Title: Selfless (2k14 – Turtle tots)
Rating: T
He was just way too curious. He knew it, his dad had said it, and his brothers teased him about it mercilessly. He couldn't help it. It was how he learned. How else was one to learn and discover if they didn't ask questions and look for the answers? It was this very line of logic that had Donnie in the predicament he was in right now.
He hadn't been able to truly sleep. Even at six years old, he was starting to experience the early signs of chronic insomnia and it had plagued him this night. Earlier he had been reading about system building for dummies in an effort to try to make himself sleepy. It backfired and he ended up reading the entire thing enthusiastically. He didn't have a full blown lab yet, but he had designated a single table in his room for reading and research when he could find things to read and study. He had been sitting at that very table when his father came in to make him go to bed. Like a good little boy Donnie had laid down, but he didn't sleep a wink.
Donnie was lying in bed when he suddenly had to pee. He knew he couldn't hold it so he crept out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom. It was dark but he knew his way around. He hadn't really told anyone that sometimes he really couldn't see all that well. It seemed like it might be getting worse, but he didn't want to bother Splinter about it. If he brought things up close to his face he could read it, and if he bent down low enough he could do his little tinkering and that's all he cared about. If at some point he couldn't do that, then he'd tell his dad. Little Donnie didn't know that the nighttime runs his father was doing lately were because of him. Splinter was looking for glasses to help Donnie see more clearly. It was taking him several trips to gather as many different pair as he could that weren't either broken or sunglasses.
In any case the thin and sort of tall little turtle boy made his way to the bathroom without a problem. He wasn't as strong as Raph or Leo, and didn't run as fast as Mikey, but he was taller than them and took pride in the fact that he could reach the sink knobs and the soap without using the little baby step stool. He could even see his entire face in the small mirror that Splinter had placed above the sink just for them. Donnie was glad he could still see his face clearly from this distance. He'd hate not to be able to see it. He bucked his eyes at his reflection. Why couldn't they be a pretty blue or green like his brothers? He was stuck with brown mixed with a weird golden color that he couldn't even attribute to real turtles. He smiled as he looked at his reflection, crossing his eyes and giggling at the results. He took his two thumbs and stretched the sides of his mouth and stuck out his tongue. He had to cover his own mouth just to quiet the snickering.
"Hey look at me I'm Mikey," he whispered happily to himself as he capered around like his younger brother. Mikey was always running and flipping. Donnie didn't have room to flip in the bathroom, so he settled for jumping.
"Now I'm Raph. I'm big and strong and I beat my brothers up," Donnie said making the best muscle pose he could and then proceeded to stomp around and turn to glare at his reflection.
Then suddenly Donnie stood very still facing the mirror. He stood up straight as an arrow, made the most serious face he could manage and crossed his arms over his own skinny chest.
"I'm Leo, I mean Leonardo and I'm Splinter Jr, and you guys have to do exactly what I say, when I say, how I say, and if you don't I cry!" At that Donnie almost burst loudly into laughter. He clamped both hands down over his mouth so he wouldn't wake anyone up with all that noise. His thin shoulders shook with the muffled laughter, and he could feel laugh tears roll out of the corners of his eyes.
He got himself together long enough to wipe his eyes and listen to see if he'd woken anyone. When he was satisfied that the lair was just as quiet now as when he came into the bathroom, Donnie made his way back to the room they all shared. That's when he heard it, or at least he thought he'd heard something. He stood still hand poised over the knob of the door, and head cocked to the side. His eyes may be foggy, but his hearing was excellent and he knew he'd heard something. Donnie waited, his little heart pattering in his chest like it was trying to get out. He knew that all those monsters and ghosts in movies and stories were just that, movies and stories, but in the black of night in the sewers that were supposed to be empty all except for him and his family, the monsters his mind conjured became all too plausible.
"There are no monsters, there are no monsters, there are no monsters," he quietly repeated to himself. He almost had himself convinced until he heard it again. A moan or a wail wafted from wherever and reached him. His breath caught in his throat, and the logical part of his brain told him to run into the bed and pull up the covers over his head, because if on the off chance that monsters were real, they could not penetrate the covers. Every kid knew that, and Donnie was no exception. Plus he'd be with all his brothers and no monster would dare it then.
Donnie heard the strange sound again. It sounded distant almost, and it was long and drawn out. His mind made the sound into the wail of a mythical banshee, but when he heard the tell-tale *sniff sniff* he knew then that it wasn't a ghost at all, it was crying. Someone, a human, was crying. Donnie's little shoulder slumped into relaxation as he let out an audible sigh of relief.
