Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"Ya know, when mom asked me if I wanted to join the resistance, this is not what I had in mind."

Casey Jones dragged his boots into the room, flicking on the light carelessly as he went. His gaze swept over the piles and piles of boxes shoved in the corner, trying to find someplace to begin.

Casey grumbled to himself. "Casey, fighting Kraang is too dangerous!" He knelt down in front of a box and pushed it aside to reach more. "Casey, this is a rebellion, not a babysitter's." He drew his voice up high, mocking the strange green creatures he had met in the mess hall. "Casey, why don't you go reorganize the storage room?"

And so here Casey was, stuck in this dumb room with a dumb task given to him by that dumb blue masked mutant.

With a huff, Casey shuffled through the boxes. He didn't have any idea of how he should organize the junk or what half of this stuff even was.

About an hour had passed since Casey's mom left him here while she went off on some mission. He had jumped at the opportunity to follow her to work. More than anything, he wanted to put an end to the Kraang and see the life that those from before had told him so much about. The resistance mostly kept underground, plotting ways to rid the planet of the Kraang and return things back to "normal." Casey had no clue what they meant by normal, as the Kraang invasion was the only normal he had ever known. But the way people talked up the time before his birth made Casey want to fight with every breath in his body to protect that time.

Casey had met three resistance members. He had heard mention of them or saw them occasionally at home, but this was the first time he had ever had a conversation with any of them. A conversation that didn't last long thanks to the leader of the group, Leonardo. He had been too eager to return to planning missions to say anything more than two sentences.

Michelangelo, the second of the strange green creatures, was nicer, but he mostly just apologized for his brother's shortness.

April O' Neil rounded out the trio, barking orders at everyone and threatening to whack anyone with her bat who took too long. She was the one who had given Casey this nonsense task in an attempt to make him feel like he was contributing.

Organizing boxes was not helping the resistance in any way, shape, or form. It was just an excuse to get Casey out of the way.

"Junk. Junk. Junk. Oh, wonder what this is? Could it be more junk?" Casey grabbed an old tin can from a box and tossed it behind him. It knocked into another box, causing it to tumble and land with a clank and a beep.

Beep? Casey straightened, looking back to see the fallen box. In permanent marker, it had been labeled Donnie's stuff. Casey moved towards it and turned the box upwards, the contents shuffling. He dug through, pleasantly surprised at how non-junk the contents looked. A robotic bo staff, a wrist grappling hook, and a purple drone.

Lifting the box, Casey glanced around. This room was full of old stuff that had been collecting dust for years. No one would notice if one box went missing, right? Was stealing really illegal in the apocalypse?

Whistling along, Casey carried the box out through the resistance base halls. Hopefully, everyone would be sent out on their missions now. He could find a nice place to hide his box of cool gadgets, and when his mom came to pick him up, he would just sneak it along.

As he came up on a room entry way, he heard voices. He tensed, pausing to listen.

"Ew, what is that?"

"It's pizza!"

"Mikey, there is no planet where that is considered pizza."

Casey crept closer, trying to catch a peak inside the room.

Leonardo and Michelangelo stood around a table, inspecting a strange dough disk covered in dead rats and weeds. Michelangelo nudged it towards his brother who was waving his hands in defense.

"Look, Leo, there's no pizza in the apocalypse, so this is the best we've got! Just try it!"

"Did you try it?"

"..."

"You didn't even try it, and now you're trying to shove it down my throat!?"

Decided they were distracted enough, Casey attempted to cross the doorway and make it to the rest of the base.

"Hey, look! It's the new kid! Hi, new kid!"

Casey yelped at Michelangelo's voice, nearly dropping the box. He caught himself, shoving the box behind his back and slapping on his best I'm-not-doing-anything-wrong grin.

Leonardo eyed him suspiciously. Yeah, that grin never worked on his mother either.

"Oh, hey! Mikey and Leo! Wassup!"

"Casey, was it?" Mikey clapped his hands together, smiling. "Isn't it so funny that you and your mom have the same name? Though, your Casey probably isn't short for Cassandra..."

"Ha." Casey's laugh couldn't have sounded faker.

Leo looked past Casey, eying the box. "Whatcha got there, kid?"

"Oh, uh..." Casey slowly moved the box to the front, biding his time to come up with an excuse. "Just a box of cool gadgets I found, nothing fancy. I figured I'd just take it off your hands for ya." Or the truth worked just as fine. Casey turned on his heels to leave, but Mikey caught him by the back of his shirt.

