Love Never Lost

Mousers Attack: Part 5/It Came From the Depths: Part 1

Brooke's POV:

Once we return to the lair, Mikey turns on a boombox and starts a victory dance while the rest of us are in the living room. Raph's feeding Spike a lettuce leaf, I'm sitting next to him with an icepack over my left eye, Leo's playing a 'Space Heroes' pinball game, Donnie's leaning against it, and Splinter walks over to me from the dojo. I turn to him with a small smile.

Me: "Does getting a black eye count as taking responsibility for my team's actions?"

Splinter nods with a chuckle as Raph looks away from us. I turn to him in confusion as Splinter speaks to the others.

Splinter: "I hope you boys see that by choosing your battles poorly, you created your own crisis and forced your leader into choosing which side she must be loyal to."

Donnie: "Well, there's definitely some irony there."

Leo turns to me with an apologetic look.

Leo: "Sorry, Brooke. We'll keep our overconfidence in check next time."

Me: "Well, you may be overconfident shell brains, but you're my overconfident shell brains."

The guys, except Raph, all laugh as I continue.

Me: "And on the bright side, we got April's phone back."

April walks over to me.

April: "You did? Sweet."

I wince as I pull her phone out from my back pocket. April looks at it in disappointment. I smile as I pull a brand-new T-Phone from my other back pocket.

Me: "Don't worry, I had Donnie make you a new T-Phone. Just never say-"

I whisper the rest to avoid the self-destruction of another T-Phone. She smiles before she walks off to lean against the opposite side of the pinball machine. I turn to Raph with a sympathetic smile.

Me: "Alright, what's with the face? Raph, I know I should've told Leo the truth, but he wasn't the only one counting on me. I've been defending Mikey and Donnie all night, and I couldn't stop. Come on. You can't be that mad at me."

Raph turns to me before looking at the ground in front of him.

Raph: "I'm not mad at you, Brooke. I'm mad at myself. I was nothing but a jerk to you guys all night, and you're smiling like it's no big deal. How do you put up with a hothead like me?"

Me: "Well, it can be challenging. You're not exactly one to stand down from an argument with anyone, especially Mikey."

Raph chuckles as I turn to him with a smile.

Me: "But then, there are also times when you turn out to be nothing but a big old softie like I knew you would be. And then I remember the four words I swore to you that fateful night."

Raph turns to me with confusion as I kiss him with love and compassion. I lean my forehead against his as I pull away and whisper.

Me: "For better or worse."

Raph smiles as he gives me a quick kiss.

Raph: "I love you, Brooke."

Me: "Love you too, Raphael."

And I mean it, every word. Always have and always will.

{Time skip}

Raph's playing the 'Atomic Robo-X' game, Leo's sitting on the couch watching TV, Donnie's sitting diagonally across from him as he works on his laptop, I'm sitting next to him with a book, and Mikey walks up to us from the kitchen holding something in his hands from behind his back.

Mikey: "Who wants to try my latest creation? We all love pizza. We all love milkshakes. So I combined them."

Donnie: "Ok, that could not be less appetizing."

Mikey pulls out a blender from behind his back.

Mikey: "I call it a P-shake."

Donnie gags, placing a hand over his mouth to contain his nausea.

Donnie: "I stand corrected."

Mikey: "You guys just have no sense of adventure."

Mikey takes a sip of the shake before spitting it out in disgust. The guys all groan while I remain silently focused on my book.

Mikey: "Where did I go wrong?"

Me: "You'll get 'em next time, Mikey."

Leo turns on the TV, desperate to focus on anything other than our little brother eating such an atrocity. Coincidentally, Space Heroes is on, causing Leo to grin. Until Raph walks over to him, his arms crossed with an annoyed look.

Raph: "You have to be the only person in the world who likes this show."

Me: "Leave him alone, babe."

Leo: "It's fine, Brooke. Besides, there are millions of Spaceniks out there."

Raph grabs the remote from Leo and switches it over to a news report.

Joan: "I'm Joan Grody, with a sewer shocker. City workers attacked, by mutants?"

Sewer Worker: "It was like part man, part reptile, and all monster. It came out of nowhere and attacked me!"

Everyone turns to Raph, who shrugs in defense.

Raph: "Wasn't me."

Brooke: "Right, because you're so tame."

Raph smirks toward me before we all turn back to the TV.

Grody: "Take a look at this terrifying footage."

The news plays a prerecorded video of a mutant alligator attacking the sewer worker.

Grody: "Are malicious mutants menacing Manhattan? Find out next on 'Grody to the Max'."

Donnie: "I got a bad feeling about this."

Leo: "The last thing we want is some mutant causing trouble in the sewers."

Raph: "Or some news crew down here looking for him."

Leo: "We've gotta track this guy down and stop him ourselves."

Me: "While I agree on both counts, we can't resort to violence. We have enough targets on our backs as it is."

Leo nods in agreement before I turn to Donnie.

Me: "Donnie, can you rewind it? I think I saw a tunnel number."

Donnie nods, and uses the remote to rewind and pause the video.

Donnie: "There. Tunnel 281."

Leo: "Let's go."

TO BE CONTINUED