Hey guys! Almost finished with my summer Chemistry class! I have been writing on this for awhile and I know alot of you have been dying for another chapter...so here you go! Sorry for any mistakes that went over my head, I've been mega busy!

Happy Reading! (Again, I promise to start replying to reviews again soon)

There is a lot of Donnie and Mikey in the chapter! Enjoy the cute but emotional memory of Donnie and Mikey!

Donatello's Point of View:

The rest of the night, even during the planning, all I could think about was Mikey. It is crazy how spending a lot of time with someone, even if you think that someone is the most annoying thing you've seen, can make you miss them when they aren't around anymore. I know that it was different than before, because Mikey was kin to me by blood and was born after me literally just a few minutes.

Everyone had gathered at Sensei's house after we stopped to get six, yes six, boxes of pizza for everyone to be able to eat. Raph and Leo laughed with the others as they ate and I tried to seem into the conversations, offering a few words here and there but mainly kept my attention on April. She was the only one that noticed I was…not feeling the same as everyone else. Leo, Raph, and the others were just rejoicing because we now have a clear shot at getting Mikey back, and I'm happy about that too, but overconfidence in anything is a terrible thing. However, I didn't want to burst everyone's bubble after they had gotten so happy. I couldn't do it.

So, I pretend-laughed at Raph, Slash, and Oliver's orchestrated future fight scenes they would have. I rolled my eyes and retorted sharply like I usually did whenever Casey said something stupid. I accepted Shawn's apology for treating me like "shit" the last few years right in front of Raph. I brushed off April's worry and spent my time talking about other things with her. I laughed when Nakano and Raph ganged up on Leo and teased him about flirting with Miwa and vice versa.

I did everything I would normally do…the only problem was that I was half-there. In my mind, I only thought of Mikey and what could be happening to him in those moments, if Xever was really telling the truth, if the Shredder could be hurting him more for whatever reason or if Chris Bradford went for another round of "revenge". I couldn't stop worrying.

Soon after we finished the details of our plan, we agreed to meet Slash and some Purple Dragons at Murakami's noodle shop, because it wasn't far from the Saki Industries building. The others left after a rowdy and determined goodbye. Sensei and Nakano cleaned up the mess, Miwa went to go take a shower, Leo and Raph decided they wanted to spar and offered me to join, but I declined as cheerfully as I could, reasoning that I wanted to go to my room to go over some notes.

And then I was finally alone. Finally, blissfully alone. Instead of going to my desk, I went straight for my bed and laid down staring at the ceiling. I needed to do my best tomorrow. I needed to do everything in my skills to help bring Mikey back. But what if I messed up? I doubt it, I'm too determined to get him back to mess anything up!

The longer I stared up at the white ceiling the more I thought of the first time I had ever met Mikey.

~FLASHBACK~

I put my pencil in between the pages of my Earth Science textbook and reach down to grab my notebook out of my indigo backpack. I had to dig around to shuffle it out, but smiled when I finally freed it. I immediately turned to the nearest clean sheet and grabbed my pencil again. I quickly jotted down and interesting fact about the Earth that I saw in my textbook before stopping to admire the fact:

"The Earth isn't just spinning: It's also moving around the sun at 67,000 miles (107,826 km) per hour."

"Who would have thought?" I muttered in wonder as I stared down at my textbook. I always loved science the best because there were so many questions to be answered, even about common day to day things, that science can answer. I haven't been able to take it yet, but Chemistry is my favorite already and then Earth Science would come a close second.

I jumped when the doors to the library squeaked loudly, like they always did when they opened, and an even louder voice shout, "Hey Donnie! I was hoping you'd be here!"

I groaned loudly, not even needing to look up to know who that voice belonged to. The blonde-haired menace jumped towards my table and smiled cheekily at the librarian before he turned to me, "Whatcha studyin', Donnie?!"

"The chapter I need to read by tomorrow for my Earth Science class," I muttered, hoping that my bad mood would show and maybe he'd leave me alone. I haven't had the best day, what with Casey Jones dogging me in front of April, and Shawn tripping me up or shooting spitballs at me at every turn. Talk about cliché. Mikey didn't come to the library every day, but when he did he was always loud and annoying; something I just didn't need right now.

"Oh…sounds boring," He replied in that almost innocent child-like tone he seemed to naturally have, "You study a lot, Donnie!"

"Of course, I do!" I replied with bite and felt slightly guilty when he flinched, "Is it so wrong that I actually like to know stuff?!"

