Michelangelo had been seventeen years old when he first met Woody. He'd placed an order and given the pizza place one of the addresses they typically used to pick up pizza, a currently abandoned apartment building due to serious damage by Kraang antics. Mikey had found an old doormat and spray painted the words "Under Here" on it and their usual delivery guy knew the drill. He'd leave the pizzas inside the main front door and find the money tucked under the doormat placed outside apartment 1A.

But Woody was the new delivery guy that day. And he didn't pay attention to doormats. And he'd been shocked to think that anyone could actually live in the abandoned, leaky apartment building. And he wondered if whoever was here actually needed more than just pizza. Maybe they needed help. So he'd knocked on apartment 1A's door until Mikey had finally said, "Dude, look down," in an exasperated tone.

Mike had been hungry and wanted the guy to just take the money and go away. He needed to get the pizza home before it was cold. They'd just spent the night rescuing Raphael from Shredder's mind control worm and Mikey knew some pizza would cheer the big guy up.

Woody did finally look down and grinned when he saw the words painted on the doormat. He lifted it and found the money, with tip, tucked underneath it. He folded the money and put it in his pocket.

"Do you, uh, do you need anything else?" Woody had called out. He liked the sound of this guy's voice. He sounded like he was close to Woody's age and the thought of someone else being left alone in the wake of a Kraang tragedy pulled at Woody's chest. He'd lost his parents the year before when their apartment building had crumbled beneath some large Kraang machinery. He was lucky he still had his sister, Sadie. He took a deep breath as the sadness that plagued him from losing his parents hit him and glanced around the building hallway once again. He hated the thought of someone being here all by themselves.

"I'm good, dude," Mikey had responded, tilting his head in thought. Delivery guys didn't tend to ask if they needed anything else with that kind worry in their voices.

Woody had nodded even though the guy behind the door couldn't see him. "Okay, then," he said. He supposed he should move on. This was his new job, a way to help Sadie with the burden of suddenly providing for both of them, and he had other deliveries to make. "You call if you need anything."

Michelangelo could hear that it was a sincere offer. And after the day he and his family had just had, it made Mikey smile again.

Woody pulled the money from the welcome mat but knocked on the door anyway.

"You having a good night?" he called through the door.

Mikey raised an eye ridge and smiled. Now that the new guy knew about the door mat, he figured he would've just taken the money and left. He was surprised the guy still wanted to say hello.

"Great night, dude. How bout you?"

"I'll be better in an hour when I'm off work," Woody responded.

"Big plans tonight?" Mikey asked. He wasn't sure why he was asking. Leo would be pissed if he knew he was carrying on a conversation. But the delivery guy couldn't see him, so Mikey didn't see the harm.

"I'm gonna try to talk my sister into playing some 'Mario Kart' with me."

"Oh! I love that one!" Mike said. "Hey, did you see the new 'Call of Duty' is coming out soon?"

Woody laughed. "Yeah, 'Advanced Warfare', I can't wait for that one, either. I bet there'll be a line out the door for it, though."

"Yeah, I'll probably have to wait until the hype dies down before I get to try it," Mikey said. "But that'll be a great day."

Woody laughed and then paused for a moment. "You doing okay in there?" You need anything else?"

"Naw, dude," Mikey said.

Woody turned to go, but stopped. "Hey, you know these orders don't come with a name."

Mikey paused. The Donnie voice in his head told him to make one up.

"It's Mikey," he said.

"Woody," Woody responded quickly.

"Have a good night gaming, Woody," he said.

"Till next time, Mikey."

Mikey stood on the other side of the door and smiled when he heard Woody say his name. He immediately had no regrets about the decision to ignore the Donnie voice.

He didn't think much of these short discussions at first, because in general, Mikey was friendly with everyone. Hell, he would've invited the Kraang over for a meal and maybe a lesson in English grammar if they hadn't been trying to take over the planet. But by the third or fourth meeting with Woody, Mikey realized that he was really looking forward to each conversation, even if they were brief. He quickly volunteered to pick up every pizza order, even if their group was in the middle of a video game competition. It earned him a few strange looks but he didn't volunteer any information.

It was the first time he'd ever kept a real secret from his brothers.

"Got your pizza, Mikey," Woody said, knocking on the door. He put the pizza boxes down carefully and pulled the cash from under the doormat.

"Thanks, dude," Mikey called out.

"I wish I could stay longer but another guy called out sick and I have double the orders to deliver," Woody said, bummed himself that he had to deliver and run.

"No problem, dude," Mike called out cheerfully, although he realized that he was slightly disappointed.

"But I threw in a dessert with your pizza," Woody said, smiling. "I'm gonna want to know next time if you liked it."

