Gosh, my mind is stuck with the guys' 2003 cartoon personalities. It was really hard writing this. I tried my best, but: Out-of-characterness included!

Ever since I have first seen the new TMNT's (which I love, by the way) I've been wondering how Donny (yeah, DonnY. Cuz I'm stubborn!) could have lost his tooth. And, as the brotherly fluff fanatic I am, I figured it had something to do with good ol' Raphie-Boy. All I want to say with this is: I have no idea what happened to Donny's tooth and he seems to already have lost it as a turtle tot (watch the opening) but this is what my Donatello-fangirl mind made up. Hope you'll like it!

By the waaayyy...*fangirl-mode on* OH MY GOD, DONNY IS MISSING A TOOTH, JUST LIKE ME! WE HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON! *clears throat* okay, fangirl-mode off.

"Hey, Donnie, I was wondering…how did you lose your tooth?"

A simple question, innocent even. Spoken in a casual way, just a thought that suddenly crosses one's mind. Not intended to do any harm. Which is why April O'Neil was taken aback at the unexpected reactions of her four mutant friends. Why did Michelangelo suddenly choke on his pizza and eye his purple banded brother so anxiously? Why did Leonardo move his eyes away from his beloved Space Heroes show to look at Donatello the same way? Why did Donatello drop whatever new thingamajig he was working on and look at April with wide eyes? And why…why on earth did Raphael stop torturing his punching bag in an instant and was standing there like an ice sculpture, his arm still stretched out and his hand balled to a fist…shaking like a leaf?

April examined every one of her friends, trying to figure out what she had said that could have caused such a reaction from the four ninja.

"Uhm…did I say something wrong?"

The answer she got was even more confusing, shocking. Raphael screamed, fired another hit which caused his punching bag to rip out of its holder, then he ran like a chased squirrel, out of the lair, his pet turtle Spike on his shoulder. April's gaze followed the red-banded warrior, her eyes were wide, not quite comprehending the situation. She turned her head to look at the remaining turtles. Leonardo and Michelangelo were still staring intently at Donatello, as if they would try and look through his body into his soul. But Donatello's eyes were fixed on the spot where his immediate older brother had disappeared. He seemed deep in thought, remembering something, his eyes absent, dark.

April tried to understand, rolled her thoughts back to the question, tried to work out a solution why it had caused so much distress. "Guys…seriously, what's going on?"

No one moved, no one spoke, as if the three brothers were in trance. Eventually Donatello sighed, turning around to see his older and younger brother still staring at him. He sighed.

"I better go looking for him." "Why? What's with him anyway?"

April looked at Donnie expectantly, but she did not seem to have been heard. Leonardo then spoke up, his eyes cold, angry.

"Raph has no right to act this way. He has to take responsibility for what he's done. He can't expect us to go after him." "He doesn't and you know that, Leo. And you also know as well as I do that he is truly sorry for what happened. He wouldn't act this way if he weren't." "Still, what he's done is some real bad stuff." Michelangelo was also now looking at Donatello, his eyes not as dark as Leonardo's, but still not approving. "You're his brother, Donnie. His little brother. That's not cool. And he's done it so he should, like, live with it and not pity himself. He's not the one who got hurt."

Donnie rolled his eyes. "You guys are talking as if I'd been a toddler. We were like thirteen." "We were eleven." Leo had balled his hands to fists, shaking at the memory flashing inside his mind.

April was looking at the three brothers, her face a big question mark. What the hell was going on here? What the hell happened between Raph and Donnie? April lifted her hand, softly placed it on Donnie's shoulder, squeezing it. "Donnie..?"

Donnie now seemed to remember that April was still there. He turned his head to look at her, and she didn't see the obvious signs of his crush on her on his face. The goofy smile, the loving eyes. No, his expression was dull, his eyes sad. He sighed. "Guys, tell her the story. I gotta go look for Raph, before he does something stupid."

