Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Elly.
Ramica- No one in the lair really knows why the name keeps changing. But ever since the break up, Mike has been a bit… deranged. He really didn't cope with it too well and doesn't want to let go. The turtle, to Mike, is like a little tool to hopefully get Venus back, but at the same time his scattered mind is trying to accept, reject and cope all at the one time. Anyway, to answer your question… Mike's just lost the plot!
Chapter 4: Dude, Where's My Car?
The four-wheel drive was no longer road worthy, and, with the cops researching the theft and accident, the turtles decided to abandon the vehicle. It took them an hour to trek through the labyrinth of sewer tunnels and rivers. When they finally arrived home, Splinter and Raphael were nervously waiting for them.
"Where's the car?" Raphael asked hurriedly as soon they entered the lair.
"Nice to see you too Raph. We're fine. Thanks for asking," Donatello commented harshly before scurrying into his room.
"Venus crashed the car. We had to abandon it because the cops were called soon after the accident," Leonardo sadly reported. Splinter nodded to the news while Raphael sighed.
"Guess I'll have to steal another one," Raphael said, heading towards the exit.
"No! No, that won't be necessary," Leonardo called out while Mike blocked Raph's past.
"It'll just be easier if I fix the Hummer, since it already has all the things we need or want in a vehicle… like space and leg room," Donatello explained from the confines of his train carriage.
"Well, it is good to see you all back. From what I heard from Raphael about Dragon Lord, I suspect that Donatello will have quite some time to fix the Hummer, though it will do you all some good if you traveled like true ninjas. I hope that you will retire for the night shortly," the old rat said with slight exhaustion. The turtles watched as the elderly ninja master slowly made his way to his private bedroom.
Raphael looked at the rest of his family and crinkled his nose in disgust. "What stinks?" He asked. Before the others could answer, Raph's eyes traveled down to the brown liquid stained knee guards and ankle bandages. "What did ya do? Walk through shit?" He asked bluntly.
Leonardo, Venus and Michelangelo simply frowned and stared at him, not willing to admit to that question. A small smirk appeared on Raphael's face. "It'll be a few days until Don gets the Hummer fixed. So like before, your Hog's looking like a great from of transport for our dirty bodies," Leonardo quickly informed him before Raph could poke any more fun at them. The smirk disappeared immediately.
"You know what… I think there's a… um… frog, yes a frog in the garage! Don't want it to start a plague now, do we?" Raphael feebly excused himself as he bolted for the garage in order to hide his Hog.
"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard," Leonardo murmured to himself as he headed towards the shower. Mike searched the room for the pizza box he left the baby turtle in, only to find her caught amongst the rubbish in the trash can.
"I think it's time for you to go to beddy-byes," Michelangelo cooed, hoping to impress Venus with his parenting skills. He then went in search of a place to put the turtle for the night. He entered the bathroom and was yelled at by Leo for not knocking. He shyly meandered around the lair as Venus' curious gaze remained on him. Mike eventually gave up and sat down outside the bathroom door, waiting for Leo to get out.
Raphael returned from the garage and went straight to his room, not talking to anyone. A minute later, Donatello emerged from his train carriage with an armload of work tools, obviously to help repair the Hummer. He murmured something under his breath when he past Venus, as he walked to the garage's ladder. The female turtle couldn't help but feel guilty and ashamed.
Venus decided to follow Donatello into the garage. She found the fretting purple wearing turtle ripping off the wrinkled and useless bonnet with his tools. He noticed her standing in the shadows, but chose to ignore her and continue on with his work. "I am really sorry," she finally said. Donatello still didn't say a word. "How long will it take to fix?" she asked after a few seconds. Donatello sighed.
"Depends how lucky I get. If I can find all of the damaged parts in good condition on discarded vehicles at the dump, then it shouldn't take long. Though it will probably end up that we'll have to raid other cars, repair stores, impound facilities or manufacturing places to finish the job," Donatello grunted in response as he checked the engine. Venus nodded quietly in understanding.
"Anything I can do to help?" Venus asked timidly. Donatello's eyes locked onto Venus' for a split second before they returned to what his hands were working on.
"No," he replied quietly.
"Are you sure?" Venus tried.
