Title: Dumping Ground (2k14 – My AU)

Rating: T

Donatello checked his wristwatch. It was almost 6 pm and therefore time to go. He scooted around in his high-backed skateboard computer chair, going from one end of his lab table to the other. He was working on synthesizing the refined mutagen, and he'd gotten pretty far. Asha was at another table helping him label and categorize each batch. Some would be preserved as the pure original stash, some would be used to medical emergency, and some would be set aside for his personal study. He looked up at where she was sitting and smiled. She was sitting with her legs crossed and her head down translating his recorded dictation on a legal pad. He had always been paying attention to her physical presence, how attracted he was to her, and how sexy he thought she was. He never thought she was dumb or stupid, because he would have never been attracted to a daft woman, but she surprised him with her organizational skills. In fact she seemed to surprise him with different aspects of her personality all the time.

"Asha, I've gotta make an errand. You wanna come with, maybe get out of this lab?" Donnie said smiling and taking off the white lab coat that Asha had found and purchased for him. He always thought he would look ridiculous in a lab coat, but had to admit it made him feel like Donatello, PhD and that was kind of nice.

"Yes! I can't wait to get away from you," Asha said smiling at him and rising from her seat. She'd been sitting a long time, long enough to have to stretch to remove the kinks in her neck and back.

"You're coming with me silly, not getting away," Donnie said chuckling and bringing her thick hoodie over to her.

"No, I'm getting away from scientist Donnie in order to hang out with chillaxing Donnie. Two completely different people," she said as they left the lab and started out of the lair.

"You gone Donnie?!" Leo called to him from somewhere in the lair.

"Yeah, I'll be back in a few hours," Donnie called back as they took to the sewer tunnels.

"Now who are these two different Donnie's you accuse me of being?" He asked, reaching for her hand to hold as he typically did when they walked any distance longer than from one end of the lair to the other.

"Well scientist Donnie isn't a lot of fun. He's severe, he's extremely quiet, and he's super bossy and picky," Asha told smiling and hoping that he didn't take any offense. The amiable smile told her that he hadn't.

"Mm hmm, and this other Donnie, what's he like?" Donnie asked amused at her keen observations of how his behavior changed when he was researching and working.

"Oh well the other Donnie is funny and laughs a lot, he's quirky in a good way, he's talkative, and he's super attentive and sweet," she said taking the opportunity to swing both their hands in dramatic fashion.

"I can accept that. It's just that I have to take the safety of our family seriously. Resources are limited so I have to be perfect, I can't afford costly mistakes and when I'm interrupted I lose focus," he said looking down at her as she pursed her lips in thought. He knew she was taking what he said to heart as she always did.

"I'm sorry," he offered. Asha came out of whatever thoughts were consuming her to give him a puzzled look.

"For what?" She asked.

"I know I can be rather high-strung when I'm doing my work. I'm sorry if I've ever hurt your feelings," he said stopping their walking progress to give her a quick peck on the top of her head before continuing.

Asha shook her head. "You don't have to apologize Don-Don. I know how serious it is for you. That's why I stopped trying to have inopportune smexy time with you, and started trying to help you."

Donnie smiled taking his hand from hers and wrapping that arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him.

"I like when you distract me," Donnie said, bending down to plant a soft kiss on her lips. Asha smiled into the kiss.

"Not all the time. You get testy Mr. Donatello," she said as they shared another soft kiss and Donnie finally stood to his height.

They walked for what seemed a little more than forty-five minutes when Donnie stopped at a set of rungs that led topside.

"We're here," he announced although Asha had no idea where 'here' was. "I'm gonna check out the scene. If everything is as it should be you can come up," he said as he began to climb.

Donnie lifted the manhole cover just enough to take a peek around. It hadn't been long since the sun had set and that was usually the time the city dump was made available to him and his brothers by the man in charge of it. After just a few moments that man made his appearance.

"Pete," Donnie called out just loud enough for the man standing a few yards away to hear. The man turned around immediately and came towards the manhole.

"Is that you Don?" Pete asked.

"Yeah, is it okay if I come up?" Donnie asked, pretty sure of the response he'd get.

"Yeah, yeah you're all good. The guys got out of here about thirty minutes ago," the man said.

Asha was surprised to hear Donnie speaking to someone, and even more taken aback that the person seemed familiar with Donnie and sounded genuinely happy to hear from him. Donnie descended the rungs halfway and beckoned Asha to come up. After she'd gotten to Donnie's feet, he reached down and lifted her with one hand until she was standing on the top rung above him. And he's supposed to be the physically weaker one, she thought to herself.

Asha made her way out with Donnie directly on her heels. The man he'd been speaking to, Pete, was standing there to greet them. He seemed a little shocked to be seeing her there with Donnie.

"Got any good stuff for me today Pete?" Donnie asked amicably as he clapped the large man on his back a couple of times.

"Yeah actually I do. It's in the usual spot," Pete said taking a quick look behind Donnie and noting the absence of the others.

"Where's the rest of the gang?" Pete asked.

"Doing their own thing. It's just me and my girlfriend today. Which reminds me of my manners. Pete this is Asha, Asha this is Pete," Donnie said motioning between the two people.

"Girlfriend?" Pete asked, shocked but grinning in approval. "Donnie I don't know how you did it, but she's prettier than my girl. We can switch if you want," Pete said, laughing heartily at his own playful jab. He took off a filthy work glove and extended his hand towards Asha to shake. She obliged politely.

"Nah, we can't switch Pete, sorry. Not letting go of this one anytime soon," Donnie said laughing good naturedly with the man.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hold you up, but I do have some good car parts Raphael might be interested in. Somebody vandalized a couple of bikes but the parts are better than salvageable. You might wanna take a look at some stuff for him," Pete offered.

