So I realized this moment is very similar to what established Don and Belladonna's relationship in the Neozoic Tales Universe, with Belladonna needing someone to share her secret with, and Don being a being from another universe and initially thinking she would never see him again not realizing the act of sharing her secret with him would make it so she would always want to be with him, here Don shares his experience in SAINW and while this may seem like a shipping moment I still would like to keep this keep this a pure friendship cuz I like Belladonna to remain Don's true love. I know there I quite a few fics where Don reveals to his family and friends his experiences from SAINW and while many of those stories are well written, I just don't see it happening according to the evidence in the actual show, looking through 2003 TMNT Headcannons one Headcannon is that Don suffers from anxiety which he's really good at hiding and only becomes evident when he has a panic attack
And then Don told me a story possibly more horrific than one I had ever heard before, so a few years ago two of their enemies, The Ultimate Ninja and a Draconic Creature named Drako had somehow got fused into The Ultimate Drako and with something called the Time Scepter he sent the Turtles and Splinter each to different time and space, with Don getting sent to a Future World that without him being with his brothers, the world had fallen to pieces, Shredder had taken over both Earth and the Utroms enslaving both worlds to find new worlds to conquer, Splinter and Casey had died, Mikey had one arm, Raph had one eye, Leo seemed to be completely blind, and then he saw his brothers get killed one by one…
Over the course of the telling of the story, we adjusted our bodies and by the end we were both sitting with our backs against the wall, and we were sitting side by side with Don having laid one arm over my shoulders, and holding me very close as he recounted these memories and he stared off into space.
Finally as he finished this story, I was silent, I didn't know what to say…
Finally Don said quietly "Thank you…"
"For listening?" I asked
"For caring about me enough to come after me and stay with me even when I told you I wanted to be left alone…" He sighed
"You saved my life." I said "I couldn't just leave you by yourself when there is possibly a pack of Mutant Dogs howling for our blood."
Don shuffled a bit, "One reason I've never told anyone, but I've told you is because you weren't there in that world…Or I didn't see you in that world…I'm terrified to tell them because I'm terrified how they'd react to it and…" He shuffled some more "I know this doesn't really make sense but…I'm terrified if I told them about that future…It will somehow…Become…A self-fulfilling prophecy…That if I tell of that future…It will somehow come true…" He huffed "…I know how irrational that sounds!"
"I mean…" I said "…Shredder is dead, dead as a doornail! How can that future come true if the one who caused it doesn't exist anymore?"
"I know." Don sighed as he mopped some sweat from his brow "I'm just grateful you'll keep my secret…Once again, Thanks."
With that Don stood and once again picked me up in his arms.
"You should have to keep aggravating that wounded leg." Don said having seemed to have his spirit renewed by getting that off his chest, and he tucked my crutch into his belt and with that we went back to the lair.
I think that's a good enough place to end this chapter