Like Father Like Son [ROTTMNT]

Chapter Eleven: Lost and Found

The fridge opened, the automatic light flicking on.

The fridge shut.

It opened back up again, Mikey leaning in for a closer look, eyes scanning the fairly empty shelves as his foot rapped against the ground in a tap-tap-tap rhythm.

"Hey, Raph?" he called, shifting some four-day old McDonald's over. The bag slumped against even more fast food and takeout, the few items present in the otherwise food wasteland. Any of them were fit enough for a meal, but Mikey wasn't particularly hungry- he never seemed to be, not nowadays. No, he was looking for a specific meal that he had tried to save. "Where's the um, the Chinese food?"

There was no answer and Mikey paused, a prickle of uneasiness in his stomach. He looked around, expecting Raph to be hovering over his shoulder like usual, but he was nowhere to be seen. Mikey swallowed, going still and listening for any sounds, his hand brushing against the Mad Dogs badge on his plastron.

No. No, Raph had told him where he was going, he was literally on his way to meet up with him when he got distracted, why was he so freaked out-

Mikey sighed, slammed the fridge shut again, and rubbed his eyes. I'll ask him about it later, he decided, passing by the kitchen table and sweeping a thick stack of paper up into his arms as he hurried towards the surface to go meet his brother.

On his way out, however, there was a small trill of music and beeping sounds that echoed around the Lair. Mikey froze mid-step, eyes widening.

That was from the arcade. But no one had entered there since...

He almost dropped his papers in his hurry to get up to the arcade, trying to be realistic and walk calmly but finding his steps steadily speeding up little by little until he was running, arms pumping in time with his steps. A few stray papers escaped his grasp, fluttering onto the ground in his wake, but Mikey didn't pay heed, skidding to a halt in front of the arcade's entrance.

He paused, panting, and barely stopped himself from calling out the name on the tip of his tongue. It felt wrong to say it when it might not be him. It might be someone else, or, or a faulty machine turning itself back on and then wouldn't he feel silly about this or make someone feel bad-

He took a deep breath, trying to get his breathing back under control, and crept inside, head swiveling as he scanned all of the machines. Most were idle, music quiet apart from the usual background hum, their screens on a simple menu loop. Only one was brightly lit up, a Japanese rhythm game that the boys all frequently played.

"Wh- Donnie?"

His brother startled, head jerking upright, as the game let out an upset sound and the screen flickered to a "COMBO LOST" notice.

Mikey headed over to him, brow furrowed. "When did you- I mean, Dee, I haven't seen you outside of your lab in like three days, you should have said something- oh." Donnie had turned to look at him, expression irritated.

"Oh?" his brother parroted back, crossing his arms and leaning against the videogame. It kept letting out buzzing sounds, warning of yet another lost streak, but neither brother moved, both eyeing each other up and down. "What do you mean, and I air quote, 'oh?'"

"Nothing, nothing." Mikey scratched the back of his head, shifting his paper stack to better rest in the crook of his elbow. "You just look... tired." He winced, regretting the sentence as soon as it was out of his mouth.

Donnie's right eyebrow twitched, his eyes narrowing. "Uh huh," he said doubtfully. "I don't suppose Raphael or April put you up to this."

"No, not... not this time," Mikey offered weakly. He shifted, uncomfortable, not liking the tension in the air between him and Donnie. It hadn't improved too much in the last two and a half weeks, not ever since Raph and Donnie had started using him as a go between. He wanted to ask, wanted to actually talk to his brother, but Donnie had that drawn look he seemed to have half of the time that meant he was about to shut the conversation down and go back to his lab. "So why are you... here?"