Spying

"And she forgets to answer the question." Donny muttered. "Well, the answer can wait in any case." He looked at the kitty. Its fur coat was the same color as Lily's hair. It reminded him that he was going to have strangle Rachel to get the answer as to why the neko wasn't back home.

Don smiled and went back to his lab. When he shut the doors, he put the kitty down on the ground and went to his keyboard and computer. "They make a good couple." He said aloud softly. "But I have a sense that Rae's scared of falling for him. Understandable." He leaned back against the chair. "I wonder if Rae knows what happened to Lily, or if she's thinking about going back to look for her. I should be looking for her, but I don't where she is and Rae knows where."

"Mew?" Lily jumped up and laid over Don's arm as he was about to type.

Don looked at the cat and gently moved her off of his arm. "Gosh, you're nearly just as bad as Klunk when he manages to sneak into my office." He said with an eye-roll. He looked at the computer's time and frowned. "I should look for her in the morning. It's starting to bug me that she's not here....I haven't told her about why I hide…and what she said is true…this place is like a cave."

Lily stepped over his hand and pressed on the keyboard, making a "y" on the word document Donatello had open. 'My goodness this is fun!' she thought and sat down in front of the board in a rather defiant manner.

"Geeze," Donny muttered as he picked her up and set her on the ground. "You just screwed up my document. It's important." He told the cat. "I need to do something other than worry." He sighed as he rubbed his head. "Speaking of worry, I sure hope Raph didn't push her in Turtle Pond. That poor girl seems to be the type that gets sick very, very easily. I'll have to keep an eye on her so she won't develop pneumonia or something. Knowing her, she's already sick." He sighed as he rubbed his head. "I know Bria can take care of her. They seem to be close like sisters. I just want these thoughts about Lily to stop nagging at me. I hate worrying and not being able to do anything about it." He sighed.

Lily clawed up his chair and used his bo-staff strap to climb up to his shoulder and sit there, "Mew meaw," she told him, "Meeeeew, maew mew, mew." 'My goodness…if you're so worried,' she pawed at his beak, "Mew!" 'Move!'

"Shhh." Donny said as he gently petted the cat. "I know, I should do something…" He shook his head. "But I know that Lily probably will come back. I know that Raph and Bria will take care of Rae…so most of my problems aren't really problems. Still…I miss Lily's conversations. She's the only one besides Leo that tries to get me out of here. Maybe I should have taken up more of her offers…" He shook his head. "Want to know something? You remind me of her." He sighed. "You're pestering like she is."

"Mew…" Lily purred and snuggled in the crook of his neck.

"She'll be back." He sighed. "I'm sure she'll like you. She adored Klunk." He looked at the computer's clock again. If she didn't come back tomorrow night, he would have to find Lily himself. He doubted Rae would be any help, but that didn't mean he couldn't try.

Donny walked out of his lab and into the kitchen, the kitten totting after him. He looked into the living room to see that Rachel was sitting on the couch. Her cheeks were still flushed. Off and on during the night, Don checked her temperature, not just for something to do, but to make sure that it didn't rise up. And of course, she did get one.

Raphael was up and right in front of her. Brianna and Leonardo were probably in the training room, so they wouldn't overhear the conversation and Michelangelo was in his bedroom, oversleeping at best. Donatello sighed as he took a sip. Today was chocolate and hazelnut. He had to wonder how bad of a mood Rachel was to put a hint of chocolate in coffee. He couldn't deny it was good.

Rachel sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. Raphael had gotten worried about her, so it was probably that reason as to why she was going to listen to him. She really should be in her room, avoiding him…probably planning an escape. There was no way she could leave though. Donny had told her to stay bed-ridden, she had a fever. Well, as long as she wasn't being delusional she should be fine to walk around…of course the purple bandanna turtle didn't believe that in the least. "…Are we going to sit here in silence?" She asked sarcastically.

"You said you're avoiding me to protect my family. Why? What do we need protection from?" Raph folded his arms. He was going to be as stubborn as he possibly could. He had even slept at her door the night before after she had slammed it in his face. He refused to give up.

