Genesis

Turtlecest, raphxdon – Because everything has to start somewhere…

Disclaimer: If I owned the turtles, it wouldn't be a kiddie show.

Warnings: turtlecest, yaoi, turtle on turtle action, slash, mature: are you sure you are in the right place? Be weary or your brain might implode.

Chapter 2: Red - The Morning After


Donatello rarely showed up tardy for training. It was hard to be late when your bedroom door was twenty feet from the mat, though. Somehow, the turtle found the energy to emerge from his dark bedroom. Just as Leonardo was leaving the practice room to fetch the missing brother, Donatello's form finally staggered in, dragging his bo behind him like a child would a security blanket.

And Raphael's heart dropped. The poor turtle was experiencing his first hangover. It did not look like his brother was handling it well, either. Donatello's eyes were droopy and his entire body seemed to sag. Quietly the genius towed himself into the dojo, somehow thinking he was going to make it through a day's practice. Raphael knew otherwise.

Raphael nudged the brother beside him quietly, knowing Michelangelo would have something to say about the poor exhibit of health.

"You don't look so great, Donnie." Michelangelo pointed out, hoping his attention to Donatello's physical condition would cause Leonardo to react and send him back to bed. What happened was quite the opposite.

Donatello instinctively looked up at his baby brother, mouthing the words that he would be okay, yet no voice followed. It was enough to get Michelangelo to smile, though. Donatello cleared his throat and looked back down at the floor, all as Leonardo passed him without one curious glance.

"Donatello, defend. Mikey, attack." Leonardo's voice was full of authority as always, ignoring Michelangelo's comment as if he had not noticed Donatello acting any differently. "Raphael, defend." And Leonardo readied an attack stance. The turtle seemed to be agitated by the late start, and ready to make up lost time.

Donatello was floored and out before Leonardo even unleashed his attack on Raphael. It almost caused for a distraction, but Raphael deflected the ninja's foot at the last second, twisting it to the side to avoid further harm. Their dance went on a few seconds longer before Leonardo had Raphael pinned securely to the mat.

"Keep your dirty habits to yourself, Raph." Leonardo threatened Raphael in a low voice, and they both knew what he was talking about.

Raphael rolled his eyes. The atmosphere was tense, and Raphael felt right at home. The moment he entered the dojo this morning, he knew Leonardo was well aware something was different. Though Raphael had not seen his older brother the night before, he would never doubt for a second the turtle was not playing Leonardo the spy, wondering when the irresponsible one would return Donatello back home. At least, Raphael thought, Leonardo was blaming him.

Raphael instinctively looked over to Donatello who was hunched over against the wall now, actually trying to verbally comfort a semi-frantic Michelangelo, who was worried he hit too hard. Donatello peacefully put his arms up as Michelangelo jumped around him. All the genius really wanted was silence, as Michelangelo's higher pitched apologies stung his sensitive eardrums.

Raphael turned back to Leonardo. "Butt out, Leo." Raphael struggled to regain control of the grapple, but to no avail.

Leonardo hopped up flawlessly onto his feet and retook his position at the front of the room. He beckoned for Michelangelo to follow. "Again."

Like an instant replay, Donatello hit the ground once more, and Raphael found himself sidetracked. Quicker than before, he was pinned under Leonardo, who gave an even more annoyed impression this time.

"You both need to focus." Leonardo ushered for the exercise to start once more. There was a hint of something more in his bossy tone, and he concealed it well. Raphael still noticed.

Raphael glimpsed over to Donatello, who, for a moment, seemed to struggle to get back on his feet. Michelangelo offered his assistance and treated Donatello as delicately as the turtle could handle. Guilt took over, as this was going to be Donatello's worst practice session ever experienced.

The hothead growled. He should have limited his brother's access to the beer. Duck. After all, Donatello had never experienced alcohol or its effect before and therefore had zero tolerance towards the effects. Kneel. Raphael had simply forgotten what it was like to be so vulnerable to the booze. Swipe.

Thud. Raphael hit the mat and another aggravated sigh followed. A quick glance up and he saw Leonardo was growing irritated, too. There was absolutely no chance for a quiet morning.

"This is not acceptable, you two." Leonardo bounced up with the utmost perfection. He looked in Donatello's direction with cold eyes. "Don, you'd be dead if someone caught you like this." Leonardo bluntly pointed out the evident. "Alcohol is a depressant. It slows you down, tightens your muscles. Loosens your grip on the abilities you should be more than capable of performing."

Donatello seemed absolutely floored that Leonardo knew what he was experiencing. Shock swam all over the poor turtle's features. It was a completely different story for Raphael, though. Raphael learned long ago that you cannot sneak certain ailments past Ol' Fearless. The guy was like a ninja stalker. It was like at any given moment he could meditate and see every exact mistake his brothers ever performed, like a psychic technique. It was maddening.

Raphael grunted and put his head back on the mat. …and now Leonardo was in full fledged lecture mode, he thought. Maybe the next time he wanted to be a good brother, he would put that thought on hold.

Good brother… Actually, he had been a pretty terrible brother. He gave Donatello alcohol, fully knowing it would not solve his problems. He flat out told Donatello that he and April would never have a chance to be together. Made Donatello feel horrible this morning with that hangover, and could easily take credit for Leonardo being so ticked off at both of them. What an asshole brother he turned out to be.

