To say that last night had been awkward would be an understatement.
Michelangelo had never been very good with self control and the bags under his eyes were proof of that. Not only had he finished the tape that he had started the previous night, he also played the next two. Needless to say, the nunchuck-weilding mutant went to bed very happy and very tired that night.
Mikey's brothers and their sensei soon fell into a cycle that was set in a limbo of some sort.
For one thing, the crime of New York had been strangely quiet and remote for the last few days. This was especially hard for the hotheaded Raphael and his vigilante buddy, Casey Jones. With only a few muggers to beat the shit out of, the human had become somewhat lazy, spending more than enough time being one with his couch. And this had been all right for Raph as well. For a time.
Then Raph got into another argument with Leo. It had been something stupid about how high a kick on a kata was in practice or something one minute and then the next, the two brothers were screaming and throwing things at each other. Of course, Raphael quickly left the Lair while Leo faced the repercussions of the demolishing they had done. The hothead had been quick to make his way to the surface to find some skulls to smash in. Nadda. Zilch. Nothing whatsoever.
And it drove him completely nuts. Don had stitched up the punching bag at least four times in the last week alone due to the rage that was building up inside the sai-wielder.
Leonardo was growing tense as well. He spent more time in the dojo than usual for practice and meditation. Whenever her did come out, it was for food, a brawl with Raphael, or another uneventful patrol. Something was obviously bugging the leader, but Mikey had just pushed it away as being suspicious about the lack of crime.
Donatello was almost nonexistent to his brothers because of all the time he was spending in the lab. Whenever he wasn't working overtime to help Sensei's pneumonia pass, he was combing through every security video feed he could find. He had even joked at practice once about how bad he felt for the first guy to try to rob a convenience store during this quiet period, saying what an unlucky bastard he was.
Michelangelo, on the other hand, had developed a bit of paranoia over the last couple of days for a few reasons, the first being Donatello. He would offer to bring his brainy brother his meals in an effort to get a reading on the genius about whether or not he knew about Mikey's latest act of thievery. He didn't seem to be stressed about it, or at least not in a way that Mikey could catch onto. It would make sense for Donnie to immerse himself in something he was passionate about and ignore everything else around him. That was perfectly all right with Mikey. The less Donnie knew the better.
Besides being able to keep an eye on Donnie, Mikey now had an excuse to spend some quality time with his older brother. He had always been the one to push his brothers to hang out with him, but it usually meant playing video games or sparring in the dojo. Now that his time with Donnie consisted of mostly talking and helping out with projects, Michelangelo began to notice little quirks about his genius sibling.
Like the fact that Donnie always likes to chew when he worked. And he chewed everything: pens, pencils, gum, the stylus to his old Nintendo DS; you name it; Don's probably chewed on it.
He also had these wonderful facial expressions to go with every step to completing a task. Mikey loved to watch him furrow his brow in frustration when something didn't work the way he wanted it to. He grew used to being serenaded by Donatello's soft hums as he worked. But most of all, Mikey loved it when Don would find projects that were time-sensative.
Because when he did, Donnie would work with his tongue sticking out. The orange-banded turtle had been hypnotized by that bit of pink flesh on more than one occasion. He watched it wiggle as his older brother dealt with sensitive pieces, doing his best to be extra careful with his large hands. It had been the subject for many of Mikey's late night fantasies and cold morning showers.
The cycle continued for almost three months. Of course, the turtles had gone back to the junk yard to scavange during that time. Mikey had returned the pencil box back to where he'd found it, returning all but two of the tapes. He had put masking tape on two blank tapes and labeled them with the best forgery he could muster of Donnie's chicken scratch handwriting. He stayed close to Don during those trips to make sure he bought it. And when Don had checked them when he thought Mikey wasn't looking, Mike was pleased to know that he did. Afterall, he planned on watching ALL of those tapes.
Leonardo was currently meditating in the dojo, his eyes closed and his body relaxed as he concentrated on finding inner peace. He soon was on another plain as he began to sense the presence of the others. The aura of his family was always distinct in the differences, so it was simple to know which aura belonged to which mutant.
Since his hotheaded brother was in the other room of the dojo, it made sense that his aura was the first Leo was able to pick up on. Raphael's aura was strong and growing. The heat and expansion of it was enough to shake Leo's foundation on this other bane of existence. The raw energy of his brother's soul was like being caught in a storm of strength and passion. Even in the hostile state their relationship was in, Leonardo was utterly amazed by the ferocity of Raphael's heart.
The second energy source he could feel was much calmer. The life source reminded him of the scent of sandalwood and the taste of miso soup. A sense of calm swept through him and surrounded him in an embrace that gave Leonardo the feeling that nothing in the world could hurt him. It was the expected duty of a father, but Master Splinter's aura still gave off this strong, yet gentle affect, even though he was currently undergoing many tiresome antibiotic treatments. A small smile spread across the teenager's face as he felt the aura of his father move and shift around its owner, proving to him that Splinter was in a deep meditative trance as well.
