Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The battle with the Kraang was over. They had won. All four of the turtle brothers were brought to silence as they looked at their hurt brother, relieved that he was ok. They simply let it sink in. they had done it. They actually did it.

“Ew, are we on Staten island!?” Leo rasped out, ever the jokester in moments of crisis. This snapped the boys out of their victory filled trance to wrap Leo in a hug. And there they stayed, happy for the time being. Things were ok. Their family was ok.

“Ok, not to break up a cute moment for anything but I believe I am in some serious need of medical attention.” Leo said after a minute of hugging his brothers. This brought back the reality of the situation to all of their minds.

Their brother.

Their self sacrificial brother.

He had just gotten back from being beaten to a pulp.

Donnie pulled away from the hug first and began barking orders out to Raph. something about calling April. The oldest snapped into action at once, grabbing his phone and speed dialing April’s number to explain. Donnie yelled something to Mikey about helping to lift Leo, but to Mikey, the world was foggy. Everything felt hazy, far away. Suddenly, he was feeling really tired. One of his hands still rested on Leo's shoulder, and Mikey realized something about it. It burned. A lot. He looked down his arm at the cracks that had formed, the burns that were left in their place, and the blood that seeped out onto the ground. Mikey picked his hand up and looked it over. All he could hear was a singular high pitched tone. His eyes felt heavy and it felt like the world was spinning.

“...ikey?” he felt a hand touch his own and leo’s voice broke through the fog. Mikey’s hand instantly started to burn and he pulled it back, standing up quickly. The force of this action was enough for his vision to begin to swim in black. He lifted his gaze only for a second, long enough to see Donnie running towards him as he fell backwards, letting unconsciousness consume him.

…
…
…

The first thing Mikey heard was the tell tale sound of a heart monitor. It beeped loudly next to his ear, causing him to cringe. Mikey hated that noise. It was a noise that meant he was in the medical wing while waiting for one of his brothers to wake up after a concussion induced coma or a long night of rest due to pain killers. It was a noise of sadness. A noise that meant something was wrong.

Mikey stirred a bit.

The second thing he noticed was how sour he felt. He wiggled around a little bit trying to get comfortable to no avail. This wasn't comfortable. This sucked. The hyperactive side of his mind started up, telling him to move. He was ready to move.
He pushed himself up a bit onto his elbows.

And that's when he noticed the third thing.

His arms burned.

Mikey cried out in pain as he fell back down, his arms going limp at his sides. Instantly, he felt his hands begin to shake. It hurt. A lot.

Tears flooded Mikey’s eyes and he finally opened them to get a look at his surroundings.

He saw flashes of purple, his older brother’s mouth moving, his worried eyes looking him over. He couldn't hear him.

“D…dee?” Mikey asked weakly through his tears.

“That's right Angelo, you're ok. We’re right here for you.” Donnie's voice finally cut through, drowning out the annoying beep from the heart monitor. “Good to see you're awake. You had Raph really worried there for a minute.”
Mikey hummed a bit. “H..how’s L..eo..?” he managed to say.

“He’s fine. Right now, he's resting.” Donnie moved to the side so that Mikey could see their sleeping brother. “Be glad you weren't awake during the aftermath. Dealing with Leo’s injuries was quite the task. I haven't heard him scream that loudly sinse…” Donnies voice cut out and he shuddered a bit. His eyes shut tight and he shook his head. Mikey looked him over and noticed the signs of overstimulation. The fidgeting and scratching at the edges of the cast currently surrounding one of his arms, the slight shudder, the falter in his voice as he spoke. Noticing his brother needed help was enough to clear the fog in his mind and help him ignore the desperate pleading in him to not move and just return to sleep.

“Take a break Donnie.” Mikey muttered. “You need it.” he tried to sit up again, not thinking about the pain in his arms. He pushed through.

“I can’t. I need to watch Leo and check if you're ok and-” Mikey placed one of his hands on donnie, once again ignoring the sting.

“No. You don't. Because you can't help us if you need help yourself. What happened to your arm?”

Donnie looked down at the purple cast. “Broke my wrist when we were hit off the building. My shield wasn't strong enough…” his voice gave out at the end of his sentence and he closed his eyes tight again.
“It's ok Donnie. You did everything just right. We’re all here, we’re all ok. For now, I need you to go get dad or Raph. You need a break.” Mikey kept his hand on Donnie’s, hoping to help ground him a little.

Donnie looked back up at Mikey. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Instead, he lifted a hand and quickly signed ‘OK’ before turning to pick up his phone and text Raph.

Mikey propped himself up to a sitting position and looked around the room. He couldn't figure out what time it was for the life of him but his internal clock had always sucked so that was pretty normal.

He stared at nothing, zoning out for who knows how long. He wasn't broken from this trance until Raph walked in in a hurry.

“Donnie, why didn't you tell me the moment Mikey woke up?” He walked over to his little brother's bed side. “Hey little man, how are you feeling?”

“-‘m fine. Before you ask me a bunch of questions, Donnie needs a break.” Mikey gestured to the soft shell. Raph looked up and nodded. He grabbed the pair of noise canceling headphones Donnie had left on the medical desk with the other equipment. He walked over to Donnie and removed his goggles, replacing them with the headphones.

“I’ll be right back.” Raph assured them both before walking out of the room in a hurry. Donnie stood there awkwardly, shaking a bit before Raph returned with his weighted blanket. “Ok Donnie, battle shell off.” he said slowly while also signing to ensure Donnie knew what he was saying. Donnie shook his head, theshaking encompassing his entire body getting worse at the idea of removing the shell.

Mikey watched from afar as Raph tried to convince Donnie to remove his shell. He started running through reasons in his mind why Donnie wouldn't want to before landing on the memory of the control panel.

“Raph, bring him over here.” Mikey called over. Raph, who was at a loss for what to do, complied, leading Donnie to Mikey’s bed side. Mikey took Donnie’s hands in his own hands once again. “Donnie, have you taken the shell off since we got back?”
Donnie shook his head.

“Have you checked on your shell since the control panel?”

Once again he shook his head.

“Ok, I'm going to need you to turn around. You need to let me take a look at it. Please Dee? I'll be careful. I won't touch without warning you. If you feel overstimulated or uncomfortable, we’ll take a break. I just need to see if your shell is ok.”

Donnie looked at Mikey like he wanted to argue but the words didn't come to his mouth. Instead, he turned around and released the latch on his battle shell, a defeated look on his face. Raph moved the shell off his back and stepped away to give the two some space. They all knew that when it came to Donnie’s shell, Mikey was one of the only people he trusted to touch it. Not even Leo had that privilege, and he was the team medic for goodness sake! But no. Years of Mikey painting on his brother’s shells had gained them all trust in the gentle feel of Mikey's hands.

Mikey would paint swirls onto Leo’s shell, detailed designs that complimented the markings already there. It was different every time, a beautiful display of color and detail. On Raph’s, he’d work around the spikes, using them for 3d imagery and giving him cool red markings to match leo’s and his own. It had helped Raph feel better about the large spikes. And Donnie? Donnie had never been a fan of the paint feel, so Mikey worked his way up, not wanting his brother to feel excluded. He started with just taking a paint brush and lightly brushing it against Donnie’s hand, getting him used to the texture of the bristles before ever touching it to the leather shell. He stuck with just that for a long time before moving on to water. Just a little to begin with a few dots that Mikey placed here and there. They worked their way up till Mikey was painting cool patterns on his shell, the water leaving the wet areas darker than the dry ones. That's how they did it for years, until one day, Donnie said he’d be willing to try Mikey using body paint that April had brought them from her recent job as a face painter for a fair. (She had been fired pretty quick, something about a mom lodging a complaint that she painted a tiger on her daughter's cheek instead of the unicorn the mom had asked for. It was worth it to see the little girl smile. “Tigers are cool!”) They once again started small, painting a smiley face on Donnie's hand and working their way up to his shell. By the time they were done, Mikey had painted a masterpiece on the soft shell’s back. The solar system. Donnie had bounced up and down for minutes after he saw it in a mirror. Since then, Donnie trusted Mikey with his soft shell. Only Mikey. Only those delicate hands.

Now, Mikey looked over his brother’s soft shell, horror written on his face. It was a mess. Bleeding and obviously infected. Having gross Kraang sludge ripped out of your back will do that I guess. Mikey had to bite his tongue to stop his own sensory issues from revealing how freaked out this made him feel. The memory of the gross slime and the look of blood. He knew he was in for it.

“Raph, this is infected. We need to clean out. Grab me the medical supplies. Donnie, sit down. This might take a while.”

It was a slow process. Cleaning the wounds, getting them to stop bleeding, disinfecting and wrapping them all while taking occasional breaks for Donnie to breathe and Mikey dropping the medical supplies 50 times from the tremors in his own hands. It was done. That's what mattered. They had managed to get it done. Donnie now lay on Mikey’s hospital bed, shell facing up, passed out with the weighted blanket over him. Mikey and Raph chit chatted a bit but Mikey eventually felt his exhaustion catch up to him once more and he passed out next to donnie. Healing would be a long process but hey, they were together. That's all that mattered. They would get through this.

Chapter Text

Something felt wrong… his brothers were acting strange… don't get him wrong, it had only been a month since the invasion so maybe it was just the PTSD talking but things didn't feel right.

By now, Mikey had admitted to his brothers how hard it was to control his hands and Donnie had gotten him a pair of compression gloves, along with checking in with Draxum about his mystic powers. Donnie’s shell was healing well, he would talk to Mikey about fusing with the ship and how sometimes he could still feel the disgusting sludge of the control panel digging through his flesh. Raph had overheard one of these conversations and joined them, opening up about how horrifying it felt to have the Kraang goop inside his head controlling his thoughts. It had been a conversation that ended in an understanding and deeper relationship between Mikey’s Red and Purple brothers. They now went to each other in situations where they could feel a phantom tentacle wrapped around themself and asked each other to check for any slime when they were in hysterics. It was an understanding that the two shared. Leo had woken up a few days after Mikey did, in extreme pain. Mikey was once again reminded how lucky he was that he wasn't awake the first time they had to deal with Leo’s injuries. All three of the brothers had scrambled to help with calming Leo back down. It had ended in a cuddle pile, assuring Leo that he was safe. A month later and he still wasn't allowed to do much without his family’s supervision. Leo was going a bit stir crazy, something Mikey could empathize with. Mikey was spending a lot of time with Leo, just trying to help him through all the craziness. They had a heart to heart that ended with them both in tears when Mikey opened up about how much the portal had hurt and Leo admitting how scared of dying he had been.

So ya, healing. It was a process, one that they all knew would take a long time. Mikey was making sure that none of them were isolating themselves, that they were all talking as much as possible, and that they were all still eating, despite the fact that he could barely cook anything at the moment. He was shocked that they were all going along with it so easily.

And that was his first clue.

Something was off. He couldn't place what, but it felt wrong. Donnie should be more reluctant to leave his lab. Raph should be trying to shoulder his emotions and his brother's fears like he always does and leo… Leo was a far better liar than this… he never admitted his fears this easily… It was weird. Mikey, once again, chalked it up to the PTSD and them all being on edge, causing their guards to falter. Which he didn't mind. It meant he could help them through everything. Maybe Mikey was just getting better at getting his brother’s to open up.

Things were fine.

Things would be fine.

…

Until Leo and Raph started to fight again.

Mikey thought they were past this. He thought his two oldest brothers had finally worked out the fighting. He thought they finally understood one another. But small things were setting them back into the petty quarrels that they had been getting into before the invasion ever began. Don't get him wrong, they aren't the full blown fist fights that the disagreements could sometimes become. Leo was still healing for crying out loud, but this was the cycle that Mikey remembered happening last time. Things started fine, then Leo started doing small things that would get on Raph’s nerves, then Raph would try to overcompensate for Leo, then they began to bicker and bickering turned to arguing, and arguing meant raised voices and eventually, fighting. Mikey hated it. However, now they found themselves arguing over sacrificing themselves in the fight with the Kraang. Of course Mikey and Donnie knew not to get involved, unless they wanted their own sacrificial acts towards their brothers scrutinized.
Because yes, that's how bad it had gotten. Example a, the first time Raph brought it up. They all assumed it was just him needing to talk and being honest with his feelings towards Leo’s choice, so they went along with it, happy to have an open conversation. Until Leo said the wrong thing. Oh boy he set Raph off. An argument began to surface from there.

“Look Raph, all I’m saying is that you would do the same in my shoes, heck, you basically did! We both could have died due to the decisions we made, so why is this such a big deal!?” Leo threw his hands up, getting fed up with this argument already.
“Because, Leo, you threw yourself into a life threatening situation with no hope of being rescued. I at least had a chance! You all were able to come save me. Whereas you could have died and we wouldn't be able to do anything. What if there was another way!? We could have come up with something together!”

“There wasn't any time Raph! My way worked! I did what I had to. That's our job!”

“But you could have been killed! Leo, what if that thing killed you! What if Mikey had been too late!? What if-” Raph’s voice kept going but Mikey’s thoughts cut out. Raph had hit a nerve. The thought that had been haunting the back of Mikey’s mind for weeks that he dared not say. It has been said now. It was out in the open. He wasn't the only one thinking about it.

Mikey’s mind spiraled as the argument around him grew.

‘What if I had been too late? What if I had been weak? Am i weak? Raph is thinking about it so obviously he thinks I'm weak… oh gosh, what will i do next time!? I wasn't even able to open the portal on my own, I needed their help! What if they aren't there next time- what if-’

He barley noticed when Donnie’s voice chimed in trying to get them to cut it out. They turned their argument to him and chastised him for the actions he pulled, causing Donnie to turn to leave the room, only to notice Mikey panicking. His anger turned to concern as he promptly pulled Mikey out of the room, leaving the older two to argue once more.

When Mikey was able to process the world around him again, the first thing he noticed was the purple lights. That was odd… the kitchen had white LEDs so he could see better while cooking. He was just there listening to his… Where were Leo and Raph? He couldn't hear them arguing anymore. He looked around, only to notice that he was in Donnie’s Lab. The softshell in question was sitting in front of him, gently holding his hand.

“Donnie?” Mikey asked quietly.

“Mikey! On thank Archimedes. You weren't responding to me and the other two hardly noticed your panic so I pulled you out. What happened?” Donnie’s tone evened out by the end of his sentence.

Mikey didn’t quite remember. He knew he spiraled, some self destructive thoughts had plagued his mind like they had been for weeks, but what had triggered it?

Lets see, they were talking, Raph and Leo started arguing, and then…

Oh..

“Oh…” Mikey said, looking down.

“What?” Donnie looked confused as Mikey began to tear up again. Now don't get me wrong, Donnie had gotten used to Mikey’s emotional outbursts during the past few years but typically, Mikey voiced his problems because he knew Donnie struggled with reading him. Now he was just crying, no explanation. Donnie bit his lip and put a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. “Hey, talk to me Angelo.”

“Raph he… he said… what if I…” he couldn't finish a statement. The thought of not being able to save Leo clouded his mind again.

Donnie played Raph’s words through n his head before realizing what this was about. “Oh. Micheal, it's ok. You don't have to think about the what ifs. The fact of the matter is, you did get him out. It’s ok. He’s ok.” Donnie’s hold on Mikey's hand tightened. Mikey jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Donnie, crying into his shoulder.

“I think about it all the time! What if I… and he had…. And Kraang had…” he still couldn't form a complete sentence, his thoughts returning to their spiraling.

“But you got him out Angelo. That's what matters. He didn't die. The Kraang didn't kill him and is still locked in the prison dimension. You're ok. You're safe. Leo is safe.” Donnie assured him as he cried, letting him go till his sobs became sniffles. “Now, breathe with me Mikey. Ready?” He waited for Mikey’s small nod before he began counting out the usual 3-7-8 breathing pattern. Mikey took a minute to catch on but once he did, he started breathing along with Donnie, calming his shaking form down as he did. “There we go.” Donnie muttered after a little bit of this.

“S-sorry..” Mikey whispered.

“It’s alright Mikey. We’re all still on edge from the invasion. Breakdowns are bound to happen.” Donnie assured him.

“B-but talking you through it is my job not-” Donnie cut him off.

“I'm gonna stop you right there. You were just as traumatized as the rest of us. You’re allowed to have breakdowns. Doctor Feelings would be yelling at you for your hypocrisy right now.” Donnie heard a slight giggle at the doctor persona’s name being brought up. They fell into a comfortable silence, Mikey just listening to the sound of Donnie’s heartbeat as the softshell just listened to the familiar pattern of breathing coming from Mikey. It took a bit but eventually, Mikey spoke his mind.

“Donnie?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think they’re gonna start fighting again?” Mikey asked, his voice small.

Donnie sighed. “I sure hope not. But if they do, remember you always have a safe space in my lab if you need to escape.” Donnie wished he could reassure his little brother, but he couldn't promise anything. He had witnessed the same event that Mikey had. The fighting was back. Great.

“I don't want them to fight…”

“Me neither Michael. We can only try to talk to them and get it to calm down. They’ll grow out of it in time. I'm sure of it.” At least he hoped so. He wasn't sure how much of this they would all be able to take. “At least, I hope so.”

The two continued to talk, chatting about their fears and concerns, before eventually returning to their days once they kne2w the argument in the kitchen was over.

Maybe it was just a flook. A random occurrence. The fighting couldn't be back? Right?

Right?

Chapter Text

Wrong.

He was very wrong. It was back. Somehow worse than he remembered. How did this keep happening!? How could the fighting be back!? It wasn't even a good argument! Nothing constructive! They were just going at each other to go at each other. Only now, Leo was being more serious. He wasn't just brushing off Raph’s concerns and making a joke, no, he was fully serious now. Raph and Leo fought about Leadership decisions, both having a very different style of leading, or they’d fight about some stupid thing that literally didn't matter to anyone, or they’d fight about Donnie or Mikey. Those arguments were the worst. Mikey hated it when his name was brought up. It always meant they’d try to speak for him without actually knowing how he felt. It was never for his sake, it was just to use their brother as if he were the next card to play. Same with Donnie. Only difference was that Donnie knew how to stand up and tell them to shut up and not to involve him. Mikey didn't do that. You’d think that with his Doctor Delicate Touch persona, he’d be good at yelling louder at both his brothers and get them to shut up, but he couldn't. He froze. He felt helpless in those moments. It reminded him of the day that the Shredder destroyed their old lair. When he had tried so desperately to keep that monster subdued, Shredder only fought back with more force, breaking the chain of his kusari-fundo. Mikey had completely frozen, only to be thrown around like a toy in the next few minutes. Of course, he’d never admit that this moment was the one he was transported back to when his brother’s fought. No, that wouldn’t do anything, or worse it would make the arguments intensify by bringing past trauma into it. The Kraang arguments were enough, he didn't need the Shredder to join the fight.

He couldn't say this was unlike his brothers, the way they fought, but something felt so wrong about it. The way they were cutting deep, not holding back, saying things to each other that Mikey had had to spend weeks of therapy sessions with them and Doctor Feelings to get them to admit to. They were not holding back on going for insecurities.

But hey, Leo was healing, despite his shell being really weak, and his bones still fragile, so things were getting better! And his brothers knew not to risk a sparring match to get out angry feelings due to their injuries so at least it was only feelings being hurt! Ya, that's it. Things were ok!

…

Oh come on, you know my writing style by now, you know that when I write that ‘things were ok’ they probably are not, in fact, ok. HENCE, the current day.

What had started as a simple movie day had escalated quickly. Mikey had managed to corral all his brothers together and with a huge smile on his face, began playing Raph’s favorite Jupiter Jim movie. He had set it up so that they would watch all 4 of their favorites. First Raph’s so he could get stuck in a pirate accent and they could all laugh and joke around about it, then Leo’s because it had a scene in it where Leo got so into it he would always stand up and recreate the scene, then Donnie’s because seeing Donnie’s smile as he sang his heart out with all the songs was the best, and lastly, Mikey’s. The thing about Mikey’s favorite Jupiter Jim movie was the fact that it had a very emotional scene towards the end that focused on family reconnecting and coming back together to talk out problems. This was Mikey’s last stitch effort to bring his family back together.

However, things didn't quite go as planned. Raph made a comment about one of the strategies used in the movie and how he had learned a lot about leadership by choosing similar battle strategies to these movies growing up and of course, Leo had to give some dumb remark about how Raph sucked at planning and had to take pointers from a movie starring a homicidal maniac for an actor. That's what started the argument of the day.

Mikey had tried to get them to stop and just continue the movie marathon he had planned, but it was too late. Their argument escalated for about an hour of fighting before Leo angrily stormed out of the room and the lair.

And that's what made this time so different. Leo hadn’t left the lair since the invasion. He still walked with a limp and his shell still had to be checked on every day to see if there were any problems in the healing cracks. He hadn’t been cleared to resume training, skateboarding, or going places without some kind of supervision, but that was just as a precaution. Leo didn't like it but he also understood, as the team medic, why this was necessary. So he didn't fight it when Donnie’s eyes followed his movements or when Mikey tagged along on a small walk around the abandoned subway station to get out his jitters.

Mikey had tried to run after Leo but Raph grabbed his hand and held him back.

“Let him go Mikey. If he wants to run off and get himself hurt then who are we to stop him? He knows the rules.” Raph had huffed. He was obviously still pissed, hence why his grip was a little stronger then he probably intended it to be but Mikey wasn't going to mention that. He stayed quiet and eventually, Raph released his hand and went off to his room to try and cool down. Mikey felt tears welling in his eyes. He hadn't left the room during the argument. He stayed put, pulling away from Donnie when his older brother had tried to lead him out. He was determined to resume the movie day and this wasn't going to stop him. So now, he stayed at the entrance of the lair and waited for Leo to return.

If you asked Mikey how long he was waiting there, he would say he had no clue. Time was always a strange concept for his mind to grasp, but since the invasion, it seemed to hold no meaning. What felt like hours could have been seconds, what felt like weeks could end up being only a day. His timeline of events was completely screwed up. It made no sense. But, Mikey figured it was just his ADHD time blindness messing with him again. So he didn't know how long he was sitting there. He stayed curled in on himself, brushing off Donnie’s attempts to get him to leave. He was determined. Once Leo came back, they could all return to their day of fun. The day Mikey had planned. He needed this to work. He needed his brothers back.

So, as the sun dipped in the sky and the moonlight began to shine through the sewer grates, Mikey stayed put.

And it paid off! He eventually heard the uneven footsteps that he had begun to correlate to his brother’s limp. Leo was home!

“Leo!” Mikey jumped up, the anxiety he had been sitting in all day seemed to push itself to the back of his mind.”You're back! Are you ok?” Mikey ran through the entrance to try and spot Leo. What he saw, though, immediately made him freeze.
Leo had a stupid grin on his face, a half empty glass bottle in his hand, and he was dragging his feet.

“Eyyy! Mi Hermano! Tuve la mejor noche. la vida es mucho más divertida sin Raph respirando en tu nuca todo el tiempo. ¿Quieres un poco?” He held the half drunk bottle out to Mikey.
“Leo… are… are you drunk?” Mikey looked at his older brother with slight fear written on his face. He took a step back.

“What!? No. -’m not drunk, just a lil’ tipsy, that's all!” his words slurred together as he walked forward, into Mikey’s personal space and put an arm around his little brother’s shoulders. Mikey could smell the booze on his breath and the bottle was sloshing in the arm Leo had just wrapped around him. “Just gotta let loose ya know! Lifes too tense. You sure you don't want some?” ah so that's what Leo had asked him. Mikey only tensed up more.

“What!? No, Leo, we have to get you to your room before Raph sees you like this! He’ll freak!” ok, so movie day can be postponed. It was late anyway and Raph should be asleep by now, Donnie will be deep in his projects, no one should notice! This is fine, it would be fine. “Come on.”

“Pfffft- relax Miguel! Big guy notices, I'll give ‘im a little one two, that’ll calm ‘im down” Leo punched the air in front of him.

“No Leo, you're still healing, you're not supposed to be out of the lair or moving around much and definitely not trying to fight. Please. Let's just get you back to bed and-”

“Oh pleeease. You sound like Raph.” Leo laughed. “You should tooooootally come out with me next time. I think you’d have fun!” He pulled Mikey back into the projector room while rambling about whatever drunken thoughts were running through his head while Mikey tried to get him to go to bed. He was cut off, however, by a gruff voice behind them that made both of them turn. An angry looking Raph met them.

“Really Leo?” his tone was ice and his eyes were on the bottle in his brother’s hand.

“Sorry big Raphie, did you want some?” Leo held it up, posture showing that Leo was feeling cocky. Mikey didn't like this. He found himself backing away from the scene, the conflicting emotions overwhelming his empathetic mind.
Raph took the bottle out of his hand and threw it against the wall, causing it to shatter. The noise was what finally broke Mikey out of his frozen state. Leo and Raph began a back and forth and Mikey turned from the room and ran to Donnie’s lab. He was gonna need his brother’s help breaking up this fight.

Mikey had a bad feeling in his stomach. Something told him it was about to go down.

Mikey knew something bad was going to happen.

He needed to stop it before it was too late.

Chapter Text

There are times when the animalistic tendencies and instincts are too strong to ignore. Days when they were young showed this quite well. On rare occasions, Splinter would take the boys outside when it rained. He’d bring them to a park he knew no one would be at and let them all play. Donnie would find a mud puddle and burrow himself into it, often finding rocks or buried treasures left by a kid that got pushed below the dirt by rain storms such as this one. Meanwhile Leo would be running around on all fours, just happy to be outside and in the rain all at once. It was like Christmas for him. Then there was Raph, who would find the deepest puddle possible and just submerge himself into it, only leaving his eyes out of the puddle. His species can hold their breath for almost an hour so this was never too concerning. Lastly was Mikey. Mikey was ok in the rain but only liked it for so long before he got sick of it and would cling to their fathers side. Often he would just climb into his shell and stay there for however long they were outside.

This wasn't the only example of this of course, there were times when they were fighting villains that their mind would haze over a bit and their fighting styles would become less human. Raph might be stuck in a bad situation and one of his first instincts is to bite at the enemy. It was a strategy that always drew blood thanks to his snag tooth and one that he always hated when he did it. Leo would find himself retreating back and looking the whole scene over from a distance, before running in a lot more bold and aggressive than before, almost in a trance as his fighting style turned more rabid. Then there was Donnie. He tended to favor flight over fight when a situation got bad, his natural instinct telling him to avoid the confrontations. He was fast when he was focused on this and could often outfit an opponent. In the situation where he would be cornered, he was never opposed to clawing at them or even biting, a habit he had picked up and mirrored from his older brother. And once again, Mikey’s natural response was to hide in his shell when he got too overly spooked. He was typically the best at keeping himself in full control, being able to ignore the call of his animal instincts to keep fighting, but when he got freaked, his shell provided him shelter, which he would never turn down. The 4 brothers fought against these instincts in every fight they were in, whether it was a full on battle, or just a sparring match.

