Mikey glanced around as he landed on the floor in a crouching position, the building was an unfamiliar one to him, though if anyone care to ask him, it looked the same as any Kraang building, or office building they'd broken into before.
"Move it," Raph snapped.
Mikey turned his head to grin at his annoyed brother.
"Quiet," Leo hissed. Mikey what he'd as the blue banded turtle poked his head around the corner. "Alright, coast is clear, Donnie, you take Mikey and head to the computer room, wipe any information related to the Kraang weapons, Raph and I will head to the top floor and-"
"Are you kidding me?" Donnie snapped.
"What? You got a problem with those orders, Don?" Leo asked.
"Yes, you're sticking me with Mikey, again!"
Mikey frowned, looking from Donnie to Leo. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard countless times before, the disgust and irritation in his brother's voices.
"Just deal with it, Donnie, we don't have time for this," Leo said, looking at Raph. "Let's go." he gestured.
"I told ya, ya shoulda just left Mikey home." Mikey heard Raph grumble as the two older turtles ran off. He looked at Donnie when he saw his purple banded brother moving, moving quickly, Mikey followed him. Slipping into a room, Mikey looked around, his eyes wide as he looked at all the screens. "Whoa…" he whispered, stepping further into the room to get a closer look. "Dude, I bet we could have some epic game nights with a computer system like this!" he said, turning to grin at Donnie, though his smile faded at the unimpressed look the other turtle was giving him.
"If you're going to be in here with me, sit over there, and. Don't. Touch. Anything," Donnie ordered, pointing in the direction of a chair that was placed well away from any computer screen, or button console. Mikey sighed, backing up to the corner, and sat down, his eyes fixed on Donnie's shell as the purple banded turtle turned back around and started typing.
Mikey lowered his head, looking at his feet as he swung them back and forth, his hands gripping the sides of his seat in an effort to remind himself not to move, no matter how bored he got. He knew his brothers loved him, knew they didn't mean anything by the bickering when they came out on missions. Even Mikey was aware of how many missions he'd ruined in the past, and knew this one was actually really important.
It's the only reason Mikey put up with the abuse, and being overlooked time and time again, even if Mikey thought he'd vastly improved and could be a real asset to the team now, his brothers clearly didn't think so.
"I'm the leader, so you have to do whatever I say," Donnie said in a mocking voice as he typed on the keyboard. "Stupid Leo, how am I supposed to consintrate on hacking a complex government system without being caught when I have to babysit all the time?"
Mikey wanted to protest that he didn't need a babysitter, but didn't bother, knowing his protests would either be ignored, or worse, make Donnie even more irritated at having him around. So he remained silent as his brother worked.
"Oh shell, you've got to be kidding me!!" Donnie exclaimed, drawing Mikey's attention to the computer screen where his brother had pulled up what looked like a map.
"What's wrong?" Mikey asked, standing up, but not daring to come closer just yet.
"It looks like the portal device is being moved to a new secure location, it's supposed to be loaded on a truck..." Donnie answered distractedly.
"When's it leaving?" Mikey asked, now coming to stand next to Donnie, staring at the screen as he tried to make heads or tails of all the information.
"Tonight!" Donnie exclaimed and didn't stop typing. "Damnit, it must be down in the loading bay right now," Donnie said, reaching for his t-phone. "Raph and Leo went to the top floor, there's no way they can-"
"Leave it to me bro, I got it!" Mikey said cheerily, running towards the door, ripping it open and darting into the hallway.
"Mikey! Come back here you can't-" But Mikey ignored him, darting around the corner and out of sight of his brother, knowing Donnie was unlikely to follow him, which would give him time to make it to the loading bay, and prove to his brothers that he wasn't useless. After all, the only thing he had to do was stop a truck, how hard could it be?
Mikey burst through the exit door, leaned over the railing to the stairs to see how far down the basement was. It wasn't exactly the shortest distance, but he knew he didn't have much time. "Well, here goes nothing," he said to himself before jumping the railing, grabbing onto the one just below him, he jumped back and forth all the way down until his feet landed on the concrete of the bottom floor.
Looking around once he landed, making sure no one was around, and that he hadn't been seen, but he was alone, not even a guard posted at the door.
