Based off of the 2012 series.

Little Brother

By: Soniclover28

Michelangelo, nodding his head to the beat of his music, flipped in the air once, and landed on the next rooftop he was to cross. He spun on his heel once, and sprinted forward, grinning all the way. He turned his head back to look at his older brother, and shouted, "The new T-pod is awesome, D!"

Donatello put his finger up to his mouth, telling his little brother to quiet down, but nonetheless smiled. After his last T-pod had been destroyed, Donatello had made Michelangelo his own personal device. It's only function was to play music, so that it couldn't be used for evil again.

Michelangelo smiled again, flipping to the next rooftop, and landing on his hands before pushing himself back into the air once more.

"Ha-ha-ha!" The young turtle laughed giddily. The beat of the music pounded through his head, seemingly giving his body energy with every beat of the bass. He caught sight of his other brother, Raphael, running next to him, and practically flew in mid-run to the next rooftop.

This was the best patrol ever.

Michelangelo's three older brothers couldn't help but smile at their little brother's boundless energy. Leonardo glanced at Donnie and asked, "What kind of music is he listening to? He loves it."

Donatello merely shrugged, "He's been downloading the music by himself. It could be anything."

"Hey, Mikey!" Raphael called, having listened to their conversation.

The turtle didn't hear him, the music he was listening to drowning out any outside noise.

Michelangelo knew that having the T-pod turned all the way up was dangerous when on patrol; if something happened, and his brothers called out to him, he wouldn't be able to hear them. To prevent this, he usually kept the volume low enough to decipher his brothers' voices. Michelangelo told himself that after this song went off, he'd turn the volume down. He had only cranked it up when the song that had come on made him really excited.

The teenage turtle leaped to the next roof, momentarily forgetting his brothers' presence, and started singing along with the T-pod.

"Get this night off right, and turn the bass up! Blow my eardrums up; just like a fire truck! Get this night off right, and turn the bass up! Yeah, I like it loud! I like it lou-oud!"

Michelangelo actually stopped after his little outburst, and started break dancing on one of the rooftops. Spinning on the back of his shell, Michelangelo spread his legs out, and started balancing on his head. He pointed his legs upwards, and stuck his hand out where his head had been spinning. Now balancing on his hand, Michelangelo spun even faster, switching his three-fingered hands back and forth.

He suddenly propelled himself upwards into the air with his arms, and did three front flips before finally landing on one knee, one arm stuck out to the side in a pose at the end of his song.

Michelangelo smirked at his performance, and, true to his word, turned his T-pod down drastically.

A sudden smack to the back of his head knocked one of his ear buds out.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, turning to see who had whacked him.

"C'mon, meathead; we're not here to party," Raphael scolded, glaring at his younger brother.

Realizing that his brothers had seen his little scene, Michelangelo's face turned a light shade of pink. Baby blue eyes avoided blue, brown, and green as he smiled nervously.

"Heh-heh, right; sorry," the young turtle apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

"Mikey, I think it'd be best if I held the T-pod for a while," Donatello said, holding his hand out.

Pouting, Michelangelo wrapped the ear buds around his device and gave it to his older brother.

"What were you even listening to? You were really getting into it," Leonardo couldn't help asking.

"Just a song," Michelangelo shrugged causally, still avoiding his oldest sibling's eyes.

Now Leonardo's curiosity turned into suspiciousness.

"Donnie, play the song he was just listening to. Mikey, you weren't listening to anything bad, were you?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"No, I mean- it's not bad, it's just…" The youngest of the four brothers stammered.

"Okay, then, you shouldn't have a problem letting us playing it," The leader said, gesturing for Donatello to play the song.

"Wait-!"

"Get this night off right,

And turn the bass up.

Blow my eardrums up;

Just like a fire truck."

Too late. His older brothers raised their eyebrows when they heard the lyrics to the song, and stared in bewilderment at Michelangelo.

"Is that…?" Leonardo sputtered.

"Yes…"

"You mean, this is…?" Donatello blinked.

