Geeky Emotions

Michelangelo and Leonardo and rolled the bike back into his lab after Leo had gotten a call from Raphael about where they were going to stay. Apparently some friends of Rachel's were happily letting a turtle stay at their apartment for a week. Not that it worried Mikey any, but Donny could see why Leo was antsy. They had been around so many people who wanted to capture them; it wasn't a surprise that Leo was debating about what to tell Master Splinter.

"As long as Rae's with him, he should be safe," Donatello had assured the turtle. Leo was now trying to relax doing meditation and Bria was contently sitting next to him.

Mikey ran off doing god knows what. Donny decided to get to work on the bike. It's been a whole few hours now, the sun was rising up the horizon, bathing the lab in an fire-orange and yellow glow. He had taken a wrench out of the box when he thought about it. A week without the red-bandanna turtle. A week without Rae…

What if Raph decided he wanted to stay wherever he wanted to be? What if Rae decided to leave? Well, she always told everyone that one day she was going to up and run....he wondered just how far she would go to try to run when Raph would so easily run after her and drag her back.

Not to mention, she had Brianna and Leonardo. Despite the fact that Rae didn't know exactly where she stood with the blue-ninja, she did seem to care deeply about where Bria stood with him. The closer they got, the displeased Rae became and, if Don was reading her right, anxious she was. He would have thought Rae would have been jumping for joy that her sister found love.

Then again, she was scared of it. Terrified of everything it brought and every burden it fell on. He knew the abstracts of it, he knew enough to know when someone was in it. He knew enough to know that Casey and April, Leo and Bria, and Raph and Rae were in it so fast and deep there was no saving them.

The door squeaked open on purpose and there were deliberate yet light footsteps. Coming into the light, Lily was rubbing her eyes, "Donny, you've been working on that contraption since it rolled in here."

"Yeah," Donny replied. "It's Raph's baby. If I don't repair it, he's going to flip."

"Raph will be gone a week, Don, can't you just drop it?" Lily grunted with a frown.

"He may be gone for a week, but if Rae comes by or if Raph calls me up to see how it's doing, I won't be able to give a good answer if I just drop it." Donny replied with a slight shrug. "Besides, a week, a day, it doesn't matter. He'll be home and I much rather get this done so I don't have to worry about it later on."

"Damn it," Lily grabbed his hand making him drop the wrench and she yanked him, "Can't you see that I care about you?!" she yelled, and then gasped, "You...you're health...um..." she backed up, biting her lip, "Oh! Never mind!" she huffed and turned on her heel, running out of the lab, the door slamming behind her.

Donny stood there dumbstruck. Half of him wanted to chase after Lily to get a clean statement from her and the other part of him just wanted to shrug it off and go back to work. He knew that his curiosity was just as strong as a cat's, so just going back to work meant having the questions roll around nonstop. It was best to just go after her and get a straight answer from her.

He opened the lab door and saw that Bria and Leo had turned their heads to look at him. Judging from their head turn, she had ran over towards his room, or at least to her own room. Which meant that he was going to have a hard time talking to her through a door. He didn't answer Leo's questioning look or Bria's raised eyebrow "I expect you to answer" glare either. Instead he continued onwards, trying to act nonchalant.

Lily was softly crying and ranting at the same time. "What have I done? He's going to hate me now! That or not talk to me," she paced around the room, "Oh Kami, oh Kami, oh Kami…" She had just told Don she cared for him! What was she thinking? "I wasn't thinking," she answered her own question.

"Lily?" Donny opened the door gently. He looked at her crying, ranting form and frowned, "Why would I hate you?"

Lily gasped and bit her lip, backing up as he stepped forward until she tripped over the bed and onto it, "I'm sorry!" she sniffed, "I didn't mean to…"

"No. I'm flattered." Donny said, being honest. "That you care about me I mean." He walked over to the bed and gently sat down on it, watching her. "It's best not to be alone when you're sad." He told her gently as he gently pulled her up to a seating position and gently hugged her. "I care about you, too."

