Leonardo grimaced as Donatello took a third fall on the foam mat. The material wasn't as padded as the mat they used at home, but it was the closest thing to it in the finished basement on which they could work out. His purple-masked brother had been the one to suggest that they return to training on their second full day at Lotus Salvus. Leonardo was eager for the physical and mental release of the exercise, but now Donatello felt hopelessly distracted.
They had softened their blows even more than usual to compensate for the loss of the thicker mat, but the last sweep that had knocked Donatello off his feet still looked like it could have potentially hurt him.
"Are you all right, bro?" Leonardo began to drop into a crouch, but Donatello was already rising.
"I'm fine. Sorry - I guess I'm a little bit rusty." The attempted joke fell flat.
More like unfocused, Leonardo said to himself.
Leonardo had every intention of telling his brother to center his mind so that they could start the maneuver over, but something stayed his tongue. He gazed at Donatello for a long moment, studying his posture. The purple-masked turtle wasn't quick to speak up when something was bothering him, but Leonardo had gotten better at interpreting his subtle signals throughout the years. He couldn't read Donatello nearly as well as Mike could, but it felt like progress nonetheless. Don's still-stiff shoulders told the blue-masked turtle that sparring wasn't providing the release for which his brother was searching, and an alternative suddenly leaped to his mind.
"I feel stifled," Leo commented. "Don't you feel it too? Do you want to get out of here?"
Donatello's brown eyes shifted to the window with an automatic flicker of uncertainty that came from years of avoiding the sunlight. His eyes softened as he looked back at Leonardo. "It wouldn't hurt to take a look around, so we can get the lay of the land. It makes sense from a tactical point of view."
Leonardo nodded seriously, though strategy wasn't his motivation for inviting him.
"We should tell someone though, don't you think?" Don suggested.
Leonardo lifted his cell off a nearby table and punched Luke's speed-dial, mentally preparing for a battle of logic if he needed to apply it.
"Leo? Are you guys doing okay down there?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, Doc, but we're restless. I think it would be a good time for us to have a look around outside."
"Are you sure you don't want to wait until it's a little darker? I mean, I'm not saying you can't, Leo. I'm just thinking out loud."
"The likelihood of running into someone isn't very great, is it? Besides, if we go now, we'll still have some of the heat of the day on our side. The longer we wait, the colder it's going to be," Leo pointed out.
"All right. If you guys can't avoid being seen here, there's not much hope for you anywhere."
"We won't wander more than a couple of miles. Do you have any suggestions for a direction?"
Luke thought about it for a few moments. "If you take a northeast course from the back of the house, you'll run into a path. Follow that as it curves around, and you should come across some nice sights. There are a lot of things I could show you, I'm just not quite up to it yet."
"No you're not, Doc. Don't worry, there will be plenty of time for true sight-seeing later. Don and I just need to expend some energy, and there's not a rooftop in sight," he ended lightly.
"I never understood why all of you get such a kick out of death-defying gymnastics."
"If you only knew what it was like to fly."
"I know that what goes up, must come down. Everything in between is always going to concern me."
Leonardo chuckled. "We'll be back in a little while, Doc." He tucked the phone away in his belt, and looked at Donatello expectantly. "Do you want to get going?"
Don nodded, and led the way out the back door. "Did he give you any ideas of where we could head?"
"Northeast - there's a path we can follow. We've been cooped up for a couple of days. Are you ready for a run?"
"Sounds good to me."
They trotted across the grassy knoll that preceded the tree-line, heading toward the peak that was rising in the short distance. For a few minutes they paced themselves on the dirt path, senses alive to the possibility of danger inside the new environment.
Leonardo enjoyed the rush of adrenaline and intrigue that came long with exploring a new place. Most of their experiences centered around the sewers or New York City, and while the streets could be unpredictable at times, he still had a sense of what to expect.
Not that there's anything wrong with predictability, he thought morosely. I'd rather be bored to death than go through what we've had to in the last few days.
As the open air washed over his conscious mind along with the sharp scent of pine needles, he already felt like the memories of the devastation from the earthquake were fading a little bit. Leonardo shook his head. We could lose ourselves here pretty quickly, if we let it happen. In some respects that doesn't feel like it would be a bad thing, but the danger exists that we could get too comfortable.
He mulled over the thought silently, and a quiet reply came up with it.
Would it be so wrong to be comfortable, for once in our lives? To have somewhere truly safe to live, and breathe, and move freely? Just because we were raised in the dark and have lived our entire lives there, that doesn't mean it's our only fate. That's not what I want for Calley, or Olivia...or any of us. When on earth do we get to do something for ourselves, without feeling so darn guilty about it?
Leonardo felt an ache in his chest when he sighed, and it had nothing to do with physical exhaustion. A flash of longing assaulted his heart to sit at his Master's feet, to ask for his wisdom concerning the matter that was turning over in his spirit.