"Yeah…"

"This is you?!" Raphael exclaimed. He suddenly burst into laughter as he beheld the scratchy voice of his brother on the T-pod. His other brothers couldn't help but chuckle with him.

Michelangelo's blush grew even darker, threatening to swallow up his freckles, and he rubbed his arm in embarrassment.

The turtles continued to listen to the T-pod.

"You know I like it loud;

Can't hear a single sound…

My ears are ringin' now…

'Cause that's how we get down."

While Donatello had his guard down, Michelangelo snatched his T-pod from his hand, and turned away from his brothers, pausing the music as he did so.

He quickly deleted the song, tucking the T-pod back in its place in his belt.

Michelangelo's three older brothers continued to laugh for a while, only calming down when their sides started to hurt.

"Mikey," Raphael panted, a wicked grin on his face, "I didn't know you sang karaoke."

"It was just a onetime thing, Raph! Stop laughing!" The youngest of the night patrol said.

"Who's gonna make me?" The red-masked turtle sneered, "You?"

Michelangelo's red face was starting to come from more than embarrassment now.

"Alright, Raph, that's enough," Leonardo chuckled, noting the sudden switch of attitude from the orange-clad turtle.

"You gonna sing me to death?" The smug turtle ignored his leader, taking a step forwards.

"Shut up!" Michelangelo growled, clenching his fists.

"That all you got, Mike?" Raphael snickered, his eyes narrowing as his younger brother gained a warning look in his blue depths. "I thought you were better than that."

"Seriously, cut it out," Donatello said, "He's had enough."

Michelangelo ground his teeth, now giving his older brother a full-out glare.

"What's wrong, sing-song? Finally lose your voice?"

"Raph," Leonardo warned.

"Why don't you go and make your own album? I'm sure dozens of people would buy it," Raphael paused, "Then again, they'd probably die from their eardrums exploding."

"Raph!" Leonardo glared at the burly turtle.

"What?" The second-oldest brother asked innocently.

"Stop bullying him; he's had enough."

"It's not my fault he's a coward."

"Raphael!"

A dark chuckle suddenly grabbed their attention again. "Nah… Nah, it's okay…" Michelangelo was staring at the ground, his expression hidden from his brothers.

"What? But-"

"Aaagghhh!"

Michelangelo suddenly lunged at his brother, knocking Raphael to the ground.

"What the-?!"

Raphael was cut off when his younger sibling right hooked him in the face. Adrenaline kicking in, Raphael shoved his brother off of him, quickly getting to his feet again.

"What the shell, Mikey?!" He hissed, spitting blood out of his mouth; his little brother had knocked one of his teeth loose.

However, Michelangelo didn't reply; instead, he stood with his fists clenched, glaring at his feet.

"Answer me!" Raphael exploded, clenching his own fists at his sides.

Michelangelo finally looked up, his anger changing into shame. Once he saw a drizzle of blood run from his big brother's lip, he knew he'd gone too far.

"I-I-" The teenager sputtered, backing away from his brothers, "I-I didn't mean to- I mean- I-" Baby blue eyes started to well up with tears. "I'm…"

He'd punched his brother…

He'd punched his brother…

"I-I… I'm sorry…" Michelangelo breathed, "I-I'm…"

"Mikey, it's-" Donatello started, raising his hands in a calming manner.

"I'm sorry!"

Michelangelo cried, tears slowly starting to drip down his freckled face. Before anyone could do anything, Michelangelo sprinted off of the rooftop, landing in an alley, and bolting down the streets.

"Mikey, wait!" Donatello called, racing after his brother.

"Come on," Leonardo told Raphael.

"But he-"

"He didn't mean that, Raph, and you know it; you pushed him too far," the leader in blue interrupted. Without waiting for a response, Leonardo leapt off of the rooftop as well.

Michelangelo ran blindly through the alleyways through tears, ignoring his brothers who called his name. He could hear their voices getting more and more distant; Michelangelo was the fastest of all his brothers. Taking one final turn, Michelangelo leapt onto another rooftop, and took cover behind a billboard, hiding himself from his siblings.

