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Author's Chapter Notes:
After filling out that crazy survey Mare posted in the forums, and me constantly cursing myself for not having updated this enough, I decided to post the next chapter - lol. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Only own Catarina, Marietta, & story idea. Mirage Studios owns everything TMNT. Thank-you!

Near the end of breakfast, Marie came stumbling out of her and Catarina's room a bit flushed and ill feeling, but slightly hungry nonetheless. She'd noticed it was later than usual for her to be getting up on a Pancake Sunday, but she was just so tired, she couldn't help but sleep - nor the fact she was more than ready to fall over and go back to sleep once more right then and there. She clumsily made her way into the living room, occasionally holding onto things if she felt she was going to fall. She'd made it as far as Splinter's chair, when Leonardo came out of the kitchen on his way to the bathroom.

"Morning Marie," he smiled, his smile going to a frown when he heard her mumble incoherently and wave him off half-heartedly. Something wasn't right with her, he could sense it. She was a bit pale and flushed, which was rather odd for them to be, considering they were turtles and all. "Marie, are you alright?"

"Mmhmm," Marie managed to speak, swaying some as a dizzy spell hit her. She could feel herself falling, and tried desperately to keep hold of the chair, but to no avail. "Leo...." She murmured, as she went down, hitting the floor with a loud THUD!

Leo was automatically next to his sister, kneeling down beside her semi-conscious form. "Marie, are you alright?" he asked, placing her head on his lap.

"Mmm, I'm good," she replied, her eyelids still closed.

Leo rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure." He laid his hand across her forehead. While she had felt mildly warm last night, she was now burning up with a fever. "If nothing's wrong, why'd you fall over?" he asked.

"Nothin', I dunno…my head hurts," Marie mumbled incoherently as she glared up at him as if it was his fault.

"No small wonder, you knocked it against the chair when you fell," Leonardo told her.

"I did?" she asked, trying to wave him off as he helped her sit up. "I can do it myself, I'm not five."

"You should've told someone you were sick," Leo said but his reprimand was more out of concern than anger. He helped her onto the couch while she tried to get away, not wanting to admit that she was sick.

The thud from the living room had caused at least Master Splinter to become curious. Such loud noises were so commonplace to the others that they didn't even take notice of it. Master Splinter left the breakfast table to find Leo putting Marie on the couch. His purple-and-yellow wearing daughter was an oddly pale shade of green this morning. He automatically knew that she was ill, and he went to her side.

"What happened?" he asked, glancing at his oldest child.

Leonardo motioned towards Marietta, "She just fell over, Sensei. I think she's pretty sick."

The rat sighed and turned his attention to his daughter. "Is that true, Marietta?"

She shrugged and buried her head into the couch cushions. Her head felt all stuffy and her feet were cold and her hands were hot…she did not feel well at all.

Master Splinter patted her on the shoulder and turned back to Leonardo. "Leonardo, please go and find Advil and a cool cloth. I will stay with Marietta."

Leonardo nodded and immediately left for the kitchen.

Master Splinter smoothed Marie's hair in a comforting gesture. His little rebel was sick; he could almost predict that it was going to be quite the trial trying to get her well since she was so energetic. When the girls had been younger, Marie had been the one who caught the colds, the sniffles, the sore throats, and the ear infections. Rina was rarely sick, but when she was, she was down for the count whereas Marie was bad off for a few days but got well soon enough. However, Marie was a terrible patient; she was always trying to run off when she should have been resting and often refused to take medicine.

"Master Splinter, are there any pancakes left?" asked Marie, turning her head away from the couch cushion.

Master Splinter smiled down at her, "I'm certain that if there aren't, Michelangelo will be happy to make you some more."

Marie smiled faintly and tried not to think of anything because she had a headache.

Leonardo returned moments later with a cool cloth and some Advil, also with Catarina at his side.

"What's goin' on?" She asked worriedly, noticing Master Splinter smoothing Marietta's hair as she just lie there.

