"Donnie, wake up, quick!"
Donatello opened very weary eyes - he had in fact only drifted off about ten minutes ago, and wasn't altogether thrilled to have Marcus shaking him.
"What Marc?" He murmured sleepily.
"Raph's trying to leave, you've gotta stop him!"
Donatello rose swiftly off the seat, sifting through a small bag nearby him, before heading for the back doors.
"He's not going anywhere Marcus - I'll be right back."
The sight of his wife directly up in Raphael's face might have been enough to make him laugh, under normal circumstances. The turtle was impossibly more muscular than Jenna's thin frame, but her long legs still caused her to tower over him.
"Raph, don't be such a moron!" She was seething at that second. "How is going off in a rage supposed to help anybody?"
"You can't tell me what to do Jenna, and you can't stop me either!" He shot back, giving her what he imagined as being one of his most intimidating glares.
Jenna wasn't moved by it, didn't even flinch away from his gaze.
"Maybe she can't Raph," Donatello said coolly from behind them. "But I can."
"Genius, this is ridiculous!" Raphael hollered at him. "We know exactly where they are! We've got 'em in our sights! How can you possibly expect me to hole up in these trees and just wait?"
"Raph, you saw their security measures from the outside - there's no telling what else is behind closed doors! Jenna's right, running off in a rampage won't do anything, except make matters worse!" Donatello tried to reason with him.
"I'm 'spose to let a little camera scare me off Donnie? I'm not just gonna sit here and wonder if he's dead or alive!"
"We're not talking about one camera here, I picked off at least two dozen different angles down there, just that I could outright see. That's not even to mention the armed guys they had outside! Why do you think we're dealing with some pansy pushovers here? Doesn't the fact that they managed to capture Leonardo and Michelangelo say something to you? Now they're back on their own turf, which makes it even more risky to charge blindly in!"
"They didn't catch 'em together genius, that's the difference! Come with me - let's get this done already!"
"I want it done Raph, but we're not ready for this yet! We can't throw away the only chance that we have in a moment of anger!"
"I'm goin', with or without you Donnie."
"No, you're not." He answered more quietly, but no less insistent.
"You honestly think you can stop me?"
"I know I can - but I'm hoping you won't force me to."
Raphael snorted. "Fine genius, you've got five seconds to do it. Why don't you give me your best shot?"
Donatello was already in close proximity with his brother, and Raphael had been spouting off too much to notice that Donnie was concealing something in the palm of his hand. Swifter than Raphael could blink, he brought the epi-pen up to bear, injecting it smoothly into his arm.
Raphael was so surprised by the action that he didn't react for a couple of seconds, until the waves of dizziness were overwhelming him. When his knees buckled, Donatello firmly caught him under the arms.
"You're gonna be okay Raph." He assured him.
His brother's glare seared directly into him. "You cheated." He slurred somewhat weakly.
"You made me." Were the last words that Raphael heard, before blacking out completely.
Raphael's head was just slightly pounding as he stirred awake, rolling his neck on the seat. He opened his eyes with a rapid blink, and saw the back of the van come into view. When he tried to move, he received a very rude surprise. His arms and legs were lashed tightly to the seat by some odd material, the braided appearance resembling something like rope, but the texture felt more like leather. A wider strap had been positioned over his plaston, secured by the steel rings on the side. Donatello usually only employed the rings to keep a backboard in place when one of them had been injured badly - right now they were keeping him firmly pinned down.
"What the shell?" Raphael demanded when he caught sight of his brother. "Let me outta this thing genius!"
He struggled against the bonds somewhat uselessly, trying hard to flex his muscles and find a weakness in the material.
"No, I don't think so Raph."
"What do you mean 'no'? This ain't funny Donnie, take these off!"
"I don't think it is funny Raph, that's not actually the point here. I can't let you go, not until I'm sure you won't do anything stupid."
"Donnie, when I get outta this, you are DEAD!"
"You're not doing anything to help your case here."
Raphael let out an extraordinarily frustrated cry, raging against the bonds with every ounce of force that he possessed.
"And you can quit wasting your energy. I designed these restraints with you specifically in mind. I knew if they could hold up to your temper, they could keep any of us down. You never thought Doc was serious about threatening to restrain us if we didn't listen to him...you were wrong."
"This ain't Doc's doin', it's yours! LET ME GO!"
Donatello remained remarkably calm, acting as if there was nothing particularly odd about the situation. "Remember those endurance tests I put you through last year Raph?"
"You USED me?"
"I am sorry. But there was no way I could have gotten you to agree to it openly, could I?"
"You are gonna regret this so much! You can't keep me tied up forever!"
"I can keep you here until you calm down."
"AIN'T gonna happen Donnie!"
Raphael raged for more than an hour and a half, his language becoming increasingly colorful. Donatello didn't bother trying to reason with him after awhile, eventually dropping onto the seat across from him, and plugged in his MP3 player to listen to. His gaze would drift over to Raphael every so often, and he would turn directly back to his distraction.
I'm patient Raph. I can wait longer than you can burn.
He didn't touch the earphones, until he saw the visible change in his brother's countenance, the smoldering anger being replaced with desperation.
Let's see if he's ready to get anywhere.
Donatello dropped his player, and came swiftly to sit on the floor beside his brother's seat.
"Don't you see we're wasting time genius?" He asked a little raggedly. "We don't know what's happening. We've gotta get over there and do something. That's all I know Donnie. None of this intrigue, sneakin' around. We've gotta get 'em out!"
"Raphael, I'm so tired that I can hardly keep my eyes open as I speak. We should both be asleep, resting so that we're ready to move when darkness falls. Instead, I'm babysitting you. Who's wasting time here Raph?"
Raphael's head collapsed against the seat, a deep sigh of anxiety coursing through him.
"Alright Donnie. Let me up - I ain't going nowhere."
"I need you to give me your word Raph, that you're not going to try to take Morello's people alone, and you're not going to strangle me the second I turn you loose."
"I swear. I told you ain't leaving, and I'm not gonna kick your shell. Until we get home."
Donatello actually laughed a little as he started to free his older brother, but Raphael's expression was lower than it had been yet.
"If we ever get there." Raph continued.
"What does Leo say about that defeatist talk?"
"I ain't trying to be defeated Don, just realistic. I'm not leaving these woods without making a real go at getting them out. If that means I go down in a hailstorm of bullets, I guess that's the way it's gotta be. But I'm not walking away from them."
"I'm not interested in walking away either Raph. But if we can get everyone out without being forced to die in a hailstorm of bullets, I think we should exhaust all those options first."
Raphael sat up completely on the seat, as Donatello finished taking the restraints off him. He flexed his arms a little stiffly, glancing down at Donnie again.
"Alright Donnie, we'll play this your way. Brains first, bashing later. After all, if it weren't for your brain, we might not have found them at all. I'm sorry I ever questioned you about those implants."
"I know it sounded pretty weird at the time, but now you can see that it was all for a good reason."
"I never really doubted that genius, I just didn't want somebody having that much freedom to check up on me."