Donatello's 'A Christmas Carol'

“Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'? In the lane, snow is glistenin'...”

With each wire that he realigned, Donatello felt his frustration rising. Only one mile he had left to find yet another misplaced mutagen canister, and of course, as his luck would have it, he slipped and fell on a sheet of black ice. Down his beloved tracker went from his grasp and, as he remembered it happening in almost slow motion, it crashed against the concrete with a sickening thud. The tracker that he had worked hours on to design and build. The only source they had to find the missing mutagen and prevent anymore dangerous or unnecessary mutants.

“Gone away is the blue bird, Here to stay is the new bird...”

The dreaded sound of Mikey's blaring Christmas carols pounded against his fatigued brain. Didn't Mikey know how hard he was trying to concentrate on fixing this device? Of course he did, Donnie assumed. That's why he was doing this; just to annoy his brother, Donatello. He cherished the thoughts of Donnie's aggravation.

Donnie groaned. “Stupid winter. Stupid snow. Stupid Holiday season,” he massaged his temples. “Could that music get any louder?”

He lightly shook his head, attempting to shake off some of his frustration and return his focus to the vital device in front of him. He gingerly ran his finger over the branched-out crack across the tracker's screen and sighed.

“Don't know where I'm gonna find a new screen for this thing...”

“In the meadow, we can build a snowman,” Mikey's voice could now be heard very loudly harmonizing with the lyrics. “And pretend that he is Parson Brown. He'll say 'are you married?', we'll say 'no, man, but you can do the job when you're in town.'”

Donnie rested his head in his hands. “Oh jeez, not this again.”

“Hey Sensei, do you like my singing?” he heard Mikey ask in almost a shout.

“Yes, my son, it is wonderful!” Splinter shouted back with a light chuckle lining his words.

“We'll frolic and play the Eskimo way, Walkin' in a winter wonderland!”

Donnie groaned again and slammed his head against the lab table.

“How am I supposed to get anything done with all this noise?”

As he heard his lab door slide open, he rolled his eyes behind his closed lids. Probably stupid Mikey coming to interrupt his work to ask him to do something for him as always.

“Donnie...?” A hesitant voice followed.

“What do you want, Leo? I'm busy,” Donnie grouched; nope, it was going to be Leo, not that that was any less frustrating. He also probably wants him to do something for him.

“Th-there...uh...” Leo began, wondering if it would be too late to say 'forget it' and return to the sanctuary of the merry atmosphere in the living room. “...there might be a little problem with the shell-raiser...”

Donnie abruptly pulled up his head and whipped it around, not giving Leo a millisecond to escape his intense glare.

“What do you mean there 'might be a little problem'?” he nearly shouted.

Leo grinned sheepishly and began to rub the back of his neck.

“W-well, uh...th-the front...it m-might be a little...smashed...?”

Donnie's nostrils flared as he put his forehead in one hand and tried to massage the fatigue away.

“Leo,” he began in a low growl, “are you telling me that you wrecked the shell-raiser?”

Leo's eyes widened. “Not w-wrecked...just, uh, y-you know...w-we were...”

“Didn't I warn you not to drive it while there's ice all over the ground?”

“Well yeah, but you see...Raph...”

“Oh, no!” An obnoxious voice shouted as it's source pushed past Leonardo and stood before him in the doorway. “Don't try and blame this all on me, Leo! You were the one driving while we were spinning donuts...”

Donnie was mortified. “Donuts? You were doing donuts?”

“Well, it was your dumb idea!” Leo shoved his finger at Raph's chest. “Hey Leo, you know what would be really sweet? If we spun donuts in the shell-raiser with ice all over the ground!' Why do I ever listen to you?”

Raph smacked away his hand. “You were the one driving! It's not my fault you can't control a vehicle worth a crap!”

Leo snarled at the insult on his driving skills.

“Hey, I was doing just fine until you got all freaked out because we slipped a little and just had to grab the wheel!”

“You would have put us right in a ditch! I was trying to save us, but you had to...”

Donnie shot up from his chair. “Shut up! Both of you, just shut up!”

Both of his older brothers froze with their mouths agape, staring in awe at their usually more passive brother.

Donnie took a deep breath. “I can't listen to you two right now. I have too much work to do. Please, just go.”

“But Donnie,” Leo dared push, “what about the shell-raiser? Aren't you gonna fix it?”

Donnie felt his gradually lowering blood pressure spike at Leo's inquiry.

“Unless you think you can fix it, you're just gonna have to deal with it a while,” he spat.

Leo shook his head with defeat and sighed.

