It was way too late.
That was the first thing he realized upon waking up. The soreness of his limbs told him as much, supported by the clock sitting on a now broken table.
Eleven thirty, the latest he'd slept in for... well, he didn't actually know, but it felt good even if it was odd for him.
Looking over at the clock, he vaguely realized that someone must have turned it off but didn't have the mind to care at that moment.
There was a weight at his side and he looked over to see Mikey on his shell, mouth slack and snoring loud enough for all of New York to hear.
Donnie grinned and carefully eased himself off the bed and stood up, carefully putting his staff into it's holster.
He felt lighter when he stood up, like a weight he didn't know he had was lifted off him. It felt good.
He glanced down at the bed and saw the bandage he had never put back on and hesitated.
They hadn't been disgusted, hadn't hated him for any of it. And they had already seen it and now they knew what caused it, what purpose did keeping it on serve?
And that was part of why he felt so free, wasn't it? The fact that they hadn't hated him for what he had done, even though that little voice in Donnie's head told him they should?
"Hey D," Mikey slurred from the bed, sitting up groggily.
Donnie, who had been so lost in his head that he hadn't even seen him wake up, turned and gave his little brother a smile.
"Morning Mikey." He said.
"Wha- what time is it?" Mikey grumbled and looked toward the clock. "Woah, they really let us sleep in, didn't they?"
Donnie chuckled. "Yeah I guess so. Come on."
Leo and Raph were in the kitchen, sitting together but not speaking.
Donnie pretended not to notice the bloody wrap on Raph's knuckles, or the dark look in Leo's eyes that was normally reserved for the hot-headed brother.
They both looked up when Donnie and Mikey came in and sat down in their seats.
Not even Mikey seemed to know how to start a conversation and Donnie swallowed. He had learned to hate silence in the Lair.
"Which one of you turned off my alarm?" Donnie asked. He didn't care, he just didn't know how else to start the conversation.
"I did." Raph said, vainly trying to hide his hands from sight. "Mike over there needs all the beauty sleep he can get."
Mikey's, "Hey!" was drowned out by Leo and Donnie's laughter. Raph chuckled at his own joke and relief at the tension finally breaking at the table.
Mikey pouted in his seat but Donnie could tell that he wasn't actually hurt. It took a lot to rile the youngest turtle and he was far used to Raph's jibes.
Mikey stomped over to the fridge and began pouring himself a large bowl of cereal and Donnie stood up to make a pot of coffee.
"No training today either." Leo said. At Donnie's questioning stare, he sighed. "Sensei heard us, last night. Said we needed rest."
No one responded to that but thankfully the awkwardness was short lived as Mikey and Raph began their playful morning banter.
Neither he nor Raph said anything at all when Donnie pulled out the bandages after breakfast and went to work on his hands. Nothing needed to be said, really.
Once he was done bandaging Raph's hands, he sternly warned him that he would restrict him to bed rest if he didn't take it easy, to which Raph verbally agreed, but they both knew that it wasn't a true commitment and Donnie promised himself that he would watch and make sure Raph didn't go into the dojo.
Once he was satisfied Donnie went to his room to grab the cameras and went to work.
He sat across Sensei in his lotus position as he had been for the past hour since breakfast. Since breakfast, he hadn't been able to get Donnie's words from the night before out of his head and immediately after the brothers dispersed, he found himself in the dojo meditating.
Sensei had come in not long after and sat down with him without saying a word, and that's how they had sat for the past hour.
"What troubles you, Leonardo?" Splinter asked him, eyes opening to settle on him.
Leo hesitated before letting out a sigh.
"I can't stop thinking about it, Sensei." Leo admitted, his voice taking on a hard tone. "About everything they did to him. I'm afraid, Master. Of what I might do if I see Baron or Shredder or Roland, I'm afraid that I'll-"
Leo cut himself off with several deep breaths, but Splinter had understood.
"You cannot allow anger to be your guide. Nothing good will come of it, my son." Splinter warned him. "What has been done cannot be changed, no matter how much we may want to."
"They- they tortured him, Master!" Leo exploded. "We haven't even scratched the surface of what they did, and I already want to drive my katana-"
"Leonardo, calm yourself!"
Leo winced at the stern tone his father rarely put to use, finally settling down, but not completely.
