Donnie was to the point where he was going to walk over to the nearest wall, paint a perfect circle on it, fill it with bullseye lines...and bang his head repeatedly into the center circle until he passed out. Brooklyn was seriously driving him to that point...
"Just leave me alone!" Brooklyn shouted as she held her baby close to her Holly had finally handed over. Mikey's baby. They had hoped letting her hold the boy would calm her down some more. They were wrong. She sat huddled on the far side of the couch, her eyes spilling tears as she tried to scoot as far away from them as she could without toppling over the armrest.
"Brooklyn," Lotus tried for the upteeth time to calm her down "please child. If the answers were not important to us, we would not ask."
"But what about what is important to me!" She snipped back. "I don't care about any of you! For all I know you are sleeping in the same bed as them too!"
"Now, you know that's not true." Holly gently admonished.
"Do I?" Brooklyn's eyes narrowed. "All I know is what is being said on the streets!"
"And what do those words tell you?" Lotus calmly asked her. "Do they tell you that they still work for Shredder? Do they whisper that they go out each night to spread discord and torment? Or do they say that the turtles are no longer disciples of him and have aided to bring him down? Perhaps you heard the version where they have pushed his teachings away, but still must hide in the darkness because so many, like you, still do not trust them. There are so many versions to be heard up there, here you see the truth. You are allowed a glimpse into who they truly are, and yet you coddle those words and use them to justify something that has happened to you. Use your eyes woman, not the rumors that have been fed to you."
"If they had wanted to hurt you, they would have done it already." Holly added. "Leo allowed you to stay in our home after Donnie fixed you up. And Mikey...well... Even I can see that Chase is growing on him. He really doesn't deserve what you are trying to throw at him."
"I didn't deserve what had been done to me!" Came the snippy reply.
Donnie rolled his eyes. Again, hints. That's all they could get out of her were frustrating hints. Though they gave Donnie and idea at what had happened, along with the fact that she popped out a mini Mikey, it was still not much to go on. He had looked over the equipment the ninjas brought in, but they had been carefully cleared of all the data that was stored on them. Apparently during the raid someone had kept their cool long enough to make sure Donnie couldn't recover anything.
"It's ok Holly." They all turned to the quiet voice that spoke. Leo and Raph were walking back in the lair with Mikey. He still looked a bit wild around the eyes as he looked at the woman huddled on the couch. "I understand why she hates me." Mikey then turned and started to head down the hallway to his room. "Donnie? Can I have a word with you bro?"
"Sure thing Mikey." Donnie followed.
He stopped in Mikey's room and watched as the troubled turtle moved to the dresser, opened it and began to take some things out and placed them on the bed.
"What are you doing Mikey?" Donnie asked puzzled after a few moments of watching.
"Brooklyn is up and moving around now." Mikey answered as he kept pulling things out. "Is she healed enough to come out of the lab?"
"She should be, as long as she doesn't pull these freakout fits too often."
"Then she's going to need a place to sleep." Mikey pulled out a bag and began to put his things in it. "She can have my room."
"And where are you going?"
Mikey just shrugged. "Donnie, she doesn't like me. We both know that. No matter what you try to tell her, she sees me as the cause of her suffering. Maybe it would be better if I left the lair for awhile."
"Mikey, no. This is your home."
"Yeah, but she has nowhere else to go. I don't want her to be out there with Chase." He zipped the bag shut then looked straight at Donnie. "I would rather be the one looking for a place to stay. Just...do me a favor and make sure she doesn't hurt herself again, ok?"
"Leo!" Donnie pleaded with the eldest as he stepped into the room. "Do something!"
Leo shook his head slightly as his eyes bored into his little brother. "Don, I'm not sure what I can do here. He's made up his mind...and in a way he does have a point."
Mikey sighed as he looked at both of them. "She's been hurt enough. I don't want to add to that. I won't go far Donnie, I'll go bunk with the ninjas for awhile. I'm sure they'll have a room for me. Maybe you could come by later and hook me some things up?" He smiled a little at the purple banded turtle. "Not my area of expertise. I'm more of a break it kinda guy than a get it to work one."
Donnie narrowed his eyes in the anger he was feeling. Why should his brother have to up and leave? Why couldn't this closemouthed, hard headed, stubborn, over reactive bitch leave? Leo read his expression and answered those questions before Donnie could even launch into his tirade. "Because she is the mother of his son Donnie. He's not going to kick her out."
Mikey just gave Donnie an apologetic shrug as he lifted the bag off of his bed. "Just...promise me you'll keep an eye on them."
Donnie sighed in defeat as Mikey left the room and headed towards the living area. "Fine..." Donnie shook his head. In mere minutes all of their worlds had been turned upside down, and Donnie wasn't liking it.
The youngest turtle paused in the living room and looked a little uncomfortable as he faced Brooklyn. "I...don't suppose you'll let me hold him for a minute..."
Brooklyn just glared at him as she held Chase close to her.
