They were mostly quiet on their way home, nobody saying anything as they walked through the woods. Mikey was still held by Leo, snuggled close to his plastron and totally exhausted from everything that had happened but not sleeping yet.

His eyes were closed, face buried in the plastron of his older brother but he couldn't sleep. His stomach kept making turns and making him sick, preventing him from sleeping. They had saved him, risked their lives because of him. And that was something he couldn't get over

He ran away over a stupid argument, he couldn't keep his mouth shut and ran off like a coward, and of course his brothers had to save him, again. So he just pretended to be asleep, maybe they would forget all about it.

But somehow he knew that wasn't going to work, not this time. Sure he had some arguments in the past, but they were never that bad. They were never that bad that it resulted in him screaming, or even running away.

Sure he had yelled in the past, even swore sometimes but never he had screamed because of an argument, said mean things to his brothers to hurt them, and he knew he did, he snapped at them, pointed out all their weak sides, and used it in a pointless argument.

Which did nothing good, he ran away and they had to save him again, just like they had to do in New York. And his brothers got hurt because of him.

"Finally" Casey huffed after a long silence. Mikey twisted in Leo's hold, looking in front of him, seeing the farmhouse slowly approaching, almost home. He could feel Leo nudging him slightly but he just ignored it.

He knew what Leo was doing, he was babying him again. Back in New York he would've loved it, getting all this attention, but right now it only reminded him how much he screwed up, causing all of this.

"I'll get the first aid kit" April announced as they entered the farmhouse, stepping over the mess the fight with the frogs had left. Mikey could feel Leo nodding as his older brother walked towards the living room, setting him on the couch.

"You okay otouto?" Leo whispered as he crouched down, getting on the same level as Mikey. Mikey was now lying flat on his shell, slightly elevated, with his ankle stretched out. Leo reached out for Mikey's hand, slowly stroking it.

"I'm okay, just sore" Mikey said, faking a big grin like usual. Leo's face flushed slightly, hurt and confusion washing over his face.

"And the argument?" Leo questioned, narrowing his eyes slightly, he wasn't coming out of this one that easily, not this time. Mikey laughed nervously, remembering the argument again, everything he had said floating through his head again.

"It's good" Mikey brushed off, pushing himself a bit more into a sitting position but still half-lying on the couch. "Let's just forget about it" Mikey shrugged, hoping Leo would buy it, but seeing the frown on his leader's face made him regret that thought.

"Yer not getting off that easily" Raph grunted, sitting down on the edge of the couch, on Mikey's head side. His skin was still blistered and red in some parts and his hands were still full of red and sore spots.

"I'm serious Raph, just forget it" Mikey said, slightly harsher than he wanted it to be. He really didn't want to talk about what happened. Raph frowned slightly, not expecting that comment from his little brother.

"Give him some space guys" April hushed as she walked into the living room, the first-aid kit with her. Leo sighed but moved way when April approached him and Mikey. "Let me look at your plastron first" April practically coed and carefully removed Mikey's hand from his plastron.

"Easy" Mikey hissed as April's fingers came in contact with the bruised plastron. April chuckled slightly and reached for the medical kid, taking out some kind of white cream. "Where's Don?" Mikey whispered, stiffening another hiss as April carefully applied it across his plastron.

"Right here, what's wrong?" Donnie said, sitting down in the chair next to the couch, watching Mikey closely. April laughed and closed the lid, putting the cream back into the medical kid and looked over to Donnie.

"Relax genius, I got this" April chuckled, earning a blush from him. "Besides, you should be resting with your arm, so no moving around" April said, turning back to Mikey again. "So Leo, care to help me?" April asked, glancing over to Leo.

"Sure" Leo said, walking over to the couch. "What do I do?" He asked, kneeling down next to Mikey. April looked inside of the bag, pulling out a roll of bandages and something to secure it with.

"You have to lift him up so I can wrap this around his torso" April said, unwrapping the roll of bandages so she could wrap it around his torso afterwards. Leo was already standing up, ready to hover Mikey up but a strong hand cut him off.

"I can move myself" Mikey huffed, hovering himself up so he was in a sitting position, without the help of Leo. April and Leo exchanged some glances, slightly surprised by Mikey's sudden outburst.