Mikey turned quiet and stared at me with some emotion I didn't understand in his eyes so I sighed and rubbed my face, "Never mind. I guess you would never understand why I like to study so much since there's nothing you like to study."

"That's not true," Mikey claimed in a cheerful tone, "I'm sorry, Donnie. I didn't mean what I said before as a bad thing. I just don't really see people study much. I think it's amazing!"

My annoyance faltered and I felt a bit warm. No one really praised me for studying other than Mika-san, "Thanks…but what did you mean by 'that's not true'? What do you like to study?"

"I'm interested in psychology!" Mikey smiled brightly at me, so brightly that it was hard not to smile yourself, even if you didn't know you were doing it, "Though I don't study as hard as you do. I like it, but I can't take psychology until 10th grade so I just read online a lot."

"Oh…psychology is actually pretty interesting but I like science better, especially chemistry and biology or earth sciences," I replied, feeling my excitement about the topic bubbling up. It was then that I realized what I was talking about and paused, looking up at him. He just raised an eyebrow when I paused.

"What? Why did you stop?" He asked like he was really confused. Then he smiled, "Can you tell me about what you're reading?"

My eyes widened and I must have looked like a complete moron because Mikey was suddenly laughing at me, "I…. you want me to tell you what I'm reading? But it's just facts about the Earth."

"So? I might not understand it well but I noticed how you scribbled and highlighted all in your textbook and notebook!" Mikey bubbled and my eyes stayed wide. He noticed? He noticed and he cared about the fact that I like it?

"Well, it's got a lot of numbers with it…" I replied hesitantly, shifting my eyes because I couldn't believe that someone wanted me to talk about something long and boring.

"Dude, I am so not good and math or science, but maybe if I listen to you I'll learn something," He laughed good-naturedly and then smiled wide, "Plus, I have a good 45 minutes to kill! So, teach me, Donnie-sensei!"

I blurted out a laugh and shook my head. He was laughing just like he smiled, bubbly and brightly. It's hard to believe a person like him exists!

"Okay, I'll just start at the beginning of this chapter, okay? It talks about Earth's rotation and gravity," I began and blinked when I noticed he had eyes only on me, listening intently like he would someone's secret.

And for the first time in my life, it felt like I had a genuine friend. A friend that wasn't my crush, April.

After that Mikey came to the library more often and I realized it was at least once a week, but what I failed to notice was the reason why.

(A/N: Refers to the short discussion when everyone meets Mikey in Chapter 3)

~FLASHBACK ENDS~

I blinked and felt two lone tears trail down my cheeks. I always acted like I was so annoyed by Mikey back then, but he was just there and talked to me; most of all, he let me talk to him. He let me explain things to him that he never understood, but he knew that I loved those things. I used to be annoyed by how loud he was or persistent he was to talk when I just wanted to focus on my work.

When I met Mikey again at Sensei's house, I had no idea why he had actually gone to see me at the library those days. He did it because his foster mom was going to doctor appointments or chemotherapy treatments. However back then I never asked him how he was, I never noticed that he was forcing himself to be distracted.

He's not just my brother, no…I should have seen before that he's not only my brother, but my best friend. He's always listened to me even if he didn't care or understand the topic. He never judged me for my interests, which have almost nothing to do with what teenagers my age should be interested in. He never fails to ask me how I'm doing and he's one of the first to notice something off about me.

A knock at my door made me jump and bump my elbow against the wall. I hissed in pain as my elbow stung and Leo peeked his head through my door, "You okay? I heard you gasp or something."

"Nothing I…just hit my elbow," I replied miserably, rubbing my elbow. Leo paused before coming into the room and shutting the door. I rose an eyebrow at him as he sat down at the end of my bed, "What?"

"You haven't been acting like yourself since the whole Xever thing," Leo pointed out and my eyes widened. I thought he didn't notice, "I didn't say anything before because I knew you didn't want everyone's attention on you. I think Raph's so relieved about the plan that he didn't notice though."

"I don't blame him," I replied honestly, "And thanks for not calling me out."

"Of course," He smiled slightly before looking a bit worried, "But what's wrong? Aren't you excited about tomorrow? We're finally getting Mikey back!"

"Yeah, I definitely am! It's just…after Xever started talking about Mikey being locked in that room and how he was doing…I can't stop thinking about him," I revealed, staring down at my lap as a wave of sadness washed over me.

"Me too," Leo whispered before sighing loudly, "I'm just glad we can finally do something about this though. Is…. there anything you want to talk about?"

