Hello everyone! It took me longer to update than I wanted but I feel like that is always happening, lol! Had some trouble with my cousin again and I had to take care of her, but everything seems fine now. Thanks for being understanding! You are all amazing, of course, and don't let anyone tell you you're not! (feeling inspired for many reasons, haha!) :3

Special Thanks To: gima2618, Orange Dash, K15a30zx, tmntlover2013, GirlRobin, VoidOfEclipse, 5SecsOfLARRYcat, Guest#1, DjBennyD, and Guest# 2!

To 5SecsOfLARRYcat:I'm so happy you like the story! I personally thought it was a great idea! I'll try to update whenever I can, don't worry! Writing is too much of a good thing in my life to stop anyways. Hope you like the chapter! C:

To K15a30zx: I'm glad you like it! I will continue the story, don't worry! I've always loved the whole "youngest brother" relationship thing and it shows in my writing. They are already making connections abut Micah to Michelangelo!

To Guest #1: I don't know, haha, but I'm glad that you are getting hooked! I love when I find a good story to read and I'm completely honored that so many people love to read my stories! I am very happy you said that! I hope I never disappoint you! Enjoy the chapter! :D

Thanks to everyone else that reviewed as well! HAPPY READING! :D (I made myself sad writing parts of this chapter! So apologies to anyone's emotions I wreck because I'm a bit sensitive to other's pain even in my imagination lol.)

Master Splinter observed Micah with kind eyes as the boy sat beside him on the bench, his small legs swinging as he told him a story of how he found his little orange cat in the junk yard.

Little Micah was every bit how Michelangelo had been at that age; kind, excitable, loud-mouthed, and playful. It caused an ache in the aging rat, but at the same time he enjoyed the nostalgia that it brought as he watched and listened to the child.

Though Master Splinter was not a dreamer, he would every now and again find himself wondering what life would have been had he had his boys in his human life, wondering what it would be like if they had been human with him. Those thoughts always fleeted quickly but he found himself thinking a bit about it as he stared at Micah.

Micah obviously seemed hurried and anxious whenever the subject of Raphael or Leonardo came around. Splinter first noticed this when he threw in childhood memories of his own sons, though he did not mention Michelangelo if he could help it. It was something that had been accustomed to in the house because it had been too hard to really talk about him, even after all this time had passed. That and the fact that Master Splinter didn't want to confuse the poor boy more than he might have been.

"Master Splinter, do you think that being a mouse is fun sometimes?" Micah asked, startling him both out of his thoughts and with his random question. He had a tilt to his head that was curious and wondering.

"I am a rat and not a mouse, Micah," Splinter answered in slight amusement when Micah appeared as tohugh he didn't know the difference, "There are differences between the two. And to answer your question…being a rat does have its perks."

"What are perks?" He asked with wide eyes and Splinter couldn't help but laugh at his expression.

"Perks are when you find something good or useful," He explained and Micah let out a soft noise of understanding before his eyes went towards the entrance, "What troubles you, my child?"

"I'm worried about Donnie," He answered, turning uncertainly towards Splinter, who smiled warmly, "He sometimes looks so sad and he seemed mad at his brothers. I want to do something to help him since he's helped me!"

"I believe you are already doing something to help him," Splinter replied and Micah just looked confused. Master Splinter refolded his hands and smiled patiently, "He wanted you to stay here by his side. And here you are. As long as you remain a friend to Donatello then you will be helping him."

It was amazing how much the child's eyes brightened, looking everything like how Michelangelo's eyes would look when he looked at him or when Donatello finished an invention, Leonardo spent extra time watching TV with him, or when Raphael would get protective of him in front of others.

"Master Splinter!" called a familiar voice, one that startled poor Micah. Splinter turned in that direction and smiled when April O'Neil walked through the entrance of the lair almost cautiously before gazing over towards the pit where they were, "There you are! How are you feeling? The guys called me over and told me what's happened."

Micah watched the woman with wide eyes. This was the person Donnie told him about and he said she was a good friend. She looked pretty cool and she was really pretty like how his mom has been before!

"I am feeling much better today than I have," Splinter assured as he watched Micah stare at April in surprise. April beamed at the reassurance and turned her attention to the boy sitting beside Master Splinter. Her eyes widened when she realized why Leo had sounded so tense and agitated on the phone. She looked at Master splinter for a moment in shock and he seemed to know what she thought because he smiled sadly.

This boy…she just had one of those feelings that he was just like….