"Hang on one second..." Mikey squinted at the label on the box and gasped. He took the box from Casey, grinning. "I didn't know we still had Donnie's old stuff! Leo, look!"

Leo rolled his eyes, snatching the box from his brother. "I meant to get rid of this old junk months ago."

"But ya didn't!" Mikey poked at Leo, earning a scowl.

"Don't read into that." Leo shoved the box back to Casey. "Take all this to the incinerator. None of it is worth keeping anyways. Just dumb old stuff."

"But Leo-"

"Nope. Donnie made his own choices."

Casey gaped, wondering if he could ask to keep it if they were going to destroy it anyways. Instead, he asked, "Who's Donnie?"

Mikey glanced at Leo before answering. "Donatello was- is our brother."

"Was our brother." Leo glared at Mikey.

"Is!"

"Was!"

The two went back and forth a while. Deciding he couldn't get much more out of them, Casey clutched the box in his arms. "You two clearly have some issues going on, so I'll just get out of your hair." With that, he excused himself from the scene.

Casey found himself a spot on the "back porch" of the resistance base (aka an old, dried up sewer pipe that overlooked the desolate city of New York). He let his feet dangle of the edge as he searched through the contents of the box to see what goodies he had managed to grab.

The moment Casey picked up the staff, he nearly decapitated himself on a buzz saw that popped out the end. Next he investigated the grappling hook, catching his eye the most. Some other gadgets sat idly, looking cool but also complicated. Lastly remained the drone.

Casey turned it over, searching for some sort of switch. Finding a button on the back, he pressed it, and the drone lit up with life. It hovered in front of Casey, startling him a little.

"Woah," Casey said.

"Woah," the drone said in return.

Casey tapped the drone, causing it to wobble in the air. "This Donnie guy built some neat stuff!"

"Oh my gosh, you know Donnie too? What a small world we live in!" The drone did a spin in excitement. It turned to see the city, then in a circle to fully capture its surroundings. "Wait a minute, where am I?"

"Uh, hi?" Casey gave the machine a small wave. "I'm Casey. And you're in New York City. Or what's left of it anyways."

"I'm Sheldon." Sheldon lingered on the city below. "Oh, yeah... it's all coming back to me now. The invasion."

Casey squinted at the bot. "How long have you been out?"

"Uh, the last thing I remember..." Sheldon listed his head, buffering. "Donnie was in his lab, frustrated at something, but then again, Donnie's usually frustrated, and then..." He beeped, as if suddenly remembering. "Oh yeah! Donnie shouted something about never returning and left!"

Casey frowned. "What was that about?"

"Don't remember. I don't think I've been in the best care since then, so my memory might be a little damaged." The drone floated back and forth, maybe trying to remember more.

Glancing around at all Donnie's gadgets, Casey formed an idea. "Hey, this Donnie guy seems like he was kind of a genius! Maybe if we find him and get him to rejoin the resistance, we might have a chance at winning!" This would definitely be more helpful than organizing boxes.

"Great idea!" Sheldon sank a little. "I've been kind of missing him."

Casey rose to his feet and began pacing. "Now, if only we had a clue as to where he could be..."

"I can track him!" Sheldon projected a map in front of Casey, complete with a purple blinking dot. "He put on tracker on himself in case there was ever an emergency with evil clones who turned against him and his brothers needed to pick him out amongst the rest."

"Did that ever happen?"

"Twice! You'd think he'd learn not to make evil clones after the first time."

...

"Are you sure you can drive this thing?"

Despite Casey's feet being unable to reach the pedals of the armored jeep, he said with complete confidence, "Of course!"

After struggling to even make the vehicle go, Casey gave up and let Sheldon drive. The bot connected himself to the dashboard, and on the two went.

"Now, on to find da- I mean, Donnie!" Sheldon drove the jeep over the desolate cliff side, an attempt to avoid the Kraang who swarmed the city.

Clutching the side door, Casey looked over the lasers and explosions coming from one corner of the city. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave without telling anyone." His mom would kill him if he got himself killed.

"Eh, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Getting turned into one of them ugly Kraang zombies," Casey said, shooting Sheldon a look.

Sheldon displayed the map again for Casey to see. "According to the tracker, Donnie's only a few miles off from the city. We'll be back in no time!"

