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He hadn't meant to find it.
He had just been sneaking over to Donnie's lab to surprise him with his favorite snack. To his surprise, when he pulled open the door and barged in Donnie had not actually been anywhere in the room. Considering he spent a majority of his time- and probably even his life- in there, he was a little confused by this, but eventually brushed it off as his dorky older brother finally catching up on some much needed Z's- in his ROOM this time, too.
He had shrugged, about to return to the kitchen to put the food away when he heard a…strange noise, to say the least. Kind of like a mix between a sigh of relief and shuffling of papers, and very faintly, at that. Being the naturally curious and impulsive turtle that he was, he had placed the tray of snacks down on one of the many tables strewn about the messy lab to investigate. He thought he had heard it around the back of the lab where most of the clutter was, so he had cautiously approached it and looked around, brows furrowing when nothing happened or magically appeared. He couldn't SEE anything out of place…maybe he had just fooled himself-
A murmur. More distinct; Familiar.
It sounded like Donnie.
Now feeling energized by the thought of finding his older brother after all- and apparently a surprise door while at it- he had quickly went about pushing the clutter away, accidentally hitting what felt like a strange, out of place stick while he was at it. He had watched with wide eyes as the mess was pushed back evenly, revealing a near-indistinguishable door from behind it on the wall. He had come closer slowly, stopping at the front of it to lean in and listen, curious and apprehensive.
"Oh…Michael."
Blinking somewhat dumbly, he had pulled away with a confused expression. Had he…been found out? But Donnie didn't sound exasperated, upset or even irritated. In fact…he sounded strangely fond? He had slowly opened the door, peeking inside. Only to stumble back and trip on the mess right behind him in confusion and fear. The room…was full of photos of him! As well as objects and clothes of his that had gone 'missing' throughout the years...and right in the middle of it all…stood Donnie.
Now that he had tripped- rather noisily, might I add- and accidentally opened the door fully, he could now see that Donnie was…caressing? A photo of him? The noise had caused Donnie to tense, before slowly turning around cautiously. In doing so, he had revealed more of the photo. His eyes had widened, finding a photo of him, Donnie and their two other brothers posing together happily for a photo, only their faces were x'd out and defiled, leaving only him and Donnie standing side by side. Together. Untouched.
Donnie had stared down at him, expression startled for a mere moment, before it smoothed out into fond annoyance.
It was a familiar expression…except for the eyes.
His eyes…they had never looked more red than they had then! Nor as dark and all-encompassing.
"...D-Dee?"
Donnie had just shook his head with a wary sigh.
"I…didn't want you to find out like this, Michael."
"Find…out..?"
Those red eyes had snapped open once more, a look of determination and malice overtaking them. Donnie had taken another step forward. He had felt his heart start to beat rapidly. He had never been afraid of ANY of his brothers…until now. He stumbled to his feet and ran, trying his best to not stumble in his panic. He heard Donnie call out to him, as well as footsteps following, but ignored it all in favor of just getting the shell out of there! And he did, and almost made it to his room, when he tripped over something roughly and crashed onto the floor, scraping his knees and elbows harshly while at it.
Gritting his teeth, he opened his eyes to find a familiar bo staff lying a few feet away. He inhaled sharply, rushing to get to his knees when calm footsteps sounded in front of him, from where it came. He slowly looked up just as a shadow overtook his form. Donnie stared down at him impassively, not at all seeming guilty for just having intentionally harmed him.
"D…Donnie, wha-"
"Why don't we have a little talk, hmm?"
He couldn't so much as squirm away when his wrist was suddenly grabbed in a vice-like grip and he was hauled onto his feet unceremoniously.
He stared into his brother's eyes with fear and betrayal. Donnie stared back fondly, despite the bruises he was leaving.
"You came to hang out with me, yes? Let's go do that now."