Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Where are you?"

The voice of an extremely pissed Dr. Lisa Cuddy came through his phone as Gregory House walked down the streets of New York.

The tap of his cane and the quiet buzzing of the street lights was the only sound accompanying him as he roamed through a small alley in an effort to dodge the most crowded neighbourhoods

"I was trying to get to Central Park but I might have accidentally ended up in The French Connection instead," said House, eyeing the badly lit alley he had found himself wandering into "Really, I've had patients shit themselves that smelled better than this"

His boss didn't seem sympathetic to his plight and sighed.

"You are supposed to be at the conference" She said slowly, clearly fighting back the urge to raise her voice at him "What are you doing?"

House didn't attempt to suppress his smile at the fury contained in Cuddy's voice and approached a pile of boxes in the corner. He flipped one of them with his cane. Oh, rotten meat and a dead rat. Maybe the cause of the smell?

"I think it's pretty clear" he said, poking the animal with his cane

"I can't believe you. It's just a few days. You didn't even have to speak, just be there. It's important"

House rolled his eyes

"It's boring"

"It was a compromise" She stressed. He could hear the frown. If she kept going like this she would end up needing a vacation herself "I didn't want to have to send you there but after what you did last week I had to. You won't be away for long, it's just while I'm fixing your mess. You know I can't let you near any patients for now"

There was an expectant pause.

House pushed

"The football player, the one with the hygiene issues. He needs Prednisone" He said

Now she finally raised her voice

"Don't change the subject" She growled. Oh he touched a nerve there. Should have known that his team would keep sharing the cases with him "You knew this was important and–"

"I'm a doctor not a stewardess!" He snapped "You are not paying me to smile and look nice and if you won't let me do my job I'm not going to but I also won't stay there to suck the dick of every idiot with an ego problem that–"

"You are a doctor? A medical doctor?"

House turned immediately. He hadn't heard anyone approach but there, just a few steps away from him was a man. Broad shoulders, just slightly shorter than him, and covered head to toe.

He was wearing a dark, long trench coat with a few stains in the bottom where it met the dirty ground, a hood covered his head and he had a scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face, with only the faint light of the streets to illuminate him House couldn't see an inch of his face.

It looked absolutely ridiculous.

"If you want me to give you the nice drugs I'm sorry to disappoint" He said, raising an eyebrow while snapping his phone shut, ignoring his boss's worried calls "You'll have better luck robbing a pharmacy"

The man fidgeted

"No, it's not that. I just… My brother has been having some problems" He said, uncertainty clear in his voice and oh. That wasn't a man. It was a kid. Fifteen or sixteen. House did not want to deal with a teenager "He has this really strong headache–"

"Then you should give him a Tylenol instead of asking random people for advice Neo" He snapped and started walking past him, towards the other end of the alley.

The teenager didn't get the hint and moved to intercept him.

"We can't exactly go to a doctor and it's not just the headache," he said. Easily keeping up with House's pace, following him down the street. Now that he was closer he could see more layers of clothing hiding his face under the hood.

He was wearing a balaclava. With some kind of blue domino mask underneath. And sunglasses.
Unbelievable.

Well, at least it made more sense why he had decided to dress like that. He must be an idiot in the way that all teenagers are and not in the way that an adult thinking that dressing up like it was Halloween was a fantastic idea would be.

"He's also feeling dizzy and tired. He's acting weird too. We're really worried about him," he continued. He was very annoying "What do I need to, to cure him? Or get him better? There must be something"

He did look very desperate. A familiar emotion to see for a man working in a hospital but at least that told him that there was actually someone that needed help. Or that the kid thought he did.

"Look, it doesn't work like that. I can't exactly divine his exact diagnosis" He said, stopping to look at him. "Someone would need to examine him and if it really is something serious he would need an actual treatment, not you giving him back alley drugs in a basement"

And well, the age, the ridiculous disguise and the reluctance to go to an actual hospital…

House sighed

"Even if it's a drug overdose you will regret not going to the hospital for help more than whatever the fallout is. Trust me. And tell them what exactly your brother took. Don't lie to them"

With that he turned to leave. He didn't hear the teenager follow. Just when he thought it was over he heard his voice again. Closer than it should have been

"He would need someone to examine him"

The voice had changed. Where it sounded reluctant now it was steady and certain. Devoid of all emotion.

A strong arm wrapped around his neck. Not on his throat, on the sides to restrict the flow of blood. He would only have a few seconds then. The world seemed to slow down as House tried to fight but the arm felt like a steel cable around his neck. It wouldn't bulge.

Before darkness took over his vision he could only think one thing.

Shit.

Chapter Text

Mikey woke up from his nap on the couch to the sounds of Raph and Leo arguing.

It wasn't an unfamiliar situation. Especially since it became clear that Donnie's problem wasn't just a normal stress headache. It was still too early for this

Mikey groaned and turned, trying his best to bury his face into the sofa and go back to sleep.

Another shout. A crash

There goes Dad's new vase. Probably. Or something like that.

He was going to have to get up before they woke Donnie up wasn't he?

With a heavy sigh he rubbed his face and went to the kitchen.

Dirty dishes, food scraps. Of course

Mikey tried to clean up a bit accompanied by the sounds of his brother's temper, prepared some breakfast for Donnie, leaving it there for later and headed for the dojo where the voices were coming from.

When he passed one of their opened storage rooms however he stopped short.

Mikey blinked, dumbfounded

There was someone tied to a chair. With a bag over their head.

So not a normal day apparently. He ran straight for his brothers

"Raph. What did you do?" He asked trying to be quiet and opening the sliding door, disbelief clear in his voice

Leo and Raph turned to him at the same time and wow, judging by their face this looked serious

"Me? What did I do now!?" He shouted crossing his arms

Mikey shushed him and Raph flinched. Leo mumbled a quiet apology.

"There's someone in the lair!" He hissed, his arms flailing wildly.

"That was Leo's idea" Raph growled, turning his face to glare at his older brother

"Wait really?" Said Mikey feeling his eyebrows rise. Talk about a plot twist. The one that usually went too far beating up random criminals was Raph. Abduction seemed kind of a possible next step after all the attempted sewer interrogations.

Definitely not Leo's style

Was it some secret ninja thing then? Should he have done something with him maybe? Was he failing a new kind of surprise training!? Shell

"He's a doctor," Leo said with a grimace, crossing his arms, back going ramrod straight and voice firm. His 'I'm the leader and I know best' pose so this wasn't up to discussion. Still weird. Some kind of evil doctor? Bishop style doctor? Mad scientist that wanted to blow up Manhattan! Final answer "You weren't even supposed to be involved. He is just going to see Donnie, tell me what I need to do so he can get better and then I will take him back where he was. Just a couple of hours"

Well that made more sense then. If it had to do with Donnie it also explained the pent up rage steadily building in his brothers.

"Not involved? He's in our house" stressed Raph, gritting his teeth, hands clenched into fists.

Mikey looked tentatively between the two of them and finally settled his eyes on Leo

"Does dad know?" He asked

Leo was silent for a moment, avoiding his gaze. Oh he definitely hadn't told their sensei

"He told me that I could do whatever I thought was best" Leo mumbled reluctantly. Yeah, for a ninja Leo was surprisingly easy to read sometimes

"So that's a no" muttered Raph under his breath. "We don't need him Leo. What if he tells everyone about us? He could put us all in danger"

Leo's eyes flashed

"Donnie is already in danger"

Wasn't that an exaggeration? Donnie was sick, yes but he wasn't… He would be fine eventually. He had to

"But we can fix it ourselves" Insisted Raph, getting more and more heated as he started pacing the room. His voice was getting louder but still not loud enough to be a problem. He was really trying. Raph had a good pair of lungs and liked to use them "We have done it before. We don't need the help of some random human"

"We can't fix it this time okay?" Admitted Leo. It took a second for Mikey to realise that his hands were trembling "I can't do anything and Donnie has been trying to for weeks and he's only getting worse. I can't just watch as my brother…" his voice broke.

Mikey felt cold

"Is it really that bad?" He heard himself ask, vision going blurry.

Donnie was feeling bad, yes. It was worse than they thought but he was strong. They hadn't gotten sick in so long.

Donnie always took care of them when they weren't feeling well. They could do the same for him.

Mikey tried. He had been taking care of their house. Preparing food for everyone and taking extra care with Donnie's diet. Trying to keep going as his brothers became more and more frustrated and his dad isolated himself in his room.

It had to be enough

He felt a strong pair of arms wrap around him and couldn't contain the tears any longer

"He has to get better" cried Mikey, now openly sobbing as Raph hugged him, making soft soothing sounds.

"It's alright Mikey. We are taking care of him. He will be alright okay?" He grumbled, his deep voice vibrating against his plastron.

"I'm going" He heard Leo say after a beat

Mikey lifted his head up from Raph's embrace just to see Leo take his katana and walk out of the dojo at a brisk pace.

Raph watched him go and bit his lip. He then looked down at Mikey and squeezed his arms firmly.

Mikey sniffled

"Stay here alright?" He said softly.

Before Mikey managed to nod he had also left the room, running after their brother and frantically calling his name.

Mikey stood there for a moment.

He had to go too. He was strong, like his brothers.

He breathed in deeply, cleaned his tears away and followed

Chapter Text

Both his brothers were already inside the storage room when he arrived.

Employing the best of his ninja skills Mikey peeked through the threshold to look at the scene.

There he was. The new guy. He looked a bit frazzled but was already awake. He was staring at his brothers really intensely. Eyes completely fixed.

Surprise was the usual fare when people realised what they were looking at but instead the guy looked like Donnie when he was trying to disassemble a particularly weird piece of alien junk.

At least he wasn't screaming, or crying. Definitely the worst reactions. Mikey always felt terrible afterwards.

So that was a good thing

His brothers looked like they were starting the whole interrogation and threatening spiel. They had already begun this talk angry because of their previous argument and the guy didn't look like the fearful and cooperative sort and if he was supposed to help them…

Not a good thing.

Okay. Intervention time

"Hi!" He shouted, slipping under Raph's arm and waving at the guy "I'm Mikey! My bro says you're a doctor right? We totally could use the help dude. Are you hungry? I made french toast this morning, well night but–"

"Mikey. You shouldn't be here" Hissed Raph, trying his best to get between him and doctor guy and/or grab Mikey and throw him out of the room

Tough luck Raph

"Oh come on" he said, smoothly getting out of Raph's hold and using Leo as a turtle shield.

Leo, who was now busy sighing heavily and pinching his nose in frustration

"What can he do? He's tied to a chair. He's no match for my awesome ninja skills" Mikey said, displaying said awesome skills with a few karate chops to the air.

Nobody seemed very impressed. Not even doctor man who leaned back on his chair and stared at Mikey with an unreadable expression on his face

"You know, when people discuss drug induced hallucinations they talk about pink elephants not…"

"Orange turtles, man" He said, jumping closer to him and opening his arms, waving them around so he could get a better look "I'm clearly an orange turtle" He turned "Can't you see this awesome shell?"

Someone janked him backwards

"Hey don't get so close" Said Raph, gripping his arm tightly and glaring at the man over Mikey's shoulder "You don't know where he's been "

"Why don't you ask Neo then?" He asked, raising one eyebrow "He's the one that brought me here isn't he?"

Mikey beamed and looked between Leo and doctor man. Doctor guy? That guy. He misread the situation! This was great!

"Oh you guys know each other already? You called him LEO. You are friends!? Awesome! We can–"

The look of absolute despair Leo threw at him was kind of funny

"He said Neo no-not Leo" he protested

Mikey tilted his head

"But that's not your name?"

"It's a matrix reference Mikey" He said lamely "I was wearing the trench coat "

Mikey opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Raph's sudden shout

"You took my trench coat!?" His hold on Mikey wasn't lost and he was dragged a few steps across the room as Raph walked closer to Leo, outraged.

"I had to!" Leo said, crossing his arms and leaning towards Raph "I was going to go to the hospital. I needed the human disguise"

Raph wasn't convinced

"It's still my trench coat!" He shouted in protest, waving his free arm around "You can't do that, it's not fair!"

Leo glanced at their spectator who looked absolutely unimpressed

"Can we not do this right now?" He begged

"He's right, you know" The man said, his mouth quirked with a sharp smile "This is a very unprofessional alien abduction. The colour coding is nice but the accommodations are terrible and the impression you are giving is that you took dad's spaceship for a spin and accidentally snatched the first human you found on the street "

Well, that was rude

"We're not alien turtles" He said, offended, tugging at Raph's hold "We're just normal turtles man"

Mean man rolled his eyes

"Right, of course you are. You know. As fun as the whole comedy routine has been, I don't suppose you have seen my pills?"

Since his brothers were staring at the man, confusion clear in their faces, Mikey decided to look around to find the mystery pills himself and stumbled over one of the boxes they use for their Christmas decorations.

"They are in a cylindrical container?" The man said slowly "made of this thing called plas-tic "

"Oh, here" said Leo, going for one of his pouches but stopped short of giving him the container when he realized that the man was still restrained. Shame that he noticed so fast too. It would have been funnier if he had tried to give him the thing while his hands were still tied. Mikey would have been able to make a very nice pun too! Missed opportunity

After a moment of consideration and realisation that his original plan of action was probably blown (Mikey 1! Leo 0!) the eldest turtle sighed "Alright, let me…"

He passed the pills to Raph and started to undo the knots.

Raph scoffed and pulled out his sai, pointing it at The Doctor™

"Don't try anything funny" he sneered. Because of course he would. Bad Raph. We are trying to get him to help us here.

"Wouldn't want to be poked with the salad prong, right?" He said, rolling his eyes.

Once his arms were free he twisted his wrists in circular motions and rubbed them gently.

"I can't help but notice that you three seem to be perfectly alright, barring the runny nose and red eyes this one has" he said nodding his head at Mikey's direction "which could mean he has a cold or that he's been crying about the mystery brother you are hiding somewhere"

"A bit too eager to help aren't we?" Raph snarled, twirling the sai in his hand and looming over the chair.

"That's why he's here Raph!" He said, hugging his brother's arm "He needs to cure the sick it's what the hypocritic oath says, you know?"

"Hippocratic" Mumbled Leo, taking the rope and coiling it. He reached behind a pile of boxes and took… One of dad's canes? No. It didn't look like it. The man was reaching out for it so it must be his "It's the Hippocratic oath"

"Exactly!" He said, taking it and twirling it in his hands "I'm a firm believer in the hypocritic oath. Especially the part about treating turtles. Besides, I've always loved clinic duty" With that he jumped out of his chair

"Let's go then" He said enthusiastically

Leo watched him leave the room with a frown. Worrywart

Mikey elbowed him gently as he followed, giving him a cheeky smile

"So, what's your name?" He said, reaching the man, who had stopped his walk to look at their ceiling. Understandable since they had a pretty cool home but Mikey was too busy to brag at the moment "How did you meet Leo? Oh! Do you have any hobbies? Do–"

"We're underground?" He asked. His hand rested on his cheek and he was frowning, deep in thought

"Oh yeah dude" Mikey laughed "We're in the sewers"

The man's lips quirked

"Well, that's fun"

When they arrived at Donnie's door Leo paused to look at him.

"Take Mikey and go, Raph" He said firmly.

What?

"Hey" Mikey protested. He was definitely pouting but he didn't care. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! He wanted to be there too!

He turned to look at Raph, hoping to find help there but instead of trying to argue Raph was glancing at him, looking torn.

Not you too!

"Two hours. After that I'm going in" said Raph begrudgingly, taking Mikey's hand and dragging him away

Mikey 1 Leo 1

Chapter Text

House watched Red and Orange leave, turning his attention to Blue. Who was knocking on a strong, sturdy door fixed in one of the modified tunnels they apparently inhabited.

You needed good tools and materials to build that. He hadn't seen much furniture for now but the chair was old and sturdy. Made from good wood, not something you would find dumpster diving and that's wasn't even mentioning the Japanese traditional weapons that they carried around and seemed to know how to use

None of those things could have been purchased using the so-called "human disguise" either since it looked like the most suspicious ensemble someone could build. To their credit it was difficult to look normal when you had to hide your entire skin and a shell.

Their whole bone structure was off too, the face too wide and flat, three fingered hands and feet. Not something you can fake, especially when you look at the snout and the neck. It didn't look possible

House still wasn't discarding drug induced hallucination but it was becoming less likely by the minute

"Come in" Called a voice from the inside of the room

Also sounded young. Roughly the same age so it couldn't have been the one that raised them. Someone had to have done that judging by their way of acting but why would someone adopt four… things and go off to live isolated in the fucking sewers when you could sell them and make a fortune?

God he was dying to get some samples

"Did I wake you up?" Asked Blue as he opened the door, like he was worried about being rude of all things. Another sign that they hadn't lived completely isolated from society while growing up

"No, don't worry Leo I just–"

House let himself in and watched the new mystery freeze as he caught sight of him, sitting at a desk in front of a computer.

Not used to seeing new people. It made sense since they hadn't been discovered yet.

He also looked worse than the others. His leathery skin was less bright and he had actual eyebags. Which was interesting. How similar to humans were they? He also had less muscle mass and was slightly thinner than the other three which could be normal but also could be one of the symptoms.

He was wearing one of those stupid masks, a purple one.

"Dr House" he introduced himself circling the desk where the newly dubbed Purple was sitting "Your brother here thought you needed professional help and the best course of action was kidnapping someone on the street"

He saw the realisation dawn in his face. They had surprisingly human expressions, probably having been raised by one. Not surprised or put off by the kidnapping. They thought it was normal

"Are you a reptile veterinarian?" He asked.

"Nope, just a regular doctor" He said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. The look of disappointment was fast but easy to catch

"But we are half human aren't we?" Asked Blue, voice filled with worry after noticing it. And wasn't that an interesting fact? "I thought it would be the same if I bought a veterinarian or a doctor. We are more similar to humans right?"

Purple sighed

"Yes but a veterinarian would have better in-depth knowledge of both reptiles and mammals in general and has studied more comparative anatomy so they know how to… translate a lot of different and incompatible structures and the different ways they can function better than a regular doctor," he smiled. House could see the teeth clearly. How did that work? What was their diet? "They also usually carry their own equipment more often than doctors do"

So Purple was both smart and knowledgeable. Maybe one of the reasons they had survived for this long.

Blue looked heartbroken

"I'm sorry. I can–"

Purple waved him off

"No, it's fine, Leo. I have everything we need in the lab and that just means that they could in theory be better, not that he can't help me or anything" He said, moving his chair to face them. His expression froze suddenly and he stared at House for a moment "Unless… What is your specialty?" He asked with an uncomfortable grimace

"Don't worry I'm not a dentist" he said with a snort "I'm a board-certified diagnostician with a double specialty in infectious disease and nephrology if that means anything to you"

Blue looked at Purple questioningly

"Is that good?" Clearly clueless. Either they hadn't received the same education or Purple was self-taught since he looked very impressed and a lot happier than before

"That's really good Leo. A diagnostician is the best thing for this"

He nodded at House's direction and started getting up "We can go to the medbay and then the lab" a medbay and a lab? What would they use the lab for? only to stumble and almost fall over, having to brace himself using the table.

Dizziness, maybe caused by hypotension. Which would explain the headaches too and the eyebags. If this was just a case of dehydration he was going to be really disappointed.

Even if he could get those blood samples.

To be fair he hadn't followed along because he thought the affliction was interesting but because the patient was.

A clinical examination would make the whole thing worth it

Blue ran towards his brother and House tuned them out. A lot of are you alright yeah this is nothing. Boring

After a quiet conversation they moved again. It was just a few feet away and just as baffling as the rest of the situation had been

It was very well furnished. Better than some clinics he had seen and the equipment looked new.

There were cabinets filled with different medications, a lot of analgesics and sedatives, medical instruments, boxes of disposable gloves, bags of saline solution and in the farthest corner he could even see surgery and monitoring equipment and an anaesthesia machine

Most if not all of this had to be stolen

There was also an exam table, a sink –did they have running water?– and a well used desk that had a small shelf with what looked like hand binded books and on the same wall, on the right there was a door with a lock.

He let out a slow whistle

"Who did you kill to get all this?"

Purple rolled his eyes, waved dismissively and sat on the examination table, taking off his mask and the fabric around his wrists and ankles

"Don't worry. It's all stolen from gang affiliated clinics" Blue snorted* but before House could interject Purple continued "Leo, can you get those?" He said pointing at the books "The big one, the black one and the binder on top of the desk please?"

Blue gave them to Purple who opened the binder and handed him one of the pages.

"This is my full medical history. None of us have really gotten this sick before but we've all had at least a few broken bones"

House studied the page intently. There was a lot of physical trauma and healed wounds. Specially in the last two years

There was nothing on the page past the age of fifteen so that meant…

"How old are you four?"

"Donnie is fifteen" Blue said with a glare.

House's hands rose in mock offence

"Hey, it could be medically relevant"

Blue, who definitely had a stick up his ass kept glaring at him

"Then we are all roughly the same age"

"Party popper " House pouted.

Purple ignored them both and spoke directly to him with a clinical, detached tone of voice

"We have no information about our parents or anything like that and none of my other brothers ever had anything like what's been happening to me"

House sat on the desk and leaned back, giving his full attention to the new patient.

"Are you biologically related?"

A nod, firm and without any hesitation. A bit obvious but House had no prior experience with human turtle hybrids so you never know

"And what exactly is happening to you?"

"Since approximately six weeks ago I've been having very intense headaches and nausea. I've also been feeling pretty tired in general. My blood pressure is down too. I thought it was just stress at first but three weeks ago I did a blood test and found out my calcium and magnesium levels were significantly higher than normal among other things but I repeated it yesterday and they were fine. I've been trying to treat the symptoms but I am only getting worse and can't find the cause because on top of all this I've been feeling off mentally too. Like thinking is harder than normal and sometimes I feel disoriented"

Which was consistent with what Blue had told him during the abduction even if he had failed to mention that this had been happening for some time.

"Is it constant?"

Purple shook his head

"That's the problem. It comes and goes and I don't know why"

"Right now?"

"Just really tired and I have a headache but not as strong as other days"

House extended his hand

"Show me the test results?"

Purple passed him another paper and then blinked, slowly.

"Wait. Here" Purple picked up the black book and opened it for him. "These are the physiological blood test results for us"

Not the values a human would have. Fascinating. He still needed to find out if the data was accurate but all signs were pointing to yes

"Alright" he said, clasping his hands together "let's get started"

Chapter Text

Under Blue's watchful eye and with the help of the accurately dubbed "big book" which was actually a complete guide to their anatomy and how to perform different procedures, probably written and illustrated by Purple himself, he did a complete examination of the patient.

It was the most fun he'd had in ages

So much of his physiology was different from a human but there were also so many similarities. He also needed to change the way he did some of the tests guided by Purple.

After that they took a small break while Purple explained how some of their anatomy worked and House paid rapt attention

"So your diet is the same a human would have" He said, twirling the hammer for the reflexology test while Purple put back the bigger book on its shelf and took a cup of water on the dispenser behind the desk.

"Yeah, thankfully our digestive system is more similar to a human's than it is to a turtle so we can eat regular food. None of us are lactose intolerant either"

After finishing his drink he threw away the disposable cup in the trash.

Unattended… an opportunity

Trying to act as casual as possible, House walked towards the bin.

"I would like to see if your kidneys are working properly. Maybe an ultrasound to look for kidney stones and an urine test if you have the equipment for that"

"The ultrasound is here but I'm not sure if it will be much help. You can reach the kidneys but I don't know if it's the best option. I do have radiology equipment and the stuff for the urine test is in the lab" He said, pointing at the locked door with his thumb

Perfect

"Can I take a look at it?" He said, nodding towards the door.

Purple nodded, immediately turning to open it. Blue on the other hand seemed to have gotten bored during the proceedings and wasn't paying attention to them anymore so House took his chance and dived for the cup.

The moment he started to rise again he was slammed into one of the walls.

The plastic cup was pinned to the wall by a katana, while the other rested against his throat, immobilising him.

Blue's eyes shone with cold fury as he snarled. His face inches from House's own

"You were trying to take a DNA sample"

They definitely knew how to use those weapons then. Curiouser and curiouser

"So you don't know how a diagnosis works but you know how people take DNA samples?"

The sound Blue made wasn't human

"Shut up" he hissed, pupils contracting. Now that his face was so close he recalled something about turtles having a third eyelid. Like cats and dogs… He had forgotten to check that with Purple.

Speaking of whom. He could see Purple approaching from the corner of his eye. He didn't seem surprised or fearful. Just a touch nervous.

"Donnie" said Blue, not taking his eyes off of House "You need to tell me honestly if you need his help or if you were just humouring me"

That was Japanese. The turtles spoke Japanese and they thought he didn't. They spoke it fluently and it was the Kansai dialect specifically not normative Japanese. Wasn't that an interesting development?

Purple's eyes jumped between the two of them

"I really do need it Leo I… I can't keep doing this by myself"

No change in Blue's expression. Just a cold, dead, unmoving stare

"I could get you a veterinarian"

"He adapted really fast and seems very good at what he does" he said, biting his lip. " I think it was just curiosity. Any scientist we bring here is probably going to try the same and they could not be as good as him"

How flattering.

Blue didn't seem convinced however

"He's dangerous because he's smart but… If he wasn't smart he wouldn't be much help would he?"

Purple nodded

"We just need to make sure he doesn't take anything with him when he leaves"

Blue closed his eyes for a moment, his hands twitching minutely against the handles of his swords

"You seem really insistent on this all of a sudden" He accused, finally looking away from House to glare at his brother "There's something you are not telling me but we can discuss that later"

With a fluid movement Blue put the katana in their sheaths and let House rest against the wall.

"That was a mistake. You will not be given another chance Dr House'' Blue said. He was looming over House's hunched form. Another attempt at intimidation "Every sample you take, every object you see in our home stays there. You try that again and I can't guarantee that you will leave unharmed. Is that clear?"

The other turtle wasn't put out by the violent threat.

They were all used to that weren't they?

So many injuries that spoke of violence and a teenager that didn't know how doctors worked but knew how someone would try to collect DNA samples and what that could mean. Who carried weapons everywhere he went and could go from insecure to lethal in a second

"Crystal"

Another stare, trying to see if House was saying the truth

After a pause Blue stepped back

"Good"

"Wait" He said the moment the kid started to relax, mostly just to be annoying "I have a question. I wanted to test the accuracy of your equipment by comparing it to the one we have at the hospital so I was wondering if–"

He reacted predictably

"You will not take–" He snarled.

Oh he thought he was so intimidating. Adorable

"Calm down Squirtle, don't cut yourself with that edge" He said, rolling his eyes.

Clearly used to people taking him seriously when he acted like this, Blue was caught off guard and spluttered

"I am going to do it with my blood but I wanted to take the two samples at the same time" House clarified, unable to suppress an amused smile. He walked towards one of the cabinets to take two tubes prepared for blood samples, uncapped them and picked a hypodermic needle and a bottle of alcohol.

Ignoring the confused looks from the other two with a well practised motion he took off his jacket and after dabbing a bit of alcohol with a small gauze that rested on the table he inserted the needle into a vein trying to find the right angle until a slow trickle of blood started to fall down from it and collected it in the two tubes. When he finished he covered the wound with another piece of gauze

After a moment of contemplation Blue crossed his arms

"You can give it to me and I will give it back when you leave then" He said, body language closed off as he tried to act as professional as possible to recover his dignity

It wasn't going to work. House opened his mouth with a smirk

"Okay" interrupted Purple with an uncomfortable smile before the situation could escalate. He gestured towards the open door "Let's go to the lab"

Chapter Text

When he entered the room House had to stop for a moment, stunned

While the medbay was impressive because it looked like the mix between a normal clinic and an operating room the lab was simply breathtaking.

Every surface was made of a slick, plastic-like material to prevent the stone and concrete that made their home from absorbing any of the chemicals locked in the numerous shelves that could be seen around the place. Near those shelves there were huge plastic jugs filled with water.

The room was also colder and smelled fresher than the rest of the tunnels.

He could see what was probably a safety shower and multiple closed and sturdy trash containers with handmade stickers that showed a hazard symbol.

The walls were covered with machines and scraps of metal piled on top of one another. They ranged from familiar and common lab equipment easy to recognize to contraptions he had never seen before that hummed and glowed a bright pinkish hue and looked like something out of a bad sci-fi movie

"Here's the blood chemistry analyzer and that one is for the urine test. Don't go near that table" Said Purple, pointing at the place with the biggest concentration of extrange, glowing machinery. House would have to take a look at it later "That part of the lab is for my personal experiments and there's a lot of sensitive stuff there"

Personal experiments? Involving what?

Taking a closer look at the equipment he could recognize he realised that it looked strange. No brand name or model designation of any sort. It didn't also have the neutral, professional design of mass produced objects and instead sported a few imperfections in its surface almost as if…

"Where did you get these?" House asked as casually as possible

"Ah, I built those" he said with a halfhearted shrug "It's not that big of a deal when you can get materials from–"

"Donnie" chided Blue, raising his eyebrow.

Purple's eyes widened

"Oh, right sorry"

Damn it

"It's not that impressive, trust me" he dismissed with a sigh

And it didn't look like an attempt at being humble

That answered a few questions and raised a thousand more.

He could at least see why his brothers were so desperate to get him help

"I can show you how to use them" Purple said distractedly nodding at the tubes House still had in his hand

But then something happened.

As the explanation went on, using one of the samples to demonstrate, Purple started to look worse. He was in pain. His breathing was getting harsher.

Did he have difficulty breathing? That was an important detail to leave out. Was it because of the pain or something else?

Judging by the frown in Blue's face he wasn't the only one that noticed it

"So it's just like–" Purple was saying as he blinked rapidly and took loud, deep breaths. Kussmaul? He needed a pH test "like any other–" he heaved

"Donnie" Said Blue, voice tight with alarm. He moved closer to him, hands hovering over his brother without making contact. He seemed unsure about how to help.

"Sorry" managed Purple "I don't really–" he heaved again and staggered forward, searching the ground for something. Probably a trash can.

He didn't find it in time

"Sorry" said Purple, face covered in sweat as he trembled slightly.

Blue's shoulders hunched

"Don't worry, Donnie, I will clean it up, okay? I can take you back to your room"

Walking around the two, House leaned down to take a look. Just water and bile so Purple hadn't eaten the infamous french toast which could mean that he had lost his appetite that coupled with the loss of weight… Something to look into later. It didn't smell fruity however.

The two turtles reached the exit. Purple looking half asleep and using Blue as a crouch

"Don't" said House following them "he will stay in the clinic. Prepare him a bed there or tell your brothers to do it"

"I'm fine" protested Purple.

House rolled his eyes. Really? His head was resting on Blue's shoulder and he looked ready to drop, why even try? "you should learn how to use those" he insisted urgently

House raised an eyebrow. Why did he think now was the best time for–

Ah

"Oh, no" he laughed "You are mistaken there, Purple. I would get bored a week into it. Try someone else"

Since Purple had his back towards him he wasn't able to see his expression but the way Blue turned his head, eyes jumping between the two of them told him that he must have reacted in some way.

There was no way House would even consider it but for someone that didn't look like they've had a good meal and sleep in a month it had been a good try, he would give him that.

Chapter Text

Raph threw a punch at the sandbag with a soft thud

He loved training. Not in the way Leo did, who always bragged about control or Donnie who went on and on about how it cleared his mind. Mikey's explanation felt closer to it, releasing the energy always buzzing underneath his skin.

Punch. Thud

Raph loved the act of it. The way his strikes landed one after the other on the punching bag, making it sway.

He would never say it in front of his brothers because they would tease him about it endlessly but he even liked the smell of the well used sparring gloves forgotten in one of the drawers. It wasn't the smell itself of course but he was fond of the way it felt somewhat nostalgic.

Another one, faster, stronger. A deeper thump and a creak as the old chains moved more than they should.

He loved the sensation of giving it his all and resting afterwards, feeling spent but with that pleasant burn that followed a good workout.

But what he loved the most was that in the dojo he was strong.

Everything was simple during training. The world narrowed down to a point. It was just him and a punching bag there, releasing his strength. Everything he could give without worrying about punching too hard, too fast. No complicated situations. Not having to keep track of fifteen things at once or having to think about who his actions could harm.

The only situation where he actually felt strong.

Only him and–

"Has it been two hours already?"

He didn't jump. He had known Mikey was there and hadn't forgotten he had company, obviously. Awareness is important in a ninja or whatever. He just… Mikey didn't startle him.

"No" He growled, trying to hide his embarrassment

Now more aware of the pair of eyes watching him he started his sets again, his posture a bit more stiff as he punched with extreme prejudice.

And the moment he started to relax…

"Now?" Asked Mikey's voice, clearly amused.

Raph turned, glaring accusingly

"Now you're doing it on purpose"

He didn't answer, just blinked innocently and sprawled himself on the floor, looking at the ceiling, which meant that Raph was right. The little shit!

"This is boriiiiiiiiiiiiing~" he whined, putting a hand over his face and closing his eyes. Talk about over dramatic "I am going to die because it's so boring"

Raph snorted, going back to it

"Yeah, you've mentioned it" He grumbled.

Raph breathed deeply, got into his stance, and started again

Thud

Thud

…

…..

He suppressed a sigh and looked at Mikey again, crossing his arms

"I asked you if you wanted to play videogames and you said that you didn't"

Mikey lit up at the attention, still on his back

"Because I didn't" He said, gesturing emphatically "There's too much tension! I wouldn't be able to concentrate"

Concentrate? It was fucking Mario kart. Sometimes he really didn't understand Mikey

"Look, today is free training day" he tried, quickly starting to lose his patience "Why don't you practise some katas or something?"

"Free training day means a day free of training"

Raph shrugged

"Well, I tried"

Once again he turned his attention to the punching bag.

Mikey didn't seem bothered by this and continued to complain

"Ugh. This is the worst rest day ever" it wasn't rest day it was free training day "It's like Leo did it on purpose to make me train" He wasn't even training.

There was a pause and only the sound of his strikes could be heard. Curious, since Mikey wasn't known for his ability or willingness to shut up, Raph glanced at him. He was looking at the ceiling like it would show him the secrets of the universe

"Hey imagine if dad came and Leo had to hide Mr Dr guy like… under his bed but he uses a futon so it would be very obvious " he said in a thoughtful voice, like he was pondering a great philosophical question.

Raph raised an eyebrow

"Wow you are bored" He said between punches

Mickey shouted in despair

"I know! I already told you I was!"

A few seconds passed, a thought buzzing in Raph's head

"He did do it on purpose you know" Raph said with a frown.

"What?" Asked Mikey. The amount of outrage in his voice surprised Raph.

"That doctor" Raph said, turning his head and raising an eyebrow at Mikey's betrayed expression. What was that about? "He went out to find one today so sensei wouldn't notice if he didn't come to the training session"

After his explanation Mikey deflated, looking thoughtful

"I thought that but it's a bit before lunch" He said, squinting

Huh?

Seeing his baffled expression Mikey rolled his eyes and sat up.

"Now, training" He said emphatically, arms moving wildly

Yeah, still not getting what he was on about

"Instead of just after waking up" He finished, looking exasperated "So even if he took a few hours he would still have come. And you found him out because you always sleep in when there's no training instead of going out to beat people up" was saying Mikey

He wasn't just beating people up! He was out there to help! The help did involve a lot of roughhousing, especially lately but that wasn't his fault.

The bag tilted dangerously as he hit it too hard

Mikey continued, ignoring him

"So you would have been busy, be–"

"Yeah yeah I get it" Grumbled Raph, cutting him off

"He always wakes up at like… 6" Mikey continued

True, Leo was always bragging about discipline and waking up early to commune with the sunset or something stupid that he thought made him sound wise

"So until… " Mikey squinted "10 at least. But he could still wake up earlier"

Raph's brow furrowed. What was he getting at?

"Not if he wanted it to be dark when he got out" he pointed out

Mikey threw his arms in the air

"But he just needed a doctor person"

Oh, right. He wasn't going out like him, trying to stop criminal activity. He needed a civilian specifically so going out at night wouldn't be necessary. It could even work against him since Raph didn't think doctors were known from frequenting shady alleys in the middle of the night

He stopped his exercise to fully look at his brother, tilting his head slightly.

So if he hadn't been planning to bring someone from the beginning what had he been doing?

"If he was out while I was out too we could have bumped into each other. Any other day I could have tried to stop him while we were still topside" He said instead

Mikey hummed and brought a hand to his chin, making a show of being deep in thought.

Just when Raph though the conversation was over and turned Mikey suddenly spoke again

"You leave too much" he said softly

Raph felt his stomach tighten and he grit his teeth.

"You two leave me alone all the time and April isn't here that often because she has a job and needs to sleep" he continued

Raph wanted to interject. He wasn't alone. What about dad? But he knew it didn't count. Not when his father spent his days deep in meditation, trying to search for a cure that never came. And Donnie…

The headaches weren't the worst of it. He could deal with his brother being in pain. It hurt but he had done it before. After so many fights with the Foot, the Krang… It was normal for them.

What made his blood boil, what made him want to scream and punch someone until his knuckles went bloody was the way Donnie seemed… lost some times.

This was messing with his head somehow. He forgot stuff. He couldn't think clearly some days.

His brother was the smartest person he knew. The only reason they could live the way they did.

He still remembers when they were little, how they had to move often from one place to another. How hard the winters were, burying themselves into their dad's fur.

He made it a game, telling them that they were little ninja on a mission, walking through the mountains that found shelter in a bear cave but inside, instead of an angry wild animal, there was a friendly bear that would hug them and keep them safe

He had only realised that one of his fondest childhood memories had been his father trying to keep them from dying of frostbite a couple of years ago.

Donnie was the one that built their home with his own two hands because he had always been so damn smart. Raph had admired him for it for as long as he could remember and now… Seeing him like this was so hard.

The lair had always felt stifling some days but now he felt like he was suffocating every time he saw Donnie.

He couldn't imagine how hard it had to be for Mikey but he still couldn't stand it.

Like always, he was weak and instead of being there for his brothers when they needed him he ran away

He felt useless

He didn't even know why that human would want to help his brother. It made him sick, thinking about that man being so close to Donnie, studying him while he was at his most vulnerable.

Raph took a deep breath.

He needed to trust Leo. Even if it made his blood boil he knew that Leo would never let anything happen to Donnie.

Chapter Text

They had been waiting in the dojo for some time when Raph heard the sound of his phone buzzing on the weapons rack. A message.

Mikey, who was still sitting and looking at him tilted his head curiously as Raph went to take it

"Is it April? She's coming today? Isn't it a bit late for her?"

It was. Unless there was an emergency or she didn't have work the next day she usually visited them just after they woke up or before they went to sleep. Their father had chastised them a lot for messing up their sleep schedule to hang out with her. Especially Mikey.

It probably wasn't Casey either since there hadn't been six messages in a row or someone casually calling to say "I'm in the middle of a foot ambush and might need some backup"

Raph took a quick look at the phone and froze. It was from Leo

"Come to the medbay"

Something had happened and for him to ask Raph for help…

Without a second to spare Raph bolted out of the room, taking the sai with him.

Why had Leo given that man his cane back? It could have been a weapon. He could be a foot spy

Behind him he heard Mikey shout his name

He was fine. He was safe.

Donnie wasn't safe

When he arrived at Donnie's room he almost had a heart attack at seeing it empty but, after a beat he realised that they probably had moved to the medbay.

He closed the door with a slam and immediately changed directions.

He kicked the medbay open, sai ready and looked around the place to see the surprised face of Leo, who twirled his head and immediately brought his hands up to his katana. Donnie looked equally shocked. He was laying on the temporary bed they brought for the times they had to spend a few days in the medbay after a serious injury. Behind him there were a couple of machines. His hands were reaching for a bo that wasn't there.

He looked bad, but that was normal lately.

The human was looking around, sitting on Donnie's desk and not paying attention to them.

When Leo realised it was just him his brow furrowed.

"Did something happen?" He asked, not taking his hands off the weapons and looking behind Raph like the Shredder could jump down to get him any moment

Raph had misjudged. He cleared his throat.

"Nothing" he muttered, letting himself in, not taking his eyes off the man.

Something orange and very loud collided with his back, making him stumble forward

"What happened!?" Shouted Mikey, practically climbing over his shell to look at the inside of the room. By sheer skill and force of will Raph was able to balance the extra weight and not fall on his face

He shrugged Mikey off and glared at him but was ignored as Mikey walked towards Donnie, starting to tell him all about 'the worst rest day ever'

Leo's eyes darted between Mikey and Raph, looking suspicious. With that face he makes when he thinks they're being deceitful and he's trying to figure them out.

Raph crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the scrutiny. He didn't have the patience to do this right now.

Leo rolled his eyes, letting it go and stood up.

"Donnie will have to stay here for a bit so I'm going to get some better sheets and a pillow for him" and I don't want to leave him alone with this unknown man, Leo didn't say. Raph understood all the same.

He heard Mikey speaking in the background, asking why he had to stay there and Donnie quietly reassuring him.

He sounded so tired. Raph felt an ice cold grip around his heart.

He grit his teeth and turned towards the man, glaring at him. If he tried to touch anything he would regret it. And what was he even doing? Shouldn't he be helping right now?

Leo left in a hurry after taking one long, last look around the room. He was probably worried that Raph would try to pick a fight while he was gone and Raph wanted to protest. He wasn't that bad.

He compromised by walking closer to the man who was clearly ignoring him and scowled at him.

"How long until your ABG?" Asked the man, unbothered, leaning to the side to look at Donnie without Raph blocking his view

"Mikey can you check my computer?" Donnie said after checking his watch, nodding towards his desk "There should be a document there" he then turned to look at the man and with a breathy voice said "I have all my equipment connected to my computer here, it's really easy to check. It's also already programmed to tell you when there's something wrong"

"I really don't care'' the man said, rolling his eyes. Raph resisted the urge to growl at him

After Mikey's affirmative chattering, the man jumped to check on Donnie's computer.

"pH is normal" he murmured thoughtfully under his breath "so is the bicarbonate" after a few seconds of looking at the screen he smiled. It was a sharp, familiar smile "Well, this might turn out to be interesting after all"

Raph's nostrils flared

"Interesting!?" He asked, fuming and lifting the man by the collar. He was taller than Raph but since he had been leaning towards the computer he was dragged a few inches as he was brought to Raph's eye level. He shook him "He's sick!!" Raph was seeing red, was seeing one of his brothers beg as a different man in a white lab coat approached him with a bone saw.

He brought back an arm to punch the shit out of him but it was stopped. Someone was grabbing it

He turned, eyes blazing to see Mikey looking at him with a serious expression

"Hey" he said, softly "Let him go okay?"

Raph relaxed the arm in his brother's grip, still not letting go of the man.

"Didn't you hear what he said about Donnie?" He asked, venom filling his voice.

Mikey didn't answer him immediately, instead he gently pulled his arm down and moved to dislodge his other hand from the man's clothes. His finger closing around Raph's own and carefully trying to slip under them

"He's helping him. It's fine" he insisted.

Raph didn't relax his grip

"He sounded like, like Bishop when–"

Mikey grimaced and averted his gaze for a second

"But Donnie's fine" he said firmly "We're with him"

Raph tsked and let go, feeling a bit of satisfaction in the way the man had to stumble to catch his balance.

Mikey nodded, visibly pleased.

He was still angry. Like a storm raging inside.

But Mikey didn't want this. He would be upset.

He still didn't want to let it go so easily.

"You're lucky my brother's nice" he growled as a last jab before backing off

Mikey huffed lightly in annoyance and looked at him as if saying 'really?'

Raph ignored him

Then everything went to shit

The man was getting his bearings and seemed ready to piss Raph off even more when a voice came through the door

"My sons. What is–" His father cut himself off when he saw the man leaning against the desk, seemingly looking for a comfortable spot where he could rest his leg and watch the computer at the same time

Well, fuck

Chapter Text

Raph swallowed thickly and very deliberately didn't move, trying to hide his nervousness.

Maybe if they didn't say much and waited until Leo came back they could get away with not warning their dad about their brother sneaking in a stranger under his nose.

"Hiiiii dad" Tried Mikey with a grimace. Ralph stared at him in disbelief. What was he doing!? What if he made it worse!? Shut up Mikey!! "We thought you were in your room ahahaha"

It did nothing to change their father's expression

"I came to the kitchen for a cup of tea and heard a commotion" he explained, gently sliding the half open door with his cane and letting himself in. Without taking his eyes off of Mikey and Raph his tail found the door handle and closed their only route of escape behind him.

"I wasn't expecting this" said Splinter.

His ears were twitching

Oh dad didn't like this. He stared at the man… Judging. So much worse than that time they tried to sneak out a baby alligator into the lair.

"Who is this man?" He asked, in a deceitfully pleasant tone of voice,

No good. No good at all. Time to throw Leo under the bus and hope for the best

"It–"

"Don't look at me" said the man. He had frozen for a moment when he had caught sight of their father but now his face was a mix of intrigue and confusion "I was kidnapped"

Splinter's whiskers twitched and he immediately turned to him

"Raphael–"

What!?

"It wasn't me, oh my god!" He shouted "Why does everyone keep thinking that!?"

His dad was taken aback for a moment.

Was it really so weird that today's fuckup hadn't been his fault? He had never kidnapped anyone!

Well, if you count all those sewer interrogations…

It didn't matter! It had been Leo this time not him!

Splinter's shock turned to confusion

"Michaelangelo?" He asked, switching his attention to Raph's little brother

Unbelievable

"It was Leo!" Said Raph, outraged. It came out a bit louder than he wanted and he immediately flinched but instead of the expected reprimand his father sighed, pinching the space above his nose with two fingers and muttering something about problem children in Japanese.

Donnie seemed confused, tired eyes darting between the three of them

"Wait… dad didn't know?" He asked shyly, biting his lip. Which meant…

Raph wanted to break something

Leo hadn't even explained the situation to Donnie? Oh he was dead when he got back. Where the fuck was he even? He shouldn't be taking this long to get some fucking bedsheets!

With all the excitement he had forgotten that they had an audience

"Is his name Leonardo?" Said the man, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. He looked like he was having a revelation "The blue one. Is he named Leonardo?" He said insistently looking at Mikey

Raph's eyes narrowed. Why did he suddenly care so much?

"Why are you asking?" He asked slowly

"Don't stress yourself" the man dismissed with a wave of his hand "Those masks protect your secret identities" he said emphatically, like he was talking to an eight year old about their favourite superhero "I can't even begin to guess which colour coded giant turtles are the ones that took me"

He should have just punched him when he had the chance. Dad would probably stop him if he tried to do it now

"Are you making fun of us" Raph asked, voice carefully even as he stepped closer to the man. He ignored Donnie's quiet 'They're not for that'

"I definitely will if his name is actually Leonardo" said the man without hesitation, also ignoring Donnie. Then he frowned, looking thoughtful "But you call that one Donnie… Don…"

Mikey chose that moment to step in, raising a finger and smiling brightly

"Well! it's –"

"Shut up Mikey" Interrupted Raph with a scoff.

Mikey opened his mouth to protest. Raph fumed. No way. His brother wasn't going to play nice with–

The sound of dad's cane hitting the floor filled the room like a gunshot, abruptly silencing them both and commanding their attention

"Enough" said their father. He was clearly done with their bickering "Where is your brother?"

Of course, that was the moment Leo chose to come back.

"I have the–" He was saying. He seemed more calm than before, in a lighter mood and was carrying a bundle of sheets and a pillow. All that calmness vanished when he saw their father, eyes going wide with realisation. He looked like a deer in the headlights, significantly more startled that the last time they had been ambushed by the Foot.

"Sensei" He said, straightening his posture and clearing his throat. His tone had changed from casual and relaxed to serious mission debrief in an instant, trying to paint the picture of 'perfect responsible son with nothing to hide'.

At least today he wasn't fooling anyone. He had been caught red handed and he knew it.
Raph didn't even try to hide the smug look he sent Leo behind his father's back which earned him a quick glare from him.

His father folded his hands inside the sleeves of his robe and tilted his head questioningly at Leo

"My son. Can you explain?" He asked, gesturing at the man, clearly exasperated.

Leo grimaced. Ha!

He was frozen for a moment, looking for a reasonable excuse he clearly couldn't provide when, probably out of sheer luck, he got help from the unlikeliest source.

"And now I think it's my time to go" announced the stranger, walking past Raph and towards the door, effectively creating a distraction from Leo's flounder.

He stopped in front of Leo and extended one hand to him, closing it and opening it in a childish gesture

"Gimme"

"Wait" said Leo, eyes wide and voice filled with urgency "You have to tell me what's happening to Donnie"

And then, for the first time in the night, the subtle smugness permeating the intruder was gone for a moment as he sighed

"Could be something wrong with his kidneys, lungs or liver". He was saying. His words were directed at his eldest brother, not paying a lick of attention to their dad "He could have a strange turtle disease I know nothing about. It could be parasites or it could be infectious. Maybe he was intoxicated with one of his 'experiments' " he mocked, making finger quotes

Raph was about to say something, hot fury bubbling up to the surface at the contempt shown for a brother that was a thousand times smarter than this stranger could ever hope to be.

But then he noticed Leo's face. As the man talked it had turned carefully blank, closed off.

Raph knew that expression. He had seen it too many times.

"So you can't help us" Leo said, voice absolutely calm, devoid of all emotion. Looking up at the man with that fixed, artificial expression Raph hated so much.

Leo thought it was hopeless

No.

Raph felt a wave of despair climb up to his throat, threatening to choke him. It couldn't be. His eyes started to sting.

All of this for nothing?

He hadn't wanted a human to come here but after what Leo had told him… He thought that it would help. It had to!

If a doctor couldn't help Donnie then what could they do?

Then the man closed his eyes and nodded once

"I can. But not tonight" He said, walking back towards the desk and scribbling something into a paper.

Raph's knees weakened as his body went numb with relief.

It was fine. Donnie was getting help. It would be fine

"You will have to watch him and call me immediately if something happens" he said as he walked back and gave it to Leo. Leaving his hand extended in silent request "I will be back tomorrow with my team. Cameron's going to love all of you I'm sure. You'll have fun with the triple kidnapping"

Leo moved mechanically, passing him a small styrofoam box.

"I-I can't let more people in here" he protested weakly. Glancing at their dad, who seemed contemplative

"Your brother is very sick" The man said firmly "You saw how he was breathing in the lab right? That could be enough to land him in the emergency room. The headaches and the confusion? They could mean there's a problem with the brain" He said, pointing at Leo's head, talking clearly and to the point. Like he wasn't telling them about Raph's little brother's life being at risk "Do you want him to end up with permanent brain damage?" He asked Leo, who shook his head looking lost. Looking scared

The man didn't stop.

"I can't watch him 24/7. I'm not here to babysit and I need to sleep which means that I am going to bring my team so someone that doesn't have better things to do can keep him from dying of organ failure while he sleeps" he concluded.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife as his family turned to look at Donnie. Even Mikey looked devastated

Donnie himself was avoiding everyone's eyes, looking down and gripping the mattress tightly.

He already knew. He had known it was this bad and didn't tell anyone

"I see…" said their father, his soft voice filled with sorrow as he walked towards the bed "So it is that grave. I am sorry I couldn't help you earlier, my son" He put a hand on Donnie's shoulder and squeezed gently.

He lifted his gaze to the man

"You may bring whoever you wish to" he said "But know that if something happens to my sons and I find you or your companions to be at fault, I will not be merciful" His eyes were fixed on the man's own. Intense and unmoving "And if you reveal our existence to the world I will make sure that the suffering the humans bring to us will fall upon you tenfold"

So Leo didn't have to choose then. It was dad's decision.

Good

With a bow, Leo asked permission to take the man back to wherever he had taken him from and they left.

Chapter Text

Cameron frowned

"It's House" She announced to the rest of the room.

Her two colleagues were trying to pass the time in the office. Chase was eating some old snacks he had found in the mess while Foreman seemed to be trying to distract himself by reading a book to no avail.

"Of course it is" said Chase, rolling his eyes and grimacing after biting a particularly stale cookie. "It's what, eleven thirty? Perfect time to call"

"Don't answer" said Foreman, not taking his eyes off the book

"It could be important" Cameron said, finger hovering over the answer button

"He just wants to gloat" Insisted Foreman "It's his fault Cuddy made us do the overnight shift without warning. He must have told her about the last case"

She bit her lip. Yes, she was angry too but what if it was an emergency?

She pressed the button, ignoring Chase's groan and the way Foreman rolled his eyes at her

"Hello?" She said, trying her best to hide the tiredness in her voice

"You sound terrible"

Why did she even try

"Did you call just to tell me that?" She asked with a tired sigh.

From the corner of her eye she saw Foreman shaking his head in exasperation

"No, I need something important, the name of a famous renaissance artist. High Renaissance" He said seriously

"What?"

She could hear some distant noise from House's end of the call but it was too far to recognize what it was

"I have it in the tip of my tongue but I just can't remember" he was saying

"The name of a renaissance artist? Leonardo da Vinci?" She asked, doubtful. Chase lifted his head, looking at her questioningly. She shrugged and shook her head, trying to show her bafflement

"No no no" dismissed House with fervour. "It can't be Leonardo, Michaelangelo or Raphael"

"What is he talking about?" Asked Foreman, finally setting down his book

"He wants to know the name of a renaissance artist but not Raphael, Leonardo or Michaelangelo" She attempted to explain while putting the phone against her chest to muffle it "He says it's important"

"Giovanni Bellini? Or Bosch? The one with the garden of the delights" Tried Chase

Foreman frowned

"But what is he known for? Paintings or sculptures or…?"

From the phone she heard House's voice. He sounded half out of breath, hurried

"Was that Foreman?" He asked

"Yes" she confirmed, lips thinning in displeasure as she was reminded of their present situation "The three of us were assigned overnight duty because Cuddy was angry at us for some reason"

Of course, House took the opportunity to make fun of them

"That's hilarious" he said after a beat, clearly amused "but not what I was asking about"

Cameron leaned on the table, drumming her fingers in the wood

"Chase says Bosch and Giovanni" she said.

Chase was now standing in front of her, trying to listen in

House exhaled loudly in displeasure

"It has to start with a D like Done or Don-something" He said, frustrated

"Starting with a D" she relayed

They sat there for a few seconds, thinking until Foreman visibly brightened

"Donatello" he said, banging the table with his hand at the realisation.

That was the answer House was apparently looking for

"Of course" said House, audibly pleased "That fits. Hmm early renaissance though but I suppose it doesn't matter"

Cameron frowned. Why would that be important? It fits? And the letter…

"Are you calling to fill in a crossword!?" She asked, raising her voice slightly in offence.

Hearing that Foreman sighed and went back reading

"No. I am calling to tell you and the rest that if you are not in New York by tomorrow at… five pm I am firing all of you" he said matter-of-factly

"What!?"

Foreman stopped short, staring at her while Chase frowned and took a step towards her, mouthing a silent 'what did he say?'

She held out a hand to motion at him to wait.

This was infuriating. Why did he want them there? Just his sense of entitlement? Because he was bored!?

"We have a job to do here" She said, icily

House wasn't deterred

"And you will stop having that job if you don't do what I tell you" he answered, also getting angry "I am completely serious. I know you haven't gotten any new cases since I told Cuddy what to do with the last one. If you want to stay there sitting on your assess when you could be here doing something productive then you will be happier without your jobs. The choice is yours"

House hung up

House rolled his eyes at the pointless attempt at posturing. She would come. All of them would

They would be curious after all.

He didn't care about Cuddy's opinion on the matter, if House could be spared for a few days then they could too. Right now this was the priority

It was a shame that every book shop and library was closed at the moment. He needed to do some reading.

He would try tomorrow.

It was going to be a very busy day, apparently. A lot of things to do.

Check if his sample has been analysed just in case it had actually been drugs and see if Botticelli's equipment worked –even if it was somewhat unnecessary after that display in the lab–, get some books on turtles, receive at least one angry call and set his team straight

Chapter Text

"Did he fall asleep?"

Donnie lifted his head from the computer, its soft glow illuminating his face in the somewhat dark room. Not all of the lights were off, there was a small lamp on the desk, but it wasn't enough to light it. Or to bother someone that was on the verge of falling asleep.

Donnie, like all of them, had always been sneaky. A side effect of being raised as a ninja, Leo supposed.

The room was calm. Mikey's warm presence rested on a chair, fast asleep and his breathing regular. He didn't seem to be faking to listen in.

Donnie was also looking better. His body language was more relaxed. He wasn't hiding any major pain either. Leo knew his tells, so that slight crease in his brow should be what had become the usual slight headache or just stress.

He had asked House about Donnie's laboured breathing so he could watch out for it but everything seemed normal.

It had seemed a shame to disturb the pleasant atmosphere of the room but it was necessary.

He still felt bad at the subtle way Donnie's posture stiffened when he entered the room. It still hurt a bit, the way his brothers seemed to keep their guard up around him sometimes

"Ah, he did" answered Donnie, glancing at Mikey "Just a few minutes ago"

"He was supposed to be on watch" Leo said, amusement clear in his voice as he smiled softly at his youngest brother's sleeping form

Donnie seemed unsure of what to do. Looking mostly at him but stealing quick peeks at the computer in his lap

"What did you want with him, Donnie?" He asked with a tired sigh.

A second of confusion and then realisation.

"To get better" he said, looking at the screen instead of at him. Trying to keep his face carefully blank.

He wasn't fooling him

"No, there was something else" he pressed.

This was important. It had been bothering him since their exchange. There was something going on between House and Donnie. He needed to know what it was.

You are mistaken, the man had said. I would get bored. Try someone else.

Donnie never liked anyone messing around with his equipment but suddenly making sure a stranger knew how to analyse mutant turtle blood was a great priority.

That coupled with Donnie's unwillingness to throw the man out even after trying to get his DNA sample…

Leo didn't like the picture it was painting. Leo wanted to be wrong.

Donnie was still avoiding his eyes. He was not going to say anything else was he?

It was as good as a confession in Leo's eyes, the way Donnie's fingers tensed over his keyboard while he pretended everything was fine but it didn't matter. Donnie didn't have to worry about it.

"It won't be necessary, Donnie" he said firmly "You will get better"

When Donnie's eyes met his own again they were bright with tears, reflecting the artificial light of his computer

"Leo. There's only one expert in, in mutant turtle medicine in the world" he was saying in a carefully measured soft but firm voice.

He was trying to let him down gently, Leo abruptly realised. He… he really thought he was not going to get better. He was sure. Leo had suspected that he was downplaying how bad it was not that Donnie was convinced that…

Donnie was still talking, a few stray tears streaming down his cheeks

"There's only one person that would even know how to deal with something like this, someone like us and that person is me" his calm facade was breaking down now, leaving the fear and the sorrow plain to see, letting them out.

But even through them he was still trying to explain himself as clearly as possible, trying to convince Leo.

Every small, tearful hitch of his breath stole the air off Leo's lungs

"This was a long shot from the beginning" he begged "but if I can make sure that someone is prepared maybe when I… maybe I can make sure than in the future–"

Two

"What?" Asked Donnie, between tears, suddenly stopping. He looked confused

Oh, he hadn't realised he had said that aloud.

"Donnie. I'm not going to interfere. You can try to teach him if you want, okay?" He tried to reassure him. Weak, insufficient but the only thing he could do at the moment "I'm – I'm really sorry that you feel that you have to do this but… but I am telling you that you don't"

Donnie smiled sadly and wiped away his tears with the heel of his hand

"Leo. I do, I really do"

Once the conversation was done, after making sure that Donnie didn't need anything he left his brothers alone. No use of bothering them any longer when Donnie needed to rest

He did have to wake Mikey up to ask if he wanted to go to sleep and have someone else take watch. Which Mikey didn't appreciate judging by the annoyed "I wasn't sleeping I was totally awake" he got for his efforts.

On the way back to his room he warned Raphael that he probably would have to start his turn now.

Finally alone in his room he sat in a lotus position and breathed deeply, trying to meditate

Some time later, now feeling much calmer he lifted his gaze to the sword rack attached to his wall, considering his weapons.

It was already late and it had been a very long day. They had mostly spent it hovering around Donnie, his dad included for once.

Lunch had been a tense affair and dinner hadn't been any better.

Raph was explosive, abrasive, the worry he felt for his brother making him lash out violently against everyone and everything at the slightest provocation and since sensei had decided that it would be better if they didn't go out unless necessary for a few days he didn't have anything constructive to turn that rage against which meant that Leo and Mikey took the brunt of it. Mostly Leo

At least it wasn't Donnie

Mikey tried to keep everyone's spirit's up but was faltering against the weight of the uncertainty about Donnie's recovery and well-being.

His father seemed like a shadow of himself these days

His family was hurting and he could do nothing about it.

He reached out for his swords, moving with a certainty he didn't feel

For his brothers he would do anything.

A knock on his door made his hand freeze inches away from the hilt. He only had a moment to turn before it was opened, revealing Raph, waiting at the threshold

"Mikey had the idea to move the TV to the medbay" he said, leaning against the doorway "We were all going to have a movie night before going to sleep" he seemed to hesitate for a moment, avoiding his eyes "The first one is already starting. It's one of the Star Wars ones"

Leo forced himself to relax his posture, trying to act as natural as possible

"Did Mikey pick it?" He asked, tilting his head. Partly to distract Raph but also because he was curious.

It was a strange choice. Mikey would be the most likely to pick it if he was in the mood but, like Raph, he wasn't the biggest fan of sci-fi and if it had been Donnie he would have chosen something like Contact or 2001 space Odyssey.

Raph shifted, looking embarrassed

"No, it was me" he mumbled

Leo blinked

"You don't even like Star Wars" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Raph's posture turned defensive

"I don't hate them, you know I just… Just come on" he said, motioning for him to follow him.

Leo wavered for a moment, the urge to ignore his brother and commit felt like an almost physical pull.

He had been about to do it. Had been ready. But then Raph saw his hesitation and took a few steps towards him, looking unsure

"Leo I'm… You know I didn't really mean…"

His expression was earnest, apologetic. If Leo didn't go with him now Raph would think it was his fault

"It's okay Raph" he said with a sigh

He could wait for now. If that Dr. House couldn't help Donnie then he would act

Chapter Text

"Should be there" muttered House ahead of them

Chase exchanged a baffled look with his two co-workers as they followed House down the street, a cheap, ratty backpack swaying over his left shoulder as he walked hurriedly, looking peeved.

"Are you going to tell us why we're here?" Asked a very frustrated Cameron, hurrying her steps in an effort to catch up

He could understand the feeling. They had to come straight here after taking a long nap to recover from the night shift. They were tired and cranky and House was being… well, he was being House. Maybe even more than usual.

"You're here because I told you to be here. Nothing more, nothing less" he said, not turning to look at them "and if you are asking why we are here specifically" he continued, gesturing at the street around them "it's because even though I wanted to finish my shopping before having to deal with you they didn't have the book I wanted and referred me to another shop that should be around here"

"Is that what you have in that backpack? Books?" Asked Foreman curiously

Whatever it was it seemed very heavy judging by the deformed shape of the backpack and the way it moved with House's irregular steps.

"The modern Sherlock Holmes aren't you?" Asked House with a sarcastic shake of his head. Then he pulled out a note from his pocket and turned sharply towards the door of one of the old shops that lined the streets.

A scientific bookstore. Maybe they were going to be doing something productive after all

"Come on we're here" he said gesturing at them to go in.

The three of them looked at each other and with a shrug Chase was the first to go in, followed by Foreman and then Cameron

Following his boss inside Chase was greeted with the sight of rows upon rows of specialized textbooks. The shop was narrow but very long and the huge, numbered shelves reached the ceiling, making for a very impressive sight

Chase couldn't help but admire the bast selection of books. Was that a Lehninger? Huh, it had been a while since he had seen one. His eyes slid naturally to the medicine section and he walked towards it, eyeing the different titles, trying to see if anything caught his eye. Foreman was already paging through one of the volumes but Cameron stood back, watching House.

He was walking straight towards the counter, note in hand not paying his subordinates any mind

"I was told you had…" he squinted, reading the note "Medicine and Surgery of Tortoises and Turtles by Stuart McArthur"

Chase stopped his browsing, confused.

Turtles? What?

The employee, a middle aged man dressed in somewhat casual but very well cared for clothes nodded, opening a small notebook resting on his desk

"Ah, maybe" he said paging through it "We do have a big selection of veterinary books"

House shifted impatiently.

"Do you have it here?"

The man left the counter, walking towards one of the shelves

"I think so" he said, and started to climb a ladder "but if it's not we can order–"

"No, just tell me if you have it here" House interrupted, shaking his head

"Well, if we have it it should be…" He was saying, hand hovering over a group of books in one of the highest shelves.

His hand stopped and he smiled

"Ah, there it is"

He pulled it out and climbed down, handing it to House who grinned sharply

"Perfect"

As they exited the store Chase couldn't hide his bafflement

"Did you just spend five hundred dollars on a book about turtles?" He asked, trying to get a good look at the book in question while House opened his backpack and threw it inside.

"Nope, I spent nine hundred dollars on three books about turtles" said House without missing a beat

Foreman raised an eyebrow. Eyes flickering toward Chase and Cameron for a second

"Thinking of getting a pet?" He asked

House waved him off

"Oh no. I have enough with you three already "

Well, everyone needed a hobby, Chase guessed. Turtle anatomy and surgery seemed like a weird one but, again, this was House so maybe not completely out of the realm of possibility.

Without saying another word he led them to a cheap outdoor cafe where they sat. There were few clients coming and going but not many. The late afternoon sky was starting to darken as they waited expectantly for their boss to talk. Since they hadn't had much sleep Chase had taken his chance and was absentmindedly stirring a half finished cup of very poor quality coffee.

"I wasn't lying when I said this was important" House said. Both of his hands were lying over the handle of his cane, chin resting on top as he looked carefully at each of them "But what I didn't say is that I need you to be discreet. I found a new case"

A few seconds passed before the realisation hit.

"You are… you are treating someone here" Chase said carefully.

A feeling of uneasiness travelled through the table at his words

"How?" Asked Foreman leaning towards House, voice hushed "You just found them on the street? You don't even have your equipment. Tell them to go to the hospital"

House gasped dramatically

"Where is your compassion?" He said, putting a hand over his chest in mock offence "For shame! If someone can't afford a hospital should we just let them die?"

