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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
- 18
- 19
- 20
            “How is he doing?” Leo asked as Don entered the kitchen.

            It was dinner time. The brothers had spent the afternoon at practice with Leo leading them while Master Splinter rested. Don had repaired their father’s heater and it was warming up Master Splinter’s room, but the aged rat was still seated on the couch, blankets wrapped around his body.

            Showing his brothers the empty bowl he was carrying, Don said, “He ate all of his soup. His temperature is normal, but I’ll keep monitoring it. The tea with honey helped his sore throat and that’s getting better, but he’s starting to sound congested.”

            “Do we have medicine for that?” Mikey asked worriedly.

            “Yeah, Leo brought back the whole pharmacy,” Raph answered with an amused glance at his older brother.

            “We should take turns sitting with him tonight,” Leo said. “Age and illness don’t go well together.”

            “I’d carry him to his bed, but ya’ know he won’t let me,” Raph said. “Be happy to take the first shift though.”

            “Let Don go next otherwise he won’t turn in at all,” Mikey said. “I’ll take the third that way the one of us who actually likes early morning can finish off the night.”

            “Set both of your alarms Michelangelo,” Leo told him sternly. “You know that if Don starts reading a book he won’t remember to wake you.”

            “Hey, I’m not that bad,” Don protested.

            “Then sit down and eat something,” Raph directed, scooping a large serving of the casserole Mikey had made onto Don’s plate. “’Cause ya’ tend to forget to do that too.”

            Don pulled his chair out and plopped down on it. “You guys are exaggerating,” he said, sounding exasperated, then once more insisted, “I’m not that bad.”

            Mikey reached over and rubbed the top of Don’s bald dome. “You’re our very own absentminded professor.”

            Laughing, Mikey pulled his arm back fast when Don swatted at it. Ignoring his youngest brother, Don turned to the table and began to eat. “I’ll set out the medications he might need along with a list of instructions for when and if they should be given to him. Unless he starts running a fever again, the best thing is to let him rest.” Don said between bites.

            After taking a sip of his tea, Leo set his cup down and addressed Raph. “I haven’t had the chance to ask you, did Casey find out anything about that tip he got on the Purple Dragons?”

            Mikey kept his focus on his food, pretending to have little interest in the subject. Raph had already shown himself to be a consummate liar and didn’t require his assistance.

            “Yeah, get this,” Raph said, sitting up straighter in his chair. “The guy who gave him the info got his facts all twisted up. The Purple Dragons are watching one of those restaurants, but during the day, not at night. They ain’t planning on robbing it either, they just want to see what kind of business they do in the afternoon ‘cause it’s up for sale and Hun’s thinking about buying the place.”

            “You have got to be kidding me,” Don said incredulously. “What would Hun do with a restaurant?”

            “Launder money,” Leo answered immediately. “Make himself look like a legitimate business man, hide things in plain sight, bribe the local authorities, disguise shipments as food related items, peddle influence, and a host of other things. Shall I continue to name them?”

            “No,” Mikey said hastily, talking around a mouthful of food. “We get the point.”

            “So what, if anything, do we do about it?” Don asked.

            “The first thing we should do is discover which restaurant Hun is going after,” Leo said. Looking at Don, he asked, “Do you have a way to find that out?”

            “He’d have to file for a business license,” Don said. “That would be the best place to start since I know his name and those of his dummy corporations. I can create a search engine that will alert me if there are hits on any of those names.”

            “Little Hun is building an empire,” Raph said mockingly. “Papa Shredder would be so proud.”

            “I doubt that Karai is,” Leo said, his expression dark. “She’s already had trouble with him trying to invade Foot Clan territory once.”

            “So let them chew each other up,” Raph said, staring hard at Leo. “It can’t be anything but good for us if they start fighting. Throws them both off their game.”

            “It would be if they met in some abandoned building to face off,” Leo told him, leaning forward. “The way they do it hurts too many innocent people.”

