Hey Guys! Okay, this little one-shot plot was suggested by PopcornWolf10! Congratulations! This one-shot is about the car ride to Massachusetts to April's farmhouse. This is a Raph-Mikey one-shot.
Enjoy!
It was horrible. Terrifying. Or worse: Traumatizing. It had only been a mere two hours but it was still fresh in Raphael's mind. The moment from the sight of witnessing a bunch of innocent citizens mutating to his older brother crashing through a window, bloodied and bruised and barely breathing, to the worst moment in his whole, entire life: His father being thrown into a sewer drain.
Raph bowed his head down from where he was sitting. Now, they were all crammed into April's father's Party Wagon. Him, his three brothers, Jewel, Nicole, and unfortunately for him, both Gwen and Clara. He loved Gwen, which he still hasn't said to her yet, but he felt some type of attraction to Clara. It was all still complicated for him. All of them were crammed in the back, mindful of the unconscious blue clad turtle. April and Casey sat in the front, the hockey player driving.
He snapped his head up and looked around. He saw Leo laying down, the bandage from his shoulder slightly visible, and Donatello sat next to him, tightly holding his hand, as if he were afraid he would disappear. He saw Jewel sit next to them, rubbing her thumb soothingly on Leonardo's forehead, her head laying down against Donnie's shoulder, her eyes fluttering.
He turned his head to see Gwen next to him. She held his arm weakly and laid her head on his shoulder, sleeping soundly. He saw Clara sitting next to Jewel, her arm wrapped around her shoulders, like a loyal friend would do. April laid her head against Casey's shoulder, her breathing indicating that she was sleeping.
And finally, he turned his head to see Mikey, his knees pulled up to his stomach, arms wrapped around them and his head buried in his knees. Raph had his arm wrapped around his shoulders, his silent way of comforting him.
His heart nearly broke for his little brother. The light shining from his eyes, completely gone. Instead, there was only hurt and anger pooling in them. He gritted his teeth. That look didn't belong on Mikey's face. It was completely foreign on Mikey's freckled face. Happiness belonged there.
Those seven words conflicted Raph:
"What are we gonna do now, Raph?"
He closed his eyes painfully. The words burned deep inside of Raph's mind. He tried to come up with a suitable answer, but he only had one. And he hated it.
"For the first time in my life...I have no idea little brother."
Mikey had simply frowned, muttering a incoherent 'okay...'
Raph didn't know what to tell him. What was he suppose to tell him? How could he make this any better for his little brother? There was no answer he could find. Except for that one.
He shifted his feet slightly, tightening his hold on his little brother ever so slightly. He rubbed Gwen's arm soothingly.
Suddenly, he felt the van slowing down, coming to a halt. He turned his head to Casey. "Thought we could all freshen up or something." he said, his voice laced with drowsiness. He lifted up his hockey mask and rubbed one eye tiredly with his thumb. April slowly awoke, rubbing her face with one hand.
Raph gently shook Gwen awake. Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times, straightening up a bit. Donnie lightly tapped Jewel awake, running both of her hands over face.
Donnie stretched his arms over his head, yawning, "What is it, Casey?" he asked, his voice slightly faint. Everyone turned their heads to meet the red-head's and the hockey vigilante. He had his arm hanging over the seat, his head tilted back a bit, shrugging one shoulder awkwardly, "Thought we could use a quick stretch or a bathroom break or something." he said, his tone nonchalant.
April yawned softly, "Yeah, he's right. It's been a long ride." she said, unstrapping her seat belt and climbing out of her seat.
Clara and Jewel dragged Donnie out of the van, both muttering something in Japanese. Gwen slowly crawled out, turning her head to Raph and Mikey, "You two coming?"
Raph snapped his head to Mikey, who slowly rose his head and nodded, quickly crawling out of the car and running full speed into the woods. Raph jerked back a little, eyes widening slightly. He raised a nonexistent brow. He had never seen Mikey crawl out of something so fast. The only time he ever did that was when they had lost Leatherhead that night. It was a small indicator that he wanted to be alone.
"Raph?"
He quickly blinked out of his daze at the sound of Gwen's voice. She had both brows raised and looked at him questioningly. He licked his lips, swallowing, "Yeah." he said a little shakily, slowly crawling after she got out.
He stretched his form a little, cracking both sides of his head. He groaned in delight; his muscles felt tight and tired, being cramped into a small minivan and all. He went over to Gwen to cheer her up. She was leaning against a tree with her arms folded, her mouth set in a depressed frown. He noticed one small tear dripping down and she quickly jerked it away.
