Thanks to my wonderful reviewers. When I get reviews it inspires me to write more. I'm hoping this story turns out good.
Leo opened the door to his home, and hung his coat in the closet. As he was doing this he noticed that Mikey and Raph's coats had joined Don's. When he put his keys in the bowl he also noticed that there were three other sets. He smiled when he recognized his brothers' key rings.
Mikey's had countless charms and baubles attached to it, you almost couldn't find the actual keys. It hung from an orange lanyard that Mikey always wore under his stark white chef's uniform. Mikey always came home covered in food, and clothes often lopsided and askew from their original positions. Raph's keys were constantly covered in grease, and only had two charms. The first one was his name, and the other one was a cherry red motorcycle. Raph usually came home covered in as much dirt and grease as he possibly could Donny's were clean and pristine; his keycard was attached, along with his ID and countless other electronic gadgets Donny used when he went to his company headquarters in New York. Leo added his simple key ring. It had his name and three keys. One key opened the house, the next the other his floor, and the last was a small black key that remained a mystery to his brothers.
Leo stretched, and made sure to not spill Donny's coffee. He wondered briefly why his brothers were home, but at that exact moment Leo was tackled by and overexcited Mikey. Donny's coffee lost its top, and the hot dark liquid flew through the air. Leo panicked and separated himself from Mikey. He flipped over the couch and held out the cup, effectively catching every drop neatly in the cup. He snapped the lid back on. He leaned down and handed the cup to a shocked Donny who sat on the couch with Raph. Leo had landed in the space between them. Leo gulped as his brothers stared at him with utter shock on their faces.
"Woah! Leo! Bro how did you do that?" Mikey yelled as he bounced over as Leo stepped down off the couch and shrugged nervously.
"How about you let me know why you guys are home some early." Leo retorted. Thankfully this was effective in distracting Mikey and Raph as they gave their explanations.
"Well da garage wasn't getting too much business so I decided ta close up shop and hang at home. Ya got a problem wit dat Fearless?" Raph spat back. Leo rolled his eyes at his immediate younger brother and turned his attention to Mikey, who was literally jumping up and down with excitement.
"Leo LEO! So we were at the restaurant and I was cooking up a storm, when Charlie comes in and says that I have to take the day off cause he was havin' an important meeting so the restaurant was closed!" Mikey said giddily, and Leo chuckled.
"That's great Mike." He smiled and Mikey bounced around energetically, going on about some kind of super hero show he was going to be able to watch now. Leo looked at Raph, who smirked and rolled his eyes.
"Hey Fearless there's a new gym down da street. Ya wanna take these dorks over so I can show 'em up?" he said, smirking and flexing his arm muscles.
Leo thought inwardly, 'If only you knew what I could do Raph.'
Minutes later, Leo and his brothers entered the new gym. The gazed around a little at the spacious weight room through the glass doors before moving towards the desk. Each man got a membership, and then they went to the locker rooms to change into their work out clothes.
The locker room was filled with mist from the showers that lined half of one side of the room. Next to the showers were the bathrooms. On the other side of the room were the lockers, where each boy unlocked their locker. They each began to undress until they were all in their boxers. Leo managed to quickly get his dark blue sweatshirt on before any of his brothers could see the muscles he'd gained since he joined the CIA. He didn't want them getting suspicious of what he really did. Leo didn't know any travelling business men with muscles that he had.
He carefully chose to run on the treadmill while his brothers went immediately for the weight benches. Leo had been running for twenty minutes without breaking a sweat when the contest that changed everything began. The rules were: your shirt had to be off, someone had to be a spotter, and another person in the gym who wasn't family had to be the referee. They guys had convinced a young man to be their ref. Leo laughed at his brothers' antics as they taunted each other.
Mikey was up first, his small sinewy muscle lifting 100 pounds before he gave out and moaned that he couldn't lift anymore. Donny took his turn under the bar, and reached 130 before he gave up and Mikey helped him put the bar down. Leo watched as Raph smirked and started at Donny's weight. He got to 200 pounds before his muscles gave out. Donny helped the victorious Raph get the bar back on the holders. Leo finished his run and watched as his brothers argued about Raph's win. Raph flexed his muscles victoriously as Mikey pouted.
"Hey wait Leo didn't go!" Mikey screeched. Raph stopped but the smirk never left his face.
"Yeah right Mike. Like Fearless can beat me! He's a business man!" Raph roared with laughter, and Donny and Mikey joined in. Leo's control snapped in that second, and he forgot about hiding his identity. Leo strutted down to them and lay down on the bench.
"We'll see about that Raph." He said, as his brothers threw him shocked looks. They stood there for a second before Raph smirked again and motioned for his shirt to come off.
"C'mon Fearless you been hidin' behind dat sweatshirt forevah! Take it off!" Raph snickered, "What do ya got somethin' ta hide. Afraid o' my muscles?" he flexed his biceps again.
