mnt_mike | [oom: Suite 134]

A hospital.
In a freakin' hospital.
No no no, it gets better....in a freakin' MAGICAL hospital.

Mike is seated on the floor of his living room. Around him are the scattered remains of maps and plans.
To say that he's frustrated would be a gross understatement.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mnt_donnie

Donnie has just prepared himself a tasty lunch of tofu stir-fry, planning to eat it while reading the brand-new genetics research journal he'd gotten that day. He steps through the door into his room, anticpating a pleasant lunch.

He gets a bathtub. A bathtub surrounded by an amazing amount of rubber ducks. He doesn't need to be a genius to figure out where he's ended up.

"Mike?"

From:

mnt_mike

Mike looks up.

"Donnie?"

He gets to his feet and makes his way towards the bathroom.

"Are you uh...are you okay in there?"

From:

mnt_donnie

"Oh, I'm fine," Donnie says mildly, his voice echoing slightly. "It was a perfectly smooth dimensional transfer, I was just hoping for a more comfortable spot in which to eat my lunch."

The green of his face takes on a slightly reddish tint.

"And, ah, I don't want to just barge into your living room in case I might be, ah, interrupting something."

From:

mnt_mike

"It's just me. And really, I could use your help."

There's a certain amount of pleading in his voice

From:

mnt_donnie

More pleading than anyone usually hears from Mike when ice cream isn't involved. Donnie opens the bathroom door and steps out, his lunch forgotten.

"What's happened?"

From:

mnt_mike

Mike does a pretty admirable job of making himself look small.

"i...I lost him. I lost Raph."

From:

mnt_donnie

"You lost Raph?"

Donnie blinks.

"You mean, he's left the bar?"

There are other things 'lost' could mean. They're being ignored.

From:

mnt_mike

Mike takes a big deep breath.
Donnie is not Leo.
Donnie won't make him feel guilty...will he?

"He left to help some friends. He got hurt in a fight, and they brought him to a hospital. The hospital still has him. They've got him in a magical creatures ward, Donnie."

From:

mnt_donnie

Donnie is a scientist and a pacifist who's currently having a hard time thinking like either.

"The magical creatures ward? How did- He's not-"

Donnie stops, closes his eyes, and takes a long breath. His voice is colder but there's no blame in it.

"Well. Then we'll have to get him out, won't we?"

From:

mnt_mike

Mike nods. The lack of blame helps. Alot.
Donnie's good for that.

"I would have come and gotten you and Leo sooner...but I can't leave if Bernard isn't here. It...it's a thing.

But! I've got a blueprint, kind of. And I know that he's safe, for the time being."

From:

mnt_donnie

Donnie relaxes, just a little, when Mike says Raph is currently safe.

"Any kind of a blueprint will be helpful. The more information we have, the better off we'll be. Can I see it? And what do you mean by not being able to leave because of 'a thing'?"

From:

mnt_mike

Mike picks the piece of notebook paper of the floor, and hands it to his brother.

"Death drew it. She...she's the one who found him.
...
NOT on a professional level."

Mike waits until Donnie is engrossed in the map before he breaks out the latest tidbit of news.

"I uh...kinda...had been made Barman, but now I'm co-Barman, so it's better, but not today."

See? Isn't it all cleared up now?

From:

From:

mnt_donnie - Date: 2006-09-11 08:59 pm (UTC) - Expand

From:

slayer_fray

At first glance the set up looks not unlike Mike's standard comic organising set up, so that's what Mel assumes is going on as she lets Stampy into the room.

"I've signed up for the mission to save the bar..."

As she picks her way through the papers, she glances down at them. Plans?

"What's going on?"

From:

mnt_mike

Mike looks up at her.
There's no brave face, no ever-present smile, he just looks lost.
Totally and utterly lost.

From:

slayer_fray

Mel says nothing. What is there to say. She just drops down beside him and wraps her arms around him. Comfort first, ask questions... well, never, for them.

From:

mnt_mike

Questions?
They don't need no stinking questions.

Not when they're answered in full the moment his lips touch her temple.

gonelosttakenfailedIfailedwrongallwrongnightmarestakenBASTARDS!

From:

slayer_fray

Mel pulls him closer to her, and then there's no room for temple kissing, or for looking at each other, or for anything except siotting there, faces to necks, holding each other tightly.

She loves him. That's the thing to remember right now. Other than that, it's all terribly simple. They'll go, they'll fight their way in, and they'll get him out.

Simple.

From:

mnt_mike

It's not all better, but the weight of it is certainly less.
He thinks about his meeting with Don.
He tries his damnedest not to think about his conversation with Death.

It's all he can do to NOT blame this all on himself.

From:

slayer_fray

He's an idiot. For blaming it on himself. There's to be no more of that. These things just happen. He had important things to do here.

Mel knows all about being responsibile for bad things happening to your family. But she also knows that responsibility isn't blame, and it's not going to get things done. The plans are better.

From:

mnt_mike

The plans are drawn with crayons on what appears to be an entire ream of construction paper.

He's not smart like Donnie, so they're not all that complex.
And he's not smart like Leo, so the plan is your basic smash and grab.

In the back of his mind is a small well of anger which threatens to spill over. Someone is going to get hurt when he finds out who did this.

From:

slayer_fray

Well. Yes. Mel knows and accepts that, and is OK with that. That anger's good and justifiable and shared.

The people who did that? Deserve Mike's anger.

From:

mnt_mike

This is something that Splinter had always warned them about.
That people...that humans would never understand.
That they were not to be trusted fully.

Mike sinks a little bit deeper into Mel's embrace.

From:

slayer_fray

Yes well, Splinter's never had a telepathic Phoenix-touched girlfriend, has he? There're some things Mel can't help but understand.
She doesn't trust anyone.

Except herself. And except him. But then, she's not really fully human herself.

He can sink all he wants. Mel'll hold him up. As long as she's here, she'll be his life vest.