He couldn't deny that he felt a sort of humble pride as he walked back into HQ.
He had been fully expecting to have to fight on that rooftop, but it had been solved without any violence at all.
Overall, Donatello couldn't have wished for a better outcome.
The Hamatos didn't get involved with the mission, he didn't have to fight, they got the supplies for him and Baxter to begin human experiments- though this would be mostly Baxter, he hoped- and he was scheduled for work in his lab for the next week, which meant no missions. Granted, he would still have daily training, which would undoubtedly be gruelling, but he would take that over missions any day.
"We don't want to fight you. We just really need to talk to you."
The words kept bouncing in Donatello's overactive brain, refusing to allow him to think of anything else for very long.
What could they possibly want to talk to him about?
And Leonardo had seemed so sincere when he had said it, like he was truly begging to talk.
And the deal...
"We leave, we let you finish whatever you're doing here, and you meet us on Bryer's pizza rooftop later tonight."
And they had kept their end of the deal, they had left- Donatello had done a thorough sweep of the surrounding rooftops to make sure of this- and they were going to be expecting him to meet them in a couple hours. The question was, should he go? If he did, he would undoubtedly have to sneak out, and he had done so before, but this, this would be a whole other endeavor entirely. Sneaking out to meet with an enemy? He'd be de-shelled for even thinking about it.
But he had made a promise, hadn't he? And he would be lying if he said he wasn't dying to know what they wanted to talk to him about so badly.
The mental debate continued well into his lab as he worked on the blueprints for his next project and even when the door opened behind him, he still didn't pay it any mind, too focused on making his decision.
That's not the only decision you have to make, he reminded himself.
Donatello sighed at the unwelcome reminder of his other dilemma and leaned over the lab table, his head in his hands.
What was a turtle to do?
Really, though, did he have a choice? Baron had been absolutely right- he could either refuse his offer and die when he left, or accept and live for however long Baron had need of him.
The third option was looking appealing more and more...
Now that he truly thought about it, why couldn't he leave? He would probably leave the city, put some distance between him and his future enemies. He knew enough about plants to survive off of them, maybe build a shelter in the forest and never be found.
To be truthful, this wasn't a bad option at all.
Donatello was so lost in his thoughts that he hasn't noticed that someone had entered the room, too focused on planning out this new route.
He could leave tonight, well before Baron left himself. Maybe he could even plant some evidence against Baron, but that would just put a bigger target on him, so Donatello scrapped that idea. He could leave tonight, after meeting with the other turtles.
With this new course in mind, Donatello turned around to begin packing the necessary belongings that he would soon need, only to freeze in his tracks.
Stockman stood with a kind of smug expression on his face, like a child who had just received a reward, clutching a small tablet at his side.
But he wasn't what had frightened Donatello.
Shredder, his face impassive as stone, stood in front of the door with that permanent scowl on his face.
Donatello hesitated what he thought was far too long before he bowed.
"Master Saki." Donatello greeted.
Shredder did not speak.
Donatello glanced up. "Is there something I can help you with?"
In answer, Baxter pulled the tablet from under his arm and tossed it onto the table.
Donatello didn't realize how tense he was until he felt himself involuntary jump as the tablet hit the desk.
Calm down, he ordered himself. Stop acting so panicky.
He picked up the tablet, fully expecting to see blueprints for a new project, and froze upon seeing looking down at the screen.
It wasn't blueprints.
He watched with horror as he saw Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Casey standing opposite of himself on the screen, heard their words faintly in his ears, line for line in Donatello's memory.
No, no, no! He thought desperately. Not now! Why now?
"We don't want to fight you. We just really need to talk to you."
Hearing Leonardo's plea from the tablet sufficed to bring Donatello out of his frantic mind and he stared down at the screen in horror.
Slowly, his fingers reached to take the device in his hands and for once he didn't care how much he was shaking.
"Then I'll make you a deal. We leave, we let you finish whatever you're doing here, and you meet us on Bryer's pizza rooftop later tonight."
No, no, no! They knew everything.
Donatello's heart plummeted at the next words that rang in his ears, even knowing that they were coming.
"Fine. Give me a few hours, three at most. I'll meet you."
The room was silent, dead silent.
Just like you're going to be in a sec, be reminded himself.
