This is a long chapter, guys, so hold onto your seatbelts and bear with me. (Also some spoilers for the episode: Broken Foot)

————————

"Raph—"

"No, Leo. If I was where Karai is right now. I want vengeance. I'll stop at nothing to get it. In that situation, what would you do?"

Leonardo was silent. Raphael growled and pressed on, leaning into his brother's space.

"As the leader in the situation Leo, what would you do? I'm a vigilante going out on my own and trying to provoke the Shredder. What would you do, Leo?"

"I'd fight you." Leo said, his voice barely louder than the sound of their breath. "I'd have to stop you."

"And if you couldn't?"

"For the good of the team, I'd have to order they dissociate from you. I couldn't let our family get hurt because of your actions."

"Why should it be any different for her?" Raph asked.

The look Leo gave him was all the answer he needed. Damn. He flung up a hand before Leonardo could even open. He sighed.

"Stupid question. Obviously she means more to you than we do."

Leo started to protest, but again, Raph cut him off.

"We're brothers, Leo, family. We're all we've got. And no matter how hard you try to believe it, Karai isn't ready for that yet. She's gone revenge crazy. Sooner or later you're going to have to make a choice big brother. You'll have to decide who comes first: Karai or us."

"There is no choice. My brothers always come first." Leo said.

Raph scoffed and shook his head. He had a faraway look in his eyes.

"Maybe that's what you tell yourself now. But when the time comes, it'll hit you hard, like a punch straight to the plastron," said Raph, sighing. "Heart wants what the heart wants. I had to learn that the hard way."

Leo slid closer to Raph and reached up to put a hand on his shoulder, but the hothead jerked away.

"We had to go back. We had to save Earth." Raph bowed his head. The uncomfortable silence that followed was broken when Raph finally went on. "Maybe you're right, Leo. Maybe there was no real choice...but shell, it sure felt like it."

"Raph, you did the right thing."

"How the shell can you know that, Leo?!"

Leo was appalled into silence by the wetness in Raph's eyes. The notion that Raph had considered parting from them was jarring enough. If the leader had known about Raph's struggle at the time he would have done all he could, fought, if necessary, to make Raph stay with them. Just like Raph was fighting him now.

"We left her behind, probably to be killed at the hands of Lord Dregg and his minions. Even if she is alive, she's probably moved on, settled with one of her own kind. She's gone. I'll probably never see her again." Raphael straightened. "Maybe I'll never stop wondering about that 'what if'. It'll probably haunt me for the rest of my life, but I made my decision. I put my brothers first."

Leo couldn't stop the growl the rose up from inside him. "And I suppose you're going to say that's what a leader does?"

How many times was Raphael going to bombard him like this? To lecture him, the leader, on what a leader could and could not do. Like Raph knew the job of a leader better than he did, like he deserved it more, like he—

The hostility in Leonardo's voice crawled under Raph's shell and across his shoulders, but instead of being angry, he grew cold as stone. Raph stood and turned his back on his big brother, his parting words hanging in his wake:

"No. That's what a brother does."

———————

"Hey Mikey," Don called, from underneath the Shell Raiser. Mikey was leaning against it devouring some lunch, pizza, of course.

"Mhm?" Mikey said, his mouth full of cheesy goodness.

"Ever notice how different we all are?"

"Well—hmpf mmm—yeah, bro." Mikey swallowed the last of his pizza and went on, excitedly, "I'm the cute one who keeps us together, you're the genius who helps solve all our problems, Raph's the hothead who inspires us to never give up, Leo's the leader who gives us confidence to—"

"Not that, Mikey. I meant we've changed since we, well, you know, went to space."

Mikey rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess. I feel like you guys appreciate me more. I can be me, ya know?"

"And you couldn't before?" Donnie slid out from under the Shell Raiser and frowned up at his little brother.

Suddenly, Mikey seemed very somber. "I could, but you guys always judged me. I mean, you still do, I guess, but—it's different. You guys are a lot more accepting of who I am now and you let me do my thing without yelling at me for it. It's nice."

Donnie stood and put a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Mikey, after going inside your mind to save you from those neutrinos, I think we all realized how special you are and how much you mean to us."

"Aww, thanks D." Mikey threw his arms around Donnie and hugged him tight. He smiled brightly and released his big brother. "You changed too, D."

"Oh really?" Don raised an eye-ridge.

"Yeah, you're like three times awesomer!"

Don gave him a look. Mikey smiled.

"Not that you weren't awesome already, but you like totally killed it out in space, Don! It didn't matter that you do didn't know all that whatchamacallit about space stuff, you still made all those cool inventions and repaired the Fugitoid!"