“Now, hold on, Donnie,” Raph argued. “You're stupid tracker can wait. We don't have any transportation!”

Donnie turned again and gave Raph a piercing glare.

“Sorry, Doughnut-boy,” he mocked, “but you've made your bed and now you're gonna have to sleep in it!”

Raph trudged to his genius brother's side and held his hands to his hips.

“And how do you expect to find any mutagen with snow all over the ground?”

Donnie shook his head.

“It's called a snow shovel, smart one. The snow won't hinder the tracker's ability to detect the mutagen.”

“It will if you don't have it!” Raph snatched the device right out from under Donnie's nose and hid it under his giant arms.

Donnie jumped to his feet. “Hey! Give that back!” He grabbed onto Raph's flexed forearm attempting to pry it loose.

Raph tightened his arms more and turned further away.

“Not until you fix the shell-raiser!”

“Raph...” Leo futily attempted to intervene.

Donnie ceased and stood eerily still. “Raph, if you know what's good for you...”

Raph snarled. “Oh, what, is that a threat? You gonna hit me tough-guy?” He mocked. “Come on, then! Lay one on me!”

Before Raph could blink, Donnie's fist collided with his left eye. The force from the hit knocked the device from his grasp and it fell to the ground with yet another sickening thud.

“Aw gawd, my eye!”

“Donnie!” Leo shouted and rushed to Raph's aid.

Once Raph regained his composure, he growled under his breath and lunged at Donnie, but was caught and held back by Leo.

“You're gonna pay for that, you little shit!”

Ignoring his brothers, Donnie stooped down to check on the device like it was a dropped infant. Much to his dismay, the fall had reversed his progress and even worsened the initial damage. He saw red.

“GET OUT! BOTH OF YOU JUST GET OUT!”

Leo, having no desire to see the situation escalate any further, pulled at Raph's arm and attempted to lead him to the door.

“No!” Raph retorted. “I ain't going anywhere! I'm gonna kick your scrawny ass!”

Leo tightened his grip and made it to the doorway, trying with all his might to pull Raph through it.

“Come on, Raph,” he coaxed. “Let's just leave Donnie alone to cool off.”

“Oh I'll cool him off!” Raph threatened. “I'll shove his gap-toothed face right into a bank of snow!”

Donnie stomped a foot forward.

“I wish you would Raphael! I wish you would!”

As soon as Leo had Raph in the living room, Donnie stormed to the door way and held the frame of the door in an infuriated iron grip.

“Careful what you wish for, Donatello! I just might make it come true!” Raph screamed with his heels being drug against the concrete floor.

“Oh yeah?!” Donnie challenged. “Well if you can grant wishes, then I wish I didn't have to be here to deal with you shitheads! How about granting me that one, Raphael?!”

“Donnie!” Mikey scolded from out of sight.

Raph pushed his head through his bedroom door that Leo was desperately trying to push him through.

“Donnie, will you shut up already?!” Leo shouted.

“Shut up, you no-good-goodie-two-shoes!” Donnie retorted, pointing an accusatory finger in his oldest brother's direction.

Leo finally got Raph all the way into his room and poked his head around the doorway.

“Just shut up and go back in your den, you grumpy troll!”

“Why don't all of you, shut up?!” Mikey joined in when he entered the main living room from the kitchen. “I can't hear my Christmas jams!”

Donnie turned his anger to his younger brother.

“Shut up, Mikey! And turn off that damn music!”

Mikey crossed his arms over his chest and glared.

“Why don't you make me?”

Donnie wordlessly stormed across the room and pressed the power button on the stereo.

“Hey!” Mikey shouted before making his way back to the stereo to try and immediately turn it back on,  but Donnie tackled him just before he made it there and restrained him in a headlock.

“You've been blaring that stupid music all morning and driving me crazy!” Donnie demanded. “You're not turning it back on!”

Mikey pushed his body forward and backward, determined to break free from his brother's grasp.

“Where's your Christmas spirit, dude?” He grunted, writhing around in Donnie's hold, quickly becoming frustrated with his brother's degrading him. “Let me go!”

“Boys!”

Both younger boys froze in their squabble and turned to look at their father.

“That is enough,” Splinter demanded. “Donatello, release your brother. Now.”

Donnie wordlessly released Mikey, causing him to tumble to the ground.

“Oof!”

Splinter took a deep breath and lowered the volume of his voice.

“Now, what is the problem?”

Mikey pulled himself back on his feet. “Donnie shut off my Christmas jams!”  