            “I guess your answer is to jump in the middle of it again when it ain’t our business,” Raph shot back, scowling at his brother.

            Don leaned towards Mikey and whispered, “Haven’t we heard this argument before?”

            Nodding, Mikey muttered, “Yep. Didn’t much like it the first time either.”

            Mikey continued to listen to Leo and Raph bicker, barely registering their words because he’d heard it all before. Raph had to be keeping up his end of the argument on general principles because Hun buying a restaurant was surely only another part of his original elaborate lie.

            The lie he’d made up so that he and Mikey could reach an arrangement that mutually satisfied both of their kinks. Not knowing what Raph had in mind for getting them some additional alone time left Mikey out of the play. He couldn’t aid Raph if he didn’t know what was going on in his brother’s head.

            Raph seemed to have a preference for controlling their interactions and that was okay with Mikey, he wanted to submit. But here at home, trying to act normal around each other, trying to hide what they secretly were, that required a certain amount of communication. It meant they had to have a meeting of the minds and Raph had to trust Mikey to do his part.

            It also meant that Raph had to give him a part. Mikey was not just another toy from Raph’s cedar chest and he sure wasn’t that imitation Mikey dummy either.

            Mikey didn’t much want to go back to using his hand and his imagination, but he would if Raph started treating him like some object. What was it that Master Splinter had said? It was something about how two partners needed to know what each one wanted from their relationship.

            The ongoing argument seemed to be heating up as both Leo and Raph were leaning far over the table trying to get into each other’s faces. When one of them got pissed enough they’d usually storm out, but they couldn’t do that tonight. Not after deciding that all of them were needed to look after Master Splinter.

            Don appeared on the verge of trying to break them up when they heard Master Splinter start coughing. It had a phlegmy sound to it and the effect on the arguing brothers was instantaneous as they both immediately stopped talking to look towards the living area.

            Both Leo and Don were out of their chairs almost simultaneously.

            “I’ll get the medicine,” Don said, heading for his lab.

            “I’m going to check on him,” Leo said, suiting the action to the words.

            Raph glared at Leo’s retreating shell and then flicked the edge of his plate hard enough to push it away from him.

            “What was that all about?” Mikey asked, keeping his voice down. “Why are you fighting with him over stuff you made up?”

            Turning his glower on Mikey, Raph answered the question with his own. “What makes ya’ think I was lying about Hun?”

            For a moment Mikey was unsure, seeing the serious expression on his brother’s face. Then he caught the gleam that came and went in Raph’s eyes.

            Snorting, Mikey said, “Good one.”

            Raph’s face twisted into one of amusement. “Leo would have been suspicious of the whole thing if we didn’t have that same boring ass argument. Besides, he pisses me off with that attitude of his. If I had my way, we’d egg Karai and Hun on to fighting each other. Don’t matter who gets bumped off as long as it gets rid of one of them.”

            “He has a point about innocent bystanders getting caught in the fallout,” Mikey said mildly.

            “Don’t you start too,” Raph said. “If we engineered things just right those two groups wouldn’t fight out in the street, they’d take it someplace private. Leo won’t see it that way, he wants to jump in the middle with both swords swinging.”

            “Engineering things so that people kill each other isn’t his way,” Mikey said, explaining something his hard headed brother knew all too well. “It doesn’t matter who those people are. You aren’t really that cold blooded either, you’re just frustrated with both Karai and Hun. We all are.”

            “Suppose so,” Raph said, surprising Mikey who thought his brother would jump down his throat. Maybe his new relationship with Mikey made him more open to an opposing view. “Could be he’s still got a thing for Karai and he’s just trying to protect her.”

            They could hear the murmur of voices coming from the other three family members. Mikey didn’t really buy into the idea that Leo had the hots for Karai, though he was pretty sure that Karai had a secret thing for Leo. Nobody got as mad as Karai had gotten with her blood vendetta unless they thought they’d been jilted.