Leo's gaze was fixed to nowhere, he seemed to be massacring someone in his thoughts. Mikey bit his lip and nodded. Donatello nodded as well and then rushed out of the sewers, while Mikey took a deep breath.

"Well, it kinda happened like this…"

Hothead Maniac Failure Animal Monster Monster Monster Monster

The words were stuck inside his head, repeating themselves over and over. Raph screamed, slammed his fists into the roof, punching it with all of his might. Spike was watching him, blinking occasionally, not understanding what was wrong with his owner.

Raph was still on his knees and hands, panting and shivering. "I'm a monster, Spike", he stated simply. Spike tilted his head, not quite understanding what Raph meant.

"We were kids…and Donnie was still so innocent, almost as innocent as Mikey." Raph balled his hands to fists as he remembered, the day that changed it all.

"Raphie?" "Leave me alone, Donnie." "Look, I know you're angry-" "Just leave, dude." "You know how Leo is, he just sees himself as our leader, being oldest and all." "Donnie, leave me the hell alone!" "Maybe if you'd just talk to him he-!" "I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!"

There had been blood. There had been so much blood. Donnie had been lying on the ground, curled into a ball, his whole body covered in bruises and cuts. And his tooth was lying inside a puddle of blood.

Raph screamed once more, proceeding to punch the roof. Leo was the one who'd found them. He had dropped to his knees, pulling Donnie close, examining the damage with wide eyes. He had started screaming, screaming for Master Splinter, screaming at Raph, using words eleven year olds should not even know. When Master Splinter had arrived he had not said a word, he had just grabbed Donnie and carried him to their sickroom. Leo had continued screaming at Raph, what he had been thinking, how he could have done such a thing, what a terrible older brother he was. Then Mikey had come into the room. He had been listening the whole time. He had seen the blood. Raph would never forget the way Mikey looked at him that day.

So many things had changed since that incident. Donnie used to call Raph "Raphie". He didn't call him Raphie ever again since that day. Donnie used to come to Raph after a nightmare or when something was bothering him. He didn't come to him ever again after that. Raph and Donnie used to be rather close to each other. Since that day, they were fighting almost all the time, Raph saying things which he knew would hurt Donnie deeply.

"Hey, Spike", Raph whispered, lifted his head slightly to look at his pet turtle. "Blink if you agree that I'm a monster." Spike tilted his head, his eyelids not moving the slightest.

"Spike, blink if you agree that Raph should forgive himself."

There was the blink. Raph's gaze snapped up. Donnie was standing behind him, smiling. Raph's eyes focused on the gap between his upper teeth. He jumped to his feet, his shell turned to his little brother. "You know it's true." "It's not."

Donnie started walking towards Raph. "A monster wouldn't feel like this, Raph." "That's easy for you to say. Sweet little wouldn't-hurt-a-fly-if-he-didn't-have-to-Donatello sees something good in angry maniac-Raphael. You would even find something good in The Shredder." "That guy is a lost cause."

Donnie lifted his hand, placing it on his older brother's shoulder. "You are by far not as bad as him. So don't you dare to think that."

Raph growled but didn't say anything. He knew it was useless to talk about something like that with the brainiac.

Donnie sighed. "Raphie-" Raph winced at the sound of that nickname. "Would you at least turn around and look at me?"

Raph tensed, balling his hands to fists, but he did as he was asked, Donnie's warm brown eyes piercing his soul. And before Raph could react he was pulled into a tight hug by the younger turtle. Raph didn't know why, but he had to smile. Donnie used to be shorter than all of them. Now he was quite a few inches taller.

"I don't know if you can ever forgive yourself, but I want you to know that I did. Okay?" "'kay", was the raspy response the genius turtle got. Raph lifted one of his arms to pat his younger brother's shell.

"I love you, Raphie." Raph froze. He had not heard these words in years. He had forgotten how good it felt hearing them. "Love ya, too, little brother."