"Fury, no matter how justified, is not what Donatello needs." Splinter reasoned. "He has been surrounded in it for eleven years too long, he does not need it here."
Leo deflated at the truth of that, knowing full well how he reacts to Raph when he gets into his moods.
"You didn't hear everything, Sensei." Leo muttered, more to himself than anything else. "What they did, he was so young..."
"I heard your conversation last night, Leonardo." Splinter reassured his son with a pained look on his face. "And I wish nothing more than to go back and undo the past, but we cannot. Right now, helping Donatello to recover is most important, do you understand my son?"
Leo nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Hai, Sensei." He answered before standing and silently leaving the dojo, his eyes automatically looking for his brothers, always trying to make sure they were in his sight and safe, something that had become normal years ago.
He could hear sounds coming from the garage but could tell that it's only occupant was the resident hot-head as the only sounds coming from the room were angry grunts.
Mikey was sitting in front of the TV playing some game he didn't think to look at.
"Hey, Mikey, do you know where Donnie is?" Leo asked, glancing up at Donnie's door only to see that the light was off under the door. Maybe he was taking a nap?
Mikey seemed to think for a moment- a feat in itself, all things considered- before shaking his head.
"No, sorry Leo. I've been busy." Mikey said with a goofy smile on his face.
Leo rolled his eyes and tried to quell the panic beginning to rise in his chest. Nothing was wrong, he didn't know anything was wrong. He was just on edge, that was it.
"Why do you look like you're gonna have an aneurism, Fearless?" Raph asked casually as he wiped his greasy hands off on a towel.
Leo rounded on him.
"Do you know where Donnie is?"
Raph shrugged and motioned lazily to the entrance to the Lair.
"He headed out." He said simply, missing the way that Leo froze at the news.
"Headed out?" Leo repeated, his voice rising in fear. "What do you mean headed out? You didn't think to stop him?"
Raph gave him a look that said he clearly thought his brother was insane.
"Oh, I'm sorry Leo. Is this place a prison now?" Raph scoffed. "Besides, he said he wasn't going above ground. Just said he was going around the sewers, so you can calm down."
"Calm down?!" Leo's previous panic came back tenfold, crashing into him with the force of a tidal wave. "Why didn't you go with him?"
"Because Don doesn't need a babysitter, Leo! And if he wants to go off on his own, that's his business! You wouldn't be hounding us like this if it were me or Mike and Don is just as capable of taking care of himself as we are, so chill." Raph said, which was ironic because usually he was the one being told to calm down.
Leo sent a cold glare Raph's way before running for the exit to the Lair, ignoring Raph's grumblings from behind him, and ran into the sewers, looking for any sign of his genius brother.
Raph was right of course, and Leo silently agreed with every word he had said, but the memories of what had happened the last time that Donnie had run off into the sewers on his own were branded so harshly into Leo's panicked mind that he couldn't not think of it.
As he ran through the tunnels, he realized that he was straining to hear the sounds of his brother's scream that he remembered from so long ago.
He was so caught up in his memories that he nearly crashed into the very person he had been searching for and Donnie had to right him at the last second before he could smack into a wall.
"Where's the fire?" Donnie asked and though the question was obviously meant to be funny, his eyes were too anxious to really mean it.
Great, Leo thought. Now I made Donnie anxious for no reason.
Knowing that his brother was safe and sound, he finally began to calm down, his racing heart slowing enough that he could hear everything around him.
"Leo, are you okay?" Donnie asked. "What is it?"
Leo shook his head, a nervous laugh catching his throat on the way out.
"Nothing, it's nothing. I didn't know where you went, and with Baron, you know-" It was a halfhearted excuse but one Donnie seemed to accept easily.
"Oh, sorry Leo. I didn't think to tell you where I was going." Donnie apologized and Leo immediately felt like a shell-head.
"What were you doing out here, anyway?" Leo asked to distract them both.
"Installing the cameras." Donnie answered, pointing upward.
Leo's eyes followed Donnie's finger to a pipe, and it was only when he really looked could he see the slight reflection of a camera lens.
"I decided that hiding the camera in the pipe would hide it well enough." Donnie explained to him as he moved to examine it closer. "I might have to do something about the reflection of the lens, though, in case it catches someone's eye by accident."
