Fever

A/N: I realize that I am a massive nerd for writing this. And I don't care.

As you may haven gotten from the summary, this story is based on the upcoming Nickelodeon TMNT show, premiering in September. Well, seeing as how we have been given several clips/trailers of said show (which can be found on Youtube or Nickelodeon website), I found the sudden plot bunny to write something with April and Donnie, as they are shown together in many a scene. Their relationship here can be seen as either romantically or platonic, it's your call.

And no, I have no idea how April will meet the Turtles. I just guessed/invented things. Oh, and Raph's pet turtle/tortoise(?) is indeed named Spike.

Review please!

TMNT (c) Mirage Comics/ Nickelodeon

It had been a week since she met the Turtles.

The Teenage Mutant freaking Ninja Turtles.

April had seen their secret sewer lair, met the giant Japanese rat named Splinter, witnessed their kick-butt ninja skills, and all in one grand evening. Understandably, her mind was still reeling.

But the teen was nothing if not resilient, and took these develops in stride. Meaning, she screamed her head off for the first five minutes. Of course she eventually calmed down, learned the Turtles origins and over the week got to know them—realizing, belatedly, that they were nothing more than normal teenagers; inhumanness and ninja skills aside.

But the constant realization "Oh my freaking God, I met mutant ninja turtles" was a steady mantra through her conscious for the duration of her school week. April had moved through the halls like a zombie, imagining every single morning that the entire Turtles fiasco was nothing more than a dream. But then she would find herself traveling a familiar path, ending up at a very familiar manhole, and faced with a very familiar secret sewer lair every day after school, especially its surreal occupants.

But not today. Today, April wanted to do nothing more than pass out on her bed, close the blinds and sleep for the next five weeks. She was sluggish, bleary-eyed, and weak, and had missed her bus. It felt like she was coming down with something.

Having lost her only mode of transportation, the teenager resigned herself to trudging home, Leo discretely following her on the rooftops, making sure she wasn't kidnapped or something and keeping an eye on her as only a leader could.

After minutes of grumbling and exhausted travel, April finally reached her apartment complex. She tugged her laptop weighed-down backpack upwards, and before she disappeared within the building sent Leo a wave, assuring him of her safety. He returned the gesture before disappeared over the edge of the rooftop.

Closing and locking the door behind her, April turned to face the three flights of stairs she needed to climb in order to get home. She groaned, her backpack weighing her down as she deflated exaggeratingly.

"This just isn't my day…"

.

"Whoa," her mother smirked from behind the stove as April plodded inside, "did you get hit by a bus or something?"

April sighed heavily, not even pausing to turn toward her mother as she kicked the front door closed, tugging her backpack along behind her by one strap, and plopped herself down at the kitchen table. "No, I missed that bus," she grumbled, allowing her forehead to rest limply against the Formica countertop.

The older woman stopped stirring the spaghetti in the pot before her, giving her daughter a solicitous onceover. "Are you feeling all right, honey?"

A muffled moan was all the mother received as a reply.

"How about I make you some tea?" she suggested, rifling through a nearby cupboard. "Chamomile, your favorite?"

Another groan was her response, but the teen's mother took it as an affirmative. "All righty then, April, it'll be ready in a few minutes." After preparing the tea and setting the kettle to boil, she resumed her preparation of dinner. There was a moment of comfortable silence before she glanced back at her motionless daughter. "Did something happen at school today? A boy?"

April muffled a weak chuckle. More like boys. She shook her head as way of answering.

"Bad grade? Mean girls? Did your laptop crash again?"

Not since Donnie got a good look at it.

The teenager issued a retort, muffled by the tabletop her face was still pressed against.

"What was that, honey?"

April lifted her head slightly. "I don't feel good," she clarified drowsily.

Her mother made a mournful, cooing sound at the back of her throat, though April raised a hand before she could come any closer. "'S just a cold, mom," she said, shivering. "I'll be fine with a cup of tea."

At that moment, as if responding to her mention of it, the kettle began to shriek. The elder woman rushed back to the stove, turned the dial to lower the flames, and plucked the kettle off of the grill. She poured the hot water into a mug, stirring it around before setting it in front of her daughter. April lifted her head and reached for the mug as her mother watched her in concern. "Are you going to eat anything?"

April mumbled a negative, her slim, pale hands cupping the mug. It was one of her largest, looking more like a soup bowl with a handle on the side, the sides custom painted with incarnations of Disney characters— a relic from her early childhood. It was wider than the length of either hand, but she wrapped her fingers around it nonetheless and took a long, deep sip of the warm liquid.

Minutes passed, in which April downed the massive amount of tea before her, when she rose all of a sudden, swaying on her feet. "I think I'm gonna go lay down," she mumbled, and before her mother could say anything else the teen had already disappeared behind her bedroom door.

