#rip Don's arm and Mikey's ankles

[aealzx]

I've been thinking about doing refs of the 2003 boys for CDK and finally got an excuse to do them. They were supposed to be quick, so no back view, but still ended up taking a few days because I got invested X'DD

I also included the Rise boys in the last pic for height reference XD Doing this made me realize Rise Raph isn't actually that much bigger than the others.

For the Rise boys in CDK the old ref I have of them still more or less applies. The only change is I added more marks to Donnie's arms and legs since then.

They are all 32 yo in these refs, and still all hate clothes 8'D And I gave them height variation because I felt like it |P

[truths33k3r4]

CHAPTER 2: Always There to Catch You

" Shouldn't we wake her up? Ask her who she is?? What if she's a threat?... A threat we just let into our home???"

Raph had a point there. They had no idea who they had saved or what she was capable of. Mikey knew Raph could be harsh sometimes- ok, ALL the time, but his bluntness usually stemmed from his being protective of his family. He wouldn't be caught dead saying it outloud, but Raph loved his family dearly.

Mikey remembered a time when he was around 6 and Raph was 9. They were practicing climbing up ropes in Ninja Training. Raph was always the fastest to learn when it came to THAT particular subject. It was almost like the lessons and techniques Sensei taught just clicked in his brain. He was the first to reach the top platform, barely beating Leo. Don wasn't too far behind, and quickly joined his brothers on the top of the 10 foot platform.... But Mikey, being the youngest and having the shortest of limbs, was really struggling. He was about 8 feet above the ground when his strength started to drain from his exhausted tiny body. He tried with all his might to scramble up and join his victorious brothers, but as he reached his hand, he slipped and lost his grip on the rope. Flinging backwards and waving his arms frantically, his descent began. The wind in his face stung as his eyes began to water. Then rather suddenly his form FROZE midair. A sharp, burning pain started to sear his right ankle. Now hanging upside down, Mikey lurched his head to see his ankle had been tangled in his rope.

AND IT REALLY HURT.

Tears streamed down his face as he panicked. His eyes squinted tight trying to ignore the growing burn from his ankle. The rope kept squeezing. Tighter. And TIGHTER. AND TIGHTER. He started getting lightheaded as the oxygen left his brain. The screaming little voice in his head slowly slurred into a fog.

But just as he began losing consciousness, he felt a small hand grab his shoulder and pull him up onto something hard and smooth. Mikey clung to whatever it was, hoping it would save him from the scariness of what was happening. His eyes were still sealed shut as he heard a voice.

" I GOT YOU, BRO!! "

At the familiar sound of his brother, Mikey felt safe enough and opened his eyes. There, between his very tight hold around his neck, was Raph. He had reacted immediately to seeing Mikey in distress. Plus he knew that ankles aren't supposed to be that color.. He climbed down Mikey's rope, pulled him on top of his shell, and began his climb down. However, with the now added weight, it proved too much for Raph, as he too, lost his grip.

Mikey screamed and climbed up onto Raph's face like a koala on a tree in the middle of a forest fire. It was an understandable reaction, but Raph didn't appreciate not being able to see on TOP of sliding down at a faster and faster pace. The skin on his hands ripped and tore as the weaves of the rope sliced into them. But despite the horrible discomfort, Raph didn't let go.

With a loud THUD they had landed back to the ground at the base of the platform. Splinter ran to them and scooped both of them into his arms. ( Much to Raph's chagrin.. Mikey loved it though.)

" MY SONS! Are you alright? Are you hurt? Let me see!"

Splinter gently sandwiched Mikey's face between his hands as he searched for any injuries.

" Papa.. My foot hurts."

Splinter looked down to see Mikey's ankle, swollen in colors of black and blue. As he tended to it, calling Don and Leo to fetch ice from the freezer, Raph stayed close by, hiding his hands behind his back. Raph was always the toughest of his siblings. But no matter how he tried to hide it, he loved his family, and would do anything for them. ANYTHING.

Hope you enjoyed this! Apologies it's so short. :) I'm still working on the story, and I'm pretty new to all this. ;) Have a great day yall!

~ Melissa

Masterpost <- PRIOR CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER ->

[turtletimewriting]

Stuck in Comfort

Summary: Donnie was having a perfectly fine nap with Raph! So what if he was now trapped underneath Raph! But of course, Leo and Mikey had to create chaos.

Look at me! Writing again. This is a tickle fic so there’s your warning.

Words: 1600

_._._

There was loud dramatic music playing and there was some part of Donnie that knew he had to do something about that. But he was too sleepy. The room was dark and he was perfectly cushioned by a nest of fleecy blankets and pillows. He had a heavy warm weight all across his body and it was literally perfect.

So often, he’d wake up to needing to stretch or having someone’s elbow digging in yet this was utterly perfect. 

Slowly it was all coming back to him. They decided to watch a couple of movies after a really tough mission as a pick me up. It couldn’t be called a proper movie night since Leo and Mikey weren’t there. Mikey had explained his head was too busy to sit there silently watching a film, he felt that urge to fidget and totally distract himself by concentrating on something physical. It wasn’t unusual for him to need to do some art quietly after a tough mission. 

Leo didn’t really explain. He just grabbed his skateboard and called them boring.

So him and Raph had shared a look and agreed to their own movie night.

They hadn’t done this since they were really little. Raph acting as the ultimate weighted blanket to dampen all sensation for Donnie to calm his frayed nerves, while Raph hugging Donnie so to calm his own thoughts of his family in danger. The movie only acting as something to fill in the silence.

Donnie sighed happily, not even opening his eyes, and tried to settle back into sleep. Raph was doing his snuffling snores so he was dead asleep so there was no way he could move even if he wanted to. Raph was deadweight and the heaviest sleeper of them all. Not that Donnie wanted to move. He was warm and his nerves were all settled and he felt just the right side of cozy sleepiness.

He flinched as he felt something soft drift over his foot.

Ugh, it was probably the blankets shifting from him waking up. Just try to settle down and allow sleep to peacefully wash over him once again.

There it was again.

He went to scratch his foot with the other since there was no way he could free his arm from underneath Raph. Only to feel something suddenly grab his ankle.

“Gah!” He shrieked, trying to sit up but he only ended up headbutting Raph’s chin. Raph didn’t even stir at that. The hand was still holding his ankle. It was awkward leaning over Raph’s sleeping form with his massive spikey shell blocking everything from view, he couldn’t see anything.

“Easy there, Don!” Mikey’s voice helpfully whispered.

“Mikey! You scared me! What are you doing? Just grabbing at me!” He was still trying to see over Raph but he was stuck at just the wrong angle.

“Oh you know! Just hanging out with you guys, told you I’d join you later!”

“Well the movie ended a while ago,” Donnie only now registered that the music he heard earlier was the credits now playing, “but you can put on another oOOAH!”

There was a deliberate stroke from a single finger from his heel right to the ball of his foot.

Mikey laughed in his obnoxious littlest sibling way that shot terror through Donnie. “What was that noise?”

“Mikey. Don’t. You. Dare.” Donnie desperately tried to peer around but he couldn’t see Mikey. No clue what he was going to do. Where he even was! He tried to rip free from Raph’s form but he was totally powerless.

“How can I not!” Mikey laughed back like this was a lighthearted matter. “You’re completely hidden under Raphie. Only your little feetsies are sticking out!”

He was now aware that his feet were bared to the world. Moving his legs was just as useless as getting his arms free. He couldn’t move at all. Only uselessly waggling his feet.

Donnie didn’t get the chance to respond as that finger returned. It barely brushed across his skin in a confident sweep up and down. One finger sending tingling tickles across his sole. He tried to hold back, breathing all weird to keep the giggles from erupting.

He could picture the stupid happy grin on Mikey’s face; so proud of himself to bring down his bigger siblings. There was no way he was going to give him the satisfaction.

“That tickle, Dee?” 

The finger now gently scratched at his foot. Wiggling did nothing, the grip on his ankle kept him in place and his finger was keeping strictly to his sole. “Mk! Mmff- Mike!” He tried to scold.

“Aww, are you trapped? You don’t want to be too loud, Raphie could wake up at any second!”

“An earthquake c-co couldn’t wahake Raph!” He screeched.

“But you don’t wanna disturb him though, do you? It’s only a slight tickle. You can take that, can’t you? Just a few tiny little tickles.”

The finger drifted from the direct centre of his sole to the side. Mikey did always seem to have a secret sense of knowing when a spot was getting too used to the tickling. His nerves were shot up. It tickled way more than it should’ve. His foot being electrocuted by tickles. Breathing through the giggles was getting impossible. The urge to move screaming at him but there was nothing he could do. Totally to the whims of a tickle monster of a youngest brother.

For pizza’s sake! Aren’t they meant to be the tickle monsters to the youngest! What family had the youngest be the merciless feared monster!

“Tickle, tickle, tickle, Donnieeeee!” Mikey was too gleeful for someone who was totally getting attacked the second he was freed from Raph.

“Pfft!” By now he was opening smiling widely. The giggles were coming. He was just too ticklish. “Eh! Ehe ssssstop! Haha! AAAHA HAHAHA!”

“Oh finally!” 

Donnie jolted all over again. “LEO?!” 

“Surprise!” Leo said in that obnoxious drawl of his before he felt another hand grab his other foot and a much harsher scratching tickle on his other foot.

“HAHAHAHAAHAH! AAAAAAH! HAHA! HAHAHA! LEHEHO! MIHI- AAAAAH!” He couldn’t even think what to yell out. Mikey was still gently tracing around his sole like he was reading his foot while Leo was like a golden retriever going nuts over tormenting him.

“Shhh! Don’t wanna wake up Raph,” Leo teased.

“THEHEN DON’T TICKLE ME! HAHAHAHAAHAAAAAA! AAAAAH!” 

“Hmm, seems unrealistic,” Mikey said.

“Would it be better if I did this?” Leo said dramatically.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Donnie squealed, kicking his feet even harder. But the tickles on his left foot stopped. But that was definitely a trap. “No! No! No! No! Don’t you dare Leo!”

Really, being trapped like this was a mercy. Because usually any sort of line like that from Leo would mean he would be tickled across his shell. But Raph protected his death spot entirely.

Eventually, Leo walked to in front of him. Leo laughed at him, which was probably fair. He did look ridiculous. Blushing bright red while still drowning under Mikey’s soft tracing tickle. He shook out his head. 

“Heehee! Hehee ehe!” Donnie giggled, unable to stop. Scrunching up his face, Donnie couldn’t block out the tickles now he had started laughing. Even the slow tracing tingling tickle across his foot was enough to have him frantically laughing. The sillyiness of the situation going to his head.

“Hello there Ticklytello!” 

“Leeeeheheho! Lehe eheheee!”

