100 Theme Challenge
34. Stars
Don tried to pull away from whoever was holding him, although his position was precarious and didn't afford him a lot of leverage. After a second or two he realized that the hands on his arms were green and had gotten so strong from years of holding the handle of a katana.
"Is everything okay up there?" Casey called, his voice conveying concern.
"Yes," Don quickly answered, his eyes on Leo's face.
As his brother pulled Don through the opening, the genius turtle glanced around, spotting both Raph and Mikey nearby.
"How ya' feeling?" Raph asked him.
Don leaned against the wall of one of the apartment buildings, enjoying the slight shelter offered by the overhang high above them. "Much better. Have you seen the Kraang?"
Casey appeared in time to see Leo shake his head. "After Raph brought April back to the lair, we came out and had a little running fight with them," Leo said. "Raph had a pretty fair idea of your general location, so we led the Kraang away from you."
"April's safe?" Don asked, standing up straight.
"Yeah, she's fine," Raph said, staring fixedly at Don. "What took the two of you so long to come up out of the sewers?"
"The Kraang didn't leave," Casey answered for him. "There were still a few of them down there 'cause they didn't see Don when April and ya' took off."
"Not to mention the fact that I couldn't move," Don said sarcastically, exhaustion making him cranky.
"They even tried imitating your voice Raph," Casey said. "They're getting tricky."
The rain was starting to let up and Don could see stars through openings in the clouds. He would have enjoyed the sight a whole lot more if he didn't realize how visible they were about to become.
"We have to go, they've programmed every human who is wearing a necklace to howl when they see one of us," Don said nervously.
"Raph told us about it," Leo said. "After Mikey discovered that all of you were missing and told me."
"You guys are lucky it wasn't Master Splinter or Mr. O'Neil who walked into the lab and saw that everyone was gone," Mikey added.
Don was about to remind them again that someone could look out of an apartment window at any moment, when Leo began leading the way to the nearest fire escape.
Once they were on the roof tops where there was much less chance they'd be seen, the group began running in the direction of the lair. Don was worried that Casey would have a problem with his footing on the rain slick roofs, but apparently the time Casey spent on ice gave him an uncanny balance.
Overcome with curiosity, Don ran to catch up with Leo and asked, "How did you find us?"
"Mikey and I left through the door in your lab at the same time that Raph was coming back with April," Leo said. "He told us what had happened and after we got rid of the Kraang we used the tracker in your phone to find out where you were. When we saw that you were on the move, we anticipated where the two of you would come up."
"Oh," Don said, feeling foolish now that he knew how simple that had been. "Is April going to tell her dad what happened?"
Leo glanced over at Don with a displeased expression on his face. "No and neither are we, but you and Raph shouldn't have gone out there by yourselves."
Raph was close enough to hear him and jumped in on the conversation. "Casey needed us to do this for his mom," he said. "We didn't want to hear a lecture on how it wasn't safe. If it had been Master Splinter worrying you wouldn't even argue."
"I'm not arguing now," Leo told him. "It would have been better if you and I had gone instead, because the Kraang aren't as interested in us."
"Casey didn't ask you or me, he asked Donnie," Raph said.
Don could hear the edge in Raph's voice and there was no mistaking the sidelong glare Raph sent in his direction.
"Who should have come to me with the problem, since I'm the leader," Leo said, also shooting a hot look Don's way. "If he had thought it through, he would have known Casey would get out of bed and come after you guys."
It was a subtle but effective reminder to Don that Leo had made it clear he wanted Raph and Casey to have as little interaction as possible. Don felt his indignation start to rise; he hadn't agreed to take that on for Leo and resented his brother's assumption that he'd roll over and do that for him.
This however wasn't the time or place for starting that kind of argument. If Don brought it up in front of Raph, then Raph would lay into Leo wanting to know why he felt the need to butt into Raph's friendship with Casey.
Both Leo and Raph would lose their temper, as they often did when fighting about something that on the surface appeared trivial. It would eventually lead to one or the other saying the really hurtful thing they were holding back. Like Raph announcing to the world that Casey and he were together.
Casey had expressed a desire to remain discreet and Don wasn't sure how he'd take a declaration that would out him. He might get angry enough to call it off with Raph and turn his interest back to April.
Or Leo might get upset enough to ban Casey from the lair. Don didn't like that thought at all, though he wasn't sure why. Maybe he was getting used to Casey being around, or that he felt like he owed the guy. After all, Casey had saved his life a couple of times.
So Don bit his tongue and dropped back a ways to run alongside Mikey. His youngest brother hadn't said much, but when Don looked over at him, Mikey's blue eyes were twinkling with mischievous good humor. Those same eyes glanced across to where Casey was running and then came back to Don, just before a large grin spread across his face.
The expression on Mikey's face irked Don. Why was he always implying that there was something amusing about Don and Casey doing things together? Why the heck should Don be embarrassed that Casey wanted to be friends with him?
A quick flash of stubbornness hit Don then. Raph didn't want him around Casey, April preferred when they were separated, and Mikey found their friendship amusing because he thought Don didn't like Casey.
Don decided he'd show them. Turning his nose up at Mikey, Don changed direction and moved over to run next to Casey.