Chapter Text
“Okay baby, last time,” said Shen, trying to set her son down for the fourth time that night. Little Mikey blinked up at her and smiled. “Good night little one.”
The door swung open behind her, and she sighed. So much for an easy night’s sleep.
“Sorry,” said Yoshi, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “They wanted to say goodnight.”
Leo, Raph, and Donnie, her older children stood in the doorway. “Let me guess, they wouldn’t go to bed unless you let them?”
“Nope,” said Leo. His twin was quick to elbow him.
“Shh,” said Raph. “Was supposed to be a secret.”
Donnie looked at them with as much judgment as a two-year-old could manage. “Dumb.”
“Alright, go ahead,” said Shen.
“Night-night, Mikey,” they said before scampering back out of the room.
“I’ll try to get them down,” said Yoshi. “But I make no promises.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “If they're like this now, imagine what they're going to be like as teenagers.”
He shuddered. “My love don’t give me nightmares. Let’s just enjoy what we have now.”
Three children were manageable, but four were starting to become difficult. Little Mikey hadn’t started crawling yet, but he turned six months old tonight. It was really only a matter of time before he was joining his brothers in mischief.
Leonardo and Rapheal were only four, but they had already figured out how to get the child locks off almost everything and played with things they weren’t supposed to. Every time she spotted one of them standing on a countertop took at least five years off her life. Donatello was worse, and already smarter than Yoshi and her, playing distraction when his brothers were grabbing a jar of cookies from on top of the fridge.
Mikey cooed and settled into his crib, finally and mercifully asleep. Shen checked the baby monitor to make sure it was working. The power had been weird lately, lights flickering and the oven turning on and off at random. Thank God she finally got a hold of an electrician who was coming tomorrow to fix it. If Yoshi tried to fix it, he’d probably burn the whole house down.
She looked in Donnie’s room first. Fast asleep, drooling on a stuffed bear. She pulled the door closed behind her. Gently so that he wouldn’t wake up. Next was the twins room. Raph was sleeping soundly, and she could hear him snoring from down the hallway.
“Mommy?” And it seemed that little Leo was still awake.
“Yes?”
“Can’t sleep,” he said with a serious look on his face.
“Why not?” said Shen sitting down on the bed with him.
“It’s dark,” said Leo.
“You have your nightlight, my son. It’s not completely dark.”
“What if someone tries to get in? What if-”
Shen picked him up and set him down in her lap. “Musuko. I locked the door, the windows, and Daddy and I are right down the hall. Nothing’s going to hurt you.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. Now sleep,” said Shen. She waited for a few minutes before getting up, wanting to make sure he was actually sleeping. She tucked him in, kissed the top of his head and made her way to her own room.
Yoshi was face down in the bed, fast asleep by the time Shen got there. Because of course he was. She was certain he would sleep through a tornado if she gave him the chance. But she wasn’t much better. She fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.
Mikey’s cries played over the baby monitor. “Yoshi? Your turn.”
She swatted at his side of the bed but found nothing but air. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, putting on the pink slippers that protected her feet from the cold floor. Shen stumbled down the hallway to the open door of Mikey’s nursery.
Her husband was standing above Mikey’s crib. In the dark she could make out his form, standing in silence.
“Yoshi? Is he hungry?”
Yoshi put a finger to his lips. “Shh.”
“Alright,” she said. Her own stomach had started to growl, and if she was going to be up, she might as well have something to eat. The hall light flickered as she turned it off again. It was really starting to get on her nerves.
She walked down the stairs to the kitchen, taking stock of what was down there in her head. The downstairs TV was playing some old war movie that Yoshi was fond of. He must have left it on by accident. As she reached the last step, she looked out into the living room.
There was her husband laying on the couch fast asleep, the dim light of the TV illuminating his features.
Shen’s heart dropped to her stomach, blood roaring in her ears. “Mikey!”
The pounding of her heart was the only thing she could hear as she raced up the stairs and back towards her youngest son. Whatever that man wanted, he was going to have to get through her first.