Mikey seemed to notice and his face flushed slightly, the uneasy feeling tingling in his stomach again. He didn't want to snap at his brothers like that. He dropped his head and look to the left, looking away from all the stares he was getting.

"I'm sorry Leo, I didn't mean to be so harsh" Mikey whispered, a sob wracking through his body. Leo immediately shot forwards, tipping Mikey's chin up and looking into Mikey's eyes. The blue eyes were trembling and filled with tears.

"Don't be Mikey" Leo said gently as he moved to the side slightly, so April could wrap the bandages around his chest. "But I think we should talk this all out, everything that happened" Leo said, releasing Mikey's chin again.

"Look, I'm sorry for everything, I really am but could we just drop it? I don't want to talk about it" Mikey said, wiping his tears away. Leo could feel his heart banging against his chest, seeing the hurt in Mikey's eyes was just too much.

"Yer sorry?" Raph huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Mikey slowly lifted his head up to Raph, almost cringing when he saw the anger in Raph's eyes, but it was different. Different than all the other times Mikey would piss Raph off.

Or when he was fighting with the purple dragons, or the Shredder. Different than the moment Splinter was flushed down the sewer drain, he had been slamming on the iron, trying to break through, but this anger was different, and Mikey had no idea why.

"You're being ridiculous, if anyone should be apologizing it should be us" Raph said, looking away. Mikey frowned slightly, sitting with his shell against the couch, so he was facing the rest of his family better.

"What do you mean? I-I screamed to you a-and I yelled and s-said all those things" Mikey stuttered, tears forming in his eyes again. Leo sighed and grabbed Mikey's ankle, elevating it so April could wrap it.

"He's right Mikey, you don't have to apologize. We ignored you all these months, I should've been there for you otouto, and I'm so sorry for that" Leo whispered as April began to tape Mikey's ankle.

"But… you were all busy and having your own problems…" Mikey said, confusion washing over him. "Your leg… and the whole new York thing… and…" He continued but was cut off by his blue cladded leader.

"And because of that we forgot to notice our precious little brother. You were suffering yourself, you were even sick and we didn't notice it until we actually saw it." Leo explained. Mikey winced slightly as he remembered the sick feeling he had been having just a few days ago.

"But that was after.. well you know, what happened with April's mom" He said, nothing really wanting to bring that up again, he just managed to get all of it out of his head, he didn't want to re-live it.

"And that was horrible, yes, but we all ignored you, and I, we are so sorry for that" April said, looking up slightly. Tears were also lingering in her eyes but she kept them at bay, looking over to Mikey.

"It's good April, really all of you. I feel better, I really do" Mikey tried to assure them, laughing nervously, but at the same time the uneasy feeling spread in his stomach again, and his brothers seemed to notice it directly.

"You're a terrible liar Mikey" Donnie pointed out and stood up, walking over to his younger brother and sitting next to him. "Just tell us the truth, it'll make you feel better" He said, holding Mikey's hand with his good arm.

Mikey swallowed down a lump forming in his throat as he glanced down again. He wanted to tell, he really did but he couldn't. He couldn't burden them with his small problems while there were bigger things to worry about.

April finished taping up Mikey's ankle and placed everything aside while Mikey was still looking down, his fingers twitching slightly in Donnie's hold. He wanted to, he really did but no words came out of his mouth.

"I just…" Mikey started, trying to find the right words. "So much happened a-and I was j-just so alone" He said after a few minutes pausing, searching for the right words to say. Nobody said anything or stopped Mikey, instead they just waited patiently.

"I-I was right about the mom-thing but nobody apologized or anything o-or noticed I was f-feeling sick afterwards.. " Mikey chocked. "I guess it just b-became too much and I s-snapped, I'm s-sorry" Mikey hiccupped, wiping away the new tears that came.

"You don't have to be sorry, we understand" Donnie whispered, wrapping his arm around Mikey. The freckled turtle sniffled and leaned his head against Donnie's plastron, closing his eyes for a bit.

Donnie allowed Mikey to cry in his hold, stroking his head to calm him down. Mikey was shaking as sobs wracked through his body, tears leaking down his cheeks. The whole family was silent, waiting what would happen next.

