Current Location: in the corner

Current Mood: drained

Current Music: Miley Cyrus - Old Blue Jeans

Leonardo started toward the chair where Donatello sat, then stopped, closed his eyes and shook his head. He spoke softly to himself, then with a resigned look, crossed the room. 

“Um, Donny can I talk to you for a minute?”  Out of the corner of his eye he could see Michelangelo turn his attention from the TV to his brothers,  “In private.”

Donatello looked up from his book, confused by the odd tone of his brother’s voice.  “Sure, Leo.”  Putting a strip of cloth in the book, he closed it, laid it on the desk and then led the way to his lab.

“Is something wrong?”  Donatello asked when Leo closed the lab doors behind them.  He’d noticed a change in Leonardo’s behavior but chalked it up to the fact that Splinter had left yesterday for a week of meditation at the farmhouse.  “Are you sick?”

“I don’t know, I feel kinda weird.  My stomach is all ... squirmy.”

“Squirmy?”  Donny cocked an eye ridge; his brother was generally more eloquent, squirmy sounded like a word Mikey would use.  “Do you mean you are nauseated?

“No. Yes.”  Leo paced, rubbing his plastron, “I don’t know how to describe it, I feel like my skin is crawling and my insides are all rearranging themselves.”

Donatello watched his brother pace back and forth, “How long have you felt like this?”

“About a month.”

“Leo!” he scolded; “you should tell me when you aren’t feeling well.”

“I though it was just indigestion or something, from Mikey’s kitchen experiments.”

“So you started to feel odd about a month ago, correct?  Have you been drinking more water than usual?”

Leo paused,  “Now that you mention it, yeah, I’ve been really thirsty lately too.”

“Are you feeling restless at night?”

“Majorly, I can’t sleep more than a couple of hours and I get up and walk.”

“Have you noticed a decrease in your sex drive?”

“My what?”

“Have you felt less of a desire to masturbate?”

“Hey!”  Leo’s eyes held a glimmer of embarrassment.

“I will take that as a yes.  Lie down, I need to check something.”

Leo tensed when he saw Donatello pulling on an exam glove, “What are you going to do with that?”

“I have to see if you have the same thing as Raph.”

“Raph’s sick too?” Leo lay back on the bed.

“Exact same symptoms, same timeline.”

Leo yelped when Donny’s hand slid under his shell.  “Gah! Get out of there, Donny!” He pushed Donatello’s invasive hand away.  He glared at his brother, “What the hell are you looking for anyway?”

“Wait here,” Donny snapped the glove off and dropped it in the trashcan.  “I have to get Raph.”

When he returned with Raphael, Leo was pacing again, rubbing circles on his plastron.

“Leo, if you will step out for a moment but don’t go anywhere.”

Leo was only too glad to leave the infirmary.  He closed the door behind him and leaned against the window, a couple of minutes later he heard Raphael yell and the sound of a shell hitting the floor.  Leo went back in and helped Donatello to his feet. 

Raph was standing next to the bed fists clenched, panting and glaring daggers.

“So, what’s wrong with us?” Leo asked.

“Let’s go back to the living room; I really don’t want to have to try to explain this more than once.”

“Some species of frogs will spontaneously change sex when there are no available partners.”

“We ain’t frogs Leo, we’re turtles.”

“We are still a cold-blooded species Raph, it’s not impossible.”

“Well why just me an’ Leo? How come you and Mikey didn’t do this?”

“It’s just a theory but I assume it’s because the females are larger to begin with, they are the stronger of the two.”

Mikey chortled, “So you’re saying Leo and Ralph are built like girls and that’s why they’re turning into - OW!”  He yelped as Raph’s hand smacked the back of his head. 

“Watch yer mouth.”

Mikey rubbed his head, “Well you certainly don’t hit like a girl.”  He flinched when Raph moved to hit him again.

Leonardo stepped between them, “Donatello, what is going to happen to us?”

“I am not entirely certain. There will be more physical changes undoubtedly, but it should not affect your ability to fight. Essentially, you will be the same turtles you have always been, only now you will be capable of sexually reproducing.”

“What about my… the equipment?”  Asked Raph.

“According to some of the research I’ve read, it often degrades and is reabsorbed into the body.  At this point, yours and Leonardo’s appears to still function, I can do a more detailed study …”

“I don’t think so.” Leo interrupted, crossing his legs and glaring at Mikey who was hiding a grin. He unconsciously continued to rub circles on his belly with one hand.  “Will this change be permanent?”

“I don’t know, it’s possible that once you have laid a clutch of eggs, the biological imperative will be fulfilled and you’ll revert to your former sex.”

“I ain’t layin’ no eggs.” Raph growled.

“So what do we do?” Leo asked uneasily, “ I don’t know anything about eggs or anything like that.”

“In most instances I would say instinct will serve you but somehow I think it might be better if we do some research on this.”

“We?” Mikey laughed.

“Yes, ‘we’.  If there are going to be eggs, we should all know how to care for them.  I need to examine you both again, more thoroughly.”

“Forget it Donatello.  You touch me like that again and I’ll rip your arms off and beat you to death with them.”

“Leonardo?”

Leo rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Seriously, guys, I need to know exactly what is happening to you if you want me to help you.

“Fine.”  Leo spat.  “I’ll do it since Raph is such a big chicken.”

“Up yours, Leo.”

“You first.”