*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Notes: Chapter 27 of 'Slash's Revenge' is here and this one gives Mikey a much-needed chance to shine.

A gigantic thank you to all of you for reading my story. I sure appreciate it.

I hope everyone likes the new chapter. Please let me know.

CJ

Chapter 27 – Someone to Watch Over D

When Michelangelo had volunteered to watch over his genius brother, he had never stopped to consider just how boring it would be. Donatello's room was filled with all kinds of complicated manuals and magazines and a bunch of weird gadgets and gizmos Mikey was afraid he might break if he so much as touched them. There wasn't a comic book in sight, or anything else fun for that matter.

It was like the youngest turtle's most horrific nightmare come true.

To make the situation even worse, Mikey had neglected to take a restroom break prior to everyone heading off to bed. Not his best move. He was pretty sure his bladder was about to explode.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Mikey once again stared at the digital alarm clock beside his big brother's bed and realized that only a couple of hours had passed. Michelangelo was half-tempted to unplug the stupid clock, just so he didn't have to look at the time anymore. He wasn't even sure why Donnie had an alarm clock anyway. The brainy turtle rarely slept, and when he did, he usually just passed out in his lab.

Of course, knowing his techie brother as well as he did, Mikey figured the clock probably served some additional purpose other than simply telling time. The smartest turtle was always making 'Donnifications' to the electronic devices in their home. Why not this one? Mikey was half-tempted to start mashing buttons on the clock, just to see if he was right, but knowing his luck, he'd accidentally set off the alarm, or worse yet, detonate some crazy feature Donnie had installed, like a missile launcher or self-destruct mechanism. If Mikey managed to inadvertently hurt his already injured brother, his family would crack his shell for sure. Then, there'd be two turtles out of commission.

Another sigh deflated out of the youngest brother; this one much gloomier than the previous.

"Oh, D… "

Mikey couldn't stand that his beloved brother was, in fact, 'out of commission.' It wasn't right that Donatello, of all the brothers, had been the victim of this senseless and heinous act.

It should've been –

NO! Don't think stuff like that, Mikey!

Gaze drifting down to Donatello, Michelangelo felt tears start to sting his already burning eyes for the umpteenth time since finding his broken brother. The youngest turtle couldn't stop himself from crying, even if he tried. Seeing how badly Slash had beaten poor Donnie made Mikey want to scream at the top of his lungs. Fresh bruises blossomed over the slightly faded ones that littered the entire length of Donatello's withered body, revealing that the abuse had been nonstop.

That coldblooded monster had pounded on Donnie the whole time he had been missing, like it was –

Like it was fun…

Just the thought of his beloved brother being viciously attacked, over and over again, when he was already wounded was more than Mikey could bear.

Hate began to bubble underneath the youngest turtle's skin, but he was quick to remind himself of his father's parting words…

"I wish I had better news for you, Michelangelo. I truly do. But if anyone can bring light to this dire situation, I know it is you, my son. Your brothers will need your eternal optimism, now more than ever. Please promise me you will not lose your faith in them, no matter what happens."

These negative thoughts that were beginning to creep into Mikey's mind went against everything Master Splinter had said. The smallest turtle had to push them as far away as possible, for all their sakes. He would not allow himself to be dragged into the darkness surrounding them. His family needed him to stay positive and strong. Most importantly, Donnie needed him to stay positive and strong.

"Your brothers will need your eternal optimism, now more than ever."

Well, if that's what it was going to take to fix his family, then that's what Mikey was going to do.

But it wasn't going to be easy. Nothing about this was going to be easy. Especially when there were so many forces trying to tear their family apart.

So many demons they couldn't escape…

"Don't you worry, D. I'm not gonna let you down. I swear. I'm gonna do everything I can to make this right." The words didn't sound nearly as convincing as Mikey had hoped, but it wasn't like his brother had heard them. A fact that was making it increasingly harder for the youngest turtle to keep his chin up.

He missed his big brother so much it hurt.

Mikey reached out and ever-so gently placed a hand on Donatello's bandaged left shoulder, remembering back to the first time Slash had gone after them. That night was forever ingrained in Mikey's brain, like a terrifying dream he just couldn't shake. He could still see the disturbing image of Donnie sprawled out on that rooftop, brutally battered and beaten. He could still hear the awful sounds of Slash trying to stomp Raph into green goo. He could still feel his heart sink every time he thought about the gruesome events that had transpired that night.

Maybe that's because, deep down inside, Mikey still felt like what had happened was all his fault…

It didn't come as a surprise to Michelangelo that Master Splinter was taking way longer to treat Donatello's wounds. The genius turtle had pretty much gotten the shell kicked out of him. Actually, now that Mikey was really thinking about it, all four of them had. Well, maybe not Leo so much, since he had shown up towards the end of the confrontation and gotten taken down in one hit. At least, that's what Raph had told Mikey. That along with something about Leo having a tea party with some little girl. The youngest brother wasn't exactly sure what the heck that was all about.