Casey sat back to enjoy the ride. His mind wandered to what he had heard of Donatello. What could be so bad he'd want to leave the safety and cause of the resistance? They had been fighting to stop the Kraang since before Casey was born. Why would Donnie leave all that?

The duo soon found themselves on the docks of the city. Sheldon parked and Casey jumping out the car, his thick boots thudding against the wooden ground. Holding Donnie's staff tightly, Casey made his way across the boardwalk. Fallen amusement park rides mixed with the rubble of old Kraang armor. Tiptoeing over the mess, the boy eyed his surroundings suspiciously.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"If tracker is right, then yeah!" Sheldon hovered close at Casey's side.

Holding the staff out, Casey tried calling out. "Uh, Donatello? Are you here?" Hopefully, no Kraang would hear him. "I'm a... well not really a friend, but a random kid who wants to meet you! Please come out!"

Something shifted behind them, sending a chill through both Casey and Sheldon. The drone moved closer behind Casey, looking worried. "You know, if we can't find him, I could always be new Donnie."

Casey huffed. "Sheldon, maybe there was a reason you were shut down."

"Hey!"

Casey walked backwards while shushing Sheldon. "The Kraang will hear you."

"Casey, look out-"

A beep caught Casey's attention. He looked down to see his foot had been caught directly in line with a laser. He followed it with his eyes to see it lead to a trap hanging right above them.

"Uh-oh."

The trap snapped down, then up, yanking Casey and Sheldon up into a net. They dangled awkwardly, Casey flipped upside and Sheldon being crushed under his weight.

A large red and green robot emerged from around the corner, shaking the ground with each step.

Casey's gut clenched. "Oh my gosh! We're gonna die!"

"Not me," Sheldon chuckled. "I can just be rebuilt. Nice knowing ya kid."

The robot came to meet them at eye level. It caught the spinning next, holding up its prize. A voice emitted from the speaker. "Well, well! If it isn't Lamenardo- Hang on..." The robot squinted at them before groaning. "Ugh, never mind, it's just some kid and... Sheldon?" The head piece of the robot popped open, revealing a purple masked mutant in goggles and a tacky hula shirt.

"Donnie!" Sheldon pushed Casey off him, smiling.

The mutant groaned, shaking his head. "You spend a year preparing a whole speech for your brothers, and they don't even care enough to show up."

"This is the great Donatello?" Casey listed his head.

"Who are you?" Donnie used his mech to set down the net, allowing Casey to get to his feet. "And did you just call me great? Who called me great? Was it Mikey? Oh, or April! I knew she had a crush on me! But then again, I am great, so maybe that's just what everyone calls me."

"Uh, Mr. Donatello, sir?" Casey raised his hand awkwardly. "My name is Casey Jones. I just came here for- Will you come back to the resistance?"

Donnie looked Casey up and down, leaning nonchalantly on the mech's piloting seat. "Leo sent you, huh? Well, I rudely decline!" Donnie hopped from the bot. He clicked a button on a small remote, closing the hatch on the bot. It followed on autopilot as the mutant walked. "Tell your leader that if he wants me back, he will come himself and he shall grovel at my feet. Grovel!"

Sheldon frowned at the mech behind Donnie. "Did you replace me?"

"Yes, I did. Now, keep up, I'm a very busy man."

Casey chased after him with Sheldon. "No, no, Leonardo didn't send me."

Donnie paused. "He- he didn't?"

"No, he told me to throw out your old gadgets and stuff, but they were just so cool, so I came looking for you-"

"Well, some twin, doesn't even come looking for me." Donnie grumbled to himself and kept walking along with his machines.

Casey managed to keep up with the old mutant. "You're twins?"

"Well, not technically, but that's what Leo called us, and Mikey, and April, and Splinter, and..." Donnie glanced at the red and green mech. Casey squinted at it, realizing it looked somewhat similar to the three creatures he had met earlier. "Raph."

"I have a question," Casey said, raising his hand again.

"What is this? Kindergarten? Quit raising your hand and ask the question, you look stupid." Donnie shoved hands in his pockets. Casey found it odd that Donnie was wearing bored shorts in the apocalypse.

Shaking himself, Casey asked, "What are you?"

"What am I?"

"Yeah, you and Michelangelo and Leonardo. You're all green and big- I've only ever met a couple mutants, but I don't think I've met ones like you." Casey gestured to that whole situation.

