AN: Day 2, what will happen you ask?... Well you'll just have to read and find out! Enjoy! Don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: If I owned TMNT I would be the happiest person in the world, but I'm not.


The older turtles stayed up late into the night. Don was busy working with the blood samples he had taken from Mike, and the others were helping whenever possible. Finally, all they had left was to get the results from the various tests. Some would be ready the next day but others wouldn't be till the day after tomorrow. As the hour of one swiftly approached, the brothers dispersed to their own rooms. However, none could sleep for memories of the last couple days were too busy flashing in their heads.

Leo paced, back and forth, in his room. "How could I let this happen? I'm the oldest for shells sake! Protecting them is my job, but Mikey had to step in, all because I managed to get myself kicked into a stupid wall! Seriously, what kind of big brother lets his baby bro get hurt like that? It should have been me, Mike doesn't deserve to have this happening to him"!

A crash resounded from Raphs room as he threw a chair across it. "Why didn't I act sooner? If I would have ran to Mike as soon as I saw him facing down the Shredder, then maybe I could have stopped him from being taken! I would readily have taken Mikeys place, if it were possible, to save him from all this! Argh! I swear, Shredders gonna pay if it's the last thing I do"!

Donnie lay on his bed contemplating all that had occurred. "I should have been able to come up with a plan to save Mikey that wouldn't have resulted in this awful scenario! How was I supposed to know that Shredder had invented something like that though? I should have insisted that he let me retrieve his nunchucks from that table, then it would have be me instead of him"!

Having worn themselves out, the distraught older turtles finally fell into an exhausted slumber about two hours later. The rest of the night passed quietly without any disturbance.

-XXX-XXX-XXX-

As the morning dawned on the second day only one turtle stirred. Mikey slowly opened his eyes, looking at his alarm clock which read Seven o'clock. He groaned as he rolled over, trying to go back to sleep without success. After another half hour he decided it would be a good idea to get up and see what his bros were doing. Knowing his luck, they were in the kitchen trying, unsuccessfully, to get breakfast.

Mike shuddered as he thought back on the last time his older brothers had tried to make food. It was a major disaster! "Back then, Donnie had been covered, head to toe, in oatmeal that he had somehow managed to explode on the stove. Raph hauled off and punched the microwave because, apparently he thought his food wasn't heating fast enough, or something like that. Leo... Leo managed to set the toaster on fire...and he wasn't even using it! Really, how does that even work? It took so long to clean up the mess, plus we had to get new appliances! I really need to remember to give them cooking lessons later. What would they do if I... NO! Don't think like that Mikey! Leo, Raph, and Don will never let that happen! Yea, it'll all be fine, no problemo"!

Mikey sat at the edge of his bed and spoke quietly "Nothing bad will happen, I'm sure"!

As he made to stand up the youngest turtle swayed a little, but paid it no mind. He walked through the living room and into the kitchen, uncertain as to what he would find there. To his surprise not one of the others were awake yet, not even Leo who was always up at the crack of dawn! Figuring they had had a long night he decided to let them rest, that way he got some time to himself as well. In the kitchen he made pancakes, using a special Canadian recipe. Mikey saved plenty for his bros for whenever they decided to get out of bed. The orange loving turtle grabbed the maple syrup before settling down at the table to eat his breakfast in peace and quiet.

"Mmm, maple syrup is the only way to go when it comes to pancakes!" Mikey sighed appreciatively.

After he was done eating Mike made up his mind to go practice in the dojo. He could make up for some of the training he'd slacked off on and keep his mind off what was happening to him, all at the same time. As the youngest turtle started to walk toward the dojo he couldn't help but notice that the room spun just a little.

"It's probably just my imagination," Mikey thought. "It's not important. What is important, is keeping my mind off of things that aren't gonna happen"!

In the dojo Mike started doing various katas that Master Splinter had taught them recently. After warming up with easy exercises he moved on to the more challenging ones that he had yet to master. He continued in that manner for about an hour. Rohai, Pinan Godan, and Fuji Kata Dai Ni were just a select few that Mike preformed. He took a ten minute break before forcing himself onwards to practice his flips. By now, the room was practically swimming in front of his eyes, but Mikey was in too much denial to care and just kept on with practice. He started his flips, getting more altitude with each one. As he was in the middle of a particularly high flip, with his head facing the ground, the edges of his vision turned black.

"Sorry bros, guess I over did it this time." Mikey thought regretfully to himself. As his eyes closed, and he plummeted head first toward the waiting concrete floor of the dojo, he could have sworn he heard his brothers calling out to him.

-XXX-XXX-XXX-

"Ugh, what time is it?" Leo mumbled tiredly glancing at the clock, "Wait, it's already nine thirty! I need to get up"!

He stumbled out of bed and stretched trying to wake himself up. To sleep in till this time of day was unprecedented for the normally early rising turtle.

