Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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Donnie hadn't been kidding when he'd offhandedly dubbed their missions 'episodic mystic hi-jinks, because this is something Mikey sees far too often in western cartoons and tv shows. Which, of course, means it was only a matter of time before it happened to them.

'It' being that his older brothers have been turned into toddlers.

Mikey's still not sure how Hypno had gotten his hands on the spell or why he'd ever want to use it on anyone. Worse still, he'd seemed just as surprised as Mikey after the dust had cleared to reveal three very confused, very tiny and very cute versions of his three older brothers, their gear and now too-big masks in a pile on the asphalt. Clearly, he hadn't known the spell would do that. Which was just great.

He'd looked from the tots to Mikey with bulging eyes. Mikey had stared back.

“Well. Um. Good luck with that, bye!” 

Then the hippo vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Mikey to deal with the tots who had stared at him for three seconds before bursting into tears.

For the first two hours after teleporting them back to the lair with Leo's swords—thank Pizza Supreme in the sky it'd worked first try—he'd been fine. Splinter is still off with Draxum on a sort of 'Bonding But Not Much Because Trauma' trip somewhere in the Hidden City, and April and Casey had classes until noon, leaving Mikey to work things out on his own.

No biggie. He's a big turtle now. He faced worse and came out on top with a smile. Watching his big-turned-little-brothers should be a walk in the park.

His experience with kids is limited, but he knows his brothers. He knows their likes, tells and quirks that make them who they are, no matter how big or small they get.

Leo loves the special ducky blanket that he's had since forever. Raph has his teddies to smother himself in. Donnie has the special oversized hoodie that's heavy enough to ground him, loose and soft enough that it doesn't hug his body too tight or scratch his skin—even if it's a few sizes too big for a three-year-old body and trails after him like a dress wherever he goes. And you can never go wrong with Lou Jitsu, which he'd popped on the minute they'd gotten home to silence the first crying fit. They were immediately entranced, clapping and giggling with every 'HOT SOUP!' bellowed by their father in human form.

That, and they're toddlers. They'll laugh at anything, Mikey had realized after tearing a piece of paper had sent Leo into hysterical giggles. 'Popping' his lips had made Donnie clap his hands and scream, and, for some reason, Raph loved when Mikey pretended to eat his arm.

Kids are freaking weird. Mikey films it all. 

For the first two hours, Mikey killed it as the new big brother. Things were quiet, and Mikey had plenty of blackmail pictures saved in the cloud where not even Donnie could reach them. Honestly, it was rather relaxing, and Mikey wondered how Splinter had such a hard time with them at this age.

But then they got bored. And they realized the Lair wasn't the same one they remembered growing up in.

Mikey hadn't realized it wasn't just their bodies that got reversed, but he learns it quickly when Donnie wakes up from a nap in his room only to find it's not his room and bursts into hysterics.

From there, it's chaos. 

Donnie won't stop screaming and crying, throwing himself on the floor and banging tiny fists against his head the way he used to when he wanted attention. That's what they'd all thought, at least, for years until Splinter had finally called a professional after the damage was already done. 

Leo is more of a hassle than he is at sixteen, running everywhere and turning everything into a game, laughing when Mikey begs him to get off the fridge, bursting with an energy he doesn't know what to do with yet, doesn't know how. 

And then Mikey gives in and shouts at him—he really doesn't mean to, he knows what it feels like, she should know better than to get mad, but he's stressed, now, and it bursts out of his mouth before his brain can stop it—“Knock it off, you little pest!”

And Leo freezes. Staring at Mikey—no, through him, like he's seeing something else, something other than his brother, bigger and scarier. His face crumples seconds before he runs off again to hide in an unfamiliar lair, sobbing, and Mikey feels like a monster.

That's probably what Leo thinks, too.

Then Raph, distressed and angry with the noise and lack of attention, bites through the table leg.

Mikey damn near loses it. Instead, he calls April.

“April, please, I'm begging you,” he cries into the phone while trying to wrangle a still-sobbing Donnie in his other arm, hooking his leg around Raph's waist to drag him away from the table for all his efforts to cling as tears spring in his eyes now. “I can't do this! Donnie can't talk to me, Raph bit through the table, and Leo's still missing 'cos I shouted at him, and I called him a little pest, and—”

“Mikey, you gotta breathe. Breathe, baby. We'll be right over, I'll call Splintz and Barry, and we'll work this out. Hang on just a little longer, okay?”

Mikey hates it when they treat him like a little kid. He's fifteen now, nearly sixteen. He's survived ancient evils and an alien invasion, a ninja and mystic warrior in his own right. But April's voice through the speakers soothes him like it always has, and he decides he doesn't mind being babied again just this once. He kinda needs it.

He sniffles. At his feet, Raph goes very still. “Okay. Yeah, yeah, okay, I can—I can deal. Thanks, April.”

“For you, big man? Anything.”

She hangs up. Donnie is still crying in his arm, but he's worn himself out now, so it's mostly just hiccups and sniffles that break Mikey's heart in a billion different ways as the little guy chews his fingers, tears dripping down his flushed face, and Raph is—

“Sowwy.”

Mikey looks down and sees Raph abandoning the destroyed table leg to hug Mikey's instead, rubbing his cheek against Mikey's knee. His snaggletooth peeks out from his top lip as he smiles in that adorable, harmless, ever-soothing way Mikey remembers from their childhood.

