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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
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", "writing": "\t“Donny? Donny are you all right?” Nicco asked anxiously, catching hold of his lover before he fell.\n\n\t“You never told me . . . .” Don began, swallowing thickly. “You never told me about Mase’s arm.”\n\n\tNicco glanced up at his brother, who darted over to a nearby medicine cabinet. He returned with a small bottle of smelling salts, opening and waving it beneath Don’s nostrils.\n\n\tThe smell cleared Don’s head, though he was still shaky. Corius pulled a chair over and Nicco helped Don onto it.\n\n\t“His arm?” Nicco asked softly, kneeling next to the chair.\n\n\t“The scar,” Don said weakly.\n\n\tRealization dawned on Nicco’s face. “I’m sorry,” he apologized with feeling. “I didn’t make the connection. Mase was badly wounded during the war but it was his own quick thinking that helped to save his arm.”\n\n\tCorius moved over next to Masolino and pulled the turtle close, his large body nearly cocooning that of his mate. Don saw the move from the corner of his eye and recognized it as a protective gesture. The memory of how he received that scar probably caused Mase a good deal of pain.\n\n\tDon felt terrible for calling attention to a time both brothers would probably prefer to forget. He couldn’t help his reaction though; Don could only equate it to something like a posttraumatic stress disorder. There was no way he could have anticipated it.\n\n\t“It’s not your fault,” Don said, twining his fingers through Nicco’s. “You couldn’t have known how seeing that scar would affect me. I didn’t even know I’d react the way I did.”\n\n\t“Tell me,” Nicco said, reading the expression on Don’s face.\n\n\tLeaning toward Nicco, Don squeezed his hand. “I have to go home. I have to, Nicco. I’m scared. I thought, for a minute, that maybe it would be okay if I stayed here. Shredder is gone and what happened in that other time line couldn’t happen in mine. But it can. I know it can now because even without Shredder around there are others who would take his place the first chance they got. My brothers need me.”\n\n\t“I understood your importance to your family almost as soon we met,” Nicco told him, cupping Don’s chin and caressing the olive green skin with his thumb. “You’re special; unique. I hope your family realizes just how lucky they are.”\n\n\tDon smiled at him, thankful that Nicco was very understanding. With an effort, Don stood up, determined to shake off his momentary fright.\n\n\tBefore Don could move, Mase slipped away from Corius and flung his arms around the younger turtle.\n\n\t“I don’t know what you guys are talking about but you tell me what you need and I’ll help you get it,” Mase told him, his voice muffled by Don’s shoulder. “You’re my brother now too and I don’t want you to be scared of anything.”\n\n\t“I’m sorry I freaked out about your scar and made you remember it,” Don mumbled back, returning the hug. It felt so natural, as though he really was holding one of his own brothers.\n\n\t“Something happened to me several years ago,” Don explained quietly. “A very angry and evil person stole a device that had the ability to manipulate time and space. He hated my family and sent us to different worlds and dimensions. The one I was sent to was a nightmare version of the future.\n\n\t“My father was dead, my family torn apart, all of my brothers mentally and physically damaged including the youngest who’d lost part of his arm. My counterpart had disappeared years before and without him they couldn’t defeat the alien maniac who’d taken over the world. We destroyed him but at a heavy cost; I watched my brothers die.”\n\n\tThere was a moment of silence and then, “The army wanted to move me out of Nicco’s company,” Mase said, still holding Don tightly. “It took them a while to figure out that I was smarter than average and when they did they wanted to put me in a government facility working in their labs. I knew I had to stay with Nicco; we’ve always been a team. I convinced them I’d be more useful out in the field collecting alien intel and weaponry and then figuring out how to operate the tech we took from them.”\n\n\t“We were in an alien cruiser that we’d shot down,” Nicco said, taking up the story. “The crew fought back but we managed to overcome their resistance. While Mase was decoding their operating systems, one of our men noticed that a display on one of the consoles was blinking a set of symbols.”\n\n\t“One of the aliens had set the self-destruct timer and the display was a count down,” Corius explained, coming forward to set his hand on Mase’s shoulder. “It was obvious that no one was going to get out alive but Mase yelled at Nicco to clear the men off the cruiser and then he ripped the control panel off. Nicco ordered his men out of the ship and tried to get Mase to leave too.”\n\n\t“We wouldn’t have made it,” Mase said. “Damn Nicco wouldn’t leave either, the big jerk.”\n\n\t“You can be such a stubborn ass,” Nicco said without rancor.\n\n\t“Mase interrupted the flow from the power core to the explosive by sticking his arm between them,” Corius said and Don thought he heard a small quiver in the big guys’ voice. “The electric shock hit his skin and traveled up his arm. The only reason it didn’t kill him was because the vest he was wearing was made of a rubberized material.”\n\n\t“The jolt hit the sleeve on the vest and literally burst at being suddenly grounded,” Mase said.\n\n\t“If his arm wasn’t so thick and muscular the blast would have torn it off,” Nicco said. “It was pretty bad as it was.”\n\n\t“Between us we saved my arm,” Mase said. “If Nicco hadn’t stayed I would have bled out.”\n\n\t“He had to tell me what to do,” Nicco added. “He was damn amazing.”\n\n\t“I was in shock,” Mase said pragmatically.\n\n\t“After he was stabilized, Mase refused to leave the ship because he was determined to decode the alien computer system. We set up a perimeter and defended that cruiser for all we were worth,” Nicco said. “It was a major turning point in the war. Mase deciphered their language, their operating systems; he even found their battle plans. That information made the alien invaders sitting ducks.”\n\n\t“None of which would have been any good if Nicco wasn’t such a shrewd tactician,” Mase muttered. “Just don’t tell him I said so.”\n\n\tThe story ended there but neither Mase nor Don seemed to want to break their embrace. Don thought that Mase might be drawing as much comfort from him as Don was from Mase. After a few minutes Nicco cleared his throat.\n\n\t“You two can stop slobbering all over each other any time now,” Nicco said.\n\n\tThat made them start laughing and the pair finally drew away from each other. Mase backed up against Corius who draped an arm across the front of the turtle’s plastron. Nicco pressed against Don’s carapace and placed a hand on his mate’s hip.\n\n\t“You said something about changing the artifact’s programming,” Mase said, his mind returning to their problem. “What did you mean?”\n\n\t“I’ve had some experience with repairing the artifacts,” Don said. “My best friend’s uncle was trapped by them; cycling from one to another until he figured out the correct coordinates to take him back to our world. The problem was that he was stuck on a world with a damaged artifact. It’s a long story, but after we made it back home, he and I had several long conversations about the things he learned while working on one of the puzzle boxes.”