What if they need help? What if they find him and his family? If they were close enough to be heard then maybe they were too close. Donnie looked towards his father's room. He should wake Master Splinter up and let him take care of it. After all, his dad was a ninja and he could beat up anybody even if they are a monster. Donnie furrowed his small smooth brow in thought. He might get into trouble for being up. Splinter was strict on bedtime and getting enough rest. When the sound came again, Donnie couldn't help himself. He never thought of himself as particularly brave, but he did like to help if he could and most of all he just wanted to know. He had never seen a human up close before, and even though Splinter tried to warn them about people it only served to pique Donnie's interest rather than scare him. This could be his only chance to ever see a human outside of television.
Donnie swallowed a lump in his throat and tip toed towards the lair entrance. There, he put on his galoshes. Every once in a while dad would let them come with him to scavenge, and he despised sloshing through Darwin knew what as he walked. He preferred shoes when he could get them and he'd even convinced Leo that it was the most sanitary option. Leo was almost as meticulous as Donnie himself, so he knew he could win his older brother over if he said it was dirty. Having got his shoes on he sneaked out of the lair, ducking underneath the turnstiles so they wouldn't squeak when he tried to move them or jump over them. Slowly he trekked towards the sound of the sniffling. It was colder outside of the lair and he briefly thought about going back. He only had on an oversized long sleeve shirt that came just past his knobby little boy knees and his shoes that meet with the end of the shirt. He even slightly turned back around, but stopped himself from actually going back. He knew if he did he would lose his nerve and his chance to just see. That's all he was gonna do, just see.
As he ventured further from the lair the sewer tunnels became more and more treacherous. Donnie often found himself tripping and trying not to fall, resorting to just walking slowly with his hands outstretched before him. Perfect. A blind slow turtle. He walked for a while counting time as he did so. He had found and fixed a digital watch but it was on his table and of no use to him. He couldn't be too sure but if he had to make a guess he had walked at least ten minutes at a slow pace. Maybe he wasn't that far away from the lair after all, but there was another problem. He had been so busy counting that he hadn't kept track of the turns he'd made, and in the darkness he couldn't even go by landmark.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid Donnie. Like Raphael says," Donnie muttered to himself. How could he have not been paying attention to something like that? Now it might take him forever to get back.
Now upset with himself, Donnie simply kept going. There was no turning back now even if he wanted to. The sound came to him again, this time very close and obviously male. When he rounded a corner he saw the source of the noise. The person had on lots of clothes many of them Donnie could see were tattered even in the relative darkness. The person was sitting under the eerie yellow glow of a sodium arc light. It was one of the few remaining operational lights and it was clearly on its last legs.
Donnie crouched behind the wall and peeked around careful not to make noise. He covered his blunt nose with both hands and frowned deeply. The big human stunk. He smelled distinctly of pee and other things Donnie couldn't distinguish, nor did he want to. He was also surrounded by bottles that the little turtle recognized as alcoholic beverages, although he was too far away to read the names. The man was crying and muttering nonsense to himself, completely unaware that he was being observed. He got up and shuffled around in a pile of trash that Donnie thought might have passed as the man's personal belongings. When he didn't find whatever he was looking for he let out a loud string of curses and plopped back down. This must be why Splinter told them not to drink bad stuff. Donnie decided he never wanted to if it made you stink and talk gibberish.
Donnie was enthralled and slightly disgusted at what he was seeing. Was this how all humans were? He thought not. He thought they were probably more like what was on TV. He was a homeless person, although Donnie could hardly see why staying in a sewer made one homeless. After all, he and his family were there and it seemed a perfectly good home to him. Then again they could hardly go somewhere else and be left alone to live in peace. He was lost in his thoughts and his tail, which was long like the rest of him, was lazily sweeping the floor. Normally not an issue except when it swept across something other than the floor Donnie let out a yelp and jumped up. He turned to look for what it was, squinting and straining his eyes in the low lighting. Good gracious, it was just a bug Donnie. He sighed and wiped his eyes and forehead. He was just being silly.
"Eey, *belch* hey who'sat?" the man slurred as he tried to peer into the darkness in Donnie's direction. Donnie squatted again, careful to try to keep a healthy distance from where he thought that bug crawled to. He wasn't scared of them like Raph was, but he still preferred them not to crawl on him if he could help it.
"I said whos'at?!" The man yelled unnecessarily. He struggled up to his feet and began to amble over, stumbling as he came along and having to stop himself from fully toppling over several times in the short distance from where he was to where he was going. Unfortunately for Donnie the man was coming straight for him. It would have been a perfect time to run back the way he had come, or at least the way he thought he'd come but since his own vision was low he didn't think he'd get two good steps before he fell and maybe hurt himself.
Not to mention he was now just frightened. Coming to see was not a good idea at all. It hadn't gone one bit how he thought it would. He didn't intend to be seen or heard, he didn't intend to see such a poor soul, and he didn't intend to hide like a scaredy-turtle. Donnie tried to melt into the shadows as much as possible but it was too late. The scary man had come around the corner and noticed a small strange creature crouched there.