Back when Raph had to be more than the big brother.

They've all come to accept that Splinter wasn't the perfect father for all that they adore him. They've accepted that they'd had to raise themselves as Splinter dealt with his trauma the only way he knew how while still providing for four unexpected children. And after a long talk that involved more shouting, tears and whispered apologies, Raph and Splinter both accepted that Raph had been shouldering the burden of the Big Brother and substitute parent for far longer than any kid should ever be allowed to, if at all.

But it's a slap in the face to see it now on a four-year-old version of his big brother. Still looking out for everyone else, even when he's no longer the eldest in the room. Stepping up when the adults in his life failed to.

Mikey stares. Little Raph stares back and keeps smiling.

Mikey drops to his knees and grabs Little Raph into the tightest hug he can manage with Donnie squirming in the other arm. Little Raph's pudgy arms immediately snap around Mikey and Donnie, because of course they do, and Mikey's chest aches. “It—It's okay, Little Man,” he croaks, then clears his throat and tries again with a smile. “You don't have to do that this time around. Big Bro Mikey's gonna handle it from here, don't you worry. I promise. It's my turn to take care of you guys.”

Whether he understands or not, Mikey's not sure. But if Raph remembers anything from this once the spell breaks or wears off, he hopes it's this:

“You don't have to carry us anymore, Little Big Brother. I got you. We got you.”

Mikey's sure he doesn't imagine Raph trembling in his arms or how Donnie reaches for Raph's hand and squeezes.

~0o0~

Finding Leo takes longer than Mikey's comfortable with. He has half a mind to search the tunnels, but that means either bringing Little Don and Raph with him—absolutely not—or leaving them in the lair to look—even worse, they're toddlers.

Turns out Mikey is overthinking. No matter how old Leo is, he'll always be a Daddy's boy.

He leaves the little two in his room with his hardier fidget toys and softest blankets for Donnie to smother himself with, shuts the door, and makes his way to Splinter's room, where the tell-tale sniffles echo from under their father's bed.

Leo goes ridged when Mikey pops his head under the dusty space, teary eyes wide with a sort of fear they've become familiar with in the months after the Krang. It's scary to see on a teenager's face, and downright awful to see on a baby's face. And Mikey had put it there.

I have to fix this. 

He smiles, big and bright, and keeps his distance, settling to lie on his plastron on the cold, damp floor. Leo watches his every move. “Hey, Little Blue,” he says. “It's me, Big Bro Mikey. I'm not gonna touch you if you don't want me to, but I need you to come on out, okay? You really worried me when you ran off like that, bud.”

Leo sniffles, rubbing his blotchy cheeks with the heel of his hand. “... y'shouted at me,” he whimpers. “Called me a p... a p-pesty.”

Mikey almost flinches. “I know, buddy, I know. I'm sorry I shouted and called you a mean name, I shouldn't have done that. I was... a little busy with our brothers and I got a bit upset. But that doesn't mean I should yell or make you feel scared.”

“But,” Leo's lip wobbles, chest heaving as he starts to cry again. “I-I was bein' naughty, and—and I didn't mean to, but I m-made you angry, I'm sowwy, Mikey, don' means to be a p-pesty, jus wanna help! Jus wanna help, I wanna be a good boy, I'm sowwy—”

It's a hard battle, but Mikey stops himself from crawling under and yanking the kid into his arms. It's harder to keep the tears at bay, though, and one slips down his cheek unbidden as he slowly extends a hand. “Leo. Can I pull you out a give you a hug?”

Leo stares at Mikey's offered hand for longer than he ever has in Mikey's life, and he thinks he deserves it. But it's still Leo, so he takes Mikey's hand and lets himself be pulled out from under the bed and into the circle of Mikey's crushing embrace, nuzzling their tear-stained cheeks as he wails his little heart out.

Good to know that Leo's issues with self-worth started as early as this. Mikey thinks, once this is over, they're due for another long conversation with their father. One Leo will not back out of with jokes and bad humour, Mikey swears on god.

“I swear, Little Blue, none'a that is true,” Mikey says as the kid's sobs ebb into sniffles. His shoulder is damp with tears and snot, but Mikey doesn't care. It's only fair at this point. “You're not a pest, and you're not naughty. You just have so much love and good energy in you that you don't know what to do with it all. Like, you're a bouncing turtle-bunny hoppin' all over the place—like this!” 

He jumps to his feet, taking a startled Leo with him, and bounces across the room like a deranged hare, whooping and hollering as he goes over Leo's shrieking laughter. He knocks a few things over as he goes, but he pays them no mind—Splinter might give him an earful later, but that's later, and Leo needs to know now that this is okay. That he is okay.

Mikey throws them onto Splinter's bed, bouncing high enough that Leo shrieks again and grabs Mikey's face for balance, tugging his mask over his eyes. They're both gasping for breath, feeling lighter than where they'd started; Leo's sitting on Mikey's chest, giggling like a little loon, and Mikey adjusts his mask so he can see his signature beam, the glow of innocence in his eyes that doesn't shine quite as bright anymore. Not since he was made leader two years ago, less so after the Krang nearly left him a hollow shell. 

So Mikey beams twice as wide and pours every ounce of love into it. “Feeling better?”

