"Are you okay?" I ask, walking over to the edge of the water and looking down at the mop of blond hair. Mikey frowns slightly, turning away from me.
"I'm fine Leo, stop worrying so much" He says, a bitter undertone in his voice. I sigh, closing the short distance that was still between us and sitting down next to him. He was currently sitting on the grass, near the water in Miyuki's garden. The lake was made artificially and the grass suddenly stopped to make way for the water.
It was like stepping into a swimming pool, and the lake was immediately up to the waist when you stepped in. But for moments like this it was perfect. Despite it being quite early in the year, it was really warm and nice outside. And over the past few days we had come here often to either swim or sit on the edge with our feet in the water.
"I always worry little bro" I say with a slight grin on my face and he sighs as well, the scowl on his face disappearing. It never suit him in the first place. He had always meant to be a happy kid, it was who he was at nature. But his childhood ruined that for him, ruined the chance to be truly happy.
"Where's the rest?" Mikey asks suddenly and I look at him.
"Eiichi is upstairs with Raph. Don and Miyuki are getting groceries and dad is with the police" I tell him and he nods, not really knowing what to say.
"Are you scared Leo?" He asks and I look at him again, a confused expression on my face. "I mean.. are you scared that he will come for us again?" Despite him not saying the name, I knew he was talking about Saki, dad's brother.
"I'm terrified Mikey" I whisper honestly, reaching out for his hand. "Not for myself but for you, for Raph. I'm afraid that he will take you away again, take away Don and dad in the process" I continue, feeling tears burn, begging to be released but I bit them back.
"I'm afraid too, I-..." He stops himself for a moment. "I'm scared to lose you" I glance down at the grass, mindlessly picking it. It still hurt me to hear him say his fears out loud. Even if I was glad he was speaking his mind at all. But Mikey had become family in every sense other than growing up with him.
We were brothers, by blood and bond. And it hurt to know what he had gone through. Both him and Raph, but both were also so incredibly strong. Despite what Zucco forced him to do a week ago in the brothel, despite him forcing to serve another client again, he kept going, he never broke.
He allowed us to help him with tasks he couldn't do when he was injured, allowed us to comfort him when he cried, or when he had nightmares. And in turn he kept smiling, making us laugh despite the whole situation.
"I wouldn't know what I'd do without you Mikey, any of you." I admit but when I looked up at his face I only saw a big grin.
"Don't tell me you're going soft on me fearless" Mikey snickers lightheartedly, and for a second I don't know what to say before the same grin appears on my face.
"Soft?!" I exclaim playfully, reaching out for him but he anticipates it, trying to defend himself. "Do I seem soft to you?" I grin before pushing him forwards. Mikey lets out a little yell before the sound is muffled by him falling into the water. He never shows his head, never rises above the water.
The water was too dirty to look through, especially now someone had jumped in. And for a second I'm worried, until I feel two hands wrap around my ankles. I yell, and before I know it the water completely swallows me up. I shut my eyes instinctively and I come up, spluttering and breathing heavily.
And the only sound that echoes through the air is Mikey's laughter. I snicker, rubbing my eyes and opening them almost hesitantly. Mikey was also drenched, water dripping from his hair and clothes but a big goofy smile was on his face.
"Smart ass" I laugh, slamming my arm across the water to get it in his face.
"Oh it's on" He exclaims, throwing water at me as well.
TMNT
"What happened to you guys?" Raph snorts the moment we walk inside the house, towels tightly wrapped around us to avoid getting too much water inside the house. Mikey looks at me, a grin on his face and I sigh with a smile on my face, shaking my head.
"Water fight" I just tell him, walking past him to head to the shower.
"You kicked his ass right?" Raph snickers behind me and I turn around to see him talking with Mikey instead. The blond nods with a grin, locking eyes with me for a moment.
"Keep telling yourself that" I roll my eyes, walking away and ignoring the snickers and laughter that was coming from behind me. "I take dibs on the shower" I shout back.