"I think it's pretty well hidden." Leo laughed, more with relief than anything else as his worry ebbed away. "How many more do you have to do?"
"None, now." Donnie responded. "That was my last one."
He helped Donnie gather up his tools and they started to head back.
"So are they motion triggered?" Leo asked, genuinely interested now.
"Face recognition, actually." Donnie corrected him. "If anyone but us, April, or Casey come within range of those cameras it'll send an alert to me and we'll address it. I put the cameras out far enough that if it is an intruder, we'll have enough time to do something but close enough that it will still be relevant."
"That's... genius, Donnie." Leo complimented with a slight shake of his head.
Donnie quirked a smile. "You sound like that's a surprise to you, Leo."
Leo smiled too. It was easy to forget that Donnie was as capable as Mikey sometimes when it came to jokes.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, something that would have been impossible with Mikey and awkward with Raph, but with Donnie it was relaxed and easy.
"You know, it actually felt kind of good to get that off my chest, last night." Donnie said after a few minutes. "I don't have any reason as to why, but it did."
Leo smiled.
"Told you so." He said, nudging his brother who rolled his eyes.
"You should talk, sometime. It might help you too." Donnie suggested casually, ignoring Leo's confused expression.
"What?" Leo asked, caught off guard.
Donnie shifted slightly.
"I was talking to, uh, Raph, and he said that you're still kind of affected by what happened. And you told me you have nightmares, so."
Donnie cleared his throat, seeming uncomfortable with this line of conversation.
So much for fooling them, Leo thought sullenly.
"Not really- I mean, I do get nightmares. But they're not bad." Leo rushed to assure his brother. "Really, it's fine."
"For someone who's been preaching for me to talk to someone, you don't seem to follow your own advice." Donnie observed.
"I'm fine, Donnie. Really." Leo tried to reassure him, but Donnie's narrowed eyes told him that he hadn't succeeded.
"And I'm the president." Donnie deadpanned, staring at his older brother. Leo sighed and shook his head.
"So how did Raph know?" Leo asked, halfway admitting without saying it.
Donnie shrugged. "I think it's just one of those things you pick up on."
Donnie left it at that for a few minutes before breaking the silence once again.
"That's what you were thinking about, wasn't it?" Donnie asked him quietly. "About that night? That's why you looked so worried."
At first he tried to deny it, but how could he when he had been acting like a mad man over something so simple?
"Yeah." He finally admitted. "It was just too familiar."
Donnie nodded at the statement, eyes focused.
"I'll make sure to tell you next time." Donnie offered.
"Is this place a prison now?" Raph's voice in his head mocked.
Leo immediately felt guilty.
"No, no Donnie. That's not what-" Leo tried to say, but Donnie just cut him off.
"I know what you meant, Leo. I'll either stay in sight or tell you where I'm going." Donnie said firmly, seemingly not bothered with the conditions as they walked through the doors of the Lair.
"Next thing on my list- hiding that entrance." Donnie declared with a huff. "I mean seriously, how has no one found that?"
"Hey, we did the best we could, okay?" Leo snapped lightly, slightly offended. He had thought they had done fine. "Not everyone is a genius, alright?"
Donnie chuckled and Leo quickly found himself following suit.
"Genius or not, that so-called hidden entrance sucks." Donnie said as they made their way up to Donnie's room with the tools.
Leo didn't bother to reply as he sat the tools on Donnie's desk and watched his brother move to his computer.
"Watch this." Donnie told him and about a dozen camera feeds popped up on the screen. Leo leaned in, becoming more interested once he noticed the details.
Not only were the pictures crystal clear, but it was obvious that Donnie had installed some kind of night vision in them as well because Leo could easily make out details in places that if he were actually there, he wouldn't have been able to. There were seven cameras along the sewers, no doubt just as hidden as the one Donnie had shown him, but what surprised him was the cameras actually in the Lair.
"When did you put cameras in the Lair?" Leo asked, looking closer at them. There was a camera in the kitchen, the living room, the garage, the dojo, and the entrance.
"Um, not that long ago. I just now got them up and running." Donnie admitted. "Master Splinter gave me permission so that, you know, just in case."
Just in case.
Those three words seemed to define how Donnie lived. On edge and wary and precautious of everything, but with good reason.
He kept the doors locked just in case.
