A/N: This is a gift fic for Taisi, and is connected to my fic "If you're ever in trouble (I'll be there on the double)." It technically takes place before that fic, but comes as a sequel? Yeah, let's go with that. As with the last one, there are lots of parallels from GotG, but none of the actual characters; spoilers for the film, though, since this pulls dialogue and plot directly from it, and probably most of it won't make sense if you don't at least know the plot of the movie. So I really own nothing of this. This also fills the "outside" prompt on my writing challenge on Tumblr.

Title comes from "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.

-o-

I told you you could always count on me

Maybe Leo's been spending too much time with Mikey these last six years – or maybe it's from being with the Ravagers; he likes to blame most of these kinds of things on the Ravagers – but there is something perversely satisfying about crashing a mining pod through a Necrocraft and emerging practically unscathed while the other ship is destroyed.

Leo is never going to tell this to Mikey, though; after all the years of constantly reprimanding Mikey for his sometimes less-than-stellar flying, he'd never hear the end of it.

"This is awesome!" Casey whoops with a laugh, sending another Necrocraft to the ground in a burning pile of rubble, and really, it's no wonder the kid clicked so well with Mikey – once they got past the whole "he arrested us and we got sent to the Kyln because of it" thing, anyway.

Was that really only three days ago? Leo wonders as he chases after another Necrocraft, using the mining pod's magnetic arms to rip its hull open. "Let me borrow your ride!" he shouts as its occupants get sucked out from the sudden decompression.

"Man, I thought it was Mikey who had all the corny one-liners!" Raph complains, the sound of blaster fire and Donnie's laughter echoing in the background.

Leo doesn't hold back the grin as he uses the pod's magnetic arms to turn the Necrocraft and use its blasters to take out a few more of the ships chasing after Mikey. It's hard to believe that after all this time – after he failed to keep his promise to Master Splinter all those years ago and let his family get separated – that Raph and Don are here, down trying to do what they can to keep the Purple Dragons from coming after them for inadvertently destroying Hun's headquarters.

Though, really, it's Hun's fault for opening the orb in the first place, so–

"Leo." Mikey's voice is grim over the comms, and Leo's heart rate picks up instinctively. Mikey is almost never serious, and so if he's sounding like that, Leo's not going to like what he's about to hear. "Leo, I can't shake them – I can't make it back to the Party Wagon. I have to head out."

It's like ice suddenly floods Leo's veins, and all traces of his grin drop from his face. "No, Mikey, you can't – these things aren't meant to be out in space!" he shouts, guiding his pod from the wreckage of the Necrocraft and chasing after the pod he sees disappearing out into the open space beyond Knowhere. Casey's pod is right beside him but the vigilante remains silent. "Just – Mikey, hang on, I'm coming, I'll be right there, please–"

"I'm disappointed in you, brother."

Leo's words dry up at the sound of Karai's voice. He can still remember her as a child, all those years ago – before the Foot raid, when they'd been friends first even before they'd found out she was a sister; before the Shredder got hold of her – and it burns to hear her sound so cold, so vengeful as she says, "Out of all our siblings, I hated you least."

"Karai, please," Mikey pleads, and Leo has to swallow back the lump in his throat because he recognizes the tears in Mikey's voice, "if the Shredder gets this stone – he'll kill us all."

Leo's close now – he can see them, he's getting close, and he ignores the warnings flashing at him as he leaves the controlled atmosphere of Knowhere because Mikey's in trouble and Leo has to get to him, he has to. He already failed his father when he let Shredder take his sister, when he let the Ravagers separate him from two of his brothers – he'll be damned if he fails Mikey now.

"Not all," Karai says. "You will already be dead."

