A/N: I just want to thank everyone who has given thoughtful reviews and PMs about this story so far. Knowing that people actually find this story interesting makes me feel all kinds of awesome inside. This chapter is giving a bit of insight on Donatello. I promise there will be drama, angst, action, and suspense in later chapters. Just hold tight as I set the stage for things to come. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Donnie groaned turning his head side to side to lessen the stiffness in his neck. Scratching his arm, he smacked his lips together loosening a film of dried saliva. Utter exhaustion usually brought forth the shameless drooling. Thankfully, his lab notes were only slightly dampened. Donnie glanced at the time on his computer screen. It was 5:35am.

Great. Just enough time to drink some coffee and start practice at this god-awful hour. After saving his computer files, Donnie shuffled into the kitchen.

Eyes barely open, Donnie made a fumbled beeline to the coffee maker. Too early for actual words, he grunted in curious surprise to find his "Number 1 Genius" mug already filled with steamy coffee. His uncaffeinated mind could not be bothered with where the coffee came from. It only mattered that it was there and in need of drinking. Making another noncommittal noise, he shrugged his shoulders deciding not to look this vital gift horse in the mouth.

Just as he brought the brewed goodness to his lips, he noticed something white and frothy in the mug. Opening his eyes a little wider he noticed a strange design. As if painted with a miniature brush, the inside of his mug was a coffee/cream work of art. The coffee was the canvas while the fluffy cream was swirled with purpose creating a…ninja turtle?

Mikey. Donnie thought with a small smile. Only he would be so creative as to turn coffee into an artistic masterpiece. The image was surprisingly detailed yet cartoony; he even managed to make the little turtle a bo-welder. Donnie almost hated to drink it.

Almost. His need for caffeine was overriding his infrequent love of art. He downed half the mug in two swallows. Eyes closed and shoulders relaxed, he hummed in satisfaction.

"You finished with your coffee-gasm over there?"

Donnie nearly spluttered his coffee, startled by the sudden voice. In his coffee-seeking, zombie-like state he hadn't noticed his brother sitting at the table obnoxiously crunching on cereal with a rather amused look on his face. His initial shock was replaced with a narrow-eyed glare. He was still pretty irritated by Raph's teasing last night. Scratching his arm, he said nothing as he leaned against the counter and took another swallow of coffee.

"What're you so pissy about?" Taking another long sip, he continued to ignore Raphael, "What's the matter? Didn't get enough alone time with your hammer last night?"

Donnie's mouth twitched into a grimace, but showed no further sign of acknowledgement. Dumping the last few swallows of coffee down the drain, the mug clattered into the sink as he stalked out of the kitchen. He rolled his eyes as he heard Raph's snort of laughter behind him. Usually he was better at ignoring Raphael's taunting, and usually Raphael waited until after his second cup of coffee before he commenced with offensive comments. Actually, the fact that Raphael was picking on him this morning instead of Mikey was highly unusual. Not that Raph discriminated in his teasing (because he didn't), but for him to intentionally seek out Donatello for a good ribbing was rare. Obviously there was going to be a blue moon tonight.

This morning was not starting out well. Leonardo smiled at him as he came out of his room heading for the kitchen.

"Good Morning, Do-" He brushed past Leonardo with a deep scowl plastered on his face. The rest of Leo's greeting died on his lips as he caught a glimpse of the foul mood practically seething from the purple-banded turtle, "Ookay?" Leo gave him a concerned look.

Donnie didn't bother offering Leo an explanation. He was a smart turtle, he'd figure it out. Making a straight route for the dojo to avoid any further interactions, he suddenly stopped in his tracks when he saw the back of Mikey's head from the couch. He gave a small sigh before silently walking toward his younger brother. He really should thank him for the coffee.

Standing behind the couch he watched his brother. Quietly, Mikey sat cross-legged on the couch. He was fidgeting with his leg bands instead of watching the zany cartoon currently flashing across the TV screen. His shoulders were slumped forward, then there was that look on his face. Even though Mikey was easily the most readable of all of his brothers, Donnie still couldn't quite name the open display of emotions on his brother's face.

He supposed he could just ask him what was wrong, but from past experiences the bluntness of that question usually had the opposite affect. Instead of getting an accurate answer, he received a more evasive one which would result in a game of 'Guess What's Wrong with Mikey' which he wasn't sure he had the mental stamina for this early in the morning. Scratching his arm, Donnie frowned thoughtfully; he could figure this out.

