Shocked; that was the first and only word that actually came to mind.

I was shocked, watching Mikey crumble to the ground, helpless. We weren't fast enough to help him, and now that showed, snot and bile all over his pants and shirt; but I didn't care. I kept my arms tightly locked around him, trying to offer him some kind of support; support he clearly needed.

"Raph?" Don asks uncertain, not daring to move, box still in his hand.

"Get it to ta kitchen and call dad and Leo" I snap suddenly, now with Leo gone I was the oldest brother, and I'll be damned if I fucked this up right now. Don seems surprised for a moment before he nods, hurrying away with the box and the dead mouse that was inside of it.

And I still had no idea what it meant.

"Mikey!" I bark, shaking him slightly and releasing the hug. "Listen to me, it's gonna be 'kay" I insist but Mikey shakes his head, bursting out in tears once again. I couldn't even blame him, whatever that box meant, whatever that mouse meant, it was bad. It meant something to him, something personal.

"Mikey!" I try again, taking hold of his face and forcing him to look at me. Terrified eyes focus on me, tears continuously streaming down his face, but it seemed to calm him down. "Let's get ya cleaned up" I continue, slowly and carefully standing up to avoid scaring him. He complies, allowing me to haul him up.

Neither of us say anything, and I silently listen to Don's frantic voice coming from behind me.

I don't even bother going up the stairs, instead going straight to dad's room. I drag Mikey into the bathroom, immediately turning on the shower.

I hesitate for a couple of seconds but Mikey seems unresponsive to anything. Tears not streaming down his face anymore but still lingering in his eyes, and an awful smell resonating through the room. I grimace, walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder, shaking him a bit. Still; no response.

"'m sorry" I mumble as an apology before reaching for his shirt, and helping him out of the fabric. Still he doesn't respond or move at all. I wince slightly as I reach for his belt, reminding myself over and over again that it isn't weird for siblings to see each other without clothes, or that I was helping Mikey; nothing more and nothing less.

Still, I was grateful when his arm suddenly moved, stopping me. He looks at me, tears brimming in his eyes.

"N-no… you..." he stops himself, eyes flickering to the door. My eyes fall and I immediately take a step back with my hands raised in the air to show him I wasn't going to do anything.

"I wouldn't Mik-"

"I know, I j-just…" Again he stops before finishing the sentence but I know what he's trying to say, and I know he wants me to leave.

"I will get ya some clean clothes, there are towers in the cabinet" I tell him, pointing at the cabinet next to the toilet. Mikey nods absently, gazing at the floor until the point I leave the room, closing the door. I kept standing there for a few moments, only moving when the door clicked shut; locked.

I squeeze my eyes in frustration, growling low in my throat before turning away, walking out of dad's room and into the living room.

"Ya called?" I ask Don and my immediate younger brother turns around, his eyes red and filled with tears. "Don" I mumble, walking over to him but keeping myself from hugging him as my shirt was still covered with vomit.

"Dad's on his way but he's still 2 hours away, Leo will be here soon" Don mumbles, and I squeeze his shoulder.

"We will get through this little bro" I tell him sternly, leaving no room for objections. "We don't know if they're still out there or who's after 'im in the first place. Make sure all the windows are closed and lock the door. Don't open it unless you're sure it's dad or Leo. Kay?" I ask him and he nods, making the first move as he walks past me, hurrying over to the door.

I feel reluctant leaving him alone right now, even if it's just for a few minutes. But this was serious, whoever did this wasn't joking around. He wanted something, and it had something to do with Mikey.

I hurried upstairs, walking over to Mikey's room and pulling out the first pair of clothes I could find from his closet, a simple pair of sweatpants and a simple black shirt. I look down grimacing at my own clothes and I quickly walk over to my own room, changing into sweatpants as well. I could shower later.

Mikey was more important right now.

TMNT

I carefully knock on the door, frowning as there was no response. I wait a couple of seconds, knocking again but this time a little louder. Water was still flowing in the bathroom but nothing indicated that Mikey was still in the room.

"Mikey?" I call out, checking the door, but it was still locked. So Mikey still had to be in the bathroom. "Mikey I'm coming in" I announce, waiting a few more seconds before twisting the lock from the outside and unlocking it. I wait again, hoping that Mikey would say something but he didn't so I softly pushed open the door.

My face falls at the sight in front of me. Mikey was sitting on the ground, knees drawn to his chest and staring ahead of him with wide terrified eyes, water still falling on top of him. Steam was surrounding the whole room and his eyes were glassy and red. I slowly walk over to the shower, turning off the water.

"Mikey" I call out again but he doesn't respond, so I walk over to the cabinet and grab a towel, wrapping it around him. A shiver wracks through his body and he looks up to me, his eyes still not fully focusing on me but at least he was paying attention. Then slowly he looks down, noticing the towel wrapped around his wet body.