Looking up, Donatello wasn't surprised in the least to see Shredder's furious expression baring down on him and was powerless to stop the flinch that followed, nor the stammered lie that ensued.
"M-master Saki, I can explain." Donatello pleaded, tensing in expectation of an attack. "I wasn't going to go! You have to believe me! I just wanted to distract them!"
He could hear how high his voice had just gone, knew how illogical his claim was, how childish it sounded to even his own ears.
And yet he couldn't stop the words from leaving his mouth.
I was never going to go? Donatello thought to himself with loathing. What kind of excuse was that? It was like a child yelling out, "I didn't do it!" when they clearly did.
He was so dead.
Donatello found himself backing away from the ninjitsu master without even realizing it.
"Distract them?" Shredder rumbled. "By offering them a deal? By going against your clan?"
Donatello swallowed nervously. "Well, actually, to- er- to be factually correct, Leonardo offered. I just a-acted like I agreed?"
Donatello cringed at the hesitancy in his own voice, raising up as if he were asking a question. He had realized his mistake as soon as he opened his mouth to speak. They didn't like to be corrected, ever, but something in Donatello's mind refused for the facts to be ignored, even minor ones. It was times like these that made Donatello hate that part of his mind.
He let out a nervous chuckle and swiftly backed away, debating his best option and quickly determined that running was his only option at this point. He didn't stand a chance in a fight against the Shredder and attempting to do so would end in his death.
He positioned his feet toward the window in what he hoped was a discreet way but couldn't force himself to move. There was a part of him that wanted to explain himself, but his logical side argued that Shredder wouldn't give him the chance.
Lie, his brain ordered.
Donatello had never been much of a liar, he had never had the guts to outright falsefy something to a superior before. But the few times that he did muster up the gall to do so, he had never been caught.
Donatello forced his face neutral so he wouldn't give anything away and tried to at least act like he wasn't afraid.
"Yes, Sensei I was going to meet them later tonight. I was going to surprise them and bring them to you. I wanted to make up for my failure at the docks and bring you your enemies." Donatello kept his eyes on Shredder, both to be convincing and so he wouldn't be blind if he attacked.
"You were going to capture the Hamatos?" Shredder asked in a tone that hinted at warning.
"Yes, Sensei." Donatello confirmed.
Shredder seemed to consider this for a moment, staring at him like Donatello stared at complex code when he was trying to decipher it.
"If this is true, then you wouldn't argue to having more company with you?"
Donatello bristled. "I can handle the Hamatos myself."
Shredder's gaze hardened. "You will take ninja with you. If Hamato Yoshi is with them, you will kill the turtles and bring me the rat. If he is not, you will bring me the turtles alive. Is this understood?"
There was no getting out of this, was there? And what rat? Who was Hamato Yoshi?
But regardless of his questions, Donatello bowed low in submission.
"Hai, Master Saki." Donatello mumbled to the ground.
Donatello felt the blade on his neck and froze, unable to do anything more for fear of slicing his own throat.
"You will not fail again, Donatello. Is that clear?" Shredder demanded.
"H-hai, Sensei."
The blade was removed from his neck and he heard sounds of movement before looking up.
Donatello could see Baxter's smile visibly falter as they left, obviously having been expecting a punishment to be carried out. Honestly, so had he, but he wasn't complaining about it.
Donatello waited for his heart to stop pounding in his ears as he sat down in front of his computer, his head in his hands as it had been before Shredder walked in.
He could still leave, he would have to be smart and sneak off when the others were distracted, but he could do that. But even if he did run, the Foot still knew where the Hamatos would be. They would still attack regardless of his presence. So did he run or stay? He didn't know when Baron was breaking from the Foot but it could be any time, and he would much rather be gone long before the news broke. But maybe if he stayed, then he could help the Hamat-
He broke the thought abruptly. Why should he care? Look after yourself, it was a lesson long learned and apparently still an ongoing one at that.
And yet, he had given his word to Leonardo that he would be there and it was because of him that they would be attacked. Wasn't it the least he could do by abiding by his promise and going?
Donatello sighed and glanced up at the computer.
If he was going then he might as well do his research.
Everything that had to do with the Foot was recorded in files for review and so it was easy to find the one he needed. Or, the four files.
