Part 3


Raph made his way into Donnie’s lab as promised. Stepping inside and looking around, he saw Mikey had already made himself comfortable. For once, though, the turtle-in-orange wasn’t poking or prodding at things in the lab, his attention on the door to the lab, even after Raph had moved away from it. 


“How are you feeling?” Donnie asked, motioning Raph over to the table Mikey had spent the night on. 


“Let’s just get this over with,” Raph said, avoiding answering that particular question because he didn’t really know how to answer it. 


Donnie simply nodded, put on a fresh pair of gloves, before setting up the needle. Raph offered his arm to Donnie and the purple-banded turtle looked at him. 


“Okay, you’re going to feel a slight pinch--” Donnie started.


Raph couldn't stop himself from growling at his brother. 


“Just hurry up already an’ stop actin’ like I’ve never given blood before,” he said, huffing a bit, but he still flinched slightly when Donnie administered the needle. It was moments like this that Raph could fully understand Mikey’s dislike for needles, he himself wasn’t overly fond of them; however he also knew if he fought back he would hurt himself, and most likely Don too, so he held his arm still as he could while the purple banded turtle worked. 


It thankfully only took a few seconds, then Donnie was finished, and was placing a bandage over the still bleeding hole. Raph looked at the syringe then, snorting and rolling his eyes at how much Donnie had taken this time. 


“Yeesh Don, are ya a vampire or somethin’? You tryin’ ta drain me of all my blood?” he joked. 


“This is hardly all your blood, and it’s not like I haven’t taken more before to stock up our supplies,” Donnie said, making quick work of cleaning the area before returning to his work table with the blood sample. 


Raph simply rolled his eyes again and looked over to Mikey, who hadn’t said a word since Raph had walked in. 


“What’s up with him?” Raph asked, looking to Donnie for answers. 


Donnie glanced at Raph, then Mikey and sighed, turning his shell to his brothers again. 


“Leo’s in the dojo talking to Splinter,” he informed Raph. 


This had the red-banded turtle looking quickly to the door of the lab as well, watching it almost as intently as Mikey was. As if expecting to be able to see through the solid metal to the dojo door on the other side of the lair. For the next few minutes the only sound in the lair was Donnie working, or the occasional squeak of a chair as Mikey shifted around in his seat. For Raph it felt like an eternity passed before the door opened and Leo came in. 


“Hey guys,” he said, joining them in the lab. 


Raph heard Mikey sigh, and with a quick glance he saw his younger brother had visibly relaxed. Raph, however, couldn’t make himself relax, waiting to hear what Leo was going to tell them, as he was sure Splinter hadn’t had anything good or helpful to say. 


Leo stayed by the door, looking mainly at Donnie. “How you getting on?” he questioned, Raph refrained from snapping as Leo blatantly ignored his and Mikey’s questioning looks. 


“I’ve taken the blood sample from Raph,” Donnie informed him, turning from his work desk to face Leo. His eyes flickered to Raph, who was shifting to sit further on the table, legs splayed and arms crossed over his chest as he continued staring at Leo. Shaking his head at the pose, Donnie looked back to Leo. 


“I’ve only just had my first look at it, so it’s going to be a while before I have any answers regarding what’s going on, or how that stuff worked to change them,” Donnie said. “I also haven’t had a chance to even look at the data yet.” 


Leo nodded, listening to Donnie’s report, before finally looking at the other two. 


“While Donnie works on that, Sensei wants to start morning training. I…” Leo trailed off, noticing the tense stances from each of his brothers. “He wants me to lead the training session this morning,” he explained. 


“Wait…” Mikey said. “We’re not getting the day off?” 


“I’m afraid not.” Leo gave him and then Raph an apologetic look. “I think, Donnie, you’re first this morning, that way when you’re finished, you can come right back here and get to work. Then Raph, you’re after Don. And, I’m sorry Mikey, you’ll be last today,” Leo said. 


“Fine by me,” Raph shrugged, seeming unphased by the news he’d be training, even with a dislocated arm. However, in reality, Raph knew whether he was on board with the idea or not, he’d be dragged into the dojo, so he decided to look at this as a way to vent his frustrations. 


“Leo, I can’t just…” Donnie started to say but he trailed off with a sigh and shook his head, looking back at the work he'd only just started on. “Alright, I guess it would be better if I went first, then I won’t be interrupted halfway through,” he said, stepping away from his table and grabbing his bo staff from where he’d left it the night before. “You two should probably go hang out somewhere else for now, I’ll come and get you if I find anything later,” he said, following Leo back to the dojo. 


