Chapter Text
Did a day ever go by recently without Raph and Leo arguing?
Donnie was listening in on them from around the corner, the two’s voices gradually climbing in volume. Donnie didn’t care about what they were arguing about, he was only making sure that they didn’t get physical again.
“I had it handled, I’m the leader, you’re supposed to trust me!”
“How can I trust you when yer making the worst possible decisions!? You almost got Mikey killed!”
That’s right, Mikey had been injured while out on patrol – He dislocated his shoulder while catching himself from falling off a rooftop in a fight with Hypno.
Leo and Raph had been too busy arguing the entire way home, so Donnie became entirely responsible for Mikey, such as relocating his shoulder and catering for him afterwards. Gods he wanted to scream.
“Mikey’s fine! This isn’t about him, this is about your problem with me!”
“My problem with you!? This isn’t about you either! This is about all of us as a team! We’re heroes, we’re supposed to work together!”
“Oh here we GO with the hero thing!”
Donnie had heard enough. The last time the two of them fought they ended up in his lab and broke his newest invention. Never got an apology.
Donnie can’t even remember what they were fighting about that time, something stupid about Raph’s hero speech, he thinks. Which is probably why this one was so loud.
Donnie turned into the common space, where the two’s argument had blown into a full on screaming match. When neither of them look toward him upon entry, he grabs a nearby vase and picks it up, smashing it against the wall.
Both of them went perfectly quiet at the sound of the vase breaking into pieces against the concrete wall, their heads snapping toward the source.
Donnie watched the fragments fall, dropping the shard he held and crossing his arms before returning their stare. Both of their eyes were blown wide, their mouths slightly agape as they took deep breaths, their faces were stuck in an expression of anger.
“Hi!” Donnie said with a half-assed, fake smile “Keep your voices down.” The smile disappeared, the cheery tone along with it.
Raph dropped his arms, turning his head away. Leo crossed his arms, looking toward the floor and pouting like a child.
“Donnie, go back to your lab and mind your own business.” Raph barked, pointing toward the door.
“Take it outside, in that case. You guys have been arguing since we got home, and until you’re done screaming at each other, GO. I’m tired of listening.” Donnie said, doing his best to scrap some self-restraint together. Yelling only makes things worse, you don’t need a three-way argument right now.
“Don, just let me and Raph finish up here then I’ll come fill out the mission report, or whatever.” Leo ordered, wanting to handle this more privately.
“Mikey got his shoulder dislocated on patrol because you two were too focused on one-upping each other than actually working as a team. I had to tend to his shoulder and I had to make sure we didn’t leave any remnants behind from the battle. I’m trying to work, so if you two are going to resume your screaming match when I leave, take it outside.”
Raph and Leo made eye contact for a moment, before they turned tail and walked away to their respective rooms – both muttering incessantly until they were out of ear and eye view for Donnie. Donnie also left the common room, walking down the hall to Mikey’s room. On his way, he heard their doors slamming – he jumped for a second, but carried on his stride.
How could the two of them be so incompetent? It’s been months since the Shredder, and that feels like the last time all of us have been in sync. Donnie thought, becoming increasingly annoyed at the realization his brothers haven’t been in sync since their lives were visibly threatened, instead of treating every patrol like their lives are at risk.
He arrived at Mikey’s door, knocking three times rhythmically. “Michael? May I come in?” he said softly, resting his hand against the door. He heard a small sniffle, followed by some shifting around. “Yeah..” Mikey’s voice came through, muttered and muffled.
Donnie pulled the door open, entering and shutting it behind him. He walked over to the lump of blanket laying in the hammock, and sat down on the floor beside it. The lump, nor him, spoke for a moment.
“How’s… how's your arm feeling?” Donnie asked quietly, keeping the sound of his voice to a minimum in hopes to draw Mikey out from under his blanket. Much to his happiness, he lifted the blanket off his body and turned his legs out of the hammock.
“It’s fine.. I mean, it hurts but not as much as it did before..” Mikey mutters, sniffling and avoiding looking at Donnie. His arm is in a specialized sling Donnie made, with a couple small doodles on it from Mikey.
