Raphril Week – Day 4: Date Night

A/N I do not own TMNT, but I am forever grateful for their existence. And back to 2k12 we go!

"Hey Jones! I was sitting there!"

"Too bad Donatello, you got up so the space was free."

"I got up to get a soda from the fridge! I didn't even leave the room!"

"What can I say? You snooze you lose."

April groaned at the bickering teens before her. It was Friday night, and the group of them had settled on playing board games. In particular, Leonardo and Michelangelo had practically begged to play "Mazes and Mutants." So here they were, at the kitchen table pausing the game while Casey Jones and Donatello fought for April's attention. Apparently, the fight to sit next to her had yet to be over even though they had just had the same argument half-an-hour ago.

Admittedly, April could have avoided the whole thing by sitting with either side of her free, but all she wanted was to sit next to Raphael – the true object of her affections for months. Neither had said anything to the other, but April was almost positive something was there. The way his green eyes would immediately flicker and remain just a bit too long on her when she entered a room. That tiny little spark of warmth she felt when their hands brushed over the simplest things like passing the butter. Not to mention how her heart raced just at the thought of being so daring as to sit next to him tonight. Mind, now that she stopped to think about it, the current argument could be evaded just by Raphael moving, but April didn't see him even contemplate the idea. Instead he seemed oddly transfixed on the tabletop as though hoping said obvious solution wouldn't be presented.

April leaned on her hand, "This is getting ridiculous."

"Know what we should do?" Michelangelo perked up ignoring the arguing teens in the background, "Go in the sewers for some serious LARPing!"

"LARPing?" April frowned in confusion.

Raphael groaned next to her, "Live Action Role Play and there is no way we're doing that! You remember the last time!"

"Oh come on Raph," Leonardo was already pulling back from the table, "You're just put off because Martin turned you into a turkey."

"I'm not put off," Raphael grumbled, "I just think it's stupid."

"Well it beats listening to these dorks arguing over who sits next to me all night." April mimicked Leonardo's action, rising from her chair.

"Oh!" Michelangelo bounced up, "Think if we call Sir Malachi he can hook us up with another rad dungeon maze?"

Suddenly a huge puff of shimmering purple-grey smoke erupted above the table. As the sparkly cloud dissipated, a tiny one-legged bird mutant came into view, "You summoned me?"

"Oh lord…" Raphael pinched the red fabric between his eyes, "Not this again."

April pitied the turtle beside her with a grin before grabbing at his hand to drag him up, "Come on Raph, it won't be that bad."

Surprised by the small warm hands surrounding his own large green, Raphael stood despite himself, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Finally Casey and Donatello stopped their arguing to divert their attention to the bird, "From my scrying I have heard word that once more you seek to bravely adventure forth into my realm of vast enchantments. So I have come to gather you proud warriors to test your skills once more."

"Whoa…" Casey pulled his hockey mask over his eyes, "You mean you can actually send us to a real dungeon to fight real monsters?"

"It's actually just an illusion Martin constructs from our mind's memories." Donatello corrected.

"For an illusion it was pretty good though wasn't it?" Martin retorted.

"Yeah. Great, if you like being turned into a Thanksgiving mascot." Raphael huffed.

"Well you did question my power!" Sir Malachi waved his staff ominously, "Do you still?"

"If I have to play this game you can be the best magical bird in the world if it means me not getting turned into something ridiculous." Raphael's mouth was a thin line as he folded his arms across his plastron.

"Thou wish has been taken into account thy noble Raphael," Sir Malachi responded obviously pleased to have won over the cantankerous turtle, "By my word I guarantee no uncool transformations will occur to thee."

"Whoop-de-do" Raphael sighed, "Can we just get this over with now?"

"Indeed," Sir Malachi directed his attention to the others, "Are you all prepared for your adventure to begin?"

"What do you say guys?" Leonardo was obviously brimming with excitement where he stood, "You ready to get this show on the road?"

"Shell yeah!" Michelangelo punched a fist into the air.

"Casey Jones was born ready!"

Donatello glared at the hockey-playing vigilante before responding, "Sure why not. As long as April doesn't get partnered with Casey, I'm game."

"Who says she has to be with you, camel-breath?" Casey faced-off once more with Donatello.

"I did. What? Does that jockstrap shield your hearing too?"

"Why you-"

"ENOUGH!" Sir Malachi froze the two fighting teens where they stood. "I see this shall indeed be an interesting quest for already two of your party have chosen their desired prize."

"Hey Bird Brain, I am no one's prize!" April snapped.