He kept his staff with him just in case.
It made Leo's stomach curl and fury rise in his chest to think about it.
"There's no cameras in the bedrooms or anything." Donnie assured him quickly, apparently mistakening his anger at the Foot for being directed at him. "Or the bathroom. I can, uh, I can turn them-"
"No, it's fine. It's fine- It's smart, anyway." Leo said, swallowing his anger for a later time.
"Fury, no matter how justified, is not what Donatello needs."
Leo took several deep breaths and tried to contain his anger, to hide it from his brother.
"I'm going to go meditate, want to play a game of chess after dinner?" Leo asked, having no real intention of meditating.
"Will it actually be a game of chess, or is that another trick?" Donnie asked with a small smile that Leo reciprocated.
"An actual game." Leo responded. "And Raph's cooking dinner tonight, by the way."
"What, you're not going to help him?" Donnie mocked.
"I thought nobody wanted me in the kitchen anymore?" Leo countered.
Donnie shrugged, a grin spreading across his face slowly.
"There may or may not be an ulterior motive for putting a camera in the kitchen." Donnie hinted with a growing grin.
"I'm really not that bad you know." Leo muttered.
"Aren't you the reason there's a fire alarm in the kitchen?" Donnie asked.
Leo's embarrassment was obvious even without looking at him. The annoyed "hmph" was enough.
Leo's only argument against that was a weak, "Shut up." that they both ignored.
"I'm going to meditate." Leo lied, standing up and crossing to the door, shutting it softly behind him before heading to the dojo, grateful that he found it empty.
He easily completed his katas, even trying some of the more difficult ones that Sensei had been trying to teach them, but none of the practice seemed to help clear his head like he had hoped. If anything, it just allowed him to stew in his anger even further.
Was this what Raph felt like all the time? No wonder he acted the way he did.
Leo didn't know what to do with the pent up anger, never having felt it quite so strongly before.
"Try the punching bag." A voice suggested from behind him.
Leo didn't even need to look to know it was Raph, but he did anyway.
"Try the punching bag." Raph repeated simply, holding up his now bandaged knuckles. "Don might corner you for it but it helps."
Leo sighed. Raph was probably the only one who understood what was going through his head right now.
"Raph, I'm not sure much of anything is going to help with- with this!" Leo muttered.
He expected Raph to come up with some sarcastic quipt but he was actually rather quiet.
"When I find them- any of them-" Raph snarled.
"Me too." Leo agreed with a sigh.
"Come on Fearless. Dinner time. Don said something about chess?" Raph said, more a question than anything else.
Leo smiled slightly and let Raph lead him out of the dojo and took his seat at the island.
They were halfway through their second game of chess when they heard the voices coming from the entrance.
Leo immediately recognized Casey and April's voices and turned to reassure Donnie- as he had been doing every time they came- to see that his brother was totally relaxed, still focused on the game in front of him.
The couple came around the corner, seemingly in the midst of an argument that didn't stop once they entered the Lair. Casey had a large box cupped in his hands and April had her arms crossed over her chest.
"Oh hey guys!" April said, brightening as she made her way over to them.
"Hey April." Leo greeted her. "I didn't know you were dropping by."
"Now you know how it feels." April said smugly before glancing around the room. "Where's Raph?"
"Here." Raph spoke up, closing the door to his room. "That the parts, Jones?"
"Yeah. It's really freaking heavy by the way, no need to thank me!" Casey yelled the last part at a retreating Raphael, who had picked up the box- effortlessly, much to Casey's chagrin- and began to walk away with it.
Raph set the box in the garage and came back to the living room, smacking an unaware Casey in the back of his head as he did.
"Thanks, Jones I'm sure it was tough for you." Raph smirked at the glaring human before turning to Donnie.
"I had Casey and April go get the stuff for the bike, you know, since we can't really go out right now." Raph told him with a roll of his eyes that said he thought it was stupid, but would go along with it.
Donnie immediately brightened at the information and told him they would get started as soon as their game ended.
Leo won and Donnie, with promises of a rematch, followed Raph and Casey to the garage
Donnie and Raph went to work on the bike, invigorated by the presence of the new parts while Casey attempted to help where he could, but the two brothers were already covering everything they needed.
