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The Pain Game	By : hummerhouse Category: +S through Z > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Views: 4701 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The TMNT are not mine. No money being made.

Chapter List
- 1-The Pain Game
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 10-Part 10
- 11-Part 11
- 12-Part 12
- 13-Part 13
- 14-Part 14
- 15-Part 15
- 16-Part 16
- 17-Part 17
- 18-Part 18
- 19-Part 19
- 20-Part 20
- 21-Part 21
- 22-Part 22
- 23-Part 23
- 24-Part 24
- 25-Part 25
- 26-Part 26
- 27-Part 27
- 28-Part 28
- 29-Part 29
- 30-Part 30
- 31-Part 31
- 32-Part 32
- 33-Part 33
- 34-Part 34
- 35-Part 35
- 36-Part 36
- 37-Part 37
- 38-Part 38
- 39-Part 39 Final
- 14
- 15
- 16
            Throughout most of the afternoon, Michelangelo found that he was experiencing a great deal of empathy for Spiderman.

            His very short but informative conversation with Raphael had left the youngest turtle feeling electrified and hyper sensitive. Mikey was so jacked up that it was like he suddenly had a sixth sense, acutely aware of the proximity of each and every member of his family.

            During practice Mikey kicked butt, as he so aptly put it, before Master Splinter announced an end to the day’s session. There was no move that any of his brothers could make that Mikey didn’t anticipate.

            The physical activity in the dojo had helped to take some of the edge off but Mikey was still too fidgety to settle down to anything once practice was over. He thought Raph might be feeling something similar because the hot head immediately turned to his punching bag without a word to anyone.

            Leo had been so intent on playing twenty questions that morning that he hadn’t said whether they were going to continue their restaurant patrol tonight. Mikey wasn’t sure if he wanted to go with them, or find an excuse to stay home again with the hopes that Raph would sneak off for another rendezvous with him.

            It would have been great if Raph would give him a hint as to what Mikey should do next, but his brother had turned into a clam after their short whispered conference before practice began.

Mikey needed information, but he wasn’t going to approach Leo with his questions. He’d had enough verbal sparring for one day and if he’d learned anything from watching Leo strategize tactics over the years, it was that gathering information before proceeding was essential.

Since Raph wasn’t talking, and Leo was out of the equation, that left Mikey with either Master Splinter or Donatello to choose from. Mikey’s performance at practice had been good enough that he thought either of them would approve his going on patrol again, but Master Splinter would surely yield to Don’s expertise in that area.

So Don it was. Squeezing him for information wouldn’t be all that hard since Don was more than likely expecting Mikey to ask anyway. Mikey had brought up the subject earlier after he’d spent the morning helping Don install cameras. When Mikey had asked if he could patrol with his brothers, Don had said ‘we’ll see’. Mikey figured it was time to pin his brother down on that point.

It was Leo’s turn to cook dinner and from the sound of things, his oldest brother was already in the kitchen. Leo was not a great cook because he lacked the imagination required by the culinary arts and actually considered cooking to be a chore. Mikey snickered to himself, thinking that if Leo ever did anything that earned Master Splinter’s ire, the best punishment would be giving him meal preparation duty for a month.

Mikey had no doubts that though Leo was banging around in the kitchen, he was also quite cognizant of the whereabouts of both Raph and Mikey in relation to each other. Leo could be out of the kitchen and breathing down their necks in a manner of seconds, so Mikey squelched the urge to go back to the dojo.

Instead he went looking for Donny. Finding that the genius wasn’t in his lab, Mikey took the elevator up to the garage and located his brother there.

Don glanced up when he heard Mikey’s approach. “Wow, I would have thought you’d be avoiding me out of fear that I’d find some other boring job for you to help me with. Unless you’re up here because you want something from me.”

Mikey’s grin was disarming. “Maybe your boring jobs are less boring than the lair right now. Besides, Leo’s in the kitchen and the sounds of his suffering were more than I could stand.”

Don’s chuckle was low and soft. “You mean the sounds that represent your future gastric suffering don’t you?”

