Took me a while to come up with some new ideas that I liked. Figuring out all the intricacies of the sequel to Pick Portals is stressing me out. We'll see how it turns out. Anyway, this idea came to me today and I just ended up typing it all out in one go. Hope you enjoy! :)

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Rain wasn't exactly Raph's favorite kind of weather. He liked clouds well enough, but rain just made the ground more slippery. He didn't really care about getting wet, of course. Being a turtle was nice that way. But what he didn't like about rain was it impaired visibility and slowed things down. He couldn't drive fast in the rain, he couldn't sprint across rooftops without taking an occasional dive, and he couldn't hear as well. All in all, rain dulled the senses. Though, in retrospect, it was the same on the flipside. Chances are, his enemies wouldn't see him coming. Or in this case, the person he was currently seeking, who wasn't an enemy at all. Quite the opposite, actually. Not surprising that the idiot would go running off topside even in this kind of weather. Raph sighed and peered out across the wishy-washy city skyline. Unfortunately, when his baby brother got upset, it never ended well.

Mikey had been acting weird for a while, but they'd all just put it down to stress. A stupid mistake, Raph realized now. Everything had seemed okay, until yesterday when Mikey had gone an entire day without even speaking to any of them. Since Don was fully engrossed on a project and Leo was deep in meditation for most of the day, it had been Raphael who'd ended up bringing it to their attention.

"He's probably concocting some big prank or something, Raph. Don't worry."

Raph scoffed. Don't worry. Hah.

It was a good thing that he was worried, because he was also the first one to notice when Michelangelo went topside for pizza and was gone more than an hour. He called Mikey's shell cell and the little shit didn't answer him. Raph was a hothead and a tough, shell-kicking fighter, whose temper could be a pain in the ass, but he wasn't made of stone. He loved his little brother, even if Mikey did annoy the crap out of him most of the time. He called a grand total of five times at five minute intervals before chucking his shell cell at the wall and storming through the lair to inform his brothers of Mikey's absence.

Leonardo had glared at him at the intrusion of such a furious aura in the sanctity of the dojo, but Raph had glared right back and spat out:

"Mikey's in trouble."

Leo had sprung to his feet with fire in his eyes. Looking back on the moment, Raph grinned a little. They were all real partial to Mikey. They loved the guy and cherished him for what he was: their baby brother. There was nothing they wouldn't do for him. Well, almost nothing, sometimes Mikey could think up some pretty ridiculous stuff. Even so, Raphael was aware that sometimes they humored the knucklehead a bit more than was healthy, but it just showed how much they cared for the little guy.

And Don, whose braininess clashed so readily with Mikey's childlike simplicity, was close as could be to their little brother. When Raph had stomped into the lab and told him the same thing he'd told Leo, the brainiac had been tripping over his words, he was so worried.

Raph had told them of his five consecutive attempts to call Michelangelo and the lack of an answer and both the other turtles shared his concern. Leo, ever the leader, attempted to take control of the situation.

"Where did he say he was going?"

"Pizza run."

Leo paused, rubbing his chin as he carefully weighed their options.

Raph lost patience. "That was over an hour ago, Leo! I've called him five times, he didn't answer me. The rain is coming down in buckets out there. There are a million different things that could have happened to him."

"Probably more like ten or twenty thousand, realistically." Don injected.

"Not helping, brainiac!" Raph growled. He stuffed his sais in his belt and turned for the door. "I'm going to look for him."

"Slow down, Raph." Leo said, holding the hothead back. "We should get Don to track his shell-cell. He could be visiting April and Casey or something."

"You stay and waste time if you want to. I'm going to find my little brother." Raph said, shrugging off Leo's hand and rushing out the door.

And now, here was. Ten minutes later and no nearer to finding Mikey. No idea of where to start either. Mikey was a tough nut to crack beneath the surface. Unlike Leo and Don, Raph had sense enough to know that his little brother wasn't all fluff. Mikey had a sharp mind under all that youth, though you wouldn't know it at first glance. Besides that, Mikey had a little bit of a vicious streak, which amused the hothead to no end.