Especially when emotions were high.

All of this to say, it was when Mikey made it to Donnie’s lab that he heard the first loud thud. It caused him to freeze up for a moment, as his mind tried to process why on earth there was a loud noise. Where was the yelling? These normally turn into screaming matches, yet he couldn’t hear their voices. Uh-oh…

Mikey was snapped back into reality from a second thud. Right, focus, get Donnie, stop his stupid older brothers.

Mikey threw open the lab’s door. “DONNIE!” he yelled in, causing the purple turtle to jump and stumble a bit, almost falling from his chair.

“Mikey! What the hell was that! I'm working with dangerous materials right now and you know how I feel about interruptions and yelling in my lab! Now what do you-” he was cut off when he finally took a second to actually look at his little brother and notice his appearance. Mikey was shaking a little, obviously afraid, his head was sunk down, only his eyes appearing to be seen enough over the top of his plastron, and he was hugging himself. “What is it?” his tone changed to an emotionless one.

“Leo and Raph…” he started.

“Are they arguing again? Seriously? You could have just come in and sat down, there was no need for yelling to get my attention.” Donnie pinched the bridge of his nose.

“N-no! They aren't yelling… I think they might be fighting! Leo came home. Drunk.”

“Oh… oh s**t.” Donnie jumped up and ran forward, putting a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. “Come on, lets go stop our idiot brothers before they-”

Another loud thud could be heard and then, a scream rang out. A scream they had all grown to know way too well recently.

Leo.

Mikey and Donnie’s eyes widened as they looked at each other. Mikey was fighting the urge to retract into his shell as tears fell from his eyes, his mind already fearing the worst. Donnie looked lost for what to do for a moment before he shook his little brother a little.

“Move.” he commanded, and the two were running back to the main room side by side a second later. When they made it to the doorway, they both froze in their place, neither fully able to process the scene in front of them. The room was a mess, obviously a fight had taken place. Blankets and pillows were thrown everywhere, chairs were knocked over, and there were a few stains on the floor that definitely weren't there earlier.

Raph stood at the other end of the room, his eyes wide, hands in fists, and his body shaking just a bit. There was blood on his knuckles and a bit staining his snag tooth. He seemed frozen in shock, but his eyes looked dazed, far away. A look they all knew, meant that he had failed to suppress the more animalistic side of himself. He was staring at something.

Their eyes fell to the place where Raph was staring to find Leo’s unmoving body laying on the floor. The crack in his shell seemed to have taken a hit as the split seemed to have grown in size. His head was bloodied and a few prior injuries that were still healing seemed to have reopened from the tussle.

For a solid minute, no one movies. All three of the brothers were frozen. The scene in front of them was too much to process and none of them knew what to do.

Donnie’s voice cut through the silence after what felt like hours of nothing but the obnoxious ringing in their ears. “Raph… what… what happened…?” his voice sounded small and panicked.

“I…” Raph couldn't make out words.

Mikey’s body moved on its own at that moment. His legs carried him forward, towards his hopefully just unconscious brother. The silence returned as Mikey knelt down by his side, placing his fingers on Leo’s neck, the same way Leo had instructed him many times over during their first aid lessons. Mikey held his breath and looked for his pulse. Something. Anything. Just a small pounding from his heart to show that his brother was alive. Mikey felt himself growing faint as the shaking in his body got worse and the silent tears began to roll.

Nothing.

He couldn't feel anything.

“Mikey?” Donnie’s voice called out to him. The orange branded turtle slowly turned his head to look at Donnie. Their eyes met and Donnie knew. All of them knew the truth, whether they wanted to accept it or not.
It was a fact.

An undeniable truth.

Leonardo Hamato… was dead.

Chapter Text

No one was taking losing Leo well.

Splinter had left the lair a while ago and had not yet returned, needing time to mourn the son who reminded him so much of his younger self.

Donnie had shut himself in his lab, going through every file that he had of videos of Leo, writings, notes, voice recordings, all of it.

Casey had not been heard from since the boys held a small funeral. Not even Cassandra was able to find him, the boy had just gone missing.

April had to drop a few of her classes in order to give herself time to mourn. Her parents were confused. How do you explain that a 16 year old turtle who you considered to be a brother had passed?

Mikey was doing his best to make sure everyone was ok. He was making Donnie eat, sending messages to everyone every day trying to check up on them, constantly cleaning the lair to keep busy or out on the streets of New York spray painting his sorrow onto alleyways for the world to see.

And then there was Raph.

Raph, as you might expect, was taking it the hardest of everyone. The guilt he felt was debilitating. He couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't close his eyes without seeing Leo's horrified face. Every time he tried to relax, the cruel words he had shouted played through his head on repeat. He was upset. And that manifested in anger. Which scared him even more. He wouldn't go near anyone, afraid to hurt them too. He could barely even look at his remaining brothers without the flashbacks of the moment they found Leo and Raoh that day playing through his head on loop. Raph was barely even able to stay at their makeshift funeral for long before disappearing when everyone’s back was turned.
He would never forget that day.

----

Mikey and Donnie’s eyes met. Raph watched as his brother’s expression changed. Donnie’s face painting a picture, a telling truth, a new reality. Donnie, the boy who barely ever showed his emotions, looked as if he may faint. His stupid sharpie eyebrows were pushed together and tears began to form in his eyes. One of those tears fell and hit his hands, which were pressed together in front of his plastron. He looked down and his expression changed from the mixed face of someone processing a loss for the first time, to shock as he never understands when he starts to cry, his mind still in denial as his emotions rush ahead.

Mikey wasn't doing much better. A choked sob tore Raph’s eyes away from Donnie and to the young box turtle on the ground by their deceased brother. He was clinging to Leo’s frame, holding him close like the only remaining bit of their brother would disappear if he didn't. Raph didn’t know how to comfort him. He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. The healed cracks on his arms were glowing bright in reaction to his emotions. It looked like it burned.

There was nothing to be said. Raph realized he himself was sobbing as well, silent tears fell from his eyes, clouding his already impaired vision and soaking his mask with his sorrow. A million emotions hit him at once but he could barely process them through the shock.

What had he done!?

-----

Raphael couldn't face his family. He couldn’t look them in the eyes. The shame, the guilt, the anger, it all ate at him. So, he did the only thing he knew how to do when he couldn't manage his anger. He fought. He ran.

Raph couldn't be found at the lair. He couldn't be seen for longer than a few seconds as a flash of red and green before he was out again. He spent all his time out, ignoring his family, ignoring his grief, and giving into his anger. Every time one of their enemies decided to attempt a heist, he put an end to it through sheer brute force. He was alone, isolating himself. His worst fear. But fear was just another drop in a glass that was about to overflow being translated into anger.

Top tips for today brought to you by the author’s ADHD! Did you know that anger is always a secondary emotion used to hide true feelings from others, or even yourself? My friend's therapist said that once!

That was shown strongly in Raph’s reaction. When he ran out of villains to fight in New York, he resorted to the hidden city. Finding the worst parts of the town and making enemies out of powerful yokai, just to feel the release that fight provided. To be free of his grief for that brief moment of satisfaction before it all hit him like a ton of bricks once more. But that one moment of freedom, he chased it.

-------

Of course, this isn’t really Raph’s story is it? Nah, the tags say Michelangelo-Centric after all, that's what you're all here for. SO! Back at the lair, Mikey wasn't doing great. Which was to be expected, honestly. He had taken it upon himself to take care of everyone else. Donnie was his top priority, making sure the soft shell ate and slept. He barely spoke, barley ate, and barely left his lab, but Mikey was working on it. Sometimes, he would join Donnie, sitting in the beanbag chair he had claimed as his own and listening to the recordings Donnie played on loop. He cried silently next to Donnie. It almost came as a shock the day he looked up to see Donnie with his head in his hand as tears fell from his eyes as well. Mikey watched surprised for a second before standing and walking over to Donnie’s side. He hesitated for a moment before putting a hand on Donnie’s shoulder. The purple ninja jumped a tiny bit and snapped his eyes up to meet Mikey’s gaze. They sat in silence for a moment before Mikey offered him a hug. Donnie, for once, accepted.

Over the weeks, this became a familiar routine for the two of them. At least once a day, typical during a meal time, Mikey would come to Donnie’s lab for an hour, bringing something for Donnie to eat with him. The boys would sit quietly together and just provide emotional support by simply being in each other's presence. This is how Mikey could help Donnie. By being patient and waiting till Donnie had finally processed the loss, and making sure he didn't do anything reckless like trying to make a robotic replacement of his twin. (Mikey had found blueprints on the floor and promptly burned them with his mystic fire.)

It was another one of these moments when Donnie finally spoke for the first time since the loss.

“Nardo’s… he’s gone…” his voice sounded hoarse and broken. So small. Mikey looked up from his bean bag with wide eyes. “He’s…” Donnie began to tear up and put a hand over his mouth. Mikey was up in an instant and by the softshell’s side. In the past few weeks, Mikey had seen Donnie cry more than he had seen in the 15 years of his life.

“Ya Dee. He is… I’m… I’m sorry…” he barely managed to squeeze the words out, his own voice hitching as he fought off his own tears.

“Raph…” Donnie looked like his mind was flying. Mikey could almost see the thoughts spiraling behind his eyes. “How could Raph…”

“They got into a physical fight, Donnie. Leo instigated. Heck, he was drunk. He didn't know what he was doing and… you know Raph struggles with his anger sometimes…” Mikey was repeating the lines he had been telling himself at night when he couldn't sleep.

“But we just got him back!” Donnie’s voice rose slightly.

“I know..”

“He was ok! He was back! He was healing!”

“I know…”

“Things were supposed to be ok! How could those dum-dums…” Donnie choked and folded in on himself.

Mikey couldn't stand it anymore. His own tears fell, amplified by his empathy as he clung to the softshell. “I know…” he whispered.

They stayed there and both cried. It was after a few minutes when Donnie finally tried to put himself back together.

“Mikey, where’s Raph?”

Mikey stayed quiet. Truth is, he had no idea. He barely saw Raph anymore, but when he did, he would be covered in bruises and occasionally blood that reminded him way too much of that day.

“Mikey! Where is Raphael!?” Donnie’s voice rose once more.

“I don't know.” Mikey squeaked with a sniffle. He kept his face hidden.

“What do you mean you don't know!? Where is he!? Is he locked in his room or something?”

“He barely comes home anymore. I'm really worried. I've been leaving food in his room for when he does come home and the plates are empty later so I know he’s slipping in and out but I barely ever see him! When I do he looks… clouded… like.. It almost reminds me of when he's really alone and his mind reverts back to..” Mikey didn't have to finish the sentence. “Donnie, I'm scared…”

Donnie’s eyes softened just a smidge and he looked at the box turtle. He hated seeing his brother this way.

“I don't want to lose a second brother but.. Donnie he’s running off all alone, grieving just as much as we are, endless guilt on his shoulders. Raph can't handle anymore weight on his back, he already carries too much and now-” Mikey’s world felt fuzzy all of a sudden. That has been happening a lot recently. It started when he saw Leo’s dead frame. It felt as if his world was starting to fall apart, like the seams holding the book together were fraying. It made him feel dizzy, like he was in that world between unconsciousness and reality. Mikey put his hands on his head, cracks once again beginning to glow.

“Woah- Mikey?” Donnie's voice, now laced with concern. “Hey, Mikey, are you still with me?”

He sounded like he was under water. Mikey could barely make out his brother's questions. He just had to ride it out until something grounded him again, pulling him back into the reality he currently knew. This was done in the form of Donnie’s hand. Donnie grabbed Mikey’s wrists gently and pulled them back from his head. Mikey opened his eyes and all he could see was orange bright light. It burned his eyes, he flinched a little and Donnie's hold loosened, the softshell seemingly unsure of what to do.
Donnie’s hold was like a rope tying him to the ground, the only thing keeping him here.

Ride it out.

And that's what he did. He looked around him as the light began to dim and his reality returned.

“Donnie?” Mikey asked lightly after a small pause. He felt tired all of a sudden.

“Angelo! Finally, I was getting really worried! You weren't responding and your arms were glowing again and-” Donnie's goggles were down and he was examining Mikey’s arms. “Are they ok? Do they hurt? What was that!?”

Mikey blinked a few times. “Ya- ya I’m ok. I think my arms are fine. Just fuzzy.”

“Good.” Donnie put his goggles back up. “How often has this been happening?”

Mikey thought it through. “I don't know. But it feels weird when it does. Like there is something trying to pull me out of this world.”

“Must be your mind’s reaction to the grief. This is real, Angelo. You're here. Maybe we should work on some grounding techniques for if this happens again.”

Hearing Donnie say that this was real finally managed to bring him back to his senses fully. He was now aware of the warmth in his arms, of the sadness plaguing his mind and his brother infront of him.

“Ya. Sounds good Dee.”

Mikey and Donnie had always been close. Nothing would take that away. They would get through this together. Mikey had managed to help one person in his life who was hurting and for now, that was enough. It would take time before they would be ok, but Mikey was happy to help. He's just glad he had someone by his side to help him as well.

One step at a time.

Chapter Text

This had been going on for far too long. Mikey hadn't seen Raph for almost 2 months now. Losing Leo took its toll but this was getting ridiculous. They were all still mourning, but at least most of them were mourning together now. Mikey had managed to get April to come around to spend time with himself and Donnie, he had provided a shoulder to cry on for Casey when he finally showed back up again, (that was a long and emotional day. Casey wouldn't say how he lost Leo in his time line but Mikey was able to pick up from context clues that it wasn't pretty) heck, Mikey had even gotten their father to come home! He was nailing this. Being the glue that holds the family together, yup! That was Mikey’s job! Always had been, always will be.

But Raph… It was Mikey’s one failure. No matter how many messages he sent him, how many times he begged him to come home, Raph, when he was around, seemed so lost in his own head that he refused to even acknowledge Mikey’s existence

Cut to right now. Mikey was in his room. He was alone. He really didn't like being alone right now. Alone was quiet. Quiet, reminded him of the absence of a certain loud mouth jokester. Mikey sat on the floor in his room staring at a drawing he’d done of his family. All of them. Before all of this madness. Before the invasion, before his brothers had begun to fight, before the incident, before the Kraang, gosh, he would give anything to be back there. His room felt suffocating. Stale. What used to be a creative, energized environment, now only felt small. It felt like a cage. He felt trapped. Honestly, that feeling never truly left him, even when he left his room. However, right now, he was stuck. The picture before him was mocking. It was too happy. Too perfect. Mikey couldn’t be perfect. He was far from perfect. He made mistakes, so many mistakes. He had failed at getting his brothers to get along again, he had left that night to get Donnie instead of just breaking up the fight himself, he was failing at getting Raph to come home, and that was just the recent stuff.

That picture. It stared back at him. He couldn't stand it. He grabbed the first thing that he could find and threw it hard at the drawing. This caused the pin that was suspending it to come out of the wall and it fell to the ground. Mikey looked up and saw that the item he had thrown was a can of blue spray paint.

Ha. figures.

…

Actually…

That wasn't a bad idea.

Spray paint! It had been a bit since he last went out to do some graffiti, maybe that would help him clear his mind. Healthy coping mechanisms and all that. Dr. Feelings would be so proud! He jumped up from his spot, his mind now full of the energy that his body lacked. He grabbed his bag of spray paint cans and his mask before running from his room.

He passed Donnie on the way to the lair’s exit, who called out to him. “Where are you headed, Micheal?”

“Spray painting! See ya later Dee! I'll be back before dinner!” Mikey replied, not really leaving room to argue as he jumped out of the lair and bolted down the familiar path to the streets of New York. Mikey knew exactly where to go. He had scouted an area a while ago that he’d been meaning to hit. Most of his graffiti recently had been vent pieces in the weeks following his older brother's death. They weren't impressive but they helped. Mikey wanted to make something good. Something beautiful! Leo always liked his art. He always wanted to see it.

The two would sneak out some nights. The nights when Leo’s insomnia would keep him up for hours and Mikey’s energy wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried to sleep. The two would go, sometimes get slushies at a run down Circle K or bet on who could win a race atop the rooftops to get to April’s apartment, but Mikey's favorite nights were when his older brother would ask to see Mikey’s art. Mikey would get so excited. He would happily grab Leo’s hand and drag him to some alleyway, coated in spray paint and show off his most recent piece. Leo would make a joke and compliment Mikey on his craft. He’d let Mikey rant about the choices and styles he was using, along with filling him in on the drama going on in the graffiti world with art wars that week. Mikey was good at staying out of that stuff. Memories like these were ones Mikey cherished. He’d give anything to have them back.

Leo loved Mikey’s art. So it was only fair that Mikey paid homage to his older brother through those means. So Mikey got to work. Getting lost in the motions. Line after line, stroke after stroke. Getting lost in the feeling of spray paint splashing onto his fingers and breathing through a sticker covered gas mask was grounding somehow. He was so in his head, his safe space, doing what he loved, his comfort, his therapy, his release. Spray after spray, color after color, Mikey crafted his masterpiece. His tribute.
Mikey stepped back after who knows how long to look at what he had created.

2 swords, plunged into the ground, crossed over each other, made out of smaller words. “Hero”, “Brother”, “Face Man”, “Leader”, “Strong”, “Smart”, “Brave”, the list went on. A blue silhouette hung in the top quadrant of the crossed swords, white out eyes the only detail visible on its frame. Mikey smiled at his work. He knew Leo would love it. His vision went blurry as he processed the tears in his eyes. But they felt good. It felt like it was ok to cry this time.

Mikey wasn't perfect, but right now, he didn't have to be. Right now, he could just be Mikey. Right now, that was enough.

…

A noise from behind him pulled his attention away from the piece. A large figure loomed at the end of the alleyway. Frick! Mikey had not been careful enough! He was going to get himself caught. He instantly began scrambling to pick up the scattered cans and slam the lids back on, not caring if they were the right colors or not. He threw them back in the bag quickly as the figure approached. He couldn't be caught, his family had enough to deal with without him accidentally exposing them AND him getting caught illegally spray painting. He panicked. He raced to get everything cleaned up and picked up his bag, ready to bolt when-

“M…. Mikey?”

Raph’s voice. Mikey’s heart flipped around in his chest and caused him to freeze. He turned around slowly and saw his big brother staring at the piece.

“Raph…” Mikey whispered. There was no movement for a while, until Mikey ran forward and hugged his big brother. Raph didn't return the hug, his eyes locked on the piece. Mikey noticed and sighed. “Raph, I can explain! It-”

“It's perfect, Mikey. He would… he would love it.” Raph’s voice broke a bit. The snapper was obviously fighting the urge to cry. Mikey pulled back to get a better look at his brother. Raph was covered in bruises and scrapes. Whatever he had been doing was seriously dangerous.

“Raph, what happened to you?” Mikey asked with concern, making his way back to his spray paint bag and pulling out the medical wrap he kept in there just in case his arms flared up while he was out. Raph didn't respond to him, only seemed to daze back into his own mind. Mikey grabbed his hand and led him to a crate that was turned over, having him sit down on it before Mikey began to do his best to wrap his older brother’s injuries.

“I’ve missed you big bro. We all have. You're hardly around anymore. We just want to know that you’re ok. This isn't a healthy way to grieve, Raph.” Mikey said softly. He slipped into Dr. Feelings seamlessly. “Grief is a process that needs to be worked through with a support system. People who love and care about you. We are here to be a shoulder for you to cry on. You hate being alone. We both know you do, so isolation is only going to make things worse. I don't want to lose another brother, Raph.” Mikey finished the wrap on one of his brother's arms and was inspecting it to make sure it would stay.

“Mikey-” Raph started but cut himself off. He looked at the box turtle for a split second before standing up and pulling his arm away. “Stop.”

“Raph listen I-” Mikey reached for his brother’s arm again. Raph stepped away, holding his fist up, almost defensively.

“Stop. I’m not doing this. I don't deserve this. You should hate me. You should be yelling at me, why are you being so nice!?” he yelled, eyes staring down at the floor below him.

“Because…” Mikey said softly. “I love you.” There was a silence for a moment before Mikey added. “Because I forgive you, Raphie. But you need to forgive yourself. Mistakes happen. We’re not perfect. We-”

“Mistakes?” Raph growled. “I MURDERED LEO!” he screamed causing the box turtle to flinch. “I KILLED HIM! MISTAKES!? HA! DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT MISTAKES, MIKEY!” Mikey took a step back. “I didn't stop! Why didn't I…” Raph seemed to be losing the anger he felt for a split second before it returned full force. “Go home Mikey. Don't come looking for me.” Raph turned towards the end of the alleyway and started heading back into the shadows.

“RAPH WAIT!-” Mikey called after him, rushing forward to try and stop his brother from slipping through his fingers.

“GO! HOME!” Raph yelled. He turned on a dime and punched the brick wall next to him, his fist glowing in its usual red hue that signified his ninpo was being used. The wall cracked out in multiple different directions, including sending a crack right through Mikey’s piece. Mikey turned to look at this, stuck in complete shock for a moment before snapping back to reality. He turned to Raph again, but he was gone.

Mikey had lost him.

Mikey had failed.

Again.

…

…

…

Mikey sobbed.

Chapter Text

Time was a strange concept. It was easy to lose track of in the midst of a serious situation. This situation is one such example of that. Mikey had a basic idea of how much time had passed, but he was starting to notice how much it blurred together. Weeks passed in minutes, days took months. It was starting to mess with his head. The world felt strange. Maybe it was some weird instance of dissociation. Maybe grief just messed with your mind. Maybe it was just his low blood sugar. He had a habit of blaming everything on that…

His life was the same cycle over and over again. Wake up, make food, make sure everyone eats, check if Raph has sent him any messages or stopped by his room in the night, (Mikey was setting up mini traps in Raph’s room. Nothing much, just a stack of books that could easily be knocked over by his clumsy-when in a rush- brother to test if he was stopping by)occasionally go out and deal with crime, spend time in Donnie’s lab, wash, rinse and repeat. It was starting to get to him. How mundane it felt. Like something was just waiting to go wrong.

At the current moment, Mikey was in the kitchen. He had way too much nervous energy and needed a way to get rid of it. A small part of his brain was telling him something bad was about to happen. He didn't like it. So instead of dwelling on the feeling, he decided to bake. Baked goods made everything better! Mikey took pride in knowing each of his brother’s favorite baked treats. Leo was always a fan of cake pops. Him and Mikey would spend hours into the night decorating them and making customized ones for each of their brothers, made with their favorite flavors of cake. It was a tradition. Reserved for those nights when Mikey had way too much adhd energy to sleep and Leo's insomnia wouldn't let him rest. It was one of Mikey's favorite little traditions…
He hadn't made cake pops in a while…

He doesnt think he ever will again…

Raph loves sweets. Him and Mikey had an unspoken competition when it came to who had a bigger sweet tooth. Due to this, whenever Mikey found a new recipe, Raph was always the designated taste tester. Because of this, they had found Raph’s favorite baked sweet. Mikey had found a recipe for s’more bites made with boiled icing instead of marshmallow and Raph had absolutely fallen in love with the things. They were way too easy to munch on. Stuff tasted heavenly. And so, Mikey was currently watching the thermometer with extreme focus to make sure he got the temperature just right. This icing would be perfect. He wanted to leave Raph a treat in his room. Maybe it would encourage his big brother to come back…
A timer went off behind him. Oh! Donnie’s treats were done! Cookies! Donnie always leaned more towards soft cookies, not underbaked, if it felt at all under baked, he wouldn't touch it. Straight cookie dough was a no go for him. However, if it wasn’t soft enough, he'd nibble on it and say he liked it, but he wouldn't eat many. So Mikey knew the exact amount of time to keep it in the oven. Just under the recommended amount of time but not too short. They should be perfect. Mikey quickly grabbed oven mitts and ran over to the oven. He slipped the oven mitts on and, with shaky hands, pulled the tray out, placing it on the counter. They looked perfect. Mikey smiled. Donnie would be so happy! Maybe the smell would entice the softshell out of his lab! Yes! Perfect! Mikey heard his phone timer go off. OH! The icing Right! Mikey often set timers on his phone that went off at random times while he was baking. This way if he got distracted, the alarm would sound and snap Mikey back into reality to focus on baking and not burn whatever he was creating. This one specifically was set to mark that the icing was done. Had it been 7 minutes of stirring it already? Hmm, that was fast. He shrugged and quickly moved the pot off of the double boiler and over to the disassembled s'more bites. With boiled icing, it was always important to spread it before it cooled down, so that's what he did. He began spreading it over the graham cracker bites he had made and assembled the-

Footsteps. He heard footsteps. Mikey fell quiet. He hadn't even realized he was humming until the quiet in the room fell over him. Who’s- Donnie’s. Donnie’s footsteps. Donnie was out and about! That's good! His cookie theory was right! Yes!

“Hey Donnie! I made cookies if you want some, they’re cooling right now but if you give it another maybe 5 minutes then-”

“Mikey…” Donnie basically whispered it. His tone… Mikey did not like that tone… the orange turtle dropped what he was doing, his full attention now on the soft shell.

“What’s wrong, Donnie?” they met eyes. Donnie could barely keep eye contact.

“Mikey, it's Raph…” he managed to say, looking horrified.

Mikey was never the level headed one. He typically showed his emotions as dramatically as possible so everyone knew it was ok to feel. Being level headed was typical Leo and Donnie’s thing but Leo was gone and Donnie was panicking. So it was Mikey's turn to wear the mask.

“What about Raph, Donnie? Is he hurt? Is he home?” Mikey walked over, scanning his brother with his eyes.

“Vitals…” Donnie had his phone clutched in his hand. He held it out to Mikey. Mikey took the phone and looked at the screen, recognizing his brother’s style of coding displayed on the app he had pulled up. It was the app Donnie used to track each of them. The information displayed showed the name of their current location, a map of where they were, and their vitals. Raph’s vitals… holy-

“Donnie… why is it not showing Raph’s heart beat?” he looked up at his brother who was no longer able to hold eye contact. “Donnie, what happened? Do you have any clue!?” Donnie shook his head. Mikey stared down at the phone, his body froze. His mind began to feel fuzzy again… oh no.. he couldn't handle one of these stupid reality slips right now.. The world was bright… really bright.. The orange light was blinding.. Why did he hear a steady beeping noise? Why did the room smell like medicine and copper instead of baked goods why did-

The beeping from his phone pulled him back once again. This time the alarm was set to indicate that the cookie’s were finished cooling. Mikey blinked a few times, using the noise to help ground him again. He took a few deep breaths and the glowing coming from his scars settled down.

