Sixty-one hours

"My sons, Mona Lisa has made great strides in her training of late. But it will be her progress over these next few days that shall determine whether or not she will accompany us on the mission at hand." Master Splinter stated gravely, pausing as he paced up and down in front of his kneeling sons. He glanced pointedly at Raphael and was sorry to see that the red-masked turtle displayed no emotion whatsoever regarding the announcement that had just been made. With a small sigh he turned his back to them. "Raphael."

His second son straightened and regarded his father with flat, soulless eyes.

"I am giving you all permission to train as you see fit for the remaining time until the mission. Do not lapse, my sons, for in the end the choice of who goes and who stays will not be mine to make, but Leonardo's and we will do as he sees fit."

That caught Raphael's attention and the bright green eyes rose up to his father's face, that familiar fiery passion burning in the depths of the colorful irises. One of the old rat's hands landed unexpectedly upon his shoulder, making him jump. "Are you well enough to face this, Raphael?"

The gazes of Raphael's three brother's all softened as they turned towards their brother. Donatello was carefully sizing the hothead up, taking in all of the areas where his injuries had healed. Leo briefly wondered about Raph's slight loss in muscle mass and whether or not it would have a detrimental effect on Raphael's fighting abilities. Raph was as great a threat as ever, but it was always impossible to be sure with him. Mikey was a little bit more worried about Raph's current state of mind. After everything that had happened last time, they were all deeply scarred. The thought of losing Raph and the sheer fact that they had almost lost him last time would mean that they were all being super protective of him now. Of course, their worry only made Raphael that much more determined to shove them away.

Sensei's question infuriated Raphael. Worrying was something that all fathers did when it came to their children, but Raph wasn't mad because Sensei was worried about him. Sensei was perhaps one of the very few people who understood Raphael almost as well as Slash did and Raphael was quite aware of that fact. So it wasn't the fact that Sensei had asked the question that bothered him. It was that Splinter had asked the question when the others were present because the old rat knew that Raphael hated being made into a spectacle and he hated when all of his brothers looked at him like that. So he reacted in the only way that he knew would force all four of them off his back. He growled, loudly.

He fought the urge to grin at the way that his brothers lurched backwards. Splinter grimaced disapprovingly at him. But he wasn't looking for his father's approval. Not now.

"It doesn't matter whether I am or not. I'm going. Nothing short of a shot to the head is going to stop me." He snarled, aggressively, jumping to his feet and looming over each of his siblings in turn, just daring them to try and argue with him.

Leonardo stood and took a step towards him. Raph took a step back, snarling angrily. His muscles froze stiff as he suddenly found himself enclosed within his older brother's arms.

"I made you a promise Raphael. I swore to you on my honor that I would be with you. I know that it may not have sounded like a pledge to you, but in my heart it always has been. But I need you to have faith in me, Raph. You can't be stubborn and bull-headed about this." A forest green hand pushed the hothead back a step while the other raised the hothead's face. "I need you calm and at my side if we both want to get out of this alive. I almost lost you once, Raphael. Rest assured that I will do anything to keep that from happening again."

Fifty-eight hours

Donnie and Rockwell had were working on the EMP in the brainiac's lab. Leonardo and Slash were in the main room with Leatherhead, constructing a plan. Michelangelo was in the kitchen making lunch, or at least, some facsimile thereof. Raphael, lacking anything better to do, headed off to the dojo, though he soon found out that it was already occupied. He watched as Mona Lisa practiced her katas. Entering loudly, so that she knew exactly who had just joined her, Raphael remained stoic as her eyes turned to him.

"If you're gonna come with us, you'll be a whole lot safer if you have a weapon."

She just stared at him, her tail flicking slightly.

"Don't suppose you thought about that at all yet, huh?"

"Master Splinter told me to choose one."

"And?"

Her tail flicked again. She turned her back to him. "I am not well-versed in my options." She said slowly, her big brown eyes gleaming softly.

Removing one of his sais from his belt he crossed the room to stand directly in front of her. He handed her the blade and she took it awkwardly. "You don't really need to know what they are to know whether or not they feel right. Obviously, you are not comfortable with the sais. Master Splinter says that a weapon is an extension of oneself."

