CHAPTER 14: MISERY LOVES COMPANY

Donnie & April have a moment and Leo goes stir crazy with Mikey. Also, Raph & Casey 0 - Karma 4.

April shut herself into Donatello's lab and let out a long breath.

"April!" Donatello called happily from across the cluttered room.

She jumped and spun around. "Oh! I wasn't expecting you to be here yet."

He shrugged. "There's only two showers and I wanted to get back to work right away. What did you need?"

"A hiding spot from angry Sensei and whatever he plans to do to Raph and Casey."

"Ah, yes. Good call." He smiled and ushered her over with a hand to his computer. "Come see. It just finished translating."

She grinned back and rushed over. Her hands found the back of his modified office chair and she leaned over his shoulder to look at the computer screen. He was shuffling through numerous files, brimming with excitement.

"I did it," Donatello said breathlessly. "I've downloaded everything they have from the last three months, earth time. I read the pattern correctly at TCRI."

He wasn't boasting, he was actually amazed. The sequence he had deduced while being shot at and having his brothers fight and lob grenades all around him had been a brand new puzzle. While waiting on pins and needles the last few days for his program to crack the code, he had given himself a 40% chance that he had obtained the most recent information imputed, a 30% chance that it was the oldest, and another 30% that it was anything from recipes to inter-dimensional travel brochures.

April released the back of his chair and threw her arms around him from behind, pressing a kiss into his cheek. "I never doubted you," she said happily, twining her hands together against his hard, flat chest. The sharp tang of sweat and leather flooded her brain invitingly.

Her lips against his cheek shouldn't have surprised Donatello; it had come to be the way they shared their small victories together. What had really shocked him was that those lips felt almost identical against his cheek as actual April's had, and his body responded in much same way - with the tense, mind altering state of awe that April had chosen to share her affection with him. It startled him a little bit. He felt her flinch at the sudden stiffness in his shoulders, and disappointment rolled off of her as she loosened her hands from around him and started to pull back.

Donatello felt a pang go through him. He reached up and captured her hands in one of his before she broke away. He pulled them back down his plastron to where she had originally flung them. She was silent behind him, holding her breath. He closed his eyes and inhaled the smell of the vanilla-scented shampoo she was still using. Slowly, he relaxed into her, letting the back of his head rest on her chest and feeling the crazy thudding of her heart. She was excited and nervous. She wanted this, he realized. He struggled internally between the thrill and uncertainty, wondering when her feelings for him had shifted.

The warmth of Donatello as he rested himself into her, and the gentle grip of his hand over hers made the blood crash deafeningly in April's head. It then crashed directly down to her groin and she clenched her jaw in frustration. She dared to look down at him, so close that her unruly bangs tickled across the side of his face. His head was tilted back and rested just above her solar plexus, and the corner of his mouth had quirked up at the light brush of her black hair. Donatello's throat and neck were exposed at this angle. He looked the most human there, in the corded muscles of his neck, the Adam's apple on his throat, the little sweeping hollows of his clavicles that led to his perfectly toned shoulders.

He let out a long breath, his free hand clasping the armrest of his office chair and continued. "Even if the schematics for the Neuro-Switcher are right there in plain sight, it will take time to find the parts and rebuild it, assuming that I can."

The temptation to lean in and kiss his throat as he spoke was unbearable. April shifted back slowly, breaking contact casually. "And obviously the invasion will take priority over this little mix up." Her voice was a lot huskier than she would have liked and she winced.

"It will, but I am great at multitasking," he assured her. Donatello leaned forward again, combing through the information on his screen and struggling to focus. He groaned. "The Kraang write the way they talk."

April laughed. "I'm glad I got the heads up before I offered to read through some sections for you."

Donatello rolled his chair around to her, letting his face fall as he looked up at her with sad puppy dog eyes.

"Joking!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"Works every time," he said smugly.

oooooooo

Michelangelo's mischievous glee was contagious and Leonardo couldn't help but join in his evil cackling. They were setting a trap with an old metal bucket above the doorway, the bathroom still warm and humid from their after-training shower.

