Chapter 1. Once you're in, you can't get out.
The underside of a truck was worse than sewers. Raph had to cling tight to a dirty and smelly belly of the container platform. It smelled of oil, gasoline and foul rags and surprisingly, blood, which left him only wonder about the cargo it used to carry.
Right now this cargo was his brother, knocked out by a tranquilizer dart.
The truck made a rough turn and the turtle cleaving to its belly swore under breath. He had no idea where they were going. He just hoped the cavalry will track his shell cell.
"Hold on, Donnie. We'll get you out " he muttered.
In few minutes and God knows how many turns more they seemed to drive into underground parking. As they were spiraling down the entryway, his cell phone let out a short warning beep. Raph managed to free one hand and bring it to his face. "No cell signal"
Damn.
In barely a minute they drove into a room and stopped. Raph heard the engine die and some muffled voices. He contemplated attacking the drivers immediately as they stopped, but thought better of it. He wouldn't be able to carry Donny all the way out quick enough. No. He has to wait till Don comes to himself and ensure nothing happens to him while he's out. And then they will get the shell out of here.
Commandos exchanged a few words as they were heading toward the rear of the truck. Raph tensed beneath. If they were to bring Don out, he had to stop them.
But they didn't linger and went straight to the sliding door. A moment and the only sound left was a soft cracking of the cooling metal.
Raph detached himself from the truck then and carefully looked out, searching for cameras. Trust Bishop to have cameras all over this place. It was so like him.
He found none and moved to the opposite site of the truck to look there. Also clear. This probably only meant that they were well concealed, but Raph had no patience left anyway.
He rolled from under the truck, unbolted the container doors and got inside, leaving the doors open.
There was nothing in, save from a formless heap of nets and Donatello tangled in them with a dart still protruding from his shoulder.
Raph was at his side in no time.
"Don! Donnie! Wake up, bro, time to go home!" he urged in a strained voice. Don sighed in his sleep but beside that, nothing.
Raphael yanked the dart from his shoulder and examined it in a dim light of his cell. It looked like a tranquilizer dart. Sure, Don might have noticed something about it, learn about the stuff inside just looking at it, but there was only one genius in the Turtle family and he was the one in need now.
Raphael tucked the dart away and started cutting and untangling the nets around his brother. He was treating him none too gently, hoping that all this turning and twisting would wake him. When it didn't work he decided to take a look at the retreat options. His brother probably just needed some time.
The room was a little bigger than the truck and it was chilly. He barely noticed that before. First, he checked the truck cabin. It was unlocked. The keys weren't in, he wasn't that lucky, but hotwiring it wouldn't be a problem.
Then he took a closer look at the room itself. It was barely lit by two long fluorescent lamps above. Long ventilation slits in the ceiling looked rather unusual. Raph speculated if there should be an air pit behind some of them wide enough to serve as a way out. Still thinking about it, he went to the door as more obvious exit.
He probable didn't need to wait till Donnie recovers if he can steal the truck and bust all the way out. It was as good a plan as any, he just needed to check if there were more doors or gates on the way.
The door was stronger than any garage door he's seen and looked thick and reliable.
And it was locked. There was a peephole covered by thick glass and it looked as if it was covered on the outside. Having found no lock or door handle Raph tried to push the sliders aside. They didn't even budge though he put all his weight to it.
Irritated now, he plunged one of his sais into the tiny crack between two parts of the door and twisted it using his own body as a lever. For a moment he thought his blade would snap but eventually the door gave in and split open a bit. Raph grasped the edges to pull it further apart and froze. His fingers grazed concrete.
A cold shiver ran up his spine. He used his shell cell as a flash light to take a closer look at the opening. It opened to a solid concrete wall all the way up from the floor to the doorframe. He poked the wall several times with his sai just to express his frustration.
A muffled sound from the truck broke through his ire. He got back. Donatello was lying face down and trying to push himself off the floor. His eyes were still closed and words he murmured were indistinct, but at least he was trying to shake the drug slumber off.
