The Love of a Brother
A Ninja Turtle story by Deana Lisi
Disclaimer: I don't own the Turtles or Splinter.
Story takes place before season 4 of the new series.

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The day began like any other.

Early that morning, the turtles rose and went about their normal schedule, (after more than one of them hit the snooze button) training and having breakfast. Everyone was in a good mood, but it wouldn't last the day, for the disaster that loomed had the power to forever change their lives…

Donatello jumped at the sound of a crash, and cringed when Raphael's voice yelled, "Mikey!"

Michelangelo's laugh was the youngest turtle's only reply, and when Donatello heard no resulting violence from their older brother, he knew that the situation wasn't serious. He couldn't help but grin slightly. Life was never dull when Michelangelo was around.

Sighing, the purple-masked turtle looked at the computer that he was working on. He'd found it at the junkyard, along with many spare parts, and was in the process of building it for everyone else to use, since he was always hogging his own. Michelangelo badly wanted a particular computer game that he saw on TV, and Donatello wanted him to have it. Since they didn't have access to a lot of money, Donatello had April put an advertisement in the paper for him to do electronics repairs. Computers were left with her and she brought them to him, helping him make some decent money. He'd already had April pick up the game for him, which she kept in her apartment so that Mikey couldn't find it.

Donatello loved his little brother.

He loved all of his brothers, but had a special relationship with Michelangelo. They were both the 'youngest', though not by too much, and he knew that Mikey got along better with him than the other two. Raphael too-frequently ran out of patience, and Leonardo was so absorbed with his position as leader that he wasn't as easy-going as Donatello and Mikey. That's not a fair thing to say, Donatello chided himself. Leonardo works hard to protect everyone. Raphael did too, often in a more spontaneous and reckless way, but he'd saved their shells many times.

But soon, something would happen that neither of their protectors would expect.

"Donny!" Michelangelo suddenly yelled, causing Donatello to drop his screwdriver. "What do you want on your pizza?"

Donatello sighed, closing his eyes and trying to calm his racing heart. "Olives and peppers!" he yelled back.

"Gotcha, dude!"

Shaking his head, Donatello picked up his screwdriver again and finished securing the hard drive in place, before plugging it in and hitting the 'on' button. The computer came to life, and he smiled, watching the screen. Once the operating system finished loading, he checked the hard drive's contents, deleting what they didn't need and adding desktop shortcuts to the good stuff. Once that was finished, he glued his eyes to the exposed fan, ensuring that it functioned.

To his dismay, it remained immobile.

Sighing, Donatello wasn't surprised. The hard drives that he found in the junkyard usually worked fine, having usually been thrown out when the owner upgraded to a larger one. Fans, however, were usually only thrown out when broken. I need to find another one, he knew. But I don't want Mikey to know what I'm doing. An idea suddenly struck him, and he stood and left his lab, grabbing his disguise out of his bedroom.

"Mikey!" he exclaimed, looking around for his brother as he put on his coat.

"Yo!" he heard, from the kitchen.

"I'll go get the pizzas this time," Donatello told him. "I feel like taking a walk."

"Cool! Thanks, bro!" Mikey answered, coming out and heading for the couch, picking up Klunk along the way. "I'll save you a spot!" he said, sitting down and patting the cushion beside him.

Donatello smiled at him, and left the lair. He's gonna be so happy when he gets this computer and game, he thought.

Hurrying through the sewers, he made his way topside and headed for the junkyard, going to the spot where he'd found the heap of computer equipment. Shuffling through it, he managed to find three computer fans, and stuck them in his belt before heading to the pizza place.

Before he reached it, he suddenly heard an alarm go off in one of the nearby businesses, and he ducked into an alley and peeked around the wall. There was a jewelry store right next to him, and the bright streetlights allowed Donatello to see thieves inside. They'd quickly grabbed what they wanted and were heading for the door, so Donatello knew that he would be spotted. Sighing, he realized that he had no choice but to confront them…

Raphael watched from the rooftops as the jewel thieves ran out of the store. Just as he prepared to leap down, he saw Donatello rush over and command the men to drop the loot. Heh, go, Donny! He laughed at the men's reaction to the life-sized, talking turtle, and jumped, anticipating their reaction to the sight of two of them.

Donatello wasn't surprised at his brother's sudden appearance, but one of the thieves practically screamed.

"Hey bro!" Raphael said, twirling his sai. "Let's bust some heads!"

Donatello inwardly sighed, always preferring to give the badguys a chance to give up and leave peaceably, but Raphael jumped forward and attacked before his brother was able to reply.

The thieves all had clubs, used to smash the glass on the jewelry counters. They provided suitable defense—but not against two ninjas. The men weren't good fighters at all; it took hardly any effort to knock them all out, so Raphael was startled at Donatello's sudden panicked shout.

"Raph! Move!"

Looking up, Raphael saw the last remaining man pull out a gun and aim it at him. He threw one of his sai at the thief, but the gun fired before his weapon struck the man.

A split-second later, just as Raphael thought that his life was over, something slammed into him and knocked him to the ground. The breath was knocked out of him, but he regained it quickly. "Thanks, Donny," he said. "You can get off me now."

But Donatello didn't move.

"Donny?" Raphael said, quickly sitting up and grabbing his brother. What he saw nearly made his heart stop.

Donatello was covered in blood, steadily oozing from an ugly hole very low on his left shoulder, at the top of his chest. If it had been a couple inches lower…

"Donny!" Raphael repeated, quickly feeling his neck for a pulse. He found one, racing fast. "Donny, wake up!"

The injured turtle's eyes remained closed.

Stunned over the situation, Raphael nearly didn't know what to do. His mind tried to overcome his shock and he got to his feet, rushing to the downed thieves. He grabbed the shirt of one of them, ripping it off in one violent tug. Hurrying back, he pressed it to his brother's injury.

At the contact, Donatello groaned, his face scrunching up from the pain.

"Donny!" Raphael exclaimed. "Are you awake? Say somethin'!"

The younger turtle gasped from the pain, unable to speak. The panic in his brother's voice helped him to open his eyes slightly, and he looked up at him before re-closing them again. A sudden flare up of pain made him twitch and groan.

Raphael flinched himself, as he maintained pressure on the wound. "Sorry, Don! Sorry!" He watched his brother's labored breathing, fear making his own breathing difficult.

With a start, Raphael suddenly noticed that sirens filled the air. He nearly panicked again, realizing that cops were on their way. Grabbing Donatello's right hand, he placed it over the blood-soaked cloth. "Donny, hold this," he said. After making sure that his brother's hand stayed put, he jumped up and ran towards the unconscious thieves, grabbing Donatello's bo and one of his sai. He looked around for the other, but couldn't find it. "Where are ya!" he irrationally exclaimed.

The sirens were getting closer, and Raphael searched in a frenzy, not wanting to leave any clues for the police. He looked back at Donatello, realizing that there was only one place that he hadn't looked. Dashing back, he carefully felt under his brother. The sai was under Donny's shell, and Raphael was thankful that it hadn't injured him. His hands were shaking as he shoved the weapon into his belt, and he nearly stabbed himself. "Come on, Donny, let's get outta here!" he exclaimed, sliding an arm under the other turtle.

At the movement, Donatello's hand fell limply away from his wound, and his head lolled to the side.

Fear clenched Raphael's stomach so badly that he nearly dropped him. "Donny?!" he said.

One of the thieves suddenly groaned, giving Raphael no time to see if his brother still lived. When the man opened his eyes a second later, the turtles were gone.

TBC