"All yours bro!" Mikey yells right back at me, barking out another laugh. I shake my head, walking upstairs to the shower. I don't take long, taking off all the soaked clothes and cleaning up before putting on dry clothes. I don't dare to hog the shower for too long, both for Mikey and for Miyuki's sake.
We were staying at her home after all, and she already had to feed 5 more mouths and get used to 5 people more in the house. So I quickly got out of the shower, allowing Mikey to quickly slip inside as well. I roll my eyes, walking down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"You okay?" I ask as Raph pours hot water into the glass. He looks at me with a confused expression before his eyes travel to the tea that was in between his hands.
"I'm fine" He replies, picking up the glass and turning his back to the counter. "Doctors just advised me to drink something warm during the day and before I go to bed" He explains and I nod. We both walk over to the living area, making ourselves comfortable on the couch.
"No but really, I haven't asked because I know you hate it.. but are you okay?" I ask and as predicted, Raph scowls slightly.
"This ain't just about the cold, is it?" He asks and I shake my head with a slight grin on my face. He sighs. "Well I can't really sleep so no nightmares, but ya knew that" He says and I wince slightly. Of course I did, wouldn't be much of a big brother if I didn't notice. Both because of my duty, and the fact that we slept in the same room.
Miyuki's house may be big but she didn't have an infinite amount of spare room. So the four of us had been sleeping in the guest room, while dad was staying in the study room. It did have its advantages though. Don and I could both monitor Raph and Mikey better while they were sleeping.
Or not sleeping.
"Still not better?" I ask with a grimace and he shrugs, taking a sip of the tea.
"I mean I get a few chunks of sleep, but I can't seem to sleep for hours" He says, sighing and glaring at the tea as if he was angry at the drink for doing everything to him.
"But the cold part…?" I trail off but Raph understood the question nevertheless and he nods.
"I still feel a bit weird, but that's normal apparently. No sign of trouble"
"Who's in trouble?" A new voice suddenly cuts in, revealing Eiichi walking over to us. "It's Raph isn't it?" He grins and Raph scowls, throwing a pillow at him. Eiichi laughs, catching it and laying down on the same couch as I was sitting on, putting the pillow on my leg and making himself comfortable.
"I ain't in no trouble" He says and Eiichi just shrugs.
"Would be a nice change" He snickers before looking up at me. "Why is your hair wet?"
"Mikey and I had a waterfight" I say and Eiichi looks surprised for a moment before a pleased look spreads on his face. Of course he would be, in the past months he had grown fond of Mikey as well, and hearing him playing games was a sign of Mikey getting better, growing past his abuse.
"Mikey won?" He asks and Raph snorts, almost spitting out his tea in the process.
"You put him up to this, didn't you?" I ask, looking at Raph, but my immediate younger brother could only snort louder, shaking his face. "I had hoped you'd have my back, big bro to big bro" I mutter, fake-hurt in my voice as I looked down.
"Hey I'm both the oldest and the youngest remember" Eiichi shrugs. "I'm a neutral party"
"Neutral party my ass" Raph snorts but Eiichi just grins, sitting back up again as I pushed him off. Whereas Eiichi was like my older brother, having grown up with him and Miyuki basically, Raph was more of a best friend to Eiichi. A best family friend somewhat. They weren't as comfortable as brothers.
But Raph seemed to be more comfortable around Eiichi than Casey for example, and even those were inseparable.
"Did dad say when he'd be back?" Mikey announced his presence suddenly, hair still damp just like mine. Again, the roots of his black hair was showing but I didn't pay attention to it. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants despite the weather and a white shirt again.
"Today he said" I answer, looking at Eiichi.
"Have you heard from Miyuki? They've been gone for quite some time" Eiichi frowns, taking out his mobile phone and looking at it. Mikey walked over to the second chair next to Raph, making himself comfortable on it. Before Eiichi could answer however, the sound of the door opening resonated through the room.
"Mom?!" Eiichi called out but his call was answered by Miyuki walking into the living room, carrying two bag of groceries, and followed closely by Don.
"Yea hon?" But Eiichi just shrugs.