Raph helped him up and turned him. Don's eyes kept shutting, but he was fighting to keep them open and it was a good sign.
"Donnie, wake up, we're trapped here. I need you to work a way out" Raph urged into semi-conscious Turtle' ear slit. That earned him some muffled speech and a brief opening of Don's brown eyes. In the dim light of the truck they looked totally black, like the pupils were dilated to the extreme. Raph wasn't sure if Don recognized him, but Don clang to his arms and tried to snuggle closer. In few seconds Raph recognized the word he was repeating in muffled whisper - "cold".
Sure, Donnie was cold. Raph mentally kicked himself and started rubbing Don's arms , hoping to warm him up despite the chilly air.
That seemed to work. Soon Raph switched over to Don's icecold legs and the purple banded turtle was awake enough to help him. When the result was close to satisfactory and Don managed to stand and walk by himself, they went back to the door.
"What is this place? Where are we?" Don asked, examining the surroundings.
"I dunno. Some underground Bishop' place. I don't care as soon as we get out"
"And Leo…?"
"Is coming to our rescue. Assuming he and Mike can find us, because my shell cell has no signal. We better don't sit and wait for them"
Don nodded and checked out the door. There wasn't enough light to see small details, so he had to use cell light. He smirked, examined the floor, then smirked again.
"What? What is it? Spill!"
"Just hold a moment, Raph, I need to be sure. God, why is it so cold in here?"
"… because we're underground?" Brothers were talking in a low tone and Raph carefully positioned himself between the door and the other, ready for anything that may come.
"Seriously? We've spent all our lives underground and it's nowhere that cold under this city."
"Ok, genius, then you tell me"
Don climbed into back into the truck, clutched the rim of its roof, pulled himself up and got onto it. Raph watched him study the peculiar vent slits. When Don jumped down and turned to face him, his face screamed BAD NEWS even in this dim light.
"Raph. We're in a freezer. And it's on."
Chapter 2. Drop the shoe.
In the next 15 minutes the temperature plummeted another 15 degrees and the turtles took cover in the truck's cabin. It was a little warmer there, due to smaller space.
"Why don't we just bust out? We have the truck."
"Yeah. But we have no doorway. It's either an elevator or a rotating mechanism, I'm not sure. Anyway, there is literally no way."
They sat in silence for a while, water condensing on the cabin windows.
"Do ya think those walls are thick?" Raph asked. He clearly was still thinking about busting out.
Don shook his head, watching water condense on the glass. "We can't risk it. First, we don't know where the exit is. Second, we don't have enough space to gain the speed needed. Besides, walls can be too thick. What are you doing?"
Raph looked under the steering and poked testing with a tip of his sai. "What does it look like? I'm going to start up and use the heater."
Don caught his wrist. "Don't. That will kill us sooner. We can't start the engine, we'll suffocate. That vent system is circular."
Raph glared at him "Ya prefer to freeze?".
"No. Listen. We must rely on Leo and Mike to save us. They're coming and we have to stay alive. We just wait till it's really cold, and then we start the heater with the battery. On a truck like this, I'd say we have about 3 hours battery time. We heat the cabin as long as we can. Then we just hold on. And we have to open some of the air latches to let oxygen in."
Raphael frowned "Sounds like fun."
In silence they watched traces of condensed water run down the glass. Ice was slowly forming at the metal frames.
"Fuck!" Raph hit the steering wheel in a sudden burst of anger and Don startled out of his thoughts. "Why would Bishop wanna freeze you?"
"I have no idea. Here's what we do: cut the lining off these chairs and we cover windows and metal parts on the doors. Can you start the engine and then kill it? We only need batteries." Donatello's hands were slightly shaking and rubbed them together and blew on them.
Next few minutes they tossed around the cabin, stripping linen off the chairs. Finally, first warm breeze greeted them from the air latches.
"What if they come back?" Raph finally asked, when both turtles were settled on devastated chairs, embracing their knees, and shifting closer to the source of temporary warmth.
