Revelations

By:

Me

Had the need to write another TMNT story. Based off the 2012 series and I have taken some liberties with canon so be warned.

I own nothing

Chapter Three

Raph and I each gave a small peck to Mikey's forehead and then left the lab. Raph said goodnight to me and went to his room, but I parked myself on the couch. I was determined to stay awake in case anything did change in our little brother's health. I wasn't sure when I did fall asleep, but I awoke to my twin shaking me awake the next morning.

"I shoulda known that ya wouldn't go to bed, Fearless," Raph groused as he rubbed his hands briskly up and down my chilled, stiff arms, "Ya goin' ta get sick and that will upset Mikey more."

"Mikey!" I gasped and went to rise, but my red-banded brother pushed me back down.

"Donnie says that the kids doing fine," Raph informed me, "Genius also said to stay out of the lab until he is done with his tests.

Nodding, I stretched the kinks out and then settled happily under the blanket that Raphael draped around my shoulders. Gratefully, I accepted the hot tea that Raph held out to me. Many didn't realize how much Raph did for everyone. He was sneaky about how he showed he cared. I warmed up enough for my twin and I to grab some breakfast. We had just finished eating when the lair door was hurriedly opened and Master Splinter came inside.

"What is going on?" our Father hissed looking flustered, "I've sensed a great foreboding and I was not able to reach you during your evening meditation, Leonardo. I came as quickly as I could. Where are Donatello and Michelangelo? What has been happening since I left?"

Raph and I gulped and sat Sensei down to explain what had happened to Mikey. Father dashed into the lab when he heard that our baby brother had been injured before we could finish our story. My twin and I followed and saw Donnie rattling off Mikey's injuries and his health status.

"Michelangelo, you are going to be the death of me," Master Splinter whispered down to our sleeping brother before sitting down on a chair next to Mikey's bed and grasping the still turtle's good hand, "Tell me the rest of the story. I know that my youngest ever only goes off that far when there is something on his mind. I asked your brother what was causing him to lose focus right before I left, but the child denied that there was anything wrong."

The others looked to me so I began to tell what I had slowly unraveled. Sensei frowned when I was done with my tale.

"It is unsettling to know that I missed that Michelangelo was feeling this way," Father stated looking troubled, "I have always viewed you four as brothers. There was always a more solid connection between you and Raphael because you were twins, but Donatello and Michelangelo have always revolved around their older brothers like moons around a planet."

"Hold up a moment," Raph interjected, "Ya mean ya always knew that Leo and I were twin brothers? Why didn't ya say anthin'."

"I have many times said that you were opposite sides of the same coin," Master Splinter answered, "It was obvious what I was saying to you, my son."

"Not ta someone that speaks English," Raph muttered under his breath making me have to hold back a snort of laughter before my twin straightened at Sensei's stern face and bowed his head in acknowledgement to our father's words.

"Well, I have the exact answers we need," Donnie spoke up looking happy and proud of his accomplishment, "And I can inform everyone that with extensive research and a few phone calls to the pet shop we came from, that with good science anything can be…"

"Spit it out already!" Raph barked making Donnie scowl at being interrupted, "Is Mikey our blooded brother, or not?"

"Rude," Donatello hissed as my twin rolled his eyes and gave the hurry sign, "Mikey is 100% our baby brother."

I sighed in relief as Raph and I exchanged grins. Even Father beamed and sat up straighter.

"The DNA proves our family ties," Donnie grinned out, "Plus, the pet store only had one female and one male turtle that they were breeding when Master Splinter purchased us for pets."
"I hate tha word 'pets,'" Raph groaned out.

"I prefer you as you are now," Father agreed, "'Sons' have a much better ring to it.

We all smiled and urged Donnie to state the rest of his findings.

"We already know that Leo and Raph are the two eldest," Donatello continued, "I came during the next hatching, but here is where it gets interesting. You see Mikey's egg was laid with the next litter, but he didn't hatch with everyone else. The pet store owner said that more than one egg dies during a hatching and they simply throw the eggs away. Mikey's egg has slipped off under some rocks so the pet store owner didn't discover it. It was not until he was cleaning out the aquarium a couple of weeks later that he discovered our Mikey beginning to hatch. The man said that he was very reluctant to sell Father Mikey since he felt that our baby brother was a runt and would probably die."

"That Bastard!" Raph growled before looking contrite at Father's stern look.

"I chose each of you for the spirit that I sensed in you," Master Splinter explained as he stroked Mikey's hand with his thumb, "I sensed right away your little brother was a fighter and insisted on having him to be my own."

"So Mikey is actually much younger than us," I murmured thinking, "We'll have to remember that when he is driving us all crazy. We can't expect him to have the same maturity level as the rest of us so we'll have to have more patience where he is concerned."

Raph and Donnie nodded and then everyone jumped when Mikey began to laugh as he pushed the oxygen mask down around his neck. He trembled against his pillow as his face twisted in anguish.

"Mikey!" I gasped as our little brother's laughter turned to tears, "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough. I've been so scared, Leo," Mikey wailed as we gathered around him, "I just always wondered, you know, why I seemed so different from everyone else. You and Raph were twins and Donnie had to be your real brother since he was as smart as you are, Bro."

I blushed hotly as I scooped Mikey up to lean against my chest.

"That is very flattering, but Donnie is much smarter than I will ever be," I admitted as Raph and Donnie grinned at my blushing cheeks.

