Authors Note: So here's the next chapter. I'm going out of town next month so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a chapter up, but I'll do my best.
When Mikey woke up he was lying against something warm. This was comforting, but odd. He didn't remember going to bed last night. He tried to move, but cried out as pain shot up his left leg. He felt arms wrap around him and pull him closer. "What's wrong," a voice asked and Mikey realized it was Leatherhead?
"My leg hurts," he whimpered.
Leatherhead was silent for a second and Mikey let out a gasp as he touched it. "Sorry, I think it's broken, but someone put it in a splint."
Mikey was confused and finally opened his eyes. He found himself in a cold cage. The warmth was coming from Leatherhead who had him in his lap.
"What's going on?" Mikey asked confused.
Leatherhead was again quiet. "I think Bishop caught us," he said softly. Mikey had hoped that wasn't the case, but it made the most sense.
"Are you okay?" Mikey asked.
"Am I okay? Am I okay? What about you Michelangelo? You have a broken leg and I couldn't wake you up."
"I got twice the dosage," Mikey said calmly hoping it would calm Leatherhead down.
"What?" His boyfriend asked confused.
"You fell to the ground and when I went to check on you I found a dart in you. Then I felt a stinging sensation, but the adrenalin kicked in and I saw Bishop or who I think was Bishop and tried to fight him. He tranquilized me again and I think that was around the time he broke my leg."
Mikey could barely see Leatherhead as there was almost no light. Mikey noticed they were in a warehouse and the windows though dirty with just the barest hint of early morning dawn streaming through them. Leatherhead was clearly scared and worried. Mikey hugged Leatherhead tight and pulled him into a comforting kiss.
"Hey I'll be alright. Neither of us are the type to break curfew, so us missing will go noticed. I bet people are looking for us right now. They'll figure it was Bishop and we'll be found. I don't know how soon, but we will. Until then we've got to stay strong. I'm here for you and you're here for me. I'll do everything I can to protect you."
Leatherhead hugged Mikey tightly. "I'll protect you too," he said softly.
Mikey sighed. "I'm scared too, but being scared isn't going to save us. All we can do right now is wait. Hopefully someone will find us and we'll do our best to get out of here ourselves." Mikey hated waiting and Leatherhead knew this, but he knew that it was true. So he hugged Mikey as close to him as he could and they waited in silence for whatever was going to come.
The sun was beginning to rise and Mikey was getting anxious. "Leatherhead were things like this when Bishop kidnapped you before?"
Leatherhead shook his head. "No he kept me chained to a radiator in the basement of his townhouse in Jersey. His landlady was the one to find me. She thought he was making meth and went to get evidence." Mikey frowned as he looked around the warehouse. It was so big and places like this were a dime a dozen in New York and New Jersey as well. From what little he could tell the place looked abandoned. Mikey shuddered as he realized that in a place like this he could yell all he wanted and no one would hear him.
"What's wrong?" Leatherhead asked and Mikey figured it was better to lie. "Cold," Mikey replied and he felt Leatherhead pull him closer. Mikey relaxed somewhat as he reminded that he wasn't alone. Mikey knew both of their families had to know they were gone by now. Mikey had no idea what the protocol for missing teens was. Would it be like a kid and police had already filed a report that they were missing or would there be a twenty-four hour wait. Mikey guessed since both he and Leatherhead were underage there would be a report made right away. Mikey just hope the police listened and didn't think he and Leatherhead had run off somewhere. New York was the kind of place where kids running away wasn't unusual. It was easy for them to disappear into the city and never be found if they didn't want to be. As the sun rose higher Mikey wondered how long he and Leatherhead would be here. The idea of being locked up for weeks or even months was scary. Mikey pushed away the negative thoughts though. He needed to be strong. Both for Leatherhead and himself. Mikey wondered if whoever had them would come back today or wait for nightfall. The only thing Leatherhead and he could do was wait. Mikey looked at the cage and wondered how long it would be before he went stir crazy. Mikey got cabin fever very easily and while the cage was quite big it still didn't offer a lot for movement. Mikey was already getting antsy and felt the need to pace. Instead he took Leatherhead's hand and stroked it. Leatherhead looked at Mikey with a worried look and wrapped an arm around Mikey stroking his back. The gesture was soothing and Mikey closed his eyes and blocked everything out, but the feel of Leatherheads hand rubbing his back. He made a silent promise that no matter what he would keep Leatherhead safe even if it meant risking his own safety.
