Chapter Three: Three AM Discovery

An almost eerie silence momentarily filled the lab at Leo's sudden announcement and Raph and Don could only stare at one another with matching frowns upon their faces. The fact that there had actually been a sighting of their youngest brother seemed a bit hard to believe and yet they knew that Leonardo would have never said such a thing if he truly believed in what he saw. There was a reason that he was their leader after all and the two brothers were silent for a moment before Don finally cleared his throat.

"Well that would be an interesting turn of events then wouldn't it?" Raph looked over at Donnie with an arched eyebrow.

"And what do you mean by that brainiac?"

"I mean that if Leo really did see Mikey in the sewers then Mika here…" Don's words slowly trailed off allowing the news of what he was implying sink in.

If that really was Mikey running around in the sewers then Mika really was the son of their most hated rival and that he wasn't Mikey after all. It was a relief yet also a burden at the same time for it meant that their brother might still be alive however at the same time it also meant that they now had the son of the Shredder in their lair and that they had been foolish for getting their hopes up into believing that Mika was actually their lost brother.

The three turtle brothers remained silent for an additional minute as the news slowly began to finally sink in and it was only when the sound of soft snoring began to fill the lab that the turtles redirected their attention towards the bed where Mika had fallen asleep while the brothers gathered up their thoughts. The turtles exchanged quick glances of amusement amongst one another before Master Splinter took the blanket that had fallen down past Mika's hips to gently cover the young human back up.

"Well he certainly does snore like Michelangelo if nothing else." The old rat chuckled softly before his gaze turned more serious and he looked over at his sons with a serious look upon his face.

"Go see if you can find Michelangelo, my sons. I will stay here and watch over Mika while you do that."

The three brothers gave small nods of their heads to show that they understood their sensei's words and proceeded to give him a matching bow of respect as well. They didn't have to be told twice to go and search for a brother that they believed to have been dead and they waited until Master Splinter in turn took his own turn to bow to his sons before the three brothers were soon rushing out of the lab without another word.

It was only after they had distanced themselves from the lair that all three turtles came to a screeching halt right before the area where Leonardo had seen Michelangelo. Leo, having remained silence the entire time turned towards his younger brothers and pointed with one green finger towards the left where he had last seen the mysterious figure of their believed to be dead brother.

"I saw him go that way." Don looked towards the direction in which Leo pointed with a tilt of his head.

"If he did go that way, we should be able to catch him. That way leads to a dead end." Don said as Raph let out an unhappy grunt as he pushed past the two turtles and started storming down the sewer with his hands resting lightly on the tops of his sais just in case they were uncertain of what to expect.

"All I gotta say is, if that really was Mikey that you saw Leo, I'm going to…"

"You're going to what?" came a voice from the shadows of the tunnel causing Raph to freeze where he stood but not before he managed to pull out his sais and hold them out in front of him in an intimidating manner.

"I'm going to rip the shellback limb from limb but not before I deal with you pal." Raph growled to the figure in the shadows and before Leo or Don could stop their hot headed brother, the red banded turtle was rushing into the darkness and tackling whoever it was hiding down on the ground.

The sound of desperate splashes confirmed that Raph had found his mark in the dark and Leo and Don wasted no time in following their brother into the dark with their own weapons raised as though anticipating an ambush. The recent loss of Mikey had made it all to clear to the brothers that not even they were immune to death and it was a hard lesson that cost one of them their life. A mistake that nobody wanted to make ever again and that was why they had been expecting an ambush to be awaiting them at the dead end of the sewer tunnel.

What the two brothers [i]weren't[/i] expecting though was to find Raph kneeling in the three inch water with his sais resting by his sides as he stared down at the figure he was currently straddling in an effort to keep the figure from escaping. Tears were clearly evident rolling down Raph's face as Leo managed to light an old lantern that he and his brothers had hung back when they were young so if they were to get lost, Master Splinter would be able to find them.

As the dim light of the lantern slowly filled the tunnel, Leo and Don found them gasping simultaneously as the light was able to cast aside the shadows and reveal to them just who their mysterious heckler was. There, lying on his shell, was Mikey. The orange bandana stood out in stark contrast to the dark tunnel and the youngest turtle looked up at all three of his brothers with that notorious carefree smile of his.

"Hey guys. Miss me?"

To Be Continued…