For once Donnie wakes in the light. It's unnerving. His eyes open and immediately they're assaulted with bright flares piercing his pupils. Logically, he knows that it's only because he had been exposed to such little light for so long, but that knowledge didn't stop his eyes from burning.

"Raphael!" The muffled shout tears through his head and he forces his eyes open. Everything is blurry and swimming, but he still gets a general idea of the shape and size of the room he is in. It's square, and small enough that if he and Mikey linked arms and stretched out as far as they could with their other hand, they could touch the opposite wall. Mikey.

Donnie whipped his head to the side, neck cracking in protest. He spotted his brother on a cot like bed similar to the one he himself was laying on.

Mikey. The other turtle looked a little better compared to the last time he had been conscious. Mikey's arms were wrapped in gauze from wrist to elbow. The bruises on his face muddled together like a quilt of yellows, greens, blues and purples. Some of the larger cuts scattered across his body had a red and blue Band-Aid taped along them.

Donnie's attention was caught by yet another loud noise. A door to his left flew open, almost cracking on the wall behind it, but at the last moment a hand caught the handle. The green hand let the door rest softly. It was soon followed by an equally green head with a blue band across the eyes.

Donnie sucked in breath and his chest tightened. That face was familiar. It was one of the faces in the picture. The turtles that Shredder had warned them about.

Donnie pulled his legs to his chest and scrambled to climb out of the cot. His moments were jerky, his hands were shaking. His head and face ached, but he didn't stop moving.

The head at the door was joined by another. This one with a red bandana.

Donnie knew if he had anything in his stomach, he would have thrown it up by now in pure terror. He lunged for Mikey and pulled the smaller turtle to his chest. Mikey's eyes twitched under his lids and he moaned softly, but didn't wake.

The heads were followed by bodies and soon the new turtles were fully in the room, rushing towards him and Mikey.

Donnie dragged Mikey along the floor, too tired to carry him. He scooted backwards, away from the other turtles, until he was in the corner, tucked between one of the beds and the wall. He pulled Mikey between his legs and curled around his brother, shielding him with his body.

He showed his teeth to the newcomers, just daring them to come any closer. The turtles stopped short and stared at him with wide eyes.

Blue Bandana turned to Red Bandana and whispered something in his ear. Red Bandana nodded before setting a water bottle and a couple of crackers down on the floor and walking swiftly from the room. Blue Bandana did the same.

Donnie let out a relieved breath. They were safe. For now.

BREAK

"Didja see how Donnie was wrapped around Mikey? He was protectin' 'im. From us."

"I know." Leo sighed and ran a hand across his eyes. "Something isn't right."

"Yeah, what ain't right is that we spent two hours patchin' up our brothas. And dat was jus' what we could do."

Leo waved a hand. "I know, but did you see the way Donnie looked at us? There was absolutely no recognition in his eyes." Leo clenched his fists. "He had no idea who we were and he was terrified."

Raph fell into a chair. "Can ya blame 'im?"

"Not at all," Leo said. "But, let's try one more time. Maybe this time we can bring them their bandanas. Y'know, try to jog their memories."

Raph nodded and led the way back to the infirmary after pausing to grab some spare masks.

Leo ran to tell Master Splinter what had occurred and warn him away from seeing Mikey and Donnie and scaring them.

BREAK

Donnie swayed with Mikey in his arms. He brushed a hand across his brother's forehead and murmured soothing nonsense to him. His eyes would try to slip shut every once in a while. He took to pinching himself to stay awake. Falling asleep here, with these turtles running about would spell certain death. Although, it was weird that they didn't just take their chance while he and Mikey were asleep and defenseless.

Just then, the door was opening again. Blue Bandana came in, followed by Red Bandana. Donnie pinched his arm again and tried to look as alert as possible. Red and Blue weren't even going to get close to Mikey while Donnie was still breathing.

Curiously enough, Red had two colored strips of cloth balled up in his hands. One was orange and the other was purple. Odd. Maybe they were to be used as weapons? To strangle, maybe.

Blue stopped about five feet from him and crouched down. He started to reach out a hand towards Mikey but stopped when Donnie growled lowly. He figured that was the best way to get his point across.

Blue sent Red an indecipherable look, and Red nodded. He tossed Blue the masks.

"Hey Donnie, remember us? I'm Leo and that's Raph, we're your brothers," Blue, sorry, Leo, said in a low voice, letting the masks drape over his palm.

Donnie almost snorted. "Yeah, sure," he said, voice cracking and scratchy.

Leo opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a small moan came from Donnie's lap.

Mikey's eyes fluttered and he smacked his mouth. His eyes opened to slits. "Water?" he croaked.

Donnie allowed himself a tiny smile and grabbed one of the water bottles he had pulled to his side after Leo and Raph had left. He unscrewed the top and tipped the water into Mikey's half gaping mouth. Mikey gulped greedily. When the bottle was half empty, Donnie placed the bottle back at his side. Mikey whined and Donnie shushed him by patting his cheek.

"If you drink too much, you're going to hurt yourself," Donnie said softly.

Mikey nodded, but still looked disappointed. His eyes were a bit clearer and he looked much more alert. He started to push himself from Donnie's chest, but froze when he saw Raph and Leo. He turned to face Donnie with undisguised fear written in the wrinkles on his forehead and the downward turn of his lips. Donnie flicked his eyes from Raph and Leo to Mikey. He nodded slowly, almost unnoticeably. Mikey fully sat up and leaned against the wall, leaving his legs tangled with Donnie's.

"Hey Mikey," Raph said, rumbling voice trying and not quite failing to be gentle.

Mikey flinched and Donnie stared at Raph in shock. How did he know Mikey's name?

"How did you know his name?" Donnie asked, piercing Raph with his accusing glare.

"Like Leo said, we're yer brothas."

Donnie and Mikey both shook their heads vigorously. Donnie wanted nothing to do with these evil creatures and he was sure Mikey felt the same.

Leo tried to hide his sigh. He kept his voice soft and gentle. "Look, I don't know what Shredder told you guys, but he was lying. You shouldn't be afraid of us. We're your brothers and we love you."

Donnie scoffed, the sound tearing his throat. "Like you monsters are capable of even a iota of love."

"Wer not lyin'," Raph said, voice strained.

Mikey gave a chest rattling laugh. "And we're supposed to believe you?"

"Well, ya sure as hell shouldn't believe Shredder," Raph shot back.

Donnie just rolled his eyes. He tried to keep it in, he knew he was a prisoner, but he just couldn't understand how dull these guys thought he and Mikey were.

Leo lowered his voice. "Raph, let's just go. It'll take a while for them to trust us again. We should just let them get some sleep."

"We gotta keep tryin' Leo. We can't jus' give up on 'em."

"We're not giving up, just, "Leo paused," taking a break."

"Maybe I dun't wanna take a break."

Leo sighed. "Raphael."

Raph opened his mouth, but Donnie spoke before Raph could utter a word.

"You should listen to Leo."

Raph snapped his head towards Donnie. He took a threatening step forward and growled, "Ya stay outta dis." His eyes were wild and Donnie shrunk back.

Mikey wrapped an arm around Donnie's shoulders and glared at Raph. "Don't you dare touch him."

Raph huffed out a breath, shaking his head. He stalked from the room and slammed the door behind him, making both Donnie and Mikey flinch. Leo sighed, shooting them an apologetic look before following Raph.

After the door had closed, Donnie felt the tension drain from his body. He smiled wanly at Mikey. "Looks like we'll survive another day, little brother."