Brotherly Bonding on the Cusp of Adulthood

Disclaimer: I don't own the Turtles or any characters you recognise. Eastman, Laird, and Nickelodeon etc own them. I'm doing this for fun and not making any money off it. Please don't sue me :). My OC's belong to me; don't take them without asking please.

The NYTBA (New York Turtle Breeders Association) is fictitious; no disrespect to any similar organisations is intended.

Warning: Contains violence and swearing (bad language).

A/N: These are mostly 2K14 Turtles with other bits thrown in as the mood takes me. No Tcest. Turtles are 19 (Leo), 18 (Raph & Donnie), & 17 (Mikey) respectively.

Leo's POV

'What a night!' I muse, as I relax back on the sofa with a fresh cup of tea. I turn on the television to see the Channel Six news. As expected, April is giving her report on the Human Trafficker's. As usual, the police try to take all the credit, but that's life I suppose.

Raph joins me and places the bag of new work at my feet.

"This is the base of the table. After this, we only have the Master and Mistress chairs to do. I should have them completed ready for sanding by tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully we won't have any more interruptions from the Yakuza." Raph stated, as he took a long pull of Carona beer.

I nodded at him, then gave him a sharp look about the beer. Despite being only eighteen, Raph has found a ready supplier of beer in Casey. I've spoken to Casey about it, but I might as well be talking to his hockey stick for all the response I get.

We both settle down on the sofa, and after the news, watch a movie. I continue to quietly to sand my work, occasionally glancing at the film, which is ironically enough about Yakuza trafficking children in Buenas Aires. Mike joins us after a while, settling onto our worn beanbag. Donnie remains absent, but he had mentioned wanting to take a better look at the Yakuza's laptop, in case there are other shipments we could disrupt.

Another movie, with a fat woman and her alcoholic grandmother later, I've finished my sanding, and decide to check on Donnie as I head to bed. Raph has passed out of his side of the sofa. Mikey is likewise unconscious on his beanbag. I throw a couple of Raph's knitted blankets over them and head towards the lab.

"Hi Leo," Donnie greets me with a smile as he swivels around in his skateboard chair. His lab is covered in papers from the briefcase, in addition to the more usual electronic doo-dads.

"Hi Donnie, I just thought I'd pop in to see if you found anything interesting before I go to bed. Its three in the morning."

Donnie sighed, knowing that I'd mentioned the time as a reminder that he should also be going to bed.

Still he replied with, "It looks like this is a regular thing. I scanned all the documents and forwarded it to our police friend Nobody. He should be able to fire off the details to whoever needs to know it. Since its the Yakuza, they already have dedicated teams in the police to deal with them. Its a shame the Foot Clan never had that level of notoriety with the police. They might have actually stopped them rather than allowing them to almost control the city for nearly fifteen years. I'll deliver the originals to Nobody in the morning, can you wake me when you go for your run?".

"Good work Donnie, Nobody is one of the most stubborn people I've ever met, but he knows how to get things done. I'll wake you in an hour and a half, so get some sleep!" I comment, as I remember our first meeting with the police sergeant, who I think has actually watched Batman more times than Raph.

After some months of negotiation, (A/N: Leo telling Nobody to stick to policework, and Nobody threatening to arrest him if he didn't butt out!) they had agreed that Nobody would forward any case that needed their ninja vigilante's touch, and they would forward any information they found that could make the police's jobs easier. Mostly it worked, but Nobody could be almost as bad a Casey if he thought he was missing out going to a bad guy smack down.

I leave the lab and head to bed, making sure my alarm is set.

000

The next morning (well, later that morning, but whatever), I drag myself out of bed, then track down Donnie, who has fallen asleep on his keyboard again.

"Come on, Postman Donnie, your deliveries await!" I tell him in a loud voice while searching for something to prod him with. Donnie can be rather violent when woken up, so its best to use his Bo or another long stick, like a broom to prod him with.

Donnie growls at me, before throwing a purple stressball at me. I locate his Bo, and push the button to extend it in his direction.

"Arghhhhhh!" Screams Donnie as he jumps into the air when it connects. His Bo must be broken, as it seems to have electrocuted him. Raph and Mikey come rushing in, weapons drawn, as I drop the Bo staff.

"You F$#KE% Idiot!" Donnie shouts as his feet touch the ground. "What have I said about touching things you don't understand Leo!"

"I understand how your Bo works Donnie. You push the button and it extends. Simple." I reply, confused by his reaction.

"That," Donnie snaps sarcastically "was a Taser Bo, and you just tased me!" With this, Donnie picks up his experimental Bo staff and resets it, looking in my direction menacingly.

Raph and Mikey collapse on the ground laughing, before Donnie's glare and a threatening wave of the Taser Bo, send both of them out of the Lab. I decide its time for a strategic retreat and head off for my run.

Donnie's POV

"Arghhhhhh!" I scream as I jump four feet into the air. I was having a pleasant dream about being in a hottub, with some cuddly female NYTBA members, giving a lecture about mutant turtle anatomy, when I was hit with my own Taser Bo. Leo dropped it guiltily as Raph and Mikey rushed in to see if the Lab was under attack.

"You F$#KE% Idiot! What have I said about touching things you don't understand Leo!" I yell at Leo as he slowly starts to back up towards the door.

