Donatello slept heavily that night. After all, he was completely exhausted after everything that happened. He sat up in bed slowly and caught a glimpse of his key card from the corner of his eye. He still couldn't believe April would go far as to steal from him. Actually, he could totally believe it. When April was convinced of something, she wouldn't stop until she got her answers. It was really going to get her hurt one day.

Donatello grabbed his phone and smiled after seeing the usual good morning messages from Aria. He replied and set his phone down before heading out of his room. He had a lot to do today, but he actually looked forward to training a little. For the first time, he understood how Raphael felt when he just wanted to hit something.

"Oh! H-hey! Good morning, Donnie!" Leonardo greeted after spotting his brother from the kitchen.

"Good morning," Donatello greeted his brothers, feeling slightly guilty for ignoring them yesterday. Surely, they were all curious about what happened after he made such a scene when he left and came back.

"I made your favorite breakfast!" Mikey announced with a smile.

"And hey, here's that comic you wanted to borrow," Raphael added, coming up beside his brother and slapping the comic gently against his shell.

Donatello wasn't sure what was happening exactly, but there were only two options. Either they were buttering him up in hopes he would tell them what happened, or they knew something bad happened already. "…what are you guys doing…?"

Leonardo seemed nervous as his eyes darted around the room and he tapped the kitchen table, "wh-what do you mean? We're not doing anything! But you know, if you want to skip training today, you can totally take it easy. I was just thinking you might need a break."

"…did Master Splinter tell you guys what happened?"

The turtles all glanced at one another and Leonardo stepped towards Donatello. "…yeah. … he told us last night…" he admitted quietly.

Donatello wasn't sure what to say now. So even his brothers knew about his horrible mistake and yet they were trying to be nice. The last thing he wanted to do was break down in front of everyone. However, before he could say a word, Michelangelo had zipped over and thrown his arms around him tight.

"It's okay! Let it out bro!" Mikey whimpered, sniffing back a few tears of his own. "M-Mikey! What happened to the strong united front?!" Leonardo whined slightly. "Remember? We're supposed to be positive so he can stay positive!"

"Let us feel things, you monster!" Michelangelo sniffled again.

"B-but—we have to stay positive for—" Leonardo stumbled over his words and eventually rushed over to Donatello in silence, joining Mikey in hugging his little brother. "Everything is gonna be fine!" He nearly shouted, stern and determined not to shed tears like Mikey.

Raphael cleared his throat and shuffled over to the small huddle, "y-yeah," he added draping his arm over Donatello's shoulders. "So don't worry about noth'n."

At first, Donatello was surprised and he wasn't sure how to respond, but honestly his brothers support was a little overwhelming. His eyes brimmed with tears a bit, but Donatello laughed lightly. "Heh…thanks guys…"

Leonardo and Raphael stepped back after a moment, "and you know, since you're definitely smarter than any doctor she could hire, Aria will definitely be okay." Leonardo insisted with a smile.

"M-Mikey…you can let go now…" Donatello commented, his arms locked at his sides while Michelangelo tightened his grip.

Raphael grabbed Mikey's shell and began to pry his little brother off of Donatello. "I'm here for you!" Mikey sobbed as he was pulled away.

"So what happens now?" Asked Leonardo seriously.

"I'm going to work on curing her. It was my blood that caused this…so I think I'm the key to fixing it. …Lawrence thinks so too."

"We'll do whatever we can to help," Leonardo offered. "If there's anything you need, just let us know."

Donatello nodded his head, "…I appreciate that. For the time being…I'm going to stay with Aria at her family estate. That way, I can work with the latest technology and be close by if anything happens."

"That makes sense," Leonardo agreed. "Master Splinter told us you would probably be away from home for a while."

"…when I told him about it last night, I asked permission to go and work at Arias home."

"I bet it won't be long," Raphael added, "Donnie just had to whip up a quick cure and then he'll be back home."

Donatello chuckled nervously, "yeah, no big deal…" he said sardonically. If this didn't work, he'd have to live with the knowledge that he poisoned and killed his first girlfriend. No pressure at all. "I'm not leaving until later, so can we just ignore all this and go about the day?"

"Sounds like a plan," Raphael replied before pointing at Mikey, "so stop sniveling."

After talking with his brothers, the day went on like any other. They ate, they argued, they trained. Upon leaving the dojo, Donatello had messaged Aria that he was getting ready to pack up and head out. He knew that he wouldn't have to bring much, but he wanted a few things from home at least. One of those things, was Metal Head. Aria was eager to help with his upgrades and Donatello was glad to bring him along.

Saying his goodbyes to his family, Donatello climbed out of the sewers to see Lawrence waiting for him at the end of the alley, opening the car door.