Don slowly shook his head "I don't think they will. They've just turned it on. There is no point in coming back for me until I'm frozen. And if they will… then we have a chance to get out"
It's been several hours since the damned freezer was on and no one had shown up yet. Their breath was forming tiny steam clouds in the air. Raph stopped bursting with anger some time back, it took too much of his energy. And now misery crawled in like the cold was crawling from the corners of truck's cabin.
The two turtles cuddled together, relishing the warmth and casting worried glances at the dashboard. Batteries could be out any moment now.
They did everything Don could think of to preserve warmth and ensure that their brothers find something more than frozen turtle meat. Sit and wait was the worst part.
Don insisted that Raph switched his cell to walkie-talkie mode. Hopefully, their brothers would do the same when they found out that there was no signal down there. So far, static noise was all they were getting.
"I fucking hate it" Raph stated for a hundredth time. His voice lacked depth and emotion now. He wasn't really into swearing, but couldn't stop himself. Something had to be said.
"I wish I had my bag" Don responded and it also wasn't the first time he said in in the last few hours. Sure, genius had all kinds of useful stuff in there starting with turtle explosives and up to tiniest pliers.
"It sucks to die like this." Raph said with sudden emphasis. He looked at the frozen windshield, careful not to meet Don's eyes. "I always thought I'd die in a fight. Quickly. That would be a good death."
"It sucks to die anyway, fight or no fight." Don responded. "If I were to choose I'd prefer dying in my sleep. Passing out peacefully after completing a life full of achievements."
Raph chuckled darkly "Like, surrounded by grieving grandchildren? Like that's has a slightest chance to happen!"
Don sniffed defensively "It's a wish. A wish should not necessarily have chances to come true. But I guess, that would be very nice."
Dashboard lights blinked and went out.
A few moments later both felt the warm breeze from vent system turning cooler. Don quickly shut all air latches but one.
Both were silent but the unspoken "Hurry, guys" was pulsing in their veins.
"When we're out of this" Raph said slowly, his deep voice full of contained hatred "I'm gonna rip that Bishop guy to pieces"
"I'll help you" Don said quickly. He noticed Raph's "when" and was grateful for that. "Although it will be a vain dream if we don't find another way to warm up"
"I'm all ears, genius".
Several minutes passed in silence when Don finally spoke up: "There might be a way to warm… " He moved away a little to look his brother in the face.
"Spill, Donnie"
"Well… you know"
"No, I really don't. C'mon Don, tell me"
Don looked away and chewed on his lip. Finally he forced the word out of himself "sex".
Raph stared at him in bewilderment "That's gross. You're my brother".
Still not looking at him, Don answered "Between gross and dead I choose gross every time".
His emerald skinned brother studied his profile, apparently trying to count to ten.
"It can work" Don added hastily "We're obviously out of outer resources to provide warmth, so we should logically turn to inner ones. Hormones are often underestimated. And out of all, sex hormones are the strongest. I'd say we better try than sit and wait for the inevitable".
Raphael finally got out of his astonished state: "Where the fuck is the fucking Leo?" He rammed a fist into the truck's front panel and the overcooled plastic cracked under his knuckles. Don jumped at his outburst, but said nothing. Raph rubbed his knuckles and said "I hear ya, Don, I do. But it's not like ya can flick a switch and turn it on. "
That earned them another half a minute of silence. Don kept chewing on his lips and his hands were folding and unfolding on their own accord. That was usually a sign of some hard brain work going on and Raph only hoped that Don abandoned the sex idea and is working on something else instead.
Finally Don sighed, muttered "here goes nothing" and turned to face his brother.
Chapter 3. Here comes the other shoe.
Don sighed, muttered "Here goes nothing" and turned to face his brother.
"You are right, Raphael, it's not like you can flick a switch and turn it on. But it's not like you could turn it off either. You have no idea how hot you are. Or what it is to want someone so close and so off limits.
