CHAPTER 20: DIRTY LAUNDRY
Everyone airs their dirty laundry and throws in their 2 cents.
April eyed Casey suspiciously as they neared the lair together.
He was downright chipper for someone who had returned to the house at a late hour, downed about five headache pills, and collapsed into bed. She had been particularly surprised to see him up in the morning, fully dressed and ready to accompany her for her morning walk to the lair, but Casey had insisted he just wanted to make sure he didn't sleep through the Hamato clan meeting which Splinter and Donatello had set for after training. He had even brushed his hair, which was an accomplishment in and of itself considering that his right hand was swollen to almost comical proportions.
They entered the kitchen where the guys were cleaning up after their breakfast mess.
All became clear to April as soon as Raphael saw Casey was there with her. His sour face lit up like a Christmas tree at Casey's unexpected presence. April's stomach dropped like a stone. No. Freaking. Way.
"Hey, Case, holy shit, look at that hand!" Raphael exclaimed, eyes going wide. "Mikey, ice me."
Without missing a beat Michelangelo yelled, "Ice Cream Kitty, gimme me some ice!" He opened the freezer door and caught the blue ice pack that was chucked out at him. He tossed it back over his shoulder without even looking. "Who's a good little kitty?" he cooed. It meowed back at him before he closed the door and resumed putting away dishes.
Raphael sat at the table with Casey, examining his hand, and Casey was practically glowing under his gentle fussing. April recalled how over the last few days they had been jumpy and tense around each other. It had made being in the same room with them painfully awkward. Now they were all lingering touches and silly smiles and she couldn't decide which was worse.
As if taking April's cue as she stared unbelieving at the pair, the others quieted down and watched their interaction while Raphael and Casey carried on like they were the only people in the room.
"You can't bare-knuckle punch someone in the face," Raphael was saying, his voice edged with amusement. Casey's hurt hand was resting on Raphael's large green palm. Raph's other hand held the ice pack atop his swollen knuckles. "Open hand strike with the heel of your hand."
"I know, I know," Casey replied, grinning ear to ear and leaning in towards Raphael. "But that guy really needed a punch in the face," he said in a low voice. They chuckled together as if sharing an inside joke.
Casey's face was flushed and red, and April had never seen a smile come so easily to Raphael. Especially in the morning.
She tried to find her voice, but didn't know what to say, so she eyed the others for their reactions. Donatello looked like he had just been punched. Leonardo had his game face on, which meant he was going to lay into Raphael any second now. Michelangelo perched himself up on top of the counter to watch the show with a knowing smile.
"You guys are about as subtle as a Mac truck," Leonardo stated.
Raphael and Casey started, looking surprised that everyone was still there and that they seemed to be the center of attention.
"When I reminded you that your actions have consequences last night, I didn't expect you to immediately go out and prove me right," Leonardo blustered.
"Last night? How long have you known about this, Leo?" Donatello asked, sounding like he had been betrayed.
"What I do is none of your business," Raphael growled at both of them.
"It is when you two are constantly going between being friends and then avoiding each other, not to mention your moody rampages we've all had to deal with. The entire team is affected," Leonardo said, as if it should have been obvious.
"You should be happy we finally settled things, then," Raphael said, eyes narrowed.
"Settled? How is becoming a temporary couple with someone who isn't even in their right body settled? Did you even talk to April first?" Leonardo yelled.
"I've actually known all about this for a couple of weeks," April sighed. "I thought you had decided to stay friends?"
"It's as settled as we could get, Leo," Raphael snapped back. He was embarrassed by how obvious he had been in front of them, but he had never been any good at hiding his feelings.
"Weeks?" Donatello said in small voice.
"Neither of us wanted this to happen, it just did," Casey spoke up. "Yelling at us isn't going to change anything."
April's head was spinning as she tried to follow the argument and figure out how she should handle Raphael actually deciding to be with Casey.
"You are even worse than Raph!" Leonardo scolded Casey. "That's not even your body. You're not even a woman at all. You guys won't be able to look at each other after you get switched back."
"I can still make my own damned decisions. I haven't told April how to live her life," Casey replied defensively as Raphael bared his teeth at Leonardo and clenched his fists.
"Casey, last I heard, you had kissed a few times and it was over," April said, starting to panic. "There are some decisions you really don't have the right to make at the moment."
