Disclaimer: Still don't own TMNT
"Apparently, Raphael assaulted his foster mother early this morning and kidnapped Michelangelo," the policeman said.
"He what?!" I asked.
"Your brother assaulted someone so bad that she was put in a hospital!" the other officer snapped. "Then he kidnapped Michelangelo."
"He…..no.…..that can't be right," I stuttered. I looked at Ms. Adams completely lost for words. Raph hurt someone? I mean he hits me and Mikey all the time and don't even get me started on what he does with Leo, but to hurt his foster mother?
"Why don't you take a seat and we can discuss this," the first, dark-skinned officer said. Slowly, I took baby steps over to one of the chairs in front of Ms. Adam's desk. "Okay, my name is Officer Roads and that's my partner officer Means," he said pointing to the white, bigger officer holding out a notepad. "We just wanna ask you some questions."
"So do I! What happened to Raph and Mikey?!" I demanded.
"We received a call early this mornin' at around four from Raphael and Michelangelo's current foster parent. She, around 1 am, discovered that Raphael had snuck out of the house. She decided to wait up for him and see where exactly he had gone. When he did come back and asked him where he had been, he started yellin' at her and even attacked her." Officer Roads explained.
"W-what do you mean by 'he attacked her'?" I asked gripping the arms of the chair.
"Meaning that he pushed her to the ground, and then pinned her there yelling insults like 'she couldn't tell him what to do,' or how 'he could do whatever he wanted.' Somehow, she got up but then Raphael pushed her against a shelf hanging on the wall that broke."
"Then he picked up the shelf and started hittin' her with it so hard that she fell unconscious. That's called 2nd-degree assault there, kiddo," Officer Means said looking at me. I said wanting so badly to roll my eyes. "Also, since you're here, I've got a little question for ya. What were your whereabouts last night?" he continued asking.
"My whereabouts? I was here working on a project for most of the day. What does it matter what I was doing?" I said.
"What kind of project?" he asked ignoring my question
"Er…just a personal project of mine; a flowchart," I said.
"It's true officers. He's been working on that for a few days now," Ms. Adams explained.
"You mean that weird bulletin board thing with all those random pictures?" Means asked and my eyes went wide.
"How did you….wait, you were in my room?!" I yelled.
"I apologize son, but your brother is now a wanted criminal on the 2nd-degree assault by hitting his foster mother with a weapon and a possible kidnapping of Michelangelo. We had to search the house on 'probable cause' because this is the only lead we have on where he might go. I know this is hard for you, but did your brother happen to come here last night?"
'Shoot! Okay, Don. Just be calm and don't take your eyes away from his. Just imagine he's Mikey whose just came up with another one of his experimental dishes and asked me if I liked it.'
"No sir, I haven't," I say.
"Really? Let me ask you smart guy. You already know that assault is a crime. But did you also know that helping someone who's committed a crime escape from the police or hiding them is also a serious crime that could just land you in NYJH? You know; the juvenile hall? So do you wanna run that by me again what you said?" asked Officer Means. This time I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, I know that aiding and abetting is also a serious crime and I still haven't seen them," I said feeling my heart skip a beat inside my chest trying to glare at him without giving up my lie.
"I don't like your attitude boy," he said.
"Relax Bennett. There was nothing in the house that indicated he was here. We gotta get the APB out on the two and try to get them off the street before someone worse finds them. Ma'am, I know he was in your care for most of his life, but if you happen to see either of them, don't talk to them and call us." All Ms. Adams did was nod her head, and place her fists on her forehead and lean over her desk.
" Apologies for disturbin' you," Officer Roads said tipping his cap. He was about to leave the office with his partner and I took a step forward.
"There's gotta be a misunderstanding. Raph doesn't attack random people because he feels like it; not without a good reason," I say.
"Are you sure about that? Ms. Adams here tells me that Raphael has had some anger issues in the past," he asked.
"Well….yeah…but…." I started but for some reason couldn't find the right words to say.
"See? This is why I ain't plannin' on havin' any kids. Cause they'll eventually turn into moody little teenagers. Ma'am, you have a nice day," Officer Means said and the two left. When we heard the door close, I saw Ms. Adams still hadn't moved from leaning over her desk.
"I don't believe this," she said.
"Neither do I. It just doesn't make any sense! You know how Raph is. He doesn't mean to lose his temper, it just happens," I say.
"I know Don. I don't know what to say right now," She said.
"And how can he be charged with a possible kidnapping of Mikey?! Mikey's our brother!" I said starting to pace back and forth.
"I realize that Donnie, but remember that Raph isn't the one who has legal custody of Mikey; their foster mother is. I know it doesn't seem like kidnapping but technically it is since the last time anyone saw Mikey was when Raph ran away after whatever happened in there. So there's a high chance he's with him."
