They were so tiny. Mikey had rolled them out on their stomachs, worried that them lying on their backs wasn't good for their shells. He should have been relaxed at how peaceful they were, but the only thing soothing him was the roaring from outside their little cell.

Rather than kill them, they had turned his brothers into babies. It was sick, a cruel twisted joke. When he thought about it, it was likely that Shredder had plotted it to use them against Splinter. To raise them and have them fight him, like he did Karai.

But Splinter was gone too.

"Michelangelo! Move away from the door!"

He picked the boys up and pressed himself to the side of the cell, "We're clear! Go for it, Leatherhead!"

The door dented and went flying into the opposite wall. It was true, Leatherhead was back! So many things welled in Mikey's chest; relief that his friend was alive; hope that they might escape; concern as Donnie opened his eyes and started wailing. Leatherhead recoiled at the sound, which was fair Mikey thought. He had probably never seen a baby before.

"Your friends are coming," he said quietly.

Mikey knew April would already have a sense of the situation; she was getting better with her powers. But it was Casey to take control.

"I'll take Raph, April can take Don, and Mike you take Leo. Leatherhead will lead. We know where Splinter's body is. LH will grab it and then we go."

The plan was simple and not well thought out. But it went without a hitch, save for a bit of baby puke.

-:-

"We'll need formula, diapers, oh! And we should pick up some binkies too."

Donnie had rebuilt Metalhead, thank God. Mikey had renamed him Rivet though, telling Donnie, "He's a different robot. Don't let Metalhead's shadow hang over him. That'd be like if I got another cat and named it Klunk 2."

Rivet had already established his place as a baby sitter. Mikey had no trust in him initially, not after the Metalhead 'flying face' fiasco. Not to cradle the babies at least. But he was quick to scan the internet and find DIY instructions on cots and printing off '101 Nutrition for Your Baby'.

April had also learnt he was very good at printing off lists so she didn't have to write it herself.

"And blankets and rags," Casey chimed. "Babies puke."

"Oh! And baby wipes!"

April had immersed herself in providing things for the babies to avoid the elephant in the dojo. Leatherhead had placed Splinter in there for the time being and Casey had laid the cleanest sheet he could find over the body. Mikey himself was too busy trying to lull Leo to sleep. Of course Leo, the world's easiest teenager was the world's most difficult baby.

"And mattresses for their beds!"

"Bed, April. For now they can share a bed." Mikey was tired and April understood. She dragged Leatherhead, a notoriously unpredictable mutant she just met, by the finger to the dump with her freshly printed list in hand.

"Mikey," Casey sighed as the pair left. "I know you don't want to talk about this, but Splinter-"

"There's a place in the sewers, it's big like this. We decided we can burn bodies…" He choked.

"Actually, I was thinking… We have this farmhouse in Northampton. It's big, and has lots of trees and plenty of fresh air. I can take my dad's van and we can go for the week."

There were only a few things murky about the plan. Leatherhead couldn't come due to the lack of room. But he maintained Mikey didn't need to worry about him. Also, for his father to ok him going away for a week with 'just April' to the middle of nowhere, Casey had to bring his little sister, Shadow.

"That's alright," Mikey mumbled. "She should get to say goodbye as well. Rivet can build a box for Splinter's body. Rivet?"

The robot clambered up to his side, printing a diagram of a long box out of his chest. It had lots of numbers and lines and blah, blah, blah.

"That's fine," Mikey said.

"I'll handle it," Casey says abruptly. "I'll plan Splinter's funeral. You look after your bros."

They both looked down at Raph and Don, curled up together on a bed of cushions and blankets. Casey was surprised of how accepting Mikey was. He hadn't freaked out, though he knew it was well over due.

"Why don't you go see Splinter?" Casey held out his hands for Leo and Mikey handed him over. Casey could remember how protective Raph was of Mikey, that Mikey was arguably the most important person in Raph's world.

But that Raph was gone. The Raph that used to stand over Mikey and pet his head with affection, sit for hours on end listening to Mikey's wild ideas and stories was gone and would take sixteen years to come back.

But by then the Mikey he had cherished would be gone.

-:-

Mikey could only stare at Splinter's cloth covered body before Leatherhead and April returned. Leatherhead had suggested, with a gentle hand against Mikey's back, that they wrap the open wounds of the body. Maybe even clean him up.