He was here.

He was present.

This was real.

It was ok.

Mikey opened his eyes and looked at Donnie, who had ripped his phone out of Mikey’s hands and was typing on it frantically.

“Donnie. Listen to me.” Mikey said, his voice a bit shaky but eh, it was fine. He placed a hand on the soft shell’s shoulder. This caused him to look up, the frantic look still in his eyes.

“Raph may have found the tracker and cut it out of his arm. Or he may have gotten in a fight and been shocked by something so the circuits got all messed up. Or maybe it's just his ninpo! You said my mystic powers were interfering with my tracker right? We can’t assume the worst. We gotta go help him. Let's follow the tracker and see where it takes us, ok?” boom! Level headed, smart, mature, Mikey was getting good at this!

Donnie looked down at his phone again then back up to meet Mikey’s gaze one last time before nodding.

With that, the two of them got ready to go and quickly headed to where the tracker was saying Raph was. Mikey tried to stay positive as they ran, trying to make a plan for any situation. No matter what, Mikey decided he was putting his foot down. Raph was coming home whether he wanted to or not.

“Just up ahead.” Donnie said over their ear pieces. Mikey looked around. They had made it to one of the shadier parts of the hidden city. There was an abandoned warehouse up ahead. If he weren't so freaked out right now, he may have thought it would be a good place to tag sometime. The brothers climbed to the roof of the building, careful and quiet, making sure if there were any enemies close by, they wouldn't notice the b-team approaching. Looking in through a skylight, it was obvious a fight had taken place there. There were boxes everywhere all thrown out of place. Anything there that could be broken, looked broken. There was no one inside though, so the boys deemed it safe and dropped in.

“Well, someone could really use to redecorate a bit. Maybe some curtains, a nice fluffy rug, and clean up some of this trash.” Mikey commented, feeling it was something Leo would have joked about. The thought made him sad, so he pushed it out of his mind.
“Just look for the tracker. It's small and purple with my genius build stamp on it.” Donnie commented, rolling his eyes. There was a similar sadness behind his emotionless mask though. Maaaybe he’ll skip the jokes in the future.

The boys searched the warehouse for a while, looking for a tiny piece of metal. Great idea right? Ha. At one point, Mikey noticed a pile of boxes in one corner that seemed to have something underneath. Curiosity got the better of him and he walked over and began digging through the pile.

…

My word did he wish he hadn't…

The familiar smell of blood hit him hard but that wasn't the smell that truly stood out. No. The smell that took that award was the stink that let you know when Raph was near. Despite its unpleasantness, it was typically a welcome, comforting smell. Here, it was wrong. Worse than normal. It didn't combine with the smell of blood well. Mikey panicked and desperately began pulling the boxes off him.

“RAPH!” he yelled, getting the attention of Donnie from across the warehouse who came running. “Raph if you're in there, I’m coming! I've almost got you! It's ok, we’ll bring you home and get you to the med bay. We’ll sort this out. You’ll be ok! It’ll be-” Mikey cut himself off as he moved one final box. The box covering Raph’s head.

There lay his older brother.

The rock of the family.

Their leader.

The turtle who practically raised them at times.

Now laying still and alone.

An ax through the right side of his head.

The same side he had lost his vision in after the Kraang’s attack.

Mikey felt sick. The nausea was quick to take hold and he had to turn away from the sight before doubling over and heaving the contents of his stomach onto the ground. He couldn't get the image out of his head.
There lay his older brother.

Still and cold.

Once again Mikey had to accept a hard truth…

Raphael Hamato… was dead…

Chapter Text

Mikey hadn’t left his hammock in days. He couldn’t handle the outside world right now. He couldn't handle the world that in such a short amount of time had thrown them head first into an alien invasion and giving them hope for a good future, only to rip his brothers away one by one. He curled in on the teddy bear he had taken from Raph’s room. A small comfort he had tried to cling to. He shouldn't have this. He shouldn't be allowed to take the stuffed animal out of Raph’s room. It wasn't his. It was his big brother's. But then, his big brother hadn't been home in so long and now…

Now he would never come home…

Mikey found himself standing. Huh, that was a first. His joints ached from the position he had been curled up in for so long. How long? Mikey wasn't exactly sure. It had been a bit. He stretched out, still clutching the stuffed animal to his chest.
Then he began to move. He found his way out his door, down the hallway and standing in front of Raph’s room before he could process what he was doing.

The vision of Raph’s cold, unmoving form, the distinct smell of his brother, the blood pooling around the area.

The mental image slipped back into Mikey’s brain once again. He clutched the soft toy tight. He didn't want to think about it, he hated that image. It was so painful.

The feeling of nausea, Donnie’s gasp when he saw the sight, the tears they had both shed.

His head began to feel fuzzy. He pushed forward, through the curtains and into his big brother’s room. Oh how he longed to look up and see Raph sitting there with open arms, ready to comfort him through it as if it were nothing more than a bad dream.
He found himself curling up on Raph’s bed. He felt so small in the midst of the blankets, stuffed animals, and pillows. The bed was cold and empty, despite the clutter. The phantom feeling of arms wrapped around his shell, as they had so many times before in this exact spot, was numbing. He couldn't do this. His mind still felt fuzzy. It was only getting worse as once more his arms began to glow. They burned. He kept his eyes shut tightly. He would just ride it out like he had so many times before. The room shifted, the air felt strange. It wasn't the musky atmosphere of Raph’s room anymore, it was a clean, sterile feeling. What the heck was his brain trying to do!? Is this some sort of weird, in his brain, thing!? Since when was his brain still?

“M….ke..y-”

It sounded like Raph’s voice. Oh that killed him. Heard a sob escape his lips.

“Mi…gu..e..l-”

Leo too!? Why was his brain doing this!?

“Michelangelo”

Well, that one was clear. Only, it wasn't in his head.

The room’s environment shifted once more, back to the way it was supposed to be. He opened his eyes, just a little and standing in front of him, was Master Splinter. Huh. He hadn't heard the man come in.

“My Son.” the words were comforting. An invitation. A grounding sound.

Mikey sat up and threw himself off of Raph’s bed, onto the ground in front of his father.

“Dad!” he cried and wrapped his arms around the rat man. Splinter sighed and held Mikey close as the boy began to sob into his fathers shoulder.

“Shhhhh. It is ok, Orange. Let it out, my son.” And so they stayed like that. For a good while.

“He’s g-gone, dad! Both of them are-” Mikey’s voice broke. “Both of them are gone!”

“I know. I know.” was all Splinter could say as he stroked Mikey’s shell.

He cried and cried, tears that he thought he had long since ran out of.

All he could do was think of the blood. The smell. The feeling. It was all too real. Way to real. It was real. Why did it have to be real? Why did Raph have to kill Leo, why did Raph have to get himself killed, why did they have to leave him behind!? Why!?

When his sobs quieted to sniffles and his eyes hung low with exhaustion, Splinter pulled back a little, placing both hands on the boys shoulders.

“Michelangelo, can you hear me?” Mikey nodded, causing Splinter to continue. “My son, I wish this did not have to happen. I wish I could fix this for you and bring them back, but I cannot. I know I have failed you 4 in so many ways, and I cannot stand that this is one of them. I am here for you, Orange. I promise, I will not fail you too.”

Mikey sniffled and buried his face in Splinter’s shoulder once more. When he pulled away from the embrace, he looked Splinter in the eyes. There was so much hurt there. So much regret. Mikey could feel the emotions radiating off his father.

“Thanks, Dad. I love you.” Mikey wished he could say it was ok. He wished he could deny Splinter’s words and make the man feel better, but he also knew that he would be lying. He would not lie to his family. Splinter gave him a small smile in return before something popped into his head. “Dad?” Splinter hummed in recognition, the speech he had planned being interrupted. “How is Donnie doing? I haven't gone to check on him since…”

“Purple is not your responsibility. He is grieving, just as you are. You need to focus on your own-”

“But I was there for him when it was Leo. Dad, has Donnie left his lab?” The expression on Splinter’s face said everything. Mikey stood up once more. “Dang it, I should have paid attention! Ok, has he eaten? Slept? How much coffee has he drunk?” Mikey was in fix it mode now. It was a nice place to be. Worry about other people so you don't have to process your own pain.

“Michelangelo, slow down.”

“Cant! Gotta go make sure Donnie is ok. Thanks for the talk, dad!” And with that, he ran from the room. His father was left standing there, a pained look on his face. He didn't know how to fix this. How to cope with his own grief, how to be the parent these kids needed. What was he going to do…? In his own grief, he had neglected to pay attention to the three remaining turtles who were all falling apart themselves. It got a second one killed.

It was his fault. Yup, that's right, Splinter was blaming himself. Heck, where do you think his sons got it from?

He sighed and picked up the stuffed animal Mikey had previously held, placing it down onto Raphael’s bed quietly. He bowed his head as a small way to pay his respects before leaving the room. He closed the curtain behind him.

He would fix this. Somehow. For his sake, for April's sake, for Casey’s sake, and for his remaining two son’s sake. He would find a way.

Chapter Text

“Donnie! Please! Just open your door for me to give you this. I won't come in, I won't say anything, but I know your snack stash has to be out by now. Please! Just open the door!” Mikey stood outside the door with a plate of food. He had made all of Donnie’s favorites.

Since his talk with his father, Mikey had been spending all of his time trying to get Donnie out of his lab. It never worked and Mikey was beginning to suspect that Donnie had been keeping the noise cancellation on his headphones turned on. Which made trying to get him to hear you really inconvenient!

“Donnie!” He slammed his hand against the locked door as hard as he could. Some dumb part of his mind wondered if this is how Anna felt in frozen trying to get Elsa out to build a snowman. Ha. if only that would work. If only he could just pull his brother outside and play around in the show as they had so many times before. They were well into the winter months as it was, New York isn't exactly known to be warm. Plus, it was finally snowing again. Which, I mean about time. Mid western weather has been weird in the past few years.

(Yes this is just the author, who is from the Midwest, complaining about my lack of white Christmases for the past 4 years. Sue me! idk if New York has had the same problem but man! Ohio sucks!)

Mikey sighed and placed the plate outside Donnie’s door. He slid down to the ground and looked up, into the security camera Donnie had stationed outside his lab after the Great Wreckage of 2016.

Mikey had bet Leo he couldn't steal some useless piece of tech that Mikey could barley remember the name of from Donnie's lab without him noticing. Long story short, Leo found it but knocked over some fancy project Donnie had been working on in the process. Donnie hadn't been happy and ever since then, he had cameras and an alert protocol set up. Even now in the new lair, Donnie had set it up. Don't mess with his tech I guess

“Do you remember a few years ago when we built a Jupiter Jim snowman?” Mikey asked, not caring if his brother could hear him or not. “We were so proud of that thing. We all decided the best part of those movies was enjoying them together. Would you like to watch them with me?” he asked, not expecting an answer. After 3 minutes of silence he sighed.

“I miss 'em too Dee. So much..” he heard his own voice break a little. “We fought so hard to save Leo, and it was all for nothing.” he looked down at his scarred hands. They had long since stopped shaking and only burned when he pushed it a little too much with his mystic chains. Not that they had done much fighting recently. Crime didn't seem to be bad in the city that never sleeps at the moment. For some reason. It's like Mikey’s world was slowing down to focus only on him and his current problems, ignoring the problems that could get in the way. He kind of appreciated it, but it just kinda felt strange.

“I always joked with Leo that I'd outlive him,” he said sadly. “I told him his recklessness would get him killed one day. He would just smile and wave and tell me that the world wasn't big enough to tame Leonardo Hamato. Raph scolded us for the morbid joke. We then told him that he’d fight to the end to save us all.” Mikey felt tears welling in his eyes now. “Think that's what happened in Casey’s future?" he paused agan, not expecting an answer, butstill waiting for one. "I do. Even now, Raph died a hero.” his voice got quiet at the end and he sniffled. “He was out, kicking butt a-and he just…” Mikey balled his hands into fists, pulling them close to his plastron. “Why couldn't he just stay with us Dee? We all could have gone through this together. Given Leo a proper send off. B-but now Raph’s gone too. He died alone.. Raph hates being alone…” he curled in on himself, his shell still pressed against Donnie’s door.

“I hope they’re together now. Yelling at each other, wrestling like the idiots they are, and being scolded by Gram-Gram.” he laughed humorlessly.

“Donnie, I miss them. So much. But even more than that, I miss you. They are out of my reach because they’re gone. You're out of my reach because you won't let me in. Please. Please unlock your door. Please Donnie.” he begged. He was fully crying now. Man, he had been doing that a lot lately.

“You don't have to do this alone. You didn't when it was Leo, you don't have to now that it's Raph. I'm right here! Just let me in. Please.”

Mikey went quiet. He looked back up to Donnie’s security camera.

“Anatawa Hitorijanai.” He whispered, pulling his mask down so it was hanging loosely from his neck and wiping tears from his eyes.

Mikey went quiet after that. He didn't move. He just sat there, his shell pushed against the door. He didn't speak, just silently mourned his brothers in the closest thing to comfort from his last remaining sibling he could have.

Mikey missed his brother's touch. Physical touch was his main love language after all. He found himself longing for it.

He missed the way Leo would let him cling to him, how he would pat his head with that big, over confident grin while teasing him about who knows what. He missed how Leo would always be ready to help Mikey when he froze in a moment of panic or stay up all night with him when neither of them could sleep.

Mikey missed the way Raph would always catch him when he fell, no matter what. How his big brother would let him use him as his personal climbing tree. How he would hold Mikey’s ankles to keep him steady where he balanced on his spiky shell. He missed the bone crushing hugs and words of reassurance Mikey would expect on dark nights when he was woken up by a nightmare.

And Donnie. My word was he missing his immediate older brother’s touch right now. Mikey was one of the only people who could get Donnie to admit he enjoyed how physically affectionate the family was. Donnie always denied it and often preferred to keep his distance, but pay attention and you’ll see just how much physical touch Donnie would actually take part in. Mikey missed it. He missed how Donnie would always know when Mikey needed a hug just by studying his body language. How even on days where he didn't want to return the gesture, he would still use his mechanical arms to show Mikey some form of the physical touch he so longed for.

He missed just sitting in the same room as Donnie while they both worked, sitting shell to shell while they created a masterpiece. Those days were his favorite. Nothing had to be said. Just the minor contact was enough to be the most comforting thing in the world, while still settling Donnie’s own reluctance.

Mikey sighed after who knows how long of sitting there. He checked his phone and the time read 11:48 pm. “Goodnight Dee. Please try to get some sleep.” Mikey walked off, back to his own room for the night.

Unknown to Mikey, as he had sat there all night, his shell to the door, wishing it were the soft leathery texture of Donnie’s soft shell instead of the uncomfortable metal feel, Donnie sat on the other side of the door, bags under his eyes growing worse, eyes red from crying, and body shaking from lack of sustenance and sleep, along with the overwhelming emotions he was experiencing. He had had multiple meltdowns since it happened and honestly, his lab was a mess.

However that night, Donnie had taken a break from his endless work to listen to the comfort of his little brother’s voice. The two had spent the whole night back to back, with only a door separating the boys from the true comfort they both desperately needed.

Donnie held a hand over his mouth to muffle his sobs. he should have opened the door. Why didn't he just open the door?

Donnie didn't move that night. he eventually passed out, still leaning against the door.

The door he wished was the shell of a certain box turtle.

Or a sliders.

Or a snappers.

Chapter Text

The hours ticked by, the days blurred together. Mikey found himself slipping into a pattern going through the motions. Wake up, make food for his brother and father, go to Donnie’s lab, beg him to come out, give up, leave his brother’s food, return to his room, lay on his hammock for the rest of the day. The cycle was never ending. It was torture.

Nothing changed, things were blurring together, and time passed in a strange way. As he laid in his hammock, he looked around his messy room for the millionth time thinking to himself that he should clean it.

His mind still raced a million miles per hour. Taking him around and around. What was Donnie doing that kept him so busy in that lab of his? Was he getting enough sleep? Did he hear Mikey when he stopped by? What could Mikey do? Was he doing enough? Should he be doing more? How was April? How was Casey? When was the last time he checked on them? Were they ok?

As if triggered by the thought of them, his phone dinged with a text alert. This small change in sound was enough to jolt him out of his grief ridden paralysis. He checked his phone and saw he had a text from none other than April O’Neil herself. Mikey smiled to himself, just a little as he read the message.

‘Hey Mikster! I’ve been missing you lately. :’( I know you and Donnie havnt been texting me back lately but id love to hang out sometime soon.<3’

Mikey sat up on his bed and pulled up the keyboard to respond. He stared at the letters, the symbols having no meaning. Did a g always look like that? Why did the t have a little curl under it. The letters felt wrong in some way, as if they were giving him that weird uncanny valley feeling. But why? That made no sense. They were the same letters that he had known since childhood when he and Leo became obsessed with singing the ABC’s over and over again to prove to Donnie that they were smart too. It must have been 10 minutes of him just sitting there with his fingers hovering over the keyboard before he typed out ‘meet me in the alleyway down the street from that fabric store that fired you.’ He looked over the message a few times, contemplating the actions that would follow sending it, before he took a deep breath and hit send. It felt like the hardest thing he had ever done, just pressing the send button.

April texted back almost instantly with a simple, “OK! :)”. It made Mikey wonder if she had been staring at the little bubbles showing he was typing all this time. She must have thought he was typing out a novel or something.
From there, Mikey just had to get up, grab a few things, tell his dad and brother he would be gone, and get out there to meet April.

Ok.

He’s got this.

…

Curse it, why did today have to be one of the hard days…

Focus Mikey.

Mikey took a deep breath before taking a step forward and grabbing his bag and mask. He then stretched a bit and headed out of his room.

“DAD! DONNIE! I’m heading out!” He called out into the lair. In response, he heard drilling noises from Donnie’s lab and a tired, “be safe” from his father’s room. Oops! He hadn’t meant to wake his father up from a nap.

He quietly left the lair and made his way through the sewers, his feet splashing through a few puddles, the noise gaining his attention. It was grounding. Small things like this. Though, it did feel a bit odd, as if the water wasn’t wet. As if it didn’t stick to his skin properly. Hmm. That’s odd. He remembered Donnie once mentioning that nerve receptors couldn’t process the feeling of being wet, only the change in texture and temperature so maybe the water was just the same temperature as his skin? Ya! That had to be it. The water is still wet it just- well that’s getting into a whole other debate. Is water wet, is the ocean a soup, is-

“Mikey? Hello? Earth to Mikey? You there?” April’s voice cut through his thoughts.

Wait, April? Wasn’t he just in the sewers?

Mikey looked around himself. He was in the alley way he had told April to meet him at. Already? When did that happen… he didn’t even remember climbing out of the sewers, let alone-

“Uh, Mike? You there?” April cut him out of his thoughts once more.

“Oh, right. Sorry April! Guess I just… zoned out for a.. a while there..” he shook his head a bit, trying to ground himself.

“Hey it’s alright. I’m sure things haven’t been easy for you.” April gave him a reassuring smile and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You have no idea…” Mikey sighed.

She stayed silent for a moment before softly asking. “Is this why you wanted to meet here?”

Mikey was confused for a moment before he looked up to see what she meant. He followed her gaze to see her looking at the mural he had painted for Leo. He then glanced down at the bag in his hands.

“Ya. I… I made this a little after he…” His grip tightened on the bag. April heard his voice waver and tightened the hand on her shoulder a bit.

“He would have loved it, Mikey.” She reassured him in a soft voice. The same one she used all those months ago to comfort Raph in the forest. Raph…

“I know. That’s exactly what Raph told me.” Mikey looked back up at the mural, reaching his hand towards the crack that ran through it. The one Raph had caused.

“Raph saw this? When?” April pulled her hand back but kept her gaze on him, a curious glint in her eyes.

“I don’t know… a month? 2 months? Ago? I was out painting in the middle of everything. I just needed to get out of the lair. It was so hard to be there, April. I thought things could never get worse but now…” his fingernails got caught on the crack as his hand balled into a fist.

April walked up behind him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. “So, what are you here to do, Mikey?”

Mikey dropped the bag and knelt down, unzipping it. “I’m going to honor my brother. The same way I honored the one before. And I was hoping you would help me?” He asked in a kind of shy voice, holding out a can of red spray paint to her.

April smiled at him softly. She knelt down and took the can of spray paint.

“I would be more than honored to lend a hand. Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

And the two got to work. Mikey instructed his friend on where to paint and what to do. He gave her a lesson on Graffiti painting, catching himself smiling more than once. It felt good to smile. It felt good to feel the warmth in his chest as his best friend, his sister, stood by his side.

They spent hours in that alleyway, getting covered in spray paint, possibly feeling a little light headed from the fumes, and just enjoying each other’s company. When they were done, they took a step back, one arm wrapped around each other as they looked at their masterpiece.

A big red silhouette, holding up 2 sais made out of words such as “Big Brother”, “Strong”, “Safety”, “Lovable”, “Kind”, “Gentle”, “Leader”, and so on. There were pure white eyes in the silhouette, and the final detail Mikey added, the only reason he brought his blue paint with him, Mikey painted a knot of 2 pieces of fabric tied together. The fabric strands weaved through both of the tribute pieces, connecting them together. One was red, and the other was blue.
The pair stood there silently for a moment as Mikey felt silent tears fall down his face. He had cried so much recently, but this time it felt good. It felt like a weight being lifted from his chest. He didn’t sob, he didn’t scream, he didn’t beg the universe to bring his brother’s back, he simply stood there, a genuine, albeit small smile on his face as tears stained his cheeks.

He felt a hand wiping one of the tears away and he looked over. April had pushed her glasses up onto the top of her head as tears fell out of her own eyes, a similar smile on her face as well.
“They would love it, Mike. Both of them.” April whispered.

Mikey nodded, the arm around her back tightening a little.

“I’ll have to ask them one day.” He responded, not entirely sure what it meant himself.

“Not any time soon though.” She rubbed her eyes a little. “I don’t know if my heart can handle another heartbreak.”

“I’m not going anywhere, April. I’m staying right here. And I’m going to fix this. I don’t know how, I don’t know what to do, but I’m going to make things ok again. Somehow. I’m not going to be the next one to die.”

She hummed softly. They sat there quietly for a while, just looking at their creation before April broke the silence, pointing at the knot in the mural.

"That reminds me of the day Leo and Raph let you braid their mask tails and you decided to braid them together.” April asked, amusement clear in her voice.

Mikey laughed softly. “Ya well, they had it coming. Those two had been using the fact that they were starting to grow taller and stronger before me to randomly pick me up. Let’s see who’s laughing when they go to stand up and smack their heads into each other.” He replied, closing his eyes and pointing his finger up in the same way Donnie does when he’s trying to prove a point.

“In their defense, you were just so small and pick-up-able.” She teased.

“Hey hey! It’s a turtle thing. Box turtles are smaller than their species. Leo wasn’t even that much bigger than me! He just thought it was funny when Raph did it!” April laughed at this.

“It didn’t help that you hit your growth spurt way later than they did.” She elbowed him.

“Stupid turtle genes.” Mikey huffed out.

They started going back and forth, sharing memories of the co-leaders and their schemes throughout the years.

It was a good way to spend their time. Who knows how long they were there. Mikey didn’t care. Time meant nothing to him anymore.

As the sunset lit up the sky in beautiful shades of orange, red, purple, and blue, Mikey couldn’t help but feel at peace.

Even if just for that moment.

Chapter Text

Walking home from his day with April, Mikey couldn’t help but feel lighter. They had stayed out talking for hours, long into the night. Sitting together under the moonlight, they discussed everything. They talked about how hard coping with the loss of the older two turtles was, memories of days the 5 had spent together, how Casey was adjusting to modern life and the loss of Leo, how April was trying her best to keep the future boy stable but the more he pushed her away, the more she felt like she was failing him, how Mikey could relate to that, the situation with Donnie, everything. April had given Mikey some advice on what to do about Donnie, and Mikey had made a few suggestions for what to try with Casey.

Honestly, the whole night was so refreshing.

As he approached the lair, the familiar sounds of home greeted him. Recently, they had been so suffocating. The distant roar of trains, the muffled drilling, the dripping from that one leak that Mikey still hasn’t managed to find a deal with, the dramatic soap operas playing in his fathers room, the silence. Despite how quiet it has been, the lair had never been more overstimulating, yet now, as he steps into his home, it was ok. It didn’t feel so completely empty, it didn’t feel like a replacement, it didn’t feel suffocating. It felt like home. Mikey smiled softly. He looked around at the mess on the ground and knew what he should do, but that was morning Mikey’s job. Right now, it was time to get some sleep.

Mikey made his way through his nightly routine. He collected the plate from outside Donnie’s lab and sighed when he saw it was untouched. He left it in the sink, then stopped by his father’s room and gave him a hug. Next, he went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Finally, he made his way back to his room, looking into Leo and Raph’s old rooms out of habit as he passed by them, and removed his mask. At the current moment, things were ok. Things are going to be ok.

———

The next morning when Mikey woke up, he didn’t feel the familiar heavy weight on his chest. He felt rested and refreshed for the first time in weeks. Standing up from his hammock, he stretched out and retied the mask around his face. He made his way out of his room and looked around the lair, remembering the task he had assigned to morning Mikey. It was time to get this place back in shape and well, he was now morning Mikey, so it was up to him to get it done. First, he made his way to the kitchen, where he prepared himself and his family a small breakfast. It wasn’t anything fancy, just eggs and bacon, cooked in each of his family's favorite ways.

Donnie liked scrambled eggs that were a bit over cooked so there was no chance of them being runny. Splinter prefered them to be over easy for no other reason then he knew Mikey enjoyed the process of making them that way. And of course, Mikey liked his sunny side up because of the association to sunshine.

Mikey finished making breakfast and walked his father’s plate to his room. Using his ninja stealth so as to not wake the snoring rat, he set it on the bedside table quietly before slipping out and heading to Donnie’s lab.

“Hey Donnie! I miss you, bro. So does April. I saw her yesterday. She told me to relay a message.” He dramatically cleared his throat and pulled his phone out to read the dramatic threat.

“Donatello ‘Eyebrows’ Hamato, if you don’t get your spiny shell out of that stupid lab of yours and come see me I swear on the uranium you stole from the government that I will tell the witches from Witchtown where you live so they can drag you out of there and hall you off to some magic prison for your crimes.” Mikey did his best April impression while saying the words. “Ha, think I captured her sass properly?” He looked up at the door, hopeful for a moment, before sighing when he still got no response. His gaze went up to the camera.