"Raph I-" Leo protested.
"Don't be a chicken!" Mikey yelled.
"It can't be that bad Leo." Donny said kindly. Leo rolled his eyes in exasperation, and pulled off his sweatshirt. Without looking at his brothers' faces, Leo lay back down and reached up for the bar.
"Is someone gonna spot me?" he asked a little shakily. There was silence for a second, and then Donny appeared behind Leo. "Thanks Don."
Leo pushed himself to his limit, finally lifting 275. He put down the bar with a huff, and then pulled on his sweatshirt. He wordlessly walked out of the room to the small indoor lap pool. Leo pulled his sweatshirt off again. Immediately he dove into the pool and swam laps. After 10 or 20 Leo pulled himself up out of the water, spluttering slightly. As he was ascending the small ladder, he looked up. Staring back at him with incredulous faces were his three brothers. He yelled in surprise and fell back into the pool.
He came back up gasping and spitting out water. "What the hell guys?" he yelled.
They just stared at him for a while until Donny spoke up, "Leo, no offense, but we didn't know you had muscles…period." They backed away from the edge of the pool and let Leo climb out.
"Look guys… just forget about it okay?" Leo tried, his light and slightly strained voice muffled by the towel he wiped his head off with.
"Nuh uh Fearless! Ya been actin' weird since you took your damn job, and we've had enough!" Raph growled. Leo froze, and inwardly he began to hyperventilate. He was once again struck with the overpowering urge to reveal everything to his brothers, to finally get the immense weight lifted off his chest. Instead he pulled the towel away from his face and stared at it for a second while his insides swarmed into a frenzy. His midnight locks dripped water into the towel, and Leo shook himself. He looked over at his brothers, and his gaze hardened. The weakness in his resolve retreated, and it became iron hard again. Nevertheless, a small voice rang in the back of his mind.
Their lives are in danger now too. They always have been, and they deserve to know.
Leo angrily pushed the voice farther into the back of his mind, all the while feeling the pang in his heart that knew that the voice's words rang true.
"Please Raph I don't want to talk about it." He almost whispered.
"No. We're family Leo! Brothers! We don't keep secrets!" Raph's voice rang through the swimming area, and an elderly couple stared curiously at them.
"Drop it Raph!" he hissed, and then stormed away to the lockers. Quickly made his way to the showers and rinsed the chlorine off of his body. When he got back to the lockers, he and his brothers changed in a pained silence. Leo inwardly beat himself up for snapping at his brothers, and they exited the building in silence. A cacophony greeted them, as the city shifted from day to night. The sun was setting, painting the usually blue sky in vivid shades of red, orange, and a little stripe of purple.
Leo sighed and shifted so that he walked closer to his youngest brother. "Hey Mike are you cooking tonight, or should I order some pizza?"
Mikey, relief at being released from silence shining on his face, leapt at the chance to speak comfortably with his oldest brother. "Dude I am so ready to just order some pizza and veg out for the rest of the night!" he replied, his blonde locks bouncing and his baby blue eyes sparkling.
Leo chuckled and smiled at him, "That's what I was thinking, why don't you order?"
As soon as the got home, the still steamed Raph stormed off to his floor, and Leo winced when he heard the door slam. Mikey bounded off to the kitchen, grabbing their cordless phone on the way. Leo sat on the couch with Donny as Mikey spoke animatedly to the person on the other line.
"Hey Don you got any new projects?" Leo asked, hoping to strike up a conversation to fill the silence floating between them. He could tell that Donny was still a little hurt from Leo snapping at him, but the brainiac could never resist talking about his inventions.
"Oh yeah Leo, we are working on perfecting a neural laser for medical science." Leo smiled as Donny's eyes lit up, and he chatted aimlessly on the progress of his company. This is why he missed New York when he went on his "business" trips. New York was a rough place, but Leo had his life here. His family lived and worked here, and they were happy.
When Don drifted back to his laptop, Leo picked up the remote and switched on the television. The 6 o'clock news was on, and a handsome anchorman delivered the latest news. Suddenly, a picture of a small Asian man appeared on the small screen behind the reporter. The hatred in the eyes of the man on screen turned Leo's blood to ice.
Dr. Quanatu.
Leo leaned forward, and listened intently to the haughty reporter's story.
'Dr. Fuji Quanatu escaped from a high security prison yesterday. He was taken into custody for trying to control the minds of all human life by spreading a gas across the planet. He is believed to be extremely dangerous, having killed his guard on the night of the escape. A red alert has been placed across the globe, and if you see this man, call the police and do not go near him.'
With that, the reporter disappeared to be replaced by the perky weather girl.
"Another display of how well high security prisons paid for by the government actually work." Donny mumbled next to Leo, but his words fell on deaf ears. Leo felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. His family was in danger, and he needed information. Right then and there, he decided to go out after dinner. He was going out to see Sceetchy, and Charlotte was coming with.