Never-NeverLand – Chapter 3

            "So there's nine of you, a cooler, a duffle bag, and some pillows?"  Casey peered into the mini-van and absently scratched himself. 

            Donatello nodded.  "That's it.  I figured if we fold up the seats, we can stack them in that back corner.  Then we can stack the cooler and the duffle bag on them.  We'll anchor them with some bungee chords.  We'll raid April's blanket collection and pad the floor.  There should be enough room for us to sit, and we'll be down low and out of sight.  I get the feeling that the girls aren't gonna like seeing the other motorists on the highway."

            Casey clapped once.  "Alright then, go for it."  He slipped around the driver's side of the van.  "Hey Donnie, are they ok?"

            Don paused, half way through unthreading the seatbelts.  "How do you mean?"

            Shrugging, Casey poured his old flat soda out onto the lawn.  "They just looked pretty messed up.  I mean, the one has that giant pixie stick straw coming out of that big bandage on her side.  Then there's the one with her head wrapped shut and her knees all taped.  Hell, even the other two've got fresh bandaids here and there."  He cleared out the trash from his drive-through dinner.  "Just that you guys never look like that unless the Foot is involved."  He grinned at Donnie, "Do I get to help you guys bust some heads or what?"

            Don rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but smile.  Casey's world-view was so basic:  the baddies beat up the goodies, then the goodies pounded the baddies' asses into a bloody paste.  'I wish it were that simple.'  He sighed and unlocked the bench seat from its tracks.  "Sorry Casey, it's a bit more complicated than that, but yeah, they're fine.  The one with the straw has a nasty puncture wound that got inflected pretty badly.  The other one has a fractured jaw.  Their enemies are long gone.  We can all just go home and try to live a normal life."

            Casey snorted.  "Normal?  Donnie, you guys wouldn't know 'normal' if it bit you in the ass."

            The instant Casey left the room Pipes' knees gave out, dropping her back onto the sofa like a rag doll.  She was still shaking as she sat up and hung her head between her knees.  Mike leaned forward from his seat next to her and rubbed her shell gently.  Sterling had seated herself on the opposite arm of the sofa by Cabbage, who was dabbing her lower lip with a bit of tissue.  When the bleeding stopped, Sterling casually started petting the inside of her sister's wrist.  Raphael could see the tension ease in both the girls.  Shima was the only one of the girls still upright, but even she was leaning against the wall between Leo and Splinter.

            "It'll be ok Pipes.  I swear, it's just Casey!  You girls don't have to impress him or nothin'.   He's a big softie, dudette!"  Mikey gave a lop-sided grin.  "You don't need to worry about standin' at attention or nothin'.  That crazy monkey-man didn't know what to do!  Heh!  You guys had him so confused!"

            Pipes sniffled and raised her head, +"You ALWAYS so respect to your betters."+  She closed her eyes and pulled away from Mikey's fading smile.

            Mike felt like he'd been hit right between the eyes.  '…your betters…'  "Oh, No Pipes…"

            Leo blinked several times.  He scanned his new sisters' reactions.  None of them seemed inclined to disagree with Pipes.  Not even Sterling.  "Shima?  You don't believe that do you?  Humans are our 'betters'?"  She wouldn't make eye contact.

            Cabbage raised her head sharply, making a desperate attempt at changing the conversation.  "So, what's it like riding in a car?"  The guys' disbelieving stares were now focused on her.  'I shouldn't have said anything.'  She started offering up excuses for her question, before they got mad at her.  "It's not like we've ever ridden in one.  I mean, we must have at some point, but not without sedation and packing material.  It's kinda hard to remember the details when you're set up like that—"  Sterling put a hand on her shoulder.  Cabbage glanced up at her sister, "I just don't want to have a fight right now."  Sterling nodded; she understood.  The sisters had debated human supremacy too many times to think it would end in anything but a shouting match. 

            Donatello sauntered into the living room.  "Okay!  Grab your coats and hats and a pair of blankets.  Be sure and hit the bathroom before we leave, cause it's a three-hour ride.  The van is all ready!"  His smiling enthusiasm was met with a hollow silence.  "I missed something, didn't I?"

            Shima paused before setting foot in the human vehicle.  Donatello followed her line of sight straight to the churned dirt beneath the apple tree.  He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  "We'll come back to the farm.  I promise.  They're safe here until then."  She shut her eyes and nodded. 

            "I trust you completely."  Donatello swallowed, aware for the first time that his sister had accepted every change in her life on blind faith.  His promise had been made in an off-handedly reassuring manner, but she had latched onto it like a life preserver.  'She means it: complete trust.  That's an awful lot of responsibility.  I wonder if this is what Leo feels like.'

            Though he'd been trying to avoid it, Raphael ended up sitting thigh to thigh with Sterling.  She didn't seem to notice.  She was too busy playing with the seat belts.  click  click click  She stared into the buckle housing, pushing the button, trying to watch the internal mechanism without blocking the meager light from the overhead bulb.  He caught himself smiling; 'She's so cute.'  He gave himself a mental punch in the arm, and came back to reality in time to watch her using thumb nail to unscrew the back of the buckle casing.  Shaking his head, he put his hand over hers.  "It's not our van; don't take it apart."  Her eyes got real big as she searched frantically for Casey.  She nodded quickly and dropped the buckle like a hot coal. 

Raphael leaned back in amazement.  He was used to being the scariest thing around.  Only Leo and Master Splinter didn't back down when he was pissed.  'Yet here's this slip – a tall slip, but a slip none-the-less—of a girl who doesn't hesitate to argue with me, doesn't baulk at being chased around the house by the guy who just hurt her, didn't pause to snap open her own face, and she's scared that CASEY's gonna be mad because she took a screw out of one of April's seat belt buckles.  I don't get it.'

            Casey strapped into the driver's seat.  "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking…"  He hesitated, unsure of what came next.

            "Ow!  M.C. Casey in da House!"

            "Casey, think, THEN speak."

            "Ok, shut up!  This here's a non-stop shuttle from the farm in the Back of Beyond to New York City."

            The engine turned over, and Pipes nearly jumped out of her shell.  Sandwiched as she was between Raphael and Mikey, she knew they noticed.  'Damn it.  I just keep embarrassing myself tonight.'  The van lurched onto the gravel; Pipes grabbed the floor to keep her balance.  "Whoa, watch where you've got your hands Pipe-Pipe!"  She'd certainly steadied herself, but the floor hadn't been involved.  She pulled her hands back from her new brothers' thighs as though she'd been burnt.  Her blush was visible even in the dark.  So was Mikey's smile.