Song: In My Room - Thousand Foot Krutch

Donatello waits patiently while Leonardo and Destiny talk to each other softly, trying to work out their problems but finding it difficult. Their voices are still harsh and quick despite the fact that they're whispering, something that makes the observing purple-masked turtle sigh heavily.

"Leo? Des?" he calls. "I need to talk to you both."

They look up, both face instantly creasing with worry. Donnie tenses, noticing how his brother and sister's faces have grown to look more and more old from the stress and the grief surrounding them. They're getting sick, both in mind and body, and if nothing improves, the intelligent terrapin fears that they'll waste away too.

Raphael and Michelangelo wander by, murmuring to each other under their breath. They stop momentarily to notice their other three siblings, but notice the tension in the air and continue on their way.

"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asks.

Destiny's tail flicks as she waits for the reply. Donnie opens and closes his mouth a few times, wishing with all his heart that he didn't have to bring this topic up.

"Dean..." he starts. "We had a scare with him this morning while you two were out."

"A scare? What was it?" Destiny asks, her eyes wide.

The purple-masked turtle inhales and exhales heavily. "He had a seizure, and then his heart stopped. I brought him back in time, but...but..."

"But what?" they both demand at the same time, stepping closer.

He gulps, running a finger over the top of his plastron the way a human would adjust their shirt collar.

"We need to talk about options," he starts. "And trust me...this isn't easy for me to bring up."

Destiny and Leo's blood seems to run cold, freezing them like statues. Destiny is the first to speak again.

"And those options are?" she squeaks.

"Maybe we should sit down...just in case," Donnie suggests, motioning to the couch. The mutants oblige, and once they're sitting comfortably, he starts again. "Dean's condition isn't improving. His bones are healing, albeit slowly, but they're healing. Same with his scars...but that's not what's worrying me."

"Cut to the chase, Donnie," Leo says through gritted teeth, his fists clenched in his lap.

There's silence for a moment as Donnie tries to get the words right. "If Dean wakes up, we don't know how bad he'll be. He might be able to walk, but flying...I would be surprised if that ever happened. He'll be scarred both physically and mentally, and who knows what the state of his mental health will be at." He folds his hands behind his back. "It'll be a fate worse than death, if that is the case."

He winces a little, as if waiting for their reaction. The hidden meaning behind his words doesn't seem to sink in, or at least the two parents are in denial about what he's saying.

"You need to choose, for the good or bad of your son's life, whether or not to turn off the machines and let him slip away," the purple-masked turtle says, his voice laced with sorrow.

"Turn off the machines? You're saying we should let him die?" Destiny reiterates, appalled by the thought. "No. We can't. We won't."

Leo still doesn't say a word. Donnie purses his lips and looks to his sister.

"Look...I know it's tough, but you have to think about what's best for Dean-"

"I am thinking about what's best for him," she hisses fiercely, her eyes snapping with that same ferocity. "He's sixteen years old, he hasn't had a chance to have a real life yet!"

"Des, maybe...maybe Donnie's right," Leo speaks up, his voice soft and defeated.

Destiny looks to her husband with her mouth hanging open. "What?"

"Dean's really damaged," he continues, his face troubled, as if the weight of the world has suddenly landed on his shoulders. "You heard Donnie, he may never walk or fly again. That means we'll have to help him bathe, get to bed, dress...he'll lose his independence, and you know how Dean is. That'd kill him inside."

"So...s-so what? We just kill him? Pull the plug?" She lets out a breathy, disbelieving laugh as she crosses her arms. "I expected different from you, Leonardo."

The blue-masked turtle frowns, his mask knitting together where his eyebrows would be. "Destiny, think past the fear of losing him. I love Dean, he's my son...and the idea of losing him scares me too, but you have to look past that. Think for a moment. Imagine him if he ever does wake up, crippled and depressed. Is that any better than him being dead?"

"Also...if he never does wake up, you'll just have him laying there, comatose," Donnie adds in softly. "Then...you'll never be able to move on, heal, get over the grieving process. No one in this family will."

"You're asking me to kill my son."

"No, I'm asking you to make a decision that he can't make for himself."

She looks away, tears welling up in her eyes. Leo doesn't swivel his eyes in her direction, thinking about their massive dilemma. Donnie looks between the two of them and sighs.

