April O'Neil considers her life pretty blessed. She's got a family. She's got an amazing group of best friends, who are also part of that family whether her parents know it or not. She's not so good at the job thing, but what 16 year old really is? Her life is pretty sweet, all things considered. She gets to help battle evil mutated humans with the people she's closest to on a semi-daily basis. What other teenager can say that? And her parents, wow does she love them, but they work so hard and often have to leave for days on end. Maybe most kids would be upset about it, kids who aren't the party throwers like the ones at school or, in April's case, the friend of secret mutant turtle ninjas. April is just thrilled her parent's occasional absence allows her best friends to come over without worry.
Raph, Donnie, Leo and Mikey stop by often at these times. They watch movies and play games and run through the city with no cares whatsoever. They laugh and they live so freely, everything is normally always so great.
She got the text from Donnie an hour after school. She was sitting in the subway when the soft-shell asked to come over. April began to text her causal yeah course, but then he further clarified that he needed to know if he could stay for a while. Until her parents come back next week.
April was confused, but she still sent him the same response. Then, in an attempt to get more information, she asked if everything was okay. Donnie never responded, but he was waiting at her apartment 20 minutes before she got there. Unusually quiet and overly conscious, it was more than obvious that something had gone down.
So. Everything is not so great right now, not at all like it usually is. But April O'Neil has never been a quitter when it comes to making things great, so she keeps trying. She's known something was up with the purple-clad turtle for awhile now, and she really did think he'd talk about it when he was ready. He's her best friend, and yet, for the full 40 minutes they'd been in her apartment, he has failed to mention why he left the lair.
"—poptarts. We've got poptarts," April announces suddenly. Her hand is on the pantry door when she examines the food supply. There's not much, her parents left cash if she decides to order in. "We also have fifty bucks if you want to order pizza. But when the fifties down, we basically gotta live off junk."
"The poptarts fine." Donnie says, long arms wrapped around knees as he sits on the sofa. He's not hungry, he told April that, but the human girl had insisted he needs to eat anyway. Said he probably didn't eat back home, and she's not gonna play that here, so eat something Dee or so help me I'll force feed you and neither of us want that.
She's not wrong about the not eating at home thing, but Donnie won't give her the satisfaction of being right.
April strolls back to the couch, two packs of poptarts in her hands. She gives one to Donnie, waits for him to take a bite, and then plops down beside him, opens hers up and digs in herself. They eat in relative silence for a few minutes before April tries to start up a conversation. "You okay?"
"You realize you've asked me that before, right?"
She smiles a little, urging him forward. But Donatello doesn't continue like she thought—hoped—he would, he simply says, "I'm good, perfectly alright. Sometimes the lair gets old."
"Old, how?"
April eyes him, waiting for him to change statements with such a shocking twist of never mind I'm not actually alright. But he doesn't. Donnie never does with things like that, she's come to realize. April tries another tactic.
"Mikey once told me you lick the icing off poptarts and put them back in the box. I hope you know you're not doing that here!"
Donnie's eyes grow wide and face turns an embarrassed shade of red, making April O'Neil automatically snicker. And then he quickly defends, "Wha—I don't—Mikey's a liar!"
"Is he though?" April asks, giggling along.
"Yes! He is!"
April keeps laughing. She laughs for a full thirty seconds, until she sees Donnie pout, arms crossed and everything, and just like that she stops.
She leans over and closes the space between them, nudging up against her friend's side. Donnie grumbles something inaudible under his breath, but he nudges back after a little while longer of faking annoyance.
"Hey," April bites her lip, but holds her fist up. "C'mon. Dorky pals for life club?"
Donnie looks at her hand for a couple seconds. Then, he lifts his own and bumps them together. "Dorky pals for life club."
"Good," April nods in satisfaction. "Now tell your bestie what happened."
"What? What are you even implyin—"
"Don. You don't honestly expect me to believe you're just bored of your brothers, right? I've seen the obvious tension. I'm not gonna judge if one of you did something stupid and got you worked up." She gives him a very serious look, practically vibrating with don't deny it.
Donnie won't look at her, refuses to look at her. He doesn't want to talk about this, not with Leo, not with April, not with anyone. He just wants to sit here. He wanted an escape from his brothers, and April is his best friend. She's always claimed he can come to her when he needs to, whether that be to sit in silence or have a real, functioning conversation. Even if he needs someone punched in the face for messing with him, April would be there she told him.
