Fractured

Chicken Soup for the Mutant Soul

Donatello was slowly brought out from a thankfully dreamless sleep when he felt soft, considerate kisses press gingerly at his forehead, cheeks, eye lids, and nose. Each individual kiss seemed to be slow and carefully placed, as if each touch had a specific, designated location to be administered. Don sighed with contentment, automatically recognizing the warm, sturdy arms that embraced him with care, the soothing aroma of sandalwood, candle wax, and musk that danced around him, and—of course—the gentle lips that now seemed to worship his face with attention.

It was a relief—no, a miracle—that he was finally able to awaken to comfort and security rather than suffering and fear. He could finally relax now; he was home and in the welcoming embrace of his family and—more literally—his lover. There was nothing to be afraid of anymore; he was home and safe from his demons… for now.

"Leo…," the genius croaked out, his voice, still heavy with sleep as he shifted slightly in his lover's grip. His eyes slowly opened, lazily making out the bright, apple green color of his mate's skin but was unable to focus fully on Leo's face; everything look distorted and fuzzy, the haze of sleep still held strong on his sight.

"Good morning Donnie," Leo's smooth, milky voice was like a lullaby to his ears, causing a gentle blush to reach the genius's soft olive cheeks. He didn't really know how much he missed Leo's voice until it was vibrating next to his ear. He felt another kiss press to his snout just as his vision cleared and refocused, his eye connecting with the wise grey eyes of his leader and lover.

"Good… morning," the genius cringed between words, hating how his voice sounded so scratchy and eroded. The taste on his tongue was disgustingly sour, bitter… acidic even; had he thrown up sometime between his escape and now? He didn't quite remember if he did…

Donnie gasped lightly when Leo's arms moved over his waist and wound around his shell, pulling him closer to his chest and deeper into his embrace. Leo was careful not to crush the genius against him as he buried his face into the smooth curve of Don's neck, inhaling deeply when he settled, "Gods, I missed you…"

Don remained silent for several seconds before he closed his eyes, his form curling closer to his mate—if that was even physically possible anymore—as he gently returned the strong, heartfelt hug, "I… missed you too…"

Leo sighed out laboriously, trying to rein his emotions in but only partly succeeded in doing so. He pulled back a little, until his nose was brushing against his partner's tenderly. One of the leader's hands unwound from around Don's body to softly brush the backs of his fingers against an olive cheek, touching it as if it were made of something precious or sacred. Leo swallowed, his eyes scanning over the other's face multiple times before he decided to break the short silence, "You… you sound better."

Don knew that that wasn't what Leo was going to say but didn't have the nerve or willpower to push him to say more. He nodded against the cottony, blue pillows that cushioned and conformed underneath his head, "The sleep helped a lot but… it kind of hurts to talk now."

Leo frowned at that response, his thumb running delicately along the slightly darker skin underneath the other's eye, "Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No," Don said without missing a beat, shaking his head curtly before sweetly nuzzling his nose against Leo's cheek and jaw, "Just stay with me… please?"

Leo blinked before his lips formed into a warm, considerate smile. He leaned in to press a short, chaste kiss to Don's lips, the genius allowing the action of affection wholeheartedly, "You don't even need to ask."

Don smiled—weakly but genuinely—before he snuggled deeper into the leader's protective hold, his arms tightening slightly around Leo's waist as he greedily breathed in Leo's relaxing scent. The genius's ear settled against the juncture of the turtle leader's neck, listening to the steady beating of his lover's heart, allowing it to lull him into a light sleep. Several minutes after the two had settled against one another in a warm cocoon of amethyst blankets, cobalt pillows, and green limbs, a soft but firm rapping upon their bedroom door jerk them out of their quiet, little asylum.

Leo exhaled an irritated breath, causing Don to quiver with a contained chuckle. The leader's eyes narrowed, glaring past his lover and at the offending door, "…Yes?"

"Room service~," said the familiarly chipper voice of the youngest and most lively of the turtle brothers, Michelangelo. Donnie had reluctantly reopened his eyes at this point, staring absently at Leo's Adam's apple as the turtle leader responded to the muffled statement.

"… Sorry, didn't order any."

Leo could imagine Mikey's wide grin turning into an adorable, slightly dejected pout, "Aw, come on Leo. You can't hog Donnie all to yourself. We all missed him; not just you. Besides, I made him some food; he must be starving."

As if on cue, Don's stomach released a low, hungry growl, causing his cheeks to become warm with bashfulness. Leo's eyes flickered to his mate's face briefly, his eye ridges furrowing with understanding. The turtle leader had forgotten what Leatherhead had said about Don's condition, superficially, before the larger mutant had done a more thorough examination in the lab. Although the intellectual turtle had not been completely starved, he had still been withheld from retaining the nourishment he needed from a day-to-day basis. Leo could verify this for himself from the amount of weight—although minimal—that had been lost from around Donnie's waist and hips. Could two weeks really cause such a change?

