Chapter Text
“Mikey.”, Don sat up, whipping his tears away, “Do you need anything?”
“No, but I think you do.”
Mikey looked concerned, it was an expression Don never liked on his little brother, much less this younger version of him.
“It’s fine. I just miss my brothers, is all.”, Don looked away from the younger turtle.
“But that isn’t everything, is it?”
Don stayed quiet. He was never one to lie, especially to his brothers. Instead, he just ignored it or pushed it away. He couldn’t bring himself to outright lie to Mikey.
Mikey sat down next to Don and placed a gentle hand on the older turtle’s shoulder.
“You can talk to me, ya know? Sometimes it helps to share what’s upsetting you.”
Don looked at him again, this Mikey, much like his own, was apparently smarter than he let on. Don’s brothers always told all of them to share what was bothering them, Don was still having a hard time telling his brothers everything, especially if he just wanted to forget everything instead of sharing it.
But maybe they were right, both Mikey’s that is. But should he really put this on a child?
“I don’t want to burden-“
“You won’t. I want to help you. Maybe you’re not my brother and I’m not yours, but you’re still a Donnie, I don’t want to see you upset. Please let me help you.”
Mikey looked at him with the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.
Don always had a soft spot for the turtle in orange, no matter the universe.
“Fine, but only because you insist.”
Mikey smiled and waited patiently for Don to begin.
“So, I really do miss my brothers, but I’m also afraid…”, Don took a deep breath, “A few years back one of our enemies separated us and sent each one of us to another reality. I went to a… let’s call it a bad future. In that future, the me there died. He left and his family fell apart.” Tears began to form again. “With them not being together, the Shredder won and it was horrible.” Don held the plush dragon close. “I- I saw those versions of my brothers die. They all died in their final fight against the Shredder.”
Don took another deep breath to keep himself from breaking down fully.
“I’m afraid that if I don’t get home, my brothers will all be apart and- and everything will go downhill. I don’t want my family to die.”
Actually speaking out about his fear caused Don to break down sobbing. He quickly felt a pair of arms wrap around him and hold him, gently rubbing his shell. Don leaned more into Mikey as he cried.
They stayed there for a few more minutes. Mikey was honestly surprised none of his brothers walked in on them. Don leaned away again and Mikey removed his arms.
“Do you feel better now?”, asked Mikey gently.
Don sniffed. “I guess I do.”
Mikey smiled at him. “See, talking helps!”
“It does, doesn’t it? I should have listened to Mikey about this.”
“We Mikeys know this stuff!”, joked Mikey.
“I guess you do.” Don huffed a laugh.
“Don, you don’t have to worry about this though.”, said Mikey.
Don looked at him confused.
“We’ll get you home! I promise.”
“Thank you.”
“You should also talk to your brothers, maybe. I’m sure they want to know what’s going on this that big brain of yours.”
“I can’t promise anything but I’ll try.”
“At least you’ll try.”
Mikey stood up again, Don knew the kid needed to get some sleep, so did Don but he didn’t want to be alone right after pouring his heart out.
“Do you- um- mind staying for a bit?”
“Don’t wanna be alone?”
“Yeah.”
“Skootch over then!”
Don did as he was told and made room for Mikey who snuggled into the bed.
“Can I ask you something?”, asked Don.
“You already did. But sure.”
“You mentioned Ninpo before, what is it?”
“Well, Ninpo is more than just our powers, it’s us. Ninpo is also family. Ninpo is stronger when we're together, all of us. I think Gram Gram also said that it’s all of our ancestors. They’re supporting and guiding us.”
Gram Gram? Don wondered who that could be.
“Fascinating. Do you all have the same powers then?”
“Nope.”, Mikey yawned, “Leo’s got portals and stuff, Donnie can make stuff, Raphie can get even bigger and I got mystic hands!”
The young mutant wasn’t making all that much sense to Don anymore. Portals he understood, he was confused about what Don could create exactly, he was concerned about Raph being even bigger and he had no clue what mystic hands meant. But the kid was slowly falling asleep. He was tired after all. Don decided to leave it be. He needed some sleep too. So, Don decided it was time to join the younger turtle in dreamland now.
As Don was trying to sleep he couldn’t help but be reminded of the times he and his brothers slept in the same bed growing up, he missed their turtle piles sometimes. Maybe he could convince them to have one if- no when he gets back.
Don glanced one more time at the turtle sleeping next to him. He smiled. The kid was amazing, even with the short amount of time they had until now. He knows his brothers will love him too.
As he looked at the younger he realized something. He was just as bad as his dear older brother wasn’t he? He thought only Raph and a tendency to adopt people all around him, but Mikey just tended to do that with kids. Apparently, Don did it with mutant turtles.
“Good night, Angelo.”, Don said.
Angelo was a nickname his own counterpart had called the box turtle and suited the turtle quite well. It would also help Don differentiate between this world's turtles and his brothers back home.
Don petted the turtle's head and laid back down, he had finally settled enough to sleep. He knew he’d get home soon. His family just needs to hang in there for a little longer. He’s going to come home!
