Fight another Day

By

Hannio

Chapter One

A problem shared isn't a problem solved

Disclaimer – None of the characters mentioned in the below work of fiction belong to me in any shape or form; I'm merely borrowing them for my own entertainment.

Author note – Second new chapter story. Just my take on a plot which I'm sure has been used before. What can I say sometimes the classics are the best.

Hope you enjoy.

"You seem stressed, more so then usual even for you" Raphael stopped in his tracks and glanced back over his shoulder, his gaze focusing on his brother with his usual scowl in place.

"What do you want?" he growled watching as Donatello stood up slowly from the chair he had been seated in and walked silently across the living area, coming to a stop just outside of Raphael's grip. He crossed his arms across his chest and spoke, his voice soft and quiet in the otherwise silent lair.

"You seem angry over something, is there anything wrong Raph? Anything I can help with?" Raphael snorted, his eyes flickering away from Donatello's instead focusing on the blank TV screen to the side of them.

"Nothing" he said "There's nothing wrong with me Donnie so why don't you go back to whatever it is you're doing and leave me be" Donatello bit the inside of his lip and waited, his gaze focused on Raphael as the other turtle turned and walked away from him, back straight with his hand clenched into fist at his side. He watched him climb the stairs before he disappeared into his bedroom, the door closing firmly behind him.

Donatello sighed out loud; turning and walking slowly back to his desk with a thoughtful look on his face. Raphael had seemed so much more tense recently, there was clearly something which was on his mind but he wouldn't speak to any of them about it, anytime one of them built up the courage to approach him about it he would go silent and disappear as fast as he could, either retreating to the surface or into his room where he would stay for at least a few hours.

It was driving them all mad with concern. This behaviour just wasn't typical behaviour for Raphael. The hiding from questions, the refusing to answer them only to retreat was more something that Donatello would do. Not Raphael. Raphael normally faced life and problems head on regardless of any possible repercussions to his actions.

Donatello sat back in his chair and picked up the small prototype he had been working on the past couple of days. He fiddled with it half-heartedly before he placed it down on the table staring blankly at it. He needed to do something to help Raphael; he couldn't focus his mind on any other problem but that one at the moment.

He glanced behind him again his eyes focusing in the closed door. He was never good at this sort of thing. Donatello was too logical to deal with emotions problems. He kept his own emotions under wrap, deep down not allowing them to cloud his judgement. Both Leonardo and Michelangelo were better at relating to emotional problems then he was. They would be the logical choices to go and bang on Raphael's door demanding answers and emission. Still neither of them was there. Leonardo having dragged Michelangelo for extra training as punishment for slacking off during their training sessions.

That left just himself and Raphael in the lair which meant it was up to him to help Raphael with whatever it was that was troubling him. The same way that he knew Raphael would go out of his way to help him if the situation was reversed.

Donatello stood and made his way across the room again and up the stairs stopping outside Raphael's door. He hesitated for a moment before he set his shoulders and knocked firmly on the door waiting for an acknowledgement. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say when Raphael opened the door but now he was here he had to do something. He waited before sighing and knocking again.

"I'm not leaving until you open the door Raph, I want to talk to you, please open the door" he waited and breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the lock latch click and the door opened revealing Raphael's annoyed face.

"What do you want Donnie?" he demanded, Donatello glanced away from him for a moment before looking back and speaking.

"Let's go to the surface. I want to go on a run but you know what Leo and Master Splinter are like at the moment. They don't want us to go to the surface alone and neither Mikey nor Leo are here, they've already gone out and I err… I really want to go so I was sorta hoping that maybe you would come with me." Donatello trailed off as he realised he had been babbling. He resisted squirming under Raphael's blank stare with difficulty. Whatever Raphael saw caused him to straighten and nod his head.

"Fine" he said curtly, he turned and reached out grabbing his Sais from the table situated by the door, slipping them into his belt slot and left his room, closing the door behind him "You best leave a note for fearless, you know what he is like, If we aren't here when he gets back then his head will explode or something" Donatello smiled at him. Regardless of what Raphael said, he cared a great deal for his brothers.

"I'll make sure he knows where we are" Donatello remarked leading them both down the stairs.

"Where do you want to go?" Raphael asked waiting while Donatello grabbed his Bo and his bag, the same bag that went everywhere with him regardless of where they went.

"I don't mind, I thought we could head to the rooftops and see where they bring us" Raphael looked at him with the same unreadable expression as before though all he did was nod his head.

"This is your run" Raphael commented after a moment silence as Donatello scribbled a quick note explaining where they were "Wherever you want to go is where we will go"

"Great, let's head off then" Donatello said making his way out of the doorway without another word. He remained silent as he led Raphael out into the tunnels and towards the surface.

"We need to head up this one" Raphael suddenly said breaking the silence between them, as he leant forward and grabbed Donatello by the arm bringing the other turtle to a halt. Donatello looked back at him with a questioning look. "This one" Raphael repeated indicating the man hole above them to the left. "This manhole will take us to the East side of the city. It's a more derelict area so we're less likely to be spotted by anyone. It's the area I take Mikey when we head to the surface" Donatello followed his brother's finger with his eyes before nodding his head and heading in that direction.