\n\n\tA quick gleam brightened Mase’s eyes. “I want to know everything you learned.”\n\n\tDon nodded. “You will. See, I started thinking about how it feels to travel through the artifact. Dialing a pattern is more like opening the lock on a special set of doors; once opened you’re sucked into a corridor that takes you directly through to the corresponding door. Each doorway you pass through closes and locks behind you.”\n\n\t“Yes,” Corius said slowly. “An interesting way to look at it and one that explains why you can have so many artifacts without also having traffic.”\n\n\t“When a set of doors are open, they are inaccessible to other artifacts, except in the rare instance where two artifacts become synchronized,” Mase said.\n\n\t“That’s what happened with Nicco and me,” Don said. “I think the harmonics in the crystal caused the synchronization and the programming in the artifact itself is what matched up our biological masses.”\n\n\t“It allowed two doors to open simultaneously,” Corius said.\n\n\tNicco lifted both his hands in the air to get the attention of the three geniuses. “Stop for a second while the turtle with the normal sized brain tries to catch up. The puzzle boxes are just locks on inter-dimensional doors?”\n\n\t“It’s a simplistic way for us to look at it, but yes,” Don said, glancing at him and then back at Mase. “Since we know it’s possible to open two doors at once, couldn’t we not only open them, but change the programming so that they never close?”\n\n\t“You mean to create a corridor between our two homes, don’t you?” Mase asked. “Something that would allow you and Nicco access back and forth that’s as simple as opening his bedroom door.”\n\n\t“The crystals supply the power and with these extras we’d have a system that could run indefinitely. The artifact is simply a device that harnesses that power, the programming inside of it gives off the instructions for activation and deactivation of the transport function,” Don said.\n\n\t“Adjust the artifact so that it doesn’t deactivate the crystal and you have an open door,” Corius concluded.\n\n\t“The key to the crystals is sound,” Don said. “Whatever is programmed in the artifact must utilize a frequency or set of frequencies that gives the crystal its instructions.”\n\n\t“First we’d have to isolate those frequencies,” Mase said, “and then figure out the duration for each.”\n\n\t“While we’re at it, we have to be careful not to liquefy our crystals,” Don said.\n\n\t“What happens with time if you figure out how to keep the doors open?” Nicco asked. When the others looked at him, he said, “Right now on Donny’s world five minutes probably haven’t passed.”\n\n\tThe other three appeared to think about that and then Corius said, “Time commences when the door is open. If it remains open, then I don’t believe time on either side would stop.”\n\n\t“Come on,” Mase said, bouncing out of Corius’ hold so he could grab Don’s arm. “Let’s start by you telling me everything you know about the artifact.”\n\n\t“Whoa little brother,” Nicco said, stepping in front of Mase. “We do nothing until we put some safety measures into place. First off, you figure out how to work on the artifact without getting sent somewhere. Second, we need to decide where the artifact sits once it’s opened; and that means on this side and on Don’s. Third, those locations have to be secure; we don’t want anyone to be able to touch them.\n\n\t“Fourth, whatever you do to the programming we have to be able to shut them down if we need to because in an emergency we might have to transport one of the artifacts to another location. Fifth, there has to be a way to signal through the artifact, something that’s simple and fast. Don’s world isn’t like ours; he has enemies who are always trying to find him. If his home base is compromised we have to know he’s shut down the artifact.”\n\n\t“Ping pong balls?” Don suggested. “Red ones signal an emergency and green ones show that all’s clear.”\n\n\t“Simple, fast, easy to carry,” Nicco said. “Whatever we set up for the artifacts, the key is that they remain moveable.”\n\n\t“That’s probably why the hand held versions were created in the first place,” Mase said, expressing a belief that Don had as well. “We’ll implement all one hundred of your safety measures, okay Nicco?”\n\n\t“I haven’t reached a hundred of them yet, but the day is young,” Nicco shot back.\n\n\t“Ever the army commander,” Mase said, snapping a sharp salute at his brother before rubbing his palms together. “Let’s go play!”\n\n\tAs Don carefully set the extra crystals aside, he had a thought that Nicco had been right when he’d said that the artifact wouldn’t have brought them together without giving them a way to stay together. They were just going to have to work for it.\n\n\tThe remainder of that day was devoted to the study of every bit of information that Don had about the puzzle boxes. Together he and Mase developed a database containing all of the facts they’d acquired and all of their various theories. While they were working on that, Corius was studying the crystal rods, running the same battery of tests on them that Don once had in order to confirm the young turtle’s conclusions.\n\n\tAlthough Nicco didn’t fully understand the scientific aspects of their work, he kept abreast of the findings. That was something Leo liked to do as well and Don was often surprised at his brother's grasp of the various things he was working on. Maybe that’s what being a leader was all about; knowing the strengths of your people and having a solid overall picture of everything that was happening.\n\n\tDon and Mase both would have forgotten to eat lunch if Nicco and Corius hadn’t plunked individual trays of food directly in front of them. When dinner time arrived that too would have gone unnoticed if Nicco hadn’t taken a firm hand with the pair of smart turtles, dragging them to the dinner table with help from Corius.\n\n\tThe meal was filled with conversation about their work, to which Dr. Stockman offered some very insightful advice. Because he didn’t go down to the basement lab, Mase had programmed his computer to share information with his father’s. In this way, Stockman could stay abreast of everything his intellectual son was working on.\n\n\tBefore they could go back down to the lab, Nicco gave both Don and Mase a strict deadline for calling it a night. There was a short lecture involved, the gist of which was that tired minds make mistakes.\n\n\tFor just a second Don could almost hear the speech in stereo, part Nicco’s voice, part Leo’s. When Mase started to protest, Don touched his arm and reminded him that Nicco was right.\n\n\tThis produced the kind of grin that warned Don he was about to be teased. “Of course Nicco’s right,” Mase said, drawing out the words. “Nicco’s always right isn’t he little ninja? Oohh, Nicco, Nicco, Nicco!”\n\n\tBlushing brilliantly, Don realized that Mase had heard them the night before. That had been the only time when they were in the house that Nicco had called Don ‘little ninja’. With a light hearted growl, Nicco planted his palm on Mase’s face and shoved him into Corius.\n\n\t“Eavesdropping twerp,” Nicco said. “I could repeat some of your pillow talk too, and I didn’t even have to eavesdrop to hear it.”