Unbreakable bonds, chapter 14

So many things had happened in the past few days, and everyone had been terribly shocked by everything around them. Mikey returning to them. It was probably the worst and yet the happiest moment of their lives. Their deceased baby brother was back in their arms again, safe and alive. His heart strongly beating in their hold again, alive. And at the same time it was the most horrible day ever, finding their baby brother scarred and petrified. Figuring out he was tortured and locked away for a full year, and they had given up all the hope in finding their little brother, in fact they thought he was dead. A dirty trick the Shredder had pulled on them, and because of that Mikey had to suffer all those months.

In a way they grew accustomed to everything that changed around them. They got used to being silent all the time. They had to keep the TV low so it wouldn’t freak Mikey out, they had to knock before entering his room so they wouldn’t startle him, and they couldn’t surprise him in anyway or it would cause yet another panic attack. They managed, and they learned to live with it, but the thing they couldn’t accept, and probably hit them the hardest was how Mikey was doing with all of this. They couldn’t come around the silence that hung around their baby brother. He was deathly quiet. He rarely spoke and even those were short sentences and he rarely started a conversation.

He never said anything, feeling terribly uncomfortable with everyone inside of April’s room. He had been there for the most of the remaining time right now. It had been his safe haven. Where he wasn’t constantly bothered by his brothers and human friends. And right now all of them were in the same room, and Mikey was visibly tensed up because of it.

“You’ll be fine Mikey, Raph’s gonna take care of you” Donnie said, smiling slightly. He softly rested his hand on Mikey’s shoulder, nudging it slightly. Mikey still didn’t have any of his gear, and it was strange seeing him without all the ninja equipment they always wore. It had been taken when he got captured, even when Mikey hadn’t told them. It had been sent to them along with the CD. His mask had been removed, leaving him vulnerable and exposed. They had always been different without their masks, it was a sign of vulnerability, a sign of defeat. And they had stripped him off the one article of ‘clothes’ that somehow kept his strength. Being captured and tortured, and they took it away. Sending it along the rest.

“Okay” Mikey cracked, and immediately tears jumped into Donnie’s eyes. He couldn’t stand hearing that pained voice, and the pain that flashed over his face for a mere second. The terrified face as he gazed down again. There was no doubt about it, they would kill whoever did this to him, but they had to wait until Mikey was up to it. Donnie could feel two strong arms wrapping around him and recognized them as Leo. In the meantime Raph walked over to Mikey, kneeling in front of him. Leo softly turned him around until he was face to face with his second youngest brother and quickly wiped away the tears that were hanging in the corners of his eyes.

“Nothing’s gonna happen to ya bro, ya trust me right?” Raph asked softly. Mikey’s eyes locked into Raph’s eyes, blinking slowly before nodding. They all had no idea why Mikey was even refusing to talk, even though his voice was painful to use, that had never stopped him before. And with Mikey refusing to even say one world about what happened, it was difficult to know why. Donnie kept his mouth sealed as Raph spoke those few words. He trusted his brothers, no question about that, and he trusted his human friends, but they were still vulnerable. Casey had been packed with all his gear and weapons. His mask resting on top of his yet, ready to put it on once he needed to, and Donnie practically begged for him not to.

Mikey wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure, and if things would go wrong they would risk throwing away everything they’d accomplished. And no matter how skilled his brothers and friends were, he still had terrible doubts about this whole mission, and yet he knew it was inevitable to go tonight, and he wasn’t about to argue.

“Let’s do this” Leo eventually agreed and carefully helped Mikey on Raph’s shell, Mikey’s legs clamped along Raph’s shell to prevent himself from falling and wrapped his arms around Raph’s neck, nuzzling his face deep in the crook in Raph’s neck and hiding his face from the rest, hiding his distress the best he could, but the shaking in his shoulders wasn’t hard to miss. Donnie swallowed painfully, he still couldn’t stand seeing Mikey so scared and seeing the bandages around his limbs. It reminded him every time that he had failed his only little brother. That they had experimented on him for so long. Taking samples, cutting into his skin while he could do nothing but scream through his muzzle. Once Mikey was fully secured on Raph’s back they were ready to go. April had put on her jacket and het 2 tessens safely secured within hand reach, ready to pull them out whenever someone would attack them. Raph had both his sais in his belt, Leo had his katana’s and Donnie had his bo-staff on his back, while Mikey remained with nothing but the scars.

“Alright guys, no distractions, we go straight home. Got it?” Leo asked in leader tone and Donnie couldn’t help but shiver slightly. Just hours ago that same leader was sobbing and crying over the re-appearance of Mikey. Leo had taken the death of Mikey the hardest, telling them he had been responsible for everything, it just wasn’t right seeing him so confident again. April and Casey were the first ones to leave through April’s window, followed soon by Donnie. The genius brother swiftly helped Raph on top of the fire-escape, who still carried Mikey on his back and Leo stepped outside the last. April quickly closed her window and they all climbed towards the rooftops, immediately running home.