“Yes, Ticklytello?”

Donnie felt like his brain was melting from the constant tingle, made even worse by the fact that there was nothing he could do about it. Trapped to just endure the tickling until his brothers got bored. “MAhahke him stop heheh heh stop tickling me!”

Leo rubbed his chin for a moment. “Would this help?” He reached out and happily tickled under his chin. 

Donnie slammed his head down into the pillows, trapping Leo’s hand directly into his neck. Allowing him to gently tickle away. It wasn’t that bad of a tickle spot but it added to the already flustering situation.

Mikey happily tickling gently at his feet and Leo trapped to torment his neck with reckless glee. And no matter how hard he wiggled or squirmed, Raph’s deadweight kept him stuck. Helpless to some brotherly tickling.

“GUHUHU GHUYS! HAHAHAHAAAA!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Donnie screamed, suddenly feeling a raspberry pressed to the nape of his neck.

That stopped his brothers. They were all looking up at Raph as he blew a long drawn out raspberry. Eventually he ran out of breath and pulled back, letting Donnie collapse into his pile of leftover tickles.

“Nice attack there, team,” Raph smiled.

“I thought you were asleep!” Leo exclaimed.

“Oh shoot, did we actually wake you up?” Mikey finally scooted up to the rest of them, looking a little chastised. 

“Nah,” Raph said while looking like he was seconds away from falling asleep again. His eyes drooping shut and he was nuzzling into the nape of Donnie’s neck. “Don’s headbutt from earlier got me up. Just thought he needed a good tickling.”

Leo went to make another remark but Mikey nudged him. Donnie was in the same position, falling asleep now things had calmed down again. His eyes already shut and relaxing into the blanket nest. It would be just plain cruel to tickle them now. Raph and Donnie settling to fall back asleep against each other.

“Is there room for two more?” Mikey smiled as he pounced to sleep in the crook of Raph’s arm, pressed up against Donnie too. 

“Can’t forget Leon!” 

[remmushound]

Bay/rise 35!! @errorfreak88 @brightlotusmoon @selfindulgenz @digitl-art-monstr @dakotafinely @yarchurr @sententiously-sarcastic @sprinklestheditty

Leo didn't move as he counted down to the last number. He remained still and waited. Leonardo charged forward with all the energy of a young warrior, and all the foolishness of one too. The first to charge was always the first to fall, and that’s exactly what Leo intended to use toward his benefit. When Leonardo got close enough to potentially land a strike, only then did Leo dare move. It wasn’t for a counter attack, however. He simply sidestepped and let Leonardo pass him by, his gaze never once leaving the eager slider. Leonardo ran a few more paces before he could slow enough to stop, and then he turned and focused his energy in another charge that Leo quickly avoided.

Leonardo didn't charge for a third time. He held his sword out at his side and motioned for Leo to approach him. Leo only smiled and shook his head, copying the motion to try and get Leonardo to approach him instead. It turned into a power struggle of patience, which Leonardo quickly lost. No patience, just as Leo had expected. Young and naive and eager to fight. Leo just had to wait it out.

Leonardo was anticipating the dodge this time and stopped just before Leo sidestepped, then quickly brought his odachi swinging at the older warrior. Leo had his katana ready to meet the attack, and the only sound that filled the air was the crash of metal against metal. Blade against blade in a cold stalemate of will and war. Their eyes met in a moment of thoughtful calculation before Leonardo pulled away quite suddenly and ducked down to attempt a swipe at Leo’s ankles. Leo just barely jumped back and then both turtles returned to their quiet planning at a safe distance.

Again, Leonardo was the first to break the stalemate and charge again. Again and again he broke rank and tried to attack Leo with swift movements and quick blows. Again and again, Leo gave it the barest minimum effort required to thwart the attacks, watching as the slider got more and more exhausted with each passing moment.

From the sidelines April, still decked out in her Leonardo cheer-gear, slumped. She leaned over to whisper to the Mikey’s and Donnie. “This is a lot less dramatic than I thought it was gonna be.”

“Wish I could watch.” Donnie grumbled, his back still turned to the fight as Leo had ordered

April scoffed and nudged Donnie. “Then turn around— ain’t nobody care about that rule!”

“It’s so I can’t snitch…” Donnie said softly, daring a look back so he could address April properly.

April crossed her arms. “We’ll I got a better way to make sure you don’t snitch, because if you do…” She yanked down Donnie by the bridge of his chest until their eyes were level, “Then I’m gonna see how long a turtle can live without its shell. Now turn your ass around and be bored with us!”

April pushed on Donnie with all her might until the box turtle relented and turned around to watch the fight taking place. Leo noticed the breaking of his rule, but he didn't dare risk his focus just to correct Donnie. Not when he stood to face a fleet-footed flight risk.

Leonardo seemed to have caught on to what Leo was doing, but it was several minutes too late. His body already felt heavy from the expended energy. He could feel the muscles below his chest working to pull on his lungs and fill as much of the organs as possible with new, replenishing air. Leo smiled as he saw the younger turtle struggling, but still he didn't move to meet Leonardo. He was constantly forcing the other to come to him. Instead of doing that, Leonardo backed up to Donatello.

“I’m getting my shell kicked out there, Don!” Leonardo whispered urgently.

“What do you want me to do about it?” Donatello asked.

“You’re my second— advise me!”

“Don’t let him hit you.” Was Donatello’s advice.

Leonardo turned to him with a narrow-eyed stare. “Very helpful, Don.”

Leo cleared his throat. “Are we fighting or not?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to ya!” Leonardo spat in Leo’s direction, “Can I get some real advice this time, Don?”

“Don’t eat yellow snow.”

“Donnie!”

“Nardo.”

Donatello shoved Leonardo back into the standoff. Leonardo stumbled forward until his blade met with Leo, who had finally started to show the slightest amount of interest in the spar. Though Leo had twin katana, swinging completely independent of each other in a traditional and ancient technique, Leonardo’s sporadic and unconventional attacks were enough to bewilder and confuse the seasoned soldier. Leonardo finally managed to land a slashing blow against Leo’s chest before jumping back out of the katana’s reach.

Leo’s shell was tough, but it was still just scutes covering bone, and scutes bleed. It wasn’t much, but the strike was enough to cause a thin trail of blood to trickle down Leo’s chest and stomach, and Leonardo couldn’t help but eye the wound. Just a scratch, not enough to get infected and minor enough for the scratch to stop bleeding on its own. Already the flow had ceased. Leonardo gave a slight hum at the sight of old scutes that should have shed off of the shell weeks ago, and he made a mental note of pointing out the flaw when he could catch his breath. Leo, spotting his rivals lack of focus, decided to take advantage of it.

Leonardo jumped back. Leo continued to advance. The slider took off running to avoid a few paces. Looking behind him revealed that Leo had stopped, and Leonardo stopped as well, silently cursing himself for wasting even more of his precious energy on a false charge. He couldn’t keep doing this— he had to figure out some method of weakness to exploit. Some advantage that the brute of a box turtle couldn’t expect! He looked down at his odachi, and then the idea struck him like a brick. He smiled.

Leo was almost nervous when he saw the grin, but he kept his stance firm and ready for anything. Or, almost anything. Leonardo laughed before charging the hulking shinobi. He flashed his odachi as if to strike, but swung his blade too soon. Leo raised his katana to meet the attack, but then his mind started turning like the windows loading symbol as Leonardo disappeared in a flash of blue. Leo’s eyes darted everywhere he could imagine the ninja to go, but there was no sign of him. He foolishly turned back to Raph.

“Where’d he go?”

Raph shrugged.

Leo’s answer came in the form of a loud cowabunga! followed by a sudden, unexpected weight slamming down on his shoulders and knocking him to the ground. Leonardo was perched on top of him, standing on the baffled mutant’s shoulders and holding his odachi blade to Leo’s neck for a second before pulling it back and striking a pose.

“Yeah yeah, who’s your champion? Oh yeah! It’s me!” Leonardo started to do a dance on top of Leo.

It took the watching audience a moment to catch on to what had just happened before they all erupted into loud applause and cheers.

“I don’t know how he did that, but that was incredible!” Donnie shifted his glasses in disbelief, then returned to his clapping.

“Speedy Gonzales got skills!” Raph whistled.

“WOO! THAT’S MY BROTHER! GO LEO! WHOOOO!” April cried out.

“Whoop whoop.” Donatello made tired fist pumps.

The cheers of the Mikey’s melded together like clay as they roared, words blurring together into a cloud of excitement. Once the shock was gone, Leo growled and shoved Leonardo off of, grabbing the boy by the throat and hoisting him into the air. The cheers immediately turned into shouts of dismay at the act, and Donnie had to restrain the surprisingly strong April as she tried to charge her brothers attacker. Raph was upon the duo in an instant, ripping them apart and placing himself between them. 

“You okay?” He asked Leonardo, who was still catching his breath. 

Leonardo gave a thumbs up as he almost keeled over, just barely balancing himself on his knees. Leo tried to shove his way past his brother, but Raph held him back with little strain.

“HE CHEATED!” Leo growled accusingly, motioning at Leonardo while still trying to reach him. Leonardo was quick to scatter to the safety of Donatello.

“That ain’t give you no right to strangle the kid!” Raph said, then turned on Leonardo. “How’d you do that?”

“Mystic sword.” Donatello answered for his brother, “He can teleport using it.”

“Then you lied!” Leo spat, “You cheated!”

“It’s not called lying.” Leonardo said, smiling impishly, “It’s called ‘compartmentalization’.”

Everyone gasped audibly, but none louder than Leo. Leonardo smirked at the personal attack and crossed his arms pointedly.

[dershloopmain]

End Of Everything - Chapter 2

‘’Jesus,’’ Casey said, looking down at the broken fence with multiple zombies, all in different states of living, tried to claw their way out of their barbed wire and wooden confines.

‘’Tell me about it. I knew they were dumb but I thought they were supposed to have dope eyesight? Doesn't look like it to me,’’’ Raph scoffed, pulling his own splintering baseball bat out of his bag, poking the arm of the closest trapped zombie.

‘’Won’t Donnie want a sample for his tests? Don't poke em too much what if they come free you ass!”

‘’They won't come free! I dunno I thought he was good for all that.’’

‘’I dunno either but shouldn't we at least ask him? Besides, we need the help,’’ Casey said with a shrug, ‘’and stop poking em Raph!’’

‘’What? You can ask him, but if I show my face in that lair before this is done, Leo will end my life so you’re going,’’ Raph said, pulling back from the undead recipient of his abuse.

‘’Fine, I’ll go alone then.’’

‘’Don’t say it like that you’re making it seem like you're going out into a haunted forest. You just gotta drop down the sewer pipe and walk like 100 feet then you’re at the turnstiles.’’

