Ad Astra Per Aspersa

Hey Brother

A/N
Warnings about blood and burns. Also turtle instincts and predatory instincts mentioned

"Donnie?" April asks, poking her head into Donnie's lab in the part of the sewers that Leo and Mikey have nicknamed the Lair, "You okay little brother? You've been in here for hours."

Donnie's face is exhausted and his bags are only highlighted more by the light coming from his computer screen. He looks up at her and for a moment, fear fills his usually emotionless face. Worry grips April's heart.

"Donnie?"

Donnie looks away from her and back at the screen, not saying anything. In that moment, April hates how little she knows these turtles. One of her boys would've been able to tell what he was thinking right now.

"Donnie?" April asks, keeping her voice even and approaching Donnie slowly.

Donnie doesn't react to her presence, too engrossed in his screen. April reads the screen over his shoulder.

Oh.

"How are you feeling little sibling?" April asks, hand on Donnie's chair.

Donnie freezes in their typing. April watches the corners of their lips twitch upwards. Donnie nods and April places down the plate of food she had brought with her onto the desk next to them.

"Make sure to eat something, okay? Someone will come check on you later," she tells them, before pausing at the exit, "You are always you Donnie. We will always accept you."

She understands. They accepted Leo's gender identity without question, but that doesn't change how terrifying and foreboding it is to tell someone, that nagging doubt that they will not accept you.

After all, her mom's step brother always introduced her to his boyfriends before anyone else, yet April has always been reluctant to tell her that she doesn't like boys that way, but she does like girls that way.

———

April has always known she and her family are different. It's hard to ignore the fact that your younger siblings are giant turtle Yokai.

Actually, that's a lie.

They aren't any different from April and Mom. Most days, April doesn't even notice that they are turtles. They are her little siblings, who love to hold Jupiter Jim marathons and their favourite food is pizza and they love to skateboard. The only real difference is that April hasn't had a day of peace since she met them.

It turns out her baby brothers have a target on their backs.

It also turns out that Lou Jitsu is a bad influence on them, since the four want to be heroes and fight crime. April may sigh and groan about it, but she will never stop them from watching his movies. They love them and April will never take something they love away from them. Besides, she still loves those movies too, but that doesn't change the fact that her baby siblings want to be heroes. She's glad that Leo has some brain cells at least and reminds them that they can't just go fight crime, especially not the Spine-breaking Bandit or the Long Island Mangler.

Still, April thinks as she looks at her younger siblings imitating the man on the screen, that won't stop them from helping people and being heroes. She wishes they wouldn't put themselves in harm's way, because these are her precious baby siblings, but she knows that she can't ask that of them. It would rip them apart, because they are so good.

Which leaves only one option.

Training.

April is from New York and she's experienced plenty of crime in the past, directly and indirectly. There's a reason they have eighteen baseball bats back home and it's not just because they are a family of six with accident prone kids. Still, knowing how to swing a bat isn't enough to combat the threats to her family.