Mikey opened the door after he sensed that Woody was gone. He leaned down to pick up the pizzas and perked up when he saw the plastic bag on top of the square cardboard boxes. He gingerly picked it up by the handles and peered inside to see what Woody had picked out for a surprise dessert.

A huge smile spread across his face as he pulled out a brand new copy of Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

The next time Woody knocked on the door, he didn't even say hello first.

"How far did you get?" he called out.

Mikey laughed at the immediate ease he had somehow gained with this friendly stranger.

"I made it all the way through," he responded, quickly.

"What? No way."

"Yes way," Mikey said. "I have mad skills."

"We should play together. You need to show me these skills. I'm nowhere near close to beating this one."

Mikey laughed and secretly wished that he could do just that.

"Hey! What is this?"

Mikey smiled again as he realized Woody must've finally lifted the welcome mat.

"You said you've never read that series," Mikey said. He couldn't run out to a store and buy a cool present to repay his new friend for the video game gift. But he could share his beloved comic series with him. "I expect a full report on how awesome you think it is by our next meeting."

"Mike, this is – this is incredible. Thanks, dude. I know what I'll be doing tonight after work."

Mikey smiled again as they said goodbye.

"Where the hell have you been, Mike?"

Woody's typically calm voice echoed loudly through the mostly empty, crumbling building.

Mikey swallowed from where he sat in the apartment with his shell pressed against the door.

Well, he'd been stuck in medieval England and then Japan of approximately seventeen or so years in the past. He wasn't sure exactly. He wasn't good at math. He'd seen his sensei as a human. And witnessed his father's most tragic life moment.

But he couldn't say all that out loud.

And what had been just a few days to him and his brothers had felt like three month's time here in the present. He wasn't sure why that was. Again, math wasn't his thing. But Master Splinter, April and Casey had been frantic when they'd walked through the entrance of their home yesterday. They'd hugged their father without words. All four of them, while April and Casey had stood back and waited for an explanation. None came last night. They just held onto their dad until he also stopped asking questions and just hugged them back in return.

And by the frantic tone in Woody's voice, it sounded like his favorite pizza delivery guy had been just as worried.

"Sorry, dude. My bros and I went on a little unplanned trip."

Woody frowned. Mikey sounded sad. And Mikey never sounded sad. He placed his hand on the door. His palm flat against the wood. This was the first time Mikey had mentioned brothers, although Woody had to admit that Mike always ordered enough pizza to feed a high school football team. But he wondered why he never heard noises on the other side of the door that would indicate there were others in there with Mikey.

"Did something happen? Are you okay?"

He got silence from Mikey for a response.

"Mike?" Woody called again. He was met with silence again. "Hey, can I come in there?"

It was asked softly. Mike knew Woody was trying not to scare him away. They never talked about why they only spoke through this door. He looked down at his green hands and sighed. He wished he did actually live in this apartment. He wished he could invite Woody inside and just watch a movie with a buddy and forget everything else going on in his life. He could go back to his brothers re-energized before the next Shredder attack so that he was ready to do his part and lift everyone's spirits.

"Fraid not, bro. Mainly cause I don't actually live here," Mikey offered. "I just use the address to pick up the pizza before heading home."

"Oh," Woody said, suddenly relieved to know Mikey didn't live in the dilapidated building. But if this was a good place to pick up pizza, where on earth did Mikey actually live? "Do you live somewhere safer than this then?"

"Sure," Mikey had said, huffing out a small laugh. He faced unsafe situations on an almost weekly basis. But he realized Woody was really worried about his safety. That felt kind of nice actually.

"Well, is there anything you want to talk about?" Woody asked, desperate to get some more elaborate answers out of Mikey.

Yes, Mikey thought. It would be nice to talk about some of this to someone outside the family. But also no, because Leonardo would surely kill him, and also, because he just wanted to forget about some of the things he'd seen in Japan.

"I'm good, dude," Mikey said. "Just need to get the pizzas back." Leo didn't want him coming out here by himself to pick them up after their little adventure in time. Not because he didn't trust Mikey, but because he wanted them to all stay close to each other for the time being. And he had no doubt that all three of his big brothers would come looking for him if he took too long. Mikey had managed to convince Leo to let him go by himself this time because he had wanted this time with Woody. And although they were barely talking today, he was actually starting to feel a little better.

"Okay then."

Mikey could hear the disappointment in Woody's voice.

"Hey," Mike had called out. "I'll be more cheery by next time, dude."

There was silence for a moment and then Mikey heard that sound again. The one that sounded like Woody's hand resting on the door.

"You don't have to be cheery, Mikester," Woody said. "I just like hearing from you."

Mikester. No one had ever called him that before. And there was that tone in Woody's voice. It was sincerity. He didn't require a show from Mikey. He wasn't waiting for Mikey to comfort him. He wanted to comfort Mikey.

