TMNT does not belong to me. Just Annie & Co. Big thanks to The Silent Hunter and syzygy101 for reviewing!
I quickly change into my new suit that the guys had given me for my birthday. I'd had to throw the old one away since I couldn't get the bloodstains out. And there was no way I could have patched that hole. Daddy was the whiz with the needle. Not me.
I miss him so much. I know it's been two months, but I still expect to turn around and see him smiling at me. I've even caught myself sniffing my juice a few times to make sure that Daddy didn't spike it with Tabasco. Which earned me a few weird looks from Mikey. I'm not going to explain that to him, though. No way am I giving the orange-masked turtle any ideas. He's got enough of them already.
As I braid my hair back, I find myself wishing that I hadn't missed Daddy's funeral. I'd gotten shot the night before (right after the viewing), so I was stuck in a hospital bed that day. One of dad's co-workers at the university had recorded the ceremony for me, but I can't bear to watch it like that. I'd had Donnie throw the DVD away when the guys came to check on me the second night I'd spent there.
As I join the guys in the main room, I'm distracted from my dreary thoughts. I can't help but smirk. Raph's still upset that I'm going with them. He's at his punching bag again. I decide to let him blow off some steam before I go over to him. I do love him, but I also understand that sometimes he just needs his space. What really surprises me is that he hasn't gone after Mikey yet. But I can tell that Mikey knows that's coming soon. He's sitting on the couch holding Klunk and eying his red-masked brother warily, which is what amuses me.
Leo's running through some practice moves, so I decide not to bother him. He'll finish when he's ready. Which is usually right on time for patrol anyway.
Splinter's watching his 'stories.' I still can't believe he likes watching soaps. And I know better than to go over to him right now.
April and Casey took Shadow home. They're getting their basement room ready for me to move in. Since I'm now dating Raphael, Splinter had pointed out that it wasn't proper for me to sleep on their couch in the Lair. Daddy would have been of the same mindset, so that doesn't bother me. Red, of course, doesn't like it. He's afraid something will happen to me if I leave his sight. I'm at least grateful that he's not going to smother me anymore. I do admit that I'll miss waking up to his grumpy 'good morning,' though.
Donatello's tinkering again, Zeb laid out at his feet. I decide to go bug the purple-masked turtle. I haven't spent as much time with him as I have with his brothers.
I'm very careful to make sure that my steps can be heard as I walk up to him. I've already snuck up on him accidentally while he was working before. I don't want a repeat of what happened. I do not want to be cleaning up spare parts again.
"Hey Annie," Donnie says, not even bothering to look up from his project. It looks like one of their shell-cells, just a little smaller. "Did you and Raph kiss and make-up?"
I blush, grateful that he's not looking my way. I'd forgotten that Don can be almost as mischievous as Mikey sometimes.
"Yeah. But that's not why I'm bugging you." He looks up at me, brows raised. "Just being curious. What're you working on?"
"Oh," he turns his attention back to the shell-cell look-a-like. "I'm working on a shell-cell." I'd guessed right. Don continues, "It was supposed to be part of your birthday present since you lost your phone too. But I wasn't able to finish it on time. Some of the wires were glitchy."
I smile. "That's okay Donnie. I really appreciate it." I hug his shoulders from behind. "Let me guess, it has a built-in tracking device?"
His face flushes, "Ummm... Yeah." He looks over at his red-masked brother uncertainly. "But it was Raph's idea. Not mine," he says, just a little to quickly.
I laugh at that, "It's okay, Don. I don't blame him. Or you, for giving him the idea," I smirk at him and he lowers his head, completely abashed. Which only makes me laugh harder.
"Sorry Donnie, I'm not laughing at you," I say when I finally manage to gain control.
He smiles at me. "It's okay. I understand." He tinkers a few more seconds before snapping the back of the phone's case on. "Happy late Birthday," he says, handing me the phone. "And thanks for that book."
"Thank you and you're very welcome." I beam at him, playing with my new phone. I lost my last phone the day I got shot. Somehow, it had managed to slip out of my pocket. Hopefully, I wouldn't have the same bad luck with this one. Don spent way too much time on it for me to loose it.
"It's got a clip on the back," Donnie points out, as if he's reading my thoughts. Which I know isn't true. Donatello is just that way. He's usually one step ahead of everyone else when it comes to technical stuff. He's already put all of their numbers in for me. And he's even assigned speed dials. I can't help but giggle at the fact that he's put Raph as number one.
"Hey Donnie?"
"Yeah Annie?"
"Have you ever played Scrabble?"
He cocks his head like I've seen Leo do several times. "No, but I've got the basic idea of it. Why?"
I clip my new cell to my belt and flip my braid over my shoulder. "Well, Daddy and I used to play it a lot. And I was kind of wondering if you'd like to play it with me sometime." I smirk, "Since there's no way in hog heaven that I'll be able to guilt Raph into playing it."
Don laughs at that, "I'd love to, sis."
Please R&R.