"I duly note that fair maiden. I only meant to state what is clearly in their minds," He gestured to Casey and Donatello who still angrily glared at each other. "It occurs to me that you all have different interests. Both Leonardo and Michelangelo seek the thrill of adventure while both Casey Jones and Donatello seek to outdo the other believing with it will come victory. Yet, I wonder," He inspected Raphael and April closely, "What is it you desire most?"

April glanced quickly at Raphael who glanced quickly back at her in return. When both simultaneously averted their gazes, Sir Malachi nodded knowingly, "Ah I see. Well then, although I cannot directly grant your wish, perhaps I can at least give you the option of pursuing it." He then lifted his wings high into the air, "With that in mind I beg you ado brave adventurers, but do not fret, I will see you soon!"

Then, in another cloud of smoke, the pudgy mutant vanished. The six friends looked at each other while Michelangelo questioned, "What? Is that it? What are we supposed to do now?"

"Last time Sir Malachi didn't begin until we got into the sewers. Maybe we should gear up and then head out?" Leonardo turned to exit the kitchen with Michelangelo, Donatello, and Casey in tow.

Raphael merely plopped down onto his chair glaring at their backs from the curtain's slits. April paused at the threshold, "Aren't you coming Raph?"

"No way am I wearing that stupid get-up. They can make me play and they can make me be nice to Feather Butt, but I ain't looking like a dork while doing it."

"Oh don't be such a grump Raph," April wandering back to where he sat, "I'm sure it'll be fun if you let go a little. Would it help if we changed your character?"

He snorted, "Hardly. The only cool things worth being in these games are the monsters and those aren't an option."

April picked up a black dragon miniature, "What? So you can't be my cleric's pet?"

"Pretty sure Leo would say clerics can't have pets let alone dragons."

"Ah ah ah…" Raphael and April immediately spun around to see Sir Malachi standing on the counter by the kitchen sink, "But it is not Leonardo who is this dungeon's master, I am! I think your brothers and human friend will be in for quite a surprise when next they see you!"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Raphael stalked towards the bird, but before he could reach him both April and the turtle were engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Between coughs Raphael called, "April?"

Then all went black.

"Raph!"

"Raph."

"Raphael…"

When he awoke he had a splitting headache. Blearily he opened his eyes to find himself in an all-too-familiar room. His words quietly exhaled from him, "No… Not this place…"

All around him were mountains of gold, piles of jewels, and rivers of silver. It was an utter cornucopia of any and all things a well-designed treasure trove would have. Especially if one was guarded by a dragon. Tensing his limbs while holding his breath, Raphael's green eyes whipped around the area for any sign of the giant monstrous Leatherhead he knew inhabited this room. The turtles had fought the creature Sir Malachi had constructed from their memories last time they met, and if they were here, surely Dragon Leatherhead was not far behind.

Still he heard no movement, but that did not mean he heard nothing. From far above, he could hear someone shouting. He hadn't noticed it the first time they were there, but now that he examined the ceiling, he realized there were multiple bridges leading from one side of the room to the other. It was from there he heard her voice, almost crying in its panic, "Raph-Raphael, where are you?! Oh god please be okay!"

His heart skittered in his chest at the sound of her voice and her concern, but then he tensed. If he heard her, chances were Dragon Leatherhead had too, which meant he needed to get to April before she was imprisoned – again. He could do this. All he needed to do was get up there, grab April, and get her to safety all before getting eaten.

No problem. Totally doable. Well hopefully.

First he needed to get his butt off the concrete. He began to pull himself up, but as he rose to have a better look around, Raphael decidedly knew something was off. First of all, if he remembered correctly – which he was pretty sure he did due to the traumatic events of being turned into a turkey – this room used to be a lot bigger. "Raphael?"

He shook his head at April's voice. No time to wonder why Sir Malachi had downsized his dungeon. He needed to get to April before Dragon Leatherhead showed up. He hadn't seen any sight of him yet amongst the piles of golden debris, but it didn't mean he wasn't there. Still, once he was fully standing, Raphael could not deny he found it rather odd that he was now almost as high as the ceiling.

He didn't ponder it long though because at the sound of a sharp inhalation to his left, he whipped his head to see April crouching against the bridge's railing staring in his direction in wide-eyed horror. A shiver of cold ran through his spine as he quickly turned around internally preparing to duke it out with a giant Leatherhead, but – no one was there.

Confused, Raphael turned back to still see April quivering in the same spot. Maybe she was seeing something different from him like that one time they came across those mutant mushrooms? Raphael went to grab her shoulder, but then she suddenly seemed to regain herself and whipped out her tessen. In a flash, she sliced in his hand's direction. Pulling it away just in time so that he would only get a nick, Raphael cursed, "April?! What the hell?"

