WHACK!
"What were the two of you thinking?!"
I cringe as Master Splinter moves to smack Casey in the shins once again as the blackette hisses and curses as he hops while rubbing his already bruised knee.
I don't think I have ever been more thankful for being trapped in the lab with Donnie than I am right now. Sensei was livid when we arrived, to the point that I'm pretty sure if he was still human, his face would have been redder than a tomato. His nose twitches and his claws dig into the top of his emerald walking.
At least Sensei waited until he knew that all of us were okay before yelling at us. He even patted me on the head as Raphie carried me into the lab.
WHACK!
"OUCH!"
I cower on the cot, using Donnie as a shield as he examines my legs for damage. Peeking over his shoulder, I wince as Casey covers his head as Sensei fumes. Chichi is SOOOO gonna ground me.
"I said I was sorry, Masta Splinta," Casey says, cowering as Sensei towers over his crouched form. "We didn't mean fer dis ta happen! And why am I da only one gettin' punished?"
Master Splinter straightens, his eyes narrowed as I tense. Donnie pats my knee in comfort but he doesn't look up at me. He's subtle way of saying that I'm getting what I deserve. As Gandalf would say, 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire.'
"Michelangelo will be punished as well, Mr. Jones. However, he is currently being treated for injuries and he at least had the forethought of TRYING to heed his brother's wishes. But he WILL be punished for not being upfront about what happened last night."
My shoulders hunch up as Master Splinter turns from Casey and walks over to Donnie and me. I shrink into my shell a little and study my sensei as he pauses next to Donnie as he stands. Here's to multiple days of extra flips and training and never being allowed out of the lair by myself ever again. And Leo lectures. A shell ton of Leo lectures.
"Donatello?"
My purple-cladded brother sighs as he pushes his X-Ray goggles up.
"Well, I can officially say that his ribs aren't broken, merely bruised and there isn't a crack in his shell. His muscles are strained and there's a good-sized knot on the backside of his head from where he smacked it on the examination table. Nothing painkillers and a few days of rest can't cure." Donnie walks over to his desk and pulls out some painkillers. He approaches me, his chestnut eyes softening as he places two pills into my palms. "I want you to take both of these and then I want you to head directly to bed."
I open my mouth to argue but a warm paw lands on my shoulder, cutting me off.
"Listen to your brother, Michelangelo," Master Splinter states softly. "Your body needs rest. I can sense that your chi has gone through much tonight. We WILL be discussing this more in the morning, alongside what your punishment shall be."
"Hai, Sensei," I murmur, staring down at my lap. A gentle and warm paw cups my chin and tilts my head back up.
"I am not angry with you, my son," Master Splinter murmurs, releasing my chin to rub my head. "Merely by the fact that you felt the need to hide this from us. We are your family and I understand WHY you chose not to say anything, outside of Mr. Jones making you promise. But family should not hide from one another. In this world, we are all that we have, my son. For if we can't trust each other, then who can we trust?"
Sensei is right, like always. My eyes widen when Sensei cups the back of my head and pulls me toward him, pressing my cheek into his warm side.
"But, overall, I am just glad that we have you back home. Safe and sound. I shall be in my room meditating before bed if any of you need me. Sleep well, my sons."
Sensei kisses my forehead and exits the lab just as April, Raph and Leo reappear in the lab. I watch him pause next to Raph and Leo, patting my red-cladded brother on the shoulder and sharing a look with Leo. That special look that tells Leo that he will speak with him before retiring for the night.
Probably about what my punishment will be and where to go from here. A small pout forms on my lips when a glass of water suddenly appears in front of my face. Glancing up, I smile at April and taking the glass of bliss from her.
"Thanks, Ap!"
A small smile graces the redhead's lips.
"You're welcome, Mikey. I know how much you hate taking pills dry."
She pats my head, kissing my forehead before turning and walking over to Casey, who is on the floor alternating between rubbing his head and his shins. I hide my smile behind the glass as April leans down and tugs Casey to his feet. My smile grows as April leans in just as Casey is at eye-level with her and she hisses something at him. Casey's face pales as his eyes widen as the redhead drags him from the lab. I chuckle softly.
