I'm so sorry for not updating in time. I just wasn't finished yet... Real life had me in its grasp and I couldn't escape. But in exchange I'm providing you with a longer story than usual, so I hope you guys aren't too angry with me.

Enjoy!

00000

Safe?

For about ten seconds it was totally quiet.

"Well, that was… Weird," Casey concluded, still standing rooted to the spot. Raph nodded. "Uh-uh." He looked around the room, where all the knocked-down and blown-away furniture was still littered around the room. Blood, from one of them or their attackers, stained the floor and smoke from the explosion still trailed slowly out of cracks in their ceiling. His gaze went to the door of the infirmary, and the blackened wall around it as he visualized what the situation was inside. Two injured brothers, one he needed more than he liked to admit and one he cared for more than anything else on this whole world, were out of commission just because of one wicked man. Suddenly all of his anger came back to him. "What tha freakin' shell just happened?" he called out, throwing up his hands in frustration. Immediately a painful cry in the form of a curse escaped him when his injured arm didn't do what he wanted it to do. With a grimace he clutched it tightly. "Did we really just made a deal with that guy?"

For a second it was quiet, until Don gave a sigh. "We didn't have much of a choice, did we?"

"We coulda pounded that guy into oblivion and fight off everyone coming at us! You've got an awesome security system and we coulda called in some reinforcements! We -"

"You were there too, Raph! You knew there wasn't another option!" Don interjected. "We've got two brothers we had to protect. We..We.."

"Ya couldn't take tha risk," Casey finished for him. Don gave a defeated nod, without ripping his gaze off Raph. "You agreed with me, right?"

Looking away frustrated, Raph bit his lip. "Yeah. Of course." He rubbed his injured arm. "It's just... I hate that guy. I really wanna punch that friggin' self-assured smirk off his friggin' face. And I don't trust him."

Don barked out a laugh. "Well, that makes two of us." He regripped the precious vial in his hand a little tighter, knowing they had to undertake action. "But I have trust in this truce."

"Seriously?" Casey commented. "Dude, tha guy knows where ya live. How do ya know he's not gonna bust in again?"

"If he wanted to kill or capture us, he would have done that. You've seen how many men he had there. It just wasn't his objective," Don answered, looking at the still peeved faces of Raph and Casey. When he saw their expression change into a quizzical look, he decided to lay out his thoughts. "Look, whether he likes it or not, we are pretty useful for him. Any enemy of the country is basically also our enemy. We take out thugs, gangs, aliens and whatever comes our way, and he takes profit out of that. We can't take the credit, so he does," he elaborated. Turning on his heels, he walked towards the infirmary, slowing down his pace so Raph and Casey were next to him. "His biggest problem is us interfering. When we see him doing something we don't trust, we take him down, since we know he's a threat for the world. We mess up his plans and he's tired of it."

"Well, yeah," Raph said, thinking Don's hypothesis over. Don gave him a sad smile. "So he needed a plan where he could achieve his goal: letting us do our thing, but stay out of his business. And although it wasn't really planned, today he took that chance. By poisoning Leo, he had an asset, and he knew we had to give in. It was all just a big plan, just laying around to be executed."

Casey sped up his pace and turned to Don. "Dude, how in the world did ya figure that out?"

Don gave a shrug. "It's just an assumption. But this is the most logical explanation."

Raph grunted from frustration. "That bastard! And now he also knows where we live. We've.. We…" He stopped talking when he heard Don scoff. "What?"
Don looked up to him, a frown on his face. "I bet he already knew. But he just waited for the right moment." He barked out a tired laugh. "Heck, maybe he was the one who put Leo on our doorstep."

Raph's eyes grew wide. "No friggin' way! That's bull, Don!"

"We don't know, Raph. It's just guessing right now." Don gave a sigh. "But we'll get to that later if it's necessary. Now we have more important matters to take care off."

Suddenly there was a hard pounding. "Yo, babe. It's us, open up!" Casey yelled as he knocked on the door. Raph stepped forward and punched Casey on his shoulder. "Dude, ya've woken up whole New York by now, ya moron!"

