It was 7:45 AM on April 4th, 2020 when all of the patients taken by the Foot Clan were transferred and quarantined in the New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital. Delilah, Dill, and the turtles sat outside of Athena's room in an enclosed area where only staff could go.
"And... That's about what you missed," Dill concluded with a shrug. Athena looked through the window at her friends- old and new.
"So... You guys had an older brother Leo who died fighting one section of the Foot while another bombed Columbus Place and killed the Lawsons?" Athena asked to confirm.
"Well, technically yes," Donnie stated.
"Okay..." Athena nodded.
"You also lost April from Channel 6, Vern 'the Falcon,' and your Father- Master Splinter?" Athena asked.
"Yeah. Vern and April were close friends of ours," Raph said, shifting slightly.
"I'm sorry. About all of them," Athena said earnestly.
"It's okay, we're working through it together," Raph responded.
"It's what we do," Mick added. "We're siblings after all."
Athena smiled at the way they were all close. She also appreciated how she didn't feel left out of it, even with being gone for months and in quarantine.
"I have a couple questions for you, Mick, if you don't mind?" Athena asked. Mick smiled and adjusted happily.
"Fire away!" Mick responded with a smile.
"So... You're trans?"
"Yup! The name's Michele, but you obviously know my nickname
"Tea time... Raph and Dee like each other- given how obvious it was?" Delilah flushed red. "Yes, okay. And Dill and Donnie like each other, since that, too, is obvious? With how you looked at each other during storytime?" Dill stood up.
"Incorrect, I am... I... You- no- Tina!" Dill groaned as they sat back in their seat. Athena laughed.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Delilah asked. "You're not the only one who sees it."
"Delilah Avery Lawson, you mean son of a bitch," Dill muttered.
"What're your thoughts, Donnie?" Athena asked. Donnie's eyes were wide and his face flushed red.
"I... You... Dill, I... Oh..." he adjusted his glasses and didn't make eye contact with anyone. Mick giggled.
"Donnie and Dill, sitting in a tree-"
"Mick, if you finish that rhyme, I will sneak into your bedroom and eat your traffic light piece by piece," Dill pointed at Mick.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"Mother fucking bullshittery butterbeer fucktard! Asshole mother bitch McFry-" Dill screeched as they tried to climb over Delilah, Raph, and Donnie to get to Mick.
"Dill, buddy ol' pal, what the fuck?" Donnie asked, gripping Dill's face. His face flushed even more but kept eye contact with Dill, whose eyes were wide.
"Just fucking kiss you dumb bitches," Raph rolled his eyes. Dill moved from their awkward positioning but kept eye contact with Donnie.
"I, um... May I?" Dill asked quietly. Donnie nodded.
Dill gently placed their lips against Donnie's. Donnie's eyes closed within a millisecond of contact, as did Dill's. Delilah and Athena looked at each other, giddy. Mick looked at Raph, who was just shaking his head with a smirk that read 'I fucking knew it.'
Donnie broke away first, but Dill was first to open their eyes. Donnie blushed violently when he opened his eyes but didn't dare break eye contact with Dill. He put his arms around Dill and hugged them to his chest. Dill gladly wrapped their arms around Donnie's shoulders and neck. Donnie was smiling like a schoolgirl.
Mick, Raph, Delilah, and Athena all looked at each other.
"Finally," Delilah stated.
"Shut up, Dee," Dill muttered.
"Fight me, you fucked up pickle."
♦️♦️♦️
As noon approached, Dill had fallen asleep on Donnie's chest. Donnie, too, had fallen asleep and had his head in the crook of Dill's neck. Delilah was falling asleep onto Raph's shoulder. He placed his arm around her and was struggling to stay awake with his chin on the top of Delilah's head. Mick and Athena were the only ones truly awake.
"Do you guys always bicker like that?" Athena asked, smiling at her friends.
"Yup- sometimes worse," Mick replied with a chuckle.
"Are they always so flirty? Dill and Donnie?"
"I don't know. I'm often called oblivious," Mick shrugged, smiling. Athena chuckled.
"What about Dee and Raph?"
"They're obvious enough I'm able to notice it subtly," Mick said. Athena let herself laugh.
"Random statement about me," Athena stated a little while later.
"You?" Mick asked. Athena nodded. "Go ahead!"