Mona eyed the blade in her hand a little more introspectively. "And how does he define the sais?"

"The sais are a weapon mostly of defense. Their prongs are designed to catch and break the hilts of mighty blades. They require intensive practice and dexterity." He summed up, reaching out to retrieve the blade. When Mona pulled it slightly out of his grasp he looked up at her.

"Sounds a lot like you." She said, smiling softly. Then a mischievous glint lit her eyes, "Though I should have thought you were more of the offense type."

"Just cause they're usually used more for defense doesn't mean they can't be used for offence." He answered flatly, without returning the smile. As he reached out and took the sai, she lay her hand over his.

"I could help you."

Mona's eyes narrowed warily. "I didn't ask for your help."

"Doesn't mean that I'm not going to offer it." He retorted. "If you don't want it just say so."

She sighed. "I—suppose I could use it."

Raph tucked his sai safely back in his belt and they headed towards the weapons wall. Without looking at her, he murmured, "You know, you looked pretty comfortable with the katana last night. Damn good at it, too, for a first time. Are you interested in a blade?"

There was a long pause. Finally she spoke. "I—I'm not sure. I enjoyed practicing with the katana. It wasn't easy at first but I remembered that Master Splinter once said that fearing a weapon is nonsensical. By itself it is harmless. It is truly the hands of the one who wields it which determine its deadly capacity."

"Sounds like Master Splinter to me." He remarked dryly. Mona laughed. His brain stalled for a moment, swirling around the current situation. Here he was, alone with Mona Lisa, joking and smiling, just like they had always done, yet...something just...didn't feel right. It felt almost like it wasn't real somehow.

"I liked the katana, but you said that my weapon should feel like an extension of myself..."

"Ideally, yeah." He paused for a moment as he saw that she was thinking. Probably overthinking the whole thing. So he snorted, snapping her out of her reverie. "Well if you liked the katanas so much, lets start with the blades."

They tried several, starting with the shorter ones and progressing forward. As he watched her working with them, Raphael's eyes caught onto to something interesting.

"You favor your right hand?"

She sheathed the blade she was working with and looked curiously up at him.

"Do you write with your right hand or your left?" He asked, a serious frown on his face.

"Right. Why?"

"Hmm." Was the only response she received. He took a few steps closer.

"Can you try one of the blades you tried earlier again?"

"Um, sure." She put back the one she had and took one of their earlier mistrials off the rack.

Raph watched her hands intensely as she did so and when the blade fell to the ground and her curses reached his ears his brow crinkled with concern. She hissed as she cradled her finger, which bore a thin, fresh cut. She sighed, exasperatedly.

"Maybe we should just give up and try something that isn't a blade."

"No." Raph stated, shaking his head. He grabbed her hand gently and led her away. "We're going to wash this up and get it bandaged, then we'll come back. I think I know exactly what the problem is."

To Mona's annoyance he refused to tell her right away. It wasn't until they were back in the dojo again that Raphael began to explain. "You're searching for extra room on the handle. That's why you keep cutting your fingers." When the hothead couldn't find what he was looking for on the rack he trudged over to a deep weapon's cabinet off to the side and flung the doors open. "So, if you really want a blade—" he grunted as he began sifting through the heavy iron weapons inside. "—I think I should be able to find—rrgh—exactly what you—grr—need."

Raphael's bounced back from the cabinet and almost collided with Mona Lisa full force. "Whoa! Sorry." He looked around with a frown on his face then his gaze hit the door to Master Splinter's room. "Wait here." He knocked softly and at the sound of the rat master's deep voice, ducked inside, leaving Mona alone in the dojo.

Master Splinter eyed his son contemplatively. "Is there something you wish to talk about, Raphael?"

"No, um, I mean...I'm looking for something. I checked the rack and the cabinet, but it wasn't in there."

"Ah, a weapon. And just what do you need this weapon for?"

"Mona Lisa."

The rat's fingers stroked his beard thoughtfully. "And what weapon have you determined she should have that is not readily available in the dojo?"

"A nagamaki, Sensei."

White eyebrows rose to the top of Splinter's forehead. "And upon what have you based that judgment, my son?"

