Title: Toaster Troubles
Fandom: TMNT 2003
Word Count: 3409
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: K/G
Characters: Raphael, Donatello
Warning: NA
Summary: All Donnie wants to do is fix the toaster. All Raph wants is for his five-year-old brother to wait for supervision. This is going to end well. Right?
Notes: Part of the Little Don AU, an AU I've had forming in my head where, during a crisis with the Time Scepter, Don sacrificed himself to save everything. Instead of it killing him, though, it turned him into a baby, and his family has needed to raise him all over again.

Toaster Troubles

As much as Raph missed his brother, he couldn't deny that having little Donnie around was a lot of fun. Getting to see how his brother viewed the world, watching as he learned everything again with wonder and excitement, it was refreshing and there was something special about it. It was like Raph got a window into how his brother's mind worked that he hadn't been able to have before.

Of course, Donnie being, well, Donatello, it had led to some pretty heart-stopping moments as he explored the world around him. It had gone from pulling all sorts of things out of his mouth, to pulling him away from dismantled appliances, to pulling him out of dangerous places because he had seen something interesting in them. Donnie was always keeping them on their toes, even with Splinter anticipating at least some of this.

Yet, Raph wouldn't trade spending time with his little brother for the world, even if it meant dealing with the results of his curiosity. And when Donnie wanted to spend time with him over the rest of his family, well, Raph couldn't help but feel a little special at that. He enjoyed those times with Donnie.

Today, Donnie had been favoring Raph, even with the mundane things, and so Raph had scooped him up and taken his five-year-old brother with him to the kitchen to work on dinner. It wasn't anything too complicated. Just some chicken and rice, with a side of vegetables. With the rice cooker, and some of those microwavable vegetable mixes in a bag, most of dinner would be easy. It was just the chicken that would take most of Raph's attention.

Well, that, and one little brother who it was best not to ignore for too long.

"Alright Donnie, ready to help me make dinner?" he asked as they walked into the kitchen.

Donnie, who he was carrying under his arm like a sack of potatoes, giggled and nodded. "Mm-hm! I'm ready to help, Raphie!"

He wiggled a little, clearly asking to get down, and Raph obliged, standing him on the counter.

"Alright. We're gonna have chicken, rice, and some veggies. How's that sound?" Raph asked.

"That sound good!" Donnie said, bouncing on his toes. "Which veggies?"

Raph thought for a second. "Tell ya what. If you can get into the freezer by yourself, then you can pick them out, alright?"

"Okay!" Donnie grinned brightly and dashed along the counter towards the refrigerator. Raph kept an eye on him. It would take a little maneuvering and thought for Donnie to manage to open the freezer, find all the different vegetables, put back the ones he didn't want, and close the freezer. But it was an easy and safe way for him to practice his ninja skills outside of the dojo, and that was always a good thing. In the meantime, Raph got out a cutting board and knife and pulled the package of chicken thighs out of the sink where it had been thawing. He didn't really want Donnie messing with raw meat yet, so he'd do all of the work with them.

Glancing back over at his little brother, Raph saw that Donnie had managed to open the freezer, and was now laying on top of the refrigerator, leaning over it to reach inside and pull out the vegetable packets. Raph couldn't help but grin a little. That was a good way to do it, and he was proud of his little brother for figuring it out. Not that he had expected anything less from Donnie.

Raph started cutting up the chicken, keeping an ear on Donnie, and he looked over when he heard the freezer door close, watching as Donnie jumped back onto the counter and ran over to him.

"This one!" he said with a grin. "Look, it has baby corn and snap peas! I like baby corn and snap peas!"

"I know you do," Raph said. "Alright, put it by the microwave. It won't take too long to cook, so we'll do it later."

Donnie carefully made his way to the microwave, and sat the bag of vegetables by it, before coming back towards Raph. "Now what?" he asked.

"Hm. Well, since my hands are covered in raw chicken juice, how about you help me season the chicken?" Raph said.

Donnie grinned and nodded, and Raph started rattling off instructions to the boy. Donnie, as usual, was a very good listener, and followed all of Raph's instructions about seasoning, preparing the pan, and turning on the water for Raph to wash his hands. Raph slid the chicken in the oven to cook and stood back.

"Alright. Now we just gotta do the rice," Raph said.

"I'll plug up the rice cooker!" Donnie said, scooting along the counter to go do that.

