My headcanon about "Same as it Never Was" is that Donatello was sent to a parallel universe where a different version of himself had disappeared. He didn't see his own future. But then I got to wondering: what if it HAD been his own future that he had seen? This ficlet explores the idea that, because Donatello lived through "Same as it Never Was", by telling his brothers about his experience he could inadvertently prevent it from happening in the first place. My headcanon hasn't changed, but the idea bit my brain and I couldn't ignore it.

Forewarned, Forearmed

Leonardo walked to the edge of the roof and sank down wearily, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the building. The eastern sky was just beginning to turn gold and the city was starting to wake up. Leo had always liked the way the earth seemed to take a new breath at dawn, but now daybreak just meant an end to their search and another too-long day spent planning their next move...and trying to get some sleep. He sensed Raph and Mikey coming up behind him on the roof. They sat down on either side of him and joined him in staring off to the eastern horizon, too heartsick to speak.

Leo swallowed hard, feeling his heart like a stone in his chest as he opened his mouth. "Guys, I think..."

"Don't," Raph said quietly.

"It's been three months."

"I said don't."

"Raph..."

"He wouldn't let this happen," Raph said through gritted teeth. "He wouldn't. Not when he knew."

"But he didn't know," Leo answered. "Nobody knew why Donatello disappeared. We thought the future that Don visited was an alternate timeline, not our own. There's no way we could have seen this coming. I don't know...maybe we should have, but even Don can't see the future."

Raphael's fists clenched. "I won't give up on him."

"We don't have to," Mikey said. His voice shook a little, but steadied as he went on. "Leo's right. Donny's gone. He would have come back to us by now if he could." Raph growled and turned his head sharply away. Leo recognized the familiar movement as an attempt to hide tears and his own throat began to grow tight, but Mikey wasn't finished. "Wait, Raph, listen to me. We don't have to give up on Don."

When Raph turned back to face his brothers, his eyes were fiercely dry. His glare could have peeled paint off a battleship, but Leo knew Raphael wasn't angry with them. Mikey knew it, too, and although Leo could tell how much it cost him, his mouth curved up in a smile.

"For them...for the other versions of us...Don came back. It...it took thirty years, but he came back. We just have to wait."

"I'm not gonna stop looking for him," Raph rumbled.

Mikey shook his head. "We won't."

"We won't," Leo echoed. "No matter what, we won't stop looking for him. And maybe we'll find him when the other versions of ourselves couldn't. But...there are other things to consider."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked, brow furrowing slightly.

Leo gazed off toward the horizon again. "Donny wasn't told how the Shredder took power in the alternate timeline. He didn't know what happened in the fight where Splinter died, or the specifics of how any of us were injured. All he saw was...was what had happened to us."

Mikey laughed shakily. "Yeah, would've been helpful if he'd learned a few particulars." His hands twitched a little in his lap, and Leo knew he was resisting the urge to rub his left arm.

"That future Don saw...it doesn't have to be our future," Leo said quietly. "Donny's...Donny's gone, so we know there are similarities between that reality and ours. Only time will tell if Shredder will come back here, and we can't control that, but there are things we can control." He took a steadying breath before saying, "We have to learn from what Don saw. Somehow our family in the other timeline fell apart after he disappeared. No matter what comes next, we can't let that happen. We can't lose each other."

The sun hovered just below the horizon, sending beams of tangerine light shooting up through the clouds.

"It wasn't supposed to happen here," Mikey murmured. "It wasn't supposed to be us."

"It won't be," Raph said fiercely. "I don't care what that other version of me did. I won't leave. No matter how big of an idiot you are, Leo."

Leo made a choked little sound that might have been a laugh. "Thanks, Raph."

The brothers sat in silence for a few moments. The light was getting bright now, and Leo knew if they stayed out too much longer, they'd be in danger of being spotted...

But then Leo felt a touch on his hand, and he felt Raphael's fingers slide into his palm. Raphael's gaze was fixed determinedly on the awakening city below. Leo was careful not to smile as his hand closed around his brother's. He reached out with his right hand to take Mikey's left, feeling warmth flood through him when Michelangelo gripped him back.

A dim memory flashed through his mind – a fleeting impression of being very young and very small, clinging to his brothers for reassurance and courage in the first blurred days after their mutation. He hadn't held on to his brothers' hands like this since they had been children. For just a moment, the ache of Don's absence faded and he could breathe freely, strengthened by Raphael and Michelangelo's solid presence.

The sun lifted completely over the horizon, setting the city skyline ablaze with clean golden light. A fresh breeze chased the high, thin clouds across the sky. For the first time in months, Leonardo allowed himself to feel the faint stirring of hope within his heart. Donatello was gone, and if their universe was anything like the universe Don had been sent to, he wouldn't return for decades, if he ever came back at all. But his brothers weren't facing the days ahead unprepared. They knew what obstacles could come, and knowing was half the battle.

He closed his eyes, sending his thoughts out to his lost brother, wherever he might be. We won't give up on you, Donny. We'll keep looking. We'll keep waiting. And don't you give up on us. I swear on my life, when you find us again, we'll still be united. He could hear the niggling voice of uncertainty in the back of his mind – the old cliché that history was bound to repeat itself – but he held Raph's and Mikey's hands more tightly, facing his doubts with defiance.

Not this time.