"Sounds good to me" he commented, reaching out and taking a hold of the ladder he climbed up and using one hand he pushed the manhole cover up, looking cautiously out, like Raphael had said the area was deserted. He pushed it off completely and climbed out into the cold air. He stood and waited while Raphael emerged, his gaze focused on the surrounding area, scanning for any potential threat to them.

"Get to the roof" Raphael said as he pulled the manhole cover back into place and stood up. Donatello gave him a quick glance before climbing the fire escape to the roof. Now he was here he still had no idea what he was going to say to his brother. He had hoped that the words would somehow have planted themselves into his head during their journey.

"So what do you really want Don?" Raphael asked as he flipped himself onto the roof.

"I wanted a run" Donatello answered with a hopeful look on his face. Raphael raised an eye ridge at him.

"You never want to go on runs" Raphael stated blandly "You resent having to do training runs at the best of time because it means you have less time to invent. You have never once suggested going on a run" Donatello reached out and scratched his head.

"Fine" he admitted "I thought you might need a run to help clear your head or something"

"I think it would take more then a run to do that" Raphael muttered quietly, his eyes moving away from Donatello's to stare at the darkening sky above them.

"Look Raph, what is wrong with you?" Donatello asked turning to face Raphael "Even you aren't this upset all the time. Has something happened that we don't know about? Have you had a row with Casey or something?"

"No" Raphael replied shortly before turning away and making his way to the edge of the building "You want to run Donnie boy then lets run" he said before leaping off the building and onto the next roof. Donatello sighed before setting off after him. He highly doubted that Raphael would stop and wait for him which meant that he would have to keep up with him if he could. A task that was never easy at the best of times. Raphael may have been the bulkiest of them but that didn't detract from his speed in any form.

Donatello found himself grinning as he raced after his brother; he always forgot how much he enjoyed these runs until he was actually doing them. He nearly smacked into the other turtle when Raphael came to a sudden halt on a rooftop, his breathing steady showing no signs of the workout he had just had.

"Raph what's up? Have you seen something?" Donatello hurried over to the edge and peered over expecting to see a crime in process instead he was met with a completely empty street "Err Raph?" he turned back with a confused expression to see Raphael still standing the in the same spot where he had stopped, head bowed, hands curled into fists at his side. Donatello waited for a moment before speaking again. "Raphie why have we stopped?" Raphael glanced up his gaze pinning Donatello to the spot.

"I hate this" Raphael said lowly, his voice little above a rumble.

"Hate what?" Donatello asked in confusion "Running? Because if you do we could always stop and turn back?" Raphael shook his head.

"No not that" he said impatiently "I hate all of this" he indicated the city with his hand. "Doesn't it ever piss you off that we have to deal with all the mess that the people of the city make for themselves? Everyday they find some new sadistic thing to do to each other. The foot aren't operating at the moment, they've gone below ground. The purple dragons are lost without Hun so what exactly are we protecting them from?"

Donatello blinked in surprised and tried to gather his scattered thoughts. Out of all of them this was the sort of speech he never expected Raphael to say. Leonardo perhaps, Michelangelo maybe but never Raphael. The other turtle was always first in line to protect the people of the city.

"Is this what has been bothering you?" he asked and Raphael nodded his head.

"It doesn't matter how many scumbags we take off the street there always seems to be about a million more who are more ruthless and hungry for violence waiting to take their place"

"I get that Raph but this is what we've been taught to do" Donatello said as he took a step towards his brother "We've always been taught to protect the weak against the strong"

"Well perhaps they should learn to do it themselves Donnie; I'm tired of fighting for them. I'm tired of the injuries; I'm tired of the constant guilt I feel when one of you is injured. This battle, this stupid war is not ours to fight. Our battle is with the Foot clan or the purple dragons or Bishop and his lackeys. It isn't for anyone else. We shouldn't have to risk ourselves for this and for them"

Donatello remained silent, his gaze fixed on Raphael who was glaring into the distance, a darkness to him that Donatello didn't know how to crack.

"We do it because its right, it's not up to us to decide who we fight and who we protect. When we learnt these skills from Master Splinter we swore we would use it for the city to protect them"

"We didn't though" Raphael replied sharply "Master Splinter didn't want us to have anything to do with the upper world. He told us to stay away from them and to keep to the shadows, hidden from their gazes…" his voice trailed off.

"Raph what happened to make you feel this way? I mean out of all of us you were the one who really fought to go to the surface. You always said how important it was for us to help them"

"I don't know Donnie" Raphael replied after a moment's pause. "I don't know what has made me feel this way. I'm just being stupid; just forget this whole conversation even happened. Let's go" he said before turning and turning across the rooftop. He was gone before Donatello even had time to blink.

All he could do was stare after his brother with a hopeless feeling in his stomach. This was much more serious then he had first imagined and he had no idea what he was meant to do next, all he knew was that he had to do it soon before things got worse.

Author Note – Yay another chapter done. Chapter two is already written in my note book so I should be able to update within two weeks which is always a bonus.

Hope you like it, please review but no flames. Thank you for reading.