Again I'm very sorry for not updating in time! But these weeks have been super busy for me. First I was away for a weekend, then two days later I was abroad for half a week and last weekend I wasn't home either. Besides that, I am diagnosed with Pfeiffer's disease, so that's just great -_-'.

Anyway, I can make a long story about how, why and when, but that's not the reason you're coming here ;-). You're here for the reading! And that's why for today I have the end of the Coffee Arc. Please enjoy!

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Coffee Exchange

With a frustrated growl, Raph slammed open the garage door and marched straight into the living room. Breathing hard to calm himself a bit he looked around until his eyes found the television, seeing a screen from one of Mikey's video games. With big steps he walked over and positioned himself between the tv and Mikey, who got a startled look on his face. Quickly it fell. "Hey, bro. What's the deal?" he asked a little agitated, trying to look past Raph to see the tv. "I was just collecting stuff in a very dangerous area. I can get attacked any moment, dude."

Raph didn't budge. "Indeed," he said in a menacing voice. Immediately Mikey froze and swallowed. Averting his eyes he tried to think of something he did wrong, but couldn't come up with anything. This morning they just ate breakfast together and after that all of the brothers had went their own way. "What'd I do?" he asked, raising his eye ridges innocently. Instinctively he backed up a bit when Raph took a step towards him, pointing his finger towards his chest. "Yer gonna do somethin' about Donnie, or I swear I'm gonna punch him in tha face one of these days," Raph said with a low voice. "And yer next."

His game entirely forgotten, Mikey put his controller next to him. "What? What happened?"

Raph gave a frustrated grunt. "That freakin' coffee treatment yer givin' him is not workin'!" he said, standing up straight again. "Tha guy just can't handle it. He's gonna lose it any day now!"

With a confused look on his face, Mikey looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Turning away, Raph started to ramble. "Just yesterday tha guy was in his lab and there was an explosion. He freakin' came out with a grin on his face, sayin' that he measured wrong. Dude, Don doesn't measure wrong - it's not in his DNA ta do somethin' wrong he knows all about! And then grinnin' about it. He's always so precise an' he hates ta mess up. Then with dinner when he broke all tha plates, because he dropped them… Don doesn't drop stuff. Tha guy's grip is like iron! Tha last thing he dropped was ma jaw when he did those modifications on ma bike a few weeks back!"

A little amazed Mikey's eyes followed his older brother, who was pacing up and down in front of the television. It was a long time ago since he had heard his brother say so many words after each other.

"And then there's today. Don'd asked me ta help with some heavy work on tha Sewer Slider, so yeah, 'course I'm willin' ta help. Just ten minutes in, he's off ta do somethin' else, then he leaves that and goes ta his laptop ta do some programmin'. I'm cool with that, but not when that happens for two and a half hours straight. Tha guy can't focus on anythin'! And than tha freakin' moodswings… One moment he's happy, tha next one he's stressed out of his mind, then he's sulky and then super anxious. He's not doin' well and I blame that stupid book ya read!" Raph finished his long-winded speech. A little offended Mikey straightened his back. "Woah, dude. The book did it's job. Don's way more cheerful than in the past few weeks, and that was the purpose."

For a second it was quiet as the two brothers looked each other in the eyes. Then Raph crossed his arms. "Fine, then I blame you."

"What? Me? Dude, I -" Mikey tried to defend himself, but Raph stopped him. "Yeah, yer tha one who wanted ta do somethin' about Don's habit in tha first place. And back then there was nothin' wrong with him. Tha moment ya interfered it all went downhill."

Sinking back in the pillows, Mikey thought Raph's words over. He knew Raph had a point. But when Don drunk decaf, it seemed like he was doing fine. He actually created a normal sleeping pattern, but apparently that didn't work for the long run.

Seeing his little brother in thoughts with a guilty expression on his face, made Raph feel bad about himself. "Look, Mike. I just want ya to do somethin' about Donnie," he said way more softer, seeing his little brother's big eyes look up to him. "All I can do is yell at him, Splinter or Leo's gonna give him a three hour speech he'll tune out after tha first ten minutes and Don himself… Well, let's not go there. Ya might be tha only one who can make a change. Can ya give it one more try?"

Mikey sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "Dude, you're right… I indeed screwed up. What if I do it again?" he said, with a guilty half-smile on his face. Raph gave a shrug. "Well, I don't think it can go any worse from here, so no harm done, right?"

For a minute it was quiet in the room, until Mikey nodded slowly. "Okay. I'm gonna fix this."

