Chapter 28 - Realizations

Donatello looked down, his eyes widening as he realized that April's fingers were still entwined with his own. His gaze then shot up to Mikey, to see if he'd noticed anything. Mike was flipping through a magazine, seemingly oblivious to Don's movements.

Don looked down again. He needed to let go, without waking April, and rousing Mike's attention.

Problem was, he didn't want to let go.

*************

Leo sighed, watching Raphael pace around the kitchen again.

"What are you doing?" He finally asked. Raph stopped, and looked at him, as if almost surprised he'd been paying any attention to him.

"It's kinda hard to feed Lindy, you know." Leo began when Raph looked over at him. "She just keeps watching you…"

Raph grinned lightly, then walked forward, softly putting a hand on the child's head as he sat down.

"So…" Leo began again, trying to feed Lindy. "What's up?" He asked, not looking over at his brother.

"Not sure what you mean." Raph said. "Isn't something always up with us?" He grinned.

"Don't avoid the subject." Leo said, still not looking at Raph.

Raph swore softly under his breath. Leo wouldn't give up until Raph caved… or got ticked.

Raph sighed. "I was just… thinkin', Leo."

"About…?"

Raph looked at his brother. "About lots of stuff… But…" He searched his brain. He needed something

"I… was thinkin' about the city, Leo."

"Oh?" Leo asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah." Raph nodded.

"Well," Leo began. "I miss it too, of course." He looked over at Raphael. "But you have to admit, there are perks to staying here."

Raph nodded again. "Yeah…"

"But we did come here to recuperate." Leo continued. "And Donnie's still not back to where he was…"

"Maybe he doesn't want to be." Raph burst out, and instantly regretted it, as Leo turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked slowly. "Did Don say something…"

"No, no." Raph said quickly, holding a hand up. "Now, look. Donnie's never said nothin' to me about this, so don't you go asking him about it. It's just an… observation, is all."

"An observation?" Leo repeated.

"Yeah, Leo." Raph said. "And probably just my imagination, anyway." He continued, hoping to change the subject.

Leo nodded slowly, a small frown on his face.

"Besides." Raph said. "I'm sure he's just not thinkin' about getting back to the city now because of April and all…"

Leo's gaze shot to Raphael with that.

"Uh, again." Raph raised his brow. "Merely observation…"

******************

Don slowly let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He let go, a little at a time, so as not to wake April, or alert Mike to what was going on.

He'd just set her hand back on the bed, when Mike called out to him, making him jump.

"Hey, Donnie." Mike exclaimed. "Look at all this stuff in these magazines!" He shuffled through them, then held one up. "Look: 'Your ideal weight by summer.'" He held up another. "Meet Your Dream Man'…. They're all the same! They all have the same stuff in them." He wrinkled his nose. "Why do girls read all these?" He said, then his eyes widened. "This year's fashions… swimsuit edition…"

Don shook his head, and smiled slightly.

Mike flipped through the magazine, then stopped. "Here they are…" He stopped, then wrinkled his nose and turned the magazine sideways a bit. "How do they have any fun at the beach at all wearing those?" He looked back over at Don. "They can't even move, I don't think. Look…" He held it over for Don to look at.

"No thanks." Don put his hands up. "I've heard enough from you, that I don't want to know…"

They both shared a grin, then were silent again.

*************

"April?" Leo said, his brow furrowed. "What are you talking ab-…"

"I just mean," Raphael interrupted. "That we're all worried about her. I don't think he's concentratin' on himself for right now." I have got to learn to shut my mouth… Raph thought to himself.

Leo nodded, but the frown didn't go away. "I thought you meant…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Never mind."

"Sorry, Leo." Raph sighed. Leo's eyes widened. It wasn't often he said that to him. Not without one of them receiving a bruise, at least.

"I just…" Raph continued. "I'm a bit worried, is all. Casey…" He trailed off, thinking better of telling Leo about what Casey had said about having trouble. He shook his head. "Ahhh…" He groaned, leaning back in his chair. "Listen to me. Worryin' like this. I'm spending too much time with you."