Leo nods so hard that his head bounces. “Yeah! That was great, Mike!”

“Good! It's so much fun to bounce, just like what you were doing before. Ain't nothing wrong with being happy and wanting everyone to be happy and bounce with you. That's what you were trying to do, huh?” 

A slow, more hesitant nod, but Leo's smile doesn't fade. Not completely. “Jus' wanna help,” he says, playing and pulling at his fingers like he wants to chew on them; an old habit he and Donnie had at this age that they'd learned to curb. It's cute to see it, even as Mikey carefully guides his hands away from his mouth and pulls him in for another cuddle.

“You're already helping, Leo,” Mikey whispers. “You help just by being here. You are a good boy. You're such a good boy it's actually insane. You're the best brother I could ever ask for, and I've got like four! You're beyond amazing, and until the day you can see it for yourself—really see it—I'll keep reminding you every single day. And I promise I'll never yell at you like that again for something you can't help. No matter how bouncy you are or how many dumb jokes you tell.”

Leo looks at Mikey like he held the moon in his palm. If he asked, Mikey would find a way to make it happen for real. 

“You mean it?” Little Leo whispers back. “Really?”

Mikey nuzzles their noses together and Leo giggles. “Really really. That's two really's.”

Leo throws himself at Mikey, and Mikey catches him because it's the easiest thing in the world. He'll catch him as many times as it takes for him to believe he'll never let him fall.

~0o0~

When Splinter, Draxum, April and both Casey's finally arrive, Mikey has them back in the t.v room reading the Wizard of Oz in a pillow fort. Leo and Raph have been asleep in a cuddle pile since the second chapter, while Donnie hangs onto Mikey's every word with shining eyes, sitting on his lap with the book between them.

Mikey pauses to meet their collective gaping with a grin. “Sup, ladies and gentlemen? Care to join us?”

April grins back, pride and relief bright like candlelight in her eyes. Casey Jr looks beside himself with joy at his mentors slash older brothers all baby-fied while Cass toes the line between laughing outright or wanting to hide. Draxum stares with a strange, conflicted look in his eyes, and Splinter already has his phone out, taking pictures and tearing up, sniffing hard. 

The sniff draws Donnie's attention. He spins, and his eyes land on Splinter. “Daddy!” he cries, tripping over himself to scramble for the rat, ignoring the other startled adults and teens in the room. “Daddy Daddy Daddy—!”

“My funny little Purple!” 

Splinter is a decade older, unable to play with them the way he used to for all his ninja prowess that still leaves them nursing bruises, but he catches Donnie in his arms and the years shed like fur as he spins him around. Donnie shrieks and hollers, kicking his feet and flailing with abandon. The noise rouses Leo and Raph, and they all but tackle their father to the ground, chanting and laughing and shoving each other to get their fill of hugs. 

“Hi, papa!” Raph crows, curling up against Splinter like he's not level with the old rat. “Was a good boy t'day! Help Mike 'n Don, an'—an' Angie was lots'a fun! Gave us cookies for snack time and readed a story!”

“Daddy!” Leo buries his snout into Splinter's robe. “Missed you, missed you so much, Daddy! Did'ja miss me, huh, did'ja miss me too, Daddy!”

Splinter laughs, holding all three of them as best he can with them pinning him to the floor. Tears gather in his eyes as he presses kisses atop each of their heads. “I missed you very much, my little Baby Blue,” he says. “I have missed all of you.”

Awww, Mikey thinks as he stands, equal parts soft and heartbroken. Much as their father complained and struggled, it makes sense he'd still miss when they were small enough for him to hold in his arms, to carry and toss about and rock to sleep. 

An arm winds around his shoulder and pulls him into a half hug. April kisses his cheek. “Nice job, Big Bro,” she says, winking. 

Mikey looks back to the group just in time to see Cass snap a picture of Splinter tickling the daylights out of Leo, with Raph trying to 'save' him and Donnie already moving on to pull at Draxum's robes—“Who are you? E'splain y'self!” 

Mikey grins. “Thanks, April.” He lets out a breath and folds his arms. “I learned a lot today, y'know. Seen things from a different perspective. Really made me think.”

April looks at him. “Oh yeah? About what?” 

“Being a big brother ain't as easy as I thought. It's a loooot of hard work! I owe these guys big time, especially Raph, for all the times I gave them grey scales and chasms. Dad, too. But at the same time...” He turns to his big sister and smiles. “It was kinda fun, bein' the guy they looked up to for a change.”

April chuckles. “Oh, I bet. Makes you wanna keep 'em all cute like this a little longer before things go back to normal, huh?”

“Oh hell no.” 

He grabs April by the shoulders and shakes her, murder in his twitching eyes. 

“April. No. It's been hours and I can't take it. Do you know how long it took me to wrangle Donnie from the toaster? Leo used my favourite paint set to drown Donnie's action figures in 'lava'. Raph bit through the freakin' table! I don't wanna be the big brother no more! You know what want, April? You know what I want?!”

April blinks. “Uh—”

“I wanna take a shower. I wanna go to bed forever, right after I kick Hypno's ass back to the rainforest for leaving me with ninety-six pounds of screaming baby turtles for no good reason! That goddamn, big-mouthed, blue gumball, simpleton son of a bitch owes me child support!”

Silence.

