Just a tad late, but hey, I'm cool with it!

I very proudly present to you guys: Chapter 50!

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Closure

It was an unusual quiet morning as all of the brothers and Master Splinter were sitting at the breakfast table. A few conversations were started, but they were cut off rather quickly by the lack of real content. None of them were really in the mood to talk, since all of their thoughts were at the youngest of the family. It had been a few days after that horrible night Mikey had experienced, and ever since the always happy-go-lucky turtle was uncharacteristically withdrawn. This to great concern to the rest of the family. All of them had tried to pull him out of it, some tactics more drastically than others, but with no success. They did not give up though.

"... And thus I really need to get those supplies from somewhere," Don concluded his story. Leo, practically the only one listening, gave him a frown. "Somewhere? Care to be more specific?"

Don gave it a thought and then shrugged. "Somewhere around New York City?" he said slowly, as Leo rolled his eyes. Giving a grin, Don waved his gesture away. "Don't worry. I'll start at the junkyard and work my way over to... wherever. I'll let you know." Indifferently he leaned back in his chair and shifted his gaze to his younger brother. "Mikey, you want to come with? A little bit of air would do you good."

There came no response as Mikey blankly stared down, eating his sandwich without really tasting it. A nudge from Raph brought him back to the land of the living. A little surprised he looked up, seeing all of his family gazes at him. "What?" he asked quietly. After a pause, Don gave a sad sigh, but then recollected himself with a smile. "I'm going out later today. You want to come?"

"No, thanks," Mikey answered, lowering his eyes again. They rested on his sandwich and he wrinkled his face as he placed it back on his plate.

"Mikey, you should eat," Leo said, seeing his brother pushing his dish a bit away from him.

"I did."

Leo gave a huff. "I meant that you should eat some more."

"I'm not hungry."

"But you should -"

At that moment Mikey got up, sending his chair a few feet backwards. It almost seemed like he was going to burst out arguing, which would actually be an improvement, but he kept calm. With defeated sigh, he gave Splinter a quick look. "Sensei, can I go?"

Not really knowing what to do with his youngest son, Splinter decided to abide by his son's request. "Yes, you are excused." He saw Mikey nod and walk away silently. Right before he wanted to walk out of the kitchen, Splinter halted him. "Michelangelo, I wish to talk with you later this afternoon. Please, stop by whenever you like."

"Kay, sensei." With that, Mikey walked away, leaving the rest of the household in silence. Then Raph slammed his fist on the table, missing his knife by an inch. "I can't take this anymore!" he said angrily. "I really, really wanna punch some sense inta him, cuz this ain't tha Mike I know."

Leo placed his elbows on the table and rubbed his face with his hands tiredly. "Give him some time, Raph."

"I already gave him time!" Raph argued.

"You gave him four days," Leo responded as he looked up with a frown. With a huff Raph looked away. "Well, that still counts as time, right."

Don gave a soft snicker. "Basically that's correct. But I still think we should let him be for the rest of the week. He'll come to us when he needs us, right?"

Leo nodded to that statement and turned to Raph again. "You haven't seen him that night. He's really shaken up."

"Yeah, but yesterday he was feelin' way better. And now… He's a freakin' shadow of 'imself," Raph said heatedly.

"Raphael, language, please," Splinter commented. With a grunt, Raph crossed his arms. "S'rry, Masta," he mumbled. Satisfied, Splinter smiled and he gave all of his present sons a look. "Although I am just as worried as all of you, I agree with Donatello. When Michelangelo is still acting like this next week, we will see what we can do. For now, he needs his time to give this dreadful occurrence a place and I count on you three to help him with that."

In silence the boys nodded respectfully, determined to support his brother where they could.

"Very well," Splinter said, ending the topic. "Now if you are finished eating, please clean up after yourselves. I will be in my chamber. When needed, feel free to enter." He stood up. "And please, look after your brother a bit. Without suffocating him." He gave his sons a gentle, but firm look, since he knew his three older sons had the tendency to bury their youngest with attention when he was not feeling well. Mostly Michelangelo would not mind, but Splinter knew this time it wasn't what the youngest needed.

"Hai, sensei," Leo, Raph and Don said in unison. Smiling gently, the rat tapped his walking stick on the ground and left the kitchen, knowing he could trust his sons on this.

