Here you go, another chapter! :D
Sorry for the wait, i hope it was worth it :3
Enjoy, and please comment your thoughts or leave kudos if you like it; it always makes my day when you guys do3
2012 - universe;
Donnie was taking in the early night air as he ran across the rooftops in the fading light of the sunset; it was his favorite time of day, where the light became soft and the evening hum of the town he called home started buzzing at a lower frequency than the upbeat daytime beat.
He was finally done setting up in his lab, and he was planning on getting the word out about his tech support business. He was sure there was enough boomers, gen x-er's and early millennials in need of assistance to earn enough for a living.
He was on his way to Aprils, knowing how much they needed to talk everything out. As painful it was to have to face this new reality, it was so much worse sitting back home in his lab trying to ignore it all. He owed it to April at least to try making this work out; he couldn't really blame her for not telling him, as he knew she hadn't done so because of his expected reaction.
That was a good thing, he guessed, as April wanted to keep him in her life, if only as a friend, and to be honest, Donnie would die emotionally if she was gone from his reality.
He had no clue how to start the conversation, but decided to apologize for walking off the other day and take the rest form there.
He had finally reached his desired destination, and easily made his way to April's window. Waiting outside, he didn't really know how to go about it, and was happy when April showed up by the window on her own accord.
She seemed happy and relieved to see him; at least that was a good sign, right?
" Donnie… it's you. "She said, smiling at him.
Donnie looked a little unsure as he responded; "Hi April. Good to see you."
Silence fell between them as none of them seemed to know where to start, until Donnie changed the uncomfortable atmosphere that had formed; "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted that way at all… I know you have your own life going on, and I should be happy that you found someone nice, and I'm just sorry." He rambled, the words spilling out of him too fast for his liking.
April held up her hands in an disarming gesture; "Okay, okay, I get it. Please, come in and sit down first:" She said, smiling at him, a relieved look on her face.
Donnie nodded and climbed in the window to go sit down on her bed; "Right. sorry."
April smiled again and sat down next to him; "Please stop apologizing already." She said, giving him a look. Donnie let out a nervous laugh, still without a clue on how to start this conversation.
Luckily April caught on and decided to do it for him; "I know this is sudden, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just think things have been a little… weird between us lately, and I didn't know how to bring it up without making everything awkward." She said, seemingly relieved to get it off her chest.
Donnie nodded and weighed his word carefully this time, before he spoke again; "Yeah, I get that. We should probably talk it out. I mean, I miss you all the time. And its hard to think about how you are living your life without me." He said, once again blurting out things he hadn't planned on saying at all. He mentally cursed himself for having so little self-control around her.
April looked at him with compassion, clearly looking for the right words in response.
"I get that. I wish you could come with me; I really do. I don't think its fair to you, or the world, that you can't be accepted into society and have all the same options as me. Even without money, with your brains, the scholarships would be lining up for you, and I'm sure you could get in at any school you'd like. It's a shame, that you can't use your potential like I am lucky enough to do." Anger had seemingly made its way into her mind, accenting her features and leaving a small snarl on her lip as she spoke. He knew she wanted him to have everything she had, and that if it was up to her, he could walk the streets in the middle of the day and do whatever he pleased.
He was grateful for her support, although she couldn't do anything about the unfairness of the situation. He gave her a small, sad smile, "I know you want that. And don't think for a moment that I don't want that too; but I am fine. I do whatever I can within the limits of my reality. I'm just glad I have you, and the rest of my family. You guys are all I need, really." His smile grew as he spoke, and he meant every word, despite his many dark thoughts and late-night desperation.
A lot of people who had all the options he lacked, was not nearly as lucky as him; he knew, that even in a world where humans were seemingly equal, a lot of people were struggling with their own existence. He had learned very quickly that he was not alone, and just a quick search on reddit on all things tagged "depression", was a testimony of how everyone was their own worst enemy at times.
It made his own struggles a little easier to deal with, although he couldn't rid himself of the desire to be recognized intellectually and have a voice in society.
April smiled weakly at him, seemingly not a hundred precent convinced by his words; "I am glad that you are getting better at focusing at the good in your life. And I am really happy to call you a friend too." She said, placing her hand on his and immediately making his cheeks light up in a shade of pale pink. Suddenly stammering a little, Donnie desperately searched his belt for a flyer that he brought for her.
Hastily handing it to her, Donnie retracted his hand form hers, and explained in a hurried voice, fueled by newfound embarrassment; "I'm starting my own business. I-I fix stuff, mainly computers, like a support service. I have a phone number, but I mostly communicate with customers online." He rambled again, but at least he was talking about something factual where he knew what to say.
April took the flyer handed to her, a puzzled look on her face. "Okay… That sounds like a good idea." She finally said, her smile reappearing. "I'll make sure to tell my friends." Donnie nodded at that; "Thank you, that would be great. I am of course advertising online, but I thought I would hang some flyers around the neighborhood; maybe I can get in touch with the customers that might need me the most." He chuckled, and rubbed the back of his head.
"Well," Donnie got up from the bed; "I think I should head back before Leo gets worried." He said, still smiling. He was happy with the outcome of his visit, but he could feel he needed his own space again. No matter how much he wanted it to be, this wasn't easy for him, and he knew it would continue to be hard seeing her for a while. Nevertheless, it was worth it in the end.
April smiled at him, seemingly a little surprised at his sudden departure; "Okay. Do you mind me coming over tomorrow? I would love to discuss my latest thesis with you."
