Leo fought to suppress his fifth yawn in five minutes as he yet again started to read through the files he had been given.
Donnie, once they had all agreed to help, had given the three of them files of their own to sort through, and that's what they had been doing for the last few hours.
Leo didn't know it was possible for a person- or a turtle- to be so tired of reading, that his eyes watered to the point that it almost felt like he was crying.
Donnie, though, didn't seem to blink an eye at the workload and kept on reading, his eyes skimming over the pages too quick for Leo to keep track of.
They had been at it for hours and had only stopped long enough to eat the food that Mikey had made, and then were at it again.
It was- well, Leo didn't actually know what time it was. He knew only that it was late and he that they couldn't keep this up for much longer, but Leo wanted just as much as Donnie to find his real file.
"Man, what time is it?" Mikey asked between a yawn.
"I dunno, but if I look at these things any longer my eyes're gonna bleed." Raph muttered grumpily.
"While it's not impossible for eyes to bleed, the reason wouldn't be of overuse." Donnie piped in.
"How many can there be?" Mikey demanded as he set down his set.
"There's no telling." Donnie sad with a shrug. "It almost seems like he transferred all of the files from the mainframe to this one."
Maybe he did, Leo thought to himself as he stood up.
"Okay, we're no good like this." Leo declared with a sigh. "Let's get some rest and try again in the morning."
Mikey and Raph stumbled to their feet and said a brief goodnight, leaving Leo and Donnie in the lab.
Despite Leo's words, Donnie showed no signs of stopping his reading.
Leo sighed and went to his brother's side, giving his shoulder a shake.
"Donnie, you need rest. We all do. Running ourselves into the ground isn't going to help. Well try again in the morning." Leo said.
Donnie sighed. "I know. Good night Leo."
"Night, Don." Leo said and made sure to close the door on his way out.
He squinted to see past the blinding light, struggling to make out any definitive shapes in the new brightness.
The light, though he knew in reality that it was no brighter than an average room, but to a turtle who had been sitting in darkness for an indescribable amount of time, might as well have been the sun that he was looking at.
His legs were wobbly at best and near useless atworst, weak from fear and unuse.
His mind was racing, fighting to wade through the exhaustion to remember what halls not to go through and which he needed to try.
Two times he had gotten out, and two times he had been rather forcefully stopped. But during those attempts, he had memorized which halls to avoid because of patrols, which he had quickly realized switched every four hours.
He needed to get to the shadows- that was the safest place for him right now. The only problem with that was that it seemed like everywhere he went was filled with light.
I have to turn off the lights, he told himself firmly. He needed cover.
He ran, trying to be light on his toes like his father had taught them, hiding whenever he even thought he might have heard someone near.
It felt like a lifetime before he made it to his destination- the control room.
He waited until the ninjas changed shifts, only a few minutes, before he slipped in unnoticed and
proceeded to lock the door.
Donnie scrambled onto the chair that sat in front of the room which was, in his opinion, way too high up. Once he had managed to get onto the seat, he then turned his attention to the control panel.
He had messed around with wires and such when they settled down in a spot in the sewers, but nothing to this caliber before. He let his eyes roam over the display panel, trying to piece together exactly how to do what he had in mind.
Cautiously, Donnie turned a knob on the panel, grinning when the lights dimmed slightly. He proceeded to turn the knob fully, sighing in relief when the lights went out completely, finally feeling a sense of comfort that he had longed for.
Almost immediately, the door's handle to the room jiggled violently, but Donnie felt relieved that he had thought to lock the door.
But it wouldn't take them too long to get through, Donnie knew, and so he turned back to the control panel and turned off the electricity to the building, which helped him in several ways.
first, their cameras would be down. So when Dad would come for him- which Donnie had absolutely no doubt that he would- he would be able to get in easier. Second, the door to this control room was opened by an electric card scanner- no electricity, no opening the room.
Donnie flinched when someone banged on the door harshly, followed by a flurry of yells.
