Sorry lovies. I posted Chapter 2 and then realized only half the chapter was up so I had to take it back down and fix the problem. Grr...But anywho, the good news is you get more story :D So read, enjoy, blah blah blah let me know what you think, and all that jazz.

"Are they alright?" April asked, peeking to Donnie with a half concerned, half curious furrow to her brow.

"Leo and Raph?" Donnie shrugged. "They've been acting … odd, but I suppose Leo's still uptight about Karai, and you can always count on Raph to be umm … unpredictable, to say the least—especially where Leo's concerned."

"But they are acting odd?" April pressed, as though determined to know someone else was seeing what she was seeing.

Donnie nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, they are."

April hummed curiously and leaned back on her palms, her shoulder lightly brushing against Donnie's arm. His cheeks became inflamed and he looked away from her, eyes landing on Mikey and Casey in the pit, both of whom were pointing at each other's faces and laughing at the injuries Raph had given them. Resilient those two were—not to mention oblivious. Life was one big playground to them.

"Do you know why?"

Donnie blinked and shook his head again. "Not specifically. I mean, I have theories, I suppose, but that's all they are."

April's lips turned up in an interested smile, and she nudged him encouragingly. "Well let's hear 'em."

Donnie's eyes widened on her, as though all of his secret thoughts had been compromised. He coughed nervously. "It's nothing really," he said. "I'd rather not assume. I mean, if it's not that … I could …" He shrugged. "It's nothing."

April rolled her eyes. "Alright, Donnie."

A soft silence settled between them, and he allowed himself to watch her as she watched Mikey and Casey. There was a loose strand of red-gold hair trailing the length of her face and his fingers itched to tuck it back behind her ear, the way she normally did. But he refrained. Sometimes even sitting directly next to her she could seem so far away, detached from him, out of his reach. Trying to reel her in was like carrying an undeterred determination to one day be that person to lasso the moon. But it seemed such a fantastic concept. What if you could lasso the moon? What if he could get April to like him? What would happen then?

He bit his bottom lip uncertainly, allowing himself a tender smile when she laughed at something Mikey was doing. He'd bet the Shellraiser and the T-Sub that no one on earth laughed the way April did.

He opened his mouth to speak, to ask her if she wanted to go for a walk through the tunnels, get some fresh air, or whatever kind of air was available in the sewers. Not for any real specific reason other than that he wanted to be alone with her. But he was cut off before the question came out as Casey jumped between them, elbowing Donnie in the plastron—whether accidentally or on purpose seemed to work either way—and managed to nudge his way into sitting smack in between Donnie and April with his back to Donnie as he leaned into April's personal sapce.

Donnie curled a fist and growled.

"So, Red, wanna check out this burger joint that just opened up a few blocks from my place?" Casey asked, stretching a cool grin.

The turtle's jaw dropped and a bubble of irritation tightened in his chest, burning to scream a "foul," but he puffed up his cheeks and held his breath instead. It wasn't supposed to be a game. But still … That wasn't fair and Jones knew it.

April giggled, and Donnie's chest deflated. "Sure, Casey," she said with a coy eye roll.

"Dudes," Mikey said. "I thought you were gonna eat with us."

"Yeah," Donnie added quickly. "Mikey's making … What are you making?" He turned his eyes on his little brother with some kind of desperation, basically placing all hope in Mikey's eccentric culinary abilities, which, by the way, were never guaranteed to produce anything appetizing.

Mikey propped his hands on his hips and leaned his head back with a cocky grin. "Just a little dish I like to call 'Leftover Take Down'."

April squinted. "What's that?" she asked, appropriately fearful of the response.

"Well, it's when I take all the leftover pizza and takeout and make it into something totally awesome."

"Like …?"

The orange-banded turtle shrugged. "I haven't really decided yet."

Donnie palmed his forehead.

April gave Mikey a polite, sisterly smile. "As … endearing as that sounds, Mikey, I'm gonna have to pass." She pushed herself to her feet. "Besides, hanging around you guys, I've had enough pizza to last me centuries—whatever form it comes in."