"Marietta is ill," Master Splinter answered, as he retrieved the cloth from Leonardo and placed it on his daughter's head. "I would advise you to steer clear of her until she is well again."

"But we share a room," Catarina pointed out. "Her germs are probably all over it by now."

"You can have my room, Rina," Leonardo told her. "I'll sleep elsewhere until Marie's well again."

Catarina nodded, then shook her head at her sister. "Only you would get sick while grounded, Mae-Mae," she teased. "You must've decided you wanted the royal treatment."

Marietta lazily gave her sister the finger, having had already forgotten just whose hand it was smoothing her hair.

Master Splinter sighed, knowing reminding her on her manners would be a lost cause right about now.

"Sensei, what about the extra practice?" Catarina wondered. "We were gonna work on some - ah - stuff today...." She'd caught herself just in time - she didn't want them knowing her and Marie had been working on a partnered advanced move they'd seen their brothers do plenty of times.

"You may practice alone, or ask one of your brothers to join you in the dojo," Master Splinter replied, as Marie swatted Leo's hand holding the Advil away.

"Marie, c'mon," Leonardo insisted. "You hafta take the Advil to lower your fever."

"Screw you...." Marietta murmured softly.

"Can you not be stubborn just for once?" Leonardo demanded of her. "This will help you feel better."

Marietta shook her head defiantly, not wanting to admit it hurt to swallow more or less talk.

Catarina shook her head. "Feel better, Mae-Mae," she told her, giving her sister a re-assuring smile before turning and running back into the kitchen to ask one of her brothers to join her in the dojo. It was always fun working out with them, long as they didn't push her too hard.

"Oh, Mikey," Catarina said sweetly.

"Uh-oh, lookout Mike," Raphael commented. "She wants something."

Michaelangelo laughed. "Whatcha want, Rina?"

Catarina pouted. "Who says I want anything?" She asked playfully.

"You always act extra sweet when you want a favour," Donatello pointed out, as he cleared his plate and utensils off the table.

"Well, in that case - Mikey, will you practice with me today?" Catarina asked. "Please? Marie's sick, and I don't wanna do extra practice alone - that's no fun."

Michaelangelo shrugged. "Sure, I got nothing better to do."

"Gee, thanks," Catarina replied, rolling her eyes.

Michaelangelo just smiled. "Hey, I could always say no."

"No! No - I'll meet you there in a few minutes," Catarina cut in quickly. "I have to get some stuff from my room and move it into Leo's."

"Ah, kicked out of your own room I see," Donatello smirked.

"Well, least I get to kick Leo out of his too," Catarina smiled. "It's not often he gives up his room."

"Figures he'd suck up," Raphael grumbled. "Always has to play the good son."

"Someone has to," put in Donatello, smirking at his brother, "I mean, I'm the reclusive one, Mikey's the prankster, and you're the rebel. In order to keep Master Splinter sane, there has to be at least one person to balance the system."

Raphael chucked his fork at his purple-wearing brother, almost hitting him in the head, "It wasn't a question, Donnie."

"Where do the girls fit in that balance?" asked Mikey, noticing the pout about to set on Rina's face.

"They balance themselves, like yin and yang," said Donnie as he put his dishes in the sink. Raphael handed him his plate and Mikey did the same.

"Who's who?" Rina asked as she went to help Donnie wash the dishes quickly.

"You're the yin," Donnie said, smiling at his sister. "The softer one, a little quieter, and gentle. Marie's the yang, loud, aggressive, and overly active. However, yin flows into yang and yang flows into yin. You both have attributes of the other, and you compliment each other well."

Rina's beak wrinkled; she didn't think that she was that much of a yin. She conformed into the yin because that was what Sensei needed from one of his daughters. After they finished with the dishes, Rina raced off to move her stuff into Leo's room.

