Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the TMNT franchise in any way, shape, or form. No money is being made. This is just a labor of love for the series. Please don't sue me, Viacom!

Alternate Universe fic. The timeline is the same as the TV series until just after "The Pulverizer Returns". But right now, we are still nine years in the future.

Warnings: Still none here.

Hello, everyone! Thank you very much for coming back. I know that you could easily spend your time somewhere else, so it means the world to me that you are here. :) This chapter is, honestly, one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you do, please feel free to favorite, follow, and/or review. Your words are my encouragement and believe me, sometimes I need all the encouragement I can get!

Chapter 3

As Donatello watched his children go to the bedroom he felt devastatingly guilty. "I-I shouldn't have acted like that," he thought as he covered his eyes with one hand. "They were only asking questions. Questions that they have a right to know the answers to. But…but they are still too young. Yes. Too young to know just yet."

"Donnie?" Donatello turned to look at his siblings. When he saw the disbelief on their faces, he looked downward wretchedly. "That was the meanest I've seen you with them, bro," Michelangelo softly stated. "You do need to tell them. Why not now?"

"Mikey, they're only eight years old. They still have a lot of growing to do before they are ready for…THAT story," Donnie said feebly.

"I call them 'mini-Donnies' for a reason and it's not because they look like you," Mikey insisted. "I mean, only Hikaru-chan REALLY looks like you. Kaiya-chan's a near spitting image of their dad except for her fur and eye color. And Lewis…well…he looks like both of you…I mean the face and feet are his dad's but that shell, those hands, fur and eye col-"

"Mikey, you're rambling. The point, please?" Donatello stated as he tried not to get annoyed.

"Huh? Oh yeah! Um, I call them that because they act like you. I mean, JUST like you. I'm sure their dad is in there somewhere, but there's no hiding that they're all yours, Donnie. I think you should…you know…give them some credit," Mikey said quietly shrugging a bit.

Donatello looked away from Mikey. "Mikey, I know you're trying to help...but I think I know my children. And what's best for them. They are too young," he said determinedly as he turned to go to his lab. He had to tinker with something.

"Donatello."

Donnie froze before turning towards the voice that just spoke. "Sensei?" he said meekly while bowing his head. He was certain he didn't really want to hear this but he had to listen to his father.

"Michelangelo speaks the truth. Your children are far more mature than others of their age. Much like you were, my son. I understand that it will bring back unpleasant memories. However, you must place that aside. You must not let fear of your past dictate your future. Or your children's future," Splinter said as he came close to look into his second youngest son's eyes.

Donatello swallowed hard and looked away, eyes closed tightly. "Thank you, Sensei. You and Mikey do have a point, of course," he conceded. "However, I…I need to think. So, if you'll please excuse me?" His father watched him for a moment. Once he nodded, Donatello bowed respectfully and turned to go to his lab.

"Donnie?" Donatello stopped at the door and sighed before he turned to look wearily at his eldest brother. Leonardo approached him and rested his hand on Donatello's shoulder. "You know that whatever you decide to do, we've got your back, right?" Donnie's eyes relaxed a bit. He finally offered a small smile and nodded. Leonardo returned the smile with a more optimistic one. Leo was pleased to see Donnie's smile get a bit more life to it as he ducked into his 'sanctuary'.

"You think he's gonna be OK?" Raphael asked as he came up behind Leonardo. He glowered at the door in front of them. He hated it when his little brother got all withdrawn like this. Donnie thought too much, in Raph's opinion. Sometimes it made things worse.

"Yes, because we'll be here to make sure he is," Leo confidently stated. Raph smirked at this, content with this promise.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Donatello leaned tiredly against it. Part of him just wanted to go to bed. He was sore and drained, emotionally as well as physically. However, he was too tense and angry with this whole situation. There was no way he'd be able to sleep until he had his head on straight. What was so wrong with trying to keep his family in their happy, little bubble; to protect them from the ugliness of the truth? His eyes widened at this thought. He then chuckled quietly. "Now I know how Splinter felt when we were begging him to go topside for the first time: completely torn between exposing us to what we needed to learn about the world and shielding us from what he knew was dangerous about that same world."

His hands went to the sides of his head as he massaged his temples. There was the stress headache he'd been expecting. He winced before going over to his computer desk. While he woke the beast up, he reached for a bottle of migraine medicine and dosed himself without thinking. After he swallowed the pills, he abruptly thought, "Doesn't that stuff have caffeine?" He kicked himself before he double checked the contents and snorted amusedly. "Caffeine equivalent of one cup of coffee? Please, that wouldn't keep me up even if I'd washed it down with a Mountain Mist."

Relieved that he wasn't going to be staying awake all night via caffeine overdose again, he keyed his password and went to the security program he'd created. He checked all the sensors to be certain that none of them had been triggered or silenced as he'd promised Leo he would do. Once that was done, he started a diagnostic on the system to make sure that everything was in working order, at least as far as the computer was concerned. He'd make a physical check of the sensors when he was less tired. He yawned and checked the progress of a few simulations he had going while he waited. They seemed to be working just fine.

