*One review away from breaking 400? Are you guys trying to make me jump for joy, because it's going to work. ;) It's been quite a ride, and we still have a little ways to go before we close. Have to wrap up one story before Watchmen can officially begin. Thanks for coming with me along the way.
As much as Donatello enjoyed the time he spent with family and friends, he was also thankful when everything calmed down. The house was quieter now than it had been in months, given that it was also more empty. All of their wives had made a return trip to Asheville to both shop for food, and complete unspecified Christmas business. They wouldn't be returning until the next day, granting a much different environment than they were used to.
Katherine had come to retrieve both Reina and Olivia, leaving the guys to relax on their own for the evening. "The Grinch who stole Christmas" was on TV in the background, but none of the turtles had been paying much attention to it. From Donatello's position, it looked like Raphael was half asleep.
"Hey, Raph, do you need to go to bed?" he asked.
The red-masked turtle looked up. "Nah, I'm just comfortable."
"Do either of you need anything?" Don glanced between Raphael and Mike, who was taking a break from the supplemental oxygen.
"You're gonna have to get used to treating us like brothers instead of patients pretty soon, Donny." Mike chuckled.
The purple-masked turtle gave him a wry smile. "I'm looking forward to it."
"Don't give him any ideas, Mikey," Raphael hissed. "Just take what you can get and be happy about it."
Donatello's gaze fell on Leonardo, who was staring almost hypnotically at the flames in the hearth.
"Leo?" he called curiously.
His oldest brother turned to him with a wistful expression. "Yes?"
"What are you thinking? You haven't said much since Greg told us about our home being intact."
Leonardo sat up further from his relaxed position, resting both feet on the floor. The blue-masked turtle glanced down the line at the rest of them before speaking. "I'm relieved, I really am. I think part of me was afraid that someone would be disappointed to go back."
As Leo's eyes lingered on him, Donatello recalled the conversation that they'd had during the first outing from Lotus Salvus.
"It's a weird feeling," Don allowed. "We're free here. We can come and go as we please, and not worry about people finding us. But at the same time..." He hesitated, searching for words. "It's kind of empty, isn't it?"
Leonardo nodded. "That's exactly what I would have said. We could have this life if we wanted it. Luke has basically made it our call to stay or go. While I would relish the idea of seeing the sunlight every day and experiencing the free world...All of the beauty surrounding us isn't enough to satisfy me forever. I'm not ready to retire."
"Neither are we," Raphael piped up. "This wasn't some choice we had, Leo. We needed a place to go."
"No, Raph, you don't understand," Don said swiftly. "Leo and I talked about this issue when we first arrived. We were just picturing what it would be like to stay here and not have to struggle anymore."
The red-masked turtle looked at him like he'd lost it. "Shell, I'd go crazy. We all need a break every now and then, but I don't wanna be forced to commute to dispense a desperately needed beat-down."
Michelangelo laughed, nodding in agreement. "Seriously. What's the point of having these skills if we don't use 'em?"
Leonardo grinned at the youngest turtle. "I couldn't say it better myself. This is something all four of us want then?"
Don nodded for everyone's benefit. "Someone might call us fools for essentially taking our lives in our hands, but it doesn't sound like any of us are ready to settle down from the vigilante lifestyle."
"It doesn't hurt to have a nice place to escape to every now and then," Raphael suggested. "It'd be nice to come back when I could enjoy it...Mikey too."
"Well, Doc isn't getting rid of it," Don volunteered. "It's been firmly cemented as a second home...at least those are the words he used to describe it the other day."
"When would we be going back?" Mike wondered.
Leonardo looked at Donatello to supply the answer.
"We're not ready to go back yet," Donatello stated evenly. "We need to finish your course with the stem cells, Mike, and Caleb needs to experiment with me. It would also be nice to allow Raph's leg time to fully heal, and give the earth a couple more months to settle down from its activity. My initial thought was to return to New York in the Spring. We're already here, so we may as well stick out the winter, and let nature take its healing course. That would still put us back home before Becky has the baby."
A smile lit on Don's face as he looked at Mike. "She's doing well, Bro. You should be really proud of her."
"I am," he emphasized. "She's been so strong through all of this. Sometimes, I don't know where I would have been without her."
"Sounds like the start of your speech for the 'husband of the year' award." Raphael snickered.
Mike looked at Donatello, who was currently sitting right next to the red-masked turtle on the couch. "Hey, Donny, would you help a guy out?" He gestured toward Raphael.
"Yeah, sure, Mikey." Donatello swatted his open palm across the back of Raphael's head, and laughed at the way he'd managed to startle him.
"My reach is farther than you know," Mike teased.
Raphael gave Donny a dirty look, which didn't feel completely real. "Be careful, Genius. Be really careful."
"Who'd have thought that we'd end up in a place like this?" Leonardo ventured, bringing the conversation back down to earth. "Sometimes these last few months feel like a dream."
"For you maybe." Raphael snorted.
"You know what I mean, Raph. Parts of this experience won't be easy to let go of...but at the same time, I can't get New York out of my mind," Leo said. "I'm glad I'm not the only one."
"C'mon, Fearless, did you think we could bail on the city that quickly? Those National Guards guys aren't gonna stick around forever, and all those criminals are going to crawl out of the cracks they're hiding in." Raphael smirked. "I can't wait to start rounding them back up."
Donatello shook his head. When they'd first arrived in the Blue Ridge Mountains, he'd expected to feel more conflicted about this decision when it came time to make it than he did now. He was surprised to find himself yearning for the city streets as much as his brothers were, and the dark but comfortable conditions of their underground home.