Raph took that as dismissal from the lab, which made sense; he knew Donnie hated anyone in his lab, with the dangerous things he kept in there, while he wasn’t there. He didn’t say anything as he slipped from the table and went to the door of the lab, hearing a chair scrape on the floor as Mikey stood to follow. 


“Raph,” Mikey said as the orange-banded turtle caught up to him. “Do you think Splinter is really angry with us?” 


It was a fair question, but Raph couldn’t help but roll his eyes. 


“He’s makin’ us train with a busted arm and leg. What do you think?” Raph demanded, heading toward the kitchen. “I bet Leo went and told him everything that happened,” Raph grumbled as Mikey continued to follow him. 


“Splinter would have found out anyway, he always does,” Mikey said, moving to the kitchen table. 


He set his crutch against the side of a chair before sitting down, watching as Raph grabbed two bowls and a box of cereal, biting on his lower lip as the red-banded turtle fixed them both something quick to eat. 


“Are you mad?” Mikey hedged. 


Raph paused in what he was doing, looking at Mikey. “Why would I be mad?” he replied. “Just ‘cause my wrist is busted up, we got splinter on high alert, I feel like Donnie took a pint of my friggein’ blood, Leo’s bein’ a pain in the ass, and oh yeah, I’m a fucking girl now!” Raph inhaled sharply turning his shell to Mikey, grabbing one of the bowls, he practically dropped it onto the table in front of the younger turtle before grabbing his own. “No, I ain’t mad, I feel like a million bucks,” he said, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm. 


As he headed to the fridge to get the milk, a sniff caught Raph’s attention. He turned to blink at Mikey. 


“I’m sorry,” Mikey sniffed again, rubbing fiercely at his eyes to stop the heavy flow of tears, however, no matter what he did, it didn’t seem to help as more tears just seemed to replace the one’s cleared away. 


Raph wasn’t a fan of crying, he hated every aspect of it, but mostly he hated that he never knew what to do. If it was him, he’d usually lock himself in his room so others didn’t see him. When other people were crying, he’d usually do the same thing. However, on the rare occasion he was forced to deal with it, all he could think to do was give them a small pat on the shoulder, a reluctant show of concern, or the majority of the time, he’d just stand there in an awkward silence, waiting to see if the problem resolved itself. 


Mikey seemed to be doing his best not to cry too loudly, rubbing at his eyes at first in an attempt to stop the tears, and when that failed, he simply hid his face in his arms, shoulders shaking as his crying seemed to increase in severity. 


Seeing Mikey cry like that put Raph on edge, mostly because it was Mikey, but also because it made Raph feel guilty; he knew it was at least partly his fault the younger turtle was so upset, simply because Raph had taken his bad mood out on him. Overall it wasn’t entirely Mikey’s fault he was having a bad day. 


“Hey, hey,” Raph started, stepping forward and placing a hand on Mikey’s shell, gently rubbing it like he’d seen Leo and Donnie do plenty of times while they were growing up. “Look, it’s okay. It’s just been a really bad day so far. I didn’t mean ta make ya cry, so… I’m sorry, okay?” Raph said, looking around awkwardly, already knowing no one other than Mikey was around to hear his apology, but he still had to make sure. 


Mikey sniffed, lifting his head to look at Raph. 


“I just… I didn’t mean to make this happen, it was an accident, and now… now we’re both girls, and Donnie can’t fix this, and splinter is mad at us and… and…” 


Mikey didn’t seem to be able to get out whatever else he wanted to say, he simply turned in his chair and wrapped his arms around Raph’s waist, his face buried against Raph’s plastron as he cried harder. 


Raph froze, feeling his brother grab onto him, before sighing and wrapping his good arm around him. He didn’t say anything else, just let Mikey have his moment, figuring it was just something Mikey had to get out of his system, and then things would go back to normal. He wracked his brain trying to think of something, anything he could say to make it better, hating that he was so bad at talking, and feelings. If it were Leo or Donnie, they would know what to say to stop their baby brother from being so upset, or at least they’d be able to think of something to distract him. 


Mikey’s cries tapered off on their own, but he didn’t pull away from Raph just yet, his breathing slowly returning to normal. 


“... I don’t want to be a ninja anymore…” he said, taking Raph by surprise. 


“C’mon, ya don’t mean that, and everythin’ else ya said too, Don said he’s gonna fix us, and I don’t know anyone who’s smarter than him,” Raph pointed out. “Donnie also said he might be able ta make an antidote usin’ the samples he just took from me, so I bet ya he’ll have somethin’ for us by tha end of tha day.”


Both Raph and Mikey knew that wasn’t very likely, but it had Mikey smiling, pulling back to look at Raph, wiping his eyes and nodding. 


