Broken Weekend (2/4)
*flops* So glad to finally get this sucker edited. Still haven't finished the next chapter, though I've started the final one. I've got one more scene to write on the next chapter, and ... I don't even know how many are gonna be in the fourth.
Title Broken Weekend
Characters/Pairings Raph/Don (non-con), Don/Leo, Mikey/Angel
Warnings Non-con, Turtlecest, Turtle Anatomy, Implications of a sexual relationship with a minor
Summary Blind rage, a mistake; returning home, a lie; pleasure, a revelation; guilt, a start of reparation
Author’s Note I had waaaayyy too much fun with the Mikey and Leo interactions throughout here. Theirs is a character pairing that I love in any form. Also, majorly expository chapter ahead. May I never have to do this much editing again. I swear I added like 5 pages onto this. D: (okay, so it was only like two, but still!
Chapter 2 (Part One)
Michelangelo stretched his arms behind his head as he stepped through hole in the wall that led into their lair. His gaze automatically flicked around the living space, searching for threats or anything out of place. Some of the practice equipment had been knocked out of place, more than likely Raph’s handiwork. Though he normally at least picked up after himself, but he might have been in one of the Moods that had become so common. Donatello had closed the door to his lab, but the lights were off. Was he even there?
He threw himself face first on the couch with a relieved groan, glad for the chance to finally rest after running a patrol in the city. He didn’t bother to flip over, only buried another moan in the cushions, not even caring that they were cold and scratchy against his skin.
A weight landed on his shell and a cold nose shoved at his head with a petulant mew. Mikey managed to reach back and stroke soft fur once before Klunk jumped off.
He did look up at the sound of hurried footsteps coming out of one of the adjacent rooms. He relaxed at the sight of green kin, identifying his brother even before he saw the blue mask. Only to tense again when he saw the way his brother moved, like he was on the verge of panicking.
“Donnie’s gone,” Leonardo said, and his wide-eyed gaze flicked up toward the second level. “So’s Raph.”
Mikey waved it off with a flick of his fingers and lay his head back down. “Donnie’s probably gone to the junkyard for parts, and ya know Raph, the punching bag probably wasn’t playing fair. I mean, it can't be trouble, we'da heard from Donnie, not to mention the lair's not trashed, so I wouldn't worry about it.”
“They should have called,” Leo grunted, finally relaxing his posture, and moved to stand over Mikey.
Michelangelo took the unspoken hint from his brother’s hovering and shifted his legs off the couch.
Leonardo eased himself down, his legs stretched out in front of him head lolling on the back of the couch.
Not that Mikey could see him, what with his face in the couch, but he just knew Leo always sat like that after a run.
The TV clicked on and flipped through several different channels, until it landed on a news program. Despite the apparent dismissal of the topic, he could tell their Fearless Leader was pissed, he could hear it in his voice.
Michelangelo's head popped up and he looked askance at his older brother. “Hey, what do you think you're doing?”
Leonardo smirked as he tucked the remote for the TV into the side of the couch. “Waiting for you to make dinner. You lost the bet after all.”
Mikey dropped his head back onto the couch. “Oh man, that's right.” He snuck a suspicious glare at his Fearless Leader. “Dude, how the hell did you get here so fast? Instant transmission?”
Leonardo’s mouth pulled up on the other side, into an almost full grin. “No. That’s just what you get for eating so much junk. Which I don’t want for dinner by the way. Steak, and rice. There's a bag of veggies in the freezer. Biscuits. With honey butter. Lots of it.”
The steak, seriously? Was he forgetting some special occasion? Michelangelo groaned in dismay, and he could all but imagine the grin on his big brother’s face. “Shell Leo, just ask for the kitchen sink next time, man.”
That earned him a snort. “Tried it, tastes nasty.”
Michelangelo laughed outright at that. “You have the weirdest sense of humor, bro.”
Leo stood, though he didn’t switch the television off. “And you should get busy on dinner. I’m going to pay my respects.”
The eldest turtle headed for the small shrine situated just outside of the door to his office. At one time, it had been Sensei's room, both for sleep and meditation; a place where he could speak to them privately if he needed to. Leonardo had taken it over, though he'd left it untouched for nearly half a year. He had even adopted some of their father's mannerisms, and methods. Mikey had pointed out that it made the rest of them uncomfortable when he did that. They didn't want another Splinter, they would rather have Leo be more himself, and do things his own way. Donnie and Raph had helped this idea along, by dragging a larger table and an actual chair to replace Splinter's old coffee table , giving him an imprompt to desk to speak to them across.
“Right, right.” Mikey stood, stretching the last kinks out of his muscles. The newscaster gave the date and time in post commercial greeting. Friday? He froze, staring at the screen, but not seeing the beginning of the sports segment, as a thought occurred to him. “Oh shell!” How could he have forgotten! He turned and to call out to his brother. “Hey, wait! I can’t make dinner tonight, bro.”
Leonardo paused at the door to the shrine, eye ridges lifted inquisitively.
“Can I postpone till tomorrow? I mean, the steaks are still in the freezer! I don't have time to defrost them, and all, ya know?”
Lean arms crossed over a sturdy plastron and Leo gave Mikey a Look. The younger brothers knew his opinion on shirking a debt. Especially when it came to Mikey losing said bet and having to cook dinner in payment. “You'll find them already in the fridge. They should be ready for you.”