Chase couldn't believe this. This was a new low

"There are programs for that" he stressed "You can't risk someone's life because you are feeling bored" specially since, knowing House, this couldn't be a simple case. It had to be something difficult. Something he would find interesting "How are you even going to help them?"

Cameron, who had been suspiciously silent during this whole exchange suddenly sat up, clearly trying to keep her composure even as her jaw tensed with contained rage.

"I am going to call Cuddy" she said, reaching for her purse.

"Oh? Will you really?" Asked House, not making a single move to stop her "Go ahead, get me fired but I can guarantee you that the teenager I'm helping will die"

"Then bring them to Plainsboro" She hissed, pausing her search for the phone to loom over House, purse in hand "We can take their case there"

He simply shook his head

"Not an option for them"

They looked at each other for a moment, caught in a stalemate before being interrupted by an unknown voice.

"Oh, hello. Can I join you?"

Chapter Text

Chase turned

Standing just a few steps away from their table was a beautiful woman. She seemed to be in her twenties, dressed in a yellow jumpsuit. It was a weird choice of clothing but it suited her well. Her wavy auburn hair was cut just above her shoulders and she was smiling politely at them as she moved to approach their table

"Maybe later sweetheart" said House, eyes racking over her once before going back to his standoff with Cameron "I am busy at the moment"

She didn't seem deterred and picked up a chair from a nearby table to sit with them

"You're Dr Gregory House right?" She said extending her right hand in a handshake and not taking offence when it was ignored, simply pulling it back and continuing her spiel "I'm April O'Neil. We have some mutual friends in New York. They sent me here to meet you"

She wasn't paying any attention to the rest of them, just looking at House intently until he rolled his eyes.

"I don't remember any friends in New York"

She accepted that with a nod

"Acquaintances then, with an interest in Italian art? You met yesterday night"

And that caught Chase's attention. Did that have anything to do with House's strange question about Renaissance artists? It clearly meant something to him because his demeanour abruptly changed. He went from inconvenienced to calculating in a moment.

But what could it mean?
What had House gotten them into?

"Oh? You don't seem like the type of company they would keep but maybe I should have guessed after seeing that awful yellow jumpsuit"

Her grin turned sharper and she was about to retort when Cameron chose that moment to interrupt, giving her a strained, if polite smile

"I'm sorry, but we were in the middle of a conversation if you don't mind"

April nodded once and stood

"I'll skip the pleasantries, then. I'm here to take you to them." she gestured vaguely at the cafe around them "This is not exactly their scene, you understand "

No, Chase didn't understand. She didn't look like someone desperate to get medical treatment for a 'friend' as she had put it and the more she talked the more she sounded like a character in a bad spy movie.

House seemed to, however and nodded like it made perfect sense

"Is it close?" He said, leaving his chair with one fluid movement

"Just a few turns into a nearby alley. They're here already, we just didn't want to cause a commotion" She nodded towards one of the corners that lead to a narrow side street and started walking

"Wait" called Foreman. Looking at House like he had lost his mind "We're not following the weird woman into an alley are we?"

"Do whatever you want" Said House, on his way to do exactly that

After a brief moment of hesitation Chase finished his drink, left a couple of bills on the table and went directly for the woman, leaving behind a very agitated Foreman that was whispering hurriedly to his boss. House ignored him completely and kept walking

"I'm Dr Robert Chase ma'am" he said, extending his hand in greeting. She shook it distractedly, focused on leading them to their destination "I don't know what Dr House has told you but you should reconsider the way you're approaching this"

She gaped at him, clearly offended. Right, bad choice of words

Cameron, seeing him fumble, took over.

"What he's trying to say is that… I understand why you could be hesitant to visit a hospital but it really is the best option"

"No. He can't" April said with absolute certainty, leaving no room for argument

They took a sharp turn to the left.

Cameron nodded, as if that had been a perfectly reasonable response

"Why?" She asked gently, adapting to April's reasoning instead of trying to force her own views on the woman. It was probably the best way to approach this so he left her to it, walking close to them but without interfering.

Behind him he could see House following after them with a firm look of determination on his face, a very annoyed Foreman marching by his side.

Another turn, this time to the right and they found themselves in a poorly lit, very narrow street. He decided to walk just a bit closer to the two women on the front

"Why do you think?" April said with a scoff "Maybe they would let him in but I doubt he would be able to get out. They would call the military on him, probably the EPF"

Oh no. She was one of those people wasn't she?

He definitely didn't envy Cameron's position right now. She seemed baffled but was trying to cover it up to not alienate her.

"Right" was saying Cameron "But–"

"No hospitals" She cut her off

Cameron was getting visibly more and more frustrated.

The woman paid her no mind and stopped, crossing her arms and inspecting the alley, looking for something

"Leo?" She called hesitantly

"Here" Said a voice to his right. It sounded young, male.

Something emerged from behind a dumpster.

It didn't look like anything he had seen before. At first he thought it was a person but then he noticed the shape, the colour. Even the way it moved with unnatural fluidity and a body language that looked alien. God those eyes.

He took a reflexive step back, feeling his heart jump to his throat

"What the fuck is that thing?" He asked, his voice going embarrassing high as he panicked

Was it some kind of disguise? A prank?

The thing twitched. Its face contorting like it was made of actual skin. It looked real. It was talking

"Really? You didn't tell them?" It opened it's mouth when it spoke, a real mouth filled with human teeth.

"We don't have time for this" Said another voice behind him.

Walking right in the mouth of the alley, just a few steps after Foreman and House there was a second one "Yeah 'oh my god big ugly monsters'" It said, rolling its lime green eyes in disdain "It gets old after the third time"

"Hey! I'm not ugly" Another one, this time it came from above them, hanging from one of the fire escapes upside down before leaping and landing into a crouch in the middle of their group.

Chase took another step backwards, moving closer to Cameron, shielding her with his body. She wasn't reacting, eyes widened in shock. She was gaping

Foreman seemed to be on the same page, eyes jumping between the three… somethings in confusion, not saying a word

The only one that didn't look surprised was House. He walked calmly towards the first one, the tallest one with the impossibly blue eyes. He was smiling

"You aren't wearing the 'human disguise'" he said, clearly delighted.

Seeing that House apparently knew what was happening Chase's posture lost some of its tension

The thing, probably a he and maybe just part of a weird and extremely effective prank judging by House's reaction –a pretty realistic one too, he still couldn't see how they had managed to pull this off– sighed in exasperation.

Also… Tell them what? That they were exceedingly dedicated Star Trek cosplayers? Actual aliens? God, Chase was losing it.

This was a prank and he was just too affected by the lack of sleep. It was making him overreact. This was fine.

How on earth had House managed to achieve this level of detail? Fixing his attention to the one closest to him he couldn't see an imperfection in the disguise.

Unless there was no disguise….

Yeah, no. House would laugh at him for the rest of his career if he fell for it. And those were shells, right, of course. They were supposed to be some kind of turtle. So funny, House!

The disguise should look kind of ridiculous with the fake weapons strapped on the back and the blue domino mask but since the quality was so good it worked. The contrast between the realistic looking green hue and texture of the fake scales and the soft, silky blue of the mask gave the ensemble a lot of personality. He wondered where they had gotten the inspiration

"Because I was assuming you told them" The young man dressed as a turtle said. Even through the costume he had a very expressive face and seemed done with House. The usual fare.

The one on the back cleared his throat

"Can't we just get this over with" He was saying, spinning a pair of clearly blunt metal knives in his hands. His three fingered hands "It's too early to be hanging around in the open"

"Right" said the first one with a nod.

Without a warning he reached out to grab him. Chase tried to dodge instinctively but he was too slow and in a second his arm was pinned behind his back and his feet were kicked out from under him. Now panicking he started thrashing to no avail. A rope was efficiently tied around his arms and legs, his screams mixed with the ones of his co-workers echoed in the empty alley. It was happening so fast. Cameron and Foreman were in the same predicament as him but House stood there, regarding them calmly.

He only had time to give him one look of shocked betrayal before something black was put over his head.

He felt his world tilt sideways, completely disoriented after losing his sight and he was lifted in the air and deposited over something. His captor's shoulder? His feet didn't touch the ground

Then they started moving

Chapter Text

Mikey couldn't help but sigh in relief when they arrived at the entrance of the lair.

It had been the worst, having to carry the doctor lady around the sewers like a sack of potatoes. Not because it was difficult, of course. Mikey's got the best moves! But, if he had felt bad when, at first, she thrashed and screamed with all her might. He didn't know what word he could use to describe the soul crushing guilt that had filled him when she had stopped and, instead, shook slightly in his hold, a few strained sobs escaping her every few seconds.

He would have to ask Donnie.

People said that animals could smell fear and Mikey wasn't sure if that applied to them but he was sure that he could feel it. She was terrified of him.

Knowing that they wouldn't hurt them and that he was just following his bro's orders didn't make dealing with the situation any easier.

Yeah, Leo. I get that if they don't know where we live our enemies can't torture the information out of them. Yeah, I also know that being friends with us almost cost April her life a few times but did they really have to go about this the 'ninja kidnapping' way? Doctor man hadn't been carried around! He went with April willingly and didn't try to take the bag off his head once. He didn't object with the random spinning to disorient any attempts at memorising the route.

He also had known them beforehand and knew what was happening. The others hadn't been expecting ninja turtles and were visibly scared from the get go. The new humans probably wouldn't have cooperated and they could have drawn unwanted attention if they stayed too long trying to convince them to go peacefully.

Shell

He had tried to calm everyone down, talking the whole way about anything that crossed his mind but he didn't know how effective it had been.

The lady had stopped shaking after a while so maybe it had worked? Please let it have worked?

April closed the reinforced door behind them and Mikey, without waiting for Leo to confirm that they were in the clear, set doctor lady on the ground immediately and undid her restraints.

The moment her hands and feet were freed she scrambled away from him blindly and took the bag off her head.

She stared at him, her tear stained eyes were filled with fury and frustration.

Mikey shrank back a little

"It's fine, see?" He tried, hands up to show that he wasn't a threat and keeping his distance from her to make her more comfortable. He ignored Leo's exasperated look as he took his human away, towards their kitchen. Raph simply rolled his eyes at him, shaking his head and followed to do the same, accompanied by April, who gave him a small smile "We're not going to hurt you"

The woman's eyes quickly moved between him and his brothers as they left, trying to see what they were doing with her friends without losing sight of him

"What are you? What. Why!?" She was saying, hugging her midsection in panic, still sprawled on the floor

"Oh! Hm a super cool turtle" he said with a reassuring smile. Her brow furrowed in confusion and he sat down on the floor so he wouldn't loom over her as he talked "and the why… my bro is really really sick, you know?" it was getting more difficult to keep up the smile but he tried his best even as he felt his eyes start to sting "We're very worried. Your friend House promised that he would help and bring more doctors here. We're sorry about that" he said with a grimace pointing at the restraints and the bag now lying haphazardly on the ground "But we can't let you know where we live. This is our home. It has been for years and if you told more people where it is we probably would wake up one day strapped to a table with an evil mad scientist trying to cut us open. That has totally happened before, you know?"

She crawled a bit closer to him. She was clearly still unnerved but now there was an edge of curiosity in her eyes when she talked to him

"You are real?"

"Oh, yeah!" He said, pumping his fist in the air "Real awesome haha but… apparently he didn't tell you about us so I wanted to ask if…" he bit his lip nervously and looked away. This was important. He needed to convince them "can you help him?" He said, locking his eyes with hers "April has human money I think. We could try to get some, even. We could be like robin hood but from bad guys and to you? We don't know what to do and he needs help. Please?" He begged earnestly, laying bare the need he felt for this to work, the hope he had in this plan.

Doctors were supposed to help people right? And they were people. They had to be. It had to count for something

Her gaze softened for a moment and then she nodded firmly, steady as Leo's blades

"I will do everything I can"

Chapter Text

They were in a kitchen.

There was a big sink with a few dishes piled on top, a stove, a microwave, an oven and a fridge. It had to be a kitchen. Now, why and how they were in a kitchen somewhere inside the New York sewer system –as they had been informed by the shorter one during the "walk" there– he had no idea.

They sat at what was probably their dining table, judging by the size and the location. Cameron had been the last one to join them and was sitting by Foreman's side. Her makeup was smudged and she had definitely been crying at some point, which was understandable. Chase was also spooked, surveying their surroundings wide eyed.

Foreman's attention was on neither of them. He couldn't take his eyes off the turtle things. It was fascinating. It was impossible. It was crazy but there they were, looking at him and his colleagues from the opposite side of the table with House by their side.

They were positioned in a very deliberate way. Swords was in the front and centre, spine straight and expression stiff. To his right was orange, the small one that had come with Cameron. His body language was open and receptive and he seemed thrilled to see them, the complete opposite of Red and burly who was avoiding their eyes with a scowl. Interestingly, he was the one that stood the closest to them.

"Now, I am sure you have a lot of questions but I should start by apologising" said the blue one.

Foreman noted curiously that, even if the one talking wasn't human, he could recognize that posture, that tone of voice for what it was. An attempt to be taken seriously.

"I was expecting Dr House to inform you of the circumstances surrounding Donnie's situation so we had to resort to a more rough approach than what I was hoping for. For that I am sorry"

He bowed deeply

House raised an eyebrow at him

"Now, where was all this politeness when it was me you were kidnapping?"

The one with the red bandana leaned against the counter with an amused smirk

"Yeah, what's with that Fearless?"

The third turtle nudged the serious one playfully.

"Dad told him off" He told House with a smile, to his brother's? The other's horror "My son" he was saying, probably imitating someone, judging by the change in demeanour and intonation. Must be a good one since the red one seemed to be finding it hilarious "if you are seeking the help of these humans you should not treat them as if they were our enemies, for–"

"Our sensei informed me that I was taking the wrong approach" Interrupted Serious, visibly embarrassed, answering House and trying to act as if the interruption had never happened while behind him Cheerful snickered. He was failing miserably.

Foreman guessed that they weren't capable of blushing since, even as flustered as he was, Serious seemed as green as ever "You are doctors offering us aid and we are the ones asking for your expertise"

He took his time to compose himself, looking at each of them. Then he breathed deeply, expression immediately sobering.

"Even so, there is some behaviour we cannot tolerate for the sake of our safety" He paused, making sure that they were listening intently "If you accept to help our brother then you will not be allowed to leave until the situation is… resolved" that made Foreman pause. Staying here didn't seem like a good idea, especially if someone was sick. These were the sewers after all. He looked up, trying to meet House's eyes but he wasn't paying attention, leaning against the table and staring into space "We have plenty of food and if you don't trust it April can buy and prepare something for you"

The woman, April waved cheekely at them while Cheerful jumped in again

"Totally unnecessary btw I am the best cook ever"

Serious nodded once in acceptance and continued.

"We have confiscated your phones and we have to ask you to not tell anyone about us now or after this is over, for obvious reasons. You will not have access to any weapons and if we find you trying to take something from our home there will be dire consequences"

He sighed and seemed to slightly shrink into himself

"With that said. We would really appreciate the help" he said, now looking more hesitant. His eyes darted rapidly between the three younger doctors and his hands twitched. "Dr House has informed us that our brother's illness is very dangerous and we are not able to manage this on our own'' he bowed again, deeper this time. A full ninety degrees "Please help us"

He stayed there, head down and waiting when the sound of slow sarcastic clapping broke the silence

"Good speech" said House, his voice clearly showing how little he thought of the display "Six out of ten. Loved the grovelling" his attention turned to his subordinates,"Now, let's be frank, you are going to do this because I am your boss and I say so. Let's get moving, my patient is waiting" he snapped his fingers annoyingly.

Figures

A low, inhuman growl made Foreman jump on his seat, the hairs on his arms standing to an end as the deep, bone rattling sound became louder and louder

"Wow you think you're so fucking smart don't you?" Asked Angry, glaring at House. His voice mixed with the booming sound, giving him a distinctly vicious quality that made Foreman's heart race with the feeling of danger.

Cheerful gasped and pointed at his brother

"Leo! Leo he said fuck! Sensei's gonna flip, yo"

His exclamation broke the tension filling the room as Angry spluttered.

"I, I just– S-shut up"

Serious facepalmed.

"Before leaving I wanted to ask if you had any questions?" He asked, desperately ignoring his brothers

Chase took his opportunity

"Are you aliens?" He asked, completely seriously, unable to hide the awe in his voice.

Foreman's first instinct was to make fun of him but, taking another look at their three kidnappers… Any explanation for this would sound ridiculous, honestly

Angry crossed his arms.

"No" he spat, giving Chase a dirty look

Chase's eyebrows furrowed

"Then…?" He asked

"We're turtles. It would take too long to explain" scoffed Angry. Then, with a frustrated sigh he turned to his brother "That guy's right, Leo. Can't we do this after they see Donnie?"

"Let's go then" He answered tiredly

And so, they went

Chapter Text

Donnie fiddled with the bedding nervously. He itched to get his laptop but his dad had forbidden him from doing any work until the new doctors came.

He understood the reasoning but it was frustrating. He had managed to keep using his lab under everyone's noses for a month straight but after Dr House revealed the severity of the situation his family decided to hover around him constantly, interrupting his meagre progress.

They couldn't grasp the importance of his work. God, how could they? He hadn't explained anything to them. He had always felt so accomplished every time he was able to make their lives a little easier with a new invention that he had never felt the need to show them how they worked. It felt so nice that even his older brothers relied on him for so many things. And now because of his own pride, because he couldn't be arsed to help his family understand their own home, because he had wanted to become so vital for their survival, he was putting them all in danger.

He needed to make sure they were prepared. The mutagen experiments were dangerous but necessary. They were too risky to pass on to anyone else. It was something he needed to deal with personally.

It made his heart ache, thinking about their future. They had always been out of their league, fighting extra dimensional aliens, wars against genocidal extraterrestrial empires. The shredder and his army, the actual army with so many resources at their disposal… His mind kept going back to all the times he had to manipulate their opponent's technology to save the day. And not even that! Health management and surgeries. Even just keeping the lair running! Raph did have some mechanical knowledge and Leo was always the one managing the forge but the reason they had electricity and running water was all Donnie.

It was his fault. He hadn't been able to figure out what was going on with him and now the clock was ticking down. Everything had to be ready before he was incapacitated. And if it was genetic or some defect of the mutagen then…

No, that was the worst case scenario. Don't think about that.

He felt so tired

Those books had been the first step and he had already managed to write a program to automate the lair's essentials but what if it ever malfunctioned? And what about the security system?

The headaches were horrible

He needed to leave everything in place. He couldn't fail his family like that. He had already messed up enough.

His computer was just laying there, taunting him. If he could just…

"Dad. Can you pass me my laptop for a second please?"

His dad looked at him pityingly, patting his head once

"You should rest, my son "

How he wished he could. But he had too many things to do. It was too important

"It will be just a second, please" he begged, an edge of desperation tainting his voice as he reached uselessly behind his dad's back, half of his body tilting dangerously towards the edge of the cot

"I know you, Donatello" his dad said, taking his hands and putting them back on his lap, his torso was dragged with the motion, setting him firmly on the centre of the mattress "You want to work but the most important thing right now is your recovery"

No no no. He wasn't getting it. None of them were

"I just need to finish something" he insisted

"Yes, and after that another thing will come up and then another"

His father's gaze turned stern, reproachful but Donnie didn't really care. He could be mad at him all he wanted as long as Donnie could make sure that they would be okay.

There was no way he would be able to bypass a ninja master to get the computer though, specially in this state

He groaned and fell back on the bed, glaring angrily at the concrete ceiling.

Insulation. He needed to put better insulation in case something happened to the heating

Just as he was thinking of possible ways to bypass the surveillance to maybe spray some foam –that didn't sound right. What would be the best option in a sewer?– there was a knock on the door and Leo's head poked from the entrance, bashfully

"Ah, we're here. Are you…?"

His father gestured at Leo to come in and he opened the door, letting the guests in.

Before Leo had fully opened it, Dr House bumped into him and pushed him aside, eager to get inside, followed by three more humans

Donnie's grip on the bedding tightened. He had to convince at least one of them to stay in New York to help his brothers in the future. He could do this. He had been thinking about all the possible ways to succeed and all their possible reactions. He was ready for anything.

"You" said House pointing a finger at him "are Donatello"

He blinked, dumbly He… hadn't expected that. Why was he saying it like this was a great discovery? They hadn't been using code names had they?

He eyed April his brothers for a second in silent question before turning back to House. Donnie did note that the three strangers seemed to think that was important, judging by the small jumps and looks of realisation.

"Yes, that is my name?" He asked more than said, feeling wrong footed

House smirked and moved around his bed, towards his desk

"This is my entourage" he was saying as he picked up Donnie's three mutant turtle guide books. Which told Donnie that he was a quick learner and would actually work with him instead of against him so that was a relief "Mostly useless but they can play nurse while I'm bored"

House walked back towards the door, balancing the heavy pile and dropping them in the woman's arms carelessly.

She gave them a puzzled look, his two companions looming over her shoulders to take a better look at them. They seemed curious. That was good. He could work with curious

"What's this"? One of them asked

House dismissed the question with a shake of his head

"You three will have to read that later"

He dropped on the edge of Donnie's bed and took something out of his jacket pocket.
It was a bottle of pills. He moved too fast for Donnie to see what exactly they were and swallowed a few of them. Maybe some kind of analgesic for his leg? Before he could ask, the man started questioning him.

"Did anything significant happen while I was gone?" He asked, his eyes roaming over him and the rest of his family

"No, I didn't have any more… episodes"

He made a small noise of acknowledgment

"I assume that the urine test is done" he continued, raising an eyebrow at him

Donnie nodded.

"Print that with everything else. Do you have a whiteboard?"

From the entrance of the medbay Leo perked up

"I do" he said. Of course. Donnie remembered the whiteboard. Leo had brought it to the lair thinking it would help him explain his plans during "strategic meetings" but when it became clear that every planning session would devolve into Mikey organising a drawing contest he gave up. Now they mostly used it to play guessing games.

Leo still swears that it's a very important element to his planning and keeps it in his room but Donnie suspects that he just doesn't want Mikey to spoil the markers

"Perfect!" He smirked, not turning to look at his brother "I will have to borrow it" he said, giving Donatello a searching look "I've been comparing some of what I've seen of your physiology with different species of turtles"

Donnie suppressed a smile

The man had been researching turtle physiology, unsatisfied with his knowledge of human anatomy and Donnie's books. He was immensely interested in them. It was apparent in the way he asked Donnie questions about their general anatomy and how attentive he had been during his checkup. Of course, that was normal. They were a scientific marvel. But that interest was good. It was useful

"Ah, yeah" he said, trying to not let his satisfaction show "We're freshwater turtles. I think from the Chrysemys family but that's a lot more difficult to determine" he sighed "The, uhm, the painted turtle seems to be the most likely option but I don't have any definitive proof"

The man's eyes widened, the gears in his head visibly turning as if something important had just now been discovered. For a second Donnie felt a bit startled. He hadn't revealed anything compromising, right? They had a talk about how much to keep their guests in the dark, in case they decided to turn on them. Thinking back, however, nothing he had said struck him as secret information.

He wasn't the only one that noticed that either. House's colleagues, who had been listening in attentively clearly noticed the change in their boss's demeanour and were exchanging unreadable looks. Leo frowned

The moment passed and House tilted his head to the side

"I want freedom to search the entire house in case I need to collect toxin samples. Especially your room and the lab" he said, abruptly changing the subject. Was he trying to catch him off guard? It was not going to work

Donnie's expression hardened

"You can't be inside the lab unsupervised and I meant it when I said that that part was off-limits"

House didn't seem bothered by the ultimatum, clearly having expected that reaction, and gave him a condescending look

"If we want to make sure–"

Donnie rolled his eyes, please, did he really think he was that stupid?

"If that had been the cause it would have been exceedingly obvious" instant, random mutations were hard to miss "trust me. It's not necessary and you would be putting your lives in danger"

House snorted

"I can't help but remember that I am the doctor your brothers were oh so desperately begging for and you are the sewer teenager that needs safer hobbies"

He could see Raph's expression turning dark at that and gave him a look. Mikey immediately moved to calm him down

"No one is touching my experiments" he repeated. His attention was fully on House again, now that Raph seemed settled. He was clearly still pissed but more like he would be spending too much time punching the sandbag at the dojo in a few minutes than ready to murder the stranger that insulted his brother. It was appreciated, but Donnie could defend himself. Even feeling as bad as he did lately he was still great at passive aggressive

"Are you a certified chemist?" He pointedly asked, the beginning of a sneer forming in his lips "Do you have experience handling hazmat class 1 materials?"

House's eyebrows climbed up his forehead

"So father dearest lets you mess around with explosives?"

A jolt travelled across the room at the revelation that Donnie was keeping those kinds of substances in a remodelled sewer tunnel.
They weren't even the most dangerous thing in his lab, really. There was a reason why the door had to be locked at all times

Sensing a disaster waiting to happen Leo cleared his throat

"Listen to him. That's another rule"

He nodded to his brother in thanks and raised an eyebrow at the man, who lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender, still holding his cane.

His eyes told another story though. He wasn't giving up that easily. That much was clear. The man was stubborn, cocky.

Feeling uneasy for the first time since the conversation started Donnie's lips thinned.

Maybe this would be more difficult than he had thought.

Chapter Text

They talked for a while, discussing Donnie's condition and how they would be organising the doctors' stay. After a heated debate, during which a physical fight almost broke out –Jesus, Raph really needed to talk to someone. This was getting ridiculous– Leo reluctantly agreed to give their guests a private room to work in without any of them eavesdropping.

The new doctors seemed surprised but relieved when they realised that they had access to actual medical equipment and medication. Donnie showed off as much as possible, ranting extensively about all the resources he had managed to acquire for his lab.

After some time the humans, unaccustomed to their nocturnal schedule, started to get tired and were escorted by April to the kitchen where, ignoring Mikey's protests, she had already left some takeout for them. Leaving the Hamato family alone in the medbay.

Raph watched them go with a scowl

He still wasn't looking at Donnie directly, avoiding eye contact and staying near the entryway. Not making a move to get closer to the bed, unsurprisingly.

It was interesting, in a very morbid way, how his family was handling this. Having to watch him while he slowly wasted away.

Mikey went to visit him the most. His checks were random but he always had something to say or ask. Always trying to cheer him up. Leo's visits were periodical, calculated. Provided he didn't think Donnie was sleeping, every few hours he would knock at his door and ask him if he needed anything. His dad didn't use to come see him before House's appearance but now always hovered near the door, supervising his state in case his condition made a turn for the worse

Raph didn't like to visit

"I don't trust them" he grumbled unhappily

Leo rubbed his eyes and groaned. This was something that they had already argued about extensively, judging by the characteristic look he gave Raph. The 'are you really questioning my leadership again' stare

"You don't have to"

Mikey shrugged

"They seemed nice I think" he said, rounding Donnie's bed and sitting at his side, kicking his feet up in the air.

Raph scowled

"The older one. He's a piece of shit. He doesn't care about Donnie. Sees him as some shiny new thing" he said, quietly. Visibly uncomfortable

Which was true but not as bad as Raph thought it was. As long as he did his job and didn't sell them out Donnie wasn't opposed to being seen as a curiosity. If it was harmless it didn't matter to him

"And according to April's research he might be one of the best in the world at what he does" retorted Leo, exasperated "We were extremely lucky to find him"

Their father, as calm as ever put a hand on Raph's shoulder

"Raphael. I know that this is uncomfortable for everyone but your brother needs more help than we can give him" he told him patiently

Raph's eyes met Donnie's for a second before immediately turning away, like he was scared to look at him, gritting his teeth.

Intellectually, Donnie understood. Raph had always been emotional. He loved all of them in his special, gruffly sort of way. He was quicker to show affection than Leo but with this kind of thing he was the worst. He had seen him like this before, when Leo almost died after an encounter with the Shredder. But even knowing all this, he still felt the very unproductive urge to snap at him. He sighed deeply instead, exasperated.

"I understand, sensei" said Raph, shrinking slightly

With a pleased hum his father looked between the four of them

"Good. Now, as our guests get ready for their new task, we should take this opportunity to continue your training" he stopped for a moment, hesitating "Donatello, will you–"

He hummed in affirmation

"You don't need to watch me 24/7 you know?" He said, slightly amused "I'm stable for now and I have a panic button" He lifted said button, showing it to his family.

With a nod, their father left the room. Leo went to follow but stopped by the door

"If you need anything…" he said, unsure

Donnie waved him off with a tired smile and Leo left with a tilt of his head as a goodbye. Mikey gave him a quick one-armed hug before running after them.

He was alone with Raph then.

Raph wasn't moving, looking down to the ground in silence, frowning. His body language was tense and on guard, hands balled into fists

That was new

"You will be alright?" He asked quietly after some time, his voice was a soft grunt and he was talking as if someone were prying the words from him by force.

Donnie hummed in affirmation, feeling the corner of his lips lift. A wave of warmth filled his chest

"I'll be fine, Raph"

Without another word Raph left, slamming the door closed with more force than was necessary.

Once he was actually alone he exhaled loudly. Finally

He immediately jumped off the bed and waited for a second for his vision to return. When he stopped seeing black and was sure he wouldn't fall over he marched directly for his laptop.

Now, first thing first. How to completely automate the security system…

Chapter Text

The food they had been promised was laid in the middle of the table. It was a huge and varied selection of Chinese takeout that could have fed at least seven people. It seemed appetising, the smell was rich and the dishes looked flavorful and didn't have the soggy quality of some precooked takeout but the people sitting around the table were more focused on the mysterious woman serving it. Well, most of them since House seemed perfectly content with eating and playing with the console he had smuggled, ignoring the only source of information about their current situation.

They sat in silence for a bit, out of an artificial sense of politeness, not wanting to start the questioning and possibly anger or overwhelm their host. A few minutes passed in silence before, not being able to contain himself any longer, Chase cleared his throat.

"Those are some… interesting friends" He commented casually between bites of the rapidly cooling stir fry that he had chosen

April, apparently completely at ease in this place reached into the fridge to grab a can of coke

"They sure are" She answered with a fond smile, eyes crinkling in amusement as she walked back to the table, drink in hand

"How did you meet?" He asked, bafflement clear in his voice.

There had to be a story there. It wasn't every day someone made first contact with another seemingly intelligent species and to keep it a secret?

"I am a freelance journalist. I was working on a story and found myself roaming the sewers at night and, well…" she shrugged, like it was the most natural thing in the world "They found me more than I found them, really. They are good kids, you know?"

He wouldn't really call them kids to be honest

"Why is the father a rat?" Asked Foreman, not bothering to keep the bafflement out of his voice

"They're adopted" she responded, trying and failing to keep the amusement off her face

She did find their confusion entertaining then. But still, vague half answers were better than no answers, Chase supposed

"Can you tell us more about them?" He asked

"Well, the one dressed in orange is Mikey, he's the youngest" she started to say "A bit too excitable sometimes but he means well. Raph is the one in red. He is not the best with strangers but Leo will probably keep him in check if you have any trouble with him" she talked happily, visibly fond of the turtle things.

She wasn't giving them any useful information.

Frustrated, Chase opened his mouth to interrupt. Then, he saw Cameron levelling a deadly glare at him. If looks could kill…

He chose to wait

"Leo is very… driven. And Donnie's the smartest person I've ever met. He's really something"

She picked one of the plates and started stirring the food, lost in thought for a moment.

Now that she was done, Chase decided to clarify

"We meant more like… what exactly are they or where do they come from " he said, gently

The levity of April's expression vanished.

"You'll have to ask them, then" she said, voice cold as ice.

Well, excuse him for being curious

Foreman took the opportunity that the long ensuing silence gave him to intercede

"How have they managed to survive this long? This whole place isn't something you can build in a short time and all that equipment has to be stolen" he said, eyes roaming over the surprisingly passable imitation of a house they were in "How have they not been discovered yet?"

She sighed, the undercurrent of anger that had bubbled beneath the surface was replaced by a sad, resigned frown

"They are very resourceful, good at staying hidden. It used to be a lot harder on them from what I've heard. Until they were about ten years old they used to roam the sewers but Donnie…" her shoulders slumped and she looked away "He's– he's a genius. He made sure they could have water and electricity"

"He did that himself?" Foreman asked, baffled "How old is he? He sounded young"

April gestured with her hands in a frustrated motion.

"Fifteen, they are fifteen, you know?"

From the corner of his eye he saw Cameron's eyes widen in surprise and worry.

"All of them, they are all fifteen?"

"Yeah" she whispered in a breathy, regretful voice "They are just children"

Huge, green children built like quarterbacks that carried melee weapons around. Which reminded him…

"What's the deal with the weapons? They're real aren't they"

"Self defence" she said with a shrug

"Against what?" Asked Foreman

"Anyone that might want to harm them which is a very… extensive list" she met Foreman's eyes and grimaced, uncomfortably "You have to understand that they usually go to the city at night, in the worst parts of New York. They are used to people reacting violently. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to shoot them because they are frightened by their appearance"

"Yeah" said House suddenly breaking the ensuing silence, rolling his eyes, attention still fixed on his videogame "A big knife has always been the best thing to bring to a gunfight "

April smirked

"You'd be surprised"

House didn't seem convinced but, for once, didn't pick a fight and let her be.

Now that the damn was broken dinner became a full on interrogation session. April seemed happy enough to answer Cameron's questions "how is their day to day, do they have any hobbies? Are they able to go outside?" And some of Foreman's "do they usually get sick? How do they manage to get food? Is the water safe for drinking?" But adamantly ignored every attempt at getting information on what exactly they were or where they came from

Their session was interrupted when, after some time, a green blur ran towards their group, hitting the table with so much force that it rattled, some of the tall, empty containers falling over.

"Hiiiiiii!!!!!!! I'm Mikey" he waved at them "Oh, shell. I'm so rude. What are your names!? Are you full? Because I can make something for you guys if you aren't! I'm the best cook, tell them April"

April simply snorted

Behind their newcomer came another turtle, grabbing his shell and gently pulling him backwards so he wasn't practically sprawled over it. It was the one with the swords, the taller one.

"Mikey, leave them be. They're here to work"

"But bro, they totally aren't working now" he turned to them "Are you?" He didn't get a response, as he and his colleagues were stunned for a moment. Apparently, he didn't care, however, since he took their confused silence as a go ahead and started nodding frantically "See!? If they're gonna stay here in like, a huge sleepover they need to rest too, dude"

Chase blinked slowly. The speed in which the turtle was talking was kind of impressive.

The tallest one didn't seem to feel the same way because he just shook his head.

"Come on, you need to shower and make lunch right?" He asked in the reasonable and persuasive tone of a parent trying to get their child to leave the park because it was getting late. It was slightly grating, seeing it come from a huge, green alien turtle thing.

And like any child, the orange one started pouting

"But, but there's visit!?" He asked, in what looked like a very strange attempt at making puppy dog eyes

Once again, Chase wondered if this was actually happening or if it was a very strange dream caused by some kind of trauma or high fever.

"They'll be here all day, Mikey" He said, grabbing the other's arm and dragging him away "and they need to adjust to our nocturnal schedule or… maybe not" he looked at them and frowned, for a moment. Then he shook his head "Either way it's a bit late for them. Let them rest"

As he was being carried away from the room the smallest turtle shouted at them, desperately

"Tomorrow we can play video games!!" He said, shaking his free arm around and trying to shrug the other's hold off him "Or, or basketball or whatever you want!"

When dinner was finished April put the containers away and walked them through the tunnels to a small, well keep room

It had a wooden sliding door, a small mattress on the ground and a whiteboard. Set in front of the bed were also four chairs, presumably for them, and a big nightstand.

Besides that it was completely threadbare. It looked like someone had moved a lot of things out of there recently. All over the wall there were nails that indicated that something had been hung there and some type of racks to put weapons in, all of them empty.

"There's only one other unoccupied room so you can divide ourselves between them or one of you can come to mine if you want" said April, showing them in "We have spare bedding for everyone in the closet"

House waved her away and, once the door closed behind her, he smiled widely.

"We are not going to rest are we?" Asked Chase, resigned

"Let's get working" said House

Chapter Text

Humanoid turtle, 15. Headaches, nausea, bad breathing, hypotension, tiredness, dizziness and confusion. Not an alien; read the whiteboard House was proudly presenting to them. Not an alien was underlined three times.

House was ecstatic.

Cameron was wondering what decisions in her life had brought her to this point.

"I don't understand why we aren't telling someone about this" Chase said after a moment of contemplation

"They have our phones" answered Foreman with shrug

"But we will when we leave, right?" He asked, looking hopeful "This is… this is big. It's an entirely new apparently intelligent species that can mimic human behaviour. More than one, judging by the rat. The implications of this are just–"

He cut himself off, looking at each of them with wide, excited eyes, clearly thinking about all the possibilities this could bring them.

He was talking about themselves and their careers. A new world of endless opportunities, the nobel prize being just one of them. They would be settled for life and earn a prestige never seen before.

So much they could achieve if they only sold out four children and their father to the masses.

Cameron bit her lip

"I don't know if we should" she said slowly

Chase gaped at her like she was mad, while House and Foreman gave her an interested look

"They don't want to be known for a reason. It could ruin their lives"

Had Michaelangelo been joking when he said that someone had tried to cut them open? Was it an exaggeration? Could they afford to be discovered?

They were so young. Their mannerisms, the way they talked to each other… They acted just like human children. They were just children.

Chase remained unmoved

"This is bigger than that, Cameron" He insisted, emphatically "It's the greatest scientific discovery of the century, maybe one of the greatests in history"

And that was the scariest part. She knew he was right. Everyone would want to know about them. Everyone would want to study them.

Even if her team liked to say she was naive she wasn't an idiot. She knew what some researchers had done in the name of science. Hell, she herself had medical ethics classes where they discussed some of the worst cases. Everyone liked to believe that they were above that, that they were far too advanced to fall back in those habits but, when every few years a new example emerged, it was difficult to pretend that everything was fine. And when the children being discussed weren't actually human could they afford to make that mistake?

"They are just trying to live their lives" she tried. A useless attempt, since Chase was already fixated on the idea, a scowl sat his face as he seemed to tune out Cameron's words. Still, she had to try "We don't have the right to put that at risk" she stressed.

Chase opened his mouth, gearing up for another rant when House cleared his throat obnoxiously

"I see that you two aren't on the same page. Good thing we are not dealing with that for a while right?" He asked with false cheer, like he didn't give a shit about the final decision. Of course he wouldn't. When had House cared for the well being of a fellow human being? Not to mention someone that was technically not one "For now we can focus on the task ahead. Come on. I need ideas" said House tapping the whiteboard impatiently

Foreman slowly sank back into his chair and stopped watching their argument with a detached, curious interest to focus on the board once again

"I don't know anything about turtles but that seems like lactic acidosis"

"Wrong" said House, reaching behind him and planting a few printed documents and one of the books in Foreman's lap, which he inspected intently with a raised eyebrow.

After a moment, he frowned

"That's close to alkalosis actually"

House shook his head, letting himself fall into one of the seats with a small creek

"Not for them, apparently turtles have a higher pH than humans and giant, mysterious sewer turtles can support a wider range depending on ambient temperature and other factors"

"Really?" Said Chase, scooping his seat closer to see the pages.

"It's all in the books!" exclaimed House, clapping once "Come on, keep up"

Cameron, also fascinated, took a peek at them and blinked, surprised. The information seemed extremely thorough and there were a lot of clarifications, annotations and diagrams with instructions 'if x happens then see y' and things like that.

It was written plainly and to the point. A manual that clearly didn't expect the reader to have any knowledge of how their patients worked, or even had much medical knowledge at all.

But, besides that there was a lot of raw information too, useful information.

She couldn't help the wave of admiration that surged through her. Doing something like this was incredibly difficult. She knew a lot of colleagues incapable of presenting information clearly for their patients and here was a kid with no social experience to speak of writing an entire manual so any untrained person would be able to manage their brother's health.

"And how do we know the books are right?" Asked Foreman, not looking up from the papers and still paging through them with rapt attention

House shrugged

"We don't but we also don't have anything else"

"That's risky" said Chase. Cameron had to agree but even then…

"But it's our only option isn't it?" She said slowly as the realisation hit her "We can't just start from scratch. We don't have the time and I wouldn't even know where to begin. We don't know what they are"

House nodded

"If we don't trust his… research we have nothing"

Foreman snorted

"So we have to assume that the fifteen year old without a formal education hasn't made any mistakes"

Their mood sank at that. There was a reason why it took someone so long to study medicine, after all.

"For now at least" conceded House with a tilt of his head "if there's any indication of that then we will act but he is the expert, apparently"

A useless sentiment since they didn't really have any other options if that was actually the case.

But then again… House never picked up a case because he thought it would be easy, did he?

Chapter Text

The three younger doctors sat in a circle, analysing the papers they had at their disposal.

This was one of Cameron's favourite parts of the job.

Of course, seeing a patient recover and reunite with their family always warmed her heart but you couldn't survive as a part of House's team without enjoying the process of diagnosing a patient.

It was like a puzzle. The pieces were there already, hidden in the history and symptoms. The final picture was in her mind too, the knowledge about so many different conditions that could be affecting the patient. Now they only had to put it together into something that matched. The solution that would save a life.

With complete focus she read, trying to find it.

The results of the ABG seemed within normal parameters, according to the documents, but the values were all strange. It definitely couldn't be acidosis though.

She was startled out of her musings by Foreman

"These…" He was saying, still reading Donatello's books, jaw dropped in shock and eyes wide "These are really good though. Are we sure he's the one that wrote them?"

House simply shrugged and started saying something to Foreman, making fun of him, judging by the tone of voice

Cameron ignored the bickering, determined to make the most of the resources they did have.

The information was frustrating, to say at the least. Nothing jumped at her as important. There wasn't a big clue that told them where to focus their attention.

She went over everything twice

"Creatinine levels seem fine" she said under her breath when the frustration started getting to her

"But here" said Chase pointing at something "the calcium and magnesium are a bit high"

Foreman nodded once, only half paying attention. He was going through the anatomical diagrams now, completely fixated on the precise, meticulous drawings of their patient's extrange organism.

It was kind of extrange how detailed the information on their internal anatomy was, since she seriously doubted they had an accurate model to compare it to and, well, they'd definitely never had to perform an actual surgery on each other. The imaging equipment had to be seriously good to give so much information but most of it was probably a mixture of that and guesswork based on human models from what she was seeing.

"Hyperparathyroidism would explain the neurological symptoms" Foreman said halfheartedly

And the nausea, the weakness… But the calcium levels weren't high enough to justify the symptoms.

Just in case though

"We should look for kidney stones and measure PTH" said Cameron, looking at House, who grunted in affirmation

"We'll try tomorrow"

"I don't think these results mean anything, to be honest" Interjected Chase with a faint, unhappy frown. His knee was bouncing on the floor. He seemed annoyed. "And the symptoms come and go… Maybe it's just CVS and a respiratory infection. He didn't seem that bad"

Foreman snorted, finally looking up to roll his eyes at him

"Appearing suddenly in a fifteen year old"

Chase raised an eyebrow

"He's a turtle"

Well, he did have a point. It wasn't like it would be the most unusual thing about this case.

House wasn't convinced

"Not good enough. Doesn't explain the neurological symptoms or the low blood pressure"

Taking another look at the whiteboard, Cameron bit her lip, worriedly

"Maybe we should focus on the breathing" she said

"Respiratory onset ALS?" Asked Foreman

Cameron flinched

"I hope not" she said. Breaking those kinds of news to any of the kids would be… "It also wouldn't cause nausea. It's probably systemic but what if it's some kind of turtle disease?"

"That's what these are for" House said, gesturing to the bag lying on the mattress

She couldn't help but think about how unfair it was that he got to keep it while they hadn't given her her purse back. But then again, House was oddly persuasive when he wanted to be.

Chase smirked at that

"Maybe it's vitamin D deficiency. Should we go to the pet store and buy him a sun lamp?" He said, eyes shining with amusement

Foreman shook his head, ignoring him but Cameron's lips thinned. That wasn't funny

"Only him?" She asked, rolling his eyes

"It could be anything" Said Foreman with a shrug "They live in a sewer"

House tapped the floor with his cane impatiently

"If it was highly contagious they would all be sick" he grumbled in disapproval

Foreman brought a hand to his chin, deep in thought

"There's no family history. If this is genetic it's going to be difficult to pinpoint and who knows what kind of genetic disorders they could have"

Chase perked up

"He could have gotten in contact with infected faeces. A parasite?"

"Maybe echinococcus" said Cameron slowly. It wasn't very common but considering where they were "It could affect the lungs and cause shortness of breath. The other symptoms could be explained by the metabolic alterations caused by the damage to the liver"

Foreman paused

"There's no sign of liver damage in the blood test and...Can it infect turtles?" He asked, looking at the three of them questioningly.

Good point, she had absolutely no idea. She reached towards one of House's books and tried to look for any evidence of it, aided by Foreman and Chase

After ten minutes of searching and not finding anything useful Chase groaned

"This is impossible" He said, face sinking in his hands "We don't have reliable information on them and even if the kid is actually right all of his research comes from four related subjects. Anything we find on turtles is also useless since they are clearly not actual turtles"

House sighed theatrically, tilting his chair back precariously, and managing not to fall by putting the cane against the back for support

"Where is your adventurous spirit? I thought you were excited to find new information on this new 'apparently intelligent species that can mimic human behaviour'" He said, with derision in a passable imitation of Chase's accent "But don't get your panties in a twist, Mulder. He got intoxicated. Probably one of his personal experiments. Even if he is a 'genius' he's still a teenager" He shook his head, letting his chair fall forward once again with a thud "They're not known for their great judgement"

Foreman hummed, considering this and Chase nodded once in reluctant agreement

"It would explain why he's the only one getting sick and the symptoms are compatible with a lot of different toxic agents" he conceded with a sigh

"So we need to break into the lab" Said Foreman, rolling his eyes.

Of course they would. It was one of the few things their hosts had asked them not to do

"It will be difficult." She said, resigned. She knew how this went. Better pick her battles and stand her ground on more important things. Besides, this might actually save their patient "The only door is right behind our patient's bed isn't it?"

"We're going in the lab?" Asked Chase, eyes wide in alarm as he looked at each of them "The one with the explosives?"

House waved dismissively

"He wouldn't have them just lying around" he said calmly. Then he stopped, head moving to the right. His brow furrowed "Probably"

Cameron resisted the urge to gape at him.

"Should we take that risk?"

The three of them turned, looking intently at House, who remained as unbothered as ever and gave them a challenging stare.

As usual, they broke first and House smirked triumphantly, writing a few new words on the whiteboard.

Parasites, fucked parathyroids, ALS, CVS, INTOXICATION

"Alright. We can look for kidney stones and see if the parathyroids are doing more than they should. Let's try to discard ALS just in case. I like the echinococcus idea so you will make sure nothing's wrong with the liver" he said pointing to Cameron

Chase's brow furrowed

"I thought we discarded those"

"Yep, but we need to look busy while we try to sneak into the lab" He explained, condescendingly "The main theory is intoxication so–"

They were interrupted by a slow, hesitant knock on the door.

Chapter Text

They exchanged a confused look before House, after capping the marker, called loudly

"If you're going to enter just open the damn door"

The door slowly opened to reveal one of the kids. The one dressed –by a very loose definition of the word– in blue

Leonardo, then. The one April had described as a very determined and introspective kid. At the moment, however, he just looked slightly flustered and somewhat nervous.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I was wondering how you were going to handle your… stay" he said, eyes darting rapidly between them. He had very blue eyes, Cameron noted. Probably more reptilian than human, judging by the unnatural brightness of them.

He wasn't the only one of his brothers with an extrange eye colouring though. Michaelangelo's eyes had an strange, spotted pattern of a rich, earthy brown with a dash of yellow, Raphael's were a bright, almost glowing green with a black line cutting the iris in half and Donatello, their patient, had an intense red coloration surrounded by a black sclera.

She had never seen anything like it

Leonardo walked a few steps into the room, warily. The perfect picture of a shy kid entering the teacher's lounge as he seemed to jump between feeling embarrassed and intimidated by their presence.

"We sleep during the day but I understand if you don't want to" he said

House stood up from his chair and leaned slightly to his right. Greeting their host with a shrug as he put his entire weight against his cane

"Oh, we'll adapt, don't worry'' He dismissed, nonplused "It's actually very convenient. They are already used to the night shift. It won't be a problem"

Foreman rolled his eyes at that.

Cameron privately agreed

"I'm glad?" The kid said with a doubtful look, moving closer to them and blinking slowly in confusion. "Then do any of you want some tea or… I can make coffee too, probably"

Cameron felt herself smile at the soft, polite tone of his voice "Ah, thank you… Leonardo right?"

He smiled shyly, and shifted his posture

"Yes. Sorry, I don't think I know your name"

"I'm Allison, Allison Cameron" It wasn't very professional to introduce herself with her first name but then, they were already living in the patient's house.

He was clearly unsettled by the four of them, judging by the way his eyes kept darting away from her to look at the rest of the room's occupants, especially her boss. He likely could count the number of people he knew with his hands…. Well, maybe not his, but apart from his brothers, father and the mysterious April O'Neil he probably had only seen anyone else in passing

Maybe a more personal approach would help them to be more at ease.

"Dr Cameron then" said Leonardo with a curt, polite nod. So much for that. He stepped closer, offering his three fingered hand in greeting and tilted his head, eyes jumping behind her for a moment "I–"

He was interrupted by an exaggerated, theatrical gasp.

"Oh, sorry I am not blocking the view, right?" Asked House, putting a hand on his chest looking affronted.

Cameron turned to look at him.

"What?" She asked

"To the board" Said House, unbothered. He grabbed his chair with one hand and dragged it across the wooden floor, producing a high, grating sound. He then sat, chin propped against the back of the chair, revealing the whiteboard behind him. Cameron abruptly realised that he had been positioning himself between it and Leonardo since he had first come in "I mean, I don't think it will do you much good since you don't seem to know what a doctor does but knock yourself out" he gestured at it invitingly like he was giving a presentation "You must have access to the internet so you can visit WebMD and panic for a while if you're feeling bored"

The shy, nervous smile in Leonardo's face widened into something sharper.

"I trust your judgement, Doctor House. I hope you can forgive my curiosity" His eyes became less soft, more calculating as he spoke "I am sure you can understand, after I caught you putting our safety at risk trying to satisfy yours"

Cameron's eyes flew between the two of them as they looked at each other in a bizarre standoff

She was definitely missing something.

A startled laugh escaped House's lips, which turned upward in a half smile

"Look who thinks he has grown a personality?" He purred, delighted "I will take that coffee, then. You're a lot uglier than my last secretary but maybe you'll do a better job" he said, turning to wink at Cameron.

Leonardo seemed taken aback, and he was stunned for a moment.

He certainly wasn't the only one. What was House playing at?

Cameron's eyes narrowed as she watched his boss raise an eyebrow at the kid.

"Surprised? You don't push it or try to tell me how to do my job and I'll let you do these pointless little visits so you can keep an eye on us"

Something passed through Leonardo's face, too fast for Cameron to recognize what it was. Then he nodded and, once again, he adopted a detached, polite expression.

"Of course. I appreciate it, Dr House" He turned towards the rest of them, immediately losing the edge in his posture "Ah, if any of you want anything else please don't hesitate to ask"

With an awkward last glance at the room he cleared his throat and left swiftly. House watched him retreat with a serious, unreadable expression. His eyes were pinned to the kid's back as he closed the door silently.

Chapter Text

"What was that?" Asked Chase in a half whisper once the kid had left the room, wondering what had exactly transpired between the kid and their boss

"The result of introducing outsiders in an extremely close-knit community." Said House, tapping the floor with his cane, gaze still fixed on the exit "They were never going to let us lose without supervision. They are terrified of us. This way we can manage when we are going to be under watch" The spell finally broke and House's eyes were on them again. There was a satisfied expression resting on his face "And if we play nice with Andrea I could make him trust me"

Andrea?

Right, Renaissance artists…

It made sense, Cameron supposed. In their eyes they were putting them at risk just by being there. The turtles had no reason to trust them and if Chase got what he wanted they were right not to do so. Still, there had to be something else. What House had said about gaining his trust…

"And why do you want that?" Asked Foreman suspiciously, taking the words out of her mouth.

A familiar, annoying smugness spread through House's face.

Cameron was definitely not going to like what was coming was she?

"He's in charge somehow, absolutely desperate and doesn't have a clue about how this works" He announced, counting each fact with his fingers "If he trusts me I can get away with anything" He said proudly

The team exchanged a few confused looks and House shook his head in mock disappointment

"You haven't noticed?" He asked "He seems more present as an authority figure than the rat. He's fifteen and has spent his whole life isolated. It will be easy"

"Isn't the Rat their… father?" Said Chase, stumbling over the last word and giving it a distinct, doubtful tone. It was very irritating.

Cameron shook her head. One thing at a time. They could keep arguing about that later. She shifted her ire towards her boss

"You are manipulating a kid to have free reign over his brother"

He was clearly unbothered by her anger, playing with the marker in his hand and starting to draw something on the board.

A very bad sketch of an upright turtle with weapons in its hands, apparently, because House was clearly five years old

"Well, it's not like we are hurting anyone. It's for a good cause right? Maybe it will even teach them about how the world works. Free life lesson. And a great offer since they won't have many opportunities to learn" He affirmed with a smirk "And yes, even if they call him father, sensei or your majesty they turn to the brother when they need something and he's the one managing us"

Judging by his mocking, dismissive tone he really didn't have any respect for the older man. Well, the older rat.

He scrutinised them, considering something and then spoke with a clear, authoritative voice

"If we need anything. Information or permission we are asking him and not the rat"

"Even if that's true you have to talk to the father. Not one of the kids" Said Foreman bitterly.

House's triumphant expression returned.

"Oh, but the best thing about this case is that we don't have to worry about things like professional ethics and parental consent" He said, the smugness practically dripping from his body as he glanced at each of them, passing his cane from one hand to the other "As long as we are smart about it we have free reign and no consequences!"

Cameron grit her teeth. There was a deep feeling of disappointment that she tried to ignore, her anger at him mixing with the embarrassment she felt for forgetting what kind of person Gregory House was.

She always made the same mistake

He noticed, of course, because House was too perceptive

"What's the matter, Allison? Getting attached to the new charity case? This one is a very good choice, I have to admit" He spat at her. Cameron tried to remind herself that the sharp tone of his voice was designed to hurt. He was doing this on purpose. She just had to bear it.

She could feel the weight of her coworker's attention on them. It was humiliating

She gripped the fabric of her trousers, trying to keep her expression neutral

"Even if the patient dies there's three more pitiful green abominations that would murder someone with those fancy weapons of theirs for any kind of positive human attention. They'll be inconsolable if we kill him, in need of love and affection. Maybe you can stay here permanently and convince the pubescent swamp monsters to call you mom"

She finally lost her temper

"You are–"

House playfully brought a finger to his lips in a wordless request for silence, eyes moving towards the door. And Cameron, caught off guard, stopped.

A few seconds later Leonardo came in with two cups in his hands.

She felt House's eyes on her as she hesitated.

She watched the kid walk into the room, visibly happier than last time, as if getting those drinks had been a great accomplishment.

He was fifteen years old.

He wasn't equipped to make life or death decisions. He didn't have the maturity. He shouldn't be worrying about keeping his brother alive. A kid his age wouldn't even be allowed choices like these about his own health for god's sake, never mind his brothers'. And with House's manipulations muddying the waters…

If she told him about House's plans it could jeopardise their cooperation and Donatello's health by extension. She would find out more about their father and if House was right she would act as a patient's proxy on the kid's behalf. No use in worrying his brothers unnecessarily.

She sat back, her back still tense as she forced herself to adopt a more casual posture, to relax her hands and smile to not alarm Leonardo.

She tried her hardest to ignore House's pleased nod.

Leonardo crossed the room and passed one of the drinks to House.

"I forgot to ask how you take it but we have milk and sugar if you want" he said, politely

"Oh no. This is fine, Janine" dismissed House. There was a pause and Leonardo fidgeted in place, probably self conscious about being the centre of attention as House took a sip of the drink, ignoring Foreman's alarmed look. He took his time, dragging things out for a few moments. After he was done he exhaled loudly and snapped impatiently at the kid "Well, are you going to just stand there?"

"It's fine" he said, stepping behind them and sitting on the floor, back straight and on his knees. One of his hands sat primly on his lap while the other held his drink, presumably tea.

"Suit yourself" said House, rolling his eyes.

With that, he turned to his subordinates

"Well, what are you waiting for? Didn't I tell you to read those books?"

They might as well, right?

"If you don't mind me asking. What are your theories at the moment?" asked Leonardo eventually, a few minutes into their research

Not one to waste an opportunity to be the worst, House, fast as lightning, intervened before any of them could open their mouth

"Cancer, terminal" He deadpanned, receiving a few disapproving looks. Cameron moved to reassure the kid but Leonardo didn't seem faced, his face was stoic as he gave House a placid, questioning look and slowly lifted the cup to his lips taking a long, drawn out sip without breaking eye contact.

A faint feeling of amusement passed through Cameron as House tsked, annoyed. Point to the kid

"You've seen the board haven't you?" He asked slowly, pointing at it like he was talking to a three year old

"There are a lot of different possibilities" Tried Foreman "We are trying to narrow them down"

Leonardo still seemed confused

"Is it really that difficult?" He asked, biting his lip

Foreman exchanged a look with Chase, before turning back to the kid

"Yes, especially considering your unique situation" he said patiently

"Ah, I just…" The kid trailed off, visibly frustrated, index finger tapping the cup in his hand in a nervous display "Donnie can usually guess what the problem is very easily"

"Well, your brother is a bit preoccupied puking his guts out at the moment so we're all you have" Said House.

Cameron sighed, tiredly and sent the kid a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry but we are doing everything we can. This isn't something we should rush"

He still didn't look convinced but he nodded, reluctantly.

Leonardo stayed with them for a while, quietly watching them work.

The atmosphere was tense.

The kid wasn't exactly staring at them or scrutinising their work but he was clearly watching them, uneasy about their presence and Chase seemed to feel the same way about him. His shoulders were tense as he kept giving the kid quick, uncomfortable looks that only seemed to add more tension to the situation.

He wasn't doing anything wrong per se though. Which meant that Cameron couldn't intervene without escalating, especially with House there, observing them and not bothering to hide his amusement.

Approximately two hours passed before Leonardo excused himself and left them alone once again.

Once the door closed with a quiet thump, Cameron groaned, letting her head fall back back and putting a hand over her face.

She could see the rest of the team do the same, Chase almost falling over as he sank back into his chair with too much force.

She was absolutely exhausted and ready to sleep for twelve hours straight. In the past day she had only taken a short nap and House seemed determined to make them stay up as long as possible. She knew it made sense. It was like jet lag, the best way to deal with it was to adapt as soon as they could. But every time House passed between them, shouting them awake or banging the cane against their chair the urge to punch him got stronger and stronger.

The letters in the books started swimming and blurring together after a while and she had nodded off over them a few times but just when she was starting to seriously consider murdering her boss, House seemed to finally take pity on them and called it a day.

The final decision had been Chase and her in one bedroom and House and Foreman in the other.

They divided the bedding and brought some of the leftovers from the kitchen as some kind of second lunch or pseudo dinner to their respective rooms, ignoring the underlying tension behind their interactions.

She didn't try to bring up the fact that House was a ruthless bastard playing with a child's trust for fun or that Chase was treating a family of people, whatever else they were, as lab animals because it was convenient for him. They needed a good night's sleep and instead, turning her back towards her roommate, Cameron closed her eyes, determined to get some rest.

Tomorrow would be a long day

Chapter Text

For having spent his night on a plain mattress laying on the ground of an underground sewer Foreman had slept surprisingly well.

The exhaustion was probably a factor but the room had been comfortable and warmer than expected. He suspected it had been one of their actual rooms since their only guest had a bedroom of her own, apparently.

The biggest clue was the floor though

He passed a hand over it, noticing the soft, thick texture of the carpet lining the ground. They wouldn't waste those kinds of resources just for the possibility of a new person ever coming there. They didn't even have them in the kitchen or the halls, the floors there were made of barren concrete.

He turned, back laying on the bed once again, trying to get back to sleep for the fifth time that morning.

He gave up after a minute of looking at the ceiling without so much as a yawn.

With a small sound of protest he finally got up, sending a dirty look at House's back, who seemed to be sleeping without an issue.

He straightened himself up, his back making a small crack as he stretched it and looked down at his clothes –the same ones from yesterday– with a grimace. That could soon become a problem if they stayed there for a significant amount of time which was starting to seem likely.

He would have to ask April for some help in that regard since he didn't think the turtles would remember that humans usually wore clothing. They did walk around naked after all.

After a moment of contemplation he recalled that their father did have some clothes so in a case of emergency they would have that, he supposed.

Underwear was another thing entirely though. He was not borrowing anyone's underwear. Rat or no rat.

Now that he thought about it, that little fact was interesting. How did they manage not to freeze while walking in bare concrete all day? Weren't reptiles more sensitive to cold temperatures? He would have to ask about it.

Chase and Cameron were probably still in their room, trying to stubbornly stay in bed as long as possible. Which made sense, but he had tried that and would go crazy if he had to stay still for another hour with only House's sleeping form for company. Which meant that he would be alone in his exploration. There were too many things to learn here to waste the morning

He left the room, trying to remember where April had told them the bathroom was. He managed to reach it after a bit of searching. It didn't bother him, since he had been trying to kill some time after all and it was an interesting experience. Their home was a lot bigger than it looked and Foreman had bumped into a few locked doors already. No stray rats or turtles on the way, though.

He was pleasantly surprised when finally found it. Like the room, it was neat and cared for. Better than a lot of the bathrooms of some of his former patients, for sure.

He had his doubts about the water but he opened the sink, letting it flow for a minute and it seemed good enough to use. As long as he didn't try to drink it would probably be fine, at least. He refreshed himself a bit and left.

Maybe he would ask April to get him some coffee. He searched the kitchen for any sign of their liaison but stopped when he saw the cheerful one skipping around in the kitchen, which looked like a tornado had been through it. He was wearing a strange headset, probably custom made to fit their heads and even from where he was he could hear the faint sound of music coming from it. There was a huge accumulation of kitchen utensils piling on top of one another. All over the counter laid puddles of flour, milk and eggs, forming a spectacular mess. He was covered in some of the stuff too.

He had introduced himself as Mikey so, by House's logic this should be Michaelangelo. Foreman was about to leave when the kid turned and waved at him

"Oh you're awake already! I'm making breakfast for everyone!!" He smiled at him earnestly and moved his body to show him the bowl of batter he was currently mixing and took off the headset. Foreman could hear the music better now, a high, energetic voice blaring lyrics he couldn't understand "It was supposed to be a surprise. I woke up super early, with Leo" He said, with an affronted hiss. Then he shrugged and went back to the food "but it's fine, I guess because now I can ask you if you like pancakes! How do you take them? Do you have any allergies?" He watched him, expectantly as he thrust the bowl directly in front of his face, making him walk back a step so he wouldn't get his face stuffed with the concoction.

Foreman's lips thinned, his eyes catching on the concrete walls of the sewer tunnel. The running water had been installed by a teenager…

"No, thank you. I think I will wait for April to bring me something" he said, trying to be as polite as possible.

Michaelangelo's face dropped. He looked devastated. And...Were his eyes watering?

As the kid's lip began to tremble gently Foreman felt a headache start to form.

Oh, he definitely didn't sign up for this. Maybe he should have stayed in bed

Chapter Text

"We still don't know if there's a problem with your food or drink. It's too risky" He tried to explain reasonably. Managing, at long last, to steer the conversation away from the long, uncomfortable outburst

"April always eats my food and she's fine" Michaelangelo grumbled, stirring the concoction grumpily, finally starting to settle down "It's alright, I guess… But if you're going to cure Donnie at least I wanted to make you guys food as thanks"

Years of experience helped him manage not to react at the wording and Foreman adopted his best professionally neutral tone of voice.

He was not so optimistic about this case

"We will try to help to the best of our ability. You don't have to worry about that" He said, giving him the appropriate platitude accompanied by the well practised, reassuring body language.

"You're Dr Foreman right?" Asked Michaelangelo, squinting at him

He nodded, thrown off by the abrupt change in subject.

"April told us all about you guys after Leo dragged me off" he said, moving back and forth, looking for something on the counter before realising that his hands were full. Foreman was about to offer some help when, suddenly the kid threw the bowl high in the air, freeing one of his hands and picking up the flour.

Foreman watched with his eyes wide as the recipient fell again, some of its contents became visible as gravity did its job and the lighter, liquid mixture remained in the air even as the bowl started to fall. In a moment of clarity Foreman saw almost in slow motion how this was going to end. The kid would try to catch it again but wouldn't reach it in time and everything would fall to the floor.

With some distant feeling of amusement he noted that now, after watching the kid randomly throw stuff around, everything about the state of this kitchen made absolute sense. But then, in a jaw dropping display of coordination and sheer skill the kid flexed his arm, putting it horizontally to the ground and letting the bowl settle gently over it, balancing the new weight while still occupied trying to measure the new ingredient one handed. Not a single drop had been spilled

Foreman was stunned

The kid simply kept talking, nonplused

"You're supposed to be super smart!" he was saying. His shell was turned towards Foreman who was still looking at the bowl being balanced precariously in one arm as the kid added more flour without looking. He leaned down, opening one of the cabinets and taking something, it still didn't fall "I'm sure you'll figure it out. I mean… there's four of you and only one illness, it doesn't stand a chance!"

If it worked like that his job would certainly be much easier

"Michaelangelo…" he started, unsure of what to say.

What could he even say?

"It's Mikey! That's what everyone calls me except dad. I should also give you a nickname, even if dad told us to be super polite with you guys, Dr Foreman is too formal. What do you think about F-man?"

Foreman blinked. The sheer ridiculousness of that statement finally snapping him out of his trance

"I'd rather you didn't" He said immediately, an edge of desperation tainting his voice

If House found this out he would never let him forget it. He would build a plaque for him that said F-man, change the hospital records. He could not allow that to happen. No way.

Ignorant to his plight Michaelangelo started pouting.

