How To Be Yourself When You're Not Yourself

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By: plus2-minus1-brilliance

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Chapter Seven - When Life Gives You Aglets…

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"Meanwhile, back at the Chinese sneaker factory, Raph had gotten a raise - he now got a whole stale biscuit with his rainwater. He had steadily climbed that corporate ladder in the last week, mostly by trampling on the Nigerian orphans working the aglet lines. It was okay, though, because who really cares about aglets, anyway."

Three boys looked up from the comic in front of them, into the beaming face of Michelangelo. Raphael smiled and shook his head - his littlest brother could make any situation amusing. Jake quirked an eyebrow, but smirked nonetheless. He'd really grown to like Michelangelo in the past four days, even if he didn't always understand him. Bobby mostly just looked confused.

"I like it," Jake commented. "Especially that giant turtle-thing in the background, there. It adds, uh…whimsy."

"Yeah, it's really cool," Raphael agreed. "Fantastic job, as always."

Bobby pointed to the last square, which showed the human Raphael standing over the Nigerian orphans, pointing and laughing haughtily. Bobby's finger landed on the word 'aglet', and then he shrugged.

"Oh, he wants to know what an aglet is. I'm a little curious myself, actually," Jake said.

"It's that little plastic bit at the end of a shoelace," Michelangelo replied, matter-of-factly.

"There ya go, Bobby; we've learned somethin' new today."

Bobby nodded and smiled, giving Michelangelo a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Bobby!" Michelangelo beamed some more, glad everyone liked his comic. Sure he was miserable here, and couldn't wait to be home with the rest of his family, but he wasn't going to let it get him down. With that in mind, Michelangelo tried to view this situation as just a new experience - an adventure, if you will.

Raphael, on the other hand, was having trouble thinking of it any way other than being imprisoned. As the days went by, he had less and less faith that Leonardo and Donatello could do anything to get them out. Not that he dared say that to Michelangelo - it would utterly crush him. And because he couldn't show lack of faith in Leo and Donnie, there was no way he could suggest they break out on their own.

And so, they waited. They woke up every morning, went to 'school', ate their meals, whiled away their free time, and went to bed. Other boys came and went, prospective parents came in to look at them, but Raphael and Michelangelo just waited. For their brothers, for their court date, for anything.

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Donatello slammed the phone down and let out a frustrated growl. Having worked in tech support, he was used to the fact that some people were just incompetent, but this was getting ridiculous. So far, he'd talked to five different Child Services Representatives, eight different group home directors, three police officers, and one very confused Dominoes employee.

No one was able to give him any information on his brothers' whereabouts. He did, however, get a free medium two-topping pizza when the Dominoes girl felt sorry for him.

A very simple plan had been concocted to get Michelangelo and Raphael out of the group home. Sneak in when everyone was sleeping, grab them, and sneak back out, heading for the nearest sewer entrance. Quite an easy feat for trained ninjas such as themselves.

To get to that part, however, they first had to locate which home the boys were in. Calling people had got them nowhere. Casey's suggestion to just go around to all the different homes was shot down before it even got off the ground.

"No one will let us see any of the children until we've gone through a mountain of paperwork and a background check," April had informed him.

"So we don't let 'em know we're there! I mean, we're planning on sneaking in to get them anyway, right?" Casey had argued.

Leo had stopped any further argument by telling them it just wasn't worth the risk, especially if they got caught in the wrong house.

Donatello walked over to the couch and sank onto it, bringing his legs up to rest on the coffee table next to Master Splinter's cage. The rat scurried over to that side, sticking his little nose out to explore this new smell. Donatello smiled at this - his father really was rather adorable.

With a melancholy sigh, Donatello leaned his head back and shut his eyes. All the stress of suddenly becoming human and losing two of his brothers was really draining the young scientist. All the seemingly useless phone calls and database searching had left him virtually no time to work on the mutagen. And even when he did get time for sleep, he was kept awake with worry, or a sudden idea of another way to solve their problem.

Donatello heard the door open, but didn't bother lifting his head. Judging by the heavy footsteps, it was Casey. And, judging by the delicious smell that greeted his nose, Casey had brought food.

"I come bearing treats!" the older man exclaimed, as he walked past Donatello on the couch.

The sound of plastic bags being set down and then being rifled through could be heard, but Donatello still couldn't be brought to open his tired eyes. Next came the sounds that accompany the making of coffee. This brought a small smile to Donatello's face, as he began to drift off - he could definitely use a good, strong cup of coffee.

About fifteen minutes later, the normally purple-clad ninja was jolted back awake as someone sat next to him on the couch. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Donatello turned to see Casey, who was smiling and holding out a mug of coffee and a gigantic, extremely gooey-looking cinnamon roll.

"Sorry, were you actually sleeping?" Casey asked, his smile turning apologetic.

"Yeah, but it's fine. I should be in the lab right now, anyway," Donatello replied, giving a smile of his own and accepting the coffee. "Thank you."

"Eat, too; you guys are so skinny, it's freaking me out," Casey said, pushing the plate into Donatello's hand.

Donatello chuckled lightly, setting the plate down on his lap. With his now free hand, he tucked a few uncooperative strands of hair behind his ear. Looking back up, he notice Casey staring at him contemplatively. A slight blush crept onto his cheeks.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"No, just…well, you're sort of…" Casey paused, trying to find the best way to phrase his thoughts. Finally, he came up with, "feminine."

Donatello frowned, then grumbled, "That's what everyone keeps saying."

"Can't wait to see what Raph looks like," Casey said, trying to steer the topic in a less dangerous direction. "It's interesting that you and Leo don't look anything alike. Do either of you look like Raph or Mikey?"

"Not really. It makes me think that we actually aren't blood-related," Donatello answered. He broke off a bit of the pastry and popped it in his mouth, looking thoughtful as he chewed.

