It had been a long night patrol and the four weary turtle teens meandered into their home, a bit bruised but no worse for wear. The Purple Dragon had been fairly active lately, their numbers having increased over the course of the past few months with many of the newer members undergoing their initiations. The turtle brothers had foiled a number of muggings, burglaries and acts of vandalism and forced a number of those new recruits to rethink their current life-path.

Donnie smiled as his two older brothers, in a rare moment of affection, congratulated each other on a good night's work, while Mikey, the youngest of the four made straight for the sofa and flicked on the TV.

"Just in time for Crognar," he declared happily before feasting on some stale pizza.

"You realise that pizza has been there most of the week?" Donnie asked, feeling nauseas when Mikey aimed a wide pizza-stained smile in his direction. "You're gonna make yourself ill. You're gonna make me ill!"

"You're back." Each of the brothers turned to where their father stood. Splinter was always happy to see them return in one piece but this time he seemed a little less happy about their arrival. His kind brown eyes held a sadness he seldom revealed leaving the brothers worried, Donnie more so since his fathers gaze seemed to settle on him.

"Is something wrong, sensei?" Leo asked pushing Raph away from the tussle they had started prior to their fathers address.

"Donatello, may I speak with you." Three sets of eyes immediately settled on the tallest of them and Donnie himself felt his stomach drop into his feet. For a moment he thought he had done something wrong and he frantically searched his memory for what that might be. It could have been anything from leaving some combustible materials out in the lab, eaten Splinter's stash of cookies or failed to put away the equipment away in the dojo. But as he searched his fathers eyes, he knew what it was.

"He's gone, isn't he?" Donnie knew the answer without hearing his suspicions confirmed. Splinter simply nodded, his head remaining bowed out of respect but a gentle furry hand fell on Donatello's shoulder.

"Who's gone?" Raph asked no longer able to stand the silence or contain his curiosity. Leo who was more sensitive to the intense emotions currently emanating from his brother and father, nudged Raph sharply with his elbow. "What?"

"I-its okay Leo…" Don found it difficult to speak at first, because of the lump that had started to choke him, but he quickly intervened before the situation became more violent. "Professor Holt."

"Who's that?" Mikey asked as he picked week old pepperoni out of his teeth and flicked it at Raph. Luckily for Mikey, Raph didn't notice.

"He was…a friend." Despite his control, Don felt his throat close up again and his eyes start to mist.

"So why have we never heard of him?" Raph asked and was again nudged by Leo. "Will you knock it off!"

"Silence!" Their father barked towards the trio and silence fell upon them once more.

"Can I be excused?" Don asked, his voice barely a whisper. The second he had permission he hurried to his room. He could feel every one watching and Mikey even called out his name, but Splinter quickly reined the youngest in, leaving Donnie to mourn in private.

He knew his brothers would be so confused by his reaction, after all they had never heard the name Professor Holt before today. It was a secret he had kept since he was eight years old… Just thinking about how far back he and the professor went made his heart ache even more and the tears finally came. Luckily he had already closed his bedroom door and locked it before he finally gave in and allowed himself to cry. Warm tears spilled down his beak, their salty taste bitter to swallow, but what was even harder to accept was the irony of the moment. Twelve years ago, the day he had met the professor had started with an eight year old Donatello running to his room to cry…