A/N: Heh. Anyone remember this story? Been a little bit, eh? Apologies. Hope you enjoy, though.

Act VI

"Donny!" The little human boy came skidding in to the kitchen barefoot, freshly showered and wearing the "new" t-shirt Splinter had found for him. It, like his other, was orange, which had pleased the boy to no end, and was a tad too big. And this one had a picture of a tree on it, which also seemed to please.

Leo was eating breakfast with Raph. It was Saturday, and they'd been allowed to sleep in, something Leo had taken full advantage of after spending the past couple nights up playing "kata" with the human boy. The blue-banded turtle smiled at the tousle-haired little human bundle of energy. The kid was getting more mobile every day. This day he seemed to be in a hurry. "Good morning."

"'Morning, Leo. Where's Donny? I drew him a picture." He held up a piece of paper folded once down the middle.

"Yeah? Can I see it?"

"Yep. But I gotta give it to Donny first since it's his, and then you can see it. I can draw you a picture, too, later."

Leo smiled. "Cool. Thanks."

The boy sent an uncertain look toward Leo's brother. "Um…Raphael?"

"I don't want a stupid picture."

The little boy nodded, seeming unbothered. "That's what I thought." He looked at Leo. "So where's Donny?" he asked again, refusing to be side-tracked from his mission. Wasn't surprising, considering the little human spent his days practically glued to the purple-banded turtle. Donatello, for his part, didn't seem to mind in the slightest, always finding something "fascinating" to show the young newcomer that the two could talk about for hours.

Leo leaned back in his chair. "He got up early and went skating in the tunnels. He didn't want to wake you. You looked pretty zonked. Can't imagine why…" He winked.

The young human bit down a smile, playing off a very cool shrug."Okay, thanks, Leo." With a quick grin, the boy turned and bolted toward the exit.

"Hey! Hold it!" Leo called after him. The boy froze as he did when anyone raised their voice, turning slowly with questioning, cagey eyes. "Breakfast first. Then shoes. Then if Donny's not back yet, I'll go with you to catch up to him. You don't go into the tunnels alone."

The boy's shoulders relaxed, and he tilted his head to one side. "Why? Donny goes alone."

"Donny knows these tunnels better than you, and he's older."

"How do you know?" the boy asked pointedly, crossing his arms. It was bordering on a whine.

Leo gave him a flat look. "Psychic turtle powers."

"That's baloney," the kid called him on it. "Leo, I'm not hungry, and I wanna go now." Yep, that was definitely a little bit of whine there at the end of that one.

"House rules, bucko. No arguments. Go grab your shoes, and I'll pour you a bowl of Lucky Charms."

"I don't want Lucky Charms."

"Well, what do you want?"

"To go get Donny!" Little guy practically stomped his foot.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of that one. All we've got is Lucky Charms and off-brand Cocoa Puffs." Leo refused to give in. He'd never seen this side of the little monster before. So far the kid had been ever so careful to go out of his way to be no trouble. Leo would've been really annoyed—if he hadn't been secretly kind of thrilled that the kid trusted him enough to throw a tantrum. "Now scoot."

"That's not fair!"

"You sure?"

"Yes! Leo, why can't…"

"I'll tell you what's not fair!" Raph suddenly yelled, standing and slamming his fist down on the table hard enough to rattle the dishes. The little boy jumped with a startled gasp. "You! In our home, eating our food, then throwing your little hissy fits when we're suddenly not runnin' at your beck'n' call! You think just 'cause you're some human being Leo's gotta do what you say? You that high and mighty, Human? Huh?"

The little boy was backing up, shaking his head quickly, eyes wide and shiny as Raph moved toward him.

"Raphael!" Leo said sharply, pulling his brother back by the shoulder. "That's enough!"

Raph whirled on him. "Yeah, I know it's enough! I've had it up to here with this punk in here thinkin' he's better than us, and you guys fallin' all over yourselves tryin' to help him out, and him always stayin' one more day, one more day, one more day! I'm sick of it! He don't belong here, Leo. And he knows it, and now he's in here makin' demands, and I ain't gonna sit here and take it!"