\n\n\tThe foursome took that lighthearted mood into the lab with them and set to work. At the allotted time, they shut things down for the evening and retreated to their respective bedrooms.\n\n\tThough Don tried to be quiet during their lovemaking, Nicco wouldn’t let him. Whenever he caught Don attempting to hold back the sound of his enjoyment, Nicco nipped at a sensitive part of his anatomy, sending Don’s endorphins racing. By the time he climaxed, Don was shouting loud enough to rattle the windows.\n\n\tThe next few days were very much like the first. Corius worked with them as much as he could, but he had a business to run and was forced to leave during a good portion of the day. Nicco also had family duties that required he be gone for periods of time. \n\n\tWhile the three geniuses tackled the mysteries of the artifact, Nicco had worked on separating the diamonds they’d gathered from the Kimberlite. It was a time consuming process and when he’d had a small bag full he’d taken off one afternoon to meet their diamond buyer. It left Don and Mase alone together and it was then that Mase chose to broach a topic that had probably been on his mind for a while.\n\n\t“You know, when you’re here on our world, you should join Corius’ pharmaceutical business,” Mase said. “Corius is very impressed with your intellect as am I. We’re still the only company that develops medicines for mutants and most of the employees are mutants too. We want to show the world that mutants can form companies and be successful. Hopefully we can encourage others to do the same and offer employment to mutants. The vast majority of us work in low wage jobs that barely put a roof over our heads. Many mutants, too many, live in homeless camps and can’t find work at all.”\n\n\tThe compassionate part of Donatello was immediately alert. “How do they eat? Who cares for them when they’re ill?”\n\n\t“We do,” Mase said simply. “Those of us who have a place to live and have money or medical skills spend time at the camps. We help educate them, feed and clothe them, and provide transportation to job interviews. Nicco will make sure our bills are paid and then he’ll take most of the money he receives for those diamonds and use it to improve life at the camps.”\n\n\t“He never told me any of that,” Don said.\n\n\t“Probably because he’s afraid you wouldn’t let him go with you if he did,” Mase said, turning to look directly at Don.\n\n\tAt a loss for words, Don stared back. After a minute it was obvious Mase was waiting for him to say something.\n\n\t“How did you know I was thinking about going home alone?” Don asked softly.\n\n\t“Because that’s what I would think about doing,” Mase answered. “I’d worry that even if we repaired this artifact, that’s no guarantee I could repair mine. I’d have a concern that my tools weren’t as sophisticated as the ones in this lab and that I might not be able to replicate what we did there. I wouldn’t want to pull Nicco away from his family when there’s a possibility that he might not be able to return to them.”\n\n\t“We’ve talked about this,” Don said.\n\n\t“Sure you have,” Mase replied. “Now I get to talk about it. Don’t leave Nicco behind. I love him more than life itself and I want him to be happy. I’ve never in my life seen him as happy as he is with you; he’s relaxed and contented and in love. Nicco has spent all of his time, from when we were very young to now, worrying about me and our dad.\n\n\t“Now we have money and I have Corius, who is well connected to both mutants and humans alike. We’ll be okay; Nicco doesn’t need to take care of us anymore. He deserves to have something out of life.”\n\n\t“I . . . I don’t know that I can ask him . . . .” Don began.\n\n\tMase leaned forward. “Don’t ask him anything,” Mase said fervently. “He’ll decide on his own, trust me. All I’m asking is that you don’t tell him no when he says he’s going with you.”\n\n\t“I have to think about this,” Don said, being honest. “I don’t someday want to look up and see regret on his face. That and my guilt over taking him away would ruin us.”\n\n\t“He’ll never regret it,” Mase said with a laugh. “Nicco looks at every decision thoroughly before he commits to it. That’s just the way he is.”\n\n\tAfter Mase said his piece he let it drop. The next day when Nicco asked Don to take a break and come out with him, Don said he wanted to see one of the mutant camps.\n\n\t“I suppose Masolino told you about them,” Nicco said wryly.\n\n\t“He wanted to know if I’d be interested in being a part of Corius’ business,” Don said, keeping the real reason for their conversation a secret. “When he told me how they try to help mutants I found out about the level of unemployment and the camps. I’d like to see one for myself.”\n\n\t“Then you will,” Nicco said. “But I never go there empty handed. We’ll take dad’s van and do some shopping first.”\n\n\tTheir first stop was a discount clothing store, where Nicco stocked up on clothes, shoes, and blankets. The next place they visited was a food market. By the time they were done, the large van was completely filled. Don found that he was having a good time, despite his initial timidity at going into the various stores. Shopping the way that humans do was something he thought he’d never experience.\n\n\tThe camp was just outside of town, on a parcel of land that was barren and rocky. Nicco explained that it was worthless for ranching or farming and therefore the city had deeded it to the mutant organization that took care of the homeless. Those officials weren’t being altruistic with their donation, Nicco said, they just wanted to get out from under the tax liability.\n\n\tTo Don the scene was heart-wrenching. Tents stretched for as far as the eye could see, all filled with mutants, many of them whole families. Aid workers manned a supply tent, which was where Nicco and Don unloaded the van. Another large tent contained a communal kitchen and separate from the tents were two long wooden structures, which housed the restrooms and showers.\n\n\tDespite the obvious hardships, the mutants seemed happy. Small children ran and played, their laughter filling the air. Another structure contained a rudimentary schoolhouse where the older children spent part of their day learning to read and write.\n\n\tNicco was greeted warmly by many and Don could tell he spent a lot of time at the camp. Ex-soldiers called him by his rank and Don felt a swell of pride at the respect his new mate garnered from these men and women, all of whom seemed seasoned and tough.\n\n\tBy the time they returned home, Don was exhausted. He knew most of that had to do with all of the new experiences, but part of it was due to the stress of worrying about what he’d do when the time came for him to go home.\n\n\tThey’d managed to extract the crystal rods from the artifact and the next day Mase took them up to the roof to see if they could be recharged by the sun. It was a theory that Don had extrapolated from his interactions with the ‘lone survivor’ in the underground city. If it worked, they’d never have to worry about power for the artifacts.\n\n\t“Masolino can’t stop talking about you,” Corius said. He and Don were alone in the lab. With a chuckle, he added, “Most of the time he can’t stop talking period, but right now you’re his favorite subject.”