Hi guys! After some pretty serious chapters, my guess was to bring in a little breathing space. So I'm concluding another 'arc', namely the Embarrassing Secrets Arc. Last, but not least; Donnie!

Have fun!

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Embarrassing Secrets - Don

With a satisfied smile Leo stood up from his lotus position. When he was standing up straight he took a few deep breaths to reset his mind for the upcoming evening, before giving a respectful bow to the small shrine on the side of the dojo. Pleased with his meditation workout he walked through the shoji doors, leaving the peaceful silence behind him.

Once outside he lifted his elastic wrist bandage to look at his watch, until he heard some fast footsteps coming into his direction. Quickly he whipped up his head, but noticed too late how a green blur tackled him viciously. He rolled over the ground and tried to get rid of his attacker, but before he knew it he was pinned down underneath a steady knee. Looking up, Leo gazed straight in the face of a wide-grinning Mikey.

"Heh, you're always an easy target when you're done meditating," the youngest commented goodnatured. Leo gave him a semi-foul look. "Was this really necessary?"

Mikey shrugged mischievous. "Not really. But it was fun nevertheless." He stood up and hold out his hand, which was taken gratefully. As Mikey hoisted his brother up, he got an excited smile on his face. "Are we going? I really, really, really need to get out!"

Although he was amused by his younger brother's antics, Leo gave him a hard stare. "Yes. But only if you actually stay with us and listen to me for a change."

Mikey glared at him jokingly, since he knew exactly why his brother would say that. Last time he decided to play tag with some Foot ninjas they had encountered and before anyone knew it Mikey had ran off laughing with a few attackers on his heels. Two hours later he had returned, happily exclaiming he had won. Unfortunately his jubilance didn't last long since his brothers weren't as excited as he was. And that was an understatement. Shell, did he recieved some punishment once they got home. "Yes, mom."

"You'll behave?" Leo asked to be certain, ignoring being called a mom. Mikey hold up his finger. "Only if you won't be boring with stakeouts and sitting still and stuff. That's lame."

Leo crossed his arms and gave him a look, which was in the middle of a plea and a warning. Mikey didn't know how his brother did it, but he had to give in. "Okay, okay. I'll behave."

"Good," Leo said satisfied, unfolding his arms. "Now can you get Raph? I don't think he has cooled down yet from our little argument earlier."

Mikey chuckled. "You guys were pretty loud indeed. The most fun part was when you guys started to argue about that time when we were kids and Raph -"

"Ugh, don't get me started," Leo interrupted as he took a step forward so he was next to Mikey. "Now please get him and calm him down a bit when necessary. I'll see if I can get Donnie off his work."

"Aye aye, captain," Mikey joked and ducked when a non-committed soft punch flew into his direction. With a broad smile he ran off to find his brother. Shaking his head, Leo gave a snort before moving to Don's workplace. Once in front of the door he gave a hard knock on it. "Yo, Donnie. It's almost time to go on patrol. You're ready?"

There was some silent shuffling. "Yeah, in a sec," came the rushed reply. "I'm finishing up."

"Okay. Don't take too long. You know how Raph and Mikey are when they have to wait."

There came no reply, so shrugging a bit Leo walked back to the living room just in time to see Raph and Mikey walk towards him.

"Ready? Let's go," Raph declared gruffly, already walking to the front door.

"No, Don's still busy. We'll give him a minute," Leo answered. Raph shot him a look as he grunted out of annoyance. "Whatever. I'm out," he said, continuing his trek to the door. The moment Leo wanted to open his mouth to scold Raph, Mikey appeared in his line of sight. "Chill, bro. I've got this," he said with a smile, walking backwards after Raph so he could face Leo. "Just hurry up a bit, cuz I don't know how long I can keep him sewer-bound."

Appreciating the youngest intentions, he looked after him until he was no longer in the lair. Not really knowing what to do with his other brother, he just let it go for now, hoping time would give him a solution of Raphael's temper. For now he had to whip up his other brother in order to move out fully equipped, since it was really noisy in the streets for the past few weeks. Maybe it was the weather, maybe the faulty police corps, maybe a switch in leadership, but shell… those criminals seemed to come from every corner of New York and they actually seemed to know what they were doing. And Leo didn't like it, didn't like it at all. They had to figure out what was going on, before anything could go wrong.

Giving Don another minute, Leo walked back to the lab door. "Yo, Don. Your sec is up! Come on!" Still not getting a reply, Leo opened up the door and walked in, looking around to locate his brother. Seeing some dim light coming from the computer desk, Leo gave a smile and walked over, fully expecting Don was busy with some insane programming or something like that. Instead he found him hunched over his desk, his headphones on his head, looking undisturbed at some kind of video. Just when he wanted to say something, Don tensed up in front of his screen. "No way! You just didn't!" he mumbled, fully committed.

