Living In Fear

A Kind of Happy Ending

Donnie wasn't sure how long he stayed hovering in the darkness. It could have been seconds or it could have been days. Wherever he was, there didn't seem to be a concept of time. No matter how far he reached, he couldn't touch anything. He wasn't even sure he was a something. None of his senses seemed to work.

Donnie wasn't sure he liked what was happening to him. Yet, he wasn't sure he disliked it either. He couldn't think. He couldn't feel. He seemed to simply exist.

Then - where there was once darkness - a doorway of light suddenly appeared. Donnie gapped at it in surprise, everything in him urging him towards that light. Towards where ever it led.

Yet something else held him back.

Amid all the darkness and loss of feeling, there was a small voice telling him not to head towards the light.

Then came the pain. It was sudden and overwhelming. He was aware he was screaming, although his mind wasn't sure how it had became aware of this fact. Once again, he was urged towards the light. As if he knew the moment he touched it, the pain would end.

So Donnie moved forward, slowly detaching himself from the gray area of pain and moving toward the doorway.

Until he heard voices.

Donnie paused, the voices staying whispery, distant, and practically inaudible.

But he could hear them. And he knew them.

"Leo? Mikey? Raph?"

He wasn't sure if he said this, it could have simply been his thoughts. He just knew that his brothers were nearby and that he wanted to find them.

"Guys?"

The voices faded slowly and Donnie realized he was being pulled towards the light. Sure, the pain was fading, but so were his brother's voices. So were his brothers.

Donnie paused, forcing himself to become still as he unknowingly fought in a battle between life and death.

He looked towards the gray area, his mind realizing that it held the way back to his brothers, back to a world he knew, but also back to the pain.

He looked towards the light and realized that he didn't know what lied beyond the brightened doorframe. The only thing he knew for sure, was a tiny voice telling him that everything would be okay if he entered it. No more fear, no more sadness... No more pain.

Donnie stared between the two of them as he fought to make a decision.

And then he did.

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

Leo knelt down next to his brother's as Mikey clutched the top of Donnie's body to his chest.

Tears were flowing out of his shut eyes, landing on Donnie's cheek and continuing their descent down. Raph was clutching Donnie's hand in his, a look of disbelief on his face as he stared at their genius brother, his mind unable to comprehend the reality before him.

Leo was simply watching all of them, tears spilling out of his own eyes as he stared at his younger brother's slack body. He knew that what he did needed to be done, yet he was also aware that the genius's death had been his fault.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, avoiding his brothers' gazes when they looked up.

"For what?" Raph managed to ask, his gruff voice small as he struggled with the rapid emotions flowing through him.