I

Securing his bag over his shoulder, Don stopped in front of Mikey's bedroom. He was determined to take his younger brother out of the lair for a while to set his mind off things. He already knew it was going to be a problem, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Trying to act casually, he knocked on the closed bedroom door. "Mikey? It's Don. I'm going to the junkyard to search for those things I was talking about at breakfast. I know you said no, but I'm gonna ask again: Do you want to come with?" He waited a few seconds and listened in. When there was no noise, he knocked again. "Mike? Can you open up? The door I mean. Not you.. Well, if you want to. Know I'm there for you." He rolled his eyes at himself. Way to go, Don. You already scared him off. A little surprised he noticed there came no sound from the other side of the door. "Mikey?" he asked again and silently he grabbed the door handle. "I'm coming in, bro." He expected a grumpy complaint, but when nothing came, Don pushed open the door. Startled he stepped in the room, which appeared to be completely empty. "Mikey?" Don asked again, hoping his brother would just be hiding to scare the crap out of him. But there came no response. "Mike!" Don called again, as he turned around, ready to search the lair. Almost instantly he bumped into Raph, who got curious by Don's screaming. "What's tha matter?" he asked as he pushed Don away from him. Don looked around and then settled his eyes on his older brother. "Mike's not here. You've seen him?"

Raph shook his head. "No, I thought he was in his room."

Don glanced back over his shoulder towards the empty bedroom and nodded. "So did I. I don't think I saw him leave or anyth-"

"Mikey!" Raph suddenly shouted throughout the lair. Instead of drawing out the youngest, Leo appeared in the hallway. "What's going on? Sensei said we should take care of him - not yell at him!" he said a little heatedly, putting his hands on his hips.

"Well, big whoopin' surprise, Fearless. Mike's not here," Raph countered as he marched past Leo. "Mikey! Where are ya?" he continued to yell, although it didn't have his usual curtness. Speechless, Leo saw Raph disappear out of sight before looking at Don with a demanding frown. Don shrugged. "I have no clue. I never saw him leave, but then again… I was in my lab."

Leo scratched the back of his head as he started to walk over. "I was in the dojo until two."

Don gave an exasperated sigh. "And Raph was half asleep, half watching tv. Shell, no one kept an eye on him?" He looked back towards the empty room and shook his head. "I hope he didn't went off to do something eh - stupid. Or drastic," he said, his voice trailing off. Leo stopped next to him. "I doubt it. I'm just wondering where he is."

"Well, he ain't here," Raph said at that moment, stomping into the already crowded hall. "He left. Tha freakin' idiot left without tellin'!"

"Calm down, Raph. I'm sure he has a very good reason," Leo told him, receiving a furious glare. "Calm, down? Calm, down?! How can I calm down when ma little brother is somewhere alone feelin' like he's feelin' at tha moment? He ain't himself and we have no clue what he's about ta do and where he is and - Argh! I can't stand this!"

Leo gave him a couple of seconds. "As I was just telling Don: I don't think he does something stupid. I bet he's somewhere in the sewers and he will be home soon."

"He's not in the sewers," Don's voice came from Mikey's room. Immediately Leo and Raph turned towards the sound, both completely missed the fact Don had moved away. Quickly they walked through the door. "You've tracked him?" Leo asked, seeing his genius brother sit on Mikey's desk, looking up something on the old laptop that was standing there.

"Didn't need to." He spun around with his chair. "This webpage was already open and I have a clue where he went." He rolled back so Leo and Raph could see it. On the screen was a news item about the accident that had happened four days ago. A small photo of the smoking car wreck adorned the plain text in which the accident was described in detail.
Leo read the headline and shook his head sadly. "He really can't let go," he said sorrowful.

Raph's eyes were fixed on the photograph. "He went to the scene? Why would he do that?"

Don shook his head. "No, I don't think so. At the end of the article, there's said that today is the funeral of the family. My guess is that he went over there."

Raph gave him a skeptical look. "Ya sure?"

"Not a hundred percent, but sure enough to check it out," Don commented as he saw the looks his brothers gave him. "Guys, you know him. This is totally something he would do."

It was quiet, until Leo scraped his throat. "Can you figure out where the service is being held?"

Don grabbed his phone and started to type something. For a minute it was silent. "At the Boston Memorial Church, starting at two-thirty."

Raph lifted his wristband. "It's three-forty," he said without really a purpose. Then he looked at his brothers, his face practically doing the talking for him. After a short moment of hesitation, Leo nodded. "He's not gonna do this alone. Let's go."

