"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"
"Saki?!" Raph exclaims, eyes wide as he watches our uncle hold Mikey against the wall. Our youngest brother was clawing at Saki's hands as tears streamed down his face, eyes filled with shock.
"What do you want?!" I scream, taking a step forwards. Saki tenses in anticipation, but a smile appeared on his face. He takes a deep breath through his nose, turning his head to Mikey again, staring him right into the eyes. Mikey whimpers, weakly kicking out to him but Saki's grip was unbreakable.
Of course it would be, both him and dad were trained ninjas. And Mikey was terrified.
"Time" Saki said lowly, threatening.
"Time for what?" I scream again, taking another hesitant step forwards. There was still so much distance between me and him, between all of us and Saki. But that didn't mean I couldn't see everything. Mikey's terrified face, the tears tracking down his cheeks and yet his eyes filled with anger.
Saki's tense form, hand around Mikey's throat as he pushed him against the wall. Muscles clenching ever so slightly. His form tenses a bit more, and his head whirls towards us. No, rather past us. Two people running inside the house from the garden.
"Time for him to show up" Saki grins, a menacing look on his face. "Welcome home, brother" He continues.
"Saki!" Dad snaps, eyes wide as he looks at his brother holding his son, a son he just got back no less. "Let him go!" He demanded, fear and helplessness bleeding through his voice. There was blood running down the side of his face, which made it all so clear what had happened.
Saki had attacked dad before coming here.
"Now why would I do that, brother?" Saki backfires, facing his brother without any fear on his face. "Soon you will know what it is like to lose everyone you love, like you took away everything from me all those years ago" He spoke. We all knew what he was referring to at the moment.
Mom choosing dad over Saki, Saki going over to dad's house and challenging him to a fight, a fight that wouldn't end well. The scar on Saki's face was a simple, but painful reminder of that fight. A fight between siblings.
A fight that would claim the baby that was still inside of mom's belly.
Only for Saki to claim more lives as he murdered mom 16 years ago.
"Let him go Saki, I am warning you" Dad threatened, something he rarely did. He rarely raised his voice, rarely displayed anger. But right now, he was fuming. "What do you want?!" He adds, taking a step forwards as well.
"Rage" Saki answered, as if it was the most logical thing in the world.
"Let him go Saki!" Dad demanded again, taking a step forwards. "You cannot hurt him, he is your nephew!" He continued. Saki looked up at that, but the look on his face was indifferent. He truly didn't care what would happen. He was insane, just mentally screwed up in his head. For him to do such things.
He orchestrated our whole lives, invested money and time, and risk, to give us shitty lives. Got Raph and Mikey adopted and took away their chance at normal lives. And right now, now we thought everything was going to be okay with our family for once, he showed up without any clear plan.
What was he thinking? There were 7 of us, and one of him. He had Mikey, but he stood no chance.
And yet, we were at his mercy.
"He is Shen's son Saki, please reconsider" Dad continued. That seemed to get his attention, as he looked back and forth between Mikey, and us.
"She could've been mine!" Saki hisses suddenly, losing his temper. Mikey cries out, feeling the hand around his throat tighten suddenly.
"But she did not love you, brother" Dad countered, voice much softer right now. "What are you going to do Saki? You are outnumbered" It was only then that Saki really seemed to grasp the whole situation, wide eyes and looking at all of us, one by one.
Insanity.
And then it all happened too quick. Dad charged forwards, trying to get to his youngest son. But Saki was quick, quicker than dad. He pulls Mikey off the wall, wrapping an arm around his throat and using him as a human shield. Dad immediately stops, raising his arms.
"Saki, do not do this!" Dad yelled. Mikey twisted, an opportunity as Saki still wasn't rooted to the ground and didn't have a steel grip on Mikey. The move was surprisingly strong, whirling around and pushing at Saki's chest to create distance. Saki blinked, bewildered for a few seconds.
"That is enough!" He growled, reaching for his back pocket.
A gunshot.
Blood rained across Mikey's face, and he spluttered, stumbling backwards. My eyes widened, seeing the bullet hole suddenly appearing and filling with blood on Saki's shoulder. In turn, Saki's eyes widened, suddenly releasing Mikey and hand flying to the bullet hole. Mikey scrambled backwards.
He didn't dare to turn his back to Saki, but Raph shot forwards, grabbing Mikey's arm and pulling him towards his chest, slowly moving away from Saki.