He sat down once he heard his brothers' voices finally fade away, and he pulled his knees up, hugging them to himself and burying his head in his arms.

He didn't know how long he'd sat there, and he didn't care.

He had punched his brother.

He still couldn't believe it.

It hadn't even been that big of a deal. Raphael hadn't been teasing him any more than he usually did.

Except that it was a big deal…

…To Michelangelo.

The song that Michelangelo had deleted from his T-pod was the song that he was going to give to Raphael as a gift. He had downloaded the song from the internet, and recorded himself singing it. He was going to do a remix of sorts with it, knowing that Raphael secretly loved music. The young teenager had been working on the gift for weeks.

Thinking back on it, it seemed stupid, Michelangelo thought.

'I should've known that he would laugh at me…'

"My, my, my; what have we here?"

Michelangelo gasped, and his head shot out of his arms.

Standing before him were three mutants he was all too familiar with.

The first one was a red koi-fish with robotic legs, with huge teeth jutting from its over-sized mouth. Its yellow eyes were blazing on the side of its head.

The second creature was a super-mutant dog. It had black fur, and skeletal-like fingers and toes; long claws jutted out from both.

The last mutant was a tiger with an eye patch and a missing tail. Humorous as it sounds; he was deadly. So deadly, in fact, that he was labeled as a super assassin.

These three monstrosities' names were Fishface, Rahzar, and Tigerclaw.

Michelangelo shot to his feet, immediately unsheathing his pair of nun chucks.

"What are you doing here?" He glared.

"We could ask you the same question, turtle. Where are your brothers?" Fishface sneered.

Michelangelo only growled.

"Turtle, you will take us to Splinter, or I will tear you out of your shell," Tigerclaw threatened abruptly.

"I'd like to see you try, bob-tail!" Michelangelo retorted.

Tigerclaw snarled, and pulled out his two of his guns. "I'll give you one last chance, turtle. Take us to Splinter, or I turn your shell into my personal litter box."

Michelangelo subtly swallowed; he knew he was dangerously outmatched. He briefly wondered if he should try to escape.

"It's not my fault he's a coward."

No.

He wouldn't be the wimp everyone thought he was.

Michelangelo charged at the three mutants with a battle cry, swinging his nun chucks wildly. He struck Fishface in the…well…face, and swung his leg around to nail Tigerclaw in the muzzle. They both roared in rage, and began to attack. Tigerclaw fired his guns at Michelangelo, who dodged every laser that came towards him.

Rahzar charged at Michelangelo once Tigerclaw stopped shooting, and threw dozens of spikes at the turtle. Michelangelo dodged those, too. He gave Rahzar a roundhouse kick to the snout, knocking him clear off of his feet. He barely ducked as Fishface tried to deliver a kick of his own with his metal feet, and rolled back to his feet.

Michelangelo couldn't help but smirk at Tigerclaw.

"That all you got, Mr. Whiskers?"

Growling, Tigerclaw fired his guns relentlessly at the young turtle. The laser-like bullets all flew past Michelangelo, who was laughing in confidence.

Until one made its mark.

Michelangelo cried out in pain, reflexively releasing his nun chucks, and tripped as his foot felt as if it had been glued to the ground. He stared in horror as he realized his foot was trapped in ice, frozen to the rooftop.

The coldness made a shiver run through the turtle, and he vainly tried to free his leg.

A clicking sound made him freeze, but not from the cold. Michelangelo slowly turned his head to see Tigerclaw standing only a foot in front of him, the barrel of his gun being held mere inches from his face.

Tigerclaw and Michelangelo stared at each other for what felt like hours until the large, mutated cat finally spoke in a low growl.

"You will take us to Splinter, or I will finish you here."

Michelangelo was silent.

"Well?"

Michelangelo glared, blue eyes turning as cold as the ice on his foot. "Never," He hissed.

With strength he didn't know he possessed, Michelangelo, using the pad on his elbow, slammed his elbow onto the ice, shattering it around his foot, and kicked Tigerclaw's feet out from under him.