"H-Hello," Micah spoke up, startling April out of her thoughts. He wasn't sure what to make of how the girl, April, looked at him, "Donnie told me you were here to look after me."

April immediately picked up on the growing attachment between Donnie and Micah then smiled. That was good for Donnie…or at least she hoped it was. The turtles all needed at least one break in their lives, "Hi Micah. I'm April, but you probably already know that since you talked to Donnie."

Micah giggled nervously and nodded, "Yeah, Donnie told me!"

April smiled and Master Splinter scooted to make room for her to sit down on Micah's other side. Micah seemed nervous but way too curious about April to move away. Master Splinter sensed that Micah had many questions and snickered, "How about I go make us some tea, hmm? This way you two can get to know each other."

"Master Splinter, are you sure? I can go make tea," April offered, watching her teacher get up with apparently no troubles.

"Thank you, but I am fine April," Splinter teased, making Micah giggle when April blushed, "I am getting older but I am not immobile yet."

"Sorry Sensei," April laughed and rubbed at her long hair. Master Splinter waved her apology away, knowing she just meant well and then left to go start the tea. Nearly immediately after he vanished Micah whirled around and stared at April, "So…Leo told me that Donnie found you in a junkyard... do…do you like living there?"

"Yes! There are always a lot of neat things and I sometimes meet other good homeless people that share things with me! I also have a cat! Her name is Klunk cause she's really clumsy!" Micah blabbered, suddenly feeling much more comfortable around April now that he knew everyone trusted her so much.

April's eyes widened as she stared at Micah, whose voice was a high pitched bubbly tone she felt she recognized. Her gut was telling her that Micah was not some ordinary kid, which is why he was introduced into the turtles' lives in the first place. But she had only a faintest idea of why Leo and Raph seemed so annoyed by the little guy. He was just like Mikey!

"Um, so you are called April right? You look familiar to me somehow," Micah commented as he scratched at his head in a confused manner, "I dunno why I think you're familiar…"

Her heart leapt in her throat and her eyes must have gone really wide because Micah paused and his eyes went wide too, like he thought he did something wrong. And then suddenly he closed in on himself in the faintest way, but April still knew that he felt ashamed that he'd said something wrong to her, "W-Well…you remind me of someone I once knew, Micah-"

"I wanna be called Mike, please," Micah interrupted sheepishly, like it was important that he say this and April blinked stupidly for a second at the familiarness.

"Mike, then," April smiled after a moment and Mike perked up just a little, feeling a bit better now that she was smiling. April thought Mike was sort of like Mikey again with how empathetic he was to how others felt, "You might have seen me on the news sometimes. Or in newspapers maybe? I'm a reporter for Channel 6 news."

"You're a reporter?" Mike asked, blinking with childlike amazement. April giggled and nodded her head, "That's, like, totally awesome! You must know a lot of things just like Donnie!"

April outright laughed at that, "I don't know if anyone knows as much as Donnie does but thank you, Mike."

Mike laughed along with her and once they calmed down April sensed that Mike had a lot of questions about her, "How about I tell you a little bit about myself?"

"If…if you want to," Mike replied shyly and April got more comfortable on the bench before she faced Mike with a smile.

"Well I have a little girl that's about a year and a half younger than you," April started and Mike's eyes grew to the size of the moon. She laughed and continued, "The guys all love her to death and she loves them too! Her names Shadow and we named her that because she took her Father's midnight black hair…well that and she's always been a very quiet sneaky baby!"

Mike laughed again and April joined him until he calmed and commented, "Shadow's a totally rad name! I love it! I bet me and her could be friends! I can be sneaky too sometimes but definitely not quiet!"

April managed to laugh yet again and nodded her head, "I'll bet you anything you two would be friends. I'll have her come down sometime! She's in school right now though so that's why she's not with me."

"Yeah, I never went to school before but one time I played with other kids on the school playground!" Mike said and April froze, her eyes going wide as she settled her blue eyes on the boy, who acted as though nothing was wrong with this.

"You never went to school? Ever? Didn't your Mom get into trouble doing that?" April couldn't help but ask and then bit her lip when Mike pulled away a bit.

"Nope, never. But Mom didn't get in trouble cause I was homeschooled. Mom actually did know a lot! Or to me she did anyway!" Mike chirped and April felt troubled that Mike's childhood had apparently been so rough.

"I see…well that's good," April put on a smile and then figured she should change the subject because Mike could tell she was acting differently, "So…want to know more about me?"

