Disclamer: I do not own TMNT.
No Longer So Young
Chapter One:
Eveything has Changed
Outside the snow was falling and people where getting ready for the Christmas season. Some bustled in and out of stores trying to get ahead of the Christmas rush. Others were content with strolling along the sidewalks looking to pass the time. Inside the lair, the mutants where passing the time with simple things, making the lair rather quiet.
Raph sipped his beer contently, enjoying the silence that was a rare occurrence. But, like all good things, it didn't last. Mikey pranced in with a grin on his face. He plopped down on the puny seat and stared blankly at his brother. Raph glanced at him then ignored his hyper sibling. After ten minutes of being stared at, Raph growled.
"What," he demanded. Mikey shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing."
Raph sighed out of annoyance and flipped the TV channel. Mikey continued to grin, knowing his scheme would eventually work. Another ten minutes went by and Raph had yet to get up. The goofy turtle pouted. It seemed that his brother had mastered the art of ignoring him. He grinned bigger. So all he had to do was improvise! He suddenly burst out into Yankee Doodle horribly off key. Raph winced and resisted the urge to cover his ears.
"Mikey! So help me if you don't stop I'm gonna kick yer butt to Pluto!"
Mikey ignored him and continued to sing. As the steam rose from Raph's ears, he got ready to run. Suddenly, Raph was sailing at him, a battle cry erupting from the enraged turtle. Mikey ducked and Raph connected with the concrete floor with a curse. The younger ninja jumped off the couch and dashed for the stairs, his brother jumping to his feet and racing after him.
As they raced by Raphael's room, the hothead skidded to a halt. His eyes went wide at the sight of his used-to-be red walls.
"Mikey," he screamed, "Yer dead!"
Mikey grinned from his safe spot in Leo's room. It had been funny when he was putting the bubble gum pink paint all over Raph's room, but the finished product was hilarious! Everything was pink! Even Raph's hammock was dripping with the accursed color. The only thing Raph owned that wasn't pink was himself. He suppressed a giggle. But that would change in about three seconds.
A loud splooshing sound filled the hallway. He grinned. Perfect, he purred.
Mikey peeked out of Leo's door and muffled his laughter. Raph was dripping head to shell with the paint. Raph growled, not at all amused by the prank.
"Mikey," he shouted in rage, "When I get my hands on you yer gonna be in for a world of pain!"
Mikey gulped and took that as his cue to get the shell out of there. He dashed back down the steps with the speed only a ninja like him could posses and more. He had been running from his brother for years. Leo walked out of his room just in time to see Mikey disappear down the steps and a pink Raph sail after him. The sword master shook his head and flipped off the edge with ease, landing in front of Don's sub car. He climbed in and looked over his older brother who was tinkering away at a machine.
"Hey Donny?" he asked. The older turtle gave a drawn out 'yeah', sending a message that he didn't want to talk. It seemed to be something he was doing more frequently, not talking, the closer it got to the accident's anniversary. The techno genius almost never left his lab anymore and he seemed to eat less and less. The only times he came out of the sub car was if they dragged him to the table and stuffed him with food or when he had to go to the junkyard for replacement parts.
Leo sighed, deciding to leave his brother to himself. He reluctantly turned around and opened the sub car door. A depleted sigh caught his attention and he glanced over his shoulder at his eldest brother. Don was rubbing his beak bridge with an irritated expression. Concerned, the katana master placed a hand on the scientist's shoulder.
"You okay bro," he asked. Don nodded his head tiredly.
"Yeah," he answered. His voice was slurred from exhaustion and his eye was blood shot. Leo studied his brother's face with thorough eyes. A black eye patch covered his left eye, keeping the empty socket protected, and a deep long scar ran across his face crossing over the eyehole. Other various scares were etched into his once youthful face and small patches of discolored skin from chemical experiment littered other parts of his face, neck and body.
The thirteen years had done its damage on the Einstein, causing him to become less social and kind. Once he had been passive for long periods of time but through the years his fuse had been shortened. Mikey had to watch his steps like he was on eggshells when trying to joke with the techno ninja because things set off bad memories and caused Don to snap. A lot more frequently he would pick fights with Raph, purposely irking the hothead on. Once, they had gotten into a physical fight and Don's vicious side had been let lose on the red masked turtle. Raph had come out of the battle with a broken arm, bruises and a cracked plastron.
"You sure?" Leo asked again. Don glared and swatted Leo's hand off.
"I'm fine!" Leo stared at his brother stunned. What had set him off this time?
Don looked at his brother with regretful eyes. He sighed and rubbed his head again.
"I-I'm sorry Leo. I just—" he sighed again, "I just need to take a break. I'm going to get some food."
Leo nodded and stepped out of his way. Don walked out of the sub car with the younger turtle following closely behind. Just as Leo's feet touched the ground he spotted the two turtles speeding towards him. His eyes widened just before they smashed into him at full speed. The ninja stumbled forward under the weight of both his brothers and collided into Don. The staff wielder collapsed on the ground, hitting his head hard on the concrete.
Mikey and Raph rolled off the pile wrestling, the younger whining and the older threatening. Leo climbed off Don and rubbed his head. He had smashed it on the back of his bro's shell and he know had a nice head ache. Leo sucked in a startled breath as Donny jumped up and glared at his wrestling siblings with murder in his eyes.
"What the hell is your problem?!" he shouted before yanking Mikey off Raph with one arm and throwing him to the side like he was a paper doll. Mikey yelped as he slammed into the wall, hearing the cracking sound of his shell. He stayed on the ground stunned. Don had never thrown him that hard before and his entire back hurt. Don grabbed the stunned Raph and flung him in the same direction as Mikey twice as hard. He grunted as his shell smacked Mikey's face and smashed both into the wall. The crack in his plastron throbbed hard making the turtle hiss in pain. Leo rushed forward and locked his arms around Don's before he could continue his advance on the siblings.
Don thrashed around wildly trying to throw Leo off.
"Let me go Leo," he shouted in rage, "I'm gonna—"
"No you're not! Calm down Donny!" Leo cut him off.
Don glared at his brothers and stopped struggling. Then, while Leo was off guard, he ripped his arms out of his grasp and stomped toward the elevator, grabbing the trench coat in a flash. Before his brothers could protest, he had disappeared into the cocoon-like structure.
