A/N:This is my first Ninja Turtles fic so be kind.

Absence

The eldest turtle was exhausted far beyond the point of anything he had ever felt before, but as no one was bothering him now he took the opportunity to lay his aching head on one of his outstretched arms and rest, if even only for a little while.

"Um, Leo?" came the hesitant voice of Michelangelo somewhere a bit to his left. He cracked an eye and peered blearily at the orange clad turtle who squatted in front of him.

"Yeah, Mikey?" he managed tiredly.

"Leo, I'm scared," his youngest brother confessed hesitantly.

"Yeah, Mikey, I know" replied Leo with the caring, patience, and feeling of ritual that comes from long associations and oft repeated conversations.

"I mean, who's going to protect us if you leave, who's going to listen to my stories?" Michelangelo continued, sounding lost and perhaps not quite awake himself.

"Mikey, I'm not going anywhere," said Leonardo in a way that implied both a promise and encouragement for his younger sibling.

"You don't know that," insisted Michelangelo.

"I'll be fine, I'll get some rest- it's not really all that bad, besides, I have you guys."

"Yeah," whispered Mikey, "I just wish…" he trailed off uncomfortably. Leo shifted forward slightly.

"You wish what Mikey?"

"I just wish you could hold me," Michelangelo replied quietly staring at the floor.

"Yeah Mikey, I wish that too." Unconsciously, Leo's eyes drifted upward to the heavy chains that kept his arms suspended uncomfortably over his head. When he glanced back down Mikey was no longer there.

A/N: Okay, this fic is a oneshot right now, but (I'm kind of breaking my own rule here) it may exspand in the future. Anyway, leave a review and tell me what you think!