As a scientist and engineer, Donatello believed in a few constants in life.
The speed of light in vacuum.
The gravitational constant.
The elementary charge.
Michelangelo's energy and inability to sit still and shut up.
So he became worried sick when Mikey had sat quietly next to him on the chopper. When he hadn't said a word or moved a muscle. Because Mikey was all about movement. Moving was how he fought. Moving was how he coped. Moving… was how he lived.
Even the way he had exited the chopper had been in a calm, orderly fashion. There wasn't any energetic bounce from the seat, any race to get out before Raph, any extravagant flip from the door and it was just boring. He didn't even glance at Raph dragging Timothy out the door. He just walked right past everyone, unnoticed, which were unheard of, and continued into the warehouse.
Of course, Donnie noticed. How could he not?
He knew Raph and Leo watched. They kept an eye on them at all times, especially these last few days, but did they really see? Maybe it was because Mikey was Donnie's only little brother. Normally that resulted in Mikey always being able to persuade him into a few rounds of any game or take a break from whatever he was doing to look at a broken video consol. But it also resulted in Donnie being extra aware if Mikey was sad. When those blue eyes would dimmer and his skateboard would go untouched. Then Donnie would wait for Mikey to be ready to talk. If it came to it, he'd try to cheer him up himself, even if it usually resulted in some nasty payback from Raph, or even sometimes Leo if he had been extraordinarily clever.
Luckily it was extremely rare that Mikey was sad. A prank combination between Mikey and Donnie was… dangerous stuff. Absolutely hilarious, but somewhat nasty for the receiver.
Normally, a Mikey-depression was brought on by a rejection of some sort, be it by a brother or a human. Usually, he'd tried to be extra friendly during a rescue, in hopes of gaining a friend, only to be shot down by those nasty sounds women emitted when scared.
Donnie didn't have time to be bitter, though. He had to find his little brother. Pulling off the headgear and turning off the engine, he followed in Mikey's footstep, bypassing everyone quietly. It was much more common for him though. He was good at being swallowed by the background and he didn't mind it when the others nearly forgot he was there. It gave him time to work on his projects, without being apart from his brothers and when they needed him, he would step forward and help.
But Mikey didn't go unnoticed. You always knew where Mikey was. Always. Be it in the kitchen or on his way to his room, in the dojo or even in the bathroom. To Donnie's horror, he realized he didn't actually know where Mikey had gone.
"Mikey?" he called to the still empty warehouse. It was a rather large building, basically containing one large room where they'd set up all their gear and the round table where they had group meetings. There were three small offices, a cleaning supply closet and a worn down toilet. It hadn't been used for years and no one had yet decided to chance it.
Guessing one of the offices was the best bet, he headed for the first door and peeked in. The room was completely empty. Realizing he hadn't really looked at this place and only been in the main room where the computers were, he looked around more carefully as he made his way for the second door. Pushing it open, it revealed a small kitchen with a coffee maker, a pool table and a couch. He almost closed the door and moved for the third, when a short second later, his brain caught up with his eyes and told him what he'd seen, making him quickly backpedal.
"Mikey?" he asked, trying to get the attention of the turtle sprawled out on the couch. The back of it had faced the door and if it hadn't been for the green feet barely sticking out at the end, he wouldn't have noticed him. Mikey still hadn't answered him, so Don went in for a closer look.
And what he saw would pretty much break every big brother's heart.
"Oh, Mikey," he muttered and leaned over the back of the couch to see him better. Mikey was lying on his shell, a feat only possible on the softest of couches, and he was currently covering his face with a pillow, yet the raging sobs that shook his body, was way too obvious for him to hide anything. "There was nothing you could have done."
Mikey suddenly sat up, drying his eyes furiously, surprised that he wasn't alone anymore. Donnie quickly placed a hand on his shoulder, which calmed him somewhat and Mikey leaned back against the couch to look up at his brother with red, puffy eyes.
