His arm was screaming at him, but he'd lost the Foot who'd been following. From the feel, he thought he might have popped it from the socket, but the slash dripping blood was his major concern. Already, his mind was fogging over. The thought of going to April and Mike came and went. Leo was there for...some reason. He couldn't think. Besides, he'd struck out on his own, he couldn't go running back at the first bit of trouble.

iAnd if you die? Leave Mike like Donnie did?/i The thought stopped him in his tracks, the memory of his missing brother ripping through him now that his mental blocks were down.

He leaned against an alley wall, breathing hard, desperately ignoring his eye's desire to tear up. Shell, a little injury and he became a wimp. Cover, he had to find cover. The building he'd blown up would anger Shredder and soon the Foot would be swarming the streets and shadows to find him. He was so tired though. Tired from blood loss, tired of fighting back memories of what had been, just...tired. His legs started to give out under him and he would have slid to the ground if not for a pair of arms catching him.

"Raph! Shell, Raph what-" the voice trailed off as darkness took over him.

He was in and out of consciousness, his mind tricking him with glimpses of olive skin and pained brown eyes. He clung to the darkness where dreams and memories couldn't reach him. It wasn't in him to stay there though. His pride wouldn't allow it, however much he wished otherwise.

His eye blinked open slowly, focusing on the unfamiliar ceiling. He didn't move, letting his senses tell him he wasn't bound in any way. At least that meant Shredder hadn't found him. There was a mild throbbing in his arm where the slash had been, a sign of it healing for all that it hurt. So whoever had found him had been caring for him.

The footsteps reached him before the person, soft and quiet but there if you knew how to listen. He tried to ignore what his mind had started screaming, too used to delusions and dreams to believe until a familiar but long since unseen face came into view.

iDonnie.../i

He took a moment to wonder just when he'd gone insane enough to see things as hope, pain, relief and temper wound their way through him. After so many years, so much searching, Don was just ithere/i, new scars littering his body but the same compassionate eyes as always. This had to be a trick of his eyes, but he'd never pictured Don as any different than the last time he'd seen him.

His imagination just wasn't that good.

Don was staring at him with those sad eyes, not dropping his gaze as the words whispered from his throat, "I'm so sorry, Raph."

Temper took the lead, crashing inside him. The pure fact that his body was too weak still was the only thing that kept him in the bed. "Where have you been?" The question demanded an answer, forced itself into the air between them. Don still held his gaze, letting him see the pain and distress that seemed to overwhelm the other.

"I...I...I can't, Raph. I'm sorry," Don swallowed, finally breaking the eye contact. "I can't talk about it. Not yet."

He wanted to rant, to yell and curse. So many years, decades, without a word and now without an explanation? But that look in Don's eyes held his tongue. Shaking his head, he sighed and nodded. "Fine." The silent thanks when Don looked at him again made it worth it.

"I came back as soon as I could," Don's voice was soothing, not in tone but just to here it. "I...I wish it had been sooner..." A cautious hand reached out to touch the sewed shut eye hole.

Raph tensed, watching Don, his mind flying through everything Don didn't know. Leo's sight, Mike's arm, Master Splinter..."It's okay, Donnie. You're back now." He swallowed. "Kinda good timing for me."

"I've been back for days, but I...I couldn't find anyone. I ended up outside the city and...well, the measures Shredder took to watch the old lair were obvious and pitiful. The explosion...I took a chance it was one of you. Figured Shredder wouldn't be watching the old place unless...unless there was one I could find. Took out the Foot following you and then tracked you to that alley.

He felt a mild disappointment that it hadn't been completely his own skills that had kept him from being followed, but he couldn't focus on it. Reaching out with his good hand, he took Don's. "Like I said, good timing for me." Don's hand was warm and real, solid. It more than anything convinced him this wasn't a dream. Don squeezed back with a small smile. He felt the muscles in his face protest the unfamiliar movement as he smiled back. "Don..."

"I thought of you. Even...even through the worst, I thought of you and...you saved my sanity, Raph."

Something clogged his throat at Don's quiet words. Tugging, he toppled Don on top of him, ignoring the pain in his arm as he wrapped it around Don's shell, holding tight. He felt the tension in Don, felt it ease as Don shifted, holding him just as tightly while they each ignored the tears they couldn't stop. Time lost meaning for awhile. All that mattered was Don, here and alive, back with them after so long. He didn't care what Leo and Mike would say or do, set aside bad news for later.

Life wasn't perfect, never would be, but with Donnie back, it was so much closer.

It was a surprise and a pleasure to feel Don's lips press lightly into his shoulder. Things he'd tried so long to forget flooded back into him. Their secret, the nights in the garage with awkward fumbling, the glances when no one else was looking...he'd tried to lock them away more than just the memories of Don. His hands slid over Don's skin, the pain in his arm insignificant to the pleasure.

A slight nudge and their lips met, filling him, healing so many of the internal scars he'd long since stopped noticing. Don's churr sent sparks of feelings through him. He churred back, lacing his tongue with Don's.

It had been years since he felt so alive. The rush when he managed something to upset Shredder wasn't the same, was so pale in comparison to the flames licking through him now. They explored each other, relearned the skin that had once been as familiar as their own. Everything in him focused on Don, in pleasing Don as Don pleased him. Their gasps and moans melded to one sound, their final cries as they hit the peak washing out the last of their pain. They shifted after, settling together and curling close, gently touching still until they fell asleep.

They were together, and nothing would separate them again.