Chapter 2-A Bro-To-Bro Talk

Raph and Donnie's side…

Raph had reached the computer area, and he instantly saw Donnie with his back turned and continuing his scan for Master Splinter's data-bits on the screen.

"Yo, Donnie…Ya got a sec?" He called out to his brother, who had jumped slightly but didn't turn around.

"Not really, no…" Donnie replied flatly.

"I only need a couple of minutes of yer time, bro, dat's all…" Raph said firmly with his arms crossed.

"Fine, just make it quick…please…" Donnie sighed as he spun his chair around and faced Raph with a tired but serious look on his face.

Raph didn't know what to say for a moment, though, because part of him wanted to get angry at Donnie for his stubborn behaviour and the way he had treated Mikey earlier, but the other part of him wanted to talk to his purple-banded brother gently to try and get him to open up and relax more.

He took a deep breath and decided to take the gentle option to start off with by speaking to Donnie in a soft tone.

"Look, dis is gonna sound a lil' odd comin' from me, but I think ya went a bit too far when ya scolded Mikey back there…He was only tryin' ta make sure dat yer ok…"

"More like he was wasting more of my time in saving Master Splinter again…!" Donnie shot back bitterly.

"No, he wasn't; there's a difference between bein' there fer ya and gettin' in yer way! Mikey just wanted ta make sure dat yer eatin' plenty and gettin' enough sleep…!" Raph countered defensively.

"Raph, I seriously don't have time for this!" Donnie told Raph in frustration.

"Ya always say dat whenever we get worried about ya! It's about time dat ya took a break and took better care of yer self!" Raph pointed out, now getting annoyed at Donnie's stubborn behaviour.

"And let Master Splinter expire in Cyberspace!? That's not happening, Raph!" Donnie cried out angrily.

"Dat ain't gonna happen, Donnie; havin' a break fer an hour or two ain't gonna kill ya or Master Splinter!" Raph countered firmly.

"There's too much at stake, Raph; there are so many of father's data-bits that it might take months for us to retrieve them all if we don't do something now!" Donnie reminded Raph, his voice now containing desperation.

"So, it doesn't matter if ya collapse and die from exhaustion and malnutrition as long as Master Splinter gets back home safe, is dat it!?" Raph questioned, his anger now seething.

"I'm just saying that finding Master Splinter comes first, and we have to save him, no matter what…!" Donnie answered adamantly.

Just as Raph was about to respond to those words…

"Just forget it! Just…go and check on Donnie…he needs you more right now…!"

Both he and Donnie heard Mikey's loud voice coming from within the infirmary. A moment later, they saw Mikey storming out of the infirmary and heading towards his room with a sad and frustrated look on his face.

"What was that all about?" Donnie asked in confusion.

"Dunno…Let's go ask Leo…" Raph answered with a shrug before he and Donnie made their way over to Leo as soon as they saw him come out of the infirmary.

/

Leo and Mikey's side…

Earlier, in the infirmary, Leo was carefully removing the remaining glass shards from the cuts on Mikey's hand. The orange-banded turtle just sat on his seat and flinched slightly, but stayed quiet, as he felt Leo pull the shards out of his hand.

"There, all the shards are out…Now I just need to disinfect your hand and wrap it up…" Mikey heard Leo say to him, making him look up at him for a moment before he looked down again whilst whispering 'thanks' to him.

"You should be fine after a few days, bro, just make sure that you don't get it wet or dirty…ok?" Leo then advised as he took a disinfectant wipe from the first aid kit and gently cleaned the cuts with it, making Mikey flinch slightly again, and then he wrapped Mikey's hand with a bandage and tied the ends in a knot.

"…" Mikey said nothing and just gave him a slight nod.

By this time, Leo became even more worried about his baby brother. Usually, whenever Mikey got his wounds treated, he would constantly cry out and moan about the pain like a drama queen. Now, the youngest turtle had barely made a sound throughout the whole procedure, which was completely out of his character.

"Come on, Mikey, talk to me…What is it that you're feeling right now?" The blue-banded turtle encouraged gently without being too pressing towards him since doing so would send him into an emotional frenzy.

"…I-I don't wanna talk right now, Leo…We all know by now that I've messed up big time…" Mikey spoke at last with tears developing in his eyes again.

"That's not true…! Master Splinter took the blast to protect all of us…! He didn't do it because of your overconfidence with Viral back in that medieval time period…!" Leo countered before he paused and felt regretful when he said the last part.

"T-Then who's fault was it if it's not mine?" Mikey questioned sarcastically, his tears now falling down his face.

