#tmntoots

She walked over towards the lab and knocked on the closed door. Sam heard footsteps and seconds later Donatello had opened the door. He gave her a small smile and nodded his head backwards, signaling for her to come in. Sam had sat on an empty space on one of the work tables, and once Donnie had shut the door, he took a seat in his desk chair. “Did things go okay with your brother?” he asked gently. Sam happily nodded. “Overall yeah. I told him that I should have been more respectful and that I just didn’t want to stress him out even more, and we had a long talk about that and how I come first. And then he talked about how it will scare the shit out of him but that he actually will allow me to go on missions with you guys without updates.” Donnie’s eyes went wide. “Really? What changed?” he asked as he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “He said he wasn’t happy with how I handled things, but he understood why I snuck around the rules and still went with you guys anyway. He’s glad I was able to help keep you all safe and that you guys protected me as well, and that he believes I can help you guys keep the city safe.” Donnie chuckled. “Reminds me of when Sensei finally decided to let us patrol the city at nights on our own. He was terrified to let us go, but he knew people would need us as much as he did.” Sam snapped her fingers and pointed at Donnie. “Dude, that’s exactly what Jay was talking to me about. He told me he wanted me to help those in need and that that meant I wouldn’t always be able to wait for him to give me an official okay to take action.” Sam waited for a reply from her friend, but all he did was lean back in his chair and nervously fold his hands in his lap. Sam pursed her lips and displayed a gloomy look. “You don’t want me on missions with you now, do you?” she asked. His head quickly snapped up as he looked at her with an irked expression. “Okay, don’t do that.” “Do what?” Sam asked. “Don’t act like I don’t want you on missions. Of course I want you to join us on missions.” “Then what’s with your body language dude?” Sam asked, slightly playful, slightly serious in the tone she used. “Just…I should have been more careful. Neither of us knew what your limits were and yet I had you completing crazy difficult stunts to help us. I should have known better. Maybe Leo was right, maybe I was taking advantage of you.” “NOPE! Wrong answer” Sam replied rather loudly. Donnie’s face scrunched up. “This isn’t a game Sam.” “I never said it was, I’m just saying that this is one of the few times that you’re wrong.” Donnie sat there quietly, waiting for the girl to explain herself. “Donnie, you’re literally the smartest person I know. That means that any decision you made out there was one that could drastically change the outcome for the rest of the mission, meaning that if you lead me to do anything out there, then that means it was the last resort decision and that there was absolutely no other solutions to keep everyone alive and safe.” “But…what if there were other solutions? What if there were other ways to solve the problems we faced and instead I just relied on you because I knew your powers could help?” Donnie began to ask rather frantically. Sam paused for a few seconds before another smile formed on her face. “Alright Mr. photographic memory. Close your eyes and imagine we’re on the place as it’s about to crash. Look at everything around you and try to come up with a different solution that still keeps us safe, but doesn’t involve me in any way. Tell me what you can come up with.”

Donnie closed his eyes and pictured everything around him. He pictured everything from the cock pit (or at least everything that was left of the cock pit), he pictured the layout from what remained throughout the rest of the plane, he pictured the outside layout of the plane, and he pictured all the gear that he and his team had packed. He sat there for what seemed like years as he tried to figure out any other solution that could have been used that would have prevented Sam from putting her life at risk. Finally, he opened up his eyes and sighed. “I can’t think of anything. Not one damn thing that we could have done to keep you safe” he said as he groggily flopped back against his chair and aimed his gaze up at the ceiling, annoyed that there was nothing he could have done to better protect his sister and his friend. “But don’t you get it?!” Sam said with excitement, “that means you guys needed me! It means that you all would have been in danger if I wasn’t there. Don’t you see that as a sign that we all made the right choice in letting me join you on the mission?” Donnie paused as he looked forward and saw how excited Sam was that she was able to help protect him and his brothers. “You sure like playing the hero role, don’t you?” he smirked. Sam chuckled. “Playfully, hell yeah I want to be the badass hero. Seriously, I just want to know you guys are safe” she said honestly. Donnie sighed. “Still, things need to change if you’re going to continue joining us on missions like that. Luckily we all made it out okay, but if we had been facing a different villain then things might not have ended quite the same way that they did.” Now it was Sam who displayed a nervous expression as she spoke. “I know, and I’m sorry for scaring you all like that.” “Hey,” Donnie called out, to which Sam looked up at him, “you didn’t understand your powers just yet, and neither did we. It wasn’t your fault. The important thing is that you made it out okay and that you’re here with us now.” Sam smiled at the turtle in front of her. “Thanks D. And don’t worry, now that I better understand my powers, that means we can conduct better tests with more informative results.” “Oh I’m definitely going to enjoy that” he replied with an even wider smile, excited for all the complicated tests he and Sam would eventually set up in order to truly test her abilities.