When you punch that bag of yours and sweat forms sheen on your shoulders I have to lock myself in my lab, because all I want to do is to march over there and lick it off your skin. And then I hear you heading to the shower and it hurts how much I want to be that water.
When I gave you the shell cycle I thought it would help me manage if you spent more time away from me. But it only got worse, because now all I could think about was how you clench her slender frame with your thighs and rev her handles and make her scream. And what it would be if I could switch places with my creation…
I have buckled myself up and prepared to hold beside you as long as it takes, but I refuse to die without as much as having tasted your lips…"
Somewhere in the middle of Don's agitated speech Raph found himself holding his breath and watching Don's lips move. He wasn't quite sure if this was happening indeed, but he felt warmth gather in his belly and no matter how he tried to avert his gaze or stop listening to Don he couldn't.
At some point he just had enough.
He surged forward and crushed their mouths together.
Don was taken mid-word, but recovered quickly and took control of the kiss. Raph wasn't sure what he was doing but if he could give his brother something he was hungering for so long, he was intent to do it.
He felt Don's tongue on his lips, nipping and demanding access and gave in. His skin was burning in all places where it touched Don and there were many. His mind focused on their tongues stroking each other and twining together and he barely registered Don's hands gliding along his arms and pulling him closer. Don's mouth on his and his own raged heartbeat was all he perceived at the moment.
Finally they separated to catch a breath.
"Why.. you never..?" Raph wanted to know why Don never talked about his feelings before, but his brother silenced him, pressing a finger to his mouth. The purple banded turtle then leaned in to him and licked his collarbone and up to his ear slit. "Shh… don't speak" he whispered into Raph's ear and the hothead shuddered from the sensation of Don's hot breath on his skin.
That felt good. Utterly confusing but surprisingly good.
Don snuggled closer as they were kissing again and Raph had to admit he was feeling warmer. Like he had an engine started in his abdomen. His mind flicked to shell cycle imagery that Don provided and warm turned to hot almost instantly. Weird or not, this was happening.
Raph didn't register when he closed his eyes, he just suddenly realized that he must have done that. Don's hands were gently rubbing up and down his thighs and sides, as his own fingers were tracing the lines of his brother neck and shoulders.
Don was gently pushing him back and Raph resisted unsure what his brother was up to. Don shifted a little slipping a hand between their plastrons. He broke the kiss and went lower, nipping at Raph's neck as his fingers gently teased around Raph's slit.
Raph rolled his head up and the strangest sound built in his chest and vibrated in his throat. Before he could express his surprise, a similar sound escaped Don and Raph felt something firm and hot pressed to his thigh. "Is that..? Is that…?" he couldn't finish the sentence even in his mind.
He churred again feeling his cock slide out into Don's waiting hand. Don stroke it and it really took a couple of touches to make him painfully firm and throbbing. This never happened so quick when Raph was playing with himself. Was it Don's expertise or is it always like that with a partner? The thought quickly crossed hothead's mind and dissolved in heat he was feeling.
Don pushed him back more insistent this time and Raph landed on his carapace a little worried how to get across that he didn't appreciate to bottom. His speech was still eluding him and he was afraid any words will break the spell of the moment.
Don leaned over him, cleaving to as much skin contact as he could get, his hand grabbed Raph's wrist and guided it to his own needy erection. Raph got the message and tried to return the favor. Judging by Don's soft moan into their kiss he was doing all right.
Finally Don slid aside and was squatting beside the seat. Raph braced himself on an elbow to look at him in silent surprise. Don's face seemed tranquil with eyes hooded with lust as he was looking at his brother's cock. Raph traced his gaze and flushed, his cock suddenly twitching. Don reached out to stroke him, then leaned in and licked the shaft up from the base.
Raph moaned as his hips shot up and his head dived back into the seat. Don repeated the move several times before taking Raph's cock into his mouth as deep as he could. It took all Raph's concentration not to fuck Don's mouth - every instinct told him to, but he willed his hips to remain still.
