Donnie worked quietly in his lab, listening to music through his headphones. He was pretty deep into his work; typing on his computer, and he couldn't hear anything outside of his headphones because of the loudness. He was starting to open his coding app, when he suddenly heard a faint noise in the room. He looked around the lab; raising an eyebrow when he didn't see anyone. He went back to his music, but he soon heard the noise again, so he paused his music and looked around the lab once more. He heard it again, and he realized that the noise was someone whimpering. He soon softened his gaze and sighed, he could tell exactly who it was.
"Michael," he called into the darkness. "Come on out."
It took a while, but Mikey slowly emerged from the darkness. He was crying silently while he hugged his arms. Donnie patted the chair beside him and Mikey walked over.
"Nightmare?" Donnie asked. Mikey nodded his head in response. Donnie looked at his younger brother in sympathy. Mikey was usually the happy and joyful turtle, but every now and then, he would get nightmares. He would run over to one of his brother's rooms in hopes to seek comfort.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Donnie asked. When Mikey didn't respond, Donnie sighed. He wanted to comfort his brother, but if he didn't tell him what he dreamt about, he couldn't be much help. He let Mikey cry; and though it took a while, the box turtle crying turned into whimpers. Mikey was only sniffling after five minutes, and he also had stopped shaking.
"You good now?" Donnie questioned. Mikey nodded his head. Donnie wanted to ask him again if he wanted to talk about it when he heard Mikey mumble something.
"What?" Donnie asked. "I didn't hear you."
"Can you sing?" Mikey quietly asked, but it was loud enough for Donnie to hear. "Like when I was a kid?"
Donnie stared at his younger brother. It had been so long since he had sung to Mikey, and he had only done it when he was young. He used to help Mikey all the time when he had nightmares, and he would sing for his younger brother to help him. But that was in the past, and Donnie wasn't trying to sing again.
"Can't Leo sing for you?" Donnie asked his brother. "Why do you want me to sing?"
"Because the lab is closer to my room," Mikey replied. "And I think Leo's asleep."
"Mikey, it's been a long time since I've sung for you," Donnie said as he rubbed his neck. "I don't think I'm as good as I used to be."
Mikey chuckled lightly at his older brother. "Oh please, I've heard you sing in the shower. You're still as good as you were five years ago."
Donnie smiled slightly. He sighed into the darkness. "Alright, fine." He said as he turned on his computer to look up a song. "Which song do you want?"
Mikey grinned and looked at the computer. "Um, how about the song you sang a couple of years ago? Happy Kids, I think that was the name of it."
Donnie typed up the song and found the instrumental version of the song. He sighed again and looked at his artistic brother.
"If I have a voice crack, you better not laugh," Donnie said. "And you don't tell anybody about this, ok?"
Mikey nodded quickly as a smile appeared on his face. He had wanted his brother to sing for him a long time ago when the nightmares started again, but he hadn't wanted to ask him because he didn't know how the genius would respond.
The music played on the computer, and Donnie started to sing. He sang softly at first but started to get into it as the song progressed. Mikey listened quietly and closed his eyes as he savored the moment.
~~~
Do you remember
When we used to be
Them happy kids
Them happy kids
When we were better
But in our memories
We are happy kids
Them happy kids
Ooh take me back
To the days
We were dancing in the streets going insane
We had no money
Had no name
But I knew that you and I would never change
~~~
The music faded out as the song ended; as Mikey opened his eyes, he saw Donnie smiling softly.
"See," Mikey grinned. "You aren't that bad."
"Yeah, yeah," Donnie said as he turned off his computer. "Now, what did you dream about?"
Mikey sighed as he told his purple brother what had happened. Mikey had dreamt that they were fighting this new mutant when he had just slipped up. He told Donnie that he had failed them and that they had gotten brutally injured because of him. Donnie listened quietly as his brother talked, feeling bad for his brother.
"Michael," Donnie told him. "You know it's not real, right? Even if you had slipped up in a real fight, you wouldn't make us fail. We'd come help you."
"I know," Mikey said as he looked to the ground. "It just felt real."
Donnie put his hand on his little brother's shell, and both of them sat in silence. Donnie occasionally rubbed Mikey shell, and Mikey smiled in response.
"Can I sleep in your room tonight?" Mikey asked. "You know, in case I have another nightmare?"
"Sure, Micheal," Donnie replied. "Go ahead and lay down in my bed, I'll be in there in a minute."
Mikey grinned as he hopped off of the chair. He walked over to the doorway of the lab and stopped to turn around.
"Can you sing for me again when you come in?" Mikey asked the genius.
"Don't push it," Donnie said as he turned around and smiled.
Mikey laughed as he walked out of the lab and into Donnie's bedroom. Donnie turned back to his computer and smiled. He didn't mind singing to his little brother every now and then, and it made him smile when he could help him with his nightmares.
~~~~~
"Hey Donnie, have you seen Mikey?" Leo asked as he walked into his twin's bedroom. "He's not in his room or the lab, and I was wondering-"
The slider stopped as he saw Mikey and Donnie sharing the bed. Mikey was cuddled close to Donnie; though Donnie didn't really like to hug his brothers, he did always tend to make an exception. Leo grinned as he pulled out his phone and took a picture, making Donnie wake up slightly and look at the doorway.
"You better delete that picture," he whispered; trying not to wake Mikey, but said it loud enough to get his point across.
"But it's so cute," Leo said.
"You better be glad Mikey's on me," Donnie grumbled. "But when he wakes up, I'm gonna kill you."
Leo only laughed as he walked out of the room. Donnie sighed as he looked at Mikey; a smile coming on to his face. Mikey hadn't had any more nightmares that night, and Donnie couldn't be happier.