Raph nodded satisfied. "Good."

Turning off his game with his controller, Mikey stood up. A little surprised Raph looked at him. "Right now?"

"Sure, the sooner the better, right?" Mikey said with a smile, walking past his brother. "I'm going to change back the coffee." Seeing the youngest disappear in the kitchen, Raph shook his head in exasperation. "I dunno if I'm gonna regret this..."

I

A few hours later

"Hey Donnie," Mikey greeted as he walked into Don's lab. Looking up from his screen, Don gave him a smile. "Hey, Mike. What's up?" he asked casually, leaning back in his comfortable chair. With a sigh Mikey grabbed a stool and sat down with a downcast look. A little startled by this Don gave him a concerned glance. "Are you alright?" he asked a little worried. Mikey nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted… Nay, needed, to confess something."

Sitting up a bit straighter, Don got a slight smile on his face, his mind already going through the things that could have happened. "What did you broke?" he asked calmly. Mikey looked up and averted his eyes to Don's computer screen where some random colored sentences were visible he recognised as programming code. "Well, eh… You," he said in a small voice, looking back to his brother. Don raised his eye ridges. "Come again?"

"I think I broke you," Mikey clarified. "Well.. Breaking is a bit over the top, but I kind of… messed up your living pattern," he said slowly, thinking about every word. "Or something."

Don just looked at him with a confused look on his face. "I'm not really following you, Mikey."

Mikey gave a self-frustrated sigh. "Okay, okay, here's the story," he started. "Do you remember a couple of weeks ago we were, like, having an argument in the kitchen about your coffee intake?"

Slowly Don nodded. "Yes…" Then he sighed, already knowing where this was going. "Mik-"

"Well, I wasn't really satisfied with the outcome of it, so I kinda replaced your regular coffee with decaffeinated, hoping you would kick the habit a bit. And it looked like it worked, cuz you actually went to sleep on semi-normal times and you weren't so much in your lab and Leo, Raph and I were kinda happy with it. Cuz you finally were doing pretty well," Mikey told in a rather quick pace, as Don just blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, but Mikey continued, accompanied by big arm movements. "But then you just went back to the way you were working before, like with no sleep and stuff. But you were still on decaf, so it wasn't really good. You got mundo cranky, and Leo and Raph were worried about you and they actually came to me for help. Weird huh. So I went out and read a book about caffeine addiction and then followed some steps to help you and even replaced the decaf with espresso, but apparently it isn't working, because just now I got an angry Raph next to me who said I had to do something better." Taking a deep breath to provide his lungs from oxygen again, Mikey finished his rambling. He saw Don think over his words and before his brother could yell at him or something, Mikey quickly opened his mouth again. "So now I'm confessing to you what I did and I hope you realise I did it because I care sooo much about you and I want you to be healthy and awesome and still be the best brother around, but with a bit less coffee, cuz I don't like what it does to you." He gave a crooked innocent smile combined with his little brother puppydog eyes. With that he could get away with almost everything.

Don gave it a minute to process. "Look, Mike," he started in a calm tone, something that surprised the youngest. "I appreciate your concern, really. But I'm fine."

Mikey blinked. "You're not angry with me?"

"Not really," Don said casually. "I knew something was up, no doubt about that. But this…" He shifted in his chair and scratched his neck. "I have to admit, Mikey. It was pretty clever."

Mikey gave a relieved smile. "So... You agree?"

Don leaned back again. "I did not say that." He put his ankle on top of his knee and looked Mikey in the eyes. "Like I've said before - I know a lot more about coffee and its side effects than you, or Leo or Raph or Splinter. So please… Stop 'helping' me," he said, making quotation marks with his fingers.

"But Do-hon!" Mikey whined. "You have to admit that so much coffee isn't good for you. Come on!"

"Well, I -"

"I've read it myself in that book! Too much caffeine can cause high cholesterol, fluid loss, arthritis, anxiety, damaged blood vessels, insomnia and in some cases even heart diseases," Mikey listed from memory. Don hold up a hand. "Mikey, just stop it," he said, frustration hearable in his voice. "I'm aware of all risks. Just stop helping."

"But -"

"Stop. Helping."