His genius brother sure knew how to suck. Raph was churring and moaning nonstop and his fingers searched for some part of Don to caress, only to slide off the braniac's carapace. Suddenly Don rose and planted his knee beside Raph's ear, hovering over the red-banded turtle as he leaned back down to continue his ministrations. His other foot remained on the floor and the position brought his crotch right above Raph's face.
It was too dark to see the details but Raph's imagination filled in for it as he stared at Don's cock swaying above his face. Raph stroke the insides of Don's thighs and hesitantly reached up to lick. Somehow it seemed a right thing to do and he was instantly rewarded with a low moan.
Thus encouraged, Raph tried to mimic Don's actions and take his rod into his mouth. The angle was awkward, but he still managed to do it. Don slowly moved deeper into his brother's mouth and Raph found himself unable to breath. It was strangely exciting. Don moved up just as he felt the urge to gulp and back in again, blocking the air support.
Don's mouth on his cock was accompanied with his capable hand and Raph felt he was speeding toward his climax. A little afraid that he might involuntarily bite, the red-banded turtle pushed the other's hips up, and replaced his mouth with his hand, turning his head to lick and kiss at Don's thigh. Don probably understood his reasons, because he doubled his efforts on bringing Raph off and swallowed him down as soon as his hips started to buck.
Raph moaned and tensed as his seed sped up Don's throat. In few moments, he was done and breathing heavily.
Don gave him some time to recover, his hands idly caressing Raph's thighs in soothing patterns. When he could wait no longer, he slapped his cock against Raph's face and husked "Raphie… open up and hold still".
Raph was still dazed, but he sucked at the tip of Don's cock and rolled his head up for better angle. Don slid in slowly first, then increasing the pace as he was encouraged by Raph's fingers caressing his thighs and abdomen. It didn't take him long to reach the point of no return, Raph's churring adding fuel to his fire.
He came burying himself deep into his brother's throat and collapsed on top of him.
Raph shoved him aside and sat up, coughing violently.
"You ok?" Don was trying to catch his gaze and Raph coughed some more. The hothead raised a hand like "wait" and finally managed "M'fine. Justa lil' sore, s'all". He rubbed his throat and beckoned his worried brother to him. "C'mere". He pulled Don close and hugged him. Cough. "ya warm now?" he whispered into purple banded ear slit.
Don nodded, resting his head on Raph's chest. He snuggled closer. The after glee of what has just transpired made them both warm and relaxed, cold pushed to the corners of truck cabin, and it was nice even though the braniac knew the effect would wear off rather quickly.
He dozed off in a light slumber but suddenly something subtle alerted him and he tensed, trying to rationalize what it was. Raph's breathing patterns changed to those of sleep and when Don looked up he saw that his brother's eyes were shut and his mouth slightly open. Don felt panic.
"Raph! Raph! Don't you dare to sleep!" He had to shake his sibling before he blinked and protested "Donnie, whatta…?"
"Don't. Sleep. Sleep is death. We fall asleep – we freeze and never know it."
Raph sighed. "Oh, man. I'm so wary. Gimme ten minutes, ok?" Don snatched Raph's shell cell from the front panel and settled back into the embrace. "Ok, I'll wake you in 10" he murmured, but Raph already drifted off. Don mentally kicked himself. He had his portion of sleep even if it was some drug induced slumber but Raph was up all the time and by now he should be close to exhaustion.
Chapter 4. The cavalry arrives.
Raph was snoring slightly and Don was toying idly with his shell cell. He switched on the walkie-talkie – some time ago they turned it off to prolong batteries and checked the air from time to time. Don figured it's been some half an hour since they last checked it. Static filled the cabin.
Don sighed. He was about to switch the device off again when suddenly a low voice came through.
"Raph.. I know you're down here somewhere… maybe one more turn and you'll hear me… Come on, man… We've been searching this place for ages… Roger"
"Mikey!"
"DONNIE!" – a yell from the talkie woke Raph up. Mikey was shooting questions: "Are you allright? Where's Raph? Did he find you? Where are you guys?"
Raph snatched his shell cell from Don's shaking hands.