The third soul he picked up on gave the feeling of peace and restlessness, an unusual combination that didn't normally stay that way for very long. He could tell that this restlessness had been caused by an outside force, but it was obvious to him what it was. The pulsing aura violated Leo's inner eye with the smell of smoke and the taste of java. It seemed odd to Leonardo how an aura so industrialized could calm his spirit in such a way. He always did enjoy Donatello's company the most out of his three brothers.
Leo smiled as he continued on, searching for his third brother's life source. He was surprised to find that Michelangelo wasn't within range of the Lair. With a frown contorting onto his face, he began to focus to search farther out for his brother. After a few minutes, he found that Mikey was in the sewer tunnels about a mile from the Lair. He could sense his youngest brother's anxiousness as he walked and knew that he would need to go retrieve him, and scold him for leaving their home without telling anybody.
Dark eyes slowly opened as Leonardo left the spiritual plain and returned to this level of existence. With a quick stretching of his arms, he stood up and grabbed his katanas, slipping the gear onto his shell. He could hear Raphael's grunts as he beat his anger into the punching bag in their workout room, and Leo couldn't help but slightly crack open the door to watch him as he worked out the negative chi in his body.
It seemed fitting that Raph's aura was pulsing violently when Leo read it, what with the hothead's current mood. He knew that this lack of crime was hardest on his short-tempered brother. The fights they had participated in lately were growing in violence, even though they were over the most trivial things. Leonardo knew that this needed to stop, making a mental note to talk to Raph when he got home from getting Mikey. With a final sigh, Leo closed the door and headed towards the exit, his footsteps completely silent as he stepped out into the sewers.
Twenty minutes had passed before Leo finally managed to catch up to Michelangelo. The orange-banded turtle was humming what Leo recognized as "Sorry Jack", a song by Mikey's current favorite band Scratch21. He seemed to be set on a destination and not just walking around the tunnels like usual. Leo was fully expecting Mikey to be skateboarding when he found him, but he was proven wrong for once. Instead of carrying a skateboard, he could see what looked like a small box in Mikey's hand. Deciding to see what he was doing before confronting him, Leo shadowed Michelangelo all the way to the junkyard.
Mikey was in his own little world as he strided past pile after pile of miscellaneous junk, never ceasing his humming. A sudden swish of air on his neck caught his attention, making him jump with surprise. Baby blue eyes darted around the scene as he searched for the source of that sudden breeze.
"Mind telling me what you're looking for?" A velvety voice said from right behind the shelled ninja.
"GAH!" cried Mikey as he jumped at least five feet in the air, his sea green skin now a paler green as wide eyes caught Leo's form. "What the heck, dude?! I almost jumped out of my shell..."
"You know we're not supposed to leave the Lair without either telling someone or bringing someone with you" Leo stated, ignoring Mikey's outburst. "Now I'll ask again: WHAT are you looking for?" Mikey bit his lip and and tried to think up an excuse.
"Uh...s-supplies..." he stuttered dumbly as he tried his best to hide the tape in his hand from his brother's questioning gaze.
"What kind of supplies?" The leader knew Mikey was lying, and knew that he would soon crack as he continued to interrogate him.
"Important...supplies..."
"Let me rephrase that" Leo sighed, "What EXACTLY are you looking for? You definitely showed some confidence a minute ago when you were walking through here, so you must know what it is you need to find."
"Wait, you were spying on me? Not cool, Leo" Money huffed as he glared at the other.
"Of course I was. You thought I would find out you were gone and just wait for you to come back?"
"I didn't think you'd follow me and spy" Mikey snapped with annoyance.
"And what could be so important that you had to sneak out at ten-thirty at night?"
"Maybe I have a hot date" Mikey joked, trying to play off his nervousness.
"Does this have to do with that box I saw you with earlier?" Leo questioned softly. Mikey's mouth shut and his eyes widened as his grip tightened on the tape. Leonardo glared at Mikey for at least a full minute before his youngest brother broke his gaze, flicking his pupils down to his own arm.
Using the reflexes he was renowned for, Leonardo reached out and snatched the tape from Michelangelo's grip, stunning the other mutant turtle.
"HEY!" Mikey snapped before reaching out to grab the plastic casing. His efforts were of no avail as Leo pulled his hand out of Mikey's reach for a moment before his eyes skimmed across the writing on the front.
"Is this Donatello's?" he asked, recognizing the vocabulary on the label. Mikey's mouth was pressed into a thin line as his eyes darted from the tape to Leo's face before going back to the tape. "Since when did you take an interest in Donatello's work?"
"I-Its...Its just a bunch of recordings of him yakking about sciency-type stuff" the blue-eyed teen said a little too quickly.
"And again, since WHEN were you interested in Donnie's research?" Leonardo was quickly becoming impatient as he questioned Mikey. Whatever was on these tapes, it obviously meant a great deal to his high-spirited brother if he was willing to hide it and sneak around his back to possess it.