While she brushed off her shorts, Donnie watched with a creased brow. He caught Casey's self-satisfied smirk out of the corner of his eye and gritted his teeth as his blood steamed in his veins, but he kept his rage quiet and fixed his frown into a casual grin.

He popped up from his seat and took one elongated step over to April's side to drape an arm around her shoulders as he walked with her toward the exit.

"I completely understand," he said. "So, when you come back tomorrow would you like to trade tips on weapons? Sensei says it's important to be practiced in every form of weaponry. I can teach you how to use a bō staff—my bō staff."

April smiled up at him graciously. "Sure, Donnie."

"Or …" said Casey, throwing an arm around the terrapin's shoulders and yanking him into his side, forcing Donnie's hold to slip away from April. "I could teach her to use my hockey stick and there'd be no need for twirling your staff."

Donnie bared his teeth and shoved Casey away from him. "Hockey sticks," he began tersely, "are for sport, not combat. There is no 'teaching her how to use it.' The bō staff, on the other-hand, is one of the most traditional Japanese weapons used in martial arts. Art, here a term implying elegance and discipline. It takes a lot more than just waving around a stick and becoming a sad excuse for a vigilante."

Casey raised an uninterested brow. "I take that very personal-like, Donatello."

"Personally," Donnie corrected.

Casey smirked and tucked a thumb inside his pocket. "Like it makes a difference."

"It does!"

Jones ignored this and draped an arm around April's shoulders where Donnie's had just been a moment ago. April rolled her eyes, but allowed it, and smiled back at the two turtles.

"Tell Leo and Raph I said bye and I hope they loosen up. See you guys tomorrow."

"See ya, April. See ya, Casey!" Mikey said, waving after them with a wide smile as Donnie pouted, watching as his April was dragged out of sight by the likes of another "man."

He scoffed under his breath once they were gone. "Can you believe him?"

"I know right?" Mikey said. "He's so cool."

Donnie wrinkled his beak and smacked the back of his brother's head.

"Ouch! Geez, is everyone in a bad mood today?"

The older turtle softened and gave his brother a sorrowful glance as Mikey rubbed his head. "Sorry, Mikey. It's just … Ugh, he does that on purpose."

"Who Casey? Does what?"

"'Wanna check out this burger joint?'" Donnie said in his most idiotic interpretation of Casey's voice. "He knows we can't do that kind of stuff. He just takes advantage of the fact that he's the only one who can actually take April out places."

Mikey pursed his lips. "But isn't that the point?"

Donnie sneezed and blinked the dizziness away that came with it. "What?"

The turtle in orange shrugged. "Well if we can't take her anywhere, isn't it a good thing that Casey can? I mean, would you rather she not go anywhere at all? I dunno about you, dude, but I'm pretty sure April hates not being able to hang out with us in places like that."

The muscles in Donnie's face loosened and his eyes fell to the floor, a touch of rouge coming up in his cheeks. He hated it when Mikey, of all people, made a point that he'd overlooked—and was right about it.

The click of a door closing interrupted Donnie's astonishment, and he and Mikey both glanced across the room as Leo reappeared with a distracted look to his eyes.

"You guys done?" Mikey asked with a jeering note to his tone. "You just missed April and Casey."

"Huh?" Leo blinked his blue eyes over where the younger two were standing, as though he hadn't caught a word of that. "Oh. That's fine, Mikey," he said generically.

Mikey and Donnie watched their older brother stare at the floor before he switched his gaze back to them, this time looking directly at his brother in purple, his brow furrowed with uncertainty. He fidgeted with the strap across his plastron.

"Donnie, would you … Do you want to come meditate with me?" he asked, jerking a thumb over his shoulder toward the dojo.

Donnie blinked. Leo never asked any of them to meditate with him. He normally didn't think it worth his time to try and get them to sit still for something like that, and truthfully, Leo was the only one who actually liked meditating. Mikey was way too distractible, and Raph was just as equally impatient. Donnie did it when he had to, but he normally had far better things he could think of to fill up his time—projects to finish, equations to solve, discoveries to make—meditating was something he never volunteered himself for. But there was a distinct tone of pleading in Leo's voice that told the intelligent turtle meditating was in fact not the first thing on the leader's mind.