Smiling in the face of Mikey's child-like excitement, Don said, "Thanks Mikey."

"Raph changed, too." Mikey said, rattling on. "He opened up a little, stopped acting like a tough guy all the time. And every time I missed home or needed a pat on the shell, Raph was right there to give it to me because Leo—"

That was where Mikey's cheer ran out. Don also frowned. He took up where his little brother had left off.

"Leo almost seemed to change for the worse."

"He scares me Don."

The brainiac immediately noticed that Mikey's eyes were fixed on his bandages. "Mikey..."

"The way he always runs off to face danger on his own was bad enough before, Don. Space made it worse. It's like he thinks he can just—like it wouldn't even hurt us. And now this whole vengeance thing he's doing with Karai—and then you got hurt."

"Mikey...it's okay." Don tried to hug his little brother, but Mikey wasn't having it.

"It's not okay, Don! Maybe Karai is our long-lost sis, but it's like Leo's prepared to give everything, even us, up for this vengeance kick of hers! And that's not cool, bro!"

With a sigh, the brainiac looked off to the side. "Mikey you know how he feels about her."

"So?!" Mikey shouted so loudly that Don had to take a step back. "You don't see me dressing up like a Foot and putting myself in danger because of my thing for Shini!"

"Mikey, it's more than that. Leo and Karai have a bond—"

"So did Raph and Mona. He made a hard choice, Don. It would have been so easy for him to ditch us and help Sal and Mona save their people, but he didn't. He stayed with us." Mikey sighed and all traces of residual anger vanished from his body. "I get why Leo did what he did, I really do, Don. He wanted to do what he thought was right, I get that, but as soon as one of us gets hurt, that crosses the line."

"You sound like Raph." Don murmured.

Mikey grinned sadly. The grin faded and he sighed, staring at the wall. "You know Don, since we went to space, I keep getting this weird feeling whenever Raph and Leo argue."

"Like it's all for nothing?" Don asked, his voice tired. Both of them were fed-up with hearing their older brothers' disagreements. He was surprised when Mikey shook his head.

"No. Like they've swapped places."

Don's eye-ridges rose. His mind poured over several of Raph and Leo's latest arguments. He hadn't really noticed before, but Mikey was right. The older turtles' standpoints had been reversed.

Staring at the wall like it was the New York skyline, Mikey whispered, "Sometimes, Don, I think Raph is acting more like the leader."

The purple-masked turtle gave Mikey a dubious look.

"Raph led the plan to find out what Leo was doing and afterwards...Donnie—I've seen Raph blame himself for stuff before, but that wasn't Raph's 'I-blame-myself-face', Don. It was Leo's."

Donnie couldn't attest to that. He'd been completely knocked out, but he knew what Raph's 'blame-face' looked like and he knew what Leo's looked like. Mikey was a facial-expression aficionado, there was no way the youngest could be wrong. If Space had matured Raph into a leader...was it possible that it had pushed Leo into becoming a rebel?

Without Splinter's watchful guidance Leo had floundered, falling into a sea of doubt and denial. Mona Lisa had grounded Raphael, given him an outlet, and boosted his confidence during that difficult time. Raph felt more comfortable displaying sensitivity and providing his brother's with the reassurance and emotional support that they needed, while Leo was still caught up in doubt.

The more he thought about it, the more Donatello realized that even Leo still gave the orders, he looked to Raph for confirmation.

Mikey read his mind. "So you see it too?"

"I don't know how I didn't see it before."

"That's what I'm here for, D. Pointing out all the stuff that you, Raph, and Leo can't see."

"Well, oh Divine Seer Michelangelo, has anyone ever told you how ridiculously childish, absurdly brilliant, and wonderfully observant you are?"

Mikey glowed at his big brother's praise. "Why no, they haven't."

"Then you can count this the first time. You're the best little brother ever."

Mikey threw a hand on his plastron and posed like a celebrity, saying, "Thanks, I get that a lot."

Don laughed and bonked him affectionately on the head.

"Ow! Hey, is that any way to treat 'the best little brother ever'?"

Mischievousness spread across Donatello's face. "Key words: 'little brother'."

With over-the-top acting, Mikey pretended to be stricken. "You're so mean to me."

Donnie bonked him over the head again, getting him in a headlock so he couldn't escape. "It's just how we show affection."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Big brothers," he said, exhaustedly, "they're so sappy."

The garage became silent. The silence seemed to creep into them both and they shuddered.

"Hey Don?"

"Yeah, Mikey?" Don looked down at his younger brother. Mikey's face looked weary.

"Let's go."

Don canted his head. "And do what?"

