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Is the strange Turtle he meets the worst thing that's ever happened to him, or something else?\n\nMulti-chapter 2k3", "count": "28", "submission_left_submission_id": "1048026", "submission_left_file_name": "1446333_hummerhouse_don_and_the_puzzle_box_part_9.doc", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1446/1446333_hummerhouse_don_and_the_puzzle_box_part_9.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1446/1446333_hummerhouse_don_and_the_puzzle_box_part_9.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1446/1446333_hummerhouse_don_and_the_puzzle_box_part_9.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "225", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "150", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "90", "submission_right_submission_id": "1050836", "submission_right_file_name": "1450300_hummerhouse_don_and_the_puzzle_box_part_11.doc", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1450/1450300_hummerhouse_don_and_the_puzzle_box_part_11.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1450/1450300_hummerhouse_don_and_the_puzzle_box_part_11.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1450/1450300_hummerhouse_don_and_the_puzzle_box_part_11.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_right_thumb_huge_y": "300", "submission_right_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_right_thumb_large_y": "200", "submission_right_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_right_thumb_medium_y": "120" } ], "description": "Disclaimer: The TMNT are not mine. No money being made.\nWord Count: 100K+ multi-chapter 2k3\nSummary: Donatello sets out to do April a small favor and winds up in another dimension.\nRating will vary by chapter, from G to NC-17\n\n~~The amazing preview image created by @dragona15", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Disclaimer: The TMNT are not mine. No money being made.
Word Count: 100K+ multi-chapter 2k3
Summary: Donatello sets out to do April a small favor and winds up in another dimension.
Rating will vary by chapter, from G to NC-17