Just then, the lab door creaked open as two sets of eyes slowly and gradually peeked in. “Hey, this a bad time?” Leo asked. Donnie shook his head and waved for his two brothers to enter the room. “You’re both here, perfect” Raph said. “Sarcasm or serious?” Sam questioned playfully. Raph squinted his eyes at her and replied with “serious.” “What’s up?” Donnie asked as he continued to sit in his chair. Raph leaned back against the table where Sam was sitting, and Leo had sat down on a nearby swivel chair that was almost right next to Donnie. “We just wanted to check up on you, and to apologize for how we treated you” Leo stated calmly. “To start, I never should have made you keep secrets from the others. I thought that hiding them from the surface-” “Would prevent them from losing all hope of actually getting to live lives where they could interact with humans and live out their dreams?” Donnie questioned as he cut Leo off. Leo scoffed. “That’s right, you two were eavesdropping on Sam and me” Leo said as he bit his lip. “I knew it! Ohhhhhh I knew it!” Sam said as she pointed back and forth between Raph and Donnie, and then playfully shoving Raph who was closest to where she was sitting. “ANYWAY,” Leo continued, “I should have let you and the others join in on the decision of what to do with the ooze, and it wasn’t fair turning you against the other two like that.” Donnie smiled and nudged his brother. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t have followed along if I didn’t have some sense as to your intentions. I know you’re strict, but I know you’re hearts always in the right place, especially when it comes to all of us.” He then turned his head towards Raph. “I’m sorry I held information from you though” Donnie said, disheartened. Raph shot him a small smile. “It’s all good D, you were just following orders. Knowing you, you were doing what you thought was best for the rest of us.” Leo shot both brother’s a small but genuine grin. Donnie was displaying the same expression at first, but then his slowly switched to an uneasy look. Donnie was fidgeting with his fingers, as though silently cracking them, as he began to speak. “I’m sorry to, about what happened with the device at the river. I just, I made sure, well I thought Sam was safe and then I saw the device and I just went for it. I didn’t try to signal anything to you and that’s unlike me” he said solemnly. Leo leaned back in his chair as he shook his head. “No, that’s exactly like you. You analyze a situation and in seconds you react. Thinking like that could save one of us. Looking around to signal someone could be the split second move that leads to one of us getting killed one day. The fact that you were able to pinpoint the device and maneuver towards it within seconds from so far away is actually impressive, well impressive for someone with normal intelligence. That’s just typical Donnie to all of us” he said with a smirk, which gained a low laugh from the adjacent turtle. “Unfortunately,” Leo continued, “I just happened to find an alternate route at the exact same time you found yours. Sadly it just happens that way sometimes. It doesn’t help that I just jump right into action and completely forget about the rest of you though” Leo said as he looked away from his brother and instead directed his attention to the computer screens beside him. Donnie smirked as he simultaneously shot his oldest brother a questioning look. “Do you realize how hypocritical that statement was?” he asked, slightly teasing his brother. Leo, confused, looked back at Donnie with scrunched features. “What?” “You just told me that it was a good thing that I was able to react so quickly and that one day it could save one of our lives, yet you just downed yourself for doing the same thing.” Leo nodded his head. “True, but in my case I didn’t pay attention to where any of you were, I just acted.” Donnie pursed his head and nodded, then suddenly his eyes widened as he came to a conclusion. “Alright, sounds like the only way we can learn from this is to do a quick 360 before we officially act. That way we double check and see who needs help, and if everyone is good then just as fast we act and do what we need to do. Deal?” A true and wide smile formed on Leo’s face as he held his fist outward. “Deal” he replied while Donnie completed the fist bump.

“Huh, well what do you know?” Sam stated, “Leo just stated that what Donnie did proved that he has skills, quick reactions skill that are an extremely good thing. Isn’t that funny Raph?” Sam said rather loudly (on purpose of course) as she then punched Raph in the shoulder (playfully, but still purposefully rough enough to make him wince). Of course, Raph knew what she was getting at. He tried his best to turn towards her with a somewhat calm expression (and without holding onto his throbbing shoulder) as he spoke. “I was going to let them finish talking before I did SAM” Raph said, attempting to whisper, but more so grunting and making his voice louder than he intended to. “Well I’m done” Leo said bluntly, lowly raising his hands up in the air. “Perfect” Raph grunted. He then looked over towards his younger brother and sighed. “Don, you know I’m an ass right?” “I know that very well” Donnie chuckled. “So, you know I say shit I don’t mean because I’m an ass, right?” “Sounds like a personal problem” Donnie said, nodding his head as though this had become a therapy session and he was the therapist. Raph couldn’t help but smile at his brother’s reaction. “I never should have said what I did on the plane. You’ve obviously got skills. Hell, you’ve used them to kick my ass more times than I’d like to admit” he said, gritting his teeth and rubbing the back of his head as he remembered past trainings where he had lost to his brother. Donnie rapidly pat his hands on his knees. “Yes! Why didn’t I think of those times! I always think of good comebacks AFTER the fight. I’m that guy” he pouted as he slumped back into his chair.

