A/N: Okay- so not as fast as I thought, but life just sort of slapped me all over my face, so be a champ and REVIEW PLEASE!
The moon lit the smog-filled haze which created the New York sky, as the two escaped turtles ran as fast as momentarily possible. Of course, it was more so a mental habit than an actual intention, seeing as the two had outran the very last of the Foot nearly four miles prior; the emotional and general stress release this sprint allowed was too perfect to pass up. Well, that and Leonardo is likely to annihilate them both if they don't get home as fast as possible- they were already knee-deep in trouble as it were. And so it was with these very intentions in mind that Raphael kept running.
He was never one who enjoyed running, that would be more Leo and Mike's shtick. How the hell they ran the distance they did without a single complaint was beyond the red-banded turtle. But that wasn't to say Raph never tried and he sure as hell wasn't a sandbag either- he could keep up for more than a decent amount of time. It was Mike that was always the fastest of the turtles; even as kids, he'd always been the speedy one of the four. It came naturally to him, like Donatello's intellect and Leonardo's patience. It was as much a part of him as Raphael's strength. So when the red-banded turtle began to pull ahead of Mikey's -The Michelangelo's- pace, it was safe to say he was concerned. So even more so, after stopping only to be met by the sight of his baby brother, his torso bent over his knees while he desperately tried to take ragged breathes, its hardly an assumption to state his concern had doubled.
"Ay, take it easy. Yer gonna wear yerself out, bro- and I ain't carryin' yer heavy shell all the way home." he grunted, hoping the casual banter would help to ease his ailing brother.
Among the quick and shallow breaths was what could maybe be considered an airy chuckle of sorts, yet it was largely un-discernible due to the incessant hitches and panicked gasps that plagued the young turtle.
Having seen enough, Raph merely grabbed hold of the back of his baby brothers shell, leading him towards a far more comfortable seated position near the roof's edge. With a slight- but stern- pressure, blue eyes snapped open to gaze into the sepia orbs- a look of intense gratitude being passed to the latter.
Plopping down beside the ragged turtle, Raph could do nothing more than rub small circles on Mike's rigid shell; his free hand fiddling with the point of his sai. Half of a millennium seemed to pass until the breathes stilled- albeit shaky and laden with the occasional muffled hiccup. Finally assured enough, Raphael pulled out his shell-cell, a small growl of indignation escaping his pursed lips as he looked over the rather large amount of missed calls and worried messages. With a quick and echoed glance from Mikey, Raph reluctantly called Leo, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of peeved and genuinely fretful reprimands that were sure to arise from the mother-of-all-hens.
The phone call was surprisingly brief, filled with nearly a thousand "yeah's" and "I know's" and "For cryin' out loud, Leo, CALM the heck DOWN!" Though the more surprising thing a certain orange banded turtle would note, is throughout the entire recanting of their "misadventure"- not once was the word "headquarters" or "Karai" mentioned. In fact, Raph gave the bare minimum by ways of detail and information, something Mike regarded as not only a rare and likely one time occurrence, but that of utter brotherly love. No words were necessary, seeing as Raph and Mikey have had their fair share of secrets, an unspoken agreement was made and this time Mike had it almost way too easy, since he wouldn't even need to worry himself with the memorizing of a story-which may or may not have been a problem area in the few previous agreements between the two warm-colored brothers. If he couldn't talk, he wouldn't have to answer so the possibility of saying the wrong thing was now diminished.
There was a long moment of comfortable silence as the two brothers merely coexisted- both sitting transfixed- one simply enjoying the peaceful calm and the other rather incapable of even attempting such a feat in the first place.
Suddenly pulled from his musings, Raph nudged his brother with his elbow eliciting a slight jump from the sudden contact. With a deep and brief chuckle, Raph regarded his little brother.
"So what's yer side of the story? The real one. How'd ya break yer thumbs?" He grunted, trying to tame the uncomfortable stirring of worry that began to rise in the pit of his stomach.
Mikey sighed, not only dreading the brother-henning Raph often employed in his not-nearly-as-rare-as-he-would-like-you-to-think instances of genuine emotion, but he sighed for the uncertainty of communication as well. The realization of how crappy the situation became, now that writing would be a similar complication, donning on him-all but dragging the precious air from his lungs.
After a five second contemplation, Raph seemed to realize this as well, turning his body so that full eye contact could be made. "I tol' Leo we were farther out than we actually are... Didn't see the point in him expectin' us back right away. It wouldn't do much good, at least. I'll jus' get lectured while Don prods ya, and then you'll git lectured and then we'll both be lectured and- eh, jus' figured we could unwind, yannow. So spill, I can read ya better than ya think, Mike."