~~The amazing preview image created by \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdragona15\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t		\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdragona15\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
", "writing": "\tDon awoke inside the tent with no memory of how he’d gotten there. Since the interior wasn’t in complete darkness, he knew it was very early morning and he also noticed that he was by himself.\n\n\tThe encounter with Nicco the night before came back to Don in a rush and he stretched luxuriously, his toes curling with the memory. Don understood that the endorphins from an orgasm made one sleepy; he’d used masturbation as a sedative on a number of occasions. He’d just never slept so soundly after one.\n\n\tHe had never experienced such a powerful climax before either and knew that had to have been due to Nicco. The older turtle had known exactly what to do to arouse him to the point where Don thought he’d burst before Nicco ever touched him.\n\n\tDon pushed those thoughts away quickly before they excited him again and he crawled out from beneath the blanket to exit the tent. The sky was still filled with stars, but the edges of the sunrise could just barely be seen in the distance.\n\n\tNicco was sitting by the fire, the pot of leftover beets simmering at one edge of the flames, and another pot of what smelled very much like coffee heating on another edge.\n\n\t“I thought you’d sleep for at least another hour, little ninja,” Nicco said with a smirk.\n\n\tDon walked over and sat down next to him. “I don’t even remember going to sleep. How did I wind up in the tent?”\n\n\t“I carried you in there,” Nicco said. Lifting a cup, he asked, “Do you want coffee? This is the first time we’ve had enough water for me to brew some with.”\n\n\tDon took the cup from him eagerly, his expression avid as he watched Nicco pour the steaming brown liquid into it. His first sip made him groan with delight and Nicco chuckled.\n\n\t“Seems as if I found another of your sweet spots,” Nicco said, looking entirely too pleased with himself.\n\n \tA warm flush bloomed over Don’s face and he tried to hide it behind the cup. After a couple more sips of the hot brew, he asked, “You didn’t sit up all night, did you?”\n\n\t“You really were out of it, weren’t you?” Nicco asked with a laugh. “I was wrapped around you inside that tent until about a half hour ago. I practically had to pry your fingers loose so I could get up and rekindle the fire.”\n\n\t“You’re warm,” Don said in self-defense.\n\n\t“And you smell good,” Nicco countered. “I wouldn’t mind waking up to your scent a lot more often.”\n\n\tDon bit his lip and stared down into his coffee cup. Nicco watched him, a frown creasing his brow before he turned away to contemplate the flames.\n\n\tAfter a moment, Don realized that Nicco’s mood had changed and he looked up. He saw Nicco stirring the fire with a stick, his entire manner now subdued. \n\n\t“Nicco?” Worried, Don set his cup aside and leaned forward.\n\n\tWithout looking at Don, Nicco asked, “Are you okay with what happened between us last night?”\n\n\t“Yes!” Don said sharply, startled by the question. “I’m sorry; I don’t mean to seem withdrawn. I . . . there are things . . . considerations . . . .” he trailed off, unsure how to broach the subject.\n\n\t“The future?” Nicco guessed.\n\n\tDon sighed. “Exactly. I hate that I know so many words but can’t find the right ones when I need them.”\n\n\t“Stop thinking about words and just say what you feel,” Nicco said, finally glancing up at him. “It usually works better that way.”\n\n\tThere was such intensity in his amber eyes that Don’s breath caught in his throat. The firelight danced inside those eyes, heightening the sense that Don had of vibrant vitality; of an alpha male whose strength came from his force of will.\n\n\t“S . . . something happened to me once,” Don said, hating himself for his stutter. Nicco’s gaze didn’t waver and Don could feel the thumping of his own heart inside his chest. “A being who was very evil managed to steal a scepter with the ability to control space and time. This being hated my family because we had stopped him from executing a plan that would have brought about the death of thousands.\n\n\t“He used that scepter to send my family and I to different worlds and dimensions. I wound up in an alternate timeline where our world had been conquered by an alien named Shredder who enslaved and killed the inhabitants.”\n\n\tDon stopped talking, his chin quivering slightly as he relived the sequence of events from that horrible experience. He’d talked to his brothers about what had happened to him, but it was and always would be painful.\n\n\tWhile he was trying to get himself back under control, Nicco slid over next to Don and reached for his hand. Enveloping it in a strong grip, Nicco gave Don a gentle squeeze of encouragement.\n\n\t“I want to know everything about you Donny,” Nicco said softly. “Tell me.”\n\n\tTaking a long shuddering breath, Don said, “Something happened to my counterpart on that world; he disappeared years before I arrived. My brothers were all there; older, battered, beaten, and separated. My father was . . . .”\n\n\tHe couldn’t say it, even now and even knowing [i]that [/i]Master Splinter wasn’t actually his own father.\n\n\tNicco lifted Don’s hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. Don offered him a weak smile and continued. “After my counterpart disappeared, my family came apart. The gadgets I had created fell into disrepair and no one knew enough to fix our security systems. My brothers couldn’t fight Shredder’s technology without me and he succeeded in destroying our world because I wasn’t there to stop him the way I’d always managed to before.