I looked up at him in slight surprise. I could tell that Leo was used to this and then remembered that Leo was used to being around kids so he probably was a good listener as well. I smiled a little at the mental image, "I was just thinking about how much I missed him and then remembered when he used to come to me in the library after school sometimes."

Leo's eyes widened a bit, like he remembered when he first met Mikey officially, and then he smiled, "And those are good memories right?"

"Yeah…or…" I trailed off, feeling sadness eating at me all over again, "Or they would…if I didn't remember how much of a jerk I used to be to him back then."

Leo's look shifted into one of confusion, "That's hard to believe. What do you mean?"

"Well that was our last year of middle school and I was getting bullied by Casey Jones and Shawn…" I said and Leo's eyes darkened about the reminder that Shawn used to bully me, "I didn't have any friends other than April because I was much smarter than them and would say stuff that pissed them off. I was often depressed and bitter about it. I didn't like going home because Shawn was there so I did my homework in the library."

"I see…" Leo smiled a little and I smiled sadly in return.

"It was the only time I could focus on something I really loved: science. But soon Mikey started coming in the library. At first, he just wanted to talk to me, because there was hardly anyone else there and I was pretty snappy or sarcastic with him. He'd leave after half an hour and I wouldn't think twice about it. But then he kept coming back to talk to me and I realized it was usually once a week and usually on Tuesdays….."

"I can understand why you were snappy with him. Mikey's excitable and you just wanted to focus," Leo concluded and I shrugged, not sure what to say, "Did something happen?"

"Yes and no," I replied, looking away sadly, "The more Mikey came the more I got used to it, but I'd still get annoyed because I didn't want to talk, I just wanted to do my homework. But one day he surprised me, he asked me about my homework and what I was reading, asking me to explain to him what the chapter was about. I was shocked because no one cared to listen to me when I talked about academics or facts I learned, but he was genuine about. He even mentioned how he noticed how much notes I wrote and how much I highlighted. It was then that I realized that he didn't mind how much I studied and that he really cared that I loved science; and that even though he wouldn't understand it, he wanted to hear about it because he knew I loved science."

"Don…" Leo replied sadly and I froze when he placed a hand on my knee. I realized that tears were running down my face again. I tried to gulp my emotions down but they felt stuck to my throat. More tears burned my eyes.

"E-Even if it was only once a week…i-it felt as though I had a b-best friend that wasn't a girl or someone I crushed on. He felt like my first best friend," I spoke thickly and Leo frowned even more if it were possible, "I'd never really had that feeling before. But now that I know him better, I realized that not only did he come to the library because he wanted to talk to me….he was avoiding going home to an empty house. His mom was getting treatments and going to appointments. I was so inconsiderate….I-I never asked him how he was…I n-never noticed….Leo, I never noticed that he was hurting too or that he was upset about something!"

"Donnie…"

"And to think that I still snapped at him in hopes he'd leave so I could study!" I cried, hiding my face in my hands. The floodgates opened and, even though I wanted to, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. I cried like I hadn't cried in a while. Leo just leaned forward and wrapped his hands around me, "A-And all I can think about is how much I miss him! T-That he's not only my brother now…but he's m-my best f-friend….Leo…"

"I know Donnie. I'm sorry you're hurting," Leo spoke smoothly, like he wasn't bothered at all by having to comfort me. He was like a pro at being a big brother and it just made me feel loads better just from him comforting me, "We'll get Mikey back and you can tell him all this, okay? I bet Mikey never, not even once, saw you as snappy or a jerk or anything other than someone he wanted to talk to."

"He probably looked forward to seeing you one a week," A new voice added and we both turned to see Raph standing there, his eyes shining with raw emotion that I was shocked to see, "Hope ya aren't mad, but the door was open a crack and I heard some of that. Leo's right about Mikey and I'm sorry I didn't see that ya were hurtin'."

"That's okay. I get that you were excited. I didn't really want anyone to know," I sniffed, pulling away blushing at having cried like that in front of them both.

"We've all been there, okay Donnie? We don't think any differently of ya," Raph quipped as he smirked and walked over to me right beside us, his green eyes piercing through my brown eyes, "I wouldn't think differently of ya even if ya told me ya break into people's houses."

I paused and Leo froze as well, "What the hell, Raph?" Leo then laughed and I joined him as Raph just continued smirking at us, "I don't think I'd think different of you, Donnie, but I would definitely not like that!"

"Me either!" I chuckled, wiping my eyes, "Thanks Raph. Thanks Leo."

"No problem. Like I said, we've all been there," Raph grinned before stretching his arms above his head, "Now, I was wonderin' why Leo suddenly called for a break on sparrin'. Do ya guys wanna go continue?"

