Work Text:
Donnie rolls back in his chair, a smile curling on his beak as he takes a long sip of his coffee. He’d just unleashed a very nasty virus onto the Purple Dragon’s computers. They’d been a thorn in his side since he first met them. Trying and failing to get ahold of his tech over and over again, he'd be more upset if their obsession with him didn't show just how superior his stuff was to the bits of trash they dare to call tech.
This was revenge for their latest attempt to hack his stuff. They seem to be interested in his security systems and overall trying to force their way into his main frame.
Their latest attempt almost succeeded if only because Splinter doesn't understand what a sketchy email is and almost downloaded a virus while trying to get better online shopping deals.
Which is insulting considering he could've literally asked Donnie, his token genius son, who has shown incredible deal finding skills. And has told Splinter, multiple times, to never download anything from an email unless he asks Donnie first, especially since this isn't the first- ahem.
Yes, Donnie was getting some much needed revenge on the Purple Dragons.
Donnie takes another long sip of his coffee finishing it off as he revels in how far this will set the dragons back. He then draws on his ninpō, creating dozens of purple screens displaying different schematics and unfinished code for his latest projects. He turns on his jimmy jams, the techno beat thumping with his heartbeat as he settles down to keep working.
He glances towards his now empty mug. A small frown twists his beak as he looks at the lack of coffee. Raph and Mikey somehow managed to break into his lab and steal his coffee maker. Maybe he could get Shelldon to bring him another cup-
Ooo, a coffee robot. Something that’ll create more coffee for Donnie on demand. That way he wouldn't need to waste precious time to go to the kitchen. But he'd have to find a way to keep it hidden from-
“Yo Dad! It's mandatory break time!"
The sudden appearance of Shelldon causes Donnie to jump and let out a shrill shriek. Donnie feels his face heat up as he pretends that didn't just happen.
“Ahem.. What? But it’s only..”
Donnie pulled one of his many mystic screens closer to peer at the time. The alert on the screen only proves his robot son correct. The previous five hours have already flown by.
“I'm done anyway.”
Donnie adds instead, it’s no use trying to fight the 'mandatory break-times'. Raph somehow managed to get Shelldon to take extreme measures to try to get Donnie out of his lab. Before the who'd always drag him out was L-
Anyways, Donnie has no idea how Raph managed to convince his robot son to do it, but somehow he did.
Donnie internally grumbles as Shelldon zooms away. He looks at his worn mug, he already has a special self heating thermos in beta but he’s found he just can't use it. The thermos is purple and has a sleek metallic design that Donnie absolutely loves, but the old chipped mug he’s cradling in his hands is something he just can’t replace.
He got it when he was eleven, Leo has just broken the other mug he used everyday. Donnie was having a really bad day and his brother tried to bring him some coffee in his favorite mug. But Splinter saw, and at the time Donnie wasn’t allowed coffee, However in Leo’s rush to try to hide the mug from sight it slipped from his fingers and shattered.
Donnie was so mad at his brother, he’d refused to talk to him for the rest of the day. He'd locked himself in his makeshift lab and refused to come out. Hours later Leo had come to the ‘lab', a small crevice in the wall with just enough space for a creaky old desk his brother had built with random parts from a dumpster and Donnie himself on a small stool.
His brother had knocked on the wall and presented the ‘new’ mug after Donnie had peaked his head outside the curtain. The new mug was an off-white, a little bigger than his old one and chipped. It had a small whale design on it, but it looked like the mug was washed so much most of the design had worn away. So Leo had taken a purple marker and scribbled ‘#1 guenius’ in the empty space.
Donnie had snorted when he looked at the mug.
“You spelled ‘genius’ wrong.”
Leo had just smiled brightly and glanced at the mug while holding it surprisingly carefully. “Ehh.. Close enough.”
Donnie rapidly blinked his eyes as his breath hitched. He squeezed them shut while he swallowed the shards of emotion trying to build up and stab his throat. He looked back as his mug through his teary eyes. As soon as he realized that the marker would fade he made a seal for the mug, capturing the design forever.
Donnie blinks away any tears that decided to form in his eyes, the traitors. He pushes his chair back and he stands. He should probably leave the lab before Shelldon takes said extreme measures to get him out of it. He then walks through his lab, sparing only a little glance at his latest inventions.
