here is my secret Santa for @justalittleobsessed
Mikey sat on the bottom step of the stairs, scratching between Klunk’s ears and doodling in his sketch pad.
The stone had started as cold, slowly warming up the longer he sat on it.
He had been practicing his anatomy by attempting to draw fighting poses. It wasn’t exactly easy, but he guessed that was kinda the point.
“Mikey!” A voice growled angrily from the top of the stairs, startling him. It sounded like Raph.
Raph was always angry about something. All. Of. The. Time.
Mikey folded his sketchpad, setting both it, and his pencil onto the stair next to him, Klunk meowing and hopping down from the stairs.
“What!” Mikey shouted back, turning to look up the stairwell at Raph, his eyes glaring behind his mask.
Raph stormed down the stairs, stomping over the stone with an attitude that might as well be a tantrum. “Why are you such an idiot!” He stomped up to him, and Mikey ignored the most likely displaced anger radiating from his temperamental brother. “How many times do I have to tell you to knock it off.” He half shouted.
Mikey frowned, glaring back. “What the heck dude! Knock what off?” Mikey shot back, because here he was again, complaining about something that Mikey didn’t even know about. How was he supposed to know why Raph was mad if Raph wouldn’t tell him why.
“You know what I’m talking about.” Raph growled, only making the random outburst more annoying. Mikey was pretty sure Raph’s shell should be spikey like a porcupine because it would make more sense for him to be spiky like his personality.
Mikey glowered, squinting at Raph. “Is this about the pizza I grilled on the sidewalk using fire yesterday, because if it isn’t I’m gonna be mad.”
Raph hissed. “I’m talking about how you touched my stuff again.” He got up in Mikey’s face, tossing his arms out angrily.
Mikey was pretty sure he was talking about the food on the counter at this point. “Then stop leaving your stuff everywhere!” He gestured back at Raph. “Sometimes I’m hungry and you can’t leave stuff all over the counter because I will eat it. Duh!”
Raph lunged at him, tackling him to the floor. “You shouldn’t touch it anyways!” He shoved Mikey against the floor, gripping his shoulders and pinning him down.
Mikey struggled, trying to buck Raph off and disengage his grip at the same time. “Whatever.” He spat at him.
Raph continued to counter, and they spent the next few minutes, punching at each other and tussling on the ground.
Suddenly, a large hand grabbed Mikey’s shoulder, pulling him and Raph apart.
He glanced in the direction the hand came from, finding a glowering stern Leo. “Stop it you two.” He said exasperated. “This is stupid, nobody has time for this.” He said clearly fed up with their tendency to fight. Specifically, Raph’s tendency to fight.
Raph retorted. “Oh yeah, well I think I have time for it when Mikey keeps taking my stuff.” He glared at Mikey, looking about ready to pounce on him again.
“Whatever dude!” Mikey cut in. “It’s not like that sandwich had your name on it or anything.”
Leo face-palmed, making a smacking sound. “Just stop.” And with that, he walked off. basically telling them that he didn’t have time to babysit them and that they needed to stop fighting or they were going to get it.
Raph tsked, tossing his head to the side, his expression aggravated. He turned his back on Mikey, walking off.
Mikey walked through the sewers, enjoying the watery echoes of his near silent footsteps.
Some of the stones were rough under his feet, while others were smooth. All of them were cold though, and all of them were slightly damp.
He pouted. It wasn’t his fault Raph was so touchy; he was always finding something wrong that everyone was doing, and at this point Mikey was pretty sure that Raph just enjoyed fighting with him for fun.
Mikey scuffed his feet across the ground, the slimy layer on the bricks smearing across his feet. He was used to walking everywhere bare foot, so it didn’t bother him.
Once they figured out that he had left the lair, they would be mad, well maybe not Donnie and Leo, they would just think he was being stupid. He would deal with that after he got some time alone.
