Raphael drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he paused in his stride to look over his shoulder. Michelangelo wasn't leading the pack for a change, choosing to hang back slightly with Donatello at a slower pace. "How ya doin', Bro?" he directed toward the purple-masked turtle.
"I'm fine," Donny assured him. "I'm just holding back to keep the docs off my shell."
"We're almost there," Leonardo mentioned from the front. "We could take it easier from here."
The two older turtles waited for the younger ones to catch up, then started walking again. Raphael cast a judicious glance at Don, analyzing the way he was carrying himself. He doesn't look bad, not bad at all. But he hasn't had his strength back for very long, and we came real close to losing him. Maybe we are pushing things too fast. Last thing he needs is a relapse.
"You sure you're all right, Donny?" Raphael asked.
His genius brother gave him a tolerant smile. "I won't lie to you, Raph, I promise. I don't want to be off my feet again. You know how boring that is."
Raphael chuckled. "Do I ever. I nearly went out of my head over being off my feet for six months."
Donatello grinned faintly. "All things pass with time."
The red-masked turtle thumped an arm over his shell. "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger."
Raphael looked around the partial clearing they were approaching before following Leonardo up the nearby incline. He was close to the top of the overlook when he realized that his other two brothers had fallen back again, and Mike had a hand on Donny's shoulder.
"Don?" Leo was the first to speak, before starting back down the hill. "What is it? What's wrong?"
The purple-masked turtle tried to wave off his attention. "Nothing. I'm fine – I'm coming."
"Donny, if you need to stop—" Raphael argued.
"That's not it," Donatello cut him off. "I'm sorry," he said more quietly. "I didn't expect to feel this way."
"To feel what way?" Leo asked gently.
Donny started walking up the hill without answering him.
"Don, we're not going anywhere," Raphael reminded him. "Don't make us drag it outta you."
"It's me," Mike volunteered. "He's stuck on last year."
Raphael wasn't sure what last year had to do with anything, but he saw understanding dawn in Leonardo's eyes.
"Oh…The day I found you out here in the middle of that ice storm?" Leonardo suggested.
Donatello stood silently at the top of the overlook, gazing at the surrounding mountains in the light of the late afternoon sun. "That day broke something inside of me, and I don't think I'll ever get it back completely," he said finally.
After lowering to the ground, Don continued. "There was a time when we were growing up when I can remember feeling almost invincible. That mistaken belief was corrected fairly quickly. At the same time, I always believed that if we stuck together, we'd be okay. We'd make it through somehow.
"I lived with this illusion that we had a better fighting chance than most people because of the way we're built, our background, our training…But when it comes down to it, none of that can save us. We're just as frail and fragile underneath the hard exterior as everyone else. We're a lot more human than people give us credit for."
Leonardo scooted over on the ground close to him, drawing a knee against his chest. "No one's built to last forever, Don. I don't know why someone would want to live that long."
Michelangelo nodded knowingly. "'Life is but a day: a fragile dew drop on its perilous way from a tree's summit.'"
Raphael's brow furrowed as he stared at his youngest brother like he'd lost it. "What?"
Mike grinned as he looked around the circle of faces. "Becky's mom loved quotes, guys. I've got a hundred more where that came from."
The blue-masked turtle chuckled. "You've got a very good girl, Mikey. And the quote is true…we're not even guaranteed our next breath. Everything can come crashing down in a second, and there may not be anything we can do about it.
"But as discouraging as that seems, I think it's important to appreciate all the beauty and fragility of life as it unfolds in front of us, and the cycle starts over again." Leo gave Raphael and Mike a meaningful glance.
"Anyone who wants to call me fragile is gonna have to spend a few rounds on the mat with me first. We'll see who goes down the fastest," Raphael offered to lighten things up.
"I guess Kat showed you the other day, huh?" Mike snickered without the presence of mind to avoid Raphael's palm before it struck the back of his head.
"I took three out of four," the red-masked turtle said begrudgingly.
"But she—"
"Mike, be quiet while you're still ahead," Donatello advised him.
Leonardo groaned. "I'm starting to understand why Kat avoided sparring with us in the past. Not a word of this in front of her or Brandon, or you'll send her off into exile again. I like the idea of all of us being able to learn from each other."
Mike nodded emphatically. "For sure. Kat taught hmph—"
Donatello smiled as he clapped a hand over Michelangelo's mouth. "I'm doing this for your own good, Mikey."
Raphael smirked at the younger turtles. "You tell him, Donny. Or better yet, I'll show him the next time we go at it."
Leonardo rolled his eyes. "Does it always have to end in violence?"
Karina's lasagna that night tasted better than Raphael could ever remember. She was fonder of making more intricate dishes, but the past favorite had been called for, and the woman didn't have the heart to deny them. The red-masked turtle stopped short of licking the plate clean to maintain some manners for his wife's sake.
He sighed happily as he drew the bronze-haired woman to his side. "That was some good eats, Chica."
She laughed as his finger traced the back of her neck. "The way to your heart is through your stomach every time."
"Can't a guy compliment his girl?"