"Uh...D-Donnie's boring lectures help put me to sleep and uh... I've been... u-using them to help me go to sleep?"
"Try again, Mikey."
"C'mon, Leo, give it back already" Mike whined as he reached out again for the tape. Leo held the tape away again before something registered in his brain.
"Them?" he said, loud enough for Mikey to freeze and swallow the lump in his throat. "You mean to tell me there's more than ONE of these recordings?"
"...No?" The elder rolled his eyes before meeting Mikey's eyes with his own.
"Where did you get this? Were you sneaking into Don's lab again? And why would you bring this out here to the junkyard?"
"Since when did you become Sherlock Holmes?" Mikey sassed.
"Michelangelo, stop dodging my questions!" Leo snapped as he kept his hold on the tape, "You will tell me where you got this tape and you will stop trying to weasel your way out of taking responsibility for your actions!" Mikey flinched at his brother's tone, not used to Leo using what he had dubbed as his "Raph-brawling" voice on him. His heart beat a million miles a minute as he thought up all of the possible outcomes of this situation.
"Well?" questioned the blue-banded ninja, causing Mikey to flinch again.
"I...I-uh...I found it here..." he said quietly, his eyes glued to Leo's face as he waited for his reaction.
"You found it here?" Leo repeated, the tone in his voice telling Mike that he didn't believe him.
"I, um, I saw... I saw Donnie looking at them the other month and uh... I got curious..."
"So, you saw Don looking at a box of tapes that he had with him here at the junkyard, and instead of leaving it alone, you decided to steal one of them?" Mikey pouted at the obvious implication his brother was making.
"Sheesh, if you're gonna treat me like a Purple Dragon, at least let me wear a badass jacket or something while you interrogate me" he said sarcastically.
"I'm not treating you like a Purple Dragon. If I was, I'd be beating the shit out of you right now" Leonardo retorted. Mikey's eyes widened at the sudden use of foul language. Leo NEVER cursed unless he was getting really pissed off. "How long have you been watching these?"
"...Two months, I think..." he said quietly, slightly uncomfortable with Leo's sudden change in mood.
"You say that you found them here?" He could only nod dumbly. "Show me."
"What?" Mikey asked, an eyebrow raised.
"You heard me. Show me where you found these tapes" Leo ordered, his Fearless Leader complex standing at attention. Mikey blinked in surprise as he stared at his brother.
"But why?"
"Because I told you to. And you'll have a more severe punishment for disobeying your leader" he said simply, his tone never wavering as he kept eye contact with Mikey. Michelangelo swallowed the lump in his throat before slowly inching around his brother and making the walk over to Don's hiding spot for the tapes.
After over ten minutes, they finally reached the broken desk near the back of the junkyard. Leo watched as Mikey slowly knelt down and retrieved the old pencil box from the back of a bottom drawer before standing back up and gripping it tightly in his fingers. Leonardo grabbed the box and stared at Mikey, silently ordering him to let go.
The tension was so thick that Mikey was sure Leo could slice it with a katana if he so wished. He hesitantly let go of the pencil box and held his breath as he watched Leo open it. The blue-banded leader examined what he counted to be fifteen tapes. Each one had a similar label written on masking tape and he knew that the handwriting was his genius brother's.
After almost three minutes, Leo finally broke the silence.
"You say you've been watching these for two months?" The sudden voice caused Mikey to jump again, the tension taking its toll on him.
"Uh, y-yeah..." Leo nodded before closing the box again.
"I'd say about two months no topside would be an appropriate punishment then, don't you?"
"What?!" Mikey exclaimed, not caring that his voice carried through the junkyard. "C'mon, Leo, that's totally unfair, dude!"
"And stealing from your brother isn't?" Leo questioned, "Michelangelo, you not only put yourself in danger, but you also invaded Donatello's privacy. You will take your punishment and stop arguing with your leader." Mikey grinded his teeth as he thought out his options. Unfortunately, none of them turned out well, so he begrudgingly nodded as be looked down at his feet.
"Let's get home" Leo said simply as he motioned towards the exit, placing the pencil box under his arm. Mikey took notice and stopped.
"What're you gonna so with that?" he asked.
"I'm going to hold onto it until I can talk to Donatello" Leo explained as he eyed Mikey. The nunchuck wielder's eyes widened at the thought of Don finding out. "Yes, Mikey, I am telling Donatello about your little excursions. Now move."
Mikey protested as they walked home, but quickly shut up when they reached the Lair since he didn't want to alert the others.
"I suggest you get some rest" Leo said quietly, "Training begins in less than eight hours." Mikey grumbled to himself as he went up the stairs, his demeanor the same as that of a dog with its tail between its legs. Leonardo watched as Mikey entered his room and shut the door before looking back down at the box.
He bit his lip as his curiosity began to flood his mind. What could Don have put on these tapes to make Mikey steal them? Could these be a video diary of some sort? 'No' he thought, 'That wouldn't make any sense.' Not now anyways.
With a sigh, Leonardo turned and headed to his room, quietly closing the door behind him.