Raphael felt groggy as he began to wake up. His entire body was so tired that it felt almost numb, but that was the least of his worries. Somewhere nearby (or was it far? He couldn't tell because the volume of the voices seemed to drift in and out) familiar voices were speaking. One was so soft and gentle, the other seemingly trying to sound collected and in control.

"Any change?"

"Neither of them has woken up yet. Are we sure that they all left."

"There doesn't seem to be any of them left. April's on her way, so hopefully she'll get here before anyone decides to come back."

"They won't come back if they're counting this as a victory…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Leo, he's a mess and they know it. I'm afraid that he's in too bad of shape to be moved. His spinal cord was completely severed."

"Does that mean he'll be paralyzed?"

"If he's lucky… But I don't… I don't think he'll make it."

"Are you sure? I mean… He's too strong to… He can't."

"Yes, I'm sure! I wish I wasn't. But… God, he's bled so much and he's in such bad shape. There's only so much I could do and this… There's no way I could help him. He's… he's gonna die, Leo." A sob was choked back by the voice in question.

Raphael's grogginess started to dissipate the second he realized that his younger brother had said that word die. Coming to himself, he realized that he was actually lying on his side on the cement roof of a building with his left cheek pressed against the ground. It was nighttime. Confused by where he was, he focused on his brothers' conversation. Leonardo and Donatello sounded grave and distraught. Who were they talking about? Think Raphael. Think. What had he done last? They'd been in the lair. Pizza. Then patrolling with Michelangelo. But what happened?

Karai! She'd shown up. Ambush. There'd been so many Foot ninja, too many for just two turtles to handle, and Michelangelo… "Mikey!" He'd been hurt! Raphael had heard his youngest brother's yell and had turned away from his fight with Karai to see Michelangelo fall to the ground. He broke ignored Karai and went on to attack the ninja nearest his brother. After that he couldn't remember much more… Did he hit his head? That didn't matter. What his brother's had said… Was Michelangelo dying?

Raphael suddenly became aware that Leonardo was beside him, looking at him worriedly. He tried to push himself up but his tired arms wouldn't let him. And instead of helping, Leonardo just set a hand on his arm, gently holding him in place.

"Where'd she go, Leo? I'm gonna kill her!" Raphael tried his best to sound strong while he put up a weak struggle against his brother's hold.

"Karai got away." Donatello was looking at Raphael fearfully from over the leader's shoulder. He too was kneeling on the ground, only beside another of the brothers. He looked like he was trying to hide something.

"Mikey!" Raphael called stubbornly, looking at the motionless turtle. He again fought against Leonardo's hold, but even in anger he was too tired.

"Raphael! You need to stop moving around like that! You're hurt!" Leonardo didn't have to put up much effort, though. He held him down firmly with one hand and rubbed against his plastron in a soothing gesture with the other.

"But Mikey! I want-"

"He's unconscious, Raph," Leonardo said softly.

"Michelangelo!" Raphael called out. When he once again received no reply, he stopped fighting. "Fuck! What's wrong with Mikey?"

"He'll be fine." Leonardo relaxed a bit at seeing his brother stop.

"He's hurt… I let 'im get hurt Leo!"

"Raph, stop it or you are going to hurt yourself worse!"

"It's my fault… all my fault."

"He's going to be okay," Donatello said, but Raphael heard his hesitance and felt again that he was hiding something.

Raphael looked Leonardo in the eyes. "I failed 'im."

"You didn't fail anyone," Leonardo said.

"I let my guard down… I didn't have his back enough. I'm sorry… so sorry."

"You did great, Raph. Mike will be fine." Leonardo's eyes were filled with tears, and Raphael could hear the strain in his voice. "You saved his life."

"But he's-"

"Going to be okay," Leonardo insisted. "He'll just have a nasty headache and some stitches to deal with. Michelangelo will be fine."

"But Leo…" Raphael felt worn out, no energy left to fight back his tears. "I heard Donny. Mikey's gonna… he's gonna…" Why did his head feel so fuzzy?

"You misheard."

"'M sorry," Raphael slurred. If he'd been a bit more alert, he might've heard the groan from his youngest brother.

