Chapter Text
Raph was mercilessly beating a training dummy. Raph kept a towel around his neck to keep the sweat from dripping down into his shell, he hated the feeling of sweat on him, it was ironic since he was the most active turtle, so he was always covered in it.
But his un-comfort quickly turned into anger as he started to kick and pull at the dummy tearing some stitches keeping it together and making it fall to the ground, now angrier, he kicked the dummy one more time before going to sit down on the couch, he realized how much his bodied ached when he sat down, everything hurt now and everything felt super uncomfortable.
He groans as he shifts around the couch trying to get comfortable, it would be a better idea to move to his bed, he would definitely feel more comfortable, so he decides to try and lift himself off the couch but fails as he falls back down onto the hard foam couch, gravity keeping his sore body stuck to the couch. He lays down in defeat as he feels, it’s not like he could do much else even if he wanted to, his body gives in to his exhaustion from beating the dummy which he barely left in one piece.
His back was definitely gonna hurt in the morning
Leo looked around the training dojo, looking at all the pictures and panting that covered the room. They were always (oddly) comforting to Leo as a kid, they still are now but they also inspire him to be a better ninja, a better leader. He couldn’t tell his brothers about that though, they’d think it’s cheesy, especially Mikey but Mikey was also the only one to actually listen to most of his leader speeches so he couldn’t complain.
Leo was always the best at meditating, even though he was never the most patient (especially in a situation like this) but meditating had helped him in the past when he didn’t know what to do, and right now he really needed the help of clearing his head and figuring something out.
Sitting under the tree, he takes a deep breath, all of the physical pain he’d been ignoring for the past couple of days catching up to him before his mind starts to drift away from him, his body growing light, he always enjoyed the feeling of being weightless, a feeling he only got when meditating. The sounds around him grew louder and then everything went quiet, he focused his intentions on finding Mikey, he’d hoped that this would give him an idea of where he could be or what to do.
His body felt heavy and numb, and his mind was full yet empty. All Leo did was listen to whatever his mind was telling him, all Leo did was drift into the darkness of his mind, he wondered what might happen, would he learn anything? He didn’t want to spend time not doing anything useful but as Master Splinter would always say “a solution will arise, in time” so Leo sits still, letting his consciousness drift to wherever the universe pushed it.
Donnie was in his lab, it’s the only place he’s ever been when in the lair if he’s not with the others looking for Mikey, he’s doing research on where Mikey could be.
After their last search in the sewer, Donnie can’t help but feel as if those weird circle markings on the wall meant something, they just appeared out of nowhere, and he was almost certain that those markings could lead to Mikey.
Not to mention, that when he put his hand inside one of the circles on the wall he almost went through, Donnie knows that there was a high chance that Mikey could have been thrown through the wall, it’s the only lead he had to find his little brother, frankly, he’d do anything to figure out where Mikey was. Now he’s worried that something bad might’ve happened to his baby brother since he had no idea what those circles could be or even worse. What could be behind the circles? He’s not one to believe in myths or magic but it’s all he has so he knows that this isn’t a dumb idea, maybe desperate but not dumb.
Donnie has been researching what these circles could be but no information popped up on what they could possibly be.
“The internet has a limitless amount of information they say, you can find an answer to all your questions they say”
Donnie grumbled as he hit his table, the mountain of empty coffee-stained cups shook and one fell breaking as it hit the ground causing Donnie to tense up a bit as he looked down at the broken glass.
Donnie looked back and forth between the broken cup, the 6 empty cups on his desk, and the one half-drank cup of coffee that sat close by his hand.
“Maybe.. I need a break..”
The turtle sighed as he got up slowly, his head pounding as he shakily grabbed the empty cups, holding three in each hand and throwing them in the sink in his lab, sighing as he looks at the pile of cups, he left his lab to grab a broom and sweep up the glass on the floor. So many things break inside his lab basically daily and yet he’s never put a broom inside his lab.
As Donnie leaves his lab he sees Raph sleeping on the couch with one of his arms touching the ground, at least Raph didn’t snore that loud, he sighs with a bit of relief, Donnie was a bit worried about his other brothers as well, Mikey just disappeared one night and that made Donnie nervous that another one of his brothers would just disappear.