"Okay," Donnie said. Though skeptical, he followed his brother toward the dojo anyway, glancing once over his shoulder toward Mikey who shrugged, stretched a beaming smile, and waved enthusiastically.

The dojo was empty when they entered, and Leonardo immediately strode over to Splinter's room, gently pushing back one of the shojis to peek in on their sensei. Donnie pressed the back of his hand to his nose to stifle another sneeze as a strong waft of incense tickled his nostrils. He stole a peek over Leo's head and caught a glimpse of their father sitting on his knees, eyes closed in concentration, surrounded by flickering candles. His expression was at its most emotionless, a good indicator of how deeply he was settled in his own meditation.

Splinter did not acknowledge their presence. So, Leo silently slid the door closed and walked across the dojo to place himself directly beneath the tree. Donnie followed and sat next to his brother, crossing his legs and straightening his back. He rested his arms loosely on his knees, took in a long, calming breath and simply stared across the room, allowing the silence to speak, concentrating on his brother's aura and what it might tell him. But he had never really been good at that kind of thing—at least not without physical observation—so he simply looked over to Leo after a while and took in his older brother's slouch and the frown in the corner of his mouth.

"So, I'm going to assume you didn't actually bring me in here to mediate," Donnie said, his voice awkwardly loud in the emptiness of the dojo. "What did you want to talk about?"

Leo grimaced at the floor and glanced timidly in Donnie's direction. "I …" He sighed heavily. "I dunno. I'm just … I need advice I guess."

"Advice about what?" Donnie prompted.

Leo's cheeks flushed and he looked away, eyes darting around the dojo hesitantly. The younger turtle glanced down and watched his brother's fists curl on his knees.

He looked back up. "You can tell me, Leo."

Leonardo bit his bottom lip and shifted. "It … It's Raph," he mumbled.

"What about Raph?"

Leo shrugged, scratching at his knee pads. "Well … Did he tell you why he was so mad at you? Why he threw that rock?"

The blue-banded turtle finally looked back at Donnie who shook his head, ignoring the small knot of discomfort in his chest. It had been a solid week or two since any one of them had brought that up.

"Not necessarily," he answered. "I mean, one can only guess he wasn't particularly fond of me at the moment … To be honest, Leo, I didn't really give him a chance to tell me. From what I actually listened to, he sounded kind of jealous." He shrugged, suddenly aware of a fair heat reaching his own cheeks.

Leo stared, and it was unnerving.

"I don't understand why he would be though," Donnie continued. "There's nothing to be jealous of me for."

"There's plenty, Donnie," Leo mumbled, though he went on before Donatello could comment. "He didn't like that we'd been spending so much time together."

The purple-banded turtle raised a brow. "You and I?"

Leo nodded.

"But …" Donnie's mask creased down the middle. He thought for a moment, his knuckle on his chin, mulling back through the past few months, Leo's driven focus toward getting Karai back, Raph's increasing frustration, which he'd seemed content releasing on Donatello up until it had almost gotten him and Leo killed. He had a theory, yes ... Was he about to voice it? That was a question in itself.

He looked to his older brother, at the desperation swirling in Leo's blue irises. His gaze drifted to the scars across Leo's cheek, still so uncomfortably new. He tried not to grimace before he looked back into his brother's eyes.

"Why would that bother him?" he finally asked, gazing at his leader as though he didn't already know the answer.

Leo sighed, turning his eyes away again.

When he spoke next, he was directed his voice to the rugs beneath them. "Don't ever tell Raph about this okay?"

Donnie nodded and kept silent—waiting.

Leo took a large, shuddering breath. "He loves me," he said, a nice bright shade of red flushing his cheeks.

Donnie continued to stare, continued to wait—in silence—until Leo finally looked back at him with a squint of anxiety, as though Donatello's lack of response unnerved him. But Donnie nodded, slowly at first, until he gathered what he was going to respond with.

"It—doesn't surprise me," he said.

Leo's brow furrowed. "You know what I mean don't you?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Not that it's obvious, but Raph isn't all that good at hiding how he feels and he's pretty easy to figure out, once one takes the time to notice all the signs. He denies anything he knows he wants but can't have." He shrugged. "Sour grapes."

"Sour what?"

