Disclaimer: I just own the idea for this, not the guys, April, Casey, or Splinter.
ONESHOT
Warning: character death.
Make a Choice
It had been three weeks, three long painful weeks of searching and finding nothing.
Until now…
Now Raphael stood over the body of his eldest brother, broken, bleeding, and…dead. Leonardo was still, his eyes slited, just barely open, body sprawled haphazardly across the ground where hehad been dumped.
Tossed aside.
Like garbage.
Raphael knelt and fighting tears he gently closed his brother's eyes, bowing his head afterward.
Leo's limbs were broken, his plastron and carapace cracked, his skin bruised, cut, torn. His mask was soaked in his own blood, now drying. His face was a tattered mess, his hands and feet weren't much better.
Raph sat up and looked at Leo with a few tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry we were too late bro…I'm so sorry," Raph sobbed, pressing a hand to his face.
The beeping of his shell cell made him jump.
He looked at the device and then as his broken brother.
"It'll kill Splinter…the others bro…you have to understand that…they need to hope…," Raph mumbled after a minute before wiping away tears and gathering himself.
He flicked the lid open and waited, amber eyes flicking fearfully toward Leo's cooling form.
Did you find him? Don's voice demanded.
Raph paused and swallowed.
"No…I'll keep lookin' though," Raph mumbled.
'kay…he'll be fine Raph…come on it's Leo after all…he can take care of himself…he's probably just…just…laying low somewhere… Don's voice broke off as nervous sobs took its place.
"Yeah…like I keep sayin' he'll be waltzing in any minute," Raph mumbled, "get Mikey to make some dinner or something…I'm going to look around once more."
Hurry home Raphie
For once Raphael didn't argue about the nickname. He closed the cell and turned to Leo's limp figure gently lifting Leo's stiffening body and cradling him to his chest.
"They've gotta have hope," he sobbed, seeming to be trying to convince himself.
Raph walked into the abandoned warehouse a few blocks away, built a pier, laid Leonardo on it, and lit a match.
He gently touched his brother's forehead, tears streaming.
"I'll take care of them…I promise…I promise," Raph managed before he gently removed his brother's mask and dropped the match.
He stepped back as the flames leapt upward, consuming the body on the pier. Raph stood there, watching, as tears fell and waited.
After all that was left was ashes he gently gathered them up into the coffee can he had found and left.
As he headed home he stopped at central park and scattered the ashes among the flower beds, touching the soaked mask once more he turned toward home.
"I promise to take care of them…but they need to hope bro. They need to hope," Raph managed before turning completely and running toward a manhole cover.
END
Reviews Please!
Ok I just sort of had an idea and ran with it here. A question leapt into my mind as I was working on one of my other stories. What if Leo was found dead by one of his brothers and the fact that one of the guys being lost would shatter the family? What if a death would fragment them? So Make a Choice was born.
Hope you guys enjoyed it…well…you know what I mean…
REVIEW!