Disclaimer: I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in any shape, way, or form!

He had been like this for about fifteen minutes now as Mikey sat with one arm clutched around his knees holding them to his chest as the other held the remote for the television. He sat on the crisp hard concrete floor of the lair with his favorite queen sized orange blanket he got for Christmas last year, his eyes glued to the images shown in front of him. The young turtle came across about a three month old news recording that Donnie had set up for Leo and their Sensei. He was mesmerized in that gut wrenching, heart clenching kind of way that made him terrified to look away thinking that in the back of his head if he did, then something else horrible would go wrong in the world.

So Mikey continued to watch with wide sky bright blue eyes and little gasps of breath when more information on the story was revealed.

He hadn't meant to go looking for bad news, he hadn't even meant to turn on the television but he also never meant to have trouble sleeping that caused the issue of boredom to rise which lead to his current predicament. The youngest turtle could have read some comics instead or played a video game of sorts but he had just wanted some kind of mindless background noise to help put him to sleep again so he settled down on the living room's couch and threw on a random recording. Albeit, Mikey didn't know at the time that moments later he would be tossing sleep out a window the lair didn't have.

Forward, stop. Watch. "49 people killed…"

Rewind, stop. Re-watch. "49 people killed…gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida…June 12th…"

Pause. Gasp. Continue. "…53 others injured…hate crime…terrorist attack…"

Continue. "…worst mass shooting in America…"

The story went on for another ten minutes or so with a newscaster explaining every detail that happened in Orlando until…

"Michelangelo."

The youngest turtle flinched hard at hearing his name being called, being pulled out of his thoughts of confusion, fear, and anger. Before turning around to greet his oldest brother, Mikey quickly held the remote back to the T.V. and turned it off, wiping some tears off his now pale green cheeks in the process.

"L-Leo…" his voice cracked as he peeked over the edge of his shoulder to meet Leo's hard to read posture.

"What are you doing?" the eldest sternly and skeptically asked, eyes narrowing a bit. It seemed to Mikey that Leo had already caught on to what he was doing before he turned the T.V. off and Leo's words were more or less a why kind of question rather than a what.

Mikey glanced down for a second, guiltily, before responding with, "I-I couldn't sleep."

Leo let out a sigh that almost made him looked 50 years older but Mikey knew every single one of his brothers sighs as they were usually always directed at him and he could tell it wasn't one of those long suffering kind he usually got when he pulled a prank but rather a somewhat concerned breath of air.

The eldest turtle made his way over to the couch and patted a cushion beside him as he indicated for Mikey to follow his lead. Mikey did as instructed, taking his gigantic fluff of a blanket with him when he slowly stood up and made his way over and sat down. The younger turtle leaned his head into the pit of Leo's side as the said brother wrapped his own arm around Mikey's shoulders comfortably.

There was silence as the two brothers sat together, Mikey bringing up his blanket to his chin and Leo, patiently waiting for his brother to talk. After trying to snuggle impossibly deeper into Leo's side some more Mikey asked, "Is that what you and Master Splinter always watch at night? New stories like that one?"

Leo took a second to look at his brother thoughtfully before humming an affirmative response.

"Why?" Mikey asked, a little more than heart broken. He couldn't understand the need to watch such devastating news before bed. The feeling of not being able to help any of those people picked at his unbreakable spirit, ripping small pieces away until he felt a little lost for the first time in this great grand world.

"We like to keep up to date with what's going on in the world outside of New York City."

Mikey nodded, thinking things through. He could understand that, sure. There definitely was more to the world than their city and the sewer system. How else were they supposed to find out if World War III was about to erupt? But there were hundreds of recordings of these devastating news stories and Mikey for the life of him couldn't understand how Leo and his father could watch so much and still sleep soundly at night.

"Okay so…how do we stop it?"

Leo gave a questioning look.

"You know…how do we stop people from getting hurt again?"

If Leo's grip tightened around his little brother's arm from the tension he was now radiating, Mikey didn't comment. Bless Mikey's nothing but innocent question. Leo can see all the sincerity a sixteen year old kid could muster about wanting to stop the bad from happening in their world and Leo was at a loss of how to answer.

They were still fresh out of the oven in conducting evening patrols and Mikey had just shone a bit of light on one of the world's darkest moments. Leo had always been afraid that if his kid brother discharged too much of his light to the world, the darkness would be attracted to it and swallow him whole. It's the very reason Leo tried to protect Mikey as long as he could from seeing such things on the news but he knew it wouldn't last forever. He'd always make sure to turn the T.V. off or switch the channel as he sensed Mikey's presence too near. Leo just thought he could buy his youngest brother some more time to do things a sixteen year old should be doing like skateboarding, video-games, and watching cartoons. He certainly hadn't plan on revealing such darkness of the world to Mikey so soon and suddenly.

