April shrieked as the door was flung open. "Donnie!" She yelled. She was on the floor, in the middle of cleaning up a toppled bookshelf. Donnie whirled around, putting his back to Gracie, who was once again lying in April's bed, barely awake. He tried to get as much in front of her as he could. April jumped up quickly and stood next to him, aiding him in preventing Alex from viewing her body. Unfortunately, even in their quick scramble to hide Gracie, Gracie, in her haze, continued mumbling to Donnie and April without a clue of what was happening.

"Guys... 'm sorry I knocked that shelf over." She said in a slightly slurred voice. "...Guys?" She asked when she finally realized that nobody was talking. Or moving, for that matter.

Alex gulped, finding that his eyes were starting to fill with tears. That voice. Never in his entire life could he forget it or mistake it. No matter how disoriented it may sound, there was no doubt in his mind who it was. He looked at Donnie and April, who were staring at him, waiting almost like a deer in headlights for his next move. They both, in their stress, could do nothing but continue standing guard in front of Gracie.

"Please...can I see her?" He asked weakly. April's eyes went to Donnie, and his eyes went to the floor. Then, he slowly began walking away from Gracie. April reached out for his arm uncertainly, looking at him with a protestant expression.

"Donnie...?" She said. He looked back down at her and nodded.

"It's okay, April, there's no point trying to hide her now." He said quietly. April nodded back and followed him off to the side. They looked at Alex, waiting for his reaction.

Alex slowly let his eyes wander from the two, hesitantly bringing them down upon the creature that lay in the bed. As he saw her body, he gasped, for a moment second guessing himself. But then she turned, and her eyes met his. Alex could tell those eyes from anyone's. Those beautiful misty eyes that he had known since kindergarten. He had seen those eyes in happiness, in sadness, in anger, in pain. And he saw them now. And they saw him, too.

"Alex?" Gracie whispered, staring at him in a dazed shock. He looked at her for a moment more, but then his whole body seemed to melt into her.

"Grace." He said back as he grinned and went to her, laughing and crying all at once. Donnie watched as Alex ran to her and hugged her as though his life depended on it, and how she hugged back, seemingly ignorant of her pain. Mikey suddenly popped into the doorway, stopping short when he looked around. He looked at Donnie, who just looked back with a conflicted expression.

Mikey held out his arm as Raph began to enter, stopping him from stomping in. Raph too surveyed the situation, before his eyes turned to the smartest one in the room, silently imploring him for answers. Donnie's eyes reflected the same thing.

Alex pulled away from Grace, making sure to still keep a hold of her arms as he looked over her new green body. His eyes returned to hers. "Grace? How did this happen? Where have you been? Why didn't you try to talk to us? Were you okay?" Than he shook his head and hugged her again. "I missed you." He said into her smooth neck. "I was so scared." He said, lifting his head and putting his forehead to hers.

"Alex." Gracie whispered. "Alex. Alex." She said it several times, unable to do anything else. Her eyelids suddenly fluttered as her body rocked unsteadily. Alex quickly wrapped his arms around her, stabilizing her. He looked to at Donnie with a concerned expression.

"She's a little... out of sorts." Donnie said, looking sheepish and guilty at the same time.

Alex looked back at Gracie, this time taking in the bandages she had scattered about her body. He touched the large one around her head gently. Then he looked back at Donnie, something about his expression sending a shiver throughout Donnie's body.

"What did you do to her?" He asked in a low voice that placid enough, yet there was a hint of underlying malice that made Donnie gulp.

"She, uh... Well, there was an... accident. It was my fault, really." Donnie looked down miserably. "I left her alone in a room with a malfunctioning robot of ours. I looked over the memory of the bot after it happened, and it seems as though he mistook her for an enemy... and attacked her." Donnie winced. "I'm really sorry, I wasn't thinking. I know I-"

"It's alright." Alex interrupted. Donnie looked up at him with a startled expression. Alex looked between the three present turtles and April. "It's alright." He repeated. "Sarah was right. I know you didn't mean for this to happen. I can tell you care for her quite a lot already."

"D-does that mean you forgive us?" Mikey said timidly from the doorway.

Alex paused, looking back at Gracie. She just stared at him hazily with teary eyes. Then he looked at Mikey's wide, almost frightened gave him a small smile.

"Yeah. This time, at least."

Mikey looked relieved, if not confused. Alex gently laid Gracie down, then stood up. He watched as her mouth formed his name again silently. He touched her hand gently, then turned and looked at Donnie once more.

"How can we help her?" He asked. Donnie looked between him and Gracie.

"Well, we've been doing the best we can, with such little supplies. April and I were in the middle of treating her when you arrived, and I believe we should be getting back to that now."