Mikey gave a defeated sigh. "So that's it? Brushing off your brothers who want to help you and care for you?" he tried to talk some guild into his brother. Don gave him a sort of disappointed look. "I know you care, Mike. I just don't need this kind of help from you at the moment. I know all the risks and I know I'm capable of avoiding the dangers. So please... Stop it," he said as he put his foot back on the floor as to indicate this conversation was over. Mikey gave him an unsatisfied pout, staring into Don's eyes. "Fine. You win," he finally said as he got up. "I'll change back everything and give you back your normal coffee," he said in a small voice, not telling his brother he already did that just a few hours back. Don eyed him closely. "Seriously? You're giving up this soon?"

Mikey shrugged as he stood up. "Yeah, you're too stubborn, Don. A quality I normally really like about you, but now…" He took a few steps to the door, before turning his head around. With a disappointed frown he looked at his brother. "Just take care of yourself, bro. Cuz apparently we can't help you with that. How much we actually want to." With that he continued his trek to the door.

"Oh, come on, Mike," Don said, followed by a guilty sigh, seeing the youngest walk through his lab door. "That's just mean."

Right outside the door, Mikey got a grin on his face, knowing he had successfully guilt-tripped his brother. "That's the intention, Donnie-boy," he mumbled as he walked towards the living room. Grabbing a random magazine from the coffee table, he sat down in one of the chairs where he could keep an eye on Donnie's lab door. Getting into a comfortable position, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. "Phase One: Guilt-Tripping complete. On to Phase Two: See If You Still Don't Care About The Side Effects." With a grin he flipped open the magazine and pretended to be occupied, waiting for the right moment.

Just half an hour later Don emerged from his lab and immediately saw Mikey sit in the living room with an innocent smile on his face. A little surprised he halted, since the youngest practically never sat in the fabric chairs, almost only on the couch or the old folding chair that was present near the television set. Don almost wanted to shrug it off, until he gave the magazine in his brother's hand a better look. He gave a snort. "Raph's going to kill you the moment he sees you."

Mikey cocked his head. "What? Why?" he asked, his smile slightly vanishing. Don nodded to the magazine in Mikey's hands. "If Raph sees you with his Cars Quarterly... Dude, you're screwed," he said with an amused grin. "And since when do you like cars?"

Mikey shrugged. "I flip through it for the girls," he said, playfully moving his eye ridges up and down, as Don rolled his eyes. Then the youngest looked back into the magazine. "And there are surprisingly little of them. Heck, even the fold-out is a car!" Letting it go pretty quickly, he looked up again into the amused face of his brother. "So, done with your Don-thingies? Wanna play a game, annoy Raph or just hang out or something?"

Don chuckled. "I'm sorry, I'm not done with my Don-thingies," he said. "I'm just getting some - eh…" he hesitated, but then sighed. "...Coffee." He waited for Mikey to comment on his choice, but it surprised him it didn't come. Mikey just gave him a smile and a nod, before looking down again as he flipped the page. A little awkward Don kept on standing a few moments, but then moved to the kitchen before Mikey could change his mind. With a small grin on his face for getting away so easily, he walked up to the coffee maker and started to make a full pot of fresh coffee. He grabbed the beans and inspected it and then realised Mikey had indeed had given him his own and regular brand back. Contently smiling, he put in all the constituents and patiently waited for the pot to fill up as a delightful aroma filled the kitchen. As soon as the coffee maker indicated it was ready, Don took a large mug from the cabinet and filled it up.

"Dude, it kinda smells nice in here," Mikey suddenly spoke up from behind him. Don turned his head, done pouring. "It sure does," he said with a smile, putting the pot back in its spot. "Hey, Mike," he started as he turned around and waited for Mikey to look at him. "Thanks for being a good sport. I really appreciate it."

Mikey gave a smile and waved his comment away. "No problem, bro," he said, moving to one of the cabinets. "Just know we care." He opened the small door and grabbed a mug. Don fully expected his younger brother walk to the fridge to get some juice or something, but instead Mikey walked up to him.

"And you're right," Mikey continued. "You know all about the risks and stuff, so we shouldn't have to worry." With a small smile on his face he reached out and grabbed the pot of coffee from its stand and he poured the black liquid in his mug. When he looked up he saw Don's confused face. "So, you take sugar in yours?" Mikey asked innocently, nodding to the mug in Don's hand. When Don didn't answer, he shrugged. "I take that as a no," he said in conclusion, lifting the mug up to his face.

"Wait, wait! What the shell are you doing?" Don finally managed to say. Mikey raised his eye ridges as he lowered his mug a bit. "Drinking coffee. What else?" he said with a wink before taking a sip. Immediately his face scrunched up. "Alright, that's horrible," he said, but then took another gulp. "I kinda need to get used to this." He gave the liquid in his mug a sour look, before looking up again, right in Don's non-amused face. "What?"