Raph grinned at the enthusiasm, and got the rice, preparing it. It didn't take long and within minutes the rice was in the rice cooker, the timer set. That done, Raph looked around the kitchen. There were plenty of dishes to be done, and it'd be easier to do them now than to wait until after dinner.

"Keep an eye on that for me, will ya?" Raph asked Donnie. "I'm gonna wash some of these dishes."

"Mm-kay!" Donnie chirped and turned to watch it.

Raph turned his attention to the sink full of dishes, keeping an eye on Donnie, who was sitting on the counter, watching the rice cooker, and chattering to himself about something. He nodded to himself, satisfied that Don was occupied with his own thoughts.

Most of the dishes in the sink weren't too hard to clean, except for a couple of them, which had gotten food dried on and stuck. Those took focus and elbow grease, but he eventually he got them off. Smirking triumphantly to himself, he turned to check on Donnie again—and nearly had a heart attack.

Instead of sitting on the counter, carefully watching the rice, Donnie was now surrounded by pieces of the toaster, the thing stripped down and, thankfully, unplugged.

Mentally, Raph cursed to himself. He should have been watching Donnie more closely. His brother had gotten in the habit of taking apart just about anything he could get his hands on—and he couldn't always put them back together yet. They tried to keep him from doing it alone, especially since he wasn't aware of the dangers of what he was doing, but sometimes he still managed to sneak something by them.

Taking a breath and keeping his voice calm, Raph looked over at Donnie. "Donnie? Bud? Watcha doing?" he asked.

Donnie didn't even look up from what he was doing, taking another piece off of the toaster with his—yep, that was the Swiss army knife that he had been gifted on his birthday. "Fixing the toaster," he responded, laying another piece down. "It's all dirty in here. I'm cleaning it out and then I'm gonna fix the spring so that the handle stays up better and the toast pops out better." He looked back over at Raph. "The tension got all loose, see? And the springs need to have good tension! But I can make that happen if I just put them back better."

He grinned at Raph, all shinning eyes and missing teeth. "I can fix it, Raphie!"

Of course he would notice something small like that. And of course he would try to fix it. Raph let out a careful breath. "Yeah, I see what's wrong with it, Donnie," Raph said. "But why don't you wait until after we eat to try to fix it. Maybe we can get LH to come over and-"

"But I can fix it now!" Donnie interrupted, his bottom lip jutting out just a little. "I can do it!"

"After dinner," Raph said firmly. "And with supervision." The timer for the chicken went off, and Raph turned to attend to it. "Leave it alone for now, Donnie," he said. "Why don't you put the veggies in the microwave?"

His attention focused on the oven for the moment, Raph opened the oven door and peered in. The chicken looked done, and it smelled just right. Raph grabbed a potholder and pulled it out of the oven, settling it on the stovetop. He carefully poked a few pieces with a fork, and nodded to himself when they seemed just right.

"Food in two!" he yelled in the direction of the door, knowing that his family would hear him. He turned his attention back to Donnie and frowned. His little brother hadn't put the vegetables in, and hadn't moved from where he was sitting, still stubbornly playing with the toaster which was now completely disassembled.

"Donnie," he said, his voice firm. "I told you do leave it until after dinner."

"But I can fix it now," Donnie insisted.

Raph frowned, and tossed the bag of vegetables in the microwave, before turning back to his little brother. "It's dinner time. You can come back to it after we eat. But it's time to eat now."

Raph recognized the stubborn spark that rose in Donnie's eyes and settled in his shoulders. This was about to turn into a fight.

"No," Donnie said, resolutely. "It won't take me long! Look, it's cleaner now! All I have to do is put it back together." His hands reached for a couple of pieces. "I'll eat after I'm finished."

Raph suppressed a growl, but before he could do anything, he heard footsteps approaching.

"I heard dinner in—uh-oh," Mikey stood in the doorway, watching.

"What's uh-oh?" Leo asked, coming in behind him. He paused when he saw the toaster scattered on the counter. "Oh," he said.

"It's nothing," Raph said, his attention still squarely focused on Donnie. "Just trying to convince Donnie here to come to dinner. Dinner's almost ready, the table just needs to be set."

"Mikey and I can take care of that," Leo said, knowing it was usually best to leave dealing with Donnie to whoever was already dealing with him. "Come on, Mike."

