Part 14-A New Day (Afternoon)

3 hours later…

It had been three hours since Mikey was taken to his and Donnie's tent for a nap, and the others had decided to chill around the seating area whilst he slept in order to recover from both the events of last night and today's game.

"So, what should we have for lunch today?" April asked the boys who were close to dozing off in their seats.

"Well, what is there left in the food box?" Leo said curiously before he watched as April got up from her seat and walked towards the camping food box to find out what choice of food they've got left.

"Ok, let's see…We can have either burgers, hot dogs, or chicken and vegetable skewers for today's lunch…" She answered as she lifted the ingredients up from the food box for today's lunch choices.

"Hmm…I think chicken and veg skewers sound good, especially for Mikey since he still can't eat anything too heavy right now…" Donnie said in thought.

"I agree with Donnie on this one. Besides, I too would like to eat something light for today's lunch and then eat whatever we're choosing to have for dinner later tonight…" Leo said in agreement with Donnie's opinion on the food choice. Raph and Casey, on the other hand, weren't too happy about the food choice for today's lunch.

"Oh, come on…! What's da matter with eatin' a bit of red meat now!?" Raph complained heatedly.

"Yeah! Don't tell me yer agreein' with their choice instead of ours, April!" Casey said loudly and firmly.

"Quiet down, you two…! Mikey's still asleep and the last thing we want is a disturbed and cranky Mikey. Anyway, I think chicken and veg skewers are better to have for lunch than burgers or hot dogs since they're lighter and don't make us feel tired after eating them...!" April said firmly but quietly to the two hotheads to prevent them from waking Mikey up with their shouting before she got out the ingredients to make the skewers, much to Leo and Donnie's joy and Raph and Casey's annoyance.

"I'll give you a hand, April…" Leo said happily and April gave him a grateful smile before she got out the chopping boards and knives for preparing and chopping the respective foods.

"While you two prepare lunch, I'll go check on Mikey and see if he's woken up yet…and hopefully not by force…!" Donnie said before he got out of his chair and began his walk towards his and Mikey's tent after giving Raph and Casey a stern look as he left.

"Geez…talk about touchy…!" Raph said gruffly before he heard Casey snicker with a smirk.

/

Mikey and Donnie's tent…

Donnie quietly entered the tent and was relieved to find Mikey still fast asleep and wasn't disturbed by Raph and Casey's earlier yelling. He approached Mikey's sleeping form and gently placed his hand on his baby brother's forehead to check his temperature, which he happily found to have remained the same since this morning. He then moved his hand onto Mikey's shoulder and gently shook it to try and wake him up.

"Mikey…it's time to get up…" Donnie said softly.

"Mmm…hmm…?" Mikey groaned and hummed as he started to wake up whilst he slowly opened his eyes to see his immediate older brother in his line of sight, causing him to produce a tired smile as he spoke.

"Hey, Donnie…"

"Hey, little brother…did you sleep well?" Donnie replied with a warm smile.

"Yeah…I'm guessing it's nearly lunchtime…?" Mikey said as he slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Yes, we're having chicken and vegetable skewers for lunch…It was April's suggestion for us to have them since she, Leo, and I feel that a light lunch today would be better for all of us, especially you…" Donnie answered.

"Mmm…sounds good…" Mikey said as he nodded in understanding before he got up from his sleeping bag, with the help and support from Donnie, and they both left their tent.

/

At the camp's seating area...

Donnie and Mikey made their way towards the seating area, where April and Leo were placing the now skewered chicken and vegetable chunks onto the camp cooker to start cooking them.

"Hey, guys!" Mikey called out to them happily before he carefully sat down on his chair whilst being assisted by Donnie.

"Hi, Mikey! Good to see up and full of energy again…!" Leo replied with a smile whilst April nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, me too!" Mikey replied with a sunny smile before he looked over at Raph and Casey, who were both sat in their seats with their arms folded and wearing unhappy faces whilst grumbling.

"What's up with those two? They look like they just threw a big temper tantrum…" Mikey asked whilst looking at the two hotheads with a raised eyebrow.

"Those two are not happy with today's lunch choice, but I just told them that if they didn't behave themselves they would go back to dishwashing duties for the remainder of the trip…" April explained with a smirk whilst pointing her thumb at Raph and Casey who glared at her in response to her words, causing Mikey to chuckle.

