Reasonable Doubt Chapter 2
The drizzle that had begun during Leo and Don's topside excursion had been only the preliminary to a full-blown downpour. Fortunately, Master Splinter had long since instructed his sons on the necessary measures in preventing a total flooding of the lair. Although the torrents of rain were more than enough to force even the jumpiest and grouchiest turtle to remain underground.
Leo valiantly attempted to soothe Don's ever increasingly cranky disposition. The guilt from his dumpster-diving debate with his typically aloof sibling had manifested in the need to offer his assistance at every possible avenue since that night.
Unfortunately, the eldest turtle did not seem to grasp that his constant hovering presence around his younger brother was merely tolerated at best, apparently overlooking the warning signs to remain outside of Don's lab.
Leo finally received the boot after he accidently knocked over a can of soda onto a pile of pebbles stacked precariously on the corner of the desk. His defense, that he was merely trying to inspect the detailed markings etched into the peculiar device they had discovered back at the dumpster, were wholly ignored. Instead, Don snatched the object from Leo's grasp, along with a fistful of the soaking rocks and a few choice words to his older brother, before storming off into Splinter's private quarters, slamming the doors behind him.
Leo ruefully kept his distance thereafter.
Inevitably, events continued to spiral downhill from there. Don's cold, a token from his earlier stint in the freezing rain, refused to fully develop the rest of the week.
Instead, the lurking chills subsided enough to allow him to engage in daily training with his brothers, while still continuing to wrack his thin body with enough dull aches and coughs to leave him, as well as absolutely everyone else around him, utterly miserable.
Unsurprisingly, the usual outlet of roughhousing was growing more and more appealing. Such discoveries were demonstrated after Raph trapped Mikey in a headlock for a full fifteen minutes. This in turned allowed Leo to climb atop of his shell with a triumphant battle cry, offering the opportunity that even Don couldn't resist to include his own jab or two to their belligerent youngest brother.
On the eighth day, Splinter kicked them all out.
The rain had begun to let up just enough for the sewers to be passable, an invitation even the aged rat could not ignore to rest his weary ears from his unusually cantankerous child and increasingly rowdy brothers.
As it turned out, it was relatively easy for the four restless teenagers to forget all transgressions from the past few days once the relative freedom of open sewers and boards with wheels presented itself. Within minutes, Splinter was returning to his room in peace as the excited whoops and hollers of his sons echoed through the lair as they careened off down the sewers.
In spite of his earlier moodiness and ambiguous health, Don was quick to bring himself up to the front of the pack.
"Move it or lose it, Don!" Mikey shouted as he inched his way closer, still a good couple feet behind, "You're slowin' me down, bro!"
Don smirked as he propelled himself faster, further widening the gap between them as the cold air whipped his face and brought a cascade of goose bumps along his arms, "Mikey please," he called back, "I've been in a coma all week and I could still wax your shell."
"Dude, what is this, 1984?" Mikey quipped, a new surge of competition filling his voice. His eyes darted around the twists and turns of the sewers that rushed passed them, before landing on a narrow sewer channel rapidly approaching them on their right. He instantly broke into a grin before waving for Donatello's attention.
"Fine, if you think you're so fast why dontcha take the old subway route?" he called, pointing out the off-route corridor, "I betcha can't beat me then!"
Don cast a quick glance over to his newly elected path, and his grin widened-a welcome change from the exhausted scowl he had worn all week.
"Challenge accepted!"
Already Don had adjusted his course, now aiming for the small tunnel. Even his earlier proclamations in the lair that he was feeling too ill to do the dishes weren't enough to slow him down.
"Careful I don't make you cry when I win!" his words continued to hang in the air, even as he darted inside the narrow tunnel with a final salute, the sound of his wheels clattering after him.
With a greater sense of pride at stake, Mikey propelled himself faster, his determined grin spreading wider than before.
"Hurry up, guys!" His voice whipped behind him as he urged his remaining brothers on, "Don won't shut up for weeks if he gets to the end first!"
"You'd better be the one to hurry up, Mikey." Leo didn't even bother to shout as he found himself less than a foot behind his youngest sibling, a cocky expression plastered on his own face, "Or Don won't be the only one leaving you in his dust!"
The older turtle couldn't resist a fairly evil chuckle as he abruptly careened in front of Michelangelo, the two swerving in unison, neck and neck, down their usual route.
Raphael frowned as his brother's visibly picked up speed, quickly adjusting his own momentum in order to keep up. He wasn't particularly fond of finding himself in the position of picking up the rear and he wondered why he always allowed himself to be convinced to participate in his brothers' stupid races. Although fast in his own right, his talents lay more in the realm of brutal butt-kicking, as opposed to running away with his tail between his legs.
Still, his position allowed him the perfect vantage point to catch a final glimpse of the new course Don had careened off down alone before disappearing entirely. He debated for a couple of seconds before he swiftly swerved to the right, altering his own route to slip down the same narrow tunnel behind him.
Neither Mikey nor Leo paid much notice as they continued down the original path, entirely consumed now in their own personal competition.