Mikey shrugged. "I don't know. Something. Anything as long as we can get away from the big-bros for a couple of hours."

Inside, Don was inclined to agree. Tensions between Raph and Leo were bound to be high for the next couple of hours. Getting away would be good for both of them.

"You know what, Mikey? I think that's a fabulous idea."

—————————

Raphael couldn't sleep. He kept dreaming of Mona Lisa. He was used to it, though. He hadn't been sleeping very well since they got back from space. There was a light on in the lab. He sighed.

His brothers really needed to stop testing his patience. It had been four hours since his fight with Leo. And now Don was trying to pull an all-nighter even though he was still recovering from injuries. According to Master Splinter, the brainiac was mostly recovered. He had a few bandages, but those were just precautionary. The cuts would heal just fine in a day or two.

Raph poked his head in the lab, ready to shout at the top of his lungs, but he stopped dead in the doorway. It was empty. Why the shell was the light on if it was empty? He went in and looked around.

Don's toolbox was lying open next to the Shell Raiser. Don didn't just leave things out like that. He'd only do that if he'd been distracted...seriously distracted. Raph saw the telltale greasy fingerprints on the Shell Raiser. His eyes narrowed. Mikey.

So Mikey had distracted Don and then they'd both gone—where?

If they were in the main room or the kitchen he would have seen them. His eyes raked over the lab one last time as he left, closing the door behind him. He headed straight for his younger brother's rooms. Both were empty, and all of their gear was gone: t-phones, weapons, and grappling hooks.

Shell. He forced down the angry panic that was slowly taking hold of him and stomped to the dojo just to make sure they weren't there.

They'd gone out. Those idiotic little punks! They'd left the lair without even telling him, which meant they probably hadn't told Splinter or Leo either. Splinter and Splinter Jr. would never have let Don go out after he'd just recovered from an injury.

Dammit all.

Splinter would freak if he found out. Leo would freak and tell Splinter. He was on his own, but if his little brothers were in trouble, he'd need backup. He called Casey first. All he told the human was that he wanted to hang out and kick some butt. Casey had a hockey game tonight. Damn.

He called the Mighty Mutanimals. Slash didn't answer, so he left a message. Asking Karai was out of the question. If he did, he'd be sucked into her revenge issues, and probably only put his family in more danger. He couldn't just go after his little brothers without backup. If he did and something happened...

Ugh. He'd have to go with his least favorite option at the moment.

Seconds later he was knocking on Leo's door.

The eldest turtle opened it just enough to glare at him. "If you've come to fight some more you can just—"

"I ain't here to fight ya, Leo. We've already done that too much, and now we seem to be paying for it." Raph growled a little, clenching his fists.

Leo's door opened wider. "What do you mean?"

"It's Mikey and Don. They're gone."

"Gone?! Gone where?" Leo was standing paralyzed in the doorway.

"Shell if I know. Obviously they didn't tell us." Then, bitterly, he added, "Guess they decided to go on a vigilante spree of their own."

Leo's expression darkened. He took command. "We need to tell Master Splinter and get April. She can track them."

"No." Raph grabbed Leo's shoulder and forcibly held him back.

"What the shell do you mean, no?!"

Though there was a hint of anger twitching on his lips, Raph's face was cool and collected.

"The only reason Mikey and Don would leave without telling us is cause they were fed up with the way we were acting."

Leo felt himself growing calmer as he stared deep into Raph's level-headed eyes. He slowly realized his brother was right. The only way to get their younger brothers back was if they worked together. Without fighting.

"Where do we start?" he asked.

Raphael placed a hand on his shoulder. Leo couldn't pull his eyes away from his immediate younger brother's face. He'd never seen Raph look so forceful. "The lab. April isn't the only tracker in this family."

Leo blinked. It was true. Though they had been relying on April's tracking skills more and more often lately, he had always been highly skilled at tracking his little brothers down. He nodded and even found himself shooting an appreciative grin at Raphael.

Raph rolled his eyes and smacked Leo's arm.

They both grabbed their gear and headed for the lab. Once there, the first thing they did was use Don's computer to trace the location of their little brothers' t-phones. No need to kill themselves searching if the answer was simple. No signal. Worry seeped into their muscles, making them tense. Raph asked a question that he knew Leo would already have the answer to.

"How long ago did they leave?"

Deep blue eyes slid over to meet Raph's.

"As near as I can tell...three or four hours."

"Shell."

Leo agreed. Don and Mikey weren't always as responsible as they could be, but they weren't reckless. There was no way they'd leave without telling anyone and be out for more than two hours. Not unless something had happened to them.