“I wouldn't have to shut them off if you would just turn them down!”

“Well maybe if you'd actually asked me to...”

“Enough!” Splinter rapped his staff against the floor. “I want both of you to go to your rooms and settle yourselves. I don't want to hear a peep out of either of you.”

Donnie groaned with exasperation and stomped off to his bedroom.

“But Sensei,” Mikey whined, “I didn't do anything!”

Splinter raised a silencing hand. “I don't want to hear it, Michelangelo. Go!”

Mikey sighed and trudged off.

--------------

Donatello paced down his hallway with a  fiery vengeance. What was wrong with his brothers? It was Christmas Eve, December twenty-fourth, just another day on the calendar. Sure it was a holiday, but mutagen did not take holidays off, and the Kraang, they probably didn't even have holidays in Dimension X. That mutagen tracker being fixed was imperative, regardless of the date, and they could not afford any distractions. Why was he the only one that could see that?

With that last infuriating thought, Donnie tried to kick his way through his door, as he'd seen Raph do a thousand times, but much to his already prevalent dismay, it did not budge and his foot immediately throbbed.

“Ow!” he grunted, not wanting his brothers to hear a vulnerable-sounding wail come from him. He hopped on one foot for a moment before he reached out and swung his door open, making sure to slam it behind him for his entire household to hear.

“Stupid Mikey...” he grumbled as he trudged to his bedside. “Why couldn't he mind his own damn business?” He slumped down on the mattress. “Stupid Leo and Raph, wrecking the shell-raiser. Asking me to fix it right now. What do they think I am? Santa Clause? Do they think I can just make the right parts magically appear from my shell or something?” He sighed.

He'd never get that mutagen tracker fixed at this rate, especially if he was this flustered. He needed to get his blood pressure under control if he was to accomplish anything, otherwise his anger would make him as unproductive as his brothers and their 'holiday fever'. As much as he did not want to do anything that his father would advise right now, being aggravated with him for sending him to his room, he knew he should try to meditate and get his thoughts back on track.

With that, he sighed and shut his eyes and painstakingly tried to relax every tensed muscle in his body, starting from his neck down to the tips of his toes. He had to resist the urge to suck in his cheeks and clench his jaw, for every time he shut his eyes, he only saw his tracker crashing on the ice-coated concrete, Raph and Leo spinning donuts in his shell-raiser, and Mikey carelessly dancing around the kitchen baking cookies, all while they should be worrying about finding more lost mutagen.

Knock! Knock!

Donnie groaned at the horribly timed interruption.

“What do you want?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Donnie, it's me,” Leo answered from the other side, “can we talk?”

Donnie sighed and threw his pillow over his face.

“No Leo, go away.”

“Look, I'm sorry we wrecked the shell-raiser. Come on, can't we talk about this?”

Donnie remained frostily still. “There's nothing to talk about. I'll fix it when I fix it. I have more important things to deal with.”

Leo sighed. “Come on, Donnie, it's Christmas Eve. I don't wanna fight with you. It's not even about the shell-raiser anymore.”

Donnie launched the pillow across the room. “I don't give a horse's ass what day it is! That mutagen is still out there, we have no way to track any of it, and I'm the only one who seems to give a damn!” He paused and growled. “I hate this time of year.”

Leo rolled his eyes. This again. “No you don't. Come on...”

“No!” Donnie shouted. “Leave me alone, Leo! I just...I just wanna be alone.”

Leo sighed. “Fine, whatever, Don. When you're done with your pity party, the rest of us will be in the living room enjoying our Christmas as a family.”

As Leo walked away, Donnie could hear the muffled sounds of Mikey and Raph's voices followed by laughter. It made his blood start to boil all over again. Now they were laughing at him, he was sure of it. How could they laugh and carry on knowing that their mutagen mishap ruined Christmas for a lot of families in the past year? April can't spend Christmas with her father because he's a dangerous mutant bat, Timothy's family probably doesn't even know where he is or what's become of him, and who knows what other innocent families have been affected?

“I'd love to see how they'd do without me to push them along all the time,” he thought aloud. “They wouldn't have even found one canister.” He laughed sarcastically. “I would pay to see them get through any of that stuff without me to push them along. What a sight that would be.”

--------------------

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-have a blue Christmas, without you...”

“Donatello.”

“I'd be so blue just thinkin' a-a-bout you...”

“Donatello!”

“Decorations of red, on our green Christmas tree...”

“Wake up, Donatello!”

“Won't be the same here, i-if you're not here with me...”

Donnie finally stirred. “Leo,” he groaned, “I told you I wanted to be left alone...”

