Author's Note: I first want to say thank you to all my followers, reviewers, and readers. If it wasn't for you guys, I probably would't have updated in a long time. Which, I probably should cover really quick! Unfortunately life once again has caught up with me- work, family, friends, school- I've never really had the time or inspiration to continue. But you guys have totally inspired me to push on! Because of that, I forced myself to sit down and write a longer chapter! I hope you guys enjoy! And thank you again for all the constant support!

Disclaimers: I do not own TMNT or the song lyrics from "Maybe" by Sick Puppies.

...

A Turtle and his Sisyphus

…..….

"Why does it feel so wrong to reach for something more?"

...

It took the pair of brothers a good half hour to calm their youngest brother and make their way down through the sewers. The entire walk echoed only mere water drops around the walls and the hallow breathing of Michelangelo.

Walking only a few feet ahead, Leonardo marched with pace toward the lair. Even though the walk itself wasn't too far, Leo's firm gait kept him far enough to be close to home. Keeping his pace up, he fixated his mind on the aim of getting home. Yet, he couldn't help but let his mind compete. Just what exactly is wrong with his brother? This wasn't like his brother at all. Leonardo shook his head. He knew him better than this. Mikey is carefree, continuously has a smile on his face, very expressive about his feelings, and is constantly just…happy. This Mikey, the one a few feet behind him, wasn't his brother. And that terrified Leo the most.

Not too far behind, Raphael strolled at an average pace. His hands fiddled with the edges of his sais as he lifted his head to watch Leo keep up with his own mission to the lair. Every now and then, Raphael glanced over his shoulder. Slightly turning his head, he heard the heavy steps of his little brother. A sting of guilt hit him hard. Sure, he wanted to make sure his brother wasn't about to go insane and nearly run all the way to Jersey. Hell, he too wanted to beat the crap out of his idiotic brother for being so irrational. Nothing was making sense to Raphael, and he hated every minute of it.

Trotting in the back of the line, Michelangelo held his head up with whatever dignity he had left. After having a completely dramatic episode, Mikey had no idea how to even start with his brothers. He bit his lip as he watched his brothers. Raph would look back to him every now and then—Raph's way of checking up on him. He'd give a small smile and wave, then Raph would turn back to the front. Leo, on the other hand, kept his head straight at all times. Maybe his big bro felt just the way he did. Maybe Leo couldn't stand looking into his eyes, nor could he look at Leo.

Mikey couldn't help but think back on what happened. Man, were Raph and Leo- did I say Raph?- ticked at him. Shell, they had every right to be. Disappearing in the middle of the night, completely blacking out and apparently running around the city. Just what the shell was that? The sudden blackout? That weird hallucination he had right before he woke up on the roof? What was happening to him?

Ahead, Mikey realized that Raph and Leo were already walking into the lair. He could hear footsteps followed by a frantic voice.

"Leo! Raph! Are you two okay?"

"Just dandy."

"We're fine. How is Master Splinter?"

"His body is responding to the antibiotics well. I think he's actually starting to recover- uh, slowly of course but it's responding so…" Michelangelo waited hesitantly outside the lair, his head slightly poking out watching his brothers converse. Raphael and Leonardo's backs faced him as he watched Donatello, standing in-between Raph and Leo, shift himself between the two and smiled slightly at him. "Hey, Mikey. Looks like you're in one piece."

"Well," Mikey shrugged sheepishly. "My insides can probably beg to differ. More specifically my arm." Mike gave his arm a shrug as he peeled off whatever wrapping was left. Mikey beamed, a laugh escaping his smirk. "Geez, Donnie, you've never given crappy casts like these in forever, dude!"

Donnie was taken back at first at the sudden normality of his brother's mood. Shell, didn't he just have a mental breakdown and run out of the lair as if the Shredder himself was chasing after him? He blinked for a few moments. Michelangelo still smiled to him, gesturing his arm, waiting for him to respond. Don smiled back at him and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that, Mikey. Geez, your head it hot. You have a fever or something? Okay, come on, I'll fix that up for you."

Leonardo glanced a confused look at Raphael. Now his brother was nearly completely fine? He wasn't sure if he should feel joyous or confusion. He waited until the pair of younger brothers left the room to walk over to Raphael. Arms crossed, he lowered his voice as he spoke. "I'm worried about him. Did you see the way he acted toward us before?"

