Chapter Text
Donnie was working on one of his million unfinished projects. But this time was different, this time he was actually going to finish it. Leo walked in and leaned on Donnie's shoulder. "So you know I was thinking-" "really, good job, I wasn't sure you had it in you." Donnie quipped. "Hah hah, so funny, so anyway, I was thinking you and Kendra right. You're both smart and she's so your type, so why don't you like her?" Leo asked. "SCOFF AS IF" Donnie turned his head up indignantly. "She's not my type at ALL, I've no idea why you would think that." Leo grinned and leaned on him harder, "ooooh you so do like her" "i do not, would you get off" Donnie shoved Leo's face away as he laughed. Leo, being satisfied with having bugged him enough turned to walk off before being called back. "Wait Leo" "hmm?" Donnie gestured to the coffee machine, "get me a cup would you". "Whats the magic wooord" Leo asked patronizingly. Donnie rolled his eyes "I'll get myself then", Leo laughed before getting him a cup. He looked over at the thing Donnie was making before setting the cup down. He pulled another chair over, "wha's 'at?" "ah, its my most recent prototype for- you don't actually care do you" Donnie stated. "Nah I don't I'm just bored." Leo affirmed, "but you know something thats actually interesting?" "Do enlightened me." Donnie replied dryly, Leo proceeded to go on about Jupiter Jim for three hours.
It was now at the hour of the night where the both of them where far to tired to talk. Donnie had promised himself he would finish this before he slept and Leo had insomnia and needed company. So there they were, at about 3 am in Donnies lab, he was soldering something while Leo laid on his shoulder watching the fire. They had music playing for the background noise to help Donnie focus. "Wire" Donnie said and Leo passed him the wire then they went back to silence again.
Raph got up for some water, dragged his feet, eyes hardly open. He practically missed the cup when pouring water. He started to head back to his room when he heard music. He followed it to Donnie's lab and witnessed Leo pouring yet another cup of coffee. "C'mon guys are you serious" asked. They both immediately froze and slowly looked over in his direction. "This isn't for me" Leo blurted. "I'm almost done with this it only needs a few more adjustments" Donnie added. Raph sighed tiredly, "I've said this before, you can't just stay up all night just to finish a project" "but-" "I'm not done." Raph said firmly. "And Leo, stop. Giving. Him. Coffee." Leo made a guilty face and looked away, "how many cups is that" Raph asked. "Uhm... I got him like seven I don't know how much before that" Raph looked over at Donnie, he hesitated "... probably nine" Donnie answered quietly. "Go. To. Bed." They both nodded, "I better not see you guys still in here tomorrow" he said. He walked out of the room, the two sighed in relief then Raph appeared at the door again and pointed to his eyes then them and then left for good. There was a minute of silence. "He doesn't need to know" Donnie said grabbing his soldering iron again, Leo nodded.
Before long it was seven am and Donnie had just finished polishing it, Leo slides a sticker sheet towards him, Donnie glances at it and nods. Leo picks a spaceship sticker and puts it on the head of the new machine, they both do a side fist bump for their accomplishment of finishing finally. But just at that moment Raph comes back and sees them still in the lab. "You can't be serious" he says flatly. "Its not what it looks like" Leo blurts out, "we totally went to bed we just came back early to, uhm, check on it" he says nodding profusely. Donnie slaps his head, Raph makes a face that looks like raising an eyebrow despite his lack of eyebrows. He is clearly unconvinced, "I'm not convinced" Raph states. "Sigh. Yeah we stayed up and finished, my utmost apologies it shan't happen again" Donnie says. Raph huffs, "whatever, I don't know what I expected." He walks off.
Mikey wakes up about an hour later, he goes to the training room to see Raph. "Good morning Raph!" "Mornin". Mikey looks at him, "whats going on, why are you upset?" Raph sighs, "Donnie and Leo stayed up all night again, they never listen! Its gonna backfire on 'em some day I swear." Mikey hums in contemplation, "I'll make sure it happens tonight" he says, Raph looks at him confused. Then looks away and shrugs "a'ight, good luck."
