Chapter 2:

(Donnie's POV)

"How did you do that?" Zira demanded about an hour later, when we'd run into some more guards, which I promptly knocked out via the destruction of their nano-bots, as I had before.

"I don't know yet," I admitted as we walked up to the door they had been guarding, "This is it," I told her before unlocking to door as well, causing her to look at me in shock. But I didn't have the strength to explain it to her right now, "Come on, let's get out of here," I informed her sourly.

"I always thought men were weird, but you take the prize Donnie boy," She informed me as she walked into the room, where we found a large machine that I recognized as the Barron's teleporter.

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere," She declared as she gently sat me in a chair, so she could see what she could do about activating the thing, "Purr baby, purr." She cooed as it started up and turned back to help me again only to discover that I was distracted by something else.

"What is it?" She demanded, looking at the door as I continued to watch it curiously.

"Mikey?" I asked quietly, more to myself than her as I forced myself back to my feet and walked into the hall again.

"He's here?" She asked as she followed me and I nodded, sure that I was indeed sensing my little brother somewhere in the complex.

"He must have just teleported here, I didn't feel him before," I told her, before I reached out for the wall and started forcing myself forward again.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone," She interrupted, coming around to stand in front of me, "Your brothers are probably under the control of Shredder, you can't fight them."

"I won't have to," I told her stubbornly as I moved around her, but she quickly got in my way again.

"Donnie, you're in no condition to –"

"I'm not leaving him here, Zira," I proclaimed sternly, causing her to close her mouth around the rest of the argument and sigh.

"Alright – let's go get him," She finally relented, getting under my arm again to help me walk as I quietly led the way back through the complex, relying on a very different kind of connection this time around.

…

I was nearly comatose when we reached the area that I was sensing my brother moving toward, but I somehow found the strength to stand a little straighter as I looked up to find Mikey walking around the corner in a manner that just didn't fit my baby brother at all.

There was no hop in his step, no grin on his face, no light in his eyes, just – mindless control.

However, he did stop when he saw us and we proceeded to watch each other for a moment until his orders seemed to decide that we weren't a threat and made to move past us.

"Mike," I stated sternly as he pushed me aside to continue walking down the hall, but I quickly reached out to grab his arm and stop him from going wherever it was he was programmed to go, "Mikey, listen to me," I insisted causing him to look down at my hand like he couldn't comprehend why it was there.

"I am here to deliver a message," He responded robotically as he looked up at me again and indicated the bag he had around his shoulder.

"Okay," Zira answered in confusion before looking at me, "Now what do we do?"

"I read something in the computer –" I started tiredly as I kept eye contact with my brother, "A new kind of control the Barron was working on, something called a brain worm. It seems to work a lot better than the nano bots."

"So in other words – we're screwed?" She commented as Mikey looked forward again and started walking, but we quickly got in his way before he could move too far.

"No," I answered calmly as I reached out again to grab his arm so he'd stop moving. "They're still in the testing stage. I got a look at some notes earlier and I think we can free him if we force his emotions to the surface."

"And how are we gonna do that?" She requested disbelievingly, but I didn't answer her this time as I watched my baby brother stand there in a confused state.

Mikey was normally overly emotional and that was going to be a problem, as those same emotions also made him extremely mellow. He wouldn't respond to anger or happiness, it had to be another, more potent emotion, one he couldn't control – I just wasn't sure I could do it.

"Michelangelo," I stated suddenly extremely stern, as I steeled myself for what I was about to do, "You need to break free, right now," I ordered him seriously, causing him to blink in a confused manner as Zira watched me in shock.

"I'm serious, Mikey," I informed him as I stood up straighter, "If you don't – I won't be your brother anymore."

"Donnie," Zira complained, but I quietly held a hand up to silence her as I kept going.

"Is that what you want?" I asked cruelly, noticing a small twitch in his shoulders as I said this, "Raph and Leo already left you, I'm the only one here, if I leave I'll never come back," I threatened struggling hard not to break down as I watched something behind his eyes plead for me to stop.

I waited a minute, looking for any kind of response, hoping that he would break out before I had to complete my threat. But he didn't.

"Fine," I started again, before turning to look away from him, "Let's go Zira, he doesn't want us here," I added, willing myself to cause the pain needed to break through to him, "He'd rather be alone," I finally finished, then started to walk, only to be forced to a stop once again when a pair of familiar arms grabbed me from behind.

"Don't go," Mikey begged in a small tone as he nuzzled into my back, "I don't wanna be alone," He added sadly and I clearly heard tears in his voice as he fell to his knees, pleading with me not to leave him as I turned around again to quickly pull him into my arms, trying desperately to apologize for what I had said.

"I know," I told him kindly, hugging him for all I was worth, "You're not gonna be alone Mikey, I'm right here."

…

Mikey clung to my side like a clamp, refusing to let me go even for a second as we made our way back through the halls, taking out a few more guards as we went until finally we found the teleporter again.

"Come on, little brother," I told him gently as I rubbed his back, noticing that with him here, needing me so badly, that I somehow had the strength to walk on my own again, "Let's go home," I added with a smile and quietly led him into the teleporter, allowing Zira to activate it and finally send us all back to earth.

Thankfully, she had thought to make sure the trip wasn't as hard as the last one we had endured, and instead it let us down nice and soft on the ground just outside New Manhattan.

"Finally," I sighed as I took in the fresh air and looked down as Mikey continued to snuggle into me for comfort, "Mikey, look," I said, pointing toward the dome in an attempt to cheer him up, but he refused to let me out of his sight.

"Did you really need to be so mean to him?" Zira asked as I hugged my little brother again, finding myself crushed by the guilt that I had been the own to cause him such pain.

"It was the only way," I whispered sadly, "I'm so sorry, Mikey," I told him around my own tears, "Please, forgive me."

"Hey!" Zira suddenly interrupted and I looked up to find her reaching for something on her neck only to pull her hand away and show me that it was a tranquilizer dart. "Oh, no," She added in a panic looking around in an attempt to find whoever was attacking us.

"No!" I called as I another one lodged into Mikey's shoulder and I quickly removed it, but it was too late, the drug had already been administered.

"Who's there?" Zira called into the trees around us as she started to succumb to the poison, leaving me to wince in slight pain myself and look down to find that I had been hit as well.

Somehow, I couldn't find it in me to care though. I didn't have the strength to carry Mikey out of there and I certainly wasn't going to leave him to face whatever this was alone. So, the only thing I could do was give in and allow our enemy to take us again.

Oh my goodness

;U;

That's got to be one of the meanest things I've ever done to Mikey

I can hardly forgive myself