Turtle in the Glass
Summary: Donatello has been to the future and seem the fate of his brothers. When he returns only one question remains; why did he leave? He's about to find out. SINW Fic
Months had passed since the adventure Draco sent him and his brothers on. They had been so busy that no one noticed his long nights and the nightmares that consumed his mind on a daily basis. But he didn't mind. He didn't deserve his brothers' and master's sympathy.
He had failed them.
More importantly he had led his three brothers to their death with his foolish plan.
Donny was usually very keen on paying attention to detail. No matter how little it was. Why hadn't he this time? He had let his brother's die because he missed that important step.
What was even worse was that the future him had abandoned his brothers. Left them to pick up the pieces of his disapperance.
He didn't understand it. He didn't want to understand it. Donny would never leave his family. Esepcially not in their time of need. That just wasn't who he was.
Yet thirty years into the future that was the very thing he did. Without a reason or an explainanation.
He just left.
Of course, Mikey being the family orientated turtle he is, said that their was a chance he was dead, afraid to admitt that his eldest brother had betrayed them.
But he had a feeling, and he was hardly wrong on his feelings, even if he never understood them, that future Donny had done just that.
Donatello had been having nightmares since the night he got back. The same scene of watching his brothers die around him overplayed in his mind time after time. He didn't share his dreams with his family. Why?
Because he deserved to have these dreams posion his mind.
The nightmares had gotten so bad he couldn't fall asleep anymore. Each night when Splinter and his brothers would turn in, he would take a hit of expresso and stay up until the sun shone through their lair the next morning.
However his brothers were slowly catching up on his lack of sleep. So this night, while the rest of his family slept, he slipped out of the lair and onto the busy city streets.
Donny had never been on to up to the surface for no reason but he needed to clear his head, get some fresh air flowing through his cold blood.
He had tried going through the junkyard, this usually helped clear his head, but tonight the evil thoughts kept coming through his head, trapping him in his mind.
It's your fault their dead. You weren't strong enough to protect them, you still the weakingly you always were.
Donatello always knew he was a lot weaker in his brothers when it came to his fighting skills but he never thought that it would be the cause of their deaths.
"It's not my fault!" He yelled over top of the busy night streets.
He didn't want to believe it. But the truth was that it was his fault his family died. He was the reason Splinter had to defend his brothers against the Shredder, giving his life up in the process. It was his fault Raph and Leo fought over every little thing.
It was his fault Mikey never smiled anymore or had that upbeat personaility he grew up on. It was his fault his younger brother had lost his arm. His fault that April would no longer have Casey. It was his fault the world was destroyed and over run by the Shredder.
Donny knew since he was young that he wanted to try and help the world, not be the one person who killed it.
It's not to late.
Those four words. April had told him that before he left. The future hadn't happened yet. Their was still time to stop it. But.. he needed to know why he had disappeared on his family.
It was the only way to make things right.
How was he going to do that though? There was no way in finding out what had happened not unless he could go and watch for himself what happened.
Which wasn't likely.
The purple bandana turtle crouched down on the edge of a tall building and looked down at the ant people walking on the street. His olive skin was hidden easily against the black sky and his light eyes only showed when he moved from his spot. He wouldn't be easy to find that's for sure.
Unless someone was looking, again unlikely. His family was fast asleep.
Still. He felt someone's presance. Someone was near and watching him with a a grin. He just didn't know who or why.
Donny steaded his bo-staff and narrowed his eyes slowly as he scanned the near by building. He wasn't one to throw himself in a fight for no reason but he wasn't in the mood for anyone's bullshit.
He stood slowly and stepped off the ledge, just missing the bo staff that came his way. He used his right hand to block, the other grabbing a hold of the weapon to tug the intruder forward. Once he had the weapon in his hand, the purple turtle kicked the opposer back and pinned him down.
"Who the shell are you?" Donny snarled, his eyes dark.
The man grunted, his voice weesing as he let out a breath. " Why don't you look at yourself and tell me?" He shot back, using the same amount of venom Don had used.
The genius froze, his grib on his bo tightening. The question had thrown him off. Never before had a foot ninja or any other of their many enemnies said such a thing.
"Jeez its only been thirty years, I haven't changed that much. "
Again Donatello was frozen with confusion. None of this made any sense.
While he was trying to collect his thoughts, the intruder knocked his weapon from his hand, knocked him off his feet and lept up, the purple bandana flowing in the wind.
It couldn't be. It wasn't possible.
Yet there stood Donatello. Thirty years older and battle scarred.
This older version of him was taller but not by much. His bandana had rips in it and was dull, to dull for his liking. His olive skin was lighter, making him seem sick. His arms and legs were scarred. Really there didn't seem a thing wrong with him.
Future Donny removed his leg from the younger turtle's chest and held his hand out. "Come on, I'm not going to bite you. " He muttered.
Younger Don sat up and rubbed his shell, a frown forming on his lips. "This cant be possible. " He mumbled, his words jumbled.
Future Don sat down beside his past self " Was I always this analyzing?" He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It is possible brainiac but I wont be here for long so listen alright?"
There was something wrong about future Donatello. He sounded like Raph. Cut off and hot headed. This was the turtle he was going to be? Well shell.
Don nodded and looked down at his hands, at a loss for words.
"I know what your thinking Donatello. And trust me when I tell you this, I'm thinking the same thing. I know what your goin-"
"How the shell can you know what I'm going through! I went to the future, found out I had abandoned my family and watched my brother's die. Tell me how you understand that!"
Future Don only smirked and looked down at the younger verison on him, his eyes gleaming in the moon light. "You really dont have a clue do you? I am you, Donatello. No matter how you look at me, you and I are the same person. "
"I am nothing like you!"
He laughed. Dark and evil.
This was not the turtle Don wanted to be when he grew up. No way in shell.
"You want to know why your family fell apart? Why the world came crumbling down?"
Don swallowed and listened, afraid of what he would hear.
"Its your fault Donatello. You abandoned your brothers. Left them to die in the miserable world you knew was coming. Once things got to difficult you left and never returned. You thought running away would fix all your problems. That your family didn't need you but in reality your the very thing that holds them together.
"You are the reason they are dead. You are the reason the world turned out the way it did. You thought you could change things by defeating the Shredder, how pathetic are you? You didn't make things better, you only made them worse. Your only younger brother died at the hands of Shedder's men, your two older brother protected you, only to be struck down and killed. Its your fault Donatello!"
Donny gasped, his eyes wide. Standing over him wasn't the future him but Splinter.
"You are the reason our family failed. " Splinter rose a sword, the blade gleaming in the moonlight.
Just was Don waited for the final blow, his eyes shot open. He wasn't ontop of the roofs of New York but in his bed room in the lair. It had been a dream. Every second of it. His skin was glinsted with sweat, his heart was racing and his body tangled in the sheets. He let out a soft cry, hoping not to awake Leo.
"Donny, are you alright?"
He hand't heard Leo come over to his bed until his older brother was leaning over him. By the looks of him he'd been up for several minutes. Without pausing to think, the young genius tackled his older brother in a hug and held on with all his might.
Leonardo didn't know what his younger brother's dream was about but he wrapped his arms around his shaking form and held on tight.
Donny closed his eyes and tried to slow down his breathing.
He would not allow himself to become that way. For he knew, no matter how hard his life got, he would never leave his family.