Leonardo's voice rang out from Raph's t-phone. Good. The hotheaded turtle thought, internally relieved. Of all his brothers, Leonardo was really the only one he wanted to talk to right now. Even though Don might have been the safest choice, given his medical prowess, after his disagreement with Donatello earlier, Raphael wasn't too eager to hear the genius' snide comments.

"Raphael, where the shell are you?" Leo yelled, making Raph pull it a short distance away from his ear.

"You alone?" He countered, trying to keep his voice level so that his older brother didn't catch on to the fact that he was injured.

"What does that matter?" Leo asked, suspicion clear in his voice.

Raphael sighed. Leonardo was too observant for his own good. But Raph's wound was still bleeding, he was running out of time, and his control was slipping. He snapped angrily, "Just come and get me, will ya? I'm just beneath Twelfth and Main, in the sewers. And hurry it up, okay?"

"Wait Raph, why...?"

Click.

Raphael hung up, leaving his older brother with a plethora of unanswered questions.

When he arrived at said location, Leonardo found no sight nor sign of Raphael, which put him completely on edge. His cerulean eyes narrowed suspiciously. Leo cursed under his breath as he lost his footing and made a soft, shuffling noise. A quiet, disembodied voice floated towards him through the darkness, an almost inaudible whisper, "Leo, is that you?"

The eldest's muscles relaxed and he let out a relieved sigh. "Yeah, it's me. Where the hell are you?" He could see in the dark quite well, but it was absolutely pitch black in the direction Raphael's voice had come from. As far as Leo could tell, Raphael was lurking in the shadows.

"You're staring straight at me." Came the flat, and very Raph-like reply.

"I know you have unusually good eyesight, but this is ridiculous!" Leo stated, his voice relaxed and filled with playful mock-annoyance.

He's in a good mood today, Raphael thought, then he sighed. Not for much longer.

Before Raph could speak, Leonardo asked, "So what's the big idea making me come out here and get you?"

Raph shifted nervously and settled for a rather vague reply. "I didn't think I'd be able to make it back on my own. Now I'm not sure I'll be able to make it home at all." He said softly, allowing the weariness and pain of his injury seep into his voice. Raph watched his older brother's relaxed, playful stance vanish as the muscles in the Leo's body began to tense.

There was a moment of heavy silence before Leo whispered quietly, his emotions tightly controlled, "How bad?"

Raph's eyes slowly searched Leo's face. "Just promise me one thing."

"Name it." Leo replied without hesitation.

"Don't freak out." Raph said, hoping his brother would accept.

Leo shifted subtly, but the pain in Raph's voice made him agree. "Alright I promise."

Raph stepped into the light slowly, leaning heavily on the wall of the tunnel to keep from falling over. Leonardo shot forward and caught Raph as he stumbled. He felt something sticky and wet on his hands. Leo pulled one of his hands away and stared at it. It was covered in blood.

"Leo." Raph whispered, or more accurately, whimpered as everything began to sway.

The older turtle lowered his younger brother to the ground. Thankfully these were old tunnels that hadn't been use in years and were drier than the rest of the sewers. 

Leonardo removed Raph's mask and pressed it against the wound.

"Agh!" Raph said through clenched teeth. His green eyes, bright with pain, caught the panic in his older brother's gaze. "I thought...I told you...not to freak out." He muttered between labored breaths.

"How can I not freak out? I'm trying to be as calm as I can about this." The oldest turtle stated, his heart clenched with worry.

Raph moved his hand away from the bloody wound on his shoulder and pressed it to Leo's shoulder, smearing blood on the older turtle's plastron.

The bleeding wasn't slowing so Leo pressed a little harder. Raphael hissed and weakly jerked away, "What the shell, Leo!"

"I'm sorry." Leo murmured, maintaining the pressure even as his brother struggled.

Raph's breathing slowed, growing even more labored. "Leo..."

The wounded turtle gripped his brother's shoulder, smearing even more blood on Leo's plastron, but the eldest couldn't bring himself to care. The only thing that mattered right now was his brother.

Raph pulled Leo close and whispered into his ear. "Leo, what I said before..."

Leo gave Raph a confused stare and it became apparent that he wasn't certain what the hothead was talking about.

"My confession at Sacks Tower. It still stands. I care about you guys. "

Leo's dark blue eyes softened as he met his younger sibling's half-lidded green gaze. "I know. Listen, I'm gonna call Donnie. Are you wounded anywhere else?"

Raphael shook his head and Leo nodded. The ninja leader did his best to keep pressure on the wound with one hand while he reached for his t-phone with the other. He was getting blood everywhere, but again, that hardly mattered at this point. He held down a speed dial. The phone rang three times before Donatello answered it.

