Hello all, another update! 2 in one week, it's like a miracle or something! LOL Okay not really but you get the idea;)
Anyway things will start moving along but like a fine wine this story needs time to get rolling, but it will happen, not to worry.
I would like to thank rinpup14, Ougi-san, ZabuzaGirl, adventuresstime, The Nerdfighter, CrazyGeekyLove, SleepingSeeker and all of the Guests who reviewed the last chapter, thank you guys soooo much!
Also thank you to SleepingSeeker who offered up some much needed advice! Thank you so much, you are awesome!
And now on with the show...
Chapter 14
Leonardo wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck with a towel he had brought with him before letting it hang around his neck as he exited the training area.
It had taken him a few hours, but he had managed to wear off the irritation he had felt towards Raphael. He had tried to talk with his brother about what had happened with him last night, but Raphael had purposefully ignored him and continued to beat the stuffing out of his heavy bag.
Leonardo had no choice but to walk away, because if he didn't his anger was going to get the better of him and he was going to start to yell and lecture and end up pushing Raphael even further away than he already had.
He blew out a frustrated breath.
The truth was that he had no idea what to do about Raphael; his defiance, his attitude or his inability to share his feelings.
He was trying to understand what had happened within the last two days that had suddenly caused Raphael to be unable to stand even the sight of him and Leonardo couldn't figure out what he had done wrong, or if he could even fix it.
He needed to talk with Raphael, but that seemed like an impossibility. They could never seem to just talk; lay everything out on the table and have a rational discussion about their thoughts and feelings. Raphael only pushed him further away the more he tried to bring him closer.
Leonardo let out a frustrated sigh. And at the moment, he had no idea where his hot-headed brother even was. He tried to push down the panic that filled him at this thought, but failed. He would always worry, period. He didn't think he would be able to stop worrying.
He walked past the living room where Michelangelo was laying on the couch, watching some sort of horror movie.
"Hey, Mikey." Leonardo said to his baby brother, who looked over at him and paused the TV.
"Hey, Leo, Army of Darkness just started, wanna watch?" Michelangelo asked hopefully.
Leonardo restrained a grimace. He loved his baby brother, but did not love Michelangelo's taste in horror movies. "Not right now," Leonardo declined politely, promising to make it up to his brother later. "Where's Donny?" he wondered, surprised he hadn't conscripted their genius brother into watching the movie.
"In his lab," Michelangelo answered with a slight pout. "He's still upgrading the bio- scanners for the security system." Michelangelo answered.
Leonardo nodded. Donatello had been making sure only the approved bio signatures were able to enter and leave the lair. There had been a surprising amount of heavy lifting regarding the machine and he had spent most of the day helping Donatello in his lab, which had been filled with the sounds of Donatello's mild cursing, alarms and the occasional flashing of lights.
Donatello had added both Catherine and Elizabeth and although Leonardo didn't quite know how he felt about the two women being able to come and go from the lair as they pleased, he really had no reason to object. They were their friends, and besides, the two women rarely if ever came to the lair anyway.
Michelangelo dug his hand into an apparently empty bowl in his lap -if the frown on his baby brother's face was anything to go by.
Michelangelo looked into the bowl to confirm that there was no longer any food in it and tipped it upside down just to make doubly certain.
Leonardo bit down on a smile, but felt his tightened shoulders loosen slightly at his baby brother's antics.
"Do you know where Raph is?" Leonardo ventured, hoping that Michelangelo had some idea of where Raphael had disappeared to.
"Nope."
Leonardo felt his shoulders slump slightly.
Michelangelo stood and stretched, moving towards the kitchen to refill his bowl with popcorn, Leonardo following close behind.
"But I can tell you this much, something's up with him," Michelangelo observed as he pulled the container of popcorn from the cupboard and poured it into the machine before turning it on. Leonardo had walked over to the fridge, opened it and paused at his brother's words.
"Like what?" Leonardo asked, holding his breath and hoping that Michelangelo knew something that he didn't.
Michelangelo leaned back against the counter, standing beside the whirring popcorn popper as the first few kernels began to pop. His baby brother crossed his arms over his chest before finally giving a shrug.
Michelangelo took out some butter and placed a small amount in a bowl, throwing it in the microwave to melt.