"Viral's…She couldn't let go of her grudge towards us, and she tried everything she could to get rid of us, but it didn't work…" Leo answered instantly.

"A-And still, Master Splinter paid the price for it…" Mikey concluded in a heartbroken tone.

"But we're going to get him back, Mikey, no matter how long it takes for us to do so!" Leo immediately told his brother in determination.

"Yeah…even though I won't be involved anymore…" Mikey said sadly.

"Wha-? Why would you say that!?" Leo questioned in shock.

"I don't want any more of my family getting hurt or worse cos of me and my stupidity! Besides, I was never needed in the first place…!" Mikey answered miserably.

"What are you talking about!? We've always needed you, and we still need you now!" Leo firmly questioned in denial.

"No, you don't!" Mikey snapped loudly as he stood up from his chair, making Leo jump and look at him in surprise, before he spoke again.

"There has NEVER been a single day where you guys wanted me around or wanted to know my ideas during missions! All you ever wanted from me was to stay out of your way or I would be blamed for something that I didn't do cos you always see me as the family's screw-up!"

He then stopped to catch his breath before he turned away and took a couple of steps away from Leo whilst his eyes started to develop more tears as he added another sentence.

"That's all I am to you guys…just a big joke…"

Leo couldn't help but feel guilty for his youngest brother. He remembered the times in the past where he, Raph, and Donnie would either dismiss or joke about Mikey's ideas or plans because they didn't think that they were reliable or good enough to them during their missions due to the youngest's child-at-heart personality. Now, the blue-banded turtle felt regretful for allowing and tolerating those actions against Mikey since he should have realised that the youngest was just as equally vital as the rest of the members of the Hamato family.

"Mikey…" Leo called his brother's name softly as he tried to reach out and place a hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"Just forget it! Just…go and check on Donnie…he needs you more right now…!" Mikey cried out firmly and tearfully, slapping Leo's hand away, before he walked away and left the infirmary.

Leo wanted to go after Mikey and clear up this misunderstanding, but he held himself back and just stood in his spot as he watched his little brother storm off towards his room to be alone. The reason was because he didn't want to push Mikey too hard and bombard him with more questions and reasonings without giving him some time alone to calm himself down.

Instead, he decided to give Mikey his space, with a mental reminder to go talk to him again later on, and then he walked out of the infirmary to go and check on Donnie in the computer area. However, when he had left the infirmary, he was immediately met with both Raph and Donnie who were looking at him with worried and confused expressions on their faces.

"Is Mikey ok? We saw him walk outta da infirmary just then…" Raph questioned first.

"…Not really, no…" Leo answered with a sad sigh.

"What happened, bro?" Raph then asked.

"…Let's just say that Mikey's more emotionally hurt than we thought…" Leo answered sadly.

"What do you mean?" Donnie questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Well…" Leo said awkwardly before he started his explanation of what Mikey had told him.

/

5 minutes later…

After Leo finished his story, Raph and Donnie were looking at him with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Are ya happy now, Donnie!?" Raph asked angrily, breaking the silence.

"Raph-"

"No, Leo! I'm sick and tired of Donnie constantly blamin' everythin' on Mikey and stoppin' him from helpin' him!" Raph snapped, stopping Leo from speaking.

"Why do you think I stop him, Raph!? He already did enough damage on our way back from the future, and I'm not going to let him do it again with Master Splinter's rescue!" Donnie spat out bitterly.

"Donnie, think about what you're saying for just a moment…!" Leo said firmly but calmly.

"I don't need to, Leo! I can handle the data-bit retrieval on my own just fine! The only thing I need from you two is to guard me during the process and have Mikey stay out of my way! Now, if you'll both excuse me, I've got more data-bits to collect…" Donnie refused heatedly before he walked away from the older duo and headed towards the cyber scanner to transport himself into Cyberspace.

"Grrr…!" Raph growled whilst readying himself to charge after Donnie.

"Easy, Raph; getting angry right now won't help the situation at hand…" Leo soothed, placing a hand on Raph's shoulder.

"Tsk! Whatever…" Raph grunted before he walked away and headed towards the garage to do some work on his motorbike to calm down his anger.

Leo sighed as he watched his immediate younger brother go. He understood his reasons for being angry at Donnie, but being at each other's throats was not going to bring Master Splinter back any quicker or help Mikey with his current mental state.

With this in mind, Leo decided to go and get a cup of herbal tea to ease his inner worry and stress, whilst giving all his brothers time to work on their emotions in order for them to be ready to have another talk again later on.