Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tang Shen came to as fire blazed around her.

Confused, she attempted to move, only to cry out in pain as agony ripped through her face and body. Her memory came back to her all at once as blood oozed from the wounds Saki had inflicted on her. She struggled to her hands and knees and frantically looked around, but she was alone.

Where was Yoshi? And Saki?

The building groaned around her. Chunks of support and ceiling were falling throughout the room, and Shen quickly moved towards where she thought the exit was. She moaned as white hot wood fell on her back, legs, and arms. The only thing keeping her going was the thought of Yoshi and Miwa. She hoped her baby hadn’t been inhaling smoke for long.

A wall of fire greeted her at the exit, and she stared at it, heart frozen in terror. This was her only way out.

Shen imagined Miwa, hidden and crying out for her. She sat up determinedly and grabbed a tatami mat that was only slightly on fire, though it was quickly growing. Wrapping it around herself as best as she could, Shen stumbled to her feet. She took a moment to hype herself up and take a breath before running through the blaze. The moment she felt fresh air hit her burning skin, Shen threw off the mat and dropped to the ground to put out any potential flames. Her skin screamed as it made contact with the ground, and Shen knew she would never look the same if she made it through this night.

She rolled onto her back, dazed from the pain, and stared up at the stars. Tears gathered in her eyes as she thought of Yoshi. What had happened to him? Had he made it out of the fire?

A frail cry brought her back to her senses. Shen flipped back onto her hands and knees and searched frantically for the source.

“Miwa!” she gasped before falling into a coughing fit. She crawled to where her daughter lay, the poor infant wailing weakly into the night. Shen gathered her daughter in her arms and pushed to her feet with a moan. She swayed dangerously for a moment, delirious from the smoke and pain, but she managed to right herself. She stumbled away from the fire, her body moving on autopilot to the only place she could think of.

Home.

When Shen came to, she was in a hospital in one of the bigger cities surrounding her village. Her parents were sitting beside her bed. They quickly had to calm her down when she panicked about Miwa, her mother stating that her baby was in another room for smoke inhalation but that her daughter would be fine.

Shen was another story.

Her body was covered in second- and third-degree burns. Her face held three terrible slashes along with her chest, and she had permanently lost her right eye. She cried the first time she saw her face in the mirror.

She cried harder when they informed her that Yoshi was dead.

It took months of physical therapy, but Shen was eventually able to leave the hospital. Her parents had thankfully taken care of Miwa during that time, faithfully bringing her to visit every day after Miwa had been released. Her parents were always by her side, minus a few arguments in the hall that Shen could never quite hear.

Her parents didn’t tell her much, still believing her to be fragile from that night, but from Shen’s understanding, the Hamato clan had basically been destroyed, and what was left of it had either assimilated into the Foot clan or had fled to somewhere unknown. Her parents had left the clan on good terms just after Shen’s marriage to Yoshi, so they had thankfully escaped the carnage. 

Not wanting anything to do with Saki’s clan and fearing he would one day find her and her daughter, Shen fled to the one place she could think of to start over.

New York.

Her parents had tried to stop her, even pushing her to go anywhere else if she did not want to stay in Japan, but Shen could not be swayed, so they eventually relented. They did not join her, happy in the roots they had put down, so that left her on her own.

Being in New York was not as easy as she had hoped.

For one, she stuck out like a sore thumb. Shen had adapted to American fashion for the most part, wearing long sleeves and long skirts or pants to hide her scars. However, she chose to wear something similar to the uchikatsugi from home—basically a hat with a long black veil to hide her face and indicate her mourning.

She managed to get a small apartment above an empty shop, but she wasn’t sure what to do after that. Her days were spent taking care of Miwa and fighting back her grief. She had no friends or family to turn to. She struggled to reach out, fearful of others’ judgment of her appearance.

She knew if she didn’t do something soon, she would run out of money. Her parents had given her a parting gift to keep her steady as she recovered, but it would only last so long. 

After another nightmare of feeling helpless against Saki’s claws and watching Yoshi die, Shen resolved to make sure she and anyone else would never feel that way again. It was agony on her still healing body, but Shen cleaned out the shop and used the last of her savings to build a dojo. It was rocky at first, but her prayers were eventually answered, and Shen had a steady income as she taught boys and girls how to defend themselves as well as basic weapon use while Miwa played in the corner. She even ran a night class twice a week to teach women self-defense.

She rarely got comments about the way she dressed, choosing to still cover her face and body, though with something more form-fitting. The children were sometimes curious when they first joined, but the women usually understood quickly when she mentioned she teaches for a reason.

After a year of being in New York, things were going well. Miwa had recently turned two. Though Shen still didn’t really have friends, she had a great relationship with her students. She still had her struggles, but for the first time since that night, Shen felt she could live instead of just surviving.

And then it all fell apart again.

Shen was walking home one night after grabbing some medicine for a cold Miwa seemed to have developed. She pushed her daughter along in a stroller, eager to get off the streets and back home. She paused as she heard some strange noises coming from an alleyway.

“Kraang has lost those who are known as the specimens.”

Shen bit her lip. It sounded like something shady was going on. It would be best for her to move on—she had Miwa to think about, of course—no matter how curious she was.

“All is not lost, Kraang. Kraang has found one of the small specimens known as—” Whoever was speaking was interrupted by the sound of a baby crying.

It wasn’t Miwa.

Sending a silent apology as she abandoned her daughter’s stroller, Shen quickly crept into the alleyway, heart jumping as an alley cat brushed past her, and found two strange, identical men hovering over a small figure. Her eyes lit up with fury.

“Get away from them!” Shen shouted as she ran at them and shoved one aside. It was much harder than she expected. A cylinder-like object flew up into the air, and she quickly crouched over the baby to protect it.

It was a mistake. Glass shattered on her back, and she briefly felt something ooze down her back before her body was rocked by the worst pain she had ever experienced. The fire and Saki’s claws were nothing compared to this. Shen screamed as her bones cracked and moved, reforming into a new shape as new bones grew and others melted away. Still, she hovered over the figure below her, determined to protect it.

As she felt the process of whatever her body was going through slow down, she realized the two men were moving closer. Terrified, Shen scooped the baby up—careful not to get any ooze on it, and raced for her daughter’s stroller. She held onto the baby with one hand while shoving the stroller forward with the other. Something didn’t feel right about her arms or hands—not to mention the agony her body was still in—but Shen didn’t think about that as she ran. She knew pain, and she could push through it just like she had that night with the fire.

She could hear the two men behind her as she ran. She heard a whine of something powering up before pink lasers were suddenly flying past her. She gasped with fear and dodged as best as she could.

Thankfully, Shen had spent a lot of time wandering and exploring the city, wanting to familiarize herself if she ever got lost. She used that knowledge now to weave through the maze of alleyways. The men behind her were fast, but Shen had adrenaline on her side, allowing her to push her body farther and faster than she ever had before. Even when the sounds of the men died behind her, Shen continued to run, wanting to make sure they were truly gone before heading back home.

As soon as the door was closed and locked behind her, Shen collapsed to her knees, cradling the baby close as she leaned against the stroller. She took a moment to catch her breath before her hands caught her eye.

After the fire, Shen had patches of burn scars on her hands, and she would sometimes wear gloves to hide them. She hadn’t tonight, not bothering as she was only going on a quick trip to the pharmacy down the road, so she was able to see her hands in all their new glory.

The burn scars were still there, but they were now surrounded by tufts of black fur, and her hands now only held three fingers and her thumb. They were still fingers, but her palms were now rougher in texture, like the padding of a paw.

Before she could study herself further, a cry drew her attention to the baby in her arms. Her eyes widened in shock.

Instead of a human baby like she had expected, she was holding what looked like a baby turtle. It was much bigger than it should have been and held human-like features. It blinked up at her with tearful, baby blue eyes and whined, reaching up towards her face.

Shen’s breath quickened, and she stood clumsily. She raced to the bathroom, ripping off her uchikatsugi as she threw the light on. She choked back a gasp as she took in the image before her.

She was a cat.

She looked very similar to the alley cat that had run past her, though she still sported burn scars as well as the scars from Saki’s claws. Her ears had moved to the top of her head, and whiskers sprouted from her cheeks. Her one eye now sported a cat-like pupil and glowed faintly in the dim bathroom light. Fur sat wherever she hadn’t been burned and clawed.

Shen stumbled back into the tile wall, sliding to the floor with a moan.

What terrible thing had she done in a past life to be cursed so? Could she not catch a break?

Shen was shaken from her panic by twin cries from the creature in her arms as well as her daughter still sitting in the hall. She let out three choked breaths before standing again. As much as she wanted to panic, she now had two babies to take care of (the creature in her arms must be a baby from the way he was acting). She couldn’t afford to fall into grief and misery again.

Shen spent the next few hours giving Miwa her medicine and putting her to sleep—something that took much longer than usual now that Miwa did not recognize her—before studying the turtle baby and her new form. From what she could tell, the turtle seemed to be a bit younger than Miwa, able to crawl and stumble around some. He didn’t really speak—she wasn’t really sure if he could—but boy did he babble and chirp. Shen found herself smiling fondly as she fed him some lettuce and cut up pieces of grapes. The turtle inhaled the food enthusiastically, chirping after each bite and opening his mouth up like a baby bird for more.

“You must be very hungry. When was the last time you ate, hm?” she asked. The turtle blinked up at her, tilting its head to the side before breaking out into another smile as she fed him another grape.

“Your smile is so bright, little one. Like an angel…”

Shen found herself distracted by a distant memory from when she and Yoshi were still dating. Yoshi was sharing his love for the Renaissance and how he had wanted to be an artist as he flipped through a book on the art movement. She had been listening raptly, enjoying every moment she was with him. She remembered how he had been explaining Michelangelo and how she had thought his art had been so breath-taking.

“Angel…Michelangelo.” The baby looked up in delight and chirped while Shen laughed. “Do you like that name, little one? I think it suits you well.”

It was not very traditional as far as names went, but she felt like she was honoring Yoshi in a way. She hoped he was looking down on her with pride.

Shen smiled gently, moving her hand to pet Michelangelo’s head gently. Her baby churred and leaned into the touch, eyes crinkling as he smiled back.

“My son, Michelangelo.” Shen liked the sound of it. She still had a lot of questions, and there was a lot she was going to need to figure out very quickly if she was going to make this work, but she could be happy just for this moment. She never thought she would have any children after Miwa, not without Yoshi, but now she had a son along with her daughter. Her heart fluttered, and she gently picked up the turtle and carried him to her bed. She would have to get another crib tomorrow, as well as other supplies, but she would make it work. She always did.

“Welcome to the family,” she said, nuzzling his beak. Her baby churred sleepily, and Shen finally felt her body relax as sleep took her.

Chapter Text

The plus side about hiding her scars so much was that it made it much easier to continue blending in with human society.

Wearing a long dress, her gloves, her uchikatsugi, and some modified shoes, Shen looked no different than she had before the Accident™. She canceled her classes for the week, stating that she had to deal with a family emergency, before swaddling her new son up into a baby sling and depositing her daughter in her stroller to run errands.

She was still getting used to her new body, but Shen was quickly getting the hang of it. Everything still ached terribly, and Shen was still figuring out how to control the tail she now had, but she was nothing if not persistent. She powered through the pain as she pushed the stroller down the street. She cooed down at her son, adjusting the sling as needed to keep him hidden from passing strangers.

One thing that had fascinated her about New York was all the shopping available. Besides the shops lining the streets, there were also a few malls that Shen could go to. As nervous as she was about someone seeing that she and her son were not fully human, Shen knew the mall would be her best bet at getting baby supplies. She wanted to finish her errands as quickly as possible as she had already gotten some strange looks whenever Michelangelo chirped.

She had already picked out the crib, a high chair, a car seat, and a new stroller that could hold both her children to be shipped to her apartment by the time she had found herself in the toy aisle. Miwa had her own toys that she could share with Michelangelo, but she couldn’t help but think that her son deserved some of his own.

“Mama! Mama!”

Shen glanced down to see her daughter straining as she leaned out of her stroller to reach for a turtle plushie. Miwa had been curious about her new brother, poking and prodding the baby as Shen had figured out how to put her shoes on with her new feet earlier that morning. Michelangelo hadn’t seemed to mind, giggling as he playfully batted at Miwa’s hands.

“You want the turtle, baby?” Shen reached past her daughter and snagged the turtle to hand to her daughter. Miwa eagerly hugged it close, rubbing her face into the stuffed animal.

“And what about you, angel?” Shen asked, looking down at her son. She glanced from side to side to make sure the aisle was empty before pulling the sling down enough to let her youngest see. “What animal do you want?”

Michelangelo peered out curiously, eyes lighting up as he saw the wall of stuffed animals. He pulled himself further out of the sling, eyes darting around as he took in his options. He paused on the collection of turtle plushies, making an “ah?” sound, before his eyes landed on a stuffed rat. He chirped excitedly and reached out for it.

“The rat?” Shen’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Still, she pulled the stuffed animal from the shelf and handed it to Michelangelo. Just like Miwa, he hugged the plush close and let out a satisfied sigh.

Shen was sure there was a backstory there, but it wasn’t like she could ask her son. Or maybe there was something about the rat that had just piqued his interest. Whatever it was, Shen doubted she would find out. Michelangelo was (probably) too young to develop long-term memories. Wherever he had been before she found him, he likely wouldn’t remember it.

If those strange men had anything to do with his past, which they likely did, maybe it was better that he wouldn’t remember.

Shen grabbed a few more toys for her son before she was off to the clothing aisle. This was where she got a little stuck. Michelangelo was about the size of a one-year-old, give or take a couple of months. However, the clothing for 12-month-olds did not take her baby’s shell into account. She would likely have to grab a couple sizes up and adjust as needed.

Good thing she knew how to sew.

More than once, someone tried to come help her, but Shen shooed them off. The last thing she needed was a well-meaning store clerk accidentally seeing her son was green or had a shell. Her heart pounded the entire time she was in the store. Sweat beaded and dripped down her neck, and she wasn’t sure if that was from nerves or feeling hot from her new fur.

Finally, she had everything she needed. Most stuff would be shipped, but she was able to store the bags of clothes, toys, and diapers beneath her daughter’s stroller. She made her way back home, her aching muscles tense. Her eyes darted around, paranoid that someone was watching her. She knew it was likely all in her head, but she still made sure to get home as quickly as possible, locking the door and drawing the shades as soon as they were inside.

She leaned back against the door, eyes closed with relief. Today hadn’t been easy, but they hadn’t gotten caught, which meant she could make this work.

A whine from Miwa had Shen heaving herself forward. She placed Michelangelo in Miwa’s old baby carrier and plopped her two children in front of the TV. She spent the next few hours making lunch and unpacking her shopping. Miwa and her brother were able to share the crib for their afternoon nap, and finally Shen was able to stop and breathe.

Shen once again found herself in front of the bathroom mirror, studying her new body. She fought back tears as she took in the feline features. After the fire, she feared rejection for the way she looked, but there was still a chance someone would look past the scars and accept her.

Now? It was impossible.

Shen was doomed to live a life hidden behind veils... but at least she could live that life. Having covered herself from head to toe for the last year, no one would question it as she continued to do so. She would just have to be a little more careful than before not to let anything slip.

Shen had no idea what she would have done had that not been the case.

Her eyes drifted to the open doorway, looking towards her daughter’s room where both of her children peacefully slept. Miwa would be hindered by her mother’s new condition, but she would still mostly be able to live a normal life. Michelangelo, on the other hand, would live more like Shen, but she would do everything in her power to give him as normal a life as she could. She wasn’t sure yet how she was going to pass off that she had a baby, but she was sure people wouldn’t look too closely. Shen was a very private person, and her students usually respected that.

Shen took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She nodded at herself in the mirror before leaving the bathroom to work on modifying Michelangelo’s clothes. She had a lot of work to do within the next few days.

As her new tail brushed against her legs, Shen wondered if she should alter her own clothes as well…

A week later, Shen was back to teaching her night classes. She would give it another week before she would go back to her days classes with the children.

The women were so kind, insisting she sit down as soon as she announced that she had had a son. Many of them were horrified that she was back only after a week, but Shen insisted that she did not want to leave them without their class any longer (plus she needed the money). They ended up compromising by having Shen sit in the corner and critique them while they practiced what they had been taught in the last class.

Her students had begged to see her son. Shen was able to dodge that first night by insisting that he was asleep upstairs, but she could only use that excuse for so long. After a few weeks of prying, she ended up blurting out that her son was born with a pretty severe birth defect, and that was why she was so hesitant for them to meet him.

“You know we wouldn’t judge, Ms. Tang,” Beth, a lovely woman who loyally showed up to every class, replied.

Her heart panged, knowing that it would not be true, no matter how sincere Beth was. She shook her head, her veil swishing as she did so. “I appreciate your kindness, but Michelangelo is different. I love my son with all my heart, but he is like me, in a way, and will not be able to live a normal life like Miwa. I am sparing my own heartbreak by keeping him upstairs for now.”

Beth frowned but did not push further, which Shen was thankful for. The questioning died down after that.

Life resumed, and Shen couldn’t have been happier. Her life with Miwa before she found Michelangelo had been wonderful—don’t get her wrong—but there was something about having a third member of their little family that made it less lonely. 

Her little baby was always so bubbly! His giggles and chirps were constantly heard throughout the apartment, and he rarely cried. Miwa had taken to being a big sister beautifully. Shen often found her dutifully pushing her little brother in her play stroller around their home as they babbled to each other. Shen had to fight back tears once while she watched them, overwhelmed by the combination of love and regret that had rushed at her.

“Oh, Yoshi,” she had whispered at the time as her eyes followed her children. “I wish you could be here for this. Then, our family would be complete.”

Miwa struggled some with sharing her mother’s attention, but Shen did her best to still give her daughter the attention she deserved. She took Miwa to the park and the library, making sure to keep Michelangelo hidden in his sling. She was frustrated to find that many people did not care for personal space or social cues when a baby was involved as she was constantly fighting people off from taking a peek at her son. She knew it would be more of an issue when Michelangelo got older and was able to run around with Miwa, but Shen would cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, she simply resorted to snapping at people to back off.

Overall, life was good. It had its difficult days, of course—raising two babies by herself was hard work—but the payoff was worth it. One example came one night when she was giving her children a bath.

“Mama! Mama!” Miwa had been keeping up a running commentary of her mother’s name for the last three days. As much as she loved hearing her daughter speak, it was starting to get a bit old, and Shen hoped this phase would end soon.

“Yes, baby. Mama’s here,” Shen said, albeit a little tiredly, as she scrubbed at her daughter’s hair. Michelangelo was chirping to himself as he splashed the water around him, but he looked up as Shen spoke. He watched the interaction between his mother and sister with wide eyes, head tilted inquisitively. 

Miwa let out a string of giggles as Shen poured water over her head. She handed a rubber duck to her daughter before moving over to Michelangelo. “Now, you don’t have any hair for me to scrub, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make you squeaky clean!” She tickled under her youngest’s chin, causing him to squeal and kick out. Water splashed onto her clothes, but Shen didn’t mind. She squeezed out some strawberry-scented body wash and gently massaged it into his head. Michelangelo’s eyes closed in bliss. 

“You like when Mama massages your scalp, huh?” Shen cooed as she moved down to his neck. Her son leaned into the touch with a pleased churr. Shen rinsed her hand in the bath before grabbing the cup and scooping up some water. “Time for the rain!”

Michelangelo let out another squeal as the water poured over his head. Shen and Miwa chortled along with him.

“Ma! Ma!” 

Shen’s laughter cut off. Her head snapped down to stare at her son in shock. Her breath caught as her son beamed up at her, reaching his little arms up for a hug.

“Did you…?”

“Ma! Mama!” 

Shen’s lip trembled before she was suddenly whisking him up into her arms. She hugged her son close, not caring for the water that was now soaking her clothes and fur. Tears pricked at her eyes as one hand cradled her son’s head.

“You—You said my name…” Shen pulled Michelangelo back and nuzzled at his beak. “My little angel!”

“Mama?” Shen glanced down and found her daughter frowning up at her, displeased. Miwa grunted and raised her arms expectantly, and Shen couldn’t help but smile through her tears.

“My mistake, baby. Is this better?” Shen pulled Miwa into the hug as well, and the latter let out a pleased huff. They were all soaking wet, and water was pooling on the floor, but Shen couldn’t have been happier.

“My children,” Shen whispered, nuzzling both their heads as she held them close. 

There was still a lot to worry about. Shen was still terrified that Saki would one day find her and her children, and she feared what he would do when he did. There was also the matter of the strange men that had mutated her—Shen hadn’t been out after dark since that night, terrified that they were also looking for her and her children. Her arms tightened around them at the thought. 

Though Shen hadn’t been an active ninja in the Hamato clan, she had learned enough to protect herself and had watched Yoshi and Saki during their training. Starting tomorrow, Shen would train in earnest and, when her children got older, she would begin training them as well. She wouldn’t let it take over their lives—she had told Yoshi she didn’t want Miwa to grow up like he had and she had meant it—but they would be able to protect themselves in case she could not.

Shen stared down at her children, eyes fierce with determination. Never again would Shen feel helpless, and she’d make damn sure her children would never feel that way either.

Chapter Text

“Mama?” Shen put her book down and looked over to find her children, both now three and four years old respectively, peeking up at her from behind the arm of her chair. Her daughter had been the one to speak.

“Yes, darling?” Shen set her book on the side table, and her children took that as their cue to climb onto her lap. Both of them looked up at her imploringly as she wrapped an arm around each of them.

“Why do you and My-My look different?”

Shen closed her eyes. She had hoped she would have more time before she had to answer this question, but she couldn’t say she was too surprised. Miwa had begun spending more time around other children, having started preschool and joined her beginner’s class at the dojo. It was only a matter of time before Miwa realized that it wasn't normal for people to look like her mother and brother.

“It’s a long story, but I think it’s time you both heard it. Remember the story I told you about your daddy?” Both children nodded and looked over to the small shrine Shen kept in the corner for him. “I was very badly hurt when he died, which is why I have all these scars, but I used to look very different. See the picture on daddy’s shrine?”

Her children slid off her lap and scampered over to the shrine as Shen stood and followed them. Michelangelo pointed to the woman in the lone picture and looked back at her.

“Dat’s Mama?”

Shen smiled and set her hands on his and Miwa’s shoulder. “It is.”

Michelangelo’s eyes grew wide and he turned back around to stare at the photo. “Wow! Pretty!”

“I was.” Shen smiled sadly. “I don’t have any pictures of what I looked like after Daddy died, but it was less pretty, so I would wear my veil like I wear now.”

“Mama pretty!” Michelangelo asserted, cheeks puffed out in indignation. Shen chuckled and caressed his cheek. 

“You’re right, baby. Mama’s pretty.” Maybe if her son told her enough times, she would believe it one day. Even after three years, Shen still had a difficult time coming to terms with the combination of her scars and her mutation. It wasn’t a pretty sight—she looked like an alley cat that had been tortured before fighting for its life on the streets.

Shen continued the story, sharing how she and Miwa had moved to New York after their father’s death. Miwa and Michelangelo listened raptly, eyes wide as they migrated towards the couch. They curled up next to her, one child on each side. She had never seen Michelangelo sit so still, but her surprise was short-lived as her son began to vibrate in place once she brought up the night she found him.

“—I ran all the way home with Miwa and the baby. I didn’t even realize until I got home that it was no ordinary baby but a baby turtle!”

“Me!” Michelangelo shouted, shooting his hand up in the air and beaming as he bounced in place.

Shen laughed. “Yes, you. My son.” Her smile faltered as she thought of the next part of her story. “The strange men had a substance with them that made Mama look like the cat that had run by her.” Her children pressed closer to her, sensing the change in tone. “Those men are very dangerous, so we must be very careful to not let anyone know that we don’t look like other people because we don’t want them finding out where we are. People are also sometimes very mean about those that don’t look like them.”

“Why?” Miwa asked.

Shen’s eyes turned sad as she turned her focus to her daughter. “People are scared of what they don’t know, and when people get scared, they get very mean because being mad feels better than being scared.”

“But My-My’s nice!” Miwa crawled over Shen’s lap to get to Michelangelo and wrapped her arms around him, pressing their cheeks together. In a mirror image to Michelangelo earlier when he had declared his mother pretty, Miwa had her cheeks puffed out as she glared up at her mother.

“I know, baby. It’s not fair.” Shen gathered her children close. “But that’s why Michelangelo and I have to hide while you do not. If people found out that we are not like them, very bad things could happen.” Shen didn’t even want to think about having to move if the information got out, let alone think about potential government experimentation. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mama,” both replied.

“Promise me you will not let anyone see or know about me and Michelangelo.”

“Promise, Mama.”

“Good.” Shen hugged her children to her chest and closed her eyes. She fought to keep her breath regulated as she pressed her cheek to their heads. It was a mother’s worst fear for anything to befall her children, and she had a terrible feeling that it was only a matter of time before something happened.

Shen got more and more nervous each time she brought Miwa and Michelangelo to the park, but she couldn’t bear to deny them this simple pleasure.

Before they would leave the apartment, Shen would make sure Michelangelo was properly covered. He was always dressed in a sweatshirt, sweatpants, custom gloves she had made for his three fingers, a face mask, a beanie, and custom shoes that she had to learn how to make for his wider feet.  Her son was always antsy, impatiently bouncing from foot to foot as he waited for his mother to approve his appearance. As soon as they were at the park, Shen would repeat the process, making sure nothing had been lost or knocked out of place on the walk there. Once Shen gave him the thumbs up, he and Miwa would bolt off for the playground.

It was a beautiful day today, sunny with barely a cloud in the sky. The weather was just a touch on the hot side, but despite being covered from head to toe, Shen’s clothes were light and loose, so she wasn’t too hot. Her fur always posed a bit of a problem with the heat, but she had gotten used to it by now. Michelangelo’s cold-bloodedness meant the heat never bothered him despite the clothes he wore.

Shen sat down on a nearby bench after Miwa and Michelangelo ran off. The mother sitting next to her shot her an awkward smile before going back to her book. Shen was well-known around the park by now, but she didn’t really speak much to the other parents. Many of them were apprehensive of her uchikatsugi and what could potentially be lying underneath as well as the rumors surrounding her son. She didn’t mind as much as she used to. Shen had her students for her social interaction. The only thing that mattered to her was that her children were happy.

“Mama! Mama!” Shen looked up to see Michelangelo waving to her from the top of the jungle gym. She waved back. Her son squealed and ran off across a little bridge to join a group of two other boys. Shen watched anxiously, noting absently that Miwa was off by the swings with a group of girls.

“Ms. Tang?” She jumped and looked over to see Beth, still a loyal student at the dojo after three years, standing beside the bench. 

“Beth! Hello!” Shen felt her shoulders relax. 

She liked talking to Beth. The other woman was kind and never made Shen feel judged for hiding herself. She made sure any new women in the class didn’t bother Shen about the way she dressed (though they usually shut up completely once Shen threw them over her shoulder), and the other woman had basically become her assistant in the class. Shen could be as close to herself as possible around Beth, and she was eternally appreciative of that.

Shen didn’t know how long they talked for before a scream interrupted their conversation.

“Monster!”

Shen’s heart stopped. Her head snapped over to the sound, and she shot to her feet the moment she noticed her son curled up on the ground. The bright orange of his hoodie stood out among the crowd of children that had gathered around him. A boy was standing closer to her son, pointing at him as he continued to shout that vile word. She sprinted over to the group, Beth following close behind, and made it just in time to see her daughter come up and shove the boy to the ground.

“Miwa! Michelangelo!” Shen crashed to her knees beside her son and gathered him into her arms, hiding his face in her shoulder. She looked at her daughter, eyes wild, though no one could see it. “What happened?”

The little boy who Miwa had shoved was sobbing on the ground, but Michelangelo was terrifyingly silent. 

“Mama!” Miwa was crying now too, making her difficult to understand. “He was mean! He—He—”

“Timmy!” Another woman ran over and scooped the little boy up. “What is going on?”

“Monster!” Timmy wailed, pointing at Michelangelo. Shen’s heart broke at the word, and she hugged her son closer.

“Meanie!” Miwa tried to get at Timmy, but his mother held him out of reach. “My-My’s not a monster!” Miwa whirled around and latched onto her mother’s dress. “He pulled My-My’s mask! I saw!”

Shen looked at the ground and, lo and behold, Michelangelo’s cat-themed face mask was lying on the ground. The knot she had tied must have come loose when the boy pulled on the mask. She would have to do better next time. She picked the mask up off the ground and put it in her purse.

“What did you do to my son? What is wrong with your child?” The woman was shouting, and anyone who hadn’t been drawn into the initial commotion was now watching. Shen fought to control her breathing and calm her racing heart. She could feel all eyes on her and her children and she sent a prayer up to Yoshi to protect them from disaster.

“Hey, leave her alone!” Shen was simultaneously overcome with relief and shame as Beth inserted herself into the argument. She was glad to have someone on her side to help, but she hated that she had to drag her student (friend?) into the situation.

The other woman ignored her. “And what are you wearing? Take that silly veil off so we can talk like adults!”

Shen snatched the hand that was reaching for her uchikatsugi with her free hand and rose from the ground, her other arm sliding under Michelangelo’s bottom to support him. Fury radiated from her as her body subtly trembled, barely holding in her rage as she faced Timmy’s mother.

“Ow! What? Get your hand—”

“Stop talking.” The woman shut up at Shen’s deadly calm voice. “I would comment on how rude your son is for the disgusting word he has been calling my son since touching him without his permission and taking his mask off, but I see where he gets his manners from. I mean, you were about to do the exact same thing to me.” Her hand tightened on the other mother’s wrist. The woman tugged at it, nearly dropping Timmy in her struggle.

“Well, obviously, something is wrong with your child! And you too! Why else would you both be covering up in this weather?” Timmy’s mother had gotten her confidence back as she finally yanked her wrist out of Shen’s hold (it was more like Shen allowed it).

Shen and the woman were about the same height, but her uchikatsugi gave her a slight advantage as she stepped closer. She leaned in close, her veil brushing against the woman’s nose. 

“I suggest you think long and hard about the way you treat other people. Why my son and I hide our faces is none of your business. Perhaps, you should think about raising your son with more respect and consideration for others before he becomes a slimy bigot like you.”

“You—” Shen once again stopped the woman from ripping her uchikatsugi off and shoved her away. The woman stumbled back and fell onto her butt. Shen hadn’t meant to shove that hard and was surprised to see the force behind it. She was angry, sure, but she could have sworn she hadn’t pushed that hard.

Shen looked around to see a crowd had formed, and they were all staring at her. Panic took hold again, and she gathered her daughter close. “Come, Miwa. Let’s go home.”

Miwa clung to her mother but shot the woman and Timmy a glare, sticking her tongue out and blowing a raspberry at them. The Tang family shuffled quickly past the crowd, and Shen whispered a quiet “sorry” to Beth before hurrying off. She didn’t stop no matter how much Beth called for her to.

She hoped she hadn’t driven the kind woman away. 

It wasn’t until they got home that she finally pulled her son back and took a good look at him. He hadn’t moved or spoken a word since she had picked him up, and Shen was scolding herself for not checking him sooner.

“Michelangelo? Angel?” Shen gently pushed his hood back and found him with his head bowed, refusing to look at her. She ran her hand over his head, something that usually made him churr, but her child stayed silent. She sat down on the couch, her son in her lap.

“My-My?” Miwa pulled herself onto the couch beside them. She pressed both hands into her mother’s thigh to support herself as she leaned over towards Michelangelo.

“Michelangelo? Can you look at me please?” She tilted her son’s head up with one hand while using the other to pull off her uchikatsugi. Michelangelo’s eyes met hers, and he burst into tears.

“I’m bad! I’m a monster!”

“Oh, baby…” Shen’s lip trembled as she fought off tears. She hugged her son close, pressing her cheek into his head. “You are not a monster. That boy was very mean to take your mask off and call you names.”

Miwa crawled into her lap and wrapped her arms around her brother. “My-My’s not a monster! My-My’s nice!”

Shen held her children, shushing and soothing Michelangelo until his sobs petered out. She made sure that both of her children were looking up at her before she spoke again.

“I am so sorry, my angel. I wish people could look past how we look. You are so precious, and I know people would love you if they got to know you, but this is why we hide. Other people judge what they see first, and they are scared of what looks different.”

Michelangelo nodded. “Other people bad.”

“Not always,” Shen replied. “But we should let people get to know us for us rather than what we look like. Maybe one day someone will accept us, but we need to be very careful before that can happen. Understand?”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Good.” Shen pressed a kiss to each of her children’s foreheads. “Now, why don’t I make lunch and then we watch a movie.”

Her children cheered, and Shen let herself smile. She still felt ashamed that she could not provide more for her children, but she was so thankful that they did not seem to mind and were happy with so little. Once again, Shen ached for Yoshi to be with them. He always made her feel better.

“Mama?” Miwa asked as she tucked them into bed later that night.

“Yes, baby?”

“I don’ wanna go back to the park.”

Shen blinked, shocked. “What? But the park is your favorite place to go!”

Miwa huffed, and if the circumstances had been different, she would have cooed at the way her daughter tried to be serious while tucked into her princess-themed bed. “The kids are mean to My-My. I don’t wanna go if they’re mean.”

Shen swallowed, heart aching at the thought that her daughter was willing to give up something she loved so much for her brother’s comfort. “Okay, baby. Maybe we can find another playground to go to.”

“Will they be nice there?”

Her hand trembled as she carded it through her daughter’s hair. “I don’t know. I hope so.”

Miwa nodded and closed her eyes. “Okay. We can go to another park.”

“Sounds like a plan. Good night, darling.” She pressed a kiss to her daughter’s forehead.

“Night night.”

She repeated the same process with Michelangelo before heading to her own bedroom. She got ready for bed in a daze, and she found herself staring at the ceiling as she lay in bed, the day’s events finally catching up to her.

She cried herself to sleep that night.

Miwa waited to hear her mother’s bedroom door close before sitting up and crawling out of bed. She tiptoed over to Michelangelo’s bed and tapped her brother’s forehead with a whispered “My-My?”

Her brother didn’t answer, so Miwa tapped harder. “My-My? Wake up.”

Michelangelo’s face scrunched, and he mumbled, “Mimi? B’eakfas’?”

Miwa rolled her eyes. “No, silly. Scoot over.”

Her brother whined but acquiesced, giving Miwa room to climb in and snuggle beside him. Michelangelo watched her with squinted eyes as he fought off sleep. Miwa threw an arm over him and pressed their foreheads together.

“”M sorry I didn’t keep you safe from bad people today, My-My.”

“S’okay.”

She shook her head. “No. Mama said lotsa people are bad and wanna hurt you if they see you. I don’ like that. Big sis is gonna pro-tect you, ‘kay?”

“M’kay.” Miwa wasn’t sure if Michelangelo was actually listening—his eyes were already closed, and his words were pretty slurred—but his response was good enough for her. She pressed a kiss to his forehead and cuddled closer.

Though sleep was quickly claiming her, Miwa swore she would keep to her promise of protecting her brother. Michelangelo was the sweetest thing in the world, and he didn’t deserve the pain of people hating him. If Miwa had to love him enough to make up for everyone else, so be it.

Miwa closed her eyes, blissfully unaware of the far-reaching effects her childish promise would have for her and her brother in the future.

Chapter Text

“Angel? Why aren’t you doing your homework?”

Mikey blinked and looked away from the window where he had been watching cars and people pass by to look up at his mother. “Huh?”

“Your homework.” Shen tapped the paper on the table. Her eight-year-old son stared back at her, blank-faced, before startling as he realized what she was talking about.

“Oh!” Mikey pouted as he stared down at his math homework. “Well, I was working on it, but then I heard a noise outside so I looked out the window and then I saw the ice cream truck drive by and I started thinking about what flavor I wanted and then I saw a lady walking four dogs and they were huge and—”

“Mikey, darling, take a breath.”

Mikey paused to heave in a breath. “Sorry, Mama. I was trying to do it! Honest!”