Even during their younger years, Raph had never quite been able to quell the sudden jolt of paranoia that snarled in the pit of his stomach whenever one of his brothers was suddenly out of sight. He pretended not to recognize how these feelings had intensified tenfold after Leo's own seeming abandonment only six months ago. But that unease was enough to persuade him that Don really shouldn't be boarding down the subway route alone.
Already the hollow clatters of Don's skateboard rattling down the sewer were beginning to grow faint, and Raph squinted through the murkiness as he continued to follow.
"Donnie!" his voice ricocheted off the walls, echoing back as a frustrating taunt.
Raphael had never really noticed how he tended to react for Don's safety just half a second faster than for either Leo or Mikey, even throughout childhood. Usually he simply attributed it to a natural instinct to protect his physically weakest sibling, as it was far easier than taking the time to truly examine any deeper motives he might have held toward the genius turtle.
But if Don's own involvement with the Nightwatcher escapades had anything to do with it, then Raph was only fueled further in a heightened guilt-driven protectiveness over his little brother.
He called out again, and with an annoyed growl as his calls were once again met with silence, he put on an extra burst of speed, and flew through the sewer.
-oOo-
Don didn't bother checking behind him as he zipped down the sharp curve of the tunnel. At times, the growing feeling that it seemed to be getting easier and easier for his brothers to forget him once he was out of sight grew almost unbearable, and he struggled in vain to quash such thoughts from seeping into his mind.
Sometimes he wondered if the only reason any of them even bothered to bring him home at the end of the day was because he always arrived at the end of the race first…
Although he quickly convinced himself of the ridiculousness of such ideas, the niggling sensation was enough to motivate him to speed up even faster, and everything blurred around him in a tumult of dark brick and icy water.
He forced himself to suppress the reoccurring feeling of uselessness and other conflicting thoughts, growing lost in freedom of the rushing air that whipped around him. Still, he couldn't help but wonder just when exactly he had lost the ability to fully release that old suspicion of inadequacy amongst his own brothers.
While it was generally deemed safer to remain near the tracks, the moment the sewers led him to the abandoned subway route Don jumped his board up to the platform. The sound of his wheels clacking against the concrete echoed loudly as he took a moment to revel in the sin of a completely open pavement.
The graffiti on the walls blurred into a giant, bright splash of color around him as he whipped by. He turned his head to catch a glimpse of a particularly vivid spray-painted mural, and found himself skidding to a complete stop instead.
Garish hues of blue, yellow and red filled his vision. Gang tags and early artistic renderings of amateur street artists clouded together in a chaotic mass of visual noise.
It all faded uselessly away.
The blurred lines of color were no more than a mere afterthought that barely flitted across the young turtle's mind. His attention zeroed in on a single large poster, glossy and crisp, plastered prominently across the dull brick.
Raphael could hear the muted racket of Don's board wheels somewhere out ahead of him and knew the younger turtle had made it to the subway. This wasn't particularly alarming, as Don had always been wickedly fast. The abrupt silence, however, snagged his attention.
He couldn't believe it. Donnie was already out of there that fast?
Irked at the thought of being so far behind his brother, Raphael didn't slow as he reached the opening of the tunnel. He immediately jumped up to the platform, unknowingly just as Don had done not thirty seconds earlier. The lack of any sign of his younger brother forced him into foregoing the safety of stealth to gain an edge in speed.
With a determined bolt, he wheeled around one of the large, square columns that were positioned purposefully throughout the subway.
Donatello stood in silence, frozen into place, staring hard at the poster before him. His skateboard had rolled off a few feet away, though he hadn't paid it much attention or even seemed to remember what exactly he had been doing just a moment ago.
He didn't blink. His thin chest hardly moved. With a small, involuntary twitch of his fingers, he slowly began to lift up his hand.
A moment later, he was run over by a truck.
Ordinarily, Raph made a habit of throwing his full body weight at his brothers only when their safety was involved. Even he didn't really think it was quite the most appropriate thing to do when Donatello was just standing around, minding his own business. It was even less appropriate when Donnie was unaware of him entirely.
Unfortunately, the skateboard beneath his feet seemed to think otherwise on the matter.
Slamming into the ground, Don's shell gave a loud crack, sharp jolts of icy pain instantly shot through his spine. He grimaced as his equally shocked assailant crushed his plastron before quickly rolling off.
Don tried to pull himself upright, but only managed to a rather wind-knocked groan, "Raph..."
"Ugh, man, that hurt me almost as much as it hurt you."
With a grunt, Raph extracted himself from where he had bulldozed into his younger brother. He gave a small shake of his head before pulling himself up into a sitting position, though his eyes continued to cross as he blinked deliberately.
"Sorry Donnie." Raph panted as he reached over to Don's outstretched hand and yanked him to sit up beside him. "I guess I didn't see ya there."
Don closed his eyes, steadying himself for a few seconds, "No problem." he mumbled sarcastically, before woozily pulling himself to his feet.