Grimacing, Mikey said, “Don’t remind me. He promised never to try anything fancy ever again. We’ll probably have plain rice and broiled fish for dinner and I’ll be perfectly happy with that.”

“Every time we talk about that experiment of his it makes me glad I lost track of time and missed dinner,” Don said. He turned his attention back to the onboard mapping console that he’d removed from the van.

“Lost track of time, yeah right,” Mikey said as he gave Don a dirty look. “You skipped that dinner on purpose ‘cause you knew what we were in for.”

Don pointed a screwdriver at Mikey, his eyes twinkling. “Do not try and claim that you were clueless as to Leo’s abysmal culinary track record. Even Raph knew better. Why do you think he scheduled pizza night at Casey’s that evening? Why do you think Master Splinter chose to fast on that particular day?”

“Is that why Leo doesn’t get dinner duty very often?” Mikey asked. “Do you think if I royally screwed up my chores I could get out of them?”

“I do not,” Don said without looking up. “Master Splinter would know you’d done it on purpose. Leo actually tries to cook, he’s just really, really bad at it.”

Silence fell on the pair for a few moments as Mikey watched Don deftly take the console apart, his hands sure and quick. Mikey wondered if Don had trained his hands to work so fast because he was trying to get them to keep up with his brain. There was no way that could happen unless Don gave himself another pair of hands or two. The mental image was so amusing that Mikey laughed aloud.

“What?” Don asked, pausing for a moment.

“Nothing. I was just thinking how you’d look if you had eight arms, like that Indian goddess whose name I can’t remember,” Mikey said.

“Durga?” Don asked. He shrugged. “That would be handy, I have to admit.”

“Think you’d stick with one Bo staff or two?” Mikey asked.

“Hmm, maybe just the one,” Don said as he pried the back off the console and laid the inner components bare. “The length of the staff in relation to the proximity of the arms would make handling two problematic during a battle.”

“You could always switch to swords,” Mikey said. “Image Leo’s face if you’re fighting with eight while he’s still stuck with two.”

“You’re doing a lot of imagining tonight, Mikey. And a lot of picking on Leo,” Don said musingly.

“He’s been picking on me,” Mikey said, crossing his arms. “Speaking of which, he hasn’t said one word about patrolling tonight. Are we or aren’t we?”

Don’s eyes drifted up to him and then back to what he was doing. “In other words, am I going to announce that it’s safe for you to go with us if we go? You didn’t have to beat around the bush bro’. You could have asked outright.”

“Okay, so I’m asking,” Mikey said. “Is the restaurant patrol still on and do I get to go?”

“Leo told us last night when we got back that we were on again for tonight,” Don said. “He also said you didn’t need to know that until after we saw how you did at practice.”

“Hmmph,” Mikey snorted. “Figures. He knew I’d dog him all day if he said no outright.”

“Yes he did,” Don agreed. “Before you ask again, I already told him I see no reason why you can’t go. It’s still up to him, so try to avoid being annoying.”

“But Don~ny,” Mikey intoned, “that’s my super-secret weapon.”

“It’s not all that secret, Michelangelo,” Don said dryly.

Mikey stayed in the garage with Donatello, watching him install the graphics board that April had dropped off, until it was time for dinner. They took the elevator down to the lair and while Don split off to wash up, Mikey went to the kitchen and helped to set the table.

Since Mikey often did that as a way of hurrying the start of a meal, Leo didn’t seem surprised at his brother’s offer to help. Mikey took the opportunity to get a sneak peek at what Leo had prepared and as he’d predicted, it was very simple and non-life threatening.

As the family sat down to the meal, Don tipped Mikey at wink. Donatello had such an understated sense of humor that Mikey almost laughed out loud and then he wondered if Don was eating with them because he’d guessed the food would be safe or if he had spy cameras in the kitchen.

While they ate the four brothers and their father carried on a lively and intelligent conversation. They lightly teased Leo about his cooking and Raph tapped the back of Mikey’s hand once when the youngest reached for a bowl rather than asking for it to be passed.

