Another week went by. It was hellish for Raph. He didn't like the kitchens. He didn't like taking orders, and he felt like he was getting nowhere. He had yelled at several people and even stormed off once. Every day was more and more frustrating and his relationships were suffering. Gabby was giving him the cold shoulder and every time he talked to Em she ended up almost in tears. Even speaking with his brothers was rough because all he wanted to do was vent. One day, Gabby didn't show up to see him in the kitchens and he was so preoccupied with the fact that she wasn't there to support him that the day went entirely smoothly. His mind was too distracted to worry about who was talking to him how and he just went on autopilot, doing what he was told when he was told. By the time he was done working he was nervous and all of the kitchen staff was finally being nice to him again. Gabby wouldn't even let him in through their bond and that's what worried him the most. Even when she was angry she never did that to him. That's why he was surprised when he walked out of the dining hall to see her waiting for him. She was clad in nothing but a doubled up sports bra and super tight pants that ended just passed her knees and a pair of tennis shoes.
"Alright, Grumpy. Let's go." She said. She held her arms crossed, her hips cocked, and an expression that brooked no argument.
"Where?" He asked, just relieved that she wasn't plotting his murder. Or was she? He got nervous for a second. It didn't help that her clothes left little to the imagination.
"We're going running." She said.
"I can't keep up with you." He said.
"I'm just as capable at running on two legs as I am at running on four." She said. "You can keep up with me in this form. Your legs are way longer."
She didn't even give him the chance to reply. She headed for the front door. He was left staring after her and what he saw made him cringe.
Gabby was walking determinedly out of the front door, knowing he would follow. She felt his hands on her upper arms though, stilling her and she realized what he was staring at.
"Jesus, Gabby." He said. "What happened?"
"You're not the only one with scars, Raphael." She said, almost bitterly.
"Who did this to you?" He asked.
"Take a guess." She replied.
"I'm going to break every bone in his body, one by one, until he's drowning in his own blood." Raph said softly, his finger tracing one of her bigger scars. It was scarier than it would have been if he had shouted and raged. The quiet conviction in his promise made it obvious to her just how attached he was to her and obviously the rest of the pack.
"Come on." She said, moving away from his touch. He followed her out to the paths that wound off into the woods and she took off running. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and then took off after her. She was right, it wasn't too hard to keep up with her. As a matter of fact, he started pulling ahead of her after a couple of miles which caused her to push herself harder which sparked his competitive side. By the end of their six mile loop, they were in a sprinting race. Gabby was quick, that was for sure, but Raph managed to beat her to the house by a good hundred feet. He turned around with a cocky grin to see her, arms behind her head, breathing hard. She was sweating and her skin glistened in the glow of the flood lights. His stomach dropped a little at the gorgeous sight and he had to shake his head a little bit. This was Gabby. This was his friend. Besides, he had a girlfriend inside.
"Next time, Big Guy." She panted as she passed him. He caught sight of her scars again and his good mood turned dark just like that. Gabby sensed the change in his mood and turned around. "You can take your revenge on Aiden in the battle field." She told him. "I don't want you bringing it here to our family and our pack and our friends. The skin is healed, the pain is gone and they're just marks. They're battle wounds. They made me stronger and they're as much a part of me as yours are of you."
"I got mine defending my brothers." Raph argued.
"And I got mine defending my family." She interjected. "When we did stuff wrong, Aiden dished out harsh punishment. The number of times I challenged him when he went to hurt my family was countless. I bore his punishments so they wouldn't have to."
This conversation was making Raph sick. His Gabby was so brave and strong and amazing. She was so good and that monster had ripped her open. Then a thought struck him.
"I've never seen you scar before." He said.
"Minor scrapes don't scar. Bigger injuries do." She pointed to a couple fairly small round patches on her torso where bullet holes had healed over. "These were from the night we met. The cops shot me. Three holes. If they had pierced my lungs I could have died by drowning in my own body fluids."
"You can't hardly tell they're there." He said. "Your other scars…"
"Were really bad injuries. They took me weeks to recover from. I was almost dead. Aiden knows how to walk that fine line between what a wolf can and can't return from. That is the kind of wolf he is. He was horrible and I lived with him dragging me down long enough. I don't need anyone bringing him into this place. Gracie pointed that out to me a couple of weeks ago and I'm trying to embrace it. Let it go for now Raph."