"…Soooo, are you going to let me in or not?" Mikey said with a huff of irritation, "His soup is getting colder and colder by the second. Don't make me start whining, bro. You know I will—"

"Oh stop bein' so dramatic, numbskull," Another voice interjected—Raphael's, to be precise—from the other side of the door as well, causing Don to blink owlishly with surprise and for Leo to roll his eyes, "Ya just made it; it's still pipin' hot."

"S-so? Donnie still needs to eat something and… and I want to see him," Mikey said, the very beginnings of a whine began to brew up in his speech.

After several seconds of silent, conversational glances between brown and grey orbs, Leo reluctantly decided to give his other brother's 'the okay' to enter. Leo groaned, shaking his head lazily and tucking Don's head under his chin before he answered Mikey's previous question with a low, monotone voice, "Come in…"

Merely a millisecond afterwards, the door slammed open, the ball of endless turtle energy that was Michelangelo stood proudly in the middle of the door way, balancing a bed tray in one hand and a tall glass of water in the other hand. His sea green face was a mixture of cuteness and determination as his big baby blues zoomed in on Donatello's blanketed form. Leo stared at his youngest brother with wide, startled eyes, mirroring Don's expression to the 'T'. Raph stood directly behind his orange loving mate, his arms crossed over his broad chest as he shook his head sadly at Mikey's less than subtle entrance.

"You're damn right I can come in!" Mikey all but shouted, glaring as much as his wide, childish eyes would allow at Leo. The leader was trying his hardest to keep a straight face as he watched the trickster struggle to keep his serious frown from turning into a pout, "Do you have any idea how worried I was? I only got to see him for ten seconds yesterday—twenty tops—and now you're trying to hide him away in your room for the whole day? Unacceptable!"

Leo snorted, reluctantly letting go of his lover to sit up a little in bed, "Who said anything about hiding him away for a whole day, Mikey? It's only—" the blue loving turtle quickly glanced at the alarm clock that sat upon the nightstand beside the bed, confirming that it was still morning"—9:45."

"…Yeah well… well he still needs to eat," Mikey said defensively, a light blush of embarrassment reached his cheeks as his confident presence slumped only slightly with uncertainty, "L-LH said that he hadn't eaten much while he was gone so… so I made him some chicken noodle soup. It's his favorite so…"

Leo smiled warmly and Don slowly turned over in order to face the door and his other two brothers before he gingerly sat up in bed; his mocha eyes locked onto Mikey's for the first time since he had woken up. The trickster's eyes widened significantly when he finally gazed upon his damaged brother, a sheen of moisture almost automatically fogged over the oceanic blue. His lower lip began to tremble as he began to shift deeper into the room, his form making it's way over to Leo and Don's bed with sudden hesitance and uncertainty.

Raphael followed his mate in, his amber eyes zooming in on the bruises that had been covered up by the blankets around his brother's shoulders, neck, and arms. He was able to contain his anger… but only barely. How dare someone lay their dirty, grabby hands on his younger brother in such a sick, twisted, disgusting way? Who the hell gave them the right or authority to do so? What the fuck made them think that raping someone in this manner—be them human or mutant—was okay? Oh, Gods, he couldn't wait until he got his hands on the sons of bitches that did this. Oh… he couldn't wait until he made them pay for what they did…

"Oh… Donnie," Mikey said distraughtly as he slowly knelt at the side of the bed, the tears had quickly built up and were now streaming down his sea green cheeks. The youngest turtle brother had not been able to see Don clearly that day… but now that he was getting an unblocked view of his immediate older brother, a part of him wished he hadn't. Donatello looked so… small, so delicate; the trickster never though he would witness a day where Don looked so fragile, "I'm… I'm s-so sorry."

Don smiled slightly at his little brother, unearthing one of his hands from beneath the covers and resting it gently on top of the other's head. Mike stared up at the other with bewilderment though he still appeared to be greatly troubled by his brother's condition. The intellectual turtle spoke with as much vocal power as he could muster at the moment, trying his hardest to keep a grimace off of his face; he never knew the simple act of talking could be so painful, "It's… okay Mikey. Nothing was… your fault. It couldn't be… helped…"

"Y-yeah but…"

"Oh would ya stop cryin' already?" Raph interjected, glaring dully at the back of his mate's head. All eyes turned to him with either astonishment or reprehension, "It ain't gonna change nothin' and it ain't gonna help anybody… plus yer gonna get tears in Don's soup."

"O-oh! Right! I-I'm sorry," Mikey's form perked up slightly, turning back around to face his brother before he placed the bed tray upon Donnie's lap, the glass of chilled water soon followed, "H-here you go."