Donnie lit up at that, happy to have time with her where they could focus on something else that their relationship; "Sure. You just come when you feel like it." He smiled as he disappeared out the window; "Bye April." He said, masking the tinge of sadness suddenly lacing his voice; "See you tomorrow."
2012- universe;
Don was sneaking along the rooftop, following the redheaded girl along. She was tall, and slender, with big, red curls framing a feminine face, and freckles covering her entire, strikingly pale, body.
She was clad in the tiniest, green dress and heels that very to high to be comfortable, and probably heading out for a late-night adventure downtown.
She was perfect as his first try; he wasn't sure of how far he was planning to go this time, but he felt like going with the flow on this one. If she impressed him, maybe she would get out of their encounter alive, although he wasn't promising anything.
Don kept following until they hit a particularly dark alley, abandoned, with no one in sigh for the next block or so. Don decided now was the time to act, and jumped down from the ledge, landing in a superhero-like stance.
Slowly rising from his crouched position, he gave her a predatory grin, narrowing his eyes and purposefully slowing down his movements.
The girl seemed to be in shock, as she hadn't made a single sound since the small gasp that escaped her as he landed in front of her. He was now standing up in his full height, causing the tall girl to turn her gaze upwards. Her eyes were wide with what he assumed was terror, and he could stare directly into her pretty green irises without her blinking even for a second. Her mouth opened slightly, and a split second later, she let out a scream that could burst anyone's eardrum.
Don sighed, unimpressed and already tired of the girls lack of self-control; he groaned and gave her a look; "You mind keeping it down?"
That shut her up, and she looked at him with eyes even wider as she stammered; "Y-you talk?!"
Donnie gave an unimpressed, half-hearted smile at that; "Yes. Apparently, I have a much better grasp of the English language than you seem to possess. A more correct term would be; "Do you talk?" or, "You are talking?" He said, matter-of-factly. "But hey, any linguistic skills seem to be thrown out the window the moment I show up to introduce myself. Rather inconsiderate, don't you think?" He said, impressed she was still standing there, quivering like a leaf.
She didn't really respond, but suddenly her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell, hitting the pavement with a thud. Don noticed she hit with her head first, leaving quite the gash bleeding from her temple, all over her face; she didn't move, and he assumed she had fainted, at the sight of him no less.
He shrugged and left her splayed out on the ground; he suddenly wasn't in the mood anymore, and decided she would be let off with a scare. It wasn't fun playing around with some unconscious chick anyway. He didn't really know where he wanted this to go, but he had already lost interest, and though he could go find someone else to prey upon. Maybe plan out what to do next time, and make sure he could wipe it off on Donnie in a convincing manner.
He made a run for it, and climbed the nearest ladder; he was getting hungry again.
2012 – universe ;
"Who the fuck was that?!" Irrilia exclaimed, still out of breath from beating it earlier.
She assumed she looked as pissed as she truly was, still going off on the hockey-masked idiot that had showed up to pester them, despite him being long gone by now.
Donna met her gaze; "I think that was Casey." Irrilia looked at her, none the wiser.
Donna sighed and continued; "My moms ex. The one who died pretty early on; I recognize him from the picture at the altar."
"Oooh!" Irrilia said, just now remembering what her cousin was referring to, "That makes sense."
She turned to Donna; "I shouldn't have punched him in the face then?"
Donna let out a chuckle at that; "I don't think you made any ripples in time yet, don't worry."
Irrilia smiled sheepishly; she had reacted instinctively when the masked guy showed up on the rooftop, trying to pin them for breaking and entering. When he removed the mask and looked perplexed at the sight of them, she assumed it was for the same reason anyone in this wicked town would do so, and that he was a potential threat that need to be dealt with immediately. She had gone into full on attack-mode before he had managed to react, and when she thought about it, she might have heard him sputter things like "I won't tell!" and "I'm on your side!" in the midst of her many punches, but she rarely gave anyone the benefit of the doubt, let alone in the compromised position they found themselves in at the time being.
Donna had been quick to zipline them onto another building, out of reach from the vigilante seemingly attacking them, and they got away without him following them further.
Finally out of sight, they hid under a water tower, behind a shed and far away from their original base. She was thinking they should make their way to the makeshift base, but quickly got another idea; "If this Casey guy is in town, that would mean April still hasn't left the city?" she said questioningly, looking over at Donna. Her cousin thought about that for a second, before she nodded; "I think so. She would still be living with her dad, I presume?" Irrilia shrugged; " I don't know. I guess so?"
Donna immediately started fiddling with something in her belt; she pulled out her communicator, made for secure, intern communication at the base, but able to connect to whatever signal was within reach. Very useful when you were travelling through dimensions. She connected to the nearest open Wi-Fi, not really caring about the security breach, hoping Don wasn't going to pick up on it, and quickly googled April O'Neill; There were several hundred matches in New York alone, and Donna was clearly annoyed at the lack of progress.
"Well, that is going to take forever," Irrilia commented, not in the mood to go house-hunting.
Donna nodded, seemingly engulfed in whatever she was doing on her phone. "Got it!" she said, causing Irrilia to raise a brow; "Already?" Donna nodded; "I remembered she told me she used to live near a shop called "2nd Time around; there was only one April O'Neill in close proximity to a shop with that name; it must be her address." Donna looked pleased with herself, grinning from ear to ear.
Irrilia wasn't sure why; "And what are we supposed to do with that information? Wander over, telling her we are from another timeline, and that there is a murderous maniac on the loose in hers?"
Donna looked at her, a little more unsure of herself now as she answered; "Yes?"