When Raph found the right door, he kicked it open so hard he could feel the sting of it up to his knee. Alarms started wailing from somewhere down the hall, but his eyes had landed on the little turtle in the corner of the impossibly small room, on the wide blue eyes reaching for his through the dark, and everything else faded to white noise.
It had been just another fight with the Kraang, just another night doing what they did, but somehow Mikey had been grabbed right from under their noses. It wasn't until the SUV was peeling away around the corner that his brothers stood back to take stock and realized one of their number was gone.
And that had been a week ago.
"Mikey, hey," Raph said, shoving his way into the room and stowing his sais. Crouching at his brother's side, he ran careful hands over Mikey's arms and shoulders. "You okay, buddy?"
There was an electric gleam in Mikey's eyes, something not quite fear as he took in Raph and then the open door behind him. The alarms were still shrieking, and precious seconds were ticking away, but Raph had all the time in the world to let Mikey get his head on straight.
He didn't have to wait long, either, because after a minute or two Mikey's gaze pulled back to meet Raph's, that familiar smile tugging across his face; a little slow and sluggish but still the best thing Raphael had ever seen.
"Took you long enough, bro."
Returning the faint grin with a blinding one, Raph hauled Mikey to his feet and crowded him close as they paused just inside the door, teetering on the brink of making the escape. And Mikey pressed in behind him, staring out at the open hallway like he'd never seen anything like it.
"The guys are holding the creeps at bay. As much as I'd like to bash all their slimy brains in, we're just gonna cut and run." Raph put both hands on Mikey's shoulders, steadying him as he wobbled a little, and made sure Mikey was looking at him before he continued. "Listen to me, little brother. If you can't keep up, I'll carry you. Whatever it takes, we're going home."
Michelangelo reached up and clasped one of Raph's hands firmly. The warmth and substantiality blooming to life behind his eyes was such a relief to see it hurt.
"Let's do it."
Twenty minutes later found them peeling out of the compound in the Shellraiser, all of them too high-strung to do little more than shout the compulsory, "Eat it, Kraang!" Under the lights in the cab, Mikey's face was pale and tired, but the gale of his laughter more than made up for it as Donnie moved over from his chair to string his arms around Mikey's shoulders and Raph rubbed his head fondly.
"Mikey," Leo called back from the front, eyes focused on the road as he instrumented a hairpin turn, then darting a glance back to his brothers. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," he piped up immediately, canting such a warm look Leo's way that it warmed Raph on its way past him.
"Listen, Mikey... I'm really sorry it took us so long to- "
"Don't be a dork, Leo," he interrupted cheerfully. "It's not your fault. I never doubted you dudes for a second."
Master Splinter was waiting for them in the pit as they hopped the turnstiles, and he opened his arms the moment he caught sight of his youngest son. Michelangelo broke into a run, tripping over himself the last few feet, and plowed into the waiting embrace gracelessly.
"My child," the rat said gently, folding long arms around him, "we have missed you dearly."
"Well, yeah," Mikey quipped, muffled against the front of Splinter's robes; but the cheesy bravado only lasted a second longer before he shuffled closer, fingers fisting tightly in the maroon fabric, and added, "I missed you, too."
The dark smudges under his eyes made him look somehow even more sallow in the warm lights of the lair, and as soon as their sensei let him go, Leo was putting an arm around Mikey's shoulders and guiding him toward the hall.
"You look exhausted," Leo told him gently. "We'll celebrate tomorrow, for now you should get some rest."
"Wh- wait!" Mikey ducked under Leo's arm and backed up a few steps, hands up almost defensively. At the collective stares from the rest of his family, he shuffled, waffling for a moment, and muttered, "Sorry, but... But can I stay out here? With you guys?"
Leo flicked a look at Raph and Donnie over Mikey's head, and got the same looks right back; equal parts suspicion and concern. He glanced at their sensei next, who only inclined his head slightly, leaving the decision up to Leonardo as he did in most matters regarding little brothers.
Mikey had his biggest, bluest, saddest puppy eyes going like high beams by the time Leo looked back down at him; and maybe because he'd missed Mikey like crazy- or maybe just because he was a sucker for those eyes any day- but Leo caved under them almost immediately.
"Alright. We'll all sleep out here." Mikey's face brightened the way sunshine peeked through rainclouds, and Leo rubbed his head affectionately, unable to believe he'd gone a week without him. "Let's call it a night, guys. I'll grab some pillows."
Raph might have had a few choice words about their fearless leader calling bedtime any other day, but Mikey looked so relieved for whatever reason- and so tired, as he weaved toward some cushions on the floor- that Raph would go along with it tonight. He'd go along with it every night for the next hundred nights, even, so long as Mikey never got that panicked gleam in his eyes ever again.
Mikey ended up nestled against Donatello, sound asleep against his brother's plastron with Donnie's arm slung around his shoulders.
"Little menace," Leo muttered quietly, covering the two of them with a blanket. "He takes all the noise and color with him when he's gone, did you notice?"
"He's like the Oz tornado," Raph agreed. "Y'know, Leo... I think they really mighta done a number on him."
"Yeah." Leo sat next to their brothers on the floor of the pit and leaned his back against a seat. Raph saw his arm drift over experimentally, and then settle on his lap when he was rest assured the two youngest were within his reach. "We'll lie low for awhile. Stay underground for a week or two. I don't want him to think he has to keep up with us on patrol if he's not feeling up to it yet."
Raph found himself nodding. Leo gave him one of those soft, sideways smiles- a thank you, for his support without a fight- and soon enough, Raphael was the only one left awake.
And try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. Last time he'd stopped looking out for his baby brother, Mikey had been snatched away right from under them. Raph felt firm resolve harden into something like diamond somewhere behind his plastron, and decided then and there, Never again.