"Sure!" Mike beamed eagerly and April smiled genuinely.

"Well…I have a husband called Casey Jones, he's Raph's best friend to this day, and he's a coach for ice hockey…"

Master Splinter watched from the kitchen as April told Micah about herself and her life. He smiled warmly to see Micah look at April with such admiration. He would have no problems at all with her.

Donatello observed his brothers as they all jumped from rooftop to rooftop. It was so familiar yet definitely different all at the same time. He could remember all the good times they had joking and playing on the rooftops when there wasn't any action to be had, but he also remembered how many fights were started there too. Fights that caused so many close calls….one that finally took a life-

"Donatello, are you focusing?" Leonardo demanded lightly when Donnie nearly ran straight into a brick wall instead of jumping. Raph was silent but scowling beside him and it was in that way he did when he was afraid of saying something that would genuinely hurt one of his brothers' feelings.

So Donnie scoffed and ignored Leo, jumping up to meet his brothers, who were now giving him weird looks for nearly running into a wall in the first place, "I'm focusing now. So let's go."

Leo looked ready to question him but apparently decided not to as he sighed and returned to leading their run across town. Raph gave Donnie one more meaningful look before he also took off. Donnie's face softened as he sighed and he took off after his brother with the hole in his heart aching.

Leonardo narrowed his eyes from where they stood perched on a smaller brick building. They were close to the gas station that the child described to them. Which meant that his old home must be close.

He turned and was pleased to see that Donatello and Raphael were keeping vigilant as they looked around for anything out of the ordinary. They caught him staring and he jerked his head in a signal to be followed. They nodded and Leo took off with confidence. It had been awhile since they had been so far out in the city, but so far so good. His brothers, save for that one moment with Donnie, were listening to him and respecting his orders. This, he knew, would keep them safe. He could keep them safe better if they listened to him. It would make it easier to watch over them.

"You watch our backs so much that sometimes, only sometimes, you forget to watch your own dude."

Leo's heart stopped and he inwardly shook his head a thousand times to get rid of that reoccurring memory. He scowled and marched on, ignoring his brothers' soft noise of confusion and tried to pretended he didn't feel the ache in his chest that never seemed to truly go away.

"Leo, we're coming up close to Mike's old home," Donnie warned and Leo looked over at Donnie, his lips turned downward at the nickname. Donnie didn't know what to make of his expression so he just looked away, "We're on his street now but this place looks kinda…"

"Trashy and deserted?" Raph finished for him, finally speaking up. Leo had wondered where his usual fiery spirit had been the whole time. Usually Raph couldn't wait to get topside and hurt someone in that way he felt he needed to all the time now.

"Basically," Donnie muttered, feeling awkward around Raph for the time being. Raph scowled at him but said nothing.

Leo sighed and upon seeing that the coast was clear they hopped off the building they were on to run across the sidewalk in as much shadows as they could get. Raph had been right…the place looked very unclean and very much deserted. The houses here looked no longer fit to live in and some were literally missing pieces of wall.

"Nice neighborhood," Raph commented sarcastically, causing Donnie and Leo to look over at him flatly, "What?"

"Nothing, I see his mailbox number ahead," Leo started so no fights could be started. They quickly made it to his house but paused in surprise when they saw that the house was nothing more than a rotted away trailer now. It was littered in the front yard with several unusable toys and the outside walls were turning dark shades of yellow, "Well this is a lovely place."

"Oh and you guys look at me funny when I'm sarcastic?" Raph retorted, bringing a somewhat amused half grin to Leo's face. Donnie, however, looked blank if not a little sad at what he was seeing. Leo and Raph noticed this right away and solemned as they walked into the yard to make it to the house.

"This is terrible…how could he have lived here ever?" Donnie muttered to himself but his brothers still heard him. They said nothing and just watched Donnie as he took a small breath and carried on.

"Let me help ya, Brainiac," Raph spoke up as he sadly watched his poor brother try and move the rusted front door by himself. Donnie swallowed and nodded his head. Leo hurried to the other side and all three turtles pushed the door to the side. Donnie walked in followed by his brothers and their beaks wrinkled up at the moldy smell, "So what are we lookin' for?"

"Anything that would attract the Purple Dragon's attention. The child did say something about how they wanted a file," Leo said lightly as he looked around, "Apparently they have already ransacked the place. That or someone else did it. Let's spread out and see what we can find."