The two moved, but Donnie refused to move from his spot. He scooted closer to the toaster.

"Donnie…" Raph said. "Time to get off the counter."

He should have known that wasn't going to work.

"No!" Donnie said, the word just below being a shout. "I'm gonna finish this first!" He reached up and curled a hand into the bottom lip of the upper cabinets, doing his best to secure himself. "I can do it!"

"My sons?" Splinter entered the kitchen. "Is there a problem?"

"No problem, Sensei," Raph said. "Just trying to convince Donnie to come to dinner."

Splinter moved closer, and then seemed to nod to himself as he saw the mess. "I see," he said. He looked back up at Don, clearly taking note of the stubborn way the little boy was sitting there. "Come, my son. You can finish this after we have all eaten, so that the food does not get cold."

For a moment, Don's resolved wavered just a bit, even as he clearly wanted to stay with the toaster.

"Come on, Donnie. I promise you can go back to it afterward," Raph said. "We'll get LH over to help."

Something about what he said seemed to solidify Donnie's desire to stay put. "No!" he said, tightening his grip and beginning to look upset. "I-I'm gonna finish this first!" he said, his voice starting to waver with tears. "I need to put this back together first! And I'm going to before I eat! I'm going to! I'm going to put it back together!"

"Come on, Donnie!" Mikey said from the table, as he sat out plates. "We'll get LH to come over like Raph said. You love LH! He'll help you—"

"NO!" It was a shout from the normally quiet little boy. "I can do it myself! I can do lots of things myself!" his chin trembled, and he held tighter to the cabinet. "I can! And-and-and I don't care if the food gets cold! All of you can eat it! I'll make mine warm later—after I fix this!"

Splinter straightened up. "Donatello," he said in his no-nonsense voice. "That is enough. You will eat dinner with us."

"No!" Donnie yelled out, and Splinter reached up to take him off the counter himself. "No!"

Donnie yelled out again and tried to squirm away. Splinter, though, was faster and stronger, and he pulled Donnie off of the counter, prying his hands off of the cabinets.

Donnie wailed as Splinter pulled him away, still twisting and Splinter simply carried him over to the booster seat that they had for him. Donnie yelled and squirmed, trying to get out of it when Splinter put him in it.

"Donatello," he said firmly. "You will sit with us and eat your dinner!"

"No!" Donnie said, and angrily pushed his plate away from him. "No! I don't wanna eat! I wanna fix the toaster! I wanna fix it! Why won't you just let me fix it!"

It was clear that this was becoming a full tantrum, and Splinter, clearly having none of it, picked Donnie up again.

"We will be back," he said over Donnie's howls.

The remaining three brothers stood there in silence, watching and listening as Splinter took Donnie to his room and shut the door behind him.

"Geeze," Mikey said. "It's been a long time since Donnie's thrown a tantrum like that."

"I know," Leo said, looking over at Raph. "What happened?"

Raph shook his head, "I dunno. I was washing dishes, I turned, and he had the toaster in pieces. When I tried to get him to come to dinner, well… You saw all of that."

"I wonder why, though?" Leo said. "Something triggered the tantrum."

"Let's hope he's not getting sick, like last time," Mikey said, shuddering.

None of them had enjoyed that particular tantrum and the clean-up, although once they realized that Donnie was sick, it had made the tantrum a bit more understandable.

Still, the brothers ate quietly, listening to the yells and howls of their youngest brother as he threw the biggest tantrum they'd heard yet. They were nearly finished eating by the time the tantrum started to calm. It was only a few minutes later that Splinter returned, pushing a still sniffling Donnie in front of him.

"What do you have to say?" Splinter asked the boy.

Donnie opened his mouth, looked at Raph, at the toaster, and then back at Raph.

"I'm still gonna fix the toaster!" he said defiantly.

"Donatello!" Splinter said.

Donnie's chin began trembling again. "I-I am! I'm going to fix it!"

"Dude. Why not just wait until LH—" Mikey started.

"No!" Donnie yelled, cutting him off even as tears began to rise in his eyes again.

Raph let out a frustrated noise. "Why is this so important to you!" he halfway yelled back, exasperated at Donnie's stubbornness.