"Shhhh." Leonardo set his hand on the back of Raphael's neck, and Raphael thought the warmth felt amazing.

"I heard 'im… heard ya both… he's dyin'…"

Leonardo shook his head and suddenly let his tears fall. "Not Mikey."

"Wish I coulda… done a… better job…"

"You did a perfect job," Leonardo whispered. "You always did a perfect job."

"Raph?"

Raphael looked past Leonardo to see Michelangelo staring at him in horror. He saw Donatello pulling him to the side and whispering something.

"See?" Leonardo said. "He's fine. He's going to be just fine."

Raphael looked away from the two younger turtles to his leader. "Then… who?"

Leonardo let out a sob almost simultaneously with Michelangelo's cry of shock. "Oh, Raph," he said, his head hanging a bit.

"Leo?" Looking around at all three of his brothers, he noticed that they were all giving him the same pitiful look. "Leo, what's… wrong?"

He faintly heard Donatello's cry to not move him as Leonardo pulled him up a bit so that his shell rested against the eldest turtle's plastron. One strong arm held him tight around the chest, while the other rubbed his arm. Leonardo rested his cheek against the top of Raphael's head. "It's going to be okay, Raph," he whispered fearfully. "Shhhh."

"Leo…" Raphael felt confused, but he was too tired to keep asking questions.

"I love you, Raph," Leonardo choked out. "I don't say it enough. Spent too much time fighting with you. But… God… I only did it because I wanted to protect you. I wanted to keep you safe. That's my job… I just… I just want you to be okay. You're my brother, and I love you so much."

Now he was really confused. Why on earth would Leonardo be getting all sentimental suddenly? Normally, he might've blown him off, but something about the urgency in his voice made him feel like he should respond. "You too, bro…" His eyes felt heavy. "So tired…"

"No! Don't go." Michelangelo knelt nervously beside him.

"Ain't goin'… anywhere…" Raphael mumbled. "Just… nap…"

"Raphael…" Donatello grabbed one of his hands.

"Donny?"

Donatello shook his head to keep back tears. He put on a fake smile as one of his hands pressed against Raphael's side. Raphael wondered briefly why, but it didn't matter that much. "You were great, tonight. You took care of Mike."

"Woulda done it… for you, too…" Raphael glanced at Michelangelo. "Glad yer… alright.

Leonardo could've sworn his own heart stopped the second he felt Raphael go still in his arms. He shook him very lightly. "Raphael?"

Donatello let go of Raphael, his one hand covered in his brother's blood. "He's… gone."

Leonardo shifted his brother's body in his arms so that he could see his face. His eyes were still open, their glassy appearance eerie. The eldest turtle let out one final sob as he closed Raphael's eyes.

Michelangelo shot to his feet, ignoring the dizziness from his concussion and the blood flowing from the wound in his shoulder. He paced back and forth for a minutes, breathing erratically. "No no no no no no no…" He stumbled a bit and looked down to see that he had tripped over. Raphael's sai was covered in blood. He knelt down and picked it up.

"Mike?" Don's soft voice called.

"Fix it, Leo," Michelangelo whispered. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.

They were all silent for a moment, before Michelangelo slammed the sai into the ground. "How did this happen!" he shouted.

He made to stand but did so too quickly. Fortunately, Donatello was there for support when he felt a bit faint. The scientific turtle was about to say something when his shell cell began to ring and he could hear the sound of April's van on the street below. "Leo, I'll… uh… get Michelangelo down to the van." He began to walk away with Michelangelo, but stopped to look back at the other two. Leonardo had not made a move to get up. "Do you want me to send Casey up?"

"No. I'll bring him down in a minute."

Donatello nodded unsurely but proceeded to leave with his exhausted, dizzy little brother.

Once the two of them were gone, Leonardo held Raphael tight to him a moment longer. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry, Raphael. It shouldn't have been you. Not any of you. I should have taken care of her a long time ago, but I kept giving her chances. I made a mistake that none of my brothers should have paid for. Never again. Karai may have gotten away tonight, but I will not let her get away with this. She will pay this time. I swear."