21
Leanne was surprised at how well she had slept. Sure, she'd slept with Raphael in her bedroom a few times. It was an entirely different thing to be sleeping in his bed; especially after what had happened earlier… Her lips tingled with remembrance.
The room was completely dark except for a sliver of light that came from the door, which was open barely an inch. Leaning on her elbows, Leanne could see the hammock. It was empty. She glanced around the room. It was cleaner than how she had seen it last night. All the car magazines and metal stars had been gathered into a pile in a corner. Leanne raised her eyebrows questioningly. So, the hot head could feel shame and embarrassment?
Leanne slipped off the bed slowly. She definitely did not feel well. Her head ached and there was a horrible taste in her mouth. Padding across the room, she poked her head around the corner. The landing was empty. Moving out the bedroom, she peered downstairs. Only the kitchen light was on. The television was on the news channel; it threw an eerie blue glow against the walls. Besides the television's news reporter, the area was vacant.
Leanne frowned and went to check the rest of the doors on the landing. The one beside Raphael's must have been Mikey's. Leanne couldn't imagine Donnie owning a minibar and thousands of comics. The bedroom's walls had orange spray paint on them. There was a bunkbed in a corner. The bottom bunk was covered with neatly stacked comic books. The top bunk was an untidy jumble of pillows and blankets… And was that a stick of butter? Leanne shook her head, smiling fondly. The room was empty, so she closed the door and went on to the next one.
It didn't look much like a bedroom. The bunkbed was in the far corner. Both bunks had neat piles of books on them. The table next to the bunk was also covered in books. The volumes were thick and probably weighed more than Leanne's old biology textbook. Bookshelves took up the remaining wall space all around the room. These too were stuffed with texts. On the floor were mountains of textbooks and other documents. In a corner was a huge box labelled "DONNIE" in black marker.
Leanne closed the door quietly. That was definitely Don's room. She remembered the first time Donatello had stayed with her overnight. He had settled down with a torch and a gigantic book.
She opened the door to Leo's bedroom. The light was on, but the room's occupant wasn't. Diane was curled up beneath the sheets, her eyes closed. Her eyebrows were furrowed in her sleep and Leanne noticed that her hands were clenched together. For a moment, Leanne felt sympathy for her. The moment ended when she remembered being slapped by the girl. She closed the door.
Where were the turtles? And Splinter?
As she moved downstairs, Leanne couldn't help but think that the lair seemed daunting without the personalities of the turtles. As she came to the foot of the stairs, she could hear dull thuds. Stopping in her tracks, Leanne glanced around. Besides the entrance there were three other doors. All three were closed but Leanne could hear a sound coming from the one that she remembered was called the dojo. She crept closer to it, careful to not make a noise. She turned the door handle, and cringed when it made a tiny creak. Biting her bottom lip, she pushed it open just enough for her to peek around it. What she saw made her forget all about her headache.
All five of them were there. They were fighting.
It took Leanne a little longer than she'd like to admit to figure out that they weren't just fighting. They were training. Splinter stood to the side, casually observing with his hands behind his back. Donatello appeared to be the defending one. He held a long staff in his hands and skilfully twirled it to deflect Leonardo's swords. Leanne's hazel eyes widened at the swords. Those definitely weren't the wooden ones that her brother had played with as a kid. They were slender and almost like liquid metal. The light glinted off the blades beautifully, Leanne noticed. She watched as Leo twisted the swords easily in his hands.
Looking away from them, Leanne turned her attention to the other two turtles. Mikey was spinning a sort of chain that had two handles on it. Compared to how jovial he was naturally, Leanne was surprised to see how well he used his weapons. They were like an extension of his arms. Leanne looked at his opponent. Raphael's weapons looked to be shortened, sharp forks. The red masked turtle fought fiercely, the metal of his weapons glittering as he attacked Michelangelo.
Leanne stared as Mikey attempted to wrap one of his chains around Raph's forks and pull it away. Raph responded with rushing forward. He tackled his younger brother and shoved him against the wall. He paused in his actions when he heard a squeak.
The training stopped quickly and five pairs of eyes turned towards the door. Leanne blinked, then blushed as she realized that she had been the one who had squeaked.
"S-Sorry," She croaked out, looking horrified.
Mikey grinned from his wall, "Hey, Leah! You wanna join in?"
Leanne swallowed thickly and shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. Splinter gestured with his hand to a mat that was set up next to him, "If you wish to, Miss Volk." Leanne made a reluctant noise but moved into the dojo. She powerwalked past the turtles and plopped down onto the mat, keeping her eyes on the floor.
"Continue," The rat's command was simple but Leanne jumped when the four brothers leapt at each other, as if they hadn't been interrupted at all. She watched them move agilely, wielding their weapons with deftness that must have taken years to achieve.