"I know that's where Mikey is. This whole thing is just….." I said stopping and then squeezing my head with my hands. I heard Ms. Adam's office chair groan and then heard footsteps as she came over and touched my shoulder.
"This is gonna be tough on all of us Don; not just you. All we can do is pray the police find them and maybe we can sort out what happened from Raph's point of view. But just be warned that it's not looking good since they ran off," she said.
"That's another thing. Why did Raph run off with Mikey? Did Mikey willingly run off with him? Remember how many times Raph said he was going to run off and leave us behind? Sometimes he did, but he always came back within a few hours after he cooled off. There are so many questions I have," I said.
"Okay, let's relax a little while this all sinks in before you overexcite yourself. And you can also tell me why you ran off this morning without breakfast. You know the rules," she said and I nodded.
"I'm sorry, but I overslept for my run and I just couldn't miss it," I explained and then I smiled. "I found him again Ms. Adams. I found the man who saved me."
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Raphael
We ran for hours without stopping. We went through so many alleys and backways and even go lost a few times, and you call yourself a resident of NYC. But all that mattered was getting Mikey out of there before someone saw us. It was around one in the afternoon when Mikey finally got on my last nerve.
"Raph…" he said weakly. I turned around and saw him lying on the ground reaching his arm out towards me. "Raph…can't…..go on. Dying…..of hunger," he said and I heard his stomach grumble on cue.
"I just gave you an apple," I said.
"Fruit doesn't do anything for a person; no matter how good it is. But you know what does?" he asked.
"Let me guess. Pizza?" I said rolling my eyes.
"Pizza," Mikey moaned now lying on his side rubbing his stomach. "Can we please take a break? Just for a few minutes?"
"No, we gotta keep moving," I said.
"Where exactly are we goin' anyway?" he asked and I was caught off guard.
"Uh….we….we're heading upstate," I blurt out.
"We're leaving the city? Aww, but I like it here," he said.
"What other choice do we have numbnuts?!" I snapped and his face dropped at my tone. Goddammit, kid. "Fine! We can rest here, but only for a bit," I said.
"Yes!" he cheered and took off his backpack before opening it. He pulled out his bear and sat it next to him. "OH NO!" he screamed scaring the hell out of me.
"WHAT?!" I shouted.
"I forgot my book! We gotta go back for it!" he said standing back up about to run.
"No way! We're never goin' back there ever again!" I said holding his arm as he tried to run.
"But we gotta! That's our families!" he said.
"Your imaginary families. None of those cutouts or pictures are real families," I said.
"Yes, they are! They wanna adopt us and take us home and love us! They just don't know it yet!" he shouted fighting to escape my grip.
"SHUT UP MIKEY!" I said letting my backpack fall to the ground while I still held on to Mikey. "If I let you have the stupid thing, will you shut the hell up?" I said pulling out the sketchbook in my backpack using my other hand.
"You grabbed it!" he yelled and took the book from me. "Thanks, Raph!" he said hugging it.
"Don't mention it; ever!" I warned and then started looking around where we decided to stop. It looked like your average abandoned ally shaped like an L that led to another block over, but what I really liked was the there was a large dumpster towards the back. It covered us from one side, and the building on the side covered us from the other since it wasn't all the way towards the back. It was perfect for now. "Alright, Mikey. I'm gonna go try and find us some real food so we can save the apples and bananas for emergencies. You stay behind the dumpster and make sure no one takes our spot."
"Mikey," I said when I didn't get an answer. Said brother, was looking through the book again. "Hey! Earth-to-Mikey! Focus!" I said walking over. That's when I caught a glimpse of what Mikey was looking at. "What the hell is that?!" I demanded, pointing to the hand-drawn sketch of what looked like us and her.
"It's Ms. Mar-"
"Oh hell no! Give me that damn book!" I said snatching the book back
"Hey! Give it back!" he yelled. Meanwhile, I was flipping through a few pages from right to left. There were a few good four or five sketches of her doing things like painting, hugging us, and other stuff all with a big smile on her face. Then without thinking, I started ripping out the pages with her on them.
"NO! STOP!" he said trying to take the book back but I just kept ripping the pages and using my body to keep him off me.
"You said this was a book full of families. She ain't our family and she never will be!" I said. When I got to the last page that Mikey was originally looking at, I thrust it back into Mikey's arms. "Draw something else!" I ordered and started to storm away when I stopped to face him again. "Look, just make sure no one takes our spot by the dumpster. I'll be back with some food; hopefully." I told him again.
"Eww! It stinks!" he whined.
"Well get used to it!" I said and walked out of the ally after I put my hood up to avoid being seen.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Two hours later
It was around 4 pm when I made my way back to our ally. I only found a few scraps of food from looking through some trashcans, but it wasn't a lot. I guess I'll have to keep my eyes open. When I got back, it was quiet; a rare thing. But it was also a work-night and rush-hour was just about to start.