Why can't they just sit in silence? So many of his problems would be solved if people just sat in silence. If Leo could learn to be silent, well then...
"Donnie," April plucks him away from his thoughts, her voice sharp and serious. She repeats his name a second time when he looks at her, only so much more gently. Like he's so fragile, like he's gonna break at any given second, he's not, he's not, and she carefully places an arm on his shoulder. "Hey... relax, it's me."
"I'm fine," Donnie assures once again, moving his whole body over and therefore knocking her attempt of comfort off. "It's fine."
April does not seem so convinced, but that's fine too. Because then Donnie's phone starts vibrating and doesn't stop as one text comes after the other, and he gets to pause whatever this conversation is to check it out.
washed up skateboarder: DID U LEAVE
RAPH JUST SAID U LEFT
DONNIE
washed up skateboarder: You don't want to Leave you just want us to fight I get it. Come back now
washed up skateboarder: Donnie seriously. April's parents are gonna come back eventually you can't LIVE THERE
April peers over his shoulder, so he quickly pulls the phone out of sight and stuffs it back into the pocket of his backpack. "Was that Leo—"
"No," Donnie insists very quickly. "That wasn't- It was a wrong number."
April shoots him a weird look, but Donnie doesn't even care. He just sits there, arms crossed once again.
"Dee..."
"I don't want to talk about this, okay? Good god, can everyone just learn to accept that!"
April watches him. Donnie's so freakin' sick of the watching. Everyone just loves to stare at him, silently judging, silently thinking he's an idiot who can't do softness or regular emotions like everyone else. Once again, he's being stared at and probably judged, because they all think he's insane, they think he's lost it, they think— "Leo's an asshole. A self entitled asshole who only cares about himself."
April doesn't say anything to that, but she does scoot closer and wrap an arm around his shoulders. Donnie doesn't move away this time. He leans against her and tries to control his now suddenly shaky breathing.
"How could you let him leave?!" Leo demands, fingers tapping away on the screen of his phone. Mikey has his out too, but he's just staring at Donatello's contact with clear confusion and sadness in his eyes. "How could you do that?!"
"He's just going to April's," Raph mutters. "April would call if something was wrong."
"Would she? Would she really?"
"Yes," Raph rebukes, sternly. "She would."
Leo makes a noise at that, clearly not buying it for a second as he fires text after text at his brother. His brother who doesn't have the courtesy to respond to a single one, his brother who is willingly to go so far not to talk to him that he'd be willing to run away!
"Why's this such a big deal to you?" Raph questions suddenly. "Why's this whole thing such a big deal to Don?"
Raph's got his suspicions already, 'cause none of this makes sense anymore. Leo is a klutz a lot of the time. There's been countless inventions he's shattered, but Donnie's anger has always worn off after an hour or two. Raph doesn't know the specific details of it all, but this combined with how Donnie's been acting for weeks just isn't settling right anymore.
"It's not a big deal to me! But YOU SAID and I quote," Leo momentarily pauses from his texting to imitate Raphael. "Donnie's not supposed to be topside alone unless necessary!" Leo slams his phone down on the counter as he turns towards his brother. "YOU REMEMBER THAT, RIGHT RAPH?"
Raph pushes Leo away, not hard enough to cause injury but just enough to give the snapping turtle some much needed personal space while his brother huffs and puffs in very visible frustration. "I remember. This is different though. This is the necessary. I ain't gotta explain everything to you, but he's allowed to go to April's. Pops said it was okay."
"He could've at least said bye Leo first!" Leo hisses. He sends another string of texts the minute he picks his phone back up, but still he gets no response. "Ugh—this is just- terrible!"
"He'll be back within a couple days, and I'm sure by then you and him'll be fine." Raph eyes a sinking Mikey, who's leaning against the wall and worrying Raph even more when he slides down onto the ground with his gaze still locked on his cellphone. Raph can't say anything about it now though, not when he has a grumpy blue banded brother to deal with. "Personal space can be a good thing and clearly you two need it."
"You said going topside solo was not a good idea, but you just had to force him to leave, didn't you?" insinuates Leo.
"Hey! I didn't make him leave! He would've gone whether I said it was okay to or not, this is Donnie! He left before and I didn't say that was cool!"
"And now he's who knows where! Too blindsided by his anger to think properly and realize he needs to stay here and make things up with me!"
