The morning dawned much brighter for the den than it had for days prior. Both Donatello and Michelangelo were practically themselves again, their former symptoms mostly gone.
Donnie was still too weak to do much of anything, and Mike was under orders to rest up anyway, so they stayed where they were in the Lab. As soon as they could get Luke to agree to it, Donnie's bed was moved closer to Mike's so they wouldn't have to keep yelling across the room at each other.
Mid-morning there was a knock at the window, and Don saw Raph and Leo outside. He waved at once, and their brothers needed no further encouragement.
"Hey, guys," Leo spoke first. "Sensei said it was okay to come in now, if you feel like company."
"Yeah, man, join the party," Mike joked.
The blue-masked turtle slipped in the rest of the way. Raphael was more hesitant, hovering by the door mutely for a few seconds before Don gave him a look.
"What's up, bro?" Donnie called to him in his best Mikey impression.
"Hi." The red-masked turtle slowly approached him. "I'm glad you're awake."
"Me too. Feel like I've slept for a week," he said lightly.
Raphael's expression was anything but amused. "It ain't funny, Don. None of it is."
"Raph, I'm okay. I'm gonna be fine."
"No thanks to me," he said flatly.
Donatello propped himself further upright on his good arm and sighed softly. "Sit down, Raph."
The older turtle obeyed, but still said nothing.
"I hope you haven't been blaming yourself for all this," Don continued.
"I have a big mouth, Donnie. I say a lot of stuff I don't mean."
"Well, we all know that." Don snorted, trying to get him to smile too.
"I'm serious, Donnie. The way I treated you..." Raphael trailed off for a couple seconds. "It's been running through my head for days. I couldn't live with myself, not if that was the last time I ever saw you. We came so close to losing ya a couple months ago*, and I swore I was gonna be a different turtle. Then we're back here all over again. When it comes down to it, seems like I didn't change at all. I don't wanna screw everything up, but controlling my mouth is harder than I figured."
"Your sarcasm is part of your charm, bro. It's okay. I know you don't mean it a lot of times."
"I've hurt you."
Donnie studied the ceiling for a long moment. "Yeah," he admitted finally. "But it's not exactly like I'm trying hard to connect with you either."
"You haven't done anything wrong," Raph objected.
"If it's all the same to you, I don't want to focus on blame or the past," Don replied. "We all can do better. Let's just say we'll try, okay?" He held out his good arm towards Raphael.
His brother gave him an awkward embrace, being careful of his shoulder.
"Yeah, well, this disappearing act is my thing, so I'd appreciate it if you stayed home in the future." Raphael allowed the first hint of a smirk to emerge. "Man, you scared me, bro...you really scared me."
"I'm sorry. I lost track of time and...I shouldn't have turned off my phone. It's really all my own fault."
"I thought we weren't talking about blame," Raph reminded him. "Anyway...if you hadn't left when you did, Jenna probably wouldn't be alive."
Donatello leaned back pensively, suddenly quiet. Jenna. Now there was an enigma he couldn't put a finger on yet.
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.
"C'mon in - standing room only!" Mike called out impishly.
The young woman ventured into the room with a shy smile, ducking her head when Donatello made eye contact. "Hey, guys. I don't want to bug you. I just heard you two were doing better."
"Are you kidding?" Raph scoffed as he pulled over a rolling desk chair. "Don't be shy. Ya been living with us for like a week."
"Hey, Jenna. How's it going?" Donatello tried to sound as casual as possible.
"Oh, I'm sort of...um-pretty good," she stammered.
"Yeah, us too. I mean...mostly. Not perfect, but..." He felt strangely tongue-tied and extremely awkward all the sudden, as if everyone in the room was only staring at him. Someone else say something. Please!
Raphael answered his prayer a moment later. "So, Jenna, you said something yesterday about your parents originally being from Ohio?"
"Yes, they're American diplomats to Australia," she replied.
"How long have you lived there? Because you sound..." Leonardo trailed off without finishing.