Now that Raph could tell that Donnie was feeling better, he then turned towards Sam, knowing that he needed to apologize to her as well. “I shouldn’t have acted the way I did to you either” he said as he looked up at her for a quick second and then directed his gaze towards the floor seconds later. Sam tilted her head in confusion. “What are you talking about?” “The way he talked to you when your powers took over,” Leo cut in, “and I’m sorry to.” “We both treated you like crap, and it wasn’t even your fault” Raph added. Sam fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke. “Yeah, but you guys didn’t know that” she replied glumly. “Doesn’t mean it was okay for us to talk to you like that though” Raph said roughly as he looked back up at her. His angry tone wasn’t aimed at her, but rather at himself as he regretted the way he had spoken to her within the past so many hours since the incident. A small grin appeared on Sam’s face as she looked back and forth between the oldest two. “But that’s just how you both show you care. Yeah your tones can sound dark, but that’s how pissed you guys were that I could have gotten seriously hurt. I don’t blame you. And sadly I really could have damaged my future. I was lucky things panned out the way they did, but things could have gone wrong, and fast. I should have stayed where Donnie left me. I could have helped without literally jumping into the fight.” “Well, let’s look at the bright side,” Leo said, “maybe all this was supposed to happen the way it did. Because of your reaction, we learned more about your powers. This means that we can incorporate this information into your future trainings, since I already know you two are planning how you can further test this newly learned information out” Leo chuckled as he looked back and forth between the two nerds in the room. Sam’s grin was now a beaming smiled as she continued her apology. “Still, no matter where I am, I’ll try to better control myself now that I know what sets my powers off, I promise.” “It might be awhile before you join us on missions though” Donnie said. Sam’s expression became grim. “What? Why?” “Because I’m not letting you go back out there with us if there’s a chance your powers could take over like they did this time, or if you’re going to keep having blackouts, like, what was it 7 times? You’re not joining us again until we thoroughly test your abilities. Leo was right, I was asking you to do things that could have put your life in danger” Donnie said as he tightly crossed his arms, pained by the thought of losing his sister because of his commands during the mission. “But even Jay said I could join you guys from now on” Sam said in a rather demanding tone.

All heads snapped towards her and eyes were wide as they glued themselves towards staring at hers. “Jay? As in your brother who was shouting at you earlier for not updating you on where you were?” Raph asked. “The brother that was furious that you left the country and could have gotten seriously injured during the mission?” Leo asked. “The brother who was fuming because of how many secrets you were keeping from him?” Donnie asked. “YESSSSSAAAA!” Sam groaned. “I talked to him and he said he understood why I acted without waiting for his response, and he understood that I helped save all your butts! Which none of you can deny that” she said, strictly pointing at each one of the turtles in the room. Leo stood up from his chair. “I’m going to go talk to him, just to make sure we’re all on the same page.” Raph and Donnie nodded their heads in approval, which just made Sam roll her eyes. She then jumped down from the table and also began to walk towards the door. Leo looked at her and rose a brow, questioning her as he asked “what? Are you going to intervene and change your story before I talk to him?” Sam squinted her eyes, taken aback by the comment. “No, I’m going to go talk to your younger brother.” She then turned back towards the middle brothers. “You guys coming?” Donnie shrugged. “I think Mikey’s the only one I never had any beef with this whole time, so I’m just gonna head to bed and end the day on a good note.” Raph smirked. “Leo and I already talked to him, so he’s all yours” he said as he used his arms to guide her towards the exit as though she was a celebrity on the red carpet. “Psh, whatever” she said as she playfully pushed by him. “Night guys!”

With that, Leo headed towards the med wing to talk to Jay, Sam headed towards Mikey’s room, and the remaining two brother’s headed towards their bedrooms to call it a day.