He looked over at Leo, who smiled at that, and he returned the grin.

"Well." Leo pushed away from the table. "Speaking of April, I think it's time to take her medicine to her." He grabbed a container from the cabinet then turned back to Raph. "Watch Lindy for me?"

Raph nodded.

Leo grinned, then left the kitchen. He felt his smile widen slightly. His brother wasn't the only one who knew how to get out of a conversation…

*************

"Alright." Raphael breathed as he came into the room. "This is the last one." He set down a box and then sat on the couch, next to Leo, who looked up from the book he was reading.

"You guys need any help with that?" He asked.

"Nope." Don said. "Not a thing… Unless you really wanna look through all this stuff."

Leo grinned and shook his head, looking back at his book.

Donatello stretched back, raising his hands above his head. He grinned grimly as he felt the tense muscles stretch. He looked over at the clock. They'd been doing this for hours, it seemed, but it hadn't been more than one hour. They had decided to go through everything that was salvaged from the wreck. The papers were the worst, though. Getting all of them put back together was a pain. Mike had mentioned maybe having it all finished before April was around, since he thought maybe it would upset her.

Don didn't know where he'd gotten that from, but agreed that he could very possibly be right. She's been talking to Mikey. He thought to himself, and was both surprised and annoyed when a pang went through him at that thought. Was that… jealousy? He shook his head, silently reprimanding himself. Whoever she talked to was her business.

He looked down by his feet, and smiled at the sight on the floor. Lindy was asleep, laying partly out of an overturned box she'd been playing in it while they cleaned. In her arms was one of April's shirts that Don was sure she'd gotten out of the laundry basket. That was a new thing she'd figured out, that unfolding freshly folded clothes was one of the funniest things to do. For her, at least. For the person who found her doing it, it wasn't so fun, as they had to re-fold everything.

"She finally wear herself out?" Don almost jumped when Mike whispered close to his ear. He hadn't even heard him walk over.

"Yeah." Don answered.

"I'll put her to bed." Mike said, and Don nodded. He knew his brother had grown weary of cleaning a good while ago. Mike gently lifted the sleeping child, and carried her to her room.

Raphael reached over and grabbed Mike's headphones after he left, and put them on.

The room was silent for a few moments before they could hear Casey mumbling to himself.

"Give me a break!" He finally said out loud.

"Excuse me?" Don asked, looking over from his work.

"You sent her out… for this?!" Leo looked over then. Casey held up an object that Leo couldn't identify.

But obviously Don did. "Don't be ridiculous." He said softly, looking back down. "She was going there, anyway. I would never send her out for just that."

The paused for a moment. "What in the world is this?" Casey asked finally.

Don looked up again. "That is a part I need to finish the computer I'm working on."

Casey snorted. "So that's what's so important to send someone out for."

Don wrinkled his nose. "I just said; I didn't send…"

"Oh, please." Casey interrupted. "Even if you didn't want her to, you knew she would." He said. "She always does."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Don asked, crossing his arms. Leo looked over from his book, and Raph took the headphones off.

"You're a smart guy, Donnie." Casey sneered. "You want me to spell it out for you?"

"Please." Don said dryly. "Enlighten me."

Don's calm only seemed to fuel Casey's rage all the more. "It means," He began. "That maybe she wouldn't get into all this stuff if she wasn't so busy doing all kinds of crap for you!" He finally burst out.

Silence filled the room at that. Mike, who had just come back downstairs, stopped at the bottom. He turned a surprised gaze to Leo, who just shook his head slowly.

"Feel better?" Don finally said slowly. They all looked over at him.

"Because that idea of yours is ludicrous." He continued calmly. Not the reaction Casey was looking for.

"My idea is stupid?!" Casey shot out. "Where does that come…"

"I said I would never send her out for just that piece." Don said again, this time his voice rising. "She was going there, and she offered to get it for me." He said, and Leo noticed a defensive tone come into his brother's voice.

