AN: Ha! Turns out I didn't need to do a hiatus, bonus! I'll just post both this chapter and the prequel/interlude thing at the same time, so look for it, it's called The Perfect Son and it ties in with this chapter very well. In fact, there is a four paragraph synopsis of it in this chapter. The story was actually supposed to be a flash back in this chapter, but seeing as it's over five thousand words long, it turned into its own story. Seriously, in my outline, I wrote "Don throws a small temper-tantrum." Small. Small…not the huge mess of emotion it turned into and over 5k words. I just couldn't stop writing it. That story will also be mentioned, one in a "blink or you'll miss it" in chapter 5 and in greater detail in chapter 9. So if I've sold story enough, let's get back to this chapter shall we? You'll see more details here, but I will warn you, there are somethings about Donnie's plans and preparations that won't be revealed until the very end of the story.

Beta'd by my lovely friend, Kamerer220, who is also a great writer. She has some stuff posted in the Hobbit section at AO3, if you are interested. Pretty is the latest thing she's written.

Chapter 2 – Just Like You

-o-

"Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery - it's the sincerest form of learning."
― George Bernard Shaw

-o-

*Four days before*

Donatello was really good at making up battle tactics. He was a thinker and a planner. He liked to be prepared for any occasion, and sometimes even his backup plans had backup plans. He could spend hours upon hours coming up with scenarios that required him getting out of danger, or into danger, and to come out victorious. It was intricate work, because there were always various variables that he had to keep in mind when setting a plan forth. Some of the things were under his control, others woefully not. Sometimes, he even preferred the planning process of a project to the actual execution of it. Because it sometimes didn't matter how well thought out the plan was, or how many different scenarios Don had been able to think of, there was always something that not even Don, with that big brain of his, could think of.

So when Don had decided that he was going to take out the Foot solo, he knew that it would be one of those plans that he couldn't account for everything despite all the thinking and resources he had at his disposal and that he would probably have a better time planning this thing out than actually executing it.

No, actually, this was going to be a bitch to plan, too.

Don was not the kind of turtle who went off on his own. He was not like Leo and Raph, who could and did well when they ventured off by themselves. He was built for teamwork, to be able to rely on the others to watch his back while he fought or worked his intellectual magic. Just the mere thought of having to do this by himself sent chills down his spine and nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He could include his other brothers in this plan. He knew that at least Raph would jump all over the chance to not only kick some major Foot butt, but to teach their "fearless leader" a lesson in how not to go running off and getting oneself killed for the greater good. Mikey would join in only so he would get into the action and not be left behind. He wouldn't be so quick to get himself and his family into trouble. Their younger brother was all for taking butts and kicking names when it was necessary, but he disliked discourse just as much as Donnie does. Splinter would understand the need to take out an immediate threat, especially one that was willing to as low as threatening his family and more than willing to use trickery to do so.

But Don had a few good reasons for not wanting his family's aid in this endeavor. Maybe not the sanest reasons, but he thought they were good ones.

He knew that part of the plan was because of necessity, because there were too many variables to worry about if he included his other brothers in this plan. Raphael was a strong and extremely capable fighter, but there had always been that untamable aspect of his brother that made him an unknown variable himself. There was no one Don would rather have at his back in any fight, but he was afraid that that uncontrollable part to his brother would get him as easily killed as if he had done exactly what Leo was planning on doing. With Mikey, he just couldn't bear to bring him into this. The things that Don was willing to do was dangerous, and soul tearing. Mikey was his baby brother, his companion for so many hijinks and pranks, the sharer of blankets and hugs when the nights had gotten too dark and scary, and the turtle who Don could run to when he needed cheering up. It was Don Mikey would run to when the monsters had bumped in the night, and he couldn't in good conscious be the one that leads his baby brother to the monsters. With, Splinter, well, he didn't want him seeing how one of his sons was leading what is essentially a mutiny against his own brother.

Another part, Don knew and was not too proud of, was from spite. Because if Leo was going to do it solo, why couldn't he? After how many months of Leo babying and protecting him, of warning him against over exerting himself and causing a relapse, of tell him to be careful because he didn't want to lose him, Leo was going to ignore his own damn advice and walk straight into death's open arms? He forgot, in his haste to protect them, that he was needed, also, that they couldn't bear to lose him either. That he was more than a leader to them, he was a brother, their brother, and therefore he was one fourth of a collective whole. They could never be complete without him.

