Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Summary: 2k12 Turtle tot fic for :iconRachelErica:'s ABC Tot Challenge 2. Prompt: Defiant. Donatello enjoys learning and even more, loves to share his new knowledge but when he explains something the wrong way, one brother ends up hurting. Comments, thoughts and concrit is always welcome.

Due to posting this at Hong Kong airport while waiting for my connecting flight, thi is not quite as heavily edited as normal. If you spot something, please feel free to PM me about it and I'll fix it when I return home from holidays in April. Until then, my net access will be spotty at best.

Defiant

Donnie clapped the covers of his book loudly together, grinning happily. More than anything, he loved learning and if he had a choice of doing anything else or learning new things, he'd choose his books almost every time. Best of all, his father encouraged it, although there were times he forced Donnie to leave the books to train or play with his brothers instead.

His father often brought home books from his scavenging runs and Donnie welcomed them all, even the ones that were still too difficult for him. His current favourite was a tattered, old dictionary and he sat down every day for the last week, committing a few new words to memory before using them on his brothers. While knowing things his brothers didn't delighted him, their lack of interest also frustrated him. Even so, he still enjoyed sharing, so Donnie tossed the book onto the kitchen table and jumped from the too tall stool to go find his brothers, excited by what he'd just learnt.

Leo was the easiest to find. He was parked in front of the television, watching the show that so recently captivated him, 'Space Heroes'. Donnie immediately ran up to him.

"Leo! Leo! Leo!"

His only response was a brief, annoyed flicker of eyes in his direction.

"Wow, Leo! You really are obsessed!" Donnie exclaimed with a bright laugh. "I knew that word fit you perfectly!"

Leo took no notice and Donnie stood there, waiting patiently. Finally the commercial break started and Leo turned in his seat to stare up at Donnie. "What do you want?"

Donnie grinned brilliantly, showing off his gap; there really was nothing better than sharing with someone willing to listen. "To tell you the new word I just learned, 'obsessed'." At Leo's questioning gaze which Donnie interpreted to mean he was just as interested, he continued. "It means to be fixated on someone or something. You're fixated on 'Space Heroes' so that means you're obsessed."

"Oh," Leo said oddly, trying to work out if it was a good thing or a bad thing, not to mention figure out what Donnie meant by 'fixated'. Suddenly the commercial finished and his show came back on, so Leo quickly faced forward again, forgetting all about Donnie.

Donnie left in search of his next brother.

-:-

Several minutes later, Donnie found Raph exiting their bedroom, a couple of broken action figures in hand. He bounced eagerly up to him, keen to impress Raph the way he did Leo.

As soon as Raph took in Donnie's body language and overeager eyes, he became instantly wary. Donnie only became that lively when he was longing to share some new, boring thing he'd learned. Really, Raph loved Donnie as much as their other brothers but sometimes that know-it-all drove him crazy, especially when he showed off to brothers who couldn't be less interested. Or, a secret little voice deep inside Raph whispered, when his brothers just couldn't understand what their freakishly smart brother was trying to tell them.

Raph fidgeted, wanting to just run off in the other direction but some instinct warned him against hurting his little brother so he stayed.

Donnie beamed and he could almost have given their youngest brother a run for his money. "Hey Raph!" he said brightly.

"What?" he asked.

"I learned a new word today..." Donnie said, suddenly shy.

Raph groaned loudly. He knew it! Donnie just had to show off how much easier he learned than anyone else again! The rest of them were only even just beginning to learn to read!

"... impertinent! It describes you perfectly!" Donnie grinned, unaware he'd already lost Raph.

As Raph stared blankly at Donnie, nodding silently and pretending to listen, Donnie kept right on speaking.

"...disrespectful or does or says something that doesn't relate to the conversation."

Eyes empty, all Raph was aware of, was that Donnie finally finished speaking and was looking expectantly at him. "Great Donnie," he cheered hollowly. Then he turned and ran off towards the pit and the TV he could hear blaring in the background.

-:-

Ecstatic over how well this was going today, Donnie opened the bedroom door that Raph had just come from, hoping his last brother was inside, and he was.