And then the sky lights up as Mikey's pod disappears in a burst of fire. The silence through the comms is heavy, and Leo thinks maybe all the air has been sucked right out of his pod because he can't breathe as he waits for the fire to clear up, as he waits for a sign that Mikey survived, that he's okay, please, Mikey, be okay, please, please, you have to be okay, you HAVE to–

It takes hardly more than a second for the vacuum of space to extinguish the flames, but it's the longest moment in Leo's life. He sees the Karai pull the orb into her Necrocraft, but he barely registers it because he can't see Mikey, he can't see Mikey–

Then he spots the familiar Ravager red, the glow of Mikey's mask – but something's not right, because Mikey's just drifting, the eyes of his mask are dimmer than they should be, there's a sheen of ice forming on his skin–

"Leo," Casey says quietly, voice trembling, "Leo, we have to go, I can't – Raph and Don aren't responding, I think something's happened, and there's – there's nothing we can do. These pods aren't meant to be out here, you know that – in a moment, we'll – we'll be in the same boat. Just – Leo, please, we have to go."

Leo hears him, he does – he even thinks oh god, not Raph and Donnie, too – but he can't do this without Mikey, he can't. Mikey's the one person who's been there through everything, who's been with him from the very beginning, and Leo knows he's supposed to be the oldest, he knows he's supposed to be able to handle anything, but he cannot do this without his baby brother. He won't.

The pod stutters to a stop, and Leo bangs on the comm with a fist. "Slash!" he shouts, drowning out Casey's protests, "Slash! This is Leonardo! My coordinates are two-two-seven eight-three-two-four – just outside of Knowhere. If you're there, come get me. I'm all yours."

He can still hear Casey spluttering in the background, but he ignores it as he activates his own mask and opens the pod's door. He kicks off from the ship, using a short blast from his jet boots to cover the remaining distance to get to Mikey.

Tears burn his eyes as he gathers Mikey into his arms, because Mikey's still limp, still unconscious, but Leo can hear the faint wheeze of his breathing behind the mask.

Mikey is alive. For a few minutes more, at least, Mikey is alive.

"I'm here, otouto," he croaks, holding Mikey close, tucking his brother's head into the crook of his neck like he did when they were younger and Mikey would come to him looking for comfort after the nightmares – always the same one, over and over after the Ravagers took them, of dying alone, far from his family.

Leo closes his eyes as he thinks of those memories. Even before the Foot raid, Mikey had always hated being alone; Leo's never said it, but he's never been a fan of being alone, either. "I'm right here, I've got you, okay? I kept my promise, you don't need to worry – you're not alone, Mikey, I'm here."

There's no response; but then, Leo wasn't really expecting one. The mask will only provide enough air for three to four minutes of breathing at most. Leo knows that if his call to the Ravagers goes unheeded, that he's going to die out here.

And Leo doesn't really want to die, not yet – but he's been with Mikey in everything, and he's not about to change that now. "We do this together, or not at all," he murmurs, hugging Mikey tighter.

White light suddenly flares through his eyelids, and Leo opens his eyes to see the entire Ravager fleet, with the Shellraiser directly in front of him. Through the window, he sees Slash standing there, and Leatherhead, and then everything disappears from sight as they're pulled in toward the safety of the ship.

Fresh air floods the compartment the moment the airlock seals, and Leo takes off his mask, gasping reflexively at both the feel of fresh air flooding his lungs and at Mikey's weight landing on him from the sudden return of gravity. Above him, Mikey starts coughing, and Leo quickly deactivates his mask so that his brother can breathe in the fresh air unhindered.

After a long moment, Mikey draws in a normal breath and opens his eyes. He looks a little confused, but Leo is relieved to see that his gaze is clear and that he recognizes his older brother right away. Mikey's voice is croaky as he says, "Leo, what – are you crying?"

"Don't you dare do that to me again," Leo replies, hugging Mikey tightly, and yes, he can feel the burn of tears in his eyes, but he's not about to confirm nor deny. "Shell, you scared me to death, Mikey!"

Mikey hugs him back just as tightly. "I'm sorry, Leo."

"It's okay," Leo says, and really, it's not – he doesn't know what happened to Casey, or to Raph and Don, and Karai is well on her way back to the Shredder with that orb, so nothing is really okay – and yet it is, because Mikey's here. Mikey's safe. Mikey's alive, and that means Leo can keep going. "It's going to be okay."

End.