Written for ikiracake as a very very very late birthday fic! Inspired by a conversation with SkitsMix. A lot of Mikey's dialogue was their suggestion. :D
This story takes place during 2k3 season 1, about halfway between "Tales of Leo" and "Monster Hunter". Also I know there really isn't a big hill by the farmhouse, but the need for adorable turts trumped complete accuracy. Just roll with it. XD
Snowslide
Sometimes, April thought, being a friend to the turtles was like having four earnest, protective brothers. But most of the time it was like being mom to four teenagers. Not that I can really hold that against them. They are fifteen. All the same, she flopped over onto her stomach and growled into her pillow as the pounding of bare feet on wooden floorboards over her head rattled her awake. She pulled the covers over her head and tried to drift off again, but the sound of someone thumping enthusiastically down the stairs echoed through the farmhouse.
The pair of feet hit the landing and Mikey's stage whisper came through her door. "Hey, April? April, you up?"
April rolled to her back, blinking hazily up at the ceiling. I am now. The wry response hovered on the tip of her tongue before the hushed excitement in Mikey's voice broke her and made her grin. "Yeah, I'm awake," she called back. "What's up?"
"Oh, good!" The door opened just enough for Mikey to pop his head inside. "Guess what? It snowed!"
"That's what you're getting me up for?" she asked, sitting up in bed and tucking pillow-mussed strands of hair behind her ears. "Mikey, there's been snow on the ground since we got up here."
"Yeah, but not much. But it must've snowed eight inches last night! There's finally enough snow to go sledding!" He bounced a few times on his toes. "Come on! I'm making breakfast and then we're hitting the slopes!" He was gone as quickly he had come. April mentally followed his path to the kitchen as he bounded noisily down the stairs.
"Meet Mikey: world's most annoying alarm clock."
April let out a startled yelp as Raph's voice, sounding gruffer than usual thanks to grogginess, came through her still-open door. He didn't wait for her to answer, but went silently on his way, tying his mask around his head as he descended the stairs. April glanced at her bedside clock. It wasn't quite seven in the morning, but she knew she'd never be able to get back to sleep now. She rolled out of bed with a resigned sigh, grabbing her bathrobe and heading for the shower.
She had to pass by the stairs to the attic on the way, and she waved sleepily up at Leo and Don as she caught sight of them coming down. "'Morning, guys."
"Hey, April." Leo, one arm still snugged against his chest in a sling, was moving gingerly and leaning heavily on Don's shoulder but he smiled when she greeted them. "Mikey didn't wake you, did he?"
"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies," she replied with a lopsided grin.
"Sorry about that. Mikey only remembers he's a ninja when it's convenient," Don said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, I don't mind. He makes a mean scrambled egg." She tipped her head toward the bathroom. "I'm gonna hit the showers. Meet you downstairs in a bit."
"We'll make sure Casey doesn't eat all the bacon," Don promised. April gave him a loose salute and shuffled off down the hall.
By the time she emerged in a cloud of steam, the warm aroma of breakfast was wafting up the stairs. She hurried to zip up her hooded sweatshirt over a long-sleeved t-shirt - the farmhouse was homey, but drafty - and hurried down the stairs to the kitchen.
"Hey, there she is!" Mikey waved a spatula cheerfully from his post by the stove. "Looking lovely as always on this fine day, Miss O'Neil! Hungry?"
"Starving," she said. She crossed to his side, stomach grumbling in anticipation as he scooped scrambled eggs and bacon onto her plate. Raph scooted his chair over to make room for her as she sat down. She took a bite of bacon first and sighed happily at the savory crunch. "Nice job, Mikey."
"Did you have any doubt?" He grinned smugly, filling his own plate and moving the pans off the hot burners before he joined them at the table.
"I never doubt when it comes to bacon," April said with a wink. She glanced around the kitchen as she picked up another piece of bacon. "I know you said you'd protect my food from Casey, but did you kick him out of the house entirely?"
"Nah, he's out in the barn," Raph said around a mouthful of toast. "Said he thought he might have a couple old sleds out there and went to check."
"We thought we'd try the hill by the side of the house," Don said. "It isn't all that tall, but it's steep enough. And this way, Leo can still hang out with us."
Leo looked a little startled. "What? I thought…"
"You thought we'd leave you here by yourself?" Don asked with a smirk.
"Well...I mean, I'm not exactly in the best shape for sledding…"
"No, but you can take a blanket out on the porch and at least be with us." Don gave him a little nudge. "Come on, Leo. You don't want to sit in this house alone, do you?"