Looking up from his drawing at the sound of the door, Mikey grinned happily at the sight of Donnie and Donnie felt his heart warm; Mikey always made Donnie feel like he mattered. He was always happy to spend time with Donatello and even if he didn't understand what he was doing or talking about, Mikey never made Donnie feel bad about it, the way the others sometimes did.

Donnie grinned back and sat on the ground beside his brother, looking at the art he was creating; he was always impressed, and even a little jealous of the imagination Mikey channelled.

"What new words today?" Mikey asked, knowing exactly why Donnie had come.

Happily, Donnie explained about 'obsessive' and 'impertinent', giving clear examples of how those words fit their brothers and making Mikey laugh.

"Did you find one for me too?" Mikey asked, eyes shining with hope, not that Donnie ever disappointed.

"Yup!" Donnie nodded. "Defiant."

"What's defint mean?" Mikey asked curiously.

"Defiant," Donnie corrected. "It means to refuse to obey someone or something..."

Unbeknownst to Donnie, the light in Mikey's eyes dimmed a little.

"...or someone or something that resists in behaving or conforming to what is asked or expected."

When Mikey didn't comment but instead stared silently down at the ground, Donnie asked, concerned he'd somehow confused Mikey, "Do you get it?"

"It sounds bad..." Mikey mumbled quietly enough that Donnie didn't quite hear him.

"Mikey?" Donnie prompted again.

Mikey flicked his dulled blue eyes up to meet Donnie's briefly, before dropping them again. "How am I defant?"

"Defiant," Donnie corrected yet again, a little more impatiently this time and missing the flinch as Mikey was still looking down while laying on his plastron. "Well... whenever we have training or lessons, you never listen. You often go off and do other things instead and daddy always has to call you back and remind you of what you're meant to be doing. You also bug Leo when he's watching that new show of his, even when he asks you not to and nearly every morning, you jump on one of us to wake us up, even though we keep telling you not to. Also you usually start eating before everyone else is at the table. And then there's..."

As Donnie spoke, Mikey's lip started to tremble. When he suddenly spoke, interrupting Donnie, his voice shook, though it went unnoticed by his brother who was too busy eagerly explaining how his new word fit Mikey perfectly. "So I really am defant?"

Donnie stopped talking and nodded, wondering when Mikey stopped looking at him. "Defiant, yeah. So you understand now?"

Mikey nodded numbly, unable to speak.

"Good!" Donnie said, pleased. He quickly jumped to his feet. "I'm gonna go read another one of the new books daddy brought home. I'll share some more new words tomorrow too, okay?"

Mikey nodded once more, still refusing to look up and Donnie left, visions of the children's encyclopaedia T in his mind's eye. He closed the door with a loud bang behind him.

-:-

Splinter serenely exited the dojo after an unusually peaceful meditation session. It wasn't often his five year old sons stayed quiet so long but he figured that was mostly due to Leonardo's new found fascination with a science fiction programme he'd recently discovered on the television, Raphael's pretended disinterest in the same show, the box of new books he'd found and brought home for Donatello and the ream of mostly clean, though creased and slightly torn paper he'd found that Michelangelo quickly laid claim to.

He'd actually managed to meditate for almost two hours now and he was long overdue to begin preparing dinner, but before heading to the kitchen he wanted to check on his boys first. As he walked through the common area, he looked over towards the pit and smiled as he saw three little green heads barely poking above the bench seating. He presumed the fourth was laying down on the floor in front, as he was often want to do; Michelangelo was rarely away from at least one of his brothers for very long.

Satisfied at what he saw, Splinter quickly continued into the kitchen, humming an old Japanese song merrily as he walked; he really was in a nice, relaxed mood after that uninterrupted time of tranquillity.

-:-

"Boys, time for dinner," Splinter called in his deep, rich voice as he stepped out of the kitchen and into the common area.

