Complicated

Raphael ducked quietly behind a dumpster and Michelangelo followed suit seconds after. Briefly checking their surroundings to make sure there were no unwelcome guests in the alley with them, he narrowed his eyes on the rusted door ahead. A sole flickering light dimly illuminated both the doorway and the metal awning that hung above it. Reaching into his belt, he procured what he needed then held up a hand to signal to Mikey— they were about to start.

Three, two, one.

With honed reflexes, Raph deposited what was in his hand on the door step as Mike rapped his knuckles against the door. They completed their task in a matter of three seconds. Knowing better than to linger in the open too long, both turtles flipped up onto the awning and waited.

A minute passed before they heard the door creak open, casting a steam of light across the backstreet. The sounds of clanking metal and boiling water could be heard coming from inside the building.

"As always, it's a pleasure doing business with you, boys. I threw in an extra couple of fortune cookies on the house this time. Enjoy!"

The door closed, and the alley was covered once again in shadows and silence. Waiting a few seconds longer, Raph dropped down from the awning, snagged the two large, paper bags that'd replaced the money he'd left, and began walking towards the manhole.

Mikey ran past him and pushed the manhole cover off before silently bowing and gesturing for Raph to go first. Rolling his eyes at his little brother's theatrics, he jumped down.

Landing back in the familiar territory of the sewers, Raph carefully readjusted the bags filled with steaming containers of sweet and sour, kung pao, and egg drop soup. The Chinese restaurant they'd just left was a favorite of theirs and conveniently located near the lair. Another perk was how the owner, an elderly man, was completely fine with their complicated system for retrieving the food.

Raph looked up at the sound of the manhole cover being pushed back into place and watched as Mikey slid down the ladder, landing next to him with a grin, "Smells so good! Can't wait to dig into that sweet yumminess!"

They started the walk home and, as with anything that involved Mikey, it was anything but quiet. His brother bounced and hummed, cartwheeled and flipped-all in an attempt to piss him off! He was sure of it!

Raph felt the vein in his forehead bulge as Mikey began walking on his hands while whistling some annoying tune.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and sent a glare down at Mikey, "Do you mind walking the right way an' helpin' me with these bags?"

"Oh, but I am helping," Mikey said, throwing himself into a roll and coming to a stand, "I'm providing entertainment!"

Raph snorted, "Is that what you call it?"

"My acrobatics not doing it for you? Would you rather me serenade you with the sound of my sultry voice?"

"Only if you'd like a good kick to the throat," he answered as they turned down another corridor. The lair wasn't much farther. Thank freaking God too because he was hungry and about two seconds away from feeding Mikey a knuckle sandwich.

"Hey, Raph," Mikey began, "Why do you think the Chinese owner dude is cool with us getting our food the way we do?"

Raph blinked, "What?"

"You know. The way we get our food. He's, like, completely chill with us being all complicated and calling in our order, asking to leave it out back, then us leaving money before vanishing without ever seeing us. We've been doing it for years and he has never once acted like it was weird or anything."

He swore, Mikey's mind jumped from subject to subject without any transition required. Honestly, though, he'd grown pretty used to it.

"I don't know Mike," Raph said, exasperated. "Why do you care?"

"I just find it weird s'all."

It was quiet for a minute and Raph actually began to think that the subject had been dropped.

"Maybe he's part of the mafia."

Stupid him.

"And how do you figure that?"

Mikey jumped in front of him and began walking backwards, "Well, like I said, he's not weirded out at all by us picking up orders from the backdoor and maybe that's because he is used to dealing with the mafia coming through the back! Maybe he thinks we are part of the mafia and that's why he always gives us extra sauce packets! So we don't go all mafia on him." He let out a gasp, "Maybe the Chinese restaurant is a front for the Mafia and that's where all the business deals go down!"

"He ain't involved with the mafia, shell for brains!" Raph groaned, desperately wishing he had a free hand so he could smack his brother upside the head. "Your logic don't even make sense."

"Well, what do you think then?"

"He's probably just used to dealing with shady shit. New York is filled with freaks."

"Hmmmmmmmmm," he hummed leaning in and examining his face closer.

Raph grinded his teeth together, "You better back your ugly mug up."

"It almost sounds like you're covering for him. Maybe you're in on it! Maybe you're part of the mafia!"

He was too hungry for this bull.

"Maybe I'm about to beat the tar out of you!"

"That's exactly what a mafia member would say."

Raph lost it. With no consideration for the food he carried he began to run all while letting out a fierce growl. Mikey shrieked as he spun around and took off.

When they reach the lair, Raph slammed the bags into an unprepared Donatello's arms, completely oblivious to the egg drop soup sloshing onto the egg rolls and the fried rice container hitting the floor. He was a deadly arrow with his sights set on Mikey. His baby bro may be fast, but he was slowed down by the unexpected obstacles of Leo, Splinter, and April exiting the kitchen.

Mikey squeaked as he tried to slow down to avoid colliding into them and that's when Raph made his move. He dove, body slamming into Mikey and wrapping his arms around his torso. Both hit the floor and rolled into the lamp which clattered to the ground, but somehow didn't break.

"What are you two fighting about!" Leo shouted, pushing April further away from the brawl with one arm.

"Raph's mad-ow-Raph's mad because I discovered he's part of the mafia and that's-ouch-that's why the owner is okay with our complicated way of getting food!"

As Raph pinned Mikey's arms down he heard Leo sigh, "I'm sorry I asked."

AN: I've been in a Ninja Turtles mood lately due to re-watching the 2003 cartoon and reading the comics. Please let me know what you think! The next chapter is already written and is called Broken.