Chapter 6

"Mikey! Where are ya!?"

"Mikey, say something if you can hear us!"

Leo and Raph had been looking and calling out for their baby brother for over half an hour now, with little success and no traces of him.

They first tried to locate him by using the tracking system on their shell cells to pinpoint Mikey's signal, but it only pointed them back to the lair, which meant that he had left his shell cell in his room. They then called April to update her about Mikey's disappearance and to keep an eye out in case Mikey decided to go to her apartment for the night instead of coming back home to the lair.

It was shortly after talking to April that they decided to look for him the old fashioned way, which was running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop until they found him. Soon, they stopped to catch their breath, not knowing that they had landed on the same rooftop that Mikey was hiding on. It was then that Leo heard something that sounded like muffled sobs.

"Hey, Raph, do you hear that?" Leo whispered to this mate, who seemed to have noticed it too.

"Yeah, do ya think…?" Raph replied in a similar tone. Instead of jumping to conclusions with a response, Leo carefully and quietly approached the source of the noise with Raph following close behind him.

As soon as they got closer to the roof's air vent system, they were met with an upsetting scene; there was their little brother, curled up and crying whilst hiding his face in his folded arms. They could tell that judging by the sound of their brother's crying, Mikey had been like this for a while now and was starting to sound tired.

Leo moved closer and gently called out his brother to avoid frightening him. "Mikey…"

As soon as he said that, Mikey suddenly looked up in surprise before calming down slightly in relief after seeing his two older brothers in front of him.

"Leo… Raph…" Mikey said quietly before sniffling and trying unsuccessfully to stop his tears from falling.

"Hey, bro…ya doin' alright? Are yer hurt?" Raph asked in a concerned tone since there was a possibility that his little brother and future niece or nephew might have come to harm whilst being out here alone.

Mikey did nothing but shake his head slowly from side to side, telling them that no harm was done upon him, but he suddenly began crying again shortly after. Leo immediately sat next to his little brother and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to try and comfort him.

"Shhh...It's okay Mikey, we're here...You're safe..." He said soothingly to try and calm him down, with Raph sitting on the opposite side and softly rubbing his hand on Mikey's head.

"But… no-one is… safe when… they're near… me!" Mikey replied whilst hiccupping and trying to get his breath back.

"What da ya mean by dat?" Raph asked with a confused look.

"All I am to everyone is a walking disaster and a useless ninja who gets those I love hurt and in trouble!" Mikey cried out with another set of tears falling down his face.

"I now know that you guys deserve a better brother and Donnie deserves a better mate; someone who doesn't make things more difficult for them and doesn't mess up during missions like I always do! Father also deserves a son who can fight and defend himself better and not have to depend on his father to sacrifice himself to protect him all the time! In fact...I SHOULD BE THE ONE SCATTERED AND LOST IN CYBERSPACE, NOT FATHER!"

Leo and Raph couldn't believe what they were hearing after that last sentence. Mikey was the light of the family and would do anything to keep his family and friends safe and happy, but the Mikey that they were seeing and hearing right now was not what either of them wanted to see, especially when his emotions were all over the place due to his current condition. Leo knew that Mikey had taken every negative thing that was said to him in the past and present to heart and his current state had just proven that. After a moment of silence, Leo spoke up.

"Mikey, even though you annoy us at times and don't always take training or battles seriously, you will always be an important member of the family and team. Do you know why?"

Mikey looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and a questionable look before Leo continued.

"It's because you help to make sure that we spend time and have fun together as a family by keeping the balance between work and play stable. You always make sure that we all stayed positive by making us laugh and providing us with words of encouragement even through the hardest of times."

"And who says dat yer a useless ninja, bro? Ya have always been there fa us even durin' da most challengin' fights we've ever faced!" Raph said, backing up Leo's words.

"But…I…" Mikey didn't know what to say; he never expected his two older brothers to say such amazing things to him after everything that's happened.

"You did the best you could to try and help us get back to our own time, Mikey, and you didn't know that Viral would send us to a dimension that had more than one Shredder in it." Leo continued soothingly.

"Yeah, sorry fa bein' harsh with my words back then, little bro..." Raph said as he placed a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"D-Don't be Raph, I deserved it. I got carried away just because I wanted to help out more…" Mikey denied in a defeated tone.

"No, ya didn't, Mike; it was dat stinkin' Viral's fault fa not lettin' her grudge against us go..." Raph countered back, having none of it.

"Also, Donnie still loves you, Mikey. He wants to talk to you and apologise to you when we get back home to the lair, especially after finding out that you're pregnant..." Leo continued with a warm smile developing on his face as he said those last few words.

"Wha…!? How did you…?" Mikey looked at him in shock.

"Ya dropped yer pregnancy test after bumpin' inta me on ya way out, Knucklehead...!" Raph answered with a smirk.

"Oh…" Mikey said as he blushed with embarrassment.

"We can't tell you how happy we are for you and Donnie, despite what's happened these past few days. You both deserve this little miracle that your love for one another created together..." Leo said with a smile still on his face.

"Yeah, and Leo and I are gonna be uncles like you guys are with Kane, who I'll bet will be excited about havin' a lil' cousin ta play with!" Raph said excitedly.

Mikey smiled at the thought of how his family would react whilst being around his new son or daughter when he or she arrives.

"Now that's the Mikey we know and love; always looking up with a sunny smile on his face!" Leo complimented.

Mikey laughed softly after hearing that from his oldest brother before giving him a gentle hug, which Leo returned greatly.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think we should head back home before Donnie decides ta come and look fa us..." Raph said after a moment goes by. Leo and Mikey broke away from their hug and look at each other before Mikey nodded to say that he was ready to go home.

As they all got up from sitting on the ground, however, Mikey was suddenly hit with another dizzy spell, only this time it was worse than before.

"Mikey, are you ok?" Leo asked in concern when Mikey swayed a little and placed a hand on his forehead.

"I don't feel so-" Shortly after saying this, Mikey's eyes rolled back and his body collapsed, with Leo catching him before his face could hit the solid concrete on the roof.

"Mikey!" Raph shouted after seeing his little brother out cold on the floor with Leo supporting him.

"Calm down, Raph, I think he just fainted from exhaustion. He's more prone to this now since he's pregnant..." Leo soothed his mate when he saw his worried face. "Do you think you can carry him back to the lair whilst I let Donnie know that we found Mikey?"

Raph nodded and gently took Mikey and carried him bridal style since he couldn't carry him on his back due to the pregnancy. Leo then started to dial Donnie's number on his shell cell as he and Raph headed for the safety of their home.