The point was, it had been one long, painful night.

As soon as the boys had arrived home, Master Splinter had shifted into full-on triage mode, checking over his wounded sons like any concerned parent would. He had quickly gone on to determine that none of Leonardo's injuries required medical treatment and sent him off to bed, much to the oldest turtle's disapproval. Michelangelo had been the next to get checked out, and a couple of bandages and ice packs later, he, too, was forced to go to bed. For a fleeting moment, Michelangelo had actually considered protesting, but one look at his father's sour face told the youngest turtle he was a lot better off keeping his big mouth shut. After all, he was in enough pain as it was…

On his way to his room, Michelangelo had glanced over his shoulder to see Splinter was already tending to Donnie's injuries, evidently saving Raph for last. No doubt the hotheaded turtle was in for one epic lecture.

That had been fourteen minutes ago. The reason Mikey knew exactly how much time had elapsed was because he had been staring at his clock ever since he had entered his room, just waiting for Donnie to come trudging down the hall. Finally, at the twenty-minute mark, the youngest brother heard the distinct sound of footsteps approaching. Years of listening to his brothers pass through the lair – mostly while waiting to pull some hilarious prank on them – made Mikey somewhat of an expert on what his siblings' footsteps sounded like. Even with the added limp, Mikey was able to recognize that it was his genius brother hobbling past his room.

"Pssssst! Donnie!" The words came out in a soft hiss that Mikey worried his big brother hadn't heard, but a few seconds later, a shadow silently crept inside the room followed by a very exhausted Donatello.

"What is it, Mikey?"

To say that Donnie looked like he had been run through the wringer would've been a severe understatement. There was no question Slash had done a real number on the intellectual turtle. Donnie's normally olive-green skin was black and blue from head to toe. His left arm was dangling in a sling and his right eye was practically swollen shut. Mikey just hoped against hope that his big brother didn't feel nearly as bad as he looked, because he looked really, really bad. Of course, Mikey was guessing that he himself probably didn't look a whole lot better.

Again, it had been one long, painful night…

"You okay, D?"

Hearing the genuine concern in his baby brother's voice brought a faint smile to Donatello's bruised face. Unfortunately, even the simple act of smiling hurt, but Donnie didn't let it show. "Yeah. I'm fine. Master Splinter says it's just a sprain. Nothing to worry about."

Relief washed over Mikey's features as he sunk deeper into the recesses of his pillow. He then began to unconsciously gnaw on his bottom lip; something he usually did when he was feeling guilty.

Even in the dimly lit room, Donatello saw the telltale sign of remorse. "What's wrong, Mikey?"

"N – Nothing…"

Hamato Michelangelo was a terrible liar. The three older turtles had discovered this at a very early age. If they had a dollar for every time their baby brother had spilled the beans or ratted them out… Well, Donnie wouldn't have waste his time searching for used parts in dingy, old junkyards anymore.

It was always obvious when Mikey wasn't telling the truth. Now, was certainly no exception.

"Riiiiight." This single word was drenched in so much sarcasm, even Mikey couldn't miss it.

"Well, not exactly nothing."

Doing his best to ignore the misery he was in, Donnie gingerly gimped towards Mikey's bed. The closer Donatello got, the more his little brother seemed to shrink in size, almost as though he was trying to disappear.

"You're still upset about what happened tonight, aren't you?"

After a gentle nod of his head, Mikey peered up at Donnie through shimmery eyes and pulled his blanket up to his chin as if to shield himself. A tiny whimper was all the youngest turtle could manage to squeak out.

Face taking on an almost angelic quality, Donatello sat down on the edge of his baby brother's bed and rested a hand on Michelangelo's forearm.

"It's okay, Mikey. We're all safe now."

Rather than nodding his head again, Mikey shook it from side to side.

"Th – That's not what I'm upset about." The younger turtle's gaze shifted down to the blanket tightly clenched in his hands, deliberately avoiding his brother's sympathetic eyes.

"What's the matter, Mikey? You can tell me."

Hearing the reassurance in his brother's voice somehow made Mikey feel worse than he already did. He didn't understand why Donnie was trying to comfort him. Not after everything that had happened.

Once again, Donatello's voice sounded out, soothing and kind. "Mikey?"

It was too much for the youngest turtle to take. His brother shouldn't have been consoling him. He should've been chewing him out.

"Stop it!"

"Stop what?" Slightly taken aback by his younger brother's unexpected outburst, Donnie jerked his hand away from Mikey's arm like he had been bitten.

"Stop being nice to me!"