“Sorry, I don’t know where that came from. You’re right, things will be fine,” he said. It was the one simple truth they all clung to, whenever a mission went wrong, whenever Leo was forced to spend hours in the dojo with Splinter, when any of them had lessons with Splinter; the simple truth was, things might suck now, but in the end, they were all going to be okay.


“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” Raph replied, patting Mikey’s shell before going to finish fixing his bowl of cereal, handing Mikey the milk so he could do the same. “I didn’t mean ta getcha all worked up like that, it’s just been a crazy mornin’ and I guess I ain’t takin’ it too great either.” He returned to the table and sat down to finally eat his meagre bowl of cereal.


The two of them ate quickly and quietly, knowing that if their father saw them eating anything before practice, they would be in serious trouble. It wasn’t as if food was scarce in the lair, or even off-limits, however, Splinter had always been under the opinion that you had to earn everything, including food. To do that, you had to do well in lessons for the day, no matter whether it took half an hour or five hours.


When they finished, Mikey moved to put the bowls in the sink to wash them, however, Raph got them first. 


“Ya ain’t supposed ta be standin’,” he said. 


“Oh, right,” Mikey said, sinking back into his seat as Raph washed up quickly. “Hey Raph, what happens if Donnie can’t fix us? We’ll have to be girls forever.” Mikey lifted his head to look at Raph. “Do I have to start calling you ‘sis’?” 


“You’ll never have ta call me sis,” Raph said dismissively, trying not to let his annoyance show, in case it sent Mikey into a crying fit again. “And I don’t wanna think about him not fixin’ us. I mean, somethin’ made us inta girls, so something’s gotta turn us back, right?” 


“Something turned us from normal turtles into this and there’s no way back from that,” Mikey pointed out.


“We weren’t lookin’ to turn back into normal turtles, Mikey,” Raph stated, though the truth was he’s never even considered the possibility, he was just happy to see Mikey acting a little more like normal, even if he was asking dumb questions. 


“True,” Mikey said. “You’re probably right. Donnie is totally gonna find a cure for us.”


Raph grinned. “Glad you’re seein’ it my way. Just give Donnie his lab and a bit a time, we’ll have our junk back soon enough.”


Their conversation was halted by the sound of the dojo door opening and the two turtles looked at each other. Mikey grabbed his crutch and stood up, following the red-banded turtle out of the kitchen. They didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing that Donnie had been allowed out of the dojo so soon. 


Donnie made his way slowly across the lair to his lab, head lowered. He didn’t even look at his other two siblings standing by the kitchen door as he slipped into his lab and closed the door behind him. 


“Raphael!” Splinter’s voice carried through the lair. The rat didn’t shout but the tone he used was stern, and told Raph everything he needed to know about how the remainder of his morning was going to go. 


Any enthusiasm he had gained about finding a cure was gone upon hearing Splinter calling him into the dojo, he gave Mikey a look, the orange-banded turtle not being very helpful with the nervous smile he gave Raph in return. Turning back around, Raph didn’t make Splinter wait any longer, making his way through the living room area, up the steps into the dojo where the door was closed behind him. 


------------x


Raph stepped into the dojo, looking at Leo who was standing behind and to the left of Splinter. The blue-banded turtle was staring straight ahead, though he did lock eyes with Raph for a moment before Splinter spoke, drawing both their attention to him. 


“Raphael, your brother has informed of what happened last night. I now wish to hear it from you,” Splinter said, looking sternly down at Raph. 


Inhaling sharply, Raph stepped forward, closer to the center of the dojo. He took his usual expected position, kneeling on the floor, hands, or rather hand, resting on his lap, as his other arm was still strapped to his plastron to limit movement. He glanced up at his father, then to Leo once again, unsure why he kept looking to his older brother, as there was nothing either of them could do. 


Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Raph tried to at least appear calm, even though inside he was a whirling mass of fear and anxiety. 


“Mikey an’ me, we had an accident, Sensei.” He did his best to sound stern, confident, looking straight ahead and not looking at anyone. “On the mission, we fell into a trap door, an’ then… then we fell into some weird goop which did somethin’ ta us.” His eyes flicked to Splinter’s tail, which was twitching in agitation. “It... it turned us inta girls… I guess,” Raph finished. 


“You guess,” Splinter repeated, his tail flicking again, however, the rest of him remained unmoving as he narrowed his eyes at Raph. 


The red-banded turtle flinched, realising he had already messed up as Splinter continued speaking. 


“Leonardo, as leader of this team, it falls to you to pick a suitable punishment for your… sister,” 


Raph’s head snapped up, staring at Splinter in shock, his gaze quickly going to Leo next, only to find the blue-banded turtle looked just as surprised. 


