And this was a quick turn around. Here's hoping the rest will be as well!

Special thanks to Ikara for the feedback and support on AO3 and tumblr!

TMNT, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, Splinter, and LeatherHead © Mirage Studios
story © Turtlefreak121

Flicker
Chapter Twelve: A Plan in Motion

Raphael could not believe how calm and direct Leonardo had been throughout his spiel about it all. Their brother had cancer and he had it in his brain and Leo was just relaying the information like a recording.

And not even all the information, just enough to start barking out orders to Raph and Mikey again.

Grinding his teeth, Raph kicked over the nearest trashcan and watched the metal bend and dent as it smacked into the side of the building and roll away.

It wasn't enough. But it was something that wasn't charging back into their home and decking his brother.

"I can't believe this!" Raph snapped, turning on his heels to face Mike as the orange banded ninja came to a halt as well. "After all the bull about not jumping to conclusions, about giving Donny space, about acting like we were being ridiculous thinking he was wrong. We were right! We were right and if he had cared about that more than showing us up this whole time he coulda arranged this mess with LeatherHead sooner and gotten us some answers. Answers in time to actually do something about this."

Utterly unlike himself, Mikey was standing in silence, rubbing at his shoulder.

Taking some time to think about it, Raph realized it was the same shoulder Mike had been rubbing the night Don flipped out on them and pushed past them. It was enough of an oddity to actually bring Raphael's raging back down to Earth.

"Mikey? Are you listening?" he asked, unable to completely remove the bite from his tone.

"You don't think they can do anything about this?" Mikey asked, finally meeting Raphael's eyes. "You think it's too late to do anything? Why do you think that?"

Taken aback, Raph looked Michelangelo over before shaking his head. "I didn't say there was nothing they could do."

"You literally just said that!" Mike accused loudly. "Why? What else do you know? Why do you think that, Raph!? You can't just… go for the worst and lose hope for no reason!"

For a moment, Raphael was utterly perplexed by his brother's commentary before he gritted his teeth and pointing a thick digit at his own temple. "You can when you get told your brother's sick and the only thing you're good for is going to get the people who might actually be able to help. Yeah, Mike, I'd say I earned a touch of hopelessness in this. Don't you?"

Mikey stared back at him for a moment before dropping his head. For the first time, Raphael realized that the cloth around his brother's eyes were damp.

"Poor Donny," Mike said lowly. "Can you imagine how he feels right about now?"

Raph's own stomach flipped at the thought of their brother having to learn in the same clinical manner that they did about his diagnosis. Only Don didn't learn from a brother with confidence and a plan already in motion, he learned from LeatherHead. And the big croc was probably lost in his own thoughts and regressed into the sort of scientific talk that had been leaving Don uncharacteristically mystified lately.

If Don comprehended anything they told him at all.

And the fact that that had to be a thought in Raph's mind was enough to ruin him right then and there.

Don was supposed to be the thinker, after all.

"We should've known something was wrong," Raph said, the words bitter on his tongue.

"We did, Raph," Mike said, rubbing at his shoulder again. "I mean, we just… There was no way of knowing what it was. We knew there was something up."

The sentiment was nice enough, but Raph found his temper mounting all the same. He clenched his jaw as he thought the situation over. "No," he said lowly. "In the beginning I was… I was just a real jerk to Donny about everything. I didn't believe there was anything wrong. I just thought… I thought for once he was just as flawed as the rest of us. Thought he just… forgot. And it pissed me off because Don wasn't supposed to forget." He looked at Mikey tiredly. "He's the brains."

Silence fell between them for a moment, as if any further words were crushed by the enormity of the situation sinking in.

Slowly, though, Mike looked back to Raph. "I had this feeling all day that we would find something out today," Mike admitted.

Giving a snort, Raph crossed his arms. "I know. You're real subtle with your emotions."

"I thought it was good news," Mike admitted at last. "I thought… hey, any news is good news. Y'know? I never even thought… Couldn't have imagined what bad news felt like."

As the silence began to take over again, Raphael released an audible sigh and walked over to his younger brother. He threw a firm arm over Mike's shoulders. "I know, Mikey. I know."

Michelangelo dropped his head until his chin was nearly sat on his chest, leaning into Raphael's chest. When they started walking, Mikey easily followed his brother's lead in complete trust, not even bothering to look up for himself.

"C'mon," Raph beckoned in a tone softer than he normally could manage. "We still gotta get to April and Casey's. Get April brought up to speed with LH and Leo's plans. Gotta keep hope."

"Sounds funny coming from you," Mikey muttered, a faint smile on his lips.