Leonardo repressed a sigh and pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, closing the door and twisting the cap from the bottle in his hand. He tipped his head back and thirstily drank back the cold, clear liquid. He drank the whole bottle before pulling it away from his lips and throwing the empty plastic into the recycle bin. Feeling a little at odds and not really knowing what to do he walked to the kitchen table and slumped down into a chair.
"So when'd you get back?" Michelangelo asked curiously, an inquiring smile lighting his face. "How was dinner?" Michelangelo's smile grew and his voice had a lilt of teasing to it that confused him.
He felt his face pull into a frown. "I was in the lab most of the day helping Donny. After that I was in the training room practicing my katas." Leonardo narrowed his eyes. "When was the last time you practiced your katas, Mikey?"
"Hey, this isn't about me." Michelangelo shook his head back and forth, holding his hands up defensively.
"I think we should begin doing regular training again. I have left you all to your own devices and neither you nor Donny spends any time training anymore."
"Awwhh come on, Leo. Just 'cause your date went crappy doesn't mean you have to take it out on us," Michelangelo pouted.
"It wasn't a date," Leonardo bit out resisting the urge to tell Michelangelo that he had been out with Elizabeth last night not Catherine, because that was a can of worms he just didn't want to open.
Michelangelo frowned and shook his head. "A chick inviting you to her place for dinner kinda sounds like a date to me, but whatever." Michelangelo turned the popcorn machine off and pulled the bowl of melted butter from the microwave, dumping the contents over the popcorn and shaking the salt shaker over the bowl before shoving a handful of the fluffy white snack into his mouth.
Michelangelo picked up the bowl and offered him some as he was about to walk from the kitchen to the living room.
"Mikey, what are you talking about?" he asked ignoring the proffered snack even as his stomach growled in protest because he had forgotten to eat dinner.
Michelangelo only rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Leo, it took us like four months to get you to go out with Cat. Stop denying everything. I overheard Cat tell Raph to tell you that dinner was at 7:00 tonight. That was like...two and a half hours ago. You don't have to sneak around and pretend you aren't dating her. We want you to date her and-" Michelangelo abruptly stopped.
Leonardo gave his brother a slow blink of baffled incomprehension.
"Raph didn't give you the message...did he?" Michelangelo ventured slowly.
"Catherine was here?" he asked in disbelief. His heart pounded and his skin felt overly tight and hot at the thought of Catherine.
"Yeah," Michelangelo offered slowly. "I didn't see her though, she left before I had the chance. But I overheard her ask Raph to tell you to come over tonight at 7:00 for dinner."
Staring at his baby brother in numb shock his eyes travelled to the clock on the stove. The bright green numbers proclaimed it was 9:32, two and a half hours past 7:00, just as Michelangelo had said.
"Maybe he forgot?" Michelangelo offered up his voice raising a hopeful octave, before his eyes fell away, not quite able to believe his own suggestion.
Leonardo sat at the table a moment, fury at Raphael warring with horror over unintentionally standing Catherine up.
If Michelangelo said anything else he couldn't hear his brother over the blood rushing through his ears and his heart beating frantically in his chest.
Standing so quickly that he knocked his chair backwards he ran from the kitchen, up the stairs and into his bedroom where he pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his jeans. He had changed into sweat pants and a loose t-shirt to train in several hours ago, which meant he hadn't taken his phone with him. He didn't even want to see how many calls, text messages and messages Catherine had left him.
He stared blankly at the screen of his phone. There were no new calls, not texts and no messages. Swallowing roughly he heard his baby brother's feet pounding upon the stairway and down the hall, stopping in Leonardo's doorway, as if he didn't dare enter without permission.
He wondered why she hadn't called him. He turned and sat down heavily on his bed, still staring at his phone.
"Is she mad?" Michelangelo quietly asked from the door.
"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "But...she probably thinks I changed my mind and that I'm not interested in her...or she is furious. I've never seen Catherine angry, but I suppose cooking a romantic dinner and then waiting and waiting for your date to show up..." his voice trailed off and he winced. What would she have done then? Accepted that he had changed his mind because he couldn't forgive her for switching places with her sister last night or being too angry and filled with stubborn pride to call him and sound desperate and clingy?