Mikey kept score, and Raph was probably the only one of his brothers that actually noticed it. Anyone who played a trick on Mikey, or who said something that angered him usually wound up receiving Mikey's strange form of revenge. Like being on the wrong end of one of the youngster's pranks. That's why Raph didn't always feel guilty about exchanging punches with his little brother. One way or another, Mikey would see that he got his comeuppance. Mikey was fair like that. It eased Raph's conscience.

Leo and Don weren't like that. They'd just forgive Raph for an outburst of temper and be done with it. Mikey's way somehow gave the hothead closure.

Raph shook those thoughts away and resumed his search. Ugh. Hunting around blindly in the rain like this wasn't going to get him anything, except maybe a nasty cold.

But if he found Mikey and got the knucklehead home safe, that wouldn't really matter.

He sighed and looked around as well as he could through the sheets of pouring rain. His mask was soaked and so was the rest of him. Wherever Mikey is odds are he ain't dry, Raph thought.

If I were a goofball little brother worrying his older siblings into an early grave, where would I be? He wondered.

Mikey liked the docks. He liked to watch the ships go in and out.

Raph grimaced. The docks were dangerous this time of night. Not a great area to go if you weren't looking for trouble. Mikey wasn't a hothead, so he would have opted for someplace safer. Something more...secluded. That is, assuming that he was just brooding and not—

No, Raphael, don't even start thinking like that. Lose your nerve and you'll end up slipping off a skyscraper. Raph reasoned with himself.

Mikey's been a little weird for a while now, if he's upset he likes to be alone and think.

They were alike in that regard. Raph always liked dealing with his problems alone.

But Michelangelo was more the brood-at-home type who'd lock himself in his room and pout. This type of behavior was not normal and therefore even more troublesome to his older brothers.

"C'mon Mikey—where'd you go?" Raph murmured under his breath. He jumped to a higher rooftop and skidded a little on the landing. His mind supplied an answer to his question. "He wouldn't want to go far. He knows we'll worry. Realizes we'll come looking for him. Wants to stay within a half-hour distance from the lair...One-mile radius from the most direct manhole cover..."

Raph closed his eyes and thought, his frown ingraining itself of his face.

"A place where he could be alone to think..."

He lifted his eyes and turned around, heading back towards the manhole cover.

The rain only seemed to be coming down harder. Raph landed at the manhole cover and climbed the nearest building. From there he glanced around. Not many options for seclusion. Mostly apartment buildings, which were always chancy, some human could just glance up at any time, though on a night like this, that didn't seem likely. Most humans, in Raph's experience, don't like getting face-fulls of water.

Suddenly, his fists clenched. Just there, a few buildings away, was a water tower. If Mikey wasn't there, Raph would have to start all over from scratch. He jumped to the next building, but his foot slipped and he let out a pained cry as felt a twinge in his ankle. His hands shot out and gripped the edge in time to avoid an early death. Whew.

He yanked himself onto the roof and panted, looking back down into the alley that had almost been his final resting place. He turned toward the water tower with a gleam in his eye.

Mikey you better be there, because Leo'll lecture me to death if he finds out I went running around the city looking for you on a sprained ankle. Raph thought with a grimace.

The ankle really didn't look so bad. He'd probably just strained it, not sprained it. Don would still make him stay off it for a couple days, but right now, Raph had a brother to find. He limped at a quick pace and when he jumped over to the next building, he was careful not to put any landing pressure on his aching ankle. He hobbled around the water tower.

There, sure enough, seated on the perimeter of the water tower, behind the railing, was his little brother. Mikey had he knees pulled in towards his plastron and was resting his chin on them. In lieu of jumping, Raph used his sais to hoist himself up the leg of the water tower and join his brother.

Mikey's head turned a little, acknowledging his arrival with a faraway stare at the stormy sky.

"Nearly killed myself looking for you." Raph grumbled. He followed Mikey's example and stared at the sky.

"Didn't have to come." Mikey said, softly.

"And let you enjoy this nice wet rain all by yourself?" Raph remarked sarcastically.

A little smile flitted across Mikey's face. "Isn't it great?"

"Not quite the words I'd use."

Mikey smiled again, a bit wider. "I like the rain."

Lighting flashed.

"It just makes a mess in the sewer. Raises the water level."

"Don't you ever think beyond the sewers, Raph?" Mikey asked.