Michelangelo flailed his arms expansively. “Pleeeeaase? I’ll make something real special! There's that lamb…” his voice trailed off at his brother’s utterly unconvinced expression. “Aw come on bro, I can’t disappoint Angel either. I made plans with her tonight.”
Leonardo's eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why did you even make that bet then?”
“I forgot!”
A slow blink; “Poor Angel,” and then Leo turned toward the room.
“Leooooooo!” Michelangelo wailed.
“I don’t hear dinner being made,” his older brother called back.
Bastard.
Mikey flopped back down on the couch with a resigned sigh. He grabbed his shell cell from his belt and hunched his shoulders as he flipped it open to call her. Man, this sucked. He’d really been looking forward to getting together with her. Oh right, she would be at school. He opened up the texting program and started typing the bad news. She was gonna be pissed.
His skin crawled with the weight of eyes on him. He jerked his head up in alarm for a second time in less than half an hour, but it was only Fearless Jerkface smirking at him from the door to his office.
“If you really wanted to see your jailbait girlfriend, you could just ask her to come over, you know. Not stopping you. Just don’t get your cooties all over the living area.”
Michelangelo’s wide-eyed surprise dropped into a mischievous grin. “Well, you could just consider it revenge for you and Donnie getting your cooties everywhere. I mean, hellooo, bedroom sound familiar to you? Ya got two of them to choose from.”
Leonardo snorted derisively. “Privilege of being the Fearless Leader, Mikey.” With a flick of his bandana tails, he disappeared back into his office, denying his youngest brother the chance at a rejoinder.
“And she turns 18 in a few months anyways!” he shouted, just for good measure. Mikey shook his head, but the grin stayed plastered on his face.
He deleted what he had been typing and texted Angel the change in plans, (though not the reason for them) and she replied with enthusiasm, adding a snark at having to be at school all day. He sighed with relief that she would take any opportunity to come down here, and doubly so that her Grandma was out of town for the weekend. Boy did he have plans for them. Casey had promised to keep an eye on Angel for the weekend, Mikey just planned on… helping while Casey was at work. Anything else was bonus points as far as he was concerned.
He pulled the remote out of the cushions and shut off the TV before heading into the kitchen to begin making dinner. Cold water gushed over his hands as he scrubbed them clean.
He checked the fridge, and sure enough there were the steaks. It had been Leo's turn to cook, but why would he pull out the meat. They didn't get much quality meat, and tried to save the really good stuff for special occasions. Or when Leo thought they needed the protein... that was probably it; Fearless Leader wanted something more solid than their normal fare, especially since Donnie’s usual diet was anything but healthy.
If Leo had been planning something special for just him and Donnie, then he wouldn’t have pulled out enough meat for everyone, much less forced Mikey to cook it. That's what he used to do, back when Sensei was still alive, so that he and Donnie could be ‘late’ to dinner, and have to eat by themselves in the kitchen.
Michelangelo pulled the package out of the fridge and started up the burner on the stove, intending to sear them before sticking them in the oven. While he waited for the pan to heat, he cleaned: dishes, the counter, his hands again, anything to keep his hands busy while he reminisced.
Klunk wound about his legs, hoping for a treat, small orange ears, and so Mikey dropped a few goodies under the table for his cat.
They wouldn’t have even been able to joke so openly only a year ago. Master Splinter frowned on any relationships that distracted from their training (though Michelangelo secretly suspected that it also had to do with their being teenagers). So he’d kept the budding relationship with Angel quiet. He also had felt a little bad that he had found anyone to date period, considering that well, he was a giant, mutant turtle and all, and he didn’t really wanna rub it in his brothers’ faces. (Casey had been a factor, at the time cause if Raph had found out… yeah… Didn’t even want to go there at the time.) He hadn't wanted to make them jealous that he was getting some and they weren’t.
At least, so he had thought.
Then he’d stumbled on Donnie and Leo necking in the hallway one very late night, early morning. Not the tentative kisses and touches of the newly dating, and Mikey’s gut had clenched so hard that he squeaked in surprise.
Which of course had gotten Leo’s attention.
They had separated so fast, that Michelangelo had really only seen them move because he sure as hell wasn’t blinking at the time. The three of them stood their staring at each other for a long time, though what had most drawn Mikey’s attention were the swollen tails between their legs. Donatello had taken a step toward him, mouth open to speak, breaking the tableau and that was when he’d bolted. He’d locked himself in his room for the rest of the day, ignoring the timid taps that initially followed his self-confinement, not even answering when Master Splinter had knocked at the door. He didn’t know what excuse Leo might have given, but Sensei hadn’t tried the master key he kept for all their rooms.
He couldn't remember everything that had been going through his mind at the time, he just recalled vague impressions of disgust and shock and a realization that stemmed from putting two and two together. Donnie’s late nights, which coincidentally ended around the same time as Leo’s early mornings. Their tails hanging free, swollen and indecent, like Casey running around with his pants off (not a pleasant sight, really. Ew). How much Leo depended on Don’s input during their missions. All the little glances and private smiles (which he’d always thought had been because of some joke that had passed right over his head) that suddenly had an added meaning. Then he’d remembered similar glances between Leo and Raph back when they’d been thrown into the future… and he hadn’t wanted to consider any more than those glances. (Had not needed those images in his head, still didn’t for that matter.) He had to admit that the thought of any of his brothers doing the horizontal mambo creeped him the hell out (was he the only ninja turtle who had not screwed another ninja turtle?), but could he blame them? Who else would they find?