“Sensei, I’m not,” Leo began, only to freeze when Splinter turned to look at him, Raph couldn’t see the look the rat gave Leo, but it seemed to do the trick as Leo bowed his head, “H-Hai, sensei.”. 


Raph felt his heart clench and his body freeze up at Leo’s agreement. However his hurt was mixed with anger at being called Leo’s sister, and there was nothing he could do to argue that point, at least not in front of Splinter. 


Leo stepped forward, until he was standing in front of Raph. 


Raph clenched his good hand on his thigh, clenching his eyes shut tightly for a moment, before lifting his head to glare at Leo. This was his brother, not Splinter, and he had no problem showing his anger towards him. 


Leo took a deep breath, focusing on Raph, narrowing his eyes and returning the look. 


“Raph, your actions last night were unacceptable, you put yourself, and Mikey, in danger, had you called Donnie, or myself, neither of you would be in this position now,” Leo stated. 


Raph had to clench his jaw shut, reminding himself not to start an argument with Leo in front of Splinter. 


“For the next two weeks you are confined to the lair,” Leo stated, putting as much authority into his voice as he could muster. 


Raph waited for more, and when nothing else came he blinked, his glare fading slightly at such a lenient punishment. 


“Do the lives of two of your siblings mean so little to you, Leonardo?” Splinter asked.


Raph lowered his head, mentally kicking himself for thinking this was too easy. 


“No, Sensei, I just thought, Raph is already injured and dealing with such a drastic body change, I simply thought he-”


“She,” Splinter corrected.


Leo stared at him, while Raph stared at Leo. The blue-banded turtles’ shoulders sagging as if in defeat before he nodded. 


“I simply thought she has had enough punishment,” Leo finished. 


Splinter rubbed his chin, nodding once. “I see,” he said, seeming to contemplate something. However, in the next moment, he spun around, his foot connecting with Raph’s shoulder, catching the red banded turtle by surprise.


Raph bit back a cry of pain as his bad shoulder connected with the floor, unwilling to give Splinter the satisfaction of making him scream.  


“It is time to move onto the next stage of this punishment, making sure she understands fully what she has done. Brute force has always worked best with Raphael, has it not?” Splinter directed his question to Raph. 


The red-banded turtle refused to answer, pushing himself up from the floor. 


Leo made to rush forward, worry clear on his face, however, he was stopped by their father. 


“You two will spar,” Splinter instructed. 


“Master Splinter, Raph is too hurt-” Leo was cut off when the rat backhanded him across the face, his head turning swiftly from the impact. 


“If she has enough energy to scream, she has enough to fight,” Splinter said firmly. “Is that not correct, Raphael?” 


“Yeah,” Raph forced himself up, biting back a hiss of pain as his shoulder was jarred painfully. “Yeah, I can spar, no problem,” he lied, turning to face Leo, his good hand clenched into a fist. He knew if he objected things would only get worse from there on, so even with a dislocated shoulder, this was still the best solution. 


Leo reluctantly turned to face him, getting into a fighting position, mouthing an ‘I’m sorry’ before starting the attack. 


Raph dodged as best he could, made a little easier, he noticed quickly, given Leo wasn’t giving his all. Raph knew Splinter wasn’t going to let that slide for long though, so he kicked out, forcing Leo to block him and retaliate, sending Raph to the floor painfully. Ignoring the hand offered him, Raph pushed himself back to his feet and started the next attack. He didn’t hold back, forcing Leo to up his defensive and offensive moves, which sent Raph down to the ground again and again. 


Raph made no attempt to get out of the sparring match, it would be futile, with their Sensei watching their every move. He did do his best to avoid his injured arm, just as Leo was trying his best not to hit it, however, every knock to the floor jarred it painfully. It was sapping the energy from him faster than normal, so by the sixth time he was pulling himself from the floor, he was already quite winded. 


Making another clumsy attack, Raph stumbled, tripping himself and landing back on the floor. He lay there unmoving this time, breathing deeply as he rode out the pain shooting down his arm. He felt extra pressure on his back then, keeping him pinned to the floor. 


“One more toe out of line, Raph, one more slip up, and I will seriously consider removing you from this team,” Leo stated. 


Raph nodded his head quickly in understanding, ignoring the stinging behind his eyes as Leo put more pressure on him. 


“Okay!” Raph shouted. 


“Yame.” Spinter cracked his cane against the floor, stopping the fight and Leo backed off. 


Raph used his good arm to push himself back into a sitting position, keeping his head lowered, partly because he didn’t want to look at either of the other occupants in the room, and partly because he didn’t want to see him near tears. 