"Observation. She favors her right hand and while she grasps the concept of the katana, she wields it in a manner that would be more suited for a blade with a longer handle."

"Hmm. Interesting observations, Raphael." Splinter turned away and retrieved the blade in question from a small rack of weapons on the far wall of his room. Raphael was prepared to take it from the old rat, but Sensei passed him and went out into the dojo. Raph followed not far behind. As soon as they emerged they saw Mona Lisa coming to stand in front of them. She kneeled respectfully in front of Master Splinter.

"Try this one, my student."

Mona nodded respectfully and took the blade from Sensei's hands. She unsheathed it and slowly gauged its weight before tentatively holding it in a ready stance. She made a couple of large, sweeping strokes, then tried a couple of slices. So far, so good. Slowly, she began to move around a little bit more, slicing and striking at the air. Splinter's face was unreadable, but Raphael had the distinct impression that the old rat was pleased.

"Raphael, if you would please engage her with your sais."

Shooting a hesitant glance at his Sensei, Raphael obeyed, going slowly at first to make sure that the lizard mutant could see him coming and counter as was required. Raph heard his father hum thoughtfully. Gradually, Raph allowed himself to up speed and power of his moves, coming close, but never quite succeeding in making a solid hit. Mona Lisa was learning the flow of her new weapon rapidly. She moved easily with it and it with her. The clanging of their blades drew the attention of the rest of the lair's occupants and soon, Leo, Donnie, Mikey, Rockwell, Slash and Leatherhead were all peeking inside. Raphael didn't notice. As the battle grew increasingly intense he allowed himself to let go of his inhibitions, displaying his full strength. The match was over in seconds, the nagamaki thrown from Mona's hands.

He grinned a little. "Not bad for a first try. Definitely need a few more pointers, though."

She stuck her tongue out at him, her hair falling into her face. Mona huffed and blew at the stray strands, but they fell right back down over her eyes again. "Show off."

Raphael smirked and offered her a hand up, which she took. Once she was on her feet she turned to Master Splinter and Raph took advantage of the distraction to ruffle her already mussed hair. Mona turned on him, her tail sweeping his legs out from under him with a wicked smile on her face.

"Why you—! I'll get you for that!"

She landed on top of him, playfully punching him in the plastron. Every once in a while an emerald green fist would come up and lightly attempt to throw her off, but other than that, Raph was too busy laughing to put up a fight. That is, until they realized that everyone was watching them. Then they abruptly remembered that they were supposed to be mad at each other. And yet...somehow Raph just couldn't find it in himself to be.

Everything had become awkward. Raph wasn't sure whether he should laugh, yell, or apologize. In the end, he did them all. With an awkward chuckle he and Mona both jumped to their feet. He could hear in the back of his head, his brothers making kissy noises and jabbing each other in the ribs, so he wheeled around and shouted. "SHUT UP!"

Then he turned back to Mona in embarrassed mortification. "I-I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have—I—"

"No, Raph, it's—"

"I'm gonna go." He said, barging out of the room without looking back. Mona watched with a sad frown.

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Fifty Hours

"Hey." The large, dark figure rumbled as it stepped inside Raphael's room. Raph barely even glanced up from where he was laid out on the bed.

"You guys are still here? I thought you left hours ago."

"You didn't come out for dinner, they were worried."

"Got no reason to be. I had a late lunch." He countered evenly.

Slash sighed and held up his hands. "Fine, whatever you say." He held out a pizza box to Raph. "But this one is yours whenever you actually do feel like eating."

"Thanks." He said softly.

"You're welcome." Slash said, sitting against the wall in Raph's room, taking care not to bump the drum set. "So how are you?"

"Fine."

"You didn't seem fine after you ran out of the dojo this morning." Slash murmured, trying to convey his concern to the younger turtle.

Raphael brushed it off with shrug. "I said I'm fine."

"And what about Mona Lisa?" Slash almost growled the name, which made Raph looked up at him with an eye-ridge raised.

"You sound angry."

"I'm surprised you aren't. Some of the things she said..."

"I said some pretty harsh things, too, Slash. Just lay off, alright?"

The dark, spiky turtle shook his head. "Not until you talk to me."

