Disclaimer: I'm not the Ninja Turtles….I thought I was, but I'm not…

Chapter Twelve

Donatello stirred from his spot on the bed, the warmth in his arms awakening him along with the faint smell of lilacs that tickled his nose. He breathed; immediate recognizing what it was without the need to open his eyes.

"Centrice."

It stirred, turning in his arms. A small kiss was place on his jaw as her melodic but sleepy voice sounded out, breaking their comfortable silence for the first time.

"Hm?"

He frowned. He didn't call her, but she responded as if he did.

It was as if she had heard his thought.

But, that was impossible…right?

She looked up at him, noticing the frown. She frowned in response. He was doing it again. Reaching up, she stroked the side of his face, silently willing the wrinkles of worry and contemplation away.

"You think too much…" She whispered while leaning forward. This time, she kissed the skin just above his plastron, that being the only thing in reach at the moment. At that and her words, Donny visibly relaxed, forgetting all about his worry. In those few seconds of thought, he had developed a thesis and had the beginnings of a sort of experiment to prove whether he was telepathic or not. Owen had mentioned that vampires usually were, But was he?…

However, at Centrice's remark and menstruations, he stopped, mainly just to prove her statement wrong.

"I don't think too much…" His eyes danced with the humor in his statement. Centrice smiled, laughing softly into Donny's chest.

"Oh, I think you do." She stated with a giggle. Donny grinned and leaned his head up to look his girlfriend in the eye with mock irritation.

"Oh, I disagree," He, well, disagreed. "I think I think just fine. After all," He grinned proudly, "I am a genius, you know." He stated, matter-of-factly; his chest rising into a swell. Centrice smiled at his antics. "Oh yes, a genius, uh huh…" She smirked, rolling her eyes.

'What a jackass!' Her mind added just as she turned away.

Don raised his head.

"Excuse me?" He asked, an eye ridge posted in response.

She turned back blinking, visibly confused over his small explanation. "What?…"

"You called me a jackass. I heard it, clear as day." He threw her a look of his own before grinning, not really taking offence to the word itself but finding her denial of the phrase amusing.

She blinked once again. She didn't say it out loud, did she? Well, at least, she didn't remember saying it out loud, just thinking it.

She reminisced.

Maybe she had said it without realizing it. But she would have realized it if she did say it out loud. Either way, she definitely remembered thinking it.

But that was all.

Meanwhile, Donny watched her, grinning at her new expression of contemplation.

"Now who thinks too much?" He laughed, gathering her into his arms as he did. He leaned in, kissing trail from her collar to her warm mouth. She couldn't help but moan softly before catching his lips in passion. She allowed her former confusion to melt away into the feel of his warm beak. However, it was short-lived for Donatello soon pulled away. She was about to protest but instead followed his gaze to the digital clock.

They really had to get going soon.

She sighed dejectedly at the retreating excitement in her gut. Meanwhile, He untangled his limbs from around her small frame with a small sigh of his own.

"We've got to go," He whispered, "I have practice in a half an hour." The slight regret in his voice made it all but evident that he really didn't want to leave just yet despite his words. It wasn't every day that he got to cuddle with his girl. Besides, there were way fewer distractions in his room than her house. No prying neighbors, no poorly timed telephone calls, overall just fewer distractions.

Or so he thought.

A light tapping caught Centrice's and Donny's attention. They exchange glances just as Donny called out.

"Who is it?" He shouted, eyeing Centrice curiously as he spoke. The muffled voice on the other side of the door sounded out in response.

It was Raph.

His strong Brooklyn accent all but gave him away.

"Leo says to get yer ass in gear, you lazy bum!" Raph yell harshly at the turtle, before softening his voice for the other occupant of the room. "Centrice, if you wanna use the bathroom, use it now, cause otherwise you'll be stuck with cold water." Centrice smiled at Raph's obvious change in mannerism between herself and Donny.

"Thank you Raphael, I will be out in a second." Donny caught her smile and was about to respond with a remark of his own, but Raph replied from behind the door, cutting him off.

"Good, hey drag Donny out with you, he needs to get his ass kicked in practice…Leo said." Don frowned, rolling his eyes.

"I don't think Leo said all of that…" Donny smiled at his brother's antics. He reached out a hand, pulling Centrice into his arms once again, nuzzling her neck as he did. There was a slight pause from the other side of the door before Raph responded.

"H-Hey! Don't tell me what Leo said! I know what Leo said. Ok?!"

Don grinned, pulling away from their hug.

"Ok, Raph…" He agreed absently, grinning down at Centrice's slight giggle.

Raph's retreating footsteps was stopped. He turned back.

"Oh, and don't forget to get one last look at your green ass on the way out, because by the time I'm through with you, the only colors you'll see there is black and blue."

Don raised an eye ridge.

"Did Leo say that too?" He asked, Centrice laughed aloud as Raph responded just as quickly.

"No, that was all me that time." Raph finally retreated from the door, for real time. Centrice waited until he was gone before looking up at her lover.

"Is it like this every morning?" She asked him. He smiled, shrugging as he began to spread the bed.