“I believe you.” Shen’s brow furrowed as she watched her son. She had been homeschooling him for the last three years while Miwa went to public school, and she had noticed a pattern emerging within the last few months. Mikey had always struggled with his learning, but he was getting more and more distracted while doing his schoolwork, and she could see this in other areas as well. Shen privately trained Mikey as well as Miwa in how to defend themselves, and she found that Mikey would get distracted and wander off to make faces in the wall mirror or mess with the wall of training weapons.

Shen sat down beside him and took a look at the worksheet. “Math is pretty boring, huh?”

Mikey propped his chin in his hand and pushed his pencil around on the table with a sigh. “Yeah…”

Shen thought for a moment. “…What’s your favorite show right now?”

Mikey’s eyes immediately lit up, and he pushed his hands into the table to lean closer to his mother. “Danny Phantom! Mimi and me wanna be superheroes like him!”

“You would make a great team! So, Danny captures ghosts in that thermos, right?” Mikey nodded. “So, let’s say that a thermos can only hold 12 ghosts. If he had 12 thermoses, how many ghosts could he capture?”

Mikey looked up in thought, tongue sticking out as he concentrated. “Mm… 144?”

“Correct!” Shen and Mikey beamed at each other, and Mikey kicked his feet, pleased with himself. “Why don’t you write that down?”

“‘Kay!” Mikey wrote the number under the 12x12 problem on his worksheet.

“Now, if 36 ghosts were haunting Danny’s town, but they were spread out equally over four buildings—”

“What buildings?”

“Hmm…” Shen wasn’t bothered by Mikey’s interruption and decided to roll with it. “They’re haunting the mall, the movie theater, the school, and the zoo.”

“The zoo’s not a building!” Mikey giggled.

“Four places,” Shen corrected herself. “If they were spread out equally over four places, how many ghosts haunt each place?”

“Um, nine?”

“Yes!” Shen raised her hand for a high five, which Mikey eagerly met. “You’re very smart!”

“Really? But usually it’s really hard!”

“That’s because it wasn’t very interesting to you, so your brain wanted to focus on other things. So, we just need to make the work something you want to think about.”

“Like Danny Phantom!”

“Exactly.” Shen grinned. “Now, let’s finish this worksheet and then you can help me make lunch.”

“Yes!”

Once Shen figured out that she needed to tweak how Michelangelo learned, he flourished. She would use his favorite shows, the comics he read—anything that she noticed that grabbed her son’s attention. Mikey loved helping her cook and bake in the kitchen, so she slowed down to teach him measurements and what would happen if he put too much or too little of an ingredient in a recipe. She trained her children using high-energy games to keep her son’s focus with the added bonus that Miwa would have fun too.

Every time he learned something new about cooking or got a good grade back for his school assignments, her son was ecstatic. He had to run a few laps around the apartment just to get the initial energy out, and he would spend the rest of the day with a huge smile on his face. Shen found herself sharing his enthusiasm, as did Miwa.

Michelangelo had been devastated when he first found out that he would not be going to school with his big sister. He had heard so many stories from her and had wanted to have all the experiences she had, but Shen was wary to send him somewhere she could not protect him. That moment at the park five years ago still haunted her, and that had just involved a handful of kids and some parents. It would only take a bully or close-minded teacher for Mikey’s mutant status to be exposed, and then it would be all over for her family.

It was just too risky for Mikey to go to school.

She had still been wracked with guilt when her son cried. She had promised to give Mikey as normal a life as she could, but sometimes she thought she was failing.

When Miwa would come home from school, Michelangelo used to run up and ask her how her day had been and what she had done at school. Miwa always complied, sympathizing with her brother—even if she thought he was lucky to not have to go to school—and would regale him with the activities she did in class and gossip about the other kids. Mikey always listened, enthralled by a world he couldn’t be a part of.

Once Shen changed Mikey’s routine, however, the tables flipped. When Miwa came home from school now, her son would run up to his sister to show his good grade or tell her what he and their mother had done that day or share whatever treat they baked. Miwa, bless her, would ooh and ahh over whatever her brother was telling her and praise him when she could get a word in. 

Shen had noticed a change in Miwa after that day in the park. Even after finding a new playground to go to, Miwa never left Mikey’s side, making sure that he was happy and safe from any potential bullies or overly curious children. It was almost like having a bodyguard, and Shen’s heart broke that her daughter felt that she needed to protect her brother so closely. 

It showed in their training too. Shen still refused to train them to the degree that Yoshi and Saki had been trained—she wanted them to be children, not ninjas—but they would know how to thoroughly defend themselves by the time they were adults. Miwa took it very seriously, both in her beginner classes as well as her private lessons with her mother and brother.

“Mikey!” Miwa admonished as she dragged her brother away from the foam nunchucks he was eyeing on the weapons rack. It was late afternoon, and the dojo was closed for the day with the blinds down, hiding its occupants from anyone walking by. “We gotta pay attention!”

Mikey pouted. “But—”

“Wait a moment, Miwa.”

Both children paused as they watched their mother approach the weapons. She eyed them thoughtfully before heading to the back. “Stay right there. I’ll be right back.”

The siblings eyed each other, silently asking if they knew what was going on before simultaneously shrugging. Mikey wandered back off towards the mirrors to see himself do a handstand. Miwa rolled her eyes but followed him—she wanted to practice her handstand too.

A few minutes later, they heard their mother’s footsteps signaling her return to the dojo. They each fell backward onto their feet and turned to face Shen, who was standing by the weapons rack with a smile.

“Come here, children.”

Miwa grabbed Michelangelo’s hand as they walked together up to their mother. It was a force of habit so that he would not run off as he often did when they were out and about. They stood attentively in front of their mother, though Mikey was already beginning to shift on his feet as excitement built towards whatever his mama had planned.

“My children, there is still much to learn if you want to be able to fight back against your opponents, but I think it is time to take it to the next step. There is a high chance that they will fight back with more than their body, so it will be important for you to know how to fight with a weapon.”

Shen faced Miwa first. “Miwa, my daughter. When you were a baby, your father planned to give you your very own tessen before training you to be a kunoichi. I was unable to retrieve it after the fire, but it would be a great honor to your father to learn the weapon. We will practice with a safer fan for now, but know that one day you will wield a tessen. Your spirit is strong, and you will guide the winds just as you guide your whirlwind of a brother.” She sent a wink towards her son.

Miwa stared reverently as her mother handed her a blue paper fan covered in small white flowers. “Thank you, Mama,” she said, still looking at the tessen. “It’s really pretty.”

“Fitting for a beautiful girl.” Shen turned to Michelangelo and handed him the foam nunchucks he had been eyeing earlier. “My angel, you are a force to be reckoned with—a wild card that can catch even the most seasoned warrior off guard. Only the most creative and talented of minds can wield the nunchuck expertly, and so I bestow it to you.”

Mikey was a copy of Miwa, admiring his new weapon. He swelled with pride at his mama’s words, and he wanted nothing more than to make her proud. He jumped away from his family, eagerly swinging his nunchucks around, uncaring as they bopped him upside the head. “I’m gonna be the best ninja warrior ever!”

“No, I am!” Miwa called out as she jumped up beside him, waving her fan about. “I’m gonna be the best ninja warrior and then I’ll protect you from all the bad guys!”

“You will protect each other,” Shen said before an argument could break out. “You each have your own strengths, ones that will make you stronger as a team. Your differences do not make one or the other better but equal where it matters.”

“But I’m the big sister!” Miwa insisted. “That means I gotta protect him!”

Shen smiled, kneeling down in front of her daughter to cup her cheek. “As a sister, yes. But as a warrior, you need to work together to protect each other. That is how you survive.”

Mikey popped up beside Miwa and wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah! We’re family, and family protects each other! Like ‘ohana’ from Lilo and Stitch!”

Miwa pursed her lips before looking up at her mother, scrutinizing. “Does that mean you protect us, and we protect you?”

Never. You will never have to protect me if I have anything to say about it.

“Of course, baby.”

“Mimi?”

Miwa rolled over in bed to see Mikey at her side. The two of them still slept in the same room despite their mother offering to clear out her sewing room. Even though they had separate beds, their mother would often find one had migrated to the other’s bed by morning, both curled up around each other. Shen was a little worried about codependency, but for now she just found it adorable.

“Yeah, My-My?” Miwa asked sleepily. She lifted her blanket up for Mikey, and her brother eagerly climbed in and snuggled up to her.

“Did you mean it earlier? About protecting me?”

“Yeah. You’re my little brother, so it’s my job. That’s what big sisters do.”

“Is that why you’re always listening when I talk even if it’s for a really long time? ‘Cause on TV big sisters get annoyed by little brothers.”

Miwa frowned and pulled Mikey closer, wrapping an arm around him. “I don’t get annoyed—well not a lot. It makes you happy, which makes me happy. I don’t want you to be sad because you can’t go to school or see stuff like I can.”

Mikey was silent for a moment, contemplating her words. “Thanks, Mimi.”

The room fell into silence. It went on long enough that Miwa thought Mikey had fallen asleep until he spoke up again.

“If that’s what big sisters do, what do little brothers do?”

“Hm…” Miwa looked up at the ceiling, thinking. “They’re happy and nice, and sometimes they’re a little annoying, but they love their big sisters. It’s just us and Mama, so we gotta protect each other, but I protect you more ‘cause I’m older.” 

“That doesn’t sound very fair.”

“S’not supposed to be, but that’s okay. I don’t mind.”

Mikey smiled sleepily and cuddled closer. “You’re the best big sister, Miwa. I’m really happy you’re my sister.”

“I’m happy Mama found you, Mikey.”

Chapter Text

“Hi, Miwa!” Mikey ran up to his sister as she closed the door behind her. “How was school? Did you have fun today? What did you do?”

The 13-year old shrugged, uncharacteristically quiet. “Not much.”

Mikey paused, frowning in concern. He followed after his sister as she dropped her bag to the ground and walked to the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Miwa’s voice was deceptively nonchalant, and it immediately made her brother suspicious.

“Something’s wrong?” Shen asked as they filed into the kitchen. She was standing at the sink washing dishes, and her eyes brightened when she saw her daughter. “Miwa! How is it going with your new friend?”

Mikey blinked. “New friend? What new friend?”

Shen ignored her daughter’s glare and turned toward her son. “Miwa was telling me about a new friend at school! What was her name? Amber?”

“April,” Miwa muttered as Mikey gasped.

“Really? What’s she like? Is she really nice? What’s her favorite TV show? What about her favorite food? Is it pizza? What about—”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Did something happen?” their mother asked, brows furrowing in concern. She shut the sink off and turned to face her daughter, pulling the gloves off she used to keep her fur from getting wet and setting them on the counter.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Mikey’s frown deepened. “It seems like it does matter since you sound so mad.”

“Miwa, honey, if something happened—”

“Nothing happened!”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Well, obviously, something happened—”

“Michelangelo, let me handle this—”

“But, Mama!”

“She invited me to a sleepover!” Miwa finally snapped.

Mikey and Shen fell silent, glancing at each other in confusion and concern. They both looked back at Miwa, who was breathing harshly as she waited for one of them to finally speak.

It was Mikey that spoke first. “And… that’s a bad thing?”

“Ugh!” Miwa stormed off, slamming her bedroom door shut.

Shen stepped forward to go after her, but Mikey put a hand on her arm to stop her. She turned to see her son looking uncharacteristically serious.

“I got this, Mama.”

Shen wanted to argue, but Miwa and Michelangelo had always been in tune with each other in a way that Shen never could be with her children, no matter how hard she tried. She knew that if anyone could get through to Miwa, it would be Mikey.

Shen nodded. “Go.”

Mikey smiled gratefully and made his way to his room. After Mikey had turned ten, Shen had put her foot down and cleaned out her sewing room for Mikey to move into. Miwa ended up appreciating the room change as she got older, needing the privacy as she became a teenager.

Mikey knew his sister wouldn’t stay in her room. Her room was the only one with access to the fire escape, and he and Miwa had spent many afternoons up on the rooftop. If she wasn’t up there right now, Mikey would eat his shoes.

Though Mikey didn’t have the fire escape, that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to get up to the roof anyways. It paid to be a mutant turtle with ninja training from his mother, so it didn’t take long before he was heaving himself over the ledge of the rooftop. He was rewarded with the sight of Miwa sitting on the other side, her back facing him as she watched the people below. She didn’t acknowledge him as he made his way over and plopped down beside her. Mikey pulled his hood up in case of any nosy neighbors and sat in silence, waiting for Miwa to speak first. He didn’t have to wait long.

“Being invited to a sleepover shouldn’t be a bad thing. It shouldn’t. But when she asked me earlier, I just…” Miwa sniffled and rubbed at her eyes.

Mikey scooted over and wrapped an arm around her. “What’s wrong with going to a sleepover? Isn’t that something that all friends do?”

His sister shrugged him off. “Yes! And that’s the problem! I want friends! I want people to hang out with outside of school! But if I go to a sleepover at April’s, she’ll expect me to invite her to one too!”

“And that’s… a bad thing?” Mikey asked softly, echoing his question from earlier.

Miwa closed her eyes as her lip trembled. “I’m not ashamed of you, Mikey, or mom. I never have been, but you know what mom said! People don’t understand!”

“But you should be able to have friends over, Miwa. Mama and I can cover up, and I can stay in my room—”

“You shouldn’t have to hide in your own home! You shouldn’t have to hide so that I can have a stupid friend over!” Miwa stood as she shouted, storming away from the rooftop ledge and kicking a stray soda can one of them had probably left the last time they were up there. “You and mom hide all the time when we go out. The least I can do is let you guys be yourselves in our home!”

Mikey shifted around to face her but stayed sitting, staring ruefully up at his sister. “That’s not your choice to make.”

“Why shouldn’t it be? I’m the one who gets to go to school and go where I want and wear what I want and talk to who I want and get to make friends!” She stalked back over to Mikey and stood over him, glaring down at her brother. “Why is it fair that I get to do all that and you don’t? You and Mom should be able to do what you want without worrying about what anyone is gonna think or do!”

“You’ve had friends over before.” It hadn’t been very often, but Mikey could remember the few times one of Miwa’s friends came over. After being stared at and whispered about the first time, Mikey had usually chosen to stay in his mother’s room. He didn’t really mind, even if he had wished he could join them.

“Why do you think they didn’t come back?” Miwa crossed her arms. “They didn’t see anything, of course, but they sucked. You probably didn’t hear anything, but they said all sorts of mean things, and they even tried to get me to join in! So I stopped being friends with them.”

Miwa hated the shattered look on her brother’s face—she hated that she put that look on his face—but it had to be said. She had to make him understand that she had to protect him, even if it meant sacrificing her own wants.

“...Everyone can’t be like that.” Mikey’s voice trembled as he spoke. “There—There has to be people who can like me for me. You do. Mama did when she found me.” His face crumpled, and Miwa dropped to her knees beside him, pulling him into her arms as he began to cry. “There has to be someone .”

She had to fight her own tears back. “I’m sorry, My-My.”

Miwa held her brother as he sobbed, rocking him gently as she shushed and soothed him. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but the sun was dangerously low by the time Mikey calmed down. They would have to head in soon—she didn’t even want to think about how worried her mother was right now.

Mikey mumbled something that Miwa didn’t hear. “What was that?”

“Please go to the sleepover,” Mikey repeated louder. “Please go and have a good time and then invite her over to one too.” He looked up at her, and Miwa was surprised to see the seriousness in his eyes. “Don’t give up your life for us. Knowing that you’re giving things up for me hurts way worse than being called a monster.”

“I just want you to be happy,” Miwa whispered.

“Nothing will make me happier than you being happy. Please.”

Miwa let out a shuddering breath. “Okay.”

Mikey smiled, wrapping his arms around his sister to give her a hug. “Thank you.”

They stayed like that for a moment before they got up to head inside. It was dark out now, and they were never supposed to be out after dark. If she hadn’t been worried before, their mother was definitely worried sick by now.

“Hey, Miwa?” Mikey called out as they climbed down the fire escape.

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna find a friend someday too—someone who likes me for me—so you can’t give up on people.” Mikey beamed at her. “Who knows? April might be super cool.”

“Yeah,” Miwa said, smiling back softly. “Maybe.”

The scolding their mother had given them when they got back inside was legendary, but it was worth it. Shen had shot him a grateful smile when Miwa wasn’t looking, so he knew his mother wasn’t too mad. She had still made them promise to never stay out that late again. Even after all these years, she was still terrified of being found.

Mikey thought about the conversation he had with Miwa a lot over the next few weeks. He had believed every word he told her, but he still couldn’t help the sense of hopelessness that overcame him when he thought about his future. He loved his family, and he knew they were doing their best for him, but he wondered just what he would do when he got older. He didn’t want to make his family take care of him forever. Miwa at least deserved to live as normally as possible.

He found himself lost in thought about it one late afternoon when he was taking the trash out. He had just closed the lid on the dumpster when he heard something moving further down the alley.

“Hello?”

People didn’t usually walk through this way—the dojo wasn’t exactly in the middle of town—so Mikey was apprehensive as he looked towards the noise. The sound of glass being knocked over had him flinching back.

“Hello? Anyone there?” His heart pounded as he crept forward, his mother’s voice screaming in his head to go back inside. Mikey couldn’t help his curiosity, though. He pulled out his nunchucks and raised them high as he flung himself around a couple of trash cans. “I got you!”

Yowling filled the air, and Mikey froze as he took in the dirty, matted cat now hissing at him with its back arched. He lowered his nunchucks and held his hands in the air.

“Whoa! Heh, sorry, kitty!” Mikey crouched down and tried to reach out to pet the cat, but he snatched his hand back when the hissing grew louder. “Feisty, aren’t you?”

The cat reminded Mikey a lot of his mama, covered in black fur like she was, though the cat also had a few white white patches on its paws and belly. At least, he thought they were white patches—the cat was so dirty the fur was practically brown. The cat was even missing an eye like his mama and, despite its unfriendly demeanor, Mikey couldn’t help but coo.

“It’s okay, little guy… or girl? I’m not gonna hurt you.” He noted the visible ribs on the cat and shot up. “You must be hungry! Stay here, and I’ll be right back!”

Mikey raced up to the apartment to grab a can of tuna and a bowl of water before running back out. The cat was still in the same place he had found it, and it jumped up and hissed at him as he approached.

“Don’t worry, kitty. It’s just food.” Mikey opened up the can of tuna and set it and the bowl of water a few feet away from the cat. He backed off and waited.

The cat was still hissing at him, but its nose twitched as the smell of the tuna hit it. It slowly calmed down but still watched Mikey warily as it approached the food. It sniffed at the food before digging in, and he couldn’t help but smile. “See? I’m not here to hurt you, and there’s plenty more where that came from!”

The cat finished its food and turned to the bowl to drink some water, and Mikey took that chance to reach out and gently run his fingers over its head. The kitty finished drinking and purred, rubbing its head into Mikey’s hand. He grinned and ran his fingers down its back. The purring grew louder as the cat leaned into the touch.

“That’s a good kitty. Can I pick you up?” Mikey moved slowly, trying to project his intentions before picking up the cat. It let him, and Mikey was disheartened at how clearly he could feel the cat’s bones through its skin. He quickly checked underneath and discovered that the kitty was a girl.

“You’re so pretty!” She really was not, but to Mikey she was perfect. “Aren’t you just the cutest kitty!”

The cat preened. Mikey leaned forward to nuzzle the cat’s nose before quickly drawing away as his beak screwed up with mild disgust. “Oh! You need a bath!” He moved the cat to one arm before bending down to grab the bowl and empty can. “I’m gonna give you a nice, warm bath and then I’ll get you some more food. How does that sound?”

The cat mewed, and Mikey took that as an agreement. He headed back up to the apartment—this time at a much calmer pace—and took the cat straight to the bathroom. The bath was absolutely disastrous, but Mikey didn’t care. He was absolutely charmed by his new cat, who didn’t look to be more than a year old.

“You’re gonna need a name, aren’t you?” Mikey cooed as he watched the cat eat another can of tuna after the bath. “How about… Klunk?”

Klunk meowed.

Mikey grinned and swept Klunk up into his arms. She hissed in slight protest but ultimately  snuggled up to her new owner. Mikey took her to his room and fell back onto his bed, holding Klunk up above him. Cat and turtle stared at one another, and Mikey couldn’t help but kick his feet in joy.

“You and I are gonna be best friends, Klunk.”

“Mrow.”

Mikey heard the front door open.

“Angel, are you home?”

“What kind of question is that? He’s always home.”

Mikey shot out of bed and was just about to run out of his room when he heard an unfamiliar third voice. “I thought you said his name was Mikey?”

“His full name is Michelangelo.” Mikey rushed to put on a face mask and pull his hood over his head as his sister spoke. He threw his gloves on and grabbed Klunk before walking out of his room.

“Hi, Mama! Hi, Miwa! Hi, person I don’t know!”

“Michelangelo!” his mother admonished, but the mystery girl only laughed. She was pretty with red hair and freckles. Mikey faltered when the girl’s eyes widened as she took in his appearance, but she quickly shook it off and gave him a small wave.

“I’m April. I’ve heard a lot about you from Miwa.”

Mikey moved Klunk to his other arm and eagerly waved back. He could see April eyeing his three-fingered hand, but she was saved by his sister speaking up.

“Is that a cat?”

Klunk mewed in response.

Though Mikey couldn’t see her face through her veil, he could feel Shen staring at him. “Michelangelo, where did you get that?”

“Her name is Klunk, and I found her outside.” Mikey held her up for the others to see. “Isn’t she the cutest?”

Miwa smiled and came over to scratch Klunk behind her ears. “Very cute, Mikey.”

“Mikey, I don’t know—”

“Please, Mama!” Mikey flew past their guest and thrust Klunk into his mother’s face. “Look at her! She’s the cutest cat in the whole wide world, and she loves me! We’re best friends now! Please can I keep her? Please? Pleeeeease?”

Mikey’s puppy dog eyes were impossible to resist on a good day, but Shen was absolutely powerless against the combination of her son and the cat’s pleading eyes (or eye in Klunk’s case). She sighed, and Mikey cheered, knowing he had won. He hugged his mother, bouncing in place with excitement as he chanted, “thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

“I swear it’s not always like this,” Miwa said.

“It’s cute,” April replied.

Mikey let go of Shen and whirled around, showing off Klunk as he did so. “See, Miwa? I have a friend now!"

Miwa smiled softly. “I’m glad.”

Mikey laughed and ran back to his room, completely forgetting that he had been meeting a guest. He and Klunk had so much to do!

Later on, Mikey was passing by Miwa’s room to get food for him and Klunk, but he paused when he heard voices.

“So your brother is… interesting.”

He stood outside the door and held his breath as his sister replied coldly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh no—It’s not—” April fumbled as she tried to quickly gather her thoughts. “Why does he cover up like that? I can’t even tell what he looks like.”

“It’s not really any of your business.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right.”

The room went silent, and Mikey couldn’t help himself.

“Don’t stop being friends with her please!” he begged as he burst into the room. He ignored his sister’s cry of “Mikey!” as he looked at April, who had screamed in surprise at his entrance. “I wear a lot of clothes because I was born weird, and it freaks people out when they see me! I promise Miwa’s super cool, and if it really bothers you so much, I’ll be really quiet and won’t come out of my room whenever you come over! Just please don’t stop being her friend!”

Miwa stood, her face crumbling as she looked at her brother. “Mikey…”

April’s jaw was dropped, and it took her a few seconds to answer. “...Why would I stop being her friend?”

That had both Mikey and Miwa pausing, and it was the latter who answered. “...Because that’s what everyone else does?”

“What? ” April was appalled. “People judge you just because your brother, what, looks a little different from other people?”

“Something like that.”

“Wow. I was kind of offended at first that you thought I would do that, but I don’t blame you if that’s been your experience.” April reached out and grabbed Mikey’s hand, dragging him to the ground where she and Miwa had been sitting. “Here. Join us.”

Miwa stared at her. “You… want to hang out with my brother?”

“Why not? I always wanted a sibling anyway.”

Miwa snorted as she sat down beside them. “Yeah, well, you can’t take him. He’s mine.”

Mikey stared in awe as the conversation went on. He stayed mostly silent, but that didn’t seem to bother the girls, especially after Klunk wandered into the room looking for her owner. April did offer for Mikey to take his hoodie and face mask off at one point, but he declined. Maybe one day he could open up more to April, but not today. 

Today was the best day ever, and he wasn’t going to let anything ruin that for him.

Chapter Text

Shen had the news playing on TV as she always did, checking to see if there were any updates on the strange men she had encountered almost fifteen years ago. She and her children were eating ice cream for dessert in the living room, chatting as the TV played in the background.

“A report of—get this—ninjas in New York. Don’t believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this—”

Shen glanced at the TV and gasped, nearly dropping her ice cream. Mikey managed to catch it and set it on the coffee table. “Mama? What’s wrong?”

She didn’t take her eyes off the screen as she spoke. “Have either of you been taking the weapons outside of the dojo? Please don’t lie to me.”

“Nothing but the tessen, Mom. And Mikey only ever leaves with his nunchucks. You know that.”

Shen’s heart pounded. She stood shakily and began to pace behind the couch, her children watching her with concern.

“Mama, what’s going on?” 

Shen barely heard her son as her thoughts spiraled. The screen had shown a throwing star with the Hamato symbol. What could that mean? Was it a former member making a statement? A cry for help? Was someone trying to send a message to her? Who would know she was in New York besides her parents, who had passed only a few years after she left Japan?

“Mama?”

“Mom?”

What if Saki somehow saw the broadcast and came to New York? Would he find her? Her children? What would he do to them if he did?

“MAMA!”

“MOM!”

Shen gasped as the shouts snapped her out of her thoughts. She found her children standing in front of her now. Miwa took a step forward, hands out as if to keep Shen calm, which was a crazy thought—she would never hurt her children.

“Mom, what is going on?”

Shen paused and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm her hysterical thoughts. She was the adult in this situation—she could not allow herself to lose control when her children needed her.

“I am only telling you this because I believe you are old enough to know, and this knowledge will protect you.” Shen made her way back to the couch and sat down, hands trembling in her lap. Her children sat beside her, silent but imploring with their eyes for her to continue. “That shuriken on the TV held the Hamato symbol. I do not know who could have possessed it, but it can only mean trouble. Until this settles down, I need you to come straight home from school. No going to visit friends. We run errands quickly and come straight home.”

“Mom, are you sure—”

“Please, Miwa, do not argue with me about this.” She cupped her children’s cheek, and they leaned into the touch. “This could be very dangerous for us. If Oroku Saki happens to see that broadcast, it could bring him to New York, and then it will be all over for us. I cannot allow him to learn of either of you. I do not know what he would do to us.”

“That’s the man that killed Papa?” Mikey asked her. 

The wave of grief crashed over Shen as it did every time she was reminded of Yoshi’s death, but she swallowed it back as she always did. Yet, she could still hear the crackle of fire and Miwa’s cries as she continued, “Yes, angel. Saki… He was a complicated man. He had feelings for me, but I ultimately chose your father. He was very jealous of Yoshi, and he did not take it well. I do not know how these years have changed him, but I fear the worst.”

“We’ll be careful, Mom,” Miwa replied, eyes blazing with determination. “But even if he does find us, we’ll show him why nobody messes with the Tang family.”

Shen gave her a wobbly smile and hugged her children close. “Of course.”

She didn’t have the heart to tell her daughter that Saki would likely slaughter them the moment he found them.

Miwa was grabbing the rest of her books from her locker when a figure sidled up beside her. She turned to see that it was Woody, a boy she had a few classes with. They weren’t friends, but she wasn’t mean to him, and that was good enough for Woody to hang around her sometimes. Miwa didn’t really have an opinion about the guy, but she thought he and Mikey would be good friends.

“Did you hear what happened?” Woody asked.

“About ninjas being in New York? Sure.”

“No, about April!”

Miwa slammed her locker shut and turned towards Woody, eyes blazing. “What about April?”

“Uh…” Woody gulped. “She and her dad got attacked last night, and her dad’s still missing.”

Miwa blinked in shock. “What? Is that why she didn’t come to school today?”

Her mind raced. Why didn’t April text her? Surely, this was news that would be shared with a friend? Was she attacked by the Foot clan her mother had warned her about? There was no way the news report about the ninjas and April’s attack weren’t connected, but what did the Hamato clan have to do with it? Even if it was the Foot clan, why attack April?

Miwa’s heart froze as a thought popped into her head.

…Was it possibly because of her connection to Miwa?

She ignored Woody and quickly pulled out her phone to shoot off a text to April.

[From: Miwa]: Hey! I heard about what happened last night! Are you ok?

Miwa tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for an answer, and Woody took that as his cue to leave. When she didn’t receive an answer after a few minutes, she groaned and stomped out of the school. Her mother had told her to head straight home after school, and she knew that even being a minute late might send her into a panic. She already hated that Miwa was walking home alone.

…Or not, Miwa thought as she saw her brother wildly waving his hand to get her attention. She sped up her pace and leaned in as she harshly whispered, “what are you doing here?”

Though she could only see his eyes, her brother was practically radiating excitement as he eagerly whispered back, “I snuck out .”

Miwa’s brows shot up in surprise. “Seriously?”

Mikey nodded. “Mama’s in her room sewing my other hoodie after Klunk clawed it up. I told her I was gonna play with Klunk in my room and put my music on and then I left.” He looked so proud of himself, and Miwa was honestly impressed. She had never seen her brother disobey their mother before.

“You know she’s totally gonna catch you when we get home, right?”

“Worth it.”

They chatted as they walked home, and Miwa shared the news about April. Mikey had insisted they go over to April’s to check on her, but a text from said person stopped them.

[From: April]: Thanks for checking in. I’m staying with my aunt for now. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Miwa was a little concerned by the shortness of the message, but she left it alone for now. She knew she probably wouldn’t want to see anyone if something had happened to her mother or brother. She would check on April tomorrow.

Mikey was theorizing about what could have happened to April when they walked through the front door, but he quickly shut up as their mother’s voice rang out.

“Michelangelo!” Shen rushed forward and fretted over him. “What were you thinking?! I checked your room to see you were gone! What if something had happened to you? I wouldn’t have even known where to begin to look!”

“Sorry, Mama.” Mikey let his mother pat him down to assure he wasn’t injured. “I just didn’t want Miwa walking home alone. I was super careful!”

“Never do that again, Michelangelo.” Oh boy, she was really pulling out the full name. “I understand your worry for your sister, but please do not put me through that again.” Shen admonished her son before pulling him into a hug.

Mikey knew his mother wouldn’t stay mad for long. He’d probably lose video game privileges for a week, but he could live with that. As he had told Miwa, it was worth it.

Miwa shared the news about April with their mother, who had been rightfully horrified and as suspicious as Miwa about the Foot Clan’s potential involvement. Just as Miwa had been, though, Shen wondered why they would go after April. Even if it was because of her connection with their family, why not just go straight for Shen and her children? What game was Saki playing?

Shen made sure to tell Miwa to invite April over the next day. April was like a second daughter to her, and she could only imagine what the poor girl was going through. She couldn’t help but feel a sting of guilt. Shen still wasn’t sure if she was involved—directly or indirectly—in the attack on April, but she would take care of the girl regardless. She was sure Mr. O’Neil would have done the same if their roles were switched.

April did accept Miwa’s offer and came over the next day, but she kept quiet about what exactly happened to her, simply saying, “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“You’d be surprised, dear,” Shen replied, thinking of her ears being uncomfortably pressed down by her uchikatsugi and her fur being rubbed the wrong way by her long sleeves. Mikey, who still wore his hoodie and face mask around April despite the girl telling him she wouldn’t judge him, snorted.

Unfortunately, April had simply shook her head, but she was still polite as she thanked Shen for dinner.

Miwa continued to invite April over, but slowly she began to accept it less and less. Her friend was a terrible liar, eyes darting around and voice going high whenever Miwa asked what she was doing instead. After a week of being denied, and fearing one of her only friends was drawing away from her, Miwa decided that she would find out what April was up to. Her friend had continued to insist she would find her father, no matter what it took, and she was terrified that April would eventually cross the wrong person, especially if the Foot was involved.

Miwa waved goodbye to April after school, rounding a corner before climbing up a fire escape and doubling back. She followed April from the rooftops easily, having spent many a weekend playing rooftop tag with Mikey. She was confused when she noticed April taking a turn into an alleyway away from her path home. 

She was even more confused when April lifted a manhole cover and descended into the sewers.

Miwa climbed down from the roof, pausing briefly in front of the manhole cover. She looked down at her clothes and let out a sigh before sliding in after April. She was grateful she hadn’t worn her favorite shoes as she landed in a puddle of who knew what, face screwing up in disgust. Miwa saw the faint light of a flashlight up ahead and silently followed. 

April was so going to owe her for this.

Miwa’s thoughts raced with possibilities as she followed after April. What could her friend be doing down here? Did she have a lead on her dad? She couldn’t imagine that the Foot clan or the Hamato clan were hiding down here. It was taking everything she had not to gag at the smell and give herself away to April.

After a series of twists and turns and nearly losing April several times, Miwa saw a light up ahead just as her friend was turning her flashlight off. She watched as April hopped over some old turnstiles and made her way into what looked like an old subway station. It looked strangely lived in, with a couch and old TV in the center of a pit. A pinball machine sat in one corner while a punching bag hung in another corner. There was an arcade machine in front of the turnstiles and a pool bubbling to its right. Stairs led up to a corridor that she could not see. The smell was vastly better than it had been on her walk here, though there was still a slight underlying stench of sewage. Miwa stayed back in the shadows of the entryway, minding the trash around her, as April called out.

“Guys? Are you here?”

“April!” Miwa’s jaw dropped as a tall, humanoid turtle rushed out of the corridor. He was taller and lankier than Mikey and was more olive green compared to her brother’s lime green scales, but they could definitely still pass as brothers. She slapped a hand over her mouth to cover her gasp as two more turtles followed after him. The other two were more similar to Mikey in height, but they also had their unique qualities. Each of the turtles wore a colored mask around their eyes, and Miwa couldn’t help the image of Mikey donning an orange one, his favorite color, that flashed in her mind.

Their family had always wondered where Mikey had come from—what his connection to the strange men had been. This must be it. Miwa had to fight back the hysterical giggle that threatened to pass her lips.

Sewer creatures. 

What a cliche. 

Miwa watched as they interacted, noting important sounding words like “Kraang” and “mutagen.” She didn’t know what they meant yet, but she would find out. Whoever these turtles were, they seemed to be helping April with finding her father. They appeared to be ninjas, and Miwa wondered if they were connected to the ninjas being in New York. Were they connected to the Hamato clan? If so, how?

The longer she stuck around, the more nervous Miwa became that she would be discovered. Believing that she had gotten enough to confront April about later, she made to leave.

Clack!

Miwa watched with horror as the can she accidentally kicked bounced across the ground. The room fell silent, and she bolted back the way she came. She could hear movement behind her, but she didn’t look back. She threw herself around each turn and bend, dodging throwing stars and bodies as they reached for her. If she could just make it to the ladder—

Miwa cried out as she was tackled to the ground. Her head slammed down with a crack, and everything went black.

Miwa came to with a groan. She blinked sluggishly, squinting at the light as her head pounded. She realized quickly that her hands and legs were bound to the chair she was sitting in. She tugged at them, breath quickening as she began to panic. She had no idea what time it was, and she had not warned her mother of what she was doing. Mikey knew she was planning something, but she hadn’t confirmed anything with him before doing this. They would have no idea where she was.

“Hey, hey. Calm down. We’re not going to hurt you.” Miwa shot a glare in the general direction of the speaker—the blue-banded turtle.

“Are you okay, Miwa?” Pain spiked in her head at April’s loud question. Miwa flinched hard enough that, through her dizziness, it almost looked like the other turtles flinched too. April turned towards the blue turtle with a scowl. “Nice going! You probably gave her a concussion.”

“Hey, that was Raph, not me.”

“I still don’t think I hit her hard enough.” The blue-banded turtle was shoved aside by the red one, who leaned in close and shoved a finger in her face. “Talk, sister. Why were you spying on us?

Miwa was struggling to comprehend everything going on around her as she fought through the fog in her brain. “What?”