"Hey! He didn't do anything…"

"Just shut the heck up, Leo!"

With that, Raphael stormed out, the little boy scuttling out of his way as he passed. "Raph!" Leo called after him. "Raphael!" The red-banded turtle didn't answer. Leo sighed in frustration.

He looked up to see the little boy nearly shaking, clutching at the picture he'd drawn for Donny like a lifeline. Head bowed low, he slunk across to sit at the table, obediently pouring cereal into a bowl. He sat back in his chair, making no move to take a bite. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I forgot…I'm sorry."

"Raph's being an idiot," Leo dismissed that, internally fuming at his younger brother. Raph was getting worse. "Now you finish up that bowl and we'll go find Donny."

The boy shook his head. "That's okay," he said quietly. "I'll just wait for him to come back. Thank you for offering…"

"Hey." Leo tipped the boy's chin up with one finger. It seemed to surprise the kid so much he forgot to flinch. "I said I'd take you. I meant it. Now eat up." He smiled.

"But…"

"Now."

The human boy let out a breath, looking unsure for a moment before flashing a tiny, playful grin. "You're kinda bossy, Leo."

Leo blinked before mock-glaring at the youngster. "I get to be bossy, short stuff. I'm the oldest. Now eat. That's an order."

A tiny giggle. "Sir, yes, sir."

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Michelangelo groaned and stretched a little as he became aware of sore muscles and consciousness in that order. Over the years he'd had some pretty thorough conditioning, but still after a heavy fight or long run, he got a bit sore. But wherever he was felt familiar and smelled like candle wax and old books and comfort. He rolled over and buried his face in a pillow. Apart from the soreness, his whole self was warm and comfortable and safe. Except he had this annoying, prickly little feeling that he was forgetting something. Hmm…What...? Then he remembered. Frantic running and crying and Shredder. His breath halted and he sat up. And then his eyes opened, and he was calmer. Oh. Yeah.

He was in Splinter's bed. That fact alone made him feel a weird combination of embarrassed and loved. He could remember a dozen times when he was little, after a particularly gruesome nightmare, the kind rat tucking his exhausted form into bed beside him. Humming softly or speaking words of comfort that oftentimes weren't even in English. Nightmares didn't dare come around when Splinter was there.

"Ah. He awakes." Speaking of…. The low Japanese voice came from the chair across from the bed.

Mikey looked over to see his father closing a book Mikey suspected he hadn't been reading at all. "Oh. Master. Um. Cleveland."

There was a quick, surprised smile from the master. Those were Mikey's favorite. The smiles that weren't patient or indulgent, but genuinely, inescapably amused. Being able to get that kind of grin from the normally unflappable ninja master was something Mikey took great pride in. "Ohayo, Michelangelo," he corrected with a chuckle. "As you well know." Which was true. Splinter made sure all four of them had a working knowledge of Japanese. Certainly enough to use the simple "good morning" greeting.

Mikey shrugged. "Geography was never my best subject."

"Perhaps not, but language is something in which you've never been deficient." His smile went gentle then. "O genke desu ka, chibikko?" How are you, little one?

Mikey tried on a smile he thought would match. "Genke desu, chichi," he answered quietly. I'm fine, father. He looked away and scratched the back of his head. "Oh," he said, changing the subject with zero grace. "Uh. Ima nan-ji desu ka?" What time is it?

"Yo-ji desu."

Mikey felt his jaw drop. "What-ji desu?"

"Yon."

"I slept till four o'clock?" He scrambled out from under the covers. Four o'clock. They were never allowed to sleep in so late. He'd gone to bed at…around seven that morning. That was…nine hours. In a row. That didn't happen. "Where is everybody? Are they still here?" He had to see them.

Splinter looked at him curiously. He didn't seem to understand his sudden panic. "Where would they have gone?" Mikey stopped before he got to the door. Suddenly he didn't understand his panic either. Of course they wouldn't have gone anywhere. Why would he think they would? This was their home. His home. With them. It was all-of-theirs home. He shook his head.

