IX - LOCKED AWAY

"Don, I have to admit it again: you're genius!" Leonardo tapped his younger brother to his shell.

"Thanks, Leo. I thought you might appreciate this. I mean this tracking system in our shell cells surely raises our security level on new heights!" Donatello grinned.

"Just make sure there ain't no trackin' shit in my shell cell."

Donatello and Leonardo lifted their gazes from the prototype to meet Raph's eyes.

"What do you want, Raph?" Leo demanded eying Raphael with suspicion.

"Ain't talkin' ta ya, Leo, but our 'boy genious' here", Raph growled doing his best to ignore the eldest turtle,

"Hey Donny, I was wonderin' can I use yer computer now that ye're bein' busy in here?"

The turtles' household had only two computers connected to the Internet: the other one was in Don's chamber, and the other one in Don's lab area. No one was to touch Don's lab computer, except maybe for April, and Don's other computer was allowed to be used when it suited for Don. Raph, Leo and Mike had to share the time between each other.

"Raphie forgot to say 'please'..."

"Mind yer own business, Leo, and stop callin' me that!"

"Of course you can use it, but only if you're able to remove Mikey. He's been glued to the screen since the soaps ended."

Raph smacked his own forehead, mumbling:

"Oh Donny, I've told ya not ta download any new games fer the knucklehead!"

"I haven't. Mike has learned to download them all by himself."

"Mikey can download games from the net? Geez, he's turning out to be a better computer wizard than I am!" Leo gasped in amazement.

"Which, by the way, isn't a hard task. I mean a three-year-old child could probably reboot a computer unlike you two here."

"Hey Brainiac, I never wanted ta be a geek anyway. I'm happy just ta read news and...eh, stuff. Well, I go knock the shell fer brains outta there", Raph turned to leave.

"And there goes the working peace", Don sighed, watching Raph's shell to diverge to the upstairs where their rooms were placed.

"Well, maybe I could beat you in a chess match then?" Leo challenged, smirking. Chess certainly were their both favorite game. For Leonardo it was all about strategy, and Donatello took the chess as an exercise on developing his logical thinking.

"You're the one who's gonna be beaten, bro", Don threatened smiling, obviously liking Leo's suggestion.

"But Leo", Don wiped the smile from his face for a moment,

"Seriously, I think you really should have a talk with Raph."

"Talking? With Raph?" Leo snorted,

"The only language he seems to understand, is the one my katanas speak."

"Leo you can't be serious!"

"No Don, it's different with you two", Leonardo insisted,

"You have always had something in common. You tinker together in the garage talking...you know I never talk with Raph. We just fight."

"Talking with Raph ain't easy", Don admitted,

"But on the other hand, I don't expect anything from him. We're just hanging around for the sake of hanging around. I mean Raph and Mikey can get along although they don't share hobbies."

"So it's just me your favorite brother keeps avoiding?" Leo snapped in a way he didn't mean to. Don stared at him in confusion.

"You're so starting to sound like Raph! I'm sure two you'd had a lot in common if you just sometimes sat down together just to be together. It's not like you have always fought."

Leo sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, as always. But it's just that he's so locked up in his own world. He'd probably revealed it to anyone but me."

Don smiled at him warm-heartily.

"And he prolly sees you the same way; locked away behind the leadership of yours."

Leo gave a thought to it while Don continued encouraging him:

"Besides, since when have you of all the turtles refused to do something 'cause it's difficult?"

"You're right", Leo admitted feeling his self-confidence increase due to Don's kind words,

"But that's after one round of good ol' chess."

"Can I play too? Or be yer cheerleader? Angry and terribly violent Raphie just kicked me outta yer room, Donny."

Mike joined the two other brothers.

"I know, I told him to do that. You shouldn't play all day, you know. It's not good for your health."

Don's lecture secretly amused Leo, for it reminded him the lessons he used to give Don. But the leader kept his face straight. He was backing Don fully on this one.

"Maybe. But I still locked him into yer room. I wanna see who's brave enough to let him out after he's been there for a while", Mike chuckled.

"Mikey!" Leo and Don exclaimed at the same time.

Don's room was the only one which had a lock on its door. Don had installed it couple years ago, when Mike and Raph were constantly going in his chamber when he was gone, messing all his notes and exams on purpose. After a while Splinter had denied him from locking the door, because some of the first aid supplements were located in Don's room. Luckily his annoying brothers had grown up to respect others property and work.

Mike swung the little key between his two fingers, laughing like a maniac. Leo tried to grab the key with a fluent move but Mike was quicker. Leo actually liked the idea of keeping Raph behind a lock, but he doubted that eventually Don would have a trashed room.

"I'll give ya this after you have played chess with me."

Leo rolled his eyes.

"Okay Mikey. I'll play with you. Don will be our cheerleader."