Don blinked at the small spread that was placed before him, the gentle, delectable aroma of a steaming broth, botanical seasonings, and zesty spices sashayed and danced towards his nostrils with a relaxing allure. Man, did he miss food… well, food that he knew wasn't contaminated or tampered with. He gulped to moisten his throat, eyeing the plate of golden brown biscuits that sat next to the bowl of soup with delicious companionship. His stomach growled again with anticipation but he was far too mesmerized by the display to care, "You… you made this?"

Mikey nodded, his mother-hen face had been traded in for an innocent, approval seeking face, an expression he usually used on Master Splinter or Leo, "Uh huh! And I know how much you hate Campbell's canned soup so I kind of, sort of… maybe needed some help with getting the ingredients to make it myself."

"… H-help?" A sense of panic began to bubble just below the surface of Don's façade but it didn't go unnoticed by Mike… or the two eldest brothers, matter of fact…

The orange wearing turtle stared at his brother for all but five seconds before he answered his brother with a bright, considerate grin, "…Yup!~ Angel had gone to the supermarket for me yesterday afternoon. Hehe, she was a real sweetie about it too, even though she tried to sound all tough and badass over the phone. Heyyyy, you know…she's kind of like Raphie—tough on the outside but super gooey on the inside."

Raph's amber eyes snapped to Mike's head once again, glaring heatedly at the back of it. He was still mad at his lover for waking him up so freaking early in the morning, so he really wasn't in the mood for insults right now, no matter how little or innocent they were, "I ain't gooey, Mi—"

"Gooey, I say!~" Mikey reinforced, causing Leo to chuckle and for Raphael to grumble incoherently with contained aggravation.

"So, Angel brought the food this time, huh?" Leo asked, a chuckle still in his voice, "Why not April?"

Mikey frowned slightly, shrugging one of his shoulders as he watched Don slowly pick up a utensil—a spoon—and steady it in his shaky grasp, "I tried calling her first but she wouldn't pick up her phone… so I just called Angel instead."

"Hmm… maybe she had some errands to run. She has been a bit busy this past month," Leo said, musing out loud while he sat up more fully in bed, "Either way, it was very kind of you to make this for Don, Mikey."

Mikey frown was swiftly replaced by a smile, "Of course. I wanted to help Donnie out too… and since you and Leatherhead are already taking care of him with… well, you know, I thought it would be nice to make him some comfort food. You know, like… like soup for the soul or something."

"I think that's a title of an actual book, Mikey," Don said sheepishly before taking a thorough, generous sip of the soup. He hummed with contentment, a calm smile touching his lips as he savored the warm, moderately salty taste, "… this is really good."

The reaction was immediate; Mikey's blue orbs sparkled with mirth and his lips parted into a proud, blinding grin, "Really? 'Cause… 'Cause I was trying this new recipe I found online and—"

"Alright, Martha Stewart, I think he gets the point," Raph said, rolling his eyes as he finally closed the distance between himself and his other brothers. Donatello glanced up from his plate and Mikey to look at Raph's approaching form, the hot-head's bright, amber eyes burning with an intensity that he usually only saw on the battle field. The genius didn't know what to make of the look but didn't ponder on it long as one of Raph's arms uncurled from its crossed state, his larger, emerald hand reaching forward to gently, reassuringly smooth over the plain of Don's bald head.

"… Are ya okay?" Raph asked in a way that made Don feel like he was being asked that question for the very first time since he got home. The intellectual turtle wrote it off as just a 'Raphael-thing'; the head strong turtle had a way of putting so much passion into his words and actions that it made you feel… special, looked after, and truly loved. Donatello highly doubted that he was the only one to experience this from the red clad ninja anyway.

Don cleared his throat lightly, as if to dislodge the dryness at the back of his throat, before he began to talk again, "I'm fine, Raphie. Healing and… a little rattled but… I'm fine."

Raph stared for another couple of seconds, taking in the damage that littered Don's body, namely the bruises—in the shape of hand prints—that encircled the other's long, elegant neck. He clenched his jaw; one of the bastards had held Don down so hard that he must of nearly suffocated his brother. Raphael hoped that the one responsible for that was the one that Don killed… because if that fucker was still walking around and breathing air, he was going to go animalistic on that prick's sorry ass. The hot-head swallowed thickly, roughly tearing his gaze away, opting to lock onto Leo's grey, somewhat unsteady gaze, "… Glad ta hear it, genius. Now… eat up."

Don smiled as his brother's hand retracted from him, his mocha eyes wondering back to tray as he lifted another spoonful of warm broth to his lips. Mikey smiled warm at the display before him, crossing his arms over the bed's edge and resting his head on top of them. They were all back together again… and even though Don wasn't quite himself just yet, he knew that the genius would heal… just as long as everyone pitched in to help find and mend the pieces of his fractured soul.

A/N: Wooooaaa, that took a while XD but at least it didn't take as long it would have if I had a serious writer's block. That would have been killer, as well as annoying u.u

Anyway, this is just a bonding chapter between the brothers… not comes the hard, emotional, angsty, WTF, and cryptic stuff

…

-cracks knuckles- It's on!~