"Leo?" Mikey asked, worriedly, after Leo took a minute too many to answer.

"Well…we can start by helping the people here in New York City."

"How?"

"We'll keep up on the local news, see what's happening around town and do whatever we can that's within our power to protect people from each other or from themselves. Does that sound good?" Leo asked warmly, rubbing his once stiff arm up and down Mikey's as the younger turtle hummed in thought.

"Yeah, yeah okay! And what about the rest of the people outside of New York City? There's a way to protect them too right?"

The invisible hand around Leo's heart clenched as he forced himself to swallow the pain of answering his brother's question.

"Yes there is," Leo trailed off at seeing the joy illuminate Mikey's eyes, "but we can't do it," and just like that Mikey's face dropped into mixed emotions as Leo decided to quickly continue his explanation. "We can't be everywhere at once, little brother. Trust me if we could, we would. We'd help everyone in every country but we don't have that kind of power."

"So how can others be protected then?" Mikey asked in a small voice, clenching and unclenching the blanket in front of him.

"By people with the same intentions as you. Trust me Mikey, there's a lot of good people out there willing to protect who they can too," Leo said softly.

Mikey nodded, seeming to be contempt with that answer and the two brothers let silence fall like a layer of snow as the youngest turtle gathered his thoughts. Leo waited patiently, as usual, ready to continue answering any questions his brother might have. He'd make sure to ease Mikey's worries before the sun broke through at dawn.

"Why did that guy hurt and kill so many people in Orlando?"

Leo almost flinched at the abruptness of the question. He thought back to that night in June when he watched breaking news flash in bold white letters against a red banner on screen as newscasters talked about the horrific night. Leo remembers how the body count didn't stop at one or two or five. It went all the way to 49 lives being taken away from this world and an additional 53 others being injured and Leo couldn't understand himself how someone could just do that out of hate and anger.

"Remember what Master Splinter always tells us? People fear what they cannot understand. Like us. But I believe that anger plays a huge factor as well. In this situation, the shooter didn't understand how anyone could love whoever they want, whether that meant girls loving other girls or boys loving boys. It went against his own belief system and it angered him to the point where he was consumed and blinded by it. And having that kind of hate and close mindedness cost 49 people to lose their lives."

Mikey remained frozen in unnerving silence as voices whispered around the lair that it's not fair, it's not right before shaking his head a bit, realizing that it was his voice in his head saying those words over and over again. He imagined someone walking through a dark cave to the only bright milk light they could see. They didn't know what was at the end of the tunnel but once they got there the cave opened to a beautiful kind of utopia. Trees that glistened against the sun's ray, forest green grass that swayed with movement of the wind, the bluest river in the world that laid past a couple of hills, and mountains that looked like they'd been carved out of a pastel piece of artwork filled the horizon.

But this stranger that Mikey made up didn't see any of it. What they saw was pollution that turned the sun red, noises that made their ears itch from critters and animals' alike, dehydrated plants and trees, and grass too muddy to be able to walk through properly. This stranger in Mikey's head was so furious at how disgusting this utopia turned out to be that he couldn't see past the small details and look at the bigger picture. And because they were unable to do that, they burned it all to the ground with a flick of a fiery red cigarette lighter. All the beauty that the world had to offer was gone in the matter of seconds, just like those who had lost their lives. They were brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, cousins, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, husbands, the list goes on and on. They were a part of this world and someone had a selfish impulse to rip them away from living the rest of their lives. From this world. From us. And. It. Was. Not. Fair.

Mikey could only see red for a second and quickly thought maybe that's the kind of thing his hotheaded brother goes through before starting a violent streak.

"…ey…"

Mikey shakes his head to clear the images he's imagined up.

"Mikey?" He hears Leo ask again, with concern as deep as a sea lacing a simple word.

"I'm okay."

Leo glances downward. "You're shaking, little brother, and you're lying."

Mikey nods and accepts defeat. How his eldest brother could always see right through him he'd probably never know. He's just now noticed he's been crying, silently, as he found a few water droplets soak through his blanket and feels the crisp air hit tear trials that stretched down his cheeks.

Mikey wipes his face with the crook of his arm hastily and asks, "T-they must have family and stuff right? How can they move on from something like this?"

Mikey, never having lost someone he loved as he only had three brothers and his Sensei, couldn't even think about losing one of them. It would tear him to pieces and that burning light that Leo wanted to protect so damn much would be put out possibly forever.