Though he knew it was illogical, Donnie jumped off the chair and ran to the corner of the room, trying to hide there as if they wouldn't be able to see him if they got in.
Donnie tried to control his breathing like Dad had shown them to, but couldn't quite get the hang of it like Leo.
Leo.
Immediately, Donnie's mind ran through a hundred questions. Was his oldest brother okay? Did Dad find him or was he here somewhere? What about Raph and Mikey? Were they okay?
Did Dad know where he was? Was he coming for him?
No, Donnie told himself firmly, pushing the doubt down. Dad was coming. He would be there. Donnie just had to wait for him. He just had to wait it out.
Donnie couldn't help the flinch when he heard what he guessed was a chainsaw begin to tear away at the door.
"I want to go home!" He choked out like a prayer. "I want to go home!"
He wanted to be back with Dad and Raphie and Leo and Mikey!
Donnie was shaking by the time that they had managed to saw through a small portion of the door, enough for Donnie to see a group of darkly dressed figures peering through.
In response, Donnie pressed himself further into his little corner of the room.
Where are you? He thought desperately as they continued to saw away at the door. Where are you?
Donatello bolted out of bed, his breath coming in gasps as he sat upright, trying to calm himself unsuccessfully.
He put a hand to his plastron as he stood up, wincing at the slight pain he felt in doing so.
He tried to shake off the lingering fear from the dream, tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut to no avail.
Donatello turned the light on and sat back down on his bed.
He tried not to think about it- tried his hardest not to, but his mind couldn't not think it over. Couldn't not analyze every detail of it. Couldn't not stress about it.
It was times like these that Donatello truly hated his mind.
He glanced to the side where Mikey had put a clock there for him. 3:07.
He groaned and tried to lay back down, desperate to get some much needed sleep, but the images from his nightmare kept him wide awake
Donatello groaned.
At least a few nights every week he would be wracked with nightmares and it hadn't yet let up, leaving him exhausted most of the week.
And then there were the nightmares themselves. To say they freaked him out would be an understatement- they terrified him. They made his heart pound uncontrollably and actually made him fear the moment that he had to close his eyes.
What was worse was the uncertainty that surrounded them.
Were they real or were they figments of his hyper imagination, provoked by the stories that Splinter had told him? But he didn't know, and bringing up the possibility with the others just seemed like a cruel thing to do, so he didn't.
Knowing that he would never get to sleep now, Donatello stood up and crossed to the computer, sitting himself down in the chair as he turned it on and picked up where they had left off a few hours beforehand.
His eyes were burning with overuse by the time that Leo knocked on the door, as he had every morning, to wake him up for breakfast.
"Donnie, you awake?"
Donnie.
He had still been trying to get used to the nickname, as foreign as it was. He had become familiar enough with it to know that when they said it, they were speaking to him. But he just couldn't attach the name Donnie to himself. It had always been Donatello, for as long as he could remember. But there had been a time when he had been called Donnie, hadn't there?
"Donnie? It's almost time for morning training. Are you awake?"
Startled from his tired thoughts, he quickly replied, "Yes, yes, I'm awake."
He heard Leo move onto Raph's room next.
He could try, at least. To think of himself as they do.
Donnie.
Donnie.
He would try, at the very least.
Donnie got to his feet on unsteady legs and made his way down to the kitchen.
Mikey was busy making pancakes and poking and just generally annoying the resident hot-head- which, to Donnie, didn't seem like that great of any idea considering that Raph was generally in a bad mood most days, and especially before he was fully awake.
Raph glared at the youngest turtle as he made a cup of coffee- something he himself wasn't familiar with, but he knew that it helped to keep Raph from killing Mikey, so it couldn't be that bad.
"Morning D!" Mikey chirped happily, the first too see him come in.
Donnie yawned and sat down, shaking his head at his younger brother's offer to make him food.
"You look like shit, Don." Raph said bluntly as he sat down beside him.