Didn't we come out here to get rid of some negative energy? I feel like I'm sabotaging myself.
The blue-masked turtle glanced at Donatello for the first time in several minutes. Neither of them had spoken a word since they'd left the house. Unlike their respective hot-headed and fun-loving brothers, Don and Leo didn't require the background noise merely to function. Leonardo was content to allow the silence to continue for a while longer, as they climbed higher into the tree-line of the peak. He watched the purple-masked turtle more carefully out of the corner of his eye now. Donatello was running smoothly, as if he'd been born for this kind of terrain.
The ability to adapt quickly to any environment is one of the greatest gifts that a rational creature can have.
Leonardo could detect the difference in the air pressure, but it didn't slow them down. As he gazed further ahead, he noticed a small break in the trees that allowed the light of day to stream in more brilliantly. He reached for Donatello's shoulder to alert him to it, and pointed in the general direction. His brother nodded, and they picked up speed to get to the partial forest clearing.
As they approached the edge of the trees, Leonardo realized that the clearing led out onto a ridge that provided another impressive overlook of the surrounding country.
"Wow." There was an immense depth to the one word Donatello spoke.
The purple-masked turtle was the first to move closer to the edge of the cliff, where he then dropped into a cross-legged position on the ground.
Leonardo brushed the light sheen of sweat from his forehead and went to sit down beside him. In their younger years the blue-masked turtle had been in the habit of misinterpreting some of his brother's complex emotional patterns. If he was being honest with himself, Leonardo still didn't fully trust his instincts regarding Donatello because of it. The silence between them felt a little cumbersome now, and he wasn't willing to allow it to continue.
"So. Where's your head today?" Leonardo forced lightness into his tone, so he would come across more brotherly and less like a drill sergeant.
Donatello glanced over, a half-smile creeping up on his face. "It's never that hard to tell with me, is it?"
Leonardo made a scoffing sound. "On the contrary, dear brother. I don't have a clue what you're thinking, and I don't want to make any assumptions."
"Just about life, Leo, and time moving on," he replied quietly. "When things change at such a rapid pace, it's hard to feel secure no matter where we are. I'm glad we had a safe place to run to, but it scares me at the same time."
"I think we may be on the same page, Don," Leo remarked. "I've been considering how easy it would be to get comfortable here, put down new roots..."
"But it feels wrong, doesn't it?" his brother asked.
"On the one hand it does, because we're so committed to the city that we love, the city that's our home. In spite of all the dangers and imposed limitations of living in an urban environment, it feels like we belong there. On the other hand, I think about our wives and Olivia...and the baby that Mike and Becky are going to have, and I hate the thought of them being stuck underground forever. I ask myself if it's time for us to pursue a more solitary existence, to stay in a place like this, where we could be free."
Donatello's brown eyes were boring back into his. "And what do you say in response to yourself?"
Leonardo shook his head. "There's no answer, at least, not yet." He looked away from his brother's intense gaze, and focused on the tree-lined hills spread out in front of them instead. "We don't need all the answers right now," he continued. "I think the best thing for us to do is slow down, and let our brothers have a chance to recuperate. Things will become clearer with time. If we meditate on where we belong too much, we risk missing what's going on in the moment. Mike and Raph need us. Nothing should matter more than that...even the future question of where we're going to end up."
"I agree." Donatello's soft reply was slightly muffled by the way he rested his chin in his hands. "I'm feeling a little overwhelmed though, Leo. There are several things to get done, and Mike..."
When he didn't finish, Leo turned back to face him. "What about Mike? You can be honest with me, Don. I need you to be."
"The progression with his sickness has been so slow over the last few months. It's almost felt like the ebb and flow of an ocean tide, that's crashing on the shore one minute, and receding the next. But I don't see that pattern continuing, Leo. I believe he may have taken a turn for the worse, and I don't even know what that might entail for him."
Leonardo steeled himself against an outward reaction even though the information made him feel shaky inside. "It won't be a long wait for the equipment we require," he said finally.
"No," Don answered. "Greg and Marc are driving back down the mountain with Karina and Jen tonight. They're going to work on getting the truck and some other provisions together that we need for the house. The medical pieces we need are supposed to be in Asheville by 10am tomorrow."
"And the ingredients you need for the drugs?"
"I told you how much I paid for the rush shipping. If they're not dropped in Asheville by tomorrow afternoon, we ought to get some money back."
"Will you be making that demand in person?" Leo asked, just to see if his brother would smile. As he'd hoped, Donatello returned an impish grin.
"I have other methods of getting their attention, Leo."
"It's really not safe to get on your bad side, is it, Don?"
"Not for anyone who appreciates their servers running normally."