Posted on tumblr a while ago, finally remembering to post it here. Thanks to SkitsMix for the prompt and the beta! This story takes place the morning after the 2k3 episode "Reflections", after the brothers have escaped the Triceraton gladiator prison and after they've been reunited with Splinter, Casey, and April, and learned the truth about who the Shredder is. Which actually has nothing to do with the story except to provide context. I just wanted to write happy turtbros. :D
Summer Storm
April woke to the smell of woodsmoke. She sniffed appreciatively, enjoying the aroma, but then grimaced as she realized the smell was coming from her hair. She and Casey had sat up half the night with Splinter and the turtles around a campfire, each filling the others in on what they had missed while they'd been separated. The turtles' descriptions of the Triceraton aliens had left April speechless with a combination of amazement and horror. The thought of the brothers being forced to fight as gladiators was chilling, and she was fervently grateful for her friends' ingenuity and courage that allowed them to escape.
She had finally staggered inside sometime after 3 AM and had collapsed into bed without bothering to shower. Which, now that her pillow smelled like a fire pit, might not have been the best idea.
Her eyes widened as she looked at the clock - it was nearly eleven in the morning. April couldn't remember the last time she'd slept that late. She rolled out of bed and stretched, pulling aside the curtains to look out into the front yard. The four turtles were sprawled out on blankets, dozing in the bright summer sun. All but Mikey were stretched on their stomachs; Mikey was flopped on his back, hands folded on his plastron with a comic book resting on his face. Klunk sprawled on the blanket next to him, the white fur of his belly gleaming in the sun. A fond smile curled her mouth, then she withdrew and headed off to scrub the smoke out of her hair.
Twenty minutes later, she descended the stairs and entered the kitchen at the same time Donatello came in from outside.
"Hi there!" she said with a grin. "You're awake!"
"I could say the same thing to you," Don said, returning her smile.
"What brings you inside?"
Don rummaged around inside the fridge and emerged with an armload of food. "Well, Mikey's stomach was growling and Raph was actually growling, so someone had to make sandwiches."
April laughed and joined him at the counter. "Sounds like a wise decision. I'll help you."
"Oh, you don't have to. I've got it."
"I have an ulterior motive, though. I'm hungry, too." She rested a companionable hand on his carapace only to jerk it back with a yelp.
Don jumped, nearly dropping the mustard. "What? What's wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing, it's okay," she reassured him, shaking her burning fingers. "I guess I didn't realize how hot your shells get when you're out in the sun."
His brow ridges lifted in surprise. He reached around to touch his shell, hissing a little as his fingertips rested on the sun-baked scutes. "Sorry about that," he said sheepishly. "I knew I was warm but I didn't actually think I could cause injury."
"Oh, you're fine!" She waved off his concern - making sure to pat him on the shoulder this time - and pulled the bread out of the cabinet. Between April and Donatello, the sandwich assembly went quickly. Don loaded the food onto paper plates, balancing two in each hand.
"You need help with that?" April asked.
"Nah. Ninja, remember?" he said with a grin.
"At least let me get the door for you." April let him out, carrying her own plate out to the porch. She returned to the kitchen briefly to pick up a stack of cups and fill a pitcher with ice water.
Leo smiled up at her when she set the items next to him on his blanket. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. Let me know if you need anything, okay? I'll just be on the porch." She climbed the sturdy wooden steps, letting out a little sigh of relief as she stepped out of the hot sun into the shade, and settled onto the bench to eat her sandwich. She got up a short time later to collect the empty plates, returning with a book and some pillows to pad the worn wooden boards.
The warm afternoon hours drifted slowly by. Klunk yawned and stretched, waking up briefly to chase butterflies before flopping down next to Mikey once again. Casey eventually emerged from the barn, spattered in grease from his current mechanical project. The turtles didn't stir as he passed by. April glanced up from her book and smiled as he clomped up onto the porch, dragging a grimy forearm across his forehead.
"Hot one today, ain't it?"
"It's not so bad in the shade, but the guys have been sunning themselves for hours," she answered, keeping her voice pitched low so as not to disturb them. "I can't imagine how they haven't overheated. Or gotten sunburned. I'd be fried to a crisp if I stayed in the sun that long."