The third turtle, the purple one, pushed his way into her face and pointed a flashlight at her eyes, which she immediately flinched away from. “Yeah, Raph definitely gave her a concussion. I’m so sorry, April.”

April sighed. “It’s all right, Donnie.” It most certainly was not all right. “Miwa, can you hear me?”

Miwa swallowed and coughed at the dry sensation in her throat. How long was she out? “Yes. April, what the hell is going on?”

“These are my friends, Leo, Raph, and Donnie,” April pointed at each one as she spoke. Leo and Donnie smiled awkwardly while Raph scowled. “They saved me the night that my dad and I were kidnapped, and they’ve been helping me with finding him.”

“It’s nice to meet another friend of April’s!” Donnie said with an awkward laugh before Miwa could reply.

Miwa narrowed her eyes at him. There was something about the way he looked at her friend… “Nice to meet you too, I guess. Or it would have been had you not slammed my head into the ground.” She fidgeted and pulled at her restraints. “Can you let me out now? My mom is going to kill me when I get home, and I’d rather not be any more late than I already am.”

Raph stopped April from moving toward her. “Answer our question first. Why were you spying on us?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Miwa snarked. “April’s been acting suspicious for days now. I was worried she was getting herself into trouble, and it seems like I was right. Happy?”

“No, not happy,” Raph’s hands were itching to grab his sais, but Leo put out a hand.

“Why are you so calm about this?” Leo asked.

Miwa quirked an eyebrow. “Do you want me to freak out?”

“No! No, but… unless that concussion is worse than we thought, have you not noticed what we look like?”

April frowned. “You are taking this a lot better than I did, and they were actually helping me at the time.”

Miwa scowled. Her thoughts were struggling to come together as she fought through her confusion and nausea. Had she been of more sound mind, maybe she would have thought better of her next sentence, but all she could think of at the moment was one thing.

“You look like my brother.”

Everyone paused, and even Raph’s anger drained away to confusion.

“Excuse me?” Donnie asked.

Miwa rolled her eyes. “My brother. You look like my brother. That’s why I’m not freaked out.”

“You mean Mikey?” All eyes shot to April. “Mikey, who won’t let me see what he looks like under his hoodie despite knowing each other for three years?”

“Mikey?” Leo asked breathlessly. He was staring at Miwa, hesitantly hopeful. “Michelangelo?”

Miwa’s brow furrowed. “How do you know my brother’s name?”

“You have a mutant turtle brother named Michelangelo?” Donnie asked, voice rising several octaves as excitement overtook him.

A cold feeling settled in Miwa’s chest as she realized what she had done. She had broken her mother’s one rule and drawn attention to her family. If these turtles were Mikey’s family, what was to stop them from taking him back? She tugged harder at her restraints.

“I answered your question, so let me go. I need to get home.”

April finally shoved Raph’s arm out of the way—something that was much easier than usual considering the blank stare Raph was giving Miwa—and went to help her friend.

“W-Wait! You can’t go!” Leo stepped forward, eyes pleading. “Tell us more about your brother!”

“Like hell I will,” Miwa snapped as she rubbed at her freed wrists. “I shouldn’t have even said anything. Look, I’m not going to tell anyone you’re down here, so we can just pretend that this never happened.”

“Hold on—” Donnie said, but April stopped him with a glare.

“No, you guys have done enough today. We’ll talk more later.” April wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “Come on, Miwa. I’ll help you home.”

Miwa ignored the turtles as she was led out of the sewers. She and April were silent the whole way home. It was dark out when they climbed out of the sewers, and Miwa dreaded her family’s reaction. She was not disappointed.

Her mother had flung the door open as soon as she and April approached, wrapping her arms around her daughter with Mikey quickly joining the hug. April had given some excuse about Miwa falling and hitting her head while they hung out at the park, but Miwa knew her mother would not fall for it. Still, she refused to tell her or Mikey the truth as her mother fretted over her. She was far too ashamed of what she had done.

As soon as Shen had gone to bed, Miwa made her way to her brother’s room. They had not shared a bed for a long time, but she could not sleep without him near—without knowing if the turtles had snuck in to steal him away in the night to be gone forever. Mikey was all too happy to have an impromptu sleepover, even if he did not know her full reasoning.

Despite being next to her brother, Miwa did not sleep that night, eyes trained on her brother’s window.

Chapter Text

When Leo was four years old, he found his father crying while knelt in front of the shrine in the dojo.

“Daddy?” Leo ambled over to his father and reached up towards his tear-streaked face. “Why are you crying?”

“I am grieving, my son,” Splinter replied. He grabbed his son by the shoulders and gently turned him towards the shrine, pointing at the photo in the middle. “My wife and daughter, Tang Shen and Miwa. They were lost before you and your brothers came into my life.”

Leo marveled at the photo. He had seen the shrine before, but he had never gotten close enough to see what was on it. “What happened to them?” 

Splinter smiled ruefully. “That will be a story for when your brothers are present as well. It is a sad story, and I would rather tell it only once.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Leo wasn’t sure he wanted to hear a sad story, but he was curious about the people in the picture. He pointed to the man, who his father had not named yet. “Who’s that?”

“That is me. Before I became what I am today.”

Leo blinked in shock, looking back and forth between his daddy and the picture. “Huh?”

“It is a long story, but it has to do with your birthday,” Splinter said with a chuckle. 

“Tomorrow!”

Splinter’s smile faltered as he was reminded of why he was in front of the shrine in the first place. “Yes, your birthday is tomorrow. The day all our lives changed…”

Leo barely heard his father’s murmur as he glanced back at the shrine. It was mostly bare, but it held a glass bowl and a small orange cloth along with the lone picture. He reached for the cloth curiously. “What’s this?”

Leo stumbled back in surprise as the cloth was snatched from his fingers. He turned startled eyes towards his daddy, and his lip wobbled. “Daddy?”

Splinter matched his expression as he gently set the cloth back on the shrine. “I—I am sorry, Leonardo. I did not mean to scare you, but please do not touch this again. It belonged to your brother.”

“Raphie?” It looked close enough to red, which was his brother’s favorite color.

“No.” Splinter closed his eyes, composing himself before speaking again. “I was going to wait until you were older, but perhaps this is a sign for you to know now. I should not keep this information from you.” Splinter turned and gathered his eldest son into his arms. “You were so young that you do not remember, but you all had another brother, Michelangelo.”

“M—Mike—Mikey-angie-lo?” Leo asked, stumbling over the complicated name. His eyes lit up at the prospect of having someone else to play with. “Where is he, Daddy?”

Splinter’s lip trembled. “He is not with us anymore. He is with my beloved Tang Shen and Miwa now.”

“Oh.” Leo frowned, deep in thought before an idea popped into his head. “We can find him! And Tan’ Shen and Mi’a too!”

Splinter let out a wet chuckle, holding his son closer in a hug, which Leo eagerly returned. “I wish we could, but they are in a place we cannot go.”

“Why?” Leo asked with a pout. He really wanted to play with this new brother!

“We will see them again one day, Leonardo, but hopefully that will not be for a very long time.”

Leo was confused about why that was a good thing, but Splinter was already putting him down and ushering him out of the dojo before he could ask. He quickly forgot about the conversation as he saw Raphie and Donnie playing a new game without him.

The next day, their father told them his history and the story of their mutation. His brothers were shocked to hear about Michelangelo, and Donnie especially had a lot of questions. His smart little brother was excited to learn anything new, and he was ecstatic to find that he wasn’t actually the youngest brother. However, his brothers were just as disheartened as he had been to learn that Michelangelo was gone and could not be found.

After that conversation, Splinter refused to speak of Michelangelo again, no matter how much they asked. It wasn’t until Leo got older that he realized that there wasn’t much to talk about with how young they were when his brother died along with his father still grieving. Splinter was still happy to share their origin story every mutation day, but Michelangelo was never mentioned again.

That didn’t stop the brothers from whispering about him behind closed doors, however. Leo, having recently discovered the brilliance of Captain Ryan and Space Heroes, dedicated himself to his training. If he wanted to figure out what happened to his brother—andmaybepotentiallysavehim—he was going to need to be in peak condition to fight the strangers who had harmed his family.

Raph thought he was crazy. His immediate younger brother was the one who stuck closest to Splinter’s motto of keeping quiet about Michelangelo, adamant that the youngest was dead. According to Raph, they couldn’t even remember him, so there was no reason to agonize over it.

(On the nights Raph couldn’t sleep, the middle brother would look towards the empty room that would have been Michelangelo’s and wonder what it would have been like to have two younger brothers. Raph imagined they would have gotten along the best. He loved his other two brothers, but Leo was older and felt he had to be responsible for them, and Donnie was always locking himself away in his room or lab to work on whatever new project he had.)

Donnie mostly kept quiet about Michelangelo, but he wondered what it would have been like to be an older brother. Donnie hated being the baby of the family. He was the smartest among them, and they did acknowledge that, but he still felt like Leo and Raph didn’t always take him as seriously as they should. They were especially overprotective after they learned the story of Michelangelo, and Donnie couldn’t help but feel smothered sometimes.

Master Splinter didn’t exactly help. He was so terrified of something happening to them after losing their youngest brother. He trained them until they were ready to pass out, stating that they needed to be at their peak ability in case they were ever attacked. Humans would never accept them, so he kept them down in the sewers. It wasn’t so bad for the first few years of their lives, and their sensei’s stories squashed any initial curiosity they had, but eventually the sewers started to feel too small. The only reason he gave his permission for them to go to the surface was because he knew they were a step away from sneaking out, and he’d rather know where they were than not.

They never faulted Master Splinter for their childhood—their sensei had done his best, of course—but when the turtles would find the occasional VHS of a movie or TV show with a happy family living in the suburbs, they couldn’t help but wonder what could have been.

The turtles watched as April led Miwa out of the lair.

“...Did that really just happen?” Donnie asked, breaking their silence.

“Do you think it’s really him?” Leo asked, still staring at the entrance to the lair, as if hoping they would just walk right back in.

Raph stayed silent, eyes trained on the chair they had tied Miwa to. Leo almost wanted to comment on it—nothing had ever made his immediate younger brother speechless before—but his mind was racing.

All of his dreams of discovering what happened to his brother—of potentially saving his brother—were coming true. Leo wondered what Michelangelo—Mikey—was like. Would he be anything like him and his brothers? How did his brother come to be with humans?

“My sons? I thought I heard a commotion.” 

The brothers turned to see Splinter emerging from the dojo. They froze, glancing at each other in a panic. Splinter rarely left the dojo these days, either training them or meditating in front of the altar. He came out for meals, but that was about it. Leo knew he was still grieving, but he wished that he could get their sensei to come out of his shell (no pun intended).

Maybe finding out Michelangelo was alive would do exactly that.

“Oh! Um, yeah, April was here,” Leo finally responded. If turtles could sweat, he would be sweating bullets. “She got a call from her aunt and had to leave pretty quickly.”

“I thought I heard shouting.”

“Oh, well, you know Raph. He’s always angry about something,” Leo replied with a weak chuckle, hoping with all his heart that he was coming off as casual. Given the incredulous looks Raph and Donnie were sending his way, he figured he was probably failing.

“Hm.” Splinter rubbed his thin beard, and once again Leo was thankful that turtles didn’t sweat. His sensei would surely have noticed it. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yes. Okay.” Splinter wandered back into the dojo.

“...Oh, he so knows you were lying.”

“Shut it, Donnie.”

“Why did you lie?” Raph asked, crossing his arms. “I thought you’d jump at the chance to tell Sensei about—” Raph’s eyes darted toward the dojo. There was no telling if Splinter was listening in or not. “...him.”

“I don’t want to get his hopes up—not until we have definitive proof. If she’s lying or talking about another mutant, it would crush Sensei.” Leo looked towards the dojo worriedly. “I’m not sure if he can take another blow like that.”

“That’s another thing. Don’t you think it’s a pretty big coincidence that this girl has the same name as you-know-who and has a brother named you-know-who?”

“Raph’s right,” Donnie cut in, putting a hand to his chin in thought. “What are the chances that April just happens to be friends with someone that has so many ties to our family? It’s probably a trap.”

“Even if it is, we have to try.” Leo was back to looking at the entrance to the lair, already planning. “The girl is probably a coincidence. It’s not like only one person can be named that. There’s too many hints about Mikey, though. If we don’t investigate, we’ll always be left to wonder, and I won’t live with that.” Leo turned to his brothers with determination.

“Let’s bring our brother home.”

“No.”

“No? What do you mean ‘no?’” Raph asked incredulously.

They had all gathered outside of April’s apartment the next night, eager to ask their human friend where Miwa and Mikey lived. April, however, did not share their enthusiasm.

“I mean no. You guys gave her a concussion! I’m shocked she still even wants to talk to me at school after how everything went down yesterday.”

Leo’s eyes lit up. “So you’ve talked to her? What did she say?”

April glared at him, crossing her arms as she leaned against the window frame. “If you’re asking about Mikey, I have nothing for you. She doesn’t want to talk about him. She doesn’t even want me going to her apartment, and trust me I asked.”

“Aren’t you even a little curious?” Donnie asked.

“Of course, I am. I’ve known Mikey for three years, and I’ve never seen what he looked like. I’ve seen a flash of green here and there, and I’ve seen he has three fingers on each hand, but I couldn’t tell you if he’s your long lost brother or just someone with a weird birth defect. But I respect my friends, and I’m not going to violate their privacy for your sake.”

“If you just tell us where they live—”

“I said no, Leo. Accept it.” With that, April pulled back inside and closed her window.

“...Well, that went well.”

“Shut it, Raph.” Leo snapped, rubbing at his temple.

Donnie was wringing his hands as he stared at April’s window. He bit at his lip, somewhat soothed as it filled in the gap in his teeth. “Do you think April hates us now? We did hurt her friend.”

“She’ll get over it.” Raph rolled his eyes and looked at Leo. “So? What now, fearless leader?

Leo hesitated, and Donnie and Raph leaned closer.

“I have an idea, but it could be pretty dangerous…”

And so the next day, the turtles found themselves on the surface once again. For the first time, however, they found themselves out during the daytime. It was late afternoon, and Leo and his brothers were hiding on a roof across from April’s school. Leo practically jumped at any sound that didn’t come from Raph or Donnie, paranoid that the humans would see them. His heart pounded as they hid behind an air conditioning unit, clustered together to watch the live feed of the camera they had pointed at the school from Donnie’s laptop.

“I can’t believe you broke Sensei’s number one rule,” Raph said. Leo had quickly lost count of how many times his brother had said it since he had voiced the plan. “I knew you were desperate to find Michelangelo, but this seems a bit far even for you.”

“And you’re complaining?”

“No. I like it.” Raph grinned. “It’s nice to see that Splinter Jr. still knows how to be fun sometimes.”

Leo rolled his eyes, but movement from the screen grabbed his attention before he could reply. He watched as kids poured out the doors of the school, and he could hear the faint ringing of a bell. He stood and addressed his brothers. “Search carefully for the girl, and make sure you’re not seen. Raph, you’re with me. Donnie, keep watching the camera. This is our most dangerous mission yet—”

“This is like our third mission,” Raph muttered. Leo ignored him.

“This is our most dangerous mission yet being out in the daylight, so be careful, and don’t let anyone see you, especially the girl.”

“And April,” Donnie added. “She’s mad enough as it is.”

Leo sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes, and April. Let’s move, ninjas.”

Raph and Donnie nodded at him, and they split up to look for Miwa. Raph and Leo took opposite sides of the roof, watching as the kids split into different directions. They had only seen Miwa once, but they figured they should be able to spot her in the crowd. Their rescue of April had proved their ability to fight, but this mission would be a testament to their full capability of being ninjas. Raph might act like the most important part of being a ninja was the combat, but Leo knew there was so much more to it.

Leo imagined the pride in Sensei’s eyes as he praised them for their skills, only to see them light up further as they brought Michelangelo into the dojo. Their family had been broken long before Leo had realized it had ever been whole in the first place, but he would be the one to fix it. He didn’t know what Michelangelo looked like, but he could see a turtle that looked like them, with eyes flickering from blue, brown, and green and skin wavering between shades of green. Did he look more like Raph, Donnie, or him? Was he smart like Donnie? Passionate and angry like Raph? Did he like Space Heroes like Leo did?

Leo imagined training beside his brother, teaching him between sessions with Sensei to catch him up since he likely hadn’t had the same upbringing they did. He imagined going on missions with Michelangelo, the youngest brother filling a hole in their formation that Leo hadn’t even realized was there. He imagined showing his brother his new room in the lair. Leo hadn’t been able to sleep much before this mission, so he had secretly begun clearing out the storage room across from his own. His youngest brother would be right across from him in case he needed anything.

Leo felt a smile form on his face, and he nearly missed Raph’s call.

“I see her!”

Leo shot up and followed after his brother with Donnie right behind him. He peered over the roof and saw Miwa talking to April. Both girls looked upset, and Leo could see Miwa’s eyes darting around. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but he saw Miwa snap something at April before turning around and stalking away. Leo felt guilt about the heartbroken look on April’s face, knowing they likely had some part in the argument, but he would deal with it later. For now, they were following behind Miwa, ducking away any time the girl looked up at the rooftops. They followed her to a small dojo, which Miwa entered. The brothers waited, but she did not come back out.

“Hey, it looks like there’s an apartment above the dojo,” Donnie said. “Do you think she lives here?”

“It’s possible,” Leo replied, eyes trained on the dojo’s doors. “We should cover any potential exits just in case.”

The brothers split up with Raph and Donnie taking other roofs to spy on the back of the building as well as the fire escape. If Miwa was going to leave, they would see it. Leo wished they had a walkie talkie or some other device that would allow them to communicate with each other while separated, but Donnie had said he was still working on that.

He was so busy watching the front of the dojo that he nearly missed movement on the roof. His breath caught as he watched as Miwa and a hooded figure climbed onto the roof from the fire escape. He couldn’t see the hooded figure’s face, but the lumpy back under the hoodie and the way the figure was covering themselves up told Leo that this had to be Mikey. Leo watched the figure like a hawk as he danced across the roof with Miwa following behind. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but her demeanor was the same as it was when she was talking to April. He figured she was probably asking him to go back inside.

Leo felt more than saw Raph appear by his side. Neither spoke, watching as Miwa began to relax and play some sort of game with the figure.

“You really think that’s him?” Raph asked, finally breaking the silence.

“He’s gotta be. I can feel it.”

They continued to watch the siblings with Donnie eventually joining them. Leo thought of all the ways to go over and introduce himself, but some of April’s warning managed to stick with him. He didn’t want to scare his brother away, but Miwa surely would after their disastrous meeting. They would need to talk to Mikey alone. Maybe when Miwa was at school?

The sun went down, and Leo felt himself relax in the darkness. It would be much harder to be spotted now, so they could watch their brother more freely.

Leo was disappointed to see the siblings head back inside at first dark. He strained to look in any of the windows, but all of the blinds were shut. He sighed with disappointment and turned towards his brothers.

“Well, guys, I say this mission was a success! We know where he lives now, so let’s head back and—”

Leo was cut off as a figure landed on the other side of the roof. The brothers froze briefly before drawing their weapons.

The figure was covered head-to-toe in black, but the shape of their body told the brothers it was probably a woman. She held a naginata in one hand as she stared at them. There was something off about the woman, but Leo couldn’t quite tell what.

“Um…hello? Who are—”

The woman lunged forward, and Leo brought his katanas up to block the blow from her naginata. His brothers sprang into action, ready to defend their oldest brother. The trio fought the woman, but they were still new to fighting as a team, and the woman was incredibly skilled. She was quick to disarm Raph and Donnie and toss them aside, and Leo quickly found himself pinned down with the blade of the naginata in his face.

“I do not know who you are, but stay away from my family. I will not be kind again.”

Leo looked into her eyes—the only part of the woman visible outside of her black clothing, and was shocked to see one eye was scarred over while the other was slitted like a cat’s. Before he could say anything, the woman pulled the weapon back and leapt off the roof.

Leo sat up slowly as his brothers collected their weapons and made their way back over to him.

“What the hell was that?” Raph asked, furious and thoroughly embarrassed at how quickly he was defeated.

Leo didn’t answer right away, staring as he saw a shadow pass by the window of their brother’s apartment.

“...This just got a whole lot harder.”

Chapter Text

Mama and Miwa had been acting strange lately, and Mikey was going to get to the bottom of it.

It had started with Miwa after April had brought her home. She had been particularly skittish—a trait Mikey would never have previously described her as. His sister stuck close to him, and it felt like the park incident all over again. His mama had been curious but had been unable to get her to open up.

Not long after that, his mama began acting the same way. Mikey was all for love bombing and cuddles and spending time with his family, but it was starting to smother him. Any attempts to ask what was going on were rebuffed, and alone time was very limited. He was pretty sure Mama and Miwa weren’t working together, as they often sent each other suspicious looks when they acted the same, so there was only one person he could turn to.

“...Hello? Mikey?”

“April!” Mikey cheered into his phone. His mother was out running errands while Miwa was at school. Mikey had asked to come with, but his mother had been adamant that he stayed safe at home. It had irritated Mikey greatly, as he was itching to get out of the small apartment, but he at least was going to take the chance to investigate. He knew April was at school as well and had called her phone several times, hoping she would answer.

“I can’t talk long. What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

Mikey bit his lip. April was his only hope at the moment, but he knew that Miwa and she weren’t on good terms right now. He hoped she wasn’t the reason Miwa and his mama were acting weird, but maybe she knew what was up with them. “I need your help, April. Do you know why my mama and sister are acting weird?”

“...”

April’s silence was telling.

“April?”

“...I’m not sure if it’s my place to tell—”

“If it’s about me, which it really seems like it is, then I have a right to know!” His hands trembled as he held the phone. “Please, April. Is this about the fight you and Miwa had?”

“I—Yeah…” April replied with a sigh. “Mikey, there’s a lot that’s been going on, and maybe Miwa told your mom. That would explain why she’s acting ‘weird’ as you said. I—” Mikey could imagine her biting her lip as she gathered her thoughts.

“I’m going to come over after school. I don’t care what Miwa says. You have a right to know what’s going on.”

Mikey let out a shaky breath. “Can’t you tell me now? Please?”

“There’s a lot to tell, and I have to get back to class. I’ve been gone too long. I promise, though, Mikey. You’re going to get a lot more answers than you think.”

With that, April hung up, leaving Mikey even more confused than before he called his friend. He put his phone down and stared down at his lap as he sat cross-legged on his bed. Nervous energy thrummed throughout his body, making his limbs tingly and twitchy. He had no idea what April was talking about, but he had a bad feeling about it.

Mikey was knocked from his thoughts as Klunk crawled into his lap and rolled over, presenting her belly to her owner. He let out a giggle and scratched her obligingly.

“You know just what I need, Klunk,” Mikey said. He moved his hand to scratch behind her ear, and Klunk purred, eye closing with bliss. “I think I’m going to need you now more than ever, girl. I don’t know what’s going on, but it feels big. And not like knocking-down-the-weapons-rack big but, like, the-dojo-is-burning-down big.”

Klunk meowed.

“I know I shouldn’t worry, but I can’t help it, Klunk. I’ve never been wrong about a bad feeling before, have I?”

“Mrow.”

“Okay, so maybe I’ve been wrong once or twice, but I swear I saw that giant robot guy a few weeks back.”

Mikey pulled Klunk into his arms and cuddled her, aching for any sort of comfort that could relieve his anxiety. Mikey was not an anxious turtle by nature—he preferred to go with the flow of whatever was thrown at him, which admittedly wasn’t much in his sheltered life. He didn’t like this feeling and hoped it would go away soon.

His mother still hadn’t returned by the time Miwa angrily walked through the door with April in tow. She had sent a message that she had gotten held up with an order she had made but that she would be home soon, so Mikey wasn’t too worried. He was worried, however, by Miwa’s demeanor.

“Did you call April?” Miwa asked, glaring at her brother. Mikey matched her, though his cat-themed face mask probably diminished it.

“Yes. She’s the only one who’s willing to tell me that something is going on with you and Mama.” Mikey immediately dropped his glare, taking his sister’s hands as he watched her with concern. “Seriously, Miwa, what’s happening? You’ve never kept secrets like this before.”

“It’s nothing!”

“Liar!” He yanked his hands away. His glare was back as he fought back tears. “I love you, Miwa, more than anything in the world, but you haven’t been in my space like this for years. You’re obviously worried about something. Is it the ninjas from the news? Did you run into them or something?”

“That’s… not that far off actually,” April chimed in.

Miwa snarled, “shut up, April. I didn’t even want you here.”

“I told her to come over!” Mikey snapped. “Is this why you guys are fighting? Because she knows something?” His lip wobbled as a thought popped into his head. “Do you trust her more than you trust me? Is that why she knows, and I don’t?”

“No!” Miwa lunged forward and clasped his hands in hers. “Mikey, never! I could never trust anyone more than I trust you. You’re my little brother. I would die for you.”

“Well, don’t do that,” Mikey replied shakily. “Just tell me what’s going on. Please.”

Miwa stayed silent, fighting between her desire to protect her brother and telling him the truth.

“Miwa…”

“Mikey.” He turned towards April, who had stepped forward as she spoke. “Those ninjas you mentioned—they saved me the night my dad and I were kidnapped. They’ve been helping me find my dad since then, which is why I haven’t been over as much.”

“Okay…?” Mikey’s brow furrowed. “What does that have to do with me?”

April glanced at Miwa, but his sister stayed silent, so the redhead continued. “Mikey… They weren’t ordinary ninjas—or, well, as ordinary as you can get with ninjas in New York.” April took one of his hands from Miwa and looked into his eyes, even as Mikey tried to duck into the shadows of his hoodie. “There were three of them, and they were some kind of mutant turtles.”

Mikey froze—for once at a loss for words. His shock seemed to confirm something for her. April reached for his hoodie, and Mikey flinched, but a nod and a squeeze of his hand from Miwa kept him in place. His friend gently pulled the hoodie back, revealing his bald, green head to the apartment. Her fingers moved down to his face mask but hesitated. Mikey’s terrified eyes locked onto April’s. She silently asked for permission, but he saw no fear in her eyes, so Mikey nodded. April gently pulled the face mask down and let out a gasp as his face was revealed. Mikey flinched back once more, shutting his eyes as he waited for her to scream.

“Oh my god,” he heard her say softly. “They were telling the truth.”

Mikey opened his eyes and found April gaping at him, but there still was no fear coming from his friend. He felt Miwa squeeze his hand harder, and he squeezed back.

“You’re… not afraid of me?” Mikey asked.

“Before I got kidnapped, I probably would have been,” April admitted, smiling ruefully. “But I’ve gotten to know the guys pretty well, and I know how cool you are, Mikey. I could never be afraid of you.”

…Did she really say that?

Mikey burst into tears as he flung himself forward, wrapping his arms around the redheaded girl. He felt April tense for a moment before she relaxed and hugged him back. Mikey was embarrassed as he cried into her shoulder, but he couldn’t help it. All he had ever wanted was for a friend who wouldn’t judge him for how he looked, and he finally had it.

Mikey eventually pulled away from her, scrubbing at his cheeks. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It sounds like you needed it.”

“You said there were mutant turtles? Like me?” Mikey asked, wanting to change the topic.

“Yeah, Leo, Raph, and Donnie. They’re around your age.” April frowned and glanced at Miwa, who scowled and turned away. “I’ve been going to their place while they help me find my dad. I guess Miwa got suspicious about me turning down her invitations to come over and followed me.”

“You met them?” Mikey turned to Miwa in disbelief. “And you didn’t tell me?”

Miwa’s scowl deepened. “What was I supposed to tell you?”

“That there are others out there like me?” Mikey replied, bewildered. “We can finally get the answers about what happened the night Mama found me all those years ago! I might get answers about what I am!”

Miwa’s tone was bitter as she spoke, “so you can be with your real family.”

“I… What? Is that what this is about?” Mikey was dumbfounded. Did Miwa really think so lowly of him? “Mimi, I would never abandon you and Mama. You’re my family, not some turtles I’ve never met before. I just thought… Mama’s been wondering for a long time, and we can finally help her. And… I’d like to know where I came from. Is that so bad to ask?”

It was Miwa’s turn to fight back tears. She never liked crying in front of her younger brother, always trying to be the strong one for him, but ever since it had clicked for her that Mikey had to come from somewhere—that perhaps he had family out there somewhere—she had always been terrified that she would one day wake up to find him gone, taken away from her to a place she could not go. Her fear had only amplified once she had met the other turtles.

Mikey could see how his sister warred with her emotions. He moved closer, pressing their foreheads together. “You’re mine, Mimi, just like I’m yours. And no one is going to get between us. I’d rather die.”

“You guys really need to stop talking about dying for each other. It’s kind of concerning.”

The siblings glanced at April, bursting into giggles as they looked back at each other. Mikey moved back and was happy to see his sister smiling back at him.

“So what do you say?” he asked.

Miwa let out a sigh. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it would be a good idea to—”

“Michelangelo!”

The three teens jumped and whirled around to see Shen standing at the door, her shopping dropped on the floor around her. Though they couldn’t see their mother’s face, her shock and horror were clearly evident as she pushed herself between her children and April.

“Mama, wait—”

“No one will ever believe what you have seen,” Shen stated, her veil brushing against April’s face as she leaned in close. “You can shout it to the heavens all you want—”

“Hold on a second—”

“Mom! Mom!”

“Mama, stop!”

“--you better have not said anything to my son about how he looks—”

“MOM!” Miwa and Mikey managed to pull their mother away from their friend, who had backed up into the wall. Shen whirled around but made sure to still keep April in her periphery.

“Angel, baby, what happened?” Shen fussed over her son, attempting to pull his hoodie back over his head, but Mikey fought back. “Don’t listen to a word she says. You know what I told you about other people—”

“Mama! Mama, it’s fine!” Mikey batted her hands away. Shen paused as she noticed Michelangelo’s face glowing with joy. “April doesn’t mind! We can be ourselves around her, Mama. Just like we always wanted.”

Shen paused before looking over at April suspiciously. “Is this true?”

April nodded, still recovering from Shen’s advance on her. She hadn’t realized their mom could be so intimidating. She cleared her throat. “You’re a mutant too?”

“She was mutated the night she found me,” Mikey said. He beamed up at his mother. “Come on, Mama. You can take off your veil.”

“I don’t know…” Shen hadn’t revealed her face to anyone except her children since her recovery at the hospital. The idea of baring her face now was practically incomprehensible. “I am still heavily scarred from the fire. It is not a pretty sight.”

April attempted to smile encouragingly at the woman who had kindly helped her after her father had been taken. “You deserve to be yourself in your own home. However you look, I can handle it.”

Shen bit her lip. She was still nervous—people had cowered from her even at the hospital—but she couldn’t deny her desire to speak to someone other than her children face to face. Still, she felt absolutely naked as she slowly removed her uchikatsugi. Her ears popped up from where they had been cramped inside the hat, and Shen relished the fresh air on her face, even as her mind raced anxiously. She flinched as April’s eyes widened in shock but was pleased to see that the girl did not shrink back like so many others had.

“...You’re a cat?” April finally asked, and Shen burst out into laughter.

“Yes, I believe it was the last thing I touched before the strange substance hit me. I suppose it could have been much worse.”

“Oh, definitely,” April replied, thinking back to the mutants she had seen since meeting the turtles.

“As pleased as I am to finally be able to be open with you, April, I must ask what led to you knowing about Michelangelo?”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Mikey asserted, though it was said with glee rather than in defense as Shen had expected. He wrapped his arms around her, still grinning up at her. “Mama, you’re never going to guess what happened! April met other mutant turtles in New York! Turtles like me!”

Shen tensed, any contentment she felt doused in icy fear. “...Turtles?”

“Yes! Maybe we can finally get some answers! April can take us to meet—”

“Absolutely not,” Shen snapped.

Mikey pulled away, brow furrowing. “What? Why?”

Her eyes darted to April’s. “Are there three of them? These turtles?”

“How did you know?” April’s expression darkened. “Oh, those idiots.”

“I don’t want you interacting with them. I found them spying on our home. I do not know what their intentions are, and I do not intend to find out.” Shen cupped her son’s face. “I love you and Miwa more than anything in this world, angel. If anything were to happen to you, I could not bear it.”

“They were spying on us?” Miwa grew red with fury. “I knew it! I knew they couldn’t be trusted!”

“But—”

“Screw them! They think they can just take you from us? They can try.” Miwa punched a fist into her palm.

“Guys—”

Mikey’s face was drawn back to his mother’s by her hand. “Promise me, Michelangelo. As much as I want answers about that night, I cannot take the risk of something happening to you. Please. Promise me.”

“I—” Mikey bit his lip before closing his eyes and sighing. “I promise, Mama.”

“Good.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead.

April pulled out her phone and headed for the door. “I need to go. Thank you so much again, Ms. Tang, for trusting me. I am definitely going to have a talk with the guys about respecting people’s privacy.”

Shen was worried about April interacting with the turtles, but she ultimately let her go. Perhaps, April’s words will keep them away.

She had to suppress a laugh as she heard April shout, “Those idiots!”

Donnie’s excited gasp had Leo looking away from the current episode of Space Heroes he was watching.

“April’s calling! Everyone be quiet!”

“We weren’t even—”

Donnie angrily waved Raph away and cleared his throat as he answered the phone. “Hello, Donatello speaking.”

Donnie immediately had to pull the phone away from his head, and even Leo and Raph could hear the yelling. “YOU IDIOTS!”

“April! April, calm down! What’s going on?”

Leo couldn’t hear what the human was saying as Donnie brought the phone back, but he could see the way Donnie paled and felt his heart sink. He had a feeling he knew what April was mad about.

“Hold on just a minute. We can explain—”

More yelling.

“Well, you couldn’t really have expected us—”

Donnie paused as April said something. His shoulders slumped, and he pulled the phone away from his head again to hit the speaker button.

“Am I on speaker?”

“We can hear you, April,” Leo replied.

“Good. Let me say this one more time. YOU IDIOTS!”

“April, we can explain—”

“I told you not to bother my friends. I told you!”

Leo was starting to get annoyed. Why was April making it such a big deal? “We didn’t talk to them or anything. We just wanted to confirm if—”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t talk to them or not! You spied on them! Damn it, you don’t even know what you’ve done. I had them! Mikey was wearing Miwa down to talk to you guys!”

“He knows about us?” Leo couldn’t help but ask, a smile growing on his face.

“Yes! And I was working everything out to get you guys to meet! But now there’s no way he’s going to meet with you after his mom discovered you guys spying on them!”

“The crazy lady was his mom?” Raph asked. “Yeesh.”

“That ‘crazy lady’ is super protective of Mikey! And now Miwa is angry too! You’ve lost all potential trust with them. I don’t even know how to salvage this.”

“Well, if we can just get Mikey alone—”

“How? When? Mikey doesn’t leave his apartment unless it’s with his mom or sister, and his mom is definitely not going to let him out of her sight now that she knows you guys are lurking around. God, why couldn’t you have listened to me?”

“We’re sorry, April,” Donnie said. “But can’t you understand how we felt? If there was even a chance—”

“I get it, but I don’t know what to do now. I’m lucky they still even trust me given that I know you guys.”

“Can’t you tell them that we’re trustworthy?” Leo asked. “That you’ve known us for a while and—”

“They’re not going to believe me after what you pulled. All I can say is good luck, guys. You really messed up this time.”

With that, April hung up.

The turtles sat in silence. Donnie was staring at his phone sadly while Leo was deep in thought. Raph looked annoyed, but Leo couldn’t tell if it was because of the situation or because they got yelled at by April.

Leo stood up. “Okay, team. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll continue with reconnaissance around the apartment, but we’ll have to be stealthier about it. Donnie, you think you can rig up some cameras on the rooftop across? Maybe the one across from the fire escape?”

“We’ll have to be careful that that woman doesn’t see us again, but—”

“Good.” Donnie glared as Leo interrupted him. “He’ll have to be left alone at some point. Maybe he’ll go up to the roof again. Even if his sister goes with him, April said that she and Mikey had originally been wearing her down. Maybe if we can catch them alone, she’ll give in a little more easily than their mom.”