…
An ear-piercing shriek rang out through the night, and Yoshi bolted awake. “Shen! Love, what’s wrong?”
Without pausing for breath, he went straight towards his wife’s scream, stumbling up the stairs in his panic. He turned on the hallway light and rushed into Mikey’s room. He was awakened squirming and staring at the ceiling, transfixed by his baby mobile.
He couldn’t help but smile at his young son. “Hello, little one. Now where is your mother?”
Something was on Mikey’s face, a little red speck just above his eyebrow. Yoshi went to wipe it off, only for more of it to drop onto his hand. Had a pipe burst? He glanced up at the ceiling.
His wife’s cold eyes stared down at him. Shen took in a rattled gasp, blood dripping from her stomach as she was pinned to the ceiling.
“Shen!” he cried as the room burst into flames.
“Daddy?” said a small voice from behind him. Panic flooded his veins as Leo stared at him. Yoshi plucked Mikey out of his crib and handed him to Leo.
“Wake your brothers and take them outside!” Leo was still standing there, wide eyes looking straight at the flames. “Now, Leonardo!”
Leo nodded and took off down the hall, banging on his brothers' doors. Raph grabbed Donnie’s hand as they ran out into the night.
Yoshi reached up, trying to take his wife’s hand, only for searing flames to cover his pajamas. He smothered them. He couldn’t just leave her there. Shen had been with him for everything. She was there when his mother died, when he’d gotten a job at a dojo right in town.
He remembered the smile on her face when she told him she was pregnant. How she laughed when he managed to dump paint on his head when he tried to paint the nursery. This was his other half, his everything, the one thing that kept him smiling and laughing when it felt like nothing else could. But it was too late. He had always been too late.
The tears in his eye could have been the smoke or the hole in his chest where Shen once was. His sons, his boys, the only thing he had left of Shen were still standing on the front step. Yoshi pulled them into his arms and raced across the street. The windows shattered raining glass all over the front lawn.
The fire department came and bandaged the burns on his arms. None of his boys had anything serious, unless you counted the haunted look in Leo’s eyes. If there was a god, thought Yoshi, he wouldn’t let him remember this. Mikey was still asleep, and Donnie was just staring off into the distance. Raph was sniffling softly, as they sat on the hood of the car.
Yoshi made a promise right there and then. Nothing was going to stop him from killing whoever or whatever had the audacity to take Shen from him. He wanted blood, and God help whoever stood in his way.
…
Twenty Years Later
Orange pumpkins and dirty laundry decorated the apartment that Mikey shared with his girlfriend. Leatherhead was hosting a Halloween party, and he couldn’t turn down a chance to dance!
“Hurry up! We’re going to be late!” shouted Renet. She was dressed up like a zombie, a nasty wound on her chest courtesy of the special effects makeup. Her blonde hair was braided up into a crown to show off the bite effect she had done on her neck.
“Fashionably late!” said Mikey. “That’s the key difference!”
He walked out of the bathroom in his costume, a zombie to match Renet. Despite everything, Mikey still loved Halloween. He had every reason to hate it, but knowing it was all pretend made it much more fun.
“Oh, hold on!” said Renet rushing back into the bathroom. She came back. makeup brush and eyeshadow in hand. “I need to touch up your eye bags.”
“You’re incredible. What would I do without you?” asked Mikey.
She stopped applying the eyeshadow to give him a quick kiss. “Crash and burn my dear. Crash and burn.”
“Okay, I think we’ve kept them waiting long enough,” said Mikey. He held out his hand. “My dear.”
Renet blushed and took his hand. “Cut it out.”
They made their way to one of the frat houses on the edge of campus. The music was blaring to the point that it shook the foundations and the windows rattled. How they didn’t have any noise complaints was beyond him.
“Mikey!” said Leatherhead, slinging an arm around his shoulders. “Glad you could make it dude! Wasn’t sure you were coming!”
“Of course, I came, dude! It’s a Halloween party!” said Mikey, trying to make himself heard above the music.