"Hmm? Sup Leo?" Came a rather distracted sounding voice.

"Donnie, I need you to get your medical supplies and meet me in the sewers below Twelfth and Main."

"Sorry Leo, I'm right in the middle of something..."

Leonardo couldn't believe his ears. Raphael was here at his feet, losing blood, losing precious life. Leo's control over his emotions faltered and he snapped at his smart brother. "Donatello get over here, now! Raphael's hurt."

Don must have knocked something down because the sound of breaking glass was heard followed by a soft, "I'm on my way."

Leo looked down at Raph, worriedly. None of them had ever been injured this badly before. The most serious injuries they'd dealt with up to this point were cracked shells. Leonardo just hoped that Donatello knew how to handle an injury like this. He returned his attention to Raph's wound and found that the mask had been soaked with blood and the bleeding had barely slowed.

Donatello arrived with Michelangelo close on his heels. When they set eyes on Raphael and Leonardo they came to a complete and utter stop. Mikey couldn't pull his eyes off of the blood on the both of them. Their hesitation lasted only a few seconds before both turtles shot over to their injured sibling's side. Donatello examined Raphael's wound with extreme concentration. Leonardo backed off a little so that his smart brother could care for Raph's injuries.

Michelangelo went around to the other side so that he could aid Don if need be. The youngest was certainly not fond of the sight of blood. Especially when it was one of his brothers who was bleeding.

Raphael's tired eyes looked up as Leo pulled away and found himself staring at his immediate younger brother. Donatello hadn't looked him in the eye which meant that his injuries were serious and required very close and immediate inspection. He glanced about for Leonardo and ended up seeing someone he hadn't expected to see.

"What the shell is Mikey doin' here?" He asked weakly.

That seemed to snap Donatello out of his contemplative silence. The brainiac sighed. "Never mind that now. You need to listen to me, Raphael. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand Don. You don't have to baby me, either. I know it's bad. It hurts like shell."

"I'm sure it does. Listen. You've lost a lot of blood, and if you lose too much more you'll lose consciousness."

"Get Mikey out of here." Raph stated weakly, avoiding their eyes.

The youngest looked down at Raph with worried and sad eyes. "Why?"

"I don't want you to see this. You don't like blood." He stated matter-of-factly.

"No way I'm leaving Raph. I want to be with you. Especially since you're hurt." Mikey replied softly, placing a gentle hand on Raph's forehead, which the hothead quickly shook off. Some things never change, no matter what the situation. Suddenly Don turned to Leonardo, "Leo, you better go back to the lair and tell Sensei what's going on. He needs to know."

"Why me?" Leo asked, reluctant to leave, even though he knew Raph was in good hands.

"You know Mikey wouldn't be able to tell Sensei what happened in any understandable manner. And I need to start stitching him up right away. He'll be fine, I promise. Just go. You need to do this for our father."

Leo nodded slowly. He went over and crouched down by Michelangelo. Raph looked up and Leo stared down into the cloudy, pain-filled, green eyes of his younger brother. "Hang in there." He whispered.

Raph smiled weakly, "Trust me, I'm hanging."

Leo smiled back and softly squeezed Raph's good shoulder before he pulled away and headed down the tunnel towards the lair.

———————

Leo entered the lair noisily, purposely trying to draw his Father out of the dojo. "SENSEI!" He yelled, receiving no answer. "SENSEI!" The second time he called, he was answered by the sound of feet running from the dojo. Splinter entered the main room in a panic.

There was terror in the old rat's eyes as he beheld the blood spattered across his son's plastron and hands. He gripped Leo's shoulder then cupped the turtle's face softly as his other hand felt for injuries.

Leo stilled his Sensei's hand and stated calmly, "It's not mine, father."

Splinter's wise brown gaze searched Leo's for a brief moment. "Who?" He asked, quietly.

He didn't need to elaborate. Leo knew Splinter already sensed that something was horribly wrong. He had already caught a glimpse of the panic in Leonardo's eyes.

When Leo failed to answer his question, Sensei's eyes flashed and he gripped his oldest son forcefully by the shoulders. "Answer me!"

"It's Raph's."

Sensei's eyes drained of their usual light. Leonardo stared. He'd never, in his entire life, seen his father look so terrified.

"Take me to him."

"Donatello is with him and Michelangelo, too. They're taking care of him." Leo urged, attempting to keep his father in the lair where it was safe.

He suddenly found himself on the receiving end of Splinter's fury. Leonardo took a step back. Sensei took an even more imposing step forward. "Leonardo, take me to my son. Now!"

Leo nodded. He realized there was nothing he could say or do that would dissuade his father.