"Language, Raph." Leo chastised, then looked over at him. "He's right though."
"Wow Leo, never thought I'd hear those words." Mikey remarked with a grin at Raph.
Raph shot the youngest a steely glare.
"Thanks?" Donnie questioned with a roll of his eyes.
"Want some?" Raph asked, motioning to his drink. "Might make you look a little more alive."
"Coffee will just deliver a dose of adrenaline to the body, not necessarily change appear-" Donnie cut himself off under Raph's unamused expression. "Er- yes please?"
Raph got up and soon enough Donnie had a cup of coffee sat in front of him, which he immediately took up, ignoring Leo's grumblings of, "Not good for you" and "don't need another coffee addict."
"I'm not an addict, Fearless. I have one cup a day. Who're you to talk, anyway? Just how many cups of tea do you have every single day?" Raph challenged.
Leo screwed his face into a glare. "Well, it's better for you than coffee."
"That's not necessarily true, actually." Donnie cut in. "Depending on the quantity of what you consume, you can take in more calories of a healthy drink than if you drink less of a more unhealthy drink."
Raph looked amused with an, 'I told you so.' grin on face. "Yeah, what Brainiac said."
Leo, on the other hand, did not look amused.
"Oh just drink your coffee." He finally relented.
Raph shared a grin with him as he took his first sip.
At first, he almost spat it back out, but after taking a few more drinks of the liquid, he actually began to like it.
"Come on, Sensei's waiting for us." Leo announced and stood up.
Mikey and Raph both groaned and stood up, following Leo into the dojo.
Donnie followed behind, in no way excited by the impending training session. Granted, Splinter's training regimen was nowhere near as strict as Saki's had been, and when he made a mistake on his katas, Splinter only corrected him and moved on. It was worlds better than Saki's regimen, but he still didn't enjoy the fighting.
"Retrieve your weapons, my sons." Splinter told them, standing back with his hands atop of his cane.
Leo, Raph, and Mikey happily retrieved their choice weapons from their places on the wall where they had stayed for the last several training sessions.
Unsure of what to do himself, Donnie stayed where he was.
"Donnie, I believe your choice of weapon is a bo-staff, correct?" Splinter asked him as he moved toward the wall.
"Hai." Donnie confirmed, then regretted it. His choice of weapon was never looked upon kindly by Saki, because he always saw it as a weak weapon. Even with the modifications and being made of the same material as Saki's suit, he always thought that it was a weapon for a weak warrior, but eventually allowed it because Donnie was rare to go on missions himself.
Would Splinter have the same way of thinking? Everything that he had seen from him so far contradicted the idea, but Donnie couldn't help but worry nonetheless.
Splinter, though, didn't seem to have the same line of thought at all as he took a wooden bo-staff from it's place on the wall and walked back to him, holding out the weapon for him to take.
Hesitantly, Donnie carefully took the weapon in his own hands, twirling it around a little to test it and grinned.
It felt even better in his hands than the other bo-staff had.
Splinter stepped back with a nod and the four brothers stood next to each other.
"Raphael and Donnie, Leonardo and Michelangelo."
Donnie heard his younger brother's long, drawn out groan as he turned to face his eldest brother.
Donnie couldn't help but share the feeling as he turned toward Raph and raised his new weapon.
As soon as Splinter said to begin, Raph was upon him with the force of a tank, swinging his sais with intent to hit.
Donnie briefly felt panic rise in him but beat it back. He could clearly see how Raph tilted the blades away if he didn't think Donnie could block it in time.
This was not Saki's training, he had to remember that.
Donnie used his longer ranged weapon to good use, putting distance between them while still getting hits in and not allowing Raph to do the same.
It was obvious that Raph wasn't used to fighting long-ranged weapons other than perhaps Leo's, and aggravation was beginning to take hold.
Raph stepped back, plastron heaving, and threw one of his sais straight at Donnie's face, who raised his staff to block it, imbedding the weapon in the thick wood.
