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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
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“Michelangelo, I am delighted that you and Donatello were able to walk with me back to my home,” Leatherhead said as the trio traveled through the tunnels together. “I hope I have not caused you any inconvenience.”
“Never,” Mikey answered jauntily. “We like your company. Besides, Leo’s tackling dinner and his pain is more than we can handle. Most of the time, so is his food.”
“We’d rather know you made it home safely than to wait and wonder,” Don added. “If the rain doesn’t let up soon, we may all find ourselves swimming through these tunnels.”
“Let us hope that does not happen,” Leatherhead said. “My abode is one level higher than yours and you are all most welcome there if it becomes necessary for you to move.”
“We’re all right for now,” Don told him. “We’ve been keeping an eye out for blockages and as long as everything continues to drain properly, our lair shouldn’t be in any danger.”
Mikey jogged out ahead of the pair with the excuse that he was scouting along their route for any stray city workers. He had already made two previous excursions, but only half of his mind was on his stated mission. What he was really trying to do was to see if either Don or Leatherhead would repeat the small intimacy he’d witnessed between them earlier.
So far the only thing he’d observed was that once they thought he was out of sight, the pair moved nearer to each other. That wasn’t necessarily telling, but it did raise even more suspicions in Mikey’s overactive imagination.
Cutting over into the next cross tunnel, Mikey stopped where he was, pressing against the tunnel wall so he could peek around the corner at Don and Leatherhead. For a minute they did nothing more than drift closer together, but then Leatherhead lowered his mouth near Donny’s head and said something in a low voice. Don immediately broke into a smile, looking fondly up at the large crocodile.
Mikey grinned. That might not be proof of anything, but it was a good starting place for the questions he intended to let loose on Donatello once they were on their return trip to the lair.
The route back to Leatherhead’s home was a bit wetter than it had been when Mikey made the trip there with Master Splinter, but other than that they encountered no obstacles. Only once did they have to stop and take shelter in a shadowed alcove due to unusual sounds up ahead of them. When they discovered it was only the echo of voices coming through a nearby grate, they continued on.
Upon reaching Leatherhead’s dwelling, the turtle brothers entered with him, ensuring themselves that his living space was still dry. Mikey wandered away from the pair on the pretext of examining some of the mutant crocodile’s books, but remained near enough to hear what they were saying.
“I wish you could have stayed for dinner LH,” Don said, a wistful note in his voice.
“As much as I enjoy dining with your family, tonight it seemed best that I decline,” Leatherhead replied.
The pair were facing each other, Leatherhead stooped over just enough so that he and Don could converse in low murmurs. Mikey wouldn’t have been able to catch their words but for the fact that he was focusing all of his energies into his sense of hearing.
Opening a book, Mikey pretended to be lost in its pages. From the corner of his eye he caught Don’s surreptitious glance in his direction before his brother turned back to Leatherhead.
“There are some things going on with my brothers that I’d like to discuss with you,” Don said. “I’d rather it was just the two of us when we have that talk.”
“I am available to you whenever you wish,” Leatherhead told him. “You and your brothers owe me no explanations, but you may rest assured that I shall treat all of our conversations with the utmost confidence.”
“I’ve always known that you’re the soul of discretion,” Don assured him. “It’s just . . . delicate, but something of which you should be made aware.”
“I trust in your judgment,” Leatherhead said.
“If you wanted to review some of those notes on my genome theory I could bring them by too,” Don added, sounding hopeful.
Leatherhead smiled happily. “I would like that. Perhaps tomorrow? Or is that too soon?”
“No, tomorrow is perfect,” Don agreed. Mikey could swear he heard a lilt in his brother’s tone. Clearing his throat, Don raised his voice to say, “Mikey and I had better get back. Thanks for helping us look for Raphael.”
"I am here anytime you need me,” Leatherhead said.
That was Mikey’s cue to put the book back where he’d found it and walk over to join the pair. To his mind, Leatherhead’s words had a definite double meaning.
“I think it’s awesome that you live so near us LH,” Mikey said. “Donny here sometimes feels this urge to go off into geek land and you’re the only one who understands him.”
“Hey!” Don said in mock protest. “Leo understands me . . . some of the time.”
As Mikey chuckled, Leatherhead said, “Donatello has one of the finest minds I have ever known and that is taking into account those of the Utrom scientists. It is my great good fortune to count him as my friend. To count all of you as such.”
It was obvious the last sentence was an afterthought, but Mikey didn’t pounce on it the way he normally would. As much as he’d like to prolong the conversation to see how much he could trick Don and Leatherhead into saying, it would be much faster to simply ask his brother some questions. He couldn’t do that until they were alone.
“But me the most, right?” Mikey asked flippantly. “I’d love to hang out and hear you sing my praises, but I’m hungry. I could even eat Leo’s cooking.”
“I’d better get him home,” Don told Leatherhead. “Mikey must be nearly starved if he’s that desperate.”
They bade Leatherhead a good night, checking to see that the tunnels outside of his home were clear before leaving. As they rounded the first bend, Donatello turned to wave at an especially dark recess in two intersecting walls and when Mikey strained his eyes he saw that a small camera was mounted there.
