Slash's Revenge

Chapter 32 - Deception

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Notes: Here is chapter 32 of 'Slash's Revenge' and I must warn you, it's a little angsty.

Thank you so very much to all my readers, followers, and friends. I'm so truly grateful to every one of you. I feel incredibly blessed to get to do what I love and that is to write and share my passion with others. Thank you, again and again and again!

Okay, on with the story...

CJ

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Chapter 32 – Deception

"Is he awake yet?" The shrill way Mikey kept posing this question was akin to a small child repeatedly asking 'Are we there yet' from the back seat of a vehicle.

Close to his wit's end, Leo's face adopted a grimace, but the disgusted expression was quickly contradicted by the obvious sadness in the leader's tone. "I'm afraid not, Mikey." Letting out a ragged breath, Leonardo lowered himself down onto the couch that encircled the pit of the lair. Off to his right, was April. To his left, was Mikey. Behind him, Raph looked to be going another ten rounds with the practice dummy, like he didn't know what else to do with himself.

He wasn't the only one...

Casey had gone home hours ago, clearly not cut out for the waiting business. Mikey wasn't faring much better. It was plain to see that he was getting more and more restless by the minute. Fifteen long hours had crawled by since Donnie had fallen asleep and the youngest turtle was definitely struggling to sit still while the family tried to pass the time.

"I don't get it. How can a guy who rarely ever sleeps be asleep for so long? Doesn't he realize we're all bored out of our minds?"

The insinuation that Donnie was being selfish by making them wait was almost laughable. Like they were the victims here. Leonardo couldn't help but to shake his head. His baby brother could turn virtually anything into a 'poor little Mikey' moment.

"He's been through a horrendous ordeal, Mikey. He needs time to recover. We have to be patient." Leonardo felt like a hypocrite, pointing out that his baby brother needed to be patient. It wasn't as though Leo had exactly been a fountain of strength this whole time.

"You know I suck at being patient, dude!" Folding his arms across his plastron, Mikey sullenly leaned against the back of the couch and puckered his lower lip out into a shameless pout.

If what Mikey had just said hadn't been overstating the obvious, Leo didn't know what was. "Oh, we know. Believe me, we know."

In response to his eldest brother's snide comments, Mikey let out a disdainful little snort and sunk his weight even further into the couch cushions.

For the first time in hours, Leo's mood lightened enough to allow a thin smile to form, but only for a split second or two. As soon as his gaze drifted back towards the dormitory area, his happy face descended into a sorrowful frown. It didn't seem right to smile so long as his genius brother was still hurting.

Poor Donnie...

Leonardo felt like he should return to his wounded sibling's side, but Master Splinter had specifically asked the eldest turtle to leave the room until he came back out to get him. It had seemed a bit strange to Leo that his father was essentially kicking him out, even when Donnie was still unconscious, but the leader hadn't questioned Sensei's motives at the time. The oldest brother had actually welcomed the chance to get up and move around for a while. But now that he was staring at Donatello's door from the outside, Leonardo found himself longing to go back.