Satisfied that he was alone, he reached for the door that should lead out to the loading bay was As Mikey started turning the handle, trying to be quiet as he didn't know how many people were going to be on the other side, he pushed the door open a crack, nearly slamming it shut again when his phone chose that moment to start buzzing.
"Shit," Mikey hissed, quickly answering it. "Bro, this isn't-" but was interrupted by Leo yelling at him from the other end.
"Mikey! Where are you?"
Mikey winced at how irritated his leader sounded. "Keep it down bro," Mikey hissed into the phone, opening the door slightly again and looking out into the garage, his eyes focusing on the only truck three bay doors down. "I can see the portal thingy," Mikey said. "There's no guards that I can see, just a few military dudes," Mikey said.
"Great, now get back up here, Mikey," Leo ordered.
Mikey frowned, his hand gripping the door handle tighter. He wanted to listen to Leo, he usually always did, but tonight he was feeling defiant, tonight, he wanted Leo to notice him, wanted Leo to acknowledge that he was just as good of a ninja as the rest of them. "No," Mikey said. Waiting with baited breath for Leo to say something else, but his refusal had obviously shocked the blue banded turtle into a momentary silence, something Mikey took advantage of. "No way, Leo, I can do this!" Mikey insisted.
"Not on your own," Leo snapped.
Mikey gripped his phone tighter, his hand on the door shaking as he once again pushed his emotions down. "They're going to get away with the portal thing," Mikey insisted, watching as the back of the truck was closed up, and the two men were making their way to the cab at the front.
Mikey heard Leo sigh in frustration. "Raph and I will handle that, you just get back to Donnie, he'll take you back to the lair and-"
"No!" Mikey snapped. "I'm not some baby that needs looking after! I'm a ninja just like you, and Donnie and Raph, I can DO this, Leo!" Mikey insisted, this time he didn't wait for his brother, his leader, to answer before hanging up the phone, putting it back in his belt he opened the door further and darted into the gurage, heading towards the truck as the engine started, managing to jump and grab onto the back of it just as it started to move. Quickly fumbling with the handle, Mikey opened the door and slipped inside.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Mikey took a moment to catch his breath, before looking at the portal device, his brow furrowed as he stared at the machine. It had been a long time since he'd seen it up close, in fact the last time he'd seen it at all, the Kraang were still trying to take over New York and mutate everyone and everything. Now most of the Kraang tech that had been left behind, was being rounded up by the military, taken to secure locations. And if Mikey understood Donnie's rambling correctly, that wasn't a good thing.
There wasn't much they could do about most of it though, not without getting caught, however, Donnie had been very adamant that this particular bit not get locked up in some secure location, and even Mikey could understand why, giving the military the power to use portals to other dimensions wasn't exactly anyone's idea of a fun time. Though Mikey suspected that Donnie also wanted to use it to explore other worlds himself. Not that Mikey blamed him.
"Okay, I got to the portal thing, now what?" He looked around, hoping the solution would present itself when he felt the whole truck jerk as it hit a speed bump, reminding Mikey that he was inside a moving truck, and he had no idea how long it was going to be before they made it to the highway.
"Okay, this is okay, everything's fine," Mikey said. "I just have to push this out of the truck at the next stoplight, and hope they don't notice, easy," Mikey looked at the size of the portal device and shook his head. "Okay, maybe Raph could push it out of the truck," he huffed. "Think, Mikey, think, you got this," he tried to encourage himself, even as he started to realize that maybe he didn't have this, and that maybe he'd just gotten himself into a situation he couldn't easily get out of.
Shaking his head, Mikey huffed again. "No, I'm just as good as any of those jerks," he told himself, walking around the portal device, looking it over more carefully, before he spotted the straps that were holding it in place. Kneeling down Mikey looked underneath it and grinned widely when he realized that the whole thing had been propped up on wheels.
"Oh yeah!" He said triumphantly, pulling at the straps, loosening them one by one until the whole thing was rolling around freely in the back with him, he then waited, sitting on the base of the portal device When he felt the truck start slowing down, Mikey made his move, bracing himself against the back of the wall, keeping his feet on the edge of the platform he pushed, almost crying out in triumph when he felt the large device start rolling.
His victory was short lived however, as the device rolled faster than Mikey expected, due to the truck not coming to a full stop before speeding up again. "Oh shit," Mikey cursed, bracing himself and holding onto the teleporter as best he could as it slammed into the doors of the truck sending them flying open.