"Or out in the barn again?" Mikey added.
Leo hesitated. All three of his brothers were looking at him hopefully, and Mikey gave him a little nod, encouraging him to agree. Finally, he smiled, shrugging his good shoulder. "I guess someone has to keep an eye on you guys."
"Yeah, yeah, we're all so glad you're here to supervise, Mamanardo," Raph said, rolling his eyes.
Heavy clomping footsteps on the porch heralded Casey's return from the barn. "I found some sleds, guys!" he called, pausing on the entry rug to tug off his wet boots. "Just two, and one of 'em looks a little beat up, but it's better than nothing."
"It'll be fine," Mikey said, gesturing towards his back with his thumb. "We've got shells, remember? Once the snow's packed down we won't even need the sleds."
"If you say so." Casey grinned at April. "Whaddaya say, April? You in?"
"You kidding? Of course I'm in!" Then she paused. "...You guys aren't going to start punching each other halfway through, are you?"
Don grinned cheekily. "Ask us no questions, we'll tell you no lies."
It didn't take long to finish breakfast. April and Don made quick work of the cleanup, and soon everyone was bundled up and ready to head out. Splinter was the only one who declined to join them, preferring to relax with tea and a book in his room.
"You're sure you'll be comfortable out here?" April asked Leo one more time as he followed her out onto the porch.
"I'll be fine," he assured her. He sat down on the bench, wrapping himself in a quilt as he settled in to watch.
April pulled her hat down more snugly over her ears and followed the trail of footprints Casey and the three brothers had left on their way up the hill. The snow was deep; light enough so it wouldn't instantly soak them, but wet enough to pack down easily beneath the sleds.
"You wanna take the first run down, Case?" Raph was asking when she joined them at the top of the hill.
"I guess someone's gotta make sure this thing don't fall apart," Casey answered. He flopped down face-first on the battered plastic sled and pushed himself forward with his feet. At first the sled threatened to get bogged down in the deep powder, but after a short moment of effort, Casey began to gather momentum, sliding smoothly down to the bottom of the hill. April took the second sled at Don's prompting. Her trip down was faster, and a grin broke out on her face as the sharp winter air rushed past her.
No sooner had she drifted to a halt than an echoing shout of "Look out beloooow!" reached her ears as Mikey launched himself down the slope on his back. Plumes sprayed up on either side as he widened the path the sleds had created. His speed was impressive even with his bulky winter coat between his shell and the snow, and April had to scramble out of the way.
Mikey skidded to a halt, laughing in delight until Raph came zooming down a few seconds later and plowed into him. The brothers tumbled forward in a billowing white cloud. They stopped short of crashing into April, but the wave of snow they stirred up piled into her feet and tripped her, sending her sprawling.
"Ack! Our hero is caught in a dastardly ambush!" Mikey sputtered, floundering as he attempted to right himself.
April spat out a mouthful of snow. "By 'hero', do you mean you or me? I did not sign up to play tackle-sledding!" she said, trying to sound stern even as she fought back a grin.
Don slid down the hill on his shell, springing lightly to his feet as he hit the bottom. "I don't know why you sound surprised," he said, mouth quirking in amusement even as he extended his hand to help her up. "Although admittedly it did escalate a little faster than usual."
Raph had the grace to look sheepish as he untangled himself from Mikey. "Sorry, April. Didn't think we'd slide so far." He pushed off Mikey's shell to propel himself to his feet, squeezing another indignant squawk out of his brother as he was forced deeper into the snow drift. Mikey heaved himself to his feet and blew an offended raspberry at Raph's retreating back.
Casey was already on his second trip down by the time April and the three brothers were halfway up the hill, and before long, a wide, smooth track had been cleared on the slope.
Leo watched contentedly from his seat on the porch. The chilly air tingled in his chest and his breath floated in white clouds in front of his face, but he was warm inside his quilt.
"YEEeeeEEEeeeEEEeeeEEE!" Mikey came speeding down the hill, arms and legs tucked in tightly and spinning in circles on his shell. Leo laughed as Mikey staggered to his feet, listing unsteadily as he slogged over to the porch.
"What do you think, Leo?" Mikey asked, grabbing on to the railing to steady himself. "Points for style?"
"At least an eight," Leo replied with a grin.
Mikey gave him a wounded look. "Only an eight?"
"I said 'at least'."
