Chapter Text
It had been three days since the Krang were defeated, and to say that things were going well would be a lie. Sure, the alien invasion was thwarted, thanks largely to Leo, who was currently lying in his bed hooked up to different wires and tubes, covered in bandages on his limbs, face and, most terrifyingly, his cracked shell. There was a machine beeping in time with his heartbeat. He’d quickly lost consciousness once he had been pulled to safety, and his condition had been critical for nearly 48 hours.
They kept medical supplies handy in the lair at all times, but they’d never dealt with something as serious as Leo’s injuries before. Which was bad enough on its own, but Raph and Donnie were also hurt enough that they needed medical care too. Raph had a concussion, and his eye was… well, it wasn’t good. He was likely permanently blind in his right eye. And Donnie had a deep scratch along his shell, which had been caused by his damaged battle shell breaking in a way that allowed sharp metal and plastic to press into his vulnerable back. Mikey was frustrated that he hadn’t noticed until after. His brother must have pushed through the pain he was feeling, and Mikey had been oblivious. Although Donnie’s condition wasn’t bad, he was ordered to be on bedrest until he healed, to prevent it from getting worse.
Splinter was hurt, too, from the initial fight they had retreated from, but had insisted he was fine enough to help with the medical treatment of the three eldest turtles. Casey did what he could to help, too; apparently, he had to learn a lot of life saving medical care in the apocalypse and had a good idea of what had to be done.
Mikey, though, was barely any help at all. He’d been in hysterics over the state Leo was in and finding out that Raph and Donnie weren’t doing too well either made things even worse. He’d rushed from bedside to bedside with supplies at Splinter and Casey’s guidance, but he could barely process what was happening.
His brothers were hurt. Leo was dying.
When Leo had finally stabilized two days later, Mikey had collapsed, exhausted. When he woke up, finding himself in his own bedroom, he had no idea how long he’d been asleep for. Checking his phone told him that it had been almost a solid 24 hours.
He immediately felt like he couldn’t breathe. What if something had happened to Leo in that time? What if Raph or Donnie got worse somehow? He shot out of bed and rushed over to Donnie’s lab, which had been converted into a makeshift infirmary for the present until everyone had recovered, but he was intercepted before he got there.
“Michael?” Donnie had caught him by his shoulders to prevent him from rushing past; Mikey was so focused on his destination that he hadn’t even seen Donnie. “I’m happy to see that you’re awake. Are you alright?”
“Why are you walking around?!” Mikey gently pushed himself away from Donnie. “You’re hurt! You need to be resting!”
Donnie rolled his eyes. “Please, I barely got scraped. You’re all paranoid because I just so happen to be a softshell. I promise I’m fine, and I’ve been resting for two days out of an abundance of caution.”
The bandages wrapped around his torso said otherwise. And while they didn’t get pale when they were sick, Mikey could see how drained Donnie looked. He was certain that his older brother was pushing himself too hard.
“How is your shell? When was the last time your bandages were changed?”
“My shell is fine, Mikey.” He didn’t answer the other question, though.
Mikey hated this. His brothers were falling apart, and Donnie wouldn’t even take care of himself. He grabbed his hands and started dragging him towards the lab. “Come on, I was on the way to check on the others and we can change your bandages while we’re there.”
Donnie made a noise of displeasure but allowed Mikey to lead him into the lab and over to the bed that had been designated as his. Donnie sat down, but before joining him Mikey went to check on his other brothers.
Leo first. The steady beeping of his heart monitor was relieving, but he had yet to wake, and Mikey was starting to fear that he never would. “Hey, Leo,” he said softly, hoping that maybe somehow Leo could hear him in his sleep. “Sorry I disappeared for a little bit; I was kinda tired…” He reached out to grip Leo’s hand. There was a smell coming from Leo, almost like something was rotting, and he winced before calling over to Donnie. “Is the smell normal? Is that medicine or something?”
“What?” Donnie stood up and Mikey mentally scolded himself for causing his brother to exert himself. He approached Leo’s bedside, and Mikey could see the exact moment that he was able to smell the awful scent. “Oh, that’s not good.”
Mikey felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him. “What—what’s wrong? Is he… is he gonna—?”
Donnie shook his head. “Not if we treat it.”
“Treat what?”