Don had slept surprisingly well. When he woke up he quickly noticed that Angelo was no longer next to him. How long did he sleep? He glanced over to the clock to see that it was still early. Was this Mikey an early riser? Now that is something Don would have expected to be impossible. Mikey loved sleeping in, sometimes Don or Leo had to drag him out. If he didn’t budge they would let Raph do it, which usually got the orange turtle out of bed.
Don stretched and got out of bed. He made the bed and put on his mask. After one more stretch, he left the cart and walked towards where he knew the kitchen was. As he walked closer he started to smell something amazing. He walked inside and almost bumped into the giant turtle known as this world Raphael.
“Sorry.”, Raph apologized, I didn’t see you.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Oh! Morning Don!”, said Angelo from the stove.
“Morning.”, yawned Don.
Don didn’t dare to meet his eyes. He hated himself for being this warry of Raph. He had been nothing but kind to Don, yet here Don was, afraid of a bigger version of his brother.
Don would really need to work on this. He didn’t want to be afraid of him, no matter how big he was. That is still a version of Raph. Not to mention Raph's little brothers, that was still something Don would need to get used to, didn’t seem to even notice their size difference all that much. Of course, they didn’t, they were used to it like this.
Raph placed a mug in front of Don.
“You like coffee right?”, he said, “Donnie likes coffee, so Raph assumed you did too.”
“I do. Thank you.”
Raph smiled at him. Don would almost have called it cute if it weren’t for the sharp teeth, and even then, it was still a little cute.
As Angelo prepared breakfast, the other two turtles stumbled in.
Don couldn’t help but laugh at them. Leo walked in his mask tied around his neck rather than his face. He slumped down opposite from Don and he faceplanted to the table. He only looked up once Raph placed a blue unicorn mug infirm of him and gently nudged Leo.
“Thanks, Raph-a-doodle.”, said Leo as he took a sip.
Don wouldn’t have expected a version of Leo to be such a grouch in the morning. His Leo was the perfect example of a morning person. Usually, he would be meditating by the time anyone else got up. He would then bug someone to make breakfast since Leo had been banned from cooking.
Now when Donnie walked in Don was just as surprised.
The soft shell was wearing a purple hoodie and his mask was nowhere to be found, he did however wear a pair of glasses. And much like Leo he just sat down and waited for Raph to hand him a mug. These two were not exactly morning people. Quite the opposite of what he was used to. Back home Don and Leo were the early birds, while Raph and Mikey were the night owls. It was the opposite here.
As if on cue Mikey called Raph over to help him with the plates.
Don expected to see some toast and maybe some bacon. He didn’t expect to be met with a plate of omurice. Don had to admit he loved a good omelette and had always wanted to try omurice, but none of them ever managed to make one.
The five turtles dug in.
Don took one bite and loved it.
“This is really good, Angelo!”, Don said as he took another bite.
“Thank you!”, said the youngest.
“Angelo, huh?”, said Donnie. “Mikey got a new nickname?”
“I guess.”; said Don, he turned to Angelo, “I hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s fine, Donne calls me that already.”
“So, are we getting new nicknames too?”, asked Leo.
“Maybe?”, Don said, “I’m not sure what I could call you.”
“Well, you could call me Leon, Nardo or-“, he was cut off by Donnie.
“Call him Dum Dum.”
“RUDE!“, yelled Leo.
Raph quickly put his hand up and said: “No middle-child nonsense in the kitchen. You know what happened last time.”
The two middle children put a stop to it instantly and shuddered.
“What happened last time?”, Don couldn’t help but ask.
“They met Dr Delicate Touch.”, said Angelo sweetly. Something was off about his smile but Don couldn’t place it.
“I’m going to pretend I know what his means.”, said Don as he returned to eating his breakfast.
Soon enough they finished their food and Donnie and Leo moved to do the dishes. Something about sharing the work.
“I can help too.”, said Don.
“Oh no. You’re our guest.”, said Raph.
Don just nodded and watched the two in front of him talk. He also observed the other two from the corner of his eyes. They were complaining about doing the dishes while doing them. Don figured they only complained to complain about something.
After they were done with the dishes, Donnie and Leo joined them at the table again.
“How are going about this now?”, asked Angelo.
“We need to get the material for the portal device and make some blueprints. That’s all we can do for now.”, said Donnie.
“Since he came here with Mystic- ah, sorry Chi, maybe we could look into that too.”, suggested Raph.
“I look in the spell books Draxum gave me.”, said Angelo.
“Great! Don, let’s go to my lab!”, said Donnie as he stood up.
“Hold up!”, said Leo.
Everyone turned to him.
“Before you do that I want to look at his cuts and change to bandages if necessary.”, said Leo. He sounded usually serious.
“Scoff, Doctor Leon’s back.”, mumbled Donnie.
“Then we got a plan. Donnie gets the lab ready, Leo checks on Don and Mikey and I look over the spell books.”, said Raph.
“To the med bay!”, said Leo as he took Don’s hand and dragged him off.