———————

When they joined the others, Splinter paused, his expression unreadable. Then, with a flurry of motion he rushed over, looming ominously over Donatello's shoulder as the turtle worked.

Don glanced up with his peripherals and realized someone was there, but he assumed it was that it was Leonardo. "Leo, please back off there's nothing you can do right now but wait patiently." As soon as he glanced up, he realized his mistake. "Dad, I..."

"What is his status, Donatello?" Sensei asked, as he focused solely on Raphael.

Leo noticed that Raph was now unconscious, but he didn't know whether that meant Don had induced it or Raph had passed out from the blood loss.

Donatello took a few moments to compose his answer. "It's pretty bad, Sensei. He's lost a lot of blood. I cleaned the wound and sewed it up, but I need to put him on an IV drip to provide minerals to stimulate regeneration of blood cells. I also need to check for internal injuries as well, since whoever he was fighting really did a number on him. His breathing is rough, so I should probably put a respirator on him until his condition improves, but we have to get him home first."

"But he will recover?"

Don nodded. "He should be just fine."

Sensei sighed in relief, then looked past Donnie to Raph. "May I?"

Don stared for a moment before he understood what Father was asking. "Oh, of course!" He said, stepping aside.

Sensei took Don's place at Raph's side and took stock of the injuries. His eyes glowed with anger as he growled, "Who did this?"

Leo suddenly found all eyes turned to him. He blinked blankly back at them. "What?"

"You're the one who found him, Leo." Don stated. "What did he say?"

Leo frowned. "He called me here, Donnie. And he didn't even say he'd been injured until after I arrived."

The injured turtle began to stir. Sensei knelt beside Raphael and murmured softly, "Raphael, can you hear me?"

A low whine escaped Raph's lips and his eyes fluttered open briefly. "Daddy?" He muttered weakly.

The other turtles were now even more concerned than before. Raphael hadn't called Sensei Daddy in years. Shell, he hadn't called Splinter Dad in a really long time.

The old rat pressed his forehead against his son's and ran a soft, comforting hand down the side of Raphael's face. "Hush now, my son."

Raph shook his head emphatically and tried to push himself up. Thankfully, Splinter was able to restrain the large turtle in his weakened state.

"Sensei, nuh! You've gotta let me go. He's gonna destroy the city! Kill innocent people! I have to stop him!"

"Who is?" Leo asked. His eye-ridges furrowed and he briefly wondered whether Raphael might be delirious. After all, Raph hadn't mentioned any of this earlier.

Raph whispered, his eyes opening wide, "Shredder."

The turtles stared blankly at him. Splinter only nodded. Which made Leo partly curious. Why was Sensei not surprised?

"It's the truth! I've seen him! Who the hell do you think did this?!" Raph said, gesturing towards his injuries.

Sensei's eyes narrowed.

Raph was growing increasingly panicked and worried. "Aw, come on. What is it gonna take for you to believe me?!"

Sensei placed a soft hand on Raph's shoulder. "I regret that I did not believe you earlier, my child. Shredder will pay for what he has done to you."

"Father, are you saying that—" Donnie began, but he was cut off by his father's soft, reassuring voice.

"Examine his arm just below the wound, my sons. Shredder meant for that symbol to reach me."

They glanced at Raph's arm as Sensei directed. Yes, someone had used a blade of some sort to carve a symbol into Raphael's left arm. It was a Japanese symbol that they did not recognize.

"What is it?" Mikey asked, getting some blood on his fingers as he accidentally brushed the wound. He grimaced with disgust and wiped it off on the ground.

"It is the symbol of Oroku Saki."

"Shredder?" Leo inquired and Sensei nodded. "But why?"

"As a warning to me, I have no doubt.  It is an attempt to make me take action on your brother's behalf. Not only that, it is a threat on your brother's life. Once Shredder realizes that Raphael did not die of his wounds, he will hunt your brother. We shall have to protect him at all costs."

"Hai Sensei." All three turtles chorused with determination in their eyes. If what Sensei said was true, Raph was in danger. Leonardo growled. He looked down at Raphael. His expression softened as he saw the pained look on Raph's face.

He wasn't supposed to go out. We aren't supposed to go topside alone. He knows that! He should have known better.

Leo sighed in resignation.

I'm the one who should have known better than to think Raphael would leave the matter alone. We all should have. I should have kept a closer eye on him. I might have been able to stop him. I should have stopped him. Then he might not have been...

Leonardo bowed his head. Then he straightened again, his eyes brightening a little as he made himself a pledge.

From now on I will do my best to protect you, Raphael. I won't allow you to be hurt like this again, and that goes for Donnie and Mikey too. I'm going to keep you safe. That's a promise, whether you like it or not.