Chapter 7 - Tomes and Tunes

A/N - Oh man, do I come up with the cheesiest chapter names or what?

This chapter took me a bit to hash out, so I apologize for the wait.

Also, I've been told the link I added at the end of the last chapter isn't working, so if you are still interested, you can see my art for chapter 4 - by visiting my TMNT gallery at Deviantart: . .

The next few days flew by in a flash. The boys had been patrolling more than ever, and much to their distaste, had found more and more foot soldiers. Often paired up with some kind of heist involving Kraang tech. The hardest part was that they still had no idea why they were working together or what they were up to. Just that it couldn't be good. And that April's safety was still at risk until they could find out.

This left April with a lot of time on her hands, since it was still unsafe for her to leave the confines of the lair. So she spent some time setting up her room. Hanging her clothes in the makeshift wardrobe and setting her few belongings out on the desk and shelves. At one point it occurred to her that she had now spent more time setting up her room in the sewers of New York, then she had ever spent on the perfectly acceptable apartment bedroom her aunt had provided her.

Somehow this was different. She wasn't just being left in a spare room as her aunt carried on with her busy life as a single workaholic. This new family had adopted her into their own untraditional one, literally building her a room, where one hadn't been before, carrying her belongings by hand through the shadows of the city and sharing their limited supplies and simple way of life with her without batting an eye.

She knew her aunt had meant well, and wanted her to be happy, but she never felt as welcomed at her place as she did in the lair. April knew that long after her Dad returned and her life went back to "normal", she'd still consider this a second home.

After applying the final touches to her room, which hadn't honestly taken that long, she was taking it easy and truly giving her body the chance to finish healing. A very direct order given to her by her current caregiver, and current object of her thoughts, Donatello.

The boy in purple hadn't set foot in her room since immediately after the pipe incident, when he had hurried back with a mop, as promised. He had quickly sopped up the mess within minutes before excusing himself, stating that there were some projects needing his attention.

April had not said a word as he cleaned up, but could only think back to the way he had looked at her just before the water had hosed them down. Was she crazy? Had it really been anything different from his usual awkwardness around her? Or had she just been imagining things?

By the time he had rushed out, she had convinced herself that it was just his normal shy self making things feel more awkward than they really were. She wished for a moment that Donatello could move past his shyness. He was so much more fun to hang out with while they worked on a project together and his mind could run on scientific mode and forget to be embarrassed because she just so happened to be a member of the opposite sex.

Sometimes she had to laugh at how he and his brothers were such extremes of one another, if only Donnie could inherit a fraction of Raphael's confidence when it came to interacting with people.

The crimson banded brother was the only one that hadn't come by to see her new room. Hearing that Donnie had finished with the construction, both Leonardo and Michelangelo had stopped by to check it out and she had proudly given them a tour. Mikey had been quite jealous that she had gotten her own sink and she heard him grumble under his breath about Donnie making nicer stuff for her, than his own brothers.

The more she thought about, it the more she realized she hadn't really even talked to Raph since that last night they had been caught training and she had stuck her foot in her mouth, complaining about being stuck hiding down here. Sure, she had crossed paths with him a few times in the kitchen and exchanged pleasantries, but otherwise she had hardly seen him.

She was starting to wonder if he was avoiding her. She still felt bad about their misunderstanding that night and had truly missed their training sessions. Realizing that now was as good of a time as ever, she decided to go in search of her friend.

Pausing in the empty kitchen and living space, she then peeked in to find Mikey and Leo sparring in the dojo. Narrowing down that he must be in his room.

She wandered down the tunnel that led to their bedrooms. Donnie's was the first entrance and she had never gone beyond it. Though each boy had decorated their doors in such a way that it was easy to know who it belonged to.

Passing a door plastered with Space Heroes posters, she knocked on the next one. There was a sign stating 'stay out' and a sticky note below it that read, 'That means you, Mikey!'. Definitely the right one, she mused.