"Yeah, mostly. Well, it varies from 'Get up you lazy bum!' to 'Wakkie Wakkie, Einstein wanna-be.' depending on who's waking me up."

She nodded, the slight smile never leaving her lips at the humor of it all. A life with three brothers; humor if there ever was a definition for the word. Growing up as an only child, she never had to share a shower, or get a sibling wake up call. But now, the experience of being inside of this family opened her mind to all of the different families that existed. She felt lucky, getting a glimpse of this one, regardless of how non-conventional it seemed compared to the "average" two-point five children, family. Meanwhile, Donny continued in his jabber, feeling rather talkative this morning for more reasons than one.

"Well, when I was younger, I always had a problem getting up in the morning." He explained, smoothing out the last wrinkle in the sheet before turning to her. She raised an eye brow; that was hard to believe. It was rather difficult to picture this hard-working, genius of a turtle having trouble just getting up. He caught her gaze, reading her skepticism immediately.

"No, it's true! Really! When we were little turtles, Splinter said I use to throw horrible tantrums. He also said that for that reason alone, I got a lot of spankings and time outs. "

Centrice shrugged, slightly amused at the thought of Don getting a spanking for misbehaving!

If that wasn't a paradox, she didn't know what was.

"That doesn't sound too bad. Everyone has thrown a tantrum or two." She stated simply. She remembered throwing a few tantrums herself, and it having similar consequences.

However, Donatello still did not seem convinced.

"Well yeah, but I use to throw really bad ones."

She raised an eyebrow.

They couldn't have been that bad.

"How bad?"

He sighed.

'Here goes.'

"Well, the others say that when we were five, I punched Leo right in the beak when he came to wake me up."

She laughed.

"Well that's not too bad." She stated, giggling. However Donatello's look alone told her that that was just the beginning.

"Well, maybe, but then Raph tried. I don't remember this part by my own account, but Mike says that he shook me, and I didn't respond. So…he slapped me. And then…"

Centrice went to laugh, but she held it, noticing how truly disturbed Donatello had become.

"And then…what?"

"I kicked him."

Again, that wasn't too bad. But once more, Donatello continued, reading her dismissive look.

"But it wasn't just the fact that I kicked him that got me in so much trouble…It was the issue of where I kicked him..."

Centrice burst into hysterical laughter, completely unable to hide it anymore. Donatello watched her, rather annoyed that she would find such a horrible act humorous, but smiled none-the-less at her reaction. It took a while, and a few "I'm sorry's" before she was able to control her laugher, and even then, his face and the image of a five year old Donny kicking one of his brothers in the groin only made her giggle all the more. Meanwhile, Don waited for her laughing spell to calm down before even attempting to speak.

However, she beat him to the punch.

"Your right," She stated, her laughing fit calming into a few random chuckles. "That is bad!"

"I told you!" He stated pointedly. "But you didn't believe me." He crossed his arms in mock anger. She giggled once more before approaching him with a well placed kiss and a hug.

"Well, at least you grew out of it." She noted, her voice a song in his ear.

"Well, mostly..."

"Mostly?"

He grinned at her sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he murmured. "Well, I still have a tendency to oversleep now and then…"

She grinned.

That was too funny!

She would have laughed out loud all over again, but the look Donny gave her told her that he was truly embarrassed, his cheeks reddening into a blush.

Too Cute.

Don blinked in surprise, realizing how long they had been talking.

Practice would be starting in a few minutes.

Once again, he untangled himself from Centrice, heading for the door. This time he opened it, motioning for her to follow.

"We have to get going, so ladies first." He waved her through exasperatedly putting a smile on her lips, allowing his past embarrassment to melt away. She complied, walking through the open doorway. However, just as she got there, his hand quickly snaked around her waist as he closed the door with the other, leaving them both in the hallway. Soon, that hand too found its way around her waist as he hugged her from behind.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing her lightly on the ear. "I feel like I can tell you anything…despite your laughing."

She giggled as his breath tickled the sensitive skin of her neck. Tentatively, her own hand snaking up, gently massaging whatever skin she could find.

"I love you too." She whispered, her voice barely audible in the silence of the hall. However, that silence was soon broken by another voice.

Actually, three other voices.

Michelangelo whistled.

"Whoa, Donny, keep that heat in the kitchen, bro!" Mike laughed as Donatello's head shot up at the foreign noise, his cheeks flushing red almost immediately. Raph snickered before chiming in.

"Yeah, get a room you two!"

Centrice kept her head low, but was not able to hide the small smile that crossed her pink lips. Leo snickered along with his brothers, but soon grew serous. That was enough fun. But now, it was time for practice.

"Come on Donny, let's go." His light but non-playful tone silenced the other two, reducing their remarks to mere grins. Donatello sighed, as Leo threw him his bo. Centrice watched him as he walked away only to throw one more look back at her before heading into the dojo. The other two turtles followed, playfully shoving the one in purple as they went. "Get in there Lover Boy!" One of the few remarks she was able to pick up from their quiet commentary. She turned to leave, heading for the bathroom, but noticed that the one in blue still stood in the hallway, watching her expectantly.