The feeling of Angel against him, and knowing that in this world where they were freaks and outcasts-unwelcome on the surface-he still had someone willing to touch him, be with him, in ways he’d never thought possible. Hadn’t he kept his involvement with her secret from his brothers precisely because these things were so hard to find?
In the end, that had been what settled him.
Knowing the pleasure, and euphoria of being with someone who cared; how could he deny his brothers the same thing?
When he had come out of his room the next morning (ostensibly to eat, though he never made it as far as the kitchen), Master Splinter drew him aside and asked if he was feeling better. Mikey had apologized profusely for having been too out of it to answer the door, glad that he had a way out that wouldn’t require him lying outright to his Master. He sucked at pulling stories out of his tail, and worse still at maintaning a lie, especially to their father.
They had practiced as normal that day, though he hadn’t missed the furtive, nervous glances both Donnie and Leo had sent his way. He’d chosen to ignore them, for the time being, until he caught Leo alone later that day.
His big brother had looked positively trapped, eyes shifting nervously back and forth; fearful, as Mikey had never seen him before. Michelangelo recalled that clearly as though Leo were standing right in front of him.
He’d had a whole big spiel prepared, but when he'd seen how lost his big bro-their Fearless Leader-had looked, it completely slipped his mind.
“It’s okay,” he’d told him.
Leo’s eyes had narrowed, as though waiting for more, but when nothing more was forthcoming, his eyes went wide in surprise, and then he’d finally relaxed. He hadn’t said anything, but a brief smile of thanks had flickered across his face.
Close observation of his third brother revealed that he knew about it, and had apparently accepted it. Raph's face would harden with a resignation that Mikey had only seen when he'd been forced to swallow some bitter truth. And as much as it really did make Mikey's skin crawl, he also couldn't help but feel sorry for his bro. Talk about mondo suckitude. Yet Raph had never seemed to let it crawl under his skin like he was normally prone to do about things, and that made Mikey think that Raph had been the one to end things, and not Leo dumping Raph for Donnie. Pity they couldn't have included Raphie in some kinda giant, incestuous orgy or whatever... Okay, that was gross. God, Mikey hated how his brain worked sometimes. He still didn't need those kinda images crawling around his brain. Especially when he was cooking.
Cooking right. He supposed he'd better actually start doing that, instead of just standing around like an idiot. He greased the frying pan and plopped a steak down on it.
And then Sensei had found out about Angel. Mikey couldn’t remember what had given him away, but Sensei had found out and reamed him something fierce, using words like ‘honor’ and ‘obligation’ and ‘family’ and wielding them as though they were as sharp Leo’s katana. Remembering it still brought the sting of tears to his eyes. Like he could ever forget his team, his family, just because of a pair of pretty legs (or Angel, who was so much more than that).
Then Leonardo had stepped into the room, hadn't even waited for their Master’s permission before he knelt next to his youngest brother and defended him. Saying that he’d known about it (a load of bull, if Mikey had ever heard it), but had decided not to mention it so long as it didn’t jeopardize their team.
Splinter had succinctly dismissed Michelangelo, and hadn’t even wait for Mikey to be out of earshot before laying it into their Fearless Leader. Leonardo, kneeling before their sensei, unflinching despite his bowed head, remained with Michelangelo to this day.
Michelangelo remembered shaking so badly after that, from relief and surprise that his big bro would step in. He’d lied to Sensei. Leo. Lying to Splinter. To their Father? Unheard of.
The steaks went into the oven, and Mikey's stomach rumbled in anticipation.
He had hunted Leo down later that day, so that he could stammer his thanks.
Of course, Leonardo couldn't have just let it rest at that, he'd asked a few questions (Mikey could not remember what those questions were) and informed his little brother that he would not tolerate slacking off for this relationship. Then he'd smiled and clapped Mikey on the shoulder and finally left it at that.
Man, it still felt so weird being able to be so open about everything. Even Angel knew about them, though they hadn’t told April and Casey yet… Adults tended to be a little more close-minded than most kids. They hadn’t even meant f;r Angel to find out, but Don and Leo had lost track of their surroundings and she had caught them in the dojo, fortunately not doing anything worse than petting each other, or so she said. (Bad ninjas, no cookies.)
The steaks came out of the oven, and he set the pan on top of the stove to let it cool. He moved to dump rice into a pot of boiling water.
A hand dropped onto his shoulder. “Mmm, that smells good. Almost done?”
“AHHH!” Michelangelo yelped, not quite stifling the outcry before it had a chance to become a girlish screech. He whirled to face Leo, automatically dropping into a defensive stance, wielding his bag of rice like a weapon. “Shell, Leo! Gonna give a turtle a heart attack why dont'cha?”
“Should pay attention then.” His eyes traveled back to the steaks in the pan. “Kitchen's a mess. Dinner must be almost ready?”
A grin spread on Mikey's face, and he turned to raise the temperature on the oven for the biscuits. He glanced around, and sure enough the kitchen had somehow gotten messy despite his earlier cleaning. “Why? Is Donnie antsy for food before you two get back to horizontal mambo.”
Leo didn't say anything for so long that Michelangelo actually had to turn around and see if he was still there.