Gently grasping Splinter's hand, Leonardo mumbled an old prayer that he had taught himself. This prayer was Leonardo's support, the one he always counted on to make things better. Like the time Raphael was flipped headfirst into a brick wall and was in a coma for three days. Or the time Donatello caught an awful case of pneumonia as kids.

When he felt himself surrounded by the Elite.

When he crashed into April's roof.

Seeing the complete terror, fear, in his brothers' eyes.

That prayer was his consolation.

The lair cried with the shattering of glass from upstairs. He felt his muscles tense up at the sudden boom.

"Mikey?"

"Mike!"

Leonardo stepped outside of Donnie's lab. Looking up at the top of the stairs he too called out for his brother. "Michelangelo?"

Donatello held his coffee cup close to him as he too turned his head up to look at Michelangelo's room. Raphael stepped out from the dojo, panting from his workout he glanced over at Don and Leo.

"Mikey! What's going on?"

"Yo, yer alright up there?"

Leonardo was the first to move. He carefully walked up the stairs and cautiously approached his door. "Michelangelo! What happened?"

He could hear Donatello and Raphael rush up behind him. Leo suspiciously turned his brother's door handle and gently opened the door.

He almost wish he didn't. Almost.

Sitting straight up in his bed, Michelangelo gripped his sheets tightly around his fingers. His eyes were open wide as he stared straight at the ground. Leonardo followed his brother's eyes and saw his entire mirror was shattered. Glass now sprawled out on the floor.

"What the hell?"

"What the fuck happened in here?"

Leonardo turned his head back to Mikey. He watched his brother gasp as he stared straight at him. Leo treaded around the glass as he tried to make his way closer to Mikey. His voice, as gentle as his panic could be, spoke, "Michelangelo, what's going on?"

His baby brother began to shake. Leo watched as Mikey's whole body trembled, his bright blue eyes getting wider and wider, his mouth slightly open as quick breaths came in and out. Sitting beside his brother's side, Leonardo hesitantly reached for his brother's hand. He tried to be calm, but Don and Raph were just as panicked as he was.

"Michelangelo! What's wrong?"

"The fuck is wrong with ya?"

He finally grasped his brother's trembling hand and gently comforted his youngest, as best he could, "Mikey, talk to me, what's going on?"

His mouth gaped open. Breaths only coming out. His eyes looked around the room in shock as continue to do this. Leo felt his brother's grip get tighter around his hand.

"Donnie, what the fuck is wrong with him?"

"I think he's having a panic attack- his pulse is racing!"

Squeezing his baby brother's hand, he gently stroked his hand. "Michelangelo, look at me. Breathe. Just breathe, okay?"

The pupils of Mikey's eyes began to grow larger and larger. Leonardo felt the grip of his brother's get tighter, and tighter- enough for Leo to cringe in pain.

"Make him snap outa it, Don!"

"I can't make him 'snap' out of it! He's hyperventilating, I can't-!"

Leo cut his brother off as he desperately squeezed his hand even tighter. "Michelangelo, it's just us! You're okay, nothing is wrong! You're safe!"

"M-Master Splinter?"

Sensei? Why was his brother calling out for their father? His voice sounded so small, so weak, so desperate.

"W-What's wrong with him?!"

"M-Mikey! Look at me! Stay with me!"

Leo adjusted himself to sit directly in front of his brother. Using his other hand to lean on his brother's shoulder. He gripped his hand, again, and his shoulder at the same time. "Mike! It's me, Leo. You're home with all of us, there is no danger. You're here with me, Raph, and Donnie. Nothing is going to hurt you. But I need you to tell us what you're seeing."

His brother's eyes were shut now as he began mumbling. Leo couldn't quite make out what his brother was saying, but he felt more and more painful watching him suffer.

"Mike, come on, talk to us!"

"Mikey, say something!"

"Donatello, you have to help him!" Right when Leo turned his head to face Don, Michelangelo cried out, "STOP!"

Right as he screamed, Leo jumped to his feet. Suddenly, Mikey shoved Leo with all his might into his dresser. Don, crying out to Leo, was shoved straight into Raph before he could even reach his oldest brother.

"MIKEY!" Leo fought back onto his feet. His arm was bruised and he felt weak, but he knew he had to get up. "Follow him!"

It was at this moment that nothing else mattered to him. His priority was to go after Mikey—whatever it takes.