Raphael and Leonardo immediately jumped to their feet, racing each other eagerly to the kitchen and prompting a look of reprimand from the ninja master. They immediately slowed and Splinter had to work to hide his chuckle. Donatello, as usual, walked more reluctantly; like a prisoner to his execution, Splinter often thought. Splinter knew Donatello only ate because he was hungry; it was no secret that his most intelligent son didn't enjoy their usual fare. Unfortunately though, algae and worms were the only food source easily cultivated in the sewers and it was listed as food appropriate for the young turtles before they became an impromptu family. Splinter really wasn't sure human foods would go down well in their mutated state and he really couldn't bring himself to risk them becoming sick from eating something they shouldn't.

That and the fact that he was a proud man. He had no problems with scavenging for items they needed but food was another matter, so he'd learnt to eat what they ate, especially once he'd worked out how to cultivate their own stores.

Splinter frowned suddenly as he realised his youngest was nowhere in sight; Michelangelo always came running for food, no matter how often he was told to walk instead. He moved to the pit, fully expecting to see Michelangelo having fallen asleep where he'd lain watching television and of course his brothers naturally wouldn't have thought to wake him when they were called; more than one of his sons had reached that stage where they found it fun watching another get into trouble.

To Splinters surprise and dismay, Michelangelo was not in the pit, so he quickly returned to the kitchen, pleased to see Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello waiting patiently at the table, or rather, impatiently in one particular case.

"Boys, have you seen your brother?" he asked, trying to mask his concern.

"Not since training, daddy," Leonardo, always eager to help, piped up.

Splinter turned to Raphael, who shook his head emphatically, fingers fidgeting with his eating utensils.

"He was drawing in our room before but then I went and watched Leo's stupid show with him."

"It's not stupid!" Leonardo immediately retorted.

Before the coming argument could escalate any further and perhaps develop into rough housing, Splinter looked at each sternly and cleared his throat in warning. Both turtles fell silent and Splinter faced Donatello.

"I talked to Mikey in our room after Raph left. I taught him the new words I learned today," Donnie said proudly. He glanced over at the clock on the kitchen wall. "That was a bit over two hours ago though."

Splinter nodded; about when he began his meditation. "Perhaps your brother simply fell asleep. I shall go wake him and in the meantime, you three may begin eating." Amidst the cheer and delighted noises of two of his young sons, Splinter cleared his throat to gain their attention once more. "None of you may leave the table until all of you have finished everything on your plates. I will be checking afterwards.," he added, looking meaningfully at Donatello.

Amidst the chorus of "Hai, daddy!", Splinter left the room, heading straight for the bedroom his sons shared.

When he knocked and received no response, Splinter gently opened the door, fully expecting to see Michelangelo within. Instead, the sight that greeted him was one of drawing supplies scattered all over the floor; coloured pencils and spent paper strewn all about. He frowned, unimpressed. All four sons knew better than to leave things spread about when done with them.

After checking the room thoroughly, Splinter left, closing the door behind him again and beginning his search of the rest of their underground home, starting with the bathroom. He searched room after room, passage after passage, looking in all the nooks and crannies a tiny, rambunctious mutant turtle could possibly slip into, and calling all the while.

But Michelangelo was nowhere to be found and Splinter soon began to worry. It wasn't like his youngest to miss a meal, or even be away from company for so long.

Fearfully, Splinter prayed Michelangelo hadn't somehow made it out past the outer barriers of their home and into the sewers proper. If he had, anything could have happened in the time since anyone last saw him.

Michelangelo may have even been discovered and taken away...

Splinter damped down his rising fear, it would do him no good, and turned to leave. As he reached the turnstiles, another room caught the corner of his eye. He hadn't given it any consideration beforehand and so, he frowned. All his boys avoided that room where possible, since it was used as a time out room for misbehaving children.

As the ninjutsu master approached, a faint sob from within reached his sensitive hearing and he almost wilted in relief. In moments, Splinter swung the door open to peer within.

Michelangelo lay in the corner, curled into a ball, facing it; his breath hitched with every one and an occasional exhausted sob could be heard.

Suddenly the spell of shock broke and Splinter was within, kneeling beside his distraught son, "Michelangelo?" he gently queried. "Whatever is wrong, my son?"

