Chapter Nine

The following morning, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo sat together at the dining room table and shared a quiet breakfast, each lost in his own thoughts about the events of last night. The only noise that was heard was the rustling of the newspaper that Donatello pretended to have interest in. Michelangelo, who wanted to talk about last night more than anything, shifted his eyes back and forth between his brothers, hoping that maybe one of them would notice and break the silence. Raphael rested his head on his left hand and used his right hand to swirl around the marshmallows of his cereal with his spoon. From time to time, Michelangelo could see the anger rising in Raphael's eyes, but it would then disappear just as fast.

The sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway broke them all out of thought, and the three of them turned their heads toward the front door. Michelangelo looked back at Raphael, seeing that the fury had come back and watched as his brother tighten his fists. Leonardo had finally come home, and they were more than ready to welcome him.

As the front door opened, Donatello and Michelangelo turned back to the table, not wanting to let Leonardo see them staring in his direction. Raphael on the other hand was safe behind the wall that blocked the view into the foyer, and he flexed his fingers. His brothers heard the loud popping noise that came from his knuckles.

Out of the corner of his eye, Donatello watched Leonardo remove his shoes and hang his coat up on the rack in the foyer. He then noted that Leonardo wasn't in his gray sweater and black slacks he had wore last night, but instead in a tee shirt and a pair of knee length jean shorts. He turned his eyes back to the paper as Leonardo entered the dining room and walked into the kitchen without saying a word to any of them. Donatello looked up at Raphael, seeing the look of disgust on his face while Leonardo whistled happily as he opened the refrigerator.

How can he so happy after what he did last night? Donatello thought. Does he even remember what he did?

Leonardo then took a seat a few chairs down from Michelangelo and placed a glass of tomato juice in front of him. He looked over at the paper that sat in between Donatello and Michelangelo.

"Hey, Mikey, could you hand me the sports section?"

Michelangelo raised his eyes to Raphael and Donatello, then nervously reached for the section Leonardo had asked for. "Uh, sure." He slid the paper down the table and it landed within Leonardo's reach. But as Leonardo went to pick it up, Raphael's hand came down on top it, slamming the table so hard Donatello's coffee went all over the rest of the newspaper. Leonardo lifted his eyes to meet Raphael.

"Yes?" Leonardo asked, his voice growled through his gritted teeth.

"Well, are you goin to tell us where you went to last night after leavin us stranded with no way home!"

Leonardo shoved Raphael's hand off of the paper without giving Raphael an answer, which made Raphael anger grow more.

"Do you even remember last night? I'm sure those four glasses of whiskey didn't help ya any."

Leonardo's only response was a shoulder shrug. Raphael tightened his fists and gritted his teeth, then tried again to make his brother upset.

"So what was it like drivin' around drunk off your ass? Did ya get pulled over for a DUI and spend the night in jail?"

Leonardo slammed the paper down on the table, scaring Raphael and Donatello, and caused Michelangelo to duck under the table.

"Like you have the room to talk about that, Raph!" He then looked at all three of his brothers. " And since guys are so fucking nosey this morning, no, I did not spend the night in jail! I went to the dojo and spent all night taking my anger out on the practice dummies!" Leonardo glared at Raphael, then picked up his glass of juice and started for the stairs.

"She didn't mean to make you mad."

Leonardo stopped when he heard Michelangelo's voice. He turned to see his youngest brother slowly stand back up as his hands shook in fear.

"What?" Leonardo stormed back over to the table. Michelangelo leaned back away from Leonardo, then spoke again.

"She just wanted to talk. You didn't have to get mad at her like that."

Leonardo glared at Michelangelo. " Well, I didn't want to talk to her, and she found that out really fast."

"Mikey's right, Leo." Donatello said as he stood up. " Your behavior was really uncalled for."

"Oh, I see how it is." Leonardo placed his open hand on his hip. " I'm the bad guy now."

"Nobody said that Leo!" Raphael walked around the table. " Stop actin like a freakin drama queen!"

Then suddenly, Leonardo began to laugh. " Oh, yeah! I forgot! Linda's the victim in all of this!"

"You can ease up on the sarcasm, Leo." Donatello said as he shook his head.

"How could I be so selfish as to think that I wasn't the one who suffered? I guess those nightmares I've been having and the trips to the crazy doctor were for nothing after all!"

"Shut yer freakin mouth, Leo!" Raphael yelled as he grabbed Leonardo's shirt collar. Leonardo's laughter faded as he looked down at Raphael's hand, then calmly set his glass down on the corner of the table.

"You know, Raph, since you haven't been keeping up on your exercises, I suggest you let go of me before I make you." Leonardo's eyes became like daggers and pierced deep into Raphael. Raphael narrowed his eyes, then shoved Leonardo a little as he let his hand drop, knowing that his brother would have him on the ground in mere seconds.

