Rating: Positively G rated.

Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.

Warnings: Snow is cold and wet. You have been warned.

Summary: Take it from Mikey, don't attack others unless you are fully prepared for the consequences. 2k12. Written for BlackKatJinx.

A Snowball's Chance

Humming happily, Michelangelo finished patting the snowball into shape and added it to the growing pile hidden behind the snow covered bush. He glanced over to Ice-cream Kitty, seeing her putting the finishing touches on her own snowball and meowing happily to the tune of 'Jingle Bells'. Mikey snickered in amusement at the sight; his plans were so close to coming to fruition.

The last time they were up at the farm hadn't been under the best of circumstances; their father had been lost and presumed dead by everyone but him and Leo gravely injured and in a coma for months. As a consequence, they'd missed out on all the fun to be had in the snow so, over the last couple of months, Mikey had worked his magic on his family to convince them to leave the city for Christmas to spend some time away in a place where they didn't have to hide. Even better, April was only too happy to ask her father to allow them to use the farm again. The only person missing this time around was Casey, whose own father wouldn't allow him to spend Christmas away without his sister and since his sister was apparently a huge blabbermouth who couldn't keep a secret, Casey was forced to stay in New York.

Smirking to himself, he crept into the front yard, took a deep exaggerated breath and allowing a hint of panic to enter his voice, bellowed, "Leo! Leo! Come quick!" Immediately, he turned on his heels, barely keeping his balance on the slippery ice and raced back to the side of the house, just in time to hear the door fly open.

Still on the move, Mikey scooped up two of his pre-prepared snowballs, whirled around, stepped back around the corner and let fly.

The two icy missiles flew through the air with unerring accuracy and grace, one splatting in the face and one landing smack dab against a maroon swathed elbow.

Time seemed to stand still as Mikey's blood ran ice-cold. His face ever so slowly stretched into a nervous twitching grin.

He was dead.

So, so dead!

Slowly his gaze drifted up to meet unimpressed amber eyes and still smiling – he just couldn't seem to stop – he swallowed.

"Is that... ice-cream?" Leonardo asked in disbelief, peeping out the door from behind Splinter.

"Eh heh heh..." Mikey laughed nervously. "Uh... Kitty helped me with the snowballs?"

Splinter twitched.

Mikey gulped. "I did hear her hack up a couple of ice-cream balls," he said, eyes flicking all about, "maybe... maybe she added... a little something extra to the balls she made?" he suggested.

Splinter reached up to wipe the sticky meopolitan and snowy mess from his face and the spell finally seemed to break.

"I'm really sorry, Master Splinter! They were meant for Leo, not you!" Mikey gushed quickly, his feet still somehow glued to the ground.

"Michelangelo..." Splinter began in warning.

And then with a loud yelp, Mikey broke free and ran, "Leo! Make sure they plant Robert's Herb on my grave!"

"Robert's Herb?" Leo asked in confusion as Splinter just stood, watching Michelangelo break for the snowy woods.

"It's a small, pink flowering plant commonly known as 'Puck's Mischief'," Donnie piped up from behind Leo. "It's associated with Puck, the god of mischief, so rather fitting for Mikey, I think."

"How well does Michelangelo know those woods?" Splinter suddenly asked, an odd, flat note in his voice that had Leo shivering with dread.

"Probably better than anyone else," Donnie answered matter-of-factly. "He spent a lot of time exploring them alone while Leo was... injured."

The corner of Splinter's mouth twisted up in a vague semblance of a smile. He chuckled darkly. "In that case, if he can elude me for one hour I will go easier on him." The moment he finished speaking, the mutant rat took off, chasing after his incorrigible prankster son.

Donnie and Leo stared down at the ground worriedly. The footprints were deep in the freshly fallen snow.

"Mikey doesn't stand a chance," Donnie observed softly.

