Chapter 9
They'd barely dumped their suitcases in the hall, poured themselves some celebratory wine and collapsed on the sofa in jet-lagged exhaustion when they heard knocking on the balcony window. With a tired groan, April dragged herself to her feet and slid her balcony door open all the way.
"April!" Donatello caught her up in a hug.
"Hi boys." She hugged Don back tightly, arms curving around the familiar slope of his shell. It was silly, to call them 'boys' - but she had a feeling she could never give it up. Surely she was the only person in the world who looked forward to seeing dark inhuman shapes climbing through her window at night.
"It's great to see you, April," Leo said, embracing her in turn and stepping into the apartment. "You too, Casey. How was the trip?"
"Amazing," April gushed, grinning with a school girl giddiness that was quite unlike her. Nearly a month in southern Europe - she hadn't been on such a long vacation since college. And despite her pre-trip trepidation, spending all that time with Casey had been... remarkably smooth. Great, in fact. So great that they'd talked seriously about moving back in together.
"You miss us?" Casey asked, bumping fists with Leo. "Cause we didn't miss you!"
"Casey," April admonished. "We did miss you guys. How've you been?"
From the hesitation before Leo said, "We're fine," she knew they weren't. Mike's embrace as he came in, not his usual exuberant one, but tighter, longer and more subdued, made her search his face, worried.
"Glad you're home," he said, smiling now, broadly, but not unreservedly.
"Raph," she said, making a move towards him as he followed his brothers in, but as he stepped from the dark balcony into the lighted apartment, she caught her breath. He gave her a wan smile, then pulled her into a hug. "Hey, you."
She drew back. "Raph, are you okay?"
"Been under the weather," he said. He stepped aside to give Casey a chest bump.
"Geez, man, you don't look so hot," Casey said.
"I'm on the upswing," Raph said shortly. "Enough with the babying. You guys brought us some souvenirs, or what?"
April looked at the other turtles for an explanation, but none of them obliged her with eye contact. As she and Casey dragged over their suitcases, pulled out bottles of olive oil and Spanish brandy, scrolled through photos on the camera and unfolded a map to show their friends where they'd stayed and traveled, she could sense a heavy tension behind their enthusiastic questions and appreciative smiles. It wasn't the kind of unifying battle-stress she'd seen in them before, but something different. They were all studiously paying attention to her and Casey and not to each other. Missing was the brotherly banter, the jokes at each other's expense, the roughhousing that she swore would get her evicted someday.
After half an hour, Leo said, "We only meant to stop by and welcome you home. We'll get going and let you two relax and unpack."
After they'd disappeared off the balcony, April let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She climbed onto the sofa and curled up against Casey, laying a head against his shoulder. "What do you think happened?"
He huffed, indulging her question, which they both knew led only to pointless speculation. "You know how it is, babe. They'll tell us when they're ready. Or not."