"But it's so good!" He lamented

Tough luck. He wasn't going to be saddled with a stupid nickname. House would be insufferable. Even Chase would…

An idea occurred to him, then and he contemplated the kid for a moment.

"You should really give one to Chase though" he suggested as nonchalantly as possible.

He might as well have some fun with this whole situation, right?

The turtle nodded energetically and started babbling rapidly

"Ohhhh I definitely will. Chasey… sounds too much like Casey. Chase-head or Rob, Robbie maybe? What do you think? He's your friend, right? Which one would he like the most?"

"Robbie, definitely" Foreman said without missing a beat. The kid beamed.

Yes, this would definitely be hilarious. And why stop there?

"What about House?" He asked

The turtle furrowed his brow, considering.

"That's more difficult. I'll need to think about it. You can't rush perfection"

Foreman smiled despite himself

"Tell me when you have some ideas. I'll help you choose the best one. For Cameron too"

The kid winced at this, averting his eyes for a moment

"I feel like I should make up for the scare I gave her. It was so bad" he mumbled.

There was a moment of silence in which only the clatter of kitchen utensils could be heard.

Suddenly, Michaelangelo spoke up, turning to look at him. He was biting his lip.

He opened his mouth and then closed it, hesitating, visibly trying to find his words

"April also said that you guys aren't from New York" he finally said "I wanted to know… How's– how's the place where you live?" He gave a small, nervous laugh "We don't get a lot of opportunities to travel you know?"

Foreman paused, repressing the reflexive urge to correct him. To explain that yes, he was actually from New York himself. Born and raised, hell he had even studied in the city.

The kid was staring at him intensely. Unlike his brother, he was very easy to read. His expression was heartfelt, filled with anticipation.

"You've never been outside the city?" He asked with a frown instead, voice coming out softer than he had expected

He was somehow startled to note that he felt surprised.

It made sense. From what April had told them they had spent their entire lives hiding down in the sewers but… he hadn't realised what that entailed exactly.

Michaelangelo nodded

"We did, once. April has this place, a farm, upstate. We weren't… It wasn't a great time for us" he said with a grimace "but we got to see the stars" He stared into space, his mind locked into a memory. Leaving the sewers to some far away place. An idealised world far from the concrete surrounding them, from the smell that sank into the fabric of their masks "There were so many trees" he whispered in wonderment.

The moment passed and Michaelangelo was back. With a loud gasp he carelessly dropped everything on the counter. Leaving the utensils to crash loudly behind him as he jumped closer to him

"You must have been to so many places!" He exclaimed, practically vibrating with emotion.

Foreman didn't consider himself to be someone particularly well travelled. He had been too busy during his uni years and that hadn't changed when he had graduated either. There were always more important things to do.

Studying, research and working took the brunt of his attention over leisure but, he supposed, that for someone who was excited to see a person come from the so far away land of New Jersey, who bragged about having been able to see the stars on one occasion he was.

"I guess I have" he said

The already awed look the turtle was giving him became somehow even more pronounced, his dark, brown, swirling eyes shone with all consuming excitement

"Can you tell me about it?"

Chapter Text

Raph got up already in a bad mood. Sharing his room with two of his brothers had been the worst. No wonder they decided to sleep separately, he had already been tempted to commit fratricide after only one night of Mikey muttering about pizza in his sleep. And Leo wouldn't fucking stay put!

HE JUST WANTED TO SLEEP DAMNIT

After an entire night of that the first thing he had seen when he decided to get out of bed was the mess Mikey had left after leaving to who knows where. And that was another point, Mikey didn't wake up early for fun. He was probably up to something. Raph didn't have the patience for that today.

God, he itched for an opportunity to wreck some stupid Kraang bots with Casey. He wasn't usually this picky with fights. He could take what he had, the foot, random thugs… but to be honest, humans were kinda flimsy and he was currently fighting the urge to bash someone's head in. Better if it's a robot. Less lectures that way.

But of course he couldn't. The situation was too "delicate" for that

As he paced inside the room, noticing in more and more detail what exactly his slob of a little brother had done, Raph heard himself muttering angrily. Was it really that hard to make the bed after waking up? His room was already becoming a mess and it had only been one day of this.

There were a few comic books scattered over Mikey's temporary bed, hidden under the rumple of scattered bedding and armbands. Unwashed armbands.

Raph grit his teeth

He went to pick them up and his fingers found some hard, grainy texture scattered over the sheets. Were those breadcrumbs??
Now absolutely fuming he straightened the sheets and moved Mikey's stuff farther away from his own bed, closer to Leo's.

After some additional cleaning, when he finally decided that things were at least halfway decent once again, he left for the bathroom, passing the dojo on the way. He could hear the repetitive, tell tale swishes of a sword which meant that Leo was in there already.

They got into Donnie's case about it the most, but honestly, Leo was a total nerd too, just with anything that had to do with martial arts instead of maths or science or whatever

The bathroom was occupied. The water was running

He was going to kill Mikey

He banged on the door, forcing himself to calm down and keep his voice even

"Mikey let me in"

There was no response, just the sound of running water, probably the shower. And why was he showering now? Training wasn't until later. Did he want to stink up the whole lair? Hadn't his room been enough!? They already had to deal with the ever present sewer smell every time they stepped out of their home and into the tunnels. They didn't need it here too

One thing was definitely true, though. He was ignoring him on purpose

Raph's banging became more violent

"I swear to god, open the door now!"

Mikey's response didn't come, just the same heavy silence and the shower

Now getting more and more frustrated he slammed his palm against the door and started shouting

"MIKEY WHAT THE HELL, OPEN THE DOOR OR I'M GOING TO FUCKING KICK IT DOWN I'M NOT KIDDING, I–"

The handle started to turn and Raph put his arms on his hips, preparing for the well deserved dress down

"Finally, what were you even–"

The bathroom opened but, instead of Mikey, a woman dressed in April's clothes and a towel wrapped around her hair was inside. One of the doctors

She was looking at him with a confused frown

"Is there a problem? I asked April if it was alright to take a shower here but I didn't talk to your father or anything"

Raph felt his face heat up, feeling absolutely embarrassed

"Yer- You're not Mikey" he blurted out. He.. he had thought it had been him. This was the worst case scenario, fuck "I, I mean" He forced his back to go straight and tried his best scowl but the panic turned it into an awkward grimace "The rest of us want to use the bathroom too" he tried, halfheartedly.

She looked at him, still confused. He felt like a kid being reprimanded. And if dad found out that he had been screaming and swearing at the guests he would spend half an hour in hashi.

Fucking scientists.

This was all Mikey's fault. No, scratch that. This was all Leo's fault

She opened her mouth again

Abort, abort

Without another word Raph did a U turn and marched out of there with as much dignity as he could muster

His heart was still racing from the mortification as he left.

He walked around for a few seconds without a clear destination in his mind. Completely fixated with just wanting to get out of there, maybe hide inside his room and never come out again.

Now he couldn't even go to the bathroom in his own home without bumping into one of those stupid scientists? As he mulled over that thought his steps became surer and his fists tightened

Yes, this was Leo's fault for bringing them. How could he have known it hadn't been Mikey in there? If anyone deserved a reprimand it was Leo for not warning them where the guests were

He tried to convince himself that the burning sensation he could feel in his face was all anger as he decided to go straight for the dojo and show Leo a piece of his mind when, suddenly, he heard Mikey laughing, accompanied by a foreign voice.

He changed courses.

Entering the kitchen he was enthusiastically greeted by his little brother, sporting a thousand watt smile. By his side waited one of the doctors

"Hey Raph! Did you know that he's been to the Appalachians!?" He gushed "It's so cool!!"

He ignored his brother in favour of the scientist sitting by his side, completely at ease in their home as he watched Raph enter the room with a curious look.

He was about to snap at him when he remembered the talk with his father. He suppressed the instinctual hiss building in his chest and instead walked towards his brother

"What are you doing?" He snarled. Rage bubbling up to the surface and face still warm

"Pancakes?" Mikey asked, puzzled. He shoved a plate in his hands. Sure enough, it was filled to the brim with a mountain of freshly made pancakes.

Raph took it, still scowling as he picked up a fork.

"They won't even eat them, Mikey" he muttered, jabbing at them angrily "Seeing us makes them lose their appetite"

Mikey rolled his eyes, unimpressed

"Wow, someone's grumpy this morning"

"Yeah? And whose fault is that?" He snapped.

Mikey tilted his head, questioningly

"Yours?" He asked, squinting at him.

Was he fucking with him!?

"No! It's you and Leo" He shouted "First my room is filthy because you have been eating who knows what. You didn't even try to make the bed! There're dirty armbands all over it!! And, and then Leo! And now you're talking to one of them!"

He pointed at the man, who was still watching them. Now visibly amused.

The urge to wipe the small smirk off his face was getting stronger and stronger.

Mikey didn't care about Raph's misgivings, of course, and instead moved to wrap an arm around the man's shoulders, who moved aside to doge him with wide, startled eyes. Unfaced, his brother simply used the movement to pat him on the shoulder

The man squinted at his brother.

Raph hesitated between shouting at Mikey for trying to hug the man or shouting at the man for being so rude towards his brother.

In any case, Raph was pissed

"Well, maybe you don't like them but F-man and I are pretty tight, Raph" Continued Mikey, ignoring both the man in question's annoyed comment of 'Hey we talked about that' and Raph's affronted spluttering

He continued, crossing his arms and adopted a very annoying, smugly superior tone of voice

"Just because you don't want to make friends doesn't mean that the rest of us can't" He said. Then he stuck out his tongue for good measure.

Was he five!? That was not the problem. Fuck. How big of an idiot was he!?

"Just let April deal with them" He stressed. Then he turned towards the man, dad's lecture be damned. He was lucky Raph wasn't resorting to a physical confrontation anyway "And you. If I see you doing anything funny you'll regret it. This is our turf. Don't you forget it. I'll–"

But, like everything Raph tried to accomplish that morning, his attempt at dealing with the intruders had to be ruined. He was interrupted by April's voice coming from behind him.

"Hi guys!"

He turned immediately. She didn't look very happy, the smile on her face was sorta frozen, like the one she uses when interrogating someone she doesn't like to get information they needed. Raph was too caught up on the figure accompanying her to dwell too much on that.

Another one

"I see you're already getting acquainted" She said "Dr Chase and I were just talking about–"

"We're not!" Raph exclaimed, outraged.

Completely unimpressed by his outburst, April raised an eyebrow at him. A hint of true amusement slipped through the facade as, behind her, another person entered the kitchen.

"Why are we shouting?" Said the very familiar voice of his older brother, looking slightly out of it. He was frowning

Distantly, Raph wondered what was up with that. Did he not sleep well? He had heard him moving around a lot. But just as fast as the thought had come, it was swept away by the rising tide of his fury at seeing two more people walk in.

"Leo" Raph growled with extreme prejudice, eyes narrowing as he glared at the person responsible for his current predicament.

Noticing his expression, Leo's nose scrunched in displeasure

"What is it this time?" He asked with a resigned sigh

Raph felt like he would explode at any moment. The room was so crowded, so uncomfortable

One of the people flanking his brother was the lady doctor. Who looked a bit flabbergasted still and was staring at Raph with a confused frown. Which was absolutely great, wasn't it? Raph had the worst luck ever

The other…

"Ohhhhh pancakes!" Shouted the older doctor as he crossed the kitchen in a few steps, going directly for Raph's plate and taking it out of his hands. He stuffed a single pancake into his mouth.

With his hands.

With a muffled scream, Raph finally reached his boiling point and, barely managing not to throttle anyone in his vicinity, he took one look at his kitchen which was now full of traitors and outsiders before stomping his way out, muttering a storm

Chapter Text

Leo watched his brother leave with a confused frown.

Wonder what his problem was today.

"Right…" he said after a moment of contemplation. The guests sent a few questioning looks at his brother's retreating back, clearly confused

He wished this was actually a strange thing to see in their home. But alas…

Raph had probably left to take out his anger at the dojo and the four unknowns were finally all accounted for, dispersed around their kitchen where he could keep an eye on all of them while Raph wasn't present so, at least for now, he let it be.

Time to put things on track.

His eyes raked over the room once as he casually stood guarding the only exit.

Dr Foreman sat by his brother's side. They seemed already familiar with each other which was something they had come to expect from Mikey. It seemed that even in these difficult circumstances some things never changed.
Mikey himself looked far more relaxed than yesterday but his foot kept tapping the ground every few seconds which could be out of excitement or because he felt understandably nervous about the newcomers. Really, it was a wonder that he was the one pushing for all of them to get along. He really was amazing, wasn't he?

That aside, he didn't seem to be in any danger. Which was obvious, of course. Mikey knew how to take out a civilian if he needed to, and they were clearly civilians, keeping their guard down around them at all times and glancing at the swords at his back even as his fist closed around the hilt of a knife.

Yesterday had been eye opening in many ways.

A small, soft voice in his head sounding suspiciously like Mikey kept telling him that maybe he was being a bit excessive. So he reminded himself that these were scientists, famous ones at that, walking freely in his family home and with access to Donnie, who couldn't reliably defend himself at the moment.

There was a fait, prickling feeling crawling up his back. Like ants making their way from his spine to his limbs spread through him. His mind screamed at him in discomfort.

He was the one that had decided to bring them here, because he couldn't do what needed to be done. If anything happened it would be on him.

At least he didn't feel like he was exaggerating anymore. His attention sharpened, focused on their "guests"

Dr Foreman himself seemed at ease too, his posture naturally relaxed as he leaned over a table, elbows resting on the surface, balancing his whole weight on them in a way that a slight push towards the side would make him fall face first on it.

Dr Cameron and Chase were closer to him. Cameron stood to his right, still following his lead after he had found her wandering around their hallway and completely in reach of his swords. Chase was accompanying April, most of his attention turned to her.

House seemed content with watching them while he sat at the table eating. Trying to look like he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.

Leo would give him an A for effort

"Okay, April can you get some food for the guests?" He asked firmly.

Her expression softened and the faint tightening of her lips disappeared, making her relief apparent as she took that opportunity to leave graciously.

He could understand the annoyance. The man was very bad at hiding the distaste and clinically detached curiosity he felt towards his family. He had latched on to April as the only human living there. He could understand why she felt uncomfortable.

They would have to watch him closely after this was resolved. He seemed like the most dangerous loose end.

At least he had managed to keep their home location a secret though. That was a relief

"Of course. I think Starbucks should still be open. I'll see what I can find" She said, immediately moving away from Dr Chase and walking towards Mikey, picking up a couple of pancakes with a napkin and cheerfully complimented the dish with a pat to his brother's head. Mikey beamed at the attention

She asked the doctors what their orders would be between bites and in a minute she was already leaving, passing by his side on her way out. He nodded in thanks, hoping that he was conveying how grateful he was for her help.

He knew that the situation wasn't sustainable and April had insisted on staying there as long as she was needed but she did have a job and a life topside and she was putting everything on hold for them, spending her own money to feed their guests.

Luckily they had decided to adapt to their schedule and she wouldn't have to be responsible for keeping an eye on them while Leo's family slept, even if she had insisted that it would have been fine he wasn't comfortable with that. It would be too much to ask for.

Then April smiled mischievously at him and lifted her arm in a clear attempt to give him a patronising pat on the head. He dodged the upcoming hand, his jaw hanging open in outrage and a small, distressed noise accidentally escaping his throat.

He wasn't Mikey!

April laughed at his expression and waved them all goodbye

He reminded himself that this was actually good over his blooming embarrassment. He had been trying to appear as harmless as possible while collecting information on Donnie's illness and their guests. This could only help with that, really. He was actually lucky it had happened.

Ignoring the amused looks being sent his way, especially the endeared one the doctor lady was sporting at the moment he turned to look at House, the only human who hadn't asked April for anything

"Dr House, don't you want any breakfast?" He asked after clearing his throat after the frankly embarrassing squeak.

"I'll be fine with this, thanks" The man dismissed with an amused smirk, enthusiastically digging into a plate of pancakes.

Well, at least someone was having fun

"I see. That's good" he said, neutrally "Mikey will probably appreciate it"

"Yeah!!" Mikey shouted, pumping his fist in the air "Another win for the Hamato family's greatest chef"

Leo resisted the urge to facepalm. It hadn't even been one full day and Mikey was already revealing sensitive information.

Judging by the way House's eyes narrowed as he stared at his brother the small leak hadn't gone unnoticed. This was exactly why they couldn't let their guard down. The man was like a dog with a bone. It was better not to say anything to Mikey and call attention to the slip though.

Still, he really wanted to sigh in exasperation.

But, what was done was done. He would just have to make sure they didn't make any more mistakes and, with some luck everything would be alright…

(...)

This was going to.blow up spectacularly in his face wasn't it?

Chapter Text

Leo took a few steps towards his brother, not taking his focus off any of the humans he passed on his way towards him. His hands rested on his sides, ready to go for his swords at the slightest sign of danger as he walked.

His brother seemed to be covered head to toe in cooking ingredients so, while they exchanged their morning greetings under the watchful eyes of their guests he picked up a washcloth and dampened it in the sink before throwing it at him. Mikey took it with a sheepish smile

"What will your brother be getting?" Asked House, mouth filled with food. A few droplets slipped past his lips, falling on the table. Leo's eyes were caught by the display and he couldn't help the wave of annoyance passing through him.

He didn't show any of it though. The man was clearly trying to get a reaction out of him. He had been caught off guard at first but he was not going to let it happen again. He had three little brothers and a lot of practice with people trying to find a weak spot to dig into. A few barbed comments and an absolute lack of manners weren't going to be that big of a challenge compared to the harassment and general unpleasantness of the various street gangs trying to get a rise out of him daily, nevermind that one of his brothers was Mikey and the other Raph.

"Just some plain toast and yoghourt. Nothing fancy" answered Mikey with a shrug, using the washcloth to clean himself up.

Leo smiled softly at him before picking up a plate to serve himself breakfast

"Ah, do you know where your father is? I wanted to speak with him" asked Dr Cameron as he started to eat. Her tone was soft and careful. A bit patronising. She… Leo suspected that he might have overdone the act with her. She was treating him like a child

"You can tell me whatever it is" he said casually, taking a small piece of the pancake to his mouth. He really wasn't hungry. An unpleasant, nervous feeling weighed on his stomach and the food looked unappetizing at best but he took a second to force a pleased smile and nod at Mikey, who had been eagerly awaiting his reaction.

His brother, now satisfied, clapped once and started to busy himself with the dishes while Leo chewed mechanically. The texture felt like his mouth was filled with mud.

The woman frowned

"Of course," she said doubtfully. "I just wanted to ask him about your brother's history. Something he might have noticed or…"

"I already told Dr House everything. And you have the… documents. Donnie gave them to you didn't he?" He asked, looking at her colleagues for confirmation.

Both Chase and Foreman gave him an affirmative nod while House ignored him with a roll of his eyes.

Cameron bit her lip

"It's better if I have everyone's opinion. Just in case" she said, averting her eyes for a moment

She was hiding something. Something House found very amusing too. He could see his half formed smile from the corner of his eye.

"He's busy. I'll ask him for you if you want but I don't know how much help that will be" he said between bites

"With what?"

Leo looked questioningly at House, who had paused his breakfast to raise an eyebrow at Leo

"You said your father's busy and I am curious about the many sewer activities at our disposal" said the man, casually

"Nothing you need to bother yourself with "

House smirked. Oh, so this would be another attempt at provoking him. Good to know

"It could be medically–"

Considering that the activity in question was a mixture between keeping an eye on Donnie and trying to lose himself in the astral plane it wasn't likely. Besides, he was probably just trying to get any possible piece of information out of him.

Distantly though, Leo felt somewhat amused by the attempt

"I sincerely doubt that, Dr House" he interrupted, not showing any emotion besides detached politeness

Mikey, suddenly alarmed by House's excuse, lifted his head, wide eyed

"It could be!?" He shouted loudly, looking at Leo in question, Mikey's volume making him flinch slightly "Do I need to like… tell you my hobbies too?" He asked Foreman, visibly panicked "I like video games a-and dancing… I love animals but dad doesn't let us have any pets. I go outside to skate sometimes when there's no F–" he trailed off, sending a guilty look at Leo's raised eyebrow and crossed arms "oh, sorry Leo. Oops" he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"When there's no what?" Asked House, attention on his brother like a hawk as he perked up "Floods? Friendly neighbourhood feds? Frenchmen?"

"I can't tell you dude, boss's orders, sorry" he said, nodding his head at Leo's direction

"You are in close contact with Donatello. It could be important" Tried Foreman, sending Leo a quick look but focusing his attention on Mikey. Thinking he'd be more receptive now that they had a rapport, probably.

"It's no use, man. You'll have to convince him" Mikey said firmly, shaking his head.

He could anticipate their next move, trying to press Mikey for an answer thinking he would be an easy target.

He smiled slightly at the thought. Good luck with that

"I can't tell you many things about our lives, I'm afraid" He cut in. Oh, while he was at it he could check something. This was a very good opportunity. He faced Cameron, sending her an apologetic look "We are still not sure if you will actually respect our privacy after this is done"

Cameron flinched minutely and, from the corner of his eye he saw Chase shrink into himself a bit, trying to look inconspicuous. Definitely thinking about selling them out, then.

"I am sure that your brother will be happy that he died as a necessary sacrifice to make you all look mysterious" Said House, pinning Leo with a cold, condescending look

Leo forced himself to swallow the icy dread that the words brought him, to detach himself from the way the man casually talked about the sword of Damocles that had been hanging over Leo's head for well over a month. The cold inevitability of what would happen if this didn't work threatening to swallow him.

He took a deep breath and met the man's gaze firmly.

He wouldn't show any weakness. He couldn't afford it

"And I am sure that we all will be very happy that we decided to answer every irrelevant question you asked when we end up as the military's new science experiment" he said simply. Still as a statue

House's eyes didn't leave his for a few seconds. Then he shrugged

"Sounds like a fun family outing"

The ate the rest of their breakfast in silence

Chapter Text

Chase busied himself with getting familiarised with the layout of the "medbay" as House left them to who knows where after interrogating their patient, shutting the door with a slam.

He opened and closed drawers and cabinets, locating important drugs and medical instruments they would need to use in case of emergency and moving them to the places it felt most natural to him.

The rat hadn't made an appearance since yesterday. And after giving them their breakfast April had left. Which meant that, ignoring the periodic hovering, attempts at socialisation and glaring, they were left mostly alone with their patient.

The turtle looked at them with attentive, tired eyes as the three doctors roamed around him, Cameron checking the books and Foreman gently taking a needle to the creature's arm.

"What are you testing for?" Donatello asked, looking curiously over Foreman's arm as he slowly extracted the blood from him

"We need to do a hormone test to see–"

"You think it might be hyperparathyroidism?" Interrupted the kid, blinking slowly "I guess that the symptoms would fit and even if it's not hypercalcemia the levels are a bit high" he muttered under his breath

Chase, who had been moving three bottles of atropine closer to the patient's bed stopped short for a second, his eyes widening in surprise

Well, the turtle had to have some medical knowledge. Even if they weren't sure how accurate the book was it did make sense, it was consistent. It definitely didn't seem like something a kid would make up.

Shaking his head, Chase opened a drawer, only to find a few small, closed metal containers wrapped in plastic. He opened one of them, feeling curious. Inspecting the contents carefully he could see a few Metzenbaum scissors wrapped in green cloth. Probably supposedly sterile material then.

"We'll need to check if you have any kidney stones" was saying Cameron as he separated the box he had touched, putting it away.

"Ah, yes. Dr House already told me about it" answered the turtle. After a moment of contemplation he spoke again, a lot quieter this time "The benefit of working here is that we don't really need to worry about how much the tests cost, you know? Everything is at your disposal"

Well, it wasn't a perk of this job, to be honest. That was actually how working for House was normally.
It wouldn't be the first time House decided they should do an MRI before trying a cheaper alternative first without any trouble afterwards, except maybe a stern talk if Cuddy was in the mood.

"Really?" Asked Foreman politely, attention firmly in the small, dark bottle of blood in his hands as he scribbled something on a tiny label sticking to its side "I'd guess that maintaining this would be pretty expensive"

"Normally yes but there's no maintenance or operating cost and the electricity comes from the generator I built for us. We can use it all we want. It's free"

At the baffled looks Donatello elaborated, a clearly proud smile adorning his face

"We used to be hooked to the electrical grid but it's less noticeable like this. Our water supply is limited though but it's sufficient. We haven't spent all of it since April started buying me water to use in the lab"

Chase, forgetting about the gauzes in his hands, tried not to gape at Donatello. How was that even possible?

"You built your own generator?" Asked Foreman, now with genuine interest. He set the sample down on a table and looked fully at the turtle, who seemed embarrassed now, hands twisting on the bed sheets as he spoke

"And installed every lightswitch and socket in this house" he said, bashfully "Dad was a bit worried about me getting electrocuted at first and I did come close a few times but it's pretty nice to have electricity. Most of the stuff in the lab I built too"

"That's–" started Chase.

He had heard April say that Donatello was smart but this was something else.

"If you're curious I could show you the plans but I don't know how much you know about electric engineering" he continued.

Cameron's jaw was hanging open

"How much do you know?"

Donatello simply shrugged, like it was not a big deal.

Was this actually normal for him? Building something like that at fifteen years old? Without receiving a formal education?

Could that mean that…

"Is your species superhumanly intelligent?" Chase mumbled, unable to hide the awe in his voice

Donatello looked at him, momentarily stunned.

Then he started laughing

"I don't think so" he said once he finally calmed down enough, a wide smile still adorning his face as he visibly restrained a new fit of laughter "Thank you for the compliment but I've seen my brothers do some… questionable stuff"

"You are trying to say that you've made all of these?" Asked Cameron, gesturing at the equipment around them

Donatello shook his head

"No, I didn't build these. It's mostly the ones in the lab and April helped me program them"

April? The same woman that brought them here?

Chase couldn't hide the bafflement in his expression and he could see from the corner of his eyes Foreman blinking slowly in surprise.

Donatello clearly noticed, since he raised an eyebrow at them, looking a bit miffed

"She has a degree in programming" he explained "She used to fix computers for a living while she was studying journalism"

"Why do you look so surprised?" Asked Cameron, glaring at him.

Chase lifted his hands up in surrender.

"She's just very young"

Cameron didn't look convinced, still fuming as she closed the book, turning to take something from one of the cabinets

The turtle fidgeted nervously in his bed, visibly uncomfortable with the tension hanging in the air and cleared his throat quietly.

"B-but yeah, I've always liked building things. It's fun"

Distracted from her anger, Cameron frowned, looking between him and Foreman

He nodded at her. He had thought the same thing. Lead, cadmium, arsenic… and so many more toxins that he could have been exposed to while doing that kind of work unsupervised in a sewer. And since he probably took his raw materials from the trash there was no way of knowing what the conditions it had been in. Old batteries, broken sharp objects.

House was right.

"So you do metalworking?" Cameron asked, lips thinned "That could be dangerous"

"I guess?" Donatello said, squinting at her "but I always take the appropriate security measures. That's something I take very seriously"

"You could still make a mistake" Said Foreman, neutrally

Donatello looked down, biting his lip

"You think it might be poisoning. With what? You mentioned the metal working so… Heavy metals?" He asked them. They didn't answer but he must have seen the affirmative in their expressions since he nodded "You can take a look around my lab if you want" he proposed, tilting his head "Just supervised and nowhere near my experiments. It could help you familiarise yourselves with what you have here"

He frowned, like something had just occurred to him

"I did not use lead pipes in our house" he said, crossing his arms "I'm not an idiot"

They exchanged a quick look

"Of course" said Foreman in an attempt to pacify the turtle.

It didn't seem to have much effect, though

Chapter Text

Chase breathed deeply

"Another theory is that it could be a parasite" He said, walking closer to the edge of the bed "Echinococcus is a species that can sometimes create a cyst in the lungs that–"

"Oh" said Donatello unhappily

Chase stopped, surprised by the interruption

"Is something the matter?" He asked

"No, it's just that…" said Donatello, shaking his head and looking away from them "you haven't narrowed things much have you? I know that the case is difficult but…." He trailed off, frustrated. Then he shook his head and took a loud, shaky breath "It's fine. I hope that the books helped at least"

It clearly wasn't fine but, for once. They were treading familiar territory. House's department took care of the most difficult cases. Things that were sometimes coincidental to an absurd degree, which meant that they usually went through a few wrong diagnoses before finding the right answer. It was always stressful for the patient and it seemed that giant anthropomorphic turtles weren't the exception.

That, however, did mean that they knew how to deal with it.

Cameron put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"They were very good, thank you" she said kindly "They're impressive. And to write them so young…"

Donatello waved it off with a shrug

"They are a very recent thing to be honest but I'd be happy to discuss them with you, I don't have a lot of opportunities to talk to a fellow scientist" he said with a small, tenuous smile "and, well, I've been reading a bit about you all. I hope you don't mind!" His red eyes locked on Foreman as he became more and more excited, his previous uneasiness tossed aside for a moment "Dr Foreman, your paper! It was called… Cerebralmagneticresonanceangiographyenhancedbyrapidauto-transfusionduringhypothermiccirculatoryarrest, right? It was fascinating" he said, words blurring together as talked too fast in his excitement

And oh, no. Wasn't that the dreaded stolen paper? Chase carefully didn't look at Cameron while Foreman, clearly impressed and flattered, blinked at the kid.

"Well, thank you" he said

"There are a few interesting divergences in our nervous systems and yours, you know? There's a huge difference between the levels of CCK8 in the telencephalic cortex"

"I read it in your book" Said Foreman with a nod "It's almost a shame having to part with it"

"Maybe you won't have to…" he said, quietly, looking down on his bed.

After a moment of silence Donatello opened his mouth, lifting his head to say something but stopping short when he saw Foreman looking at him doubtfully, holding his stethoscope with a confused frown adorning his face.

"I don't think that's the best…" the turtle said instead of whatever he had been thinking about "Maybe if you want to auscultate the trachea?" He asked with an uncomfortable grimace "I-I mean, you can if you want to! But it's generally considered too difficult in normal turtles and our shells are very thick? And you're not really experienced with…" he trailed off, gesturing at himself awkwardly

Chase snorted and Foreman gave him an angry, frustrated look as he put the instrument back, wrapping it around his neck.

As Chase's amusement dissipated a feeling of uneasiness started to bloom in his chest. This wouldn't be the last time their habits worked against them. Would it? That shell was definitely going to be a problem in the future. He couldn't imagine how much of a nightmare it would be if they decided to operate.

Even a simple biopsy would be a problem

"We were thinking about the possibility of doing an MRI scan of the brain, maybe the liver too" Foreman said, recovering his composure "Dr House said that you had the equipment here?"

"I can show you where it is" said Donatello, moving the sheets away and dangling his legs on the edge. He slowly slipped away from the bed, gesturing at them to follow.

On their way to the machine they had to cross their host's strange attempt at a living room so, of course, they found themselves being scrutinised by the rest of the turtles. One of them was in the centre of the room, behind the sofa, laying on a makeshift weight bench. From where he was Chase could see that he was lifting an impressive number of mismatched weights seemingly without issue. With wide eyes, the doctor watched as the kid glared at them while he slowly moved the slightly bent barbell up and down.

It was somewhat impressive and definitely intimidating.

The blue turtle appeared to be occupied too, his eyes fixed on a small laptop resting on his lap as he sat cross legged on the sofa. The moment they got a few steps inside the room his eyes immediately jumped to them.

The third one, however, paid them no mind, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth and face twisted in a frown of concentration. His attention was fully on the screen in front of him and his three fingered hands flew over the controls with the rhythmic tic-tac of the buttons. At his side was House, equally absorbed by the tv screen and holding his own controller.

Because of course he would

"Where are you going?" Asked Leonardo, as he peered at them curiously.

House didn't even seem to notice them, shouting a few curses as the game's music got louder and more intense

"It's nothing, guys. Don't worry" Dismissed Donatello.

His brother didn't seem convinced however and started to frown, closing the laptop and moving in his seat slightly, to get a better look at them

Cameron smiled at him, trying to reassure the brothers

"He was just going to show us where the MRI machine is" she said.

With this Leonardo, looking thoughtful, fully put the laptop aside and started getting up.

"I can come" he said, striding towards them slightly faster than necessary.

Some dig about turtles and speed came to Chase's mind and wow, he had been spending too much time with House hadn't he?

"Alright" said Donatello, hesitant "I don't think it's necessary…"

"It's no problem" he insisted, reaching their side and acknowledging the doctors with a slight tilt of his head

Behind the turtle's back he could see House's eyes harden. He stood up too. Caresly dropping the controller on the sofa and ignoring Michaelangelo's squak of protest

"So uhhhhh. Did you see Leo's…?"

"Yup"

"Dibs! Dibs! I called dibs so not me"

"That's not how it works"

"But–"

"Don't worry though. I will take care of this one"

"Dude you're doing the scary smile thing again"

"..."

"Oh shell, my combo–"

Chapter Text

"If you really want to go in you'll have to take off all metal objects you have on you" explained Donatello to his brother when they arrived at a heavy door further into the tunnels.

He didn't look very happy about the present situation but his brother didn't seem to notice or maybe care as he placidly nodded

"The MRI machine is basically a big magnet which could make things very dangerous if someone where to enter the room with something metallic" Donatello continued, pointedly looking at his brother, who lifted his hands in surrender

"Of course, don't worry" he was saying as he unbuckled the swords from his back and took a couple of knives off his belt.

That done, he reached towards the door before his hand was grabbed by Donatello

"I mean it, Leo. We don't want a shuriken flying through the room because you decided to keep it just in case"

With a sigh, Leonardo started ruffling through the wrappings around his hands and legs.

Chase watched, eyes going wider and wider as, seemingly appearing from thin air, a small arsenal of differently shaped and sized knives, throwing stars, darts, thick, long metal needles, a couple of handfuls of some sort of wire and at least three sets of lockpicks reaching higher than his ankles started to pile up on the ground.

Where on earth was he keeping them all?

"All of them" insisted Donatello. Ignoring the absolutely flabbergasted looks of the doctors in favour of squinting at his brother suspiciously

Leonardo rolled his eyes, muttering unhappy as he discarded his whole belt, which was completely made of leather and seemed to be absolutely empty but made a jiggling, metallic sound as it fell and his hands went for the mask. He took another two needles and a thin, metal wire from it, seemingly having been threaded into the fabric. With that he extended his arms, exasperated.

"Th–" started Donatello

"They're ceramic not metal" protested the other, grumpily.

Ceramic what? Where!? There was no way to carry anything else!

Chase tried to meet the eyes of his colleagues but everyone's attention was fixed on the small armoury littering the ground. Their looks ranged from surprised and scared to House's giddy excitement.

Giving Leonardo a satisfied look after a moment of silent scrutiny, Donatello took his turn. The pile was smaller but significantly more varied, with things like screwdrivers, tweezers and compasses.

There were quite a few knives too though.

"Neat trick" said House, smiling widely

Chase's attention was caught on something else, however.

Donatello had settled down the keys with the rest of his things before pushing open the door.

Perfect

Both turtle's backs were turned as they walked into the room so, without a second thought, he moved, reaching out to get them only to be interrupted by House's body slamming into his, making him stumble.

He was about to protest when he saw the look in his eyes. It was serious, harsh… Not up to discussion, then.

Deciding not to argue Chase followed them inside, not saying a word.

"Shuriken and kunai? You didn't tell me you were ninja" said House, aiming to look thoughtful but not bothering to hide the amused contempt in his voice "Makes sense though. You seem to have mastered the art of disguise" he said, pointing at the mask in Donatello's face

"Mikey did tell you, actually" said Leonardo casually. He turned to his brother, unmoved by the taunting "So, what is exactly an MRI? and what do you use it for?"

"It's an imaging technique. You use a magnetic field that makes the protons in your body align with it and when a radio frequency current…" He explained, looking at his brother, who seemed to be playing rapt attention but, judging by the way Donatello trailed off with a small grimace their patient didn't think he was getting it

"It's used to obtain images of the inside of the body. It's specially useful for soft parts. Like the brain or other organs" He said instead

Leonardo's eyes widened

"You think it might be a brain tumour?"

That was an interesting leap to make.

Not completely wrong either, unfortunately. Neoplasia could always be a possible differential

"It is possible" Admitted Donatello with a small wince "B-but not the main theory" he said quickly, frantically trying to reassure his brother "Don't worry. They probably just want to discard it. And we're not even doing that first. I was just showing them. We need a chest radiography before –"

At that, House perked up

"No, we're doing the MRI" He interrupted, with that look he had when he was up to something

"We are?" Asked Donatello with a frown, peering at them, confused "I thought you were just asking if I had one and to see if it worked. What about the chest x-ray first? With my symptoms it's the most logical place to start"

Leonardo turned to give them a demanding look

"Why aren't you doing the x-ray. Donnie says you should do it" He said imperiously, crossing his arms

"Excuse me. Who's the doctor here? I've been doing this long before you busted from someone's chest, hatched from a magical egg or crawled from a vat of toxic waste. Whatever your origin story is supposed to be"

At this one of the turtles –Donatello– hummed, visibly amused, while the other shifted slightly on his feet.

House continued, eyeing their reactions critically. Analysing something only he could see in the way they had reacted to the jab

"You may have read about every hospital protocol under the sun but that doesn't teach you how to deal with the outliers which is what I specify in and I want an MRI before the radiography. The radiography is not going to tell us anything important, anyway"

The way House seemed so adamant about this was slightly strange. It could actually help them a lot but…

The realisation hit him

It took a lot less time than a MRI scan didn't it?

Donatello shrugged at his brother, who sighed

"Alright, I suppose–" started Leonardo, reluctantly

"For fuck's sake!" Exclaimed House, shaking his head "I suppose…" he whined, imitating the kid's higher pitched voice "You're insufferable"

Look who was talking…

"Cameron. Take care of Kermit's scan" said House, gesturing dismissively at the turtle standing in front of him with a raised eyebrow "Show me the results when it's done"

With that he turned his back to them, going for the door. He met Chase's eyes for a second. The message was clear as day.

This was their best chance.

With one last glance at Cameron, who unhappily waved at him to follow House him and Foreman left the room

Once the door was closed behind them Foreman leaned down to take the keys but House grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. He stared at the door for a few seconds, while he gestured at them to keep silent.

After a beat he seemed to decide that the coast was clear so he urged Foreman to go on, still not saying a word

With some trepidation brought in by the fact that their very paranoid hosts seemed to like carrying a huge array of very sharp weaponry they carefully passed the equivalent of their living room. Trying not to alarm the only turtle present, who was shouting triumphantly as something exploded on the tv screen.

They finally reached the lab and let themselves in. Without a second to lose they went for the lab door, turning the keys. Tension filled the room as they–

"And what are you doing here? You lost?"

With a start. Chase whirled around in alarm, only to find the red turtle, Raphael? leaning casually against the wall, spinning one of those three pronged daggers with a taunting sneer in his face.

Chase's stomach dropped as the turtle's smile widened.

Well, this wasn't part of the plan

Chapter Text

"I don't see Donnie with you" said the turtle, taking a few steps towards them.

His stride was steady and confident as sneered at them.

He noticed their uneasiness and his smile widened, baring his teeth at them. He was posturing. He knew he was intimidating and was taking advantage of the fact, shoulder's straight and chest puffed in a classic display of physical intimidation. The fist that wasn't holding a sai was clenched, contrasting with the easy, fluid steps he took towards them. The glint in his eyes betrayed his eagerness to pick a fight.

House had seen scarier, frankly. He wasn't going to let himself be cowed by a kid. Ninja wannabe he might be

"We were going to take another look at your brother's books" tried Foreman, stumbling slightly in his words

The kid snorted

"Right, forgot them in the lab did you?" He asked, completely unimpressed.

So he was trying to take control of the situation?

Too bad for him, really

"Holy shit" said House, taking one step towards the armed turtle and leaving his team in front of the lab door. Maybe they would take the hint and keep working on the lock while he played distraction

And maybe Cuddy would show up to work topless

A man could dream

"You are actually a ninja. How did you do that? I didn't even notice you were in here" Said House, exaggeratedly turning his head side to side to look around the room.

He honestly hadn't. Which was interesting because there was only one door. He was actually curious about it and the questioning had the added benefit of lighting the kid's sort fuse. If House had it right –which he probably did– this kid was the kind of person to get tunnel vision when angered so the best thing to do would be riling him up to direct his attention where House wanted it.

A vein started to throb in the turtle's forehead. Mission accomplished

"What?" He asked slowly, dangerously

"I'm just curious about how you did it. Wait, let me guess. You were hanging from the pipes in the ceiling" He said, pointing at the net of thick, metal pipes twisting above their heads. It was the only way it could have happened, truthfully. Weird turtle things they must be but they still had to follow the laws of physics. He wasn't keen on believing that they could teleport. At least for now.

It was nice that the unasked mystery of why they liked to appear behind people in hidden alleys and were armed with things like a pair of sai and enough knives to arm a small gang instead of say… a gun had been answered –even if he imagined that it would be somehow difficult to use with their misshapen fingers becoming a swordsman, for example, should have been a bigger challenge so it definitely wasn't convenience– Their rat father, in an effort to keep them hidden, made up some fantasy about ninja to make sure the teenagers stayed out of the public eye while he taught them self defence. Kill two birds with one stone

Now how on earth a giant anthropomorphic rat could know martial arts was a different question

"How long did you have to wait up there for us to actually come inside?" He continued, appreciating the way the kids temper visibly rose higher and higher, his whole body tensing

"House–" started Chase, apprehensive

"Not now. We're discussing something important. Come on, I hear they're going to start a local version of Sasuke. You could even compete. Oh, wait…" He said, shushing Chase as the turtle's nostrils flared. When it was apparent that his taunts weren't going to be answered he started pouting exaggeratedly "You don't want to tell me? Really?"

"It's none of your business, doc. What's important here is that you were trying to get into the lab that's clearly off limits" With that he spun both sai in his hands, hilt pointing at House's face in a more direct threat. "You need a lesson about respecting our rules and I'll be more than happy to give it"

"I'll say it slowly so you get it okay?" Asked House, aiming to sound as condescending as possible "It's not a good idea to break the legs of the person that's trying to keep your brother from dying"

Not being able to ignore his taunting as well as the orange one or hide his reaction as well as the blue one Raphael winced violently, showing the first sign of hesitation since he had ambushed them

"We are just trying to help" added Chase behind him. Fucking unhelpful, ugh. Why couldn't they just shut up and open the door?

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" Asked the turtle, practically growling as he recovered from the reminder of who exactly had the power here, regardless of physical prowess "That we all are!?"

It was curious that he took this whole situation so personally but not being able to socialise with more than five people in your entire life would probably do that to you. It was fascinating, learning every little detail of how their lives worked. It was a very bizarre puzzle that House was having a lot of fun trying to solve

"Stop that!" The turtle barked suddenly

What was his problem now?

House raised an eyebrow at him in question

"Stop looking at us like we're less than you. Like your little science experiment"

Interestingly, the thing that had hurt him the most had apparently been something House hadn't done on purpose which… Kind of a disappointment but he would get partial credit since his earlier taunting had definitely contributed to the breakdown.
House watched as the kid started to fall apart, his eyes becoming bright as he teared up in frustration and he progressively became more and more worked up, hands trembling slightly.

But it still rankled slightly. If it hadn't been the barbs or his attitude then…

"That's why this was never going to work. I knew it" Raphael managed to grit out "Instead of helping Donnie you're just trying to get around us. Trying to learn whatever you can from us and then leave him to rot. That's why you're not with him right now. Because you don't care about making him better do you?"

There was an undercurrent of a growl in his words as he continued

"You think you can take advantage of us. Because we're not human. Because we're not people. You don't respect us. We're just another lab rat to cut open" he shouted

The confirmation settled in House's chest as he finally got clarity of what was happening.

He had been looking at it wrong. It wasn't just the fact that House and his team were a group of strangers in Raphael's own space, not even that they were the kind of people the kid had been taught to think about as horror movie monsters while he grew up or an undeveloped socialisation due to his extensive isolation.

The little monster wanted to be a real boy.

Chapter Text

House regarded the kid, taking note of the way he almost seemed to fold into himself after the outburst, making him look younger, more vulnerable. The desperation in those words was palpable and as he waited for a response House could see how he braced himself, readying his defences against the proverbial slap of mockery or denial he was expecting from the humans in the room.

The words had been fueled by a need that predated his team's arrival and had probably shaped this kid's life for as long as he had discovered that there was a word outside of their concrete prison

He yearned to be human. An all consuming need for belonging and recognition

How naive of him, really. There were few worse things to be than that.

House hadn't decided yet whether he should consider them so, to be honest. They certainly didn't seem guilty about the kidnapping and violent threats but, then again, Humans weren't considerate to rats either and, having been raised by one, could he really fault them for that?

They did act like people so far and House wasn't an optimist by any definition of the word so, at least for now, he was working with the assumption that they had enough cruelty, selfishness and capacity for harm to count as human. But, he supposed that this was an entirely new species, as Chase had said, so he would have to wait and see. They were already something that clashed with everything he had learned about medicine –and even science in general– so far, so maybe finding a new type of being without all the ugliness, the dirtiness that accompanied sentience would be possible…

House really didn't think so though. It would be the most surprising thing about the humanoid super ninja colour coded turtle children.

But it did help that he was fighting for that, that he craved to be considered one so intensely, and it gave House something else to do. To dig up the shit hiding under the surface, the sheer hideousness of them to demonstrate that they could be exactly like any other person he had met.

He was very good at that

"Oh. Is that really what's happening? You're not special, kid" He said simply. Now that he understood what the kid's angle was he could choose a better route to prod.

He would also have a lot of fun with this too, personally. So that was a plus.

He wasn't joking when he talked about giving the recluses a few live lessons on how the world worked. Careful what you wish for.

This case was turning out to be so entertaining!

"I do this to all my patients. Human or not human" he continued, a smidge of the eagerness he felt at the thought of all the new opportunities opening up to him slipped through his facade.

He carefully hid it, of course. It would be bad to scare the kid off now

"You what?" Raphael asked, taking a step backwards. Clearly caught off guard, then.
Not very ninja of him, showing his reaction so plainly.

God, he was still reeling from the fact that they actually believed that. They thought they were ninja Of all the stupid shit they could believe… Fuck, at this rate he was going to loose track of all the things he had to make fun of them for

"Break into their houses without permission, rummage around their secret rooms and personal things…" House clarified "I don't respect anyone. You're not the exception just because you're ugly"

The confusion was plain on his face and House pressed his advantage

"You're lying" The turtle said, growling, still hesitant but trying to bury it in a veneer of anger

"It's very easy to check, you know? The information is public. Yes, I see you as a curiosity. I am only taking your brother's case because I think that treating a monster is fun but that's what I do every day with each one of my patients. I only chose the ones that entertain me. I don't care about any of the… people I deal with including your brother. What I actually do give a shit about is treating the illness"

He ploughed on, since he hadn't been interrupted. The kid's huge reptilian eyes were fixed on his as he gained momentum

"There's so many complaints about my work ethic, so many patients I've 'offended' " he mocked "but I haven't been fired, you know why? Because I am the best. I am your only hope at finding out what's happening to him which means that I'm your best shot at healing him. So go ahead, give me a concussion but you'll only be hurting his chances"

Apparently the scarecrow grew a brain because the gears in his head visibly started to turn and the rage in his voice became less pronounced when he spoke next.

"Why were you trying to get in?" He asked, softly, almost in a whisper

"I need to find possible toxins in his lab. Even in his secret desk. I did try to ask nicely" even if it had been precisely for this reason, so if they caught him while he was trying to sneak in he at least could leverage an argument. Point for preparedness "you didn't let me though, which meant that to make sure your brother didn't poison himself while playing Dexter I needed to sneak in and… well, here we are"

There was a frown

"He wouldn't have"

Again with the blind faith in the brother, why didn't he learn his lesson when he realised that Donatello had been lying about the gravity of his illness? This blind faith business was getting annoying –another thing to shatter then, he should start a list–.

"But he also works in a lab filled with materials salvaged from the trash doesn't he? He could have breathed in a lot of nasty stuff, maybe even absorbed it through his skin" he said instead. Now wasn't the moment to piss him off again. He needed his trust for now

He could see how the kid was starting to mull it over, ceding ground as he considered House's words

He had him in the bag

"There's a reason it's off limits you know? It's dangerous"

"Why?" He latched on to the line

"Can't tell you"

It was extremely frustrating the way they shut down after showing him the barest glimpse. Well, it made things more difficult and by extension more fun, House guessed

"I'll go with you" He conceded between gritted teeth "I still don't trust you and if I get the smallest hint that you're planning something I'll kick your shell so hard you'll end up back in Jersey" he concluded, pointing at House with one of the weapons

"You could be trying to hide something. We need to go alone to make sure everything is how it was" House pressed, trying to find the limit of his newly earned goodwill.

Having to ignore the use of 'shell' as a euphemism for ass took most of his willpower but this was more important

"Fuck off" snarled the turtle. Predictable, but you miss all the shots you don't take "You're already pushing your luck. Be glad I didn't break any fingers, asshole"

The two other doctors finally opened the door behind him.

Chapter Text

Walking in, House noted that everything remained unchanged from the last time he had been inside so Donatello hadn't made any secret excursions. His symptoms hadn't become more aggravated either so it fit his current hypothesis perfectly even if part for the reason he had proposed it in the first place had been an excuse to get into the lab

With that his team got to work, immediately jumping in to search for anything that could fit with their case while House went directly for the mysterious desk.

Surprisingly, instead of starting another fit Raphael watched him with a raised eyebrow so House decided to take that advantage and not question it.

Like last time, he could see a huge array of strange, glowing machinery and metal scraps laying haphazardly on the surface of the table and now that he was closer, he could also hear a faint hum coming from a pile of scraps to the right.

Curious, House closed the remaining distance between him and the desk, putting his weight on its metallic surface as he peered down on it.

The culprit seemed to be a small, thin crystal tube that had a very peculiar glow that… Scratch that. The culprit was a very charming attempt to create a plasma ball. So, nifty looking, but ultimately boring.

With a raised eyebrow House took in the rest of the items and abruptly realised that if he hadn't talked to Donatello or read his books he would have been inclined to suspect that the purple turtle was faking his talent to look smarter in front of his brothers, making things that looked 'cool' and complicated but were ultimately just useless decorations.

This was a collection of comic book mcguffins. Complete with the mysterious canisters of green, glowing thick ooze. On the other side of the desk, closer to where Chase was searching there even was a futuristic looking imitation of some kind of video game laser cannon that had to be judging by the size and design –no place to insert ammunition and a muzzle better suited for a water gun that any actual weapon– either a modified toy for one of his brothers, or the result of letting a teenager design his own stuff and the kid in question deciding to waste every last bit of his resources into making a really awesome looking laser pointer or whatever. Which was kind of cool now that he thought about it.

It fit their theatrical and fantastical personalities exacerbated by their forced alienation from society and their father's carefully constructed lies. Of course, a group of ninja wannabes would love to play fictional dress up. They probably were big fans of sci-fi and he would bet that their favourite characters were a varied selection of green aliens.

Taking another humoured look at the objects spread on the table he wondered exactly how much of their education had been influenced by watching television and playing video games… Probably 90% of it if he was being honest. It wasn't like they had any other options. At least a flair for the dramatic and being a nerd weren't the worst things to come out of that.

It made them more fun so House was definitely not complaining.

So… This was the mysterious secret desk, really? Was he just self conscious about his hobbies?

Slightly disappointing but…

With a small smile House leaned down, taking a closer look at one of the canisters filled with that bright, green fluid and appreciated the quality of the cosplay or whatever it was supposed to be. Probably something mixed with zinc sulphide or strontium aluminate.

"I thought you said you were here to check how he got sick" said the other turtle behind him, starting to become fed up

"They're doing that" House said, motioning to his subordinates inspecting the lab and not bothering to lift his head "I'm making sure he didn't poison himself with this dangerous and clearly radioactive chemical"

There was the distant possibility that this could actually have radium, come to think of it

If the cause of every problem this weird little sewer 'family' unit had was their debilitating need to look cooler –playing with radioactive materials and hiding information that could save someone's life– he was going to do something regrettable.

"Don't touch that" urged the turtle, eyes widening in alarm and taking a step towards him

Maybe not part of a cosplay then, since the kid seemed to be genuinely frightened. A prop to keep his brothers away from here? That was actually very interesting.

A prop meant a mystery. It meant there was something valuable to hide

House revisited the possibility that this could be an unnecessary front to make Donatello look 'smarter'. He did seem sincere when he had dismissed his own accomplishments as not that big of a deal and House was sure that the three other kids could have managed to maintain a decent standard of living without Donatello. The conditions of their home were perfect for a very cutthroat survivalist community so Donatello could have misjudged how useful he actually was and decided to build these decoys to seem irreplaceable.

Very unlikely. The family was already dangerously codependent, especially the kids, and the fact that Donatello in his supposed death bed kept trying to steal someone from his team instead of actually teaching his brothers or his… father meant that he already thought he was necessary and could not be easily substituted. They had also immediately adopted the first friendly human they had seen instead of, say, getting rid of her to eliminate a very significant threat of exposure and seemed to genuinely like the annoying orange one so their thirst for interaction and socialisation was stronger than their survival instincts. They wouldn't discard a member of their pack for lack of usefulness.

Another alternative could be that his patient was hiding a physical object that he didn't want his brothers to access so he made up the concept of a 'secret, dangerous desk' filled with very nice looking props. They did seem to have very little privacy and were highly social with each other. Even the blue one, uncertain about eye contact and who seemed to be a clear introvert who wasn't fond of being touched forced himself to constantly interact physically with his brothers

In any case if this did have radium the little Einstein turtle would become one the biggest idiots House had ever met. A hefty accomplished

He snatched the canister, wondering what the truth was. What exactly his patient could be hiding in his desk to warrant this ridiculous display. Since he was a teenager it could be anything ranging from normal things he found embarrassing to a secret stash of drugs slowly destroying his body and mind

And if it was the second one he would have been right from the beginning, nice

Behind him he noticed his subordinates also taking note of the vast array of stupid props, Chase not bothering to hide a small smile while Foreman examined everything from a distance, clearly awed.

"So what is this supposed to be? Your brother get it from Ace chemicals?" He asked, tilting the container up and down to make the liquid inside it swish, appreciating the way it swirled into a small whirlpool with the movement

It was objectively beautiful, House had to admit. The kid had done a nice job

Raphael definitely did not appreciate it like House, a dark look passing over his eyes

"Set it down or I am breaking your arm" he said with a growl.

House, seeing the genuinity of the threat in the change of demeanour –from tense and guarded but spectant to immediately fight or flight, pupils shrinking into tiny pinpricks in absolute, all consuming panic– backed down for now. Even if it would have been funny to see his face if he broke the canister the kid would probably react by actually breaking his arm before House could prove that it was a fake. Besides, it would be much funnier if he did that in front of the four brothers, checking Donatello's reaction when he revealed the surprise and, well, there was also the possibility of this being actually dangerous too, he supposed, if it did have radium.

So, settling the object down with a smile, he turned fully to Raphael.

"So bossy. You know, it's very difficult to work in these conditions "

Not paying attention to his words the kid didn't relax, his posture still fully tense. Now looking fully ready to tackle him to the ground if he made the wrong move.

What had their brother told him about his 'personal experiments' exactly?

"Step away from there. You've seen enough" The kid said, grabbing House's arm.

Before the doctor could retort Raphael's attention moved away from him, his head whirling wildly in alarm as he turned to look to the right. Before House could process what was happening his world tilted, and a sharp pain hit his elbow. Dazed, House realised that the kid had pushed him to the ground and was now practically flying across the room at Chase's direction. Chase seemed to be holding the toy gun with some effort, a curious, amused expression on his face.

Three things happened simultaneously. A strange, whirring noise started to come out of the device as Raphael reached his target and with no visible effort wrenched the gun away from Chase's hands, moving it to point at the ground just as a blinding, pink light emerged from the cannon, making him see white for a moment. He blinked for a few seconds, dark spots in his vision.

A few people were screaming, their voices mixed in a cacophony of noise. Immediately, House's gaze turned to his subordinates, the source of the panic. They seemed alright but their gazes were fixated on one place.

He followed their line of vision without thinking and immediately froze.

A section of the ground was missing. No evidence of a launched projectile or burn marks, it was just gone. The edges were smooth and a faint, clear smoke was coming out of it. There was a hole the size of a truck wheel on the ground and he couldn't see how deep it was

What the fuck

Chapter Text

Leo paced back and forth, the tails of his mask swishing as he glared, his eyes not leaving the rest of the room's occupants. His face was alight with fury in a way that could only be seen when Raph pulled one of his worse stunts

Donnie was somewhat grateful that these moods were usually not directed at him. Not that he would say that, especially now.

He sat in perfect seiza on the soft floor of their family dojo, flanked by his two other brothers. His dad wasn't with them, since Leo had insisted he was responsible for this, and instead stayed in the lab to assess the damage.

A few steps to the side the three younger doctors fidgeted on the ground, visibly uncomfortable with the lack of chairs and trying to find a better posture to sit while House watched them, clearly finding their discomfort amusing.

The fact that Leo wasn't rushing to accommodate their guests betrayed his state of mind better than the firm tightening in his lips and the tension lining his shoulders

Leo was absolutely pissed and Donnie had to fix it before he did something regrettable

"Unbelievable" He was hissing angrily "What were you thinking? Running around the lab? Behaving like children? What was going through your heads?"

Dr House opened his mouth, probably to make a smartass comment that would only aggravate the situation. Thankfully, Leo caught up before he could speak

"Don't answer that" he cut in curtly, raising his voice. Another red flag "I said to not get close to Donnie's desk for exactly this reason. We warned you about the explosions specifically"

That was… true unfortunately.

And the doctor didn't seem ashamed at all, which was one of the things that bothered Leo the most when he was giving one of his 'lectures'.

House was staring at his brother, raising a single challenging eyebrow at him

Honestly, Donatello hadn't exactly discarded House fully as a possible substitute even after he had rudely declined the offer without letting him explain himself –he preferred to leave as many possibilities open as he could. That was the smartest way of dealing with a situation like this and if Donatello was confident about something it was his own intelligence–. But, even if House was a very experienced doctor with a lot of interesting publications and accomplishments, didn't seem keen on selling them out and –as far as Donnie had learned in his brief but through investigation– lacked any kind of family or social life that could be affected by the change, Donnie was glad he had brought his team to the lair. Chase's attitude was unfortunate but at least Foreman or Cameron didn't seem to love pushing his brother's buttons for fun.

If House succeeded him as the Hamato family doctor he wouldn't last a week before one of his eldest brothers beat him senseless after an unfortunate comment.

Normally he would just say Raph but the man seemed to have a talent with making Leo lose his patience

"I thought it was a bluff, my bad" House dismissed with a disrespectful shrug.

The way one of Leo's veins throbbed in his forehead at that was just proving Donnie's point.

"Even then you shouldn't have been touching alien technology you do not understand" Retorted Leo, his voice sounding clipped as he restrained himself from shouting "This could have been a disaster"

Because his brother was already very angry Donnie didn't speak up about all the times they had done the exact same thing, Leo included. A few specific screw ups came to mind. That time they almost blew up Bishop's bunker with themselves inside or when Raph decided to mess around in a Krang pod just to give a couple of examples.

"You said you weren't aliens" Interrupted Foreman, visibly startled, eyes jumping between the four of them as if they would spontaneously grow additional limbs

Donnie grimaced uncomfortably. Of course he had to say that. Aliens. Of all the ignorant comments Donnie was used to getting, that was one that stung the most. The shouts of 'monsters' or 'animals' and the occasional comparison to mythical creatures made him a lot less uncomfortable for some reason.

Internally, he wondered if it had to do with the way it implied that they didn't belong in their home. That the place they had grown up their whole lives, that they had fought to defend and spilt so much blood, sweat and tears for would never have enough space to fit them, that they should search somewhere else instead.

Theoretically, Donnie was sure that he could have accomplished something like that. He definitely had the means and knowledge to repurpose any of the Krang's ships for long term travel. That was before he fell ill, of course. Now his efforts were focused elsewhere and with how hard it was to get out of bed some days he couldn't waste his energy on things like that.

But they could have done it, leave everything behind to keep their family safe.

There had to be a place somewhere in the vast expanse of space where his family would seem normal, where they wouldn't have to hide… but it wouldn't be their home. It would mean abandoning their favourite spot to eat pizza, their monthly excursions into the Central Park zoo.

This was their home. It didn't matter who or what they were. They had grown up in this place

It hurt more than he would admit. Maybe that's why he'd never told Leo about that possibility

"We're not aliens, not really. We're technically from earth even if extraterrestrial life forms were involved in our… creation" he babbled nervously at the man, explaining himself, feeling wrong footed "Gigantic talking turtles aren't exactly a natural occurrence"

"Aliens are real!?" Shouted Chase, baffled.

"Yeah dude" Affirmed Mikey seriously "And they hate us"

Sadly true. There was a list in Donnie's room of all the enemies that had proclaimed their immeasurable loathing for their family and a staggering amount of then originated from a different planet so, showing support for his brother's affirmation, he nodded in agreement

The four doctors seemed to go through the five states of grief in a matter of seconds.

Really, they should get with the program. It wasn't the weirdest thing Donatello had seen. But, well… He could understand that for someone that wasn't in the known this would be a great discovery. He had been very excited when he had learned where the Krang actually originated from after all. Multidimensional travel was a fascinating subject

Donnie opened his mouth to elaborate, feeling somewhat better now that their non extraterrestrial origin had been explained but was interrupted by his eldest brother clearing his throat

Oh, right… Secrecy…

"If we could just focus, please" Leo said, trying to contain the exasperation rolling off him in waves as he pinched the bridge of his nose

Donnie smiled apologetically at Leo but his brother ignored him, too busy muttering under his breath quiet swears and comments about problematic younger brothers in Japanese.

Ah, this really wasn't going to go the way Donnie wanted it to was it?

Chapter Text

"Raph, why did you let them get close to the canon?" Was saying Leo, rapidly running out of patience "And why do we even have that in the first place!?" There was a moment of silence as his foot tapped the ground in annoyance, arms crossed over his chest "There's a gigantic hole in our house!"

The turtle in question, who had been uncharacteristically silent since the whole mess had started, didn't seem to hear Leo and occupied himself with typing away at his phone with a frown while muttering a vague affirmative. As his brother, Donnie easily identified this familiar behaviour.
Raph was not paying any attention to the current conversation. At all

Leo must have noticed this too since he didn't look happy about that answer in the slightest, his eyes narrowing as he geared himself up for a lecture/scolding that would probably end badly.

Before a shouting match could start, Donnie intervened.

"I made it just in case I'm… indisposed while we need to deal with a significant threat" he explained to Leo

Better be safe than sorry, after all. He could already think of a couple of times their new weapon could have come in handy. Truthfully, knowing his family and their luck, it would be a surprise if they actually never ended up using it

"We have a laser canon!?" Shouted Mikey enthusiastically looking between the two of them, blissfully ignoring the rising tension in the room "Can I keep it!?"

There was no way

"No" Donnie and his other two brothers said at the same time in varying tones of alarm

"Awww" Mikey lamented, expression immediately wilting as his shoulders slumped.

Donnie felt kind of sorry for Mikey but… his youngest brother could be a little too trigger happy sometimes.

"It's too dangerous" Dismissed Leo swiftly with a wave of his hand, shaking his head "Frankly, judging by the aftermath I think it should be only for emergencies of the…" he trailed off, hesitant, before sighing unhappily "bubblegum variety"

Donnie watched in bemusement how Mikey's crestfallen expression suddenly brightened as his mood rose back up immediately at hearing Leo use one of his 'codenames'

Raph, momentarily distracted from whatever he had been doing, lifted his gaze to look at their eldest brother, puzzled

The doctors also seemed confused by this but… probably for a different reason judging by the way Chase started mouthing "bubblegum?" At his colleagues

"Why not for the… office supply" Raph asked, stumbling over the last words

Donnie managed not to snort at that. Office supply, shell. He would pay for someone to call the Shredder that to his face. He did love Mikey's sense of humour when it wasn't being used against him but looking like he was treating the situation like a joke wouldn't help with Leo's mood, especially when Raph was acting so standoffish. So he suppressed the tiny smile blooming on his face and cut in

"Well, the thing is… the power source wasn't really connected to the canon when it went off. It only had the reserve" he clarified, glancing up to see how Leo was taking that

The answer was not very well, since Donnie could see the way his brother's jaw clenched and he barely managed to keep his composure

"How big of an explosion are we talking?" He asked softly

Yeah, Leo wasn't going to like this.

Donnie felt his head sink slightly in his shell

"A few, ah… a few buildings?" He mumbled, averting his gaze from the stunned expression in his brother's face and the scared looks the doctors were directing at him

"Yeah, no. I am vetoing that" Dismissed Leo urgently, like he was scared of Raph and Mikey getting any ideas. Then he took a deep breath, facing Donnie with a glare "What were you thinking, Donnie?" He practically growled.

Donnie's hands, which had been resting primly on his lap closed into fists, annoyance flaring up at the accusatory tone in his brother's voice, the way he spoke about his latest project like it had been a spur in the moment decision to amuse himself.

He had worked hard on it, pushed himself through the terrible headaches and nausea to build that weapon. It's not like he had made it for the purpose of shooting random foot grunts either! He wasn't an idiot. He had designed it with that gigantic spaceship the Kraang were building in mind! And what about the Triceratons? If his brothers weren't going to be able to hack into an alien ship they would need to brute force it. That's what it was for.

There wasn't such a thing as overkill when it came to the safety of his family.

That didn't mean that Donnie didn't care about collateral damage though, regardless of what Leo might think. The core of the matter was that he trusted his brothers not to misuse his inventions. Well, he trusted Leo to keep the other two in check

But now wasn't the time to get angry. He had to keep things on track

"I wanted you guys to be prepared" He simply said instead

Leo looked like he had swallowed something sour

"That's the end of the discussion" He said, head jerking to the side once. A strange reaction but, before Donnie could ask about it Leo kept talking "Did they touch anything else?" He said, sending a withering look at the four humans. At least some of them seemed a bit mollified

"House went directly for Donnie's desk and he… took one of the ooze canisters" Admitted Raph reluctantly, momentarily lifting his head from the phone to look at Leo, a small, uncomfortable grimace adorned his face, seemingly more embarrassed than apologetic

Donnie gaped, his heart skipping a beat.