"Well, everyone knows where yer livin' right now, so I guess that's not a problem, doofus!" Casey retorted. Don stepped in between. "Guys, there are two injured bros in there. A little bit of rest and peace is required. Could you please -"

At that moment the door opened and April glanced them over. "What happened? Is it over?" she asked, while looking at the mess behind them. "Where's Bishop?"

"They left," Raph replied grumpily and he stepped past her. Noticing her confused face, Don fell in, "It's a long story, but we kinda made a deal. We leave him alone, he leaves us alone."

"Just like that?"

"Something like that. But I'll fill you in later," Don said as he also stepped into the room. "More important things first." His gaze went through the room, where the situation hadn't changed much. Leo was still out of it, laying sweatily and trembling on the cot, his breath coming out in ragged, hushed breathes. April had put a wet cloth on his forehead to provide him some comfort, but it didn't seem to help much. Mikey was still on the floor, his head now resting on a folded blanket, presumably from the pile Mikey had deposited there earlier this evening. An ice pack with a towel around it covered the cut on his head, but unfortunately it didn't help much, since it was already bloodsoaked. April saw him looking. "I'm sorry. This is all I could do to make him comfortable. Once we've closed that awful wound, we really should move him to a bed. This cold floor doesn't improve his situation."

Raph, who was knelt down next to his youngest brother, knitted his brow in worry. "So… Why haven't ya stitched him up already?" he asked, more curiously anxious than anything else. Carefully he lifted up the bloody towel and he sucked in a breath through his teeth by the look of the injury. Casey looked over his shoulder, scrunching up his face. "That's gotta hurt so bad when he wakes up," he commented sympathetically.

April gave Raph a small smile. "Because I couldn't find a suture needle." She turned to Don. "I assume you've got some extra in your lab?"

Remembering he had used the last one a couple of weeks ago, Don closed his eyes in exasperation. "Shell. I totally forgot to restock those." He sighed heavily. "Yes, they're in my lab, in the red cabinet. I'll -"

"Chill, Donnie," Casey cut in as he turned to Don and April. "Ya'll worry 'bout other things. I'll get yer stuff. Need more?"

Shaking his head, Don gave him a grateful smile. "No, not right now. Thanks." He watched Casey walk away and switched his gaze back to the floor, where Raph was softly debbing Mikey's head with the towel, his eyes filled with worry. Knowing his little brother would be fine in Raph's hands, Don turned his head towards the bed, and immediately his heart sank even further. The pained expression on Leo's face made it obvious the oldest was suffering. Just looking at him made Don feel scared and uncertain, like he didn't know what to do. He needed his brother - he couldn't make all the big decisions himself. That was Leo's job, taking the difficult choices out of their hands. Whatever the case, their big brother carried this burden with pride to shield his younger brothers from the harm a wrong choice could give. Or to prevent them from feeling the massive amount of guilt that was resting on his shoulders when something went wrong.

Walking up to the cot, Don stopped next to it and put his hand affectionately on Leo's head, moving his thumb slowly up and down. He felt the slight fever that was running through his already battered body and Don gave a sigh. He never actually realised how much Leo did for them until now. He had always looked up to his oldest brother, but also simply had taken him for granted. The big brother who always took the right decisions at the right moment was always there and just carried out his job as a leader and an older brother naturally. Don had never had felt the burden Leo was bearing until this moment with Bishop. He knew there wasn't much of a choice, but did he made the right decision here? How much he wished Leo could provide him with an answer. But now the big, strong brother he always relied upon was getting weaker by the minute and it was up to him to make a choice again. Was Bishop telling the truth about the cure? And how long did Leo had for real? Don hardly believed his brother still had the thirtyeight hours Bishop had told him about. Giving the ailing turtle one fast look, and you knew he was almost at his end.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to the side. A sad smiling April looked at him, showing him his own notes. "There's not much I could do with it. You indeed are missing a component, which -"

"- I probably have here," Don finished for her, holding out his hand, revealing the vial with the light green liquid. Confused April looked at it. "How…" She shook his head, knowing there was not much time. "Nevermind. Just… Are you sure it could be the right cure?"

Biting his lip, Don gave a small sigh. "We're about to find out." He shifted his gaze to Leo again, convincing himself he could leave him for a little while as long as Raph stayed. "I-I could use your help in the lab, April."