Mikey took in his brother's pensive expression and quickly jumped to a conclusion. “Donnie not home yet?”
A simple shake of his head answered the question.
“Not answering his shell cell?”
Brown eyes narrowed in annoyance. “What do you think?”
“Right. How about Raph?”
Leonardo sighed and abruptly changed subjects. “Angel ready to come over yet?”
Avoiding the question. Ouch. Michelangelo glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Yeah.” His eyes fell on the food still on the stove and the pack of biscuits waiting to be cooked. “Err...”
“I'll go get her. Let her know I'm coming, would you?” Leonardo turned around and left, his mask tails flying behind him.
“You're the best, bro!” Mikey grabbed up a washcloth and wiped his hands clean before taking out his shell cell and calling Angel. He let her know that Leo was on his way and then turned his attention back to the remaining items to be cooked.
Leo was not a happy camper, if Mikey knew him (which he did). He hated leaving the lair when any of his brothers were missing. He'd also probably been hoping to send Donnie to get Angel, so he could keep waiting for Raph to show up. Mikey foresaw a major league tongue-lashing in their future, whenever they came home at least.. He almost felt sorry for them.
Michelangelo had cleaned up and was setting the table when the Lair door opened. He glanced up, from laying the forks out, and grinned when Angel came in followed by Leo.
The teen's dainty nose lifted to sniff at the air. A pang went through Mikey's heart at this unintentional small reminder of their dead Sensei. “Ooh that smells good, Mikey.” She set her overnight bag down on the couch and shrugged her coat off to put it down beside it. Klunk bounded onto the back of the couch for attention that she gladly gave him. Then she made her way over to the youngest turtle to plant a kiss on his snout.
Leo took off his own surface clothes right there, starting with the scarf wound around his neck. His eyes rolled in silent exasperation at Mikey.
The silverware rattled on the table, so that he could wrap his arms around her in an enthusiastic hug. “How's my favorite girl?”
She matched his grin, and poked her forefinger at his plastron. “You have other girls? I should be jealous.”
Mikey laughed and posed for dramatic effect, fists planted on his hips, chin lifted and saucy grin in place. “Well, I have to fight them off with Don's bo sometimes, but you're still my favorite.”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder, in affected hauteur. “I'm sure you're just a pimp daddy who can't touch his own man-whores.”
He feigned shock with a hand placed over his plastron. “Man-whores? I'm sorry my dear lady, but I only deal in mutant-whores. Just ask Raph.”
She burst out laughing. “Ooh, burrrrn.”
Leonard snorted and shook his head at the entire exchange. He moved past the youngest brother to grab a plate. “It's all ready, right?”
“Yup.” Then Mikey realized what Leo was gonna do. “Hey, Leo! Don't you have any manners? Ladies first!”
“You're one to talk about manners, Mikey,” Leo retorted from the kitchen. “Did Donnie or Raph ever show?”
Mikey finished setting the silverware down and took Angel's hand to pull her into the kitchen where dinner waited to be served. “Sorry bro, still no sign of them.”
Angel’s stepped up next to Michelangelo to grab a plate off the counter. “It actually doesn’t look like a pig sty in here this time.”
Leonardo filled his plate, and then turned around and held it out to Angel. “You should have seen the place before I left to get you.” His eyes glinted in mirth at their surprise, and he took the empty plate from her fingers to replace it with the full one.
It took a few seconds before Angel's wits seemed to catch up with her. “Er, thanks, Leo.”
“You’re welcome,” he said and turned to fill the empty plate.
“Hey, you know what they say. Artists always make a mess to create a masterpiece.” Mikey grinned. “Is that one for me?”
Leonardo's eye ridges lifted at that, and he snorted, dropping of second spoonful of rice onto his plate. “Reall,y then where's this artist? I wanna meet him.” He turned to leave, gesturing for Angel to go first. “You can make your own.” Angel only stared dumbly at him and so he led her by the shoulder . “You'd think you haven't been treated like a lady before,” he said, with a teasing look aimed at his brother.
That snapped her out of it, and she tossed her hair at him. “Well, I have been around hoodlums for the past few years.”
“Hmm. You shouldn't pick on Raph when he's not here to defend himself.”
She laughed, bumping Leo's shell with her hip as she walked past him and out to the table.
Mikey sniffed once and gave his brother a sly look. “If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think you were hitting on my girl.”
Leonardo paused, and leveled a speaking glare on the youngest brother. “Yes Mikey,” he drawled, “I am absolutely hitting on your jailbait, human girlfriend. You have found me out.”
Mikey plopped a biscuit on his plate and sniffled, blinking his eyes to draw tears. “Ah man, bro. What-what can I do?” He rubbed at his mask and set his plate on the counter so his other hand could join in drying his eyes. “I mean how can I ever hope to compete with you? You charm all the ladies away from me, dude.” He sobbed a few times for good effect.
Leonardo was silent for the longest time, and Mikey could just imagine the expression on his face. He could always be trusted to pull the straight act. “Well, if you don't hurry up, I'm just going to go and wile this one away from you, too.” He left the kitchen, cheerfully greeting Angel already sitting at the table.
Grinning, Michelangelo joined them and the three of them carried on a lively conversation. He didn't miss Leonardo's furtive glances at the two empty seats, or the worry that occasionally touched his face. Mikey couldn't make their two missing brothers appear, but he could do his damnedest to make their leader smile.