"Mike, stop babbling. We're in a freezer and we're gonna freeze if you guys don't get us out. Is Leo with ya?"
"Right here, Raph."
"We're still in the truck. We drove into some room and the door is locked. It's a big slider door with a peephole. "
"Got it. I believe I've seen it. Hold on, we've brought the explosives, will get you out in few"
"NO!" Don shouted before Raph had a chance to answer. "The door is not where it should be. You have to open it conventionally. We don't know if it's s lift or a rotating platform, so no explosions, ok? Just tell me what it looks like from the outside".
"Ok, call you back".
The shell cell fell silent again and the locked turtles exchanged uneasy smiles. Now that their brothers have found them surely they'd find a way to get out of this trap.
Two minutes that took Leo and Mikey to get to the right door seemed like hours. Finally Leo's voice reappeared.
"We're on the spot. A big slider door with a peephole that shows concrete. Right? I see some sort of a control panel and a touchscreen with a palm contour… Are you sure I can't just cut it open?"
"Oh noes…. palm authentication! It would take me not less than fifteen minutes to override it even if I was there… You don't happen to bring my bag, do you?"
"You're thinking bad of us, dude" – Mikey cut in, "I'm dragging it all the way with me"
"Ok, then you have to open the side panel, cut into their wires and connect my palm to it. There should be like six color-coded wires, connect them to correspondent ones... "
A minute of silence, then "Don, could you be more specific? You've got red and white/red, blue and white/blue a yellow and a green. This thing here has red, yellow, green, blue, black, brown … oh, and a grey one. Which one is which?"
Don buried his face in his palms "It's not going to work" he muttered.
"Hold on. We've got company." The shell cell died again but only after some gun shots were heard.
Trapped turtles tensed beside the shell cell but the only sound coming from it was static. They could hear distant dull gunshots, then it got quiet again. The walkie talkie was dead. Minutes passed by.
It was cold again and getting colder. They probably didn't have much time left.
"You shouldn't have come for me" Don said softly, "I'm grateful that you have but you shouldn't have. None of you. "
"That's bullshit, Don. Stop it. Leo will think out something"
"yeah" Don said, but he didn't sound convinced.
Raph pulled him closer and rubbed at his arms. "We're not dying here, Donnie-boy, we're getting out, I swear. Do you believe me?"
"Yes. Yes, I do" Don closed his eyes and listened to Raph's heartbeat under his ear.
Somewhere outside this pit of frozen hell was light and life and probably a fight to death, but this isolated chamber was cold and dark and silent as a grave – well, colder than a grave, naturally.
God knows how much time has passed. Don's feet got numb from cold and icy tickles climbed up his legs. The only warmth that he felt was that of Raph's arms holding him and Raph's plastron under his cheek and Raph's warm breath on his head. Don concentrated on this feeling.
When they felt the floor shift under their feet, as the room was turning slowly, soundlessly, they looked at each other with fear. Was it turtles to let them out or humans to throw in some more turtles?
Raph rubbed at his arms one final time before kicking the frozen cabin door open. Immediately they were surrounded by icy chill. The cabin felt warm comparing to this.
"Stay close" Raph whispered and sprang out, ready to take on anything that may come.
The doors slid open, surrounded by white smoke of adiabatic air expansion. The silhouette that lingered in the doorway trying to see through the smoke was definitely not human.
"Leo!" Saved turtles rushed passed him into the warmth of the corridor and let out a long breath. Immediately both started shivering with cold leaving their bodies.
"Guys!" Mikey threw himself into them, catapulting Don from his feet and dragging Raph down too. "Dudes, you're alright!"
"If you're done cuddling, we have to get out of here" Leo said in tense voice, closing the freezer door again.
His brothers disentangled themselves from Mikey and stood up, really taking in Leo's appearance for the first time. Their leader was head to toe covered with blood splashes and was still holding a human hand, cut a little above the wrist. Another hand was stuffed into his sash, dripping blood down his left leg. Leo's usually impassive features were frozen in anger and disdain.
