Just Tired

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or any of its characters. This is being written entirely for fun and no profit whatsoever.

Author's Notes: This contains some spoilers for the most recent episode from the 2012 series titled "Buried Secrets." If you haven't seen it and don't want to be spoiled, you may want to turn back now.

The day had been draining both physically and emotionally on all of them. Understandably, it was April that was hit the hardest. She didn't cry, at least not in front of them. She really didn't say anything at all after she'd defeated the thing-that-was-not-her-mom. But there was a terrible sadness in her eyes now, a slump in her shoulders that no amount of comfort or light-heartedness could seem to wipe away. In the end, she'd just asked to be left alone and quietly disappeared into her room.

"April…" Donnie sighed, dropping a hand he'd helplessly lifted in an attempt to reach out to her. Beside him, an unusually grim-looking Casey stared after April's dejected form until her door blocked her from view. They all stood in silence for a moment, wishing that things could be different, that the world could be just a little less messed up.

The heavy atmosphere weighed down on Mikey until he couldn't take it anymore. He quietly excused himself with a mutter that he was going to go clean up the barn. From the lack of response from both his brothers and their friend, he knew that he wouldn't be missed. On another day, this would have annoyed him. It would have inspired him into mischief, into doing something—be it a prank, an inappropriate joke, or loud comment (or maybe a song or dance if he was feeling inspired enough)—to make them take notice.

Something on that day was different, though. Mikey was glad to be away from them and out of sight and out of mind. He tried not to think about it too much. Maybe he was just tired.

He took two steps into the barn where Not April's Mom had exploded and immediately regretted his poor life choice. Why couldn't I just say that I was tired and was going to call it a night early? Not your best plan, Mikester.

With a sigh, Mikey went in search for something that would be good for getting out kraang goo. He made his way towards the house but then saw that the lights in the living room were still on and the silhouette of his brothers in the window. He imagined them slumped in various seats, drained but needing to unwind by talking things out the way they'd done tons of times in the past after every victory and defeat.

Leo would probably take the couch, looking dignified and in control even in his worst condition. Raph would have dragged a chair over and turned it around so that he could sit with his arms draped over the back, chin resting against the top of his folded arms. Donnie would have taken the little loveseat, probably with a leg stretched out to rest on the coffee table as he lamented on his inability to help the girl he'd been infatuated with since first sight. Across the way, Casey probably took the seat and would be slumped back in it, long limbs sprawled all over the place as he too pondered how to best help April.

And where would I fit in? Mikey thought that he might take the rocking chair that was tucked into the corner and nearest to Leo. But on the worst days he tended to gravitate to Raph, so maybe he would have found himself on the floor with his carapace against the couch. If Donnie was too wound up from the (too many) thoughts flying through his brain, Mikey might have squeezed his way onto the loveseat in order to best distract the genius from those thoughts. Or he might sit on one of the arms of Casey's seat and hoot about how they'd totally kicked some tail!

Yes, Mikey could see perfectly what he would have done on a normal day. Tonight, however, he would leave it to his imagination. He pivoted on his heels and followed the house around to the back. The back door wasn't locked (seriously, Raph was so forgetful) so it was easy to slip into the kitchen and to the little closet where most of the cleaning supplies they'd managed to scrounge together were kept.

He tried to be quiet, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention. It was like a game, Mikey mused. If anyone asked, he would call it How to Move Like a Ninja. Yeah, he liked the sound of that. Simple and to the point and genius. It was a game; he totally wasn't avoiding anyone.

His rummaging did attract a little attention, though. With a bucket filled with cleaning solvents and a scrubbing brush in hand, Mikey had begun to exit the way he'd come when a banging from inside the freezer door made him pause. When the banging persisted, Mikey reached out and threw the door open.

Ice Cream Kitty cocked her head at him and gave a plaintive meow. As always, Mikey felt his heart melt at the sight of her adorable face and her (delicious) Neapolitan-colored body. He grinned, the expression feeling close to genuine. "Guess what? We got her, Ice Cream Kitty. Well, April did with her crazy psychic powers, but still. You'd think some people would learn to listen to a genius such as moi when I'm onto something, right?"

"Mrrowww," she agreed with a huff and nodded her head in staunch support.

He reached out to run a finger down under her chin and enjoyed the little purrs that she emitted. He went on. "I mean…I guess I can't be too hard on them. Not all of us can understand the mind of a genius. It's not their fault. Not really. Man, it's hard for us smart folks to get any respect, huh?"

Whatever she heard in his voice made Ice Cream Kitty nuzzle her head against the side of his hand. Mikey smiled at her, wondering why his face hurt when it was something that came to him so naturally. "But you get me. So what am I standing here whining about? That kraang goo's not gonna' clean itself. Thanks for listening, Ice Cream Kitty. You're the best."