For a moment, there was silence, and then Donnie burst into noisy tears. Leo reached over and whacked Raph on the shoulder, even as Raph looked at his little brother, slightly horrified. "I—"

"Why won't you ever let me do anything!" Don sobbed out. "I can do it! I can fix it! But you won't let me! None of you will let me! I'm smart! I know how! I can do it! I can do it! I can do it!"

His words turned into noisy sobs and desperate tears, and Splinter reached down, bundling the boy up in his arms. "Ah," he said. "I think I understand."

Three pairs of confused eyes looked at the rat as he held the sobbing tot in his arms. Splinter simply moved to a chair, and sat with Donnie, rocking him slightly.

"When Donatello was young, the first time, he had already begun taking things apart and putting them back together at this age. As I was somewhat ignorant at the time of the dangers, I allowed it, especially as he was able to make many things work." Splinter ran a hand up and down Donnie's shell, trying to comfort him. "Perhaps in our zeal to protect him, we have instead stifled him."

Donnie was a bit calmer now, although still clearly upset. "I can do it," he said his voice muffled from where he was curled into Splinter. "I can put it back together all by myself."

Oh. Oh, that hit a bit different and explained things. Raph looked at his baby brother, new understanding forming. It wasn't about the toaster itself, but about them trusting him to be able to do things.

Raph knelt next to the chair and reached out, rubbing Donnie's shell. "Hey, Bud. I'm sorry I didn't understand," he said softly. "It's not that I don't think you can put it back together, it's that I don't want you to hurt yourself, okay? The idea of you getting hurt scares me, and I want to keep you safe."

Donnie kept his face buried in Splinter. "But I'm safe," he said. "I know all the protocols! LH and Aunt April taught me! I just wanna do it by myself, 'cause I can!"

"We understand that, my son," Splinter said, pressing his nose to Donnie's head. "But that still does not excuse your behavior. Even when you were that upset, you knew that it would be better to use your words than to throw a fit."

Donnie didn't say anything, but he nodded a minute amount.

"You will be allowed to fix the toaster, by yourself," Splinter said. "But only after you have both eaten and apologized to your brothers."

Donnie sniffed and nodded. "Okay," he said.

Splinter let the boy get down, and he looked up at his brothers, before looking down at his feet again. "I'm sorry," he said in a small voice. "I shouldn't have thrown a fit. That wasn't right. I shoulda used my words better."

"It's alright," Leo said. "We forgive you."

Donnie sniffed, and looked up at his brothers, taking in their expressions, and then looked back at Splinter.

"You are forgiven, my son," Splinter said. "Now—come eat your dinner. Afterwards, you will repair the toaster, and then we will discuss your punishment for the tantrum."

Donnie's eyes grew a bit wet again, but he just nodded. "Yes, Father," he said.

Splinter and Donnie ate, while the rest of the brothers cleaned up from dinner. Afterwards, Donnie worked on the toaster, fixing it perfectly, just as he said he could. He was, however, sent to bed early, and would be doing some extra meditation with either Splinter or Leo tomorrow. The rest of the family settled in the living room, a little exhausted from everything that had happened.

"Well, that was something," Mikey said.

"Certainly not the way I expected things to go," Leo agreed.

"Yeah, but—" Raph looked at his family. "What are we gonna do about this? I don't think we can just keep Donnie from taking things apart anymore."

Splinter shook his head. "No, we cannot. He is a gifted and curious child, and in our attempts to give him a better life, we may, in fact, be stifling him. I will talk to both Leatherhead and April about Donatello's education going forward. Perhaps it is time we gave him a little more freedom when it comes to his engineering endeavors."

"Uh-oh," Mikey said, a teasing lilt to his voice. "Here it comes. We're gonna start finding screws and bolts and tools everywhere, probably with our feet, and it'll hurt worse than legos."

"And we'll have to start making sure he doesn't sneak projects under his covers at night," Leo said.

"And we will have to get used to mistakes, clanging, and small explosions," Splinter said.

"Yeah," Raph said. "But we dealt with it before—we can deal with it again."

There was a general murmur of agreement from the others, and they settled into a companionable silence. Perhaps they should have seen this coming sooner. After all, Donnie may not have been Don, but he was still Donatello. Of course he was going to be a little engineer. And if Raph was honest with himself? Having Donnie start down that path again was comforting. He looked forward to the day when Donnie had the lair ringing with the sounds of his latest project again.

He just hoped it didn't involve anymore tantrums.