Disclaimer: I own nothing. Alas and woe is me.

A/N: This takes place in the 2007 'verse, while Leo was gone. Only warning is Raphie's potty mouth.

002. Smile

"And just where do you think you have been?"

The question cut through the air, cold and bitter like stale coffee. In the otherwise silent lair, the words suspended themselves in the atmosphere, hovering on heavy wings like a legendary dragon ready to attack an unsuspecting castle.

"Out."

The reply was equally acrimonious, gruff and harsh; a single word, but carried with it the undercurrents of a challenge which rippled under the surface like a dangerous undertow.

The tension was already beginning to rise, and it weighed upon Mikey from his spot on the couch. He shut off his GameDude and peered over the back of the sofa, already knowing what he would see. His reaction at this point was automatic.

Oh bros...he thought grievously as he witnessed what was becoming an all too familiar occurrence.

Standing next to his chair at his workstation and still wearing his headset, Donatello was a few feet away from Raphael. The brothers were staring each other down like two poised snakes, each waiting for the other to strike.

The longer Leonardo was away, the more common these confrontations between Don and Raph were becoming. The two had never really argued previously, but the stress Donatello refused to admit to being under, and the worry and anger Raphael refused to admit to feeling broiled underneath their skin and took form in their vicious behavior toward each other.

Mikey was forced to watch, hovering on the sidelines. Neither of his brothers realized how much their actions were affecting him. It was as if any joy that had ever been in their home had been sapped away, sucked into an unforgiving black hole.

"You do realize that you have been gone for three days, right?" Donatello finally spoke up, tossing his headset on to his desktop. His brown eyes narrowed.

"Yah, so?" Raphael responded nonchalantly, as if his absence was nothing. He crossed his arms across his plastron, further fortifying the unscalable wall which had been erected between the two of them for months now.

"Three days, Raph!" Donatello shot back, the strain evident on the fringes of his tone. He was attempting to remain calm, attempting to mask his upset, but was failing fast. His body had begun to quiver under the emotional strain. "I tried to call you...we didn't know if you were hurt...or captured...or dead in a gutter somewhere!"

Raphael shrugged. "Well, brainiac, I'm here now, I'm fine, so it's all good. So lay the fuck off and stop actin' like a mommy turtle obsessing over her clutch of eggs."

"Actually," Donatello punctuated the word, "female turtles lay their eggs and leave their young to fend for themselves. I, on the other hand, have a human sense of familial bond and am concerned when one of my brothers goes missing without a word for three days! Would it have killed you to just call and check in? Just tell us where you were or if you were alright?"

His exasperation with Raphael was growing. Mikey watched as his fists clenched at his sides. The youngest brother had a hard time watching his once calm and mellow genius of a brother so easily riled.

"I already got a GPS on my ShellCell, Donnie, I don't need you turning into one too," Raphael snapped sarcastically.

"What part of this don't you understand, Raph?"

"Oh I understand perfectly well. You're turnin' into a fuckin' nag!" Raphael growled resentfully. His own mood was escalating as well, his tense, bunched muscles coiling and rolling under his skin.

"I'm trying to look out for you, Raphael!" Donatello fired back, his tone rising.

Catching sight of Mikey watching them from the den out of his peripheral vision, Raph bellowed over to him, "Hey Mikey…" The hothead never took his eyes off of the genius, a smug smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. "I gotta monster movie for ya...it's called 'Leonardo: The Sequel, Attack of the Harpy'."

Mikey started at the unexpected address, his legs kicking out and knocking something to the floor. Pulling his eyes away from his arguing siblings, he viewed his "Cowabunga Carl" mask staring blankly back at him, the huge, eternal grin it wore completely at odds with the venom that filled the air.

He kicked it spitefully and grumbled at it, "What're you smiling at?"

The mask took off for a few feet, rolling back and forth a few times before landing much the same way it was before, grinning at Mikey like a mocking Cheshire cat. Mikey whipped his head around, focusing his attention back on his brothers again. It was hard looking at that stupid mask. Was anyone ever really that happy?

Was I ever that happy? Mikey questioned himself lamely.

"You know, Raphael," Donatello continued his tirade. "This disrespect is ridiculous and completely uncalled for! Mikey and I are working our shells off here, and you come and go like you don't have a care in the world. Must be nice to do nothing." It was Donatello's turn to cross his arms tightly.

The accusing tone Donatello's last statement made almost sent Raphael's teetering temper over the edge. "I don't do nuthin," his voice was low and warning; dangerous like the rumblings of a volcano before erupting.

He was so defensive that it made Mikey wonder what exactly it was that his brother was doing while he was out. He definitely wasn't playing vigilante with Casey. Donatello had spoken to April and her boyfriend many times over the last couple of days and neither of them had seen the red masked turtle. So where…?

"You're right, Raph," Donatello said facetiously, "you've taken doing nothing to a whole new level. There's not even a word in the English language that I can use to approximate it right now."

"I do more than you know." Raphael hissed through clenched teeth.

"Then what is it exactly do you do, besides treating your family like cast aside trash with no regard for their feelings?"

"I -"

For a moment, Raphael appeared like he was going to say something but then thought better of it. His mouth clenched shut, his jaw muscles working tautly as his teeth ground together. He took a slow, heavy step closer to Donatello, his hands balling into tight fists. Donatello's eyes widened slightly and flickered nervously to his brother's hands, but he stood his ground.

"If you don't shut the fuck up real soon, Donnie, I'm going to make you wish I was gone longer…"

When Raphael took another step toward Donatello, and the genius swallowed anxiously, Mikey decided that enough was enough. He normally did not put himself in the middle of their spats, but Raphael was coming very close to crossing a line that the youngest brother knew he would regret.

He leapt to his feet with a skateboarder's grace and grabbed his mask off the floor. He bound over to his brothers and shoved the large turtle head roughly into Raphael's hands. Instinctively, Raph grabbed onto it. His anger momentarily forgotten, he turned his attention to Mikey, a flabbergasted expression on his face. Donatello wore a similar befuddled expression, his brow furrowing in thought.

"Wha?" Raphael questioned bewilderedly. "Wha the hell you givin' me this for, Mikey?"

"That's enough!" Mikey said sharply.

Mikey glanced back and forth between his brothers a few times, his baby blue eyes darkening like the sea before a storm. He gestured toward his mask.

"You dudes could learn a lesson from that guy," he said gravely. The customary jovial, joking tone to his voice was absent, instead replaced by a maturity that the other brothers rarely heard from him.

Mikey turned around stiffly, his orange mask tails flinging themselves around from the twirling motion. Leaving the mask in Raphael's hands, he made his way back over to the couch. Without looking back, he finished, "That dude at least remembers how to smile."

A/N: I know "GameDude" and "ShellCell" are from the 2k3 show, but I like them so much that they are here too.