Fixing Things
Disclaimer: I don't own them. If I did I wouldn't be writing this from my small apartment in my even smaller amount of spare time. Also I don't get paid for this in any way shape or form, other than the (hopefully) nice words in reviews.
(A/N: In the (new cartoon) episode 'The King' Raph tells Donnie to go fix the hot water...again. Don wants to know why no one ever asks Mikey to fix anything. One look at his brother and Don goes to fix the water heater; at least that was the idea. I won't go any farther because if you don't know what I am talking about I wouldn't want to spoil the ep. Anyway that comment got me thinking.)
Raphael growled at the television as it flickered again. The big game was tonight and he wasn't sure the TV would hold up that long. He fought with the remote once more, then smacked the TV a couple of times before giving up and letting the device flicker off.
"Hey!" He shouted, "Donnie!" Raph waited a moment but received no response from his brother in purple. "Yo, Donnie where are ya?!"
"I don't think he's here Raph." Leo said as he came into the main room, having heard Raph's shouting. "What's all the..."
"Well where is he?" Raph cut off Leo loudly.
"I don't know. I didn't ask, he didn't say. I think he took the sewer slider though." Leo supplied. Before Raph could shout again Mikey came in with a box of crackers
"He said something about wanting to test something sometime today." He stated as he entered. At the looks on his brothers' faces he added lamely, "I wasn't really paying attention."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised."
"Well, then he's probably out testing some new feature on the sewer slider." Leo said turning back to Raphael.
"Thanks Leo. I did kinda catch that." Raph snipped.
"So, uh what was all the yelling?"
"Huh?"
"The yelling, why were you yelling for Don?"
"Oh, well, the TV's busted and with him being Mr. Fix-it and all..."
"Wasn't there a game you wanted to see tonight?" Mikey asked looking up from his crackers.
Raph grouched a little more. He'd be missing the game at this rate anyway. Maybe he could catch it at Casey's. He was just about to go get his topside disguise.
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Donatello was having a grand time. He was out putting the freshly re-commissioned sewer slider through its paces, and it was purring like a kitten. Warily he switched to hover. The right rear lift fan had been giving him grief for a while now, but when it didn't kick in a couple of weeks ago he was just glad that he had been driving and not one of his brothers. Today all four fans kicked in flawlessly and he paid close attention to every movement and noise the vehicle made like a concert conductor searching for the single out-of-tune instrument in an ensemble of 100. When he was satisfied that all was working properly he let out a whoop of excitement in the otherwise silent sewers. He hit the gas and whipped his handiwork through a few more twists and turns feeling out how the fans were working and seeing if anymore of them needed tuning before he turned his attention to something else. More importantly he was having fun.
This was one of the best things about being the brain of the group. Constantly repairing water heaters, remote controls, toasters, shell cells and the like was all worth it for moments like these. Moments when it all came together and something that he made with his own two hands not only worked, but performed flawlessly. It was a wonderful feeling and quite a rush. His brothers didn't understand that, they didn't want to or need to, and he accepted that. As long as they allowed him these moments, which they usually did, Donatello didn't care. He pulled hard into another corner and let the g-forces drive him into his seat as the sewer slider banked up the wall to make the turn.
He laughed again and realized that he should probably head home. He hadn't told anyone where he was going, though Leo knew he had gone out. They would probably figure out pretty quickly where he had run off to if they needed him. Staying out a few more minutes wasn't going to hurt anything, but then he had to get back.
Little did he know what his brothers were up to...
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"Hey guys?" Mikey asked as Leo and Raph started to head out of the room. He had that look on his face that his brothers had come to associate with a bad idea brewing. Once he had his brothers' attention he informed them of his idea.
"I don't know Mikey. It sounds kind of..."
"Dangerous and stupid?" Raph finished for his brother.
"Donnie does it all the time. Come on guys." Mikey insisted. He put down his box of crackers and started to pull the TV away from the wall so he could get in back to unplug it.
"Donnie," Raph growled, "knows what he's doing. We don't."
"Even he had to start somewhere!" Mikey insisted.
"I think he started on a toaster, not a TV." Leo interjected. He knew this was a bad idea, but somehow he knew this was exactly what he was going to be doing until Don came home. Raph and Leo watched as Michelangelo pulled the casing off the back of the television exposing the mass of components inside. Actually, taking a closer look there wasn't that much going on inside the TV. Don's work area had equipment far more complicated than this. Still, it didn't mean any of them knew what they were doing.
"Well, now what?" Raph asked. Mikey had successfully gotten the casing off the television, and the three of them had stood there staring at its innards for the past 15 minutes. And those innards didn't mean a whole lot to them.