Mikey stared out at the road behind him, taking in the lights of the city that were getting further away. He'd been in the back of the truck longer than he'd thought, and as far as Mikey knew now, they were on some random highway, heading in some random direction, and he now had to somehow get the teleporter out of the truck, and get it home without being seen.
"Not good, not good," Mikey said, pushing on the teleporter, trying to get it the rest of the way out of the truck, deciding he would deal with one problem at a time. "Come ON!" he gave another hard push, trying to get it over the lip it was stuck on, this was helped along when the truck hit a speedbump, Mikey yelped, holding onto the teleporter tightly as both it and Mikey were sent flying from the back of the truck.
The teleporter was the first to hit the pavement, pieces shattering off and scattering across the road. Mikey's mouth opened in a silent scream as his shell hit the pavement first, taking most of the initial blow and knocking the wind out of him. He bounced and rolled, the broken pieces of the teleporter digging and cutting into his arms and legs
Coming to a stop, Mikey remained unmoving, struggling to get air back into his lungs, he lifted his head fractionally, looking at the shattered remains of the teleporter, turning his head his eyes focusing on his t-phone sitting among the debris, reaching his hand out for it, knowing the best and only thing he could do now was call his brothers, let Donnie track his phone.
Tears blurred his vision further, choking back a sob as he tried to push himself up onto his knees. He'd failed, he'd beyond failed this time, he was just as useless and worthless as his brothers thought he was.
Mikey coughed, another sob escaping him as he started to crawl towards his phone, grasping it, his bloody fingers fumbling with the buttons when a flash of something out of the corner of his eye drew his attention.
It was a piece of the teleporter, sparking and making eerie grinding noises, something in the pit of Mikey's stomach twisted as the sparks got bigger, the grinding noises growing louder. A bright flash had Mikey covering his eyes, dropping his phone to the pavement in the process.
--x
Mikey jerked awake with a gasp, eyes wide as he sat up, leaning over and gripping the bed sheets that covered his lower half. Swallowing hard, taking one deep breath after another, trying to calm his racing heart.
A flash of light from his bedroom window had Mikey jerking his head up to stare out it, he could hear the sound of rain, and relaxed as much as he could during lightning storms.
Taking one more deep breath, Mikey lowered his gaze once more, the remnants of the dream still clinging to his mind as he trailed a finger along one of the scars on his arm. They were less noticeable than they had been when he first arrived. Mikey also had to remind himself again that the scars were still healing, and though he might always have scars, as time went on they would become less obvious, or so he'd been told.
Another flash of lightning and Mikey took a shuddering breath, knowing sleep was going to elude him now, at least without help. Gripping the blankets he threw them off his lap, twisting around in the bed, placing his feet on the smooth marble floor. Wiggling his toes as the sensation that was still so forgin to him.
Everything around him was still strange, from the marble floors, to the ornate paintings on the walls, even his silk sheets and scented pillows, normal features for the palace where he had been living.
He often wondered what his brothers would think of him now, knowing he was living a lifestyle none of them had ever dared dream about before. Shaking his head, Mikey stood up, grabbed the robe that hung on the end of the bed he pulled it on, wrapping it tightly before making his way across the room, his feet shuffling silently on the smooth floor, he pulled the door open.
It was still the early hours of the morning, which meant most of the occupants of the palace were likely still asleep, however Mikey knew there was at least one person who would be awake at this hour, and right now, that was the only person he wanted to see.
Closing his bedroom door behind him, Mikey hurried through the vast halls, taking the now familiar route until he reached a flight of stairs that took him into a lower part of the castle. He knew how much of a maze it was down here, having done a fair bit of exploring once he'd been able to walk after the accident. Thankfully the door he wanted was just at the bottom of the stairs.
It wasn't anything fancy, like the doors in the main part of the palace, just a simple wooden door. The idea of knocking didn't occur to him, the occupant would either be too busy to hear the knock, or would be sleeping and wouldn't hear him anyway.
Pushing it open slowly, Mikey peaked his head inside and glanced around. "Donnie?" he whispered, not wanting to wake the other turtle if he really was getting a rare moment of sleep.