"I know," Raph grumbled, once again fumbling with his sai. "I was there too, y'know. What do you expect us to do? We got no leads, Splinter is still sick, and Mike can snap any minute." As much as he hated to admit it, Raphael was right. There were countless situations when all seemed lost, when it seemed they had nothing left to do but to wait. Wait for some kind of unexpected occurrence to show the way, some kind of crazy and dangerous way to get a content resolution.

This didn't seem like another one of those days.

Leonardo already felt at a complete loss for words. His family was crumbling before him, watching his brothers and father suffer to the hands of the "turtle luck true to form". Now I'm quoting Raph, perfect. Giving his brother a shove, Leonardo reassured him, "Let's just give Donnie some space to figure out what that recording device was, or if it's still active. In the meantime, we should probably do a damage report on Splinter and Mikey. I think you should talk to Mikey."

"Me? Why me? He listens to you."

"Exactly. He rather listen to me tell him what to do. He naturally opens up to you, when you don't make him."

"So you want me to just sit there until he vents his deepest darkest thoughts about why he's been acting like a psychopath?"

Leo couldn't help himself, letting a small smile slip. "More or less."

"Wonderful." Groaning and mumbling a few choices of curse words, Raphael marched his way to Michelangelo's room. Leonardo pitied his brother- Raph does truly try. Deep, deep down he knew his hotheaded brother wanted to be the one to talk to Mikey. In a way, he envied his brothers for it. Whenever he and Raph fought, it would usually end with a sting. Yet, most of the time, when Michelangelo and Raphael fought, it would end with Mikey smiling and poking fun at the situation and Raph eventually blowing him off.

He and Raph used to be inseparable as kids. Late night exploring, Raph would always convince Leo to tag along for fun. They'd always spar each other, regardless of the lesson. They'd help each other with the learning assignments Splinter did with them, even up to the point of swapping each other's work to complete the question the other couldn't figure out. The little things they did as kids just wouldn't cut it now.

Late night exploring? Possible.

Swapping homeworks? Dishonorable, at least to him.

Sparring with each other? Never a dull moment.

Now. Now, everything was different yet it never changed. Behind the disputes, Leo felt that Raph understood him the best. The pressures Leo faced, and how there is no room for failure. For Mikey and Donnie, they could loose their footing in a fight. In that splint second, he knew it was his job to have his younger brothers' backs. Raph included, even though he never minded backing Leo up with it.

Raph, though he'll never admit it, was the back up that Leo never accepted, nor turned down. It was an unspoken, neutral agreement to always watch over the family- and each other. But they knew their places, their responsibilities. What needed to be done for the good of the family. At all costs.

/././././././././././././././

"Ow! Watch it!"

"I am 'watching it'." Donatello carefully wrapped another cast around his younger brother's shoulder—for the second time. "There, it's done. Now please don't mess this one up too, okay? You have to share the medical supplies with everyone."

"Well, let's hope that we don't have to, bro." Mikey rotated his shoulder, adjusting himself to the tight bandaged wrapped around it. He kept his eyes glued to the floor. He still couldn't dare himself to look up at his brother. At the corner of his eye he could see his brother back to tinkering.

"Yeah, hopefully." Donnie's voice cracked. Maybe it was the stress finally kicking into him, or that Splinter's recovery has been slow. Either way, Donatello felt completely useless. He had to do something, anything, to give his family some kind of assurance. And that's exactly what this device will lead me to. He could hear Mikey spinning around his chair across from him, humming a low tune to himself. "You know, Mikey, you can go if you want. You don't have to hang around here."

"I guess so," Mikey admitted, wheeling himself over next to Donnie. "But I wanna help, if I could. And like, real help, not let-me-mix-the-pretty-colors-and-hope-it-goes-boom kind of help."

Chucking, he glanced over to his right and shrugged. "I mean, there's not much you can do. I don't mind company though—as long as you don't touch anything, of course."

"That I can do!" Resting his casted arm on Donnie's work table, he craned his neck over. Peering over his brother's shoulder he asked, "So, what's that anyway? Another shell cell upgrade or something?"

Donnie hesitated. "Yeah, something. But, I've been meaning to talk to."

"Oh." Mikey wheeled himself a few feet back and continued maneuvering himself across the room. "I'm fine, dude. Just haven't slept much that's all. Which I better go do so, catch you later!" Jumping off his seat he dashed toward his room. He felt bad for leaving Donnie up in the air like that, but he knew what he was leading up to. Anything but actually talking about it.

Swinging his door open he quickly shut it behind him, just in case Donnie chased after him. Breathing out a sigh of relief he slouched himself against the door, his eyes closed.