Immediately, Fishface and Rahzar lunged at the freckled turtle. Michelangelo rolled away from them just as they were about to make contact with him, and he picked up his nun chucks.

He twirled them around frantically, swinging wildly at his attackers. The orange-masked turtle pressed a hidden button in his one of his nun chucks, and it was suddenly transformed into a kusarigama. Michelangelo swung the long chain over his head once, and, with a mighty throw, slung the chain at Rahzar. The dog-like mutant growled in frustration as his limbs were bound to his sides. He tore his arms from the metallic binds, shattering the chain as he did so.

"Uh, oh," Michelangelo breathed, eyes widening.

Discarding the broken nun chuck, Michelangelo clutched the one pair of chucks that still were intact, and watched his opponents carefully.

His gaze shifted from Tigerclaw to Rahzar, waiting for one of them to make a move. Rahzar huffed in the way an irritated dog would, and Tigerclaw's lips were curling back to reveal sharp teeth as he slowly reached for his guns that had been knocked to the ground.

"What's wrong, turtle? Scared?" Rahzar laughed haughtily.

Michelangelo's glare only hardened.

Truth be told…he was scared; terrified, in fact. But he wasn't going to let it show.

No way.

He could do this; all he needed to do was keep Rahzar busy, and Tigerclaw wouldn't shoot at him…hopefully. Then again, Fishface was a problem too, but…

'Wait…' Michelangelo tensed.

Where was Fishface…?

"Now!" Rahzar barked.

Instinctively, Michelangelo leaped away from where he was standing.

Or tried to, anyways.

Just as his feet left the ground, he felt something sink into his shoulder. Michelangelo cried out in pain as he ripped away from whatever had attacked him, tearing the skin on his arm as he did so. He stumbled and rolled to the ground, only cracking open an eye when he stopped moving. He saw Fishface smiling wickedly, one of his giant fangs stained red with blood… Michelangelo's blood.

The young turtle clutched his shoulder in pain as his entire arm seemed to catch fire. He cried out again, slightly shrinking back into his shell as the fire spread to his collarbone.

Through the pain, the fifteen year-old heard dark laughing, and he opened a now bloodshot eye to see all three mutants staring down at him.

"That venom of yours is starting to impress me. What will it do to him?" He heard Tigerclaw ask.

"Thank you," Fishface smirked smugly, "Stockman has been helping me give it more… sting. I didn't get a complete bite, though, so he'll just have to suffer all of it consciously… Which is… very, very painful…"

Even as the koi-fish said this, Michelangelo's eyes started to tear up as his head started to feel as if it were being hammered.

"We should take him to Master Shredder; I'm sure he would appreciate our little… gift," Fishface smiled evilly.

The teenage turtle ground his teeth at this; he couldn't let that happen.

In a last resort, Michelangelo started throwing kicks and punches wildly and blindly, actually meeting his targets a few times. The turtle staggered to his feet, his vision hazy and his body burning with every move he made. Sucking in a shaky breath, Michelangelo's bleary eyes scanned his now fuzzy surroundings.

He tried looking around for his nun chucks again, but the movement of his head made him off-balance, and he fell to the ground again.

The burning sensation he was feeling was slowly seeping to the rest of his body, and when it reached his heart, every beat sent a pulse of pain through his system. Michelangelo, against his will, let loose an air-shattering scream.

The sound was horrid.

Every human that was out in the streets of New York had heard it, every pigeon and rat in the alleyways had heard it…

…And so had three mutant turtles.

"Aww; poor little turtle. It looks like you've finally given up," Tigerclaw narrowed his eyes smugly.

Michelangelo had barely heard him, his head was throbbing so hard. He opened his shock-glazed eyes, his vision hazy and covered in colorful spots. Instinctively, the orange-masked teenager shakily started bringing his legs into his shell, yelping when his muscles screamed in protest.

Michelangelo felt himself being lifted by the top of his shell by sharp claws, and slowly came to the conclusion that Rahzar had picked him up.

"Put. My. Brother. Down!"