"Nothing, didn't know it was you" Miyuki didn't even seem fazed, turning around and taking the groceries to the kitchen next to the living room. For a second I followed her movement but my gaze almost immediately snapped to Don. He seemed tense, but not in an anticipating kind of manner.
His gaze locks with mine, and he seemed to understand my train of thought. I will explain in a moment. He mouthed, glancing at Mikey so I could see it. I frown slightly, so whatever he was worried about concerned Mikey. Or at least, he didn't want Mikey hearing it right now, or not at all.
"So why's your hair all wet?" He asks, glancing between me and Mikey. I groan, immediately grasping the pillow back from Eiichi and throwing it right back at Raph. But a laugh escaped his mouth before I could hit him. "I don't wanna know?" He asks in a sarcastic manner and Eiichi shakes his head.
That seems to be enough for Don, as he shrugs and sits down next to Eiichi. I almost wince at the irony of the seating positions. Me, Don, and Eiichi sitting on one side whereas Mikey and Raph were on the other. Two who didn't belong to us for so many years, didn't grow up the way we did.
We all sat around for a good half hour, chatting sometimes but mostly doing our own thing.
"Oh Mikey, could you help me with something upstairs?" Miyuki suddenly asks, walking over to us and standing behind Mikey's chair. The boy looks up with a slight smile on his face and shrugging.
"Sure" He says, but the glance Miyuki gave Don gave away that her intentions weren't entirely pure. Mikey however, didn't seem to catch the look, following aunt Miyuki out of the room. It was only until the sounds of footsteps on the chair disappeared did Don move.
"Ya've been tense ever since ya came back, spill" Raph interrupted, but his voice soft. Don looks up, glancing around the room for a moment.
"Luther, the guy from the police station, called me on the way back from the groceries" He says. "They finished interrogating Baxter Stockman"
"Did he confess?" Eiichi asks but Don shakes his head.
"I mean he didn't really have to, we all know what he did, and police had the evidence but…-" He stops himself and I don't dare to interrupt him. "They tracked his previous crimes, to see if they were linked to Oroku Saki somehow, or Hamato Saki as he used to be known as…"
Again, he stops himself. He seemed to have trouble telling the story, like something was stuck in his throat. Eiichi sighs softly, putting a hand on Don's back and rubbing it softly. Don flashes him a watery smile, scratching his throat and quickly checking on the stairs.
"I don't know if Mikey's knows but Stockman was connected to us in a crime five and half years ago"
"To us?" I ask with a frown and Don nods, tears jumping in his eyes.
"Baxter was the driver who hit Mikey's car, he killed Mikey's parents" He whispers, but the sentence was too deafening at the same time. "And I don't think it was an accident"
"That's just fucked up" Raph mutters, putting a hand on his mouth as he leans backwards. He seemed to think for a moment, and nobody dared to say anything. "Saki has planned this, all of it. He framed dad for murder, he got us adopted, killed Mikey's parents… why the hell would he kill his parents?!" Raph cries out, immediately slamming his mouth shut.
But no movement was heard from above, and it wasn't like the house was very noisy. So hopefully Mikey hadn't heard it, or would come down to investigate. I don't even know if Mikey knew this somehow, but if he didn't, I didn't want to spill it right now.
"Miyuki thought it might be to traumatise him, you, to ruin dad's life" Don mutters and I frown.
"But why murder his adoptive parents when he is 10? They could've put him in an abusive home like me and then ship him to that hellhole, I mean thank God they didn't but it doesn't make sense" Raph hisses and my breath hitches in my throat. I look up, staring wide eyed at my immediate little brother.
"What happened 5 years ago?" I ask, feeling numbness spread through my body. Raph, Don and Eiichi all seemed surprised by the question but I ignored it, reluctantly looking at Raph.
"Mikey's parents got murdered?" Raph asks skeptically but I shake my head, fingers trembling.
"You were found" I whisper. Colour seemed to vanish from Raph's face and his eyes went wide.
"They killed his parents because I was discovered?" He whispers, cursing loudly. "I fucked up his life by being discovered?!" He curses again but I shake my head wildly.
