A/N: Some of you asked me for the part where Leo, Don and Mike find out about Raph's singing in Epitaph. Well, here you go. I hope you enjoy it. For those who haven't read the Stone Cold series (Stone Cold, Death's Return and Epitaph) it would be best to read those first to understand this story better.
Thanks to Amonraphoenix and Darkunderworld for beta-ing for me.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I only borrow
Raphael lay stretched out on the couch, a blanket wrapped snugly up to his waist, a pillow nestled comfortably behind his back, and a motorcycle magazine open in his hands. It had been four days since his failed suicide attempt and his brothers kept a vigilant watch over him; especially Michelangelo, who insisted on making Raphael as comfortable as possible to the point of being annoying. In fact, Raphael had Michelangelo to thank for his current situation, but in all honesty, the red masked turtle didn't mind it at all.
Raphael glanced up briefly from the magazine and listened to the sounds of the lair. Rhythmic swings could be heard coming from the dojo, meaning Leonardo was practicing his katas. Steady typing drifted out from the lab, possibly from Donatello upgrading the security systems again. But it was the humming from the kitchen that caught Raphael's attention. He immediately recognized the tune and involuntarily cringed inwardly. It was the tune from the The Phantom of the Opera; a musical Raphael never wanted to see or hear ever again for as long as he lived.
While his brothers were buried alive in park lakes throughout the city - no thanks to the serial killer calling himself the Grim Reaper, also known as Derek Alfredson to the Turtles - Raphael had to search the city for clues containing the whereabouts of the coffins in which his brothers were being held prisoner. One such clue had led him to the Majestic Theatre, where a theatrical group had been rehearsing the musical The Phantom of the Opera. Unfortunately, the man who was in the role of the Phantom had been ill that fateful night, and as torturous punishment for his crime of living, Alfredson had made sure that Raphael filled in for the missing man.
Raphael had never breathed a word of his search to his brothers, especially his adventures in singing, and he hoped they would never find out. His thoughts were broken when Michelangelo came out of the kitchen, now singing at the top of his lungs, and Raphael had to make a conscious effort not to cover his ears. However, it didn't stop the shiver of fear that shot down his spine.
Michelangelo noticed his brother shiver and immediately took it the wrong way. He hurried over to Raphael's side and dropped down to his knees, putting a hand to his brother's forehead. "You okay, Raph?" the youngest asked. "Do you feel okay?"
Raphael gently smacked Michelangelo's probing hand away. "I'm fine, Bonehead," he replied gruffly. "Can I be cold without you thinking I'm getting sick?"
Michelangelo got to his feet and put his hands on his hips. "In case you've forgotten, Bro, you were dead for a good five minutes, at least and who knows what's in that run off water that filled your lungs."
Raphael placed the magazine down on his lap and held his hands out. "Do I look dead, now?" he asked. He put his hands down. "Cut me some slack, I'm fine, never felt better."
"I will when Donny deems you fit for duty," Michelangelo replied, crossing his arms. "You should have passed the point of no return. You should be dead."
He couldn't help it; Raphael visibly shuddered, causing Michelangelo to raise an eyebrow in a questioning manner.
"You sure you're really okay, Dude?" the orange banded brother asked worriedly.
Raphael put a hand over his eyes and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the nightmarish memories. He took a deep, shaky breath and blinked his eyes open; reminding himself that his brothers were safe and that the monster responsible for so many deaths was dead. Raphael looked up to find Michelangelo giving him another concerned look.
"I'm good, Mikey," Raphael told his baby brother. "You don't have to worry."
Michelangelo tapped his fingers together. "But, I do worry, Raph," he said. "How can I not? Alfredson drove you to the brink." He let his arms fall to his sides. "Ya know Donny's been trying to figure out just what exactly that creep put you through?"
Raphael's gaze drifted over to the dojo. "I'm sure Donny ain't the only one tryin' to figure that out," he commented softly.
Michelangelo tilted his head to one side. "What was on the backs of those riddles, Raph?" he suddenly asked.
Raphael turned to face the youngest again. "What riddles?"
Michelangelo crossed his arms and frowned. "Don't play dumb with me, Raph. I saw the riddles you had taped together in the back of the Battle Shell while we were going to get Leo. What was on the back of them?"
Raphael looked away, wondering why his brother didn't just turn the sheets over to see for himself. "Why didn't you just turn them over?" he asked.
Michelangelo swallowed and glanced down at the floor. "I was afraid of what I would find," he admitted in a small, quiet voice.
The older of the two nodded and pushed the blanket off of his legs as he began to get up off the couch. "Keep it that way."
"But-" Michelangelo began.
Raphael stood up and put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Trust me, Mikey, you don't want to go there. Let's just say it was a twisted version of a scavenger hunt with you, Don and Leo as the grand prize." He gave Michelangelo a rare, but genuine smile. "I'm just glad I won."
"What's so bad that you won't tell us what you had to do?" Michelangelo wanted to know.
Raphael swallowed nervously as he remembered getting busted by the cops for breaking into the Chrysler Building and his singing debut at the Majestic Theatre. He inwardly cringed. He didn't mind the part where he got arrested. Getting out, that hadn't turned out so bad; it was the singing part he was most afraid of them finding out about.