Donnie wasn’t good at feelings, that's a simple fact. Usually, when he got stuck with, or stumbled upon one of his brothers in a bad mood, he’d immediately fetch literally anyone else to deal with it. Unfortunately, currently everyone was in a shitty mood– leaving Donnie to be the mediator for each brother.
“How are you feeling?..” Donnie hesitated, cringing at the sentence leaving his mouth. Mikey didn’t say anything for a second. “I’m just… tired of hearing them fight.” His voice wavered pitifully, cracking slightly.
“...Do you want a hug?” Donnie offered, looking up at him. Mikey’s face crumpled slowly, nodding. Donnie opened his arms for Mikey to crawl into, who came off the hammock and practically tackled Donnie, diving into his arms and burying his face into his shoulder.
Donnie stroked his shell gently, hugging him closely. “It’s okay… I’ve got you, Mike..” He whispered to the younger, whose entire body was racked with sobs and loud, muffled cries. It hurt Donnie physically to hear Mikey so mentally wrecked, he barely even registered his shoulder becoming increasingly wet.
“I’ve got you… it’s over…”
Mikey continued to sob aggressively, clawing at Donnie with his uninjured arm desperately searching for more warmth. Donnie continued to rub gently into his shell, his other arm supporting them both so they don’t fall backward.
“I-I’m so sohh- sorry! I just- I-” Mikey cried harshly, muffled by Donnie’s shoulder, he could barely make out the words being said.
“Shh…it’s okay… I’ve got you, little brother..” Donnie slowly and carefully lifted his arm up to his neck, taking off his goggles and gently putting them over Mikey’s ears. The noise cancelling should help him a bit.
Mikey’s sobs start to die down after about ten minutes, slowly turning from aggressive sobs to soft cries and sniffles.
This is the first time in a while Donnie doesn’t care for the texture of the tears, or how Mikey was hugging him so tightly. It didn’t bother him. At all. He just wanted to be here for his little brother.
Mikey eventually calmed down, adjusting himself and pressing his head against Donnie’s plastron, taking his arm from around him and wiping at his eyes.
Donnie didn’t stop rubbing his shell, and now that Mikey wasn’t actively shoving himself on top of Donnie, he brought the arm that was previously used for sitting support around to hug Mikey.
“I’ve got you, Mike..” Donnie murmured soft words into Mikey’s head, until the boy could manage a couple deep breaths in a row without his breath hitching.
“Do you feel any better?” Donnie questions, looking down at Mikey, who adjusted to sit in Donnie’s lap more comfortably. “I think so.. Gosh- I’m really sorry, Dee! I-I know emotions aren’t really your thing I just-” Mikey began, Donnie gently shushed him.
“Don’t apologize, Mikey. Don’t you ever apologize for something like this.” Donnie said, staring at the younger man somber looking. Poor kid feels bad just for having feelings…
“But- ugh, it’s just so stupid for me to be this upset about Raph and Leo fighting again! I should be more mature than this, I’m fourteen, I should be able to regulate!” Mikey yelled in frustration, gripping his head tightly with his available arm. His voice cracked in a way that threatened the tears to start again.
“Michael, you're just a kid. It’s okay if you’re stressed about Raph and Leo, and it’s okay if you’re frustrated. You aren’t perfect, and nobody wants you to be. It’s normal for you to break down sometimes, if anything, you don’t do it enough.” Donnie comforted, resting his head on top of Mikey’s.
“But- you’re also a kid, and you don’t react like I do whenever they fight…”
“Okay, one: I’m older than you, two: I think you should know better than I do that everyone handles situations differently. I handle the two of them fighting by ignoring them completely, via those headphones.” Donnie explains, talking at a normal level so that Mikey can hear him through the noise cancelling.
“But!-”
“Say ‘but’ one more time and I swear to the pizza supreme Miguel I will smack you right in the head so hard you won’t even remember Leo and Raph ever fought.” Donnie said monotonely. Mikey laughed, breathlessly, but it turned more into a cough from pure dehydration.
“M’kay, how about we get you some water?” Donnie offered, adjusting his position. Mikey nodded at the idea, slowly standing up. Donnie held onto his hand while he did, and soon followed. God, his legs felt numb.
Donnie grabbed the blanket out from Mikey’s hammock and wrapped it around him, resting his hand on Mikey’s shoulder and keeping him close while they started to walk.