Shell, I'm going to have to rebuild my Lab though, and I won't be able to put that off with the baby coming. I'm going to need pretty much all new equipment, I have to restock on practically every formula...At least I can begin that part down here...The thought trailed off as he felt Leonardo watching him.
"You look like your wheels are turning," the-blue masked turtle said.
"They are," he replied. "I'm going to have a lot to do to get ready for the baby, and I'm going to be starting from scratch."
"We have help," Leo said confidently. "And anything we can do, we're there for you, Don, every step of the way."
Donatello grinned and sighed contentedly. Home - what a thought. It feels like we've traveled a hundred thousand miles since we left...but we'll be back before we know it.
The purple-masked turtle was sitting at the kitchen table alone, at least as far as other people were concerned. Both of the border collies were curled up on the floor nearby, and he was savoring another cup of coffee in solitude before he went upstairs to the Lab to input some new notes in his Journal.
Boy, Mikey has given rise to a few more chapters over the last couple of months. It's hard to believe there's less than two weeks before Christmas, he mused. He took a slow sip of the dark liquid, breathing in the fragrance of the brew appreciatively. This is probably the first time I've gotten my own coffee in about eight weeks.
He looked down as he felt something brush his leg, and found Molly resting her chin on his foot. "Silly girl. I can't keep you warm; you'd be better off lying with your buddy over there." Don motioned toward Noah, but she wasn't budging. "You guys are going to have to go to bed soon. You can't come inside the Lab with me," he reminded them.
The third floor was literally the only place that was off limits for the dogs, for the sake of retaining a "clean" environment for Caleb's sensitive equipment. As Donatello went for another sip of coffee, he heard light footsteps, and assumed that it had to be Katherine. They sounded female, and she was the only woman that had opted out of the overnight journey to Asheville.
Kat peeked into the kitchen, and the way she focused on Donatello made him feel like she'd been searching for him.
"Hey, Kat. Is everything okay?"
She nodded. "It's sure quiet, isn't it?"
He chuckled. "It almost feels like a different house."
"Very odd indeed," she said distractedly. "Are you busy, Donny?"
The turtle flashed her a smile. "Not particularly, as you can see. Do you need something from me?"
Katherine looked over her shoulder at the door, in a way that made her seem apprehensive. "I want to ask you something." she began. "And you have my permission to refuse me outright, but I'd like you to hear me out first."
Nerves leaped to the surface. "Hear you out for what, Kat? What's going on?"
"I don't mean to alarm you, Donny, this isn't a life threatening situation. Honestly, it concerns taking the law into your own hands for what I think is a worthy cause."
Donatello was intrigued. "Could you be a little more specific?"
"It's about my dad."
He hadn't expected those words to come out her mouth, and his dropped accordingly. "Your dad, Kat? What are you asking me to do?"
"I want to find him."
The purple-masked turtle stared at her silently for a couple of seconds, then-"Why, Kat? What is this really about?"
"It's about Karina. She's been feeling lost, and her self-esteem seems to have taken a turn for the worst."
"And finding your dad is supposed to help somehow?"
"Carl is at the center of all of Karina's inadequacies. I just think if she had the chance to confront him, it might do her a world of good. And yes, I want to see him pay for what he did to her. He belongs in prison."
"Kat, what if Karina doesn't want to confront him? Have you talked about this with her?"
"Not in the sense that I was going to search for him. I'm not going to act on anything concerning Carl without getting her and Brandon's consent. I just want to find our father, so I have the options to present to them. That way if they want to approach him, they can, or he can simply rot in prison. I'm good either way."
"So you need my help finding him."
"I'm pretty sure he's using someone else's identity, Donny, but I think he's still in the US. I've been investigating a lead I had from an old contact of his down in Florida, and I've hit a brick wall. I can't get the information I need without a court order, because I'm only going off the 'hear-say' of someone else who won't step forward. To make matters worse, the guy has disappeared on me."
"What information do you have?"
"I have a social security number that I think he's using, but I can't find out anything connected to it. I've been searching countless databases of mug shots in Florida, hoping that he'll get in trouble again. So far, I haven't found a sign of him."
"So you have a number which your father may or may not be using."
"I need to find the other documents associated with it, and I need his location, Donny. I think it's going to require hacking some sensitive databases. You don't have to do this. I feel bad even for asking, but I want him to get caught, and I don't know how else to do it. The police aren't going to act on the information I got from a disappearing witness, who was questionable to begin with. I have nothing else to go on."
Donatello nodded slowly. "Well...I could try. I can't make you any promises, but I'm willing to take a look at what's connected to that social security number. What are you going to tell Bran and Karina?"
"Nothing, yet. I don't want to take this to them until we can make a positive identification and locate Carl. Do you mind...can you keep this between us until then? I mean, if it comes out, it comes out. I'm only asking that you don't volunteer information."
Donny squirmed awkwardly. "Kat, I don't know. It makes me uncomfortable, if I'm being honest. I don't know if I'll be able to hide this from them, or whether I should."
Katherine took a deep breath. "I don't want to get anyone's hopes up without a good reason. You don't need to deceive anyone if they come to you directly...I'm only asking that you don't go mentioning this conversation unless it comes up on their end first."
"Okay...I won't run and tell them, Kat. I can't make any guarantees, but I'll see what I can do."
"Take your time, Donny...don't let it interfere with anything else you need to do here. Maybe this subject doesn't even need to be broached until we get to the city."
Donatello nodded, squashing the bad feeling that agreeing to this gave him. "I said I would look into it, Kat. I'll do the best I can."