“That will be all for today, Raphael. Send your sister in,” Splinter ordered. 


There was nothing more Raph wanted to do in that moment than scream, yell, throw another punch; at who he wasn't sure, but he certainly wanted to hit someone. However, given the warning he’d just received, he didn’t dare do anything more than push himself to his feet, turning abruptly, ignoring the worried look Leo was giving him, Raph left the dojo without a word, slamming it shut behind him, hoping to convey enough of his anger and hurt in the actions, without risking another punishment. 


He returned to Donnie’s lab, figuring that’s where Mikey would have likely retreated to. Sure enough, he found his orange-banded brother… sister, seated in a chair next to Donnie’s desk. 


“You’re up,” Raph said, his voice cracking with emotion, making his way to the examination table. Raph hopped up onto it and stared at the floor, his good hand clutching his throbbing arm. 


Mikey grabbed his crutch, looking at Raph and then to Donnie. The purple-banded turtle waved Mikey away, indicating he could handle whatever had happened. The silent conversation between the two brothers didn’t go unnoticed by Raph, he just didn’t care. 


Mikey slowly left, and Donnie came over to stand next to Raph. He opened his mouth to speak, however, Raph cut him off before he could. 


“No, I don’t wanna talk about it, so, just check me over so I can go to my room.” Raph sniffed. 


Donnie simply nodded and set to quietly work on Raph’s arm, removing the bandages, checking it over, adding some cream to help numb the pain before re-wrapping it. 


Raph was grateful to Donnie for not drawing attention to the sniffs now and then as Raph tried to fight back the tears threatening to spill over. It wasn’t the physical hurt that had him so upset, it was the betrayal, the abandonment Leo had shown him in that room. Logically Raph knew Leo had as much control over the situation as he did, however, knowing that and really believing it were entirely different things. 


“Thanks,” Raph muttered under his breath when Donnie had finished. 


“Raph, you know you can talk to me, right?” Donnie said. 


Raph nodded his head once as he hopped down from the table.


“I know, Don, I just… I need ta be alone. I… I got a lot ta think about,” he said, turning and heading back to the door. “Thanks again, for fixin’ me up,” he said without turning back around, and he left.


---------x


Mikey hobbled his way into the dojo, using the crutch to lean on as he opened the door, slipping inside and closing it behind him like Raph had done before him. Instinctively Mikey looked to Leonardo, silently asking his blue-banded brother what had happened with Raph, However, Leo simply shook his head and gestured for Mikey to pay attention to their father. 


Swallowing hard, Mikey finally turned to look at Splinter. The rat didn’t look pleased about the current situation at all and it took everything Mikey had not to shrink back.


“Michelangelo.” Splinter motioned him forward. 


Mikey felt as if there were lead bricks tied to his feet as he moved to stand in front of his father, happy that he wasn’t being made to kneel on the floor at the moment, he was sure he had Leo to thank for that small blessing and made a mental note to thank you later. For now, Mikey put every ounce of self control he had into concentrating on what Splinter was saying. 


“Leonardo has already made it clear to me that last night’s mission was successful, but not without its drawbacks,” Splinter began, his eyes narrowing as they stared down at Mikey, who slumped his shoulders, chewing worriedly on his lower lip as he waited for Splinter to finish speaking. “I expect you to tell me exactly what those drawbacks may have been.”


Mikey stared up at Splinter, forcing a small smile, trying in vain to hopefully put their father in a good mood. 


“Um, well, I sorta fell through a trap door…” he admitted, knowing Splinter most likely knew this information, and was just looking to have Mikey clarify it. “I got stuck under the door and, umm… Raph got hurt trying to get me out,” Mikey summarized. 


Splinter’s ear twitched, as he remained in the same pose, indifferent to Mikey’s nervousness as he stared directly into Mikey’s baby-blues. “Is that all that happened?” he demanded, his voice cold and stern, clearly not pleased with Mikey’s short version of what had transpired. 


“Sort of?” Mikey offered, his eyes darting towards Splinter’s tail as it flicked in agitation. “I mean, I just couldn't walk very well after that, and Raph’s arm was busted up,” he said looking back up at his father. “We also fell into this green goop stuff…” Mikey trailed off. 


Splinter was clearly aware that Mikey was intentionally leaving out details, as the youngest was wont to do. Mikey just never understood this practice of telling Splinter everything that happened, when the rat already knew the full story, having heard it from Leo, and most likely Donnie and Raph as well. Mikey, however, was smart enough not to point this out to their father when he was already this agitated. 