Oh no. This was worse than he had thought. Fuck. How could he convince Leo that letting the doctors stay was a good idea when they had been playing with the ooze!?

As a reflex his eyes darted towards the humans. It was dumb, he would have noticed if they had come in contact with the mutagen, everyone would have. But he still had to look to reassure himself.

They were fine. It was alright, nothing bad had happened.

He had been the one to leave the keys unguarded, after all. Even if the situation was supposedly under control it would have been his fault if they had mutated. He was going to have words with Raph about this but, for now, he forced himself to hide his outrage.

He had to defend them. He needed to downplay how much of a close call that had been. The goal was to get them to stay here in a more permanent basis not to convince Leo that no human should come to the lair ever again

"What!?" Leo asked angrily. He looked at Raph and for just a second the mask of authority his brother was wearing broke, and a look of absolute betrayal and hurt flashed in his face before he managed to sober back up and look at their guests. Oh, he had probably told Raph to keep the lab safe. That was… Donnie couldn't believe him. What a mess "I thought I could trust you with them" This added another layer of difficulty to an already collapsing house of cards Donnie was trying to salvage

Raph didn't answer, his shoulders hunching defensively as he started typing again, more frantically.

At least he realised he had screwed up

Chapter Text

There was a moment of silence as Leo looked between all of them, his eyes meeting Donnie's the longest. He felt his own back straighten at the way his brother's gaze fixed on him, face frozen in an unreadable expression.

Donnie didn't know how to react to this. It felt like some sort of test, but for what exactly?

Then, just as abruptly as it had started, it was over.

Leo swallowed, breaking eye contact and letting out a small sigh and a breathy whisper of "right" before adopting his usual 'dealing with human civilians' demeanour.

He cleared his throat, hands resting on the sides, his posture perfect and proper as he slowly sank into a bow.

A strangely shallow bow, Donnie noted. Not enough to be rude but, knowing Leo, it was slightly out of character

Before Donnie could decipher what that could exactly mean in this context Leo spoke again

"I am sorry to have inconvenienced you but I don't think we can keep you here. For your own safety as much as ours" he said evenly. His tone of voice was steady and serious but it seemed unsettlingly quiet

Donnie's stomach dropped.

No

This was exactly what he had been dreading. Leo couldn't do this. Not now when he was so close! He needed them.

"Wait, Leo. Don't–" he tried, an edge of desperation in his voice. All the arguments he had been preparing banished from his mind with the urgency he felt as he suddenly realised that this could be it. His previous composure started to slip, and he knew that at least some of his panic must have shown on his face because Leo's expression turned into an uncomfortable grimace as he turned to look at him.

"It was my decision to bring them here, Donnie. Which means that they are my responsibility" Said Leo, eyes darting to the four humans mid-sentence, his voice becoming louder the longer he spoke "If they decide to keep ignoring our warnings because they can't listen to us and end up getting hurt or worse it's on me. I can't risk their lives like that"

Of course, because this couldn't possibly go any worse, House decided to open his mouth again, ignoring Donnie glaring daggers at him and attempting with all his might to develop psychic abilities to force it shut

"How noble of you" House said with a snort

Leo's lips thinned in displeasure

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, Dr House" He immediately retorted, keeping his face neutral even as his voice dripped with disdain. He sighed deeply a second time, shoulders dropping and looking impossibly tired. Honestly, seeing his brother like this was starting to make Donnie feel bad for him…

Then he remembered that Leo was the one actively making things worse and that pity turned to frustration

"This was clearly a mistake on my part" he continued, oblivious to how absolutely infuriating he was being "I shouldn't have brought you here in the first place"

"Leonardo… You need help" Said Cameron, gently.

Leo shook his head

"You can't provide it"

No, this wasn't the time to catastrophize. Donnie could still salvage this. He just had to choose his words carefully and calm down. Leo usually listened to him

Trying to keep his voice as even as possible, since Leo didn't respond well to emotional outbursts, Donnie spoke again

"We didn't have any other options, Leo. We still don't. Just give them one more chance, please" He tried

He promised to let him try!

But instead of the reluctant understanding he had expected, or even the small glimpse of doubt Leo's expression closed off completely. Not a single muscle in his face moved

"No, I can't. I will look into a different alternative but this is over" he said firmly.

Donnie felt panic climb up his throat.

Before he could say anything else, however, House interrupted them again

"Please, if you actually had any other options you wouldn't have been wandering around dirty alleys looking for help" he dismissed with a roll of his eyes.

What was he doing!?

"There aren't any other alternatives" Donnie interjected, trying desperately to keep his brother's attention on him.

"You don't know that" Leo said simply, thankfully ignoring the man. But he did! He had been trying to find any possible way of fixing this for weeks! They had nothing "Mikey, go get their belongings" Leo barked

His little brother hesitated for a moment, biting his lip before leaving with a silent nod. Donnie watched him go, suppressing the urge to shout at him to wait. He knew that the one he really had to convince was Leo

"I do!" He exclaimed "Leo, I am not getting better. I am not going to get better. Please, even if it's just…" there was a knot in his throat as he forced the next words, his voice too shaky. Leo would probably lecture him later about showing weakness in front of strangers but that didn't matter to him at the moment. He looked into Leo's eyes, trying with his whole being to pierce that shield of assigned leader, clan heir and reach his brother "I-It's really likely I'm only going to get worse and I am asking this favour as your brother. Just bear with them for a little while. I am begging you, please. A-as my dying wish if I have to. I told you why I wanted them here. At least let me have this. You said you would" he pleaded, hoping with his whole being that his brother would listen to him. He had to. This was important and Leo valued these things more than anyone else.

It was low, to prey on his brother's feelings of honour and fairness like this but his family's future could depend on this and… it was true. Leo had to listen

His eyes became impossibly colder.

It was like talking to a brick wall

"No" Leo said quietly. Almost in a whisper

Donnie's felt something in his chest break

"What?" He asked, voice wavering terribly

"I said no" Leo's voice became clearer and more steady. He looked away from Donnie, speaking to everyone else in the room "I'm not humouring this any longer. That's final. I am sorry, but the situation has changed. It's too dangerous"

He wasn't going to let him have this. He was clamming up, too engrossed in his own head to listen to anyone

An ugly, slithering feeling climbed up Donnie's throat and before he could stop it he was already shouting.

Weeks of tension and frustration burst from his chest as he saw the only opportunity he had to leave his brothers as safe as possible banish in front of him.

An image of Leo flashed in his mind. Multiple stab wounds, a slashed throat and shattered bones. Signs of torture covering his arms and legs as he laid on a pile of broken glass

"Fuck you! You pretentious asshole!" He shouted.

From the corner of his eyes he could see Raph jump slightly, clearly startled.
A vague feeling of guilt bloomed in his gut as he wondered if he should stop. The knowledge that Leo was probably trying his best weighed heavily on him but the way his eldest brother kept looking at him, eyes completely empty and doing his best impression of a marble statue instead of trying to understand made him too incensed to react to it.

Another image –perfectly accurate thanks to his photographic memory– of four precise cuts travelling through Mikey's plastron and a mess of crimson under it, the taste of vomit on the back of his mouth at the thought of what exactly they were for.

He should have expected this when Leo had insisted that some kind of miracle cure would appear out of thin air. Leo wouldn't listen because he didn't want to face the truth and that hurt. He was supposed to be their leader. He was supposed to deal with these things

Because if Leo didn't… if Mikey Raph and even his father remained wistfully ignorant to the reality of the situation too then Donnie would have to face it alone.

"Listen to someone else for once in your life" He shouted "We need them. You will need someone. You are risking our family's future because you are too stubborn to lift your head and see what's happening around you"

Now it was Raph's turn. His skin more purple than green, almost the same colour as Donnie's own mask, left leg mangled beyond recognition with flaps of skin teared from it and bent in three different directions. Donnie's own mind numbing panic as he wondered if he would survive the night

He had been prepared to do it, to endure the pain alone until he could fix it and when he realised that he couldn't… Well, that's when he started preparing. He didn't want to worry his family, they had enough on their plates already but it was only when House had come that the fact that he was not going to be there for them really sunk in. That he had not been able to find out what was happening to him. That he had failed

He wouldn't be able to help anymore and…

He just wanted everyone to be okay. That was all. Was it really too much to ask? To know that his family would be alright?

To ask them to stop pinning their hopes on a wild goose chase and show him that they would be safe?

"Listen to me Leo!!"

The last part of his rant came out in a wheeze, Donnie suddenly finding himself out of breath. The screaming took a bigger toll on him than he had realised. As he tried to recover, taking a few steady breaths he looked at his brother's face.

Leo was raising an eyebrow at him, arms crossed. With the exact same boredom and vague detachment he showed while he waited Raph out during one of his tantrums.

At this precise moment he understood Raph more than ever. Seeing that calm, unflappable look, that cold indifference as he laid his heart out… It made his insides burn

"Are you done?" Leo asked without a hint of emotion showing

"How can you be like this!?" He managed, with a breathy gasp, not believing the situation. Was this actually happening? "You're the worst"

Leo didn't grace him with an answer and just kept blinking at him with detached politeness as Donnie stared, horrified

Their standoff was interrupted by Mikey's hesitant steps. He entered the room slowly, his eyes darting between the two of them before he moved towards Leo, a frown adorning his face

"Good" Leo said with a nod as Mikey approached, carrying a few bags in his arms.

Then his little brother glanced at him for a moment and Donnie met his eyes, not bothering to hide the desperation. Willing him to help, to say something

Mikey turned to Leo

"Leo, maybe you should…" he tried

"It's alright, Mikey" Said Leo, eyes softening slightly, his arm falling to Mikey's shoulder "I will fix it okay? You trust me, right? I won't let anything bad happen to Donnie"

Mikey was backing down, nodding at his brother.

Why? WHY!?

No, no. It was fine. Perfectly alright. He didn't need Mikey for this

"It's not a matter of trust, Leo!" He stressed

It wasn't. He trusted Leo with his life, with his brother's lives, with everything he had but… this just wasn't possible.

He was already breaking down. He didn't know how much longer he would last

"But it is a matter of respect" Answered his eldest brother, completely missing the point "You can try all you want but if they only see us as children to trick, as animals to cut open for study and if they won't listen to us this will never work" He said sending the doctors a cold look "If they can't treat us like equals we will accomplish nothing no matter how hard we try"

Donnie felt his body going numb. He watched, frozen as his brother started to give the doctors back their belongings.

He felt Mikey's sad look drill into him, the way Raph seemed to be trying to be anywhere but here.

So much pity… but no one willing to help him

Leo directed the doctors towards the door, ignoring their various protests

"I will take the long way" He said casually, unbothered and to the point. As if he was simply heading to patrol on a regular Monday night. "I want to make sure they don't get involved in any of our messes on their way back so I won't be back for a while. Mikey, start making lunch okay? And don't wait for me"

He lingered in the doorway for a moment, sending them one last, unreadable look before turning his back towards them

"Wait, Leo" Shouted Raph suddenly

"What is it now?" Asked Leo, losing his patience. Turning to face Raph with terrible fire burning in his eyes "Do you have something to add?" He asked. The bitterness in his voice was almost palpable "Aren't you happy your plan of letting them loose worked? You were the one that wanted them gone the most"

Instead of the expected escalation Raph breathed deeply, staying silent for a few seconds. Donnie recognized that breathing pattern for what it was, one of their father's lessons to help Raph manage his temper.

At least he was trying

When he was done he spoke, managing to keep his voice even

"Now Leo just stay here for a bit alright? Just a minute"

Useless, since Leo still wasn't listening, his face still pinched in an angry snarl

"I said that–"

"I think you're wrong" Blurted Raph out, raising his hands in a placating gesture "I talked to them and they said… look, just wait for April okay? She's looking into something for me"

The anger in Leo's face was replaced with confusion.

He wasn't the only one. April? What was Raph playing at?

"What–" was saying Leo when, suddenly, April rushed into the room. She seemed a bit flustered and her hair was in disarray but she was smiling triumphantly, clutching a few papers in her right hand like a lifeline.

Her eyes shone with confidence. She had something to say

Chapter Text

Donnie didn't know what was going on anymore

"I'm here!!" She shouted triumphantly "I'm here. You were right, Raph. There's so many of them" She said, starting to ruffle through the papers with a mixture of confusion and elation "Dr House is –"

"What is that?" Asked Leo with a raised eyebrow, snatching the papers she was holding and starting to skim through them with a confused expression on his face.

April watched him with clear bemusement

There were a few moments of silence while Leo read, Donnie leaning forwards slightly and wiping away a few frustrated tears that had accumulated under his eyes as he tried to get a closer look. They seemed like legal documents? A formal complaint for medical malpractice?

"It's not that they think less of us because of what we are" Was saying Raph "They're just like this all the time, even with other humans" he said sending a weirded out look at the doctors, which was met with a few shrugs and sheepish smiles "and they're trying to help"

Leo frowned and then, mystifyingly, extended the papers towards Donnie

Feeling absolutely out of his depth and raising an angry eyebrow at his brother, Donnie accepted the clear peace offering and started reading through them.

Copies of complaint letters, lawsuits and more filed by a multitude of people. From patients to subordinates and colleagues alike all directed to one Dr. Gregory House and sometimes –significantly less frequently– to the other three doctors. Unnecessary harmful procedures, invasion of privacy and a general lack of manners were the most popular themes. And not only that! There were also a few pages on April's personal research that detailed how their guests seemed to enjoy breaking and entering into their patient's homes to 'search for pathogens' which was similar to what they had tried here he supposed? Everyone in the hospital just kept their secret and the director let them get away with this, apparently.

Now, Donnie was not an expert in how normal people lived their lives, but this didn't seem like a good example of that. He had thought that doctors working in a hospital would be less… whatever this was. It's not like he had a lot of regular human role models –April didn't really count and Casey definitely did not count–, but still…

Just who the hell had Leo brought to their house?

One thing was clear though. This hadn't been a personal slight because they were mutants, ninja, teenagers or even turtles. As Raph had said, this evidence seemed to indicate that they were just like this with everyone for some reason.

"They still put us all in danger with that stunt" Leo said. He still seemed somewhat reluctant and a bit annoyed but was visibly a lot calmer, even if he was trying to keep up his serious front

Raph spoke up, begrudgingly

"That was my fault" he said, biting his lip "I should have paid more attention. I was angry and distracted"

It was a surprisingly eartness apology. Donnie knew how hard it was for Raph to admit that he had done something wrong.

"I should have helped too" added Mikey shyly, shifting a bit in place "Instead of playing videogames "

Leo nodded silently at them and turned once again to the doctors, his expression now more open. Still serious and slightly harsh but most of the frostiness was gone

"I suppose you aren't planning on doing something like that again?" He asked "Not because it's secret but because it was incredibly dangerous"

The three younger doctors muttered vague affirmations, even House seemed in agreement

Leo nodded before sucking in a deep, heavy breath and turning his attention fully to the older man

"Answer me honestly" He said with all the seriousness reserved for a fight against the Shredder "Are you making any progress with his illness at all?"

The heaviness of the question settled around the group, his other two brothers tensing as House's eyes narrowed, meeting Leo's stare fully, not showing a hint of doubt

"Yes and I know I am your only option"

Donnie tried his best not to outwardly react at that.

Huh, judging by the way his team had been going around taking stabs in the dark he doubted they had the slightest idea about what was wrong with him. Which made sense since Donnie himself was drawing a blank too but… lying to Leo to his face like that was not easy, he would know.

House seemed absolutely convinced that he had something

Donnie couldn't help but doubt him

Oblivious to his thoughts, Leo accepted the answer, desperate as he was to find a way to magically fix everything so, giving one last sharp look at Donnie, Leo's shoulders sagged slightly as he sighed

"Alright" He agreed, reluctantly "From now on the keys won't be left unguarded even if there's someone watching the lab and only one of you at a time may enter" he clarified, raising his voice slightly and turning his attention to their guests "No more excursions and no more touching Donnie's things"

With this disastrous conversation finally over an feeling incredibly tired, Donnie excused himself, leaving to the medbay.

As always, there was something he needed to fix

"Are you alright, my son?" Asked his father when Donnie stepped inside.

He nodded, hoping that he'd drop it but, instead, the older rat watched him for a moment, brow furrowed in suspicion and whiskers twitching minutely, before he walked closer.

Immediately on guard, since he was well aware of where this was going, Donnie took a step backwards just as his dad extended one hand to feel his forehead.

"Yes, dad" he said, slightly amused as he tried to keep his father's hand away.

A useless endeavour even on a good day so he just huffed, a bit annoyed, as he was inevitably cornered against one of the walls.

This was not an accurate method of measuring body temperature but he had argued that point with his dad many times without any results. It was also useless to tell him that there was no way he could have a fever since he had been monitoring his symptoms for a while and that wasn't one of them, thank you very much "We just had an argument. I'm a bit tired" he said, having to wait for his dad to officially declare the absence of his nonexistent fever. Just a second before he inevitably proclaimed 'no, there is no fever'

"No, there is no fever" his father mused without missing a beat

The perfect timing of it made Donnie crack a small, accidental smile

"If you are feeling tired, then I will stay to give you company" he said, giving Donnie a knowing look and directing him towards the bed

"No, it's fine" Donnie said with a shrug "you should read these" he said passing him the papers

"I can do both" said his sensei, amused. He took the papers, skimming through them before raising both eyebrows in surprise and humming thoughtfully

An absolutely fair reaction, honestly

"I just want to be alone for now" Donnie sighed, trying to get the conversation back on track

He wasn't expecting his dad to fight him on this too much. Of course, when House had revealed how dangerous Donnie's condition actually was, his dad had stuck to him like glue, especially at first. But still, Donnie could see that the more time passed the more he had started to withdraw, eager to drift back into the astral plane like he had been doing for weeks

Sure enough, instead of trying to insist or settle himself on the chair resting by his bedside, his father gave him an sceptical look

"And you will rest?" He asked raising a single eyebrow at him

He wasn't that bad!

"Yes" Donnie muttered, unhappily

His father gave him a once-over, watching him intently with pursed lips but, after that terrible conversation at the dojo, Donnie didn't really have to fake the bone deep exhaustion weighing on him so, in the end, the scrutiny ended with an accepting nod

"Alright, you do look very tired so I will leave you to rest" conceded his dad. Success! Now he could– "but I will take your laptop because I wasn't born yesterday, my son"

Aw sewer apples

Trying his best not to show his disappointment and reveal that he had definitely been caught trying to pull one over his sensei he waved him goodbye

He did groan once the door closed behind his back though

Damn fathers and their perceptiveness!

Chapter Text

Donnie sighed in absolute exasperation. There goes another morning wasted, and lunch wouldn't be long now so he couldn't exactly go with plan B yet!

He resigned himself to mentally check the list of all the different things he should get ready while he still could.

Soon enough, Mikey was coming to give him lunch.

Donnie wasn't in the mood for conversation though

His brother spent some time trying to cheer him up without success… and also convince him to make another laser cannon for him –Oh, Mikey, never change– before starting to ramble about his latest video game exploits.

Annoyingly, even as he seemed distracted, Donnie felt Mikey carefully watching him, forcing him to finish all his food even if he didn't really have the appetite for it. Any attempt at even writing something down on a piece of paper was met with stubborn opposition so he had to resign himself to wait until his brother left.

Once that was over he finally left the bed, ready to assess the damage done to his lab.

The door of the lab was, of course, locked. His dad had left with the only set of keys and it was not an easy lock to open either! He had a lot of dangerous things in there that he didn't want Mikey to mess with. But really, what kind of ninja would he be if he didn't know how to break into his own lab?

Taking one of the lockpicks hidden in his arm wrappings Donnie started to work on the lock. He felt his tongue stick out of his mouth as he moved the thin metal tool around, letting out a small hum of triumph when it opened with a small click.

The good humour vanished when he slipped inside, taking in the state of the once perfectly neat room.

There was a hole on the ground.

Now, he had heard Leo describe it, but he hadn't actually expected it to be this big. Had he put too much power in the weapon? Now rushing to the centre of the room –and they had been very lucky it had been here and not closer to any of the walls or one of his most volatile experiments– he ran one of his hands against the smooth edges left by the blast.

What if it had been pointed towards one of the doctors? What if it had been Raph!?

No, no use of making himself panic. It had been fine, nothing had happened

Suppressing a shiver Donnie marched towards his desk next. He pursed his lips at seeing the ooze canister out of place, just laying there.

He put it back into the correct spot

Now that the most important part was done he wandered around the place, arranging the objects the doctors had moved during their incursion, taking care to carefully put away the laser cannon's power source since now it was not a good time to test how much he might have gone overboard with that.

Next step was the hole itself so… somehow rebuild the floor and add a layer of epoxy resin that would seamlessly fit with the one covering the rest of the lab…

This was going to take a while

Just when he was cleaning up, the familiar headache that had been bothering him for some time started to become harder and harder to ignore and a sudden feeling of weakness started to spread through his body

"No, not now" he muttered, drying his hands in a hurry and rushing towards the exit.

He fumbled with the handle, wasting a few precious seconds

His plan had been to lock the door again to hide his tracks but the lockpick slid out of his fingers as he put a hand over his mouth, trying not to vomit.

He didn't move to pick it up.

Donnie barely managed to reach the table as his knees wobbled, hands meeting an unexpectedly soft surface. Since when was his bed here? A bed in his lab? Wait, not the lab he was… Where was he exactly?

He felt like he was suffocating. He wasn't getting enough air.

Right, he was in the clinic waiting for his brothers. They would come for him.

He had to do something first though didn't he? He had prepared something for the next time he had a crisis, right?

He could feel his own breathing becoming laboured, louder and louder but he still felt like he wasn't breathing, getting dizzier by the second, the room spinning around him

He didn't know how long he spent like that, his arms fighting to push him upright as he felt his strength leaving him when, by chance, his eyes caught on a small button laying on the pillow.

The emergency button.

With weak, fumbling fingers he pressed it, letting his body relax more once it was done. A shrill, annoying sound echoed around him and his forehead fell against the thin mattress, his knees finally giving out.

Maybe he could rest his eyes for a bit. It wouldn't be a problem right? Just for one second

"And they hate us!" Exclaimed Chase.
Foreman had lost count of how many times his co-worker had repeated the same question as he sat, leg bouncing up and down "What did that even mean? Does that include, well… us? Should I be worried about an alien invasion?"

Foreman had privately been asking himself the same and still couldn't think of a satisfying answer

"And then there's the canon that can, according to the turtle monster, disintegrate 'a few buildings'!" Chase continued, gesticulating wildly

"He had to be lying, right?" Asked Cameron. Her voice was slightly hopeful, contrasting the wide eyed look of shock she had been sporting since their conversation in the strange martial arts dojo the turtles had "There is no way that could be true"

"I think he was downplaying it" Foreman said, not even trying to hide the dread in his voice "he didn't want to make his brother even angrier and you didn't see it. It absolutely looked like a toy and then…"

And then part of the ground had just vanished.

Cameron was right, this should be impossible, but Donatello had demonstrated that he is capable of casually building things the US government can only dream of using scraps salvaged from the dumpster.

Maybe the kid had been lying but he wasn't inclined to find out and the fact that he was accepting this, that he was considering that the kid could actually be telling the truth about the weapons, about the aliens went against everything he had believed his whole life

Foreman was good at adapting. He was smart and had dealt with extremely weird and close to impossible situations while working under House, but one thing was a patient suffering from a strange condition that made you question your career, and another was having to reconfigure your entire worldview into something that could fit giant turtles, aliens, space guns, impossible engineering and whatever else they would casually throw at him next time they talked. Suddenly his world had become so much bigger and he didn't know how to deal with that

"Just what did you get us into?" Foreman asked, turning to the man that had carelessly thrown them in this situation

"He's hiding something" House said, mystifyingly. The man didn't bother to look at them as he sat staring at nothing, deep in thought

"Yeah they all are" Retorted Chase, exasperated

Foreman frowned. The way House had said that... There had to be more to it. What–

The sound of a loud, screeching alarm started to echo around them

Immediately, House stood up, his distant look replaced by one of determination as he left the room in a hurry, his team following closely behind

"What is that?" Asked Cameron, clearly alarmed

"I think they're throwing us a surprise party!" He said, voice dripping with a mixture of condescension and hostility "I am not sure about the choice of music though, I am more of a rock kind of guy"

As they approached the medbay, almost drowned by the loud blaring, Foreman could hear a cacophony of multiple panicked voices coming from the room

Foreman's hurried pace turned into a full sprint as he dived for the door.

Inside the medbay their hosts were crowding the bed in a state of panic. Leonardo was the closest to them, just a single step into the room, next to his father while Michaelangelo and April hovered near the centre. Raphael was kneeling on the ground, shouting and trying to shake their patient awake as he laid face down on the mattress.

In less than a second Foreman assessed the situation and, with a shout of "Stay back!", made his way to their patient.
Without wasting another moment he laid him on the bed correctly as his colleagues moved in to help.

Foreman shook him slightly, calling his name, trying to check if he was responsive. When it was clear that he was fully unconscious Foreman moved to check for a pulse. He waited for a few seconds and… Nothing

Donatello's heart had stopped

Chapter Text

"He's not breathing" Said Chase from his side

"Cardiac arrest!" Foreman exclaimed in turn as the whole team went into motion.

Cameron was already moving in for chest compressions before he had fully finished the sentence, her brow furrowed with determination as Chase picked an ambu bag and started ventilating the patient. However, the moment she pressed her hands against the kid's chest she hesitated.

Foreman watched her turn towards House while he connected their patient to the monitoring equipment. She was looking at their boss, expression twisted in confusion and desperation, wasting precious time. Before he could intervene or even speak up, however, Cameron was roughly pushed away by the blue turtle.

Foreman paused for only one second to watch as Leonardo started the chest compressions. It seemed to be the same technique you would use on a human and he clearly had some practice with it, the depth and frequency were adequate so Foreman let him work as he got back to connecting the machine. At least the shell seemed to be convenient in one aspect, they didn't need to put anything behind Donatello's back for better support

"If you really want to do that yourself then don't stop and follow our directions" Called House from behind him "We can't afford prissiness right now"

Blue nodded blankly, not showing any signs of hesitating as he continued to work with laser-like focus.

Watching the confidence and self assuredness on the kid's part, Foreman guessed that they were all probably trained in basic first aid. Smart, since they didn't have the opportunity to call an ambulance or go to the hospital if anything happened, probably Donatello's idea

Cameron immediately recovered, moving to help Chase as Foreman finished with the monitoring equipment

"Defibrillator!" He shouted at House, hoping he would get the hint and help.

Instead, the man simply stood there, his eyes fixed to the display screen of the monitoring equipment.

Seeing that their boss wasn't in the mood to be useful, Foreman went to get it himself and closed in on the patient with the defibrillator pads in hand. Since they didn't actually have the time to hesitate he put the electrodes directly on the plastron, hoping that it would work

He was about to tell Leonardo to stop so he could check the rhythm when, suddenly, House moved towards one of the cabinets, pulled a bottle of something from one of them and swiftly filled a needle with it after taking the cap off with his teeth

He walked up to Foreman, positioning his arm between him and the patient

"Stop" He commanded firmly.

Foreman's lips thinned. Had he forgotten something from the books? Instructions on how to deal with cardiac arrest that didn't follow the usual protocol? Defibrillation should work on them, their hearts were susceptible to electrical impulses just like everybody else's and he couldn't think of a better way to place the electrodes

"You too, greenie" House continued, giving the turtle a nod.

The other three doctors were quick to disagree.

"Don't listen to him–" "You have to–" "Keep going–"

"He has a pulse!" House announced angrily, his voice cutting through the commotion like a knife

"No, he doesn't" Foreman retorted angrily. He knew how to check for a pulse. The kid didn't have one.

Leonardo seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second but he kept at it, lifting his head to stare at House with the same creepy, unmoving expression he had during the 'lecture' in absolute silence.

To this display of defiance, House simply raised an eyebrow

"What did I tell you about following directions?"

There was a beat and then, after sharing a quick glance with the rest of his family, Leonardo slowly stood down, arms dropping by his sides. His eyes never leaving House's

Foreman watched the monitor with trepidation, there was no sign of cardiac activity. Just a flat line. If this went on for more than eight seconds he would take over. No matter what House said he wasn't going to let the kid die because his boss had been struck by an absurd idea on how their strange physiology worked or some other 'brilliant' revelation

Foreman had allowed House to make a lot of mistakes on his watch but he was not going to sit idly and let him kill the kid.

House immediately moved closer with the needle in hand, carefully injecting its contents into the patient as Foreman watched intently, keeping track of the time. Four, five, six…

Then, slowly but surely, Donatello's heart rate started to pick up

"It's just incredibly slow" House said with an almost feral grin

A wave of relief passed through all the room's occupants.

He politely ignored the tearful cries of relief and the shocked bawling coming from their hosts, centering his attention on Donatello's condition

"That's impossible" Gasped Chase, eyes wide with wonder

"It's sinus bradycardia" House explained smugly "For our audience here it means that his heart is beating normally, just slower than it should. You're usually under 40 bpm according to your brother's research which is already low but not unheard of in some cases of endurance athletes, cyclists and marathon runners. Shelly here was on… what, less than 12 since we didn't notice a pulse?" He said, shaking his head in disbelief

Foreman internally agreed, unable to hide his shock as he started to put some of the equipment they no longer needed away, his eyes never leaving the monitor displaying his patient's vitals.

"Which is absolutely ridiculous but then again, everything about you is" continued House, throwing the used syringe at the trash without moving from his spot next to the patient. He overshot, the small object bouncing against the wall and hitting the ground to the disbelief of their hosts, who were still trying to recover from what had to be an extremely upsetting experience and now were looking at House as if he were the actual anthropomorphic animal in the room "It's definitely a problem and not something natural judging by the symptoms though" House mused thoughtfully as if nothing had happened

He lifted up the small bottle in his hand, showing it to the rest of the room's occupants

"This little drug called Atropine accelerated his heart rate" he said more quietly, looking slightly impressed by the clear improvement. And it was one hell of an improvement, Donatello was already in the 30s and climbing higher "We might not even need a pacer"

"S-so he's fine?" Asked the red one hesitantly, clearly nervous and hopeful but trying badly to hide it. His bright eyes, still wet with tears, were wide open and his voice was slightly hoarse "You cured him?"

House laughed in his face.

"Oh, no. Definitely not" He said

Hiis excitement was palpable as he smiled widely again, ignoring the multiple searing looks coming from every direction.

Foreman hadn't thought their rat father could seem intimidating before but looking at his expression now he took a note not to piss him off in the future

"We've found something even better" House exclaimed "A new symptom!"

Chapter Text

Raph stood by the door, feeling strangely detached from his body as Mikey pulled him into a relieved side hug while the doctors interrogated a now awake, but still visibly in bad shape, Donnie. They moved fast, almost without pausing as they instructed him to do various things, poking and prodding at him incessantly.

Normally just the sight of it would have made him see red but right now Raph felt like he had been hollowed out. Like Stockman or some other evil scientist of the week had scooped out his body from the inside, leaving behind only an empty shell

He had been the first one to arrive, to see Donnie collapsed on the bed completely unresponsive even as he tried shaking him awake, giving no signs of hearing him no matter how loudly he called his name…

It had been terrifying, sure. One of the worst moments of his life, which was definitely saying something. Another great incident to add to the ever growing list of horrible, blood curling things he's experienced. He had been in situations that would make anyone have nightmares for the rest of their lives. He had seen his brothers go through things that would forever leave a mark and been unable to help…

And that was the crux of the matter wasn't it?

This time he hadn't arrived too late, he hadn't been restrained or on the other side of the city while his brothers got hurt

Nobody had to stop him from helping because he had been too busy panicking

He had been there from the beginning and he had done nothing.

Raph had just screamed and cried while that human scientist, House. Who didn't even care about his brother's well-being, who Raph had almost badly injured just hours before, had been the one to actually save his life.

What if he had actually gone through with it? He had wanted to teach him a lesson so badly, had felt rage boiling inside him and, at first, when House had gotten close to the ooze he had internally wondered if becoming a horrible hideous monster would teach him a lesson.

He had felt amused by the thought of it

If April hadn't been able to get that information, if the doctors had been lying then would Donnie even be alive right now? He had gambled with his brother's life because he had been a stupid idiot and let himself be manipulated

So he watched them work, stared blankly at them the entire time and felt no surge of anger

Because he knew they weren't the problem

Mikey's voice and the way his hold suddenly tightened around his midsection snapped him out of his reverie

"Raph?" He asked with sad, worried eyes "Are you alright, man?" Mikey watched him intently, almost as if he was searching for something "Donnie woke up. He's fine now it was just… kinda scary for a moment" he said with a nervous laugh.

Raph stared at his little brother in silence. His face was open and sincere.

He knew that Mikey would never judge him, that he believed in him and trusted him no matter how much he didn't deserve it

"I-I need to go to the bathroom" Raph managed, gently pushing him away as he rushed out of the room

Raph hurriedly moved through the lair, feeling strangely weightless as he opened the door to their empty dojo.

He mechanically went through the usual motions, slowly setting everything up,

Still, he finished sooner than he had expected and found himself in front of his old, heavy punching bag

He hit the bag once, twice, three times, barely moving it, like he wasn't even trying. It was like he couldn't muster any of his own strength. Every time one of his strikes landed it was as if Raph were very far away. His movements were dreamlike.

This wasn't working

He started pacing the dojo, walking in circles

He needed to do something. There was a tightness in his chest. It was unnatural, uncomfortable. He wanted it gone

A few seconds passed before he realised he had stopped in front of the tall, old mirror resting against one of the walls of the dojo

He stared at his reflection dumbly.

Frankly, he looked like shit.

His reflection stared at him, a perfect picture of fear. Rapid breathing, wide, haunted and puffy eyes still wet with tears, an expression of shock twisting the mouth.

There were a lot of words to describe just how pathetic it looked at that exact moment, but the first thought that had come to mind when he saw it was "weak"

There was a sudden crack as a thin, transparent line cut through the middle of his reflection's face, dividing it in half.

The sharp pain climbing up his arm only registered a few seconds later and with it came something else

A familiar, burning feeling like hot, molten lava spread from his hand to his chest, all the way through his limbs and eventually filling his head

There was a single, euphoric thought crossing his mind as he reeled his fist back, preparing for another punch

Finally

Chapter Text

Eventually, of course, it died down and Raph found himself standing in the middle of a terrible mess.

Giving one critical look at his surroundings Raph came to the conclusion that he might have gone slightly overboard

He had to clean all this up didn't he?

Careful not to step on any of the broken pieces of the now ruined mirror Raph picked out a broom. He ignored the quick, burning flashes of pain coming through every small cut running through his knuckles while he worked.

As he swept away, the puddles of blood started to smear all over the floor, leaving dark, ugly stains everywhere.

He should have thought this one out more. Did blood stains come out of tatami mats? He knew that they weren't exactly easy to clean up when they were on whatever material their wrappings were made of…

Well, what was done was done so, with a shrug, Raph decided to take out all the potentially dangerous sharp objects before focusing on the stains

He threw it all in the trash with a satisfying thump

He was kneeling on the ground, looking critically at the stains and thinking about finding some hydrogen peroxide –that's what worked the best with blood in his own experience– when the door slid open, revealing a very distracted Leo that jumped at the sight of him.

Immediately, the calmness that Raph was finally managing to get a hold on vanished and he hashly stood up, facing the newcomer with a scowl and crossed arms

"Oh, Raph. I didn't know you were here" Leo said as he let himself inside

Was being left alone for just a couple of hours too much to ask? Did he really have to endure a lecture about not caring properly for their home now?

He didn't want to face Leo after what happened. After Raph had almost let Donnie…

"Get out" He snarled

Instead of listening, his brother took a few steps towards him, watching him suspiciously.

Raph felt his eyes narrow. Of course Leo wouldn't just mind his own business

"Is that blood?" Leo eventually asked, attention fixed on the ragged, red mess that now made up his right hand

Caught off guard, Raph closed both hands into fists, moving them towards his sides, trying to keep them away from sight.

"You should be worrying about Donnie" He answered, the words leaving his mouth with a lot less bite than he had intended

Leo didn't listen to him, taking one of Raph's hands between his and carefully inspecting it to assess the damage.

Once he was done he stared into Raph's eyes, in clear question.

They stood there for a few moments, watching each other as Raph tried not to let the dam break.

But then, his left hand, the one his brother wasn't holding, started to tremble.

He felt like a kettle about to burts, the familiar sting of bitter tears started to gather behind his eyes, getting harder and harder to ignore and soon he was unable to hold it in any longer

"I didn't do anything, Leo!" He confessed with a jagged, broken cry "I just stood there like an idiot while Donnie was dying in my arms"

Leo stopped short, as if he had been surprised by his outburst before sighing, silently taking this in. Raph took that opportunity to pry his arm away from his brother's hold, protectively tucking it against his chest, bracing himself for whatever was to come, looking to the side to discreetly wipe his tears away

However, when Leo spoke again, he attacked from an angle he wasn't expecting

"I understand" He said, lowering his eyes

A sudden, virulent wave of hatred bubbled up in Raph's chest

No he didn't. He couldn't. Little mister perfect always knew exactly how to act during a crisis. That was exactly why he had been named 'leader', a label that he wore everywhere with pride, even at home where those roles built with sweat and blood didn't even exist. When he should just be Leo

He had been the one to assist Donnie when the doctors had faltered and the one able to make the call of listening to House when it had been necessary. When their brother's life had been hanging by a thread

And now he was trying to pretend that he could understand what it was like to be Raph? To make every possible mistake, to falter at every step, to hurt the people he loved the most and then be unable to fix anything?

Out of what? Some attempt at instating a sense of camaraderie in the team? One of those 'trust building exercises'?

He was about to blow up on him, to shout something, whatever came to his mind when Leo, seemingly realising his mistake, gripped his shoulder tightly, almost painfully and met his eyes

The familiarity of it almost gave him whiplash

Leo's bright, blue eyes were alight with all consuming terror

"Raph I understand" He repeated solemnly. With the most sincerity and vulnerability Raph had seen him show in a very long time

Suddenly feeling out of his depth, Raph took a step back

"What are you even doing here?" He asked, shrugging Leo's hand off and turning away, getting some distance between them.

It should have been the first thing he asked Leo, honestly. He had taken it upon himself to keep an eye on their guests and had been hovering around them constantly since they arrived and now he was retreating to the dojo? Something had to be up with that

"I can't exactly meditate in my room for now" Leo said with a small shrug

The next words came out of Raph's mouth before he could stop them

"I'm not taking up too much space…" he mumbled

His brother seemed to hesitate, his lips becoming a thin line

Yeah that made sense.

Raph tried not to outwardly react to the plain rejection. Why had he even suggested that? This was stupid, his brother wanted peace and quiet he wouldn't–

But then Leo nodded silently, closing the space between them

"You need to–" He started, with that obnoxiously nagging tone he got when he talked about proper care of injuries

"Yeah I'll do something about it" Answered Raph with a dismissive wave and a roll of his eyes.

He couldn't suppress a small, relieved smile

He walked to one of the cabinets where they kept some first aid supplies, disinfecting and wrapping up his knuckles with the ease and self assuredness of someone that had done this plenty of times. Leo still walked up to him, making sure that he had done it correctly.

Some days it annoyed Raph to no end. Today, he let him do it without a single protest

Once it was over Raph positioned himself facing the punching bag, giving it a few experimental kicks.

The difference was palpable and immediate. Instead of that strange, uncomfortable numbness Raph gave it his all, a euphoric explosion of energy bursting from his chest.

Exactly what training should be like

After a particularly satisfying hit he turned around, looking over at Leo.

That's when he realised that his brother hadn't moved from his spot, still standing by the first aid box as he stared into space.

Raph's gut twisted slightly. A faint feeling of worry starting to bloom inside

"You aren't meditating" he pointed out, dumbly

The reaction his brother gave was both intense and unexpected

Leo flinched, violently and suddenly. Like he had just been slapped.

His expression automatically closed off as let himself drop to the ground in place, not bothering to walk to the centre of the dojo, instantly folding his legs and adopting a perfect meditative pose in record time

Raph had fucked up

"No! I didn't mean it like that, it's just…" He was quick to say, desperately trying to find his words, a way to take back whatever mistake he had made

Luckily, his fumbling seemed to do the trick because slowly, hesitantly, Leo started to open his eyes to meet Raph's.

Whatever he saw in them must have been enough because he began to shift in place, carefully relaxing his posture as he untucked his legs, hands leaning against the ground as he looked up at Raph with a deep, dark, hollow expression.

"I am a bit tired" He admitted, head dropping down with a defeated, grave look on his face. Like it was one great personal failing.

Oh, fearless… His brother could be such an idiot sometimes

Carefully telegraphing his movements, as if he was trying not to spook a wild, frightened animal, Raph crossed the room, stopping next to Leo

"Me too" He said, sinking to the ground and letting his shell gently fall to his brother's side

Leo didn't move away

"Oh, you broke the mirror" Leo whispered a few moments later, having just noticed the empty frame in the far side of the room.

To be honest, it was a wonder his brother hadn't seen it sooner. Leo was very observant and the mess wasn't very subtle. The once proud and elegant mirror now only had a few pieces still stuck to the frame, some of the wood had even splintered away after a particular vicious hit

Raph's shoulders hunched defensively, his heart skipping a beat

"What" he gritted out. The solid, reliable presence of his brother resting by his side suddenly felt a lot colder "Now you're gonna lecture me or something?"

"No I just… always hated that mirror" he answered softly

Raph deflated, his frame relaxing one again as he took a deep, calming breath

"Oh, yeah" he said slowly in realisation "That's right"

They stayed like that for a while, sitting next to each other in companionable silence.

Supporting each other without needing to say a word

Chapter Text

"Sir? Excuse me" Cameron said, following the humanoid rat out of the medbay and into the sewer tunnel.

The perfect picture of a woman on a mission as her shoes clicked against the hard concrete floor with every hurried step

He turned, stopping in place and looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

He didn't seem happy with her, which was understandable. House had completely ruined any chances at being in positive terms with the man after that showing in the medbay and she was probably guilty by association in his eyes but, since she at least had his attention, she would consider it a success so far.

Cameron extended her hand cordially in greeting

"I am Dr Cameron, I don't think we were introduced" she said in an even, professional voice

The man glanced at it for a moment, not making a move to take it. His eyes came back to her, cold and calculating

There was an instant where her mind shuddered to a halt and she wondered if she made a mistake

Then slowly, the rat reached out, hand closing around Cameron's.

It was slightly unsettling, the way his thin, bony finger closed around it with inhumanly sharp and thick nails, the fur brushing her skin…

She didn't let it bother her, though, meeting his deep, dark eyes and not pulling her hand away

"You may call me Splinter, Dr Cameron" He said, releasing his hold. His expression losing some of its coldness as he spoke

Her first thought was that there was no way that his actual name was Splinter

But, then again… she didn't really know much about the naming conventions of giant rats did she?

She nodded politely, internally hoping she had made the right call and this wasn't an elaborate prank

"Of course, Mr. Splinter" She said seriously

"Just Splinter please" He dismissed with a wave of his hand, resuming his walk but now much slower and keeping his eyes on her, inviting her to follow him.

Encouraged by this success, she cleared her throat, gently starting to steer the conversation to where she wanted it to go

"I wanted to talk to you about some procedures your son might need, if that's alright" she said "Of course, what we end up doing is ultimately your choice"

To this Splinter gave her an amused look and huffed slightly, shaking his head

"I am thankful you're taking my opinion into account but I am sure Donatello is perfectly capable of making that choice himself" he said, slightly hurrying his steps.
A clear attempt to end the conversation

Cameron wasn't deterred through, and matched his pace

"In these cases, because of his age, we usually defer to the parent" she insisted

"I promise I won't get you in any legal trouble, Dr Cameron" he said with a smile and a faint amused hum lacing his words as he stopped before one of the doors.

He stood there facing her, his hand extended towards the thin, sliding door as he watched her with a sharp, unreadable look

She didn't move

Judging by Leonardo's behaviour the rat would not simply leave her like that and, sure enough, when it was clear she wouldn't leave, he sighed, motioning at her to follow him inside

The room was incredibly sparse, reminding her of the one they had been given to discuss the case. That one though, had been stripped down to accommodate them while this one seemed to be barren by nature.

The floor was covered in a carpet like the others but, aside from that, there only seemed to be a couple pieces of furniture, a low, wooden table, two strange chairs that lacked any legs at all –the seat itself touched the ground and was covered by a cushion– and a single thin mattress with old, mismatched bedding and a pillow.

"What else did you wish to discuss?" He asked, looking slightly resigned as he directed her to sit on one of the chairs.

Now that she was closer she could actually see that the legs had been clearly cut off at some point.

As she settled down on it she tried to focus her attention fully to the man

"I have noticed that you haven't been present in a lot of things regarding your son's health" she said, trying not to beat around the bush as she mimicked the man's sitting posture "And that you've been letting Leonardo take care of it"

He nodded calmly

"It makes me happy that you worry about them, it's not something we have come to expect from humans"

Cameron waited for him to say anything else.

He didn't

"He is too young to be making those kinds of decisions" She insisted.

Cameron saw how the man's ear twitched a few times, rapidly jerking towards the side and back before he spoke

"Donatello has more knowledge about this than me" he said finally, in the same calm, pleasant manner. As if nothing had happened "His insights on whatever you want to do will be far more useful than mine"

"This is not a matter of who has the most medical knowledge" She stressed, frustration starting to taint her voice "Our duty as your son's doctors is to inform you on the options you have but you are still his father and the one that should make the final decision"

The rat closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He wasn't even listening to her, becoming visibly more and more annoyed.

"That may be how you handle things outside of here but this is not how our family operates, doctor"

Cameron's lips thinned

"There is a reason we do it that way" she said "I am trying to help you and your family but you have to understand why I'm concerned"

"Dr Cameron" the rat started slowly "please remember that we are not like any of your other patients and this is not the same situation. Do not presume you know what's best for my family"

"I am just trying to help your son. House is an… excellent doctor but, as you have seen, his methods can be unorthodox. I am trying to ensure that you are the one making sure Donatello's best interest is our primary focus but for that you need to be more involved"

If someone could find out what exactly was happening to the kid it was House. She had no doubt that he was the best person for this job, considering the strangeness of the situation and House's ability to think outside the box but… she knew better than anyone just how much collateral damage he was willing to accept.

He was manipulative and he could hurt the kids badly in an effort to find out the cause of Donatello's ailment. He was reckless and had played with the lives of so many fellow humans on a hunch... Someone needed to make sure to keep Donatello's wellbeing in mind.

But, with the way Splinter was reacting, it seemed like she was only inconveniencing him, judging by how he flippantly tried to dodge this conversation, eager to get back to… silently sequester himself in his own barren room, apparently

No wonder Leonardo didn't seem eager to talk about his father's activities. It must hurt to know just how low in his list of priorities they were

Cameron's lips thinned in displeasure at the thought, leg jerking slightly as he uncomfortably sat there, looking at the rat.

Donatello, the rest of the kids. They needed someone to fight for them and if it wasn't their father then it would have to be her.

She braced herself in preparation.

It was looking more and more like their little talk would only get worse from here

Chapter Text

"We are not like any of your usual patients and that doesn't only apply to the way we look or the way our bodies work" Splinter was saying with a frown "I am sure that your advice is well intentioned and I truly appreciate that but do not the me how to raise my own children" he concluded, his last words hard and stilted as annoyance changed into anger

Not letting herself be cowed by this, Cameron leaned forwards, setting her palms on the table, raising her voice slightly

"It doesn't matter what you are. What matters is that they're your children and they're too young to have to deal with this by themselves. It's not fair to ask this of them"

Slowly, Splinter crossed his arms, hiding them behind the sleeves of his robes, looking at her in silence before closing his eyes and breathing deeply

"Dr Cameron… I was fifty two years old when I found four infant children, not even old enough to crawl, abandoned to the mercy of a cruel world that would do despicable things to them" he said, voice firm and dark, sending a shiver down her spine "At that moment I knew I was the only one who would see past their appearance and give them a chance at a good life"

He stared at her with huge, piercing eyes. Unflinchingly.

Like his son's, Splinter's eyes were inhuman. Twin pools of darkness that seemed to almost swallow the light around them.

The way they fixed on hers made her feel exposed, vulnerable

"Our lives aren't pretty, they aren't safe and my children don't have the privilege of being shielded from the harshness of the world. You know what it's like, Dr Cameron?" He practically spat at her and Cameron watched, stunned as the man's dark fur started to bristle, making him look bigger, more dangerous "Knowing that if my sons were ever discovered the kindest fate I could hope for them would be to be brought into a zoo and displayed like animals? Maybe become the pets of a rich man that would keep them in their home as decoration?"

She could imagine it clearly. The four kids trapped behind bars, kept like trophies for display. Her first conversation with Michaelangelo came to mind, when he had pleaded for their help.

Would he try to ask for the same to every person gawking at them, treating them like a spectacle?

Would anyone even listen?

The man continued, oblivious to her thoughts

"The only way for them to live is to stay a secret and for that to even be possible I have to keep my own children trapped in an awful, damp, reeking sewer for their entire lives" He said, practically hissing his words "This kind of smell seeps into your skin, Dr Cameron. It doesn't come out no matter how many times you attempt to wash it off. It follows you wherever you go and claims you. But my children don't even notice or care. They are too used to it"

They didn't see anything wrong with it. These were their lives.

She could hear the ache, the pain, the fear lacing the man's words. His hands were tightly gripping the table now, leaving shallow cuts in the wood

"My sons will never see a life outside of that. They will never have a future" The man admitted, his grip tightening even more, making the table groan in protest

"I would do anything for them to have an opportunity like that but the world is a dark, terrible place that would never see them as anything other than monsters. I could not give them a future" he repeated, the deep sorrow in his expression so plain to see even through his strange features "so I gave them my past and instead of adding happiness to their lives I dragged them further into pain and misery. They think that they are invincible so they carelessly throw themselves into dangerous situations, surviving sometimes only out of sheer luck"

Her mind went back to the extensive list of trauma described in Donatello's history but before she could say anything the man spoke again, the next words making her heart skip a beat

"When I found them, barely a few days old, I- I considered if it wouldn't be a kinder fate to drown them in the dark sewer waters"

He looked haunted, terrified by his own words

"Some days I believe I made the wrong choice" he practically whispered, almost too soft for her to hear.

Her first instinctual reaction was disgust. A wave of pure, unadulterated revulsion at the fact that this man had considered that as an option, that he regularly thought about this, thought if he should have…

But it slowly turned into hollow, bitter resignation.

She had seen people do worse in far better circumstances after all.

And she couldn't help but think about herself. About what she would have done in that situation

"It all comes down to my choices, Dr Cameron" he continued "Everything they are, everything they've been through I have only myself to blame. No outside influences, no other people I can fault for what my family has become. I tried so hard to make right by them but…" his ears slowly dropped, laying flat against his head now "if this is the result…"

How could someone live like that?

Then, taking a deep, shaky breath the man released his hold on the table. He took his eyes off Cameron to look down at it, brushing his finger over the newly made marks.

"My sons feel deeply" He continued, as he visibly forced himself to settle down once again, adjusting the sleeves of his robe and brushing off an invisible spec of dust off of it "Like any children they dream and yearn for a future that will never come so I will let them make their own decisions as much as I can"

He leaned back, shoulders sagging as he sighed deeply.

A few seconds passed before she realised that the man was waiting for an answer

"So you should be there for them" she managed, her protest sounding weak to her own ears. She could not do better at the moment "I understand that as a parent it must be so hard but… You should be there for them. They're too young. They're just children. They need help"

They didn't just need help, they needed a life, for everyone to accept them as people. They couldn't keep living like this

"I am an old man, Dr Cameron. Old and powerless" The rat said, shaking his head "I can't. I can't help them when they leave our home. I can't see them die before I do. They're everything I have. I am… I am too old and I have suffered immense loss. I can't bear to do it again. Not them, not my precious, young, bright sons…"

A soft, almost imperceptible tremor started to run through his voice. His words uncertain for the first time since he had started talking

"My back was already old and hurting as I helped them take their first steps. They haven't yet lived and I could already be losing them. I can't help Donatello. I know this and I will have to accept whatever happens" he finished.

And then, slowly, without meeting her eyes the man abruptly stood up

"I believe that you have overstayed your welcome here" He said, immediately sobering up and gesturing towards the door.

Looking into the man's eyes Cameron knew that there wouldn't be any more chances. No more sense of propriety or politeness would earn her more wiggle room

"Do not come to this room again, Dr Cameron" he said simply as he rushed her out of the room

He shut the door in her face.

Chapter Text

Mikey was sitting on Donnie's table, gently swaying from side to side and swinging his legs back and forth as they hung on the edge. His hands moved, brushing the surface of the table, spreading the mess of papers sitting in piles around him all over the place.

No one was paying much attention to him at the moment. April, Donnie, F-man and Rob guy were talking animatedly, attention fully focused on their conversation.

Normally he would have left with Raph, or Leo, or his dad, or House….

But not today!

Leaving with Raph had been a very close call but he had looked on the verge of a "don't talk to me in three hours or I will leave the lair to beat randos up for the rest of the day" meltdown and they definitely did not need that at the moment.

It was totally fair game when he calmed down a little though.

He kicked a bit wider this time, accidentally hitting a chair.

The regret came hard and fast as Mikey watched it slowly fall backwards with wide, panicked eyes, silently screaming at it to stay still

No!!! Don't fall!!

But destiny didn't seem to be working for him so, almost in slow motion, it finally tilted too far towards the wrong side, making a loud clash when it met the ground.

Mikey gasped, immediately looking up to gauge the other's reaction

Luckily, nobody seemed to be mad at all. They didn't even glance up to him for more than a second, too busy discussing this and that.

Most of it flew over his head, honestly.

The doctors had said it was probably fixable and that's when he had stopped listening. If there was even a single way of making Donnie better they would be able to find it.

Everything would be fine and the only lasting consequences of this would be four new human friends

He wasn't dumb. He knew how much of a close call that had been. He may not understand the doctor's lingo but he had seen enough tv to know that a flat line in a heart monitor was bad

It had been absolutely terrifying but Leo and the doctors had come to the rescue like he knew they would

He felt a small smile tug at his lips. Trusting had been the right choice after all

He had known that not every scientist had to be evil. Donnie was one! And he was great!

But their conversation was dreadfully boring so even if he liked the human doctors and had decided to stay while they talked to his brother and April, he still felt the need to roll his eyes as they kept repeating long, complicated technical terms. Why did people insist on making things a lot more difficult than they should be?

"You'll have to stay connected to this device for at least 24 hours, do not take it off. We want to monitor your condition" was saying Robbie, sticking a couple of weird pads in Donnie's plastron while Mikey tried to reach the fallen chair with his foot, extending his leg as far as he could without falling.

So what the man basically meant was yadda yadda Donnie needs to stay with the machine so we know when things go bad

Donnie didn't protest, accepting this with a nod

"I'm sorry I didn't notice the bradycardia" he said, taking Mikey's attention off from his very important task as his now narrowed eyes ceroed on Donnie. That definitely wouldn't do "maybe it would have made things easier to–"

"That's why we're here" Foreman interjected with a soft, amused smile and a shrug, trying to reassure his brother.

It seemed to work, since Donnie immediately closed his mouth, clearly chantised

Very good, F-man was getting extra dessert tonight

Well, considering that they all had saved Donnie's life, everyone was getting extra dessert? And dinner, probably?

He should check with Leo what the correct way to treat visiting doctors that just saved your brother's life was. Better to know the usual course of action before Mikey could start improvising.

Wait. Wasn't he in the middle of something?

Right, the chair. He swiftly went back to it, his arms starting to tremble as they took his entire weight, toes almost brushing the seat as he waved his leg at it

"The atropine worked better than expected and your heart rate seems to have stabilised for now but depending on what the underlying cause is you could need a pacemaker" Robbie said, glancing at Donnie's plastron with a frown

Mikey stopped moving

"I would prefer it if we didn't do any type of surgery or invasive procedure unless it's absolutely necessary" answered Donnie, looking somewhat uncomfortable. That made two of them! "I do have the equipment for it in case of emergency but, for obvious reasons, that should be only a last resort. You don't know how to operate on people like us yet"

Invasive? Surgery!? Operate!?!?!?!!??

Mikey's jaw dropped

"You'll cut Donnie open!?" He asked, settling back on the table and looking at the man in absolute horror "You can't. You can't do that" he said. A little, maybe slightly hysterical, laugh escaped from his lips and he turned his head, sending a wide eyed stare at Donnie and April's direction.

Donnie's mouth twisted into a sad, unhappy frown at that. Can it bro! They're talking about you here!

"Sometimes performing a surgery is the best way to heal someone but we are not doing that unless we absolutely have to" explained Foreman patiently

That wasn't the problem though

"They don't want to resort to that either, Mikey" intervened April gently "They know what they're doing and they're helping, okay?"

"But still" said Mikey with an uncomfortable grimace. He got what April was saying but the thought of Donnie sitting motionless in the operating table while the humans…

It was not a good mental image. In fact, it was a no good very bad mental image. Why were they even considering this again!?

Seeing his clear uneasiness, Donnie sighed

"Mikey. We're just going to talk about boring medical stuff" he tried, with a soft, pitying smile "Why don't you go check on Raph? He's been gone for a while hasn't he?"

His train of thought screeched to a halt at that, the uneasiness blooming in his gut was immediately replaced with offense. He wasn't five years old! He wouldn't leave the room so the "adults" could talk it out!

"Because I don't want to" he answered, raising his eyebrow.

Besides, the last time he had left Donnie alone he had literally dropped dead, there was absolutely no way he was letting him out of his sight

April and Donnie exchanged a swift, silent glance and Mikey crossed his arms angrily, scowling at them in clear challenge.

Really!?

Just when he was about to protest, Foreman spoke again

"A pacemaker isn't that big of a deal. It's just a small machine that will help your brother's heart to work properly" he said calmly and to the point "We just need to put it in place. It's not a dangerous procedure. A lot of people have one"

Mikey brought one of his hands to the centre of his plastron without thinking, feeling a faint, familiar bump in its surface and suddenly he was feeling a bit under the weather as he watched the two men flanking his brother's bed.

Raph had been taking too long hadn't he? And Leo too.

"I'm going to go check on Raph but not because you told me to" he pointedly told Donnie, jumping off the table and flipping the chair back in place with his foot, chin held high as he left.

He let the door close behind him with a slam and, without stopping for a single second, walked straight to the dojo, looking to catch Raph in the middle of aggressively assaulting the punching bag, probably in need of hugs.

However, when he sneakily opened the door, head peering through the threshold, he was greeted with a different sight.

His two eldest brothers sat together in the far left side of the dojo, near the cabinet, with their backs turned to the entrance of the room.

They weren't hugging. Their arms hung limply to their side as they sat. But, with the way they leaned against each other, Leo's head settled on Raph's shoulder and Raph's hand held tightly in Leo's grip, it didn't seem like they needed to.

They were clearly having A Moment™

He let them be with a small smile, sliding the door shut, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Then, thinking it twice, Mikey opened the door again and sneakily took a picture of the scene

He would be saving that one for future blackmail. It looked kinda adorable so Raph would absolutely hate it.

Satisfied with this result, Mikey turned back around with a single energetic nod, walking a few steps before realising that he didn't really know where he wanted to go.

He wasn't very eager to go back to the medbay, now that he thought about it.

Donnie had been right after all. He was getting pretty bored and when Mikey got bored it wasn't very unusual for things to end in disaster. He tended to poke at everything and that had gotten him in trouble a few times –in his defence that "very fragile flask" looked awesome and he had been paying attention to Donnie's explanation for at least five full minutes before trying to mess with it!– but now didn't seem like one of his classic Mikey maneuvers would be well received

So, deciding to be responsible –See? He could do that sometimes!–, Mikey did another turn and headed to the couch instead, jumping over the back and landing on the cushion with a soft thump.

He sighed deeply as he turned the TV on and wiggled slightly in place, trying to get more comfortable.

April could take care of Donnie for a bit, just until Raph and Leo got whatever that was out of their system

Chapter Text

"So, Michaelangelo, right?" Asked the older Doctor, peering curiously at Mikey with an expression that didn't suit his face well. He stood a few feet to his right, apparently busy reading something "Male, I presume?"

From where he was laying, Mikey raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, man" He said, with a pout. He had already introduced himself. He thought it was pretty clear that he was a dude

Not bothered by his reaction, House gave a small, half smile, setting down the folder he had been holding

"Not as clear as you might think" He said in a way that vaguely reminded him of Donnie when he was about to lecture them on some very important and supposedly interesting –but actually very boring– science thing. Mikey was ready to tune him out –he was very good at that and proud of it! He's had soooooo much practice– but, even the greatest make mistakes, he supposed, because he still heard House's next words loud and clear "It's not that easy to see the difference in a turtle just by looking. You can try with the shape of the plastron, for example. These methods are bit subjective, which I already don't like, but I don't think it even applies in your case"

The doctor approached, crossing the neat, white room in just a few steps.

Huh, he wasn't using his cane today

He came to a stop by Mikey's side, eyeing him up and down

"Just look at the way your shoulders are shaped, the way you and your… brothers move around the city" which, wow, rude. He was definitely not going to let that slide Get ready for the prank of your life when… whatever this was was over! "Your body's structure is so different from a normal turtle's that this approach is useless"

Normally he would have just told him off then and there –nobody insulted his family except, well… them, sometimes but definitely not weirdo doctors even if they made good videogame buddies– but… Something about this felt odd, the conversation sounded strangely familiar and it left Mikey uncharacteristically out of words

"Yes, yes, whatever you say" dismissed House, rolling his eyes

"But I didn't say anything" Protested Mikey

This time, House ignored him, turning his back to him

"And your age?" Asked doctor Chase from his right

"Wow" laughed Mikey nervously as he whirled around with a start "who's the ninja here Robbie? I didn't see you there!" He said in good humour.

Chase's answer to that didn't fit though

"No, I'm not writing it down. You know how big of a mess that would be? But it is being recorded, Wouldn't want to lose all this valuable information, would we?" He said, tilting his head towards a camera mounted on a tripod in the centre of the room.

Mikey hadn't noticed its presence until now

"So… Michaelangelo, mutant turtle organism, fifteen years from mutation according to the subject, male. Nice to finally meet you" He said, slightly inclining his head in greeting with a huge smile. It felt weirdly mocking

"But we already know each other" tried Mikey squirming a bit in place. There was… something was very weird about the way he was looking at him

"It's not like I actually trust you" clarified Foreman from behind him "but it is useful to know that you have a concept of gender and age. That shows that you have a higher cognition than the animal you're supposed to be"

Hearing his new friend say that was like a slap to the face

"What?" He asked, heartbroken. He thought they had connected and now he was comparing him to an animal? "W-what are you even talking about? F-man?"

"Still in a joking mood, that's something" Interrupted House with a chuckle. A creepy, unsettling, familiar chuckle that sent a shiver down Mikey's spine "I will, of course, check how the information you gave me differs from reality" Not wanting to lose sight of him, Mikey strained against the bindings in his arms and chest, twisting his head as far as possible to watch House starting to move a few things around, putting some of the metal objects laying on the table in a neat looking line. There were… too many knives in there for comfort but House didn't seem to mind. His gait had an almost cheerful quality to it as he moved, his long lab coat brushing against the ground "The radiographies show that you still have a lot of growing to do so what you said about being a teenager fits. Mutagen is a fascinating substance though. It can promote growth in adults and it tends to keep actively changing the organisms affected by it even years after exposure! So that's not a guarantee. But I will learn all your secrets. Of that you can be sure"

"Stop, stop talking" He managed. The doctors didn't know about the ooze right? Did Donnie mention it? "Please stop"

Something was wrong, something was very wrong. Mikey couldn't move, his hands felt heavy, his whole body felt weirdly slow and floaty at the same time. He couldn't get away. He needed to get away

"Kill you? Definitely not. It would be a waste" Chase said

Mikey's stomach dropped

"These things you have to do patiently, step by step. If I kill you after the first exploratory surgery I would be wasting a great source of information" Continued Foreman "I can't guarantee that you will be in great shape afterwards but you will be alive"

"Stop!" Shouted Mikey, finally snapping, he started to trash wildly against the restraints, feeling the strange, unyielding material bite into his skin. His heartbeat started to roar louder and louder in his ears and he felt sweat rolling in his forehead but he was unable to move. His bindings were too tight and locked him perfectly in place.

It was too hot. Something very warm was pressing against his back and the weird lamp shone directly into his eyes. It was very uncomfortable. He didn't care about being too rude or pissy to their guest or whatever. They were the ones being assholes. He wanted out but he couldn't escape. He needed… he needed help. Right, his brothers could help him. They were home. His brothers would come

"Raph! Leo! Donnie! Help me! Please!"

He shouted with all his might but the three doctors didn't even seem to care. Chase just walked towards the camera and started speaking in a clinical tone of voice without paying him any mind. Mikey didn't hear anything he was saying over the sound of his own panic.

He shouted and shouted but there was no sign of his brothers. Why weren't they here? Why didn't they come? They had to!

"I promise I won't prank you anymore. Help me please. I'm sorry!" He tried

"They are not going to come, Michael" Cameron moved to pat his shoulder but her hand stopped just inches from it, as if she was afraid to touch him. On her other hand she held something that looked like some kind of strange drill but, instead of the usual solid metal piece at the end, it had a serrated blade.

Mikey felt his heart leapt to his throat at the sight of it

"What's that!" He shrieked "What are you doing!?"

"It's for the plastron" She said, moving it closer to his face to let him get a better look. The sight of the shiny and incredibly sharp looking blade wasn't reassuring in the slightest, specially when she did something with her hand and it started to move so fast it blurred "I'd prefer a scalpel but it's too sturdy for that"

She rapped at his chest with her knuckles once.

Mikey looked down, abruptly noticing that most of his body was covered by bluish sheets, leaving a small, square window where he could see most of his plastron. When did that even happen?