‘’I know! I also know I am, just as susceptible to Leo’s… whatever we’re calling them.’’

‘’First of all, when did you learn such a big word Jones and second just text him then you big dope,’’ Raph rolled his eyes, turning back to his undead victims, beginning to poke and prod at their bodies.

‘’I said stop fuckin’ poking em dude!’’ Casey said, pushing Raph away from the fence with his foot as he tapped out a text to Donnie, ‘’And it's surprising what hanging with D all day makes you learn.’’

‘’Hey! Rude. They're not gonna hurt anyone they're stuck as anything in there. Besides, I’ve been hanging with Don for years, you won't get smarter in a couple of months. Half his ramblings are gibberish at this point,’’ Raph said, sitting up and continuing to poke the zombie. Casey rolled his eyes, realising he wasn't going to win this.

‘’I dunno. I guess I just actually pay attention to him,’’ Casey said with a glare.

‘’Oh sorry,’’ Raph said with a sarcastic high pitched tone, ‘’What is he your boyfriend now? Why’re you getting so defensive?’’ Casey shot another glare at Raph, ‘’Yikes, touchy subject then. I’ll support you no matter what bro, and if you wanna kiss some time, just let me know,’’ Raph said, standing and pouting his lips while moving towards his friend.

‘’Dude stop it,’’ Casey laughed, pushing Raph back, ‘’No he isn’t either I’m just saying, maybe you’d be less of a bone head if you actually listened to him.’’

‘’Nice to know I’ve still got a chance with you then,’’ Raph said with a smirk, ‘’And who are you calling ‘bonehead’ Casey Jones, you’ve got more skull than cells.’’

‘’Alright alright I get it you’re gay for me, its hard not to be, just don't let Mona hear or she will kill both of us. I’m also just gonna ignore that last part but what I said still stands you’re a bonehead.’’

‘’I show you bone head,’’ Raph said, diving at Casey and tackling him to the ground, locking him in a headlock, ‘’Say I'm not a bonehead and I’ll let you go.’’ He said with a smile.

‘’Never!’’

‘’Well then, I hope you like the taste of dirt and sweat because I ain’t moving until you say it!’’

‘’Children, children, come on stop it,’’ Donnie said, rolling his eyes as he pulled himself out of the sewer. Raph looked up at his brother and smiled, allowing Casey a moment to flip Raph up and off of him. He landed on the dusty, cracked tarmac with a shout of surprise, before huffing and pulling himself and Casey up off of the floor, ‘’Now then. What’s the problem?’’

‘’We need help and Case was wondering if you needed new samples to test,’’ Raph said, pointing at the hole in the fence and multiple zombies clawing at the floor in an attempt to pull themselves free and feast on the 3’s flesh.

‘’Right… I’m guessing Leo said you couldn't have help right? That’s why you texted me?’’

‘’Yup.’’

‘’Thought so,’’ Donnie said softly with a small grimace on his face. A grimace that didn't go unnoticed by Casey and Raph. Nothing was said regarding it but yet… they all understood. A silent yet ever-present cloud hung over them all but not a word was said. Raph cleared his throat.

‘’Right then,’’ He spoke, rubbing his hands together readily, ‘’Let’s get on with it.’’ With that, the moment was over and the cloud disappeared, however not completely. It still loomed over them, threatening to take over their beings at any point. Donnie and Casey nodded, pulling their splintering boe staff and baseball bat out respectively and begun to shift the monsters, pushing them back from a safe distance.

‘’How long have our defences been compromised?’’ Donnie said, straightening up and letting out a deep breath.

‘’Not sure,’’ Raph said, copying his brother, ‘’But they’re really stuck in there so it must’ve been at least a couple of days. Probably longer.’’

‘’Why did Leo only send you two to do this?’’

‘’Your guess is as good as mine. He probably still hates me because of what happened.’’

‘’He can’t be still hung up on that. It’s been 3 months.’’

‘’I know,’’ Raph let out a shaky sigh, lifting his hand and pinching the bridge of his nose, ‘’He's not the only one who lost someone important though. We all lost something but we aren't all tyrannical megalomaniacs.’’

‘’You know how close Usagi and he were though. You can’t be mad at him for missing him.’’

‘’It’s past ‘missing him’. Fuck, I miss Mona too but it’s not my fault it happened I just- I just hate that I can't stop loving him. He's my brother, no matter what he does to me. I nearly died on that supply run, if it weren't for Casey I wouldn't be here but… no matter how mad it makes me I can’t stay mad at him,’’ Raph bit his tongue, his shoulders sinking in defeat, ‘’I’d do anything to get him back.’’

‘’I know Raph. I know,’’ Donnie said softly, moving towards his brother and wrapping his arms around him, rubbing his shell comfortingly. Casey didn’t say a word, he only followed Donnie’s lead and wrapped his own arms around his friend.

‘’Fuck me, man, there's something about the apocalypse that's making us all sappy,’’ Casey laughed, pulling an arm away from Raph and wrapping it around Donnie, who evidently also wasn't taking the entire situation well, but was just a lot worse at talking about it. He could tell from the turtle's physique that it’d taken a toll on him. Initially, while he had always been relatively thin, any muscle mass he had had before was gone, leaving nothing but skin, bone and organs. The eye bags Donnie had always sported seemed deeper and more rooted in weeks of sleepless nights rather than days of late nights and early mornings. His face was sallow and thin, his cheekbones protruding through his skin, almost pushing to escape their green confines. But he never said a word. Not to him. Not to Mikey or Raph. Not even to April. He was a silent sufferer, he wouldn't say a word to anyone but yet everyone knew. One of these days, Casey thought, he was going to have a proper conversation with Donnie. A proper talk. Even back before all this, they hadn’t been insanely close. Always at war over something or other yet something drew Casey to Donnie. He wasn't sure what yet but he’d figure it out. Eventually.

‘’Guys you do realise there's still zombies literal centimetres from us,’’ Donnie said, glazing towards the green-grey decaying hand reaching out for Raph’s ankle.

‘’Oh shit yeah,’’ Raph and Casey said in unison, pulling away and starring down at the writhing mass.

‘’How are we gonna move ‘em then?’’ Raph said, pulling a broken hockey stick out of Casey’s bag and poking the creatures again.

‘’My God Raph you’re like a 6-year-old. Stop. Poking. The. Fucking. Zombies!’’ Casey said angrily, ripping the hockey stick out of his hand and shoving them firmly back into his bag.

‘’Well, by the looks of things,’’ Donnie said, crouching down and levering the creatures up using his staff, ‘’They’ve been impaled by the fence. Pushing them back is just going to lodge them in even more and break the fence even more. We need to create some kind of lever system to lift them up so we can push them off the fence and out of our perimeter,’’ He stood up again, stretching his legs out and giving them a small shake, before looking over at Raph and Casey.

‘’This is why you’re the brain’s and I’m the brawn D,’’ Casey said, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pushing him down into a headlock.

‘’Cut it out Casey,’’ Donnie said indignantly, squirming in an attempt to get out of Casey’s arms.

‘’Yeah Casey, cut it out. We gotta sort this out before ‘Nardo throws his rattle out his pram,’’ Raph rolled his eyes and Casey grimaced, loosening his grip and allowing Donnie to pull himself free.

Without another word, Donnie pulled a small toolbox out of his bag and placed it on the floor not too far from the creatures writhing in the barbed wire and jagged wood. Opening the box gently, he pulled out a small, clean-looking glass syringe and a neatly folded wet wipe.

‘’Ok,’’ He said finally, ‘’I need you two, and its imperative that you listen and do exactly as I say because I’m your only hope for a cure and if I get turned you’re all doomed so,’’ Donnie pointed at the pile of zombies, ‘’hold them down and away from me. But under no circumstances are you to do ANYTHING that could kill that one. If they die, their sample will be tarnished and it won't be effective,’’ He finished, a stern and serious expression on his face.

‘’Got it, Don,’’ Raph said, walking towards the pile and pushing his foot down onto the head of the creature Donnie had said, ‘’Casey, can you hold the others back while try and sort this one out?’’

‘’I’ll try,’’ He said sheepishly, looking down at the 3 or so other zombies laying at his feet before quickly composing himself and beginning to use his hockey stick to lift them up and pushing them back and away from his friends and home. Stepping over the barbed wire and broken fencing, he jammed his hockey stick back into his bag and pulled the splintering bat out, moving towards the now free pile of freaks.

‘’You want me to kill em, D?’’

‘’Can do,’’ Donnie said flatly, not looking up from his test subject.

‘’Uh- You know what never mind I’ll just kill em,’’ Casey said, swinging his bat in a downward arch, smashing the creatures’ skulls in, killing them all instantaneously. Mushy brain and dark, viscous blood splattered on his sneakers and jeans, coating them in another layer of grit and grime. He had to admit, the idea that these were once living people was disturbing to him. They’d once had lives, jobs, families and friends. They’d been like him once. Alive and free. Would everyone have bashed his skull in if he’d been infected? Or would he have been corralled and used as a test subject for Donnie to find a cure? He hoped the latter but… He wasn’t sure. After what’d happened, he wasn’t sure Leo would’ve been insanely happy with the idea of keeping zombies in the lair, especially not him. Being low on the hierarchy had its perks but not having Leo on his side in regards to anything was not one of them. He sighed, shaking the viscera off of his shoes and bat before stepping back into the borders of their home.

‘’Nearly done Don?’’ Casey said, crouching near him. He glanced over at his

‘’Nearly and… there we go done,’’ Donnie said, wiping the mucus and deep red blood from the small wound he’d just created, smiling at his work.

‘’Why’d you wipe it after. They’re dead their entire body is infected,’’ Raph said, removing his foot from the creatures head and letting Donnie back up before dropping its arms and dashing around to the other side of the fence.

‘’Force of habit,’’ Donnie said quietly, clearly uncomfortable with what was about to happen.

‘’We have to do it, Don, I know you don’t like it but we do,’’ Raph said, walking over to his brother and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Donnie looked away, gently placing the syringe into a ziplock back and putting it back into his toolbox.

‘’I know you do I just- I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing them be killed. They used to alive and through no fault of their own, now they’re monsters I- I don't know how much more of this excessive violence and murder I can take,’’ Donnie said, his eyes filling up with tears.

‘’Hey, hey don’t get upset. Crying’s healthy and all but if you start, I’ll start and even Raph might start- hey ow!’’ Casey exclaimed, whipping around and shooting Raph a death glare. Raph snorted, a mischievous smirk plastered on his face. Donnie laughed, wiping away yet another batch of unshed tears.

‘’Sorry it just… gets a little much at times,’’ Donnie shook his head, rubbing his elbow nervously.