\n\n\t“I didn’t know if I was going to be in that alternate timeline forever or not, but I did know that while I was there I had to bring my family back together. I knew we had to defeat Shredder. I came up with a plan and we attacked his home base and eventually destroyed him.”\n\n\tDon could feel the tears that were threatening to fall and tried to blink them away, not wanting Nicco to see his pain. Even though he tried to hide his emotions by looking down, Nicco grasped his chin and tilted his face back up in his direction.\n\n\t“Everything, Donny,” Nicco repeated. “I want to look at your face and know if you are feeling joy, or anger, or fear, or lust, or sadness. I want to know you as well as I know myself. I want to share the good things and the bad ones so I can make the good stuff better and lighten the load on the bad.”\n\n\tDon choked out a laugh, a fat tear making its way down his mask-less face. “That’s sort of corny.”\n\n\tNicco smiled and swept the tear away with his thumb. “I’m new at this lover business, give me a break.”\n\n\tHe leaned towards Don and pressed a kiss to his lips before settling back to look at the younger turtle encouragingly.\n\n\t“We destroyed him,” Don repeated, his heart feeling the same heaviness he’d felt on that day, “but the price was so high. I’m not a planner, Nicco. I’m not a tactician or a strategist. That’s my brother Leo’s job, mine is to make his plans work. But they hadn’t been a team for so long that they didn’t know how to do it anymore and they went with the plan I developed. We killed Shredder but all three of my brothers died that day too.”\n\n\tNicco relinquished his hold on Don’s hand in order to wrap his arm around the smaller turtle’s shoulders. Don leaned into Nicco, relishing the strength that the other turtle offered him.\n\n\tAfter a few silent moments, Nicco asked quietly, “Are you blaming yourself for their deaths?” \n\n\t“I should have done something differently,” Don said, acutely feeling the guilt that rode him each time he remembered that fateful battle.\n\n\t“Have you told your real brothers about what happened to you?” Nicco asked.\n\n\t“Of course,” Don said. “I couldn’t keep that a secret; I needed them to know that if anything did happen to me they had to stay together.”\n\n\t“What did Leo say when you told him about the plan you’d come up with? Did he find fault with it?” Nicco was holding Don’s eyes with his own, his gaze steady.\n\n\t“No,” Don acknowledged and quickly added, “but he wouldn’t even if there were a dozen holes in it. He wouldn’t have wanted me to feel worse than I did.”\n\n\t“Apparently the other Leo didn’t see anything wrong with the plan either,” Nicco said. “He wouldn’t have worried about your feelings; he would have worried about your life. Yours and his brothers. That kind of responsibility is ingrained in a leader and if he didn’t think your plan would work the way you set it out for him, he had the opportunity to correct any flaws. Why didn’t he?”\n\n\t“Because he didn’t realize how different his team was,” Don asserted hotly, feeling as though he should defend his brother.\n\n\t“Neither did you,” Nicco said gently. “Even if he had understood that, there is another explanation. He would have wondered, like you did, just how long you would remain in his dimension. He already knew that they couldn’t defeat that alien leader without you and that your plan was his only real chance to cleanse his world. Whether he and his brothers were ready to be a team again didn’t matter, he knew he had to seize the day. I would have done the same.”\n\n\t“What do you know of that kind of fighting?” Don asked defensively. “You told me that the only time you and Mase put your lives on the line are when you’re treasure hunting.” \n\n\tDon’s feelings were in a jumble; part of him was relieved to have his guilt assuaged by the logic of Nicco’s argument, but another part of him didn’t want to believe that Leo would take such a calculated risk with their lives.\n\n\t“That’s the only time we do it [i]now[/i],” Nicco emphasized. “The alien invasion I told you about took a long time to fight. Mase and I wanted to join the army almost from the minute the aliens showed up. We were too young of course, but the only way my dad could keep us from running off was to enroll us in a martial arts training academy.\n\n\t“We lived there, worked there, learned there, got our asses kicked there,” Nicco continued. “When we were old enough, we were conscripted into the army along with a lot of other mutants.”\n\n\tHe laughed humorlessly. “We were good enough to give our lives to the war effort but not good enough to fight alongside the humans. They put us into a regiment consisting of mutants and Mase and I were lucky enough to be in the same battalion. We were grunts, Donny. The army assigned us the worst human field commanders of the lot and those guys knew it was an insult to be in charge of our company. If there was a no win battle that needed fighting, we got shoved into it.\n\n\t“Our captain was an idiot. Every time we went out we lost friends and I got sick of it. During one of our battles the guy ordered us into a skirmish that was so obviously a suicide mission that I was sure he just wanted to be rid of us. I punched his lights out and took over.\n\n\t“I’m not going to tell you I knew everything there was to know about tactics, but I had good instincts and I knew my company. We followed my plan and wound up winning that fight, which was a strategic one as it turned out.