"I'm all stupid, spotty and then my blood type was different from everyone else's," our baby brother sniffled out, "You can all focus and I can't a lot of times and I just started panicking and thinking what if I wasn't really your brother. What if Donnie discovered this and you wouldn't want me anymore because I wasn't really family?"

"You are a silly, little turtle, Child," Father chuckled out as Mikey looked at him in confusion, "Is April a turtle?"

"No," Mikey answered looking confused.

"Do you see her as a big sister?" Sensei continued to ask as Mikey began to catch on.

"Yes," Mikey agreed.

"So April has become a part of your family just like I became your father even though I am not a turtle," Splinter smiled out as Mikey looked relieved, "You would always be a brother to Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael even if you were not blood related."

"Even if I annoy them and have stupid spots?" Mikey asked as he looked down.

"Your freckles are adorable!" I insisted as my twin snorted at me and I turned to Raph, "They are and I'm not ashamed to admit the fact. Mikey wouldn't be Mikey without his freckles."

My baby brother perked up and looked a lot happier despite the bruises that still marred one side of his face.

"Plus, it's a baby brother's job ta annoy his siblings sometimes," Raph laughed out, "Even Donnie has his moments."

"What?" Donatello squawked indignantly as Mikey giggled before yawning and Don switched to medical mode, "Mikey, do you want to eat anything before you go back to sleep? You haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday."

"No," Mikey answered as he snuggled against my plastron, "Tummy feels bad and my head hurts. I'm sleepy."

"Okay," Donnie practically cooed as he replaced the oxygen mask back on Mikey's muzzle, "I want you to keep this on while you sleep. It's good to have fresh oxygen to heal from a concussion."

Mikey looked mutinous, but conceded after a glare from Father. He was allowed to remove the mask long enough to swallow some painkillers and drink some water before falling back to sleep.

"You three have had a very trying time," Master Splinter said as he continued to hold Mikey's hand, "Go directly to bed."

"You might have to force Thing One to do as you ask," Raph chuckled out as I frowned, "He fell asleep on the couch rather than go to bed when Mikey was finally out of any real danger."

"Shut up, Thing Two," I snapped irritably as I saw Donnie grinning at the new nicknames, "Great. Look what you did. Now Donnie will tell Mikey and the two will be calling us Thing One and Thing Two all the time."

"What?" Raph grunted before bolting after Donnie as he ran out of the lab giggling.

"Father?" I said as Master Splinter focused on me and I settled my baby brother back on his pillow and covered his smaller form back up with his blanket, "I'm sorry I let you down and didn't keep Mikey from getting hurt."

"Leonardo, you can believe that every action that happens in life is something that can be controlled," Sensei instructed me, "Michelangelo certainly did not sit down at that wall in order to be hurt as he was and you did not send him out of the lair to get injured. There is no blame or fault to feel guilty over. Now go to bed, in your bed, right now."

"Hai, Sensei," I agreed as I stood and bowed before leaving the room.

It felt good to peel off my equipment and crawl into my futon, but my door opened almost immediately. I opened one eye to see my twin looking in on me.

"Just checkin'," Raph smirked out before closing my door again.

"Busybody little brothers," I grumbled as I rolled over, "Thank God for them."

Epilogue:

Mikey had been sleeping for several days on and off and the lair was still so quiet and peaceful. I hated every moment of it. I felt surly and off balance. I couldn't find the joy and the laughter that usually rang through the lair. Where were the sounds of running feet and videogames? I even missed Raph's growls as he chased Mikey through the lair after a prank.

"Ugh!" Donnie groaned from the kitchen table where he was working on an invention since Mikey was still in the lab, "This quiet sucks."

"Tell me about it," Raph nearly whined as he threw himself on a beanbag, "If ya tell Mikey I said this, I'll slaughter ya whether ya a twin brother or little brother, but I miss the Knucklehead's chirping. This place is not tha same without him muckin' about."

"I agree," I stated feeling lousy and grumpy.

"Whoa," Raph gasped, "Fearless Thing One just agreed with me. Pigs are sprouting wings as we speak."

"Ha ha," I snarked as I laid my head back on the couch before startling when I opened my eyes to see Raph and Donnie looking down at me in concern from upside down, "What?"

"You've been in a bit of a mood for the past six days while Mikey's been healing," Donnie admitted, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I snapped before sulking and sitting up, "No…I don't know. I feel funny."

"Funny, how?" Raph demanded as he came around the couch and sat beside me looking concerned.

"Off center," I described, "Not right. Tightly wound."

"Ya always tightly wound," Raph joked before calming at my glare, "Try ta meditate. Ya always feel better after that hippy-dippy mumbo-jumbo."

I arched an eye ridge at my twin as Raph leaned back smirking at me.

"I'll go and get one of your meditation candles," Donnie offered and went into the dojo and returned with a lit candle in no time, "This should help you get your center back."

I nodded and eased myself on the floor and began to calm myself and found that meditation was helping me unwind quite a bit despite the stress that was niggling at the back of my mind. I lost track of time as some of the worries eased from my spirit with each deep breath.

"Hey, Leo!" a voice shouted and I looked up in time to receive a water balloon directly in the face, "Master Splinter is letting me stay up for a little bit. Miss me?"

The world fell back into synch as the water dripped from my face. My twin shook his head chuckling as Donnie hid a grin behind his fist. I looked to see Michelangelo's bruised face beaming at me from the couch with his sprained wrist in a sling and both eyes fully open and sparkling.

"Yeah, Monster," I grinned back, "I've missed you a lot."

The end.