"I don't know." Mikey responded. "Shall we see what this does?"
Leonardo grabbed onto Mikey's wrist and prevented him from reaching into the television. They had no idea what they were doing.
"I really think we should just wait for Don. He has to be coming back soon."
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What Leo didn't know was that Donatello was already home, and was standing in the doorway behind the trio huddled around what he could only assume was the TV. As long as they kept away from the CRT and the flyback transformer they should be ok, but he much preferred they keep to Leo's hands-off policy when dealing with the TV, especially since they probably hadn't discharged the circuit. If they wanted to play with electronics he would really rather they started off with something like a toaster or an old radio, not the TV. Well, he though to himself, At least it's not the microwave.
Don was still in a good mood from the test of the sewer slider as he stood there in the doorway amused at his brothers. They had never shown any real interest in repairing anything. Other than having an interest that Don repair whatever had broken, preferably as quickly as possible. Now though, all three of them were standing around the broken TV that someone, probably Mikey given that he was the one on the floor, had opened up.
Mikey made another move toward one of the components in the TV and Don chose that moment to speak up.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He stated quietly from the doorway with a smile on his face.
"And why not?" Mikey questioned "Because I haven't done it before or because you don't trust me?"
"Both and neither," Don stated, smiling, as he walked toward the group around TV. His voice turned serious "Both because a TV isn't a good place to make a mistake. But also neither because that part you have your hand dangerously close to is still hot unless you discharged the capacitor, and I don't see anything around here that you might have done that with. The flyback transformer," He pointed to the part, "in a standard TV can give a large enough shock to kill you, and that glass piece is the cathode-ray tube, or CRT. Hit those too hard and they implode. I've got some old radios you can play with if you want. And I'd be happy to supervise anything you choose to do."
As Donatello explained the dangers of the object they had been looking at all three brothers scooted away from it as if it were a dangerous animal. Which in a way it was, electricity can be a tricky beast. Donatello picked up a couple of tools from a nearby table, sat himself down in front of the open television, discharged the capacitor and started looking for the problem. Usually it was just a loose wire somewhere.
"Don, if this stuff is so dangerous why do you do it? Mikey asked curiously as he stood behind his brother.
"It's only dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. You have to respect it.
Similar to the way you have to treat your weapons. If you don't know what you're doing or if you don't respect them you'll get hurt."
Donatello could see that his brothers understood his words, but not why he found electronics and inventing so enjoyable. He thought a moment before he continued.
"It can be difficult, and tedious, but there is just something about being able to say 'that works because of something I did' that really makes it worthwhile."
Don found the loose wiring that had caused the trouble.
"What do you mean?" Raph asked.
It took Don a moment to think of an analogy.
"Remember when we were little and you were just learning to throw your sais?" He asked from his spot on the floor as he reconnected the loose wire.
Raph remembered. He remembered like it was yesterday. For a long time he had been frustrated because no matter how hard he tried he could not hit the target Master Splinter had set up in the dojo for him.
"Remember the first time you hit that target?" Don saw the smile on Raph's face and knew his brother remembered.
"When things work, like the sewer slider did today, it feels kinda like that." He started to replace the casing of the TV. His brothers stood and watched as Donatello stood up, put the TV back in its normal place and plugged it in. Don looked up at the clock.
"There you go, and just in time for your game." He picked up the remote and tossed it to Raphael who turned the TV on and was relieved to see that ESPN came in as well as it ever had. Mikey and Leo both stood and went their separate ways. Don stayed for a few moments longer, before he also turned and headed from the room to leave Raph in peace with his baseball game. As he did Raph realized something.
"Hey, Donnie" he called to get his brother's attention.
Donatello obediently turned around his head cocked slightly wondering what Raph wanted now.
"Thanks"
"For what?" Donatello looked confused.
"This, everything. Making all our lives a little more comfortable."
Don chuckled "I just do what I can. It makes me a little crazy at times, but that's the price we pay for our obsessions right?"
Raphael laughed with his brother, because obsession was something he could relate to. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Besides," Donatello added "I can't have you guys going and making shish-kabobs of yourselves because I refused to help, now can I?"
Raph smiled at Don who turned and left. He had some newfound respect for his brainiac brother, though he wouldn't admit it unless he had to. They each had their own thing. Donnie's inventions and repair jobs were no different. But right now, he had a game to watch.
(A/N: I did do a little research for this one, the CRT and flyback transformer are real parts, but beyond that. That said, sorry if I screwed up the technical side of it. I do know a little about electronics, but I have NEVER actually repaired a TV, and don't really intend to. Anyone who is curious, I still can't get those captions to stay off! Maybe I should have Don take a crack at it.)