With the school empty once more, Donatello quickly found his way back through the ventilation system, down the open grate in the forgotten basement, till he was finally back in the familiar surroundings of the sewers. It was only now he was back on familiar ground and on his way back home did he realise how long he had truly been gone. A whole night and day and his stomach chose to punish him for the neglect he had inflicted upon it. Donnie held his midsection as it growled fiercely and proceeded to ache. It literally felt like his entire middle had disappeared and nothing was there. The turtle boy groaned in self pity as he hurried through the tunnels back towards the lair, stopping only once to hide the books he had taken in a hollow part of the wall just a few yards from home. He didn't want to chance that these would be burned also.

Once the lair was in sight, Donnie paused. He knew he had to return, it was after all home and as bad as they could be some times, they were his family and he cared about them, but there was always that one voice, whispering softly in the back of his mind, that they might not even want him back. They might even have been happier while he had been away. The thoughts caused a lump to swell in his throat, making it hard to breathe. He was about to turn and walk in the opposite direction when he felt the presence approach, his senses had begun to be honed by the training provided by sensei, but it surprised Donnie that those feelings and senses could be so strong and exact. The young mutant turtle looked up, meeting the stunned gaze of his father and the lump was replaced by a dryness, making it hard to speak.

For a long moment nothing happened, the pair just remained staring at one another. Donnie was scarred for the scolding that was sure to come, after all he had shouted at his parent and teacher, fought with his brother, trashed the lair and had been missing for a whole day, he felt sure the punishment of a lifetime was about to be unleashed. Instead, the aging rat simply ran forward, fell to his knees and scooped the exhausted turtle into his warm embrace.

"My son… my son!" Splinter squeezed him tighty, but Donnie didn't mind, it felt good and all of the doubts and fears he had about not being loved melted away in that one moment.

"I'm sorry!" He choked out around sobs and hiccups as the flood gates opened.

"No, I am sorry." His father's voice was rougher than usual and Donnie's heart broke a little more at the thought of his father crying too. "What I did was so wrong, for so many reasons. I should not have doubted you." It felt good to hear his father apologise too and he could feel of the earlier anger and animosity draining out of him. He sagged against his father's chest, holding on with gentle arms as Splinter carried him back into the familiar surroundings of their home. "I looked everywhere for you, all night and all day I searched. Where have you been?"

"I-I got lost." He sniffed. It wasn't a total lie. At first he was, but to explain all that he had been up to that day would likely make his father angry and he didn't have the energy to handle it, neither did his father if the look in his eyes was anything to go by.

"Well, you are home now. That is all that matters." After one final squeeze Donatello was set back down. He sniffed and wiped his eyes along his sleeve as he fell into step beside Splinter, his fathers supporting hand still on his shoulder as they entered the lair. As soon as he stepped past the threshold, Donnie could feel the tense atmosphere and the silence of the place was strange. Usually Mickey would have been running around making all kinds of noise while he played with his action figures and Raph and Leo would have been arguing or fighting. But it was deathly silent, until the youngest of the brothers noticed Donnie was there.

"Donnie!" Mickey scrambled to his feet from where he had been laying on the floor, just staring at the ceiling. His younger brother close the gap between them in the blink of an eye and soon had Donnie in a vice like hug, almost knocking him over with the impact. "I'm glad you're home bro," Don smiled and returned the hug, lowering to one knee so he was on the same level with his much smaller brother.

"Me too Mikey," As the embrace ended Donnie could see both Raph and Leo stood watching. Leo was smiling but Raph looked just as annoyed as ever but as he approached, the hot-headed older brother finally smiled, albeit briefly before proceeding to scrub the top of Donnie's head in an almost affectionate manor.

"Where the shell have you been, bro?" Raph asked but all Donnie could do was shrug.

"You really had us all worried, Donnie." Leo added, his expression adopting that familiar disapproving look. "What were you thinking? You could have been hurt or been seen or-"

"I'm really sorry," Donnie put in, looking down at his feet. He never thought they would worry so much about him; he had convinced himself over the course of the last few weeks that they really didn't care about him at all. A small hand filled his and Mikey stepped forward to intervene.

"Cut it out Leo, that doesn't matter now. Donnie's back and that's it."

"I agree with Michelangelo," Splinter said proudly and Donnie once again felt that supportive hand on his shoulder. "Donatello has come back home safely and for that I am truly thankful. Yesterday's events should not just be forgotten, however. We do need to talk about it, but for now I'll fix you something to eat and then you can rest." Donnie had been trying to stifle the yawn, not wanting to disrespect his sensei by doing that while he wad talking, but it was no use. Aside from not eating a bite since the day before, he hadn't slept more than a few minutes in the last twenty-four hours and it was obvious to anyone Donnie was fit to drop.

Splinter led the way to the kitchen and Donnie was pulled along by Mikey and flanked by his two older brothers, both of them having closed in almost as if they were scared he would run away again. It was a nice, feeling that he belonged again, but even as he sat down at the table and took the first taste of the soup his father had reheated for him, his young mind, hungry for answers, drifted back to the wonders he had discovered in the school. He had to find a way to get back there and without his family knowing. He felt terrible, just thinking about doing something so bad made his stomach turn, but he had too. In one day alone he had learned more than his entire life so far and he knew there was knowledge that he could then use to help them in their lives down in the sewers. He already knew a little about electronics thanks to his research. All he had to do was read the information once and it became locked in his mind. He smiled as he recalled one of the books he had read through, the words of the page appearing in his mind as clearly as if he had the book before him. As far as he could tell, no other member of his family could do this. His Ninjitsu might be the worst of the four of them, he wasn't the strongest, fastest or the most agile of his siblings, but he was the smartest and he was determined that would be what he contributed to his family. Being of use to them, being able to help in some way…it was worth any risk.