It was all very normal. Partway through the meal Mikey looked up and realized that everyone was acting just as they always did, as though nothing odd was happening to any of them. That struck him as surreal and he had to remind himself that the things that had occurred between him and Raph weren’t his imagination.

As dinner drew to a close Leo looked up at his family, the expression on his face quieting his brothers. “Last night our stake-out provided us with no confirmation that the Purple Dragons or any other gang were planning to rob restaurants in the West end. We’ll go back tonight and see if we can spot anything. If we find nothing untoward tonight I’m inclined to ask Casey to double check his information. From what I saw that area is too lively, too well-lit, and too well-patrolled by law enforcement to make it a viable target.”

“I’ll call him tomorrow if nothing happens tonight,” Raph volunteered. “Maybe he got his wires crossed or something.”

“It’s possible he heard it wrong or his informant got the area mixed up with somewhere else,” Don said. “I have to agree with Leo that trying to rob anything in that section of the West end would be like committing theft in the middle of Times Square.”

“If Casey can ask around and get that same information from another source, then we’ll continue our patrol,” Leo said. “There’s always the possibility that whatever gang this is has already gathered the intel they need and are simply waiting for a night when there would be a large payout.”

“Guys, can I make a suggestion?” Mikey asked rhetorically, continuing without giving anyone the chance to acknowledge him. “We should stick to the places that have separate bars inside the restaurants. Most restaurants aren’t gonna be doing a big cash business, everybody buys their meals on credit these days. Bars are the only places that still take in a lot of green.”

“’We’ Michelangelo?” Leo asked, fixing his youngest brother with a stern look.

“Aw come on, Leo,” Mikey said, a hint of petulance in his voice. “You saw me at practice. I’m all healed up.”

A corner of Leo’s mouth lifted and Mikey knew his brother was messing with him. “It’s all right, Mikey. Don told me he thought you were back to a hundred percent so you’ll be coming with us tonight. By the way, your point about the most likely places for someone to hit is well reasoned. We’ll modify the search routes after dinner.”

“And after you boys have put the dinner things away and cleaned up the kitchen,” Master Splinter said, a hint of humor in his voice.

His sons all quickly acknowledged their father’s housekeeping reminder and then shared the clean-up duties equally. When the turtles returned to the map in Don’s lab, Master Splinter went with them, curious about the newest job his boys had taken on.

With his finger on the map, Leo traced out the new route assignments, telling Mikey, “I’m assigning this sector to you because the buildings in this area are older than most in the district. They aren’t very tall and they’re closer together, so jumping from one to the next shouldn’t put any undue strain on your ribs.”

“No problem, dude,” Mikey said agreeably, just happy that he was being included this time around.

“You will maintain a line of communication at all times Leonardo?” Master Splinter asked.

“Of course sensei,” Leo replied. “We check in with each other at regular intervals whenever we have to separate during a patrol.”

“Very good,” Master Splinter murmured. “As the old saying goes, ‘there is safety in numbers’.”

Leo glanced up at the clock mounted near the door and said, “We’ll leave here at ten and concentrate on the places that have bars in them, as Mikey suggested. Be sure you cover every possible spot that would give someone a vantage point from which to watch an establishment.”

“You know, the best place to gather information on a potential target is inside the restaurant or bar itself,” Don said.

Leo nodded. “I’ve thought of that. Obviously we can’t go inside so we just have to hope that part of their forces will be out where they can be found. Even if we talked Casey and April into going undercover in a restaurant, we don’t know which one to direct them to.”

“Yeah, not only that, they might not be able to spot one particular target in the crowd unless Casey had seen ‘em before,” Raph said. “Patrolling separately like this is our best bet bro’.”

Being in such an enclosed space with Raph made it hard for Mikey not to just stare at him, but the younger turtle was making the conscious effort. When his brother spoke though, Mikey could look at him without raising suspicion, and he saw Raph’s eyes flicker in his direction as he delivered that last line. The flash from that golden gaze was so quick that Mikey would have missed it if he wasn’t so focused on Raph’s face.

Mikey wondered what that look had meant, if anything. For some reason, Mikey felt as though Raph’s words had carried some sort of double meaning, but could not imagine what that might be.

