Chapter 21: Just One Night

It was still there—lingering between city lights and the shadowy ruin of the medicine shop.

Cogs. Spare parts. Breathing. Creaking.

Fresh blades cranked against the floor, its red eyes rising.

It squelched across the ceiling, stretching down over tile and shattered glass—the wreckage still a mystery to the authorities outside.

Slow. Deliberate. Searching…

And then it stopped.

There was a picture lying in the rubble of a young woman with black hair. It was well traveled, blotted with water stains, its corners worn with age.

Mutadroid's strange hand struggled to hold it, hot acid dripping from its jagged teeth. Then a horrible squelch ripped from its body and it screamed, growing, stretching beyond control.

A woman passing on the street clutched her child at the sight.

She managed to scream. But nothing more.

Dopamine… Norepinephrine… Testosterone…

Donnie's eyes shot open. Gasping and in a sweat.

Again.

He checked his bedding. For what, he wasn't sure anymore. The only thing he knew was his shell felt tight. Inconceivably, uncomfortably tight. The room was too hot, and the queer light on the nightstand mocked once more that he shouldn't be awake.

He kicked out of the covers.

His pillow smelled like Raph. Even though he hadn't been there.

Everything did. He wasn't sure how or why. Perhaps it was by some twisted, wistful desire of the mind. He could smell in the room where Raph had been. And he hated it.

Donnie left his bedroom, trudging the hall to clear his thoughts.

If he had to be awake, the least he could do was check on their father.

The main room was dark and quiet. Mikey had gone to bed. Master Splinter was still sound asleep where he had left him.

Donnie ran a hand through his mask and turned to take his leave.

And then he paused.

Raph's door was open.

Donnie went to it, venturing a whisper, though he didn't know why.

"Raph…"

But no reply came. And after a brief pause, he retreated to his lab to bury himself in wires. Keep his hands busy.

His head was all foggy… and heavy…

Maybe he should take a cold shower…?

He shut his eyes.

Dopamine. Norepinephrine. Testosterone.

That's all this was. It would pass.

He took a deep breath and tossed his thoughts to his lab. The familiar beakers, wires and electronics promised a refuge from his mind. He flicked the light on beside his microscope, turning to the sample that had been previously extracted from April's room.

It forced his mind's focus on serious matters.

The chainbugs. Mutadroid. His family.

If mutagen was serving as both a bonding agent and inhibitor to the biological components of Mutadroid and the chainbugs, that would make sense. It could explain how and why the metal had warped to it. Shell, it could even explain certain increases of Mutadroid's intellect.

What it didn't explain was how all these problems had somehow—fused. It was as if the metal itself was becoming sentient. The biological parts were trading, sharing information with the metal. And the metal was responding, sometimes even trading properties with the other, fusing into one!

And what's more, they were adapting. Constantly. With no sign of stopping. Normal mutagen peaked almost instantly with biological contact, and the mutation stayed constant.

This wasn't like that at all.

Mutadroid was still learning, getting larger by the second. He was reproducing these tiny machines on command. And they themselves were, at a base level, intelligent.

He had never seen anything like it.

There were things he could compare it to, but even those didn't seem quite right.

Something was missing. Something he had overlooked. He was sure of it. It was right under his nose…

…

But his brain found nothing. And he couldn't help but sigh.

This wasn't easing his frustration. And certainly not helping him forget….

"—Donnie?"

His eyes snapped up from the microscope.

And there he was. The one and only center of his problems, standing in his doorway.

Raph rubbed the back of his neck, gruff and tired, and that sick anticipation sank in Donnie's chest.

"R-Raph? Um… What are you doing awake?"

"Ehh… couldn't sleep," he answered. "Thought I'd check in on Master Splinter…. You?"

"Um, same reason, I suppose." Donnie watched every motion as he sauntered over, how he turned out to the main room.

"Yeah. I dunno. Been gettin' the creeps around here lately."

"I don't blame you there," he admitted. "It's actually why I'm still up. Thought I'd see if I can find anything."

"Any luck?"

"Nothing… significant. The more I stare at it, the more confusing it becomes. It seems like I'm missing something."

Raph motioned to the microscope. "—Mind if I…?"

Donnie blinked for a moment, processing the request. "Uh… be my guest." He pushed away on the swivel chair, allowing him to look.

It was an odd sight to say the least.

His eyes wandered down his frame.

"What do you see here, Don?"

"Hm?"

"You're the smart guy here," Raph replied. "What do you see when you look at all this?"

"Well…" Donnie stepped back to the microscope, into his space. "I see metal. Mitochondrial nuclei… er—you see these squiggly parts? They're reacting biochemically with the metal, trying to fuse and grow. Even as we speak, the chainbug's trying to regenerate."

"Great." He deadpanned. "Any ideas in there for us tryin' to beat this thing?"

"Not in the slightest."

Raph could hear the small frustration and exhaustion in his voice, and he knocked his arm. "Well, you'll get it. You always do."

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Thank you for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime."

And there it was again. That loaded, tumultuous silence where their gazes held too long.

Suddenly, Donnie couldn't remember the names of all the chemicals in his head.

His thoughts muddled. The excuses died.

"I must be losing my mind." And before he could stop himself, he leaned into Raph and took that dare on his heart.

His lips were warm. Masculine. Clumsy and innocent. Hands shaking as they pulled away…

Who ever thought time and space could buckle over something so simple?

Then it was over, and Raph blinked as if he'd missed it. "Uh…?"

"One night," Donnie rushed. "I-It's all… dopamine, norepinephrine and testosterone all mixed up in a terrible mess, but dang it if it isn't—"

Raph snatched Donnie back into his arms, kissing those words from his mouth.

