~Nobody's POV~
It's so late, he knows he has to eventually get back into the farmhouse but he can't even step foot in there without thinking about all of the other stuff he could be doing to help Leo
Why should he get to take a break when New York is getting taken over by the stupid Krang?
Why should he get to take a break when Raph hasn't stopped training so he can improve his fighting skills to protect the family?
Why should he be able to take a break when Mikey has been checking up on everybody else nonstop, making sure nobody is too sad while neglecting his own health?
Why should he be able to take a break when Casey and April are both working to keep the Barnhouse clean and tidy and liveable?
And why… why should he take a break when Leo is in that damned bathtub unable to wake up from his deep sleep
It's not fair… he's the one being impacted the least yet he has so many opportunities to take breaks and relax… so if the others can't, why should he?
If the others are working tirelessly then he should too, because he needs to be useful if he's not being impacted
So he does, staying in the barn for days sometimes weeks on end, nonstop working only coming out of the barn when Mikey makes him come eat with everyone… well almost everyone at least
Though today a little different, today he's so close, hes so close to getting the perfect medicine for Leo so he can wake up, he just needs a few more days and then everything will go back to normal
And the faster everything goes back to normal the faster Mikey can focus on his own mental health and life
The faster he gets this done the faster Raph can stop training until his knuckles bleed
The faster he can get this done… the faster Leo can wake up… and the faster Leo wakes up… the faster the family stops being a train wreck
He needs to stop thinking about it and work on this instead, the more he thinks about it the slower he goes
So he works
And works
And works some more
Wait, when was the last time he went inside to eat…? Or even go to sleep in his bed?
It gets lost in the chaos and all Mikey and Casey know is that they haven't heard from him in at least 2 weeks
Raph and April aren't too interested in the others only focusing on themselves until things are sorted out on their own so of course when Mikey and Casey ask them they have nothing to say
Whatever they sure he's come in at least sometimes to eat it's probably best not to bother Donnie if he's trying to work on Leo's medicine
Donnie however, hasn't even left his barn to go and get some sunshine in the two weeks he's been working on the medicine
Only pausing working on the medicine to grab some much-needed water from the barns somehow working sink
He sits there eyes half open tired from only sleeping when his body didn't let him stay up anymore tinkering with the very reactive mutagen that he was using to make medicine
If he didn't watch where he was moving his hot heat conductor he could burn himself, even though a mear heat conductor wasn't the best tool to use when trying to heat up mutagen it was all that was in the barn and he wasn't going to complain
His hand shifts a little as his eyes softly close not paying attention to the stuff around his messy workstation it slightly touches another failed batch of Leo medicine setting off a very small explosion that usually wouldn't do anything but sense his hands and face were so close it makes him throw himself back in surprise onto the floor
As he looks at his now ruined batch of medicine and then his now soot-covered hands he can't believe what he just did
It's ruined… all of it he just ruined the most likely working medicine that would wake up Leo
"Damnit.." Donnie says under his breath, his voice shaking as he brings his knees to his chest and his hands to his eyes small tears of frustration falling out from under them
"Dammit… come on…" Donnie says not knowing what else to say to his absolute fuck up of a lifetime
Curling up into his shell letting out all of the built-up tears from the past two weeks of work being destroyed
Not even for a good reason either
All of it was gone just because he couldn't keep his eyes open enough to keep the Heat conductor on the beaker
All gone because he was stupid enough to not just toughen it out
He can't do this anymore, he just counts. It's all too much he just lost the one thing that just might have woken up Leo and now he has to redo it which will take another two weeks
Another two weeks of Mikey caring about everyone but himself
Another two weeks of Raph beating himself up and calling it training
Another two weeks where Leo has to stay asleep in that stupid fucking bathtub not able to take care of himself, not able to talk, not able to do anything but try and cling to himself and not die
He stays in his shell crying to himself not being shy to cry as loud as he can creaming into his plastron and digging his nails into his arms
He needs to get up and restart but now that he's started crying he can't stop and how is he supposed to start Leo's medicine if he can't even see properly through his blurry tears
Maybe he should take a break… just a small one… just so he can restart and get his mind straight
Yeah, just a small nap in his shell. Then he'll get straight back to work
~Casey's POV~
It's been weeks… Casey doesn't know how many but his best guess would be about two
Casey sleeps downstairs and only ever goes upstairs to check up on Leo and Mikey so when two weeks pass and there has been zero sign of Donnie even coming inside to get food or have social interactions, it starts to worry him
