Burnout

Testing Reality

"Donnie, wake up, please!" I woke up to being shaken around like a ragdoll. Who was shaking me? Why? Wasn't I just human? I peered out into the blinding light right above me, blinking profusely to see who it was. Raph? Why'd he look so scared? "Thank God!" He cleared his throat. "You weren't waking up, Sensei wants to talk to you."

"You were worried, weren't you?" I looked up at him and could see the shame creeping up on his face as he shook his head no and turned away from me. "Raph, look at me."

"I'm leaving, I don't need to stay in here anymore!" He went to leave, but I grabbed him by the arm gently and pulled him into a hug. 

"Raph, it's ok, you're safe. Why were you so scared? And why're you saying Sensei needs me when you know it's not true?"

"Huh?! I wasn't scared! And I'm not lying!"

"Do you forget how smart I am? I know when you're lying about something like this. Just talk to me. You almost never say please, you were shaking me like a maraca, and you said 'Thank God' when I woke up." I hugged him tighter, tight enough to loosen the pressure building in his chest. I knew hugs always got him to open up, they always calmed him down somehow, so I wasn't surprised when that got the waterworks going.

"I had a nightmare that- that you died after trying a dumb experiment that I told you- I told you not to! You were-re crying, screaming out to me, begging for help a-and I couldn't do anything! I-I was weak, frozen in fear!" He held onto me tight. "And Mikey and-and Leo had to try to he-help you without me because I was just standing there, not doing anything! And it didn't work, and I had to see you-" he stopped and just squeezed me, pushing a bit of the air out of my lungs. 

"I'm so sorry, Raph, I know how scary that must've been. It's over now, it's ok. I'm here, I'm safe, we're safe and we're together. I'd never do a dumb experiment on myself, you know that. I'm the smart one, remember?" I couldn't help but think about my dream, I'd done something stupid in it. His sobs were quiet, but shook his body, and his tears slipped down my shell. "We're here, in my room, not my lab, and I don't even do experiments in my room, remember? Now take deep breaths, bro, it's gonna be alright." 

"Promise?" He sounded so vulnerable, it was something I wasn't used to. It hurt to see him like this when he was usually so strong. I knew that anger was a reaction that was based off of fear, but it was hard to see through to that fear for Raph especially. 

"I promise." We hugged for what felt like hours before he rested his head lower and fell back asleep. I lifted him up, carried him to bed, tucked him in, kissed his forehead, and then left the room. What was real? What was fake? There was only one way to be sure, and that was some form of continuity. I had to look at the time, then ask someone what time it was. It was 3 am. Who would be up at 3-

"Donnie? What're you doing up right now? It's so late!" Leo would! Of course! He always makes sure to stay up long enough to make sure everything's alright! "You need to get to be-"

"Leo! What time is it?!"

"I just saw you look at the tim-"

"Just tell me!!!" I was getting desperate, he had the answer the question. 

"Jeez, ok! It's 3 am. Why?" His eyebrows furrowed in concern. I grabbed him by the face, my worry not ending. Why was this the only thing I could think of? And yet I couldn't think about anything that would make me useful, amazing. If you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm.

"Leo, what's your full name?!"

"Leonardo Hamato?"

"What's my name?!"

"Donatello? Dude, what's with all the-" I walked off. Another way to test if this was real or not: trying out if physics are normal. I picked up a spoon quickly, filled it with water, then threw the water into the air. It landed normally. "Donnie, what are you-" I threw the spoon, which bounced on the floor. I squished Leo's face and it followed all normal paths it normally would. Where were my features? That might be helpful. I checked for where my tooth gap was and, thankfully, it was right where it was meant to be. I checked for wind, and obviously, there was none since we were indoors in the sewers. I spun Leo, then myself, and the ends of our masks followed the laws of aerodynamics. "Donnie!-" I pulled out my t-phone and called April. She'd act a certain way in real life rather than in a dream.