「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

4; Casey

"April! Over here!"

"Shut up, Mikey! Why are you so freaking loud?"

    "I have to be so she knows where we are!"

    "There are other ways to let her know without shouting our position to whole freaking world!"

April turned into a dark alley where she located the owners of the harsh whispers. The four brothers towered above her. "Okay, I'm ready."

Donnie kneeled down and slid a manhole cover to the side, revealing a dark hole leading down to the sewer system. One by one, the group of five shimmied down the ladder. Leo was the last one to crawl inside, so he replaced the cover back over the opening before climbing below to join his brothers and April.

They walked together through the dark, familiar tunnels. The turtle brothers joked around with each other, hooting and hollering as they fist bumped and punched one another. The subway tunnel soon came into view, and they followed the lit tracks, balancing on the edges.

It was a comfortable group of friends who all got along easily. But there always seemed to be something missing between them; a piece of the puzzle that wasn't there. At one time it had been around to complete them. But now it was gone, and the absence was felt by all.

    Mikey shouted cheerfully, his always encouraging voice echoing off the walls. "Master Splinter! We're home!"

    The rat mutant looked up from his television program and smiled under his fur. He clicked off the TV with the remote that sat by his side and stood to greet his returning family.

    "My sons." He turned to the redhead. "April."

    April sent him a weak smile, her lips curving just slightly. Splinter dropped his own happy expression and opened his mouth to inquire of her sadness, but he was interrupted.

    "Dinner's on! Come and get it!" Mikey called from the kitchen. Metal clanged against metal, an attempt at a dinner bell.

    "Mikey!" The two objects violently crashed to the floor.

    "Hey!"

    April turned around and went into the kitchen, unknowingly escaping a confrontation with her Sensei. Donnie and Mikey were arguing over the effectiveness of a noisy meal alarm as she casually leaned against the table. Two boxes of pizza sat on the surface, waiting to be devoured.

Leo lifted one of the cardboard lids and reached inside. He pulled out a slice of pepperoni pizza that looked unappetizingly lifeless. The cheese wasn't stringy, and there was barely any aroma, alerting April to the fact that the pizza was in fact, cold. Fresh from the fridge.

    Raph also proceeded to grab himself some food, and he ate it as if he didn't even notice. Pizza was eaten on the daily in this particular sewer home, whether hot or cold, fresh or old, edible or mold. Nothing went to waste.

    Interestingly enough, April preferred her pizza warm. So she set her slice on a paper plate and tossed it in the microwave. It still didn't taste as delicious as a fresh-out-of-the-oven piece of Lombardi's, but it was pizza, after all.

    A heavy silence settled over the kitchen as everyone dug into the food. It was an awkward quiet that made each person anxious. It was that type of awkward silence where everyone tried to chew slowly so they wouldn't get judged on how loud they chomped their food. The type where no one wanted to speak, but something needed to be said.

    Donnie cleared his throat and swallowed a bite of pizza. He looked around at every face in turn and sighed. "Guys, we can't keep this up," he admitted, voicing the thought they were all contemplating. "It's obvious now that Shredder doesn't have him. And if he did, he doesn't now."

Leo leaned on the edge of the table, staring down numbly at the surface. "He's been gone for too long. He would've contacted us by now if he were alive." He looked up, his lips quirking as he recalled the man with fondness. "I mean, we all know what he's like."

Heads nodded as they all envisioned him in their memories, laughing and making a nuisance of himself. It was ironic that he was always the person no one missed or cared about. He annoyed people for fun. Or maybe he did it unintentionally. But now that he was gone, his friends and family realized just how much he meant to them. Suddenly he was missed and loved, and they all wanted him back. They wanted the time they'd taken him for granted so they could take it and change it.

    This time, Raph broke the silence. "I think it's time to move on," he stated simply.

    April sniffed and wiped tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. Mikey stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. She rested her head on his chest and sobbed gently.

"As the leader of this team, I say it's unhealthy for us to be in constant anguish over this," Leo decided. "If we're going to continue keeping watch over this city, we can't dwell on him any longer."

A sniff. Three nods. Five, throbbing hearts.

April pushed away from Mikey and glared at the brothers. "Are you kidding me?" They were completely taken back by her sudden outburst. "He's not gone, you idiots! He may not be alive, but he's still a part of us! Why won't you even say his name? It's not that hard. Say it with me: Casey Jones." She watched their faces, waiting for a reaction. None but what seemed to be sympathy.

Donnie reached a hand out. "April, we understand that you're hurting, but–"

She stepped back. "Don't touch me, Donnie!" She backed up until she was outside the kitchen. "I can't stand you guys anymore! You're trying to forget about him. Well you can't! He'll always be here!"

"April," Mikey started, but April cut him off.

"No. You guys can go back to your normal lives of you want. But I'm not going to just forget about him." She spun around on her heels and stormed out of the mutant's home.

The four turned to each other, unsure of what to say. They knew April was especially devastated about Casey's disappearance since she'd been the closest to him. But she wasn't understanding what they were trying to tell her. She was dwelling too much on him. They weren't trying to forget him, they were merely trying to move on.

Mikey sighed sadly and shook his head. He pointed to the table. "She left her pizza."