"FBI! Hands in the air" A man yelled, storming towards Saki. Before he could respond to the demand however, the man had already yanked his arms back. Saki growled in pain, trying to twist away as the man handcuffed him.
"You okay?" A woman asks, a gun still in her hand but pointed to the ground instead. I nod absently, looking at Raph. Mikey was crying in Raph's hold, clinging to his older brother. But he was safe. I look around, seeing dad hurry to Raph and Mikey, Eiichi leaning into Miyuki's embrace.
They were all safe.
"Thank you" Dad whispers, and the woman nods, smiling slightly as well.
"That's our job, thank you for calling us." She responds, and dad nods back at her. "Do you need an ambulance, is anyone injured?" She continued, and all eyes fell on Mikey. My youngest brother seemed to sense it, or understand that we'd look at him after such a question.
He slowly lifts his face from Raph's chest, looking at the woman with red eyes, tears still leaking down her face.
But he shook his head. "No hospital" He insisted, but his voice was raw, painful to use obviously. And his throat was already turning red from the abuse. It would no doubt bruise. Just like the first day we met him, when we -I- saw him in that hospital room with bruises all over his throat. His voice painful to use.
But now he trusted us, and he was ours.
I shook my head slightly to clear my head. And only then did I realise how much I was straining my muscles. I was tense, anticipating something to go bad every second. I take a deep breath, willing my muscles to calm down and relax.
"I would like to take a look at it" The woman insisted, and Mikey shrugs.
"Sure" He mutters, allowing Raph to guide him over to the couch. The woman sat down as well, gently lifting Mikey's chin to look at his throat. Miyuki and Eiichi were out of the room, having followed one of the agents, presumably for questioning. And Saki was long gone by now.
The woman gently prodded Mikey's throat, the latter wincing every once in a while but didn't flinch back, or try to avoid the touch.
"It's unlikely that it will bruise, but it should be tender for a few days. It seems like you have laryngeal swelling, though it doesn't seem that bad" The woman speaks up, smiling slightly. "It's possible that you will have trouble talking, or not being able to speak at all but that's not alarming. Try to give your vocal chords enough rest."
"Wha-" Mikey starts, but stops at the strangled voice that came out. The woman smiled at that, and Mikey gestures to his mouth, before swallowing. A grimace spread across his face.
"Does swallowing hurt?" I ask, and he nods, scrunching up his nose a bit before shrugging. "Enough to make it uncomfortable" I state, and this time he only nods.
"That's also normal, your swollen throat makes it harder to swallow saliva, but you'll be fine. It doesn't seem like he had the intention of choking you, otherwise you would've been out within 10 seconds." The woman continues, smiling.
"What happens now?" I ask, watching as Mikey leans into Raph's embrace after the woman stands up as well. The woman turns around, watching me with a content look on her face.
"Baxter Stockman and several others who have worked for Saki are willing to testify to lessen their own sentences, including evidence that Saki killed Shen. He will be getting a life sentence" She said, and I don't know what I should feel. I didn't really feel all that relieved, but at the same time, I did.
He was going away for good, no one to bother us anymore, and both Raph and Mikey were safe. Mikey nudges against Raph's side, mouthing something I couldn't quite see from this angle.
"Zucco?" I hear Raph whisper and Mikey nods, Raph turns to the woman. "What about Zucco?"
"He will face a long time in prison as well, his trial has yet to begin but they're leaning towards a life sentence as well." The woman says, turning to Raph. "Your adoptive father will also face charges, but not as severe as Zucco's. A restraining order will definitely happen when, or if, he gets out"
This time it's Raph who nods numbly, and I reach other to him, squeezing his shoulder.
"The court has yet to decide, but you should be expecting a large compensation from Saki's savings" The woman continues, looking at dad. He nods, but I know he doesn't care about the money that much. He earned a fortune when he got out of prison as well, and spent it all on finding Raph and Mikey.
But we didn't need the money necessarily, but it wasn't something we'd refuse. We'd likely be giving it away for charity.
"You could finally start that dojo you always wanted" I whisper in Japanese and dad smiles slightly at the thought, nodding. He had always wanted to start one, but he never wanted to make it a business. He wanted it to stay a hobby, but that couldn't be done without enough money as he still had to earn it somewhere to take care of us.
"I cannot thank you enough ma'am, you saved my sons' lives" Dad spoke sincerely and the woman laughs.
