Chapter Text
The whirring of machinery droned on and on in the background as Donnie sluggishly tapped away at the keyboard in front of him. The softshell had zoned it out, the fog in his brain making it hard to focus on anything but the task in front of him, but even then he felt himself slipping every so often.
"Aaaannnd hopeful press."
The flash of red around an error message wasn't new, but it still annoyed him nonetheless.
"Ugh. Come on, what am I missing?"
Donnie had been trying to amp up their security system after the invasion happened a little over a month ago, but the lack of care toward himself made his head all sluggish. It wasn't.. the most comfortable feeling, watching everything move by like he was in some slow motion movie scene, but at least the constant worries and self blame he kept facing had been chased off with his lack of thoughts.
"Knock knock!"
The muffled shout from behind his lab door didn't make Donnie lift his head. Nor did the sound of the doors wooshing open as the air compression system released.
"Doonnnnniiiieee! I brought dinner!" Mikey announced, a hopeful smile plastered across his face. Still, Donnie didn't look his way.
"Just leave it on my desk. I'll eat it later."
That response had caused Mikey's smile to falter. Donnie hadn't been eating from as far as Mikey could tell, and if he had, it hadn't been enough.
The sight of six empty, used, coffee mugs on the corner of the lab table Donnie was at made Mikey's small fall flat.
"Donnie," Mikey started, and even Donnie could tell by his younger brother's tone that he was about to get a lecture. "You haven't left the lab since we got home! You haven't been eating, or drinking! Raph and I barely see you! This isn't healthy!"
The softshell exhaled deeply, muttering something, his head tilting in the direction of the youngest Hamato. "I've been eating saltine crackers and drinking coffee. It's been enough." The horrified look on Mikey's face made a hint of guilt flash through the softshell.
"What!? Dee! No!" Mikey quickly shoved the pasta in his brother's direction. "You are eating and drinking water this instant! This isn't healthy! You being in this state wont help Leo recover!" Ouch. That one hit hard. "And-" Mikey cut himself off, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air, "eugh! Have you even showered lately? You smell awful!"
"Offended gasp." Donnie said, voice monotone. "I showered a few days ago." Mikey didn't look convinced, instead shooting Donnie his signature puppy eyes, his lower lip quivering as tears threatened to fall. "Ugh. Fine. I'll eat the pasta and shower. Happy?"
Mikey perked up immediately, and he would have hugged Donnie had he not smelt so awful. "Great!! I'll be in the kitchen when you're done! Bye! Love you!"
Donnie merely grunted as Mikey left. Great. He'd have to pause the important work he was doing to do something.... less important.
Oh well. If it made Mikey happy he could take a break.
Throwing his arms up and arching his back, the softshell let out a long yawn, turning from left to right to crack his spine. "Ahhh. Much better." He pulled himself closer to the bowl that Mikey left, eyes darting along his lab table. "Oh, ew." How had it gotten this bad? There were wrappers, and empty dishes everywhere, and ew were those crumbs on his keyboard???
"Ew, ew, ew, ew."
Donnie quickly blew off the crumbs, grabbing the bowl and leaning back in his chair, inhaling the scent of real food before immediately digging in, shoving fork fulls of food into his mouth like a starved man.
Well, technically he was one. Only technically, though.
It didn't take long for the pasta bowl to empty and be set back down on the lab table. Donnie scrunched up his face, debating on if he should go put the dish in the sink or just leave it here.
Leaving it here would eliminate having to talk to Mikey again, but also Donnie missed his brother's company. The three had... grown apart since Leo was thrown into a coma. Everyone was dealing with their own injuries. Their own grief.
Donnie would never verbally admit he wished they were close again.
Mikey had been trying to keep things together, but Donnie had isolated himself, and Raph was.... well, Donnie didn't really know what was going on with him. He was very dismissive and defensive, choosing to stay in the med bay for the majority of the day. Something was up with the snapper, and Donnie wasn't able to place what.
Donnie chose to head to the kitchen.
Sure, he'd most definitely be pestered again by his dumb dumb brother, but Donnie missed his company. It would be nice, even if Mikey was most likely going to mention, once again, that Donnie had been neglecting himself.
"Surely I don't smell that bad." He said aloud, lifting his arm to sniff his armpit, immediately cringing and pulling his head back. "Point proven, Angelo."
Donnie entered the room as silently as possible. Mikey was staring down at his hands, the slight tremor in them going unnoticed by the softshell.