Leonardo.
Donatello clicked the name of the turtle in blue and quickly read through the list of missions they encountered him on, skill sets, fighting style, weapon of choice, weaknesses.
Of course, Donatello could tell some of this by his recent encounters, but some information was new to him.
The file described him as the leader of the Hamato clan and deadly. Under weaknesses was one word: Brothers.
Though it at first confused him, Donatello quickly understood that the brothers must be the turtles with him.
He remembered clearly how Leonardo and Raphael had given up their weapons when their companions had been threatened and knew this to be true.
Donatello then clicked on Raphael's file.
Brute force seemed to be a main weapon of the red banded ninja and there was a list of mutilated ninja a mile long to prove it. Just like his leader, the only weakness listed was his brothers. A name was also attached to his file. Casey Jones. Clicking the name, Donatello was taken to the profile of a the masked vigilante that Donatello had previously met. There wasn't much in his file besides fighting style- it seemed like this was comprised mostly of fury and a hockey stick- and missions he had been sighted on, which often corresponded with the Hamatos. It also seemed like he had a vendetta against the Purple Dragons from what he could tell by the beatings he had given from the attached photos.
Clicking out, Donatello went to Michelangelo's file. His fighting style was consitent with what Donatello had gathered during their confrontation, but other than that, there really wasn't much on him. Keeping this in mind to remind himself to keep a careful eye on that one, Donatello moved onto the last file.
Hamato Yoshi had a large file, certainly larger than any of the others, filled with a long history between him and Oroku Saki that Donatello made quick work of. But the more recent the encounter, the shorter the smaller the report. It seemed that he was rarely seen above ground in recent years. His last real attack against the Foot was a series of break-ins at Foot Headquarters eleven years ago that stopped as abruptly as they began.
Under weaknesses was one word: Sons.
Donatello nodded as he began to understand their dynamic a little bit more.
"If Hamato Yoshi is with them, you will kill the turtles and bring me the rat."
Donatello shuddered and silently prayed that Hamato Yoshi would continue his laying-low streak and stay wherever he was.
Realizing that he had gone well over his time, Donatello ensured that his staff was secure in it's holster before walking out of the room.
Karai stood waiting for him at the end of the hall, her face like stone as she led him toward a hidden door- well, hidden to outsiders, anyway.
"Here." She said, promptly pushing a small wire into his hands. "You will wear this and are not to take it off. Ninja are being sent into the location and you will have to stall until they arrive. Understood?"
Donatello simply nodded and attached the wire to the inside of his jacket and walked past Karai and proceeded through the hidden entrance and to the rooftops.
He didn't take his time making his way toward the pizza rooftop that the brothers had designated their meeting spot, but waited on a nearby roof to inspect.
On the Bryer's pizza rooftop, Michelangelo was sitting tapping his leg and his mouth opened continuously as if repeating something.
Raphael was throwing his Sai into the rooftop and wiggling it out again in obvious fustration as his eyes watched his brother.
Leonardo was pacing back and forth across the rooftop, eyes glancing every which way.
Donatello made certain that Leonardo hadn't seen him before glancing over the ledge of the roof again.
Just barely, almost imperceptibly, he saw the hint of something long and curved before the object ducked out of sight again.
With a sneaking suspicion as to who it was, Donatello quickly and quietly made his way to the rooftop that he had seen the object on.
Casey waited impatiently on the rooftop that Leo had assigned to him. This was stupid! He had been sitting on this roof waiting for anything, but the most exciting thing to happen was a bird almost using him for his bathroom. His back was aching something terrible and he hadn't moved it in who knew how long. It had been hours! If the turtle was going to show, he would done it by now!
Just as he was about to reach for his phone to call Leo, he heard the thump from behind him.
Turning around and bringing up his hockey stick in defense, Casey saw the fourth turtle standing behind him.
Casey had heard Leo's explanation and he had no reason to doubt them, but he still couldn't put the turtle he was looking at into the stories that had been told to him about their childhood ghost.
Why was he here? Couldn't he see the others waiting on him? Casey hesitated. It really wasn't his place to say anything to the turtle, he was certain that Raph would wring his neck if he said the wrong thing, and so would Leo come to think of it.