Mikey felt the tightness in his chest loosen a little more and he smiled a sincere smile. He let his head fall back against the door. "Thanks, Woody. I owe you one."

Donnie's genius brain had thankfully returned and saved not only his three brothers but also the citizens of New York from Creepweed. They were cleaning up and heading home when Mikey's nose picked up the distinct smell of pizza. But his smile quickly disappeared when the smell led him to a moped knocked over on the sidewalk with pizzas strapped to the back. It was a pizza delivery guy's ride. A pizza delivery guy from Mikey's favorite pizza place. But the pizza delivery guy was no where in sight.

He quickly made up an excuse to his brothers as to why he wasn't returning to the lair with them and, once they were gone, began searching the nearby pods of trapped humans. He knew he had a limited amount of time before human officials would arrive to try to free the trapped humans and clean up the plant roots blocking the streets, but he wanted to find Woody and free him himself.

He'd never actually seen Woody and suddenly cursed himself for not ever looking out the window when Woody left. He'd always grabbed the pizza from the hallway, jumped out a side window, climbed to the rooftop and taken off for his favorite manhole cover.

He let his nose lead him and quickly came upon a guy wearing a pizza delivery uniform. Donnie would've been proud of his power of deduction, or was it power of subtraction? The Woody nametag was a dead giveaway too. He quickly cut the pod down and pulled it into a nearby alley where he managed to get the sucker open and pull Woody free.

Mikey looked him over as Woody began coughing. He looked to be about his age and he had a head full of cool, curly blonde hair.

"Take it easy, dude," Mike had said. "You just need some fresh air. Well, sort of fresh, this is NYC."

"Mikey?" Woody had asked, immediately recognizing that voice. He did his best to pry his eyes open, although it was a struggle. When he finally got them open, it was too dark in the alley to see much of anything. But he wasnt afraid with Mikey nearby. He continued to cough but managed to rasp out, "What happened?"

"Creepweed tried to turn you into plant food," Mikey said, pulling himself back slightly to remain in shadow.

"Creep-what?" Woody asked.

"It was kinda my fault," Mike continued. "I spilled some stuff. But you're okay, right?"

Woody managed to stop coughing and tried to focus on Mikey, but it was too dark.

"Mike, you okay?" he managed to ask. If he felt this bad he had to wonder if Mikey had been affected as well.

"I'm good, dude," Mikey said, resisting the urge to reach out and squeeze Woody's shoulder.

"I can't see you," Woody said.

"Well, if you did, this would become a little more complicated," Mikey said.

"More complicated than me almost being eaten by a creep-whatever?"

"Way more complicated."

'I don't care. Come over here, please."

The rest of their family stood huddled together with blankets wrapped around their shoulders to protect them from the wind. Woody wanted to do this on the beach in the fall when it wouldn't be too hot. And Mikey didn't notice the cold air at all as he bounced on his feet and grinned over at his smiling blonde human.

Mikey had proposed this idea to Woody a few months ago and Woody had easily agreed that it sounded like a wonderful idea.

Master Splinter stood between them and asked them to recite their words of commitment to each other. Mikey smiled as he listened to Woody's words, and laughed, along with the rest of their family, when Woody managed to incorporate video gaming into his speech.

"And, Mikester, no matter how complicated this gets, I will always want to be with you," Woody said with a smile.

Mikey grinned and ducked his head, immediately remembering the night he'd revealed himself to Woody in that alley. Woody's eyes had widened, but that had been the extent of his shock. His hand had reached out and gripped Mikey's forearm as he issued a sincere thanks to Mikey for saving him. Woody had insisted that Mikey come over that night for dinner, which had turned into dinner and a long night of talking.

That first night had been followed by several more nights of food and games and movies whenever Mikey was free and Woody's sister, Sadie, was too busy to be home.

They laughed a lot. And the first time Woody leaned over to kiss Mikey in the middle of one of their movies, Mikey hadn't been surprised. Because he'd been thinking about making a move himself.

And today, when it was his turn to speak, Michelangelo took a deep breath. He didn't want this to come out a jumbled mess. He'd practiced hard the night before to get this right.

"Woody," he started, his tone serious enough to get Woody's eyes to immediately lock with his. He paused for another moment and felt Woody's thumb rub across the back of his hand. "I have looked forward to our time together since before we ever even saw each other. I've never met anyone else like you, dude. You're thoughtful without asking for anything in return. And you're funny in a way that makes my stomach hurt from laughing so much. You recognize immediately when I need to be cheered up. And you encourage me to just be myself. And I love you for all of those reasons. And no matter how complicated this gets," he said, smiling because they'd both thought of the same line, "I'll always want to be with you, too."

A/N: I'm a total sucker for Leo/Raph goodness (you're shocked, I know), but I do love the rest of their family too. And it was kind of fun to write a beginning for Mike and Woody.