There is nothing scarier than an angry Chichi and an angry April.
A shadow falls over me and my smile falls from my face as I glance up. Leo and Raph are staring down at me, eyes narrowed, arms crossed, and a dangerous aura around them. I gulp and shrink back into my shell.
Correction. I think angry older brothers are FAR scarier than an angry dad and an angry sister. Shell, I'm super screwed.
Donnie appears on Leo's right side as Raph flanks his left. Nervously, I offer my siblings a shaky smile.
"H-Hey, dudes. How…How's it hanging?"
"Cut da shit, Mikey," Raph growls as he points a finger at me, amber eyes flashing.
"You know why we're here, Mikey," Leo states, his lips forming a thin line. "And while I would like to wait for us to be a little more rested, this can't be left in the open. I'm very disappointed in you, Michelangelo. I thought I could trust you enough to be able to come to us if something goes wrong when you went topside. You've been going topside as long as any of us and you know as well as any of us that we need to have communication! Not hide things from us. We're a team! A team member doesn't hide the fact that there are crazy ancient monsters roaming the city or the fact that said team member absorbed the monster's tracker orb!"
I cringe and look down at my lap, fiddling with my fingers.
"To be fair, it was only one monster, and I had no idea that the thing I touched and absorbed was a tracker until AFTER Karai mentioned it."
My mouth snaps shut at the three glares burn holes into my skull. Donnie places his hands on his hips.
"And to be fair, we made it a policy as both brothers AND a team that we don't hide injuries, no matter how small, from one another."
We did make that a new rule, didn't we?
"And for good reason, too," Leo states coolly. "Because it's the very same reason that Cowabunga Carl is no longer a thing."
Oof, and there it is.
Flinching, I tug on my fingers, biting my bottom lip as guilt bubbles in my chest. It's not like I ENJOYED hiding my multiple bruises and sprains from being beaten to a pulp by those kids, but Donnie was already stressed from working as I.T. and arguing with Raph and Raph was almost always in a bad mood when he was home and not beating the skulls of Purple Dragons' heads in. And Leo… Leo wasn't even in the country to see the bruises.
And it's not like I blame any of them for not noticing, I really don't. I can hide things really well behind a smile and a joke. And it didn't hurt that I happen to be the artist of the family, keeping a paint kit in my room that I use to make the perfect green to match my skin tone.
I poke at a newly formed bruise on my wrist, pouting.
And I would have totally gotten away with it if Leo didn't suddenly demand the four of us to go take a dip in our lair's pool to practice our underwater stealth.
Briefly, an image of me tied up with my Cowabunga Carl head on and Leo removing the head with Raph and Donnie gasping in the background pops into my mind. My lips twitch and I almost snicker when fingers snap in front of my face. Jumping, my gaze snaps back up to find Raph leaning forward, his lips twisting into a snarl as our eyes meet.
"Were ya even listenin' ta a word we just said?"
Heat spreads across my face and my eyes drift to the right.
"Uh, you were lecturing me on not keeping secrets and how communication is a part of teamwork?"
The unimpressed stare that all my brothers are wearing is telling me that I spaced out for FAR longer than I thought. Wincing, I fidget on the cot, rubbing my neck sheepishly.
"But, uh, if maybe you wanted to go over some of the other bits, I wouldn't complain, ya know?" I laugh nervously when my brothers remain silent. "'Cause, ya know, uh, repetition is always key, right?"
Leo sighing shuts me up quicker than any of my brothers ever telling me to 'Shut up.' Because Leo sighing can mean a multitude of things. Is it a deep, heavy sigh with a hint of aggression? Leo's annoyed. A deep, heavy sigh with a low sad note to it? Leo's upset and brooding. A light and airy sigh that ends in a chuckle? Leo's amused. A soft sigh with an air of melancholy as he stares off at nothing? Leo's jungle-sick. There are so many different things that a single sigh can mean when it comes to my eldest brother that I NEED to pay attention so that I don't make his mood worst. It's just like how Raph has a multitude of different growls and snarls. One snarl could mean that he's being protective while another growl might mean he's gonna shove my head into the toilet and drown me if I keep pushing his buttons. And Donnie is similar to Leo with his sighs, but he also adds on little grumbles and grunts that tell me if entering his lab will just end with me either helping or being physically removed by my taller, immediate older brother. Master Splinter is a little more complicated because while he does sigh, his nose and whiskers also twitch and shift depending on his mood.