"Don't worry, it stops when it touches soft tissue see?" She said, demonstrating that by activating the tool and putting one of her fingers against the edge. Sure enough it stopped, not even leaving a mark on the glove that covered her hand

Mikey didn't care how safe it was supposed to be. He wanted out and told her as much but, ignoring his begging, she hovered over him, bending over the operating table and approaching slowly with the saw

"I apologise for the lack of anaesthesia but, well… It is very difficult to predict how it will work on a mutant, even for me, and it could interfere with the results"

She didn't seem the slightest bit sorry

Was it because he had kidnapped her!? He had apologised. He had even meant it! He would never do it again. He wanted to make up for it. This wasn't right. He hasn't wanted to scare her

He screamed and begged even as he felt the saw cut into his plastron

Chapter Text

Chase left the room with a relieved sigh.

That had been too much excitement for one day.

"I do hope we won't need to resort to the surgery" was saying Foreman with a frown as the door closed behind them "it would be too risky. No matter what the kid says"

After Michaelangelo had left, Donatello proceeded to go on a long, extensive rant about all his ''surgical tools'' and the many measures he had taken to make sure the so-called medbay was as clean as possible –even listing off all the disinfectants he regularly used in the room– and explained that the book he had given them included a chapter detailing how to close an "opening" in their shell and the ways they could work around having to actually make one. All while still trying to make clear that this should be only a last resort.

It had been an interesting experience. But, like Foreman, he wasn't keen on going through it first hand

To the question of his little clinic actually having a functioning pacemaker that could be inserted in a patient they were met with a vague "I'll take care of it" which probably meant that he was planning on building one himself.

All in all their conversation hadn't been exactly reassuring…

Really, what else did Chase expect

He'd never thought he would miss the dumpster diving and general breaking in but at least that didn't carry the risk of being vaporised or having to deal with a very immediate and violent retaliation if they made a mistake while operating on an alien adjacent organism.

To tell the truth, he hadn't realised how much he took for granted at Plainsboro. Here they were completely isolated from the rest of their peers and any external sources of information –Chase had to admit that the books House had brought could actually be life-savers since their hosts wouldn't allow them to consult the internet– and that wasn't even touching the lack of equipment! Because, as the necessity of a homemade pacemaker had proven, even if the medbay was extremely well stocked it was still limited.

"What I hope is that we can figure out what he has" he said, slightly frustrated "I still think that the fact that they're turtles is–"

The sound of a very familiar voice coming from the living room interrupted his musings

"Over here!" called House, waving at them from the armchair.

He had clearly spent some time there, looking entirely too comfortable. His legs were propped over the armrest as he sat sideways on the armchair, nor even taking his eyes off the tv to look at them while he waved them over

Unfortunately, their boss wasn't alone. Sitting in the far corner of the sofa Chase could see the red turtle giving House the usual, angry glare.

Part of the new routine, apparently so no use in complaining about it. Maybe it was this one's turn to spy on them

Taking this in without saying a word, Chase and Foreman exchanged a look and then swiftly walked over to House

"He seems–" Chase started before being angrily shushed by the red turtle.

Annoyed, he simply raised an eyebrow at him, not slowing down his pace as he rounded the couch, steadily meeting his eyes –he still made sure to give the turtle a wide berth as he passed him, of course. He wasn't actually looking for a fight– but honestly? The whole territorial display was really starting to get old and–

Oh, well. That made more sense

Laying there, placidly sleeping, was another one of the turtles. There was a rumpled orange bandana hanging limply on his neck which meant that this was… Michaelangelo, probably

So that's where he had gone after losing his mind at the thought of his brother being "cup open".

Chase suspected that the turtle had a very skewed view on what a surgeon did, judging by the way he had gaped at them like they were about to stab Donatello with the nearest scalpel the moment they mentioned the possibility of a surgery

Though he would never tell Cameron that, the whole affair had been slightly amusing

The way the turtle tried to hide his anxiousness while still clearly panicking over his cartoonish perception of the medical field had been a sight.

On the other hand… Chase dreaded the prospect of being interrupted mid-operation by a hysterical, monstrous turtle. Michaelangelo seemed… impulsive and he could get the bright idea of breaking into the "surgery room" in a misguided attempt to save his brother. Which wasn't as amusing as it sounded, specially when one took into account the fact that their hosts were armed at all times

His presence, however, did mean that Raphael's tantrum hadn't been entirely unprovoked so Chase backed down, somewhat pacified.

He even made certain to keep his voice as quiet as possible when he spoke next. This was their home, after all, and just because House had decided that the best place for discussing the differential was next to one of the turtles while he was taking a nap, it didn't mean that they had to be asses about it.

Besides, Michaelangelo was the one that reminded him the most of an actual kid

"He seems stable for now. No new symptoms" Chase informed House swiftly

Foreman nodded in agreement

"He doesn't have an MCT but there was a Holter in their clinic so we'll know when the arrythmias become a problem again" his co-worker added, in the same carefully quiet tone

The red turtle settled down, relaxing his posture, satisfied by the fact that they wouldn't be screaming their lungs out and wake his brother up, probably

House hummed thoughtfully, closing his eyes and twirling his cane between his fingers, making it spin

"We'll–"

He was interrupted by a short, loud gasp.

Surprised, the three doctors stopped, looking over at the napping turtle for a moment

Did they actually wake him up?

Fortunately, Michaelangelo simply sighed deeply, turning his back to them still fast asleep

House rolled his eyes at the interruption

"As I was saying we–"

There was another –now significantly louder– gasp, followed by a quiet murmur of a few soft, intelligible words as the turtle's posture shifted again

Not one to enjoy being interrupted or not being the centre of attention, House became visibly annoyed, letting the cane slip gently to the ground and bouncing it against the corner of his seat with a few, quiet taps.

"You know, we are trying to work here" he said pointedly to Raphael as if he was somehow responsible for the disturbance

The turtle, who had been watching his brother with a bored expression, immediately tensed, directing his permanent angry scowl at House

"Then get out of our living room and go to the place we left for you" he growled

House tilted his head, like he was thinking something over. Chase was familiar enough with the man to know when he was trying to rile someone up and the way his eyes sharpened, face twisting into a faintly amused smirk was a prime example of it

"But here it's so much more comfortable" Retorted House with a pout.

Like most people that had to deal with House for an extended period of time, Raphael didn't seem to find his theatrics amusing

"Oh yeah? I'll show you–"

Chase tuned out their bickering, attention suddenly caught on the sleeping form laying on the couch. Was it his imagination or were the orange turtle's movements getting more frequent, more intense?

A few seconds passed while he was contemplating this when, abruptly, the placid expression adorning the turtle's face morphed into a pinched, pained one

Chase frowned.

Oh, he was having a nightmare wasn't he?

Chapter Text

Michaelangelo was shaking his head from side to side now, making breathy sounds of protest, his arms and legs starting to twitch.

He let out a soft, strangled shout.

Should Chase intervene? He gave House and Raphael a quick glance. They seemed to be too engrossed in their argument to be of any help or even notice what was happening

"Stop! Stop!" Michaelangelo was mumbling faintly.

Chase knew that he shouldn't simply rush into action but… the turtle wasn't showing any signs of settling down

"Night terrors?" He eventually asked a worried looking Foreman over the turtle's now more energetic trashing and strangled screams.

He felt slightly puzzled at the thought. It would never have occurred to him that the turtles could have this problem

Before his co-worker could give him an answer, an ear splitting shriek resonated through the room, finally claiming the attention of the other two, who turned in unison. House seemed slightly surprised, propping himself upwards with his elbows as he peered at the kid with a curious, sharp expression. Raphael, however, froze completely, his face dropping with concern. With recognition. This wasn't something new to him.

The struggle became even more violent. Michaelangelo's head was banging against the armrest, arms and legs hitting the sofa and even his own shell with fast, wild motions

If this kept going he would end up hurting himself. They had to wake him up

Decision made, Chase didn't waste any more time and gently shook the kid's shoulder while keeping his distance, careful to avoid any flailing limbs. Personal safety was always a priority in these scenarios and, after seeing some of what they were capable of, he definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of any stray swings

The other turtle scrambled towards him, demanding him to stop as Michelangelo's eyes finally started to open

What Chase was expecting was some confusion, disorientation… the turtle would calm down after that, maybe feel a little embarrassed and that would be that.

Instead, when Michaelangelo finally woke up and his eyes fixed on Chase's own an expression of absolute, all consuming terror filled his face, his mouth dropping open with shock and his pupils shrinking into tiny pinpricks

He immediately tried to scurry back before Chase could even say a word, pressing himself against the far end of the couch

Chase just stood there, feeling absolutely petrified for a moment while the kid remained in this frenzied state.

This couldn't just be the kid being startled, it couldn't just be the fact that he had been woken up by a stranger after a nightmare because Michaelangelo's full, agonising fear and panic were entirely directed at Chase. There was no doubt about it. His wild, piercing, frenetic eyes focused on him as the turtle howled like he was being murdered.

Chase had never experienced anything like it before and, for just an instant, it made him feel as if… As if he were the monstrous one.

He didn't have time to act, too stunned to say anything before being pushed aside by a very agitated Raphael.

Slightly frazzled by the manhandling and still feeling wrong-footed by Michaelangelo's reaction, Chase watched him steadily approach the panicking turtle in silence.

Raphael's hands were raised in a pacifying gesture and slowly, telegraphing his movements, he settled down on the sofa next to the other turtle. His eyes were wide and crazed but his voice was kind and the softest he had ever heard the kid talk

"It's alright, it's okay we got you out, you're fine" he tried to reassure sweetly, moving to gently hold the other's arms in place, stopping him from hitting the couch.

It wasn't a secret that Chase was unsettled by their hosts. The way they talked, almost exactly mimicking human body language as they looked at him with those big, reptilian eyes was something out of the uncanny valley. It set his teeth on edge. Now, however, that feeling was completely eclipsed by the screams, the gentle pleading ringing on Chase's ears

Because if he weren't watching, if he didn't know that it was them, he would have mistaken them for children.

"They're gonna cut me open! They're gonna cut me open!" Michaelangelo was screaming with that high voice of his, the voice of a teenager that isn't done growing yet. His eyes were tightly shut as he hysterically shook his head.

Michaelangelo lashed out with a blind kick, hitting the other square in the face.

To his credit, the normally short tempered turtle took it graciously, not even flinching. He was fully focused on comforting his distressed brother, talking in a soothing, comforting but still firm voice. His only reaction was to scoot slightly closer to him, making it harder for Michaelangelo to land another blow.

"We got you out, Mikey" he said, shielding the doctors from view with his shell, his grip on the other's arms becoming more firm, making it even harder for him to move "It's Raph, okay? You're home"

Despite his efforts, Michaelangelo wasn't calming down and, in his panic, seemed to be using all his strength to try to dislodge himself from Raphael's grip.

"Do you need help?" Foreman asked, stepping closer to the struggling pair. Behind him, House remained still as a statue. The gears in his head were visibly turning as he stared into space, looking past the kid shrieking in the sofa

"You're making it worse" Raphael barked at them, finally managing to end the scuffle as he tightly wrapped his arms around his brother.

Foreman stopped his approach, lifting his hands in surrender. So, in the end, the human doctors simply stood there in silence, waiting them out

As it went on and on, Chase started to squirm in place. This was clearly a private moment and it wasn't pretty. They weren't welcome here, as the turtle had effusively informed them and they didn't even have the excuse of this being their patient but… As focused on this as House was, he wouldn't be happy if they left to let the turtles deal with this alone. He would probably interrogate them when this was over. Ask what their thoughts on this situation were

This would have been a lot easier if House's new hobby had actually been turtle surgery instead of their… everything

Chapter Text

Eventually, Michaelangelo's protests started to die down, his eyes darting madly between the three doctors as he took a deep, shaky breath before going completely limp in his brother's hold.

A long, painfully heavy moment of silence passed as the kid trembled gently in the clear aftermath of an adrenaline rush.

Michaelangelo settled back on the sofa, his brother not releasing his grip, hugging him while he ran his hands gently over the other's arms and muttered quiet reassurances until Michaelangelo's laboured breathing started to even out.

"Oh" He finally said between big gulps of air, sending them an uncomfortable, grimace "I uh… Yikes" He managed with a nervous laugh

"Yeah, yikes" repeated Raphael softly. There was a faint, worried frown in his face as he released most of his hold, only keeping one arm wrapped around Michaelangelo's shoulders. He peered at him intently, in silent question

The orange turtle seemed to almost shrink into himself, looking impossibly smaller as he partially sunk into his shell. He looked vulnerable, young…

His red rimmed eyes were still bright with tears

"Are you okay?" Chase blurted out without thinking, the words escaping from his mouth before his brain could catch up to them

"What did I just–" Started the red one, moving to stand in an attempt to get in Chase's face. He didn't get very far, immediately being held back as the other turtle practically wrapped himself around his midsection, stopping him mid lunge.

Despite this, the violent reaction made Chase reel back, startled.

Christ, the one time he tries to help and the turtle almost bashes his face in

"No, no. It's fine!" Michaelangelo tried, sending the doctors a quick, apologetic look when his intervention only seemed to spur his brother on, making him redouble his efforts to free himself from his grip "Raph, it's fine" he insisted with an affronted hiss, starting to look more annoyed the longer Raphael fought him

"They're humans. Human scientists" Growled the other kid with such an incredible amount of venom in his voice that Chase got the urge to take another step back, honestly fearing for his safety "I'm not gonna hurt them" he said now in a much gentler tone as he turned to look back at his brother "Just kick them out of here. They're bothering you"

Michelangelo shook his head.

"I know I freaked out for a minute there" he admitted with an awkward half shrug and a small smile, like it was no big deal. Maybe it would be more convincing if he wasn't covered in sweat, his voice still hoarse from all the screaming "I was just having a gnarly nightmare but it's totally fine now. See?"

For some reason he started waving at them in demonstration with a bright, enthusiastic grin

Chase had to suppress the urge to wave back at him on impulse

Of course, this random display of… Something? Whatever that had been? Didn't seem to reassure the other.

His thrashing had stopped but he still wasn't calming down, his face twisted in an angry snarl

"Bullshit" Raphael spat "It's been months since the last time you've…" he trailed off, avoiding his brother's eyes "and now that they're here the nightmares suddenly come back? You're not fooling anyone"

Michelangelo opened his mouth to retort but his brother didn't give him a chance to speak up

"No, I don't want to hear it" he roared, waving his arms around angrily "You're the last one that should be having to deal with them" There was a deep, loud grumble underlining his words as he spoke next, making him sound like an angry, snarling dog "I should have known something was up with that I'll tell Leo–"

Instead of being intimidated by this, Michaelangelo rolled his eyes and groaned before sighing deeply

"I want to be with them!" He said with a firm, steady voice. Even Raphael looked surprised by the sudden seriousness in his brother's face "This isn't me trying to put on a brave face or whatever" he stressed, waving his hand in clear exasperation "It's not a sacrifice. What happened with… him is not their fault so I won't make it their problem. I want to be friends with them and I won't let that jackass get in the way of that. No. Way" He concluded slowly, without faltering for a single second.

Chase watched as the two turtles stared each other down.

Both of them were holding their ground. Raphael had his arms crossed, still making that strange, unsettling sound while Michaelangelo narrowed his eyes at him, clearly unwilling to back down as the tension in the room kept growing.

Unsure of what to do, Chase turned to House, looking for some guidance. The man had been strangely quiet during this, after all.

Of course, as it was always the case, when House was actually needed he wasn't present. His mind was clearly elsewhere as he seemed to be having one of his "revelations". He wasn't reacting to the conflict happening in front of him, eyes lost in the distance. It was as if he had been frozen while trying to leave the couch, his body weirdly twisted to the side, cane still held in his lap.

So he wasn't going to be of any help for now.

But the conversation the turtles were having, they way they talked… Michaelangelo's expression of pure terror had been sincere. You couldn't fake something like that.

His mind came back to the smoking, gigantic hole he had made on the medbay, the last time he had dismissed their insane ramblings as an impossibility

Michaelangelo's fear had a history. And judging by their argument…

Chase didn't like the picture it was painting

"Someone hurt you, badly. A… a researcher?" Asked Foreman, taking the words out of Chase's mouth

For just half a second, Raphael's eyes flew towards his brother's chest, breaking the staredown they had locked themselves into

Both turtles stayed silent, exchanging a silent, knowing look

Leonardo had probably told them not to say anything. But this… This was important. It wasn't something they could just ignore.

Thankfully, before the turtles could close off again, House finally spoke up.

"You've mentioned someone named Bishop before. Someone that reminded you of me" muttered House in a thoughtful voice, still looking out of sorts

Those words seemed to do the trick. It was like a bomb had just gone off. Raphael's head immediately whirled to look at House. His jaw was clenched, shoulders hunching defensively as tension lined his frame.

Well, that was definitely one way to do it

Chapter Text

Michaelangelo's eyes widened at his brother's change in demeanour. He gave the doctors a wide eyed, alarmed look, shaking his head at House, clearly trying to get him to leave the subject alone. The damage was already done, however. Because, taking advantage of his brother's distraction, Raphael wrenched himself out of his hold.

Both Chase and Foreman carefully backed away from the couch at this, exchanging an anxious look.

House's statement had worked on riling the turtle up to provoke him into letting something slip but… This could go very badly

Thankfully, Raphael didn't make a move towards them this time, content with staring them down from where he was.

"Yeah, that's him. And guess what?" He asked, sending the three doctors a wide, nasty grin. There was no sign of amusement in it, eyes completely devoid of humor and blazing with hostility "Most of the cops in this city are just glorified gang members but if you're able to find the few of them that aren't, that's who we'll end up with" he said slowly in a low, sharp, tone of voice "You find a way to tell your coworkers? To make the government or the military believe your crazy ranting about sewer monsters and show them where we live?" He started to pace in front of the couch without losing sight of them, as if he was guarding it "Anyone in authority or with connections finds out about us? Bishop will know" he said, spitting the name like it was a curse.

Raphael didn't stop his rant, completely incensed as the doctors watched him in trepidation

"Last time that man got his hands on one of us we had no idea where to look. Mikey just… banished out of thin air. He knows how to make someone disappear and he has so many advantages over us. We got lucky" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air "April heard a few rumors and was able to track them down to a military facility in the city. We weren't even sure he was there" He stopped for just a moment, standing in place and giving them a mean, short, slightly hysterical laugh as he shook his head "we were- we were just desperate and when we busted in there what we found was o-our little brother strapped to an operating table, chest cut open while Bishop rummaged through his insides like it was a treasure hunt"

Chase's eyes moved to Michaelangelo. The red turtle was exaggerating. That couldn't have…

His mind went back to the kid's screams. How his expression had dropped, becoming absolutely terrified while they discussed his brother's possible surgery. They way Donatello himself had given them a lecture the multiple ways of closing injuries on their plastron as if he was speaking from experience

All the hostility they had shown them, the uneasiness, the fear…

They were sapient.

It's true that Chase wanted to reveal their existence to the rest of the world but really, putting aside Cameron's bleeding heart and impossible expectations, it was obvious that someone should know of them. Especially considering their apparent involvement with alien invaders.

Yes, Chase still wasn't getting over that

This situation wasn't sustainable and their discovery would even be good for them in the long run, probably. They lived in a sewer for God's sake

Of course, it didn't hurt that Chase himself would benefit from this but it wasn't an entirely selfish decision

And yet, they were still clearly sapient. People's reaction to them, the way the broader scientific community and the rest of the world should be approaching this discovery…

They should be studied, of course, but…

Michaelangelo was watching his brother from the couch with wide eyes and a soft, concerned expression in his face. At some point during the rant, he had put his bandana back in place and now both his hands were running through the long tails.

It was an incredibly childish gesture

A new species should be studied, they weren't a natural occurrence and no one could deny that their discovery would be groundbreaking

But not like this

"If he finds our home there won't be a rescue because all of us will be there at the dissection table" Raphael continued. He didn't seem to be talking to them anymore, muttering to himself "Even if you don't tell anyone where we live, if you give him enough clues he could get a hold of one of us and I am sure he'll learn from his past mistakes and not make it that easy for us this time. I don't think we'll be able to pull off a rescue again"

He closed his eyes, taking a slow, calming breath. His hands were clenched into tight, trembling fists

"What you don't get" he managed, darkly "is that just by being in our home you are putting our lives at risk. But instead of understanding why we aren't exactly happy with you being here you prance around like you own the place, judging us and acting like us living our lives is an inconvenience"

He laughed again, loudly.

It was an ugly laugh. A horrible, helpless laugh fueled by fear and despair that sent a cold shiver through Chase's back

"But hey! Don't worry about it" He said faux cheerfully with a one armed shrug once he was done "Maybe you'll get something out of this! Maybe Bishop could let you enjoy the show if he likes you enough. You could ask him for the privilege in exchange for our lives. What do you think about that?" He asked again, his green, almost glowing reptile eyes entirely focused on House "That interesting enough for you? Front row seat to see our messy, bloody murders"

The two younger doctors sent a horrified, questioning look at the orange turtle who nodded in agreement

"Dissect you?" Chase heard himself ask. It was a stupid question and he knew it the moment it left his mouth. He knew first hand what some people could do as long as they thought they could get away with it "But you tried to speak with him, right?"

"Of course he did" Answered House instead, his piercing look fixed on Michaelangelo as he spoke.

He finally stood up, taking some Vicodin before approaching the orange turtle

He walked towards him at a leisure pace, casually stopping when Raphael stepped between them, giving the doctor a challenging look

"Kid doesn't shut up" he said casually, showing no signs of being intimidated by the huge turtle in front of him, simply eyeing him for a single moment before his eyes went back to Michaelangelo "They're fascinating because of their intelligence and similarities to humans as you should perfectly know" he told Chase, voice laced with mockery "That was probably a feature, not a bug"

At this the turtle in question started nodding energetically

"Oh yeah, of course I did, but the guy sucks majorly" Chase noted that, curiously, the kid had ignored House completely, directing his answer to him, not even turning to look at the man "I was like 'wow dude, stop those are my intestines' and he was like 'nooo I am an evil supervillain and I will steal your kidneys' not cool at all"

The previous hostility in his brother's demeanor softened slightly as he visibly tried to keep up the angry facade, trying to stop the begrudgingly amused smile blooming in his face

"That… didn't happen"

Encouraged by the reaction Michaelangelo's face split into a wide, bright grin

"I was like nooooooo don't cut my shell" he said, pitching his voice higher and making an exaggerated swooning gesture, dramatically letting himself fall to the side.

Not looking surprised by this in the slightest, Raphael immediately moved to catch him with one arm, preventing him from actually falling to the ground with a roll of his eyes.

Michaelangelo bounced back up with a grin, not wasting a single second before extending his arms theatrically

"And he said 'muahaha I need a piece for my collection of body parts I keep in jars' " He continued, ending the act with a very solid attempt at an evil mad scientist laugh

"Yeah, right" said Foreman with an amused roll of his eyes, trying to keep the joke going in an attempt to help the kid relieve the palpable tension still permeating the room "Of course you were awake to chat during it"

Both of the turtles flinched at that, the orange one's easy smile immediately freezing in place while the red one jerked back, eyes falling to the ground, all the amusement in his face suddenly gone

No. That couldn't…

No

Chapter Text

Foreman's expression immediately changed into horrified surprise, jaw dropping open in shock as he stared at the two turtles with wide, agitated eyes. Even House seemed to stop in his tracks for just an instant, looking absolutely flabbergasted

That couldn't be true. The other turtle had made it sound like he had been operated on and there was no way that could have happened while he was awake

Raphael put a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

Michaelangelo grabbed his hand, smile softening but staying just a bit lopsided, a bit uncomfortable…

Did it really happen while he was awake!?

Raphael was the one to answer, noticing their shocked reactions

"Yeah well, sedation is too expensive for animals like us" he grumbled between gritted teeth, eyes still fixed on the ground

"That's not true it's- it's… You don't operate on actual animals with only neuromuscular blockers" Chase replied. A smidge of pure horror slipping in his voice

The two turtles gave him a matching, confused look. Right, they were clueless. This wasn't Donatello.

"Paralysis" Foreman clarified slowly "You don't use only paralyzing agents when doing an operation like that, even on animals" he insisted emphatically, desperately trying to get his point across

"Yeah" added Chase, nodding his head "You have to sedate them. Not doing so, that…"

That would be akin to torture. Scratch that. It would be torture plain and simple. It wasn't medicine, it wasn't science, it was something a specially sadistic 18th century "doctor" would have done.

Not even House sunk that low

"Paralyzed?" Asked Michaelangelo, tilting his head and furrowing his brow slightly "who said anything about that? I was just strapped to the table" he added, making a few vague gestures with his arms, exemplifying how the so called 'restraints' supposedly looked like

He was looking at Chase with some mixture of curiosity and slight confusion, like he hadn't just said one of the most horrifying things he had ever heard

Distantly, Chase recalled the moment Michaelangelo had left the medbay in a hurry, how Chase had to suppress a snort at the kid’s overblown theatrics

Suddenly it didn’t seem funny at all

Raphael watched the three doctors with a faint frown.

He was not getting it either was he? The usual mistrust was there but he was also clearly puzzled, as if they had just said something entirely unexpected

"He wasn't exactly worried about Mikey's comfort" said Raphael with a raised eyebrow. He spoke slowly, like he was teaching a toddler why the sun disappeared every night

"There must have been something" Chase tried "Some localised numbness? Were you intubated?” the kid’s expression didn’t change, giving him a blank unchanging look. Clearly a no then. Chase didn’t stop though, a sharp, uncomfortable feeling starting to climb on his throat “There was no difficulty breathing!? No lightheadedness!?”

The way they had talked about this Bishop, like he was a boogieman with eyes everywhere had made it seem as if he was from the government or at least had contacts in it, important ones. Someone like that could spare a few grams of propofol.

Chase shook his head. It didn’t make any sense. He had to made them understand that

“Look, what you said about it being too expensive-”

"It would interfere with the results" The orange one said, cutting him off. He looked uncomfortable, eyes wide with some unidentifiable emotion and lips forming a thin line

"What?" Asked Foreman

"Bishop didn't say it was too expensive, he said it could interfere with the results" Clarified Michaelangelo

"That's idiotic" intervened House "That is not how any kind of surgery works, no matter what you're doing with it. You would be risking the patient’s life regardless of how well they are immobilised” he jerked his head at the kid once “Those are the surgery scars right? They are mostly healed, almost unnoticeable but the opening was big. You can't use local anaesthesia on an operation like that” he concluded

Chase felt his eyes widen. He hadn’t noticed anything. He fixed his attention on the kid, trying to find what exactly House was talking about.

There were a few scratches and many natural marks on it. He looked for a scar in the centre that– Wait. Maybe that was the problem wasn't it?

Their shell was solid. The technique had to be different. The way you operated on a turtle was…

That's when he caught it. A perfect square, so faint that Chase would have been completely unable to see it if House hadn't pointed it out. Perfectly symmetrical and unnatural, like a window. The remnant of an artificial opening in the kid's chest

“Pain, even by itself, puts a strain on the body and if the patient were conscious and aware of what was happening there’s also the added stress and fear" was saying House "All of that combined would cascade into a dangerous adrenaline cocktail going straight to the blood and affecting the entire organism. The effects of that natural reaction would be intense and vastly different from the normal state of the body. Saying that anaesthesia 'interferes' with whatever he wanted to see is, frankly one of the most imbecilic things an actual doctor could say"

Unless the goal was to see them in extreme pain, to make them suffer

Judging by the deep, dark expression the man was sporting, House was definitely considering that option.

Foreman was suspiciously quiet too, watching the conversation with an unreadable expression

"And that's not even mentioning the risks. With that amount of pain your body could very well go into shock. There could be uncontrollable, dangerous movements you can't stop with any kind of 'restraints' which is definitely not a good idea when sharp knives are near vital organs" House concluded

To this, Raphael's only reaction was to cross his arms

"Wow, I am sure Bishop will love that fascinating piece of information the next time he tries to gut one of us" He said sarcastically with an exaggerated roll of his eyes

"There's not a scientific explanation on why you wouldn't use anything, not even a logical one that's…" Chase added

There was another moment of silence

Honestly, the three doctors were still stunned, sending each other a few silent looks

"Great to know that he was going the extra mile to make him suffer then, that's absolutely fantastic" was Raphael's conclusion "And now you know where your taxes are going so everyone learned something today" he snaked at them with clear derision

It was just needlessly sadistic that's what it was

How could anyone do that to them?

And… How could Chase be willing to facilitate that?

Chapter Text

"Yeah, we know Bishop's a total dickward" Intervened Michaelangelo nodding sagely.

The flippant tone of his voice, the way both turtle's body language was mostly just resigned, completely unsurprised by the doctor's revelation was grating Chase's nerves

"Especially me" the kid continued, completely oblivious "I can personally tell you that he's absolutely the worst. Zero out of ten person in the Mikey scale" There was a pause and then, the kid's body language shifted, becoming a lot more uncertain, almost shy. He bit his lip, averting his eyes from his brother when he spoke next "Also! Uhhh Raph" he said, clearly hesitant "Could you ehm… Not tell Leo? About the nightmare thing?" He asked, clasping his hands together in a exaggerated begging gesture

Raphael gave his brother a blank, sceptical look, to which Michaelangelo responded by flailing wildly with his arms visibly panicked

"He would flip out!" He exclaimed, desperately "he's already in hovering mode. Could you imagine if he knew!? He's also very Leo y'know? He'd absolutely be sooooooo Leo about this"

Raphael held his brother's gaze firmly for a few seconds before sighing

"Yeah, you're right. He doesn't need that right now" he said reluctantly, shaking his head, like he hadn't wanted to make this concession "And Donnie… Donnie shouldn't know either"

Michaelangelo started to fidget a bit with his hands

"Ah… I think he already does?" he said with a nervous laugh "I might have freaked out a little when they mentioned having to cut Donnie up"

Raphael's face whirled around. The speed in which the turtle changed from gentle concern to blazing, murderous anger would have been comical if Chase weren't the one having to face him

"They're going to what?" He asked, voice dangerously slow. Behind him, Michaelangelo let out a small, embarrassed "oops"

"None of us particularly want to resort to that but he doesn't have the option of going anywhere to get treatment so, to make sure he's healthy, we might need to operate" Said Foreman firmly, trying to reassure the kid with a professional, firm voice. Not being cowed by the turtle's deadly glare "And even that is a big if. We just wanted to check if we have everything in case we need to do that but, for now, we are still figuring out what's wrong with him. If we do end up resorting to that it won't be the same as what your brother had to go through, though. We are not trying to hurt him"

Raphael didn't seem eager to let this go but, before things could escalate any further, Michaelangelo settled a hand on his shoulder.

They exchanged a quick look and Raphael took a deep, long breath, visibly trying to calm himself down before stepping back

"Okay" Said Michaelangelo after a few moments of heavy silence "Well, that wasn't how I wanted the afternoon to go but we can skip to better things now!"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, squinting at the ceiling before his whole face lit up

"Dinner!" He said, euphorically like it was the best idea he had in his entire life "Oh I need to make dinner of course!"

He turned, trying to bolt but his arm was caught by Raphael.

"Mikey, are you sure you are okay?" He asked, watching the other intently with a frown

"I am okay" Michaelangelo said with a firm nod "just a bit in shock still. The nightmare was… kinda very bad ngl but do you know what would make me feel better?" He asked with a sly grin

Raphael tsked, badly suppressing a smile, begrudgingly amused.

He extended his arms wide in invitation and was immediately tackled by the orange turtle

The turtle giggled a bit, squeezing his brother while he hugged him back.

They stayed like that for a while.

Surprisingly, House didn't speak up, letting them work it out without adding any smartass comments. He was clearly watching them though. His mind occupied with something

Eventually, Raphael rolled his eyes

"Okay that's enough, Mikey" he said, releasing his hold and half heartedly attempting to push him away. Since Chase had seen the kid actually try to get lose from Michaelangelo's hold, it was clear that he wasn't trying very hard

"Noooo come on!" Whined the other kid in protest

"Let go, Mikey!" The other still wasn't leaving him alone so Raphael sighed, losing his patience, faced twisting in annoyance as he grumbled "Didn't you say something about dinner?"

"Oh yeah!" Michaelangelo exclaimed. Without letting go he turned to beam at the doctors "You have to try my food today, come on I swear it's good! Pretty please?"

Raphael didn't seem to find this as amusing as the three doctors did

"Then let go!" He complained with a frustrated groan, again pushing the other's arms away to no avail

Now, Chase didn't want to say yes to Michaelangelo. House hadn't dropped dead from eating their food yet but that wasn't a great guarantee of quality. He had seen the man eat… a lot of questionable stuff over the years he had worked under him. That occasion where he had tasted that patient's… God he didn't even want to think about it

Michaelangelo was still watching the doctors with wide, hopeful eyes and he could feel Raphael's angry stare, daring them to disappoint his brother

Why did it suddenly become so difficult to simply say no to the monster turtles?

He knew why, of course. He had just seen Michaelangelo have a terrible breakdown in front of him, there had been… a lot less than pleasant revelations today. He couldn't deny the pity he felt for the two turtles standing in front of him and now Michaelangelo's big, pleading eyes were staring straight at Chase.

It would be so easy to humour him…

He suppressed a resigned sigh. Why was he so weak to things like these?

At least he wasn't the only one, Foreman also seemed reluctant to accept, looking at the kid with an awkward, doubtful expression

"That's a yes!" Exclaimed the kid triumphantly, pumping one of his fists in the air, still clinging to Raphael with his other arm "come on we have to start early, I know just the perfect dish for tonight!"

With that, both turtles awkwardly shuffled out of the living room, still holding each other and leaving the doctors alone to think

Chapter Text

"Sensei? Dinner will be ready in a few minutes" said Leo, poking his head inside his dad's room.

Or at least that’s what Leo had understood after being practically assaulted by Mikey on his way back from one of their storage rooms.

He had been so worried about getting caught red handed that he hadn’t even processed what his brother was saying until after he had left.

Mikey had seen him in the corridor, ran over to grab him, shouted something like “Dinner’s almost ready! Youcantelldadright? Thanksbye!!!” directly to his face and promptly vanished, leaving Leo to deal with the near heart attack the sudden encounter had caused, a thousand random and frankly very bad excuses as to what exactly he had been doing on the tip of his tongue and, apparently, the task to bring their father to dinner.

The annoyance came to him as he stood there alone, completely stunned.

He didn't mind being the one to get their father, really but it was the principle of the thing.

Sensei’s eyes, which had been lost into the distance as he sat on his bed, finally focused on Leo

"Ah, I am not hungry, my son" He said with a gentle, apologetic smile "I will take something from the kitchen later, but for now go have dinner without me."

Leo tried not to let the disappointment show, feeling his grip on the door frame tighten. He hadn’t thought that their dad would suddenly be back to his usual self. He wasn't a very optimistic person, always preferring to prepare for the worst but it had seemed like he had been improving.

He took a note to make sure everyone kept up with training if their dad started to forget about it again.

He knew he wasn't the best turtle at interpreting others' emotions. Where Mikey or even Raph seemed to be able to read other people like open books, Leo, like with most things, had to take the systematic approach. This wasn’t his father’s usual attitude, not even the one he had adopted after Donnie’s health started to visibly decline. He seemed a lot worse for wear –a soft, sad frown, dropped shoulders and flat ears pulled back– there was also something… unsettling in the air, hanging over his father.

He could be imagining though, so he directed his attention back to things he could actually see.

His dad’s voice sounded more tired than usual and he hadn’t been meditating properly when Leo had opened the door. He hadn’t even told him to enter, Leo had opened the door just in case he wasn’t there and watched his father sitting in silence, still as a statue, not noticing Leo’s presence until he spoke up. It was frankly worrying.

A wave of awkwardness passed through Leo. He wouldn’t be able to help. He was bad at this. Shell, he had just almost made Raph lose it twice while trying to talk to him, and he still didn’t really know what he had done wrong.

It should be Mikey here instead of him. He’d actually know what to do, not fumble around in the dark. What if he made it worse? It was probably selfish, acting like nothing was happening while his dad was clearly going through something. Leo should be speaking up, trying to offer his support. He would at least have tried –and probably failed– to do something about it if it had been one of his brothers but, at the end of the day, he felt frozen, the words getting caught in his throat.

He was the first to admit that he had a high opinion of his dad. He had always seemed… larger than life to him, always so wise and knowing. Someone to admire.

When Leo didn’t know what to do. When things were too much and he felt inadequate he became the “leader” or “fearless” as Raph liked to say. It was his mask, a way to be able to help when Leo the brother, the one that was just a person, couldn’t. A way to help when he wasn’t enough. Just bury his reactions, set everything aside and be the leader he should be. Do everything without hesitation, no mistakes or letting his emotions get in the way of what needed to be done.

As time went by it became so much easier to do. A comfortable numbness he could always fall back in. It came so naturally to him lately.

Practice will do that, Leo supposed

That never worked when he was talking to his father, though. No matter how hard he tried.

He had him on a pedestal. This was the man that had raised him, always protected him. The only one in their family he wasn’t responsible for.

Around his father he was just… vulnerable.

This wasn’t like trying to comfort his brothers after a bad night or keeping everyone close and safe. He didn’t know how to deal with this. It was uncomfortable, felt alien.

"Then what about a cup of tea if you aren't hungry?" Leo said instead, unable to offer comfort or even a listening ear. Taking the coward’s way out. The same thing he had been doing for weeks, pretending that his dad wasn’t slowly withdrawing into himself, threatening to never come back to them. Instead offering easy, empty gestures "you could come to the kitchen with us"

He selfishly wanted the familiarity, the comfort of sharing a meal with his family even in these circumstances but there was also a need to please, to at least do something

He just wanted to help

It was that obsession that had gotten him into this situation in the first place. Even if it was useless, even if he wasn’t able to do this right, to actually comfort his father, he had to try something. It would probably not cheer him up or help anyone else besides Leo himself though.

Mikey did always look so sad when he saw their dad like this

But Leo always tried his best, no matter how futile or even how selfish it was. He needed to exhaust every option and in the end, the knowledge that he did everything he could, that he had tried everything he could think of would be enough.

It was the way Leo approached everything. Not good enough during a training session? Keep going, keep trying day and night as long as you have to until you have nothing else to give. Trapped, with no way out and death fast approaching as the Rat King, the Shredder, whoever it is this time, cheerfully anticipates the moment the light finally leaves your eyes, practically salivating at the thought? Thrash until you can’t move anymore because it will be over one way or another, fight, harder than you ever have as long as you can or even longer because if you're going down you will go down as a warrior, gnaw your way out with your own teeth if you have to, no room for the precious humanity, the civility you cling oh so hard to.

Leo doesn’t remember the first time he saw Star Wars. During their childhood they used to watch movies all the time –not really much else to do–. But he does remember that, growing up, there was a quote that always rubbed him the wrong way

Do, or do not, there is no try.

Leo couldn’t disagree more. His life was a constant string of trial and error, always giving his best until he failed to actually accomplish whatever he had bled himself dry for.

For him, there was only ever the “try”.

And if he couldn’t have that, then Leo had nothing.

Chapter Text

As if responding to Leo’s own thoughts his father shook his head, dismissing his suggestion with a wave of his hand

"No, not tea either, Leonardo"

Leo stood there, his throat feeling too dry. He didn’t want to leave his dad like that but...

Noticing his hesitation his father sighed and gestured at him to come closer. Leo nodded, settling himself by his dad's side and watching him with wide, attentive eyes

"My son, you don't need to worry" he said with a comforting smile as he reached towards one of the tails of his bandana, moving it back behind Leo’s shoulder "I had an… intense conversation with Dr Cameron and I feel that I've had enough socialising for the day is all"

At this, Leo blinked, slightly surprised. This sudden regression in his dad’s emotional state had been caused by a conversation with Cameron? It was true that it didn’t take much to make his dad sad these days but what could she have even said to him!? She seemed like the most harmless one to Leonardo

"Oh, what… what was it about, sensei?" He asked, an edge of curiosity lacing his words

He could swear that his dad seemed to freeze for a moment, so fast that Leo wondered if it had just been his imagination.

"Nothing important” his father said with a shake of his head.

Leo wasn’t convinced though, looking at him with a soft, concerned frown.

His dad sighed deeply.

“I don't appreciate our guest's attitude" He clarified, his lips twisting in displeasure.

Leo resisted the urge to flinch at this. Right, of course… His father hadn’t been happy with Leo’s decision of bringing them here and they weren’t pleasant people to have around. He had even known Cameron wanted to speak with their father. He should have kept a closer eye on the woman.

He would learn from his mistake though, she wouldn’t bother him again.

Maybe he could use his opportunity to tell his dad more about how exactly he was handling the humans. It could cheer him up, remind him that this was just temporary and they had the upper hand. If he heard a small, rough voice in his mind go ‘or you just want to brag, fearless’ Leo would forever deny it.

“They don’t behave like professionals, do they?" He asked, slightly pained "But I think they are mostly harmless, they don’t have enough information to become a problem for now and…” he continued, a hint of pride lacing his voice, attention fixed on his dad’s reaction. Wanting to impress. “they aren’t familiar at all with our way of life, they’re easy to trick. I made sure to act like I was just… an innocent little kid around them and Cameron herself was completely fooled. They have no idea who they’re actually dealing with” he concluded with a big, self assured smirk.

His father’s expression dropped even further, his ears falling completely flat over his head, eyes moving away from Leo.

Leo felt his expression freeze in place, stomach immediately dropping. Shell. What did he do wrong this time? Reproach, anger… That would have been a better reaction than this.

He couldn't fix this. He had known it was–

"My son, you know that I love you and I trust you, do you not?" His dad asked, switching to Japanese and abruptly stopping Leo’s train of thought with a deep, searching look. His dark, piercing eyes cut straight through him, bright with an urgency he didn’t understand.

He felt his back straighten. This was important, a clear leading question. Was his father finally going to give him a concrete course of action? A way for him to actually help instead of floundering about?

Leo had to deliver. Whatever this was.

"Of course" He agreed, doing his best to make his voice as firm as possible.

"And that I would never fault you for asking for help when you need it" His dad continued, voice becoming harder, expression even more serious, sharper.

Despite what his brothers said, what everyone might think, Leo knew this.

Right now, at this very instant, if Leo asked his dad to hug him, to hold him in his arms while he cried and let it all out his father would do it. Leo could confess that he had no idea what he was doing, that he wasn’t the leader or the clan heir he should be, that he felt small and useless… And his dad would cradle him gently through it all softly singing an old, sweet lullaby. He would not leave him to suffer alone. He would be there for him and, even if it was for just a moment, Leo wouldn’t be a ninja, nor a hero or a warrior... only his father's son.

And, in the end, that was why Leo didn't try.

There was a wall between him and other people that seemed especially steep when it came to his family, the people that actually cared about him.

It seemed counter-intuitive didn't it? If his father, his brothers didn't care about how many times he failed or how unworthy of their admiration he was he should be fine with letting them see his hidden, broken, most vulnerable parts. Since he knew they loved him unconditionally… Shouldn't he just let go of that tight, bundle of secrets he always carried close to his chest?

No, because that's exactly why he couldn't.

Leo nodded silently, with absolute certainty. His father, his family would love him no matter what, that was a fact.

"I fear that I am putting too much weight on your shoulders" His father said, gripping his hand tightly "My son, Leonardo… Do you believe that to be the case? Would you be happier with less responsibilities?"

And finally there it was. A light shining through the chaotic, uncertain darkness, a clear path Leo could follow to make things better.

A strong, sharp edge of resolve settled over Leo's shoulders as he steadily held his dad's gaze.

His family was always there for him. Ready to help him carry any burden without hesitation.

So, in turn, Leo would make sure that they wouldn’t. No matter how much pain or how much suffering he had to endure, his family would never have to hurt themselves with Leo’s own unpolished edges.

"Of course not, sensei" he said, without a single hint of doubt in his voice "It's alright. If I didn’t want to carry all of this I would tell you. I know I can always go to you for help”

Sure enough, his dad's dark, worried expression melted into a soft smile.

Yeah…

This, this he was good at

This he could manage

This was about the only thing he was the best at

Suddenly, for just an instant, there was a sudden impulse deep in Leo's gut, urging him to move forward, to pull his father into a deep embrace. To indulge himself in his dad’s gentle, warm affection and hoard some of the deep, comforting happiness he would need for the incoming hardships looming over Leo like a deep, impenetrable shadow with no clear end in sight.

But he just sat there, frozen in place until the moment passed, leaving only a small whisper of detached nostalgia for a time where he allowed himself to seek these things.

"I should be going then, wouldn't want to make Mikey wait" said Leo, standing up after the silence between him and his dad became just a tad too long. From the corner of his eye he saw his father reach out to him.

He was going to hug him.

Leo felt himself tense up without thinking, almost imperceptibly, as his heart skipped a beat.

Misinterpreting Leo's surprise for rejection his dad stopped, deciding to give his arm a firm, affectionate squeeze instead before letting him go, gesturing at him to leave the room with a joking, shooing motion.

“Go ahead and have a nice time, my son" said his father giving him a small, strangely tight smile "I will see you tomorrow at training"

"Thank you, sensei" he didn't protest the fact that, apparently, the vague 'I will join you later' had shifted into a more bleak 'I will see you tomorrow'. That was expected "Have a good night"

He closed the door behind him and, once he was out he squared his shoulders, walking away with purpose. His steps, the way he carried himself was so much more certain than when he had come in.

He felt himself smile as he left.

It wasn't always when he was able to help his family like this but when it did happen it always made him feel accomplished.

Chapter Text

"Leo what the shell took you so long! The food's gonna get cold" Exclaimed Mikey, crossing his arms and giving him a reproachful look, clad on a very stained and flowery cooking apron.

Leo's attention completely went over his brother though, fixing instead on the multitude of people surrounding their dining table.

His expression was, of course, as politely neutral as always –he had trained himself better than that– but his mind was a whirlwind of chaotic questions as he took in the strange scene that had greeted him the moment he entered the kitchen

There, helping set a table that already had nine mismatched plates on it were Raph… and the three younger doctors.

Even House was in the room, leaning on one of the counters and paying half attention to everyone working together for this

Raphael passed Foreman a small glass that didn’t match the thick, tall ones already on the table, which made sense since they only had six of those left –Mikey had the bad habit of breaking them–, but he did it without saying a word, not being exactly polite, but not directly confrontational either. For someone who had made immensely clear that he didn’t want anything to do with the humans and took every opportunity to remind everyone of this, it was a marked improvement.

Did Leo miss something important?

"And where's dad?" Continued Mikey with an affronted groan, making Leo turn his attention to him once again "I told you to go get him"

Already knowing his brother wasn’t going to like this, Leo fought not to outwardly react to the question, keeping his placid expression in place.

"He will come later to get a snack, he isn't feeling very hungry right now" He said as casually as possible, hoping his brothers wouldn’t give the matter too much importance.

While Raph only grumbled something unintelligible, still focused on his task, Mikey's expression immediately fell.

Yeah that’s… that’s what Leo was expecting

"Oh, I wanted him to try the pizza" Mikey mumbled dejectedly.

Leo opened his mouth with the vague intent to reassure Mikey that they could eat it instead, that his food was delicious or something else that would cheer him up a bit. Before he could speak, however, he was interrupted by Cameron

"I think it looks very good, Michaelangelo" She said, passing by Mikey’s side and giving him a bright, reassuring smile as she set some napkins on the table.

Leo’s jaw shut with a click. Alright, no need for him to intervene, then.

Mikey preened at the compliment, absolutely delighted for a second. Then, fully registering Cameron’s words, he groaned, shoulders dropping as he sent her an annoyed look

"Nooooooo don't call me that” he whined in protest “It's Mikey. And you can be Cam or Ally? Cam sounds better and he's Greg. I tried to think of something good with House but the creative juices weren't flowing. Hooousey" Mikey tried slowly, testing the words “The House, H-dude…? Nah, they’re all terrible” He concluded with an unconvinced grimace

Foreman snorted audibly, shaking his head in amusement

"Something funny, F-man?" Asked House, not missing a beat or even lifting his head to look at the man

At this, Foreman’s expression dropped instantly, making House nod once, visibly satisfied

"That's what I thought" He concluded

Leo watched them, resisting the urge to frown. To be honest, he didn’t really get what their deal was. They were supposed to be a team but they didn’t seem to even like each other. Maybe it was a human thing or something he didn’t understand about how doctors interacted.

That didn’t matter, though. As long as they were doing their jobs Leo didn’t really care about anything else. So, adapting to the situation that had been presented to him, he immediately moved to help, taking a big jug of water from Chase's hand with a tight, polite smile and the mandatory "please let me take care of it"

He swiftly moved around the place, opening and closing cabinets, directing the humans to where the spare chairs were and, once it was clear neither Raph or Mikey were going to do it, he put away one of the plates.

No matter how hard they wished for it, their dad wasn’t going to come. The newly emptied spot was a bit jarring but so was Donnie’s absence. It was just something they had to deal with

They quickly finished setting the table and cleaning the spectacular mess caused by Mikey's cooking. There were a lot of people helping and, since it was only pizza, there wasn’t a lot they needed to set up. The thought that Mikey could have decided to make that dish specifically so the doctors wouldn’t need to get close to their knives briefly occurred to him but, realistically, it was more likely that he just wanted to eat pizza. It still had been a very good decision on his brother’s part so he would have to remember to thank him for it later.

Basic safety was fine then, one less thing to worry about –because even if it was clear at this point that they didn't need to fear a direct attack, he still wasn't comfortable with arming their guests–. So that only left the sitting arrangements...

Casually, like it was the most natural thing in the world, Leo settled on the chair between House and Cameron, away from his usual spot next to the empty seat his dad had left and where his two brothers were sitting.

Neither Raph nor Mikey visibly reacted, trusting Leo’s judgement

House, however, raised an eyebrow at him and hummed thoughtfully with a small, curious tilt of his head. Like Leo was a little circus dog that had just performed an interesting trick.

A wave of annoyance passed through him and, for a second, he wondered if he should just ignore him, keep his mouth shut and let this go but… It wouldn’t be the first time he had responded to the man’s taunts. As long as he didn’t get angry he wouldn’t give House what he wanted.

Also, after the conversation he just had with his dad he didn’t have much patience left for the doctors. The man deserved to get knocked down a peg and if things didn’t go as Leo wanted… Well, he had chosen that chair for a reason

"What is it?" Leo asked, keeping his words light as he primly put his hands on his lap, turning to look at the man

"Nothing" House said, blinking innocently and imitating Leo’s soft, polite tone of voice, mocking him.

He should get new material… He had already tried that strategy on Leo before without getting the desired effect. At this point it just made House seem childish.

The man looked away from Leo, his eyes roaming through the table before settling on Mikey’s 7 Up and started to reach for it.

It was a clear attempt to end the conversation so, in response, Leo leaned forwards, grabbing the big, plastic bottle before the other could and calmly starting to pour its contents in House’s glass.

"It must have been something, since you look so amused" He said as he served the man the drink.

To this, House simply raised an eyebrow

"You don't actually want me to answer that question" he replied swiftly, not meeting his gaze

Leo called his bluff, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on him even after the glass was finally filled and he had put the bottle away. Eventually, House lifted his hands in surrender, his expression slowly twisting into an amused, half smirk

"It's not that important, I just thought you'd go for Chase, knowing he's planning to sell you to the government. But Cameron? Talk about mommy issues"

Leo's stomach flipped and he stopped in his tracks immediately freezing in place, unable to hide his horrified surprise. Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn’t been this.

Was he… Did he just get caught?

Chapter Text

"What are you talking about?" asked Raph as intense, gripping dread started to gather in his chest.

Oh this… This wasn’t a bluff. How did House even catch that? His family never noticed when he did this and House just came here and instantly knew?

Leo swallowed heavily, trying to act as if nothing was wrong even as he wished with all his being for the conversation to stop.

Why was Raph asking him to clarify in the first place? Didn't he hate the humans and everything they had to say? Why was he being civil now!?

"Your brother," clarified House. With some annoyance, Leo noted that his smirk was becoming wider as he relished on Leo's reaction. He really did not like this man at all. "He sat with us.”

Raph rolled his eyes, leaning back on his chair and immediately dismissing House’s comment. Of course he did, he just thought Leo was being paranoid, he wouldn’t assume that–

“Don’t be fooled by the whole military cadet thing he has going on,” House continued, shaking his head. “At this point he knows we are not going to try to jump someone at the dining table. It’s not a safety issue and if it was, Cameron wouldn’t exactly be a priority target, she’s tiny. He's just sitting wherever he feels more uncomfortable. Either as punishment for the terrible crime of not bringing the rat here, or just to prove to himself that he can. A bit of both, in my opinion. That's not the interesting part though, that's an obvious habit of his," he dismissed with a wave of his hand, like what he had just revealed was completely trivial. "It's also not the fact that he sat with me but choosing Cameron too?" He turned to look at Leo. The man's piercing blue eyes fixed on Leo with unsettling intensity, effortlessly seeing through the walls he had been building for so long as if they were made of glass. “Is it the lack of female role models in your life? Her nagging can't be that obnoxious"

The worst thing about it was that House was right. Word for word, he completely laid out Leo’s vague, half formed thought process –some of it things that he hadn’t even admitted to himself– out in the open for everyone in the room to see.

The curious attention of the doctors and –worse of all– of his brothers fell on Leo. The weight of so many eyes settled on him, sharp, burning needles piercing his skin from the inside as he tried not to show the absolute humiliation that threatened to choke him at this very moment. Cameron herself seemed to be slightly puzzled, looking down at Leo with a small, thoughtful frown.

He should try to deny it, say something but his mouth remained closed as cold ice climbed up his back.

His brothers were visibly confused after the revelation, especially Mikey who was peering at him with a sad twist of his lips, his head tilted in bewilderment.

Of course, they didn’t really get why he was like this.

Unlike Mikey, Raph wasn’t content with staying silent. He raised an eyebrow at Leo.

"Really, fearless? You can sit here if you want," he said, scooting a bit to the side and waving vaguely at the empty spot his dad’s absence had left at the table. The space was big enough to fit a person, which Leo had known and had already taken into consideration before he chose his seat. Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Raph. He was still looking at him with wide eyes, still surprised, but his tone was light and easy, as if this moment lacked any real weight and Leo was simply being ridiculous.

Leo set his jaw.

Maybe he had been utterly humiliated by House, and maybe his brothers had seen a crack in his carefully constructed facade, but at this moment Leo was certain of one single thing.

Now he was absolutely not going to move.

He gave Raph his iciest glare, trying his best to convey exactly that.

In response, his brother scoffed, completely unimpressed.

"Stubborn ass," he said, settling back on his seat with crossed arms. His body language had shifted in a very familiar way, his expression becoming harsher as he avoided eye contact and a sudden shot of tension enveloping his frame.

Leo couldn’t suppress a small hum of disbelief at that.

So now he was angry because he thought Leo was being stubborn? Look at who was talking! Mr "I will bleed out on a random street before admitting that I need backup" and sir "the best place to start an argument is in the middle of an enemy base".

Leo's habits were harmless in comparison.

Honestly, now that he thought about it, stubbornness was a family wide problem more than anything. All of them had been guilty of it at some point and could be stubborn little shits when the situation called for it. If there was a trait the four of them shared, that was it.

But really, Raph was the one getting pissed?

At this, Mikey cleared his throat.

“Well, maybe it will be an opportunity for everyone to get along better,” he said, raising his voice slightly in clear reproach, looking between the two of them. When his eyes settled Leo though, he raised a single eyebrow in silent question.

Leo avoided his gaze without saying a single word, once again schooling his expression and willing his back to stay as straight as possible in a perfect, proper sitting position, ignoring the unsettling feeling of exposure that made him want to curl up in his seat.

(The doctors were all looking at him still. House’s attention remained on him. What else could that man see? How much would he tell? To his colleagues? To Leo’s family?)

It was clear that his little brother wasn’t going to let this slip up go unpunished... Maybe he should start thinking about a way to distract him if Mikey decided they needed to talk this out.

Thankfully –at least for now– Mikey let the matter drop and turned, dangerously tilting his chair to reach the pizzas laying on their counter without having to stand up from his seat.

"Aaaaaaand here it is!” Mikey exclaimed, his mood immediately doing a one-eighty as he beamed at them with a pleased, incredibly bright smile. He twisted his arms backwards, passing the platters over his head before settling them on the table.

It did look very good. There were six different pies, all of them still steaming hot and giving off a very pleasant smell but Leo's attention naturally fell on the single veggie pizza laying closest to him.

He felt himself smile, the remaining tension slipping from his frame.

That was nice of Mikey. None of his brothers really liked veggie pizza that much –even if they could eat it if there weren’t other options– which meant that he had cooked it specifically for Leo. Normally, his brother picked a more neutral choice of toppings so everyone could share two or three pies.

Cooking was a tiresome, busy process and their home wasn't a restaurant.
Besides the actual cooking, there was the matter of picking up all the different ingredients with their extremely limited budget, getting everything ready… Mikey was usually the only one up to doing that kind of work in their family because Donnie found it too tedious, Raph, even while being good at it, preferred different chores and Leo… He’d tried to make lunch once or twice with interesting results before concluding that it was very much not his calling. One turtle wasn’t enough to constantly cater to everyone’s incredibly specific tastes.

Today was clearly a ‘special occasion’ though. Besides the veggie pizza and two more basic ones filled with pepperoni he could see a Hawaiian, a single pizza stacked with at least five different types of cheese and one that was covered in a chaotic assortment of randomly chosen and distributed toppings.

It seemed that his brother had decided to go all out. When had he even managed to get all this food?

His admiration for Mikey’s work –and probably Raph’s too now that he thought about it, this looked like a two person job and Raph seemed very involved in this– was short-lived since, without waiting another second, Mikey reached to take a single slice out of his strange, mismatched pizza.

Mikey had been doing this since Donnie started to eat in the medbay. When he brought Donnie his meal he –in his words– “had to get something for the way or he would totally fall into a funk and eat Donnie’s fill.”

The main problem was that, just as Mikey didn’t have enough patience to give Donnie his food before eating, he also didn’t have enough patience to wait until that food wasn’t scalding hot.

Cameron and Leo spoke at the same time.

“Be careful!” “Mikey, it’s too hot!”

Leo’s eyes immediately jumped to the woman in reflex, feeling an urge to say something to her but, the moment he caught the impulse, whatever had been brewing in his mind frizzled out. She was looking at his brother, her mouth twisted in a worried expression that seemed sincere as far as Leo could tell.

She wasn’t actually doing anything wrong, was the thing. She was only trying to help even, so there was nothing Leo had to object to the way she was behaving.

Leo settled back into his seat without saying a word, internally wondering what was going on with him today.

Maybe he was still unsettled by his previous flounder caused by House.

Speaking of House, for some reason he was looking at them like they had done the funniest thing he had seen in a while.

His attention was quickly brought back to his brother though since, apparently, a grand total of three seconds was too long for Mikey to go unsupervised.

He paid no mind to both Leo and Cameron's words and grabbed the food, predictably burning himself and letting out a small “ouch” of protest, making Raph scoff.

“What did they just tell you?” he mumbled under his breath, slightly leaning forward in his seat to assess the damage.

Because this was Mikey he didn’t answer or let Raph help, immediately –and hurriedly– moving to take the same slice once again but, before he
could, Leo sat up, intercepting his little brother's hand mid reach with the reflexes of a trained ninja.

Ignoring Cameron starting to warn him about the dangers of hot food and taking care not to actually burn himself like Mikey did while still holding his brother's hand, Leo gingerly pinched the crust of Donnie’s preferred pizza and quickly dropped three slices in his plate.

Once he was done, he gave Mikey a stern, slightly annoyed look, finally letting go.

“I'll bring this to Donnie if you want," Leo said. "You can stay here and get to know our guest while you wait for the pizza to cool down a little."

Mikey had been protesting about not getting the chance to "socialise with his new friends" since they had arrived at the lair and, unlike him, Leo would have no problem with actually waiting until Donnie was done before coming back to eat.

It was a good compromise and Leo wasn’t feeling that hungry anyway.

The other doctor, Chase –the one that was planning on selling them to the government, as House had confirmed– raised a surprised eyebrow at this, looking between the three turtles.

“I thought he’d be eating with us,” he said giving quick, wide eyed glances at April’s empty spot at the table.

Mikey tilted his head in confusion. “I was going to bring him some pizza. He has the machine thing right?” He asked, making a short, descriptive gesture of some kind of small square object.

Leo wondered what machine they were talking about. He should ask Donnie later.

Foreman shook his head “He can move around with it there’s no problem,” he clarified to Mikey.

“Wait, for real!?" his brother asked, looking between the doctors with growing enthusiasm. Whatever he saw in their faces was confirmation enough because he turned to look at Leo, clasping his hands together and giving him his best teary eyed, pleading look as he practically vibrated on his seat.

If Mikey was able to convince Donnie and the doctors thought it was fine then Leo had nothing to object…

He was also looking forward to it, if he was being honest.

"Go get Donnie and April," he told Mikey with a nod. "We can wait"

His brother jumped out of his seat at this, giving everyone a huge, bright grin that made Leo’s mouth hurt just by seeing it and bolted out of the room in a hurry.

Chapter Text

"Lady, gentlemen and Raph!" Announced Mikey with great gravitas as he burst into the room "the guests of honour have arrived!"

He pulled April and Donnie after him, tugging at each of their arms and dragging them inside. Both of them were smiling, looking begrudgingly amused at Mikey's antics.

"Mikey, I live here. I can't be a 'guest of honour’," said Donnie.

Leo hadn’t seen him since he had left the lab after the… heart incident. He was looking a lot better, no longer like dead warmed over. And yet, the way he sluggishly walked into the room, his frail limbs seemingly under strain just by holding his own weight, was enough to make Leo’s mouth dry.

Should he have let him rest instead, tell Mikey to leave him alone?

Oblivious to his thoughts, Mikey squinted at his brother. "Maybe if you didn't act like the kitchen is a Donnie banishment zone then it wouldn't be such a special occasion."

Donnie spluttered in surprise, instantly out of words.

"I, for one, am happy to be a guest of honour," said April before Donnie was able to recover, giving him and his brothers a soft, pleasant smile. "Do we get any special privileges to go with the title?"

"You get personalised pizza!" Exclaimed Mikey, gesturing at the table in invitation. "Pepperoni for April –which I still think is very boring, sis. You should really find a cooler pizza flavour– and for Donnie–"

"Oh! You made Hawaiian?" Asked Donnie, delighted. Then, he noticed the plate lying in front of Leo and raised a confused eyebrow. "Wait, Leo, why are you eating my pizza?"

Startled, Leo looked down. Right, he had taken Donnie’s pizza. He needed to– Before Leo could speak however, Raph snatched the plate, placing it where Donnie usually sat.

"That was for you," Raph grumbled. For some reason he seemed to be avoiding Donnie’s eyes as he spoke. "No one else is insane enough to like pineapple on pizza."

Donnie jokingly rolled his eyes at that, walking to his seat. He moved to take a chair but, before he could, Mikey snatched it. He lifted it over his head to prevent Donnie from reaching it –which didn’t make any sense, since Donnie was the tallest one of all of them–. Then, he ran the three steps between him and the table and slammed it on the ground in Donnie’s spot.

"Sorry, Raph. I guess not all of us had the luck to inherit dad's rodent genes," Donnie said in good humour. He had to raise his voice slightly to be heard over the high sounds of wood loudly scraping against the ground as Mikey tried to find the perfect angle to place the chair in, tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration. It would be endearing if the screeching didn’t make Leo want to cover his ears.

The doctors seemed to take the situation in stride while Raph, who had been taking a sip of his drink and apparently found Donnie’s response hilarious, almost choked, starting to cough violently and throwing him a startled, amused look.

The familiarity of it, the way his brothers immediately relaxed into gentle, fun teasing brought a smile to Leo’s face and the doubts about this being a bad idea banished.

This was something they all needed.

"Raph, Donnie. We are not going to argue about food in front of our guests," he lightly chided. Because, despite the fact that it was just fun, good-natured ribbing, they should still watch his manners around the doctors. And, well… Fights had broken out over less than that. Still, he didn’t even try to hide the small smile blooming in his face as he reached out to fill Donnie’s glass with some water.

"But pineapple on pizza is a classic conversation topic and now that I think about it... something I really need to know,” House mused thoughtfully. “What if I have to fire someone?”

"I didn’t realise you were saving those pizzas for them,” said Cameron, completely ignoring his boss. Wise decision and maybe something Leo should do next time. He couldn’t fall for another one of his traps. “Which ones can we eat?”

"Oh, whatever you want," dismissed Mikey with a wave of his hand, finally settling down on his seat with Donnie "I just made the usual ones because I had the ingredients for them but pick your favourite. We can all share!"

"You know…” said Donnie, eyeing the food on his plate. “You never did tell me if I should follow a special diet.”

Good question. Neither had Leo and, despite being no expert, he didn’t think that pizza was what you usually recommended to someone with heart problems.

"You can’t tell me you’re complaining because you don’t have to eat hospital sludge are you?” Asked House

“Your brother asked about it,” said Chase. “We gave him some guidelines since he’s the one that usually cooks for you. We assumed you would already know."

Mikey nodded, pointing at Donnie in accusation. “And they said that I have to make sure you actually eat well. No excuses!”

Leo hummed thoughtfully. Maybe that was something they should all watch out for, Donnie had been losing a lot of weight hadn’t he? “I’ll take a note of that.”

Raph, for his part, was silent for a moment, frowning at Donnie before dropping another slice on his plate without saying a word.

“I can get the food myself, you know?” Protested Donnie halfheartedly, the corner of his mouth tilting upwards.

“Good luck with convincing them of that,” said Foreman with a matching smile. “They were really happy you could join them for dinner.”

“Yeah, we noticed,” April added. She leaned conspiratorially towards the three younger doctors like she was telling them some sort of inside joke. “When Donnie was trying to pass on the family dinner Mikey seemed ready to haul him here by force.”

Her intonation and body language, even the way her voice sounded slightly higher pitched, breathier than usual was very different from the April Leo knew. She reminded him more of the woman he saw across the tv screen sometimes. It was bizarre to see April, a member of their family who had participated in so many food fights at this dinner table act so proper, like she had come out of a tv commercial. But it was clear that this approach was working. Some of the guarded, faint tension that always hung over the three doctors seemed to almost disappear as they gave April matching polite smiles, a light chuckle...

