Insights and Enemies

Luna stirred restlessly, in the dark. It wasn't that the big sectional couch was uncomfortable. It was long enough and wide enough, but it was most definitely... worn. That was the nicest thing she could call it. But what else could she expect. It was probably the latest in a long line of cast off sofas to parade through their living room.

She was sure it was great for holding everybody while watching T.V. but it certainly sucked for sleeping.

She missed her futon in the infirmary, but she didn't feel right being in there next to Mikey when his brothers probably wanted to be by his side. Raph and Leo were so upset last night, she'd had to put them to sleep mentally just so they could recover a little. But she knew they would be up anytime now to check on him.

She bit her lip guiltily, as tears began to gather in her eyes once again.

Why hadn't Mikey been ok?

Sure, it had taken a some time to heal his injuries. Wounds from wraiths are essentially 'poisoned'. The wraiths continuing to feed off the agony they inflicted until banished, but she'd sent those particular wraiths back to Hades as nothing more than ashes. So that aspect should have been nullified.

And she'd led Leonardo through the process of purifying and healing the wounds with extra care, using energy from Raph as well, so what was left? She couldn't remember what else needed to be done. It was so frustrating, she wanted to scream!

It was just wrong being mortal and immortal at the same time. Her physical brain and body could only handle so much power and knowledge at once. It was a state no being was ever meant to inhabit, and she understood why Zeus cut off her powers when he made her fully mortal on this plane.

It felt like her goddess self was trying to squeeze into an outfit 12 sizes too small. In order for something to fit in, other stuff had to get out of the way.

One moment, she would be absolutely sure of something, some vital piece of information. The next moment the thought was gone, replaced by her very limited understanding of things her human brain said was possible.

And it wasn't just knowledge that was being affected. Her emotions were all over the place as well. One moment the confident goddess, the next the fearful mortal.

It was worse when Sol and Fina were away. As pieces of her original soul they expanded her celestial abilities. When they were with her, more of the knowledgeable goddess appeared. But she couldn't always keep them near. Sometimes, like last night, they needed to to watch over their bonded.

Luna sighed. Maybe today the answer would come to her.

As she pondered, she decided it was a good thing that her mental shields stayed intact, and that she'd knocked Leo and Raph out last night before she had her little emotion storm. If they felt how upset she'd been, she was sure they'd never leave her alone again.

Donatello had tried to comfort her, but in the end he could only bring her a cup of tea, and let her cry herself to sleep, because it was her fault.

All her fault.

Mikey was gone because of her weird situation. Because pieces of her soul had bonded to his family without even a by-your-leave, and because she was a magnet for immortal bounty hunters. She was sure now, that her enemy was one of the gods, or at least an immortal henchmen, but as much as she wanted to shift the blame to the 'bad guys' the truth was Michelangelo would still be whole and entirely here if not for her.

Her soulmates and even Donatello would never blame her, but she knew where the fault lay.

She sighed, hearing someone else stirring, and sat up. She quickly mopped her tear streaked face with the bit of cloth she held in her hands. It was Mikey's mask. She had clung to it all night. Hoping a little goddess-y energy might seep through to him and call him back from wherever he had gone. But that was probably just wishful thinking.

Which reminded her, she needed to call back Sol and Luna if she was going to get through this day. She sent a little thread of inquiry along her connection to Raph and Leo, and 'listened' for it to ping the locations of Sol and Fina.

Sol came zipping out to her, appearing quickly from Leo's room. Luna smiled as she regained her sight. Leo must still be asleep. Fina didn't rush back but was definitely still in Raph's room. Luna frowned.

Was something wrong with Raphael?

Just then Don wandered into the living room and saw her sitting up. Luna's frown deepened. Don looked like he'd been drug through a wringer. He was dead tired, and ...was that ash smeared across his white lab coat?

But Don had a small smile. She couldn't help herself, she smiled in return. Glad to see that someone was still mentally stable.

"Luna," Don said, relief evident in his voice, "I'm glad you're up."

Her smile faded, "Is something wrong? Is Mikey worse?"

"No, no… " Don reassured her. "In fact, sometime soon he's going to race through here demanding a pizza."

"What?" She exclaimed. "Did you find something new last night?"

"Actually, I had some help from the in-laws." Don chuckled.

Perhaps she spoke to soon about that mental stability. Lack of sleep was clearly taking it's toll, Luna thought. Maybe she should make him lie down.

She might need one of his brothers to help with that. She glanced up, relieved at a movement nearby, and caught Raph's eye as he headed to the kitchen for breakfast. So he was alright after all. Raph gave her a nod before continuing on.

"In-laws?" She inquired sweetly, turning back to Don with a nervous look.

"Your mother to be precise." Don replied.

"My mother." Luna looked skeptical "Here?"

"I'll fill you in on that later. Suffice it to say Mikey is on the mend and should wake up on his own sometime later today." he said.

Don grinned again, rather maniacally Luna thought. It brought to mind old black and white movies with mad scientists. All he was missing was the shock of white hair sticking up straight.

"So you came in here looking for me because…?" Luna asked, really worried now.

"Well… What do you know about firestarters?"