“Leo? Who's Leo?”

Donnie's blood pressure spiked again at his brother's nonsense. He could expect that kind of shenanigan from Mikey, waking him up from a much-needed rest just to play dumb and screw with him, but not from his oldest brother. He shook the sleep from his eyes and sat right up, glaring daggers.

“Haha, very funny, Leo,” he spat. “Did Mikey tell you to come in here and say that?”

The shadowed figure before him arched an eyebrow. “Mikey? Oh wait, you mean that freckled turtle across the hall? Phew, had to pass through his room to get here.” He whistled. “What a pigsty.”

Donatello rolled his eyes and thrust himself back down on his mattress.

“Yeah that's really amusing, Leo,” he grumbled. “Now you can go tell the others that I laughed so much at your lame joke...and could you tell Mikey to turn that dreadful music down?!”

“That sir, is my good friend Elvis,” the figure argued, “and I don't think he would appreciate you knocking his Christmas music like that.”

“Oh, do you speak to him from the 'great beyond' during your meditation sessions?” Donnie mocked. “Did he tell you to abandon the mutagen mission too?”

“The who-ta-gen what?”

Donnie sighed and sat up again, feeling defeated.

“Dude, I'm really not amused...”

“Well, that's okay, I'm not here to amuse you...” the shadowed figure finally emerged into the dim light and levitated to Donnie's bedside. “...I'm here to show you something.”

Donnie stared at the apparition, dumbfounded.

“H-how are you...? W-what...?” He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “I must be hallucinating. My frustration must have been more severe than I anticipated.”

The 'ghost' smiled. “Allow me to introduce myself; I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.”

Donnie blinked. “Yeah, definitely hallucinating.”

It had to be a hallucination, right? Or maybe a fever dream. The idea of an actual ghost or spirit standing before him defied all logic that he prided himself so in being skilled in. This 'ghost' was identical to Leo in every way: weapons, belt, mask, and everything, but he was levitating off of the ground and gave off an icy cold chill, just like paranormal enthusiasts said they would. He couldn't be Leo, though, even if he did believe in ghosts, Leo would have to have died to become one and Leo wasn't dead, right?

The ghost sighed. “I promise I'm not your brother. I just look like him, I guess.”

“B-but, how can...?”

The ghost waved a dismissive hand. “Look, let's not get into all that. We have a lot of work to do.”

Donnie shuddered at what this creature could possibly mean.

“Work?”

Before Donnie could protest, the ghost had taken his hand with his icy cold one and pulled him from the bed and toward his bedroom door.

“W-where are you taking me?”

The ghost turned and smiled as he led him down his hallway and toward he dojo.

“Not far,” he said.

They finally came to a stop in the doorway of the dojo and peeked in.

There in front of the cheaply-decorated tree in the middle of the room, were his father and three little turtles that looked to be around six-years-old. The largest of the three sat on Splinter's lap and the smaller two sat before him with sad grins upon their faces, watching their oldest brother.

“Is that...is that my brothers?” Donatello squinted to be sure that his vision wasn't deceiving him.

“It sure is,” the ghost responded without removing his eyes from the scene.

“Well, where am I?”

“You don't exist. It's just the three of them; Leonardo, Raphael, and little Michelangelo.”

Donnie returned his attention to his family, and saw Splinter guiding Leo's hands around the poorly wrapped gift in front of him. Once Leo found the folds in the wrapping, he began to slowly tear it away.

“Very good, Leonardo,” Splinter praised. “Do you think you can finish on your own?”

Leo nodded. “I think so.”

Donnie was puzzled. “What's wrong with Leo? Why does he need help?”

The ghost gestured for him to move forward, nodding toward the family.

“See for yourself.”

Donnie hesitantly stepped further into the room and made his way to the tree. He gulped, wondering how they would react to seeing a large mutant turtle that they supposedly had never seen before.

“H-hey, uh, guys...” he began, rubbing the back of his neck.

“They can't hear or see you, Don,” the ghost clarified.

Donnie sighed. “That helps.”

He walked around the small circle and stood behind Mikey and Raph. He saw his oldest brother sat with cheap, tarnished sunglasses over his eyes as he continued to rip away the paper with a blank, almost lost expression.

His heart sunk. “He's...”

“...blind,” the ghost finished.

“Almost there, Leo!” Little Mikey cheered.

Leo pulled off the remainder of the paper and Splinter took it and set it aside with the rest of the discarded wrapping. He felt the stick-like object in his hands, hoping to figure out what it is on his own for once.