——————————

Don's eyelids opened slowly. He yawned and stretched. His movement made the figure beside him whine and stir. He smiled down at Michelangelo and began to fall back asleep when he realized: we aren't home. He shot up and looked around frantically.

"Nuh, ten more minutes..." Mikey said softly.

Donnie shook his little brother by the shoulder. "Mikey. Mikey, wake up."

"Don? What's up bro?"

"We fell asleep."

"Huh?"

"We left the lair, remember? We came here and talked and then I guess we fell asleep."

"Oh." Mikey said, Donnie's words were slowly jogging his memory. "Right." He paused. "What were we talking about again?"

"Not now, what time is it?" Don asked, taking out his t-phone so he could check the time. "Oh shell!"

"What?"

"It's almost four in the morning." Don's eyes were wide and scared. If Raph and Leo found out they were gone, they were probably frantic by now. "We gotta get back to the lair!"

Mikey jumped up and nodded, looking just as worried as Don felt. "You said it, bro."

As they made sure they'd got everything, Mikey glanced nostalgically at the old room they were in. "Hey D, remember when the four of us used to come here as kids and play?"

Though he was still frantic, Don calmed for a moment and looked around. "Yeah. That was fun."

"We gotta get Leo and Raph to come do this with us sometime. Just come here and talk."

Don's shoulders drooped. "They'd probably just think it was stupid."

Mikey shook his head. "No, they wouldn't. Raph might say that, but he wouldn't, not really. He'd just be acting tough."

"They're going to kill us when we get home."

"No way, D. They'd miss us too much." Mikey smiled, patting Don's shoulder as they left the abandoned water-testing facility.

Don smiled too; glad to know Michelangelo was always there for him.

————————————

Leo and Raph jumped rooftops at an uncharted speed. They both knew they were breaking their personal records, but neither of them could bring themselves to care. Leo's eyes occasionally darted over to Raph. The hothead had always claimed he could be faster than the leader if he put his mind to it. Since there was a complete absence of gloating, Raphael clearly hadn't realized that he had been a step in the lead this entire time.

Leo's face hardened. Raph looked calm but this was the third time his step had faltered near the edge of a dangerously tall building. They kept on running. At the building's edge, Raph's footing gave and his legs slipped out from under him.

Heart ringing in his ears, Leo lunged forward, caught his sibling by the wrist, and yanked Raph back to safety. His hands rested on Raph's shoulders as he stared down into Raph's eyes.

"Raphael, this has to stop. I know you're worried about Mikey and Donnie, but pull yourself together. They're ninjas and damn good ones. Losing our cool and getting ourselves killed isn't going to help at all."

"Depends on your point of view, turtles." A smooth accented voice said.

Raph's hands flew to his sais, and Leo reached for his katana.

Fishface, Rahzar, Bebop and Rocksteady stood on the other side of the rooftop.

"Da. For us, you getting killed is good thing," the rhino drawled.

Rahzar rolled his eyes. "As if it wasn't obvious, moron."

"Who you calling the moron, Volk?" Rocksteady glared.

"Enough with the chit-chat, yo. I wanna get me some turtle. Oooh-hoo." Bebop sing-songed as he charged.

Leo and Raph split, jumping in opposite directions. Bebop went after Leo, and Rahzar joined him, while Raph took Fishface and Rocksteady. Jumping down into the alley, Raph became one with the shadows.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are, turtle. Or I'll blow your brother away," said Fishface. He tossed a handful of un-activated Stockman grenades up in the air so that, wherever Raphael was, they could be seen.

Threatening Leo was a mistake. Raph was already worried and angry about the missing brothers situation. At Fishface's threat, all of Raph's emotions focused and took perfect aim. He shot out like a bullet from a gun and back-flipped to give Fishface a harrowing kick to the jaw.

"Not by the scales on my chiny-chin-chin." He growled, spitefully.

Fishface was knocked out.

Raph dropped his guard. He shouldn't have. A battle cry and the sound of heavy feet rushing toward him was the only warning he had. Pain. An explosion of pain in his side. He screamed, and everything went dark.

Leo heard Raph's scream. His eyes brightened in panic. He called his brother's name and started to move. There was the sound of an explosion, the building shook, and concrete started to crumble. The last thing he remembered was falling.

————————————

The lair was quiet. Donnie and Mikey snuck quietly past Splinter's room and into the lab. The light was still on. They had half expected their notoriously overprotective big brothers to be in there waiting for them, pacing like impatient fathers. That was usually how things went in their family. Leo and Raph, as the strongest fighters, had always taken Mikey and Donnie's safety as their responsibility. But there was no one here. They looked at each other. Mikey smiled.

"There, ya see, Don? They didn't even know we were gone."