Raph and Casey threw jibes at one another as the group worked and Donnie slowly grew more comfortble around the human.
It wasn't that Casey intimidated him or even that he was uncomfortable around him, Donnie had simply never been around the human long enough to have to keep up a conversation with him.As Donnie had previously thought, Casey was much like Raph in a lot of respects. Casey seemed to have very little restraint in what he did. He was clumsy- more so than Mikey- and was barely navigating the mess of tools on the ground. He didn't ever lower his voice and was constantly trying to engage Raph in some squabble. Donnie never thought it was possible, but Casey actually made Raph look tame in comparrison.
By the time they were done, all three of them were covered in grease but grinning as Donnie revved the engine.
Raph and Casey let out loud yells and Donnie simply settled for smiling.
"There a party in here or- you got it working?" Mikey exclaimed, running over to look at the bike.
"Should I be offended by your surprise?" Donnie asked him as he stood up.
It was then that Leo and April walked into the room as well.
"If one more person gets surprised that the bike works, I'm letting Leo into the kitchen for an entire day." Donnie warned them, motioned to the now glaring turtle.
April smiled at him and handed Casey a towel.
"It looks good guys." She complimented.
"Yeah, looks great." Leo agreed quickly, apparently just as afraid as the rest of them of him being trapped in the kitchen for an entire day.
Donnie started laughing at Leo's cautious expression and soon the entire room was practically in hysterics. Mikey was on the ground clutching his side, a couple tears falling from his eyes while the others tried to recover from the outburst.
"We should get going, Casey." April suggested, the turned to the guys. "We waited until it was dark out before coming down. We were going to call you, but none of you were answering your phones."
"Sorry April." Leo apolagized. "You know how those things are down here."
"Yeah, I had to go out into the sewers to get any reception and even then it's spotty." Raph agreed.
"The people who made those things should've thought about how they would work in the sewers man." Mikey complained, holding the small, normal-looking cell phone that April must have gotten them.
"I don't think they were thinking of people living in the sewers, Mike." Raph said with a roll of his eyes.
Mikey simply stuck his tongue out in response.
An idea struck Donnie and he had to think about just how much scraps he had from the cameras up in his room.
"Goodnight guys, we're going to head to bed too." Leo said, looking over at his brothers as if to wordlessly say, "That's an order."
They all shared a quiet goodnight and the brothers- after being threatened with extra training- separated to go to their own rooms.
Donnie had every intention of going to sleep- he did. He really, really did. It just didn't happen like that.
Once the idea had gotten stuck in his brain, it took over everything else, overriding his need for sleep. He was walking toward the elctronic pieces on his desk and sat down, subconsciously making plans while his hands moved furiously. That was just how his brain worked. Once he got obsessed with something, his mind couldn't let it go until it was either proven impossible to do or he had completed it to his perfection.
Donnie yawned once before continuing his work.
Donnie struggled to grab the beaker from it's place too far above him on the cabinet, his attempts hurried and frantic.
He only had a few minutes before Stockman came back- an odd name, he had always thought, but then again, he was an odd person that he wasn't entirely sure that he liked- and he wasn't going to waste it. He had been shown to the labs a few days ago- he hadn't come up with an accurate way of counting the time yet- and what he had seen sickened him. He had to get out, and he had to do it now.
He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as his fingers touched the metal and yanked it to him.
He had to get out. He had to get...
Well, he didn't actuallyknow where he had to get to, but he just knew that it was urgent. People were waiting for him, he was pretty sure that was true.
Donnie almost tried to remember, but the little voice- the one that tried to keep him safe- reminded him that remembering meant more pain. They weren't happy when he tried to remember, he knew that, but that didn't always stop him from trying.
When he did muster up the courage to try and search, to remember anything before this- because he simply refused to believe this was all there was- all he got was a faint headache and fuzzy figures that didn't make a lot of sense. That's usually when someone figured out what he was doing and then-
No, he told himself. Don't think about that. Focus.
So he did. He grabbed the beaker and, careful not to spill any on his hand, before pouring it into the large bowl.
Just a bit of water, he told himself.
He had been thinking about it for a while now, ever since they had shown him the labs. The vents went all over the buildings, from the top to the bottom, and thus would be an easy escape if he could just get the metal vent up.