Raph raised an eye-ridge. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Mikey, you realize who you're talking to?"

With a roll of his eyes Mikey said, "All you do is think about the sewers Raph. You can't fool me. Even when you're up here you think about them."

"Alright, you got me." Raph admitted, throwing up his hands. "When I'm up here is when I think most about 'em. I wonder what you guys are up to—"

"—and whether or not the lair is safe, and how late you can stay out without worrying the rest of us—"

"You psychic, Mikey?"

Mikey smiled and shook his head. "Nah, just smart."

"Can't fool me either, little brother. Come on, spit it."

"You told me once."

Raph shook his head from side to side. "Nuh-uh. I didn't say nothing to you."

"When I picked you up at Casey's the other day..."

"Yeah?" Raph asked. He thought about it. "I was sleeping on the couch."

"You talk in your sleep."

"You sneaky little..." Raph swung a playful fist at his brother. Mikey dodged it with a lighthearted laugh.

Thunder boomed through the sky and Mikey's smile vanished. Raph's mouth closed and he eyed the youngest thoughtfully.

"Always were scared of thunder, weren't ya?"

Mikey looked back out at the sky. "Just wanted to see if I'd gotten over it, I guess."

"Why?" Raph asked. He didn't get an answer and he knew he'd touched on the root of the problem. He thought long and hard about the events of the past week, trying to pinpoint exactly when Mikey had fallen into this weird funk. It wasn't long before he found it.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Leo's lecture on fear, would it?"

Earlier that week, Michelangelo had been screaming bloody murder about some horror film or something on television and Leo, whose meditation time had been rudely interrupted, had gone into lecture mode and given the baby brother a low-down on fear and getting scared. It was a long lecture and one that really wasn't very fair of Leo to spring on Mikey, but the blue-masked turtle was annoyed. And when he was annoyed, lecturing was what Leo did best.

"He was wrong, ya know." Raph muttered, sliding a little closer and pressing his shoulder against Mikey's.

"Leo's never wrong."

Raph scoffed in disbelief and Mikey turned to him.

"Mikey, Leo gets things wrong as often as you and I do. The guy's not as perfect as he pretends to be."

"Then why does he act like it?"

"Cause he's an idiot."

Mikey looked away.

Raph huffed. "He thinks that getting down off his high-horse will make us stop respecting him."

"I'd always respect him."

"Yep, that's why he's an idiot." Raph confirmed with a nod.

Mikey grinned and Raph felt like he was regaining touch with his little brother. He threw an arm around Mikey's head in a mock head-lock that was suspiciously more like a hug.

"Listen up, little brother. Leo doesn't know everything and he gets things wrong sometimes. But just because he says that your fears are juvenile and whatever else he said, doesn't mean that they make him any better than you are. Everybody gets scared. Just because some fears seem weird to other people don't mean that you're not mature or intelligent."

"Like you with bugs? That's a pretty silly fear."

"Exactly. That would be a good example if I was afraid of bugs, which I'm not." Raph crossed his arms indignantly.

Mikey smiled wickedly. "Oh yeah? Well, there's a cockroach by your foot."

"What? Where?!" Raph jumped to his feet, forgetting about his injured ankle. He hissed in pain and slid back down beside his little brother.

Michelangelo was laughing his head off.

He glared. "That was just low, Mikey."

"Aw, come on, Raphie. You know you love me." Mikey said sweetly, making a puppy-dog face at him.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I wonder why."

Mikey punched him in the arm and said, "Hey!"

Tugging his ankle in for a better look, Raph let another slow hiss of pain leave his lips. This time, Mikey actually leaned forward and took notice.

"What's up?"

"I think I sprained my ankle. Damn near slipped off a ten-story building."

Mikey jolted upright, alert and concerned. Raph patted his shoulder.

"No big deal. I'll be fine in the morning."

"You sure?" Mikey asked.

Raph nodded.

They were silent for a few minutes, until Mikey's voice swam to Raph through the rain and asked, "What's your biggest fear, Raphie?"

Raph closed his eyes as he answered gravely, "Losing you guys."

Mikey scooted closer to him and their shoulders rubbed together. With gentle care, the youngest turtle's arms wrapped around Raph's shoulders and they sat in silence for a few more minutes, offering comfort as they got thoroughly drenched.

