Author's note:

Oh jeez.... Hi guys. I really do want to apologize for how ridiculously late this chapter is. I got a motorcycle over the summer and, well, let's just say I can understand why Raph was never home once he started riding haha. I had to make good use of the warm weather, this summer was a total throwaway for much else. I have had such awesome response from readers for this fic and hopefully not everyone has disappeared over the months! That being said, I also have quite a bit of reading to catch up on as well. Anyways, I'm back on track and it feels great to get back into writing regularly again. Cheers everyone :)

Rebound

Chapter VIII

April stared into the darkness at the ceiling fan above her bed until she felt her eyes strain from the blurring motion and draped her arm across her forehead to cover them. She had no idea what time it was because Casey had neglected to change the batteries in their oversized plastic alarm clock days ago. She imagined she was well into the early morning hours by now. The drapes were pulled closed over the elongated windows that rose up from across the living room, visible from the lofted bedroom built over the kitchen. When they'd moved into the place April was in love with the open concept but now she found there was so little privacy and nowhere to go to escape for some peace and quiet.

A jarring noise came from downstairs just as April felt herself drifting off. She remained still and listened from the refuge of her Egyptian cotton sheets. Casey had come home, making even more of a racket than usual. What's his problem now? April mulled over the possibilities while listening to Casey stomp around the hardwood floor with his shoes still on, crack open a beer and stick something in the microwave. Any chance she had of sleeping was out the window now, so with a sigh April heaved herself out of bed, grabbed her threadbare bathrobe off the floor and padded downstairs to meet her boyfriend in the living room.

"Casey?" She called, perching herself on the third step from the bottom floor. "You're home awfully late for a game night, what happened?" April was met with a momentary silence from the kitchen, but waited it out patiently. The clock from the DVD player across the living room blinked 01:40.

Casey slunk into April's sight with a container of reheated stir-fry in one hand and a can of Pabst in the other. He looked defeated. April's stomach tightened as she studied his face, knowing he'd been up to something.

"I- look, there's no easy way to put this." Casey started, turning towards the draped windows so not to look his girlfriend in the eye.

"Casey..."

"No, babe, listen. I was out. Maybe messin' around in things I shouldn't have, butut it's so fucked up. I mean, these damn kids, April! Snooping around your place, it's not right. I don't know where the hell they got off thinking that-"

"Casey, please. Enough." sighed April wearily, staring down at the floor as if waiting for some colloquial explanation to give to her well-meaning boyfriend to manifest. "We've been over this. I don't need any extra attention from the press right now and if they catch wind that you're chasing down minors on unfounded allegations, what do you think they're going to say?"

"But they're notunfounded. Who knows how much these punks know? I've heard of them April, they're dead serious. What if they find out?"

"About what? " April caught the harshness in her voice, it took her by surprise but she scrambled to backtrack herself to a calm rationality. "It's like you're forgetting that we haven't done anything wrong in the first place. Nothing that happened at the Winters compound would stand up in court. The last thing I'm going to do is pander to the imaginations of some teenaged boys caught up in their fantasy world, which is exactly what these "Vision" kids are. They wouldn't know where to begin looking even if they knew what they were after."

Casey disagreed. He hadn't investigated Vision much himself, but he knew from his run-ins that it's members were smarter than April was giving them credit for. It's why he had come home empty handed night after night of pursuing them. It was killing him not to talk to Raph about it, too, but April was adamant that the turtles were not to be involved. The brothers were getting older, and as a newly reunited family April knew they had their own challenges to overcome. It wasn't that she was trying to distance herself from them, she was just trying to let them live their lives without constantly getting hung up on hers. She only hoped that when they did find out (because of course they would eventually) that they would understand her intentions.

It was getting late and April wasn't having any more of it. Wearily, she rose to her feet and turned around to go back up to bed in silence. Casey was left alone downstairs with his thoughts, his cold meal and his late night cable shows.

o0o

Leonardo felt his head roll back against the back of the couch and slowly opened his eyes, taking in the his surroundings. He was lit in the glow of a blue light -- the TV screen was frozen on a looping, muted DVD menu illuminating a small space around him in the darkness of the living area. What time is it? he wondered, but was almost afraid to find out. Raphael and Michelangelo were long gone, likely off to bed after the movie ended while leaving all the evidence of their indulgent evening out on the coffee table for Leo to deal with. Great. At least no one's up yet

He plodded over to the kitchen to get himself a glass of ice water and began collecting empties and wrappers in a plastic grocery bag, still feeling rather far gone from the night's earlier drinking. After he tidied up the living area he noticed there was a sinkload of dishes to be done. In what felt like just a minute or two, he'd finished washing and ready to move on to cleaning out the fridge. It needs doing anyways and shouldn't take too long. By the time the lair's front door slid open unnoticed, Leo was sitting cross-legged on the floor between the couch and the coffee table with stacks of magazines, old newspapers and comic books he'd collected from around the lair, organizing them by publication and date.

Needless to say, Donatello was astounded.

"Leo?" He called out quietly, walking around to the front of the couch to get a better look at his brother's new found media organization. "Ehh.. what are you still doing up?"