"Yes, I'm sure," Donatello responded with an annoyed tone. In his frustration, Don accidentally dropped a heavy metal wrench onto his foot. Venus watched with apprehension as he howled and hopped in pain.
"I'm only trying to help," Venus said softly as Donatello rubbed his throbbing toes.
"Yeah well, you're not helping," Donatello replied through gritted teeth. "You'd only slow me down anyway. So why don't you just leave me to do my electronic stuff, and do something else like meditation," Donatello argued.
"Fine!" Venus said stubbornly. Not wanting to bother Donatello any further, she went back into the main living room area. A few minutes later, she went to bed; tired with everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, such as crashing two cars.
*****
Venus' sleep was restless and disjointed. Her mind disallowed her to dream and instead focused on the feelings of guilt and stupidity that had grown during the day's activities. She couldn't get her brain to relax. Venus sighed and opened her eyes, knowing that it was futile trying to get to sleep. The lair was still dark and cold. Venus sat up to read the alarm clock on her table. The time was half-past four. She groggily stood up, hoping that if she took a break then maybe she could get some sleep later. Venus stepped out of her room and headed for the kitchen to get a glass of water.
On the way back, Venus noticed that Donatello's train carriage light was on. Curious as to why he was still awake, Venus walked over to his room. She found the turtle fidgeting around with a few gadgets. His desk lamp was on for better light and magnifying glasses were worn on his head for enhanced vision, making him look like some kind of night owl. Don was so preoccupied with his work, that he didn't even notice Venus enter the room.
"What are you doing still up?" Venus tiredly asked, voice filled with worry. Donatello jumped in surprise, dropping the gadget onto the floor. He picked it back up again and continued his work.
"I'm trying to make a light saber," Donatello murmured while he fiddled.
"Why?" Venus said while yawning.
"Because Raphael will continue to threaten me and my computer if I don't make him one. He wants it just like Yoda's," Donatello informed her, still not taking his eyes off his growing invention. "I wish I never took him to see that movie. He wanted me to explain to him all of the 'hard' parts. Of course, I had to go, because apparently Mike makes chewing noises as he has a habit of buying the overpriced junk at the Candy Bar, while Leo… Well why would Raph take Leo?" Donatello babbled on.
Venus looked at him and then at the object he was making. "I think that is going to be quite impossible to make. You can't get a constant supply of chi energy to burn at a high temperature in a controlled amount of space," Venus explained. Donatello opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out. He gave a slight nod and placed what he had made so far onto the table surface. Don pulled off his magnifying goggles and rubbed his tired eyes.
Venus gazed around his room. It was rather clean considering Donatello's rather busy lifestyle. Her eyes came to rest on the baby turtle swimming in a glass tank complete with plants, logs and heat rocks. "What's Nelly doing in here?" Venus asked as she approached the tank.
"According to Mike, her name's now Elly," Donatello said casually. Venus sighed with exhaustion.
"I don't think I can keep up with all these names," Venus groaned.
"Ironically enough, Mike can't either," Donatello commented. "I found her in the bath tub swimming in deep tap water with no source of heat and had no place to rest. Luckily I just so happened to keep that fish tank Mike used when he had the smart idea of having a poisonous snake for a pet. I just had to uh… 'borrow' some reptile supplies from the pet shop down the road," Donatello explained. Venus wisely decided not to argue with him about the stealing.
"So… how's the Hummer coming along?" she asked cautiously. Don gave her a dark look.
"It's okay. I just need to search the dump for some of the more major parts like the bonnet, but for some reason I can't find Raph's motorcycle," Donatello said, after realising that he was too tired to be angry with her.
There was an awkward silence between the two. Both turtles watched as Don's desk lamp bulb flickered and died. Donatello groaned and fumbled through his desk draw in search of a replacement. "Anyway, I have work to do. Mike wants me to fix his portable gaming device so he doesn't have to whack it all the time," Don murmured, then swore under his breath when he couldn't find a spare bulb.
Venus backed out of the room and headed towards her train carriage. A grunting noise from within Leo's room was heard. Venus chose to investigate it and found Leo on the floor of his room doing pushups; obviously the first exercise of his obsessive morning workout. After completing a set, Leo noticed the female turtle standing in the doorway. "Hey Venus. Why are you up so early?" Leonardo asked, slowly getting up off the floor.