She meowed at him sweetly and gave his finger a final lick before he retracted his hand and closed the door to her home. Mikey licked away the streaks of strawberry ice cream that she'd left on his hand as he gathered his supplies back up with the other. His ears automatically perked up at the sound of voices coming from the living room.

They were little more than indistinct murmurs. The guys were probably trying to keep their voices down so that they wouldn't disturb April. So Mikey couldn't understand anything that was being said. He thought about creeping closer to the door to listen. Shell, what would be the harm? It's not like they knew (or cared) that he was just in the kitchen listening in.

Nah. You can guess. Donnie's probably all wound up since April's not paying attention to him. He'll say how bad he feels and start trying to figure out what he can do to fix it. Heh. Like it's a machine that can be tinkered with or something. Geez, Donnie-boy. That's why you're not good with this whole wooing thing. Mikey smiled just thinking of all the embarrassing and hilarious moments that Donnie had put himself in, all in the name of impressing April O'Neil. His smile faltered as the tangent went on, taking on a life of its own as it was wont to do—especially when he was tired. At some point he'll bring up the mutagen and groan about how much trouble it's going to be. He'll grumble that I should have done something about it or at least REMEMBERED where I tossed it when I stopped her from dumping it into the river. Then he'll look at the others and ask something stupid like 'do you know what this means?' Duhhh, of course they know what it means, Donnie.

What made it worse was that Mikey knew that their older brothers and Casey would agree. Then he imagined it would devolve into a session listing all of his faults and how he needed to focus and be more responsible. No, Mikey decided, his grip tightening around the handle of the bucket. He didn't need to listen in. He knew perfectly well how this would go so why even bother sticking around?

The night was crisp and clear. One of the things that had absolutely floored Mikey about living in North Hampton in those months had been the stars. In the city, the night sky was a muddled indigo, like dark ink, and in only some places could you really get a good look at the stars. But generally, there were too many lights and too much noise and activity for someone to appreciate what the tranquility of a star-dappled night sky stretching on and on as far as the eye could see.

Mikey tilted his head back as he trudged towards the barn and drank in the view. He tried to imagine what he must have looked like from someone up there in those stars—if there was such thing as star people that liked to look down on Earth. Tiny was his first guess as to what they'd think if they were watching him. Insignificant.

That's not nice. Stupid star people. Mikey ducked his head and slipped back into the barn.

He gave the green goop slathered all over the floor a morose look and then set to work. Before he did any cleaning, though, he found one of those spare little glass dishes (What had Donnie called them? Pee-tree dishes? Mikey couldn't help but to giggle) that Donnie used so that he could get his brother a sample of the goop. His brother had been too distracted by April's distress to get a sample himself, but Mikey knew that once he was less distracted that his brother would regret not gathering a sample for study.

Really though, this was more out of self-preservation. Mikey would much rather sit through his brother's science-y ramblings over whatever he had discovered from the sample rather than a moody Donnie on lost opportunities. This was the wisest course of action. Again, Mikey was a genius, remember?

The repetitive motion of spray water, scrub, rinse with hose was soothing in a way. Mikey allowed his body to take over while his mind wandered back to the house. He thought of April, and his heart clenched at the miserable expression she'd had on her face when they'd been discussing the truth about Not April's Mom. He'd never had a mom, but he imagined that it was awesome if April's (short-lived) joy at being reunited with what she'd thought was her mother was anything to go by. It was something Mikey had never felt that he'd lacked in his life; he'd always had his older brothers to look out for him. And somewhere, Master Splinter was still out there. He was sure of it.

I don't have it bad at all. It could be so much worse. Mikey told himself as he scrubbed and scrubbed. He thought of April and Casey and how they were the ones that really had a reason to go all angsty teenager.

It was stupid to be bothered by the fact that his family didn't think anything of him, that even when he was right that it was only because he must have gotten lucky. Mikey frowned into the green-tinged water that had soaked the wooden planks into a dark brown color, not really seeing it. It was stupid, but…was it too much to ask for someone, for anyone besides a cat-slash-ice-cream mutant, to listen to him—even when he sounded crazy?

Maybe it was. Mikey wasn't sure. Thinking and planning wasn't really his thing. Donnie and Leo had those jobs. And being angry at things he couldn't change was more of a Raph thing. Mikey couldn't help but to feel disappointed, though. He could be allowed that much no matter how bad things were for other people, right?

Whoa, dramatic much? Knock it off, dude. What would they say if they heard you whining like this? Just smile through it, Mikey. It'll get better. Tomorrow's another day. Mikey stared down at his hands for a long moment. Then he sighed and rose to his feet. Yeah…I'm just tired. That's all.

~Fin~