I do not own rights to TMNT.
"Hey guys!" April greeted as she stepped through the turnstiles the next day, her bag over her shoulder and a welcoming smile on her face.
Raphael sat alone on the couch, reading a magazine. He gave a halfhearted response of "Hey, April."
The lack of enthusiasm in her response greeting immediately cued her in to the fact that something was off. She glanced around the strangely quiet room. "Um… where are the guys?"
"Lame-o-nardo is still meditating in the dojo, Mikey's in his room, and your dork's in the lab."
April wasn't sure how she felt about Raph calling Donnie 'her dork', but she caught the way he emphasized each of his brother's names with an air of chilliness- especially Leo's. She put two and two together, and deciding that Donnie would be a less eruptive source to ask her questions, she headed to his lab. Donatello was seated at his usual place behind his desk.
"Hey, Donnie!"
Donatello looked up at her from his book on myology, a blank expression turning into a warm one. "Oh… h-hey, April."
"How are you?" she inquired, using a clear space on his desk to lean against and prop her elbows on.
He averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh. I'm, uh," he cleared his throat, "I'm… alright."
"Hmm. You too, huh?"
His eyes flicked to hers. "What do you mean?"
"Raph seemed kinda… off, too."
"Oh yeah?" He found his page in the book.
"Mhm." She waited a while for him to explain, but when he didn't speak, she decided to prompt him with, "Did… something happen?"
"Uhh… we… went to a Kraang hideout yesterday…"
"...And?..."
"Things… didn't go as planned. Nobody got hurt and the Kraang weren't up to anything remarkably sinister, but… I don't know. Everyone just got on each other's nerves and we had an argument when we got back last night."
"Oh. Bad argument?"
"Sort of. Raph and Leo didn't seem to be any more fired up at each other than they usually are during fights, but Mikey got involved too, and well, he said some things that were pretty… well…"
"Well, Donnie's the reason I panicked in the first place! It didn't help that Donnie's weapon kinda exploded on us and that he was defenseless against the biotroid!"
Donnie cleared his throat, set his book on the desk, and met April's gaze, sitting back in his chair. "Well, I don't need to go into that." He sat forward in his chair and propped his forearms on the desk, lacing his fingers together. "How are you?"
"Oh!" Her eyebrows shot up and she reached into her bag. "I almost forgot why I was here!" She placed her laptop on the desk and opened it.
Donnie stood and circled the desk to see her screen.
"Remember the website I was on to see if anyone was posting any information that could lead us to my dad when he was kidnapped by the Kraang? Well, I checked back, and something interesting was on here. I'm… not quite sure what it is… I was hoping you could help with that…"
"Well, of course!"
She brought up the said item onto her screen. It was a chart of some sort, but the words in the boxes were in the Kraangs' language.
Donnie went back to his computer. "Read me the URL of that website. I might be able to run that thing through a translator."
Minutes later, they both had their faces inches away from Donnie's computer screen as it loaded the translation. The computer made a beeping sound, and the new version of the chart popped up on the screen.
"This is… a shipment chart," Donnie deduced. "All of the locations are in this part of New York."
"Will it be of any use?"
"Will it-? Yes! All of these shipments have yet to be made. We can intercept all of these shipments and stop the Kraang from doing whatever they're trying to do! And hopefully figure out exactly what they're doing, based on the contents of the shipments. April, this is fantastic! You're a genius!" He brought her into a tight hug, realizing only a second too late that it might have been too bold of him.
He relaxed when she giggled and hugged him back. "Glad I could help." They let go.
He read and reread over the shipping schedule, so she decided that it would be best to leave him to his thoughts. She would come back another time; hopefully the guys would have some things straightened out by then.
Next chapter on Sunday. Have a great day!
