Again, just a little experimental one shot. This one's kinda wholesome, or that's what I was going for at least! Enjoy x
To See Beyond The Cover
Donatello coughed as more of the black smoke entered his lungs, he wiped at his stinging eyes but carried on anyway.
He had to. There were lives to save.
~Flashback~
The four turtles had been patrolling for two hours now. They were cold and tired and just wanted to crawl into bed!
But their leader, Leonardo, had told them he had a bad feeling so they were forced to stay on their current rooftop. If they were honest they could feel it too.
''I wish the bad thing would hurry up and happen!'' Mikey huffed. ''I really hate waiting''
''That's stupid'' Raph grumbled as he slapped Mikey on the head.
''Quiet guys'' Leo hissed. ''We don't know what's about to happen… but it's gonna be huge''
Donnie shifted slightly, he looked over to see Raph and Mikey glaring at one another while Leo stood between them stock still. He sighed, he just wanted to go home and update the security systems.
He looked over at a familiar building. The care home. He had passed by it recently and discovered the building had many people in it ranging from babies to elderly. Everyone there was recovering from something and the carers there really seemed to be helping them, they were doing some great work!
It was a charity organisation made for helping less fortunate people. In this particular building it had orphans, homeless people, lonely elderly people, people recovering or suffering from conditions Donnie didn't even want to think about and poor families that didn't have enough money to buy a place to live. All those people from different backgrounds all under one roof, Donnie wondered what stories these people could tell.
What was nice though was that everyone seemed to get along. They all knew and cared for one another, it was sweet really.
He had grown to respect the charity and had donated what he could as often as he could. He knew the people of New York really benefited from this place!
''Urgh!'' Mikey groaned from behind, Don looked round at him. ''I'm so bored!''
''I'm sure we'll be done soon Mikey'' Donnie smiled at his brother,
''so… uh… what kind of bad feeling is it?'' Raph asked worriedly, Leo looked round at him with a raised eyeridge.
''There aren't different kinds'' He frowned. ''A sense of impending doom is a sense of impending doom. Nothing else''
''You said you had a 'bad feeling' not a sense of impending doom!'' Mikey pointed out fearfully.
''Same thing'' Leo fully turned to face his two brothers.
''No it's not'' Mikey's voice was getting higher. ''Impending doom is way worse than bad feelings''
''Shut up!'' Raph snapped at them.
Donnie shook his head, he knew they were all just messing about because they were bored.
Leo suddenly stiffened.
He looked round just as the explosion went off, everyone jumped up and looked at the now flaming building.
''Well that sucked'' Mikey sighed. ''It's just an old building… it's not even near us!''
''Nice one fearless'' Raph muttered. ''We've been freezing our shells off for nothin'!''
Donnie shook his head and looked closer to realise it was the charity building that was on fire! His heart clenched painfully and he knew what to do.
He instantly sped away from his brothers towards the building. He heard his brothers shout his name in surprise but he ignored them.
There were innocent lives at risk.
When he landed on the building next to the charity he could see most of the people and carers had made it out safely, the head carer was calling the emergency services with an old looking cell phone.
He realised that it was mostly orphans and elderly that hadn't made it out yet, he heard his brothers running towards him but ignored them.
He'd just found an open window.
He took a deep breath and jumped over onto the windowsill before slipping into the never ending smoke plumes.
…
And that's how he ended up here, he hated himself a little for taking such a risk but he wanted to save these people. They'd had enough hardships.
He'd saved all the kids and most of the elderly, nobody had looked at him that closely and most of the elderly had been unconscious. Nobody outside had seen him either so he considered that a win.
There was one old lady left.
He ran up the stairs and miraculously managed to get away from the smoke, the fire hadn't reached this floor yet! He booked it towards her door and fell into the room as dizziness hit him, maybe running after inhaling smoke wasn't the best idea.
"Oh dear! Are you ok?" A frail voice called in surprise,
"Yeah I'm good" Donnie coughed as he looked up, the old woman was confined to a wheelchair but had managed to get herself close to her open window.
He walked slowly towards her and sucked in the semi clear air. She studied him warily for a moment but seemed to relax.
"It's not so bad up here yet" The lady smiled. "We have time, give yourself a moment"
"Those stairs were a bad time" He joked before frowning. "Are you ok? You don't seem scared of me?"
"I have nothing to be afraid of" She smiles in return, "You aren't going to hurt me are you?"