Raphael partially swung himself down head first over the edge of the bed to look down into the bottom bunk. It was empty. At first it wasn't a big deal. He knew that Donnie didn't sleep very well sometimes and that he was prone to getting up and wandering the lair. Raph woke up just in time to hear the toilet flush. He'd thought about getting up too, but then dozed back off. Now he was awake again this time having to use the bathroom himself. Since he didn't see Donnie in the bed, he just assumed he was somewhere in the lair messing around. He swung down all the way and first checked on Mikey and Leo to make sure they were still sleep. He didn't want either of them to wake up because Mikey would make too much noise and get them caught, and Leo would probably tattle-tale on them. Once he was satisfied that his brothers were indeed still knocked out, young Raph made his way quickly to the bathroom. He paused to knock, complete with a pee-pee dance to make sure Donnie wasn't in there. Then he just gave up and burst in.
Raph washed his hands and came out to look for his brother. He checked the kitchen, then the living room where the TV was. Everything was quiet. Quietly Raph darted back to the bedroom, certain that if Donnie was up doing anything it was probably homework. It was almost like he liked doing homework which Raph would never understand. He frowned when he looked in to still find Donnie's bed empty as well as his little homework spot. Raph gently closed the bedroom door again and looked around the lair one more time. It was useless. Donatello simply wasn't here anymore.
Raph started to get a really bad feeling. Donnie liked to be careful, he liked to read, he liked to play, but he did not like to roam around at night. That was something that Mikey or even Raph himself might do, but not Donnie. Raph started towards Splinter's door to wake him, but then stopped short. If something was wrong with Donnie, if he was in trouble then it was his responsibility to save him.
"You need to protect one another, my sons. There will be times when I cannot help you, yet you still must fight and be there for one another…"
That's what master Splinter said to them over and over. In Raphael's mind that meant that he shouldn't be a baby all the time and he should learn to handle stuff on his own. Good then, it was settled. He would look for Donnie on his own. Raphael headed towards the turnstiles and listened. He saw that Donnie's shoes were missing. That was strange. If someone took him why would they also take his shoes? Raph tentatively hopped over the turnstiles, his breathing fast and his heart pounding. This was strictly forbidden and if he were caught he would be in so much trouble, he couldn't even think about the punishment for it. If he could prove that he was saving his brother, then master Splinter couldn't be mad about that.
He had to calm himself down. Raph stood for a moment trying to decide which way to go. After a second or two he simply choose a direction at random and started out. He breathed a deep breath through his nostrils and let it out of his mouth several times. This was so scary. Lately he had taken to threatening his brothers that he would up and leave whenever things didn't go his way. Now that he was out on his own in the dark sewer tunnels, he was rethinking that threat. He wouldn't have the nerve to keep going. Even now he kept glancing back to the lair entrance, trying to memorize which way he was going so he could get back. He even had to force his hands to his sides once he realized he was starting to wring them.
Just as he was turning a corner he heard a muffled noise, something like a scream. It froze him to his spot. Could it be Donnie? Even if it wasn't he had to go and see. However, the noise was coming from the opposite direction. Raph came back and went towards the sound. It was darker this way and he was starting to panic badly. He wasn't quite running but something had set off the alarms in his head. That noise was Donnie, he knew it. Something told him he didn't have a lot of time either. He had to fight the fear that threatened to paralyze him. He stopped to get control of himself. His knees were shaking and he bent over to grasp them in his hands in an attempt to stop them. Suddenly his stomach did a lazy lurch and the dinner he had eaten earlier paid him a quick visit.
"Ah man Raph you gotta get it together," he said to himself, finally straightening up. "Donnie needs me."
"Put me down!" Donnie said struggling in the grasp of this large man. Both his arms were held in both the man's hands and he had brought him all the way up to his face.
"What da fuck're you?" The man said, breathing his foul breath in Donnie's face.
Fear had paralyzed him completely. Master Splinter hadn't started teaching them ninjutsu proper, but he had taught them some self-defense moves. Donnie had forgotten all of them in his terror. This man might take him away, might hurt him, and worst of all his family would not know where he was or what happened to him. The man's grip on his wrists tightened and his shoulders began to ache from supporting all his weight. Donnie's heart was hammering in his chest. He started wiggling around then started kicking.
"Hey you settle down, settle down. Oof!" Donnie had kicked the man in the face due to all his thrashing. He stumbled a bit but never put Donnie down. The kick must have somewhat sobered the man. His gaze focused and he scowled at the green creature squirming in his hands.