It's then that Dr Delicate Touch takes a backseat, and Mikey remembers the younger ears in the room.

Slowly, Mikey and April turn. Everyone is staring with varying degrees of shock, horror and, in Cassandra's case, pride.

Then Little Leo beams, and Mikey feels fear.

“Blue,” Splinter says warningly, “Don't—”

“BITCH!” Donnie cries gleefully. Leo looks at him with all the betrayal a three-year-old can muster. 

Raph gasps. “Donnie! No sayin' bitch! Tha's a bad word!”

Donnie pouts. “But Raphie jus' say bitch.”

“I wanna say bitch first!” Leo stomps his foot. “BITCH!”

Draxum and Cass lose it, falling to their knees with heaving laughter. Casey hides his high-pitched giggles behind his hands with little success. Splinter drops his head back with a long sigh, and April looks at Mikey.

Mikey's eye twitches. “Scratch that. I'm killin' the hippo.”

Chapter Text

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Mikey understands why Splinter gets pissed whenever they wake him up from a nap.

Sleep is amazing. 

After rolling out of bed and treating himself to the longest shower he's ever had, he returns to the t.v room to find the toddlers and Splinter all asleep in the fort. They'd left it up overnight at the behest of the kids, and Splinter hadn't complained once about the room being overtaken or missing his shows as he'd sat with them, picking up from where Mikey had left off in the Wizard of Oz. Mikey had been herded to bed early by April after wolfing down a whole pizza courtesy of Cass—a not completely rare bout of kindness—and Splinter had still been in the fort when he left, the little ones taking up his lap and shoulders as they listened to him read with wonder in their eyes.

He's just in time to watch as Draxum carefully removes the book from where it'd fallen over Splinter's eyes and lifts the blanket to cover all four of them. Leo shifts in his sleep, brows furrowing until Draxum hushes him, gently stroking his head until the little slider settles down again, cuddling against Donnie. Automatically, Donnie shifts to cling to Leo. Draxum leans back on his heels with a smile.

Mikey has never whipped out his phone so fast in his life.

Draxum still notices, though, and the poisonous glare he sends the box turtle is dampened only by the pink blooming across his cheeks. He points a warning finger. “Not. One. Word.”

Mikey waggles the phone in his hand. “Get Dad to double my allowance, or this baby goes viral.”

Draxum splutters. “Wh—why in the—why in Spirits' name should I bend to the whims of—?”

“I took care of three screaming mutant ninja toddlers by myself four hours before your woolly ass got here,” Mikey says with dead eyes. Draxum goes very still. Good, 'cause Mikey ain't playing. “I deserve a little somethin'. Even if I gotta blackmail my way to get it.”

Draxum stares. “I'll talk with your father.”

“Thanks, Papa!” Mikey chimes, skipping over to give his step-father a hug and a kiss on the cheek he can't dodge fast enough. The sheep yokai rolls his eyes and pats Mikey's hand.

“I'd say I'm proud, but quite frankly, Michelangelo, you frighten me.”

“Dr Delicate Touch can be a petty bitch.”

“Language.”

“You don't care.”

“I really don't.”

They leave the sleeping tots and Splinter in the fort and head for the kitchen where April and both Jones' are waiting. April smiles when Mikey steps through and pulls him in for a cuddle. “Sleep well, big bro?” she asks.

“Like a baby, sis,” Mikey says, squeezing her waist and lifting her off her feet to make her laugh before setting her down to take the plate of fresh pancakes Casey offers him, He knew he'd smelled something good. “Thanks, Jr. Damn, these look fine!”

Casey smiles in that shy, thoroughly pleased way that melts Mikey's insides like goop. “Learned from the best,” he says. “Figured you'd be happier going over a game plan with a full stomach.”

Hopping up to sit cross-legged on the table, Mikey takes a big bite out of the pancake stack and sighs, blissed. “A man after my own heart,” he says around the mouthful. “Bless you, Casey Jones Jr.”

Draxum huffs a laugh poorly disguised as a scoff. “Let us continue with the plan. As Michelangelo told April over the phone, Hypno-potomus supposedly picked up a book of spells and cast a random one during battle. He had no idea that it would result in... well, that,” he jabs a thumb at the doorway where their napping charges lie, “which means tracking him down and forcing him to reverse the spell would be pointless.”

“What if we persuade him?” Cassandra asks, playing with a kunai with a terrifying grin splitting her face. Mikey has learned to stop asking where she keeps them.

April glares. “Cass, put the knives away. We're not torturing him.” Cass obeys, not without muttering and pouting. “Drax just said there's no point. What would beating the answer outta him do if he doesn't even have the answer? The spell was random, and besides that, he's kinda hard to find.”

“He's roommates with the worm guy, is he not?” Draxum asks. “Or am I mistaken?”

“Pretty sure they're married now,” Mikey says after swallowing.

“Oh. Congratulations to them, then.”

“Back on topic,” Casey cuts in, hands splayed on the table the way Mikey has seen Leo do a dozen times, and it makes him smile. “Hypno might not know what he did, but we can find out how to undo it without him. All we need is the book of spells or another book on how to break this one spell.”

April perks up. “Oh, right! Then Draxum can do his Mystic thing and bring our boys back!”

“And bring an end to this adorable torture!” Cass declares, waving her kunai (again) until Casey puts her arm down with practised patience. Draxum rolls his eyes again, and Mikey—

Mikey feels torn.

