Poor turtles, being cold-blooded in the wintertime must suck. Just to let you know, I added a little bit of one of my other fandoms. He he he. It just sort of happened.


It was cold down here. Too cold, he knew, but in a stupid, bull-headed moment of blindness Donatello had decided to be sitting here in the freezing Pit, instead of being inside his warm lab. Why would he do that, you ask? Well, it was all because of a certain human girl that seemed to erase his common sense (something he usually had plenty of). April was over for a visit, and even though he knew it was too cold down here for any sensible turtle without being bundled up, he saw an opportunity. His brothers, who seemed to have more brains than him at him at the moment, were no doubt in their rooms with blankets and heaters, perfectly happy (except maybe Raph, who never seemed to be happy), so he would have some alone time with April. The things I do for love. He thought as he scooched minisculely closer to April on the couch. She was sitting comfortably; with her multiple layers and warm yellow sweater, watching as the previews were playing for the movie that she had brought over to watch with the guys. "So,uh, what's this movie called again?"asked Donnie. She turned to him, smiling. Don't freak, don't freak out, don't freak out.

"I thought that I'd pick out a movie that fit the weather lately, so I brought Rise of the Guardians. One of the best movies ever" she added matter-of-factly.

"Oh." What the heck is Rise of the Guardians? Well, April likes it, so it should be good. "Well, what's it about?"

She shushed him, saying, "Watch and see, the movie's starting." He looked back to the screen and saw a picture of a moon and a frozen lake.

"The first thing I remember is that it was cold, and dark. And I was afraid" said the movie. "But then I saw the moon, so big and bright. It seemed to chase the darkness away…" Donnie looked away from the screen, and back at April. She was sitting near the edge of her seat, and her face lit up with happiness and excitement. She must have really liked this movie. He looked back to the movie, where a white-haired boy was now standing in the snow, looking up at the moon. "My name is Jack Frost…" Jack Frost? Didn't he make cold weather or something? The thought of the snow-making spirit chilled Donnie more, reminding him that he should really work on finding a way to heat up the lair.

As the movie went on, the scenes of snow after snow made Donnie feel colder and colder. Even though it was near the middle of the afternoon, he started to nod off by the middle of the movie. He leaned towards April, half-asleep, but he jolted himself awake, brain screaming Don't fall asleep! It's too cold! By now, he really wanted to get up and leave, but he felt so tired and lethargic that his body wouldn't move an inch. He could feel himself slowly falling asleep…


April looked away from the movie, and looked at Donnie sitting next to her to see if he was enjoying it. She saw that he looked nearly asleep, with lids half closed, and a blank expression. "Donnie? Hey, Donnie!" He shot up, looking around sleepily.

"April? What's 't?" he asked drowsily.

"Are you ok? It's the middle of the day, and you were nearly asleep."

"I'm just… tired. I'm fine." She gave him a raised eyebrow, but he just waved it off. "I'm fine. Really." She didn't really believe him, but he had never lied to her before…

"Alright, if you say so" she said, turning back to the movie.


Donnie sat next to her, now too sleepy to be cold. His mind still screamed Stay awake! Stay awake! Stay awake! But he replied, Brain, be quiet, I'm so tired. I'll just take a quick rest… After a long struggle, his eyelids finally closed, and his breathing slowed until it seemed like he wasn't breathing at all. Now asleep, Donnie tipped over; his shoulders landing on April's. Finding warmth, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close the way that one would hold a pillow or stuffed animal in their sleep.

April jumped out of her seat slightly as something fell onto her shoulder. She looked over to see Donnie, now completely asleep, leaned against her. She was about to say something to wake him up when, without warning, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Yikes! Donnie was stronger than he looked, this impromptu hug was starting to hurt. "Donnie? Hey, Donnie! Donnie, wake up! Donatello!" He didn't even move. If anything, his grip tightened. Well-meaning and sweet as Donnie was when he was awake; his "hug" was starting to make it hard for her to breathe. She yelled loudly, sure that her voice could be heard throughout the lair, but he didn't wake up. There was something very wrong here. That scream would have woken up even Mikey after an all-night movie marathon. This was no normal sleep that Donnie was in. Now April was worried.

To prove April's theory about her scream being heard throughout the lair, the rest of the turtles ran into the room to see what was wrong.

When they saw the scene in front of them, they sheathed their weapons and laughed. "Oh, how romantic!" said Mikey between laughs.

"Having a good time?" asked Leo with a slight smirk.

"No, I think there might be something wrong with Donnie. He won't wake up, even when I scream bloody-murder. Plus," she added, struggling to get out of his grasp, "He's… crushing me" she looked up at Leo with begging eyes, "Help?" No longer laughing, Leo's face was full of concern for his younger brother. Prying his arms off of April, Leo asked her,

"How long has he been down here?"

"At least an hour and a half, we were watching a movie." Leo groaned as he figured out what his silly brother had done. Mikey, and even Raph, looked worried.

"I can't believe that Donnie would do something this stupid."