Leo groaned in agreement and stepped back inside. Moments later, he re-emerged wearing thick snow pants and shrugging on his dark grey jacket. "I guess I'd better go after them."

-:-

Mikey breached into the woods, casting his gaze frantically all around. "Whadda I do! Whadda I do?" He was all too aware how deeply he sank with each step, the snow coming halfway up to his knees. Even for someone with his boundless energy, sprinting through that was exhausting.

If it wasn't for the added ice-cream, he could probably have gotten away with pranking his father, even if it was meant for Leo. He'd been trying for years to get past Master Splinter's defences, only succeeding the once and only with Metalhead's help. Heck, Splinter would probably have been proud if it wasn't for the ice-cream added to the ball. But no... he'd screwed up and he was a goner if he couldn't keep away.

As Mikey continued running, dodging and weaving through the trees, he remembered camping in the woods and their spirit quest from so long ago. Wood! The woods and therefore the trees were his element!

His face broke into a broad grin. Glancing around again for any sign of the pursuit he knew coming and not seeing it, Mikey ran into a small clearing. Once he was halfway across, he backtracked, running backwards into his own large footprints. As he reached the edge of the clearing again, he then ran in another direction before backtracking once more. This time, when he reached the edge of the clearing, he sprang up, backflipping and grabbing hold of a branch, using his momentum to swing up.

Moments later, the small, athletic ninja landed lightly on a sturdy branch, praying for most of the snow to stay. The fresher powder fell but there was enough older snow left sticking that as long as no one looked too closely, they wouldn't notice it was disturbed.

Carefully, Mikey made his way through the trees, doing his best not to disturb the snow and hoping against hope that the indentations he left behind couldn't be noticed from below.

Suddenly, he stilled, alert and unsure as to what had caught his attention. Through the leafless trees, he peered, smothering a gasp with his hands as he noticed Splinter and Leo finally reach the clearing. He shrank back, hiding behind the trunk as if melting into shadows, all too aware of the traitorous bright material of his jacket.

He'd thought about shucking it more than once but every time his hand touched the zip, common sense had somehow prevailed and stopped him. Now though, he pulled off the bright jacket, hiding it between himself and the trunk as he watched his father and brother indirectly and wished desperately for them to take the wrong trail and not notice the true one.

To his surprise and joy, Splinter amazingly chose the wrong direction. "Booyakasha!" Mikey jubilantly whispered in delight. Then, wanting to put some space between them before Splinter realised his mistake and started along the other path, he quickly turned and made his way through the treetops back towards the farm, pulling on his jacket again only when he felt safe enough to do so.

-:-

Though puzzled, Leo relaxed when Splinter led them back to the farmyard. "I can't believe you gave up on finding Mikey so easily, Master Splinter. Why didn't you even try the other trail?"

Splinter chuckled darkly, "Whoever said I gave up, Leonardo? Your brother gave a good effort; a small reward is due."

Leo cast Splinter a sideways look, wondering just what that actually meant for Michelangelo.

"Come, Leonardo, quickly now." Splinter strode off towards the barn, leaving Leo with little choice but to hurry after him.

-:-

Shivering uncontrollably, Mikey glanced down at his T-phone. Fifty minutes had passed since he pulled his prank. He had no idea how long he had until he was 'safe' but usually Splinter didn't give him that long if he ran. He glanced behind and below but spotted no sign of his father. Mikey bit his lip. He was cold and removing his jacket for just those few minutes earlier hadn't helped. It probably wasn't safe to go home yet but... but Splinter did go the wrong way and he was really cold now.

Taking a deep breath and trying to cross his fingers for luck despite the numb fingers and thick gloves, Mikey jumped down from the tree, somersaulting in the air and landing several metres away. Then he pelted across the yard for the house, a wide grin growing and splitting his face as he realised he'd finally managed to elude Master Splinter for the first time in his life.

Splat!

Mikey felt something cold, wet and hard yet somehow soft hit his face.

In shock, he stopped and looked wildly all about.

