Fractured

Wash It Away...

A single drop of water fell idly from a recently silenced faucet, landing with a gentle, echoing resonance into a filled tub. Not even two seconds afterwards, the waters shifted gracefully with the movement of two masses; one was leaned up against the back of the tub tensely, the other leaned towards the other with uncertainty, hesitancy.

Leo swallowed dryly as he lifted a lightly lathered washcloth towards his mildly distressed younger brother. The eldest turtle wasn't so certain about this whole situation. It wasn't like they hadn't bathed together before... but this would be the first time Leo wouldn't know how Donnie would response. Not to mention that when they used to do things like this, things got rather intimate near the end of the bath... then they would continue what they had started in the bedroom.

This situation was different, however. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Donatello had been sexually traumatized; the last thing Don needed was a sexually intimate situation. Although Leo had never been in that sort of predicament, he was certain that he wouldn't feel comfortable with participating in acts of intimacy for a long while... even if it was with his own mate...

... But Don had softly asked Leo to bathe with him after the genius had cried to his heart's content and after Leatherhead insisted that Don take a long, cleansing bath or shower. Leo had been a bit surprised by the gentle plea but he had agreed anyway; how could he say no to his brother at a time like this? How could Leo say no to Donnie at all? It was just that the turtle leader would have thought that his brother would be more comfortable with bathing in privacy. The last thing Leo thought that his brother needed right now were hands of another person helping to clean his bruised body.

"U-um," Leo started with hesitation, gazing back at his lover who was curled up slightly at the other end of tub, his form tightening up slightly when Leo waded closer towards his with the washcloth in hand, "Are you... sure about this Donnie?"

Don mocha eyes were open and aware but he seemed to be trying his hardest not look at Leo directly, "Yes... I'm sure. I-I don't want to be alone... and..."

He paused, his arms wrapping loosely around his bent knees before he continued, "... and I trust you, aniki." (1)

Leo swallowed again before he nodded with a quick dip of his chin, "A-alright then."

The turtle leader moved a little closer to his lover before he tenderly, gently gripped one of his hands and unwound it from around his olive green legs. Don tensed for a second before he relaxed, releasing a nearly inaudible sigh when Leo began to run the lathered cloth over his bruised, discolored skin. Leo was careful to apply enough pressure to remove any and all hints of dirt or grim but was gentle enough not to bother the disturbed, pained pigmentations.

The bath seemed to take forever. Leo obviously didn't mind doing this task for his troubled beloved... but it was very disconcerting when Don wouldn't look at him. The brainy turtle hadn't locked eyes with him- not even once- since they had entered the tub together. As a matter of fact, Donatello hadn't looked directly at Leonardo since the turtle leader had coaxed him out of his half-sleep panic attack. They has always been able to comfortably create eye contact... they even preferred to speak through glances sometimes... so why-?

"A-ah!" Donnie gasped sharply, his smaller form swiftly backing up until his shell all but slammed into the back of the tub. Leo controlled his bewilderment, retracting his hands a quickly as he could and lifting them up as a sign of peace and surrender. All he had tried to do was wipe tentatively at the bend of Don's left knee. He knew the olive turtle was a little ticklish around the joints but he hadn't applied enough pressure to create a reaction like that.

"Donnie? I'm sorry; did I hurt you?" He asked, concern flooding his voice as he fluidly draped the washcloth over the side of the tub.

Don eyes rose, focusing in on Leo's collarbone- it appeared that was the closest the other could get to Leo's face at the moment, "No... no, you didn't... my fault..."

"... You're fault?" Leo asked with uncertainty, leaning towards Don in order to hear him better with respect to Don's personal space.

"M-memory," Don stated in a clarifying tone, even though it ironically didn't seem to illuminate anything, "... Teeth..."

"...What?"

Don inhaled deeply, closing his eyes before he exhaled a long, thoughtful breath. Although Leo could not read the other's face without those two mocha pools giving him aid, he could still sense that Don was fighting to get an accurate statement across, "O-one...one liked to bite... a-always bit me whenever... w-whenever he..."

