Chapter Twenty-eight

It was a pleasant, if tiring, evening for Raphael. Alex and Mikey fought for his attention constantly, and while it was flattering, by late evening he was finding himself missing the relative quiet of the jungle. Leo had retreated to their room hours before, stating he was relieved to return to their normal schedule. Raphael had wondered if he should follow, but the other two wouldn't let him out of their sight, and Leo had given him such an evil sly smile as he disappeared.

He found himself lounging in the library around three a.m., only half-listening to Mikey's prattling. He hadn't remembered his little brother could talk quite this much, but fortunately Mikey didn't seem to care if all he said was 'mm' and 'yeah'.

His mind reviewed the evening, idly trying to put pieces together. Apart from an extremely thorough and nearly invasive overall check-up from his snobby brother, Donnie had remained quiet and withdrawn, hiding away in the lab. Alex assured him that things would return to normal soon, but he had no idea just what 'normal' was. Mikey had dropped a few hints that he and Donnie were fairly close, working together often either around the lair or in the garage.

Raphael sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. Just how many other relationships had he forgotten? Would he have to start over with Donnie too? Would Donnie even care? So far, he was acting like the stereotypical hermit geek, except for the odd tender smile when he'd been running tests on him.

"…fall over dude?"

"Huh?"

Mikey snorted, leaning forward on the table and grinning. "You look like you're about to fall over. Which is a funny thought, considering you're already sitting down."

Raphael nodded, hiding a yawn. "Been a long day."

"A long few weeks, yeah?" Mikey agreed.

"Yeah." Raphael stretched lazily as he stood, then hid a yawn. "You should probably sleep too. Seven a.m. is gonna come all too soon."

Mikey's eyes immediately narrowed. "Seven? In the morning? What about it?"

"That's when training starts?" Raphael tilted his head. "At least, that's what Leo said before he toddled off to sleep."

"Oh my gawd." Mikey grabbed his head and moaned. "No, no! He can't seriously be thinking of dragging us out of bed tomorrow morning!"

"Why not?"

"Why not? Why not?" Mikey gaped at him as he rose to his feet. "It's training! At the crack of dawn- or very near it! Oh come on, Raphie, you can't be so far gone that you actually want to get up early just to hear Leo yelling at you!"

Raphael turned toward the door, eyes narrowed. "Don't call me that. And no, I don't wanna, but… It's Leo." He shrugged, as if that explained everything.

"Exactly!" Mikey whined as he bounded after him. "Leo the perfectionist who makes us go through three katas before any self-respecting person should be awake!"

"Yeah, well, you could probably stand some exercise." He shoved Mikey roughly in front of him. "'Cause I bet you didn't do jack shit while we were gone."

Mikey turned and walked backwards, glaring playfully at him. "Of course I didn't! You'd be so disappointed in me if I did training on my own. And Leo would've had a heart attack! Do you want me to give Leo a heart attack? 'Cause I doubt Don would wanna help him out right now… We'd just have to watch poor, poor Leo, spasming on the kitchen floor, begging for help in that wheezing voice, and Donnie just standing there with that evil Mad Scientist look in his eye-,"

"Okay! Okay, I get it." Raphael was laughing so hard he could barely speak. "Yeah, fine! Whatever."

Mikey whined unintelligibly as he ducked into one of the rooms along the hallway. "I might see you tomorrow morning," he said sleepily, waving before slamming the door closed.

Raphael shook his head, still chuckling as he continued on down the hall. He paused when he saw a light on downstairs, and he briefly considered turning it off. Finally he gave in and took the stairs two at a time, silently padding over to the couch. To his surprise, he found Alex throwing a blanket over herself as she glanced up in surprise.

"Raph! Geez. My god, how many times do I have to tell you guys to not sneak up on me?"

"Well I don't remember," he replied smugly, tapping the lamp. "Hey, uh… You normally sleep out here?"

