An Unexpected Phone Call: Leonardo
Leonardo glanced up from the magazine he was skimming as Michaelangelo finally made an appearance in their home after five days. "Welcome back, Mikey," he greeted, noting how much more relaxed his brother seemed to be. "Where have you been?"
"Hey Leo. How's it going?" Michaelangelo asked, flashing a grin. "I was just doing some sightseeing. It was fun."
"I got a call from April. She says that you sabotaged her office," the blue-wearing ninja replied. His brother stopped dead in his tracks.
"Yeah, but she thought it was funny," he said. He wondered why April hadn't told the others where he had been, but he was relieved all the same. Shrugging, he returned Donatello's skateboard to its proper place.
"Well, she wasn't mad, but I don't think you should be doing stuff like that. We have to be extra cautious while sensei is away."
Michaelangelo sighed, but decided to agree with Leonardo, recalling April's suggestion. "Sorry, Leo. I'll try to remember that next time," he said and went off to find Donatello so that he could gush over the super awesome skateboard.
Leonardo tried to go back to reading Donatello's latest issue of Popular Mechanics magazine, but Raphael entered the room, angry and looking for an outlet. Unfortunately he zeroed in on the only other being present. "Leo, come spar with me. You say we need to practice more often, right?" Raphael waited, knowing that his brother would accept the challenge.
They migrated to the training room where Raphael immediately began his assault. Leonardo narrowly missed being impaled upon his brother's sai, drawing his own weapons. He held his own until Raphael began to run out of steam, becoming careless. With a well-timed swipe of his katana, followed by a roundhouse kick, he had his brother disarmed.
Raphael, for his part, attempted to remain calm, but failed when he found one sai and not the other. Leonardo made a quick escape before Raphael became enraged again and went to his room. He sat on his bed, resting his arms on his knees and his head in his hands.
"I can't live like this," he grumbled in despair. "Damn it, this is too much pressure." He laid back, fiddling with his cell phone, and continued his verbal monologue. "I saw Donnie maybe twice since Mikey disappeared and more Raphael than I could stand." Life was getting complicated. What seemed like divine inspiration hit him and he searched his contacts list for the one person he was sure would help. As the phone began to ring, Leonardo crossed his fingers that his call would be answered. No such luck. Well, the answering machine wasn't so bad. He prepared to leave his message.
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Leonardo's voice came through the speaker in an almost hesitant way. "Hey April, it's Leo. Um, sorry to bother you, but I remembered that you said you were off for the next few weeks, so I was wondering if maybe I could stay with you for a few days. Some stuff is going on and, well, um…yeah. Just give me a call on my cell if it's okay." The machine that held the recorded message listed the recipient's options. April erased it and hung up the phone.
She tapped a pen against her notebook. It struck her as odd that Leonardo, her favorite katana-wielding ninja, would ask her permission to visit for a few days, without the others.
Oh well. Stranger things had happened.
She hit the speed dial number for his cellular phone and almost laughed as it began to ring. She had signed them up for a family plan under her name when the turtle-coms had been broken so that they could get in touch with her, or each other, at any time. Unfortunately for her, when Donatello had fixed them he had ruined hers. As a result she was forced to wait until they bought the necessary parts to repair it. So they kept the cell phones. She wasn't completely sure they would give up their phones at any rate; they loved the option of text messaging.
She was brought back to the here and now when Leonardo answered. "Hello? April?"
"Hey, Leo, I got your message. Sounds like fun. When did you want to come over?"
"Would the day after tomorrow be okay? If not I can –"
"Don't be silly," April interrupted. "It's no problem."
"Awesome." The relief was evident in his voice and she resisted the urge to ask if all was well. "Thank you. I'll see you on Wednesday." They exchanged farewells and hung up.
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"Who were you talking to, bro?" Michaelangelo asked as his brother entered the kitchen.
"April. I was asking her if she knew of any places that sell books on meditation," he lied.
"Oh. Plannin' a retreat or something?" Michaelangelo teased. Leonardo's eyes lit up. The perfect excuse!
"Yes. Master Splinter advised me to, but he never specified a time. 'No time like the present,' as they say." Well, it was sort of true. "I'm going to pack some stuff." He paused on his way out of the kitchen. "Are you feeling okay, Mikey?"
"Huh? Yeah, why?"
"You seem more…hyper than usual."
"No prob, dude. I think the rest of you are just bummed out or something." With a shrug, the nunchaku-carrying turtle finished off his slice of pizza. Leonardo continued to his room.
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The blue ninja came by two days later, as promised, with a pillow and a gym bag. He stood patiently before the reporter's door. She opened it and ushered him inside. "Hi. Thanks again for letting me stay here."
"No problem," April replied as she pushed him further into the apartment. "Any trouble with people or anything?"
Leonardo laughed. "Of course not. I'm a ninja."
"How could I forget?" She pulled a frozen pizza out and put it in the preheated oven. "Pepperoni okay?"
"Sure. Where should I put my stuff?"
"Either in the corner, or up in the loft. You have your choice of the sofa bed or the futon upstairs."