He misses his big brothers. He misses Raph's big booming laugh and hugs, Donnie's dry humour and the tangents he goes on about whatever special interest he has that week, and Leo's stupid jokes and reassuring smiles. He wants all that back, so bad it hurts. But...

Mikey sets his empty plate on the table. He needs his team and his big brothers back. He wants them back. But not at the cost of their happiness, this new (old) innocence...

“Mikey?”

Mikey realizes with a start that everyone's looking at him expectantly. Except for April, her brows furrowed in concern.

Right. Game-plan. Get his brothers back, and get the team back.

He shakes himself and smiles. “Sorry, zoned out. What did you say?”

April regards him a moment before smiling. Of course, she knows. Big sisters just know everything. “I asked if you knew where we might find a spell book like what Hypno used. Or something that'll tell us how to break it?”

Mikey freezes. “... I may have an idea,” he says slowly. “There's... um... there's always the Mystic Library—”

“Of course!” Draxum exclaims. “The fountain of all mystical knowledge! How could I forget? I know exactly which section to look... but I cannot accompany you there as I am still not entirely welcome in the Hidden City, let alone the library.”

Mikey feels sweat gather along his brow. “Yeaaahh, about that—”

Draxum's smile falls like bricks. “Spirits above, Michelangelo, so help me—”

“We maybe kinda sorta might be banned?”

Draxum sighs, slapping a hand over his eyes. “Of course you are. I'm surprised you've not been barred from the entire Hidden City at this point.”

“You're one to talk, goat man,” Cass snips. Draxum ignores her.

“I'm sure they'll let you back in for an emergency, right?” April ventures. “I mean, who bans someone from a mystic library?”

“Library?”

Every head spins to face the doorway. Donnie, rubbing his eye with the heel of one hand, the other holding a droopy-eyed Leo, stares up at Mikey on the table. He hadn't heard them get up!

Baby ninjas. No wonder Dad went grey so fast.

“Mike's goin' to library?” Donnie asks, more awake now as hope and excitement sparkle in his eyes. He hops from foot to foot, jostling Leo. “Can I come? Can I, can I, please, please? Can I see library, Mike?!”

Oh hell no.

Desperate, Mikey turns to the other adults and teens in the room. None of them look at him, suddenly very interested in their phones, claws or, in Cass' case, the damn kunai, whistling loud and tuneless.

Mikey feels rage.

He turns to Donnie with a beaming smile—“Sure thing, Donnie D!” he says through his teeth.

“Can I come, too?” Leo asks, which throws Mikey for a loop until Leo continues with a yawn, “don' wanna let Don go 'lone. Gotta... gotta stay together. Rahpie comes, too.”

That breaks Mikey's heart and warms its shattered pieces all at once. Now he really can't say no.

“Of course, Little Blue! Go wake up Daddy if he isn't up already and let him help y'all get dressed! We're goin' on a field trip, baby!”

Leo and Donnie cheer with their whole bodies, throwing their arms up and stomping their feet before running off to find Raph and Dad. Mikey watches them go, love and warmth in his chest.

He turns to the others and the warmth turns to ice. “Expect a visit from Dr Delicate Touch in the next twenty-four hours.”

The sound of four people gulping has never sounded so sweet.

~0o0~

The bat yokai librarian doesn't look overly happy to see him as she peers over her desk.

One look at the three wide-eyed, slack-jawed toddlers holding his hands and clinging to his back softens something in her gaze, but her soft tone is strict when she says, “I don't even want to know, do I?”

Mikey smiles and shrugs helplessly, shaking his head.

“If I allow you to browse, I trust you will be quiet?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Mikey whispers.

“And your young charges?”

Mikey looks down at the little ones. “Remember our talk, lil' bros?”

Three heads bob in rapid nods, putting their fingers to their lips. “Library voices, shh,” they whisper.

Mikey beams. “Rad.”

The librarian almost cracks a smile. No one is immune to turtle tot cuteness. “Very good. You may proceed. But one word and all of you will be in the Kiddie Room.”

Mikey's pretty sure he's the undisputed ruler of the Kiddie Room, but he's not going to chance it today. He salutes and turns to scour the shelves Draxum told him about, but Donnie hops off his shell and races toward the desk. Mikey bites his lip against a shout, but he hisses Donnie's name frantically. He goes ignored.

Donnie carefully taps the pedestal. “S'cuse me, miss library lady,” he whispers.

She raises a brow. “Yes?”

Donnie beams, hands flapping by his sides. With his glasses on, sizes too big for his face, he looks younger than he is and far cuter than he has any right to be. “Thank you very much for letting us come to your beau—bootiful—boot—pretty library,” he chimes quietly. “I love books so much!”

The librarian stares, eyes slightly wide. And then her smile is small but real. “You're quite welcome, young man. Take as long as you need to.”

Donnie flaps his hands again, excited. “Thank you, I love you, buh-bye!” he chirps and trots back to Mikey, hopping onto his back and clinging, muffling giggles against Mikey's hoodie.

It's all Mikey can do to keep from squealing, eyes welling up. The librarian doesn't seem to be faring any better.