"And Donatello, I'm much more astounded at your behavior…" Leonardo continued his rant that Raphael was more than happy to tune out. Raphael was pretty sure he just missed his portion of the rant, a pleasant surprise. He glanced over at Donatello though, who was playing an entirely different tune. The turtle looked ashamed and fearful, as if Leonardo's lecture actually packed a punishment. But this still stung Raphael deep in his gut. He'd prefer to have the wrath of Leonardo aimed in his direction, not his little brother that didn't know any better. The guy only stepped out of line once, and Leonardo was railing him hard.

I should'a paid attention. Raphael silently cursed himself, seeing Donatello put a hand to his head as Leonardo kept talking.

"Get off 'is nuts, Leo." Raphael pushed himself up off the floor finally. "We both know it ain't his fault." Raphael cracked his neck as if preparing for a physical battle instead of verbal.

Leonardo redirected his lecture towards Raphael's portion of the room. That was a relief for Raphael, as he was much more inclined to take the verbal beating. "…you're selfish, and now do you intend to drag your little brother down with you? Down this path of destruction you are so bent on descending?"

Raphael felt a personal jab and huffed. "He ain't hurt. Get off yer pedestal an' give the guy a break." Raphael did his best to keep his cool. The boiling point was building, though. This was not exactly his strong point and Leonardo was starting to poke at a sensitive area.

"How drunk were you, Raph?" Leonardo uncrossed his arms. "Look at you today. You are barely paying attention; hardly defending, if I can call your performance a defense. How could you have possibly been able to protect him last night? You could have been killed. Donatello could have been killed."

Donatello's voice piped up but Raphael eagerly overrode him. Leonardo pushed that button. "Screw yourself, Leo." Raphael started storming up into Leonardo's personal space. "Donnie ain't gonna get hurt when I'm around." Raphael narrowed his eyes. There was a challenge in his voice; a dare begging Leonardo to have Donatello floored just one more time.

Leonardo didn't blink. "Not if you're on another binge, counting on someone to drag your useless shell back home." Leonardo's eyes flared with the thought of one of his brothers being put in such a dangerous situation.

No doubt the circumstance was on its way to a grand escalation, except a quiet cough from behind derailed it entirely. Everyone turned to their father, who stood in the doorway, quite curious from all the noise erupting from the dojo.

"My sons. Is this how you wish to spend your valuable time? Arguing does not strengthen your body. Or your mind." Splinter offered his advice. His age practically hung onto each word he annunciated, but tranquility did as well.

"No, Sensei." Leonardo respectfully took a few steps back from Raphael, placing himself once again at the head of the classroom. "Donatello, out." Leonardo motioned for Donatello to move to the wall. The sickly turtle braced himself against it before sliding down to the bottom. "Michelangelo, with me." And Leonardo prepared to tag team one brother with the help of the other.

Raphael gave Donatello a quick look over before he readied his defense. His concentration returned. One deep breath later, he was kicking Michelangelo out of the air while simultaneously avoiding Leonardo's pounce. Michelangelo flew back into the wall and decided to stay down. Good boy.

Leonardo lunged at his brother, followed by a series of attacks, but Raphael had regained his focus. Each attack was deflected, and actually countered with one of his own. The impacts of his fists were harder than usual. The kind of hard he would usually beat his punching bag with, when he had this much rage stored. But for the moment, Leonardo would have to do.

He would never hurt his brother. Never put him in danger. A situation he knew he could not control. Another fist punch Leonardo square in the jaw. Never. Raphael felt the force from behind and he plummeted to the floor, suddenly, under the weight of his youngest brother.

"I'm king of the Raph!" Michelangelo happily shouted, as he stood there, one foot on his brother's shell and the other firmly planted on the ground for some real support.

Still, with Michelangelo's half hearted pin, he grabbed for Leonardo's ankle, and had the turtle tumbling down with him.

A stumbled push and rollover later, he found himself pinning the eldest to the ground, completely ignoring Michelangelo's attacks to his shell and undefended areas. His revenge felt better than swapping the half-hearted attacks of Michelangelo.

The match was over. And Raphael triumphantly shot Leonardo a cocky smile as he pulled himself off of the grounded turtle.

"Raphael." Splinter's calm but professor-like voice filled his ears. "You must mind all enemies."

Raphael's head slightly bowed to his master as a sign of respect of his words. Leonardo stood up in the background. He never acknowledged the strength behind Raphael's "defense," or the welts that were starting to throb where Raphael hit him. The three ninja instinctively lined up in front of their master, who was now a few steps into the dojo from the door.

"Disperse until your evening practice." Their master calmly said, most likely sensing the situation was too uptight to continue. All three ninja bowed their heads respectively. Donatello did so from the wall he now resided. "And Donatello, I wish for you to regain your health." Their master said as a loving father. He slowly turned towards his other son, acknowledging that Donatello was not forgotten.

Raphael internally smirked. Maybe their father had grown wiser in his old age, realizing his sons had the power to do as they pleased. Or maybe he was right, that Donatello would avoid punishment because he had simply stepped out of his element for one night.

And then there it was.

"I would like to see you when you are well."


I totally have a good half of this story written, and my momentum is not stopping. I'm pretty excited to be interested in writing again. I won't poop out on this one, like i did "Uninvited," I promise. Seriously, I totally had a plot lined up for "Uninvited" and then I completely forgot it after I published the first chapter. ^_^