"We're turtles."

"What is that?"

"You've never heard of a turtle? What, they don't have 'Baby's first animals' books in the apocalypse?" Donnie shot Casey a look.

"Nope."

Donnie shook his head, stopped at the edge of the dock, and sighed. "Anyways, I'm not joining Leo's little rebellion. It's pointless. The Kraang won, so we might as well move on with our lives." His voice consistently held a sense of irritability to it. "So, it's been a pleasure, Casey, Sheldon, but I've got to go." Pressing some buttons on how wrist panel, Donnie summoned a submarine from the deep. The robot clipped onto the side.

Sheldon stopped Donnie before he could get into the submarine. "But Donnie! Remember all the good times! Come back!"

Donnie knit his Sharpie marker eyebrows together. "Ah yes, the good times, like the time you tried to kill me when my brothers messed with your programming, or the time you tried to kill me during that drone race, or that time you tried to replace me when I was accidentally trying to kill my brothers with that robot. Great times!"

A smile crossed Casey's face. "Woah, sounds like you guys have been through some pretty cool stuff!"

"Yup, and I hated every minute of it. Farewell!" Donnie began climbing in the submarine, probably to travel to some totally incredible underwater base that Casey would love to see.

"Wait!" Casey hopped onto the submarine, rocking it. Donnie shot him a glare. "But what about the resistance! They need your help. Just look at all the cool stuff you built!" Casey held out the staff.

Donnie snatched the staff and tossed it into the ocean.

"Hey!"

"Pathetic old junk. Now get out of here, kid." Donnie tried to sink deeper into his submarine.

Casey stood his ground, clenching his fists. "Hang on just a second! Don't you want to see your brothers again? Why did you leave?"

Donnie leaned against the side of the entry hatch, rolling his eyes to meet Casey's. "I left because Leo is an idiot and has no clue when to quit. I don't know if you've noticed, but the resistance lost. Donnie doesn't play for the losing team."

"Why did you shut me off?" Sheldon cut in.

"Because you're useless and only cause more problems. Newton's apple, just leave already." Donnie yanked the lid over himself, and the submarine started running.

Casey jumped back to avoid falling into the water, and he climbed back up on the dock. He and Sheldon watched as the submarine disappeared below the water.

With a grunt, Casey kicked a piece of rubble into the water.

Sheldon stared after his creator. "What happened to him?"

Casey threw up his hands. "What? He wasn't always a jerk?"

"Oh no, he was always a jerk, but before, he at least had a heart."

Casey grabbed Sheldon. "Please tell me you have a way to go after him."

"Oh yeah, I've already been working on it."

...

Sheldon's plan consisted of Casey riding on his back as they continued to follow Donnie's tracker. The submarine moved faster than them, but when it finally came to a stop, they were able to catch up.

Casey looked over the waters, grinning. "Ha! Underwater base!"

"You know how to swim right?" Sheldon asked.

Casey was only halfway through a nod when Sheldon dumped him into the sea. He nearly choked, but quickly caught his small bit of breath. Sheldon followed after, providing light with his eyes. Casey spotted through the muck an old Kraang ship, repurposed and added onto. The two swam down and landed on top. Casey banged his foot against a window, his breath running low. The glass gave through.

Water gushing through, Casey and Sheldon plummeted to the floor of Donnie's lab. The turtle gasped, moving quickly to fix the hole in his roof. He slammed his onto a button, and a second metal emergency shield came to close the gap.

Donnie's angry gaze swept from the large puddle of water on the floor to Casey. "Goodness, you just don't quit, do you!" Throwing up his arms, Donnie marched past Casey to grab a mop.

The red turtle robot from before caught Casey's eye. It sat at a round table, far too small for him, shoved off to the side. A play tea set had been set up on the table, and two other wooden chairs surrounded it. A mop with a blue bandana and red marker streaks took up one seat while a orange bandana wearing flour sack sat in the other. The robot poured pretend tea for its pretend guests.

Donnie returned with the mop, grumbling to himself. "Ugh, you're just like him."

Casey climbed to his feet and began wringing his clothes. Sheldon just shook off the water. "Who? Leonardo? I don't see it. That old turtle doesn't know how to have fun."

Scoffing at the statement, Donnie carried on with his mopping. "How'd you find me anyways?"

"The tracker you put on yourself," Sheldon said.