Donnie hesitated. Was that actually supposed to hit him?
What he didn't see, though, was Raph launch himself at the younger turtle, throwing them both to the ground with Raph landing on top and grinning.
"I win." He announced, yanking his sai from the wood and standing, offering a hand to his younger brother.
"That was a distraction?" Donnie guessed as he took it.
"Well, yeah, Genius, what did you think it was?" Raph said.
An attack, his brain supplied, but he refused to say that aloud.
"Very good, my sons. Donatello, good use of strategy. Raphael, your surprise attack was well executed."
Donnie and Raph bowed at the praise and Donnie couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips at the compliment.
"Michelangelo, you must be aware of your surroundings and be more prepared for enemy strikes. Leonardo, do not underestimate an enemy no matter how they act."
Both turtles bowed at the words while Raph and Donnie shared a look. What happened during that fight?
"You are dismissed." Splinter announced and the four turtles headed toward the door.
Donnie had every intention of going into the kitchen for another cup of coffee when Splinter said his name and he stopped.
"Donatello, wait a moment."
Donnie stopped obediently and turned as his brothers shut the door behind them.
Splinter walked toward him, something in his paw that Donnie couldn't see.
"You have seen the masks your brothers wear, correct?" Splinter asked.
"Yes." Donnie confirmed.
"I gave them those when they first began their training, to give them a sense of independence from one another, but at the same time, to instill in them that they are a team, that they must work as one." Splinter explained. "A team of three, and now four again."
With that, he opened his palm to reveal a mask similar to all of his brother's except for the color- a dark purple. Beside it was a purple cloth that was obviously meant to wrap around his bo-staff.
Donnie bowed low, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat.
"Thank you, Master Splinter." He managed.
Splinter smiled gently at him before taking the mask in his hands and going behind Donnie and securing it around his eyes and knotting it.
Donnie took the time to wrap the purple cloth around his bo-staff and couldn't help but admire it once it was done.
"You're welcome, Donatello." Splinter replied as he stepped back. "Now, I believe your brothers are wondering what Is holding you up."
Donnie took that as his dismissal and started toward the door, suddenly nervous for no reason at all, and opened the door.
He got to the kitchen before Mikey was on him.
"What did Sensei wan-" Mikey's face broke out in a grin. "Lookin' good D!"
Raph, who was leaning against the table, smirked at the sight.
"Fits you, Genius." Raph remarked.
Leo finished making his tea and turned around, giving him an approving smile.
"It really does fit you well, Donnie." Leo confirmed.
Embarrassed by the sudden attention, Donnie could only manage a smile. "Er- thanks."
As Mikey poured over him both about his staff and his new mask, he caught Leo and Raph sharing a look that was obviously meant to be subtle and failed. Raph wasn't exactly a subtle turtle.
When they both caught Donnie looking, Leo glared at his immediate younger brother before motioning to the seat next to him.
Donnie sat down, raising an eyebrow at the unasked question.
"How much have you gone on the surface in the past, Donnie?" Leo asked.
Donnie shrugged.
"A few times. Karai and I used to sneak out and go on the roofs every night, but since then I've only gone on missions, but that didn't happen very often." Donnie told them, ignoring Raph's grimace at Karai's name.
"Why didn't it happen often?" Leo asked.
"I'm not the best fighter. I was of better use in the lab." Donnie explained, confused over how alarmed his brothers seemed to become at that.
"The lab?" Raph questioned gruffly.
"Yeah, my lab."
At the words 'my lab' they all seemed to relax.
"We usually do patrol every night at sundown, is that something you would do?" Leo asked. "If not, that's-"
"Yes." Donnie agreed immediately.
Raph laughed beside him.
"Told you he would be dying to get out of here soon enough, Fearless." Raph said.
Leo fixed him with a stare.
"Are you sure?"
