Hello all! So welcome to my newest story! I have decided to just take a break from Waiting Game for a while since my writers block is horrible on it and this has been written out for some time now! I shall get back to that story but for now I just need a lil break!

This story is just as hurt/comfort and Mikey centered as my other stories but their is going to be alot more sensitive sorts of topics in this story so that being said I will be sure to put trigger warnings before every chapter because I don't want to ever let any of this reach viewers that just plain don't want to read about it! I respect that! Um...Yea I'll explain more at the end of this chapter this is too big of an opener lol.

TRIGGER WARNING: **Slight Mentions Of Self Harm And Alcohol Usage**

Raph grumbled as he looked over at his unfortunate group partner, "Mikey, could you be ANY louder?"

Mikey shuffled his feet side to side in excitement as he looked through the cracks of the old water tower placed on top of an even older building, "dude! Quit worrying, Leo and Don aren't even close to us so I can be as loud as I want!"

Raph face palmed at this, "Mikey it's called ninja tag for a reason! For all we know they could be on top of the roof of this thing!"

"Psh I'll prove ya wrong Raphie!"

"Mikey n- shell..."

Mikey grunted as he crawled out of the tiny front exit of the water tower, "oohhh Donnie and Leo!" As he reached the top of the tower he grinned, "just as I thought!" As he reentered the worn tower proudly he looked up to see that his co partner was no where to be found.

Mikey huffed, "hm...well I hope he gets caught first, maybe then he will respect my awesome ninja stealth reasoning."

"Donnie! Have we looked in the old tower yet?"

"Oh! Good place to check!"

Mikey gulped and narrowed his eyes in determined focus, "good thing there are two exits in this thing heh..." Mikey quickly climbed out the back of the tower which lead him directly to the corner outer edge of the roof top. He gulped as he looked down then smiled a bit. 'I got this.'

He took a breath and took a giant leap knowing he wouldn't make it to the next rooftop, to reach that destination would be near impossible even with backing up then jumping.

No Mikey knew his limits and jumping that far was certainly one of them, that being said catching clothes lines and landing skillfully on the ground was right in his zone! He smiled to himself as he landed perfectly then cautiously entered down into the sewers below, as soon as he was there he took off towards the east wing of town.

He was well aware that this particular location was one in which none of his brothers would want to check, mostly because this part of town was a more rough slum kind of scene. It was sort of an unspoken rule not to go to this part of town at all when topside, only once had Mikey got to go to this part though and he was curious!

One of the perks of ninja stealth training was that he sort of had an excuse to go to places that were otherwise prohibited. He had done this before but on a much smaller scale, it was also an unspoken rule not to get in a two mile radius of Shredders lair alone. He had, without much regret, went into that radius and hid, when his brothers found him they were furious.

Raph always got more of a lecture then him since they were always paired together as a team, more then once had Raph decided to leave Mikey and hide on his own and every time he did so Mikey always got caught hiding somewhere dangerous leading him to get into trouble and Raph to receive yet another lecture.

Mikey grinned as he saw the worn down houses and torn billboards, he looked in awe as the buildings got even closer and graffiti seemed to be in great surplus.

He also noticed more fences and threatening signs that seemed to be on every corner. Rough was the perfect word for this part of town, Mikey understood that more then ever now. But being intrigued with the graffiti art he kept running, finally he reached a larger rooftop that had a small shack on top of it that no doubt contained a stair well leading down to the top floor of the complex.

He hid behind that knowing his brothers would have to come in the opposite direction, he sighed knowing it would be a while until they caught on to where he was. That's how they always found him in these situations, after they find Raph they would each search then after about twenty minutes Don would track him down with his shell cell. Mikey didn't mind that as long he out lasted Raph.

He grinned knowing Raph hated being out done on this game, Mikeys hands flinched down to his nunchucks as he heard a cough from nearby. He peaked over the side of the small shack like building to see a teenage boy.

The boy was dangling his feet dangerously over the very side of the building and was sitting as far on the edge of the rooftop as one could possibly get.

The teen looked around 16 or so, he sported a pair of worn high top black converse with dark jeans and a dark red jacket with a black undershirt to go with it. He was surrounded with all sorts of mysterious bottles and boxes that Mikey had only heard to stay away from.

As the boy started to drink more and more out of the oversized decorated bottles he also began to sway more as well, every so often he would lean so far forward that Mikey was sure he was going to fall. It wasn't until five minutes into this little routine when the boy finally stood unsteadily and looked out over the rubbish town.