“This is a stupid plan,” Raph grumbled.

“You got a better one?”

Raph rolled his eyes but didn’t answer.

Leo looked at each of his brothers. “This isn’t going to be easy, but we never thought it would be. This is the risk we take for bringing our family back together, and I’m willing to take it. Who’s with me?” Leo put out a hand.

“...”

“I said, who’s with me?”

Donnie and Raph grumbled but put their hand on top of Leo’s. Leo smirked.

“Let’s go, team. We’ve got a little brother to meet.”

Chapter Text

There were other turtles out there like him.

Mikey sat on his bed, absentmindedly petting Klunk as he thought. Mama and Miwa were fast asleep in their rooms, but Mikey couldn’t even think about sleeping. April had left hours ago, but her words still rang in his head.

What were these other turtles like? Were they really family?

Why did they abandon him?

Mikey had told Miwa that he wanted to get answers for Mama, but that hadn’t been fully accurate. He was happy with his family—he couldn’t have asked for a better one—but he couldn’t help but wonder. Mama had found him, but who had left him behind?

Where did he come from?

Mikey stared out his window and wondered. He had promised Mama he would stay away, and he intended to. He didn’t like the fear in his family’s eyes, but…

…didn’t he deserve answers too?

Mikey bit his lip and lay down, squeezing his eyes shut to chase away the thought. He was a good son. Sure, he caused mischief at times with a few pranks here and there, and there was that time he went to Miwa’s school without telling his mother, but he wasn’t one for disobeying his mother, at least not intentionally.

He rolled onto his stomach and cuddled Klunk close, hoping he would fall asleep soon. His mind never stopped racing, day or night, but Mikey begged his brain to calm down just enough to go to sleep. He didn’t like where his thoughts were heading.

He was a good son.

But Mama did say that the turtles had been spying on him. Why? To take him like Miwa said? Or maybe… they just wanted to meet him. Mikey glanced out his window.

Mama and Miwa would be even worse than before, now that they knew that these turtles were looking for him. He likely wouldn’t be leaving their sight for a while, except maybe for the bathroom and sleep. He cringed at the thought.

But there would still be times, as rare as they would be. If the turtles just happened upon him during that time…

Mikey let out a quiet groan and pulled the blanket up around him and Klunk. Mama just wanted to protect him. Besides, these turtles had abandoned him. Had Mama not found him, he would have died or been subjected to whatever horrors those strange men had in mind for him. Mikey didn’t know why they were so interested in him now, but it didn’t matter. Mama and Miwa were his family, not them.

He would listen to his mother.

He was a good son.

“I’m a good son,” Leo muttered as he hesitated outside the dojo. He shifted from foot to foot, biting his lip as he gathered the courage to walk through the door.

It was crucial to Leo’s plan that Sensei stayed in the dark about Mikey. April had basically confirmed that Mikey was their long lost brother, so the reunion between him and Sensei needed to be perfect. It was difficult hiding everything from Master Splinter, but Leo knew it would be worth it in the end.

“You may come in, Leonardo.”

Leo nearly jumped out of his skin at Splinter’s words. He should have realized that his father would notice him standing outside the door. He took a deep breath before walking in. He found his sensei meditating in front of the tree, incense burning nearby.

“Come join me, my son.”

Leo did as he was told, kneeling beside Splinter. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the incense ease some of his anxiety.

“What troubles you?”

This was the difficult part. Leo needed advice, but he couldn’t give too much away. His eyes drifted over to the shrine, and an idea formed in his head.

“When you were trying to get Tang Shen’s attention, did you ever have trouble?”

Splinter quirked a brow at the unexpected topic but chuckled. “Of course. She was the most beautiful woman in our village. She had many men vying for her affection.” He smiled in amusement. “Is this about Donatello, or perhaps have you found someone that has caught your attention?”

“Um. Well, uh—” Leo stammered, blushing furiously. This was never a conversation he wanted to have with his father. He wanted to deny the accusation vehemently, but would that make him more suspicious? He cleared his throat loudly and decided to just ignore it. “What did you do? How did you get her to like you?”

“Love cannot be forced, Leonardo. People are not objects to be claimed. In trying to do so, you may end up pushing them further away.”

Leo frowned. This was not helpful at all. Maybe he shouldn’t have used Tang Shen as an example. Mikey was their brother—their family. He had to like them once he got to know them!

“You can lay the groundwork for a potential connection, but they must meet you halfway. Relationships involve two people, and both of you must want it for it to work.”

“Meet me halfway…” Leo mumbled, deep in thought. His eyes lit up as a plan began to form in his mind. He smiled at his father. “Thank you, Sensei. I think I know what to do.”

Splinter watched as Leo stood and practically ran out of the dojo. He wasn’t completely sure what his sons were up to—he knew they would come to him with the full story in due time. He just hoped they stayed out of danger. They were still so new to the surface and all that it entailed. Not to mention that the Shredder was still out there, aware of him and his sons and hunting them down every chance he got.

Splinter found his eyes drawn toward the shrine, briefly lingering on the orange mask that would have been Michelangelo’s before landing on the picture of his family from when he had still been human. He rose and made his way over, gently picking up the picture and placing a hand over his beloved wife and daughter. He hoped they were taking care of Michelangelo’s spirit. His wife had been such a caring person—he knew she wouldn’t have cared what the boys looked like if she had had a chance to meet them. She would have taken one look at them and claimed them as her own. Hopefully, she was watching over them now.

He sent a silent prayer up to her to keep his sons safe.

“Psst, Leo.”

Leo’s eyes shot open to find Donnie hovering over him, laptop in hand. He glanced over at his clock and noted that it was late morning topside. Leo was about to grumble for Donnie to go back to sleep when he realized there was only one reason Donnie would wake him up. He sat up with a grin. “They’ve left the apartment?”

Donnie’s smile grew to match his as he whispered excitedly, “they’ve left the apartment!”

Leo knew those cameras would be a good idea. He mentally patted himself on the back as he got out of bed to get ready while Donnie left to wake up Raph. There was a lot of glaring and muttered threats from Raph, but it wasn’t long before they were all huddled up on the pit to go over the plan one more time.

“All right, team,” Leo commanded quietly as he finished explaining the plan. “Our dangerous mission continues, but I know that we can handle it. The risk is high, but so is the reward. We don’t know how much time we have, so we must be swift. Any questions?” He ignored Raph’s pointed glare and raised hand. “Perfect. Let’s go.”

They snuck out of the lair and made their way to the surface. They kept to the shadows as best as they could in the daylight, mostly using the rooftops to travel. Leo’s heart pounded with every leap, terrified that someone would look up and announce their presence to all of New York City.

The frozen image of two figures, one veiled and one hooded, leaving the apartment was burned into Leo’s mind. The veiled person had a hand on the hooded one’s shoulder, and Leo felt fire burning in his veins. His hands trembled with an unidentifiable emotion that—had Leo looked closer—he would have recognized as jealousy. The eldest rarely had an opportunity to experience the feeling, usually besting his brothers in combat. There wasn’t really anything his brothers had that he desired either.

But this woman?

She had his brother.

She and Miwa got to play family with Mikey while his family grieved and suffered from the loss.

But no more. Soon, Mikey would know them, and they would be a family again. Leo would make sure of it.

Miraculously, they were able to make it to the apartment with no one seeing them. It appeared empty, and Donnie confirmed that no one had returned since they left. Anxiety thrummed in Leo’s body, knowing the clock was ticking until someone realized they had been by. 

They snuck in through the window by the fire escape and found themselves in what looked like a teenage girl’s room—probably Miwa’s. They crept silently through the small apartment, making sure not to touch anything and watching out for any potential cameras. They split off, with Donnie and Raph heading to the other two doors while Leo made his way into the living room. It was cozy—much cozier than the one in the lair—and Leo basked in the warmth he so rarely felt in the lair. He tilted his head curiously as he noticed a small shrine in the corner. From Leo’s limited understanding of humans, it wasn’t very common to have a shrine in American culture, so his interest was piqued. He was just about to make his way over to it when Raph called out. “Found his room!”

Leo turned away from the shrine, eager to complete the mission and get back to the lair before they were discovered. He saw Donnie emerge from one door and followed him through the other. Leo held his breath as he took the room in.

It was messy for sure, with clothes and action figures littering the floor, but Leo was still able to maneuver through it with ease. The walls were adorned with various movie posters and photos of Mikey with his family, though he and his mother were always covered up to the point that Leo couldn’t tell what they looked like. His desk was cluttered with papers and art supplies. He saw Donnie pick a page up and glance over it.

Donnie’s face lit up. “He’s learning algebra! Do you think he has an interest in it? I would love to talk to him about—”

“Save the nerd talk for when we’re out of here, Donnie,” Raph growled. “We shouldn’t even be here. Let’s just do what we came here to do and get out of here.”

Leo unfortunately agreed with Raph. As much as he wanted to take the chance to get to know his little brother better, he could feel his heart pounding faster with every minute that passed. Once again, Leo was thankful that turtles didn’t sweat. He needed to put up a strong front of confidence for his team, and he wouldn’t be able to do that if they could tell how nervous he was.

Leo made his way over to the bed, surprised to see how neat and clean it was compared to the floor. His heart stuttered as he noticed a rat stuffed animal on the nightstand but ultimately had to ignore it as he pulled a folded piece of paper out his belt. He slipped it under the pillow, taking care to disturb it as little as possible. He pulled his hand away and let out a sigh of relief.

“All right. Let’s get out of here.”

They turned towards the door, only to pause as rumble sounded from underneath the bed.

“Uh, guys?” Donnie asked, watching a lump form near the edge of the blanket. 

Something was pushing its way out.

Leo held his breath for a moment and almost let out a laugh in relief as a cat emerged from under the bed. He smiled nervously at the cat, mindful that they had definitely spent too much time in the apartment and needed to leave now.

“Uh, hi, kitty. You’re a good kitty, aren’t you?”

The cat caught sight of the three strangers and arched its back as it realized its home was being invaded. The cat let out a yowl, leaping forward to attack Leo. The leader let out a shriek as claws dug into his mask and pricked at his scales. “Get it off me!”

Raph and Donnie moved forward to help Leo, who stumbled away as he attempted to get the cat off his face. His younger brothers had to pause as Leo bumped into furniture, saving items from falling and making sure they were back in their exact spot.

Leo stumbled out into the hall, pushing and pulling at the cat. It shredded his mask, slicing open the scales underneath. His brothers jumped on him, both to help get the cat off and to keep him from moving further. Raph was eventually able to rip the cat off Leo’s face and throw it back into Mikey’s room, slamming the door shut. The yowling continued, along with scratching at the door, but Leo’s face was free, and they needed to get out of there.

As they ran back towards the lair, Raph smirked at his brother, who gripped the remains of his destroyed mask. “Still think this was worth it?”

Leo glared at him. He had no idea how he was going to explain the scratches and mask to Master Splinter, but he would come up with something. “Of course. We completed the mission with only a minor setback, and his mother and sister will never know that we were there.”

Hopefully, the rest would go according to plan.

“Thanks for taking me shopping, Mama,” Mikey said as he and his mother entered the apartment. He knew that she did it to keep him in her eyesight while she ran errands, but he was still grateful to get out of the apartment. It was really starting to get stifling.

“Of course, angel. Go finish the algebra assignment I gave you, and then you can help me prepare for dinner. Miwa should be home soon.”

“You got it!” Mikey rushed to his room, eager to finish his schoolwork so he could do his favorite bonding activity with his mama, but he paused when he made it to his door, staring at it in confusion.

It was closed.

Had he closed it before he left?

Mikey normally left the door cracked so that Klunk could wander in and out as she pleased. She liked to take naps under Mikey’s bed when he wasn’t home, but she also loved this one spot in the living room where the sunlight hit it just right. Not to mention if she got thirsty, she could go to the kitchen.

But his door was closed.

Mikey cautiously opened the door and peeked inside. Everything appeared to be where it should be, but alarm bells were going off in Mikey’s head. His mama said he had a natural ability to know when something was wrong, like that time he didn’t trust one of Miwa’s ex-friends. He didn’t know why until they had found out that she was just using his sister to get her grades up. Miwa had been super annoyed until the truth had been revealed, and she had apologized profusely afterwards. Other little things like that had occurred over the years, and now they all knew to listen whenever Mikey had that feeling.

Mikey slipped into the room silently, eyes darting around as he tried to find what was setting him off. He nearly tripped on Klunk as he did so.

“Sorry, girl!” Mikey crouched down and gathered his cat into his arms. Klunk tensed but immediately relaxed as she recognized her owner.

Mikey sat down on his bed, setting Klunk down in his lap. He ran a hand over her head and back. “I’m so sorry if I left the door closed, Klunk. I swear I didn’t though.” He peered close at the cat suspiciously. If anyone would know if something had happened in his room, it would be Klunk. “Do you know something?”

Klunk meowed and put both paws on his chest. Mikey’s brow furrowed as he noticed a piece of blue fabric clinging to her paw. He pulled it off gently and studied it, rubbing it between his fingers.

“What is this?” It didn’t feel like any of the material his clothes were made of, and his sheets and curtains were orange. He glanced down at his cat again. “Where did you get this?”

Klunk just stared back at him, so Mikey sighed and set the fabric on his nightstand, right next to Mr. Whiskers, and decided he would worry about it later.

He promptly forgot all about it as he worked on his algebra assignment and then left to help his mother cook. Dinner was a little awkward, but Mikey was happy that he was able to get his mother and sister to relax some. He always hated it when his family was upset, so he always made it his mission to cheer them up.

After showering and getting ready for bed, Mikey gladly collapsed face first onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow. Klunk hopped up beside him and curled up into his side. He briefly moved a hand down to pet her before folding his arms under his pillow. He froze as he brushed against a piece of paper. He sat up and pulled it out from underneath his pillow. He knew he hadn’t put anything under there. Was Miwa trying to prank him?

He slowly unfolded it. There was a short note on it, and Mikey’s eyes widened as they glided across the paper. He glanced down at Klunk and then at the door before looking back at the paper.

Michelangelo, please don’t let your mother or sister know about this note. I know you must have a lot of questions about us. You’ve probably been wondering about who exactly we are, where you come from, etc. Meet us on the rooftop across from the entrance to the dojo tomorrow night, and all of your questions will be answered. 

Again, don’t tell your mother and sister. They won’t allow us to meet, but this is about you more than it is about them. Don’t let them keep you in the dark forever.

We have been waiting a long time to meet you. I hope you make the right choice.

-Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello

Mikey let out a groan.

“Oh no.”

Chapter Text

Mikey didn’t sleep that night.

He tossed and turned. He counted sheep in his head. He imagined his favorite dream—floating down a soda river on a donut raft, surrounded by ice cream hills and gingerbread cookie trees.

Nothing was working.

Mikey sat up with a huff and pulled the note out from under his pillow. His eyes scanned the words again, and Mikey couldn’t help but bite his lip as he struggled with his thoughts.

He had promised Mama that he wouldn’t seek out the turtles, but they were harassing his family, and Mikey didn’t think that they would stop until either they moved away or until they finally got to meet him face-to-face. He definitely didn’t want to move, and he was still curious about what answers these turtles could provide about his origins and what had happened to his mama the night she found him.

Mikey wished he could show someone the note, but that would only end in disaster. Even if he went to April, he was sure his family would still find out somehow. If they knew that the turtles had been in their apartment, it was all over. He would probably never see New York again, and Mikey couldn’t bear that thought.

And where would they go? What would they do? He imagined it would be much harder for his mama to establish their family anywhere else. People were curious by nature. He and mama could get away with what they were in New York because Mama had laid the groundwork for people to ignore their oddness—not to mention its citizens' habit of ignoring the strange and mysterious. Who could say what a new community of people would do?

What about everything Mikey would miss? The pizza! The eccentric people! The constant noise from honking cars and people shouting! April!

No, Mikey could not show anyone the note. He would have to figure this out for himself.

Mikey was never very good at lying to his family—he never really needed to. This would be a new test for him—like the training games he and Miwa played—but Mama always said he could do anything he put his mind to.

He just hoped she wouldn’t be too mad when she inevitably found out.

Mikey never really did fall asleep that night, and it was noticeable. Thankfully, he was able to wave their worry away with an excuse about having a nightmare. Considering their current situation, they were all struggling to sleep, so it wasn’t too difficult to convince them.

Once again, it was just him and his mama while Miwa was reluctantly at school, but this time there were no errands to run. He tried to keep himself busy with schoolwork and playing with Klunk, but his mind was too distracted. Klunk, the amazing cat she was, sensed his turmoil and did her best to ease his worries with snuggles and purrs, but even that wasn’t enough.

“Lunch is ready!” he heard his mama call, and Mikey let out a sigh.

He shuffled into the kitchen and attempted to paste a smile on his face, but his mama’s concerned frown told him he had failed. She set down his plate in front of him and sat beside him, cupping his cheek as she looked into his eyes.

“Michelangelo, what troubles you? Is it those turtles?” She rubbed her thumb across his cheek. “You know I would never let anything happen to you.”

Despite his anxiety, Mikey’s lips lifted up into a small smile. He laid his head on her chest and let out a sigh. “I know, Mama. I just…”

“I understand your distress, angel, for which I can take some of the blame. I haven’t exactly been handling everything very well in front of you. It’s silly of me, of course. I was so busy preparing for the strange men and Saki that I never took the time to prepare for the potential day your people would come to take you back. I know that you deserve answers, even more than I do, but I don’t know what they are capable of.” Shen cupped the back of his head, scratching at his head lightly. She smiled down at him as his anxious eyes met hers. “Forgive my paranoia, angel. I could not bear them taking you somewhere I cannot reach you.”

“I would never leave you, Mama,” he assured her, guilt seeping in with the traitorous thoughts he had been having. “Cross my heart.”

“I believe you, but there are forces outside of our control that could one day separate us. I would fight to my dying breath to bring you home, but sometimes even our best is not enough, depending on the circumstances.” Her eyes drifted to the shrine in the living room, heart aching as she thought of her beloved Yoshi. She had done what she could to protect him from Saki, but even that had not been enough. 

She wished she could have attended his funeral, but she had still been recovering in the hospital when her parents had informed her of the service. She had begged them to make something work—had nearly left the hospital by herself before collapsing just before the doors—but nothing could be done. With the destruction of the Hamato clan, had anyone even attended?

“Mama?”

Shen shook herself from her thoughts. Her pain and loss were in her past. Her children were her future. “I’m sorry, angel. I was just reminiscing.”

“About Papa?”

She narrowed her eyes at her son playfully. “Are you a mind reader?”

Mikey let out a giggle. “Nah, just good at reading you.”

They fell into a companionable silence, both thinking deeply about their circumstances. Mikey reached for his plate but only managed a few bites before resting his head back on his mama’s chest. Despite his mother’s words—despite his guilt—he had made a decision. He would not allow these turtles to terrorize his family anymore. His mama deserved peace, and she would never have it if they kept coming around. He would meet them, satisfy his and their curiosity, and then ask them to never bother his family again. His mother would be furious when she discovered what he did, but it would be worth it.

Shen began to hum an old lullaby that she used to sing to her children before bed, slowly getting louder until she started singing the words. Mikey felt himself relax as he closed his tired eyes, both satisfied and unsatisfied with his decision. 

Though Mikey was incredibly nervous about what he was going to do that night, a strange calm had settled over him after his talk with his mother. Mama and Miwa didn’t suspect a thing as they ate dinner, and Mikey soon found himself lying in bed as he waited for them to go to sleep.

“Michelangelo?” 

Mikey’s heart leapt as his mother poked her head in his room. Had he actually given himself away at dinner? “Yes, Mama?”

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m happy we had that talk today. I know it was very difficult, and I am here anytime you need to talk.” She smiled at him. “Thank you for listening to me about staying away from the turtles, angel. I know how curious you are.”

Mikey swallowed, guilt once again overwhelming him. “Of course, Mama.”

“Good night, angel.”

“Good night, Mama.”

Shen closed the door, and Mikey listened as she walked down the hall and went to her own room. He stared at the ceiling, counting the glowing stars he had stuck up there as a child to keep his mind occupied as he waited for enough time to pass before he could leave. He figured he could give it about an hour before his family would be asleep.

When Mikey deemed it time to go, he lifted Klunk to eye level and whispered to his cat, “okay, Klunk. Give me like two hours to make this right. If I’m not back by then, let my family know what’s going on.”

Klunk meowed, and Mikey gave her a serious nod. “Thanks, Klunk.”

He set her back down on the bed and slipped on his hoodie and face mask. He crept towards the door, wincing at the creak it made as he opened it. He paused, looking from side to side, but there was no movement or sound coming from his family’s rooms, so Mikey figured he was safe. He moved through the apartment quietly, letting out a sigh of relief the moment he made it outside.

“Ninja Mikey for the win,” he muttered as he silently ran across the street. He found a fire escape leading up to the rooftop that Leonardo had mentioned and pumped his fist in victory. He jumped for the ladder and began climbing, making sure not to make any noise. The last thing he needed was someone waking up and calling the cops on him.

As Mikey crept up the fire escape, he heard voices speaking quietly above him. 

“He’s not coming.”

“Give him some time, Raph. He’s probably just trying to get away from the others.”

The first voice spoke again. “I still think this was a terrible idea. We’re just going to be waiting out here all night, or that psycho woman will attack us again.

“...I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed her the note. I probably would have shown Sensei.”

“You’re not helping, Donnie.”

“Just trying to be realistic.”

Mikey peeked his head over the lip of the roof but saw nothing. He could still hear them talking but couldn’t see them anywhere. Were they hiding?

“Hello?” he hesitantly called out and climbed the rest of the way onto the roof. The voices cut off.

Mikey fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie as he looked around the rooftop. He didn’t have to wait long before three figures materialized from behind some air conditioning units. Mikey trembled (with fear? excitement?) as he took in three turtles that looked so much like him wearing blue, red, and purple masks.

And then his face shot to the sky as he slapped a hand over his eyes.

“You’re naked!” Mikey shrieked. “Why are you naked?”

“What?!” the one in red squawked. “No, we’re not!”

“You’re not wearing clothes!”

“Our shells cover us just—Why am I even justifying this to you?”

“Okay! Okay.” The one in blue held his arms out between Mikey and the one in red, letting out an awkward chuckle. “I think we got off on the wrong start. I promise you we’re not, uh, naked. Our shells cover everything just fine. Can you please look at us?”

It took a moment, but Mikey eventually lowered his hand. He made an effort to keep his eyes focused on the turtles’ faces and not on the rest of them. He didn’t care what they thought. If his mother had seen him running around like that, she would have lost her mind on him.

He saw the one in blue smile in relief. “Thank you. Let’s start again. I’m Leonardo, and this is Raphael and Donatello.” He pointed at the red and purple turtle respectively. “You can call me Leo though. It’s—It’s really good to meet you.”

Mikey shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket. “...Thanks? Um, you can call me Mikey.”

Leo moved closer, his smile growing bigger as his eyes darted around Mikey’s form. “Thank you for meeting with us. My brothers were worried you might not come, but I knew you would make the right choice. Do you—Do you think you could take your sweatshirt off? Or lower your hood? Just to confirm. We don’t actually know what you look like,” he finished sheepishly.

“Oh, um…” Mikey shuffled his feet and glanced back at his apartment. He had never taken his hoodie or face mask off in public before. The memory of the park incident had somewhat faded over time, but his terror and despair at being called a monster was always fresh in his mind when he went out in public. 

Not that he was really in public right now, standing on a rooftop in the middle of the night with three mutant turtles, but it was the principle.

“I don’t know…”

“Please?” Leo asked. “I promise you’re safe up here. You don’t have to hide for us.”

Leo did have a point, even if his family’s voices were shouting in the back of his mind. Truthfully, he just wanted to get this interaction over with, so if showing them he was also a mutant turtle got the conversation to move on, he would do it.

It didn’t stop his heart from pounding as he slowly lowered his hood and face mask. Not because he was afraid of their judgment like he had been with April, but because he felt exposed.

He watched Leo’s grin widen and was taken aback by the awe in the other’s eyes. Raph and Donnie were in a similar state of wonder, though the former was slightly less obvious about it. Mikey flipped his hood back up self-consciously.

“It’s really you…” Leo murmured. “I knew it. I knew it! You’re alive!”

“I—What?”

Leo rushed forward, lips stretched so tightly in a grin that Mikey wondered how it didn’t hurt. Mikey flinched back, and Leo paused before him, his smile turning sheepish.

“Sorry. Sorry. I’m just so excited. We’ve been waiting a long time to meet you. Master Splinter should tell you the full story—he’ll know better than us about what happened the night you were lost. I can’t wait for you to meet Sensei. He’ll be so excited to know you’re alive!”

“Um—”

Donnie moved up beside Leo, hands clasped in excitement. “I couldn’t help but notice your assignment on your desk when we were leaving the note. Are you interested in algebra? I would love to go over—”

“Wait, what—”

“He can talk about that later! Oh, there’s so much to catch up on. Have you ever watched Space Heroes? It’s okay if you haven’t. I’ll gladly show you the brilliance that is Captain Ryan—”

“Hold on a second—”

“Oh, so you can ask about Space Heroes, but I can’t ask about math? Real hypocritical, Leo—”

“Can we—”

“It’s an important question! Besides—”

“Enough!” Raph shoved his way between Leo and Donnie, glaring at his two brothers. “Give the kid some breathing room. Jesus, you just met the kid, and you’re already overwhelming him.”

Leo and Donnie looked over to see Mikey tugging harshly at the sleeves of his sweatshirt. The poor kid was biting his lip as his anxious eyes bounced between the three brothers. This was not how Mikey had imagined the meeting going.

“Shoot, we’re sorry, Mikey,” Leo said, smiling sheepishly, “We got a bit ahead of ourselves—”

“Speak for yourself,” Raph muttered.

Leo shot him a sharp look before smiling at Mikey again. “We should have let you start. What do you want to know?”

Mikey pulled at a sleeve hard enough to turn his scales a light green before letting out a shaky sigh. “I have a lot of questions to be honest. Like, what exactly am I? Where did I come from? What happened to my mama the night she found me? Why… Why was I left alone that night?”

Leo swallowed, some of his excitement fading away at the more serious topic. “You are a turtle that Master Splinter bought from the pet store along with the three of us. We were all mutated after he overheard a strange commotion involving the Kraang. As to your other questions, it would be best for Sensei to answer.” His eyes lit up. “You could meet him right now actually! We’d have to take you back to our lair but—”

“No.”

Leo paused, shocked at Mikey’s serious tone. “...No?”

Mikey sighed. “Look, man. I came up here to get some answers and to tell you guys to stay away from my family. You’re making my life really hard right now with how paranoid my mama and sister are. Mama deserves peace after everything she’s been through, and you guys are seriously messing that up.”

Leo stared at him, expression falling as Mikey’s words sank in. “But… Don’t you want to get to know us? Meet Master Splinter?”

“You’ve been talking about that guy a lot. Who is Master Splinter?”

“He’s our father.” Leo pulled Mikey’s sleeve from his fingers and held his hand gently. “Your father. He was so devastated when you were lost. We haven’t told him about finding you yet. I didn’t want to shatter his hope in case you weren’t the Michelangelo we lost that night. Don’t you want to meet him?”

Mikey’s brow furrowed. So his name had been Michelangelo before Mama had found him? It was a pretty crazy coincidence, but he didn’t think too much about it. He was too focused on the fact that he had a father out there somewhere.

“I’ve never had a dad before…”

“Take the chance to meet him. Please.” Leo’s expression was soft as he squeezed Mikey’s hand. “Once you meet him, you can say goodbye to us forever if you want—” Leo didn’t really believe Mikey would actually do that, but he would say whatever it took to get Mikey to come to the lair. Once Mikey met Sensei, his brother would realize what he was missing out on. “—but at least give it a try first. Please?”

Mikey bit his lip. This was not how he foresaw this meeting going, but Leo was right. The other turtles had been as young as him when he had been lost. If anyone was going to give him answers, it was this Master Splinter. 

Besides, he was too curious about his father. Mikey never thought he’d ever had one besides Papa, and he never got to meet him.

“...Okay. But not tonight. I’ve been out for too long, and I don’t want to get caught.”

Leo laughed in relief. “Great idea! Let’s meet up here again tomorrow night, and we can take you to the lair. What do you think?”

“Sure, man,” Mikey replied with an uncomfortable smile. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Great! Great. We’ll see you then.”

They all stood there awkwardly for a moment before Mikey realized they were waiting for him to leave. He gave an equally awkward wave and a “bye” before climbing back down the fire escape.

Miraculously, he made it back to his bed with no one the wiser. His heart rate finally began to slow down as his adrenaline crashed now that he was safe at home. He couldn’t believe that he had disobeyed his mama or that he was about to disobey her again tomorrow. But the turtles had been right. He wanted to meet his father.

Mikey resolved to meet the man to satisfy his curiosity, get his answers, and then say goodbye forever as Leo had said. He had meant it when he said he was trying to bring peace back to his family. His mama was already stressed over the ninjas in New York potentially bringing Oroku Saki to her doorstep. The last thing she needed was Mikey’s old family coming in and causing chaos as well.

It didn’t matter that the turtles were people he could be himself around. It didn’t matter that he longed for friends of his own. It didn’t matter that he longed for a father. What Mikey wanted did not matter. His family was far more important than what he wanted, and Mikey would gladly make that sacrifice. His family’s happiness would always be more important than his own.

Satisfied with his decision, Mikey closed his eyes, snuggling Klunk close as sleep claimed him.

Chapter Text

Mikey didn’t hear anything from his family the next morning, so he figured he was in the clear. Still, his nerves were higher than ever as he realized he had agreed to go with the turtles to their home. Miwa said she had followed April to it, so it couldn’t be far, but still. If he had any chance of the meeting with this Master Splinter going okay, he was going to need backup.

“...Hello?”

“April!” Mikey cheerfully whispered. Even with his anxiety through the roof, he was always happy to talk to his friend. “I need your help.”

Mikey sat curled up in the corner of his room with Klunk in his lap. The door was closed, and he was playing music loud enough to drown out any potential noise coming from his room without interfering with his call with April. His mama was sewing in her room while Miwa was doing whatever teenage girls did in hers, but his eyes still darted to the door nervously as he spoke.

“Why do I get the feeling that I’m not going to like whatever it is you’re about to tell me?”

Mikey grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, April. I need a favor.”

He explained what had happened the night before, mindful to keep his voice especially low. He had to repeat himself a few times due to April not hearing him very well, and his voice stuttered and shook worse each time he had to do so. He couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped him once he had finished.

“ Oh, those idiots. I can’t believe—” She cut herself off, and Mikey could practically imagine his friend’s face as she gathered herself. “Mikey, I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep this a secret from your family.”

“I don’t really think so either, but what am I supposed to do? They won’t leave me alone, April.”

April let out a frustrated sigh. “So what exactly is the favor?”

“You’ve been down there before, right? Can you come with me as backup? I—I don’t really wanna be alone with them that far from home.”

“Are you really sure you want to do this, Mikey?”

“I feel like I have to. Part of it is to satisfy them enough to get them to back off, but part of it is also to get some answers. They said I have a dad, April. He’s not Papa, of course, but… I want to meet him. I want to know who I am.” Mikey bit his lip, hesitant to say the dark thought he had buried deep, deep down. “And maybe… They know how to change Mama back.”

“Mikey…”

“She said she’s happy now and that she wasn’t really normal before she changed anyways, but at least she was still human. At least she didn’t have to worry about someone ripping her veil off or seeing fur if her sleeve rides up. I don’t want her to be scared anymore.”

Mikey waited patiently as April went silent. He ran a hand over Klunk’s back and smiled anxiously down at his cat. Finally, April spoke again.

“Fine. I’ll go with you. If nothing else, I can at least make sure you make it back home safe. Miwa would kill me if something happened to you. I’ll meet you at the lair when the guys bring you in so the guys don’t suspect anything.”

“Thanks, April! I owe you one!” Mikey hung up the phone before April could reply, already feeling lighter than he had in days. He let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes, feeling a genuine smile bloom on his face.

“What do you owe April for?”

Mikey’s eyes shot open as he screamed. He caught Miwa standing in his doorway, somehow having opened the door without him noticing. He clutched his phone to his chest, staring at her in panic.

“Um, uh, it’s a surprise!”

Miwa raised an eyebrow. “A surprise?” she echoed, mildly amused.

Mikey nodded forcefully. “Yep. A surprise. So I can’t tell you. And don’t ask April because she won’t tell you either!”

Miwa narrowed her eyes at her brother, and Mikey resisted the urge to fidget. Miwa had nearly perfected their mother’s glare when she knew they had done something wrong. He never did last long under his mama’s look, and he was just about to give in and blurt everything that had happened when his sister spoke again.

“Is this another prank you have planned?”

“...Maybe?”

Miwa rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Just make sure it isn’t anything that’ll affect me at school and know I’ll get you back twice as hard.”

“Obviously,” Mikey replied, grinning as he relaxed. His and Miwa’s prank wars were legendary, and Mikey planned to come up with something good after this meeting with the turtles. Pranking always helped relax him when he was upset, and maybe it would help his mama and sister as well.

Mikey’s demeanor remained positive throughout the rest of the day, and he was pleased to see the calming effect it had on his family. He was able to joke around with his family, sending a wink towards Miwa at dinner when his sister warned their mother of another incoming prank war. The sound of his mama’s laughter was music to his ears, and for the first time in a while, he had hope that things would return to normal.

Once again, Mikey waited for his family to go to bed before sneaking out of the apartment. Before he left, he made sure to instruct Klunk to warn his family if he wasn’t back by morning. He was tempted to bring Klunk with him, yearning for the familiar comfort as he ventured into the unknown, but he also didn’t want to put his beloved pet in unnecessary danger if anything went wrong.

He found the rooftop empty again but figured the turtles were just hiding like the previous night. “Hello?”

The turtles emerged from the shadows, and Mikey again found himself fiddling with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. There was no turning back from this moment. Once he went with the turtles, he would be at the mercy of whatever happened. He took some peace knowing that April would be waiting for him at their home, but what if she didn’t show up? What if something happened and he couldn’t go home? What would that do to his mama and sister?

“You came back,” Leo said, a big smile on his face. He didn’t seem to notice Mikey’s dilemma, or if he did, he was ignoring it.

“I said I would.”

Leo’s smile grew impossibly bigger. “Are you ready to meet our father?”

Mikey let out a shaky breath as his pulse quickened. His papa would always be his actual papa, even if he had never met the man, but Mikey couldn’t deny his curiosity. He looked around at the turtles, noting the hesitant, hopeful smile on the purple one’s face. Donatello , Mikey reminded himself, and Raphael . Raphael’s body language was closed off, side-eyeing Mikey as he was slightly turned away with his arms crossed. There was a frown on his face, but Mikey was good at reading people. The red one was nervous, even if he acted angry or standoffish. 

He sent a silent sorry up to his papa as he nodded and approached the turtles.

He would get his answers. For Mama. And maybe for him too.

“Come on.” 

Mikey kept pace with the turtles as they leapt over the rooftops. He could see their surprise—though they didn’t actually say anything—and was mildly offended. He and his family lived above a dojo. Did they think he and his sister had never trained? Mikey would just have to show them some day.

…Or not. Because he was supposed to get his answers and never see them again. Never seeing them again did not involve challenging them to a spar. Quite the opposite, actually.

Mikey shook his head and clenched his fists. The others didn’t seem to notice his inner turmoil as they slowed down and descended towards the ground. He balked as he noticed them approaching a manhole. 

“Miwa wasn’t kidding when she said you lived in the sewers?” After finding out that Miwa had met the turtles, their mother had ripped into her daughter for sneaking off and interrogated her for everything she knew about the turtles, which really wasn’t much. Mikey had hoped that the sewer thing had been a lie.

“And what’s wrong with the sewers?” Raph asked, pausing his climb down the ladder to send the other a glare.

Mikey wasn’t phased. “They stink.”

“It’s really not that bad,” Leo said with a nervous chuckle. “You get used to it pretty fast. April has.”