"You two...your relationship is going to fall apart if you continue on like this. Think of Venus...think about how much you mean to each other-"

"If he chooses to pull the plug, I will never be able to look at him again," Destiny snaps, pointing a clawed finger at Leo.

"If she would stop being so stubborn and think of someone else for a change, then we wouldn't be having this argument!" Leo retorts.

"Excuse me? I've thought about you or our entire family's needs above myself for years! How dare you accuse me of being selfish!"

"Keeping Dean alive if he's never going to wake up just because you don't want to lose him is selfish!"

"You were unconscious for three months and we never debated killing you!"

"I didn't need any machines to keep me alive! Dean, however, is only alive because of those blasted things!"

"Talk to me in three months, then we can debate doing this to him."

"What, and have him miss school? Miss the end of grade eleven and be set back? That's only if he wakes up, but he could very well be in a coma for the rest of his life!"

"Guys, please calm down-" Donnie begs.

"No. That's my answer. NO!" Destiny barks.

She gets up, storming to the front of the lair. She morphs into a wolf and goes running down the tunnels, her paw steps fading into nothing. Leo stands up, squeezing his eyes shut as he wipes the glistening tears from them.

"Do it, Donnie," he orders.

Donnie's mouth falls open slightly. "B-But...Destiny said-"

"I don't care what she said. She's too stubborn to see what's best for our son," he cuts him off, monotone. "We'll tell the others that Dean passed away in his sleep. Don't tell them that we helped him on his way."

"Leo...are you sure?"

Leo turns around, his face pained behind the serious mask he's attempting to wear. "I'm sure. We do it in forty-five minutes."

He takes off in a stride towards the dojo, not wanting his brother to see the tears building in his eyes.

🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕

Destiny touches down on the dimly lit streets, folding her wings behind her as she looks up at the clear night sky. The crescent moon shines far above her, transporting her back to the nights she spent during her youth.

She looks around, noticing a small church a little ways away, an equally small graveyard next to it. She tilts her head a little as she looks at it, a chilly wind blowing her multicoloured curls across her scarred face.

There's a sign out at the front, an encouraging message written across the front.

In times of need, God will answer to those who ask for his guidance.

Destiny's nose wrinkles a little as she thinks over that, not knowing whether that's a Bible passage or just something someone put out for their followers to see. Then, without thinking through what exactly she's going to do, she moves towards the building, heading across the lawn dotted with a few little gravestones. She moves to the front door and pushes it open, peeking inside. No sounds reach her ears, the scent of humans absent. She moves even further in, looking around at everything. Pews line the room, one red carpeted aisle running down the middle to a stage. A podium sits in the centre, a banner with a golden cross on it decorating the front. Pews that a choir would usually occupy wait behind the podium, a grand piano put off to the side.

Destiny's eyes fall on the wooden cross near the podium, standing tall and strong. She never knew a lot about Christianity or religion in general, but she knew about Jesus and the significance of the cross.

She inches forwards, running a hand up her arm as her tail sways nervously. She moves up onto the stage, looking over her shoulder for anyone who may be watching. There's still no one.

She takes a deep breath, turning and kneeling down in front of the cross. She sits there for a moment, looking up at the wooden structure before folding her hands together in her lap.

"Um...God? Jesus? I don't know what you prefer to be called," she says nervously, her voice soft in the peaceful quiet of the church. "I'm...I'm new to this whole prayer thing...I don't even know exactly why I'm here, but I think it has to do with that saying outside." She swallows and runs her tongue over her lips, moistening them. "My point is...I need help, my entire family does. I've never prayed before, I'm sure you know, but right now I need to talk to someone." She lowers her head, her hair falling in her face. "My son, Dean...he's hurt badly. My family is losing hope, saying that they don't think he'll improve or ever wake up. I'm not going to ask you to heal him. I don't think you work that way. All I ask-"

Her voice breaks and she coughs, covering her mouth with her elbow. She stops, straightening up and rubbing her throat as she grimaces. The sound echoes in the silence, making her slightly uneasy, but still nothing comes. She returns to her attempt at praying.

"Just...give us strength. Help Asher and Dakota heal from the loss of their friend. Give Blake the courage to speak again. Help Mitch learn to smile again. Give Venus peace and harmony. For Copeland...just let her know that she's going to be okay," she whispers. "Help my brothers and sisters with their own battles, and give me the patience to work things out with my husband. Above all, be with Dean and give him the power to keep fighting and to never give up, because right now...everything feels hopeless. In your name, amen."

🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕

"Leo, this doesn't feel right. Especially doing it without Des..."

"Donnie, you said it yourself. He isn't improving," Leo says, his shoulders slumped and his eyes bloodshot from crying.

The purple-masked turtle looks to Dean, observing his weakly beating heart and shaky breathing. He moves to the life support machine, reaching out to the plug, but then he hesitates. He looks back at Leo, sorrow swimming his russet eyes.

"You should say goodbye," he murmurs.

Leo nods, wiping his face. He moves to the bed, kneeling down and caressing his son's hair lightly. He breathes deeply, trying to stay strong but failing, as he reaches down to pull Dean's limp, beaten form into his arms. He holds him for a few moments, eyes closed against the tears as he tries to cement the feeling of his warmth into his memories, tries to remember that long ago, Dean was smaller and cradled in his father's arms for an entirely different reason. Leonardo leans over and kisses Dean's forehead lightly, taking in a shaky breath. 

"I'm proud of you, Dean," he whispers. "I'm so sorry that I got you dragged into this mess. I...I hope you find p-peace."

He lowers him back onto the bed and stands up, backing away. He looks to Donnie and nods solemnly, his heart rate speeding up. The purple-masked turtle turns to the machine again, but there's a blur of green and a small figure hugs his leg.

"Please don't," Venus whimpers, tears streaming down her face. "Don't kill him."

Donnie looks to Leo, not wanting to shake his distraught niece from his leg. Leo moves forwards and gently pries his daughter off his brother's leg.

"Vennie, you were supposed to stay in your room," he says, his tone scolding yet kind.

She sniffles and cries, her watery green eyes gazing up at him and her pale blue mask soaked with tears. "I can't let you, daddy. I don't want Dean to go."

Leo doesn't respond immediately, trying to find a way that he can best explain the situation. Donnie steps back, not wanting to interfere.

"Venus...your brother isn't getting better-" Leo starts tentatively.

"But he will! I know he will! Copeland told me," the young turtle retorts, crossing her arms over her plastron. "We have to give him a chance to recover!"

"We have been doing that, honey. It's just-"

"What would grandpa say if he was here? I think he'd try to help Dean more."

That makes Leo stop, his mouth going dry. For one of the rarer times in his life, he is rendered speechless.

Copeland appears at the door with Dakota, Mitch, and Asher, all four looking concerned. They take in the scene; Donnie standing near the life support machine, Venus sobbing uncontrollably while Leo tries to console her, and of course, Dean.

Dakota is the first to put two and two together.

"We're you about to shut off the machine?" she demands.

Donnie and Leo look at each other, the awkwardness growing.

"Listen, this is something that only adults can understand, and-" Donnie starts.

"You were gonna let him die?" Asher asks, his face becoming even more heartbroken.

"You can't do that! He's our leader, we can't lose him!" Mitch insists.

"You cowards! Were you just gonna tell us that he died in his sleep?" Copeland growls, her limbs shaking with rage. "What kind of a father are you?"

She points at Leo, whose face falls. She doesn't realize how much her words sting, nor are any of them seeing both sides of the issue. Their minds are focused on one thing and one thing only; not losing Dean.

"There's a valid explanation for all of this," Donnie tries, moving towards the group. "Dean's injuries-"

"We know he's hurt, but he'll come back. He has to," Venus whispers.

"Just give him some more time," Dakota pleads.

"He can come back. It'll just take-" Copeland argues.

"ENOUGH!" Leo roars, silencing everyone in a split second. He relaxes a bit, exhaling heavily. "We don't know if he'll be okay. For all we know, he'll stay in a coma for the rest of his days. If he does wake up, his life will be miserable, and who knows if he'll be able to do ninjutsu at all. If we let him go, he'll finally find peace. I'd give anything for him to come back, but right now-"

He freezes as a hand brushes his own, securing around two of his three fingers. His cousins and sister gasps, hope growing in their expressions. The blue-masked turtle turns around, seeing that Dean's fingers are secured around his. The boy's face is still stuck in the oddly peaceful look of sleep, but his hand moved and clasped around his father's.

"He's responsive..." Donnie utters in disbelief. "That's good...that's really good!"

Leo's face floods with guilt, tightening his hand around his son's as it goes limp again. The kids say nothing, as if waiting for the final verdict.

"We'll give him two more months," Leo whispers, his heart breaking. "Then...we'll see from there."