Mikey walks into the lab, "good morning guys!" "Mornin" "GOOOOOOOD MORNIIIIIIIIIING-" Leo immediately gets punched mid song by Donnie.
They all have breakfast together, its really awkward. Draxum isn't there because he's doing something with April. Splinter’s there but doesn't notice the awkwardness. After they all go their separate ways to do stuff i dunno im tired.
Donnie gets a notification then Kendra shows up on his screen. “Well, well, well, if it isn't Othello Von Ryan.” Donnie pauses for a second, “you called me” he states confused, Kendra continues ignoring him “I would like to suggest an alliance, you give me access to all of you tech, and I give you this highly dangerous malware.” She flashes a hard drive held between her index and middle fingers. “Meet me at midnight at the tower, don't bring backup.” She end the call.
It is now about eleven at night, the turtles are headed towards the tower in the turtle tank. “What are we doing?” Leo asks, “sigh, we're going to the tower to get the hard drive from Kendra, I already told you this.” Donnie replies with a tone of annoyance. “But why” Leo pries, “your the leader” Donnie said sarcastically, “what do you think”. “You know he's right, your the leader you can just say not to go” Mikey adds. “UGHHHHH, no we have to do it” Leo leans back in his seat.
They arrive at the tower and come down through the roof, “I see you brought back up” Kendra states, “C’mon lets get this going I have a show to finish” Leo quips, Raph then throws a couch across the room, Kendra ducks and plugs the hard drive into the main console in the middle of the room causing all the machines in the room to come to life. The wires come out and they start crawling forward, glitching and reconfiguring themselves, it would be rather gruesome if they weren't machines. Leo slides under a printer and slices a toaster in half. Mikey uses his lasso thing to grab two different pieces of tech and smash them together. Donnie uses his tech bo to blast through a paper shredder and then takes the hard drive out of the main console. It was a pretty fast fight. “Alright lets head home guys, guess that was it.” Leo says. Kendra marches up to Donnie and jabs him in the chest with her finger, she looks up at him “this isn't over Von Ryan, you'll be seeing me soon.” She glares at him then turns around quickly and leaves the room. Donnie stays there for a moment even though everyone else has already left. Raph comes back in, “Donnie, you comin’?” He asks, Donnie blinks then turns around “yeah, im coming.” He glances back then leaves.
The ride back is pretty silent. Leo glances over at Raph to see if he had noticed the weirdness as well. They make eye contact and it's clear he also noticed, Leo then looks over at Mikey and raises an almost eyebrow, Mikey does the same and they end up in a weird face contest.
They get home, “go to bed” Raph says, “yeah, yeah sure.” Donnie says, Raph huffs and Mikey glances at him and gives him a ‘i got this’ look. Raph gestures like ‘be my guest’ and walks off to his room.
Leo and Donnie head over to Donnie's lab. Donnie sits down to do something and Leo sits right next to him and just stares at him with the hugest smirk. Donnie is already pissed off and lowers his eyebrows in annoyance. “Stop.” Leo throws his arms out in defiance “I DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING YET” Donnie glares over at him, “you were about to, I could smell it” “no you can't I don't stink thats Raph’s thing” Leo retorts. Donnie rolls his eyes, Leo huffs indignantly, “are you implying I do stink” he asks, “I'm not saying you don't” Donnie answers. “ALRIGHT THATS IT” Leo grabs his arm and they end up on the ground, Donnie is kicking at him to get off and Leo is pulling his mouth. Mikey walks in, takes a breath “GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP” they both immediately stop fighting. Leo gets up, flips Donnie off one last time then goes to his room. Donnie gets off the floor and goes to the section of his lab with the bed.