"For what little I knew of the man, he deserved at least that little bit of dignity."

Mikey agreed, glad he could face this with Leatherhead. They had pulled bandages from the stash kept in the dojo. The wound in Splinter's gut had long since stopped bleeding and they decided just to cover it completely with bandages rather than clean it.

"I'll put him in his robe anyway, it won't be seen" Mikey mumbled, reaching under Splinter to grab the bandage as Leatherhead held his body up. "But I want to brush his fur around his hands and face."

Splinter looked so peaceful, even with his head lolling around because Leatherhead wasn't supporting his neck properly. And by stark contrast, Leatherhead thought, Michelangelo looked so ragged, faded but dry eyed.

"How do you think they turned my brothers into babies?" Mikey whispered. And it shocked Leatherhead to realise that Donatello's intelligence was gone and the only one he could turn to for such answers was Leatherhead. He became acutely aware of how small Michelangelo was making himself, of just how much his voice lacked its usual lustre. He became aware of how crumbled Michelangelo's pillars were and how he didn't know how to process what he was feeling without the people he usually turned to.

"It is a procedure used commonly by the Kr- … them", Leatherhead drawled. "It explains their longevity. They use it so they don't have to waste so many years breeding and training, when they can just store their information and age back to the point of useable youth but still be properly trained."

"So, my brother's memories are gone?"

"An infant's mind could not hold so much information."

Michelangelo tied off the bandage and Leatherhead lowered the body. He stood up and moved to kneel next to Michelangelo. He laid his hand against the boy's back again and let it sink in.

"I'm here for you. We all are." Slowly, Michelangelo leaned forward and rested his hands against his father's wrapped stomach. He wailed into the back of his hands, his body jolted with hiccups and gasps for breath. Leatherhead just made the effort to keep his own breathing even, and to keep his hand resting on Michelangelo's back to ground him.

He'd stop wailing every now and then, but Leatherhead could only guess that maybe a memory would surface and trigger the next bout of tears.

But suddenly Michelangelo stilled. Leatherhead recalled a moment when Donatello had said him and Michelangelo fit well together because they were equally as unpredictable. Michelangelo had long since lost his mask in their escape and his eyes were puffy and his skin blotchy. He shifted slightly and leaned closer to his father's face. His hand hovered over it, shaking.

"Daddy!" It was a long shriek, unlike anything Leatherhead had heard before. But there was nothing after it. No noise left Michelangelo the rest of the night. And it haunted Leatherhead till the day he himself died.

-:-

Rivet had built the box with no help. Mikey had forgotten all about it and it was Casey again to take the lead and give Rivet his list of things to do.

"Are you sure you don't want to come, Leatherhead?"

"No, Casey. I will be fine here. It is better that this place is not left unmanned. I have said my few goodbyes."

"Ok. Can you help us carry the… coffin topside?"

"Of course."

Casey and Leatherhead had struck an odd friendship. In the midst of April's absolute denial of the situation and Mikey's forced removal from it, the two had found solace in each other. Neither was close enough to Splinter to mourn him deeply and the regression of the boys struck multiple cords for a variety of different reasons. They shared the feeling of being a bystander.

"Has it been nailed shut?"

"No, the robot has not done it yet. Michelangelo wanted to put some things in there."

When they walked into the dojo they were greeted with the sight of Mikey adjusting Splinter's kimono and the little trinkets and pictures Mikey had left him with. He turned around to face the two.

"Is it time to go?"

"Yes, Michelangelo."

He nodded. Before leaning forward to press a kiss to Splinter's head and mumble something in Japanese. He pulled the lid over the box and called Rivet to come and nail it.

"I'll go help April with the boys." His voice shook and he couldn't look them in the eye.

-:-

The van ride was beyond awkward. They brought Rivet with them because he put Leatherhead on edge, and he had powered down for the ride, so he was a good as dead. Splinter's coffin was strapped to the side of the van with Mikey sitting opposite holding the babies in a basket April had picked up. April and Shadow sat in the front with Casey at the wheel.

Yeah, this was the perfect time to explain to Shadow that Splinter was dead.

"What!? How? Why? WHO!?"

