I'm Alive!

This time I'm making a short drabble update about the Shellraiser! I forgot this chapter was completed, sorry for the delay. ^^'

Donnie and Raph grinned widely at each other as the beast they'd been working on for the past weeks was finally finished.

"It's done…" Don could hardly believe it. It had been one hell of a job from drawing board to finish, but they'd actually pulled it off. Well, Raph did a lot of the physical work, but he still felt like he'd done quite a lot himself, from drawing and designing it to making lists and researching parts they needed along with tinkering with the engine and other details Raph just didn't know how to do.

The hardest parts had been when Raph literally had to hold Donnie so he could do the work that was required, because Raph just couldn't make heads or tails out of what was supposed to go where on certain wiring parts.

They'd figured it out in the end though, and now it was ready for the big reveal. Raph practically shoved the rest of the family inside as Don proudly sat in his chair by the latest invention.

"NO. WAY!" Mikey exclaimed as the vehicle was revealed. "You guys did this?!"

"Jupp." Don smiled smugly and exchanged a glance with Raph. They were both really proud of it too.

"Wow guys.. this is actually really cool." Leo said as he looked it over, he had to admit, this was insanely nice.. "So, what's its name?"

"Oh uh.. We haven't named it yet but-"

"The Shellraiser!" Mikey shouted the moment Don mentioned it lacked one. "It's the perfect name!"

"... That is the perfect name." Don responded in surprise.

"Told you I'm good at names!" Mikey cheered. "So can we drive it?"

"Heh, hold on, we'll show you how it works." Donnie smiled.

"Alright so we have made positions for everyone based on their skillset. Leo is the driver."

"What? Why?! I wanna drive..!" Mikey exclaimed.

"I wanted that too.." Raph grumbled, but he already knew who was where and why since he and Donnie previously had this discussion when they designed the interior.

"Because he is the least likely to hit something for fun."

"Dang it." Mikey sighed a bit, but he was right.

"Now, it's powered by the crystal we got from uh.. Mikey's friend, Leatherhead. It's protected by the glass, it should hold, but we gotta make sure it stays that way."

"Right.." Leo looked at the power source with a slight feeling of concern. Holding his hands together he gave Donnie a look.

"Now I'm sure you've thought everything through..."

"Ten times." Don replied.

"Right. But you're certain this is safe..? I mean.. the Kraang could track Leatherhead when-"

"I know, that's why it got the protective glass, they won't be able to track it." He said with confidence. "Anyway, Raph is here, and Mikey goes right over there, keeping track of our route."

"Sweet!" Mikey jumped into his seat and swiveled around. Happy they finally had a rad vehicle to drive around.

"And I also added some holdings for my wheelchair and a fold up seat with a belt in case sensei would be joining too." He quickly added, knowing Leo, he'd have to defend these choices. He definitely had ulterior motives with that design, saying otherwise would be a lie, but they were with good intentions. Also his excuse until he could ease Leo into the idea was perfect.

"Donnie I'm just not... sure that's a good idea. I mean…" Leo eyed the contraption meant to secure his wheelchair, not liking the idea that he would be with them. Their exit options were most often not exactly the wheelchair friendly kind.

Don sighed a little, he knew this was going to be an uphill battle, and Leo had tried to sort of.. in his own way, include him some more. But it felt like Leo had some fear of something happening, and he had a hard time relaxing because evidently Don being included made his thoughts seemingly go somewhere else. He knew he needed to phrase this delicately. Especially if he wanted a chance to be of more use.

"Leo.. I'm not going to just join you guys and do what you guys do. I do realise that's not really possible, I'm not crazy. But if… I'm saying if." He raised a finger at Leo. "Our home is found out and we have to escape, I'd rather not fly and roll around in the Shellraiser as we do so. I included a fold down seat with straps for Splinter too. It's just a precaution. Since we do have a lot of enemies."

The moment he said lots of enemies he kinda wished he'd taken that part back, it seemed to make Leo stressed whenever they brought that up. But this time the response seemed to be one of understanding.

Leo thought he was about to have another argument with Donnie, he'd been more included in their missions for sure, but Leo was in no way ready to include Don like this, no way. He was not- He paused his mental list of arguments against this when Don explained why he'd added them, and Leo felt himself relax.

Mentally he sighed in relief. That was actually a good idea, just in case they had to… He'd make sure they never ever had to, but to know that Don had taken precautions in case they had to flee... and not because he was going to be stubborn and join them, made him feel a lot better.

"Okay, that's... actually great." He smiled genuinely at Donnie and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Visibly relaxing.

Donnie wasn't quite sure what had just happened, but apparently, he just diffused a mental mine of Leo's, and his elder brother seemed grateful for it. He smiled back, perhaps he could worm his way into the missions more after all. Don watched them as they explored the Shellraiser and eventually were allowed by Splinter to go on a test-drive after some instructions, with Raph in charge of explaining things as they went.

As much as Leo didn't want Donnie to come with them, Don feared a day might come when one of them would be fatally injured, and there wouldn't be enough time to get them all the way back to the lair.

In order to prevent that scenario from happening, he would have to be there, like a field medic. As the battles got harder... there was only a matter of time before it would be needed as a precaution. He just had to figure out how to make a realistic plan on how to do it and get the rests approval before that could happen..