Mikey wrinkled his beak but approached the manhole anyway. The smell was horrendous as he climbed down, and he let out a full shudder when his feet hit the ground with a squelch. He was going to have to burn these shoes when he got home. He had no idea how he was going to hide the stench on his clothes from his mama.

Mikey followed the others through the tunnels, attempting to memorize the route but quickly getting lost. He shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pocket, shoulders hunched. The longer they walked, the faster his heart beat. His thoughts began to spiral again, and he was only saved by Leo calling out.

“We’re here!”

Mikey’s eyes found April at the same time as Donnie, and both leapt over the turnstiles and called out as they rushed to her, “April!”

April accepted Mikey’s hug easily, laughing with her friend. He nearly missed Donnie’s shocked expression but decided to file it away for later as Leo and Raph walked up to them.

“April?” Donnie chuckled awkwardly as he wrung his hands. “W-What are you doing here?”

April pulled away from Mikey but made sure to keep him close. She had been surprised by the hug as Mikey had never been physically affectionate with her, but she guessed it made sense now that his mutant status was out of the bag. It didn’t matter if she accidentally felt a hard shell if she already knew about it.

“I’m here to support my friend. This is going to be a big moment for him.”

Leo’s face flashed with annoyance, but it was gone before anyone except Raph could process it. Raph let out a sigh as Leo plastered a smile on and began walking towards the dojo, the latter’s eyes never leaving Mikey. “Well, I’ll go get Master Splinter before he comes to investigate all the noise. We can give a tour after the meeting.”

As soon as Leo left, Mikey grabbed April’s hand. The mention of Master Splinter reminded him of why he was in the turtles’ home in the first place. Any curiosity he had about their home died as his focus narrowed to where he had last seen Leo. Everything else—the turtles, noises, the environment around him—faded away as he waited for Leo to come back.

He felt her hand squeeze his. He didn’t look at April, but he smiled and squeezed back as he took comfort in knowing his friend was there to support him.

He could do this.

Leo approached the dojo slowly, limbs jittering in anticipation of the moment he had finally been waiting for. His plan was coming to fruition, and he mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done. This was why he was the leader. Only he could have rallied his brothers while still maintaining the secret from their sensei. Only he could have maintained focus and made sure everything came together as it did in his vision. And now their family would be reunited again.

Leo stopped just before the door to gather himself. This was supposed to be a moment of happiness, and he didn’t want Master Splinter worrying about him. He took a deep breath and opened the door. He walked in with purpose and found Sensei kneeling in front of the shrine. Leo knelt beside his father and spoke quietly.

“Master Splinter? I have something to tell you.”

Sensei’s lips twitched up in amusement. “Is this about the secret you’ve been keeping from me over these last few weeks.”

A smile grew on Leo’s face as he answered, “it is. I promise it’s good, but it’s something I have to show you.”

Splinter raised his brows but rose obligingly. He was surprised when Leonardo looped an arm through his and led him out of the dojo. As they walked towards the main room, his son spoke again.

“I know you had given up all hope, but a miracle happened, Sensei.” Leo’s eyes shone with joy as he talked. “A few weeks ago, we discovered another mutant turtle, around our age.”

Splinter’s breath caught at his son’s words. Leonardo couldn’t possibly mean what Splinter was thinking. He didn’t dare get his hope up, but—

“His name is Michelangelo, and he’s here to meet you.”

Leo and Splinter walked into the main room, and the latter locked eyes with an unfamiliar mutant in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. They stared at each other in shock, and Splinter fought to find the words he wanted to say. 

He knew that face. He knew those eyes.

Michelangelo.

His missing son was alive.

Splinter didn’t know how long they stared at each other, but Michelangelo was the first to speak.

“Mr. Whiskers? Wait—a rat? Wait—I mean—” he stumbled over his words before his eyes bulged out of his head as he took in Splinter’s appearance. “Why are you wearing clothes and they’re not?!”

The room was silent as Splinter blinked in shock. Well, that certainly wasn’t anything he had expected his long lost son to say, but he could forgive him the shock.

“Are you seriously still on about that?” Raphael asked before his sensei could reply. “We told you that the shells cover everything we need.”

“It’s weird! Why does he wear clothes and you don’t? Couldn’t you say that fur covers everything? What’s the difference?”

Raph let out a groan, but Splinter stepped forward and cleared his throat before anyone else could say anything. Mikey paused and blushed, watching silently as the giant rat approached him. Splinter reached out with both hands to cup his youngest son’s cheeks but hesitated, gazing into the latter’s eyes for permission. One side of Michelangelo’s mouth turned up into a shy smile, and Splinter moved his hands to caress his son’s cheeks.

“My son,” he whispered, voice choking up with tears that he refused to let fall.

Mikey’s hand moved up involuntarily to wrap around Splinter’s. “...Dad.”

Leo couldn’t help but beam as he watched the reunion. Sure, there was a little hiccup at the beginning—they probably should have told Mikey that their father was a rat and not a turtle—but everything was going according to plan now.

Splinter moved his hands down to hold Michelangelo’s, who reluctantly let go of April’s hand. “I am so pleased to see you home and well. I had feared you were lost a long time ago.”

“What happened that night?” the younger asked, grateful for the reminder before he got too sucked into the moment.

Splinter let out a sigh. “It was just before we found our current home. These identical, android men, who my sons and April have identified as the Kraang, had been hunting us down since our mutation. I was finding food for us when the Kraang found us. In my haste to escape, I had not realized you had fallen out of the sling I kept you all in. By the time I went back, you were gone, and I believed the worst had happened.”

So had his father believed him dead or kidnapped? What if he had been kidnapped by the Kraang for experimentation? Mikey felt rage boil within him at the thought. If he or Miwa had disappeared, his mama would have stopped at nothing to find them. She wouldn’t have rested until she found them or she had confirmation that they had died or that she had died herself.

Had his father ever truly loved him if he had given up on him so quickly?

Mikey knew he wasn’t being fair. The rat man had three other baby turtles to take care of at the time and had been on the run. Given the fact that they lived in the sewers, Mikey figured they weren’t doing much better than back then. At least Mikey had a home on the surface with warm food and clothes and human interaction that went beyond April, even if the last point was somewhat limited.

“There is one thing I do not understand,” Splinter’s voice knocked Mikey from his thoughts. “How did my sons come to find you?”

“That would be my fault,” April replied as she sheepishly raised her hand. “I’ve actually known Mikey for a few years now, though I didn’t find out until recently that he was a turtle and not just a human hiding what he looked like. His sister is my best friend, and she got suspicious about me disappearing after school. She ended up following me down here, and she let it slip to the others that they looked like her brother.”

“Sister?” Splinter definitely wanted to address the fact his sons had failed to inform him about the human who had discovered their home and likely still knew the location, but he could deal with that later.

“Yeah, Miwa,” Mikey replied, smiling nervously. He hoped this rat guy didn’t have anything against humans. He frowned as he felt Splinter’s hands tighten around his own. It wasn’t tight enough to be painful, but it was definitely uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, YoshiSplinter was having an internal crisis. He had not heard another say that name in years. He had told the story of his wife and daughter to his sons, but other than that time, their names were not said in their home. To hear it said so casually caused an agony he had not expected. His heart and throat tightened to such a degree that Splinter didn’t dare try to breathe, terrified that he would begin choking or crying or something else that would show weakness in front of his family.

The thought of his daughter and the woman she could have been tore him apart inside, and it took every ounce of self-control to not ask the question burning in his mind. He would not receive the answer he wanted, he knew. Miwa was not exactly a unique name. Sure, it was quite the coincidence, but Splinter knew better. His wife and daughter were dead and had been for years. The likelihood that his daughter (and maybe his wife) had somehow survived, moved to New York, and found Michelangelo was absolutely none.

“Um, dude?” 

Splinter took a deep breath and opened his eyes (that he hadn’t even realized he had closed). Michelangelo was staring up at him in confusion, so he quickly gathered himself and slapped a calm smile back on his face.

His wife and daughter were gone, but his son was here. Splinter would be grateful for the miracle he had been given.

“My apologies. Please, tell me about yourself. We have much to catch up on, and you must have many questions about us.”

“I—I guess. Um…” Mikey did have a lot of questions, but he also did not have a lot of time. Every moment he spent down in the sewers increased the risk of his family discovering he was gone. He needed to make this quick.

“We can give you that tour I mentioned while we talk!” Leo jumped in before Mikey could say anything else.

“Um, well, I—”

“A great idea, Leonardo.”

And so, Mikey found himself being led around their home— the lair, as they apparently called it, which Mikey thought was kind of weird to call a home. April had shot him an apologetic smile but went along with the turtles, though thankfully she stayed close to his side. He got to see the kitchen (was there dust on the appliances?), the dojo (Mikey barely glanced over the shrine at one end of the room, far too entranced with the beautiful tree that was miraculously growing in the sewers), Donnie’s lab, and each of their rooms. Finally, they stopped in front of one last door.

Splinter’s brows furrowed. “You want to show Michelangelo the storage room?”

Leo beamed. Everything was coming together. He just had one final piece before his family could be whole again. “It was the storage room, but now that Mikey is home, I thought that it could have a better purpose.”

Leo opened the door to reveal a basic bedroom. The leader had managed to clean everything out, only leaving the spare bed frame and mattress (for if anything happened to theirs) as well as a small table and chair. He was ignorant to Mikey’s shocked expression as Raph and April simultaneously groaned.

“It’s pretty sparse right now, but I can definitely give you some of my Space Heroes stuff. I bet Raph and Donnie wouldn’t mind giving you some stuff too. We can also go out and grab your things—”

“No!”

Leo paused. That… wasn’t the response he had been expecting. “...No?”

“No!” Mikey repeated, looking horrified as he stumbled back. Mama and Miwa had been right. They were trying to take him away from his family.

Raph saw that things were about to blow up and tried to step in. “Mikey, wait—”

“No!” Mikey backed up further, dragging April with him. The poor girl looked so done with the situation. “You really are trying to kidnap me!”

“My son—” Splinter moved forward, and suddenly Mikey was feeling crowded—they were surrounding him.

“You’re not my dad! My papa died years ago, and I never got to meet him, but he is my father, not you!”

Leo panicked as everything began to fall apart around him. “Don’t say that! We’re family!”

“No, we’re not! We might look alike, and we might share some DNA, but we’re not family. My family is my mama and sister.” Mikey’s breathing sped up as he tugged on April’s hand. “I want to go home.”

“You are home—”

April cut Leo off. “That’s enough.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “God, if I had known you were going to pull this, I wouldn’t have let him down here. I was really hoping you guys were coming around to what I was saying. Honestly, I don’t know what I expected.”

Donnie’s face crumbled at April’s words while Leo looked incensed as he argued back, “what gives you the right to—”

“I’m his friend! You don’t even know him.” April sighed and turned away from them as she started leading Mikey out of the lair. “We’ll talk later when everyone has calmed down, but I’m taking Mikey home.”

Leo was shaking as he watched April take his brother away. He wasn’t sure if he was angry, betrayed, upset, or some other emotion, but the look of devastation on Splinter’s face crushed him. “Sensei, I—”

“I… need to meditate. We will talk later about this, Leonardo.”

Leo watched Splinter walk into the dojo and slide the door shut. He turned to his brothers but found no sympathy from them. Donnie was still looking where April had left with a crestfallen expression, and Raph was shaking his head at Leo.

“You screwed up, man. I definitely don’t want to be you right now.”

Before Leo could argue back—and probably say a lot of things he would regret—Raph went into his own room, slamming the door shut and locking it behind him.

“Sorry, Leo,” Donnie murmured, shooting him an apologetic look before going into his lab, leaving Leo alone in the hall.

…Where had he gone wrong? His family had finally been reunited. How had everything fallen apart so quickly?

Leo looked at what would have been Mikey’s room before turning away angrily, fighting back tears as any hope he had for his family becoming whole again died with April and Mikey’s fading footsteps.

Chapter Text

Mikey and April didn’t talk as they made their way back to his apartment. He wasn’t really sure about what to say. Too much had happened, and he was still processing everything. Instead, he tried to work through his feelings.

He had gotten some answers tonight, but not enough. There were still so many things he didn’t know, and that frustrated him. He had taken a huge risk going tonight—emphasized by Leo’s insane belief that Mikey would just suddenly go live with them. And for what?

At least he found out what happened the night his mama found him.

It didn’t really make him feel better.

Mikey let out a sigh, causing April to glance his way, but the silence continued.

He was angry and scared. He had definitely fueled the fire by going to their lair. He hoped his outburst would discourage them from seeking him out again, but he doubted it. They had put far too much effort into meeting him just to give up now. It was only a matter of time before his family found out what he had done.

“I can go up from here,” Mikey said as they approached the dojo.

He went to move, but April’s hand on his sleeve stopped him. 

“Mikey, I am so sorry,” she said, contrite. “If I had known what they had planned, I would never have let you go down there.”

Mikey avoided her eyes. “It’s fine, April. Thanks for helping me tonight.”

April pulled him into a hug. “Stay safe, and call me if they bother you again.”

“Thanks, April.”

Mikey made his way up to the apartment. Once again, he made it back to his room unnoticed, though he was far less enthusiastic about it this time. He changed into his pajamas and collapsed into his bed, utterly exhausted. He barely reacted as Klunk hopped up beside him and snuggled into his cheek.

Mikey hated to admit it, but deep down he was… 

Disappointed.

Did he actually care for these turtles? Of course not. He had met them all of two times, though apparently that did not matter to the other turtles—who seemed to think that being a turtle automatically made them family.

Mikey shuddered as he remembered the bedroom made up for him.

Despite that, Mikey had finally found someone who was like him. For the first time in his life, he had mutants that he could relate to—who could understand him in a way no one else in his life could. Mama was great, of course, but she hadn’t always been a mutant—hadn’t grown up with it like he had. Not to mention that she couldn’t be his friend—not in the way he wanted. No one he currently knew could.

Mikey let out a sigh and wrapped his arm around Klunk. Mikey was grateful for everything he had, but sometimes he couldn’t help but yearn for more.

Mikey allowed himself to silently mope for a few days. He felt as paranoid as his mama and sister, constantly looking out the windows as he waited for one of the turtles to show up and blow up his whole secret. He ignored his family’s attempts to cheer him up, saying something about not feeling well to ease some of their worries. 

One morning, though, he sprung out of bed, newly determined. 

Ruminating about what-ifs and what-could-bes wasn’t doing anything but making him sad, and that wasn’t the Mikey way. Mikey was supposed to be happy and cheerful and the optimist of the family. His job was to make his family happy too, so that was what he was going to do. Given the shadow of the turtles that had been hanging over their heads, he had his work cut out for him.

“Good morning, angel! Did you have good dreams?” Shen asked, smiling in relief as Mikey practically skipped into the room. She was standing at the stove, finishing up breakfast. Mikey was excited to see the spread his mama had made. With how stressed everyone had been, they hadn’t had a full sit-down breakfast together in a while. His mama had done her best—Mikey didn’t hold it against her. Mikey remembered their lunch conversation from a few days earlier and figured she was trying to make up for her anxious behavior, which was silly in Mikey’s opinion, or perhaps this was another attempt to cheer him up from his low spirits. Either way, he wouldn’t complain if it meant good breakfast again.

He rubbed his hands together in glee before making his way to the cabinets to pull out plates and silverware to set the table, replying, “amazing dreams! I dreamt I won a lifetime supply of pizza, and we ate it every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”

Mama’s laugh was music to his ears. “I guess we’ll just have to order some tonight then.”

Mikey mentally fist-pumped.

Actor Mikey for the win!

He and Mama had just finished setting the table when Miwa wandered in. She had a hand over her mouth as she yawned, her hair a rat’s nest. Mikey couldn’t help but giggle at the image she made. Miwa shot him a glare, but he only grinned cheekily in response.

They all sat down for breakfast, Mikey and Miwa thanking their mother, and dug in. Mikey basked in the warmth and joy that permeated the air. There was still some tension, but it wasn’t as strong as it had been over the last few weeks. It seemed like everyone had come to the same decision as Mikey, and it left him irrationally concerned that they somehow knew about his secret interactions with the turtles. It was ridiculous, Mikey knew. They definitely would have said something—or yelled a lot of somethings—to him if they had found out.

Shen set her silverware down on her plate, and Mikey and Miwa did the same, looking at their mother expectantly. She smiled at her children, and Mikey felt himself relax.

“My children,” Shen began, smiling as she reached out to cup her children’s cheeks. “I love you more than anything in this world. I would do anything for you if it meant keeping you safe and happy, but I’m afraid I have done you a disservice.” Her smile dropped, and the Tang siblings found themselves leaning into their mother’s touch to reassure her. “I have been so afraid of Saki finding us—of Michelangelo’s people finding us—that I have filled this home with fear and paranoia.”

“Mom—”

“Mama—”

Shen silenced her children with a raised hand as she drew back from them. “Let me finish, please. I know you want to tell me that it is not my fault, or that my actions were justified, but they were not. I will not let anyone tear this family apart, physically or emotionally. We will still be cautious, but we will not be afraid, for that is no life to live.”

Mikey and Miwa were silent for a moment before the former spoke, “are you sure, Mama? I don’t mind.”

Shen’s eyes turned sad at her son’s words. “Oh, my angel, but you do. I know you don’t like being cooped up all day or spending every waking moment with me. You’re a growing boy and need your independence, just as your sister does. As a mother, I should be nourishing that, not hindering it.”

“So we just… let our guard down?” Miwa asked, confused.

“Of course not. We will still stay alert, but we will not let our fear keep us from experiencing joy or living our lives.”

Mikey beamed. Day one of Mikey acting normal again was going better than expected! He and Miwa made eye contact and grinned at each other, silently making plans for the day now that they had a little more freedom.

Mikey was definitely going to start a prank war as celebration!

The mood was far lighter as they finished breakfast. Miwa helped their mother with the dishes while Mikey went back to his room to throw on a sweatshirt and his gloves. Mikey was not foolish enough to believe Mama would suddenly allow him and Miwa to go out alone again—that would take time, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have fun.

He grabbed his sketchbook and kissed Klunk on the head before heading to his sister’s room to pull out the spare blanket from her closet as well as her speaker. He was just getting her window open when Miwa walked in, sodas and snacks in hand. They might have just had breakfast, but Mikey’s stomach was endless, and they would be spending hours outside anyway. Even Miwa would get hungry at some point.

“Mom’s got her classes with the littles today, so we got all day up here,” Miwa said with a grin as they climbed out on the fire escape.

“She doesn’t need help?”

Miwa shook her head. “Nah, she said to enjoy ourselves. She can handle the little kids for one day.”

“Think Angel is finally going to get her kick right?” Mikey asked with a grin. He didn’t get to interact with the kids too often—it was hard to properly teach anything in his baggy clothes, and some of the parents were still uncomfortable with his presence—but he enjoyed whatever time he got with them, especially the spunky ones like Angel.

“Once she grows up a bit, I’m sure she’ll be able to kick out the rest of her brother’s teeth,” Miwa answered with a laugh.

Mikey and Miwa climbed onto the roof and set up for a day of relaxation and fun. When they were younger, the Tang siblings would come up to the roof to play superheroes, practicing the moves their mother taught them on imaginary enemies as well as each other. They spent hours dreaming up hero names and costume ideas, which Mikey would then sketch out. He had been partial to “Turtle Titan” while Miwa had debated between “Nightshade” and “Venus.”

“Lotus” had quickly been shot down when Mikey suggested it, which disappointed him. He had thought it was a pretty but also badass name.

They didn’t play as much anymore, but they still practiced their training on the rooftop. It was also a great place for Mikey to practice his breakdancing when he couldn’t use the dojo—he had learned his lesson about breakdancing in his room after knocking over a lamp and nearly causing a fire.

He never wanted to see the look of panic on his mama’s face again.

He and Miwa were resting on the blanket, taking a break from an intense game of Ninja Tag, when Mikey felt a shiver go down his back. He swore he felt eyes on him. Sitting up slowly, he silently gestured to Miwa, eyes darting to the rooftops around them to find the source of his discomfort.

They were just about to stand up when a voice called out, “I don’t want any trouble. For once.”

Mikey and Miwa whipped around to see the turtle with the red mask crouched by the fire escape—Raphael, Mikey remembered. He didn’t talk as much as the other two and didn’t seem as keen to meet Mikey, so he was shocked by the other turtle’s appearance. It only took a moment for the Tang siblings to stand and get their weapons out, but neither moved as Raphael held his hands out.

“I’m not here to fight, please. Look.” The red-banded turtle slowly reached for his sais before reluctantly putting them to the side. His hands formed into fists, but Mikey didn’t feel threatened. He did the same thing when kids tried to tug at his hood or face mask.

“What are you doing here?” Miwa asked, keeping a tight grip on her tessen. She shifted so that she was standing in front of her brother. “You’ve got three seconds to answer before we kick your ass.”

Raph rolled his eyes. “I came to… apologize. For the other night.”

“What?”

Mikey groaned and put his head in his hands. “Dude, you’re about to get me in so much trouble.”

“Trouble?” Miwa turned her glare onto her brother. “What do you mean by that? What does he mean?”

“Oh? He didn’t tell you?” Raph couldn’t help but smirk. Maybe it wasn’t fair, but this was a chance to get payback for upsetting Splinter. “Your brother here has been meeting up with us—even came back to our lair with us.”

“You what?” Mikey groaned louder at his sister’s words, refusing to look at her. “Mikey, are you insane?”

“Keep it down!” Mikey hissed, lowering his hands from his eyes. “What if Mama overhears—”

“She should hear about this! Mikey, what were you thinking? What if they had done something to you?”

“I didn’t go alone!” Mikey mentally prayed to April for forgiveness as he argued back, “I asked April to go with me!”

“Are you kidding me?” Mikey had never seen that level of fury on his sister’s face, and he had once accidentally destroyed her most beloved Barbie. “Oh, she is so dead.”

“Miwa, please—”

“You and I will talk about this with Mom, and I can’t wait to see the hell she is going to rain down when she finds out, but first—” Miwa whirled back around to glare at Raph. “I am not letting you take my brother. I may be pissed off right now, but he’s my brother.”

“I’m not here to kidnap your brother! Maybe Leo was acting a little crazy with his whole ‘bring the family back together’ nonsense, but I’m not an idiot. Mikey made it clear he didn’t see us as family.” Was that a hint of hurt in his tone that Mikey detected?

There was a beat of silence as Miwa processed through Raph’s words. She took a deep breath and straightened, turning to Mikey. “Tell me everything.”

Mikey explained the events leading up to the disastrous meeting at the lair. He could tell his sister had to hold back her anger several times, especially when she found out about the note under his pillow. Still, his sister stayed quiet to listen to the whole story, and Mikey found it comforting. His sister might be furious, but she always heard him out—after getting her initial anger out, of course.

When Mikey finished, Miwa let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well, at least you asked April to be there with you. I’m still pissed she didn’t tell me, but I’m glad she was there to help get you out when things got bad.” She turned to Raph, who had his arms crossed as he glared at them. “So, you’re here to apologize? Why come here at all? You have to know my mom will kick your ass if she finds out you’re here.”

The red-banded turtle grit his teeth as he looked away from them, staring intently at a stray candy wrapper. “Look, you don’t know us—I get that—and Leo came on way too strong—”

“Understatement,” Miwa muttered, and Mikey tensed at the look Raph sent her.

Raph clenched his fists. "Look, I know you don’t owe us anything. Hell, I wouldn’t blame you if you were done with us for good, but Master Splinter grieved you. He does his best, but the moment he saw you… I haven’t seen him that happy in a long time.”

Mikey swallowed as that weird feeling he had after leaving the lair came back. “He doesn’t even know me.”

“No, but you’re still his son. You might not remember him, but he never forgot you—has a whole section on his shrine for you and everything. If you want to say ‘screw you’ to the rest of us, fine. But give our father a chance. He had no idea about anything Leo had planned.”

“Did you?”

Raph blinked, surprised by the question. “What?”

“Did you?” Mikey repeated. “Know about Leo’s plans?”

Raph almost denied it. It definitely would have given him a leg up in getting the other turtle to like him, but he figured he would get caught eventually. “I didn’t know about him making a room for you. Even I can see how creepy it looked.” Raph sighed. “Leo really didn’t mean anything by what he’s done. He’s had this whole fantasy about rescuing you one day ever since Sensei told us about you. When we found out you were actually alive… Well, all he could think about was reuniting our family. Leo doesn’t see very far in front of himself, if you know what I mean.”

Miwa raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? And what’s he planning now?”

“Nothing. Ever since that night, he’s been moping around the lair. It’s honestly driving me nuts. He won’t even watch his stupid, nerd space show—just sits on the couch looking all sad or staying in his room.” Raph huffed, but Mikey could see the concern that lay underneath the other turtle’s frustration. “It’s pathetic.”

“So he has no idea that you’re here?” Miwa asked, tone doubtful. She hadn’t put away her tessen, but it now hung loosely in her hand as she crossed her arms and cocked her hip to the side.

“No, and if Sensei finds out, he’ll kill me. We’re not supposed to be topside during the day.”

“So you never go out to see the sun?” Mikey was horrified. He couldn’t imagine spending his life living in the dark. He loved the sun! He loved walking around Central park and lying in the sun with Mama and Miwa. When it snowed, he loved to look at how it sparkled in the morning, even if he could barely handle the cold. The colors of the sunrise and the sunset! People watching as they went about their day!

“I don’t need your pity,” Raph growled, turning away from them and gathering up his sai. “Ugh, this was stupid. I shouldn’t have come here.”

“Hey, wait—” Mikey lunged forward, reaching out to grab the other turtle’s hand, but he pulled back at the last second. Still, Raph paused, turning his head to glance at Mikey.

“Mikey!” Miwa hissed. “What are you doing?”

Mikey ignored her. “Well, it’s no wonder you guys are so weird if you don’t even see the sun. Did you even interact with anybody before April?” Mikey took the glare shot his way as a no. “It still doesn’t excuse Leo’s creepiness, but… I can almost get it.”

“Mikey—”

“Miwa, what if I had been taken from you when we were kids, and you suddenly found me again? Wouldn’t you want the chance to get to know me again?” Silence followed his question, and Raph turned around to face him, surprise evident in his features. 

Mikey was getting whiplash with the way his emotions had flip-flopped over the last few weeks. One moment he was ready to forsake the turtles and the next he pitied them. He also couldn’t help but acknowledge that Raph was right. Thinking back to that night, everyone had been surprised by Leo’s announcement about the room. It was unfair to punish the others for Leo getting ahead of himself.

He was still a little freaked out by it though.

“Mikey, when Mom finds out—”

“Are you going to tell her?” Mikey asked. “She is finally relaxing after weeks of hypervigilance and paranoia. If she knew about any of this, she’d probably be even worse than before! Are you really going to send her spiraling again?”

Guilt ate at Mikey as he watched a swirl of emotions war on Miwa’s face. He hated putting his sister in that position, but he knew that she knew that he was right.Their mother would find out eventually, of course. She always found out, but they were going to put it off as long as possible—for all of their sakes.

“Fine,” Miwa finally acquiesced. “But you’re not going anywhere without me. I don’t care if April’s there to supervise. We do this together or not at all.”

Mikey grinned. “Deal.”

Raph still looked like he was processing what just happened. “Wait, seriously? Did that actually work?”

“You wanna press your luck?” Miwa asked as she rolled her eyes. “Take the win and go. Tell April to text us when you want to meet up.”

Raph looked between the two siblings, opening his mouth as if to say something before changing his mind and closing it. He shook his head, radiating disbelief as he turned back around and left, muttering, “I’m going to regret this.”

Miwa let out an exasperated sigh and made her way back to the blanket. “I’m regretting following April into the sewers.”

Mikey sat down beside her, guilt worsening at her words. He was taking a lot of risks following through with this, and it was starting to feel like he was dragging too many people into it. Still, there was no turning back now. The turtles knew about him, and even after his words that night, it looked like not all of them would give up that easily.

He just hoped he wouldn’t come to regret his decisions too.

Chapter Text

Mikey and Miwa only had to wait a day before receiving a text from April. 

[From: April]: I’m not sure what happened and I don’t think I want to know but the guys said they want to meet up and to text you?

[From: Miwa]: long story. Tell them to meet us where they met mikey. Can you come too?

[From: April]: yeah I was gonna train some with Master Splinter anyway

[From: Miwa]: see you tonight

“Are you sure about this, Miwa?” Mikey asked. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“For the last time, we’re both in or we’re both out.”

Mikey let out a huff and flopped back onto Miwa’s bed as his sister put her phone away. Katy Perry was playing to drown out their conversation from their mother’s keen hearing.

“You don’t even like them.”

Miwa raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “And you do?”

“Well—no. I just—It’s complicated,” he muttered.

Miwa sighed and rolled over to face her brother. “You don’t have to do this, you know. You don’t owe them anything, Mikey.”

Mikey sat up with another huff. “I know! But… I was kind of excited before Leo did his whole creepy thing, and I really do believe the others didn’t know about it. It’s not fair to punish them for his mistakes.”

“You give people too many chances,” Miwa said with another sigh as she sat up as well. She saw her brother’s mouth open with outrage and continued before he could say anything, “it’s not always a bad thing. You’re a kind person, and I love that about you, but I’m gonna make sure they don’t take advantage of that and hurt you in return.”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Are you still on about that whole ‘protecting me’ thing? I’m not a little kid anymore!”

“No, but you’re my little brother. It’s my job to protect you, whether you like it or not.”

Mikey resisted the urge to roll his eyes again and left the conversation there, knowing the futility of continuing it. As a kid, Mikey had felt safe knowing that his sister would be there if he needed help like he had in the park all those years ago. As he got older, however, it had become a point of contention in their relationship. He knew his family was worried about him—worried about his inability to have a life like Miwa, or even Mama—but sometimes it was too much. Mikey wasn’t weak or a damsel in distress, and sometimes he thought his mama and sister forgot that.

Thankfully, his sister didn’t push the topic either, so they spent the rest of the afternoon quietly planning for tonight. Mikey thought some of Miwa’s precautions were a little silly, but she shut that thought down as soon as he voiced it.

“The only reason I’m humoring this is because April says they’re cool—despite what both of us have seen. I’m willing to give them a chance because of that, but I was serious earlier, Mikey.” Mikey shrank back at the fierce look in his sister’s eyes—a look that was rarely pointed his way. “If they do anything to hurt you, I will hurt them back.”

Mikey relented, if only because he was grateful his sister was going along with this rather than running to tell their mother.

Dinner was a little awkward since now both Tang siblings were keeping a secret. Thankfully, their mother seemed to think they were planning something for her birthday—which was coming up soon, so they really did need to plan for it—and shooed them away when they were finished so they could keep “planning.”

Mikey waited in Miwa’s room this time—the plan being that they would sneak down the fire escape instead of through the front door to reduce the risk of waking their mother up. Once they felt enough time had passed, they made their way to the other rooftop that was almost starting to feel like a second home to Mikey with how often he had been to it recently. They found the turtles already up there as always, and Mikey nearly cringed back as Leo’s eyes lit up at their arrival. It looked like they had interrupted a pretty heated argument if the irritation on Donatello’s face was anything to go by.

“You made it,” Leo said with only a slightly forced grin. He eyed Miwa warily. “We weren’t sure you would come.”

“Why? Because I was the one that talked to them?” Raph snapped. He sent a small nod toward Mikey and Miwa, which Miwa returned.

“Well, you’re not exactly known for your people skills.”

“They’re better than yours,” Miwa snarked. Leo’s mouth snapped shut, and he glowered towards the ground.

“Is April gonna be here soon?” Mikey asked before anyone else could respond. He was eager to change the topic before someone took things too far. “I thought she’d be here by now.”

“Hm…” Donnie pulled out his phone, and Mikey was delighted to see it was shaped like a turtle shell. Where did he find that, and how could Mikey get one? “It looks like she texted to say she was on her way, but nothing since then. Based on when she messaged us and how far away her apartment is, Mikey is right. She should have arrived a few minutes ago.” He looked up from his phone, brow furrowed in concern.

A clang from the fire escape had everyone hiding, though there wasn’t a lot of space to do so on the roof. A human hand reached up, and Mikey was relieved to see April’s head pop up over the lip of the rooftop.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said, slightly out of breath as she clambered onto the roof. “I just got mugged by some Purple Dragons. They stole my phone.” She smiled gratefully at Mikey as he helped her up.

“Ugh, those guys?” Miwa asked, arms crossed. “Those pathetic jerks seriously have nothing better to do than mug a teenage girl?”

“Don’t worry!” Leo moved forward and rested his hands on his hips as he smirked. “We’ll kick their butts for you.”

Raph’s eyes sparkled at the chance to beat some goons up and punched his fist into his hand. “Yeah, we’ll teach those punks not to mess with April O’Neil.”

April shook her head. “Guys, no, it’s just a phone. I’ll get another one. I don’t want to sidetrack your meeting tonight.”

“No way!” Mikey jumped in. “You’re our friend! And it’s probably our fault anyway since we asked you to come here tonight.”

“Exactly!” Donnie added, grinning slightly too wide as his face flushed. “What’s the point of being a ninja if you can’t help your friends when they get robbed?”

“Mikey, I don’t know about this…” As much as Miwa wanted to help her friend, she did not sign up for putting her and her brother into any sort of danger. If they got hurt, what would she say to their mother?

“Please, Miwa?” And there were the puppy dog eyes. Miwa had gotten a little better over the years at ignoring them but not much. Even now, it was difficult to resist them.

“I didn’t sign up to fight some thugs,” she tried, glancing away as she refused to look at her brother.

“Didn’t we always talk about learning how to fight to be ninja superheroes? This is the perfect chance to try that out! And besides, April’s our friend! We should help her!”

“It’s not like the Purple Dragons are much of a threat,” Raph cut in with a shrug and nodded at his purple brother. “Even Donnie could beat them.”

“Hey!”

“We’ll be careful,” Leo promised. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to either of you.”

Miwa glared at him. “I can take care of myself and my brother just fine.”

Raph moved between them, shooting a warning look towards Leo. “Then it’s settled. Let’s go get April’s phone back.”

“Are you coming with us?” Donnie asked hopefully, failing to hide his eagerness as he turned to April.

April bit her lip. “I guess… I was going to train with Splinter tonight, but that probably would have been canceled anyway with Mikey and Miwa’s visit.”

“Count this as field training!” Leo suggested, itching to leave. “And if it gets to be too much, we can jump in.”

April frowned at the insinuation that she would need help but stayed silent, simply following after the turtles as they headed towards the Purple Dragons’ hideout.

Mikey noted that Miwa made sure to stay between him and the others. Any time Leo appeared to stray over to him, his sister subtly blocked him. Leo’s face twisted with irritation every time, but thankfully he didn’t say anything. It seemed like everyone was making an effort now to hold back to try to maintain the peace. 

Mikey wondered how long that would last.

They snuck in quietly through the upper windows. A few men were standing around on the ground, and Mikey caught snippets of them arguing over a bet. Raph dropped down and delivered a solid punch to one of them that sent the man flying into the wall.

The other goon turned in shock. “The turtles?!”

“S’up,” Raph snarked as the others dropped around him. Mikey’s heart pounded as he landed, his limbs trembling faintly with excitement and some anxiety. His childhood dreams of fighting crime were coming true!

“Get ‘em!”

Mikey brought his nunchucks out, a grin forming on his face as a goon launched towards him, only to have it drop as Raph intercepted, shouting, “coming through!”

He noted the same thing happening to Donnie from Leo, and even April and Miwa didn’t have a chance as the red- and blue-banded turtles took every opportunity to fight.

Mikey lowered his nunchucks in disappointment as Leo slammed a Purple Dragon into the wall. “You punks stole a phone from a friend of ours. We want it back.”

They were led to a pile of electronics, and April was just about to grab her phone when the ground shook and split open. Strange, metallic animals(?) with the sharpest teeth Mikey had ever seen burst from the ground and began stealing the various tech.

“What the heck?”

Everyone could only stand and stare in bewilderment for a moment as they processed the scene before the Purple Dragons realized their stolen stuff was being stolen from them. It only took Mikey and the others a moment longer to realize one of the thugs had run off and April’s phone was missing. They looked up to see him running away, phone in hand.