Through the hammering in his head, the teenage turtle heard the cry of anger, though he couldn't place his finger on who it belonged to. Forcing his bloodshot eyes open, the littlest of four brothers' baby blue irises locked with furious emerald. Michelangelo's eyes started to swell with tears again as he recognized his sibling's eyes, and he choked out his name.

"R-…Raph…" He wheezed, his body twitching and jerking like mad, his nerves going crazy under the influence of Fishface's bite.

Raphael was outraged.

He and his other brothers had heard Michelangelo's scream halfway across the city, and immediately rushed to his aid.

Now, here they were, watching their little brother suffer in the hands of a mutant super dog. Said mutant dog tightened his grip on the half-conscious turtle, making him grimace in pain.

"Ah, I figured you'd come sooner or later," Fishface sneered.

"Unhand our brother, and we might let you off easy," Leonardo warned, a dangerous edge to his voice.

"You honestly expect us to just let you have the little one back? He put up quite a struggle; too bad Fishface got a hold of him," Tigerclaw purred menacingly.

It was then that the three older brothers saw all the bruises on the three evil mutants. And it was then that they saw a deep cut on their little brother's arm.

"You bit him!" Leonardo hissed at Fishface.

The koi merely shrugged. "He always was annoying. It was the only way to shut him up."

Raphael growled, his body trembling in anger.

He was so close to losing his temper.

"If anything," Fishface sneered, "We are doing you a favor. I see how you treat him; it is obvious that he is a nuisance to you."

Leonardo almost objected, but didn't quite get the chance.

"Mikey isn't a nuisance!" Donatello barked, "Sure, he gets in the way a few times, but-"

"You admit it!" Fishface laughed, "You know you cannot stand him! You know he is no critical part of your team! You know he is just-"

"Don't you dare say it…" Raphael warned.

"A-"

"I'm warning you!" Raphael snarled.

"Mistake."

Raphael snapped.

"Aaaagh!" The enraged turtle cried, lunging at the giant koi-fish.

Leonardo and Donatello followed suit, running up to Tigerclaw and Rahzar.

Raphael, using his sais, tore Fishface's belt that held his legs intact to pieces.

Blinded by anger, the red-masked turtle hurled one of his sai at Tigerclaw after he was finished with Fishface, and the cat hissed in pain when it impaled his arm just above his elbow. Tigerclaw removed the weapon from his arm, and threw it to the ground, pulling out his guns, and started firing like mad.

While he was distracted, Leonardo gave the tiger a roundhouse kick in the head, knocking him off balance. This gave Raphael enough time to jump on top of Tigerclaw, and pound his fists into his face and torso.

Roaring, Tigerclaw kicked Raphael off of him, and spun to his feet, subtly wincing from his soon-to-be black eye.

Raphael didn't care; his eyes locked with the very figure holding his brother hostage, and he went into a frenzy.

Donatello and Leonardo immediately backed off of Rahzar when they saw their furious brother, confusing the giant mutant until he laid eyes on the burly turtle.

Emerald eyes briefly scanned over his little brother's battered body, and it didn't take much to add heat to his already incinerating fire.

Raphael was seeing red.

"Put my brother down!"

The fight was a blur to Raphael, but when he got his bearings again, he saw a bleeding and bruised Rahzar lying at his feet, and Michelangelo tossed to the ground beside him. Instead of checking to see if Tigerclaw was still fighting his brothers, Raphael scrambled to his little brother's side, sitting on his knees.

Trembling hands lifted a motionless Michelangelo onto Raphael's lap. He cradled his little brother's head, pressing it against his plastron and hugging the ice cold turtle.

"Mikey…" Raphael's voice trembled.

"Raph…" Raphael felt a three-fingered hand on his trembling shoulder. "We have to get him back to the lair…"

He nodded numbly, carefully lifting his brother into his arms.

Michelangelo's glassy blue eyes were revealed under heavy eyelids, making contact with wet green emerald before his eyes started to swell up with tears as well.

