Donnie sat in his lab working on the Shellraizer once again. After what Chrome Dome did, it was definitely an all-nighter job and this was the third night he had been at it! The sound of rain above making his work much more calming with the added effect of the whole lair being asleep... Or so he thought.

      Donnie lifted his welding mask to see another minor repair fixed. He blinked a few times before yawning. This was a big job and the only down side to the loud rain above made him want to sleep. He needed to stay awake. The sooner the repairs are done, the sooner his baby would be back in action.

He yawned, "Maybe it's time for another cup of coffee."

      He took off his welding  mask and quietly set it aside. He stood and stretched out his body to free is muscles of the stiffness they held. He walked into the lighted kitchen and realized it was time to brew some more coffee. He flipped the switch and sat down at the table to wait.

"Of all the thing that could happen to me, why did it have to pour? I love the rain, but this is ridiculous."

      Donnie's head turned the entrance of the kitchen. His eyes widened as a very, very, soaked Alexis trudged in the kitchen looking worn out and unhappy. This made Donnie curious. What he was scared to know more was either why was she soaked to the bone, or why she had been awake and fully dressed instead of in bed.

"You look like a wet dog."

      Alex yelled and whipped around only to slip on her own wet feet and fall. Donnie winced when he heard the thud, but relaxed when she was right back up.

"I meant to do that," she said leaning on the counter 'coolly'.

"Sure you were," Donnie replied with an eye roll, "And I'm sure you meant to be up at three in the morning soaking wet."

Her face went slack and she tilted her stringy haired head slightly, "Is it seriously that early? I really didn't mean to be out that long."

It was Donnie's turn to look confused, "What do you mean out?"

Alex walked over to the sink and started to wring her hair out, "I had another nightmare, okay? I went back to sleep, but I dreamt that a Kraang was in the bed with me." Donnie snickered as was met with her wet demi jacket, "I know, but knowing myself, it was very realistic and I even checked under the bed twice for that little brain." Donnie flung the wet jacket back at her, but she caught it, "I was too paranoid to go back to sleep, so I snuck out and went top side."

Donnie lightly glared at her, "You shouldn't have been up there. What if the Footbots went after you?"

Alex laughed dryly, "I believe the Shredder is disappointed enough with Karai for a whole week. Besides," she wrung out the last bit of water back into the sink, "That rain storm sent me crawling back down here."

      Donnie watched as she sat opposite of him. She looked worse than he had first assumed. She defiantly wasn't doing too well. With wounds needing to heal and not being able to get the sleep she needed, she looked worse than he could ever feel.

"You keep mentioning these nightmare, what makes them so bad? Why do they keep you up?"

She frowned, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Can I convince you to talk of over a cup of cocoa?"

      She smiled slightly showing her fangs. Donnie found that she hated coffee even though her family either drank it 24/7 or were at least able to tolerate it. She was the only one to hate the 'black poison'.

      Donnie got out a cup and made her, her cocoa and poured himself some coffee. He slid the cup over to her. She smelt the liquid before sticking her finger in it and taking it out to suck on it. Her eye lit up slightly.

"You remembered the extra cream too. Thanks Don."

      He had also discovered that she enjoyed the chocolate liquid to be extra creamy and would add coffee creamer to it to add a little flavor. He smiled at her childish behavior and lifted the cup to his lips.

"So..."

She put her elbow in the table and head into her hand, "It always starts out the same. I'm back with the Shredder. Chained, beaten, helpless and voiceless again. My cell door opens and I'm dragged back into his throne room. Every time it's different. Sometimes I see my family on the sidelines just glaring at me. Other times it you and your brothers on the side shouting at me, telling me so many horrible thing."

      Donnie took a sip of his coffee and gave her an encouraging look. They both knew this was just a nightmare, but something definitely bothered Alexis to no end. He wanted to be sure his best friend was alright, because she was not.

She took a shuddering breath, "The one that woke me up... I'm just left there to listen to so many different voices... All of them familiar and yet strange just telling me... I should just die, I'm a disappointment, asking me why I even let myself live, or even why do I even care about my own life." At this point she had a few tears slipping down her face, "'No one's going to love you, why would the world care for one little twit anyway' they say. Then the Shredder comes back and... and..."

      She was on the verge of breaking. Donnie slowly got up and went to the other side of the table to hug her shaking semi-dry frame. She let the tears fall, but he knew she was holding back, but she cried nonetheless. He never realized she took words to heart like that. She was always putting up that sweet girl façade and when she was alone, let it down to only herself. Now she let it down for him.

      He held her tightly as the tears slowed down. She hiccuped and sniffled before she let him go.

"S-sorry Donnie, I'm just being ridiculous. It's only a stupid nightmare."

Donnie frowned, "Why have you kept this from us?"

"Technically you knew they've been keeping me up."

"Alex..."

She sighed and hugged herself, "I'm just so used to keeping things to myself. Back at home, I'm an only child, but my parents aren't around me too much as they used to. They really only started to pay attention again when I started failing math. My dad got mad and told me about all the things he pays for me and that I'm being so ungrateful.

"It wasn't my fault that I didn't have anyone to turn to for help. I'll be truthful, I fell into depression because of that. I studied hard, but I'm ADD and I couldn't stick with it for too long. When Shredder brought me here, I was actually...happy. Sure that evil psycho made my depression worse, but I had hope... Maybe I could start a new life and I wouldn't have anyone to disappoint...

"That day I went mute was one of the worst days, but it made me realize that even if I was stuck here... Maybe I could at least try to prove myself wrong. I would find a way to escape and start anew... That's why I couldn't have been happier when you guys saved me."

     Donnie let her story sink in... She was always so cheerful, sometimes grumpy, but almost always with a smile. How could her own parents think that she was ungrateful? He grabbed his mug from the other side of the table and took a sip of the lukewarm liquid. He never realized she was an emotional wreak. He actually couldn't blame her. When he was stressed, he wouldn't tell his brothers and just work on a new invention or do repairs.

"You know you can tell us anything, Alex."

She looked away, but grabbed her mug to drink a little more, "I'm sorry, Donnie... It's just that I get nervous and start thinking of all sorts of worst case scenarios and then I just get too nerve wracked to even say."

      They sat in silence for a while, just letting their thoughts roam. Alexis seemed to have calmed down greatly and was once again dry. Donnie looked over to the clock on the oven to see the time. He was shocked it was almost five in the morning!

"We should probably get to bed."

Alex looked at the clock and nearly choked on her drink, "Wow! Time flies! Then again... Thank you for the talk Don, it think it really helped."

      They both finished their drinks and put them in the sink. Before they walked out, Alex hugged him. He was surprised at the sudden hug, but accepted it nonetheless. Alex let go and kissed his cheek again. He blushed at her action.

"Thank you for being a great friend, Donnie."

      He watched as she grabbed her jacket and walked out. The blush still remained, but what confused Donnie was... Why did it feel like his heart shattered when she called him a friend?

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A/N: *smokebomb* *appears and poses* WHO MISSED ME?! *tomatoes start flying in* *pulls out random shield* IM SORRY GUYS! I REALLY DID TRY TO UPDATE SOONER!

I'm happy I finally found a chance to update some of my stories. Senior year is a wreak and honestly, family problems are popping up left and right. Honestly, we're expecting one of my grandparents to leave us soon. So I'm trying to stay positive.

But seriously, I'm doing my best to keep up with work and have time for Wattpad. Usually, my free time lands me to binge watching Youtube. Olizandri anyone?

So until next update

tootles,

-Muse