A small smile creeps up on Donnie's face as he looks at Raph sleeping, Donnie's eyes look behind Raph to see their punching bag beat up and sat on the ground, some foam spewing out of the torn stitches, a light laugh coming out of him realizing that Raph tuckered himself out by beating up the poor bag of foam to shreds.
Donnie leaves the living room and heads into the kitchen, he grabs the broom that sat in the corner before looking at the coffee machine that was now empty. He couldn’t remember how many pots of coffee he finished in the past few days, Donnie turns around and returned back to his lab.
When Donnie was finished sweeping and throwing away all the glass, he headed back out to the living room, seeing Raph made him feel better so he wanted to check up on Leo.
Don first went to Raph's room, he wanted to grab a blanket for Raph since he noticed that Raph was freezing, probably because he was covered in sweat, he could’ve got hyperthermia or something.
The turtle then left and went into Mikey’s room, he had no idea why but before he would return to his room at night he would always check on Mikey’s room, just to see if he was there, Donnie now understood why Mikey was so clingy to him, it felt like every night Mikey would go to Don's room at like 4 AM to tell him about so dream he had so he could stay with Donnie, Donnie ended up making a separate pull-out bed under his own because this happened so often and he didn’t want Mikey to either sleep on his floor or his bed, Donnie would never tell Mikey that he does actually enjoy it sometimes.
He would be the first to admit that he never felt lonely with Mikey, even when Donnie would sulk about one thing or another Mikey would always be there to help him feel better and he realized that he’s never really felt alone even with Mikey, even when the A team would make him feel like he wasn’t useful part of the team Mikey would always make him feel better or at least equal and that’s all Donnie could ask for, it was all Donnie wanted.
Donnie looked at the empty bed with a sigh, yesterday he fixed up Mikey’s room a bit, so when Mikey comes back he would come home to a clean-ish room, but looking at Mikey’s room trash-less and Mikey’s bed untouched felt weird, he sighs and leaves Mikey's room before heading towards Leo’s room.
As Donnie opened his door he felt his heart sink as he couldn’t see Leo but tried to remember if he saw Leo leave for the dojo, since Leo spent a lot of his time training maybe Leo was still awake, even though Leo was the only turtle to stay on a 9 PM bedtime and it was now 3 AM maybe he was just training late or fell asleep in the dojo. Donnie calms himself down as he leaves for the dojo to see if Leo was there, he didn’t want to cause a panic especially because he knew his thoughts were a little irrational since he was so tired so he just needed to check the dojo, and if Leo wasn’t there then he could panic.
Donnie quickly walks towards the dojo and quietly slides the door open to see Leo meditating, he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and quietly walks back into his room, he was a little happy he was wrong and that he was just jumping to conclusions.
Donnie flops onto his bed, his back and head hurt a lot so some sleep would do him a huge favor, he shuffles to get comfortable and very quickly falls asleep.
Leo blinked his eyes open and looked around, he felt like he was back in his body but he couldn’t see anything. He could feel the cold water on the ground, it felt oddly thick, so it must be sewage. Leo quickly put the pieces together and figured he must be in the sewers, Leo goes to unsheath his swords but he can’t feel them, he feels around his body but he can’t find anything, no ninja stars or his T-phone.
Leo holds his arms out to feel the area when he bumps into something
“Hey, watch it!” - Donnie
Leo let out a relieved sigh, he felt reassured that Donnie was there too, maybe Raph was there as well.
“Raph?” - Leo
“What?” - Raph
Leo looks towards the sound, he knows where everyone is.. kind of. But, now he knows that he isn’t in this really dark sewer alone which was reassuring.
“Guys, do you know where we are?” - Donnie
“Not a clue, thought you’d know” - Raph
“How could I know I can’t see anything” - Donnie
“I think we’re in some weird sewer, but I’m not completely sure” - Leo
Donnie put a hand on his chin as he felt a wall close to him, all the turtles were speaking in hushed tones unsure if they were in danger or not.