Now safely hidden within the dim confines of her quarters, April released another world-weary sigh, dumping her backpack on the ground, laptop and all, and kicked off her sneakers before climbing under her Padmé Amidala sheets and pale yellow comforter. Only then, when she was perfectly comfortable, did she let the aches and pains of her illness truly catch up with her.

Her head swam, even while prone in bed, and an unnatural chill had begun creeping up her body ever since she reached her apartment building. She pulled the blankets up to her chin in response, curling into a ball under her comforter, and sought solace in sleep.

Unfortunately, before it could claim her April heard the unmistakable sound of her window creaking open. It was soft, the slightest noise, but she caught it in the silence of her room. But she didn't worry, or lift her head from the blankets.

"All right, which one are you?"

There was more silence, and then the soft thud of the window behind lowered. The voice that answered was cheery, familiar, and sarcastic. "My, don't you sound happy to see me?"

April groaned softly, finally throwing the blanket away from her face. "What do you want, Donnie?"

The ninja turtle appeared miffed by her tone, but hardly hindered him from answering simply, glancing around her room. "Leo wanted me to check on you. And you did ask me to run a diagnostic of her laptop, and since you didn't come to the Lair…." Donatello smirked in that geeky way of his, revealing the gap of a missing tooth that April didn't feel like admitting had become kind of-sort of cute and the human teen found his smile to be contagious.

"Well yeah, but don't worry, I didn't ditch you guys. I didn't go down to your Super Secret Sewer Lair because I'm not really feeling…a hundred percent."

The joking tone was instantly gone from Donatello's voice and posture, and in a second the mutant turtle was at her bedside, looking her over worriedly. "What do you mean?"

Rolling her eyes, April sat up, ignoring the way her head swam, and pushed her friend away—or tried to, anyway. "I mean that I've just caught a little cold, nothing to worry about."

Donatello frowned again, and the girl decided she didn't like the way it looked on him. Leonardo and Raphael were the frowners, not Donnie. April scoffed softly, telling her friend just that. The turtle didn't stop frowning, but he did step back.

"You're sick?" he said, moving his gaze away from her and to the madly cluttered state of her room. More softly, he mumbled, "Reminds me of my lab."

April nodded, tugging at her disheveled pigtails. "Fever and dizziness," she muttered, stifling a yawn. Donatello's eyes widened as a result of the action.

"I'm keeping you up!" he cried, and April had to quickly shush him. Quieter, he continued, "You need your rest! I should go—"

"Oh, be quiet, Donnie," April laughed weakly, shuddering as another tremor passed through her slim frame. "It's not like a cold is fatal, or anything."

"A fever isn't the result of a cold." Donatello frowned again, fingering the bo-staff over his shell. "A fever is a fever, on its own."

April chuckled, this one weaker than the last. "I didn't know that you were a doctor on top of a ninja and scientist."

The frown faded for the moment. "Well, I don't like to brag…"

April snorted, yawning again, though she wasn't able to hide this one. The fabled frown returned. "You really should get some rest, April…."

The girl yawned again, pulling the comforter back over her head. "Fine, fine. But you'd better get a move on, Doc, there's a city out there that needs protecting."

She can tell than Donatello was smiling again. "Now try not to miss me too much, okay?"

"I'll try my very best," she teased.

April didn't hear him walk back over to the window, but she doesn't except too. He was a ninja—if he didn't want to be heard, then he wouldn't. But she did catch the groan of wood as her window was pulled open, and she smirked from within her cocoon of blankets.

"Bye, Donnie. Whoop some bad guys for me, will ya?"

"I'll try my very best," the turtle quipped back, and April heard her window falling shut before silence greeted her once more.

The emptiness in her room was startling, even though she couldn't see past the darkness of the blankets wrapped around her. She trembled again, but resigned herself to the fitful realm of sleep.

.

When April O'Neil woke the next morning, her fever having died down and the dizziness nearly completely dissipated, she found a note sitting on her nightstand alongside a small packet of tea leaves. Written in a certain purple bandana-wearing ninja turtle's familiar scrawl, she read:

Master Splinter told me to bring you these leaves—he said that they'd help your fever go down, and that he looks forward to your full recovery. He also wants to know when you'll be coming down for your next training session, though only once you've fully healed.

Mikey says hi. Leo told me to tell you that you should be more aware of your surroundings when walking to and from school. Raph asks for you to bring him some turtle food for Spike.

Get well soon!

-Donnie

April rereads the note a few more times before she lowers the hand grasping it onto her lap, smirking.

Oh yes, it would take some to get used to her new friends. Her new kick-butt, mutant ninja turtle friends.