"Raph?" Michelangelo asked, tearing his brother out of his swirling thoughts.
Raphael patted his brother on the shoulder and smiled again. "Like I said, it's nothing you have to worry about. It's done and over with. Besides, I burned those riddles weeks ago."
With that, Raphael walked away. Michelangelo narrowed his eyes, having a sneaking suspicion that his brother was hiding something. He made his way into Donatello's lab and walked over to the scientist. Donatello was busily typing away at what looked like a hacking program.
"You know hacking's illegal, right?" Michelangelo asked.
Donatello looked up at his brother before returning his attention back to the computer. "This is Alfredson's computer," he stated simply.
Michelangelo hissed in disgust. "What are you doing with that creep's computer?"
"I managed to find out where Alfredson had been hiding and found his old computer," Donatello explained. "I'm trying to understand what Raph went through, and this is the best lead I've got since Raph won't talk to us about what happened."
He finished entering the program and the screen lit up with the Grim Reaper's personal entry logs. Donatello and Michelangelo looked at each other before the purple banded brother got to work on sifting through the logs. He came across a few surveillance videos. Donatello randomly clicked on the one titled Majestic Theatre. The lab was instantly filled with the sounds of the song Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera and very pleasant deep-toned voice.
Footsteps padded up to the door and Leonardo appeared in the doorway. He poked his head into the room and gave his brothers a questioning look. Michelangelo motioned for Leonardo to join them in watching the video. Leonardo walked over and stood beside Michelangelo and gazed down at the computer screen. He frowned when he thought he saw something hidden underneath the Phantom mask of the person who was singing.
"Donny, is there any way to enlarge the picture?" Leonardo asked.
Donatello paused the recording and typed something into the computer. Seconds later, the image expanded, and Leonardo pointed to a spot on the Phantom's shoulder. Donatello took the silent motion as in indication to zoom in on that area.
"Does that look like mask tails to you?" Leonardo asked slowly, uncertain if he could trust his eyes to what he was seeing.
"Red mask tails, at that," Michelangelo added impishly.
Donatello stared at the computer screen and slowly blinked, pressing the play button again to hear the rest of the song. He strained his ears to hear above the music and focus on the voice alone. Sure enough, there was the slightest hint of the ever present Brooklyn accent of his hot-headed brother's voice.
"Did you guys know that Raph could sing?" Michelangelo asked, a mischievous grin creeping across his face.
"I thought he always thought singing was for wimps," Leonardo confessed.
Michelangelo couldn't believe what he was hearing; this was the best thing he had ever heard. He was so going to be on Raphael's case about this for a very long time.
Raphael roamed around the kitchen looking for something to eat when he found himself humming Music of the Night. He immediately stopped humming and tried to figure out why he was humming the song. A chill ran its icy fingers down his spine and Raphael slowly turned around to find Michelangelo standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his arms crossed and a very evil grin plastered across his face. Raphael swallowed nervously, knowing that Michelangelo knew something he wasn't supposed to know.
"What-" Raphael began.
"I don't care what the circumstances behind it were, dude, you're never going to live this one down," Michelangelo cut in.
Raphael moved his head slightly to one side in a questioning manner. "What are you talking about?" he asked slowly.
Michelangelo uncrossed his arms and walked over to his brother. "Talk about singing for your supper."
Raphael's heart plunged into the pit of his stomach. "How did you-"
"Donny got Alfredson's computer," Michelangelo answered, the grin never leaving his face. "He managed to hack into it and found a bunch of security footage Alfredson put up around the city. There was one really interesting video at the Majestic Theatre. The Phantom costume needed work but the singing was spot on."
Raphael's anxiety began to turn to anger. "If you breathe one word of this to anyone, you're dead," he hissed to his brother threateningly.
Michelangelo began backing up towards the door. "Too late, Dude. Donny, Leo and even Sensei already know about your singing hobby…oh and Donny e-mailed it to April and Casey as well."
Raphael charged after his brother. Michelangelo let out a yelp and bolted for the door.
"You're dead, Mikey!" Raphael roared as he barreled after his baby brother.
"It was too good to pass up," Michelangelo called out over his shoulder.
"I'm gonna crush you, you twerp," Raphael snarled.
Michelangelo ran through the lair trying to escape the wrath of his older brother. Donatello and Leonardo poked their heads around the lab door and watched their brothers run through the lair.
"Do you think we should help Mikey?" Donatello asked.
Leonardo hummed in thought. "He might still have a chance of outrunning Raph," he replied slowly.
Raphael dove for Michelangelo and tackled him to the ground. They both hit the floor with a thud. Leonardo huffed.
"Then again," he said. "Maybe not."
"Leo! Donny! Help!" Michelangelo pleaded, seeing them standing nearby.
"Ain't no one gonna save ya this time, Bro," Raphael told him.
Donatello grinned. "It's over now, the music of the night," he sang as he leaped into rough housing with Leo following close behind.
Reviews are welcome, flames are not.