“Leo might be right, but usually a sewer isn’t this dark or.. Humid, it’s also freezing, and this seems to be a one-way type of sewer, I can’t see any other tunnels, but to be fair I can’t see anything” - Donnie
“None of us can, maybe we should walk further, maybe we could find Mikey” - Raph
“Hold on Raph maybe we should be a bit more cautious, we have no idea what could be here” - Leo
“We can fight anyone just fine, I’d rather risk it” - Raph
Leo puts his hand on his temples as he thinks as Raph waits for Leo’s answer, even though Raph is going to do what he thinks is best no matter what Leo says, Donnie seems to be frantically trying to find his T-phone.
“Okay, we can all callout for Mikey just remember to stay on guard, and I’ll go first” - Leo
“Sounds good to me” - Raph
“Okay, yeah, but remember to stay close, I can’t find my T-phone, do you guys have your T-phone?” - Donnie
“No, but don’t worry it’ll be okay, we just need to stay close and nobody makes any sudden movements” - Leo
Leo's last sentence was clearly directed at a certain hotheaded turtle, but Raph ignores his statement and waits for Leo to call out for Mikey.
“Mikey!” - Leo
They all pause for a second waiting for a response, they hear a faint noise and then steps coming towards them slowly, and they all get into a fighting stance unsure of what it could be.
“Mikey!” - Raph
Leo and Donnie look at Raph in confusion. Why would he call out to a mysterious noise, it sounded nothing like Mikey, it sounded raspy and quiet.
“Raph, you shouldn’t callout to the mysterious figure headed towards us” - Donnie
Donnie whisper-yells at Raph causing Raph to slap Donnie's arm, Donnie was right but Raph was sure that it was Mikey.
“You call out to it genius” - Raph
“I- fine, but if I die you’re not going on my will” - Donnie
“Guys- focus” - Leo
They were all whisper-yelling at each other. Donnie sighs before hesitantly calling out for Mikey as well, Donnie would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious or at least hopeful that the thing could be Mikey, and the sounds of it walking seemed to stop so now he was only more curious.
“Mikey!” - Donnie
They all tense up nervously as they hear the footsteps speed up, it didn’t speed up a lot though, they could easily out-run it if they needed to, but Raph kept calling out for Mikey again, causing the two to look at him but none of them do anything to stop him because they weren’t sure if it was Mikey but they couldn’t see him so they all just hoped, soon Leo ended up joining Raph as they both called out for Mikey, Donnie hesitantly followed Leo’s lead, now they were all calling for Mikey.
As they heard the footsteps get closer they all stopped for a second before they heard the voice say something.
"Dudes!"
They all recognized Mikey's voice, and even though his voice was clearly messed up they all got out of a fighting position, Raph and Donnie tried to jump forward and find Mikey but before anyone could leave each other side Leo grabs onto both their hands and held them back from jumping into a very dark abyss, which surprisingly enough nobody fights back against at most Raph just tugged his arm trying to get out of Leo’s grip but made no real attempt to break free, they all just stood there and called for Mikey.
"Mikey!!! Where are ya'?!" - Raph
"Can you hear me?!" - Mikey
"Yes, yes we can! Mikey, please! Come over here!" - Leo
"Follow our voices Mikey!" - Donnie
All the turtle's voices started to wobble as they heard Mikey, as much as they wish they could see him they all knew that what they had to do right now was grab onto Mikey, to hold onto him so they just call out for Mikey, Leo knew he couldn’t let Raph or Donnie run deeper into the dark sewer even though everyone wanted to.
"Mikey! It's okay! We're right here! We’re not going anywhere!" - Leo
"Get over here little bro!" - Raph
They all waited as patiently as they could when they heard a thud come from behind them, they all turned around, confused about what happened.
“Mikey?..” - Leo
Leo's tone was soft, it seems like a whisper but all the sudden everything left, he couldn’t feel Raph and Donnie or hear Mikey
-
Before he knew it he was blinking himself awake in the dojo, he noticed his mask wet around the brim as he rubs his eyes, Leo looked around he was still in a meditative position, so, was that just some weird thing that happened when meditating?