“Ok, well, at least actually eat today. I’ll be back to talk later, alright? It’s my turn to make dinner so, expect some of my amazing cooking instead of dad’s tonight! I’ll even make you Dino Nuggies! I love you, bro!” He smiled softly before placing the plate in its normal spot and walking away. Him and his dad had been switching off who makes dinner every night. It had been Splinter’s idea, his father wanting to help his son in any way he could. Splinter didn’t know how to fix this mess yet, but any small thjng he could do, he would.

As Mikey walked away from the lab, he felt the sadness trying to crawl its way back into his heart, but he decided that he wasn’t gonna do that today. So instead, he took out his phone, cranked some music, and started jamming out while he cleaned up the lair. Starting in the kitchen, he did the dishes, cleaned off the stove top, wiped down all the surfaces, and swept the floors. When he was down, every surface sparkled. Mikey smiled at the state of his kitchen.

“Beautiful!”

Next, he moved on to the projector room. It hadn’t been fully cleaned since the incident with Leo. The most they had done was clean the blood up and put away the movie they had been watching, but only because Raph was panicking and trying to fix anything he could. Again, as Mikey’s eyes scanned the room, he felt that familiar pang of grief try and claw its way in, but he just shook his head. He had been sad long enough. It was healing time. And the first step to healing was take care of yourself and your living space right!? Ya, totally. Close enough. Doctor Feelings knows what he’s doing. So, Mikey got to work. He started with the blankets that were thrown about. He folded all of them and stacked them neatly in the corner before moving on. He straightened up the furniture, took care of old plates and snack foods, put away the strung about movies, comics, and action figures, and vacuumed the floors. It was perfect.

He continued this pattern throughout the day, covering the game room, training room, and his painting room. Mikey was a cleaning machine. It felt nice to be doing something productive. He didn’t want to stop now. He wanted to keep going, keep helping his family, even if no one would really notice.

Mikey considered where he should go next. His room? Nah, he didn’t want to risk sitting down and not being able to get up again. His brother’s rooms? Oh heck no, there was no way he was even attempting to tidy up those rooms. It was left how it was left by his brothers. To change that would be treason. The bathroom…? Dang. That was the best choice… fine… but he didn’t have to like it. Mikey sighed and headed in the direction of the bathroom. As he made it to the door, he made a mental checklist of everything that needed tidying. He should probably wash the shower walls incase of mold, check the drains, clean those dumb toothpaste stains off the sink and-

KABOOM

…

Mikey froze.

…

A loud noise rang out from down the hallway.

…

An explosion.

…

Mikey could feel his heartbeat in his chest.

…

There was only one place in the lair an explosion would be coming from.

…

No.

…

No.. it couldn’t be…

…

Mikey’s thoughts were racing.

…

Calm down, Mikey, things explode in Donnie’s lab all the time and he’s normally fine.. just some minor burns in the past.

…

But what if he got hurt.

…

What if I lost him too.

…

What is going on!?

…

Why can’t I move!?

…

How long has this same song been looping!?

…

Move Mikey.

…

MOVE!!!

Mikey dropped his phone and the rag he had been holding, turned around, and sprinted down the hallway to Donnie’s lab. When he turned the corner, his heart dropped.

The door.

That stupid door that had been keeping him out for all this time.

It was blown off its hinges.

It was covered in scorch marks.

But most importantly.

It wasn’t keeping Mikey out anymore.

Mikey ran over, not letting his mind process, not realizing it as his hands began to shake.
He scooted to a stop in the doorway of the lab and immediately scanned the room.

“Donnie!? Donnie, where are you!? Are you ok!?”

He called in, terrified when he didn’t immediately spot his genius brother.

In his search for his brother, though, he did see something else. Or rather, 2 something’s.

There, standing before him, in all their 5’5” and 6’0” glory, were Leo and Raph.

Mikey’s eyes went even wider as he screamed out, scrambling backwards at the sight.

“DONNIE!? DONNIE WHY THE HELL ARE THEY- NO! YOU'RE DEAD! YOU-“

He was cut off by a sudden loss of breath. He realized he was hyperventilating. Crap! He needed to calm down.

His arms began to glow that stupid blood orange color.

Focus Mikey, you can’t disassociate now, you have to figure out what is happening here!
He slowly walked into the room, trying his best to breath and stepping forward towards the giant forms of his brothers. He realized in that moment that Leo’s arm was ripped off and wiring was hanging from it, while Raph’s inner chest was exposed and smoking.

“Donnie… you… you built… robots!? You tried to rebuild our brothers!? Donnie, what in the-“ he felt sick. Memories flooded his mind of Raph’s bloodied, severed head and Leo’s cracked shell. He took a step away from the robots of his brothers and curled in on himself little. His hand flew up to cover his mouth so he didn’t throw up. He gagged a few times as the memories raced around his mind, only causing his arms to glow more.

“Donnie please- where are you!?” He sobbed out. He turned and looked around the lab, spotting a pile of tech that had been knocked over from the explosion, with a limp green hand pinned underneath. Mikey’s mind went to the worst case scenario but he cut that train of thought off fast. The adrenaline pumping in his body kept him focused. For all he knew, Donnie was pinned under there and unconscious. He had to help him!

Mikey raced towards the pile and, with trembling, glowing hands, began throwing tech left and right until he got to the bottom of the pile and spotted Donnie.

…

Holy s**t Donnie.

…

The soft shelled turtle looked horrible. His mask was singed almost entirely in the front, revealing the heavy bags under his eyes and his skin that was way too pale for Mikey’s liking. Scanning over his body to check for injuries, Mikey could see how thin the turtle had gotten. He looked like he weighed less than Mikey now, heck, that he weighed less than April! His flesh was covered in burns that were blistering. Bad burns. Like, Mikey never quite understood the scale for burns when Leo explained it to him but anyone could get the picture by just imagining getting hit by an electrical explosion at point blank range.

And Donnie-

Wasn’t breathing…

Mikey’s breath caught in his throat.

No…

No no no…

Please no…

Not again.

With shaky fingers, Mikey reached forward and, just as he had for Leo all those months ago, he checked Donnie’s pulse. Mikey held his breath as he listened.

…

He waited.

…

And waited.

…

And waited.

…

Nothing.

There was no pulse.

No beat.

No breath..

And Mikey-

(He couldn’t breath)

-once again-

(He couldn’t think)

-had to accept a hard truth-

(He couldn’t do this anymore)

-just as he had with Raph before this-

(This couldn’t be real)

-and Leo before him-

(He didn’t want this to be real)

-his big brother-

(He wanted it to be a dream)

-Donatello Hamato-

(He wanted to just wake up and none of this to ever have happened)

-was dead.

…

And Mikey screamed.

…

Wake up Mikey.

…

Wake up.

…

Mikey gripped Donnie’s shoulders and sobbed.

…

His arms shone brighter than they had since that day.

…

Since the day the portal opened.

…

A blinding light filled the lab.

…

It was coming from Mikey.

…

All that could be heard was his screams of pain, sorrow, grief, mourning, fear, depression-

…

And then everything went black.

…

Chapter Text

His world was dark. Pitch black. There were sparkles around him, golden lights spiraled in circles, making him dizzy.

His ears were ringing. The noise was loud, deafening.

His heart raced, it hurt. It had been broken. Shattered 4 times. First during the Kraang invasion when he thought he had lost Leo, then when he lost that very brother only a month later. Next when his eldest brother had gotten himself killed and finally, Donnie.

Donnie had been the only brother Mikey had had left, and now he too was gone.
Mikey screamed.

His eyes shut tightly as he curled in on himself. The world around him was gone. Nothing mattered. His brothers were gone.
He was alone.

The lights got brighter.

His arms began to burn.

It felt like fire.

Huh… they hadn’t hurt like this in a few months.

He drew his arms in, pressing them against his plastron.

Tears fell from his eyes, falling in buckets.
He couldn’t breathe.

He couldn’t think.

He couldn’t stop the pain.

His hands shook as he grabbed his head, trying to make it all stop.

Too much.

There was too much.

He balled his shaking, burning hands into fists and banged them against his head.
Trying to get his mind to work right.

To stop making him spin.

To focus.

It only caused the pain in his arms to worsen, but he didn’t care.

He kept at it, slamming his fists onto his head. It hurt. Not just his hands, but his head. It sent waves of pain through his scalp, crashing pain, almost like a migraine.

He went to smack his hand into his head again but they didn’t connect.

He let out another scream, the pain in his wrists amplifying. He didn’t know why.

He sobbed and tried to pull away from whatever was keeping him from the motion. He needed it to let go. He needed to make his brain work.

He struggled against the invisible force, kicking and screaming until all movement seemed to stop, he couldn’t move his arms, he couldn’t move his legs, he couldn’t sit up. Why couldn’t he move!? It felt like being trapped in the Kraang’s grasp again.

That made him freeze. He hadn’t even thought of them in so long.

He wasn’t moving anymore, his thrashing had been replaced with terror as tears continued to stream down his face and his breath quickened.

The Kraang!? No. It couldn’t be. It had been months. They were gone.

Gone.

They were gone.

His brothers were gone.

His world was gone.

…

Something in his mind screamed at him. It somehow managed to yell over every other sound. Every other noise.

“Wake up.”

He gasped and opened his eyes, unsure of what it meant.

His vision was blurry but he could see
something.

He could make out blurred shapes.

And colors.

Colors?

Yes. Colors?

Which colors?

He could see…

Blue.

Blood on his older brother's knuckles, blood covering the walls, the cracks in his brother’s shell having been reopened as crimson red seeped onto the floor around him.

…his tears burned as they fell down his face-
And… he could see…

Red.

Broken crates in a warehouse, a mess on the floor, and his oldest brother’s head disconnected from his body. His own nausea making him sick as he was left with nothing but broken peices.

…His heart tried to claw itself out of his chest

And… he saw…

Purple.

The lab, the door, a mess, on fire. Everything thrown everywhere, the organization long gone. His last brother, thin and pale. The body burnt beyond recognition.

…Pain.

Their colors taunted him.

They danced in his vision, bright and comforting.

He blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus, trying to get the tears to stop.

“Breathe, Angelo. Please.”

A voice told him, coaching him in a calm tone. It was a voice he hadn’t heard in… in a while… one that had locked itself away, hiding behind that stupid door.

“You’re home. You’re safe.”

A rough sound, one of kindness, one that brought the feeling of safety. One that had been cut off so soon with an ax to the head.

“We’re right here, Mikey. But we need you to breathe. Come on bud.”

The last voice.. the one he hadn’t heard in the longest.. the one Mikey had almost killed himself to save when this all started.. the one who wasn’t strong enough..

Mikey coughed, his body finally processing its need for oxygen. He curled in on himself further, the weight that had been holding him down now letting go as a comforting hand was placed on his shell.

“That’s it, follow me. In, 2, 3, 4, hold 2, 3, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, good.”

He followed the counting, breathing along till he managed to calm down enough to see.
His eyes locked with those of his brothers. They smiled at him, softly, lovingly.

His eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat once more.

He pulled his arms away from them and backed up as much as he could, his shell hitting against something, keeping him from moving further.

“W-what?? N-no. How.. how!? How are you here!? No. Stop it, stop. I don’t know what this is but stop it!” His hands went to his head again but we’re caught before they connected. His eyes shut tightly and his head tilted down.

“No no, none of that please.” The analytical voice of the soft shell said.

“Mikey, open your eyes. We’re all here, you’re here. You’re safe. Look at me.” The snapper’s impossible voice called to him.

“No! You’re all gone! All of you. You’re dead. I couldn’t…” Mikey was cut off as a sob clawed his way out of his throat. “I couldn’t save you…” he cried

There was silence for a moment before he heard the final voice speak.

“Mikey… What are you talking about? You got me out, remember? You saved me.”

Mikey shook his head aggressively. “N-no! I-I got you out b-but then y-you died! A-and then raph, and… and Donnie you…” he struggled to get his hands free, but the grip on them tightened. It stung. He cried out from the sudden jolt of pain. He wasn’t used to that feeling anymore.

It was all too much. He didn’t know what was happening.

The room fell silent again and the hands on his wrists loosened the moment he showed it hurt.

“Mikey, look at me.” Donnie’s command broke the silence, his voice devoid of the emotions he was very obviously trying to hide.

Mikey shook his head. “So now you want to talk to me? Now you want to see me!?” His voice cracked as he cried out.

“Angelo, please! I don’t know what you’re talking about but I need you to look at me. I need you to see I’m real. That we are here. That we’re alive. You’re awake.” Donnie’s voice strained, desperation starting to leak through.

Tears fell from the box shell’s eyes as he glanced up heasitently. Leo was sitting on the edge of Mikey’s bed, crutches leaning against the bedside table with Donnie on the right side of the bed and Raph on the left. All three of them stood over Mikey, Donnie being the one who was holding his wrists.
The room was silent, the only noise coming from the heart monitor Mikey was still hooked up to.

Mikey looked at Leo. His body was covered in scrapes, bruises, and scabs that were at least looking like they were healing, his shell was covered in bandages, along with his head and his right ankle was in a cast. A dark, ugly bruise wrapped around his neck, and a deep black surrounded his eye in the place his mask should be. Overall, his body looked weak but Mikey could see him breathing. Slowly, Mikey moved his hand out of Donnie’s (with some hesitation from Donnie at first), reached over to Leo and took his wrist, feeling for his pulse. Upon finding it, he made eye contact with Leo and his breath hitched.

Leo looked like he was about to say something before Mikey’s head snapped over towards Raph and Donnie hushed Leo, seeing that Mikey needed a minute.
Raph’s shell and plastron were cracked, there was a bled through bandage on the shoulder next to the crack. However, the bandage didn’t stop there. It kept going down his left arm. His eye was covered and he had a brace on his knee. Along with this, scraps and bruises covered his skin and knuckles.

Mikey’s shaky hand reached out towards Raph’s face. Understanding the gesture, Raph leaned in and let Mikey place his hand on his cheek. Mikey stared at him for a moment before his hand slid down to the side of Raph’s neck gently. Raph tried not to show his confusion as Mikey’s hand hovered over the place where a giant ax’s gash should be.

After a minute of Mikey being frozen while he processed what he had seen, he finally turned to look at Donnie. Donnie’s body tensed as the attention was turned to him.
Mikey looked him over. He looked to be a healthy weight and his coloration was normal. The bags under his eyes were still present but that was pretty normal for Donnie.

Donnie had a hoodie on, but Mikey could see the bandages on his shell at the bottom of the hoodie where the fabric bunched up. He was sporting a cast on his left arm and his other arm had bandages wrapped up it, similar to Raph’s left. Just like the other two, Donnie’s body was covered in scrapes and bruises, his knees having a heavy amount. He also had bandages on his head. It occurred to Mikey at that moment that none of the four were wearing their masks.
Though Mikey didn’t see any visible burns like the ones he had just witnessed in Donnie’s lab.

“Michelangelo. You are home, you are here, you are safe. We are here with you. We aren’t going anywhere.” Raph spoke softly to finally break the forever long silence.

“Tell me what you see, Miguel.” Leo said.
Mikey looked between them all once more as tears slowly fell from his eyes.

“Home. I’m home.” He barely managed to squeak out.

“That’s right, Angelo, you’re home.” Donnie smiled softly.

Mikey smiled back weakly before he just broke down sobbing. Not tears of sadness, tears of relief. Tears of joy.

Instantly, the brothers wrapped their arms around him and the four shared an embrace.
They were whole again. They could heal together.

Mikey felt their warmth. He felt their chests rise and fall, felt their hearts pounding against their plastrons.

It was just a silly little nightmare. And Mikey had finally woken up.

…

Chapter Text

The moment Mikey had passed out was the moment things got real. You’d have thought that it was when they pulled Leo back into safety or when they looked over his catalog of injuries, it would have truly sunken in what was ahead of them. The months of recovery this would take. But no. In that moment, mere seconds after opening the portal, after hearing Leo’s stupid jersey joke, they were all still high on the relief and knowledge that things would be alright. Things felt manageable then. Sure Leo was more beat up then a week old banana, sure Raph could barely see out of one eye, and sure, Donnie’s back stung worse than getting hand sanitizer in a paper cut, but hey, they had ripped a hole through space time, captured the most dangerous creatures known to man, and saved the world! They could handle a little recovery.

“Ok, not to break up a cute moment for anything but I believe I am in some serious need of medical attention.” Leo had broken the silence and made them all jump back from the hug.

Donnie immediately jumped into fix it mode. “Raph! Call April, let the others know that Leo is alive and safe but we need help, stat!” Donnie barked, his mind clear on what they would need to do next, determined to make sure they could keep Leo this time.
“On it!” Raph responded, managing to sound calm and composed, despite it all, riding the high of their success.

Nothing could stop them now. Leo had seen hell and back and came out alive. This would be fine.

“You’regonna want to keep me awake Don-Don. I lost count of how many times that hunk of metal made me hit my head.” Leo slurred a bit.

“Right… Mikey, mind giving me a hand lifting Leo? We need to be careful about his head, shell, and ankle, follow my lead.” The soft shell kneeled down to lift Leo, believing Mikey had heard him. So when Mikey didn't immediately jump to his aid, he got confused. “Mikey?” He looked up and saw his brother, standing there frozen. No, not frozen, shaking. Swaying on his feet as his entire body shook and his complexion went white. “Mikey are you ok?” Donnie stood back up.

Mikey’s eyes looked far away and he didn’t appear to be breathing.

“Mikey?” Leo looked up, flinching a bit as he turned his head to see the box shell standing above him. Donnie gently laid his hand atop his brother’s and that’s when it happened. Mikey hissed out and pulled his hand away, stumbling backwards, body trembling. His head tilted up lazily as he made eye contact with Donnie for a split second before his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell backwards. Luckily, Donnie was quick enough to catch him before he hit the ground, but this was the moment everything truly sunk in. 2 brothers now out of commission, one who had been tortured at the hands of a psychopathic pepto bismol cream cheese stick, and the other who had practically ripped himself apart to get moron # 1™ back.

“Dammit..” Donnie snipped under his breath, slowly lowering Mikey to the ground.

“Donnie? What happened? How bad is he?” Leo’s horse voice called out, medic mode initiating despite it all.

Donnie looked Mikey over, noting the way the blood oozed from the cracks in the younger’s arms as his skin began to blister and, in the places it wasn’t still glowing a hot golden color, turned black. They were burnt. Bad. Donnie suspected 3rd degree burns. He spared a glance at his own arm and saw his skin blistering as well. Not nearly as bad but now that he thought about it, it definitely burned. 2nd degree at the worst but oh boy would it leave scarring.

“Raph, Mikey’s down too. Is April on her way?” Donnie called out, ignoring Leo’s question as he spotted similar burns up Raph’s arm as well, making a mental note to check those out later.

“Mikey’s what!?” Raph turned around and spotted his little brother in the arms of Donnie, his hands trembling despite his unconscious state. “Oh geez! April! Mikey’s passed out too! Please hurry!” He yelled into the phone.

And with that, chaos ensued. The high of their victory was long gone and the panic was now in full swing.

———————

It had taken about 10 minutes before April, Splinter, and Casey had shown up to the scene, and another 20 to get them all home. Traffic was a nightmare with all the destruction and government cars were cutting in front of pedestrians left and right.

When they made it to the lair, they were quick to haul Leo into the med bay and begin emergency medical treatment on him, focusing first and foremost on his bleeding shell. The entire time, he fought to stay awake but was drifting in and out of consciousness. The hardest part of the whole thing were his screams of pain. They were deafening. Donnie did his best to fix him up alongside Splinter and Casey, but it didn’t take long for the screaming to send him to his breaking point. About 30 minutes in, Donnie dropped the needle and gauze he was holding for Casey and threw his trembling hands over his ears. April was quick to escort him out of the med-bay and into his room to help him calm down, leaving Casey and Splinter to finish the job. It was a mercy when they finally determined it was safe to put Leo under before continuing.

This whole time, Raph had been doing their best to care for Mikey, however, he did not have a knack for medical stuff. His hands were too big and his temper tended to get in his way believe it or not. He never knew what to do and lacked the plan making skills needed to know how to help in these situations, which only frustrated him more because here he was getting frustrated instead of helping like he should be. What kind of a leader did that!? What kind of a brother-

April returned after 10 minutes to help him out. In that time, she had managed to get Donnie calm enough to rest, and made a phone call to Draxum, telling him to come asap. She pulled him out of his head and together, they got Mikey on the spare medical cot and cleaned and bandaged his arms. It was all they really knew how to do. Only after they finished with this did April insist on checking over Raph. The snapper reluctantly agreed after April threatened his very soul if he were to say no.

——————

The day after was when Draxum finally arrived. He had been busy at the school he worked for making sure that each and every kid had been found and pulled to safety. The moment he was sure that every kid was safe, he b-lined to the lair, not wasting any more time.

A pink portal opened in the middle of the med-bay as Draxum stepped through.

“Where are they?” He wasted no time. Draxum had been informed of both Leo and Mikey’s conditions, and a brief explanation of Donnie and Raph’s. The man was determined to make sure each of these kids were checked over and taken care of.
Oh gosh, who was he and what had he done with the great warrior alchemist who, just years ago, would have given anything to destroy these children!?

Shaking the thought off, he stepped forward, being met by a very tired looking Splinter.

“Leonardo is… stable. For now… we did the best we could.” Splinter’s exhausted tone explained.

“We?” Draxum raised an eyebrow.

“Me and Future boy.” Splinter rubbed his eyes.

“Future.. boy?” Draxum only felt his confusion grow.

“Admiral Draxum.” A voice calls behind him. When Draxum turned, he saw a scruffy twig of a child with greasy hair, bruises and cuts, and an exhausted expression. “My name is Casey Jones. I am from a future time branch. At the order of my Sensei, Leonardo, Master Michelangelo used a time gateway to send me back in time to stop the Kraang invasion. I know it’s hard to believe but-“

“Did I actually make you call me that?” Draxum sighed, cutting off Casey’s long winded explanation. Said kid was looking at him with a mix of shock and confusion on his face. “I believe you, child. Believe it or not, that isn’t the weirdest thing I’ve heard before. And we will come back to that conversation when everything is said and done because I already have many questions. Now, I take it you assisted in the emergency medical attention Leonardo required?”

Casey stared for a moment before clearing his throat and nodding. “I’m well trained in the required care the four of them need.” Casey disregarded the way his entire body shook. He hadn’t taken the time to let himself breath, jumping from action to action quickly. If he stopped for a moment, he knew he’d have to process everything and that was something he couldn’t afford right now. Not when the younger versions of his master’s lives were at stake.

“Excellent. Show me to them.” Draxum ordered, following Casey into the med-bay and listening to the kid’s run down of all the injuries he knew of that each of the turtles sustained. Draxum couldn't help but observe the kid and take note of his concerning condition.

——————

Draxum looked over Leo, checking each of his injuries in full. He fixed up a few of the bandages and helped set the broken ankle that Splinter and Casey had been at a loss of how to properly take care of. From there, he moved on to Mikey, choosing to check on the other two later. Looking over the bandages adorning his arms, Draxum scowled a little.

“Apocalypse child. You said Michelangelo sent you back in time. Does that have any correlation to this?” Draxum asked as he unwrapped the burns. “These are mystic scars.”

Draxum noted the way that Mikey’s face contorted in pain before softening. The expression reminded him of the calming face he’d put on when talking someone through an uncomfortable situation.

Casey nodded. “Master Michelangelo is the most powerful mystic warrior of my time. He opened a portal for me. He…” Casey gulped. “He gave up his life for that portal. It took everything he had.” Casey closed his eyes and looked away. “The… the others said Mikey opened a portal to get Leo out…” he whispered.

“Hmm. Makes sense. I’ve always noticed his sensitivity to mystics. I wished to train him to come into these powers naturally. I am saddened to know he unlocked them out of necessity and emotional distress. It will only make them unreliable.” Draxum looked over, pausing as he noted the kid’s emotions.

Casey sniffles. “Unreliable?”

“Yes. Unstable. They all will hit him at once. I suspect he will experience a strong mystic overload when he wakes up. It will all awaken in him at once. We must keep an eye on him.” Draxum was thinking out loud.

Casey blinked. “Is he gonna be ok?”

…

“Hopefully.”

——————

It was the third day after the invasion that Leo woke up. A nightmare pulled him from the sleep that had been helping him heal for the past few days.

His heart pounded in his chest as the beeping of his heart monitor began to pick up speed. Leo’s mind played images of the Kraang on loop, keeping him stuck in the moment he believed would be his last. Leo looked around, unable to see the world around him. All he could see was the dark void and dented the prison dimension. He sat up quickly, his breathing short.

The obnoxious beeping filled his ears.

Beep beep beep. It reminded him of the thuds of the Kraang’s footsteps.

Thud thud thud. And the clang of his armor.

Clang clang clang.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut and began pushing himself back on floating rock he had just been thrown against. He cried out as his ankle pulsed in pain. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He couldn’t breathe.

His shell hit against something hard and once again, he cried out. His shell… it hurt… bad.

He sat there hyperventilating until he felt a hand on his arm. He flinched and tried to get away from the touch but the hand didn’t let go. His eyes shot open and he frantically looked around and spotted a red bandana breaking through the dark black void. Red bandana.. Raph.

He jerked back, trying to get out of the hold on his wrists as images of his battle with his brother swarmed his vision. He heard himself calling out, begging for his brother to stop, to listen to him, to fight it.

He continued to pull at the grasp, desperately wanting to escape. He wanted out, he wanted it to stop he-

…

He felt a gentle tapping on his arms. Tapping? Gentle? Leo squinted his eyes open a little- huh, when had he closed those again- only to see a dark green, bandaged hand wrapped around his wrist. It was the source of the soft tapping. He moved his gaze and followed up the form of the one in front of him, managing to make out Donnie.

He held his breath. Donnie was speaking, what was he saying?

Leo squinted, trying to read Donnie’s lips.

B- re-ath?

BREATH!

Leo gasped for air, choking a bit. He felt the tapping continue and began to follow it, subconsciously recognizing the technique.

It was silent in the med bay, other than Leo’s breathing and the heart monitor’s beeping for another 5 minutes before Leo looked up and spotted Donnie infront of him. He scanned his eyes over his surroundings, only to see Raph standing off to the side, looking at the ground and holding a glass of water in his hands. Raph looked zoned out, his face a mix of emotions, but clearly upset.

