This one was requested by Alys Gaming Channel YT! They asked for a one-shot based after Mutagen Man Unleashed, Raph ponders what Donnie meant when the following was said:

R: You told your thoughts and feelings to a pile of guts in a jar?

D: He's a good listener!

Raph wonders why Donnie felt like he couldn't talk to him about things that troubled him, so he asks Donnie about it. I changed it a little as I felt the other brother would be concerned too.

Another one-shot to be posted after this! Enjoy xx

A Lesson in Listening

"You told your thoughts and feelings to a pile of guts in a jar!?"

"He's a good listener!"

Raphael stretched as the cartoon ended, his two other brothers had fallen asleep and Donatello had retired to the lab about 2 episodes ago. The remaining turtle frowned at the shut lab doors.

What Donnie had said earlier was still ringing in his ears, why did Timothy get Donnie's trust? Why weren't the brothers allowed to hear what he was thinking?

What will his brother do now that his confidant can't listen?

He sighed as he stood up and headed towards his brother, he didn't want to admit it, but he was worried about him.

He slid the door open silently and peeked in.

Donatello was sitting in his desk chair in front of the 'Mutagen Man', he was just staring up into the frozen face of his student. Raph flinched, he kind of looked like he was mourning.

"You gonna stand there all night?" Donnie asked drearily, Raph cringed before entering the lab fully and going to stand next to his brother.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" He asked gently, "It's been a tough day"

"Yeah" Donnie sighs, "I won't sleep though"

Raph looks down at his taller, younger brother. He cringes at the defeat in his face.

"Did you hear what Timothy said? When he drank that stupid mutagen, he called out to me for help… help for the very thing I caused!" Donnie's voice breaks, "I just… I never should have taken him in, this is all my fault"

"You'll find a cure" Raph nods, "Then maybe Pulveriser will finally realise what an idiot he was"

Donnie says nothing in return, Raph must ask the question that's been burning in his brain.

"Why did you trust Timothy more than us" He asks quietly.

"What do you mean?" Don asks in return.

"I mean… You told your thoughts and feelings to this pile of guts but never to your own brothers!" Raph turns to face his brother properly, "Why? Why didn't you come to us? We at least could have given advice and wouldn't have went after her!"

"Why would I tell you guys?" Donnie stands up and looms over his brother, "When have any of you ever given any indication that you care?"

"Wh-? Of course we care! We're your brothers!" Raph yells indignantly.

"What's with all the shouting?" Leo and Mikey walk sleepily into the lab,

"Everything ok D?" Mikey yawns.

"It's fine" Donnie begins but Raph stops him.

"He doesn't trust us like he did Mutagen man!" He growls, "And we're gonna find out why! Why do you think we don't care about you?"

Leo and Mikey frown as they look at Donnie.

"I know you guys care about me" Donnie corrected, "but you don't care about what I have to say. How many times have I started talking about an idea only to be told to 'Shut up'? How many times have I confessed how I'm feeling about this whole April situation just to be made fun of! Just earlier you compared me to a cartoon character that just got yelled at by the girl he's into!"

The brothers backed away as Don's voice got louder, the genius sighed tiredly and turned away from his brothers to look at his frozen friend.

"Timothy looked up to me and cared about me, even before he was mutated, we used to text each other" Donnie admits,

"Timothy was an idiot!" Raph snapped as he crossed his arms.

"What Raph means is… we're sorry" Leo glares at Raphael as he begins towards Don, "You're right… we haven't been very good brothers when it comes to listening to you"

"Which is super unfair because you always listen to us" Mikey pipes up as he bows his head, "I can't count the amount of times I've come in here coz I'm sad or scared and you'd drop everything just to help me out"

Raph watches as Donnie turns to face them.

"We are sorry Donnie" He nods, "We never wanted you to feel like we don't care"

"I love you guys" Donnie begins, making his brothers smile, "But at the end of the day you won't listen, you can pretend all you want that you'll change after today but we both know you won't. For the first week you'll act all guilty then after that it'll be 'English, Donnie', 'Enough techno-babble', 'Shut up, Dork' and laughing at me telling me over and over that April and I will never happen, like I don't know that already!"

The brothers stare at Donatello as their hearts break.

"You never even listen when I'm trying to teach you first aid or how to keep the lair running! Tell me, what will happen if I get seriously injured? Like as in if you don't do something I will die? Do any of you even know how to stitch a wound?" He growls at the three. He blinks in surprise as the brothers go a sickly shade of white, "Uh… Guys?"

"We don't know anything!" Mikey squeaks tearfully,

"You're right" Leo gulps heavily, "What will we do? We don't know how to save you or help you… we don't even now how half of your gadgets work! We'll freeze!"

Raph suddenly hugs Donnie, the other two follow. Donnie realises they finally had a wake-up call, they knew nothing lasts forever and, in their lifestyle, it was only too likely that those things will happen.

"Hey" He sighs as he hugs his brothers back. "Calm down"

"No" Leo says using his leader voice. "From now on we will learn how to keep the lair functioning and at least basic first aid! But I want to learn how to do the stuff you do! I wanna be able to save my brothers' lives when I need to"

Donnie nods gently.

"Ok… I'll teach you guys all of it again" The boys cringe at the 'again' part.

"And from now on we'll actually listen" Mikey promises.

"No more talking to jars and inventions" Raphael commands wetly, "No matter what you're feeling or how embarrassed you are you come to one of us to talk. We won't make fun of you anymore or tell you to shut up"

Donatello seriously doubts all the guys are saying but decides to nod gently anyway, they do seem genuinely distraught now that they've realised what they've been doing. Maybe they will change for the better.

Even if they don't, Donnie will still love them. No matter what.

They all sleep in the pit together that night, all four brothers afraid of what the future could hold for them.

After that however things did start to change. The brothers still teased Donnie (Of course, they are family after all) but when Don needed to speak seriously, they would stay silent and listen.

All three brothers learned first aid and how to keep the lair running but Leonardo kept his promise, he took lessons on stitching wounds, curing poison and venom, how to treat a serious burn, cauterising, setting bones, head injuries, blood transfusions and more. Anytime a brother was hurt he would be by Don's side continuing to learn.

Raphael became Donnie's main confidant when it came to his thoughts and feelings, he knew how to stay quiet until he was done and offer advice when required but not push his views on his little bro.

Mikey started spending more time in the lab, he helped on projects and listened to Donnie's technobabble. He even began to learn what more of it means as he gained confidence in asking his brother to slow down and explain it for him so he could learn the lingo.

Donatello was happy to see his brothers take him seriously, it gave him hope for the future and assured him that they would be ok when he was gone.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!