Collision

At first, Donatello thought the glowing warning light on his computer console was just one more bit of technological mood bling acting up to keep him on his toes. But then he noticed the words, Collision Imminent, written underneath it and things got serious.

His heart started to pound, a thumping that resonated through his body, his blood, drowning out all other noise and stopping his thoughts in their tracks. Donatello's hand tightened around the mouse, and all of a sudden, the sweet coffee in his mouth tasted bitter with disbelief.

Collision Imminent. The words resounded in his head, flooding him with questions that threatened to drown him. Who to tell first? Who to contact? What should be do? He had spent ages preparing for such an event. After the triseraton invasion, Donatello had hacked into every government agency he could manage. He had linked himself into every early warning system the government had, hooking up to satellites and monitoring anything that could pose a threat to the earth. Why? Donatello did not want to be caught out yet again, vaulted to another planet, fighting for his life while his brother's suffered beside him. He refused to go through that again.

He had wanted warning and now that he had it, Don was not quite sure what to do with it. His arms shook as he gripped the handles of his chair, feeling the plastic dig into his palms. Keep it together. Just keep it together. Think, Donnie; use that big brain of yours. Before talking to his brothers, he had to figure out what this threat was. That was the next, logical step... but...Leo would want everyone mobilised as soon as possible, and every moment wasted was a moment closer to the Imminent Collision.

His brain, working on willpower, coffee and not much sleep, shouted at him. Just call Leo while you work on fixing this mess! The lights on his consol went crazy, blinking at him in a way that made his head spin and his world tilt on its axis. He swallowed, throat dry and raspy, tongue sticking to his palate as sweat broke out on his brow. He fought to gather the words in his mouth and find a way to spit them from his throat.

"Leo!" He voice sounded hoarse as he tugged the consol closer, fingers flying and fumbling across the keyboard for purchase, slipping off keys slick with grease and pizza crumbs, which had lodged their way between the keys and found a home there.

Donatello wiped his fingers with a grimace and prayed that his leader would arrive soon with some advice. Leo would get to work mobilising their brothers and getting them to safety while Donatello could find out more about this disaster. His fingers slipped and he cursed beneath his breath, his eyes red and raw from exhaustion, bordering on a delirium he had not felt for a long while.

Collision Imminent. He had to fix this.

Lost in a world of facts, figures and endless possibilities, Donatello did not even hear Leonardo's footsteps as he padded up behind him. When a hand rested on his shoulder, Donatello jolted, knocking over his coffee mug and spilling the dregs onto his desk. The thud of his mug on wood broke Don's frenzy of thoughts and he whirled around on his chair.

"Leo! Thank-goodness you're here, you need to get Raph and Mikey here pronto- something big is about to happen!"

Leonardo looked at him with a strange type of concern, and the hand that rested on his shoulder tightened its grip. Oblivious, Donnie barrelled forward, "Collision is Imminent, Leo, Imminent! I don't have all the details yet, but we might have to clear out of the city!"

"Don...how much sleep have you had lately?" Leo stared at him with hard eyes edged with concern. A glance at the computer screen told him all he needed to know.

Donatello blinked, as if the question was lost on him completely, "I dunno Leo, but that's not the point. We have to hurry!"

"Donnie, you really need to cut down on the coffee."

"Listen to me Leo- we have to hurry- we can't waste time..." Donnie's words faded into a stream of babbles that no longer made sense to anyone but himself, and Leo doubted even that. So, prying his frantic brother from the computer chair, Leonardo guided him to bed, watching as the delirium faded from his eyes, and his babbling faded to a dull mumble. Slowly, the caffeine wore off, and days without sleep caught up to Donatello.

Leo tucked him into bed, pulled up the sheets, and turned out the light, watching as Donnie curled up beneath the sheets, mumbling something in his sleep, falling deep into a doze full of facts, figures and solutions. Straightening the sheets, Leo snuck out of his brother's room, arms heaped with confiscated technology, the key to his brother's room tucked in his belt.

Donatello would get sleep whether he liked it or not. Things were starting to get way out of hand.

Because when Donnie lost himself in online role player games, shit got a bit too real.

A/N: This was a challenge to myself- To write something beyond a character study, which is all I have been doing lately, as well as to write focusing on Donatello, who I do not usually write. Added to that, and this is not a dark fic- truly outside my comfort zone. It was a fun exercise. :)