A/N: Tag to the 2k12 episode "The Cosmic Ocean." I'm always a sucker for the Leo/Mike duo.

Leo doesn't even notice the new grooves in Mikey's plastron until he's shoving a plate into Leo's hands, whole hours later.

"Holy shell, Mikey, does that hurt?"

"Don't even feel it, dude. And it looks cool, right?" He's smiling as he adds, "So wipe that look off your face, bro. This is party time. You were so cool today- you got us the second piece of the black hole thing! Suck it up and celebrate."

Leo doesn't have time to come up with a retort before Mikey's gone a moment later, so he settles for glancing down at his plate. For all that his brother just imagined it into existence from their current point deep in the cold vacuum of space, the pizza Leo's holding could have come straight from his favorite joint in West Village if he didn't know any better- right down to the familiar smell and the oozing mozzarella.

It's a small taste of home, and more thoughtful than he'd seen coming. Which usually meant that Mikey was trying to tell him something. Leo is still studying the pizza and wracking his brain when April takes Mikey's place beside him, leaning against the glass window and smiling ruefully.

"You haven't eaten today," she says simply, by way of explanation. "He noticed."

"Oh." Leo looks up from his plate to meet her eyes after a long moment, and mirrors her small smile. "That sounds like him."

She nods, glancing away, probably to follow Mikey with her eyes. "He really looks after you, you know that?"

And Casey overhears, and scoffs, an incredulous, "Who, Mikey?" but Raphael, next to him, is quiet. His arms are folded and his expression doesn't change, but his green eyes are full of knowing, and Leo nods, more to the pizza in his hands than anyone in particular.

"Yeah. Yeah, he does."

So Leo eats his pizza in peace, and can't help but notice the happy gleam to Mikey's eyes when he hands over a clean plate, and he'll even consent to one more checkup from a fussy Donatello, because "you took a hard hit, Leo. Just humor me, okay?"

And when Donnie is gone, Mikey bumps Leo with his shoulder and says, "You should see the look on your face. He just worries about you, dude. Everyone worries about you."

Which is the closest any of them have come to mentioning the conversation Leo overheard earlier that morning on the bridge. He studies Mikey sharply for a moment, and Mikey doesn't so much as blink under the scrutiny; he's growing into someone capable of a calm and level stare that rivals Splinter's, and Leo isn't sure how he feels about that.

So he says, "Do you worry about me, too?"

"Sure I do," Mikey answers immediately, quickly and easily enough that Leo knows the answer is an honest one. "But not 'cause of stuff like today." He smiles, crooked, and adds, "I know you'll be okay. Maybe not like, tomorrow, but that's cool. I might not be okay tomorrow either, who knows."

It's faith in the future more than it's faith in Leo now, and maybe Mikey knows that's what he needs - already some of that weight on Leo's shoulders has lifted, because his baby brother is looking at him and seeing him, and not the hero he's convinced himself he needs to be. It's a small kindness he didn't expect, but that seems to be Mikey's way these days, and Leo can't answer until he drags Mikey closer by an arm around his neck and bumps their heads together.

"Yeah, you will," he says hoarsely, "'course you will. You've always got us here for you, you'll be just fine."

Mikey grins at him, and it's like the summer skies back on Earth, the way his blue eyes light up. "You too, right? 'Cause you've always got us, too."

Leo nods, swallowing a lump in his throat, and says, "That's right, Mikey. Me, too."