Don's Secret part 1

Don’s Secret
part 1
*Inspired by the 2k3 episode "Same As It Never Was"

Donatello slumped against April’s couch cushions and stared into his glass of sangria. Seated nearby, April watched him, waiting in silence for him to finish his story.

The turtle was unused to alcoholic beverages, but April had pushed a drink on him in spite of that. Normally she wasn’t one to promote the use of alcohol for dulling emotional turmoil, but in this instance Don had needed it to get him talking.

They were alone in April’s apartment. A couple of hours earlier the pair had been down in her store, working to repair the lighting inside two wood and glass showcases that April had acquired at an estate sale. Since the incident with Nano and his thieving ‘daddy’, April had been loath to show jewelry in her front window, but not properly displaying it made it hard to sell. The showcases would help with that, once they were fixed.

Don had been his normal, gregarious self when he’d arrived, duffel bag and tool belt in hand. April had been pleased that there were no outriders with him; as much as she loved all of the turtles, she really wanted to accomplish something without having to watch that the rest of them didn’t break anything.

Besides that, she hadn’t spent much time with Don since they’d defeated Drako and the Daimyo’s son. She’d heard a little of the story from Raph and Casey, but Casey didn’t know much and Raph kept going on about motorcycle races and ‘damn magic’. Her natural curiosity wasn’t assuaged.

They’d stuck to business for the first half hour. April had cleaned and sanded both cases preparatory to staining them, happy that they weren’t too banged up. Don had given them the once over and assured her that he could fix the minor blemishes in the wooden exterior and then he’d gone to work on the electrical wiring.

April and Don caught up with small talk for a little while and then she’d told him about learning of the Drako incident from Raph. Don telling her about their adventures was usually second nature and no big deal, but as soon as April asked him about the time line he’d been sent to, Don went both quiet and stiff.

It surprised her into silence. Never having seen Don clam up so quickly about anything worried April, but she didn’t want to jump in with questions right away. While he focused on the repair job, April focused on finding a way to get him to open up.

Don had completed the wiring on both cases in record time. April had a feeling he’d worked as fast as he could in order to leave before she asked anything else about the Drako incident. Pretending that she didn’t notice his desire to get away, April asked him up to her apartment for a slice of cake. When he’d started to say he didn’t care for any, April had interrupted to say that she’d baked it for Master Splinter and he could do her a favor by taking it to him.

That ruse had gotten him upstairs. She’d gotten him to sit down by saying that she had to put the cake into a container so he needed to wait for a couple of minutes.

When she’d walked in carrying two glasses of sangria, Don had looked up at her in bewilderment. Pushing one of the glasses into his hand, April had seated herself on the couch not far from him, taken a sip, and looked at him expectantly.

“I think I know you well enough by now to tell when something is bothering you,” April had said firmly. “I didn’t mean to bring up a subject that’s obviously painful, but you’re intelligent enough to know that bottling it up inside you isn’t good. Please Donny, won’t you share your burden with me?”

Don had taken a deep breath and then released it slowly. Looking into his gentle brown eyes, April could see the pain he was trying to conceal and it made her heart ache. His hand was trembling as he lifted the glass and drank from it, coughing slightly as the alcohol hit the back of his throat.

“Every one of us . . . .” Don began, pausing to inhale again. “We were all sent to alternate worlds. He meant to leave us there, separated from our family and trying to survive as best we could. He wanted us to suffer.”

“Raph made it sound as though he just had another great adventure,” April had softly replied.

“He kind of did,” Don had told her. “All three of them did. Master Splinter was locked in a dungeon to worry about us, but my brothers made the best of their situations. I guess I did too, in a way. My best wasn’t good enough.”

“Go on,” April had urged, not making an attempt to relieve him of the guilt she could now see bleeding through in his expression. Any words she could offer would make no sense until she knew the full story.

It had taken a while but she’d finally gotten most of it out of him. She was stunned and saddened by his tale, especially upon learning that her counterpart had lost Casey and that their Master Splinter had been killed while trying to protect his sons.

Finally Don lifted his glass and drained it of its contents. He shuddered as the alcohol made its way into his system and then set the glass on the coffee table.

“My plan worked,” Don said. “I destroyed the Shredder and that April took out Karai. But when I looked up, all of my brothers . . . .” He stopped talking as a choked sob escaped him.

April leaned forward to set a comforting hand on his arm. “Tell me.”

He turned his face to her and the full impact of his pain hit her like a freight train. “They were dead,” Don whispered. “I got them all killed.”

“Oh Donny,” April said, tears filling her eyes. “What a horrible experience. I’m so sorry.”

She scooted closer, leaning her forehead against his in order to soothe him. Don’s eyes closed and he reached up to grip her shoulder, using April as a buttress to calm his raging emotions.