Don stood up and walked after his brothers out of the room. "You think sensei is okay with the fact we're going out in broad daylight?" he asked without sounding doubtful.

"Yes, he is okay with it, as long as you are careful," the gentle voice of their master sounded from the living room they just entered. A sad look was written on his face. "Go support your brother. He needs you."

All three of his sons bowed respectfully.

"Thank you, sensei," Leo said, rising up again. "We'll be home soon - With Mikey."

Splinter gave a compassionate nod. "Take all the time you need. But keep your eyes open for any problems."

"Don't worry, Master. We'll just be looking for Mikey," Don said with a reassuring smile. Raph gave a snort. "Basically tha same thing."

Splinter allowed himself to chuckle softly. "Be careful, my sons."

"We will, Master Splinter," Leo answered and then turned to his brothers. "Let's go, guys. If we hurry we could be there in fifteen minutes." With that he sprinted off, sensing his brothers right behind him.

I

Fourteen minutes later they arrived at the graveyard behind the big church. Quickly they hid into the shadows. Looking over the yard they saw a few sad people dressed in black, standing respectfully bowed next to four open graves. It seemed like the service had already ended.

"There!" Raph suddenly hissed as he pointed to somewhere above. Immediately both Leo and Don followed Raph's finger. There, high up in an overgrown tree which gave a perfect overview of the cemetery, sat Mikey, perfectly hidden in the green and brown leaves. If his brothers weren't looking for him, they would never had found him.

"Come on," Leo whispered and he took off towards the tree. As silently as they could, using the shadows in their advantage, Raph and Don followed. Unseen they climbed up and carefully they approached their brother, since they didn't want to startle him or make him think they were angry with him. Once they were almost there, Mikey turned his head around and greeted them with a smile. "Hey, guys."

Dropping the stealthy ninja act, all brothers smiled back after a moment of surprise. Albeit it wasn't Mikey's regular smile, this was much better than they had seen in days. As they sat down next to him on one of the branches of the sturdy tree, they gave the wide open view of the graveyard a look. Although it was the heart of November, it was still beautiful - almost serene, and for some reason it calmed them all down. At that moment all of them realised that this is what Mikey needed. The rest and peace to give his horrible memories a place. Mikey needed closure - he needed to attend the funeral of the family whose lives tragically had ended. He needed to pay his last respects to the boy that had died in his arms four days ago. Just to leave it all behind him.

"His name was Carlos," Mikey broke the silence. It was the first time in four days Mikey had actually started a conversation and it sounded like music in his brother's ears. They kept quiet, hoping he would continue. And he did after a steady inhalation. "He was eight years old and liked to play soccer."

More silence followed, although this wasn't as tight as in the past days. Actually, it was quite nice as all the boys enjoyed the view while thinking about past events.

"How - eh," Don started a little unsure, giving Leo and Raph a glance, before settling his eyes on Mikey. "How was the funeral?"

It took a few seconds for Mikey to rip his gaze off the distance, but then he nodded. "Sad. And actually kinda weird because I didn't knew them." He smiled. "But it was… Nice. Yeah, sad and nice." He looked at his hands, where his fingers were fiddling with each other. A little hesitant he swallowed a small lump. "I'm sorry," he started after a few minutes. Immediately Leo's shoulders tensed, because four days Mikey broke down by using the exact same words. This was not what any of them needed. He looked at his brothers, noticing the same tension.

"For not telling you guys." Mikey glanced up again, seeing Don's gentle and relieved eyes as he was sitting next to him. "I just needed to see this and - Well, if I told you, you would have stopped me from going. So that's… That's why I didn't tell."

Don gave a smile and put his arm around Mikey's shoulder. "Mikey, when you need something, we really don't stop you. We know you well enough to understand what you need," he said in a reassuring way. "And help you to fulfill that."

"Yeah, bro. Ya don't hafta keep secrets from us," Raph pitched in with a rare gentle smile. "It doesn't suit ya." He gave Mikey's shoulder a soft punch. "Knucklehead."

"Just know we're there for you, Mike. Alone is difficult, but together we'll get through this. You just have to let us in," Leo added, squinting his eyes to protect them from the sun that was falling through the leaves. He gave a compassionate smile though, glad that his previous thoughts didn't came true.