"Huh?" A puzzled expression crossed Donatello's weary face and he stared down at Michelangelo as though he was suddenly unrecognizable. For the life of him, the genius turtle couldn't figure out why his happy-go-lucky baby brother looked so –

Angry?

"You know what I'm talking about! Don't act like you don't!"

"I – I'm not acting like anything. I literally have no clue what you're so worked up about. Is it something I did?" Donnie's face plunged into a deep frown. He already had one brother ticked off at him over the 'Spike' incident. The thought of another brother being mad at him made the purple-clad ninja's heart ache.

The moment Mikey saw sadness wash over his older brother's features, his entire being filled with regret. It had never been the youngest turtle's intention to hurt his brother.

Not now…

Not ever…

"I'm sorry, D. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just… I just – " The sentence came to a dead stop without Mikey's consent. Like his voice box up and decided to call it a day.

"You just what, Mikey? Why are you so upset?" Once again, Donatello reached out a hand and placed it on his little brother's arm. This time, the older turtle gave his brother's forearm a firm squeeze, as if to reassure him that he was there for him.

Mikey's dewy eyes lifted to meet Donnie's reddish-brown orbs and the smallest turtle's composure nearly came undone.

"I just don't understand how you can sit there and be so calm after what I did." Sniffling softly, Mikey pushed himself up into a sitting position as he attempted to gather his wits about him. His gaze never left Donnie's, despite his genuine need to look away.

"What're you talking about, Mikey? You didn't do anything."

"That's not true! I almost got you killed! All of you!"

"What?!" Voice encroaching the falsetto range, Donnie got that crazy look in his eyes. The one he always got when he couldn't believe his ear slits.

"Everything that happened tonight… It was all because of me."

"How do you figure that?" Having grown up in the same abandoned subway station as Michelangelo, Donatello had heard a lot of preposterous things in his time, but this? This was just plain ridiculous.

"You were right behind me, Donnie! I'm a ninja! I should've noticed you were gone. Instead, I let that creep grab you and beat you senseless. If I would've been paying more attention, I – "

Donnie released his hold on Mikey's forearm so he could hold up a hand to stop his brother from confessing to something that was no fault of his own.

"I didn't hear Slash coming, either, and he was a lot closer to me than he was to you." A shudder slithered up and down the entire length of Donatello's body at the haunting memory of being dragged off and violently pounded into oblivion. Just thinking about it made the genius turtle's heart race inside his chest, but he did his best to nip the panic attack in the bud. There was no need to let his baby brother see yet another moment of weakness.

Fighting back a whimper, Donnie harshly cleared his throat before speaking again. Any trace of the anxiety he was feeling inside was purposely hidden by his now cynical tone. "So, I guess, according to your theory, that means it's actually my fault."

"What?! No! Of course not! It's just that I… I'm always screwing everything up." Several fat tears rolled down Mikey's cheeks as he finally lost the battle to keep his bottom lip from quivering out of control.

One look at the younger turtle's distraught expression had Donnie fighting off tears of his own.

"That's not true, Mikey."

"It's totally true, Donnie! In less than twenty-four hours, I lost Spike, let you get captured, walked straight into a trap, and got my shell whacked like a piñata. How many other people can say they failed so epically in one day?" The defeat in Mikey's tone was painful to hear, but Donatello didn't miss a beat with his rebuttal.

"Are you kidding me? You seriously wanna talk about bad days? First, my experiment failed, again, and just about killed everyone in the lair, also, again! Because of that, I managed to tick off Raph enough to make him take my last container of mutagen, which, as we are all now painfully aware, resulted in Spike mutating into Slash. Then, I let that huge, clumsy meathead sneak up behind me and beat the living tar out of me. I couldn't even walk on my own, putting all of you in danger because you had to lug my sorry shell around. Bottom line: your rotten day doesn't even come close to topping mine. If anyone's to blame for all this, you're looking at him."

"Ouch." Face scrunching up into a grimace, Mikey suddenly looked more sympathetic than depressed. Still, neither expression seemed to suite the normally jolly turtle's face; something Donatello intended to remedy.

"The point is, you weren't the only one who screwed up, so you can stop blaming yourself for what happened. Okay? This isn't your fault, Mikey. We all made more than our fair share of mistakes tonight. Even Leo." Though Donnie had attempted to remain straight-faced as he spoke that last line, his mouth coiled into the faintest of smirks. He couldn't help himself.

Given the seriousness of the conversation, the youngest turtle was a bit confused by his brother's sudden change in expression.

"Leo? What did he do wrong?" Mikey's eye ridges lowered and his lips pursed together in obvious contemplation. When the youngest turtle reflected on the many unpleasant incidents of the evening – and the day, for that matter – he remembered his oldest brother hadn't played all that much of a role in what had gone down.