“Rap-“ he coughed out, getting cut off midway through. Raph was quick to snap out of it and hand Leo the glass of water. Leo shakily tried to take it, failing as his body still felt weak. Raph caught on and helped him drink from the glass, careful not to spill it and avoiding touching Leo.

Leo took a few more deep breaths as Raph pulled away from him and took multiple steps back.

“Hola Hermanos. What did I miss?” Leo finally wheezed out after a few minutes.

Donnie’s face softened to a smile before he cleared his throat.

“Oh you know, performing surgery on your several injuries, a visit from our dearest creator, Casey having somewhat of a shut down after everything was said and done, and oh, Mikey hasn't woken up yet so… you beat him. First place in waking up from a coma. Congrats fam.” Donnie pressed something on his wrist tech, causing a small amount of confetti to fall from the ceiling.

Leo blinked. “Ok, that's.. A lot of info all at once… is everyone ok? Have you two been checked out yet? Why hasn’t Mikey woken up? What did-” he tried to readjust his position, only to feel pain shooting through him. “Ah-”

“Take it easy, Leo, the painkillers are still in your system but they can only do so much.” Raph spoke up. Leo and him locked eyes for a moment before Raph looked away.

“To answer your questions, yes. Draxum insisted on checking on us after he was done with you and Mikey, despite my protests.” Donnie explained, shoving his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

“Ok, injuries?” Leo asked, always wanting to be aware of his siblings' medical well being. Both of the brothers were quiet for a moment before Raph spoke up.

“Well, Mikey’s arms are burnt. Bad. He has some minor cracks in his shell, nothing that won’t heal in time though. Pretty sure his wrist was sprained too. We aren’t quite sure why he hasn’t woken up but Draxum believes it's something to do with the amount of magic he used opening that portal.” Raph listed.

Leo flinched a little at the reminder of the portal, a feeling of guilt shooting through him. “Right.. Ok, Donnie?”

“Hmm? Oh. You know. Raph and I also have burns from assisting Mikey with the portal, my arms broken and I have a lot of bruising but other than that-” Donnie cut himself off and shifted uncomfortably.

“His shell got messed up pretty bad. Though he still won’t explain to us how.” Raph explained for Donnie, said softshell shivered from the memory. Leo looked at him, concerne lacing his features. He sighed.

“I just… can’t put it into words yet…” Donnie whispered.

“Right, and you, Big Red?” Leo turned his attention over to Raph, giving Donnie a minute without the attention on him.

Raph stayed quiet for a moment before mumbling a few things.

“What was that?” Leo raised a non-existent eyebrow.

“Cant see.. Broken shell.. Knee got messed up.. That's pretty much it.” Raph explained.

“You can’t see?” Leo asked with a yawn.

“Only out of the one eye.” Raph pointed to his bandaged eye. “Now, you need to get some more sleep.”

“Not tired.” Leo crossed his arms. “I just woke up, I’m not going back to sleep yet.”

“Well, given that you’re pumped full of painkillers and all your energy is currently going towards healing your injuries, you’ll be passed out in a few minutes anyway. Might as well get comfortable.” Donnie said while checking the IV bag.

“But I don’t want to-“ A yawn cut him off and he crossed his arms.

“Again, sleep, Leo. We’ll be here when you wake up.” Donnie said in a softer tone.

“Fine…” he sank down a bit on the bed, wincing a bit as he readjusted himself into a comfortable position.

Leo was lulled to sleep by the sounds of beeping heart monitors and the smell of cleaning chemicals.

----------

The next day was the first time it happened.

Leo was half awake, groggily lying down and listening to Donnie give a deeper explanation of what he had missed and what was going on above the sewers when they heard it. A choked sound that they both knew exactly where it was from. Instantly, Donnie turned his head and Leo sat up with a wince, seeing Mikey shifting in his sleep. The beeping of his heart monitor was picking up speed as what looked like tears streamed from his still shut eyes.

Donnie was quick to run over to his side. “Mikey? Mikey! Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes for me?” Donnie placed a hand on Mikey’s shoulder.

“Donnie what’s happening?” Leo asked, trying to push himself up enough where he could hobble over to Mikey if need be.

“Leo, sit back down!” Donnie glared over at him. “I got it.” He then looked back down at Mikey. “Mikey, please, I need you to wake up. I believe you’re dreaming.”

Mikey was mumbling something that Donnie couldn’t quite make out. He peered over at Leo, a concerned look on his face before he leaned over and listened to what Mikey was saying.

“… n-….no.. l.. le-eo…” Mikey then let out a small sob as Donnie’s eyes went wide.

“Hey, Angelo, it’s alright. You got him out. He’s safe. Leo say something, please.” Donnie looked desperately at his twin.

Leo bit his lip. “Mikey, hey bud, I’m here. I’m safe. Hurt, but safe. Could you wake up for me? I want to see your pretty eyes and wide smile again!” Leo tried.

They both looked hopefully at their little brother. He had stopped shifting and had relaxed back into a more natural sleeping position. As the heart monitor seemed to calm down, Mikey’s face returned to the neutral expression he previously had as Donnie wiped the tears off his cheeks.

“I take it that means he’s not waking up?” Leo broke the silence.

Donnie checked his wrist tech. “His vitals have returned back to normal. Whatever dream he’s having, I hope he wakes up soon. He doesn’t need to relive everything that just happened.”

Leo shifted back into the bed as he sighed. “The nightmares… you getting them too?” Leo asked quietly. His twin didn’t respond, just gave a single nod before diving into his wrist tech, compiling the data.

Leo looked up at the ceiling, knowing that was all the conversation he’d be getting out of the soft shell today.

—————

Hours later, Donnie and Leo called Raph into the room to talk about what happened. They were sitting in a circle, Leo on his bed while Donnie and Raph were on either side.

“Ok wait, run me through one more time.” Raph rubbed his temples.

Donnie sighed. “Mikey’s state shifted earlier. He managed to break through the wall of consciousness just enough where we were able to get a glimpse at what he’s dreaming about.” He explained.

“Don Ton’s running theory is that he’s dreaming about the invasion. He… he was crying and Donnie said Mikey said my name.” Leo added.

“But.. he’s fallen back into a coma now.” Raph finished.

“Exactly.” Donnie nodded. The three brother’s all sat in silence for a moment.

“I hate this.” Raph said quietly. Looking over at Mikey who looked peacefully asleep.

“We all do Raphala.” Donnie put his head down on the bed. He was exhausted after all this.

“Think it’s something we should call Draxum about?” Leo asked.

“Maybe… I mean, it’s just his state shifting in and out of a deeper unconsciousness. I can’t imagine that’s some mystic problem.” Donnie’s voice was muffled in the mattress.

“Uhh… are we sure about that?” Raph’s voice sounded concerned, causing both Leo and Donnie to look up and over at their big brother. Raph was pointing at Mikey’s bed.

Mikey’s arms were glowing through the bandages and his face looked strained.

Donnie was quick to jump up and go over to him. “Well that’s new.” He went to grab Mikey’s arm but Raph stopped him.

“Remember what happened last time we touched him like this?” Raph reminded him. They both looked down at their bandaged arms.

Donnie sighed and grabbed his goggles off the side table. He put them on and over his eyes before looking his younger brother up and down.

“Ok, that is a lot of mystic,” Donnie whistled. “I think Leo was right about calling Draxum.”

“I got it.” Raph pulled out his phone and quickly dialed up the goatman’s number.

While Raph made the call, Donnie leaned over Mikey and carefully opened one of his eyelids. Mikey’s eye was glowing entirely gold. Donnie lifted his goggles to just look at it.

“What is it, Don?” Leo asked.

Donnie didn’t say anything as he watched the energy die down and his little brother stopped glowing. Mikey’s eye slowly faded till it returned to normal before rolling up in his head. Donnie let Mikey’s eyelid fall after that.

“Raph, tell Draxum his eyes were glowing too.” Donnie said and Raph nodded, relaying the information over the phone before hanging up.

“Draxum said he’d be here soon.” Raph put his phone away.

“How soon?” Leo insisted, shifting uncomfortably on the medical bed.

“About-“ Raph started before being interrupted by the opening of a pinkish portal in the middle of the room. “Now apparently.”

Draxum stepped out.

“Move aside.” Was all the Baron said as he walked over to Mikey’s bedside. Donnie was quick to get out of his path and return to Leo’s side.

The three brother’s watched as Draxum used his own magic to create a rune overtop of Mikey. It swirled around their little brother as Draxum whispered under his breath.

“Um, you want to explain to us what is going on?” Leo tried, feeling a sense of protectiveness swirl inside, despite knowing that at this point, Draxum would not hurt Mikey.

A harsh “SHHH” came from Draxum as he continued the ritual. The boys stood there in silence, getting the hint.

Draxum sighed and finished the spell, the magic swirling around his hand for a minute before dissipating in a ball of sparkles.

“I was worried something like this may happen.” Was the first thing he said.

“I’m sorry, you knew!? And didn’t warn us!?” Leo snapped. “You knew his powers would just randomly act up!?” Leo sat up abruptly and promptly flinched a bit and held side. Inhaling sharply through his teeth. Raph was quick to check if he was ok without touching the slider.

“I had a feeling it may. His powers were unlocked out of nowhere in an extremely large output all at once. Especially for a first time use.” Draxum turned to face them and noted their slightly confused expressions. “Think, if you had a bucket of water. If it had a small hole in the bottom of it, it’s easier to stop the flow. As the hole gets bigger, more is going to try and flow out, but you can build upon the patchwork you’ve already created to ensure the water doesn't spill. As opposed to if you were to punch a giant hole through the bottom all at once, all the water is going to flow out and there is very little hope of patching that hole back up, especially if you keep pouring more and more into the bucket.”Draxum explained. “With mystics, it’s similar to this. The first use of mystics he managed was a feat that even some masters would have difficulty with. Meaning he was never given the time to learn safely and prepare. Therefore, some overflow is to be expected, especially if he isn’t in control of himself.”

“Oh you mean like the fact that he’s passed out unconscious!?” Leo crossed his arms.

“Not as much unconscious… more when he is in a heightened or vulnerable emotional state.” Draxum corrected. The room went silent for a moment, only to be broken by Raph's sad voice.

“You mean… like having a nightmare?”

“Yes. That would do it.” Draxum confirmed.

They all looked at Mikey.

Donnie sighed. “What can we do about it? He’s gonna be asleep for who knows how long. If my knowledge of PTSD, which we all have at this point, serves me correctly, he’s probably reliving the invasion over and over again, and judging by how these situations usually go, these mystic outbursts will probably be getting worse and worse. Am I right?” They all looked at Draxum.

“Most likely yes. Until I can work with him on controlling his mystic output, his body won’t know the limit and as he regains his full supply of mystic energy, the outbursts will most likely get stronger.”

“Great. Fan-frickin-tastic.” Donnie crossed his arms and sat on Leo’s bed.

“Hey, deep breaths, Donnie. He’ll wake up eventually.” Raph went to put a hand on Donnie’s shoulder, but hesitated for a moment and chose against it.

Draxum turned away from them and looked Mikey over. “All we can do is wait. I will stop by once a day to monitor his mystic levels. Donatello, if you would like, I can show you what I’ll be looking for so you can collect that data as well.”

Donnie glared angrily at the floor for a moment as his brother’s waited to see what his response would be to me. He growled in a low tone before standing up and silently marching over to Draxum’s side.

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

Day turned to night without any change in Mikey. Draxum had left the med-bay around midnight, saying he was going to be in the living room getting some sleep and to alert him the moment there was a change in Mikey’s condition. Leo had fallen asleep at around 10 and Donnie told Raph to go get some sleep at 11. Donnie was slipping in and out of sleep sitting next to Mikey’s bed. He kept seeing that disgusting control panel, everytime he closed his eyes. Feeling the gross texture slipping through the skin on his shell, and the shivery feeling that ran through his spine. It was disgusting, all consuming, overstimulating and-

Donnie shot up from his chair, body shivering and brain fuzzy. His hands wrapped around him, his nails digging into his back. If it weren’t for the layer of bandages and fabric from his hoodie, he could have torn holes in his shell. Instead he sat there, shivering and gagging while his mind cleared and reality began to sink in again. Normally, he’d get stuck like that until someone found him and tore his hands away from his shell. Instead, a blinding light was flickering. One that caught his attention. Donnie ripped his eyelids open and looked up to see Mikey’s arms glowing. His heart rate had only risen a little but the glowing was there. Donnie looked over to the clock to see it was 4 am. He stood up from his chair and, with shaking hands, grabbed his goggles to looked over his brother. He checked the mystic levels Draxum had shown him and calculated out a few factors. He was about to call Draxum when the light faded and Mikey settled back down. Donnie blinked and checked the recording he had set up in the med-bay. The moment had only lasted 30 seconds. It was the calmest of them he’d seen yet. He sighed and sat back down, taking his goggles off. Donnie decided he wasn’t going to get Draxum over this, not wanting to cause Leo to wake up from the noise. He’d tell the goat man in the morning. So, he settled in and pulled out his phone. After the way he woke up, there was not going to be any more sleep for Donnie that night.

——————

“So let me get this straight. He had another mystic outburst last night, and you didn't get me immediately!?” Draxum glared at Donnie as the softshell ran through his daily check up on Leo. Donnie was very adamant on staying on schedule. He would run a checkup on Leo 3 times a day, on Raph twice, and once on himself, unfortunately requiring the assistance of either his father or Draxum for this task. Draxum had taken on the responsibility of running Mikey’s check ups, and thus, this gave Donnie the opportunity to focus his attention on himself, Raph, and Leo. Better to be busy than being left to stew in his thoughts.

Said slider was currently keeping his mouth shut as to not be added to the list of people who have incurred Draxum’s wrath this morning.

“I was going to but it only lasted 30 seconds. I figured it would be best to keep an eye on him and wait till the morning. Mikey isn't the only one who is still in recovery here.” Donnie said as he finished re-wrapping the bandages on Leo’s neck.

“Yes, but Leonardo is awake and suffering physical injuries. He now needs to recover, but we at least have a good idea on where he stands. Mystic problems are an entire other ball park.” Draxum retorted.

Donnie was getting fed up with the man. Tensions had been high in the lair since the invasion ended and even before then, but Draxum was not helping in Donnie’s opinion. Sure, he knew best when it came to the mystic problems that were currently plaguing his unconscious little brother, but at this point, Donnie had set up a full system to monitor everything Draxum had said may be a problem. This included a system to track changes in his brain activity, and alerts when his emotional responses elevated, along with the normal vitals and of course, a piece of tech Draxum had modified to track Mikey’s mystic output. The moment things began taking a turn for the worse, Donnie would be notified.

“Listen, I-” speaking of being notified, Donnie’s wrist tech began screeching at him. “For the love of- we have incoming.” Donnie looked up to Draxum. Both of them decided to put this petty dispute down for now in favor of being prepared to see if this would be another minor outburst or if it would be worse. Because that's exactly what they wanted to do at 8:30 in the morning.

It didn't take long for the glowing to start. That was normal, so far so good. Donnie was keeping an eye on his tech and watching Mikey’s vitals, while Draxum was monitoring the mystic output.

“The numbers are rising fast.” Draxum noted.

“Um, guys…” Leo’s voice could be heard, sounding unsure from behind them.

“Give me one moment, Leo.” Donnie shrugged him off, taking a mental note to check in with Leo once Mikey calmed down.

“But, Donnie-”

“In a minute, Nardo I need to-”

“Hey! Brainiac!” something soft hit the back of Donnie’s head. It was a ball of gauze. “Look up!” Leo’s voice was loud and assertive now.

Donnie grumbled but complied with Leo’s request, looking up and over at him. He was ready to make a snide comment about the ball of gause that his brother had so graciously thrown his way when he finally took in his surroundings. He instantly understood as he looked around the room and small items were floating in the air.

“Uhhh… Draxum? I’m pretty sure this is new!” Donnie and Draxum shared a look, as Leo watched helplessly from his bed.

The slider was looking around the room, almost amazed at the sight. All things considered, this was pretty cool. I mean sure his little brother was in a coma and all but, come on. He was making things float! Badass mystic powers for his badass mystic brother. When he finally cast his gaze back on said little brother, his expression of wonder immediately fell. Thick, golden tears were falling from Mikey’s eyes and an expression that can only be described as heartache was painted over the box turtle’s features.

“Donnie! Comfort Mikey, now!” he barked out the order, coughing a bit at the dryness in his throat.

Donnie looked over to Mikey and immediately disregarded all his tech to be by the younger’s side.

“Mikey, hey, can you hear me?” Donnie spoke in a soft voice, while behind him, Draxum was counting how long the items were floating for and Leo watched from the other bed. “Mikey, it’s ok. If you can hear me, I need you to wake up.” he tried. Mikey froze for a moment before his body began to jerk around and his sobs became harder. All Donnie could make out from the screams ripping from the younger’s throat was a single name.

“R-raph! Raph no- please don't be-RAPH!” Mikey’s cries were desperate.

Donnie’s eyes widened. “Leo, call Raph, get him in here now!”

Leo was quick to comply, grabbing his phone from the night stand and dialing up his big brother.

Now, Raph, all things considered, had had a decent morning. He woke up, checked in on Donnie and Leo before being shooed away by Draxum, had decided he was going to make breakfast for everyone, and even had a nice chat with his father. In fact, that's where the two of them were when the screams had started. Raph was making a bunch of toast and talking to Splinter, giving him the rundown of everything they knew about Mikey’s condition. When the sounds of despair echoed down the hallway, Raph’s big brother senses kicked in and he was already heading to the med-bay when Leo called him. He was quick to pick up the phone.

“I’m almost there, Leo,” he said the moment he picked up the call.

“Good cause we need you.” was the leader's reply.

It only took 5 seconds after that for Raph to clear the distance and make it to the med-bay. The sight he was greeted with was not the sight he wanted to see this morning.

Mikey was thrashing around with Donnie panicking at his side and trying to make him calm down while the entire room seemed to be glowing and medical supplies hovered in the air. He watched as Mikey launched himself upright, only to fall forward and throw up all over the bedding he had been kicking off in his sleep. This was the moment Donnie’s face contorted in disgust and the softshell looked up to Raph, desperate for the older brother’s help. Raph didn't hesitate to jump in and take Donnie’s place.
He was by Mikey’s side in a second. Unlike before when he went to touch one of his brothers, when that pestering voice in the back of his head stopped him from laying his hands on one of them lest he hurt one of them like he had Leo, this time Raph’s hand was on Mikey’s shell, a comforting gesture to try and provide some familiarity to the screaming box shell.

“Hey buddy, Raph’s here, Raphie’s got ya.” He gently, yet firmly, laid Mikey down, fighting against the younger’s thrashing and turned him on his side. “I don't know if you can hear me but I'm right here.”

“R-ra-phie” Mikey hiccuped in a small, sad voice. It was laced with pain and sorrow, agony and grief, all in one stuttered word. It absolutely broke Raphael’s heart.

“Shhh, it's ok. Raph’s ok. He’d love for you to wake up and see it for yourself though.” Raph whispered hopeful, wiping one of the golden tears from Mikey’s half closed, glowing eyes. The younger only hiccuped again as another tear took the previous one’s place. Raph couldn't help himself. He pulled Mikey up into a hug. “It's ok. It's gonna be fine.”

No one moved until Mikey calmed down and his body went limp in Raph’s hold. As much as Draxum had wanted to get on him about moving the unconscious boy, he couldn't find the words to after witnessing the display.

Quietly, Raph placed Mikey back down on the bed in the recovery position. He looked at his youngest brother with a heart broken expression as he wiped his own tears from off his cheeks. He looked up and made eye contact with the twins who both looked equally heart broken and lost. Donnie had ventured over to Leo’s bed and, judging by the fact that Leo was holding one of Donnie's hands with his good arm, had needed help calming down after watching Mikey’s outburst. All three of them shared the same train of thought at that moment.

A desperation of their little brother to wake up. A fear for what he could be dreaming about, and a longing for things to just go back to normal.

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

The three brothers felt a sense of unease as they listened to the sound of the heart monitors beeping. None of them had left the med-bay since Mikey’s recent outburst. He had had minor episodes every once in a while where his arms would glow or something on the table would fall over but nothing to the same extreme as before. Draxum, after cleaning up from Mikey throwing up, had stepped out again to discuss what had happened with Splinter. The rat had observed the latter half of Mikey’s episode, having followed behind Raph and stood in the doorway till it ended. He had then made sure to bring his boys the breakfast Raph had prepared and a few other things they would need to be comfortable in the med-bay.

Splinter knew his sons. He knew none of them were leaving their youngests side anytime soon. Not after that one.

The breakfast had barely been touched, the tension in the room was thick and the three boys were around Leo’s bed playing Uno to try and keep their minds off of everything.

“Nardo I swear if you play another skip on my turn I'm turning off your life support.” Donnie deadpanned as Raph played his next card.

“Leo, of all the games you could have chosen, did it have to be the one that makes Donnie violent?” The snapper looked over to his brother who was looking thoughtfully at the cards in his hand.

“What can I say? It was this or we sit through Donnie trying to explain how to play Hearts again.” Leo responded while placing down a reverse card.

“That's not any better, Leo!” Donnie huffed. “And for the last time, Hearts is not that complicated! The rules are simple once you get the hang of them!”

“And yet you're the only one who ever seems to understand how to play it.” Leo raised a non-existent eyebrow as Raph shook his head and picked up 3 cards from the draw pile before being able to play his next card.

“Scoff! Not true! Our dear Angelo has played it with me multiple times!” Donnie finally got to play again after being skipped 3 turns in a row. He placed down one of the three cards he had left.

“I'm pretty sure he just throws random cards down and eats odd number cards whenever you aren't looking.” Raph commented, gazing over once again at Mikey without thinking about it.

“Is that why my card decks are always missing the threes!?” Donnie asked, raising his voice a little but not enough to heighten the mood in the room.

Leo laughed a little while playing his next card. “Uno my brethren.” he was met with the other two looking over to him with a groan. “Hey, how about I add a little bet to this here game.”

“Hmm? And what would that be, Nardo?” Donnie looked up and Raph held his next card, not playing it yet.

“If Donnie wins, we play Hearts.” He started.

“Go on” the soft shell eyed him suspiciously.

“If Raph wins, he gets to choose the next game. Which, knowing my big brother, will probably be Go Fish.” Leo continued.

“He ain't wrong. Simplicity. The thing I appreciate in a game.” Raph flicked his finger over the card he had yet to play.

“And if you win?” Donnie leaned forward.

“Simple really.” Leo held up the one card he had left. “You guys let me get out of bed. I want to at least try taking 1 step.”

“What!? Leo are you insane!? You're nowhere near ready to-”

Raph cut Donnie off by simply saying, “Deal” and placing down a draw 4 wild card. “New color’s red.” Leo scoffed and Donnie sighed, recomposing himself.

“Fine.” Donnie placed a red 5 as Leo drew 4 new cards. “Uno.”

They continued to play, bantering as siblings do, calmly. Of course Leo did his usual taunts, but there was no kick behind them. It felt so calm for the game that ruins friendships. When they made it to the point where both Donnie and Leo were finally down to 1 card after exchanging draw cards for multiple turns and poor Raph was stuck in the cross hairs with 6 cards, they heard a sharp inhale and the familiar golden light had them all turning their attention over to Mikey.

The boy’s arms were glowing again, normal. And his eyes were half way open, but this time, they weren’t glowing. For the first time in days, the boys saw the blue of their little brother’s unfocused eyes.

“Mikey? You awake Bud?” Raph asked softly as Donnie pulled out his tech to log the time and data.

Mikey didn't respond, he just stared at nothing.

“Miguel?” Leo asked, only to be met with Mikey releasing the breath and shifting back to a limp, sleeping position as his unseeing eyes slipped shut.

They were silent for a moment, but Leo of course had to break it with one phrase. “I win.” he placed his last card down. “I want to walk over to him.”

Neither of the other two said anything. They didn't try to change the rules of the bet last minute like they normally would, they simply cleared the cards off of Leo's blanket and helped him sit up. In silence, the three brothers moved, working to get Leo to a point where he could stand.

“On three.” Donnie said. Raph put away the cards as Donnie wrapped an arm under Leo's to help him up.

“1,” Donnie counted, making sure his grip on Leo was firm.

“2,” the slider confirmed he was ready.

“3.” They said at the same time as they both pushed him up till he was on his feet.

Donnie held him there a minute as Leo's expression shifted to one of pain and determination. He took a second before attempting to take a step forward. Donnie supported him almost entirely as they made their way slowly across the med-bay.
When they made it to his bedside, Donnie set him down gently. Leo sat on the side of Mikey’s bed, looking over the younger turtle. Slowly, he raised his hand and rested it gently on the box turtle’s cheek.

“Thank you Miguel. Thank you for saving me.” Leo whispered as Donnie and Raph exchanged a look. “Wake up soon for me. Will ya? I miss you.” There was another silence. Each of the brothers hoped Mikey’s eyes would open and that classic Mikey smile would appear on his face before he pulled them all into a hug. But that didn't happen. Instead, a minute passed of silence before a single tear fell from Leo’s eye as he spoke one more time, even softer than before. “I'm sorry…”

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

They had spent the rest of the day in his room and ended up falling asleep crowded around Leo’s bed. It was a soft moment, all of them crowded together, instinctually holding each other in their sleep. Even Raph was joining in on the informal hug pile. None of them woke up that night. They slept peacefully in the safety of each other's touch.

When Splinter checked in on them in the morning and saw them all huddled up like that, he’d be lying if he were to claim he didn’t take a picture. Or 10.

Looking over to his youngest, however, he sighed and walked over to the bed.

“My son. Please. It has been a week now since the invasion. Please, wake up.” he whispered. “Your brothers need you.” he took Mikey’s hand and kissed the top of it softly. He stayed put, rubbing small circles onto Mikey’s hand until he felt a small weight on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Draxum.

“Our boy will be ok.” He spoke softly, looking Mikey over as if he didn't have the sight of the unconscious box turtle permanently stained onto his eyes.

“He needs to be. I don't know how much more of this they can take.” Splinter looked up to where the other three were still asleep. Donnie stirred a little from the noise, only to readjust the hold he had on Leo's hand and still once more. “They’re too young for this.”

“And yet, this danger seems to follow them as a constant in their lives.” Draxum sighed. “I suppose I can’t say much though. I am the reason they are this way.”

“You’re the reason I have them to begin with. I may never be able to fully forgive you for taking my life away from me, but I can give you credit for that. Mikey was right that day in the Hidden City. Without you, I wouldn't have them. So thank you. And thank you for taking care of them now.”