The joys of being a ninja and needing to watch for every little thing.
My snout scrunches as I warily watch my brothers exchange a silent conversation that only older brothers seem to be able to hold. Donnie and I can do something similar, seeing as we're the babies of the family, but I swear that my 3 older brothers tend to do this WAY more than I can count. And it's always something dealing with me.
Clutching the side of the cot, I roll my eyes.
Of course, it always has something to do with me. I'm the one who always seems to be in trouble with them.
Annoyance flares in me as the silence stretches on. Flexing my fingers, I turn my gaze up to the ceiling before speaking.
"Ya know, for giving me a lecture on communication, it seems that I'm not the only one in the need of that reminder."
My brothers turn back toward me at my dry tone. Raph glares at me.
"Can it, knucklehead. We don't needa reminda like ya do."
Leo holds up a hand and Raph stops talking, crossing his arms in annoyance as Leo takes a step toward me, squatting down till the two of us are at eye level. I blink in surprise when Leo reaches out and rests his hand on top of my head. The hard look in his eyes softens as he studies my face.
"Mikey, you need to understand that we're just worried about you." Leo smiles at me as he starts to rub my head, soothing an ache I didn't even know I had. "And that all we want is for you to be safe. It's a big brother's job to be worried about his little brothers and, well, it seems that you always attract some sort of trouble toward you."
"Both of you do," Raph grumbles in the background, smirking when Leo glares at him over his shoulder. Donnie snickers behind a closed fist.
"He has a point, Leo." Our brainiac brother shrugs, his lips quirking up. "Out of the four of us, you and Mikey have more of a track record on being kidnapped than either Raph or myself."
"I do not!" Leo and I shout at the same time. My eldest brother and I glance at each other, surprise written on both our faces. Unable to help myself, I start to laugh.
"Dude, you should have seen your face," I say, wrapping an arm around my middle as my ribs start to protest but I don't dare stop as my brothers suddenly join in.
After a few seconds, our laughter dies down and I nearly collapse back onto the cot. Man, I'm beat. I jolt from my thoughts and open my eyes (When did I close them?) when a hand touches my cheek. Leo smiles softly at me, Donnie peering over his shoulder with an equally soft smile.
"Looks like the rest of your lecture is gonna have to wait till tomorrow anyways," Donnie states, leaning back out of view. "You're gonna stay the night in the lab, Mikey, so I can keep an eye on you. If all goes well, then you can go back to your room tomorrow after breakfast."
Nodding, I blink slowly as the lights of the lab dim. Raph appears on the other side of the cot with a pillow and blanket in hand. He places the pillow behind my head as Leo helps me sit up and flicks the blanket over me as I lay back down. Leo tucks the blanket around me, smoothing out any wrinkles which I find rather silly as I'm just going to wrinkle them with all my tossing and turning that I usually do.
"We will continue your lecture tomorrow, Otōto, when you're more focused and not coming off a short nap in the Battle Shell," Leo murmurs, kissing my forehead. "But, for now, sleep well and know that we are happy that you are back home with us."
A tired smile splits my face as I snuggle into the blanket.
"I wouldn't -*yawn*- expect anything else, Onii-san," I murmur, muffling a yawn with the back of my hand. "Love you, dudes."
"Love ya, too, chucklehead," Raph mumbles gruffly. "C'mon, Fearless, we all know that if ya don't get yer full 8 hours of beauty sleep, yer a monsta ta deal with."
Leo rolls his eyes as he smooths my blanket one last time.
"I think we all know who the 'monster' really is when a certain someone doesn't get his recommended 8 hours, Raph."
I chuckle quietly as my two eldest brothers bicker the entire way out of the lab, shaking my head as I turn toward Donnie. My immediate older brother sits down at his desk, a single lamp illuminating the dimness that surrounds us.
"Donnie?" I call out quietly. "Aren't you tired, too?"
My purple-cladded brother peers at me over his shoulder, his glasses perched on his snout.