“Leonardo,” Splinter said, his eyes still fixed on Mikey for a moment before turning to look at the blue-banded turtle. “Do you always allow such flippancy and indolent reports amongst your team? A lie by omission is still a lie.” 


“No, Sensei,” Leo said. “Mikey is just easily distractible, so I don’t usually rely on him for giving reports,” he explained, turning to look at the younger turtle. “Mikey, Splinter wants to know everything that happened, every detail.” 


“I… that was every detail,” Mikey protested looking to Leo. “I mean, other than the fact that Raph and I are chicks now… but Donnie’s fixing that, so it doesn’t really matter…” Mikey turned his attention back to Splinter. “Does it?” he asked. However, from the look the rat was giving him, it apparently did matter. 


“Even the most minute detail can make all the difference to the larger picture,” Splinter scolded, turning finally to fully face Leo. “Leonardo, it is your responsibility, as leader, to administer a proper punishment for Michelangelo’s disobedience.” 


“What?” Mikey blinked, looking at Splinter then to Leo. “But I didn’t do anything wrong!” he protested. 


“Mikey,” Leo warned. 


“No! I didn’t do anything wrong! We still completed the mission! We did what we were supposed to do! I… so I got a little hurt, Raph got a bit hurt, it won’t happen again!” Mikey promised. 


“Michelangelo!” Splinter’s voice boomed, the turtle falling silent now as the rat turned to face him again, his tail flicking again. “Such mistakes should not have happened to begin with.”


Mikey shrank back from Splinter as the rat looked back to Leo once more. “Her punishment, now!”


Leo nodded, stepping forward and Mikey could only stare at him now, leaning heavily on his crutch as he waited to see what Leo was going to do. 


“Mikey, we’re going to work on your balance now,” he said. 


Mikey saw Splinter’s tail flick again at the gentle tone Leo was using with him, but he didn’t contradict it just yet. 


“My balance is the best, bro,” Mikey offered, forcing another smile as he focused just on Leo. 


Leo’s lips twitched into a ghost of a smile in return, before it was gone, hidden behind a stoic mask. 


“You will balance on a bamboo stock, and you will not be allowed to move for one hour. If you fall off, the hour resets,” Leo said. 


Mikey felt as if something heavy had just landed in his stomach, his face falling as the severity of the situation was finally becoming clear to him. Mikey knew Leo was being forced to pick a suitable punishment, however, he had underestimated how angry Splinter was about the situation. 


“What about my leg?” Mikey asked, looking from Leo to Splinter. 


“You have one that works, do you not?” Splinter asked almost quizzically, though the frustration could be clearly heard in his tone. 


Biting his lip, Mikey nodded and stood there as Leo set things up, instructing Mikey to get onto the bamboo shaft, taking his crutch away from him, forcing Mikey to figure out how he was going to get up there without hurting his leg more. He was unable to ask for help, as this was supposed to be punishment. 


It took him nearly ten minutes just to get onto the bamboo shoot without hurting his leg or doing any more damage, which Donnie would surely scold him for. He positioned himself and focused, staring down at Leo for a moment and nodding once, indicating he was ready, even if he wasn’t mentally ready, he wanted to get this over with, and go back to Donnie. 


Leo started the timer for the hour, before grabbing a bo staff from nearby, and that’s when Mikey realized that this wasn’t going to be a normal balance exercise. He was being tested. Leo would prod at him when Mikey least expected it, putting him on high alert, trying to focus on what his brother was doing, while also focusing on his foot, and not hurting his already injured leg. 


It was fine to start with, and Mikey thought things were going fairly well, until Splinter’s tail knocked the bamboo shoot, the rat’s involvement taking Mikey by surprise just enough that he didn’t notice Leo until it was too late. 


His first tumble to the ground was a painful one; instinctively trying to catch himself, he put too much pressure on his leg and he screamed, crumbling further to the floor as he gripped at it. 


Leo stepped forward quickly to try and help him up, but was stopped by Splinter. 


“She can do this on her own, unless you plan to coddle her the rest of her life,” Splinter hissed. 


Mikey fought back tears as he pushed himself back to his feet, getting back onto the bamboo shoot. He watched as Leo reset the timer and started it again, both of them seeming to know and understand that this was going to be a very long day, and Mikey was suddenly regretting eating that bowl of cereal before ‘training’.


-----------x


Donnie let out a long frustrated sigh as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his eyes he looked over to the clock on the wall. Though the time did nothing to ease his mind, as he calculated Mikey had been in the dojo for nearly three hours, which was worrying enough on a normal day, but today Donnie was truly worried for Mikey’s safety. 