‘’Don’t apologise for having emotions you big dummy,’’ Raph said, walking to stand next to Casey, ‘’I gotta say, me and Casey aren’t exactly peachy. I doubt Mikey and April are either. Don’t even get me started on Leo. It’s ok to feel like this Don, just stop bottling it up. That’s where it’s not healthy.’’

‘’I can’t believe for once WE are the one's schooling Donnie,’’ Casey said, crossing his arms and shaking his head jokingly. Raph rolled his eyes, as did Donnie.

‘’Now the sentimental shit’s over, let’s just finish up here and go down, I seriously doubt ‘Nardo is gonna be happy with how long we’ve been,’’ Raph said, trying not to think about what was inevitably to come.

‘’Tell me about it. D, we’ll deal with the creature and you can like, close your eyes and ears if that’ll help, then we’ll get started on the fence,’’ Casey said, trying to add an air of enthusiasm to his voice to bring up the mood, however, even he could tell it wasn’t working.

‘’Sure,’’ Donnie said, walking back to the manhole cover and looking away, covering his ears as Raph and Casey pulled out their respective weapons and began pulling the zombie out of the barbed wire and splintering wood, replacing it out onto the dusty street. Then, Raph stepped towards the thing that was slowly attempting to crawl back towards them and slammed his sai down into its head, cracking its skull and killing it, once and for all. He felt the vibrations up his arm as the metal of his sai clashed with the concrete, causing him to shiver a little, before pulling himself up and shaking the remnants of blood and brain off of his sai.

‘’Ok D, all done,’’ Casey shouted over, turning around to his friend and giving him a reassuring smile, who offered a small, shaky smile in return.

With that, Raph tucked his sai away and stepped over what was leftover of the small portion of the fence.

‘’You got any nails in that thing Donnie?’’ Raph asked, gesturing at the toolbox.

‘’I should have a few, I brought some hammers too, I figured you two wouldn't have remembered to bring any with you,’’ Donnie said, opening the toolbox and pulling out a handful of nails and handing them to Casey, before pulling his backpack around so it hung over one shoulder and rummaging through it for a couple of seconds before pulling out 3 relatively clean hammers and handing one to each of them.

‘’Well then, let's get to it,’’ Raph said, swinging the hammer around and grabbing a couple of nails from Casey’s outstretched hand, before picking up one of the wooden boards and beginning to bash it back into the wooden post that protruded from the tarmac. Casey and Donnie soon followed suit, before finally beginning to carefully pick up the barbed and wrap it around the makeshift fencing.

‘’That wasn’t so bad,’’ Raph said, grinning at their handiwork.

‘’Definitely a lot quicker with you here D,’’ Casey said, smiling at his friend.

‘’No problem Casey. I know how Leo can be, so just text me if you ever need help with anything. He already doesn't like you coming down to my lab. Thinks you’re stopping me from working or something,’’ Donnie said with a sigh.

‘’Well, I’m not gonna stop coming unless you tell me to. I don’t care what he thinks,’’ Casey said defiantly, putting his hands on his hips as if he were some hero.

‘’A real modern-day revolutionary you are Casey Jones,’’ Donnie said, rolling his eyes with a smirk.

‘’Should we head back? It’s getting cold,’’ Raph said, wrapping his arms around himself and rubbing them in an attempt to preserve any sort of body heat he could.

‘’Jesus it is. Must really be September,’’ Casey said, stuffing his hands deep into his hoody pockets.

Donnie nodded, flexing his fingers before pulling them back into a fist multiple times.

With that, the three headed towards the manhole cover and climbed down back into the sewer. It was surprising how much you learned about New York’s bathroom habits after 6 months of the apocalypse. Raph had always assumed that there’d always be greywater down here, no matter how many humans lived up top yet somehow, the sewers had run dry. Remains of final faeces and bathroom breaks lay dried up or non-existent along the floor of the sewer. It was almost impressive yet disturbing. The world really was ending. Or, as Donnie had put it ‘’Humanity's end as the dominant life force on earth’’.

‘’Bite your tongue Raph. If Leo says anything, don’t bite,’’ Donnie whispered as they hopped the turnstiles into the lair. Raph swallowed in a desperate attempt to dampen his dry tongue, failing miserably. He could feel his stomach turn in knots and any food he’d eaten in the last 24 hours was churning in his stomach, threatening to make a reappearance.

‘’Raphael,’’ Leo’s deep voice filled their ears, Raph flinched, ‘’I trust your supply run went well.’’

‘’Yeah. Got more medical supplies. There wasn’t much else we needed though so that was it.’’ ‘’What about our defences. Are they secure now?’’

‘’Yeah. Casey and Donnie helped me patch it back up so it should be fine.’’

‘’Donatello helped? I thought I told you that you and Casey were to do it alone.’’

‘’Yes, I know, I’m sorry but he was already up there to get another sample from the zombies and he had stuff on him to help so…’’ Raph trailed off, his eyes trained on the ground. He refused to look into Leo’s cold, uncaring eyes. If he did, he already knew he couldn't hold himself back.

‘’Hmm. Donatello? Is this what happened?’’

‘’Yes, Leo. I promise you, they didn’t ask me to help them. I asked them if I could come up to get a sample for my studies,’’ Donnie said sheepishly, looking up at Leo, trying his best not to let his fear be shown.

‘’Fine. I’ll believe you. You may all leave now.’’ Leo said plainly, glaring down at Casey and Raph, both of whom were starring at the ground still as they walked away, shoulders hunching slightly.

Leo nearly felt himself crack. He wanted to stop them, tell them he was sorry and wanted everything to go back to normal but… he couldn't. He couldn’t stop hating them for what happened. He couldn’t stop his blood from boiling every time he saw Raph walk past him to leave the lair. Maybe time would heal all wounds, but for now, he was perfectly content blaming and hating his younger brother for what he’d done. Not just because of what he'd lost. It's what all of them had lost. It was how reckless and immature Raph had been and HOW he'd caused it. All of it added up into a pit of rage that had been brewing for years. The number of times he'd been kidnapped or injured because of Raph's idiocy and complacency and arrogance. What had happened had broken him, the small, sane and happy, innocent part of him had snapped. Maybe if Usagi returned that part would be reconnected but… he knew that wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t happen. And it was all Raph’s fault.

[misswildfire]

Empathic Pain

For as long as Mikey had known, he had been different. He wasn’t just talking about the fact that he was a mutated turtle, or that he knew ninjutsu or that he lived in the sewers below New York City. No, this marked him different from his brothers. Don had once referred to him being an empath, or having the ability to sense other people’s emotions or mental state. He didn’t need to be in the same room to see his brothers body language to know how they were feeling. Touch made the emotions he felt from someone stronger. Getting pinned down and beaten by a group of Purple Dragons has disastrous consequences for the youngest turtle. 

For @brightlotusmoon Thank you for all your support. 

For as long as Mikey had known, he had been different. He wasn’t just talking about the fact that he was a mutated turtle, or that he knew ninjutsu or that he lived in the sewers below New York City. No, this marked him different from his brothers. Don had once referred to him being an empath, or having the ability to sense other people’s emotions or mental state. He didn’t need to be in the same room to see his brothers body language to know how they were feeling. Touch made the emotions he felt from someone stronger.

He found comfort in knowing what his brothers were feeling. It allowed him to be able to react as necessary, push when they needed it or back off when the situations called for it. Perhaps it was because he spent his life with his brothers he was use to their emotions, it was familiar, calming even. The first time he had really gone to the surface with his brothers and spent a longer period around humans had grated on him in ways he hadn’t expected. It had been exciting, new, scary, and very, very loud both in the physical sense and in the emotions that they projected.

Mikey wasn’t sure if he was just use to his brothers so their emotions weren’t as distracting, but he found himself constantly distracted by the emotions from the humans. The closer they were to him, the louder they were. The first time April had touched him, he had nearly passed out, her emotions quickly overwhelming him. He had gotten it a bit more under control now, happier emotions were easier for him to process and filter out, it was more negative emotions that he had a harder time dealing with.

Night was the best time to be on the surface for him. Even though New York was known as the City that Never Sleeps, most of the humans were asleep and when they slept, their emotions weren’t as loud. It gave him a break and allowed him to be able to enjoy his time topside.

Brought of his musing as he dodged another blow from a Purple Dragon. He and his brothers had been ambushed while on patrol and there were more of them than usual. Gritting his teeth he spun his nunchuks faster, taking out one that dared to get to close. He normally relied on his speed and agility to keep him out of his enemies reach. He hated being around them, the negative emotions, the hatred and disgust they felt towards him and his brothers sometimes left him breathless. The few times that someone experience some minor negative emotions like fear, had been physically painful when there had been physical contact.

So far he had been lucky that none of them have landed a physical blow during a fight, but tonight, his luck was about to run out. He was tired and his reactions must have been slower than normal. He had been up most of the previous night, for once not goofing off or playing video games or reading comics, but because he had been worried about Don who was burning himself out trying to upgrade their security system. He desperately wanted to help, take some of the burden off his purple masked brother, but he didn’t know how. He wasn’t good with technology and Don usually found him more of a hindrance than help. His senses dulled, he didn’t see the Purple Dragon sneak behind him and whack him in the back of the head with a staff, or see the other who came in to take him out at the knees causing him to crash to the ground.

Physical pain from fighting he could deal with, blows from weapons, or falling hard. He’d been training all his life and could deal and even brush most of that off and keep going. It was the physical pain from negative emotions caused by his empathy he didn’t know how to handle. When a Purple Dragon grabbed him and roughly flipped him over so he was laying on his shell, he couldn’t stop the whimper that broke free. White hot pain seared through him, threatening to quickly overwhelm him. Disgust, anger and hatred bombarded him. When another Dragon joined the first Mikey knew he was in trouble. He couldn’t stop them from taking his wrists and dragging them above his head, pinning him down or the third that grabbed his ankles and pinned him from there. The constant contact was absolutely hell. His wrists and ankles seared in pain as if in contact with something hot enough to burn. Part of him wanted to look and see if his skin was actually blistering. He tried to struggle, tried to get free, tried to recall the training that had been drilled into him his entire life, but the pain left him gasping for breath, unable to move. When another Purple Dragon started raining punches upon any available piece of skin he could reach, Mikey knew he was done for. A scream tore from his throat and his back arched involuntarily, body thrashing in an instinctual attempt to get away from the pain.

Never in his life had he experienced this level of pain before. Every inch of his skin felt on fire. His brain felt like mush, no longer able to process any emotions or any level of thought. He wasn’t aware of anything except the searing, excruciating pain that filled ever pore. So overwhelmed, he didn’t notice when the sources of his pain were ripped away from him, one by one. He didn’t notice as Donnie gathered him in his arms, murmuring reassurances to him. Moving was painful and he whimpered as Don moved.

