Don 13 and 8.

Don was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for. Aside from being a straight A+ student, he had a knack for predicting what would happen. If he knew enough about something and what that something was interacting with, then he could foretell it's immediate future with uncanny accuracy. He wasn't sure why he was able to do it, and he didn't tell anyone that he could. He was scared of what people might think, and what they might do to him if they knew. So he kept his ability to himself. And he used it to protect his brother. Because he had promised he would. The first time he used his ability was when his brother had started showing signs (to Don, no one else would have noticed) of wanting to hang out with the 'cool kids'. What Hank didn't know was that they were bullies who got great pleasure in pushing littler kids around.

Don looked worriedly at his brother. He'd had too many glances toward those boys, there had been to many subconscious mentions at the dinner table, about popularity and such, and Don was getting worried. There had to be a way to stop Hank from getting involved with these kids! Don knew what he had to do to save his brother, and no matter what, he was going to do it.

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Don purposefully left his books at the part of school where Hank was, so that he could return there. Non coincidentally (he had planned this) those guys were also there. Hank was due to come around the corner any time now, so this would take some very careful timing.

He walked past, purposefully going close enough to be noticed, far enough to seem casual. Predictably enough, the lead neanderthal stuck out a foot (which was totally obvious, and Don could have easily sidestepped it) and tripped the smaller boy.

Don fell hard in front of them, drawing a kick to his side. It hurt. There would be a bruise tomorrow. Don curled up into a ball, arms in front of himself defencelessly. Just as the lead neanderthal was pulling back for another kick, Hank walked in.

The fury on his face would have melted asbestos. With a primal roar, he launched himself at the goons, shoving aside the henchmen, and belting the lead neanderthal hard enough to break his nose. Then he grabbed said neanderthal, and threw him into a wall. Hard. Don winced obligatorily. Then Hank knelt down beside his younger brother, who allowed tears to spill over from his wide blue eyes.

"H-Hank? It sniff hurts.

Hank pulled him into a hug. "I know, Don. I know."

"Are you going to be like them?" Don whimpered, looking as fearful as he possibly could.

"No, Don. I won't. I promise. They're losers, and I won't be anything like them, I promise." Don gave a small smile, and allowed Hank to help him to his feet. Crisis averted. Hank was safe. There would be no dumb gangs for him! No, Donald Hall intended to keep Hank as far away from things like that as possible. No one was getting his big brother.