Leo unsheathed his swords and ran past them, shouting an order to Raph and Donnie to go after the phone.

“No way!” the brothers argued, and Mikey let out a frustrated groan as the pause led to the goon and the machines getting further away.

“We’ll go after the phone!” Miwa yelled as she grabbed Mikey. She used her free hand to yank at Raph’s arm, who let out a surprisingly high-pitched yelp as he stumbled after them. “You too! Come on!”

Mikey turned back to call out to April—it was her phone after all—but he saw Donnie grabbing her hand and dragging her towards where the metal things had disappeared. His heart sank, and he prayed his friend would be okay.

The Purple Dragon was just a bit too far ahead for them to catch him, but they were able to see him disappear into a building before losing sight, so the three of them traveled to the rooftop and peeked through the convenient skylight.

“What the fuck is that?” Miwa whispered in shock as she stared at what looked like a giant, spiky Akita speaking to the goon.

“Chris Bradford,” Raph murmured in reply. “He got mutated not too long ago.”

“The famous guy?” Mikey asked, staring at the mutant in awe. “That would explain why that interview he had got canceled.”

Raph shushed him and backed away from the skylight. He glared at the two siblings as they moved with him and crossed his arms. “Why did you grab me back there? I was gonna go after those freak robot things!”

“Insurance,” Miwa answered, unbothered by the turtle’s anger. “I wasn’t about to go running off with no idea of what we were running into. Mikey and I don’t deal with stuff like this.”

“Yeah? Why me? Why not Donnie?”

Miwa shifted uncomfortably as Mikey’s head swiveled back and forth between the two. “Unfortunately, you’re the one I trust the most right now not to screw us.”

Mikey nearly laughed at the baffled look on Raph’s face. “What? Why?”

“You seem to understand the situation with my brother the best. I don’t expect you to kidnap him for me to never see again like I do with the blue one, and I’m not sure where the purple one stands.” Miwa stepped closer and poked a finger into Raph’s plastron. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not prepared to kick your butt if you try anything.”

“Right back at you, sister.” Raph slapped her hand away and made his way back to the skylight. “I would love nothing more than to go down there and beat Bradford to a pulp, but I can admit he’s not a light threat, and I don’t know how you two fight.”

Mikey and Miwa approached the skylight warily, looking down at the oversized dogman.

“Should we wait for the others?” Mikey asked.

“Who knows how long they’ll be? With Leo dragging Donnie and April around, they might be a while.”

Mikey furrowed his brow, shifting to sit on the ground. “Is your brother not a good fighter?”

Raph blinked in surprise. “Leo? No, he actually wins our spars more often than I’d like,” he muttered the last part bitterly as he looked back down at Bradford. He crossed his arms again, and Mikey had a feeling they had stumbled on a touchy topic.

Still, Mikey pushed forward as he shook his head. “No, Donnie. Is he not a good fighter?”

“He’s… Well—He’s fine,” Raph stuttered. “He’s just not as good as me or Leo.”

“Maybe he’d be a better fighter if you actually gave him a chance.” Miwa spoke under her breath, but the two boys still heard her, and Raph turned to glare at her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Miwa rolled her eyes. “Are you seriously that oblivious? Look at what you and Leo did earlier during the fight. You didn’t let the rest of us even have a chance. You butted into every opportunity. I can’t imagine what that’s like when it’s just the three of you sparring. I bet it turns into two-on-one a lot.” 

The level of fury directed towards his sister had Mikey inching closer to her, ready to jump in between the two if needed. April’s phone was practically forgotten at this point, though Mikey made a mental note that the dogman and the Purple Dragon thug seemed to be trying to break into the phone, something that definitely concerned him.

“You don’t know anything about us!”

“Shh!” Mikey glanced warily down through the skylight. As the son of a mutated person with enhanced hearing, he really didn’t want Miwa or Raph tipping Bradford off to their presence.

“I’m not blind. I can read between the lines. I may not know very much about you guys—I don’t really want to anyway—but there are other ways to be valuable than brute strength or fighting skill. Mikey and I are different in many ways, but we compliment each other. We fill in the gaps that the other lacks—” Mikey could practically hear his mama’s voice as Miwa spoke, having heard this speech enough times growing up when they got frustrated with one another during training. “Whatever skills your brother brings, I don’t think you value them very much.”

“Guys, can we please focus back on the phone?” Mikey asked. “I’d really rather this dude not have my contact info. And it looks like something’s happening.”

Miwa and Raph looked down to see more Purple Dragons bringing in a guy who looked like he stepped straight out of an IT office, minus the rope around his wrists. Mikey couldn’t really hear the discussion, but his hand drifted to tug at his sleeve when he saw Bradford handing April’s phone to the IT guy.

That probably wasn’t good.

“You say you two know how to fight?” Raph cracked his knuckles with a smirk. “Stick close to me, and as Leo would probably say, let’s take this dog to the pound!” Raph’s mouth twisted with disgust. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

“Hey, that could be his villain name.” Mikey’s eyes sparkled at the idea. “Dogpound.”

“Sounds good to me. Let’s roll!”

The three of them crashed through the skylight. Mikey’s feet landed on the laptop the IT guy was hooking up to April’s phone, crushing it into pieces. Thankfully, nothing sharp stuck as he kicked off and knocked the IT guy unconscious with a roundhouse kick.

“Another turtle?!” Dogpound roared, nearly batting Miwa aside as his eyes locked on Mikey. Mikey quickly jumped away as the mutant swiped at him. 

It was easy for him and Miwa to fall into their familiar formation, no talking needed as they communicated their plan through body language and eye contact. They had never fought a real opponent before—and never one so big—but it didn’t matter. Their mother had trained them to protect themselves from the worst man she knew. They may not be able to take him down by themselves, but they knew how to stay out of his reach and annoy him in the process.

Mikey vaguely registered Raph answering his phone and yelling their address into it as he focused on the fight. It didn’t take long for the red turtle to hang up and knock out the Purple Dragons before joining in on the fight with Dogpound. It took a minute to get their groove, but Raph was able to slide into their dynamic with surprising ease.

Mikey wasn’t sure how much time had passed before three more figures dropped in, along with several of the weird machines that had stolen the tech earlier. Mikey was relieved to see that the others had made it okay, though he was concerned with the way April drooped with exhaustion.

“We need to get Stockman’s spray!”

Mikey didn’t know what Donnie meant by that, but in the chaos of the machines attacking, he noticed Dogpound going for April’s phone. “Hey!”

Mikey used his chucks on a bar on the ceiling to launch himself past the giant mutant and swipe April’s phone from the table. He gulped, heart pounding and adrenaline flooding his body as he realized he now had the dogman’s full attention on him.

His sister screamed, “Mikey! Run!”

His feet pounded into the floor as he fled up the stairs, Dogpound close behind him. He couldn’t help but let out a scream as claws ghosted past his shell. His sister followed after them, though she struggled to catch up—Mikey had always been the faster of the two of them.

He attempted to jump on the railing to fling himself across the room, but he let out another shout as a force slammed him from behind, knocking him to the floor below. His breath whooshed out of him as the phone flew out of his hand, skittering across the ground. He flipped over just in time to see Dogpound loom over him—

—only for Donnie to come in and slam his bo into the side of the dogman’s face. Mikey took satisfaction in the dog-like yelp that escaped from the mutant’s mouth.

He ran to Donnie’s side, and the latter asked, “Have you seen Stockman’s spray? It controls the machines!”

“Stockwho?”

“You mean this?” Mikey was surprised to see the IT guy awake and standing, though the way he stumbled over to Dogpound indicated that Mikey had done a number on him. The IT guy huffed as he made it to Dogpound’s side and smirked at Donnie and Mikey. “I’ll handle this, dogman. One spritz and they’re mouser cho—”

A yell from Raph had Mikey and Donnie looking over to see the red turtle launching himself high in the air and throwing shurikens towards the villains. The weapons pierced the IT guy’s (Stockman’s?) spray, covering him and Dogpound in a red mist that had the both of them coughing.

The machines turned their attention from Leo and April to the villains, and the two made a run for it, only pausing as April’s phone rang. Dogpound picked it up with a satisfied grin, which quickly fell as Donnie threw a knife, ripping the phone from the dog mutant’s hand and pinning it to the wall.

And now it was broken, so this whole fight had basically been for nothing.

“Hang it up, Dogpound! Your call just got dropped!” Mikey groaned at Donnie’s one-liner—honestly, he could have done so much better—but he didn’t have the chance to say anything as the machines chased after Stockman and Dogpound, forcing them to flee.

“Nice job, guys!” Leo called out as he made his way over to Mikey and Donnie.

“Yeah!” Mikey was shocked to feel Raph’s arm around him as the red turtle moved between him and Donnie. Raph turned and smirked as he squeezed Donnie’s shoulder. “Not bad, little brother. We couldn’t have done this without you.”

Mikey’s chest warmed as Donnie’s face shifted from shock to awe at his brother’s praise. Maybe Miwa’s words had gotten through to the stubborn turtle.

Speaking of his sister.

“Mikey!” The force of his sister slamming into him had Mikey stumbling to the side and out of Raph’s arm. He felt his sister’s hands pat over him as she assessed for injuries. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine,” Mikey replied as he gently grabbed his sister’s hands. His chest was smarting a bit from the fall earlier, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. “How are you?”

“Fine too.” She pulled him in for another hug, and Mikey gladly returned it. His adrenaline was draining away, and he sagged in his sister’s arms.

“Sorry about your phone, April,” he heard Donnie say. “You can have one of my custom T-phones, though.”

So Donnie made them! Mikey made a mental note to ask about the turtle shell phone later.

“Thanks, Donnie. I’m just glad they didn’t get the information they were looking for.”

“You good?” Miwa asked, looking up from the hug to April.

April nodded tiredly, subconsciously leaning against Donnie, whose eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights. “Yeah, I’m glad we had Donnie with us. We got sprayed with that stuff so those things were chasing us the entire time. Leo wanted to just fight them, but there were always more behind. It was Donnie who figured out that we couldn’t just wash the spray off and needed to find a bigger target for them. What about you guys?”

“Wasn’t expecting the giant dogman, but I think we held our own.”

“You weren’t half-bad yourself, sister,” Raph chimed in. 

Was that warmth he detected in Raph’s tone? 

Mikey grinned. It looked like the red turtle was starting to like them.

“We should probably head home,” Miwa said, dulling the mood. “The longer we stay out, the more we risk Mom finding out.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Mikey raised a fist to Raph, who stared at it for a moment before hesitantly returning his fist bump. “Definitely hit us up again. I haven’t had that much fun in forever.”

Had he been scared out of his mind during the fight? Absolutely. But did he have fun while doing so?

Absolutely.

Raph huffed good-naturedly. “You got it. We’ll see you around.”

“Come on, April. We’ll drop you off too.”

Mikey and Miwa made sure April got home safe before making their way home. Mikey made it as far as Miwa’s room before deciding to just collapse in her bed, shucking his sweatshirt off and kicking his shoes to the corner. Miwa rolled her eyes but allowed the impromptu sleepover. If they seemed tired in the morning, maybe their mother would think they were up late planning.

Miwa settled beside him, and Mikey was just about to drift off to sleep before Miwa’s voice startled him out of it.

“That guy knows about you now.”

“...huh?” Mikey asked sleepily.

Miwa rolled onto her side to stare at her brother, worry swimming in her eyes. “The dog mutant thing. He knows about you now, and I don’t like it.”

Mikey frowned. “Yeah, I don’t like it either. But he doesn’t know where I live or anything like that, and I cover up well. I doubt he’ll find us that easily.”

“Probably. But I still don’t like it.”

Mikey felt guilt churning in his gut. He had dragged his sister into his mess and, though he knew she had just as much fun as he did tonight, he hated that he had caused his sister’s anxiety. Still, there was nothing he could do about it now, and like he said, they were probably safe.

The dogman was one guy. With the limited knowledge that he had, what harm could he really do?

Bradford stormed down the walkway, Stockman dangling from his outstretched hand as the small man whined and complained. He unceremoniously dropped the man in front of his master’s throne.

“Here he is, Master.”

“Baxter Stockman.”

Bradford watched with self-satisfaction as said man looked up at the Shredder. Stockman quivered as he inadvertently knelt before the better man.

“Your interference cost me the turtles and Splinter.” Stockman let out a cry as he was lifted into the air and a knife was pointed at his face. “You should pay with your life.” The knife paused just before his nose. “Fortunately, for you, I may have some use for your skills.” 

The knife retreated, and Stockman was once again dropped to the floor.

“There is another matter, Master.”

“And what is that?”

Bradford knelt before the Shredder. “There is a fourth turtle. He is different from the others, but he appears to be allied with them, along with two human girls.”

“A fourth turtle?” Bradford’s lip curled into a sneer at his master’s pleased tone. “Perhaps we can use this to our advantage. Maybe you aren’t so useless after all, Bradford.”

“I serve to please.”

“Find me everything you can on this fourth turtle, and the two humans as well.”

“Yes, Master.”

Chapter Text

Mikey and Miwa had to decline the next few invitations they received from April and the turtles. Their mother’s birthday was approaching, and they wanted to make it extra special given how stressed she had been recently.

Mikey had the idea to give their mother a spa day. Something about being around the stink in the sewers had him appreciating the idea of being pampered, and it wasn’t like his mama was able to go to a spa anyway given her mutant status. Miwa was all for it, so she and her brother took their saved up allowances and bought everything they thought they needed to give their mother the best spa day ever.

Mikey might have gone a little crazy on Japanese cherry blossom scented shampoos and lotions, but Miwa also bought far more bottles of nail polish than they needed, so he figured he was fine.

Their mother’s birthday was blessedly calm and silent—no texts from April, surprise visits from turtles, or stressful news reports. Mikey and Miwa woke up far too early to make her breakfast in bed, but it was worth it to see the delight on his mama’s face when they placed the tray in her lap. After breakfast, they handed her a wrapped present from the both of them.

“A robe!” Shen exclaimed as she unwrapped it, beaming at her children. “It’s so soft! Thank you, I love it.”

“That’s only part of the gift,” Miwa replied. She and her brother were practically buzzing with excitement. “Go change into it and meet us in the living room.”

Shen did as asked and let out a gasp of delight as she made her way into the living room. Her children were wearing matching white robes. They stood at the coffee table, which held an array of products, and the room smelled pleasantly of white tea and sage from the candles burning on whatever surface they could find. Calming music played from Miwa’s speaker in the corner. Mikey and Miwa stepped forward and each took one of their mother’s hands, leading her to the couch. Shen sat down eagerly as her children stood in front of her.

“You’ve been so stressed lately, Mama. We thought you could use a relaxing day.”

“And since you can’t go to a real spa—” Miwa cut in. “—we thought we’d bring the spa to you.”

It wasn’t the most conventional spa day, but the Tang family enjoyed themselves nonetheless. Miwa washed the fur around her mother’s head with the scented shampoos while Mikey placed sliced cucumbers over her eyes. Unfortunately, they weren’t really able to use the scented lotions in fear of irritating her burn scars, but they scrounged up a soothing balm that had Shen relaxing further into the couch. Afterwards, they painted the mixture of fingernail and claw on their mother’s hands and feet. 

Mikey and Miwa joined in, too, of course. After leaving their mother to relax, the Tang siblings painted each other’s nails with Mikey and Miwa choosing bright orange and blood red respectively. By early afternoon, all three of them were on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table and wearing matching cucumber eyes. Mikey and Miwa had the addition of mud masks on as well. The tension they had been holding for weeks bled out of them, the three of them letting out a sigh of relief as they sank into the couch.

“This has been so wonderful,” Shen murmured, not wanting to disturb the peace of the room but needing to voice her gratitude. “I couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

“S’not over yet,” Mikey mumbled, fighting back a yawn. “We still got lunch and dinner.”

“Oh, my loves, you really don’t need to—”

“Shhh…” Miwa shushed. “It’s your birthday. You do so much to take care of us. Let us return the favor.”

Shen weakly protested but gave in quickly to her children. She had never really been able to deny them. They spent the rest of the day cooking together, singing along and dancing to their mother’s favorite songs. The apartment was warm with joy and laughter.

Mikey’s cheeks hurt from the constant smile stretching them taut. His chest felt full to bursting with the love he held for his mama and sister. As they sat down for dinner, Mikey couldn’t help but briefly think back to the turtles. They may preach that they were family, but he couldn’t agree. Sure, Raph wasn’t so bad, but he still didn’t really know the guy, and he knew the others even less. Mikey had been a baby when he had been lost. He wasn’t whatever fantasy they had conjured up, and he would make sure to hammer that home.

Maybe they could be friends—Mikey could be fine with that—but he didn’t think they could ever be family. He couldn’t trust Leo with that title—not with how obsessive the guy was about him. He could never put his family through the fear that he one day wouldn’t be theirs anymore, and that is what he was afraid Leo would do. He wasn’t sure if the blue-masked turtle knew how to share, so to speak.

When dinner was over, Mikey and Miwa got up to bring out a small cake to their mother. They sang happy birthday and watched happily as Shen blew out the candles.

“What did you wish for, Mama?” Mikey asked.

Miwa playfully swatted at her brother. “You’re not supposed to tell, or it doesn’t come true, remember?”

Shen laughed, “It’s all right, isn’t it? There wasn’t much to wish for.” She took a hand from both of her children and squeezed. “I have everything I could ever want. The only thing I could wish for was our continuing peace and happiness.”

Mikey and Miwa quickly glanced at each other. Once again, his stomach churned as guilt ate away at him. He knew they were keeping the secret from their mother to maintain her peace, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think it would last. Maybe it would be a good idea to tell her before she found out. He would talk to Miwa about it and see what she thought. Maybe they could come up with a plan to lessen the damage.

But that could wait for another day.

For now, Mikey simply enjoyed the festivities, content to be surrounded by his real family, turtles be damned.

Mikey and Miwa felt comfortable accepting the turtles’ invitation the next night. They met the turtles and April at their usual spot before following them into the sewers. Miwa wrinkled her nose at the smell but didn’t comment, resigning herself to a future of traveling through stink and muck for her brother.

The Tang siblings chatted amicably with Raph and April while Donnie and Leo lagged behind. Miwa ignored the latter’s glare at her back, and Mikey didn’t mention it. He would learn sooner or later that hating her would only worsen the fragment of a relationship he had with Mikey.

The conversation cut off as they approached the turnstiles and Mikey came to an abrupt halt, the muscles in his face spasming as they tried to decide what emotion to convey. His sister turned as she noticed he was staring at something just past them, and Mikey clocked the moment she realized a giant rat was standing in the living room. He noted the flash of hurt that crossed Splinter’s face as she shifted to put herself in front of her brother.

“You must be Michelangelo’s sister.” There was a pause as if he was going to say more—a name perhaps—and it went on just long enough to be awkward before he continued, “I regret to say I have not heard very much about you.”

Miwa glanced at Mikey, who responded with a whisper, “this is their dad.”

Another flash of hurt at his words. His sister watched the rat carefully as they made their way into the living room, staying close to his side as Splinter approached them. His hands (paws?) twitched as if to reach out to Mikey, but he held himself back.

The rat smiled gently. “Thank you for returning and giving us a second chance. I apologize for the surprise my son sprang on you. Had I been aware, I would have put a stop to it before it happened.”

Leo spluttered, “Sensei!”

“If one cannot admit to their mistakes, they will never grow.”

Mikey cracked an uncomfortable smile, not really sure what to say. He shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket and let his eyes wander around the room to avoid Splinter’s expectant gaze. He may be giving them a second chance, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for any of them.

Except maybe Raph. He was kind of cool.

He heard Leo huff behind him. He also heard Raph mutter something to the blue-masked turtle, but it was too quiet to make out the words. Whatever it was that Raph said, it calmed Leo down enough to walk up beside them, though the latter did have to pause to take a deep breath as Miwa seamlessly slid between them.

“Thank you again for giving us a chance,” Leo finally said, his smile just slightly forced. Mikey wondered if the other turtle was actually gritting his teeth. “Is there anything you’d like to do?”

“Uh, I don’t know. What do you guys usually do?”

Leo lit up, and Mikey wondered if he should regret his question as the other turtle launched into a very enthusiastic explanation of some old space show that they apparently watched all the time. Before he could protest, he found himself dragged to the couch and plopped down closely at Leo’s side. He shook his head at his sister before she could say anything. He didn’t think Leo had meant anything by his actions—at least he hoped so. Miwa huffed but joined them on the couch, side-eyeing Splinter as she passed him and sat on Mikey’s other side.

Leo turned the TV on to show an old cartoon captain holding an armful of pink, fuzzy balls. Mikey barely paid attention to the screen as Leo explained the plot of the episode, though he wasn’t sure why they couldn’t just start the episode over.

He saw Raph roll his eyes and nudge Donnie as he headed towards them with April close behind. “Leo, you have to be the only person in the world that enjoys this show. I can’t imagine these two will like it.”

“No way! There are millions of Spaceniks out there!”

“Space what?” Mikey asked, but he went unheard. Miwa was still eyeing Splinter, who stood awkwardly by the couch, seemingly indecisive about whether or not he should sit with them, when Raph snatched the remote out of Leo’s hand and changed the channel.

“Hey!”

“I'm Joan Grody, with a sewer shocker. City workers attacked by mutants?”

All heads whipped towards the TV as the news reported a “part-man, part-reptile” creature living in the sewers. Mikey’s jaw nearly dropped as a giant alligator mutant emerged in the video to attack the city worker.

Just how many mutants were in New York City?

“I got a bad feeling about this,” Donnie murmured.

Leo stood up, all evidence of his earlier joy erased as determination took over. “We've got to track this guy down and stop him ourselves.”

Miwa stood as well, moving in front of her brother as if to shield him from the blue turtle. “And why exactly do we need to do that?”

“We can’t have a news crew coming down here and accidentally finding us,” Raph replied. “We need to deal with this guy before that happens.”

“And you’re okay with this?” Miwa asked, expression incredulous as she turned towards Splinter. “Sending your teenage sons out to fight crime?”

“They are well-trained warriors protecting their home.”

Mikey almost laughed as his sister’s eyes bulged with outrage. “And?!”

April put herself between Splinter and Miwa before the latter could do or say something that she couldn’t take back. “Miwa, it’s okay.”

Mikey was curious to see Splinter’s minute flinch at April’s words. Had he not been watching the trio, he would have missed it.

“Are you serious, April?”

Though Mikey was slightly embarrassed by his sister’s protest of the situation, he couldn’t blame her. He knew his sister well enough to understand that she wasn’t just angry about putting themselves in danger. Miwa was probably imagining that this would have been his life had Mama not found him. His sister was incredibly overprotective, and any thought of Mikey regularly going out to fight crime was likely sending her rage into overdrive.

But Mikey had never been one to play it safe.

“Someone’s gotta do it, Miwa,” Mikey interrupted gently, not wanting his sister’s ire turned on him. “The mutant population in New York is apparently getting bigger, and that puts Mama and me at risk. What if Mama’s students or the parents figure us out when they realize mutants are among them? What if—What if that kid remembers the park?”

Mikey watched Miwa clench and unclench her fists, opening and closing her mouth as she worked through her thoughts. The others had fallen silent, though Mikey could see Donnie taking the remote from Raph to rewind the video, likely looking for something to help them find the alligator mutant.

She huffed and glared at her brother as she crossed her arms. “Well, it doesn’t have to be us.”

Mikey shrugged. “No, but wasn’t last time fun?”

“You almost got hurt!”

“But I didn’t!” Did Mikey really want to go find the alligator mutant? Not really—the guy looked pretty violent and scary. Unfortunately, Mikey was a little brother, and the more Miwa pushed back on going, the more Mikey wanted to go. It was Sibling 101.

Splinter turned to Leo with a frown. “What are they talking about?”

“Uh…”

“But you could have!”

“Perhaps you both could stay behind while my sons investigate the mutant,” Splinter offered when he realized he wouldn’t get anything from Leonardo.

Miwa took a moment to look at the rat man. She opened her mouth, thought for a second, and then turned to Donnie. “Where’s this mutant at?”

Mikey would feel bad about the way Splinter’s face fell later. For now, he was just happy to follow the turtles to tunnel 281. He ignored Miwa’s grumbling as April tried to console her. He would make it up to his sister later, though he wasn’t quite sure how yet.

He’d think of something.

“Here it is!”

Mikey looked up to see Donnie standing in front of a tunnel entrance covered in crime scene tape. He followed the turtles as they climbed into the tunnel, Miwa and April close behind him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to meet Miwa’s eyes. They had a silent conversation, and Mikey felt himself relax as she smiled reassuringly.

They might fight sometimes, but he was grateful to know his sister would always have his back.

Everyone briefly paused to look at giant footprints that uncomfortably reminded Mikey of that one scene from Jurassic Park, but before he could make a joke about it, the tunnel in front of them lit up faintly in pink as the sound of lasers echoed towards them. They peeked around the corner to see the giant alligator mutant fighting against pink and silver robots.

“Whoa.” 

Mikey wasn’t sure who said it—for all he knew, it could have been him—but “whoa” was right. He watched as the alligator tore the robots to shreds, ducking as stray limbs were thrown in his direction.

Donnie mumbled beside him, “I never thought I’d feel sorry for the Kraang.”

Mikey’s heart stopped, and he felt Miwa’s hand tighten on his shoulder. These were the Kraang? The things that had mutated Mama and nearly kidnapped or killed him as a baby? Rage seared in his veins as he stared hatefully at the robots. His body itched to fight them—to make them feel even an ounce of the pain that Mama had felt since that night.

It looked like he would get his chance too. The Kraang were zapping the daylights out of the alligator while talking about some power cell. Despite his initial fear, Mikey felt bad for the mutant. Besides, anyone against the Kraang was a friend, right?

“Come on, we gotta help that guy!” He grabbed at Raph’s arm, tugging as he made to move towards the alligator, but was surprised as the red-masked turtle pulled away.

“I think ‘gotta’ is a strong word.”

Leo stepped forward, and he hated the look of condescension on the other’s face. “Mikey, we don't know anything about that guy. He could be way more dangerous than the Kraang. Besides, you’ve never even fought the Kraang before. You have no idea what you’re going up against.”

Mikey glared at them. “That gator dude needs our help. I can't wait around for you cowards.”

He glanced at his sister, who surprisingly hadn’t said anything about fighting the Kraang. She looked just as determined as he felt, and Mikey figured she was itching just as much as he was on getting some revenge for their mother.

“Guys—” April tried to mediate but was quickly interrupted as Mikey and Miwa raced out with twin battle cries.

“Well, I guess that settles it,” Raph said with a shrug. He pulled out his sai with a sadistic grin. “Let’s go whack some piñatas."

The turtles and April jumped into the fight, and the Kraang were quickly defeated. Mikey managed to stop two of them from dragging the alligator away, nearly gagging as two squishy, pink creatures emerged from the robots to scamper away, though one paused to look at him curiously before doing so.

Mikey scowled at their retreat as Donnie spoke, “so what do we do now?”

“We get out of here before more Kraang droids show up!” Leo snapped, clearly agitated at not being listened to earlier.

Mikey’s head snapped around, his gaze gravitating toward the unconscious alligator. He ignored his instincts screaming at him as he crouched beside the mutant and cradled its head. “We can’t just leave him here! What if those things find him?”

“Well, what do you want to do?” Leo’s condescending tone was back. “Take him back to the lair?”

Would his puppy dog eyes work on Leo?

Only one way to find out.

“Hey, wait, hold on—” Leo stammered as Mikey’s eyes grew wide and his lip jutted out in a pout.  He saw Miwa sigh and drop her face into her hand. “Did—Did you see what he did to those Kraang droids?” Mikey’s eyes grew impossibly wider. “We are not bringing that monster home with us!”

Monster.

“Monster!”

“Monster!”

Monstermonstermonstermonster—

“I’m a monster!”

“He is not a monster!” Mikey snarled, startling everyone but Miwa into taking a step back at the uncharacteristic behavior. “What makes him different from any of us? Because of the way he looks? Humans think we’re monsters too.” He didn’t give them a chance to respond as he stood up and tugged at the alligator’s hand, though it did not budge. He pulled at it some more, grunting as he put everything he had into moving the mutant. 

He felt a presence beside him and looked up to see his sister taking the alligator’s other hand. Their eyes met, and they had another silent conversation.

You’re not a monster.

I know, but it hurts.

He hated that heartbroken look in her eyes—hated that he was the one that put it there every time. He hoped one day that things would be different, and they could both live in peace with their mother—no worries about people hating them for what they were (or who their family were in Miwa’s case).

Seeing Miwa helping Mikey, the others gave in and helped lug the giant alligator back to the lair, though not without several complaints.

“I can’t believe we let him talk us into this,” Raph grumbled when they finally dropped the mutant into the pit at the lair.

Mikey ignored him as he carefully looked over the mutant for injuries—they hadn’t exactly been careful dragging him back. He heard the clink of metal hitting metal and looked up to see Donnie approaching with chains. He put himself in front of the alligator defensively. “Whoa, what are those for?”

“We can’t keep him here unless we chain him to something really big,” Donnie replied sternly.

Mikey fired back, “no way! We are not chaining him up like some monster!”

Raph stepped forward to diffuse the situation. “Look, we let you bring him back, but this is our home. We have a right to keep it safe.”

Mikey looked to his sister to back him up, but he could see the indecision on her face. He glanced at April and saw the same thing. Feeling betrayed, he heard a groan behind him and turned to face the alligator. “Let’s just talk to him first before we—”

The mutant shot up with a roar, whipping an arm out that sent Mikey flying across the room.

“Mikey!” Miwa raced to her brother as the alligator loomed over the three turtles and April. Donnie moved himself in front of April and was met with a giant hand grabbing his face. The purple-masked turtle screamed as he was flung around, and the others jumped in to try to save him. Leo and Raph were immediately thrown from the alligator, but Leo managed to pick up a device that shocked the mutant back into unconsciousness. Mikey clung to his sister as he fought to catch his breath.

“What is all the commotion?”

Splinter entered the room, and Raph was quick to answer, “Sensei, Mikey made us bring a mutant back to the lair, and it attacked us.”

Mikey steamed at the accusation. “He needs our help!”

“It’s a dangerous monster!”

Miwa had to hold her brother back from lunging at Raph, but Mikey could feel the anger radiating from her. She hated the word “monster” just as much as he did. He could tell she was barely containing herself, and Mikey was sure one more word from one of the turtles would set the both of them off.

“Raphael!” Splinter chastised. “There is no monster more dangerous than a lack of compassion.” The alligator growled. “...My mistake.”

Mikey managed to pull himself out of his sister’s grip and take a step towards the group. “We’re doing to him what everyone else would do to us—judging him by his looks.”

Donnie wasn’t moved by his words. “And the fact that he had me by the face, Mikey!”

“He was fighting the Kraang!” Mikey snapped. “He’s probably on our side!”

Splinter’s eyes narrowed as he turned towards Leo. “What’s this about the Kraang?”

Leo sighed. “They were trying to force him to tell them where they could find some power cell.”

“And he refused to tell?” Splinter raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah! They were all like ‘zap, zap, zap’, and he was all like ‘Rawr, never!’” And there went Miwa’s face in her hand again.

“I see,” Splinter said. He smiled gently at his fourth son. “You made a wise decision, Michelangelo.”

“Huh?” all replied, shocked.

Splinter moved close to examine the alligator. “His scars run deep, but they protect a genuine heart. When he awakens, Michelangelo, you must find a way to befriend him.”

“Hold on now,” Miwa interrupted, scowling at the rat man. “Who are you to give my brother orders?”

“It’s fine, Miwa.” The flinch that Mikey had seen earlier from Splinter was back. “I don’t mind. Someone has to be nice to him.” He pointedly looked at the other turtles.

Splinter stood. “We need to learn what he knows about the Kraang. In the meantime, you three try to find this power cell before the Kraang can.”

Mikey didn’t know how to feel about being left in the lair without the other turtles, but at least he had Miwa and April with him. They wouldn’t leave him alone with Splinter.

The turtles looked unsure about this arrangement, but they didn’t argue. Instead, Donnie asked, “but we’re still chaining him up right?”

“Of course,” Splinter replied. “I am compassionate, not insane.”

With that, Mikey found himself keeping watch over the alligator while Miwa and April discussed an upcoming history test. Mikey chimed in every once in a while, but U.S. history had never been his favorite. He much preferred the stories his mama would tell about her village in Japan. Splinter had gone back to the dojo to “meditate” or whatever on the subject—whatever that meant.

Mikey wasn’t sure how much time had passed before the alligator was awake again. “Where am I?” The mutant attempted to break out of his chains, but they held strong. Miwa and April fell silent while he smiled at the mutant.

“Good morning! Or night, I guess.”

The alligator snarled, “set me free!”

Mikey sighed. “Yeah, sorry about the chains. The others said you need to stay locked up for now so you don’t attack me.”

“Who are you? What am I doing here?”

“I’m Michelangelo.” He held out a hand but immediately snatched it back as the mutant snapped at his fingers. “My, uh, friends and I saved you from the Kraang.”

“Mikey,” Miwa warned as the alligator growled and swiped at the air in rage.

Mikey ignored her as he tried to soothe the alligator, who had fallen to the ground with a tired huff. “Whoa, it’s okay! You’re safe. I brought you here so you could get better.” He was not giving credit to the turtles, who had tried to leave the mutant behind. “You must be hungry. Here—” Mikey dug around in his pockets and pulled out a granola bar. It paid to keep a snack on him. He removed the wrapper and held it out to the alligator. “It’s not much, but it’s probably better than whatever’s down in the sewers.”

The alligator sniffed experimentally at the snack bar before hesitantly taking a bite, nearly eating the entire bar whole. The mutant chomped his teeth and licked his lips. “This is the best thing I have ever tasted.”

Well, that was kind of sad.

“You should try his cooking,” Miwa chimed in. “It’s leagues better than a granola bar.”

The alligator sat down as Miwa passed him another granola bar (it paid to have a sister who knew that he got hungry often). April hesitantly joined them, though she kept a little more distance than the Tang siblings.

“So, what’s your name?” Mikey asked.

“I do not have one.”

“You don’t have a name?” Mikey was horrified. “Well, today’s your lucky day! I’m great at naming stuff!”

“Like what?” Miwa asked playfully.

“Klunk! And Dogpound!”

“Oh, so two things.”

He gasped in mock outrage and turned to the alligator. “Don’t believe a word she says!” He moved closer to the mutant and examined him, poking at his tail and looking at his teeth. “Your head is kind of leathery. It’s not really a normal name, but neither is Michelangelo, so what about Leatherhead?”

“Seriously, Mikey?” April asked as his sister groaned.

But Leatherhead seemed pleased. “Leatherhead it is. Thank you.”

Mikey beamed. “No problem!” He sat down again. “So, question. Why did you go all crazy-eyes on Donnie?”

“Who?”

“The turtle whose face you grabbed earlier? You kinda flung him around like a rag doll.”

Leatherhead paused, but Mikey and the girls waited patiently. “...There are times when I lose control. When I awaken, I am horrified by what I have done. A monster like me deserves to be chained.”

There was that word again.

Mikey took the other’s hand gently. He could practically hear his mama’s voice echoing his own as he said, “or maybe you just think you're a monster because everyone treats you that way.”

Leatherhead nodded with a hum. “You are wise beyond your years.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“Since when?” Miwa asked.

“Shut up!”

Mikey eventually released Leatherhead from the chains, and the four of them ended up in the kitchen while Mikey made egg drop soup. He felt a little bad about using the little ingredients that he could find in the kitchen, but he would just leave the leftovers for the turtles and Splinter to eat later. He was just finishing up the soup when he heard the three turtles returning to the lair. A mischievous smirk formed on his face as he got a brilliant idea. He asked the others to stay in the kitchen while he went to greet the turtles.

“Hey, guys! Leatherhead is totally off the chain.”

Their anger was immediate with Raph being the first to speak. “You mean you set him free?!”

“What? No,” Mikey replied casually. “‘Off the chain’ means he’s cool.”

The three turtles sighed in relief.

His smirk grew as he turned towards the kitchen. “And that’s why I set him free.”