He eyed her carefully, reading her. He gave a nod and again she turned to head back into the compound. He followed her quietly, mulling over everything she said to him. They headed for their separate rooms and Raph hopped into the shower, cleaning the sweat from his skin. The water made the cracks in his shell sting. They hadn't healed all of the way yet even though Em had been licking them every night that he could stand to be in her presence, but it wasn't Em he wanted to be with right now. He wanted to be around Gabby. Their conversation had unsettled him and despite liking his independence, he just wanted her strong and steady demeanor. It anchored him. He quickly finished up and slipped on a pair of big basketball shorts instead of his usual clothes. He tied on his bandana and left. He headed for her room and knocked.
"Come in." She called. He entered only to see her reclining in her Jacuzzi bath, her hair in a bun on top of her head and the swirling water obscuring everything below her shoulders. Her eyes were closed and she was practically moaning in contentment. The sensual noise made his cock twitch a little bit.
"You should really try this sometime." Gabby said, turning her head so she could look at him. "It does wonders and let's be honest, you could use a little relaxation."
Raph rolled his eyes and went and sat on her bed. "You gonna come lick my shell?" He asked.
"Still not healed?" She asked.
"Em's been trying but she hasn't wanted to be around me lately." He admitted.
"Can't say I blame her." Gabby muttered.
"Thanks." Raph said sarcastically.
"Why does it bother you so much?" She asked. "The whole taking orders thing."
"I can do things myself. I don't need to be told." Raph said.
"Yes you do." She said.
"What?" He growled.
"You telling me you can run that kitchen better than anyone in the world Raph?" She asked.
"No, but…"
"No buts." Gabby interrupted. She had been doing that a lot today. He huffed but she continued. "As an Alpha you need to recognize when someone knows how to do something better than you. You have to be open to learning to do things someone else's way. Just because you are taking orders from someone else doesn't mean you don't know anything or you're not in charge. It just means you're open to learning a better and maybe more efficient way of doing things. If you just focus on the helping people part of the situation and less on the 'people are bossing me' part, things will be a lot easier."
Gabby was making sense. She usually did as long as she kept her cool. Raph hated it sometimes cuz it made him feel like a big bag of stupid. Sometimes, even when he knew she was right, he wouldn't admit it just because it bothered him.
"Will you just get out here and do my shell." He said. "It's bothering me."
Gabby sighed. "You're really going to make me leave this deliciously warm and relaxing bath? Why don't you just come in here so I don't have to get out?" She joked as she rose out of the bath. Water cascaded from her body and he looked away, but not before he had the image burned permanently in his brain.
"Dammit, Gabby." He said. "Warn me."
"Not like you haven't seen me naked." She huffed as she wrapped herself in a towel.
"Whatever. Just get dressed." He said.
She went to her drawers and pulled out some shorts and a baggy T-shirt. She quickly got dressed in the bathroom and then returned to the bedroom.
"Alright, let's do this." She said. Raph was already laying down, shell up and so she shifted and began the licking again. She tried to force as much of her saliva into the cracks as possible. Their saliva was doing some good at least. There wasn't nearly as much pain as there was the first time she had licked the cracks. She shifted back to human.
"That should do." She said but he didn't respond. He was breathing deep and even. She had been so focused on his cracks that she hadn't even noticed he had fallen asleep. She went and shut off the lights and shifted into her wolf form she hopped up on the bed next to her Alpha and lay beside him. She huffed a little as she got comfortable and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Gabby woke to the sound of the birds in the trees. The sun was just rising and they were rising with it. Her ears were more sensitive in her wolf form and so she shifted back human. That's when the arm around her flexed, pulling her tight to the hard body behind her. That woke her up. She held still as the arm relaxed but she was pressed so close to Raph that she could feel his morning wood against her ass. As the sleep left her she tried to think logically. Raph was a male. Morning wood was normal. He had fallen asleep in her room last night and he had no covers since he had passed out on top of them. He had to be using her body as a heat source. That's why he had pinned her against him so thoroughly. She didn't know what to do other than sneak into his mind and keep him unconscious as she wiggled out from underneath his arm. He grunted a little in his sleep when her movements pressed her ass firmly into his groin but she managed to slip away without breaking her concentration. Then she exited his mind, allowing him to finish his sleep cycle naturally. She, on the other hand, quickly dressed and headed for breakfast.
When she left the bedroom, she almost immediately ran into Gracie and Mikey who were laughing together over some joke or another. Gabby couldn't help but smiling at the youngest brother and the youngest of the pack. They were very close, almost as close as she and Gracie were as sisters. She had a feeling that Mikey understood Gracie in ways no one ever had. They were kindred spirits. She joined them as they walked.
"Good morning." She said as she fell in next to them.