“He’s got an infection, and shell rot,” Donnie explained. “He needs antibiotics…”
Donnie fell silent, stilling for a moment before rushing over to the medical supplies and rummaging through them, a hint of urgency to his body language. He muttered to himself.
Before Mikey could ask what was going on, Raph let out a groan, a hand being brought up to his head. Mikey hurried to his side, leaving Donnie to his searching. “Raph. How are you feeling?”
The eldest brother met Mikey’s eyes, but it took several seconds for recognition to spark in them. Raph grunted and rubbed his forehead once realizing who was with him. “Dumb brain hurts.”
This was something he could help with. He darted over to the supplies, picking out the ibuprofen, but stopped before bringing it back to Raph. “Donnie?” he asked, because his brother had stopped searching for whatever he was looking for but had yet to move. He was staring down at a bottle clutched in his hands. “Is everything alright?”
“The antibiotics are gone.”
Mikey gasped. “What are we going to do? Leo needs those, doesn’t he?”
“We’re going to have to get more.”
“How?”
Donnie sighed and his shoulders sagged. “I don’t know how else to get them, aside from stealing from a hospital.”
“A human hospital,” Mikey confirmed, and Donnie nodded. “Well, we’ve done it before, haven’t we?”
“In case you’ve forgotten,” Donnie said sharply, turning to gesture to their two brothers (oh, oops, Raph’s medicine. Mikey brought it to him as Donnie continued), “We aren’t exactly at our peak performance right now.”
“Well, where’s Dad and Casey? I’m assuming April’s at school.”
“She is. Dad is currently resting from his own injuries in his room, he’s not fit to go out.” Donnie frowned. “Casey might be able to help, but I’m not sure where he is. He went out exploring the city and I have no idea how far away he is, and…”
“And we need the stuff for Leo as soon as possible,” Mikey filled in, holding back a groan. He inhaled deeply and forced himself to stand up straight. “Well, it’ll be fine. Who needs backup, right?”
Donnie nodded. “The two of us can—”
“Wait, the two of us?” Mikey cut him off. “You can’t go.”
Frustration-fueled anger flared in Donnie’s eyes. “What?”
“You’re still hurt, Dee, you need to stay here.”
“What’s going on?” Raph asked, still rubbing his forehead.
Donnie crossed his arms with a huff, glaring at Mikey. “Well, dear brother, it seems that Michelangelo here believes that he can tell me what to do.”
“You’re hurt! You shouldn’t be going out!”
“And let you go off on your own? Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?” Mikey demanded, his voice rising in level. “I’m just as capable as the rest of you. I saved Leo, remember?!”
“You’re too young for this. I’m not fighting with you about this, I’m coming with you.”
Mikey wanted to scream. Why was Donnie wasting time like this! “I’m not a baby anymore, Donnie! Since when have you even cared like this anyway? You didn’t use to!”
Donnie winced at Mikey's harsh words but continued. “Well, I’m sorry that I don’t want to end up almost losing another brother!”
“GUYS!”
Raph’s voice cut through their argument, and the eldest turtle winced at the noise, before all their attention was drawn to Leo as he let out a groan and shifted in his sleep. Mikey and Donnie were at either of his sides in an instant, but he hadn’t woken from his slumber. His facial expression looked less peaceful now, as if he had become distressed from their arguing.
“Donnie, Mikey’s right,” Raph stated. Donnie opened his mouth to protest but Raph cut him off. “Listen, I know we’re all scared right now, and we all want to make sure that each other are safe. But Mikey’s just going to steal some medication, not fight an alien threat to society. I don’t like him going alone either, but…” he winced again and sighed, mumbling about wanting the stupid medication to kick in faster. “Admit it, Donnie, you are hurt. And besides, we need someone here to keep an eye on Leo, and you know I’m not going to be able to manage that right now.”
Donnie was practically fuming at Raph’s words, but he took a few deep breaths to regain control of his emotions. “I… admit that you may have a point.”
Mikey couldn’t hold back his sigh of relief.
“But!” Donnie glared at Mikey again, and Mikey could see the worry underneath all the agitation in his eyes. “If you’re going on your own, you’re bringing a panic button with you.”
That seemed like a fair trade off to Mikey. The panic button was a watch-like device that went around his wrist. If it was pressed, it would provide real-time location and vitals to Donnie.