Mikey couldn't help but give a little smile. The young girl twisted in her seat to look at him, distress written all over her face. "Shadow, sit down."

"I'm going to find who did this!" she roared. "You watch me!"

"I'm glad you're taking this well, Shadow." Of course her reaction was to be angry; she was a lot like her brother in that sense. Mikey knew she was fiercely protective of him, which he was thankful for in this moment. It was good to smile, not matter how feeble.

-:-

They left the box on the porch. Casey and Rivet went off to dig the hole, while April, Mikey and Shadow stayed in the house with the babies.

"This is really happening, isn't?" Mikey couldn't help the flare of anger in his chest. "Mikey, he's dead!"

Mikey tried to put himself in her place, but he just couldn't. He was too weighed down by the burden of being the new head of his family, the burden of adulthood and feeling of being perpetually on the edge of something.

Shadow nudged his hand, "Who's going to fix the mutants now the Donnie's a baby?"

Oh.

"Oh my god!" April all but shrieked, standing up and backing herself into a wall. "What's going to happen to my dad!? We need a retro mutagen! Leatherhead! Leatherhead knows about Kra-"

"April!" Mikey cut her off. "We can't ask him to do that! You know that. We just have to wait."

"I've done my waiting!" she roared. "I'm done waiting and I'm done losing people!"

"Don't talk about my brothers like they're dead!"

The basket was too heavy for Shadow to carry, so she dragged it into the other room.

"They're babies, Michelangelo! How is that going to help us? We have the Foot and the Kraang to deal with. We can't exactly go to with an application to pause our war with them for sixteen years so we can play house!"

"And what exactly do you want us to do then?" April recoiled at the harshness of his tone but he didn't care. She was going to hear this. "This isn't about you, April. This isn't about the Foot, or the Kraang or Shedder or whoever! This is about my dad and my brothers! This is about me! Everything I have ever known has been pulled out from under me; I am the last person to do this!"

"You still have us!" April whispered, her voice getting gradually louder. "You still have Casey, Leatherhead, even Rivet! We're here, and your brothers will be back."

"No they won't! They'll grow up, but there's every chance they'll be completely different people, April!"

"I won't let that happen!" she sputtered.

"You can't do that to them!"

"Stop it!" Shadow stormed into the room. "The babies are trying to sleep. We can yell about this back home, right now we need to focus on what's important! And that's Splinter's funeral and changing turtle diapers!"

She stood there between the two, her hands on her hips, eyes shifting between them. April stormed out, muttering things to herself. Mikey stared after her, grateful she didn't slam the door. He turned to look at Shadow, who was watching him with careful eyes.

"Why did you do that?" he asked. The girl sighed, and took on a look far too old for her.

"I'm sad Splinter's gone, like everyone. But fighting isn't what we should be doing. Everyone's scared," she curled her hands to fists, placed them on her hips and puffed out her chest. "Someone has to be brave and take care of all of you!"

Mikey sighed, a smile playing on his lips. "Shadow, you're six. We're supposed to be taking care of you."

"It's not forever! Just for now. Right now, I'm the least mad and the least sad." He stuck her hand out to Mikey, pointing her pinkie finger at him. "And I promise to do my job right!"

Mikey wasn't sure what her job was, but he reached out and looped fingers with her anyway, "I'll hold you to that."

"You had better, Rooish." She grinned. "I was serious about that diaper, you know?"

-:-

Very little was said at the burial. Shadow had stayed back with the babies. It was just Mikey, April, Casey and Rivet. April said a few things. She had collected some flowers when she left after the argument. She kneelt down and gently dropped them down onto the box. She didn't have any string to tie them with, so when they landed they spread apart, some rolling down the side of the box.

Mikey lead them in prayers, one in English and another in Japanese. April and Casey bowed their heads, holding hands and trying to maintain their composure. Eventually they left, leaving Mikey and Rivet alone.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" he asked, staring at the flowers. "How could you leave me like this?"

Years later he would come to regret those words. Not because he learned why his father died, that always remained a mystery. But he knew, as he matured, that he father would never have left them. He was simply taken in an act of violence which haunted Michelangelo to his grave even without knowing what had happened.