\n\n\t“The captain came to after we’d headed out and he chased us down, forgetting he was in a damn war zone. He got his fool head blown off by the enemy and nobody cried about it. When we got back, the men in my company told the lieutenant colonel that the captain died in combat and that I’d taken over command. Our LC was shrewd enough to know that winning fights would get him promoted and me being in command would get him there quicker.”\n\n\t“You became a captain?” Don asked, enthralled with Nicco’s story.\n\n\t“Instant promotion,” Nicco said with a laugh. “Worked my way up to colonel before the war ended. I’m the only mutant to get that title. It didn’t matter much when the aliens left and we started putting the planet back together again. The humans saw us as a reminder of those aliens and we came back home to another kind of war.\n\n\t“Mase and I carried laser rifles during the war, but we also carried the weapons we learned to use when we were in school. We carry them still because we never know when some hate group is going to attack us. These hachiwari are a part of me and I feel naked without ‘em. Mase feels the same about his tetsu chigiriki.\n\n\t“I didn’t mean to get so long winded with the story of my life, but you asked what I knew about that kind of fighting. The answer is that I know a lot about it. You did exactly what you were trained to do in that alternate timeline, Donny. Your Leo did what he knew how to do best as well. There’s no reason for you to feel any guilt over their deaths unless you just really want to.”\n\n\t“I don’t,” Don whispered, tears threatening to fall again. “I’d like not to think about it ever again. I just can’t help that it comes to me when I’m away from my family. I always wonder ‘is this it, is this when I disappear and my family falls apart?’”\n\n\tNicco studied him, his grip on Don’s shoulder tight. “Is that why you dance away from my advances?”\n\n\tDon took a deep breath and nodded. “We live in different dimensions, Nicco. I can’t leave my brothers and if what I sense about you is correct, you won’t leave Masolino because you feel a responsibility to him.”\n\n\t“We could stop this now you know,” Nicco said, expression serious. “We could say we indulged in a little stress relieving mutual gratification and go no further.”\n\n\t“It wasn’t really mutual though, was it?” Don asked.\n\n\tNicco lips lifted into a half smile. “Don’t kid yourself about that, little ninja. I was extremely gratified by what happened between us.”\n\n\tDon thought about it for a moment, dragging his eyes away from Nicco’s so he could concentrate. “What you’re suggesting is that we don’t continue to explore our feelings for each other. That we don’t invest anymore of ourselves into a relationship that we can’t continue after we leave here.”\n\n\t“Let me be clear about something,” Nicco said. “I don’t care how badly it might hurt to have to say good-bye to you if I can know you were mine for even a short period of time. Whatever this feeling is that’s growing inside of me, I want to ride it all the way and for as long as I can. There’s a damn good chance it’ll never happen for me with anyone else and I don’t want to die never knowing the feeling at all.”\n\n\t“You like to take chances,” Don said with a small laugh.\n\n\t“I’m not going to force you to take them with me,” Nicco said somberly. “All you have to do is say the word and I’ll take you directly to the transport artifact and see that you get home. I can search for those diamonds by myself without unfairly dragging you along with me.”\n\n\tThe idea of leaving Nicco had Don in a sudden panic. He grasped the other turtle’s thigh, his eyes turning sharply back to Nicco’s.\n\n\tHe tried to think of what to say, his logical mind telling him to get out while he could. But Don’s heart was suddenly in control and he was quite surprised to find that it was so much stronger than his brain.\n\n\t“No, I don’t want to leave you,” Don said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “Not until I absolutely have to. I want this experience too; I want to know this feeling just as much as you do. Whatever the outcome. At least I’ll have had this when I’d otherwise wonder what could have been. I have to know.”\n\n\tNicco’s eyes lit up with a sudden heat and he lunged forward, his lips taking possession of Don’s. The hunger that Don had been holding back rushed through him and this time Don didn’t try to restrain his responses.\n\n\tMoments later they broke apart with twin gasps. Nicco caressed Don’s face, his hold on the younger turtle never loosening. One of Don’s hands had found its way to Nicco’s plastron and he could feel the larger turtle’s heart beating rapidly.\n\n\t“We could stay here for another night,” Nicco husked, his voice deeply seductive.\n\n\tThe sun had climbed higher during their talk and its light hit Don’s eyes, making him squint. As much as Don wanted to never leave this spot, he also wanted to ease his mind.\n\n\t“Let’s push on,” Don said, slowly extricating himself from Nicco’s hold. “I like it here too much, but I need to know that artifact is there and undamaged, and I want to find those diamonds so I’ll know you won’t need to go on anymore foolish treasure hunts.”\n\n\t“Ah, but look what my treasure hunting got me,” Nicco teased, tweaking Don’s tail as the younger turtle stood up.\n\n\tDon wondered if there would ever be a time when Niccolo didn’t make him blush. He rather hoped not.\n\nTBC…………………..", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "\tDon awoke inside the tent with no memory of how he’d gotten there.  Since the interior wasn’t in complete darkness, he knew it was very early morning and he also noticed that he was by himself.

