Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Quiet Morning

"Raph?"

The turtle in question remained seated on the edge of the rooftop as if he hadn't heard his youngest brother's voice calling to him. Unsurprised at being ignored, Mikey jogged the length of the roof, a cheerful grin on his face.

"Man, I've been looking all over for you! Lucky thing I spotted you sitting up here all by yourself. It's gotta be almost sunrise by now, huh?"

His babbling was cut short by a sharp glare from the corner of Raph's eye, however.

"Beat it, Mikey. Go bug someone else."

Ignoring his brother's less than polite request, the young turtle reached the edge of the rooftop and plopped himself down next to his older sibling. Mikey aimed a bright smile at him, but Raph was pointedly staring at the sidewalks far below, refusing to make further eye contact.

Michelangelo sat in silence for a moment, turning his gaze to the stunning view of the city. His smile never fading, he soon began kicking out his legs, swinging them forward and back; he never had been able to sit still for very long. At last he sighed.

"It sure is quiet, huh? No spaceships patrolling the skies, no Kraang walkers roaming the streets. I wonder how long it'll take the city to go back to normal after being an alien breeding ground for, like, half a year."

Stealing a glance at his stubborn older brother and seeing no indication that he was even listening let alone going to add in his own thoughts on the matter, he continued.

"We were so cool! The way Leo came up with that plan to break into Kraang headquarters? And then Donnie being able to actually pull it off by using all that Kraang tech against them - with the help of yours truly, obviously, as I am the resident Kraang genius. And I swear you took out, like, thirty robots in seconds at one point! Of course, we never could have done it without everyone's help."

Mikey saw his brother involuntarily flinch out of the corner of his eye. It was suddenly as if every muscle in Raph's body had tightened to the point where his hands gripping the edge of the roof were beginning to shake. The carefree swinging of Mikey's legs stilled, but his smile never wavered.

"I mean, who knew we had so many friends, right? Of course Master Splinter and April and Casey were there, but we were so lucky we found Karai in time. Her snake powers were so awesome! But I'm glad Donnie was finally able to finish that retromutagen for her. And, man, I just love watching Leatherhead trash the Kraang! Wish I'd recorded some of it so I could play it back whenever I want."

He paused momentarily to laugh at the thought.

"Good times, huh? Even Mondo Gecko and Sir Malachi or Martin or whatever his name is helped out. No one could catch Mondo on his skateboard, and Sir Malachi's weird mind illusion thingy? Who knew it'd work so well on aliens with psychic powers, am I right? Course, I guess they did catch on pretty quick..."

Shrugging to himself, he stole another quick glance at Raph before continuing.

"But if there's one guy we can't leave out it's Slash. It was almost as much fun watching him tear into those evil brains as it was watching Leatherhead. And when he took down that Kraang walker all by himself? Talk about awesome, dude! Slash really was -"

Mikey instantly clamped his mouth shut as his brother quickly turned and jumped back onto the roof, stomping away angrily. His breaths were harsh and heavy, and as he reached a nearby air conditioning unit, he suddenly sent it a swift kick. The young turtle flinched, his smile finally fading, but Raph was far from done.

With a loud cry, the volatile turtle began pummeling the air conditioning unit with fierce kicks and punches. Once it lay in a dented and battered heap, he turned sharply, his wild eyes falling on his next helpless target, some ductwork sticking out of the roof.

Watching silently as his brother made short work of the duct, practically ripping off a piece and sending it flying toward the far end of the roof, Mikey stood and waited patiently. His blue eyes followed Raph's movements as he went from one piece of rooftop equipment to another until at last the only thing left to take his emotions out on was the brick structure enclosing the stairway down into the building. He couldn't help but wince as Raph stormed over to it and started punching. It wasn't long before the skin on his knuckles began to tear, leaving blood stains on the wall.

"He just wanted to protect you."

The punches came to a halt as Mikey's voice rang clearly through the early morning air. Slowly lowering his fists to his sides, Raph's gaze never left the blood splattered on the brick.

"I didn't ask for his protection."

Mikey watched as his brother finally unclenched one of his fists, raising it up to touch the wall. He waited silently, knowing what was coming next. Sure enough, Raph spoke again, louder and angrier.

"I don't need a babysitter! I can look out for myself! I had the situation under control, and everything would have been fine if he would have just stayed out of it!"

As he whipped around to face the younger turtle, Mikey could see the pain behind his brother's rage filled eyes. Both of his hands were again balled into tight fists, and his entire body had begun to shake.

"But he just had to mess everything up! He thought that I couldn't handle it and just had to butt in! If he'd have just worried about himself then he - he wouldn't've -"

But Raph didn't have a chance to finish as he suddenly found two arms wrapped warmly around his neck. Pulling his brother close, Mikey could feel the older turtle's heart pounding, the heavy breaths on his neck. Raph was still trembling in his grasp.

"If Slash hadn't jumped in, you probably wouldn't be here right now," said Mikey quietly. "I know it hurts, and I know that you'd do anything to take his place, but he did it because he cared about you, Raph. I just wish I could thank him."

He hugged his brother tighter.

"He gave up his life to save yours, and I'll never forget him for that."

Mikey heard his older brother sniff loudly as muscular arms reached up and returned the hug, gripping him fiercely. For Raph's sake, he pretended to not notice the dampness on his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the early rays of dawn peeking out before the older turtle finally broke the silence, trying desperately to keep his voice from breaking.

"I miss him," he whispered hoarsely, his grip tightening.

Blinking back his own tears, Mikey rubbed his brother's shell gently.

"I know."

A/N: Got the first one of the week out of the way early as I have a feeling one of the next two will be longer than I'm anticipating. Miradole on tumblr suggested a scene with Mikey comforting Raph, and I was all too happy to oblige.

Still open to short prompt suggestions if there's anything you'd like to see me try in the next two weeks. And as always, critics and grammar police appreciated!