"What?" A gruff voice hollered from within.

April slowly opened the door and stuck her head in. Peering around, she was struck with how orderly the space was. There was an area to one side with free weights lined up neatly beside a bench and an extra set of weapons hung on display above it.

The brick walls had a few posters tacked to them, mostly of zombie or action movies. The bed had been sloppily made, but unlike Donnie's pile of blankets, Raph's covers had been pulled up and smoothed out in some semblance of neatness.

In the far corner was a small desk, where Raphael was sitting hunched over, his shell towards the door.

"Hey." April announced herself as she stepped into the room.
Raph glanced back over his shoulder, obviously not expecting it to be her. "Oh, hey." He sat up straighter and April could see that he had been feeding Spike, as he roamed across the desktop.

"I thought I smelled grapefruit, but figured it was Mikey." He smirked in her direction.

She gave him an unamused look.

"So… what's up?" He asked, picking up Spike and placing him in a rather lavish terrarium under his desk. He clicked on the heat lamp that hung above it and turned his attention back to the young woman standing in his room.

"Oh…" April glanced around, feeling uneasy. "I just hadn't really talked to you since the other night and wanted to make sure that we were 'ok'?"

Raph's brow creased in confusion.

"I was kind of a whiney jerk." She explained while toeing a crack in the cement floor in front of her.

Raph gave a sort of disbelieving snort that got April to look up and see his smirk.

"Takes more than that to upset me, Red."

"Ok." She nodded. "Well, just so we're clear, I'm sorry."

"Like I said, it's not needed." He shrugged. "Donnie, however… Everything good between you two? Because I did NOT mean to get in the middle of that." He added.

April's mind flashed to the hug she had given him after her apology, and then to the moment when she had thought he was going to kiss her. The memory brought a flood of emotions that she was still unsure of what to do with.

She looked away and replied in a voice that was so fast and quiet that Raph might have missed it, had he not been awaiting her answer. "Yeahwe'regood."

He noted the pink tinge on her cheeks and wondered what Donnie had done to embarrass her, but decided he'd rather not know.

Desperate to act normal and find a new subject, April moved across the room and plopped down on Raph's bed, letting out a small sigh.

"So what the heck do you guys do around here all day?" She asked.

"Getting stir crazy already?" Raph smirked before grumbling out under his breath, "Try 15 years of being cooped up down here."

"I can't imagine"

"Well, I mean, we train a lot, obviously. And there's a reason that Mikey is so good at quoting movies and Leo has seen every episode of Space Heroes a dozen times. That was our way to escape, and learn about life beyond these walls." He smiled at what April could tell were good memories. "And you know, we all picked up hobbies of sorts. Donnie builds things, Leo likes to meditate and fold origami, Mikey skate boards and plays video games. We manage to keep ourselves busy."

"What about you?" She asked, now genuinely curious. "What's your hobby?"

"My hobby?" He had stepped right into that question. He looked around the room and found April nodding in a manner to suggest he continue. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and mumbled quietly. "I read."

"Like comic books?"

"Yeah, but also pretty much anything I can find, actually."

She looked over to him and raised a questioning eyebrow. "Really? Anything I would like? I'm dying for some entertainment."

"Can you keep a secret?" He asked, as he walked over to his makeshift closet, which was more of a niche in the wall with a curtain closing it off. "The others would never let me live it down, but it's not like I can waltz into a bookstore. I mean, hell, I don't have any money anyways, so I just grab whatever I can find on scavenge runs."
He moved aside a stack of boxes and pulled a larger one into the room, opening it. Curious, April walked up and peeked over his shoulder.

At first she was blown away by the sheer amount of books he had stashed away. This rather large, trunk-sized box probably had at least 50 or so paperbacks of all varieties within. There was action, fantasy, science-fiction, mystery and even a romance novel or two. April smiled inwardly as she recognized some of the more "girly" novels about vampires that were all the rage at her high school.