~*~*~*~
Part Two
Title Broken Weekend
Characters/Pairings Raph/Don (non-con), Don/Leo, Mikey/Angel
Warnings Non-con, Turtlecest, Turtle Anatomy, Implications of a sexual relationship with a minor
Summary Blind rage, a mistake; returning home, a lie; pleasure, a revelation; guilt, a start of reparation
Author’s Note I had waaaayyy too much fun with the Mikey and Leo interactions throughout here. Theirs is a character pairing that I love in any form. Also, majorly expository chapter ahead. May I never have to do this much editing again. I swear I added like 5 pages onto this. D: (okay, so it was only like two, but still!
Chapter 2 (Part One)
Michelangelo stretched his arms behind his head as he stepped through hole in the wall that led into their lair. His gaze automatically flicked around the living space, searching for threats or anything out of place. Some of the practice equipment had been knocked out of place, more than likely Raph’s handiwork. Though he normally at least picked up after himself, but he might have been in one of the Moods that had become so common. Donatello had closed the door to his lab, but the lights were off. Was he even there?
He threw himself face first on the couch with a relieved groan, glad for the chance to finally rest after running a patrol in the city. He didn’t bother to flip over, only buried another moan in the cushions, not even caring that they were cold and scratchy against his skin.
A weight landed on his shell and a cold nose shoved at his head with a petulant mew. Mikey managed to reach back and stroke soft fur once before Klunk jumped off.
He did look up at the sound of hurried footsteps coming out of one of the adjacent rooms. He relaxed at the sight of green kin, identifying his brother even before he saw the blue mask. Only to tense again when he saw the way his brother moved, like he was on the verge of panicking.
“Donnie’s gone,” Leonardo said, and his wide-eyed gaze flicked up toward the second level. “So’s Raph.”
Mikey waved it off with a flick of his fingers and lay his head back down. “Donnie’s probably gone to the junkyard for parts, and ya know Raph, the punching bag probably wasn’t playing fair. I mean, it can't be trouble, we'da heard from Donnie, not to mention the lair's not trashed, so I wouldn't worry about it.”
“They should have called,” Leo grunted, finally relaxing his posture, and moved to stand over Mikey.
Michelangelo took the unspoken hint from his brother’s hovering and shifted his legs off the couch.
Leonardo eased himself down, his legs stretched out in front of him head lolling on the back of the couch.
Not that Mikey could see him, what with his face in the couch, but he just knew Leo always sat like that after a run.
The TV clicked on and flipped through several different channels, until it landed on a news program. Despite the apparent dismissal of the topic, he could tell their Fearless Leader was pissed, he could hear it in his voice.
Michelangelo's head popped up and he looked askance at his older brother. “Hey, what do you think you're doing?”
Leonardo smirked as he tucked the remote for the TV into the side of the couch. “Waiting for you to make dinner. You lost the bet after all.”
Mikey dropped his head back onto the couch. “Oh man, that's right.” He snuck a suspicious glare at his Fearless Leader. “Dude, how the hell did you get here so fast? Instant transmission?”
Leonardo’s mouth pulled up on the other side, into an almost full grin. “No. That’s just what you get for eating so much junk. Which I don’t want for dinner by the way. Steak, and rice. There's a bag of veggies in the freezer. Biscuits. With honey butter. Lots of it.”
The steak, seriously? Was he forgetting some special occasion? Michelangelo groaned in dismay, and he could all but imagine the grin on his big brother’s face. “Shell Leo, just ask for the kitchen sink next time, man.”
That earned him a snort. “Tried it, tastes nasty.”
Michelangelo laughed outright at that. “You have the weirdest sense of humor, bro.”
Leo stood, though he didn’t switch the television off. “And you should get busy on dinner. I’m going to pay my respects.”
The eldest turtle headed for the small shrine situated just outside of the door to his office. At one time, it had been Sensei's room, both for sleep and meditation; a place where he could speak to them privately if he needed to. Leonardo had taken it over, though he'd left it untouched for nearly half a year. He had even adopted some of their father's mannerisms, and methods. Mikey had pointed out that it made the rest of them uncomfortable when he did that. They didn't want another Splinter, they would rather have Leo be more himself, and do things his own way. Donnie and Raph had helped this idea along, by dragging a larger table and an actual chair to replace Splinter's old coffee table , giving him an imprompt to desk to speak to them across.
“Right, right.” Mikey stood, stretching the last kinks out of his muscles. The newscaster gave the date and time in post commercial greeting. Friday? He froze, staring at the screen, but not seeing the beginning of the sports segment, as a thought occurred to him. “Oh shell!” How could he have forgotten! He turned and to call out to his brother. “Hey, wait! I can’t make dinner tonight, bro.”
Leonardo paused at the door to the shrine, eye ridges lifted inquisitively.
“Can I postpone till tomorrow? I mean, the steaks are still in the freezer! I don't have time to defrost them, and all, ya know?”
Lean arms crossed over a sturdy plastron and Leo gave Mikey a Look. The younger brothers knew his opinion on shirking a debt. Especially when it came to Mikey losing said bet and having to cook dinner in payment. “You'll find them already in the fridge. They should be ready for you.”