Still battling a wave of embarrassment, Raph slowly followed suit, surreptitiously glancing around for his skateboard. He quickly spotted Donnie's just a few feet away, but his own seemed to have maliciously disappeared after it had flown out from under him.
He continued to pace the walkway for a few more seconds, the months of work spent on customizing the board still fresh in his mind and he mentally grimaced at the thought of having lost it so easily. With a sigh of resignation, Raph peered down onto the tracks. "Hey, do you see my board? Figures I'd lose that fucking piece of…"
He frowned as he looked back around, noticing that his sibling had returned to the exact same position he had been standing in before the collision.
Body slack and arms hanging loosely by his sides, Don seemed to have already forgotten he was no longer alone. His crimson eyes were once again locked onto the sleek surface of the wide poster, his mouth slightly parted.
Without saying a word, Raph stepped over, peering over Don's shoulder to catch a peek at whatever it was that had so captured his younger brother's interest.
Raphael paled.
Instantly he reached forward, pulling Don by the arm urgently, albeit a bit rougher than intended. The abrupt jerk seemed to do the trick though as Don at last peeled his eyes from the slick poster board glued to the wall.
"Hey," Raph gave another tug, "let's get outta here. You know Leo and Mikey are gonna bitch about us bein' late. C'mon."
Snapped from his trance, Don gave a small shudder, before quickly pulling his arm back away.
"No."
The younger turtle hardly spared a glance at the other, his dark eyes returning to the image staring back at him. Carefully, he once again drew his fingers up toward the neon yellow markings that littered the poster, gently tracing his fingers against them, before at last letting his hand fall away with a soft sigh.
Raphael watched Don intensely, his shoulders beginning to bristle as he watched his younger brother's attention entirely consumed by the foreign marking, ignoring him completely. He reached out, ready to pull him back again, when he stopped as Don suddenly turned back around, rolling his eyes with a half-hearted shrug "No, I don't know where your board disappeared to when you decided to test Newton's 3rd law. Just use mine."
Though a flood of relief swept through Raph, he gave an annoyed growl at Don's haughty attitude. He crossed his arms with an irritated scowl, "Ha ha, very funny. Knock it off, Donnie. I'm serious, we gotta get back."
Returning his own glower of irritation, Don stepped passed Raph, their shoulders almost brushing as he reached down to pick up his woe begotten skateboard.
"Why are you suddenly in such a rush?" Don's voice was tight, "I thought you were racing with Mike and Leo anyway, why did you follow me? You do realize I know my way through the tunnels, right? I can navigate my way back alone."
Raph's patience had been tried all week by his younger brother's insistence that he was too sick to do anything other than mope around, and Don's sudden decision to come back with an attitude right when he was pulling his best caring big brother act was tugging on his final nerve.
Just about ready to drag the unwilling turtle back to the lair by any means necessary, he was interrupted as Don gave a sudden jerk back. A loud, throaty cough shook the younger turtle's entire body, violent enough that Raph stopped mid-step.
With a barely suppressed sigh, Raph shook his head.
"Come on, Donnie."
He reached out and placed a steady hand on his little brother's shoulder.
Instantly, Raph bit back a wince at the iciness of Don's skin beneath his fingers. His brows knitted together at the intense shudders that began to wrack through Don's thin frame due to the sheer force from every powerful cough.
He couldn't remember if Don had been that cold just a few minutes earlier, but he wasn't going to waste much time thinking about it now, "I'm sure the guys are waitin' for us. An' Splinter'll kill me if he found out I let ya stay out here alone, coughin' like ya are."
For a moment Raph was certain Don would resist and he braced himself for the less than pleasant task of arguing with an irritable and sniffling Donatello. Yet his brother only stared back at him once the coughs subsided, his eyes bleary and red before he gave a final forfeiting cough and a weak nod.
"Fine."
Raphael rolled his eyes, yet there was a relief in his voice as he nodded. "Good."
Keeping one hand firmly planted on the back of Don's shell, he steered his little brother away from the wall. After a few paces he reached over and retrieved the skateboard from Don's grasp, tucking it securely under his own arm.
As Raph carefully guided Don down into the tracks to begin their trek home, he stole a glance over his shoulder.
The neon luster of the printed sign knowingly glowered back at him. Taunting him.
He reluctantly tore his gaze away as another sharp cough tore through Don, the hollow sound echoing through the winding tunnels.
The soft footsteps of the pair were quick to recede into the murky, common noises of the sewer, easily drowned by the empty wind that rapidly picked up, whistling its way through the empty subway station. It stirred at the dead leaves and tattered remains of old advertisements and newspapers, before tugging at the slick surface of the single bright colored poster, left behind in the shadows by the two terrapin brothers.
As nightfall grew, the subway fell further into darkness.
Only a soft, yellow glow broke through the stillness, a soft hum soon growing to accompany it. The hazy light suddenly crackled, snapping with energy as it continued to grow with intensity. Writhing and swirling, the fluid shapes outlined symbols on a poster, revealing the message within.
A message that one turtle had long since hoped had been destroyed forever.
A message from the past.