TMNT 2003: I'm Sorry I'm Not The Same

Ever since Donnie had started to hang out more with Leatherhead in his new lair, Mikey begins to feel like the odd one out and question himself as both a brother and as a best friend to Donnie.

The first episode of my 'I'm Sorry' fanfic series. Occurs sometime after the Season 3 episode 'Hunted'.

I do not own TMNT 2003.

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Part 1-Doubts In The Mind

It was early morning on a Sunday, and Mikey was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for his family.

However, Mikey would normally make breakfast a little later on a Sunday morning since it was his and his brothers' day off from ninja training, but for the past few months, he had decided to do it a bit earlier which had caused surprise and confusion in his family. When he was questioned about this sudden change, Mikey would just shrug them off and tell them that he wanted to work on being up more early since he had been known to oversleep in the past.

"Morning, Mikey…" Donnie's tired voice was heard from behind the orange-banded turtle, who instantly turned around and spotted his immediate older brother.

"Morning, Donnie! You're breakfast's ready, and I've just brewed your coffee up for you…!" Mikey greeted back happily.

"Great, thank you…" Donnie replied gratefully before he grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured some of the coffee into it. He then walked over to the dining table and sat down.

As he was about to take the first sip of his coffee, Donnie spotted a small paper bag sitting on the table on his right side.

"What's in this bag, Mikey?" Donnie questioned curiously.

"Your lunch for the afternoon…!" Mikey chimed.

"You didn't have to make me lunch, bro, I'm fine…" Donnie protested slightly.

"The last time you went without lunch, Donnie, I got a call from Leatherhead telling me that you passed out from hunger and exhaustion…You had us all worried sick, you know…" Mikey reminded his brother firmly.

"Good point…and I'm sorry for worrying all of you back then…" Donnie replied sheepishly.

"Ah, don't worry about it. At least it gave me the opportunity to make food for you at each meal time and personally deliver them to you every day…!" Mikey countered teasingly.

"Very funny, Mikey…" Donnie replied sarcastically with a small smile before he took a sip of his coffee.

Mikey chuckled before he started dishing up his and his brothers' breakfasts, which was a big omelette each, and walked over to the dining table with them.

"So, how's your project coming along?" Mikey asked as he placed the breakfasts on the table.

"It's finally coming along nicely after correcting a few miscalculations…I had to calm Leatherhead down a few times when he lost control of his frustration because of them…" Donnie answered with a sigh of relief before he smiled and thanked Mikey for bringing his breakfast.

"Man, I'm sorry to hear that…I wish I could've been there to help you out, bro…" Mikey apologised sympathetically.

"Don't worry about it, Mikey, he didn't hurt me or anything. Besides, the large teddy bear that you gave him a while ago has really helped him calm down a lot. Leatherhead told me that himself…!" Donnie reassured before he took his first bite out of his omelette.

"Wow, really!? Ha, ha, I told you guys that it would help him…!" Mikey said in surprise with a cheeky smile before he too started eating his omelette.

"Yep, you definitely proved us wrong, especially Raph…" Donnie replied with a small chuckle before he took another sip of his coffee.

"Mm-hm…! Oh, by the way, did you have any luck in getting a new duffle bag yet?" Mikey then questioned, changing the subject suddenly.

"…No…I've looked around both in the junkyard and online, but I just can't find one that's as suitable as my old one…!" Donnie explained after releasing a sigh of frustration.

"Don't worry, Don; I'm sure something will turn up…!" Mikey reassured supportively.

"Yeah, maybe in the next month or so…! I'll just have to keep carrying my stuff in a sack until then…" Donnie spat out miserably.

Mikey felt very sorry for Donnie. It wasn't the answer that he had wanted to hear; his immediate older brother loved that duffle bag since he was always dependant on it to help him carry any useful gadgets during missions or machine parts. When it got damaged after it got caught and sliced by a sharp piece of metal during his leave from the junkyard one day, Donnie became frustrated and sad and he had no choice but to throw his beloved bag away because the damage was too beyond repair in his opinion.

"If you want to, bro, me and you could go out to the junkyard one night during the week and look for one. I'm sure there's a duffle bag for you out there somewhere, and you look like you could do with a break from-"

"Mikey! I've already told you a thousand times; I don't have enough time to do anything with you right now! So, just give it a rest already!" Donnie suddenly snapped at Mikey, cutting off his sentence.