"Donnie is at April's," Raph repeats, voice firm. "This isn't all about you, Leo. Clearly. You and Don'll be fine. Not if you keep acting like this, though."
"Acting like what, Raph? Acting like a worried brother- because that's right, I am! And so is Mikey!" His gaze darts toward the youngest, just so he'd acknowledge his effort to include him. Mikey's still busy being silent, so Leo's attention goes back to the growing argument. "Try it out sometime, Raphael!"
Raph barks back, "I try it out plenty."
Leo laughs. Arms thrown up in the air, he soon afterwards scoffs. It's clear to Raph that he doesn't believe that.
"—Why's this matter so much?" Raph repeats. "Donnie's been topside on his own before any of this, and you never got like this. He obviously needed a break from whatever," he motions at an overreacting Leo. "this is. And hey, you've been up on your own too before. Or did you forget about that stunt you pulled in that restaurant?"
"OH- OH that's gold. That was DAYS AGO, RAPH! Get over it!"
"I am over it! But now you're acting just as crazy and clearly I gotta rethink a few things.."
"You don't need to 'rethink things.' What? Are you just too afraid to admit you screwed up and made Donnie leave?"
"I didn't—for the millionth time, I didn't make Donnie leave! Leo, what happened with you two?"
"NOTHING happened! I was just waiting patiently for him to leave the lab when I was informed that he's not even here anymore! What is up with that!"
"Leo..."
"Stoping Leoing me!"
"Leo is your name!"
Leo glares, eyes piercing into Raph's while his older brother stands in front of him. Still and silent, until he finally repeats the question he's been wanting to know, "what is actually going on here?"
"Nothing but me finding out my brother LEFT! Come on Mikey, we have better things to do than be questioned like this!"
Leo starts to walk away, back to the game room with the hopes of distracting himself with literally anything that's there again. They can go back to how it was yesterday, playing games and not acknowledging the elephant in the room. Just him and Mikey, the only two with apparent morals.
Mikey does not follow him.
Leo notices this almost immediately, and spins around on the tips of his feet to motion him forward again. But Mikey is sitting on the ground, Raph crouched right beside him now. By the time Mikey meets Leo's gaze, Leo has already figured out he's not coming. "Mikey?"
"I think- I think you should tell us what happened," His brother says, quietly. Michelangelo looks at Leonardo with a careful expression, like he's debating how to discuss this. "I'm just.. really worried about Donnie. And you! What's actually going on?"
Leo turns back around and runs for the game room.
"Why won't you say what actually happened? Is it bad? Is it really, really bad? Are we all in danger if you tell us? Is the world in danger if you tell us? Honestly, what is going on, I don't understand."
Raph sends Mikey a look, as does Leo but the latter's only lasts a couple seconds before he goes back to his game. Raph speaks up next, "It better not be 'cause the world is in danger, Leo."
Leo doesn't answer, so Raph starts poking at his shoulder.
"I told you guys what happened, I don't know what else you want from me," He finally mumbles, trying with every bit of effort he has not to focus in on his brothers. He turns the steering wheel to the left and makes his video game car pick up a bunch of bonus points. "He's mad at me because I broke a bunch of stuff. Shoo now."
"Donnie's actually mad at you, for breaking things in a junkyard?" Mikey asks, but not unkindly. The tones questionable enough though, Leo knows it is but only to the point where he can't get mad. Leo wants to, but right now he's over the anger portion. He feels drained. He doesn't exactly know how he's supposed to feel, but he just wants to be left alone. How is one supposed to feel when their slightly older twin brother bails because you tried to have a heart to heart, leaving you with your other two brothers who want to know absolutely everything? He's never actually heard of anyone else having this problem, but then again, most of their problems aren't typically considered normal, anyway.
He lets go of the wheel, his race car slamming directly into the trunk of a tree. And just like that, Leo stands. "Yup, we done here now?"
"Nope." Raph cracks his oversized knuckles, eyeing Mikey who's shrugging, but nodding. Leo wants to question that, doesn't get the chance when his big brother scoops him up into his oversized arms. "Hey- hey!"
"We're not done 'case you haven't noticed."
"And walking away is rude." Mikey sticks out his tongue, and giggles a little when Raph grins.
They drop him onto the couch. And Leo's so fast, he tries to get up instantly, but they crowd him on both sides and keep him stuck to the mat. Leo can only wiggle around for so long before it's pointless, and he's stuck there in between his older brother, who's tried to talk to him about this since day one, and his younger brother, who looks up to him and who he apparently hurt the feelings of on more than one occasion.