He needed it. All of him. Nothing else mattered.

They crashed into the desk, shell on shell, everything a blur. Hot breath. Calloused hands. Sighs where sewer air didn't live…

Kissing Donnie was perfect.

Raph gasped for air. "Jeez, Donnie. Not even gonna to wine and dine me?"

"Shut it."

And they were together again. Scales and skin. Hands grasping—tasting every sin and spark on his tongue…

Raph fumbled with the lab equipment beneath him, but Donnie didn't care…

Until their hands found a certain book.

They both stopped. Donnie's eyes went wide. And there was something in his stare that nearly made him shudder.

"Lock the door."

Raph obeyed, no thought in his head. In a moment, he was there, heart pounding as the lock clicked shut.

What were they doing? What was happening?!

"One night." Donnie's voice rang quiet to him in the dim light. "We act on this. All of it. Right here. Right now. Before we change our minds or have any second thoughts."

Raph found him and pulled him in, breathlessly close to his lips. "Ya already got me."

Donnie pushed back. "…I-I don't think you understand my… intentions..."

Raph eyed him curiously, trying to sober his thoughts to what that meant.

What he found in Donnie's eyes was lust. A sheer seductive gravity that threw him out of orbit.

'…All of it...'

No way. There was absolutely no way Donnie was suggesting what he thought he was suggesting…

But that silence and his stare said otherwise.

"Woah… wait a minute." He pushed away. "A-Are you serious right now?"

"Look, we both clearly want this," he reasoned. "A-And if we don't, it's just going to be there, eating away at us until it drives us insane."

Raph felt like he'd long jumped that crazy train, but this was something he had not prepared for.

Donnie blushed and averted his eyes. "I-It's a natural biological process—a chemical need as it were." He tried to be confident, but as the silence and reality glared, his nerves began to tank. "O-or you could say no a-and completely forget all about this! Heh, y-you know, fun fact, I can actually list all the chemicals going on in our brains right now—s-starting with adrenaline—"

"Hey. Ixnay on the nerd language."

Donnie twirled his fingers nervously and shut up. "T-The point is—I'm alright with it if you are."

That silence reformed, carrying that want, fear. A thousand things.

Oh, he should say no. Be the responsible brother. Shrug it off. Joke that he was being crazy. Remind him, again: they were brothers.

But one look at Donnie and he lost his nerve.

Shell, how did he get to a point in his life where his own brother could do this to him?

He ran a hand ran through his mask. "Just…"

"Just once."

They'd said it together.

Raph's eyes leapt to his. "I'm okay with that…. and then we never speak of it again, right?"

"O-Of course not! I-it'll be as though it never happened." Donnie insisted, picking up the book. "W-We can even be professional about it! You said you wanted to learn, we can… t-think of it as a lesson…"

Raph smirked, quirking a brow. "I'd kinda like to pretend I'm not going to school…"

Though the notion was just ridiculous enough…

"N-Not that I… uh… reject the general—! Agh." He sounded like an idiot. "…Let's just… start somewhere that makes sense."

"That sounds… reasonable."

They smiled at one another and then Raph's smile fell. "…You do realize how TOTALLY insane this is, right?"

"No, Raph. I never considered~ Of course I know it's insane!"

"Well, good. It least you realize it."

And with that, Raph walked past him to the old fold-away day bed at the far wall. It was the only other furniture Donnie kept in the room besides his chair—for long nights in his lab.

The spring-hinged stowaway feature weakly folded down from the wall, fashioned together by a low ironing board and an old, chewed-up murphy bed.

The flood had not done it any favors.

Raph stared at it in disapproval. "I feel like a cheap date."

"You are a cheap date," he shot back. He sank into the weak mattress with a terrible creak. And Raph sat beside him.

Were they seriously going through with this?

He searched for hesitation in his features. Doubt. Disgust. Anything. But Donnie only stared back at him with those big, honest brown eyes, so full of tenderness and anticipation. "I really did find the cure for smallpox that night," he murmured.

It all drove him haywire.

"…Ya sure ya want this? I mean… with me?"

Donnie looked puzzled. "Of course. I brought you here," he said. "I-If anything, I was concerned about you agreeing to all this! I was worried I came on too strong or escalated it too quickly. I-I can be a little one track minded under a lot of stress…"

Raph raised an eyebrow and smirked. "One track minded huh?"

"I mean—" Donnie's face went red. "Well, yes—"

Raph swept him into a kiss.

It didn't matter how responsible he told himself to be. All he wanted was these lips and this thrill where they were together, and the rest of the world disappeared.

If this was what Donnie wanted, he'd give it to him.

When all caution crumbled, he cupped Donnie's face, held him close, sank into the cot with him. Every motion—tasting, touching, pushing—until this wild, gasping space threatened to swallow him whole.

Donnie. His hips. His chest….

It all happened so fast. The cot collapsed under their weight. Donnie fell back into the wall and Raph followed him down, kissing his neck in all the ways he had in the Shellraiser.

And in other ways he hadn't.

"R-Raph…"

He leaned into his friction, feeling his small, pleading moans on his face, hips bucking into nervous hands, his fingers trailing down where is shell met his thighs.

Raph wondered, what would it be like when that hot-mouthed, one-tracked mind lost control?

And then the tables turned. Donnie had flipped them over, straddling his lap. He leaned into his ear. "I'd have to trust you and you'd have to trust me."

His hot voice sent shivers down his spine.

Raph liked the view. "I trust ya."

Donnie undid the strap from his shoulder.

And there was nothing to consult.