"You're gonna be okay, Mikey… Y-you're gonna be just… fine…" Raphael choked, nodding to his little brother, forcing a smile to appear on his face.

Michelangelo whimpered, looking up at Donatello and Leonardo with pained eyes.

The turtles couldn't bear to see him like this; they couldn't stand to look at the once joyous face, now bruised and bleeding, and shedding tears.

"Let's go," Raphael said, standing with his brother in his arms.

Raphael was worried sick.

He paced in circles around their living room, muttering to himself as Leonardo watched him in deep thought.

"Shouldn't have said that… Wasn't thinking…" Raphael clenched his fists, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth.

Donatello and Master Splinter were in the turtle's lab, working to remove the venom from their little brother's system.

A pained scream filled the lair for the second time, and Raphael quickly recognized it as Michelangelo's voice.

The red clad turtle turned his head towards the lab entrance. "Mikey…" Raphael breathed, his eyes growing damp again.

"He'll be okay, Raph. Donnie knows how to make an antidote for these types of things," Leonardo tried to comfort him, slightly unnerved by his younger brother's attitude towards the situation.

"Yeah, but-… Why is it taking so long?" Raphael asked in frustration.

"I don't know…" Leonardo looked at the ground, uncertainty coming into his deep blue eyes.

"Guys! Guys, we came as soon as we heard!" A voice exclaimed breathlessly.

Raphael looked to see April O'Neill and Casey Jones entering the abandoned subway.

"Sorry we took so long, we had to ditch Irma back at the theatre," Casey panted, making his way towards Raphael.

"How is he?" April asked Leonardo, worry evident on her face.

"We don't know. Tigerclaw, Fishface, and Rahzar ambushed him on the surface, and Fishface bit him. Donnie's working on an antidote and keeping Mikey stable at the same time," the blue clad turtle explained.

"Ambushed him? Was he alone?"

"Well… Yes…" Leonardo rubbed the back of his head, glancing over at his red-masked brother.

"I thought you guys weren't allowed to travel alone."

"We're… We're not… Mikey… Sort of…"

"Mikey ran off during one of our patrols…" Raphael cut in, sitting down on the couch and crossing his arms in shame. "I… I was teasing him, just like usual… But he just… snapped, for some reason…" Raphael looked April in the eyes.

"He nailed me in the mouth."

April's blue orbs widened at this.

Michelangelo; sweet, innocent, fun-loving Michelangelo… punched his older brother…?

"That… That doesn't sound like the little dude at all," Casey spoke everyone's thoughts.

"Exactly! I don't get it! He totally overreacted! Over a stupid song, too!" Raphael exclaimed, getting to his feet again and throwing his hands in the air.

"A song?" April inquired, her heart skipping a beat.

"Yeah! He had some type of karaoke on his T-pod with him singing on it, and I teased him about it! It wasn't that big a' deal!"

April promptly chunked a couch cushion at the turtle's head.

"What the-"

"Mikey has been working on that for months!" April burst.

"What are you-"

"He's been coming over to my house for the past few months, working on a present for you; I've been helping him with it. Raph… Michelangelo worked hard on that…" April explained, her tone softening when she saw horrifying realization appear on the red-masked turtle's face.

"You mean… That horrible, ear-drum-killing song was a present… for me…?" He asked in disbelief.

Part of him wanted to laugh; wanted to roll on the floor and die laughing.

But another part of him, the part that was bringing the entire situation into context, told him that he'd really hurt his little brother.

Sure, it wasn't the best song, but if Michelangelo's heart was in the right place, who was Raphael to judge? His brother was only trying to show him that he loved him…and…

'…And I completely broke his heart…'

Raphael grit his teeth again, coming to meet April's eyes. He didn't know what to say; his mouth opened but no words came out.

"I-I-"

The sound of a metal door sliding open caught everyone's attention. They saw Donatello, sweating and panting, leaning on the doorway to his laboratory.

"How is he?" Leonardo asked, coming closer to the tall turtle.

Too breathless to form coherent words, the purple-clad turtle held his hand out, gesturing to the inside of his lab.