Leonardo wasn't usually Mikey's go-to turtle for help setting up pranks, but they had been spending a lot more time together as an unexpected side effect of the uproar their human friends had left them in. April and Casey were at the lair a lot more since they had to lay low from the human world and weren't attending school. With Donatello working so hard and Raphael spending most of his social time with Casey, Michelangelo had latched on to Leonardo.

They stepped out, closing the door painfully slow to prevent dislodging the bucket. They held their breath, half expecting to hear a clang and splash on the other side. It stayed balanced.

"Yeah, on the first try!" cheered Michelangelo under his breath.

"Too bad we couldn't add ice cubes to make it even colder," Leonardo said with a grin.

Michelangelo laughed. "Next time, bro."

"It's my day to clean the dojo. Go tell Donnie the shower is free." Leonardo gave him a sly grin before heading off.

Michelangelo rubbed his hands together wickedly, stalking off towards Donatello's lab. The door wasn't caught and he pushed it open just in time to see his brother being hugged and kissed on the cheek by dude April. His eyes widened and he immediately swung the door silently back into place.

"Not even going there," Michelangelo muttered to himself. He sidled up next to Casey, who was busy washing dishes in the kitchen and wearing his tattered 'Kiss the Cook' apron.

"Hey," Casey greeted grimly, mouth set in a tight line.

Michelangelo smiled and started drying a pot from the dish rack. "Things are getting way too weird around here," he confided. "You gotta stop making out with my brother."

Casey stiffened and looked at Michelangelo in horror. How could he possibly know?

Michelangelo put the pot away and eyed Casey, who was staring at him like he had been punched in the gut. He grinned. "You might want to go in there and defend your honor or something, man. April's totally macking up the side of Donnie's face."

Casey turned red. "Dude, I didn't need to know," he managed. He turned back to the sink, hating the blush on his face and feeling a rush of relief that Mikey had not somehow known about Raphael. "You don't have to help me," he added, trying to change the subject.

Michelangelo kept on drying dishes as Casey washed them. "I know this must be part of your punishment from Sensei, 'cause I've never seen you clean anything before, but I'm not heartless. I know you are having a rough day, what with him making you work despite the food poisoning and it being…that time and all."

Casey groaned and wished he could melt into the floor. "How do you even know that?"

Michelangelo tapped his nose.

"Oh god, that's so embarrassing," Casey said, blushing brighter.

ooooooo

Raphael tidied and cleaned the dojo while Master Splinter went through some tai chi forms under the tree. Though his eyes were closed, Raphael couldn't shake the feeling of his Sensei watching over his shoulder. As much as he had protested wearing the tracksuit for his short time out in the sun this morning, he hadn't removed it. He even kept the hood up. He felt protected and secure, almost like he was hiding in his shell but without looking like a total coward. The hood blocked his peripheral view of Splinter and he focused on whatever task was in front of him.

Leonardo strolled in with a broom and stopped short. Splinter gracefully pulled up from his exercises, standing at full height and regarding his son.

"That will not be necessary today, Leonardo. Raphael and Casey are taking over all duties for the next week. Should you or the others need anything, consider them at your disposal."

Splinter's whiskers ticked in amusement at the serious expression Leonardo was trying to keep on his face. He knew his son was barely containing a huge grin. As he left the dojo, Leonardo caught his arm gently.

"Don't be the next one to open the bathroom door," he warned his father in a whisper.

Splinter chuckled. Their confinement must really be getting to them if Leonardo had resorted to pranks. Maybe he would let them go on a short patrol soon. He left to do his daily sweep of the tunnels surrounding their lair, a habit he had never grown out of since their infancy.

"Raphael and Casey Jones, at our disposal," Leonardo said cheekily as soon as Splinter left the dojo. "This place is going to be spotless by the end of the week."

"Shut up, Leo. Not in the mood."

"Ah, yes. Food poisoning."

Raphael turned angrily, teeth clenched. "Yes. I'm cleaning the dojo and then everything else can wait until I get some rest. Now push off, I'm almost done."