"Ooph!"

The breath knocked out of him, Mikey tumbled, limbs swathed in maroon entangled around him filling his vision.

He blinked as they finally came to a stop. "But! But you went the other way, Master Splinter!" he protested in confusion.

Splinter stood, chuckling. "I saw you watching us from within the tree branches so I circled around and came back knowing you would return here." He reached down a helping hand, hauling Michelangelo to his feet.

Mikey's jaw dropped, astonished. "But how'd you beat me back then, if you circled around?"

"You went slowly, yes?" Splinter asked, "So as to not dislodge the snow and give away your trail so easily?"

"Yeah..." Mikey fell down again, sitting in the snow as he stared at his father in shock. "I thought I finally won..."

Splinter smiled warmly, "You put in a good effort, my son but you still have a long way to go." Then he turned to Leo. "As does Leonardo. He did not even notice you watching us."

Mikey's delighted grin almost broke his face. "Yes! Haha, Leo! I beat you at something at last!"

Leo just shook his head in amusement. He'd wanted to try the other path and was sure if they had he would have found the trail. Still, he hadn't joined to help their father; he'd simply been hoping to slow him down a little to give his brother a chance.

A sudden intense shiver rippled through Mikey and his teeth started chattering loudly. Splinter immediately reached down with a bony, gloved hand again. "Come, Michelangelo, let us return to the farmhouse to warm up."

Mikey accepted the proffered hand gratefully, allowing his father to help him up once more; springing to your feet in the deep banks of snow was hard after all, especially when you were as cold as he was. "Hai, Sensei!" he said enthusiastically, already dreaming of the hot chocolate he intended to con Leo into making once they were inside. Mmm, his brother may be a danger in the kitchen, what with how he kept blowing up or destroying toasters and all but no one could deny the power of his hot chocolate skills, rare as they made an appearance.

"It was quite foolish removing your jacket in this weather, Michelangelo, no matter how briefly you did so."

Suddenly subdued, Mikey nodded, once more surprised at just how much his father had truly seen yet knowing he really shouldn't be. "Sorry, Sensei..."

"Do not be. If I had been an enemy and it was a matter of life and death, then it would have been the correct choice in those circumstances," Splinter chastised lightly, leading the way back to the farmhouse and the warm hearth within.

As the three trudged heavily back through the snow, Splinter continued to lecture the brothers on making sure they did whatever it took to survive all while doing the right thing and Mikey quickly tuned it out, thinking of only getting inside now. While he loved being out in the snow, he could only take so much and removing his clothing had severely shortened that time. As they finally neared the farm, Splinter suddenly shifted and jumped aside, causing Mikey to look up in confusion. At that moment, a barrage of snowballs rained down upon the exposed trio, splatting into Mikey and Leo and leaving Splinter completely unscathed.

Laughter preceding them, Raph, Donnie and April leapt out of hiding, armed with wicked grins and more ammunition.

"You didn't think we'd let you guys have all the fun, did you?" Raph taunted, smirk widening. As he spoke, he launched snowballs directly at Leo with both hands.

"Oh, it's so on!" Leo laughed, dodging and scooping up snow, only to be hit from behind. In surprise Leo turned to see who hit him, finding only Splinter's amused face behind.

Mikey laughed, the cold forgotten as finally, he got what he wanted; his family taking advantage of the holidays and their rare chance to just be together and have fun without having to hide.

For the first time in years, all was right in his world.

-:-

Owari

A/N: A couple of years ago, I asked Jinx what prompt she would like to see and she said something along the lines "Mikey getting Splinter to play in the snow with them." Well, I actually wrote the story nearly two years ago but then, I lost the book I wrote it in (yes, I handwrite everything first, it flows more easily for me that way) I did eventually find it again but so long had passed that I didn't type up the story. Well, I found it again recently and decided to type it up at long last. I hope you enjoy. Merry Christmas, Jinx :-)