"Nah, I'm still a little wired from all the excitement, but I promise to go to bed the moment start feeling tired." Donnie turns back to whatever he is tinkering with at the desk, the space filling with quiet clinks of metal. "Besides, I need to make sure that there aren't any side effects from whatever that Ultimate Protector did to you."
Gingerly, I roll over to face my brother and sigh quietly.
"Well, if you say so. Just know you need sleep too, Donnie. Don't need our brainiac brother to fall sick, ya know? We ain't good with all that medicine stuff like you are." My lips quirk. "But I'm sure Raph wouldn't mind playing nursemaid if needed. Because we all know that he has the best bedside manner."
Donnie snorts, twisting in his chair, a feigned look of horror on his face.
"Don't the three of you dare! The last time I got sick, he TIED me to the bed! All I was trying to do was get a glass of water!" My immediate older brother stands and walks over to the cot, causing it to dip as he sits down. "But I honestly feel fine, Mikester, just a little shaken up from the entire encounter."
My smile slips at my brother's words and I curl toward him, my guilt from earlier reemerging. Sliding my hand out from under the covers, I grasp Donnie's hand in mine, earning myself a look of shock that melts into something softer.
"I'm sorry for makin' all of you worry. I didn't mean, too." I drop my gaze down to our joined hands, holding them closer to my chest. "I just… I was scared, I guess."
"Scared of what?" Donnie asks softly, his free hand rubbing my head. "Of us?"
I snort, shaking my head.
"No, never of any of you, just of the consequences?" I squeeze Donnie's hand. "I was afraid that Casey and I somehow messed up the fragile alliance that Leo and Karai created which would severely upset Leo. And I don't WANT to upset Leo, Don. He's only been back for six months, but I know that he misses the jungle. And I was afraid that if I upset Leo enough that he might… that he might…"
I bite my lip as I trail off, heat stinging behind my eyes.
"Oh, Mikey. Look at me, little brother."
Swallowing thickly, I lift my eyes from our joined hands and meet Donnie's sad chestnut brown eyes. A sad smile tugs at my brother's lips and he presses his palm to my cheek.
"Nothing you do will have force Leo to leave, okay? So get that silly thought out of your head. Even if for some reason you did help end the truce between us and the Foot clan, that still wouldn't be enough for ANY of us to leave you, or each other. We're a family, a team, just like Leo was saying earlier. We're in this together and if we can't trust each other to be there to have our backs, then we've done something wrong, but that wrong would be on ALL of us, not just one." Donnie uses his thumb to swipe at a stray tear that slips from my eyes. "Leo just needs time to readjust to life in the city once more. And, maybe we can see if we can go to the farmhouse to help him readjust at no longer having the same freedom that the jungle provided him."
A wet smile tugs at my lips.
"That'd be nice. Then Leo could see the stars again." I pause. "Do you think Leo would be willing to bring us to the jungle one day? Show us what he did and how he survived and all that?"
Donnie nods, rubbing my cheek.
"I'm sure he'd love to, little brother. We'd just need Sensei's approval first."
"And lots of bug spray." I shudder, my eyelids drooping as I try to stifle a yawn. "Can you imagine the size of the bugs in the jungle? Bet they're huge."
Donnie chuckles, leaning down to nuzzle me before fixing my blanket.
"Oh, I can imagine and then some."
I giggle.
"Raphie would have a field day, dude."
"That he would, Otōto," Donnie murmurs. "Now, go to sleep. Morning will come soon enough."
This time I don't even try to stifle my yawn as I nod and bury my face into my pillow.
"Night, D. Love you."
"Love you, too, Otōto. Now, go to sleep."
My eyes slide close as Donnie rubs my arm and I listen to him walk back over to his desk, his chair creaks as he sits once more. Breathing in deeply, I allow the familiar scent of the lab and something distinctly the lair and home and my brothers all in one to surround me and loll me into the darkness.
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Hi everyone! This chapter is gonna be a little slow, so I'm sorry about that and thank you on your patience for this chapter to come out!
And to everyone who leaves me comments: Thank you so much! I appreciate each and every one of them and you for taking the time to read my story.