Did Donnie know something Mikey didn't?

Dumb question…

Donnie always knew something Mikey didn't.

Peering up at his older brother, Michelangelo blinked in bewilderment; a sure indication that additional clarification was needed. Clarification the genius turtle was more than happy to provide.

"Well, he made the mistake of letting Raph see him having a tea party with a little girl. You and I both know Raph'll never let Leo live that one down. Not in a million years." The smirk playing on Donatello's lips stretched into a full-fledged grin and was accompanied by a knowing wink.

"True. I already heard him ask Leo if he took one lump or two." At long last, Mikey's freckly face lit up with an enormous smile, and just like that, both brothers felt light years better than they had only seconds before. Sure, the oodles of bumps and bruises still throbbed something fierce, but a tremendous weight had been lifted.

Awestruck by Donnie's ability to always cheer him up, Mikey just sat there, staring slack-jawed at his big brother.

His amazing big brother.

Mikey wished those words would come, but all he could manage was a yawn.

"Time for bed, Mikey." Donatello gently patted the less-bruised side of his little brother's head to which Mikey hummed in content as he sunk back down into the warm embrace of his pillow.

With a great deal of effort, the taller turtle pushed himself up off the bed and started to gimp towards the door. Just as he was about to step foot inside the hallway, a quiet voice called out for him.

"Donnie."

"Yeah, Mikey?"

"Thanks. I mean, not just for what happened today and the whole Spike thing… but for all the stuff you do. Like every day."

"You don't have to thank me, Mikey. Like I told you earlier, that's what big brothers are for, right? Remember, I'll always watch over you, baby bro. Now, try to get some sleep. It's been a long day."

Mikey nodded, once again, and his heavy eyelids drooped so he was gazing at his big brother through nothing more than slits that seemed to be getting narrower by the second.

"Nighty night, D."

"Goodnight, Mikey."

The unspoken 'I love you' was there. It didn't need to be said. They had both said it earlier in the day, after all…

Be that as it may, somewhere in the back of Mikey's mind, there was this nagging little voice telling him he should say it, again, but before he got a chance to, his big brother was already gone.

Next time, D…

Next time…

That had been four weeks ago.

Four long weeks had passed, and still, Mikey had yet to say those three oh-so important words to his brother again.

And now, Slash had brutally tortured Donnie and convinced him that his own family didn't care about him.

As if to corroborate Mikey's bleak thoughts, Slash's gravelly voice rang out in the youngest turtle's ears…

"Speaking of not caring, I made sure to set old Donnie boy straight on how none of you cared enough about him to even bother looking for him. The devastated look on his face was priceless."

"I'm sorry, D. I should've said it. I – I thought you knew… "

"You wanna know what Donnie boy was doing when I left him? Lying on the floor, bleeding and crying like a baby. Bet the stupid, little wimp still is."

Lunging forward, Mikey buried his tear-strewn face into the mattress below his wounded brother; the words continuing to taunt him without repent.

"Don't worry. I've been taking real good care of him. Me and Donnie boy spent so much quality time together, you probably won't even recognize him anymore."

"… he's never gonna be the same after what I did to him."

"Your brother is as good as dead."

That last line made Michelangelo's spine go rigid and he was suddenly sitting bolt upright, staring down at Donnie's sleeping form.

Slash had taken so much from them; he would not take Donnie.

Not so long as Michelangelo had a pulse thrumming inside him.

He would find a way to get his brother back.

He would find a way to get his family back.

He would make them whole again.

He would help Donnie, just like Donnie was constantly helping him.

"I love you more than life itself, D. Always have, always will… It's my turn to watch over you, now, big bro."

Eyes going wide, Mikey began to shift around on his seat like it was a stovetop burner that had just been turned up to high. Once again, his full bladder was screaming out that an immediate pit stop was necessary, and this time, holding it was definitely not an option.

"But first, I really have to pee. I'll be right back."

Though he hated the thought of leaving Donnie alone, even for a moment, Mikey didn't want to wake someone up just so he could go to the bathroom.

Besides, he would only be gone for a minute or two and Donnie didn't look like he was going to wake up anytime soon.

It wasn't like anything bad could happen in that short of time.

Could it?

To be continued…

*More Author's Notes: If you haven't already guessed, the next chapter is a dramatic one. I'm super excited to share it with you.

For those of you who haven't read 'Mikey's Worst Move Ever' yet, there were several references to the story in this chapter. For those of you who have read the story, I hope you recognized these references. ;)

As always, please take a moment to favorite, follow, like, reblog, review and/or comment on this story if you are enjoying it and want to see me continue with it. I would really love to hear from everyone. Even if it's just a quick note to let me know you're okay. I continue to pray that all of you are healthy and safe.

Thank you lots and lots for reading. Take care, everyone!

CJ