He turned his attention back to the sample of blood he had been examining. It was frustrating to say the least. Whatever Raph and Mikey had fallen into had merged with the mutagen already in their system, making it harder to detect, and even when Donnie had found what he was looking for, it was hardly enough to do anything with. 


Letting out another long sigh, he leaned forward to have another look in the microscope, before glancing at the notes he’d been taking all morning. 


“Any luck?” 


Leo’s voice startled him and Donnie spun around in his chair, looking at Leo and Mikey. The orange-banded turtle openly crying as Leo helped him onto the table, though Mikey didn’t look too happy about it as he finally jerked his arm away from their older brother. 


“What happened?” he asked. Standing up, he made his way over to his brothers. 


Leo shook his head, clearly unwilling to talk about it, or perhaps deciding to leave the explanation to Mikey. Donnie frowned but nodded his understanding. He looked over his shoulder at his work table. 


“Things are going as well as could be expected, with only one blood sample, and no way to possibly separate things from it,” he said. 


“Meaning…” Leo offered. 


“Meaning I can’t even begin working on an antidote until I can figure out what is even in their blood system,” Donnie explained, moving to help Mikey lay down on the table so he could examine his leg. He didn’t try talking to his orange-banded brother, as Mikey looked like talking was the last thing on his mind at the moment. 


“What do you need to make that happen?” Leo questioned. 


“It means I have a lot of studying to get done, or I need to find out its origins,” Donnie replied, unwrapping his brother’s leg to look at the damage inflicted on it. 


“My guess would be it came from dimension X,” Leo commented.


Donnie knew his brother was just trying to be helpful, however, he also knew Leo knew little-to-nothing about what he was talking about. 


“That would be a good assumption if there weren’t properties that were found here on earth already,” Donnie explained. “Like I said, I have a lot of studying to do, and I have to figure out what is alien, and what is part of us already… so it could be a while longer before I can change Raph and Mikey back,” he said, giving Mikey an apologetic look, not that the smaller turtle was even paying attention to them. 


Leo sighed and didn’t say anything else as he looked around the lab, the frown on his face growing. 


Donnie couldn’t help but give Leo a knowing smile. 


“He’s in his room, likely locked himself in there at the moment,” he said. 


“I’m going to go see how… how he’s doing,” Leo said. 


“You mean ‘she’ don’t you?” Mikey asked, the first thing he’d said to Leo since leaving the dojo. “Better get it right, just in case Splinter is listening in.” 


Tthere was no humor in Mikey’s voice, and Donnie couldn’t help but notice he sounded hurt and perhaps more than a little angry. However, the purple-banded turtle couldn’t tell if Mikey was angry at Leo or Splinter, either was viable today. 


“He’s making you call them…” Donnie trailed off shaking his head in disbelief, though in all honesty he shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was, with how Splinter had been acting that morning. 


Leo sighed, nodding his head, his shoulders slumped slightly. 


“Yeah, Splinter wants us to be prepared for…for when you don’t find a way to fix this,” he explained. 


Donnie knew Leo was simply repeating what Splinter most likely told him, as it was only their father who didn’t believe in his ability to get things done. Donnie tried not to let it show how much that hurt, far too used to being put down by Splinter.


“Donnie will fix us!” Mikey shouted, glaring at Leo, kicking out at their older brother with his good leg, not that he could reach him as Leo stepped back, but it didn’t stop the younger turtle from trying. 


“I never said he wouldn't,” Leo argued back, “but Splinter is right, we should also be prepared for the possibility that he might not find anything.” 


Donnie stood there and half-heartedly listened to his brothers argue, while he tried looking at Mikey’s leg, his mind already pulled in too many directions to pay proper attention to their bickering. He wanted to see if Mikey had done irreversible damage to his injured leg, but that was difficult with him repeatedly trying to kick Leo. 


“Leo! What would be more helpful than you being here, is going to check on Raph. I’m really worried about him,” he said. 


“Her,” Mikey corrected again.


Donnie ignored him for now, keeping his focus on Leo, who nodded. 


“Yeah, sure thing,” Leo said, looking back at Mikey. He opened his mouth to say something but clearly decided against it. 


Donnie turned his attention to Mikey, who was still giving Leo a look that would’ve make Raph proud. “Mikey, you’re welcome to stay in the lab with me, I’d appreciate the company.” 


Leo took a deep breath and nodded his head, looking once more to Mikey. “Try not to move around too much, and hurt yourself any more,” he said, trying to sound reassuring, though it was clear to Donnie that Mikey didn’t take it that way. 


“I don’t need your advice, or help, Leo,” Mikey snapped. 