A rustle stopped him in his tracks. He snapped his head to see Clara, sitting on a pile of leaves, her knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. She laid her chin down in-between her knees, sniffing a bit. Raph noticed two small beads of tears dripping down from her eye, but she made no move to stop them.
Raph went up to walk up to her, but immediately stopped in his tracks and looked back at Gwen, who bit her bottom lip to prevent a sob from bursting out. He looked back at Clara, a silent sob finally escaping but she quickly covered it up with a cough. He looked back at Gwen, who shut her eyes, a small whimper escaping her throat, another tear dripping down her beautiful cheek.
Raph looked back and forth. He didn't know who to comfort. He loved Gwen with all of his heart; but he also really liked Clara, she was just so dangerous, like Gwen, but in a sexy kind of way. But she was thief. And a thief did not have a place in his heart. He really liked both girls, but it was just too confusing to choose between them!
He groaned softly, rubbing one temple, shutting his eyes in pain. 'Great...another migraine.' he thought to himself. This was ridiculous, he should be worrying about other things! Like focusing on Leonardo, keeping a close eye on Jewel, making sure Donnie doesn't drown himself in guilt, and Mikey -
Oh, man. Mikey.
He frowned. Mikey must be a total train wreck right now. In fact, he hadn't said a word since Raphael had answered his question. Earlier, he comforted Raph for when he had lost his temper when Shredder...threw Splinter into that drain pipe. He looked for any signs of his little brother, hoping he was still nearby. Surely the goofball wouldn't be that stupid enough to -
A drop of water landed on his head.
What the...?
Raph raised his hand to the top of his head, quirking a brow. He felt another drop of water landing on his head. And then another one. Then another one. Again another one. And it started to pour down a little faster.
Raph snapped his head upwards, finding a steady stream of raindrops pouring down from the darkened grey clouds.
He covered his head with his arms, searching for his little brother. He saw everyone shuffling back into the van. Raph stayed behind, glued to the now wet grass. He could've sworn he heard his name a few times, but it didn't deter him one bit. He had to see his little brother. To make sure he was okay.
Donnie waved his arm over to him, "Raph! Come on! Grab Mikey and go!" he ordered, his voice slightly hoarse from the lack of use. Raph's eyes widened to the size of saucers, snapping his whole body around, heart dropping at the pit of his chest, "What?!" he squawked, "Mikey's not in there?!"
All shared nervous glances, raising their brows, and finally, after what felt like a million years, they simply, slowly, shook their heads.
That was all Raph needed to hear. And with what adrenaline he has left, he ran full speed towards the tress, hoping to find his little brother.
He was going to kill him.
As soon as he saw a glimpse of him, he was going to kill him!
Raph swore that the minute - no - the second he finds Mikey, he was going to squeeze him to death, or even strangle him.
He trekked through the woods, ignoring the rapidly increasing ripples of the rain, in hopes of finding Mikey. He didn't know whether or not the others were following him but he didn't care. All he cared about was finding his baby brother and making sure he was okay.
He looked frantically for the orange clad turtle.
He freaked more and more as he caught zero glimpse of the youngest turtle. Where was the goofball?!
Raph growled, throwing his hands uselessly to his sides, stopping to a halt. He stopped to catch his breath, the burning sensation in his throat dying down.
After about a minute or so, he managed to catch his breath, rolling his eyes skyward and huffing a bit. He clenched his fists, stomping further into the forest, muttering Japanese curses under his breath.
"Mikey!" he called out, his voice bouncing off in soft waves, clearly not loud enough, much to his distaste. He growled yet again, stomping even further, feeling his temper nearly slipping.
He called out to his brother a few times more, not a mutant turtle in sight. It was dark by now, and everyone was probably wondering what was keeping them so long.
Raph breaths came out ragged with rage through clenched teeth. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. His temper had seemed to cut its breaking point. Eyes ablaze, he shouted with all the air left in his lungs,
"MIKEY! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
His scream radiated off in waves, scaring the birds nearby, probably waking anybody within a ten-mile radius, his voice bouncing off in huge waves.
His eyes scanned around the perimeter, through the dark night and -
A rustle.
His eyes snapped open, listening on for the direction of that rustle. He heard it again, behind him.
Raph snapped his head around towards the bush. Finally, after what felt like a million years, was his brother, hiding inside the bush.