"You'd better talk sweetly to me," Mikey said, bending to scoop up a handful of snow. "Otherwise I won't give you this." He climbed up onto the porch and held out a perfectly spherical snowball.
Leo raised a brow ridge. "And what do you expect me to do with that?"
"You have to ask? I bet even from here you can knock Raph's hat off."
"Mikey!" Leo shook his head chidingly, but he was laughing. "Why would I do that?"
Mikey's eyes were wide and innocent. "Range of motion exercises. You were saying you needed to work on that." The innocence vanished as he smirked. "Besides, I know you, bro. You know you want to."
Leo stared at the snowball in Mikey's palm for a heartbeat or two, but then his mouth curled up in an answering smirk as he reached out to take it. Mikey chuckled gleefully, hopping down from the porch to shape a few more handfuls of snow and line them up on the railing where Leo could easily reach them.
April had seen Mikey head over to talk to Leo, but she hadn't paid much attention to what he was doing. So when Raph's smooth descent down the hill ended in flailing limbs and a spray of snow, she couldn't suppress a startled flinch. Don and Mikey, however, burst out laughing.
Don cupped his hands around his mouth. "Nice shot, Leo!" April's eyes cut over to the porch in time to see Leo give Don a playful salute. It was then that she saw the row of perfectly-shaped snowballs lined up in front of his bench.
Raph sat up, spitting snow. "Mikey!"
"Dude, I'm up here!" Mikey yelled down. "Why are you blaming me?"
"'Cause I know you put him up to it!" Raph started stomping up the hill. "He's only got the one arm, anyway. I know you made the snowballs."
Don was grinning. "Bet you can't do it again!" He threw himself forward and landed on his carapace, raising his hands in front of his face as he streaked down the slope. Leo hefted a second snowball and winged it through the air. Don had to swerve a little to catch it - Leo's aim wasn't quite perfect - but the snowball exploded in a spray of glittering flakes against his palm.
April glanced sharply at Leo despite her amusement. He was sitting a bit stiffly, but he was grinning and already reaching for another snowball. Part of her wanted to remind him not to overdo it, but it hadn't escaped her notice that he'd been pretty quiet lately - even for him - and today he looked happier than he'd looked in a long time. She decided to trust that he'd know his limits. So she bit back her warning and let her laughter out instead as Casey's howled "Goongalaaaaa!" echoed off the snow-covered trees. He made a swipe at the snowball that Leo threw, but missed. The snowball hit him in the chest just below his scarf, and his sled veered off course into a drift.
Leo found a rhythm shortly after that. Sometimes he aimed directly for the sledders, sometimes he aimed just to the right or left or over their heads - or so he claimed. His brothers teased him about his poor aim. Every time Mikey landed at the bottom of the hill, he jogged over and re-stocked Leo's supply of ammunition.
April couldn't keep back a little shriek of laughter as a snowball broke to pieces against her raised arms, but when her sled skidded to a stop and she glanced up at Leo, her smile faded. From her position closer to the porch, she could see the sudden lines of tension that had appeared on his face. She pulled her sled out of the way and approached the porch. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, pitching her voice low so the others wouldn't hear.
He smiled ruefully. "I might be a little sore. Mikey's 'range of motion' exercises backfired a bit. But I'm okay."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure." He glanced over her shoulder as he reached for another snowball. "Raph's about to go. Can you move about two steps to your right?" April ducked out of the way, and a huge white globe sailed past her head. Raph was ready, though - as he sped down the hill, light from the cloud-covered sun flashed off of metal, and his twin sai shredded the snowball in a spray of powder. Leo burst out laughing and Don and Mikey cheered from the top of the slope.
April was caught between amusement and disbelief. She fisted her hands on her hips and glared down at Raphael when he reached the bottom. "Do you mean to tell me you have been sledding this whole time with your weapons?"
Raph blinked up at her. "Uh...yeah?"
"Why?" Mikey's voice drifted down to her. "Is that a problem?"
"Mikey, you too?"
Mikey grinned, reached beneath his coat and twirled his nunchucks into view.
April pinched the bridge of her nose. "Guys, are the weapons really necessary? You don't see Donny carrying...anything…" She trailed off at the sheepish expression on his face. "Don?"
Don rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it's true, you don't see them."
She gave him a flat look. "What do you have?"
"I...might have a bunch of shuriken stashed on me. But I wasn't going to throw them. They'd only get lost in the snow."
