Disclaimer: In the couple months between updates, I have gained ownership of the Turtles. Yay! Any believers?

Donatello strolled into the apartment, humming as he kicked off his shoes. It had been a good day. His college lectures finished early, allowing him to come home before rush hour, and he had received top marks on his fluid mechanics midterm exam. He fairly bounced to the kitchen, dropped his bag on the counter, and turned towards the fridge, intent on getting a drink.

"Donatello."

Donnie started violently, almost dropping the bottle he was holding. He whirled around. "Cripes! Leo!" he gasped, clutching his heart. "Don't do that. You gotta...gotta make some noise or something."

"Sorry," Leonardo said distractedly from the couch.

Donatello easily accepted the apology as he felt his heart rate return to normal. Startling each other had been a common occurrence growing up, and Leo had always been particularly talented in that area. "What are you doing home already?" he asked. "I expected to be the only one here until Raph picked up Mikey."

Leonardo swallowed and patted the couch next to him. "Come here, Donnie," he said quietly.

Hesitantly, Donatello sat down next to his older brother. "Bro?"

Leonardo was pale and appeared to be full of what Donnie could only classify as nervous energy, though his movements were unusually slow, as if each one took tremendous effort. All of Donatello's senses started tingling though he couldn't pinpoint why. His thoughts began to race without any direction, jumping from idea to idea with the speed only a genius could achieve. His body trembled and he was merciless to stop it. "Leo?" he whispered.

With a monumental effort, Leo met Donnie's eyes. "Donatello...there's something I need to tell you."

Donnie's breathing quickened, every fiber of his being screaming that something was not right. His thoughts flashed, Mikey. Raph. Father. ...Leo? Unable to find his voice, he swallowed hard and nodded for Leonardo to continue.

"This...this morning, at the dojo," Leo started, voice tight, "Father collapsed. The...the doctors or paramedics or whatever said it was a b-brain aneurysm." Leonardo's breath caught, "H-h-he didn't suffer..."

Donatello's thoughts screeched to a halt. His mind could only focus on one word: aneurysm. His face paled dramatically.

Automatically, abruptly, he rose from the couch. "No," was all he said, before fleeing to his room and slamming the door behind him.

Leonardo blinked uncomprehendingly. He let out a shuddering sigh, drew his knees up to his chest on the couch, and wept.

Donatello threw himself face down on his bed and let out a wordless cry of sorrow into his pillow. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't! he thought frantically. But he was a realist at heart, and he knew that Leonardo would never, ever joke about something this serious.

Tears came unbidden to his eyes, prickling madly as the reality of the situation began to sink in. Thoughts flicked madly through his head. Father's...gone. What are we going to do? Will Leo be able to get guardianship over us? Oh God, how do we tell Raph and Mikey? A world without Father...

Donatello's heart dropped into his stomach at the absurdity of life without their father.

For fifteen minutes, he lay on his bed, unmoving, unthinking. What could he do? Suddenly he sat bolt upright. "Leo!" he said out loud. He had left his brother sitting on the couch. Alone. Whatever Donnie was feeling must be orders of magnitudes worse for his brother, who, as the eldest, now had the responsibility for the family upon his young shoulders.

Donnie wiped his eyes on the back of his hand, took a deep breath, and walked back out to the living room.

Leonardo was still on the sofa, tears slowly streaming down his white face. Donnie sat down next to his brother and cuddled into his side, belying his fifteen years. Leonardo looked momentarily lost, then released a quiet, broken sob and threw his arms around his younger brother.

"Sorry I left earlier," Donnie mumbled quietly. "I just..."

"Shh," Leo said through his tears, "I understand. Don't worry about it."

Donnie began trembling uncontrollably in his brother's arms as the reality of the situation hit him further. His head felt very light and all the colors seemed to be too bright and slightly blurred. He struggled to focus on Leonardo, whose normally composed face looked close to panicking.

"Don? Donnie, honey? You okay?" Leo asked, pulling his distraught little brother closer, as if he could will away whatever was ailing him. "You're shaking like a leaf, and you're very pale." Leonardo lifted a hand to lightly stroke Donnie's cheek, which was almost cold to the touch.

Donatello blinked at the term of endearment usually reserved for Michelangelo. Leo only called Donnie "honey" when he was really ill...or when Leo was worried about him, Donatello realized with a jolt. I must looked as bad as I feel, he thought ruefully. The younger brother gave a hitching shudder and buried his face in Leo's shoulder.

