Teddy Bears and Realized Relationships (2003)
By: AndiKaneUnderwood
If anyone asked, then the bear was just an old toy he didn't play with anymore.
Unfortunately, the bullies didn't see it like that.
The bullies thought it was something very special (which it was, his mother Teng Shen had given it to him when he'd started having nightmares, but he'd never tell the kids at school that because it was embarrassing).
The bullies thought that it was okay to rip it out of his school bag and mock him with the toy.
The bullies where wrong.
"Come on, Hamato, jump for it!" snarled Joseph Turner (Mikey knew he bullied Don too, but every since Don's now legendary take down of them, Joseph Turner bothered Mikey instead).
Mikey's eyes filled with tears and he jumped up again to get the bear he loved so much.
The bullies tried to keep it from him, but when Joseph turned, Mikey had had enough.
The blonde boy growled, dropping to the floor and sweeping Turner's legs out from under him.
The bully fell and Mikey snatched his bear away from the mean boy, grabbing his backpack and hoofing it to the nearest exit.
TMNT~TMNT~TMNT
Mikey met Leo at the entrance to the school, just as the ebony was walking to the ShellRazor so they could drive home. The ShellRazor was in camouflage mode so it looked like any normal seventeen year old's car and Mikey couldn't help but grateful for the time the pair spent in the car. Raph and Don rode the ShellCycle home together and Mikey found himself thinking that the twins relationship was rather different to his and Leo's.
Raph and Don had rode countless hours on the bike and rooting through the junk yard and patching each other up. Mikey wasn't sure what he and Leo had in common other than similar features and the same parents.
Mikey liked video games and playing on the simulation game Cody Jones* had invented. Leo trained for too many hours to be the perfect fighter he could never live up to.
How did Mikey compare to Leo?
"Hé petit frère**." Leo spoke in French, the only language he spoke (besides Japanese and English) that no one else (but Don who spoke too many languages to count) could speak(3). "Why where you running?" He asked, brushing back his ebony locks.
"Me, running? No reason." Mikey replied.
Leo gave him the look that only a big brother can. The raised eyebrow and the frown of the lips that said, "you and I both know you're lying" and "do you honestly think you can hide it from me".
Mikey shook his head and just got in the car. "Nothing, Leo, I promise." He said as he passed.
Inside he mumbled, "Bulli tè scopo sono veramente terribili(4)." His voice faltered to a whisper as he spoke his next words. "Don aveva ragione(5)."
Leo started the car and didn't comment, but Mikey knew that his brother ad heard him.
TMNT~TMNT~TMNT
Mikey's next encounter with the bullies and his teddy bear was a couple weeks later.
The only reason he ever took his teddy bear to school was when he needed a little extra comfort and strength to get through the day.
The bullies snatched his teddy bear from his bag again and held it up over his head.
Mikey's face went red as he was told to jump for it once again. This time, in front of people he went to class with.
"Come on Hamato, are you deaf?" Asked Thomas Fulton.
"Jump. For. It." Joseph Turner punctuated each word with a pull on the bear's arm that popped the stitches holding the bear together.
If he kept on, the poor bear would need to be taken to Don or their Mother for a fixed stitching.
A curled fist suddenly came flying towards Mikey's unprotected face. Mikey's eyes widened and everything suddenly went in slow motion.
TMNT~TMNT~TMNT
He would later be told that he was hit multiple times in the chest.
All he remembered was the fist flying towards him and then blackness and pain all over his body.
He thought he remembered seeing a flash of brown, streaks of red, and spots of black as everything went white, but he wasn't for certain.
Once the white had cleared, Mikey remembered seeing blurry figures and covered faces and the sharper face of his eldest brother running along side of him.
Mikey remembered thinking that it was strange for Leo to be running along side him when Mikey was looking up at the ceiling, but his thoughts didn't progress much past that. The blackness had set in fully.
He was told they lost him once in the ambulance and again on the operating table.
He was told he was lucky to be alive.
Leo told him later that Leo and Raph had found him beating down the bullies, but one had gotten in a lucky shot that allowed the bullies to turn the tables.
By then, Don had shown up and the three stepped in. Don had checked over his wounds while Leo and Raph fought off the bullies.
The paramedics had shown up after wards and the boys had called Father. They where all driven in the hospital without complaint. Mostly because Don had unofficial training in paramedics (and doctoring) and knew how to take care of Mikey and demanded for the three of them to be let on. Raph had sat up front with the driver, keeping an eye on the three of them while Don helped the paramedics and Leo held on to Mikey's hand.
When Mikey woke up in the hospital, Leo was at his side while Raph and Don stayed near the door, both asleep.
"You're awake." Leo smiled. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, of course. It takes more than a couple bullies to take me down." Mikey joked. Then he groaned because laughing hurt.
Leo sighed in relief, then he frowned. "You should've told me that you where being bullied." He admonished the younger.
"You where busy with your classes." Mikey protested.
"No, no. I am never too bust to help you. Or Don. Or Raph. I will never be to busy for you, Mikey. Never." Leo smiled brightly and brushed Mikey's unruly bangs from his forehead.
Mikey beamed.
What a wonderful way to know he already had a close relationship with his eldest brother.
He supposed he just needed to realize it first.
*Cody Jones is Casey's little brother. I did make that change because I don't like the idea of him never getting to see the turtles again after they went home in Tempus Fugit. This was the result of many long nights of thought and a quick burst of inspiration.
**Hey, little brother.
(3) So, the boys all have a language that is specific to just them. Leo's is French, Raph's is Spanish, Don speaks them all but favors Slovak, and Mikey's is Italian.
(4) But the bullies truly are terrible.
(5) Don was right.
So, Arachnide, how did I do?