Lily was taken aback as she felt his arms around her. He felt modestly strong, but to her he made her feel amazingly safe. She felt safer than she had been since she joined their life, "Y-You…do?" she asked gently, allowing herself to relax into his grip, a sense of a true home filling her.

"Of course I do," Donatello told her gently, softly. He shifted so she would be much more comfortable in leaning against him, "Why wouldn't I?"

"I just…I thought you wouldn't…" Lily frowned, "You always seem more caught up in your work, I thought you wouldn't…want…me…"

"Want you? Lily, I ran after you when you were gone for days!" Donny said as he pulled away to look at her square in the eyes. "I would have done that for any of my brothers if I thought they weren't coming back. I wouldn't have done it for Rae or for Bria because, well, they have their own people to go after them. You don't. I want to be that person."

Lily watched him, her ears laid back, and she felt her face heat as she registered his words, "I've…been wanting you to say that for a while now…" she admitted, her ears perking as she scratched her cheek shyly, "Since, like…the second week I'd been here…"

Donny blinked for a little bit before smiling. "I see..." He said softly, not knowing what else to say. He gently stood up and ruffled her hair. "I wasn't kidding about Raph's motorcycle. He loves that thing more than life itself." He sighed. "I suppose that's because him and Casey are so reckless. It's not the first time it's been wrecked."

She grabbed his wrist, "Work on it later? Rest, just…for an hour or so, please?" Lily frowned, her tail tip twitched, and she blushed, "Just an hour…" she murmured.

Donny took a breath. "Just an hour," He promised as he sat back down. He didn't realize how tired he felt until he had sat down the first time. It had been his third all nighter. "Is it alright if I crash here for a little bit?" He asked.

"Of course," Lily smiled and moved the covers for him, "I don't mind at all, Donny," she beamed up at him, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Thanks." Donny said softly as he moved into the covers and right when his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.

Lily giggled and kissed his cheek, "Arigato, Don-kun," she murmured, "Sleep all you want," she purred and covered him with the blankets. As much as she craved to, the bed was too small. She left the room, feeling like she was floating on air.

"Leo-san, should I wake Don-kun up?" Lily asked looking out the window. The sun was setting, and it was their turn to do patrol, "Or is it safer to let him wake up on his own?"

"It's best to just let him sleep." Leo said as he stood up. "If you don't want to do patrol, me and Bria can take over again." He promised Lily, "He's fine, he'll be awake either sometime tonight or in the morning tomorrow."

"He's been hard at work; I agree he should sleep as long as possible. Arigato, Leo-san, for taking patrol for us. I'll try and pay you back," Lily smiled at him.

"No need." Leo replied with a smile. "I have an ulterior motive for doing this anyway." He turned to Bria and gestured. "Shall we?" He asked as he finished strapping the last katana on his back.

Brianna put on her Bo staff and grinned, "Sure thing!" she agreed and joined his side, "The normal route or are we going to try something new tonight?" she asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Probably something new," Leo responded with a smile, "Let's go."

Lily watched them leave and stood up, going to the window and watching them laugh as they sped through the trees and out of sight. She looked up at the moon and turned around, going to Don's lab. Now to do a little work…Bouncing her way through she went to the bike and looked at all the tools. She processed what he was doing earlier that morning and then rolled up her sleeves, grabbed the wrench, and set to work.

Lily sighed and set down the wrench, looking at her oil covered hands, and grinned proudly at herself. However, something caught her eye in the corner. Standing, she went over to where she saw a sparkle and leaned around a piece of machinery, gasping. She grinned and looked around, and spent even more time moving and setting things elsewhere, but things still ran fine. The machine was huge, but determination made her shove it until blinding light filled the lab. Laughing, she moved the machine more so the whole window was revealed.

Lily dusted off her hands and yawned, waving at the dawning sky, and walked out of the lab, feeling like she was no longer walking out of a cave, but a home. This was where her mate worked, so she was glad she was able to help in any way. She closed the door softly and walked back to her room, not making a sound as she opened and closed the door, and curled up on the floor, closing her eyes and soon she was off in dreamland.