“I guess we were a little too fashionably late,” said Renet.
Mikey rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Leatherhead. “Let me get you a drink. Punch sound good?”
“What kinda punch?” said Renet.
“It’s non-alcoholic, don’t worry. I don’t need campus security on my ass for giving booze to minors. But I can get you a soda if you’d like,” said Leatherhead.
“Yeah, soda sounds good. Mikey?”
“I’ll have a punch,” said Mikey.
“Coming right up!” Leatherhead disappeared back into the crowd. They gathered on the back porch where it was just a little easier to carry on a normal conversation.
“Where did you get his punch anyway?” said Mikey.
“It’s one of my buddy’s recipes, pretty sure he just mixes a bunch of Kool Aid flavors together,” said Leatherhead. “Anyway, I hear that you have some pretty exciting news.”
“It’s not that big a deal,” said Mikey.
“Uh, yes, it is,” said Renet. “It’s a chance for a grant! It’s huge.”
“You must be the favorite child,” said Leatherhead. “I’ll bet your folks are proud.”
Mikey wanted to tell him. His mother had been dead for almost all of his life, and college wasn’t exactly what his dad wanted for him. Even if he did have a full scholarship for the Art Institute of Chicago, and grant money to paint to his heart's content. There wasn’t time to tell them that.
“We’re not the Tanners,” said Mikey.
“If I was you, I’d be bragging. Seriously,” said Leatherhead.
Mikey finished his punch. “Come on! Let’s just have fun!”
Mikey and Renet danced the night away, until their heads hurt, and their feet went numb. They stumbled home to their apartment and made sure to lock the door. They crashed on their bed and fell fast asleep.
The window shattered and Renet sat bolt upright in bed. “Mikey, Mikey.”
“What-”
“There’s someone in the house.”
Mikey’s blood was replaced with ice. He grabbed the baseball bat and crept into the next room. He could see someone there, as a shadowy figure standing in the dark.
He charged, bat swinging. The figure ducked, grabbing his wrist and twisting it. Mikey let the bat clatter to the ground and swung his legs, kicking whoever it was square in the chest. The figure stumbled backward, before gaining his bearings, and knocking Mikey to the ground, pinning him down.
“You’ve gotten, rusty little brother,” said the figure. Mikey spun around, pinning the intruder to the floor. “Or maybe not. Ow!”
“Raph!” said Mikey. He stood up and pulled his brother to his feet. “What are you doing here?”
“The question should be what are we doing here,” said Leo, walking out of the kitchen. “Your food selection sucks.”
“Stay out of my fridge!” said Mikey.
“Seriously dude, those veggies are starting to rot,” said Donnie. He tossed a handful of Lay’s into his mouth. “Chips are still good.”
“Great, family reunion! Next time, call me! Don’t break into my house!” said Mikey.
“If we had called, would you have picked up?” said Raph. He punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Besides, this is more fun.”
“You are an asshole,” said Mikey. The light’s flicked on.
“Mikey?” asked Renet. “Who are these people?”
“Right, sorry. These are my brothers. Leo, Raph, and Donnie. This is my girlfriend, Renet,” said Mikey.
Raph raised an eyebrow. “You have a girlfriend? No offense but she is way out of your league.”
Leo elbowed him in the side. “Be nice. It’s lovely to meet you, Renet.”
“We were actually wondering if we could borrow Mikey for a second,” said Donnie
Mikey had just about had it. First, they broke into his house, scaring the shit out of him, and Renet. Then they insult him and eat his food. Whatever it was that they wanted, they could tell him straight out.
“No. Whatever you want to say you can say to both of us,” said Mikey.
Raph looked at Leo and shrugged. “Okay, Dad’s on a trip, and he hasn’t been back for a few days.”
“So what?” said Mikey. “He’s probably working overtime on a Miller time shift. He’ll stumble back in. He always does.”
Leo looked to meet Mikey’s eyes. “Dad’s on a hunting trip. And he hasn’t been home in a few days.”
“Renet, do you mind giving us a minute?”