"Shell, I must have been more tired than I thought last night." Leo stated in his head, "This is not the time for this, what with everything that's going on with Mikey. I had best go and wake the..."

Leo trailed off as he heard the distinct sound of someone moving. Listening carefully, he found it was coming from below in the dojo. He figured that it was one of his brothers, probably Raph, working out some of the tension from the last couple nights. Leo resolved to head downstairs. Upon passing the door he peered into his temperamental brothers room, surprised to find him still fast asleep. Rushing over to look in Dons room showed the same result as the first!

"Oh no!" Leos eyes widened in worry, rushing to his youngest brothers room he stared in shock at what he saw. "Guys," he yelled, "get up! Right now"!

In their rooms, two sleeping turtles startled awake. Both knew something was wrong because their big brother rarely sounded that rattled. Donnie and Raph raced from their rooms, nearly colliding in their haste to find out what was happening. When they reached their leader he was standing outside the door of their baby brothers room, looking in with a worried frown.

"Leo, whats going on?" Donnie questioned calmly "Is something wrong"?

"Yea Leo, where's the fire?" Raph said snidely.

"It's Mikey," Leo informed. "He's not in his room"!

"WHAT!" was the only response that escaped from the other turtles' lips.

"When I woke up I heard some sounds down in the dojo. I figured it was just one of you two," Leo explained. "Then I glanced in your rooms as I was making my way downstairs and found both of you were still asleep".

"That means its gotta be Mike down in the dojo." Donnie hypothesized.

"That's what I figured" Leo said. "the question now is, what's he doing and why"?

"Let's go find out the answers then!" Raph jumped down and headed for the entrance to the dojo. "You guys coming or what?"!

The leader and braniac rushed to catch up to their hot-headed brother. When they reached the door the older turtles saw Mikey jump into the air, flip, and land on his feet. Something was wrong though. As he stuck the landing he wobbled a bit. Even so, he didn't seem to notice, and that worried them to no end. Once again he launched into the air, and at the peak of his jump, he flipped. His brothers watched horror stricken, as the youngest turtles eyes closed and he passed out midway through the turn, with his head facing the floor.

"Wake up!" Donnie screamed, frozen in place.

"Come on Mike!" Raph shouted. As he ran forward. "No, I'm not gonna make it"!

"Don't worry, I got him!" Leo raced ahead, passed Raph, and caught his little brother before he had the chance to make an imprint on the pavement.

"I got you baby bro" Leo soothed his unconscious younger brother in a whisper.

Donnie breathed a quick sigh of relief before instructing the eldest turtles. "Leo, take Mike to the lab. Lay him down on one of the beds. Be gentle with him mind you! Raph, go grab a glass of water for him to drink once he wakes up. I need to go grab the journal from my room. I've started to write down all the information I acquire on his symptoms in it".

At this, the brothers quickly went to do what Don had instructed. Leo made his way to the lab where he laid Mikey down, as softly as possible, on the bed. Donnie came in a minute later with a small notebook and made his way over to check his only little brothers vitals. A short while later Raph showed up with a large cup of cold water.

"His vitals are fine, he just fainted." Donnie stated, "He should wake up pretty soon".

"If ya say so, Don." Raph replied worriedly.

Leo turned to look at his intelligent brother, "Do you know why this happened"?

"I won't be able to tell for certain until he wakes up," the purple banded turtle replied. "But I have a pretty good hunch".

"Ugh... what's going on?" the three older turtles turned upon hearing the dazed voice of their little brother.

They all smiled when they saw Mikey slowly opening his eyes and glancing around. He sat up and immediately started coughing due to his dry throat. Don quickly handed over the glass of water, which he gulped down thirstily. Once finished he listened attentively to his brothers explain what they had seen.

The blue clad brother stepped forward to tell his point of view of what had went on up until the point where they saw Mike pass out mid jump. He looked at the others to see if they had anything else to add, before turning his concerned gaze back to the baby of the family, who had managed to stand and was now staring at them, a guilty look covering his normally sunny face.

"Mike, what happened that made you faint like that?" Leo questioned

Mikey looked down at the floor, unable to meet his brothers' concerned gazes. "Well, when I woke up this morning I was a little unsteady on my feet, but I figured it was just because I was still half asleep. You know how you stumble around like that, right? So I ignored it and went out to the kitchen. I figured you guys were still asleep so I made breakfast and decided to go practice in the dojo. As I was walking I got a little bit dizzy and the room started to spin, but I didn't want to think about it so..."

"You ignored it again?" Donnie asked, cutting him off.

With a nod from the younger turtle Don rushed forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Mikey, don't you know how dangerous that was! Dizziness is most likely the second days symptom, and you just let it go on, unchecked, until you passed out from it! What if we hadn't showed up in time? What if Leo had missed when he ran to catch you? You could have been hurt. Badly, I might add"!

"STOP!" Mikey yelled. Then he continued in a whisper, "Just stop. I don't want to think about it".