It was a part of being a ninja that Leo never quite managed to get a grip on. He could do it when necessary, of course. Him managing to convince the doctors that he was harmless was testament to that. Maintaining a front was easy. Leo’s problem lay in reacting to his audience, being able to read the people around him and act accordingly. Of his brothers, Mikey was the closest to achieving this, instinctively managing to see what needed to be done to deescalate every situation. He was too enthusiastic about it though, too sincere to make something like infiltration or deceit truly work.

It was something Leo would never ask his brother to train himself out of.

April however, didn’t have this problem. It was almost funny, how despite having never been trained for this in the way Leo and his brothers were, she was able to effortlessly lap them in such a basic aspect of ninjutsu.

In the end, April O’Neil was and always would be a vital, cherished member of the Hamato clan that Leo greatly admired and, in a situation like this, an invaluable asset that gave them a great advantage.

Ignorant to the social manoeuvring going on around him, Donnie picked up one of the slices, absentmindedly starting to munch on it. “I didn’t say I didn’t want to come,” he complained lamely. “I just needed to check on something first.”

Neither Raph nor Mikey graced that with a response but they did take it as their signal to start eating. The humans –except House, who had been enjoying the food for some time now– seemed to hesitate for a moment before hunger finally won which meant that, finally, Leo allowed himself to take a slice.

It was as delicious as always.

Weirdly, as the conversation started to flow around him, Leo felt himself relax. Even squared in between two unknown humans he wasn’t exactly fond of, the night wasn’t going as bad as he thought it would. He was used to eating by his father's side who was all about soft, calm conversations and neat manners. Nothing like the two humans currently sharing sharp barbs from one side of the table to the other. They didn’t even have that contained, explosive energy that coloured every interaction with Mikey.

It was foreign, strange...

There was noise. Of glasses and ceramic plates. Of mixed, strange conversations about work and the world above them, about human things buzzing around Leo. It painted a scene he had only seen while hiding in the rafters of some random restaurant while waiting to pounce on the crime-lord of the week.

Cameron asked him to pass her the jug of water and Leo had to strain himself to reach it, being helped by Chase as he did while House made some comment or other about the handiness of having a waiter. As he passed her the drink her small, human hand bumped against his and it was at that moment, as he tried not to react at the foreign contact that had almost made him jump, that the realisation truly hit Leo.

There had never been so many people so close to him before. There had never –in his entire life– been so many people in their home, a foreign group of humans he could talk to while not being worried of being discovered. Or, well… worried about them actively trying to hurt him.

Until now, the doctors had seemed more like dangers, obstacles Leo had to manoeuvre around and, when this was over, they would probably fall back into that category. But right now, at this moment, they were all just… eating together. There were so many living, breathing people around Leo that, despite the rough start, despite that they didn’t actually see them like he would want them to –like his family deserved to be seen– were still sharing a meal with them.

Maybe he could understand why Mikey had been so badly craving this kind of causal companionship even if he wasn’t enjoying it as much as his brother. How could he, when Mikey seemed to almost drink in the energy surrounding the table, smiling like a madman and laughing with the guests, excitedly gushing about so many different things? Trying to participate in the three, four different conversations going on at the same time?

He caught Donnie’s amused eye. He was raising an eyebrow at Leo, inclining his head slightly towards their younger brother. “He sure seems to be having a lot of fun, doesn’t he?” his brother’s expression seemed to say.

Raph was responding to one of House’s sharp remarks. He was annoyed but in a soft, more relaxed and humoured way than Leo had ever seen him act around strangers. It faintly reminded him of how Casey and Raph used to be like when they had just met each other.

To be honest, dinner was… It was a familiar, personal tradition Leo had never shared with this many people. It was something routine and predictable but, today, when he reached towards the centre of the table there was a blur of movement of so many different hands doing the same. He saw his own pizza, the one his brothers didn’t favour disappear faster than normal as Foreman took a couple of slices out of it.

Huh, it seemed that they shared similar tastes. That was… it was definitely something.

It was different but maybe, just maybe… It wasn’t bad.

Chapter Text

Foreman settled back on his chair, enjoying the pleasant feeling of a full stomach.

He had to admit that he was impressed by the turtle’s cooking. It definitely beat hospital food, as House had said. Of course, that only mattered if they didn’t get food poisoning from this but House seemed fine so far and seeing the turtle cook hadn’t raised any red flags.

Just as Foreman was deciding that maybe he could join the turtles for lunch tomorrow too –it was easier not having to wait for April to bring them something and the food was objectively good– Donatello and April excused themselves from the table.

"I think it's time we leave too," House said with faux cheer as they left, gesturing at his three fellow doctors to follow him. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow!”

Giving them a flat look, Leonardo stood up.

"If you're going to be working I can come along," the kid suggested, speaking up for the first time since they had started eating.

"We need to have an adult conversation about the very busy afternoon we had,” House retorted, raising his voice. His attention was blatantly fixed on the orange turtle as he spoke so Foreman had a pretty good idea of what they would be discussing. “We’ll leave the actual work for tomorrow. Don’t worry your green little head about it.”

"It's fine, Leo," said Raphael, jumping in after exchanging a startled look with Michaelangelo. “Donnie and April can keep an eye on the lab.”

He seemed reluctant to speak up, clearly still mistrustful of them but willing to let them go freely as long as his brother stayed too. Right, they didn’t want Leonardo to find out about the nightmares… That explained why House had laid it on that thick. The man’s ability and willingness to manipulate people was kind of impressive when it wasn’t being used against him, Foreman had to admit.

Still unconvinced, Leonardo’s lips thinned, eyes jumping suspiciously between the doctors and his brothers. Before he could speak up, however, Michaelangelo grabbed his arm.

"Can you help me with the dishes?" He said, starting to steer him gently toward the sink while giving him a pleading look.

Leonardo looked conflicted for a moment. His head was turned to House, eyes narrowed as if he was trying to decipher the man’s true intentions under his calm facade.

“Please, nii-chan?” the other insisted, shaking his arm slightly.

The kid’s shoulders slumped in defeat at his brother’s urging. He grabbed a scourer, muttering something Foreman didn’t catch as he got to work and, with that, they were finally free to go.

"So, what did you find out from Rizzo the rat?" Said House once they were finally out of earshot.

Foreman raised a surprised eyebrow at the woman in question. So that’s where she had been? Talking to the rat? He didn’t wonder how House had found out about it –the man looked smug enough as it was– but he was slightly curious as to how Cameron had managed to get any information out of him. He had made perfectly clear that he didn’t want anything to do with them.

Cameron opened and closed her mouth a few times, looking a bit hesitant to speak. "His name is… Splinter actually" she answered after a beat, slightly pained.

Foreman blinked, stunned. Really? What kind of name was Splinter? The Renaissance thing was a bit too on the nose already but at least those were still actual names, even if they were very old-fashioned and… Italian, for some reason.

Honestly, he should just stop trying to make sense of this. Donatello broke the laws of physics as a hobby. The fact that their father was named after a sharp piece of wood was not that important in the grand scheme of things.

Still, it was baffling. Even if it was some kind of alias he could have chosen anything. Why settle for Splinter of all things?

Judging by the way his two colleagues were looking at Cameron, Foreman wasn’t the only one to find this ridiculous.

"Right, because Stick was obviously taken," House muttered in derision, rolling his eyes and giving Cameron a small, humoured smile while Chase raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's really his name?" He asked with a snort.

Cameron simply shrugged "It's what he told me his name was.”

Chase’s face split into a wide grin.

"And wh–"

"We can make fun of his name all we want later –believe me, I will–" said House, interrupting Chase's possible attempt at a joke "but, as funny as that is, you look spooked,” he declared, dramatically pointing at Cameron with his cane. “So I am hoping you found out some juicy information."

"We talked about personal matters. It wasn't anything relevant to the patient’s condition but I don't think we should…" she trailed off, looking hesitant "I don't know what we should do about them when this is over. We can't leave them here like this."

"What are you planning to do?" Asked Foreman, genuinely curious. "Call social services? We can't do much for them… Unless you want to sell them out."

Foreman had to admit that, to an extent, he really did feel for the kids. Especially after speaking to Michaelangelo and Raphael, learning just how far they had been hurt in the past. It was also a shame that Donatello, as brilliant as he clearly was, would never be able to aspire to more than fixing broken furniture inside a sewer or, well… to die unacknowledged in one of the violent encounters these kids seemed to be constantly caught in. Encounters that… involved futuristic laser weaponry for some reason.

Despite that, he wasn’t eager to join one of Cameron’s naively idealistic quests for justice.

They were here because they had a job to do. A job Foreman would fulfill to the best of his ability. But that was it; nothing more, nothing less.

People died all the time, patients died every day and you couldn’t let it affect you unless you wanted to end up completely burned out. Emotional detachment was a necessity when working in the medical field.

It wasn’t like they wanted any external help either. Regardless of Cameron’s wishes, that's just how life was sometimes. You couldn’t help everyone and, most of the time, trying to do so only made things worse. Also, after learning just how dangerous this situation could become, Foreman was not looking forward to getting caught up in any of it further than he already was.

If an opportunity to help them presented itself Foreman would take it, of course. He wasn’t heartless. Unfortunately though, he sincerely doubted it would ever come to that.

Chapter Text

Cameron bit her lip, giving a quick look at their surroundings before leaning forward, closing the distance between the group.

"Their situation is horrible. I am not comfortable with leaving them here alone with their father,” she confessed in a reluctant half whisper. Her expression was dark and judgmental, completely devoid of any sympathy towards the rat in question. "He's not taking good care of the kids. He’s convinced that he can’t do anything so he’s practically given up on them."

House scoffed at her in disbelief. "Wait. That's all the information you got?” He asked, not making any effort to keep his voice down and earning himself an exasperated frown from Cameron as a result. “That their father is useless because he's too busy wallowing in his own misery which I already told you and that their sewer life sucks, really?"

Cameron’s lips thinned in displeasure. "It's not a joke, House. I don't even know if they're safe! His father has considered hurting them before and, despite of what they say, what if the injuries the kid has in his history aren't just from… from those fights?” She asked. Her firm, harsh tone was starting to waver as her voice became softer, the undercurrent of anger lacing her words slowly morphing into sadness “They don't have a safety net and even if we want to believe him and the man is trying his best, this is still neglect. It’s cruel. Someone has to help them."

This did catch House’s attention.

His eyes narrowed a fraction, meeting Cameron's pleading gaze. "He said he's thought of hurting them before?" House asked, keeping his voice casual, as if he were just commenting on the weather. There was no worry behind the question, not a hint of sadness at the possibility but, underneath the fake indifference, there was sharp, unwavering intensity.

Something important then, a possible new piece for this puzzle, in House's mind.

"No, he's thought of killing them,” Cameron clarified darkly. “I just…”

"Oh, that is pretty juicy, good job," was House's only reaction. He was giving Cameron a pleased nod, finally satisfied with her findings "Did he mention when the filicidal fantasies happened?”

Cameron blinked, momentarily stunned.

“When they were newborns, after he just found them," she managed after a beat.

House shook his head, waving a single hand in clear dismissal.

“Irrelevant, then”

Foreman could see why House would say that. Post-adoption depression was not unheard of after all and, in this case, there were a lot of extenuating circumstances.

It was true that Cameron had only talked to “Splinter” for, what. A couple of hours at the most? And still managed to get that confession out of him. That meant that it was something the rat often thought about since telling someone how you've considered murdering your own children wasn't what he would call a typical conversation starter.

Still, there were no other signs that pointed at the rat being the cause of Donatello’s ailment.

The most likely explanation was that the man had just taken his opportunity to talk about his depression with someone that wasn’t one of his sons or their only human friend. People did often treat doctors like they were their personal therapists.

Must be the lab-coat.

“So that means that the prize for the most melodramatic reveal goes to us.” House concluded.

Both Foreman and Chase grimaced at that. Yeah, considering the afternoon they had… That sounded about right.

Noticing their reaction, Cameron frowned, her worried eyes jumping between the three of them. "Why? What happened?"

The two doctors exchanged a look, silently trying to decide who should be the bearer of the bad news. After a beat, Foreman sighed, schooling his expression as he turned his attention towards Cameron.

It wasn’t like Foreman wanted to do it but, considering Chase's startled, uncomfortable grimace and the sharp, sadistic glee practically oozing from House’s expression he was probably the best option.

"We were talking about the surgery for the pacemaker, making sure we have everything we need for it in case it becomes necessary and they weren’t…. very receptive,” he started, looking for a way to explain this as clearly and painlessly as possible “Apparently, a few months back, a researcher, maybe? –they weren't clear on the details– got a hold of Michaelangelo and almost killed him. Tried to vivisect him. No anaesthesia, no nothing according to them. Just cut him right open."

"Oh god," she said, gaping at him in absolute horror. She took a step back, bringing a hand to her mouth, visibly out of words.

Which was fair. It was a terrible situation all around. Even if some of it could have been… embellished, for lack of a better word, it was something he wouldn’t wish upon his own worst enemy and, at the end of the day, it was clear that they were just kids, despite appearances.

"Oh don't be like that,” House cut in with a nasty smirk “Look at it from the bright side! Now we know that Chase will definitely get a monetary reward for their discovery. Maybe he can share with the rest of the team. It’s not like he actually needs the money."

Immediately, Cameron whirled to look at him in outrage.

"You can't be seriously thinking–" she started, her words sharp with anger.

Chase lifted his hands in surrender, eyes widening.

“Of course not.”

Naturally, House decided that this was the perfect moment to add more fuel to the fire.

"So now you suddenly feel bad because they can get scared and scream loudly?” He asked, looking more and more amused as Chase’s panic increased and Cameron became even more indignant “Because I have important news about most animals…” He stopped, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Is being able to hear them suffer a deciding factor in choosing what deserves to die horribly or not? Because even some plants–“

Chase didn't dignify that with a response, cutting the man off mid sentence.

"I am not going to sell them so they can get murdered like that.” He tried to clarify to a fuming Cameron, looking slightly offended by the accusations. “But think about it. If we find a way to leak their existence to the press it could be safer for them. If this guy wanted people to know about them he would have made the information public already. He must have taken at least a couple of pictures before trying the dissection but he wants to keep it on the down-low to make sure he can do whatever he wants with them. If we show everyone who these… kids are and how similar to humans they are then the public opinion would work in their favour.” He stressed, his eyes moving from Cameron to the other two doctors as he tried to defend himself. “I am sure they wouldn’t let anyone get away with hurting them like that again. They’re unique. Something that would catch the attention of anyone and there are thousands of animal’s rights groups that would be all over them. The more people know about their existence the safer they will be.”

Oh, so this was something Chase had given some thought to. A bit of an improvement from the whole "let's just sell them".

At the same time, however, it was still just a way to justify the fact that he wanted to get credit for their discovery.
Foreman didn’t necessarily think Chase was doing it with bad intentions though, despite how convenient it was that their so-called “best option” coincided with Chase’s own motivations. He had probably managed to convince himself that this actually was the better course of action but…

"So you think that making their lives become a spectacle for humans to enjoy is fair to them?" Cameron asked, unmoved by his explanation. Not just that. She looked even angrier after it. As if Chase had unknowingly hit a sore spot. That wasn't good. "Maybe throw them in a zoo for their own safety!? They should be able to grow up as happy and safe as possible, not be locked somewhere people can gape at like they’re monsters. They are not animals, they’re children.”

Yeah, that's what Foreman thought. There was no way that type of cynical, utilitarian argument could have worked on Cameron. As always, she had good intentions but impossible expectations.

If it was up to her she would enrol them in school.

"And so are child stars and the children of celebrities, regardless of how famous their parents are," insisted Chase, unruffled by Cameron's accusations. "Those other kids, those human kids are constantly followed by a media circus too. They are some… some sort of turtle people. They can’t be treated like normal kids because they aren’t. Trying to pretend otherwise is just completely unrealistic!”

And that was where Chase had a point.

There was no chance that the kids’ existence would be accepted just like that. They would never be able to live a normal life. Not with what they were, or even with what they knew, what Donatello had proven to be capable of.

There was no way they could stay hidden forever. Even ignoring the possibility of them just getting caught, Bishop himself could become bored any day and reveal their existence on his own terms, spinning a narrative that would allow him to do whatever he wanted with them.

He wasn’t so optimistic about their chances after being discovered, though. Even if it was by their own choice or despite how well they managed their “image”.

He could understand Chase’s strategy but Foreman wasn’t naive enough to believe that they would instantly be safe under the media's spotlight. They weren’t human and lacked the protections one had.

Foreman knew with absolute certainty that no matter what positive reception they got or how tragic their lives were, most of the population would never see them as people. A lot of them couldn’t even manage that with other humans, add to that the fact that they’re turtles…

It wouldn’t be very hard for whoever managed to get a hold of them to keep up an appearance of humane, respectful treatment while doing whatever they wanted behind the scenes. Eventually people could get used to the fact that they existed and learn to enjoy the benefits of whatever uses they managed to get out of them –be it entertainment or research– and that would be that. Just another sad anecdote in the history of humanity.

People’s outrage had a very short expiration date and staking their lives on public perception could be a fatal mistake.

"I can't believe you are considering ruining their lives like that," Cameron spat venomously at Chase, who held her gaze evenly.

Once it was clear that Chase was not going to relent, her attention shifted to the other two, searching for support, for condemnation of Chase's suggestion.

She wasn’t going to find it in Foreman.

"There is no right answer here." Said Foreman calmly, because there really wasn’t. There were too many variables, too much uncertainty. Both of them could be wrong or… they could be right. It wasn't as black or white as either of them made it sound.

Whatever Chase and Cameron decided to do, that was their prerogative but this wasn't something Foreman was going to involve himself in. In his honest opinion, it wasn’t their choice to make and it would be better if they just left this mess alone, let the turtles –and their father– decide for themselves.

"So we should just do nothing, then?" Cameron asked, absolutely pissed "Let them rot? I can't believe all of you."

With that, she shook her head and turned on her heel, intent on leaving them there.

"Wait, Cameron,” tried Chase, making a move to stop her. “It's ridiculous that you think you can actually help them in any other way,” he said with an incredulous laugh. “Tell me. Right now. Do you know a better way to do this? Anything that could actually help them?"

She crossed her arms, her gaze dropping to the ground.

“That doesn’t mean we should give up,” she retorted. Despite the fact that she still looked miffed, she didn’t try to leave again.

Now that everyone's mood was a bit more settled, Foreman took the opportunity to ask something that had been nagging at the back of his mind since their conversation with Raphael.

"I'm curious as to why you believed them in the first place," he asked House calmly, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen upon the room “Whatever happened to everybody lies?"

House raised an incredulous eyebrow.

"You think the kid was faking that?" He asked regarding Foreman with a curious expression.

"No" answered Foreman, shaking his head "that reaction…" That was deep seated trauma. The way his face had twisted in terror, those screams, even Raphael’s horror while trying to stop his brother’s panicked flailing. That wasn’t something you could easily fake. Foreman had met his fair share of good actors but there was a limit. Especially when it came to someone so young. "Whoever Bishop is, he did something to him,” he clarified. “There are marks in his plastron. I didn't notice them until I went looking but they're neat, purposeful. That would fit with their story. But no anaesthesia at all? Kid would have died of shock. Maybe he wasn't fully sedated. I can believe that. But at least neuromuscular blockers, something for the pain even if it wasn't enough… He wouldn’t have made it otherwise."

House hummed thoughtfully and gave him a disappointed, condescending smile.

"Do you know enough about their physiology to be certain of that?"

Chapter Text

There is a special kind of silence that can solely be enjoyed when you’re the only person awake in the middle of the night. It’s not the same kind of silence one is surrounded by when they live alone –House would know– but something more heavy, that feels like a bated breath. It’s not always a perfect silence though, especially when the shared space in question is a sewer.

There were sounds of running water, of groaning pipes reverberating above House’s head as he fixed his attention on the thick, hand-bound tome Purple had lent to his team. He was alone in the dark living-room, everyone in the house having long since gone to sleep.

The last time House was able to enjoy a silence like this one Wilson had been living with him… He wondered how the man was doing, maybe he had gotten married again while House was gone. He wouldn’t put it past him.

With a small smile now tugging at his lips, House turned another page.

It was a fascinating piece of research.

There was so much care put into this despite having probably been a rushed job, considering the circumstances. Every new page of information raised so many different questions House itched to get the answers to.

To his chagrin, he wasn't an expert on reptiles so the fact that he wasn't "allowed" to access the internet was becoming marginally more annoying than he had expected. The books he had acquired didn't cover everything he needed, despite his best efforts, and the information he was missing had proven to be a lot more important than he had first thought after Donatello confirmed that they didn’t only look like turtles but were actual turtles, even giving House a guess as to what species they should be classified as.

Not which one was more similar to them but the one they belonged to. The Chysemis family, probably Chrysemys picta, Donatello had said. That off-handed comment alone had so many interesting implications, and coupled with the fact that they were “half human”, that they were experiments...

There were a few theories –mostly just speculation for now– on the possibility of creating human-animal hybrids, injecting human cells into animal embryos. It was simply an attempt at creating a new source of organ transplants. Nothing like the living, breathing, sapient turtle he was treating.

He couldn’t even begin to guess how to go about replicating something like that.

He wanted to know everything about their creation but… there were some things that he should only start to dig into at a later date. The more pressing matter right now was discovering what was wrong with Donatello. He would have access to the turtles after this was settled so he wasn’t worried about wasting his only opportunity to learn more about them.

So, despite the limited resources, House kept on reading. He jumped from book to book, flipping through the information with laser-like focus.

Their bodies really were a perfect mixture between a human and a turtle. Just like the test–

House's train of thought came to an abrupt stop as he failed to locate the paper he was looking for.

He tilted his head in confusion and started to rummage through the pile of books he had assembled, picking up all the loose sheets of paper and even checking the floor to see if he had accidentally dropped it.

Nothing. No matter how hard he looked it just wasn't here. It should be, he distinctly remembers gathering up all the information in one place to make sure he had everything on hand for this.

Now starting to suspect something was afoot, House spread the papers all over the couch, checking everything. He had the hormone test discarding hyperthyroidism, the few references and old annual check-ups Purple had given him…

The ABG was missing too.

Without waiting another second, House stood up and briskly barged into his shared room, turning the light on with a tap of his cane as soon as he was in, ignoring Foreman’s angry protests.

The man didn’t get out of the bed, only giving a quiet, annoyed grumble before attempting to go back to sleep so House didn’t pay him any mind as he practically tore the room apart, rooting around every corner, trying to find the missing paper to no avail. He opened the closet, throwing the clothes to the ground, checked his bag twice and paced the room like an angry guard dog.

They really weren’t there. He knew he hadn’t moved them out of the room and House didn’t make mistakes like these.

So, since paper couldn’t just vanish out of thin air, that only left one possibility.

Someone had taken them.

There had been no other signs of tampering so it couldn’t just be an “innocent mistake” and, most damning of all, the only tests House was missing were the older ones, the ones that could be considered redundant at this point.

The ones that House’s little thief could have assumed they wouldn't look into anymore.

Donatello hadn't told them they could keep them only for a limited time. No one had. And Leonardo was the type to lay down clear boundaries to abide by. He wouldn't try to trip them up. He wanted neat, followable guidelines and rules. If they didn’t want them to keep the information for too long they would have informed them already so that meant that someone here was sneaking around stealing the tests…

House wasn't wrong about this. He couldn’t be,

Someone had tampered with his work.

Now, normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal. There were a lot of people working at the same hospital and sometimes files got misplaced. It happened.

Here though? They were locked in. The only person that could have done this was either a member of House's own team or the turtle's "family"…

Interesting.

The clack clack of computer keys was the only sound resonating in the medbay as Donnie, once again, ignored his family’s wishes, intent on making some progress on the many, many projects he was preparing.

He was… extremely busy, jumping between five different footprints while still doing some research on their guests since, as April’s discovery had proven, he still had a lot to learn about them.

He could admit that, maybe, he hadn’t made as much headway in convincing them to stay as he wanted. Tonight… well, last night, judging by the time, there had been good, significant progress. Even Leo had seemed strangely accepting after Donnie had silently pointed out just how well Mikey was handling the doctors, even being able to put them at ease without needing April’s help.

So, in conclusion. The human’s opinion on them had improved significantly and yet…. He still hadn’t found a way to make them stay. It was difficult. They didn’t have a reason for it and the way Donnie's family –or even their friends– lived wasn't exactly glamorous or safe.

He needed leverage or a bribe. Something significant that would tie them to the sewers, so he kept searching.

Donnie winced, giving a quick read to House’s medical record. Ouch, that was a botched job and had to be extremely painful, jeez. Yup, hydrocodone for the leg, made sense. And all of that because he wanted to keep the leg despite everything, just on the off chance it could get better.

He doubted it, though. For a human that would be…

Huh, well, that was a thought.

Chapter Text

Foreman grumpily nursed a cup of coffee between his hands, giving House his best glare. Annoyingly, despite having been awake for half the night making an ungodly amount of noise for no clear reason, the man seemed perfectly awake. In a good mood, even. He was taking long sips at his own cup as he regarded Foreman’s disgruntled expression with clear amusement.

"The heart-rate is too slow which means there's not enough oxygen going to the brain. That’s the cause of his symptoms. It explains the dizziness, weakness, confusion…" said Chase, leaning back on his chair as he stifled a yawn.

"Bradycardia" confirmed House with a nod, writing this on the whiteboard. He was silent for a few seconds, simply staring blankly at it. "Our little green “genius” didn't notice because every time his condition worsens he gets confused, passes out… not the best opportunity to measure your bpm.”

Foreman sighed deeply.

"The heart rate seems normal otherwise," he begrudgingly added despite the tiredness still weighing on him. He should just take a nap later, far away from his boss. "Lyme carditis. New York is endemic for Lyme and there are a lot of rats in the sewers. He could have gotten into contact with a tick,” he affirmed confidently as his mind slowly settled back into the familiar work. “With the way their skin folds where it meets the shell they could have easily missed the bite and we don't even know what those cutaneous symptoms would look like in their skin. I haven’t seen anything about the presentation of different rashes in the books so Donatello could not even have a point of reference.”

"With no fever? No elevated white cell count?" Asked Cameron, tapping her cup with her index finger.

"An absence of leukocytosis is normal for Lyme," retorted House. "As for the fever… their body temperature regulation doesn't work the same way a human's does. Even ignoring that he could have missed the fever in the early stages since he’s a workaholic that likes pushing himself and doesn't seem to pay that much attention to his own well-being. He thought this was just stress for a while so he dismissed all early signs as simply feeling "under the weather". There's also been cases of Lyme where the only symptom is sinus bradycardia without any conduction defects...” He mused thoughtfully.

"He's already missed a symptom. If we're not ruling out a bacterial infection it could be endocarditis" tried Chase. “it would fit with the irregular heart pattern and he would only need antibiotic treatment.”

"He's young, maybe it's some kind of birth defect" added Cameron, frowning thoughtfully. "Or any condition that damages the sinus node. We need an echocardiogram."

And a stress test probably but no idea how they would go about that…

"Of course we need an echocardiogram," said House with a dismissive wave of his hand. "A TEE to be precise, for obvious reasons."

Yeah, with the shell in the way that seemed like their best bet. Still, that came with its own set of problems.

Chase tilted his head in question

"Would he have the equipment for that?" He asked, voicing Foreman’s own thoughts.

"If he doesn't we'll have to make due with acoustic windows," Foreman added with a frown. He wasn’t sure if that was even possible. Would they be able to get a clear image of the heart from the outside? And even if they could… “I am not sure if we’re familiar enough with their anatomy to interpret an ultrasound."

Imaging was tricky. One of the parts of the job that you could only become half decent at after a lot of hands-on experience. There was a reason why radiologists existed. Ultrasounds, especially, made absolutely no sense to anyone that hasn’t spent a considerable amount of time watching them. It was all about recognizing and identifying patterns.

As a member of House’s team Foreman was used to doing a lot of things outside of his specialisation, imaging included, but their patient’s heart had a…. unique structure. Unless the problem was a glaring, gigantic tumour he doubted they would be able to even guess what they were looking at.

House clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"Not with that attitude!" He exclaimed.

Of course House would throw himself carelessly into something like this. Completely unsurprising.

"Come on. I want more ideas. You guys are on a roll today" House said, tapping the board with the back of the marker.

"Anorexia?" Tried Chase "He seems very thin compared to his brothers. Body image seems like a problem they could have with their whole…” he trailed off, waving his hand in a vaguely descriptive motion.

"It's not anorexia. It doesn't fit." Retorted House with a shake of his head.

"Maybe Sarcoidosis."

"Again, no elevated white cell count” said Foreman “If there's no increased activity of the immune system it can't be sarcoidosis."

"We all saw the history," tried Cameron. "It could be sick sinus caused by chest trauma."

"That's what the shells are for," said House

"But they don't protect their heads" Answered Foreman, latching on triumphantly to the idea "Intracranial hypertension. The nausea and the headaches would fit too. We need an MRI and maybe an… LP"

The shell thing was starting to become extremely annoying.

"Hold that thought," House told Foreman. "What about you?" he asked, leaning to the side and nodding towards the other room's occupant who had been silently watching the computer on his lap while they worked.

With the doctor’s attention suddenly turned towards him, Leonardo blinked at them in surprise, visibly taken aback.

To be honest, Foreman had forgotten about his presence too. He was too good at being unobtrusive. It was a bit creepy in his opinion.

"Don't be shy now. I saw what you were looking up and, by the way, Pubmed, Sciencedirect… Sites with reputable sources and actual scientific papers are much more useful than Wikipedia," House said. "So? What did your little research tell you? Honestly, with you being such a control freak I was expecting an interruption when we were making digs at your little brother's appearance but you didn't say anything so now I'm curious. Come on, enlighten us!"

The turtle’s eyes jumped suspiciously between the four doctors before he relaxed, fixing his attention fully on House.

"There's this illness called Lupus?” He started hesitantly. “That– "

"No" House harshly interrupted without letting him finish the thought, leaving no room for argument.

There was a minute twitch in the kid's face before his expression smoothed over once again.

"You asked me to–" he said, making a visible effort to keep his voice as calm and pleasant as possible.

"Of course it's not Lupus" House insisted pointedly, like it was the most ridiculous thing he could have said. Then, he looked away from Leonardo, turning his attention to the team. "The lumbar puncture is not something I'm sure we can actually do," House continued, ignoring the pinched look the turtle was still giving him. "I don't know if there's tools for that so we'll definitely try imaging first. If there is some reason to suspect that we’ll need the lumbar puncture anyway we can ask the kid, see what his opinion is or think something up. I am sure they have a drill somewhere. Kid likes building stuff, he'd need one,” he concluded. "Anyone elsewant to add anything?"

Already used to House’s antics, Foreman simply rolled his eyes at him. "Acoustic neuroma," he suggested.

House nodded. "Our other option is just drugs and we are not allowed to go to the “secret desk”. So, unless we get special permission–"

"You won't" Interjected Leonardo, with a faint, barely there twitch of his lips. House continued his spiel with an unbothered shrug

"– we have no way to find them which means we have to work by process of elimination."

"We should do the test for Lyme and a blood culture for endocarditis," said Cameron, eyeing the kid.

"Why?" Asked House

Cameron's lips thinned

"Because it's a normal procedure when you suspect that," she said between gritted teeth.

"No, really. Why?" Repeated House sceptically "Because it's what the kid would want?"

"Yes, it makes sense and it could be useful"

Then, to Foreman's surprise, House nodded in acceptance.

"Alright" he said, pleasantly.

"You're agreeing?" Foreman couldn't help but ask, completely thrown off. He wasn't the only one. Chase'd eyebrows had climbed to his forehead and even Cameron was taken aback, blinking at him, dumbfounded.

"Not the ELISA but we can try the blood culture," clarified House as he started to walk towards the door. "Why not? Let's waste some time. It's not like our patient is dying or anything. Cameron, you're with me and Hamato here." Once again, House’s words prompted weary glances from his team. He was volunteering to work? And not only that, but to do it in front of an audience? What was his deal? "You two can do something useful while we waste some time."

"Something useful like what?" Asked Chase.

"Like starting him on broad spectrum antibiotics." House shot back.

Chapter Text

"Doxycycline?" Asked Donnie. There was a distinct tilt of his voice. Disbelieving, slightly judgy… Clearly, his brother thought someone was making a very stupid suggestion but didn’t want to start an argument about it. The last time Donnie was acting like this, Casey had been trying to convince them to launch him into space to chase after a wayward Triceraton ship. Raph could picture the faint twitch of his brow perfectly, the slight disbelief in his eyes…

Not that he was going to turn to check. His attention was firmly fixed on the clean, bright floor of the medbay, as it had been since the moment he had stepped a foot in the room.

"We've decided to start you on broad spectrum antibiotics," one of the doctors explained neutrally. That was… Foreman, if Raph remembered correctly. "It’s really likely that this is a case of Lyme carditis.”

Raph perked up, feeling his eyes widen as he heard the man’s explanation.

They knew what Donnie had? They were giving him medicine. Did that mean that it was curable?

Feeling his heart skip a beat, Raph stole a quick glance at his brother.

Sadly, Donnie didn’t seem entirely enthused by the news. His worn out expression twisted into a frown as he gave both men a dubious look.

Now, despite not really knowing what this was all about, Raph was sure that Donnie knew more about whatever illness he had than the humans. Donnie thought they were doing something wrong so that meant that they were doing something wrong. Raph felt his fists tighten. His attention dropped to the ground once again.

"If you think it's Lyme shouldn't you actually test for that before starting treatment?" Donnie asked, unable to hide the exasperation he felt.

"In cases like yours we think it’s better to treat it as soon as possible. A test could take some time and there’s also the possibility of a false negative," replied Foreman, completely unaffected.

"You're not testing because you could have a false negative? What kind of logic is that?” his brother asked, disbelief and shock clear in his voice. After a few seconds of not getting a response, he took a deep breath, continuing his tirade. “Look, I can't test for it right now but if you give me some time to prepare an ELISA, then–"

Chase answered him, visibly annoyed. "No offense, but even if you tried that, House would probably ignore the results. We are not sure how reliable it would actually be considering your differences with humans and the fact that this is not exactly a professional lab. You have done a phenomenal job with what you have but I doubt there have been a lot of… peer reviewed studies on how your immune system responds to Lyme."

Thankfully, Donnie seemed to accept that point, staying silent instead of trying to argue any longer. So… not entirely wrong, then?

“Would that work?” Raph asked, searching for clarification. He finally lifted his head, fixing his attention on the two humans, voice tight with urgency. “If it was Lime or whatever. Donnie would just have to take some pills? That’s it?”

Donnie was the one that answered him. “If it was Lyme, it should.”

Then why wasn't he doing it?

Donnie seemed to be locked in an intense staring match instead, frowning at a single pill laying in his hand like it had personally offended him.

Okay. He just had to take it. In case it was Lime.

To Raph's mounting frustration, instead of doing that, after a few seconds of silence, Donnie looked up at the doctors, giving them an uncomfortable grimace.

"You know… this is exactly why resistance to antibiotics is becoming a problem" he said, putting the pill back in the little plastic cup the doctors had given him.

Raph almost kicked one of the chairs in irritation.

Foreman rolled his eyes. "It’s a problem because so many doctors give their patients penicillin for a cold. Our team specialises in life threatening illnesses and difficult cases. It’s not comparable."

"But there's also no indication of this being a bacterial infection,” retorted Donnie. “There's no fever, no elevated white cell count–"

"Yeah, according to the tests you are in perfect health but yesterday your heart almost stopped so I'd say that's a sign that you should take your medication," said Chase.

The fact that the guy was trying to get his brother to take the medicine was the only reason Raph didn’t jump at him for the dismissive, disrespectful tone he was taking with Donnie.

Donnie sighed. "We are… I have been saving these for emergencies. They're not that easy to get. It's not that I don't want to get better but there's absolutely no indication they will work at all. I really think that you should be more careful with using these. Unlike the MRI, we only have a very limited supply of certain drugs. It’s better if you learn to only use these if it’s absolutely necessary."

Now, this part of the conversation, Raph definitely understood.

Did Donnie really think that him dying wasn’t enough of an emergency? Was Leo’s stupidity contagious now? Is that what was happening here!?

He had to be joking.

"Donnie, take the fucking pills or I'll force-feed them to you,” he snarled, running out of patience and fully glaring at his brother. He ignored the momentarily stab of pain that pierced his chest the moment he met his brother's hollow, tired eyes, noticing the deep bruises under them. They looked bigger than he remembered, more glaring than ever since Donnie wasn't wearing his mask. Instead, he focused on the burning anger in his gut. “I’m not joking.”

Donnie simply lifted an amused eyebrow at him, raising his hands in surrender before finally taking his medication.

With a satisfied nod, Raph snatched the ceramic mug Chase was holding and settled it by his brother's bedside, who reached towards it to take a sip. Raph felt his shoulders relax, some of the tension dissipating. Okay, good. This kind of bullshit wasn't fun when it was Leo getting a few scrapes after patrol, but today? When Donnie was like this? He wasn't going to let it stand.

The sound of the medbay door opening made Raph turn.

“Heyyyyyy, Donnie. I did your laundry" said Mikey with a nervous laugh and a faint, pained smile as he let himself inside. He was carrying their laundry basket, almost hugging it to himself.

Raph raised a surprised eyebrow at him, feeling a strange mixture of thankful –it was one of Raph’s chores–, and suspicious –it was one of Raph’s chores–.

“You did?” He asked with a frown.

Mikey almost jumped at the question, his eyes widening the moment they settled on Raph, as if he was surprised to see him there. He gave him a distinctly guilty look, slightly sinking into his shell.

Raph’s eyes narrowed. Something was definitely going on. Before Mikey could start babbling some random excuse for whatever was happening, Raph walked over to him, reaching to grab the basket in his hands.

As Raph had suspected, it was a disaster. He rummaged through it, becoming more and more incensed the longer he inspected the ruined, messy wrappings and noticed the very familiar, very strong smell coming off the clothing. Outraged, he tried fishing for Donnie’s mask, finding only a white strip of cloth hidden under the pile instead.

Alarmed, he immediately buried it again. His eyes jumped to Donnie for a moment, who was regarding them calmly with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like he had seen the disastrous result of Mikey's attempt at doing the laundry so Raph grabbed the tails of Mikey’s mask, ignoring his protests as he pulled him out of the room.

Chapter Text

“You ruined it!” He hissed at his little brother once the door was closed, trying to keep his voice down.

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Mikey whined pleadingly.

When all Raph did in response was give him a stern, angry look Mikey sighed, deflating a little. “Look, yesterday it was smelly after, after all of the… the Donnie almost dying thing and I wanted to take care of it so you wouldn’t have to but the stains weren’t coming off and they said on the internet that you can use bleach if it has a loooooooooot of water so I did that but then I forgot about it and I left it for too long. And it took out the stains! But! It also made it a weird light purple that was more blueish than purple? And I thought oh no, Leo is going to steal Donnie’s mask. So I tried to see if putting it there longer would fix it. I know it doesn’t make sense!" Mikey rushed to explain just as Raph started to open his mouth to tell him just how stupid that was. "But at that point I panicked and I had to get the blue out so I put even more bleach and now it’s white!”

“You ruined Donnie’s mask!” Raph stressed, grabbing the item in question and waving it in front of Mikey’s face for emphasis.

“It was an accident!” Mikey insisted.

Like that mattered! The end result was the same!

Raph ran his fingers through the fabric, taking another look at it. It was completely unsalvageable. It wasn’t just the colour, the fabric was starting to deteriorate from the damage too. They’d have to throw it out.

His hold on the cloth tightened and suddenly Raph couldn't stay in place as his mind latched on the idea that his brother could die. He could be gone soon and they wouldn’t even have…

“He won’t mind that much.” Mikey tried, watching Raph pace around the place with a pout.

“He should.” Raph said between gritted teeth, starting to feel his breath catch, his body buzzing with familiar anger. His steps were becoming more and more energetic and he had to consciously keep himself from walking too fast, the urge to run, jump, punch something becoming almost unbearable. “You ruined it and it’s very important to him."

Their masks were important to all of them, really. Raph knows that if this was his own mask he would be pissed.

He was pretty pissed already.

“We all have spares.”

“That’s not the point!” Shouted Raph, throwing his hands up in exasperation as his voice almost echoed around the room from the sheer volume. “You are not thinking about how Donnie feels,” he stressed.

Raph expected more whining or another stupid excuse but, instead, Mikey crossed his arms, giving him a cold, annoyed glare. “Oh, because you are aaaalways thinking about how Donnie is feeling, aren’t you?” He asked, sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.

Caught completely off guard, Raph froze in place as he looked at his brother, startled. Mikey took this opportunity to keep talking, moving closer to him. His expression was firm, filled with purpose.

Raph took a step back.

“You think he doesn’t know you’re avoiding him? We’re all worried but at least I can look at him! If you were so focused on Donnie’s feelings you’d go see him and actually talk to him. You’re making him sad. He needs us, Raph and instead of helping you're… you're doing this!” He declared with a short, bitter laugh, the truthful words hitting Raph like physical blows. “So maybe I screwed this up, fine, whatever. But I am not going to let you take out your frustration on me because you’re not the only one who’s upset, okay!?”

Raph's shoulders slumped and he brought a hand to his face, suddenly feeling incredibly tired as the situation dawned on him.

Yeah, here was Raph, screaming at his little brother and unable to face Donnie because he was scared. What a tough guy he was.

What kind of useless piece of shit was he? Was that the only thing he knew how to do, yell at people?

Mikey was still looking at him, holding Raph’s gaze with suspiciously bright eyes for a moment before he finally deflated, blinking back his tears and taking a big, calming breath.

“I don’t think you’re bad, bro.” He said, giving him a small smile that Raph didn’t deserve. Raph tried to avert his gaze, turning his head to the side to avoid looking at his brother but Mikey moved in response, jumping into his line of sight. His head was tilted to the side as he met Raph's eyes with a hopeful expression. “Really, you’ve been hovering since my freakout with the doctors, I noticed. You also moved my bed next to yours again even if you hate how I talk about pizza in my sleep." Mikey reached out to him and started to gently push him backwards, towards the medbay door. "I am going to apologise because yeah, this one was my bad, but you just need to talk to him and then things will be at least a little bit better."

Raph wished it was that easy.

He sighed, letting Mikey drag him inside.

“Heyyyyyyy! We’re back, Donnie.” Mikey said, pulling insistently at Raph's arm as he skipped towards Donnie's bed.

“Okay, now I am morbidly curious.” Said Donnie, squinting at them in suspicion. Because of course he would immediately be on to them. Typical Donnie. “What did you do, Mikey?”

Biting his lip, Mikey buried his hand into the basket, pulling the white mask while carefully watching Donnie’s reaction.

There was a moment of silence before Donnie snorted, shaking his head slightly. “Did you bleach that?”

“Maybe?”

“Okay, that’s funny,” he admitted with a half smile. “Give it here,” he said, extending his hand towards them to take the mask. When Mikey obliged, he quickly wrapped it around his head and turned to them as if he were posing, flicking the long tails of his now white mask with the back of his hand. “What do you think about the new look? It’s elegant isn’t it?”

Mikey’s expression dropped, jaw hanging open and eyes watering. He suddenly looked more horrified than he had when Raph was arguing with him. Alarmed, Raph turned to him. What happened? Why did Donnie’s comment–

“No! You can’t change colours,” Mikey cried in complete despair. “We have a palette going on!”

Raph took a deep, centering breath.

You must not insult or shout at your little brother. You just had this conversation. It would not be a good idea.

“Well, I obviously prefer purple but I think I lost the last spare I had,” Donnie confessed with an embarrassed shrug. “I should have gotten a replacement but I kept putting it off so until it’s fixed or I get a new one I don’t have anything else. It feels kind of weird to not be with the mask though. So white it is, I guess?”

Donnie gave Mikey a small half smile. He seemed genuinely humoured by the fuckup which made Raph lose some of the tension he didn’t even know he still had but the joy couldn’t hide what lay underneath. Donnie’s tired, worn out expression, the way his skin was pulled taunt in his face from how thin he was getting…

The human scientists had gone silent but Raph could still feel their presence, making his shoulders tense. They were right there, so close to his brother and they didn’t actually care–

Then something nudged his arm and Raph looked up, startled. Mikey was leaning his head towards Donnie, making exaggerated, jerky gestures, looking like he was trying to dislodge water from his ears.

Mikey was a lot of things. Subtle wasn’t one of them.

Raph swallowed heavily, feeling his mouth dry as he fixed his attention on Donnie once again. Mikey was right. This wasn’t about him. Despite how much he hated looking at Donnie when he seemed so fragile, his brother needed him.

Raph opened his mouth and… he tried to apologise, he really did, but nothing was coming out.

The words were there, resting just behind Raph’s tongue. I never wanted to hurt you. I’m just scared. You know I care, right? I don’t want to see you like this but I am here for you. I will always be here.

I’m sorry.

It was only two words, but for some reason they’d always felt so hard to say. They made him break out in cold sweat.

And then, when it seemed like he could finally do it, Donnie winced.

Immediately, Mikey was on it. “Hey, you’re good?” He asked, leaning towards him slightly closer than necessary as he peered intently into his face.

Donnie gave him an uncomfortable grimace “Yeah, it’s just, you know, the headache. Nothing important…” he dismissed, laying a single hand in Mikey’s plastron to push him backwards a little, gaining some personal space.

"Didn’t you want to say something, Raph?" Insisted Mikey.

But Raph had lost the thread. Panic climbed up his throat, making him choke at the reminder of just how helpless he was and he couldn’t look at his dying, hurting brother any longer.

His gaze dropped once again and Raph grit his teeth. Boiling red filled his vision.

Fucking useless coward.

“Well, let’s hope the treatment works and then you won’t have to worry about that,” said Foreman abruptly, shattering the long silence with a casual, halfhearted attempt at a comforting smile.

Donnie didn’t seem convinced by his reassurances. Of course he fucking didn’t. The doctors couldn’t do anything. Raph couldn’t do anything.

“Did you?” Donnie asked, suddenly looking at Raph, who blinked at him in confusion. “Want to say something,” Donnie clarified.

Raph had to clear his throat before answering. His voice was too rough, scratchy and he felt the words fall out clumsily with a half stutter. “N-Nah I… I just– ”

“Then you can all go.” Donnie dismissed “I took the pills, got myself a makeover and now I want to rest for a bit, if that’s alright.”

And that’s what they did.

Chapter Text

So that’s how Raph found himself in the middle of their living-room, not really sure of what to do with himself. To his right, Mikey was muttering up a storm, rummaging through the ruined clothing with a frown. From where he was, Raph couldn't really understand what exactly he was saying but he still caught a few words here and there. Something something fire. Grumble grumble cooking oil.

Despite how tempting it sounded, arson wasn’t a good idea when they were trapped inside the lair. Their father would probably notice the smell and if Leo caught them… Raph really wasn’t in the mood for any kind of lecture right now.

Raph sighed. What he wanted the most right now was to punch something, to just be alone for a moment but… It was probably his fault Donnie had kicked them out and, as yesterday’s nightmare had proven, Mikey wasn’t having an easy time of it either. He probably wanted some company.

It was about time he did some of his chores too. If Mikey was starting to worry about their laundry there was clearly a problem there.

“Come on,” Raph said, gesturing at his brother to follow him.

Not one to ignore a request like that –or any random request, honestly, Mikey was a “go with the flow” kind of guy– he immediately nodded, following closely behind Raph without saying a single word.

Raph still explained anyway “If you’re going to go around doing other people’s chores I wanna make sure you can at least do them right,” he said casually once they arrived at their destination.

Mikey eyed the many, many unattended piles of towels and loose strips of cloth thrown all over the laundry room with a suspicious frown. But, just when Raph thought he was going to dip out, Mikey fixed his eyes on him, like he was considering him before nodding once. “Yeah, okay,” he accepted. “Sooooooo… the secret laundry knowledge is that bleach is always bad?” he tried with a small, mischievous smile.

Raph couldn’t help but crack his own matching smile at that. “Oh, yeah. No matter how much ‘secret laundry knowledge’ I manage to get into that thick head of yours you’re not touching the bleach again.”

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like Mikey was ready to take over laundry duty any time soon.

Raph tried to stay calm, he really did. And, for a while, it seemed that everything was going well. Even when Mikey started screwing up he remained patient, he kept his tone as soft as possible… Okay, maybe he raised his voice a couple of times but could you really blame him? He had warned Mikey to be careful before mixing Donnie’s weird experimental detergents and putting them in the laundry machine but, of course, he just couldn’t listen and now they were buried in a strange, thick foam up to their waists.

After realising that, instead of helping, Mikey would just spend his time piling up the white, bubbly clouds that filled the room before throwing himself at them like they were piles of snow, Raph decided to kick him out.

Despite the problems though, he had to admit that the ‘lesson’ had helped with his mood slightly. Mikey's too, judging by the loud snicker he let out as he left, dodging a towel headed for his face Raph had thrown to emphasise just how much he did not want a “snowbubble fight”. Yes. It sounded fun in theory but Raph was already damp, miserable and smelled suspiciously like lavender. He didn't want to make things worse, just fix this as fast as possible before he completely lost his patience.

After spending half an hour trying to clear out the mess with little progress, however, he decided he had done enough for now. The laundry machine was starting to look a lot more… kickable than usual which was clearly a sign for a much needed break. He’d get the rest of it later. He just had to clear his head for a bit.

The dojo was empty, thankfully, so Raph was able to lose himself in the exercise. Of course, there was still some tension. The conversation he almost had with Donnie, his talk with Mikey and the fact that they still didn't know how to actually help, the fact that he just couldn't… all those thoughts were a tornado wrecking through Raph's head as he shifted from one move to the next.

He was interrupted by the time he had already worked up a sweat by the door sliding open with a swish. Raph didn't turn, expecting Leo's light, almost imperceptible footsteps. A part of him welcomed the distraction. He had calmed down enough that he’d probably enjoy some competitive sparring and he knew he'd be able to easily goad his brother into a… friendly fight.

When the sound that greeted him instead was a couple of loud thumps accompanied by the tap of a cane Raph had to resist the urge to growl.

Of course it had to be him.

The small sliver of a good mood he had managed to find during the workout immediately dissipated. He gave the punching bag a particularly vicious hit before turning to give House a searing, dirty look, hoping to intimidate him into leaving the dojo.

“Oh, don't stop on my account,” the man said instead, giving him an amused smirk.

“What do you want now?” he grumbled.

“Can't I just pay a visit to my favourite raging red turtle?”

Despite appearances, Raph wasn't an idiot. He was perfectly aware that the man was doing his best to rile him up but just because he knew… didn't mean it wasn’t working, no matter how hard Raph wished it to.

“Our father told me to watch my manners around you and let you do your jobs and I…” he trailed off, feeling his nails dig into his palms. “I know you're helping Donnie but I can still kick you out of here.”

“I am just here to watch, honest,” House said, raising his hands in a faux innocent gesture.

Yeah… Raph didn't trust him as far as he could throw him, –which was pretty far since he was a skinny human and Raph a huge mutant turtle– but he didn't want to give the man the satisfaction of showing him how unbalanced Raph felt. So he turned back to the punching bag, putting more energy behind the hits than strictly necessary while doing his best to ignore the man.

“You seem angry,” he pointed out after Raph kicked the bag hard enough to make the chains rattle loudly.

Without even turning to look at him, Raph snorted. “Wow, Donnie said you were smart but you must be the wisest human to ever grace this sewer,” was what he managed to say between gritted teeth.

There was a pause, a few quiet taps of the cane against the ground. “I want to know why.”

Raph rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, maybe the fact that my brother is sick and there’s an asshole that can’t mind his own business annoying me has to do something with that.”

“You should be happy, though. We finally know what he has. He’ll get better soon.”

Raph couldn't help but scoff at that, landing another punch. Noticing his reaction, the man hummed, clearly amused.

“I didn’t know you were a doctor.” he said.

“Donnie doesn’t think you’re right.” Raph snarled, finally turning to look at the man, daring him to object.

He didn't. House’s eyes simply narrowed for a moment before he nodded once. “Okay, I can understand that,” he said, like it was a concession. “But that’s still not a reason to be like this.”

Raph stopped mid strike, his back going ramrod straight. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Uncaring of the danger lurking under Raph's voice, House smirked at him condescendingly. “Exactly what it sounds like. I’ve seen siblings poison each other over an inheritance. The fact that you’re related doesn’t actually mean anything.”

Yeah, that's what Raph thought. He hit the bag three more times in rapid succession, wishing that it was the man’s face meeting his fists instead of hard plastic.

“It does to me.” Raph said, slowly measuring his breath in that pattern his father had taught him. Trying to keep calm even as he felt his pulse starting to race.

“You’re wrong,” House replied casually. Like it was obvious, like Raph was an idiot for not seeing it. “But I still want to know the real reason why you care so much. My theory is that he's too useful to die. If the purple brainiac was gone there would be no more super canons for you, no clean water or electricity. In short, your already miserable lives would be even shittier.”

The real reason? His brother dying wasn't a reason? This man. This awful, selfish, disgusting human thought they only cared for Donnie because he was useful to them!?

“That may be how you fucking humans do things but down here we're a family,” he spat, pouring as much venom in his words as he could while still managing to keep his composure. “I would give my life for him and that’s just just because it’s Donnie. He is smart as hell, glad you finally noticed, but I would do the same for Mikey or Leo and they’re both idiots.”

“Because you're dangerously codependent,” House replied without missing a beat. “Your survival depends on them all. Do you think if you were a normal family you’d be as close as you are? You can barely stand big blue as it is. If you weren’t risking vivisection every time you went out you’d have run away like the moody, dramatic teenager you are a long time ago.”

Raph’s breath caught.

It was true that he had fantasised about that. Leaving the sewers forever, being free.

He always dismissed the idea in the end. He loved his family, wanted to be with them but the way the man spoke so firmly, without a hint of a doubt…

“We’re not–” he snarled, hating himself for the way his shoulders hunched, voice less strong than he had hoped. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I, really? It’s just instincts, safety in numbers… it makes sense that you’d want permanent company down here, especially someone like him.”

There was a heavy moment of silence as the doubts latched in Raph's brain like sharp hooks. But, not even a second after, the answer came to him, crystal clear and easy.

“I know this is another one of your games but I still want to make one thing clear to you. Just because you’re a sad, miserable little man doesn’t mean the rest of us are,” Raph said. He closed his eyes and turned his back to the doctor, a wave of calm washing over him as he found the only possible answer to those questions.

He didn't actually care. It didn't matter.

“My brothers mean everything to me and Donnie is so much more than his brain, even if you’re too blind to see it. He’s.. he’s so nice. Always. And… and patient and he always tries to help. When he finds something he’s really passionate about he can rant about it forever and make anyone excited about whatever it is. When he’s not trying to show off he can make anyone feel smart too,” he tried lamely, unable to find the words to translate the… the everything that was his brother, what every laugh Raph pulled out of him, every moment of trust and warmth meant. “You don’t understand that because you’re pathetic and can’t see that people can love each other no matter what,” he accused. “The other humans hate you but we don’t hate each other and never will despite anything they, anything I–” The memory of Mikey forgiving him passed through the back of his head, the relief, the guilt… “Maybe you're right and it's because of the way we live, because we don't have anywhere else to go but that doesn't matter because it's still true.”

Why would he care about the reason why he felt like he did? Why would he care about what made him belong? It didn't make it any less strong. It didn't make their family any less real.

“I don't need to prove anything to you” he concluded, shifting his head to face the man “so you can just fuck right–”

He froze mid turn, realizing that he was completely alone.

Wait, did the guy fucking leave while Raph was talking!?

Chapter Text

“–and that's why you always make sure there's nothing living inside the dumpster clothes before you bring them home,” Mikey concluded to his attentive audience.

Well, half attentive… One third attentive? Cam was still listening to him, clearly interested in what he had to say. She had been the one that encouraged Mikey to talk after doing a quick checkup on Donnie and bringing him out of the medbay, after all.

Both Raph and Donnie got bored after the fifth story, though. They weren't even trying to correct him anymore when he took some… creative liberties and just focused on their own thing.

Donnie was trying to slowly inch his way towards their old shared laptop without anyone noticing –wasn’t going to work since Mikey decided to hide the charger and waste all the battery playing pacman while Raph cleaned up the laundry room or trained or whatever– and Raph was doing that weird thing where he acted like he wasn't paying attention but also tried to look intimidating.

Despite all of that, Mikey was pretty happy with how the day was going. Cam didn't seem mad about the abduction thing, which was very good since Mikey still had to think about a good way to apologise for that one.

Also, even if Raph and Donnie were still not talking, they were together in the same room and that was better than what Mikey expected after the absolute disaster that had been that last attempt at talking things out.

The only one missing was Leo and this would be exactly like a normal afternoon with a new extra friend! Well… Leo and dad and April, who was having a serious adult talk with dad to make him come out of his room despite everyone knowing it wasn't going to work because, seriously. If he didn't even get out of bed when Leo tried to get him for morning training, he wasn't going to do it after a chat with April.

But that didn't matter right now. Things were already getting better and he had a guest to entertain!

“That's an interesting story.” The woman said pleasantly, making Mikey smile brightly at her.

“I mean, it's funny now but when it happened Raph got soooooo mad, right Raph?” he asked, turning to look at his brother with a bright grin.

Raph simply rolled his eyes at him in response. The lack of angry protests was a yes in Mikey's book but still… Not the reaction he was hoping for.

Mikey leaned closer to the woman and cupped a hand to the side of his face.

“He was super mad,” he said in a loud stage whisper without taking his eyes off his brother, watching Raph’s brow twitch in annoyance.

Teasing success!

“And you go searching alone?” Cam asked

Mikey shook his head. “Oh, no. We're a team so we never go alone unless someone wants the loot to be a surprise or something but we normally go in pairs since it's safer…”

Mikey bit his lip. This counted as sensitive information but they were already whispering and… he gave a furtive look at his surroundings, checking that no one was actually listening before lowering his voice.

“Donnie is planning to make Leo this really cool fake lightsaber so I’ve been going with him in secret to search for metal scraps for the handle,” he confessed.

“What about your friend April?”

“I don't think April wants a lightsaber?” He asked, confused.

Now that he thought about it, though. He had probably spoken too soon. Everyone would love to have a lightsaber and with some stuff April got into even without their help, it would probably come in handy.

“Ah, sorry,” Cam laughed, good naturedly. “I was asking if she usually comes with you to these… missions.”

“She’s offered to come with but she can't carry as much stuff as we can and bringing the van would be such a chore,” he stressed with a groan. “So we usually do it while she's not there.”

Mikey also suspected his brothers still felt embarrassed about it which was ridiculous. April was one of them and already knew they lived in the sewers. She didn't care about the rooting around the garbage thing.

“She hasn't tried to find you a better alternative?” She asked seriously, some of her humour gone.

Before Mikey could answer, a familiar figure stepped into the room, making Mikey whirl around to wave at him enthusiastically.

“Hey, Leo! Yo, welcome to the living room, dude. Where were you?”

He gave Mikey a small, lopsided smile in greeting and walked towards the laptop. Predictably, its screen remained dark even when Leo kept pressing the power button, trying to make it work.

Woops. Sorry, Leo. It was for a good cause.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to mind, only giving a small sigh before focusing on Mikey again.

“I was helping Dr Foreman and Dr Chase while they did some research with Donnie's books and–” he started to explain. Then, his eyes settled on Donatello and immediately widened.

“Donnie, what are you wearing!?" Asked Leo, his voice rising into an undignified shriek as he stared at Donnie like he had seen a ghost.

"Not you too!” Wailed Mikey sadly. He thought the mask drama was done when he had calmed Raph down. He didn’t want a fight to break out now. He was tired of all the tension, the permanent bad mood…

He was trying to stay positive even when Greg made those comments, Rob and F-man acted rudely and Cam got all judgy at them.

He had an even better reason to act like this now that the doctors had discovered what was up with Donnie! He didn’t want everyone to start shouting and getting angry at each other. He’d thought Leo would be a little more thankful of his “let’s keep the peace” policy too, since that was the only reason why Mikey didn’t push it with that weird conversation they had at dinner.

Leo ignored Mikey’s wishes and, instead of letting whatever it was go, walked behind Donnie's seat and started to undo the knots in his mask with swift efficiency.

He was clearly trying to be gentle, managing to not tug at Donnie's head once despite how tightly the mask had been tied. But, he clearly thought it was urgent, since his hands were moving like he was trying to break some sort of untying speed record.

Donnie, for his part, was too stunned to object. After Leo was done, he blinked a few times in bafflement and opened his mouth to say something. He must have seen Leo's serious, no games during this patrol expression because he immediately closed it again with a click.

Clearly put off by Leo's very sudden, very strange mood, Donnie exchanged a confused look with him and Raph, who shrugged and shook his head, mouthing ‘I don't know’ at them.

"I can fix this or get you a new one but don't wear it” Leo clarified sternly, leaving no room for argument as he tied the white bandana around his belt.

“What’s the problem?” Asked Cameron with a worried frown.

The thing is… Mikey didn’t really know. Leo seemed upset UPSET, big letters and all. And he wasn't even trying to hide it!

He wasn’t like Raph, who was really, really touchy about his mask so he thought Donnie had to be the same and needed defending or something.
When Leo had a problem with something they did he just lectured them about it, not get like this.

Furrowing his brow, Mikey mulled it over.

With Leo, it was difficult to tell what was wrong because even when he actually talked about it… half the conversation was in his own head. Sometimes, it even seemed like his moods were completely random.

Luckily, Mikey was an expert at guessing games so, unlike his other two brothers, he usually got what the problem was.

Since it was about the new mask… Did Leo also know how catastrophic it would be to change their colour palette? That was great! He knew someone had to get why it was a terrible idea and Leo had been chosen leader for a reason, after all. Like Mikey, he probably realised that if they ever became a famous superhero team with their own action figures and posters the white would clash horribly with the red, orange and blue. It was a very boring colour and also…

The bulb lit up in his brain and he pointed at the mask in question, blurting the words out triumphantly.

“It’s white and Leo is mad superstitious because he thinks magic is real!” Mikey exclaimed.

It made so much sense! Mikey was thankful Leo had intervened too. He didn't know what he would do with himself if he accidentally hurt Donnie because of bad mask mojo.

Leo pursed his lips and lifted his chin, clearly offended. He wasn't objecting, though, so Mikey totally hit the nail on the head.

“I do not think magic is real.” he affirmed, crossing his arms.

In perfect sync, Donnie and Raph rolled their eyes at him.

Leo didn’t back off, eyes flashing as he braced himself for an argument. “I have seen–”

“Yeah, when you had like… eight concussions piled up in your brain,” dismissed Raph, ignoring Donnie’s muttered comment of ‘that’s not how concussions work’. “That doesn’t count.”

“The Rat King–”

“Probably has his hands on some technology I can’t understand yet,” added Donnie.

Still, despite the bickering, Donnie didn’t ask for his mask back, which meant that this was just the usual silly banter and he was letting Leo get away with it.

Good, since it clearly mattered to him a whole lot.

Seeing that he was outnumbered, Leo turned his head to Mikey, silently asking for backup.

“Don’t worry, Leo. I wasn’t making fun of you. I totally believe you,” Mikey said seriously, making his brother crack a small half smile and look smugly at the other two.

He really did. Some of the shenanigans they’d seen certain supervillains pull off smelled like magic from miles away. Mikey had read enough comics to know when something was happening because of crazy super scientist stuff and when it was crazy super magician stuff instead. That wasn’t even mentioning the fact that their dad, who was probably the wisest person in the world, also believed in magic and the spirit world and all that.

Besides, Mikey was pretty sure he had an extra supernatural sense for finding pizza. A pizzy sense. Or would it be turtley sense?

Shell, now he wanted pizza.

Raph snorted, turning his attention to Mikey with a smug smirk.

“Of course you do,” he said. “You thought that ugly doll thing was haunted. Dad threw it out because you were so scared and then you insisted on sleeping in one of our rooms for three weeks straight."

Immediately offended by having one of his greatest fears trivialised like that, Mikey gasped in horror.

He raised his voice, waving his arms around in despair. “The music started up every time I got close to it. It was super creepy!” He exclaimed, feeling a shudder climb up his spine as he remembered the creepy black eyes of that doll. “That thing was totally haunted and in horror movies they always come back from revenge after you get rid of them. I still think it's going to…”

Yeah, it would be the moment they least expected it too. Oh, he had forgotten all about that stupid, horrible toy. Why did Raph have to remind him?

At least he was already sharing a room with his brothers.

For some reason, Leo didn’t look as happy to have his support as he had before, his previously smug smile had shifted into an uncertain grimace while Donnie raised a triumphant eyebrow at him, like he had just won the argument. Which was just ridiculous. He had been on Leo’s team when the problem was colours but now that Mikey tried to tell everyone about the danger of possessed dolls Leo didn’t believe him?

“Magic,” said Cameron with a strangely strained voice, giving Leo a weird look.

Leo’s shoulders hunched and he looked embarrassed for a moment before straightening his back again and leaving as fast as he could to presumably fix Donnie’s mask. Maybe he’d try to dye it or find a spare in the laundry room.

As Leo left, Mikey had the strange thought that he was supposed to stop him. Was he forgetting something? He hummed, deep in thought.

He didn't leave the stove on. Did he prepare a prank for Raph and Leo was about to walk into it? No, that didn't seem like it either…

His doubts were answered a few seconds later, when a blood curdling bellow bounced down the stone hallway.

“Mikey!” Echoed Leo's distinctly furious voice.

Oh, shell. The laundry room. That one was mostly his fault, wasn't it?

Well, there was only one thing a little brother could do in the face of such great danger: Make sure that whatever horrors he was about to face, he wouldn't have to deal with them alone.

He pointed at Raph dramatically and watched, almost in slow motion, as his older brother's eyes widened first in recognition and then betrayal.

Raph lunged at him with a growl, trying to put a hand over his mouth to shut him up but Mikey, expecting exactly that, backflipped away from the couch.

Ignoring the startled yelp coming from the doctor lady, he quickly scrambled up into a run, determined to reach Leo before Raph could catch him.

“It was Raph too! It was totally his idea. I didn't even–”

Chapter Text

Having a TEE tube inserted down your digestive system was, decidedly, a very uncomfortable experience.