\tThe encounter with Nicco the night before came back to Don in a rush and he stretched luxuriously, his toes curling with the memory.  Don understood that the endorphins from an orgasm made one sleepy; he’d used masturbation as a sedative on a number of occasions.  He’d just never slept so soundly after one.

\tHe had never experienced such a powerful climax before either and knew that had to have been due to Nicco.  The older turtle had known exactly what to do to arouse him to the point where Don thought he’d burst before Nicco ever touched him.

\tDon pushed those thoughts away quickly before they excited him again and he crawled out from beneath the blanket to exit the tent.  The sky was still filled with stars, but the edges of the sunrise could just barely be seen in the distance.

\tNicco was sitting by the fire, the pot of leftover beets simmering at one edge of the flames, and another pot of what smelled very much like coffee heating on another edge.

\t“I thought you’d sleep for at least another hour, little ninja,” Nicco said with a smirk.

\tDon walked over and sat down next to him.  “I don’t even remember going to sleep.  How did I wind up in the tent?”

\t“I carried you in there,” Nicco said.  Lifting a cup, he asked, “Do you want coffee?  This is the first time we’ve had enough water for me to brew some with.”

\tDon took the cup from him eagerly, his expression avid as he watched Nicco pour the steaming brown liquid into it.  His first sip made him groan with delight and Nicco chuckled.

\t“Seems as if I found another of your sweet spots,” Nicco said, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

 \tA warm flush bloomed over Don’s face and he tried to hide it behind the cup.  After a couple more sips of the hot brew, he asked, “You didn’t sit up all night, did you?”

\t“You really were out of it, weren’t you?” Nicco asked with a laugh.  “I was wrapped around you inside that tent until about a half hour ago.  I practically had to pry your fingers loose so I could get up and rekindle the fire.”

\t“You’re warm,” Don said in self-defense.

\t“And you smell good,” Nicco countered.  “I wouldn’t mind waking up to your scent a lot more often.”

\tDon bit his lip and stared down into his coffee cup.  Nicco watched him, a frown creasing his brow before he turned away to contemplate the flames.

\tAfter a moment, Don realized that Nicco’s mood had changed and he looked up.  He saw Nicco stirring the fire with a stick, his entire manner now subdued.  

\t“Nicco?”  Worried, Don set his cup aside and leaned forward.

\tWithout looking at Don, Nicco asked, “Are you okay with what happened between us last night?”

\t“Yes!” Don said sharply, startled by the question.  “I’m sorry; I don’t mean to seem withdrawn.  I . . . there are things . . . considerations . . . .” he trailed off, unsure how to broach the subject.

\t“The future?” Nicco guessed.

\tDon sighed.  “Exactly.  I hate that I know so many words but can’t find the right ones when I need them.”