That made her freeze on the spot, "R-Raph?"

"Who else would I be?" he snapped.

Her eyes were still wide as saucers, "Um… You uh… Don't look the same."

"Oh shit." Raphael immediately went to feel his face, "That bird idiot totally turned me back into a turkey, didn't he?"

Yet as he felt scales under his fingertips, April shook her head, "No… You're definitely not a turkey."

"Then what…?" Raphael pulled his hands away and with both them and April in view, a horrible dawning realization struck him, "Oh no…" He stared down and actually looked at his plastron and feet, before turning his head around to look at his back, "Oh no no no… This cannot be happening!"

But it was. Emerging from his butt was clearly a long dark green tail and arising from his shell were two enormous green and red wings. He also had red claws on his feet and hands and was all too aware of his height difference. "HE TURNED ME INTO A DRAGON?!" Raphael cried causing April to curl up into an even smaller ball where she sat.

Suddenly yet another puff of smoke burst forth beside April. Raphael narrowed his eyes down at the now very tiny bird mutant, "Indeed. Behold Raphael! You are now the most powerful monster in all the maze! In order to leave the dungeon, your brothers and Casey must confront you just as you must confront them! Who wins will be determined by the battle's outcome."

"WHAT?!" Raphael roared in rage, "I DON'T WANT TO BE A DRAGON!"

"That's not what you said earlier," Martin huffed, "Make up your mind already. Not that it matters though, the game has begun and your role is set."

"Wait…" April uncurled herself slightly, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Ah yes, the beautiful maiden," Sir Malachi bowed in respect, "That is part of the puzzle. If Raphael is to win, you must win as well. Only you know what that means."

"I don't know what any of that means!" April cried.

"Well then. You and dragon-boy have your work cut out for you. Until we meet again!" And with that Sir Malachi puffed away once more.

"That little son-of-a-sewer-squid, I swear when I get my hands on him…" Raphael growled.

"Hey, look on the bright side," April stood onto shaky feet, "At least you're not a turkey."

"Hmph." Raphael glared down at her, "Better than being a damsel in distress."

"I'm not a damsel in distress!" The red-head snapped.

"You sure about that O'Neil?"

"I am not!" She huffed, "Now are you going to quit being a dork or are you going to get me down from here?"

"Excuse me?" The dragon-turtle smirked at her, "Last time I checked, you're in my treasure room, which means you're my prisoner. So you don't get to call the shots."

"Says who?" She folded her arms in defiance across her chest.

"Uh," he rolled his eyes, "The giant dragon in front of you."

"Who's also been my friend for over two years, you turd!"

"Hey, if you're going to keep calling me names you can stay up there all night, princess."

Raphael began to lower himself to the ground as she called, "Fine! Who needs you!? I can get down myself."

He snorted as he dug at the gold attempting to make a suitable spot to lie down, "Good luck with that."

"I don't need your luck! I can make my own!"

"Uh huh." Raphael arranged himself so that he could watch her. Unsurprisingly, she tried the doors first, which unsurprisingly were locked. He held back a laugh as she glared at the wood of the second door before leaning over a railing. Undoubtedly, she was looking for a suitable spot to scale down, "How's it going up there?" He called nonchalantly, while still maintaining a close eye on her slender form.

"Great!" She shouted back in a falsely cheery voice, "Just thinking of the best way to impress you the most with my mad skills."

"Right…" Raphael did not like how she was eyeing that one pillar, "You better not break anything."

"What? Already protective of your treasure trove?"

"That's not what I meant." He said flatly, "Seriously, I wouldn't try that if I were you."

"And what do you know?" She pulled herself over the railing and Raphael moved onto his haunches.

"A life-time's worth of Ninjutsu? Trust me, that marble's too slick. You won't be able to get a strong enough grip on it."

"I'm doing just fine." She moved one foot over from its perch on the bridge, "Quit being such a worrywart."

His brow furrowed as she adjusted herself in preparation to move her other foot onto the precarious marble pillar, "I'm not worrying. I'm just stating the obvious and you should go back on the bridge before you fall and break your neck."

"So negative." She began to climb over, "Look I'm-"

Raphael knew it was coming and had moved in preparation. The moment April lost her grip and began to fall, Raphael was there to catch her in his monstrous hand. Lowering his hunches to the ground he lifted her up near his face, "Told you so."

"That you did." April stretched her legs out across his palm, "But guess who still got down?"

"With my help!" He snapped.

"Yep, that's what I was counting on." April smiled coyly.

"You mean you planned that," Raphael narrowed his eyes, "You just assumed I would catch you."