Donnie wasn't so sure. For all they knew, Leo and Raph could be watching and waiting for the right moment to spring out. He looked around the lab. Something caught his eyes.

"My computer. It wasn't on when I left." He said, his worry starting to take hold. His fingers danced across the keyboard as he entered his password. His tracking program for their t-phones was open and their signals were coming in loud and clear. They were both in the lair. "But if Leo and Raph tracked our t-phones, how come they never found us."

Mikey was starting to look worried. He shrugged. "Think maybe we were too deep in the sewers?"

Don frowned. Mikey might just have hit on exactly the problem.

"So, if they got no signal, they must have thought we were in trouble."

"And gone out to look for us." Mikey said, getting scared. "What'll we do, Donnie?"

"We need to find them."

——————————

Little, nine-year-old Leo trudged through the sewers. It was spring and it had been raining a lot recently, so the water was higher. It was dangerous to be out here alone, but he was looking for someone. He heard a high-pitched sniffle and he turned down the side tunnel that would lead him to the abandoned water-testing facility. There he found his little brother curled up in a ball, orange mask wet with tears.

"Mikey?"

"Go away Leo. Leave me alone."

"We're not supposed to be out here alone. You know Splinter's rules."

More tears streamed down Mikey's face. "I'm sick of rules, Leo! I hate them! It's all about the rules! It's never about us, Leo!"

"Mikey—"

"I wanna go up top, Leo. I want a friend."

Leo sighed and sat down next to his little brother tossing an arm over Mikey's shaking shoulders. "Mikey, tell me what a friend does."

Mikey sniffled and thought about it. "A friend is someone who plays and laughs with you, who listens when you talk and helps you with your problems, who gives you hugs when you need them. And who's always nice to you."

Leo shook his head. "No Mikey, a true friend is someone who tells you the truth, even if it isn't something you want to hear. That's what Master Splinter says."

"Okay Leo." Mikey said, softly nodding his head.

"Mikey, who plays and laughs with you?"

Mikey blinked at his big brother and answered. "Raphie, D, and you. Sometimes Splinter."

"And who listens when you need to talk?"

"You, D, Raphie, and Splinter."

"And what about when you need hugs?"

"You, D, Raphie, and Splinter."

"And who can you trust to tell you the truth?"

"You, D, and Splinter." Mikey said.

Leo raised an eye-ridge.

"Raphie makes up scary stories." Mikey explained.

Leo laughed a little. "But you trust Raphie, right?"

Mikey nodded emphatically. "Yeah, Raphie gives good hugs."

"You still want a friend, little brother? Because it sounds like you have four really good ones."

"But Master Splinter's our dad." Mikey said, frowning.

"Okay, then three really good ones."

"But you're my brothers." Mikey was confused.

"Who said that brothers can't be friends?"

It was like Leo had lifted away part of the barrier between Mikey and the world above. His little brother's face lit up and Mikey hugged him so tightly he could barely breathe.

"Thanks, Leo! You're my best friend!"

Leo hugged back as tightly as he could, patting Mikey's shell softly.

Suddenly, the image blurred, his vision swirled. He groaned in pain. What the...where, where was he?

——————————

Donnie had goaded him into it. It wasn't his idea. But a stick had whacked him over the head and, the next thing he knew, a voice was shouting:

"Can't catch me, Raphie!"

And then they were off. Donnie in the lead, his long legs making him hard to keep up with. Once again Raph could feel anger bubbling at the fact that he was the shortest of his brothers. They were constantly giving him grief for it. Shell, he was only three centimeters shorter than Mikey. Three stinkin' centimeters. Ooh, when he got bigger they were gonna be sorry they ever made fun of his size.

He chased after Don as fast as he could, not really noticing that his brother had taken the chase out of the lair and into the sewers. As long as they stuck to the buddy system, they wouldn't get in trouble. It wasn't until Donnie started weaving his way down tunnels Raph was unfamiliar with that the little hothead started getting suspicious. He slowed down and called after his racing brother.

"Donnie, where the shell are you going?"

Donnie smiled and came back to take his hand and pull him along. "Come on, it's just a bit further."

They walked in silence for a few more minutes until Raph said, "You did this on purpose. To get me to come with you."

Don smiled and Raph knew he was right.

He growled. "What the shell was so important that you couldn't just ask me?"

"Cause if I'd asked, you wouldn't have come."

"I might have." Raph said.

Donnie looked at him.

Raph sighed. "Okay, fine, I would've said no, but I might've thought about it." There was another short silence and Raph asked, "Why didn't ya ask the others? They probably would have wanted to come with ya."

"I didn't want to come with them. I wanted to come with you."

"Why?" Raph asked, genuinely surprised.