\t“Stop thinking about words and just say what you feel,” Nicco said, finally glancing up at him.  “It usually works better that way.”

\tThere was such intensity in his amber eyes that Don’s breath caught in his throat.  The firelight danced inside those eyes, heightening the sense that Don had of vibrant vitality; of an alpha male whose strength came from his force of will.

\t“S . . . something happened to me once,” Don said, hating himself for his stutter.  Nicco’s gaze didn’t waver and Don could feel the thumping of his own heart inside his chest.  “A being who was very evil managed to steal a scepter with the ability to control space and time.  This being hated my family because we had stopped him from executing a plan that would have brought about the death of thousands.

\t“He used that scepter to send my family and I to different worlds and dimensions.  I wound up in an alternate timeline where our world had been conquered by an alien named Shredder who enslaved and killed the inhabitants.”

\tDon stopped talking, his chin quivering slightly as he relived the sequence of events from that horrible experience.  He’d talked to his brothers about what had happened to him, but it was and always would be painful.

\tWhile he was trying to get himself back under control, Nicco slid over next to Don and reached for his hand.  Enveloping it in a strong grip, Nicco gave Don a gentle squeeze of encouragement.

\t“I want to know everything about you Donny,” Nicco said softly.  “Tell me.”

\tTaking a long shuddering breath, Don said, “Something happened to my counterpart on that world; he disappeared years before I arrived.  My brothers were all there; older, battered, beaten, and separated.  My father was . . . .”

\tHe couldn’t say it, even now and even knowing that Master Splinter wasn’t actually his own father.

\tNicco lifted Don’s hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it.  Don offered him a weak smile and continued.  “After my counterpart disappeared, my family came apart.  The gadgets I had created fell into disrepair and no one knew enough to fix our security systems.  My brothers couldn’t fight Shredder’s technology without me and he succeeded in destroying our world because I wasn’t there to stop him the way I’d always managed to before.

\t“I didn’t know if I was going to be in that alternate timeline forever or not, but I did know that while I was there I had to bring my family back together.  I knew we had to defeat Shredder.  I came up with a plan and we attacked his home base and eventually destroyed him.”

\tDon could feel the tears that were threatening to fall and tried to blink them away, not wanting Nicco to see his pain.  Even though he tried to hide his emotions by looking down, Nicco grasped his chin and tilted his face back up in his direction.

\t“Everything, Donny,” Nicco repeated.  “I want to look at your face and know if you are feeling joy, or anger, or fear, or lust, or sadness.  I want to know you as well as I know myself.  I want to share the good things and the bad ones so I can make the good stuff better and lighten the load on the bad.”

\tDon choked out a laugh, a fat tear making its way down his mask-less face.  “That’s sort of corny.”

\tNicco smiled and swept the tear away with his thumb.  “I’m new at this lover business, give me a break.”

\tHe leaned towards Don and pressed a kiss to his lips before settling back to look at the younger turtle encouragingly.

\t“We destroyed him,” Don repeated, his heart feeling the same heaviness he’d felt on that day, “but the price was so high.  I’m not a planner, Nicco.  I’m not a tactician or a strategist.  That’s my brother Leo’s job, mine is to make his plans work.  But they hadn’t been a team for so long that they didn’t know how to do it anymore and they went with the plan I developed.  We killed Shredder but all three of my brothers died that day too.”

\tNicco relinquished his hold on Don’s hand in order to wrap his arm around the smaller turtle’s shoulders.  Don leaned into Nicco, relishing the strength that the other turtle offered him.

\tAfter a few silent moments, Nicco asked quietly, “Are you blaming yourself for their deaths?”

\t“I should have done something differently,” Don said, acutely feeling the guilt that rode him each time he remembered that fateful battle.

\t“Have you told your real brothers about what happened to you?”  Nicco asked.

\t“Of course,” Don said.  “I couldn’t keep that a secret; I needed them to know that if anything did happen to me they had to stay together.”