I look him in the eye and he nods slowly, silently telling me it's okay to leave. I smile slightly, squeezing his shoulder before standing up, leaving the clothes I brought him behind and leaving the room again.

"Raph!" I stumbled backwards slightly as two strong arms suddenly wrapped around me, giving me a quick hug before untangling himself again.

"Hey Leo" I mumble, relieved to see my older brother safe at home. "When did ya get here?"

"Just now, Don let me in." Leo tell me, and I gaze at my immediate younger brother for a second, who was sitting on one of the chairs at the table, his hands around a cup of tea. "Where's Mikey?" Leo asks almost hesitantly and I look back at Leo again.

"Showering.. should be done any minute" I tell him, deliberately leaving out the fact that he had been unresponsive in the shower for 15 minutes or so. But from the look on Leo's face I could see that he was suspecting something more. Still, he didn't comment on it.

"What exactly happened?" Leo continued, walking over to the table and sitting down next to Don, while I sat down on the opposite side of Donnie.

"They found me" A quiet voice says, causing the three of us to look at the figure that was standing in the living room, his back to dad's room, and his hair still wet from the shower. Leo didn't verbally react but quickly stood up, walking over to Mikey and pulling him in a quick but tight hug.

Mikey allowed him but he didn't return the hug, after a few seconds Leo released the hug and they both walked to the table, Mikey a bit reluctant. He sat down next to Raph, folding his arms over each other and clearly uncomfortable.

"What do you mean 'they found you'?" Leo asks in a quiet voice and I eye at him with a frown. And it took me a few seconds to understand what he was doing, of course he knew what Mikey meant, the one who forced him into that brothel found him; and that ultimately wasn't the question he wanted answered.

He wanted Mikey to talk; tell them the information that they were missing.

How he ended up there; what the mouse meant; why he spent months without his parents. Every single piece of information that would help us understand and heal Mikey.

"I owe them" Mikey whispers after a moment of silence. "I couldn't pay t-them back because I-I had no money so…" He trails off, but we know what he was going to say. Staying in that brothel, working for them, was paying them back. Money he somehow borrowed from them in the first place.

"Why would you have to pay them back?" Leo asks, again his voice low to avoid freaking him out.

Mikey takes a shuddering breath, looking down at his hands and not speaking for a few minutes. Leo gently reaches across the table, placing his hand on top of Mikey's. The latter flinches but doesn't pull away, locking eyes with his oldest brother, tears gathering in his eyes.

"My p-parents" Mikey eventually clarifies, taking another shuddering breath, looking at me. "My mom got sick when I was nine" He whispers, trying to keep the waver out of his voice. I nod, already knowing this, but encouraging him to continue the tale. Because we all wanted to know what happened.

"We weren't rich y'know, we couldn't afford treatment. But my dad wouldn't accept that.." He stops himself, taking another breath and Leo squeezes his hand to encourage him.

"He borrowed the money from the people working at the brothel" Donnie conducts and Mikey looks at him, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

"Someone who knew the brothel….M-mom was treated for 5 months until…." Again he stops, tears now streaming down his face and he starts to tremble. "She stayed at the hospital for a few days a-and… she could go home on my b-birthday…"

I wrap my arms around him, bringing him closer because I already knew what he was going to say next.

"They g-got hit b-by a c-car…" Mikey hiccups, burying his face in my chest while tears streamed down his face, wetting my shirt.

And they died.

TMNT

"I'm sorry" Mikey mumbles softly, drying his tears with his palm, untangling himself from the hug. I shake my head.

"Don't be, it's not yer fault" I tell him sternly. "Do ya .. want to continue?" I ask him hesitantly and the blond slowly nods, taking a deep breath.

"I was sent to an orphanage after that but.. the man wanted his money back, so he came after me.." He casts his head aside, a scowl on his face and my face falls as I realise what he was doing, trying to pretend like it didn't matter, that it wasn't bad. But I didn't comment on it, allowing him to take his time.

We all stay silent for a moment, patiently waiting. "I don't know how they did it exactly... " He starts, wrapping his arms around himself tightly. "B-but suddenly they didn't have any room for me anymore.. so they kicked m-me out."

From the corner of my eyes I could see Don had tears streaming down his face while Leo's eyes were brimming with them. I slowly reach out, putting a hand on his shoulder but the blond shrugs it off, averting his gaze and looking away from me. I immediately recoil, bringing my hand to my chest.

"What happened afterwards?" Leo quietly asks, refraining himself from reaching out.

Slowly Mikey looks at him, only focusing on Leo. "I-it was winter.. I couldn't find a-any shelter and that when… two guys 'found' me" Mikey scowls again, but there was regret in his eyes, mentally beating himself up. "They offered me a warm home.. I followed them."