Michelangelo, who had been cowering behind his chair, took a deep breath and stood back up, feeling his own temper flare up. "How can you be so inconsiderate, Leo? She lost both of her parents!" He shoved Raphael out of the way and stood face to face with his oldest brother. " What would you have done? She only wanted to help us! Yeah, so maybe she messed up by not telling us, but so what? Shredder is gone for good cause of her! She saved our lives, Leo! You owe her!"

Leonardo's face flushed with anger. " I don't owe her shit! And I'd tired of discussing this with you idiots! You three have no idea about how I feel, and you never will, so just stay out of my life!"

Leonardo then grabbed his glass and ran up the stairs. Michelangelo stood still for a second after Leonardo had disappeared, then crumbled down to his knees, feeling the fear he had held back return to his body. Raphael knelt down and helped him to his feet.

"I'm proud of you Mikey." Raphael said as he patted his youngest brother on the shell.

Donatello agreed. " I've never seen you stand up to him like that! Good job!"

Michelangelo let out a small laugh. " Thanks, but now I think I have to throw up now." Raphael and Donatello laughed as Michelangelo held onto his stomach and stuck out his tongue.

Donatello walked down a long hallway and stopped at the apartment which had the numbers 133 on it. He knocked, hitting the door only twice, then waited patiently for a reply.

"Hang on! I'm coming!" Angie's voice called out from inside the apartment. She opened the door, and the smells of sandle wood incense and ammonia hit Donatello's nose, making him take a step back.

"Don, hi! Come on in!" She stepped back, and he entered her apartment, noticing she had

a bottle of hair color in one hand and something that looked like a bent plastic fork in the other. "Sorry about the smell. I was in the middle of streaking my hair. Have a seat and I'll be out in a minute."

Donatello blinked as Angie's words flew of her mouth, then watched as she disappeared faster than she had spoken. He glanced over at the dark green sofa and sat down. He tapped his fingers on his pants, then let his eyes wonder around the apartment, remembering that he didn't get to see the inside of it the day he walked Angie home.

Angie's apartment was much smaller than the one he had been in last night. The living room was a step away from the kitchen. The only thing that separated the two was the barthat was extended out from the wall, and two brown seated stools sat under it. Donatello couldn't see what was down the hallway, but guessed there were at least two bedrooms and defiantly a bathroom. His eyes than wonder up to the wall on his right side. There on the wall was a ceramic circle with the sun in the middle and twelve different symbols around the sun. Donatello stood up to get a closer look at the symbols, then realized they represented the signs of the Zodiac.

"Huh," He muttered to himself. " That's different."

Donatello then looked around at the other walls, and his eyes grew big with surprise when he noticed the other Zodiac wall hangings.

"Obsess much?" Donatello joked, and then laughed as he sat back down. He then saw the rug on the floor that was under the coffee table. It was exactly like the ceramic wall hanging he had just seen. He shook his head, then noticed a brown bookcase next to the small open window. He got back up and walked across the living room, then bent down to see what kind of reading material was in it.

The top shelf was filled from one end to the next with every Anne Rice novel that had been published, which came as no surprise to Donatello. His eyes went down to the next shelf, and he was again shocked by what he found.

" Tarot Reading in Five Minutes? Palmistry? Numerology?" Donatello became more uneasy as he continued. " The Ghostly Register? Dictionary of Superstitions? A Field Guide to Demons!" The last one he read off made him pull back away from the bookcase and shake his head. "What have I gotten myself into?" He walked back over to the couch and plopped down, rubbing at the sudden ache in his head, then he sneezed. An irritation started in his eyes, and he looked around for the source, which he spotted sitting in the dark green chair across the room.

"And she has a cat. Wonderful."

The cat rose it's head and opened its sleepy eyes, letting out a small meow. Donatello rubbed at his eyes, causing them to burn even more, and he felt them begin to water.

"Damn, I left my eye drops in my truck." He dug his hands into his eyes, and prayed his allergy attack would go away on its own.

Angie then appeared, her hair was still wet from the hair dye. "Okay, I'm done. Now I have to wait about twenty minutes before... ." She stopped when she saw Donatello digging into his eyes with his open palms. "Are you okay?"

Donatello looked up toward the direction of her voice. "Yeah. I'm okay. No problem!"

Angie then looked at her black and white cat, then back at Donatello. "You're allergic to Charlie, aren't you?"

"Well, if you are referring to your feline, then yes, I am."

Angie walked over to the chair and picked up her cat. Donatello could hear her talking to it as she went back down the hallway, then he heard the sound of a door shut.

"I'll leave him in my bedroom while you're here." Angie said after returning into the living room. Donatello heard a few shuffling noises before he felt Angie sit down beside of him.

"Here."

