Chapter Text
It was mere seconds after they managed to pull Leo out of the prison dimension. Raph had dived to catch Mikey as he collapsed. Donnie did their best to steady their twin as he teetered beside them.
"Leo? Leo!" Donnie yelled as their twin completely collapsed. Donnie was barely able to catch him and hold him up. "Shit shit shit. Raph!" Donnie yelled, turning to the oldest, only to find him unconscious.
It was then that Donnie realized they were left all alone to get everyone back home. It's fine. Come on, Donnie! We can't panic now! We need to get our siblings home. Still, they could feel tears begin to prick at their eyes.
The stress of everything that just happened weighed heavy on their shoulders, not to mention their worry for their siblings. Plus, their shell was beginning to hurt like a bitch now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Shit, how in the hell were they supposed to take care of everything?!
The turtle tank was fucking out of commission right now, so he couldn't call it. He didn't have any escape pods with them either, so that wouldn't work. Maybe they had something else? God, they couldn't think straight right now! What were they supposed to do?!
Donnie felt the tears drip down and was startled by it himself. They never cried, and now they were doing it twice on the same day? Jeeze, this was shit.
Alright, Donnie, focus. We have to get our siblings back home and in the med bay. Then we'll be able to treat their wounds. Now, how the hell were they going to do that? April came zooming up on one of the Shell Hogs with Splinter just then.
Donnie let out a sigh of relief. At least now April could help him figure out how to get everyone back safely.
"Donnie! Is everyone alright?"
"Sure! We're all perfectly fine! Not a scratch!" They rolled their eyes, their voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just... help me get everyone home."
April gives a short nod. "Alright. Casey! Where are you?! We need your help ASAP!"
"On my way!"
Donnie shifted Leo's weight a bit to try and straighten themself out. Everything would be fine now. It had to be. The krang was defeated and everyone was mostly intact and alive. Once they got home they could help stabilize everyone and then things could begin to go back to some semblance of normal.
Right?
"Donnie!" April called, snapping them out of their thoughts. "Do you think you could get Leo back home?"
He nods. "Y-yeah. I think I can manage."
"Good. You take Leo back and Splints and I will take Raph. Casey! Finally! You think you could carry Mikey back to the base?"
"Yeah! I can manage that."
"Good. Now, let's hurry. These three look like death and Donnie doesn't seem to be doing much better himself."
Donnie let out a small huff of annoyance but was more focused on getting his twin home safely. He fired up the thrusters on their battle shell and shifted Leo so they were holding him underneath his armpits. Donnie then took off to the entrance to the lair, the others close behind.
Once they reached it Casey quickly removed the manhole cover. April went down first so she could grab Mikey when he was lowered down by Casey. Next was Donnie so they could hold Leo once he was safely lowered down by the cables.
Donnie immediately ran Leo to the Med-bay, passing April as she ran back to help with Raph. Once Donnie reached the Med-bay he laid their twin down on a cot. They glanced around frantically. They knew that they should start trying to stabilize at least one of them but for some reason, he couldn't figure out where to begin.
Come on Don! Pull yourself together! Your Siblings need you and you can't even hold it together long enough to help them!
Just then Donnie heard a rustling behind him. They whirled around to find Mikey beginning to sit up and rub his head. “D- Dee? Wh-what happened?”
Donnie immediately rushed to their brother’s side. “Mikey?! Oh, thank god. You passed out right after you closed the portal.”
“W- wait! Where’s Leo?!”
Donnie turned a bit to face the cot Leo was lying on. Mikey followed his sibling’s gaze, tears springing to his eyes the second he saw his brother. Just then April and Casey enter the med-bay, each with one of Raph’s arms around their shoulders to carry him in. Mikey’s hand shoots to his mouth and Donnie leans down to hug their younger brother while he cries.
“Let’s go get your arms cleaned up and bandaged and then we can come to check on the others, what do ya say?”
Mikey nods, and Donnie grabs some supplies before leading the smaller turtle to the bathroom. Once in there, Mikey sits down on the floor by the tub and Donnie grabs a washcloth and starts running some warm water. The two sit in silence until Donnie finishes cleaning and bandaging Mikey’s arms.
Mikey glances up towards Donnie and notices a bit of blood dripping from underneath their battle shell. “D-Dee. Your shell… did you get it checked out yet?”
Donnie lets out a sigh, head too clouded to form words. He sits down next to Mikey and pulls his knees up to his chest. No , he signs. Was more worried about you all.
“Oh, Donnie… Can you at least let me help you clean it up?”
Donnie gives a small nod and shifts so that the back of his shell faces Mikey. Mikey carefully hits the release for the battle shell and begins slowly pulling it off as Donnie whimpers.
“I- I know Dee. I just need to get this off and… Oh, god.” Mikey is rendered speechless as he stares at his brother’s shell that was completely soaked in blood. “Donnie… Why didn’t you get this looked at first? It looks so… painful.”
Didn’t hurt yet. Was more worried about you all.