"You've read ALL of these?" She asked looking astonished.

"Yeah, I'm not saying that I enjoyed all of them, but I read them at least once. There's only so many times you can watch Mikey play the same damn game over and over again before you have to give your poor mind a break."

April chuckled at the comment. "And you keep ALL of them?"

"Oh hell no." Raph rolled his eyes at what felt like such a ridiculous notion. "This is just my current stash, I have a few more boxes in the back with the ones worth keeping. The rest eventually make it back to the dump every couple months."

April's eyebrows shot up, unable to hide her surprise. "I like to read, but I'm lucky if I find the time to finish a dozen books in a year."

"Yeah well, after living down here with these bozos, you'll start to understand."

April just shook her head and smiled at the smug look on his face.

"Would it be ok if I borrow some?" She asked, excited at the prospect of a fresh new way to spend the time.

"Help yourself, but you didn't get them from me." He winked and then crouched down next to the box, digging around a bit to find a couple he thought she might like.

She read the back covers of the ones he set aside and gathered a few in her arms and headed over to the doorway before pausing.

"I really miss our training sessions. How would you feel about picking back up, maybe one a day?" Her tone was a little shy, not really confident on how he would answer.

He stood up from the box, dropping the last few books back inside and looked her up and down. "I dunno. You think you're ready?"

"I think so, as long as we take it easy this time." She smiled. "And I'll be sure to get the 'ok' from my doc."

"Done. Let's plan on it." He grinned back.

Just as April slipped out the door she heard Raph add, "I've missed 'em too."

A smile spread on April's face as she let the door close behind her.

Donatello hadn't actually physically checked April's injuries since that first night he had examined her. He'd stopped her in the dojo a couple of mornings, during Master Splinter's training sessions and asked a few pointed questions about swelling and pain levels. But she had assured him every time that she was healing nicely and not to worry. So April figured that it was probably about time to get things checked anyways.

She made her way to his lab and wandered in, finding his legs sticking out from under the Shell Raiser. As she got closer she noticed that he was tapping one large, olive-green foot to a rhythm that only he could hear.

"Donnie?" She called out, but glancing over at his music system in the corner, she noted that he must have his wireless headphones turned on.

She strode past him, and gently kicked the bottom of his other foot, announcing her presence. And then flipped the switch on the system, causing the music to switch back from headphones to the wall mounted speakers.

The pleasant tune filled the room as Donnie slid out from under the subway car to determine who was harassing him. "Hey!" He started before realizing that this time, it had not been one of his brothers. "Oh, hi April. I didn't hear you."

"Yeah, I noticed. Hope you don't mind." She pointed over her shoulder at one of the speakers indicating the switch.

"Sure that's fine." He mumbled and walked around to the side of the subway car, where he had a panel still open, and exposed wires hung freely. "Give me one moment, I'm almost done."

April nodded in understanding, following Donnie and standing behind him as he crouched down to reach in the panel. "What are you working on?"

"After the Kraang stole back their power cell, I've been trying out a few alternative power sources." He paused to yank at a particularly annoying bolt that was rusted in place. His tongue sticking out to the side as he worked. "…This one seems to be working well, but I'm still fine-tuning a few things."

He clipped the sheath off one of the exposed wires and connected it with another. "Hey can you hand me those?" He pointed up at the pliers balanced on the bumper near April.

She handed over the tool, for which he gave her a grateful smile and continued to work away. Never once losing his focus on his work, or blushing as she neared him.

Focused-Donnie was her favorite variation of him. When he tuned into a project, he would forgot to be nervous around her, giving her the chance to see his true self.

It also presented itself as the perfect opportunity for April to do a little investigation. She was determined to find out if the tension she was sensing between them the other day was anything more than his normal shyness.

She watched him, waiting for her moment to strike. And when she noted that he had left his wrench on the tool bench, she quickly collected it and poised herself crouched beside him just in time for him to turn and ask for it.

