Unedited

Mikey stared emotionlessly at the pinball machine as the ball rolled between the levers, ending the game. His eyes rolled up to the ceiling, sending up a silent plea to whoever might be up there to just end the throbbing pain emanating from his chest, poisoning his bloodstream with sadness, and his mind with confusion.

"You really should watch it," Mikey heard an angelic voice insist, "It's way cooler than Space Heroes, after all."

"Not a chance," He caught Leo bantering, and could practically see the placid smile on his older brother's face.

Mikey turned, watching Sadie and the leader of the team wander out of the kitchen.

"I'm telling you!" She said, "Supernatural is an amazing show!"

"Not as amazing as Space Heroes," Leo crossed his arms as he settled into the beanbag chair in front of the television.

"Alright," Sadie finally consented, "Your loss."

She abandoned her mission to convince the blue clad leader, carefully making her way up the steps to the dojo, spotting Mikey and throwing him a little smile before disappearing behind the sliding Japanese screen. He looked after her, staring at the spot where she'd just grinned at him, and for the smallest moment, the pain building in his chest ceased. Mikey wondered why it was that Sadie was able to make his grief disappear with the slightest glance, and suddenly found himself wanting more than just a brief spell of relief from longing for Renet, thinking about Renet, wanting so badly to see Renet again...

He shook his head from side to side, trying to rid the thoughts of her as he abandoned his spot at the pinball machine to follow the shortish brunette.

•

I stopped in my tracks when I spotted Raphael at the punching bag.

Upon walking in, I'd only planned to stretch on the mat beneath the big tree stretching out over the dojo, my fighting abilities being limited, due to my stab-wound. But seeing the red clad turtle, fire burning in his green eyes, with an unending determination to pummel his foe that was the punching bag, brought back my competitive nature. I could see why Annabeth was always trying to best him at different activities - Raph's very presence seemed to scream, Try and outdo me, I dare you.

I walked over to him, seeing Raph's fists lose their tension when he caught sight of me. His lips, which had formerly been pursed in concentration, turned up in a smirk.

"Hey," He grunted, as he executed a flawless roundhouse kick and sent the bag flying back, almost off the hook it hung from.

"Hey," I replied, remaining unfazed by the obvious attempt to show off, "Mind if I take a turn?"

I gestured to the still-swaying punching bag, and Raphael shrugged, looking as if he couldn't care less, though I caught his eyes sweeping over me subtly as he plodded away from me, and toward the bench seat. I pushed aside the rational thought about straining myself, getting into a ready stance, my eyes flicking to Raph as he prepared the bar and lowered himself beneath it, beginning steady reps under the impressive  weight.

I couldn't help glancing over at him occasionally, while I landed relatively gentle punches - Raph's biceps, flexing and rippling as his strong hands lifted the bar up and down fluidly.  Once or twice, I thought he'd caught my eyes wandering to him every so often, since his smirk would widen and he'd start going faster with each rep.

•

Mikey scowled as he watched Sadie and Raph from the entrance of the dojo - the hazel-eyed girl at the punching bag, slowly and hesitantly hitting the punching bag, while her mesmerizing orbs roamed occasionally to Mikey's brother, a smug look gracing his features while he benched his max weight. Only someone who'd known him for years could tell Raph was struggling - even in his body language, the hothead had always concealed any signs of weakness. But Mikey could plainly tell the immense amount of weight on the bar was beginning to tire him out. For a split second, the orange clad mutant wondered why Raph would foolishly start off a workout with that many reps and that much weight.

And then he glimpsed Raphael throwing small looks Sadie's way, trying to have the next time she'd look over at him, trying to catch her attention with each lift. All other observations left Michelangelo as he bounded in the dojo.

"Hey guys!" He called, yanking both Raph and Sadie out of their somewhat relaxed silence.

Sadie instantly gave him a smile, waving a little, while Raph racked the bar abruptly and shot a glower at the younger turtle, which Mikey promptly returned.

"Hey Raph," He said, the cheerful tone in his voice adopting a bit of an edge, "Wanna spar?"

Both turtles' gazes went momentarily to Sadie, before the older of the two stood and nodded curtly, making his way to the center of the dojo. Mikey tried to match his brother's gait, albeit his strides were smaller than Raph's.

The ninjas readied themselves for the quickly ensuing, and neither could resist a quick gander at the young lady both were trying to impress. Sadie, meanwhile, was leaned against the punching bag, casually glancing between Raphael and Michelangelo, blissfully oblivious to the competition the brothers had with eachother, beyond sparring.

Raph made the first move. He lunged at Mikey, sais drawn in an instant, their target frozen for a second. The orange clad turtle moved just in time, jumping just out of the way of Raph's blades and just managing to evade another stab his older brother took at him. Quickly, Mikey took out his nunchucks, twirling them and deflecting a few more attacks, before Raph's already small patience wore thin. The hothead lunged at Mikey, knocking the younger turtle to the ground and twisting his arm behind him at a painful angle, digging his knee into Mikey's shell.

"Give up?" Raph sneered triumphantly, adding a small tug at Mikey's twisted arm for good measure. Michelangelo glanced up at Sadie, whose eyebrows has skyrocketed in surprise at how fast the fight had ended.

"Ha! You think you can hold me down?" The jokester in Mikey finally came out of hiding, "You can't stop awesomeness, bro! I'm invincible! I'm - I'm a flame shadow fire dragon!"

Raph frowned in confusion. "What?"

And then laughter. Beautiful, perfectly happy laughter, rang out around the dojo. It took every fiber in Mikey's being not to stare at Sadie in awe as she giggled. Raph, on the other hand, didn't possess enough caliber to keep from looking over at her with a small smile. In that small window of opportunity, Mikey wriggled out from beneath his brother, spinning and whacking his upper arm with a nunchuck.

"Ow!" Raph rubbed his now-sore bicep, glaring dangerously as he stood and lunged at him again. Mikey, having always been the lightest on his feet, vaulted over him and landed facing Raph's shell. A swift kick to the back sent the red clad turtle tumbling, and Raph whirled around to face his brother, anger burning in his bright green eyes. He rushed at Michelangelo again, and with a confident grin, Mikey front flipped over Raph's shoulder, grabbing his brother's hand in midair and pulling it along with him as he landed behind the hothead, ending up jolting his sibling back and knocking the wind out of him as Raph crashed to the floor.

Raphael wheezed a little as he sat up, rolling his shoulder and trying to ease the pain emanating through his arm as he scowled up at Mikey. The orange clad turtle stood above him with a proud smile, replacing his nunchucks in his belt and throwing a big grin Sadie's way, before leaving the dojo without another word.

Sadie giggled softly as the turtle sauntered out, glancing back at Raph and offering a hand to help him up. Ego seriously wounded, Raphael ignored the gesture, struggling to his feet on his own and trying to maintain some amount of pride as he stomped back over to the punching bag to release his embarrassed anger.