Cold Fire Rising

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

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Donatello woke from another nightmare in a vague but strong panic, his arms shooting out to the sides to keep himself from falling. No; no, it was okay. He was in bed. His bed, in his room, aboard the Ulixes. Did he fall asleep in his room? Wasn't he in the lab? Weren't there vials of liquid, and charts, and graphs? Had someone brought him to bed? The nightmare was-

Well, of course. Same as it...

Same as it never was, Donnie assumed. Mikey had been dead, really dead, gone. He had gone into cardiac arrest and nothing could bring him back. Raphael nearly destroyed Dr Honeycutt before Leonardo had stopped him, but he'd had to injure Raph in order to do it. Don had given Raph a tranquilizer. And then... Raph had started bleeding from his eyes. He was shouting. He struck out and grabbed Donnie by the throat, snarling that it was his fault...

Don reached for his throat. Only a dream. But he guaranteed they were all having nightmares. Sometimes he would wake up in his lab and hear Raphael crying out from the infirmary. Oh, Raph. PTSD.

According to the clock, it was 7:04 AM GMT. He couldn't go back to sleep but he wasn't quite ready to take on the day. Turning on the lights, Donatello stretched and began a few simple katas to warm up, then meditation. A half hour later, he headed to the showers, then got dressed and decided to try a dojo simulation before breakfast. Maybe once he set it up he could wake Leo, if his dutiful brother wasn't already in the holodeck.

As he approached the simulation room, he heard the clash of metal weapons. He had assumed correctly. What he hadn't assumed was Leo's opponent.

"Oh. Morning, Raph!"

Raphael glared at him blearily. "You wanna take over, brainy?"

"No no, Raph," Leo chided. "We're not done here."

"Dude, I'm pretty sure I worked out all my rage. I don't wanna stab or dismantle the Fugitoid anymore." Raphael ducked a hard katana swing, then blocked with a sai.

"I could join the two of you for a quick spar," Donatello suggested. "You could gang up on me."

Raph grinned and lazily spun his sai. "Tempting, but nah. I worked up an appetite. I need breakfast."

Leo sighed and stopped. "All right. Donnie, you wanna step in?"

"Yes, please."

Leo and Raph bowed to each other and Raph stepped out, winking as he passed Don. Readying his bo staff, Donatello stepped in and took his stance opposite Leonardo. They bowed, and Don struck first, feeling the instant rush of endorphins and adrenaline coating his nerves. Leo had barely slowed down from his battle with his other brother, and still had a slight crooked smile as he sparred back, positively glowing. He did appear a little more intently focused. Don kept note of how Leo's muscles nearly spasmed seconds before each strike, how his eyes glinted as he lunged. Either Leo was deliberately seeking an increased rise in dopamine and norepinephrine for pleasure, or he was methodically planning each move to the tiny details and his motor neurons were simply obeying. Don decided to try and take advantage: he swung his bo low behind his brother's knees and swept at an angle, knocking Leo off-balance. Leonardo responded with a frustrated growl and a hardened glare in his eyes. Yup, it was the latter. Leo wanted to get very very good at something very very quickly.

Donatello smiled. "You know, Leo, if you focus too hard on thedestination instead of the directions, you're going to get lost."

"What?" Barely listening, Leonardo took a side stance and lunged left-handed. Donnie easily parried, spun the staff, then caught his brother under his arm, letting the bo flow upward, and applied momentum to keep the body moving. As a result, Leonardo was swept off his feet. Almost shakily, Leo flipped backwards and landed on his feet, his knees bent. "Was that to teach me a lesson, Donnie?"