Raph cracked a grin, relieved and incredibly peeved, to see his baby brother.
Mikey seemed to have notice, his wide blue eyes staring back at him, and all of a sudden...
He hopped and ran.
Raph's eyes widened, his jaw dropping. Where the heck was he going?! It was dark and he could get hurt or even worse! Spotted!
Raph quickly ran after him, his breath huffing and puffing, "Michelangelo, WAIT!"
It didn't take long to catch up to him, well, to be exact, it took about thirty minutes. Mikey was always the fast one.
Suddenly, he found himself in small meadow. He heard the birds lightly chirping in the distance, the soothing ripples of the water from how hard the rain was pouring on it. He could hear the soft rustle of the woodland creatures, gazing at him questioningly.
He snapped himself out of his daze when he saw Mikey. He sat there cross-legged, his hands resting in his lap, and he gazed at the night sky, rain shining all over his freckled-faced features.
He cautiously walked over to him, slowly taking a seat next to him. He looked at Mikey, who hadn't seemed to notice he was there, for a few seconds before staring back at the small pond. He gulped, licking his dry lips. Now that he was here, what is he supposed to say? He wasn't good at this emotional stuff, that was either Splinter's, Leo's, Donnie's, and April's strong suit, not his. Jewel was somewhat exceptional, but she tended to drift off in her mind, emotions like sadness throwing her off her game.
He pursed his lips, ideas attempting to reel in his mind. "So..." he started off lazily.
Mikey blinked in surprise, turning his head to Raph, "So..." he mimicked, looking down at his reflection in the pond.
Raph bit his bottom lip. How could he start? What should he say? What should he ask?
"Ummm...you okay?"
He internally slapped himself. 'Seriously Raph?! That's the best you got?! Obviously he's not okay!' he scolded to himself.
Mikey didn't take his eyes off the pond, simply biting his lower lip and feebly nodded. Raph's lips stretched into a thin line, disappointed. That was not his Mikey. He sighed heavily, reaching out his arm to his brother's shoulder, lightly shaking it. "You're not okay, little brother. It's okay to be sad -"
"We're broken, aren't we Raph?"
Raph found himself dumbfounded at his little brother's words. He blinked rapidly, taking his hand off his shoulder as if he had been burned, "What?" he asked, the amount of running finally taking its toll on him as his voice rasped.
Mikey tilted his head up at his brother, staring at him with pure and utter sorrow, a look that didn't belong on the turtles' bright, happy, freckled face, "We lost Leatherhead, then we got him back again, but then we lost him again. We lost Splinter, we lost Karai, and..." he choked on his own words, dying in his throat, which was high pitched and it was enough to nearly break Raph's heart.
"And then...we lost Leo...a-and we...w-we...w-we couldn't save him!" he sobbed, tears shining his eyes, his lower lip trembling, "J-Just l-like...we couldn't save Papa!"
And that was enough to break Mikey down. He buried his face into his hands and quietly sobbed, his whole body racking. If he listened very carefully, Raph could distinctly hear Mikey muttering, 'I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!'
Raph's heart completely broke for his little brother.
And suddenly, as if something had sparked, Raphael's face was set stone hard, and quickly, in one swift motion, he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around his little brother.
Mikey stiffened at the sudden movement, unable to sputter any words out. He simply stilled, letting Raph cling on to him as if he were about to disappear into nothing but thin air. He hiccuped, tears still pouring down from his eyes.
Raph gently stroked his head, rubbing his shoulder soothingly, "Shhh. It's okay, Mikey. It wasn't your fault. None of it was. You didn't know what was going to happen. Don't blame yourself. It's okay. It's okay." he added with gentleness and a firm tone in his voice.
Mikey merely hiccuped, resting his head into Raph's chest. And finally, he wrapped his arms firmly around his brother's waist, sobbing into it.
Raph continued to stroke his head, "It's all going to be okay, little brother. It's going to be okay."
And Raph meant it. He swore, with all of his might, that he was going to fix everything. Leo would heal, they'd return to New York, find their father and older sister, and save New York.
And as he held his sobbing little brother into his arms, out in the cold and pouring rain, that he would make that Mikey was never going to feel this way ever again.
He swore it.
Well...that was a lot of work. Pop, I really hope you like this! I should probably warn you guys I'm still working on the fluff. Emotions make me uncomfortable.
Anyways, be prepared for Saturday...Panic In The Sewers, here we come!