"They're waiting for you down there." Casey finally said after a tense moment.
He didn't even glance.
"I know. Is Hamato Yoshi with you?" Donatello asked. He wanted to make sure before he proceeded with the beginnings of the flimsy plan he had constructed.
Casey tensed at the unwelcome question. "No."
He watched as the mutant sighed in relief and gave a small nod.
"Tell him that his way was flawed. He attempted to go from the top to the bottom, that's why he never made it. Nor through the bottom. His best shot will be to use the vents."
The statement threw the human for a loop.
"And why would he need to know that?" Casey demanded. He didn't like how this conversation was going. If only he could just call Leo, warn him, but he didn't want the turtle to see.
"Forgive me." The turtle murmered before lunging forward.
Casey didn't have time to bring up his hockey stick in defense before a green hand clamped down on his nose and mouth, effectively suffocating him.
Donatello winced as the man thrashed under him but didn't let up until he felt the body sag. He sighed and carefully ensured that no Foot passing by would see him and ran to the rooftop that he had left his wire on and arranged it back in place.
Let's get this over with, he thought, quietly jumping down to meet the odd brothers.
"Get back here!"
Donatello fought off a laugh as he watched the two brother's antics. The play fighting was soothing to him, as it was obvious that neither aimed to actually hurt, and Donatello found himself sitting on the ledge, watching them with interest.
With a shake of his head to remind him of the predicament that he had put the brothers in, Donatello swallowed.
"You don't do much in the way of subtlety, do you?" He asked and watched as all three brothers turned around, Michelangelo still locked in his brother's choke hold with a startled expression on his face.
He focused on Leonardo, as he had acted as their talker during their last confrontation.
"You said you wanted to talk." Donatello stated. "What was so important?"
"Where were you?" Leonardo asked in what Donatello could only guess was suspicion.
Please just let this be quick, he begged.
"I had to wait longer than expected. It's been a while since I snuck out." Donatello said, realizing how ironic the lie was. "So what was so important that you needed me to meet you?"
He glanced between each brother, hoping that none had been able to tell the lie before realizing what he was doing and turning back to Leonardo.
Donatello thought back to Leonardo's file. There was no way to warn him like he had Jones, they had surely already heard him talking and it would be suspicious now if he suddenly stopped. So how was he supposed to tell them without speaking to them?
The answer was immediate. Morse code. SOS would be wasy enough and basic, but would any of the brothers know it? Donatello doubted that Michelangelo or Raphael would, but there was a chance that Leonardo might.
"Look, I'd love to chat, but I don't have all night. I have to get back before they realize I'm gone, so can you hurry up and say whatever you have to say?" He asked, moving his fingers to tap on his thigh in what he hoped Leonardo would recognize as SOS.
"How long until they notice you're gone?" Raphael asked.
"I don't know." Donatello lied quickly. "So can you hurry up?"
He didn't know whether he was speaking to the ninja on their way or for Leonardo to hurry up and understand, but he was growing frustrated.
As if hearing his thoughts, Leonardo's eyes focused on his hand, studying it.
He vaguely heard Raphael speak, but his focus was on the leader, waiting for him to understand.
And then it clicked.
"What did you do?" Leonardo whispered. "Don, what did you do?"
"Don?" He asked. No one had ever called him that. Why the nickname?
Fearless?" Raphael asked the leader. "What's wrong?"
Donatello could feel the shame pull at his gut. He had led them to this, had helped trick them.
"I'm sorry." He mouthed before standing, hoping that they could hear sincerity in his voice, his eyes going to the rooftops.
"You were stalling us!" Leonardo accused him.
Donatello said nothing. What could he say? The accusation had been totally accurate.
Donatello backed away, all too aware of their aggressive stances.
"You deceiving little-" Raphael yelled before charging at him.
Donatello rolled to the side, coming far too close to Michelangelo than he had meant to and swiftly backed away as their attention became more focused on the Foot ninja than on him.
He felt an unfamiliar pain in his chest as he jumped to a nearby building to wait for the brothers to fall.
Please, he thought as he heard Michelangelo's name yelled. Please let it be quick.
He watched each of the brothers fall, heard the victory among the ninja, but all he was able to think about was if Hamato Yoshi would be fast enough.
Please hurry, he thought.