"You gonna pay fa dat you little green shit," the man growled. He took one hand and smacked Donatello several times across the face. Donnie's nose was bloodied and he was dizzy after that. His head started hurting immediately and he couldn't help but start to cry.
"Stop it, s-s-stop i-it mi-is-ster," Donnie cried miserably. He wished desperately for his brothers and his dad to come to him, but no one even knew he was gone.
Raphael heard muffled voices. Then he heard another sound. It sounded like something being hit against something else. He was scared still, but the fear was giving over to anger. If someone was hurting Donatello they would pay dearly for it. In a blinding rage Raphael ran at a full sprint, jumping over some debris and tripping over others. He had cut his hands and his knees but he didn't care.
He rounded the corner and met with a horrific sight. Some dude, some bum had Donnie in his hands and from the looks of things had hit Don in the face. The anger and rage that boiled in Raph's blood, he had never felt before.
"You! Let him go! You let him go!" Raph screamed to the top of his lungs. His little body was shaking, trembling with rage and fear.
The man stumbled back surprised to find not only one but two of these strange creatures and one of them appeared to be quite angry. He had spent some time of his own in various psych wards around the city, but this was no hallucination. However, he was fine when there was just one but now since there were two he became uneasy. He didn't know what they were capable of….these little lizard turtle looking things.
"Raph!" Donnie yelled trying to crane his neck around to see his brother. How did Raph know he was here? It didn't even matter, his brother was here and he was going to save him!
"Raph, Raph, Raphieee!" Donnie yelled starting his fight anew now that his brother was here. He kicked with all his might, which was considerable for a six year old.
"I said you let him gooo!" Raphael screamed again. This time he looked for something to hit this guy with. There were some old pipes and sticks strewn about the floor. He picked up two pipes and rushed over. His dad hadn't trained them with weapons yet, but he had a real good idea what he was gonna do with those pipes.
"Ahhh!" The man screamed as Raphael let loose a barrage of hits against the man's legs and hoping that he could hit his knees. Donnie was still kicking and had nailed the man in the face three or four good times before the assault made him drop Donnie.
Donnie landed hard on his shell, his shoulders and wrists aching, and trying to catch his breath from his exertion. The man fell to the floor as well under Raphael's wild attack.
"Leave…us…a…lone!" Raph yelled over and over as he hit the man everywhere, not even seeing or caring where the blows landed. He just wanted the man to go away, and he also wanted to hurt him for hurting Donnie.
"Okay okay okay, just stop it kid!" The man said trying to ward Raph off with one hand, and scramble to his feet at the same time. It was a tough thing. Raph was all over him, yelling things and hitting wildly. Whatever these things were, this one hit kind of hard. It was time to get out of this crazy place.
Finally the man made it to his feet when he saw that Donnie had gotten his wits about him, had picked up his own pipe and was headed his way. The little turtle boy had the pipe raised high over his head, and was running towards him screaming and clearly intending on joining his brother. He broke out into a run and hoped that those two things wouldn't follow.
At last the man had run away. Raph was shaking and crying, his anger abating a little as the fear started to return. He turned to his brother who was also shaking and crying as they fell into each other's arms and cried. Raph pulled Donnie in close as much to comfort himself as it was to comfort Donnie.
"I wanna g-go h-home Raphie," Donnie pleaded, red-rimmed eyes looking at his brother. Raph nodded.
"Yeah we gotta get back home Donnie. C'mon," Raph said standing and taking Donatello by the hand.
It didn't take long for them to get back to the lair. They saw the lights on and knew they were in so much trouble. Splinter hopped the turnstiles when he heard their approach. He was ready to be angry with them for sneaking out, but when he saw their haggard condition, and the fact that they had obviously been crying, his stern expression softened as he ran to them.
"My sons. My little boys, where have you been?" He said, voice full of emotion as he kneeled down and scooped both of them in a hug, then carried them both inside.
Donnie looked his father in the face, eyes glassy and bottom lip quivering. He looked miserable. He wrapped his little thin arms around Splinter's furry neck.
"I'm sorry daddyyyyy!" He said as he dissolved into tears and buried his face in his father's fur. He was so happy to be back home even if he did get into trouble.
Raphael wiggled out of Splinter's arms and settled for holding his dad's robe as Splinter hugged and comforted Donnie.
"It's okay Donatello, I'm here. Daddy's here now," Splinter said as he rubbed comforting circles on Donnie's shell and patted it.
"What happened?" Mikey and Leo sleepily chorused together, their worried faces turning to excitement as Raph recounted how he had saved Donnie from the strange man.
After all was settled down, Splinter allowed them all to sleep in the room with him. They fought for a short while about who got to sleep right next to dad, but Splinter decided that it should be Donatello since he had been through such a trying experience. Splinter hugged them all, but held Donnie the closest as the little boy snuggled and went to sleep.