He and Donnie had grown a little closer after the Monster Car incident so he likes to think he can check up on him while he's working though it still makes him nervous when he walks up to the barn door to check up on him
However what makes him even more nervous is when he knocks on the big barn door and gets no answer from the purple-themed turtle, not even a small 'go away' or a grunt of acknowledgment
"Donnie? Are you there? I haven't seen you the past like two weeks i wanted to make sure you weren't dead or something" Casey says only realizing the insensitivity of his joke after he said it
"Not like actually dead I meant more just like making sure you've been getting enough food and stuff," Casey says trying to save himself from his previous comment though it doesn't really matter because there's still no response from the turtle
"Donnie? Are you even in there?" The teenage human says knocking on the door harder this time choosing that if Donnie didn't want him to come in he would say something
So he pushes open the door looking at Donnie's working chair where he normally would be, it for some reason empty
He thinks it weird that Donnie isn't there until he notices the curled-up figure of Donnie in the middle of the floor his legs arms and heads all tucked into his shell
'Weird… but okay?' Casey thinks as he walks up to Donnie bending down to his level "Hey did you not hear me knocking on the door or something? And why are you in your shell? I thought only Mikey did that?" Casey Says softly poking the shell noticing the black soot on it
Looking over to Donnie's workstation he sees where the black soot came from
Looking back at Donnie a little nervous he pays attention noticing the slow but steady rise and fall of his chest breathing a sigh of relief marking dead off of his potential issues list
After a minute of trying to figure out what to do he hears small snoring coming from the young turtle deciding that waking him up would most likely be the wrong thing to do he ultimately decides that the cold hard floor of the barn is about the worst place to take a nap
The alternative of the easily accessible couch in the house was a much better option for Donnie and after Donnie woke up Casey wouldn't have to force him out of the barn to go and get something to eat!
He gloats over himself for a moment about thinking of such a smart solution before releasing that he most likely wouldn't be able to pick up the turtle without startling him awake and then he would have to explain why he was carrying the turtle in the first place
But… Donnie sleeping in his shell on the floor was an even worse thought than having to explain why he wanted Donnie inside and on the couch rather than outside
'I can do it… probably… yeah I can do it! Casey Jones to the rescue!' Casey thinks to himself as he softly and very very carefully picks up Donnie making sure not to jostle him too much as to wake him up
As hes very slowly and very carefully moves him into the house he gets a weird look from Raph who is in the field training and an eyebrow raised from Mikey who walks up to ask questions and get answers
Mikey walks up to Casey seeing Donnie asleep and says "What happened, is he okay?" in a whisper knowing that this is probably the first time Donnie has gotten any real sleep in a while
"I don't really know but from how the barn looked I'd say it was an experiment gone wrong and he just decided to take a break? I couldn't really tell you any more than that though…" Casey says to Mikey as he opens the door for him and Donnie
"Why are you bringing him in? I feel like he would wake up and I would be too scared to move him" Mikey whispers leaning over Casey's shoulder as Casey softly and very very slowly sets Donnie onto the couch
"I was scared trust but I'd feel awful leaving him on the floor of the barn to sleep, plus i haven't seen him in two whole weeks he must be hungry, so if he's in here when he wakes up I won't have to force him out to eat," Casey says to make stepping away from Donnie like a wild animal nervous that any creak in the floorboards would wake him up
"Oh well thank you for getting him inside… it's really not like him to fall asleep in unsanitary places though… it makes me wonder what really happened… Donnie has had experiments fail in the past but he just tries again he never really gets depressed about it" Mikey says making sure to stay relatively quiet as he and Casey move into the kitchen so they can talk at a normal level
"And I've never really seen him in his shell… he only goes in it when he's super super sad or when he feels threatened so… it has to be one of the two" Mikey says not really liking the possibility of either option
Casey just looks at Mikey and then back over at Donnie choosing to not comment on Mikeys observation choosing to instead send mikey off to go get a blanket for him and wait until he waks up to ask him or do anything drastic
~Time skip to 6 hours later~
Its been about 6 maybe 7 hours, who knows hes not gonna keep track, since hes brought Donnie inside to the couch, Mikey had brought Donnie about 3 blankets and a million pillows, wanting his older brother to be comfortable while inside his shell
Finially though after what felt like forever Donnie began to stir groaning while popping out of his shell getting a little surprised by all of the blankets and pillows he doesnt remember being there when he went to sleep
Matter of fact he doesnt remember falling asleep on the couch either… why isnt he in the barn?