"Well, as long as you've thought it through," she answered dryly. "You sure you don't want to just...leave them on the porch until we're done here? I know you guys are ninjas but someone's gonna lose an eyeYEE!" Her words ended in a startled squeal as a snowball whacked her right between the shoulder blades. She whirled around to glare at Leonardo, who was staring back at her with an expression of wide-eyed innocence worthy of Mikey. "You're not fooling anyone, mister!"
"Guess you forgot not to let your guard down around a bunch of ninjas, babe!" Casey called down. The next moment his laughter was muffled by a giant snowball.
April grinned wickedly up at him, brushing the remnants of snow from her gloves. "Guess you forgot not to call me 'babe'."
"Ha! She sure told you, Casey!" Mikey snickered. His laughter ended in a dramatic, high-pitched scream as Casey winged a snowball at him. He ducked behind Don, who yelped as Casey's missile broke against his chest, then somersaulted forward to slide down the hill on his shell. Casey threw a second missile after him. It barely grazed Mikey's shoulder, but Raph's snowball nailed him as he hit the bottom of the hill.
"Whoa, hey, you're ganging up on him?" April made another snowball and flung it at Raph.
"Yeah, April!" Mikey cheered even as he shook the snow from his ears. "It's on!" The sledding session degenerated into a wild snowball fight, April, Mikey, and Don against Raph and Casey, with Leo doing his best to create chaos by taking aim at whoever was closest - except Mikey, who made frequent detours to the porch to replenish Leo's supply of ammunition.
"Okay, okay!" April exclaimed at last, raising her hands to ward off a final attack from Casey. "How about a ceasefire?"
"You're just sayin' that because I've got the upper hand," Casey scoffed, hefting his snowball with a predatory grin.
April smirked. "Well, I was saying it to keep you from eating a faceful of snow, but since you're threatening me…" She ducked, and Leo's snowball came winging over from the porch to smack Casey square in the face. While Casey was sputtering, April swiped the snowball from his hand and plopped it down on top of his knit cap.
"Okay, okay!" Casey said, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the turtles laughing. "It's a ceasefire."
April grinned. "If you insist."
The group of them shuffled back to the porch, Don and Raph dragging the sleds behind them.
"So, you guys hungry?" April asked. "Anyone in the mood for grilled cheese?"
Mikey grinned. "Shell, yeah! I'm always in the mood for ackpfbth!" His words ended in a startled sputter as Leo's last, melting snowball baffed him in the face. April's surprise halted her in her tracks, but Raph and Donny burst out laughing. Raph doubled over, propping his hands on his knees while Don slumped against him, hanging on to his shell to keep from falling over.
Leo was laughing, too, but Mikey's face had drooped into the most wounded, betrayed puppy-faced look that April had ever seen, and despite the pang of sympathy that the expression was clearly designed to elicit, April found herself giggling as she crossed to stand next to him.
"Aw, sweetie, it's not that bad," she said, lifting the tail of his scarf to wipe the snow from his face.
"Come on, Mikey," Leo said, raising his voice a little to be heard over his brothers' laughter. "I've avoided hitting you all afternoon! It's only fair for me to give you the same treatment as everyone else, right? Besides, I just had the one snowball left. You worked so hard making it. You wouldn't want me to waste it, would you?"
Mikey flopped down on his back, spread-eagled in the snow. "I have been betrayed by my own flesh and blood!"
The flat look on Leo's face started April laughing again. "Mikey," Leo said, "How many times have you pranked us like that?"
"BETRAYED AND SLAIN IN COLD BLOOD!"
"You're awfully loud for someone who's been slain, Mikey," Don said. Mikey's only response was a theatrical gurgle.
Raph snorted and stomped forward, seizing his brother by the ankle and dragging him toward the house.
Mikey remained limp, a dead weight on Raph's arm, until he started clunking up the steps. "Ow ow OW! Watch the head!" he yelped, giving the back of Raph's head a withering glare.
Raph didn't even look around. "Quit your whining. I've bapped you harder than that." He hauled Mikey up to the porch and left him in an unceremonious, snow-caked pile, taking a detour to help Leo up.
April gave Mikey's leg a nudge with her boot as she headed into the house. "Come on. I'll get your grilled cheese ready in just a few minutes." She heard Don's less-than-sympathetic, "Really, Mikey, I don't know what you were expecting", then smiled when she saw him stoop to give Mikey a hand up.
"You need a hand in the kitchen, April?" Casey asked.
She smiled, pleasantly surprised at his offer. "It's all right, I've got it. Thanks, though."
