Keep Him Close, Keep Him Safe

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"N- no. . No—"
"Donnie, you can't just ignore your problems, you know that isn't good." Mikey said, frowning.
He softshell shook his head furiously, hands clutching his head as if it would pop straight off his body if he let go.
"Hey- Hey, stop that dude—" Leo warned, attempting to pull his hands away from his head but to no avail.
"N- no— Stop— Stop! It's another nightmare isn't it—" He gasped heavily between the stops, the heel of his palm beginning to hit at his temple as a way of attempting to get away from this 'nightmare'. "Not real it's a trick- It's a trick I'm not believing it for a se—"
The slider quickly yanked the latter's arms off his head, lowering them towards his chest and pulling him close. "Hey, hey, no. Don't you dare—" He cooed, paying no mind to the fact the other tensed up almost immediately.
His eyes widened as his head lay on his shoulder, tears beginning to well in his eyes as he squeezed them shut. He moved his arms from between the two chests, latching them around the twin's neck and shoving his face into the crook of it. He began to release choked sobs, keeping his face pressed closely to his other half for comfort.

He attempted to whisper comforting words, rubbing his shell in a soothing motion and frowning as the sobs grew heavier.
The other two watched helplessly, frowning as well as they felt bad for the brainy brother.
He hadn't noticed any of it, trying to divert his attention to the comfort Leo was trying to give.
"It's gonna be okay, this isn't a nightmare, promise. It's all real. You're okay." He said calmly, receiving a slight pause in sobbing in response before it started back up.
The softshell began to mutter quiet apologies, saying things like 'I'm sorry, please don't leave me' and 'you were right'.
"No, no don't apologize—"
"It's all my fault- it's all my fault please don't leave me I can fix it— I- I can—" He paused, gasping again to attempt to bring air into his lungs normally. "Please just don't leave me. . ."
"We aren't gonna leave you, bud. Don't worry. We wouldn't leave you for the world." He reassured, continuing the shell rubs.
The softshell just went silent, eyes kept squeezed shut as the crying quickly died down.
"Hey, you wanna tell us what happened. . ? I'm sure it'll help." He offered, leaving a small pause of silence before he received a small nod in response.

The slider nodded back, gently pulling away and instead taking the latter's hands in his own. He rubbed his thumb across the knuckles soothingly.
"Whenever you're ready Dee. ." The box turtle reassured.

——————

"A- and. . Then you started— You started complaining about how useless I was- and you wouldn't stop— and whenever I tried defending myself you called them excuses- a- and you started saying I was playing victim but I wasn't meaning to but you didn't believe me and started—" His voice grew quieter, eventually turning into incoherent mumbles as he teared up.
"Hey, they weren't 'xcuses, you're okay. Mental me ain't real." The snapper said, smiling reassuringly. "And it ain't playin' victim. You were just defending ya'self."
He gulped and nodded, going silent for a moment before taking a shaky breath and continuing. "A- and then there was— there was you. ." He turned his gaze to his other half, the sliders eyes widening in response.
"You- it-" He took another breath. "You were— blunt. . To say the least—" He stated.
"That- doesn't sound good—"
". . . You were agreeing with them, and- and you asked if I was 'that stupid'. . . I tried believing they weren't real- that it was just me imagining everything but— but it felt too real— even if it was all in a void. . . He snapped back- he said 'Doesn't make it any less true now, does it?' and when I told them to leave he- he reminded me of how familiar the saying was—" He paused, noticing the visible face drop from the three.

"I- I asked what I was doing wrong. . That I could fix it— he wasn't happy about it. ." He trailed off, a solemn look crossing over his face.
"W- what happened—?" Mikey gulped.
"He— he sort of. . Went off—"
"What does that mean?" The snapper questioned, cocking an eyebrow ridge in concern.
The slider was staying uncharacteristically silent. . .
"He said- 'You mean like how you 'fixed' everything else you ruined? Like how you tried to 'help' without using any tech? Like how you tried 'fixing' the mess you made when you threw a fit in the kitchen over something small and meaningless? Face it, 'Tello. You're nothing without your tech. You're nothing without us. You will always be nothing without us to be the source of your usefulness. Anything you try doing without your tech fails. Every. Damn. Time. And even when you are using your tech, something always manages to screw up.'" He paused, taking another breath.  "'Seems like something you and those piles of silver junk have in common, though.'" He looked down, refusing to look at any of the three.

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