No Use |TMNT

Chapter 31

It was only two in the afternoon and it was dead silent. Raph found it weird. They were ninjas, and quietness was their thing, but with Donnie, nothing was quiet anymore.

There would be rambunctious yelling, tantrums, and fighting for the most ridiculous things. Like how Donnie wanted to bring that stupid bear he adored so much into the dojo, but Leo wouldn't let Donnie bring it in. And Donnie, being more stubborn than Raph at times, threw a fit, and caused a scene. (Ending up with him bringing that bear 'cause Donnie was no loser). His point was, the lair was anything but quiet nowadays, so it baffled Raph when he stepped into the living room to see nobody.

Raph turned to the T.V., all gray and fuzzy and sighed. They didn't know how to fix things, things that would break and Donnie would always be on top of it, and finish before they can even blink. And now, some manual book they've found in Donnie's drawer was all they had to fix everything broken. No one was good at what Donnie did best, and no one was relying at anyone to fix it. They tried, but the toaster ended up more broken than it was the first time.

Raph walked towards the T.V., his face anything but uplifting. It wasn't in his department to fix anything that was Donnie's… but his bro couldn't do it. And Raph wouldn't put him at risk for something he probably didn't remember doing.

A clank came from behind the TV. It better not be mice or roaches. Raph thought fighting a shudder. He circled around the damaged TV and his eyes grew double in size. "Donnie!" Out of reflex, he pulled his brother out of the small space.

"Donnie, what the heck were you doing?" Raph asked, his hand running through his face in sudden anxiety. Why was he in there? Why was he screwing up with the T.V?

Donnie looked up at him and grinned in an instance. "Raphie!"

"Donnie, bro, what were you doing?" He asked again, frustration and worry settled on his wrinkly forehead.

"Help!" Donnie said, and he rubbed his face just like Raph, but his hands were all smudged which had Donnie have a faint, but noticeable smeared hand print on his cheek to forehead. "Fix." He added and pointed to the T.V. with an indistinct grin.

"Donnie, you can't-" Raph went on his knees, and grabbed Donnie's hands, pulling it away from his face. "You're all dirty." He said flatly and scanned his hands in case he hurt himself. It was so easy to get himself hurt, but it was just dirt and not blisters and open wounds. "Did you hurt yourself?" He still asked because maybe he got electrocuted and there was no visible wound.

"No." Came the quiet reply, and then his voice rose, "Clifford! Stopped… fix!" Donnie pouted, and Raph was trying to connect two and two with his choppy sentences. The T.V. broke while watching Clifford, and he tried to fix it. He nodded to himself in approval, it was the one that made sense.

"Where's Mikey? Who was watching you?" Raph asked, not caring about the T.V. at all. Donnie was supervised at all times, since he does things like this, and shouldn't be alone. There was so many what if's, if Raph haven't come to check on the T.V... he didn't want to think about it.

"Sleeping." Donnie tugged on his wrist. "Fix… T.V.! Clifford…" He whined, brown eyes drowning in tears. "Raphie…"

"Donnie." Raph's gruff voice made Donnie quiet, and he looked at the smudged hands. "Why were you trying to fix the T.V.? You could've called me, or wake Mikey up, or have Leo come out of the dojo. What made you think you could fix it?" Raph felt Donnie's hand crept on his, and he squeezed it.

"I can." His voice small and innocent, and Raph's heart spun in sudden sympathy. "Fix… I do—that." Donnie claimed, his eyes anywhere but to Raph. He could fix things, he did it all the time, and now it was suddenly wrong? He didn't know why though, they were always dodging the questions.

Raph made eye contact to him, green eyes to brown. Furious to sad ones. "Look, buddy, you can't do that." He said flatly, and he could see the pain in his brother's eyes. Raph wasn't good at this, he wasn't one to make someone feel better. He didn't have that natural raw talent of being good with kids like Mike and Leo. Raph swallowed a lump, he didn't want to hurt his brother's feelings — more than they already were, that is.

Donnie's mouth woven shut in thought. Raph got up and Donnie stayed on his spot. "C'mon, Donnie, let's go clean you up. You're gonna get all dirty if you keep using your hands to rub your face."

Donnie shook his head, eyes closing in frustration.

Raph bit the inside of his cheek and pinched the skin in between his eyes. "Donnie…" He complained, but in the corner of his eye, he saw Leo coming towards them. In a quick swift, he turned to Leo.

"Were you supposed to be taking care of Donnie?" Raph asked, and Donnie gave the two the infamous puppy eyes.

"No." Leo said all calm and easy, "But, I heard you yelling, so I came to check if everything's okay?"

Raph wanted to say yes because he can totally fix this situation. But Donnie couldn't handle the yells he would throw, and this Donnie wasn't used to Raph tactics.

"No…" Raph said all lame and peered at Donnie. "Donnie was trying to fix the T.V., and could've hurt himself." Anger flooded on his face, "he kept messin' with the wires!"

Leo pushed Raph away from Donnie, since Donnie understood most of the words they've said, he didn't need Donnie listening to him. "I'll talk to him. I think he just remembers fixing stuff and thinks he can do that again. He doesn't even know about the brain damage, Raph." Leo whispered to him, and patted his shoulder with a soft smile. "Go wake up Mikey so he can make lunch, and I'll talk to Donnie, okay?"

A mumble of, "okay" and Raph left the common room area. Leo turned to Donnie, smiling to his younger brother.

"Hey Donnie."

"Hi Lee." Donnie mumbled and turned to him. "Fix!" He pointed to the T.V. and Leo sat down next to him.

"Yeah, I heard. You wanted to fix the T.V. huh?" Leo set a hand on his knee as a way to comfort him.

"Yeah!" Donnie grinned and turned his head to the T.V. then back to Leo several times before speaking again. "Fix! I help!"

Leo's smile faltered, "I'm glad you tried helping, Donnie, but if you're gonna get hurt, I don't think you should do it."

Donnie's mouth opened, but he closed and pouted his bottom lip. "But…" He started, and ducked his head away, "I fix…"

"You used to fix, bro." Leo said flatly, and he sat by Donnie, pinching his cheeks and making Donnie look at him. "You don't have to do everything the old you did, we're not looking for that. Do what you want, be who you are now, not something you think you are, okay?" His brown eyes doused in tears again, and the black smudge was running down his chin like makeup.

"Okay, Lee." He whispered, and came closer to him to place his head against his chest. Donnie stared at the broken T.V., memories of mostly blurs but Donnie remembered fixing the television.

Donnie slouched his shoulders, they were a team, and Donnie felt like he wasn't a part of it anymore.