Donatello finally snapped and joined in the steadily declining and dizzying conversation. "You kissed her?!" He moved towards Raphael, who jumped up, ready.
Casey scooted out from between them just in case but April took Donatello by the arm before he could close the distance.
"Don't you dare touch her again," Donatello warned, voice low.
"Or what?" Raphael goaded.
Donatello growled and April tightened her grip on his arm. "That is up to me! You don't own rights to that body just because we'll be together if you switch us back," she said, prompting a conflicted glance from Donatello.
Leonardo looked over at Donatello and April in shock. "You too? No wonder all of you have been acting insane! I give up!" He threw his arms up for effect.
"Raph, Casey and I will sort this out," April said firmly. "No one else gets a say. It's my body and their feelings we're talking about."
"Their feelings are just hormones and they'll be over it when I switch Casey back," Donatello said stubbornly, cementing in his mind that failure to put them back was not an option.
"Actually my feelings won't change," Casey pointed out. "But thank you for taking them into such careful consideration," he added dryly.
"What?" Donatello and Leonardo were lost.
April rolled her eyes. "He's gay."
Donatello stared off into space for a second and cocked his head thoughtfully. Then, "oh, that makes so much sense now that I think about it."
Leonardo looked like he was going to explode. "That's even worse, Raph! How selfish can you be? Why would you do that to him?"
Raphael snarled and tensed in preparation to punch Leonardo and everyone looked about ready to throw down and start a Hamato family brawl right there in the kitchen.
Splinter's jade cane hitting the floor startled all of them. "What is going on out here? Is this how I've taught you to work out your problems?" he demanded.
April suddenly pitied Splinter and wondered how he found the inner strength not to strangle his boys on a weekly basis.
"No, sensei," all four brothers said together, hanging their heads in various levels of shame.
Well, besides Michelangelo, who was still sitting on the counter and couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. It was all so obvious. He had called Raph and Casey becoming a couple since the night Raphael had helplessly watched Casey skate around their kitchen for the first time over a month ago. In fact, Leonardo owed him $20, but now probably wasn't the time to remind him.
Splinter twitched his whiskers in agitation. "April, perhaps I will give you a private lesson later today. I feel like my sons need to work through some of this extra energy and frustration. Then we will have our family meeting, and there will be none of this behavior."
"Hai, sensei," she said, letting go of Donatello's tensed arm.
"Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, in the dojo. Now!"
They obeyed without hesitation.
"I would like to point out that I had absolutely no part in this argument," Michelangelo said to Splinter on his way by.
"Raphael, join us when April has finished speaking with you." With that he turned tail and left.
April blanched. Splinter had heard everything.
"Friggin' Leo," Raphael huffed, sitting on a chair beside Casey.
April crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at them angrily. "You two are lucky I know how hard you've been trying to avoid this situation, or I would be agreeing with Leo. I am willing to give some leeway. I understand, I really do, but until we know for a fact that we are stuck like this forever, I have the right to set boundaries for my body. Agreed?"
"Agreed," answered Casey humbly.
Raphael practically vibrated with the need to unleash violence next to him, but he was paying attention.
April collected her thoughts, silently wishing Casey could have crushed on Leonardo or even Michelangelo instead. She took a deep breath. "I know neither of you are known for your patience or self control, but I am trusting you as my friends. I don't have to do this. I could forbid any physical contact. Splinter and your brothers could enforce it. Instead, all I am telling you is nothing below the belt and clothes never come off. Ever. I will fully disown both of you if you cross that line," she said with conviction.
They both agreed to her terms and looked like they really meant it.
"Oh, and try to keep public displays of affection to a minimum around here, its still weird. Raph, you better get going." She grinned. "If I'm not even allowed in there, I imagine Sensei is going to be spectacularly tough on you. Good luck."
Raphael jumped up. "Wish Leo luck, that self-righteous bastard," he muttered as he made his way to the dojo.
oooooooo
April and Casey sat around the sunken living room while the turtles trained, watching TV and chatting. Splinter joined them first, a pleased look on his face. April went over to sit by him, feeling like she needed to make some amends.
"I am sorry for the commotion we brought with us this morning, Sensei," she said.
Splinters hands closed around hers and one side of his mouth quirked up. "You certainly help keep our lives interesting, but we wouldn't have it any other way."
