A/N: This is the final story in the Breathe Into Me arc. Like Promised Harvest this will only be a short chaptered story. Thanks to all of you for your support and seeing this arc through to the end. It really means a lot :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A lot can happen in ten years. Rivers dry up, bridges burn, people move from one city to another. Couples get married and have kids. But, above all that, they get older. It's something I never liked the thought of. But then again, what young person likes the thought of growing older and eventually meeting what awaits on the other side? But now, after being trapped in the same state I was in ten years ago, it's enough to make anyone go insane. But, that's what you get when you piss off the Grim Reaper; Death himself.

This mess I'm in is my own stupid fault. I went back on a deal I made with Death the first time I found myself in his lair back when I couldn't handle the guilt of taking someone else's life; even when they deserved it. The person I'm talking about is Derek Alfredson, an imitation Grim Reaper. For years he terrorized my family. That is until I drove a sai through his heart...if he even had one. Then came Ash Alfredson, Derek's daughter, and Aaron Travis, a torturer trained by Derek himself. Travis was employed by Ash to make me pay for killing her father. And that was when I found myself facing off against Death again. I swear I was about to open the doors to the afterlife, but Leo, Don and Mike pulled me back.

I don't blame them for what happened. How could I? If it were any of them in the position I was in I would do the same thing. I just wish Death had been more understanding. However, he's one person who doesn't like being cheated out of a soul; and we paid dearly for it. He hunted my brothers down one by one. First, he boiled Mikey to death while he was taking a bath, trapping him under the shower curtain which seemed like it had somehow come to life just for that purpose. Mikey's death was a hard blow, but it got even worse when Donnie was electrocuted during one his routine maintenance jobs. He was working on a faulty wire in the kitchen. The breakers were switched off and no one was near the breaker box. Then the lair began to smell like cooked meat.

Me and Leo rushed to the kitchen to find Donnie dead on the floor, a bundle of wires still clenched in his hand. When Leo checked the wires we discovered that they were live. We should have clued in with Mikey that something was after us. I mean, shower curtains just don't melt themselves over someone. After Donnie's death, Leo put the lair on lockdown. No one got in or out. But, Death doesn't need doors; and when we discovered who was behind Donnie and Mikey's deaths, Leo was soon joining them, his throat severed.

All I could do was watch as the last of my family slipped away. There was nothing I could do but beg Death to bring my brothers back. I pleaded that if he returned them I would go in their place. However, my punishment was far...far worse than death. I was cursed to eternally walk the land. My life was bound by blood chains to the earth. I would die when the earth died, and not by my hand or anyone else's. I would forever be burdened with the knowledge that my brother's deaths could have been prevented if I hadn't gone back on my deal with Death; and I would never be able to see my family again in the afterlife.

And since that day I went down a path I never thought I would go down. I was determined to change Death's mind and make him lift the curse. So I became obsessed with death, seeking it out in hopes that I would run into the Reaper. If a soul needed to be reaped then the Grim Reaper wouldn't be too far behind. I almost succeeded a couple of times, but he always slipped away before I could catch up.

My obsession isn't the most healthiest of choices, I know; and it's put a big strain on my friendship with April and Casey. But, ever since I was cursed with immortality I started keeping my distance from them. How could I ever explain to them how Leo, Don and Mike died and how I could never die? I'm forever locked in my thirty-five year old body, never aging or getting sick. I know they worry about me. April calls every now and then to check up on me, but I never answer; don't have the heart or stomach to.

I know I shouldn't keep them at arm's length; they're all I have left, after all. But, they're married now and have a daughter. For the life of me I can't remember the girl's name. Shadow, or something outrageous like that. Sounds like something out of one of Mikey's video games.

I was brought out of my thoughts when my shell cell started to ring. I pulled it out of my belt and looked at the caller ID. Casey again. I debated whether or not to answer. He was probably calling to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid...again. Which I wasn't. I was sitting on a high rise overlooking the city. I wasn't looking for trouble, which Casey possibly thought I was doing. Sighing in agitation and resignation, I opened the phone and placed it to my ear.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Glad to know you're still alive," Casey said jokingly.

If you only knew, I thought bitterly. "How's the family?" I asked as politely as I could.

"They're good," Casey answered. "Shadow's started cutting teeth so we're up to our eyeballs in baby tears."

So her name is Shadow. "Better you than me," I commented.

Casey's tone of voice changed to something more serious. "I wish you would come by and visit," he said. "Me and April...we miss ya, pal."

I hung my head and closed my eyes, squeezing them tight. "I miss you guys, too. I really do. It's just..." I trailed off, not being able to finish the sentence.

"Still too hard with your bros bein' gone?" Casey guessed.

"Yeah," I replied, opening my eyes.

"It's been ten years, Raph," Casey pointed out. "Don't you think it's time to let them go?"

I sighed. Married life had done much to improve on Casey's common sense, but he was still a bonehead at times. It had also made him more realistic.

"I can't," I told him stubbornly. "It's my fault they're gone. I have to make things right."

"By getting yourself killed?" Casey asked incredulously.

I can't die, bonehead. "By bringing the one that took them to justice," I answered.

"Raph..." Casey started.

"I'm gonna find him, Casey," I interrupted. "I'm gonna find him and make him pay."

Casey sighed on the other end of the line and I could hear the resignation in his voice. "Just don't do anything too rash," he said, sounding very un-Casey like of him and I wondered if April told him to say that.

Married life has changed you, Case. "I don't make promises I can't keep," I answered.

With that said, I disconnected the call and closed the phone, slipping it back into my belt. I was going to find Death again. And when I did he was going to lift this curse of immortality from me...one way or another.

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