"Just doing my job" She tells him. "I will ask my assistant to contact you for further information and information on the trials, for now, be with your family"
TMNT
A couple of months later
".. Hey" Leo blinked a couple of times, staring at the girl in front of her. The blonde girl smiled widely.
"Hey" Renet almost chirps, still smiling at the oldest sibling of the family. "I'm Renet, Mikey said he was celebrating his birthday." The girl announces, confusing Leo slightly, It was a birthday mostly with some family and close friends. He didn't know Mikey invited anyone besides Woody.
And Leo hadn't seen this girl before either.
"I didn't know you were coming over, did Mikey invite you?" Leo asks.
"He didn't tell? Is.. Is that okay?" She asks, almost hesitantly. Leo chuckles at the question, allowing the door to open fully as an invitation for Renet.
"Of course it is, I was just surprised" Leo says, allowing her to come into the house before closing the door. "I'm Leo by the way, I don't think I've seen you around before" The girl smiled again, extending her hand.
"I'm Renet, I'm Mikey's-" She started until another figure walked into the hallway.
"Renet!" Mikey cheered, rushing over to the girl and giving her a quick hug. Renet laughs again. "I thought you couldn't make it"
"As if I wouldn't do anything to get here, besides, I always wanted to meet your family" She continued, and Leo tilted his head slightly. There was something the two of them weren't telling him, but for now he didn't comment on it. He really didn't want to ruin the mood in the house, not on this day.
Renet was right to assume Mikey was celebrating his birthday, but he wasn't the only one. They were quadruplets after all.
"Come on in, we just started serving the cake" Mikey invited the girl, a blush spreading across his cheeks. Leo smiles slightly at that, so that's what Mikey wasn't telling, he had a crush on this girl. Leo followed the two to the living room. It wasn't a lot of people, Eiichi and Miyuki of course.
There was still an aunt from dad's side, who lived far away, along with their 2 children, although they were a bit older. They hadn't come with for years, but this year they made an exception to see Mikey's first birthday. Casey, April, Karai, Alistair 'Slash', Lisa, Luther and Woody were also present.
"Michelangelo, who is this?" Dad asked as Renet walked inside, a welcoming tone in his voice.
"I'm Renet, you must be Mikey's dad" She greeted him, waving at the rest as well.
"Renet is.. well-" Mikey starts, but stops himself. He sits down, gently pulling Renet towards him. The girl smiled, sitting down on the rail of the chair. "Renet and I are in a relationship" There was a slight pause, that could almost be explained as awkward until Raph snickered.
"Took ya long enough to come clean. Ya should really know how to be subtle, I'm sure everyone here knew by now" He snorts, rolling his eyes. The looks he was getting however.. "Holy shit, you guys didn't know?"
"Hey, we were subtle!" Mikey cries out, but a satisfying look was in his eyes.
"I didn't notice anything" Don shrugs, and Leo shakes his head as well. Mikey grins at that, but Raph just rolls his eyes.
"They were basically all over each other while 'studying'" Raph snickers, air quoting the last word. Don could feel April tense slightly at the implication but Mikey didn't seem to be negatively affected at all by the comment, or what it implied.
"Well it's still 2-" Mikey stops again, looking at dad, who also shook his head. "3 against 1, you just knew cause I told you about the crush" Mikey continues and Renet smiled.
"I am happy for you my son, you deserve someone who loves you like that. And I can see you love my son Renet" Their dad said, and Mikey beamed at the approval.
TMNT
"Has he told you?" I ask quietly as I walk into the kitchen. She was, along with April, the only guest left at the party, but this was the first time I was truly alone with her. Renet frowns slightly, turning around and leaning against the countertop, gazing at Mikey before turning to me.
"You mean about the last 5 years? In the brothel?" She shudders slightly, and I nod numbly. "Yea, he told me about it like 2 weeks after we got together"
"Which was when?" I could feel a slight tinge of humour creeping through my voice, and Renet smiled slightly as well.
"4 months ago" She tells me. 2 months after Saki was arrested. How Mikey had kept this a secret for so long is beyond me.
"I think it's unnecessary to give you the big brother 'don't hurt my little brother' talk" I snicker and she cocks an eyebrow, still a laugh plastered on her face.
"I would never hurt him Leo, I promise" I laugh slightly, shaking my head.
