You're Needed Here Now, Donnie

Chapter 5 - Breaking Don

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Note: Here is chapter 5 of 'You're Needed Here Now, Donnie' and things are about to get pretty intense. As always, I would like to thank everyone for reading my stories. I really appreciate it. If you are enjoying my story, please let me know that you like it. I love feedback. Thank you!  CJ

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Chapter 5 – Breaking Don

"I said throw down your weapons or I'll drop your brother!" Rahzar snapped when Raph refused to dispose of his two-pronged weapons. To further assert his point, Rahzar roughly shook Donnie by the ankle, reaping a whine of pain from his hostage. To Rahzar, the whine was an added bonus.

Way past the brink of frustration, Leo glared over at Raphael, who was still not cooperating, even after Rahzar's second ultimatum. Even after seeing Donnie being manhandled and hearing him wail out in anguish, Raph was still squeezing his sais in his hands. Then, Raph had the gall to climb up a couple of the stairs that led up to the loft area, knowing full well that Rahzar was watching him like a hawk.

"Raph! That's enough! Do what he says!" Leo ordered, not at all pleased with Raph's rebelliousness. With Donnie's life at stake, it was certainly not the time to be insolent or to test their enemy's tolerance level.

Lacking the patience needed to deal with a hostage situation rationally, Raph disregarded Leo's command, just as he had Rahzar's. Holding fast to his weapons, he continued to glare at the mutant dog holding his brother over the ledge. Raph then brazenly climbed up yet another step.

As far as Leo was concerned, Raph was now the enemy as well.

"Raphael! Drop! Your! Weapons! Now!" Leo barked out pointedly, demonstrating more unbridled fury than either Raph or Donnie ever remembered hearing or seeing from their normally even-tempered brother before. It was as though Raph had awoken a long-dormant volcano inside of his placid older brother and years of pent up rage had just erupted from Leo, but the upsurge of emotion was ultimately wasted.

Still, Raph clung to the leather handles of his sais with an unyielding grip while he continued to advance towards Rahzar, step by step.

"Raph," Donnie muttered, gazing over at his immediate older brother with his big, dewy brown eyes, silently asking him 'why?' No matter how hard he tried, Donnie couldn't understand why Raph was willingly jeopardizing his life like this. It was almost like . . . like Raph didn't care if Rahzar killed him.

The sudden realization that two out of his three brothers could care less about him was nothing short of gut-wrenching and Donnie looked at his second oldest brother with such a heart full of despair, it made Raph feel as though he had just been hit in the middle of the chest with a sledgehammer. The shattered way Donnie was looking at him had Raph feeling like he was about two inches tall.

Aw, come on, Donnie. Not the sadorable eyes. Anything but the sadorable eyes . . . Raph thought, on the verge of letting a rare emotional display slip out, wanting to console his visibly upset little brother, but he knew that he couldn't let Rahzar see any sign of weakness. He knew he had to put his game face back on.

"It's okay, Donnie. He's not gonna drop you. He needs you to make him human again," Raph said, climbing up another step. He was now about halfway up the stairs. "Isn't that right, Dog Breath?"

Rahzar let out a long, low growl from his throat and glared at Raph with his smoldering eyes, careful not to let the turtles' leader, who was still positioned at the bottom of the stairs, completely out of his sights. Then, with one swift movement, the mutated canine heaved Donnie back up over the railing he had been dangling him over. He slammed the turtle down to the floor of the loft next to his feet, not relinquishing his hold on the smaller mutant's ankle.