Raph looked at him straight-faced. "I can. You know how he can be with you-know-who" he said, rolling his eyes.

Leo sighed. "I guess you're right. Want to help me carry Donnie to his room?"

Raph grimaced. "How about his lab? I don't want to carry this knucklehead all the way to his room."

April tapped her foot impatiently, feeling like she was being left in the dark. "Guys, what's wrong with Donnie? Is he going to be ok?"

Grunting as they picked up their still sleeping brother, Raph replied, "What's wrong with Donnie is that even though he's one of the smartest guys on the planet, he can be too stupid and stubborn for his own good. Any other questions?"

"April," said Leo while holding Donnie's legs to carry him to his lab, "Donnie'll be fine once he gets out of here and into his warm lab." Mikey gave a slightly hollow laugh from where he stood next to April.

"He won't be ok once you get done yelling at him, though."

"Got that right" agreed Leo with a nod.


As he rose to consciousness, Donnie realized that he felt…warm. Smiling in his semi-consciousness, he shifted and snuggled deeper into the blanket covering him. Suddenly, his eyes flew open, and he jolted awake. How did he get a blanket on him? Last thing he remembered was sitting on the couch with April. And being cold… He sunk deeper into the blanket when he realized what must have happened. Maybe, if he was really careful, he could sneak out of the room before Leo or any of his brothers, or even worse, he thought with a shudder, Master Splinter, had a chance to chew him out. He peeked out of the blanket, and felt his hopes crumble as he saw Leo standing right in front of the bed in his lab, with a definite scolding face on; arms crossed over his chest. "Glad to see that you're awake" said Leo flatly. Da da da, I'm dead, thought Donnie. Might as well try to make this less painful.

"Oh, Leo. Well, uh, I know this looks bad…" said Donnie, climbing out of the covers and sitting with his legs hanging over the side of the bed. Leo just gave him The Look, the one that Master Splinter would use that would lead you to confessing anything. Luckily for Donnie, Leo wasn't Splinter, so the magic confessing power didn't work.

"Donatello, what were you thinking?" Oo, whole first names, Leo was defiantly ticked.

"Well, I uh…"

"Do you realize what almost happened? You practically went into hibernation in there! What were you thinking?" he repeated.

"I did not. I just had a long night in the lab, so I sort of dozed off a little…"

"Bull." Leo looked at Donnie, steel in his glance. "We forced you to go to bed ourselves last night, Donnie. Now, would you care to explain why you sat around in the freezing cold living room for more than an hour and half?"

"We've been out in colder for longer" Donatello pointed out, hoping to get out of the fact that he did something stupid.

"Yeah, except we were always on patrol. Meaning we were moving around. You weren't moving around in there, Donnie. You're lucky that you weren't in there for too long, all we needed to wake you up this time were some blankets and heaters, but you know that we can't stay in too cold for too long. You know that if any of us went into hibernation, it would be nearly impossible to get enough heat to wake us up. Spike, sure, he's small, but us? Mutated though we are, we would still need heat, and we're too big to just fix it by laying in front of a lamp, and we can't go topside in the middle of the day. You know this, and you knew it was way too cold in there to stay for too long, but you stayed in there anyway, without even a blanket." His glare was blaming, but soon turned worried. Donnie looked at the floor guiltily, and the room fell silent.

"Are you going to tell Splinter about this?" he asked, voice tinged with worry.

"We told him while you were asleep. He basically said that this was a turtle problem, and as the oldest I should handle it."

"Oh." Donnie started kneading the blanket in his hands, making sure that Leo was done before he asked what was really on his mind. "So, is April still here? Is she worried?"

"We sent her home. We told her that you just needed some sleep, and you'll be fine. It's just… you worried us, Donnie. We almost thought that you might not've waked up again until Spring. Seriously, though, you usually have more sense than that. If April makes you do stupid, risky stuff like this, I don't know what to do. That girl just gets rid of your common sense". Donnie's cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I know" he whispered. Leo's glare softened, and he looked at his brother caringly.

"Donnie, if you want to watch a movie with April, I don't care, and I doubt that Raph or Mikey really care either, but try to do it when the lair is a little warmer, or at least bring a blanket. Ok?"

"Sure, Leo" he looked at him with a hopeful smile, "So, are you done yelling at me now?"

Leo pretended to stroke an invisible beard, the international motion of thinking, "Hmmm. Yeah, I think so. What was this movie you two were watching anyway? It must have been pretty good to keep you from getting up."

"To be honest, I wasn't really watching the movie. I was a little… distracted."

Leo smiled as he pictured his brother sitting next to April on the couch in the freezing Pit, "By April, or by the cold?"

Donnie smiled right back at Leo, but his smile was smaller and slightly embarrassed, barely exposing the gap in his teeth "Both". Leo laughed, placing a hand on Donnie's shoulder.


I may have exaggerated the situation a little bit, but let's face it, when it comes to April, Donnie can do some pretty stupid stuff. Like in Operation Breakout. And, yes, I did make April a ROtG fan. Anyway, R&R, be nice.