"I understand how your Bo works Donnie. You push the button and it extends. Simple." Leo replies, seemingly confused by my reaction.

"That, was a Taser Bo, and you just tased me!" I pick up my Taser Bo and reset it, giving Leo a hard glare.

Raph and Mikey collapse on the ground laughing, before my glare and a threatening wave of the Taser Bo, send both of them out of the Lab in a hurry. Leo decides its time for a quick retreat and heads off for his run.

I grudgingly picked up the briefcase containing all the Yakuza's papers and the laptop, before exiting my Lab. I check the time, only to notice that my techtab is fried. I'd better not see Leo for the rest of the day. I'm liable to turn him into a self-roasted turtle if I see him before tomorrow. I head out of the Lair and grab our van before heading to Nobody's.

000

When I get there, after struggling through the New York traffic, the day is starting to lighten. I see Nobody in his police uniform talking on his phone looking frustrated. I also see a pair of elementary children in school uniform and with backpacks looking like they would rather be back in bed. I can commiserate with that, particularly after this morning's wake up.

I toot, then wave a mittened hand in his direction. He hangs up the phone then hurries with both children over to me.

"Donnie, am I glad to see you!" He gives me the relieved look of a deathrow prisoner, that's been given a reprieve.

I quickly hand him the briefcase. He looks at it, then at me. "Donnie, I hate to ask this, but my wife has had to be rushed into hospital this morning, about an hour ago. The children need to go on a school trip today, but I can't go with them. Could you...?"

I'm stunned.

Simply stunned.

"How much do you think the teachers and parents will scream when they see a mutant turtle looking after your kids?" I splutter, as I look at the two bored children.

"Just wrap up your face, keep your hoody on, and it will be fine. I'll call ahead to let the teacher know you're coming...and that you have a non-contagious skin condition that requires all the bandages etc. Nobody rambles as he opens the van and tugs his children inside. "I have to drop this briefcase at work, then I'll be going to the hospital. Hopefully after school I should know more about my wife's condition. She was making lunches, then she just collapsed and stopped breathing. I did CPR, then got my eldest to call 911. This is Elliot and his brother Toby. Here's a fifty to cover the entry fees and their lunch. If it comes to more than that, I'll fix you up when I pick them up."

I look at him, then at the children again. Its obviously not my morning. I tell him OK, then I check that the kids are belted in, before looking at the directions Nobody has hastily written out for me, and the student permission slips.

I tell the kids the 'rules' of hanging out with me as we drive to the Zoo.

000

'The zoo, why would it have to be the zoo.' I think as I give Elliot the cash for the entry tickets. He brings back the change and we follow his class as they wander around the animal enclosures. I take time to text my brothers to let them know what has happened. As expected, I get some cheeky replies from Mikey and Raph. Leo is strangely silent, even though I texted to all three brothers. I'm glad I had grabbed the spare ShellCell, since mine is cooked extra crispy.

The day at the zoo is overcast, but thankfully not wet. Our school group consists of grades one to three. Elliot and Toby are surprisingly well-behaved children. I'd been expecting something more akin to a pair two-legged horrors, so I was more than happy to comply when Toby shyly asked if they could have hotdogs and ice-cream for lunch.

After Lunch, we got to look at the Tortoises and Turtles. Toby was fascinated by the tortoises in particular and was delighted as I quietly told him everything I knew about terrapins. He seemed to absorb everything I said and asked some pretty intelligent questions for a first grader.

It had seemed that the day was too short. I really enjoyed the day, just wandering at the edges of the school group, listening to the guide, and looking at all the animals. Personally I found the Tropic zone with its warm moist air, was my favourite. It certainly had some of the most colourful animals. At the end of the tour, the teachers handed out homework to their classes and we were dismissed.

I called Nobody, who answered the phone sobbing. His wife had died an hour after he arrived at the hospital of a ruptured brain aneurysm. He was now a widower, with six and seven year old sons. He told me that he was in no condition to take care of the boys, and would I mind looking after them a bit longer. I agreed, then called my brother's to let them know we were having a sleepover with Nobody's sons and why

I didn't tell the boys what had happened. Thankfully they had been distracted by the antics of the sea lions. I took the boys to the gift shop and let them pick out a soft toy each. I knew in the upcoming days they would need a 'friend', and I hoped that these toys could be the friend they needed, when their dad, or my brother's and I were unable to be there for them.

All the way back to the lair, the boys talked about what they had seen at the zoo. Toby told me that he had gone to a friend's birthday party and had seen 'Cowabunga Carl'. He said that his parent's had promised, when he turned seven on April 2nd, he would get a 'Cowabunga Carl Party' after school. I smiled, thinking he would be overjoyed when he found out he was having a sleepover at 'Cowabunga Carl's'.

000

I arrived home to a scene of chaos.

A/N: Hi folks, I've added 'Nobody' from the 2003 Cartoon. He's an interesting character, who I felt was underutilised in the cartoon series, so I've resurrected him into my fic. He's a cop by day and a batman wannabe by night. He and Raph got off on the wrong foot (pun not intended), but eventually he became an ally of the turtles. I have this image in my head of him and 2K14 Raph sitting in the Lair, watching the entire Batman movie series back to back eating popcorn and drinking redbull.

I like reviews, please tell me what you think. Hey, can anyone draw me a picture for this story?