A flare of intense, hateful anger shot up Leo's spine and churned swiftly in his gut but he was able to catch himself before a growl slipped past his lips. He gulped down his hatred for the sick, sorry excuse for human flesh that dared to do this to his precious person before he considerately reached for the spot where he had last touched before he had been so abruptly stopped. Don gasped again but only flinched this time, reluctantly allowing Leo to lift his knee above the water for a better look. Although his grey eyes couldn't see all that well, due to how Don's skin contorted at the bend, he could still make out a semi circle scar- a partial row of teeth marks.

"P-please don't stare," Don pleaded softly, tugging at his legs slightly as a silent way of telling Leo to let go. The leader did so hesitantly, whispering a silent apology as he set Don's leg back in its prior position, "I'm... I'm s-so sorry, Leo..."

Leo's eye ridges drew in with confusion, just like the first time Don had apologized since he had been awake. Why was he apologizing again? Surely he wasn't doing it because of his claims of killing another or for letting someone else touch him; neither instances were his fault.

Before Leo could ask why the other was apologizing again, Don's eyes swiftly locked with his, stopping the flow of the turtle leader's original thoughts cold in their tracks. Leo's voice caught in his throat as he automatically began to read the pain- oh, God, was there pain-, the turmoil, the shame,... the over all feeling of being used and manipulated in such a low, inhuman way...

Gods, why had he not looked harder to find him? Why had he not pushed himself to search the city ten times over. Perhaps if he had found him sooner than maybe he wouldn't be as rattled, as broken,... as fragile as he was now...

Leo's jaw clenched, his eyes straining to retain eye contact with those tragically beautiful, deeply tormented pools of chocolate, "You... you're not at fault for anything, Donnie."

"But I am," He reinforced, his form moving closer to Leo by several inches, his hands reaching up to gently grip at the other's bright green shoulders, "If... if I had just l-listened to you that day..."

Don paused, reluctant to continue, but Leo didn't need for him to finish; he knew what the genius was talking about already, "No. None of this is your fault, Don. None of it. You... you had every right to challenge me that day. I had stepped out of line. I was... I was just being overprotective of you-"

"For good reason," Don quietly but abruptly cut in, "M-my stubbornness g-got me into this mess. N-now I just feel like... like a dirty ragdoll; limp... used..."

He blinked hard, as if his eyelids had gotten stuck for a moment, before he continued, "How... how could you still look at me t-the same? How c-can you n-not be disgusted with me? How can y-you still... still lov-"

Leo silenced Don with a soft kiss, causing the turtle genius to go rigid for several seconds before he slowly relaxed. Leo pulled Don's slightly trembling body toward him fully, until olive green thighs straddled an apple green lap. Don suddenly threw his all into the kiss, nearly causing Leo to choke as the genius's arms wrapped fully around his broad shoulders. The connection ended shortly after, Don's eyes slowly opening to find Leo's grey eyes already regarding him the patience, wonder, and love he had always expressed towards the genius.

"Don't you ever, ever believe that I'll stop loving you," Leo breathed, pressing his nose to Don's affectionately, "I'll always love you. We'll get through this, okay? No matter how long it takes, we'll get through. It will be alright, Donnie."

Several seconds passed between them before Don closed his eyes, successfully repressing another flow of tears for all but ten seconds as he buried his face into Leo's shoulder, "Okay..."

(1) Aniki- Older brother

A/N: Alot of tears going around, huh? I promise that there won't be a lot of crying later on in the story. I will only place it where it's appropriate. Don is still in shock... plus he needs to get some sleep and some food. Once he get's those, he'll start to become clearer.

I placed a line from the song this story is based on 'Never too late' in this chapter. It's a very small part but it's there. Can you find where and what it is? If so, I'll take a T-cest fanart request :3

Hint: It is said by either Leo or Don so it'll be somewhere in-between the quotation marks