Leonardo knew there was something he was hiding. Raphael's green face poked out of the hood of his ridiculous grey sweatshirt, eyes red and tired. His voice was strained. He might be lying about something, but how awful he felt wasn't one of them. Plus, Raphael never admitted he needed rest. Leonardo tried to assess his brother as Raphael turned away and pointedly ignored him to finish up.

A shrill scream and clanging metal cut through his thoughts. Oh shit. Leonardo dashed out into the hall, his brother hot on his heels, knowing exactly what he was going find. Donatello and April skidded to a halt in the hallway after hearing a scream from the lab. Michelangelo rounded the group, bragging about how he and Leo had rigged the prank. Leonardo rubbed his face and groaned.

"You guys are both dead meat!" Casey yelled, pointing between Leonardo and Michelangelo.

He shook with anger and the chill of the water that had splashed down on him. His light blue shirt was plastered skin tight over his torso, and he crossed his arms over his bra-less breasts with a blush once he realized the guys were all trying not to stare.

"I don't even have a change of clothes here right now!" His bottom lip trembled slightly and Raphael snarled, angrily pushing past his brothers and blocking Casey from their view.

"Show's over," Raphael snapped gruffly.

"I'll be right back!" April said quickly. She darted into the dojo to look through her duffel.

"We're sorry Casey," Leonardo offered. He shook Michelangelo's shoulder. "Isn't that right, Mikey?"

"Yeah, that was totally meant for Donnie."

"Hey!" Donatello cried indignantly. Shaking his head, he tried to look around Raphael. "Casey, are you hurt?"

"No," he replied, April's voice sounding like a sob from behind Raphael's shell.

The tone of it snapped at the heartstrings of both Donatello and Raphael. Donatello took an automatic step forward only to be blocked again by his bristling brother. He felt a twist in his gut as he glared down, irritated, into Raphael's blazing green eyes. Raphael could be overprotective with any one of them, but this possessiveness was new.

April returned with a handful of clothing and scattered the brothers stare-down easily with a 'privacy please?' look. They all went their separate ways and the tension between them diffused slowly.

Casey took the clothes from April and retreated from her quickly, hoping he had shut the door between them fast enough that she hadn't caught the glimmer in his eyes. He found a portion of floor that hadn't been soaked to dry off and change. His own tee shirt and track pants should have been welcoming, but they were too big and hung awkwardly on him. He shivered miserably.

Of all the days to get caught by one of Mikey's pranks, he thought. A tear ran down his cheek and he wiped it away furiously. He had cried more in the last few weeks than he had in the last year as himself. His sadness seemed more poignant, more apt to linger than to turn to anger. Anger was easy. He could burn that away with fighting or sports until he was too tired to feel anything.

He pulled himself together and wandered out into the main area. Everyone was bustling around in the kitchen, making lunch and chatting happily. Michelangelo offered to make him a Peace Sandwich, but Casey clutched his stomach and shook is head.

Raphael was sitting alone on the couch, as far away from the others as he could get. Casey wondered if he had a chill as well; he hadn't removed any of the clothes April had forced him into. He hadn't even lowered the hood. Casey approached him slowly, noting the way he glared at his punching bag across the room as if he was mentally laying into it.

"You gonna just stand there shiverin' or what?" Raphael asked, eyes still focused on the bag.

"You don't look like you want company." Casey suddenly felt unsure of himself. The fear that Raphael might be angry with him as well surfaced and worried around the edges of his weary mind.

"I don't," Raphael answered curtly.

Casey winced and started to back away.

Raphael looked over at him and snorted. "You don't count, dumbass."

"Jerk…" Casey smirked. "I am way too unstable for your bullshit today."

When Leonardo flopped down onto the bean bag chair to watch TV, he spied the pair and rolled his eyes. They had both dozed off, Raphael with his head tilted back and mouth slightly open, and Casey curled in under his arm, expression grim against the grey hoodie. They looked perfectly peaceful and dejected at the same time. As Leonardo flipped channels, he made a mental note to never eat meatloaf.