What just happened?
Leo wobbly gets up and walks outside and spots a clock, 8:30 AM, he hadn’t slept at all or does meditating count as sleeping, he didn’t know but Leo looked around and noticed Raph was asleep on the couch but no sign of Donnie, he assumed Donnie was in his lab or in his room.
The turtle drags himself to the kitchen and makes himself some yerba mate tea, to get some energy in him. After he pours the boiling water into the cup he goes and sits at the kitchen island as he thinks about everything he just saw, so it was like some weird lucid dream but maybe it meant something, it’s all he has so would take everything as a clue to where Mikey is.
So, he’s in some type of sewer, a very dark sewer, also very wet, that would also explain why Mikey sounds so sick, he’s been in the freezing cold sewer for a couple of days, not to mention he’s probably covered in some weird sewage, Leo notes to himself to make sure that Mikey is checked for illnesses when he gets back
Leo wonderers what Mikey has eaten or drunk, nobody lasts that long without food or water so Mikey must be starving, and also water, there is no clean water there so he hasn’t drunk anything either, Leo guesses, Leo makes another mental note to buy Mikey a pizza when they find him, or maybe they could make one of the frozen ones they have in the freezer.
Leo's train of thought stops when he sees a tired Raph walk into the room, he watches as Raph grabs some type of protein bar from a cabinet and flops down onto a chair, Raph didn’t seem to sleep well but neither did Leo so he wouldn’t judge.
“Sleep well?” - Leo
“What do you think?” - Raph
“Sorry, just asking, but I do suggest sleeping in your bed it’s much more comfortable” - Leo
Raph glares at Leo as he eats half of the bar in one bite, Leo laughs under his breath, seeing Raph all cranky was always kind of funny to him.
Leo takes a sip of his tea and returns back to his thoughts on finding Mikey, nothing really made sense, with what happened in his meditation dream thing and what they saw in the sewers yesterday.. He was going to have to talk to Donnie about it.
And just as Leo starts to think about Donnie, he hears the door to the kitchen slide open, it’s almost like Donnie heard his thoughts, but just like Raph and Leo, Donnie looked exhausted, did no one get any sleep?
Donnie starts to brew some coffee before opening the cabinets for some medicine for his headache, and drinking some water as he takes the medicine.
“What time did you go to sleep last night?” - Leo
Leo raises an eyebrow as Donnie dismisses the question by doing a type of shooing motion with his hand, which Leo interprets as “I fell asleep at like 3 AM” Donnie has been falling asleep very late recently but Leo didn’t feel like lecturing him on that right now.
“Hey Don I gotta ask you something, we should talk in your lab” - Leo
Donnie looks at Leo and gives a tired nod
“Sure just go to my lab and I’ll meet you there” - Donnie
Leo nods as he gets up, and walks toward Donnie's lab, with the cup of hot tea in his hands, he looks around the messy room as he waits, noticing the pile of cups in the sink and a large number of books on Donnie's desk, Leo walks over to one of the open books, it seems to be a notebook, he notices Donnies writing on the circle things they saw in the sewer, it didn’t seem to be that much though, just a redrawn image of the circles and little notes about it, Donnie didn’t find out anything about it, Leo sighs, he still needed to talk to Donnie about it.
Leo hears the metal doors slide open as he looks at both Donnie and Raph enter the room, he was pleasantly surprised by Raph's decision to join them, smiling as he watches Raph sit on a chair near the door.
“You wanna join us Raph?” - Leo
“I wanna hear what you're gonna ask Donnie, besides I’m guessing it’s about Mikey, and if it is I wanna hear everything” - Raph
Leo nods with a small smile, sitting down and taking a deep breath before speaking.
“I was meditating last night and I think I got some answers on where Mikey could be, they’re vague but I think it could be some help” - Leo
“Okay, I’m guessing you wanna ask me some questions before you tell us what you saw while meditating?” - Donnie
“Yeah.. I was wondering what you learned about those weird circle things, it’s fine if you didn’t but I think those might actually lead us to Mikey” - Leo
Leo could hear Raph scoff, but didn’t pay any mind to it, Donnie rubbed his temples as he went to grab his notebook from his desk.