Michelangelo barely moved, other than to struggle to breath through his crying and Splinter reached out a bony hand to connect comfortingly with his shoulder. "Michelangelo?" he repeated, his concern overwhelming all else.

For a moment, he seemed to curl in tighter on himself but then suddenly, Michelangelo was a small, light green blur, throwing himself into Splinter's arms, "D... don't hate me, daddy! I d... don't mean to be bad..."

Splinter wrapped his arms around the little turtle, holding him close as his concern rose even higher. None of his sons were angels, they were five year old boys; some with mischievous streaks a mile wide and each with vastly differing needs and wants to the next. Needs and wants that could often clash with each other, along with the time he had available for each. As such, tempers could flare or fights break out, but never once had Splinter thought of any of his children as 'bad' or even ill behaved.

"I don't understand, Michelangelo. Why would you even think such a thing?"

"Do... Don... nie s... said I am..."

Splinter frowned again, still holding Michelangelo close. He remembered Donatello saying he taught Michelangelo some new words, but he'd seemed happy about it at the time. "I am certain he would not have said such a thing. Michelangelo, what exactly did he say?"

Michelangelo pulled away to look miserably up at his father as he answered. "He... he said I was defint..."

"Defint?" Splinter asked in confusion. Michelangelo always liked spending time with Donatello and listening to him talk or explain things, but what Donatello said didn't always sink into the five year old's mind properly.

"Defant," Michelangelo repeated with a hiccup. "He said... it was bad... that it was someone that d... doesn't listen and d... does their own thing instead... that d... doesn't do what their t... told."

"Ah, defiant!" Splinter said in sudden realisation.

Michelangelo nodded. "And he s... said th... that's what I do."

As Splinter listened, he began to understand. "Michelangelo, you are not defiant," he said firmly,

knowing he would also need to speak to Donatello before this was over.

"You're... always t... telling me off for that stuff in tr... training. P... please don't hate me, daddy," he begged, tears dribbling down his face.

Splinter's heart twisted at the pitiful plea but he schooled his features into a serious expression and said solemnly, "Never."

Michelangelo sniffled but didn't look entirely convinced.

"Michelangelo, look at me," Splinter suddenly commanded of the little turtle. When Michelangelo looked back up fearfully, Splinter continued in a much gentler tone.

"Do you deliberately disobey me?" he asked. At his son's puzzled expression, Splinter reiterated, "Do you do it on purpose?"

"No!" Michelangelo shook his head wildly. "I always try to do what you tell me, but... s... sometimes... it's really hard!"

"Then you are not defiant."

"But Donnie said..."

Splinter immediately cut him off, "Donatello is very intelligent for someone of his age, however, he does not know everything, my son. He may know the meaning of the word, however he does not yet understand how to apply his knowledge."

Michelangelo looked confused but Splinter continued, "Your brothers and yourself are very young, Michelangelo. I do not expect any of you to be able to focus and pay one hundred percent attention as yet. What I do expect, is that you try and that you improve as you grow," he said. "Our lives are not easy ones, my son and one day, they may very well rely on the disciplines you learn now. This is the main reason I have begun teaching you ninjutsu so young.

"You know," Splinter suddenly added, "you are not the only one to have trouble focussing on the task at hand; all of your brothers do as well."

"Really?" Michelangelo asked in surprise and Splinter was pleased to note his tears had finally stopped.

"Really," Splinter solemnly agreed. "If you recall just this morning, I had to call out Donatello for his lack of focus."

Michelangelo giggled at the memory; Donnie had been all excited about something he'd been reading before being called for training and hadn't had time to finish. As a result, most of their lesson he'd kept thinking about that instead, even going so far as to begin talking about it at one point.

Splinter smiled and reached out his arms once more and Michelangelo practically flew back into them. He held on tight as the young turtle finally settled down.

"No one deliberately defiant would be able to make his father and brothers smile as often as you do, my son," Splinter eventually said softly, as Michelangelo's breathing evened out. There was a small hum in reply and Splinter at last relaxed. A short time later, he spoke up again, "Do you feel up to eating some dinner now?"