Most were covered in purple tarps, forgotten or pushed aside in favor of other projects having more importance to the rest of the family. Such as the new security upgrades or just simple maintenance for the lair. He glances at the large machine he's worked on for countless hours right after the incident, it's large, circular and covered in a blue tarp. But before Donnie can spare it another thought he pushes it aside and heads out of his lab.
Just by opening the lab doors he can already hear the music Mikey is playing in the kitchen. The tune is light and fast, definitely a 'feel good' song with peppy lyrics. Hmm.. Donnie lifts his hand to his headphones and taps on one of the hidden buttons on the side. The sounds fade as the noise canceling function turns on. He fiddles with the settings while striding down the rest of the hallway.
An orange glow greets him as Donnie sees Mikey cooking. His spots are glowing, but the golden fracture marks that stretch from fingertip to elbow aren't. Donnie's mouth thins but he doesn't get on to him to stop.
Mikey had attempted to create a portal with his bare hands, said attempt only ended with his body overwhelmed with mystic energy which caused his flesh to splinter apart from the sheer amount of power. Donnie remembers when he stared at the explosion in the sky and glanced at his youngest brother, then watched his eyes roll back while his arms cracked with golden light.
Donnie doesn't think he'd ever cried that much in his entire life.
Kitchen utensils are flowing around the kitchen in an arc, ready to be used at a moment's notice at Mikey's whim. Said brother is skillfully mixing together eggs and flour while dancing to music.
"Morning Dee!" Mikey smiles brightly at Donnie.
"Good morning dear brother of mine."
Donnie responds while going over to the coffee maker, he pulls open the nearby cabinet and starts measuring out the coffee grounds. Only occasionally batting away the random ingredients flying in the air.
"Your lessons with Draxum going well?" Donnie asks while scooping the coffee grounds into the coffee maker. He already knew what Mikey was going to say, considering he was now refusing to put anything down rather than actually using his hands to lift things, but it was polite to ask.
Mikey lit up like the sun, a huge grin splitting his beak. The mixture in the bowl violently sloshing around while Mikey turns around animatedly.
"It's been going great! At the rate I'm going I'll be able to make portals in no time, baby!"
The first portal attempt had not only caused his arms to splinter but ended up with him being trapped in the med bay for an entire week, along with pretty much everyone in the family giving him a stern talking-to, Donnie included.
"I even managed to lift the entire couch for a full hour!"
Donnie pressed 'start' on the coffee maker before leaning on the counter and leveling a long look at Mikey.
"You were stuck on the couch for an entire hour?"
Mikey pouted. "Other Dad was stuck, I could get down anytime I wanted."
Donnie gives him a deadpan.
Mikey stares back, face just as serious. The stare down only lasts a few seconds before Mikey chortles and his bright grin returns. Donnie feels a smile tug at his lips as he turns back to the coffee maker, it's already almost done. The kitchen falls into a comfortable silence. Mikey hums to the music Donnie can only faintly hear as well as the faint sizzling of pancakes.
"Want the first pancake?" Mikey asks.
Donnie pauses for a moment. "Give it to Raph."
Mikey hums thoughtfully before nodding and plating said first pancake. He's already started on the next ones when he asks.
"You seen him yet?"
"I just left my lab." Donnie replies while finally pouring coffee into his mug. He takes a big satisfying sip before pulling up his wrist gauntlet and rapidly typing out a command. "Shelldon's on it."
"Thanks Dee!"
He just hums in response as he takes another sip of coffee. Mikey keeps dancing and working his way through the admittedly giant bowl of batter. Slowly the ingredients floating in the air are set down on the counter as the gold surrounding them starts to dim.
Donnie raises a perfectly drawn eyebrow in Mikey's direction. His brother just sheepishly smiles before dismissing the rest of his ninpō and ending his impromptu lightshow. Donnie once again looks at Mikey's hands. The cracks are still not glowing, but they do look slightly irritated.
After Mikey had gotten out of the med bay they'd have to keep a constant watch on him to make sure he didn't try to make another portal and hurt himself even further. Which is precisely why he wanted to work with Mikey to make something so they could have a safe portal.
But when the rest of the clan found out they were forced to stop, going so far to disable the machine Donnie had built to do so. Then making it nearly impossible to continue working on it without getting caught.
Donnie sips on his coffee before a small vibration gets his attention. Apparently Raph's not in his room so Shelldon was going to the dojo to look for him. Donnie scowled down at the message. He already has an idea of where Raph might be.