So Don thought that this would be the perfect lesson for his eldest brother, to have a brother he had so faithfully and persistently had tried to protect the past few months do exactly what he planned to do. And yes, he was well aware of hypocritical nature of this plan.

Passive aggressive, thy name is Hamato Donatello.

There was one other reason, one much darker and perhaps more palpable than the others. He had great reluctance to join his family up for a mission he himself created because the last time he lead a team of brothers in destroying the head of the Foot Clan he had gotten them killed. They may have not been really his brothers, the ones he grew up with, shared stories, and spilt blood with, but essentially they were the same. They may have been bitter and more scarred than his versions, but they were still his kin. They were still his family and he had led them to their doom. It didn't matter that they appeared to have been willing to die for his cause and the betterment of the entire world, Don was not about to allow that to happen again. He would not be the cause of his family's death in this world as well as that one. He liked to push that reason in the back, however, and pulled the other two in the front. It was easier to hold onto anger and righteousness than it was the pain.

If Donnie was going to do this, both protect Leo from himself and them all from Karai and her Foot, he would need to find a way to do it. He didn't want to just walk in and challenge Karai in a duel as a replacement for his brother. He knew he was heavily under skilled compared to the new Foot leader, and probably wouldn't last fifteen minutes in a fair fight and he knew that there was no way this would be a fair fight. She had promised a solo battle, just the two of them. None of her Foot soldiers would be there and the victor of the match was promised to walk away unscathed by any who guarded her door. There was no way that Karai would allow herself to remain locked in a room with one of her more deadly enemies without some form of protection, even with a warrior as noble and honorable as his eldest brother. So how was he going to penetrate her fortress and take them all out if he knew it was a trap?

A plethora of plans and ideas had run through his head, each more wild and inconceivable as the last before he finally was able to pick on so very fitting for the occasion. It involved explosives, hacking, and on or two paid off employees. In the end, it was Karai who had given him the idea. She had warned Leonardo that if any trickery were involved, the deal would be over and she would just kill Leo and go after his family. It was like an itch Don was dying to scratch, to try and defy all of the requests she had put forth into her challenge. She had been so adamant that it would be Leonardo she met with in battle, so Leonardo she would get.

Donatello would just have to enter Saki Enterprises as his older brother. A Trojan horse. A teenaged mutant ninja turtle disguised as an adolescent genetically altered Shinobi terrapin. This was both a very simple task to undertake and extremely difficult.

Of the four turtles, Don and Leo were the most similar to each other. They were both slighter than their more heavyset brothers, Raph with his fanatical weight training and Mikey, who was just naturally stocky. Their skin tones were alike, there were only few shades difference between Leo's leaf green skin and Don's own more olive one. Even their voices were analogous, with Leo just a few decibels below his. All these differences were noticeable if standing side by side, but Don wouldn't allow the Foot the luxury to compare them. He could easily slip Leo's blue mask on his head and he could fool any of their enemies in the right circumstances.

Of course, there would be more to pretending to be Leo than just looking like him. Despite their visual similarities, they were still physically two different turtles. Leo had a confidence in himself that was clear in the way he presented himself, whether he was fighting battle, jumping across rooftops, or just standing there. This stance was created of years of practice, self-confidence, and being secure in the knowledge of his placement as the leader of their clan. It was not something that could be easily mimicked.

Don's own confidence is quiet and understated. His shoulders were naturally hunched slightly due to many years bent over a computer or a work desk. He was quiet and reserved most of the time, not particularly wanting the attention of others on him if he could help it. He was comfortable enough in his own skin when it came to his strengths, but most of those were intellectual and not something he particularly liked to flaunt over his brothers. He's heard the phrase "in English, please?" enough times to know that they sometimes didn't appreciated being talked down to, even if it wasn't intentional. He couldn't gain the level of self-esteem that Leo had built up all of his life in a thousand lifetimes, much less in a week.

The biggest difference between the two that matters the most would be their fighting skills.