"Couldn't sleep," she said simply. "Donatello hasn't even gone to bed yet," Venus added.
"Yeah he usually does that," Leo said, being dismissive.
"But he never seems tired to me," Venus pondered.
"That's because he's a caffeine addict," Leonardo pointed out. "You shouldn't worry about him. He's been doing this for years. It may not seem like it at times, but he really does enjoy doing his work. Frankly, I don't know where we'd be without him and his inventions. We wouldn't have a security system, hot water, a kitchen… or really nice spray paint designs on the vehicles," Leonardo explained while gathering his gear, ready to head over to the dojo.
"I'M NOT GAY!" A voice yelled from down the hall.
"Who was that?" Venus wondered where the voice had come from. Leo just shrugged before continuing.
"Yes, he especially enjoys his spray painting," Leonardo said on purposely loud so that Don could hear it from his room. A couple of swear words were heard down the hall.
"He must really care about his family then," Venus suggested.
"Yeah…" Leo agreed, ending the conversation. He looked Venus up and down, remembering something that Raphael had told him earlier. "Do you want to spar?"
*****
Venus and Leonardo panted as the forty minute long sparring match finally came to an end; Venus being the victor. They shook hands, thanking each other for a good match, before dropping down to rest on the cold floor. Leonardo looked over at Venus and smiled. "You're a very good fighter," he complimented.
"Thank you," Venus said, slightly blushing. She was glad that her cheeks were already red from the workout.
"So, when you were living in China, how did you spar?" Leonardo questioned, slowly getting his breath back.
"I practiced with my master Chung I. Though when he got older, things became difficult, and I had to spar with him using only chi energy, as he was too frail to be Raph-housing with me physically," she explained, gaining a weird look from Leo.
"I think you meant roughhousing," he corrected gently. Venus gave him a sheepish grin. "But you have to admit, doing all those years of practice using only chi energy made you into the great fighter you are today. It's what really gives you the advantage," Leonardo analysed.
"I guess so," Venus said softly.
"Do you enjoy being a Shinobi?" Leonardo asked, after noticing her thoughtfulness.
"Sometimes I do. The skills are really helpful most of the time. It's just…" she trailed off.
"What?" Leonardo wanted her to continue.
"Well… sometimes I just feel… isolated," Venus admitted.
"Everybody feels that way sometimes. Even more so when you're a mutant. I don't think you're isolated. You're unique, but not isolated," Leonardo said softly. Venus had a small smile on her face.
"Maybe," she whispered. There was a short silence. "Leo. I know how much the Hummer meant to you-"
"Yeah," Leo agreed, trying not to look too upset.
"-But I am really sorry," Venus apologised.
"I know you are. You shouldn't worry about it too much," Leonardo said almost casually. "Wanna have an early breakfast?" Leonardo suggested, pointing towards the kitchen. Venus smiled and nodded. They walked together back into the main living room. Donatello was already there, chugging down a large cup of hot black coffee as though it was his last drop of water before crossing a dessert. "See what I mean?" Leonardo winked, referring to what was said about Don earlier. Venus grinned at his comment. They both watched as Don returned to his room wide-eyed, like a zombie looking for brains.
Breakfast ended up being cereal, as Leo couldn't cook or make anything else. The two turtles continued to talk; Venus' heart fluttered every time Leo said anything to her. As he talked, Venus started to admire the small things about him; his smile, the gentle yet strong hands, those deep brown eyes… the really sexy muscles. Venus stopped her train of thought right there, realising that she had been fantasizing about him, and not really listening to what he was saying. She tried to focus on the actual conversation again, only to have her mind wander to his cute butt. 'Stop it, Venus!' her thoughts cursed to herself. Two seconds later, her mind wandered off yet again. 'Why am I thinking about this?' she thought, snapping back to reality yet again. Leonardo smiled to her as he was speaking, and Venus couldn't help but smile back. 'I think I have a crush,' she wondered, trying to figure out her new feelings. Leo looked into her eyes and touched her hand. 'I think I'm falling for him.'
To be continued…