Mikeys heart skipped a beat as the boy neared the edge of the roof even more, he knew the movements of an oncoming jump from all the battles he had endured so as quickly as he could muster Mikey lunged for the troubled teen just in time to pull him back.

"What were you thinking?!" Mikey couldn't help but shout angrily as he caught his shaky breath.

The boy looked at Mikey in a daze, his shaggy blonde hair hiding the pair of confused baby blue eyes that matched Mikeys. "Are...you a turtle?"

Mikeys stomach dropped at the question but he ignored it knowing he could probably get away with the boy given what kind of state alcohol put most people in.

"Don't worry about that, are...you ok? You just- well you almost-"

"No...I'm fine dude just don't call the cops m'k?"

Mikey rolled his eyes at the teen, "jeez, come on where do you live? I gatta get you home."

The kid, apparently not liking this, tried to turn and run only to collapse to his knees.

Mikey looked at the kid in awe, he had never witnessed anything like this, as he kneeled next to the teen he looked closely over him. His eyes widened at the sight of blood seeping through one of the kids sleeves, "h-hey! You're bleeding!" Mikey dropped the subject at the teen slurred something about it being a stain.

The teen jerked his arm away from Mikey as he began to shake and mumble even more, Mikey had never been so scared for a human stranger. He knew he had to gain a little trust from this drunken teen if he wanted to get anywhere, "my name's Mikey...would you please tell me yours?"

"It's...Ryan. Please don't call the cops...ran away, can't go back home. Got in a fight with parents...they...hate me...don't understand..."

Mikeys heart speed up a pace at that, he knew this kid needed immediate help for more then just physical injuries, but those physical injuries were of the essence right now. "Well Ryan you are in pretty bad shape right now, I'm sorry to hear that you ran away...that has to be hard...I want to help you though. Will you please let me?"

Even in the dim lighting of the rooftop and half moon Mikey could see the look of surprise from the boy. "As long as no cops are called...can't get caught."

Mikey shivered at how much the kid was slurring his words, it wasn't natural. But it looked as if he had downed more then half of the heavy alcoholic beverage he had with him. "Ok Ryan, I'm going to take you to the nearest hospital. Is that ok?"

Ryan seemed more spacey then he had been as he just sat and stared ahead, Mikey grew more and more worried as he saw the blood stain that he had first thought was just an old stain grow.

"Did...you hurt your arm?"

"...I hurt it myself, yea."

Mikeys eyes widened at this, 'self injury.' "Y-you hurt it on purpose? Um...is it..bad? The wound?"

The kid shrugged off the question, Mikey took off one of his wrist cuffs and tightened it around the bloodiest part of the sleeve.

As Mike helped Ryan up and let him lean heavily against him he couldn't help but let a few tears sting his eyes, he had a strong want to help this kid. He had a desire to figure out what lead him to this and why the kid had even turned to it.

Mikey had always secretly dabbled in psychology, he even had a few books of it hidden in his room. He had read each one from cover to cover, every disorder and treatment he learned about was written in different notebooks for different scenarios. Mikey loved the idea of it all, seeing one of these scenarios up close was a whole other story though.

Mikey had ended up having a pretty long chat with Ryan as he let him rest over his shell while Mikey hurried along to the nearest e.r.

"So do your parents know how bad you have been hurting?" Mikey didn't know if the kid was actually depressed but with what little he had seen so far he was fairly confident with at least asking.

Ryan seemed hesitant with the answer though, "they...don't know anything, but that's my fault."

Mikey was satisfied enough with the slurred answer, since the teen was drunk Mikey knew he could probably get away with asking some personal questions so he went for it, "so...obviously you have some pretty serious issues going on...what's been going on?"

Mikey was alarmed to find that the teen had started to shake violently a little while after the question was asked, "too much."

Mikey gulped at that, he needed to know more but there was no way in shell he was going to ask anymore questions if the boy was going to cry.

Soon though, the boy collected himself once more and spoke again, "my...parents are good people...had high standards for me. Not good enough, joined a gang...God only know why. Just thought it'd help take my mind off it all. Was beaten alot and used, can't go back now."

Mikey sighed mentally, this kid just needed guidance and some encouragement. He was confident he would get the help he needed. Still, he felt for the kid in a sense, not feeling good enough and all...it was sort of his thing too. Mikey shook these thoughts away as he kept lookout for any hospital signs, "well Ryan these doctors are going to get you fixed up and you are going to go on and do great things. Got that?"

A slight nod from what Mikey could tell, this kid was out of it.