Leo was an immaculate ninja, a master swordsman, and a proficient hand–to-hand fighter. His skill set came from tutelage under two of the best ninjutsu masters in the multi-verse, years of dedicated practice, and an unquenchable thirst to be the best. Leo made every move he'd make look graceful, as if it was the easiest thing in the world for him to do. He would never allow anyone see just how much effort it took to do it, or how much it would take out of him when he failed.

Don had firsthand knowledge of that.

When he had been around nine-years-old, he had had a bad bout with the flu that had left him out of commission for weeks. When he had returned to training, he was weeks behind his brothers and was sour for it. While he usually was more easygoing and forgiving of his brothers, the long illness and his own insecurities had just built up and caused him to become very jealous at Leo's seemingly perfection in the dojo. Eventually, the anger and jealously had exploded in a spectacular fashion that had brought him into the tunnels and threw the biggest temper tantrum he had ever done in his life.

Splinter had found him, punching a wall with his bare hands and had stopped him from doing too much damage. He had comforted his screams of anger and brought him back in to address the wounds he had caused his hands. It had taken a while, but his finally got him to open up about his insecurities and his jealousy.

It had been then that Splinter had presented him the truth, by showing Donnie an unaware Leonardo practicing. He had spent years practicing next to Leo, but he had never seen him practice on his own. Leo had been methodical and steady, but it showed all the flaws that he hadn't let known while in the company of his brothers. Splinter had then explained to him how Leonardo was actually more like him than he had realized, that Leo hadn't been naturally gifted in ninjutsu, but he had the tenacity and dedication to practice and practice, one step at a time, to commit each move to muscle memory, so he could fight with his instincts rather than aforethought.

It would be very difficult to try and emulate his other brother, both in skill and in manor, but there are only so many years one can live with someone and still be ignorant of their habits and quirks. Donatello had spent almost fifteen years of his life with his only companions being his brothers, and there were not a lot of time in the two years since their introduction to the outside world that they remained apart for long. They were trained ninjas, taught at a young age to be masters of themselves and their environment.

And Donatello had always been a star pupil.

So Don had done what he does best, he studied his brother. Every moment that he made in the dojo that week was done under close supervision by the academically inclined turtle. It was easy, they were supposed to watch each other's performance in hopes that they would learn from the other's mistakes and triumphs. Outside the dojo, however, he avoided him like the plague. It had started out just as a distancing tool. Based on the Hawthorne effect, also known as the observer effect, the subject that is being scrutinized changes their behavior due to the fact that they know that they are being observed. Donatello feared that Leo's behavior would change if he knew he was being watched, and thus not only would his results be disingenuous, but that Leo would want to know why. Don was a good enough liar, almost the best out of all of them, but he didn't think he could hold back his anger at his brother if he was confronted about it.

Another reason popped up a couple of days after he had found the letter. Don had expected Leo to be in the dojo the rest of the week, preparing for his final battle with Karai. He had anticipated the post-Utrom Shredder, pre-Ancient One Leonardo to surface and go overboard in his training. Instead, as he was exiting the garage for some last minute repairs to the Battleshell (work stops for no turtle, even those on suicidal missions), he caught sight of all three of his brothers playing games. Nobody but Leo had noticed him at first, and tried to play the tired card to avoid eye contact with his brother. It wasn't that hard, really, for he hadn't truly slept since he found the note. He had been both so busy preparing things and too disturbed by the whole series of events to be able to sleep peacefully. Luckily for him he had years of experience of taking cat naps and had been so well rested the past few months of confinement to have stored up plenty of resources.

He tried to ignore his older brother as he went into the kitchen to make some more coffee, but Leo didn't even appear to be hiding his blatant staring, so Don had raised his guard and returned the gaze. Those onyx eyes were just as guarded as his own, true mirrors of each other. Leo was a master at hiding his true emotions, there would be no way for Don to be able to read his eldest brother as clearly as he wanted to. But as Don had stated before, he had years of practice.

There was tension in his body, there almost always was when it came to Leonardo. He took his responsibilities as leader and older brother very seriously and was always, always on alert for trouble that would endanger his family. This tension, though, was surprisingly mixed with a form of relaxation and, was that, resignation? What was he resigned to? Playing video games with Mikey and Raph? Their ragging on him? Leo had the ability to defend himself verbally. They had all been on the receiving end of his arguments and lectures more times than they could count, but he was letting his brothers' words wash all over him and he… was enjoying it?