"That wasn't your fault Raph and you know it"
"So why does it feel like it is?!" Raph retorts with an angry glare, but I know he is only angry at himself. "Why the fuck would Saki even do this? Did he know Kevin was going to fuck up and get me discovered? Was Mikey a back-up plan of his sick plan?! I mean why the fuck did he have a happy life?"
There was a bit of resentment seeping into his voice but I knew Raph didn't mean to. After all, Mikey had anything but a happy life. His first 10 years were happy, but then his life got turned into a literal hell. Raph's beatings didn't compare.
"Because he didn't want to hurt us" Don says, slightly pale as well. "He wanted to hurt dad, by traumatising you, and making sure Mikey had a happy family so he wouldn't want to go back to dad"
"And when Kevin fucked up he gave Mikey the shitty life" Eiichi concludes, looking at Raph. "A life you were supposed to have"
"Fuck!" Raph curses again and I don't even care enough to correct him. What had Mikey done in his past life to deserve such a life? It was nothing short of a miracle that he was found, there had been a huge possibility that Mikey would've never been discovered, there are many out there that aren't.
And we were lucky we found him so quickly the second time, or relatively quickly the first time. Of course 4 years was too much, but others had been there for far longer. But even they were lucky because they weren't the only one of that gender. Mikey was the only boy in there.
I take my gaze off Raph when my phone buzzed inside my pocket. I quickly take it out, unlocking it.
'Sake has fled to Canada. We cannot do much right now as Canadian authorities are obliged to take over. I am coming home right now' It read, written in Japanese.
"Dad's coming home, Saki fled the country" I announce, turning the attention away from the heavy conversation luckily.
"'bout time" Raph says with a frown, leaning back into the chair again. An hour passed quickly, and Mikey eventually joined us again in the living room, Miyuki going outside to give us some time alone. Luckily the mood had lightened up slightly and Mikey had no idea that we just went behind his back.
We would have to talk to dad about it, maybe wait until Saki was caught until we told him. He would take it much better if he knew he was safe. My phone buzzed again and I quickly read the text again.
"Dad's at the door, he forgot his keys" I announce without really thinking about it.
"Mikey" Raph says with a snicker, nudging the blond with his foot.
"Abusing big brothers rights eh?" He says, but Raph just grins, pushing Mikey again.
"Easy easy" Mikey calls out, standing up just before the doorbell ring. "Guess dad can grow impatient as well" He rolls his eyes, disappearing from the room. I roll my eyes as well, putting my phone away. A second ticks by, another second ticks by in complete silence.
Then I suddenly sit straight up, causing everyone to look at me.
My eyes go wide. "Dad's keys are attached to his car keys" I say, and immediately Raph's head snaps to the direction of the door. But the moment he stands up Mikey's lets out a loud scream, followed by a loud noise of something colliding with an object.
"Mikey!" Raph cries out but before he can walk the door is thrown open.
"Let me go!" My eyes go wide in fear at what I see. I recognised him immediately, he looked exactly like dad, except for the scar that ruined his eye. And he was dragging Mikey along with him, slamming him against the wall and looking at us with a menacing grin on his face.
"We meet at last"
Oh no *Baymax voice*, just one or two chapters to go and this story if finally finished! Any suggestions you guys want to see after the big fight? (Cause who am I kidding, y'all know they're gonna get out of it alive) and I'm still thinking about the ending.
On another note, after this story I will start to write the requests again, and I have some exciting (Well hopefully it's exciting for you) news, I am currently working on another human AU, which is a bit shorter but Mikey-centric as always :) #BreaktheCutie AND ... and I've been working on Mosley Lane. I don't think you'll remember, it's a story I did over 2 years ago based on a Criminal minds episode, and a lot have asked for more chapters about Mikey's time in captivity... and I never wrote it but I kept having the idea stuck in my head, until I finally decided to just.. plot everything and write it. So I'm on chapter 8 on that story right now! I plan on finishing it first just to make sure everything is consistent, but after that, I want to upload it as soon as possible. And hopefully there's still animo for the story xD
See ya!