"Yo! Aren't ya fergettin' somethin'?" Raph suddenly called out, not angry or whatsoever. He had turned his head to look at the standing two. "Ya can't leave Mike like this. He's bleedin' way too much fer that."

"Wait. You know how to stitch, right?" April asked him. Raph gave a huff. "Yeah, but I need two hands fer that. Unfortunately I'm only capable to use one at tha moment."

Aprils eyes widened. "What? You're injured too?" she asked worried as she walked towards him. Now Raph's eyes narrowed in frustration. "I'm gonna be fine, Ape! It's Mike and Leo we've gotta take care of right now. Leo's practically dyin', and if we don't do somethin' fast, Mikey's life could be in danger too. Shell, I don't even know what his friggin' condition is right now." Quickly he flashed a glance to Don, who looked like he could barely holding it together. There was just too much going on at the same time and Raph knew how Don felt: torn between the choice of caring for his brothers. But Raph also knew there wasn't a choice at all. Don was the only one who actually could do something for Leo, since Raph knew nothing about chemicals and medicines. Shell, there also wasn't really much he could do for Mikey at the moment, but keeping virgil was something he was capable off.

Feeling bad for his younger brother, Raph let out a calming sigh. Him getting angry wasn't what Don deserved, since he did absolutely great dealing with Bishop not so long ago. Raph knew without Don the situation would be totally different, in the negative meaning of the word. "Okay, here's tha plan," he started, taking the lead. "Donnie, start checkin' that stuff. If ya don't trust it, tell me and I'm gonna kick Bishop's ass. April, ya need ta stitch up Mike, since Casey simply can't and I'm unable to. When done, yer gonna help Don with whatever he needs yer help with. Deal?"

"Yeah, deal!" Casey called as he walked in. His face revealed he had no clue what Raph had been saying, but his little outburst had a positive effect on the situation. Getting a small grin on his face, Don nodded. "Yes, deal." He paused a moment. "When something's up, I want to know immediately though."

"'Course, Brainiac. Now move yer shell ta yer fancy equipment and fix Leo. As soon as April's finished 'ere she's comin' yer way, and Case and I take care of Mike," Raph answered, leaving no room for discussion.

Don nodded. "Got it," he said, glad he didn't have to make all of the decisions himself. He shot Leo one more look. I'm going to fix you, bro. I promise, he mentally pledged. Turning his body, he looked at Mikey, wishing he could do more for him at the moment. Unfortunately he couldn't split himself up and Leo needed him more at the moment. I'm so sorry, little brother. I'll make this up to you. With a heavy heart, he grabbed his notes and walked out of the infirmary.

"Good," Raph said, happy things were getting into motion. He looked at Casey. "Found it?"

"Yup," the man answered and he hold out some sterile packages with suture needles with the wire already attached to it. April took it from him from her knelt position on the floor. "Thanks. Could you hand me the kit on top of the counter, please?"

"Sure thing, babe." Reaching out, Casey grabbed the small black case and gave it to her. Careful April placed it next to her and unzipped it. Getting the right supplies, she looked at Raph. "I need you to give me some extra light."

Raph nodded as he reached into a drawer, pulling out a flashlight. April chuckled, since she expected something more advanced. "That should work."

Giving her a grin, Raph turned on the light, shining the beam on Mikey's head. "Like this?"

Carefully April removed the towel containing the icepack. To her relief, the swelling had reduced a bit, but the injury still looked awful. Despite the sickeningly look, April nodded. "Perfect."

As April cleaned the wound a bit more, Raph looked up. "Case, can ya keep an eye on Leo?"

"Got it," Casey answered as he took Don's stool and rolled it to the bed. He totally digged the comfortable folding chairs, but in this way he could get up immediately might it be necessary.

"Although working on the floor isn't the best way, this should do it," April said softly, looking from the clean wound to Mikey's closed eyes. She didn't like it at all. Mikey should be bouncing in and out of every room, half panicking, half relieving the tension, helping out his brothers where he could. He shouldn't be the one lying out cold on the floor, being unnatural still. Silently she gave him an affectionate stroke over the back of his head as to comfort him, before turning to the red-banded turtle in front of her. "Raph, might he wake up, keep him as still as possible. Knowing Mikey's wild ways, he could only make matters worse." After receiving a nod, she wiped away some new blood with a sterile gauze and pierced Mikey's skin with the needle, working with expert precision to close the wound as neat as possible.