"Right. Right. Heh. Duh. Still waking up I guess. I am…so hungry. I missed breakfast. And lunch. Afternoon tea. Elevensies for sure…"

And then Donny appeared in the doorway so suddenly Mikey nearly smacked into his plastron. "Did you just say you wanted elevensies?"

"Um. Old hobbits die hard?" What? Eesh. Mikey physically winced. So did Donny.

"Ooh. You really wish you hadn't said that, don't you?"

"It made my teeth hurt."

"Come on, little brother. I think your blood sugar's a little low." Donny smiled a good morning to their father and led Mikey out to the main drag of the ancient subway station. They crossed to their "kitchen" and Donny flicked on the stove, grabbing a skillet from the low cupboard. "Eggs?"

"Never argue with the turtle doing the cooking." Mike held up his hands. "I'm no fool."

He hopped up on the counter and watched as Donny cracked the eggs into a bowl and took hold of a whisk. Don got cheese and bacon and mushrooms from the fridge, and Mikey had to smile. Normally Don would chop up tomatoes and spinach and turkey and all that kind of nonsense and give him a lecture on eating healthier (which was total hypocrisy considering the turtle ate as much pizza as he did and drank twice as much coffee). No such lecture today, though. No, Donny was doing what he always did when he thought Mikey was having a rough time of things. Spoiling him. Mikey wasn't about to discourage it. As he said, he was no fool.

"How'd you sleep?" Donny asked absently, whisking the eggs.

"Like a rock, actually." He frowned. "That's a dumb metaphor." Rocks didn't sleep. At all. They didn't breathe either. Sleeping like a rock shouldn't mean slept well. Sleeping like a rock should mean am dead.

"Noted. And it's a simile, not a metaphor."

"No a-simile required."

"Wow, you're just full of 'em today, aren't you?"

"I slept like a sloth," he decided. A nice, relaxed, alive sloth. He banged his heels against the cupboard, and it was so normal. "Why don't people have sloths as pets? They would be so…manageable. And they're cute. And way cuddlier than goldfish or…chinchillas."

"Same reason people don't have pandas as pets."

"Bamboo shortage?"

"Animal shortage."

"Oh. But that's so sad." Before Donny could offer words of wisdom and comfort and list at least two good reasons why they shouldn't rescue a sloth and a panda from whatever unforgiving jungle and keep them as pets, the door to Leo's room slid open and Casey and April were…there.

"Mikey!" April called his name. There was worry and relief in the voice at the same time, and she was such a girl, and Mikey loved her so much right then. She was over in front of him in a second, pulling him off the counter and into a hug without waiting for permission. "We came down as soon as we could after the rain. I'm so glad you're okay. We were scared to death. When Casey called and told me you were missing…" She didn't finish. Like she couldn't. And he knew she loved him, too, because sometimes love was subtle and quiet like that.

He cleared his throat. "Casey called you? So…we called him first?"

"Yeah…" She pulled back. "I didn't think of that. Why did you call him first?" She took on a scary air of insulted and glared at Donny who held up his hands in surrender. "Is he higher on your speed dial than I am?"

Mikey blinked. "Whoa. Isn't this an episode of Seinfeld?" He looked around at present company. "This would be a really weird episode of Seinfeld."

Casey grinned and ruffled his hair all up before shoving him slightly. Pretty sappy for the former hockey player, actually. "Missed you kid. Wasn't too worried, though."

"We can always count on you to keep a level head," Mikey nodded.

Donny snorted. "Which explains the broken hockey stick in the dumpster in the alley upstairs."

Casey rounded on him with a glare. "It was an old stick, mud sucker. It was bound to break sooner or later."

"The angry, frenzied slamming against the brick wall may have been what brought on the 'sooner.' Ninnyhammer."

Casey took a step forward. "What'd you call me?"

Mikey pushed him back. "Dude. Don't mess with him. He's making me an omelet."

Casey growled. "Ostrich face."

"Pesto brain," Donny answered pleasantly.

April huffed. "Yes, you're both gifted with a brilliant command with the English alphabet." She rolled her eyes at Mikey. "Eventually they have to stop, right?"

He blinked. "Why?"