"Not intentionally." She sighed, propping herself on an elbow to look up at him. "But I just- I dunno. I really don't wanna sleep in the same bed as Don tonight."

Raphael frowned, moving around the couch to sit beside her folded legs. "Is he that upset?"

She wrinkled her nose in a grimace. "Well, I kinda made it worse. See, I'm with Leo on this one, and he kinda took that personally… He's pretty pissed at me now, too."

"Oh. That's no good." Raphael shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what else to say. He didn't have to worry, though, because Alex sat up and leaned against him.

"Thing is, Donnie and I don't really fight," she said quietly. "But when we do… It's really intense. It'll pass. It's just right now, in the interim, it's not fun."

"Yeah, I can imagine." He patted her head, much more at ease. "Hey, it isn't fair you have to sleep out here, though. You being a girl and all."

Alex laughed loudly. "Now that's a switch- you remembering I'm a girl!" she teased. "And hey- I've kicked him to the couch once. No, twice. It's just karma."

"Karma or not, it can't be comfortable," he muttered. "Hey! You could come sleep with Leo and me. Have you seen the size of the bed in our room?" he said eagerly. "It's huge! We'll all fit, and I bet'cha it'd be better than here."

"It's a king size, yeah," Alex grinned. "You guys got it last year for your anniversary. Donnie and I got one too. Takes up half the room, doesn't it?"

"Yeah!" Raphael looked up at the railing behind them, then grabbed one of her hands as he stood. "So, c'mon. Leo's already gone to bed, but I don't think he would care."

"Probably not?" Alex said hopefully as she let him led her toward the stairs. "But I am not sleeping in the middle."

"Why not?"

She snorted, a decidedly un-ladylike sound. "It's hard enough to survive sleeping with one Turtle in my bed. Sometimes he rolls on top of me and I wake up suffocating! I am not tempting Fate tonight like that. You're sleeping in the middle, so Leo and I can suck up your bodyheat."

"…Fair enough," Raphael chuckled.

"And I really don't wanna wake up to you two gettin' it on," she added sternly. "It'd just be like rubbing salt in the wound, y'know."

"Rubbin' something, huh?" he teased, then laughed when she began smacking his arm. By the time they were settled in bed, sandwiched between the two and Leo sleepily agreeing to the arrangement before curling into his chest, Raphael wasn't missing the quiet of the jungle anymore.


Raphael never stirred when Leo left bed in the morning, but Alex did. Once she was awake, she couldn't go back to sleep, worry creeping insidiously back into her consciousness the more she became aware. Eventually she detached herself from Raphael's warm side and trudged downstairs, yawning one after the other. Leo, of course, was safely ensconced in the dojo, so she had the kitchen all to herself.

At least, she did until she heard footsteps behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Want me to start you some coff- ah!" Donnie's hands had gripped one shoulder, spinning her to face his furious expression.

"Where were you?" he hissed, shaking her slightly. "Where've you been?"

"Huh?" She blinked stupidly at him. "What do you mean?"

"You weren't in our room. You weren't on the couch, in the library, or garage. Mikey hadn't seen you all night," he fumed. "I even went topside and checked the apartment. You didn't have your phone. Where the hell did you go?"

Alex began laughing, and once she started, she couldn't stop. The fact that Donnie's glare only deepened didn't help.

"I- I didn't go anywhere," she finally gasped. "I slept in Leo and Raph's room last night. Raph offered and I accepted. The couch sucks, y'know."

Donnie froze, and a trickle of fear ran through Alex. "What, Donnie?"

"You were with Leo and Raph." His voice was flat and dull.

"Yeah. I'm sorry you were worried, but I was totally fine." She gestured vaguely at upstairs, then sighed heavily when he turned on his heel and stomped for the door. "Donnie, c'mon," she wheedled. "Don't drag this out."

He paused by the doorframe, not looking back. "I'm not," he growled, then disappeared.


[Author's Note]
Angry Donnie is so friggin' hawt.