It felt so out of touch with what Donatello knew. By all rights, Leo should be working his ass off getting prepared for his super-secret assembly with Karai, not sitting there playing video games and letting his brothers trash talk him. Regardless of the fact that Donatello planned on stopping him, he was kind of insulted that he was doing all this work getting prepared and Leo was acting like nothing unusual was going on. It was the kind of behavior he expected from Mikey, and on a rare occasion, Raphael, but Leo was the epitome of being prepared.

A nervous feeling started to worm its way into his stomach, sending warning signals to his brain. Before the thought could fully form in his mind, however, the beeping of his finished coffee had brought his attention back to the coffee machine, and all of his brothers' attention on him. He filled his cup with the heavenly-blessed nectar of caffeine and took a sip as Raph and Mikey tried to talk him into playing games with him, but unlike someone (who shall remain nameless, though his initials start with Hamato and Leonardo), he had a lot to do. So he politely declined and headed back to the garage as his brothers started bickering again. He was stopped only by Leo's warning about their patrol, which he waved off his acknowledgement and entered the garage.

He stopped just beyond the door, though, where he was still out of sight but was still close enough to listen to what was going on in the main room. He stomach was now in knots and he had a feeling he knew what was going on, but wanted to gather some more intel. Leo's voice, when he reminded him about patrol, sounded reluctant, as if he had rather asked Don to join them than have him disappear into a lonely garage. He could understand Leo, with the threat of Foot Clan and Karai's ultimatum hanging over his head, would be unwilling for any of them to be by themselves, but the way Leo seemed more willing to play games rather than train did not sit well with Donatello, not at all.

So he stood there, listening to the laughter and commentary as they played the game, trying not let the age old resentment of being the odd turtle out (they did invite you, you idiot) color his thoughts as he tried to decode the mystery that had dropped in his lap. He had an inkling about what it was, but he was a scientist. He wanted to back up his assumptions with scientific facts. All he knew for certain was that he really, really didn't want to be right.

It only took a few minutes of listening to hear something worth pursuing. Mikey had bragged to Raph after another spectacular victory how it reminded him of earlier that day when he totally beat Leo when they skated at their underground park. He then continued to talk about how many tricks he performed while Leo had tried to mimic some of his safer ones.

Don backed away from the door before he heard any more of the conversation and moved deeper into the garage where he left his laptop. His heart started pounding as he powered it up and started to access the video footage that had been recorded that day. He had set up several cameras all around the city, especially places where they frequent. The camera that had been placed at their underground skate park had been placed there years ago, but Don was still able to pick up feed from it. He had set all of their cameras to record for 72 hour period, just because of the sheer volume of video feed, in case they needed to look back on something they missed.

He quickly pulled up the feed from earlier that day and watched in fast forward of his brothers entering the area and then started skating. Don continued to view the footage, his stomach sinking ever lower. After about ten minutes of Donnie's time, but was about a hundred and twenty in tape time, the two skaters stopped skating and took a break right in few of the camera. None of these cameras had audio, but Donatello was an expert lip reader, at least for his brothers.

He 'listened' to the touching words his brothers' spoke to each other, feeling a little uneasy in observing such a private moment. These words were not meant for anyone other than each other, and as they progressed, Don finally knew why.

Leo was saying goodbye. These words his had just spoken to his youngest brother were 'just in case I don't come back, you know that I love you' type words. The skateboarding and playing games, Leo was giving his brother last minute memories, something other than battles and fighting to recollect him by. He was doing this in case he didn't come back, like he knew he wasn't going to make it once he walked through those doors of Foot HQ. Instead of bettering his skills or learning some new ones that would insure his survival, Leo was trying to leave his mark on this world, supposedly one brother at a time.

Why was he saying goodbye? He understood contingency plans, he was the king of contingency plans. He could understand wanting to tell one's loved ones a heartfelt farewell before going into battle, but to completely forgo training to spend the last precious moments they have on playing games and skating with the little bro when they could be doing everything in their power to come back home and make better memories, longer memories. Skipping practice to say goodbye sounded a lot like Leo knew exactly what the outcome of that battle was going to be.