"So, uh…where is Leo, anyway?" Casey asked, looking around as if he might spot the eldest brother lurking in a corner.

"Meditating in his room. Hopefully, he fell asleep; I think he's gotten even less than I have since this all started."

"Not sleeping isn't going to help anybody."

Donatello rolled his eyes. "Obviously. It's just not easy."

Taking his feet off the table, Donatello pushed himself to the edge of the couch and leaned forward. He set his coffee and plate on the table, tore off a chunk of cinnamon roll, and pushed it through the wire of Splinter's cage. Splinter ran over immediately and grabbed it.

Donatello and Casey sat in silence as they watched the rat nibble on his pastry.

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It was free time once again at St. Bernard's Home for Boys. Michelangelo had gone outside with Jake, Bobby, and a few of the younger boys to play some sort of game, but Raphael didn't feel like doing much of anything. Unless, of course, it involved getting out of there.

An entire week had passed now since they'd been brought here, and still there had been no word from their brothers. What could possibly be keeping them? Had they perhaps been captured by the police as well, and put in a different home? Surely they should have at least called by now…

Raphael had asked to use the phone several times now, but was always told no. The first few times, he'd asked to call his family - they'd said it wasn't safe. Then he'd asked to call his lawyer - they'd gotten mad at him, and told him that if he asked again, he'd be in trouble.

There was only one phone in the building that made outside calls, and it was in the director's office. Mr. Richardson was almost always in there, and when he wasn't, he kept the door locked. Raph was fairly certain he could pick the lock, and if not, he could always just break it. Now all he needed was the opportune moment…

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Casey stared up at the ceiling, letting his thoughts wander. He was at the Lair, currently lying on the couch, waiting for sleep to claim him. Since the first time he'd come over after what he termed 'The Changing', Casey had barely left. It wasn't right, the turtles being separated like this. Especially at a time when something so weird was going on, and they could most use each others' support.

So Casey really felt like he should stick around. To keep up morale, supply food, make phone calls, give a friendly ear…whatever he could do to help.

Currently, it was nearing two o'clock in the morning. Casey had literally forced Leonardo and Donatello into their beds a few hours ago, telling them if they got back up before eight in the morning, they'd regret it. After a quick call to let April know he wouldn't be home tonight, he'd settled himself down on the couch to try and catch some Z's, himself. He was not having much luck with it, however.

Were Raphael and Michelangelo okay? He'd heard stories of orphanages where the staff abused the orphans. Could his friends be in one of those places? Casey couldn't see Raph taking that sort of thing lying down. Maybe they had him locked up because he'd tried to fight back…and poor Michelangelo was all alone, forced to do whatever the evil "caretakers" wanted!

A low growl escaped him as he continued in this line of thought. It wasn't fair that he couldn't just go look for them! Not that Leonardo had control over him…he could do whatever he wanted, if he thought it was the right idea…And it was a good idea. If it was just himself, there was even less chance of getting caught. And if he did get caught, he was sure the punishment couldn't be too bad. A night in jail, at most, right?

Right, that settled it. He was going to go find his friends, and he was going to do it now. But, just as his feet hit the ground, the phone rang.

Casey turned and stared at it, slightly unbelieving. It rang again. Casey jumped over the back of the couch, tripped, and fell flat on his face. He got right back up and rushed to pick up the receiver.

"Hello?" he said into it urgently, slightly breathless from his efforts.

There was a slight paused, then the caller whispered, "It's Raph."

"Raph! I can't believe it! We've been trying to find you, but everyone's being a real bastard, so we've had no luck, but here you are, calling us!"

"Whoa, Case, calm down, man!" Raphael hissed. "I don't have much time - I had to break into the director's office to use the phone, and someone could be by any minute."

"Right, of course, sorry. So where are you; are you okay?" Casey asked, grabbing the pen and paper they kept at the phone for such purposes.

"It's called St. Bernard's Home for Boys, but I don't know the address," Raphael answered.

"Donnie can find it. And that's St. Bernard, like the dog?"

"I guess. Where is Donnie, anyway? Why are you answering the phone?"

"I made them get some sleep. They've been up almost nonstop trying to find you guys, you know."

Raphael sighed. "Well, this whole mess will be over soon now. What's the plan?"

"Simple sneak, grab, and go. When's the best time, do you think?"

"Around this time, everyone's usually asleep. They've got one or two people that come around, making sure everything fine, every few hours, though."

"Well, then we'll make it quick. Expect us tomorrow, around two AM, then; no way I'm waiting any longer!"

"All right, I'll let Mikey know. I'd better get back to bed."

"Yeah, okay. See ya soon!"

"Later." And with that, Raphael hung up the phone.

Casey hung up as well, nearly bouncing in his excitement. They'd found them! It was only a matter of hours before they'd be reunited once more. Casey paused. It didn't sound like the phone, or his conversation, had woken Leo or Donnie. Should he wake them up and tell them? No, he'd let them sleep, and tell them in the morning. They would all need their rest if they wanted to pull this off.

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Raphael smirked as he pulled his covers up over him. He'd managed to get in and out without anyone catching him. His brother's and Casey were going to be getting him out of here tomorrow.

It was almost too good to be true…

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Author's Note: Gah! It's been another month! Apologies, once more, dear readers.

But it's up now! What'd'ya think? I must tell you that the first paragraph was actually written by my sister (Akiko, Keeper of Sheep - READ HER FICS!). I told her I was stuck, and asked for her help. A few seconds later, she texted me that. She's so awesome!

Sadly, chapter eight probably will be another month away. It's not my fault, I swear! I do try, really, really hard. Really!

Thanks for reading, reviewing, and adding me to your lists - I love you all! Ta!