"Loft," he opted and disappeared to put down his burdens. They made small talk until the pizza was ready and carried it to the roof of her apartment building via the fire escape. It was a warm night, heat radiating from the busy streets of the Big Apple. Up here the stop-and-go traffic was but a dull roar. Even so they couldn't hear much beyond their chewing.
"Splinter left," Leonardo said quietly after some time.
"Mikey told me when he dropped by my office," April replied as she stretched her legs out before her. "The poor guy could probably use a break from crime fighting. Bet it's different without him around to keep you out of trouble, huh?" The teasing smile on her face faded when she caught sight of her companion's grim expression.
"It's so difficult! I mean, in the past when we were alone it was a necessity. I guess it is now as well, but there's nothing to do. I'm trying to keep us in training mode, but I'm failing. Donnie keeps himself locked in his lab; he only comes out to eat and spar with us once in a while. Mikey doesn't seem to be taking anything seriously. He's constantly goofing off and cracking jokes. Or ignoring us entirely. And Raph…he's so aggressive. It's a lot worse than usual. I'm losing my grip!
"The harder I crack down, the less they listen. We're fighting each other a lot more. I can feel us coming apart at the seams. I don't know how Master Splinter does it. I can't take much more of this." He closed his eyes tightly, squeezing his head between his hands. "Raph says I'm being too hard on everyone, but so is he. And now would be the perfect time for something really bad to happen; while Splinter is away. I just want us to be safe."
Leonardo sounded positively miserable. April leaned against his shoulder, putting an arm around his neck. "Oh, Leo," she sighed. "This may come out cold, but stop worrying about them so much. Spend some time thinking about you. You guys are growing up; not much longer before you're not kids anymore." She rested a hand on his knee, looking up at him in an attempt at comfort. "I think that sometimes they need a brother more than they do a leader. They can take care of themselves."
"But what if they don't know what to do? What if something goes wrong? What if they need my help?"
"Leo, did anything go horribly bad while Mikey was away?" The poor turtle shook his head. "Did you need his help?"
"Well, maybe just for a laugh," he said slowly.
"I think that you taking a break will be a good thing. One, you'll be more refreshed…hopefully. Not to mention it's a good reminder to them that you aren't expendable and shouldn't be taken for granted. And you'll go back and see that they survived in your absence." She stood and rached her hand down. "You all have a strong bond, and it will prevail. You've made it through worse." He accepted her hand gratefully.
They climbed inside and April turned to face Leonardo. "Oh, and maybe you should lighten up on Mikey. Maybe he's just trying to break the tension by being stupid, huh?" She laughed at his baffled expression and hugged him. "Never forget that we all love you. Good night."
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Two days of wasted time later April dragged the reluctant ninja to an antique car show, hoping to divert his attention from the stress that plagued his mind. She was glad to have stored the fact that he had recently become interested in cars in her memory. It seemed to be working wonders, considering the fact that they had been there nearly four hours.
A fact April would not have been able to tolerate had it not been for how excited Leonardo seemed. Standing by a concession stand, the reporter watched the turtle exclaim over a green '68 Pontiac GTO, chatting animatedly with the owner about the engine. While her friend's reenergized spirit thrilled her to no end, she was beginning to hope that he would tire of this place.
She chewed on her straw and checked her watch. Leonardo joined her several minutes later and peered at her face in confusion. She smiled at him, joy radiating from her.
"I thought you hate cars," he mused as she linked their arms together lazily.
She laughed. "Don't get me wrong, I do. But it makes me happy to see you back to normal, even if it might only be for a little while," she confessed. Her laughter continued as his jaw went slack in surprise. She was right. He was having a good time!
"April, thank you. For everything," he said quietly, smiling down at her.
"Of course, my friend. But if you want to prove it, then take me home! I'm tired." They walked back. "Leo, if you ever need anything, I'm here. I'd do anything for you." She squeezed his arm. "And so would they."
He nodded, knowing whom she was referring to by 'they.' "Well, I'll leave tomorrow morning. I kinda miss the guys and I want to see how they are."
"All right. You're welcome any time, Leo. I mean it."
"You're the best."
She patted his shell. "I know."
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"I'm home," Leonardo called out. Donatello and Raphael shouted greetings from their respective rooms. He surveyed the old subway station they called home. Everything was so familiar. It was a real comfort. He went to find Michaelangelo. The wanted turtle was in the kitchen, as predicted, reading a comic book and snacking on munchies. Leonardo dropped into the chair beside him. "Hey, Mikey."
"Hey, bro. Have fun?"
"Yeah. Um, I wanted to apologize to you."
Michaelangelo finally looked up from his comic book. "Why?"
"I haven't meant to be such a hard ass. I'm just worried. I don't want anything bad to happen, ya know? I didn't mean what I said…about you being useless and all."
"Aw, I already knew that, dude. I'm just glad you finally came to your senses. Pork rind?" He held the bag out, turning a page in his comic book as his attention was diverted once again to the drawn characters.
"Pork rind." The brothers smiled at one another as Leonardo reached his hand into the bag.