Coming Home

Welcome Home

Raphael couldn't decide if he should hit him or hug him. On one hand, Mikey had come back after six months of isolation, and it was only natural that he should be welcomed with warm hugs and fervent questions. But on the other hand, the little twit hadn't even left so much as a note. How could he just leave like that without even saying anything? Well, it turned out that he didn't have to decide, because the moment his youngest brother's gaze found him, a huge trademark-Mikey grin lit up his face.

"Raphie!" Mikey barrelled at him and wrapped his older brother in a tight hug. Raphael grunted at the impact and grinned a little lopsidedly before he returned the hug just as tightly. A small part of him still couldn't believe that his baby brother was home, and wrapped securely in his arms. Ever since Leonardo announced his phone call with Mikey, Raph had been nearly sick with anticipation of seeing his brother again.

"Have you gotten taller?" Raphael teased as Mikey bounced back and stood in front of him. "I think you mighta outgrown Leo."

"No way Mike," Leo objected, coming into the lair with Mikey's new cat friend, Klunk, in his arms. "There is no way that the baby brother outgrew the oldest." Mikey dashed over to Leo and carefully skimmed his hand over the top of his head, measuring himself against Leo. When his hand went over Leo's head, the youngest grinned.

"I'm totally taller than you Leo!" Mikey crowed. Leo just pouted and glared at his younger brother while Raphael laughed. Not much has changed after all, he thought warmly.

"So...uh...how'd the trip go?" Raphael asked cautiously after a moment. The laughter died down a bit and the mood took a heavier turn. Mikey's smile froze on his face.

"It was fine," Mikey replied, trying his best to appear nonchalant. "Klunk peed a little in the van, but that wasn't so bad. And uh, Leo helped a lot after I got into the city." Mikey turned to look at the aforementioned brother with a slightly sheepish expression. "It's been a while and I got a little lost."

"Yeah, you forget a few things when you've been gone for six months," Leo replied a bit stiffly, almost accusingly. Mikey withered a bit at his older brother's tone and didn't notice the angry look Raph threw over his shoulder at Leo.

"Well, I'm just glad you're back," Raphael proclaimed. "I'm sure you're hungry, let's go to the kitchen and grab something to eat." The red-banded turtle motioned for his two brothers to follow as he turned to the kitchen.

"Dude, when did Raph get nice?" Mikey leaned over and whispered to Leo as they trailed behind him.

"I guess since today," Leo said a bit tensely. Mikey bit his lip a little, wondering for a moment if he would dare to ask other, more sensitive questions. It took him too long to make up his mind however, because Raph was already pulling out pizza before he could say anything.

"Here, we've got some cold pizza - do you want hawaiian or three-meat?" Raphael asked, pulling out two boxes.

"Uh, three-meat," Mikey decided without much thought. "Hey, where's Donnie at anyways?"

"Probably still in his lab," Raphael rolled his eyes. "I'll go tell him you're here." Raphael tossed him the pizza box and drifted off to find Donnie. Mikey tried not to show it, but he was secretly hurt that Donatello hadn't been there to welcome him with Raphael. Apparently he still wasn't very good at masking his feelings, because Leo noticed it in an instant.

"Donnie was going to come out to greet you with Raph, but I think he fell asleep," Leo apologized. "He hasn't been able to rest very well the past few days."

"Oh," Mikey replied, poking at his slice of pizza with a fork. "Because of me, or...?"

"I think so," Leo shrugged. A few seconds later Raphael came back into the kitchen with a still-waking-up Donatello in tow.