“It's...wooden,” he started.

“It's a katana!” Mikey blurted, unable to contain his excitement. “Well, not a real one...but...”

“I wish to continue training you in ninjitsu,” Splinter explained. “You have always wanted to wield a katana.”

Donnie tried to wrap his head around the reality before him.

“I don't understand. Why is Leo blind?”

The ghost took a deep breath before answering.

“Do you remember when you were five and you took to studying nutrition?”

Donnie grinned nostalgically. “Yes, I recall that. One of my earliest areas of study, I believe.”

The ghost gazed at him solemnly. “Well without you here to enlighten them, Splinter was unable to learn what vitamins were most necessary for the four of you.”

Donnie pondered the relationship of his knowledge of nutrition and Leo's blindness.

“...So Leo must have suffered a vitamin A deficiency, costing him his eyesight,” he concluded.

The ghost nodded once. “Precisely.”

“But Sensei, I can't see,” Leo reminded his father. “How can I be a ninja if I can't see anything?”

Splinter ruffled his bandana reassuringly. “You do not fight solely with your eyes my son. You must rely on your other senses in order to excel.”

Raph crawled forward and gave Leo a light punch on his shoulder.

“Yeah, you can do it, Leo! You're a tough dude.”

Leo hesitated, feeling the wooden katana in his hands.

“Do you really think I could?”

Splinter took one of his inspecting hands and squeezed it in his own.

“I know you can.”

The ghost turned to Donatello and flashed him a smug half-grin.

“So do you still wanna see how they'd get along without you?”

In spite of the sorrow he felt for his brother, Donnie shrugged his shoulders and already began trying to rationalize the situation.

“You heard Splinter. It'd take a lot more than a visual impairment to hinder Leo's ninjitsu skills. If anything it would improve him. Blindness has little to no effect on the ways of the ninja,” Donnie argued.

The ghost crossed his arms and watched the brainy turtle quizzically.

“So what you're saying is that your brothers don't  really need you at all,” he inquired.

“N-no, that's not what I...”

“It was my understanding that you wanted to see them need you.”

“W-well I do, but...”

The ghost shook his head. “You've got a lot to learn.”

------------

Thud! Crash!

“Shit...”

Donnie felt his sleep being lifted, the weight of his eyelids beginning to decrease as the unexpected sound of something being knocked over brought him to. He groaned and opened his eyes, scanning around him until his vision gradually went into focus. A wave of relief washed over him as he quickly realized where he was.

He sighed. “It was just a dream.” His brain started to recap everything that had just happened that had seemed so real; it all seemed absurd now that he was awake. “Of course it was a dream,” he rationalized, “there's no such things as ghosts or...alternate universes.” He chuckled to himself just thinking of such tomfoolery. To think he actually believed that he might have been guided into an alternate past by a ghost that looked identical to his brother, Leo.

“Oh hey, chuckles, you're finally awake,” a familiar voice said from somewhere that Don, once again, could not see. If the voice didn't give him away, his condescending tone certainly would do the trick.

The moment of lightness he'd felt was immediately flushed away by that dreaded voice.

“Raph, what are you doing in my room?” he groaned.

“Who the hell is Raph?” The source of the voice finally revealed itself. Of course, yet another apparition, but instead, this one resembled Raphael. As if a visitor identical to Leonardo wasn't enough.

Donnie, this time, was unaffected. “Yeah, yeah, I've seen that cheesy, over-rated movie. You're the Ghost of Christmas Present, right?”

“Alright, wise-guy,” the ghost snarled, “my brother told me that you said you'd love to see how your family would fare without you.”

Donnie crossed his arms over his chest. “That's correct.”

“Well that's what I'm here for,” the ghost pounded a fist into his palm. “This isn't my ideal way of teaching lessons, but it'll have to do.”

The ghost took Donnie by the back of his shell and proceeded to drag him to the bedroom door.

“H-hey!” Donnie protested. “I can walk, you know!”

“Yeah, yeah, hush up,” the ghost grumbled. “We're not going far anyway.”

Donnie rolled his eyes as he barely kept his feet in tow with the hot-tempered ghost.

“Great,” he groaned, “more alternate universes. I can't wait.”

This time, the ghost only took him to his living room. The television played the age-old cartoon special, Frosty the Snowman, while present-day Raphael sat watching it, only half interested.

“There's that handsome dude,” the ghost cracked.

“Okay,” Donnie said, observing the scene before him, “so Raph is watching a Christmas cartoon special. Looks the same to me.”

“No, shell-brain, you have to look closer.”