"Because you're more fun. I like to play with you. Leo would just be going on and on about how Splinter says not to go too far, and Mikey would be asking annoying questions. You're smart and funny."

Raph blinked owlishly at Donnie. "I'm not smart. Master Splinter says my spelling is all wrong."

"So? You're smart in other ways. You're smart about engines, and sports, and which parts of the sewers are too dangerous, and you're super strong in training—"

Raph sighed. "That ain't smart Donnie, that's just stuff."

"It is smart! It is! In your own way!" Donnie insisted.

Looking away, eight-year old Raphael blinked back happy tears. "Thanks Dondon."

His brother's arms wrapped tightly around his small, emerald green frame, "You're welcome, Raphie."

Donnie pulled out of the hug far too soon and bounded into a large room. "Look! Look! We're here!" he said excitedly.

Raph looked around the big room. He looked at Donnie, who was standing very close to the edge of the grating. "Okay, so what are we here for?"

SPLASH!

Donatello had fallen into the water.

"Donnie! Donnie!" Raph shouted, rushing to the end of the grating and diving down into the water to save his brother. He opened his eyes and almost lost his air. Donatello was plastron up, grinning and waving at him. He blinked in astonishment. His eyes darted around the pool of water they were in and he realized: it was clean.

Clear pools were few and far between. This was the only one Raph had ever seen besides the one at the entrance of the lair. Donnie had brought him here to swim. He smiled and floated to the surface so that he could peel off his mask. Donnie came up to do the same and Raph seized the opportunity. He tackled his little brother. Donnie shrieked and started splashing around. Raph smiled. He made sure his little brother was able to take a big breath and hold it before he pulled the younger turtle under.

When they finally crawled out of the pool more than an hour later, both of them were exhausted, sleepy, and happier than they had been in a long time. They made their way back to the lair, where they buried themselves in a pile of blankets and took a three-hour nap.

The dream faded.

Raphael's eyes screwed shut tighter. His head felt like someone had been stomping on it. What the shell had happened? He tried to sit up, but he fell back down as a horrible pain erupted in his side. Agh! Right. Rocksteady. The rubble on and around him shifted as he squirmed. Wait.

Rubble? He shot up way too fast. His side screamed in pain and he bit down on his tongue so hard it bled. He looked around though a pained haze. Half the building was gone, blown to pieces.

Leo! Where was Leo? He tried to stand, but there was something heavy pinning his left leg. He reached down and lifted it up as much as he could and started to wiggle his way out. But it was too heavy. He couldn't hold it much longer. His arms gave out.

Something under the heavy piece of concrete shifted and Raphael realized something else: his leg was bleeding...a lot.

———————————

Leo pushed himself up and rubbed his aching forehead. His eyes adjusted to the dim light of the surroundings. There was rubble all around him, in fact there were several very large pieces above him. His fingers dug into the cracks where very low amounts of light were starting to seep through. He pried the pieces apart and emerged from the rubble, slowly rising to his feet to look at what was left of the warehouse. It wasn't much.

He groaned and pressed a hand to his aching plastron. Already there were several dark bruises forming. He had small cuts on his arms and he knew he had hit his forehead pretty hard, but it didn't seem to be bleeding which was good. Wait...

Where was Raph?! Raph!

His eyes frantically scanned the warehouse and realized that since the ceiling had caved in, he was inside. Raph had been outside in the alley—where the explosion—No!

He carefully moved across the warehouse, and exited through a broken window. The alley was a mess. There was no sign of Shredder's henchmen. They must have had injuries of their own to tend to. Still, he didn't want to jinx it. Quietly, he called to his brother.

"Raph! Raph are you here?"

Raphael blinked up at the lightening morning sky. He must be hallucinating. He'd just heard Leo's voice. But what if...

"Leo?" He whispered.

Leo's head shot up. It was so faint it could have been the wind, but he was certain it wasn't. He knew it was Raph. He just knew it.

"Raph?"

"Leo." Came the breathy call.

Leo followed it over to where a big piece of concrete had fallen. His heart leapt. Raph! Raph was alive.

"Raph!" Leo exclaimed, not caring that dawn was swiftly approaching. Then he saw his brother's status. He knelt by Raph's side, tilting the hothead's face in his direction Raph smiled at him, eyes sparkling with relief.

"Leo, yur okay?"

"Yeah, some nasty bruises but I'm okay. How are you?" The leader could already tell he wouldn't really like the answer.

"Hit mah head. Muh leg's bleedin'."

Leo glared at the fallen concrete pinning Raph's left leg. "I'll get you out, but I'm gonna need your help."

Raph nodded.

"When I say move, move, okay?"

