Why do you care now?

~1~

Training. Probably everyone's least favourite part of the day. Well except for Leo and Splinter. Donnie didn't understand why, he just wanted to get back to his experiment. He had just figured out the correct formula for making a new device to help with their missions. He hadn't had enough time to write it down so he was trying to remember it, making it hard to focus. Donnie had thought Splinter would be mad at him for being distracted but he seemed to only be focused on Mikey. Mikey had been giving extra lessons since as long as Donnie could remember. I mean it made sense to him, Mikey did seem to struggle more than his brothers but he was always concerned by them. Mikey always had more injuries than anyone else even in places that just some extra training shouldn't effect. Donnie usually just shrugged it off but the amount seemed to increase recently, maybe he'll ask about it later. That made him think, no one but Splinter and Mikey actually knew what happened during those lessons. Mikey never really talked about it, even when asked and seemed tense if he was asked when Splinter was near. He was probably thinking about it to hard, Donnie thought.

With training finally done, Donnie couldn't wait to get back to the lab and finish his project, his brothers would be so shocked! Mikey stayed behind as per usual for extra lessons and Donnie raced to his lab. He couldn't believe it, he actually managed to remember everything and it worked! he couldn't wait to show his brothers! He walked out into the living room, Raph was punching the training dummy and Leo was watching Space Heroes. Good, he just had to wait for Mikey's lessons to finish. They should be almost done,  Donnie was practically bouncing with excitement. That was till he heard a loud thud from the training room as well as what he thought was Mikey's scream. Donnie looked over at Raph and Leo mentally asking them if they knew what happened. They both shrugged so he took it upon himself to go see if everything was okay. He walked over to the training room when a wave of dread hit him. He couldn't fully figure out why but decided it would best if he did this stealthily. As he got closer to the door the feeling of dread only grow as he mentally prepared himself to see what had happened. It was probably Mikey falling over or making a mistake, nothing major. He slid the door open just a smidge, just so he could see inside but it wasn't obvious to the people inside. He saw Splinter, he saw Mikey, he saw the anger, he saw the tears, he saw the weapon, he saw the blood. Donnie took a step back, he almost screamed and vomited. But that would alert them. And then Mikey saw him, his eyes meet Donnie's. They were dead, the tears were an illusion to make it seem that he still had emotion. Donnie ran. He ran from the scene, before he could look at it anymore. He ran to his lab and collapsed. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think. What was that?

He didn't know how long he sat on the floor, his thoughts scrambled. A knock dragged him back to reality. He opened the door and saw Mikey. He looked completely fine, like what Donnie had seen was an illusion. "Hey D, can we talk?", Mikey's normal excited voice sounded just wrong to Donnie. He agreed and let him in. Mikey closed the door behind them. "About earlier, could not tell Leo or Raph? I just don't want them to get involved, you know?" Donnie blinked once, twice by the third blink he realised he was taking too long to answer. "Why?" was all he could manage. He couldn't fully decide what the why was asking. Why don't you want me tell your brothers. Why is Splinter abusing you. Why would you keep this to yourself. Why don't you trust us. Mikey just stared at him and with a look that Donnie could never forget said: "Why? Because I don't want them to hurt me too."