It takes forever, especially with three excited babies all wanting to do their own thing and trying to run off, barely evading the Hush Bats' wrath, but he finds the section he's looking for and has the boys sit in a reading nook with colouring books he'd brought with him. Donnie forgoes them and settles in a massive armchair with Sherlock Holmes's complete collection on his lap.

Mikey finds the book he's looking for after half an hour, and by then, he's exhausted, eyes burning, limbs aching as he plops onto the floor with Leo and Raph. They're quietly discussing who would win in the ultimate fight between Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim, with Leo on the side of their father. He smiles as he skims the index and flips through the pages.

Ah-ha! There! De-Ageing Spells, hell yes!

Grinning, Mikey reads. And reads. And...

His smile falls.

Oh.

He lifts his head from the book, turning to face the toddlers smiling and softly giggling in their own little bubble, safe and sound from reality's sharp, unforgiving needle.

His heart sinks.

Oh, man.

~0o0~

The good news is the spell is easily reversible, no blood oaths or sacrificial virgins required. All they have to do is want to be big again, remember who they're supposed to be and let go of who and what they were.

The bad news is it's been three days since they went to the library, four since they were changed.

Mikey knew from the moment he'd read the article. They don't want to change back.

He doesn't blame them.

It's easy to forget sometimes that they're teenagers. Mikey is fifteen, for crying out loud. Raph is—should be—seventeen, a kid in a law that will never touch them, not really, as they are. They've saved the world from evils beyond comprehension, have nearly died on many occasions, and they're not even legally allowed to drink! Much as they hate to hear it due to whatever dumb hormones tell them otherwise, they're children. They shouldn't have to do any of this. That's why most superheroes in media are adults—severely messed up adults, but still!

Why should Mikey take this away from them? Why should anyone take it away or force them to want to let it go? The world will always be in danger, so why can't someone else 'rise to the challenge' and defend it? Why does the world have to fall on the shoulders of kids who barely get the chance to be kids? Why can't they be selfish for once?

Tensions were high in the two years following Splinter's decision to make Leo the leader—a position Leo had never wanted and Raph was doing so well in despite the challenges—and then things change after the Krang. Leo cracks fewer jokes and trains more often, Donnie triple-checks and quadruples his time in the lab pouring over defences, upgrades and fail-safes, and Raph is twice as jittery at night, can't sleep without a light on or checking on his family several times each night. Not that Splinter is much better—Mikey hears him every night, feigns sleep when his father tucks him in and kisses his cheek, lingering a moment before moving on to the next room.

This is the happiest he's seen his family in what feels like forever.

But as much as Mikey wants his brothers' happiness, his true wish is just as selfish. And he feels horrible for it, he does. But—

“I want my big brothers back,” he says, muffled in the folds of Draxum's robe on the night of day five. Sitting on his bed, he clings to his stepfather with all his strength and lets the tears fall. Draxum holds him with one hand on the back of his head, the other rubbing circles along his shell. It's a show of affection he's still getting used to two years down the line, and as much as it's appreciated it only makes Mikey cry harder.

Raph used to do this. Used to pick me right off the floor and crush me with all the love he had in him.

“I don't want them to hurt anymore,” he says through his tears, “I don't want them to fight or, or carry everything all the time 'cos they feel like they have to. I want them to be happy. But... I miss them! I miss my big brothers and I want them back! I don't wanna be the big brother anymore!”

“Hush,” Draxum soothes, holding Mikey tighter as he cries himself out. “I don't know your brothers as well as I'd like to, but I do know how much they care about you. A part of them knows and remembers who they really are. A part that knows this can't last, no matter how much they want it to. The past is in the past, and all that's left is the present and what we have to look forward to. They won't stay like this forever, Michelangelo.”

Mikey sniffles messily, not that Draxum seems to care about the mess he's made of his robe. “That's... that's prolly the wisest thing you've ever said, Papa,” he says. Draxum huffs fondly, but Mikey's smile dims quickly. “What if they do? What if they... what if they love being kids again more than—?”

“Don't you dare,” April hisses from where she's suddenly materialized in the doorway, “finish that sentence, Hamato Michelangelo.”

Mikey stares at her. Draxum loosens his grip and stands in time for April to take his place on the bed, taking Mikey's face between her hands and giving him a firm shake.

“Mikey,” she says, eyes burning like coals into his. Her worry is buried deep beneath, but Mikey sees it through the cracks. “Your brothers adore you. If you asked for the moon in a basket or the sun for a night light, you bet your little ass they'd find a way to make that happen. Ain't nothing in this world more important to them than you. No amount of Jupiter Jim marathons, bedtime stories or piggyback rides could ever hold a candle to having you as their little brother. They'll break this spell no matter what it takes or how long. You know this, I know this—hell, Draxum knows it!”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

“So hang in there, okay?” She smiles, pressing a kiss between his eyes and wiping his tears away with her thumbs. “Give 'em time. They'll be back before you know it.”

Mikey breathes in deeply and tries to believe. He nods. “Okay,” he croaks, throwing his arms around his sister's neck when she pulls him in.

(Outside the door, a pair of tiny feet quickly scurry away.)

~0o0~

He takes his eyes off them for a second.

They're playing in the park, hanging off the monkey bars and the swing set, and Mikey, sitting on the bench, reaches for the buzzing phone in his pocket.

Then Leo shrieks his name, and terror freezes Mikey's blood.

