A/N: Here, I will be using italics to show a flashback. Not all of the flashbacks will be from Michelangelo's POV though he is the one telling the story. I think you'll all figure it out.

Special Thanks to all who left wonderful reviews that I love very, very much. I replied through the new reply to review feature, (very cool, now if only it were public, which it should be as the reviews themselves are) and have also posted the responses at the Stealthy Stories forum. If you want the link it's on my bio page!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Ninja Turtles or any associated characters, places, things. I make no money or receive any other means of financial gain from this, I mean no harm, please don't sue.

"What happened with Bishop, Uncle Mikey?"

"Are you sure, Kitty Kat? It's not a pleasant story."

The child nodded and Mike started the story.

Chapter 2 – Dark Beginnings

"Leo? Raph? Is that you?" Mike called out in quiet disbelief.

"Shh..." Leo scolded. "Yeah, we're here. Come on, let's get you two out of there. Raphael?"

Raph said nothing as he expertly moved forward and picked the lock on the cell door, freeing the two turtles trapped inside. He noticed that Donatello didn't move from his spot in the corner, or even acknowledge their presence. "Mikey? Is he ok?" Raphael asked gently.

Mike seemed startled, as though just remembering Raph was there. "They... they were more brutal to him." Mikey replied quietly. Though he knew just how tenuous Donnie's hold on reality actually was, he didn't say anything about it to their rescuers.

Don was silent as Raphael helped him to stand. Raph was surprised and concerned at just how easy it was to lift his brother. He knew he wasn't getting any help from Donnie.

"We can't leave them here." Mikey said to anyone who cared to listen.

"Why not?" Don moaned, hearing and responding to the familiar voice and reference to 'them'. "I can't..." He drifted off, not only in his speech, but seemed to wander off into his own little world as well.

"Who?" Leonardo interjected.

"They're innocents, Donnie." Mike reasoned, either not hearing or ignoring Leo's question. His voice, forcibly pulling his brother back for the moment, but he could see Donnie slipping and hoped against hope that his brother could hold it together long enough for them to escape. It had been an amazingly good day for him so far, but Mikey wasn't sure how long that would last. "It would be one thing for them to go to a good home, but this is Bishop we're talking about."

Leo and Raph were completely confused by the conversation they were hearing. "What are you going on about?" Raph asked.

"Would you wish staying with Bishop on anyone?" Mikey demanded of the brother he was locked in conversation with.

In response, Don shook his head sadly, but still raised objections to the idea. "I can't..."

"You don't have to, at least not yet. Ok? Just help us find them." Mikey begged, speaking the words carefully as though he were talking to a young child.

Slowly, Don nodded, and he tentatively took as much of his own weight from Raph as he could manage. All in all, it wasn't very much at all.

"Mikey, who are we looking for?"

"Later, Leo." Mike responded shortly. He knew that if they kept talking about this, that Don would shut down, and they'd never find them. Leo looked like he was going to complain, so Mikey felt it necessary to prevent further conversation on the subject. "We need his help, and if you don't drop it now, we'll lose his..." Mike had to search for an appropriate word. "cooperation." He said with a subtle gesture toward Don.

Leo didn't like it, but he let it go. Whomever they were looking for was obviously important to Mikey. Silently, the four made it though the corridor. Leo was getting a little nervous, they'd been here too long and were going to get caught. That was something he couldn't allow to happen. He couldn't help but notice that both of the brothers who had spent the last month here had lost a lot of weight.

"Are we almost there?" Leo asked Mikey. He was getting nervous about how long they had been inside the complex. The longer they were inside, the more likely it was that Bishop would capture them all. It didn't help that they were moving slowly as Don was the only one who knew where they were going, and he was hardly in any condition to be moving at all.

The orange-masked turtle started again, but once he figured out what had been asked he could only shrug. "They got some sort of sick pleasure out of torturing Donnie." He whispered so that only Leo could hear. "For whatever reason, they never did anything to me. Just left me in the little cell. He'd come back really battered, and..." Mike trailed off, unwilling or unable to continue.

Leo didn't like what he was hearing, but he understood Mike's hesitance to tell the story. He sighed and a moment later saw Don drop his head by a door.

