A little fluffy something for in between. I know it's been a while since I've updated Broken Promises and trust me, I'm working on the following chapters. It's just really annoying when you know exactly what you want to write but can't find any fitting words. Life of an author. You guys know it.

Story inspired by:

"Gee, a fight between Leo and Raph?" "Oh, I didn't see that coming." - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003, Season One, episode 10 'The Shredder Strikes'

I've noticed that, in all the TMNT stories I've written, there is hardly ever any Donny and Mikey fluff. Which is weird considering how close they are. And since I've been giving sweet little Donny such hard times I figured I could give him some of his pride back by letting him comfort his little brother. Some people (including me) seem to forget sometimes that Donny is a big brother, too. A really great one at that. And that particular moment in the series made me wonder just how much the two youngest really suffer under their older brothers' constant fighting. We all know how bad those fights can get.

Enjoy!

Donatello lay still, not even blinking as he stared up at the ceiling while listening to the sound of his older brothers' loud voices and harsh words, trying to outdo each other.

"The reason I paired us up the way I did was so none of them would get hurt! And you can't even-!" "Don't ya play dat one on me, Fearless! Don't think ya can get me on some kinda guilt trip or somethin'!"

Donny shifted in his bed, carefully lifted his bandaged arm in front of his face.

"You were supposed to protect him, not the other way around!" "Don't ya stand here and dare ta think for a second dat I didn't protect him! I protect him all the fuckin' time, if ya haven't noticed over how much ya love yerself!"

Donny grimaced in pain as he ran his right hand over the bandages. The wound was deep enough to have scraped his bone. But by far not bad enough for those idiots to jump at each other's throats, Donny thought and sighed loudly.

"If you protect him so well then he wouldn't have got hurt in the first place!" "Don't push it, Leo! I'm dis close ta smashin' ya head into the ground!" "It's hard for me to believe that, when you're even too incompetent to-!"

A noise that sounded too much like a fist colliding with a jaw rang through Donatello's ears and he winced. He grabbed his pillow and put it over his head, trying to mute the angry snarls and growls of his fighting brothers, much like a little kid would try to muffle the sound of a thunderstorm. Only that this thunderstorm was inside the house. And you never knew just when it would come back again. You only knew that it definitely would.

And this time it was Donatello who had brought it to life.

The door of his and Leo's shared bedroom creaked. Donny didn't have to turn his head to know who the intruder was. Without any hesitation, Donny shifted away from the ladder of his bed, making as much room as possible and lifting up the blanket. Soft steps echoed in his ears as the intruder approached, slowly making his way up the ladder. Donny could hear a faint sniffle.

Michelangelo plopped down next to the slightly older turtle, burying his head into the crook of Donny's neck. Donny used his good arm to pull Mikey closer, his arm behind Mikey's neck, slowly stroking up and down his right arm with his right hand. Mikey wrapped his arms around his big brother and cuddled even closer, shivering as soft sobs wrecked his body. Donatello made soft shushing sounds and nuzzled the top of Mikey's head while in the back of his mind he was still upbraiding himself.

Starting a fight between his two older brothers had not been his intent. It never was. He had simply reacted out of instinct. As he had seen the Purple Dragon point his gun at Raph, all rational thought and the considerations of what consequences might occur had vanished from Donny's mind and were replaced by a mantra: Save big brother.

The pain had been unbearable. Donny had feared that with his screams, he would wake up the entire city. But at the same time, as he had heard Raphael's roar and the sound of breaking bones knew that he had chosen the lesser of the two evils. A bullet in his arm, he could live with that. But being responsible for a brother's death? He was still recovering from Ultimate Drako's future and knew that was more tormenting than one could imagine.

The fight had already begun on the phone. Donny had tried his best to silence himself but it was as if the pain would have had consumed his being, making every fiber of his body scream. Raphael had been shivering as Donny's head had rested against his plastron while explaining the situation to their leader. Leo had been furious and from what Don had understood, he had blamed Raph for being too inattentive and too focused on busting heads instead of watching their little brother's back. Raphael had denied those allegations, snapping at Leo. Only as Donny had grabbed for Raph's hand he grew silent.

The fight had continued in the sewers. After the call, Leo had wanted them to meet down at the drainage junction which neither of the pairs was far away from. Donny's screams had subsided then, his lungs burning, his body so weakened that Raphael had had to carry him. And Donny's mind had been right before fading into, at the time, blissful nothingness. The last thing he remembered from there were Mikey's sky blue eyes, filled with tears of fear and confusion. And the yelling.

So much yelling. And it was all because of Donny's recklessness.

The youngest turtles sobs got fainter until they stopped, Mikey now breathing smoothly while lying next to the genius. Donny pressed a soft kiss to Mikey's forehead, pulling him even closer.

"Donny?", Mikey whispered after a few moments of silence. Donny made "Hm?" to show the younger turtle that he was listening. Mikey lifted his hand, softly grabbing at Donny's injured arm to take his hand.

"You know that this isn't your fault…do you?" Donny didn't reply to that, didn't know what answer he could give his younger brother who had, once again, read his emotions like a Silver Sentry comic book.

Neither of them said another word as the two youngest held each other, the sounds of their older brothers' physical battle filling their ears and poisoning their innocent souls.