Donnie nodded. His plastron didn't bother him so much anymore- at least not where Shredder had stabbed him. He had even removed the wraps except for the one he had kept on from Roland- that he refused to take off except to clean and re-wrap it.
"Alright then, we leave at sundown." Leo told the three.
Mikey whooped and threw his arms up, obviously happy to be going above ground again. Even Raph smiled, though it was quickly replaced with a scowl when one of Mikey's flailing arms caught him in the back of the head.
"Oops." Mikey laughed nervously. "Sorry Raph. I didn't- AAH!"
Apparently the apology wasn't enough enough in Raph's book because the hot-head jumped up and charged the younger turtle, who, having an abundance of energy, proceeded to run circles around the Lair in an attempt to get away.
Leo shook his head.
"You would think they were children." He muttered.
Donnie chuckled. "Oh what ninja warriors they are."
Fighting back a yawn, Donnie stood up and made a pot of coffee, ignoring Leo's disapproving looks.
"What? I like it." Donnie defended himself as he sat down with his cup.
Leo just shook his head and took another sip of his tea, though it looked to Donnie like he was intentionally taking an unnecessarily long drink.
"Get back here Mike! I'm gonna de-shell you, you little twerp!" Raph yelled before being assaulted by a sudden flurry of water balloons raining down on him.
Raph stood there, gasping, as the water rained down on him, but his fury fueled him as he ran after the fastest turtle in the Lair.
"Where does he even get those?" Donnie asked as Raph had to dodge several more in his pursuit.
Leo shook his head. "I don't even know."
Donnie finished off his cup of coffee and stood.
"I'm going to go look through those files." Donnie announced.
"I'll help." Leo offered. "Besides, I think they'll be at it for a while."
Donnie laughed as he opened his door and sat down at his computer.
"Looks like you went through a lot..." Leo hesitated, then looked back up at him. "Were you working on this last night?"
Donnie rubbed his neck nervously.
"Yeah, couldn't sleep." He admitted.
"Why not?" Leo asked as he started reading.
Donnie shrugged and didn't answer.
"So are you going to tell me why, or are you going to ignore me?" Leo asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Nightmare." Donnie mumbled, embarrassed.
To his surprise, Leo didn't laugh at him. Instead, he looked up with understanding.
"What about?" He asked.
Donnie shook his head.
"I'm not really sure." He admitted.
"We all get nightmares, you know." Leo told him. "With our lifestyle, well, I'd be more concerned if you didn't have them."
"So... You get them?" Donnie asked hesitantly.
Leo nodded.
"I dream a lot about... about that night." Leo admitted quietly. "When they took you. Can't shake it."
Donnie didn't really know how to reply to that.
"I'm not sure what they are. I don't know if they're memories or if they're just my imagination-" Donnie cut himself off before he started to babble.
"Memories? What exactly are you dreaming, Donnie?"
Before Donnie had the chance to answer, Mikey burst through the door, immediately slamming and locking it just before they all heard the loud "Thump!" on the other side.
"Uh, two questions." Donnie said. "One, why did you run in here, of all places? And two, why does Raph sound angrier than earlier?"
"Uh, well, this was the first place I saw. And, um, I mighta tripped over the bike? The one in the garage? So he's kinda mad." Mikey said just as Raph started banging on the door.
"Mike! You better hope that bike's fine, or it'll be your shell!" Raph roared.
Donnie sighed and went to open the door, gently moving a panicked Mikey out of the way.
"Mike-"
"Come on Raph, I'll help you check the bike." Donnie offered as he tried to pull the hot-head back toward the garage.
The bike, though Donnie had feared the worst by Raph's reaction, was actually in good shape. The most damage that the bike had suffered at the hand of Mikey was a paint scratch and a chipped mirror, which didn't matter much since Donnie had already made a mental note to replace the mirror anyway.
"It's fine, Raph." Donnie assured him. "Mikey didn't damage anything we wouldn't have to replace anyway."
"You sure?" Raph demanded.