Donnie slunk his way to the couch and took a seat beside Raphael. He observed him from his feet to his head and from his head back to his feet. Everything about him seemed normal, except for it appeared that for some reason he was keeping one of his eyes shut.

Donnie shrugged. “I really don't see anything different...”

The ghost chose not to respond and the two of them watched as Leonardo guided himself into the room from the hallway with his walking stick, and in his freehand, he held a small, neatly wrapped gift box. Though he could not see him, he followed the familiar sound of Raph's breathing patterns and distinct scent to find him and knew he was sitting on the couch.

He cautiously planted himself beside his brother.

“Raph,” he began.

Raph said nothing, but just Leo's presence made his jaw clench in frustration and his breathing to begin to intensify. Leo did not need any other senses to know that this was happening. \

He sighed. “I know you're still mad at me, and you have every reason to be.”

Raph growled under his breath.

“I know I can never make it up to you properly, but...” Leo dropped the box in his brother's lap, “...I got you a gift.”

Raph glared at the box and then at Leo.

“Why?” he asked in an eerily low voice.

“I feel terrible for what I caused,” Leo explained. “I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make peace between us. Please. Open it.”

Raph sighed and shook his head.

A small smile crept across Leo's face as he heard the sound of the wrapping paper being ripped away and then the box being opened.

Raph looked inside and arched an eyebrow. “What is this?”

“It's an eye patch,” Leo said. “I know when we were kids you always wanted one, and I know I can't see it, but I bet you'd look bad ass in an eye patch.”

Raph shook his head and tried to suppress a chuckle.

“Where did you get this?” he asked.

“I asked sensei to make it, so really it's kind of from him too,” Leo said. “Do you...like it?”

Raph stifled another laugh as he put the patch over his eye.

“Sure, man.”

Leo sighed. “It's the least I could do for you. After all, it's my fault that you lost your eye.”

Raph shrugged. “Well, I can't argue with that logic.”

Donnie returned his gaze to the Raph-like ghost.

“What happened to his eye?”

The ghost stood behind the two reconciling brothers and sighed.

“A month back Raph and Leo got into a fight in the dojo. A real one,” he began. “Michelangelo tried to break it up, but with Master Splinter out scavenging, the two of them were too much for him to handle. Long story short, the fight got out of hand, and Leo wound up accidentally gauging Raph's eye with one of his katanas.”

Donnie sighed sadly.

“Without you here to help break up their fights,” the ghost went on. “They wound up escalating to a point where one of them was maimed.”

Donnie shook his head. “Man...poor Raph...”

“Well don't choke up yet,” the ghost warned. “We're only halfway done.”

Donnie gasped. “Wait...what does...?

Before Donnie could request clarification, everything went black.

-------------

“Donnie?”

“Don...?”

“Donnie, wake up, dude!”

Donatello struggled to force his heavy, gunky eyes open at the sound of his name being called.

“Wha...?”

He rubbed his eyes to try and ease the heavy feeling away and slowly sat up.

“Not again,” he groaned.

“'Not again', what?” A new familiar voice asked.

Donnie finally looked at the source of the voice and scowled deeply.

He sighed. “Let me guess; you're the Ghost of Christmas Future, even though you look identical to my brother, Mikey.”

Mikey blinked. “What are you talking about, dude?”

Realization dawned upon Donnie when he looked at the floor and noticed the 'apparition's' feet were not levitating off of the ground, but were in fact, touching the floor.

“Mikey!” he said with relief. “I just had the weirdest dream, bro! Leo was blind, and Raph was missing an eye, and there were ghosts...”

Mikey laughed. “Nah, dude, I'm just messing with ya.”

With a swipe of his hand, 'Mikey' gained a particular whitish glow and then levitated from the ground.

“I love that one.” He laughed again. “Yeah, man, I'm the Ghost of Christmas Future.” He shook his head. “You should've seen your face.”

Don glared. “Great; looks like Mikey, sounds like Mikey, and irritating like Mikey.”

“Chillax, dude,” the ghost said. “We're here to have fun! I get to take you to the future. You know what kind of cool stuff they have in the future?”

“Well, considering the exponential growth of technology in modern day society, I would estimate that...”

The ghost's eyes started to glaze over and he groaned.

“Ugh, they warned me you might do this. Forget I asked. You make it no fun.”

Donnie crossed his arms in a huff. “So what kind of 'fun' do you have in mind for me?”

The ghost shrugged. “Well, it's not always fun, but either way, it's pretty cool to get to see into the future.”