His brothers both nodded and they parted ways, making their way through the old junk to get to other rooms. Donnie went towards the right and noticed the one bathroom and a bedroom. He pushed his way through and his heart ached inside when he saw that the room was a child's room.

He wasn't sure if any other family lived here after Mike, but it appeared as though no one ever did. So this room was last used by Mike, himself. Donnie looked around but wondered what he'd find in here that'd be of use anyways.

Don's eyes were drawn to the side and he noticed a little cat doll but there was a heart patched right on its chest. It was a bit stained on its side and a part of its ear was missing…but it could be cleaned up pretty nicely. Donnie blinked at it and then looked to see if his brothers were watching him. When he confirmed they weren't he picked up the small thing and smiled, it was pretty cute…well after he cleaned it he knew it would smell nicer.

"You've been here alone for a while, huh little guy?" Donnie whispered as his hands curled around the doll, "I bet you miss Mike. I'm sure he misses you but don't worry I'll take you to him."

Donnie wiped off the dust from the stuffed animal and smiled sadly, "There you go for now. I'll get you cleaned up later. You know…my brother would have loved you too…"

Leo watched from the shadow of the hallway with half-lidded eyes and a sad expression on his face. His chest was tightened from listening to his brother talk to the toy, but he said nothing. That was one of the way's Donnie dealt with his pain and if it made his brainy brother feel better then he wouldn't deny him that.

"Donnie?" Leo spoke up as soon as Donnie had put the toy in his bag. His brother startled and turned towards him, but Leo was sure to make his face stoic of any emotion. He was good at doing that. His brothers didn't think he felt anything if he looked that way, "Raph found something."

"Oh?" Donnie's eyes widened and he nodded, climbing out of the room to stand beside Leo, "He found some files?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't know what to make of them so he told me to get you," Leo answered and Donnie nodded, moving away from Leo to find Raph. Leo watched him for a second and again his emotionless mask fell off his face. But a moment of sadness was all he allowed before he returned to normal and followed after his brother.

Donnie easily found Raph in what looked to be the master bedroom. Raph was staring at the mattress on the floor, which had stained papers piled on it before he looked up at Don's appearance, "There ya are! I found an odd crease in tha wall and tore into it only ta find some papers. But I don't understand what they mean."

"What do you mean?," Donnie's brow furrowed and he blinked at Leo's sudden entrance into the room. Donnie started forward, "Lemme see the papers please."

Raph easily handed them over with an annoyed expression, "I tried ta read it but they all seem ta be in another language. That's what I mean."

"Oh," Donnie acknowledged and he flipped paper after paper, each in the same language, but he still didn't understand what they meant, "I know that it's Spanish but Mike's mother couldn't have been a Spanish speaker."

"How do you know that? You don't know them," Leo retorted and Donnie sent Leo a look at the hidden message.

"You're right. I don't know anything about Mike's Mother," Donnie replied in a stubborn way and Leo rolled his eyes, "But I can translate these back at the lair."

"Let's make sure there isn't anything else here first," Leo ordered and Raph nodded since Donnie's face was currently scrunched up in concentration as he studied the papers.

Donnie ignored the movements of his brothers as he continued studying the documents. He saw that Mike's name was on them occasionally but also a woman's name. Lilly. Was that Mike's mother? Guess he'd find out when he got back. He didn't know why but he got the feeling that they were directions of some sorts.

He sighed and flipped the papers over to check and paused when he saw two series of numbers that he didn't understand. Oh well, he'd figure those out too. Donnie folded the papers neatly just as Leo came back from being in the bathroom, "Find anything else?"

"Nope," Raph replied as he stood lazily, "Guess this means we're going home?"

"Yeah, I gotta figure out the information on these papers," Donnie said with a hand rested on his bag, "I feel like they are very important."

"Could they be the files that the Purple Dragons wanted?" Leo asked with uncertainty. Donnie gave a small smile.

"I believe they could be. You know those Purple Dragons don't ever look really hard," He said and Raph snorted, a half smirk on his face, "Raph found these easily too."

"Well, let's head home and report this to Master Splinter," Leo ordered, his face blank. Raph had the privilege of knowing Leo's "false" facial expressions. He was worried for Splinter's health.

Oh well…it wasn't like Raph wasn't worried either.

"So wait, you mean to tell me that talking robots had been after you once?" Mike asked with full disbelief. Splinter chuckled and April laughed, nodding her head, "That's totally crazy! There's no way!"

