Growing Pains
Chapter 11
Several months had passed since Raphael had taken her to his crystal cavern. It was that day both felt something irreversible shift between them. Although they had never officially ended their relationship before Raphael left now, without really voicing it directly, it was clear each saw the other as something more than a mere friend. Yet, nether wanted to risk losing this precious gift a second time, and so somehow they had silently agreed to simply not talk about it in order to protect it. Besides they were really in no rush. However, sometimes life has a way of rushing things along despite one's intentions. Three mutant turtles who had yet to fully give up on their long lost brother would be the catalyst the couple had unknowingly been waiting for.
Although Raphael was slowly beginning to warm to the idea of reuniting with his family, he was hardly actually anywhere near ready to do so. It had been beyond difficult to keep him a secret all those months, but April understood the necessity and respected Raphael's choice. Thus, she had done everything she could to not let his brothers clue in on her actions and she truly had thought she had been careful. Alas, neither April nor Raphael should have underestimated the mutant family's abilities to eke out the truth.
It started when she was at the Lair one evening after work. It was a Thursday and she was looking forward to seeing Raphael the next day. Despite their ever-evolving relationship, April was still very close to Raphael's brothers and sought them out whenever she could. The last nine months had been difficult on her trying to find feasible excuses as to why she was unavailable on so many weekends. She supposed in retrospect it wasn't all that surprising that one of the guys would sit her down sooner or later and demand answers. The turtle to do so was Donatello.
She had been helping him out in his lab when out of the blue he broached the subject, "April, why are you spending so much time in the sewers without us?"
At first a jet of fear came at the thought that he had been following her and knew the truth, but thankfully he saved her from that horrible train of thought, "I was clearing out the data cache from our t-phone network and happened to glance at your GPS log." He raised his hands quickly, "I didn't mean to spy! Where you go is your personal business, but I still couldn't help but notice how many weekends you spend down here. Yet, those same days you always claim you have other plans."
Only Donatello could go from such apologetic innocent to demanding interrogator so fast. April didn't know what to say. She thought about claiming that his system logs must have a bug, but she knew him too well. Donatello would never come to her with such a sensitive topic unless he was positive it was by no error on his part. At her silence he pressed on, "But what really worries me is that every time you're in the sewers like that, your signal then suddenly disappears off the grid for the following twenty-four to forty-eight hours."
Yep, that sounded about right. April would meet Raphael and then they would plunge into the depths of the sub sewers where her cell reception would immediately cut out for the duration of her time with him. To Donatello's logs it would indeed look as if she temporarily fell off the planet. Opting to use her reporter training, April finally countered with her own strategy, "What do you think I'm doing, Donnie?"
It was her best bet. If she had any hope of keeping Raphael's existence down below a secret, she first had to learn how much the turtle before her knew. Startled by such a direct question, Donatello spluttered out, "I don't know! But if you're dimension hopping with the Kraang or something I think we have a right to know!"
April closed her eyes at the memory of her using those exact words against Raphael in a previous attempt to lure him out of hiding. The thought made her feel somewhat nauseous. At last she opened them to meet Donatello's mahogany gaze, "I can't tell you what I've been up to Donnie, not yet anyway, but I promise you I haven't been dimension hopping or doing anything that would put me or you guys in danger."
"Wandering around the sewers alone is hardly a safe nightly activity, April. Especially after all those reports of increased squirrelanoid activity a few months ago. What if you ran into one?"
She had to cover her mouth quickly to hide the smirk she had at that thought. Since reuniting, Raphael had gone out of his way to ensure it was crystal clear to the mutant rodents that if they even laid one finger on her he would hunt down and devour every last one of them. The last time she had come across one alone in the sewers, the thing had turned tail and run so fast it was almost impossible to think that even six months ago it would have done the opposite. Mustering her calm she answered, "Don't worry Donnie. I already have a system in place when it comes to those mutant fuzz balls."
The instant the words were out of her mouth, Donatello was narrowing his eyes in suspicion. April knew that such a handle hardly ever came from her mouth. She also knew it had come straight from Raphael's just that past weekend when she asked if he okay when he was acting more lethargic than usual. His answer had been that he may have gotten a little carried away and eaten more squirrelanoids than he should have. She could practically see him lying on the bed under her, "Whenever I eat too many of those mutant fuzz balls I gotta take the time to digest 'em. It doesn't matter if I'm a mutant; I'm still a reptile, April."
"A system for dealing with mutant fuzz balls?" Donatello folded his arms, "Do tell. You know we're always looking for new methods of pest control."
"Um…" She waved him off, "Look it's nothing really."
"Uh huh." It was obvious he wasn't convinced, "So if it's nothing, you should have no problems letting me follow you to your favourite part of the sewers tomorrow night. I'd love to see your system in action."
"Oh come on Donnie, I'm sure you have better plans for your Friday night."
He gave her an icy look, "I'm a mutant turtle, April. You know I haven't got any plans."
"I didn't mean it like that! I-"
"Guys!" He cut her off, "April's taking us for a walk in the sewers tomorrow night!"
Almost as if on cue, Leonardo and Michelangelo materialized. One look at the solemn expression Leonardo bore and the shit-filled grin on Michelangelo's face told her she was so busted. They may not know she was seeing their long-lost brother regularly, but they definitely knew something was up. "Fine." She snapped, rising from her chair, "I'll be here right after work. Then we can head out."
"See you tomorrow, April!" She hated the poorly contained laughter in Michelangelo's voice.
A/N To my lovely reviewers:
StitcherBell: I know, so many feels! He's definitely been through a lot. April's return into his life really has made all the difference.
SetoAngel01: Haha speaking of brothers… X'D There was no way April's wanderings would go unnoticed forever lol. Also, OMG I already love you forever, but I would love you beyond forever if you did fanart for me for this! Especially after how much I've fallen in love with this tale to see my mental image come to life would be AMAZING! If I could draw I would do it, but alas I cannot draw to save my life… Thus, I have no idea how to advise you on how one would go about drawing such a scene, but I shall send you all my love nonetheless! Raph does essentially look the same as he did before (just with claws) he's just now massive. So maybe drawing a tiny little April is the solution? I don't know but still EEEEEEEEE you are so wonderful girl and I love you to 3
