*Hi, friends. What am I doing? Good question. I am still working on prequel material on my other account, or rather, I was. Or, I will be getting back to it. Soon. I got sucked into the temptation to give Of Hope and New Faces an update, and am redoing the beginning of Broken too.

Which brings us to this drabble. If you follow my Facebook page, I posted this there last year. As I was editing a chapter in Broken today, it came back to me. It's time to post it properly. For point of reference, this drabble takes place after the spar to end all spars which occurred with Leo and Don between Of Hope and New Faces and Broken.

Dealing directly with those who hurt us is always the best choice. But sometimes, you just can't.

Leonardo cringed as he watched his purple-masked brother shudder on the couch, and heard him call out his name. It was the third time in a week he'd caught Don in that position, and all he wanted was to flee like before.

He started to turn with the intention of returning to his room, but found himself frozen instead. No. I can't keep running from this. I have to deal with it, or it'll never go away. No matter how hard this is, finishing it has to be better.

The blue-masked turtle silently descended the steps and hesitantly approached the back of the couch. He wasn't sure of the best way to wake his brother without surprising him.

"Don?" Leo called tentatively, choosing not to touch him. "Donny, wake up."

Donatello jerked as if he'd set off a firecracker, chest heaving for air.

"Don, it's okay," he encouraged softly. "You're all right."

The manner in which he twisted violently nearly made Donny fall off the couch. That was when Leo seized his shoulder, only to prevent an accidental spill from hurting his knee worse.

The flash of panic in his brother's eyes lasted only a moment, but it was impossible to miss.

"It's okay," Leonardo reassured him again. "It's only me."

His younger brother settled back against the sofa with a sigh, staring at Leo's hand which still covered his arm. The blue-masked turtle instantly let go of him with a wince.

"You startled me," Don told him.

"I know, but I didn't want you to fall. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." The emotionless quality of Don's voice demonstrated the exact opposite.

"I don't know about that," Leo countered, nodding to the couch. "Can I sit down?"

Donatello shrugged. "I guess."

The older turtle lowered to the furniture, but then didn't speak for several seconds. Then-"I don't know about you, Donny, but I don't think this is working. You get what I'm saying?"

"Not really, Leo."

Leonardo rested his arms in his lap, and couldn't look at his brother when he continued.

"I need your help, Don. I want to make things right between us. I will never hurt you that way again - I swear. But I don't know how to fix what I did, so...Can you tell me what to do?"

He stole a glance of Donatello out of the corner of his eye and saw him massage the brace on his knee.

Without looking up, Don finally answered, "Do you think it's that simple?"

"No, I don't expect it to be easy, Donny. But I believe this is the only way for things to go back to halfway normal."

"Why are you under the impression that I know what to do with this?"

"It has to be you, Don. You're the one who's suffered, and paid the price for months. You're the one who's still afraid of me."

Donny reluctantly made eye contact. "I'm not afraid of you."

"But you are. Maybe not consciously, yet you end up in this spot over and over. And you clearly want nothing to do with me."

"That isn't true. I'm not mad at you, Leo."

The blue-masked turtle felt like beating the coffee table, but knew it wouldn't help. "We never talk about it, bro. We have to. I can't pretend like this didn't happen."

"I never asked you to," Donny murmured. "All I've ever wanted was for you to leave this alone."

"I can't, Don. I'm not trying to make this all about me, but I don't think either of us will be okay until we deal with it together."

To that, his younger brother shook his head. "I don't wanna drag it up again. I did this already."

"We didn't," Leo insisted. "I don't want to hurt you worse. But if I could figure this out alone, I think I would have done it by now. I need your help to fix it."

Donatello slowly rose, stretching to reach the crutches propped against the table with a grunt. "You can't fix this, Leo. I can't either. Even Sensei can't make it right. Please stop putting pressure on me."

"That isn't what I-"

"I don't want it," Donny interrupted. "I want to be left alone."

Leo gained his feet too, and fought to keep his voice even. "Do you want me to leave entirely? Would it make things better?"

"No! I want you to drop it, like I already told you. Quit pushing me to get a reaction!"

Leo grimaced at his brother's increase in volume. "I can't forget what I did, Donny. I've tried to leave it alone like you asked, but it doesn't work. It never has. I need your help for this."

Don held his gaze steadily for the first time in weeks. "I can't help you, Leo. It's not that I don't want to, I just...can't. You've got to figure this out yourself, because I don't have it in me."

"I want things to be okay between us, Don."

"I can't fix that!" Donny's voice rose a second time. "Look - you crossed a line. I forgave you, but I can't act normal when I don't feel it. I understand you want things to be the way they were. And I believe you would do anything in your power to make it happen. But I can't be the one to tell you how to magically restore our lives. I'm stressed out as it is, and all your pushing for some resolution won't make it appear."

"Bro, this how I'm wired," Leo said hoarsely. "I HAVE to deal with it. I don't think I'll be okay until I do."

"I know you can't help it, Leo. Neither can I. I don't want you out of my life, but I also can't take being forced to slog through everything again. If you really care about my peace of mind, then stop this. Learn to live with things, and let me do the same. You need to leave it alone, and wait for the junk to blow over."

"What if it doesn't?"

"You won't know unless you try, Leo. In any case, I'm tired and I need to use the bathroom. I'm gonna go, then I plan to get some more sleep. Okay?"

The blue-masked turtle had nothing else to say while his brother shuffled away on crutches. Pressing Donatello only confirmed that the cracks in their relationship were far deeper than he was able to repair.

He gazed bleakly at the front door before turning away, and heading upstairs. Leaving was Raph's trademark, but right now, Leo wished he could be irresponsible, and make himself disappear.