"I didn't think so..." He turned his head sadly away a moment. Looking at, something. Donnie had no idea really what Mikey was looking at as he stared off in the distance. Then he turned back to her. "Look, I won't bother you anymore. Since I seem to just make you uncomfortable, I'm going to leave. Donnie says you are ok to leave the lab now, so...you can have my room. It's a nice warm spot. It'll keep Chase cozy and they can get you whatever you need if you just ask them." He looked longingly at the little turtle she held a moment before he silently turned away. Without another word, Mikey left out the door that led to the barracks.
Donnie just gave the woman on the couch a long look. "I hope you're happy now." He grumbled to her and stormed off to his lab. He really didn't care to hear her answer, and the slam of his door let everyone know that.
.
.
Brooklyn walked hesitantly into the bedroom, Chase still held tight against her. She wasn't sure what to expect when she entered the room that had been offered her...by the one who had fathered her baby. Her eyes wandered over the surprisingly...soft...room. It was still a guy's room, complete with the messes and clutter you would expect from most bachelors. But it also seemed inviting. The colors were warm and cheery, not as much orange you would expect. And the little bit he did have in here was mixed with soft browns and tans. Even a few other colors.
Most of that color pallette could be found on the walls. Shelves were on every single one, in some areas they were three deep. And they were all filled with...stuffed animals of all things... And what couldn't fit on the shelves were crammed on top of the dresser and some even looked happily at her from the bed. And when she accidently stepped on one that had fallen to the floor, she actually smiled a little at the squeak of protest that came out of it.
"He's a sucker for stuffed animals." Leonardo smiled a little as he wheeled the crib in for her. Even he had to stop and move some out of the way. Brooklyn watched this large turtle carefully. He seemed nice enough, but lord he had a temper when he snapped, and it seemed like she was the one always setting him off. Didn't exactly put him high on her comfort list either.
But now he seemed almost gentle as he picked up the stuffed animals from the floor and gently placed them back on the dresser. "He's been collecting them...for a while now. Since shortly after we met Lotus if I remember right." Leonardo held one in particular and looked down at it as he brushed the dirt off. "We always teased him about them. Asked him quite a few times why he insists on collecting something we found useless. You can't use them in a fight really, and they seem to take up all the free room he has in here to just sit there, and collect dust. Which in return sends Lotus into a fit because she hates dust..." Leonardo smiled as he placed that one too on the dresser. "Nothing practical about them, but he loves them." He then began to push the crib closer to the wall by the head of the bed.
Brooklyn just carefully sat down on the bed, that was very comfortable. Then again, after sleeping so long on a thin, worn mattress before being moved here to sleep in the lab...a bed of nails would feel comfortable.
"Had that mattress specially made for him, so sorry if it seems a little...soft." Leonardo adjusted the crib in the corner. "He likes a nice cozy pillow top and it's hard to find one that can accommodate his shell. So we just made one extra extra fluffy for him. Works pretty good. Holly likes to take naps in here on occasion. says it's like sleeping on a cloud."
A sigh escaped the very weary woman before she turned and looked at Leonardo. "Why are you telling me this? Do I look like I care?"
"No, actually you look very tired. Which is understandable considering what you been through today." He paused as he turned to look at her directly now that he was done setting up the crib for her. "And I'm telling you this because you are right. You don't know us, you have no reason to trust us. Maybe to you we really are are the bad guys here working with whoever did this to you. You have no proof to say otherwise." He looked around the room, his eyes soft. "Though I seriously doubt someone who has a room full of teddy bears and a cloud bed would be capable of something like that. Here is a little bit you can see of who he is." He stepped over to brooklyn and reached for the baby.
"Don't you touch him!" She flared. "You keep your filthy hands off of Chase!"
The look he gave her firmly reminded her of the feel of metal under her chin. "Don't start with me Brooklyn. I've had about enough of your temper tantrums. I'm going to take Chase, and I'm going to put him in the crib and you are going to lay down and get some rest while he is sleeping." This time she let him take the boy when he reached for him. True to his word he just calmly laid Chase down in the crib. Then to her surprise, he helped settle her down onto the mattress, then he covered her with the thick down filled comforter. Brooklyn had to admit she felt warm and snug in this over fluffy bed.
Leonardo then knelt on one knee next to the bed as he tucked her in. "I want you to think about something. If my brother is such the monster you believe he is...why then do you still call your son by the name Mikey gave him?"
She just stared at him, not knowing what to say as he calmly watched her back. Then the moment was broken when James came into the room. "Leo! We need you for this one, we think we might have found...another one of those," He jerked his head towards Brooklyn who was quietly watching "places. Hoping that with you guys with us we might have more luck."
Leonardo just nodded at his comrade before James disappeared through the door again. The large turtle laid a hand on hers a moment. "Just...think about what I said, ok? We can talk later if you want."
This time Brooklyn nodded as she watched him go. She laid there for a long while after he left, her eyes walking all over the room before her tired aching body finally called her to sleep.
