L/G shoved her boyfriend away, turning away from him.

"L/G, please let me explain--" He started.

"I don't need an explanation! I should've seen this coming, in fact!" She shouted, "I can't believe you stood me up!"

"I didn't stand you up, I texted you--"

"When the show was already halfway through?! That's your excuse?!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I can't believe you. I don't want an apology; I want my boyfriend back!"

"What do you mean? I still love you, I'm still the same..."

"No, you're not. My boyfriend wouldn't have missed the performance I've been waiting for for months, simply because the police chief invited him to a fancy dinner with the mayor."

L/G huffed, stomping away to plop down on the couch. Leo tried to follow and sit down beside her, but she blatantly cried out, "Nope! This seat is reserved for people who actually care about me!"

Leo gritted his teeth. "Really, L/G?"

"Yes, really."

"Shut up, would you?" D/G cried, tears dotting her cheeks, "I get it, your goals are more important than mine! Go on, win your award! Win the Nobel Prize, for all I care!"

"D/G, I didn't mean--"

"You meant every single word!" She yelled.

"I wasn't thinking!"

"Yeah, that's obvious!"

"Look, I don't know why you're getting so wrapped up about this. I said I was sorry!"

"You think sorry will fix this?!" D/G cried, "Admit it, you've always held your work at a higher standard than mine. Gosh, you're so arrogant about it sometimes... You make me wanna...wanna..."

"What?" Donnie implored with a bit of anger lacing his tone, placing a hand on her shoulder and whirling her back around to face him, "Tell me! Don't shut me out! By all means, speak what's on your mind--"

D/G raised her hand and smacked him - not hard, just enough to stun him into silence.

"You make me wanna do that."

"R/G, it was an accident, honest. That girl meant nothing to me! I love you!"

"MJ, did you hear something?" R/G mumbled sarcastically, her eyes remaining on her little turtle as she fed her lettuce, "I thought I heard something. I guess I'll just ignore it, though!"

The tiny turtle made a loud gurgling sound, her noises sounding as angry and upset as her owner.

"Quit it!" Raph pleaded, pushing the bowl of lettuce out of R/G's reach, "Will you just give me five minutes to tell you what--"

"What's that, MJ?" She cut him off, stroking her turtle's head, "You want me to listen to him? Well, I don't think that's gonna happen, since Raph never had enough time for me, with all the fangirl treatment he was getting--"

"STOP IT!"

"No!" R/G shouted back, turning to face her boyfriend, momentarily abandoning her silent treatment, "I'm not gonna stop! Maybe you should know how it feels to have someone completely ignoring your needs!"

With that, R/G focused back on her little turtle, picking her up and cradling her close as she brushed past Raph without another word.

"M/G, I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sooooo sorry..." Mikey tried, stepping a little closer to his girlfriend.

M/G sniffled, stepping away and refusing to meet his gaze.

"You left me."

"I know, and I'm kicking myself in my head right now because of it--"

"You left me, while I was drunk, at a nightclub, with a million strangers who could've kidnapped me if they wanted to," She whimpered.

"Well, I was kinda tipsy too, M/G. I wasn't thinking straight," He attempted to defend himself.

"That doesn't make it hurt any less. You looked right at me, and left anyways."

The hurt look on her face made Mikey want to whack himself in the head with his nunchuck as penance for making her feel that way.

"I didn't mean it--"

"Are you sure?" M/G cut him off, "Would you really have wanted to stay with me, rather than going off and having fun with your friends?"

"Of course I'd stay with you! I was drunk, M/G!"

She sighed, a single tear rolling down her cheek, "Forgive me, Mikey, but I'm not so sure anymore."

"Not sure about what? About me abandoning you?"

"About us. About you and me," She whispered, making Mikey's heart drop into his stomach.

Everyone had gathered in the dojo - the Turtles, kneeling before Master Splinter, and their girlfriends facing them on the opposite side of their sensei. No one dared make eye contact with one another.

"I must say, I'm extremely disappointed in you all," Master Splinter finally started, pacing across the oriental rug and stroking his goatee, "Especially you four, my sons."

Silence. Not even Raph tried to argue that statement.

"Michelangelo," Sensei turned to his youngest son first, "The fact that you abandoned M/G at a location which was unsafe is unacceptable."

"But Master Splinter, I was--"

"Intoxicated? Yes, I am aware. Which, frankly, gives me no reason not to question your responsibility further. I did not raise you - or your brothers, for that matter - to think of yourself before your significant other. These young ladies," He gestured behind him to each of the girls, "Deserve respect and integrity, just as they have given those same things to all four of you."

