A/N: Boom, another chapter! I'm going to try and keep these on the short side so my updates will be more frequent. And a huge thank you to all of you who voted for this story in Stealthy Stories' 2015 fanfiction competition! I'm super excited to say "Inhuman" tied first place with TheHeroComplex's fic, "High As the Moon" for best crossover/AU! Congratulations to all the other winners as well, including Poetique!

All the confetti and celebrations aside, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Since the last one was full of all the drama, I wrote this one to be more on the mild side... You know, before everything gets dramatic again. These boys and their issues, man.

Chapter Eighteen:

Divided We Stand

{Raph}

I'm staring down at the dried blood on my knuckles when a knock sounds at the door of my bedroom. Clearing my throat does little to get rid of the falter in my voice.

"I don't wanna play the zombie game right now, Mikey."

But the door opens nonetheless, and I look up to see Master Splinter's tall frame standing in the doorway. My throat works and I sit up in my bed, preparing myself for the lecture I'm sure he's going to give me. Everyone had to hear that fight.

"I do not want to play the zombie game either," he starts. "May I come in, my son?"

It's not like I can say no. With a heavy sigh, I nod and hide my bloody hands by sitting on them.

He quietly shuts the door behind him and makes slow steps to my bedside. "How badly did you hurt him?"

"Bad." I swallow thickly and avert my gaze. My heart skips, pulsing with the remnants of the anger that never really left. "And I'm not gonna apologize for it either, Sensei. I-I know that's probably wrong, but I just… I can't." The broken skin of my knuckles burns as a reminder. "He deserved it."

I wait for my punishment, for the lesson, for his staff to crack down on the floor and make me stiff. I keep my head down because I can't bear to look at his face, to see the disappointment in his eyes like so many times before. But when the silence stretches out and the seconds slip into minutes, he says something very different from what I was expecting.

"I was not going to ask you to apologize."

My head lifts to see his amber gaze resting on me, but there is no disapproval—there isn't even anger. All I can see is some kind of sadness, hardening around the edges.

"You're…you're not?"

He simply shakes his head. "I told Leonardo to go and find the consequences of his decision. If this is one of them, then so be it. That falls on him, and him alone."

Leo's face flashes behind my eyes, bleeding, bruised, eyes wide with pain and fear as I beat him into the floorboards and screamed all the things I felt deep down. I've never seen him so terrified.

"Sensei, I knocked the crap outta him," I snap, eyes burning. My insides are on fire. "I said all the things that I knew would hurt him, just because I needed to see him in pain, because he deserves every last bit, and I don't even feel sorry!"

"You said them because you are hurt, Raphael." He sits down beside me and rests a hand on my knee. "You said them because that is what you felt inside. You expressed those feelings the only way you knew how."

With a quivering breath, I look down at my lap, disappointed because some part of me wants to get into trouble. Some part of me knows it was wrong—knows that I may have gone too far. But the rest of me doesn't care.

"You and your brother have a complicated relationship, my son. I have watched you both throughout the years—you have been in many fights. I am sure Leo knows you well enough to understand why you reacted the way you did."

Blinking hard, I pull my legs up to my chest and wrap my arms around them.

"Are you mad at them too?"

He hesitates and lets out a deep breath. "I am not happy with the secretive way they went about it…but beyond that… I do not know."

Looks like we're all in the same boat, then. Stuck in a situation we have no idea how to handle.

My hands clench at my knees as a feeling of pain and uncertainty comes over me. "So what…what should I do?"

"Change your perspective," he says slowly. "Try to understand how they feel…and what drove them to this. Your anger and hurt will not go away easily, my son, but you must try to fight those emotions and focus instead on the love and compassion you feel for your brothers."

My chest sinks. For some reason, I thought the answer would be something easier. "Hai, Sensei…"

"Good." He pats the back of my shell and stands to his feet.

"Is it okay if I skip dinner?" I ask carefully. "I, um… I don't really want to be around them right now."

"You may…but only for tonight." He pauses before opening the door and sighs wistfully. "I know this is…difficult for you, Raphael. It is difficult for all of us. But we must try to see things differently…and to pray that this new circumstance will change us for the better."

I nod and shift on the mattress. "I understand, Sensei."

He offers a smile and dips his head before leaving my room. I wait for him to really be gone and then slide off the bed, locking the door just in case anyone else gets the idea to waltz on in here.

But when I turn back around, I see a small red and white bag placed on the dresser. Frowning, I pick it up and shake out the contents. Three thin comics spill across the old piece of furniture—brand new ones, crisp and smelling of ink and glue.

Leo must've dropped this off before finding me in the dojo. He must've got them at the mall earlier, thinking it would be some sort of peace offering, as if some measly pieces of colored paper would calm me down, or make me forget why I feel the way I do.