Though he cant think about it for to long beaue Casey comes up right next to him handing him a small bottle of water to drink if he wanted it
"Here… youve been sleeping for about 6 hours… youre probably thirsty" Casey says looking over donnie to make sure he didnt have a matching missing tooth like himself due to the what hes guessing t be failed experiment
"What..? oh thanks…" Donnie says confused at first before making the connection the Casey must have moved him from the barn to the house's couch
"So…" Casey says not to totally sure how to start off the conversation
"What happened?" Casey says trying to cut straight to the point because he knows if he doesnt then itll drag on forever
Donnie stays silent for a moment deciding that the water was more important than answering Casey's question at the moment
He takes a deep breath before ultimately deciding that Casey is way to stubborn to just let him not answer the question straight up so very hesitently he starts to talk
"The medicine… for Leo… I was working on his medicine and i wasnt paying attention… the one bath that seemed to be the most promising ended up getting absolutely destroyed because i couldnt keep the stupid heat conductor straight…" Donnie sighs looking down at his lap trying not to let the tears that are welling up in his eyes fall not wanting to look like an iddiot infront of anybody and for some reason especially not Casey
"Well… you can always just redo it right?" Casey says like its the easiest thing in the world
"Yeah but i shouldve done it right the first time! Now that i messed up its just going to take longer for everybody to be happy again… everyone couldve been better by now if i wasnt so slow… Now for another two weeks Raphs gonna beat himself up and call it training, Mikeys gonna check and make sure everyones okay but him, and poor leo's gonna have to stay asleep for another two weeks! All because i couldnt keep my hand still…." Donnie says as he begins to scratch at his wrists nervously
"So… youre mad because now 'everyones gonna be sad for another two weeks?' thats not fair to you…" Casey says looking at donnie with a stern look "If you wernt such a genius then theres no telling that Leo would wake up at all… youre working as best as you can and no one is expecting perfection from you either… sure we all think youre amazing and really can do anything you put your mind too… but we dont expect you to, for the first time, make medicine for a cmtosed brother and get it right the first time… or even the second or tenth or fiftyth… youll get it eventually though nd from what it sounds like you do… you just need to get rest indetween" Casey says kinda surprising Donnie with how emotionally intelligent what he said actually was. Never expecting such words to come from him
"Did you steal that from a movie?" Donnie says sarcastically as the tears welled up in his eyes finally begin to fall to late to stop them now he lets them
Casey looks at donnie in concern before replying back trying to lighten the mood "No way it came from my super massive bean man" Casey says in an over dramatic stoner impression pointing to his head as Donnie lets out a small chuckle
"But seriously man… you can't help others if youre not able to help yourself… so get some food in you get some more sleep and then you can start the process again… no one here wants to see you suffer so they can be happier…" Casey says helping Donnie get up from the couch so he could make some food for the green turtle in the kitchen
"But.. I should really stat working on the medicine again… the faster i get it done-" Casey cuts off donnie not wanting him to finish his thought
"The faster Leo can wake up right? Well hes alive and just asleep, and he'll never wake up if the one person here smart enough to make the medicine cant lift a finger due to exhaustion… so eat" Casey says as he pulls out a small snack for donnie while he begins cooking real meal.
Donnie looks at the small snack on the counter contemplating for a moment before giving into Casey, taking a small bite, making Casey smile a bit before he goes back to cooking for the tall turtle.