Donnie spoke in a flat and oddly detached tone one that would become all too familiar to his brothers in the days to come. "One guard, two scientists."

Raph felt Don shudder and was far from alone when he wondered, not for the first time, what it was that Bishop had done to Donatello on the other side of that door.

"I'll go." Mikey offered after a moment.

"Not alone, you won't!" Leo insisted. "I don't care if you weren't beaten, you're still not up to full strength after spending a month in Bishop's clutches!"

Mikey didn't offer any resistance, instead he nodded absently. He opened the door and Leo led the way through, quickly disposing of the guard. Michelangelo got one of the scientists and headed to the back of the room while Leo took care of the other one then methodically destroyed everything he could find. When Mike came back, he was carrying a large box.

"Mikey, what's..."

"Not now." Again, the tone was distracted, like part of Mikey was somewhere else.

Leo was getting frustrated with all the secrecy, but he nodded and re-entered the hallway. Reunited with the pair in the hall, the four brothers made their way out of the building as quickly and quietly as they could. Just as they cleared the doors they heard the alarms sound.

"Come on, we have to move." Leo ordered and hurried his family along. Mikey was being very careful with the box he carried. Though Leo had offered to take the box, Mikey had refused the assistance and Leo felt it better not to push him. Glancing at his other two brothers, Leo noticed that Raph had given up helping Don and was now outright carrying him. Donnie either didn't mind or didn't notice, but Leo wasn't sure which. They slipped underground at the first opportunity and picked up the Sewer Slider for the ride to the lair. Leo drove slowly at Mikey's insistence, despite the fact that he would not feel safe until they were back inside the lair.

Arriving home for the first time in a month, Mikey found an electric blanket that he used to quickly cover the box he had brought back from Bishop's. Don's weak struggling indicated his refusal to be a part of that and, with Raph's help, he made his way to his room.

"Mikey, what's going on!" Leo demanded as soon as Raph and Don were out of earshot.

The orange-masked turtle just sighed. "Leo..."

"I know, you can't tell me. Just what's in the box?"

Mikey sighed. "I guess I should tell you that much." He admitted. "They're... You're going to be an uncle." Mike finally said softly.

"Mikey? But you said...? You're gonna be...?"

"An uncle too. They're Donnie's."

"He didn't seem too happy about it." Raph observed as he came back into the room having overheard the tail end of the conversation.

Shaking his head, Mikey agreed. "He's not. Considering what those bastards did to him to get these little guys, I can't entirely say that I blame him. He doesn't want them."

Raphael didn't like the tone that Mikey's voice had adopted. It didn't sound like Mikey. The voice was haunted, distant, nothing like the Michelangelo that he knew.

"Guys, it's been a really long day." Mike added. His grip on what was real was better than Donnie's was, but he needed some time to himself to sort things out.

"Oh, right." Leo agreed. "You should get some sleep too."

"Uh, Mikey?" Raph asked as the orange-masked turtle started to leave. "What do we do with them?" He indicated the box that Mike had covered with the blanket.

Michelangelo turned away before he spoke again. "Just keep them warm, I guess. Don might know, but he's not going to want to help, even if he can." Mike said with a shrug.

"You mean Daddy didn't want us!" Catherine cried in alarm. With that realization, tears filled her eyes.

"At first? No." Mike answered honestly. "As eggs you guys were a constant reminder of the worst month of your dad's life. You and your siblings are a result of the very worst of Bishop's tortures. For a long time that was all he could see, but he got over it. I told you that your daddy sees things for what they can be rather than what they are?" Mike reminded the child.

She nodded sadly. Mikey smiled gently as he wiped a tear off her cheek. Maybe this had been a mistake, but he felt that even at the tender age of five years she had the right to know the story of her origin. Don would probably kill him for it later, but it was too late to go back now.

"Well, he had a little trouble at first, but shortly after you guys hatched you were no longer the eggs that represented those awful days. You were his kids. To him, you became more than the circumstances behind your origin and he began to see what you can be. Keep that in mind as I continue the story, ok Kitty Kat?"

Her response was short and sad.

"Okay."