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As Donnie was working on his projects in his lab, a happy voice filled the room.
“Deeeeeeee! Come on, I’m not letting you miss lunch again! Besides it’s Thursday, you don’t wanna miss talking to April and Casey right?”
Don puts down his soldering iron and looks up at Mikey, standing in the doorway with his usual goofy grin.
Now, as every time he looks at his little brother, he’s so thankful the young one had ended up in one piece.
Sure it had been a panicked and worrying few weeks after getting back from the farmhouse but against all odds Mikey had survived .
His little brother was admirable in that way.
Of course, the whole ordeal had left its fair share of scars, but there wasn’t a single member of the little family in the sewers who didn’t sport at least one major scar.
Mikey’s metallic leg brace reflected the fluorescent lights of his lab, and the sheets of metal affixed to his plastron and carapace didn’t help much either.
Basically if you put Mike in a well lit room it was hard to look at him with all the light glinting off.
But aside from his scars, Mike was different in his personality too.
He was still a goofball, and he still knew how to focus when he needed to, but there were times that he regressed and took everything seriously.
The nightmares had been the worst the first two months, but they’d gotten better over time, like all things do.
He’d eventually ditched the swords, opting once again for his nunchucks, but not as afraid of using the blade as he had once been.
He’d also returned to his familiar orange mask, though not opting for tying the ends in a bow any longer and letting them trail down his back instead.
Mikey had healed, for the most part, and that was all Donnie needed.
That’s what all his brothers had needed. They didn’t want things to back to exactly the same as they had before, and they didn’t.
Mikey focused much better during missions, and critiques between the brothers were always much more positive.
Sure some things had gone back to normal, like Mikey taking back his position as cook and kicking Raph out of the kitchen, with the smaller turtle claiming Raph had ruined his system of where things were stored while he was gone.
The kitchen ban was re-enacted the next day.
Don drags himself out of his thoughts as the smell of lunch hits his nostrils finally.
He looks back to Mikey, still leaning against the doorframe and looking impatient.
“Come on Dee, my danger senses are telling me I’ve left Leo in the kitchen unsupervised for too long.”
Donnie rolls his eyes lovingly before responding to his baby brother.
“Yeah Mike, I’m coming.”
He sets down his goggles and iron and follows his little brother out the door.
That day, the family in the sewers ate lunch together, a call stretching that love to the other two members of the little family out of state.
It had been a rough year, full of fear and dread, but also full of healing and hope. Most of their years were like that.
But most importantly, they were together again.
And there wasn’t anything in the universe that would tear them apart again.