"Oh hey." Mikey said with a grin. "You sleep okay last night?" Gracie looked like she was about to bust. She was trying hard not to laugh.
"Fine. Why?" She asked suspiciously.
"Well, sometimes Raph snores." Mikey said and both he and Gracie burst into laughter.
Gabby gave them the stink eye. How did they know Raph had slept in her room? Gracie had probably gotten up at the ass-crack of dawn to come steal some of her clothes before she woke up.
"He fell asleep when I was licking his shell last night. He's had a tough week and I didn't want to wake him up." Gabby defended.
"Oh girl, you like him!" Mikey teased.
"I don't like anybody, Mikey." She said. "Don't you have better things to do than play matchmaker anyway?"
"Well you're off with Raph all the time and Ronnie and Donnie are always hangin' out. Leo went off to help scout and let's get real, I'm not much help when it comes to serious stuff like that. That just leaves me here so I go to Beta training and I hang out with Gracie and I help Master Splinter with his stuff." He shrugged. "I keep busy."
Gabby couldn't help but feel bad. Mikey was right. All of his brothers were off doing something or another and while she was sure he saw Donnie at Beta training, he wasn't seeing much of his other brothers at all. She was going to have to rectify this. She would talk to Carl about giving Raph at least one day off a week to spend time with his pack, and most importantly his brothers.
After that day, Gabby and Raph fell into a routine. Every day after working in the kitchens, Gabby would show up in her running attire and they would run. Then they would get home and bathe and then Gabby would lick his shell, which was healing a lot faster now that it was getting attention every night. When Sunday rolled around, Raph got up to go work in the kitchens but when he walked out of his room, Gabby was there in her running gear, waiting for him.
"I thought we do that after." Raph said.
"Not today we don't." She said. "I got Carl to let me have you on Sundays. Think of it as a reward for you doing so well this last week."
Raph gave her his little half smirk. He has done well that week. He had shifted his focus from what other people said to what needed to be done and who he was helping as Gabby had suggested and all of the turbulence he had experienced the week before had slowly fallen away. The kitchen staff was even starting to like him and he learned that the kitchen was the raunchiest, strangest and most embarrassing place to work ever. The sheer quantity of sexual jokes and double meanings was staggering and people were somehow able to get their work done and put people in headlocks at the same time. It was like working with a bunch of nine year olds. Fingers were always in everyone else's space as they tickled or poked or pinched. He couldn't believe the amount of roughhousing that went on around the place, and the ribbings people got for various mistakes. It was all in good nature and he had even started joining in. He was learning to stop looking at everyone else as an enemy and start taking new people for who and what they were. He deserved a day off after the nearly two weeks of straight working.
They ran, they bathed, they worked on his shell, and then Gabby told him to wait in his room and she would come get him for his surprise. He worked on his carving that he was making for her while she was away, keeping tabs on her to make sure she wouldn't just pop in before he was ready for her to see it. Gabby was too busy to be keeping her mind on him though. She was running around, gathering all of the brothers and getting them to the Entertainment room. She knew Leo was going to be home that day so she had planned it extra special. When she was ready, she went and grabbed Raph. She busted into his room and grabbed his hand, trying to yank him from the chair. He stood up and allowed her to drag him to the entertainment room.
"You haven't had any alone time with your brothers for two months now." She said. "Go hang out with them for a few hours and we girls will have a special surprise for you at the end of the day okay? Oh, and you guys give Mikey some special attention. We haven't really figured out a place for him in the pack yet. He's feeling a little lost without you guys there."
Raph frowned a little as he mulled that one over. His youngest brother had a lot of charm. He was good at making people see things his way and a lot of his clumsiness had faded as he had grown but he wasn't serious enough for anything. He was always cracking jokes and getting excited about stuff but where in a pack would that be useful? He shook his head as he walked into the room and was loudly greeted by his three brothers.
"Raph!" Mikey yelled the loudest. "What's up, Bruh?"
Raph couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah. How you been?" Donnie asked. "We haven't seen you in forever."
Raph went and took a seat among his brothers and listened as Leo gave a recap of his last scouting mission and how Aiden's men were trying to ship people in from further west to have enough people to attack the Thompson Territory. Raph told them how his work in the kitchens was going and how they acted and what he was learning about the people of the Thompson pack. Then he turned to Mikey.
"You wanna come give it a try next week? I'm sure I could get George to find a place for you."
Mikey's eyes brightened. "That would be sweet!" He said. Working with his older brother and a bunch of hilarious people? Sounded like a lot of fun.