“Since there’s still an hour until we leave, I’ve got some findings I need to catalogue,” Don said, looking at his brothers meaningfully.

“He means get out of his lab,” Mikey translated with a grin.

“Be safe my sons,” Master Splinter said. “Caution is more than a byword.”

“It is a way of surviving,” Leo finished for him. “We’ll be careful, sensei.”

One hour wasn’t enough time to really get into a good video game, so Mikey whiled away those sixty minutes by lying upside down on the couch with a stack of his favorite comic books. He heard rather than saw Leo pass by at least twice and Raph a total of three times, once stopping for a moment.

When Raph’s steps came to a halt near him, Mikey lifted the comic away from his face and looked up. Their eyes met but Raph didn’t say anything, nor did his expression change. He merely stared at Mikey briefly before moving on.

Words were Mikey’s stock in trade and not being able to exchange any significant ones with Raphael was driving him crazy. When a character in one of his comics drugged another character in order to get away with a crime, Mikey actually contemplated doing the same thing to Leo so he could spend some uninterrupted time with Raph. The only problem with that was even if it worked, when Leo woke up he’d know exactly what had happened and who had done it to him. The prospect of the repercussions from that was something Mikey didn’t even want to imagine.

The brothers met in the garage at ten. Raph went directly to his motorcycle while Don warmed up the van.

“I thought we were going on foot like you guys did last night,” Mikey said, stopping near the van.

“No, last night we drove to within a few blocks of the start of our search grid and then took to the roof tops,” Leo told him. “If our quarry has wheels we need to be prepared to follow them.”

“Makes sense,” Mikey said.

“Remember Mikey, do not engage in a fight. We’re only doing surveillance and unless something happens, we need to avoid being seen,” Leo warned him.

“I know, I know. Don’t take chances with my ribs,” Mikey said, rolling his eyes. “If one of you guys needs help though, I’m not gonna stand around and watch you take a beating. You can’t ask that of me dude.”

Leo smiled. “I won’t. I can’t expect you to do something I wouldn’t be able to do either.”

As Leo jumped into the passenger seat, Mikey glanced longingly at Raph, who was revving his motorcycle. There was nothing Mikey would rather have done than hop on behind the hot head, but he knew that action wouldn’t go over well with Leo or Raph.

Climbing into the van, Mikey took his seat and watched as Raph drove out of the garage. Don followed along behind him, using the remote control mounted on the dashboard to shut and lock the garage door.

At that time of night it wasn’t a long drive to the West end. The turtles stopped before they reached the crowded restaurant district, parking the shell cycle and van in a dark alleyway before ascending to the roof of the nearest building.

The brothers crossed to the opposite ledge and looked out across the expanse of city before them. For a few blocks there was nothing to see but darkness as both businesses and residents had called it a night. Beyond that was the gleam of light that told the story of restaurants bustling with activity.

Leo lifted a foot to the ledge, leaning an elbow on his knee as he surveyed the street below. Only a few street lights worked at pushing back the shadows despite the fact that the area was deserted.

His brothers waited, knowing their leader was assessing not only what he could see, but what he sensed as well. Finally Leo straightened and said, “We’ll meet back here once we’re certain everything has closed up for the night. Code in every half hour and call about suspicious activity immediately.”

“Will do boss,” Don said.

“Then let’s do this,” Leo said.

“I’m so looking forward to some action tonight. You up for that, Mikey?” Raph asked with a grin, pounding his younger brother’s shell before making the flying leap across to the building opposite them.

Mikey immediately read more into those words than had probably been meant and momentarily froze to stare after Raph’s retreating form. Normally he would have had some buoyant comeback, some snappy retort made quickly enough to reach Raph’s ears, but those words didn’t even make it to the processing center of his brain, much less his mouth.

Fortunately, Leo and Don were both too focused on beginning their patrol to notice Mikey’s sudden statue impression. When he saw them take off in different directions, Mikey’s paralysis left him and he talked his feet into moving.