It sounded like Hamato Leonardo was just giving up.

Donatello saw red. To him, nothing says 'I'm giving up' as performing some strange bucket list of goodbyes. Leo was meticulous, cautious, and a perfectionist, but not a quitter. He was overbearing, arrogant, and generous, but not a quitter. He was a foolish brat, a self-sacrificing piece of shit, and a general pain in his ass.

But not. A. Quitter.

It had taken everything in Don's power to not march into the living room and give his 'dear' older brother a what for. He wanted to lay into him so hard his grandkids would be coming out knowing how stupid, idiotic, and freaking stubborn their suicidal grandfather was. He wanted to shout it out on the rooftops that 'Hamato Leonardo was a douche-face who's amazingly lack of will-to-live was so astounding that he was surprised that he lived long enough to reach seventeen.' He wanted to… cry.

Because there was still a part of Don who thought that Leo would change his mind, and that he would stop this crazy scheme and either tell them what Karai was up to, or tell the Wicked Witch where she could shove her offer. That whatever wrath she felt she needed to bring upon their heads, they would face it together.

Because he was terrified. He didn't want to do what he feels is his duty. He wanted to take up neither Leo's swords, nor his mantel as leader. He didn't want to walk into Foot Headquarters as some crazy Trojan horse and destroy, single-handedly, the very group of people that had been gunning for his family since almost their entire existence. He didn't want this job, he wanted to be the crazy and unassuming IT geek who they went to for problems involving the lighting and electronics, and he didn't want the weight of his family's very existence to be resting on his shoulders. He didn't want Leo to think he was just going to walk himself up to Karai and let her kill him because he thought that was what he thought his job was for. To die for his family.

Don wanted Leo to save him as much as he wanted to save Leo.

They were a team. They were better together rather than apart and to have to make a decision as a singular turtle rather than as a collective wasn't something Don did regularly. Inventing things in secret and surprising his family with them didn't count. Those were only beneficial, and rarely ever affected the group dynamic. Not like this. Of course, Don could always be the one who breaks and let the whole thing come out. He could easily stop this mess…

But what would happen next time? What if Karai, or one of their many other enemies decides they will cash in on Leo's need to protect his family single-handedly? What had been one of Leo's greatest strengths was turning into a fatal flaw. Leo needed to learn that the world did not rest upon his shoulders, and that his brothers were more than willing to take up some of the responsibilities. If Donatello had to be the one to teach him that lesson personably, it was a price he was willing to make.

It didn't mean he had to like it. Nor did it mean he wasn't still going to hope that Leo would change his mind. If Leo was riding on the fact that he was going to say goodbye to each and every one of them, then Don was going to hinder that processes to the best of his ability. Which meant a lot of lying, misdirection, and hiding. Lots and lots of hiding, because part of him believed, like a child who knew that Santa wasn't real but still waited up to catch a glimpse of him, that if Leo doesn't say goodbye to him, he wouldn't leave. So Don wasn't going to give him the chance.

Not easily, at least.

-o-

AN2: This was a particularly difficult chapter to write, because I tried to keep Donnie in character. I so very much love talking about Donnie from other people's points of view, but writing about him talking about himself? Very difficult, but then again, I find that very Donnie. He's not going to be the kind of turtle who will toot his own horn, not without some level of blushing. I mean, he's brag about something he's made or a great thing he was able to do, but that's just extensions of him, not of him himself, ya know? Despite how easily he came up with this plan and how quick he was in executing it, it was not an easy decision to make.

Also, I would like to address something. I'm extremely disappointed on how the show dealt with the aftereffects of SAINW, as in, they never did. So this is my "cure" for it. Nobody could have come away from that scenario without some form of PTSD and as you probably saw a little bit in Promises Made and the boatload of instances in this novel, Don still has some serious issues with what happened to him in that alternate dimension. As you read in this chapter, it was part of the reason why Don decided to do this solo when he could have easily asked his other two brothers to join in. My poor Donnie boy, I don't make things easy for him.

Chapter title is from the song by Three Days Grace.