She smiled and settled in beside him, waiting for the brothers.
Slowly the guys dragged themselves from the showers and took their places, limbs leaden. They all had at least one or two new bruises. None of them had even had the energy to replace their wrappings or padding.
No chance of any more fights breaking out today, April thought.
Donatello readied himself, mind still sharp despite his aching muscles and tired body. "I called the family meeting today to tell you that April and I have finished going over all the Kraang files, and it's time to share. First, Plan 10. Without that file I never would have been able to replicate the Neuro-Switcher, but we've got it. I also have some scrap, some Kraang tech, small Kraang power cells from the guns, and very vague blueprints on how to build it. Which is enough. I can do it."
Donatello looked over his clan, who seemed very pleased that their TCRI raid had paid off and things could be put back to normal. He felt badly that the rest of the news was going to deflate that delicate mood.
"There's a catch," he continued. All eyes were on him. "I need an object, that, roughly translated, means the Orb of Consciousness. They are extremely rare alien artifacts. Without an Orb, the machine will not work. It is the vessel that holds the memories and consciousness together cohesively during the transfer. The Kraang only possess one, and there's a chance that they have already returned it to their home dimension. If it is still on Earth at all, it will be in the Technodrome."
Donatello watched the expressions around him change with realization of the high risk they would need to take for such low odds.
"Then there is the invasion. They are planning something similar to last time, except they won't only have one large portal. They plan on using multiple portable portals all over the city at the same time. We won't be able to fight them all at once. They plan on bringing over more Kraang Walkers and other weapons to destroy the city. Their army is vast. I don't think we can actually stop it from happening, but I think we can delay it. If we do, it will give us time to build up an arsenal, to finish the Turtle Mech, and maybe even collect a few allies. At least then we will have a fighting chance."
Leonardo rubbed his face, feeling overwhelmed. "So we have to go to back into the Technodrome."
"Yes."
"What do we need to accomplish while we are there?" Leonardo asked wearily.
"I think the best way to delay the invasion is to find the place they store their portals and destroy as many as we can. Maybe damage the actual structure of the dome itself to cause some flooding to key points. Then hunt down the Orb and smuggle it out," answered Donatello.
"We will have to be very fast," Leonardo said quietly, thinking out loud. "Maybe even split into two teams of two to save time."
"You mean three," April corrected.
"No, I mean two. You and Casey aren't coming."
"Like hell we're not," Casey piped up.
"Leo, we can't let you go in there alone," April argued.
"What if something happens to one of you? Then hunting for the Orb will all be for nothing," Leonardo pointed out.
April stopped to consider the gravity of what Leonardo had just said. He meant that if one of them died, there would be no switch. Whoever was left would be forever in the wrong body. They were all listed as 'Kill on Sight' by the Kraang, and it didn't seem so cool anymore to be considered terrorists and war criminals.
April got up and walked over to Casey, looking herself over before making her decision. "Casey, if you want to go on this mission I accept all risks to my body including injury or death."
He smiled at her even as Donatello protested in the background. "Ditto, Red. Face it guys, you're gonna need all the help you can get. This is our fight, too."
"You know we'll just come along anyway," April said with a lopsided grin.
"You are the craziest humans ever," Leonardo smiled. "Don, what do we know about the Technodrome?"
"I have detailed drawings that are to scale from the files we took, but there are multiple levels and nothing is actually labeled."
"So we have no idea where to find anything?"
"We don't," Donatello replied, "but he does." He pointed at Raphael.
"What? No I don't," Raphael said.
"You were in the body of a Kraang that lived there. They share a collective consciousness and you were exposed to that. It's in your head, somewhere," assured Donatello.
Raphael let out a long breath. He was too tired to deal with the events of the day and it was barely lunch time. "Great. Rare alien artifacts, invasion we can't stop, digging around in my brain, suicide mission into the Technodrome…anything else we should discuss before we call this meeting to an end and I go for a nap?"
Everyone looked around and seemed satisfied that they all had enough to deal with, except Michelangelo. He raised his hand. "I have a question."
"Yes, Michelangelo," Splinter acknowledged, his heart heavy with worry for his family.
"How are we going to keep that Kraang sea monster from humping our Turtle Sub again?" he asked, breaking the tension and sending them all into hysterics.