This time, there was no reply and Splinter looked down. "Michelangelo?" he repeated, but to his surprise, he saw the emotionally exhausted turtle's eyes were closed.

Smiling fondly, Splinter stood slowly, careful not to disturb the sleeping five year old. Then he carried him to his room and bed.

-:-

"Did you find Mikey?" Leonardo asked anxiously as soon as Splinter returned to the common room. Though the three were parked in the pit in front of the TV again, it was obvious none were paying attention to it, Leonardo in particular currently knelt on the bench watching for Splinter.

The humanoid rat's heart swelled with pride at the concern shown, even at such a young age and nodded. "Your brother fell asleep, so I took him to bed."

All three turtles looked relieved and none seemed to notice the obvious omission in Splinter's explanation over the length of time it took.

"Did you finish everything on your plates?"

"Yup!" Leonardo nodded.

"Though Donnie took hours to finish his," Raphael offered accusingly.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Didn't! It was only forty five minutes..." Donatello muttered petulantly.

Splinter hid his reaction. In many ways, he was amused by Donatello, however, he could certainly understand Raphael's frustration.

"Leonardo and Raphael, you may finish watching your program and then you are to get ready for bed," he instructed. Then he turned to his other son, "Donatello, come with me. I wish to speak with you."

As Donatello trailed after him, Splinter felt the curious stares of the two sons he'd dubbed the oldest, however, they obediently stayed parked in front of the television.

Soon Splinter reached his private chamber; a room aside the dojo which he intended on turning into his bedroom once the boys were old enough to be trusted in the training room without direct supervision. He held the door open for a now reluctant Donatello and motioned for him to sit.

"D... did I do something wrong, Master Splinter?" Donatello stammered anxiously, observing formality since they passed through the dojo to get there.

"Yes, though I do believe it was unintentional," Splinter said. "However, you did very much upset your brother."

Donnie's jaw dropped and he squeaked, "Mikey?" At Splinter's nod he asked, "What... what did I do to upset him?"

"Tell me about what you spoke about when you last saw him," Splinter suggested. He already knew of course, but he was hoping to lead his brightest son to realise for himself.

"I... I was just teaching him about the new words I learned but I already told you that, daddy," Donatello said.

"Indeed."

"I know Leo and Raph aren't usually interested..." Donatello mumbled, "but Mikey often is."

"He enjoys spending time with you," Splinter pointed out.

Donnie nodded and bit his lip, still not knowing what he did wrong.

"How did you explain the meanings?" Splinter prodded suggestively.

"Um... told him the meaning and then examples in our lives."

Splinter raised his furry eyebrows as Donatello explained further. At the end when Donatello still didn't realise, Splinter spoke up again. "Your brother is very impressionable, Donatello."

Donnie nodded, still confused.

"You explained how defiance was a bad thing and then gave examples about Michelangelo himself."

"Yeah, it's the easiest way to... oh..." Donnie trailed off as sudden understanding filled him.

"However, Michelangelo is not a defiant child," Splinter explained softly, "and now he believes himself to have been 'bad'."

"But the definition fits!" Donatello protested loudly.

"Yes..." Splinter said, "and no. Defiance is usually a very deliberate act. Your brother has a lack of focus which may make it seem as though he is being defiant at a glance. However, this is normal for a five year old. All of you are the same in that respect, just to a lesser degree, and some days are better or worse than others for each of you. You are all still growing and will improve as you gain life experience."

"I didn't mean to hurt him..." Donatello whispered.

"I know this Donatello, however your brother did not realise that you did not mean it in the way it sounded. In future, when you share your new knowledge, do not use your brothers' actions to explain. You do not yet have enough experience to determine if it fits as well as it seems, or if it may cause hurt feelings."

"Hai, Master Splinter," Donatello mumbled, chagrined. "How can I fix this?" he asked plaintively, looking up into Splinter's warm eyes anxiously.

"I suggest you go through your dictionary again, specifically through A and S to find words to properly express your regret," Splinter commanded.

Donatello nodded eagerly, already starting to run towards the sliding door. "I'll get started right now!"