\n\n\tDon felt his face heat up. “I suppose if one of my brothers brought someone home and announced they were his mate, I’d talk about them too.”\n\n\t“Yours probably will,” Corius said. “Nicco and Mase are both determined that you aren’t going home alone.”\n\n\tLooking over at the croc, Don asked, “Did Mase ask you to talk to me?”\n\n\tCorius shook his head. “He wouldn’t. Mase is very independent and prefers to solve his own problems. I love him and I know him. He isn’t just a genius; he’s unique. His father and brother know that as well. Mase’s mind goes beyond that of normal analytic thinking; he can somehow make huge intuitive leaps that I’ve never known anyone else to be capable of. He makes connections between random things without really knowing how he does it.”\n\n\t“Insight,” Don said softly, thinking of his brother Mikey’s inborn skill.\n\n\t“Yes,” Corius agreed. “Mase has incredible insight. He knows, truly knows, how deeply Nicco cares for you. Mase will be upset if you two separate and I don’t like to see Mase hurt.”\n\n\tThe tone of his voice was a bit frightening, but Don was not the type to be intimidated. “I have to do what I think is best for both of us,” he said stubbornly.\n\n\t“I suppose you do,” Corius said mildly. “I just wanted you to understand that Mase would rather know that Nicco was happy living elsewhere even if it meant not seeing his brother than to live with a Nicco who is alone and miserable.”\n\n\tTheir conversation was interrupted by the sound of Mase returning to the lab. With him he brought the newly recharged crystals, announcing with great excitement that Don had been correct about the sun’s effect on them.\n\n\tDuring the intervening days, Nicco and Don spent every possible moment together but neither discussed the future. Nicco never broached the subject, seemingly content to live in the moment with Don. Or perhaps he’d made up his mind about what he was going to do whether the artifact was repaired or not.\n\n\tAnd then came the day it was. Mase had rearranged the landing room so that the only thing it contained was the artifact sitting atop a pedestal and the floor pads. On the other side of the door was a shelf that held boxes of colored golf balls, which they had decided were functionally better than ping pong balls for signaling because of their weight.\n\n\tThe artifact had been reprogrammed and all Don needed to do was set the coordinates for his home in order to activate it. The ‘door’ would close behind him once he’d stepped through because his own artifact wasn’t programmed as yet, but once he’d done so, activating that one would open the permanent connection between the two.\n\n\tDon's hands were shaking as he put on his gear for the first time in days. He was alone in Nicco’s room and looked around at the surroundings for what he feared might be his final opportunity, using the moment to memorize everything about it.\n\n\tThe door opened behind him and Don had to blink to clear the mist from his eyes; he didn’t want Nicco to see him upset. When he turned around, he immediately noticed that Nicco had strapped on his backpack and was carrying his hachiwaris in his belt.\n\n\t“Wh . . . what are you doing?” Don stuttered.\n\n\t“Going with you of course,” Nicco said matter-of-factly. “Why do you think I haven’t talked to you about it? I have confidence in the work you geniuses did on the artifact.”\n\n\t“That’s no guarantee that I can duplicate it with my puzzle box,” Don said. “You’ll be trapped.”\n\n\t“Trapped is not the word I would use,” Nicco told him, moving close to Don in order to trace his jaw line with one finger. “Ecstatic, excited, delighted; those words work better for how I’m feeling.”\n\n\t“Suppose you can’t ever come back home?” Don asked. “Your family . . . .”\n\n\t“Will be fine,” Nicco finished for him. “My family will know where I am and they won’t worry. I’m sure that someday you’ll be able to repair your artifact and until then I’ll live with you and we can work on making your world a better place.”\n\n\t“You’ll have to go into hiding again,” Don argued. “We see daylight rarely and there are often battles with our enemies. It’s dangerous.”\n\n\tNicco snorted his laughter. “This is me we’re talking about, little ninja. I’m the adventurer, remember? I don’t need to treasure hunt any longer, but I do need a purpose. And I do need you.”\n\n\tIf there was any resistance left in Don, it disappeared as soon as Nicco’s lips touched his. The kiss was deep and caring, conveying the love that both turtles felt for each other.\n\n\tOn the way to the lab they encountered Dr. Stockman and Annabelle. It was clear that Nicco had made his decision known to his father and that the old man respected that choice.\n\n\tAs Nicco gave Annabelle a warm hug, Dr. Stockman shook Donatello’s hand. “My son has a good head on his shoulders,” the man said. “He’s always known what he wants out of life and I couldn’t be happier to see him getting it. I also couldn’t be happier that he found you. I’m proud to call you son.”\n\n\tThe lump that rose to Don’s throat nearly made it impossible for him to speak, but he managed to say, “Thank you, sir. I’ll do my best to make sure that Nicco is always happy.”\n\n\t“I know you will,” Dr. Stockman said.\n\n\tNicco embraced his father, whispering a few words into his ear as he held him. “Don’t worry about me,” Stockman told him. “I’ve already got Annabelle, Corius, and your brother hovering over me. If they don’t suffocate me with all the attention I’ll be fine.”\n\n\tLaughing, Nicco opened the door to the basement and ushered Don on through, following and waving to his father before locking the door.\n\n\tCorius and Mase were waiting for them in the lab, locked in an embrace. As Nicco and Don approached, Mase stepped away from the croc and grinned at his brother.\n\n\t“Save the mushy stuff,” Nicco told him playfully. “I’ll probably be back in under five seconds.”\n\n\t“I figured you’d want a last long look at my pretty face since it’ll be a longer time before you get to see me again,” Mase quipped without missing a beat.\n\n\tThe four of them headed for the landing room, but Mase and Corius stopped at the doorway. Don was once again swallowed in a hug from Mase while Nicco shook hands with Corius. When Don moved out of Mase’s arms, he found himself wrapped in Corius’.\n\n\t“Until we see you again,” the croc said as he released the young turtle.\n\n\t“Take care of yourself, you big jerk,” Mase told his brother, playfully punching him on his bicep.\n\n\t“Try to stay out of mischief, twerp,” Nicco replied, cupping the back of Mase’s neck and pulling him into his shoulder for a quick embrace.\n\n\tThey separated and Nicco followed Don into the landing room. Together they approached the puzzle box and Don looked up at his lover.\n\n\t“Are you sure?” Don asked, his hands hovering over the transport artifact.\n\n\t“I live for adventure,” Nicco answered. “Let’s do this.”\n\n\tTaking a deep breath, Don turned the dial to the coordinates for his world. The crystal rods popped out of its sides and Don experienced the now familiar shift that came with being snapped up by the artifact.\n\n\tFrom the corner of his eye Don saw Nicco shoot into the blinding light alongside him. There was no turning back now.\n\nTBC……………", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "\t“Donny?  Donny are you all right?” Nicco asked anxiously, catching hold of his lover before he fell.