Then I heard someone sniffling and crying. Something in me made me run into the alley and I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw. All through the alley were crumpled up pieces of paper and some cut-out newspaper clippings, and in the center was Mikey sobbing and hyperventilating next to the dumpster where I left him. "Mikey?! What happened?!" I yelled and ran over to him. I put my arms on his shoulders and he looked up at me. His eyes were shot red.
"Raph!" he wined and then launched at me sobbing. "I'M SORRY! I'm sorry Raph!" I put my arms around his body that was shaking so badly.
"What happened?! Was somebody here?! Did they hurt you?!" I demanded thinking of every possible worst-case scenario.
"I'M SORRY! It's all my fault! All my fault!" he continued sobbing.
"Mikey shhhhhh, it's okay! I'm back now! But you gotta tell me what happened," I said holding him. That's when I saw thrown in the corner was that book of his; but then my attention was directed at all the paper and magazine clippings on the floor.
'Oh Mikey,' I thought hugging him tighter as he sobbed.
After his cries were reduced to heavy breathing and hiccups, I let him go and held onto his shoulders.
"Did someone attack you?!" I demanded and he shook his head.
"No. (Hic)"
"Tell me, little brother!" I pleaded, cupping his cheeks and wiping away the tears.
"I…I'm sorry Raphie," he whimpered.
"Why do you keep sayin' that?" I asked.
"Because…because it's all my fault," he said raising his voice through another sob.
"What is?!"
"Everything!" he shrieked and pushed me away. "It's my fault we all got separated! My fault that we still don't have a forever home! I wanted one so bad and I made you all want one too! But I wanted one with all of us in it! So I made you all say 'no' to so many good families; all just so you guys could make me happy. Then Leo thought that we had to split up to better our chances of getting one! And then Donnie….." Mikey sobbed again. "I WISH I NEVER STARTED THAT STUPID BOOK!"
"Shhhh," I said looking around to make sure no one heard us. All I could do for him was put my arms around him again holding him tight. Exactly how long I stayed there? I couldn't say. But I didn't care. I didn't loosen my grip until he was trying to take deep breaths to calm himself down.
"You're right. You shouldn't have made that damn book and getting your hopes up like that. But it's not all your fault," I said.
"It's not my fault?" he whimpered looking at me again.
"Oh, I didn't say that. Most of it was definitely your fault. You're the one who made that book and spend hours on it which got your hopes up. Even after I made an effort to pack it in the backpack and then you went ahead and ripped it all up."
"Oh," Mikey said and his expression dropped again.
"But it's the stupid state's fault for splitting us up and not finding someone willing to take on four teenagers quicker; not yours. We wanted this new family as much as you did. Did you see Fearless's face when Mr. Saki came and said he was willing to take all four of us? And here I thought Donnie was the one with a dorky smile," I said and I heard Mikey chuckle briefly. Then I faced Mikey and put my hands on his shoulders.
"Mikey, you didn't make us say 'no' to those families. They just weren't the ones for us. Remember what Leo's always saying about how no brother gets left behind?" I asked.
"Whoa, you're quoting Leo now?" he asked in awe.
"Don't get used to it kid. But seriously, you didn't convince us about having a new family Mikey. The right family just hasn't found us yet." Mikey looked up at me and nodded his head slowly. "Come on," I said and sat him back down against the end of the dumpster where he was before. With that, I reached into my bag and pulled out two bananas that I had stolen from the apartment and gave one to Mikey.
"Raph?" he said after taking a bite of his banana.
"What?" I said with a mouth full as well.
"I decided that I don't want a new family anymore," he said and I raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?"
"I'll never complain or ask about having a new family ever again. I just want it to go back to just the four of us again," he said.
"You know what? How about when the search for us dies down a little, we'll go get Donnie and Leo, and then run upstate or somewhere. We'll find a nice abandon house in the woods and live there. That can be our forever home," I said.
"Will I get my own room?" Mikey asked.
"I'll leave all the creative stuff to you little brother," I said.
"All right! I get to have my own master bedroom and then you, Leo, and Donnie, all have to sleep in the shed outside-ow!" he whined as I smacked his head.
"Keep dreamin' short stuff," I said and then patted the area immediately next to me after Mikey had finished eating his banana and threw his peal across the ally. He scooted closer to me and I let his head rest on my chest with my arm around him as he held his bear
"I can't wait," he mumbled closing his eyes with a big smile on his face again.
When his body grew heavy on me, I smiled down on him and kept watch over our alley. No one was going to get near my brother; no one.
So? What do you think? Donnie's part was kind of boring I think, but he found Yoshi again last chapter and I'm really looking forward to writing his chapters. Also, to all my Leo fans out there, just hang in there and I swear he'll get his own chapter soon. It may not be right away, but it'll happen. I promise.