"Okay thanks. Hey, would you happen to have any other car parts? Catalytic converters to be exact. I need the platinum out of them," Donnie inquired before they parted ways.

"Yeah, we got what you're looking for. Help yourself as usual and don't let your lady friend hurt herself in here," Pete said waving and walking away.

Asha followed Donnie as he rummaged through piles and piles of filthy refuse looking for whatever genius turtles searched for. This place stank worse than the approach to their lair, and she found herself covering her nose and mouth with a sleeved hand. Asha didn't think of herself as some sort of goodie two-shoes, but she had never actually been in a dump and had never seen anyone she knew personally, essentially dumpster dive.

All the brothers and Master Splinter had told her that that's how they acquired most of what they had. They'd had to do things this way for obvious reasons, and so that they wouldn't take to stealing to get the things they needed or wanted. None of that stopped a sadness from creeping into her being.

Donnie had spied Asha's body language. She'd crossed her arms tightly across her chest and she was standing very still, only moving when he did even going so far as to actually step where he stepped. Quite literally following in his very footsteps. She wasn't her usual chatty self and generally seemed quite out of sorts. She didn't seem too bad off though, so Donnie decided to deal with it later if she was still feeling uncomfortable after they left.

It took him a good two hours of perusing around to be satisfied with his haul, filling a large thick plastic tote with all the stuff he found. He collected a whole slew of cell phones that hadn't been disposed of properly, some computer parts, the motorcycle parts for Raph as well as a small weathered wooden board that he knew Raph would enjoy working with.

In all that time Asha had spoken very little, mainly to ask when Donnie planned on leaving. She wasn't rushing him per se, but she wouldn't have minded him hurrying the process a little. She helped Donnie lower some of the stuff down the manhole, but once he got down himself he relieved her of all of the items. They had walked in something just shy of companionable silence before Donnie broke it.

"Are you alright?" He asked her. He only glanced at her. It was dark topside, and absolutely pitch black for the most part in the tunnels. He had his goggle lights on to illuminate the way for both of them, so keeping his gaze straight forward was essential.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Asha replied. She knew she had been super quiet but she couldn't help it. Something about watching Donnie root around in trash bothered her probably more than it should have.

"Talk to me. Please? You seemed kind of upset back there. Was it something I did or said?" He asked, trying to make sure that she wasn't angry with him on some account.

"Huh? No, no sweetheart it's nothing you did. I'm not mad at you. I'm not mad at all actually," she said but then stopped short. Asha wanted to tell him what she was thinking but was afraid that he would think she was judging him.

"But…?" Donnie prodded.

"Well, it's just that I've never been to a city dump before. It's nasty and it stinks…..and you're too good to be in it," she blurted before she could stop herself.

Donnie stopped in his tracks and turned fully towards her. His smile was gone although he didn't have a mean look on his face. It was expressionless which made her feel as though she had crossed a line of some sort.

"Sorry"

"Don't be."

Asha said nothing, opting instead to cross her arms tight across her chest again and study the contents of the floor between her feet. Donnie simply adjusted the haul on his back and waited for her to continue.

"I didn't mean anything by that. It's just that…..that's why I give you guys money. I know you can't just go out and buy stuff, but I don't like it Donnie," she said finally gathering the courage to look him in his eyes.

"You're too good, all of you, to have to do that to survive and get stuff. I don't care if I have to work overtime, or if I have to take a second job I don't want you guys to ever have to dig through trash. Those days should be over. I'm so sorry Donnie. I swear I'm not judging your life or anything that you guys have had to do to survive. I just wanna give you the world Donatello. I will work my fingers to the absolute bone for you and then hand over my entire cash wad every night so that you never have to do this again," Asha was saying and he could hear the sincerity in her wavering voice. Asha was sniffing and on the verge of tears.

Donnie didn't know how to respond. On the one hand he didn't understand the big deal. This was par for the course for him and his brothers. He thought nothing of going through the dump to get what they needed. For him it represented the honorable thing to do, because often it was the choice between stealing and scavenging. Apparently it bothered Asha and he was determined to understand her point of view. It went beyond just not liking being in the dump. She viewed it as low and beneath them. He understood it from a logical standpoint, but he couldn't actually relate to the feeling.

Asha was scared she had made Donnie feel bad. He was just standing there with an expression she couldn't read, and he had never directed that at her before. She hung her head again and leaned back against the wall, suddenly exhausted. Then she felt a large rough finger hook underneath her chin, lifting her head. Wide and surprisingly soft lips found hers, and she felt the tension drain from her body and a tear slide down her cheek.

Donnie took all the time he cared to, kissing her in the darkened sewer tunnel. It wasn't a kiss for foreplay as he kept one hand cupped under her chin, and one hand chastely on her shoulder. It was comforting more than anything. He was communicating with her through it, letting her know that she had said nothing wrong, that he appreciated her concern, and that there were no issues between them. After what seemed forever Donnie released her from his kiss, but he kept his face close to hers.

"I appreciate what you said. I know you only want the best for us, but it's really no big deal. I don't want you to work and give me all your money. I don't want you to worry about how we make it and survive Asha. If anything I should be taking care of you and securing our future, and I promise you that I will. Don't cry," he said as he wiped the lone tear from her face.

He smiled. She was pretty even in the harsh light of his goggles, and the amber pools of her eyes always threatened to pull him under their surface and drown him. He sighed heavily and stood to full height.

"You know you just made me love you more right?" He said breaking the earlier tension and bringing levity to an emotionally charged moment. The soft ring of her laughter echoed throughout the tunnel.

"Gonna help me organize this stuff?" He asked needlessly.

"I wouldn't dream of skipping out on scientist Donnie," she said as they began to walk again.

He grabbed her hand gently into his own and led her back to the lair.