\t“You never told me . . . .” Don began, swallowing thickly.  “You never told me about Mase’s arm.”

\tNicco glanced up at his brother, who darted over to a nearby medicine cabinet.  He returned with a small bottle of smelling salts, opening and waving it beneath Don’s nostrils.

\tThe smell cleared Don’s head, though he was still shaky.  Corius pulled a chair over and Nicco helped Don onto it.

\t“His arm?” Nicco asked softly, kneeling next to the chair.

\t“The scar,” Don said weakly.

\tRealization dawned on Nicco’s face.  “I’m sorry,” he apologized with feeling.  “I didn’t make the connection.  Mase was badly wounded during the war but it was his own quick thinking that helped to save his arm.”

\tCorius moved over next to Masolino and pulled the turtle close, his large body nearly cocooning that of his mate.  Don saw the move from the corner of his eye and recognized it as a protective gesture.  The memory of how he received that scar probably caused Mase a good deal of pain.

\tDon felt terrible for calling attention to a time both brothers would probably prefer to forget.  He couldn’t help his reaction though; Don could only equate it to something like a posttraumatic stress disorder.  There was no way he could have anticipated it.

\t“It’s not your fault,” Don said, twining his fingers through Nicco’s.  “You couldn’t have known how seeing that scar would affect me.  I didn’t even know I’d react the way I did.”

\t“Tell me,” Nicco said, reading the expression on Don’s face.

\tLeaning toward Nicco, Don squeezed his hand.  “I have to go home.  I have to, Nicco.  I’m scared.  I thought, for a minute, that maybe it would be okay if I stayed here.  Shredder is gone and what happened in that other time line couldn’t happen in mine.  But it can.  I know it can now because even without Shredder around there are others who would take his place the first chance they got.  My brothers need me.”

\t“I understood your importance to your family almost as soon we met,” Nicco told him, cupping Don’s chin and caressing the olive green skin with his thumb.  “You’re special; unique.  I hope your family realizes just how lucky they are.”

\tDon smiled at him, thankful that Nicco was very understanding.  With an effort, Don stood up, determined to shake off his momentary fright.

\tBefore Don could move, Mase slipped away from Corius and flung his arms around the younger turtle.

\t“I don’t know what you guys are talking about but you tell me what you need and I’ll help you get it,” Mase told him, his voice muffled by Don’s shoulder.  “You’re my brother now too and I don’t want you to be scared of anything.”

\t“I’m sorry I freaked out about your scar and made you remember it,” Don mumbled back, returning the hug.  It felt so natural, as though he really was holding one of his own brothers.

\t“Something happened to me several years ago,” Don explained quietly.  “A very angry and evil person stole a device that had the ability to manipulate time and space.  He hated my family and sent us to different worlds and dimensions.  The one I was sent to was a nightmare version of the future.

\t“My father was dead, my family torn apart, all of my brothers mentally and physically damaged including the youngest who’d lost part of his arm.  My counterpart had disappeared years before and without him they couldn’t defeat the alien maniac who’d taken over the world.  We destroyed him but at a heavy cost; I watched my brothers die.”

\tThere was a moment of silence and then, “The army wanted to move me out of Nicco’s company,” Mase said, still holding Don tightly.  “It took them a while to figure out that I was smarter than average and when they did they wanted to put me in a government facility working in their labs.  I knew I had to stay with Nicco; we’ve always been a team.  I convinced them I’d be more useful out in the field collecting alien intel and weaponry and then figuring out how to operate the tech we took from them.”

\t“We were in an alien cruiser that we’d shot down,” Nicco said, taking up the story.  “The crew fought back but we managed to overcome their resistance.  While Mase was decoding their operating systems, one of our men noticed that a display on one of the consoles was blinking a set of symbols.”

\t“One of the aliens had set the self-destruct timer and the display was a count down,” Corius explained, coming forward to set his hand on Mase’s shoulder.  “It was obvious that no one was going to get out alive but Mase yelled at Nicco to clear the men off the cruiser and then he ripped the control panel off.  Nicco ordered his men out of the ship and tried to get Mase to leave too.”

\t“We wouldn’t have made it,” Mase said.  “Damn Nicco wouldn’t leave either, the big jerk.”

\t“You can be such a stubborn ass,” Nicco said without rancor.

\t“Mase interrupted the flow from the power core to the explosive by sticking his arm between them,” Corius said and Don thought he heard a small quiver in the big guys’ voice.  “The electric shock hit his skin and traveled up his arm.  The only reason it didn’t kill him was because the vest he was wearing was made of a rubberized material.”

\t“The jolt hit the sleeve on the vest and literally burst at being suddenly grounded,” Mase said.

\t“If his arm wasn’t so thick and muscular the blast would have torn it off,” Nicco said.  “It was pretty bad as it was.”

\t“Between us we saved my arm,” Mase said.  “If Nicco hadn’t stayed I would have bled out.”

\t“He had to tell me what to do,” Nicco added.  “He was damn amazing.”

\t“I was in shock,” Mase said pragmatically.

\t“After he was stabilized, Mase refused to leave the ship because he was determined to decode the alien computer system.  We set up a perimeter and defended that cruiser for all we were worth,” Nicco said.  “It was a major turning point in the war.  Mase deciphered their language, their operating systems; he even found their battle plans.  That information made the alien invaders sitting ducks.”

\t“None of which would have been any good if Nicco wasn’t such a shrewd tactician,” Mase muttered.  “Just don’t tell him I said so.”

\tThe story ended there but neither Mase nor Don seemed to want to break their embrace.  Don thought that Mase might be drawing as much comfort from him as Don was from Mase.  After a few minutes Nicco cleared his throat.

\t“You two can stop slobbering all over each other any time now,” Nicco said.

\tThat made them start laughing and the pair finally drew away from each other.  Mase backed up against Corius who draped an arm across the front of the turtle’s plastron.  Nicco pressed against Don’s carapace and placed a hand on his mate’s hip.

\t“You said something about changing the artifact’s programming,” Mase said, his mind returning to their problem.  “What did you mean?”