Awkwardly Leo shifted his eyes from side to side, dubbing Don was talking to him, or to the video. Then he heard Don gasp. "Oh, come on! He's totally cheating on you! Dump him!"

Knowing his brother wasn't talking to him, Leo's curiosity took over. Silently he took a few steps towards the computer so he could actually see the full screen. Seeing what Don was watching, Leo couldn't suppress a soft snort. On the screen was one of Splinter's soap operas, and Don was completely in it. "Yeah, that's it, Rosita. Tell him!" Don mumbled to the screen. Almost laughing out loud, Leo scraped his throat to get Don's attention in a subtle way. Too bad his brother was completely focussed on the triangular relationship between three main characters, of which apparently one was a woman named Rosita.

Leo gave an amused sigh although he felt a little bit embarrassed for his younger brother. This wasn't something he was allowed to see, but nevertheless it was kind of funny. "Yo, Donnie!" he said, as he folded his arms casually in front of his chest. Immediately Don jumped up startled as he ripped his headphones from his head. Quickly he turned around. With big eyes he looked at Leo, who tried his best not to snigger. "Leo! I- eh… I was…" Don stammered, moving his body so it was directly in between Leo and the screen. He swallowed hard. "I eh…" Although he had a very quick brain, the honest turtle couldn't come up with an legit explanation. He sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'm busted," he said, bowing his head in shame. "You can laugh now."

Finally Leo disposed of his casual pose and grinned. "So this is what you're doing when you're 'working'?" he asked jokingly, making quotation gestures with his fingers. Carefully Don looked up, a guilty expression on his face. "Not always. Only when I have to catch up on episodes," he said in a small voice. He realised he did not make the situation any better when Leo started to laugh out loud. "I never pictured you as the Spanish soap opera spectator. Doesn't this clash a bit with your rectilinear sense of perception?"

"I don't know, man," Don sighed, plopping back on his chair. "Ever since I got pretty sick a few months ago and I was kind of couch bound, sensei stayed with me a lot. To kill the time he actually watched a lot of those operas and I had no choice but to watch with."

Leo chuckled. "You're giving mixed signals here. You're watching terrible reruns, yet it sounds like you hated it."

"Well, yeah, I do," Don answered sheepishly. "But I just can't stop watching! I just need to know what's going to happen!"

Again Leo laughed. "Dude, you sound like a housewife. And a very desperate one."

Don gave a frustrated sigh. "I know," he whined. "But I can't stop."

Leo pretended he gave the situation a thought. "I know Mikey was once addicted to this weird show, but he kicked the habit. Maybe we could ask him how he -"

"Don't you dare tell him!" Don interrupted him quickly. "It's one thing you know it, but Mikey… Once he knows, everyone knows! Please, Leo!"

Eying him closely, Leo chuckled. "Relax, Donnie. Your secret is safe with me. But only if you come with me right now for patrol."

Don gave a broad, grateful smile. "Thanks, bro."

"After that you can continue your soap addiction," Leo added with a smirk. Immediately Don's smile fell and he gave his older brother a semi-betrayed look, which was answered with a hard chuckle. "Now, come on. Grab your bo and move your shell. I bet Raph and Mike are already on the other side of New York by now. And that's never a good thing."

Don shifted his eyes back to his screen. "Can I finish the episode?" he asked in a soft shameful voice. Leo gave him a look of disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Just the last four minutes."

"No!"

"But I wanna know if Rosita will dump Pedro or not," Don pushed on, fixing his big pleading eyes on his brother.

"No."

"But -"

"No, she's not going to dump him," Leo said. "Now come on before I spoil the rest for you."

Surprised Don leaned back in his chair. "You follow this show too?" he asked unbelievably. All Leo did was raising an eye ridge. "Absolutely not. But every morning during practise I hear the extensive plot of the previous episode from Splinter, in the hope he can distract me. I can tell you… It works. Especially since the all-around storyline is the worst."

"Dude…"

Before Don could ask anything, Leo gave him a firm look. "Now move it, before I tell you whether Pedro -"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Don quickly said, turning his computer off. "Just no spoilers!"

He quickly grabbed his bo and secured it across his back before walking up to Leo. He gave him an awkward smile. "So… Please.. Not a word to Mike or Raph."

Giving a smirk, Leo nodded. "Promise." He turned around and started to walk out of the workplace, until he noticed Don wasn't following him. He turned back and gave him a questioning look.

"Eh… Can we make a deal also never to talk about it?"

Leo smiled. "About what?" he asked innocently. Don gave a snort. "That's the spirit," he said, finally moving forward. "Thanks, Leo."

"Any time, bro."

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I hope you liked it - Please tell me in the little box below :).

Hope to see you next week!