"What's with the look?"
Donnie glances up at his brother, who is now plating even more pancakes and giving him a curious look.
"Raph isn't in his room and I suspect he might be on solo patrol, again."
"Isn't this the third time this week?"
Donnie starts typing on his gauntlet, starting to pull up the location information of his oldest brother.
"Fourth actually, he went out yesterday too." Donnie pauses. "Seven if we count the normal patrols and not just his nighttime solo excursions."
"Do I need to get Dr. Delicate Touch on his shell?"
Donnie frowns. "Sigh. Probably, but I doubt it'll do anything, you know how stubborn he is."
His gauntlet shows that Raph is in fact in one of the normal patrol routes and no longer in the lair. Donnie's one moment away from opening his beak to tell Mikey when Shelldon appears in the kitchen.
Raph had started going off alone to do even more patrols while at the same time insisting that Mikey and Donnie should stay home since they were still ‘recovering.’ Which is a dumb point considering that Raph has a massive hole in his shell and an eye so damaged he can no longer properly see out of it. And as much as Raph tries to deny it, it does in fact affect how effectively he can fight.
Donnie had suggested a bionic eye, which would help with his vision and depth perception problems, not to mention all the extra capabilities Donnie could add. Like the ability to zoom in, see heat signatures and so, so much more but Raph had gotten paler and paler as Donnie listed his ideas. Eventually he asked the softshell to stop while he mumbled something about not wanting anything in his face and then refusing to let the genius bring it up again.
Donnie still doesn’t understand why. But it didn’t stop him from making blueprints anyway, so if Raph does change his mind Donnie can surprise him with a better eyeball that nature could ever give him. With bonus points since the eye would be genius tech.
"I couldn't find Raph, dudes."
"That's alright Shelldon, I've already tracked his location." Donnie's fingers rapidly fly across his gauntlet, he already knows exactly where Raph is, this is just for show.
"He's near Run Of The Mill with-" Donnie pauses, staring intently at the information on screen. "-CJ."
"At least he's doing the buddy system." Mikey adds with a brittle smile.
Said buddy system was strictly enforced after the invasion. No one was allowed to go out alone, this was to prevent anyone from getting into situations they couldn't deal with by themselves. But the sentiment that started the buddy system 'No turtle left behind' feels hollow without the turtle who started it. But everyone still feels it's important that it's enforced.
Donnie scowls as he draws on his ninpō, the purple light constructing a floating screen displaying ‘Calling Dumb Dumb Brother Number Two.’ After a moment the words turn into Raph’s face. He’s breathing hard, frayed mask tails flying almost as fast as the background behind him. His eyes dart around the rooftops, one cloudy and tinged pink, the other a warm honey-brown.
“Heeyy, Donnie.” The nerves in his voice are so strong even Donnie can pick up on it.
Now Donnie has two options. He could either scold Raph for going out by himself or he could just tell him about breakfast and leave the chastising to Mikey. Donnie is not an emotions guy, and frankly he has dealt with enough emotions in the last five years to last him an entire lifetime, maybe even multiple lifetimes.
Donnie just gives him a flat look. “Mikey made breakfast.”
“Oh, uh. That’s nice?”
Raph smiles nervously, then suddenly ducks as a fist flies over his head. Donnie can hear him grunting and then the sound of his fist hitting flesh and then a thumb as something hits concrete.
“Breakfast, Raph.” Mikey adds while turning from the stove, face twisted into a sharp smile.
The camera screen shakes as Raph’s face comes back into frame, his mask now covered in grime. “Yea..?”
“Sigh. The same breakfast you insisted we have together for the past three years? Sound familiar? We only have it every single day, he says without any sarcasm.” Donnie replies then taking another long, intimidating sip of coffee.
“I've only spent hours on it~” Mikey pointedly stares at Raph through the camera.
“I’ll-” Raph doesn’t get to finish before CJ appears behind him, smacking away a thug wearing a bulky black jacket.
“Hot soup!!”
Raph motions behind him, trying and failing to get him to stop. Instead it just gets CJ’s attention as he glances over at Raph. He grins widely and waves.
“Hi Mast- I mean Donnie!”
Now Donnie isn’t really a big fan of future boy, he just showed up one day and Donnie’s whole world ended. Along with the actual world, but that was only for a little bit, Donnie's was still in shambles.