Great, just great. Exactly what he needs.
"Talk to us, Leo," Raph orders. "Why'd Don actually want to leave, since you're so bothered by it. And why are you two trying to rip each others throats out, more so then usual."
Leo rolls his eyes, feeling more snarky than ever. "You probably made him leave, ole Raphael."
"I didn't. And it bothers me that you think I'm behind your whole fight."
Leo blows a puff of air out of his mouth, no clue how to respond and not willing to admit he feels slightly bad about those type of comments. He just sits there, a little lower and a bit sadder than he was before, when Mikey starts giving the next part of the interrogation.
"Donnie has been acting.. different for awhile now," He says, slowly. "Does what's going on now have anything to do with that?"
Leo doesn't want to answer, knows Don is already probably planning his murder as they speak. Still he replies in a small voice, "kinda."
"Kinda doesn't count," Mikey singsongs. "You have to say yes or no and why."
Leo really doesn't want to be sitting here anymore.
It's fifteen minutes in now, and dodging questions and hard answers is not as fun as one would expect. It's basically been the world's most frustrating game of 20 questions, except the questions never end, and now it's just Leo sitting there, trying not to rant about everything.
There's a lot to rant about, anyway. From the moment Donnie disappeared and Leo saw those articles on his phone, to the constant struggle of trying to get him to talk to him, and then finally Leo's own brilliant idea to go to the junkyard where all did not go according to plan. In an ideal world, they'd be sitting here talking about Donnie's problems. But no, they're sitting here trying to get information out of Leo and he's stuck putting up with it.
And it's not like Leo can give them what they want. It's Donnie's own issues Leo has to keep secret for his brother's sake. Which makes no sense whatsoever, Leo knows, but also it means something to Donnie who clearly wants no one to know anything that goes on in his head.
It's another great reason Leo wishes they all had the power of telepathy, because this would never happen. If someone was sad, they'd all be there to offer comfort. If someone was happy, they'd all celebrate. If telepathy came with the mutation, Leo's world would be great.
"We won't snitch if you don't want us to snitch," Mikey promises, somehow knowingly, but regardless that promise doesn't make any part of this easier.
"Unless it's something that we all need to talk about," Raph adds, but Mikey sends him a look, so he quickly elaborates. "Probably won't be though."
"Most likely won't be." Mikey confirms, swaying side to side beside Leo. "But we are really worried about you and Donnie."
Leo rubs his face with his only free hand. Sighing and being much more dramatic than necessary, he hopes that'll let him free. It doesn't, and he's at a loss on what to do. They all suck at planning, Leo sucks at it a lot of the time—they all just don't do it most days. And although this sitting here squishing Leo operation isn't the most thought out, it's something to show that they really, truly are worried and really do care about what's going on.
He never questioned that they did, but he saw the way Don reacted when just Leo knew. If Raph and Mikey knew, he'd undoubtedly think he was gossiping like normal, and it would be an even bigger mess.
But also... Leo does not want to be here. He wants to be left alone to his own devices, so he can call his brother or April or even just try and think about something else for a while.
"Just.. ugh. Don't be worried about me. It's Donnie that's... I don't even know," he says, hoping it's enough.
Raph frowns and looks at Leo patiently. Clearly waiting for his brother to continue, he doesn't say anything.
Mikey's quiet too. It's very apparent that they both want him to elaborate despite Leo just wanting this to be over.
"Donnie's just... worried about some things. You know how he gets."
"What's he worried about?" Mikey pries.
While averting his gaze to anywhere but them, it takes Leo a minute to force out in a low mumble, "y'know, stuff."
"Yeaaaaah, okay. But what kind of stuff exactly?"
Leo winces and positions himself inward the best he can with his brothers' weight on him. "The kind of stuff he'd kill me to talk about, so i think we're done here guys."
Raph confirms, "Donnie said not to say anything?"
Leo's face contorts in a mixture of guilt and grievance. "Not exactly."
"Then why can't you say anything?"
Leo wants to facepalm, but it's too difficult in this position so he settles for a loud sigh. "How about we call him up and you ask him what's going on? Wouldn't that make more sense than trapping me here!"
"I don't mind asking Donnie," Mikey confirms, bravely. "But I think it'd be better if we actually knew what we were asking him."
