Sorry for my absence. I thought I would have more time to write this summer, but as always, I kind of overloaded myself. I'm finishing up three jobs, four classes, and two major papers this summer. But I finally took some time out to try and write a few chapters, just in case I fall behind again. Thanks for your patience and I promise to try harder to update my stories faster. J

Mikey managed to avoid his brothers for the rest of the day, even though he had to make up an excuse for missing his class, but there was no way to avoid them after school. As soon as they met up in front of the school, all three were on him.

"Mikey! What the hell happened to your face?" Leo exclaimed.

Mikey grimaced. He had seen his face in the mirror before meeting with his brothers and it wasn't a pretty sight. The swelling in his nose had gone down some but it was still red and he already had two black eyes forming. Mikey flinched away as Don tried to inspect his injuries. "It's nothing guys. A couple of us just a got a bit rough earlier. It was an accident."

"That was one hell of an accident," Raph commented as he inspected the injuries next to his twin.

Mikey ran a hand through his messy blond hair "Yeah. I'm okay though." He only hoped his brothers didn't notice the way he was holding his stomach.

Things only got harder once they got home. "Michelangelo," Splinter said as they walked through the door. "The school called to inform me that you missed your seventh period class."

Mikey groaned. He completely forgot that the school called their parents if they missed class. His brothers looked at him curiously as he hurried to think of an answer. "I wasn't feeling well and fell asleep."

Splinter frowned and felt Mikey's forehead. "Are you feeling alright now my son?"

"Yes sir," Mikey said. "I'm just going to go law down."

The family watched Mikey head upstairs. Splinter looked at his older sons. "Did something happen at school today?"

"Mikey said that he and his friends had an accident, but he didn't say anything else," Leo answered.

Splinter nodded. "Okay. Finish your homework and then train until dinner."

"Yes Sensei."

Mikey woke up the next morning sore and regretting not at least grabbing a bag of ice for his injuries. He was stiff and not looking forward to morning training. He dragged himself into the dojo and began stretching.

His sluggishness didn't go unnoticed. His father and brothers were careful to watch him as he sparred but soon Leo had to step in when Mikey's movements began to slow. "Hey buddy, are your injuries still bothering you?"

Mikey hated to look weak in front of his brothers but right now he didn't care. He was miserable and in pain and all he wanted to do was to curl into a ball and let his brothers baby him like they usually did. Instead he simply nodded his head and sat down on the mat.

Don kneeled down next to him and felt his forehead with the back of his hand. "You're a bit warm. Maybe you should stay home from school today."

As much as Mikey wanted to stay home, he knew that staying home would only provoke Jeff and his gang. "No, I'm okay," he insisted.

Don eyed him suspiciously but nodded anyway. "Okay. Just take it easy today alright," he said with a grin as he ruffled his baby brother's hair.

Mikey playfully swatted his hand away and laughed. "Yeah."

The school day started normally and by the last period, Mikey thought that he might be able to get through the day unscathed. He was just leaving his last class when his luck ran out.

Before he could meet up with his brothers, Jeff and his friends surrounded him. The looks on their faces were not playfully or menacing. They were downright deadly. Jeff gave Mikey a smirk that promised immense pain. "Hi baby Hamato. We never got to finish our talk."

Mikey looked around for help but everyone was suspiciously ignoring them. He couldn't fight his way out with so many people around, and without Jeff or one of the others attacking first, he would just be suspended for fighting at school. All he could do was allow them to take him away and hope for the best.

Mikey narrowly missed seeing his brothers as Jeff led behind the school. There wasn't much space but it was big enough for the gang to surround Mikey, and isolated enough that the students wouldn't come back there. Mikey gulped as the older teens pulled out wrenches and pipes. This wasn't good.

Leo and Raph stood in front of the school waiting for Mikey. Don had another meeting so he was taking the subway home later. Leo frowned and looked at his phone. Mikey was never late, and if he thought he might be, he always called. Leo tried calling again but his baby brother's phone simply kept ringing before going to voicemail. His fraternal instincts were flaring at this point. Something was wrong.

Raph was leaning against the school with his arms crossed over his chest when he thought he heard a yell. He frowned and looked around but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He shrugged and resumed people watching when he heard it again. By the look on Leo's face, he had heard it too.

Raph looked down the alley between the school and the neighboring apartments. No one ever went behind the school, not even faculty and staff. He heard another yell and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. With his gut churning he ran down the alley, ignoring Leo's frantic call behind him. Raph knew that yell. That yell had woken him up countless times in the middle of the night, alerted him to an injury during sparring, and protested when he got to rough playing.

He skidded to a stop at the end of the alley and saw red. Mikey, his baby brother, was lying in the middle of a group of seniors as they beat him with their pipes and laughed. Jeff stood there watching the entire thing, taunting the freshman. Raph didn't even hear Leo behind him as he jumped into the group and started throwing them off Mikey. The teens tried to scatter but Rap was quick to bring several down, pounding them angrily into the dirt until their faces were as bloodied as Mikey's.

Raph was about to chase after a few who escaped when Leo's anguish cry stopped him. Leo sat with an unconscious Mikey cradled in his lap, a hand gently running through Mikey's bloody hair. "Raph, call 911!"