"What's yours, Mikey?" Raph asked, keeping his gruff voice at a gentle rasp.

Mikey's arms tightened around him. "I—I have this nightmare..." He whimpered.

Raph couldn't tell if Mikey was crying or if it was just rain droplets on the kid's cheeks. He didn't really care for either one. He hated it when his brothers cried. Dammit, he wasn't made of stone. He freed an arm from Mikey's embrace and rubbed his brother's carapace soothingly.

"It always starts off the same way..." Mikey sniffled.

Raph squeezed tighter.

"You guys are upset with me—"

The hothead already didn't like the way this dream was going.

"You're yelling at me. Telling me how annoying I am and how much you hate me—" Mikey buried his face in Raph's plastron and the words came out muffled, "—and then you guys start hitting me and you—you kick me out and leave me alone..."

That was as much as Raph could stand. He grabbed his baby brother and pulled Mikey as close as he could. There were tears escaping his own eyes, he knew, but he didn't have to worry because the rain would camouflage them. He whispered firmly into Mikey's ear.

"Michelangelo, now you listen to me. I'm not a great brother. I'm mean and I'm rough and I beat ya up and put ya down sometimes, but I would never, ever do anything like that to you. Yeah, ya annoy me sometimes, but ya know what? That's what brothers do. Heck, that's part of what they're for!" He pulled away from the hug and looked Mikey in the eyes. "Do you know why I'm here, Mikey?"

The youngest stared at him for a few moments. Raph rolled his eyes.

"I feel stupid doing this." Raph muttered, pressing his thumbs together and curling his fingers to make a heart shape.

Mikey smiled and wiped his eyes. "You're my brother and you love me."

Raph grinned and opened his arms. Mikey practically tackled him into another hug. An emerald green hand rubbed the orange-masked turtle's smooth, bald head with a squeak. They both laughed.

Mikey pressed his head against Raph's shoulder with a sigh. "You're wrong, Raphie."

"How's that?" Raph asked, incredulously.

Mikey beamed up at the hothead. "You're a great brother."

"Yeah, I sat in the pouring rain for half an hour because of you."

Mikey laughed. He looked at the sky one last time before looking back at his older brother. "Think we should head back to the lair?"

Raph nodded. Mikey helped him up. They traveled quickly as they could manage with Raph's ankle back to the manhole cover, trading teases and quips.

Michelangelo wasn't scared. He didn't even care about the thunder.

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"ACHOO! AH-CHOO!" Raph's sneeze practically shook the entire lair. Mikey went to bed a couple hours ago with the rest of his brothers. But that cold Raph had somehow known would come had set in even earlier than expected. He sighed, bringing down his elevated ankle and heading to the kitchen for some cold medicine. Don kept some in there for times like this.

When he returned to the couch, he was surprised to find another one of his brothers waiting for him.

Leo handed him a fresh box of Kleenex. He accepted it with a sneeze and stuffed-up thanks.

"You really should have gotten out of the rain as soon as you could."

"I did." Raph said before sneezing again.

Leo sighed. "You said you talked to him out there. You really should have gone some place dry."

"If I was smart, maybe I would have." Raph wiped his snout.

"How's your ankle?"

"Achy." Raph answered truthfully, too tired to do anything else.

Leo reached for the injured ankle and Raph eyed him warily. "I just want to have a look at it."

"Don already did."

"I know, I was there." Leo said. 

"Then why do you wanna—"

"Just checking up on you."

Raph's eye-ridges rose. "Oh, sure you were."

Leo resented the implications of that statement and he made sure Raph knew it, too. "It's true."

"Sure it is, but that's not the only reason you've come slinking out of your room at three in the morning."

"What did you and Mikey talk about?"

"None of your business." Raph answered confidently.

Leo glared. "I make it my business. I'm your leader and your older brother, I deserve to know. Whatever it is, Mikey's been upset all week."

"And just whose fault was that?" Raph shot Leo a pointed stare.

The leader blinked. "Me? What did I say?"

"That whole fear spiel of yours got Mikey thinking that we thought less of him because of the way he is. Just cause he acts like a kid on the outside doesn't mean he's happy-go-lucky all the time. He notices things just like we do and he knows a lot more than you give him credit for. And just because he's loud and childish doesn't make him inferior."