Michelangelo flailed his arms expansively. “Pleeeeaase? I’ll make something real special! There's that lamb…” his voice trailed off at his brother’s utterly unconvinced expression. “Aw come on bro, I can’t disappoint Angel either. I made plans with her tonight.”
Leonardo's eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why did you even make that bet then?”
“I forgot!”
A slow blink; “Poor Angel,” and then Leo turned toward the room.
“Leooooooo!” Michelangelo wailed.
“I don’t hear dinner being made,” his older brother called back.
Bastard.
Mikey flopped back down on the couch with a resigned sigh. He grabbed his shell cell from his belt and hunched his shoulders as he flipped it open to call her. Man, this sucked. He’d really been looking forward to getting together with her. Oh right, she would be at school. He opened up the texting program and started typing the bad news. She was gonna be pissed.
His skin crawled with the weight of eyes on him. He jerked his head up in alarm for a second time in less than half an hour, but it was only Fearless Jerkface smirking at him from the door to his office.
“If you really wanted to see your jailbait girlfriend, you could just ask her to come over, you know. Not stopping you. Just don’t get your cooties all over the living area.”
Michelangelo’s wide-eyed surprise dropped into a mischievous grin. “Well, you could just consider it revenge for you and Donnie getting your cooties everywhere. I mean, hellooo, bedroom sound familiar to you? Ya got two of them to choose from.”
Leonardo snorted derisively. “Privilege of being the Fearless Leader, Mikey.” With a flick of his bandana tails, he disappeared back into his office, denying his youngest brother the chance at a rejoinder.
“And she turns 18 in a few months anyways!” he shouted, just for good measure. Mikey shook his head, but the grin stayed plastered on his face.
He deleted what he had been typing and texted Angel the change in plans, (though not the reason for them) and she replied with enthusiasm, adding a snark at having to be at school all day. He sighed with relief that she would take any opportunity to come down here, and doubly so that her Grandma was out of town for the weekend. Boy did he have plans for them. Casey had promised to keep an eye on Angel for the weekend, Mikey just planned on… helping while Casey was at work. Anything else was bonus points as far as he was concerned.
He pulled the remote out of the cushions and shut off the TV before heading into the kitchen to begin making dinner. Cold water gushed over his hands as he scrubbed them clean.
He checked the fridge, and sure enough there were the steaks. It had been Leo's turn to cook, but why would he pull out the meat. They didn't get much quality meat, and tried to save the really good stuff for special occasions. Or when Leo thought they needed the protein... that was probably it; Fearless Leader wanted something more solid than their normal fare, especially since Donnie’s usual diet was anything but healthy.
If Leo had been planning something special for just him and Donnie, then he wouldn’t have pulled out enough meat for everyone, much less forced Mikey to cook it. That's what he used to do, back when Sensei was still alive, so that he and Donnie could be ‘late’ to dinner, and have to eat by themselves in the kitchen.
Michelangelo pulled the package out of the fridge and started up the burner on the stove, intending to sear them before sticking them in the oven. While he waited for the pan to heat, he cleaned: dishes, the counter, his hands again, anything to keep his hands busy while he reminisced.
Klunk wound about his legs, hoping for a treat, small orange ears, and so Mikey dropped a few goodies under the table for his cat.
They wouldn’t have even been able to joke so openly only a year ago. Master Splinter frowned on any relationships that distracted from their training (though Michelangelo secretly suspected that it also had to do with their being teenagers). So he’d kept the budding relationship with Angel quiet. He also had felt a little bad that he had found anyone to date period, considering that well, he was a giant, mutant turtle and all, and he didn’t really wanna rub it in his brothers’ faces. (Casey had been a factor, at the time cause if Raph had found out… yeah… Didn’t even want to go there at the time.) He hadn't wanted to make them jealous that he was getting some and they weren’t.
At least, so he had thought.
Then he’d stumbled on Donnie and Leo necking in the hallway one very late night, early morning. Not the tentative kisses and touches of the newly dating, and Mikey’s gut had clenched so hard that he squeaked in surprise.
Which of course had gotten Leo’s attention.
They had separated so fast, that Michelangelo had really only seen them move because he sure as hell wasn’t blinking at the time. The three of them stood their staring at each other for a long time, though what had most drawn Mikey’s attention were the swollen tails between their legs. Donatello had taken a step toward him, mouth open to speak, breaking the tableau and that was when he’d bolted. He’d locked himself in his room for the rest of the day, ignoring the timid taps that initially followed his self-confinement, not even answering when Master Splinter had knocked at the door. He didn’t know what excuse Leo might have given, but Sensei hadn’t tried the master key he kept for all their rooms.
He couldn't remember everything that had been going through his mind at the time, he just recalled vague impressions of disgust and shock and a realization that stemmed from putting two and two together. Donnie’s late nights, which coincidentally ended around the same time as Leo’s early mornings. Their tails hanging free, swollen and indecent, like Casey running around with his pants off (not a pleasant sight, really. Ew). How much Leo depended on Don’s input during their missions. All the little glances and private smiles (which he’d always thought had been because of some joke that had passed right over his head) that suddenly had an added meaning. Then he’d remembered similar glances between Leo and Raph back when they’d been thrown into the future… and he hadn’t wanted to consider any more than those glances. (Had not needed those images in his head, still didn’t for that matter.) He had to admit that the thought of any of his brothers doing the horizontal mambo creeped him the hell out (was he the only ninja turtle who had not screwed another ninja turtle?), but could he blame them? Who else would they find?
