I can't even begin to describe how happy I am with all the reviews! You guys are seriously the best. Thank you so much, you make my day so much better *hug*.
I just finished my exams, so unless I have to redo one, I'm done with school this year. So I have plenty of free time to write finally.! For now, enjoy the next chapter.
TMNT
"Mikey?! Mikey!" I cry out, hands ghosting over his body. Mikey whimpers, trying to twist or crawl away.
"No.. you're not supposed to be here" He whimpers, voice laced with pain, both emotional and physical.
"I am here little brother, I'm not leaving you" I look up. "We're not leaving you" Raph had released dad, who was now sporting a bloody nose and a gash above his eye. My immediate younger brother was standing next to Don, holding a knife out, and pointing it at dad in both fear and anger.
Don was talking on the phone, talking to the police no doubt.
"No.. we'll be separated.. taken away.. can't see you" Mikey mutters but I shush him, carefully lifting him up and pressing his chest against mine.
"Don't think about that little brother" I gently rocked him back and forth, ignoring the way my hands coated in his blood. "Don't think about it, you're safe now, I got you"
"Lemme go.. you have to leave" Mikey continues, weakly pressing against my chest but I don't release my hold on him. Like hell I was going to let him go. I failed him once, I'm not going to fail him again. I didn't give a damn about being separated right now, I didn't give a damn about anything other than keeping Mikey safe.
I look up, catching Don's gaze, who was staring at me with terrified eyes. He was caught between holding one of the knives at dad, and rushing towards Mikey.
"Go, I got this asshole" Raph muttered through gritted teeth, taking the second knife from his immediate younger brother. But dad didn't move at all, sitting against the wall, but too drunk to care probably. I took my eyes of the man we always called father, staring at Don's figure instead.
His eyes were wide with fear, roaming over the gashes that were exposed to him. Mikey whimpers as Don tenderly touched them, burying his face deeper into my chest. His back was bad.. no matter how much worse it could've been, it was bad. Only two or three gashes were bleeding really.
The rest were all angry, red and swollen, but the skin was still intact. It would no doubt bruise considerably. But it wasn't as bad as could've been. I shudder at the thought. It could've been much worse.
"Paramedics are on their way" He tells me, voice filled with fear, just as his eyes. I look at the belt, still laying on the ground, sneering at it. Such an innocent item, right under our noses, but hurting our littlest brother in one of the worst way possible.
Nobody dared to speak, and Don quickly walked over to the sink, grabbing a clean towel and soaking it in water. Dad still didn't move, and neither did Raph. I glanced up at Don as he crouched down again, putting the towel on Mikey's back. The latter hisses, burying his face deeper into my chest.
But the cold eventually caused him to relax slightly, slumping against me. We didn't speak, and I just held Mikey until I heard a car park in front of our house.
"POLICE, open the door!"
"Come in, please!" I cry, not wanting to move, leave my little brothers behind in the current state. And the door was still unlocked, just closed. Of course no one had bothered to lock it properly. Two officers walked into the home.
"Police, put your hands in the air!" One of them cried out, eyes searching before they landed on Mikey. "Code 373D, send ambulance. Suspect is unharmed and neutralised, no further backup required"
TMNT
"The answers were right in front of us, and yet we didn't want to believe it" Don whispers, arms wrapped tightly around himself as he stared out of the window. He looks around, facing us.
"We knew Don, we knew but we didn't do shit" Raph retorts, glaring at no one in particular. I knew he was mostly angry at himself for not acting out.
"We should've acted sooner" I agree, rubbing my arms and staring down at the sleeping figure of my youngest brother. Mikey was unconscious, laying on the hospital bed. He had been put under with a sedative, because he was too distressed and couldn't calm down while the doctors treated his wounds.
He hadn't woken up just yet. And it had already been several hours.
"I'm so sorry little bro" I whisper, rubbing his hand, even if he couldn't feel it probably.
"How are you guys holding up?" A nurse asks, standing in the opening of the door.
"Any news on da-" Don stops himself, glaring at the ground and balling his fist. "Any news on him?"
"He is in a holding cell right now, what will happen now is beyond my knowledge I'm afraid" She tells us, walking into the room. Only then do I notice the tray she was carrying. She smiled, walking over to Don first and handing him one of the sandwiches, who accepted it gratefully.
She passed one to both me and Raph as well, sitting down on one of the chairs.
"But he was caught in an unspeakable act, he will pay for his crimes" She continues, looking at the three of us. "How are you holding up?" She asks again, and I look down to the ground.
"As well as you'd expect" I mutter, and she smiles hesitantly, yet, before she could say something else, someone knocked on the door. We all turned to the door, another nurse standing in the doorway, and a man behind her.
"Your uncle arrived" She tells us, allowing for Yoshi, our uncle, to walk through the door. He looks at all of us with wide and fearful eyes, landing on Mikey's still form.
