Hello! This is the first chapter of an AU that I has spent several months in the editing room. The story itself is not finished yet but I feel confident enough in the world itself to put up the first few chapters that I do have done. An introduction, if you will, to the larger continuing story.
So, please enjoy chapter one.
I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Light flooded the tiny stone cell.

"Soup's on!" a rough voice jeered as a tray of slop clattered to the floor. "Enjoy yer meal!"
The occupant of the cell waited until the cruel laughter had moved on before he slowly shifted from his pallet in the corner and reached forward to pick up the tray of lukewarm and foul smelling mush that could barely be described as food. The chain on his right leg rattled quietly as he settled back down to his daily 'meal'.
The door opened again and the torchlight assaulted his eyes for the second time that day.
A malicious chuckle reverberated off of the stone walls.
"How far you have fallen, my once-friend. Hello Yoshi."
The prisoner did not look at his visitor while he spoke; instead he focused on the wall, only the slightest flick of his tail revealing any of the flurry of emotions this 'visitor' had dredged up.
"I have told you time and time again, Lord Oroku, Yoshi is dead. You killed him. My name is Splinter."

Leonardo stumbled carelessly through the wood clutching his bleeding shoulder.
'Must find help. Must reach the village.' His mantra rang in his head over and over again and it kept him shuffling through the undergrowth, putting one foot ahead of the other as he grew steadily weaker from the loss of blood and the beating he'd taken.
He had not meant to surprise that wild cat. He was so sure he had seen it leave its den. Why had he accepted the bounty on a wild cat in the first place? He was a knight- would be a knight- and such missions were best left to foresters and hunting parties.
But he needed the money. And the cat had killed a child. He wondered in his head what kind of future knight he was if his two reasons were in that order. It was no time and the perfect time to think about it as he felt his lifeblood sliding between his fingers. He steeled himself against the pain and pressed onward.
"Help!" he croaked. "Someone! Is anyone out there?"
He had little hope of an answer to his call. As he understood it, the danger of the wild beast had left this part of the forest mostly deserted. There were few brave or stupid enough to take the risk.
His strides were becoming shorter. It would not be long now until he was helpless. Waiting.
'Well, at least I won't be cat food.' He thought wryly. He had completed his mission, but at what cost?
"Hello? Is someone out there?" A voice called.
'Yes. I'm here. Help me." He thought as he tripped over an exposed root and collapsed onto the leafy forest floor with a muffled cry. He looked up at the summer leaves and tried to think something heroic as the world turned to black, possibly for the last time. All he managed was:
'Huh. Green. Just like me.'

His sleep was a comfort at first, removing him from the pain of the wounds. And then the dreams began and he would have given anything to have the pain back if only the visions and voices would cease.

"Take care of your brothers, my son."

Flames. Soldiers. His family scattered to the winds. Failure.

"Come on! Please! Your brother will never forgive me if you die on me!"

"Leo!"
"Leo help me!"
"Leo, I'm trapped!"
"Leonardo, where are your brothers? Why did you not protect them?"

"Please Leo! Don't die on me, brother!"

The voices that haunted him in his dreams.

Flames. Soldiers. His family scattered. Possibly dead. Failure.

A broken memory of a lullaby and being rocked gently to sleep….

"Please… please… come back to us… I've just found you again…"

At the sound of a dog happily barking at someone approaching the house, Donatello jumped up to put the notes he'd been writing back on the shelf where they belonged and duck back under the covers of his sickbed where he belonged. Shelly, April's ironically named dog (who had been her companion long before he had arrived to protest the moniker), only barked in that tone when her mistress approached. If April caught him doing anything but 'resting', she'd have his shell.
"Donatello!" April called from outside, sounding a more than a little out of breath. "Donatello, come out here and help me! I've got wounded!"
Don threw back the covers and slipped his feet into his shoes as he hurried to help. She was already at the door by the time he got there, bent beneath the weight of an unconscious humanoid turtle with several field bandages around his left arm and shoulder. Without a word Don carefully contributed his own strength to half-carrying half-dragging the turtle to his own room. It wasn't until they got him laid down that Don got a good look at the wounded turtle's face. He had to grab a chair to keep from falling over at the shock.
"Come on Don, you've seen blood before. This is nothing new." April said to her apprentice as she knelt to get the patient situated.
"That's Leo." Don said, barely able to raise his voice above a whisper, as if he was afraid that the wind from his breath would blow his brother away and he would never be able to find him again. April paused. "Leo? Your brother?" she asked, turning around to look at Donatello. The fifteen-year-old turtle nodded.
"I'll go get the water." He said, retreating out of the room with a cautious smile forming on his face and tears at the corners of his eyes.
He smiled to mask the knot of fear in the pit of his stomach at the sight of his brother's blood.