Mikey looked at Donnie with a stunned and fearful expression on his face. Donnie had rarely responded to anyone in such a harsh way before since he had always been known to a pacifist and the most gentle turtle out of the whole family.

"…I-I'm…sorry, Donnie, I…M-Maybe another time, yeah?" Mikey stuttered apologetically after a moment of silence before he stood up and hastily left the table to put his plate and cutlery in the sink, and then he started filling up the sink with warm soapy water.

Donnie immediately felt guilty for snapping at Mikey a moment ago. He might be feeling tired and had been very busy with working on his and Leatherhead's project these past few weeks, but that didn't give him the right to push his own little brother away just because he wanted to spend time with him and give him a small break from his science work.

Letting out a sigh, Donnie stood up from his chair and walked over to Mikey before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He then spoke to him in a softer tone.

"I'll tell you what, Mikey; as soon as Leatherhead and I have finished our project, we'll let you be the first person to see it at Leatherhead's lair…Does that sound good to you?"

"Really!? Yeah, that'd be awesome, Donnie!" Mikey greatly accepted, cheering up a bit.

"Good…Now, I gotta go…I'll see you later at dinner, bro…" Donnie said with relief in his heart after seeing Mikey smile again before he walked back over to the dining table to pick up his lunch bag, and then he started making his way over to the lair's exit.

"Ok! See ya later, bro…! Say 'hi' to Leatherhead for me…!" Mikey chimed as he waved goodbye to him.

"Will do…!" Donnie replied with a small smile before he completely disappeared into the sewers.

As soon as Donnie had left, Mikey immediately dropped his smile and sighed sadly before he walked back into the kitchen and started the process of washing the dishes.

This was the real reason for being up more early on Sunday mornings.

Ever since the turtle brothers met Leatherhead and helped him find a new home after the trophy hunter incident, Donnie had started to spend more time with the big croc and do science-related activities, to a point where he would hardly be at home after training during the weekdays and on days off during the weekends. Now, Mikey wasn't jealous of the pair's strengthening bond of friendship, but the thing that was worrying him the most was the possibility of not being a best friend to Donnie anymore because the orange-banded turtle was not as equally smart or interested in science as his immediate brother was.

"Mikey? Are you alright?" The familiar voice of his oldest brother was suddenly heard from behind him.

"Huh? O-Oh yeah, just getting these dishes cleaned up…" Mikey answered shakily after being snapped out of his thoughts out of nowhere by Leo.

"You haven't been yourself lately, bro…is something on your mind?" Leo asked in concern, now feeling sceptical about Mikey's answer.

"I-It's nothing, Leo, I'm fine…" Mikey denied whilst trying to pretend that he was busy with washing the dishes. Leo, however, was still not convinced.

"Mikey, I can tell from the way you're acting that something's bothering you, so don't stand here and lie to me…!" Leo told his little brother firmly. This made Mikey flinch and looked away in fear, causing Leo to regret his actions and speak again in a softer tone this time.

"You can talk to me about anything, you know…Just tell me what's wrong…"

Even though Mikey felt reassured by those words, he knew that there was no way to avoid a bro-to-bro talk as serious as this. Throughout his whole life, his older brothers and sensei would always pick up on what was really going on in his head and they would corner him and not let him leave their sights until he told them what was bothering him.

"H-Have you ever felt like…the odd one out at times…?" Mikey asked shakily due to his nervousness.

Leo looked at Mikey in confusion at first, because he and the rest of his family already knew that they would be viewed as monsters and wouldn't be accepted in society by the humans due to their unique appearance. However, after looking back at what had been going on these past few weeks, Leo started to get a feeling that this was something different altogether.

"Is this about Donnie spending a lot more time with Leatherhead?" Leo guessed curiously.

"D-Don't get me wrong; I'm happy that Donnie has found a friend that has a lot in common with him and that Leatherhead has the same, and I'm not jealous of that at all…! I-It's just…" Mikey stuttered anxiously.

"You're worried that Donnie would no longer want to spend time with you, aren't you?" Leo then guessed reluctantly since he didn't want to believe that his own youngest brother would ever think of such a horrible thing.

Mikey froze for a moment before he nodded without a word. The reason was because he could feel his sad emotions within him trying to escape, and the last thing he wanted was to embarrass himself in front of his oldest brother and cause more trouble for Donnie.

"Come on, Mikey, we all know that Donnie wouldn't do that; he still sees you as his brother and best friend…!" Leo reminded him encouragingly.