The storm drain water flowed roughly next to him, the miniature waves grappling at the stony edges of the storm sewers. He groaned loudly. Raph’s opinion didn’t matter anyways, he shouldn’t let it get to him.
Wait, was he bothered? If he thought really hard, he found he didn’t care. Yes, that worked! Raph’s dumb grumpy mood wasn’t his problem!
Mikey stretched his arms above his head, purposefully trying to release endorphins to counteract the negative emotions and thoughts. Mikey watched the stone above him as he walked, the stone rolling past him with each step he took, giving the illusion that it was moving on its own.
The rolling of the stone above his head made him feel slightly unbalanced, the stone beneath his feet feeling as if it rolled as well.
He laughed to himself, shaking his head slightly.
The stone around him surged, black spots throbbing at the edges of his vision.
Mikey froze, blinking in surprise as the world returned to normal.
He chuckled nervously, brushing it off.
He clearly imagined that. It wasn’t normal for the world to move, but it was completely normal to feel vertigo and experience black spots in one’s vision before passing out.
Mikey paused, wondering if he should sit down, or if he was fine already.
He tried to remember if Raph had hit him in the head or not.
The brick walls surged in front of him, pulsating out like ocean waves.
He gasped as the world dropped, the floor vanishing out from under his feet, cold seizing his calves in hard tight hands.
He realized just in time that it was the sewer water, and he barely had time to close his third eyelid before the water engulfed his body, rushing past his shoulders and wrapping its cold fingers over his face.
Thousands of little bubbles raced past him like tadpoles nibbling on his skin, racing frantically to reach the surface after he had pulled them down with his disturbance.
He fought the gasp reflex the last he needed was to breathe in the water.
Mikey kicked, trying to resurface.
Naturally, he would have broken the surface of the water within a few seconds. However, he found that the water seemed to be endless, yet he could still see the air-filled space just inches above him.
He squinted at the squiggling lines above him, exuding more force than necessary to reach the top. Despite his efforts though, the water barrier refused to budge, the squiggling lines of light struggling unknowingly with him.
Okay, sure, now the water was mad at him as well.
Water swished around him, and Mikey glanced down, noticing that the water was darker and murkier than it usually was. He was unable to see the bottom, and he couldn’t tell if that was because it was too murky or if it was farther down than he thought it was.
He felt a pressure around his legs and plastron.
The light shining through the water jolted with his heart, his body yanked deeper into the expanse, the shining water shooting farther and farther away until he could hardly see it.
Cold water wrapped around him, sending a shiver up his spine, goosebumps rising along the back of his neck. His surroundings darkened into a black void, waves of pressure washing up his limbs and engulfing him like mud as he was pulled away from the surface.
Mikey thrashed in an attempt to swim back up. His chest tightened as he realized that the water wasn’t normal, that he shouldn’t be here.
Something was wrong, it was wrong.
It was wrong and he was in the middle of it.
The water was thick and gloppy, pulling against his limbs as he tried to move them, it stretched and pulled the energy out of his cells, causing his throat to tighten with panic.
Colored spots pulsated in his vision, making the dark area appear darker as they vibrated outwards in rainbow bubble circles.
He felt as more bubbles ran up his face, the only clue that he had released air out of his lungs.
The watery glop crept up to his face, sliming over it and making him feel as if he were drowning. It pressed against his neck, and he had to fight not to trigger his adrenaline, understanding that if he used adrenaline, he would run out of air faster.
He lost track of direction, unable to tell if he was facing up or down, the sluggish water immobilizing his limbs anyways.
Mikey suppressed a silent whine when his chest throbbed, begging for air.
He needed to relax. He no longer knew which way was up, so the only surefire way to reach the surface would be to relax and identify which direction he floated in.
He forced his muscles to relax, his chest tightening with desperation, and just when he thought he might take a breath, the slush broke from his foot, cold harsh air stabbing into the sole of his foot.