"No of course not" Donnie shook his head frantically, "My name's Donatello… or you can call me Donnie if that's easier"
"I'm Patricia" She nodded, "Or Pat if you'd rather… It's ok Donatello, you don't need to risk your life for me. Won't somebody be worried about you?"
Donnie was a little taken aback.
"Yeah, three brothers. Two older and one younger, my older bros do this stuff all the time" He nodded, "I'm going to get you out, it's no trouble. Besides your family are probably worried"
"I don't have any left" Patricia shrugged as Donnie knelt beside her. "I never married, never had kids either"
"How come?" Donnie asked curiously.
"Never wanted any" She smirked, "and men are a bore"
Donatello chuckled.
"So you were free to kinda do whatever you wanted?" He asked gently.
"Oh yeah. Me and a group of friends travelled the world together" She grinned, "We made so many memories and so many mistakes"
Her expression faultered and she looked at him sadly.
"As a young woman I was attacked by an older man… I had his baby and immediately put it for adoption" She shuddered. "That's why I'm not afraid of you, I know what a bad person looks like and you're nothing like him"
Donnie frowns,
"I understand… I'm sorry that happened to you"
"Don't be… That was a very long time ago…" She patted the turtle on the shoulder. "You should go. I don't have much life left in me anyway, you look as if you are only a child"
"I'm sixteen" Don shrugs, "You seem nice, why don't you want to escape. We have plenty of time, won't your friends be worried?"
"That's a lie and you know it" Patricia scolds, "I see you checking the floor for heat, it's nearly here and my friends wouldn't be surprised"
Donnie blushed before sitting cross legged.
"I'm not leaving without you" He smirks,
"That's silly" The woman frowns before sighing. "There's no point saving an old hag like me… I have nothing, I can't even walk on my own two feet and I'm… useless"
"You're not useless" Don shakes his head, "You're worth saving. You paved the way for today's generation and you're talking to a mutant as if he were a human being! You're one of a kind, not a lot of people would do that you know"
"Those people don't know what they're missing out on" Patricia smiles, she pulls an old photograph out of her pocket and hands it to him. "You see that beautiful young lady? That's what I used to look like… She was worth saving, not me"
Donnie takes the photo and studies it. Patricia does look beautiful; she has long golden hair, straight teeth, dimples on either side of her cheeky grin and sparkling eyes. He looked up at the old woman and smiled gently causing her to smile back.
Those dimples were still there, her porcelain skin may have sagged slightly and her gold hair may have faded into a snowy white but that twinkle in her eyes was still going strong despite everything.
"You're still her" Donnie handed the photo back, "Only wiser"
The woman barked out a laugh.
"Wiser" She chuckles again, "What a polite way to say old"
Donnie chuckles warmly.
"Nothing wrong with that" He shrugs.
"You are a delightful young man" Patricia stretches out her arms, "You may save me now Mr Hero, I want to know more about you and your family"
Donnie gently lifts her out of her wheelchair, she's much lighter than he expected and climbs out onto the fire escape. He looks up and gasps at his three brothers on the roof, they look frantic and haven't noticed him yet.
"You worried them" Patricia scolds. "Get up there!"
Donnie nods and carefully climbs, making sure not to jostle the old woman too much.
"What are you guys doing?" He hisses. "This building could go down any minute!"
"Knew you were lying" Patricia smirks.
"WHAT ARE WE DOING!?" Raphael explodes as all three brothers rush to the genius' side. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING JUMPING INTO A BURNING BUILDING!?"
"Raph" Leo snaps before rounding on Donnie, "That was stupid and dangerous! What were you thinking? You could've been seen or killed-"
"He was seen dudes" Mikey points out, he seems to be the only one that sees the older lady in Don's arms. "Do you guys not see the old lady?"
"Mikey don't be rude" Donnie scolds gently, "Her name's Patricia"
"Hi, I'm Mikey! Or Michelangelo" Mike beams, "We've never met an old lady before!"
Donnie groans as Pat giggles.
"Lovely to meet you Michelangelo, I assume you're the little brother Donatello was telling me about"
"Oh so you stopped for a chat did you?" Raph growls.
"Give it a rest!" Don snaps back.
"My name is Leonardo" Leo bows to Pat, "This is Raphael. We didn't mean to be rude to you, I'm sorry for our yelling"
"Don't worry about it" Patricia giggles again, "You were worried about Donatello, I understand"
Raph blushes.
Patricia grin in response.