In Michelangelo’s bedroom

Sam knocked on the door and then turned the handle. She then paused before ever so slowly cracking the door open. “May I come in?” Once Mikey heard her voice, his head shot up and his comic was sent flying across the room. Oddly, this was his way of getting rid of all distractions so that he could focus on his friend. Sam took that as a yes and entered the room, shutting the door behind her. “Hey, how was the talk with your brother?” he asked. Sam grinned. “It went well, he said I could join you guys on missions without updating him.” Mikey stood there, frozen. His jaw had dropped slightly from the shock of what he had just heard. Sam turned away, visibly upset. “No no no it’s not that I don’t believe you!” Mikey rushed to say, “it’s just, I’m surprised he would say that so quickly. I mean, wasn’t he as scared as we were? He heard about everything that happened…” “Yeah, and he also admitted that I had saved each of you multiple times during the mission. I mean jeez without me then the entire plane would have fallen out of the sky! All of you would be gone, and I helped out in more ways than just that. Jay knows that I can help people the same way you four can” she said sternly. “I know that” Mikey replied in a similar manner, “but just, you don’t get it Sam” he said as he shook his head. He then turned away, his hands behind his head, as he walked back towards his bed and flopped onto his back. “Then explain to me what I don’t understand” Sam persisted as she marched over and stood next to the bed. “What, do you just not want me on missions now? Is that why you were really shocked?” “What?!” he said as he shot up and sat upright. “Makes sense, you assumed I wouldn’t be joining you anymore and now you’re shocked that I was given an okay.” “I’m shocked because you going on missions again means I could have to see you like that again.” “See me like what?” “Dead Sam!”

Sam paused. She opened her mouth as to say something, but then quickly closed it. She didn’t know how to respond to that, and she was afraid to. Obviously she had hurt her friend more than she had realized. “I mean, I’m the one that vouched for you and encouraged the others to let you train with us and join us on missions back when we first met. You really think I don’t want you to go with us?” “I-” “Well you did, you said it” Mikey cut her off. “…what went through your mind when you saw me in the river?” Sam asked softly, realizing that her best friend needed to speak of this or else it would ride on his shoulder for a long while. She sat down on the bed near where his legs were spread out so that she could face him as they talked. Mikey sighed. “I don’t know how to explain it. It was just, dark. Like I completely stopped moving and Raph basically almost ran me over.” “Like when you were watching the Halloween parade in the sewers?” she asked, remembering how Raph had almost collided with Michelangelo in the sewers just days beforehand. “Exactly like that! Like, just every bad vibe I could ever feel just hit me then and I just…well I want to say that I began to fear for the worst, but I couldn’t even think. All my thoughts were just gone.” “So that’s why you didn’t defend me when Jay grounded me” Sam said, slowly nodding her head. He turned his head to face her. The look in his eyes alone signaled how sorrowful he felt. “You and me, we’re a team, you know that. 99% of the time I would always defend you even if you messed up. That’s how we both are towards each other, more so you protecting me though” he said with a chuckle, “but, seeing you that way was different. This wasn’t a prank gone wrong, or you were out late in a not great area, you literally could have died. I faced that once, I didn’t think I’d have to see it again like that” he said as he turned his face away from her. The white of Sam’s skin became paler than usual. With everything that had been going on she had completely forgotten that all her family had already seen her die once. The night they all took Shredder down, she had died when trying to save Mikey, and the only reason she was alive now was because of the mutagen running through her veins. “Mikey, I’m…I’m…” she said, her voice getting softer and softer as the emotions began building up inside her. Mikey turned his head, and as he looked at her he realized now how he was feeling. In appreciation for her understanding, he did his best to keep her calm. He placed his hand on her shoulder. Sam stopped stuttering and looked up at him as he spoke. “It’s okay,” he said with a typical Mikey smile, “you’re here now and that’s all that matters. And I’m sorry for being cold to you earlier and yelling at you and all and encouraging Jay to ground you. It was just hard for me to see all that again, okay? If we need you on a mission then I’m fine if you join us, we all just really need to work some things out though so that none of us have to experience that again.” Sam reached her arm across and grabbed onto his hand. “Donnie and I are going to continue to test and study my abilities so that we can all understand what I can and can’t do, and so we can know what my limits are.” She then titled her head so that her check lay against Mikey’s hand. “Missions will get better and I’ll make safer decisions, I promise.” Mikey smiled at her. “We all have something to work on, and we’re all going to get better. We’re a team, and we’re a family. We all have something to work on and that’s going to make the group stronger. That’s my promise.” The two smiled at the others words, but then Mikey’s smile began to fade. “So, are we good then?” he asked cautiously. Sam tilted her head forward and did her best to display an evil expression (though the turtle in front of her could see right through her act). “No, things will never be the same” she said viciously, or at least tried to. Mikey just waved this expression away. “Psh, girl you love me.” Sam rolled her eyes. “sigh well then I guess that means we’re okay.” By the time the smile appeared on her face, Michelangelo was already pulling her into his side and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Thank god, I thought you were going to hate me forever for taking your brothers side” “Oh there is still a price to pay” she said with a wicked smile.