"It's some kinda...turtle-y...basking thing," Casey answered, giving a vague wave of his hand in the direction of the dozing brothers.
April giggled. She couldn't remember ever seeing them so relaxed. They hadn't budged for well over an hour, their sunshine-induced torpor leaving them loose-limbed and heavy against the blankets. "I think it's cute, but don't you dare tell them that."
"Not a word outta me. Don't think they'll be out there too much longer, though."
"Hm? Why?"
Casey pointed to the west. "You ain't seen those clouds?"
"No, I've been reading." April shut her book and walked to the edge of the porch, following Casey's gesture. "Ooh, those look nasty." Although the sun was still beaming down brightly on the farmhouse and surrounding woods, ominous gray and white clouds were piling up on the western horizon. The sunlight made the shadowed area beneath the low-hanging clouds look even darker. Now that she was paying attention, April realized that the warm breeze that had been sighing in the treetops had died, and the air was utterly still.
"Should we wake the guys?" Casey asked.
"No, let them sleep. I'll get them up before the storm hits."
Casey gave her a loose salute and walked past her into the house to get cleaned up. April settled in the swing and picked up her book again, but her eyes kept drifting to the western sky. The darkness was approaching pretty rapidly. As she watched, a bright fork of lightning leapt from cloud to cloud. Even though the storm was still far off, the sharp crack of thunder that followed a moment or two later was surprisingly loud.
The four turtles jolted awake - Mikey let out a startled yelp - and looked around in sleepy confusion. April covered her mouth with her hand to hide her amused smile.
"What was that?" Raph asked, climbing to his feet. He automatically reached for his sai and scowled when he realized that he wasn't wearing them.
"Just some thunder," she said as she stepped off the porch. "I was about to wake you."
Don's brow furrowed as he noticed the darkening sky. "Well, that doesn't look good."
Mikey's eyes were wide as he watched more lightning arc across the clouds. "Whoa." A sudden gust of wind tossed the treetops.
April bent to gather Mikey's scattered comic books while the turtles shook the grass out of their blankets. Thunder growled again in the distance as the rapidly approaching clouds blotted out the sun. The wind picked up, cooling the hot, still air and bringing the scent of rain. She carried the books into the house and set them on the living room table where Mikey could find them, but frowned over her shoulder as she realized that the brothers hadn't followed her inside.
She headed back onto the porch to see all four of them still standing in the front yard, watching the sky with wide, curious eyes. "Um...guys? You might want to think about coming inside soon." Lightning flashed again as if to back up her words, and the windmill over by the barn creaked and whirred as the strengthening wind spun through its arms.
Klunk, winding around Mikey's ankles with anxious little mews, grew tired of being ignored. He sprang onto Mikey's shoulder and seized one of the orange mask tails in his teeth.
"Klunky, what?" Mikey asked laughingly, reaching up to scritch the cat's ears. "You don't like the thunder?" Klunk just glared at him. "Okay, okay, we'll get out of the open."
The gusting wind grew stronger, and scattered drops of rain pelted them as they hurried up the porch steps. Klunk bounded ahead of them through the open door into the house. Leo was close behind him, but Mikey plopped down on the end of the bench and reached out to snag him by his belt, jerking him to a stop. Don and Raph bumped into him. The series of clunks from their shells colliding made April want to laugh, but with an effort, she swallowed her giggles.
"Mikey, what gives?" Raph asked impatiently.
"Let's stay out here and watch!" Mikey turned his eager gaze to April. "We can watch from here, can't we?"
"Well...I guess you can, but it might get kind of nasty out here. It's not like you haven't seen a thunderstorm before, right?" she asked with an amused smirk. But then she paused as a sudden thought struck her. "Wait...you have seen a storm before, haven't you?"
"Not really," Don answered. "We could always tell when a storm was moving through - the sewers get kind of noisy when there's a heavy rain - but we couldn't really hear it from below. And the only storm I remember seeing when we were above ground was...well, the night the Shredder attacked us at your apartment. But I don't remember much about it." He glanced at Leo. "We had more important things to worry about than the weather."
Her expression softened. "I guess you did."
"C'mon, guys, just sit down," Mikey urged. Without letting go of Leo's belt, he scooted over to the center of the bench, tugging until his brother sat next to him. Raph rolled his eyes but dropped onto the bench at his other side. Don sat down on the porch, wrapping his blanket around his shoulders before leaning back against Mikey's knees. Even though his shell carried some residual warmth from the sunlight, the steadily rising wind was cool and damp.