"Brother.. what have you done?" He whispers, taking several steps into the room. "Are you three alright?" He asks us, and I nod, glancing at Raph and Don, but neither objected. At least, physically we were, emotionally however..
"I have heard about the four of you from your grandmother, I have seen pictures but I have yet to meet you" He continues, walking up to me with cautious steps. "Leonardo I presume. My name is Hamato Yoshi, your… father's brother" He says, hesitating slightly. That man didn't deserve the title of father.
Oroku Saki was only our father by blood, not by bond or anything else.
Not anymore.
"That's Raph, and that's Don" I continue, pointing at Raph and Don respectively. Yoshi nods, sitting down on the last free chair.
"How is Michelangelo's condition?" He asks, turning his attention to the nurse instead. The latter sighs, reaching for the chart that was on the end of Mikey's hospital bed, looking down at it.
"Multiple linear marks on his back, resulting in bruises. A few of them were gashes, suggesting he was hit with the buckle of the belt. Forensics found blood on it too. We stitched those to minimise scarring. He also has a split lip, and a black eye, probably both from a fist"
Yoshi sighs, regret and sadness evident on his face.
"What is going to happen now?" He asks.
"Our first priority is making sure Michelangelo is alright, both mentally and physically." I wince slightly, knowing what she was implying. That Mikey wouldn't be right mentally for a long time. "Then we look at accommodations, and we often reach out to family members.. if they do not exhibit the same violent behaviour"
"I would never" Yoshi immediately defends, but there is a calmness in his voice that is so foreign. The nurse smiles gently, nodding.
"If that's proven, we will talk about adopting.. and if no relative is willing they'll be put in foster care" There was a slight questioning undertone in her voice, but it was a legit one, who would want to adopt four children at once? It was something we dreaded, something we knew'd happen if dad.. Saki was really abusing Mikey.
"I will adopt them" Yoshi states without hesitance and I look at him, a shocked expression on my face. "You are family Leonardo, I will not let you four be separated" He answers my confusion, but still, I was sceptical.
"I know you do not know me, and I know of the ill stories my brother has probably told you. But I know what it is like to be separated from your siblings. When Saki abandoned his family, he abandoned me as well. And while not on great terms, I still missed my brother."
"You weren't jealous that mom choose him instead of you?" I ask, and Yoshi chuckles slightly.
"I have been at the beginning, yet slightly. But I could not force Shen to choose me over my brother. She loved me, and I loved her, but she loved my brother more. Not even our child could convince her otherwise"
"Hold up, her child?" Don cut in, eyes on our uncle. Yoshi looks up at Don, nodding.
"I was in a relationship with Shen for 2 years when she got pregnant. Yet, even before she gave birth, she started seeing my brother. 3 months after Miwa was born-" He stops himself, taking a deep breath and looking down. "I am sorry, I still grieve" He says.
"That's okay Yoshi, take your time" I whisper, and he nods at me.
"I am going to check on the doctor" The nurse interrupts, leaving quietly, for which I was grateful. I watched as she left the room, shutting the door on her way out and leaving us alone. And something told me everyone understood that she just wanted to give us a little privacy.
"Saki came to my house, demanding a fight. In our battle, the house that belonged to Shen and I burned down, scarring me" He continues, lifting his sleeve to reveal a huge burn mark on his arm. "We got out safely, but Shen choose Saki over me." Yoshi continues, looking at us again.
"What happened next?" I ask, and Yoshi looks at me for a moment.
"Shen had always wanted to move back to New York, as she was American born. She convinced Saki to go, but legally could not take Miwa with her without my consent. I could not move away from Japan yet, and was not willing to lose Shen and Miwa. And for that, I was selfish"
"That's not selfish at all Yoshi, that's parental love." Don whispers softly.
"Not like we know much of parental love" Raph mutters grimly, before glancing at Yoshi. "But ya did the right thing Yoshi, Miwa was yours as well, Shen… Mom I guess, couldn't just take that from you"
"We have a half sister?" Don questions at that, sending me a confused look. I shake my head, willing to not focus on that right now. I just wanted to hear the end of the story.
"Shen kept minimum contact when she was away, never visiting, and it was not rare for us to lose contact for an extended period of time." Yoshi continues carefully. "10 months after her departure, on Miwa's first birthday, I made another attempt" He stops, a heavy silence following.
"What happened?" I whisper softly, not trying to rush him into telling the rest of the story, but curious nonetheless.
"I found out she had died giving birth to a child, four I learned later on from mother" He continued, and I look down at the ground. It was painful hearing about mom like that, like she was in the wrong almost, but also hearing the pain Yoshi obviously still felt. "Two years later, my father died from old age, and I decided to honour Shen's dreams and take Miwa to the United States"
"So you live here?" Don asks, and Yoshi nods.
