Disclaimer: Ninja Turtles are not mine but Chloe is. Please do not sue and no flames.
Feeling Left Out
Mikey headed over to the lab to see if he could spend some time with 8 year old Chloe Calls. She and Donny had spent most of the afternoon in there.
The two of them had been spending a lot of time together since Donny found out that he and Chloe had a common interest in technology. Mikey hoped that Chloe would be able to spend some time with him today since they hadn't spent much time together lately.
"Mikey, did you need something?" Donny asked politely.
"I wanted to see if Chloe wanted to hang with me," Mikey said.
"As soon as Donny and I are finished with our work, we can join you," Chloe said.
"Chloe, I've barely had any alone time with you and Raph and Leo have mentioned that they also want to spend time with you."
"Mikey, we'll let you know when we're done," Donny said.
"I thought we were best friends but I guess we're not," Mikey said angrily and then rushed off.
Donny stood there in shock. Chloe gently touched him on the wrist.
"Everything all right?" Chloe asked with concern.
"Do you think we spend too much time together?" Donny asked.
"We do spend lots of time together but I enjoy it. Why?"
"Based on what Mikey said, my brothers want to spend time with you and they've barely had the chance because we've been spending lots of time together."
"Why don't you talk to Mikey and I'll see if I can spend time with Leo and Raph?"
"Thanks, Chloe."
Donny and Chloe wrapped their arms around each other and released each other a couple minutes later. Then Donny left the lair.
Mikey was racing through the sewers. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going.
Eventually, he reached a dead end. He dropped to his hands and knees and broke down completely.
FLASHBACK:
Four year old Mikey was bored. He decided to see if his brothers wanted to play with him.
"Leo, can you play with me?" Mikey asked.
"Not now, Mikey, I need to go practice my katas," Leo said and then walked away.
"Raph, will you play with me?" Mikey asked.
"No, now go away," Raph said.
Mikey raced out of the room and ran into the bedroom he shared with his brothers. He headed right for his bed, buried his face in his pillow, and broke down completely.
A little later, Splinter and Donny came back from gathering food and supplies. Donny went to find Mikey so he could give him a present that he found during the outing with Splinter.
Donny went into the bedroom and found Mikey with his face buried in his pillow and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Mikey looked up and Donny saw that his face was soaked.
"What happened?" Donny asked with concern.
"No one wants to play with me," Mikey said, breaking down completely.
Donny held out his arms and Mikey flew into them. Donny gently rubbed his brother's shell and rocked him back and forth. He managed to get his brother down to hiccups and then sniffles. They released each other several minutes later.
"What makes you think that no one wants to play with you?" Donny asked while wiping his brother's eyes with his thumbs.
"Leo decided that his katas were more important and Raph told me to go away," Mikey replied.
Donny suddenly understood why Mikey was so upset. He also understood that Leo felt that he needed to stay on top of his training but what Raph had said was out of line.
"Raph shouldn't have talked to you like he did," Donny said.
"Will you play with me?" Mikey asked.
"Speaking of which, I have something for you," Donny replied and then reached into his belt, pulled out a glow-in-the-dark orange bouncy ball, and placed it in Mikey's hands.
"You're the best friend and brother in the world," Mikey said, throwing his arms around Donny who returned the gesture.
"I love you, Mikey."
"I love you, Donny."
The two of them tightened their hold on each other. Mikey didn't want to let go.
END FLASHBACK
Mikey reached into his belt and pulled out a glow-in-the-dark orange bouncy ball and played with it for a couple minutes. Then he put it back in his belt, curled up in a ball, and broke down completely.
A few minutes later, Mikey felt a pair of arms around him. He looked up, saw Donny looking at him with concern, and returned the gesture.
"Mikey, I'm not trying to replace you with Chloe," Donny said gently while holding his brother who had his arms wrapped around him.
"I know but I want to spend time with Chloe and I miss spending time with you," Mikey said and then buried his wet face in Donny's shoulder.
"We can still spend time together. There's some things I can do with you that I would never be able to do with Chloe."
"What can't you do with Chloe that you can do with me?"
"Play video games since Chloe has no interest in them. She likes games like Tetris® and Sudoku®."
"Those games bore me."
"You ready to go back to the lair?" Donny asked while wiping his brother's eyes with his thumbs.
"Ready," Mikey replied and then he and Donny stood up and walked away from the area with an arm wrapped around each other.
Back at the lair, the turtles, Splinter, and Chloe were watching a movie. They were having soda and popcorn.
"I'm glad all of you worked everything out," Splinter said.
"I'm just glad I got to know Chloe a little better," Leo said.
"She's a pretty decent person," Raph said.
"Not to mention smart," Mikey said.
"I can agree with you on that," Donny said to Mikey.
"Meeting all of you was the best thing that ever happened to me," Chloe said. "If any of you want to spend alone time with me, I'm fine with it but please let me know first."
Splinter and the turtles nodded in agreement. Just then, the movie ended and Mikey removed the movie from the DVD player, put it in the case which was put on the table.
"Chloe, I'm going to play with Klunk if you want to join me," Mikey said.
"Sure," Chloe said.
Mikey and Chloe headed for Mikey's room to play with his kitten Klunk. Splinter headed for his room to meditate. Donny headed to the lab to work on some projects. Leo and Raph headed for the dojo to work on their ninja skills.
The End