Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles….

Donatello's POV

Sometimes I wish life would give you just one thing to work on at a time. You know? And when you finished that issue, you would be given the next. Neat and clean. Stress free. However, life doesn't seem to ever be that polite. Honestly, the older we all get, the more complex it truly is. Our eyes are opened and we suddenly see all the problems in the world.

My cup has been full for days…months…actually years. I think it all started back when we saved April. Things instantly changed for us. We became more risky and had a taste for life above ground. Sometimes, I found myself wondering, "what if we had never met?' The look on Leonardo's face right now. I could tell his mind set wasn't too far of from that very thought.

Michaelanglo was sleeping peacefully, but Leo's eyes were troubled. The cup was over filling for him. Another terror was still out there in the night. Another enemy. Leo sometimes looked wore down to me. He was a fighter, yes, we all were. But, I knew he was much more then that. He was a peace keeper. At the end of the day, he just wanted peace for all of us.

"You think this letter triggered some type of regression?" I asked Leo softly, my eyes searching every inch of his for the answers. I could drown in the depths of his eyes alone. They truly were the windows to his soul. Even now, in midst of all this…..

Leo glanced at Raphael, who had entered the lab. He took was staring over Mikey, quietly. Leo must have caught him up to speed. He looked concerned. His current mod was brooding.

"Donnie, I want to be very clear on this. None of us, one hundred percent knows what happened to Mikey. Maybe Mikey doesn't himself. It is possible that Mikey's mind was warped in some way…"Leo was talking very carefully, as if the words could break.

"We need to take that doctor out." Raph spoke up, roughly. I swallowed, as Leonardo stared at him. Honestly, those two need to nix the current fighting. Especially in my lab….

"We will."

He said it like it was the simplest conclusion. My eyes widen. I felt a wave of variations rush through my brain. It was anything BUT simple.

"Excuse me here, but going to stir the hornet's nest scenario, has never worked out that great for us." I interjected.

Leo gave me a cold look. I felt myself falter slightly under his sheer gaze. Leo had that affect on me. "He is going to come for us. One way or another, Donnie. That's why he is pulling Karai into this as well. He knows she is our ally."

"Speak for yourself." Snorted Raph in the corner, but Leo ignored him. That I was grateful for.

"Leo, we need more data on what is happening to Mikey. You can't expect him to fight, while in the process of fighting his own mind. If Doctor Frahm affects Mikey without even being present, how on earth can your presume to take him into a fight with him?! It's far too dangerous."

"I don't presume to take him at all." Snapped Leo, harshly. I could see the muscles in his neck tightening in annoyance with me. I swallowed. I didn't want to argue, but I knew I had too.

"Mikey will stay here, where it is safe for him. I'll take care of the doctor." Leo went on.

"And how do we not know that you aren't affect by him?" I asked, quickly. "If Mikey was affected, then logically, so were you."

Leonardo shot me a glowering look. But I held my ground. This doctor was a psychopath. He was like fighting the boogeyman. We had very little information about him, other then what I had obtain from the storage, even then it was mostly notes on us. I sure as heck was not about to walk into another trap with my brothers.

"Hear me out, Leo. This guy has been studying and documenting us, through Shredder, and finally through you and Mikey. He has been quiet all this time, if he is trying to draw you out, it means he has something ready."

"You think, I don't know that?" Leo cut me off. I instantly felt myself getting irritated by him. Sometimes I felt like Leo disregarded my intelligence. While, I was head over heels for the guy….at the end of the day, I did have some clue to what I was talking about. At least with what the heck he and mikey had even bothered to share with me.

"I actually don't know what you know, Leo. You and Mikey both have been tight lipped about the whole situation. I only have bits and pieces to work with!" I stated bitterly.

The room dropped a few degrees in temperature as it always did for me when I took a stand against Leonardo. We didn't fight often but when we did….well…it wasn't pretty. Gah. Why did he have to be so stubborn?!

"The Geek does have a point." Raphael piped in, leaning against the door frame. "You two have been keeping secrets." Leo's eyes left mine to give Raph the cold treatment. Raph looked as if he could careless however. One of the few benefits of being Raph.