Leo and Raph hopped up on the platform then, obviously having come from the dojo. Leo seemed okay. Raph looked the way he did when he was trying really hard to keep his lid from blowing. Mikey bit his lip and looked away. That's what scared him the most. He knew Raph loved him. He'd never have doubted that. But Raph's sense of honor was so deep. He took things personally. And now Mikey was half Shredder. A stab of pain went through him at the thought. But it was true maybe, probably, definitely, and Shredder had put them through so much, taken so much from them. He'd even kidnapped Raph, used him to draw the rest of them out. Raphael hated the Shredder. So sure Raph loved Mikey. But how could Mikey ask him to love that part of him that was Shredder's? He swallowed. He wasn't even sure how he could deal with that yet.

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes," Leo said, nearly mimicking Splinter's earlier words. He grinned as he stood next to Mikey and bumped their shoulders together. "We thought we'd have to send Casey in to kiss you."

"And…thank you. Because I needed another image that'll haunt me for the rest of my life."

April raised her hand. "Second that."

Casey glared. "Why do I come down here? Honestly. At the very least, I could be getting harassed by…"

"People with condos. We know," April patted his arm. To give the guy credit, though, his claustrophobia issues had gotten a lot better since the turtles had moved into the abandoned subway station. He was a New Yorker. What New Yorker didn't feel at home on the subway? Well. Besides me. And my family.

Casey kept on glaring. "I was going to say by street level punks I wouldn't feel guilty about beating to a pulp."

"So you really wouldn't try to beat any of us to a pulp?" Leo clarified innocently.

"No, I would. I just might feel guilty about it later. Well…maybe."

"Raph," Donny cut in. "You want popcorn duty? I vote movie night."

April raised her hand. "Again, I will second. Movie votes?"

"Lord of the Rings?" Mikey had to suggest it. Had to.

"Which one?"

Donny grinned. "Fellowship." Mikey shared in the grinning.

April nodded. "Anyone opposed?"

Casey's arm slipped around her waist. "You're so organized, babe. I love that about you." Seemed like April had been a lot more lenient lately about letting him call her babe. It was kinda adorable.

Approximately the time it takes to microwave popcorn later, the group sat down in front of the TV while Raph popped the disc in. Mikey sat squished between Donny and April, while Casey was on the other side of her. Four people on their three-person couch. As it should be. Splinter sat in his old recliner. Leo sat leaning back against Donny's shins. And Raph hadn't said anything, but he was near, and Mikey needed that. No one had said anything about anything important. They were all just close. Like they knew him so well they knew that's exactly what he wanted. The movie opened, and Raph disappeared. Mikey felt his heart sink. A moment later, the overhead lights dimmed.

He waited, frozen. And then, two hands landed on him, pushing him forward to hook under his arms and lift him up bodily. His breath caught. He got his feet under him on the couch, but Raph wrapped an arm around him and climbed over the couch behind him, dropping to sit in his seat and pulling Mikey down with him, leaving Mike sprawled half on him, half on Donny.

"Geez, Raph," Donny protested as he adjusted for the sudden weight. Mikey heard the grin, though. April had to shift over closer to Casey, and neither of them seemed to mind.

"If you talk through this whole thing, I'll gag you with Don's mask," Raph grumbled as he settled in.

Mikey sat there shocked for about one and a half seconds. Then he smiled a big, slow smile as he shifted down and leaned back into his brothers. There was family and forever, and this movie was long, and he was so glad they'd gone for the extended edition. Mutant turtles could actually be surprisingly comfortable. "This…is a three-person couch," he said with the proper dose of loftiness and disagreeableness.

"Shut up. 'Less you want the floor."

He didn't. "Psh. You shut up," was the best comeback he could come up with what with all the fear-smothering relief. Happiness. Didn't seem possible to not be happy with his family all right there around him.

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It was Saturday night. The old clock on the shelf in the main room read 9:42. Donny was kneeling on the rug with his friend trying to mount the missile launch bay on the south side of the…castle they were currently constructing. Well, it started out as a castle. Then it became a starship. Then it became a fleet of starships docking at the satellite base orbiting the normally peaceful planet Terillius Seven. The vast expanse of super-advanced space tech was made entirely out of all the newspapers and plastic bottles and old cardboard and aluminum cans they'd saved up that week.

