Field of Innocence by Michelangelicious
The lair was quieter than Leonardo remembered it ever being. He stood just outside of the living room, looking in. Donatello, he noted with a smile, was fast asleep with a magazine of some sort over his face. His arms twitched and jerked slightly as he slept. Light moans escaped from beneath the thin pages of the booklet, which Raphael flipped off as he passed, muttering darkly.
"Better say hi before he disappears again," The red masked turtle sneered before disappearing onto the second level, where his room was hidden in shadows. His door slammed and Leo sighed inwardly.
He let his eyes wander from Donatello, who rubbed sleep from his eyes, to Michelangelo, who had not stirred yet. He smiled at the youngest terrapin who was surrounded by snacks and sleeping peacefully with his mouth hanging open. One hand rested across his plastron, but the other had fallen off the side of the couch and his fingers brushed against the cement ground. It was a sight that, at some point, he wasn't sure if he'd ever see again. It warmed his heart to see that everything was so... normal.
"Leo!" Donnie squaked suddenly, pulling his attention away from the orange masked turtle, though not before he noticed that he'd jolted from his slumber and was also looking around. Enveloped in a hug, Leonardo chuckled and hooked an arm around the younger turtle's neck, swinging him downward to playfully rub his knuckles over his bald head.
"Hey, Don," He said, amazed by his own brilliance.
Donnie pulled away, though his hands rested on the older turtle's shoulders and he fixed him with a lingering stare as if he was afraid he'd vanish into thin air," Leo, how have you been?"
Leonardo did not get a chance to answer, however, as a blur of green rammed against his chest. The force of the half tackle sent him back a step, but his arms instinctively wrapped around the sea green shoulders of the blur's owner.
"Leo?" Mikey squeaked, grasping the darker brother's elbows as he looked up at him with disbelieving sapphire eyes," Is it really you?"
"Yes, Mike..." Leo replied, his breath hitching in his throat at the intense searching look his baby brother was fixing him with. The blue orbs filled with tears before Michelangelo's face dipped towards Leo's plastron, where he rubbed his cheek and sniffled. Leo figured that if anybody had missed him, it would have been Mike, but he hadn't expected that his absence would have affected him so much. Mike's arms were tight around him as if he was afraid to let go.
"G-good... I h-have nightmares about..." He paused and tensed," a-about um... birthday p-parties..."
Leonardo frowned down at the crown of Mikey's head, concerned about the way the younger turtle's voice melted into a whisper before trailing off completely. Also, the change in his tone alarmed Leo a little. Mike was trying to play off the nightmares he was about to admit to having as a joke. The youngest turtle chuckled feebly before hiding his face completely against Leo's chest.
Leo cocked his head to the side, eye ridges furrowing.
"Are you all right, Mikey?" He asked, but recieved no response, just a tighter grasp. Confused, the blue masked eyes sought out purple.
Donnie avoided his gaze, looking over his shoulder to the second story hall where all their rooms were located, longingly wishing he'd followed Raphael when he'd had a chance. He didn't have to turn around to know that Leo was still looking at him, waiting for an answer, but what could he say? That he was a horrible leader? Donnie wasn't even sure who he'd be referring to if he said that.
"What's wrong, Mike?" Leo asked again, this time pulling away from the orange banded turtle and clasping his shoulders. He leaned forward, dipping his chin to try to look at his younger brother. Mike only lowered his eyes to his feet.
"Nothing," Mike finally responded in a voice that was barely audible.
Leo clenched his teeth. This was not the brother he remembered at all. Narrowed chocolate eyes looked towards Donatello, who had turned away from him now and he wondered what could possibly have happened that Donnie wasn't telling him. Donnie wasn't going to talk. Not right that second anyway. He had to corner the brainy turtle and force him to tell him what happened to Michelangelo.
Until then, however, Leo forced the frown from his lips as he threw an arm around Mikey's shoulders, pulling him against his side," hey, you know, it's pretty late. You're probably just tired. Let's get some rest, huh? We can catch up tomorrow."
Mikey only closed his eyes, but Leo ignored the lack of response and led the younger terrapin to the stairs. Mikey allowed himself to be pushed along, not putting up any fight. However, even as the ascended the staircase, he kept his eyes closed and leaned heavily on his older brother. He breathed deeply the familiar scent that was almost completely masked by the wild smell of jungle and a faint trace of oil. That musky scent that was purely Leonardo, though, he gratefully noted, was still there. And he turned his nose against the hard plastron, breathing deeply in again. He was not going to let this scent fade from his memory this time.
If Leo noticed that his little brother was sniffing him so heavily, he didn't pay attention to it. Instead, he focused solely on getting the younger turtle to his room, where he gently laid him onto the bed. Still, blue eyes remained shut, though Mikey turned his head towards him and Leo could see the child like smoothness of his cheek in the dim light. Reaching out to run his finger over the cool skin, he paused and frowned when he felt a rough, rubbery ridge.
Leaning forward, he saw that this foreign line of skin tissue was a scar that had not been there before. His gaze flew to Mikey's eyes, but they were still closed and his expression was passive.
Leo pulled his hand away and stood, backing to the doorway. He realized that he should never have stayed away from his family for as long as he did. Somehow, though he didn't know what happened to his baby brother, he did know that it was his fault.