"What are you doing? No - Why are you doing this?" Don asked slowly. Mikey gave a grin. "Because you do it. Since you said there were no dangers, I'm willing to try," he explained straight away. Don gave a frustrated huff. "Mikey, coffee isn't good for you!"

The youngest raised a hand. "Whoa there, dude. You actually hear yourself? First you're telling me coffee is good for you and you need it and stuff, and now you're saying that it's not good for me? Dude, physically we're practically the same - You once told me so yourself. And now you're telling me that coffee isn't good for me… That's a bit of a hypocrite thing to say, don't you think?" he said with some cropped up frustrated feelings behind it. Don gave him a look he couldn't place, but since the genius stayed quiet for a few seconds, Mikey took it as a positive thing. Finally Don sighed. "Mikey, please. Yes, we might be physically the same, but there are some big differences. Your metabolism -"

"Dude, you can throw around big words, but it's not going to change my mind on this," Mikey cut him off, before Don could start his speech.

"We can barely handle you with all the energy you possess. And you want to add caffeine to that? That's asking for trouble, Mikey. Just listen to me!" Don tried. Mikey just shrugged. "I guess that's not my problem then," he said, gulping down the remainder of his coffee. As he swallowed, he tried to keep a straight face. "It's your choice, Donnie," he said, staring deep in his brother's eyes. "Keep going on like this, and I'll join you everytime you take a cup of coffee until you give up. Or we make a compromise right here, right now."

Don opened his mouth to give a heated answer, until he realised something. "Compromise?"

Mikey nodded. "Yeah. Of course we'll compromise," he said, then got a grin on his face. "What, you thought we wanted you to stop drinking coffee forever? Dude, we're not that cruel."

Giving a small chuckle, Don shook his head. "So I have a choice between a hyperactive and stalking younger brother, high on caffeine he probably can't handle, or I'll hear you out," he concluded, not taking note of Mikey's raised eye ridges for his comment. "Okay… What are you suggesting?"

Mikey snorted. "You're underestimating my abilities to handle weird and disgusting stuff, Don. But that aside - Here's my proposal… You will cut back to a normal amount of coffee a day, that means a max of three cups in the morning, two in the afternoon and two in the evening," he said, remembering a chapter in the book he read before. Then got a sly smile on his face. "Or I'll continue drinking coffee every time you do, giving you a very hard time and the moment you demands me to stop drinking it, I'll ask you the exact same thing, since that's only fair, right."

"That's blackmailing, Mikey," Don said, crossing his arms. Mikey shrugged. "Call it what you want, but I'm out of other ideas. This is our last resort."

"Our?"

Mikey nodded. "Dude, whatever I'm doing at this moment with your caffeine problem, I've got permission from everyone in and around this household. Everyone is that worried for you and wants what's best, so even sacrificing my own health would be approved. So please, Don… Just accept the compromise," he begged with his big puppy dog eyes, hoping this would be the last push he had to give. Then Don sighed. "You're unbelievable, you know that," he said a little disappointed. "But if everyone is that worried about me - which they shouldn't - I'm willing to give it a try."

A large smile lit up on Mikey's face, but before he could say something, Don hold up a hand. "I'm willing to conduct to this experiment. In a month I will be cut back to eight cups -"

"Seven," Mikey interrupted.

"- Seven cups a day. I will undergo this routine for a month and then we'll see what the next steps will be," he gave the compromise a twist of his own. Mikey gave it a thought, until he heard a noise from the doorway. Looking up he saw Leo and Raph peeking around the door frame, nodding their heads with excitement. With a grin Mikey looked back at Don, who in turn stared at their older brothers with a semi-conceded expression on his face. "You guys are unbelievable," he said, shaking his head in exasperation. "How long have you been standing there?"

"That's not important," Mikey quickly said, averting his brother's thoughts back to their compromise. "But you're having a deal. Within a month you'll be cut back to a healthy amount of regular coffee, and after another month we'll see what the effects are and what we can change or not." He waited for Don to give a nod and then hold out his hand. "Deal?"

With a chuckle Don took his hand into his own. "Deal. But just because I'm getting tired or your so-called 'helping and caring'. I really appreciate your concern, but dudes… Come on, enough is enough."

Letting go Don's hand, Mikey couldn't help but smile brightly. "We love you, bro. Just let us help once in a while. Maybe you won't need it, but we might." With that little side hit, he patted Don on his shoulder. "So, you can do this on your own, or do you need help to cut back from those eighteen cups a day?"