“Don’t be afraid Mikey, look around ya” Raph whispered as he noticed that Mikey had still nuzzled himself inside of his neck. He couldn’t see it from here but he was almost sure Mikey had squeezed his eyes shut, his limbs still clamped around his body and refusing to even look around, too afraid to even do so. Slowly he could feel Mikey’s beak leaving his neck, but just barely. A low whimper escaped Mikey’s throat as he continued to look upwards, just very closely and barely from Raph’s neck. There were absolutely no clouds, and the moon was almost completely full. Bright stars covering the dark air, illuminating the ground slightly.

Raph was panting slightly already, having to carry Mikey’s weigh with him too. But they had been trained for 16 years right now, their endurance, muscles, fighting skills and many many more. He could handle the little weight Mikey was adding, and it shocked him how light his baby brother actually was, it was almost like he wasn’t even there. He had to get Mikey home as soon as possible, so he wouldn’t stop running until they were safe in the sewers again. He easily jumped over the edge of the rooftop, landing on the other side. A shiver went down his spine as Mikey’s limbs suddenly tightened its grip around him, almost to the point it was painful. The beak of his younger brother pressed itself against his neck once again.

“R-Raphie….. Raphie” Mikey whined softly, a shiver clearly present in his voice and his muscles tense. Mikey softly began to struggle in his hold but it was far from causing Raph any problems. He wasn’t worried about the futile attempts to get loose, he was worried about Mikey’s sudden behavior, the visual fear he had around him.

“Mikey.. what’s wrong with ya?” Raph whispered softly. He wanted nothing more than to look at his baby brother but he continued to run. But before Mikey could even answer him he suddenly stopped, almost colliding with his older brother in the process. He was about to open his mouth, yelling at him for stopping when he noticed the tense muscles in all over Leo’s body. A single hand was ghosting over one of his katana’s and he was looking around, scanning the area around him for any possible enemies. Donnie immediately followed Leo’s lead, drawing his bo-staff and holding it in front of him in defense. Raph felt his heart sink, he could feel it too right now, the tingling feeling up his spine.

That same feeling they had been forced to train by Master Splinter. The feeling that would alert them, help them to spot enemies before they were even visible. April had drawn her tessen and Casey was standing with his back against hers, his hockey stick held up in front of him and his mask on top of his face.

“Leo..” Donnie softly started, his voice barely above a whisper but before he could finish his sentence the sound of footbots entered their ears, causing them all to tense up. Raph felt Mikey whimper softly and pressing his beak harder in his neck. He reached for his sais, letting go of Mikey’s extra support, and as predicted Mikey’s arms stayed clamped around his neck. All around them footbots appeared, rushing towards them with incredible speed. Leo gritted his teeth and drew both his katana’s, diving into the fight immediately, followed soon by April and Casey. Donnie’s eyes were fixed on Raph and Mikey, his only job to get to his two brothers, protect them, protect Mikey at all costs.

Casey was the first one to be knocked down, a strong kick to his stomach sending him to the ground. Immediately two footbots picked him up, holding his arms behind his back so he couldn’t escape. Casey groaned and started to struggle against their hold but he was simply kicked in the knees, forcing him down, and rendering him useless. April and Leo following the human boy soon afterwards. The footbots holding them both down the same way as Casey. Donnie gritted his teeth in anger, wiping away another dozen of footbots. Raph was still standing with his sais in his hands, defending the few footbots that were coming through Donnie’s defence, and each movement earned him a whimper from Mikey.

“Raph!” Donnie suddenly screamed but it was already too late. The red banded turtle felt something solid connect with his plastron, sending him back and forcing him to the ground. The arms around his neck slipped and Mikey was thrown off his shell during the fall. Raph continued to roll for a meter before skipping to a stop. Mikey choked on a sob and curled himself up in a pathetic ball. His arms covering his head and his whole form shivering. Raph’s head shot up when he saw two footbots running towards his baby brother, he gripped his sais, which were surprisingly still in his hands, and threw them both. He didn’t care about losing them, all that mattered was Mikey.

“No you don’t!” Raph yelled, sprinting towards Mikey as the two footbots fell to the ground. He immediately dropped to his knees and hovered Mikey up, pressing his body against his plastron. He didn’t know what to say, they were defeated. Casey, April, Donnie and Leo were already disarmed and held back by the enemy. He couldn’t do anything on his own with all the footbots, and he needed to stay with Mikey right now. Raph gritted his teeth and let out a hiss, a sound almost similar to the sound Mikey would always make in the last few days but it was less threatening. And yet it was still extremely terrifying to hear. The sound dripping with venom.