“You think LH is watching us?” Mikey asked.
“Of course,” Don answered with certainty. “He’d want to be sure we were safe. I do the same thing whenever he leaves our place unescorted.”
The pair walked in silence for a bit, Don’s thoughts seeming far away. For his part, Mikey was determined to get some answers from his brother before they got near the lair.
“Just to be sure he’s safe,” Mikey finally said, watching Don’s face as they walked.
His brother frowned. “Right. That’s what I said.”
“Only because you want to be sure he’s safe,” Mikey repeated.
If he hadn’t been looking at his brother so intently Mikey would have missed the hint of color that touched Don’s cheeks.
“Yes,” Don maintained without meeting Mikey’s eyes. “I don’t know why you keep repeating that.”
“Don’t you?” Mikey waited a second and when it appeared Don wasn’t going to take the bait, he decided to be blunt. “What’s going on between you and Leatherhead?”
Instead of stopping, Don started to walk faster. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, attempting to brazen it out.
“Sure you don’t,” Mikey said, stepping around in front of Don and forcing him to stop. “Don’t think for one minute I didn’t notice you touching him earlier and how you two can hardly stand to be more than a few inches away from each other. Come on, give.”
He was gratified to see not only a startled expression on Don’s face, but one of embarrassment as well. Don tried to cover it quickly, but Mikey’s abrupt confrontation had caught him off guard.
“I knew I should have insisted on making this trip alone,” Don said. “You always were an incorrigible snoop.”
“Is there another kind?” Mikey asked with a grin. “Leatherhead likes you.”
"He likes all of us,” Don said quickly.
“Nope, not the way he likes you,” Mikey clarified. “I didn’t think you knew and neither did Master Splinter, but you do, don’t you?”
“You talked to Master Splinter about this?” Don asked, his eyes widening.
Mikey shook his head. “He talked to me about it. Master Splinter knew something was going on between me and Raph even when we thought we were doing a good job of hiding things. He said that LH has an attraction for you and you didn’t know, but sneaky Donny does know.”
Don studied Mikey for a moment, as though trying to make a decision. Finally he sighed and said, “I haven’t been oblivious to Leatherhead’s interest. I honestly didn’t know for a while, but then I’d catch him looking at me in a certain way and after a time I guessed. He always tried to hide it, so I knew I shouldn’t bring it up. I didn’t want to embarrass him and you’d better not do that either.”
There was the faintest hint of a threat behind those words. Since Mikey had never had any intention of doing such a thing, he didn’t let it bother him.
Of course, he couldn’t let it pass without teasing his brother. “Wouldn’t think of tackling him to the ground and forcing him to admit that he has the hots for you,” Mikey said mischievously.
“Very funny,” Don said, still looking serious. “Leatherhead won’t understand your lame attempts at joking. He’ll think you’re making fun of him, or worse, that you’re insinuating there’s something wrong with him for feeling that way.”
Mikey held up his hands. “Chill bro’. I’m not gonna say anything to LH about this. I only wanted to talk to you about it ‘cause it looks to me like you might be feeling him too now.”
“Aw geez, Mikey.” Don lifted his head, looking up at the ceiling to avoid Mikey’s gimlet eyes. Then he exhaled sharply and met Mikey’s gaze. “Yes, okay? Yes, I think I enjoy Leatherhead’s company now for a new set of reasons. I might even have feelings for him.”
“But not for Raph, right? ‘Cause you two have a lot in common the same as you have with LH,” Mikey said.
Donatello looked amused. “No, I don’t have those kinds of feelings for Raph. As much as I enjoy hanging out with him, we’re just really close brothers. He is and always has been completely into you, little brother.”
“And people say he’s not smart,” Mikey said, preening a little. “So what are you gonna do about the LH thing?”
Don shrugged. “Nothing. What we have works for us. We enjoy each other’s company as often as we’d like without complications.”
“What complications?” Mikey asked. “Raph and I have paved the way for you, Donny. If you wanted to get with Leatherhead nobody in our family would have a problem with that.”
“It’s not that simple,” Don said. “Sure, from what you say Master Splinter would probably accept us, but there’s still one family member to be considered.”
Knitting his brow, Mikey asked, “Leo? I know he has concerns about the whole couple’s thing, but he wouldn’t ever dream of standing in the way of you being happy.”
“I know he wouldn’t,” Don said. “It’s not that, it’s . . . you know what, never mind. Let’s drop it and go home.”
He started forward, bypassing Mikey and setting a quick pace. Mikey trekked along beside him, thinking hard about what Don might possibly be keeping to himself.
Suddenly a strange thought came to him and Mikey instantly knew he could have guessed what Don’s problem was. Once more he dashed out in front of his brother and made Donatello stop walking.
“You’ve got feelings for Leo too, don’t you Donny?” Mikey asked smugly.
From the expression on Don’s face, Mikey knew he was right. He remembered how Leo spent so much of his spare time in Don’s company. Mikey always thought it was because their clan leader was consulting with the brains of the team, but now he wondered if there was more to it than that.