Taking a deep breath he held up his hand silencing whatever Michelangelo was about to say. He dialed Catherine's cell phone number and waited in worried trepidation as the phone rang and rang until finally the voicemail kicked in. He hung up, not bothering to leave a message. He dialled her home phone and it too was not answered going to the answering machine as.
Standing he strode past Michelangelo, who quickly stumbled out of his way.
There was part of him that knew that she probably wasn't answering the phone because she was either too hurt or too angry to talk with him, but there was a small sliver of speculative worry that seeped through him at the thought that something may have happened to her; even though he knew that his first assumption was most likely the correct one.
"Leo!" Michelangelo called out but he was truthfully too angry and upset to listen to whatever his baby brother had to say. In fact the anger was fast replacing any other emotion and it was focused squarely upon his red masked younger brother.
He ignored the stairs and leapt over the railing, landing easily on the main floor and strode towards the garage, grabbing a coat and slamming his feet into his boots on the way.
Raphael had not told him that Catherine had been here today and had not given him her message, which had subsequently hurt Catherine in some way or another.
Fury filled his every step as he hopped into the truck, his hands clenching the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip. He had never felt so angry, and considering the many times Raphael had pushed him, and how angry he had been last night, this said something.
It was one thing to hurt him -he was used to his brother's temperament and his penchant of lashing out without discretion or thought- but it was another thing to hurt Catherine.
Turning the key the engine turned over and he slammed his foot to the floor, peeling from the lair in a squeal of burning and smoking tires.
Michelangelo stared at the back of the converted armoured truck with too many conflicting emotions rolling around within him. He was angry with Raphael for hurting Catherine and Leonardo; purposefully. But he had been telling Leonardo the truth when he had said he wasn't sure what was going on with Raphael.
They had all avoided Raphael for most of the day, his anger so thick and virulent that none of them dared approach. Raphael angry was a normal occurrence, he usually got over it, but today something had been different. When Michelangelo ran into his older brother in the garage after Catherine had left, Raphael had been cagey and furious (nothing new there) but mixed in with the anger was confusion, hurt and guilt.
Michelangelo let out a sigh and shook his head. Maybe Raphael had already decided to pull his cruel trick upon Leonardo. He knew the two had fought the night before, and it wasn't like it would be a huge surprise for Raphael to lash out and try to hurt Leonardo by being cruel.
"Was that Raph?" Donatello asked, coming to stand beside him in the garage.
"Leo," he answered in resignation.
Donatello looked at the skid marks across the floor of the garage. "Do I want to know?" his genius brother asked.
"Probably not," Michelangelo answered truthfully. If their two older brothers were going to engage in a full out Battle Royale, he didn't want to be anywhere nearby.
Donatello gave him an odd look.
"Same old, same old," he said with a wave of his hand, stomping down on the concern he felt for both of his brothers. Though to be truthful he was not impressed with Raphael lashing out and hurting Catherine. She was their friend and as her friend Raphael shouldn't be trying to hurt her, no matter how much Raphael disliked her.
"Why do you suppose Raph hates Cat so much?" he asked his genius brother.
Donatello let out a sigh beside him. "I don't know, Mikey. Maybe because she's like Leo." Michelangelo frowned and looked at Donatello who held up his hands. "I know she isn't," Donatello clarified.
Michelangelo nodded, turned his attention away from his brother and stared at the exit of the garage. He liked both Catherine and Elizabeth. He liked hanging around them and found them to be good company, and wished that Leonardo would loosen up a little and let him visit them more often.
His mind turned to Donatello's words about Raphael thinking that Catherine was like Leonardo. If he compared the two sisters Catherine seemed stern, serious and reserved, but if he compared Catherine to Leonardo, she seemed less reserved, smiled more, laughed more and had a mischievous streak that Leonardo didn't possess. So he could see how Raphael would think that Catherine was like Leonardo, but she wasn't, not really.
Michelangelo believed his oldest brother and Catherine shared similar tastes, interests and values, which tended to run counter to anything Raphael believed or was interested in.
"Relationships are complicated," he grumbled, hoping that Leonardo and Catherine would be able to work things out. They had been pushing for Leonardo to actually accept his feelings for Catherine instead of burying them -because quite frankly- Leonardo had become a growling bear, and they already had one of those; dealing with two Raphael's was just painful. On the other hand, Michelangelo hadn't thought about the consequences of his brother having a relationship, mainly the possibility that the relationship may end, leaving Leonardo, Catherine or both with a broken heart.
