Chapter Three: What is missed?

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment - Buddha

Tracing out basic math of addition and subtraction with his fingers kept Donnie from loosing it and giving into the pit of guilt building every passing hour. It was just so quiet in this place with Raph having slipped into sleep from the sounds of heavy snoring drifting in from the vent. If one of them could sleep in any place it was Raphael. Had to be some kind of ninja talent he had picked up from bunking with Mikey in their old lair as kids.

Smiling weakly, he recalled his two other brothers, and wanted to be home in their new Lair with Leo doing his sword moves, Mikey over on the couch with a comic in his hands, and the thump-thump of Raph hitting his punching bag. It was those little sounds that had always filled their home, the sounds you missed in this silence. Would they get home? Could they ever get out of this place and find the others alive?

We have no idea if Mike or Leo is even alive or dead? Or if they are even here with us right now. He thought, all the more of the thoughts flooding his mind. I wish we had just one sign they were ok.

His finger that kept tracing the same number over and over paused. Donnie put his hand back on his kneepad and shivered a bit more, feeling this depth of loneliness for the first time in his short life. Did Leo feel this way when he thought his family was dead those other times they had been captured?

"Donnie, you still kicking it over there, bro?"

Raph's voice was a welcome sound to the genius' ears at that moment. He smiled in hearing the slur of words "Yah, just thinking"

Something of a lost sound filled his younger brother's voice. Oh this was not good at all! If Don was starting to lose hope then what would happen to him? "Donnie, stop thinking so much. If you over think a situation and all, it's all you can see. Master Splinter taught me that one."

Blinking in surprise, Don wondered how Raph had known he had just been doing that exact thing.

"You always over think stuff, Brainiac. Been that way since we were kids, ya know."

The bo user thought for a moment more on Raph's words in their observations of his character. Most of the time he let things mull over in his mind till it reached a breaking point that would drive him insane. Often it would go unnoticed by his brothers and even his father, because of the calm and composed mask Donatello always had on—his own way to hide from the world. So when had Raph seen through it?

The only way to know was to ask, right? The only bad question was the one not asked or the one that had no answer.

"How did you notice, Raphael?" Chewing the words a bit. "None of the others have, so how did you pick it up?

He creased his brow for a moment: it was an odd question from his brother. How had he noticed what? That Donnie would work himself into a tizzy over issues half the time that weren't his own? Or how when he got mad he would work on the same project for hours and hours even if he hit the same nail numerous times? Boy, did Genius not have a clue or what?

Rubbing his forehead, he spoke out the words, "I noticed because we are brothers, Donnie, last time I checked our family history."

Raph was always simple and to the point, but it still left Donnie a bit more in the dark of this while line of conversations forming. "Details, Raph. In a personal note, you are the first one to say this to me out loud. None of the others have picked up certain on details when I tend to go off in one of my moods."

Something was odd in Donnie's voice, almost way too calm for the hothead's taste. He reached up and pulled his mask down from his face, and rubbed his temples in a circler motion as their father had done more than once raising them. How did he see what the others did not and in detail? Man, did Genius know how to hit him upside the head in the mental department.

"Your hands. You tend to grip things tighter on your left side when you're angry or pissed. Or you seem to go off into la la land and just redo the same motion over and over when working on, say, the Battle Shell. " Raph just spat out the images he could recall at the moment. "Or sometimes you get super silent, like way too silent—even for you, Donnie."

Hearing this insight made even the brainy one of the brothers think a bit and even smile to himself in a warm thought to Raph. Of all the three, he seemed to note those little things about them that all the others missed.

"Thanks, Raph…"

"What for, Donnie?"

He smiled as he said, "For just being you and being my brother, hothead."

So maybe Donnie had lost it? How could he switch from one mood to another so quickly? Oh well, go with the flow on this one, Splinter might say. "Yah, sure, no problem, Donnie. So any idea on how we get out of here?"

The purple-masked one stood up as he began to think. "I believe and I do know that I told April if we did not call or connect with her by 12 a.m. that something has happened, and to get Master Splinter and Casey. And by my internal clock, I do believe we have been passed out for over 24 hours, if my math is right, so they should be looking for us and knowing April, I taught her how to hack and find us with our GPS on the cell shells and also the one I slipped under my own skin as a back up."

"Donnie, take a breath, man, you're going to die from lack of air to your brain." Raph laughed in hearing this from Donnie all at once, but it was the norm for the poor guy. "So basically the others are going to find us in a few days and you planted a extra chip on ya in case something happen to our cells. Good plan, Donnie, like always."

"Thank you. Someone has to think out things in this family."

Donnie smiled as he sat down and felt a bit of warmth to the hothead—hell, he was his brother! "We will get out, Raph. Don't give up!"

I should be telling him that one, but oh well! Raph thought with a smile. "Never, Don. With you around how can I lose hope?"

Note: It's a little fluffy I know and drama filled but I was thinking that maybe sometimes Donnie might get left unnoticed with his own feelings by the others and thought it would make a good bounding point for him and Raph!

Also big hugs and thanks to: panda1418! Shes been my beta on this story is doing a killer job! Thanks Hon, owe ya a big one!