"Now you're starting to sound like Leo." Raph remarked dryly, rolling his eyes. Slash opened his mouth to say something, but Raph silenced him. "You're right, I was angry, but Mona's a hard person to stay angry at and I...I still care about her. I think we were both just mouthing off a little after having so much pent up frustration from everything that's been going on lately. She's...she's still..."

"You still love her." Slash filled in for him.

Raph nodded. "And I think...I'm not sure but I think that she still..."

"She does." Those words had little stars of hope shining in Raphael's eyes. Slash grinned. "If what we saw in the dojo earlier was any indication, I'd say she does."

"I know we're supposed to be mad at each other but the problem is we just can't keep it up for long, ya know? We slip back into old habits...Maybe that was the problem."

Slash canted his head and Raph elaborated.

"We didn't fool around as much after we...got together. I mean we still horsed around and stuff, but not as much as we used to. If...if she ever gives me a second chance, I think...I think I'd like a little bit more of that. I'd kinda forgotten how much fun it can be."

Slash patted his friend's shoulder jovially. "I better get going, team's waiting on me. Rest up for the big day."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Raph said rolling his eyes and crossing his arms with a smirk. Slash's frown made Raph's face sober up a little.

"I mean it, Raphael."

"I will."

Slash grinned wanly and left with a parting nod. Raph waved farewell and rolled onto his side. He sat there for about three minutes before the uncomfortable silence of his empty room really began to bug him. Eugh, bugs. He rubbed his temples. Okay, probably not the best possible wording.

When he got to the main room he did a double take. Leonardo was alone. Weird. As Raph shuffled further inside, Leo looked up at him, curiously.

"Raph."

The red-masked turtle nodded an acknowledgement and looked around suspiciously.

"What's up?"

"Where is everybody?"

"Donnie went with Rockwell to fetch some parts that might help from the Mighty Mutanimal's lair, they should be back in about an hour or so. Mikey went with them to spend some time with Leatherhead. Sensei and Mona are in the dojo."

Raphael listened to the silence coming from the aforementioned room and raised an eye-ridge. Leo answered easily. "Evening meditation."

"Surprised you aren't in there with them." Raph remarked quietly, jumping over to take a seat beside his brother.

Leo sighed and refused to look at his younger sibling. "I'm far too wound up at the moment for meditation."

Raph leaned into his older brother, purposefully jostling the older turtle. "What's up?"

The blue-masked turtle grinned and playfully bumped Raphael in return, which led to a gentle game of 'who can push their brother down first'. Raph was winning. His customary victory smirk was in place as he prepared to laugh down into Leo's face. But as always, Leo had a trick up his shell. Forest green fingers shot out and poked Raph roughly in the side, which made the hothead struggle not to laugh and allowed Leo the opening he'd been waiting for to shove his younger brother off the couch. Raph glared up at him.

"Cheater."

Leo's smug face bent down to Raph's eye-level. "I wasn't aware that there were rules."

"Grrr!" Raph threw a playful swing at Leo's face that missed.

"Too slow, Raphael!"

"Oh yeah?" Raph grabbed Leo's legs and in one, swift yank his brother was beside him. "Ha! Take that, Fearless!"

Leo laughed and they poked fun at each other for a few more minutes before the fun died down. Raph glanced wonderingly over at his older brother to see a very disconcerting look in the dark blue eyes.

"What are you so worried about?"

At first Leo avoided the question, but finally he confessed. "It's just...we've been planning all afternoon."

"And?"

"And the plan is...rough. The outcome could depend largely upon who shows up when."

"But you made adjustments for different settings, right?"

"Yes, of course." Leo said softly. "But I'm still..."

"We'll be fine, Leo. We'll come out of it. All of us."

"You can't know that, Raph."

"Maybe not, but we have to believe it, big brother. We can't set ourselves up for failure. We go into this battle with our heads held high, big brother, or we won't make it out alive. And we'll need our Fearless Leader to get us through it."

The next thing Raph knew, he was being hugged tightly. "Raph...I'm not sure I can."

Raph patted his sibling's shell comfortingly and whispered into his big brother's ear. "It doesn't matter, Leo." He pulled away and put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Because I know you can."