Then Mikey suddenly looked up, eyes wide. "Dee!" His panic was quickly masked by excitement. "You ate!" His gloves were quickly pulled back into place.
"I did tell you I would." Donnie said, setting the bowl in the sink. "Now I'm going to go shower."
"Okay!"
"And then go check on Leo."
Mikey's breath hitched quietly. Leo was always a sore topic between the brothers. "Okay."
After Leo had been made incapacitated, Donnie had had to take over as the family medic. Medicine wasn't his thing the way it was Leo's, but he got by well enough. Plus, Raph's hands were too big to handle most things properly, and Donnie didn't want to put Mikey through that.
"Is Raph in there?" Nod. "Hmm. He's not left there very often. Maybe you could try to get him out of there?"
"I have been trying. Every time I ask him to hang out with me he always brushes me off!" Mikey huffed out, frustrated. "It's like he's solely focused on Leo right now. I get it, we all want him to get better and wake up, but neglecting yourself won't do Leo any favors in the long run." He shot Donnie a pointed glare, causing the softshell to look away and whistle.
"Maybe you could suggest something while you're in there. There's leftovers from dinner in the fridge." Mikey sighed, leaning his head onto one hand, wincing slightly and pulling back with a hiss, shaking the hand he was leaning on.
Donnie noticed the thin scar like lines running across Mikey's hands. Donnie had those, too, over his right arm. Nerve damage is what he had concluded it was. Did... Mikey have it in both arms? Surely he did. He had taken the brunt of the mystic force opening that portal. Would Raph have it in his left then?
Perhaps Donnie could divert his focus from the security system to dealing with the damage. It made things a hell of a lot harder to work with, anyways.
"I'm going to go now."
Mikey nodded at him, a tight lipped grin spreading across his lips. "Alright. See ya later, Dee." His head drooped as Donnie left the kitchen, heading for his bedroom to get a clean pair of clothes to change into.
The lair was silent as Donnie traversed through it. On any normal day there would be laughter, or shouting, or some noise proving there was life inside, but now.. nothing. It was unsettling.
Donnie really missed his twin. He really, really, missed his twin. Two reallys.
He stopped in the tunnel that contained their bedrooms, head turning to the left to take in Leo's room. The door was still busted open from his and Raph's last fight before the invasion.
A shudder ran up his spine. The invasion still felt like it was yesterday. The Krang on his shell hadn't ever left his head. He still felt it slithering over his leathery carapace, pricking into him. Flying the ship, albeit for two minutes, had been exhilarating. He would so do it again, although he hoped if he had another chance it would be a ship with actual technological controls instead of the nerve connection the Technodrome had.
The softshell shook his head and padded further down to his room, sliding the door open and heading for his dresser immediately. He rummaged around inside his drawers, pulling out a new pair of shorts and a hoodie, wanting to be comfortable after his shower. Maybe he'd take a nap after he checked up on Raph and Leo.
The bathroom tiles were cold against the soles of Donnie's feet. "Eugh. Shudder." He grumbled, setting his clean clothes on the toilet, turning to the mirror to look at himself. "Oh yeesh." His lips curled back as he cringed. Okay, yeah, no, he looked horrible. "Maybe Mikey was right for once."
He reached behind his head, undoing the knot that secured his mask to his face, having taken off his goggles in his lab which allowed the fabric to slip off, falling into his awaiting hand. "Oh how I do wish makeup was made for thee." He sighed dramatically, pulling at his lower eyelid, frowning. The skin around the bottom of his eyes was a deep purple, showing off his exhaustion. It was a good thing his mask hid that.
Stripping off the rest of his gear, Donnie stuck out his tongue in disgust. Only Galileo knew how he was able to put up with dirty clothes for so long. Ew. Normal Donatello would not stand for that.
Stepping under the steady stream, the softshell let out a content sigh. Man did it feel good to get a warm shower. All of it was possible thanks to him of course. He was the genius behind the new lair's design after all. Not to toot his own horn or anything. Him? Egotistical? He would say otherwise.
The shower wasn't very long. They never typically were unless he was shedding. Eugh. Shedding. A sensory nightmare that was. Donatello was just glad he didnt have to molt his shell like his brothers. He felt like he would go absolutely insane if he had to.
Once the water was shut off, Donnie grabbed his towel and dried himself off, stepping out and hanging the towel back up before pulling on his new set of clothing. He left the bathroom, steam filling the air as he padded out of the room.