"I never said he was." Leo protested.

"But it just about amounted to it. Leo, just because Mikey annoys you doesn't mean you can lecture him the way you lecture Donnie and me. I know the difference between you saying something because you're annoyed and you saying something because you think it needs to be said. Mikey doesn't know how to distinguish that. If you know what's good for you, you'll apologize to him in the morning."

Leonardo's jaw slackened. Raph had never stood up to him like that before. It was a very logical, level-headed point of view, even if there was a hint of anger in Raph's voice. Raphael was right, of course. He really should apologize to Mikey. But first...

"I'm sorry."

"Shouldn't be apologizing to me."

"I think I should. You tried to tell me something was bothering Mikey all week, but I didn't believe you."

"And?"

"And I should have tried looking a little deeper into it, but I was only willing to trust my own judgment, which means that I failed in my duties as a leader."

"Aw, cut the crap, Leo."

"I mean it Raph. Even worse, I didn't trust you." Leo frowned.

"You usually don't."

"I'll try to change that."

"Don't, I'm usually not right." Raph said with smile.

Leo glanced penetratingly at his immediate younger brother. "I'm not sure I believe that. Sometimes your instincts come in handy."

Raph looked at his injured ankle, then he sneezed. "Yeah, like getting drenched and nearly falling to my death. Sure sound like great instincts."

"You know Raph, you baby Mikey a lot, but you also keep him grounded." Leo said evenly. 

"So?"

"You never seem to appreciate the fact that, at times like this, I'm the one who babies you."

Raph's eyes narrowed. "Maybe that's cause I hate bein' babied."

"But sometimes, you need it." Leo held out a couple of small, white pills. "Pain pills."

"No way."

"You'll sleep better." Leo offered.

"Don't care. Hate those." Raph said, turning up his nose.

Leo shook his head and grinned. "You know, Don's thinking of doing a test to see our ages. Just think, little brother, Donnie could be older than you."

"There's no damn way."

"I don't know, he does act more mature." Leo jabbed.

"Oh, I'll show you mature, you little—" Raph hissed as he hastily jarred his ankle.

Leo crossed his arms and gloated. "I rest my case."

"Give me the damn pills." He grunted.

Leo smirked. "I thought so."

Raph took the pills and Leo sat beside him on the couch. For a couple minutes they sat in silence.

"Greatest fear." Raph mumbled.

"What was that?" Leo asked, confused.

"Mikey asked me what my greatest fear was."

Leo smiled and nudged Raph playfully. "Let me guess: a giant bug?"

"Losing you guys." Raph whispered.

The smile was wiped off Leo's face. He leaned over and hugged Raph gently. Raph's hand rose to rest on Leo's shoulder, gratefully.

Leo cleared his throat. "Mine is—"

"—Let me guess: you're still on that whole failure hang-up."

Leo's eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

"I know you, Leo." Raph scoffed, rolling his eyes. "That's enough. Look, you're never going to fail us. We believe in you. And even if you do fail us, which you won't, we'll still love ya in spite of it. There, I said it. I'm done being sappy."

They sat in silence again until Leo asked:

"What was Mikey's?"

"He thinks we'll get annoyed with him, say nasty things to him, beat him up and kick him out."

Leonardo was extremely perturbed by the concept. His eyes were full of fear and questioning as he stared at Raphael.

Raph nodded and patted Leo's shoulder. "Yeah, I set him straight. He ever cooks up anything like that again and I'll knock him silly."

Leo's smile returned. "Please don't. I like my brothers in one piece."

"Yeah, I guess they are better that way." Raph acquiesced, pretending to pout.

Leo poked Raph's side. No reaction. He tried it again and got a muted snicker. On the third time, Raph growled and tried to grab his hand. Leo laughed and continued this game.

When it was done, they both leaned back against the couch, smiling. Raph rolled his eyes at his big brother, though his eyelids were getting heavy.

"Leo?"

"Yeah, Raph?"

"You're a dork." With that the hothead closed his eyes and fell sound asleep.

Leo smiled sweetly and wrapped a blanket around Raph's sleeping form.

"We're all dorks, little brother. But I'm sure you wouldn't have us any other way."

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Well, how was it?