yukio87: Do not worry this is not a romance story. The character helping Leo is just someone helping him out rather than the both of them falling in love.

TMNTLOVER18: Please don't beat Raph with a bat...yet... I need him alive for a bit longer then you can have him.

Black Rose Dragon: Many thanks to you and your support I hope you read what I wrote and continue to read and support my writings.

To everyone else please read the A.N at the end because I need to know if I need to fix my writing for later on because of some of the reviews I have been getting.


Chapter 1

Raph stepped out of his room the next day with bags under his eyes. Running to the bathroom quickly he splashed his face with water, as he rubbed his face dry he stared into the reflection of the mirror. Something was different than before. True he never liked Leo being leader and he would point out his flaws but deep down he never hated him. But each time he saw him Raph saw his imperfections and how he would never be the leader that Leo once was. Raph rubbed the long scar across the side of his head.

A week after he was given the title of leader Raph took Leo with him to investigate a tunnel in the sewers on why it had been closed off. During their investigations neither one of them knew that above them the city decided they needed to close the tunnel so they setup TNT to blow it up. By the time either of them saw the TNT it was too late. Raph and Leo were lucky to escape through an adjunct tunnel with their lives. But even though they still lived Raph was badly injured from the blast. Raph suffered a hit to the head from the stone ceiling leaving him with a constant reminder and headaches and had to be placed in a medicated coma because of swelling in his brain. Leo on the other hand was okay he just suffered a few scraps and cuts from the debris.

When Raph saw Leo was okay everything changed for him. How could Leo be okay after getting caught in the same explosion as him? Leo didn't have to suffer the long and agonizing headaches on a daily basis. The very sight of Leo made Raph's head hurt. In Raph's mind since Leo didn't have to suffer from these headaches he had to pay in a different way.


Raph moved his hand from his head to his medication which Donnie and April started him on for his head. He hated taking them because it made his head fuzzy and his movements slower but on days like today he had no choice.

After taking his medicine Raph felt the bathroom to go and check on Mikey. Mikey just laid in his bed staring at the ceiling with a blank stare. Raph watched from the door his baby brother just a hollow shell of his old self. Moving from Mikey to Donnie Raph went to check on him when he was greeted with his father.

Splinter explained that he called April to help out and they discovered that Donnie was suffering from a terrible blow to the head that has now placed him in a coma. The only thing that was really keeping him alive was a ventilator that Donnie fixed up from a medical junk yard in case of times like this. Raph peered into the room to see April resting her head on her arms near Donnie's bed.

"Master is there anything I can do?" Raph asked.

Splinter shook his head.

"No my son, all we can do is hope that your brother wakes up. In the mean time we must check on Michelangelo and to also mourn the loss of Leonardo." Splinter said looking down at the floor.

"Yes sensei" Raph said gripping his arm tightly with his hand.

"I will check on Michelangelo. You may see Donatello then we must speak about what happened last night." Splinter said.

"Yes sensei" Raph said

Splinter bow a bit and left to check on Mikey. When Raph entered the room April stirred a bit looking up see quickly stood up to see Raph looking down at Donnie.

"Raph" April whispered.

"Hey April. Any change?" Raph asked.

April shook her head.

"I fear he may never wake up" April said stroking Donnie's head.

Raph twitched a bit as April stroked Donnie's cheek.

'Why are you touching him? He's my brother not yours. Don't touch him or-'

Raph closed his eyes to try and calm his chaotic thoughts. Never once would he hit a woman let alone April who was like a sister to all of them. But for some reason just like Leo he saw her as a threat towards the family.


"Can I have a minute alone?" Raph asked.

"Sure thing. I'll be right outside if you need me." April said.

When April left and closed the door, Raph bent down and whispered into Donnie's ear.

"Sorry bro. I didn't mean for all of this to happen. But don't worry; I'll protect you and Mikey. After all I'm your older brother and I will eliminate anyone who dares to threaten that." Raph whispered.

Donnie's face twitched a bit. To Raph he thought it was just Donnie agreeing with him which gave him a smile but in reality it was an involuntary twitch from the body because of the ventilator and the body getting used to it.


Two days later nothing change. Donnie was still in his coma and Mikey was in what April classified as a catatonic state. Splinter couldn't help but feel the sadness of what has happened to his family. Raph explained to Splinter that during their fight at the docks there was an explosion but said that Leo was the one who opened the container and everyone else was just caught in the blast. Leo was killed and they couldn't find the body so he took Mikey and Donnie home rather than lose another brother. Splinter accepted this and went to his room to mourn Leo's death but in the back of his mind there was something bothering him about the story. The injuries Donnie suffered from what April explained were from someone every close to the blast. Raph said that beside Leo they were far from the blast so why was Donnie hurt in the matter of someone close to it and why was Leo dead.

Splinter wanted to think about it but he had to look after his sons first. Raph would have to step up and really be the eldest brother now. Splinter's age and stress of everything was really starting to get to him and his chest pains were getting stronger and closer to each other. Splinter walked over to his bed and started to write down his thoughts in his journal just as he has done over the years.

While Splinter mourned the loss of a son and Raph dealt with the stress of an injured brother and catatonic brother everything shifted over to an abandoned lighthouse near the docks were everything happened.


Leo slowly opened his eyes to a dark room, looking around he see a few boxes, a lantern and a blanket with pillow. Leo tried to move but felt a sharp pain from his torso. Looking down he could see that he was wrapped up like a mummy. Not only was his stomach wrapped up but the shoulder wound he was suffering with was wrapped up carefully and so were his legs.

"What the hell is going on?" Leo whispered.

Leo perked his head a bit as the sound of incoming footsteps came closer and closer. Leo looked around for his weapons but saw nothing. Leo gritted his teeth as the footsteps stopped at the door and opened.