            “Nah, Leo’s family first, last, and always,” Mikey said. “It’s why he’s in there hovering over Master Splinter instead of in here monitoring us. Speaking of, this would be a great time for you to tell me what your plan is for getting us together again.”

            “Damn, ya’ really want it, don’t ya’ Mikey?” Raph asked, sounding pleased with himself.

            “Don’t you?” Mikey countered. “I’m not the one with the secret room full of sex toys.”

            “Shhhh!” Raph frowned, turning his eyes towards the door. They could still hear the others talking so he turned his attention back to Mikey. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t ever bring that up while we’re at home.”

            “Then stop acting like I don’t have a part in this,” Mikey whispered hoarsely. “We both have to find ways to get out of here and we’d probably do a better job of that if we worked together.”

            “Ya’ sure are pushy,” Raph said, some of the annoyance leaving his voice.

            The fact that he wasn’t disputing Mikey’s point could mean that Raph had conceded that he had one, or he could just be deflecting his brother off of the topic.

            Either way, Mikey was more like a badger than a turtle when it came to getting his way, something that Raph should have been aware of. “Obviously we can’t do anything tonight,” Mikey said, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on Raph’s face. “What about tomorrow, if Master Splinter’s feeling better?”

            Leo and Don’s voices suddenly sounded as though they were getting closer, so Raph said hurriedly, “Yeah. We’ll see.”

            Raph rose from his chair and began picking up empty plates. He was next to the sink when his two brothers walked into the kitchen.

            Mikey looked up. “Anything serious? You were gone a long time.”

            “No,” Don said, sitting down to finish his now cold meal. “We were telling him our plan for the night and he kept insisting it wasn’t necessary.”

            Raph came over and reached for Don’s plate. “Let me stick this in the microwave for a second and heat it back up. Try to stay parked in your chair long enough to eat it this time. Mikey can get off his ass and check on Master Splinter if it’s needed again. He’s already shoveled down enough food for two.”

            “I’m a growing boy,” Mikey said in mock protest.

            Leo sat down and reached for his cup. The tea was cold too, but Leo didn’t seem to notice as he finished it. For a second he let his guard down and Mikey could see how weary his brother was.

            Don rewarded Raph with a smile when his warmed food was again in front of him. “Thanks,” he responded gratefully.

            “Let Raph and me tuck father into bed,” Mikey offered. “You two go to bed early. I’ll do the same as soon as we get him settled.”

            Leo gave him an odd look and Mikey immediately regretted the proposal. Almost as quickly he felt a rush of resentment at having to worry about the way he worded stuff or chose to do things.

            “I still have to give you an instruction sheet,” Don protested.

            Mikey ignored him, his eyes directed at Leo. “What, you don’t think we can handle it?” he asked combatively.

            “I never said that,” Leo responded with some surprise.

            Opening his mouth to dispute that, Mikey was interrupted when Raph put his fists on the table and leaned in. “How about Mikey goes with ya’ Donny. He can make sure ya’ don’t turn those instructions into a novel and fetch the meds at the same time. Then ya’ can turn in. I’ll get Master Splinter to his room while Leo straightens up behind us and cuts off the rest of the heaters. Mikey can put the supplies in Master Splinter’s room and then walk upstairs with Leo. Otherwise, Splinter Junior will hang around outside sensei’s door all night.”

            Right then Mikey understood why Raph had been so reticent about sharing his plans. Somehow he knew that Mikey was feeling resentful towards Leo, an emotion that was foreign to him, and that Mikey hadn’t learned how to hide that acrimony.

            Chagrined at his uncharacteristic and foolhardy lapse, Mikey grinned. “Sounds good to me. That way I don’t have to listen to Master Splinter complain that we’re treating him like an invalid.”

            Don had stopped eating to stare at his oldest and youngest brothers. At Mikey’s words he pushed back from the table and got up. “Come on bro’. I think I am tired enough to enjoy a couple hours of sleep before it’s my turn to stand watch.”