"I have always lived here, Shen had been born in New York City and had always wanted to return. I had no knowledge of your residence however, and Saki had always refused contact"
"And Miwa?" I ask softly.
"She is in Junior year as of now" I nod, that would make sense. According to Yoshi's story, Miwa was more or less a year older than us, and we were all currently sophomores.
"Excuse me, Mr. Hamato?" The nurse interrupts. "I would like to collect some DNA samples for a DNA test"
"A DNA test?" Yoshi asks, frowning slightly. The nurse smiled, walking inside and placing her bag next to Yoshi.
"There are questionable records of you being family, so we want to run a test to make sure you are their uncle. This is a basic procedure we do very often if the father figure isn't present for example. Siblings share approximately 50% of the same DNA, so an uncle would share 25% with a nephew or niece" She tells him, opening up her bag.
She takes out a few stuff, turning to Yoshi again. He follows without having to be told so, opening his mouth to allow the nurse to swipe the inside of his cheek. She turns to us as well, obvious what she wanted. I nod, allowing her to swipe my cheek as well, followed quickly by Don and Raph.
Then she gently took a sample from Mikey as well, who stirred slightly but remained unresponsive for the most part.
"There, all done" She smiles widely. "Results will be back within 2 working days, you will get a notification" She says, closing her back with the swipes.
"And what will happen now? Could I take the boys home for the night?"
"We're not leaving Mikey" Raph glares but Yoshi pays no attention to him.
"You could, but you are not their legal guardian yet. You should keep that in mind."
"I understand" Yoshi nods, watching as the nurse left again.
"We ain't leaving Mikey" Raph insists again, and Yoshi nods.
"I would suspect as much"
TMNT
Hours later, middle of the night.
"Welcome back little bro" I smile as Mikey opens his eyes warily. he looks at me, frowning slightly. I reach over to the light, turning it on a bit more so make seeing a bit easier.
"What happened?" Mikey croaks, trying to sit up but stiffening with a pained hiss.
"Dad hurt you" I whisper. "Leo, Raph and I came home early and saw you.. you remember that don't you?" He frowns, looking down at the blankets, before he hesitantly nods.
"You should've left me D, now we-"
"Don't even think that Mikey" I interrupt him, almost glaring at him, but I wasn't mad at him. Sad that he would even consider it, sad that he seriously thought being hurt was worth not telling us. "I'm not mad you didn't tell, but don't even think you should feel guilty"
"But .. but dad said he'd hurt you.. they would take us away if I told anyone" Mikey tries, looking up with teary eyes. "I don't want to get separated" He whimpers, lifting his arm to wipe away the tears.
"We won't be separated Mikey" I whisper, reaching out for him, he looks at me with a slight frown on his face. "Yoshi, dad's brother, is willing to take us in"
"He is?" Mikey questions softly, and I sigh, taking his hand and giving it a comfortable squeeze.
"He said he would, we have to wait for a DNA test to confirm he's our uncle first but there's a big chance he is, and we won't get separated" I tell him, and he takes a shuddering breath, nodding. "How are you feeling?"
Mikey is silent for a moment, turning his face away from me after the question. He seemed tense, on edge from the question, or what it made him think of. I smile sadly at him, trying to coax him into saying something. I just wanted to know how my only little brother was doing right now.
I wanted to help him, give him someone to talk to.
"Sore.." He mumbles, and I sigh.
"I meant emotionally"
He's silent at the question, looking away from me. "I don't know" He answers honestly, his voice a whisper. "I don't know how I should feel"
"That's okay Mikey" I whisper back at him. "We will figure this out together, we won't fail you again."
"You never failed me D" He retorts. I smile slightly, shaking my head but making no effort to correct him. Because he was wrong, we did fail him. We failed him by not noticing that he was abused right under our noses, we failed to recognise the obvious signs, failed to further question his odd behaviour.
We failed him.
"Sleep Mikey, just sleep some more. In the morning we will go home with Yoshi" I tell him gently, looking up at the door. The room was entirely dark, no light other than the light the moon provided. Leo and Raph had probably fallen asleep as well right now, but they were in another room right now.
Even Yoshi had, much to my surprise, stayed at the hospital for the night. He already cared more than dad. I scowl, shaking my head, before standing up.
"Wait" Mikey whispers, and I frown. "Stay"
"I'm just moving to the chair" I tell him gently, but he shakes his head, carefully lifting the blanket. I snicker, taking the invitation and crawling into the hospital bed.
"This used to be so much more comfortable when you were still small" I mutter and he smiled slightly despite the situation. He doesn't respond however, curling up against my side and closing his eyes.
"m'sorry for not telling" He mutters but I shake my head again, bringing him closer to me, not saying anything. I start to hum softly, until I felt his breath even out against my neck, and only then did I dare to close my eyes for the first time since we discovered him in the living room.
The memory still too fresh in my mind.