\t“What did Leo say when you told him about the plan you’d come up with?  Did he find fault with it?”  Nicco was holding Don’s eyes with his own, his gaze steady.

\t“No,” Don acknowledged and quickly added, “but he wouldn’t even if there were a dozen holes in it.  He wouldn’t have wanted me to feel worse than I did.”

\t“Apparently the other Leo didn’t see anything wrong with the plan either,” Nicco said.  “He wouldn’t have worried about your feelings; he would have worried about your life.  Yours and his brothers.  That kind of responsibility is ingrained in a leader and if he didn’t think your plan would work the way you set it out for him, he had the opportunity to correct any flaws.  Why didn’t he?”

\t“Because he didn’t realize how different his team was,” Don asserted hotly, feeling as though he should defend his brother.

\t“Neither did you,” Nicco said gently.  “Even if he had understood that, there is another explanation.  He would have wondered, like you did, just how long you would remain in his dimension.  He already knew that they couldn’t defeat that alien leader without you and that your plan was his only real chance to cleanse his world.  Whether he and his brothers were ready to be a team again didn’t matter, he knew he had to seize the day.  I would have done the same.”

\t“What do you know of that kind of fighting?” Don asked defensively.  “You told me that the only time you and Mase put your lives on the line are when you’re treasure hunting.”  

\tDon’s feelings were in a jumble; part of him was relieved to have his guilt assuaged by the logic of Nicco’s argument, but another part of him didn’t want to believe that Leo would take such a calculated risk with their lives.

\t“That’s the only time we do it now,” Nicco emphasized.  “The alien invasion I told you about took a long time to fight.  Mase and I wanted to join the army almost from the minute the aliens showed up.  We were too young of course, but the only way my dad could keep us from running off was to enroll us in a martial arts training academy.

\t“We lived there, worked there, learned there, got our asses kicked there,” Nicco continued.  “When we were old enough, we were conscripted into the army along with a lot of other mutants.”

\tHe laughed humorlessly.  “We were good enough to give our lives to the war effort but not good enough to fight alongside the humans.  They put us into a regiment consisting of mutants and Mase and I were lucky enough to be in the same battalion.  We were grunts, Donny.  The army assigned us the worst human field commanders of the lot and those guys knew it was an insult to be in charge of our company.  If there was a no win battle that needed fighting, we got shoved into it.

\t“Our captain was an idiot.  Every time we went out we lost friends and I got sick of it.  During one of our battles the guy ordered us into a skirmish that was so obviously a suicide mission that I was sure he just wanted to be rid of us.  I punched his lights out and took over.

\t“I’m not going to tell you I knew everything there was to know about tactics, but I had good instincts and I knew my company.  We followed my plan and wound up winning that fight, which was a strategic one as it turned out.

\t“The captain came to after we’d headed out and he chased us down, forgetting he was in a damn war zone.  He got his fool head blown off by the enemy and nobody cried about it.  When we got back, the men in my company told the lieutenant colonel that the captain died in combat and that I’d taken over command.  Our LC was shrewd enough to know that winning fights would get him promoted and me being in command would get him there quicker.”

\t“You became a captain?” Don asked, enthralled with Nicco’s story.

\t“Instant promotion,” Nicco said with a laugh.  “Worked my way up to colonel before the war ended.  I’m the only mutant to get that title.  It didn’t matter much when the aliens left and we started putting the planet back together again.  The humans saw us as a reminder of those aliens and we came back home to another kind of war.

\t“Mase and I carried laser rifles during the war, but we also carried the weapons we learned to use when we were in school.  We carry them still because we never know when some hate group is going to attack us.  These hachiwari are a part of me and I feel naked without ‘em.  Mase feels the same about his tetsu chigiriki.