            Ready to escape Leo’s searching gaze, Mikey quickly followed Don out of the kitchen.

            As they passed through the lair on the way to Don’s lab, Mikey glanced in Master Splinter’s direction. His father was resting back comfortably, his focus on some television drama that probably fit exactly the type of program he enjoyed. Mikey was glad they had at least those small pleasures and knew that was mostly due to Don’s intellect.

            He hadn’t given much thought to Don other than a few jealous twinges when the genius and Raph were together. Mikey realized that gaining Master Splinter’s blessing for his relationship with Raph was only part of the rather complex equation. At some point Don was going to need to be included in their explanations. What if Don had feelings for Raph too?

            That was something Mikey was going to have to find out.

            Neither of them said anything as they entered the lab and Don sat down at his laptop. His thick fingers flew over the keys, typing with a speed that always left Mikey amazed. How he didn’t have a million typos Mikey never knew. Their fingers weren’t designed for a normal keyboard, though Don had modified his slightly.

            Normally Mikey would wander around the lab touching things that drew his attention and driving Don to distraction. Tonight his mind was thoroughly occupied, so Mikey just stood next to Don’s desk and ruminated quietly.

            After a few minutes Don was finished. He sent what he’d typed to the printer and while he was waiting for it, strode over to the shelves where he’d placed the items Leo had brought from the pharmacy. Having needed them throughout the day, Don hadn’t bothered to shift anything to the infirmary.

            Mikey watched his brother place things into a wicker basket and was startled when Don suddenly spun around to look at him.

            “What is going on with you?” Don demanded. “You’ve been completely out of sorts lately. First you’re clashing with Raphael, and now you’re being short with Leo. I don’t want to be worried about you, but you aren’t giving me much choice.”

            “I thought you’d figured it out,” Mikey said. “I’m maturing.”

            “That doesn’t explain your edginess. You don’t hesitate to snap at us and that’s not like you,” Don said.

            “And you guys don’t hesitate to keep treating me like I’m half-grown,” Mikey parried. “We’re all pretty much the same age, bro.”

            “Being seen as the youngest has always been something of an advantage to you,” Don pointed out.

            “That is not true,” Mikey said distinctly. “You guys always say that when you think someone else in this family is going easy on me. I could claim that being a genius has been an advantage to you. None of us gets special treatment. The fact is that when I want something I’m more persistent than the rest of you.”

            “What is it that you want now, Michelangelo?” Don asked, the timbre in his voice changing.

            Don’s expression was at once speculative and calculating. It set off warning bells in Mikey’s head, starting when his brother had used his full name.

            Mikey shrugged. “I dunno. Same thing as you guys I guess. A chance to live, have some fun. Mostly I just want my life to have some meaning. I know you guys make fun of me when I’m the Turtle Titan, but at least I’m showing the world that I exist.”

            “Is that what’s been bothering you lately?” Don asked. “Feeling as though you need a connection to something outside our current existence?”

            “That’s the thing that’s always bothered me,” Mikey answered. “You know that. It’s not like I keep it secret.”

            “I thought you’d come to terms with that after your first big adventure with Silver Sentry,” Don said. “Didn’t you discover that being a ninja was who you really are?”

            “I’ve accepted that,” Mikey said. “Dressing up like Turtle Titan once in a blue moon and being seen with SS is exciting, but I’m not that persona when it comes to crime fighting. Not anymore.”

            “Yet that isn’t enough,” Don said thoughtfully. “You want something else and I think you know what that is, you just don’t know how to get it.”

            Donatello wasn’t just a knowledgeable genius, he was a pretty sharp one too. For all the teasing they did about how he’d forget to take care of himself, that wasn’t the case when it came to noticing the most subtle of changes in his brother’s attitudes or behaviors.

            Mikey wanted to explain things to him, wanted to get his take on what was happening to him and between him and Raphael. But there were obstacles, one of which was not knowing if Don had a secret agenda of his own. After a minute, Mikey thought of a way to broach the subject.