Hypno has Leo and Raph dangling in the air by their hoodies. Donnie screams at him to put his brothers down, kicking the mutant hippo's shin to little effect.

“Aw, aren't you lot adorable?” the magician coos. “Can't believe you're still so tiny, but, I'll take what I can get. Which is you lot, to get Orange over there to come running right into my trap! You won't be much of a nuisance if you're all pint-sized tots!”

Mikey doesn't hear what the fat creature says over the ringing in his ears. His body moves on its own, faster than he's ever moved in his life, and even then, he's too late. Hypno vanishes in a puff of purple smoke.

Leo, Donnie and Raph are gone, too.

Mikey stares at where they'd stood. Donnie's glasses lie forgotten on the wood chippings, the lenses cracked. Carefully, Mikey scoops them up. He shuts his eyes and grits his teeth.

When he opens his eyes, the world is red.

~0o0~

He uses Donnie's tracker to find them—thank god for Donnie's paranoia and mildly invasive meddling tendencies. They're holed up in some run-down warehouse, empty save for boxes no doubt filled with Hypno's assortment of traps and support pillars that creak ominously to the time of dripping pipes.

And, of course, Hypno and his little-big brothers, tied up and crying out for him from the little cage behind the magician.

The world is still red around the edges, and Mikey ignores whatever villainous spiel the hippo spouts, nunchaku ablaze and spinning.

“Give. Me. My. Brothers.”

Mikey's voice sounds foreign to his ears, and whatever look Mikey has on his face makes Hypno stammer into silence and take a step back. “Whoa, nelly, that's quite the look you've got on your face! I-I'm starting to regret my decisions leading up to this moment.”

“Mikey's gonna kick your big fat butt!” Leo cries, struggling against the ropes binding him shell-to-shell with Raph and a sniffling Donnie.

“Yeah! He's gonna beat ya up, good, ya—ya big butt head!”

“B-Bitch!” Donnie says through his tears.

Hypno looks at them flatly. “Right, I'm over the regretting thing. Let's dance, shall we, Orange?”

Mikey scowls. “Gladly,” he hisses, and charges.

(He understands Raph's rage, now, barely hidden under layers and layers of love. He wonders if it's this scary to him, too, knowing how much of it he has and what it does to you when the people you protect are in danger.

Perhaps that's what ultimately freed Raph from the Krang that day. It's what led Mikey to Leo, after all.)

The fight is as messy and chaotic as usual. But Mikey's not having fun, and Hypno won't let him get close to the tots until he's one of them. He must've finally studied the book, which is just great, really, and adds fuel to Mikey's growing fire. Figuratively and literally.

An explosion gets too close to the kids, and Donnie wails at the loud noise.

Then Mikey gets angry.

He traps Hypno in the extended chains and swings him straight through a pillar. It's the straw to break the camels' back as the whole building crumbles around them.

Mikey remembers himself and nearly chokes on his horror. What did I just do?

He hears his brothers scream his name. He shakes himself and sprints to the cage, tearing it open with sheer adrenaline and slicing the ropes away with the jagged piece of metal that bites into his skin. He ignores the sting and pulls the crying tots into his arms.

“It's okay, guys,” he says, dizzy with relief—he's got them, they're safe, he'll get them out, and they'll be safe, they'll be okay—“It's okay. Big bro Mikey's here.”

Something gives above their heads. Mikey looks up in time to see the giant slabs of concrete hurtling towards them.

He doesn't think twice. He shoves the boys as hard as he can, and—

And he blinks awake to a ringing in his ears and copper in his mouth. He feels numb from the waist down.

He's buried under the rubble.

His vision is spotty with hints of actual red—blood, most likely—but he can see the boys. They're not hurt. Covered in dust and soot from the collapsing debris and crying their hearts out, but they're fine.

They're okay. Good.

“Go on, guys,” he coughs. Raph stops tugging his arm to stare at him with open horror. It's not something he ever wants to see on a toddler's face, but there's not much he can do about it now. “T-There's... not much time. Y'gotta get outta here, the buildings' comin' down...”

“NO!” Donnie shrieks, stomping his feet, big fat tears dripping down his chin. “No no no! Not leaving Mikey, no! Not leaving you!”

“Stay together!” Leo sobs. Mikey wants to reach out and hold him, but his left arm's buried under the rubble, the other clutched in Raph's trembling hands. “Gotta help, Mike, gotta—gotta get back to normal 'n be big together again!”

Ah. It was Leo who overheard. Heh. Baby ninjas.

Mikey huffs. “S'okay, Little Blue,” he says, words slurring together as it gets harder to stay awake. “You guys... It doesn't matter how big or small you are. I love you anyway. I'll always love you because you're still my brothers.”

He smiles big and wide, fighting tears. “Big Bro Michelangelo loves you. Always.”

They stare at him, masks soaked with tears. It's not the best thing to see right before you die, but Mikey thinks it could be worse.

He can't keep his eyes open anymore. He feels Raph drop his arm. Good. They're leaving. He hopes Donnie can still work a phone to call Dad. Hopes they don't blame themselves.

He hears another pillar give above him, and he knows it's over.

They'll be okay. Mikey did what every good big brother is supposed to do.

He did good.

Then there's a familiar whirr of machinery, a crackle of energy that Mikey knows as intimately as his own, a flash of purple—

“FIBONACCI!”