Tossing aside the mop when he was done, Donnie moved back to his desk. "I knew I should've disabled that thing."

"You'd think you'd have done that already..." Casey's gaze swept across the underwater lab, fully taking it in. "You were very easy to find. Almost like you wanted to be found..."

Donnie spun to face Casey. "What? No, what sort of ridiculous idea is that?" He turned back to his work, mumbling, "I'm not a needy middle child, you are..." Casey came to stand next to Donnie examining all his gadgets and oversized monitors. Leaning against the desk, Donnie sighed. "It's too much work to send you back in the sub, so I guess you can stay until I feel like going back to the dock. Just- Stay out of my way."

Casey rolled his eyes, having heard the statement far too many times in his life. He glanced back at Sheldon, finding him giving the larger robot dirty looks for replacing him. The robot seemed oblivious and just tried to offer Sheldon tea. "So, what's with that big turtle bot?"

"That," Donnie began, not bothering to look up from his project. "Is RoboRaph. He, uh, keeps me company."

"Raph... You said that name earlier. Who is that?"

"None of your business."

Casey frowned. Donnie stayed quiet, tightening screws on his device. Bored from the silence, Casey's mind began to wander. He picked up one of the gadgets from the desk, a green button. "What's this?"

"Don't touch that." Donnie took the button and slapped it back on the desk.

"But what is it?"

"Panic button. It alerts others if I'm in danger, but no one would even come if you pushed it."

Casey's hand inched towards it.

"Don't push it!"

Casey's hand retreated.

One more tighten, and Donnie set his screwdriver on the desk. He pressed a button on his device, only for it spark and fizzle out. Giving an exasperated shout, he threw the device as hard as he could across the lab floor. "Why won't it work!"

Kneeling to grab the device, Casey looked it over. "What is it?"

"It's just a scanner I've been working on to detect nearby by Kraang, but it just- nothing will work the way it's supposed to." Donnie glared at the device, tensing his fingers.

Quirking his face into a smile, Casey said, "I'm sure you'll get it to work eventually! Just look at all the other cool stuff you've built!" He gestured to the rest of the base.

Throwing himself back into his cushioned gamer chair, Donnie sighed. "No, I mean nothing is working. All this tech you see? It's all old stuff from my old lab. Nothing I've built since I've left has been functioning properly. Nothing except-" Halfheartedly, Donnie gestured at the Raph bot who gave a small wave back.

"Well..." Casey paced across the room. "Maybe you just lost your mojo! Come on, it can't be that hard." Selecting a wrist grappling hook prototype, he passed it to the old turtle.

Unprepared, Donnie fumbled with it before it launched the small hook. It shot back into one of the monitors, cracking it an knocking it from its place. The monitor smashed in the desk with a crash. Donnie glared at Casey

Casey crossed his arms. "That was the worst catch I've ever seen."

Donnie opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a violent shaking.

Casey and Donnie hunched down at the earth quake. "...What was that?"

Shushing Casey, Donnie moved to one of his monitors. He pulled up outside security footage. A Kraang ship hovered above the water, the fleshy pink aliens diving in.

"Ugh, you led them right to me!" Donnie shoved past Casey, arming himself in gear from a back table.

"What are we going to do?" Casey chased after him.

"I'm going to go fight them off. You are going to go sit in the corner and stop causing problems!" Taking up a tech bo, Donnie pressed several buttons across it.

"But-"

"Shut it. RoboRaph?" Donnie didn't bother to look up from the screen on his wrist. The bot sat up at his name, leaving Sheldon to follow. "Come on, we've got to go stomp some Kraang."

"Can I come?" Sheldon asked.

"Nope!" Donnie and RoboRaph turned to leave the section of the lab, but when the doors slid open, they were met with a handful of Kraang.

The foursome took up defensive positions, backing up a bit. The Kraang attacked first, flying for Casey's face. He ducked in time, but another jumped on him. He struggled to kick it off.

Donnie, Sheldon, and the mech each wrestled with Kraang. RoboRaph retracted his fist, swapping it out for a three pronged sai and stabbing the aliens. Donnie whacked off the Kraang with his staff while Sheldon hid behind him.