Kendra paces her room thinking about her next plan. Donnie has outsmarted her every time without fail, but not this time, this time will be different. Jeremy walks in, “coffee chief?” He asks, “give me that” she snatches the cup out of his hand before taking a long sip and slamming the mug on her desk. “I have to beat him” she clenches her fists, a wild smile spreading across her face, “I WILL beat him” she corrects herself. Jeremy slowly shuffles out of the room in fear. She paces the room thinking, all she needs is something strong, a champion, it doesn't need to outsmart her, it needs to outsmart him. Robots haven't cut it, she needs something better, stronger, alive. A spark lights up in her eyes. That's it, something alive. That's all it has to be, combine man and machine, and she’d have her champion. “Jace, Jeremy. Get your things, we're going on a field trip.”
Light peaks through the gaps of the man hole, Donnie rolls over in bed not wanting to wake up. He hears a commotion outside his door before heavy footsteps come in and his loud music is turned off. “Ughhh noooo” he mumbles before shoving his head under his pillow. “Dee it's 1pm you gotta get up” Raph says sternly followed by another groan from Donnie. Raph sighs, “you get another ten minutes, if you're not up I'm shoving you off the bed” he leaves the room. Donnie lays in bed for longer, head no longer under the pillow, footsteps head toward his room and he shoots up, the blanket goes flying, Raph walks in as Donnie stands up and immediately falls over. He stands back up, “I was up the whole time I was just seeing if you remembered” Donnie states unconvincingly. “Uh huh” Raph furrows his brow, “c’mon foods done” he walks out and Donnie follows him still rubbing his eyes.
The two walk out to see Leo and Mikey already up. Leo's head is on the counter and his eye bags somehow look deeper than they were before. Donnie walks over to the coffee pot and pours himself a mug with an ungodly amount of milk and sugar. They all sit down and eat, pretty much in silence. These days everyone's exhausted all the time. Donnie and Leo have bad insomnia, Mikey is plagued by nightmares constantly, and Raph has the oldest sibling syndrome of being tired all the time. They finish the pancakes then pile all the dishes in the sink for Splinter to deal with later.
“Did everyone take their meds?” Mikey asks, immediately Donnie and Leo head back to their rooms as Mikey sighs.
Donnie grabs his seizure medication container, takes out two pills and swallows them whole before grabbing the things for his shell and leaving to find Mikey.
Leo enters his room to the pharmacy that is his bedside dresser. He takes his many different pills for his chronic pain as well as antidepressants and muscle relaxers. He then walks out of the room to help Raph.
Donnie gets too Mikey, “help with my shell and I'll help with your hands?” He requests, “yeah of course” Mikey replies. They head to the kids pool they brought in to help treat Donnie's shell, Mikey makes sure it's warm then Donnie gets in, keeping sure his shell stays out of the water, simply floating on top. Mikey just stays and supervises for the one hour that's needed to soak.
Leo goes to see Raph, “hey big guy, need help?” He asks, Raph looks over, “uh yeah if ya don't mind” “course I don't mind, it's my fault you even look like this what kind of brother would I be if I didn't help you.” Leo says in a joking manner, but there's a slight furrow in his brow. Raph frowns, “don't talk like that, it's not your fault” Leo rolls his eyes “yeah yeah, sure, do ya want help or not.” He holds out his hands, Raph drops the soap, compression wrap, and other medications into Leo's hands, “I'm serious Leo, it wasn't your fault.” Leo stays silent as he leads Raph to the bathroom. He helps put soap on the stump then washes thoroughly with warm water using the detachable shower head. He massages the shoulder down to the end of the amputated arm and then puts the compression wrap on. “Onto the scars” Leo mumbles to himself. He pulls over the stool in order to reach the scars. He massages the scar that goes from Raph's eye down his neck and shoulder on the side of his amputated arm from the Kraang possession then applies the scar gels. He gets off the stool and moves sides in order to do the same for the scar on his other shoulder from the Kraang stabbing through his shell. Leo washes his hands then puts everything away. Raph puts his hand on Leo's shoulder, “you're too hard on yourself, I don't blame you for what happened-” “WELL I DO” Leo snapped pulling away, “look at you! You lost your arm, you're literally blind because of me!” Raph hugs him close. “It's not your fault, you were a kid.” Leo's eyes tear up, “we all were” Raph finishes.