“Which is impossible,” Donnie began. “One can't physically or literally travel forward or backward in time...”

“Anyway,” the ghost interrupted, “so you want to see what the future would hold for your family had you never existed?”

Donnie rolled his eyes. “If I say 'no', can this all end and will you go away?”

The ghost grinned. “No, I'd just call you a liar. I can show you proof that you said it.”

Donnie groaned and hopped off of his bed. “Alright, fine, let's get this over with.”

“Sweet, last one to the kitchen is a rotten anchovy!” The ghost, with childlike energy, floated out of the room and down the hall.

Donnie shook his head and sighed as he slowly made his way from the bedroom and out toward his kitchen. Why did he ever say that stupid thing? Maybe if he hadn't, he would have had a normal night's sleep without interruptions from ghosts that looked identical to his brothers. But he dared not say that aloud for fear that the ghosts may want him to say those alternate events too.

He stopped beside the ghost, who stood gazing somberly into the kitchen.

Donnie looked on to see his younger brother moving around the kitchen in an uncharacteristically withdrawn and dragging manor. Normally, Mikey would be in extra high spirits being able to cook anything in the kitchen.

“What's wrong with him?” Donnie dared ask. “Why does he look so...sad?”

The ghost only shook his head and sighed.

The oven timer went off and Mikey turned and revealed a bare nub where a muscular arm once hung.

Donnie gasped.

“What...” He found himself, for once, almost at a complete loss for words. “What happened to him?”

The ghost sighed again. “About three months ago,” he began, “Michelangelo and your other two brothers went topside and got ambushed by the Foot. In spite of the odd number, they all tried to cover and not lose track of one another. The numbers were too overwhelming; they lost track of Mikey. An unseen Foot knocked him out cold and they kidnapped him and took him back to the Shredder.”

Donnie bit his lip and tried to retain his tears.

“No...”

The ghost dared continue. “The Shredder and his minions tortured him mercilessly. They beat him, raped him, and other unspeakable things. The Shredder personally broke his arm with his bare hands, and that's when he got the sick idea to remove it with no anesthetic.”

“Mikey...” Donnie whispered.

Mikey was irritating to Donnie, absolutely, but he was still the happiest, most compassionate person Donnie had ever known, and in addition, he was his only little brother. Even the thought of someone deliberately harming him, so innocent and kind, literally made his heart ache.

Donnie and the ghost watched Mikey piteously try and take a heavy casserole dish from the oven with his only hand. He struggled; his arm shook trying to hold the unbalanced weight on its own.

Crash!

The dish slipped from Mikey's hand and shattered on the hard concrete, sending casserole everywhere.

“No!” Mikey whined. He looked down at the mess on the floor with tears welling up in his eyes and knelt down over top of it. He started gathering up the pieces of broken glass in his only remaining hand, but stopped when tears began to fall from his eyes and onto his hand.

“Mikey?” Leo's voice echoed in the room as he entered. “I heard a crash. Is everything alright?”

Leo couldn't see him, but he could hear the unsteady breaths and the sniffling and knew his little brother was crying. He felt his way into the room and when he felt his staff tap against Mikey's shell, he carefully knelt down and rested a hand on his back.

“What happened?” he asked.

Mikey hiccuped. “I-I dropped our Christmas dinner, Leo,” he said. “I'm so useless.”

“Aw, Mikey, no you're not,” Leo soothed. “It'll take time to adjust to cooking and getting around with only one arm. It took me a while to adjust to not being able to see and to learn to use my other senses. You'll get it.”

Mikey sniffled and rubbed his eye. “Master Splinter would have never made this mistake. He should be the one making Christmas dinner, not me.”

Leo sighed. “Mikey, don't say that. He did what he did because he loved you.”

Mikey hiccuped. “I know...”

“I'm sure he'd be proud of you for trying this in spite of your disability,” Leo went on.

“Oh no...what happened to Sensei?” Donnie dared ask.

The ghost hesitated. “Splinter was afraid that if he let Leo and Raph try to rescue Mikey, then he might lose all of them. So he offered the Shredder a trade...”

Realization dawned upon Donnie and he shook his head tearfully. “No...”

“...release Mikey, and he will give himself to the Shredder to be at his disposal,” the final words hurt the ghost to utter.

Donnie could not fight his tears. “No...” he choked. “No, that...that can't happen, not my father, not my brothers, my family...NO! I'm sorry, Mikey!”

Leo aided Mikey back to his feet.

“Come on, buddy,” he coaxed. “I'll try and clean this up, and I'll get Raph to make you some hot cocoa.”