Raph nodded again, his green eyes darkening a little. Leo bent down and carefully slid his arms under the concrete, making sure not to cut himself on whatever had cut Raph's leg. He lifted it up. Sweat beaded on his brow and he choked out:

"Move, Raph!"

Raphael did. He slid out from under the debris as quickly as he could.

Once Leo was sure Raphael was completely clear, he dropped the concrete with a loud thud. Then he saw Raph's leg. His face paled. That was a lot of blood. Shell.

Raphael sat up and smiled at him. "Thanks, Leo."

Leo nodded and bent down, slipping one arm under Raph's knees and the other under his shoulders. Raph protested, but Leo wasn't having it.

"Put me down. I can do it myself!"

"No, you can't." Leo said. "You've lost a lot of blood, Raph. I'm getting you back to the lair. Pull up one of your kneepads and apply pressure. Can you do that?"

"'Course I can." Raph grumbled, doing as his older brother suggested. He grimaced. "Shell, that hurts."

"Just hold on." Leo ordered, rushing to the nearest manhole cover. Getting down the ladder with Raph in tow was tricky, but he managed.

"Shell." Raph grunted as Leo jostled him on the final step down.

Guilt and worry washed over the eldest. "Sorry."

"'S okay."

Nothing about this situation was even remotely okay.

Raph seemed to read his mind. "I ain't dyin', Leo. Relax."

"Tall order, little brother." Leo murmured. He was getting more worried by the minute. Raph seemed to be getting sleepier. There had to be something he could say to keep Raph awake.

"Eh, Leo?"

Apparently Raph hadn't given up on their conversation just yet, which made Leo extremely grateful.

"Yes Raph?"

"Did we find Donnie and Mikey?" he asked.

Leo shook his head, as he continued to proceed as quickly as he could toward the lair. "No, we didn't."

One of Raph's hands tightly gripped the rim of Leo's plastron near his shoulder.

"Gotta find 'em, Leo. We just gotta find 'em. They're mah little brothers."

"They're my little brothers, too."

"I love 'em, Leo. Ya just gotta find 'em. I need 'em."

"So do I, Raphie," said Leo, his voice very quiet.

"What did ya dream about, Leo?"

"Huh?" Leo said, confused.

"After the 'splosion. What'd ya dream 'bout?" Raph yawned, blinking sleepily. "I dreamed 'bout when we were little, 'n Don and I went swimming in the clear water pool. Was fun."

"I dreamed about when we were little, too." Leo stared straight ahead, though he knew Raph was looking at him. "A time when Mikey and I sat and talked in the sewers."

Raph's voice sounded scared when he asked, "Ya think they're okay?"

"I don't know, Raph, I really don't know."

"We need 'em. We really need 'em, Leo. Can't do it without 'em. Can't do it just you and me. We need Donnie and Mikey. Always needed 'em." Raph's eyelids began to droop.

"Raph, I need you to stay awake for me." Leo chided.

Raph's eyes opened a little. "Leo...did ya find 'em?"

"No, Raph."

Leo's heart trembled in his chest as Raph's eyes started to close once again. "Raph!"

Slightly awakened once again, Raph stared at him. "Did ya find 'em?" He drawled.

Leo did the only thing he could think of to keep Raph awake. It was cruel and unfair to prey upon his brother's weakness in this state, but it was the only way. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, Raph. I found them. I sent them home, they'll be at the lair waiting for us. But I need you to promise me you'll stay awake so that you can see them, okay?"

To Leo's relief Raphael nodded.

"Gotta stay awake."

"Yeah, Raph. Stay awake."

"Can I talk to you some more?"

"Of course you can."

"How'd you find 'em?" Raph asked.

Leo just let words fall out of his mouth. "I realized that they'd probably only been gone a little bit and that by the time we went out, they'd be back. They've been at the lair the entire time we were out little brother, there was no need to worry."

"They're okay?"

"They're perfectly fine." Every lie burned the tip of Leo's tongue, but it wouldn't be much longer now. The lair door was in sight. He rushed to it and shoved inside.

"Master Splinter!!" he shouted, desperately. The old rat came running out of the dojo, accompanied by two other familiar figures. Leo gasped.

"Mikey...Don..."

At the sound of his little brothers' names, Raph looked over at them. He let out a weak sigh of relief and smacked Leo's plastron lazily. "Thanks big brother." He said softly.

Splinter's ears dropped when he saw the blood on Raph's leg. He looked Leo sternly in the eyes. "Dojo, quickly!"

Once Raph's bleeding wound was cleaned, stitched and bandaged, Leo stretched out by his side and soon fell asleep.

