Work Text:
Tsumetai
The night was hot, almost stiflingly so but all they could feel was the sudden dread that chilled their hearts; the fear that tore at their souls.
Michelangelo was missing.
The light in their otherwise dark lives in the sewers was simply gone.
He had just vanished late in the night during an unexpected confrontation with the Kraang.
The four brothers had been taking advantage of a rare lull in the violence and danger that plagued their eventful lives. They had decided to take a break from hunting mutagen cannisters with a couple of hours of plain having fun when Leonardo heard it.
The faint but unmistakeable sounds of Kraang activity from the nearby street below. Naturally, their sense of honour and responsibility demanded they investigate.
And that is when things started to go horribly wrong.
Before the brothers knew what was happening, Michelangelo had unintentionally made a noise and attracted the attention of the Kraang-bots they were spying on from above. To Leonardo's abject horror, when Michelangelo tried to evade the Kraang's laser fire, his younger brother found himself trapped in the midst of a large cluster of the malevolent aliens, unable to regroup with the rest of the team.
Thinking quickly on his feet, as was his speciality, Leonardo came up with a plan. However, before he could explain to Raph and Donnie what they needed to do, it was far too late. Mikey had already acted on his own. Taunting and attacking the Kraang in close proximity to a nearby door to him, their little brother attempted to draw off some of their foes.
He disappeared through that door and from their lives.
Only two Kraang had followed Michelangelo through to the other room, re-emerging a scant few minutes later, clicking and whirring to each other in that machine language only the Kraang seemed to understand.
Fearful for their most innocent brother's safety, Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello fought like turtles possessed, decimating their enemy with little mercy. A few stragglers escaped only for Leonardo to hear them calling for reinforcements as he and his remaining brothers ran for the door through which they last saw Michelangelo pass.
The room was nondescript and small in comparison to all others in the warehouse and the only way in or out was through that one, single door.
Donatello immediately made his way straight to the only feature in the room, the computer console smack-dab in the middle and began studying it, while Raphael ranted and paced around the room, trying in vain to find any sign of what happened to their wayward brother.
But there was nothing to be found.
Leonardo desperately wanted nothing more than to help search for any signs of Mikey but he dutifully stood by the door watching, knowing there was no way he could ever persuade Raphael to take his place and that Donatello was exactly where he needed to be.
From his vantage point, Leonardo could see the worry filling his brothers' eyes and the frustration mounting in Donnie's body language. Time was fast running out. More Kraang would be arriving any minute and all three were painfully aware of every excruciating second.
Mere minutes passed before the Kraang reserves arrived, flooding the warehouse in far greater numbers than previously and much as the distraught brothers despised the idea, each knew that unless they wanted to be trapped, with no space to fight their way out, they needed to leave the only room with answers to whatever happened to Michelangelo.
The Kraang numbers continued to build as the fight dragged on. For every Kraang-bot one ninja dispatched, two more would arrive and soon they were left with no option. Leonardo knew that if he and his remaining brothers wanted to survive to discover what befell their light-hearted brother, they had to retreat.
The arguments for and against retreat between the siblings were fierce and unrelenting but in the end, they were left with little alternative. They were still a team but they were only three; they were incomplete and it showed. It was akin to suddenly being deprived of a vital limb while being expected to keep on going, to keep on fighting, all without stopping for much-needed medical treatment.
Leaving without knowing hurt like hell.
More than any brother had ever imagined it could.
Strangely, Leonardo noted once they were safely out of the building, the Kraang didn't seem to care about them any longer. It was as though there was something in that building that they desperately wanted or needed to protect and he was determined that they would be back to find out just what it was. First though, Mikey was their priority.
“Donnie, tell me you found something in that computer.” Leonardo's heart wrenched painfully even as he tried to hide the anxiety he knew to be creeping into his voice.
If Donatello hadn't appeared and sounded so nauseated, his answering reply would have been scathing. “I would have been lucky to have even ten minutes with an alien system programmed in an alien language. I need my laptop with its translation algorithms to interface with it.” Donatello spoke quietly. “I wasn't even able to get by the security protocols before we were forced to leave.”
Leonardo felt as sick as Donatello looked.
“Anyone even try to call him?” Raphael suddenly interrupted, speaking up for the first time since arguing against leaving. As he spoke, Raph fumbled for his T-phone which was safely ensconced within his belt.
Leo and Donnie watched hopefully as Raph tried to phone, hoping against all odds that Michelangelo would be able to answer from wherever he was and that he was in condition to be able to respond.
Raphael's expression became haunted as he slowly turned his unnaturally bright, vivid green gaze at his older and younger brothers. He shook his head, appearing more lost than Leonardo could ever remember seeing his tough sibling look in their entire lives. Even more so than after losing Spike, than after helplessly witnessing Slash falling several stories straight down. Raphael's words were hollow sounding but they cut deep.
“Switched off or not in a mobile service area...”
Leonardo felt his heart drop.
“I... we... we need to get home. I... I need my computer...” Donatello stammered softly, looking at the roof surface beneath his feet.
Raphael glowered, ready to explode. “At a time like this? Seriously, Donnie?”
Donatello straightened, standing tall as he looked down into Raphael's eyes. “Yes! At a time like this. I need to check if the GPS is still active. I can check our network from home. I can't do it from here.”
“Let's go then.” Leonardo commanded, at least feeling a little more in his element now that they had a plan of action. Now that they weren't merely running like cowards from the enemy. He hesitated, taking a moment to catch and hold each brother's gaze. “Michelangelo is out there somewhere. He is still alive and he needs us. We will find him.” The reassurance was meant for himself just as much as for Raphael and Donatello.
Tormented, the trio of remaining brothers began to make their way miserably across the rooftops; the light on the eastern horizon steadily increasing while they travelled. By the time they reached a sewer entrance in the general vicinity of their home, the sky was beginning to glow with a warm, orange hue.
With longing, each brother glanced one last time in the direction of the rising sun before dropping silently to the alley below and entering their place of safety.
Despite the warmth of the late summer morning, not one could remember ever feeling so painfully cold.
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