Rachel bit her lip as she looked away. "It's not important." She said with a toss of her head. "I told you this last night too."

"It IS important!" Raph narrowed his eyes, "Please tell me."

Rachel looked at him and said, "If I was really trying to protect your family, I would have already left. As it is I'm down with a cold. When I get over it, I'll be out of your way." She said firmly. "That's why it's not important. The minute I leave, you and everyone is fine. The very second I walk out the door; you won't be in any danger. I know that sounds stupid, seeing how you're up against the Foot and you have a double-agent. I'm nothing like that." Her voice turned cold. "So, now do you have to worry?"

Donny sighed, "Being melodramatic as always. I bet she's just going around in circles so Raph can't get her." He muttered, 'He's worried. She's scared. Neither of them knows what the word comforting means at times.' He took another sip of his coffee.

Raphael snatched her cup of coffee and set it on the table before turning to her again and he placed his hands on either side of her head, looking at her intently as he got up-close, "What if I don't want you to leave, Rachel?"

She opened her mouth a few times. "Why does it matter?" She asked him. "Why does it matter if I leave? I told you time and time again that I was going to."

'And because you haven't done it is because you can't stand the thought of being away.' Donny thought to himself, muttering it aloud, but not loud enough for them to hear. "Usually Lily would be at Rae's defense by now." He sighed.

"It matters to me Rae," Raph told her firmly, "Even if the Fearless Leader doesn't, I trust you, I like you and I like you being here with us. You say you're going to leave but I know you won't. How? Because I won't let you…Even if you do, I will track you down and bring you back, or just follow you, whichever makes you more pissed off."

"Grrr…" Rachel growled at him. "Why are you doing this? I don't understand." She shook her head. "Both of your options will irritate me greatly." She bit her lip. "I don't get you Raph. I don't understand. I'm telling you that I can bring down your whole family and that's why I have to leave. Instead of kicking the bomb out of a house, you're holding me in?!" Her chest tightened and she started coughing.

'And she's overdoing it…' Donny sighed. "I better stop them before it gets worse and she winds up sicker." He muttered. He looked at his coffee and set it on the counter. "Then again, I'm quite curious. If she accidentally slips a location I can safely assume that's where Lily is……however…I don't understand why she calls herself a bomb. She's not talking about her temper. I bet Lily knows…I hope she's okay…"

Raphael sighed and shifted Rae so he could sit on the couch and put her on his lap, the blanket over them both. He rubbed her back until she stopped coughing, "Yes, I'm keeping you in, because I want to know more about you, Rae. Like I said yesterday, I enjoy being with you. Another reason I like scaring you and making you angry is because it lets me know you're alive. It's too easy to fake happiness, play coy and whatnot, but being frightened or angry you can't easily act."

"Then I must be one hell of an actress." Rachel snapped as she took in a few deep breaths. "I'm glad you enjoy being with me. I also like hanging around with you." She said honestly. She leaned against his shoulder. She was just getting so tired. Just tired, "I lost two families because of my stupidity. Why should I let a third go down a drain?"

Donny paused in getting a drink of coffee and looked behind his shoulder to see the scene, "Two families?" He whispered softly. "That must mean that she's probably an orphan. That explains why she gets all nervous when she comes down to eats with us…and with today being a holiday she must be a wreck. I bet she was just running towards getting a fever from all of her panicking." Donny muttered. "No wonder Raph was worried."

Lily jumped on Don's shoulder from the counter and pawed at him, "Mew…" this was certainly a time she wouldn't mind Don going into the lab.

Rachel bit her lip as she struggled against her tears. She had two years under her belt, smiling against the tears. But for some reason…the tears started to burn, forcing her to close them. Droplets started running down her cheeks and soon enough she was crying into his shoulder, gripping him tightly. She never wanted this. She didn't want this family to leave her too. She didn't want them to think of her. She knew Bria would be safer here than with her…she should have just left that night.

It was so easy being attached.