Raph smirked "You look like a freaking Nemesis, Leo. Is that Bishop's?" He pointed at the hands.
Leo looked down and his expression softened somewhat. "Sort of. I'll tell you on the way. Mikey?"
"Any moment now"
"Let's go then".
They sped off down the corridor. Mikey handed Don his bo staff and duffel, never trying to hide how much he was relieved to give up this burden. They turned around the corner and climbed two floors up the stairs before a distant explosion was heard and a deafening fire alarm sounded. No moving people were met during their coming back.
Mikey was grinning broadly. They reached an open vent latch and climbed in, Leo leading the way and Mikey bringing up the rear, leaving two still shaking turtles in the middle.
In about 10 minutes they carefully opened a vent latch into some underground parking and found their battle shell parked nearby.
On the way home Mikey was driving while Leo told them the story of their rescue, leaving out no details. He told them how April dug out the floor plans for a neighbor building and how he and Mikey sneaked in through the vent shaft and were circling the corridors looking for their brothers. How a stray bullet hit the shell cell when they were talking and they had to clear the floor. How Leo remembered seeing a laboratory just one floor up and they went there looking for someone high ranked enough to open the freezer.
They found tanks with Bishop's clones of various phases of readiness and Leo realized, that they could be keys that would open any door in this compound. There were few people in there and they weren't commandos so he and Mikey knocked them out and broke a few containers and cut the hands off.
"It had to work, we didn't have much time for another attempt" He added, frowning.
"Worked fine fer me" Raph stated, coughing a little "Ya were looking like a freaking Nemesis" - he repeated "If I were Bishop, I wouldn't wanna mess with ya".
Leo blinked. Then a ghostly smile touched his lips: "Let's hope that us blasting his lab will bring this message across to him"
"What were you doing in there all this time?" Mikey asked, looking at them through the rear view mirror.
"Surviving" - Don said before Raph would say anything "We tried to stay warm and not to sleep, we barricaded inside the cabin and used truck batteries as long as we could. Then we just..."
Raph cast him a warning glance and Don gave him a slight nod of understanding.
...held on. If I was there alone, I'd be dead by now" - he added quietly.
"Ain't ever gonna happen, Donnie. Ya know, we're always coming fer ya." And Raph yawned despite himself and coughed a little more.
"Hey, how about we celebrate today with pizza?" Mikey said, pulling the Battle shell over into it's hideout.
"Whatever. Ya can have my piece if ya lend me a second blanket. I'm flat".
"Hit the infirmary first and let Don check on you." Leo said, getting out of the van. For a moment, Don and Raph stayed alone. In a second, their gazes locked.
"This thing... didn't happen, got it?"
"Sure, Raph. You didn't have to say it."
Chapter 5. I'm a survivor
"Ok, Raph, what have you done?" Leo didn't say "this time" but Raph still heard it. His punching rhythm faltered and the next blow hit the bag twice as hard. Raph cast a side-way glance at Leo, who was casually leaning at the wall just out of reach, steadied the swinging bag and rumbled:
"Dunno what yar talking about".
"Don't give me that. I know you, I know Don. Something's off between you two. Ever since we got you out of that freezer you two are tiptoeing around each other like either of you is going to explode any moment. Did you piss him off?"
Raph chuckled darkly. "That's lovely. Ya dunno anything but ya just assume it's my bad. Peachy." As if to emphasize the point, Raph's next blow made the bag sway an arc toward his elder brother.
Leo caught the bag and kept it steady indicating that Raph should go on with punches. Raph raised a brow. Despite Leo's judgemental implications, the gesture looked pretty much like an olive branch of piece to Raph.
"If you were stuck there with Mikey I'd believe your innocence by default, but out of you two, admit it, you're the logical suspect for trouble."
Raph huffed :"Whatever. Ain't nothing I did." Punch. Punch. "Or said." Punch. " And I'm not discussing it with ya. It's between me and Don."