"It is very much true," Splinter nodded as he placed his tea cup down beside him, "They were a formidable foe, but they are no longer a danger to anyone on Earth."

"Well that's good. But I can't see myself afraid of a talking squishy robot brain that calls themselves Kraang," Mike said with honesty and they laughed again, "I'm not lying! I think that's so gross. Kraang sounds like a nasty germ or something!"

"Ahahaha!" April laughed harder, holding her stomach as Splinter watched in amusement, "They guys would love to hear that one!"

"They would?" Mike asked with uncertainty, "Because I don't think Leo or Raph know how to laugh…"

April immediately stopped laughing and Splinter frowned a little. Mike instantly felt as though he said something bad yet again but Splinter then smiled a little, "I suppose it has been awhile since Leonardo or Raphael has laughed."

"Does Raph ever laugh?" April asked in half amusement. Splinter just continued to smile, "Anyways, don't worry about Leo or Raph right now Mike."

"What can I do to not make them hate me?" Mike asked April as he shyly twisted the hem of his shirt, "I feel like I should say something to make them think I'm good."

"Aww Mike, you are good," April smiled encouragingly, "Raph and Leo just…don't really know how to behave around newcomers anymore. They'll warm up to you eventually."

Mike nodded even though he was very uncertain of that. He didn't want to appear rude to April though, so he just agreed to what she said. Mike looked up to ask Splinter something when he noticed that he'd turned to look at the entrance.

April also turned and her eyes widened for a second before she smiled, half in relief. Mike blinked and turned bodily around to see that Donnie and his brothers were finally back! Mike smiled widely and jumped up, startling April and Splinter.

"Donnie! You're back!" He beamed as he ran as fast as he could and hugged Donnie's leg's, laying his head on Donnie's stomach. Or…that was his stomach right? Turtles are so different with their yellow stomachs!

Donnie's eyes widened at this but then he smiled, immediately warmed by the contact and he put a hand in the little blonde's hair, rubbing it. Mike giggled and looked up at Donnie, "Did you have fun with April?"

"Yes, I learned a lot about her! We swapped stories!" Mike told him even though he tensed slightly when he caught Leo staring at him again with that no emotion thing. Raph completely ignored him as usual and went to sit on the bean bag chair thing.

Donnie and April traded smiles as Mike detached himself from Donnie. April looked at all of the turtles, "Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, some papers that make no sense at the moment," Donnie explained and Mike looked just as confused, "But I'll figure it out in no time at all."

"That's good…well if you guys don't need anything else I need to grab just a few things before I pick up Shadow," April replied and Mike watched in shock as a light turned on for Raph and Leo.

"How's tha little girl?" Raph asked and Leo gave a small smile towards April. Mike's eyes widened to see an actual smile from Leo. Even though he should feel glad that Leo and Raph looked a bit happier he felt upset at the same time.

"Oh she's great and she's been asking about all of you so I'll bring her over soon," April promised and Raph nodded, "Call me anytime guys."

"Thanks April," Leo said as he dropped his smile, "You can call us too, don't forget. Drive home safe."

"Sure thing guys. Bye," April smile was she waved at them and then turned to Donnie and Mike," Bye Donnie. And it was very nice to meet you Mike."

"N-Nice to meet you too, April," Mike smiled at her and watched as Donnie hugged her before she left. His heart hammered in his chest as he looked back at Raph and Leo, who ignored his presence completely as they focused on their Dad.

Why didn't they like him? He thought it was because he was human and they were turtle…but they like Shadow and she's a human girl! She's…human…and they seem to really like her! So it's just him? Is it because it's him? Do they really not like him that much?

"Mike?"

Micah looked up at Don's worried eyes and it was only then that he'd realized he was squeezing the life out of Donnie's hand even though he didn't even remember grabbing it, "I'm okay…"

Donnie knew that was a lie but smiled anyway, "If you say so…I have a surprise for you but you'll have to wait until tonight for it."

"Awww yay!" Mike beamed toothily, already forgetting the hurt he was feeling and Donnie's face softened.

They were both so wrapped up into their conversation that they didn't notice the way Leo was glaring at Mike.

Hey, hey, what's the problem Leo? Leo had a small memory of something Mikey said in the past, it's another hint by the way, and soon they'll get more into it. Eventually when Mike finds out about the fourth turtle I wonder how he'll react?

Can't wait to read you're thoughts and/or feelings! Stay awesome everyone! ;3