Donnie didn't expect it to be pleasant, of course, and the doctors had made sure to numb his throat and all, but the sensation was a lot more annoying than he had imagined.

He absentmindedly bit down on the hard plastic mouthpiece protecting the probe as he shifted slightly to make himself more comfortable and quietly followed the doctor’s instructions while they placed the device. He knew how difficult it was to deal with unruly patients, after all.

Soon enough a grainy, grayscale image filled the screen of the ultrasound. It was angled in a way that didn't let Donnie see much, though, so he begrudgingly resigned himself to let the humans do their job while he uselessly glared at the ceiling.

It was strange, being on this side of the interaction. Normally it would be one of his brothers laying on the bed while Donnie “played scientist”.

The fact that Raph still called it that wasn't very fair, in Donnie's opinion. Yes. It was true that, growing up, while Mikey's idea of playing was dressing up as a superhero and climbing the furniture, Raph enjoyed roughhousing and Leo made up increasingly convoluted stories for his toys, Donnie's favourite pastime was "playing scientist". This involved things ranging from taking apart old appliances to letting buckets of water fester in the sewers and observing the resulting mess under an old, dusty magnifying glass.

Nowadays, though, he was pretty certain that what he did went further than simple childhood games.

Speaking of Raph, Donnie was realising that maybe he had been a bit too… flippant when he dismissed Raph’s complaints last time he managed to convince him to play guinea pig to help him practise this procedure.

Donnie wasn't exactly eager to admit that his brother was right about how annoying this was. If he did, Mikey would probably fight him the next time he needed to do this for an actual emergency –and by that Donnie meant a real fight, nunchucks and all– but he could still acknowledge it in the privacy of his own mind. He’d make it up to Raph in some other way, maybe build him a music player the next time they did a dumpster run and–

The realisation that he didn't actually know if he would be alive for that shut down that line of thinking pretty swiftly.

He swallowed heavily, feeling incredibly conscious of the tube pressing down in his throat, of the fact that he had no control over how much time he had left.

Maybe he shouldn't have gotten distracted. It was important that the doctors knew how to do this.

"Shift to 86 degrees?" Asked Chase as he squinted at the monitor. His colleague had his brow furrowed in concentration but none of them could see a thing, judging by the matching faces of confusion they were badly trying to hide. The other two doctors didn't seem to be faring any better either. Cameron was biting her lip while House tapped the ground with his cane impatiently, looking frustrated.

With a roll of his eyes, Donnie tried to lift his head slightly, propping himself up on his elbows to get a better look only to have one of the doctors gently push him down again.

"Please, stay there and don't move," Foreman said distractedly, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Donnie's brow twitched in annoyance.

Yes, that would be a reasonable request… if they didn't need his help with this, that is. What was their plan, even? Stare at it until it made sense? That would be a waste of time when instead, Donnie could just teach them how to do it correctly! The fact that he couldn't talk like this was starting to become a problem. He had to find a way to–

Oh, of course.

With a flick of his wrist, Donnie slid a kunai out of his wrappings and bumped its handle against the metal frame of the bed in a familiar, uniform pattern. The humans turned to look at him briefly, confused by Donnie's actions but he also got the effect that he wanted. Immediately, Leo’s attention zeroed on him.

He had been close to the door, keeping a distance from the humans while he watched them work but the moment Donnie called for his attention, he walked to the side of his bed like a man on a mission.

Donnie made a few, precise gestures with his hands and, without even saying a word, Leo turned the monitor towards him, completely ignoring the doctor’s protests.

Donnie quickly scanned the screen before relaying his findings to Leo, who took this in with a silent nod and pursed lips.

"He says it's fine,” he stiffly informed the doctors. “There's nothing of note there."

House, who had watched their exchange with the kind of focus Mikey reserved for video game tournaments, gave them a thoughtful hum. "That's exactly what he's saying?" He asked Leo.

Feeling slightly peeved by the fact that they were talking over him when he was right there Donnie tried to nod but was cut short by Leo settling a calming hand over his own.

"If you want to be exact he's saying that the coast is clear but that's probably what he means,” he said.

Lesson learned, Donnie simply gave an affirmative thumbs up this time, to which Leo absentmindedly responded with a short gesture of acknowledgement.

“Here you go then,” House said, snatching the control body from Foreman's hands and passing it to Leo.

To the uninitiated, his eldest brother seemed to take this abrupt change of plans with the confidence of a professional nurse. Donnie, however, easily caught the brief look of panic that flashed through Leo's eyes the moment he found himself holding the device and almost choked on the tube trying to swallow a snort.

And that's how the rest of the test went. Donnie guided Leo through the exploration while he translated Donnie's words for the humans in turn.

It wasn't a very efficient system. Their sign language had been designed for the field and while they had a lot of different gestures for “attack” depending on the logistics or even who the perpetrator was, they hadn't really thought of a situation where “mitral valve” would be something they needed to convey.

Still, even despite the fact that Donnie spent a lot of time going through more views than necessary to show them to the humans, they were finished before long.

“Nothing,” muttered Chase once they started to put away the equipment while Donnie gulped down the cup of tea Leo had passed him.

“This means that your heart is healthy, as far as the ultrasound can see,” tried Cameron, giving them a reassuring smile.

What it really meant was that they had no more idea of what was happening to Donnie than they had before doing this.

He didn't try to argue, though, and politely smiled back at her in silence between sips.

“We still had to go through the… LP, don't we?” asked Leo, giving the doctors a measured look.

Immediately, the drink went through the wrong pipe and Donnie started coughing.

His brother was fast to come to his side, patting his back in alarm while Donnie tried to regain his composure.

“An–” he stopped himself with another coughing fit. His throat was still feeling a bit raw from the procedure and the warm tea trying to escape through his nose wasn't helping any. “An LP? I don't think we’ve discussed that,” he said, giving the human doctors an alarmed look.

“That’s because we were going for the MRI first but now that the cat’s out of the bag…” started House

“I'm guessing from your reaction that you don't think it's the best option,” commented Foreman with a raised eyebrow.

Yeah, that was the understatement of the century.

“It’s not a good idea,” Donnie confirmed, shaking his head. “We can't go through the shell so if you want a CSF sample you’d need to go for a suboccipital puncture and… that's too close to the brain for comfort.”

The doctors silently took this in, exchanging a few unreadable glances while Leo stood beside him with a neutral expression on his face.

Donnie shared the sentiment. Between the LP and the surgery that was two of the doctor’s options they had to avoid, two possibly life-saving procedures… that could end up killing Donnie in the process.

Chapter Text

“You know, I haven’t seen these in years,” House said, inspecting the plastic wrapped ‘pudding pie’ in his hand. The upper part of his body was completely submerged in the big kitchen cabinet filled with various snacks of disputable quality, his leg stretched so he could be as comfortable as possible while he rummaged through his host’s possessions. “This one’s even green,” he added appreciatively.

“They were made to promote a cartoon, I think. But the colour wasn’t very appetising so they were discontinued,” Purple said from behind him with the tone of someone who knew that whatever they were saying was true but didn’t want to seem like they were bragging about it.

All this fake politeness was really starting to get old. At least Hamato used it because he had no idea how to behave like a normal person, which made it fun to watch, but this kid did it for the hell of it.

“You really do know everything,” House said lightly as he tore open the packet, giving the treat a sniff before biting it. Stale, definitely stale. “Can you spell Worcestershire?”

“Actually, Doctor House, I’m here because I wanted to talk to you about something important,” Purple insisted, like it hadn’t been immediately obvious from the moment the kid had managed to ditch his merry colour coded bodyguards to follow House to the kitchen.

“Yes, but no matter how much you whine, we're continuing the treatment so I was thinking of making this a productive conversation instead of me ignoring you while you go ‘Oh it can’t be Lyme, stop wasting my stolen drugs! I am oh so smart for a green, under-socialised squatter!’.”

“You still have no evidence of that,” the kid was fast to say “but… that’s not what I wanted to discuss.”

House turned, pulling his head out of the cabinet to raise an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to elaborate while munching on the ancient, green pastry.

The kid bit his lip and quickly looked around for a second, like he was scared one of the other turtles could jump down from the ceiling at any moment which, at this point, wouldn’t even surprise House.

“Ah, I wanted to speak… in the medbay if that's alright,” he said slowly, lowering his voice slightly.

Oh, this may actually be worth it. The kid did seem concerned with getting caught. Trouble in paradise? Conflicts of interest? Family ruining drama, maybe?

Exactly what House loved to see!

Now with his curiosity peaked, House stood, gesturing at the kid to lead the way.

“Uhm…” Purple started, closing the door behind them once they arrived. “You know, when Leo brought you here the first thing I did was try to find out who you were exactly. I was surprised to see just how lucky we had been. You have… a focus on a lot of different areas, not just your specialty or even exclusively human medicine which is really helpful for–”

“That might work with Foreman but I’m not going to fall for it so you might as well cut the bullshit,” House said with a roll of his eyes, interrupting him.

The kid looked at House for a moment, as if he was trying to find his words.

“April proved that I’ve been missing a lot of important information, so I also decided to do some research on the more personal side of things,” he hinted, eyes drifting to House’s bad leg.

And just like that, House was done with the conversation.

"Yeah, I know. A real tragedy. I will never be able to play the floor piano anymore," he said in a faux dramatic tone, even as his grip on his cane tightened.

"Here,” Purple said, unbothered by the theatrics as he walked towards one of the shelves, pulling up up a thin manila folder from it. “I think you might want to look at this.”

House considered just ignoring him but... something about the way the kid was looking expectantly at him made him snatch it out of his hand.

It was the same type of document than the one that had been written up for Purple's history so he had a pretty good idea as to what it was, even despite the way it had been clearly edited, a lot of key details having been blacked out. What was being described this time, however, made him stop.

House had already noticed that the turtle in front of him lacked a lot of scarring he should have. It was obvious, no one recovered that fast from some of the things the Purple turtle claimed he had been through but this was on another level entirely.

"He would have lost the leg," he marvelled, finally taking his eyes off the paper to fully meet the kid's own.

Purple held his gaze without blinking. "If he was human he would have," he confirmed.

House’s mind went back to the three other kids and he tried to wrack his memory for any sign of an old injury of that caliber but he couldn't think of anything. None of them even had visible scarring and even if that was hidden under the wrappings they wore there was no way it happened without any other repercussions. Like he had said, the kid should have lost the leg. This amount of lost tissue, damage this extensive… It was incredible that they didn't have to amputate it.

"Who was it?" he couldn’t help but ask as he went back to the paper.

Hell, he’d seen crushed legs less damaged than this.

"I'm not going to tell you who…” the kid said, leaving no room for argument and clearly not wanting House to probe despite how important this was, how many questions were running through his mind at this moment. “But I can tell you how. As you know we are the result of an… experiment of sorts. Just a test on specimens belonging to Earth to see how a substance could be of use to the benefit of certain… People? Yeah, let’s go with that,” he vaguely said. There was a pause between every word, like he was testing how to explain this without giving too much away. It was incredibly frustrating. “It not only gave us intelligence and our very characteristic appearance but also a lot more different... advantages. A superior ability to recover from certain wounds and regenerate lost tissue is one of them,” he concluded, slowly walking towards the med-bay door before pulling out a set of lock-picks.

"Leo said it was fine as long as you didn’t go alone or touch anything, right?" Was what the kid said, giving House a lopsided grin as he unlocked the door with a click.

With that, the kid entered the lab, gesturing at him to follow.

Well, no need to tell him twice.

House’s third time entering the lab was a lot different than the first two. The place hadn’t changed. Everything was neatly settled in its place, even the part of the floor the kid’s super alien canon –or whatever it was– blew up had been patched up. Not completely fixed, of course, but it had been covered.

He had noticed the set of lock-picks on the ground when finding the kid passed out because of his most dramatic symptom, so it made sense he had ignored everyone and tried to tidy he place up.

The fact that he had been in the lab was interesting for sure. House would have to remember that little fact.

Yes. The lab itself looked the same but what changed was House’s perception of it. Now instead of looking at every piece of machinery with a mix of honest curiosity and amused contempt he couldn’t help the fascination filling his mind.

What was the purpose of those glowing metal devices that reminded House of simple toys? How many substances that House had dismissed as fake replica were actually alien in origin?

Further into the room, stopping in front of his desk and taking out a single, familiar glowing canister, Purple cleared his throat, in a clear attempt to get his attention.

"This is mutagen," he said solemnly. His eyes were lost into the distance as he spoke like he was looking at some place far way and the artificial glow of the fluid illuminated his face, casting a dark shadow over his eyes.

If he were any other person he might have felt unsettled out by the dangerous monster in front of him. The mutant that was surrounded by its own incomprehensible, deadly inventions. He was probably smarter than House, more knowledgeable than any human. It would be normal to feel afraid.

Being who he was, House couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the kid clearly trying to impress him with his dramatics.

"I don't think it's going to be as easy as drinking it." He said simply. Still, despite the light, carefree comment he felt one of his hands land on his thigh, gripping it tightly, because he knew where the conversation was going, what the turtle was implying.

"No. No it's not,” Purple replied with a snort. “The results of exposing a living organism to it are… violent and unpredictable. Trust me when I say that if we just tried to use it on you right now the experience wouldn’t be pleasant for anyone involved. Stable mutants like me and my brothers are a case of 1 in 10,000 mutations and we still don't know why it sometimes works and other times doesn't. The rest of the organisms exposed to it tend to have very messy ends. Last month was the last time someone accidentally mutated while we were around. We were in a fight and a canister broke. It sprayed a woman in the arm and… it mutated," he said slowly as if testing the word, an uncomfortable grimace twisting his face. "It started to swell like… like a bloated balloon. She ended up suffocating because the skin and muscle and the- the new tissue covered her face. That wasn't even one of the worst cases I’ve seen. It may sound like an exaggeration to call some of the mutations I’ve seen a fate worse than death but…” he trailed off before shaking his head. “Mutagen is incredibly dangerous.” He stressed.

House’s eyes were still fixed on the glowing canister, on all the possibilities opening up in front of him.

"Too dangerous to be of any use right now,” the kid continued. “But… If I found a way to make it work reliably it could become a miracle cure for almost any kind of tissue damage because of its regenerative properties. If you decide to stay with us after this is over maybe my family will find a way to… show their appreciation. If you don't find a cure for me and stay to help it will be your only opportunity to have access to it as well as all the research I have done already. I am sure you will be very motivated to discover a way to make it work and even if you don't, the people we have been getting it from are in regular contact with us. My brothers could get you their research.”

He stopped for a moment, giving House a sly shrug and a smirk as he let the weight of his words sink in.

“Just something you should keep in mind,” Purple concluded.

Chapter Text

House inserted his cane into the very small gap of an old, frail sliding door, carelessly pushing it to the left and making the wood slam against the stopper with so much force that it bounced back. He had to stop it with his foot, letting himself in while ignoring the matching glares the two people already inside were sending him as he moved to sit on the futon laying in the centre of the room.

He hadn’t taken his shoes off, which he knew was really getting into the rat’s nerves judging by the faint twitch of his whiskers.

“Doctor House,” said Miss Redhead of the terrible fashion sense with a tight, annoyed expression. “We were in the middle of something. I can speak to you later,” she informed him.

“Obviously. And the conversation wasn’t going well,” red rimmed eyes, unhappy frown… Operation let’s make the rat get out of his little hole was failing spectacularly. “I am not here just for you though. I wanted to have another conversation with Mr. Depressed Furry too,” he clarified, nodding at the rat in question.

Two birds, one stone. He’d already talked to the kids and was fairly confident he knew who his little thief was, but House wanted to cover all his bases.

Well… almost all of them.

Despite the unquestionable enjoyment he got when he made someone squirm he knew… he knew when someone was truly hurt, when the only thing House would do by intervening would be to cause further harm without getting anything out of it. House was cruel, cold and apparently resembled the source of the orange turtle’s trauma. He was not going to approach the kid again for an interrogation. Pushing Michaelangelo into another panic attack wouldn’t get him anything.

Everyone else in this sewer, however? They were fair game.

Which, speaking of games!

“You remind me of someone,” he told the rat after only receiving a few seconds of annoyed silence for his last comment. “His name is Steve McQueen. Best roommate I’ve ever lived with. I had to infect him with a deadly disease once but he was completely fine afterwards and even forgave me for it.”

The rat held his gaze for a moment before cracking a smile, giving him a thoughtful hum.

“I have been told we are very resilient pests,” he said calmly, dipping his head slightly in acknowledgment. “You should have brought him too. I am sure we would have had a lot of fascinating conversations about cheese and our favourite stashes of trash to hide in.”

House smirked at Splinter’s nonchalant, humoured tone. Huh, not as touchy as his children about being an animal despite all evidence of the contrary. That was something to note. With that new discovery filed away, House decided to go for it.

“Your son is trying to get me to stay,” he said lightly, focusing intently on the man’s expression. “Well, me or any other halfway useful member of my team. He thinks he’s so slick, that kid. He even offered some magic goo in exchange. Thoughtful of him but... I doubt he’s run that by you.”

There was no flare of anger at this. The only thing House was able to catch in the grotesque approximation of human body language the rat had was a hint of worry.

It was a bitch and a half trying to guess what the man was thinking though. He had a very tight hold on his emotions –whatever few he had–, letting House see anything past his calm facade for just an instant and only when he was caught by surprise and… He was very hard to provoke.

House would still try his best.

“If Donatello believes that to be the correct course of action then I will respect his wishes, no matter how unpleasant I think you and the rest of your colleagues are,” Splinter said after a beat. “However, I would like to remind you of the... talk we had when we met, Doctor House.”

“Oh. I am not staying and they aren’t either so don’t worry about that,” House clarified with a snort.

No. He might have been caught off guard by that fascinating substance, that new promise of potential… The mutagen had been a surprise, he couldn’t deny that, but it changed nothing about his plans. It just added a nice side benefit to this.

If there was even the slightest possibility of it working...

He rubbed at his leg, trying to numb the constant ache in his limb.

That conversation had definitely cemented the decision of rubbing his victory into the purple turtle’s face. The kid may be smart but he really should stop trying to play House’s game. He was way out of his league. House’s victory was practically in the bag at this point. Just one new point of leverage and then…

Yoink!

“You seem certain of that,” said the woman, furrowing her brow as House pulled out his bottle of Vicodin, not bothering to think about the time he had his last dose.

He raised a finger, gesturing at her to wait while popping a few pills into his mouth. “Because it’s the truth,” he confirmed with a shrug after he was done.“Is that all you have to say about it? Not going to have a big talk with Purple?”

The rat’s lips thinned.

“As I’ve discussed with your colleague, how I decide to raise my children is none of your concern,” the rat said, voice significantly frostier this time.

Thank you, Cameron. It was so much easier to find a sore spot when someone else does the work for you.

“No. I didn’t mean it like that. I want to know how you feel, not whatever you decide to do about it,” when all he received was a pair of confused looks, House rolled his eyes. “This is your little kingdom,” he started to explain. “Both of yours, if I’m being honest. You’ve found a way to isolate four children from society and make them depend entirely on you. It may have been necessary, sure, but that’s still the perfect dream for so many parents and… other people that like to be around kids that don't know any better,” he finished, sending a meaningful glance to the woman, who gritted her teeth in response, doing her best to kill House with the power of her glowering. House simply smirked at that. “Instead of exploiting that you just picked one of them to lead the pack and washed your hands off all the responsibilities,” he paused, focusing fully on the rat now. “There must be a part of you that loves the control you have over them, though, despite not wanting to waste your time on them. I know they don’t call you sensei because they just got the idea one day. Does it piss you off?” He asked, as he leaned forward, tapping his index finger on the handle of his cane. “That Donatello understands the human world better than you ever will? That your lapdog found external help and brought someone to your home without permission? Someone that you can't control with your fortune cookie platitudes and all the lies about how mighty and wise you are?”

House watched him, heart beating in anticipation as the rat’s eyes flashed for a second. Did House do it? Did he manage to break through all the detachment and the apathy and managed to find something, anything underneath? Or had he been right from the beginning and the man before him had as much substance as a lump of hay?

The woman opened her mouth, ready to jump to his defence but Splinter intervened before she could, raising a hand to stop her before turning to House, giving him a look of absolute contempt.

“You are quite the disgusting little man, aren’t you?” He simply said, sneering at him as he adjusted the fold of his robe, unfaced.

“And your kids are a study in trauma responses but you can’t even see it,” House retorted without missing a beat.

The rat didn't rise to the bait and watched House calmly instead, using that detached, judgy expression Hamato couldn't quite copy. Like he found him lacking.

House wasn't offended. The feeling was mutual, after all. As he had suspected, the rat was simply a miserable, useless… Well, rat with no spine.

He glanced at the woman again. She was defensive and pissed off. Sincerely so. From the beginning, it had been clear that she did care about the kids and if she had been the culprit her strategy would have been different.

She was in the clear.

There was nothing else to do here then. O’Neil wasn't trying to obstruct his team and the father didn't have the drive or energy to do so.

Even so, he couldn't just leave it like that. Not when he had already bothered to seek the man out.

He stood walking around the place, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible as he did.

All the while, the rat’s eyes stayed focused on him,

So he was perceptive. It wasn't just part of the front. This complicated things but… it was still something good to know.

“You know, I don’t despise normal ignorance or stupidity,” House added, stopping near a promising looking drawer. “I may laugh at it, of course but it's probably not someone's fault if they're just an idiot, humans are pretty stupid in general. People like you, though? The ones that willfully ignore the problems around them and pretend nothing's wrong? If it wasn't for the fact that you look like Steve McQueen’s lost twin I would have asked Purple for a DNA test. You act more like an ostrich than a rat,” he concluded. “If you at least tried… But like Cameron said, you’ve given up on your own family.”

Splinter seemed to mull this over. Still completely calm and passive, not reacting to House’s words.

Absolutely empty.

“Have you been speaking to my sons the way you have been talking to me?” he asked after a beat.

“It’s not like you’d do anything about it if I was,” House retorted with a shrug as he tried to slip his hand inside.

To his chagrin, it was locked.

“You might be surprised,” said the rat.

“I won't be,” was House's simple, scathing response as he moved over to a shelf close to the door. This one was mostly empty, sadly. There was only a single vase and an old, yellowed out piece of paper but any more snooping would probably be noticed. “You talk big, stay in your little fortress and demand respect. Your sons have more of my respect than you ever will.” House paused for a second before lowering his head slightly with flourish, in mockery of a medieval royal bow as he put a hand over his heart. “Of course, I meant no offence to the mighty Mr Hamato,” he said.

Once again, the rat didn't react, giving him a look of contempt.

“I am not offended, doctor. I know how men like you are so if you just left this room and went back to being a dreadful person elsewhere I would really appreciate that, preferably nowhere near my children,” he concluded.

House gave the man one last roll of his eyes before moving to leave.

Then, just when he was about to dismiss this whole thing, his eyes focused on the old paper.

It was a family picture, not just a piece of paper. “Hamato clan, 1893” was written over it in sharpie.

There was someone in the photo, in the centre of it wearing a very familiar robe. It was the same pattern, the same fabric as the one the rat had.

“We’re half human” “She… mutated”. Snippets of multiple conversations he had with the turtles whirled faster and faster in his mind as he felt his heart race.

All the little clues about the rat’s way of talking, the way he interacted with his children and the rest of the world were coming back to him.

Splinter did act like he was someone Hamato talked like there was a legacy he needed to uphold.

House had assumed… it hadn't occurred to him that an adult… that a human could have become–

All the blood drained from his face. He had known from the beginning that they had to have been raised by a human.

Splinter was the only one here that wore any clothes. He had been the one that taught them how to read and write, that seemed to have prior experience interacting with humans.

“You take grooming very seriously,” was what slipped out of House’s mouth. There was a comb in the bathroom. He had seen it. It had very thin teeth. “There aren't any other rats around here. There's no tall grass. You wouldn't have gone anywhere near tall grass. Your son makes sure everything is clean and you do too. He’d know if he had been somewhere high risk,” he mumbled to himself. Splinter –a name he had chosen for himself after he had stopped being human, after losing his entire life because of his new form– wasn't ashamed of being… of having become a rat. He would make sure to adapt to this new paradigm and be as neat as possible.

He stumbled, clumsily leaping for the exit as he ignored the other two.

“It's not Lyme,” he concluded, slamming the door behind him with finality.

Chapter Text

As Cameron washed her face, getting ready for the day, she realised that time had started to blur together a lot quicker than she expected.

Part of it was probably the routine. The team was used to a very… unhealthy work schedule so this permanent grind of test after test and differential after differential at any time, whenever House felt like it, was like a natural extension of her normal day to day.

At least the food was better, Cameron guessed, especially since they had begun to regularly join the turtle’s meals.

She turned off the faucet, dressing in borrowed clothes and shoes before leaving for the doctor’s “meeting room”.

One day had quickly become two then three and four as they slowly adapted to this little hidden world inside the NYC city sewers. A part of her was starting to dread what would happen when they finally left. She hadn’t had access to her phone since they had arrived but it wasn’t difficult to imagine the many missed calls that would fill the screen when she finally got it back.

Would there be a missing person’s report? What consequences would this absence have on her personal life?

It was true that her social activities had been brought to a complete halt after being hired by House, that work consumed most of her life these days but… Some part of her hoped that someone other than Cuddy or Wilson was wondering where the team had disappeared to.

She couldn’t even think of a reasonable excuse for this. They could probably find a way to blame this all on House but that wouldn’t be fair either since he was still doing the right thing in the end. At least for now.

Despite how messy the situation was, though, something held her back from wishing for this to be over.

The kids needed help. That much was clear.

And if no one else was helping them then she would. She had to.

“Oh! Good morning, Cam. I was looking for you!” Greeted Michaelangelo from the other end of the hallway, quickly rushing to meet her.

They were very sweet, all of them. Michaelangelo was the most happy and outspoken, Donatello was brilliant and kind, Raphael was very passionate and caring while Leonardo… she’d say he seemed a bit shy and uncomfortable around her so she hadn’t really managed to get to know him as much as the rest.

She didn’t blame him, of course. They all must be put off by them, after everything they had been through.

They had to deal with all of that while only being able to rely on their neglectful father… and April O’Neil.

“Hello, Mikey. Did you want something?” She asked with a matching smile despite knowing fully well what the kid’s next question would be.

“How’s Donnie’s thing going?” Michaelangelo said in response, like he had every day after they started treatment.

“He’s getting better. He’ll be alright in no time,” she reassured.

She was telling the truth, despite the lack of signs from all the tests and the doubtful looks she got from the team when she had voiced her opinion the first time, she was starting to believe that they might have cracked the case. It was too soon to fully tell but the treatment seemed to be working so far. The kid hadn't had any problems since they started him on the Doxycycline so, even if they had been mistaken with it being Lyme specifically, the signs were pointing at a bacterial infection.

The heart activity had been normal, no more “brain fog” or difficulty breathing. Some headaches were still there but that could simply be the stress and it wouldn't be the first time their patient was infected with unculturable bacteria and since they had started the treatment before double checking…

It seemed that they wouldn't even need to resort to the dreaded surgery or the LP.

Michaelangelo nodded, thanking her profusely before leaving to “do the ninja training stuff”.

She still had a lot of doubts regarding that, especially after Michaelangelo had told her many alarming anecdotes involving vigilantism. She didn't want to take away something they were clearly excited about, but one thing was self defence and the other was a group of kids purposefully getting into fights with armed adults because the belief that they were ninja warriors had gotten into their heads. She would need to address that and put a stop to it.

In the back of her mind, the sudden thought that they apparently also fought invading aliens(?) and not just normal people almost brought a grimace to her face.

The government should be taking care of that, though. If they had enough money and time to hunt down innocent children for study, then they had enough to deal with the actual threats.

She would have to wait before approaching the subject. That would be a delicate conversation and as long as they were here, the kids weren't running around the city, putting themselves in danger so it was a problem for the future. The most important thing right now was Donatello's recovery.

She opened the door of their work room with a curt greeting.

Surprisingly, only House and Foreman were inside.

The older man had his back on the ground and was bouncing a small plastic ball against the wall and ceiling, catching it with one hand while Foreman studied the reference book Donatello had given them.

“You're. Late,” said House without even looking at her, timing his words so they matched the sounds of the ball hitting the walls.

“We’re not even working,” Foreman retorted with a roll of his eyes.

“We're not?” She asked with a frown as she let herself in.

“Hamato is too busy with ‘ninja training’ to spy on us and I sent Chase to do some digging,” House explained like that made any sense at all. “I want drugs.”

She opened her mouth to protest but before she could, House cut her off.

“I meant the ones the kid’s hiding. There must be something we’re missing…”

Both Foreman and her exchanged a silent, knowing look. So House was still trapped in one of these moods, then.

She didn't even know what he was looking for at this point. They had even done the radiographies and MRI and still found nothing of note.

It suited her well, though. If he wanted to stubbornly pretend they hadn't solved the case she would have more time to do what she had to.

“If you don't need me–” she started.

“You can go make flower crowns with the abominations of nature if you're bored,” House concluded. “I’m thinking.”

She shook her head, meeting Foreman's eyes again before tilting her head to him as a goodbye and ducking out of the room.

Once she was alone in the hallway she stopped to consider her options.

She could try to keep an eye on how the “ninja thing” was going, make sure that the multiple old injuries Donatello had hadn't been caused by his father giving him a beat down under the guise of “training”. If that was a problem though, she doubted it would be that easy to catch him in the act. Also, despite not being explicitly forbidden to attend those sessions, she probably wouldn't be welcome there.

So that left finally addressing the elephant in the room. Or… the human in this case.

She found her in the living room, in the middle of a call.

“Yeah, yeah. I know but you can't tell me you're not having fun still,” April was saying, with an amused roll of her eyes. “How many hockey sticks did you break this week again?”

The woman lifted her gaze, making Cameron pause.

This was probably a private conversation.

Cameron gestured at the door, silently asking if she should leave but April waved her in and sat a little further to the right, leaving some space in the couch for her so Cameron accepted the clear offering.

“No, he’s fine, a lot better actually,” she was saying, gesturing at Cameron to wait for a moment. “Well, he won't tell you if you ask. Yup, still convinced there’ll be another flareup since it's been coming and going since it started.”

Wait… was she telling someone about Donatello?

“I know. I know. Just wanted to check if you’ve been having any trouble,” she continued, oblivious to Cameron's mounting horror. “Yeah, yeah I will. See you soon!”

With that, April hung up, turning to Cameron.

“Sorry. That was just a friend,” she explained. “Did you need anything?”

“Were you telling someone about Donatello?” Cameron asked.

The woman didn't seem phased by her question. There were no attempts at denial or justifications. Her expression remained neutrally friendly, if a bit surprised.

Cameron felt her shoulder's slump slightly. Maybe… maybe she had jumped to conclusions.

April had known these people for years. If any human here was a danger to exposing them that was Cameron and her coworkers, not her.

“Sorry. I just assumed you were the only person that knew about them,” Cameron clarified with a tired sigh. “I am a bit on edge about… all of this. I apologise. You don't have to answer that.”

“Because of Chase, right?” April asked, her smile turning a bit sharper, less friendly. “He's still pushing for the whole ‘let's sell these monsters to the highest bidder’ isn’t he?”

Cameron blinked, taken aback for a moment. April chucked.

“It's really difficult to keep secrets when you're surrounded by ninja,” she said, lowering her voice conspiratorially.

Cameron decided to politely ignore the ninja comment. “He won't do it,” she reassured.

April held her gaze for a moment before sighing deeply, letting her back fall against the couch. “For whatever is worth, I hope you're right. They don't need that. Not right now… or ever, really.”

“I know. Believe me. I will do anything in my power to make sure they're safe when we leave,” Cameron insisted.

They watched each other in silence for a moment.

“What did you want to talk about?” April asked.

Cameron took a deep breath, trying to find her words. “I can… understand, to an extent, why Splinter could be hesitant to get help from other people,” she conceded.

It may be true that she didn't hold the man in the highest regard but, objectively, the situation was really difficult for him too.

“He might be depressed or going through a rough time too. Which isn't an excuse, but it's still a reason. I don't know why you haven't helped them more, though. Michaelangelo has told me that they regularly “patrol” the city and put themselves in danger,” she explained, her voice turning harsher as she became more agitated. “That’s just not acceptable. You're… I am sorry to say it like this but you're a human too. You have access to a lot of things that could help them and as an adult, you hold some responsibility for their wellbeing.”

A long, uncomfortable moment of silence passed as April visibly mulled this over.

“The situation is a lot more complicated than you think,” she said eventually, her voice calm and even. “I can't go into more detail– No. I really can't” April insisted when Cameron tried to interrupt. “I understand and appreciate that you're worried about them but you're still an outsider, even if you're a well meaning one. I don't know you enough to explain everything. It would be too risky. You're going to leave this sewer soon and go back to your normal job in New Jersey and when you do, you’ll have the option to forget everything about this or put the people I love in danger. All the information I give you is just another weapon you could turn against them.” She explained harshly.

“It wouldn't be temporary,” Cameron retorted. “I can still help after this is over.”

“Can you? This is not… It's bigger than you think, Cameron,” she said, shaking her head. “You can't be only partially involved. You’d probably end up dead if you tried. It's really isolating, dealing with this…” April trailed off, her expression twisting into a sad frown. “I would never give them up for anything in the world but I know I have lost my chance at a normal life because of this.”

It was true that she was missing a lot. That much was clear. They were hiding everything they could for her and the rest of the team. Maybe there were more factors at play here but…

“Even then, I can't think of any reason why you’d let them… practice vigilantism around the city. No matter how complicated the ‘situation’ is,” Cameron concluded.

To her mounting frustration, April snorted, immediately dismissing her words.

“Then I’m a very bad influence, I guess,” she said with a shrug. “But I’m what they have, aren't I?”

Cameron's lips thinned.

She was, wasn't she? At least for now.

They wouldn't let Cameron help. Not when she was just one of the ‘human doctors’ passing by. An outsider that would only be here for a couple more days before leaving them forever to possibly put them in even more danger.

Unless… unless her stay wasn't temporary

Chapter Text

“Leo!” said Mikey’s bright, familiar voice somewhere down the hallway.

From where he was sitting on the couch next to Cameron, Leo jumped slightly.

“What?” he asked, closing the laptop and looking up at his brother in surprise as he entered the room running, his eyes lighting up when they landed on Leo.

His first instinctual reaction at Mikey sprinting towards him while shouting his name had been alarm, which he immediately realised was probably an overreaction since this was… typical behaviour coming from his youngest brother.

So, taking a mental step back, he took in his brother’s demeanour. He seemed happy enough, judging by his body language, like he was waiting for Leo to...

That was when he realised what his brother was holding.

Ah, so that’s what this was about.

Leo rolled his eyes with a sigh as Mikey’s run came to a halt a few feet away from the couch, stopping so abruptly that he almost fell forward with the momentum. His brother was clearly in good spirits, looking at him with a nervous smile and a knife in his hand.

He was about to try to push a chore on Leo.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the three doctors in the room tense up and had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from commenting on the fact that he and his brothers were armed at all times with better weapons than a simple chopping knife.

“I was cutting tomatoes but the knife’s a bit dull and it kept slipping and just… mushing them instead of cutting,” he protested. “Can you fix it?”

Yeah, he was not going to humour him this time. Mikey was perfectly capable of doing this himself.

“There’s wetstone in the kitchen drawer,” Leo said, opening the laptop again to get back to what he was doing.

Predictably, Mikey wasn’t deterred.

“Oh, come on,” he complained with a groan. If he was following his usual strategy, the compliment to butter him up should be coming in right about– “Aren’t you the knife expert? It’ll be so much better if you do it!”

Leo once again turned his attention away from the computer to watch his brother with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

“You just don’t like that chore,” he accused. “Maybe a bit of practice will help you become as good as me at it if that’s the problem.”

“Yeah, I hate that chore,” Mikey confirmed with a nod. While still ignoring the second part of Leo’s comment. “Come on… please? I can do something else for you next time.”

Leo sighed again, trying to go for a tired, showy exhale but unable to hide the fond amusement in his expression.

“Yeah, okay,” he said with a shake of his head. He actually didn’t mind this chore and if he could exchange it for… cleaning the bathroom, for example, he was not going to waste the opportunity. “Knife.”

“Knife!” repeated Mikey, throwing his arm back.

A blur of silver cut through the air with a swish and Leo expertly caught the incoming projectile between two fingers with a small smile.

He really should stop humouring Mikey like this. He was already too spoiled.

With a quiet hum he reached towards his belt for his favourite sharpening tool. –Yeah, Raph. That was a perfectly valid preference to have and something normal to feel strongly about, okay? Stop trying to hide it around the house to tease him. You’re not as funny as you think you are–

That’s when Leo noticed the strange tension in the humans surrounding him. They were fixed in place and completely focused on him in a way that made Leo freeze too.

Cameron was the worst offender, her hands covering her mouth as she stared at him, pupils turned into tiny pinpricks from horror. She reached towards him and Leo couldn’t help the reflexible twitch he gave at that, inching slightly backwards as he twisted the knife in his grip, his hand closing around the handle and blade ready for an attack.

Then, he realised what he was doing and forced his shoulders to relax, lowering his weapon. Huh, his heart was… going kind of fast for some reason. That was… ridiculous. He knew she wasn’t an actual threat.

Thankfully, she didn’t try to touch him again. Instead, she leaned closer, her eyes fixed on the hand holding the knife.

“Michaelangelo!” She shouted once she had found whatever she had been looking for, turning to his brother. “You’re lucky Leonardo is alright. You could have hurt him really badly.”

Now incredibly lost, Leo sent a quick look to his brother to see if he knew what the problem was. Usually, Mikey could figure out whatever the misstep had been… a lot easier than him. Unfortunately, he seemed as confused as Leo himself.

“I was just passing him the knife?” Mikey said hesitantly, clearly weirded out by the bizarre reaction the doctor had to this.

“You threw a knife at his face!” Chase exclaimed.

Oh, of course. He thought that all the scepticism was over after their… accident in Donnie’s lab but, apparently, they still hadn’t managed to wrap their heads around the fact that they were surrounded by seasoned warriors, masters of their craft.

Leo took a deep breath, sending the humans a serene, polite smile. “He threw a knife at my hand. I was ready to catch it,” he explained calmly.

It wasn’t enough to reassure the doctors apparently, judging by their still widened eyes and quick exchanged looks.

Had Leo really laid it on so thick that these humans thought he couldn’t catch a simple kitchen knife aimed for him to take? After asking for the throw!?

“What if you had been distracted? You could have lost a finger,” insisted Foreman. Even the usually passive man seemed concerned about him.

“Not just a finger, with the way he threw it,” was Chase’s quiet muttered comment.

That was… that was just absurd. Again, he had literally asked for the weapon.

But… thinking about it more, it could be a good thing. His father hadn’t reacted the way Leo had hoped for when he told him about the strategy he had decided to use on the doctors but to be underestimated by an opponent was always useful and–

Then he noticed his brother’s expression.

Mikey’s lips had become a thin line, and he visibly started to grow more and more upset, eyes looking suspiciously shiny as he turned to meet Leo’s gaze.

Leo knew that expression. It was the same one he had been trying to run from since they had started to regularly leave the sewers, the one he fought every day to never see directed at him, not from his family. He was… he was worried about him. Mikey was worried about Leo.

His brother knew this wasn’t dangerous. They had been as safe as possible! Hell, Leo’s never had a problem when the Foot aimed every ninja weapon in their arsenal at him with the intent to kill.

But now Mikey was concerned. He thought Leo couldn’t deal with a single kitchen knife.

And all because of the doctors.

Intense, sharp something erupted suddenly in Leo’s chest and he found himself momentarily stunned, having been caught completely off guard by whatever this feeling was. It wasn’t the utter embarrassment and humiliation he had felt after House had broken through his facade. That… that unsettling exposure had been bad but it couldn’t compare with the corrosive blades digging under his plastron and making his lungs collapse at the thought of being… this weak in the eyes of his brother, someone he should watch his steps around on their day to day.

He was not. He had proven that so many times. To everyone around him and to himself.

Leo took a deep breath, overcoming the wave of… whatever that was to look at the doctors with a calm, serene expression.

“I know it might look alarming to you since you are unfamiliar with our… craft. I doubt you have met anyone with the same particular set of skills we have,” he explained, as he flipped the knife between his fingers so fast the metal became a bright blur between his hands. With a few causal flickers of his wrist he slid the edge against the stone while keeping his eyes on the humans. He gave it another couple of twists when he was done, touching the newly sharpened edge, his fingers gliding as close to danger as possible to prove a point. This move was more risky, needed better coordination, but he performed it perfectly, going faster and faster, “but Mikey was just passing me the knife because I asked him to,” he explained with a chuckle, finally setting the knife down. Even to his own ears, it sounded painfully fake. This was… getting to him more than he had expected. “We weren’t even playing knife. So I don’t believe–”

“Playing knife!?”

“Yes,” Leo simply said with a curt nod of affirmation.

“And what would a game of knife involve?” Asked Foreman.

“It’s really fun,” said Mikey, his voice a little more hesitant than usual and his body language still a bit unsure as he shifted from one foot to the other. Despite this, his smile was starting to come back at the man’s question, his tone more light and hopeful. “You have to say knife and then throw a knife at the person and they have to catch it. If the person you’re throwing the knife at tries to catch it and you don’t throw it you win a point.”

That was definitely not the answer the doctors were hoping for.

“And that’s your idea of a fun game?” Chase asked, his jaw dropping. “Throwing sharp objects at each other?”

Mikey’s head sunk slightly in his shell, his face dropping again. “There’s also another version that’s called extreme knife but dad only lets Leo and I play that one,” he mumbled quietly, clearly uncomfortable with the way the doctor's attention was focused towards him.

Leo didn’t like it either, not one bit.

“And how d–”

The man’s words were caught in his throat, interrupted by another flying knife, courtesy of Leo. The weapon whistled across the room and, casually lifting his hand, Mikey caught it by the handle with no trouble at all.

“It’s basically the same thing except you don’t warn before throwing,” Leo said, suppressing the small smirk that almost appeared in his face when the ire of the doctors turned immediately towards him.

“And April lets you do this?” Cameron asked, with narrowed eyes and pursed lips after a quick assessment to check that Mikey was fine.

The words took a few seconds to fully process in Leo’s brain.

April? Lets them do this?

The burning, bubbling ardour that Leo had been keeping a tight lid on suddenly crystallised in his chest, spreading to the rest of his body and leaving ice behind. Caustic, stinging cold that filled Leo's entire being. His hands, still laying primly on his lap, twisted into fists.

He gave Cameron a chilling look, trying to convey just how lowly he really thought of her with a twisted sneer. “Our father lets us do that, doctor,” he said stiffly, his voice so frosty that it almost seemed to chill the entire room.

The woman took that in and, to her credit, even as ignorant as she had proven herself to be, realised that she had made a misstep.

Her expression became carefully blank and she conceded Leo’s point with a side nod.

“Alright, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful” she said, trying to placate him. “But despite your father’s opinion I still don’t think you realise how dangerous these kinds of... games are.”

This time Leo didn’t bother to suppress the sharp smile pulling at his lips as he forced his body to relax, all the tension leaving his frame.

The piercing ice was still there, cursing through his veins and becoming almost unbearable but he welcomed this time. If whatever was pulling his body apart was sharp then it was a weapon. If it was a weapon then Leo could use it.

“Oh?” was all he said, raising a single eyebrow at the woman.

She continued her spiel, ignorant of the danger lurking under Leo’s pleasantly polite expression.

“Maybe you are used to doing that and I am not denying that you’ve had a lot of training and are very good at… at being a ninja,” she said, the last world leaving her mouth in an awkward, clumsy way making it clear that she believed she was indulging him with this admission. “But you’re children and an adult needs to put their foot down because even if you’ve been fine until now, that could change and an accident is always a possibility.”

“I see, that makes sense,” accepted Leo with a placid nod.

“I am not trying to get into a business that isn’t mine but this is a matter of basic safety,” she stressed. “And despite how many times you’ve done this without any problems it only would take a single mistake to turn a game into an emergency. Even professionals have a lot of safety measures when doing something as risky as this.” She was starting to become frustrated, arms crossed and fingers tapping on her arms as she tried to express just how important this was. “The fact that you’re trying to surprise each other with it makes everything even more unsafe. If you want to practise your knife throwing it should always be in a controlled environment, with supervision and against an actual target, never another person no matter how good you are at this.”

“I understand,” Leo said. He paused, silence filling the room for a long moment before he tilted his head slightly in question. “Is that all, doctor Cameron?”

The woman blinked at him, probably having expected a bigger push-back.

“Yes,” she said, visibly taken aback.

Leo’s smile widened slightly. “Good.”

He maintained eye contact, his eyes not leaving Cameron’s own as he said a single word, moving too fast for the doctors to react.

With the way his attention was fully focused on Cameron, he managed to catch the exact moment she felt the throwing knife soar past her face, not quite touching skin but close enough to feel it, to hear it buzz next to her ear letting a couple strands of hair fall on the ground.

Her eyes widened in an emotion Leo had no trouble recognizing. Absolute, mid-numbing terror.

Hm… she had very slow reflexes, Leo couldn’t help but note with a sliver of detached amusement, wouldn’t last long in an actual emergency.

Leo lowered his arm, casually letting his shell fall against the backrest.

“Ah, Doctor Cameron. I just remembered that Dr House got another X-ray of Donnie’s chest. Maybe you could guide me through it. I have tried my best to inform myself but… I am not an expert in medicine,” he said with a self-deprecating shrug. Still, he didn’t break eye contact, his full attention on the frightened woman. He couldn't help but feel proud by the way she flinched back slightly at his words. “But I suppose I don’t need to be. That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? I understand that treating Donnie is a big responsibility but it’s the only one you have here so it would be for the best if you focused on that, wouldn’t it?” He asked, his voice soft and sickly sweet, matching his oh so placid, incredibly polite expression.

She didn’t answer, shell-shocked after what had just happened. And she wasn’t the only one. Everyone else had also froze, the air becoming thick with tension.

The only person that hadn’t been affected was…

“Ha!” Raph smiled as he fully stepped into the living-room twirling Leo’s small throwing knife between his fingers, oblivious to the scene he had just arrived at. “You’re gonna have to try better than that, fearless.”

Then, he took in the ashen tint in Cameron’s face as she hurriedly left the room without another word and raised a questioning eyebrow at both Leo and–

“What the shell was that!?” Was Mikey’s furious, outraged question as he strode towards the couch.

Oh. Oh, right. He had forgotten Mikey was there.

“No, seriously, why even –? Weren’t you the one saying we should get along?”

Leo’s exact words had been that they should try their best to be civil but he kept his mouth shut because Mikey was still right. Throwing knives at their guests wasn’t very civil, was it?

And now he was rightfully angry at Leo.

Leo was unable to respond, sitting there in silence as the other two doctors practically ran away from the room after their colleague, probably terrified by the crazy turtle that from their perspective had just… decided to start throwing knives at them for no reason.

Raph, for his part, also became silent, taking in the scene with a frown.

Mikey didn’t appreciate Leo’s lack of response.

“Just…!” his youngest brother started with a groan, unable to find his words. “Why did you do that?” he asked, his brown, piercing eyes searching Leo’s face for an answer.

Leo didn’t say anything, kept his expression completely blank and neutral, ignoring the ever present chill that hadn't seen fit to release him yet.

Weirdly, despite his actions, it was still spreading. His shell, the back of his spine… They felt exactly like those times he and his brothers had pranked each other by slipping a couple of ice cubes down someone's neck, in that spot on top of the shell where they couldn't reach easily. His stomach, his chest… his insides were buried in sleet.

The sensation was so physical that he was almost surprised that the measured, controlled breaths he released as he tried to push down all of that didn't come out in white, little puffs.

“Well? Dude, just give me a reason for that one, please.”

Leo couldn’t. Because despite knowing deep down that he would do it again without hesitation, he didn’t even have an actual reason for escalating like that. It just gave them more problems, made the humans more likely to betray them in the future.

He wanted to say that it had been the way Cameron had dismissed their father, had claimed that April was supposed to know better.

But Leo knew… he knew that wasn't true.

Mikey was glaring at Leo now, eyes hard and fierce as they looked down at him. Mikey was not worried about Leo anymore. He was angry at him.

Deep down, something inside Leo relaxed at that thought, relieving some of the pressure weighing in his chest.

Yes. He could work with this.

“I don't have to,” was all Leo said, gently pushing his brother out of the way to reach the laptop again. He didn't even look up at Mikey, fixing his attention on the screen. “How I treat the doctors does not concern you. As sensei said, I am in charge of handling these humans and you will follow my orders regarding that but you have no say in how I act. I did what I believed I had to and now that it's been solved I will get back to what I was doing. You can leave too,” he dismissed with a wave of his hand. “Weren't you busy?”

“Okay. You know what, bro?” Said Mikey with a shake of his head once it was clear that Leo wasn’t going to say anything else. “I’m not really in the mood for the Leo guessing game right now. I can’t believe I’m the only one here not being so–” he cut himself off with a frustrated shout, gesturing at both Raph and Leo in the perfect show of exasperation. “They helped Donnie. Yeah, I know they can be annoying and House is super rude. I don’t like talking to him that much and I’m me! I love talking to everyone! But they’re still helping and Donnie is getting better now. I’m trying my best to make things as good as possible even if it’s hard,” he stressed, his eyes starting to water again, “So if you have a secret problem with Cameron for some reason, you will have to just be cool about it, okay? No more of whatever that was.”

With that, Mikey nodded once and marched out of the place with a firm, determined stride.

Leo breathed deeply, feeling his shoulders loosen just a fraction when the sound of Mikey's retreating steps faded completely.

He typed away for a few seconds, hoping that his other brother would take the hint and leave him alone. Raph didn't seem cooperative though, which wasn't exactly a surprise, but still peeved him.

He was watching Leo carefully, sneaking a few glances at the door every few seconds.

That's what his problem was? He didn't know who he should be with right now?

Leo could help with that decision.

“If you want to spar you’ll have to wait. I am busy right now,” he said, his voice frigid as he let out some of the cold freezing him from the inside.

Raph's frown deepened. “I wasn't–”

Leo cut him off curtly. “Then I don't know why you're still here.”

From the corner of his eye, Leo could see his brother grit his teeth. He opened his mouth again, clearly trying to say something but Leo stopped him.

“I really don’t have the time or the patience for whatever you want to talk about right now, Raph. So why don't you go back to the dojo? Go destroy a punching bag for a bit. As long as you don't break anyone's face it will be a better use of your time than just standing there, bothering me,” he finished.

Without another word, his brother left, shutting the door behind him with a slam.

Finally

Leo breathed deeply, the air leaving his lungs shakily.

Alright, back to what he was doing.

He eyed the screen, trying to make sense of the complicated, technical words filling the page. House was apparently still not convinced the diagnosis was right and, since Leo didn't want to leave any loose ends, he had been taking a look at all the alternatives the older doctor had mentioned.

He wasn't getting much out of it, he had to admit. On a good day, a lot of these terms would fly over his head and right now, his focus was off as he tried his best to ignore the cold nipping at him.

He tugged the laptop slightly closer, sitting back as if changing positions would help anything. As he moved, he found himself reaching towards his wrist, adjusting the bleached piece of fabric tied around it. He should have thrown it away when it had become clear that he couldn't fix it but… It would be wasteful to get rid of Donnie's ruined mask. Maybe he'd find a different solution.

Then, something else caught his attention.

With a dumbfounded expression, Leo watched as, without his input or control, his right hand trembled. Almost imperceptibly at first, then more and more intensely until the movements devolved into violent shaking. His breaths were getting faster too, becoming pinched and shallow.

He turned his hand over, glaring at his palm.

This again? That was… That was ridiculous. He didn't… He didn't even feel that bad. There was no reason to be acting like this right now. Nothing had happened. Leo had been the worst offender in this whole mess.

It seemed like today was one of these days… Thankfully, he had plenty of practice reigning this in.

He grabbed the rebellious limb, clenching his trembling fist once, twice as he forcibly wrestled control of his own body back, burying everything else. The shaking stopped and his breath naturally became deeper, measured. Exactly as it should be.

Good. Alright.

Where was he again?

Right. Endocarditis is a condition caused by–

Chapter Text

“There you are,” said House as he calmly strolled towards the lone turtle sitting on the living room couch.

“Can I help you?” Asked Hamato, not even bothering to turn to look at him and instead slowly closing the laptop, trying to look inconspicuous. Good try but no dice. Even when House hadn't managed to get a glimpse of what the turtle was looking up, he could pretty much guess what it was about.

Despite the already familiar neutral expression resting in the kid’s face, it was almost palpable how much Hamato didn't want him there.

It was a very neat display of passive aggression, actually. Good for him. It had some merit since Hamato was probably still reeling from what had to be the winter soldier emotionally repressed approximation of a mental breakdown.

The perfect opportunity for House to do this.

He let himself fall backwards over an armchair, lifting his bad leg slightly to not let it bump against the edge, and shrugged. He shifted the papers in his hands as messily as possible, feeling a quick swell of triumph in his chest when the kid’s eyes flickered towards them for an instant.

“Sure.” House answered lightly. “After the three useful idiots I brought barged into my room whining about your violent tendencies I realized that you’d probably arrive late to our daily brainstorming session as some sort of…” he trailed off, gesturing vaguely with his free hand as he searched for the appropriate words. “Break. Let them calm down for a bit after your little tantrum. And that's only if you even bothered to come, since I’ve been told it was all very dramatic. Problem is, there's still a job to do and I don't have time for that kind of workplace drama.”

There was a moment of heavy silence.

“If you know that your colleagues don't want me there, I don't understand why you’d come looking for me,” the kid eventually managed. “I am sure you’ve figured out how to use our coffee machine by now.”

“Right, except they're not the ones in charge, I am. Which means that if I want my knife-throwing secretary to play overseer then there's nothing they can do about it. No matter how useless you are.”

Hamato’s eyes narrowed in clear suspicion.

House barely suppressed the urge to smirk.

It wouldn't come as a shock to anyone that knew him that House found pushing people’s buttons incredibly fun. It wouldn't even shock the handful of… beings in this sewer that he especially enjoyed poking them.

There was something that made provoking this specific turtle extra fun though.

It was probably the abysmal social skills he had, the fact that he knew House was planning something but couldn't figure out what exactly it was. The way he overanalyzed every twitch of House’s face but couldn't for the life of him carry a conversation without using any sort of social crouch.

“You know, you never asked why.” he simply hummed, twirling the cane in his hand as he ignored the tension thickening in the air between them. “You guessed Lupus. Stupid suggestion, of course, but not that stupid. Not something random. You didn't go for the first google result you found. You listened to my suggestions and looked for better sources when I told you to. Which means that you're actually interested in figuring out what your brother has, not just waiting for us to give you a solution. You want to make sure it's right and–”

“Why are you so interested in us?” Hamato cut in. His voice, barely audible from how soft it was, made House stop.

This time House didn't even try to hide his loud exasperated groan.

Okay, if Hamato was going to be this slow –and that was a good one, he should use it–, then this conversation was going to be hell.

“Oh, come on. We’ve been over this already” he stressed. “Freaks of nature, monsters, green abominations–”

“Not that,” he interrupted again, tone much more firm this time. “I know what we are but… You don't just spend your time with Donnie's books or… or even with Donnie.” Hamato's attention was fully centered on him now, his stare almost tangible and with a gravity behind it that House hadn't felt since Hamato almost kicked them out of their home. “You mostly let your colleagues do the tests. I know when I am being watched as something like… an animal. It's what doctor Chase does. But you, doctor House, you also care about the way we think and our… motivations. And I don't understand why”

And there was the million dollar question.

House stopped for a moment, his brain running through every possible way he could spin the conversation from here. This could be it, the point of leverage he had been looking for.

Now, House knew how to lie.

He knew how to manipulate people and he was very good at it. He could spin a tale like nobody's business and get away with the most outrageous lies when it suited him.

That was the crux of the matter, though.

There were times when telling the truth was better. More useful than any lie.

Looking at the kid, the way he watched House intently, his big, shining and incredibly unnatural blue eyes completely fixed on him, he knew that this was one of those times.

There was a very significant mistake that Cameron had made in the way she had tried to approach this kid, to get on his good side.

His team hadn’t actually told him much about what exactly prompted Hamato to throw his little tantrum but if House had to guess, he’d say it had to be because of the way Cameron kept trying to establish herself as some sort of dependable adult figure to him and the other kids.

Hamato did not want that, it was painfully clear in the way House’s taunts made him more comfortable than any example of Cameron’s gentle handling.

What this kid wanted was not reassurance. He reacted badly to anything like that.

He was used to hostility and expected it from them, he felt at home in it.

What House needed to get him where he wanted wasn’t to lie and dance around him or trick him or even be “nice” and “approachable”.

He just needed the naked truth.

“Because you're a fucking mess,” he declared, meeting the kid’s gaze with the same unyielding intensity. “Kind of like a trainwreck. It's fascinating to watch.” The jovial, light undercurrent that had accompanied his voice this entire talk was gone as he let pure, simple sincerity break through his words. “I am the kind of person that loves adding fuel to a bonfire and watching it burn. This situation is perfect for that.”

A small, accidental smile made the kid’s lips twitch at those, and House felt himself smile too as the two of them watched each other in full understanding.

He knew House was a terrible person and planning something and House also knew that Hamato knew. Unlike the other doctors, House also was keenly aware that those swords weren't just for decoration and that if he made a mistake that ended up harming the sewer version of the Addams family, his head would soon afterwards be rolling on the floor. But… he also didn't care which the kid was fully aware of.

“So our reactions amuse you, then?” Hamato said calmly. That small, barely there smile was still resting in his face. His tone gentle as he dipped his head to the side in acknowledgement. “That’s why you want one of us to be there while you list all the reasons why my brother could be dying?”

“Well, I am not going to say that isn't fun too but it's not the only reason why.”

With that he leaned forward on his cane, unceremoniously dropping a few papers on the turtle’s lap. He watched with satisfaction as, for just an instant, Leonardo’s eyes widened in surprise. It was an incredibly brief slip, so barely there that he wouldn't have caught it if he hadn't been looking for it.

Of course, like the good little soldier he was, Hamato didn't say anything and recovered with frightening speed. Deny to the end was an old and tried strategy, after all.

Unfortunately, House wasn't about to let him get away with it.

“Look familiar?” He asked, gesturing at the copies of the oldest tests he had gotten from the turtle, the ones Hamato had taken.

“These are… medical tests?” The turtle tried slowly, keeping things as vague as possible to avoid giving any indication that he knew exactly what House was getting at. He frowned as he leaned over the papers, skimming through them.

“Yup!” House agreed, loudly popping the p to be as annoying as possible. “The ones you stole, actually. Had to print them again because you couldn't just help yourself, could you?”

Not responding to House’s taunt, Hamato leaned back, giving House a half shrug. “As I told you before, I am the one in charge of this… situation. If I decide to take some of the materials we lend to you, that's my choice.”

House hummed. “So if I told everyone what you were doing you’d be fine with it?”

The turtle's lips shifted downward.

Got him.

“Nice try,” House said, “but it's kind of obvious that if you had gotten the sudden urge to check on things you could have just asked your genius brother for a copy so the fact that you didn't means that you're going behind Purple’s back to get these and… that means that you don't want them to find out you're doing this.”

An unhappy silence was the only response House got, so he took it as his cue to keep going.

“At first I thought Red and angry was sabotaging us, but that didn't pan out. Apparently he just has a case of terminal emotional constipation but does genuinely care about your purple genius. Then, since Orange has a pathological fear of anything that has to do with doctors, the primary suspects were miss yellow jumpsuit and daddy rat but that wasn't it either, not the right motives.” Hamato still wasn't reacting, face still as a statue. He hadn't even jumped in when he got a few cheap shots at his family's expense. It encouraged House to keep going, to keep pushing. “There is a very clear reason why a control freak like you would hide the doubts you have about us and it's because you want to keep things under control, to keep the situation from getting out of your hands. You said you had another option and I think that you're desperate to make one but don't even know where to start.”

His spiel now finished, House sat back, raising an expectant eyebrow to the kid as he waited for a response.

Finally, Hamato decided to answer. At first it was just a small strangled noise before he cleared his throat, managing to speak clearly.

“Forgive me if I don't entirely trust your ability to figure this out,” he eventually said with a tired sigh, proving House’s point.

“Yeah, because you’d be so much better at it,” House drawled, rolling his eyes. “If you had any idea of what you're doing you wouldn't have kidnapped the first person you bumped into. It was a terrible plan in general, by the way, you would have been jumped by security the moment you stepped inside the hospital.”

Really the worst idea he could have thought of unless he was looking to get shot down by a random cop. Judging by the fact that he had survived this far, so absurd plans like those couldn't be the norm, that brilliant idea was proof of just how desperate the kid in front of him was.

Hamato’s eyes turned dark, hands shifting into fists on his lap and shaking slightly as he spoke. “I still have to try.” He said between gritted teeth.

“Then you're an idiot.”

Hamato lowered his head. “I know I will never be as smart as Donnie–”

Oh, come on. Really? This was getting old.

House tskd in dismissal, tone curt. “That's not what I meant. Stop with all that self deprecation. It's getting on my nerves.”

When all he got for that was a confused frown, House shook his head. “Look, kid. If only the smartest person in the world got to be a doctor then there would only be one doctor. Not a very smart setup for a healthcare system. Also, if I was that doctor, I would be very annoyed because all of my time would be wasted with millions of people complaining about their runny noses instead of actually helping the people that needed it.”

Which… was true even outside of this hypothetical because Cuddy would just not drop the clinic duty thing.

The turtle did not need to know that, though.

“There is a reason why I brought the other three here despite the fact that I am better than them,” House said instead. “They don't have as much knowledge or experience as me but they're still useful.”

The turtle opened his mouth but before he could speak House waved him off.

“Yeah yeah you don't know where I’m going with this. I’ll put it plainly. You still don't know why I said lupus was a terrible suggestion, do you?”

Hamato regarded him in silence, his lips forming a thin line.

Manipulating people wasn't always about tricking others. Sometimes it was about giving them exactly what they wanted.

The kid wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to feel in control of the situation, feel like he still had the power here. Hamato needed to delude himself into believing that his team wasn't his only shot at this.

House could absolutely give him that. And in exchange…

In exchange House would get what he wanted.

“Would you like to find out?” He asked with a wide, pleased smirk.

“You’re trying to manipulate me,” Hamato said, voice low and firm.

“Of course,” House agreed, “but you still want my help.”

Without waiting for the kid’s response, House got up and walked towards his new underground office.

He wasn't at all surprised when the kid followed.

Chapter Text

Chase was in a pretty bad mood. Understandably so, in his opinion. He’d just finished one of the worst work meetings of his career. Considering who his boss was, that really said something about how his day went.

First, House just left the room with no explanation. Alright, Chase was used to that, he could deal with it. And he had! Him and his colleagues had gone straight to work despite the literal knife attack they had gone through merely a couple of hours before. From the patient’s family, he might add.

Chase had been doing his job, painstakingly combing through the books and tests with every far-fetched hypothesis House had thrown at them in mind. He’d been taking another look at the x-rays –perfectly normal as far as he could tell even if it wasn’t entirely clear through the thick shell and strange anatomy his patient had– when House came back.

With company.

A turtle trailed behind House, tilting his head slightly in greeting as he let himself in like nothing was wrong. It wasn’t just any of the turtles either. It was the blue one, the one that attacked them.

He tried to protest, of course, but Cameron was the one that jumped in the turtle’s defense, talking about how it was alright and even apologizing for upsetting him. Chase didn’t get it. His complaints went ignored as House started treating their brainstorming session as a first year medicine lecture. The man exuded pure smugness as they went through every possible differential and the reasons they had to be discarded.

House even threw a few jabs at him for being the only one with a drop of common sense in the room, his brilliant rebuttal to Chase’s reasonable uneasiness being “come on, it’s pretty obvious that if Hamato wanted to kill Cameron she’d be dead”, to which the turtle only responded with a small, extremely unsettling smile.

Like that made things any better, but Cameron seemed to accept it. Even Foreman did, and he wasn’t painfully naive like her.

It was very frustrating.

Chase didn’t protest after that. There was no point. He was under no illusion that House would listen and… this was his job, he supposed, and it wouldn’t be the first time a patient or their family had threatened to kill him or even tried to go for it. Which meant that he had to suck it up and accept the ninja monster as just another aspect of this case, no matter how unhappy it made him.

He did try to talk to Cameron when they were finished for the day, but she only went on about how she wasn’t angry at the turtle and that it didn’t really matter in the end, since she wasn’t hurt. She also told him that they still needed her help, even if Chase wouldn’t understand that.

She was right, he didn’t.

So here he was now, walking alone in the strange sewer house as he carried most of his clothes in his arms. Oh, yeah, and that was another thing. They’d been here for so long that he needed to do the laundry and House showed no sign of wanting to leave yet.

He went through a few locked rooms before arriving at his destination; a small, surprisingly well cleaned room with a flowery smell… lavender, maybe? He settled the bundle inside the big washing machine before looking at it with a frown.

When he had gone in he hadn’t really noticed but the model was very strange. The machine’s skeleton was a simple, ancient looking washer but… It seemed like all the buttons had been replaced with a black, flat rectangle that clashed horribly with the rest of it. This was probably Donatello’s doing, wasn’t it?

He looked at the sides of the machine with a frown, before running his hand through the dark screen. There had to be an on button, but where exactly…

“You have to hold it for a bit,” a familiar voice drawled behind him.

Chase’s heart slammed in his chest. He jumped forward slightly while in his crouch, bumping his knee painfully against the metal frame. He suppressed a pained hiss as he turned, looking up at the intruder.

Dammit. How had Chase not noticed him coming? Was the turtle trying to give him a heart attack!?

“The screen,” Raphael clarified. He reached towards the machine, resting one of his hands over the empty display until it lit up in bright colors.

Chase fully stood up. He shifted his body, focusing on his task while still keeping an eye on the turtle.

“Thank you,” he muttered. He couldn't help but notice that, as always, the turtle was armed.