He was so incredibly over stimulated that things that normally felt good, his brothers emotions, being held by them, left him feeling raw and aching. Nothing felt good, everything felt like white hot fire. His  mind and body no longer able to take anything more, he lost consciousness, going limp in his mates arms.

Hearing his youngest mate scream in pain like that was something that was going to haunt Leonardo for a long time to come. Looking back on that moment later, he would wonder if he, Raph and Don shared a brain in that singular second. They moved as if one; Raph and Don racing to their orange clad mate and Leo finishing off the remainder of the Purple Dragons with a ferocity he had never felt before, taking a defensive position to protect his family in case their enemy dared to try and approach. Raph quickly disposed of the Purple Dragon scum who had dared to hurt his mate, allowing Don to quickly assess him for any critical injuries before scooping him in his arms and making a hasty retreat. Raph took the wheel, with Don and Leo piling in the back with Mikey still in the purple clad terrapins arms.

“Here, you take him,” Don murmured, feeling the need to keep his voice down. Accepting his youngest mate, Leo couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows at the genius. “He needs calm emotions and we all know you have the best control out of any of us.” He cradled Mikey close, quickly trying to centre himself. He wanted to rage, lash out, the anger that someone had dared hurt his mate churning inside him. He pushed it down, knowing he would have to experience and meditate through those emotions later. Right now, he needed to be calm, as the last thing he wanted was to cause any more pain.

“Will he be okay?” he asked, once he felt he had gotten his emotions under control.

“He will....eventually,” Don said, frowning. “But something needs to change. We were lucky that this was a relatively minor attack, but what if he had been worse?” The implication of what if their enemies got a hold of them and tortured or experimented on them hanging thick in the air. “We can’t bar him from patrol with us forever, but the status quo can’t remain the same either.” They all knew that Mikey hated to be excluded and not allowing him to come on patrol would not only put a rift between them, but could potentially do more harm to his mental health than anything. Besides, it wasn’t as if they really wanted to leave him behind.

“Any ideas?”

“Some sort of mental shield like you see in the movies?” Don shrugged. He really had no idea how to help their baby brother. “I’ve been looking into Mikey’s abilities on and off for years. Since it appeared that it was under control and he only ever mentioned that the humans were loud, I didn’t have any cause for concern...” Don shuddered visibly upset. “I never pursued it further. Clearly a massive error on my part.” Glancing at his only younger brother, the purple glad genius couldn’t help the sinking feeling that he had utterly failed in his one job to protect him. He could only hope that Mikey would forgive him one day.

“Don’t go there,” Raph rumbled from the drivers seat, having stayed uncharacteristically quiet up until this point. He desperately wanted to rage, to take out the anger he felt on their enemies but he knew right now his priority was getting his family back to the safety of their lair so Don could tend to their youngest mate. So he swallowed his anger, feeling it bubbling just below the surface. He knew it would break at some point, he had never been good at controlling his emotions, not like Fearless, but he was trying. He was definitely going to have a very intense workout later or spar with Leo to get it out of his system since there weren’t any Purple Dragons around for him to punch. “If you failed him, than so did we. We all knew how sensitive he is to our emotions, especially when he’s touchin’ us. It didn’t occur to any of us that this may cause a bigger problem since the humans were loud, so if you failed so did we. We all fucked up.” He glanced in the rear view mirror, smirking as he saw Leo frowning when he cussed. The more he got him worked up, the better their sparring match in and out of the bedroom would be later. It seemed to him they could both let off a little steam later, do them both good. Once they were certain that Mikey was going to be okay, that was.

“Don...” Leo looked down at the unconscious turtle in his arms. He wasn’t if what he was doing was helping at all, Mikey still looked to be in pain.

“Just keep holding him. His systems are probably overloaded right now. Besides, you know he loves cuddling you the most.” Don shot his older brother a half grin. It was true. Even as children, Mikey had always gone to Leo for cuddles, proclaiming that their eldest brother gave the best cuddles ever. They had all long suspected it was because Leo’s emotions were the most even and tranquil out of all of them. The youngest had once described Raph’s emotions as being like Raph himself, strong and intense. While Don on the other hand he had described as almost an electric buzzing, similar to the noise his electronics and computers in his lab made. His emotions ran quick, much like the thoughts in his head.

The leader of their little family nodded, hugging his youngest mate closer to his body. The feeling of being useless was nearly overwhelming. This wasn’t a physical enemy he could vanquish, he could do nothing to help the thunderous storm taking place inside Mikey, no matter how much he wished to. All he could do was hope that his emotions would break through and provide some peace for his little brother.

Stirring slightly, Mikey felt a soft, calm presence enveloping him. It felt oh so familiar but for the life of him, he couldn’t place it. Just beyond he felt two more presence that were familiar. It was at the tip of his tongue...why did they feel so familiar?

Mates.

He felt calm and safe, a far cry from the earlier pain he had been in. What had caused that pain again? Right. Purple Dragons. Ambush on patrol. Held him down. So much pain. He backed away from the memory, focusing instead on the comfort he was surrounded by. His mates must have rescued him. The thought brought him some comfort. At least he didn’t have to worry about more pain. Feeling the air shift around, he felt himself moving or being moved rather. Where were they bringing him? He could hear his mates voices, concentrating he tried to figure out what they were saying.

“Should I bring him to your Lab, Don?”

“No, he should be fine with some sleep, just put him to bed. If you or Raph could stay with him, that would be ideal. Mikey felt himself moving again before being placed on something soft. He could feel Leo’s worry. He really should wake up, he hated it when his eldest brother worried about him. Fighting his way towards the warmth that he could feel, he opened his eyes slowly.

“Did you catch the licence plate of that truck?” he tried to joke weakly, his mouth feeling dry. He could really use some water right now.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Leo murmured softly, pressing his forehead to his youngest mate.

“Been better,” he replied honestly, knowing better than to try and hide anything from Leo. It never worked out well for him in the end. He was achy, and sore and still felt completely out of whack. He bit his lip as his memory of the night fully returned. Oh boy. He had messed up royally. Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes. How much of a burden did he need to be for his family? Twice now they’ve had to rescue him. On top of being useless, he knew he was needy. He hated being alone and was forever pestering one of his mates to hang out with him. Did they even still want him? He couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over and trailing down his face. Perhaps it was better for everyone if he just left.

“Mikey, Mikey, hey, what’s wrong?” Leo ran his hands over his youngest mate, trying to find any injuries he had missed that would cause the youngest to cry like this.

“I- I really messed up, I’m sorry.” He buried his head in Leo’s plastron, not wanting to see the anger he was sure to be in his mate’s eyes.

The blue clad turtle blinked in confusion, momentarily stunned by the words he just heard coming from his youngest brothers mouth. “Michelangelo, sweetling, listen to me.” He waited patiently for Mikey to  lift his head and look at him. “If anyone is owed an apology, it’s you. We’ve known about your ability for years now and we’ve never done anything to help you control it. We just assumed it was fully under control because you never said otherwise. You got hurt today because we failed you.”

Had they ever failed their youngest mate. Cupping the orange one’s jaw, he titled his mates head so he could slid his lips against the other in a chaste kiss. He smiled as Mikey sighed in pleasure, some of the tension in his body melting away.

“I want to show you how sorry I am, may I?” When Mikey nodded, Leo gently pushed him back into the plush mattress of his bed, trailing kisses down his plastron. His hands stroked the sensitive area of where their shell met flesh, knowing how much Mikey enjoyed the sensation. Purposefully, he moved past the swollen slit, glad he had the foresight to remove Mikey’s clothing before putting him to bed, instead turning his attention to his quivering thighs. He nipped each one in turn, soothing it with his tongue. When Mikey shifted his hips impatiently, he pinched his tail, loving the moan he got as a reward.

“Good things come to those who wait, Michelangelo,” he teased, pinching the others tail once more. His mate distracted by the attention on his tail, the leader leaned down, tongue licking the full length of his slit. He continued to lavish attention on the sensitive flesh, alternating licks, sucks and nips. His hands having moved to the younger’ hips, keeping him pinned in place, forcing him to accept the pleasure he was simultaneously seeking and trying to get away from, his senses still very much overstimulated from earlier.

“Drop down for me,” he demanded, the answering whine the only warning he got before his mates cock revealed itself to his gaze. “You’re so good for me,” he praised before taking Mikey into his mouth, quickly working his way down to the hilt. His goal of trying to keep the younger off balance, not knowing what to expect, so he had no choice but to focus on the feelings he was experiencing now, seemed to be working. Humming, he reached down to play with Mikey’s tail as he started to bob up and down slowly, intent on working his mate into a frenzy. It didn’t take long for Michelangelo to become a sobbing, pleading mess, but he kept his pace, knowing that the longer he drew it out, the more intense the orgasm would be. He knew exactly how to play his younger brothers pleasure like a fiddle. His thumb circling the puckered hole, his two fingers squeezing his mates tail gently, Leo knew it wouldn’t be much longer. Taking him once more down to the hilt, he relaxed his throat, he swallowed, knowing the sensation would send Mikey tumbling over the edge.

Making sure to lick him clean from root to tip, Leo moved to lay down beside Mikey, gathering his younger mate in his arms.  

“How are you feeling now?” he asked, nuzzling into Mikey’s throat.

“So good, gimme a minute dude and I can return the favour.”

“No, tonight was about you. I’m fine.” And he was. It was enough for him that his mate was home safe,  his other two mates were somewhere else in the lair. He knew as much as Raph liked to push the rules and go out, he would stay in tonight, most likely comforting Donatello who never took one of his brothers being injured, especially if he thought it was something he could have prevented well. His family was together and they were safe and that was all that he needed. For now, they would sleep, the exhaustion written on Mikey’s face was as plain as day to him. He had a feeling the youngest of them would have a very busy morning with his two elder brothers wanting to make up the wrongs they’ve committed to him.

Saving those thoughts for the morning, he pulled the blankets up around them and settled into sleep, Mikey securely in his arms.

[elasianstar]

R #13 Accidental anger (Angst fic)

“I think I want to try for a degree in physics and mechanical engineering, oh but chemistry….”

“I can get you all the necessary paperwork Don, it'll be pushing it but we might be able to even get you in for the fall semester. You just have to decide on a major.”

“But there are so many choices! Physics, mathematics, engineering, psychology, chemistry… I can't choose!”

“Well can you narrow it down to your top 3? A double major and a minor is doable in 5-6 years if they're all in similar disciplines.”

“Ok, I think I'll stick with physics and engineering…. And a minor in inorganic chemistry.”

“Are you sure?”

“mmmmmmm! Yeah just put it down before I change my mind again. I can't believe you got me in, I'm going to be an actual college student!”

“Yep, as soon as we send these enrollment papers in and get your classes finalized you will be an official Columbia college Cougar.”