Mikey sniffled. “Okay, thanks L-Leo.”

“Leo!” Donnie cried. “I'm sorry, man...”

The ghost rested an icy hand on his shoulder.

“They can't hear you, dude,” he said.

Donnie shook him off. “No! This can't happen to my family! It can't! No! NO!”

---------


“No...no...”

“Donnie, wake up...”

“No...not my family...no...”

“Donnie...”

“No...my brothers, my father...no...”

“Donatello!”

Donnie woke with a start, clutching his chest as he tried to abruptly take in his environment.

“Wha...?” He breathed. He looked up to see Mikey standing beside his bed with deep concern evident in his expression.

“Uh...” he began. “Bad dream, Don?”

“Mikey!” Donnie said under a sigh of relief. He jumped to his feet and put a hand on each of Mikey's shoulders. “Your arms...you have both of them.”

Mikey looked down. “Um...yes? I do...”

Donnie crushed him in a bear hug. “I just had the most awful dream about you, little bro!”

“Oh, okay...” Mikey managed to say over his deflated lungs. “Well, I just came to see if you wanted some hot cocoa...”

Donnie pulled Mikey away and planted a kiss on his forehead.

“I'd love some!” He placed a hand on his shell and led him to his bedroom. “And then maybe we can listen to some of those cheesy Christmas songs.”

Mikey edged away from him as they entered the hallway.

“Why do I get the feeling that something very very bad is about to happen to me?” Mikey asked sheepishly.

Donnie laughed. “No, Mikey, everything is fine. I'm fine now.”

Mikey shrugged. “If you say so.”

The two of them entered the living room to find Raphael and Leonardo both drinking hot cocoa and watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

“Right...” Mikey began. “Well, you just take a load off and watch The Grinch and I'll go and get that cocoa.” Mikey awkwardly slipped out of the room and into the kitchen.

Donnie sighed and crossed the room to stand in front of the television.

“Hey! Down in front!” Leo shouted.

“Come on, what's the big idea?!” Came Raph's protest.

“Um...h-hey guys,” Donnie began, “I just want to say...about earlier; I'm sorry.”

“Sorry that you tried to punch my lights out over a stupid tracker?!” Raph retorted.

“Yeah, Raph, I'm sorry,” he confirmed. “I just got so wrapped up in this mutagen mission that I guess...I just...”

“You just forgot to embrace your blessings,” Splinter finished when he appeared in front of the dojo.

Donnie recomposed himself from the initial shock and then nodded.

“Yes, Sensei,” he said, respectfully turning his gaze to the floor. “I'm sorry for the way I behaved earlier. I shouldn't have flown off the handle like that...especially on Christmas eve, when I should be embracing you all.”

Leo, with a warm and knowing smile, rose from his spot beside Raph and stood beside Donnie. He placed a hand on his shoulder.

“All's forgiven, Donnie,” he said. “Now, let's just put all this mess behind us and enjoy the rest of our holiday, hm?”

Donnie looked to Raph with apologetic eyes and awaited an approving look.

Raph's scowl formed into a light smirk and he gestured for Donnie to take a seat.

Donnie grinned. “Thank you. You guys are the best.”

He plopped himself down on their makeshift sectional sofa and reclined back.

“Is this seat taken?” Splinter asked Donnie, gesturing to the spot beside him.

“No sir, have a seat,” Donnie beamed and patted the spot beside him.

Splinter bowed lightly and sat down.

“Aw, sweet,” Mikey said upon returning from the kitchen, a fresh, steaming mug in one hand, “you're gonna watch it with us too, pop?”

Splinter nodded once. “Yes, my son,” he chuckled.

“Alright!” Mikey handed Donnie his mug.

“Thank you, Mikey,” he said.

“That means I can cuddle with you guys!” Mikey cheered, and then proceeded to sit down on the sofa and crawl across Donnie and Splinter's laps.

Donnie rolled his eyes. “Mikey...”

Mikey did not listen and relaxed his entire body on both of their laps.

Splinter smiled and shook his head, resting a paw on Mikey's shell.

Donnie slapped Mikey on the back of his leg and laughed.

“You're a pain in the ass, you know that?” he said and then sighed. “But I love ya.”

Raph gagged. “Enough with the love fest,” he complained. “I can't hear the movie!”

“Good thing I didn't have any chili and baked bean pizza today,” Mikey joked. “Or you two would be in some serious trouble.”

Splinter tapped Mikey on the head. “You would be in some trouble, Michelangelo, not us.”

The whole family laughed uproariously.