"If that were so, I wouldn't stand here trying to help you. Whatever it is, it's making this Lair very unwelcome for everybody. "
Raph stopped. "Ya just can't leave it alone, can ya, Leo? Sodoff!" And with that, he walked away.
Leo's eyes followed him all the way up the stairs. Leo was mildly surprised that Raph held his temper for this long a conversation. The leader didn't really count on the hothead telling him what happened. Hopefully, Raph got the message that he should deal with this mess asap.
Leo's gaze traveled to the lab door, only to meet Don's thoughtful eyes. Did he hear them talking? Before Leo could say anything, Don disappeared inside. And closed the door. And locked it.
Leo shook his head. Something had to be done about it. He'd give them a couple of days before asking for father's interference.
Don was hiding in his lab.
He knew what was coming and knew that he had to deal with it, but there was no way he would rush to meet it.
During last week he had been putting a great show to behave like nothing happened and could see all the effort Raph was making to act normally too, but the tension in the Lair was palpable and everyone sensed it.
He'd have to put an end to it before it tore apart his family or Splinter took the matter into his own paws.
The coin was standing on the edge for too long, it should finally topple one side up or the other. Since he started it, it was his responsibility to ensure this coin landed the right side up.
He already rejected Leo's offer to act intermediary between him and Raph to solve "whatever the hothead did". Of course, Leo just couldn't suggest it was Don who caused the trouble. Leo had no clue and judging by his puzzled expression after he approached Raph, the later didn't give him any clues either.
But Don knew his implacable brother. He wouldn't stop until he dug the whole thing out and that would mean the end of his family as he knew it.
He could see Raph's turmoil too, though he wasn't sure it was of the same kind. So when Raph went to work out, he pretended to have an urgent project and excused himself to his lab to hide from all this games of gazes.
Needless to say, he couldn't work. He just sat there with hands over the keyboard and staring above the monitor.
There was a soft tap on his door. "Yes?"
Despite his expectation, the hand that opened the door wasn't Leo's. It belonged to Raphael.
"Donny? Can we talk?"
It was time then. Don hesitated a moment calming his breath before he turned to face his brother. "Sure. What's up?"
Raphael closed the door and leaned against it. "Look, I know we sorta agreed that certain things didn't happen, but we both know it doesn't work this way. I just have to ask ya 'bout all the stuff ya said back there. Was it true? Or were you just pushing my buttons?"
It was so Raph to get straight to the point. Sometimes Don envied this ability of his. Not when it was used on him, though.
He shifted in his seat and made himself look straight at his brother. "I said what I had to say to get you going" he was pleased to notice that his voice was calm and steady as always.
After a slight pause, he added: "I'm sorry I manipulated you, it's just..."
Raph dismissed his apology with a wave of a hand and walked up to him. "Don't say that. You were saving our lives, don't ever regret that, Don. I'm asking that to make sure I'm not hurting ya."
Don looked up to him with a soft smile "You're not hurting me, and I don't regret a single word of what I've said. "
"Also, I wanted to say thank you for saving me back there" An emerald hand landed on Don's shoulder and he didn't flinch.
"Like I said, it's me who should be thankful. I wouldn't pull through without you".
"Let's just say, we're even. So we're good, then?"
"Yeah. We're good"
Raph gave his shoulder a slight tap and walked back to the door. Just as the door was already open and Don's guts started to unclench little by little, Raph turned and said: "I didn't know ya were such a good liar, Donnie."
Don made himself smile "I'm a survivor, Raph".
His brother nodded, went out and softly closed the door behind him.
Don stayed sitting with a smile that got more plastic with every passing second. It was not before he heard thuds of Raph punching his bag in the leaving room that he allowed himself to wipe that smile off his face and collapse on his working table.
"I didn't know you were such a good liar... I didn't know you were... liar... such a good liar" his shell shook with breathless, tearless sobs as Raph's last words were dancing around his mind.
He did the right thing. He DID THE RIGHT THING! Why was it so painful?
"Didn't know you were a liar... you were such a good liar..."
"Am now" he whispered.