Leo and Raph came in from the tunnels then, carrying flashlights and a racquetball Donny had dipped in a glow-in-the-dark solution he'd managed to come up with. The two stopped in the entryway. "Whoa," Leo said, a grin gradually making its way to his face as his eyes bugged out a little. There were even little folded-paper fighters hanging down from kite string taped to the ceiling. "Hey guys. Overdo it much?"

Donny looked up innocently. "At least we didn't build it to scale."

The protractor, ruler and pencil on the floor next to the turtle told their own story. Leo smirked. "Not for lack of trying?"

"Well…" Donny shrugged, refusing to look embarrassed. He nodded to the little human who was currently taping up a turret on the station's weapons deck. "He, um, sort of convinced me not to."

"How'd he do that? Threaten to steal your protractor?"

Donny glanced at the softly-grinning human boy. "Ah, actually, he told me he's allergic to math."

Leo laughed. "You can't be allergic to math."

The boy shrugged. "Numbers give me headaches. It's gotta be an allergic reaction. If I'm around it too much, my head'll probably swell up and explode. Like…a melon. With…a bomb in it." He shook his head at his own ridiculous metaphor and apparently decided to move on to the bottom line. "It could be dangerous, Leo. Also messy." He tried to pull off a serious face. It was a noble attempt.

"Riiight." Leo exchanged grins with Don before looking back at the human. "What is it you're building there?"

"It's another laser cannon. Donny said we needed more direct-fire weapons," he recited.

Raph, standing by Leo, apparently had stayed quiet as long as he could. Donny could practically feel the anger radiating from behind that red mask. "This is stupid. Ever stop to think that we gotta sort this stuff out and have it ready to go by day after tomorrow? 's our freakin' living you're screwing around with, moron." There was a recycling center downtown that paid out. Every week, late at night, Splinter would haul the stuff out of the lair and traverse the tunnels in the direction of the recycling center. He'd heave it up topside and leave it outside the door. By the next morning, there'd be an envelope with the money stuck down the sewer grate outside the center for the Hamato family. It wasn't much, but it was something. Something for when what they needed couldn't be found at a dump. This had been going on for years. The turtles never knew what kind of deal Splinter had struck with some topsider, or how he'd done it. It was just how it was. They needed, Splinter provided. That's how it'd always worked.

Donny glared at Raph, his own anger rising at the unfairness of his brother's words. "It was my idea, Raph, not his. And the three of us used to make paper cities and stuff all the time when we were younger. What's your problem? Why can't you just…"

"Hey, I ain't the one that…"

Whatever Raph was going to say was cut off as Master Splinter entered the room. The rat surveyed the newly redecorated living room with a twinkle in his eye. Donny smiled. Master Splinter understood things like this. "Interesting."

"I'll clean it up," the little human spit out quickly. Donny looked over to see him staring nervously guilty at the floor. "I-It wasn't…. It was my fault. You don't have to…"

"You have done nothing wrong, child," Master Splinter told him patiently. "Indeed, it is quite a masterpiece, isn't it."

The human boy peeked up in surprise but was quick to agree with his tiny, disarming grin. "Yeah. Yes, sir. Donny did most of it. Know what this is?" He pointed to a paper replica of possibly the most famous starship of all time. "Donny made it based on the Deathstar. It's from a movie. I haven't seen it, but Donny said it's really good and he has the videotape, so he said we could watch it later."

"He ain't ever seen Star Wars?" Don heard Raph mutter. "We literally live under a rock, and he ain't ever seen Star Wars. Geez."

Splinter, sharp-eared as he was, must've heard what Raph said. But he acted like he didn't. He spoke to the human. "Enjoy yourself, little one." Then he looked at each of them in turn. "I will be back as soon as I can manage. Remember…"

"Stay inside, keep our guard up, and don't destroy anything," Leo recited. He rolled his eyes a little. "Including each other." Saturday nights a lot of the food places threw out their expired food. That made Saturday grocery night.