Mikey struggled thrashing until he could resituate himself into an upright position, the globby substance washing away as he thrust his head out of the surface, a bright light hitting his face.
He gasped, his chest heaving as his lungs battled to fill themselves with enough oxygen.
He needed to stay afloat; he needed to keep his head above the water.
Mikey kicked out, his thoughts freezing in his mind for a second when his foot struck the soft bottom of what felt like a pond. He cried out, fighting to get his feet under him, standing up in a confused haze.
Light struck his face, only making his surroundings harder to see.
Mikey shook his head, wiping water from his face with his palm, breath still uneven and frantic.
His surroundings cleared as he calmed down, scanning the area he was in.
Light shone down from a clear blue sky, striking the water he was standing in. The pond was clear, save for the few clover like plants that floated on the top, their roots snaking through the water, searching for the bottom.
There were willow trees surrounding the pond, some of them so close that their roots dipped into the water. There were so many of them that he was unable to see past them, assuming that he was in a forest of willows.
“Oh man.” He wondered in awe. The mud sucked at his feet as he pulled them out of the pond bottom, walking to the edge, the water rippling around his legs as he moved.
His eyes were wide with curiosity as he took in his surroundings.
The willows had light green leaves with bright fuchsia pink tinging the edges. It created an almost tropical look, drawing his eyes in.
Small purple dragonflies zipped through the air around him, racing each other as if they were part of a traffic frenzy.
He couldn’t tell which sound was more interesting. The sound of buzzing from the dragon flies, or the rustling of the willow branches as they twined around each other.
Mikey stepped out of the pond, placing his hands on his head and letting out a questioning whine.
He shouldn’t be here. It was wrong.
He had been in the sewers, that is where he should be. That is where his brothers thought he was.
He growled, his stress rising in his throat. Suddenly, the clearing burst into panic, the dragonflies startling, careening left and right as they fled into the many branches of the willows, escaping the unknown danger he posed.
Mikey paused, unsure how he felt when the subtle purple glow left, the world silent except for the subtle rustling of leaves, and lapping of the pond water.
He felt a little bad for scaring all the dragonflies away. They enjoyed water and he had scared them away from the water.
There was nothing he could do about it now though.
Mikey wondered out loud to himself. “Did I do something wrong? Did I pass out in the sewers?” He flicked his hands, sending bright water droplets flying through the air. “Did Raph kill me on accident? No that’s stupid, obviously he didn’t. Yeah, no, Raph was just being Raph like always, he wouldn’t do that. I probably just passed out.”
Mikey placed his hands on his hips, soft grass smushing beneath his large three toed turtle feet.
The willows stayed almost unmoving, just like they had been only moments before, and just like they had been every time he looked at them.
He shook his head, deciding to walk through the thick pondy foliage, brushing the curtain like leaves to the side.
It would do him nothing to stay by the pond. He needed to find a way back home, and the last thing he wanted to try was swimming back through the muddy pond.
His fingers brushed the pink tinged leaves, moving them to the side. Unexpectedly, more than half the leaves detached, swarming his face and swerving in the air around him. They fluttered from every tree, entirely blocking his vision for a few seconds as camouflaged butterflies erupted from the willows around him. Light flickered through their quickly moving wings, flashing in all corners of his vision.
He waved at the flood of butterflies, stepping back and squeaking in surprise.
He pulled his head into his shell, hiding his face from the sudden panic.
He couldn’t tell how long the butterflies swarmed him, all he knew was that he could tell when they stopped.
He waited it out before poking his head out of his shell, the world oddly quiet without the butterflies in the willows. They no longer rustled, the long straight branches still and silent.
Ha, okay, so that happened. He felt as if he were disrupting an area he shouldn’t even be in, he felt as if he were a drop of vinegar in a glass of water.
Mikey sighed nervously, holding in a nervous chuckle.
This was going to be fine; he was going to figure this out.
He gently brushed a hand down the remaining leaves, just making sure that they were actually leaves before he walked through the abnormally close willows.