He dropped his clothes onto the ground near the stairwell leading to the main foyer. His room was on the opposite side of the lair than the med bay and bathrooms, so he'd leave the clothes here and grab them on his way back.
If he remembered of course, though Donatello had an excellent memory if you asked him.
Entering the med bay, Donnie immediately took in Raph's hulking figure sat beside the cot Leo laid in. His body was stiff, and he didn't react to Donnie entering. That was.. quite odd. Raph usually would have said hi at the very least. Maybe he was just out of it? "I'm here to check on Leo." Donnie announced, his brows furrowing slightly. No response. Okay.
"Mikey wants you to eat dinner. He made pasta. It's pretty good." He made his way over to the other side of Leo, wanting to check on the heart monitor attached to the slider. "He's worried you haven't been eating, and I am as well."
Silence.
Oookay then. That was... really odd.
An awkward silence filled the air, the steady beep, beep, beep, of Leo's heart monitor creating some background noise to focus on at least. "Raph, this is quite odd. Especially for you. You don't.. usually give us the silent treatment. Well, unless we make you really mad, and I cannot think of anything we have done to make you that mad."
His brows furrowed further. "Raphala? Oh dear Raphael?" He reached out with one hand, jabbing a finger into his brother's shoulder.
Raph jumped up, inhaling sharply, his eyes narrowing in Donnie's direction. "Huh?" The snapper rubbed his face, hissing quietly. "Sorry, Dee. What's up?"
Raph's voice sounded... off. Perhaps he was just tired. It would make sense. Raph had been staying up in the med bay since the invasion ended and they all came home. Raph didn't have insomnia or anything of the sort, so it would make sense if he was exhausted.
"Mikey wants you to eat dinner. He's worried about you." Donnie repeated, pulling back and crossing his arms.
"Oh." Raph blinked. All of his movements were.. strangely very slow. "Okay." He stood, the wooden stool he was on squealing against the tiled floor. "Raph'll... go get food." His gaze lifted from Leo to Donnie, an almost clouded look in his eyes. Wait. Were his pupils more.. slit like than usual?
Donnie didn't get time to investigate further as Raph turned and padded out of the med bay, his footsteps heavy.
"That was... weirder than usual." Donnie commented to himself, looking down at the tech band on his wrist. "Surely if you were awake you'd be able to deduce what that was, Leo. You're good at reading people. Surprisingly really good. Not that I would ever admit that to your face and boost your dumb dumb ego. Scoff." He rolled his eyes.
Checking to make sure the med bay doors were in fact closed, Donnie continued. "Can you wake up soon? Things are abnormal without your dumb dumb presence, and I am not a fan. This is all your fault by the way. You caused this rift by sacrificing your dumb dumb self you know. I do hope you know that."
He began pacing, hand not being occupied by his tech band occasionally waving around in the air. "I do hope you realize just how dumb of a decision that was. Trapping yourself in the prison dimension of all places. Then again, none of you have the pure intellect I possess so I suppose your crude decision making skills would make sense there, but I digress." He inhaled, narrowing his eyes at his twin. "Next time something big like that happens again, I would only hope you would turn to us for help instead of doing it yourself you big dumb dumb."
Something wet slid down his cheek. Water from the shower? No. That had been dried off or evaporated by now. Why- oh. Oh.
"Oh what the hell am I doing?" He wiped his eyes, an exhausted chuckle leaving him. "You have to get better, Nardo. For everyone else's sake." His voice lowered to a near whisper. "Please."
Donnie had made his way over to Leo's cot, reaching out a hand and placing it on his forehead.
Despite everything, he was glad Leo wasn't awake to hear that whole.. thing. That would have been embarrassing.
His shoulders rolled back as Donnie looked toward the med bay doors. Okay, Donatello. Bad boy persona. You got this.
Donnie gave one final check to Leo's vitals, making sure everything was all good, and his brother wasn't in any trouble, before leaving the med bay. He was so, so, tired.
Barely resting and living off of coffee would do that to someone he supposed.
"Okay, well," he started, picking up the discarded clothes he had left on the ground. Fully ready to head back to his room and sleep for the rest of eternity, Donnie turned toward the stairs, lifting his foot to start down them when he heard a crash, followed by a scream sounding oddly like Mikey's, coming from the kitchen behind him.
