Slash's Revenge

Chapter 30 - Unforgiven

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Notes: Well, we made it to chapter 30 of 'Slash's Revenge' and I'm super excited about it. Can you believe that this story officially turned three years old this week? I guess happy birthdays are in order... XD

Thank you all very, very much for sticking with me for so long and for being so tremendously supportive. I appreciate every one of you. You are all awesome! I truly mean that.

Okay, on with the story. Thank you lots and lots for reading. ;)

CJ

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Chapter 30 – Unforgiven

There were definite advantages to having hypersensitive hearing, one of which was never needing to concern yourself with someone sneaking up on you. Hence the reason Master Splinter was able to pick up on his oldest son's approach well before the boy actually stepped foot through the doorway.

"How is your brother, Leonardo?"

The turtle in blue seemed impervious to the fact that his father had asked this question without even turning to see who had just entered the room. It wasn't the first time this had happened, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Exhausted, but he'll be okay. April finally convinced him to lie down and get some rest. After that, it took him all of two minutes to start snoring."

A wan smile passed Master Splinter's lips, brightening his features for a few fleeting moments before his face settled back into the heavy frown he had donned the better part of two weeks now. "I am not surprised. He was barely able to hold his head up."

"Yeah. He didn't go down without a fight, though. Casey and I had to practically drag him into his room. He was pretty upset with us."

"Michelangelo is generally not one to hold a grudge. I am sure he will recognize that you were only doing what was best for him and all will be forgiven. Thank you for taking care of him, my son."

Making his way across the room, Leonardo wearily lowered himself onto one of two chairs stationed next to his father before asking, "How's Donnie?" This question was more of a courtesy than a necessity. One look at his wounded brother told Leo all he didn't want to know. The bright flush of red painting Donnie's swollen cheeks coupled with the damp washcloth neatly draped over his forehead meant the fever was still raging inside of him. Then, there was the uncontrollable shaking and the pained expression that never seemed to go away. Leo wasn't sure if these things were a result of his brother's physical injuries or his mental ones. Either way, watching Donatello suffer like this was agonizing.

Leonardo had made the mistake of assuming when they found Donnie, things would get better, but he would hardly qualify this as 'better.'

Yes, he was no longer stressing out over Donatello's whereabouts, but he now had a whole new list of things to stress out over.

Though he would've never thought it possible, Leo felt just as helpless as when Donatello had been missing.

He wasn't the only one...

Eyes fixed on his intellectual son, Master Splinter breathed out a dejected sigh. "His condition remains the same."

This was not the update Splinter had wanted to provide, nor was it the one Leonardo had been hoping to hear.

"It's been three days! Why hasn't he woken up?" Leo noticed the substantial quiver in his voice; a strange sound even to his own ears. But he couldn't bring himself to care about the obvious demonstration of weakness. Given the circumstances, he was none too concerned about showing a slight chink in his armor.