“Don…” Mikey lets out a soft sigh. He turns the water back on in the tub and grabs another washcloth. “It would probably be easier for you to just get in the tub. Do you think you can do that?”
Donnie gives a nod and Mikey helps him strip down. Michel then carefully guides his brother into the tub and begins cleaning the blood off of his shell. Donnie lets out a small whimper here and there and Mikey is careful to try and be gentle.
Once he finishes cleaning them off, Mikey grabs a towel and carefully wraps it around his brother. “Now we should probably get you to the med-bay, okay?”
Donnie nods and Mikey carefully wraps his arm around his sibling and guides them back to the med bay. Once there Mikey helps Dee onto the cot next to Leo. Donnie glances towards their twin and pulls their knees up to their chest. They watch carefully as Casey Jr. finishes stabilizing Leo.
Mikey climbs up onto the cot with Donnie and the older turtle wraps an arm around the other. Mikey leans onto them, tears pricking at his eyes. “Do you think he’s gonna be okay?”
Donnie shook his head. He has to be.
The moment Casey was done he came over and started checking Donnie's shell as Splinter finished patching up some of Leo's smaller, less immediate wounds. It only took a glance before Casey was muttering out a string of curses as he went to get an IV for painkillers. Mikey hugged Donnie tighter and they glanced down at his little brother who was now laying in his lap. Donnie tapped Mikey's arm to get his attention before he started signing. I'll be fine. Don't worry.
Tears began streaming down Mikey's face as he hugged Donnie even tighter, burying his face in their plastron. "I-I'm so scared Dee!"
Donnie let out a small sigh and started rubbing Michel's shell. Casey came over and started Donnie's IV while the soft shell continued to comfort the little box turtle. Once Casey finished with the IV he went and got the supplies to properly rinse out Donnie's shell. After a moment Mikey shifted and sat up, wiping his eyes. He glanced up toward Casey and back to Donnie who had wrapped their arms back around his legs.
Casey looked over at Mikey for a second before continuing his work. "If you want to help you can go grab the gauze and medical tape for me."
Mikey perked up a bit and immediately jumped to go grab the things Casey asked for. Don gave a weak smile as he watched his brother rifle through the cabinets in search of the items. Donnie stared down at his hands, beginning to fiddle with his fingers while they sat there.
After a moment Mikey came back over with the supplies. Casey then taught Mikey how to patch up and cover the wounds in Donnie's shell. He then quietly left, going to treat Raph's injuries. Donnie respected the kid for it because as much as he trusted Casey, Don kinda just wanted to be with his brother for right now.
Mikey started rambling about some random things while he worked. Donnie listened to him talk about his art and other things while he curled into himself comfortably, fingers fiddling with the sheets beneath him. They enjoyed the way Mikey just kept talking. It reminded them of how Leo always would ramble on and on to Donnie without a care in the world, just to keep him company.
Donnie lifted his head from where it had rested on his knees and glanced towards his twin in the cot beside him. Mikey paused as well, glancing over toward Leo.
"He's gonna be fine. Just like you said. We're all gonna be fine."
Mikey went back to work and Donnie laid his head back down so he was facing Leo. This didn't go unnoticed by Casey but he simply kept working on treating Raphael. Once Mikey finished patching up Donnie's shell he went to put away the supplies. Don let his eyes roam the room aimlessly until they landed on Leo yet again. They fisted the sheets underneath them as they watched their twin's steady breathing.
"You can lay with him if you want just be careful. I'm done here so I'll just come back in a bit to check in." Casey said quietly, exiting the med bay.
Donnie and Mikey both watched the door for a moment before going back to what they were doing. After a second Donnie shifts and gets up, going and propping himself up carefully next to Leo. Donnie closes their eyes, eventually noticing Mikey nervously shifting next to them. He simply lifts his arm, signaling the box turtle to come join.
Mikey jumps at the opportunity and immediately curls up against Don's chest. The two of them lay there quietly and the soft shell assumed their brother had fallen asleep. They closed their eyes themself and were about to drift off when they heard someone quietly walk into the med bay.
Donnie cracked open an eye to see Casey glancing between them and Mikey nervously. What?
Is he asleep? Casey signed back.
Don nodded and Casey walked over to sit on the cot next to Donnie.
"Good. I didn't want to bring it up with Mikey around because I knew he'd freak out. It's about your shell."
Donnie nodded along, watching Mikey sleep and rubbing the box turtle's shell. Michael nuzzled into the warmth a bit but appeared to still be sleeping. Casey took it as an opportunity to continue.
"The wounds in your shell are pretty bad. Quite a few of them are too big to… Uh… Naturally repair. Which means that your shell… It may be permanently damaged."
Donnie glanced toward their twin and nodded. He had figured as much. The way that the ship had ripped through his shell instantly had made them realize their shell would be permanently damaged. Their only fear now was how their twin would react when he woke up and found out.
He was going to wake up. He HAD to. Donnie couldn't do this without him.
Casey nodded to himself and stood up to walk out. Donnie managed to catch his arm though and stop him. I want to know how Leo is.