"So what do you think the girls have planned for tonight?" Leo asked. He hadn't been able to spend any time with the Pack at all since he was behind enemy lines and though he returned usually every night or once every two nights, all he had been able to do was to get some guidance from Gabby on how to control his pack bond which he was still learning to master. He was excited to be able to have a little bit of down time to see his brothers and visit with his pack.
"Gracie wouldn't tell me." Mikey answered. "Any hints from Ronnie?"
Donnie shook his head. "She's been as tight lipped as Gabby." He replied.
"I bet it's gonna be good." Mikey said as he picked up a remote and started a game of COD with Donnie.
"So they tell me you slept in Gabby's room the other night." Leo said to Raph.
"I fell asleep when she was licking my shell and by the time I woke up, she was gone." Raph defended himself.
"So there's nothing there?" Leo asked.
"I have a girlfriend." Raph said.
"Yeah, and how's that going for ya?" Mikey asked.
Raph sighed. "We haven't seen much of each other since I started in the kitchens." Raph said
"I know, dude." Mikey said. "Em's been at Gracie. Tryin to get her to tell her when you'll be around and when she can see you."
"She's asked Ronnie the same thing." Donnie said.
"She knows I'm busy." Raph said.
"Not too busy to hang out with Gabby." Leo said.
"It's not really hanging out." Raph said. "We run, we come back and clean up, she works on my shell, and then we go to bed."
"Yeah, together." Mikey teased.
"It happened once!" Raph said.
"So if I wanted to ask Gabby out you wouldn't be mad?" Leo asked. Everyone in the room stopped and stared at their eldest brother.
"You like Gabby?" Mikey asked.
"What's not to like?" Leo said. "She's smoking hot. She's a good leader. She's always nice." Raph made a noise of disagreement on the last point.
"Well, she's nice to people who deserve it." Leo amended. "I like her. I think I'm going to ask her out."
"And when are you going to spend time with her?" Raph asked. "You're gone all of the time."
"We'll figure it out." Leo said. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"No." Raph said. "Why would I?" But something about it didn't sit right. Leo wasn't right for Gabby. He just knew it. Or at least he thought he did.
While he mulled it over, his brothers had moved on to Donnie.
"So have you guys done it yet?" Mikey was asking him.
"I don't see how our sex life is any of your concern." Donnie said.
"Come on, Bruh. You two have been together for weeks now. You can't tell me you haven't gotten any." Mikey said in disbelief.
"We're taking things slow." Donnie tried to defend.
"You sure you're not just scared?" Raph teased, coming back to the conversation.
"You guys are annoying." He replied but Raph could tell he had hit a nerve.
"You should just talk about it with her like an adult." Leo said. "I'm sure she wants you just as much as you want her."
"The girls around here are good at teaching." Raph promised with a grin. "And it's totally worth it."
The game ended and Donnie tossed his remote to Raph. "Maybe you should focus on your own relationship." Donnie said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Raph said.
"C'mon Raph. You're only in it for the tail, man." Mikey said. "What do you guys even do besides have sex?"
"We talk." Raph replied lamely.
"More like she talks. We all know you're not much of a talker, Raph." Donnie said.
Raph didn't respond but his mind was going a million miles an hour. His brothers were right. He and Em had sex pretty much every time they met up and then she would ramble on about this and that. She never wanted to train or play video games. She just wanted to watch chic flicks and do crafty stuff. She bored him most of the time, just not when they were in bed. Was that a real relationship? He still didn't even know her favorite color.
The brothers hung out in the entertainment room for a good while before heading to the training room and sparring. It felt good to train with each other properly. They hadn't been able to in over a week. Splinter even watched them, calling out tips and corrections when he saw something. It was like they were back in the Lair all over again. It went on for more than two hours before everyone was too wore out to do any more. They went and cleaned up and got a late lunch and then decided to go watch a few movies until the sun was sinking behind the trees. That's when Gabby came and got them. She led them out to a small enclosed area where a bright fire was lit. There were marshmallows and graham crackers and chocolate and Gracie was strumming quietly on a guitar. The guys quickly dispersed, settling into the chairs provided for them. There was a little space heater behind them so the turtles wouldn't get too cold.
Mikey sat next to Gracie and was about to take the guitar when Gabby snatched it away with a grin. Donnie had saffron in his lap already and was whispering something in her ear that made her giggle. Gaby settled into the last chair between Raph and Leo and began picking at her guitar in a beautiful, quiet melody. It was just enough to be relaxing and not too loud to discourage conversation. They talked among themselves for a while as the sun set and the stars came out, then Gabby began to pick out another tune and Suddenly Gracie's sweet voice caught everyone's attention.