Raph and Mikey copied Don's example by bundling themselves inside their blankets as well. Leo watched as April sat down next to Don, then silently held out his blanket to her.
"Thanks," she said with a smile.
There was a brief scuffle and an indignant "Hey!" from Mikey as Leo commandeered half his blanket. Mikey stuck his tongue out at Leo, but his protestations were short lived before he snuggled against his brother.
Lightning flashed again, cutting open the clouds and releasing a deluge of rain. Klunk, peering curiously out the doorway since no one followed him inside, jumped in surprise. He dove for the nearest cover, under the bench behind April. April made a sympathetic sound and gently coaxed the startled cat out from underneath the bench. "Come here, little guy. You can sit with me." Klunk was reluctant to emerge at first, but finally emerged and ducked into the folds of her blanket to hide in her lap.
The storm broke in earnest, the gusts of wind bringing chilly sprays of driving rain into April's face even in the shelter of the porch. The day grew even darker, the clouds hanging dangerously low over the trees. April pressed closer to the bench a little nervously as the sky took on a decidedly greenish hue, but the four brothers beside her watched with eager interest. Lightning flared purple-white through the downpour, directly overhead, and the deafening crack of thunder that followed made April jump. The turtles jumped, too, Mikey's startled yipe all but drowned out in the rumbling echoes.
"You guys sure you don't want to go inside?" April asked.
"No, this is great," Don said distractedly, even as he flinched in response to another thunderclap. The treetops tossed angrily in the wind. The pounding of the rain turned into a sharp clatter as hail started to fall, bouncing on the grass and ricocheting off the roof.
"Ooh, hey, look!" Mikey said, sitting up straight. "Nature's ice cubes! We should totally get some! Donny, go get me a Coke." He scooted forward to the edge of the bench.
Leo twitched, startled, and clamped one hand around Mikey's forearm while holding on to the blanket with the other. "Hey, hold on a minute, where do you think you're going?"
"I just told you where I was going," Mikey replied with exaggerated patience. He flapped his arm in a futile attempt to dislodge Leo's hold and started to stand.
"Mikey, no," Raph said firmly. His hand shot out and caught hold of his brother's mask tails before Mikey had fully risen, giving them a firm yank. Mikey let out a "Yeep! Raphie!" and plopped back onto the bench, adjusting his mask with an offended air.
"Stay," Raph ordered, poking Mikey in the shoulder.
"But ice cubes…"
"Mikey, you'll get blown away if you go out there," Don said, surreptitiously scooting back a bit to give his brother less wiggle room. "We're lucky the wind hasn't blown us off the porch as it is."
"Aww, Donny…"
As if to punctuate Don's statement, a bolt of lightning lanced down, perilously close. The rustling crash of a heavy tree limb plummeting to the ground was swallowed up in the ear-splitting crack of thunder. April blinked the burning afterimage of the lightning from her vision to see the turtles huddled close together in wide-eyed astonishment. Even Raph looked nervous as he stared up at the low, roiling clouds.
"Hey, guys, I have an idea," Mikey said after a brief, startled pause. "Let's stay here on the porch."
April laughed, even as Don rolled his eyes and Raph muttered a sarcastic "Ya think?" under his breath. The ferocity of the storm sent cold little shivers down her spine, causing her hands to shake and tingle.
The howling wind eventually pushed the storm towards the far horizon. Lightning still flashed fitfully, but the growls of thunder became quieter and less frequent. The deluge gradually slackened and stopped, but the sound of falling water lingered as rain rushed down the gutters of the house and dripped from the surrounding trees. The sun peeked cautiously out from the tumbled mass of clouds, the red-orange late afternoon light glimmering off the scattered hailstones on the ground.
"Wow," Don said quietly.
Klunk poked his head out from April's blanket. Satisfied that the menace of the storm had passed, he hopped out and stretched before bounding down the porch steps to nose around in the wet grass.
"That was awesome!" Mikey said with a grin.
"Glad you enjoyed it," April answered, her dry tone softened by her answering smile. She gave a little shiver, watching the retreating storm. "That was a pretty bad one. I can't believe I let you talk me into staying outside."