"Yo."

"GAH!" Jumping back on his feet, his head banging against his door, he looked up at the figure leaning against his bed. "Raph, geez, you of all people should get a sense of privacy! If you wanted something you could-!"

"Look, you've been actin' real weird these past few days. And it's freakin' me out. So, you could either tell me what's been goin' on, or, I could just smack it out of ya. Your choice."

"How sensitive, oh brother of mine-!" Pulling his knees to his chest, he rested his head against his knees. His tone growing more serious, he mumbled, "Raph? Do you think I'm…a liability?"

"No," Shrugging his shoulders, Raph continued. "A bonehead, yeah. Annoying, most of the time. Na, you're not a liability. Who gave ya that idea?"

"Me. I don't know. I screwed up real big lately. I don't know what's wrong with me, I just feel so…off."

"Before or after ya ran off across Manhattan?"

"Dude," Mikey exclaimed as he rose to his feet. "I seriously don't remember any of that! The mirror, me running off, you guys talking to me, I can't remember a thing! I just blinked and- BOOM."

"Boom?"

"Ugh, I meant, POOF."

"Poof?"

"Yeah."

"Are we talkin' about what happened or your brain activity?"

"Dude, I'm being serious!"

"So am I!"

"Forget it!" Grabbing his sketchbook, which was already loosing it's pages, Mikey reached for the door. Then, the realization hit him, stopping dead in his tracks, he pouted as he exclaimed, "Wait, this is my room, you leave!"

"Look, Mikey, you shouldn't feel like your some kind of…Flaw to us. You know you're not, bro. You're good. Leo and Donnie are worried about you- I'm, worried about you. We want to help ya, before you have another...episode. Let Donnie help ya, bro. It'll make everyone feel a lot better." Raph gave Mikey a gentle shove as he made his way out of the room. Turning his head around he smirked, "Maybe it's the pizza that's gotten to ya."

"Yeah, maybe, bro! I mean, I love my fair share of pizza dude but the place we normally get it from never screws up as much as they did now. But," For the first time in a long time, Raph saw Mikey smile as he ran and gave his brother a hug. "thanks, Raphie."

Prying his brother off of him, he flicked his forehead. "Look, shell-brains. One, don't hug me. Two, make Leo and Donnie stop being worried mothers. And three, next time you get pizza-." Pizza. The pizza Mikey got earlier in the afternoon was the one with the recording device on it, the one he didn't notice. "Wait, did you have half that pizza by yourself?"

"Uh, yeah, why?"

/././././././././././././././././

Sitting on different sections of the living room, the turtles exchanged glances. Leonardo, arms crossed, listening to Raphael's proposal as he occasionally

"You're telling me that the pizza Mikey ate was drugged to cause him to have some series of hallucinations." Donatello rubbed the back of his neck as he grabbed a slice of Mikey's pepperoni pizza. "I mean, that could explain why he had a fever when he came back and was acting out. And his description of the attack when he was with Splinter."

"Dude, that part was for real! I swear!"

"Nonetheless," Leonardo continued, hoping to stop a fight before it erupted. "It explains Mikey's behavior and maybe even why Splinter is ill. If someone is attempting to drug one or all of us, we all need to be at our full guard. Donnie, how's Splinter doing?"

"Recovering, thankfully." Donnie smiled. "He seems to be responding well to the medication, I think he'll be okay by the end of the week. If he gets enough rest."

"Good, before you work on that device see if that pizza really was drugged in the first place. If you can find out what was used, maybe we can trace it back to the source. In the meantime, we need to figure out who we're exactly dealing with. Raph, call up Casey and check out what the Dragons have been up to. Though I don't think they'd be able to pull this off, you never know. I'm going to check out the Foot hotspots, see what I can dig up."

"Alone?" Donnie frowned, shaking his head. "I know the Shredder's dead and all but, what if Karai's there? You should have some kind of backup."

"I'll handle Karai, trust me." Leo assured. "She wouldn't do anything reckless, especially with Shredder gone. Mikey, I want you to give Donnie a hand. How about you run by Leatherhead's and give him the device? Maybe with a second brain power it gives Donnie less stress and more a chance to get more covered."

Mikey beamed, nodding with excitement. "You got it, bro!"

Leonardo smiled. Things were finally piecing together. Soon, they can know exactly what's been going on.

Or what's been happening.

/./././././././././././././././