"I saw her," he said quietly, his breath hitching as he caught his brother's eyes. "Right before she died. Right before the bomb went off."
"I'm sorry, bro."
Mikey shook his head, clearing his throat softly, "She knew. She'd given up long ago, but the look in her eyes," his words grew stronger as he explained. "Don, we gave her hope and then we ripped it away. She didn't want to die. But at that moment she knew, she wasn't going to make it."
Donnie swung his legs across the couch and sat next to Mikey who didn't need to be told to cuddle up to him in search of comfort. They weren't hugging, just sat pressed up against each other's sides, both knowing what a close call it had been.
They sat in silence for a while, hearing the others enter the warehouse, though no one came into the room. Mikey finally turned his head and asked in what Donnie could only describe as a child-like fashion,
"Is she in a better place now? Do you think she went to heaven?"
He didn't know how to answer that. It wasn't a question he could answer. But uttering his most hated sentence of I don't know, was something he refused to do and it wasn't what Mikey needed to hear.
As a scientist and engineer, Donatello didn't believe in a few aspects of life.
He wasn't religious. He didn't believe in God. But what he did believe was that there was a body and there was a soul. Harmony between the two was what they sought through ninjutsu and through meditation. He knew exactly what happened to the body when it died. And the soul? He didn't think there was a heaven, or hell for that matter. He didn't know what happened after, but he was more inclined to believe it was more one big ball of nothingness. Once you died, it was over. Like one long, deep sleep, the kind where you don't feel like you've slept at all because you haven't been aware of it. Except, you wouldn't wake up to find out you'd only been sleeping.
So saying there was a heaven went against his own belief. But looking into Mikey's eyes at that moment, he didn't care.
"Yeah. I think she is. I think she's in heaven now."
And he actually did.
Johnny didn't have to think long to order pizza all around. They needed an evening of relaxation, especially after this disaster. He hadn't been there when it had happened, but Spencer had told him after calling him in to clean up and he felt so sorry for the girl. But if anything, it made him all the more determined to get this Malvir guy. He was going to be stopped.
But first!
"Gentlemen! And ladies," he added, smiling charmingly. "I've brought food!" he announced, placing the stacks of pizza on the round table. Their lack of reaction was a little sad, Johnny thought. He'd seen Donatello and Mikey come out of their temporary kitchen when he called, but the enthusiasm he usually associated with the hyper, bright turtle had been long gone. Michael and Juliet had joined them soon after, quiet as well. Michael grabbed two boxes and walked off, probably to find and share with Timothy. Juliet had tried engaging a conversation with Michelangelo about pizza topics and Johnny was pleased to see some color return to the young turtle's eyes as he started explaining some weird sounding pizza to her.
He saw Spencer grab a slice and Mira and James easily sliding up next to Donatello to talk. Then Raphael and Leonardo entered and he didn't miss the worried look Donatello had sent Raphael. When they had passed them, he noticed with surprise that as Raphael walked past, he reached out and gave a little push at Donatello's shoulder, very briefly.
The resulting small smile from Donatello spoke volumes and Johnny knew at least three turtles would get through it. He knew it had been hard on them to lose that girl and he admired them all the more for it. He didn't find it odd that Leonardo had retreated to his corner, in his thinking pose, or when it didn't take five minutes before a warm pizza box was dumbed in the turtle's lap by Michelangelo, only for the youngest to promptly walk back to Juliet and continue their conversation.
Watching the leader starting to eat, he knew they'd be all right. They had each other.
Briefly, he felt sad that he was an only child. He could only imagine what it would be like to have brothers. It was probably both good and bad. He had to admit, his parents had spoiled him rotten, but a reality check from Spencer had brought him down to earth, forcefully. Now he felt much more privileged and lucky to have what he had.
