Laughter Lines by RomaMarufixx

Part One

Don/Mikey

This is turtlecest, don't like? Don't read.

All characters are over the age of 18.

Characters belong to Nickelodeon.

SAINW

Everything around me had confused me even more so than I already was and when I happened upon Mikey, hurt, pain and more confusion joined. This was my Mikey, yet it wasn't, the glimmer in his eyes that all of us had promised to keep there was gone, as was half of one of his arms and his smile, what was left of him, just wasn't him.

I felt as though I didn't know this person, but tried not to let it show, I could understand why Michelangelo was so cold given that Donatello, I, had disappeared for many decades and they had no idea as to why or where he...I had gone.

My brain was working on overdrive trying to figure out why I would ever leave my family, was I threatened? Was my disappearance so that my family would stay safe? That was the only reason that I would ever leave my friends, my father, my brothers, my mate…

Maybe this was not my future but the future of a different universe, that a different version of myself and my brothers lived in. Maybe this universe's Donatello was different to myself, my brothers had always teased me about how in another life I might have been a mad scientist if I put my mind to it, could that have happened, had I gone mad?

I must have been to leave my family to this.

And if this was a different version of us, were Michelangelo and I even mates? I was too afraid to ask due to being afraid of the answer, all the time that I had spent together with this Michelangelo since I had been dragged into this universe the thought was on my mind and maybe Mikey could sense that my mind was partially elsewhere, but then again, when wasn't it?

Mikey had told me about this future and about our brothers, who back where I came from were mates, but still Raph and Leo, a relationship didn't mean that all their fighting and disagreements stopped, although they were not as bad or as often and they didn't last for a very long time either, with neither wanting to go to bed angry at each other, living our lives, we never knew what tomorrow would bring, and, although I can't speak on behalf of my brothers, but for me if I had gone to bed angry with my mate or generally any member of my family and I lost them the next day I don't think I could live with my last moments will them being full of hate.

The Raph and Leo here had fallen out, badly, sometime after this universe's Donatello had left and it had broken the family apart. If this world had changed Mikey into the turtle that he was now, I was scared to see my other brothers.

Raph had lost an eye and was much angrier and Leo was blind, and also very angry and when we got the two of them together I thought world war three was about to kick off until I stepped in the middle to break it up and the mood in the room changed completely.

Raph had hugged me tighter than I've been hugged in years and a smile lit up Leo's face, even though he couldn't see me and even without Raph's outburst of my name, he could probably sense that his missing brother was standing in front of him.

I had managed to get the two of them to work together with all of us to work out a plan to bring down the Shredder. During one of my walk arounds to collect a few things that I required, I spotted Leo and Raph talking in low tones and I tried to get as close as I could without them noticing me, but I still couldn't hear them, although the hug that they shared I did see as well as the kiss that lingered on for several minutes before I turned around with a smile on my face.

"What's with the smile?" Mikey asked me when I came back to the lab, sounding more like Raph than himself and my heart started to sink, but the memory of Raph and Leo's rekindling lifted it back up.

"I don't think that Leo and Raph will be arguing with each other anymore, well, at least not for a while." I smiled without looking at my brother. Even though I wasn't looking at Mikey, I could sense a change in him, and sense that he was just looking at me and after a while it was starting to get uncomfortable so I looked up and our eyes met.

"What?"

"Nothing." Mikey said and left the room only for Leo to enter through it a few seconds later.

"Hey Leo."

"Hey…" Leo said as he made his way over to me. "Is Mikey upset?"

"I don't know, I just, said something and he left."

"What did you say to him?" Leo asked and I couldn't help a little heat rise to my cheeks.

"I just said that I didn't think you and Raph would be arguing that much now or for a while at least."

"And what makes you say that?"

"The two of you, in the hallway." I explained in as little words as possible.

"Oh." Leo said and I held in a laugh as his face became red and he coughed. "Sorry." he apologised.

"There's no need to apologise, I'm happy that the two of you are getting along again, I can't imagine what it must have been like before…Leo, can I talk to you about something?"

"Anything."

"I have a theory, about this place, that….that I am not actually this world's Donatello, there are many different universes out there…"

"Multiverse theory."