While Rina and Mikey practiced in the dojo, Marie slept uneasily on the couch. Master Splinter had gotten her to drink some sort of specially concocted tea that pretty much knocked her out for the rest of the morning. Leonardo sat in the easy chair beside her, reading a novel while he kept an eye on his younger sister. She looked the same as she had earlier. Master Splinter had an idea that she had caught some kind of cold while roaming around the city with Rina on patrol. She was covered with the comforter from her room and Raphael had brought her one of her many stuffed animals.

"I don't know how they move around in that room, so many danged stuffed animals," he had growled at Leo after handing the bear to Marie. His sister had accepted the toy gratefully and tucked it under her arm. Raphael could be surprisingly caring sometimes.

In the dojo, Mikey and Rina were putting each other through their paces. They had created a kind of Cowboys and Indians game to play by setting up the dojo like a laser tag arena. The weapons holders were placed strategically while practice dummies and other objects were moved around to create places to hide. Mikey was tossing dull-edged shuriken at Rina while she was shooting blunt arrows at him. Each hit was a point and whoever got the most points won. The loser had to do the other's chores for the next week. Mikey and Rina didn't play games when it came to chores. Neither of them was saying anything as they moved stealthily around the room. There was only the occasional whistle of a shuriken or an arrow flying through the air. Whenever one hit its mark, there would be a soft 'ouch' or 'dammit.'

Catarina peeked around the corner of a practice dummy carefully, doing her best as not to be seen by her brother in orange. She laughed silently as she saw him run from behind a cabinet to behind another practice dummy. She readied her bow and took aim, before letting the arrow fly beautifully through the air.

"Dammit!" Michaelangelo's voice exclaimed quietly, none too happy with himself for managing to get hit. He peeked out, just in time to see Catarina duck back behind the practice dummy she was hiding in back of. He smirked and threw a shuriken, just narrowly missing her as she dodged for another object in the room to hide behind. She dove and landed just in time, as the shuriken whizzed past her shell. She gave a small sigh of relief, before cautiously peeking out again to see where her brother was at.

Marie coughed, in her sleep, groaning afterwards; she still felt the same as before, despite the fact she'd been sleeping for well over an hour and a half. In fact, her throat even felt worse than it had before, causing her to whine somewhat softly. She hated being sick, as she always became such a crybaby, though she still remained hard-headed. She kept her eyes closed, smiling some when she realized someone had fetched her favourite Teddy Bear - Mr. Stuffles - for her. She buried her face into his soft fur, stifling the urge to throw up all over him, the couch, and the floor.

Leonardo glanced over the top of his book at her, to see if she was alright. "Marie?"

Marietta gagged some in response, fighting to keep her insides where they belonged - inside of her.

Meanwhile, Catarina was back-flipping all over the dojo as her brother attempted to hit her with a blunt shuriken - needless to say, he wasn't having very much luck, despite the fact he was the fastest out of the four boys. Just his luck, that Catarina was mighty fast as well.

"Hold still!" Mikey finally whined a little. "I'm trying to hit you!"

Rina laughed. "Exactly! Trying to hit me, but not doing a very good job of it, now are you?"

Mikey scowled, and moved quickly, blocking her path as she leapt backwards, unaware he was there as she'd forgotten to check first. She yelped as she felt a blunt shuriken pelt off her head, and was startled when she literally crashed into her brother, sending both of them to the floor as Mikey's reflexes had been a little delayed - purposely.

"Graceful, oh sooo very graceful!" Mikey teased as Rina tried to get up away from him. He reached out and snagged her ankle before she could stand up and tackled her to the floor again.

"Mikey!" shouted Rina, "Leggo!"

"Never!" cried Mikey, tickling her sides.

Rina let out a howl of laughter and swung her leg around, hitting him in the head because of a reflex. He yelped and grabbed at his head as she scrambled out of the way. She grabbed a spare bo from one of the weapons racks and whacked Mikey across the shell with it.

"Take that, villain!" she said, twirling the bo above her head before whacking him again.