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When he woke up, his arms were wrapped in bandages and his head ached. He was lying on his bed. Raph! Where was Raph? And what about Donnie and Mikey? Were they really home? Or had he imagined seeing them at Splinter's side?

"Where are my little brothers?" He said, trying to push himself up onto his elbows and finding it considerably more difficult than it should have been. His head spun.

"One of 'em is right here, Fearless Leader."

Spinning head forgotten, he sat up in bed and turned towards the door.

"Raph! You're alive."

"Of course I am, ya dork! Gotta hobble around on these stupid crutches a few more days, though. How ya feeling?" Raph asked, limping over to the bed, crutches clicking as he went.

Leo scooted over a little so Raph could sit next to him.

"I'm swimming," he said.

"You mean yur head is swimming." Raph corrected.

"Same thing."

Raph grinned a little, but his grin faded. "Yeah. Don says you had a nasty concussion. Mine wasn't half as bad as yours. We've been waitin' for you to wake up."

Leo only care about two words in those few sentences. "Don? We? They're—"

Raph threw up a hand to silence Leo's frantic questioning. "They're fine. They went to that old water refinement facility, ya know, the one we used to play in when we were kids. Fell asleep. By the time they got back, we were already gone. Your lies just about rounded out to the truth."

Leo stared wide-eyed at his sibling. Raph smiled.

"What, ya think I can't tell when you're lying?"

"Hey, what's goin' on in here—Leo!" Mikey exclaimed, rushing over and tackling his big brother, enthusiastically.

Groaning at the initial impact, Leo relaxed and returned Mikey's embrace, a piece of his heart falling back into place at the feeling of his little brother right here, alive and well. Donatello peeked inside the room, cautiously, but as soon as he saw Leo, the brainiac acted much the same was as Mikey.

"Leo! Thank goodness your awake, that concussion really scared us. How do you feel? Do you remember us? What's your name? How old are you? Where are we?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Like I could forget my own brothers. My name is Leonardo, I'm 16, and I live in the New York City sewers in a place called the lair. And I have two little brothers named Donatello and Michelangelo who have a lot of explaining to do and a lot of things to answer for!"

Donnie and Mikey exchanged fearful glances.

"Raph has already told me where you were, what you were doing and why you ended up staying out so late. What I want to know is why didn't you tell us you were going out? A note, a voicemail, anything?"

"We should have done that. We're very sorry, Leo, but Mikey and I were fed up with the way you've been running off on your own all the time so we thought we'd give you a taste of your own medicine. We had no intention of staying out so late and we had no idea that you'd go out looking for us and get—"

The eldest turtle could hear the sincerity in Donnie's voice and when he glanced over at Mikey, he saw tears in the youngest turtle's eyes. They were scared. Terrified and blaming themselves. Leo sighed. Their reasons for leaving were understandable. They certainly had shown him the panic, pain and confusion that not knowing a brother's whereabouts could cause. He lowered his eyes and smacked both of his little brothers in the face.

They stared at him with wide eyes. Two tears slipped out and tumbled down his cheeks as he yanked them into his arms.

"Promise me that you will never do anything like that again."

Mikey and Donnie looked at each other and said, "Only if you do."

Leo sighed and looked down. "Fine."

"We promise." The two youngest said in sync.

"But that does not mean you two get away without punishment." A deep, powerful voice said from behind them.

They turned to their rat-father, who was standing in the doorway with his hands crossed in front of his chest. Mikey and Donnie leaned timidly against Leo. He grinned and shoved them forward, leaving them to their fate.

Raph enjoyed the sight and began to get up, hissing at the vicious pain in his side. Don said he had at least three bruised ribs. His shell had been badly dented. It hurt every time he walked, or sat down, or laughed, or breathed. Shell it hurt. He winced.

Leo reached out, concerned. His hand came dangerously close to Raph's injured side. The hothead swatted it away, reflexively.

Splinter could sense his son's pain and his ears drooped a little. His gaze fell upon his youngest sons awaiting their punishment. A solution presented itself. He walked over to Donatello and Michelangelo and placed his hands on their shoulders.

"My sons, indirectly due to your actions, your brother has received a very grievous injury." He said, eyeing Raphael. His red-masked son blinked.

"Hai Sensei." Donnie and Mikey chorused. Their faces contorted with guilt.

"Therefore, you will cater to your brother's needs without question for the remainder of his recovery."

Leo smiled at their little brothers' astonished and horrified faces. Raph's diabolical smirk probably wasn't helping at all. He grinned. That was Raph's plotting look. The hothead was going to make their little brothers pay for scaring them so badly. Maybe if he asked nicely enough, Raph would let him in on it, too.

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How was it?