"No," Splinter said firmly. "You will first prepare yourself for bed. Then afterwards you may spend an hour to prepare an appropriate apology before bed."

"Hai, Master Splinter!" Donatello immediately replied. Then he ran off to do as he was told while Splinter went to tell Leonardo and Raphael they that may stay up for one more hour.

-:-

Michelangelo hesitated in the doorway, staring in at his sleeping father. Instinct and ingrained habit made him want to desperately fly across the room into his father's waiting arms, however the talk he'd had with Donnie the day before still weighed heavily on his mind, making him shuffle on the spot uncertainly.

Unmoving from where he lay, Splinter suddenly spoke up, making Mikey jump in fright. "Do I not get my usual morning wake up, Michelangelo?"

Mikey stared in amazement. Usually his father only woke right at the very last moment, catching him as he was about to land on top of him. "You're already awake anyway..." he muttered sullenly.

"This is true, however I much prefer being woken by my lively, turtle alarm clock."

Mikey gawked in disbelief until Splinter propped his head up and beckoned him over with a welcoming smile. With a cry, Mikey ran over to jump into Splinter's waiting arms and snuggle into him. They only lay like that for a few short minutes before Mikey's stomach loudly betrayed him.

"You did not eat last night," Splinter observed. "You must be very hungry by now, my son."

Mikey nodded into his father's fur.

"Then let us go prepare breakfast."

Within a few minutes, Splinter and a clingy Michelangelo entered the kitchen, only to see Donatello fast asleep on a stool at the table, drooling with his head resting atop his dictionary.

Splinter sighed, "Wait here, Michelangelo. I shall take your brother back to bed. When I return we will start breakfast."

Mikey nodded wordlessly, his eyes fixed fearfully on Donatello. As Splinter lifted the brainy five year old, Mikey couldn't help a small whimper escaping; he didn't want to be thought of as bad, especially by the brother who usually seemed to like his company the most.

Splinter smiled comfortingly at Michelangelo and began walking out when Donatello woke up. He coloured when he realised he was in Splinter's embrace and squirmed to get down. Once released, Donnie ran straight over to Mikey, to stand shyly in front of his normally boisterous brother.

"Mi... Mikey?" he stammered. "I've got something I need to tell you."

Mikey stared hopefully at Donnie.

"I have a couple new words for you... Thoughtless. It means someone who has no consideration for others. The second one is inconsiderate... That one means not thinking about the rights and feelings of others," Donnie said, watching Mikey carefully. "Both those words fit me and because of that I want to apologise for what I said yesterday. I didn't mean to upset you."

Donnie took a deep breath and continued, "I just... just wanted to share what I learned with you because you're the only one who is ever really interested in what I have to say and... and I like spending time with you because you're fun," he admitted. "But the way I explained it was thoughtless and inconsiderate because you're not bad... I love having you as my brother and I'm really ashamed I hurt you... I... I really didn't mean to, Mikey..." Donnie whispered sadly, wishing he could take back the words from the day before.

"I don't know most of what you just said, Donnie," Mikey confessed in confusion once Donnie finally finished speaking, "but I know you didn't mean it."

"You... you do?"

Mikey nodded happily. "Yeah, 'cause you aren't a big meanie like Raph," he said with a

giggle.

Donnie laughed as Mikey shot forward, grabbing him in an exuberant hug.

"Ah hem," Splinter cleared his throat a short time later, drawing the two brothers out of their embrace to stare up at him. "Michelangelo, why don't you go wake your other brothers and I will get breakfast ready," he suggested after hearing Michelangelo's stomach grumble loudly again.

Mikey nodded with a bright smile, showing all was right within his world again, and ran off in the direction of their bedroom.

Once Michelangelo was out of sight, Splinter turned to look sternly at his remaining son. "I am certain I did not imagine sending you off to bed with your brothers last night, Donatello."

Donnie coloured brightly again and he shuffled self consciously. "I'm sorry for defying you, Master Splinter," he apologised, "but I hurt Mikey and needed to make it right..."

Owari