Daylight

Reboot

His eyes flicker shut as the little girl hops off the bed and starts pushing him. "Dad?"

~ ~ ~ 

Donnie's vision keeps clicking between his own and Tie guy's. The little girl keeps pushing, calling for her dad who's not there anymore. Sometimes it feels like the girl's actually nudging him. The turtle shakes his head, and keeps his eyes shut in an attempt to get rid of the... vision? Memories? Whatever. 

Donnie stumbles around the alley, kicking over cans, bags, whatever's on the floor beneath him. He almost trips over his own feet. "Dad?" Greener, greener, he doesn't know what he's seeing anymore. Where he is now, Tie guy's kid, this bright color swirls around in his vision. He doesn't know what he's doing, where he is. The little girl keeps nudging him. She sounds like she's about to cry. Like when Mikey cried. 

And I hit him. So-

"Stupid," The turtle says through gritted teeth. Then, pow.

His fist cracks against the wall of April's neighbor's. Things that are sitting in the window come crashing down, glass bottles, a mug, and several other things rain down on Donnie. Before he has a chance to think about it, he's grabbing his bag and dashing out the alley. The turtle speeds down the sidewalk, pushing through people and ignoring the curses. 

Donnie doesn't know where he's going, cars honking and all the noises of pedestrians talking fill the air. All sorts of smells flow around, both good and bad. Loud, touchy, overwhelming. But he doesn't stop until he needs to catch his breath, and D looks up to see where he is.

The sounds of people walking by, birds, and water flowing nearby are surrounded by big green trees. Speaking of which, the color is fading from his vision. Central Park. Gapstow Bridge. He's familiar.

The turtle gets himself together, then checks if anyone's paying any attention to him. The few people that are there at 8:30 at night don't look his way. Donnie slowly makes his way under the bridge. There's water flowing under it, obviously, but there's some rocks and dirt squished together for him to step onto. Under the bridge, there's a hole with enough space for him. Donnie heads inside, finding and sitting on a thin mat with a blanket and pillow laid out on top. The rooms has some candles sitting in a corner, but no lighter.

"Where are we?" J asks.

When the softshell was younger, he had somehow managed to sneak up to the surface, then made his own little secret spot under the bridge. The details are pretty fuzzy, but he remembers that he's never told his brothers about it.

"It's a special place," He answers, hardly paying attention. A place just for him. Donnie's pulled from his thoughts by a painful sting and something-

Donnie hisses through his teeth. "Ow." 

"Hey, dude. You okay?"

"Eugh, no." The turtle rubs his injured hand. "Punching a wall hurts." 

"How did you make that discovery?" 

"Shut up." 

Donnie's knuckles are bleeding, the red staining his bandages. He decides to ask some questions to distract himself from the pain. "What was that?" The turtle asks as he dips his injured hand in the water.

J hums, as if thinking to themselves, then gives an answer. "Remember when I told you that you can see the past user's memories? That's what happened." 

"Yeah, but why did I feel it?" Donnie asks as he unwraps his hand, trying to wash it off in some water.

...

"The bullet?" J asks.

"The kid, I- Ow.." Donnie hisses through his teeth as another sting of pain comes from his hand. This fucking hurts. Why the hell did I punch that wall, and why does it still hurt so much? Why am I hitting everything?