"I'm here," the voice called, and Mikey smiled, pushing the door open further, he slipped inside. "I was beginning to wonder if I would see you tonight," the voice said from behind a stack of books that littered his desk. "Is it the dreams again?"
"And the storm," Mikey said, coming over to peer over the stack of books at the turtle that was identical to his brother in name alone.
There were some familiar things about him that were similar to Mikey's brother, like his love for knowledge, and his habit of locking himself in his study for hours, sometimes days at a time.
However, he was far more gentle than the Donnie Mikey had grown up with, and more patient than any of Mikey's brothers had ever been. Around this Donnie, Mikey never felt brushed aside by him, and though he was sure there were times he was being a bother, Donatello never complained, and simply smiled at Mikey fondly.
"You know, if you wish to sleep through the night, I believe I have found something that might help," Donatello said, standing up, and Mikey stepped back so he didn't have to crane his neck quite so much to stare up at him.
That was the other big difference between this world's Donnie, and his brother, though it seemed to be a trait that all this world's occupants shared, was their overall large sizes. Everyone Mike had met in this world seemed to be some kind of giant, and Mikey was sure if they ever came to his world, they likely wouldn't fit through most doorways without having to duck down.
"No, it's okay,' Mikey assured him. "I don't need much sleep, and honestly I'm still not used to sleeping at night anyway," Mikey insisted.
Donatello looked at him, frowning. "If you are sure," he said. "But know that if you ever need something to help you sleep, you can come to me, or even Leonardo, I'm sure he would enjoy your company,"
Mikey made a face at the mention of the other turtle. "Yeah, I'm sure he would," Mikey said flatly and Donatello chuckled.
"I take it you still do not approve of the king to be?" Donatello questioned.
Mikey blushed and looked away. "Kinda hard to approve of someone you don't even know," he said.
"I see," Donatello said, simply standing there watching the smaller turtle for a moment. "Perhaps you could take the time to get to know him, as you have done with me?" he suggested.
Mikey huffed. "Look, I don't hate him, I'm sure he's a good guy and all, but it's kind of hard to have any kind of conversation with him, knowing at the end of it he's still going to expect me to… to be…" Mikey blushed brighter, clenching his hands into the fabric of his robe.
"His bride?" Donatello offered helpfully.
"I'm not his bride! I'm not even a girl!" Mikey snapped, turning his head to glare at Donnie.
Donatello smiled fondly at him. "Is that all that's bothering you about the proposal? Is that you are not a female?"
Mikey shrugged. "I mean, that's part of it I suppose," the smaller turtle admitted.
Donatello nodded his head, and smiled fondly at Mikey. "You've been here a while, I would have hoped you'd realize by now that your gender is of little concern to Leonardo,"
Mikey sighed, lowering his head. "I just… I don't get it, he's supposed to be king soon, right? Isn't he supposed to like… want some nice lady that he can have kids with or something? I can't exactly give him that," Mikey said.
Donatello blinked. "What would kids have to do with anything?" he questioned.
"Uh… ya know, little princes, or princesses to carry on after he's gone, become the next ruler or whatever," Mikey said, frowning when Donatello simply chuckled at him. "What? Did I say something stupid again?"
"No, not at all,' Donatello said. "I am simply amused by how differently things work in your world, do you have many kings that pass on the position of king to their offspring?" Donatello asked.
"No… not really, I mean, I know some places have kings, and queens, but I think most rulers are voted into office or something like that, at least the part of the world I'm from that's how it works," Mikey said.
Donatello nodded, looking thoughtful. "I see, and they continue ruling until the end of their days?" Donatello asked and Mikey shook his head.
"People vote a lot, I think my brother told me once it was every four, maybe five years? I don't remember, I was only half listening," Mikey admitted with a sheepish grin.
"So your world isn't very different from ours in that regard, though, our king isn't voted in, they are chosen." Donatello explained.
"How is that different from being voted in?" Mikey asked curiously.
"Each future ruler will have a birthmark, when that person comes of age, the former ruler will step aside so the new king can take his place," Donatello explained and Mikey listened intently, nodding his head in understanding as he was finding it easy to follow what this Donnie was telling him more than he ever could with his brother. Though he still had a lot of questions about the kings and the line of succession, knew there was a more pressing question.
"So… where do I come into all this being Leo's bride?" Mikey asked.
Donatello blinked at him. "Has no one told you anything?"
