The Words That Hurt Me

41 Brother Talks: Raph

To say that Mike was thrilled to meet the other turtles would be an understatement.

It was incredible!

Four whole new people who were technically his brothers and two friends! As soon as he knew who they were, he started planning to make a huge dinner with everyone's favorites, during which he would ask every question under the sun. It was going to be amazing!

And then Goober was mutated.

It was awful and sounded incredibly painful, Goober crumbling to the floor in torn clothes. He imagined their voice was sore after the screams they let out. It took a massive toll on their body as well, as they fell unconscious soon after. 

Mike had glanced at his counterpart then, seeing the utter horror and guilt on his face. It was then Mike realized he was going to have to put in a lot of work to get that dun dinner.

More workers were pounding at the door, so the group had to pick up their injured members and flee. 

Mikey was not doing well in the aftermath at all, sulking by their bedside and refusing to eat. Leon made sure to take good care of Goober and seemed to be able to comfort Mikey better than his own brothers could. If they even tried.

Honestly, Mike was less than impressed by his brother's behavior, but he supposed he couldn't be too mad. It was clear from the tense atmosphere when they all were in the same room that something was up. 

He tried prodding the brothers he saw, seeing as Mikey had no other interest than taking care of Goober. However, they all were incredibly stand-offish, preferring to be secretive of their feelings.

A.K.A, there was a whole lot of something going on. Seemingly revolving around Mikey and maybe even Goober.

Speaking to Casey cleared a lot things up, though he also seemed to be a bit upset. Mikey was fed up with the way his brothers were treating him, so Casey took him out for a night of fun to blow off some steam. He didn't exactly know what happened at the lair when he returned, but he did know that the older brothers weren't on speaking terms with the youngest.

After a month, he ran away. Ran. Away. By the gods, if it were him, Mike wouldn't have made it to Jersey! According to Casey, he made it all the way to the mid-west, where Goober lived. Holy Shell.

When Mike asked if he knew why, Casey's hands clenched, and he said that he didn't know, nor did he have the time to ask. Mikey had only just gotten back, bringing along an unexpected friend. 

That would explain why he looked so guilty in the warehouse.

Mike remembered when he first experienced one of Tello's meltdowns when he was around six. It was terrifying and he was torn between running and trying to help. Out of love for his brother, he learned how to help and was quite effective when Tello needed it. His brother only had a meltdown once in a blue moon now, but he still vividly remembered that first time.

Which made Goober's meltdown hurt even more.

Mikey clearly hadn't ever seen it happen before, utterly lost and concerned for his friend. Mike let Tello take the lead in helping Goober, as he had firsthand experience, even lending them his goggles and a weighted blanket (Goober must've gotten on his good side). 

Mike's heart ached to see them cling onto Mikey when he returned with the blanket, he couldn't imagine what they were going through. He could imagine what Mikey was going through though, fighting his urge to comfort him, lest he overwhelm Goober even more. It took around half an hour before Goober decided to lie down, falling asleep soon after. Mikey just silently wept beside them.