He wasn't strong enough to pry it off, but if he could create an acidic element strong enough to melt the metal, he could get out before anyone even noticed he was gone.
The door handle jiggled and Donnie was suddenly very thankful that he had locked the door and heard Stockman calling for someone.
Donnie grinned and just as his fingers closed around the top of the beaker, the door burst open and two Foot ninja ran in and Donnie did the only thing he could think of.
He threw the beaker toward the two ninja just as they jumped for him, and the screams that followed shocked the young tot so much that when Baron grabbed him by the neck and yanked him from the room, all he could do was stare at the trembling figures.
"What did you do Donatello?" Baron snarled, the pressure on his neck tightening considerably.
Donatello.
That was what they had been calling him, but he didn't like it.
It wasn't like when dad called him that. Dad never had the venom these people had-
Dad.
He had a dad. And brothers. Mikey, Leo, Raph.
How could he have possibly forgotten them? His family?
Baron didn't give him a chance to answer, considering that he couldn't even if he wanted to, and instead just hauled him down the hall.
Dr. Roland's hell.
At first he had hope that it was just the table, just the electricity, but when Baron forced him past that door, panic finally set in for him.
The thought of what was behind that door sent Donnie into a panic and he began struggling wildly in the man's grip in vain, his heart pounding in his plastron as the door opened.
Dad.
Leo.
Mikey.
Raph.
He forced those names, their faces, into his mind. He would not forget, he refused to.
Donnie woke with a start, falling out of his chair and onto the floor so hard that he couldn't stop the groan before it escaped him.
He must have fallen asleep in the lab again. Thank god Stockman hadn't come in and seen or he would be screwed.
Once he had actually looked up and glanced around the room, realization sunk in and he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
He was home, he was safe. Leo, Mikey, Raph, and Master Splinter were in their rooms safe and sound.
Everything was fine.
He had to reassure himself of this several times before he could relax enough to stand up and sit on his bed.
It was early, he could just feel it, and he was exhausted.
He let out another yawn and settled into his bed, hoping against hope that he wouldn't have anymore dreams for the night.
"
"You look like shit Don." Raph said bluntly as he took a seat beside his genius brother, handing him another cup of coffee as he did.
"Language!" Leo reprimanded.
Mikey laughed from his spot in front of the stove.
Hadn't they had this conversation before? Donnie thought they had, but he wasn't really sure.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Leo asked with concern.
Donnie considered lying, telling them he was fine and was just restless and he had spent half the night on a project, but couldn't stand to lie to them now that he had already opened up about them.
"Yeah." Donnie admitted.
"What was it about?" Leo asked, taking his own seat.
"Me, when I was younger. I think." Donnie responded hesitantly, not for the first time trying to analize the dream.
"You think?" Mikey questioned.
"I- I remembered you guys, back then. I remembered your names and I remember being afraid to forget them." Donnie told them. "But I just can't make any sense of it."
"Maybe you'll start remembering more." Raph suggested.
Donnie merely shrugged and focused on drinking his coffee. He wasn't sure he even wanted to remember anything else if that's what they were going to be like.
"Practice in ten, alright?" Leo told them before ducking into the dojo.
"Do you see why I call him "Splinter Junior" now?" Raph asked Donnie with a shake of his head.
Donnie laughed but he didn't say anything and they finished breakfast with little chatter. Mikey appeared too tired to start his usual ruckus, which Donnie was silently grateful for considering he didn't feel too great himself.
Training was exhausting, probably made worse by their temporary break and Donnie's restless night definitely wasn't doing him any favors but he tried not to show it throughout the session.
It felt like a lifetime before Splinter called an end to their training and Donnie trudged up to his room, stifling a yawn that wanted to escape as he sat down at his desk.
His project was pretty much done, but he wanted to add some extra security just to make sure they were truly untraceable.
Once he was satisfied that they were more protected than Fort Knox, Donnie leaned back to examine his work.
The five phones were shell-shaped, a design that Donnie thought Mikey would get a kick out of, and specifically made to have connection underground. They were more durable than normal phones- which was probably good in Raph's case- and entirely waterproof- which he thought Mikey would appreciate for his water balloon fights. He had also added tracking capabilities that were accessable through any of the other phones and his computer. He had also designed them so the screen wouldn't respond to a normal human touch, which made them useless to their enemies.