Charon was angry, and while there was never really a good time to be around the Guardian of the Dead, when he was angry would probably qualify as the worst time. And he was definitely angry now. Not only had those mortal monsters cut a good portion of his henchmen to shreds, but they'd managed to release one of the soul fragments he'd already captured.

But Charon contained his anger and seated himself on his throne with as much dignity as he could muster. Right now, his throne sat in a warehouse they were using as a base of operations on this plane, but soon it would command the position of highest authority in the city.

Charon took a moment to contemplate the shaking man standing in front of him with a sneer. He enjoyed the fear that played across the underlings face as he continued his mental evaluation of all the things that had gone wrong with this evening.

Not that freeing the soul fragment would do those animal freaks any good, Charon thought. As mortals, they were lucky if they could even see it, much less converse with it or use it. It had probably wandered off somewhere already. He would get it back sooner or later. After all, where was it gonna go? Luna was dead.

But it still made him angry that the blue banded animal had threatened him. He grimaced. Not that a mortal would usually be able to hurt him, but that one had somehow been able to pierce his mind. He pondered the implications of that. It was more powerful than it first seemed, although the others wilted rather easily under his mental onslaught.

All the animals were pretty upset that Luna was gone. Oh, they had played a fine game of unconcern, but their behavior towards his murdering henchmen told him more than any words that these things had somehow been involved with her. They probably had the body, or knew where it was.

It didn't matter.

Charon didn't need her corpse, he just needed the fragments of her soul.

He glanced again at the shivering man in front of him. Gauging his reaction. The angry silence had made the magician drop to his knees, groveling in fear. This was as it should be, Charon thought. Soon all would grovel before him...even his master.

This groveling human had been dabbling in the black arts long before Charon came to this plane, but he'd not succeeded in summoning wraiths until Charon had stepped in to increase his powers.

"Report!" Charon snapped, pleased with the way the man flinched at his tone.

Perhaps this miserable mortal's wraiths had located where the blue soul fragment was hiding.

Raphael slumped dejectedly down the stairs. Fina had certainly given him a piece of it's mind this morning, accusing him of putting all their lives in danger with his pyrotechnics. His automatic response was to get angry, but that just made the fire situation, and the tongue lashing, worse. He could hardly believe this was the same hesitant little being that barely spoke to them last night.

But it had a point, and it was depressing. How was he supposed to keep Luna safe if his own power could burn her to death in the middle of the night without him knowing?

Raph paused automatically near the door to the infirmary, glancing in out of habit to check on Luna, but started when he heard a loud snore and a quiet mutter. He stuck his head in to see his brother was no longer laid out all stiff and unmoving, but had assumed a classic Mikey sleeping posture on the stainless steel table.

Michelangelo lay on his front, head turned to the side, one arm shoved up under his pillow. His knees were tucked up under him pushing his butt high in the air. The other arm was hanging off the side of the table, dangling halfway to the floor, his sheet sliding off the other.

And just like that Raph's dark mood lightened. His baby brother was back. Mikey was gonna be ok. There was still hope. Life would go on, and he would learn to control this power.

Raph glanced around to make sure no one was looking before he tiptoed in and lifted the sleeping Mikey in his arms. Raph deposited Mikey gently on the futon Luna had been using, and pulled up the blankets, tucking him in. Raph turned, and before he left, patted Mikey gently on the head like he had when they were young.

"Sleep tight, little guy." Raph murmured before slipping out.

Raph had regained his confident swagger by the time he past the living room where Don and Luna were conferring. She looked up as he walked by, and when his eyes met hers, his heart gave a small flutter in his chest and began to beat faster.

The pace of events last night had been so breakneck, he hadn't had a moment to really consider what his bond meant, or what being around her now would be like.

She had deep purple marks under her eyes from worry and lack of sleep, her hair was all mussed from tossing on the couch, and she wore an expression that was just the tiniest bit confused.

She had never looked so gorgeous.

He tried to play it cool, heading on to the kitchen with just a brief nod in her direction, as Donnie was explaining something about in-laws, but his pulse was thundering in his ears. He made it out of her sight but suddenly felt dizzy. His balance was off and he staggered into the kitchen table before collapsing into a chair to hold his head in his hands.

Geez, what was goin' on?

"Breathe Raph." Leonardo spoke quietly so only Raphael could hear.

Raph jumped up again, startled. He'd been so out of it, he hadn't even seen Leo in the kitchen. Leo put a hand on Raph's shoulder, reseating him in the chair.

"Long, slow, deep breaths- now." Leo commanded.

That was when Raph realized, the moment she'd met his gaze, he'd stopped breathing.

Leo took the seat across the table from Raph and met his gaze seriously, as Raph forced himself to breath deeply for a few minutes.

Here it comes. Raph thought. Fearless is gonna make a play for dominance.

"She really is something, isn't she?" Leo said with a gentle smile.

Raph couldn't argue with that, so he said nothing and focused on his breathing.

Leonardo just sipped his tea and continued to regard his brother steadily as Raph slowly got himself back under control. When Leo was satisfied Raph wasn't going to pass out, he stood up, took his cup to the sink, rinsed it out, and set it in the dish drainer.

"I'll be in the dojo." Leo said amiably, and left.

Raph's brows went up. That was it? No third degree about his intentions with Luna? No demands to limit her time with him? Hmm. This might work after all. He frowned.

If he could remember to breath.