"But…Master Splinter told us one time that people can change and drift apart as time goes by, even from their own family…" Mikey told him, fearing the possibility that this was happening to Donnie.

"That may be true, bro, but it doesn't happen to everyone. It all depends on how strong the bonds are between them and those they're close to…The bond that you and Donnie have is extremely strong, and it always has been since we were little, so there's nothing to worry about…!" Leo reassured with a warm smile, wrapping an arm around Mikey and giving him a sideways hug.

Mikey felt a bit relieved after hearing those supportive words from Leo, but he still had a small feeling of doubt and worry in his heart. Nevertheless, the orange-banded turtle pushed his negative emotions to one side for now since he didn't want to ruin this nice moment.

"Thanks, bro… B-But please, don't tell Donnie about what I just told you; it's been a long time since I've seen him this happy, and I don't wanna ruin it for him…" Mikey pleaded.

"I won't…They're your feelings, Mikey, so you should be the one to express them to Donnie, not me…" Leo replied both wisely and reassuringly.

Just then, Raph entered the kitchen whilst releasing a big yawn, causing both Leo and Mikey to jump slightly.

"And good morning to you too, Raph…" Leo greeted in a slightly playful but annoyed tone.

"Yeah, yeah…Mornin'…What are ya both up to?" Raph replied gruffly.

"Nothing, just sorting out the dishes…" Mikey answered calmly whilst keeping himself from trembling with nerves. Unfortunately, Raph already sensed that something was up with him.

"Are ya still wonderin' when Donnie's gonna hang out with ya again, Mikey?" Raph questioned suspiciously in an annoyed tone.

"Wha-? No, I-"

"Don't play dumb, knucklehead; I know dat yer desperate ta hang around with him…! In fact, yer jealous of dis friendship between Donnie and Leatherhead!" Raph accused, cutting Mikey's sentence off.

"I'm not jealous! I'm happy for both Donnie and leatherhead!" Mikey countered defensively.

"Oh, please…! You just can't accept da fact dat Donnie has found someone betta than you ta hang out with!" Raph accused cruelly.

"Raph, that's enough!" Leo jumped in, now angry at Raph for being a bully towards Mikey.

But it was too late; Raph had to speak those horrible words to Mikey without thinking twice, and this made the youngest both upset and ticked off with his red-banded brother.

"Your breakfast is on the table…If you wanna get it while it's still hot, then I suggest that you shut up and eat it!" Mikey snapped with a scowl.

Shortly after speaking, Mikey stormed out of the kitchen area and started heading towards his room. Unbeknownst to him, Master Splinter was walking over to the Kitchen when he saw his youngest son walk away whilst looking upset.

"Leonardo, Raphael, what has happened?" Master Splinter questioned as he walked closer.

"Raph was being harsh towards Mikey, again…!" Leo instantly told his sensei, pointing at the red-banded turtle who was looking at him with an angry glare.

"Explain yourself, Raphael…" Master Splinter demanded firmly.

Raph grunted gruffly before he told Master Splinter what he had just said to Mikey not long ago.

"…All I was tryin' ta do was make him understand dat he shouldn't keep pesterin' Donnie all da time…!" Raph concluded.

"I understand your intentions, Raphael, but that does not give you the right to make Michelangelo feel that he is meaningless to him or the rest of his family…" Master Splinter countered before giving Raph some advice. "I suggest that you eat your breakfast and go take some time to calm your mind before you can go and apologise to your brother…"

"Apologise!? But-" Raph tried to protest against Master Splinter's words, but the old sensei immediately raised a paw to signal him to stop.

"My words are final, Raphael…After I make some tea, I will meditate on this matter in my chambers…I will see you later, my sons…" Master Splinter firmly cut Raph off before he went over to the stove and took the kettle off it. He then poured some of the water into a teacup, which was filled with herbal tea, and put it down on the counter before he carefully grabbed his teacup and walked away to head for his room.

"Master Splinter has a point, Raph; you need to start thinking twice before you say things like that to Mikey…" Leo told his brother in disappointment.

"Tsk, whatever…" Raph tutted as he walked towards the dining table, sat on his seat in a huff, and started eating his breakfast, which he had now found to be lukewarm but kept eating it regardless.

Leo sighed in frustration, but he didn't say anything to counter or correct his behaviour. Instead, he walked to the opposite side of the table, sat on his seat, and started eating his own breakfast in silence.

The only thing that Leo could do now was hope that Mikey was ok, and that he didn't let Raph's hurtful words get to him.