\t“I’ve had some experience with repairing the artifacts,” Don said.  “My best friend’s uncle was trapped by them; cycling from one to another until he figured out the correct coordinates to take him back to our world.  The problem was that he was stuck on a world with a damaged artifact.  It’s a long story, but after we made it back home, he and I had several long conversations about the things he learned while working on one of the puzzle boxes.”

\tA quick gleam brightened Mase’s eyes.  “I want to know everything you learned.”

\tDon nodded.  “You will.  See, I started thinking about how it feels to travel through the artifact.  Dialing a pattern is more like opening the lock on a special set of doors; once opened you’re sucked into a corridor that takes you directly through to the corresponding door.  Each doorway you pass through closes and locks behind you.”

\t“Yes,” Corius said slowly.  “An interesting way to look at it and one that explains why you can have so many artifacts without also having traffic.”

\t“When a set of doors are open, they are inaccessible to other artifacts, except in the rare instance where two artifacts become synchronized,” Mase said.

\t“That’s what happened with Nicco and me,” Don said.  “I think the harmonics in the crystal caused the synchronization and the programming in the artifact itself is what matched up our biological masses.”

\t“It allowed two doors to open simultaneously,” Corius said.

\tNicco lifted both his hands in the air to get the attention of the three geniuses.  “Stop for a second while the turtle with the normal sized brain tries to catch up.  The puzzle boxes are just locks on inter-dimensional doors?”

\t“It’s a simplistic way for us to look at it, but yes,” Don said, glancing at him and then back at Mase.  “Since we know it’s possible to open two doors at once, couldn’t we not only open them, but change the programming so that they never close?”

\t“You mean to create a corridor between our two homes, don’t you?” Mase asked.  “Something that would allow you and Nicco access back and forth that’s as simple as opening his bedroom door.”

\t“The crystals supply the power and with these extras we’d have a system that could run indefinitely.  The artifact is simply a device that harnesses that power, the programming inside of it gives off the instructions for activation and deactivation of the transport function,” Don said.

\t“Adjust the artifact so that it doesn’t deactivate the crystal and you have an open door,” Corius concluded.

\t“The key to the crystals is sound,” Don said.  “Whatever is programmed in the artifact must utilize a frequency or set of frequencies that gives the crystal its instructions.”

\t“First we’d have to isolate those frequencies,” Mase said, “and then figure out the duration for each.”

\t“While we’re at it, we have to be careful not to liquefy our crystals,” Don said.

\t“What happens with time if you figure out how to keep the doors open?” Nicco asked.  When the others looked at him, he said, “Right now on Donny’s world five minutes probably haven’t passed.”

\tThe other three appeared to think about that and then Corius said, “Time commences when the door is open.  If it remains open, then I don’t believe time on either side would stop.”

\t“Come on,” Mase said, bouncing out of Corius’ hold so he could grab Don’s arm.  “Let’s start by you telling me everything you know about the artifact.”

\t“Whoa little brother,” Nicco said, stepping in front of Mase.  “We do nothing until we put some safety measures into place.  First off, you figure out how to work on the artifact without getting sent somewhere.  Second, we need to decide where the artifact sits once it’s opened; and that means on this side and on Don’s.  Third, those locations have to be secure; we don’t want anyone to be able to touch them.

\t“Fourth, whatever you do to the programming we have to be able to shut them down if we need to because in an emergency we might have to transport one of the artifacts to another location.  Fifth, there has to be a way to signal through the artifact, something that’s simple and fast.  Don’s world isn’t like ours; he has enemies who are always trying to find him.  If his home base is compromised we have to know he’s shut down the artifact.”

\t“Ping pong balls?” Don suggested.  “Red ones signal an emergency and green ones show that all’s clear.”

\t“Simple, fast, easy to carry,” Nicco said.  “Whatever we set up for the artifacts, the key is that they remain moveable.”

\t“That’s probably why the hand held versions were created in the first place,” Mase said, expressing a belief that Don had as well.  “We’ll implement all one hundred of your safety measures, okay Nicco?”

\t“I haven’t reached a hundred of them yet, but the day is young,” Nicco shot back.

\t“Ever the army commander,” Mase said, snapping a sharp salute at his brother before rubbing his palms together.  “Let’s go play!”

\tAs Don carefully set the extra crystals aside, he had a thought that Nicco had been right when he’d said that the artifact wouldn’t have brought them together without giving them a way to stay together.  They were just going to have to work for it.

\tThe remainder of that day was devoted to the study of every bit of information that Don had about the puzzle boxes.  Together he and Mase developed a database containing all of the facts they’d acquired and all of their various theories.  While they were working on that, Corius was studying the crystal rods, running the same battery of tests on them that Don once had in order to confirm the young turtle’s conclusions.

\tAlthough Nicco didn’t fully understand the scientific aspects of their work, he kept abreast of the findings.  That was something Leo liked to do as well and Don was often surprised at his brother's grasp of the various things he was working on.  Maybe that’s what being a leader was all about; knowing the strengths of your people and having a solid overall picture of everything that was happening.

\tDon and Mase both would have forgotten to eat lunch if Nicco and Corius hadn’t plunked individual trays of food directly in front of them.  When dinner time arrived that too would have gone unnoticed if Nicco hadn’t taken a firm hand with the pair of smart turtles, dragging them to the dinner table with help from Corius.

\tThe meal was filled with conversation about their work, to which Dr. Stockman offered some very insightful advice.  Because he didn’t go down to the basement lab, Mase had programmed his computer to share information with his father’s.  In this way, Stockman could stay abreast of everything his intellectual son was working on.

\tBefore they could go back down to the lab, Nicco gave both Don and Mase a strict deadline for calling it a night.  There was a short lecture involved, the gist of which was that tired minds make mistakes.

\tFor just a second Don could almost hear the speech in stereo, part Nicco’s voice, part Leo’s.  When Mase started to protest, Don touched his arm and reminded him that Nicco was right.

\tThis produced the kind of grin that warned Don he was about to be teased.  “Of course Nicco’s right,” Mase said, drawing out the words.  “Nicco’s always right isn’t he little ninja?  Oohh, Nicco, Nicco, Nicco!”

\tBlushing brilliantly, Don realized that Mase had heard them the night before.  That had been the only time when they were in the house that Nicco had called Don ‘little ninja’.  With a light hearted growl, Nicco planted his palm on Mase’s face and shoved him into Corius.

\t“Eavesdropping twerp,” Nicco said.  “I could repeat some of your pillow talk too, and I didn’t even have to eavesdrop to hear it.”