The next morning the brothers awoke and slowly got up. Donnie had his morning coffee and Leo some tea, but no one felt like eating. Master Splinter was already up, but he was in his office. A few minutes later he came out and after about five minutes the buzzer rang. Master Splinter didn't even ask who it was. He just opened the door and the Heinz came in. It was clear that no one had gotten much sleep last night.
They sat at the kitchen table and Splinter made them and himself some tea. The Heinz didn't really touch it though. About ten minutes later the buzzer went off again and Splinter got up to answer it. He opened the door and Casey and April came in. April sat next to Donnie taking his hand in hers. Casey made room to sit between Raph and Leo. No one said anything since no one knew what to say.
Finally April asked, "Isn't there anything we can do?"
Splinter shook his head. "The police say their handling the situation and for now I thinks that's for the best."
"Have the police figured out that this isn't some case of two teens running away?" Raph asked.
Splinter sighed. "I talked to them this morning and they are treating it like a missing person, but that was all they could tell me."
Raph growled. "Why haven't they found that Bishop guy? He's obviously the one behind this."
"Maybe not," Leo said softly and everyone looked at him. "I….I just don't know if someone who's suppose to be mentally unstable could take down a teen who's over six feet tall and one who knows ninjitsue. It's not like he got plastic surgery or anything either. If Leatherhead saw someone who even slightly looked like him he and Mikey would get as far away from him as possible. The pieces don't fit when you look at Bishop as the suspect."
Donnie frowned deeply. "Leo has a point. I know Mikey knows what Bishop looks like and if he saw him his first priority would be to get Leatherhead to safety."
"So who could have taken them?" Casey asked.
Donnie sighed. "It's not a secret that were wealthy Casey. This neighborhood isn't exactly in a poor part of town. Someone could have seen Mikey and Leatherhead figured they had money and decided they could be held for ransomed."
"Then why haven't we gotten a note?" Raph asked.
Donnie shrugged and hated that he didn't have an answer. He was the one who always had an answer, but this time he really didn't know what to do.
April rubbed his back knowing how hard this was not just on him, but all the brothers. Mikey was the one who brought balance to the family. He was the one who got Leo and Master Splinter to relax and laugh. No one could get Raph to cool down when he was angry quite like Mikey, even if that meant directing the anger towards himself. When Donnie was working too hard or stuck on something Mikey was able to pry him away from his work and it often lead him to figure out the problem once he stepped away from it. Mikey balanced them all out. He was the opposite of them and yet in a way that was complimentary. He was the relaxed and happy one. The one who didn't over think or over complicate things. Mikey just went with the flow and reminded his brothers that sometimes you just had to let go and have fun.
The most amazing thing was that even though he was focusing more on training and school he was still the first to suggest a movie marathon to get everyone to have fun. He still taunted Raph during sparring sessions. Mikey was beginning to mature and everyone could see he was going to be even more amazing when he was finished.
Donnie knew part of Mikey maturing was Leatherhead. He had clearly become Mikey's rock in a way his brothers just couldn't be. The brothers loved Mikey, but to them he would always be the baby of the family. He needed to be taken care of and watched over. Leatherhead saw Mikey as a partner, one who he could care for, but not in a way that coddled him. In turn Mikey had someone he could care for, but he could also let his guard down in a way he never did around his brothers. Donnie knew Mikey had a habit of putting on a smile even when he was feeling down. Over the years the brothers and Splinter had gotten good at telling when Mikey was faking being happy, but it took a lot to get him to admit it.
Donnie had heard the late night phone calls between Mikey and Leatherhead. He'd heard Mikey talking about how he felt he didn't match up to his brother in both school and training. While he never heard exactly what Leatherhead said he was always to tell Mikey something that reassured him. As much as it pained Donnie to think of Mikey being held captive he knew that if he was with Leatherhead he'd stayed strong until they were found. They would find him. There wasn't another option.