"Did you mean all of it?" Donnie whispered after a while, pulling out of the hug and looking into Mikey's eyes. "about us not appreciating you" Donnie said when he saw the confused eyes of Mikey.

"Yeah" Mikey confessed and bowed his head again. "You guys never appreciate me, nothing I do is good. And i-in the Kraang f-facility…." He started but had to stop as his body began to shake again, chocking on the sobs.

Donnie began to rub his head again, trying to calm him down so he could continue. Raph was now fully turned towards Mikey, watching with regret at his sobbing little brother, something he had created, all of them.

"Y-you didn't w-want me and …. K-kept tossing me a-around,…. I-it just hurt, n-nobody wanted t-to be with m-me" He sobbed. Donnie froze slightly, he remembered that day. How could he forget? It was the first time they fought the Shredder.

But what scared him the most was remembering the look on Mikey's face when they tossed him around, nobody wanting to be with him, and only then he realized they had hurt their little brother badly.

"I'm so sorry for doing that Mikey, I really am" Donnie said, taking Mikey into a hug again, resting his chin on Mikey's head. He bit his lip slightly and took a deep breath. "But you have to admit that it's also because you goof off a lot, you have to focus more."

Donnie held his breath, he didn't want to say it actually but it was better, for all of them. And he didn't want to know how Mikey would react to it. The silence seemed suffocating, nobody saying anything but eventually Mikey opened his mouth.

"I know Don… and I'm trying" Mikey said. " I just can't… no matter how hard I try… I always keep getting distracted…. But I'll work on it okay? I promise I'll try harder" Mikey said, smiling slightly. Donnie chuckled and wiped Mikey's tears away.

"And we promise ta appreciate ya more, besides ya saved my ass when that mutant frog came towards me remember?" Raph laughed, rubbing Mikey's head slightly. A low chuckle escaped Mikey's throat and nodded.

"Is there….anything else we should know?" Leo asked, feeling Mikey hasn't told everything yet. Mikey's face fell again, his face darkening. There was definitely something more. Leo swallowed slightly, seeing the sudden change in his little brother.

"I see him" Mikey's voice was so low they could barely hear him. Raph swallowed down a lump himself, Mikey's voice sounded so scared and hurt. And whatever he wanted to say couldn't be good.

"Who can ya see?" Raph asked, not really knowing if he wanted to know what Mikey had to tell. Mikey's body was shaking once again, but this time it was even worse, he was viciously trembling, almost chocking on his own sobs.

"F-father" He said after a few agonizing seconds. "I s-see him being f-flushed down e-every night…. and…" he said but before he could finish he felt two strong arms wrapping around him again, but it wasn't Donnie.

Instead he felt himself in the comfortable arms of his red banded turtle. A hand on the back of his head, pressing him against his own plastron. Mikey sniffled in his hold, remembering how he had been in the same situation 3 months ago.

But that time it was him comforting Raph instead of Raph comforting him, like now. Raph's eyes were burning, tears threatening to come but he pushed them back. He could feel his plastron being stained with tears and he bit his lip, forcing back the tears.

He gripped Mikey tighter and looked to the right. He could hear Mikey pained sobs, al the hurt he had been feeling the last months and that's when his tears fell too, and he sobbed on Mikey's shoulder, just like he had done three months ago.

"I-I was j-just so alone, n-nobody c-came. I c-cried but n-nobody came to me" Mikey hiccupped, burying his face deeper in Raph's plastron.

"Never Mikey, I'm here, we're all here" Raph said and sniffled slightly himself. "And we'll never leave you, turtle's honor" He said, kissing Mikey's temple slightly. Mikey nodded and closed his eyes, leaning into Raph's hold more and more.

"Look Mikey, I'm really sorry for hurting ya, we all are" Raph said as he noticed the sobbing had stopped slightly. Raph slowly pulled out of the hug but chuckled when he saw Mikey's eyes were firmly shut, and his labored breathing indicating he was already asleep.

"I love you baby bro" Raph said, placing Mikey's head against his plastron again and leaning back against the couch, Mikey still on top of his plastron, happily listening to his strong heartbeat, just like when they were young.

~The end~

So it seems like my one-shot turned into a…. six-shot I guess? xD

Anyways, this is the end of the story, and I just want to thank everyone who reviewed and read this, followed it etc.

You guys are amazing! ^^