Donatello felt around with hand until hit Angie's and quickly took the bottle of drops. He sighed in relief as the drops stopped the burning.

" Nineteen years I lived in a sewer and never had a problem. I move up the surface, and suddenly I'm allergic to every thing that has fur!"

Angie raised her eyebrows. "You lived in the sewers?"

Donatello laughed as his vision returned to normal and he saw the look on Angie's face.

"It's a long story. I'll have to tell you about some time."

" I hope you do!" Angie replied. She then began to study Donatello's face and noticed something wasn't right. "What happened this morning?" She into his eyes as he turned his head to her. " You were in some sort of disagreement with someone? You and your brothers were arguing."

Donatello was stunned. " How did you know that? Are you psychic?" He then laughed at his joke, but his laughter died down when he noticed Angie wasn't laughing with him.

"If that is what you want to call it," Angie shrugged, pulling her bare feet up on the couch and sat Indian style. " I can pick up on how someone is feeling and then I see pictures in my head. Everyone on my mothers' side has some degree of it, some stronger than others. My gift isn't very fine tuned because I choose to ignore it half of the time." She then gave Donatello a smile. "I'll have to tell you about it some time."

Donatello laughed. "Well, it seems as if we have a lot to talk about. What are you doing today?"

Angie pointed to her wet hair. " Besides this, not much." Her hands wondered down to the hemp bracelet than circled around her ankle. " Do you want to take a walk in the park or something?"

"Sounds like a plan." Donatello agreed, then watched as Angie jumped up from the couch and disappeared down the hall.

Linda rolled over in her bed, then groaned when she saw the clock's red numbers staring right back at her, telling her it was almost noon.

"Did I over sleep or what?" She mumbled to herself as she pushed the covers back with her feet and stretched her legs. Linda then rolled onto her back and gazed sleepily at the ceiling above her. Her eyes were still swollen from all of the tears she had shed, and it made her vision blurry. Then before she could stop herself, Linda began to think about Leonardo and his drunken rage, and it made the tears return.

"No, no, no." Linda pushed her hands into her eyes. "I'm not going to do this to myself." She sighed heavily, doing as best as she could to hold her tears back, then forced her tired body out of the bed.

After getting dressed in a clean white tee shirt and a pair of blue and white track pants, Linda exited her room, pulling her hair back into a small ponytail. The light that poured in from the patio doors burned her eyes and she covered them as she walked by the door.

"Hey, watch out cous!" Christina called out as she walked in from the patio. Linda removed her hands and saw her cousin holding a broom and adust pan.

"Can you believe this?" Christina asked with a hint of anger in her voice. "Someone busted one of my glasses! These things were imported from Austria!" She shook in her in disgust as she headed for the kitchen and dumped the broken shards into the trash can. She replaced the broom and dust pan back, then walked back toward Linda. "The nerve of some people! When I find out who did it, I'll make them buy me a new set! And believe me, those things are not cheap!"

Christina then looked at Linda's face, finally seeing the new set of tears that traveled down her cousin's cheeks.

"Aw, honey!" Christina grabbed Linda in a tight embrace. "It's okay. My dad can always send me some!"

Linda stopped sobbing and gave Christina a look of disgust. " You think I'm crying over your stupid crystal?" She pushed her cousin away and moved to the couch, burying her face into the cushions as she laid down. Christina hesitated for a minute as she listened to Linda sobs grow stronger, then walked over to the couch. She knelt down beside Linda's head and stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing for me to say. Those things aren't that important to me!" Christina grabbed Linda and pulled her into a sitting position. " Now, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong?"

Linda took a deep breath as she wiped at her face. Her mind searched for the right words to say, but her mouth had a mind of its own.

"Leonardo."

Christina leaned back in shock. " What?"

"I'm upset because of him!" Linda's voice rose, feeling more tears beginning to flow from her already tired eyes.

"All right, Linda," Christina crossed her arms over her chest. " I've been trying to talk to you about this guy for a month, and you suddenly know his name? What's going on?"

Linda sighed and turned to face her cousin, trying once again to hold back her emotions. " There's something that you should know. Leonardo and I, well, we have a history."

Christina let her arms drop. " A history? You mean you guys were together once?"

"Yes," Linda nodded. " It was a long time ago, and it wasn't for very long."

"What happened?" Christina scooted closer to Linda. "Why did you guys break up?"

Linda lowered her eyes and looked at the checker pattern on the couch, realizing that she didn't want Christina to know the whole story of her and Leonardo's tragic love, so she lied instead.

"It just didn't work out." Linda stated simply, meeting her eyes with Christina.

"Didn't work out?" Christina shook her head. " Oh no! You can't tell me that! You would not be this upset if that was the case."