Raphael bolted inside, his heart pounding…

…And froze in horror as he laid eyes on his brother.

His usual light green skin was an ashen-olive color, and his entire body was trembling and twitching violently. An oxygen mask sat on his mouth, occasionally shifting when the turtle's cheek twitched. Bandages were wrapped from his wrist all the way up to his shoulder blades, and a sickening, purple blotch was seen under the bandages around his shoulder.

Raphael staggered to his brother, almost collapsing on the very examination table he was laying on. The burly turtle clutched his brother's limp, three-fingered hand, alarmed by how cold it felt.

"W-will he be okay…?" Leonardo stuttered, his eyes betraying a huge amount of concern.

"I-I-…" Donatello choked, leaning heavily on the wall. "H-he should be… Should be stable… May take a few days… days to heal…" He stuttered.

"Donatello. Go and rest; you need to calm down. You have done an excellent job, my son," Master Splinter suddenly appeared, placing a four-fingered paw on his tallest son's shaking shoulder.

"B-but I-"

"C'mon, Donnie… Mikey's gonna be fine, right? All he needs is some sleep, and so do you," April came up to the genius as well, gently guiding him to his bedroom.

"This is all my fault…" Raphael breathed, squeezing his little brother's hand. It twitched in his grasp, causing the grieving turtle to look at his brother's face. Grey-green eyelids slowly lifted themselves upward, revealing murky, glazed, unfocused baby blue eyes.

Michelangelo, with more effort than it should've been, slowly turned his head to look at his older brother. Weakly, the orange-clad turtle squeezed the hand that held his own, and pulled, what he hoped to be, a smile.

Raphael, for the first time in years, started letting his tears flow freely.

Then, before he could do anything else, Michelangelo's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his little brother went limp once again.

"Mikey… Mikey, I-…" Raphael choked, his breath hitching.

The dark green turtle almost jumped when he felt a four-fingered paw on his shoulder.

"My son," Master Splinter said, "We have done all we can. He must rest for now, as should you."

"H-…H-hai, sensei…"

Reluctantly, Raphael released his little brother's ice-cold hand. Before he left the laboratory, however, the red-clad turtle turned his head and muttered a sentence under his breath.

"I'm sorry, Michelangelo…"

With that, Raphael sauntered towards his room, though knowing his little brother was going to be okay, he also knew that inside, he would never forgive himself for this.

"Raph! Raphael, get in here!"

Raphael jolted awake, throwing his blankets off of him and bursting into the living room, and pulled out his sai. Looking around, he realized no one was there, and he blinked in confusion.

"Raph!"

The red-clad turtle's head swung around to the entrance of Donatello's laboratory, and he saw his older brother standing there with an excited glint in his eyes.

"What? What is it?"

"C'mere," Leonardo quietly exclaimed, gesturing inside the lab.

Raphael put his sai away, and followed the blue-masked turtle into his younger brother's domain.

Leonardo motioned him to be quiet, and went deeper into the dimly-lit room. Once they got to the examination table that their littlest brother occupied, Raphael stared at him confusedly until he realized why Leonardo had dragged him in here.

Michelangelo turned his head upon hearing his two oldest brothers enter, and baby blue locked with emerald green.

"Hey…Raph…" Michelangelo wheezed, giving him a weak smile.

"H-hey, little brother," Raphael choked, pulling a small smile himself. He sat in the chair beside his little brother's bed, and folded his arms on the mattress. "How're you feelin'…?"

"Better… Donnie's been… Been helping," Michelangelo answered tiredly.

"He's still a little out of it from the painkillers I've been giving him, but other than that, he'll be on his feet by tomorrow," Donatello appeared, leaning on the wall behind Michelangelo's makeshift bed. Raphael gave a nod of acknowledgment, not taking his eyes off of his little brother.

He glanced down at the bandaging around Michelangelo's arm, and noticed that the purple tint that had been there a few days ago had disappeared.

"Hey, Raph…?" Michelangelo suddenly asked.

"Yeah?"