“Footbots stop!” A female voice suddenly cut in,  a shadow jumping down onto the rooftop, Karai. She immediately tore off the iron mask off her face, looking around and taking in the scene. “Leonardo, long time no see” She suddenly purred, as she saw Leo in the hands of her footbots. He was glaring at her, struggling as hard as he could to get free. Their relation had always been weird, Karai never really fought the blue banded mutant. And Leo never really fought her unless it was absolutely necessary. And right now it was. He could see Mikey shivering so badly, even within Raph’s strong hold. He was surprised the sobs hadn’t started yet, or a panic attack had kicked in.

“Karai let us go, I’m not in the mood right now” Leo hissed, glaring at her. Karai’s face came dangerously close to his voice, the same grin plastered on her face, but Leo kept glaring at her. Mostly he would’ve broken the tension by now by a laugh, or a welcome and even Karai noticed the sudden change in behavior from her mutant ‘friend’. Karai snorted slightly and straightened herself, looking at the scene around the rooftops. Casey and April were on her left, both on their knees with their hands behind their backs. Each two footbots behind them. Donnie was on the other side of her, also on his knees and hands behind his back, glaring at her with venom in his eyes.

His bo-staff had been snapped in half and was laying in front of him and he had a shallow cut on his left arm. Karai’s gaze trailed towards the red banded turtle and her eyes narrowed. He wasn’t held down by her footbots and yet he wasn’t attacking her. Then suddenly her eyes widened, noticing the figure in his grip.

“Who are you hiding Raphael?” Karai snorted, pointing her sword at the red banded mutant. Raph growled again low in his throat but refused to look up to her, he wasn’t about to show her Mikey. They couldn’t know he was still alive. Shredder couldn’t know Mikey was back again, he would hunt him down until Mikey was really dead.

“Don’t test my patience turtle, I have your friends and turtles” Karai scolded and lifted Raph’s chin with her sword, the sharp edge pressing against Raph’s chin so he was unable to look down or look in any other direction than to look at Karai. Raph immediately shifted his weight and covered Mikey’s face with his body. He wasn’t wearing his gear, and especially not his mask. Karai wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Raph’s eyes narrowed and he growled again, threatening the human girl to stay back, but Karai was far from impressed, lazily tipping Raph’s head to the side, and Raph could do nothing but to move along with the sharp object.

“Michelangelo?!” She gasped, her eyes widened as realization crashed down on her. “How can you be alive, I thought you died after… after I..” She stopped midsentence, kneeling down. Her sword was still pressed against Raph’s neck so he wouldn’t be able to do anything without ending up with a sword embedded in his arteries.

“What are ya talkin’ about?! What did ya do to him?” Raph hissed, his voice dripping with venom as he glared up to the girl who was now kneeling in front of Mikey. She softly stretched her hand out to touch the small mutant but immediately froze when a whimper came from the young turtle, curling up more into Raph’s hold.

“What happened that night Michelangelo?” She whispered, completely ignoring Raph’s question. Raph gritted his teeth and wanted to kick Karai away, get her away from his terrified younger brother but was  immediately greeted by the word pressing against his neck again, he couldn’t do anything if he didn’t want to die. Slowly Mikey opened his eyes, his face still buried fully in Raph’s plastron but a small glimpse of his baby blue eyes were seen shortly before shutting his eyes again, a low whimper escaping the back of his throat. Raph tightened his hold on his baby brother and growled again. Karai suddenly stood up, looking around the area.

“How long Leonardo?” She hissed, doing a few steps towards the eldest turtle and pressing her sword against his throat. “You told me he died that night, how long is he back?” She continued, pressing the sword a little bit harder against his throat. Leonardo’s eyes widened slightly at the furious look in Karai’s eyes. But there wasn’t only anger present in her eyes, there was guilt too, maybe even relief but Leo had no idea why. He quickly shook off his surprise and narrowed his eyes once again, staring into her eyes with the same venom. But Karai was far from amused, simply pressing the sword against his throat even more, almost cutting through the skin.

“I’m not telling you Karai” He growled in response, sending a look to his immediate younger brother. “First I want to know what you meant back there. What happened ‘that night’?” He demanded, not showing the fear that was radiating through his body. The sword pressed against his throat. One flick with her wrist and he was dead. They were in no position to fight, or even demand something. If Karai would want the answers she could hurt his brothers, Mikey. And that was absolutely the last thing Leo wanted to happen. He needed to keep his youngest safe, and his other brothers of course. A breath escaped his mouth as Karai removed the sword from his neck, doing a step back.

“Fine, I agree. You tell me what happened…” She started, not leaving Leo’s eyes. “And I’ll tell what happened that night Shredder faked your brother’s death”