Mikey laughed, grabbed the bo as she swung it again, and pulled it out of her hands. She leapt away as he swung back at her.

"Too slow, Mikey," said Rina.

"Don't get cocky," said Mikey as he pulled a shuriken from his belt.

"Aahh!" she screeched as she flung herself away from the line of fire.

Leonardo guessed that Marie was about to hurl so he hurriedly got Marie up and half-carried her, half-dragged her to the bathroom. She nearly lost her cookies on the way but she managed to hold it in until she was bent over the toilet. Leo was a little uncertain of what to do; usually it was Master Splinter who handled this. Sensei, however, had gone out with Donatello to see if he could find a stronger kind of medicine. Leo pulled back Marie's long strawberry blond hair as she retched into the toilet. He rubbed her shell comfortingly as she cried out of frustration. She dry-retched for a few minutes and then slumped against the counter.

"Are you alright?" Leo asked and she nodded, shoving the palm of her hand against her eyes. She was lucky that her bandanna caught most of her tears.

"I just don't wanna be sick, and Sensei's going to think I got sick on purpose because I don't wanna practice, but I really didn't, I hate being sick," she sobbed angrily, one hand curled into a fist.

Leo gave her a soft smile and pulled her towards him for a hug. "No one's blaming you for getting sick," he said soothingly.

"Yes they are…" whined Marie, putting her head against his plastron.

Leo rolled his eyes as he helped her up and led her back to the couch.

Marie leaned against her brother in blue, too tired and ill feeling to actually fight with him. He was a pretty damn good brother, when she was in the mood to accept that fact. Mostly, she just liked to drive him crazy, and he did annoy her at times, just like she seemed to annoy him. But that was her duty, as his little sister - and it was his duty as her older brother to be over-protective.

Leo helped Marie back onto the couch, and went to re-cover her up but she whined.

"No.....I'm hot....." Marie whined softly, her voice hoarse.

"Alright," Leo sighed, draping the blankets at her feet. He watched as she snuggled back up with Mr. Stuffles, seeming groggier than before.

Marie wiped her eyes on her beloved stuffed friend out of habit, and curled up into a little ball.

Leo frowned as he saw her start to shiver. "You're cold," he stated.

"No, I'm not....." Marie argued half-heartedly, though she could feel her body shaking despite the fact she felt so hot.

"I really should cover you up," Leo told her.

"No...." Marie cried softly. "Leo......lie with me......pleeeeeeeeeeeease..........."

Leo smiled somewhat, despite the situation - they may argue plenty, but when sick it was him she always insisted cuddling up to the most. Leo sat her up some, then sat so that her head would be in his lap and he covered her up with one of the lighter blankets. "Better?" He asked, rubbing her shell after seeing her nod.

Michaelangelo chased Catarina around the dojo, throwing well-aimed shurikens at his sister, managing to make contact ninety percent of the time. "I'm winning!" He cheered gleefully.

"You're cheating!" Catarina accused, finally dodging behind a practice dummy after managing to grab up some fallen shurikens. She waited until her brother got close, then pelted him with them causing him to duck and dodge, as his hands immediately came up to try and ward off the attack.

"Rina!" He cried. "Those are my weapon of choice! Now you're cheating!"

Catarina just laughed merrily as she continued to pelt him with the shuriken, chasing him now instead of the other way around. "I told you, I'm going to win!" She exclaimed, running a bit faster to ensure shuriken and shell contact.

Michaelangelo groaned, as he finally took a risk, turning and charging her, then grabbing hold of her shoulders as he flipped over her, landing and flinging her into the air and down onto the mat below their bare feet.

Catarina yelped and grunted, now none too happy. She lie on the ground for a few moments, trying to catch the breath that had left her upon landing - she'd landed hard, and had knocked the wind out of herself.

"Rina?" Mikey checked, as he noticed she was awful silent and listless for a moment or two. "You okay?"

