Disclaimer: I don't own them, and (sadly) probably never will. I don't make any money from this and I mean so harm so please don't sue.
Autoshop
"Hey Raph? Do you have the five-eighths?" Donatello asked as he rolled out from under the Battle Shell.
"Yeah, I'm almost done with it." Raphael finished tightening the nut he was working on, and moved on to the next one. There were only three of them so Donatello could wait. The purple-masked turtle pushed back with one leg so he was sitting against the Battle Shell.
They'd been here for quite a while, just working. Both turtles were coated in grease and were quite happy that way. The only words passed between them, the occasional requests for various tools. Raph had been slightly startled by Donatello's question. He had actually forgotten that his brother was there. Even with the tool noises Don invariably made from time to time, it was still easy to forget about the quiet turtle's presence.
Even though it was easy to tune out the fact that Donatello was there at all, the turtle in purple did bring a sense of calm to the warehouse that wasn't present at any other time. Tools were much less likely to be thrown when Donatello was around than when Raph was alone or if Casey was there working with him. Raph was always careful with the expensive ones, but wrenches would fly on a fairly regular basis. He didn't quite know what it was, but he never got as frustrated when Donnie was around.
Donatello smiled as Raph finished up with the wrench.
"You've really done a great job with that thing. It's almost unrecognizable." Don commented of the Shell Cycle. The main frame was still the same, and the engine was original, but it had been so finely tuned and tweaked, that it was hardly the same bike he had originally constructed.
Raphael laughed as he finished with the wrench. "It's nothing compared to what you could do with it." He knew that if his brother put his mind to it, Don could easily pull a little more power from the bike.
"Yeah right, I wouldn't dare touch that thing!" Don laughed.
"Aw, you wouldn't break it, Donnie." Raph replied as he finished up with the wrench. "You're actually the only guy I'd trust to touch it."
Don laughed a little. "You have your toys, I have mine." He said as Raphael handed him the wrench. "Thanks" He took the object, rolled back underneath the Battle Shell and started working again.
Raphael thought the conversation was over, and he carefully removed the part that he had just unfastened. Just as he suspected, it had been gummed up in the last trip he'd taken with Casey. He started digging through the toolbox to find something to clean it out with. A quiet sigh could just barely be heard over the noise he was making.
"Something wrong?" Raph inquired.
"Yeah, we cracked another sway bar."
"You're kidding right?" The red-masked turtle asked incredulously. He knew that Don was forever replacing the sway bar on that rig.
"Nope. It snapped in half again. I know we're rough on the thing, but this is ridiculous." Don sighed as he finished with the wrench and rolled back out from under the Battle Shell looking slightly annoyed. The last sway bar had been a heavy duty part, and should not have broken like it did. "I don't get it." Don frowned. "I mean, we usually keep it on fairly flat streets. No one's been driving it over curbs or anything, right? We haven't crashed it through any crazy doors lately"
"Not that I know of." Raph replied as he turned around to look at his brother.
Don sighed and leaned back against the rig. This problem had been frustrating him for quite a while now. "Any ideas?"
Raphael frowned for a moment in thought. He just stared at the Shell Cycle for a moment as he considered Don's question. "Aren't you idea guy?"
Don chuckled slightly at the comment. "I'm fresh out."
"What about making our own bar this time, instead of trying to find a used one?"
Considering the idea, Don did not respond as he grabbed a socket wrench and started working to get the destroyed sway bar off the rig. Raphael went back to the Shell Cycle and they continued to work in silence. Letting the broken bar fall to the floor, Don just looked at it for a moment before picking up the two pieces and rolling out from under the truck again.
"I guess that would be a possibility." Donnie said, continuing the conversation from earlier as though it had never paused.
Raphael put down the part he'd been cleaning, turned around, picked up half of the bar and hefted it a couple times. "This thing has really corroded." He commented. When Donatello had put this bar on, Raph had been here working too, and the bar had not looked like this when it had gone on.
"Yeah, they're all like that when I pull them off." Don commented. "Corrosion weakens the metal. If we could prevent the corrosion then maybe I won't have to change these stupid things every other month. Maybe we could find some sort of coating to prevent that corrosion?"
"Is anything else under there like this?" Raph asked of the corroded bar. His brother shrugged and rolled back under the Battle Shell. Another long moment passed without either of them speaking.
Raphael would never admit this out loud, but he really enjoyed the time he spent in the garage with Donnie. Two brothers, just doing what they enjoy. There was no fighting, no bickering, no getting on each others nerves, just companionable quiet and occasional pleasant conversation.
"Nothing obvious." Don commented from underneath the rig. "At least, there's nothing that's nearly that bad. Just the normal kind of wear and tear you'd see on a vehicle that's been through what this has."
Raph glanced down at the broken part and frowned at it. "Why would it just be this one piece?" He asked.
Donatello shrugged as he rolled back out and leaned up against the truck again. "I don't know." He paused in thought for a moment. "I guess it could be the type of metal."
"Why would the steel used for the sway bars be different than any of the other steel on the thing?" Raph asked as he finished de-gumming the part he'd been working on and picked up the five-eighths wrench he would need to put it back on.
Again, Don sighed. "It shouldn't be." He replied, shaking his head.
"But that doesn't mean it isn't." Raphael added.
"True." Don gently kicked at the sway bar, pushing the close end a few inches farther away. He sighed again as he realized that he was in for another trip to the junk yard. Not that he didn't like going to the junk yard, he had just begun to despise going for sway bars.
"I take it you're off to look for another one this evening?" Raph asked.
"Yeah."
"I'll go with you. I have a couple parts I want to look for." Raph offered.
Don blinked in surprise. It wasn't very often that anyone offered to go to the junk yard with him. He cocked an eyebrow at his brother as he spoke. "Um... Thanks"
"Hey, if you don't want me around just say so." Raph commented, slightly annoyed, having noticed the strange tone in Don's voice.
"No. No, I'd like to have some company. It's just that I usually have to beg people to come with me. I don't think anyone has ever offered before without having some weird ulterior motive. Usually, me fixing something for them. You wouldn't believe the number of times that Mikey's gone with me to have some leverage to move his game dude to the top of my repair list."
Raph laughed. "That's Mikey for ya."
"He's worse than a used car salesman." Don smiled before dropping his eyes to the frustrating part on the floor.
Noticing the silence that had descended behind him, Raphael turned around and could tell that Don was thinking. He had no idea what it might be, but he let it go. Donnie was always thinking about something. Another long period of near silence filled the room as both turtles returned to the jobs they had been doing before Raph thought of something and broke the quiet.
"Casey mentioned some anti-corrosive paint last time we were working up here. I could ask him to pick some up when he goes to get parts."
Don paused what he was doing and considered what Raph had just said. "If he's willing, that would be great." Again the pair dropped into silence before Don made another comment. "If this doesn't work, our next attempt is going to have to be spray on truck bed liner."
Raphael laughed as he finished tightening the part he'd been working on back down. He was done for the time being, but he waited a moment to see if Don was going to keep working for a while. When Donnie rolled out from under the rig, picked up a rag and started wiping his hands off, Raphael had his answer. He stood and waited for Don to finish cleaning up.
As he finished wiping his hands off as best he could, Don stood and made his way over to the small table in the warehouse. Dropping the rag onto a small empty space, he turned to Raph.
"Are you done for now?"
Raphael nodded and together, the two turtles made their way to the elevator and descended into the main lair, quiet conversation passed between them until the door opened. As they exited the elevator, they reentered 'normal' life, each going his own way. The magic time in the garage above had ended for now.