"I know that, at least I hope so. He's still.. fragile, and especially with relationships and being.. intimate" I say, a slight tinge of embarrassment rushing through me. I barely knew this girl, she was nice, and we could laugh together, but I barely knew her still. And I really didn't want to think too much about certain parts of their relationship.
"We haven't come to that point if that's what you mean"
"But it will someday" I say, and Renet laughs.
"You're doing the big bro talk" She snickers. "But seriously, we talked about. He told me bits, enough for me to understand what happened. And we agreed to take it slow, see how comfortable he is. I promise I won't force him to do anything"
"And you're willing to wait?" I ask softly, glancing back at the living room to watch Mikey for a second. He was laughing silently along with Raph, Don and April. I smile gently, he seemed happy, and it was still the best sight in the world, even after a whole year of living with him, and helping him mentally.
Renet seems to catch on, watching Mikey as well before nodding.
"I am Leo, being with him is enough for me." She tries to assure me, and I nod softly.
"I know I probably shouldn't want to say this, but I know it will come to that point eventually. Talk with him about it if it comes to that, or talk to either of us."
"I will Leo" Renet assures me, glancing back at Mikey and smiling gently. "I will"
TMNT. A week later.
"LEO, let's go-ooooo" Mikey draws out, a huge grin on his face. I chuckle.
"Easy easy, I'm coming" I try to calm him down, but Mikey is having none of that, reaching out for my hand and pulling me along. "Hey, it's not going anywhere you know?" I call out, but Mikey just beams as me, continuing to pull me along.
We had been here once before, but that was before we found Mikey. Still, the sight made me stop for a moment, and I smiled upwards, looking at the overall joy that was radiating through the place.
"Welcome to Disneyland little bro" Raph grins, nudging Mikey. The blond beams brightly, too focused on everything around him. He had kept his hair blond, saying it suited him better. He grew it out once or twice, but he always kept coming back to the lighter colour, and honestly, it did suit him better.
I glance over to my little brothers, chuckling at the awe on both Raph's and Mikey's faces. Don had the same look as well, but I was used to that look. Raph rarely allowed himself to show it, and it was Mikey's first time in Disneyland after all.
Well worth the three hours flight to Florida. I grin, locking eyes with dad for a moment. He had a content look on his face as well.
"Where to first?" Don asks with a smile on his face as well, glancing at Mikey. While it was a family holiday, it was really a trip for Mikey. Dad had somehow arranged with the school that we were allowed to skip school, and we were allowed to spend several days in Disneyworld while it wasn't very busy.
"Can we just walk through the park and see what we see?" Mikey grins, glancing around. But there were very little people walking around. It was a school day after all, but the weather was beautiful. Warm, but not too warm and a sun high in the air.
"Let's go already bonehead" Raph grins, pushing Mikey forwards. Mikey darts forwards, whirling around and pushing out his tongue, and allowing Raph to catch up. We continued to walk for a good few minutes before Mikey turned around again, grinning.
"Do you dare?" He grins mischievously, pointing at the roller coaster behind him 'Rock 'n' Roller Coaster'. Raph rolls his eyes, smirking.
"What do you think?" He asks with a grin, glancing at both me and Don, but both of us nod as well. Mikey lets out a laugh, grabbing Raph's hand.
"Then let's go-ooo already!" He yells, dragging Raph along. Both Don and I chuckle, following Raph and Mikey into the short line that was waiting for the rollercoaster, dad staying behind as he didn't like rollercoasters. And there was only one sound I could concentrate on right now.
Not the people screaming in excitement or delight, not the children giggling, or the rollercoasting making deafening noises. No.
It was the genuine, and uncontrollable laughter that escaped Mikey's throat.
TMNT
So, I know the whole story has been a bit controversial, or at least, I feel like it has been with the topic of sex slavery. And especially in this chapter where Leo talked to Renet felt a bit.. not weird but for lack of better word I'm gonna say weird. But I really wanted to include it because it shows the struggles Mikey is still going through, and that an open and honest view on things is better for everyone. After going through something so traumatic, it's important to talk about it.
Okay I'm starting to rant again, have been doing that quite a bit lately xD
Hope you all liked this story! And if you did, please consider leaving a review, it would make my day :D.
I just want to thank everyone for reviewing and reading it. Even if it did take me way too long to finish did, I really loved this story, and your reviews really helped too! So thank you, and have an awesome day. More stories are coming!