He stepped over roots, the branches brushing past his shoulders as he walked, mildly ticklish. He felt as if they were trying to grab him, wrapping around his limbs the same way the water had.
He looked ahead, the willows crowding and thick, which was practically impossible where he lived, if he was even in the same world.
Willows needed more space. He felt dumb for not noticing that sooner.
The roots spread over the damp ground. Mikey glanced over his shoulder after walking for a few feet. He knew he wasn’t even fifteen feet into the willow forest, but he could barely make out the silhouette of the pond.
He paused, a chill tapping against his shell and sliding down his spine.
The pond appeared dark, the air around it a deep navy, thick and eerie.
Mikey rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the goosebumps that recently made themselves known.
Right… he was going to keep walking forwards. It looked wrong, it felt wrong. He had the nagging idea that if he stared at the dark pond for to long, he would see something in the clearing that he would regret looking at.
That thought was enough to make him turn around and keep walking through the scientifically impossible forest.
Mikey could practically hear Donnie’s voice behind him, talking all about the forest, why it should be impossible, and sputtering about every weird thing he couldn’t research.
Mikey chuckled when he felt a sad smile creep onto his face. He really wished he had a buddy right about now.
Mikey continued through the forest, the willows continuing until he couldn’t see any farther. Which wasn’t very far.
He walked for a few more minutes, the forest changing in appearance.
He noticed a few deciduous trees scattered throughout the willows ahead of him.
It was random, and Mikey could have sworn that some of the deciduous trees he was looking at had been willows seconds before.
He glanced behind him again, noticing that the willows behind him were rustling subtly. They were rustling the direction he came from. The pond. The pond that had changed as soon as he had left it.
Should he go back to the pond? Maybe he had been imagining the dark colored pond, it could very well have been an odd reflection of light.
He might be walking into something far more dangerous than a scary looking pond if he continued away from it.
Mikey wrapped his arms around himself, torn between turning back and continuing on the path he was already on.
It was worth a shot. If different parts of the forest looked different, then at least he couldn’t get more lost. More than he already was.
That was assuming that the forest stayed the same as he moved through it.
Ha, shapeshifting forest, haha, he was dumb, that was funny.
Mikey rubbed his arms, pointedly looking in the direction he was supposed to be walking, deciding not to look behind him anymore.
The tree roots were rough against his bare feet, Mikey shuddering as the moss turned to mushrooms, and the trees changed into deciduous trees.
He walked past the first few deciduous trees, realizing as he walked farther that he had no idea how far he was from the pond. He could be fifty feet, or barely twenty feet from the pond.
Mikey paused. If he continued walking, would he ever make it out?
He thought about walking back towards the pond, but it felt wrong, and he immediately wanted to keep walking in the opposite direction.
Mikey bit his lip. What if it was just some sort of mystic effect that made him want to turn around? What if the pond was actually the way out and he was just falling into the trap.
He needed time to think about what he was doing.
Mikey plopped down against one of the trees, sighing in relief when no weird insects swarmed him. The tree was normal, no random critters, nothing odd at all, haha.
He groaned, placing his head in his hands and relaxing his shell against the tree.
There had to be some reasoning for this! There was no way he just died or drowned in the sewers. He had to be stuck in his mind, or-or maybe he was stuck in an alternate universe?
But he had walked those sewers his entire childhood, swam in them even, and he had never been pulled underwater like that.
He was starting to feel really tired of the whole situation.
Why had he decided to leave the lair. Yeah, he wanted some time alone after fighting with Raph, but why hadn’t he just stayed in his room?
If he ever fought with his brothers again, he would just brood in his room.
Mikey dropped his hands, leaning his head back and gently bonking it against the tree, hearing the quiet thunking inside of his skull.
This would be so much easier with Leo or Donnie. Especially Donnie. He was his favorite mission partner.