He felt kind of bad knowing that turning this kid in to the hospital was just as bad as handing him over to the police. It wasn't like he had much of a choice though, heck that kid wasn't going to make it without care! It was for the best, the hopefully supportive parents would be called and the boy would end up ok. That what Mikey kept telling himself any ways.

He read about all the behaviors of the teenage years in the limited resources he had, the same reactions didn't really affect him or his brothers as much as human beings but he noticed some changes of mind at times. Teenagers were known to be risk takers and overall rebellious, it was the nature of the age. Never before had Mikey seen such a case though, this kid had ran away, injured himself, gotten himself well past drunk and worse of all...almost unconsciously took his own life. All in one night!

Mikey shook his head of these unsettling thoughts as he neared a hospital, he knew he would have to be swift with the drop off. It was nearing nine at night now so he definitely had the shadows on his side.

He carefully laid the boy down then threw a shuriken lightly at the glass doors leading to the front desk of the E.R. a nurse immediately rose and looked over and realized the situation. Her response was quick as Mikey heard desperate mumbles and shouts, soon enough a stretcher was brought out followed by three nurses, as quick as the crew appeared they disappeared even faster.

Mikey sat back on the small rooftop of the entrance and quickly got to more hidden ground, he then decided it was in his best interest to go back to the rooftop he had started all this at. As he landed on the grimy rooftop he heard familiar shouts, "shell..."

He quickly took refuge behind the same shack he hid behind before. He was quickly caught and lectured upon by all three of his brothers, he stared past them and to the bottle of liquor and box of cigarettes that Ryan had left.

His brothers took noticed and seemed to freeze at the sight behind them, they looked between the items and Mikey in unease. "Alright...let's just head home and forget all this even happened ok?"

Don and Raph nodded quickly, "right Mikey?"

Mikey looked up quickly, "hm? Yea...yea forget."

Leo grew a bit nauseated at the way Mikey was staring at the forgotten liquor and cigars, he carefully grabbed onto Mikeys shoulders and guided him away from the rooftop, Don and Raph unconsciously pushed Mikey along as well.

"Lets...just go home."

Mikey sat heavily on the lair couch as he thought back on his night, the other three took note of this quickly and wondered if something more could have happened, they each shook off the idea quickly though, well all except Don.

Don was about to turn to his lab when he noticed Raph and Leo had already gone to bed leaving Mikey on the couch alone and staring off. Don was known for worrying over nothing, he knew that! But he just couldn't help himself, "hey Mikey?"

No answer.

"Mike."

Nothing.

Don jumped down to Mikeys level and sat a hand on his shoulder instantly startling the turtle. "Yea?!"

"Mikey...are you ok? Did...anything happen on that rooftop? You didn't...drink from that bottle did yo-"

"Really dude?"

Don looked down in shame at making the assumption, "sorry I just...your a little off Mikey."

Mikey sighed and quickly realized how quiet he had been, "I'm sorry Don, I'm fine really, just thinking. It's rare but it happens! Haha."

Mikey hated making those stupid little side jokes but he was so used to putting himself down so his brothers didn't have a chance to say it themselves. He rather him say it instead of their words stinging him.

Don laughed thrown off by the self insult, "well get some sleep Mikey, you're bound to be wore out from all that 'intense' thinking!

Mikey laughed, his heart once again cracking at the unnecessary comments his brothers always seemed to have plenty of for him. He simply laughed it off though.

'Spare Don the concern Mikey...just go to bed and be the good little goofy mess everything up Mikey you are always going to be stuck being.'

Mikey stopped mid stride at that as he stared at his bedroom door, 'Am I going to end up like Ryan?'

As he sat on his bed the thought stuck with him, what if he couldn't take it anymore? It was bound to happen eventually, maybe he had more options then just writing about it.

He shook his head at this, 'I couldn't possibly even be considering doing any of that. Ryan was a troubled kid! I'm not like that!...But...maybe I could be for a while then just...switch back if it got too bad! Yea...'

Mikey slid under his covers and tucked his arms behind his head, 'after all...it's good to have options.'

TBC

So yes, this is going to be one of those stories, yes I realize there are already quite a few of these types of stories floating around but I am way into psychology to not give my own story about how Mikey would react to these types of scenarios and try them!

I've been a little afraid to post anything quite like this but let's be honest, it's an epidemic of sorts with these issues being brought up so it's not like I'm bringing up some unspeakable topic! If you have any comments, questions or concerns please review or private message me! I would love anyone's input! Love you guys! ~Pistachio Lover