CJ had ended up moving in with April to try to get him to go to a normal school and just integrate into normal society. Donnie made sure he could, spending hours upon hours forging and making sure he had all the proper documents.
Raph just sighs deeply while giving Donnie a helpless expression. Donnie just lifts a brow and grabs his coffee cup and takes a big judgmental sip.
“Me and CJ will be there as soon as we take care of these thugs.”
Donnie lowers his mug and tips his head in the direction of Mikey, both grinning sharply.
“Okay, but I hope you have fun with the Doctor.”
Donnie watches Raph go pale and he quickly hangs up before he can respond.
“He’s gonna get it~” Mikey sing-songs before handing Donnie his plate, full of plain pancakes and scrambled eggs.
Donnie glances to his lab longingly but doesn’t really get a chance to even entertain leaving before Mikey looks at him harshly.
“I’m not going to eat breakfast alone. You go to that lab and I’m following. And you know I'm a messy eater~”
“Sigh..” Donnie adds before finishing off his coffee and sitting down at the table. He shoves some eggs into his mouth, hoping he can get done quickly and then get some more coding done.
Mikey quickly joins him, topping his pancakes with whipped cream, a variety of syrups and fruit. He shoves a big bite in his mouth and starts animatedly talking about his lessons with Draxum, and how he somehow got Spinter to go on a ‘family bonding’ activity with him yesterday. Only pausing when Donnie glares at him and he sheepishly smiles and starts to swallow between bites.
Eventually Donnie finishes his breakfast, scraping his plate clean. He’s about to get up when Mikey stops him. Face solemn but attempting to keep up his morning cheer.
“I think one of Leo’s candles is starting to go out.”
Donnie pointedly ignores the pit in his stomach at the statement. He purses his beak and just nods towards Mikey. His little brother has a sad expression, almost seeing through Donnie.
He walks to his lab. He slowly opens the doors and grabs his toolbag. He's finally where he wanted to be all morning but he can't stay. Instead he grips the toolbag tightly and makes his way towards the bedrooms.
Inside, Leo's room is almost the same as it always was, if only a little cleaner. Comics and various nick-nacks line the shelves, across from the shelf is Leo's bed. Now made and not covered in blankets strewn across the mattress, it's covered in the slider's favorite pillows and a limited edition Jupiter Jim bedspread.
Leo's desk, however, was cleared off, the items moved to the side so the framed pictures of Leo would have room. In total there are 5 of them, each one a treasured moment with the red-eared slider.
In the middle of the pictures there's a plate, something Splinter insisted on, so they could leave offerings. Right now it has a piece of pizza, the cheese having a waxy glean that means it needs to be changed out soon. Surrounding the framed photos are the candle's Donnie built, creating a border from the shrine to the old comics and decorative mugs that were pushed aside.
And yep, there it is, the flickering candle. Donnie ignores his burning eyes while he gently scoops it up. He opens up the small panel hidden at the bottom of the candle and hums. It seems like the batteries are the main issue, which is odd. Those batteries should have lasted way longer.
He changes them out and then carefully puts the candle back into place, arranging the small shrine back into place.
His thoughts, the traitors, then jump to very thing that took his brother away. He shivers, phantom tentacles digging into his back, the scar tissue tingling with lingering pain at the memory.
He should probably check on the key anyway. He starts to make his way towards his lab. When the incident first happened Donnie refused to let the thing out of his sight until Raph caught him trying to use it and took it away. It's not Donnie's fault that Raph gave up on Leo so quickly.
Eventually they agreed that Donnie would make a prison of sorts for it, that way it could be guarded by his tech. But only if they could check on it as much as they want for fear of him using it.
It'd be way easier to just use the thing to make the portal and not force Mikey to go through all the training. The risk of it getting out is worth it- ahem. Besides he's working on something else now, he doesn't need the key, even if it would be very helpful towards Donnie's cause.
Eventually he reaches his lab and collapses into his chair. He cracks his knuckles before pulling up the info on the key, or at least he tries to. But something seems to be blocking him. He ignores the bubbling fear and hope that, somehow, his perfect tech just has some sort of issue.
But when he finally gets the errors to stop he sees it.
An animation of a purple dragon snakes across his screen, coiling around an error message trying to display the location of the key. Then Kendra's voice rings out.
"We've got your precious artifact, Othello."