Draxum hummed in response, not quite sure of how to respond to the emotional transparency. “How is the boy out of his time?”

Splinter sighed. “I am not fully sure. He went home with April a few hours before Leonardo woke up and he hasn't returned yet. April said he was doing as fine as he could be, given the circumstances but… I am worried for him…”

“I can tell.” Draxum commented.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Splinter spit with no bite to his words.

“You have the same concerned look in your eyes when talking about him that you do when you talk about one of them.” Draxum gestured to the 4 sleeping turtles with his head. “You have a tendency to take in random kids.”

Splinter shrugged. ”I can't help it if they keep showing up.”

They shared a moment of silence before Draxum stepped away. “I will be running my morning checkup on Mikey now. Do not worry, I will stay quiet so as to not wake those three.”

“Good. They need sleep. I'll begin making breakfast for everyone.” Splinter turned away from the medical bed and headed out the door. “Keep me posted please.”

Draxum nodded, not caring if Splinter saw the action or not. He simply began his morning routine once again.

Eventually, the noises of medical equipment in use was enough to wake the soft shell, who soon after stood up and went to Draxum’s side to help. Though, before he could do anything, he paused when he saw that Draxum had already finished everything on the list he had made to care for Mikey.

Before Donnie could even comment on this, however, Draxum was looking at him while holding the disinfectant for Donnie’s shell. The turtle sighed, knowing there would be no getting out of this and promptly pulled off his hoodie
The two went through all the normal steps for Donnie’s recovery routine(which they had skipped yesterday), making sure to take things slow so Donnie could handle it all. Even after a week, anything touching his shell was enough to send the feeling of bugs crawling under his skin through his whole body.

It wasn’t long after that the smell of food wafting from the kitchen awoke Raph, who gave a minor panicked expression when he saw that Leo had been using his lower arm as a pillow all night. The snapper gently lifted his little brother’s head and placed him back down onto a pillow before standing up and walking over to where Donnie was slipping his hoodie back on. Donnie waved at him with a small, forced smile. Raph returned the smile, trying his best to offer some form of comfort while knowing Donnie wouldn’t want touch right now. Raph instead just sat down to let Donnie give him his daily check up. The routine had been one of the only reasons Donnie was still sane after everything. The familiarity and sense of control it provided felt comforting. He ran all the checks he needed and changed the bandages on Raph that needed it before the two made their way out of the med-bay to stop by the kitchen and grab food. Splinter encouraged them to eat at the table but neither of them wanted to leave Leo or Mikey for very long so it was back to the med-bay they went.

The day continued on like that. It was quiet and uneventful. They were all waiting for Mikey's next outburst. Through Draxum’s questions, Leo waking up, and April calling, the mood stayed low. They were missing that ray of sunshine that always brought up the mood on gloomy days like this. The little ball of energy that would insist on showcasing his latest mural or drag them to the skate ramp so they could witness the new trick he had learned. The lair just felt wrong right now.

Here, after a day of sadness and silence, was when Mikey’s mystics decided to kick in one more time.

It started small. Those currently in the med-bay believed it would just be another minute long episode before he returned to normal. That’s what they were ready for.

So, when Mikey’s arms started to glow again while Leo and Raph were watching a Lou Jitsu movie on Raph’s phone, they didn’t panic. Donnie sent Leo a text asking how bad it was this time, saying his wrist tech had alerted him to the outburst, and Leo replied telling him that it wasn't bad but he’d keep him updated. The only reason they had gotten Donnie to leave the med-bay was the fact that Draxum asked if Donnie would lend him the lab and Donnie refused to let him in unsupervised.
It wasn’t until 2 minutes later when Mikey began growing restless that the two of them really took note and Leo sent Donnie a second text, ‘it got worse.’ Which, Donnie promptly responded with, ‘I’ll be right there.’

“Raph, you wanna help me over there?” Leo paused the movie and set down his phone.

Raph cringed a little. “Not sure if that’s a great idea, Leo. If this is gonna get worse, I don’t wanna risk you getting hurt.” They both looked over to their little brother, who was tossing and turning, his blanket floating above him.

“Look, what if it’s one of those times he starts calling for one of us? I just want to be ready. I just want to be there.” Leo gave him a pleading look.

“I…” Raph bit his lip, his sharp snaggle tooth digging into his skin as he did so, causing Leo to give him a look that could only be interpreted as ‘we’ve talked about this.’ Raph was able to catch this and release his lip before he bled. It was a nervous habit they were working to break.

Leo sighed. “Ok. Donnie will be here in a moment. He’ll help me over. Just, go stand by him in case, ok?” Raph nodded and walked over, kneeling down next to the bed and looking Mikey over. “How’s he doing, big guy?”

Raph hummed. “His breathings really fast and… I think he’s sweating.”

“That can’t be good.” Leo pushed himself up the best he could.

Donnie stormed into the room a moment later, staring down at his wrist tech. “His body temperature has increased and Draxum said his mystic levels are fluctuating. How long?”

“3 minutes now. Help me over. Don.” Leo was wincing as he pushed himself to the edge of the bed. Donnie didn’t argue. He knew saying no to Leo would end in an argument he didn’t have time for, so instead, he simply chose to just help Leo up, hand him the pair of crutches Splinter had dug out of the storage room, and offered Leo support when he needed it. Leo was able to hobble his way over to the edge of Mikey’s bed. With all three of them around him, they were each able to see what they were dealing with.

Mikey looked pale. His body was shaking(especially his arms), sweat was beading on his forehead, and his expression was pained.

Sharing a look between them, they could all tell they were having the same worried thoughts swimming through their heads.

“What are we even supposed to do? Nothing we have done ever seems to help.” Raph asked, obviously trying not to panic.

“All we really can do is ensure this fever of his doesn’t get worse.” Donnie stated. “Leo? Any suggestions oh wise medic?” he said sarcastically.

Leo blinked, feeling as if his heart was going to break. Something told him this time was different. Not because his symptoms were worse, but he could just feel that something was going to happen.

“Earth to Leo, you there?” Donnie waved a hand in front of his face, causing Leo to blink a few times and shake his head.

“Hmm? Right, oh, ok. How are his fluids?” Leo looked up at Donnie.

“I'll check the IV drip.” Donnie stepped away from the bed to check it. As he did so, Mikey seemed to go still for a moment, before whimpering and whispering to himself. Leo shushed the other two and listened to his brother, managing to make out two words.

“L…L-e…o” Mikey whimpered out, his speech broken. “R-ra…aph-ie” He sounded like he was going to cry. The turtle curled in on himself.

“Hey, hey Mikey, shhh. It's ok. We’re here. We’re both here.” Leo said, placing a hand on Mikey’s upper arm. “You're just dreaming. It’ll be over soon, I promise.” Leo looked up to Raph, who had a heart broken expression plastered on his face.

“You’re gonna be ok, Little Man.” Raph whispered.

“Ha, hey Mikey? Don't you wanna wake up and yell at Raph for calling you that?” Leo joked, rubbing Mikey's arm a bit in an attempt to be comforting. His slight smile only fell as Mikey sucked in a big breath and held it, his entire body tensed. “Hey, Mikey, I need you to breathe. Please.”

Mikey held his breath for a full minute before letting out 1 more whisper. “N-no.. D-Do…onn-ie.”

There was just enough time for Donnie to look up from where he was changing the IV bags to see Mikey before the youngest started screaming.

A blinding wave of light, more blood orange than golden, exploded from Mikey with almost an invisible force that caused all three brother’s to stumble. They shielded their eyes and Donnie threw his hands over his ears. When he opened his eyes again, Donnie looked around.

“Oh sweet Galileo you have got to be kidding me!” Donnie almost yelled, frustrated. Looking around the med bay, there were objects hovering and others that were on fire.

“Well, that's new!” Leo exclaimed, having looked up upon hearing Donnie. He then looked back to Mikey, who was still screaming. “Donnie, he said your name before this started, get over here!”

Donnie sighed and made his way back to the bedside. “It’s not gonna help, he hasn’t reacted to anything we’ve tried, why would he this time!?”

“I don’t know but it’s worth a try!” Leo exclaimed.

Raph sighed, worry very prevalent on his face. He placed a hand on the top of Mikey’s head, careful not to touch the sensitive patch where Mikey had hit his head during the battle.

“What on earth is going on in here!?” Draxum walked in, looking around and gawking. “Is that fire?”

“Yes! Could you put it out while we deal with this!?” Donnie barked at him. Mikey reacted with a flinch to Donnie’s voice, which Leo took note of.

Draxum nodded and walked over,grumbling under his breath while he dealt with the flames before they could spread.

“Donnie, say something else.” Leo insisted.

“Um… ok…” Donnie reached to place a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. “Mikey, shh, I’m right here, Angelo. Whatever you’re seeing… I’m right here.” The moment Donnie’s hand made contact, Mikey’s hand shot over and he took Donnie’s hand in a death grip, causing him to jump. The box turtle stopped screaming and instead just started sobbing. The items flying around the room began to swirl around as his powers reacted to his emotions.

Draxum looked around, a panicked look on his face. “Boys! We need to go, this is starting to get too dangerous. We can wait it out in a different room.”

Leo shook his head. “No. I am not leaving my little brother alone like this. I can’t.” The feeling kept getting stronger. Part of him knew that if he left now, he’d miss Mikey waking up and he refused to do that.

Raph yelped a little as he ducked down, avoiding getting hit by a flying scalpel.

“I can’t go anywhere, he’s not letting go of me.” Donnie said, trying to pull his hand away, only to be trapped in Mikey’s death grip as the box turtle’s sobs began to return to screams.

Light pulsed from their little brother, an invisible force pushed at everyone in the room, causing the brothers to stumble again and the flying medical equipment to launch back against the walls.

Draxum swore under his breath. “I’m going to get Lou.” He started, bolting from the room. The three boys barely acknowledged it as they held onto their brother, each of them in a different way. Raph had a hand on his shoulder, Leo on his arm and Donnie his hand. They would not let go. Whatever their little brother was seeing, whatever was causing him this crushing pain, they couldn’t let him go through this alone.

All at once a blinding light shot out from Mikey and he pulled away from the touch of his brothers, finally releasing Donnie’s hand. The final surge of power that shot out was enough to knock the wind out of the three boys and cause anything that had survived Mikey’s initial freak out to fall back, break, or hit the wall. The shock wave knocked the lights out and power in the lair shut off. For a moment, everything was dark, save for the small, floating specks of light throughout the room. They looked like frozen fireflies.

Leo, Raph, and Donnie coughed to catch their breath.

“The power! Donnie!” Raph called out between coughs.

“The backup generator should turn on in about-“ the lights blinked back on in a flash and all three of them looked back to Mikey. The boy was tense, his face contorted in pain and golden tears streaming from his eyes.

All three of the brothers looked at him, without realizing it, slipping into a mind meld with each other. Their thoughts merged into one, the same way they would during a battle. They reached out through their Ninpo for any trace of the missing link. They could feel each other's protective instincts piling up and fanning the flames of determination they all felt.

‘Mikey’

All three of them felt their powers reach out as their markings glowed. A warmth, a burning heat hit them all at once as they called to him one last time.

‘Wake up.’

And just like that…

Mikey’s eyes shot open and he sat up in a flurry, hyperventilating and gripping the bed sheets. The brother’s eyes all shot open at once as they saw their little brother, awake and panicking, his eyes darting from place to place without focus.

Mikey may have woken up but the war was far from over.

Leo was the first to recover. “Mikey!” His markings slowly dimmed as he locked eyes with Mikey for a split second before Mikey’s face contorted in sorrow and he looked away, sobbing out as tears streamed from his eyes.

Mikey looked down at his hands, his shaking hands and squeezed his eyes shut, moving his head up and opening his eyes again while staring. He caught himself staring at Raph, the eldest trying to give him a warm smile but it only made him rip his gaze away as his hands flew to his head. His breathing somehow got worse as he hyperventilated, panicking. His nails began to dig into his scalp and he flinched.

Donnie reached to pull his hands away from his head but the moment he touched him, their eyes locked for a second. The eye contact was broken as Mikey sobbed out and started smacking his palms onto his head. Hard. He blinked rapidly. It didn’t deter Donnie. He pushed in, grabbing Mikey’s wrists and pulling them away. In that moment, he was reminded of just how strong his baby brother was. It was a struggle but he eventually managed to win the arm wrestling match and pull Mikey’s hands away.

“Breath, Angelo. Please!” Donnie begged, gripping his wrists harder than he intended to in his panic.

“You’re home. You're safe.” Raph tried his best to hide the shake in his tone, the comforting voice of their oldest brother coaching him back to himself. Mikey sobbed out sadly

“We’re right here, Mikey. But we need you to breathe. Come on bud.” Leo said softly, his tone somehow sounding calm through it all.

All at once, Mikey began to cough. He folded in on himself as he tried to find his breath again. Raph placed a hand on his shell, giving him a grounding weight.

“That’s it. Follow me. In, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, good.” Leo counted out loud as Donnie tracked Mikey’s heart rate. They stayed there, counting and waiting for Mikey, giving him all the time he needed to calm down. As he finally caught his breath, his tense posture loosened and he looked up at his brothers once more. All three of them gave a soft smile, and…

Well… you remember all of this. Lets just say, it took the brothers a hot minute to convince Mikey that this was real. That he was home. That as he broke down in their arms, Mikey was safe. They were all safe from whatever nightmares plagued his mind…

…

Or so they believed.

Chapter Text

He had forgotten what it was like mere weeks after the Kraang invasion. Amidst the loss and grief he had been experiencing, his feelings on the invasion had been pushed to the side. He hadn’t thought about it for longer than a few seconds in months and here, it was only a week ago. He was watching things happen all over again.

Mikey lived in a perpetual state of deja vu. He watched as Leo struggled with the simplest of things, walking, sleeping, eating, all of it. Mikey knew he couldn’t do much to help. He remembered this. It took Leo a long time to open up the first time around. That had been a long month. Mikey remembered that, unfortunately, like it had been real.

------

Leo had been caught trying to get up and move around again. Donnie promptly made sure he was back in bed and resting. The time had been 3 am and to be honest, none of the boys were asleep.

“Mikey, seeing as I doubt either of you will be asleep any time soon, would you mind keeping an eye on this idiot and calling me if he gets out of bed again so I can come in and strap him down to the bed.” Donnie spoke in his entirely monotone and definitely tired voice. Mikey gave a shaky thumbs up before Donnie just straight up turned and left.

Mikey shuddered at the memory, especially as it played out in front of him once again.

-------

It had taken only a few hours after Mikey had woken up to remember the time he had to clean Donnie’s shell. When he asked the soft shell about it, he stiffened and showed Mikey that he had put bandages over it with Draxum's help. Mikey shook his head and insisted that Donnie let him clean it out, just as he did so long ago. Donnie had been hesitant but in the end, admitted that the amount of painkillers he had been downing in order to ignore the pain was probably (definitely) not healthy and he let Mikey take care of it. Unlike when he allowed Draxum to do it, Donnie was able to stay relaxed as it was Mikey's trusted hands on his shell instead of the rough callused paws of Draxum. It was just like last time, only now, the pain in Mikey’s hands was worse. Like way worse then Mikey remembered it being. However, for Donnie, he bit his lip and, even as tears fell from his eyes, he sucked it up and got it done. It stung. Bad. Beyond that, he had dropped the medical supplies more times then he remembered. When Donnie asked about it, Mikey had just put on his classic smile and reassured him that it was ok. He didn’t miss the look Donnie gave him though. The “I’m putting that in my notes and coming back to it in no less than 2 days. Be ready.” Look.

Then there was Raph. Mikey remembered from before that Raph hadn’t wanted to really touch any of them for a while, until he and Donnie started talking about the phantom feelings from the Kraang tentacles. He had coaxed both parties into having that discussion and, just like before, it had helped.

It was now about 3 days from when Mikey woke up. He was still stuck in the med bay, his hands stung worse than he remembered every time he moved them, and he still hadn’t explained why he had freaked out so much to his brothers, or why he didn’t seem surprised every time they dropped a bombshell(pun not intended) on him. For example, his hands have nerve damage. Mikey knew. He remembered how hard it had been. How he pushed through it as quickly as possible last time to be able to spray paint again. Or when Raph had admitted he couldn’t see out of his right eye. Mikey knew already. He had flinched at the memory of it being the reason Raph had failed to block the final fatal blow, but he brushed it off as a hand cramp when asked.

Though, everyone did notice the way Mikey responded the first time Leo and Raph did have a disagreement. It was over something silly. Honestly, they had just been bickering about some new video game, Raph on a chair a few feet away from the bed and Leo was sitting up, shell propped up on the back board with 2 pillows in between as they bickered. However, bickering turned into playful arguing. There was no real bite behind their words and no real punch in their insults, but it was still ‘arguing’.
“Raph why on earth would you ever get the wonder wheeler when you could be driving the mega bike!? It’s the obvious choice between the two. Better maneuverability and speed! It really helps during the police chase.” Leo picked at the casts on his arms.
“Sure but the wonder wheeler is bigger. The bike is fine but it’s sacrificing both offense and defense for maneuverability. The wonder wheeler takes skill to master but once you do, it’s the better vehicle.”

A truly innocent back and forth. However, when Leo jokingly raised his voice, Mikey flinched back hard. He had been sitting up on the med cot while reaching to grab his next round of painkillers(Mikey was taken off an IV after he woke up) when his jerky movements caused the glass cup of water on the tray to fall to the floor and shatter. And that… ya that did it. Instantly flashes of a broken alcohol bottle raced through his head, along with screaming that filled the lair, the sounds of a fight breaking out, and the images of blood, oh gosh.. That was a lot of blood.. Please no! Mikey couldn't do this again and his mind was racing, and he couldn't think straight, the world was starting to glow a bright golden color and…

“Mikey!” A hand on his shoulder was the first thing that pulled him away from the ensuing panic attack. Donnie’s voice filled his ears, attempting to tell him he needed to breathe and coach him through the breathing exercise they always used in these situations. However, all Mikey could see was a blinding gold filter over the grizzly scene of his brother’s lifeless body.

“L…leo…” Mikey squeaked out before a sob cut him off and suddenly he was gasping for air.

He didn't process it as Donnie went over to Leo's bed, helping the turtle over to their crying younger brother. It wasn't until a familiar grip on his upper arm and a soft “Miguel” broke through the ringing in his ears that he was able to open his eyes, (when had he closed his eyes?) and see a very alive Leo in front of him. Mikey froze entirely, his mind racing as it tried to explain how his brother was alive right now… if his brother was alive right now…

Mikey reached towards Leo's wrist to find his pulse. Leo remembered this from when Mikey had first woken up and let Mikey do what he needed to do. He did, however, shoot a concerned glance over to Donnie, who nodded in acknowledgement. So they both caught it then…

“Miguel, are you ok?” Leo’s soft voice asked.

“You're alive..” Mikey whispered. The glow in his arms was beginning to fade as feeling came back to his trembling hands. He quickly let go of Leo’s wrist, flinching at the painful feeling he hadn't even been registering before.

“Easy, Angelo. Nerve damage, remember?” Donnie picked up the painkillers on Mikey’s tray and the cup of water on Leo’s tray(aka the one that wasn't broken into 100 pieces on the floor) and helped Mikey take the medication. The youngest took a minute to fully regain his surroundings before taking a deep breath in and out. Leo was once again sitting on the edge of Mikey’s bed, ignoring his own pain to ensure the youngest was ok, Donnie was standing by the bedside, and Raph was cleaning up the glass.

Mikey flinched once more at the reminder… Broken glass…

“You still with us, Mike?” Raph asked, looking up for a moment to survey the situation.

He hesitantly nodded. “Sorry…”

“Hey, no need to apologize. I think we’ve all been having panic attacks. Its kinda to be expected after the crap show we just went through.” Leo said with a forced look of ease on his face to hide his concern.

“That is correct, however, it does raise a few questions.” Donnie chimed in.

“Questions?” Mikey asked, his mind still processing things a bit slowly.

“Such as what triggered this one?” Donnie’s voice softened a little.

Mikey’s eyes widened with realization. His mind raced for something he could say, anything to not talk about the events of his coma dream.

“Oh i- um.. Well.. haha..” Mikey stuttered as he attempted to come up with a lie.

“Breath bud. Just be honest.” Leo instructed. Mikey took a deep breath, allowing his thoughts to clear as he found a clean lie to tell. He had to pull from his long suppressed Kraang fight memories to figure out a story that made sense, and after a minute of making sure he knew how to phrase it correctly so it wouldn't clue them into the fact that he was lying, Mikey spoke again.

“My… hands were cramping up. I reached for the pain meds and they spasmed… causing the glass to fall. The sudden noise triggered it I think.” Mikey looked down at his hands. To Leo, Donnie, and Raph it looked as if he were just observing his hands as he processed the pain, but what Mikey had actually been doing was avoiding eye contact. “It reminded me of the window’s breaking on the building I chucked at… ya know..” he gave a bit more explanation. Part of him felt bad for the lie, but the other part of him couldn't feel anything but relief when Donnie finally spoke up once more.

“That's understandable. Next time, just ask me for help, alright? We’ll get plastic cups in here instead of the glass ones. Does that sound alright?” each of them looked at Mikey.

The youngest nodded. “Ya… Thanks Don.” he forced a smile onto his face.

From there, the four were decently silent as Donnie helped Leo back to his own bed and Raph stepped out to grab the plastic cups Donnie had mentioned.

Mikey zoned out a bit as he thought. If he was going to keep having flashbacks to his coma dream, he needed to think of more excuses. His brothers did not need to hear what his mind had conjured up. The year of his life he spent living in a false world in such vivid detail that he still could barely wrap his head around how it wasn’t real.

“Hey Mast- uh, Mikey?” he was pulled from his thoughts by the tentative voice of Casey Jones in the doorway.

“Oh, hey Casey. What did you need?” Mikey pushed away the previous line of thought in hopes that whatever the future teen was about to ask would be distraction enough to stop himself from thinking about broken alcohol bottles and cracked shells.
“Draxum wanted to talk with you about your mystic powers some time soon. Are you up to it?” Casey answered, taking a step into the room.

“What? Why?” Mikey asked.

“Oh, hey Casey, tell him to add another glowing arm spell to the list. 2 minutes, 23 seconds this time.” Donnie butted in.

“Another? Wait what?” Mikey looked around confused.

“Again? Dang ok. Ya I'll tell him.” Casey took a mental note.

“Guys? Someone want to explain to me what you mean by glowing hands and mystic powers? I mean I know what you mean but why do I need to talk to Draxum about it now? And what do you mean by another?” Mikey insisted. Casey looked back over to Mikey, almost as if he had forgotten Mikey was awake.

“Oh right… wait, they haven't told you yet?” Casey faltered.

“Told me what!?” Mikey was getting frustrated now.

“While you were unconscious.” Donnie finally supplied, giving him the explanation he was missing. “Your arms would glow occasionally. Along the burnt cracks. Your mystic powers would act up too.”

“They what!?” Mikey looked around the room baffled.

“Ya, you lit a bunch of the medical equipment on fire.” Leo’s voice almost sounded amused as he added to the explanation that was currently blowing Mikey’s mind.

“What!?”

“Don't forget Making things fly around everywhere. Mystic warrior and all that, right, Casey?” Raph piped up this time.

Mikey’s mouth just hung open at this point. He stared at his hands in shock. “I did all that?”

“Ya, you did. When you were unconscious, your heart rate would spike every once in a while. Your arms would glow, fire, all that.” Donnie told him before sitting on the edge of Mikey’s bed. “You would cry and call out for one of us… it… was really scary.”

Mikey bit his lip. “Oh… so… that's what the glowing and the burning is.. I thought I was dreaming it up too…” He said in a quiet voice. Nobody spoke for a moment until Casey broke the silence.

“That's what Draxum wanted to talk to you about… you feeling up for it?”

Mikey took a minute to think. Talking to Draxum actually sounded nice. He missed his conversation time with the goat man and wouldn't mind asking a few questions of his own. If he had been using his powers while asleep, maybe that had affected the weird dreams, which was a topic he didn't want to bring up in front of his brother’s yet. Along with this, he wanted to talk about how he opened the portal and what he needed to do to not pass out next time he tried something like this. A question he had a feeling Raph would shut down, insisting that Mikey shouldn't be tying anything like that again anytime soon. Ya, this was a conversation Mikey needed to have without them present. He nodded and pushed the blanket off his lap. “Ya. I’ll come.” He went to stand up, only to be stopped by Donnie.

“Wait a moment, Angelo. We are the ones who witness your mystic powers going haywire. If anything, Draxum should get his dum-dum self in here and have this conversation with all of us.”

Mikey sighed. “I know, Don. And we will. I’ll come back and we can all talk but… right now I’d really like to just talk to dad alone.. I have some questions I want to ask without…” Mikey bit his lip, unsure how to not sound rude when saying he didn't want his brothers to hear the things he had to ask.

Donnie looked like he wanted to protest before Leo cut in. “Leo him go, Donnie. Besides, I think I’m due for another nap soon and really don't feel like trying to sleep with the goat man looming over me.” Mikey sent a ‘thank you’ look over to Leo, who only nodded in understanding. Leo understood the need to have some of these conversations privately. He trusted that the youngest would tell them all when he was ready to.

Donnie, still not seeming too convinced, just sighed and nodded. “Fine. But tell Draxum I want to be updated on anything you two figure out in regards to your mystic powers.”

Mikey nodded. “Will do.” Mikey stood up, a little unsteady, but with Casey’s help, he left the med bay… finally… it felt like he had been in there forever.

Now, he was off to talk to a goat about some fire… this should be fun…

Chapter Text

As soon as Mikey left the room, Donnie turned towards Leo and Raph. “Ok, he's not telling us something.”

“You could say that, yeah.” Leo nodded in agreement.

“He’s not just hiding something, he’s lying to us.” Raph chimed in, causing the other two to look over to him.

“Wait, what? How do you know?” Leo looked puzzled.

“I know Mikey’s lying face. He tries to hide it but it's the same as when I caught him sneaking an injured bird into the lair or when he accused one of you two for eating the last of the cookies. I’d know that look anywhere.”

The twins were silent as they processed that.

“Why… Why wouldn't he be honest with us? If something is wrong, especially if it has to do with the rotten bubble gum SOB’s, we need to know. What does he have to hide?” Leo asked.

“It’s Mikey. He’s not exactly the most honest about his feelings, despite his Doctor Feelings persona, he said and everyone agreed.” Donnie crossed his arms and looked away, his mind on the times when Mikey would come into his lab while the other two were fighting. How it would sometimes feel like pulling teeth to get his younger brother to say anything. The room was quiet for a moment as Leo and Raph nodded in agreement.

