A/N: In this One-Shot, the turtles are different ages, Leo being the eldest, then Raph, Donnie, and Mikey as the youngest. (There is a couple years between Leo and Mikey, but I'll let you imagination decide exactly how much.) For all those interested, I'm still working on my other stories and will update (hopefully) soon.
Disclaimer: *scoffs* I wish!
10 Years Ago
"Higher! Almost got it!" a young Michelangelo cheers happily in his oldest brother's arms, holding a small ball tightly in his hands.
Once the four turtles' father went to practice and meditate in the Dojo, the young children decided to go play. Donatello sat in on corner of the room, doing a puzzle with a book by his side to read once he was finished. After all, he has done this puzzle a couple times already and it won't take him long to do it again. Even though he was young, he was a fairly fast reader and liked to teach himself, causing him to have a book nearby at all times.
Raphael played nearby the doors of the Dojo, small, cheap cars in his hands. The small vehicles ranged from a variety of shapes and sizes and the small mutant turtle raced them across the floor, creating noises for them with his mouth. The lack of toys and nice things did not hinder the child's imagination. Instead of seeing a sewer floor and cars that were about to lose a wheel or two, Raph saw a famous racetrack with the best racers from all over the world meeting at once. Of course, he already knew the red car was going to win; but, it was definitely going to win in style.
On the other side of the Lair, you could find the last to turtles: the oldest and the youngest. Before going into the Dojo, Master Splinter sat a small basket on one of the small dressers, allowing his sons to be able to play a game of throwing their ball in the basket, almost like basketball. After a few minutes of watching his younger brother throw the small, orange ball and have it miss the small green basket, Leonardo decided to help. Picking up his brother in an awkward but doable position, he lift Michelangelo high before racing to the basket.
Ignoring the slight pain Leonardo began to feel in his arms, he lifted Michelangelo up to the basket. Quickly and without much grace, the youngest turtle threw the ball into the basket, the force almost causing it to fall off of the dresser.
"It made it!" cried Leo, sitting his brother gently to the ground. "Good job, Mikey!"
The young turtle replied with a wide grin, his white teeth showing brightly. Watching his brother gently sit on the floor, he made sure to follow Leonardo's movements, sitting right beside him. His beautiful smile didn't leave his face as he looked from the basket to his big brother.
Michelangelo's smile grew. "When I get big, I'm gonna pick you up!"
The young turtle's statement caused Leonardo to laugh. An image of his younger brother struggling to pick him up and take him over to the green basket appeared in his mind. Of course, Leonardo did not want to ruin his younger brother's cheery mood, even if the idea appeared to be very unlikely in his mind. "Maybe," Leo answered, the smile not leaving his face.
A moment of silence filled between the two children.
"Leo?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you help me get the ball?" Mikey asked, his hands making a grabbing motion to the orange ball sitting in the green basket that appeared so high up.
Releasing another chuckle, Leonardo stood up. With his arms outstretched, the boy gave his younger brother a gentle smile. "Sure," he said between giggles. "Come on!"
Quickly jumping to his feet, Michelangelo allowed his older brother to lift him off of the ground. As he reached into the basket, the young turtle imagines himself older, holding his older brother in his own arms as Leo grabs a ball from the basket with a large grin on his face. There was no doubt in Mikey's mind that it couldn't become a reality.
Present
Michelangelo pants for breath as he races from the Foot's Headquarters. Despite the throbbing in his head and the feeling of blood dripping off of him, he continues to push forward, his older brother in his arms. Even though, in the back of their mind, the four boys knew something could go wrong on the mission, rushing an injured brother home was never easy.
Donatello needed to hack into the Foot's system, preventing and destroying a destructive weapon that could have harmed and taken many lives in New York. Leonardo mentioned splitting up into two groups, allowing the Foot to be distracted with one group while the other group destroyed the Foot's ability to use their weapon. It was decided that Raphael would go with his genius brother as reinforcement/backup while Leonardo and Michelangelo would distract the Foot on the other side of the building. Little did they know what the cost would be for them.
After hearing his hot-headed brother's report on them completing their mission and were heading home, Michelangelo was eager to return home. During the entire fight, Mikey could only think about the warm pizza and comfy couch that was waiting for him when he came home from their battle. Unfortunately, just as he turned around to inform his leader/eldest brother, his wide eyes watched as a blade struck deeply into Leonardo's side, blood flowing freely from his green skin and sticking to the sharp blade. There was enough time to allow the normally joking turtle to take down enough Foot ninjas and grab his brother before throwing a smoke bomb as a distraction. Within a few minutes, Leonardo began stumbling and going in and out of consciousness, blood loss and other injuries beginning to take their toll.
Looking down, Michelangelo sees his brother breathing deeply in shaky breaths with his eyes closed. Even though Mikey wishes Leo's breathing was easier and less labored, his brother is still breathing all the same. Readjusting his grip on the turtle, Mikey jumps over to the next rooftop, slowly getting closer to his home where his brothers and Sensei are waiting for him. In response to the youngest turtle's movement, Leonardo groans and shifts.
Sending a nervous smile to his unconscious brother, Michelangelo says quietly, "I told you I was going to be able to pick you up, bro. I just wish it was under better conditions." And with that, the turtle leapt off of the building to the next, carrying his big brother home in the dark of the night.