"It ain't funny, Chucklehead…!" Raph said firmly with Casey humming angrily in agreement.

"Well, sorry that you two are literally a pair of meatheads…!" Mikey countered back teasingly, causing the two hotheads to look at Mikey with wide eyes and then with an angry glare as they yelled, "Hey!", whilst April, Leo, and Donnie laughed at Mikey's joke.

"Ok, ok…ha, ha…let's settle down now, because lunch is ready…" April announced after she was able to calm herself down from laughing too much before she, with the help of Leo, dished up the skewers and passed them on to each person within the group who all said 'Thank you' once they were given their food.

"Wow, this smells good!" Mikey complimented when he sniffed at the aroma that the warm food was releasing.

"Yeah, let's eat before it gets cold…" Donnie said in agreement before he and the others started to eat their lunch which also included a small bowl of fruit for dessert.

Around half an hour had passed, and everyone was relaxing in their seats to allow their food to settle in their stomachs. Whilst in his own world, Donnie was thinking about what to do for today's activities with Mikey, who was looking up at the sky and watching the small clouds go by, before he remembered what he said to Leo yesterday, which was the plan to take Mikey out for a walk in the forest one day during their trip. However, Donnie was unsure if Mikey would be happy to do it with him after what happened last night but it couldn't hurt to ask him, so he turned to look at his little brother and spoke.

"Hey, Mikey? I was wondering…if you would like to join me on a walk through the forest today…"

Mikey looked from the sky to Donnie with a surprised look on his face before he frowned a little and looked down to avoid eye contact with him and everyone else due to feeling a bit nervous about the idea.

"Donnie…maybe we should wait until Mikey is 100% ready to go back into the forest…he's still recovering from last night's events…" Leo said firmly but softly to his purple-banded brother as he felt concerned that Mikey might go into a full-blown panic attack if he went back into the forest whilst still recovering from the near-death experience with the H.A.T.E. gang last night.

"Yeah, bro, look at him; he's scared about goin' back there!" Raph said in agreement as he looked from Donnie to Mikey with a concerned look on his face.

"Guys, I know that you're worried about his wellbeing, but we don't have long until our camping trip ends…besides, as long as we're with him, he'll be ok…" Donnie pointed out defensively.

"Donnie has a point there, guys; we only have the rest of today and tomorrow morning remaining of our trip and then we'll be heading back home in the late afternoon…" April pointed out with a slightly sad tone.

"Ah, man…! Dat's a bummer!" Casey said disappointedly.

"Erm…I-I…" Everyone looked over at Mikey as he tried to speak out despite the nervous tone in his voice.

"It's alright, Mikey…take your time…" Donnie reassured his baby brother gently when he sensed Mikey's uneasiness. Mikey took a moment to recollect himself before he spoke again.

"I-It's not that I don't wanna go into the forest, I'd love to go…It's just that…I'm worried that there might be more of those anti-alien goons still hanging around in there…"

The others understood how Mikey felt; the last time he went into the forest was when he was running for dear life to get away from the H.A.T.E. gang who had shot him after he protected April last night, so to go back there again might bring back those horrible memories for the poor turtle. It was then that Donnie moved closer to Mikey and wrapped his arm around his baby brother's shoulders and gave him a gentle sideways hug before he spoke in a reassuring tone.

"Hey…It's ok, Mikey…we know that you were all alone in the forest after that gang shot you and tried to chase after you, but this time is different because we'll all be there with you during our walk in the forest…"

"Dat's right, bro…We won't let anythin' happen ta ya cos we won't leave ya outta our sights!" Raph said in agreement with a look of determination and protectiveness on his face.

"Yes, and we will be ready for anything this time too!" Leo said in support of his brothers' words whilst placing a fist on his chest, with April and Casey nodding in agreement.

Mikey looked from one brother to another with a surprised look on his face before he smiled with a relaxed sigh and said, "Ok…Thanks, bros…"

He then returned the sideways hug from Donnie before he lifted his other arm to signal Leo and Raph for a brotherly hug which they accepted greatly, causing April and Casey to smile warmly at the scene in front of them. A moment later, the brothers broke away from the hug and Leo spoke up.

"Alright, everyone…let's go for a walk in the forest!"

"Yeah!" The others cheered to Leo's words before they all followed him as he walked towards the forest entrance.