IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Words are powerful. They can make you cry for a person you've never met or grind your teeth in fury for wrongs never righted. When I write, I weld my words to entertain and speak to the imagination and hidden truths of my readers. When I leave reviews for others, I understand the power of my words and use them to offer encouragement and constructive criticism to my fellow writers. Be careful how you use your words, they can build towers or destroy dynasties. I say all this because I have received some rude, condescending reviews and comments from anonymous guests. Usually, I just ignore them, but lately I'm seeing less and less of a need to submit myself to such harassment. So, this is the first and last time I will say this:

If I receive another backhanded comment, rude, or condescending review, I will turn off the anonymous review feature on my account. I realize this is not the case for all the anons that review my stories; some of the anons actually offer constructive views, thoughtful analysis, and really heart-warming reviews which I deeply appreciate, but I'm not going to put up with those other rude anons anymore. I'm sorry for the rant, but it needed to be said. I will also post this message on my next chapter of "Logic of the Soul" for those who are reading that story.

Regular A/N: I'm back with another drabble! :) This is a request submitted by Turtle Lover 101 who asked for a drabble with Donnie overly exhausted from working too much and comforting brothers. I hope you enjoy like it! :)

Exhaustion

"Leo, he's doing it again!"

Leo sighs at the sound of his youngest brother's intrusive voice as Mikey slaps his door open with the palm of his hand before disappearing down the hall.

"Coming…." Dragging his arm over his eyes, he tries to hold on to the last fragments of sweet slumber. With another sigh, he swings his legs out of bed yielding to his brotherly duties. The tiredness is pushed to the back of his mind until the desire to sleep is nothing more than a dull ache in his temple.

This is the third time this week. He should have nipped it in the bud the moment he noticed the unusual absent-mindedness of his brother. However, Leo let Donnie convince him that staying up late a few more nights would help him complete a couple of projects in a more timely manner. Well the 'couple' of projects suspiciously turned into a mountain of blueprints and mechanical odds and ends; and a 'few nights' turned into a week.

Well played, brother. Well played…Leo thought to himself, a little miffed he had fallen for his brother's manipulative logic.

"Leo!" Mikey shouts, thankful he doesn't have to handle this predicament on his own.

"Shh! You might wake him," Leonardo chastises as he approaches the orange-banded turtle.

"Uh, shouldn't we wake him though?"

"No, then it'll be impossible to get him back to sleep."

"Oh for the love of sais, are we doing this again?" Raphael joins his two brothers as they all observe the spectacle in the kitchen.

Donnie stumbles around the table, mumbling something as he spreads paper towels over the table and fumbles with a screwdriver, then a few spark plugs. He drunkenly bumps into a chair.

"Dude, this sleepwalking's gotta stop." Raphael shakes his head as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, I know…. He only does it when he refuses to sleep." Leo winces when one of the spark plugs clatters to the floor. "He's going to hurt himself."

"The heck with that! He's making too much darn noise! It's three o'clock in the freakin' morning!" Raph growls at Leo, his voice rising a few octaves as points to the clock on the wall.

Donnie stops fumbling. Drawn to Raph's voice, he starts to shuffle toward him with half-lidded eyes. With deadpanned effort, Raph dodges Donnie's path, sliding to the side as his half-conscious brother collides with the refrigerator. Mikey snickers.

"RAPH!" Leo hisses in a low whisper.

"What? You should have let me manhandle him to bed hours ago."

"He said he'd be finished with his work by eleven."

"Bruh, that was four hours, three cups of coffee, and two bags of skittles ago. You should know better."

"Yeah, yeah I know, I know.." Leo admits with raised hands. He gasps at the sudden movement near the table again. "….Good grief!" Leo rushes to Donnie as he pours himself a glass of motor oil. "Donnie, no!" with ease, he's able to tug the oil slicked glass from his sleep-deprived brother's hand.

"Where's my coffee?... Need to stay awake…." he mutters to no one in particular.

"It's…. It's in your lab, remember?" Leo answers quick on his toes as he leads his brother to the sink to wash the oil from his hands.

"Hm…That's right…. lab..." Donnie trails off into more nonsensical words as Leo dries his hands.

"Come on let's get you to bed and—"

"No!" Donnie's scratchy outburst makes Leo withdraw his hands in surprise, not wanting to agitate his sleepwalking brother. "Have to fix the patrol buggy….not safe." He hovers over the paper towels spread curiously over the kitchen table. "See, detachments are all wrong…See?!" He jabs his finger at the paper towel blueprints. There's a sense child-like urgency in his voice that is almost comical if not for the dark heavy bags under his eyes or the way his face was drawn in exhaustion.

"It can wait until you rest."

"Mmm….Hummingbird's heart beats 250 times…..second….. at rest." An amused smile spreads across Mikey's face while Leo just blinks in confusion at the splutter of randomness.

"Alright, hummingbird, let's go." In one swoop, Raph plops Donnie over his shoulder causing a small 'umpf' from the latter.

"Raph, be careful!"

"He's fine, Fearless," the muscular mutant grumbles in response. "He rambles enough when he's awake. I'll pull my scales out if I gotta listen to his sleep rambling, too."

"Rambling buggies…" Donnie mutters into the conversation.

Raph didn't hide his annoyance he kicks open the door to Donnie's room. Leo pulls back the untouched sheets as Raph half places, half drops their brother into bed.

"I kinda like sleepy!Don." Mikey's soft voice holds a bit of sweet warmth as he spreads the covers over his older brother. "He gets all kooky and science-y at the same time, it's pretty funny."

"Not. ..funny. …my laptop. ..where. .." Donnie slurs around a yawn, sluggish limbs wiggle beneath the covers. His arms escape from the covers grasping the air with diligence.

"Um…it's right here, Donnie." Leo takes his brother's hands smoothing them against the covers. His weary brother seems to accept this as his head drops back against the pillow again and his fingers twitch along his invisible keyboard.

"Nerdy work-a-holic…." Ralph chuckles as Donnie's pantomimed typing starts to slow down as his breathing levels out. "If he goes anywhere near his lab tomorrow, I'll pummel him."

"No arguments from me." Leo agrees with a lighthearted smile.

Raphael and Michelangelo whisper their good nights as they retire to their rooms. Leonardo turns to leave but stops short at the sound of a frustrated sigh from the bed behind him. He smirks and shakes his head at the frown creasing Donnie's brow. It was amazing how even in sleep, his brother's brain was still at work, striving to make their lives more comfortable, enjoyable. …safer.

His left hand still twitched, no doubt inventing something amazing in his subconscious state, but his brother needed rest. Covering the fidgety hand with his own, Leo gently pressed against Donatello's fingers until they smooth out into a restful stillness. When Donnie's mouth parts and a soft whistle blows from his lips, Leo knows he's finally in a deep sleep getting true rest. With the silence of a true ninja, he's across the room and shutting the door all before Donatello takes his next sound breath.

FIN

Thanks for reading, please review :)