Hey guys! I'm very happy to announce that... I'm alive! *laughs nervously* I know I left you all on a cliffhanger and I just want to say that I'm so sorry about that. Life has just been so hectaic lately, and the only thing that I could accurately compare it too would be a crazy hurricane riding on a bucking unicorn. So, yeah. Crazy life. And, to top it all off, the muse has gone completely AWOL, leaving my brain to feel like a swamp collection of unhelpful sludge. But finally! The next chapter!

I've also heard a couple people requesting that I make longer chapters. Please comment on your opinions and preferences concerning this subject. I, on one hand, would LOVE to post longer chapters! But, on the other hand, it would take more time between chapters to get all the writing done. And, as a reader, I had always preferred shorter chapters. So, please comment your preference and let me know what's more enjoyable/convenient for you!

Anyway! Enough talk! Let's get to the chapter!

_

Chapter 15

Michelangelo heard his phone give a powering down 'bweeooop' and he frantically looked at his screen only to see a red battery bar flash a few times before the screen went completely black.

He stared at the blank screen for a few seconds, the horrific reality of what just happened sinking into his chilled skin.

"No," his voice cracked, almost inaudible as his hands shook, "No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he rambled, trying desperately to turn his t-phone back on, knowing full well that his attempts were in vain.

"Come on! Turn on!" he cried at it desperately.

The screen remained dark.

Tears filled his eyes and he forced them closed, angrily hitting himself on the forehead.

I'm so stupid! He inwardly cursed himself, First, I fall asleep in front of the TV, not giving Leo's search and rescue a second thought. Then I don't even remember to charge my t-phone while I'm sleeping. So now, the battery is dead at the absolute worst possible time because I'm too stupid to think things through!

His phone dropped out of his hand into a puddle, but Mikey could care less as he pressed his face into his palms, choking back a sob.

And now Leo's paying for it.

Tears streamed down his face, wetting his hands.

He was in the place of his nightmares, the darkest and loneliest part of the sewers. The place where fears came alive to torment, and despair was so abundant you could practically feel its poisonous grip suffocating you. And now Leonardo, the one who had been brave enough to fight off Mikey's terrors and monsters for years, was laying unconscious beside him. Now fighting weakly, and desperately, just for his next breath.

Guilt ripped into his heart as he cried in the dark, alone. Leo was dying, and it was all his fault.

No. A firm voice in his head commanded stubbornly. Mikey sniffed and slowly pulled his hands away from his face. He swallowed thickly as the voice brought a strange sort of rage or defiance that crept into his chest and he straightened. Wiping away the tears on his face, he looked down at Leonardo's bloodied body.

Come on Mikey. He sternly told himself, All of this might be your fault. The phone running out of battery, Raph sneaking away, wasting time sleeping. But it's not over yet, Leo's still alive. And if you're just going to sit here and do nothing then it will be your fault if Leo... Doesn't make it. Now get up off your shell, and help your brother!

Determination set in his gut, which was probably a good thing because otherwise he would have definitely thrown up. Swallowing hard, he clenched his jaw, and determined to make himself helpful.

Looking over Leo's unconscious form he could easily see the blood smeared across his plastron as it rose and fell laboriously and Mikey's determination faltered. He wanted to curl up and never open his eyes again.

His hands trembled and his throat hurt from trying not to cry.

'Mikey, stay with me bro. You're Leo's only hope right now.' Donnie's voice played over in Mikey's mind. And even though the thought filled him with dread, he new that Donnie was right. There was no one else to turn to, no one to take the responsibility. Only Mikey.

"I can do this," he breathed, "Just until Donnie gets here."

Mikey wracked his brain, trying to remember some of the basic first aid skills Master Splinter taught them when they were younger.

"Okay, I think I need to slow the bleeding down first," Mikey looked over Leo's numerous cuts, his gaze landing on the large slice on his arm, "The smaller cuts aren't bleeding that much, but that gash looks really bad. I'll have to bandaid it with something."

But with what? Donnie had the first aid kit and he wasn't going to get there for a while yet. Mikey bit his lip anxiously, what could he possibly use?

His first thought was to try and seal the wound with just his hands and keep pressure on it that way. Though the idea of his older brother's blood seeping into his hand wraps and through his fingers made him feel sick. And he was scared with his hands shaking so much he might only make the tear worse. But he had to use something till Donnie got there.

An idea suddenly popped into his head that just might work.

It's better than nothing, and I owe it to Leo for doing nothing all day.

Reaching up, Mikey untied his orange mask and slipped it easily off his face.

"I hope you appreciate what I'm doing here Leo," he said, leaning over to try and reach the deep cut.

