They say that time heals all wounds...but I can tell you right now: that's a fucking lie.

It's been three and a half weeks. Three and a half goddamn weeks! Almost a whole fuckin' month has passed and the horrible gaping hole in my chest has only been growing deeper.

It's all Fearless' fault! The goddamn stuck-up prick! Somehow it's always his fault and I'm the one getting blamed for it.

I'm staying with Casey. I couldn't go to April's because I knew my brothers would find me there. I can't help but wonder how long the hockey player's charity is gonna hold out. But Casey's my friend. He's got my back. For now anyway.

The night I showed up outside his window, I was in the midst of a complete emotional breakdown. It took him three hours before he actually got me to start making sense.

The next thing I knew, I was telling Casey Jones everything. I told him about the lab and the mutagen, I told him about my brothers and my Sensei, I told him about April and about Sacks' crazy plan to drain all of our blood to extract the mutagen. I told him about my childhood in the sewers. I told him about my constant fights with my older brother Leo. And finally, I told him about our most recent one.

When I finished blubbering, Casey patted my shoulder and we fell into silence. At least, until he murmured, "I got somethin' for ya." He threw me a baseball and I caught it in one hand.

I glanced down at it slowly. Holy Shell!

"It's autographed." I stated, my eyes wide with surprise. I stared at Casey disbelievingly. The human smiled. "I know a guy on the team. Told him I owed someone a favor and asked him to do me one."

My lips curved upward into a subtle smirk and I raised an eye-ridge. "This wouldn't happen to be because of that offer you made me when I was injured, would it?" I asked slowly.

Casey's face was grave. "You saved my life, Raph."

I grinned widely. Sure I had just had an epic fight with Leo, but I pushed that aside for a moment and stared down at the ball in my hands. "Case I..." My voice broke. Thanks. That was all I wanted to say. But I was so choked up that I couldn't do anything of the sort. Instead, my emotional side got the better of me. I hated how incredibly small I sounded as I confessed, "I've never had anything like this before." I admitted softly.

Jones just grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. "Don't mention it, Raph. Consider this the start of a collection."

A brief smile danced across my lips, but then my thoughts returned to my family and I shot to my feet. "I gotta find somewhere to crash for a little while. Especially since I won't be going back home any time soon." I was about to head back out the window when Casey caught my arm.

"The hell are you talking 'bout? Yer stayin' here." He ordered.

I stared wide-eyed for a few moments before glaring darkly at him. "No way, Case. It's too dangerous."

He threw up his hands. "Oh shut up. It ain't like we can't defend ourselves. I know the couch ain't that comfortable, and the apartment ain't much, but you're welcome to it."

I just stood there and gaped for a few moments. "Thanks." I finally grumbled.

The corner of his mouth tilted upward into a lopsided grin. "What are friends for?"

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know." My voice cracked a little and I whispered, "Never had one before."

Casey's smile vanished. "You have brothers, though."

I smiled bitterly and watched Case grow nervously tense. I couldn't keep the hurt out of my voice as I confessed, "Brothers don't always have to be yur friends."

Jones' smile curved down into a very serious frown. "But they do care."

My top lip curled upward into a snarl. "Pfft. How would you know?" I retorted tartly.

The man sighed and whispered. "You aren't the only one with sibling problems, Raph."

Silence reigned for a few moments before I dared to ask: "You...you have a brother?"

"No, but I got a little sister."

I growled. "That's not the same." I crossed my arms over my plastron. Casey had no idea the pain that I was feeling. He had no idea what I was going through.

"Oh no?!" Casey asked, raising his voice. "My sister is gone! I haven't seen her in five years! Because a stupid fight split us apart!"

I didn't know what to say to that, so I said nothing and simply did my best to avoid his gaze. Casey had never told me any of this before.

"How is that any different from what happened between you and Leo?"

I could sense that that wasn't all of it. Casey had more that he wanted to tell me. I could tell. I've been on the receiving end of enough lectures in my life that I know how they go by now.

"My sister resented me because I was always trying to tell her what and what not to do. So one night she decided she'd had enough. It was right after we'd had a really bad fight over what she had chosen to do with her life. She skipped town with a group of motorcycle junkies and I haven't seen her since. I don't think I'll ever see her again. For all I know she could be dead! And I'll never know whether she ever realized how much I loved her and that I was only trying to protect her. I'll never know, Raph." Casey admitted. By the time he finished there were tears in his eyes. He wiped them away with the back of his hand and straightened his posture. "I know that you love them, Raph. It's obvious how much you care about them and how much this thing hurt you. But do you really want to leave them with the misery I've had to face all of these years?"

Once again, I had no answer to offer my human friend.

"Think about it, Raph. Why don't you just try talking to them?"

I grimaced. This was quickly turning into a counseling session. My eyes flashed a little. I didn't necessarily want to argue with Casey, but I had to get this out there, "It wouldn't matter Case. Leo..." I bowed my head. "He just doesn't understand. He never will."

Casey Jones' eyes narrowed briefly in annoyance, before he closed them and shook his head. "Maybe not." He admitted and I raised an eye-ridge. He put a hand on my shoulder and looked me directly in the eyes. "But that doesn't mean he doesn't care."

I couldn't help it. I was in the midst of an emotional whirlpool. My temper flared. "He fuckin' kicked me out of our home, Casey! He disowned me from the family!"

The grip on my shoulder tightened. "I'm not telling you what to do Raph. And you can take as long as you need, and stay as long as you need to, until you get this thing figured out. But what I can say is, if it were me, I'd at least talk to him. Because if Leo loves his three younger brothers as much as you love the three of them, he's already regretting it."

The only response I offered was a low grunt to let him know that I was listening. Casey sighed. With a final clap on the shoulder he muttered. "Well...I'm going to bed. See ya in the morning buddy."

"Yeah, whateva." I murmured and watched as my friend retreated to his room.

As soon as he was gone I stood and made my way into the kitchen. Casey wasn't really what I'd call an alcoholic, but he was no pansy. Last time I'd refused the beer...but now I needed to lose myself. And though I'd never tasted the foul substance before, I'd heard it was good at that. I just want to forget.

I opened the fridge and grimaced at the smell of sour milk. My grimace quickly melted into a wan smile as I saw the brand new six-pack tucked neatly in the corner.

To say that Casey Jones was not pleased when he found me passed out the couch with a bottle of beer in my hand and three empty ones on table in front of me, would have been an understatement. I never should have told him I was underage...

From then on, Casey stopped keeping beer in the apartment. He tries to get me to eat, and I do, to an extent. Of course, I soon realized that I had been taking Mikey's cooking for granted. Casey couldn't cook for shit.

We work out together too. Over the past few weeks Casey's really helped me regain almost complete mobility of my shoulder. I still have to go slow when it comes to some of my trickier forms, but it's a lot better than it was. In return for all his help, I've been teaching Casey some of the more basic ninja moves. Last night we actually went out and beat the shit out of some punk lowlifes. And if felt good. It felt so fucking good.