From where I stood in the tunnel outside the lab I heard it all.

I couldn't believe it, Donnie was going off to college with Elasia in the fall…

That evening Elasia’s POV

Raph has been acting really strange today, I mean not entirely out of the ordinary, but I haven't seen the red banded brother this irritable in months. He was stalking around the lair and bouncing from thing to thing in an attempt to keep himself in check, beating the snot out of his training dummy, cleaning random spaces, he even started knitting after a bit but his restless mind wouldn't let him relax. I tried approaching him to see what was wrong but he just brushed me off without a glance.

“Don't worry, Raph just gets like this sometimes, let him work off the steam and he’ll be fine. This is nothing like the explosions we endured as kids, Raph was a real live wire back then. This is most likely nothing that won't blow over.”

“I don't know Leo, I've never seen him quite this steamed, not even at you. He's been so good at keeping himself in check recently, he's been so proud of his self control. This isn't normal, something is wrong and I know it.”

“Guys! Fajitas are ready!!!”

Mikey's voice brought us all running to the kitchen, the chaos of flying plates being caught and the chatter between the brothers feeling normal and comfortable compared to the funk of the rest of the night. Then Raph made it to the kitchen and the atmosphere chilled almost instantly as he roughly snagged a plate and plopped into his normal spot on the bench between me and Mikey. He didn't make eye contact or even spare a kind word just started serving his portion of food and eating in a fuming silence. The others acted like nothing was wrong and soon the usual chatter started back up.

“And I helped this old lady with eyes all over move a futon we found out at the dump into her apartment. I think her name was Sicily if I remember right, her son is coming home from serving with the coast guard soon and she needed to set up a place for him to stay until he could get situated. She was really nice, afterwards she brought out homemade cookies and showed me a few of their old photo albums.”

Mikey was chattering away, he's been so much happier since he started volunteering at the small mythic community. His eyes were brighter and he seemed more willing to express himself.

“The scrappers are treated like heroes over in the compound, I don't see why you guys don't stop in and help out some time.”

Leo smiled a bit between bites of the delicious roasted peppers the younger had prepared, gesturing with his fork as he talked.

“Things are going pretty good at the market actually, selling my extra fresh produce is working out. I even have a few return customers, there's this older guy with hooves, Devin, who comes up every week from new Jersey. He cleans me out of hot peppers every time I take some down. I can't believe we lived down here our whole lives and never knew they were over there. Feels good to actually help people who are like us, who can look at us without seeing a bunch of freaks.”

“Oh and Don, your gadgets are actually selling pretty well. The kids love your little tin toys. You could start up your own shop and do nicely, or I bet I could convince Tobias to set up a little section for your stuff at the toy counter in his shop.”

“I might actually consider that Leo, making them does give me a nice break from upgrading our stuff and my lab projects.”

“what's the point.”

Raph's comment was almost too quiet to hear as he shoved off from the table.

“What's that all about Raph?”

“I said what's the Damn Point! You'll just end up leaving and then what! You'll be too busy with your stupid degrees to do anything else!!!”

His plate went whizzing past Donnie’s head and crashed into jagged shards that littered the floor. Something broke in behind Donnie’s eyes and soon he was launching himself over the table to get in his larger brothers face. Bo staff caught between twin sai as they struggled against eachother.

“Well sorry if I want my chance to better myself! You know more than anybody that I've always wanted This, to actually have a chance to be a part of the scientific community!”

“Well whoop de fuckin do! Donnie’s the smart one, he's going to make something of himself!”

Raph managed to throw Don away, his sai still buried in Don’s staff. But his anger was growing, all his wards were down and his eyes glazed over white as he lost himself.

“IS WHAT WE DO NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU DONATELLO, HUH! IS PROTECTIN PEOPLE AND HELPIN PEOPLE TOO DEMEANIN FOR MR. EINSTEIN! YOU'VE GOTTA ABANDON YOUR BROTHERS TO BE HAPPY HUH!”

“Raph honey calm down no body is…”

“DON'T YOU OPEN YOUR SLY CONIVIN LITTLE MOUTH! YOU WERE FUCKIN IN ON IT! I HEARD YOU! IT WASN'T ENOUGH FOR YOU TO JUST LEAVE, YOU HAD TO TAKE MY BROTHER AWAY TOO! GET YOUR HANDS OFFA ME!”

“He flung me of of his arm like i weighed nothing, sending me flying across the kitchen to crash against the steel cabinet. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder and warmth running down my chest from where the edge of the cabinet had bitten into my flesh. I couldn't process anything else in that moment, he actually hurt me.

“DON'T YOU DARE TREAT HER LIKE THAT!”

Mikey swung on his older brother, his smaller form not allowing him to do much more than further anger his behemoth of a sibling when his punch glanced off Raphael's jaw. A whirlwind picked up, grabbing heavy iron cookware and flinging it at Raph in an attempt to fight him off as the enraged turtle charged the perceived attacker. Mikey's arm was caught in the larger’s grasp and a harsh pop was heard as his shoulder was wrenched out of place and he was tossed to land beside me on the floor.

“RAPH COOL IT. YOU'RE HURTING YOUR FAMILY, IS THIS REALLY WORTH IT? WE CAN TALK THIS OUT!”

Raphael was past getting loud, his anger turning his voice to embers, a low crackle to match the fury in his eyes. He had his oldest brother pinned high up to the kitchen wall, trying to fight back would only lead to more injuries.

“You were in on it to werentcha Leo? Sendin MY brother away. you never thought Don was a good enough fighter, drove him to spendin all his time in that damn lab to try and earn your approval. Now you're sending him away and he's never gonna come back.”

Raph's scales were starting to glow with heat, the edges turning black as the air around him started to shimmer like the mirage over the highway in summer. Tongues of flame started to flick over his fingers, climbing the thick columns of his arms as he reached for his eldest brother's throat.

“ENOUGH!”

Donnie’s voice shook the lair like an earthquake, causing a shower of dust to overtake his brothers flame, and smother the oxygen from him. The sound of the two falling to the floor and Leo’s harsh coughing gasps signalling for Donnie to stop.

When the dust cleared, the level of chaos became extremely apparent. Mikey was trying to use the counter to push his shoulder back in, my own blood had stained the floor as more seeped from the deep gash in my shoulder and I was sure my collar bone was broken. Kitchen utensils were embedded in the wall and a thick layer of dust covered everything. Leo was regaining his breath in the corner, burns in the shape of Raph's hand and forearm across his chest and shoulder. In the middle of it all was Donnie, on his knees looking absolutely shell shocked. His glasses were missing and blood trickled from the side of his head where he had been struck as Raph charged Mikey. He had Raph’s head in his lap and he was wiping the dust off of his unconscious brother’s face as he checked to make sure he was breathing.

“this is all my fault…”

Stopping the flow of blood i hauled myself up off the floor with my left arm just as Mikey managed to snap his shoulder back in. A small whisper of pain the only sound in the room as he approached his brother with cold yet worried eyes.

“No Don, this is as much my fault as it is yours. But I don't understand what the problem was.”

By now Leo had gotten himself up off the floor and was helping Donnie haul Raphael's limp body to the needle room.

“Whatever it was I think the two of you owe us all an explanation. But after we get everyone patched up. Elasia, do you think you've got it in you to help out?”

My calm mask wasn't fooling anybody, my ankles were shaking and I was holding my arm funny to ward off the pain in my shoulder.

“Yeah but I'll need Mikey to go get one of the bags in my fridge upstairs. Do you think you can manage it MC?”

“Y-yeah, but why?”

“Don't question it, just go get it please.”

Donnie’s wounds were the most troubling so I tended to him first. Having Leo check to see if his skull was cracked from the blow while I checked his eyes for sign of concussion and readied the disinfectant.

“Here, I don't know why you needed this but…”

Biting into the bag I ripped off the corner and drained the entire contents in front of all of them, sighing when the quick release of energy flowed into my shoulder to repair the broken bone.

“Works faster than solids, I needed the energy to heal myself before I could help any of you. Couldn't wait the three days for the bone to re-fuse. Now Donnie hold still, this is going to sting like a big bitch but I have to clean the wound before it's healed.”

Pouring a thin stream of disinfectant over the wound to wash out any dirt Donnie just set there, staring at the turtle charm hanging around my neck as I dabbed clean gauze over the wound before sealing the flesh in gold light.

“Mikey are you ok?”

“Yeah, just a little sore but I think my arm is ok.”

“Could you try and find Donnie’s glasses? Come on Don let's get you laid down, try and close your eyes for a bit. Get calmed down.”

Mikey left to find Donnies specs as i moved on to help Leo. His burns weren't severe enough to warrant an emergency but he had to get cleaned up soon or risk infection. His plastron was discolored and he had several blisters along his shoulder and forearms.

“I have to wash the hide before I drain the pustules.”

“Just do it. I can handle a little pain Ane.”

The cleaning cloth accidentally popped one of the larger blisters while I was cleaning and Leo gripped my free arm to steady himself. His grip got stronger as I lanced each obtrusion to his hide and flushed the whole area with anesthetic. I would surely have a bruise for a few minutes, but what was another bruise. What was another scar.

Mikey returned with Donnie’s glasses, miraculously without damage and I had him help both of his brothers to their quarters to let their bodies continue healing on their own. Now to deal with Raph.

There were no burns to deal with, just a few superficial cuts to be cleaned. He was breathing fine and a dark bruise was forming on the side of his head where he had been struck with a chunk of concrete. I cleaned him up and left him there to heal. Keeping my emotions controlled and sterile until the boys had left the room.

I placed my hand over Raph's chest, feeling the familiar tug of our bond as I drew his energy from his body. As it coalesced into its solid form I cupped the softball sized soul in my hands. The surface of it blazed with fire but it did not burn me, it refused to hurt me. I felt my chest tighten and my throat swell as I dropped the thing back into his body and turned to face the mirror. The cracked glass obscured my figure somewhat but there was no missing the new scar slashed cleanly across my shoulder. The edges of the tight silver flesh were pink, signs of my body fighting an infection due to the wound being sealed uncleaned. My skin was covered in coagulated blood, flecks of gold making the macabre sight seem alien in the flickering fluorescent light. My eyes were blown out gold and my teeth were sharp, body wound tight and ready to fight. Though I had been unable to land one blow against him to protect my friends, he had flung me without a second thought

I leaned my forehead against the shattered mirror and just stared back into my own eyes for a while. I didn't move, I tried not to think, i just let my mind and my emotions run their course until I was too exhausted to hold back anymore. My eyes welled with tears and my knees gave out as I fell to the floor. For the second time in as many hours I couldn't move of my own volition, my body just sitting there, rocking back and forth as I was forced to stare at my pathetic self in the mirror.