Mikey's eyes snap open. He looks up.

Donatello stands over him—sixteen years old, a pillar of armour, defined muscles and gangly limbs—a mystic shield keeping the worst of the debris from crushing them. He meets Mikey's gaze and grins through the strain.

Mikey's jaw hangs. “... Donnie?”

“In the half-shell!” Donnie declares, and Mikey could cry.

Lightning crackles against the stones pinning Mikey. A circle of brilliant blue sparks to life beneath them and pulls them under. The world spins until it rights itself in the form of Leonardo catching him before the portal can spit him onto the asphalt. Mikey blinks the white spots away until the striped face of his grinning older brother remains, his smirk set at an angle that's equal parts arrogance and affection. Behind them, the warehouse collapses.

“Leo?”

“Were you expecting DiCaprio?” Leo quips. It's not even remotely funny, but Mikey throws his head back and laughs.

Then he freezes. “Wait, wait!” He squirms in Leo's arms, but Leo settles for dropping to his knees and setting him on the ground. Mikey paws at his shoulders desperately. “W-where's—?”

“SAVING LIKE A BOSS!”

A red goliath bursts from the rubble in a shower of brick and twisted metal and leaps out of the wreckage, leaving small craters in the ground as he lands superhero-style. He drops Hypno off to the side before re-calling his ninpo.

And then there's only Raphael, smiling right at him as he lumbers over to kneel before them.

Mikey shakes. Leo's arms wrap around his shoulders and hold him close. “Raph...”

“You did great, little brother,” he says, reaching out with one massive hand to gently cup Mikey's cheek in his calloused palm. His eyes shine with unshed tears and pride. “You really did. You saved us, buddy. I'm proud of you.”

“Same here,” Leo says, nuzzling his cheek against Mikey's. His mask is still damp. “Sorry it took us so long to come back, little bro.”

“Indeed,” Donnie adds, typing something onto his holographic before joining them on the floor. “Though my memories of being toddler-fied are hazy at best, I do recall enjoying elements of it. However, no amount of piggyback rides or weaponising cuteness for a mystic library pass could satisfy my need to reach the freaking kitchen countertop by myself and slice my own goddamn fruit, thank you very much!”

Raph rolls his eyes with a smile that's equal parts fond and exasperated. A smile that Mikey gets now. “I think what Don's tryin' to say, is that, yeah, being kids again was fun while it lasted. And spending time with Dad like that again was really great...”

“But Draxum was right,” Leo adds, drawing back enough to wipe the soot and blood off Mikey's face with his mask tails. He smiles. “We gotta let go of the past. That's done. What matters now is what we do in the present—”

“And the things we have to look forward to in the future,” Donnie finishes, reaching out to rub the top of Mikey's head. “For instance, I am most looking forward to wiping every single freaking picture and or video you've taken these last six days. Tech gods as my witness, I will leave no SD card unturned, no RAM un—oh. Oh, Mikey...”

Mikey doesn't realize he's crying until Leo pulls him back for a hug, holding tight. Then the floodgates burst as he gives way to heaving sobs, curling into Leo's chest. Donnie drops all pretences and joins the embrace, his snout nuzzling Mikey's head. Raph gathers them all up and squeezes.

Through the haze of bone-deep, exhaustion, aches, pains and relief, Mikey smiles.

They're back. My big brothers are back. April and Draxum were right.

Just when Mikey thinks he could stay like this with them forever, there's a groan near the mound of rubble. A ripple goes through the (now) older trio as they lift their heads and turn as one. Mike follows a beat after.

Hypno rubs his head and looks around him, rumpled and rough-looking as Mikey feels, but mostly intact save for a nasty black eye. Both eyes widen when he sees the turtles staring back at him.

He blinks. “Um. I can explain.”

Raph, Leo and Donnie narrow their eyes to slits at the cowering hippo mutant. Mikey stifles a giggle.

Oh, he 'bout to get it.

Raph looks back down at Mikey and smiles. “You sit tight for a sec, Little Man,” he says, kissing Mikey's forehead before letting them all go and standing, cracking his neck.

“Yeah, we'll be right back,” Leo pats his cheek and joins Raph. His claws peek out, hands fluttering at his sides.

“I've sent April a message. She and The Parents are en route, E.T.A three minutes, so keep an eye out, m'kay? Cool.” Donnie nudges his shoulder against his and extends his battle shell, hovering over Hypno.

Mikey, for once, is content to sit on the side and watch. He's already given Hypno a piece of his mind. Now it's his big brothers' turn.

“So,” Raph bumps his fists together, red armour encasing his arms. “You shrank us.”

“You kidnapped us,” Leo's swords flash into his palms.

“And you nearly crushed our baby brother,” Donnie's bo extends into a mini-missile launcher.

Hypno goes white. “A-Ah, hey now, let's not be hasty! It was all in good fun, we had a few laughs—!”

“Not only that, but you owe Mikey so much child support!” Leo cries, raising his swords. “You goddamned—”

“Big-mouthed—” Raph pulls his fists back.

“Blue gumball, simpleton—” Donnie spins his bo and lifts it high.

“Wait, wait, wait—!”

“SON OF A BITCH!” they holler and bring their weapons down in a burst of soot, brick and screaming hippo.

Grinning hard enough to hurt, Mikey throws his head back and cackles.

“That's my boys!”