—————————

"Master Shredder, I do not see why we are trusting this scientist. She desires the destruction of all mutants, it will not be long before she turns on us." Tigerclaw stated softly, only minutes after the 'ally' in question had left.

"Perhaps, but if all is as she claims, the turtles will come to her seeking revenge and when they do, we shall be there to greet them."

"And the woman?"

Shredder held up his hand. "Just see that she never bothers us again."

"Yes, Master Shredder."

————————————

Forty-eight hours

"Hey Donnie?" A voice asked, breaking the silence that had settled between them as Donnie and Mikey made their way back to the sewer. Don and Rockwell were going to return to the lair to continue work on the EMP, but Slash suggested that they get some extra rest and start again first thing in the morning, so they had opted for that instead.

"Yeah, Mikey?"

"You really think we can pull this off? I mean, we have no idea how many Foot are going to be there, or what that mad-scientist lady is going to be carting in the crazy belt of hers. What if she still has that electric stun gun thingy or something even worse?"

"We can do it, Mikey. Just like we stopped the Kraang. We've just got to."

Silence fell between them again...for about thirty seconds.

"Hey Donnie?"

"Yes, Mikey?" He asked again, this time a little more exasperated. He paused when turned and saw the dangerously serious look on Michelangelo's face. "Are you okay, Mikey?"

"Do you think Leo will let me finish what I started?" He asked gravely.

Don's lips hardened into a thin line. There was no need for Michelangelo to elaborate, the brainiac knew exactly what his little brother meant. "I don't know." He answered, honestly. "But I don't think it will be up to Leo." He whispered thinking of the murderous look on Raph's face in the dojo his morning. Then he thought of the concentration on Mona Lisa's own face as she had battled Raph in the dojo earlier that day. Yes, this time, it wouldn't be up to Leo.

——————————

Fast Forward: Twelve hours

The three eldest of the turtle siblings sat in the living area, watching, but not really watching the television. Every twenty seconds or so, Raphael would change the channel, so it was hard to really get invested in any one program. Don eyed the hothead a little bit cautiously, since he could feel the tension and impatience that was radiating off of his brother in waves. Leo was absently laying by Raph's side, wondering briefly whether or not Raphael would ever settle. The atmosphere was one of anxiousness. They all just wanted to get going. Donnie and Rockwell had finished the EMP yesterday, and with nothing to do, the brainiac felt like he was sleeping on a bed of nails. Leo's mind relentlessly reviewed the plan over and over and over, brining up questions that couldn't possibly be answered until they were on their way and it was stressing him out.

"Mona Lisa!" Mikey's voice rang through the lair, startling all three of them out of their brooding states. They looked up as their little brother rushed through the lair towards the dojo. Before he could reach it, the door flung open and Mona appeared, wearing her new belt that Master Splinter had given her earlier that day. From it hung her nagamaki, tucked neatly away in its sheath.

"What is it, Mikey?" She asked calmly, which was quite impressive since the young turtle in front of her was so excited he could scarcely keep still.

"This is for you!" Mikey cheered happily, holding out a pink piece of fabric. She eyed it curiously and avoided his reaching arms as he tried to tie it around her neck. Mikey paused in his attempts and explained. "It's a scarf! You wear it around your neck! I was going to cut holes in it like for a mask, but I decided it looked nicer like this!"

Again he attempted to put it on her and again she avoided his reach. Raph growled a little at the sight, which made Donnie and Leo raise eye-ridges at him. "Leave her alone Mikey. If she doesn't want it, she doesn't want it."

"I'm just not sure I want to trust Mikey with tying something in a knot around my neck." She said.

The other turtles laughed.

"I don't want you to tie it and never be able to get it off." She said teasingly.

Mikey pouted, then an idea flew into his head. He tossed the piece of fabric perfectly so that it landed on Raph's head. "Fine, then you do it, Raph!"

Mona's cheeks flushed as they made eye contact.

Raph slowly stood up, shifting his weight nervously. "Only if she's okay with that."

"That would be fine."

He went over to her and carefully tied on the accessory, being careful not to make it too tight. Donnie brought her a mirror and she looked at it and smiled. Raph's face grew warm as she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, Raphael."

The sound of his name made him shudder, but he shook it off as best he could. His brothers just smiled, knowingly.

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How was it?