"Aria didn't come?" Donatello asked, always a little uncomfortable when he was alone with Lawrence.

"Miss Aria wanted to finish setting up your bedroom. She insisted that she be the one to do it." Lawrence answered as Donatello got into the car.

Metal head had a little trouble getting into the car without scuffing it a bit, but Donatello praised the robot for his effort to be careful. The turtle sat in silence for some time as

Lawrence drove him towards Arias family estate. "…I…never thanked you for what you did…" Donatello began finally, "…you know, getting Aria to tell me about her disease…"

"I did what I had to do in order to give Miss Aria a better chance at a cure. There is no need to thank me for doing my job." Replied Lawrence.

"Still…I'm grateful," the turtle insisted. "…I know you don't like me much…and probably only tolerate me around Aria because I'm the best shot at curing her…but I am glad she had a rational person by her side for something like this."

"You misunderstand me, Master Donatello. My job is my highest priority. Miss Aria is happy and on her way to a cure. That is all I care about."

Donatello couldn't tell if Lawrence was being truthful. The guy gave off nothing when he spoke. It was odd. "…is Dr. Fetters at the estate already?"

"Dr. Fetters is not going to be staying at the Estate and she will not be working with the blood samples, but you'll have access to all her notes."

"Will I not be working with her?"

"I'm afraid Dr. Fetters is rather tired and is taking this opportunity to retire. She has faith that you'll be able to handle things from here."

Though it was sudden, Donatello didn't know the doctor very well, so he couldn't exactly find it suspicious. "…is she getting a new doctor? I'm not exactly a medic or anything…"

"No need to worry. A new doctor has already been hired, but she will only be around to check in on Miss Arias health. She will not be helping with your research."

While Lawrence spoke, they pulled up to the gates and Donatello looked out the window to see the mansion in the distance. The condos were grand, but this place actually looked more like a palace. Another reminder of why her nickname was the princess of New York.

"You're finally here!" Aria greeted once Lawrence opened the door for Donatello to exit the car. Of course, she had been waiting for quite some time.

"It took longer to get here than I thought," Donatello replied, already feeling a bit overwhelmed. "…this place is…quite big. Is it really just the three of us staying here?"

Aria shook her head, "there is the chef as well. So…oh, I guess that's not much more. Well, don't worry, if it feels too big, you can always invite your brothers! Even if they took their own rooms, we'd still have fifteen or so guest rooms."

Donatello chuckled nervously, "you really are a little princess, aren't you?"

Aria blushed lightly. Usually, it wasn't a nickname she enjoyed, but she didn't mind at all when he said it. "Come on, dear Prince, I'll show you and Metal Head to your new room."

Lawrence watched silently as Aria pulled Donatello up the stone steps and towards the large double doors. He pulled out his phone and glanced at a text that was sent during the drive. Instead of writing back, he dialed a number and waited.

"Thank you for the hard work," Lawrence said into the phone. "Now, make sure Mr. O'Neil is comfortable and I'll take care of the rest."

Without waiting for a reply, Lawrence ended the call and tossed the phone on the ground before stomping on it and breaking the screen.

While Lawrence disposed of his phone, Aria had already led Donatello up the large staircase of the west wing. "—and there's a swimming pool on the first floor, and the hedge maze outback is pretty cool. We have tennis courts, but I can have a basketball court put in if you like! Also, there's this big greenhouse where we can have meals! My mother had lunches there a lot. I always wanted to share a meal with you there! Oh! There's also—"

"—I'm sure we can take a tour later," Donatello interrupted with a smile. Aria had a habit of going on like this when she was nervous. "You'll just have to stay with me so I don't get lost."

Aria beamed and hugged his arm tight, "of course I'd stay with you, where else would I want to be?"

Donatello smiled at her, but as she continued to explain the rooms and the things they could do there, his thoughts drifted. She looked perfectly healthy right now, but who knew how long that would last. Lawrence said they anticipated a six month deadline. Did they really have time to be idle right now?

"…so where is the lab where I'll be working?" He asked, not realizing he had interrupted her.

"Huh? Oh, we had a workspace set up on the third floor. Lawrence said it's sound proof and fully equipped with everything you need. Before we get to that though, I wanted to show you how I set up your room. I—-"

"—I think it's best if I get started right away." Donatello insisted. "Can you have Metal-Head sent up there for me?"

A bit taken aback, Arias smiled faded slightly. "…of course," she replied, forcing her smile to return.

"I can lead you to your workspace if you wish, Master Donatello," offered Lawrence as he stepped into the hall. "In which case, I'll be able to give you a proper overview of the research we have so far."