I stare at them for a long time, turning over the feelings bubbling around in my head until one emotion in particular devours all the rest. Huffing, I wad the comics up, shove them back into the bag, and toss it in the trash.

{Mikey}

I wait a little while before leaving my room—just long enough for the stupid crying to stop. I hate that I broke down like that. I hate that I'm such a baby, but I couldn't help it. The day's been replaying in my head, over and over. The way Donnie talked to me, the way he looked at me just…

It hurts.

I've been yelled at a bajillion times for touching the stuff in his lab; I'm used to it by now. But it wasn't because I was in his lab that he got so angry—it's like it was because I was looking for the retromutagen.

Yeah, sure—maybe what he said was true. Maybe it really is dangerous and maybe it would have killed me. But something down in my gut tells me he just doesn't want to share his little experiment with the rest of us.

My feet shuffle numbly across the hall while my brain turns through the icky muck inside of it. I don't want to believe my brother would be selfish like that—I just can't shake the feeling. Feeling strangely alone, I head for the one person who won't turn me away.

Leo doesn't answer when I knock on his door. Being impatient like I am, and not to mention really crappy feeling, I open it anyway and let myself inside.

"Leo?"

It's dark, but not enough for me to miss him curled up on the floor by the bed.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," I start, inching my way inside. "What're you doing on the floor, man?"

He doesn't say anything, but as my eyes adjust, I can make out the bruises and welts littering his body. With a glance over my shoulder, I see that Raph's door across the hallway is also shut. They must've fought pretty bad.

That explains what I heard earlier.

I don't waste any time. I dash into the kitchen, practically slide into the freezer, and throw it open. Armed with a cooler full of ice packs, a cat, and some clean towels from under the sink, I weave my way back to his room and nudge open the door again.

"Mikey?" He sits up this time and clears his throat. "What're you—"

I kick the door shut and flip the switch by the frame, illuminating his room with a small lamp on the nightstand.

"Sit." He glances from my finger to the bed, and with a heavy sigh, he gingerly maneuvers himself onto the mattress.

"Okay, okay," he groans. "There, I'm sitting."

With a "hmph," I join him on the bed, digging through the cooler and fishing out one of the soft ice packs. "Put that on your face. It's all swollen and stuff."

"I didn't notice," he grumbles, but he takes the pack anyway and lifts it to his busted lip. I ignore his sass and go back to the cooler for a cold towel when he sighs and lowers his head.

"Mikey…you don't have to do this… Seriously, I'm fine."

A frown tugs at my lips. He looks everything but fine. His eyes are puffy and red from crying—probably just like mine—and he's a complete mess of sweat and bruises. Raph really did him in.

As I sit there and watch him ice his swollen cheek, I decide my own feelings aren't as important as his, so I shove them all down. I'll forget what Donnie said, I'll forget about being left out, about being yelled at, and just be the little brother Leo needs right now.

"Shut your face and hold Ice Cream Kitty." Lifting her out from the cooler, I plop her onto a frozen pack, which I immediately place in his lap. He flinches.

"Geez!" he hisses. "It's freezing!"

"Well duh." I scoff and rub her little ice cream head with a smile. "Otherwise she'd melt."

She gives a tiny, adorable meow to that and I giggle.

"You should let her lick your face—it's super cute."

He grimaces and stares down at her as she cleans her paw in his lap. "I think I'm good."

"Aw, come on!" Reaching over, I pick her up and give her a squeeze. "She always cheers me up when I'm upset!"

He leans away, but he can't hide the faint smile on his face. I smirk deviously and sit up on my knees.

"Come on, Leo—just let her give you some kitty kisses!"

"Ah, no! Mikey!" He scrambles back across the mattress, but he doesn't exactly have anywhere to go, so it's only a matter of seconds before I've got him pinned.

"It'll make you feel better," I singsong, shoving her squirming kitty-self right in his face. He tries to lean away, but she slips out of my hands and lands on his chest, purring and poking at his neck with her little paws. I grin when he starts to laugh and pet her back.

"Okay, okay!" he gasps. "You win, you evil little mutant!"

"See?" I sit on my knees beside him as he snorts and tries to fend off her persistent licking. "She likes you!"

"Oh, lucky me," he says sarcastically. "Now hurry up and get her off before she melts all over my bed!"

"I know, I know—sheesh." She squirms and meows as I pull her off my brother, who has now been effective smothered in chocolate and strawberry ice cream. "Back in the freezer, Kitty!"

There's little protest as I place her sticky, dripping body between the rest of the ice packs in the cooler. She blinks up at me and goes back to cleaning herself and snuggling against the cold. Shutting the lid tight, I bounce onto the bed and lean back next to Leo, who's trying to wipe his face clean with some tissues on the nightstand.

I shake my head in disapproval and scoff. "You're supposed to lick it off, man. Total waste of ice cream."

