100 Theme Challenge - 62. Magic

100 Theme Challenge
62. Magic

Don was so peeved that when Leo answered his phone, Don snapped at him.

Of course Leo wanted to know if he was all right and if he needed rescuing. That question aggravated Don even more, but he reined his temper in because he didn’t want his brothers or April to risk their lives coming after him.

Before he hung up, Don asked if Leo could see where he and Casey were in relation to the TCRI building. Leo said he could tell they were under it but now how far and that they were about in the middle of the structure.

That didn’t make Don feel any better. He continued moving towards the source of the fresh air after he concluded his conversation with Leo, but only half his mind was on his task. Casey hadn’t said anything to him after hearing his end of the talk with Leo; showing a prudence that Don wasn’t aware the boy had in him.

Don was angry and Casey knew it. He just wasn’t sure if Casey knew why he was so angry.

April meant the world to Don and he resented Casey’s subtle assertion that maybe April hadn’t told him the truth when she said she liked him as more than a friend. He was sure Casey had an ulterior motive for trying to make Don think that he didn’t have a chance with April. It was mean, hurtful, and self-serving.

His resentment carried over to Leo and that was the reason Don had been snappish with his brother when he’d called him to check in. If Casey was telling the truth, then Raph didn’t have designs on the boy at all. That left Don with the uncomfortable memory of what he’d witnessed between Raph and Leo in his lab.

Don’s mind wanted to shy away from the thought but he was mad enough to tenaciously stick with it. Apparently Raph had a thing for Leo and it was reciprocated. With a complete understanding of their personalities, Don could guess that though they both knew it was wrong, Raph didn’t give a flip.

Leo on the other hand did and that’s where their problem lay. It really made sense now that Don had enough pieces to put together a working hypothesis.

Casey was supposed to help Raph with something and Casey’s feelings for Don were making a mess of things. Leo had asked Don to spend time with Casey to keep Raph and the boy from going topside and getting hurt. Puzzle pieces one and two.

Raph was perpetually mad at Don for trying to ‘steal’ his friend. Since it wasn’t jealousy, the only other explanation was that Don was somehow getting in Raph’s way. Puzzle piece three.

Leo’s thoughts seemed to center around Raphael a lot more lately. Don had believed that was due to worry over Raph’s new friendship and now it looked like he was right, just not in the way Don had originally imagined it. Puzzle piece four.

The first conversation that Don had overheard between Leo and Raph had sounded like just another of their arguments. Now that he thought about it, Leo had changed gears from anger to worry when he’d asked if Raph was trying to break away from him. Puzzle piece five.

During that strange interlude in Don’s lab, Leo had joked about hiding in the sewers and Raph had answered in a serious tone that maybe they should. When Leo had told him he’d hate it, Raph touched him in an intimate way and asked for some incentive. It was after that when Leo had told Raph he wasn’t going to change and that he was doing what Master Splinter told him to do. Puzzle piece six.

Don prided himself for his genius but now he snorted in self-derision. Mikey knew what was going on; he had seen all of the signs way before Don had and Mikey had actually interpreted them correctly the first time.

As he slid through the conduit with Casey closely following him, Don mentally tossed his puzzle pieces into the air and watched them land. One by one they clicked into place and gave him his first clear picture of what was going on between his two oldest brothers.

Raph and Leo were in love and not in a brotherly way. They both understood the impossibility of their situation but that didn’t stop them from wanting each other. Raph wasn’t one to accept his lot in life; he had an inkling that Leo felt about him the same way that Raph felt but he knew that ‘Mr. Honor Bound’ wouldn’t act on his feelings.

Leo’s feelings were as strong as Raph’s, but due to Master Splinter’s omnipresence the turtle leader felt he had to quash them.

Then Casey appeared in their lives and Raph and he became good friends. With that friendship an idea was born and Raph was quick to put it into action. The straight forward approach wouldn’t work with Leo because he would simply state that he and Raph couldn’t be together because of their father. Once Leo committed to the word ‘never’ he would stick to it and Raph wouldn’t be able to shake him loose.

If however Raph appeared to be interested in someone else and that interest seemed to be reciprocated, then Leo would be forced to come down from his righteous stance. Jealousy was an overwhelming emotion, one that even Leo would be hard pressed to ignore.

And it seemed to be working. Leo’s attempts to manipulate Don into spending time with Casey and thus pulling him away from Raph was a good indication of that. Leo had seen right away that Casey was showing an attraction to Don and like any good strategist he was positioning his pawns in a way that would put him in the advantageous position of being Raph’s shoulder to cry on.

Raph however didn’t want a brother that would commiserate with him over love lost; Raph wanted a brother who would be so driven by jealousy that he’d finally admit he wanted Raph. Once Raph forced Leo to say it then the eldest brother would work just as hard to arrange things so that they could be together as Raph had been working on it.

Casey falling for Don was not in Raph’s plan. Raph needed Casey to appear smitten with the red banded turtle until Leo blew a cork. Leo was never going to fly into a fit of jealousy if he could remove the person who was vying with him for Raph’s affections.

All of which explained exactly why Raph was angry with Don and why he couldn’t explain to Don the reason for his anger. It also explained why Raph only seemed slightly peeved with Casey when it was the boy initiating the interactions with Don. Raph couldn’t afford to have Leo see him and Casey having an argument. Don guessed that they probably had a few sharp words when they were alone, but when they were near anyone else they had to play the game.

Apparently Casey had no problem with the concept of the two brothers being together and it looked as if Mikey was accepting of the idea as well. That left Don on the outside looking in and he was, to say the least, freaked out about the whole thing.

Don was snapped out of his thoughts by another cross section of tunnel up ahead of them. Stopping where the air ducts split into a T, he saw that there was another grate leading upwards.

Rolling onto his hip, Don placed his hand against it and felt the air coming through. Casey crawled up next to him and asked, “Are we going up again?”

“Unless you know a magic way out of here, we’re going up,” Don answered sharply.

Casey didn’t reply, merely watching as Don dug out his screwdriver and began to remove the grate. Don pressed his lips together as he worked and thought to himself, “There’s no magic way out of this dilemma with my brothers either.”