She must have been staring for a decent amount of time because Mikey piped up between trying to trip Raph and kicking him in the face to say, "You really should blink more, dudette."
Leanne laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head, "S-Sorry. J-Just haven't seen you guys… uh… t-train?"
Mikey guffawed and shoved Raph away from him. For a moment, he struck a heroic pose, "It's awesomeness, eh!" Leanne broke into snorts of laughter and covered her mouth with her hand, "I-I guess."
"I'll take out Raphie just for you! Just watch!"
Leanne noticed how said turtle's golden eyes burned menacingly. Wow, if looks could kill…
Michelangelo proceeded to jump at his brother. He spun in the air, kicking his legs out. Leanne was shocked to watch as Raph blocked each of his kicks and grabbed his ankle at the last one. Turning rapidly, he flung the orange masked turtle against the wall. Mikey's shell slammed into the wall and Raph moved quickly to pin him.
Leanne found herself sitting up with her mouth open and her eyes wide. Raph's fighting was almost vicious. It was as if Mikey's taunting had been fuel to a fire.
"Do not worry."
Leanne looked up at Splinter. He gazed down at her concerned face with a soft smile. He repeated, "Do not worry. Michelangelo will not be harmed."
Leanne nodded uncertainly. She focused on the turtles again. Don appeared to be doing well with his stick. He was able to defend himself against Leo's swords. Watching them, Leanne decided that Leo seemed a lot more on the offensive side while Donnie tended to be more defensive. She looked back at Raph and Mikey. Her heart jumped upon seeing the youngest turtle blocking strikes with his shell against the wall.
Her mind went back to the times when Raph had pushed her, or carried her around or even just yanked her to her feet. He could have crushed her effortlessly; just as he had said. Leanne hated to admit it, but she felt a bit crumpled at that thought. She hadn't considered herself to be a vulnerable person, but watching the four train, made her feel like a kitten that was stuck in a tree. The cat always had to wait for someone else to climb up the tree and carry it down… Always.
"I assume you are more than concerned for Michelangelo's wellbeing?" Splinter's question came as a shock and Leanne looked up, startled. She found herself blinking up at him and seeing a fatherly expression on his face.
"U-Uh. I was… I was just thinking how screwed I'd be if you all weren't here," She murmured, honestly.
Master Splinter gave her a kind smile, "You must not think that way. Everyone is different. One person's strength does not necessarily have to be your own. You—"
The elderly rat was interrupted when one of Raphael's forks came flying through the air and stabbed the ground near Leanne. The brunette screamed and crawled backwards, hitting the wall behind her.
"Boys," Splinter's voice was low and sharp.
"Sorry," Was the two mumbled apologies from Raph and Mikey.
Leanne didn't look at their faces, she was too busy staring at the weapon that was stuck in the floor, but she was sure that both turtles had sheepish expressions. After what felt like ages, Leanne tore her gaze away from the fork to gape at the turtles. Even Don and Leo had stopped to see her reaction.
"Y-You almost stabbed m-m-me," Leanne managed to say.
Mikey gave her a nervous grin that was coupled with a short laugh, "You weren't though."
Raphael glared at him. He really didn't look happy to be lacking one of his weapons.
Splinter looked at each of his sons once, then said quietly, "We are finished for this evening. My apologies, Miss Volk," He moved out of the dojo, throwing Raph and Mikey something akin to a dark look.
Leanne didn't move. She stared at the fork that was close to her feet.
"Ya gonna stop staring sometime soon, squeaker?" Leanne snapped her gaze to Raphael. The turtle had his arms hanging at his sides, but his posture screamed that he was irritated. Leanne swallowed and crawled forward. She gripped the fork around its handle and pulled. When it didn't come loose, she stood up and tried to yank it out by using her legs. It didn't work either. Leanne didn't want to look, but she was sure that the turtles were amused at watching her struggle. Ignoring the barely restrained chuckles she was hearing, Leanne placed a foot on either side of the fork and pulled at it as much as she could.
"Would you like some help?" Donnie offered, smiling crookedly.
Leanne glanced up at him long enough to decline his offer, "I-I can get it out."
For the next few minutes, she tugged at the fork unsuccessfully. Leonardo smilingly excused himself eventually. He was soon followed by Donnie, who volunteered his help once more before leaving. Mikey stayed longer.
"You sure you don't want help, Leah?" Mikey asked. The orange masked turtle was sitting cross legged on the floor, his baby blues filled with good humour.
Leanne growled out her reply, "No."
"Ok, dudette," Mikey shrugged and stood up, "I'm gonna start on dinner."
Leanne froze. If Mike left, she'd be alone with Raph. And being alone with him always meant trouble. Her fingers tightened around the handle of the fork.
Aw, shell.
Thank you for the reviews. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave your comments about anything you would like me to incorporate, improve on, etc. And I'll see what I can do.