Donnie turned his head to look over his shoulder, eyes wide. He dropped the clothes, making a mad dash into the kitchen. "Mikey!? Mikey! What's wrong??" He yelled, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw it.
Raph held Mikey in the air by his throat. "Raph!? Raph! What the hell are you doing!? Put him down!"
Not having his bō on him, as it was left in his lab with his battle shell, Donnie formed a bō with his mystic, charging in and jabbing the tip of it into Raph's arm a few inches below his wrist, trying to gode him into dropping his brother.
The only sign this hurt him, was the small twitch in Raph's lip. He didnt drop Mikey, nor did he even glance in Donnie's direction.
"Raph! Stop it!" Mikey choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks. "You're hurting me!" He kicked at Raph's plastron, clawing at his brother's arm, trying to free himself.
Raph didn't move, though. His iron grip on his brother's throat only tightening.
Suddenly, recognition flashed in the snapper's widening eyes, "Mikey?" but it was too late as Donnie was already mid attack, launching Raph across the kitchen and into a wall.
Raph had let go of Mikey as he was flung, the box turtle hitting the floor with a pathetic whimper, coughing and holding onto his throat.
Donnie then rushed over, crouching beside him and guiding him to take deep and even breaths.
"Donnie? Mikey? What- I- Raph didn't-" Raph stammered, at a loss for words. Why had he- what- why did he do that?
"I don't care what your stupid excuse is, Raph! Get out of here!" Donnie snapped, hissing loudly.
"Raph didn't mean to hurt him! I don't- I don't know why I-" "I don't care why you did it, Raph! It doesn't matter! You hurt him!"
Tears rushed to the corner of the snapper's eyes. He wanted to reach out and comfort Mikey, but he looked so.. terrified. "I'm sorry." Raph said, standing. He looked conflicted, his eyes darting back and forth between his brothers and the door.
He chose to leave. To head back to his room.
"Cmon, Mikey. Lets get you to the med bay." Donnie said gently, lifting up his trembling little brother. He hurried off to the med bay, constantly scanning the lair for Raph.
Luckily he was no where in sight.
Once inside the med bay, Donnie set Mikey down on a cot. "Are you having trouble with breathing?" He asked, tentatively touching Mikey's throat, making the other wince.
"N-not anymore? Sorta?" Mikey said, his voice hoarse. "Oww." He leaned back ever so slightly, not enjoying the attention on his neck, though pushed back the urge to hide in his shell, knowing he needed to be checked out.
"I'm going to give you some anti-inflammatory meds. That and we'll ice your neck. There are going to be some nasty bruises for a while. You're lucky I got to you rather quickly, so you should, in theory, be fine." He swiftly glanced over at Leo's sleeping form. He would know exactly what to do, what to fully check, everything. Ugh. Why couldnt he just wake up?
"I'll be back." Donnie headed for the side of the room all of their cabinets were kept on, digging through them until he found what he was looking for. He set the bottle on the counter, then dug into their freezer and grabbed some ice, dumping it into a bag and wrapping it with some paper towels.
After preparing those, he grabbed a paper cup and filled it with water, scooping up the ice and cup in one hand, and taking the two ibuprofen pills he had gotten from the bottle in the other.
He returned to Mikey, offering the pills and water, pressing the ice to the side of his neck once he took it. "Do you.... wish to sleep in my room tonight?" He was met with a quick nod from Mikey. The box turtle's cheeks were still soaked with his tears. "Alright. Come on then."
Once he made sure Mikey was good to go, Donnie turned to leave the med bay, stopping in his tracks when Mikey clung to his arm. "Michael, I am not carrying you." He said, brows furrowing. Then Mikey used his signature puppy eyes and Donnie couldn't find it in himself to resist. "Fine, but only because you're hurt."
Mikey beamed, climbing onto Donnie, clinging to his back, his arms and legs wrapping around his plastron. "Thanks, Dee." He whispered, laying his head on his brother's shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
Donnie picked up his clothes on the way back to his room, discarding them into his dirty laundry hamper. He climbed into bed after, Mikey immediately clinging to his side.
"Do you have to be so close to me all the time?" Donnie asked, his eyes immediately becoming half lidded. Man he was exhausted.
He just got a small chirp in response from Mikey. The box turtle choosing to remain attached at the hip.
Donnie could deal with it he supposed.
"Goodnight, Mikey."
"Night, Dee."