Not much to do now but wait for the diagnostic to finish. He leaned back in his chair as he picked up the bottle of drinking water he always kept in his lab. He took a sip before he absentmindedly pressed it down onto the trigger of his nearby vortex mixer. With a mechanical whir, the device began to vibrate the bottle causing the water inside to dance wildly. After a few moments, the machine swirled the fluid just the right way to create a whirlpool within the bottle. The perfect little cyclone was soothingly mesmerizing to watch and it held Donatello captive.

When he felt his eyes glaze over, he jerked out of the little trance he'd fallen into. He felt mortified as he realized that he'd just zoned out to the science equipment equivalent of a lava lamp. "Mikey and I MUST be related," he thought as he self-consciously looked around, hoping that no one had come in to see him doing that. He'd never hear the end of it! As he started to return to the computer, his eyes fell on…something.

That was the only word he could find for it. It sort of looked like a toaster but there was what seemed like an…arm coming off of it? "Lewis' project," Donnie guessed as he picked it up to examine it more closely. His eyes widened and he quickly moved a hand to catch the arm as it loosely swung down and almost fell completely off. He fought the urge to laugh at his son's adorable attempt at an invention as he put it back down before he broke it. It had a long way to go. However, he was certain that Lewis would get it working. The boy was brilliant. Just like his sisters. Donatello couldn't help a prideful smile as he thought of his three mischief makers.

The smile died as almost soon as it appeared as he remembered Lewis' face after he had snapped at Hikaru. He'd scared the child. Not just Lewis…he'd scared all three of them. The idea of his children being frightened of him was distressing. He wanted them to respect him, but he never felt that respect required fear. And yet, he was using fear and intimidation to keep them from asking questions he was too cowardly to answer. His eyes widened before he closed them and hung his head in shame. That was what it boiled down to. Sure, protecting the children had its part in this debacle but really, he was simply afraid. Afraid to relive that part of his life and…perhaps worst of all…afraid of how his children would see him after the truth was told. What would he do if they turned away from him? "I'd die," Donatello plainly answered the question churning in his mind. An emotional lump rose in his throat and he took a deep breath to calm himself. He didn't need to lose it over possibilities. What he needed to do was stop hiding. Sensei was right, as always.

A chime from the computer pulled him away from his thoughts. He glanced at the machine and sighed wearily. As he slipped back in front of it, he realized just how tired he was. "What time is it anyway?" he mumbled as he looked at the screen. "Two in the morning?! No wonder I'm so tired. Oh, training is going to be a nightmare," he bemoaned. He glanced at the coffee machine on the other side of his lab. It called to him. He entertained the idea of purposefully overdosing himself and plowing through what was left of the night and all of the next day on adrenaline, caffeine, and tenacious will. However, three hours sleep was still better than no hours so he quickly looked at the results of the diagnostic. The program was in order as he thought it would be so he logged off and went to go crawl into bed.

Only he was stupid enough to still be up at this hour, so he was able to get to his bedroom without delay. Once he was inside, he took out his T-phone so he could use it as a flashlight. The kids were all tucked in bed and sleeping peacefully. He smiled even as he thought about how he REALLY needed to get them their own beds. They were getting a little too big to still be sleeping with Mom, no matter how comforting Mom found it. As he approached, he saw the mess Hikaru made with her gear and shook his head. Someone was going to get hurt if he left it. With his luck, it'd be him so he knelt down to gather it together. He draped her mask across the top of her stuff and placed it beside her siblings' gear. He couldn't help but touch each of his children's masks affectionately: brown for Lewis, black for Kaiya, and pink for Hikaru.

After everything was in place, he took off his own gear, organizing it as he had with Hikaru's. Then he began his attempt to get into bed. He knelt on edge of the bed and carefully eased himself over the sleeping youngsters to wedge himself between the wall beside his bed and Kaiya. It would have been easier to just tuck himself on the outside of the bed behind Lewis. However, if one of the children needed to use the restroom in the night, he would be a difficult obstacle to overcome. As soon as he'd settled, he rested an arm above their heads and watched them for a bit. He smiled tenderly as Kaiya rolled over towards him and snuggled into his plastron. His smile became a touch relieved as Hikaru and Lewis cuddled up behind Kaiya, effectively pinning him against the wall. He sighed contently, draped his free arm over the little ones, and buried his nose into Kaiya's mane. "Yes," he thought as sleep swiftly approached. "It's time to stop hiding. For them. No matter what happens, they need to know."

A/N: It looks like Donnie's made his decision! Just what does he have to tell his little ones that has him so nervous? We'll start to get some answers soon! Thank you for your time with me. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. Please, PLEASE let me know if you are with a favorite, follow, and/or a review. I love hearing from you guys! :D