Why did he have to go missing right after his fight with Raph? Now his brothers would think he was just brooding forever, which is what he had been doing originally. It would take them longer to realize he was missing, and by then it might be too late.
If he had really passed out and drowned in the sewers, he would be brain dead by the time they found him.
The thought made him want to scream, and he almost did.
His thoughts were cut off by a low buzzing sound. It throbbed in his ears, and he froze, attempting to identify which direction it was coming from.
He glanced at his surroundings, the forest completely unmoving, not even the subtle rustling of the leaves could be heard or seen.
The tree scraped against his shell as Mikey stood up frantically, craning his neck to look into the endless treetops.
It was dark beyond the first few feet of branches, giving the forest the appearance of nighttime, even though he had just been out in the midday sun.
Mikey crouched slightly, ready to spring if he needed.
Something burst out of the tree’s, large shiny and loud.
It had giant clear buzzing wings, open underneath a green elytron that crashed through the trees, breaking branches and tossing leaves everywhere.
Mikey’s eyes blew wide in surprise, the giant beetle swerving directly towards him. Its wings buzzed, sending vibrations through his shell and chest.
He yelped, jumping out of the way seconds before it slammed into him, its hard carapaced belly brushing past his shoulder as he ducked into a roll.
The roll was unsuccessful, Mikey slamming into a raised tree root partway through the dive roll. He gasped, shaking his head and clambering to his feet in a haste, the buzzing sounding as if it came from all directions, the leaves in the trees rustling from the force of the sounds, and the speed of the beetles’ wings.
Run, run! He needed to run! Mikey scrambled over the roots in front of him, no longer caring which direction he was heading in.
He ignored the wet moss and smashed mushrooms sticking to his feet, weaving through the overcrowded forest. He could hear the beetle crashing through the trees behind him.
At least he wouldn’t need to worry about getting lost, it would be far to easy to backtrack through a destroyed path. What he needed to worry about was whether he could outrun the beetle or not.
The forest smelled moist as he panted, taking in huge breaths of the still air as he ran.
Mikey didn’t dare glance behind him. He scanned the forest as he ran through it, his eyes flicking over a rock wall.
He took a double take, noticing a cave within the rock, hiding behind a covering of mossy tendrils. He swerved, hearing the beetle crash into a tree as it attempted to follow him.
He didn’t stop, racing into the cave as if his life depended on it, which it might.
The beetle smashed against the rock, the minimal amount of light that had somehow made it into the cave blinking out as the beetle filled the opening.
He stumbled away from the writhing creature, the rock sharp against his calloused feet.
The cave could drop off into nothing for all he knew, and he would run right off to his death.
The rock scraped against his legs as he fell to his knees, panting, partially because he was out of breath, and partially because he was beginning to panic.
The beetle thrummed in the opening of the cave and Mikey spread his fingers out over the ground, attempting to balance himself in the dark cave.
Donnie would have a light. He knew Donnie would have a light. This would be the last time he went out of the lair on his own for a while.
His breathing echoed in the cave, the sound wide and spacious, meaning that the cave was most likely bigger than it had looked on the outside.
His heart pounded in his chest, and he gripped the rock tightly with his fingers.
What if he had just walked away from the one place he could use to get out. He only seemed to be getting himself in farther trouble the longer he walked.
What if he couldn’t get out of the cave, or what if he couldn’t find the pond again?
What if there was never a way out to begin with?
Pressure built up in Mikey’s chest and he squeezed his eyes shut, watching with desperation as colored spots filled his vision. It looked very similar to when he had fallen into the sewers, except for the fact that these colored spots were harming his eyes.
Mikey sat up, leaning back and rubbing his hands down his face.
This whole situation was so stupid. His inner monologue twitched in his mind, shouting at him to figure something out.
Mikey tipped his head back and let out a scream.
The frustration rumbled in his throat, pulsating in his ears as he let the frustration of his mind explode into the empty cave.