Mikey shrunk back, eyes downcast shamefully while he played with his hands meekly. M/G glanced up at her boyfriend, resisting the urge to get up and comfort him, reminding herself that he was in the wrong.

"Raphael," Splinter directed his attention to the hothead, "Your incompetence to defend R/G in a time when she needed you the most, combined with the knowledge I have of your brief relation with another young lady--"

"What?!" Raph suddenly burst out, "Okay, I'm not gonna be blamed for that anymore! It wasn't my fault! I'm not the kisser, I'm the kissee--"

"You will NOT interrupt me, my student!" Splinter reprimanded, "And because you stayed in contact with this girl - that is, because you continued to kiss her long enough for someone else to photograph the both of you together makes you just as guilty as the... kisser. Furthermore, the negligence to assist R/G in her difficulties with the press is just as disappointing."

Raph pursed his lips, though he internally screamed at himself in anger for not being more careful, and for not giving R/G the respect she deserved. R/G meanwhile, let out a small, relieved sigh, hearing her own thoughts communicated through Splinter's words.

"Donatello," The Turtles' sensei's eyes fell on the genius, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Donnie paused, eyes drifting up to meet Splinter's gaze. "I apologized. I know I did something wrong. But I... I'm not sure what else I have to do."

"Perhaps there is nothing else you can do," Splinter suggested, "Seeing as you have repeatedly disrespected D/G, and her passion in art, placing your own interests above hers. Sometimes, Donatello, forgiveness cannot be immediately granted. And this award you are receiving for the retromutagen - have you, since creating the cure, tried to find D/G's and R/G's parents to fulfill the purpose it was made for?"

Donnie's shoulders slumped as his father's words registered, looking over at D/G sadly, before breaking eye contact with her, too disgusted with himself to look at her without falling apart.

"And Leonardo," Splinter turned to the leader, "My son, you have neglected your duties as the leader of this team."

Leo's fists clenched in anticipation of the verbal lashing he was about to receive from his sensei.

"You have let the fame that comes along with great accomplishment cloud your thoughts. In these eight months since our discovery, you have shown a lack of responsibility, a disregard for your training and your duty to protect this city. I have lost count of the times you have neglected patrols and training sessions to appear before reporters and police officers to receive praise. And, you have made it a point to put these interviews and events before L/G. You must regain your discipline, for your sake, and your team's sake."

Leo said nothing, head bowed as he let Splinter's words sink in. Finally, he sighed and looked up, murmuring, "Hai, Sensei."

Master Splinter blew out a sigh, standing at the front of the teenagers and looking at each of them individually. "You all have pushed aside your duty to this city. Do you realize that Foot Clan and Purple Dragon activity have doubled since being found at the beginning of the year?"

Everyone's jaws dropped, eyes widening at the information.

"New York City is at more risk than it has possibly ever been," Splinter stated, "And without us, evil has been allowed to build its forces and run rampant through the streets."

"What do we do, Master Splinter?" M/G asked softly.

The rat thought for a moment, before he made up his mind. "Our resignation to the shadows was forfeited the moment Angel showed that video to the press. Anonymity is the strongest ally of the ninja - and I fear that we will have to take drastic measures to... disappear once more."

The tension in the air tripled, as the Turtles and their girlfriends pondered the wise mutant's words.

"You mean," R/G spoke what was on everyone's minds, "We have to go into hiding again?"

"Only my sons and I, R/G," Splinter clarified, "You young ladies will be the ones to help us regain our solitude, away from society."

"You're asking us to claim they disappeared," D/G realized, "That they went away, and we don't know where they went. It's like hiding in plain sight, for you guys."

"That is correct."

"Sensei, that's crazy!" Mikey cried.

"No, Michelangelo," Splinter turned to the orange clad turtle, "It is necessary. We must continue to serve the people of New York - without us, the city will be at the mercy of the fiends of this world."

"He's right, Mikey," Leo put in, "The sewers and rooftops will have to stay our home."

"What?" Raph blurted, "What about everything we've worked for, topside? Leo and I have it easy - we just stop appearing in front of cameras. But what about Mikey's job? And Donnie's award?"

"My sons, all the things we've grown accustomed to in the past months - fame, fortune, recognition - they're all fleeting. They are nothing, when compared to the real gifts we have - friends, family, people who have accepted us not for what we've done or what we look like, but for who we are."

"Yeah, and the club will get along without me, I'm sure," Mikey confessed a bit dejectedly.

"I don't need the award," Donnie added, eyes flicking to D/G for a moment, "I just want my work to make a difference."

"Well then," L/G finally said, standing up, "I guess we've got some work to do."

"Yep," Leo quietly agreed, rising to his feet as well, "So. Who's ready to disappear?"