"Sour grapes," Donnie repeated. "It's a phrase referring to the negative attitude a person will take to something they can't have. I don't imagine this is anything new, just something Raph's been denying all this time because it reveals an emotion other than anger in him. If he's wanted you all this time, then that would explain his determination to oppose you so much. To him you're not something he should want, so he tried to push you away. That is, until he realized it was actually working."

Leo dropped his eyes thoughtfully. "So … Raph's been picking fights with me this whole time because he doesn't want to—want me?"

Donnie nodded. He'd slipped into his non-judgmental psychiatrist skin—if he had to call it anything—the turtle with the answers to all of his brothers' questions. It was his job to help them with things like this. However truly odd the thought of Raph "wanting" Leo was, Donnie couldn't allow himself to make a big deal of it. If he did, then Leo would, and if Leo did, then Raph would actually have a reason to hate his life.

"And this makes sense to you?" Leo asked.

Donnie offered him a small smile. "Psychology."

"Right," said the older brother, looking uncertain. "So, what should I do?"

"Well," Donnie sighed, allowing his shoulders to fall. "Seeing as we're past the sour grapes and he's comfortable enough with, at the very least, letting you know how he feels, I guess the question now would be: How do you feel?"

Leo's eyes grew wide and he jerked as though Donnie had poked him in the plastron with his naginata blade. "I …" His cheeks turned red again. "I … I don't have sour grapes."

Donnie nodded patiently. "Noted. What do you have?"

"I have …" The older turtle's blue eyes shifted restlessly. "I have feelings for Karai," he blurted out.

Donnie nodded again, admittedly a little charmed by Leo's uncharacteristic flustering. "I know. But do you have feelings for Raph?"

Leo looked horror-stricken. "Donnie …"

"You can have both, Leo," the younger turtle said. "That's perfectly okay. It just means you're in the bicurious, bisexual realm of orientation."

Leo grimaced, as though Donatello had just diagnosed him with a ghastly terminal disease. "Raph … Raph's my brother."

"True." Donnie nodded yet again. "But is that all he is to you?"

Leo swallowed, looking to his purple-banded brother as though he was going to provide the answer. For Leo's sake, Donnie wished that he could, but that was one question he did not know the answer to. It was easy to share his perspective on Raph's sour grapes, to shrug and nod at the fact that it wasn't all that surprising learning that Raph was in love with Leo, but to tell Leo that Donnie believed his eldest brother might be in love with Raph too was an entirely different set of cards to deal with. Leo had never been the most eager to let his emotions seep to the outside and every year that he practiced masking himself, he became harder and harder to read. This was one time Donnie could not clarify his brother's confusion.

"You don't have to answer that now, Leo. Just think about it for a while. Raph may not be the most patient turtle on the face of the planet, but he'll wait for you … He's been doing it this long."

Leo grimaced again, shoulders sinking. "He's giving me until we get Karai back."

Donnie raised a brow. "Why until then?"

"He knows how I feel about her."

Donnie pursed his lips and nodded. "So, either we get her back and you decide you love her, or we get her back and you decide you love him."

Leo squinted uncertainly. "Or we get her back and I'm more hopelessly confused than ever. Or we just don't get her back at all." At this the blue-banded turtle dropped his head, as though tossing his weapons in surrender, as though he was giving up on it all.

Donatello reached out and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We will get her back, Leo. That I can promise you."

Leonardo peeked up at him with young blue eyes, glossed with dependence and a need for solidity, for something to be sure of. It was as though he'd aged backward five or ten years and was merely a child sitting on a rug, lost and unsure of everything he knew about himself. Donnie pursed his lips sympathetically then forced on a smile for his older brother.

"Should we meditate now?" he asked.

Leo's lips twitched, cracking a smile. "You don't have to, Don," he said shaking his head. "I just didn't want Mikey nosing in on the conversation."

Donatello watched his brother for a moment, despite all of Leo's confusion, admiring his courage. He straightened his back again and placed his arms on his knees, tilting his chin up and closing his eyes.

He peeked with one eye at Leonardo, who smiled and followed his lead. Donnie reclosed his eye and began to monitor his breathing as he sat in a meditative silence with his older brother.