The feeling of Angel against him, and knowing that in this world where they were freaks and outcasts-unwelcome on the surface-he still had someone willing to touch him, be with him, in ways he’d never thought possible. Hadn’t he kept his involvement with her secret from his brothers precisely because these things were so hard to find?
In the end, that had been what settled him.
Knowing the pleasure, and euphoria of being with someone who cared; how could he deny his brothers the same thing?
When he had come out of his room the next morning (ostensibly to eat, though he never made it as far as the kitchen), Master Splinter drew him aside and asked if he was feeling better. Mikey had apologized profusely for having been too out of it to answer the door, glad that he had a way out that wouldn’t require him lying outright to his Master. He sucked at pulling stories out of his tail, and worse still at maintaning a lie, especially to their father.
They had practiced as normal that day, though he hadn’t missed the furtive, nervous glances both Donnie and Leo had sent his way. He’d chosen to ignore them, for the time being, until he caught Leo alone later that day.
His big brother had looked positively trapped, eyes shifting nervously back and forth; fearful, as Mikey had never seen him before. Michelangelo recalled that clearly as though Leo were standing right in front of him.
He’d had a whole big spiel prepared, but when he'd seen how lost his big bro-their Fearless Leader-had looked, it completely slipped his mind.
“It’s okay,” he’d told him.
Leo’s eyes had narrowed, as though waiting for more, but when nothing more was forthcoming, his eyes went wide in surprise, and then he’d finally relaxed. He hadn’t said anything, but a brief smile of thanks had flickered across his face.
Close observation of his third brother revealed that he knew about it, and had apparently accepted it. Raph's face would harden with a resignation that Mikey had only seen when he'd been forced to swallow some bitter truth. And as much as it really did make Mikey's skin crawl, he also couldn't help but feel sorry for his bro. Talk about mondo suckitude. Yet Raph had never seemed to let it crawl under his skin like he was normally prone to do about things, and that made Mikey think that Raph had been the one to end things, and not Leo dumping Raph for Donnie. Pity they couldn't have included Raphie in some kinda giant, incestuous orgy or whatever... Okay, that was gross. God, Mikey hated how his brain worked sometimes. He still didn't need those kinda images crawling around his brain. Especially when he was cooking.
Cooking right. He supposed he'd better actually start doing that, instead of just standing around like an idiot. He greased the frying pan and plopped a steak down on it.
And then Sensei had found out about Angel. Mikey couldn’t remember what had given him away, but Sensei had found out and reamed him something fierce, using words like ‘honor’ and ‘obligation’ and ‘family’ and wielding them as though they were as sharp Leo’s katana. Remembering it still brought the sting of tears to his eyes. Like he could ever forget his team, his family, just because of a pair of pretty legs (or Angel, who was so much more than that).
Then Leonardo had stepped into the room, hadn't even waited for their Master’s permission before he knelt next to his youngest brother and defended him. Saying that he’d known about it (a load of bull, if Mikey had ever heard it), but had decided not to mention it so long as it didn’t jeopardize their team.
Splinter had succinctly dismissed Michelangelo, and hadn’t even wait for Mikey to be out of earshot before laying it into their Fearless Leader. Leonardo, kneeling before their sensei, unflinching despite his bowed head, remained with Michelangelo to this day.
Michelangelo remembered shaking so badly after that, from relief and surprise that his big bro would step in. He’d lied to Sensei. Leo. Lying to Splinter. To their Father? Unheard of.
The steaks went into the oven, and Mikey's stomach rumbled in anticipation.
He had hunted Leo down later that day, so that he could stammer his thanks.
Of course, Leonardo couldn't have just let it rest at that, he'd asked a few questions (Mikey could not remember what those questions were) and informed his little brother that he would not tolerate slacking off for this relationship. Then he'd smiled and clapped Mikey on the shoulder and finally left it at that.
Man, it still felt so weird being able to be so open about everything. Even Angel knew about them, though they hadn’t told April and Casey yet… Adults tended to be a little more close-minded than most kids. They hadn’t even meant f;r Angel to find out, but Don and Leo had lost track of their surroundings and she had caught them in the dojo, fortunately not doing anything worse than petting each other, or so she said. (Bad ninjas, no cookies.)
The steaks came out of the oven, and he set the pan on top of the stove to let it cool. He moved to dump rice into a pot of boiling water.
A hand dropped onto his shoulder. “Mmm, that smells good. Almost done?”
“AHHH!” Michelangelo yelped, not quite stifling the outcry before it had a chance to become a girlish screech. He whirled to face Leo, automatically dropping into a defensive stance, wielding his bag of rice like a weapon. “Shell, Leo! Gonna give a turtle a heart attack why dont'cha?”
“Should pay attention then.” His eyes traveled back to the steaks in the pan. “Kitchen's a mess. Dinner must be almost ready?”
A grin spread on Mikey's face, and he turned to raise the temperature on the oven for the biscuits. He glanced around, and sure enough the kitchen had somehow gotten messy despite his earlier cleaning. “Why? Is Donnie antsy for food before you two get back to horizontal mambo.”
Leo didn't say anything for so long that Michelangelo actually had to turn around and see if he was still there.
Mikey took in his brother's pensive expression and quickly jumped to a conclusion. “Donnie not home yet?”