"I'm... I wasn't born a girl, either." Athena couldn't even look at the window.
"You're trans, too?" Athena dared herself to make eye contact with Mick. Mick's smile was growing again.
"Yeah. I'm trans, and I just thought I could tell you."
"Cool!"
"I realized when I was thirteen, and transitioned when I was fifteen- almost a year ago. I'm 16, about to turn 17 in June. What about you?" Athena asked.
"I... I realized this time yesterday," Mick chuckled. Athena chuckled as well. "I'm 15, but I'm going to be 16 in April," she added.
"Congrats! Did Dill or Dee do your makeup?" Athena asked. "I notice the eyeshadow and lipstick especially- it looks like Dee at least picked it out?" Mick blushed tremendously.
"Dill bought it, but Dee picked it out and applied it. I have no idea how to; not yet, anyway," Mick shrugged.
"Can I ask a question about you?" Mick asked.
"Sure." She moved her chair closer to the window to talk to Mick easier.
"You're in college, right?"
"Yeah, my first year," Athena confirmed.
"But you're 16?" Mick added.
"I was put in early and excelled easily," Athena said. Mick nodded.
"So you're smart, then?" Mick added. She leaned as close to the window as she could without pressing her face against it.
"Relatively, I guess."
Mick watched Athena with stars in her eyes. Athena noticed and blushed.
♦️♦️♦️
By the time 3 PM rolled around, Mick had fallen asleep with her forehead and hand pressed against the window. Athena had fallen asleep with the side of her face on the sill and her hand across from Mick's on the glass.
Donnie and Dill were holding each other like they never wanted to let go. Raph was stirring but still held Delilah as close as he could.
Vincent entered the area where the turtles, Dill, and Delilah were and smiled at the scene in front of her. Raph looked at her and nodded in greeting, and she nodded back as she pulled up a chair next to him.
"How long have they been sleeping?" Vincent asked.
"They've been knocked out since 10 AM at the latest," Raph said, referring to Donnie, Dill, and Delilah. He looked at Mick and Athena. "I don't know about those two; they were still up when I fell asleep around 11."
"I'm assuming there was a relationship started?" Vincent asked, referring to Donnie and Dill.
"Most definitely," Raph agreed. Vincent chuckled.
"They're not the only cute couple," Vincent stated. She looked at Raph, who already eyed her with an eyebrow raised. She smiled, knowingly. "You and Delilah seem especially cute." Raph flushed red, and Vincent knew exactly what she was doing.
"I can tell that you two are in love. I see it in the way you two look at each other," Vincent said, looking at the sleeping girl.
"I... I told her I love her the other day," Raph admitted.
"Oh yeah?" Vincent asked. Raph nodded. "What'd she say?" Raph smiled happily and stroked Delilah's hair.
"She loves me, too," Raph responded.
"I am now $15 richer," Vincent chuckled.
"What do you... Did you and Casey make a bet?" Raph asked with a tease in his voice.
"Van Noble, actually, yesterday. But I'm surprised Casey didn't bring it up," Vincent chuckled.
"Me, too," Raph chuckled. "You and he are always sparring in some way."
"That is very accurate."
They sat in comfortable silence as Raph held Delilah protectively. Vincent swore she heard Raph humming the melody to "If I Could Tell Her" from "Dear Evan Hansen." She couldn't help but softly sing along. Raph smiled slightly but stopped.
"I'm sorry," Raph whispered shyly.
"It's okay," Vincent said.
"Okay..." Raph nodded. He started rocking Delilah slightly.
"Keep going," Vincent suggested. He huffed and silently agreed.
Once Raphael finished, Vincent was looking at him with a knowing smirk. He noticed and scoffed. He rolled his eyes and looked away.
"What?" Raph asked, not making eye contact.
"Maybe- just maybe- saying 'I love you' isn't enough," Vincent suggested.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw the way you watched her while you were humming that song. There is something more you want to tell her, more than 'I love you.'"
Vincent watched the wheels turn in Raph's head.
"This may just be the 'elder's experience' coming out, but maybe there's something you're leaving unsaid. How she's everything to you?" Vincent suggested. Raph's eyes widened.
"Like... wanting a relationship?" he asked, nervously.
"Maybe. Talk to her before the distance gets too wide."
After a while of silence, Delilah soon stirred. Vincent left the room.
Raph was suddenly trapped in his thoughts.
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