She made a quick trip upstairs to change out of her wet things. By the time she made it to the kitchen to get the sandwiches started, Casey had lit a fire in the fireplace and the warm smell of wood smoke was curling through the house. The old gas range worked quickly, and before long she had the first few sandwiches ready to go. She loaded up three plates and headed out to the living room. Raph was stretched out on his stomach on a blanket in front of the fire, and Don had claimed a nearby chair. Leo sat in the middle of the couch with Mikey perched next to him, carefully loosening his sling.
"Okay, I've got three sandwiches ready and the rest are on the way," April said. "Who's up first?"
"You can give 'em to Raph and Donny," Mikey said, tilting his head in the general direction of his brothers. "We'll be a minute." He eased the last bandage strip free and set it aside, slipping his hands beneath Leo's elbow and wrist to support the limb. "Okay, Leo, you've had snowball therapy using your right arm. Time for the left." He leaned forward a bit to be in Leo's line of sight, narrowing his eyes for emphasis. "Now, when I say 'tell me when this hurts', I actually mean it, got it? Not like last time."
"Got it," Leo agreed. He leaned back against the couch and let his brother move his arm through a slow series of stretches.
April handed plates to Don and Casey and set the other down in front of Raph. She headed back to the kitchen to make sandwiches for herself, Mikey, and Leo. She switched off the stove and carried the rest of the food out to the living room. Mikey had finished helping Leo stretch and was replacing the sling, making sure to bind the arm against Leo's shell but not tight enough to hurt.
"There," he said, giving the limb a gentle pat. "You set?"
Leo nodded. "It's good, Mikey. Thanks."
"Good." Mikey moved to relocate himself to sit at Leo's good side and reached eagerly for the sandwich April held out to him. He gave Leo a sidelong glance before he started eating, though, and pulled his face into a sulky expression again. "Although I hope you know you didn't deserve my help. Benedict Arnold."
"Come on, Mikey," Leo said, rolling his eyes. "You would've done the same thing in my place."
Mikey wrinkled his nose. "You're still a traitor. And you never would've supplied me with snowballs in the first place."
"You don't know that."
"I suspect."
Leo smirked and rolled his eyes. "What if I give you my marshmallows the next time we have cocoa? Thanks, April," he added, taking the plate she held out to him.
"Don't want your sympathymallows." Mikey was making a herculean effort to hold on to his pout, but the gleam of humor in his eye gave away that he wasn't really mad about the whole thing.
Leo shrugged. "Okay, then, I'll give them to Raph instead."
"He's already a marshmallow. He doesn't need anymore."
Raph lifted his head from his folded arms. "I'm a what?"
Mikey's eyes were wide and innocent. "I didn't say anything." Raph gave him a suspicious glare but didn't press the issue.
April joined Mikey and Leo on the couch. Casey and Don had bought an old television set secondhand - it was clunky, but it worked. Don flipped through the channels until he landed on the first ten minutes of "First Contact".
Raph raised a hand from his spot on the floor. "Yo, Mikey, toss me a pillow." He caught it easily when Mikey winged it at him and settled back down, bunching the throw pillow up in his arms and resting his chin on the soft fabric. Casey flopped on the floor next to him.
April sighed in contentment and curled up in the corner of the couch. Mikey stuffed the last bite of grilled cheese into his mouth and set his plate on the floor, then leaned against Leo's side, raising his hand to stifle a yawn. Before long, his head slumped against Leo's good shoulder.
April leaned forward to see him, exchanging a smile with Leo when she saw Mikey's face lax with sleep. "He's out like a light," she whispered.
Leo answered in kind. "I didn't think it'd take too long."
"He seems to have forgiven you."
Leo chuckled. "He wasn't really mad. More annoyed that I caught him flat-footed. He's usually not on the receiving end of things."
"Of this I am aware," April replied dryly. She saw him shift his weight a little and asked, "You sure you're comfortable?"
Leo smiled. "Oh, yeah. Mikey's heavy but he's not hurting me."
"Okay, well, you let me know. If you need a rescue I'll do my best to shift him off you." April paused for a moment, then lowered her voice to say, "I'm glad you came out with us today. You've been cooped up in this house too long. It was good to see you smiling."
Leo ducked his head self-consciously. "I guess I have been keeping to myself a bit."
"There's nothing wrong with that," she answered. "Just try not forget that the rest of us are here for you, okay?"
He smiled up at her. "Okay."
"Good." She leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek, then sat back to watch the rest of the movie.