It took Mikey a few minutes to pull his brain back to the task at hand and he was properly motivated towards his job by the time he reached the beginning of his search area. Crouching down low on a roof top, Mikey scrutinized the entrance to an upscale bistro, noting that even after ten at night the place was still taking in heavy foot traffic.

Through the windows he could see that while the dining area was well filled, it was the bar along one side of the space that had attracted the majority of late night occupants. This was exactly the sort of establishment that would be pulling in enough cash to warrant the attention of the Purple Dragons.

Mikey’s eyes swept across the road in front of the bistro and then followed the line of businesses to either side of it. There was a cross street a half block down on the left and a narrow alleyway a few yards to the right of the bistro entrance.

Deciding to explore the alley first, Mikey had just started to move when he sensed another presence nearby. Leaping to his feet, he spun around with his fists up, only to see Raphael coming towards him.

“Glad to know you’re paying more attention to your surroundings,” Raph said, an enigmatic expression on his face.

Mikey slowly lowered his hands. “What are you doing here? Did you find something?”

“Yeah. You,” Raph responded. “We need to talk.”

Moving away from the edge of the roof top, Mikey said, “We sure do, but five minutes isn’t enough time and we’re supposed to be patrolling. What happens when Leo decides to check on your whereabouts with his shell cell tracker? Dude, we’ll both be busted.”

Raph snorted. “Don’t ya’ think I’d have a plan for that? I left my shell cell back on a roof inside my search grid.” Digging into his belt, he produced another shell cell. “This is Master Splinter’s. I forwarded my line to this one, so if Leo calls, he’ll get an answer and I can still code in. Even Don won’t be able to tell I did that. I want ya’ to do the same thing and then leave your phone here and come with me.”

Mikey produced his shell cell slowly, contemplating Raph as he did so. “But what happens . . . .”

“Just do it,” Raph said, interrupting him. “I’ll answer ya’ once we get someplace where neither Leo nor Don can find us. Don’t worry, if they need us we won’t be far.”

Despite his misgivings, Mikey punched in the code that would send his calls to Master Splinter’s shell cell and then placed his phone inside one of the planters that decorated the roof top. When he looked up, Raph was already moving and Mikey had to jump to catch up to him.

After a couple of minutes it was clear that Raph was leading him back to their starting point. Rather than stopping on that roof though, Raph took the fire escape down to the alley where the van and shell cycle were parked.

Raph mounted his motorcycle as Mikey leaped down to the ground. Turning in the seat, Raph told him, “Get on.”

Having no idea what Raph was planning or how far he was going to take them didn’t stop Mikey from doing as he’d earlier dreamed of and climbing on behind his brother. As the motorcycle’s engine thrummed to life the seat between Mikey’s legs vibrated pleasurably, and the younger turtle scooted closer to the hot head, reaching forward to cling to the edges of Raph’s shell.

The route Raph took was on a direct line back to the lair. Mikey was sure that wasn’t where Raph was headed, not with Master Splinter there. Before they reached the alley that led to their garage, Raph turned off into a different alley and pulled into an abandoned warehouse.

Parking the shell cycle near a cement post, Raph hopped off and went back to the opening they’d driven through. A heavy wooden door stood against the wall and Raph pushed it into place, sealing the entry behind them.

Mikey stood next to the motorcycle, his eyes adjusting to the darkness in the warehouse. He was sure Raph had chosen this spot for their talk, but was surprised when Raph strode past him, crooking a finger to indicate that Mikey follow him.

Without a word, Mikey trailed along behind his brother. Embedded in one wall of the empty warehouse was a large metal grate, hinged along the top. Raph curled his fingers through the bars and pulled the grate upwards before looking back at Mikey.

“Get in there,” Raph said.

Mikey’s normal reaction to a command to enter a strange dark place would have been all verbal, but there was nothing ordinary about anything between him and his brother at the moment. He stepped through the opening and then waited as Raph came in behind him, lowering the grate back into place.

“I got something I want ya’ to see,” Raph said, using a pencil flash to light the way as he led Mikey through an access tunnel and then down a flight of stairs. An opening ahead of them took them into the sewers and Raph made a right turn into an area that Mikey did not recognize.