Leo looked at me and I looked at him before I shrugged, "Sure, we haven't been able to do a team spar in a while."

I had to keep myself from smiling too much when they smirked like excitable idiots. They really do love fighting…

LINEBREAK

The Next Day

Michelangelo's Point of View:

The next time I woke up, I was looking angrily at Xever, who was hovering above me. I hadn't slept much during my stay here so far and I didn't even care if he was here to do something or say something to me…I was just angry that he was waking me up.

A dude needs his beauty rest!

"Get up, kid, I have something important to say and not a lot of time to say it," Xever grumbled, shaking my arm a little. I glared up at him and sighed tiredly.

"Can't you come say it another time?" I questioned lazily, my eyes already closing again. I have never felt this tired in my entire life. No joke.

"There won't be another time," He replied seriously, "Your family and friends are going to be here in a few hours to rescue you."

My eyes snapped open but it felt like my heart stopped, "WHAT?!"

I sat up straight in bed so fast everything glazed over for a few seconds and I fell back on my elbows. Xever stayed where he was looking uncomfortable and kept glancing at the door. He shushed me loudly, looking panicked, "Don't be so loud! I was just giving you a heads up! I don't know any details, but I know this much."

"W-What do you mean? What the heck?!" I gasped, my eyes widening, "How do you know? Is this just a trick?!"

"No, it's not. I…can't say much more," Xever shifted his eyes down and I felt confused. If he could tell me that much then why couldn't he say more, "It isn't safe for me to say more. It's suspicious…the others will wonder why I'm in here so long."

"Should you hit me or something to make it look like you're taunting me?" I questioned, tilting my head before jumping when he glared down at me.

"Hell no. Anyways, Master doesn't want us to mess with you," He answered, looking somewhat disturbed. I rose an eyebrow.

"I don't care what Shredder wants or what he thinks. He's crazy! Karai is not coming back here because she's not his daughter!" I huffed, crossing my arms as I lifted my legs and sat up straighter.

"I know…I'm not sure what Master Shredder is thinking…things were okay the way they were and he just….let them fall apart because of his obsession with the Hamato family," Xever said lowly, his eyes drooping with a sadness that surprised me.

"So, you liked it better when you stole and beat up people for him?" I retorted sarcastically, hopping to take his mind off what was making him sad. Xever chuckled a little.

"Basically, yeah. I was good at it and because of it I was taken care of. I didn't have to worry about my next meal or if I'd have a roof over my head when it stormed or got cold. Someone like you and your group wouldn't understand why I do what I do….but I do have morals…" Xever explained, crossing his arms midway through the conversation and turned halfway away from me. I frowned.

"I don't really like the way you live your life…but I kinda understand why you do it. And you're not totally bad, after all, you don't hit kids or women," I trailed off, messing with the sheets between my fingers. Xever looked over at me before shrugging and looking away.

"Yeah…any idiot should know that's taboo but not everyone cares," He replied and I nodded, "I need to go before anyone gets suspicious. Good luck."

I blinked, "Good luck? What do you mean by good luck?"

He only grinned and went out of the room. I felt my heart rate pick up and thought about my family. They were coming to get me soon….so they had a plan? I can't really do much but wait because there is no way out other than the locked door…but you need a key and I have nothing to pick a lock with.

I sighed and looked around the room. At least I'd get to see my family…hopefully…I mean they would have a good plan and everything…but what were they going to do about the ninja dudes that Shredder has in his clan? Leo and Sensei could take them…but Raph and Don haven't been training as much as Leo…but maybe they can still fight without getting hurt.

Standing up, I wiped my palms on my pants before looking around, wondering what in the world I was going to do before my family comes. When exactly would they come? Will I just have to wait till MAYBE they spring me out? Am I just supposed to stay here until I hear something? I wish I knew more…but how did Xever even know that much?

I turned towards my bed and considered everything I had been told when I sat back down on my sheets. A glimmer in the sheets made me pause and raise an eyebrow. What in the shell? I moved my hands across the sheets and stood up, grabbing the sheets and ripping them off the bed. A noise like a dime hitting the floor sounded and I looked behind me, shock to see a small silver object spinning before falling flat on the floor. I dropped the sheets on my bed and got on my knees. What I saw shocked me.

It was a key. A shiny silver-grayish colored key. What the shell is a key doing in my bed? I grabbed it and then looked at the door. When I walked towards the door, I could see immediately that it could fit.

