These wounds won't seem to heal.

This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase~

-Evanescence, My immortal

TMNT

It took Mikey a few moments before he remembered where he was. He was back in his room, under the thick blanket. He was no longer surrounded by emptiness, no longer confronted with the cold. They were all back. His brothers were save.

Slowly he cracked his eyes open, looking around for a bit. His room was dark, the only light coming from the small nightlight in the corner of his room. The stuffed bear was still carefully tugged under his arms. Slowly Mikey frowned, he didn't remember having it last night.

His mind was still fuzzy, slowly trying to process what was happened. How long has it been? He grunted slightly and brought his arm up, rubbing his forehead slightly. He felt so light. Like he was floating. He whimpered slightly and turned to his side. His eyes snapped open when the collar was pressed between his neck and pillow. And the sound of the piece of iron moving around his neck brought him back to reality.

He cried out and reached to the collar. Screaming out of frustration and fear when he felt the cold iron still around his neck. Get it off, get it off. His mind was screaming, his hands clenched around the collar. He wanted it off. Why couldn't they get it off?

Tears were streaming down his face as he curled up on the bed. His fingers brushing along the smooth collar. Seconds after his cry his door flew open. A few footsteps echoed across his room and then he felt the strong hand of his father on his shoulder.

"Michelangelo, it is okay. You are safe" He soothed and rubbed Mikey's shoulder in response, thinking his son just had a nightmare. Mikey looked up to meet his father's eyes and instantly burst into more crying.

"I want it off. P-please take it off." Mikey cried, tugging the collar around his neck. He buried his face in Splinters kimoto and cried in it. Staining the cloth with tears. Splinter didn't seem to mind and just continued to rub his sons shoulder. And only then he realized he was crying over the collar.

"I know Michelangelo, and we will" Splinter said sternly. He wanted to take the collar off as well. He knew how much it hurt his youngest son but he simply couldn't. He didn't have the right tools to do so. He would have to find a powerful saw to cut through the powerful alloy.

Mikey cradled on his father's lap and cried harder. Splinter sighed and began to rub his shell soothingly. Finally after a couple of minutes Splinter actually managed to calm Mikey down and gently lifted him up. Allowing him into a sitting position.

"My son, I will not rest until that thing is off your neck." Splinter assured him again. Mikey nodded and actually cracked a small smile in response. "Come on, you have to eat something"

Carefully Splinter helped his son to his feet. Mikey seemed to be swaying slightly on his feet but he managed to walk outside his room safely. Out of all the brothers he was almost perfectly fine. No physical damage was done to him, apart from the burn wound. The damage they'd had done to him was on the inside. He was scarred from the inside.

The usual happy turtle was quiet all the way and Splinter knew he shouldn't start a conversation.

Mikey nervously swallowed when he entered the kitchen. 2 pair of eyes were curiously looking over to him. April's light blue eyes were filled with worry and surprisingly so were Casey's brown eyes.

"Hey Mikey" April greeted. Mikey shrugged it off and sat down on the chair. He didn't know how to respond. Usually he would be bursting with energy right now, but somehow he couldn't muster any energy for anything.

"How long have I been out?" Mikey whispered after a few seconds of silence. April was sitting next to him while Casey was on the other side of the table, in front of April. In the meantime Splinter had come to sit at the head of the table with a cup of tea.

"It's morning" April informed Mikey, He had slept the whole night, since they were rescued in the evening. April smiled slightly and lifted a pizza box. "We got your favorite pizza" She placed the box in front of Mikey and opened it. It was still fresh and hot. It was Mikey's favorite, pepperoni, but Mikey didn't react like he would mostly do.

Instead of cheering up like he would usually do he just kept staring at the pizza with dull eyes. His mind wandering off.

"Are you ready pet?"

"You are nothing but a filthy animal."

"You belong to us now"

"Bad pets must be punished"

"Did you enjoy the show pet?"

A single tear began to roll over his cheek. Quickly he wiped it away, hoping nobody had seen it. But as he had already expected 3 pair of eyes were watching over him. And they had seen it.

"What's wrong Mikey?" April asked with worry in her voice. She brought her almost shaking hand up and rested it on Mikey's shoulder. The small turtle tensed slightly but shrugged the feeling off very soon. April's eyes trailed towards his upper-arm where the burn mark was still clearly visible. It wasn't red anymore but you could still see the symbol very clear.

And it would stay there forever. The collar was something else. And April would, together with Casey, never stop searching for something to break the collar and free Mikey from it. She could see it was bugging him, big time.

"How are they?" Mikey whispered after a while. Completely dancing around the subject. April and Casey exchanged some glances.

"Well Leo is still asleep. His wounds weren't severe but painful" April answered truthfully. Mikey shuddered slightly because of the answer but was glad his older brother would pull through. He just hoped he would do mentally. He was their fearless leader. If he were to be broken, how would they survive after all?

"And Raph?" Mikey's voice was slightly above a whisper but still very hard to understand. And it hurt the 3 of them seeing him hurt and lost like this. His usual baby blue eyes were dull and weren't focused on anything. And his mind kept wondering off. The insults Thorn threw at him repeating. They'd hurt. Even more than being rejected by Bradford a few months ago.

"Still in his shell, last time I checked" Casey said, being the one who had looked over Raph the last day. Mikey's face fell into a saddened look. "Don't worry, he'll be fine" Casey tried and reached over the table and pinched Mikey's hand slightly. Mikey didn't react at the touch and simply nodded.

April, Casey and Splinter all exchanged some glances when Mikey kept quiet. He had asked about Raph. He had asked about Leo but not about Donnie. And that was something that worried them. Mikey and Donnie were always close to each other. Even to the point that Mikey refused to leave Donnie when he was hurt, even when he would have a simple cut or a slight headache.

"You… you don't want to know how Donnie's doing?" April decided to break the ice after a few minutes of silence. Mikey whimpered slightly and shook his head slightly. Indicating it was no. "Why not Mikey? Why don't you want to know how he is? he's your brother" April tried again.

"Because I don't even want to know he how he is!" Mikey snapped. Taking her by surprise. "I watched him getting raped okay?! I don't want to know what they did to him. I just don't want to know" Mikey snapped and buried his face in his hands. Crying wildly.

Splinter stood up after seeing his distressed son and walked over to him, wrapped his arms around his youngest son. He wasn't usually the one who would start a hug but right now he did. And Mikey gratefully accepted it by nuzzling his face in his warm fur. April bit her lip. It hurt her to see Mikey like this.

Of course she'd seen him crying before but right now he was completely lost.

"My son, do you want to talk about what happened?" Splinter finally asked after Mikey calmed down slightly in his arms. Slowly Mikey released the hug and buried his face in his hands again.

"No" Came the short reply. It was soft, slightly above a whisper as he tried his best to suppress a sob.

"My son. You really don't have to but it will help you to come over this" Splinter tired. He really didn't want to push his son but he also knew if he didn't he would never talk. And he would need to talk to get over it. He shouldn't deal with this himself, none of them should. But still, Mikey refused to talk. He didn't want to relive what has happened.

"I said no!" He snapped, his voice rising slightly. "Please, just…. Leave me" He added, again whispering. Splinter sighed but nodded. He shouldn't have pushed his son like this. Michelangelo himself should pick the right moment to tell. And only then he and his brothers would be allowed to start healing.

His only fear was the scars that would remain on their sons.

Slightly Mikey-centric but the rest is still out cold due to their injuries. So yeah…..