Catarina growled finally as she moved to rub her shoulder, then her plastron, still lying there. "Alright! You win!" She grumbled. "You cheated, but you win!"

"Really?" he asked, surprised that she had given in that easily.

An evil smirk splashed across her beak and she suddenly launched herself at Mikey's legs. He fell to the ground, nearly landing on top of Rina. A wrestling match ensued but even though Rina was extremely flexible, Mikey was stronger. The younger turtle ended up on bottom, Mikey's elbow and upper body weight forcing her to the ground.

"Say it!" Mikey demanded while Rina squirmed.

"Never!" she replied trying to kick him.

"You better say it or we'll be here all day," Mikey said, "I can keep you down for…forever."

"Liar," said Rina but she had to admit that she was stuck. She sighed and stopped struggling, "Fine. Fine, fine, fine, you win. For real this time."

"YES!" Mikey shouted, jumping up and throwing a punch into the air.

Rina rolled her eyes as she climbed to her feet. She straightened her bandanna which had somehow gotten askew during the fight. The pair of turtles looked around the room at the mess they had created.

"Woo, I think we should put it all back in order before Master Splinter gets back," said Mikey as he moved towards one of the weapons racks.

Rina nodded and started racing around, picking up arrows and shuriken.

When they had finished, they walked back into the living room to find Leo and Marie curled up on the couch. Marie was asleep again and Leo was watching some show on TV.

"How is she?" Mikey asked quietly.

Leo frowned, "Not so good, but I'm sure she'll be fine after Sensei and Donnie get back with that stronger medicine."

Mikey sighed and reached down to pat Marie's head. The purple-and-yellow wearing turtle sighed and rubbed her face against her hand.

"Heya, Mikey," she said as she opened her eyes a little bit.

"Hey, kiddo, how ya feeling?" he asked, kneeling down next to the couch.

She shrugged her shoulders and coughed. "My throat hurts," she complained softly.

Mikey smiled encouragingly, "Yeah, well, Sensei and Donnie are going to find something to make you feel better, don't worry." He looked at Leonardo who nodded in reassurance. "And you know, when you get better, you'll be up and about and causing chaos for the rest of us again," continued Mikey.

"Not too much chaos," Leo said, holding up a hand.

"A good amount," put in Mikey.

Rina stood at the end of the couch, not really sure what to do with herself. Not often being sick herself, she didn't feel comfortable around sick people because she didn't know how to help them. "Um, do you want anything from our room, Marie?" she asked, hoping to be helpful. Marie was quiet for a minute then said,

"Yeah, could you get my BSB magazine?"

Rina nodded, "Sure…" She ran off towards their room and came back after riffling through Marie's things to find the magazine. It was covered with BSB pictures; it had been a special edition. She put it on the floor beside her sister.

"Thanks, Rina," mumbled Marie.

"Erm, no problem," Rina said, giving her sister a bit of a smile.

Marie managed a small smile at her sister, to show that she truly was grateful that she'd been willing to fetch the magazine for her.

Catarina smiled a little bigger this time, but she was still wary.

Mikey noticed this and nudged Catarina. "C'mon. Let's go make her something to eat. I'm sure she's starved by now."

"You've no idea....." Marie mumbled, coughing again. "Dammit! I think I just coughed up a lung - anyone want it?"

"Eew!" Catarina shrieked, looking disgusted. She turned and quickly ran for the kitchen, mostly to escape the uneasiness she felt while standing there completely helpless to make her sister feel better.

Michaelangelo laughed and followed Catarina into the kitchen. "She didn't mean literally," he joshed.

Catarina rolled her eyes. "Obviously," she muttered, as she began to look in cupboards to see just what they had to eat.

"Soup and crackers may be best," Mikey piped up after a moment. "Leo said she was sick earlier."

Rina nodded, and began to search for soup. Together, her and Michaelangelo peeled carrots and such, for a big pot of homemade soup - they were out of the canned stuff, and Mikey knew how to make home-made, which was the best kind anyway.