Klunk had discovered the hail and was batting a marble-sized piece of ice around between his paws. Mikey wriggled free from the confining press of his three brothers and followed after Klunk, bending to pick up some of the stones to roll them around in his palm.
"That hail is pretty big. We'll be pretty lucky if we don't have at least one window broken," April said.
Raph waved her concern away. "We'll climb up and check the house once things dry out. The roof, too." Sudden consternation washed over his face as he watched his brother and the cat wandering around the front yard. "Is he actually eating the hail? Mikey, you shell-for-brains, spit that out!" He rose to his feet, tossing the blanket onto the bench as he stalked off the porch.
"It's just ice!" Mikey said defensively. When Raph continued advancing towards him, he let out a high-pitched scream, tossed his handful of hail in Raph's general direction, and took off running around the corner of the house. Raph gave a playful little snarl and bolted after him.
April laughed and started to fold the discarded blankets, giving Leo a smile as he stood as well and moved to help.
Don rose, handing his blanket to Leo before moving to the side of the porch to peer around the corner of the house. "Hey, Leo…" He looked over his shoulder at his brother, an impish gleam in his eyes. "...I think Raph and Mikey might need a little cooling down. Don't you?"
"Hm?" Leo looked up from the blanket in his arms. The minute he saw the look on Don's face, his mouth slanted in a mischievous smirk. He hopped down from the porch and collected a handful of hailstones, bounding back up the steps to give half the load to his brother. The two turtles crouched together against the corner of the house, waiting for Raph to chase Mikey back around to the front.
Sure enough, before too long, Mikey came pelting around the corner of the house, Raph close behind. Don nudged Leo before winging a hailstone at the back of Mikey's head. The little missile hit its mark and bounced off. Mikey skidded to a halt. Raph plowed into him, unprepared for the sudden stop.
"Hey!" Mikey rubbed the back of his head and gave Raph a dirty look.
"What'd I do?" The baffled expression on Raph's face morphed into a frown as a hailstone dinged him on top of the head. He spun around to see Leo smirking at him from the porch. "Oh, so that's how it's gonna be, huh?" An aggressive grin lit his face as he bent and scooped up a handful of ice chunks. Don vaulted over the porch railing, throwing hailstones as he ran.
"Be careful!" April called. She put her hands on her hips, shaking her head in amused exasperation. "Oh, someone's going to lose an eye," she muttered.
Leo patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, April," he said blithely, "we're ninjas!" And he hopped over the railing and took off after Don.
April blinked and sputtered, calling after him: "That excuse is getting old!"
Leo didn't seem to hear. He and his brothers were embroiled in a furious hail war. The loud thunk of ice ricocheting off of shells echoed off the surrounding trees. April winced at how hard the brothers were flinging hail at each other, but they didn't seem bothered by it. Mikey let out a yipe as Don took a handful of hail and stuffed it between his carapace and neck, prompting a bark of laughter from Raph.
"I see my sons have found a way to occupy themselves," Splinter said dryly. April turned to see him emerge from the house. He gave her a friendly smile as he came to stand beside her.
She turned her attention back to the wild battle on the front lawn. "Seems like it," she replied with a smirk. "I'm just surprised they haven't turned it into a contact sport."
"Give it time."
Sure enough, it didn't take long for Splinter's prediction to come true. Predictably, Raph was the one who started it. He ducked down to avoid a volley of hail from Don, then crouched and sprang at him. Don threw himself out of the way. Raph went sailing past him and crashed into an unsuspecting Leo. The pair of brothers tumbled over the wet grass, crunching the melting hailstones beneath their shells. Mikey burst out laughing at Leo's surprised flailing, but his mirth ended in a yelp as Leo's foot swept out and knocked his legs out from under him. Don took advantage of the distraction to rain melting handfuls of ice down on the pile before Raph bounced up and tackled him.
Splinter rolled his eyes in fond exasperation and retreated back into the house, but April sat on the porch steps next to Klunk, scratching his ears and giggling as she watched the melee.
The fight ended abruptly - one minute the four brothers were tussling in a chaotic combination of wrestling and martial arts sparring, and the next they were flopped on the ground, panting for breath, but happy. April couldn't tell who had won, but that didn't seem to matter. Raph was the first to climb to his feet, extending a hand to each of his brothers in turn to haul them off the ground.