That being said, Michelangelo was not a vengeful person. He didn't care who had killed his father, it didn't matter. What did matter was there was three baby boys, a lost girl and a son left behind in the wake of someone's own vengeful frenzy and this boy, this orphan, had nothing left of what he knew.

"I'm dropping this Miwa thing," he informed the box. "I don't have the energy for it and it doesn't matter anymore. The best I can do for your daughter is let her have the peace of knowing that the man who killed her mother is dead." He didn't mean to sound so callous, so unlike himself. Shedder had gotten back into the girl's head after they had tried to tell her the truth, and twisted it further. And in a way, Shedder had gotten into his head and twisted it too.

"I can't pull everything she's ever known out from under her, Otōsan. That's not fair." He waited for a while, as if for some kind of response. "But I'll bring Shredder down, one day. She'll just have to go with him."

And then the wind blew, and a chill ran down Michelangelo's spine that made him madder than he had ever been.

"But right now, they aren't important to me. What's important this new family I have. My brothers, April, Casey, Leatherhead, everyone that's left."

He'd run out of things to say. He fell to his knees and looked down at his hands. He had nothing to say, but so much was left unsaid. Terror welled up in his throat and tears slipped down his cheeks.

"Mori mo iyagaru, Bon kara saki-nya
Yuki mo chiratsuku-shi, Ko mo naku-shiBon ga kita-tote, Nani ureshi-karo
Katabira wa nashi, Obi wa nashiKono ko you naku, Mori wo ba ijiru
Mori mo ichi-nichi, Yaseru-yaraHayo-mo yuki-taya, Kono zaisho koete
Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi
Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi"

He sung the lullaby, staring down at the flowers waiting again for another response. But all he got was a hand on his back. Rivet had listened and come.

They filled the hole together.

-:-

"Mikey, we need to talk."

"I know."

To her credit, April had waited a day before coming to Mikey. She asked if they could do it on the roof, because she wanted to see the stars.

"That's where I think they go," she said once they were on the roof. Her neck was arched back, staring into the dotted abyss.

"It's a nice thought," Mikey admitted. She knew Mikey wouldn't believe in it with her, because Donnie had told him otherwise. He knew that a star was a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by its own gravity and not the spirit of someone passed, because Donnie had told him so. Michelangelo didn't believe in a lot of spiritual things like astrology or religion because Donnie would feed him a constant stream of knowledge and tell him how the world worked. And even though Michelangelo was never one to necessarily apply that knowledge, he knew it and he cherished it because his brother taught him it and he believed in it with fibre of his being.

April felt sorry for him. Donatello was gone. Mikey had no one to tell him how the world worked. His world would stop being so amazing, confined to the sewers without Donnie to tell him about space and time.

It all seemed so pointless without him.

"I know what you meant," April breathed. "When you said everything was pulled out from under you. I've been thinking about it and I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"I shouldn't have yelled at you either."

"No! You should have, you have every right!" She grabbed his hand. "I've been thinking about it and… I'm sorry but, I still have my aunt and other family topside. And yeah, Casey, Shadow and I will visit you every day, but we'll go home and we'll leave you there. Alone."

She sounded choked and terrible and she hated herself for what she was saying.

"No, I'll have-"

"You'll have a robot, three babies and a mentally unstable alligator. How is that fair?" Now she was mad, authority dripped from her voice. "I'll miss Splinter, and I know that there's a chance I'll never get my dad back. But that's just a chance. You'll never get your dad back. This is about you, and I'm sorry I thought I could take that away from you."

He had cleaned the body, wrapped it, dressed it, arranged it in the coffin, put the coffin in the ground and buried it, but April could see the dawning realisation on Mikey's face. Splinter was never coming back. Ever.

"Thank you," he said weakly, leaning into her as she embraced him.

"We're going to be ok," April said after a few moments. "We'll figure this out. You'll be ok."

April repeated this maybe ten times before she convinced herself she was telling the truth. Mikey had fallen asleep about the fifth time, emotionally and physically exhausted.

"It's ok, little brother," April said quietly for the final time, before looking up to the sky. "We'll be ok."

I really hope that when they bring Shadow into the show that she'll be a little shit but think rainbows come out of Mikey's arse.

Takeda Lullaby is what Mikey sings.

This story will have no plot, I promise. I'm working on The Battle Nexus as you read, I'm just typing it up.

Review?