His bandanna wasn't very long, the shortest of all his bro's, but he was able to wrap it a good two or three times before tying it. He tugged it a little tighter to try and keep pressure on the wound, earning a pained moan from Leo.

Mikey flinched at the sad, broken sound but continued to tie the makeshift bandage.

"I'm sorry Leo," he whispered apologetically, tears starting to fill his vision again, "But I gotta do this, or you'll just bleed out more."

When he'd finished he leaned back and wiped away some of the tears with the back of his hand. His heart felt heavy, aching for his big brother.

Mikey had always thought that if you lost consciousness you didn't feel anything. Apparently that wasn't the case this time. Maybe Leo was half conscious?

He imagined the incredible amount of pain all the little cuts alone would cause, and more tears filled his eyes.

Leo's scratchy, labored breaths faltered for a few terrifying seconds. It was almost like there was a huge weight on the leader's chest that kept him from taking a full breath.

Mikey tried to think of what to do, but he couldn't remember Master Splinter ever telling them how to take care of someone who was having trouble breathing. Exception made for choking. But this wasn't caused by choking.

If his t-phone battery had been charged, he could've just looked up what to do online. Then again, if his battery had been charged, he could've just asked Donnie.

"I'm such an idiot," he hissed at himself.

But he couldn't change the past, so he had to make the best of it.

He shook his head.

"Come on Mikey, think! What do you do?"

Going through the bottomless stores of useless knowledge, mainly collected from comics, random websites online, and tv, he racked his brain for anything that could possibly be helpful.

Suddenly, a random fact he'd heard from somewhere, he couldn't remember, popped into his head. When young animals, like puppies or kittens, had trouble breathing, he'd heard that letting them rest against your chest would help. The steady 'up and down' movement of your breathing was supposed to encourage them to breathe more steadily.

Mikey also remembered something like that in a movie he'd seen. In one of the more intense scenes, the boy had a serious asthma attack, but he didn't have his medicine with him. So his dad had held him to his chest, encouraging him to breathe in sync, both verbally and physically.

That's just a movie! It could all be totally made up!

But when he watched as Leo struggled for another uneven gasp of air, he knew that there wasn't anything else he could do at that point, and decided to give it a try.

As carefully as possible, he slipped his arms underneath Leonardo's limp form and pulled him close to his plastron.

"Come on Leo," Mikey's voice cracked, the tears beginning to stream down his face again, "Breathe with me bro."

He's so cold. He thought fearfully, hugging the fallen leader more tightly, hoping to warm him up a little with his own body heat.

"Donnie's coming. He'll be able to help you. Just- just keep holding on Leo, well make it through this together. You just need to stay strong. Okay?" Mikey choked back another painful sob and tried to take deeper, more pronounced breaths, "Deep breaths Leo. Feel my chest. You feel it? In. And out. In. And out. You can do it Leo. Just follow me. In with mr. good air. Out with mr. bad air. Breathe with me bro."

It seemed to help, at least a little. Mikey noticed Leo's breaths became more evenly spaced apart, obviously trying to synchronize with Mikey's steady breathing. But it was like the air kept catching in Leo's throat, leaving him with a shallow rasp of air that couldn't have filled more than half his lungs.

Mikey's hot tears rolled down his face and dropped onto Leonardo's cold body.

"Please hurry Donnie," he whispered pleadingly, feeling his brother's desperate, ragged fight for breath against his chest, "I don't know if Leo can hold on for much longer."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donatello raced through the ever darkening sewer tunnels, his heart pounding in his chest.

He had to get to Mikey. The satchel with his first aid kit thumped against him, a constant reminder that he had Leo's only hope of survival. And if he didn't get there soon...

Don't think that! He quickly interrupted his train of thought, going through the map in his mind again, I'll get there in time. I'm almost there already! It's just a little farther. Besides I shouldn't be so dramatic. Mikey could've simply been overreacting.. Right?

It was an unlikely possibility.

But whether Mikey had been overreacting on Leo's condition or not, didn't stop Donnie's mind from screaming at him in urgency. Leo needed serious medical attention, and Donnie was the only one who had both the supplies and the knowledge to provide said medical attention.

Hold on Leo, I'm almost there.

He had finally reached the tunnel Mikey was assigned to use in order to get to he surface. It was darker, colder, and stank of contamination.

Donnie wrinkled his nose and made a quick mental note to never send someone down here again. At least, not until the tunnel's condition improved.

He squinted in the dark, and could make out two figures farther in, huddled together. What he saw next, made him feel more sick then he'd thought possible, as his blood ran cold.