He chuckles. "That's like eating your cat, Mikey. Don't you think it's kind of gross?"

I fluff his pillow some more and flop onto my shell. "Nope!"

He rolls his eyes, grinning. "You're weird."

"It's a way of life, bro."

Folding my arms behind my head, I stare up at the ceiling and sigh, waiting for the light-hearted moment to fade and slip into something more.

"I'm sorry about Raph," I say quietly. "He shouldn't have hurt you that bad."

Leo lies completely still next to me, chest slowly rising and falling while he watches the fan swirl above.

"…No," he whispers. "I deserved it."

My eyes flicker to his face, to the deep blues and blacks forming against pale skin, to the split in his lip and broken skin along his arms.

"You and D deserve something," I quip, "but not that."

He gnaws on the bloody crack of his mouth. "…Did Donnie talk to you yet?"

I don't think it's possible for me to hide the pain and bitterness from my voice. "He yelled at me, if that's what you mean."

Leo sits up and frowns. "He yelled at you? Why?"

"I was, uh…looking around his lab while he was gone. He always gets mad when I do that."

My brother's gaze hardens, sharpening the blue. "What were you in the lab for?"

My throat works while I scramble for the right words, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any. "I-I wanted to find the mutagen," I mutter. "You know…the one you guys used."

I expect him to get upset, to lecture me about how Donnie was completely right and I was completely wrong, and how I should respect boundaries and not touch other peoples' things and blah, blah, blah. But that's not what happens.

"Geez…" His eyes soften and he swallows and then he kind of breaks open. "I'm sorry, Mikey. I'm sorry we didn't tell you—I'm sorry we kept it a secret. I-I don't even know why we did, we just… It was easier to shut everyone else out, I guess."

My chest tightens and I nod as if I understand, but I don't, because we're brothers, we're family, and family should tell each other things and not sneak around planning things behind everyone's back. And as much as I don't want it to, some of those ugly feelings bubble up and spill out.

"That's not fair." I'm trying to hold it in, but my voice cracks anyway. "You guys can't just-just change like that without saying anything—you can't just leave us behind like we're—like we don't mean anything to you—"

He stops me before I start crying again and puts his hand on my arm. Those steady blue eyes hold my own in sincerity, not wavering for anything. "Hey, we're not leaving anybody, got that? We're gonna stay right here, where we've always been."

I turn my face away from him and blink at the warmth pooling around my eyes. This was stupid—I shouldn't have even come in here—

"Mikey…" He sighs heavily and lays back down beside me, slinging an arm over my chest. "Mikey, I'm so sorry…"

"I know." I sniff and rub my nose, still keeping my head turned toward the wall. "But that doesn't make anything better."

"No," he whispers, distant. "It doesn't."

The fan clicks and spins above us. Part of me wants to get up and make a run for my room before I start blubbering like a baby again…but the other part doesn't really want to move.

He hesitates before breaking the silence, like he's unsure of what he's about to say. "You know," he says softly. "If this works out…if everything ends up okay…we could all be human."

I blink and lift my head to look at him.

"Really?"

He smiles and shrugs. "Well, why not? If Donnie and I can prove to Splinter that this is safe, what's to stop us from all changing and moving to the surface?"

Something blooms in my stomach, from warmth to excitement to wonder and back. I sit up as a wave of energy chases away all the crappy emotions.

"Would Donnie do that?" I ask hastily. "Would he make some retromutagen for the rest of us?"

Leo's brow knits. "Yeah, why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know, he just seemed…" I trail off, pursing my lips as I fight to remember exactly what emotion Donnie had been emitting when he was shouting at me. "It just felt like he didn't want to include us."

Leo shakes his head, but even I can see the flash of uncertainty in his eyes. "Mikey, he would love for all of us to change and live on the surface. I mean, we could finally be…normal." He tilts his head at me. "Don't you want that?"

I shift on the springy mattress and stare down at my hands. "Well, yeah… But I didn't mind not being normal, either. Isn't it… I don't know, isn't it a little weird being human?" I poke at his arm. "You're all squishy and stuff. And you've got no shell to hide water balloons in, man!"

He laughs and sits up beside me. "You're the only one who does that, Mikey. And yeah, it is kinda weird…but it's a good weird, you know?"

I hum in response and stare at the differences between his arm and my hand. I can't imagine being anything other than what I am.

"What do you think I'd look like if I was human, too?" I ask.

He chews on his lip. "Well, you'd probably have freckles, for starters."

"And I'd look Asian." I grin and poke his nose, laughing as he scowls and swats my hand away. "You look super Asian."

"That's 'cause we are Asian," he presses. "The retromutagen just brought out all of the human DNA we got from Sensei."