IIIII

Don leaned back from his microscope and looked at his notes again. Tapping his pencil on the table he went through it again, making small adjustments as he went.

"Hey, Donnie. Sorry it took a while," a feminine voice suddenly sounded from behind him. Don looked up and gave her a smile. "Hey. How's everything in the infirmary?"

"Relatively good. Leo's condition didn't worsen, so that's good I guess. Mikey's been stitched up and we carefully moved him to his own bed, where Casey's keeping an eye on him. Raph's with Leo," April explained briefly. Don gave a nod. "Did Mike woke up yet?"

Sadly April shook her head. "No, not even a stir. He's really out of it." She bit her lip. "But he's going to be fine. It's Mikey we're talking about," she tried. Don gave a snort. "But still... He's my little brother. I should be there for him. I -"

April put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Donnie, you are there for him. By helping Leo. You're doing a hell of a job here. And Mikey knows." She gave him a warm smile. "Everyone knows."

Don put his hands in his neck and closed his eyes. "It's still messed up. This just shouldn't have happened."

"Well, it did," she stated firmly, but gently. "And now we're going to fix this." She took an empty stool and sat next to him. "So whatchu got?"

Giving her a smile as a thank you for being so direct, Don grabbed his pencil again. "I've checked everything and what Bishop gave seems legit." He showed her his notes, explaining everything he had found. "It all seems perfectly fine, but I really would appreciate it if you could double check it for me. I can't afford making any mistakes."

Looking at the notes, April gave a nod. "Got it." She turned her head. "How about you are getting some coffee."

Don gave her a frown. "I don't wa -"

"For me," she interrupted. "You know how I like it." Raising her eyebrows, she gave him a fierce stare, he couldn't ignore. "Fine," he gave in, knowing she did this more to give him a little break, which he actually appreciated. With a suppressed groan he got to his feet and took a second extra to actually rise up, setting off April's alarm bells. "How hurt are you?" she asked directly. Don looked at her a little surprised. "I'm okay," he said. "Probably a cracked rib or something. Don't worry though." He turned around, but got stopped by an hand around his wrist. "I know you have to be there for your brothers, but just look a bit after yourself, Donnie. Please."

He smiled assuringly. "I will. But first things first." He gently took back his arm. "Like your coffee. Be right back." Giving a small wink he walked out of his lab, leaving April who shook her head disapprovingly. As Don walked around the corner, she smiled softly, knowing her boys would never change. Feeling strangely proud, she shoved the notes towards her and started to check it, hoping the vial would indeed contain the right antidote.

IIIII

For like the hundredth time in almost two hours, Raph looked at the digital clock in the infirmary. Frustrated he put a hand to his head, rubbing his skull. He could not stand the thick silence which was disturbed by Leo's irregular and harsh breathing pattern. Heck, he could not stand Leo at the moment. Why in the friggin' world did he had to go out tonight? And run into friggin' Bishop? And getting shot by a friggin' poisonous dart?

"Why, bro?" he asked softly. "Ya just should've let him do his thing." He gave a huff and then snorted. Who was he kidding… He would have done the exact same thing. Revising his thoughts, he put a hand on Leo's trembling arm. It wasn't Leo himself he couldn't stand, it was this whole situation. Finding his big brother wounded and poisoned on their doorstep, the attack on their home, the explosion that took out the youngest, that bastard of a government agent, that stupid truce he did not trust and now the oldest' condition that got worse. Raph looked him over again and sighed in slight defeat. Leo was in agony and he couldn't do anything about it. Just sitting passively on the sidelines, waiting for something to happen.

Looking at the clock again, Raph groaned in frustration. Precious time was ticking away. He knew Don and April were doing their absolute best, but he couldn't stand it anymore. A couple of times he wanted to get up and walk over to the lab to ask Don how he was progressing, but he didn't want to leave Leo alone. And calling out him would only create panic, so he remained silent, keeping a close eye on his oldest brother.