Her smile widened, "Yep. Didn't expect you to sound so worried though."

His face was burning and suddenly he was dumping her on top of a pile of golden crap. Raphael then laid down facing away from her.

"Raph?"

He squeezed his eyes shut trying to ignore her. Maybe if he was lucky she would just go away and Martin would give the whole thing up and put him back to normal.

"Raph?"

He heard her slide down the pile of treasure and felt her collide with his massive side when she couldn't slow down in time. Still he refused to acknowledge her.

"Come on Raphael, please come out."

He listened as she walked around him and knew when she stopped that she was right in front of his face. He kept his eyes closed. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Him scared? Never! Okay well maybe… Fine she was right, but so what if he had been scared? Anybody would have been scared to see her dangling in the air like that. It didn't mean anything. This day was turning out to be a real drag. He should have just stayed in bed.

"Hey," He felt her impossibly tiny hand land on his cheek, and despite himself, his green eyes creaked open, "I'm sorry."

He averted her gaze but still where she touched him burned into his flesh, "Its fine."

"No it's not. I really didn't mean to screw this up."

"Huh?" He lifted his eyes back to hers, "You didn't screw anything up."

"I did." God he had no idea it would feel so good to have her stroke his cheek, "Sir Malachi set this up for a reason, and I've already screwed it up."

"No you haven't. The guys haven't even shown up yet."

"It's not about the guys though! You heard Martin, you cannot win unless I win, and I've already lost."

"How do you know?" Raphael tilted his head in confusion.

April sighed and looked away as she rubbed her arm, "Remember when he asked what it was we desired?"

Raphael felt an uneasy pooling in his belly, "Yeah…"

"Do you remember who I looked at?"

"You… You looked at me." He wasn't sure he would be able to breathe much longer.

She looked up at him, "Why do you think that is?"

"April... You don't mean…"

Raphael was cut off when the doors at the far end of the chamber burst open and in poured Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Casey. Their leader brandished his cardboard longsword in Raphael's direction, "Return to us our friend and brother foul beast!"

The dragon rose to smirk down at the fearless party. Leatherhead was nothing compared to what they faced now, "Foul beast? Have you looked in the mirror lately Lame-n-ardo?"

Leonardo nearly dropped his sword while Donatello's jaw dropped. Casey's eyes practically bugged out of his mask. Michelangelo looked at his eldest brother and quipped, "Hey Leo! He called you the same thing Raph does! What are the chances?"

"It's not a coincidence Mikey, I am Raphael." The dragon chuckled, "And guess who the final boss is?"

"You've got to be kidding!" Donatello's voice went up an octave, "We have to fight you?! As a giant dragon?!"

"That just about sums it up," Raphael nodded smugly.

"So then where's Red?" Casey looked around curiously.

"I'm right here." April stood at the foot of Raphael's front leg.

"Oh I get it," Casey grinned, "We got to save you from the big bad dragon. Typical damsel in distress scenario, right?"

"Who said I need to be saved?" April shouted.

However, her "saviours" simply ignored her in favour of charging at the monstrous Raphael. At the series of loud battle cries, Raphael scooped April up and rose to his hind legs. Meanwhile, the party bellow began whacking uselessly at Raphael's feet. "I wonder if they realize that's not doing anything."

"Apparently much is lost on some people, even when it's staring them right in the face." April muttered bitterly.

Raphael curled his long neck to see her better, "You know, you're not the only one who turned to look at someone."

April relaxed her arms slightly, "You looked at me…"

"I did." He murmured quietly. "And I'm hoping for the same reason you looked at me."

She turned to look at him fully before her lips curved into a beaming smile and he returned his own shy grin. "I guess that means we win."

"I guess it does."

Suddenly they were engulfed once more in smoke, but this time when the haze cleared, they were all in the living area with the guys all at Raphael's feet while said turtle held April's hand. Michelangelo pulled himself up, "Wait… But our epic battle barely even started…"

"Yeah! Who won?" Casey and Donatello both looked at each other before looking at April.

"Ah what fun would it be if I told you?" Sir Malachi tittered from a top the TV.

"But we need to know!" Donatello cried.

"Those who won know that they won in their hearts." Sir Malachi chuckled "Until next time brave adventurers!"

"Does that mean I won?" Michelangelo tapped his chin.

"No, obviously I won!" Donatello countered.

Casey pushed Donatello, "No way man, it was totally me."

"I'm the leader so who else could it be?" Leonardo jumped in.

April and Raphael watched the four argue for a second before she glanced up at him, "Hey do you want to go grab some gyoza?"

Raphael squeezed her hand gently, "It's a date."

Together they left the Lair alone to enjoy their victory.