"I'd be more impressed if you'd offered to do the dishes," Karina said impishly.
"I'm all over it, Kari."
"No, you're fine," Calley said from across the room. "Jen and I have it under control."
"You girls are so good to us." He gave Karina a wolfish smile.
"We spoil you, Tortuga." Karina gave him a small push.
"Somebody has to," he cracked. "Are you kicking me out then?"
"I just need to finish wrapping up some leftovers."
"How did we end up with leftovers?" Raphael laughed.
"I tripled the original recipe," she replied. "I figured you guys would reheat it tomorrow, or maybe three hours from now."
"Sounds like you know us by now." He grinned.
"Go on and pick out a spot on the couch for us. I'll catch up in a couple of minutes," Karina assured him.
When Raphael entered the Great Room, he was perplexed to find Rebecca searching underneath the furniture. "Did you lose something, Becky?"
"I can't find that cat of yours, Raph." Rebecca glanced over at the open door to the basement. "You don't think she got lost downstairs again, do you?"
"I'll take a look. Tiger doesn't make a habit of going missing when her dinner's involved."
Raphael turned on the light and trotted down the basement steps. He looked around the empty Rec Room curiously. "Tiger?" He clicked his tongue loudly. "You down here?" He made a couple of circuits around the room before noticing that the back door leading to the patio was ajar.
Raphael pulled it open further and peered out into the darkness. He hit the light switch to illuminate the patio, but didn't see anything. Huh. There's no way she'd run off. Tiger's never tried to escape before.
A soft rustle from nearby made him advance outside to the edge of patio. Raphael had set one foot into the grass when an unexpected shadow brought him up short. He accidentally backpedaled straight into a post from the overhead deck. His surprised gasp was cut off by something sticky smashing into his face, blinding him.
Everything happened so fast that Raphael didn't have time to realize what was going on until after his arms were being yanked to his sides, and loops were binding him down to the post. He growled angrily as weight was applied to his legs to get his feet tied down too.
"When I get my hands on you, Mikey—"
A chuckle interrupted him, but it didn't come from the devious brother he'd expected.
"You're not getting your hands on anyone," Don informed him. "You earned it, and now you're taking your retaliation like a man."
"Donny!"
"I said you'd pay. Did you think I was kidding?"
"This is bogus, Don! Why the shell do you have to wait so long to get someone back?"
"Because that's how I roll, Raph," he said matter-of-factly.
Raphael felt the terrycloth material of a towel rubbing his eyes, and blinked so that he could stare down his brother. "You know you're not gonna hold me down for long."
Donatello tapped the leather braided surface of the restraints. "You're not going anywhere until I'm done. I thought we'd revisit an old classic. I needed some help with it, but Mike's always accommodating."
As Raphael's eyes finally had a chance to adjust to the low lighting, he noticed the large pot on the ground behind Donny. "Would this be a good time to mention that the whole 'Cream of Wheat' thing was all Leo's idea?"
"It was Leo?"
"On my honor. You wanna get him? I'll help you. Just let me go."
"Hmm…I don't think so. At least, not for this part," Don said thoughtfully.
Raphael groaned as Donatello hefted the pot without any difficulty. Looking stronger than I thought. I shouldn't have underestimated him…The thought trailed off as the first of the soup traveled down his forehead. He clenched his eyes shut and held his breath while Donatello poured the chowder slowly over him.
He wanted to glare at the purple-masked turtle, but he didn't dare open his eyes again during the never-ending stream of chowder. Raphael kept his head down and endured it silently, even though he was fuming. He only tried struggling with the restraints a couple of times before remembering how worthless it was. They were Donatello's design, and he'd been the inspiration in mind.
Raphael released a breath as the towel returned to his face. "You had to go there," he said accusingly.
"Don't mess with me, Raph," Donatello said warningly. "You think Mikey's pranks are bad? He acts on the fly. I take the time to think things through. It could have been a lot worse than your 'favorite' chicken chowder."
"All right, I get it!" he snarled. "Lemme go!"
"Not yet. Were you telling the truth about the last prank being Leo's plan?"
"You think I'd sell him out if it wasn't true?"
"Then you're getting off a little easier than you were going to," Donatello replied. "It sounds like Leo needs some retaliation of his own."
Raphael grunted in frustration. "Okay, Bro, I'm gonna make you a deal. You let me go now, and I'll still help you get Leo back. It ain't fair for me to go through this and he gets nothing."
"First promise you're not going to hurt me. Same side?"
The red-masked turtle shook his head. "I won't attack you, Don. We're in this together."
His brother slowly removed the restraints with a sheepish smile.
"You really got me," Raphael admitted. "Tiger's okay, right?"
Donny nodded swiftly. "She's upstairs, probably eating as we speak."
"Good."
Raphael threw both arms around Donny, nearly crushing him against his plastron. Don squirmed to get free from his grasp as the red-masked turtle laughed. He wasn't satisfied to let him go until he'd transferred chowder all over his brother's face.
Raphael released him with another chuckle. "Now we can be on the same side."