Kicking the Kraang in the stomach, Casey managed to find his footing again. His heart was pounding and blood thudded and pulsed in the back of his head. Despite wanting to join the resistance so badly, Casey had never been so close to a Kraang, and his fighting style consisted of the couple of Foot Clan positions his mother had taught him. Finding himself backed against a table, he began grabbing gadgets at random and chucking them at the Kraang.

"Hey!" Donnie called. "Careful with that! Do you know how hard it is to find good parts in the apocalypse?"

Casey rolled to meet the turtle. They backed against each other, Casey having nothing to defend himself with except his fists (not a very good weapon against aliens who could latch onto you and take over your mind). "Got a plan?"

"Nope! On the spot plans were usually Leo's thing." A Kraang caught onto Donnie's staff. He shook the stick wildly, desperate not to let the slimy creature touch him.

"Leo... That's it!" Casey grinned, smacking his fist into his palm.

"Kid, what are you-"

Casey took off towards the desk, dodging between a Kraang bot's legs and springing to his feet. He snatched up the panic button, jumping up on the desk before the Kraang could catch him.

"Don't you dare hit that button-"

Smacking his palm over the button, Casey grinned. It blinked with green light. Casey shook it, wondering when something would happen. The Kraang bot towered over him. Joining its fists, it smashed down on Casey. He was knocked across the floor, the button sliding from his grasp.

Donnie came to stand over Casey, blocking any Kraang. Finally, the button stopped beeping and powered off. "I told you no one would come!"

A Kraang scurried at Donnie from the side, though he didn't notice. it launched itself, heading straight towards Donnie's face. He turned just in time to let out a yelp. At full speed, Sheldon crashed into it, knocking the alien off course. Donnie breathed heavily, though his face formed a small smile. "Sheldon, you saved me..."

"Of course!" Sheldon hovered close to Donnie's head, glaring at the Kraang."

RoboRaph found himself pushed back with the other three. Kraang surrounded them on all sides, ready to either kill them or take over their bodies. Casey didn't like either option. The Raph mech scooped Casey off the floor, holding him out of danger's way.

Gripping his staff tightly, Donnie clenched his jaw, avoiding eye contact with anyone. "If this is the end... Sheldon, i have a confession to make. The real reason I shut you off-"

A sharp snap erupted in the air before them, accompanying a blue spark. The spark spread into a large portal, blocking off the Kraang from them. Casey gaped in amazement as a long fiery chain whipped out and knocked away several aliens.

"Aw yeah, baby!" Casey discovered Mikey at the other end of the chain. He did a flip out of the portal, kicking a Kraang in the face. Leo followed after, sweeping away the portal with his sword.

Casey grinned. "Ha! They came!"

"Took you long enough!" Donnie came to meet his brothers, deflecting more Kraang with his staff.

Leo swiped away at the aliens with his sword. "What are you talking about? We weren't even ten minutes late, don't be such a drama queen."

"Ten minutes? More like over a year!" Donnie shouted over the chaos.

"Guys!" Mikey glared at his brothers, smacking Kraang around with his nunchucks without even looking. "Now's not the time! By the way, Donnie, great to have you back!"

"I'm not back!" Donnie leapt in front of Mikey, making a home run with a Kraang. "As soon as this is over, things are going back to the way they were!"

"Agreed!" Leo portalled a handful of Kraang from the sub.

Casey rolled his eyes, readjusting himself on the RoboRaph. He hoisted himself up on the shoulder, cheering as the bot punched away some aliens heading for Leo.

The blue masked turtle hesitated, eyeing the mech. "Uh, Donnie, wanna explain that?"

"Nope." Pressing a button on his staff, Donnie sent multiple rockets into the Kraang. "What's the plan, Mr. Leader?"

"Donnie, what's the best way out of here?"

"Well, I've got a sub to the mainland-"

"Great. Set the lab to self destruct and get us on that sub."

"But my lab-"

"Donnie!"

With a grumble, Donnie made his way to the desk to do as told.

Casey jumped from the mech, running to meet the turtles. He stood behind Leo, fighting of a few Kraang trying sneak attacks. "This is so cool! Is the resistance always like this?"

"Well, usually little kids aren't sneaking off causing the trouble," Leo said with a glare.

Casey sunk under his gaze. "Well, I found your brother, didn't I?"

Leo scoffed. "He obviously didn't care enough to want to be found, otherwise he would've come back already."

"Alright!" Donnie met up with the rest of the group. "Alright, we've got thirty seconds before this place blows to bits, so let's go, people, go, go, go!"