A simple shake of his head answered the question.
“Not answering his shell cell?”
Brown eyes narrowed in annoyance. “What do you think?”
“Right. How about Raph?”
Leonardo sighed and abruptly changed subjects. “Angel ready to come over yet?”
Avoiding the question. Ouch. Michelangelo glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Yeah.” His eyes fell on the food still on the stove and the pack of biscuits waiting to be cooked. “Err...”
“I'll go get her. Let her know I'm coming, would you?” Leonardo turned around and left, his mask tails flying behind him.
“You're the best, bro!” Mikey grabbed up a washcloth and wiped his hands clean before taking out his shell cell and calling Angel. He let her know that Leo was on his way and then turned his attention back to the remaining items to be cooked.
Leo was not a happy camper, if Mikey knew him (which he did). He hated leaving the lair when any of his brothers were missing. He'd also probably been hoping to send Donnie to get Angel, so he could keep waiting for Raph to show up. Mikey foresaw a major league tongue-lashing in their future, whenever they came home at least.. He almost felt sorry for them.
Michelangelo had cleaned up and was setting the table when the Lair door opened. He glanced up, from laying the forks out, and grinned when Angel came in followed by Leo.
The teen's dainty nose lifted to sniff at the air. A pang went through Mikey's heart at this unintentional small reminder of their dead Sensei. “Ooh that smells good, Mikey.” She set her overnight bag down on the couch and shrugged her coat off to put it down beside it. Klunk bounded onto the back of the couch for attention that she gladly gave him. Then she made her way over to the youngest turtle to plant a kiss on his snout.
Leo took off his own surface clothes right there, starting with the scarf wound around his neck. His eyes rolled in silent exasperation at Mikey.
The silverware rattled on the table, so that he could wrap his arms around her in an enthusiastic hug. “How's my favorite girl?”
She matched his grin, and poked her forefinger at his plastron. “You have other girls? I should be jealous.”
Mikey laughed and posed for dramatic effect, fists planted on his hips, chin lifted and saucy grin in place. “Well, I have to fight them off with Don's bo sometimes, but you're still my favorite.”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder, in affected hauteur. “I'm sure you're just a pimp daddy who can't touch his own man-whores.”
He feigned shock with a hand placed over his plastron. “Man-whores? I'm sorry my dear lady, but I only deal in mutant-whores. Just ask Raph.”
She burst out laughing. “Ooh, burrrrn.”
Leonard snorted and shook his head at the entire exchange. He moved past the youngest brother to grab a plate. “It's all ready, right?”
“Yup.” Then Mikey realized what Leo was gonna do. “Hey, Leo! Don't you have any manners? Ladies first!”
“You're one to talk about manners, Mikey,” Leo retorted from the kitchen. “Did Donnie or Raph ever show?”
Mikey finished setting the silverware down and took Angel's hand to pull her into the kitchen where dinner waited to be served. “Sorry bro, still no sign of them.”
Angel’s stepped up next to Michelangelo to grab a plate off the counter. “It actually doesn’t look like a pig sty in here this time.”
Leonardo filled his plate, and then turned around and held it out to Angel. “You should have seen the place before I left to get you.” His eyes glinted in mirth at their surprise, and he took the empty plate from her fingers to replace it with the full one.
It took a few seconds before Angel's wits seemed to catch up with her. “Er, thanks, Leo.”
“You’re welcome,” he said and turned to fill the empty plate.
“Hey, you know what they say. Artists always make a mess to create a masterpiece.” Mikey grinned. “Is that one for me?”
Leonardo's eye ridges lifted at that, and he snorted, dropping of second spoonful of rice onto his plate. “Reall,y then where's this artist? I wanna meet him.” He turned to leave, gesturing for Angel to go first. “You can make your own.” Angel only stared dumbly at him and so he led her by the shoulder . “You'd think you haven't been treated like a lady before,” he said, with a teasing look aimed at his brother.
That snapped her out of it, and she tossed her hair at him. “Well, I have been around hoodlums for the past few years.”
“Hmm. You shouldn't pick on Raph when he's not here to defend himself.”
She laughed, bumping Leo's shell with her hip as she walked past him and out to the table.
Mikey sniffed once and gave his brother a sly look. “If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think you were hitting on my girl.”
Leonardo paused, and leveled a speaking glare on the youngest brother. “Yes Mikey,” he drawled, “I am absolutely hitting on your jailbait, human girlfriend. You have found me out.”
Mikey plopped a biscuit on his plate and sniffled, blinking his eyes to draw tears. “Ah man, bro. What-what can I do?” He rubbed at his mask and set his plate on the counter so his other hand could join in drying his eyes. “I mean how can I ever hope to compete with you? You charm all the ladies away from me, dude.” He sobbed a few times for good effect.
Leonardo was silent for the longest time, and Mikey could just imagine the expression on his face. He could always be trusted to pull the straight act. “Well, if you don't hurry up, I'm just going to go and wile this one away from you, too.” He left the kitchen, cheerfully greeting Angel already sitting at the table.
Grinning, Michelangelo joined them and the three of them carried on a lively conversation. He didn't miss Leonardo's furtive glances at the two empty seats, or the worry that occasionally touched his face. Mikey couldn't make their two missing brothers appear, but he could do his damnedest to make their leader smile.
~*~*~*~
Part Two