Once the time is up Donnie gets out and Mikey helps dry him off before having him lay down again to apply the antibiotic ointments to the damaged shell tissue from the Kraang space ship. He then massages and applies scar gel to the scars from the shredder. Once he's finished Donnie sits up and holds his hands out, Mikey sets his hands in Donnie's and Donnie proceeds to try to massage them gently. Mikey grimaces and tenses up “apologies, I'm not as good at this as Leo” Donnie says, “no, no its fine, I'm fine” Mikey insists. Donnie raises an eyebrow, “Michael there's no need to lie to me I'm not very good at this I won't be offended” he assures, Mikey shakes his head “no you're doing fine it's okay” “are you cert-” “let's just stop talking ok” Mikey snaps. Donnie stays quiet the rest of the time, then once he's finished he helps put ointment on the scars from his hands up his arms from him making the portal. After this there's an awkward silence and Mikey won't make eye contact. “Is this a guilt thing?” Donnie asks, “no, its not- its nothing its dumb” Mikey clenches his fists. “Tell me anyway” Donnie says, Mikey hesitates for a moment, “I just, I can't really draw the same way I used too and, I just don't know what to do about it” tears well up in his eyes before he rubs them away immediately, “I know it's stupid” he lets out a pained laugh. Donnie looks over at him concerned, “no it's not stupid, I understand you can't do something you used to pride yourself in, I can imagine what it must be like, there's no need to be ashamed of being upset.” He just sits there awkwardly for a moment before patting him on the back in a sad attempt to comfort him. Mikey smiles a little, “thanks Donnie, but I'm not sure you can do anything about this one” he says sadly. Donnie’s eyes light up, “I could make you partial prosthetics” he says excitedly, Mikey looks up at him confused, “what?” Donnie gestures with hands, “like gloves, they're semi-mechanic and can help the motor function in your hands” he explains. Mikey still looks confused, “they're gloves that help your hands move better” Donnie states simply. Mikey looks up at him, “you can make that?” He asks amazed, “yeah of course, it'll take me a day or two but i definitely can” Donnie says standing up, extremely proud of himself for coming up with a satisfying solution. Mikey jumps up and wraps his arms around him extremely tight “OHMIGOSH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU” Mikey exclaims. “OW! Michael my ribs” Donnie says in pain. Mikey lets go “sorry sorry” a huge grin on his face, grabs Donnie's hands, “thank you so much your literally my favorite brother” Donnie smirks “ah yes I am the best keep going” he puts his hand on his chest dramatically. Mikey is jumping up and down. “Now as correct as you are about my greatness I should get started on those gloves” Donnie walks off to his lab “remember to come get me again later you have to soak twice not once, and don't get your shell wet” Mikey reminds him. “Yes, yes, I shall” Donnie assures.
“Do ya need help stretching?” Raph asks Leo delicately, Leo rubs his eyes “yeah” he mumbles, “alright, c’mon” Raph gestures. They go to the training room to stretch. Raph reaches over to help Leo walk but he pushes his hand away and just uses the bars they installed. Once they get there Leo does his regular PT then lets Raph help him with the floor stretches. Afterwards he puts the compression socks back on and Raph helps him stand back up.
After the second soak Donnie grabs a bag and his hoodie and starts to head out, then he and Leo lock eyes as Leo is slowly walking back to his room using the railings. Leo raises a brow, “where are you going?” Donnie pushes the bag higher up on his shoulder, “out” he states flatly. Leo leans in a way to turn more in Donnie's direction, his shoulders hunched one higher than the other, head tilted in a sarcastic manner. Donnie huffs, “I won't be out long, I just need to pick some things up.” He walks around Leo to get to the latter out of the manhole. Leo rolls his eyes but simply shrugs then walks off to his room, annoyed but trying not to be too pushy. Donnie climbs the latter and gets out, then activates the jetpack on his battle shell.