"They grieve," Leo pauses, "they mourn, and then life goes on." Leo said it as warmly and soft as chocolate chip cookies are when they come fresh out of the oven. "They move on but they never forget. They'll maybe pray, light candles, finish projects or do activities their loved ones use to do in remembrance. They'll still talk to them in the skies, in pictures, anywhere really. Just because they're physically gone doesn't mean their spirit is. So we strive to be the best we can be for them and for ourselves. We try to live our life to the fullest in honor of theirs. Think you can do that for them too?"

Mikey looks back up towards Leo, his lip trembling in the slightest. "What if my best isn't good enough?"

Leo was taken aback like he'd been stung in the middle of his forehead by a bee, he flinches. And Leo never flinches. "Oh Mikey…" he trails of with so much emotion it would probably drown Raph. He felt sick to his core, why would Mikey ask something like that? Didn't he know how amazing he already was?

Leo moves to push his brother off of him and up right so that they're both sitting face to face on the couch now. The older turtle gently cupped Mikey's chin as he tilted it upward to meet innocent childlike eyes.

"Mikey. Your best will always be good enough. Do you understand?" Leo asked in such a tone that the younger turtle knew better not to go against his better judgement. So Mikey nodded and gave small thankful smile for his older brother's trust and belief in him.

"Good, and if you ask me, you're already always at your best so you can only improve from here. Don't let anyone make you think otherwise, got it?"

Mikey lets out a small strangled yet genuine chuckle. "Okay, got it."

"Good."

Leo lets go of Mikey's chin in favor of patting the top of his head instead. He wraps his arm back around his brother's shoulders and pulls him to lay down again.

"Leo, you said people light candles in remembrance right? Do you think we can light one tomorrow for them?"

Leo didn't have to ask that Mikey was talking about the victims of the Orlando shooting so he says as he hugs Mikey close to his chest and buries his head in the crook of his younger brother's neck, "Mikey we can light all the candles your heart desires," and Mikey sighs in contempt.

"Thank you Leo…for everything." For being here tonight, for being there for me yesterday, and for tomorrow. Thank you for being one of the best big brothers anyone could ask for, Mikey thinks to himself, his cheeks darkening in a red undertone wondering how he got the best family in the whole world.

Leo hugs Mikey even tighter, if possible, in acknowledgment as if he's trying to shield Mikey just one more night from the world before falling asleep.

Yes there's a lot of bad and evil in the world…but Mikey thinks, before following Leo's lead and passing out himself, that there's a crap ton of good too and at the end of the day we can't forget that.

END.

Hey everyone! I haven't updated in a while and I do sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart and would buy you all ice cream if I could. This story comes from the request of Jenasisity. I apologize again for taking so long to write this. To tell you the truth I wrote a whole other story for the victims of Orlando the very day of the shooting because it was the same day I saw that request but I scratched all of it. I thought it was too soon to be writing about it so I wanted a couple days to pass out of respect and then I just decided to go a different way with a different story (this story). If you guys want, I have more than half of the other story finished on my laptop, and I can still post it but it's a situational story that resembles what happened in Orlando and it has Mikey watching like these three people (including Casey Jones) going into a restaurant when they heard shots fire and how the younger turtle admired the hell out of them and what he does in that kind of situation so yeah let me know if you guys want that story!

Also I made this story kind of long, in hopes of forgiveness for taking a while to write it. I know it doesn't talk about those who risked their own lives to save others but I wanted to show a young innocent kid getting advice from his brother after learning about a horrific event for the first time and what people do or how they move on. But this story is dedicated to all 49 lives lost and to the other 53 who were injured. My heart will forever go out to them and their loved ones. Thank you Jenasisity for your request that gave me this idea.

I will take requests if anyone would like to see a particular story! Also I have a huge question to ask everyone. When readers review…do you as the writer respond to their reviews? Do readers like that? Every time I review I never expect an answer back but am always surprised and grateful when I do. I was just curious as to how everyone goes about that because I don't tend to respond to reviews but I totally can! Please let me know your thoughts!

Last thing, I promise, thank you for bearing with me this far, but I would like to take this moment to thank all the readers, followers, favoriters (not a word oh well), and reviewers ! Thank you all for your input and support! I appreciate it so much and it helps me keep in shape as a writer! I hope you all enjoyed this story as well and the next one will be a lighter subject (something about Mikey having a solution to a zombie apocalypse for him and his brothers and poor Donnie has to deal with it). Make sure to have a great week!

-A Damsel in Distress