            “You know how sometimes you put those little slides under the microscope so you can look at those tiny little organisms that fascinate you so much?” Mikey asked.

            Confused at the change in subject, Don said slowly, “Yes.”

            “That’s kinda like us, isn’t it? There’s a small dot of liquid that represents their world and they’re trapped in it. You watch them swim around, sometimes bumping into each other and bouncing off, simply existing together but not really connecting,” Mikey said.

            Don’s brow cleared. “We connect Mikey,” he said gently. “We love and support each other through everything. Our family bond is so strong that I can feel you guys even when I’m not with you.”

            “Same here bro’,” Mikey said. “Master Splinter would call that a spiritual connection. It’s ‘cause we’re totally tied to each other and that’s an awesome bond. It’s just not the only kind there is.”

            There was a flicker of understanding in Don’s warm brown eyes, enough of one to tell Mikey that his brother might be catching on.

            “We’re pretty limited on our options Mike,” Don said, his gaze deep and compassionate.

            “Are we?” Mikey asked, knowing that Don had used the more adult version of his nickname for a reason. “I kinda think some of the limits we put on ourselves are pretty arbitrary. Don’t you?”

            Before Don could answer, they heard Raph’s voice just outside the door. “Hey!” he called out and then stuck his head into the lab. “What’s keeping ya’ two? We got Master Splinter into bed and I have a good book to keep me company, but I can’t get rid of Leo and settle down until somebody delivers those meds.”

            “Sorry,” Don said hastily. “I got caught up in running his symptoms through my head and deciding on when and what dosages. Mikey finally had to stop me from accounting for every scenario in the book.”

            “Yeah, I just told him if we didn’t know what to do, we’d wake him up,” Mikey added with a light laugh.

            “That’s exactly right,” Raph said. “I swear brainiac, I don’t know who worries more, you or Leo. Give me the stuff and then both of ya’ get out here and drag Leo upstairs before I pop him one. I’m tired of him stepping on my feet.”

            Mikey quickly handed over the instruction sheet and Don finished placing bottles into the wicker basket. Casting a swift look around the lab, Don walked over to join his two brothers in the doorway, passing the basket to Raph.

            Raph led the way back towards Master Splinter’s room. Don and Mikey peeked inside but didn’t enter because Raph glowered at them before turning his stern look back to Leo, who was hovering over their father.

            “Let him sleep already,” Raph told Leo in a mild tone that belied his impatience. The last thing their father needed to hear was the two of them arguing.

            Leo tucked the blankets around Master Splinter’s shoulder before straightening up. “Have you got everything you need?” he asked Raph.

            “I gave him the instructions and all the medicines he might require,” Don answered for his red banded brother. “He’ll be fine. The heater is working great but if it goes out for some reason, pull a couple of the smaller ones in here and wake me up.”

            “Come on Leo,” Mikey said. “Leave Raph to it and catch some shut eye so the rest of us can.”

            “Go to bed my son,” Master Splinter said in a slightly raspy voice. “I am in good hands.”

            Leo bowed to his father and moved past Raph, offering him a small smile as he did so. The gesture of confidence surprised Raph and he responded by patting Leo’s shoulder before his brother was out of range.

            As Leo slid the shoji doors shut behind him, Mikey wondered, not for the first time, how Leo and Raph could be so gruff with each other one minute, and then so united the next. That must be part of their connection, the one that Don had alluded they all had.

            Together the three brothers walked upstairs. They said good-night to each other before separating to go to their own rooms.

            Leo entered his without a backwards glance and then Mikey stepped into his own room, turning to take a last look around.

            Don was still standing on the threshold of his own bedroom, his eyes fixed on Mikey. The expression on his face was enigmatic and all Mikey could think to do was to offer him a bright smile before nodding his head and disappearing into his room.

            A second after Mikey closed his door, he heard Don’s click shut too.

TBC………………
- 18
- 19
- 20
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The Pain Game