The older turtles looked at him in shock for a moment until Raph managed to find his voice.

"What do ya mean you don't want to think about it?" he snarled, voice rising with each word. Raph took a few deep breaths before continuing in a much softer tone, "Mike, it's not like this is just gonna go away on its own. Stop fooling yourself".

"No, I don't need to! No, I don't want to! No, I don't... NO! I won't!" He met each brothers gaze with a challenge in his eyes. "I just can't guys. Why won't you understand that?"! Mikey screeched, his pitch higher than normal.

The older turtles could only watch dumbstruck as the youngest continued to rant.

"Brothers are supposed to support each other... then support me in this," he said pleadingly. "Why should I think about it? What's the point? Why should I get my hopes up? What would I do if I did and we don't find the cure?"! Mikey sank down to his knees, threw his head back... and screamed "WHY ME?"!

Leo said nothing. Then walked over to his youngest brother, knelt down, and engulfed him in a tight hug. Mikey froze before gradually returning it, burying his head against the older turtles neck, tears flowing freely from his blue eyes. Raph and Donnie joined in and all four just knelt there for awhile, taking comfort from the others presence.

"Why me?" Mikey sobbed after a couple minutes.

"I don't know Mike," Leo admitted "I just don't know".

"Any one of us would take your place in a heartbeat, ya know?" Raph added.

"That's true," Donnie agreed.

There was no reply, but for the tightening grip of their baby brothers arms. He was clinging to them as if his life depended on it, and in a way it did.

Finally Leo broke the silence. "Mike, you need to think about what's happening. You know that right"?

Mikey sniffed, answering dejectedly, "yeah".

Donnie reached out and wiped the tears from his immediate younger brothers face. "You also realize that no matter what, we will be here for you, don't you"?

With a sad smile Mikey nodded, "I know".

"I promise ya this little bro, you will be alright" Raph gave Mikey an affectionate nudge with his elbow "No matter what, I won't let ya down, believe it"!

"A promise?" Mike asked, hope sparking in his voice.

Leo and Don smiled when they saw there normally quick to anger brother console their youngest.

"That's right"! Raph declared enthusiastically.

"We all promise!" Leo proclaimed.

"We'll be here for you, always!" Donnie confirmed. "And we'll do all in our power to prevent... that outcome from happening"!

"Thanks dudes, I guess I really need to think about what could happen, huh? Even though I'm sure now that it won't come to that!" Mikey gave a quick laugh.

The older turtles smiled to see their little bro happy again.

"Yes, bad things happen Mikey, but that's what your brothers are here for. Whenever you fall, we'll be there to help you get back on your feet." Leo said quietly, placing a comforting hand on Mikeys head.

-XXX-XXX-XXX-

The rest of the day passed with the brothers spending family time together. Leo, Don, and Raph finally ate the pancakes Mikey had made for them, albeit after heating them back up in the microwave! All three thought they were the best pancakes ever, especially with maple syrup. Mikey was still pretty dizzy but as long as he didn't move around too much, or do any strenuous activity it was fine. Knowing this, the turtles decided to play some video games and watch a couple movies. As night quickly approached the older turtles noticed their baby bro yawning more and more frequently.

"Mikey," Leo said softly "I think it's time you go to bed".

"But Leo," Mike whined. "I want to stay up with you guys".

"Hey bro, fearless is right for once." Raph allied with his older brother, "Ya had one shell of a day"!

"Not to mention you look worn out," Donnie said, nodding his head. "If you're going to fight this then you'll need all your strength".

Alarm shot across Mikeys face for a second before being replaced with a look of pure determination. "Right, I am gonna fight! Not just for myself but for you guys too, so I can keep bringing smiles to your ugly mugs"!

With that, the orange masked turtle turned and headed to his room. The others chuckled quietly and small grins remained on their faces, at the determined outburst of the youngest turtle. He always managed to lighten the mood, even in the most dire of circumstances. A few minutes later Don stood up and turned to face the other two.

"Well, I'm heading to the lab to analyze the results of the tests that completed." Don stated, "some won't have the results in until tomorrow though".

"Do you need any help Don?" Leo asked sincerely.

"No," Don declined. "It's been a long day, go rest".

"Well," Raph yawned. "If ya say so Donnie".

"Don't stay up too late, okay?" Leo told his genius younger bro. "You need the sleep as much as we do".

"I'm used to late hours anyway. Even on normal days I'm usually up till midnight." Donnie reminded him.

"Just get some rest Don." Raph growled, "You could be our only hope to figure out a cure and we don't need ya collapsing"!

"Okay Okay," Don held his hands up in surrender. "I'll check the results then head to bed".

"Good," said both older turtles.

The two eldest brothers left for their rooms as the other took off for the lab, hoping the tests generated enough information to formulate an antidote. He didn't want to think about what would come to pass if they didn't.


AN: Thanks to everyone who is reading this, your support means alot! Remember to review!