"Yeah...I think there a few differences but also a few similarities, I think that Mikey figured out that I wasn't this universe's Donatello before the theory even came to me…"

"Mikey is a lot smarter than we ever give him credit for." Leo smiled.

"That he is." I said, returning the smile my older...much older brother offered me.

"I did sense something different about you at first, but I guess I was just overwhelmed, I was so happy to have you back after so long, I still am, you may not be our Donnie, but you're a Donnie and...I'm sorry, that sounded…"

"It's okay Leo." I said and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know what you mean...I think that might be the reason Mikey is upset."

"You don't have the same memories and feelings as our Donnie?"

"I don't know, in my universe, Mikey and I are mates, when I saw you and Raph...were Mikey and I together here?"

"You were, you were very happy together and then one day you left, and Mikey thought it was his fault, even though there was no evidence to say that it was your relationship that caused you to leave…"

"I can't even think of a reason this Donnie would have left the three of you." I partially lied, I had already thought of a few reasons, but I didn't wish to voice them. "Can you tell me what happened around that time?"

"It was a normal day like any other, breakfast, morning training then we all went off to do our own activities until dinner, then the four us watched a movie before going to bed, Mikey said when he woke up the next morning you weren't there, you weren't anywhere in the lair, we phoned your shell cell, but got no answer and couldn't trace it, so we tried all the places that we thought that you might be, but there was no sign of you and then days passed, weeks, months, years and here we are thirty years later, still no idea what happened to our brother."

"I'm sorry…"

"You haven't left your brothers yet Donatello, we will find a way to get you back, as much as I want you to stay I know the pain of a missing brother and I do not wish that on another universe's counterparts."

"Another possible reason why Mikey is upset." I said, although more to myself than to my brother. "Just as I come back I have to leave."

"Maybe you need to talk to him before you begin to work on a way to get home."

"First I'm thinking of a way to bring down the Shredder once and for all, I am not leaving you to remain this way, once that is taken care of then I will work on a way to get home."

"What if something happens to you Donatello?" Leo asked, grabbing my bicep with one of his hands. "This future will be your own." he continued and I shook off his arm and mustered up the most genuine smile I could give him then, even though I knew that he could not see it, but he could feel it.

"It won't come to that Leo."

"I hope that it doesn't." Leo sighed.

"I'm going to find Mikey." I said as I went to leave. "Do you have any idea where he might have gone?"

"Sadly I don't spend enough time around Michelangelo these days to know where he might go, sorry Donnie."

"It's okay, I'm sure if I walk around long enough, I'll find him, or he'll find me…"

It hadn't taken all that long to find Michelangelo, after wandering around for a while I had found some technicians who had seen Mikey not that long ago heading for his room, and after finding out where exactly that was I made my way there and knocked twice on the door.

"Mikey, it's Donnie, are you in there, came I come in?" No one responded but the door suddenly went from being locked to open and I pushed at the door, letting myself in. "Mikey?"

"Whatd'ya want?" his voice replied and I turned to see him sat at the edge of what looked like an uncomfortable bed, but in the hell they were currently living in, it must have been a luxury.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Then talk."

"I don't think that I am the Donatello from your world."

"I gathered."

"But there are a lot of similarities between your world and mine."

"Such as?"

"Leo and Raph, me and you."

"I don't understand." Mikey said and I was starting to grow irritated, I know Mikey didn't want to talk to me, but I had to say what I needed to say and I needed to make sure that Mikey wasn't going to hide himself away from me.

"Michelangelo, you do understand." I said moving closer to him and kneeling down in front of him, placing my hands on his thighs and making sure to catch his dull blue eyes with mine. "I'm so sorry for everything that has happened to you, to all of you, I have no idea why this universe's Donatello would have left, but he must have had a very good reason to, you must know that." The muscles below my hands relaxed and he put his hand on top of one of mine and I knew I had him.

"I know, it still hurts though, I thought it would be temporary, that'll you'd come back...even after thirty years I thought you'd still come back to me, I guess you did but…"

"Not how you wanted me?"

"No! I-"

"I understand Mikey, I'm not your Donnie, but I can be here for you when you need me to be." We sat in silence for a few minutes before a smile spread across Mikey's face for the first time since I had arrived here, it broke my heart to know that as soon as I left again, it would be gone.