"That's great! Thanks Lawrence. The sooner we get started the better!" He replied before turning to Aria with a smile and grasping her hands. "Don't worry about a thing. I'm going to fix all this. I promise."

Aria smiled back, "I'm not worried. Just…don't work yourself too hard…"

Donatello wanted to tell her not to worry about him, but it would be a useless request. Instead, he nodded and turned to follow after Lawrence. The sooner he got to work, the faster he could find a way to help Aria. All the misfortune in her life was caused by meeting him, so Donatello was determined to make it up to her.

Once they reached the labs doors, Lawrence showed Donatello the code to get inside and they set to work. Lawrence made sure to inform Donatello where everything could be found and even pointed out to the turtle that there was a bedroom attached to the lab for sleep if he decided to work through the night. Donatello was in awe of the equipment that he would have never been able to get his hands on before. Surely, with all this, he could find a cure.

"Are all the blood samples in the cooler up to date?" Donatello asked Lawrence as he Arias medical records on the desk.

"Yes. Miss Aria gave a fresh batch of blood just this morning as well. Now, if you need anything, use the intercom. I'll have your meals delivered when it's time to eat."

Donatello was only half listening now, but he nodded in response. He knew that Lawrence wanted him to work hard as well. After all, they both cared about Aria. With the goal of saving Arias life, Donatello went straight to work. He was using Metal-Head as his assistant now and taking his own blood to test against Arias. It would have been far more helpful to test his blood on another human, but that was only a passing thought for the turtle and immediately dismissed.

He poured over documents and medical books, trying to make sure he didn't miss a single thing. After all, there wasn't room for error. He was comparing samples of Arias blood and his own when he heard the lab door swoosh open. However, Donatello didn't bother looking up from his microscope and waved his hand.

"Just leave the food over there, Lawrence, thanks." He said dismissively, too drowned in his work to bother with eating right now.

"…it's me," Aria answered quietly as she stepped into the room.

The sound of her voice was enough to force Donatello to finally look up. Aria was standing in the doorway with a silver tray of coffee and cookies. She'd changed into her purple, button up shirt and shorts pajamas, which also forced him to look at the clock. It was nearly midnight. Had time really gone so quickly.

"Oh…Aria, you didn't have to…" he began, standing from his desk to greet her.

"I insisted that I would be the one to bring you some food this time…and it's a good thing I did…" she trailed off, glancing at the work table that already had three trays of uneaten food. "…you haven't eaten a thing."

"I got a little caught up. …I mean, I have to catch up with Dr. Fetters six years of research and—"

"—it's so late already," Aria interrupted, "shouldn't you eat something and get some sleep?"

Donatello sighed and looked over his shoulder at the work he'd already done. It didn't seem like nearly enough. "…I should keep working. I barely scratched the surface of this, you know?"

Aria frowned and placed the tray of coffee down on a nearby counter. "You barely started. This stuff will be here tomorrow. It's important that you take care of yourself."

"Aria, this is important," Donatello insisted. "I'm used to not sleeping much when I'm working on a project."

The heiress seemed unhappy with his response and stomped towards him in her soft purple slippers. Donatello panicked a bit and quickly removed his gloves, tossing them into the biohazard container. He'd done this just fast enough to make sure that Aria didn't touch the gloves when she reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Aria! I was testing blood samples just now. You shouldn't be exposed to more of this stuff. What if you get sicker?!" He exclaimed in concern, planting his feet on the floor as Aria attempted to pull him towards the door.

"I don't care," she replied, trying her best to make Donatello budge. "You need your rest!"

The turtle felt a little sorry for Aria as he watched her strain herself to pull him forward. She really wasn't very strong. "…come on, don't push yourself. Your heart…"

Aria stopped and took a breath, "than don't make me work so hard," she snapped stubbornly. "Just let me take you to your bedroom."

"Look, there's a room attached just over there. I can sleep in that bed when I get too tired." "You can't just work constantly. You have to take breaks. …I was looking forward to eating in the garden with you today. …it was pretty lonely with you cooped up in here…"

Donatello felt at a loss now. Of course he didn't want to upset Aria, but he was doing this to save her life. Wasn't that more important? Once she was cured, they could do whatever she wanted, but he couldn't just sit and have a picnic while he knew she was suffering and he could be working to fix it. "…I just want to make you better…"

"…I don't like this house," she replied with a frown, "but I agreed to come back here because Lawrence said you'd be staying with me."

Donatello rubbed the back of his neck, "…well…this was just the first day," he relented, offering Aria an apologetic smile. "I still want to focus on working, but I promise I won't shut myself in here too much."

"…really?"