\tThe foursome took that lighthearted mood into the lab with them and set to work.  At the allotted time, they shut things down for the evening and retreated to their respective bedrooms.

\tThough Don tried to be quiet during their lovemaking, Nicco wouldn’t let him.  Whenever he caught Don attempting to hold back the sound of his enjoyment, Nicco nipped at a sensitive part of his anatomy, sending Don’s endorphins racing.  By the time he climaxed, Don was shouting loud enough to rattle the windows.

\tThe next few days were very much like the first.  Corius worked with them as much as he could, but he had a business to run and was forced to leave during a good portion of the day.  Nicco also had family duties that required he be gone for periods of time.

\tWhile the three geniuses tackled the mysteries of the artifact, Nicco had worked on separating the diamonds they’d gathered from the Kimberlite.  It was a time consuming process and when he’d had a small bag full he’d taken off one afternoon to meet their diamond buyer.  It left Don and Mase alone together and it was then that Mase chose to broach a topic that had probably been on his mind for a while.

\t“You know, when you’re here on our world, you should join Corius’ pharmaceutical business,” Mase said.  “Corius is very impressed with your intellect as am I.  We’re still the only company that develops medicines for mutants and most of the employees are mutants too.  We want to show the world that mutants can form companies and be successful.  Hopefully we can encourage others to do the same and offer employment to mutants.  The vast majority of us work in low wage jobs that barely put a roof over our heads.  Many mutants, too many, live in homeless camps and can’t find work at all.”

\tThe compassionate part of Donatello was immediately alert.  “How do they eat?  Who cares for them when they’re ill?”

\t“We do,” Mase said simply.  “Those of us who have a place to live and have money or medical skills spend time at the camps.  We help educate them, feed and clothe them, and provide transportation to job interviews.  Nicco will make sure our bills are paid and then he’ll take most of the money he receives for those diamonds and use it to improve life at the camps.”

\t“He never told me any of that,” Don said.

\t“Probably because he’s afraid you wouldn’t let him go with you if he did,” Mase said, turning to look directly at Don.

\tAt a loss for words, Don stared back.  After a minute it was obvious Mase was waiting for him to say something.

\t“How did you know I was thinking about going home alone?” Don asked softly.

\t“Because that’s what I would think about doing,” Mase answered.  “I’d worry that even if we repaired this artifact, that’s no guarantee I could repair mine.  I’d have a concern that my tools weren’t as sophisticated as the ones in this lab and that I might not be able to replicate what we did there.  I wouldn’t want to pull Nicco away from his family when there’s a possibility that he might not be able to return to them.”

\t“We’ve talked about this,” Don said.

\t“Sure you have,” Mase replied.  “Now I get to talk about it.  Don’t leave Nicco behind.  I love him more than life itself and I want him to be happy.  I’ve never in my life seen him as happy as he is with you; he’s relaxed and contented and in love.  Nicco has spent all of his time, from when we were very young to now, worrying about me and our dad.

\t“Now we have money and I have Corius, who is well connected to both mutants and humans alike.  We’ll be okay; Nicco doesn’t need to take care of us anymore.  He deserves to have something out of life.”

\t“I . . . I don’t know that I can ask him . . . .” Don began.

\tMase leaned forward.  “Don’t ask him anything,” Mase said fervently.  “He’ll decide on his own, trust me.  All I’m asking is that you don’t tell him no when he says he’s going with you.”

\t“I have to think about this,” Don said, being honest.  “I don’t someday want to look up and see regret on his face.  That and my guilt over taking him away would ruin us.”

\t“He’ll never regret it,” Mase said with a laugh.  “Nicco looks at every decision thoroughly before he commits to it.  That’s just the way he is.”

\tAfter Mase said his piece he let it drop.  The next day when Nicco asked Don to take a break and come out with him, Don said he wanted to see one of the mutant camps.

\t“I suppose Masolino told you about them,” Nicco said wryly.

\t“He wanted to know if I’d be interested in being a part of Corius’ business,” Don said, keeping the real reason for their conversation a secret.  “When he told me how they try to help mutants I found out about the level of unemployment and the camps.  I’d like to see one for myself.”

\t“Then you will,” Nicco said.  “But I never go there empty handed.  We’ll take dad’s van and do some shopping first.”

\tTheir first stop was a discount clothing store, where Nicco stocked up on clothes, shoes, and blankets.  The next place they visited was a food market.  By the time they were done, the large van was completely filled.  Don found that he was having a good time, despite his initial timidity at going into the various stores.  Shopping the way that humans do was something he thought he’d never experience.

\tThe camp was just outside of town, on a parcel of land that was barren and rocky.  Nicco explained that it was worthless for ranching or farming and therefore the city had deeded it to the mutant organization that took care of the homeless.  Those officials weren’t being altruistic with their donation, Nicco said, they just wanted to get out from under the tax liability.

\tTo Don the scene was heart-wrenching.  Tents stretched for as far as the eye could see, all filled with mutants, many of them whole families.  Aid workers manned a supply tent, which was where Nicco and Don unloaded the van.  Another large tent contained a communal kitchen and separate from the tents were two long wooden structures, which housed the restrooms and showers.

\tDespite the obvious hardships, the mutants seemed happy.  Small children ran and played, their laughter filling the air.  Another structure contained a rudimentary schoolhouse where the older children spent part of their day learning to read and write.

\tNicco was greeted warmly by many and Don could tell he spent a lot of time at the camp.  Ex-soldiers called him by his rank and Don felt a swell of pride at the respect his new mate garnered from these men and women, all of whom seemed seasoned and tough.

\tBy the time they returned home, Don was exhausted.  He knew most of that had to do with all of the new experiences, but part of it was due to the stress of worrying about what he’d do when the time came for him to go home.

\tThey’d managed to extract the crystal rods from the artifact and the next day Mase took them up to the roof to see if they could be recharged by the sun.  It was a theory that Don had extrapolated from his interactions with the ‘lone survivor’ in the underground city.  If it worked, they’d never have to worry about power for the artifacts.

\t“Masolino can’t stop talking about you,” Corius said.  He and Don were alone in the lab.  With a chuckle, he added, “Most of the time he can’t stop talking period, but right now you’re his favorite subject.”

\tDon felt his face heat up.  “I suppose if one of my brothers brought someone home and announced they were his mate, I’d talk about them too.”