"Yeah." Donnie confirmed as he sat the bike upright on the kickstand.
"Maybe we can convince Fearless to let us go to the junkyard, see if we can find what we need." Raph suggested.
"Sure." Donnie agreed.
Together they went over the bike, making a list of what they would need to get to just make it run, and then what they would need to get to make the modifications that they had in mind.
Leo popped in just as they finished and told them to be ready in ten minutes for patrol.
Raph went to get his sais while Donnie grabbed the list and met Leo in the kitchen. Mikey edged away from Raph when he entered, but the hot-head had calmed down enough that Mikey was in no immediate danger of sudden attack.
They headed out of the Lair and into the sewers, letting the water slosh at their feet.
Leo, Raph, and Mikey seemed to know the sewers like the backs of their hands while Donnie just followed behind them, unsure of where they were headed.
Just as Donnie was about to ask where they were going, Leo stopped at one of the manhole covers above and climbed to the surface.
Guess that answers that, he thought as he climbed up after.
Donnie gratefully took in a bug gulp of fresh air, grinning.
It felt like he hadn't tasted fresh air in years.
"Hey, move it Don!" Raph called from below him.
Oops, Donnie thought as he scrambled up and allowed Leo to help him stand.
"Come on, we can't stay down here." Leo told him and jumped to the roof of a nearby building.
Donnie used a trashcan to help him and he landed just a few feet beside Leo.
Raph was next, then Mikey, who landed on the roof with a dramatic yelp when Raph hit the side of his head unexpectedly.
"That's for the bike." Raph explained.
"Okay, enough you two." Leo chastised. "I want to cover from here to upstate. Okay?"
"Sure, Fearless." Raph agreed with a roll of his eyes.
Leo just sighed and began running.
"Hey Mike, I bet I can beat you and Fearless to Hampton." Raph challenged.
"You're on!" Mikey grinned, happily accepting.
"I don't think-" Donnie began but his brothers weren't listening as they raced off against one another.
Donnie groaned and followed them until he was running with Leo, who looked as equally annoyed with the brothers' antics.
"Guys! You're ninjas for crying out loud! That means you practice the art of silence!" Leo hissed.
"Oh chill, Lame-o-nardo." Raph grinned at the leader. "We're fine."
Leo opened his mouth to argue when they all saw it: shadows at the edges of the surrounding buildings.
"Foot!" Leo warned and Mikey and Raph were immediately on alert, running back to cover their brothers.
The four turtles had their weapons in hand, watching the shadows come closer.
"You really shouldn't jinx us like that Raphie." Mikey said nervously.
Raph was too busy glaring at the shadows to respond or get angry at the nickname.
It was only when the shadows, around twenty in all Donnie guessed, began to creep closer that he realized just how much trouble they were about to be in.
"That's not Foot." He muttered to Leo.
Leo threw him a confused look.
"Who are they then?" Raph demanded.
"Those are Baron's men." Donnie muttered.
He had just enough time to share a look with Leo before they attacked.
I want to thank those who have kept up with this story. It means so much to me that you have so thank you. I also write on Wattpad if you would rather read it there.
Syd- thank you so much!
ProfessorYeti- welcome back to the tmnt fandom then! And I'm flattered that this was the story you wanted to read first. Thank you so much for the compliments; I honestly wasn't sure I was doing very well with portraying them accurately, so it's nice to know that I'm doing alright. Donnie has always been my favorite character and so I've always sought out Donnie- centric stories but since there's not really a whole lot centered around him, I decided to make my own. If you're looking for Donnie-centric fanfics, I'd definitely recommend "The Walls We Build" series as well as the authors Cjthestoryteller and Imaginationstation both have fics centered around Donnie and have some of the best writing I've ever seen. If you ever want to talk fandom or anything I would happily oblige, you seem very interested in the fandom!
Wiam Uzumaki- Thank you so much! Donnie's my favorite too. I try to update as often as possible, but with work and school I get very busy sometimes.