“Think it has to do with whatever he was dreaming about? You know, whatever caused the magic spikes?” Leo asked no one in particular. He was still sitting on Mikey’s bed, his hands playing with the blankets.

“Given the fact that he hasn’t told any of us anything about his dreams, I would say that’s plausible.” Donnie answered.

Raph sighed. “Well, Leo, what were you dreaming about?” he looked at the turtle in blue who froze up at the mention.

“What? Why? We’re talking about Mikey here, not-”

“No, Leo, he's right for once.” Donnie cut him off.

“Excuse me?” Raph rose an eyebrow ridge.
Ignoring him, Donnie continued. “We have all been operating under the assumption that Mikey’s dreams were about the invasion, the same as what Raph and I have suspected yours to be. You want Mikey to talk about his dreams but you haven’t even mentioned yours.”

“I-.” Leo crossed his arms in order to hide that he was now shaking a little. Leo had chosen to try not to think about his own dreams. All the memories circling in his head had only made his insomnia worse. The majority of the sleep he had gotten had been because of pain killers and thus, dreamless sleep. However, when he had first been unconscious, his brain had convinced him that he was still in the prison dimension… Leo shuddered… the Prison dimension…

Unfortunately the other two noticed. Oh boy… this was going to be a long conversation… Mikey better hurry back.

------

Casey and Mikey walked to Donnie’s lab silently. Draxum had basically taken up residence in the lab, despite the soft shell’s protests, and thus, that was where all his mystic stuff was now set up. He knew this. It didn't stop the pit forming in his stomach at the thought of Donnie’s lab.

“Soo… my bros told me you’ve been staying with April… how’s that going?” Mikey broke the silence, desperately needing something to keep him out of his own head.

“It's been ok. I’m still getting used to things here… it’s really different. I would have come back the second I heard you had woken up but Dr. O’Neil insisted it wasn’t safe to leave yet. I may or may not have asked April to cover for me and snuck out. She’s insistent on coming to see you guys again soon though. Trust me. I owe her one.” Casey answered, trying to keep his posture relaxed. Mikey observed the way Casey walked, the way his eyes scanned the hallway as is always looking for threats. To be honest, his posture kind of reminded Mikey of the way Raph and, sometimes even Leo can get when out on missions. It made sense in a way but that didn't make it any less weird.

“Oh. I understand that. April’s mom doesn’t know about us yet. We’ve been waiting for the right time.” Mikey shrugged. Dr. O’Neil knew about April’s best friends, of course. She knew that the 5 of them would get into trouble, lose April her jobs, all the stuff, but she had yet to meet the turtles. How exactly do you explain to someone that your best friends were 4 mutated turtle ninjas living in a sewer drain.

Casey nodded. “I noticed. April has had to stop me from talking about you guys multiple times. I think her mom is getting suspicious.”

“She’s known something was up for years. I'm surprised April hasn't caved yet.” Mikey shrugged, looking away from Casey to see the lab in front of them. It made him, hesitiate for a moment. His breath caught in his throat. He squeezed his hands into fists, the action sending a wave of pain up his arms. He flinched and promptly unclenched his hands. Hey, good news, that pulled him out of his head at least. Bad news, Casey noticed.

“Are you ok?” He looked back at the turtle confused. It was then that Mikey realized he had stopped walking towards the lab. Casey had only made it about 3 steps ahead of him.

“Mhmm..” Mikey hummed in response, not elaborating further. He took a deep breath and walked into the lab. Even with the door open, Mikey still found himself looking around. His eyes scanned for signs of an explosion, robot turtles or… blood… but there was none. Mikey shook his head, trying to force his attention away from the room and onto Draxum.

“Hello Michelangelo. It is good to see you awake and walking around.” Draxum was sitting in Donnie’s desk chair, papers and various magic items on the desk. He placed down the book he was reading through when the two walked in. Mikey managed to catch a glimpse of the cover. It looked like the title was in a language Mikey couldn’t recognize. “Sit down. I have a few questions for you.”

Mikey nodded and sat down. Casey remained standing, the kid almost at attention as he watch the two of them. It almost looked like he was used to just acting as if no one saw him, as if he was just there. It took a moment of awkward silence before Casey sucked in a breath and spoke up.

“Oh, Draxum, 2 minutes, 23 seconds.” Casey repeated the message Donnie had given him.

Draxum sighed, taking a mental note of the time. “Right. On that note, Mikey, we need to talk about these… flare ups. I assume your brothers filled you in?”

“Um… they mentioned something about my arms glowing and making things fly and fire.” Mikey thought back to what his brothers had told him. That had been sitting on his mind since they mentioned it.

“Right. As I explained to them, mystic powers need to be practiced. It takes time to build up the amount of power you should be able to use at once. However, you managed a feat that even practiced mystic warriors would struggle with.”

“Right… and that means?” Mikey prompted, waving his hand in a circle.

“It means that your body has set the bar for your mystic output, higher than your current power levels you can safely use.” Draxum explained.

“Oh… so.. what does that have to do with me using my mystic mojo in my sleep?” Mikey began picking at the bandages on his arms nervously.

“It means that your mystic powers will begin to act up against your control. Typically, this will occur in moments of high stress or heightened emotions. For instance, if one is having a bad dream.” Draxum put emphasis on the last line. It made Mikey freeze up a little.

“Ha, ya, I guess that makes sense.” He was peeling one of the bandages off his arm and then sticking it back down. It hurt but it was something to keep him grounded. Something to keep his hands busy as nervous energy filled his stomach. Mikey didn’t elaborate further, despite Draxum’s obvious setup.

“I believe what he means, Mikey, is, what were you dreaming about in your coma?” Casey spoke up, making Mikey jump. That’s one thing about the kid. He made himself practically invisible, and then jumped into the middle of conversations, saying what everyone knew was implied. It left no room to worm your way around a topic.

“I- ha, well- just.. ya know… the invasion?” Mikey tried, he almost pulled the entire bandage off his arm by the time Draxum reached out and stopped him.

“I believe there is more to it than just having nightmares about the invasion.” Draxum pushed, taking Mikey’s hand into his lap as he fixed the bandages.

Mikey watched him work, glancing over at Casey. “Ok… I do have questions but… I don’t want my brothers knowing about it yet…”

Casey smiled sadly. “I won’t say a word. Master Michelangelo had a lot of secrets when it came to the full potential of his mystic powers. I used to ask him questions about it all the time, but he made me promise not to talk to his brothers about it.”

“And I need to know for the sake of your health. How you communicate with your brothers is of no concern to me. Now, what happened while you were unconscious.” Draxum let go of Mikey’s arm once the bandages were fixed.

Mikey pulled back a little. He looked at the floor as he thought about it. “Well… for starters… I didn’t realize I was in a coma… it felt… really real…”

Draxum picked up a notebook and pen. “That’s relatively normal for coma patients.”

“Well, ya, I know that but… like- scarily real. In my dream I woke up and knew I had been in a coma but.. we lived on. It was like it is now. Recovering from the invasion, healing injuries, and dealing with all of this. My nerve damage, Donnie’s shell, Raph’s eye, and Leo’s… everything.” Mikey explained.

Draxum paused for a moment. “So your brain was making up your daily life after the invasion?”

“Yes but it’s been way too accurate. I keep getting Deja vu because things that already happened keep happening- or- I guess, things that happened in my dream keep happening. It doesn’t feel like a coincidence anymore. I know my brothers like the back of my hand-“ Mikey looked down at his hand, grimacing for a moment. “Or at least how my hand used to be… but I don’t think my brain can make stuff like that up. Usually my dreams make no sense… this was… really realistic.”

Draxum was scribbling down notes as he listened. When Mikey stopped talking, he looked up. “I see. So you’re repeating things the same way as they were in your dream?”

“Well, I mean, not everything has been the same. Donnie’s shell was already dealt with when I woke up, and Leo was already awake when I woke up. He was still in and out of consciousness last time.” His eyebrow ridges furrowed as he tried to remember back to the beginning. “Or… was he just resting…”

“You can’t remember?” Draxum asked in a monotone voice.

“Well… that was a long time ago.” Mikey explained, causing Draxum to pause.
“How long was it for you?” He asked, concern laced in his tone.

Mikey bit his lip and hugged himself, ignoring how the action sent waves of pain through his arms. “Almost a year…” he whispered.

The room went silent as that sunk in. Mikey had been living in another world that his mind conjured up for months.

“What happened in that time, Mikey?” Casey broke the silence, once again prompting Mikey to continue.

Mikey took a deep breath as the memories flashed through his mind. His grip on his arms tightened. “That’s the part I don’t want my brothers to know about…”

“We won’t say anything.” Draxum reassured, even though it was clear through his tone that he was growing a bit impatient, wanting answers now. He had gotten better at dealing with emotional situations, especially when it came to Mikey, but it still annoyed him to have to take the extra steps and account for being empathetic.

“Right… um… things… started fine. We were recovering, we were moving forward, it was… it was fine. But…” Mikey felt himself getting a bit choked up.

“But?” Casey prompted. He had pulled a chair over to sit down next to Mikey, instead of standing behind him. The boy was obviously ready to provide support should Mikey need it. It felt weird. Mikey had barely seen this kid in the year of his life he had lived in his head, and before that, they had only met him a day prior to the invasion. Despite all that, however, his presence was comforting, if not a little weird. He radiated the same comforting feeling as his brothers did when Mikey got emotional, knowing when to push and when to shut up and listen.
Mikey took a shaky breath. “Then it started getting bad again…” he closed his eyes.

Draxum’s eyes lit with understanding, whereas Casey found himself confused.

Draxum noted the boy's confusion and the turtle’s discomfort, so he elaborated. “The arguing?” There were multiple occasions where Mikey had gone to Draxum’s apartment when Leo and Raph got in arguments. Unfortunately for Draxum, he allowed the boy to stay whenever he needed it.

Mikey nodded. Casey still felt lost but he didn’t ask, figuring he’d be getting the answer soon enough whether he asked or not.

“Leo was being reckless and Raph was concerned… they got into more and more fights… until they turned physical…” Mikey’s breath got caught in his throat as the memory overtook his mind.

“Well… your brother’s spar often enough that it should have been fine, yes?” Draxum asked, a part of him hopeful that this wasn’t going in the direction he believed it was going.

“But if Leo was still healing…” Casey supplied as a sob escaped Mikey’s throat, making both the other two look at him. Casey placed a hand on his shoulder.

It took Mikey a moment to recompose himself, the memories of Raph standing still with shock, blood covering his knuckles and Leo-

“Breath Michelangelo.” Draxum instructed. They guided Mikey through until he was able to register the world around him again.

“They all died Barry… one by one…” Mikey squeaked out. They figured that was all the explanation they were going to be getting from the box turtle and didn’t push him to explain more. Casey cautiously wrapped his arms around Mikey, surprised when Mikey leaned into his hold.

“Please tell me they aren’t gonna do it again… I don’t wanna lose them…” his voice wavered, barely able to be heard as Mikey fought to get the words out.

“They’re going to be fine, Mikey. It was just a dream.” Draxum assured him, placing the notebook down and leaning his elbows on his knees.

Casey bit his lip. The kid's head was spinning. The memories of HIS turtle's deaths fill his mind. Raphael, before he was old enough to remember it, Uncle Donatello’s sacrifice to destroy the technodrome when he was 10, Master Michelangelo’s portal… his Sensei’s last stand… he knew what this felt like. He got a sinking feeling in his stomach as this conversation reminded him of something Master Michelangelo had once told him.

“I’m… not so sure about that…” Casey spoke in a small voice. Mikey looked up at him, wiping the tears out of his eyes as a scared expression laced across his features.

Draxum looked up at the boy. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just… master Michelangelo used to get visions of the future.” He started, making Mikey pull back.

“What!? The future!? No- no no no… it can’t happen- they can’t-“ his breathing began to pick up again when Casey reached out.

“Hang on! Don’t panic! Let me explain!” Casey’s voice raised as he realized his mistake, reaching out towards Mikey as he pulled away.

Draxum sighed. See why he hates emotions? This whole thing could have been solved by now without them… unfortunately he cares about this turtle though so he keeps those thoughts in his head. How dare this kid infect him with his morality. With a sigh, Draxum’s hand lit up a soft magenta color as he placed a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. A wave of calm filled Mikey’s body, allowing the turtle to take an actual breath as his body relaxed a bit. Draxum had learned this spell a while back and figured there wouldn’t be a use for it. A calming spell. Why would he need that? Answer, to calm down his kind of child one day.
The room was quiet for a moment as Mikey’s spiraling thoughts slowed down a bit. He took a few deep breaths, looking up at Casey when he could finally process everything.

“Casey, please explain.” Draxum commanded, his tone as soft as the goat man could get.

“Right… Master Michelangelo was a prophet. He would get visions of the future at random times with no context. I don’t know how they first figured it out but… there was a rule that he refused to break.” Casey thought back to his conversations with his sensei and the mystic warrior. Both the box turtle and Draxum were looking at him expectantly. Mikey was staying quiet, afraid to try and speak again. “Master Michelangelo always told me that he would never seek out the future. He had to wait for the visions to come to him.”

Draxum nodded. “That makes sense. Prophecy is a very unstable form of magic. Those with the gift to See tell stories of how their visions come as warnings to those who will listen and can make changes. However, those who seek out the future against its will, only succeed to seal their fates.” He looked to Mikey. “Your dream must have been a prophecy.”

“I- it- what? But… not everything was the same, remember? Donnie’s shell, Leo’s coma-“ Mikey started, only for Draxum to cut him off.

“Because circumstance changes things. However the warning was clear. The path you and your brothers are currently on leads to ruin.”

Those words weighed heavily on Mikey’s mind. his brother's were destined to die. He felt himself tearing up again. “I-I- I don’t want to go through that again…”

“Hang on, Mikey, Master Michelangelo once had a vision of Sensei getting captured and turned into a Kraang monster during a raid we were planning. The two of them worked together to change their plan and it never happened. He managed to save Master Leonardo.” Casey thought back on that time. He never fully understood how the prophecy thing worked, he just knew that it happened.

“As I said before, if a vision comes to you, it is a warning. That future isn’t set in stone. There is still time to fix it. However, you must never actively seek out the future. Whatever you see will be cemented into the timeline. Do you understand?” Draxum looked at Mikey, the box turtle's eyes glued to the floor. After a moment, he nodded softly.

“So… I can save them?” The words came out soft and filled with sorrow.

“Yes, Mikey. You can save them.” Draxum’s confirmation lifted a weight off his shoulders he hadn’t realized was there, only to replace it with a heavier one.

He could save his brothers. He had to save his brothers. If he didn’t, they would die. One by one. Again. He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let that happen.

Mikey felt so many things in that moment. Fear, sorrow, relief, determination, anger, excitement- all swirling in his stomach.

He would save them.

HE would save them…

It was all up to him. The future chose him.

Mikey would save his brothers.

He had to.

Chapter Text

Ok, so operation “Figure out this whole future thing and fix it” was put slightly on hold as a certain human visited the lair just 2 days after Mikey’s talk with Draxum. During said 2 days, Mikey had managed to convince his brothers to let him move back into his own bedroom again, as long as he did daily checkups to ensure his arms were healing properly. He had missed his hammock so much. The soft lighting in his subway car was so much better than the LED white lights Donnie had installed in the med bay. He had also pulled out a journal in an attempt to write down the key details from his dreams, only to end up soaking the pages with tears as the pain of trying to use his hands stopped him from writing. He then proceeded to realize what that would mean for his more artistic hobbies, before promptly pushing that thought as far away as possible. That was the plot of a different fanfiction and a problem to deal with another time. So with writting out of the question, Mikey had used the voice text option on his phone to write out the key points in his notes app. It had been hard saying them, as if speaking the words would bring the prophecy to reality faster.

When he found himself so far down the rabbit hole, wondering how he was possibly going to change the fate of his three big brothers-

“APRIIIIIIIIIIL O’NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIL!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Mikey was pulled from his thoughts by the shouts of his favorite big sister and was quick to stand up and scramble out of his subway car.

“April!” Mikey shouted happily, running to her and quickly throwing his arms around her in a loose hug. He couldn't exactly hold tight with the way his arms tended to flare up, but that wasn't going to stop him from hugging his big sis.

“Woah- careful Mikey, April has a lot of bruising and a fractured rib.” Casey spoke up behind her.

“It’s alright CJ, I’ve been rough housing with these boys for years. I can handle a hug attack.” She smirked and hugged Mikey back. Said turtle was smiling brightly.
“Missed you.”

“I missed y’all too. It’s good to see you awake. Now, where is everyone?” She pulled back and looked at Mikey.

“Well, Leo’s still in the med bay, I think Donnie is talking with Draxum in his lab and Raph… I actually have no idea. Dad’s probably in his room taking a nap. He hasn't been sleeping that well.” Mikey listed off like it was a report.

“Well they better get their turtle butts out here, I miss everyone! Mom’s been keeping me at home talkin ‘bout how I gotta be careful to not get hurt again. I told her I got trapped on campus and thrown around a bit by the aliens. She doesn’t know I helped you guys fight.” April explained, rubbing Mikey’s head as if she were ruffling hair that doesn’t exist (yet).

“Well, you gonna stay for the evening? I can drag everyone out and we can have a movie night!” Mikey giggled.

“Heck yeah!” April cheered, throwing a fist into the air.

“We still gotta show CJ over here the Lou Jitsu movies!” Mikey smiled at the future boy who had taken a step back and was just observing the interaction.

“Master Michelangelo used to tell the kids in the resistance stories based on those movies. They always said that someday they wanted to find a copy somewhere and show us all when the apocalypse was over.” He said with a sad smile.

“Well we can show them to you in their place.” April smiled, throwing an arm around CJ’s shoulder.

“Perfect! I’ll go get my bros!” Mikey smiled and ran off, his thoughts of the soon to be future now on hold as he thought of how nice it would be to just have a calm night in. He ran off to the med bay first and burst through the door, causing Leo, who was reading a comic on his hospital bed, to jump a mile.

“LEO!” Mikey yelled loud enough for April and Casey to hear from down the hall.
“Woah- I’m right here, Mikey. Is something wrong?” He asked, his eyes scanning up and down Mikey’s form, landing on the genuine smile on his little brother’s face. It made him relax.

“Movie night with April and Casey! We’re showing him the Lou Jitsu movies! Let’s go!” Mikey jumped over to Leo’s bedside and bounced around a bunch, the thought of spending the evening with his family giving him a burst of energy.

Leo laughed at his little brother’s antics. “I don’t know, is Dr. Donnie gonna let me leave the med bay?”

“Well, even if he refuses to, Dr. Delicate Touch will have a word with him for you!” He smiled that terrifying smile he gets whenever he plans to pull out Dr. Delicate Touch.

“Ah yes. My hero.” Leo pushed himself to the edge of the bed and grabbed his crutch. Mikey watched his movements carefully as he got himself out of bed. It took a few seconds for Leo to get himself stable.

“Alright! Let’s go Mi herm-“ he was cut off as the crutch landed on a tissue that had been left on the floor and slipped. He yelped in surprise as the floor got closer. Mikey jumped into action quickly, reaching out and catching Leo before he could fall to the floor. With a hiss of pain at the usage of his still injured arms, Mikey helped Leo to his feet.

“You ok, Leon?” He asked, eyes scanning the floor for anything else that might get in his big brother’s path, and shaking out his arms to try and get rid of the consistent stinging.
Leo watched his little brother’s arms tremble as he shook them out. Guilt panged at his core but he chose to plaster on his smile and nod.

“Of course. Thanks for the save, little brother.” He leaned his weight on one of the crutches and rubbed Mikey’s head. “Now, vomonos!”

“Perfect! You go to the tv room, I’ll go get Donnie and Raph!” Mikey clapped(ow-) and skipped out of the room to head to Donnie’s lab. He had gotten better at being in the lab without getting flashes from his dreams since his talk with Draxum and Casey 2 days ago. Mainly, he had been coming to join his purple brother at night like he used to when his blue and red banded brothers would fight. It was the easiest way to remind himself that he was awake and getting a second chance. If Donnie was letting him in his lab it meant Mikey could watch what he was doing which wasn’t frantically watching for Raph’s tracker, meaning Raph was still home instead of out on some vigilante rampage, meaning Leo was still alive and everything was fine.

Skipping down the hallway, he stopped in his tracks when he heard voices coming from the lab.

“So you’re trying to make me believe that you don’t know anything that’s going on? Really? The mystic flare ups? The way he’s been acting?” Donnie’s annoyed voice rung out. Mikey gulped. Draxum had promised Mikey that he wouldn’t say anything, and he could only hope that was true.

“I already told you everything I’ve been able to figure out myself. His mystic powers are overflowing in a pool that cannot yet contain them all. I have begun putting together a training schedule that I will be using to teach your brother how to use his powers once his arms are healed enough to do so. Patience.” Draxum responded with that tone of superiority his voice always seemed to hold and Mikey could almost hear Donnie’s teeth grind together because of it. This was the moment Mikey chose to jump in to save his second father the stress of coming up with another lie.

“But-“

“DONNIE!!! MOVIE NIGHT WITH APRIL!” He screamed as he ran into the lab and practically threw himself at Donnie. Said turtle was definitely startled by his little brother’s sudden very loud entrance but was quick to drop the few items he was holding and open his arms to catch the box turtle so he wouldn’t faceplant.

Mikey landed in Donnie’s open arms and burrowed into his brother’s hold.
“Mikey, what have I said about throwing yourself at me when I’m in my lab?” He looked down with a raised-drawn on- eyebrow.

“Not to do it in case you’re holding something fragile?” Mikey gave the cheeky little smile he gives when he knows he’s doing something he’s not supposed to do.
“And what did you do?”

“Threw myself at you while you were in your lab” Mikey tucked his head into his shell a little, playing up his meek act to try and get Donnie to laugh instead of yell.

Donnie glared down at his baby brother for a moment before sighing.

“What were you saying about April?” Donnie smiled softly, unable to be mad at the box turtle.

Mikey perked up immediately and pulled his head out of his shell again. “April’s here! We’re gonna have a Lou Jitsu movie night! Casey’s never seen them! Can you believe it!? He’s never seen the Lou Jitsu movies!!!” Mikey grabbed Donnie’s shoulders in a loose and shaky grip before shaking Donnie a bit. He ignored the pain of the action in favor of committing to the bit.

Donnie was quick to grab Mikey’s wrists in a gentle hold and move them away from his shoulders as to stop the earthquake.

“Ok, ok. I get it. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Say wha!? No! Movie night right now! Let’s go!” Mikey bounced on his toes and made his signature puppy dog eyes.

“Go on Donatello. I will finish things up here and finally be out of your space.” Draxum jumped in.

Donnie seemed to accept this with a grumble under his breath, but Mikey felt his smile fall a little.

“Wait, you’re leaving?” He let go of his brother and walked over to Draxum’s set up.

“Yes. All four of you are healed enough where I can head back to my own apartment and get out of Donatello’s space. Along with this, the school I work at is opening back up in a few days and I need to get back to that. However, if you need me for any reason in the future, you know how to contact me.” Draxum made sure to put emphasis on the word ‘future’ to get it through to Mikey just what he meant. Mikey looked up at him with what could almost be seen as fear in his eyes. The father and son shared a silent conversation before Mikey nodded and turned around.

“Right, ok. Let’s go Dee!” Mikey turned back on his bubbly personality and skipped past Donnie out of the lair, purposefully ignoring the annoyed look Donnie was shooting Draxum that screamed ‘we’re not done here’, as Draxum shot back a look that said ‘I think we are.’

“Donnie, do you know where Raph is by any chance? He’s the last one we need!” Mikey asked as Donnie followed him out of the lab.

“I believe he’s in his room at the moment.”

“Perfect! Go meet the others in the tv room, Imma go grab him!” Mikey smiled before racing off to grab his last brother, not waiting for Donnie to respond.

Running into Raph’s room, he spotted the snapper on his bed with a few stuffed animals in his arms. He was staring at the ceiling with a far away look that made Mikey pause before jumping at him like he had planned.

“Raph?” He tested, walking over to his big brother’s bed and sitting on the edge of it.

“Hmm?” Raph gave a small hum in acknowledgment, though he didn’t look down.

Mikey carefully placed a hand on the snapper’s arm, causing him to flinch hard and pull away from the touch before his attention finally turned to the box turtle.
“Hey, big bro. You with me?” Mikey asked with a small smile.

“Mikey?” Raph blinked, rubbing at his bad eye for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah I’m here. Did you need something?”

“Just came to bring you to a movie night with April and Casey.” Mikey said softly, reaching over to the table next to Raph’s bed and grabbing his eye drops for him. Raph took them with a nod of thanks and was quick to lean his head back. He put 2 drops of the stuff in his eye, then closed it for a moment before blinking it open again. With a sigh of relief, he put the cap back on the bottle and threw it back to his nightstand.

“April and Casey are here?” Raph loosened his hold on the stuffed animals.

“Yup. You should join us. I don’t think being alone is what you need right now.” Mikey moved himself closer and hugged Raph’s arm gently. He recognized that far away look in his brother’s eyes. All 4 of them would get it at various times for various different reasons. For Leo, it would always be moments where he felt powerless or out of control that reminded him of the few minutes he was trapped in the prison dimension. For Donnie, it was the next 10 minutes after someone would touch his shell without warning. For Raph, it mostly happened in moments when he was alone with his thoughts for too long. And for Mikey it was always when he imagined one of his brother’s deaths again, though he would never admit it. He would instead come up with an excuse and pull from his long suppressed Kraang invasion memories.

Raph nodded and pushed himself off his bed, picking up his arm, which Mikey proceeded to cling to, making the snapper laugh a little as he shifted the box turtle into a princess carry.

“Let’s not keep everyone waiting then, big man.” He said as they walked out into the tv room. Leo had walked Casey through the proper pillow and blanket fort construction techniques and Donnie was going through and reinforcing it to ensure it wouldn't fall midway through the movie night. April was holding 2 large bowls of popcorn, which she set down next to the mugs of hot chocolate she had already made. She was the one to spot the oldest and youngest brothers when they entered the room.

“There they are! Welcome to Lou Jitsu education night, Raph!” She beamed and walked over, quickly hugging the snapper. Mikey jumped out of Raph’s hold to give them their moment as he went over to the pillow fort.

“And there you have it my student! The perfect pillow fort.” Leo said in a jokingly serious tone, giving a small bow to Casey, who smiled and returned the bow.