Donatello let out humph of agreement at his observation on relationships.
Looking over at his genius brother he asked, "So did you finish your upgrades?"
"Yeah," Donatello answered before his eyes widened at Michelangelo's broad grin.
"Good. Army of Darkness just started and I just made fresh popcorn," he said throwing his arms across his genius brother's shoulders.
"Mikey-" Donatello protested trying to dislodge his arm.
Michelangelo looked at his brother, wide puppy-dog eyes pleading and full of injured hurt. Donatello -not being a strong willed as Raphael- crumbled like a house of cards before his brother's woe-be-gone face.
Shoulders slumping in resignation Donatello murmured out a grumbled, 'Fine'.
Michelangelo smiled in contentment as he pulled Donatello towards the living room. His thoughts turned back to Leonardo and -because he was optimistic by nature- believed that everything would work itself out, it usually did; in the end.
Leonardo slunk from the shadows that had hidden him from view and followed behind the darkened figure that strode up the steps in front of him.
Lightning fast he ducked beneath the fist that was aimed at his jaw, managing to catch the woman as she over rotated and nearly lost her balance enough to teeter precariously on the edge of the top step.
"Leo!? What the hell!?" Elizabeth hissed in angry protest as he righted her and stood back. "I could have hurt you."
He lifted a disbelieving eye ridge.
"Fine, I could have hurt myself," she grumbled in acknowledgment. "What are you doing here?" She looked at her watch. "It's ten thirty. Getting a little late, isn't it?" she asked with a frown before she gave a teasing smile. "Or did you rush over here for a booty call?" she inquired pulling off the sweat laden towel that had still been draped around his neck.
He reached out and yanked the towel from Elizabeth's hands and felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. He stammered out a negative protest and Elizabeth laughed, her amusement lighting her moss green eyes with enjoyment.
"I'm just bugging you. Cat would actually want to go out on a date first before she actually jumped into bed with you."
This statement only made Leonardo blush even harder before giving an embarrassed cough. "Your sister invited me to dinner tonight. Raph…took the message from Catherine and then neglected to tell me." He tried to keep his voice neutral, but it came out bitter and angry, bordering on sarcastic.
The smile fell from her face. "So…you ditched my sister?"
"I didn't know she had invited me!" he snapped back defensively.
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed in anger, sparks seeming to shoot from her now lightened leaf green eyes. "I am going to kill him," she growled.
"Get in line," Leonardo quipped and Elizabeth gave a smirk of acknowledgement before looking back at the darkened Brownstone.
"How long have you been standing out here?" Elizabeth asked him as she dug her keys out of her pocket.
"Half an hour," he answered glumly. "She didn't answer her cell or the home phone and the lights are all off..." his voice trailed off.
"Did you knock? Or ring the bell?" Elizabeth inquired over her shoulder as she opened the door.
Leonardo looked away. "I didn't want to disturb her if she had gone to bed," he mumbled.
Elizabeth paused in the doorway. "It wouldn't be like Cat to just ignore your calls," she said over her shoulder before leading the way into the house. "I mean, you were pissed last night and you took her call, so she should have taken yours. Although..." her voice trailed off thoughtfully, but did not complete her thought.
The entryway was dark before Elizabeth turned on a light, closing the door and locking it behind her. Taking off her jacket and shoes she threw them into the closet by the front door (it was a Canadian thing). He kept his coat and boots on and followed her towards the kitchen, where a light had been left on. Checking the rooms until they reached the kitchen at the back of the house they found no sign of Catherine.
Leonardo could feel his muscles beginning to tighten with worry and the anticipation of violence, and wished he hadn't rushed from the lair without his katanas.
However, he did not let his worry show, as Elizabeth seemed to be unconcerned with her sister's behaviour.
Elizabeth walked around the center island that held a sink and stopped dead in her tracks, face becoming grim.
Adrenalin surged through his body as she looked up at him, her face deadly serious.
"Run," she told him in a soft, low voice.
Hehe, hope everyone enjoyed:)
I know it is a little shorter than my usual chapters but blame it on the fact that the chapter became ridiculously long so I cut it in half -ish, which is why you get the double update this week;)