He had gotten used to them carrying knives around these past few days but after what happened with Leonardo…

The turtle eyed him for a moment before moving again, walking deeper into the room. He was headed towards a wicker basket in the back filled with some sort of sports mats.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Chase hadn't been as subtle as he was trying to be while watching the turtle because, after picking up a small pile of mats and setting them over his shoulder, Raphael turned, raising an eyebrow at him.

“What?” He asked in a flat deadpan.

“It’s nothing,” he replied between gritted teeth.

The turtle snorted.

“I know when someone's pissed. If you wanna say something, better just say it while I’m in a good mood.”

The fact that he even had to ask was incredibly grating.

“I feel like having a knife thrown at us is reason enough,” Chase spat.

The turtle stared at him and Chase held his searching gaze before Raphael broke into a small huffed laugh with a shake of his head.

“Must be terrible not feeling at ease around someone you have to live with, right?” The turtle started with a half smirk. “Not knowing if they're safe or not?”

Immediately, Chase's mind was dragged back to a few days ago, to the same red clad turtle shaking with sadness, barely suppressed rage and terror as he described how he felt about them staying here, who exactly he and his colleagues reminded him of.

Some of the anger slowly bled out of Chase’s frame. “We… we’re not like that man,” were the fumbled, clumsy words coming out of his suddenly dry mouth. “He’s a monster for doing something like that.”

“You don't have to be,” was the low, cutting response. “Just deciding to look the other way while you reap the benefits is enough. And I think… that only makes it worse. With people like Bishop, S–” he cut himself off, taking a deep breath. “Those kinds of monsters are easy to deal with because I know what they want and if they're gonna stab me they won't do it from the back. But the ones that have ‘morals’, that would never hurt someone like that because they're ‘good people’,” he said with venom dripping from every word. “They can sell us out and look the other way while they count the five mill you can get for selling one of our empty shells to any gang up there and all the while they’d try to convince themselves that they did the right thing.” He took a few steps forward, towering over Chase as he spoke. “Mikey might want to meet ‘new friends’ and play nice. For all the brains he has, Donnie hasn't met many humans and Leo spends his day on patrol or the dojo but I know how people like you work.”

With that, the turtle finally looked away from him. His hand moved suddenly and Chase jumped, startled. Instead of reaching towards him, however, he simply closed the door of the washing machine with a slam, tapping the screen a few times until the sound of running water started to echo in the otherwise silent room.

“So if I think that it's kind of funny how you suddenly got jumpy after Leo got a bit defensive, don't be surprised,” he finished with a sarcastic scoff.

As the sounds of footsteps started to fade, a million thoughts brewed into Chase's head, the conversation replaying itself in his head over and over.

He didn't sleep much that night.

Chapter Text

Mikey had a big problem.

That was not something new. As a ninja teenage turtle mutant there were a lot of problems Mikey had to deal with… Always.

And, a lot of the time, his problems were dressed in red, blue and, sometimes, purple. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his brothers, but they could be an absolute handful.

Like yesterday. Mikey had been ready to finally apologize to Cam when Leo decided it was the best time to be super rude and weird for some reason. He already had enough trying to get Raph to stop being so… like that with Donnie and the moment he starts making some progress Leo decides to act out!

Sometimes being the only one in the family with common sense was a heavy burden…

If knowing that a talk with Leo was definitely something he clearly had to add to his list of “things to do so the sewer doesn’t explode because of all the concentrated bad mojo” wasn’t enough, now his mission to apologize to Cam had become even more difficult. Which was really saying something.

He had already tried just being nice and making food and even offered to watch movies and play videogames with her. He had spent so many hours just chatting but… it just didn’t feel like enough!

That was Mikey’s big problem, by the way, mission “make up for Cam’s kidnapping” was failing miserably, and that absolutely would not do.

Everything he had tried to cheer her up and get her to chill out felt shallow. Sure, she chatted with him and joined him while he was trying to beat his Sonic speedrun record, but it seemed more like she was humoring than actually enjoying herself which was the opposite of what he wanted! He was trying to make it up to her. He needed Cameron hobbies for that, not Mikey ones!

Mikey… wasn’t sure what Cameron hobbies were.

His next plan would work, though. It was great.

He had heard the doctors complain about the smell which yeah, he was a mutant, he could get that. Sewer stink was super strong.

He had been living with it his whole life, though. It was a thing and he didn’t mind it at this point despite how weird his brothers –Raph especially– got about it sometimes. If you are a sewer turtle you deal with sewer stink. That’s just how it is. But since the doctors were… y’know, normal doctors, he could try to make something to help with that.

He knew that his dad had some weird oils, plants and other stuff to make soap and perfume in his room because he was the one that used to do all that before Donnie got super into science and shopping topside became a lot more frequent. His dad still kept a lot of it for Christmas and birthday presents even if they didn’t really need it anymore.

So that was the goal for today! Plan P, let’s make some nice Perfume for Cam and the others was a go!

He rushed to his dad’s room, opening the door with so much energy that it bashed against the stopper. Whoops, that was too much. He stepped inside, putting his left hand up to stop the door as it bounced back.

From inside the room his dad greeted him with a tilt of his head..

“My son, please remember that you have to knock before entering someone’s room,” his dad said. Despite this being kind of a lecture –just a little one, anyway–, he was smiling at Mikey, clearly happy to see him.

Fair, Mikey was also happy to see his dad looking better than he had in weeks. The first time he had woken them up for morning training after Donnie started getting better, Mikey hadn’t been able to contain his excitement for the entire session, making Raph a bit annoyed at him for not focusing.

In his defense, training usually wasn’t Mikey thing. It was super boring and really annoying having to do the same things over and over again and just… going to the dojo even if he didn’t feel like it because “that’s how you get better, you need to practice to improve yadda yadda” and whatever else Leo liked to say. Even then, just listening to his dad lecturing them about their stances had been enough to make his day.

Things were finally going back to normal and Mikey couldn’t wait for Donnie to join them too.

Still, Mikey smiled sheepishly at the light chiding, stepping closer to the table where his dad was calmly drinking some tea as dads usually did.

“Sorry!” Mikey exclaimed, taking a seat in front of him. He leaned over the table, trying to see which kind of tea it was today. Oh! He recognized the flowers. That was Keika-cha! He loved that one. It was super sweet and smelled nice.

He opened his mouth, sending his dad a pleading look. Before he could speak, however, his dad slid the cup of tea towards him, apparently reading his mind –Ah! Magic ninja dad powers!–.

He took it, mouth already watering as he turned his attention to the drink. It was exactly as warm and sweet as Mikey liked it.

His dad crossed his arms, visibly amused by how much Mikey was enjoying it. Hey, it was deserved!

“While I do appreciate the visit,” his dad said, teasing. “I wonder if there was a particular reason you decided to come in.” He paused, bringing one of his hands to a small fluff of hair under his chin. “Besides wanting to steal my tea, of course.”

Well, if he wanted to keep all of it he shouldn’t have made Mikey’s favorite.

He didn’t protest, though. He was here for a reason! And he wasn’t going to get sidetracked… Well, now that he thought about it he did already get distracted… But it was an easy fix.

He finished the cup as fast as possible with a few big gulps that almost made him choke for a second –which his dad didn’t like, since his ears got all twitchy –, before setting the drink on the table.

“Dad,” he said, excitedly. “You flower things!”

His dad raised an eyebrow at him while he served himself another cup, waiting for Mikey to explain, which… ugh. He had been perfectly clear!

He waved his arms up and down, making quick gestures as he spoke so his dad could get it. “The ones for perfume!” he insisted.

He finally seemed to understand. He frowned a bit like he always did when he was really thinking something over.

“I should still have some materials left from the last time April brought them.”

Aha, step one complete!

Before he could start celebrating, his dad narrowed his eyes at him.

“What exactly prompted this?” He asked, clearly suspicious.

Hey… Unfair! It wasn’t for a prank or anything –this time–.

“It’s for the doctors,” he defended himself. “I thought it would be nice. You always say we should be polite and all that!”

It was very important to his dad that they all had good manners and Mikey got why. People usually just ran away when they saw them but… What if some day Mikey met some random humans and instead of scaring them off because “hey, I’m a turtle”, they didn’t mind the mutant part but Mikey was so rude that they ran away anyway? That would suck. Doctors were one of those humans you were supposed to be extra polite too, even. Like teachers. Also… Mikey saw on tv that you sometimes gave them gifts so there, he was pretty sure his dad would approve of Plan P (perfect perfume for Cam).

Sadly, like it had happened far too many times during these past month, Mikey was wrong.

Instead of going all “oh, yes, my son. That is a very good idea. Let’s make some perfume for the doctors and then go see Donnie. We’ll get Raph too so he can talk to him and, after we’re done there, we can go find out what’s up with Leo,” his dad became even more serious.

Really? What was the problem this time!?

He frowned, ready to ask exactly that when his dad reached towards him over the table, gently taking his hand and brushing his thumb over the back of it in a soothing motion.

Mikey blinked for a second and squeezed back. Because, hey, he might not have been expecting it, but he sure appreciated it.

He kinda needed a hug, if he was being honest, but this was also nice.

He was still going to ask for one later, though.

His dad was looking at him, his eyes firm and sad as he spoke. “Michelangelo, you don’t have to prove anything to these people. You know that, don’t you, my son?”

Ohhhhhhhh, okay. That’s what was bugging his dad.
Thankfully, he was wrong. Yeah, Mikey liked getting along with people but…

“It’s not like that, dad,” he explained. “Yeah, I would love to be friends with them, and they are nice once you get to know them.” Because, while it was true that Rob still was kind of on the fence with the whole… selling them out, Mikey was sure that he would do the right thing in the end. He had seen the worry in Rob’s eyes when Mikey had the freakout. Deep down he cared, all of them did. F-man had been close to him from like… the second day he had been there, and while House had been avoiding him, Mikey had seen him around Leo and Raph.

Cam… she was the one that cared the most, even if Mikey had hurt her.

That’s why he had to do this.

“I am not trying to prove anything,” he stressed, lips forming a thin line. “They helped us and we didn’t really make a good first impression, y’know?” He still remember’s Cam’s terrified eyes looking up at him, his stomach dropping every time he thought about it. “I don’t want to leave it like that if I can make it up to them.”

His dad visibly mulled this over.

“Are you sure, Michelangelo?” he said after a moment. “I spoke to doctor House and he is not the kind of man I would have allowed in our home if I had any other choice. I do not like the fact that you have to endure his unpleasant personality. If the circumstances weren’t so dire I would have… removed him a while ago.”

Mikey nodded, meeting his dad’s eyes with no hesitation. “Oh yeah, this has nothing to do with House being super rude or whatever, I promise.”

With that, his dad finally seemed to relax. He sighed, finally standing up.

Yes! Victory!

The serious part now over, Mikey felt himself smile widely as he got up from his seat with an excited jump.

He quickly rounded the table, launching himself at his dad for a hug. He huffed a quiet laugh, the sound vibrating through Mikey’s own chest as he sank himself into his dad’s arms.

Mikey stayed there for a while before his dad spoke again.

“Come along, my son. I am sorry to say that we will need our hands if we want to make use of my ‘perfume making stuff’ as you’d put it.”

The words took a few seconds to process in Mikey’s brain, but when they did he let out an excited gasp as he looked down at his dad.

“You’re going to help?”

His dad chuckled. “It has been a while since I have done this, has it not? It would be a shame if my skills became… rusty from disuse.”

That was all the confirmation Mikey needed to start a very energetic rant on all the ideas he had for the perfect doctor’s perfume and the smells he thought each of their awesome visitors would like the most –Rob was a sweet berries guy, F-man clearly flowers and Cam something like those soft cotton smells–. While he spoke, his dad nodded appreciatively here and there while also making some interesting suggestions.

There was a deep feeling of happiness and relief erupting in Mikey’s chest as they gathered their supplies and his dad gave him a quick rundown on the whole perfume making process.

It shouldn’t have surprised Mikey that he had decided to join him. He always liked to have some one on one time with all of them, after all, and some days tried to join them in their personal hobbies. And yeah, that included video-games. It was kind of frustrating –and also kind of awesome– that his dad was still better at Metroid than him.

That had become a lot less frequent when they started fighting topside, though. And after Donnie got sick…

But here they were now, talking and smiling. He even made his dad laugh out loud a couple of times which was super difficult.

Things… Things were finally getting back to normal, weren’t they?

Suddenly, Mikey’s eyes started to itch, tears gathering on the edges and making his vision blur.

His dad stopped for a moment, asked him if everything was alright.

Mikey sniffled.

“Yeah… I’m… I’m just happy I guess,” his voice was wavering now, and his dad threw an arm over his shell, holding him close.

Oh, shell… he was going to start sobbing uncontrollably, wasn’t he?

Yup, a few tears fell, and after that there were more, and more… With no sign of stopping as his dad comforted him, softly mumbling some reassurances.

“D-Donnie is fine now, right? It’s over?” He asked his dad between hitched breaths.

“Yes, your brother will be alright, Michelangelo,” his dad confirmed as he wiped a couple of tears off Mikey’s face. It was nice of him but… not very useful because there would be new ones at any moment. It was like a tear shower down Mikey’s face. Aaaaaand, yup, there they were again.

His dad kept wiping them off as they fell, though. So, in the end it did work out.

Chapter Text

“Just relax, it’s going to feel a bit tight for a moment,” said Foreman, looking at the turtle’s book for reference while he pressed on the valve.

The turtle stayed relaxed even as the band tightened around his arm. Foreman wasn’t surprised. Usually most teenagers were difficult patients but this kid in particular was very cooperative. Well, cooperative wasn’t the right word, especially when he felt like they were doing something wrong, but he was very respectful, making their job easier in any way he could, which Foreman appreciated.

Even as one of the fingers in his free hand tapped rhythmically against the table he was sitting on, the kid waited patiently for him to finish.

“Alright,” Foreman said with the gentle, polite smile he reserved for patients. He unstrapped the band wrapped around the turtle’s arm, “everything looks fine.”

The turtle’s eyes flickered towards the screen displaying his blood pressure in disbelief before he sighed deeply, his shoulders sinking.

“Yeah, it really does,” the kid mumbled, almost too softly for him to hear.

He wasn’t looking at Foreman, fidgeting in place, eyes distant.

There were a lot of different reactions when a person realized they weren’t dying anymore. Usually they were happy but he had also seen anger, sadness…

In the turtle’s case, Foreman guessed that the strongest emotion was disbelief. It was all over the kid’s face, plain to see. Numb, overwhelming disbelief.

Foreman hesitated for a moment as he started to put away his instruments.

Even if it wasn’t Foreman’s favorite part of the job, helping with these things was still very important.

He refused to act like House, despite sometimes wishing he could.

He walked closer to the patient and sat on one of the chairs by his side, keeping a respectful distance while doing his best to seem approachable.

“You will be alright, Donatello. The treatment is working. You’ll be back to…” he bit his tongue, his brain catching up to the fact that he had been about to say something like ‘normal life’ or ‘hanging out with your friends’, ‘school’… the things you usually tell a patient of Donatello’s age in these circumstances, “doing acrobatics with your brothers before you know it,” he finished lightly after a pause.

Despite his misstep, the kid gave a hesitant chuckle, finally lifting his head to look at him.

“I guess I just… didn’t really expect it, sorry. I can’t believe…” he trailed off, biting his lip. “Are you sure everything is alright? I know that doctor House thinks there is still something wrong.”

Yeah, House was obsessed with a non-existent missing detail but to the rest of them, the situation was pretty simple.

They treated for an infection that matched every symptom and the patient had gotten better. Over the last few days every last trace of his illness had disappeared completely. They had checked, thoroughly.

The reason his boss was so insistent in them staying, in always doing just one more test that came back clear every time, was that they weren’t treating a human patient. Despite Foreman’s initial doubts, Donatello was cured.

“House is… not what you’d call a normal doctor. He has some interesting ideas about how things should be done and he’s right to be cautious in your case. You’re not the kind of patient we are used to treating.” Was his vague, noncommittal answer.

“So… what’s next, then?”

“Well, since we won’t be able to make sure everything is back to normal once we leave, we think it would be for the best if you resumed your usual routine for a couple of days. We’ll make sure there’s no change and then we’ll be out of your hair,” he explained.

Once again, Donatello became visibly uncertain, his mouth twisting into a frown.

“I would be lying if I said that I couldn’t handle that myself but… honestly, having you here for that is kind of a relief,” he said slowly, like an embarrassing confession.

Foreman raised an eyebrow.

“Everyone needs help sometimes, that doesn’t make you any less smart,”

The kid’s smile became even wider, the amusement breaking through the uncertainty.

“Ah, no. That’s not the problem. I know that but I didn’t expect how reassuring it would be to have someone else help me with this. You don’t know as much as I do about our physiology, but even then, just having another set of eyes on the situation makes things a lot easier.” The turtle took a deep, shaky breath. “When this is over I know that it won’t just be me wishing it is. I will have bigger proof, I guess, telling me that I am really cured. Being both the doctor and the patient is… very difficult in practice.”

Foreman nodded.

“Yes, I can understand that. Even then… I have to say that you’ve done a fantastic job of it.”

The turtle simply smiled brightly and both of them fell back into a comfortable silence as Foreman marked down the results of today’s battery of tests.

As he did, Foreman couldn’t help but stop for a moment, taking another look at all the materials the turtle had lent them for this.

It was like a small-scale hospital, made entirely by a kid sitting on a small metallic bed under the city of New York. And it wasn’t even the most impressive thing he had created.

He must have been staring for a while because, suddenly, he was startled out of his thoughts by Donatello.

“Did you… want to say something?” He asked curiously.

Foreman shook his head, dismissively. “Sorry, I was just thinking…” Maybe now would be the best time to say it, wouldn’t it? This question had been eating at him since he met the kid. “Have you ever considered what you want to do when you’re older?”

The kid blinked at him in surprise before grimacing. “I don’t think there’s much to consider.”

Yes, that was exactly the problem.

“I am not telling you to… reveal yourself. Despite what Cameron believes, I understand why you keep yourselves hidden. Maybe you could write books anonymously, or scientific papers.”

“I tried,” the kid said with a shrug, “But doing that successfully is a lot more difficult than it seems. You need contacts for that, resources I don’t have access to.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?” When the kid gave a negative answer to that, Foreman frowned. “Maybe I could help you with that. I can’t hire you myself but maybe in a couple of years I could get you some contacts.” he could probably find a way to get him to work as a remote consultant. House wouldn’t mind, and with his reputation they could jump over a lot of hurdles to both keep the kid’s anonymity and have him be taken seriously in the field.

To that, the kid’s eyes widened, visibly taken aback.

“Why would you want to help me with that?”

The fact that he even had to ask…

“Some of the things I have seen in your lab are world-changing. You have a lot of talent. I think it would be a crime, forcing you to stay hidden down here when you could be doing so much instead,” he stressed, “I… know it’s not the same situation by far, but I also didn’t grow up in the best environment. I managed to study hard and get myself a good career, though. I think that you deserve the same opportunity.”

Donatello’s expression had turned thoughtful as he spoke, but he didn’t seem very convinced, unfortunately.

“I am happy with how things are. Maybe one day I will consider it, but I’m not really in a rush,” was the kid’s polite refusal.

“I know it would be a risk, but I believe that it would be worth it,” Foreman insisted. “In any other circumstances you’d become a fantastic doctor and, even if you’re not able to do that, you could make something of yourself with some help.”

At that, the kid huffed a silent laugh, making Foreman fall silent as he looked at him questioningly.

“Sorry, I just… I would never become a doctor. No offense but I find it… boring in general. Sure, there are some things that fascinate me about it but I don’t love it. My passions are engineering, every aspect of it, and chemistry to a lesser extent. I enjoy studying biology a lot and math is fun, but medicine? Most of it is not that interesting to me.

Now it was Foreman’s turn to be surprised. He couldn’t hide his look of shock.

“But… Didn’t you write these books?” He asked.

“Yeah, I thought I was… dying,” he said, his voice becoming higher, shakier, “and that my brothers would need a way to take care of themselves. That’s why I did it. It’s the reason why the medbay looks like this,” the turtle said, gesturing at their surroundings. “I didn’t even bother to build these things,” he clarified.

Still… Writing that must have taken so much time, everything was so detailed.

“Then why are you your family’s doctor?”

The kid’s mouth twisted awkwardly.

“It’s not that I hate it,” he started, not sounding too sure about it. “I just don’t enjoy it that much. It’s like a chore. I don’t think Mikey likes having to cook at 4 when we’re home late, or Leo having to make fifty throwing knives after a bad mission. They do it anyway so… Since I am good at these things, I became our doctor. It made sense, you know? When we were young our dad took care of us but… I knew a lot of biology and I could learn to be good at medicine, so I did,” he finished with a casual shrug.

It wasn’t remotely the same, cooking, replacing their things… Those were just chores to them, weren’t they? Becoming the doctor was a career it tied Donatello down here, making it impossible for him to leave, to do something worthwhile instead. He was responsible for his family’s health and it forced him to stay in a sewer treating colds.

Apparently… There were also alien fights involved in this whole situation but, if the kid was able to modify their tech and turn it into what he did, he also shouldn’t be in the line of fire like he was.

“That’s the more reason to find a way out of this. You should be doing something you enjoy, more valuable things,” he said. He had to suppress a grimace as he said that because… It sounded like he was the teacher in Good Will Hunting, but the sentiment was true nevertheless. He opened his mouth, prepared to continue before being interrupted by the kid’s response.

“Why?”

Foreman fell silent in confusion.

Seeing this, the kid continued.

“Why do you think I would want to do something more valuable?” He repeated. “In fact… What do you think would be more valuable? What’s the metric? Is it helping society? Because I am sorry to say that society hasn’t helped me much.”

Foreman tried to find his words.

“It’s not just about that. The things that you could be doing are much greater outside of here, you could make such a big impact.”

The kid snorted, slightly laying back.

“So it’s about making the biggest impact?” He asked. When Foreman answered in affirmative the kid shook his head. “Sorry but I don’t care about that.”

He opened his mouth to protest but the kid interrupted him before he could.

“You think that I should but that’s just…” the kid trailed off with a sigh. “I… I used to think like that when I was a kid. I felt sad about not being able to leave… something tangible once I died. It was very scary to me. The possibility of just not existing anymore and no one ever noticing when I had so many things to show, so much to discover… I was scared of that but then, I realized that…” he gazed into the distance again, visibly replaying a memory as his eyes shone with happiness. “It doesn’t matter. The universe is so big. Even changing the Earth would be… a waste of my talent in some hyper advanced society’s eyes. I would always be looking for something greater, something better that I could be doing, that I should be doing but that’s just not what I want.” He stopped talking for a moment, his bright smile twisting with deep fondness. “There is an impact already every day, when I help the people I care about. The people close to me. By being with them and helping them… Our world is so small, I know this. I know it’s bigger outside of here, but if this is my whole world then by making things better here, then I am making the world better in a way that counts, in a way that matters to me.”

Foreman mulled this over, unable to reply to the revelation.

They stayed quiet for a while, the conversation having come to a stalemate until the door swung open.

Startled, Foreman jumped slightly before realizing that it was just Cameron.

Then, he took in her expression. Hard, serious, determined.

Something had happened.

“Donatello,” she said without even acknowledging him. “I know that we make you uncomfortable but… is there any way I could stay in contact after we leave? I want to help, even if I have to stay down here to do that.”

Chapter Text

Cameron had made a mistake.

It had been perfectly avoidable and entirely her own fault, which was frustrating. She had misjudged Leonardo and, because of it, handled her conversations with him very badly.

It would be very difficult to get the turtle children to trust her now.

In the back of her mind, a memory replayed itself over and over, the glint of a knife, something flying past her face with a swish. She had felt it past, practically brushing against her skin. There was also the kid’s expression, satisfied with her terror.

Cameron swallowed, shaking her head, she had put the situation past her already. She had been very scared at fist but in the end, Leonardo was just a scared kid that had reacted violently to being pushed. It wasn’t his fault.

People learned by example, after all, and if Leonardo had been raised by an environment where violence was a good answer to being challenged, it was no wonder he had reacted like that.

Also, the kid hadn’t actually hurt her. It had just been a warning. Alarming but still controlled, trying to prove a point. What Leonardo did was basically a demonstration, he had probably thought Cameron was doubting his skills instead of being worried about his safety and he decided to show her just how in control he was.

Cameron sighed, shifting in her chair as she sat alone in the kitchen. Usually, one of the kids would be here but it seemed like they were trying to give her space.

She didn’t want that. What she wanted was to fix the mistake she made. She had provoked a clearly traumatized kid who obviously had reacted badly to that and she didn’t know how to fix it. The worst part of it was that she had been warned about it before things had come to this.

She hadn’t paid enough attention to House's assertion that she was the one –or, well, the second one– Leonardo felt the most uncomfortable around and, instead, positioned herself as an “enemy” by criticizing Splinter in front of Leonardo.

A part of her knew that it had been a reasonable mistake to make. She knew some of the theory of how to approach someone that you suspected might be a victim of abuse but she wasn’t a trained counselor or a CPS worker. There was a reason why they called in experts when cases like this one came to Princeton Plainsboro.

Honestly, right now she was wondering if she would only do more harm than good by trying to help but… What were their other options? A distant, neglectful father? A much too young woman that didn’t want to intervene when the kids threw literal knives at each other’s faces!?

The only three other adults that knew about them were Foreman, Chase and House which would absolutely not do. She knew what they thought about the situation and they were not going to be of any help here.

Even then… She had made things worse, pushed the kids away.

She was way in over her head, wasn’t she? April had warned that the situation was a lot bigger than she had thought and she really was starting to feel that.

Cameron needed help. She wasn’t the best person to do this. If there was a way she could get in touch with someone… but it wouldn’t be safe for them, would it? Even her own coworkers were indifferent to the turtle's plight or actively wanted to make things worse for them.

If she wanted to make sure things didn't spiral out of control she would have to take care of this herself but she had no idea where to start.

The words Chase had told her rang in her mind, mocking her.

“Do you know a better way to do this? Anything that could actually help them?”

She didn’t. She had no idea what to do.

She stood up from her seat, feeling defeated but ready to finish with her moping.

Sitting alone in a kitchen was definitely not going to help the kids.

Donatello could do with another check. He probably needed to talk to someone about his recovery. He still seemed worried about it. Cameron could help with that at least.

Unfortunately, the moment she turned around to leave, she bumped into someone.

She hadn’t even heard anyone approach but she felt herself collide with something big. She almost fell to the ground but a pair of arms held her before she did. As she got back her bearings she also noticed something liquid falling all over her clothes. It smelled soft but also very strong from sheer quantity. Some kind of perfume maybe?

A high, frantic voice revealed who had been the culprit.

“Oh no!” Said Michaelangelo as he gently let her go. He hovered around her, almost as if he wanted to pat her down for injuries and looked very distraught. “I’m sorry,” he babbled, “I wasn’t paying attention and I– Oh no!!” He exclaimed, eyes going wide. “I spilled it all over you! I– ”

“It’s alright, Mikey,” she said with a reassuring smile. Feeling curious, she took a better look at the small, now empty bottle in the kid’s hands and discreetly tried to check the state of her clothing. “What is it?

At this, Mikey’s face fell even further, the previous apologetic expression dropped in one of complete misery as his eyes moved from Cameron, then to the bottle in his hands and then to Cameron again.

“Hey, it’s alright,” Cameron tried, trying to sound encouraging. There was now a very thick smell permeating her and probably the rest of the room too. It made her throat itch and her eyes water but she did her best to ignore it. “I can help you clean up here.”

Michaelangelo shook his head.

“No! Uh… Raph taught me how to do laundry so I could help you with it? But I’m not good at it yet and I’m not allowed close to the bleach.”

Cameron felt herself smile. “Hey, it’s alright. I really don’t mind.”

Michaelangelo grimaced at that.

“Thank you Cam but… Ugh, I messed it up. I was supposed to be the one making you feel better not the other way around,” he mumbled under his breath.

Cameron blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Michaelangelo huffed unhappily. “This was supposed to be an ‘I’m sorry’ gift. I wanted to give it to you to make up for the… kidnapping thing but instead of that, this happened.” He paused for a second, squinting at her. “Well, I guess I did give it to you? Since, you know, you do have it and you smell like perfume and not sewer now but this was soooo not the plan,” he concluded.

The confusion must have shown up in her face because Michaelangelo started to explain.

“Because of the… kidnapping. I’ve been trying to say sorry for all that and the bags, and the tying you up but I couldn’t find the best way to do it and I was focusing on Donnie –because priorities– but now he’s good!” He exclaimed enthusiastically. “And you helped! But I still didn’t apologize so I made you a perfume but, well. You were there when it happened.” He said his voice trailing off with uncertainty.

Cameron felt her expression soften. God, this kid… This really wasn’t right. None of this was.

“You don’t need to apologize, Mikey.” She said softly. “You told me you were sorry already and it was an emergency. Your brother was sick and you were scared. I’m not going to hold it against you, I promise.”

Most of their interactions with humans were hostile, she remembered that. And poor Michaelangelo had been so focused on apologizing to her… What if he was scared of her reaction?

Lord, he probably was, wasn't he?

Before she could make any more reassurances, he cut her off.

“But you were scared,” Michaelangelo said quietly but firmly.

When Cameron frowned at that, taken aback, the kid’s eyes hardened.

“You were terrified.” he insisted. “You didn’t know what we were going to do to you and…” he trailed off, his voice starting to shake as he spoke. “I know how that feels like and you’re… you’re very nice, Cam and you don’t deserve to feel like that, like you’re going to die, but you did,” for a moment, Michealangelo’s eyes shine with unshed tears before he breathed deeply, settling down. “You were… you were crying and telling me to stop and I– I didn’t listen!”

Cameron was out of words, unable to respond as the kid kept talking.

The realization that she knew what exactly he was talking about sunk in her chest, bringing a wave of grief to her heart.

The researcher, the one that had hurt her. He felt like he had done the same thing to her.

These poor children.

“I know that I was helping my bro but I still made you feel like that and that’s why I wanted to apologize, and the worst part is that I would do it again if I had to and that sucks, it sucks that things have to be like that sometimes,” he clarified, lifting his arm to rub at his face. “Because I scared you even if I didn’t mean to. I guess I messed the apology up so…” He trailed off, meeting Cameron’s gaze with a small, shy smile. “I’m really, really sorry but I would like to be friends still, and… I will make sure that things don't have to be like that again.”

“Oh, Mikey, of course,” she assured him. She reached out towards him before hesitating.

This was… It was not something she should do as the kid’s doctor. It really wasn’t. It wouldn’t be professional or appropriate.

If she was in the hospital right now, with any other of her patients or their families she wouldn’t have never said this but… But she felt like Mikey needed it.

“Would it be alright if I hugged you?” She asked.

Before she could react, she felt the kid collide with her again.

It was a very brief hug and, the moment they separated, Cameron spoke.

“Are you alright?” She asked, worriedly.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, a bright smile back on his face, even if it was small, only a corner of his mouth slightly tilted upwards. His eyes were another story, though, shining with happiness and relief. “I just… It’s just a LOT.”

“It must be,” she agreed. “We are strangers and you haven’t had the best experiences with… humans but, like I told you when we met, I will do my best to help you and your brothers. And… I know that you were hurt before but I won’t let that happen again. That wasn’t right and you don’t deserve that kind of pain, nobody does,” she insisted firmly, trying to convey how strongly she felt about this.

It was important that Mikey understood that, that Chase did, that House did.

Mikey’s eyes softened at her words.

“Yeah, you said that.” He was silent for a moment before biting his lip. “You know. You’re… you’re not the first person to tell me this stuff,” he admitted, looking uncertain. “But it feels different coming from you. My bros, my father… They love me and I love them but we’re family. When they tell me that… It’s because they love but when you do… When you do you’re a human scientist thinking that’s what’s right. He kept… He kept telling me I was just an animal but you don’t think so. I also… I had… a nightmare about you. You were Bishop and… I think I was a bit nervous about this whole apology thing after that…” He stopped for a moment, before his eyes widened, the serious demeanor shifting back to the playfulness she was used to seeing in the kid. “Oh! Maybe dad was right, shell… I mean, not exactly right because I’m not trying to prove anything but still. Might need to talk about that, do one of those wise ninja wisdom talk sessions with him when everything’s normal again.”

Cameron carefully didn’t react at the mention of the kid’s father. She had learned her lesson. She still took a mental note to ask about the “ninja therapy” later, though.

What truly caught her attention, however, were Michaelangelo’s last words.

“When everything is normal?” She asked slowly.

Back to how things were before they had come here. Back to the darkness and the uncertainty. Back to having no hope for the future.

And yet, Mikey spoke about his normal like it was the best thing that could happen to him.

Because he didn’t know any better, he was used to it.

“Yeah! I hope we can still talk,” Michaelangelo said happily, oblivious to her thoughts. “You’re all very cool and we can hang out like we do with April!”

These things felt different coming from her, the kid had said. Acceptance from a human, from someone looking in from the outside was something these kids needed.

Mikey just needed her to care.

It was something that she could do.

She already did, so much. She cared for all of them.

Maybe Cameron wasn’t the right person for this. Maybe she didn’t know what she should do or when to even start but… She would do it.

There was no question about it. She was going to stay. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t.

“I can arrange something,” she told him with a soft smile.

Chapter Text

Raph stretched his arms with a yawn as he walked towards the weapon’s cabinet. He paused for a moment, trying to shake off the lingering exhaustion. Shell, after so much late practice it would take some time to adjust back to their usual schedule.

To his side, Mikey seemed to agree, grumbling lowly as he rubbed at his eyes. The only one that didn’t seem affected was, of course, Leo. He had a huge, extremely annoying smile on his face as he stretched, chatting with their father all the while, probably saying something like “Look, sensei! I don’t mind waking up early for training, I am the perfect goody two shoes!” Ugh, he was such a teacher’s pet. It seemed that whatever had gotten to his brother was over since Leo was back at his usual, suck up self.

It was both relieving and infuriating.

Raph knew something was up with him, and yet, Leo had practically spat at his face when he tried to do something about it, kicked him down when all he was trying to do was give him a helping hand for once. Which was fine. He got the message. Mr Perfect Fearless Ninja was too good for Raph’s lowly help.

That didn’t mean he was going to give up, though. As annoying as it had been, his talk with House had made him think about a lot of things and he was ready to find out whatever had crawled up Leo’s shell and deal with it.

He tsked in annoyance, focusing on the task at hand. He had the whole day ahead of him, no need to rush things.

Raph reached out to grab a couple of jitte because, even if the spirit of these kinds of warm ups was all about trying something different, he still liked to play to his strengths. Sue him, he was still half asleep, he didn’t want to spend the next fifteen minutes twirling a chain around. Unfortunately, he didn’t get them in time. Before he could grab them, a familiar green blur came between him and his target.

“Too slow, bro!” Exclaimed Mikey with a grin. He was spinning the weapons in his hands, dancing out of Raph’s reach as he tried to get them back.

“Get another weapon, Mikey, I saw them first,” he snarled, trying for a swipe at his brother’s leg that was skillfully dodged.

“But you didn’t get them first so…” he trailed off, lifting the weapons above his head. Raph was sure he wasn’t imagining the teasing glint in his eyes.

Raph grit his teeth, feeling his face heat up. It wasn’t his fault all his brothers were even more monstrously tall than he was. It wasn’t that big of a difference between him and Mikey either!

Despite the fact that he was actually the most normal one in that regard and there was no reason to make fun of Raph’s very respectable and –in fact– very above average height, he tackled his brother into the mat for the implied insult.

Between his own hissing and his brother’s laughter as they wrestled, he almost missed the sound of his dad tapping his cane on the ground.

“My sons, do we have to turn today’s training into a lesson about sharing?” He said, once he managed to get their attention.

Raph froze for a moment, looking between Mikey’s faux innocent expression and his father’s raised eyebrow before deciding this wasn’t worth it. With a huff and one last shove, he stood up, waving dismissively.

“Nah, don’t worry sensei, he needs more practice with those anyway. Maybe he won’t drop them this time.”

Ignoring Mikey’s protest, he went back to take something else for today’s warm-up. His eyes landed on the tekko, easy to use and perfect for some payback if their dad decided they should spar with these. Then, something else caught his attention.

Usually, none of their weapons were stored in this cabinet. Yes, there were a couple of old nun-chucks, a few swords, bo, sai… But they weren’t the main weapons they carried, those were safely put aside before the start of practice on the opposite corner of the dojo, while their spares were in their respective rooms, just in case. Actively fighting like they did took a lot of weapon care and maintenance and the arsenal they had in here was mostly for practice anyway, so it was easier to keep “battle ready” gear separate from the training one.

Today, however, he could see something out of place. It was clearly one of Donnie’s bo, he could recognize it easily at a glance, it was a lot more cared for than the others laying around the place, it looked thicker, the wooden surface perfectly polished…

Why was it even here? The other one was in Donnie’s bethroom, probably but why did he leave this one in the cabinet?

Before he realized it, he found himself weighing it in his hands.

“Wait, you’re taking a bo?” Said Mikey, making Raph jump slightly. He was obviously taken aback, looking at Raph as if he had spontaneously burst into song instead of picking something for practice.

It… made some sense, he guessed. Unlike Leo – who was a touch too obsessed in mastering all things ninja–, the rest of them didn’t really enjoy using the other’s personal weapons unless their sensei specified otherwise. It felt like a concession, like saying “hey your nun-chucks are better than my sai” and Raph didn’t agree with that. At all. On top of that, all of them tended to become a bit too competitive when they faced someone using their own weapons.

It wasn’t rewarding, either. Despite having been training for all their lives, none of them had ever managed to win a single spar facing a brother with their own weapon.

He hadn’t been thinking about it, but Mikey’s expression was starting to make his shoulders tense, so he couldn’t backtrack now.

“What, you got a problem with that?” He challenged, testing the balance of the staff as he glared at his brother.

“It’s always good to be familiar with each other’s weapons, Mikey,” chided Leo. He was the next to approach, seeming doubtful for a moment before he settled on a kenka kiseru. Because of course he did, the fucking nerd. Raph rolled his eyes as Leo started moving through some kata with it.

The purpose of a kenka kiseru was to carry around an apparently harmless object that actually doubled as a weapon, in this case a smoking pipe. Which made sense, and followed all the “ninja should be able to use anything to fight” lectures his dad always repeated. Except for the fact that they were monster turtles who would never be inconspicuous, had not smoked once in their entire lives and this wasn’t Edo period Japan.

Feeling better about his choice now, he started the warm-up.

He let himself get lost in the motions, repeating basic strikes and twists of the weapon and leaving his mind to wander as the time passed. He was so focused on this that he didn’t realize the door had slid open until he heard a very familiar voice.

“Excuse me,” said Donnie, letting himself in the dojo. “Sorry, I wanted to be here sooner but got a bit distracted showing something to Cameron,” he explained.

Behind him two of the humans, House and Chase, followed. The younger man, the one that wasn’t acting like an absolute asshole by coming in with his fucking shoes on, explained that they were there just to watch, to make sure that Donnie was back to full health before they left.

Raph obviously wasn’t thrilled by their presence but he had decided that the humans wouldn’t ruin his day anymore and, besides… there were more important things to focus on.

Donnie was going to join them. He was finally good enough for it.

If Raph had been waiting for the final sign, for the key proof that his brother would be alright again, this was it. No more watching him walk around the lair looking half dead, wondering if he would ever recover or if they would have to get rid of his body to make sure no one would touch him after dying.

The bo was suddenly lighter in his hands. He felt his jaw drop and turned to his two other brothers, trying to share his disbelief, but they were too focused on Donnie to notice. Mikey looked like he might be part bee instead of turtle with how he was practically buzzing with excitement, while Leo’s eyes were wide.

His father, on the other hand, simply tilted his head, gesturing at Donnie to come in.

“It is fine, Donatello, we are still warming up,” he said, slightly amused by their reactions. Still, his lips thinned when he looked at the humans, his tail snapping to the side once. He didn’t exactly welcome them, but he didn’t kick them out either, which was permission enough.

With that, Donnie bowed and went straight for the chigiriki.

Training was usually very intense and that’s exactly the way Raph liked it to be. Even ignoring the fact that ninjutsu was literally life or death for them, he enjoyed the challenge, the feeling of accomplishment after a very difficult exercise. He wasn’t Leo but he still loved showing off the skills he had worked so much for and winning a hard fight against his brothers was a great way to make his day. He tended to lose his patience when his opponent was too easy to defeat. It took all the fun out of it, after all. It was why he always welcomed the days his dad decided o kick things up a notch.

Today, it seemed that everyone was a bit too distracted for that. But... Shell, Raph wasn't going to say shit about it.

Leo kept trying to walk closer to where Donnie was while they warmed up, despite the dangers of the flying metal chain in their brother’s grip and, when they started with the more complex exercises, he kept giving him redundant pointers even if his own performance was a lot more uninspired than usual. He wasn’t as bad as Mikey, though, who tried to make very loud conversation when he was being flipped over his shell and into the ground and hit the back of his head with his own weapons a couple of times. Raph… he kept his distance, but he couldn’t help but be aware of where Donnie was at all times, how he was doing… Donnie himself was still recovering, not up to his usual standard.

Objectively, it wasn’t a good training session but… It was still one if the best ones Raph had ever had.

Simply because Donnie was there with them again.

Chapter Text

The atmosphere in the sewers had changed.

It had become impossible to ignore. Instead of the tense, oppressive weight that used to permeate the kid’s every action, now there was a feeling of relief and levity.

It was a problem for House. His leverage was slipping from his fingers and he knew it. He needed them desperate, needed them afraid for Purple to be able to act as he wanted. Instead, he could clearly see his time running out, the sand slowly falling in the hourglass of their stay.

“Tell me,” he mumbled under his breath, his chin resting over the handle of his cane.

Foreman sighed, passing him a few papers. “No changes, everything is within their normal range.”

Typical.

House scoffed and didn't move to take them. Seeing that he was being ignored, Foreman took a step back, sharing a look with Chase.

“Same here. I didn’t find anything of note,” Chase said with a shrug, completely unbothered.

House tapped his cane on the ground, considering this for a long moment. They were wrong, he knew that. This case wasn’t over, not yet. There must be something he was missing…

“I want a full hormonal profile,” he declared, not bothering to lift his head, his good leg bouncing up and down.

To his chagrin, it seemed that his minions weren’t up for the task.

“What are you even trying to find at this point?” Asked Foreman, crossing his arms. “There’s nothing there, the case is solved.” He sighed, leaning closer to House and lowering his voice for a moment. Oh, fun. He was trying to be discreet. “Look, the only reason Cameron isn’t here agreeing with me is because she wants to stay,” he said. “You know that, right? She’s been setting things up with Donatello. I wouldn’t be surprised if she handed you her resignation the moment we’re back at Plainsboro.”

Yeah, he knew all about it. He wasn’t blind, deaf and/or stupid.

“She's not going to,” he dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Foreman looked at him with a raised eyebrow, clearly skeptical.

“Trust me, they won't be the ones doing the stealing,” House responded with a grin and a wink. The stage was set at this point, there was no reason to worry about Cameron's neuroses, he had already taken them into account. “And anyway. It doesn't matter what you think. The case isn't solved until I say it is,” he insisted.

“You already cured him,” Foreman stressed. “Congratulations, we said that it was Lyme and we were right. House, I understand that you want to keep studying them but we are going to have to get back to New Jersey at some point. If you want to stay in the sewers forever that’s your choice but I would like to return to my actual job eventually, preferably before I’m declared missing.”

Chase was silent as Foreman ranted. He agreed, then. Unfortunate.

This time he did raise his head, glaring at the two men.

“The moment you tell any of them that it’s time for us to leave, your “actual jobs” will be over and I will make sure no hospital in the country hires you ever again,” House considered his own words for a moment. Now that he thought about it… “Don’t think you’ll be safe by traveling back to kangaroo land either,” he added, focusing on Chase. “If you are the one responsible for closing the case before I tell you to, the most prestigious job you will ever have after that will be playing the didgeridoo in the desert. And you’re all out of daddies to beg for you.”

Finally, the challenging expression in the man’s face vanished with a flinch.

“We’re not going to be able to stall forever,” Chase said, trying his best to avoid a direct argument while still disagreeing. Even then, House could see clearly how his fists were clenched at his sides, teeth grit in anger. If House wasn’t so frustrated at the moment, he would have appreciated it. “They want us out of here as soon as possible.”

“I don’t care about what you have to do,” House insisted. “But I am not leaving until I figure out his actual diagnosis. Riddle me this, what is going to happen when we leave?”

He waited precisely until both of his minions opened their mouths to speak again.

“It’s game over, just like that,” he revealed. “We won’t have another opportunity to fix things. We leave, the patient has another relapse and he dies because he’s surrounded by ignorant monsters that can’t enter a hospital without being caught by animal control. Even if we had enough time to do something, there is no way we could get back here unnoticed. Like you said, we’ve probably been declared missing at this point.”

“What then? Do you want us to pretend there’s been a relapse?” Chase asked, visibly frustrated. “We can’t fake the test results. He’d notice. We’d need something real”

To be perfectly honest, House was toying with the idea of fabricating a symptom by drugging the kid but… with how paranoid they all were, the likelihood of them noticing was too damn high for his tastes and he knew that once they found out, he’d be immediately kicked out of the sewers. There would be no room for negotiation. It also had the more important downside of adding another variable to this, which brought a whole new set of problems.

He’d leave that option on the backburner for now. It would do for a plan B.

Chase's words however… they had given him an idea. House jumped from his chair, staggering towards the whiteboard as fast as he could.

“What if we managed to make it real?” he said with a satisfied smile as he wrote the words ‘apparently healthy’ and drew an arrow connecting it to a different text saying ‘obvious symptoms’. “If I’m right –which to clarify, I totally am–, the problem is still there, waiting for a trigger. If we find what it is, then we can press the big red button and get our proof.”

“It's not exercise,” Foreman commented with a frown. “He had no problems with his training this morning.”

“Exercise” was written on the board and crossed out.

“According to Purple, his episodes were getting more frequent but, while I was here, there were only two times where he showed any obvious symptoms other than some generic headaches and exhaustion,” House explained as he scribbled a few key words. “The first time he threw up and the second time he died. The problem is that, according to the previous pattern, he should have had at least three more episodes after the last one. Something has changed.”

“Maybe it's because the patterns aren’t completely uniform. Or, if you believe in the impossible, it could be because the treatment worked,” Foreman said, contempt dripping off every syllable.

“Don't be such a party pooper, Foreman,” House whined. “Work with me here! The first rule of improv, remember?”

Chase hummed in interest. “If we're assuming the treatment isn't a factor, then it must be something else we did. There haven't been any other–”

“Wrong,” interrupted House. “The rest started paying a lot more attention to him after I came here. Before that he was doing a good job downplaying things. He’s been under close supervision ever since. The two changes have been more attention and doctors poking and prodding at him.”

That brought him back to the drugs actually, but he really doubted that was the case. There hadn't been any more signs of that, to his disappointment.

Foreman blinked. “So you’re saying it could be Munchausen’s?”

“Cool and weird!”, House exclaimed with approval. “That's a leap and you’re absolutely off base but I like the spirit.”

“What else could be so affected by attention?” Chase asked.

Foreman shook his head. “We’re focusing too much on the improvement. His worst relapse happened while we were here. We should take that into account too, if we're considering this.”

That was… actually a good point.

“Let's rewind for a bit, then. We have a sick kid that looks somewhat healthy but suddenly he gets so bradycardic he almost croaks,” House conceded. “Once he is stabilized he recovers and the arrhythmias are nowhere to be seen. What made the balloon pop, what was going on there to cause a flareup?”

“He was resting at their clinic,” Chase mused, “it was after the whole… laser thing.”

Oh yeah, House was sure everyone remembered that. They had almost blown themselves up, after all. It had been… quite the ordeal…

Wait a fucking second–

The silent stretched as the three of them came to the same conclusion.

“It’s stress?” Asked Foreman, looking at the other two.

It would also fit with the sudden recovery after a supposed treatment. The kid thought things were working out, he had a team of doctors looking after his family. He wasn’t alone anymore. Hell, even their mere presence could have helped alleviate the symptoms, if that was the case.

Unsustainable in the long term. Living the life he did, it was only a matter of time before he got worse again. For the moment, though, his body was managing to hold on well enough to hide the signs.

“Not a vasovagal response,” added Chase, almost to himself, “but there’s a big connection between heart disease and acute distress.”

“There has to be an underlying illness,” clarified House. He raised a hand, gesturing at the younger doctor to slow down. He erased most of the board, writing down the word stress and circling it a few times. “We don’t know what it is. Right now we’re looking for the trigger that makes the symptoms worse and stress, anger… it would fit perfectly. He had just come out of a very intense argument with his brother,” and that must have stung he had seen it in Purple’s expression at the time. House had realized how codependent they were, but he hadn’t taken it fully into account for this. He felt a triumphant grin pull at his lips. “That’s what I was missing.”

Ah, if only he had figured this out a week ago he wouldn’t have wasted so much time doing nothing while he waited for Purple to finally drop.

“So what do we do?” Asked Chase. “Tell him ‘oops, we were wrong, you’re dying again’? I doubt he’d believe us.”

Finally on the right track, House capped his marker and turned to look at the other two. “No, that wouldn’t work. We need to recreate the situation. Get him angry, get him into an argument and monitor him as he does. That’s when we’ll get the results I need.”

That was when he’d get the information he was missing, the true picture of what was going on inside that shell.

It was also going to be fun which was always a plus.

“Well, that’s going to be simple, at least. I’m sure you’ll find a way,” Foreman said with a sly side smirk.

Yeah, he probably could, but the keyword was “recreate”.

He shook his head, making a show of looking affronted.

“Me? I’m a delight. That would never work. No, for this, we need a professional.” With that, House limped towards his cane, taking it in his hand before leaving the room without saying another word.

He stopped for a moment in front of the door of the clinic. To the other two’s surprise, which House could appreciate, their baffled expressions were as funny as ever, instead of entering he started banging the door with his cane and shouting.

“Cameron, come out to play! Break is over!”

When said doctor emerged from the doorway, House moved.

His three minions shared a hushed conversation, trying to follow with hurried steps as he kept advancing towards his true destination.

Even when they arrived at the dojo, the three younger doctors still seemed confused. Honestly, some days he didn’t know why he even bothered.

As predictable as always, Hamato was swinging his sword, alone in the center of the room.

Perfect. He was just such a reliable little freak, wasn’t he?

“Hamato! Fancy seeing you here. I need a favor,” was what House said when the kid turned to meet his gaze.

Slowly, the wooden sword the kid was holding over his head descended as he took measure of his visitors.

“Of course,” he said, dipping his head slightly in greeting. “You know you are our guests here, I will help with whatever I can.”

His expression was a blank wall, and maybe it was just his imagination, because House knew what made him tick by now, but behind it he could almost see a shade of suspicion twisting his lips.

“Only if you’re not too busy playing pretend in here,” House retorted. “I just want to save your brother’s life, no biggie.”

As he shrugged to bring home the point, the kid’s eyes narrowed.

“That is a surprise,” he conceded. It looked like he had gotten his attention since Hamato was walking towards the weapon’s display, leaving the wooden sword in place before moving closer to them and crossing his arms. “Since I was under the impression that his life wasn’t at risk anymore.”

With some faint amusement, House noted how Hamato’s nose wrinkled in distaste for an instant when he caught sight of Cameron’s heels and his own pair of sneakers. He made it too easy.

“Well, what do you want me to say? These things happen,” House drawled casually, meeting the kid’s intense, searching look firmly. “One day you’re fine living in your little sewer and the next your heart stops.”

“I will admit that, despite having payed as much attention as possible to your… sessions, I am not sure I am capable of adding that much yet,” he said in a perfect deadpan delivery.

House’s lips lifted slightly in amusement. He really did appreciate it when the kid showed his limited sense of humor. “I need you to make him angry,” was his response.

Which clearly caught Hamato fully of guard because he blinked. “Why?” Was what the kid said. This time, the polite tone of voice was fully gone, leaving only bafflement. He was looking at the team like they had lost their minds.

“Does the reason really matter? It’s for a good cause, don’t you care about your poor brother’s health?”

“I do, which is why I don’t want to upset him for no apparent reason, just because you’re telling me to. He’s been through a hard time. I’m not going to add to that more than I already have,” Hamato answered with a cold glare.

It was… sort of stupid, how he was digging his heels in like this. House knew that he would cave in, in the end.

“You know I don’t think it’s Lyme,” he started. “It has to be something else, I’m sure of it, but the only clue we have is his last flareup. We need to see what happened there. Something made his symptoms worse, and that something was anger. We need him back into that mindset and monitor him. That way we’ll know if there’s a different, hidden problem.”

Hamato’s lips thinned, like he was considering this. He still looked reluctant, however, visibly torn.

“You need to do this, Hamato,” House insisted. “If we manage this, he’ll be finally alright. It’s the last test I can think of. After that, we’ll leave your brother alone. If nothing happens then I’ll agree, I’ll admit I was wrong and we’ll be gone. If things do go wrong then you’ll have saved his life and he won’t faint while you’re out there, fighting. Either way, with this information we will be sure that he’ll stay alive after we climb through a manhole and get back to our lives. You need to make a choice,” House went on, walking closer to the kid as he took the words in.

“I’m assuming you won’t be telling him about this,” Hamato tried halfheartedly.

“No,” he dismissed. “That would defeat the point. It wouldn’t have the same effect. I need a true reaction. The moment you can, all of you will go back to battling alien overlords. If he is going to get worse with that kind of stress, you can’t treat him with kid gloves. Do you really care more about how he feels than you care about his life?” House finally asked, pushing the real question to the front of the stage.

Hamato took a deep breath and lifted his arm, pushing House away slightly as he walked towards the door, eyes darkened with an emotion House couldn’t quite read.

“No,” the kid finally whispered. “No, I don’t, I never have.” He sighed, turning his head to look at House. “What exactly would this entail?”

Chapter Text

Donnie was not surprised when he heard someone knocking on the medbay door. Cameron had told him she’d be back as soon as possible, after all. What he hadn't expected was the company she had brought with her.

Doctor Chase followed the woman as she let herself in with an apologetic expression. Curiously, Leo was there too. He came in last, arms crossed and not looking happy as the doctors started rummaging through the medbay. If Donnie had to describe it, he’d say his brother looked mission ready. His expression blank, all business and giving nothing away.

It wasn't unusual for Leo to help the doctors these past couple of days, but he normally stayed in the background fetching things for them and watching the battery of tests they put Donnie through.

His brother's mood hadn't been this… heavy lately, either.

Donnie’s hands fidgeted with the pages of the book he had been reading.

“Should I be worried?” He asked tentatively, setting the book down as he looked at the newcomers.

His brother shook his head, making Donnie's shoulders sag in relief. That was good, at least. He’d been worried for a moment there.

“We're just checking that everything is alright," said Chase from his right, bringing over some of the monitoring equipment and holding it up to Donnie as if asking for permission.

Ah, yes. He forgot about Doctor House’s… doubts. Well, he had wanted them to be thorough so he was not complaining. It would also be good for Cameron.

"I can understand that,” he said with a nod, accepting the offering and starting to set things up. It would also track with the way Leo was acting. He probably wanted to make things “official”.

Donnie… wasn't going to tease him for it like Raph would, but he still acknowledged that his older brother could be a bit too intense about this kind of thing.

Really, instead of wasting his energy on that, it would be better in Donnie's opinion if he just listened to him.

Well, it didn't matter anymore. Donnie's mood had improved significantly after he was cured. He wasn't going to stay mad about an argument that was already solved by this point. He still felt annoyed about the fact that Leo hadn't been thinking about him when he changed his mind, but it was fine. He even felt like forgiving Raph too, provided that he’d actually stayed in a room with Donnie long enough to hold a conversation.

Leo’s posture was ramrod straight as he moved one of the chairs to the side of Donnie's bed as the two doctors settled behind the monitors tracking his vitals.

"Donnie. I… need to speak to you. It's important," Leo said. His tone was weirdly robotic as he spoke, which was… curious. And not very reassuring.

"Of course," Donnie agreed. His eyes flickered back and forth between his brother and the doctors in the back. This seemed like a serious conversation so Donnie wasn’t sure if they should have it in front of them. But… this wasn't Mikey, so his brother had to be aware of the fact that the other two people in the room were clearly listening in and would run to tell their nosy coworkers about their conversation as soon as they could.

Well, if he had been the one to initiate things then Leo would know better, Donnie guessed.

Leo took a deep breath after Donnie's affirmative response, as if steeling himself.

"Your. Performance today. At training. Was subpar at best. It was… very sloppy," Leo concluded, his voice curt and clipped.

So it was just that, thank God.

Yeah, it was true. The illness had taken a toll on him and his brother was right to be worried. They risked their lives every time they went out and Leo was technically responsible for them during missions.

Like he said, Donnie was in a great mood. He wasn't going to jump to Leo’s throat because he was trying to keep everyone safe. It was just a check in, making sure they were on the same page.

Behind him, he heard doctor Chase groan. When Donnie turned around to see what had happened, he noted that Chase was bringing his hands to his head in exasperation.

Was one of the machines failing or something? The sound of Leo clearing his throat snapped him out of his thoughts.

Right. Training.

"I know, sorry,” Donnie acknowledged apologetically. It couldn't be helped but he would make sure his brother knew it wouldn't be a problem in the future. “It will be a while before I am back into shape but I can tell you that I will try my best and not slack off during my recovery," he finished with a reassuring smile.

Now Leo was looking a bit lost.

"Your endurance is down" he added, after a beat.

"Unfortunately, yeah" Donnie agreed with a nod. Was this the precursor to a new training plan? There was a long, uncomfortable silence in which Leo didn't start going on and on about personalized endurance exercises, sewer laps or how Donnie should learn how to meditate while balancing on his index fingers or something like that.

It threw Donnie off balance too. So, for a few seconds they just looked at each other in apparent confusion until Donnie broke the spell.

"Did you want to tell me something else?" He asked awkwardly.

Leo’s eyes jumped between him and the doctors in the back, his lips forming a thin line. Donnie was about to suggest a more private place to talk when his brother spoke again.

"I… broke something,” he suddenly blurted out. “In the lab."

Donnie frowned.

“What was it?”

“A… a m-mutagen. Canister,” Leo stumbled through the words with a pinched, uncomfortable expression. His brother wasn’t very good at making things up on the spot and right now he was giving off so many signs of lying that even Rocksteady and Bebop would have seen through it.

Donnie narrowed his eyes at him, shaking his head slightly, because what the shell was even happening right now.

"No you didn't?” He said in absolute bafflement. What was going on with him? Why would he lie about something like that? There was no reason to do it. Unless… “Is this a prank?" He asked.

Donnie looked around trying to see if any of his brothers was hidden somewhere in the medbay. When Mikey didn’t jump out at him, he went through the other possibilities.

This didn't seem like a very Mikey thing to do and… it wasn't a very well thought out prank, honestly. Leo looked even more uncomfortable than him at the moment so maybe a dare? Or a very, very bad attempt at teasing. Donnie did miss being part of the daily ribbing inherent in living with three teenage brothers but this was just bizarre.

He had to admit that Leo’s expression was very amusing though, the dare theory was gaining traction in Donnie's mind, because Leo looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole.

"No, no. It's not a prank,” he tried, raising his voice and lifting his hands in an attempt to assuage Donnie's suspicions. “Sorry I…” he trailed off, looking at the side while Donnie still watched him suspiciously. “I do need to speak to you about something important, I just didn't know how to bring it up,” he said seriously.

“Really? Because if you're about to tell me how you… you broke the heater or something I don't think I'll believe you,” he answered with an amused huff.

Leo took a deep breath, firmly meeting Donnie's eyes.

"Yes. It's important,” he repeated. “I have been thinking about this- this situation and… Donnie… You have failed us." he declared, his tone becoming cold as he said those last three words.

Donnie’s heart skipped a beat, all of the amusement immediately gone. Like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him.

"What?" He managed to ask.

Leo nodded once, visibly taking note of his reaction before continuing.

"It is true that the circumstances weren't the best but that doesn't excuse what happened. You are supposed to be better than this." His brother's accusations echoed through Donnie's mind in a loop. "There is no excuse for it. You have put this whole family in danger. You risked your brothers and sensei's life because you were not able to figure out what your problem was.” There was a pause as Leo leaned forward. “I searched for some information on it, you know? Lyme is common here in New York. It's not a rare disease. It's something anyone with an internet connection should have been able to guess."

The words were starting to fade out, drowned out under the roaring in Donnie’s ears but he still heard them.

"The fact that we even found a group of human doctors to help us was pure, random luck. What would you have done if I hadn't stumbled into Doctor House? You waited for months instead of doing anything productive and it was because of your inaction that we had to bring strangers into our home. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Donnie's tongue was heavy in his mouth, unable to even stammer a few unintelligible syllables.

Leo took his silence as a cue to continue.

"Have you thought about how Mikey could have reacted to this?” he asked pointedly. And the truth of it hurt. It pierced Donnie's heart because he had seen it. Had seen how Mikey had reacted to Foreman's proposal for surgery. “Did you hear all the valid, constant complaints Raph kept shouting in my ear?”

Leo was starting to raise his voice now, hatred and contempt practically dripping off him as he spoke, watching Donnie with a pair of empty eyes that made him want to curl up in his seat.

"You've betrayed everyone’s faith in your ability to solve these kinds of problems.” There was a long pause before a sneer twisted his brother's face and Donnie had to keep himself from physically flinching at the sight of it. “It's disgusting. And this is not over yet. Because of this, we are at the mercy of these humans, who could decide to betray us at any moment. Do you have a plan for that or are you just expecting your family to pick up your mess?" Another pause, another opportunity for Donnie to explain himself that he was unable to take, that he couldn't say anything about. "I should have known how–"

He hadn't meant to interrupt him, he really hadn't. Regardless, a strong, terrible sob escaped from Donnie's lips, cutting his brother off and before he knew it, he was stammering excuses between choked breaths.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I should have done more I- I–"

"No. Donnie stop," tried Leo. Under the wet curtain covering his eyes, Donnie could see how his brother's previously stony expression had broken into one of panic. Leo reached towards him in an aborted motion, stopping just a few inches away from touching him.

"I've been so stupid. I should have figured it out so long ago.” Donnie said, batting away at his brother's hands with one arm while he tried to wipe his eyes with the other. It was fruitless. More and more tears kept falling uncontrollably. “Casey is taking care of the surface on his own because of me. April’s debt… it's probably gotten so much worse because of this. Raph could have died if the canon had hit him. God. So many things could have gone wrong because I am so stupid. I am sorry Leo. I really am so sorry. I didn't mean to. I tried my best and I know that's not an excuse–"

"I didn't mean that." Said Leo, even more frantic than before.

He had been right, though. Donnie didn't need empty reassurances. He really had made a mess of things, hadn't he?

"Don't lie to make me feel better." Donnie stammered, shaking his head.

However, what Leo said next was not a meaningless attempt at comfort.

"It was a test from the doctors. To see your response to anger since last time… I thought you would be angry, not… not that it would affect you like this. Donnie, those accusations were unfair and not true. You were sick. Everyone understands why you weren't at your best. I made it all up to make you feel angry."

It took a few seconds for Donnie to process what his brother was saying, to fully understand the implications.

"I am sorry,” Leo whispered. “None of what I said was true."

A test. A test, just a simple test. No biggie. He had simply been playing with Donnie’s insecurities, with the way he had been terrified of failing his family.

He hadn’t even been able to get the support he needed for so long. He had been suffering alone, trying to prepare for his own death because no one else was ready to face it. Leo had broken his promise. He had ignored his wishes. And now. This.

"It. Was a test.” Donnie asked, his voice completely wooden as he fixed his attention on his brother, willing himself to focus, to figure out if this was another lie. But Leo met his eyes firmly and seriously, with confidence and gravity. He was telling the truth.

"Yes" Leo confirmed.

Finally Donnie felt calm wash over him. He leaned back on his seat, facing away from Leo as he focused on one of the side tables instead.

"Get out.” He simply said, his tone perfectly polite.

This only seemed to encourage his brother. He moved into his line of sight, recovering his previous calm facade, his spine straight, posture proper.

"We still need to see if getting angry will affect your heart in a negative way," Leo replied. “Besides, If anyone had to leave, it wouldn't be me. I have to help the doctors with this, after all.”

Yeah, right. Leo had no idea how to even use a stethoscope, he wasn’t fooling anyone

Without letting his expression shift one inch, Donnie spoke again. He wasn't going to give his brother the satisfaction of moving away so he kept his eyes unfocused as he felt incandescent rage curl at his throat.

"Leo, get the fuck out of this room right now" he repeated in an even, quiet tone of voice despite the venom oozing out of every word.

There was a moment of silence, as if Leo was considering something before he raised an eyebrow at him and Donnie felt his blood boil.

"I am the one that gives the orders here, you should remember that," Leo said pleasantly but with authority. Like he was scolding him.

Donnie was unable to hide his disbelief at the sheer audacity on display.

"You're pulling rank right now!?" Donnie finally shouted, outraged.

Leo opened his mouth again. And, just by looking at his brother's expression, Donnie knew that whatever Leo was about to say, he wasn't going to like it. Before his brother could dig his grave even deeper, he was stopped by Cameron’s voice.

"Stop," the doctor interrupted. It startled Donnie slightly, his attention turning to the two doctors. For a moment, he had almost forgotten they were there. "It's fine. There's no anomalies. It's normal,” she said, sounding frustrated.

Well, that made two of them.

Leo definitely wasn't, though. He looked satisfied, happy at Cameron's words as he nodded primly.

The realization made Donnie's expression curl further, his eyes starting to sting once again as the still open wound of his brother's betrayal was cut into for the second time. Leo had still been doing the fucking test. Even after everything.

He was so proud of himself. Donnie couldn't look at his brother's incredibly pleased face any longer.

His cheeks were wet once again, residual tears slipping from his eyes as he janked out all the cables connecting him to the monitoring equipment and stood up before walking towards the door. He hadn't wanted to leave but right now, having to stay with Leo was even less appealing than the injury to his pride. He turned before crossing the threshold.

“You know. I really hate you some days,” he spat, words spilling out tainted with vitriol before he could stop them.

That made Leo pause for a moment before he closed his eyes and nodded in agreement.

“Good thing you do or this wouldn’t have worked.”

Donnie slammed the door behind him.