Kendra is driving the car, it's quite dark now, almost midnight. Jace is sitting in the back leaning on Jeremy to watch him play a game on his phone. As the junkyard approaches, several trees around the area become visible, wilting willows with the dark leaves hanging low brushing the top of the car as they drive along. She brings the car to a sharp halt. Jace flies forward and his face bangs into the back of the front seat, Jeremy flies forward a bit but catches himself in time. Jace huffs and fixes his glasses before getting unbuckled and following the other two out of the car. Kendra’s feet are planted on the rough ground, discarded trash and toxic waste surround them. She inhales deeply, “we're here” she states looking out at their surroundings. “Hey this isn't gonna take too long right I have a lot of homework” Jace starts “SHUT UP! This is more important” Kendra shouts, Jace rolls his eyes sarcastically but doesn't say anything more. The three walk deeper into the junkyard.
Donnie lands, wilting willows spread out before him, then onward lies the junkyard. He drops down on the ground and pulls his goggles down. He goes forward into the junk, looking through things thoroughly, he brought gloves specifically for this. He picks up some bits and pieces he thinks could be useful, but he has yet to find what he was searching for. He keeps going deeper, not looking ahead of him anymore, the wonders in the junk on the ground have captured his attention. He mumbles to himself while walking “no, no, no, oh this is cool, nope, strange but not useful” he continues on. He is slowly approaching the main pile. He notices an entrance in the main pile, hums in contemplation before entering. There are many things on the walls of this trash tunnel, he takes time squinting through his goggles to see if there's anything he's looking for.
Kendra and the other two are walking through the tunnel until they hear a loud bang followed by “OW! my head” they all stop in their tracks and turn around slowly. There's more quiet mumbling and then banging coming from the same direction. Kendra raises her hand and gestures to the others to follow her. They get to the source and find a dark figure gripping something on the wall, one leg up on the wall pulling extremely hard and very unsuccessfully. Kendra shines a light, it flashes in Donnie's goggles then he yells and instantly falls over again. Then he sits up and realizes the thing from the wall is in his hands, “oh score!” He says excitedly, “ahem!” Kendra clears her throat, Donnie looks up “oh” he sighs lifting his goggles back up off his eyes “it's you again” he states flatly eyebrows lowered in annoyance. “What do you think you're doing here Von Ryan” she asks, staring down at him. He stands up and now he's the one looking down at her, “I could ask you the same” he puts the object in his bag. She glares at him before sighing, “just don't bother me and I’ll allow it” she spins around on her heels “OH you'll allow it. Now that sure is rich.” He snarks, Kendra grinds her teeth but keeps walking. They keep going in the same direction however Donnie occasionally stops to dig something out of the trash wall, creating a racket while doing so. And he keeps talking to himself while doing so. Kendra clenches her fists and tries best to keep her cool.
They eventually exit the tunnel into a sort of trash dome, there is somehow even more talking from Donnie to Kendra's immense annoyance. “Oh wow how did I not know this was here. This is incredible, oh I was looking for that. What else do I need? Oh yes that.” A lot of banging around and then “ah hah! Yes just what I needed” then he starts humming along to a song playing in his headphones, “oh this is nice. Now just one more thing I believe.” Kendra is just trying to search for a half dead creature and some sketchy materials in peace but the racket Donnie is creating is making it virtually impossible for her to focus. Yet another loud bang, she snaps her head over “OH YES URANIUM I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS” she storms over, grabs him by the collar and pulls him to her eye level. “Do you ever. Shut. Up.” She asks menacingly Donnies eyes widen in surprise “wha-” “SHUT. UP.” She demands. Then spins around and walks back to where she was before muttering to herself “I swear to god” Donnie feels a sort of pressure inside his gut and just stares after her. He stuffs the supplies he's found into his bag and heads out.
Donnie lays down in his bed and stares up at the ceiling for a while. His thoughts are all a buzz, a million things racing through his head at the same time. Then one supremely loud thought crosses his mind: I'd never noticed how pretty she is up close and a realization smacks him in the face. “Oh no.” He sits up, his face in his hands as he feels his insides burn “no, anyone but you. Why'd it have to be you.”