Don was shivering from reaction and April began to instinctively make shushing sounds, the way mothers did with their babies. She slowly stroked his arm and after a few minutes his trembling began to fade.

“You didn’t get them killed,” April whispered when she thought he was ready to hear her. “From what you’ve said, they knew the odds were bad but they chose to make a last stand as a family. You gave them that. What they were doing before was no way for them to live.”

“If I’d had more time . . . .” Don began.

“You didn’t,” April said. “You knew you could be pulled away at any minute. They needed to be free Donny. You were the only one who could do that for them, for all of them. You gave them the chance to do the one grand thing, the only crucial thing that could wipe away years of suffering and bring them peace. They wanted that so they could stay together, to be with their Don and their father.”

“Do you think so?” Don asked, the desperation in his voice bringing a constriction to April’s throat.

She swallowed and then sniffled. “Yes I do,” April said firmly. “I’m sure your real brothers said the same thing.”

Don released her and leaned back, shaking his head. “I haven’t told them and I’m not going to,” he said adamantly.

April stared at him in surprise. “Surely they’ve asked. What did you say?”

“I just said it wasn’t as exciting as what happened to them and changed the subject,” Don said.

“But why?” April asked.

“It doesn’t matter April,” Don said, standing up. “Maybe I don’t want Mikey worrying about losing his arm or Raph and Leo treating each other differently because of what happened on that alternate world. Please promise me you won’t say anything to them. I told you the story in confidence.”

April placed her glass on the table and got up too. “All right,” she said, searching his eyes. “If you think this is the best way to handle it. It’s your decision and I can respect your reasoning. If you do need to talk about it, I’m always here for you.”

Don’s expression softened. “Thanks April. I do feel better having gotten to talk about it with someone.”

He picked up his things and April escorted him downstairs. At the door, Don turned and smiled at April. “I’ll be back tomorrow to finish repairing those cases. They’re going to look great in the store.”

“I appreciate it, Donny,” April said. “Are you okay to drive?”

“I’m fine,” Don said, walking over to the Battle Shell. “The eggnog Raph insists we drink during the holidays has a stronger kick to it than that glass of sangria.”

April giggled, watching as Don drove away. With a big sigh, she went back inside and set about locking up for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was just after midnight almost two weeks later when April’s phone rang, waking her from a deep sleep.

With her eyes still firmly shut, April groped around on her night stand until her hand came into contact with the phone. A couple of minutes had passed by the time she got the phone near her ear but the caller apparently kept redialing, refusing to talk to her voice mail.

“Hello,” April said, her voice a sleep induced slur.

“April, sorry for the late night call,” Mikey said, his tone vibrant and obviously wide awake. “Have you seen Donny?”

“Hmm, what? No,” April said. “Is he supposed to be here?”

“We don’t know,” Mikey said enigmatically. In the background April could hear Raph talking loudly, catching the words “Casey wake up!” as he shouted them.

Fully alert now, April sat up and asked, “Mikey, what’s going on? Why is Raph yelling?”

“He’s on the phone with Casey,” Mikey answered. “We haven’t seen Don in hours and Leo said we should call you guys to find out if he was with either of you.”

“I haven’t spoken to him in a couple of days,” April said, her feeling of dread rising as she kicked off the bed covers and swung her feet around to the floor.

“No big deal,” Mikey said, sounding unperturbed. “He’s probably at the junk yard and just lost track of time. Sorry I woke you up.”

“Don’t hang up!” April exclaimed before Mikey could disconnect the call. “Mikey? Mikey are you still there?”

“Yeah April, I’m still on,” Mikey answered, sounding puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

April jumped up from the bed, shedding her night clothes as she ran for her closet. “You have to find him! You have to find him now!”

Switching her grip on the phone so that she could get dressed, April heard Leo ask his brother, “What’s going on?”

Mikey’s mumbled aside was still audible. “April’s freaking out about Donny.”

“April? It’s Leo. What’s the matter?” Leo asked, having taken the phone from Mikey.

“Leo, there’s no time to explain,” April said frantically, trying hard not to panic. “You guys have to go out and find Don. Get Casey out of bed and make him look too. I’ll take my van and search the nearest junkyard, you guys split up and check the others. Check anywhere he usually goes. Now Leo, do it now!”

“Raph,” Leo called out, his mouth turned away from the phone, “tell Casey to get up and go look for Don at the junkyard by the river near his apartment.” There was a pause, and then Leo said, “I don’t know yet, just do it.”

April heard Raph relaying instructions and then Leo’s voice was back in her ear, “Mikey’s waking Master Splinter so he can let us know if Don comes back while we’re out looking for him. It’ll be all right, April. We’ll find him.”

“God I hope so,” April said, hanging up and shoving the phone in her pocket as she darted out of her apartment and downstairs to where the van was parked.

As she pulled out into the street, she mumbled to herself, “Please, please let us find him.”

TBC…………………