I can stomach one."

"You are a brave warrior." He bowed his head. "You may go."

Mikey placed his cookie sheet in the oven and washed the flour off of his hands and plastron. Leo was gone when he turned around, but Splinter had pulled the turtle's untouched tea toward him and was sipping it himself now. Mikey pursed his lips to the side as he watched him.

"Can't you just lock them in separate rooms or something?"

Splinter looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Who?"

"Leo and Raph … I mean like, for a week or something."

The rat chuckled. "That would be very cruel of me, would it not? I could not imagine locking any of my children in their rooms for a week."

Mikey shrugged. "I guess not."

Splinter smiled and then murmured into his mug, "Why don't you go and make sure they are not starting anymore arguments."

Mikey beamed. He loved it when Splinter entrusted him to be the one to spy in his brothers for him. "Hai, Sensei."

He bowed quickly and then bounced out of the room.

At this point, he wasn't sure what he expected to find when he strolled out into the common room—maybe April talking to Karai if Leo pulled Donnie away to his lab, maybe the four of them sitting in the pit watching TV, maybe just Karai and Leo having a quiet conversation. But when he stopped at the edge of the pool and stared toward the pit, none of those scenarios were the right one. Instead, the worst of them - the one which he'd hoped by ignoring enough he could make an unlikely probability - had now unfolded itself before his wary blue eyes.

Donnie and April were nowhere in sight. Instead, Leo, Karai, and Raph all took up opposite sides of the pit and had managed to build a thick wall of silence between them that spread a chill of impending doom all the way up the little turtle's arms and through his shell.

He considered for a moment, running to grab Splinter before anything could start, but found himself rooted to his spot, glancing nervously between the three of them as they glared between each other.

No one spoke and no one moved, and Mikey feared that if something didn't happen soon his lungs would bust. It was like they were stuck in the World Championship of staring contests, waiting to see who would blink first.

Though Mikey was already standing outside of their triangle, he took a few hesitant steps back. His throat had gone dry now and his pulse was beating in his ears.

Leo was the first to speak, and his voice sent a violent chill through the air.

"Shouldn't you apologize, Raph?"

"Yeah," Raph said coolly. "Sorry our conversation got cut short earlier, Leo."

"I was talking about Karai."

Raph leaned his weight to the side. "I know. But I don't think you'd like the answer I have for that question."

"Leo."

"So you have nothing to say?" Leo said to Raph, ignoring Karai's call.

"Not to her."

Leo nodded. "Very classy, Raph. You're a real gentleman."

"I try. Maybe Karai has an apology she'd like to make."

"Not on your terms," Karai said, snapping a glare in Raph's direction.

Raph looked back at her casually. "I don't think this is about us, sweetheart."

"Of course it's about you," Leo said. "It's always about you. And when it's not, you make it about you. And you know what? I'm a little sick of it."

"Well, why don't you just say so, Leo?" Raph said. "I was pretty sure this was about you, to be honest." He tossed out his hands to indicate everyone's position in the room. "I mean, you are the one in the middle here."

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter," Karai said.

Raph looked up toward the ceiling as though that was where her voice was coming from. "I don't remember asking for your opinion."

"And I don't remember asking for yours," Leo cut in.

"Thank you," Karai said.

Leo's expression hardened. "Don't."

"Leo, you didn't give me the chance to explain last night."

"Explain what? There was nothing to explain. I saw it all on your face. I'm just a toy to you. I'm just something you can play with, and I don't want to be a part of your game anymore."

"Burn," Raph jeered.

"Shut up."

"After all this time, Leo," Karai said, an actual look of pain in her eyes. "That's really all you believe I think of you?"

"Have you ever given me a reason not to think that?" he shot back.

"Nope."

"Shut up, Raph! Karai, I want to believe that you actually care," Leo said, blue eyes shining. "I do. But every time I put my faith in you, you stab me in the back somehow. And sometimes I think maybe Raph's not all that stubborn, maybe he's just right, because trusting you just keeps getting harder and harder to do."

"I know that. I'm trying, Leo. I am. But the Shredder—"

"Stop blaming everything on that psychotic daddy of yours," Raph said. "Carry some of your own damned weight for once. You were the one that rejected Leo last night, not the Shredder."

Karai wrinkled her nose at him. "Look, Raphael, I get that you don't trust me, and I'm honestly pretty okay with that. But don't put your nose in places it shouldn't be. You're getting really close to crossing a line and you don't want to challenge me like that."

Raph rolled his eyes. "I'm shaking in my shell."

"You should be."

"You want a rematch, princess?" Raph said, tossing his arms out to the side. "Cuz I'm not afraid to go there."

Karai shifted an inch as though she'd actually take him up on that offer, but Leo's voice jerked their standoff to a halt.

"If either of you makes a move I will finish this fight myself," he barked. "What you did was unacceptable, Raph," he added, switching cold blue eyes on his brother.

"Oh, and what she did wasn't?"

Leo's expression fell, but Karai spoke up before he could respond. "It's none of your business, Raphael."

"It is now." Raph scoffed. "I told you, you made it personal. I dunno if you've noticed, princess, but things work a little differently down here. You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us, end of story. When my brothers are concerned, it's all my business."

Leo bared his teeth again. "I told you, you don't own me."

Raph's eyes barely shifted. "I'm aware."

"Then I don't need your protection."

Raph wrinkled his beak at him and tossed his hands up. "Well, by all means then, Fearless." He took a step back. "Handle it."

A moment of hesitation hovered over the room as Karai and Leo refused to make eye contact with each other. Leo's cheeks were burning bright red. He looked like he might run from the room at any moment. Karai was the first to take a breath and sweep her gaze over to the oldest turtle.

"You misunderstood me, Leo," she said. "I like you … I just don't deserve you."

Leo glanced up at her. A spark of obnoxious hope skimmed across his gaze. He had completely softened within seconds. But he couldn't seem to find any words to respond with.

"What's weird is trying to treat you the way you deserve to be treated. We've already established I don't know how to do that. It has nothing to do with you being a mutant. It's just that you're a decent person …" She paused, her eyes grazing the scarred side of his face and then dropping to his arm where she'd bitten him weeks ago. "And I'm not," she finished quietly.

Leo grimaced and opened his mouth to speak, but Raph's voice came out instead. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Leo … You're buying this?"

Leo's eyes snapped back to his brother. "Shut up."

Raph shook his head. "Unbelievable. You are such a sucker."

"You don't have to like her, Raph," Leo said coldly. "But I do. And nothing you say is going to change that."

Raph stared across the pit at Leo with an expression Mikey never would've guessed him capable of, let alone that he'd ever allow. He looked hurt—utterly betrayed, like Leo had just stabbed him in the chest with his katana, and the blade had gone straight through heart and out the other side.