"More like Intel." I corrected, warmly. At least Raphael had my back on this one. I was grateful to him and surprised all at once. If Raph could see my view on the situation, then why couldn't Leo? I studied the blue cladded turtle. Leo was staring down at his hands, which were clenched on his knees.

"So you both want the whole story? You think it would change things?" He said it like he didn't believe. Like us knowing the truth was pointless. My nose wrinkled, frustrated.

What on earth was his problem?

'I won't know until I hear it and frankly, you are acting like it's nothing, yet look at Mikey…look at you."

Leo was on his feet instantly. "And what about me, Donnie?"

I gulped as Leo glared at me. He was getting way too upset about this. I felt an alarm going off in my head. "Leo, I'm not trying too..

'He is saying that you are acting like a dick right now and keep trying to us in the dark." Huffed Raphael, crossing his arms.

And here we go…

"No! That's not what I meant…" I tried, my voice squeaking, but Leo was already on his way over to Raph. Great…

"Okay. You want to know the truth! Fine! I'll tell you, but Mikey doesn't deserve to relive it!"

I waited for the huge explosion. The one that always came when Leo or Raph got into either's faces. The tension was thick in the air, it was making me sweat! I instantly began thinking about my computer equipment in case of a brawl…. However, I saw a look of pure sadden cross my hot headed teammate's features. A rare sight to say the least.

"You can't protect him from this, Leo." He said in an almost tender tone. It took me back, I could count on one hand how many times I had seen sadden generated by Raph. Don't forget, I have three fingers only…just saying.

I could tell Leo was having the same reaction as me. He looked at Raph, almost as if the thought was entirely foreign to him. Raph shifted uncomfortably with the attention. I felt slightly confused. Raph had literally flipped my world sideways.

"I'm just pointing it out. It's in his head, bro. You can't fix it for him. He has to do it.. He has to deal with it." Raph went on. I could see the stiffness in Leo's shoulders from a mile away. Raphael had just hit the nail on the head. I think I was mildly in awe of the moment. I took a breath.

'Raph is right. We can't let this go on. We have to bring it into the light." I said very slowly, trying not to smudge the scene in front of me.

Leo looked at me, finally. The coldness was gone. There was sorrow there. His eyes were lit up with it. It tore my heart out. I could feel the hatred for Frahm intensify in my chest. What ever he had done, it was terribly. That's why Leo was over-protective of our baby brother. Why hadn't I seen it…funny that Raph saw it first…maybe. We were related…

Leo stood there staring at the wall behind me now, his hands still clenched by his sides. "How…." He stopped his voice broke and he closed his eyes quickly, giving his head a shake. I moved towards him, but Raphael beat me to the punch once again…

Raphael moved behind Leo and placed his arms, awkwardly around his chest from behind, pulling him back into a strange hug. Leo jerked at first and then relaxed. He rested a hand on his Raph's forearms. I studied the scene, strangely intrigued.

"Let us be there for you both.' I assured the leader, coming over to them. Leo glanced at me and I could see un-cried tears, but I knew Leo wasn't going to show them. It was rare to see Raph cry, but seeing Leo cry? That was next to impossible. He would cry alone, without us to witness it. I reached up to touch his cheek.

"You can trust us." I told him, firmly. "We can handle anything together. We always have."

Leo and I held each others gaze for a spell. I would have given anything to know what was going through his head at that very moment. Leo gave a slow nod. For a split second, it was like how we all were back when we were kids, before it all got so horribly complicated. When hugs were normal and the days were full of happiness.

Back before we all learned to hide in the shadows…

Raph let go of Leo and I removed my hand. "Okay, enough of that shit." Raph grunted, trying to clear the air for himself. However, I knew I wasn't going to forget him, hugging Leo like that. It was almost….sweet.. It had slightly altered my view of the hot head.

"What's the plan, Fearless?"Raph asked, as Leo went to sit on the edge of the cot. Leo looked determined now and I almost felt like laughing in relief, but I kept quiet.

"I think we should keep tabs on Karai, as for Mikey, I don't know much about being a psychologist. But, I do know quite a bit about mediations."

I nodded; I could see the direction he was going in with this. "Maybe we can use it to unblock his memories. I think its time for some research…"