My Fault

Michelangelo skateboarded into the lair with four large pizza boxes balanced high above his head with one hand. "Attention ladies and gentle turtles, the pizza has arrived!" he announced as he set the four boxes on the dining room table.

When he didn't hear any response after a moment, Mikey started to get a little worried. The first thing he noticed was that Donatello's lab door was actually open! Mikey was unsure whether to be happy or worried, but it was decided for him when he heard voices from Donny's room. Mikey quietly made his way to the door as he listened to the voices inside.

'Is. . .he going to be all right?' that was Raph.

'I. . .hope so.' Leo now. Where they talking about Donny? Well, duh! Who else would it be? But. . .what do they mean 'will he be all right?' and 'I. . .hope so.'?!

Mikey's heart thumbed harder and faster as he quickly made to stand in front of his older brother's door. He looked inside and saw three turtle shapes; two standing, one not. "Donny!" Mikey gasped as he ran to his brother's side.

Leo and Raph quickly turned to see their baby brother run inside the room. All they could do was lower their heads, and hope he had not heard them before. Leo watched the heart wrenching scene as Mikey kneeled next to Donny's bed and took his hand; a shocked look coming to his face when he felt the fever.

Raphael decided it was best that he let Leo deal with the questions as he walked out to get a cool wash cloth for his brainy, but stupid brother.

"What's wrong with him, and what do you mean you hope he'll be okay?!" Mikey's voice cracked with anger as he looked up at his eldest brother, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

'Shell. . .' Leo thought as he once again lowered his head and closed his eyes. 'I was really hoping he didn't hear that.' Leo took a deep breath and met his brother's eyes once more. "Mike, he'll be okay. He just needs to rest."

"That's not what you said before! You don't need to lie to me Leo! I'm the youngest, but I'm not stupid!" Mikey shouted as tears began to fall down his cheeks. He tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to him, 'Argh! Stop it! He's never gonna believe me if I keep crying like a baby!'

"I'm not lying to you Mike." Leo said softly. "I'm just trying to stay optimistic. I don't think he's in any danger of dying, especially if we get his fever down."

"Then. . ." Mikey sniffed, "What did you mean before?"

Leo sighed, "I was saying I don't know if he would be okay mentally Mikey. He still blames himself for what happened to Master Splinter. That's why he's not eating or sleeping, and that's why he's sick right now. It could be that when he gets 'better' he'll fall into these same old habits."

"And he'll get sick again." Mikey finished Leo's statement quietly as he held onto Don's hand tighter. It was quiet for a long time, the silence felt like a great weight crushing the two conscious turtles. Then a small voice broke the silence, "I can't do this anymore."

Leo was shocked so much that he didn't respond right away, so Mikey continued. "I just can't Leo. I try so hard to be the 'funny one'; to keep everyone's hopes up. I try so hard to keep Raphael from going to the surface too much by being stupid so he wastes his energy on me. I try to keep you from being so distant and locking yourself in the dojo for hours on end. And I try really hard to keep Donny from working too hard and locking himself in his lab." Mikey was sobbing by this point as he rested his head on his brother's hand. "Look how well I did that. He's been locked in his lab for almost a week. I couldn't do anything for him, and now he's sick. He wouldn't even listen to me!"

Raph was outside the door listening for quite some time, he felt so stupid that he didn't see his baby brother's pain. 'I'm striking out big time here.' He thought as he squared his shoulders and walked into the room. He saw Mikey kneeled down on the floor - sobbing into the comforters - and Leo looking like a deer in the headlights. 'Nice going, Fearless.' Raph carefully leaned over Mikey and placed the cold cloth on Don's forehead; then he steeled his nerves for what he was about to do. He first shot Leo a glare that said 'Not a word,' then leaned down behind his sobbing baby brother. He placed his hands on Mike's shell and gently pulled him into a sitting position. The orange one resisted as first, but soon relented and allowed himself to be turned around somewhat.

Without warning, Mikey latched onto his brother as his tears increased. Raph was shocked at first, but recovered as he quickly wrapped his arms around Mikey's shell and rocked him back and forth. "It's okay Mike. It's not your fault. Shh. . .it's okay." He whispered into his baby brother's ear as he tried to calm him down. He stole a glance to Leo who had moved to sit on the bed and fidget over Donny. 'Strange, I always took Donny to be the 'Mother Hen' type.'

"I just can't do this," Mike sobbed weakly into Raph's plastron.

"Shh. . .you don't have to Mike. Me and Leo will take of things."

"It's just hard. . .trying to act like nothing's wrong." He hiccupped before continuing. "I miss Master Splinter. I want him to come back, and I want Donny to be okay again. Why can't things just go back to the way they were?! Why can't things just stay fixed?!" he shouted angrily as he tried to push away from his older brother.

Raph beat him to it though, sensing his anger and tightening his hold against his fleeing brother. "Shh. . .it's okay Mike. We'll make it better. Everything will be normal again. You'll see," he said as he looked up at Leo who looked back with equally sad eyes. They both knew that they were making promises they couldn't keep – even though they wanted to so badly. They didn't even know if Splinter was alive or not. They figured Mikey knew it as well; he wasn't stupid as he said, but he was the most optimistic out of all of them, so just maybe that little pep talk would spur his fire again. Anything to get him to smile.


Hope you enjoy. This is on hold until I figure out how I want to end it. XD Suggestions are always welcomed.

TMNT is not mine. Ths is purely fanmade! Not for profit.