"That's all. Nothing more!" Linda stood up and walked in a fast pace back into her bedroom. Christina remained on the couch, and thought about how emotional her cousin was. She just couldn't understand why Linda was acting so upset if what she and Leonardo had was just nothing at all. But Christina didn't really care. She had him now, and was all that mattered to her. Christina then shrugged and stood up, moving her mind onto more important things. Just then, a loud knock echoed into the apartment.

"Oh, good! The carpet cleaning guys are here!"

Christina raced over to the door, and before she reached for the handle, she ran her fingers through her hair and straightened out the light pink top she wore. She put on her widest smile, then pulled the door back, but it soon faded when she found Leonardo there in the hallway.

"Hi." He said, as he lifted his eyes to her.

Christina pushed her lips together and frowned at him. "So, now you decide to come back?"

"Yeah, about last night," Leonardo shifted his weight. " I'm really sorry about that. I didn't mean to run out on your party like that." He then pulled out his right arm that had been hidden behind his back and present Christina with a dozen red roses. " Forgive me?" Leonardo smiled as Christina's eyes grew and her mouth dropped.

"Do I ever!" She then jumped into his arms and kissed him firmly on the lips, then eagerly grabbed the bouquet of flowers from Leonardo's hand and turned around to head for the kitchen. Leonardo stood still, not knowing whether he enjoyed what had just happened or if he was completely disgusted by it. He wiped the taste of Christina's lip gloss off with the back of his hand then walked through the open door. When he approached the living room, Christina had the roses already in a vase and was carrying them toward the couch.

"Hey, I, uh, need to talk to you about something." Leonardo said as Christina passed by him. She gave no response, but Leonardo followed her anyway.

Christina walked around the couch and placed the vase down carefully on the large glass coffee table. She stood back, then leaned over the roses and rearranged them. Leonardo watched as she repeated this process three more times before she clapped her hands together and smiled.

"There we are! Another absolutely perfect floral arrangement! I am just too good!"

" Chris?"

Christina snapped out of her self celebration and stared blankly at Leonardo, who was on the other side of the couch.

"Oh, sorry, Leo." She motioned him over to the couch and patted the spot next to her as Leonardo sat down. "What's up?"

"Well, uh," Leonardo rubbed the top of his head, not really knowing where to start.

" I have a couple things to say. First, there's, uh, something you know about me, and your, uh,"

"I already know." Christina said. "Linda told me about you guys already. Now, I don't have a problem with it, as long as you guys weren't, well, you know."

Leonardo shook his head. " As long as we weren't what?"

"Sexual involved." Christina spoke in a drawn out whisper.

"What!" Leonardo asked, feeling sick to his stomach again.

" I really don't want my cousin's leftovers. You see where I'm coming from right?"

Leonardo placed his hands over his eyes and lowered his head. " Okay, whatever, but no, there was nothing like that between us." He then felt Christina's small hands wrap around his as she pulled them down into her lap.

"That's good to know. Now what was the second thing?"

"No, wait!" Leonardo tried to pull his hands free. "What exactly did Linda tell you?"

"I told her that it was a mutual separation."

Leonardo looked up to see Linda standing behind the couch zipping up the wind jacket that matched her track pants. As their eyes met, a huge wave of tension erupted between them, and Christina could feel it weighing down on her. Leonardo leaned his head to one side and wondered why Linda had not told her cousin the truth about their relationship, even though he had planned on lying himself. He broke off his eye contact with Linda and looked back into Christina's bewildered face. He smiled at her then squeezed her hands tighter.

" Yep, that's all it was." He then freed one hand and placed it on Christina's cheek and caressed it with his thumb. As Christina melted into his touch, Leonardo looked up at Linda. He immediately felt anger boiling up inside of her and saw the hurt that spread over her face, and for a moment, he almost saw tears form in her eyes.

Linda suppressed the urge to scream and instead rolled her eyes as she moved toward the door. " I'm going for a run. I'll see you later, Christina."

Christina sighed as a dreamy smile spread on her face. "Okay."

After Leonardo heard the door slam, he quickly removed his hand from Christina's face and stood up from the couch. Christina woke out of her dream state, then got up and followed Leonardo toward the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" She grabbed the back of Leonardo's tee shirt and spun him around to face her. "We're all alone now." She moved her hands up his chest and then circled them around his neck. Leonardo sighed as he removed her hands.

" I have to go. I'll call later, okay."

Christina felt her heart drop to her feet as she lowered her head. "Okay." But as Leonardo opened the door, she stopped him once again.

"Before you leave, what was that other thing you wanted to tell me?"

Leonardo then realized the whole point of coming back to this apartment was to finally end things with Christina, but after seeing how jealous he had made Linda, he had completely forgotten. An evil smile crept up on his face, then decided that it would be a better idea to keep Christina around a little longer.

Leonardo turned to face Christina, gently grabbed her chin with his hand, then kissed her softly on the lips.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't that important after all."