\t“I didn’t mean to get so long winded with the story of my life, but you asked what I knew about that kind of fighting.  The answer is that I know a lot about it.  You did exactly what you were trained to do in that alternate timeline, Donny.  Your Leo did what he knew how to do best as well.  There’s no reason for you to feel any guilt over their deaths unless you just really want to.”

\t“I don’t,” Don whispered, tears threatening to fall again.  “I’d like not to think about it ever again.  I just can’t help that it comes to me when I’m away from my family.  I always wonder ‘is this it, is this when I disappear and my family falls apart?’”

\tNicco studied him, his grip on Don’s shoulder tight.  “Is that why you dance away from my advances?”

\tDon took a deep breath and nodded.  “We live in different dimensions, Nicco.  I can’t leave my brothers and if what I sense about you is correct, you won’t leave Masolino because you feel a responsibility to him.”

\t“We could stop this now you know,” Nicco said, expression serious.  “We could say we indulged in a little stress relieving mutual gratification and go no further.”

\t“It wasn’t really mutual though, was it?” Don asked.

\tNicco lips lifted into a half smile.  “Don’t kid yourself about that, little ninja.  I was extremely gratified by what happened between us.”

\tDon thought about it for a moment, dragging his eyes away from Nicco’s so he could concentrate.  “What you’re suggesting is that we don’t continue to explore our feelings for each other.  That we don’t invest anymore of ourselves into a relationship that we can’t continue after we leave here.”

\t“Let me be clear about something,” Nicco said.  “I don’t care how badly it might hurt to have to say good-bye to you if I can know you were mine for even a short period of time.  Whatever this feeling is that’s growing inside of me, I want to ride it all the way and for as long as I can.  There’s a damn good chance it’ll never happen for me with anyone else and I don’t want to die never knowing the feeling at all.”

\t“You like to take chances,” Don said with a small laugh.

\t“I’m not going to force you to take them with me,” Nicco said somberly.  “All you have to do is say the word and I’ll take you directly to the transport artifact and see that you get home.  I can search for those diamonds by myself without unfairly dragging you along with me.”

\tThe idea of leaving Nicco had Don in a sudden panic.  He grasped the other turtle’s thigh, his eyes turning sharply back to Nicco’s.

\tHe tried to think of what to say, his logical mind telling him to get out while he could.  But Don’s heart was suddenly in control and he was quite surprised to find that it was so much stronger than his brain.

\t“No, I don’t want to leave you,” Don said, his voice hoarse with emotion.  “Not until I absolutely have to.  I want this experience too; I want to know this feeling just as much as you do.  Whatever the outcome.  At least I’ll have had this when I’d otherwise wonder what could have been.  I have to know.”

\tNicco’s eyes lit up with a sudden heat and he lunged forward, his lips taking possession of Don’s.  The hunger that Don had been holding back rushed through him and this time Don didn’t try to restrain his responses.

\tMoments later they broke apart with twin gasps.  Nicco caressed Don’s face, his hold on the younger turtle never loosening.  One of Don’s hands had found its way to Nicco’s plastron and he could feel the larger turtle’s heart beating rapidly.

\t“We could stay here for another night,” Nicco husked, his voice deeply seductive.

\tThe sun had climbed higher during their talk and its light hit Don’s eyes, making him squint.  As much as Don wanted to never leave this spot, he also wanted to ease his mind.

\t“Let’s push on,” Don said, slowly extricating himself from Nicco’s hold.  “I like it here too much, but I need to know that artifact is there and undamaged, and I want to find those diamonds so I’ll know you won’t need to go on anymore foolish treasure hunts.”

\t“Ah, but look what my treasure hunting got me,” Nicco teased, tweaking Don’s tail as the younger turtle stood up.

\tDon wondered if there would ever be a time when Niccolo didn’t make him blush.  He rather hoped not.

TBC…………………..", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Don and the Puzzle Box part 10", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "4", "name": "Sexual Themes", "description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "9", "views": "187" }