Quirking an eye ridge and scooting in a similar fashion, Mikey stared at Raph, his sea-blue eyes searching Raph's golden brown- looking for any suggestion of mockery. Finding none, Mike began to think back. How did this happen anyhow? It wasn't long before Michelangelo was swept away in thought.
"For cripes sake, Mike! Do somethin'!"
okay, okay- sheesh.
Taking a deep breath, Mike began a rather strange mixture of miming hand-motions and mouthing silent words. Raph restating his story out loud, to ensure he was following correctly (of which he did with an astonishing amount of accuracy) all the while supplying his own sarcastic commentary as the story drawled on.
"So that Hollywood crap 'bout escapin' handcuffs and stuff actually works, eh? Damn. Only you, Mike, would be boneheaded enough to try it..." Raph laughed as he examined Mike's thumbs, glimpsing the indignant nod of the orange-banded turtle, "Well crap, Mike, they're real broke, too." A huff of air was his only reply as Mikey reclaimed his hand from Raph's loose grip.
"Look, uh, Mike I know you probably won't want to talk about this, but..."Furiously rubbing the back of his neck, Raph sighed-his eyes locking into those of his counterpart, "I'm just gonna call ya out on it, okay?"
Rolling his head on his shoulders, sighing with a mixture of curiosity and bored reluctance, Mike's head bobbed toward his brother, his face showing a casual readiness to listen.
"Yer asthma's back, ain't it?" There was a moment of hesitance where Mikey broke the gaze, his eyes darting about, searching for an excuse, something to blame- heck, even a distraction!- but then reality struck and he was forced to face the truth, the truth in this case being a rather intimidating older brother. Raph waited rather patiently for his brother to calm down, scrutinizing every twitch and involuntary shudder when finally a dejected sigh escaped Mike's lips. His eyes slowly peered upward, catching the steadfast gaze of his most forthright brother. There was a pause- you could hear a pin drop- then finally a nod- small and abrupt, yet the affirmative action still held true.
It was then the silence stretched just a little too far, the intense blanket of quiet swept the two turtles away- only to be broken a few seconds later as Raphael snorted. Glancing to his left, Raph saw Mike's confused expression, deciding the poor fella had enough trouble for the day, he spoke up, "S'not like its gonna change anythin', Mike. There's not a single good reason to keep that from us."
Mike opened his mouth for a rebuttal but Raph beat him to it, "And I know what yer gonna say, so I'll save us both the trouble and state that Don's known for a long time and it hasn't changed a thing. The most you'd have to do is carry one-less shuriken so ya can fit in an inhaler or somethin'. Don't be such a drama queen, Mike." Raph finished, knocking the smaller turtle over with a teasing shove, though his eyes shown with a softness any sibling knew to be infallibly trustworthy. Mike beamed, his smile growing by the second as he lifted himself back into a sitting position.
There was a lull in the conversation as each turtle just sat, neither one quite caring to speak, when Raph broke the silence,"It scares ya, doesn't it."
Confusion crossed Mike's face, his eyes inquiring the meaning of his brother's random question, changing to a brief understanding as he thought back to his most recent confession. Pondering his reply, Mike merely shrugged his shoulders, a flippant wrist flick his way of ignoring the deeper question. A particularly cold breeze blew past the two brothers, emitting a violent shiver from the smallest of the two, his bandana tails fluttering into his face due to the combined movements.
Noting the dropping temperatures, Raph stood motioning for Mikey to do the same. "We should prob'ly head back now, Leo's gonna have enough ulcers as is."
Together the two made their way into the proper ally in silence, Raph lifting the manhole cover, ignoring the harsh intake of breath his brother took as he hit his injured thumb on the edge of the hole. Their path through the sewers was the same quiet journey. Just as the two were moments from passing through the entryway of the lair, Raph grabbed Mike's shoulder, his grip strong yet comforting.
"I'm proud of ya, kid." With a quick pat to the head, Raph walked into their home, his usual air returning full force as Leo and Don wasted no time in bombarding him with an endless flow of questions.
Mikey, on the other hand, could only grin at the unexpected praise- his walk a little lighter and his head a little higher.
A/N: I planned for this to take a slightly different direction, but- eh, whatever.
I love you all for the favorites and the follows, but there is a special place in my heart for those of you who review. Its a HUGE inspiration and it really keeps me on track, so PLEASE REVIEW!