“I learned from the best, Sensei Leo.” He bowed back, his smile growing sad for a moment as he remembered the last time he had said those words. Casey wasn’t going to let those thoughts ruin his night though. He stood back up and offered a hand to Leo. “Here, let me help you get settled.”

Leo nodded and put all his weight on his good leg as he moved the crutches into one hand, taking Casey’s arm with his free hand. CJ helped Leo sit down and bury himself into the little nest they had set up for him to be able to elevate his leg while still seeing the tv.

Mikey smiled and sat down next to Leo, grabbing one of the bowls of popcorn and bringing it over so they could both snack on it. Donnie got the projector ready and the first movie set up before joining his brother’s on the floor in their blanket fort. Casey was the next to sit down, finding a lone pillow on the other side of Leo to use as a cushion. He had his legs crossed and his attention on the screen. Finally, Raph and April came over and bundled themselves into the blanket fort. Raph was on the end, sitting with a good few inches of space between himself and April, who was curled up into Donnie’s side. The scene was comfortable, domestic, normal. Much to calm for how things had been the past few weeks. They each got their cup of hot chocolate and the bowls of popcorn were placed out where everyone could reach them.

“Are we ready, Fam?” Donnie asked, receiving noises of agreement from everyone before he pressed play.

And just like that, their movie night had officially begun. They made their way through as many movies as they could that night. Leo dramatically quoted full scenes, making Mikey laugh next to him as he played along in scenes that required 2 people. Donnie would point out behind the scenes details that their father had told them in the past. Raph had drifted off half way through the third movie, April not doing much better as she made it to the end of it before she was softly snoring while curled up against Donnie. Leo, for once not plagued by his insomnia, was dozing, not fully asleep but also not awake enough to make witty quips about the movie. Donnie was on his phone, listening to the audio of the movie he had seen so many times that he didn’t need to watch it to know what was happening. Of all of them, the one who was paying the most attention was Casey. They future boy was enraptured by the movies, enjoying everything that happened, pointing out moves he recognized from his masters in the future and laughing at the jokes the brothers had grown decensitized to after hearing them so many times. Mikey was fighting to stay awake by the fourth movie. The pure joy from the future boy was infectious. It filled Mikey’s empathetic heart with so many positive emotions for once that he couldn’t help but just smile.
Mikey glanced around the room at everyone, all his worries of their fates momentarily forgotten as he found himself completely at ease. It was perfect. Mikey never wanted this night to end.

By the end of the fourth movie, Mikey had lost the battle with sleep and drifted off while cuddling Leo. Donnie turned the screen off after the movie was done and gestured for Casey to join the turtle pile.
There were no nightmares that night. Everyone slept better than they had in a while, perfectly content to be there, safe, comfortable, together.

Just like it always should be.

Unlike the last movie night Mikey had had months ago in his dream, this movie night ended with everyone perfectly content. No argument in sight.

Look at him go. Changing the future without even trying. Someone give him a gold star. He was nailing this.

Chapter Text

All it took for things to start going down hill again was Leo getting out of the med bay. A few days after the movie night, Leo was finally cleared to move back to his room and that’s when his quest for independence began again. Now, Mikey could understand wanting your independence back after being stuck in this dreaded healing process for so long, but he could also see Donnie and Raph growing increasingly frustrated as Leo pushed himself more than he should. Which had resulted in nothing but Leo getting yelled at by both brothers so far. Which of course meant…

Mikey laid in his hammock, unable to make himself sleep as his mind raced. Raph and Leo had officially had their first real fight since Mikey had woken up and the temporary peace that the movie night had provided his mind was completely gone. It had been a few days ago and it had unfortunately not been the last.

It had started relatively normal. Leo had gotten really good at using the crutches, so he was making his way around the lair, doing his best to maneuver through everything. A big part of it was him trying to regain a bit of that sense of control he had lost. Leo had really grown to hate feeling out of control. What had started the argument was when Leo had tried to make his way down the stairs next to the turnstiles at the front of the lair. Leo wasn’t supposed to do stairs yet and, of course, Raph caught him.

“Leo, where are you going?” Raph had asked as he walked by, catching Leo down the first few stairs.

“Hey big bro, just making my way down town, walkin’ fast.” He winked as he maneuvered the crutch to lower himself down the next step.

Raph sighed and walked down the stairs, picking Leo up. “Let me rephrase, why are you trying to go down the stairs?”

“Raph put me down.” Leo had immediately started squirming, hanging onto his crutches as his eyes flashed to what could only be described as fear for a moment before it was gone. Too quick for Raph to notice.

“Nope. Doctor's orders, you’re not allowed to use stairs or leave the lair yet.” Raph brought him back up the stairs and over to the nearest bean bag, dropping him onto it.
“Well that’s dumb! I wasn’t trying to leave the sewers!” Leo insisted, falling into the bean bag chair with a small yelp.

“Still no stairs.”

“Yeah thanks! I got it! Gosh, would you stop being so overbearing please! I’m the medic, remember!? I know what I’m doing.” He huffed out, clearly growing frustrated.

“It’s Raph’s job to be overbearing. And it’s Leo’s job to stay put. As the medic, he should know better than to be trying to leave.” Raph crossed his arms.

“Uhg! Fine! Fine! I got it!” Leo shooed him off, reaching for his nearest comic book and settling himself into the bean bag chair to read it.

See, not that bad. But that wasn’t the part that had Mikey scared. No, it was about an hour later when Raph had finally left Leo alone and Leo tried, once again, to go down the stairs, but this time had slipped and fallen, rolling down a few stairs before he caught himself.

Raph was quick to come running when he heard the noise and grew frustrated to see Leo on the steps, AGAIN.

“Leo!” Raph’s patient tone form earlier was replaced with the sudden scold, his tone sounding angry when the truth was, he was just worried seeing his brother laying on his stomach half way down the steps. He made his way to Leo’s side and offered the slider a hand, which was quickly slapped away.

“I got it! I got it! Geez!” Leo huffed in frustration, pushing himself over so he was sitting on the step with his legs on the lower ones. His everything hurt again after that and he was pretty sure he’d be sporting a few new bruises pretty soon. He grumbled under his breath, frustration growing.

“This is why Donnie said no stairs! This is why I stopped you from going down the stairs earlier! Gosh Leo you just never listen.” Raph watched, scolding the slider as emotions ran wild between the two.

“I get it!” Leo began raising his voice, recollecting the crutches and pushing himself up again when Raph finally just picked him up again.

“Raph! Stop it!” Leo yelled.

“Leo, I’m going to carry you back up the stairs and you’re going to sit and not try to leave again!” Raph made his tone serious and carried him back up.

“I don’t need your help!” Leo struggled in his hold again, failing at getting out of Raph’s hold. “I can walk by myself! You don't need to keep helping me! Gosh I’m so sick of this!”

Raph brought him back up and finally put Leo down, the slider quickly scrambling out of his hold.

“Finally. Now leave me alone.” Leo adjusted his crutches and started limping away as fast as he could.

Raph’s fists clenched as he tried to bite his tongue, choosing to walk away rather than continue to argue.

Mikey happened to be just a room over during the whole thing. He hesitantly took out his phone and looked over the list of key points from his dream.

He had written the following:

1: Healing from the Kraang
2: Leo and Raph start fighting again.
3: Leo sneaks out and gets drunk
4: Leo and Raph get into a physical fight that… doesn’t end well.
5: Raph starts leaving the lair
6: he doesn’t come back.
7: Donnie starts locking himself in his lab without coming out.
8: explosion in Donnie’s lab.

So far, they had made it to number 2 and if Leo was really trying to leave the lair like Raph claimed, possibly 3. Mikey couldn’t let that happen. So, he started spending as much time as possible with Leo over the next few days. Whether it was watching movies or just silently sitting in the same room as him while he did art, Mikey didn’t care. He would catch it before it happened.

…

So why did it seem like Leo was trying to avoid him?

Mikey huffed, pushing himself out of his hammock and, with the silence of one trained to be a ninja, made his way out of his train car and over to the main area of the lair. He walked around, his mind still racing as he tried to figure out what to do. So far, the fights hadn’t been the same as in his dream, he knew that, but he had a feeling that was just his mind trying to get the key point across. And the ok key point was that Leo and Raph were fighting…

Mikey passed by Donnie’s room, seeing that he wasn’t asleep. Of course. That was nothing new. He was probably in his lab. Next, he walked past Raph’s room and, to his surprise, his big brother was also up. That one was a little more odd. Raph was a morning person. He got up at 6 am every day to go for a jog around the sewers. Why on earth was Raph awake and where was he? Finally, he passed Leo’s room and- ah.

Suddenly Mikey knew why Raph was up.
When he made it to the main area of the lair he saw Raph, fighting to stay awake while sitting on a bean bag chair that Mikey had sewn specifically for his size. With a sigh, Mikey walked over, making sure to make his steps louder and walk to Raph’s good side so he would see the box turtle coming.

“Raph?”

Regardless, Raph still jolted, quickly turning around with a slightly frantic look, a hand reaching for his belt, which he wasn’t wearing, before calming down when he saw that it was just Mikey.

“Oh, hey, little man.” Raph took a breath and sat back on the beanbag chair.
Mikey chose to let the nickname slide for now.

“You alright? Did you have a nightmare or something?” Mikey walked over and crawled up onto Raph’s lap. His brother stiffened a little, looking down at Mikey with a slightly scared expression.

“Well… yes but… that’s not why Raph’s still up.” Raph said sadly, hesitantly putting a hand on Mikey’s shell and rubbing it just a little, making his little brother purr.

“Ok, walk me through it, what happened?” Mikey said between his little happy chirps. The noises made Raph laugh just a little before he turned somber again.

“Raph woke up from a nightmare. It was-“ he bit his lip, his snaggle tooth digging into his skin a little, which Mikey was quick to make a clicking noise to scold his brother for. Raph let go of his lower lip and sighed. “It was about the Kraang possessing me to hurt Leo again.” His hand shook a little on Mikey’s shell, causing the box turtle to reach around him and bring his hand in front of him. He started cuddling his big brother’s arm.

“It’s ok. They’re gone. You’re safe.” Mikey reminded. Raph gave a shaky breath as he nodded.

“I… I know. B-but I went to check on Leo and…” Raph sighed, closing his eyes as he took another deep breath.

“Let me guess. He snuck out?” Mikey tried to keep his voice calm but he couldn’t quite hide the small shaking in his voice. Raph nodded.

“His sword is gone from the dojo. At least I know he didn’t leave on foot.”

Mikey hummed. “I’ll wait up for him. You go get some sleep.” Mikey patted Raph’s spikes.

“No, it’s ok. I got it.” Raph shook his head.

“Raph, it’ll only lead to you two arguing. You don’t need that at-“ he pulled out his phone and checked the time. “2:13am.”

Raph huffed out in frustration. “I wouldn’t be arguing with him all the time if he would just sit still and behave himself. He’s still healing. I mean, what if something happened!? If he’s not careful, he could get really hurt! Or worse…” Raph’s fist clenched before he pulled away from Mikey’s hold when he felt the smaller turtle flinch. “Sorry I shouldn’t-“

“No, it’s fine.” Mikey assured him, turned to face his brother and placed his hands on either side of Raph’s face. “You’re tired, you’re upset, and you’re healing. Go get sleep. I got this. Trust me.”

Raph looked like he wanted to say something else but one look from Mikey and a threat to pull out doctor delicate touch later and Raph was admitting defeat.

“And you’re sure you don’t need sleep?” Raph double checked as he stood up, placing Mikey down on the ground next to him.

“My brain won’t turn off. I’ll be up for a while. You’re struggling to stay awake.” He hugged his big brother. “Night Raphie.”

Raph hugged him back gently. “Night Mikey.” He smiled and let go of Mikey before turning and heading off to his room.

Mikey sighed and dropped into the beanbag. He always enjoyed using Raph’s beanbag because of how big it was. It felt like a nest. He bundled himself up and waited.
While he waited, his mind wandered.
He wondered what Leo could be doing. It couldn’t possibly be time yet? No. There was no way. It was too soon. Leo would come back, he’d be sober, and it would be fine.
They could talk this out, Mikey could get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Leo that made him constantly try to sneak out, and it would be fine.

Then he was sure the future would course correct and life would be great! Raph would have no reason to run off and get himself killed, Donnie would have no reason to make robot replacements, and things would go back to normal! Sure, he would have to tell his brothers about this whole prophecy thing but that could wait till he had really started his training with Draxum. Then he could understand it all better and be able to explain it to his brothers in a way that made sense and didn’t make him want to throw up.

Mikey tapped his fingers on his thighs as he waited. His hands were shaking, as they always did. It was one of those things that Mikey should probably be thinking about in his spare time instead of, you know, trying to figure out how the universe was going to try to kill his brothers… how truly rude of the universe by the way. What had they ever done to deserve any of this!? First Draxum had tried to kill them, then Big Mama, then multiple other villains, the Shredder, the Kraang, and now the universe itself! What the heck was this!? Stupid turtle luck. Mikey wanted a refund!

He huffed in frustration, grabbing his phone and checking the time. 3:28. Great, he had been sitting here waiting for an hour. He decided, enough was enough. He pulled up his contacts and called Leo.

The phone rang.

One ring..

Two rings…

Three ri-

“Mikey? What’s wrong little brother?”

Mikey sighed in relief. Leo sounded perfectly fine, if not a little out of breath.

“Leo! I couldn’t sleep and went to come find you but you weren’t home. Where’d you go?” Mikey tried to play up the little brother innocence. It was the best way to get results from any of his elder brothers.

“Relax, Miguel, just on a walk. And if Raph is worried, no I didn’t take the stairs. I portalled to the bottom. I’ll be back soon, yeah?” Leo reassured.

“Yeah but.. aren’t you not supposed to be leaving the lair yet?” Mikey pushed.

“No but… come on Mikey, you know how it is. Insomnia and all that. I really needed to just clear my head and Raph’s been hovering like, all the time and Donnie’s been, well, Donnie. I just needed some time.” Leo said.

Now Mikey knew his brothers. He knew how they would get out of trouble because he had watched them do it for years so he could learn from their mistakes. When Raph wanted to lie, he would make sure to stay as far away from you as possible so you couldn’t smell his lying stink. When Donnie wanted to lie… he kinda just wouldn’t. He’d just shut up because he sucked at it. But Leo? Mikey had said it before and he’d say it again, Leo was an amazing liar. He rehearsed his lies and had a story ready to go when he needed to get out of trouble. Because of this, he treated it like a performance and put on his “face man voice”.

Which is exactly what he had just done.

“Leo… is… is this about the Kraang?” Mikey asked quietly. It would make sense that it was. Nightmares or flashbacks, Leo always liked to go on a walk to clear his head.

The other side of the line went quiet.

“No… it’s not… I just needed a walk. I’ll be home soon.” Was what Leo eventually said in a shaky voice before quickly hanging up.
Bingo.

That made sense. The Kraang. Mikey kept forgetting about those. Probably another thing he would be thinking about if it weren’t for trying to rewrite fate.

So Mikey just had to wait for Leo to come home, give him a good old Doctor Feeling seminar, and things would be all good!

Now he just had to wait.

Chapter Text

Leo, in fact, did not come home soon. Mikey had gotten out of the bean bag and was now pacing. With every second that passed, he found himself growing more and more worried. He checked his phone every 5 minutes, waiting for the blue sparks of his brother’s portal to open in front of him, or even a pained grunt as the idiot tried to make his way back up those stupid steps.

However, when there was still no sign of Leo after an hour, Mikey knew something was wrong.

What if Leo had gotten himself hurt? What if he was too exhausted to create a portal, what if he had had a flash back and was panicking with no one to comfort him.

Mikey couldn’t take it anymore. He turned and headed down the hallway, fast walk turning into a jog as he made his way to Donnie’s lab.

“Donnie!” He called as he burst through the lab door.

Said purple brother seemed to have been dozing off at his desk chair, and promptly shot up like a bullet at his little brother’s voice.

“Oh dear Galileo what!? Who’s hurt!? Where’s the problem!?” Donnie spun around, grabbing a metal pipe instead of his bo staff, his goggles half way falling down his face as his heart beat raced.

“Oh, shoot, sorry Donnie! I didn’t mean to scare you, I figured you’d already be awake.” Mikey rubbed the back of his neck. “Um, I wanted to ask if you could pull something up on your computer for me.”

Donnie blinked at his little brother, taking a few breaths to calm his panic before letting his posture slouch. He ran a hand down his face with a sigh, fixing his goggles and dropping the pipe.

“Ok, let me get this straight. You came crashing into my lab at-“ Donnie checked the time on his monitor behind him. “4:30 am, very awake for some reason, just to ask me if you could use my computer?”

Mikey looked at him for a moment with a smile that said ‘please don’t be mad.’

“Yes?” Mikey rose his hands to his side and shrugged up his shoulders.

“Exasperated sigh, fine. What did you need?” Donnie fell back on his desk chair, adjusting the collar of his hoodie so it wasn’t touching his neck and spun around, pulling open a new window.

Mikey walked over, standing beside the spiny chair.

“Could you pull up our trackers please?” Mikey asked, looking down at his brother who promptly paused his typing.

“Why? May I ask?” Donnie looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Leo isn’t home. I’m gonna go find him. He’s been out for hours now.” Mikey responded.

Donnie groaned. “Of all the impulsive, stupid, wreckless-“ Donnie continued to grumble insults as he pulled up the trackers. “There. On top of that rooftop next to Hueso’s restaurant. Come on. Let’s go.” Donnie pushed himself up, walking over to grab his battle shell before Mikey ran in front of him.

“Wait, Donnie! I need you to let me take care of this one.” Mikey put his hands up in front of him, stopping Donnie in his tracks.

“Mikey, he could be hurt for all we know. If he’s really been gone for hours then who knows what stupid, dumb dumb situation he got himself into. We’re getting Raph and we’re going to get him.” Donnie said in a stern tone.

“No, please. I need you to trust me on this one.” Mikey’s words mirrored what he said to Raph only a few hours ago. “I need to be the one to go get him, and please, whatever you do, don’t tell Raph!” He looked at his older brother with a pleading look.

Donnie felt his resolve waver for a minute. “Mikey what-“

“Just, please. If he’s hurt, I’ll call you immediately and tell you what’s wrong with him so you can bring the right supplies, but if it’s just him, I need to talk with him alone. Please.” Mikey begged.

The two stared each other down for a few silent minutes, an unspoken battle of wills being conveyed through their stare. In the end, though, it was Donnie who folded to the begging eyes his little brother gave him.

“Ok, fine. Just- be careful, ok? You’re still healing yourself.” Donnie gently took Mikey’s shaking hands. The younger suppressed a flinch at the contact and nodded.

“I will. Nothing stupid, no mystic hands. I’ll be careful. Trust me.”

“Unfortunately, I do. Now go bring him home. I won’t purposefully wake up Raph but if he wakes up before you’re back and asks, I’m not going to lie to him.” Donnie rubbed his thumbs over the top of his little brother’s hands, massaging them gently.

“That’s ok. Thank you, Donnie.” Mikey pulled his hands away and pushed forward, wrapping his arms around his older brother in a hug.

The embrace was quick, only a few seconds, but it was nice.

“Of course, Angelo. Now go.” Donnie gave one final squeeze and let go.

Mikey nodded, shooting a confident smile at Donnie before checking the address on the tracker one last time and running out of the lab.

Donnie watched his little brother run off and let his face fall to one of concern. “Nardo… what did you do?”

————

Truth be told, Leo wasn’t having that bad of a night, all things considered. Now granted, his day hadn’t been the best. He had been vibin in his room when something moved in the shadows behind him and sent him into a panic attack, but that wasn’t anything new for how his life was currently going. It had taken him a while to pull himself back together. He had kept himself as quiet as possible. The past few days had been suffocating. Every time Leo had wanted to leave the lair, just to go on a small little walk, he would be stopped. If he was lucky, it would just be a quick scolding from Donnie before Mikey would show up out of nowhere to pull out some game or something to use to distract him. And he appreciated it, he really did. But there were only so many times he could play monopoly with his little brother before it stopped being an effective tool to clear his head. Not to mention, spending time with his brothers just made him feel… guilty….

No, don’t think about it Leo. Focus.

Now if he wasn’t lucky, he’d get stopped by Raph and it would spark another argument. Because Raph couldn’t just scold him and let it drop. No, he always had to get the final word in and harp on a point until it was drilled into your mind. Leo was getting really sick of it. He got it. He knew. He didn’t need the same thing drilled into his skull over and over again. Gosh it was just like before the Kraang all over again…

Nope, he didn’t wanna think about that either…

The worst part would be when Raph would pick him up and move him physically. It was nothing against his older brother, it was just… his stupid brain kept trying to remind him of when Raph had been Kraangified and held him up by the throat. That was not a feeling he ever wanted to relive.

So, here he was. Out on a walk. Sure it was late but hey, he knew what he was doing. As he had told Raph, he’s the medic. He knows when not to push himself. He had even brought his sword to get back and skip the steps. See Raph, responsibility!
He cringed and tried to push away Mind Raph as he began yelling again.

Things had been going fine honestly. Leo’s walk had been successful. He had just done a few laps around the sewer, taking breaks when needed. Nothing too strenuous. If he was questioned, he could just say his insomnia had acted up and he needed to clear his mind. Yeah, perfect excuse. He’ll have to keep that one in his back pocket for later.

Honestly, he hadn’t even noticed the time until Mikey had called him.

Taking out his phone, he checked the time, only to see how late it really was. Huh. Oops… wait… why was Mikey even awake this late? Usually he would be asleep by now, especially while he was recovering from his coma…
“Mikey? What’s wrong little brother?” Leo asked as he answered the phone, nerves already shooting through him.

A sigh of relief could be heard over the phone.

“Leo! I couldn’t sleep and went to come find you but you weren’t home. Where’d you go?” Mikey spoke in that fake cheery and adorably innocent tone he always did when he was about to play the long game with something. It put Leo on edge for some reason.

“Relax, Miguel, just on a walk. And if Raph is worried, no I didn’t take the stairs. I portalled to the bottom. I’ll be back soon, yeah?” Leo reassured his little brother, hoping that if this was just Mikey being concerned, he would be able to ease the box turtle’s mind enough for him to head back to bed.

“Yeah but.. aren’t you not supposed to be leaving the lair yet?” Mikey asked over the phone. Oh boy…

“No but… come on Mikey, you know how it is. Insomnia and all that. I really needed to just clear my head and Raph’s been hovering like, all the time and Donnie’s been, well, Donnie. I just needed some time.” Leo recited the rehearsed excuse. Insomnia was always his go to explanation but when it came to Mikey, saying Raph was being overbearing was usually the perfect way to get his younger brother to back off. He always understood what that felt like.

This time, however, there was a pause. Leo felt the smile on his face fall a little as he waited for a reply. After a moment, he went to break the silence when Mikey’s cautious voice finally spoke up again.

“Leo… is… is this about the Kraang?” He asked hesitantly.

Leo froze. All the small things from the day started coming back to him. His panic attack, the skin crawling feeling he had gotten each time Raph had picked him up, the desperation to not feel trapped, and… his guilt… his overbearing, unbreaking guilt…
Leo shook his head and quickly replied, “No… it’s not… I just needed a walk. I’ll be home soon.” And without thinking, he hung up. Leo felt his breaths quicken as his thoughts grew heavy again. So much for his walk calming him down. Now look at him. His knees felt weak, his hands were shaking and he found himself on the ground before he knew what was happening. Great. Why had this gotten triggered!? It was just a simple question, that shouldn't have been enough to send him spiraling.

But see, the thing is, Leo had a lot on his mind. The never ending nightmare that was his memories with the Kraang for starters. Sure, Donnie and Raph had gotten him to open up a little, spill the bare basics of his time in the prison dimension, but he had barely scratched the surface of all his feelings on the matter.

It was terrifying. He was terrified. All the time.

He had thought he would never see his family again, and before that, he had blamed himself so hard that they were all going through this. It was his fault that Raph had been captured, his fault that Mikey and Donnie had almost been crushed, his fault that April and his father had gotten tracked down by a deranged slime demon determined to get back that stupid key, his fault that some kid from the future had to come back to save their timeline, his fault, his mistake, his failure….

And when he had figured out how to fix it, found the way to make it up to everyone, finally accepted his role as their leader…

Well that’s when he had to be at fault for one final time.

Because that’s when Mikey had chosen to embrace his future as a badass mystic warrior, save his sorry ass, then promptly fall into a coma for a few weeks.

His little brother had saved him, sure but was it truly worth it? The box turtle had been so off since he woke up. And it was his fault. Mikey couldn’t draw or paint, couldn’t hug them without flinching in pain, couldn’t fight to protect himself should something go wrong. His fault his fault his fault-

Leo gasped for breath.

His thoughts were spiraling so far out of control that he could barely breathe. He let his instincts take over, his hand reaching for the sword on his belt, grasping the hilt and swinging it in front of him. He barely even noticed as he fell through a portal onto the floor of Hueso’s restaurant.

Looking around, he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why he had come here. Hueso wasn’t here this late at night, no matter how desperately Leo had wanted to be comforted by his Skeleton Uncle and Leo knew that. So why had he…

His eyes landed on the bar and instantly, Leo had the first clear thought he’d had since he hung up on Mikey.

Perfect.

If he couldn’t clear his mind naturally, store bought was fine.

He pushed himself up, grip on his crutch tightening as he made his way to the bar and grabbed the first bottle he saw. He ripped the cork off with his teeth and downed as much of it as he could before he started coughing like crazy. It burned his throat and definitely did not taste good but it would do.

The next few minutes were a blur for Leo. He stumbled around the restaurant, grabbing 2 or 3 of the various alcoholic drinks Hueso kept behind the bar, and created another portal before the cops would arrive to arrest him for stealing because, let's face it, he had probably set off some kind of security alarm in his panic that he hadn’t noticed.

So now here he was. On a random rooftop, an empty bottle of who knew what next to his head and an open bottle waiting to be finished as he leaned back against the roof, watching the stars. He had a pleasant buzz in his head that actually made him feel kinda tired. Huh. This stuff worked better then his sleep meds. Maybe he could actually get some sleep if he just-

“Leo?” Mikey’s voice split through his foggy mind, making him jump and sit up, knocking the currently open bottle over in the process.

“Ah crap- let me just-“ his voice was just a little slurred as he picked the now half empty bottle back up and set it down next to him. He then turned his head to look up at his very concerned looking little brother. “Miguel! What brings you to the rooftops tonight?”

Mikey looked over the scene, a look of fear crossing his face for a moment before he sighed.

“We need to talk.”