"I want to help." Alex said.

"Actually, April and I are fine as it is. I think it would be best if you were to wait in the other room so we can have our space." Donnie said. April frowned at Donnie, but Alex nodded.

"Fine." He said reluctantly and began heading for the door. Donnie looked relieved. Mikey and Raph both walked out the door.

"Uh, Alex?" April called. Alex turned to her. "It's getting pretty late... You can stay the night here, if you want." Alex grinned at her.

"Really? Thank you-I mean, are you sure I wouldn't be in the way?"

April shook her head. "Of course not!"

This time it was Donnie who frowned. Alex grinned. "All right." He said. He turned back to Gracie once more and touched her arm gently. She stared at him hazily. "I'll be back, Grace." He promised. Grace reached out an arm to him and smiled weakly. He smiled back and squeezed her hand once before slowly turning and walking out the door after the others.

After the door was shut, Donnie turned to April. "Why'd you do that?" He whispered, sounding upset. April gave him a frustrated look.

"Why wouldn't I?" She whispered back in an irked manner.

"He doesn't need to be here!" Donnie cried. They cringed and looked at Gracie. She had her head turned and was watching the door, seemingly nonchalant to the world around her. April took Donnie by the arm and pulled him into the small bathroom that connected she and her father's bedrooms. Luckily, Mr. O'neil was out on some kind of business trip. She closed the door and turned to Donatello, looking up at him with a frown.

"You don't like him, do you?" She asked, staring at him. Donnie huffed, his eyes darted to the side.

"It's just- He'll just get in the way here! He doesn't need to be here snooping around our business!" Donnie spluttered. April put her hands to her hips.

"Donnie! This isn't just our business! He's really been suffering without her, I've seen it! We can't just show him that his girlfriend turned into a giant mutant turtle and tell him we almost blew her up and then tell him 'oh okay, see you later!'" She made a mock wave.

"She's not his girlfriend!" Donnie cried. April gasped. She looked at Donnie with a shocked expression.

"Are you... jealous?" She asked. Donnie groaned and turned his face away. "You are!" April whispered, almost to herself. Then her face softened. "Donnie..." She put a hand on his shoulder. Donnie just sighed and brushed her hand away.

"No." He said. "It doesn't matter anyways. Let's just hurry and work on helping her so she can see him." April looked protestant. "Really." Donnie said. "You're right. He needs to be with her, and obviously she feels the same way about him."

April looked up at Donnie's soft brown eyes sympathetically. "Are you sure?" She asked him. Donnie nodded sadly.

"Yeah. It's not like she would ever like me, anyways." He muttered.

"You don't know that, Don." April said softly. "You're right. They're not actually dating. I'm sorry I said that."

Donnie shook his head. He thought of the figurine in his belt. "Let's just help Grace." He said. April nodded slowly and grabbed the handle. Before she opened the door, she suddenly turned around and stared at Donnie's face before releasing the door knob and wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug.

"Thanks, April." Donnie said as they pulled away from each other and their eyes connected. He gave her a small smile. She returned it.

"Come on." She said, walking back into her bedroom.

Readerrrss! I'm alive! :D It's been absolutely way to long since I last updated! Arrggg! This chapter is really short, I know. I had the second part of it started but I thought I might as publish it as it is and stop making you wait so long. I'm really, really sorry I've been gone so long. The truth is that my dad actually got arrested about two months ago and after that everything seemed to start going wrong. My depression was terrible. It was probably the worst phase I had ever gone through, to the point where I basically gave up on life and became a machine for a while. I would just get up in the morning and go to school and go through the day not talking to anyone just to come home and do my homework and pretty much just lay in bed for the rest of the day. It sucked, but I'm feeling much better lately :P I just wanted to tell you why I've been gone so long, and why I may be gone long times in the future. Anywaaaysss... I hope you enjoyed it! This was the chapter you were all waiting for, right? Sorry if it's not as great as you had anticipated :/ I'll get back into writing eventually Cx

Oh and Btw, I was wondering, since I haven't been able to muster up as much inspiration as I would like, if maybe you readers would like to help me write? I was just thinking we could find some way to all get together and discuss the story. You know, if you want. Crazy? Idk. I would love to get to talk personally to my readers and see what they think! Please leave a review and tell me what you guys think! Of course, we would also have to find some kind of site where we could all get together, but that can't be that hard, right? If you know any good sites, tell me and I'll check them out! I'm probably just being dumb but if you guys would actually want to do that, please tell me! Thanks! :D

(Sorry all the extra junk! Get yourself a virtual cookie if you actually took the time to read it all! C:)