Casey nodded and sat back down. "He's definitely seen better days. To be honest… I'm not 100% certain he'll even pull through. He… He was almost killed in the prison dimension. Even a moment longer and…. Well, I think you get the picture. We should be glad Mikey opened that portal when he did. A moment later and I don't think Leo would have been coming home at all."
Donnie nodded. Thank you. That's all.
Casey stood up silently and left the room. Donnie reached over and slipped their hand into his twin's. The two of them would figure it all out. Leo just had to wake up.
Donnie drifted to sleep, the exhaustion taking over their body. Little did they know It would be one of the only nights not plagued by nightmares.
For the next week, both Donnie and Mikey refused to leave the med bay for even a moment while waiting for their brothers to wake up. Over the week, Raph kept fazing in and out of consciousness and Mikey was always right there by his side. However, Donnie couldn’t find it in him to leave his twin’s side and remained seated next to him.
At the end of the second week, Raph was completely cleared. Casey still needed to check his eye now and again but aside from that Raph could go back to doing normal things. Ultimately Donnie noticed over a couple of days that Mikey would ride on Raph's shell and look out for her. In exchange, Raph helped MIkey lift things since his hands were still too shaky and weak.
It made Donnie smile to see this happening. It also brought a pang in their heart as they looked over at their twin. That had always been their thing. Leo had always been there to help Donnie work around their autism and to stand up for him when he couldn’t. In turn, Donnie had always helped Leo with his disorder.
You see, when the two of them were around 15 Leo had been diagnosed with Depersonalization- derealization Disorder. It had caused Leo to be somewhat distant from their other siblings, at least emotionally. After all, Raph was always busy trying to look after all of them and Mikey was still too young to fully understand. That had left Donnie, who Leo was almost always with already.
Sure at first Donnie was practically clueless. They had no idea what exactly the disorder entailed but they wanted to know. So they did their research. Now it somewhat made sense why Leo always made stupid jokes in the middle of a stressful battle. Perhaps as a way to ground himself when he felt like he was going to have an episode?
It got Donnie thinking about ways he could help their twin. Then it came to them. Over the next week, he worked tirelessly to create and install a speaker system in his lab and both their rooms. It was difficult considering the fact they had to find ways to keep their twin out of his room. But the result was worth it.
Donnie could still remember the first time they had used it.
Leo came into the lab and sat down on the floor next to Dee. He didn’t say anything which Donnie found rather odd. Usually, Leo would be blabbering on and on about his day right about now. Was he having an episode?
Donnie glanced toward their twin but couldn’t seem to tell. Of course not. This was one of the times that being autistic irritated them.
Dee had planned on testing out the speaker system before showing Leo but they figured now was as good a time as ever. Donnie reached over in one of the drawers to their desk and pulled out a small touch screen device. They passed it to Leo before continuing what they were doing.
Leo stared at the device for a minute before powering it on. It seemed to have a bunch of different music streaming apps on it which confused Leo. He clicked on one and found that Dee had already signed him in.
Typical. He knew damn well he didn’t have any privacy with his twin. Not that he cared anyways, but still.
Leo glanced toward Donnie but if the soft shell noticed then they gave no acknowledgment. Leo flipped through until he found one of his favorite playlists and clicked on it. He assumed that the music would be coming from the small device so he was quite surprised by the sound of speakers roaring to life with his music softly playing.
Leo used the button on the side of the device to turn up the volume a bit. A small smile spread across his face and pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. The two of them sat in silence for a while. Leo listened to the music and Donnie continued to tinker with one of his inventions.
Eventually, a song came on that they both mutually liked: The Main Character by Will Wood.
The two of them started humming the song immediately. Leo glanced toward his twin and then started dramatically belting out the lyrics. Donnie looked at his twin and rolled their eyes before joining him with a dramatic flourish.
When the song finished both of the twins started laughing hysterically because Leo’s voice broke on the last line. After calming down a bit Leo dramatically pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. Donnie smiled, staring off at nothing in particular.
Leo watched his twin for a minute before leaning against his desk. “Thanks, Dee. Guess I needed that.”
Donnie smiled a bit at that. “Yeah sure, anytime ya big dum dum.”
Typically this would have been a happy memory, but now? It hurt Donnie on a fundamental level. They just wanted to have their twin back. Was that too much to ask?
Just then Raph came into the med bay. “Hey, Donnie. Me and Mikey were gonna get some pizza and then have a movie night. If you’d like you could come and join us?”
Donnie immediately shook his head. “I- I can’t leave him. It just wouldn’t be the same anyways…”
“Alright. If you change your mind though you’ll know where to find us.” And with that Raph left.
Sure, Donnie hadn’t expected her to stay. They never expected any of them to stay. But sometimes he wished they would.
That had always been Leo’s job though. Leo had always been the one to stay by their side no matter what. Yeah, sure, sometimes he would take that to an infuriating level. Constantly pestering Donnie while they were trying to work. Right now though, Dee would give anything for their twin to start following him around like an annoying puppy again.