"I needed that piece, to finish my work. Because I contribute." Don finished.

Casey snorted. "This place has been paid for for years."

"But I still like to help out." Don said, and the others all looked back at him. "Plus, I have an actual responsibility… one that I don't run out on."

Casey growled softly. Raph sat up more. More of this, and Casey was gonna go after his brother.

"No…" Casey began, his voice low. "But one that's not even yours in the first place."

All motion stopped at that. Even Raph seemed incapable of speech.

A noise escaped Leo that surprised even him. That seemed to snap everyone into action.

Raphael stood, his eyes blazing. Casey seemed to realize as soon as the words left his mouth, that it had been the wrong thing to say.

"Jesus, Casey. Don't you know when to shut up?" Raph growled, walking over to the man.

Leo, still dumbfounded by all this, looked over at Mike. He was surprised to see his normally laid-back brother's eyes narrowed.

Don still looked thunderstruck. His mouth was open, and his eyes glazed as if he were deep in thought.

Raph put a hand on Casey's arm, but Casey, still pumped up from the fight, jerked away. "Leave it, Raph." He snarled, walking a few steps away.

Leo shook himself out of it, and walked over to his brother, who was still standing there, unmoving.

"Don. Donnie." Leo shook his brother's shoulder lightly. "Don… Lindy's crying. Maybe you should go get her."

Don heard Leo say that Lindy was crying, and he could faintly hear the sounds of her wails. How long had she been crying? And how had he not noticed?

Don nodded slowly, then, clenching his jaw, he moved for the stairs. Lindy had been moved to the second floor while April was recovering. They didn't want her taking too many unnecessary steps.

He had one foot on the step, and a hand on the banister when a voice called out to them.

"What's going on out there?" April called out. It was in a voice sounding neither sleepy or just woken up.

Leo saw his brother's shoulders sag slightly as he answered, softly. "Nothing, April… Just, Lindy's crying, that's all." Don then disappeared up the stairs. A few moments later, Lindy's cries stopped.

In the silence that followed, Leo looked over at Raphael. His eyes were still lit up with anger, his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides.

Leo walked over to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder. Raphael didn't look over as Leo stood beside him.

"Go for a walk." Leo said quietly. When Raph didn't respond, he said it again, this time louder. "Raph… go walk it off."

This time Raph complied, and left the room with a huff.

Leo turned to Casey, who finally met his gaze. But before Leo could even say anything, Casey held his hand up to silence him.

"I… I know, Leo, I…" He looked down, shutting his eyes tightly. He looked up a moment later. "I'm sleepin' in the barn." He finally said, pushing past Leo and going outside.

Mike looked over at Leo after Casey left.

"Whoa." He breathed, and his eyes were as big as saucers.

"What was that all about?" He asked, and Leo shook his head.

"I have no…" Leo began, but stopped, as they heard the door open and close again.

Their eyes met, and Leo's heart sank. He knew it was either Don or Raph… Either way, he didn't want to deal with what they were going to do.

Mike looked out the window. "It's Don." He said. "Let him walk it off. He won't do anything…"

Leo nodded. He just hoped Mikey was right…

To be continued…

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A/N - First off: again, I really do like Casey. There is a specific reason for his actions. What that is, will be told… trust me.

That aside, I also wanted to say that I am going to start thanking people, and answering any questions (that I can) here in the Author's Notes, since my email has been acting up every so often, and I can't reply to everyone that way.

Again, a big thank you to all those who have been so supportive and helpful with this story. Thank you all. I do really appreciate it.

Lexy8 - Hehe, I hope those are good tears! Well, thank you so much. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story.

HeartofJade - Thanks!

sdarkfire - Alright! Here's the update. Sorry it's a little late. And as for your question, I can't say yet! ;)

neosun7 - Yes, interesting indeed!

Next chapter - Dealing with the aftermath.