Chapter Text
Hisss…
It all started on a normal day, didn’t it?
Starring into those wild eyes, Donnie thought back to when everything went wrong.
Hunched over his workbench, Donnie was deeply engrossed in this new Project. The idea came to him last night and he wanted to finish it as soon as possible. It was not a weapon or anything he made before or would usually make, but he had to make this. This was not about Donnie but about him . He would do anything to protect him and his light.
He was so focused that he nearly missed the door to his lab opening, light steps slowly stepped inside, gently shutting the door. A beep sounds softly through the room as the locks reengage. The only one who regularly came to the lab and have the access to enter uninvited was also the one who could not see the Project yet.
As the steps got closer, Donnie swiftly swapped the Project for the broken toaster (that Leo broke (again)).
Coming to a stop next to him, his little brother stood there for a moment silently.
Always doing this to prevent potentially startling Donnie, after the few times he accidentally caused Donnie to drop what he was holding (usually breaking something), this consideration always made something melt a little in him. As for his fight-or-flight reaction, he should seriously work on that dropping-whatever-he-was-holding thing.
“Dee?” Pretending to groan at being interrupted, Donnie looked up to see Mikey, standing close but not too close that it made him uncomfortable. Yet it was a small precaution to prevent something from exploding into your face- not that everyone (read: Leo) kept that in mind.
Mikey looked nervous and hesitant to speak. Donnie had a feeling about where this conversation is leading. “Do you wanna come with us?” Pushing up the goggles, Donnie leaned back and slowly worked out the kinks in his muscles from slouching for so long.
“Sigh. And leave my peaceful lab to spend time with two of my squabbling brothers? Scoff.”
The other’s smile fell before he quickly recovered it, this time a shaky one.
“I hoped that some time outside without any mission or something would do us some good. Like, us, just hanging out. For fun…” His voice got quieter and quieter, the shaky smile slipping and cracking to pieces.
Donnie hated this.
“Michael…” He picked up Mikey’s hand and gently drew circles with his thumb on the back. “You don’t.. you know-
have
to fix… this.” He motioned aimlessly around. “It’s those two dum-dums who should know better.”
Mikey halfway retracted his head, avoiding eye contact. “I just hoped…”
Donnie stopped his quiet mumbling.
“I hate their fighting as much as you do. But you shouldn’t…” He had a hard time finding the right words. This was why he avoid these emotional situations.
Pulling his head out of his shell, Mikey smiled at him. It was a small and broken thing, but right now, it felt enough for this broken mess of a family. “I’ll be fine.” Mikey patted Donnie’s arm gently before pulling back. “Just think- after the last months, we could use a break.”
After the Shredder Situation and the recovery afterwards, things barely just began to turn back to normal in the Hamato Family.
April just went out of town with her family for the summer holidays, now feeling safe enough to leave, and Splinter, after much pushing and begging, left for a much-needed retreat. Their old man had that coming for years now.
Mikey began to test out new recipes again and spray-painting on every available surface in their new Lair, making the old, abandoned Subway Station feel a little bit more like home.
Raph has been cutting back slowly on training and relaxing more.
Leo started to lighten up again and his jokes became less forced.
And Donnie himself has been able to build and invent for fun again, the anxiety to make everything safe lessening slowly.
But not long after came the fights too. Starting off as small arguments, they quickly became to increase in quantity and severity. It seemed like every other day, all they could do was fight.
One light in this mess was this newfound closeness between Donnie and Mikey. Not that they were not close before, but as their other two brothers are driving their relationship apart, it only served to tighten their’s. This understanding and appreciation that bloomed between them was a precious thing, something Donnie learned to cherries for what it was- not for what it came from.
Mikey came to him when everything seemed too much: too loud, too scary.
Donnie came to him when everything became “too complicated-too simple”.
To shield, to distract.
To bring peace of mind, to give understanding.
They became each others’ crutches as the others fell apart.
And this led him to realise how his younger brother put the responsibility for their family’s emotional well-being on his little green shoulders.
And Donnie understood why he did it: the need to prove himself useful and to feel useful- he was slightly guilty of this too, but this was why he did not want his brother to suffer because of it.
So, Donnie felt unsure about this. “While I think so too, I honestly cannot leave now.” Thinking of what he is making, he wanted it done and soon. And now would be the best time to get the most done.
Seeing the smile drop off Mikey’s face, he quickly added. “Next time. Promise.”
Feeling that the conversation was over, and honestly emotionally all tired out, he waved him off. “Now, Vamos! Wouldn’t want to keep our other two idiots waiting.” He stood up and pushed a giggling Mikey towards the door.
“Fine, fine- I’ll hold you to that promise though, Dee!” He called, running off.
A sigh left him as he fondly looked at his retreating brother.
He turned back to his workbench and pushed the toaster aside, pulling the Project out of its hiding spot. “Now. Enough of emotionally draining Conversations and more of Inventing.”
Donnie pushed the talk out of his mind.
Later, when they come back, can he think about this more.
If he can muster the necessary emotions up for it.
A later never came. By the time he realized how much time had passed, it was already too late.
Only after finishing the Project, did Donnie notice something wrong.
The lair was quiet. Too quiet. He knew how much time it took for him to finish, so immediately he was on edge. Looking at the time, he saw it was Mid-Morning. The others left after Lunch, so almost 24 hours passed and, by the looks of it, they never returned.
Trying to keep calm, Donnie began to think about what could have happened.
Maybe they got sidetracked or something? Keeping this in mind, he pulled up their hidden trackers.
What he found sent chills down his shell.
The signals were unclear, practically all over the place, making it nearly impossible to find them. Something that should not be possible, mind you! Taking a deep breath, he pinpointed the last clear signal down.
What he found was a sight of an alley with signs of a fight. But no sight of his brothers. It was near an entrance to the Hidden City. The only signs his brothers were there were scraps of their clothing and their weapons.
And the blood.
It took a while to find any clues to the whereabouts of anyone of his brothers. The fact that the messed up signals of their trackers moved and jumped from areas gave Donnie hope that they were at least alive enough to move around.
So far, he managed to only get a rough estimation of one of the trackers.
One of them was glitching all over the place and the other was way too vague and messed up to pinpoint anything. But this one, he was able to pin down. The signal moved rather steadily in a given direction- not too broad or too fast-moving.
Almost rushing out of the lair without his Battle Shell, Donnie went back and grabbed everything he might need- one of which was a medkit- he quickly moved to the signal.
It came from a part of the sewers, almost an hour away. Donnie equally hoped and dreaded what he might see.
Arriving at the area, Donnie found himself in front of a dark tunnel. Using the light from the Battel Shell, he carefully shined it into the tunnel. He saw nothing but moss-covered stone and trash. Taking a step inside, he immediately stepped into a dark puddle. He pulled it out and shuddered in disgust.
“Ew.”
Hiss…
Looking up, he saw two small vertical lights in the darkness further into the tunnel. Whatever it was, was slowly coming closer, the hissing only growing louder. Not moving, he observed the dark shape.
And as the shape crawled into the light and he got a closer look, Donnie could not help but gasp.
“Mikey?”
Mikey, the baby of the family, was covered in blood and injuries. It was horrible. Donnie moved to get closer, to see how bad it truly was. “Mikey, are you-”
Hiss!