Donny closed his eyes and decided to leave the kitchen, knowing that Raph would probably try his hand at comforting her. When he closed the door to his lab he looked behind his shoulder to the door. "Two families…" He murmured. He was so thankful…now he was so thankful that he only had this one. What would he have done if he lost his brothers? He had told Lily the answer to that…but now… "I would probably wouldn't be able to live every day, knowing that their gone." He said in a soft whisper, "To know that everything I touched held some sort of memory involving them."

Lily stayed silent, but leaned against his neck comfortingly. She looked around the lab and looked back at him.

Donny sighed as he went in front of his computer, but instead of turning it on, he buried head into his arms. He wasn't crying, he was thinking. He wished Lily was here. He stood up after several minutes and went over to his Bo. "I should look for her. I can stick to the alleyways." He murmured.

Lily ducked when he slipped his Bo into its strap and she buried her claws into it so she wouldn't fall off when he slipped out the door and outside, the sudden blast of cold air from warmth made her shiver, but she snuggled closer to Donatello's neck, smirking a little. Well, if making him worry made him get out of the lair then so be it.

Rachel looked up when Don opened the lab door and ran off through the living room to the entrance of the lair. Without warning, he opened the door and left. She sweatdropped, "Oh…this is bad." She said as she watched the door close the door behind him, 'Lily what are you thinking? You're going to kill him from stress before you accomplishing anything!'

"What?" Raph blinked at her, "What's wrong?"

Rachel looked at him and looked back to the door. A small smile made it's way to her face as she got off his lap. "Nothing's wrong." She said with a wink, "I just think that someone's going to have a little too much fun."

Donatello searched all the alleyways, abandon buildings and all possible areas for Lily to disappear to. He spent hours trying to find her, looking through every nook and canny that he could find. The sun was setting on the horizon. He knew that he should keep looking, but he remembered that one person that was sick and he knew that Lily would be pissed off if he abandoned his family again. He sighed. "I'll try again the morning, or during midnight." He said slowly as he trudged back to the lair. "Where are you Lily?" He gritted his teeth. "Why won't you come back?"

Lily was combing her hair from all the knots and tangles from the while she was a kitten. She had just come back about an hour before, taking a shower and getting cleaned up. She saw Don walk in and frowned, "Donny? You okay? Aw man, don't tell me you're getting sick, too!" she didn't mean for it to go that far, and she rushed over to him, placing her hand on his forehead.

Donny blinked before reaching out and hugged her tightly. "Don't do that." He said softly under his breath, "Don't scare me like that again, Lily."

Lily's eyes widened and she hugged him back, "Gomen…I didn't mean to," she admitted.

"I'm glad you're safe. Where were you anyway?" Don asked. "I asked Rae and she decided to be all vague." He paused. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want me to know. I'm just glad you're home."

Lily smiled softly and kept her arm around him, "Rae introduced me to some friends of hers who were able to teach me more about the city and myself," she informed him, "I have to keep the location secret, but that's the gist of it," she nuzzled his cheek, "I'm glad to be home. I missed you…" she walked towards the lab but paused when he didn't follow her, "Donny?"

Donny shook himself out of his thoughts and looked at her. "Why don't we hang around here? It's better than hanging out in the lab." He said. "And I'll be closer at hand if someone needs me. Besides, my gadgets can wait for a little bit."

Lily watched him for a little bit before smiling, "Alright," she agreed and joined him, taking his Bo from his back and setting it against the wall, "What changed?" she asked as they sat down.

"Everything," Don said with a shrug. "You said a lot of things that didn't make sense until you left. When I started thinking about them, I realized how right you were. So, little by little, I'll try joining my brothers and the girls in some of their activities. I'm still going to hang around my lab. Just not all day…"

Lily smiled and leaned against him, "I'm glad, Don," she let a purr escape her and nuzzled his arm, breathing his scent even though she's been super-close for a while. It was quickly becoming addicting, "Did you…miss me, too?"

"Of course I did," Donny said as he hugged her a little tighter, "I missed you a lot."