"April, could you hand–" His voice caught as he turned to ask, but practically ran into her, not realizing that she had placed herself so close. She dropped the item he had yet to actually request into his outreached hand. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Wow - seriously, what did I ever do without you?"

He accepted the wrench and went back to tightening the last few bolts, not even flushing at her closeness. The genuine smile and playful statement definitely confused her. April knew that he had said it as a joke, but she couldn't deny the small part inside of her that warmed at the notion. Maybe it's just ME imagining things.

Holding a bolt in place with one hand, Donatello blindly reached beside himself to find the missing nut on the ground. His large hands danced across the cement in search of the piece. He drifted past April's legs as she remained crouched beside him and accidentally brushed alongside her thigh. Feeling the silkiness of her tights, his hand jumped back and he turned to catch her gaze.

"Looking for this?" She asked, holding up the small piece.

For the first time, since she had walked in, Donnie seemed to lose his focus. "Um… yeah. I mean, yes. Thanks." He opened his hand, palm up between the two of them, barely far enough away to keep from brushing alongside her leg again.

April noted the slight blush on his cheeks as she dropped the piece into his awaiting hand. But, it didn't last long, as he switched right back into 'mechanic mode' and twisted the bolt back into place and began placing caps on the exposed wire ends.

Now this was the type of reaction she was looking for, some sign that even when his mind was focused on something else, that she could still get his attention. What she was completely unprepared for was how it made her feel. The brief touch as the back of his hand had brushed past her leg had sent an unexpected jolt of electricity through her body. She suddenly felt very warm for being in the large cavernous room.

He however, seemed somewhat unaffected and finished by placing the cover back on the panel, humming while he worked, softly singing along with the overhead speakers. A couple lyrics slipping out quietly here and there.

April paused when she realized she knew the tune. And it was the first time she had noticed the theme to his current music selection. She turned to Donnie, who was wiping some grease off his hands and raised an eyebrow in question. "Are you listening to Oldies?"

He tossed his mottled black rag over to his work bench and looked at her. "Yes." He said in a manner more serious then she was expecting. "Why? Are you going to tease me?"

"Not at all!" She shook her head, still feeling as warm as though she were sitting in a sauna, but attempting her best to act normal. "It was just unexpected."

He smiled back at her and shrugged before reaching to collect some of his tools off the cement floor. "I like Oldies, they're cheery."

He stood up, still singing to himself at a volume that was almost inaudible. "But, if you feel like loving me, if you've got the notion…"

April finished the lyric for him. "… I second that emotion"

Donnie locked eyes with her, surprised that she even knew the song, but also not even realizing he had even been singing out loud.

And like that, Donnie was nervous again. With his project complete, his focus had immediately shifted to the beautiful red-head right in front of him. And he could feel his cheeks heating up almost instantaneously. He internally chided himself for his inability to act normal around her. Hell, since the fiasco with the pipe breaking he had been too embarrassed to show his face.

He needed to do something and it needed to happen now, before he really lost his nerve. He offered a hand, lifting her up to her feet with ease. Once she was up, he continued the motion, smoothly spinning her in place as the song continued.

April felt like her heart was in her throat as it pounded away. She twirled and came back around almost flush against him. He continued to hold her hand and placed his other softly on her hip. He took a step to the side, guiding her into a rhythm and they slowly swayed back and forth dancing to the tune.

In a voice barely above a whisper, he sang along, "If you feel like giving me a life time of devotion…I second that emotion"

They danced until song ended and after a few beats the pair slowed their movements to a stand still. For one silent moment the two locked their gazes with one another and April saw that same look in Donnie's eyes she had seen a few days earlier. It made her heart speed in excitement.

The music shifted to the next track and a louder more up upbeat song began making their intimate dancing position feel silly. April blushed and giggled a bit as Donnie dropped his hands, also feeling his face heat up.