No one hesitated in doing what they were told. They raced out the room and to the underwater garage where Donnie had his submarine parked. The Kraang tried to follow, but as soon as everyone was past the entry, Sheldon latched onto the wall panel and shut the doors. When the Kraang tried banging on it, RoboRaph grabbed a nearby pipe and twisted it around the handles, making the metal screech.

"Come on guys, in the sub, now!" Leo waved everyone in, and the submarine parted from the lab. It exploded behind them.

Casey watched the debris from the safety of a window. "Ha! Yes! That was amazing! Guys-" He paused, turning to find Donnie and Leo locked in a glare.

Shaking himself from the confrontation, Donnie moved to a minifridge installed in the corner of the submarine. He grabbed himself a canned pop and moved to one of the seats.

Mikey caught the purple turtle in a hug before he could get a sip. "Donnie! I've missed you!"

Raising his arms up awkwardly, Donnie gave Mikey a small pat. A small smile crept on Donnie's face. "...Missed you too, little bro."

Leo cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to himself. "You're welcome for saving your butt."

"Well, I don't thank you. I didn't even push the button, it was that Casey kid."

"What, you're not going to talk about how you just up and left over a year ago?" Leo stomped over, standing above his brothers.

Casey awkwardly stood in the corner, wondering how this would play out.

Donnie bounced to his feet, knocking Mikey away. "You were doing a bad job leading, so I figured I'd be better off on my own!"

"Yeah, but- We're your brothers-" Leo out his hand to his chest, his voice rising. "We've been struggling to fight the Kraang, but I thought as long as I had you guys by my side, it'd be okay."

"No, nothing is okay." Donnie jabbed his brother in the chest. "We're not all together, and you-"

Leo's voice began to crack. "We had just lost Raph, and we needed you."

After a swig of soda, Donnie shook his head. "No you didn't. Your little resistance is doing just fine without me."

"No, it's not." They turned to Mikey, who's eyes began to water. "Please, Donnie. Come back."

Casey could see the cracks beginning to show in Donnie's emotionless façade. The purple turtle turned from his brother, heading towards the front of the submarine. "Well, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure seeing you again, but we're almost at the dock. If that's truly how you feel about the matter, then you probably should've done something about it a long time ago." He slammed his fist on a button, and the submarine began to ascend.

Leo chased after him. "Don, we had bigger things to deal with than your temper tantrum. I figured you'd come back when you were ready, so we didn't go looking for you. I thought it was just one of those weird Donnie things."

Whipping around, Donnie thrust his soda can smack dab at Leo's forehead. "Well, I needed you to come looking for me, okay!"

Leo sat on the ground, rubbing his forehead. The whole submarine fell silent.

Donnie's chest rose with his breath, water pooling at the corner of his eyes, but he wouldn't let any tears fall. "I- I..." He shut his eyes, trying to find a way to put his feelings into words. "It's no secret I'm the worst fighter out of the four of us. So when the Kraang got Raph, I was... scared. The Kraang... They're a real threat. We can't afford any mistakes or weak links. Nothing I built was enough, I was useless and only made things worse, and I didn't want to weigh you down, so I left."

Casey leaned against the wall of the submarine, thinking it over. Based on what he had seen, all Donatello's inventions were amazing. If even that wasn't enough, where did that leave Casey? He shook himself. No, one day they would stop the Kraang, and Casey could go down in his history as one of the greatest fighters ever. They just needed to keep hope.

Mikey's hand found his way into Donnie's. The older turtle smiled a little before continuing. "But I guess deep down, I wanted you to find me. Maybe just to prove that I was important to you guys."

Leo caught Donnie in a hug before he could say anymore. The three brothers held each other, taking in the moment.

"Our communication skills could've been a little better, huh?" Leo laughed dryly.

"A little, I guess." Donnie broke from the hug, his eyes more wet than before. "Alright, enough being sappy. I... I'll come back to the resistance."

"Oh me gosh!" Mikey pumped his fists, grinning. "Yes."

Casey came to meet them. "Thank you so much, Mr. Donatello! Now we might stand a fighting chance!"

"But!" Donnie held up a finger. "On one condition."

Leo listed his head. "Yes?"

"You have to promise me we'll win this fight." Donnie put out his hand, his other on his belt. "Our efforts aren't for nothing."

Leo took Donnie's hand firmly. "That's a deal."