I lean over and rest my elbows on my knees, thinking it all through. I could go out to human places, see movies, eat anywhere I wanted, skate anywhere I wanted, and even go to school. Oh man, the pranks I could get away with—the possibilities are endless!

"So…you'll talk to Donnie about it?"

Leo nods and grabs the ice pack again. "Sure thing, little brother."

I twiddle my thumbs in my lap. "And you're sure he won't be mad at me for asking?"

He ices the bruise under his left eye and rubs my head.

"He won't be mad at you—I promise. He was probably just antsy from our trip to the mall. He had to shop with Casey, and I think it put him in a bad mood—you know how those two are."

"Hmm." Everyone knows how those two are. Even still, I would've put up with both their crap if I got to go to some place as cool as the mall…

"What was it like?" I ask, leaning against him. He puts his arm around the back of my shell. "The mall, I mean. Or just being outside in the day time and all that stuff."

He winces a little as he removes the ice pack from his face. "It was, um…different. And crowded. There was a lot to look at, and a lot of people making a lot of noise. But I liked it. You know, except for the bus ride." He shivers a little. "Ugh, I never wanna get on a bus full of smelly people again."

I laugh and rest my head on his shoulder. "Yeah, you and D have your personal space issues." I wouldn't mind a smelly bus full of people, especially if I could talk to them without them all scream and run away. It's really hard for humans to get past this whole mutant thing.

"Do you think you could take pictures next time? Or videos?"

He smiles a little. "If you want, yeah."

"And then when I get to be human, we can all go!" I hug my knees to my chest and beam. "It'll be awesome! We could go to the arcades, or the amusement parks—we could do anything we wanted!"

His smile falters and that seriousness he's always hauling around clouds across his face. "Don't get too excited, Mikey. We still don't know if this will actually work."

"Well why wouldn't it?" I ask, pulling away from him. "I mean, look at you! You and Donnie are perfectly human."

He shrugs and pushes at his busted lip with his tongue, annoyed at the pain. "I don't know, it's just something Donnie mentioned. We've seen mutations go wrong before. He just said we have to be careful, and I know for sure Master Splinter won't let anyone else mutate until we know it's safe."

"Okay, Mr. Buzzkill," I tease, nudging him. "Well, when nothing goes wrong and you and D pull the stick outta your butt, we're all gonna become human. And it's gonna be totally—"

"Meeeoooowww."

"Ah!" I jump up, knocking Leo in the face with my knee pad. "Kitty!"

"Geez, Mikey!" he growls. "Watch it—"

Hopping over his head, I bounce off the mattress and onto the floor, yanking the cooler open. "I'm so sorry, Kitty! I forgot!"

She paws at me angrily, her little whiskers melting down her face.

"I know, I know—I'll get you back to the freezer!"

I slam the lid shut and hoist the whole thing over my shoulder.

"I'll be right back, Leo!"

He grumbles something in response, but I'm already hauling shell out the door and to the kitchen, where I practically dump Kitty back into the freezer. She pants and hisses at me while I stuff all the ice packs around her.

"It's okay, girl—you're good now! So, you know, you can stop melting and trying to bite me."

I earn a swipe to the face that leaves a trail of chocolate, but I simply lick it off and grin. "You're so cute when you're mad."

She calms down after a while of ear rubs and finally stops melting all over the place. I lean against the freezer, smiling at her and day dreaming of all the possibilities ahead of me.

"It'll be so great," I whisper. "And you could come with us! You'd still be stuck in a freezer, though, but I something tells me you won't mind."

Little rumbles come from her as she rubs her head against my palm. With a big smile, I kiss her strawberry nose goodbye, shut the freezer, and head back to Leo's room to find him asleep in his bed.

"Who falls asleep that fast?" I mutter to myself. I almost go to my own room, but I don't want to be alone right now, and I don't think Leo does, either. With a bounce in my step, I plop onto the bed and stretch out.

"Could you scootch a little to the left?" I ask. But all I get in response is a soft snore. Rolling my eyes, I carefully push him over towards the wall and make myself at home.

My eyes flicker from the ceiling to my brother's resting form. His face is relaxed, which helps the bruises and cuts look less…painful. It's gonna take a while for him to not resemble a punching bag.

Humming lightly to myself, I let the time slip by and lull me into a nap.

"Things might suck right now, Leo," I whisper to the quiet room, closing my eyes. "But you watch—everything's going to get so much better. I just know it."

A/N: Oh, misplaced hope is misplaced! It's okay, Mikey, we all appreciate your optimism.

Tell me what you all thought of this one! I'll be trying to update more often to make up for my little, uh, four month vacation there, heh. BUT THIS STORY'S GONNA BE FREAKING LONG, GAH! I hope you stick with me as I weave this tale of angst and brotherly conflict. We'll see where we go from here... *evil smirk*

Have a great week, everybody!