"I had a dream about a burning' house." She sang. "You were stuck inside I couldn't get you out."
Gabby joined her sister in the next verse, their voices in perfect harmony.
"I laid beside you and I pulled you close
And the two of us went up in smoke.
Love isn't all that it seems, I did you wrong
I'll stay here with you 'til this dream is gone.
I been sleepwalkin'. I been wanderin' all night
Tryin' to take what's lost and broke and make it right
I been sleepwalkin' to close to the fire
cuz it's the only place that I can hold you tight.
In this burnin' house
I see you at a party and you look the same
I could take you back but people don't ever change.
I wish that we could go back in time.
And I'd be the one you thought you'd find
Love isn't all that it seems I did you wrong
I'll stay here with you 'til this dream is gone
I been sleepwalkin' I been wanderin' all night
Tryin to take what's lost and broke and make it right
I been sleep walking too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
In this burnin' house
The flames are getting bigger now
In this burnin' house
I can hold on to you somehow
In this burnin' house
Oh and I don't wanna wake up
In this burnin' house
I been sleepwalkin' I been wanderin' all night
Tryin' to take what's lost and broke and make it right
I been sleep walking, too close to the fire
But it's the only place that I can hold you tight
In this burnin house.
Gabby played the last few bars and the music faded into the night. Raph looked at the serene look on his She-Alpha's face, as though the music gave her some deep peace and he wanted to reach out and touch her.
"That was beautiful" Leo said, breaking the silence. "I've never heard that song before."
"It's a country song." Gabby said.
"I didn't know you liked country." Leo replied.
Raph knew that. The number of times it had been on her radio when he had gone to have her do his shell was enough for him to know it was the music she preferred. He wasn't exactly partial to it but he didn't really mind it either.
"I've listened to it since I was young. Gracie and I learned a lot of songs by heart. It was one of the few things Aiden didn't mind us doing." She said as she absentmindedly started picking yet another soft melody.
Leo couldn't help but smile as she turned her attention back to the guitar. She obviously enjoyed it so much. A soft smile graced her lips as her fingers moved seamlessly through the chords. That day had been such a good day. He had been able to hang out with his brothers all day the way they used to back in the Lair and now he got to sit next to the most beautiful girl in the compound and listen to her play music. He was more than content. Then, a noise made everyone start and turn to the pathway that led into the little area they were in.
Em stood on the path, bathed in the light of the fire. Without so much as an explanation she made a bee line for Raph. Before she could even get to him, Gabby stood up and handed her guitar to Leo. She stepped in front of Em, cutting her off from Raph.
"Carl asked that we be left alone this today." She said, her eyes hard.
"Raph is my boyfriend, I should be able to hang out with him if I want." Em protested.
"This is pack time and you are not a part of this pack." Gabby said, her patience wearing thin.
"Not yet." Em said. It sounded like a threat.
"It'll be a cold day in hell before you ever take my place in this pack." Gabby growled. "Do yourself a favor and turn back the way you came. I won't have a spoiled brat like yourself ruining my time with my pack."
"Raph?" Em asked, knowing he was Alpha and could order Gabby to back down.
Raph looked at the blonde. She was out of line coming here when she wasn't invited. She was being annoying and petty. "I think you should listen to Gabby." He replied.
Her face went from shock to hurt to anger in about ten seconds. "Fine." She said. "But don't bother coming around ever again. I'm done with this." She whipped around, leaving the pack in silence before Gabby burst into a fit of laughter.
"Did you see her face?" She laughed. "She couldn't believe it."
The others chuckled along with her but Raph felt bad. Em wasn't a bad person. She was just not right for him.
"That ain't nice." He told Gabby as her laughter died. She looked at him and realized that was his first ever break up. It was a sobering though.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I just really did not like her." Gabby said.
"Yeah." Raph replied. "It was pretty obvious." He looked at her with a grin. "You just admitted I was right though."
Gabby laughed. "I figured I owed you one after all the times I've been right."
Raph just shook his head but he was smiling. He had known for a while now that he and Em weren't going to last. Now he was free to explore other options.
The night wore on, filled with stories and music and s'mores. The pack was content. Even Brandy and Renee joined them for a little while to see how Raph's training was going and how Leo was doing. After chatting for a while, they headed in to go to sleep. Donnie and Saffron stood up not long after.
"We're heading to bed." Donnie said.
"Thanks for the party, Gabby." Saffron said, winking.
"You guys have a good night." Gabby replied with a knowing grin. The way those two hadn't been able to separate the whole night left her no doubt in her mind what was next on Saffron's agenda.