\t“Yours probably will,” Corius said.  “Nicco and Mase are both determined that you aren’t going home alone.”

\tLooking over at the croc, Don asked, “Did Mase ask you to talk to me?”

\tCorius shook his head.  “He wouldn’t.  Mase is very independent and prefers to solve his own problems.  I love him and I know him.  He isn’t just a genius; he’s unique.  His father and brother know that as well.  Mase’s mind goes beyond that of normal analytic thinking; he can somehow make huge intuitive leaps that I’ve never known anyone else to be capable of.  He makes connections between random things without really knowing how he does it.”

\t“Insight,” Don said softly, thinking of his brother Mikey’s inborn skill.

\t“Yes,” Corius agreed.  “Mase has incredible insight.  He knows, truly knows, how deeply Nicco cares for you.  Mase will be upset if you two separate and I don’t like to see Mase hurt.”

\tThe tone of his voice was a bit frightening, but Don was not the type to be intimidated.  “I have to do what I think is best for both of us,” he said stubbornly.

\t“I suppose you do,” Corius said mildly.  “I just wanted you to understand that Mase would rather know that Nicco was happy living elsewhere even if it meant not seeing his brother than to live with a Nicco who is alone and miserable.”

\tTheir conversation was interrupted by the sound of Mase returning to the lab.  With him he brought the newly recharged crystals, announcing with great excitement that Don had been correct about the sun’s effect on them.

\tDuring the intervening days, Nicco and Don spent every possible moment together but neither discussed the future.  Nicco never broached the subject, seemingly content to live in the moment with Don. Or perhaps he’d made up his mind about what he was going to do whether the artifact was repaired or not.

\tAnd then came the day it was.  Mase had rearranged the landing room so that the only thing it contained was the artifact sitting atop a pedestal and the floor pads.  On the other side of the door was a shelf that held boxes of colored golf balls, which they had decided were functionally better than ping pong balls for signaling because of their weight.

\tThe artifact had been reprogrammed and all Don needed to do was set the coordinates for his home in order to activate it.  The ‘door’ would close behind him once he’d stepped through because his own artifact wasn’t programmed as yet, but once he’d done so, activating that one would open the permanent connection between the two.

\tDon's hands were shaking as he put on his gear for the first time in days.  He was alone in Nicco’s room and looked around at the surroundings for what he feared might be his final opportunity, using the moment to memorize everything about it.

\tThe door opened behind him and Don had to blink to clear the mist from his eyes; he didn’t want Nicco to see him upset.  When he turned around, he immediately noticed that Nicco had strapped on his backpack and was carrying his hachiwaris in his belt.

\t“Wh . . . what are you doing?” Don stuttered.

\t“Going with you of course,” Nicco said matter-of-factly.  “Why do you think I haven’t talked to you about it?  I have confidence in the work you geniuses did on the artifact.”

\t“That’s no guarantee that I can duplicate it with my puzzle box,” Don said.  “You’ll be trapped.”

\t“Trapped is not the word I would use,” Nicco told him, moving close to Don in order to trace his jaw line with one finger.  “Ecstatic, excited, delighted; those words work better for how I’m feeling.”

\t“Suppose you can’t ever come back home?” Don asked.  “Your family . . . .”

\t“Will be fine,” Nicco finished for him.  “My family will know where I am and they won’t worry.  I’m sure that someday you’ll be able to repair your artifact and until then I’ll live with you and we can work on making your world a better place.”

\t“You’ll have to go into hiding again,” Don argued.  “We see daylight rarely and there are often battles with our enemies.  It’s dangerous.”

\tNicco snorted his laughter.  “This is me we’re talking about, little ninja.  I’m the adventurer, remember?  I don’t need to treasure hunt any longer, but I do need a purpose.  And I do need you.”

\tIf there was any resistance left in Don, it disappeared as soon as Nicco’s lips touched his.  The kiss was deep and caring, conveying the love that both turtles felt for each other.

\tOn the way to the lab they encountered Dr. Stockman and Annabelle.  It was clear that Nicco had made his decision known to his father and that the old man respected that choice.

\tAs Nicco gave Annabelle a warm hug, Dr. Stockman shook Donatello’s hand.  “My son has a good head on his shoulders,” the man said.  “He’s always known what he wants out of life and I couldn’t be happier to see him getting it.  I also couldn’t be happier that he found you.  I’m proud to call you son.”

\tThe lump that rose to Don’s throat nearly made it impossible for him to speak, but he managed to say, “Thank you, sir.  I’ll do my best to make sure that Nicco is always happy.”

\t“I know you will,” Dr. Stockman said.

\tNicco embraced his father, whispering a few words into his ear as he held him.  “Don’t worry about me,” Stockman told him.  “I’ve already got Annabelle, Corius, and your brother hovering over me.  If they don’t suffocate me with all the attention I’ll be fine.”

\tLaughing, Nicco opened the door to the basement and ushered Don on through, following  and waving to his father before locking the door.

\tCorius and Mase were waiting for them in the lab, locked in an embrace.  As Nicco and Don approached, Mase stepped away from the croc and grinned at his brother.

\t“Save the mushy stuff,” Nicco told him playfully.  “I’ll probably be back in under five seconds.”

\t“I figured you’d want a last long look at my pretty face since it’ll be a longer time before you get to see me again,” Mase quipped without missing a beat.

\tThe four of them headed for the landing room, but Mase and Corius stopped at the doorway.  Don was once again swallowed in a hug from Mase while Nicco shook hands with Corius.  When Don moved out of Mase’s arms, he found himself wrapped in Corius’.

\t“Until we see you again,” the croc said as he released the young turtle.

\t“Take care of yourself, you big jerk,” Mase told his brother, playfully punching him on his bicep.

\t“Try to stay out of mischief, twerp,” Nicco replied, cupping the back of Mase’s neck and pulling him into his shoulder for a quick embrace.

\tThey separated and Nicco followed Don into the landing room.  Together they approached the puzzle box and Don looked up at his lover.

\t“Are you sure?” Don asked, his hands hovering over the transport artifact.

\t“I live for adventure,” Nicco answered.  “Let’s do this.”

\tTaking a deep breath, Don turned the dial to the coordinates for his world.  The crystal rods popped out of its sides and Don experienced the now familiar shift that came with being snapped up by the artifact.

\tFrom the corner of his eye Don saw Nicco shoot into the blinding light alongside him.  There was no turning back now.

TBC……………", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Don and the Puzzle Box part 20", "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": "8", "views": "150" }