"Yeah. …I just get caught up in my work, you know? Especially when it's important like this." In all honesty, he wanted to argue with Aria that this was more pressing than meeting for lunches, but he'd already caused her so much grief. His guilt made it difficult to refuse her.

Aria smiled now, "okay, so does that mean I can ask you for something right now?"

"You wanna eat in the garden right now?"

"Not that," she shook her head, "I want you to come to my room and get some sleep."

Though he doubted that he would be able to sleep, the turtle figured that once Aria fell asleep, he could come back to the lab and work. She may get a little angry with him in the morning, but Aria was rather bright. Surely, she would forgive him when she started to see progress on her cure. "Sure."

Her smile brightened and she took his hand again. "Perfect! You know, I even had matching pajamas tailored for you. …and some more clothes…" she admitted as they walked towards the exit. "I mean, you don't have to wear the clothes…but I bought a lot that I thought you would look good in. I may…admittedly have gone a little overboard…" Aria added with a blush.

Donatello chuckled, though honestly a little nervous if even Aria thought she went overboard. It truly must have been a lot of clothes. "Let's just…worry about that another day."

"Agreed," Aria nodded, stopping once they finally reached her bedroom door.

When they went inside, he noticed Aria become considerably nervous. He wondered why until the reached the bed and Aria stopped him before he could lay down. She'd grabbed his arm, but had her head down. If it weren't for her ears turning a shade of pink, he wouldn't know she was blushing.

"Aria?"

"What about…a goodnight kiss?" She asked, lifting her head to meet his eyes.

"Oh!" Donatello squeaked out as his own cheeks burned. It's not as if they hadn't kissed before, but it still made his heart skip when she asked him for something like that. He just never seemed to expect it. "Y-yeah…of course."

Aria beamed once again and sat herself on the side of the bed, looking up at Donatello with anticipation. "Oh, wait!" She exclaimed, loosening up the top few buttons of her pajama top.

"Why would you—?" Donatello started in a panic, quickly reaching down to redo the buttons.

"I just thought it would encourage you to be a bit more daring…" Aria pouted as Donatello fixed her top.

His heart was beating in rapid succession now. Aria was so forward and honest, it was often too much for his heart to handle. He was sure that steam was wafting from him face as he couldn't help glancing at her chest now. "You—Aria…that's—you shouldn't just—" Donatello fumbled over his words. He wasn't even sure what he was trying to say.

"I'm not the only one that wants our physical relationship to progress…am I?" Asked Aria, pretending to be hurt by his response. "…of course…if you don't find me attractive enough…"

"That's impossible!" Donatello choked out, leaning down to place his hands on Arias shoulders. "You're-you're beautiful! But—it's—it's dangerous!" He insisted in a bashful panic.

"Dangerous?" Aria repeated, feigning ignorance. "…dangerous how?"

Donatello swallowed a lump in his throat as he stared into Arias eyes. He knew she was pretending in order to get her way, but her curious gaze sent shivers down his shell. "Cause… you know…" he began, muttering and averting his eyes to the side. "…you shouldn't tease me. I'd like to think I have quite a bit of self control, but—"

"—I'm not teasing you," insisted Aria, slightly offended by the assumption. "Is it so wrong that I want my handsome boyfriend to kiss me and touch me? It's not like this is a passing whim…I've had a lot of time to think about it. …years in fact…" she mumbled at end.

She was always surprising him. Always straight forward and honest with her feelings. Yet, when these situations came up, Donatello was reminded of his insecurities. Aria was like an angel in his eyes. Willing to forgive all his faults and looking past his mutated appearance. She didn't even blame him for her misfortunes in life, even though she had every right to hate him. She just kept flying higher and higher from his reach. He didn't deserve someone like her. Not after all he'd done to her. He knew that much. She deserved so much better than someone who was callous enough to simply forget her. He'd been thinking about it ever since he found out about her illness. Once Aria was cured, he would do the right thing…and he'd let her go. So how could he progress in their relationship like she wanted? It would only make it harder for him to leave.

"Aria…we should…wait…" he suggested awkwardly. "…I'm too worried about your health…so…"

Aria seemed as if she wanted to argue, but she sighed and offered Donatello a smile, "…I suppose I'm being a little hasty…" she admitted with a blush. Of course, her haste was based on the fact she didn't have much time left, but she didn't want to bring that up again and make Donatello think she didn't have faith in him. "Will you still kiss me goodnight?"

It ached at Donatello's heart to think he'd have to give up on this love. Especially when Aria smiled up at him so sincerely. "…of course." He replied, getting down on one knee to match their height as she sat on the edge of the bed. He placed his hand against her cheek gently and leaned in to kiss her lips. His heart ached once more. How many times would he get to kiss her, before he said goodbye?