Leatherhead emerged, cutely hunched over while holding the pot of soup. Miwa and April followed after him, with Miwa having her own mischievous grin.

“You let that maniac loose?” Donnie asked, aghast. “Maybe you forgot that he grabbed me by the face, so I’ll remind you. He grabbed me by the face!”

“Mikey, you shouldn’t have unchained him,” Leo admonished. “What if he goes berserk?”

“He’s not going to go berserk. He’s totally mellow.” Mikey went over and patted Leatherhead on the snout.

“Okay, um…” Leo looked at Mikey uncertainly, who mouthed the alligator’s name. “Leatherhead, about the Kraang—”

Mikey’s eyes widened as Leatherhead roared and lashed out at the others. Mikey jumped on the alligator and ran a hand soothingly down his snout. “Chill! Chill!” The bigger mutant settled, and Mikey angrily turned towards Leo. “What were you thinking?”

“You said he was mellow!”

“I didn’t know you were going to ask him about the you-know-who right away!”

Leo scowled. “Okay, what should I do?”

Mikey matched his energy. “I don’t know. Maybe start with an icebreaker, like ‘How was your day?’.”

“Fine,” Leo sighed. “Um, Leatherhead. How was your day?”

“It started out awful.”

“But it’s much better now, right?” Mikey asked with a smile. “You met us!”

Leatherhead returned his smile and sat down with a thump. “Yes. My friends.”

“You’re in a safe place now, but these guys just want to ask you some questions.” Mikey sat down beside his new friend (a friend!). “Do you think you can handle that?”

Leatherhead took a deep breath. “Yes.”

Mikey gestured for the turtles to go ahead. Leo and Raph turned to Donnie, who glared at them before stepping forward and pulling the power cell from his bag. “Okay, w-we just want to know what this is.”

Leatherhead’s eyes turned white, and Donnie only had a moment to yell “Oh come on!” before a hand wrapped around his face and yanked him into the air. A fight broke out as the power cell fell and everyone in the room went for it. Mikey managed to grab it and called for Leatherhead to relax, but the alligator only responded with a snarl and snatched the power cell out of his hands, knocking Mikey into the turnstiles.

“STOP!” Splinter suddenly appeared behind Leatherhead. “Get away from my sons!”

The alligator mutant roared at the rat man and lunged, but Splinter merely dodged, quickly taking down Leatherhead despite his much larger size. “Leave this place. Out!”

Leatherhead growled and stormed out with the power cell. The others didn’t notice as Mikey followed him with Miwa close behind him.

“Leatherhead! Leatherhead!”

“Mikey, wait!” Miwa panted as she tried to keep up with her faster brother. She only managed to do so once he came to a stop. She paused as she heard faint music playing from an abandoned train car.

“Leatherhead?” Mikey and Miwa crept into the train car and found the alligator mutant setting the power cell on a table in front of him as he sat among lit candles. “What’s the big idea, man?”

Leatherhead turned to face them. “You should not be here.”

“I thought we were friends.” Mikey pouted at the thought that Leatherhead might not feel the same way he did. He felt Miwa’s hand on his shoulder and covered it with his own.

“I warned you that there is a dangerous force inside me that I cannot control. And that is why I must be alone.”

“Leatherhead!” Wow, the turtles arrived surprisingly fast. They crowded around him and his sister, Raph pointing a sai at the alligator. “Get away from Mikey and Miwa, or we’ll turn you into the world’s ugliest suitcase!”

“Please!” Leatherhead begged. “I mean them no harm. It was the Kraang that made me this way.”

Mikey and the others listened as Leatherhead told his origin story as a pet alligator turned escaped experiment. His heart went out to the other mutant, knowing that it likely would have been his fate as well had his mama not found him in the alley that night. Leatherhead shared that the purpose of the power cell was to power the portal to and from the Kraang’s dimension. He was just finishing up his story as Mikey heard something powering up outside the train car.

An explosion had the train car lurching and the group stumbling.

“Give to Kraang the power cell that Kraang has come to demand that you give to Kraang.”

“Quick, barricade the doors!” Leo shouted, but a few Kraang droids made it inside the train car before they could do so. Leo managed to cut them down, but they were unable to relax as several blades cut through the walls. The arms Leo had sliced off grabbed at his and Donnie’s faces, and Mikey found himself catching a decapitated Kraang head that Leatherhead kicked off.

“Fourth turtle!” the head voiced, and Mikey screamed. The body went after him and pressed him into the wall, arms clawing at his back, though he was able to get it off quickly with Miwa’s and April’s help. The three of them tried to keep the door shut while the others fought the Kraang arms reaching into the car.

“We’re surrounded,” Raph growled.

Mikey cried out, “we’ll never hold them off!”

“We gotta get out of here.” Leo turned to Donnie. “Donnie, can you get this subway car running?”

Donnie was struggling to hold a door closed with his bo. “This track is dead. There’s no electricity!”

“What about the power cell?” Leo asked. “Can you use that?”

“I might be able to hook it up to the motor, but I'll need time.”

“I will buy you time.” Leatherhead approached Mikey and handed him the power cell. “My friend, you have trusted me. Now I am trusting you. I will deal with the Kraang.”

Leatherhead bellowed as he stepped out of the train car and singlehandedly fought off the Kraang. Mikey watched as Donnie worked the power cell into a compartment in the floor of the train. The train car whirred as it powered up and a bright pink light emitted from the cell, blinding everyone as the train blasted forward. Everyone screamed, and Mikey was sure they were going to die before Donnie pulled the rope to stop the train. The train somehow stopped in the middle of the street (how did they get out of the subway?), and they found themselves outside of a sewage plant. The two humans and Mikey wrinkled their noses at the slowly familiar-growing stench.

He was definitely going to need to shower when they got home.

Mikey and Miwa managed to make their way back home after getting the train car back to the lair. They both constantly checked their watches as they trekked home, praying that their mother would stay asleep through them climbing back in and showering as they were returning much later than usual. They stuck close to each other and kept their eyes peeled for any suspicious people or activity. It was New York in the middle of the night after all. 

The relief was nearly overwhelming as Mikey quietly tumbled into Miwa’s room. His sister climbed in after him, and they took a moment to lay on the floor to catch their breath.

“Think we got away with it?” Mikey whispered.

“I wouldn’t count on that.”

Mikey and Miwa screamed as light flooded the room. Their mother was sitting in a chair by the door, arms crossed as she stared sternly at her children.

“M-Mama,” Mikey stammered. “It’s not what you think—”

“Do not think me stupid, Michelangelo,” his mama scolded. Her ear twitched. “It is a terrible insult to me.”

Mikey’s mouth snapped shut. He huddled into Miwa as his mother stood, towering over them.

“Do you truly believe I have not noticed your nightly outings?” Shen tapped at her nose. “You come home smelling of garbage and other people, and a shower does not cover the dirty clothes you throw in your laundry.”

“Mama—”

“Mom—”

“Let me finish,” Her tone was far harsher than they had ever heard it, but Mikey could also hear the fear underlying it. “I thought you would come to me eventually. I thought we trusted each other enough to do so, but when you didn’t come home at your normal time…” His mama’s voice choked with emotion. “I feared the worst.” She turned blazing eyes onto them, and her voice was dark as she spoke. “Was it those turtles?”

Mikey’s beak wobbled. “...Yes.”

Shen sank to her knees before them, pulling her children into a crushing hug. Mikey noted her ear twitching again. “My children, why? Why would you risk going to them?”

“They’re not so bad, Mama,” Mikey answered. “Well, one or two of them are kinda weird, but Raph’s cool.”

“They’re not the worst,” Miwa admitted. “And April vouches for them.”

“I cannot believe you would go along with this!” Their mother turned her ire on Miwa. “I thought you would be against this!”

“I was—at first. I’m still kind of against it, to be honest.” Mikey turned betrayed eyes onto Miwa, but she ignored him. “But I think it’s better to keep them close to see what their true intentions are and what they’ll do rather than keep them away and not know what could happen. And Mikey was right when he told me that I would want to get to know him if he had been stolen from us as a kid. It’s hypocritical of us to keep them away.”

“And isn’t it my choice? To get to know them or not?” Mikey asked. He took his mama’s hand and looked her in the eyes, silently begging her to understand.

Seconds ticked by as she stared back at him. Mikey had never been comfortable with silence, and he found himself squirming as he waited for her to answer. He fought the urge to grab at her ear and hold it still as it twitched a third time.

“...Do they have any parents?”

“Uh…” Mikey was startled by the question. “Yeah? Their dad is a rat mutant.”

Shen blinked in surprise. “Huh, that would explain Mr. Whiskers.” She shook her head. “I would like to meet their father.”

“Really?” both asked at the same time.

Shen nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. I would like to hear from him.” She cupped Mikey’s cheek. “You are right, my angel. I cannot imagine the devastation I would feel by losing you. I would like to hear his intentions before making any decisions though.”

Mikey felt a smile bloom on his face. He lurched forward, wrapping his arms around his mother. “Thank you, Mama. We can set up a meeting for tomorrow night.”

Shen let out a shaky breath, and Mikey knew she was nervous at the thought of meeting his birth(?) father. “Okay. Now, what is that incessant beeping?”

Mikey and Miwa eyed each other before looking at their mother, the latter asking, “what are you talking about?”

Shen’s tone was frustrated as she searched for whatever was making the noise she was hearing. “Do you not hear it? It started as soon as you entered the room.”

“What—”

The window exploded, and Shen threw herself over her children to shield them from the flying glass. Mikey’s heart froze, dropping into his stomach as Kraang droids climbed through the shattered window. He couldn’t move—couldn’t think—but thankfully, his mama could. Mikey found himself being yanked up and dragged out of Miwa’s room alongside his sister.

“We must get to the dojo!” 

The Tang family flung themselves down the stairs and into the dojo. They bolted for the weapons closet. Mikey and Miwa already had their nunchucks and tessen respectively, but they grabbed for kunai and shuriken while Shen grabbed for her naginata. They turned to escape through the front door but were blown back as another explosion blew the door apart. More Kraang droids marched in as the ones from the apartment came down.

Shen put herself in front of her children, and Mikey saw a brief flash of Leatherhead doing the same. His heart ached for his friend, not knowing if he was okay or not.

“Run!” Shen shouted, fighting off the approaching Kraang.

“Kraang has found the fourth turtle that Kraang has been looking for! Capture it for Kraang!”

The Tang family ducked and dodged as lasers flew through the room. Mikey and Miwa fought to stay at their mother’s side despite her words, but she pushed them towards the door. A stray laser hit one of the blackout curtains they used to keep any peeping eyes away while they trained in the dojo, setting it ablaze. Mikey could see his mother freeze at the sight, but another thought had him stop in place as Miwa tried to pull him towards the door.

“Klunk!”

“Michelangelo!”

“Mikey!”

Miwa cried out as Mikey ripped away from her to go back up the stairs. He fought his way through the horde to get to his beloved cat (how could he forget about her?). Miwa and his mother were close behind. He pushed himself into the apartment, calling out, “Klunk! Klunk!”

He almost sobbed in relief as Klunk bounded into view with a mewl. She hissed at the approaching droids, but Mikey picked her up before she could heroically (re:stupidly) try to defend him. He cradled her close with one arm while the other held a nunchuck. He and his sister looked to their mother with fear.

“What do we do now?”

It only took a moment for their mother to think. “The fire escape! It’s our only way out now.”

They ran for Miwa’s room, Mikey praying that no more Kraang were coming through. If there was a God, he was apparently listening as Miwa’s room was clear, but Mikey only had a moment to feel hope before his mother cried out, a laser having caught her in the back. She went down and droids quickly piled on top of her.

“Mama!” Mikey screamed, Miwa’s voice echoing his own.

“Go! Run!” His mother valiantly fought the Kraang off, but they were quickly overwhelming her. It wouldn’t be long before they broke through to Mikey and Miwa.

“Mama, no—”

“Miwa, my daughter. Take your brother and go!”

Miwa’s voice trembled. “Mom—”

“Please! Go!” Shen’s words were thick with devastation. “Protect your brother. I will see you again.”

“No. No!” Mikey fought as his sister pulled him toward the window. A Kraang hand caught his hoodie, causing Mikey to choke. Thankfully, the fabric ripped, and Mikey noted a small object falling from his hood before Miwa managed to drag him through the window. They made it down to the street, but Mikey could only gape as he saw flames dancing in the broken windows.

The dojo was on fire.

“Come on!” Miwa yelled as the Kraang followed after them, but Mikey barely heard her—barely felt as he was hauled to the nearest manhole cover and shoved below.

All he could see was his mother’s smile right before the Kraang knocked her out.

Chapter Text

Mikey watched the scenery move by through a TV screen. He was a puppet with cut strings, only moving along by the pull of Miwa’s hand. Her touch was a flutter on his senses, feeling as though she was holding his hand through several layers of clothes rather than just his glove.

Mikey no longer inhabited his body—his consciousness shrunk to a small space in his head. He had only ever experienced this once before in his life when the boy at the park had pulled his face mask off and called him a monster. He had shut down back then, only brought back by his mother’s call for him to speak to her.

His mama couldn’t call him back now.

“M—Co—n!”

His sister’s voice echoed as if it was coming from another room. Static filled his head. His vision swam, the distorted images of Miwa and Klunk merging together. His beloved cat’s paw was a feather on his chin, and it was only by sheer luck that he was still holding onto her.

Mama was gone.

A scream bubbled in his throat, but numbness held it down. His whole world had gone up in flames in just minutes, and Mikey detachedly wondered if this was how his mama had felt the night she had lost Papa.

“Mi—Pl—”

The sight of Miwa’s tears caused a spark that shocked him just enough to try to reach out—to reassure her—but he only managed to gently squeeze her hand. Still, it was enough for his sister, and he could see her relief through her devastation.

The TV screen grew a little bigger, though he still couldn’t find his limbs. The volume increased, and he could finally make out what Miwa was saying.

“This way!”

His sister dragged him around twists and turns, pushing him down to hide as Kraang stampeded by. Klunk trembled in his arm, and he wished he could soothe her. His tongue was too thick—his lips too heavy. The thought of even opening his mouth to speak words left him exhausted.

Mikey wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and dream away this nightmare.

Once it was clear, Miwa pulled him up and led him further into the sewers. He wondered if she had managed to memorize the route to the turtles’ lair, given they had each only been there twice, or if they were just going to wander until they got lucky.

Mikey thought about it—roaming the sewers until they found the turtles or starved to death. Logically, he knew they could just go above if they were truly lost, but what then? The Kraang were looking for them, and they certainly couldn’t go to the police about it. Not only would the cops not believe them, but Mama had always been skittish around them. She had always feared that if they saw what she or Mikey looked like, they’d be taken by the government and experimented on.

In his current state, hoodie ripped and no backup clothes, involving the police would be a death sentence for him. Or a fate worse than death.

The TV screen started to shrink again, but Mikey managed to gather enough energy to pinch himself and stop it. He owed it to his sister to stay aware—at least as aware as he could be in his current state. He couldn’t even imagine what he looked like in the moment, but given Miwa’s and Klunk’s reactions, he knew it wasn’t good.

More twisting and turning, but at least the Kraang were gone—for now at least. Miwa didn’t stop, and Mikey followed. Distantly, his feet screamed at him—he hadn’t exactly gotten to rest after spending a chunk of the night with the turtles. Still, Mikey kept moving. He didn’t have the mental capacity to stop as long as his sister pulled him along.

Miwa muttered to herself, but he was unable to make out the words. Knowing her, she was likely cursing up a storm as she tried to remember the way to the lair. Their mother would be horrified—

Mikey fought back against the numbness as grief slammed into him like a tsunami. 

It would be so easy to give in—he wanted to give in. Mama had always said he felt emotions stronger than anyone else she had met, but she had always presented it like it was a good thing.

Now? His emotions were torture, shredding his mind into tiny pieces that Mikey wasn’t sure he could ever put back together. He wanted someone to hold him—to squeeze him tight to keep him from falling apart.

He wanted Mama.

Mikey was so overwhelmed, he didn’t even notice at first as light peeked up ahead. Miwa impossibly picked up speed, and it wasn’t until the light washed over him that he realized that his sister had miraculously found the lair.

Through the little TV in his mind, Mikey saw Leo sitting in the pit watching TV while Raph was punching at a dummy in the corner. Donnie and Splinter were nowhere to be seen as the two turtles looked up in surprise at their entrance. Leo stood and approached them, brows furrowed even as his lips moved up into a hopeful smile.

“What are you guys doing back—” Leo’s head snapped to the side as Miwa strode forward and slammed her fist into his cheek. He went down with a crash as Raph ran towards them.

“It’s all your fault!” his sister cried, climbing on top of the downed turtle to deliver another blow. All of the composure his sister had held to get them to safety crumbled as she finally confronted what happened to their mother. Mikey found he couldn’t move—couldn’t feel anything —as he watched. “Why couldn’t you have just stayed away?”

Donnie and Splinter emerged just as Raph made it to Miwa, pulling the girl off as she swung wildly.

“What is the meaning of all of this?” Splinter demanded. Donnie rushed over to help Leo up.

Blazing eyes turned onto the rat. “You!” Miwa spat, jerking in Raph’s arms. “You all did this!”

“Did what?” Raph grunted, struggling to keep a grip on Miwa, who was surprisingly strong.

Splinter had turned to look at Mikey, likely hoping the turtle could explain what his sister was talking about, and did a double take. Mikey still had no idea what he looked like, but he could guess. Covered in sewer sludge, hoodie ripped. He had a harder time imagining the look on his face, though. Given Splinter’s reaction, it still probably wasn’t good.

The rat man aborted the step he made towards Mikey, instead turning back to Mikey’s sister. “What happened?”

Tears streamed down Miwa’s cheeks as she sagged in Raph’s arms, strength leaving her as reality crashed down around her. “The Kraang found us. They took our mom.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

Leo and Donnie approached Mikey warily, like he was a spooked animal—and maybe he was. He held onto Klunk like a lifeline as he met Leo’s eyes.

“Mikey?” Leo asked hesitantly.

The TV image wavered, blurring around the edges before coming into clear focus again. Mikey found the strength to utter one thing as his lip trembled.

“I wish I had never met you.”

He couldn’t find it in himself to care as Leo’s expression shattered.

Despite his and Miwa’s horrible words, they were still offered shelter at the lair. Miwa reluctantly accepted. 

It wasn’t like they had anywhere else to go.

She did pitch a fit when they were offered the room that Leo had set up for him, and Mikey silently agreed with her. The thought of staying in that room sent shivers down his spine. There was a lot of back and forth between Miwa and Leo before Raph finally got sick of them and offered up his own room. Mikey tried to turn it down, but Raph hadn’t given him a choice. The red-banded turtle simply moved his sheets and pillow into the empty room and threw some clean bedding at Mikey. The door slammed behind him, silencing the rest of the room until they awkwardly dispersed.

Now, Mikey sat on the floor of Raph’s room, a nest of blankets and pillows that he had pilfered surrounding him. Raph’s bed wasn’t big enough to hold the both of them, and Mikey refused to let his sister sleep on the floor. His shell could handle the hard ground much more easily than his sister’s soft back. Klunk was curled up beside him, and he absentmindedly scratched behind her ears as he glanced around the room.

“We’re going to get her back.”

He startled at Miwa’s voice—she hadn’t spoken since they entered the room. He paused as he absorbed her words, his mind still foggy from the night’s events. “How can you be so sure?” 

He hated the defeat in his tone, but all of his Mikey positivity had been left behind with his mama.

“Mom’s a survivor. After everything she’s been through, she can survive this.” Miwa’s eyes were steel as they narrowed with determination. “These guys owe us, too. They’re the reason Mom was taken in the first place.”

Mikey flinched. He pulled his sweatshirt off, leaving him in a t-shirt with a picture of cats jumping away from an explosion and the phrase “Cat-astrophe.” It was funny when he put it on this morning, but given the events of the night, it just made him angry. He wished he could change, but he quite literally only had the clothes on his back and was stuck with it unless he wanted to go shirtless (which he most certainly didn’t want to do around the exhibitionist turtles).

He fiddled with the ripped ends of his hood, murmuring, “I don’t think it was their fault.”

Miwa’s head snapped towards him. “What do you mean by that? Of course it’s their fault!”

He showed his sister the torn hood, eyes brimming with tears as the guilt ate away at him. His voice choked, “I’m so sorry, Miwa.”

Miwa slid off the bed and settled beside him. She gently wrapped her hands over his own as she asked carefully, “what are you talking about?”

“I—I can’t be sure—” 

His shell pressed into the wall of the train car, arms clawing at his back.

“I saw something fall from my hoodie when it was ripped—”

His hood was down to allow him better sight of the enemies. Metal hands tugged at it as Miwa and April pulled the robot off him.

“Mama heard something beeping, just before the Kraang showed up.” Equally horrified eyes stared at each other, and Mikey broke, tears pouring over as he sobbed, “I think I led them straight to her.”

He immediately felt himself being pulled into his sister’s arms, and he cried harder as she held him tight. He felt her own tears dripping onto the top of his head.

“You listen to me very closely, Mikey,” she whispered hotly. “This is not your fault.”

“But I—”

“If you’re going to blame yourself, you’re gonna have to blame me too.” Miwa closed her eyes as she held her brother impossibly closer—as if her arms could protect him from the world. “I’m the one who brought the turtles’ attention to you. If I hadn’t followed April that day—if I hadn’t said they looked like you—they never would have known. We could have avoided all of this if I had just kept my stupid mouth shut.”

Mikey squeezed back. “Maybe we were both stupid, but I don’t blame you either.”

“Sure, I can accept that,” Miwa huffed out a laugh. Her expression sobered quickly as she pulled away from her brother. “I was serious earlier, Mikey. We are going to get her back.”

He wiped at his eyes and nodded seriously. It was going to take a lot of planning, as well as the turtles’ help, but Mikey would rather die trying than let their mother go.

The Tang (Hamato) family had been destroyed once before.

Like hell they were going to let it happen again.

Shen woke in a daze.

Her head throbbed as she fought through her confusion. Attempting to pry her eyes open felt like trying to open elevator doors with her bare hands, so she gave up for the moment while she tried to remember what happened.

Where were her children?

She slowly became aware that she was moving, knees limply dragging across the ground as metal clamped around her biceps. Pink lights danced across her eyelids, and she could hear the clang of metal stomping beside her.

She felt herself come to a stop.

“Kraang, where is the one known as the fourth turtle known to associate with the ones known as the turtles?”

Her eyes blew open as one of the robots holding her responded, “the fourth turtle known to associate with the ones known as the turtles escaped. Kraang captured this Earth creature known as a feline that is known to be associated with the one known as the fourth turtle.”

Shen nearly sagged with relief once she had translated the confusing sentence. Miwa had gotten Mikey to safety, just as she had asked. Her chest swelled with pride for her children, knowing it could not have been easy to escape—especially with the state she had last seen her son in.

She was just about to think of a plan to escape when the Kraang spoke again. “The Earth feline could still be useful. Bring it to one of the cells.”

Shen tried to fight them off, yanking at her arms and kicking at their legs, but she was still fighting off the last dregs of unconsciousness. Their grip remained tight, and she soon found herself thrown into a cell. The door shut before she could even get up from the floor. She took a moment to look around the barren room, hands clenching against the floor as she realized the futility of her situation. One of her worst nightmares was coming true, and the only solace she could take was that her children weren’t here with her.

Knowing Mikey and Miwa, though, she knew it was only a matter of time before they came after her, and that terrified her.

She stood slowly, moving towards the small window on the cell door. She may not be able to do anything at the moment, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t gather as much information as possible.

Peeking out, Shen saw a similar cell door on the other side and was surprised to see a face momentarily staring back at her before it ducked away. Even in the brief moment their eyes met, she recognized that face.

“Mr. O’Neil?”

The face popped back into view, now watching her warily. Shen couldn’t blame him. She no longer had her uchikatsugi, so her scarred, cat-like face was on full display. Even before she had been mutated, it hadn’t been a pretty sight.

“How do you know my name?” he asked, words muffled by the two cell doors.

Shen smiled self-deprecatingly. “I know I don’t look as expected, but I would hope you’d recognize my voice considering we’ve known each other for the last three years.”

She watched as Mr. O’Neil wracked his brain, seeing the moment it clicked as he looked back at her with wide eyes. “Ms. Tang?”

“You see why I wear my veil now.”

He pressed his face to the window in desperation. “What happened? Is April okay?”

She nodded, the smile falling from her face. “The children are okay, for now, but they won’t give up on us.”

“No,” Mr. O’Neil replied with a sigh, “They’ve tried to break me out before. They’ll try again, and that’s exactly what they want.” His eyes darted towards the direction she had come from—where the Kraang had likely gone back to while she gathered herself on the floor.

“Our children are resilient. Perhaps with the help of the turtles, they will persevere.” Her heart still hurt at the thought of her babies putting themselves in danger for her.

The conversation ended as a pair of Kraang cyborgs marched through. Shen moved away from the window and sat down on the bench. She stared down at her scarred hands, rubbing her padded fingers together. Mikey and Miwa’s faces flashed through her mind. She remembered how happy they were on her birthday before the images morphed into fear—the last expression she had seen on their faces before they were separated. Familiar grief crashed down on her, and she gave into the urge to do something she had not done in a long time.

She buried her face into her hands and wept.

Chapter Text

Mikey woke the next morning to the sound of voices softly arguing outside his room.

“Leo, you’re being ridiculous.” That was Raph’s gruff voice. Mikey held his breath as he strained to hear the conversation.

“I’m not!” Two frantic “shh!’s had him quieting down, and Mikey noted that Donnie was likely out there too. “I’m not. I’m just…checking on them. I wanna make sure they’re okay.”

“Leo, the last thing they probably want to see is us right now.” There Donnie was, his reedy voice easily recognizable. “It’s a miracle they’re even staying with us.”

“S’not like they have any other choice. Maybe Miwa could stay with April, but there’s no way in hell she’s leaving her brother with us.” Mikey nodded his head at Raph’s words. As much as he wished that Miwa would be safe with April, he was glad his sister wouldn’t leave him, especially alone with the turtles.

Leo still wouldn’t give up though. “Maybe we can help them settle in?” Mikey could practically hear the lightbulb going off in the blue-masked turtle’s head. “What about breakfast?”

“Do you want them to settle in or kill them?” Raph asked.

“I’m not that bad.”

“Leo, you broke the toaster last week.” Wow, Donnie sounded annoyed.

“It happens sometimes.”

“With you? Yes. With other people? No, it really doesn’t.”

Movement caught Mikey’s eyes, and he glanced over to see his sister slowly climbing out of bed. He tilted his head in curiosity as he watched her tiptoe to the door. She yanked the door open, and Mikey couldn’t help but let out a giggle as the turtles practically jumped a foot in the air at her sudden presence.

“If you’re going to talk about people behind their back—” Miwa said too casually, “—you probably shouldn’t do it right in front of their door.”

Leo was the first to recover, clearing his throat as he regained his composure. “Right, we’ll… consider that next time.” Miwa raised a brow at the insinuation that the turtles would talk about them again, but didn’t say anything as Leo continued. “Did you sleep well?”

“As well as you can when aliens break into your home and kidnap your mom.”

Mikey decided to save the turtles from the awkward silence that followed and sidled up next to his sister. “You guys mentioned breakfast, right? I’m starving.”

Don’t think about how the last time you ate was dinner with—

Mikey mentally shook the thought away, plastering a smile on his face. Raph looked at him a little funny, but Leo jumped on the topic change, apparently still eager to help Mikey feel at “home”.

“Of course! Follow me.”

Miwa rolled her eyes but dutifully fell in step beside her brother as they followed the turtles to the kitchen. The food situation wasn’t any better than the last time Mikey had been in here, so they ended up depleting the milk and cereal as Mikey had the saddest breakfast he could remember eating in his life. His only solaces was his sister’s solid presence next to him and his beloved Klunk in his lap. Thankfully, they managed to scrounge up a can of chicken to feed her. He would hate for her to have to go hungry because he hadn’t been able to grab her food during the attack.

He probably should have offered to do the dishes when they were done—it would have been the nice thing to do since they were kindly housing the Tang siblings—but his mood was plummeting by the second. He felt Miwa nudge his shoulder and looked over to see her sending him an encouraging smile. He hesitantly smiled back.

God, he was so happy he wasn’t alone in this.

Mikey was knocked out of his thoughts by Leo speaking, and he was as wary as always of the excitement the other turtle exuded. “So now that breakfast is over, we usually train with Master Splinter.” The blue-masked turtle clasped his hands as his tone turned hopeful. “Perhaps, we could spar and see if—”

Miwa interrupted him. “No.”

Leo frowned, turned to her with an annoyed look. “I think that should be up to him—”

“No.”

“Mikey is his own person, and he can make his own choices—”

“Don’t you tell me how to treat my own brother.” Miwa’s eyes blazed as her voice turned to ice. “Need I remind you how you’ve treated him like a toy that you don’t want to share?”

“That is not true! I would never—”

“Okay!” Mikey jumped in. He really needed to start charging for how much he was playing mediator between these two. “Miwa and I can just observe you guys. I’m still kinda tired from…from last night, and I don’t really feel like sparring right now. Maybe another time.”

Miwa shot him a look, but he just sent her a pleading one in return. He didn’t really mean the last sentence, just saying anything to try to keep the peace, and thankfully his sister seemed to understand and settled down. Still, he didn’t like the pleased look in Leo’s eyes, like the turtle had won in some way. 

He would have to address that later.

Before they could move to the dojo, Raph paused and looked at the cat that had climbed onto Mikey’s shell. “Are you going to bring her everywhere with you?”

Mikey blinked in confusion. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Master Splinter’s not…really a big fan of cats. He doesn’t exactly have a very good track record with them.”

Mikey’s eye twitched as he fought valiantly to keep the earnest expression on his face. An image of Splinter—a giant, very poised rat—being chased by his much smaller cat entered his mind, unbidden. A strangled noise formed and died in the same moment in his throat, causing Miwa to snort. Raph narrowed his eyes at them, but Mikey won his internal battle and stared back. Their staring match only lasted for a few seconds before Raph rolled his eyes, muttering “whatever” as the red-banded turtle headed towards the dojo.

Mikey and Miwa followed after the turtles and found Splinter kneeling in front of the tree that Mikey was still impressed by. The three turtles approached their master, bowing to him before mirroring the rat’s position in front of him. Mikey and Miwa awkwardly stood by the door, not sure what they should do.

“Come sit, please.” Splinter called out to them without opening his eyes. 

Mikey and Miwa glanced at each other briefly before Mikey shrugged and moved closer. He didn’t kneel beside the other turtles, deciding to settle a little further back. He crossed his legs instead of kneeling, which Miwa copied. They didn’t see their mother as a master in the way that these turtles did with their father, but that didn’t mean they would show deference to him over her. Maybe it was disrespectful, but neither of them had the energy to care at the moment. Klunk briefly hissed at the giant rat man but settled down as Mikey soothed her. Splinter’s ear twitched—the only indication that the rat had heard the cat.

“I did not get a chance to say it last night, but I am grateful that the both of you made it here safely. The Kraang are not a foe to be underestimated, and you are both lucky to have made it out okay.” Splinter continued even as Miwa opened her mouth, likely to make a comment about their mother. “I know that not all of you got out unscathed, but I promise you that my sons will help you find your mother, just as they are doing so with April’s father.”

“Yeah, and look how far they’ve gotten with him,” Miwa muttered. Mikey’s head lowered into his shell, already sensing a fight between the rat man and his sister.

“Excuse me?” Mikey was surprised to see that Donnie was the one to take offense. The purple-banded turtle had stood, fists clenched at his sides as he glared at Miwa “I—We have been doing everything in our power to find April’s dad. You have no idea what we’ve done to try to help her!”

“Donnie—” Leo tried but said brother ignored him.

Donnie stalked over to Miwa, who had stood as well. She met his glare as he continued, “You think you can come in here and do whatever you want just because you're Mikey’s sister? You might be April’s friend, but what have you done for her? Do you even care about her?”

“Hey! Don’t talk to my sister that way!” Everyone was standing now, and Mikey shoved his way between Donnie and Miwa, though not to play peacemaker as he usually did. Mikey was not easy to anger—he never really had any reason to be with just his mama and Miwa—but anyone saying anything about his family immediately set him off. He shoved the taller turtle away from them, and Donnie was caught by Leo and Raph as he stumbled back into them.

“Yame!” Everyone snapped to attention at Splinter’s command. The turtles shrunk under his stare while Mikey and Miwa met it. “Fighting will only slow you down from achieving your goal. You must learn to work together if you are going to save April’s father and your mother.”

Mikey knew Splinter was right, and it wasn’t too hard to accept—unless the turtles were rude to his sister. 

Miwa, on the other hand…

He glanced over at his sister to see her gritting her teeth as she and Donatello were back to glaring at each other. Mikey rested a hand on her shoulder and said softly, “Miwa.”

Her glare hardened for a moment, but Donnie didn’t back down. Mikey nearly winced at the sound of Miwa’s teeth grinding together before the girl let out a snarl and stormed out of the dojo. Mikey didn’t see the others’ reactions as he went after her. He felt claws nicking through his shirt into his scales as Klunk clung tightly to his shoulders.

“Miwa, wait!”

He caught up to her in the living room, grabbing her arm to stop his sister, though he was pretty sure she didn’t know where she was going and would have stopped anyway. Still, he didn’t want to risk her leaving the lair.

Miwa shrugged him off. “I don’t think I can do this, Mikey. I can’t—I can’t work with them! I can’t trust them!”

“We can’t do this alone, and I know you know that.” His expression cracked as he thought of his poor mama and what she was probably going through. “We need their help.”

Miwa sighed in frustration. “I know, but—”

“Oh thank god! You’re okay!”

Mikey and Miwa looked up to see April scrambling over the turnstiles. Her relief was palpable as she made a beeline to them, crushing them into a hug as soon as she was within arms reach. “I saw you guys on the news! They said there was some sort of fire?”

Mikey hugged back just as hard, taking comfort in his closest friend (he missed Leatherhead…). 

Miwa shared what had happened to their family, and Mikey was so grateful. He didn’t think he had it in him to be the one to do so. He knew that he and Miwa had made a deal last night that they would not take the blame for what happened, but he couldn’t help but still feel guilty. After all, he was the one who hadn’t noticed the Kraang placing a tracker on him and led them straight back home. Not to mention him going back for Klunk likely led to his mama getting captured too.

April paused for a moment to process the information. When she spoke, her voice was hesitant. “Do you think your mom might be with my dad?”

“It’s possible,” Miwa replied. “Is it weird to hope she is? Then she wouldn’t be alone, and we could rescue them both at the same time.”

April smiled at her and squeezed her friends tighter. “I hope so too.” She heard a meow and felt a soft head rubbing into her cheek. She chuckled and nuzzled the cat back. “Good to see you’re okay too, Klunk.”

Footsteps sounded from the hallway, and the trio looked up to see the three turtles running into the room.

“Oh thank goodness,”  Leo sighed in relief. “You guys are still here.”

Donnie and Raph came up behind Leo. The former still looked annoyed about the earlier argument, but Donnie’s expression grew enraged once he saw Mikey and Miwa in April’s arms. The tall turtle spun around and stomped away, ignoring his brothers calling his name.

“What was that about?” Mikey asked, brow furrowing in concern. Donnie had pretty much stayed in the background the entire time Mikey had known him—it was unusual to see the other turtle so angry.

“He just needs some space,” Leo replied with less concern than Mikey liked. “He’ll come around after some time in his lab.”

Mikey hummed, though his eyes stayed locked on the hallway the door he had seen Donnie go into.

Mikey hesitantly peeked his head into the lab and saw Donnie hunched over a table, his back to the door. Mikey entered the room, making sure his footsteps were audible enough for Donnie to hear until he stood at the side of the table within eyesight of the taller turtle.

Donnie ignored him, focusing intensely on some sort of turquoise substance in a large glass jar. Several chemicals lined the table as Donnie used a dropper to drip an unidentifiable liquid into the ooze. There was no reaction.