Grabbing a slice of his own, he decided to go join Michelangelo and Juliet. He honestly thought the turtles were cool. There wasn't much more to it than that and he was going to spend as much time as he could with them now, since he had an odd feeling that the second this was over, they'd disappear. Looking around, he found Juliet alone and couldn't really spot Mikey anywhere.
"Where'd he go?" he asked Juliet, who simply motioned her head to the small kitchen they'd installed when they first came. Johnny nodded and hurried to find his new friend. Honestly, he'd been competing a bit with Juliet about Mikey's attention, finding it amazing that the stuck up girl he knew from the academy, suddenly had opened up and actually actively sought out another beings company. Even if it was a turtle.
"Mikey? Dude, you in here?" he peeked around the doorway but froze solid in the opening. He watched for a moment, the sound of items being destroyed and cursing reaching his ear, then turned around. Spotting Donatello at the table, he hurriedly interrupted his conversation with Mira, dropping his slice of pizza on the floor.
"Donatello, your brothers are fighting! What should we do?!" he whispered, thinking that perhaps he'd been wrong and those two had really been mad at each other for some reason.
Donatello briefly spared him a look and shrugged,
"Just don't get in the way."
Johnny vacated his spot next to the door as a particularly nasty bang was heard and he hurried to where Donatello was sitting, waving his arms comically.
"But they're killing each other!" he protested, motioning wildly towards the room. Before Donatello could answer, Michelangelo suddenly came sprinting out of the room, laughing whole heartedly, followed closely by Raphael growling words no one even tried to understand. They only barely made it past the table, which Michelangelo chose to run around. That turned out to be his mistake, when Raphael suddenly launched himself over it, making Johnny yelp and duck. Tackling Michelangelo, they both tumbled to the ground and a wrestling match commenced.
"Why aren't you stopping them?" Johnny rose from his position. Ignored, Donatello followed them with his eyes and suddenly yelled out,
"Knock down any computers and you're doing my chores for a month!"
Disbelievingly, Johnny watched as the wrestling match switched direction away from the equipment. Donatello finally took pity on the poor boy.
"Don't worry, Raph would never hurt him."
"How can you be so sure?" Johnny asked doubtfully, catching Raphael attempt a spin kick.
"Well, for one he rarely ever actually catch Mikey, and we're family," he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why would he want to?"
Johnny turned to watch the still escalating fight and he decided he might be able to find a few reasons
"What's wrong, Raphie? Not fast enough to hit me? Or are you not good enough? Wanna take me on, big boy?" Mikey challenged. Aggravated, Raphael tried a straight punch, but Mikey stepped out of range and flashed his palm at Raph's fist, baffling Raphael into stopping his attack briefly.
"Hah!" Mikey announced, "Paper beats rock!" he stated victoriously.
Irritated, Raphael tried to slap his hand away, but once again, Mikey dodged it and flashed two separate fingers in his brother's face.
"Gotcha! Scissors beat paper!" He laughed confidently, and Raphael groaned in irritation.
Suddenly, both got distracted when the entire building started shaking. Johnny watched as everyone went into action, once again, Mira and James kept a steady hold on the most important hardware, Juliet hurried outside to see what was happening. Timothy and Michael were nowhere to be seen and Spencer uneasily had a hand on his gun. Leonardo was suddenly beside him and Donatello.
"Donnie?" he half yelled over the rumbling noises to be heard.
"Uhh.." Donnie looked around as chairs and equipment was knocked over and he grabbed the table for support. Finally he admitted, "Insufficient data, boss!"
Johnny had unfortunately grabbed onto an office chair with wheels for support, which had him sprawled on the ground surprisingly fast.
"What the devil is going on here?!" Spencer yelled, helping Johnny up.
He didn't have to wait long to find out. Johnny saw Leonardo draw his swords, Donatello swirling his… stick? Michelangelo was holding two smaller sticks and Raphael was looking at the ceiling, his big forks pointing upwards.
Glancing up himself, Johnny gulped.