"That was a pleasant break." He stated, as he rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous habit.

"I didn't know you could dance." Was the only thing April could think to say.

"Splinter said that every gentleman should know the basics." Donnie rattled off, not being able to stop himself from explaining things. "He also said that it was a good way to practice timing."

April smiled at the image of four little turtle-tots ballroom dancing around the dojo.

The two stood in front of the Shell Raiser, and Donnie reached up to pull the long forgotten earphones off his head. "So.. ah… what brought you in here? I'm done now, so you've got my complete attention."

"Oh—Actually I was hoping that you could take a look at my ribcage." April answered, having completely forgotten her reason for coming to his lab.

"Are you hurt?" Was his quick response. His large brown eyes seeming to look her over for any other signs of injury. "Why didn't you say something earlier–"

"Donnie - no, I'm fine." She cut him off, both pleased and irritated by his over-protectiveness. "Actually, I was hoping to be 'cleared for duty' by my doc."

Donnie looked a bit more relieved at this point, but made no motion that he had heard her.

"That would be you."

"Oh, right." Donnie, shifted past April and set his headphones down on the counter next to the system. Clicking off the music as well. "Why don't you come sit while I wash my hands."

April nodded and followed him to the cot in the back where he had done his initial exam that night Karai had attacked her. Sitting on the edge of the cot, April watched as Donnie removed the grease covered wraps from his knuckles and scrubbed his hands clean.

It had appeared that he had now switched over to his doctor-mode, which actually comforted her, since she was still feeling so flustered herself.

Donnie stepped up beside the exam bed and looked April up and down. He cleared his throat for a moment, feeling somewhat uncomfortable about something. "Um… did you want to lift up your shirt, so I can see your ribs?"

Crap. She really hadn't thought this through. Here she was feeling all flustered and embarrassed and of course she wasn't wearing a loose tank top this time. In fact, with the long sleeves and the crew cut neck, she'd probably be better taking the whole thing off since he'd need to look at her shoulder as well.

"I could find a sheet or something." Donnie added, sensing her hesitation.

It was impressive, how professional he was acting. He was indeed a great medic, but seeing as how all the people he had treated before now, basically walked around without any clothes on, he didn't really have much experience with modesty. She realized how silly it would be for one of his brothers to be sitting here wearing a paper gown.

"It's fine."

Attempting to act confident, she pulled the long-sleeved tee over her head, exposing the pink flowery bra she wore beneath it. Having not yet attempted to do laundry since moving in with the boys, there had been a necessity to move on to her more frilly and less functional undergarments. For a brief moment she wondered if he thought she had worn it for him.

Donatello, to his credit was doing his very best to look everywhere, but at her breasts. He took himself very seriously when it came to being trusted as their medic, and his brothers had learned long ago to never feel embarrassed with anything discussed with him as their only option for a doctor. But even in his professional mode, he couldn't deny how beautiful her porcelain skin looked beneath the exam light.

"Can you lay back please?" He asked softly and she complied.

Ever so gently, he placed his wide digits along the bottom of her rib cage and softly tested the muscles as he pressed. "Does this hurt?" He asked.

She shook her head, but reached down to guide his hand to a spot between her bottom two ribs. "It's a little tender here if I catch it just right."

Don glided his hands over both sides, comparing the two. "It does seem the slightest bit swollen here, but it's healing nicely."

He moved to stand up near the head of the cot, looking over her torso only as much as was needed to verify that the bruises were faded. He got to her shoulder and went through the same sets of questions.

He brushed his thumb across the nook of her neck, where the angry black and blue color had marred her skin only days before. There was a couple areas that still had a hint of the yellowish stain, that gave away the location. April let out a small shiver as the gentle touch caused goosebumps to erupt across her skin.

"Whoah." He responded a little surprised.

"What is it?" April's hand jumped to the spot where Donnie had his eyes trained. She felt around for whatever it was he was looking at.