"I'm, uh… 'm sorry for… for knockin' your teeth out the other day…"

Raphael almost corrected him and said that he had barely even knocked one tooth loose, never mind out. But he brushed it off, thinking that it wasn't exactly the best time to argue with his sick little brother.

"Nah, don't be. It wasn't your fault, and… I shouldn't have made fun 'a ya like that. April told me about the song… and…" Raphael's words got caught in his throat for a second as Michelangelo looked away, embarrassed.

"We'll just, uh, give you two some time alone," Donatello said, brushing past them and leading Leonardo out of his laboratory.

Once the cool-clad brothers were gone, Michelangelo spoke up again.

"It was stupid… Should've… Should've known you'd… laugh…" He muttered, slowly coming to meet his older brother's eyes again.

"Mikey, I'd never-" Raphael paused. Finishing that sentence would've made it a lie.

Raphael did, indeed, make fun of his little brother when he had heard the song. In fact, he made fun of a lot of things his little brother did.

"…Thought so…" Michelangelo nodded shakily, lowering his gaze again.

"But I'm really sorry; I get it if you hate me, but…I just-… I'm sorry, Mikey…"

"But you still laughed at me…" Suddenly, the orange-clad turtle laughed dopily. "You called it, Ice Cream Kitty!" He yelled, throwing his head back in laughter.

A confused mrrow sounded from the kitchen.

Raphael blinked. He had just given his little brother a genuine, heartfelt apology, and now he was laughing his head off?

'Donnie did say that his medicine's making him a little loopy…'

"Been makin' bets, have you?"

A voice was heard, and Raphael's head turned to see Donatello coming back into his laboratory.

"Yep," Michelangelo snorted in laughter, "Hey, you didn't kiss April yet, did you?" He asked abruptly.

Donatello's face flushed.

"W-well… um… N-no, not exactly…"

Michelangelo laughed that dopey laugh again.

"Ice Cream Kitty! Get in here and give me that cheese you promised! He totally chickened out!"

Raphael was at a loss of what to do. It seemed that the medicine his little brother was on had come into full swing, and it didn't look like it'd slow down any time soon.

Donatello, who had recovered from his furious blush, finally spoke up. "It's best just to go along with whatever he says. People can get really sensitive to what you say when they're like this."

"A-alright," Raphael nodded. He was still a little shaken up from his brother's earlier words; before he started talking nonsense.

"Raphie…Hey… Hey, Raphie…"

Raphael was brought out of his thoughts when Michelangelo called his name—well, his nickname he used when he was younger.

Michelangelo tapped Raphael's nose with a cold, green finger.

"Yeah?" Raphael couldn't help but smirk, gently removing the finger from his beak.

"You can't sit there, Raphie. You can't sit there."

"What? Why not?" The older brother replied in genuine curiosity and confusion.

Michelangelo shook his head as if he were disappointed in him.

"That's not your seat," He whispered, as if trying not to let someone hear him. "You can't sit there, Raphie. You can't."

"Then whose seat is it?" Raphael smirked again.

He was starting to get amused with his little brother's cute behavior.

"His—" Michelangelo pointed behind Raphael. "It's his seat, Raphie. You can't sit there."

Raphael turned to look behind him to see his father at the doorway to the laboratory.

"Oh! Sorry, sensei; here," Raphael stood from his chair and offered his seat.

The mutant rat merely chuckled.

"I did not mean to get you kicked out of your spot, my son," He smiled.

"Ah, it's no big deal. Go ahead; I been sittin' for a while, anyways. I'll be in the dojo if anyone needs me," Raphael said, turning to walk out of the room.

"Raphie!"

The turtle paused.

"Thanks for 'pologizing. An'… An' it's okay, Raphie. I still love ya', Raphie; I do. I love ya'."

Raphael turned around, and, once his shock faded away, a smile crossed his face. A true smile.

"I love you, too, Little Brother."

Me: Before you badger me about not updating, I've been working on this for months between my other stories, and I really wanted to see if I could write about my four favorite turtles ^^. Tell me what you think! Please review! It gives me inspiration to write more!