Donatello refused to leave his unconscious brother's side. Thus, April decided to just skip the coaxing and bring both of their suppers into the room where her patient still lay on Donatello's bed.
"So Leo is your oldest brother?" she asked, dipping her spoon into her bowl of soup.
Don nodded, smiling wistfully at the memories that were so obviously at the forefront of his mind at the moment.
"Yeah. And then Raph, then me and Mikey." Don looked at the bed. "I don't know what I'm going to do if he's not okay. Three years… and then to lose him again…"
"It was just a little blood loss Don. His body just needs time to get some strength back." April reassured him. "Tell me about Mikey again, your twin."
Don smiled. "Mikey… we definitely aren't identical. He's got so much energy in him. It's like watching lightning incarnate sometimes. He's really curious too. He never stops trying new things. We're more alike in that way than most people realize. But I tend to be more methodical about looking for my answers. I ask. He does."
April held back a giggle. "I can imagine how well all of this curiosity went over with your father."
Don pulled a face. "Yeah… we both tended to get into trouble for that. And for dragging our brothers along with us."
April looked in surprise at the turtle on the bed. "Usually it's the other way around."
Don smiled slyly. "Oh, don't get me wrong. Leo and Raph did their fair share of 'ringlead-ing', but Mikey and I were the ones who got us into the crazier stuff. There was this one time…" Don trailed off into a story of happier days before his family had been broken.

"You need to go to bed Don." April said, lighting the lamp on the nightstand. Sometimes it amazed her how much Donatello could focus on a single task or goal, shutting out everything else.
"Donatello, you're barely over the Fever. If you aren't careful you could still relapse. You still need your rest." April said. It was like talking to a tree. Or maybe a stone wall, trees rustled every now and then if the breeze was right.
"He should have been awake by now." Don said softly. "He should have at least regained consciousness once."
"I'm sure he'll be awake by morning. You can speak with him then. I'll sit up with him tonight. You need to go to bed. Don't think I won't sedate you." April finished, placing her hands on her hips with a mischievous, yet determined smile.
Don chuckled, knowing from experience that she was entirely serious. "Alright already. I'm going, I'm going." He took Leonardo's hand, intending to say something to the still-sleeping turtle urging his recovery. Instead he frowned and placed a second hand on Leo's forehead.
"April. He feels warm." Don said, his voice laced with concern. The atmosphere of the room immediately changed as April hurried to check Leo over. The dreaded word hung in the air: Fever. Leonardo had the Fever. The apothecary and the apprentice hurried to gather the necessary supplies to treat the malady. Donatello dipped a cloth in a large bowl of cool water and laid it across Leo's forehead.
"I'm sorry Leo." He said softly. "This is all my fault." No one could deny it. He was the only person Leo could have caught it from. The most likely contaminator.
April looked up from where she was mixing up the herbs for the compress.
"Go to bed Don." She said.
Donatello looked at her pleadingly. "But… but… he needs me." He said.
April nodded. "And you'll be no good to him if you collapse from exhaustion. I know you were up last night working on your notes. Go get some sleep. I'll wake you if I need you."
Hesitantly, Don backed away from the bedside. He moved as if it was physically painful to do so. Pausing at the doorway, he turned back to April.
"You promise? The first sign of trouble and you'll wake me?"
April nodded. "I promise."
Donatello gave a shuddering exhale and left the room. April looked over to the bed where Leonardo lay.
"He's expecting to get his brother back. You'd better not disappoint him."
She meant it in more ways than one.

Donatello lay awake for a long while in April's bed- he'd given his brother his- before sleep finally claimed him. When he finally nodded off, he found little rest in the strange dreams that filled his slumber…

Donatello walked the familiar forest paths around his and April's home. As he walked, the trees parted, revealing a small mountain farm that he would know anywhere. Home. The forest disappeared, and he walked forward onto the freshly harvested field with a wide smile.
"Tag! You're it Donny!" Michelangelo materialized by his side, tapped his right arm, and raced off over the stubble. Don grinned and ran after him, his own laughter joining that of his twin's. At first it was fun, but then Michelangelo began to put more distance between them.
"Mikey! Wait up!" Don called, only to be answered by his brother's laughter.
"Have to catch me!" came the gleeful reply. Soon Michelangelo had disappeared into the distance, and the laughter was fading with him. Still Donatello ran over the never-ending field, trying to recover the distance between him and his brother.
The field came to an abrupt halt at the house, which seemed to tower over Donatello as it had when he was a child.
"Mikey!" Don called. He was aware of little else but that he had to find Michelangelo. He had lost sight of him again. He couldn't let that mean losing him. Not this time too.
"Donatello, I need you."
Didn't he know it.
"Don! Wake up."