“We’re close to the lair,” Raph said, “but this section of tunnel ain’t connected to any of the ones near our home. I found this when I was exploring the area, looking for a place to. . . .”

His voice trailed off and Mikey prompted him, “A place to what?”

Raph made another turn and stopped in front of a metal door. “A place to hide what I am.”

He extracted a key from his belt and unlocked the door, shoving it open and then stepping inside. Mikey hesitated at the threshold, noting that the air didn’t smell at all musty, and then suddenly there was light.

“Come on in,” Raph said, smirking at his brother.

As Mikey entered, Raph closed and locked the door behind him. Mikey barely took note of that fact as he looked around at what was a fair sized room, the walls made of brick and the floors polished wood that had been swept clean.

The lights came from sconces mounted on the walls. Not all of them were lit, giving the room a dull golden glow. There was a long wood bar on the left side of the room with a dusty mirror mounted on the wall behind it. Pedestal bar seats lined the space in front of the bar and against the back wall was a stack of tables and chairs in varying states of disrepair.

It was the right side of the room that drew Mikey’s attention. Pipes ran along the wall and ceiling and dropped down into an enclosed cubicle, most likely a restroom, located nearer the entrance to the room. At the back of that area was a large bed constructed of a box spring with two mattresses piled on top of it. To one side of the bed was a good sized cedar chest and at the foot of the bed was its twin.

Mikey slowly walked to the bar and looked over, half expecting to see sliced limes and liquor bottles. What he found was that an ice chest was in residence on the floor back of the bar and pretty much nothing else.

He was aware of Raph’s eyes tracking him as Mikey made his way to the other side of the room, first inspecting the cubicle and finding that it did indeed contain a washbasin, toilet, and a tiny shower stall.

Heart pounding, Mikey took a few tentative steps towards the bed and then stopped, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Raph had not moved away from the door, though he was avidly watching each of Mikey’s movements.

“What . . .” Mikey began, his tongue feeling thick. Swallowing, he tried again. “What is this place?”

“It was built as a bomb shelter sometime back during World War I,” Raph told him. “After that it got converted into a speakeasy. I read somewhere that there were a lot of these built in New York City back in the day and started looking for some. Got lucky when I found this one so close to the lair.”

“Why?” Mikey asked, dumbfounded at learning of his brother’s secret.

All signs of the smirk were gone from Raph’s face, replaced by a seemingly dark veil that spoke of inner shadows. Only his golden eyes seemed to shine, perhaps enhanced by the lighting or the quirk of nature that had given Raphael such unusually colored irises.

“I think ya’ already know,” Raph said. “I thought maybe you’d figured it out that night when I caught ya’ in the tunnels after you’d screwed with me during practice.”

Sudden understanding dawned on Mikey. “Is that why you were so pissed? It’s why you never told anyone about what happened isn’t it?”

“After ya’ came to Casey’s and apologized, I could tell ya’ didn’t have a clue about me,” Raph said. “I didn’t buy into that whole idea that it was a con of yours either, but I needed time to figure out what was going on in your head.”

“You pretended to think I was playing an elaborate prank on you because you were trying to keep your secret?” Mikey asked. “I thought you were just giving me a way out to save us both a lot of embarrassment.”

He started towards his brother and Raph immediately lifted his hands and patted the air in front of him. “Stay back,” Raph warned. “You stay on that side of the room until we get done talking. You’re giving off that scent again and I know I probably am too.”

Mikey chuckled, though not with any real humor. “I guess we don’t really have the time for anything else, not when we still have to patrol our sections of the West end before we report back.”

“Forget about that,” Raph said. “I made that shit up.”

Startled, Mikey asked, “Made what up?”

“The whole story about Casey’s informant and Purple Dragons looking to hit a restaurant,” Raph answered. “It’s completely bogus. I picked the West end ‘cause it’s not too far from this place as the crow flies and from here we ain’t far from the lair. I made up another one for Casey so he doesn’t spill the beans that I was using him for cover. He thinks I’ve been talking to someone in the police department gang unit who’s willing to forget I’m a freak who likes to wear costumes in exchange for us sharing gang info with each other.”