"Yeah, I get that." She laughed. "I was born and raised in Australia - the foster care system more specifically. I was adopted."
"That's cool," Raph told her. "Then you're just visiting the states?"
"My parents were supposed to be attending a series of meetings at the United Nations."
Donatello swallowed his nerves to reenter the conversation. "Have you talked to them much? They must be worried about you."
"I've been calling them, every day. I know they're still scared because I won't tell them where I am but...they'll be all right. The FBI is involved, and they've had a couple good leads on my kidnappers. Listen, now that you're all together - I have to tell you how grateful I am for everything you've done."
"It's our pleasure," Leonardo said honestly. "It's not every day we get to make new friends. Circumstances withstanding, you and Luke are probably the highlight of our year."
Jenna nodded at him with a smile, but her gaze drifted back to Donatello.
"Really, we're usually a lot more fun than this," Mike cracked, lightly punching Leo's knee since he was in reach.
She grinned at the orange-masked turtle. "I don't doubt that."
"Yeah, this is a rare, boring moment for him," Leonardo ribbed.
"You could try being the interesting one for a change," Mike jabbed in return.
While his brothers traded barbs, Donatello noticed Jenna looked like she was zoning out slightly.
"Jenna. You okay?"
She looked embarrassed, and he was sorry for calling her out. "Yeah. I'm sorry, mate, don't mind me. I'd had this little tune running through my head for a couple of days. Sometimes when I'm trying to piece something together, I go into this trance and lose everything else."
Now he was dying of curiosity. "Do you play?"
"Piano, and some guitar. I do a little writing from time to time - nothing serious."
"Hm. Jenna, have you seen our Lounge by any chance?"
"Your what?"
"Leo, Raph, you guys should show her."
"Now?" Raphael glanced to the door.
"I can't think of a better time. We have a writer in withdrawal!"
Leonardo rose first and motioned to the young woman. "C'mon. I think you're gonna like this."
Raph and Leo walked her back into the living area and led her down to the very end of the hallway. The room was one of few she hadn't seen yet, so Leonardo went in first to get the lights on. Her shock upon the sight of handful of musical instruments was worth waiting to show her.
"Whoa. How did you guys put this all together?"
"You'll have to ask Donnie about that," Leo said maddeningly. "Right now, you should go to town."
Another wide smile broke on her face. "Really?"
"You're not here to look," Raph encouraged, flipping a switch on the keyboard. "Try 'er out."
As intriguing as she found her new friends, Jenna was secretly glad when Leo and Raph left her alone to write. The sensation of being in a dream-like state had persisted much longer than she realized was possible. Unreality was heightened by sitting behind the piano, and figuring out some of the melody which had been ringing in her mind for days.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and then pulled a creased paper out of her pocket. Jenna straightened it on the stand in front of her, and began filling in the appropriate notes as they came together to form a measure.
When she had a good idea of how they fit together, the teen began lightly playing a longer portion of the tune she was hearing in her head. Jenna paused to make notations on the paper every now and again as she continued. She had been lost in the process of stopping and starting for a little more than an hour, when Jenna hesitated to assess what she had so far as a whole.
Instead her mind drifted, and she struggled to focus on the song completely. It felt good to get some of it down on paper, but she felt confused within as well. Jenna couldn't begin to understand the way she was feeling, let alone put it into perfect words.
In the past, she might not have pursued the questions rising in her spirit. Experience had taught her to repress and ignore such things. Keeping to herself had proved the most effective course for protection.
But as much as she wanted to ignore the gammet of emotions which had been stirred up since the first night, there was a part of Jenna which resisted the urge. It was impossible to understand why, but the frightening cracks forming in her outward defense weren't driving her to retreat. If anything, curiosity tugged her in for more, like she'd been captured by a rip current.
I don't know what any of it means yet. But he-they're not like anyone I've ever met. And I think it's worth taking the time to get to know them.
*Raph is referring to events in Cost of Honor.