"Hey D, how mad do you think Raph would be if I took the new bike for a ride?" Mikey asked, stepping into the lab. "Woah, what's that?"
"To the first question, yes. You would be dead before you could get it out of the Lair. Second, phones." He handed one to Mikey, who took it eagerly in his hands.
"This is so cool D!" Mikey exclaimed, turning it in his hand with wide-eyed glee.
"What're you gonna call them?" Mikey asked.
"Uh, phones?" Donnie said with obvious confusion. "What do you mean?"
"What?" Mikey looked downright appalled. "No way. Something this cool has to have a cool name. Let's see..."
Mikey frowned in conentration- a true sight to behold- and flipped the phone over to see the shell side.
"I got it!" He exclaimed happily. "Shell-Cell! It's perfect, you know, because it's shaped like a turtle shell!"
Donnie simply stared at him with amusement and laughed.
"Even if I say no, you're still going to call them that, aren't you?" Donnie asked, already certain of his answer.
"Well, yeah." Mikey said like it was obvious.
Donnie gave a long, drawn out, fake sigh.
"Fine then." He said with an accompanying grin.
"Yes!" Mikey cheered. "I'm gonna go show Raph!"
"Wait, bring him his while you're at it." Donnie told him, throwing him another phone.
"You two throwing a party in here?" Leo asked, sticking his head in the doorway. "What's with all the yelling?"
"Donnie made Shell-Cells!" Mikey told him excitedly before rushing out the door, calling their brother's name as he did. "Raph! Raphie come look what I got!"
The two remaining brothers shared an amused look before Leo walked to the table and picked up one of the phones.
"These are pretty cool. What did Mikey call them?" Leo asked, turning it on.
"Shell-Cells, I believe." Donnie answered. "For obvious reasons."
Donnie told him about the security features on the phones, thinking his eldest brother would appreciate the security and knowing that he now had a way to know where they were at all times.
"These are genius, Donnie." Leo complimented, then frowned. "How long have you been working on these?"
"Since last night." Donnie told him. "I couldn't get the idea out of my mind and I had the scraps for them."
"Next time you get an idea, wait until morning. Don't stay up that long again just to work on a project, we can wait." Leo told him sternly.
Donnie frowned.
He had long since been used to staying up for hours on end to get something done that the idea of waiting until morning was an odd concept for him, but he understood that he wasn't under a time restriction and felt embarrased for forgetting that. Some things were just hard for him to shake.
Leo seemed to guess where his thoughts were at because he gave him a small smile.
"Did you start this because of what April said?" Leo asked. At Donnie's nod, his smile widened. "Just wait until she sees them, she's going to freak."
Donnie laughed and stood up, grabbing his phone and placing it in it's holdster and picking up the last one.
"I'm going to give this to Master Splinter." Donnie said.
Leo chuckled. "You have fun with that."
It turns out, Leo had meant that literally. Donnie had soon realized that Master splinter was severely inexperienced when it came to technology, somthing that was just appaling to Donnie. He spent about a half hour explaining how to use the basic functions of the phone, then how to track them if the need should arise and some of the other functions.
Once he was satisifed with his knowledge of the device, Donnie handed it to him and made to leave when Splinter spoke.
"This is impressive, Donatello." Donnie turned to see a smile on the rat's face and a gleam in his eye. "I'm very proud of you, my son."
Donnie's whole body froze.
None of his superiors had ever bothered to compliment his work, and he had no idea how to respond. Because as much as he hated it, that was how his mind still saw Splinter- a superior. But at the same time, he couldn't deny the feeling that blossomed in his chest at the praise, the warmth that grew at the words.
"T-thank you, Master Splinter." Donnie stumbled over his words and bowed, and then promptly rushed from the room.
Donnie winced.
Master Splinter. How long had he been home, and he still couldn't call him "Sensei".
How pathetic, his mind taunted.
He still couldn't force the words out of his mouth, couldn't relax around the rat when his brother's callings of, "Sensei" always surrounded him. Despite his best efforts, all Donnie could think of when he heard that word was Saki's cruelness, even though their differences were plain as day.
Donnie didn't even realize that he was in his room until he sat on the bed, his head in his hands.
Why coudn't he relax, just for a little while? What was wrong with him?
Everything, the voice answered.