"Someone's gotta keep hope alive," Raph said. "Though I'd prefer if it was you, li'l bro. You wear optimism way better than I do."

It was enough to get a small laugh on their short journey to the antique store.

In truth, Raphael's words had hit closer to home for Michelangelo than he would have ever cared to admit.

Deep down, Mikey knew that Leo wasn't truly flipping between his stances on Don's mental state frivolously but it didn't keep it from feeling that way to them. Especially not with how much Mike had just known that the Outbreak had felt hauntingly similar to his encounter with Don but thad trusted Leo's collective calm over everything enough to hope for a new solution.

It was just a simple manner that while Raph and Mike were seeing the situation through the same lens, Mikey couldn't work himself into the outrage that Raphael had felt. He simply couldn't.

He knew where Leo was coming from. He, too, had hoped beyond hope for a better answer to their troubles.

So when they were left with the truly crummy situation that they were at, Mike felt justified in his disappointment.

They were quiet the rest of the way to April and Casey's, which was probably why April looked so startled when she opened the back door to their knocking and saw them.

A flash of concern came over April's face almost immediately. "Guys?" she asked before leaning her head out enough to look around the rest of the alley. "Where's Leo and Donny? Is everything alright?"

Behind April, Casey stepped up to also take a look, and while worry hadn't yet worked its way across his face he definitely seemed more alarmed than usual.

"Don't tell me that Don's lost again," April pleaded.

Casey put a firm hand on April's shoulder as he stepped up. "You guys need help looking or…"

"Don's not lost," Raph answered finally.

Confused, Casey tilted his head. "Oookay. Then what do you guys look so down about?"

Mikey and Raph looked to one another with knowing looks before glancing back to their friends.

"Probably best to explain after we're inside," Mike said somberly.

That was enough to get both April and Casey's attentions and they quickly moved away from the door to allow the two turtles in. Something that Raph and Mike acted on rather quickly, shutting the door behind them.

April stood by Casey, hugging her arms tentatively. Without having to say a word to him, Casey wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

Even without fully knowing what was going to come out of Raph and Mike's mouths the two were preparing for the worst sort of news.

Unable to stop himself, Mike realized he was wishing he had had that sort of foresight when he and Raph had walked in on Leo and Master Splinter just earlier.

"Is it about Donny?" April pressed finally, after it was clear that Raph and Mike weren't about to initiate it.

"Yeah," Raph huffed, leaning his shell back against the nearest bookcase. "Yeah, it is."

As April and Casey were left looking expectantly at them, Mike was left waiting on his brother to continue as well. It then became clear that Raph wasn'tworking on moving the situation along and left Mikey to let out a heralding sigh before turning toward their friends.

"Leo took Donny today over to LeatherHead's place so they could run all kinds of tests and scans and junk to try and figure out what's been going on with him lately," Michelangelo explained. "I don't know exactly what all they did, but they were gone all day."

"Sounds exhausting," Casey offered.

"Wouldn't know," Raph huffed. "He had gone to his bedroom before Mike and I got home."

April's mouth pressed to a thin line and she turned her attention more directly to Mike. He guessed it might have been the first time he had ever been looked to as the more viable source of information.

"Mikey, did you all learn anything from that?" she asked, her face screwed together in concentration.

Reluctantly, Mikey rubbed at his shoulder again. When he looked to his friends he could see that they already knew the answer just by the expressions they wore. April kept it together well but Casey was beginning already to look devastated.

"LH thinks he's got cancer, somewhere in his brain," Mike explained. "It's what's making him so sick. And… It might have something to do with the Outbreak."

With the news made official, Casey clenched his fist and angrily brought it down on the counter behind them. He only stopped there because April gently reached back and touched his chest with her hand. Her own head sunk and eyes squeezed together tight.

"Not Donny," Casey gritted out all the same.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" April asked, looking to them.

"We can't," Raph said bitterly, "but Leo and LH have some sort of plan in the works for tomorrow. They think you can help."

"Then that's absolutely what I'll do," April said assuredly. "I'll head to LeatherHead's immediately if you two will guide me." She paused, looking back to Casey then to the brothers. "But first… both of you come here."

Mikey and Raph glanced to each other before reluctantly going forward.

Honestly, Michelangelo didn't know what he expected, but it wasn't for April to jerk both of them forward and hug them tightly. Then pulling Casey in, too.

"We all can do something," she promised them. "Whatever this is, this family can always do something. And you will find out what it is because we're allgoing to be there from start to finish. We're going to do whatever we can. All of us."

For the first time since the news broke, Mike felt like he could breathe. He felt like there was something better than hope available – there was this. And he hugged his family back to let them know he wasn't about to let go of it.