“You call yourself a warrior, but you didn't even try and do anything. You could have shut it all down but you just sat there and watched. You're pathetic, you're weak and spineless, you don't deserve to carry their name. You aren't the Elasia, that mark on your arm holds as little value as you do. You're nothing but a coward, a guinea pig, a worthless animal. J.4.2.2. J.4.2.2 J.4.2.2. J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2

J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2.J.4.2.2…..”

I didn't feel the hands on my shoulder, I heard voices, but they sounded far away, through deep water. In a different time, past heart rate monitors, past the whirring of drills and saws, past dripping IV’s that made my blood run thick in my veins and my lungs heavy with fluid.

“Elaaaaaa…...elasiiiiiii….Elasia!....JAZZ!”

J.4.2.2

I started breathing again, my eyes wide with panic as my body thrashed and clawed at my binds, thick leather wrapped tightly around my wrists and waist holding me in place. Unable to fight, unable to protect those who looked up at me through thick iron bars. Wide innocent child's eyes, bright blue…

I came around to bright blue eyes filled with tears, to a bear hug squeezing me tight.

“Come on Elasia, Jazz, wake up please. Come on..”

“lemme go.”

The words passed my lips as a hoarse whisper but they felt like panic. My body moving to scramble away from my binds despite the hurt look on my friend’s face.

My vision cleared as I allowed myself to breath, the smell of antiseptic fueling my fearful visions never leaving but being overtaken by visions of my friends as they watched over me from a short distance.

“What's happening, what's wrong jazzycakes?”

The green souled one put his hand on the blue eyed one’s shoulder.

“Panic attack Mikey, just let her breath.”

Mikey, Don, Leo, …., My friends, safety, home.

My heart rate slowed and I was able to get up off my knees and forearms to sit comfortably again. Mikey slowly got closer and I held out my arm for a hug. Safe, my friend, I was safe.

“Mikey….”

“Yeah Elasia, it's Mikey. I'm right here.”

“Donnie, Leo.”

They moved as if they had been holding their breath, moving closer to comfort me as well. One hand on each of my shoulders. I was crying again, little hiccup skene sounds bouncing out of my fluttering ribcage.

“I did nothing, i couldn't protect anyone. I, I, I…”

“You did nothing wrong, things just got out of control. It was all a massive misunderstanding. Donnie explained everything.”

“Leo?”

“Yeah?”

My face must have said what I meant because I couldn't find the word. I felt his hand tighten slightly around my shoulder for a moment, a small twinge in my collarbone helping bring me back to clarity.

“You're welcome. Sis.”

It was then that the sound of coughing from the cot across the room caught all of our attention. Donnie and Leo left to take care of the issue, leaving me with Mikey as he continued to stroke my wings to keep me calm and grounded.

“Raphael.”

“Yeah sounds like he's finally woke up, perfect timing as usual.”

Mikey sounded less than pleased as we listened to the conversation behind the curtain.

“How bad was it?”

“You dislocated Mikey’s shoulder, threw Elasia across the room, almost gave Don a concussion, and I'm wrapped up with 2nd degree burns. How bad do you think it was.”

“I'm sorry Leo, I don't know what came over me I just…”

“Its nothing we haven't gotten through before, wounds heal. No permanent damage was done.”

“You didn't tell me what happened to Elasia. Is she alright? I didn't hurt her did I?!”

“Raphael, sit down.”

“No I want to see her. I have to see her!”

“She is in no state of mind to see you.”

It got really quiet. Raph’s voice getting more dejected.

“What happened.”

“We think she had a panic attack, she wasn't breathing when we found her. When we got her around she kept mumbling a string of code on rapid repeat looking like she was lost in another world.”

“J.4.2.2.”

“Yes, what does it mean. We have to help her... without you.”

…

“It's her identification code, her name JAZZ, from when she was a child. She was kidnapped, taken to a lab. Held there for years, they did things to her. I'm not telling you any more without her, I promised.”

“We still need to know how to help her, Elasia is our friend too.”

“There's really nothing you can do, just don't leave her alone with her thoughts until she gets back to normal.”

“Hey, Leo.”

…

“How bad is she? I don't remember much past Don coming over the table at me.”

“You broke her collarbone and sliced her up pretty bad, but she's resilient. She patched us up, all of us.”

When they came back around the privacy curtains I was standing, my hair rebraided and my skin washed as well as I could manage in the needle room sink.

“How is he doing?”

“He’ll live. But for now I think it's best things stay a little distanced between you two. Go on with Mikey, He’ll help you get fixed up and help you keep your mind off things while Don and I straighten this out.”

Once we got most of the way down the hall I heard the fighting start, no screaming like last time but the tenor of their angry voices echoing down the corridor had me shaking slightly.

“Come on jazzycakes, let's finish getting you cleaned up. Then we can play some Spyro while you get back to normal.”

“Thanks Mikey.”

“Hey you did the same for me when that hurricane blew through the city. I've got your back girl.”

…

That night after I'd gotten tucked into bed I heard a light knock on the door.

“Come in.”

It took a minute but the door creaked open slow and Raph stepped through. His bandana was wrung between his hands and his eyes were on the floor. i could see the edge of Leo’s shell around the edge of the doorway. he was obviously behind Raph’s sudden burst of apologetic courage.

“I said come In Raphael.”

He just nodded, closing the door behind himself before sitting in the chair by the bed.

“Are you not going to look at me?”

“I don't want to see the damage I've caused.”

“Then leave, because living stuck in the past is no way to spend an eternity. We must all learn to move past our mistakes and better ourselves for the ones we love.”

He lifted his head and I could see that one of his eyes was nearly swelled shut. A big purple bruise taking up the entire side of his face from his temple to his jaw. His good eye was puffy from tears.

“Tell me Raphael, what damage do you see?”

“You've got a new scar.”

“Yes and on this body what is another scar.”

“You're favoring your left arm.”

“I am still sore, my collar bone was snapped. But it’s whole now, the pain will have completely faded by morning.”

“Your eyes are cold. I can feel mistrust like slime running under my shell. I hate it. I hate that i made you feel like this.”

“Then know it and just realize the consequences of your actions. Learn to talk to someone instead of stewing in your own mind and letting a situation spiral out of control. I don't believe Donatello enrolling in an online program with a few supplementary night courses demanded the events that transpired earlier today.”

“No it didn't, i’m sorry. I feel sick, I can't even bare to be alone with my own thoughts knowing I hurt you the way I did. If there's any way I can earn your forgiveness…”

“Raphael… Raph, baby. There is no forgiveness to be earned, it is already given. I know in your soul that you would have never intended to hurt me had you been in your right mind. Yes trust may become bruised, but it heals quite easily in the right circumstance.”

A choked sob broke from his throat as he reached for me, only to stop himself, harshly withdrawing in fear his advance would be unwelcome. 

“Raph, hun. set up here on the edge of the bed next to me.”

He moved like anything he touched could shatter in an instant, his hands still wringing the fabric of his bandana. I reached out and touched one of his hands, causing him to completely freeze. He hardly even breathed.    

Taking his hand in both of my own I moved it back and forth in my grasp, running my fingertips over the uniquely shaped bone structure and tracing the lines in his palm. I did this a lot when we were alone together and it helped soothe both of us. There were no blocks now, everything was shared between our bonded souls. When I was content I took his hand again and held it to the side of my face. it nearly enveloped my skull in its breadth and the hide was rough and battle worn, but it felt cool and safe against my skin. His eye shifted from his hand to my own face as we simply held eachothers gaze for a moment. From there i felt him trace over my new scar, fingertips grazing from the crest of my shoulder nearly to the upper swell of my breast and back. My own hand having slid down his arm to trace over his bruised face.

“Scars are nothing more than marks of trials you were stronger than.”

My hand grew warm as the energy flowed between our skin, restoring his eyesight on his right side but no more. After some time we both withdrew, hands tucked into laps and words left unsaid to hang in the mindspace unneeded. We knew what the other was thinking, the looks on our faces and the emotions flowing along our bond were more than enough.

“I had better let you get some sleep.”

“Yeah rest does sound pretty good after such a stressing day.”

He stood to leave but before he could turn the handle of the door I spoke.

“Did I say you could leave?”

“No ma’am.”

“Red….”

“Yeah?”

“Get your scaley ass in this bed before I have to get up and drag you over here myself.”

Without another word he climbed up into the bed, resting on his plastron as I tucked myself against his side to lie on my own stomach. The feeling of his arm draped over my lower back was safe, nothing could harm me like this and even our minds lay still. His breath slowed to the rhythm of sleep and I wiggled upward to be on the same level as his head. Gently pressing a kiss to his bruised temple I whispered in his ear before falling asleep.

“Even though I may leave your side, I'm never gone from you. I promise.”

[brightlotusmoon]

So hey, I decided to preview a piece of the second chapter of "The Brightest Fire" which is my 4Kids 2003 version of "Let's give Michelangelo psychic powers and also he's super neurodivergent because I spent a lifetime being unknowingly neurodivergent plus wanting psychic powers and Mikey is my biggest autistic special interest since 1988 even though I wasn't diagnosed until 2013 and I'm kinda glad ramble ramble".

Now that @mysillylittlesoapbox found my old original fics on Wayback Machine I have had a breakthrough in my writing slump that was not helped by a massive major depression episode. Also my wonderful conversations with @cjthestoryteller have helped push me to psychologically get myself back in that storytelling groove of Character Development that I'm really good at (my college thesis was part of a speculative fiction novel featuring psionics and autism, so yeah).

I used to post bits of scenes on Tumblr to remind myself that this blog began as a thesis for my thoughts on Michelangelo's neuropsychology and that seems to have been abandoned, but it's still fun.

My sincere apologies if the formatting is messed up and there's no cut line here.

******

"I can't...I can't deal with this right now. I can't talk to you right now. I can't. I can't. I caaaan't..."

And Donatello had heard his little brother say a world of words in various voices, but not like this. Shock and confusion had Donnie sitting there on the floor in front of the TV array, staring between Mikey and Splinter, the static of the ended video brushing the back of his head.

Michelangelo still hadn't moved, but now his entire body was clenched and his breaths were shallow, eyes closed. Splinter gripped his walking stick and looked as though his heart was breaking.

Inhaling, Don glanced at the others, who stood side by side frozen, eyes darting back and forth. Raphael looked ready to spring forward to grab Mikey and Leonardo was gazing open-mouthed at their sensei.

Splinter looked down, then back up, his whiskers quivering. "I... I shall be in my room meditating. Donatello, please give Michelangelo a check-up and make sure he is well."

Donnie scooted back on his butt and stared. "But... Sensei... Shouldn't we all talk abo-"

Mikey let out a keening sob that had Splinter backing away shuddering while Raph lunged at the couch and embraced Mikey, who had pressed his fists to his face.