Mikey shrugged.
"Surely I would have thought Leonardo would have at least told you something," Donatello insisted.
"Well… about that, I've sorta been avoiding him," Mikey admitted with a blush. "I just find it really difficult to talk to him, knowing what he's expecting of me," There of course were other factors, like how Mikey really found it difficult to talk to Leonardo, mainly for the fact that when he was around the future king, he couldn't seem to remember any of the important questions he was supposed to be asking. Mikey knew the reason for that was how he felt about his own brother back home.
And while the physical similarities between the future king and his brother were very few, it didn't make Mikey feel any less attracted to the tall handsome prince. Blushing brightly as he realized the direction his thoughts were headed, Mikey shook his head quickly. "I just haven't had the time to talk to him, like I can talk to you," he said, hoping his wandering mind had gone unnoticed by Donatello, though from the almost knowing smirk the taller turtle was giving him, Mikey didn't have high hopes for that.
"Well," Donatello started, "if you'd told me sooner, I could have taken extra time to answer your questions, so, we'll start with this one, why you were chosen to be Leonardo's bride," Donatello gestured towards a nearby seat, and Mikey hesitated for only a moment before sitting down, turning his full attention towards Donatello.
"Leonardo can not become king, without a bride," Donatello said matter of factly. "Each king to be has one requirement before taking the throne, this differs with each king, our current one, being from one of the richest noble families in our country, was required to give up his riches and lifestyle for five years before the designated time of his coronation,"
"Wow…" Mikey said. "And, he did it?"
Donatello nodded. "Of course, if he had not, he would not be our king," he explained.
"So… I guess that would mean that I'm what Leo needs to be king?" Mikey asked.
"You are very clever, and a fast learner," Donatello praised, causing Mikey to blush brightly and look away.
"I'm really not…" he objected, catching a glimpse of Donatello's expression out of the corner of his eye, though Mikey couldn't have been sure, the mage looked almost a little sad, and concerned before the look was gone, replaced with his usual smile.
"Well, you were correct," Donatello said. "Leonardo's requirement was that he must find himself a bride before his coronation can be planned,"
"Which brings me back around to why doesn't he just find some nice lady that's from here?" Mikey asked.
Donatello sighed. "There are lots of reasons, many of which are not my place to discuss, but Leonardo, he is already older than any king to be should be, our current king is getting old, Leonardo has tried, but he can not simply marry someone and be done with it, so…" Donatello trailed off, his eyes darting towards the doorway behind Mikey.
"So I prayed, and hired a mage to help perform a summoning spell,"
Mikey felt a chill run down his spine, and he didn't dare turn around when he heard that silky voice speak.
"I asked for only one thing, a wonderful, kind hearted bride, someone who would complete me in every way,"
Mikey stared at the floor, his hands fisting into the fabrics of the clothes he wore, hearing footsteps, and a moment later he was staring at the feet of the speaker.
"I prayed for someone who could love me for who I am, not what I could do for them, or the life I could give them," The owner of the voice knelt down, and Mikey slowly lifted his eyes, feeling his heart skip a beat as he stared into deep sapphire blue eyes, so similar to his older brothers, eyes that he'd spent the majority of his teen years for those eyes to look at him with anything other than judgment or exasperation.
A large hand reached up and Mikey felt a thumb gently stroke his cheek, subconsciously he leaned into the touch, warm, and full of promises that shook Mikey to the core.
"I wished for you, Mikey, and then you were there, at my feet, and I could tell then, what I know now, is that you need me, as much as I need you." Leonardo stared at him, and Mikey felt helpless, staring right back at him. "I promise you, I will do anything and everything within my power to make you believe that you deserve the love, and life, that I am offering you,"
Mikey took a deep shuddering breath, closing his eyes and turning his head away. "I really wish you would stop talking like that, Leo," he said, trying to sound annoyed, telling himself, like he did every time he was close to Leonardo, every time the future king spoke, or laughed, or simply looked at him, that he should not, and could not fall in love with this Leonardo, that despite the fancy words, the gentle touches, and declarations, he couldn't bring himself to believe that this was real, he still expected to wake up in the lair, in his cold room in the sewers.
After all, he was still useless, no matter what world he was in, and it was only a matter of time before the future king saw the truth of it.
TBC