He screamed until he ran out of air, his throat tender and his hands shaky.
He felt on the verge of tears, and the only reason he didn’t start crying was because the cave lit up.
Purple and blue light grew from the cave walls, reflecting in a thousand shards through the space in front of him.
Mikey had to shake his head, scanning the cave in surprise.
There were glowing crystals in the walls, their light soft and soothing. He blinked roughly, his eyes roving over the rest of the cave. He could hardly see a few feet in front of him, the light splicing through the space of the cave in thin strands of silvery color.
It looked like the inside of a broken star, sharp yet subtle. It looked like the strings of glass that would make-up the intricacies of the soul. Delicate, dangerous, and commonly overlooked.
It was silent, far more than it had been moments before. Mikey paused, noticing that the beetle had stopped thrashing, the creature entirely still, despite the fact that it was stuck in the mouth of a cave.
Mikey swallowed thickly, knowing to trust nature.
Webs…. The strands of light were really thin spider webs!
They covered the entire cave, save for the entrance.
He didn’t even have time to register what that meant before something slammed into his body, sending him sprawling out to the side.
The rocky floor of the cave scraped against his shoulder, and Mikey hurried into an upright position, peeling webs from his face with his already web covered hands.
The disturbance in the webs had altered the path of light from the crystals, creating a small dark patch where he was standing.
He located the giant spider seconds before it rushed him again.
It was huge and shiny, long blue pincers catching the light of the crystals, probably venomous.
He backed up, the web spreading across his shell and sticking to his body, causing him to shudder.
The spider tipped its head at him, black beady eyes taking in the sight of its new prey.
It was faster than he thought it would be, the force of it slamming into him sending him slamming into the ground before he even had time to register that it had moved. The world tilted in a blur of color.
He cried out, web collapsing in on his face as he broke the countless strands, the light of the gems fading out as he destroyed their unwanted passageways.
The spider scuttled on top of him, its bristled feet poking into his limbs. Mikey screamed as large pincers pressed towards his face. He placed his arms against them, pressing outwards. The sharp bristle of the spider’s hair stuck into his skin, drawing small pinpricks of blood as he fought against the pressure.
It curved in towards him, the weight on his arms pushing into his ribs as his lateral muscles attempted to support his slowly failing arms.
Light pulsated in the corners of his vision, the world mixing into a spiral of confusion.
He gasped, the pounding of his heart and the desperate pull of his lungs could be felt as the spider added more weight to his already tired plastron. The cartilage in his ribs bent as he struggled for breath. The tendons in his arms flaring as if they were on fire, his joints shaking with both panic and exertion.
He clenched his jaw, his quad cramping as he brought his knee up towards his face. The bristles of the spider’s face stabbed into his soft arches when he thrust his foot against it.
The spider shrieked, darting back and retreating for a split second.
The movement flashed in Mikey’s vision, a spark of fear jumping in his chest, flaring up before dropping drastically, almost as if it were a match that couldn’t light, only ever teasing at the thought of fire.
Mikey blinked, twisting to the side, his breath hitching when he smelled a strong bloody odor, iron clogging his sinuses.
He hoped that the smell was coming from the spider and not some unknown wound on him.
He had a feeling that it was his plastron though, despite not feeling any pain in his chest.
He yanked himself forwards, rolling onto his side and trying to get his bearing about him.
Mikey struggled to his knees, swaying slightly as the world swerved.
Without warning, he felt force ripple through his shoulder, something clipping the side of it. It knocked his upper body back, the force sending him flying to the side.
His chest suddenly felt empty, his legs light and floaty as he presumed gravity had left him.
The ground slammed into him a second later, rock and moss practically merging with his shell for a sliver of a moment, the force radiating through his entire body this time. Far bigger than a ripple, it resembled a wave, pulsating outwards from his back and through his chest, washing over his vision in a bang of surprise, the vibration within his own body screaming loudly in his ears.