“Not really, I’m guessing once you get lost in one of those it’s impossible to get out, so I’m guessing no one’s been able to talk about them, but I still think we could find a way open one of the circles to create an exit for Mikey” - Donnie
Raph and Leo take in all the information Donnie gives them, they were all confused about the mechanics of the circle but Leo nods along as he listens to Donnie.
“Okay, so we shouldn’t touch any of them just in case we go through, okay, no matter what, we could get stuck with no way out” - Leo
“What if Mikey was actually in one of those, then what?” - Raph
“If we do then we will have to find a way to call out for him and wait for him to come to us, if we rush in after him we could end up making this a bigger problem and end up re-trapping Mikey and trap one of us as well” - Leo
Raph and Donnie nodded as Leo spoke, Donnie sat down and looked at Leo, a serious look on his face.
“What did you see, when you were meditating? You said it could help?” - Donnie
Leo pauses as he thinks about what he saw or what he didn’t see.
“That’s the problem, I couldn’t see anything, it was pitch black, but I think we were in some type of sewer, I could feel sewage on the ground.. I don’t know” - Leo
“Okay, so do you remember what happened, was it like a dream or was it just like a map of the area Mikey was in?” - Donnie
“Well it felt like some type of lucid dream, but it seemed like we were looking for Mikey and- I mean we found him but we never saw him, something happened and Mikey just kind of disappeared and then I was back in the dojo” - Leo
“Are you sure you didn’t have a nightmare?” - Raph
“No, I’m sure I didn’t when I meditate I don’t usually have those dream-like things happen it was weird, and well, I don’t know it just-” - Leo
Leo sighs, he wasn’t sure why they should trust what he saw other than him just clinging onto anything, Donnie looked at Leo his eyes were wide like a light bulb went off in his head.
“Leo- I need to ask you something” - Donnie
“Yeah?” - Leo
Leo and Raph were confused at Donnie's reaction.
“In your meditation-dream thing, did we have our T-phones or weapons on us?” - Donnie
“No… why?” - Leo
Donnie puts his hand on his chin as he thinks, Leo and Raph looking at each other and then back at Donnie, still confused.
"You said it was pitch black right, darker than our sewers?" - Donnie
"Yeah.. I couldn't see anything" - Leo
Donnie continues to nod along as he seems to think deeper and deeper
"Was it more of a weird tunnel than a utility tunnel, did the tunnel have multiple routes, or waist just a straightforward tunnel" - Donnie
"I mean.. I don't know, I couldn't see anything but.. I think it was just one way..?" - Leo
Leo stares at Donnie confused by the questions but Raph sits up in his chair and seems to start connecting the dots to Donnie's intentions behind his line of questions
“I think I might have had the same dream, at least by what you're describing it seems like I had the same dream.. Raph do you remember your dream from last night, and if you do, does that sound similar at all” - Donnie
Raph was taken aback by Donnie's question, he thought it was crazy what he was saying but Donnie’s face never changes from his stern expression.
“I don’t know, I mean it sounds similar- are you sayin’ we had the same weird dream or somethin', I thought you didn’t believe in the weird magic stuff?” - Raph
“I don’t but this is a special circumstance, I mean if we all had the same dream then that has to mean something, when we’re looking for Mikey, I think we should look for those circles and keep what happened in the dream in the back of our minds, who knows how this could help” - Donnie
Raph looks towards Leo waiting for him to say something but Leo just nods, Raph looks at both of them confused and annoyed as he watches Leo get up.
“We should go grab our things and head to the sewers, today we should look deeper in the sewers, and keep an eye out for those circles okay” - Leo
Raph, and Donnie nod as they move around to collect their things but Raph makes surer to give Leo a frustrated look, everyone grabs their weapons and T-phones with Donnie bringing Mikey's with him as well as they all meet up in front of the exit to the sewers.
“You guys got everything?” - Leo
“Yeah, let’s go” - Raph
The three jump into the water heading out into the sewers to look for Mikey.