April shook Donatello's shoulder. "Hmm? Wha?" He opened his eyes, blinking at the dim light of the candle she held.
"I need you." She said softly. His expression grew grim, too grim for a boy of fifteen, and he pushed back the covers and slid out of bed.
"I'll be right there." He said.
April nodded and shut the door softly behind her as she returned to her patient in the next room. Don rubbed a hand over his face, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. He felt anything but rested. Still, he pulled his tunic on over his shirt as quickly as he could and practically snatched up the candle as he hurried out the door. Shelly lifted her head and looked at him curiously before laying back down to sleep by the glowing fire. Donatello entered his own room and was hit with the familiar and pungent smell of herbal compresses. April pointed to the bowl of water sitting on the nightstand.
"You know what to do. The compress mixture is out on the warming plate by the fire. I need to check the books for something." She said. Don nodded, not taking his eyes off of his brother. "Well, I'll leave you to it then." April said.
And so it began.

The battle raged within and without the turtle that lay prone on the bed in the small back room of the apothecary's house. His body worked itself ragged combating the Fever and healing his wounds. All while he was unaware of his own efforts. The two healers remained ever vigilant, stretching their skills as far as they could to aid his body's attempts to fight the disease. April found and used the most potent treatments she could. Donatello barely left his brother's side except to make meals for himself and April so that she could continue to combat Leo's Fever- he was too anxious to eat much himself, and to feed Shelly and let her out to 'heed the call of nature'.
Finally, somewhere past midnight on the second evening, the fever broke. The two conscious combatants rejoiced quietly and Donatello ordered April to get some rest. With an exhausted laugh, she acquiesced, but made him promise to wake her. He didn't. She woke up the next morning to find him asleep in his chair next to Leonardo's bed. With a smile, she woke him and guided him- still half asleep- to bed and tucked him in before turning back to her patient.

The first thing Leo noticed when he began to wake up was the fiery pain running up his left arm and shoulder. He heard a groan and wondered who else was hurt until he realized that the sound had come from his own throat. Slowly he opened his eyes.
'Where am I?' he thought. He must have spoken at least some of his question aloud because his field of vision was suddenly filled with the concerned, but smiling, face of a young red-headed woman.
"You're awake!" she exclaimed. "Here, drink this. It will help with the pain and the healing." She carefully lifted his head and shoulders up and lifted a cup of… something to his lips. Leo began to protest that he could drink on his own, but when he tried to move the arm that did not hurt he found that it would not follow his directions. So he reluctantly allowed this red-headed woman to give him the awful tasting… something as if he were a child.
"To answer your question, you are in my home. My name is April O'Neil. I found you bleeding in the forest. You're lucky that wild cat didn't kill you." She said.
Leonardo was beginning to grow tired. He had never fully woken up and the exertion of being upright wasn't helping much.
"I know… Had to… kill it… Didn't …. mean to…. surprise…." He nodded off before finishing his thought.
April looked at the teacup in shock. "This stuff has never worked that fast before."

The next time he woke up, all he was aware of was pain. It shot up his arm and shoulder and it burned in his lungs. It felt like someone had shoved wooden plugs up his nose and clamped a vise around his head. Leo couldn't remember a time when he'd felt more helpless- physically helpless that is.
He started coughing, a deep hacking cough that rattled in his chest. Instantly someone was beside him, helping him sit up and rubbing his shell like father used to as he coughed up wad after wad of phlegm. When the coughing was done he was left gasping for breath.
"It's over. Just breathe." A strangely familiar voice soothed.
'I must still be dreaming.' Leo thought, but followed the directions as the voice 'coached' him back to controlled breathing. When he was breathing normally again the hands holding him upright helped him lean back some.
"Here. Drink this. You need to get more fluids into you." The voice said and suddenly Leo was staring at a cup of water, realizing that he had never been more thirsty in his life. He drank greedily, too tired to care that he couldn't lift the cup to his lips and willing to rely on Someone Else's hands again.
"Whoa! Not so fast! You'll make yourself sick." Someone Else said.
Leo reluctantly complied. Soon the cup was empty. He closed his eyes contentedly as the hand took it away and slowly lowered him back down onto the pillow.
'Yes. Sleep. Rest will feel so good…' he thought, beginning to drift off.
"Sleep well, brother." The voice said softly.
'Brother?' Leo opened his eyes again as quickly as he could. The Someone Else had laid a hand on his shoulder. Darkness was creeping back upon him and he fought against it, trying to focus on the face above him.
"Donatello?" he gasped. It came out as a more of a soft moan.
And then the darkness claimed him.

Well, what did you think?
I was unable to put in the dividers I wanted, so I had to settle for just the line breaks. Oh well, they provide enough division.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and I hope that you will enjoy the rest of the story to come.
Have a nice day/morning/afternoon/evening/night. :D