Splinter gave his version of a smirk. "Very good. I will see each of you in the morning when you wake."

"Good night, Sensei." Don's farewell was echoed by Leo's. But Raph came up with something altogether different.

"Why don't the human go with you?"

There was a moment of short, uncomfortable silence before Master Splinter broke it. "My son. We will speak when I return."

"No, I'm just sayin', he's a human. You're goin' up onto their turf. He'd be good cover, right? I mean, you know nobody'd look twice at him. If he's sticking around, why not let him help you out? Take him topside."

Donny clenched his fists. "Raph, why do you have to be such a jerk? He's hurt, and…"

"Come on, we all know he ain't that bad off. He's been runnin' around here for days. I say if he's gonna live in our place, he pulls his own weight. Like that's so much."

"Oh, yeah, because you're such a help around here."

"Enough." Splinter's command was firm. "Raphael. We will speak of this when I return." Even Raph knew better than to argue with that tone. The red-banded turtle's nod was mostly to disguise the glare he wisely directed at the floor. Splinter turned again to leave.

"Wait." The voice was small and nervous and determined. "I'll go." Donny's head spun to look at the human. The boy's head was ducked low, his fists clenched at his side. He looked up bravely toward Master Splinter. "I can help. I can. I'll go." He was nothing but sincere. But the strangest thing about it was that this human, this topsider, seemed absolutely terrified by the very prospect of going above ground.

Donny looked at his father. Splinter stared at the little human for the longest time, and, perhaps for the first time, the boy met his gaze, though it was clearly agonizing for him to do so. Finally, Splinter said, "You will stay." With those words, the human broke off his gaze with a short, relieved sigh, and dropped his stare once again to the floor. "Thank you for your offer, little one. But I will manage. It is late. You four should go to bed soon. Good night." With that, he turned and left, closing the door firmly behind him.

"'You four,'" Raph grumbled angrily. "'You four,' he says." He shouldered past Leo and stormed into his room, slamming the door with more force than a normal tantrum would warrant. And it made Don angry almost as much as it made him sad.

"Idiot," he heard Leo mutter.

Donny's eyes were on the human boy, though. And he didn't like what he saw at all. The little boy's head was still ducked low, hiding his face, but there was nothing he could do to hide the fine tremors running all through him. The little guy was positively shaking.

"Hey." Donny took a step toward him.

The human sucked in a sharp breath and took a step back, flinching away. "I'm sorry." And the trembling got worse.

Don looked at Leo. The older turtle's mouth was set in a grim line, his eyes wide and softened with concern. He nodded at Donny, asking and answering his own question with his eyes. Without words, he told Don to call if he needed him. Then he left the room with hardly a sound.

Don turned his attention back to the little boy. He'd thought maybe they were past this. Maybe that was hoping for too much. "What are you sorry for?" he asked quietly.

The boy flinched again. And he looked upset and miserable and so, so scared. "I…I don't mean to…to stay. It's…I can help. I will. It's just…" He shook his head.

"Hey." Donny reached out and touched his shoulder, and there was a quiet, fearful sound, and there was shaking. "What is it? What are you so scared of?"

"I'm not scared." It was a lie. It was a stark, blatant, clumsy lie that screamed of desperation. Screamed of darkness. Screamed of something evil.

And whatever it was that scared this little human—this boy who could stay with three mutant turtles and a rat without hardly blinking—whatever unimaginable wickedness could scare him so badly scared Donny more than he thought was possible. Without thinking, he jerked the human forward, wrapped his arms around him, broke all the rules of careful and slowly and don't touch that surrounded the once-was stranger. The little boy went absolutely rigid, and Don barely noticed. "They won't find you. They won't ever find you, and I promise, okay? I won't let them hurt you. No matter what. And neither will Splinter, and neither will Leo. We'll keep you safe, and you don't have to be afraid anymore. If you're with us, you're safe. Anywhere. Forever. Okay?"

The words were fast and rambled, and Donny wasn't even sure they'd all come out in a logical order, but it didn't matter because it was truth. Because it mattered right then that the little human hear and believe that there were words like safe and promise and forever. And the body in his arms was small and stiff and slightly broken.