“If you get into any kind of trouble, be it a stubbed toe or a life-threatening injury, you press this button, okay? And I’ll come to get you out of there.”
It still kinda felt like he was being babied and doubted, since it was overkill for a mission that shouldn’t even involve any encounters with anyone else, let alone any fighting. But if it was what Donnie insisted on to let Mikey go, Mikey was fine with it. He nodded his head and smiled.
“Thank you!” He flung his arms around Donnie and expected to be pushed away after a second or two. But to his shock, Donnie wrapped his arms around him in return, hugging him tightly. Mikey could feel his brother tremble slightly. He really was worried, wasn’t he?
“I always cared, y’know,” Donnie admitted quietly as they embraced. “I never want you to get hurt, and I didn’t before now, either. But with… everything…”
“It feels more real now? Now that we know what could actually happen?” Mikey finished for him, and Donnie nodded against him.
“Just promise me you’ll come back safely,” Donnie said as they broke the hug, and Mikey was somewhat startled by Donnie’s emotional moment.
“I promise.”
Mikey took the panic button and slipped it around his wrist. He grabbed his nunchaku and a change of clothes that would keep him more hidden, and prepared to leave. He looked back to see that Raph had fallen asleep again, and Leo had not changed, but to his relief Donnie had decided to sit down on his own bed and begin changing his bandages. Right, how could Mikey have forgotten about that?
“I’ll be back soon,” he promised, before heading out into the human world.
The journey to the hospital itself was easy. Mikey wasn’t lying when he said that they’d done this before. Sure, it was his first time alone, but how much different could it be? He just had to stick to the shadows and keep his ears open for anyone who might approach him from behind. Aside from that, he should be in and out. Easy. No need to worry.
He looked down at a little slip of paper, on which Donnie had written the name of the medication he was looking for. Why did all medicine have complicated, long, hard to remember names? He needed to make sure he grabbed the right one.
Stop stressing out.
The halls were not brightly lit in this section of the hospital. The dimness would help Mikey blend in, and he was grateful, though still tense. Now he had to find where the medications were, and—
“Excuse me, this part of the hospital is off limits to guests,” a voice said, startling Mikey.
Don’t pop into your shell, don’t pop into your shell, don’t—
From inside, he winced. Well, that was one way to get busted. He'd been too on edge, and now look what had happened.
The person shrieked, and suddenly there was havoc around him. Mikey forced himself to pop his head back out and was met with the sight of three doctors staring at him in fear.
“It’s an alien!” One shouted, a different voice from the one who had screamed.
“What should we do?!” The shrieker asked, panicked.
Mikey forced himself to pop out the rest of the way. “No, no, I’m not an alien! I was just, uh… hiding in my hoodie? I’m, uh, I’m a practicing magician! It’s a disappearing kid act!” Ugh, this was not going well. How was he supposed to convince them to calm down? They’d likely noticed his face under the hoodie by now, his green skin a dead giveaway that he wasn’t one of them. “So sorry, gotta go!” He pushed past them and sprinted down the hallway.
There were yells and screams as he entered a different wing of the hospital, but he wasn’t processing any of them. He needed to find where the medication was and get out, fast…
“Freeze!”
A new voice broke through the panicked haze in his mind, and he turned around to see another doctor, this one holding a strange gun. His stomach dropped.
What do I do, what do I do? His mind helpfully played on repeat, rather than supplying any ideas as to what could save him.
Wait, the panic button! He reached over and hit the button, the device letting out a steady beep to let him know it had activated. Then he raised his hands in surrender.
“Please, I’m not here to hurt anyone. I just need medicine for my brother, he’s dying.” Mikey couldn’t help the pleading tone to his voice, but sue him, he was desperate. He didn’t want to get shot. Leo needed him to get the medicine. Oh, and he’d like to not die, too.
He had a promise to keep to Donnie.
The gun, held by trembling hands, did not move from where it was aimed at Mikey. “Stay back!”
With his hands still held up, he took a few slow steps backwards, hoping to defuse the situation.
That turned out to be the wrong idea.
There was a popping sound, and then something sharp hit his leg. Oh, he realized, it’s a tranquilizer gun.
As his vision went dark, he silently hoped Donnie would forgive him.