The Lost Boy
part 14

Mikey was staring up at Leo, his full mouth so very close. As Leo searched the younger turtle's eyes he saw an array of emotions there; curiosity, desire and a need to be close to someone, but Leo also saw a touch of wariness.

Leo was sure that Mikey wanted something more than friendship and he was also sure that the lost boy's life had made trust a difficult thing for him to give. One wrong move during this tenuous period of their becoming acquainted and Leo could lose Mikey's trust and inevitably lose Mikey himself.

Carefully leaning forward, Leo placed a soft and lingering kiss to Mikey's scar before pulling away from him. Still holding Mikey's hand, Leo sat back enough so that the heat from Mikey's body wouldn't tempt him to go further.

When Leo looked into Mikey's face, he saw that the younger turtle had closed his eyes. Now they fluttered open and Mikey stared at him, the unbridled admiration for Leo clear in his expression.

"What was that for?" Mikey asked in a soft voice.

"When I was young, my father used to kiss our wounds and tell us that would make them feel better," Leo explained gently. "The thought of you injured and alone makes me sad. I wish you hadn't grown up without family. I wish I could have been there to hold you and kiss away your pain."

"Do you still think I could be your brother?" Mikey asked, his eyes searching Leo's.

"Yes," Leo answered. "I think that we were together when the ooze that mutated us coated our bodies. I believe that in the few minutes between that occurrence and the time that our father found us, you somehow became separated from us. However that happened, it seems likely that a child on their way to school found you and stuck you in that backpack."

"That means . . . that means I could have grown up with you," Mikey said. "I would have liked that."

Leo smiled. "You would have liked Master Splinter too. Our father. He is a great teacher; it was he who protected and nurtured us. Sensei has taught us many things, but most importantly he showed us how to love and how important it is to stick together always."

"On the TV and in movies I see families. I see people falling in love too. Sometimes I have daydreams about that," Mikey admitted wistfully.

"You don't have to be alone anymore," Leo said, holding Mikey's eyes. "We've found each other for a reason and I think it's because fate always intended we should be together."

A shutter seemed to come down over Mikey's eyes and he pulled back a little, taking his hand from Leo's and making a show of reaching for his water bottle. Leo watched him, brow furrowed in puzzlement at the sudden change in Mikey's demeanor.

"Together like with your family?" Mikey asked, avoiding Leo's eyes as he tipped his head back to drink.

Leo's expression smoothed. Mikey was accepting the idea of being with Leo readily enough; no doubt the young turtle had felt the same stab of desire that had hit Leo the first time their eyes had met. Having lived alone for so long, adjusting to the idea of sharing his life with Leo was a difficult enough transition; the thought of mingling with the remainder of Leo's family still frightened the youth.

"There are only four of us in my family," Leo said quietly. "I know that sounds like a lot considering you've lived by yourself your whole life, but no one will ever crowd you or force you to do anything you don't want to do."

Mikey nodded and then shot a glance at Leo. "Couldn't you just visit me here? It's really nice inside my rooms; I have TV and food and heat and stuff."

"Of course, if that's more comfortable to you," Leo said, deciding that it wasn't the right time to push his agenda. "Would you come visit my home sometimes too, and meet my family? I promise to stay with you the entire time. You could bring your laptop and let Don have a look at it. I'll bet you anything he could fix it up better than new."

"Don really is a genius?" Mikey asked.

"Yes, he really is," Leo said. "He's very gentle and understanding as well. Don is more of an engineer than anything, but he taught himself enough about medicine to be a first rate physician and surgeon." Leo touched the stitches that Mikey had sewn. "He'll be impressed when I show him your repair job."

Mikey laughed, relaxing once more. "He could probably teach me lots of stuff, couldn't he?"

"I'm sure he could," Leo said quickly, delighted that Mikey was becoming comfortable with the idea of being around Donatello. "He'd be honored and excited to have someone as intelligent as you willing to listen to him talk."

"I like to learn," Mikey said simply. "That's why living in a school was so awesome. I would never have left except . . . ."

He paused and looked across the room, his expression denoting that his thoughts were far away. Leo glanced in the direction Mikey's eyes had taken and saw a mural on one wall that showed a school building, its yard filled with laughing children. It was easy enough to guess that this was the school Michelangelo had called home for so many years.

"What happened, Mikey?" Leo asked, his words soft and low so as not to break into the young turtle's reverie.

"I've only been living here four months," Mikey said. "All of those paintings on the walls are 'cause I get bored. It's not the same here as when I spent my days at school; everything there was real. People came and went, there was always action and drama going on, even if it was just Petey Newbourne accidently letting the pet hamster out of its cage.

"What happened is partly my fault I guess. I should have known that standing up to that gang one time wouldn't make them go away. After I got cut I was too scared to confront the gang again and of course they came back. They always come back.

"The neighborhood got to be an even worse place to live because of them. Kids didn't come to the schoolyard at all anymore, day or night. That was okay with me at that point, 'cause I don't know what I would have done if those guys had caught some kids again. I didn't want to get hurt but I couldn't have lived with the guilt if I didn't do anything."

"Mikey, that is a perfectly normal reaction," Leo told him. "We all have self-preservation as our highest priority; it is built into our nature. There are only a small percentage of people who can overcome that need to protect themselves and rush into danger. I know that is in you because I've seen you fight, but you're older now. Don't beat yourself up for not wanting to take chances at such a young age."

Mikey blinked quickly and Leo could see that the turtle was trying to hide the tears that threatened to overflow. "I'm not really beating myself up too much about that," Mikey said finally. "I've come to know that scared isn't such a bad thing; it sure keeps you on your toes and makes your reflexes react a whole lot faster.

"See, the thing is that just like with the bullies, there is always someone bigger and meaner who is happy to step up and push you aside. That small gang took over from the bullies and then they eventually got gobbled up by the Purple Dragons."

He paused and Leo said, "We've had a lot of run-ins with the Dragons and their leader. They are a tough group to tangle with."

"I did though," Mikey said. "I couldn't leave well enough alone and I made a nuisance of myself, so what they finally did is my fault."

He stopped talking again and the movement of his throat told Leo that Mikey was trying hard to swallow some heavy emotions.

"You'll feel better if you tell me," Leo said, his manner gentle and coaxing.

Mikey looked at him and Leo was taken aback by the raw pain he saw in the younger turtle's eyes.

"They burned the school down," Mikey said.

TBC…..