They sat together, each crying wordlessly. Leo's heart was immensely heavy with the newly placed burden of taking care of his family, their family. The fear and anxiety of telling Michelangelo and Raphael was slowly eating away at him.

"Did...did you see it happen?" Donatello asked seriously, hoping with all his heart that Leonardo wasn't a witness to the tragedy.

"No," Leo whispered, rubbing slow circles on Donatello's back, whose lanky frame was still trembling slightly. "I was in the other room, with the kids' classes. I ran in when I heard the shouting, but the other instructors wouldn't let me get close enough to really see anything."

Donnie breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Leo wouldn't have that particular scar on his soul. "You do know there's nothing you could have done," he said, knowing that Leonardo was likely feeling guilty that he wasn't right by Father's side. "You didn't fail Dad in any way. Brain aneurysms are pretty much instant."

"I know," Leonardo said lowly. "But I still wish...I wish it had been different."

"Of course you wish that," Donnie said, snorting softly. "But the fact is, this is what happened."

A few moments of silence as both brothers contemplated their new position.

"How are you feeling?" Donatello asked.

"Shocked really. Everything happened so fast. You?"

"About the same."

More silence.

"Are...are you all right?" Donnie winced at the stupidity of the question. "I mean, you've probably thought about all the consequences already, but this is...I don't know, a lot of stuff for a recently turned twenty-year-old to deal with."

"Yeah," Leo agreed. "I don't think it's all hit me yet. I know that in light of Father's passing I'm now head of the family. I'm responsible for you guys and your well being, and also for providing for your needs and all this other stuff that I never really had to think about before. But it's so surreal that I can't quite wrap my head around it. It's bizarre."

Donnie nodded into Leo's side. "I'm afraid," he admitted.

"Me too. I'm absolutely terrified." Leo bent his head down to kiss the top of Donnie's. "Geez Don, you're freezing cold. I feel like you're going to pass out at any moment."

Donatello shook his head and curled even closer to Leonardo, who absently started stroking his hair, a gesture all the Hamato boys found calming. Donnie suspected the action brought Leo just as much comfort as it brought him. "Leo, even though you're now head of the family and you carry the honor and responsibility and all that jazz, we're here to share the burden," he said without preamble.

Leo's breath caught in his chest. He shouldn't have been surprised; Donatello was incredibly perceptive and had a keen eye into how his brothers were feeling and what bothersome thoughts were going through their heads. Donnie continued, "You're not the only Hamato. You aren't alone and you don't have to do everything by yourself. Let us help you."

Relief trickled into Leonardo's body. Thank God for Donnie's realism and rationality. In a few sentences he had pinpointed the root of all the anxiety regarding the future that was crashing upon Leo in waves and spoken the words that Leo needed to hear most. He wasn't alone, he didn't have to do it all.

Leonardo and Donatello sat side by side on the couch in silence, each caught up in his own thoughts. Both were startled by the sound of a key turning in the lock.

"Why's it so dark in here?" Raphael's voice filtered into the apartment.

Michelangelo flamboyantly flipped on the light switch with his ninja toes, revealing Leo and Don on the couch. As much as they tried to appear normal, Mikey's usually cheerful face settled into a concerned frown as he gazed at his brothers. Curse his intuition, Leo thought sadly.

Raphael as well could feel that something was off. His twin was obviously tense about something, and if that wasn't enough, Donnie was trembling, a dead giveaway that he was distressed. "What's going on?" he asked slowly, eyes flicking between his two brothers.

Leo took a deep breath, trying to calm his already frayed nerves, veritable waves of anxiety rolling off him. He felt Donatello's icy hand squeeze his own, and he gripped Donnie's like a lifeline.

"Raphael, Michelangelo...there's something we need to talk about..."

Thanks for all your amazing reviews and inspiration to write! And again, many apologies for the long delay between chapters. I'd offer a reason, but I doubt anyone wants to hear about my personal life and why I had no free time. Anyways.

I hope you've enjoyed this little story of mine, and that you're not too disappointed with how it's ended. Could you tell the story went in reverse chronological order? New genres, situations, and emotions were at play, so any suggestions to improve my writing would be appreciated. I hope to have more stories up and coming, so keep an eye out! Thanks again, friends! Couldn't have done this without all your encouragement!