He closed his eyes, averting his gaze away from us in shame, trembling on the spot.

"And when they took you in, and you realised what is actually was.. " Donnie starts with a low voice, and Mikey glances at him, tears gathering in his eyes. "It was already too late"

I frown, remembering the conversation me and Mikey had that one day. That they had him locked up on the first few days, to get him to cooperate. The rest knew that that happened to Mikey, and Mikey knew that they knew in return. But now the revelation only seemed worse, being kicked out of house after losing your family, in the middle of the winter

And then people offering you a home, get you out of the cold and you end up being locked away with the premonition of working in a brothel if he calmed down enough.

"Mikey, can I ask you something?" Leo suddenly asks, keeping his voice soft and low. Like he used to do when he talked to me. The blond looks up shyly, tears now once again leaking down his face and his eyes red from the tears. And Leo waits patiently for Mikey to answer, knowing that persisting won't work.

But he doesn't verbally or visibly answer, only looks at Leo with fear and uncertainty. But doesn't complain.

"What does the mouse mean?" So he just asks, his eyes trained on Mikey in anticipation and slight fear.

The mouse..., Don probably showed him when he got home and I was with Mikey. The mouse someone sent to Mikey which obviously held some meaning. Some kind of warning. Mikey swallows visibly, casting his eyes downwards for just a moment, facing Leo again after a few seconds of hesitation.

"It was my name" He states, his voice surprisingly steady. ".. Said I needed a stage name.. and they misspelled my name as Mickey… like Mickey Mouse.. So they called me little mouse"

A silence ensues until Mikey suddenly directs his gaze back to me.

"Are they going to take me again?" He asks, his voice so incredibly small and vulnerable.

"They-.."

"I don't want to.. please don't make me" Mikey murmurs, completely cutting me off. He whimpers suddenly, burying his face in his hands. "Please don't make me… no.." He whimpers, starting to tremble again and sobs wrack through his system.

"Mikey" I say sternly but it doesn't help, obvious to the world around him, sobbing soundly. So I reach forwards, wrapping my arms tightly around him, bringing him closer but it only causes him to cry harder, hysteric sobs against me. I press him tighter against me, muffling his sobs.

"Listen little brother, as long as I'm here to protect you no one will hurt you." I state sternly, rubbing his back soothingly. "Nobody is going to hurt you, I won't allow it. As long as I'm standing nobody will hurt you" I continue to tell him, shushing him.

I rub his back, keeping him close to me. Like Leo did with me, ignoring my complaints and cries of fear as he hugged me, I did the same. But Mikey was just silently enduring it, but I knew he wanted me to release him. Shaking and crying in my hold and so tense that I thought his muscles would snap if he continued like this.

But I never let him go, knowing that it would, hopefully, calm him down.

I look up for a second, Leo's sea blue eyes catching mine and I know he's thinking the same thing. That I was just like him just five years ago. And that my older brother did the exact same thing to me, and that it helped me in the end.

There was only one difference however; he was still in danger while my 'parents' were put in jail, where dad eventually got killed because even criminals didn't support hurting children. His captors were still hunting him, wanting him back, while I was safe from them.

TMNT

"Did he receive the package?" A stern voice asks, narrowing his eyes as he impatiently waits for the answer.

"He didn't open the door, it was his brother" The man says with a satisfied smug, casting a look at the man that was standing next to him. Dirty blond hair which was messily on top of his head, and he wore an old jacket and simple jeans. The man just raises his eyebrows, unimpressed at the bragging.

"He better have gotten it" The first voice says, standing up from behind his desk and walking over to the second man.

"I assure you sir, he lives with them, have been for the last 9 weeks." The man speaks up.

"You better be right Zucco" Again he narrows his eyes, not pleased with the uncertainty. Next to him the blond man snickers and both Zucco and the other man look at him, one angry and the other one pissed at the snicker.

"What's so funny?" Zucco deadpans, looking the blond man straight in the eyes. "You still need to approach the brother"

"I will, don't you worry about Raphael" The blond waves off and Zucco rolls his eyes.

"He's had five years-"

"That's enough" The louder voice shushes them both, and both Zucco and the blond man look at the tall man standing in front of them. "Raphael has had years to recover but he has not seen you in years, he will still be afraid of you" He states, causing the blond guy to smirk at Zucco.

"However you must not underestimate him, and neither should you underestimate the rest of his sons. They will pose a threat" He says, frowning as he walks back to the desk, staring out of the window. "I will deal with my brother"

"Yes Saki" Zucco and the blond guys say simultaneously, silently exiting the room, leaving the first voice alone. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at the rain falling down and he spoke again, to no one in particular.

"I will come for you, I will cause you just as much pain as you've caused me…. Hamato Yoshi"