Grabbing his mug from the counter, Don detached himself from the youngest. "Don't worry. I'll do that on my own," he quickly said as he made his move out of the kitchen. A little awkward he squeezed his way through his two older brothers, who eyed him closely but didn't say anything. Within two seconds Don was at his lab and he closed the door behind him.

Then Leo gave a snort as he walked into the kitchen, taking a seat on the table. "Mikey, you actually did it. I don't know how, but dude… You pulled it off."

Raph followed and casually leaned back against the side of the counter. "Nice goin', Mike. Let's hope Don indeed will cut back."

With a proud smile Mikey faced his brothers. "Oh, he will. Once he promises something, he won't break it. I just hope he realises after that month he doesn't need that much coffee to function normally. But we'll see in time." Averting his eyes, he gave his empty mug a morose look. "I can't believe he actually likes this stuff," he said, pushing the mug to the back of the counter. "It stinks and tastes so bitterly…"

Raph shrugged. "Every now and then coffee's nice, 'specially in tha mornin'. I just drink it with sugar, otherwise it's indeed disgustin'."

Leo shook his head in a disappointing manner. "I don't think Don's drinking coffee because he likes it anymore. I just thinks he kind of needs it at the moment," he concluded, before giving his siblings a look. "Lets just hope that within two months he actually drinks it again for the taste instead of the need."

Mikey slowly nodded. "That would be great."

"We just hafta help him a bit," Raph pitched in as Leo gave a smile. "And we will."

I

Two months later

"Don, tea or coffee?" Leo asked as he stood next to the counter in the kitchen, looking back over his shoulder. Don gave him a smile. "Coffee, please."

Taking this as a conversation starter, Mikey put down his utensils next to his plate. "Speaking of coffee…" He turned to his immediate older brother with a smile. "Donnie, how are you doing? It's been two months now..."

Don gave a sigh as he took the mug from Leo which was handed to him. "Thanks, Leo," he said, turning back to Mikey with a frown. "You know… How much I actually dislike it - I must say I feel pretty good."

Mikey's eyes lit up as he got a broad smile on his face. "That's great, bro!"

"I hafta say that ya indeed look way betta than before," Raph said with his mouth full, pointing to Donnie with his fork.

"Raph…" Leo warned him, but all he received was a dirty look. Taking another bite just to irritate Leo, Raph nodded. "And yer not actin' like a woman with PMS anymore," he continued. "I like it."

"What?" Don fell out. "Seriously? It wasn't that bad, right?" he asked, looking at his brothers, who quickly averted their eyes and tried to be occupied with something else. Giving a snort, Don shook his head. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I might not had the best period back then."

"Many women would disagree, bro," Mikey joked. "You, my dear Donnie-bro, were the Queen of Periods."

As Leo tried not to choke on his tea, Raph leaned back in his chair with a grin as Don gave Mikey an amused look. "Oh, come on… At least make me King of Periods."

The youngest gave a agreeing shrug. "Dude, I even want to change it to King of the Faulty Era if you want to. But only if you include the title Emperor of the Seven Daily Coffee Cups with it."

Don gave it a thought. "You know what… Fine. You guys win."

"Yes!" Mikey exclaimed, high-threeing Raph as Leo got a satisfied smile on his face, silently sipping his tea.

"But sometimes you need to cut me some slack! When I need to pull an all-nighter, like that time one of the sewer pipes sprung and I needed to fix it before the lair got flooded, I kind of need some more to pull through. You've gotta give me that."

Finally Leo set down his mug. "Donnie, as long as you don't fall back into that so called 'faulty era', we're cool with everything," he said gently and immediately Raph and Mikey nodded.

In the short silence that followed, Don took his mug from the table and stared into the dark liquid. As he saw his own reflection, he gave a small smile, reflecting everything that had happened in the past few months. And yes, he had to admit… He had his ups and mostly downs. And although he knew not everything was the fault of his coffee intake, it might have been a factor. And that factor was now cancelled out, by the help of his brothers.

He finally looked up and gave a genuine smile. "Thanks guys," he said, grateful for the needed help he never asked for. Contently he took a sip out of his mug, noticing this coffee had never tasted as good as it did today.

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I really hope you liked it and I hope you guys are satisfied with the ending of this arc :). Please tell me your thoughts!

I'm trying to upload the next story very soon, but I can't make any promises :(. I thank you for your patience!