Then there was the night when Mikey, covered in mud, had arrived home with Raph to discover Leo and Don sitting together on the couch waiting up for them. Sitting close together on the couch.
“You’re wrong,” Don said. “It’s just that he’d be left all alone.”
Mikey had played enough poker with Don to recognize his tells, and it was obvious that wasn’t the entire truth. “Out with it, Donny. It was just a little while ago when we all looked at each other and promised to have no more secrets.”
“Having no more secrets doesn’t mean we should share every personal thought that goes through our heads,” Don contended.
“That means you are having personal thoughts about Leo,” Mikey said triumphantly. “What’s the big deal? Bet you could have them both if you played your cards right. Shell, I thought Raph and I were kinky, but you’ve got us beat by a mile.”
Don swiped a palm across his face. “Look Mikey, I’ll admit that I’m progressive with regards to intimate relationships and it wouldn’t bother me one bit to have two lovers. I just don’t think Leo could handle the concept of sharing his partner with someone else, even if he were to express an interest in me. Which he hasn’t.”
“Then you should introduce the subject. Go for it Donny, take the chance. It’ll probably work out like it did for me and Raph,” Mikey said enthusiastically.
“I wish I shared your optimism,” Don said. “The problem is, right now you’re seeing everything through rose colored glasses.”
“I don’t wear glasses,” Mikey protested facetiously.
“You know what I mean,” Don said. “You’re in love and nothing seems like it could go wrong. I envy you, Mikey. You’re braver than I am, you can ignore the voice in your head that tries to tell you all of the bad things that could happen. I don’t even know if what I’m feeling is real or simply a reaction to what’s happened between you and Raph. Maybe what I’m experiencing is empathy or wishful thinking and neither of those things is a good reason to embarrass myself with Leo. Or Leatherhead for that matter.”
Mikey didn’t know right off how to respond to that statement. There was a resolute expression on Don’s face as he nodded once, knowing he’d made his point. Together they started back to the lair.
It wasn’t in Mikey’s nature to just leave it at that though. He reviewed all that he’d been through, from the very beginning when he’d had such an intense response to Raph’s retribution for the fake cockroach incident, up until he’d known he was in love with his brother.
Mikey had gone through a range of emotions and hours of questioning what was happening to him. He’d tried different tactics to deal with his desires and would probably never forget the mental or physical reactions he’d experienced. One of those had been what Don had just expressed to him, doubt that he was actually having real feelings for Raph or merely a lustful craving for attention.
Then Mikey realized there had been at least one thing that had affected him that wasn’t imagination or fantasy.
“Hey Donny, can I ask you another question?” Mikey kept his eyes on his brother as he posed the query.
Don glanced at him. “You’re going to ask no matter what I say, so go ahead.”
“Have you noticed that Leo’s scent seems different?” Mikey asked.
His steps slowing, Don’s brow furrowed. “I hadn’t before but you’re right, lately it does seem different. The change is subtle though, and not at all bad. In fact, now that I think about it, he smells better. More enticing.” Looking hard at Mikey, Don asked, “Have you noticed that too?”
“Nope, nuh-uh,” Mikey said, shaking his head. “Only scent I notice these days is Raph’s. Bet you never thought much about LH’s scent before either but maybe you are now. How about you put your big brain onto that mystery and let me know what you come up with. And afterwards if you’re still convinced you’re imagining how you feel about those two.”
He watched Don’s inquisitive aspect start to shift as the implications of what Mikey had said began to take root. Pleased with himself, Mikey let the matter drop. They were almost home anyway and Don needed time to contemplate what he’d just learned.
When they entered the lair the first thing that Mikey heard was clanging coming from the direction of the kitchen. That was followed by the sound of Leo’s voice and then Raph’s.
Looking towards his father’s room, Mikey saw that the doors were still closed, indicating that Master Splinter hadn’t come out yet.
Touching Don’s arm to prevent the genius from going into his lab, Mikey flipped a thumb towards the kitchen and said, “Uh, you realize that we left those two alone together? They seemed to have drifted into the kitchen at the same time.”
Don cocked his head to listen. “It doesn’t sound like it’s unsafe to enter. We probably should check on them though.”
Together they cautiously approached the kitchen door, making sure to stay out of sight. Peeking around the doorframe, the pair were astonished to see Raph whisking something inside of a bowl while Leo stirred a pot on the stove.
“Do you think I should add more pepper?” Leo asked, peering over his shoulder at his brother.
Raph shook his head, leaving the bowl to join Leo at the stove. “I think ya’ put enough. Let me taste it.”
Leo lifted the spoon, blew on it, and offered it to Raph. After his brother had sipped some liquid from the spoon, Leo asked, “What do you think?”
“No more pepper, but go ahead and add another dash of salt,” Raph told him. “Just a dash, don’t go overboard.”
Mikey and Don looked at each other before breaking into wide grins. Détente had never sounded or smelled so good.
TBC……………..
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The Pain Game