"I know… I just -," Mikey searched for words. "I-I thought I could deal with it alone. It was my burden to carry and I -"

"First rule of brotherhood, Mike… Learn to share," Leo interrupted with a knowing smile. He knew how hard it was to bother his brothers with his trouble, but at least he had learned from his past mistakes. "Even the bad things."

Don nodded. "Especially the bad things," he added, tightening his hug for a second, giving his words a little more force.

Mikey gave a small smile. "I'm just -"

"One warnin', Mikey," Raph cut in. "If yer next words contain anything negative 'bout yerself, I'm gonna push ya outa this tree. And I don't care if I take Donnie with it in tha process. Seriously."

A little startled Mikey looked up and turned his head to see if his big brother was telling the truth. Luckily Raph had a smirk on his face and his eyes rested gently in Mikey's blue ones. "So finish yer sentence."

For the first time in days Mikey got a real smile on his face. A little embarrassed he cast his eyes down. "You guys have no idea how much you mean to me."

"If it's just a fraction of how much you mean to us, we've got an idea," Don said as Raph lashed out to give the youngest a soft affectionate smack on the back of his head. With the same expression Mikey's gaze went over all of his brothers; Don next to him, Raph on the other side, Leo nearly in front. Suddenly his smile dropped and he breathed in deeply. "Promise me never to quit on me, alright? I can't lose you," he said softly. He felt his brothers were confusingly thinking about what they were going to answer. Before that he continued. "Every night I see the dead boy in my arms and every time it morphs into you guys. One by one. More gruesome by the minute. And it hurts me so much. I know you can't really promise, since - well, we are we and we do what we do. But…" His voice trailed off, giving the silence another chance. The only sound that was heard was the cold November wind rustling through the leaves.

"But we sure as hell try," Raph finished the sentence, his voice lacking his usual gruffness. Thankful Leo shot him a look. "No doubt about that," he added, shifting his gaze to the youngest with a knowing smile. "And you know that too, bro. There's no way we go down that easily. I guess we've proven that quite often. All of us."

"Exactly," Don carried on, as he moved his hand that was around Mikey's shoulder up to rub the youngest's head. "We know you won't quit on us, so give us a little credit here and think of us the same way." He gave a grin before continuing. "You're stuck with us, buddy."

"Whether ya like it or not."

"In good times and bad."

Smiling over his brother's words, Mikey looked up again and this time it were Leo's eyes his gaze kept hanging. "Wow, cliché much," he joked, trying to lighten the slightly embarrassing tension that surrounded himself a little bit. Leo chuckled. "Cliché, but true."

In turn, Raph rolled his eyes. "Before we're spontaneously grow lady-parts or somethin'… Yer alright, bud?"

Immediately Leo and Don gave him an exasperated look, but Mikey snickered, beaming up to his big brother. "Yeah, I'm cool," he stated and then took a big breath. He gave all of his brothers a look. "Thanks, guys. For... Well, not just this, but... You know - For everything."

"Any time, bro," Don said, nudging the youngest' shoulder a bit. Both Leo and Raph gave an agreeing nod, as Mikey's usual smile lit up his face.

"So, numbskull. Wanna go home?" Raph asked, shifting a little on his branch. Mikey thought for a second and then shook his head. "If you don't mind, I wanna stay a little longer," he said, looking over the cemetery towards the four now abandoned graves. Don followed his gaze and although it was a sad scene, he couldn't help but smile a little. "Can we stay?"

This time Mikey nodded and gave an innocent grin. "Yes, please."

Contently the brothers huddled together high up in their tree to protect themselves from the cold, enjoying each other's company. Just as silent as the ghosts on the graveyard they watched the sun slowly fall under the horizon as one thought consumed everyone's mind - Whatever happens, we'll get through it. Together. Forever.

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Okay, I'm sad. This was officially the 50th chapter of The Things I Do and as I've said before, I'm moving on to other stories. I had an awesome ride with this and I'm really glad you all liked it. Thank you all so much for reading! Without you guys I could never had pulled it off. So again... Thank you!

This doesn't mean it's the end for this story. I will still update a chapter every once in a while, but not as frequently as now (ah well, the last two months weren't the greatest. Oops.). So keep your eyes open for an update!

As for the near future... As promised I'm going to rewrite the Leo-chapters into a multi-chapter story, called Keeping You Safe. That's going to be my first priority. After that I'm planning a story called The Pain Of Loss, which is SAINW-based. So if you liked my one shots, I guess you'll like the full stories! :D

Please take care of yourselves and I hope to see you soon!