"'Sides.. pretty clear he's not up for talking," Raph adds, with a nod.
"Well then, I'll do you both a favor and call him myself! Somebody grab my phone."
Donnie's phone rings loudly throughout April's apartment, but neither she or Don pay it any mind. April's too focused on listening to her friend's words, as he pours out all kinds of problems and issues with his brother April never knew he had.
"—it's not even like he thinks of the other person's point of view! He just has to be right about ALL THINGS!" Donnie exclaims through brisk paces back and forth. April follows his march closely, right behind him when he walks angry circles around the inside of her apartment. "It's like the world revolves around Leo and who cares about anyone else!"
April hums something that's not necessarily agreement, but hopefully conveys the message that she's listening. She is listening, for the forty five minutes they've been marching around her apartment with Donnie ranting. Even if she doesn't always agree, she listens. It's clearly what her friend needs right now, so she makes sure she hears every single word about his brother. The good and the bad.
"IT'S THE LEO SHOW! The whole world is basically the Leo show! Did you know that one time when we were four he locked me in our room so he could hang out with dad by himself? Raph and Mikey were busy, so he seized his opportunity!"
April raises a curious brow. "You remember this?"
"No, dad told me. But it's still just a perfect example of the lengths he'd go to for attention!"
Donnie's cellphone launches into another round of rings, and, before April knows what's going on, the cellphone is thrown.
The phone slams against the wall, and she almost winces as it makes impact. Fortunately no damage is done to her parent's decor, but she does cringe as the phone is effectively silenced.
"—He just—He just- thinks he's the world's greatest hero! God forbid anyone else have a handle on something, because here comes Leonardo ready to save the day and brag about it after!"
"That's... I don't know how I'm supposed to reply here, hon."
"Anddddd he's not answering," Leo announces, fumbling around with the cellphone buttons. "You have got to be kidding me!"
Raph and Mikey exchange looks, before they slouch down to be at the relatively same position as their brother.
"It's fine, Leo. Donnie's probably busy," Mikey offers, and Leo lets out a long, exasperated groan.
Raph replies, "Is there some kinda emergency or something you think is gonna go down? Because if not, I ain't seeing the big deal here.. you haven't told us if there's a big deal, and I feel like Don's not gonna be the one to want to talk about it. Whether he calls back or not."
Leo grumbles and groans under his breath, but then let's out a loud sigh.
"There's... not. A emergency. Donnie is just... Donnie."
"Donnie is just Donnie?" Raph repeats, while Mikey's face crinkles into a confused but amused grin. Raph's own does too, and if Leo could freely move maybe he'd smack them both on the arm. He's still stuck between his brothers, but his captivity, however, is loosening up, with Mikey twisting more and more toward his side.
Maybe it's his only shot at an opportunity for escape, at least until his brothers get bored, so Leo squirms around, hoping for freedom.
Mikey makes a shocked sound of protest, grabbing Leo's arms, but Raph surrenders and lets go.
"Okay, tell ya what?" The bigger turtle starts to suggest, gaining their attention as Leo stands and debates whether or not to run. "Clearly you don't want to talk about this—"
"—oh yeah, you think—"
"—so how bout we go do something else?"
Leo lifts his head up, eyes searching and suspicious. He straightens his stance before eyeing the couch, the space he once occupied. "I'm not playing truth or dare. And I'm not being stuck on the couch again, you're lucky I didn't bite—"
"No, no. I was thinking something fun."
"Pretty sure you thought interrogating me was fun."
Raph shoots Leo a serious look. "Something actually fun. Or, y'know, at least more productive."
They got things to do anyway, responsibilities to take care of. They've got a crazy person mutating humans with his army of bugs. There's a lot to do that's technically more productive than this, but Raph doesn't care about that advantage at all. No, it's something to get his brother's mind off this whole discussion, least for a little, before he'll eventually try getting him to talk about it again.
Leo fumbles around with his gear, but agrees. He acts like he's not interested, Raph knows he is—Mikey even more so, but he urges them both to get ready anyway, because the night is young and they've got a city to protect after all.
Leo obeys very suspiciously, and goes to get what's needed.
A/N: true story, when i was little i locked my cousin in my grandma's bedroom because i was jealous of all the attention she was getting.
this chapter was originally going to be two chapters, but i thought it fit better like this. it is now the longest chapter of this fic, so that's pretty cool! only problem is now im behind on next week's