Mikey stood for about a minute before the silence got to him. “I’m not apologizing for my sister.” Donnie didn’t reply, so he continued, “she can be a lot for people, sometimes, but that’s just because she’s protective of me. It’s not really personal. We’re just…still upset about Mama.”

Donnie continued to ignore him, causing Mikey to let out a huff of frustration. He wished he could sit down in front of the other turtle and force him to look into Mikey’s eyes, but there were no other chairs in the lab. Instead, Mikey put his hands on the table to brace himself as he leaned down to get into Donnie’s line of sight, minding the chemicals as he did so.

“Splinter was right. We’re gonna need to work together if we’re going to save Mama and April’s dad.”

Donnie’s head suddenly shot up, and Mikey nearly knocked glasses over as he stumbled back in surprise. The purple-banded turtle lifted his protective eyewear up as he glared at Mikey. Without speaking, Donnie stood and marched over to the door, closing and locking it before coming back. His expression hardened as he stared at Mikey.

“What does she see in you?”

Mikey blinked. “...What?”

“I thought maybe it was because I was a mutant, and maybe I could win her over in time, but she’s so comfortable with you despite you being a mutant too. You guys hug and bond over things, and she seems so excited to see you. She’s never that excited when she sees me! I mean us—”

Mikey listened as Donnie rambled on, confusedly trying to put the pieces of whatever Donnie was upset about together. Eventually, he realized that Donnie was talking about April, which made some sense, but it really clicked once Donnie mentioned something about having April’s “beautiful smile” directed his way.

Mikey’s face screwed up in disgust, and he cut Donnie off before the other turtle said something that he wouldn’t be able to block from his brain. “Ew! You have a crush on April?”

“And what’s so wrong with that?” Donnie asked, puffing up defensively. “Because I’m a mutant?”

“What? No! April’s like a second sister to me, dude! That’s just…weird!”

Donnie paused whatever response he was going to say as he processed Mikey’s words. The taller turtle deflated. “...You don’t like April?”

Mikey gagged. “Not, like, romantically! She’s my friend!”

“Oh.”

“Is that what this is all about? You like her?” Mikey asked, relaxing as Donnie calmed down.

“So what if I do?” Donnie hunched his shoulders, and Mikey could hear him becoming defensive again.

“Well you don’t have to worry about me, dude. We are strictly in the sibling zone, though not as close as me and Miwa if you know what I mean.”

Donnie dropped into his chair and buried his face in his hands. “I’m so embarrassed. I’m sorry.”

“Crushes make people do weird things, man,” Mikey said, patting Donnie’s back consolingly. “I get it.” 

“Have you ever had a crush before?” Donnie asked as he hesitantly looked up at Mikey.

“...No. And I’ve never really heard Miwa talk about any either, but I see it a lot on TV!”

Donnie groaned and reburied his face in his hands. Mikey continued to pat his back as they sat in mildly awkward silence. Eventually, Mikey spoke up again, still not comfortable with long bouts of silence.

“I still think it’s super gross, but I could, like, figure out her type and stuff, if you want.”

Donnie looked up from his hands. “You would do that for me?”

“Sure, man.” Whatever got the guy to help them find their mother.

Not to mention, the sad, pathetic, wet cat vibes were getting to Mikey. He could never resist helping someone in need.

“Do you think you could come out so we can start planning?” Mikey asked, holding out a hand to Donnie.

Donnie glanced at the hand briefly before grabbing it and looking back up at Mikey with a smirk as the shorter turtle helped him up.

“Let’s get your mom and April’s dad back.”

Chapter Text

“I just want it for the record that I did not voluntarily agree to this.”

The turtles, Mikey, and Miwa were gathered in a circle in the dojo, planning their attack against Splinter. Miwa had spoken, having been needled by Mikey into training with them. Mikey had told her that he didn’t like the idea either, but they could both admit that they needed to learn how to work together with the others if they were going to save their mother.

“We heard you the first 30 times,” Raph snarked, though there wasn’t any real bite to it. 

“That’s enough.” Leo’s tone was annoyed, but he quickly brightened as he looked at Mikey, finally having gotten that spar with the other turtle he had been hoping for. “I’ve got a plan. Donnie will strike first—”

Donnie interrupted him, voice quietly harsh as he whispered, “Me? You want me to come at Splinter? I’ll get pummeled!”

“Well, getting pummeled is your specialty,” Raph said with a smirk.

“Trust me. It’s all part of my plan to catch Splinter off-guard.”

Miwa cocked a hip out as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Leo grit his teeth. “Maybe you should be the one to catch him off-guard then, if you’re so confident in your skills.”

“Are you saying I didn’t have a different part in your plan? Or are you just throwing those you deem useless at Splinter as a distraction so you can go in for the win?”

Mikey let out a sigh as Leo fought to keep his composure. They hadn’t even started sparring yet, and they were already fighting. At this rate, they were never going to save their mother. “Look, I can go first—”

“No,” Miwa immediately replied while Leo looked contemplative. 

Raph growled, fingers tightening around his sai as he itched to fight. “If someone doesn’t go, I’m gonna go.”

Mikey, who had never had great impulse control, took that as his cue to end the argument and ran out to attack the rat man. He knew he wouldn’t get the hit in—he wouldn’t be surprised if Splinter was at his mother’s level, and the woman was pretty much impossible to hit—but he hoped to be distracting enough for his sister to be the one to best the other.

Mikey was quickly proven right as Splinter grabbed his ankle, slamming him into the ground and kicking him away. Raph flew forward as the others ran towards Splinter, but the rat man easily dodged the red-banded turtle. Donnie was grabbed and thrown into Raph, knocking the two turtles away from the fight. Leo and Miwa jumped in on either side of the rat, and it only took a few dodges for Leo to land a hit on Splinter. Miwa’s fist was already moving before she realized what had happened, her strike causing Splinter to stumble a step towards Leo.

Leo’s face filled with panic. “Ah! Sensei, I’m sorry!”

Splinter recovered quickly and had Leo pinned to the ground in a moment while Miwa jumped away, but the moment did not last long as Splinter quickly let go and congratulated his son while also admonishing him for letting his guard down. He turned to Miwa. “You should be proud as well. Your mother is a fine teacher.”

“She only got the hit in because of me,” Leo grumbled, but Miwa clearly heard it.

“You wanna say that again?” Miwa asked sharply as Mikey came up beside her.

Splinter interrupted them before another argument could break out, sending Leo an admonishing look. “You are still learning to work together, and that may include sharing accomplishments. The sign of a true great leader is one who does not covet all of the glory but shares it as a team.”

“Hai, Sensei,” Leo muttered bitterly.

“If this lesson has not been learned, perhaps we can go again—”

Everyone was quick to interject.

“Nope!”

“I’m good!”

“I think we’re all set here!”

The five were quick to leave the dojo before Splinter could order them into another spar, and Mikey shoved his sister playfully as he cheered. “Nice job, Miwa! At this rate, we might be able to beat Mama soon!”

Miwa smirked. “Eh, Mom’s a better fighter.”

“I can’t believe you actually tagged Sensei,” Donnie grinned at Leo. “That was epic.”

“I gotta say, guys, it was all teamwork,” Leo replied, completely contradicting his earlier assertion against Miwa. “We are definitely getting better.”

Donnie spoke before Miwa or Mikey could make a comment about it. “Think we’re catching up to Splinter?”

“You should try sparring with our mom sometime.” Miwa smirked. “She’d definitely be a new challenge for you guys.”

Raph cracked his knuckles. “We’ll just have to see when we get her back.”

Mikey smiled at the easy camaraderie that his sister probably hadn’t realized she had fallen into with Raph. Leo was still a huge work in progress, but Mikey and his sister were slowly warming up to the turtles the longer they spent in the lair. They really weren’t so bad once he got to know them better. Mikey had been right earlier when he realized that their botched attempts to get to know him were more due to lack of understanding of social cues rather than ill intent. He didn’t hold it against them—he imagined anyone growing up solely in the sewers might be a little screwy in the head when it came to social interaction. He definitely struggled a bit given his inability to truly open up to other humans and their anxiety around his hidden form.

The only problem was Leo’s unwillingness to learn.

Though Mikey and Miwa had not given him many opportunities to redeem himself, Leo still managed to screw them up every time. The blue-banded turtle was stuck in his righteous mindset that his way was best—no matter what anyone said to him. Leo appeared to have no intention of treating Miwa like Mikey’s sister rather than an obstacle in his way, and he would never win Mikey over if he continued to do so.

As the turtles split off and Mikey and Miwa followed after Raph, content to watch TV while the other sparred with the dummy in the corner, his thoughts turned to Splinter, the other obstacle to his comfort with the turtles.

It wasn’t that Splinter had done anything bad, but Mikey didn’t know how to act around the guy that was supposed to be his father, and Splinter didn’t seem to really know how to act around him either. Mikey wasn’t ready yet to fall into the role of “son” for a guy he met not that long ago, and he wasn’t sure he ever would be. He would always be Mama’s son, and he was perfectly happy with just that.

Which reminded Mikey. “Hey, do you always call him Master Splinter or Sensei?”

Raph paused and looked back at them. “What do you mean?”

Miwa turned the volume down as Mikey answered. “Like, he’s your dad, right? Don’t you ever call him dad?”

“Not really. He’s a ninja master, so he deserves the title.” Raph shrugged, but Mikey could see that he was visibly uncomfortable with the topic.

“I mean, it is kinda weird,” Miwa replied. “It’d be like calling our mom ‘Master—’”

She was cut off by the sound of Splinter screaming. They quickly rushed out of the living area and followed Leo and Donnie into the dojo to surround the rat man, who was on his hands and knees.

Donnie reached out hesitantly to Splinter. “Sensei, are you okay?”

“I…I am fine.” Splinter’s words were immediately contradicted by his raspy voice and the hand he put to his head.

Leo certainly wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure you’re all right? You don’t seem—”

Leo was cut off by the sound of a ringtone, and Donnie noted it was April calling as he awkwardly answered it. Mikey couldn’t help but cringe, still not used to Donnie’s crush on his friend, even if he had promised he would talk to the girl for Donnie. He quickly straightened up as the purple-banded turtle described April’s dilemma and the state of the city.

They quickly headed out, and Mikey basked at the opportunity to be back in the sun after being stuck in the sewers, though his heart fluttered with anxiety at being so exposed, his beloved hoodie having been ripped. He was still wearing his cat shirt, but he itched to sneak back to his home and grab some clothes. April had mentioned that the firefighters had been able to put out the fire before it reached their apartment, though he was terrified to see the state of the dojo.

Leo spotted April first and called out to the others, and Mikey nearly stopped in disgust as a sea of rats poured down the road and surrounded the poor girl, who was clinging desperately to the top of a telephone pole.

“Oh, rats!” Mikey couldn’t help but giggle to himself at his joke, laughing harder as Miwa sighed and shook her head.

“We’re coming, April!” Donnie called out. “Don’t go anywhere!”

“Where could I possibly go?” April snarked.

They pulled out their grapples and launched themselves onto the telephone pole, disgustedly shaking off rats as they climbed. Mikey ignored Raph and Donnie’s bickering as he focused on reaching April. He, Miwa, and Leo made quick work of it but were unable to make it to her before the telephone pole shifted—the rats having chewed through the wood—and April fell. Before Mikey or Miwa could lunge for her, Donnie swung out and caught her, but they only had a moment to relax before the pole shook and fell towards the sea of rats. Their only saving grace was the wires catching them, but Mikey knew they wouldn’t hold long. They quickly climbed up and tried to run across the pole, but in a series of movements that left Mikey simultaneously feeling baffled and very lucky, they were somehow launched to another rooftop.

Mikey was just grateful to be away from the rats.

“Chew on that, rat finks!” Leo smugly called out, much to the groans of the others. “Oh come on. That sounded cool!”

Mikey shook his head. “Dude, that was worse than me.”

“Does anyone know what the heck is going on?” April asked before Leo could reply.

Donnie put a hand to his chin. “I'm not sure. But whatever it is, this attack is extremely well coordinated. Obviously, there is a higher intelligence at work here. Someone or something is controlling every rat in the city.”

“Wait a second,” Raph said, voice filling with dread. “Every rat?”

Leo blanched. “That means Splinter could be—” He didn’t finish the thought, instead rushing back to the dojo, the others close behind.

Hopping over the turnstiles, they found Splinter asleep on a tatami mat on the floor. There was a quick debate about who would poke the rat man, which ultimately fell to Donnie. It took several attempts from the turtle before Splinter woke, the rat quickly grabbing Donnie and throwing him into the wall. 

While Mikey went to help Donnie up, Leo approached his father to help steady him. “Sensei, are you okay?”

Splinter straightened as he once again put a hand to his head. “No, Leonardo. I am not. It would appear that your former adversary, Dr. Falco, has returned.”

“Who’s Dr. Falco?” Miwa asked.

“A crazy scientist who used Kraang technology to experiment on his coworker and give himself mind powers,” Raph answered, hands curling into fists as he wound himself up to fight the guy who dared to hurt his sensei.

“How is it possible that he’s behind this?” Donnie asked.

“Somehow he has acquired a telepathic connection with every rat in New York. And he now calls himself the Rat King.”

They followed Splinter into the dojo, and Miwa wrinkled her nose at the name. “Ew. Egotistical much?”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Raph pounded a fist into his hand “We need to take this guy down!”

“Yes, Raphael, you do.” Splinter closed his eyes and shook his head. “The Rat King will not rest until he has total control of this city… and my mind.”

“Sensei?” Leo asked, voice worried as Splinter made his way over to the shrine. The others stayed back to give the ninja master some space.

Mikey watched as he picked up a picture frame but was unable to see what the photo was as the rat man held it close to his chest.

“Everything I knew is gone. My wife, my daughter, my clan, even my humanity. You all are all I have left.”

Mikey blinked. He and Miwa had figured out at some point that Splinter and the turtles were somehow related to the Hamato clan given the giant Hamato symbol on the back of Splinter’s robe, but they had just figured the guy had either left the clan before the massacre or had just gotten away and gone into hiding. They had never really thought about what the rat man might have lost besides his humanity and hadn’t had the curiosity to ask. Splinter hadn’t seemed willing to share either. Mikey’s heart ached for the woman and child who were likely murdered by the Shredder, and he wondered if his mama had known them.

His curiosity itched to take a look at the photo, but now was not the time, nor would it have been respectful to ask. Maybe later he could?

“We’ll stop him, Master Splinter,” Mikey said, determination welling up within him. He still may not see Splinter as a father, but he was a Hamato, and that made them kin. Perhaps, when they finally got their mother back, she could find comfort and friendship in another member who also happened to be mutated.

Donnie interrupted his thoughts. “But we gotta find him first.”

Splinter still held the frame to his chest as he turned towards them. “When the Rat King attempted to take control of me, I could see into his mind. You will find his lair in an abandoned utility junction beneath Herald square.” He suddenly cried out in pain and went to one knee, the picture falling from his grip.

Leo and April helped him up. “Fight him, Sensei.”

Splinter nodded. “I will. Just hurry.”

“It’s okay, guys,” April said as she led Splinter away. “You go after the Rat King. I’ll stay with him.” 

Mikey watched as Leo picked up the photo, curiosity urging him again to go over and take a look, but the lost look on Leo’s face kept him in place. Despite Leo’s assertion that he was family, it wasn’t his place. He barely knew these people, and he was sure that Splinter would not want him prying into his business.

The five of them left to find the Rat King, Mikey and Miwa sharing a look that they would talk about the new information later. They walked in silence through the sewers, no one really in the mood to make conversation. The five paused as a few rats ran by them, which quickly turned into a horde of rats pouring in from around the corner. 

“Run!” Leo shouted.

They turned and sprinted as fast as they could, leaping to grab onto the piping over head. Mikey felt like a child on the monkey bars as they crossed over the rats. After some time, Leo spoke up.

“Okay, guys, we're almost there. The utility chamber should be on the other side of that wall.”

“Uh, you mean that disgusting, furry, squirming wall?” Raph asked.

Miwa’s face screwed up with disgust. “How are we supposed to get past that?”

Leo looked around for a moment, his eyes lighting up as he spotted some barrels. “Raph, those barrels. Ventilate 'em.”

“You got it.”

Raph threw some ninja stars to get the barrels leaking while Leo cut an electrical cable, which quickly swung down and lit the liquid spewing out of the barrels, causing them to explode and blow the wall of rats away. They quickly made their way into the utility junction and saw the Rat King standing atop a broken ledge. 

“Ah, my turtle friends, we meet again.” He turned his bandaged head and regarded Mikey and Miwa. “I see you brought some new faces.”

“Except last time, Falco, you weren't wearing a sad Halloween costume,” Raph snarked.

“I am the Rat King!”

Mikey coughed, “Lame.”

Leo smirked. “Sorry, we don't have any treats for you. But we've got a few tricks.”

Donnie’s ringtone went off, briefly killing the moment, but Mikey felt his heart stop when Splinter’s voice interrupted the purple-banded turtle. They all turned to see a mind-controlled Splinter walk out and glare at them. Mikey and Miwa stepped closer to each other, hands hovering above their weapons.

“Sensei,” Leo, eyes full of desperation, pleaded. “Snap out of it!”

But Splinter wasn’t moved. “You waste your words. This is where I belong… with my brothers.”

“He is mine now,” the Rat King smirked, looking down at the rat man with an expression that sent a shiver down Mikey’s spine. “Imagine my delight when I realized that controlling your master would not only make me invincible but would also be the key to your demise.”

“I haven’t even done anything to you, dude!” Mikey called out, but the Rat King ignored him, face growing serious as he glared at the group.

“Splinter, destroy them.”

Splinter moved forward, and Mikey and Miwa took a moment to squeeze each other’s hands as Leo called out, “Sensei, don’t!”

Splinter paused, but the Rat King just removed his bandages—ew ew ew ew that face was disgusting—and the rat man was moving again.

“Are we really going to do this?” Donnie asked as he gripped his bo staff, his body buzzing with anxiety.

Miwa pulled out her tessen, flexing her fingers as she fell into a fighting stance. “We don’t exactly have a choice.”

Mikey copied her, gulping as the ninja master approached them. 

“We can do this, guys.” Leo had pulled out his leader voice, and Mikey wished he felt as confident as the blue-banded turtle appeared. “Do not hesitate. Take Sensei down.”

It was five against one, how hard could it be?

Very hard, it turned out.

As the five of them launched into the fight, Splinter quickly dodged and knocked them around without breaking a sweat. Mikey cried out as he was thrown into a wall, and panic seized him as he heard the same happen to Miwa. He struggled to his feet as he searched for her. She wasn’t built like him. One bad hit and she could—

He barely heard Donnie remarking about Splinter going easy on the turtles over the years as his eyes found his sister, who thankfully was standing up, even if it was with a groan. He moved over to her as Donnie launched himself at Splinter again, only to be thrown into another wall.

“We need to work together!” Mikey called out as he steadied Miwa. 

“Mikey’s right,” Raph spun his sai in his hands. “Does everyone remember Leo’s stupid plan?”

“It wasn’t stupid—”

“Not now!” Raph ran forward first, the others close behind him. Splinter weaved around their bodies and weapons, still getting hits in, but the five of them fell into a form that felt like home, as if Mikey had been missing something he had not even been aware of. Mikey had always been comfortable with sparring with his sister against his mama, but now he wondered how he hadn’t noticed the open spots, places that fit the turtles perfectly. Were they experiencing it too? He couldn’t really tell with his sister, though she briefly shot him a look that left him pretty confident that she felt it too.

Despite their best efforts, however, all but Leo were knocked away, and Mikey suddenly found himself staring up at the ceiling, eyes dazed as his ears rang. His sister lay next to him in the same condition, and he dazedly reached out to her as he looked beyond her and saw Leo and Splinter facing each other. They fought for a short time, but Leo was quickly knocked down, a sword pointed far too close to his face for comfort. Mikey struggled to move—to help—but he had taken a harder hit to his head than he thought. Leo’s lips moved as he spoke, but Mikey heard none of it. He saw Leo pull out the picture frame again, but he still could not see it as his vision swam from the pain.

Raph and Donnie leapt out and held Splinter down as Leo continued to speak, and Mikey and Miwa struggled to their hands and knees, eager to help. Noise filtered in slowly as they helped each other up, but the Tang siblings could only watch helplessly as the three were knocked away once more, and Leo was pinned to the ground. Mikey saw more than heard Splinter speak, and then the rat man was moving towards the Rat King, thrusting two fingers out and blasting the villain away and knocking him out.

Whoa . He’d have to get Splinter to teach him that at some point.

The three turtles hugged their sensei with big smiles on their faces, but Splinter’s eyes quickly sought out Mikey’s as brother and sister hobbled over to them. With a pat to each of the turtle’s shoulders, Splinter pulled away and cupped Mikey and Miwa’s cheek, his hands hesitating for only a moment before doing so. Miwa didn’t complain, which Mikey took as a win for the rat man.

“I apologize for the pain I have caused you,” Splinter said, tone simultaneously relieved and regretful. “Are you all right?”

“Could be better,” Mikey wheezed. “But I’ve been worse.”

Splinter gathered the five of them close, eyes shining with pride. “You all did well today. I could not be prouder of the warriors you are becoming.”

Mikey’s chest filled with warmth. Maybe it wasn’t too late for him and Splinter.

“Let’s go home.”

Somewhere in New York:

Light steps padded down the glass walkway, their owner diligently ignoring the swimming mutant beneath her, even as it banged against the glass in a futile attempt to scare her. She knelt before her master’s throne, bowing her head in deference to the man that would change the world for the better.

“Rise, my student.”

The woman stood and raised her head, standing at attention as she met her master’s eyes.

“You have shown great promise since joining the Foot, rising through the ranks quickly and outshining those that have been in the Foot far longer than you have.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“I have a mission for you. Succeed, and you will find a place at my side as we take this wretched city by force. Fail me, and you will wish you were like Xever.”

A shiver went down her spine as she thought of the fish mutant below her, though her expression and body language did not outwardly change. Her eyes filled with determination as she spoke. “I will not let you down.”

“We will see. Now, listen closely…”

Chapter Text

Mikey and Miwa spent a few days recovering from their concussion, and Leo couldn’t have been more annoyed.

They had learned to overcome their differences in order to work together to defeat the Rat King, and they were continuing to learn how to fight fluidly with each other so they could eventually save Mikey and Miwa’s mother, but outside the dojo was a different story for Leo.

When had his brothers gotten so close to Mikey and his sister? Last he had checked, the siblings didn’t even like Donnie! But now, all four of them were hanging out on the couch playing video games like they were best buddies. 

It wasn’t fair! Leo was the one who had come up with the plan to reunite Mikey with their family. Leo was the one who had taken the risks to track Mikey down and get him to meet with them. Raph had complained and been against the plan the whole way, and Donnie hadn’t taken any sort of lead to speak with the siblings.

So why were Raph and Donnie cool all of a sudden while Leo still caught animosity from Miwa and indifference from Mikey?

He wasn’t completely alone in it, as his father was also struggling to bond with the youngest turtle, but Leo took no comfort in that fact. Leo had dreamed of making their family whole—making his father happy again—but nothing had gone according to plan.

Leo was sure the others didn’t even notice him leave as he went to the dojo, falling into lotus position in front of the tree. Leo closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, but his frustration would not leave him. He let out a small huff, keeping his eyes closed as he sensed another presence kneel beside him.

“You are troubled, Leonardo.”

Leo bit back a snarky response as he opened his eyes and looked at his father. He sighed as he looked back at the doors, making sure no one would listen in on their conversation.

“I just don’t understand, Sensei. What am I doing wrong? Why doesn’t Mikey like me like the others?”

Splinter hummed. “Do you remember what I told you when you asked how to get someone’s attention?” Leo nodded. “As I said before, love cannot be forced, Leonardo. Though I am unsure of when Donatello gained their trust, Raphael was honest with them and gave them space as they required.”

“But I—”

“If you continue down this path, my son, I am afraid that you may never heal the rift that has been caused.”

Leo went cold at the thought. After all the hard work he had put in to reunite their family, to watch his brothers reap the benefits while he was shoved to the sidelines would be absolute torture. 

However, as he noted earlier, Leo wasn’t the only one who was suffering. “But what about you, Sensei?”

Splinter’s calm facade broke for just a moment as the rat frowned, his eyes mournfully glancing towards the door before returning to his son. “That is something I must accomplish on my own. I do believe Michelangelo may come around in his own time, but he has a parent that has raised and loved him like her own. It may never be like the relationship I have with the three of you.”

Oh, how Splinter tried to hide the despair in his voice, but Leo still heard it, and his chest went tight at his father’s words. His hope plummeted further as he heard a particularly loud bout of laughter filter into the dojo from the pit, and suddenly the room was too small, too warm. 

Leo needed to get out.

He ignored his father’s call for him as he sped out of the dojo, making a beeline for the turnstiles. He ignored Donnie’s concerned “Leo?” and sprinted for the nearest manhole cover. He didn’t hear any footsteps behind him, which simultaneously brought a sense of relief and bitterness. No one was going to see his moment of weakness, but apparently no one cared enough to see if he was okay.

Some extra training would clear his mind. Leo made his way to the rooftops and flung himself across them. He muttered to himself as he ran, flipped, and rolled, trying to vent out his feelings. He paused a few times throughout his training, unable to shake the eerie feeling that he was being watched. However, he never did catch anyone as he glanced around and usually returned to his training after a few minutes.

He knew his instincts had been right when Footbots leapt out of the shadows. Leo grinned and pulled his katanas out from their holsters. He had been itching for a fight, and the Foot had kindly brought one to him.

As he slashed his way through his enemies, Leo started to understand why Raph was always eager to fight. It was great for releasing the pent-up anger that he rarely experienced. Though his muscles burned from prolonged use, Leo found it exhilarating. He had barely broken a sweat as the last Footbot was slashed in half, and he couldn’t help but be disappointed that the fight had been so short.

A soft thud had him turning around to find a female Foot ninja standing behind him. Though a mask covered the lower half of her face, he could see that she appeared a few years older than him with short, blonde hair, nearly a buzzcut, sticking out of the top of her head. Blue eyes stared back at him before the girl lunged forward.

Once again, Leo eagerly found himself in battle, though admittedly it was much more difficult than just fighting the Footbots. He and the girl were evenly matched, their fight practically a dance as they gracefully swung and dodged.

Their swords clashed with a loud clang that echoed across the rooftop, and the mysterious girl finally spoke. “Not bad. I can see why we haven’t defeated you just yet.”

Leo smirked as he twisted and swung lower, but his opponent swiftly moved out of the way. “It’s not like Shredder hasn’t been trying.”

The girl huffed a laugh. “You’ve really become the bane of his existence. He has become quite focused on ending you.”

“Really?” Leo didn’t really like the sound of that, but it wasn’t enough to bring his mood down. “He’ll have to try harder then—maybe do his own dirty work instead of sending his lackeys out.”

“I don’t mind. It gives me a chance to stretch my legs and put my training to work.” To Leo’s surprise, the girl feinted her next attack and managed to knock one of his katanas out of his hands and trip him, causing him to fall back onto his shell. His throat tickled as her sword was pointed uncomfortably close to his neck, practically feeling the tip of the weapon poking him. For a moment, he thought she would finish the job—he was at her mercy after all—but she only paused for a moment before her eyes crinkled in a way that Leo thought meant she was smirking.

“Better luck next time, turtle. I’ll see you around.”

Leo blinked, and she was gone, leaving him alone on the rooftop as his adrenaline finally started to wear off.

“Wow.”

Leo wandered back into the lair in a mild daze, still thinking about the fight. There were so many conflicting feelings swirling inside him. On the one hand, the unnamed woman was the enemy—part of the Foot clan! On the other hand, Leo hadn’t felt that excited since that disastrous first meeting between Mikey and their father. 

The girl didn’t seem…all bad, right? Maybe—

A shriek cut through the silence. Was that Mikey?

Leo rushed to the kitchen, where he was pretty sure the sound had come from, swords drawn as he readied himself for another fight despite his aching arms. His chest heaved with tired breaths as he stared at four faces that stared back at him. 

The kitchen was a mess. Flour coated the table and various parts of the four teenagers. Various packages of ingredients for whatever they were making were left open and strewn around the kitchen. Mikey was holding a simultaneously gloopy and burnt mess in his hand, his offended look melting into surprise at Leo’s appearance.

They stared awkwardly at each other before Leo suddenly remembered he still had his katanas out. He slowly put them away, though he stayed where he was when he spoke. “So…what’s going on?”

There was a beat of silence before Mikey answered, “Raph and Donnie mentioned that they had never made chocolate chip cookies before, so Miwa and I thought we’d teach them.” Mikey’s eyes glanced at the mess in his hand. “They’re pretty bad at it.”

As Raph and Donnie protested, Leo couldn’t help the stab of pain in his chest. Sure, he had left the lair, but no one had thought to call him?

He would have liked to learn how to make cookies.

“...Oh.”

There was another beat of silence until Raph cleared his throat as he avoided Leo’s eyes. “...So where have you been?”

Leo kept his expression carefully neutral. “Nowhere important. Just went to get some fresh air.”

Miwa scoffed but didn’t speak up, instead ignoring Leo to throw out Raph and Donnie’s poor attempt at cookies, and that was about all that Leo could handle. He scowled at the group, turning around to stalk off to his room.

“Don’t let me ruin your fun. Call me when dinner’s ready. Or don’t.”

Leo ignored Donnie and Raph’s call for him to come back. He thought he heard Mikey’s voice too, but he quickly dismissed the idea, believing it was just his mind conjuring what he wanted to hear.

He threw himself onto his bed with a groan, staring up at his Captain Ryan poster and letting out a sigh. “What do I do, Captain Ryan? How would you get yourself out of this mess?”

The poster did not answer, and Leo sighed again. He wracked his brain for an answer, having memorized every episode of Space Heroes word for word, but one did not come to him. Instead, an image of the Foot girl’s face flashed through his mind. Though he could not see her full face, he could picture her eyes—curious but almost respectful, as if she was fighting a worthy opponent.

And the fight had been a worthy one. They had been nearly equals, in Leo’s opinion, something that he craved in his limited interactions with others. Sure, Raph put up a good fight, but he was easily blinded by rage, and that always made him sloppy. Donnie could hold his own, but he excelled far better at science than fighting, though maybe that was just because his younger brother had more interest in the former and put more effort into that. He had managed to get a hit or two in on Splinter, but his sensei was still leagues ahead of him in skill. And though he was learning more about how Miwa and Mikey fought, they weren’t into sparring the way Raph was, so he still couldn’t quite decide where they were at in skill level.

Leo wasn’t even going to think about April—if nothing more than out of respect for her. She was learning, but she had a long way to go.

It left Leo starved for a partner—someone who could truly understand him.

He ruminated for hours on the topic before Donnie came to get him for dinner, which Leo kind of wished his brother hadn’t done. The awkward moment in the kitchen still seemed to be on everyone’s mind, and conversation was stilted despite Mikey’s best efforts. Splinter seemed to sense the tension but didn’t say anything. Leo figured it was to keep the peace after he had stormed out during their conversation earlier. Leo made sure to eat quickly so he could go back to his room as soon as possible.

No one called after him this time, and Leo didn’t know how to feel about that. He yearned to go watch Space Heroes—Captain Ryan always brought him comfort—but he didn’t want to be around the others any more than he had to right now. Instead, he listened as Splinter went back to the dojo and conversation and laughter started up in the pit. He held his breath as feet shuffled down the hallway and stood outside his door. He wasn’t sure who it was, and the mystery person only stood silently for about a minute before heading back to the living room.

More time passed, and Leo heard the others going to bed. It was nearly morning on the surface, but Leo wasn’t tired. His scales buzzed with renewed energy. An image of the Foot girl flashed through his mind again, and Leo shot up from his bed.

He quickly made his way out of the lair and back to the surface, uncaring of the sky changing colors with hints of the rising sun. He geared himself up for round two of training, throwing himself across rooftops as he edged closer to Foot territory. He spent nearly an hour doing so before coming to a stop, slightly panting as dawn’s light penetrated the skyline.

“What am I doing?” he muttered to himself. “This is the stupidest thing I have ever done.”

“Do you always talk to yourself?” Leo whirled around at the voice and saw the Foot girl lounging against the leg of a water tower.

“Sometimes, I’m the only one who will listen.” The words tasted bitter as he thought back to his family.

“I’ll happily listen while you beg for mercy.”

Despite her words, Leo grinned as he pulled out his katanas and lunged forward. He lost himself in their dance, trading barbs like a song only they could hear. Their fight was a symphony of clashing swords and harsh exhales.

Leo had a brief moment to catch his breath as they sprang apart. “You know what? I don’t think you’re as bad as you pretend to be.”

The girl raised a brow. “Oh?” Leo was pleased to hear her breathing was as labored as his own. He was giving as good as he was getting. “What part of swinging a sword at your head do you not understand?”

He chuckled. “You could have finished me on that rooftop, but you didn’t.”

“Because you’re interesting.” The girl threw a few ninja stars, which Leo easily deflected. “Besides, I don’t think you’re as good as you pretend to be. Do the others know you’re out here?”

Leo flinched before he could stop himself, and the girl’s eyes lit up. “Did I strike a nerve? Is all not well in the Hamato clan? Maybe it has something to do with that fourth turtle that suddenly showed up.” 

“Leave him alone! He has nothing to do with Shredder’s feud with Splinter.” As frustrated as he was with the current circumstances with his family, he didn’t want anything to happen to Mikey. If he regretted anything about reuniting their family, it was dragging his lost brother into their mess. Mikey had been perfectly safe and happy until the Hamatos came crashing into his life, and now his mother was at the mercy of the Kraang because of them.

Once they saved her, though, it would be all worth it.

“He’s one of you, isn’t he? How many turtle mutants in New York could there possibly be?” The girl stepped forward. “Either way, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re out here alone, and I doubt the others know. I’ve heard the fourth turtle is close to the red one. Did he get close to the purple one too? Did they leave you behind?”

Leo gritted his teeth, his hands paling as he tightened his grip around his katanas. “Of course not! I just wanted some extra training.”

He hated the way her eyes turned pitying. “I don’t think that’s true. I think you’re alone, and that’s something I can understand.” 

“...You do?” 

“I was alone once too, but the Foot clan took me in and protected me when no one else would. They gave me training and a purpose.” The girl stowed away her weapons and held out a hand. “Come with me. The Foot will give you a home where you can be appreciated for once.”

“I don’t even know your name,” Leo mumbled, eyes trained on her hand. 

The girl used her other hand to tug down her mask. “You can call me Jennika.” She gestured with her outstretched hand. “So? Are you with me?”

Leo was ashamed to admit that his hand started to reach out before he pulled it back, letting it hang limply at his side. “I can’t. I won’t abandon my family.”

“Well, it sounds like they already abandoned you.” The girl tugged her mask back up and backed away, stepping up onto the ledge of the rooftop. Her heels dangled over the edge. “The offer will stay open for now, but I can’t promise for how long. I’ll see you around, Leonardo.”

Jennika stepped back into the open air and disappeared below.

Leo turned around and headed home, knowing the futility of trying to follow the girl. He was deep in thought as he ran, letting his body go into autopilot to get him home. He slowed down as he approached the entrance to the lair, mindful to enter quietly so he would not wake anyone up. 

“Uh.”

Leo nearly jumped at the noise, head whipping around to see Mikey exiting the kitchen in the dark. Something dangled from his teeth, and he held a plate in his hands. The two turtles stared at each other in silence before Mikey held the plate up.

“C’kie?” Mikey mumbled around what Leo now realized was a cookie in his mouth.

“Uh—” Leo winced at how loud he sounded and lowered his voice. “—no. Thank you.”

“‘Kay.” They stared at each other for a little longer before Mikey gestured his head towards the bedrooms. “Nigh’.”

“...Good night.” Leo watched as Mikey went back to Raph’s room, his shoulders sagging in relief as he realized that the other turtle wouldn’t question him about where he had been. That didn’t mean Mikey would keep quiet forever, but at least Leo could go to bed with ease tonight.

Leo quietly entered his bedroom and crawled into bed, closing his eyes with a sigh. His dreams were filled with blue eyes and a voice promising that he would never feel alone again.