"Whoa, hey, where do you think you're going?" April said, holding out her hand as they approached the porch.
"Uh...inside?" Don ventured, exchanging an uncertain glance with his brothers.
"Not like that, you're not," she said. "If you walk through the house like that it'll take me forever to clean it up." The hail had long since melted, but the play-fight on the rain-softened ground had left them dripping and spattered with mud. The turtles glanced at each other, suddenly sheepish.
"We could clean…" Leo ventured.
"I've seen what you guys call 'cleaning'," she said dryly. She pointed to the side of the house. "March."
"March where?" Raph followed her gesture and gave her a skeptical look. "You're not really gonna use the hose."
"Oh, yes, I am. Get a move on." She followed them around the side of the house and turned on the water.
"April! That's cold!" Mikey squeaked, scrubbing hastily at his arms and shell to remove the mud as she directed the stream of water at him.
"The cold didn't seem to bother you when you guys were flinging hail at each other," she replied breezily.
Mikey pouted at her. "You're mean."
She just laughed and turned to hose off his brothers. It didn't take long for them to get cleaned up. The four of them trooped after her as she headed back to the porch, waiting obediently as she ducked inside to fetch towels. She did feel a little pang of sympathy when she came back out, though - even though the brothers hadn't truly minded the hosing down, the cool water and the chill in the air in the wake of the storm had them shivering a little.
"Thanks for waiting, guys," she said, handing out the towels.
"What else were we gonna do?" Raph said. "Casey told us about the time you chased him out of the house with a broom." The rest of them snickered as April rolled her eyes.
"Okay, come on in," she said, opening the door and waving them inside. Don saw the folded pile of blankets and immediately grabbed one, bundling himself inside it again as he plopped on the couch. April folded her arms across her chest as she watched the rest of the turtles follow suit, curling up on various pieces of furniture.
"Would hot chocolate help make up for the hosing down?" she asked, resting a hand on Leo's shoulder.
He smiled up at her. "It might."
She rubbed the top of his head affectionately and headed for the kitchen. She knew there was a package of instant hot chocolate in the pantry, but she pushed it aside and pulled out a tin of cocoa instead. It only took a few minutes to heat milk, sugar, and cocoa on the stove. She poured it into four mugs and added marshmallows (remembering to put a few extra in Raph's mug), and carried the steaming drinks out to the living room.
Raph's eyes were closed and the other three were blinking drowsily, but they all sat up straight when they saw her come in. Don nudged Raph. Raph opened one eye, huffing a little in irritation, but when he saw April he sat up as well. He smiled up at her, taking his mug in both hands when she held it out to him.
"This is really good, Thanks, April," Don said.
"Hey, only the best for my guys. None of that powdered store-bought stuff." She picked up a few of of Mikey's comics and settled in the last empty chair, sitting sideways with her legs hanging over the arm as she started to read.
Mikey was the first to finish, draining the last of the cocoa and melted marshmallows with a noisy slurp. He set his mug on the coffee table and nestled down in his blanket with a sigh. Before long, he was asleep. Raph was the next to drop off, with Don not far behind. Leo, as usual, was the last one awake, but his eyes gradually drifted shut.
April hurriedly set aside the comic book and hopped off the chair, gliding across the room to catch Leo's empty mug before it slipped from his slack fingers to clatter on the floor. She caught it midair with a soft, "Ha!", giving the sleeping turtle a triumphant look. "You're not the only ones with ninja-like reflexes here, mister," she said under her breath. She smiled down at him and very softly ran her hand over his head. His eyelids didn't even flutter.
April collected the rest of the mugs and rinsed them out, leaving them in the sink to wash later. She glanced into the living room. They'd spent half the day dozing in the sun and it wasn't even that late, but all four of them were down for the count. She knew she probably should wake them and send them upstairs to their beds - it was only a matter of time before Don's arm went numb the way he was curled up - but she couldn't bring herself to disturb them.
A glance out the window showed that the darkened sky had clouded over once again, but no thunder or lightning accompanied the light drizzle that had started to fall. April switched off all the lights in the living room except for the one next to her chair, then settled back down with the comic books and read until she, too, drifted off to sleep listening to the sound of the rain.