"Who the hell are you?" Leo growled.

"Nice thing to say to the person who saved your life"

Leo looked up using his arms to brace himself up to see a hooded figure walk in holding another blanket.

"I thought you would be cold so I got another blanket." They said.

"Oh" Leo said looking down "Thanks"

The hooded figure looked at Leo and said, "it's nothing. You feeling okay?"

Leo nodded. Even though the hood over their face Leo couldn't make eye contact even if he wanted to. The hooded figure moved to cover Leo with the blanket they brought up and the moment they came near Leo flinched and Leo covered his face with his arms falling back onto his back.

"Ow" Leo muttered.

The hooded figure moved and hover Leo saying, "Are you alright? That was a nasty fall. Here let me-"

"Stop!" Leo shouted.

The hooded figure moved back.

"Sorry" Leo muttered.

"Oi" the hooded figure said.

Leo tried to ignore whoever it was by blocking out their voice.

"Hey I'm talking to you."

Leo had a chill go down his spine turning to his side he looked over to the hooded figure.

"Tell me your name" they said.

"Leonardo Leo for short. And you?" Leo asked.

"The streets don't have a name but.." the hooded figure removed their hood revealing a girl around the same age as Leo with long black hair tied in a loose ponytail with amber eyes. "Call me Shadow" she smiled.


"Leo" Shadow said.

"Yes?" Leo said looking up.

"I'm going to now grab this blanket" she said

Leo was confused but watched as Shadow grabbed the blanket she was going to use to cover Leo.

"I am now going to shake it a bit so it flattens a bit" she said.

Leo nodded and watched Shadow do just as she said.

"Now I am going to come closer to you is that all right?" Shadow asked.

Leo nodded.

Shadow slowly moved the blanket closer to him and whispered in a calm voice, "I am now going to cover you with this blanket starting at your feet up to your chest. Is that all right?"

Leo nodded again.

Shadow did exactly as she told him and nothing more. As soon as she laid the blanket on top of him she moved away to where the boxes and lantern were.

"Do you need anything else" Shadow asked.

"No" Leo said.

"Good get some rest then I want to check you bandages later" Shadow said.

Leo nodded and tried to go to sleep but even though his eyes were closed he kept his mind and ears open to listen to what Shadow was doing.

Shadow watched from her spot to see Leo doing his best not to drop his guard.

'You're acting just like the past me. I better help you then or else this could get worst' Shadow thought.


Shadow got up and walked out of the room upstairs where she slept with her best friend in the whole world, Kazuhiro a black face white wolf dog hybrid that was on death's room when she found him a year ago in a kill shelter. Kaz for short was taken away from the person who raised him after they found out his previous owner breed him without a license. Kaz was in a cage with his other siblings as they readied themselves to be put down. Kaz sat in his cage as he watched all his siblings be pulled away to be put to sleep. As he sat in his cage he watched as a ceiling panel outside of his cage started moving. A rope dropped down and a shadowy figure jumped down and moved to his cage.

"Hey there buddy." The figure whispered. "I'm going to get you out of here"

The shadowy figure worked on the lock until there was a clicking noise. The door open and the figure stepped aside.

"Come on your free now" the figure whispered.

Kaz slowly walked out of his cage and join the person who just freed him out of the shelter. As the figure went to fix the ceiling panel and take the rope a flashlight blinded them for a moment with a voice yelling,

"Who the hell are you?"

"Crap" the figure muttered.

The guard ran over to take Kaz's savior away so Kaz got between them and growled deeply. The guard took a catch pole and was going to use to it get Kaz away and take his savior away but all was not to be lost. The figure looked through their bag and tossed out a canister at the guard. The moment it hit the ground it exploded and smoke filled the room. Kaz curled into a ball in fear listening to the guard cough violently. A small hand was placed on Kaz's back and helped guide him out of the shelter into the woods near it.

"You're free now little guy" the figure whispered. "Come on go now" they said trying to get Kaz to leave but Kaz couldn't move. He wanted to stay with this person who just saved them. The figure could see this and asked him

"Do you want to be a part of my family?"

Kaz started barking happily and wagging his tail.

"Alright but don't get your hopes up about your new home" they said. The figure removed their hood revealing Shadow a bit younger with shorter hair.

"My name is Shadow and I know what your name is so I hope you like the one I'm going to give you. From today on I'll calling you Kazuhiro"


After that Kaz and Shadow moved into the abandon lighthouse they on live in together with Shadow leaving to gather supplies during the day then explore the different sides of New York during the night. Protecting each other Kaz and Shadow helped each other since they both had one thing in common, abandonment. Kaz was taken away from his owner and while Shadow didn't talk about it Kaz could sense they were the same. Kaz did know reason Shadow saved him until Shadow came home with a newspaper and read it to him. THe kill shelter he was in with his siblings were was actually an illegal shelter taking the bodies of the animals and selling their fur on the black market. When Shadow broke into the shelter she made sure to call the cops for them to investigate a break in so they could find evidence about the sell and profit of animals.

Shadow stroked Kaz's head and talked to him about Leo downstairs.

"he's going to need help, Kaz. You up for the battle?" Shadow asked.

Kaz stared Shadow in the eye and nodded.

Shadow kissed Kaz's head whispering thanks.


A.N:

Just one question to all that are reading this. People know this is a AU (alternative universe) right? I wrote it on the description that its an AU. The reason I'm writing this is because I've been getting a lot of OOC (out of character) reviews about Raph. Here's the thing with AU you can change character to whatever you want but also I'll explain later on about Raph's change. So to those who keep saying OOC read on and understand that this is AU and give it a chance. Opinions?

Also if you don't know the OC she is the Shadow character I created for Shadow in the Breeze. Same girl just no powers and a different past but just wanted to clarify that in case people were wondering.