Donnie reached out to calm her hand. "Sorry, it's nothing. I just… I've never seen goosebumps before, it was kinda cool."

"Goosebumps? Really?" She rolled her eyes and sat back up.

Donnie didn't seem the least be phased by her tone and continued on. "It seems like everything has healed nicely." Donnie said in his professional voice. "You should be free to go about your normal activities, but try not to overdo it this time." He raised one brow in a knowing look.

"I know, I know." She shook her head in such a way, that Donnie expected her to say, "Yes mom."

"Well thank you." She added, smiling back up at him. And he returned her grin with a giant gap-toothed one.

Donnie was suddenly very aware that with the exam over, he was now just talking with a shirtless April. His eyes lightly scanned across her soft freckled shoulders, noting the lacy pink strap that ran over them. He started to follow them down as they met the tops of the soft cups in a little bow. Her cream colored skin curved up around her small mounds, forming two utterly perfect peaks.

April couldn't help but notice that Donnie's attention had seemed to be drawn a little further South then it had been a moment earlier. Any other guy, she'd probably smack him for looking. But Donnie's gaze could be compared to that of someone appreciating a great masterpiece of artwork and it made her feel special.

At that moment, his eyes snapped back up, having caught himself looking. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, his face burning red.

"It's okay." April said softly. "I'm different. And you were just curious." She referenced the same thing he had said to her the day he caught her examining his shell.

"You're beautiful." Was his soft reply. In a moment of courage, he ran a finger across her shoulder and down her arm, delighting in the reaction to his touch, as he watched the goosebumps reappear across her sternum.

A loud noise echoed through the room and startled the two. April grabbed her shirt and threw it over her head, afraid to be caught in her bra by one of his brothers.

Donnie had whipped around, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked around the room to see who had walked in, but everything seemed in order.

"I think it was just a tool falling." He sputtered out in his nervous giggle.

He turned back to April who was fully dressed again, her pony tail mussed up with hair sticking out on the sides and her face a brilliant shade of pink.

"I should probably go." April muttered, hopping back onto her feet.

For the second time that day, April felt like her heart might beat it's way out of her chest. The room was suddenly sweltering and her nerves were on edge.

"Ok." Donnie reached out to smooth a section of her hair back down.

"Thanks."

April practically ran from the lab back to her room, throwing herself face first into her bedspread. Holy Crap! What the hell was that?

Having a scientist for a father, April had met her fair share of nerdy, socially awkward people. One of her Dad's old coworkers had known her family since she was little and still had a hard time looking her in the eye to carry on a conversation. So when she met Donatello and started to hang out with him, she wasn't really all that surprised to find that he fell into the stereotype.

She wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting to find out when she had been testing the waters with Donnie today. Part of her was convinced that there was nothing more to his behavior than the sheer lack of experience of being around a girl. But after the way he had been acting lately, the near kiss, the way he looked at her, she was starting to think that maybe there really was more going on.

The thing that she couldn't explain was the way she was feeling. She had felt nervous and flustered today. And his gentle touch had sent a warmth through her system that she was unprepared for. Donnie was undoubtedly the best relationship she had ever had with anyone. And she valued his friendship highly. So was she really considering being more than a friend? Could a romantic relationship between them really work out? Before she had seem him gazing at her body today, she might have wondered whether he was even capable of being attracted to a normal human.

But would she be able to look past his unique features? I mean, sure he was part turtle, but he was also human. His adorable gap toothed grin sprang into her memory and she felt her body flush again just thinking about him, answering the question for her. The only remaining one was 'now what?'.

End Chapter 7 - Tomes and Tunes

A/N

Do you know how much it would make my week to see this puppy break into 100+ reviews? C'mon, you know you want to leave one… :) Are you still liking it? Is enough happening? Do you like the interactions with the other turtles as well? Poor Leo, I have the hardest time writing him so I just keep leaving him out. But next chapter will have a Mikey focus!