“Casey’s a terrible liar,” Mikey pointed out.

“That’s why I told him to stay away from us for a while,” Raph said. “I told him I was only gonna work this gag a couple of times as a way to go topside alone and then I’d tell ya’ guys the Purple Dragons decided the West end was too high profile and changed their minds about hitting anyplace there. That’s true too, Hun is a dumb ass, but he ain’t dumb enough to run straight into the cops arms. Only Leo doesn’t know the Purple Dragons as well as I do, so he wouldn’t realize them idiots going after a restaurant doesn’t make sense.”

“Pretty elaborate story for something that you can only pull a couple of times,” Mikey said, his eyes narrowed as he contemplated Raph.

“I didn’t know ya’ was gonna get your happy ass grounded,” Raph snapped. “The whole point of making up something that’d force us to split up during a patrol was so I could get you alone for a talk. There wasn’t enough time last night with ya’ being stuck at home, so I had to make do with delivering my message in a more straight forward way.”

Mikey shivered, remembering how Raph had crushed him against the wall of his bedroom, forcing him through pain and coarse words to acknowledge the truth of his perversion.

“I like pain,” Mikey conceded slowly, his eyes never leaving Raph’s, “not in general, but just from you. It . . . it gets me off.”

Raph nodded. “That was pretty obvious last night. I’m glad last night worked out the way it did. I’d rather have learned the truth about ya’ that way than to show ya’ this room and find out I was on the wrong track.”

“How long have you had this place?” Mikey asked, trying to understand his brother’s motivations.

“I found it a year ago,” Raph answered, his eyes boring into Mikey.

“A year . . . oh, so you didn’t make it for me?” Mikey asked, trying to keep his voice light despite the disappointment he felt.

“Yeah, actually I kind of did,” Raph told him.

“But I didn’t know I was like this until almost two weeks ago,” Mikey said. “I don’t understand.”

Raph licked his lips, drawing a deep breath as he said, “Remember when we were kids and I used to pick on ya’? Like, all the time. I didn’t know why, I mean, I had two other brothers I could have gone after if I just needed the entertainment. The one I always bullied was you. I liked the way ya’ took things, how ya’ rolled with it and kept coming back for more.”

“I liked it too,” Mikey admitted. “Sure sometimes what you did really hurt, but I liked the attention. Then we got older and you stopped. I missed it and I guess that’s why I started playing pranks on you, ‘cause I wanted to get that connection back again.”

“I had to stop,” Raph said. He looked like he needed to say more, but hesitated, as though he had reached a point of no return and wasn’t sure he wanted to cross it.

“We came here to talk,” Mikey said, prompting him.

“This room is the only place where I can be alone when certain urges hit me,” Raph said. “I’ve got a dark side and sometimes I can’t shove it down without help.”

Waving at the two cedar chests, Raph continued, “I’ve been collecting things and when I look at them, when I imagine what I can do with them, it helps get me past those times when the urges are too strong.”

With an insightful leap, Mikey asked, “Leo knows about those urges, doesn’t he? He told me you have demons.”

Raph chuckled humorlessly. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Leo found out a long time ago what I am. He told me I can’t allow those kinds of thoughts to take root; that I can’t allow myself to give in to those needs.”

A minor epiphany hit Mikey then. “That’s why you wanted me to say I wasn’t getting turned on by you when you caught me in the tunnel. Why you told me to stay away from you, that I was sick and fucked up. It was because Leo said that same thing to you, didn’t he?”

There was a pained expression on Raph’s face and it almost appeared as though he wouldn’t answer. When he finally did, it was with a barely heard, “Yeah.”

Mikey suddenly felt a rush of jealousy so fierce it was like a physical blow. In his head he saw Leo gripping Raph’s arms, pressing in close to him, looking for all the world like someone claiming possession.

With a low growl, Mikey began to move towards Raph, ignoring the warnings to stay back.

TBC………………..
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The Pain Game