"Waiting for you." Leo replied flatly, giving no real indication to his mood or his motives as he finished with the last of his magazines. "What's in the bag?" He asked, his head rolling slightly into his shoulder.

Shit. Alright. Donatello had been so caught up in anticipating his brother's reaction to his homecoming that he had entirely forgot about the bag Lisa had given him. "Um, some tea for Sensei and a couple of DVDs Mikey was looking for." He hastily dug out the items and placed them on the coffee table in plain sight for Leo to examine before dropping the half-empty tote bag behind his back as inconspicuously as possible. There was something off about his Leo that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He was eerily quiet, but rooted in his place and docile at the same time. Donnie decided the best way to avoid any confrontation was to keep their conversation on his terms.

"So, uh, you guys watched Fight Club?" He began, eyeing the DVD menu and praying that the image wasn't going to be permanently burned into the screen.

"It's Saturday night." Leo deadpanned. Donnie held out for some sort of elaboration.

"Huh?"

"Oh. Yeah, we did." Apparently this was all Donnie was going to get out of his brother, who was busy leafing through some aftermarket parts magazine for sport bikes he'd recovered from under the couch cushions. Genuinely curious, the younger turtle sat down on the couch just above Leo to see what he was looking at. Exhaust kits.

"Uh.. Do you even know what these are?"

"Raph just bought one this one. Yoshimura." declared Leo, holding the page up for his brother to see.

"I wasn't aware you paid much attention to his bike, let alone what brand of pipes he's installed."

"Well, before now I wasn't informed he spent six hundred dollars on them."

Donnie grinned. Out of the four brothers, Leo definitely had the least developed understanding of money and the value of material goods. He had no need for savings himself and bought almost nothing. "You can't keep tabs on everything they do Leo. If there's one thing I learned the hard way while you were gone it was picking my battles."

Leo nodded thoughtfully before closing the catalogue and reaching for the remote on the table to turn off the TV, leaving himself and Donnie in the dim lamplight of the early morning hours. He remained sitting on the floor looking forwards while his brother shifted uncomfortably on the couch behind him. "Old habits die hard though, don't they?"

There it was, time to face the music. The younger turtle let out a sigh and sunk back into the couch. He was getting tired and wanted at least a couple hours of sleep before morning kata. "What can I say that will get us past this as quickly as possible so we can both get some rest? I know you spoke with April." Donatello began.

"An explanation would be a good start."

Donnie hated this. It was all too similar to his nights of waiting for Raphael to return home only to end up on the receiving end of a verbal assault or the threat of something worse. Where he had failed so many times at confrontation, Leo was the incontrovertible master. He had barely got a word out and already felt defeated, his earlier confidence now long gone.

"Fine, I was out on my own. Why is this so important to you?"

"Because if that was the truth, you had no reason to lie when you left the lair tonight."

"So that's it then. You've already made up your mind and now I'm guilty until proven innocent. Unbelievable." This wasn't Donnie's self-assurance, but rather his way of getting through a mini panic attack, by running his mouth even though he knew what he should be saying. The news he had about April, an entirely made up story, even a plea with Leo to empathize with his situation were all racing through his head. None of them escape his lips. Although he had a valid point against his brother about being accused without any evidence, it was the way he delivered it that doomed him in the end.

"Excuse me?" Leo rose to his feet and turned to stand over his brother whose head was low with clenched fists in his lap and a shaky knee. "I was under no obligation to wait down here for you to come waltzing in at two in the morning. I need to be in top form in no less than three hours in order to lead you, Raph and Mikey through new drills tomorrow without Sensei suspecting anything is amiss. Do you know what I could have done instead?" Here is where Leo began pacing, his voice trembling ever so slightly on his emphasized words. "I could have left you to your own devices, gone to bed and made a night of it. Then you could explain yourself in the dojo in front of everyone and likely end up in private council with Sensei. Is that what you'd prefer?"

As Donatello processed everything up until that moment in his mind, something wasn't adding up. He had to have given something away, but what? From where he stood, all Leo should have known was that he was out somewhere but not with April. Sure, he had brought back tea and DVDs, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary. He had to know, he was already past the point of no return with Leo.

"What gave it away, then?" He asked looking upwards, meeting his brother's eyes. He left his question as vague as possible, ready to gauge his brother's response.

Leo smirked, shaking his head. "You absolutely reek of smoke. Get some sleep little brother. You'll need it in the morning." Without another word Leo disappeared into the darkness of the lair.

When he was sure his brother was gone, Donnie stretched and rose from the couch, picking his bag up off the floor. "Fuck my life." He thought aloud as he climbed the stairs towards his room. Maybe he'd sleep, but probably not. Admittedly, he had to give Leo credit for catching him, he hadn't even thought about his bandana. With his free hand he reached for one of the tails and cupped it over his mouth and nose as he entered his bedroom. It smelled just like Lisa and this brought a smile to Donnie under his mask.

o0o

Aw. This was the most difficult chapter to write yet, if only because I had five hundred different directions for Leo to go in with his lecture. I'm sure he didn't meet everyone's expectations as far as maturity goes, but keep in mind that he wasn't sober (and no, Donnie never caught on to this.) I am definitely back into writing this story on a regular schedule now, so hopefully you'll see progression sooner rather than later. Thank you so much for reading!

-Dee