Donnie refused to believe that his little brother and friend wouldn't be found. Neither of their families would have year after year pass by without knowing what happened to their loved ones. Even if Donnie and his brother had to search for them themselves they'd find them. No one knew what to do or say so they just sat at the table trying to pull comfort from one another.
Just as the silence was getting so thick it was suffocating the phone rang. Splinter got up to answer it. No one really paid attention to it until the words "press conference" was spoken. That got everyone's attention. "I would appreciate that my friend…..you can set it up that fast? That would be good…thank you." He said softly and hung up. "Daimyo wants to help us set up a press conference. Help get the word out about Michelangelo and Luke missing. He can set up something for the day after tomorrow."
"Daimyo as in…. the Daimyo who's running for state senate next year?" Elma asked.
Splinter nodded. "He and I are very good friends. He is the one who helped me to build my family," he said looking at his sons. "Without his help I doubt I would have even been able to have adopted one of them least all four."
"How did you come to adopt the boys," Elma asked?
Splinter smiled though it didn't reach his eyes. "I decided to come to America after my wife died. Japan held too many painful memories and I felt the need to distance myself from them. I had been asked by several people from Hollywood to be an actor, but I decided to lend my services as a stunt choreographer and teacher.
As I got older I pulled away from movies and decided to move to New York and open a dojo. I loved what I was doing, but found that I was missing something. I knew that my heart would only ever belong to Teng Sheng, but I remembered our desire for children. When I began to look into it I doubted that as a single man I'd be considered a candidate and then I met Daimyo. He was an avid learner of all types of fighting style and found my ninjitsue training interesting. We ended up becoming good friends and I loved his young son. Daimyo was a well known lawyer and had worked with child protective services. He was able to cut through a lot of the red tape and I met my oldest son Leonardo. He was only a baby, but I loved him from the start. Not long after that I adopted Raphael. The three of us were quite happy until I heard from Daimyo about a young boy who had lost his parents. We added Donatello to our family. I thought I was done really. I had three boys who were just beginning to show and interest in my work. Then I went to volunteer at a small orphanage. That was when I met Michelangelo. I have never in my life met a child with such energy. He had the biggest smile on his face and ran right up to me. I went home that night talked to my boys about adding a new member to the family and with a vote of all yes. I went to work getting him adopted. I was warned that he was a wild child, but I was prepared to deal with it. Michelangelo has always been the sweetest child. No matter what he does he puts his whole heart into it. With Michelangelo our family was complete and I thank everyday for having such wonderful boys."
A silence much less thick fell over the table again. Then Elma spoke. "When I was pregnant with Luke I was obsessed with musicals. I think I must have watched every one that was on video. When Luke was about two we went to a video rental store. He ran right to the musicals and when I tried to lead him to the children's section he began to cry. I knew he wouldn't really enjoy any of the movies they had so I planted The Lion King in the section. When we returned it he ran right back to the musical section. I snuck in another Disney movie and this went on and on until he'd seen every Disney musical. I was lucky that he enjoyed them so much that he didn't mind renting the same movie twice. It wasn't until he was three that he wanted to see other movies."
The feeling of despair slowly began to evaporate and Splinter recounted with how Mikey could recognize a song by just first few opening notes. Mr. Heinze talked about how Leatherhead couldn't stand watching spots on TV, yet loved movies about sports. Soon everyone began telling stories of Mikey and Leatherhead. Around lunch time April made sandwiches and made sure everyone ate at least half. She also made more tea for Splinter. Once everyone was done eating they started talking about what they wanted to be said at the press conference. Not line for line just a general idea. They talked for hours about how things should be done. They talking about if Leo, Raph, and Donnie should be involved or not. If they were involved than should they speak, should they try to offer a reward and if so how much? They were just coming to a decision about a few things when dinner time rolled around. April whipped up some soup and more sandwiches. Everyone ate, but not a lot and soon it was time for April and Casey to go home. The brothers decided to walk them both home since it made everyone feel safer. When they got home the Heinze left and everyone decided to go to bed early.