"I once knew a man like you, he was one of my best friends" She looked Raph dead in the eyes. "He was the fiercest, most passionate man I ever met. He often worried where his anger would get him but we knew he would never hurt us… He actually died saving one of my friends during a mugging"
Raphael searched her eyes for a moment and smirked.
"Sounds like he was a good guy"
"The best" She nods back.
The brothers stand there for a moment.
"Have you guys forgotten we're standing on a burning building" Donnie frowns as the smoke wisps past.
"They've nearly put it out now" Mikey waved him off.
"Not yet they haven't! Raph, can you hold Patricia for a moment?"
"She has legs" Raph points out but takes the woman gently. "She's not a damsel in distress"
"She needs a wheelchair Shellbrain!" Donnie growled, "Just get her to safety and I'll meet you in a sec!"
"DONNIE!" Leo yells as his brother disappears back into the building. "Again!? I swear he has a death wish tonight!"
"He'll be fine" Pat smiles,
The brothers are quick to get to another rooftop, they sit with the old women. She smirks as she watches them stare at the building, worrying over their brother. Her expression changes to a sad one as she sees the flames are still climbing despite the water being poured over it.
"Why is the fire still going?" She murmured, "How did it even start?"
"Must just be a bad fire" Leo shuffles closer to Patricia, "Don't worry, it'll all be ok. I think it was just a gas leak"
"It's horrible seeing that lovely old building disappear" She sniffs.
"We didn't realise anyone was living in it" Mikey admits, "What was it? A care home?"
"It was a charity" Patricia explained, "They do a lot of good work around the city, they're a home to those without. Orphans, elderly, homeless, poor, scared… everyone is welcome"
"Bet we wouldn't be" Mikey lays his head on Raph's shoulder, "We're orphans now too"
"Oh?" Patricia frowned, she reached her bony hand over and held Mikey's warm one. "What happened to your parents?"
"We never knew our real ones!" Mikey beamed at her, he'd never had an adult human actually want to listen and hear his stories before. He was more than happy to tell her everything.
By the time he was done Donatello had returned with a blanket and the wheelchair, he helped her into it and handed her the blanket.
"Thanks dear" She smiled,
"Idiot!" Raphael growls as he hugs his soot covered brother, "Stop worrying us"
Leonardo and Mikey come over and join the hug.
"I'm hungry" Mikey smiles, the three older brothers groan at the ruined moment.
They look back at the still burning building.
"Will the charity rebuild?" Donnie asked, the others looked at him in surprise.
"You knew it was a charity?" Leo asks.
"Yeah, I donate to them all the time" Donnie shrugs with a smirk, "New York needs them"
"It also needs you four" Patricia nods, "I cannot believe I have had the privilege to meet four such remarkable young men… I wish I could tell the world about you but no one will listen to an old woman's tales."
"We will!" Mikey explodes as his eyes shimmer with excitement. "Dudes! We could have a grandma! Can we keep her Leo? Please!"
"She's not a pet, Mikey!" Leo shushes his brother before looking over at Patricia. "It does raise the question though, what will you do now?"
"I will go back down and stay with the others… Whatever happens happens" She shrugs,
"I hope everything works out for ya" Raph nods as he pushes Mikey for being rude. "We'll get you down safely"
"Thank you" She smiles, "For saving me, listening to me and for telling me your stories in return"
The turtles take Patricia down to street level and watch her join the others from an alleyway. They smile as the carers rush to her side asking her if she was ok, medics rush over and help wheel her back into the group.
"She was cool" Mikey smiles, his stomach growls loudly.
"Let's go get some food" Raph chuckles, the four set off to get some pizza. Leo pauses and turns to Don, Raph and Mike stop and look back at the two.
"Donnie?" He began as he placed a hand on said brother's shoulder. "You did good today… I'm really proud of you"
Donnie blushed but nodded happily.
"Yeah D! You made us a new friend!" Mike cheers, "One with loads of awesome stories!"
"She was a pretty badass lady" Raphael agrees and looks over at his immediate younger brother, "I'm proud of you too, you risked your life and saved someone most wouldn't… Nice one"
Donnie's blush only grew causing his brothers to laugh, Mikey rushes over and hugs him before poking his cheeks.
"Look guys! He's as red as Raphie's mask!" He giggles, Don pushes him away but Mike grabs his hand and pulls him with him, "Pizza can cure this! What do you want bro?"
Leo and Raph follow their little brothers and together they go home.
Please let me know what you think! x