"No way….did he-" I cut myself off before I could say the words out loud. Xever woke me up…he was shaking my arm…did he purposefully drop the key or did it accidentally drop there? No…there's no way that was an accident because Xever wouldn't keep the key in a place that would be easy to drop! He left it there for me!

"That means I can get out at the right time…" I whispered gleefully to myself as I smiled down at the object. Small tears bloomed in my eyes as I thought about how I'd see my family again, actually see them again, for the first time in what felt like forever!

I was gonna get out of the white-walled jail!

LINEBREAK

Donatello's Point of View:

"Guys!" Miwa came running into the main room, where my brothers, Sensei, and I were sitting in the pit with Nakano, going over the map one more time. Miwa had stepped out to call the others for us and make sure they knew to meet us at Mr. Murakami's in a couple of hours.

"What's wrong?" Leo jumped up the second he noticed the look on Miwa's face. He rushed over to her and put an arm around her as she looked panicked at the rest of us.

"I called the others and I learned that Casey, April, and Mondo are catching a ride together with Leatherhead. Then I called Slash and he told me some bad news so I promised I'd come to tell you instead of him making another call to Raph and-"

"Miwa, please calm down," Sensei comforted, looking slowly freaked out, "What is wrong with Slash? Did he discover something?"

"Yeah!" She gasped out and Raph stood up, surprising me with how quickly he moved, "But don't worry Raph, the Purple Dragons are okay…it's just that they went ahead to Murakami's to spy on Shredder's building…they actually saw something," Miwa explained as quickly as she could without losing breath.

"What did they see?" I fretted, standing up beside Raph. The panic on her face was making me nervous. What did they see? Was it something about Mikey?!

"It was the Shredder and a bunch of guys in suits. Slash was a bit wary so he ordered Shawn to casually stroll by to hear some of what they were saying. Shawn had just gotten back when I called and said that the Shredder was making plans to leave!" Miwa ranted while Leo's eyes widened. Raph and I gasped.

"WHAT?!" Raph yelled, his hands curling into fists at the same time Leo's did. My chest suddenly felt tight and I went cold.

"Shawn heard how Shredder was making plans to branch out his business and how he was going to take his 'son and daughter' with him!" Miwa replied frantically.

"But what about the exchange?!" Nakano demanded, his eyes wide, "He was going to give us Michelangelo for you!"

"He must have figured out that we would never hand Miwa over," Sensei replied in an oddly calm manner, "We cannot wait any longer to rescue Michelangelo. No matter what, it had to be today."

"Slash said he'd text the others with what he's learned…. hopefully Leatherhead will stay calm enough…" Miwa trailed off, leaning her head on Leo's shoulder, "I'm so sorry that he's doing this. I…I really didn't think he'd take things this far…"

"Do not worry, my daughter, by the end of the day he is going to be in a jail cell," Sensei soothed, his eyes narrowed in a glare, "I will not let him take anything else away from me."

"Did Xever not know about this?" I asked slowly, trying to calm myself down. Raph looked at me from the corner of his eye and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Who knows…probably not. Shredder's crazy," He said angrily and I nodded, feeling my hands shake. I shoved them in my pockets.

"Well, in a couple of hours, we can leave for Mr. Murakami's. I'm going to make a call real quick," Sensei said in a mysterious tone. He left without another word and we looked at each other in confusion.

"Let's go spar," Miwa piped up, looking determined, "I can show you guys a few moves that are common among the Foot."

"That'd be helpful," Leo smiled at her, half hugging her while Raph pretended to gag. I rolled my eyes and Nakano shook his head at us. Leo and Miwa left with a groaning Raph and I made to follow them until Nakano grabbed my arm.

"Donnie, I know that you've been taking this harder than anyone…" He trailed off, looking uncertain in that way he did whenever he tried to have a 'fatherly' moment with us. I blinked at him, "I'm not good at telling anyone my business…in that way you are alike to me…. but if you ever want to say something…I just want you to know that you can tell me too."

"Thanks Nakano…" I whispered and watched as he smiled brightly like Mikey would.

I looked at his hand on my arm and felt warm instead of cold. I smiled, realizing how much I've been loved since I met Mikey for the first time and connected with Raph because of Leo.

Hope you enjoyed! I liked Donnie's first memory of Mikey! It's like in the 2003 and 2012 versions referencing how Donnie and Mikey are like best friends! I think that they are cutest in the 2003 version because in the 2012 version Donnie just seems annoyed with Mikey more than anything but there are times when he's the first to call out his name when he's in trouble.

Anyway! I can't wait to see what you guys think...I left it off like that because the next chapter is where all the action is! STAY AWESOME!