"Centrice, if you want to take a shower or something -"

"I know, I know, do it now so that I can get some warm water." She interrupted, completing his order for him.

Leo smiled, raising an eye ridge.

"So I guess Raph delivered my message, huh?"

Centrice smiled back, heading for the bathroom as she did.

"Something, like that." She stated before turning into the bathroom completely, locking the door. Leo smiled, shaking his head.

'That Centice is something else…"

He grinned as he waited for the inevitable. As if on cue, the "bathroom" door unlocked as Centrice stepped out. Masking her embarrassment with a stance of annoyance, she tapped a foot, waiting. He hid his laugh with a well placed cough before responding.

"The bathroom is that door." He pointed to the door directly across from the one she had walked into. Although he tried to mask it with another cough, he failed horrible as he laughed out loud at the look she threw him before entering the real bathroom. A "Thanks" was all she could muster before locking the door. Leo grinned widely as he finally made his way into the dojo.

'Yup, definitely somethin' else…'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was almost time for breakfast.

Leo winced slightly as the dagger's tip pierced his finger, breaking the barrier his skin had on the crimson, allowing a few drops the method of escaped. He watched as his own blood mingled with that of the transfusion pack. The surface rippled and waved before calming; the waves smoothing out as they reached the barrier of glass. He sighed, running the wounded finger under a little cold water.

He was finished.

He placed the cup on the counter as he made his way to the table. Despite his acceptance, there was still a small part of him that still stated that this was wrong, but now he knew better.

If anything, this was the sincerest thing he had ever done, and he would gladly do it again in a heartbeat.

What was a drop of blood every twelve hours to a brother?

Nothing, that's what.

Hearing footsteps, he picked up the paper that inhabited the table and began reading, not wanting to look over-suspicious. As if on cue, Donatello walked in, his own bandana near soaked from precipitation. He had checked on Centrice before heading to the kitchen for breakfast, leaving Raph in the dojo and Mike in the shower.

In the background, Mike's faint singing echoed the rather quiet lair as it did every morning.

Don smiled at Mike's rendition of Ave Maria as he slowly made his way to the fridge. Opening it, he peered inside. Leo watched as the turtle's smile faltered, his eyes searching the shelves, more in worried anxiousness than anything else.

Leo smiled to himself. Meanwhile, Don double-checked the shelves, his nerves getting the better of him as he began to panic. He was missing a pack.

Leo noticed his frantic but quiet searching.

"I fixed it already, it's on the counter."

Don looked up startled before visibly relaxing as if realizing what Leo had said. His eyes narrowed in slight confusion as he approached the full glass of blood.

Leo looked up slightly as Donny gave him a look.

"What?" He asked innocently. However, Donatello did not buy the act for a second.

Leo then noticed his blank and rather confused stare.

"I thought I would do it for you today now that I know how." He explained, reading his brother like a book. Meanwhile, Leo went back to his paper, reading absently as if the entire situation was no big deal.

In reality, he feared Don's reaction.

Donny could take Leo actions negatively, seeing it as diminutive gesture, mocking what he had become. Leo snorted at the thought; he would never make fun of Donny, especially not like that.

But did Donny know that?

The faint sound of someone drinking answered his question. Donny drunk slowly, once again pushing down the repulsion that bubbled up at the thought of exactly what he was doing. All he could concentrate on was finishing the glass, or else he would not be able to. Nevertheless, just like last time, the rumble in his belly silenced, melting into the more familiar feeling of 'I just need food.' Leo watched as he gulped the whole thing down, his face showing his inner struggle. Realizing he was staring, he went back to his paper, not wanting to make his brother uncomfortable. Donatello opened the eyes he didn't remember closing.

"Thanks, Leo…" He murmured, wiping his mouth. Slowly, he placed the empty glass in the sink, only to realize how much he hated seeing the blood stained glass. So, more out of habit than anything thing else, he turned on the warm water to wash the glass out.

"No problem." Leo stated more to himself than to Donatello. He knew he wouldn't have been heard for the sound of the running water more than muted his voice; that or Michelangelo's sudden scream as the water in the shower went from temperately warm to frigid cold in less than a second flat.

At the scream Don quickly turned off the water. But it was too late. A steady line of curses flowed from the bathroom as Mike turned off the shower, angry that his shower had been interrupted. Despite himself, Leo grinned widely.

With Donny Ok, and everyone feeling better, it was beginning to feel just like old times, before everything turned their lives upside down.

It was as if they were finally becoming a family again.

The thought put an even wider grin on Leo's face before a well delivered exclamation from the disgruntled Mike made him laugh out loud; his and Don's hesitant chuckling filling the small kitchen with laughter.

"Donny?! Donny! I know that's you! If you're messing with the water again, I recommend you stop! Otherwise, someone's gonna end up with a broken computer!"

Yup, just like old times.

***

Hmm….no cliffy, no real rising action, no adventure….just some fluff…and some fun…………I don't know what to think about that.

…

YOU tell me what you think about that! R and R