“Mikey…” 


“Leave me alone!” Mikey shouted, picking up his crutch and throwing it at Leo. 


Donnie was shocked by his little brother’s behaviour, and looked to Leo. 


“I’m going,” Leo said before Donnie could say anything else. Once his blue-banded brother was out of the lab, Donnie turned back to Mikey. 


“You shouldn't take things out on him like that, it’s not his fault things are like this,” Donnie said, knowing that Leo was just as much a victim, if not more so, than any one of them. It was something Donnie had discussed with both Raph and Mikey before, and he also knew that at times like these, the two of them needed reminding of that.


Mikey stared at Donnie. Letting out a huff, he flopped back onto the table, staring up at the ceiling. Donnie sighed, patting his brother’s arm, before returning to his desk; he still had a lot of work to get through and all the data from the Kraang computer to get through as well. 


“... why does father hate us?” Mikey asked. 


Donnie had barely started typing when Mikey spoke. He froze up immediately, brow furrowed and lips pursed. He looked nervously behind him at Mikey then towards the open lab door. Slipping from his chair he hurried over to the door, closing it. His quick movements caught Mikey’s attention and curiosity, had the younger turtle sitting back up. 


“Donnie?” Mikey asked. 


Donnie glanced nervously towards the door before going over to sit next to Mikey on the table. 


“If he truly hated us, Mikey, we wouldn't still be here,” Donnie argued, though kept his voice low as he spoke. “Look, I hate the way we’re treated just as much as you do.” 


He hoped he could share some of his worries with Mikey, and yet keep his brother unaware of the few crucial details he wasn’t ready to share, at least not yet. 


“Okay, he might not hate us, but he doesn’t love us,” Mikey argued back. “And… he was different today. He… he hardly talked to me, Donnie. He had Leo do most of the talking and… and…” 


“And had Leo dole out punishment for you and Raph,” Donnie said, giving Mikey an understanding nod. “I know you and Raph haven’t really gone through that before, but… that’s how things have been for me for a long time,” he explained, looking away when Mikey’s eyes widened further. 


“Sensei made Leo punish you?” Mikey asked. 


“Not today, but on numerous occasions for… quite a number of years now. I’ve honestly lost count of how long it’s been going on.” Donnie looked down at his own lap, the two of them falling silent for a few moments, Donnie thinking and Mikey processing the information he’d just been given. 


“I hate him,” Mikey said, taking Donnie by surprise. 


The purple-banded turtle looked at him. 


“I hate him!” Mikey said a bit louder.


Donnie was worried it would draw unwanted attention, however, Mikey was apparently finished as the orange-banded turtle laid back down on the table to resume staring at the ceiling. 


“...I’m going to hope you were talking about Splinter and not Leo,” Donnie said, smiling at his poor excuse for a joke when Mikey glanced at him. Sighing once again, something he knew he’d been doing a lot lately, he slid from the table and went to retrieve Mikey’s crutch, leaning it against the table once more. 


“There’s nothing we can really do about our situation right now,” Donnie said, hating how true his words were, and wishing there was something more he could do than stand here and be the pacifist brother. “All we can really do is try and find a solution to your’s and Raph’s problem, and hope that helps put Splinter back in a good mood.” Donnie smiled at Mikey’s snort of disbelief and he had to agree, that was a bit of a far fetched dream. “At least placate him enough to leave us alone for a little while,” he corrected. 


Mikey sighed, rolling over on the table. “I still hate this…” Mikey repeated. 


Donnie placed a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. 


“I know. Do you feel better for your outburst though?” Donnie asked, wanting to make sure Mikey wasn’t still bottling anything up inside that could get him in more trouble. 


“No, I don’t feel better,” Mikey admitted. “I’m still really upset, I’m not used to being this irrational, that’s usually Raph’s job.” Mikey forced a smile as he rolled over to look at Donnie. “Can I nap in here while you work?” he asked. 


Donnie nodded. 


“Of course. Let’s get you some place more comfortable than the examination table,” he said, helping his little brother off the table and over to the cot in the corner. 


He didn’t say anything about Mikey acting irrational, suspecting that was more to do with the sudden change in hormones he and Raph were going through at the moment. He mentally compared it to what he had read about PMS in humans, however, he didn’t voice that opinion, because then he would have to admit to where he had gotten that information, and that was something his brothers didn’t need to know about, yet. 


tbc


And there is chapter three! A brief look into the lives of what our precious turtles have had to go through. This is the point in the RP where Melo and I decided a lot of things, so this is where I tried to tidy things up a lot and make it flow more easily into what we had planned for later on. So! I hope you enjoyed it! And we’ll see you all in a couple weeks!