"I didn't really want to go." The words were slow, and so quiet Don could've imagined them.

"You didn't have to go. But if you had, Splinter never would've let something happen. Not to you."

There were no tears. There should've been tears, but there were none. The trembling faded little by little, and Donny didn't let go. The little human stood so still, face buried in Don's plastron, not hugging back, just breathing slow, being held, and Don wasn't about to be the first one to back away. "Donny?"

"What?"

"I won't ever hurt you. Ever. I promise. I'd leave before I hurt you." The words were quick and clear, desperate to be heard and so very serious.

That didn't seem right. This kid couldn't be any kind of danger to anybody. "What do you mean?"

"I…" He stopped and had to start again. "It's not important what I mean. Just…you just gotta know. Just in case."

"Okay. I know," he said softly. Except he wasn't sure he understood at all.

"Good." And just like that, the younger one pulled away, put a foot of space between them. Tugged on the hem of his t-shirt, while his breathing returned to normal. Looked around at the world of paper that surrounded them. "Can we play again?" The voice sounded hopeful and far too normal.

Donny didn't sigh out loud. "Have you ever heard of a TIE fighter?"

"Does it fight guys who wear ties?"

"…No."

"Then no."

Donny grinned a little. "TIE stands for twin ion engine…" As he went on talking and grabbed a newspaper and tape, he couldn't help thinking. It wasn't fair. Every day the little human's fate seemed more and more uncertain. It should be the opposite way. Every day there should be more security, more familiarity. But instead every day brought them closer to the decision that had to be made. Could he stay? Or not? And what could Donny do about it? He'd already made promises. He didn't make those lightly.

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Mikey lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. Waiting. He was generally terrible at waiting. Also, he generally hated it. Also, his ceiling was generally uninteresting. Gotta get me some charcoal. He could draw something up there. That would be sort of awesome. But wait. He wasn't sure if he could take the Michelangelo jokes. Sistine Chapel. Hardy-har. Of course, he and Michelangelo Sisti's drawing styles were totally different. Famous, dead Michelangelo was more about naked lady angels and such. Beardless, living Michelangelo was more about…well a lot of different things. But his subjects always wore clothes.

He was sketching out his ceiling in his head, torn between dinosaurs and outer space before realizing that dinosaurs in outer space would be at least twice as awesome, when he realized the lair had finally gone quiet. The lights were dim through his windows. And he realized he had no excuse to wait any longer.

He rolled out of his bed, already dressed in an old pair of jeans and a black hoodie. He grabbed his chucks—the weapons and the shoes—and crept out into the station, heading soundlessly for the ladder.

Donny was slumped on the couch. His turn. Something that felt a little like guilt tugged at him. He waited in the shadows until he was absolutely certain his brother was sleeping before stealing up the ladder and into the sewers. He pulled his mask out of his pocket and pulled it over his head. A couple tunnels and then another ladder, and he was on the street.

Something that felt a lot like fear tugged at him. Mikey took a deep breath. You're not a little kid anymore. You can do this. And he believed that. Except for the part where he felt exactly like a little kid. Regardless, he'd made his decision. And no matter how stupid it was, he'd see it through. He took off running for the south side of town. Proud Tide territory.

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Donny raised his head as he heard the ladder hatch drop. Mikey. He left. Right after they'd just got him back, he left. Without stopping even to let any of them know that he was going. Didn't make sense. Oh, it sort of did, he supposed. He felt anger flare, and there wasn't a thing he could do to stop it.

Mikey didn't go topside alone. Not ever. Raph and Leo and sometimes even Donny would go up to run around, blow off steam, or get a little space. But Mikey tended not to want a lot of space. And even when he did, his me time usually consisted of comic books or action figures or drawing in his room, and even then Mikey usually sought out one of his brothers to have me time with him. He didn't go outside alone. But he'd just walked. Alone. And Donny didn't know where, and Donny didn't know why. But his Mikey senses were tingling, and he didn't like that at all. He set the Nintendo 64 he'd been working on aside. Then he followed after his brother.

A/N: Anyone who's never constructed a paper city: do it. Immediately.