IIIII

Comparing the different microscopic test results one more time, April peeped up from the advanced equipment. "This is it, Donnie."

Looking up from the notes, Don nodded reluctantly. "It should. I also can't find anything that could be wrong with it. All of our conclusions lead to the same thing." He flipped one of the pages and scanned the formulas again. Giving him a look, she saw the doubt in his eyes. "Don, we've quintuple-checked the results. There's no other conclusion than it's legit."

Sighing tiredly, Don shook his head. "But there has to be something fishy with it! I got this from Bishop… It can't be right…" Although they just made an agreement, Don still didn't trust the guy. He was their enemy for many years now, so why all of a sudden? Yes, he had his hypothesis, but he could not be a hundred percent sure about that. It was just too good to be true. He got jerked out of his thoughts by a warm hand on the back of his head. "Don," April started. "We could check it ten more times, but the results stay the same. All we do is waste time. Time Leo doesn't have."

It stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, until Don shoved the notes away from him. "You're right. Instead of distrusting Bishop, I've got to trust us. We've got this." He carefully stood up from his stool and walked to one of the drawers with medical supplies. Grabbing two wrapped sterile syringes, he turned to April. "Get the antidote. We're gonna cure Leo."

IIIII

Hearing some noise coming from their living room, Raph jumped up. In one swift movement he grabbed his sai out of his belt and stood in a defensive position in front of the cot. Knowing it would be ridiculous someone would attack again, Raph didn't want to take risk. Listening in, he heard two pairs of footsteps, one from low heels, the other one unmistakably Donnie's. Only when he heard a knock on the door and his brother's voice, Raph lowered his sai. Slowly the damaged door opened and Don walked in. "How is he?" he asked, not really taking note of Raph's sai. Raph gave him a foul look. "Ya really need ta ask? Jus' look at him!"

Walking over, Don gave Leo a swift check. The trembling had increased and unfortunately his fever had gone up, though it was manageable. The thing that still worried him most was the deep, rasping respiration, and the still irregular heartbeat.

"So, you've found somethin' ta help him?" Raph asked much calmer, looking from Don to April. April nodded. "Yes. Apparently the antidote Bishop provided is legit. We've checked it multiple times, so there is basically no doubt," she explained matter-of-factly. Raph looked back at Don. "Yer a hundred percent sure? Cuz -"

"Yes, Raph. Like April said we've checked it. All of our conclusions are the same and it should cure him."

"Should?" Raph repeated. Don looked up. "Look, I don't trust Bishop more than you do. But we've researched everything. Even if I was not completely convinced, it's still our only option. It's this, or a very painful death for Leo." For a moment the two brothers looked each other in the eye, until Don held out a full syringe. "If you want to you can check it yourself, but I don't think you'll come up with something other than what April and I concluded."

Raph swallowed and then lowered his shoulders in defeat. "Kay. I trust ya." He gazed over to Leo. "Even if it goes wrong, ya've done everythin' ya could," he added. Don gave a snort, pulling off the protective cap off the syringe. "It's not going wrong." He lined up the needle with one of the visible veins in Leo's arm. Hesitating just a little he pushed the needle through the skin and emptied the syringe into Leo's bloodstream. Pulling back, Don quickly pushed a small gauze on the speck. He saw Raph appear on the other side of the bed and he looked up, giving a small smile. Returning it, Raph added a nod. "Ya did good, Donnie."

"We've just done the easy part. It's now up to Leo," he said sadly, putting a hand on Leo's head. Raph grinned. "Heh, if that's tha case, we're good. That shell-head is way too stubborn ta quit on us."

Don gave a genuine smile back. "Let's hope he is," he said, looking back at Leo, hoping the antidote would do what it had to do. And fast, because he wasn't sure how much more his big brother could take...

00000

So, that's it. I think there will be one more chapter (or two shorter ones) concluding this arc and than I'll continue to write a couple of more oneshots. Unless you guys are like: 'Nooo! Keep writing about this! I want to read some extensive recovering chapters!'. Ah well... :). Oh, since I was a bit late this week, there might be a change I'll be late next week. I'm sorry in advance might this be the case!

Anyway! Please tell me what you thought about the chapter! Reviews make my day!