At least, she thought itwas snow. Given the perverse delight this place seemed to take in being awful,it was probably some form of frozen acid that would strip the flesh from herbones. But at least it was pretty. Donna sighed, tearing her gaze away from thewindow, and went back to scribbling on the walls.
Everything she tried wasjunk. So much junk. Like everything else here. None of her calculations weregetting her anywhere. She’d given up paper ages ago – a waste of much-neededresources, for one, and the little square was so confining. The walls were muchmore liberating, though not even they brought her any closer to an answer. Notabout her missing quantum twin. Not about a way back home. None of it. And shewas losing the light again. She spared a moment to glance at the flickeringbulb, and redoubled her concentration, her tongue protruding as she scribbled.
The voice that spokeover her shoulder was gruff and annoyed, but Donna had far too much practice atignoring the tempers of irate family members in red. “How was patrol?” sheasked instead.
“It was patrol. Donna.Go to bed.”
“When was the last timeyou slept?”
Her hand stilled for aminute as she cast her thoughts back. “What day is it?”
“I know!” The outburst left her before she could stop it, and she drew adeep breath, trying to channel her inner Lea. From what she’d managed to piecetogether from the giant Donnie-shaped hole people talked around, he was a lotless high-strung and prone to snapping, and she knew she made some people hereuneasy when she did it. But it wasn’t easy. This place didn’t exactly cultivatecalm. “I know, Raph,” she said, more evenly this time. “But I’m so close. Thistime, I can feel it! I’m close. The numbers just won’t quite come together. Butmaybe…” And she was gone again, lost in the equations, scribbling away.
She was unprepared forthe hands that seized her around the waist, or the yank that lifted her fromher feet. She grunted as she landed hard on Raph’s shell, the air leaving herin a rush, and before she quite knew what was happening, she was being cartedunceremoniously out of the room over his shoulder.
“Hey!” she kickedher feet in token protest, but he had a good grip on her legs, and he wasstupidly strong for all that she towered over him. “Put me down!” Theywere getting looks from the rebels they passed, the more polite ones at leastlaughing behind their hands. “Dangit, Raph, my numbers–”
Letting out thetrademark groan of the aggrieved teenager, she went limp, slumping against hisback and watching the motion of his shell as he walked. Although, his scuteswere a nice flat drawing surface right underneath her–
“I can hear youthinking. Try it and you’ll be eating that pen.”
She groaned again, butdutifully refrained from it, despite temptation, as he carried her into herroom and dumped her on the bed. Furious, she sat cross-legged and folded herarms, refusing to look at him. “I was close, you know,” she muttered.
“I know.” The bedshifted as he sat next to her. “You’re the smartest girl I know, Donna. Ofcourse you’re close.”
She couldn’t helplooking up at that. “What about April?”
He grinned, showingteeth. “That ain’t no girl. That is a lady.”
Well, she had to givehim that. But it had broken the mood, and she didn’t feel much like fightingany more. Neither, apparently, did he, because he sighed and folded his handsin his lap, looking down at them. “Look, kid. I know you’re trying to help. Butyou’re not gonna help anyone if you work yourself into the ground, and… and Iknow you well enough now to know what you’re trying not to let yourself thinkabout.”
Was she thattransparent? She snorted. Of course she was. New Year’s Eve. Without herfamily. The numbers, at least, kept her focused on them and not on thememories. She hadn’t thought he’d known.
“I know your mom wasJapanese,” he said. “So I asked around, and…” he trailed off, finishing with anapologetic gesture toward the corner. “I know it ain’t much…”
She hadn’t even noticedthe little bundle of dried and wizened bamboo propped up in a little plasticcup in the corner, tied with a piece of twine. She couldn’t even guess whichruin of a shop in what used to be Chinatown he’d found the bamboo in. And thenshe realized what it was.
He’d tried to make her akadomatsu.
A small, breathlesslaugh escaped her, and he turned his head, giving a self-deprecating laugh ofhis own. “Yeah, I know. It’s dumb. I’ll just–”
Before he could get up,she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He froze, looking a bit like she’djust walloped him upside the head with her bō. She smiled, a real, genuine smilethis time, and shook her head. “No, it’s not. I love it. Thanks, big brother.”
His stunned expression melted into a grin, andhe wrapped an arm around her neck, rubbing the top of her head. “No problem,kid.” But when he loosened the headlock, his arm stayed around her shoulders,and she leaned into him, grateful for the comfort. “Happy New Year” didn’texactly seem appropriate given the circumstances, but in a way, this was theclosest she’d come to “happy” since she’d fallen out of time and landed here.
That thought was the one that finally, at long last, sent herto sleep, drifting off against the closest thing she had to family in thiscrazy, upside down world.
