Rating: G

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Summary: 'April came by early, intent on spending the day with her dearest friends but when she arrived, she'd barely been there. She left a scant couple of hours later, leaving Donnie wondering if he had inadvertently done something to offend her.' Set 2k12 sometime before S1E21.

A/N: This was originally meant to be for a Flash Fan Fiction Friday drabble back in June with the prompt being 'Father' but I came up with the idea too late and due to an extremely busy weekend, I was unable to finish in time. Also realised that it was likely to be too long so I decided to finish it regardless and not worry about the length. Then I figured, I could hold this off until Father's Day in Australia, which is the first Sunday in September.

Set: 1st season of 2k12, before Donnie rescues April's father.

Absence

Donatello stared at the miserable, curled up form of April O'Neil through her bedroom window. The love of his life had been progressively distant as the week went on, culminating in the desolate scene he saw in front of him now.

Until this moment, he'd thought earlier today was the worst. Like almost every other Saturday since they met the teenage girl, April came by early, intent on spending the day with her dearest friends and surrogate family. When she arrived however, she'd barely been there. Not even Mikey had been able to coax an amused smile from their human friend and neither had she come by his lab like normal. In the end, April left a scant couple of hours later, leaving Donnie wondering if he had inadvertently done something to upset or offend her.

Uncertainty warred with concern for domination and Donnie found himself hesitating even as he lifted a hand to knock gently on her window pane.

April stirred at the sound but otherwise didn't respond. Donnie was torn whether to just go to her regardless or stay away and respect her privacy like his father and two of his brothers suggested. He knocked again, louder this time, but there was no reaction even though he just knew she was still awake. Donatello however, couldn't stand seeing April in this despondent state so he finally reached up and pushed the window open, relieved to find it not locked.

Easing his way inside, Donnie crossed the room to where April lay on her bed, careful to not accidentally alert April's aunt to his presence in her niece's room.

"A... April?" he spoke softly when he reached her side. "What's wrong? Talk to me," Donnie practically begged as he knelt on the floor beside her.

April's only response was to curl in tighter on herself.

Hesitantly, he reached out to rest his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "I... if I did something wrong, please tell me so I can fix it."

April shook her head but didn't turn. Her voice, when she finally spoke, sounded choked up and it wrenched at Donnie's heart. "Some things you just can't fix, Donnie."

"I... I know that April, but I can still try," he offered softly, "or I can at least listen."

Silence prevailed for a few minutes before April pushed herself to a seated position and faced Donatello, though he noticed she was looking down rather than actually at him. He waited patiently, silently sending her a message of support that he was here for her.

"It... it's about dad. He's been missing for so long..." she finally admitted. "It's just hurts... you know?"

Donnie nodded, not speaking. He moved closer and sat beside the human teenager, putting one arm around her shoulder and drawing her close to comfort her. Under normal circumstances he would have been far too shy and stuttering to invade her personal space this way but whenever she was upset, all such thoughts and fears simply melted away into the background, no longer even a concern.

"Tomorrow's Father's Day, Donnie," April eventually continued. "It's the first one since mum died that I'll be alone for... He's always been there."

"April, I'm sorry I haven't been able to rescue your father yet but you know I'll never give up, right?" Donnie felt April nod against him. "But I want you to remember something, okay?"

She stayed leaning against him in his comforting embrace; her voice slightly muffled as she answered, "What?"

"Your father may not be here with you now but you are never alone." Donatello gently pressed his point, "I'm always here for you and so are my brothers and Master Splinter."

Now April did pull away, though she kept the physical contact. She smiled a watery smile up at him, "I know but thank you. It's nice to be reminded." She wiped her eyes with a free hand before leaning back into him and Donnie felt his heart flutter as he heated up with self consciousness.

And he swore to himself once more, that he would never quit until he found and rescued the father of the girl he loved so much.