Without another word, the rat turned and headed to the dojo, and Don watched Leo out of the corner of his eye. Leo looked frightened.

Out of his element, Donatello shuffled on his knees toward the couch. "Mikey?" He reached his hand out, and hell broke loose.

"DONNIE!" Michelangelo sounded raw and terrified, ripping away and launching into Don's arms, and Donnie might have fallen over if not for bracing himself. He had realized this might happen near the end of the video and now shame and guilt and desperate worry kept him stiff and rigid and his heart was pounding on his head...

"Donnie, you can help stop it, you have to help me make it stop..." And his little brother actually sounded little.

Automatically his arms came up and around, and "it's okay, Mikey, you're okay, just tell me what's wrong... " And it was all those nights over the last two years sitting up with Mike helping him express himself as they trained him to be Don's assistant, those nights when Mikey would fall asleep at the desk and Donnie would call up an incognito browser to research both his brother's traits for ADHD and Autism and it was two years later and was this a meltdown? A shutdown? A burnout? Had the awakening of the psionics pushed it? Had the revelations in that video broken a wall? Had Mike's accusations and Splinter's confessions caused this now? Donatello let his mind race down that track while he made long shushing sounds and then he realized his brother was shivering and sweating and Donnie pulled back and looked at him.

Mike was incredibly pale, grasping Don's arms in a vice grip.

"Donnie, am I dying?" he whispered. "I can't feel my pulse. Is this shock?"

Out of instinct, Don pressed the back of hand to Mike's cheek. He leaned in and pressed his ear slit to Mikey's heaving plastron. "You're in shock, but you're not dying. You're having a panic attack, Mikey." He carefully disengaged his brother's arms, then crossed them over his chest, supporting his elbows. "You have to breathe, Mikey. This is a very strong panic attack and you feel like you can't breathe, but I need you to take some breaths with me. Okay?"

Blue eyes impossibly wide and clouded, Michelangelo whimpered, staring at Donatello with such absolute trust that it hurt. Donnie began breathing exercises and Mikey followed, breath hitching at first but near twenty years of ninja training being too ingrained to fail quickly took over. Mikey was still shaking and whimpering, but Donnie had his hands on his elbows and his trained ears followed the slowing steady pulse and he smiled.

"Good. You're doing great." He brought his hands to Mike's face and his mind almost collapsed in relief when Mikey naturally leaned forward into the touch, the way he always tried to seek a loving touch or just a look of approval...

And that had been shattered by a video taken for medical purposes and a conversation with a father who had been hiding startling truths for their entire lives.

As if his muscles had loosened all at once, Mikey leaned forward even more and rested his head on Don's shoulder, arms and legs curling. Donnie shifted and stretched until he was cradling his only younger brother sideways in his lap; Mikey's ankles and wrists were crossed and Donnie had nudged his head under his chin, nuzzling Mikey and purring. His arms wrapped around his brother and his fingers interlaced as if they belonged there.

Gradually, Donatello blinked and looked up. Raphael was sitting lotus style on his right, one arm around Don's shoulders and the other rubbing Mikey's carapace. Leonardo was crouched in front of him, one hand cupping Mike's head and the other pressed against Don's hands.

"We have a lot of things to talk about," Leo said very softly.

"Is Mikey asleep?" Raph asked just as softly.

"No," Mikey piped up, sounding like a sleepy child. And he nuzzled Don, sighing.

"I'll get him to bed," Don said, feeling disconnected from everything but Mikey. "We're comfortable right now. But Leo is right. And after Mike's gotten rest it's going to be a very intense family meeting."

Never had he wanted to yell at his own father so hard. Something had broken, and he was the one who fixed broken things, and this time it was his only little brother, and as soon as he could manage to heave off the guilt, the worry, the years and years of unspoken apologies, he was going to look for the right tools, no matter what agony he had to face.

[mama-ghostie-61542]

Awakening  Ch.1

Rated M for Mature

If ya recognize it, it ain't mine.

Chapter 1

Donnie’s POV

There she is, lying in bed, on her stomach, in nothing but her green cotton undies, her long, trim legs and perfectly sculpted back exposed to the cool air of her room. I can’t help this tightening in my groin or my racing heart as I glide my hands along the length of her. I start at her ankles and slowly drag my hands up her form, skimming over her perfect ass to her strong back and into her very short, dark hair. My nails graze her hips, earning me a throaty moan.

I want to rip her undies off and take her right now, but I know I need to wait. I move back down to her ankles and tease my way back up to her neck, nipping and gently scratching as I go. Gods, her skin feels so soft in my hands. I know she likes what I am doing because she is moaning my name. She smells like candy I just want to devour.

I whisper in her ear, nipping the delicate skin under the lobe, “Tell me, my Queen. Tell me.”

Shivers run up her spine and I feel like a god, that I can make her do that. I hear her moan, again, as she squirms to ease her own ache.  She moves perfectly and I feel fire running through my veins. I want nothing more than to bury myself in her, to make my goddess scream my name.

“Donnie! Wake Up!”

My eyes shot open to my older brother, Raphael, standing over me. He smiles and says, “Master Splinter says meditation time is over; time for breakfast. Oh! And Leo blew up the toaster again.”

“Fuck! Again! That’s the third time this week! Leo,” I shout as I get up.

Suddenly, my big brother looks and sounds a little awkward when he says, “Hot dream, huh,” as he puts his large fists on his hips.

“Wha,” I start as I turn to him.

“Look down,” he chuckles and walks away.

I look down to see the definite bulge in my khaki work pants. “Aw, son-of-a-bitch!”

When I finally make it to breakfast, Mikey starts in about whom I was dreaming about. This drags me into a lecture from Leo; who, then, ropes me into a stern talking to from my father…about women and sex. It’s a discussion we have already had at least a dozen times. Usually I just sit there, respectfully silent, but for some reason, today I opened up.

“Dad, I have spent half my life dreaming of her. I was 14 the first time. The way sunlight lights up her blue green eyes, the gentle wave in her silky chestnut hair before she cut it off. The way the sun loves her skin, turning it a delectable caramel color. After a few years, I knew everything about her. From the way she takes her coffee to the way she smells after her shower; like lavender. I know where the scar on the back of her head is from (a fight with a cousin years ago); why she walks different at night than during the day. I watched the dew of creation under her skin while she carried her children. I know she fought like hell to keep her oldest son in for 10 months and then fought like hell to get him out. I know everything but where she is.

See, Dad, my brothers have it wrong. They think I am an insomniac, but it’s more that I can’t sleep without the despair settling in. Hell, half the time when I sleep I feel her. It’s also why I put off meditating as long as I can. I feel her strong, gentle hands on me, her sweet, soft, skin under my own, and her gentle breath panting on my neck as I pin her down. I am afraid to sleep because I know I will lose myself in her, even from this far. So, I force myself to stay awake. If I work myself into exhaustion, I can actually sleep without seeing her, and it gives me a few days where it doesn’t hurt quite as bad. I work so hard in my lab to keep from feeling the distance. A part of me is somewhat afraid to physically hold her, even though we both know it would be perfection.

           Yesterday, she let me hear a song called The Distance by some Danish band she likes. I agreed it was kind of our situation. And she does have my name written all over her heart; well, an old name, to be fair.  I feel her, her joys, her sorrows through whatever this is; when all she needs is me. When the only thing she wants is to know where I am and when I will find her; like I promised her I’d do.

           There are dreams that suck. Don’t get me wrong, Dad, most of the dreams suck, but the two that are the most sucktastic are the fog and her dying. Promising her I would find her as she died in my arms. The fog keeps us from finding one another, but at the very end, I find her, and I just can’t reach her; something keeps me stuck right where I stand, while her feet are tied to the earth. There are just a few inches between our fingertips, but it feels like lightyears.

I can smell her sometimes, when the breeze is just right. I hear her voice, calling me a name I’d know anywhere, when no one is in the lab. I feel her reassuring touch when I get scared or frustrated. It’s normally in the exact same spot every time; a gentle caress on the back of my head. Dad, I think I am going crazy.”

           My father just smiled, “You are not going crazy, my son. Some people are fated to be together. I believe this woman to be your fate. Do not lose hope, Don,” he said as he put his hand on my shell.

           “It hurts, Dad,” I choked out as I removed my glasses to scrub at my eyes, attempting to relieve the misty dewiness that had suddenly pooled there.

           “I know, my son. But she will arrive in the most unexpected of ways and times. Just remember that the Creator only puts things in your path that She believes you can handle. Do not lose faith. Now, I go to tea with the Daimyo.” And with that, he left.

           For a moment, I prayed, once again, to every god I could think of, that they would see fit to send her to me or me to her as the soul deep pain alit again. I sat still for a minute to try to reel it all back in so my brothers didn’t know just how much pain I was in without my Ghost.

           A few hours later, I was sitting with my brothers, trying to watch a movie when there was a bright light and the sound of someone falling off of something low to the concrete. As the light dissipated; there she was, lying there in an oversized t-shirt and plaid, flannel boxers. My goddess was here, and bleeding on the floor.

           I saw Leo jump up at the same time I scrambled for her. He started asking questions faster than I could answer him. ”Where did she come from? Why is she here? Who is she? Don, what’s wrong with her?”  

           “Leo,” Raph growled. “Back off and let him check her out.”

           After checking her breathing and her heart, I sat back, placing her glasses on the sofa table. “She is ok, just knocked out. I’d like to know how she got the black eyes. It’s just a bloody nose and her dentures. As for all your other questions, Leo; I don’t know, I don’t know, and MINE,” I snarled.

           That made my brothers jump.

           “Easy, Donnie,” Mikey said. “We just want to be sure she’s ok. So, this is her? She has dentures?”

           I nodded and gathered her up in my arms. “Yes, Mike, this is my Wolf. She had to have them. There was some shoddy dental work done, along with starvation rations during key times, so she lost them all.” I said as I laid her on the couch on her stomach. I gently touched her cheek, only for her to instinctively relax and gently smile.

           “She doesn’t look like much,” Leo said.

           I smiled, “Looks can be deceiving, big brother; she’s got a core stronger than steel, and she is smart and clever as all get out.” My hand trailed through her short and soft dark hair, as I near willed her awake. My brothers went to the kitchen and I knelt down next to her, gently placing a kiss in her hairline. Then, I went into the kitchen to talk to Leo about the toaster.

           About an hour later, she still hadn’t woken up yet and my brothers and I were all getting antsy.

           “Why isn’t she awake yet,” Leo asked.

           “Chill, Leo. I don’t understand why she isn’t awake yet but she could be exhausted. All her vital signs are normal. Other than the obvious, nothing’s wrong, Leo.”

A/N--Exactly whats on ffn. Don is 28.