Behavior and reactions were recordable, predictable, easy to decipher. Feelings? Not so much. Over the years, Donnie managed to cover up his incompetent interpersonal skills by focusing more on how his family behaved and reacted rather than how they felt. He was usually clever enough to match their behavior with the appropriate emotion.

The wheels turned fiercely in Donnie's mind as he began to puzzle together his brother's recent actions. Mikey made me fancy coffee, which Mikey doesn't do, unless Mikey wants something, Donnie thought, continuing his mental monologue, He would be cheesing up to me by now if he wanted something. Instead he's sitting in front of the TV, but not watching the TV even though his favorite show is on. Which clearly means he came to the den to avoid something, not watch TV. He's not harassing Raph….why? Because Raph obviously still has the upper-hand on him from last night's condom fiasco. So, he's avoiding Raph because he's still embarrassed...Yes, that sounds about right, but there's something else…

Donnie had only figured out half the reason for Mikey's sullen behavior, but there was something else just below the surface that Donnie was having a hard time grasping. His eyes roamed over his brother in search of additional clues. His eyes caught sight of Mikey's hands.

Fidget. Snap. Fidget. Snap.

It was a clear rhythmic sound as Mikey pulled against his leg wrappings and let it go with a small reverberating 'snap'. People make rhythmic sounds with their bodies when they are waiting for something. He's avoiding Raph, Leo just left the den, and he's definitely not eagerly awaiting practice with Master Splinter. That only leaves…me? Then the realization clicked.

The coffee, the isolated waiting; Mikey was definitely still embarrassed but he was also trying to make amends for last night. Mikey's ignorance had not only caused him to be mocked, but was the indirect cause of Donnie's teasing as well. He was waiting for Donnie to forgive him.

The internal deduction took a mere minute and thirty seconds in the genius turtle's mind, but it was still an exhausting thought process regardless.

It was beyond him why Mikey would need his forgiveness. It was a ridiculous notion. Wasn't Mikey's naiveté last night evident enough to avoid blame? It wasn't his filthy comments that were grating his nerves right now. Raph should be the one apologizing for dragging him into his mockery. Donnie never truly understood the complexity of emotions, and his youngest brother was constantly overflowing with them. As long as he used his logical 'cheat sheet' he could work around those sentiments for the most part.

Well, there is no reason for both of us to feel rotten today.

Without a word, Donnie plopped down on the couch beside him, tapping his thumbs together across his plastron. "Hey," he said nonchalantly after another moment of silence.

"Hey," Mikey replied quietly without lifting his head from the fidgeting of his leg band.

"Who knew coffee could be so intricately artsy." Donnie said causally, his eyes never leaving his hands. Half a beat later, both brothers looked at each other with a small smile and immediately the silence was broken.

"You liked it?"

"It was awesome, tasted great too," He really was appreciative of the coffee even if a certain brother kept him from enjoying the last few morsels, "So how did you draw a ninja in my coffee?" Donnie asked crossing his arms over his chest and quirking his brow.

"Dude, it was easy! I used a toothpick like a paintbrush, it's all in the wrist. The hardest part was making sure the milk was-"

He smiled and nodded as Mikey's voice took on its usual animated tone again. Donnie was glad he was able to pull the younger turtle out of his gloomy mood and in the process lightening his own mood. Now if they could just get this practice over with! He had so much work to do in his lab and—

"Don?"

Scratching his arm, Donnie blinked to attention at the sound of his name. "I'm listening….milk must be cold before steaming…pour and shake…toothpick for a brush, all in the wrist, got it." Donnie said with an impressive smirk. He was an expert at juggling several thought processes at once all while carrying on a conversation with someone. Mikey currently had about 80% of his attention.

"I was asking if we were cool?" Mikey asked again, his fist still held out to Donnie.

Make that 75% of his attention. Donnie saw the emotions dancing across Mikey's face again as he waited for his response.

"Always." Donnie said with a smile as he returned the fist bump. "It wasn't your fault anyway; Raph was being a-"

"Practice, guys!" Leo said clapping his hands together effectively interrupting Don and Mikey as he headed toward the dojo.

With a final look of reassurance to Mikey that all was well, Donnie rose to his feet scratching his arm as he reluctantly walked toward the dojo with Mikey close behind.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review! Next chapter coming soon!