Okay, I'll be wrapping this up soon; partially because I'm drawing closer to the end of the plot, mostly because I'm running out of addiction related chapter titles. : P Short chapter here but I wanted to post something.

I do not own...to be honest I hardly own anything.

Chapter 21; Coming down

Leo smiled with forced satisfaction.

The lair was a mess. Comics were left unattended in one corner, Raph had abandoned an empty container of polish in another corner and the cushions on the old sofa were skewed from use.

See…I can handle a little mess. I'm not Mr. Perfect. It's good when the lair is like this, gives the place a warm, lived-in feeling.

He continued to survey the lair with a satisfied nod. At the same time he was practically bruising his arm from squeezing it so tightly. It's a good thing when the lair is like this. It's a good thing. It's a… -okay so it wouldn't be perfectionistic to pick up the trash, it would be sanitary. Quickly Leo moved over to the cleaning supplies and picked up the worn-out rag and the empty container of polish. After wrapping the container in the rag Leo easily tossed the items into the waste basket several yards away. It wasn't long until he had talked himself into straightening up Mikey's abandoned comics and replaced the cushions on the couch as well.

There, that's okay too. That's just about perfect. Leo blinked, then frowned. I am not perfect! He quickly grabbed two of the cushions and sent one spinning at the waste basket and the other across the lair without aiming.

Okay…see? Not perfect. Again Leo nodded in satisfaction before he glanced in the direction the second cushion had gone in.

It had landed half on and half off the small bridge over the pond. Leo's eyes widened when he saw it start to fall off but before he could rush to grab it a missile struck him from the side and shoved him to the floor. "Geeze Leo, what's gotten inta you?" Raph demanded.

"Nothing is wrong with me Raph." Leo answered crisply. "You're the one who hit me remember?"

"Ya, but I ain't the one makin' ya mess and clean everythin' up!" Raph retorted.

As Leo fired off another evasive response Kit hurried past them to the kitchen. Mikey looked up from the stove where he was preparing dinner as Kit went to the fridge and started digging around. After moving through the entire fridge she closed it and moved to climb on top of the counter and look through the cabinets.

Mikey was mildly curious when he noticed she wasn't lifting her arms but he was more curious about what she was looking for. "Can I help you?" He asked.

Kit opened one of the cabinets and started looking through it. "Are you trying a new recipe or something?" She asked.

The burgers on the stove hissed slightly and Mikey sprinkled some pepper on the patties. "Same old burgers. Can't you tell by just sniffing?" He frowned; normally Kit's nose could easily identify what he was cooking. She often threatened to reveal to the world his 'secret recipes' in exchange for an early taste.

"I keep smelling something, it's kind of making me thirsty…" Kit moved to another cabinet, pushing aside Mikey's bags of junk food as she continued her search.

"We-ell-ll…" Mikey said thoughtfully, "There's water from the sink, juice in the fridge, tea, Gatorade and soda of course but you can't have any of that." He shook the spatula at her and tried to look authoritative despite his stained 'Kiss the cook…you know you want to' apron

Kit rolled her eyes as she scooted along the counter and opened another cupboard. "Trust me, after what happened last time I drank a soda I'll never make that mistake again." She chose a glass and climbed off the counter.

"You never did tell me exactly what happened." Mikey pried slightly.

After filling her glass with water Kit turned and smirked at him. "You know that scene from Viral Invasion IIV? The one after the red-head in the silver jumpsuit died?"

The turtle chef's eyes widened and he nodded slightly. It had been a masterpiece of gore and special effects. "Yeah." He prompted, leaning forward.

Kit glanced towards the door before stepping closer to him and whispering, "Your burgers are about to burn."

Mikey's face immediately crumpled. "Aw Ki-it…What!!" His eyes widened as he realized what she had said and he spun around to flip the burgers before they started to smoke. By the time he had turned around again Kit had left the kitchen.

She sniffed at the air and tried to follow the scent but couldn't quite catch a trail. Maybe if she asked Master Splinter…