He let himself fall limply on the ground, squeezing his eyes shut, his vocal cords straining under the curtain of sudden pain.
He couldn’t tell if he was screaming or not. He wasn’t sure it mattered.
He tossed out a hand, moving out of pure adrenaline and gripping the moss with his tired fingers.
Willing himself to move, to roll over and fight until he was standing again.
The need to survive fought with the numbness in his limbs and he pulled himself forward, moist rolled balls of moss sticking to his plastron.
A sharp bristling hammer of pain slammed into his side, sending him flying across the room. Gravity mocked him, enveloping his body like a tight scarf before unwrapping itself with a harsh twist that sent him careening.
He cried out when he hit the floor again, the world spinning into a black blob of confusion and hurt.
He dug his fingers into the mossy ground, his heart pounding in his throat, his ears picking up a subtle sound past the ringing in his head. It was rasping and wounded, wheezing with each heave of his chest.
Mikey tried to lift his head from the ground, but another big, bristled leg rolled him onto his back, before shoving down on his plastron.
He whined in pain, weakly shoving at the leg deliriously.
It bore its weight onto his chest once more, his back popping as the weight tried to flatten his lungs.
Warmth popped and bubbled from his plastron, the same bubbles splashed into his vision.
The moss wrapped around his shell, seeping up and over his body, gripping at his skin and covering him in moist heavily scented blankets.
He gagged as it rose over his mouth, the world flipping in multiple directions all at once, liquid washing over his warm chest, shocking it with a searing cold.
He gasped, feeling the cold wash over the rest of his body, the world losing its thinness and taking on a thick and full feeling.
He struggled, kicking his limbs and gasping as his head broke the surface of the water, stale air filling his lungs as he blinked away the liquid, frantically trying to scan his surroundings.
He flailed, his hand hitting something hard and solid, pain thumping into his palm when he hit it.
He gripped it like a lifeline, coughing up water and pulling himself over to it. Slapping a palm further along the surface, kicking and thrashing as he pulled himself up onto the stony edge, flopping against the concrete.
Mikey wiped the water from his face, panting as his vision cleared, the fuzzy dull bricks of the sewer ceiling coming into view.
He gasped heavily, rolling onto his side as water ran from his body.
He scrabbled helplessly at his plastron, surprised when he found it fully intact and completely healthy. He glanced down at himself, finding his entire body fully intact and completely unharmed.
His vision settled on the gentle movement of the sewer water, clear and showing no signs of what had happened.
Mikey placed a hand over his heaving chest, letting his head fall against the concrete as he let out a stressed careening sound. The world wobbled in front of him, and he closed his eyes, letting himself fade out of consciousness.
Mikey’s feet pounded against the concrete floor as he ran into Donnie’s lab, searching for his technological brother.
Naturally, Donnie was sitting at his desk, writing in a notebook of sorts and glancing up every now and then to look at something Mikey didn’t understand.
“Donnie!” Mikey called, rushing straight up to his brother in a panicked desperation.
Donnie looked up from his work just in time for Mikey to see his confused expression before Mikey slammed into him, enveloping him in a hug.
Mikey squeezed Donnie like his life depended on it, the knowledge that he could still hug his brother enough to drown out the fact that he might have almost died.
He let out an upset huff of relief, pressing his snout into Donnie’s shoulder.
After a second, he felt Donnie’s own arms wrap around his back, Donnie’s hand gripping the rim of his shell in a reassuring hug. “Hey, Mikey? You doing, okay?” he asked softly, the confusion still evident in his voice.
Mikey fought to respond, shaking as he tried to stop the silent stream of tears. “Can we, can we talk about it later?”
Donnie hummed, his vocal cords rumbling against Mikey’s shoulder. “Yeah. We can talk about it later.”
Mikey was unable to stop the small sob that escaped him. “Th-thanks.” He wasn’t sure if his tears were from the stress, or from the pure relief that he was back home.
