When Leonardo reached his destination, he knew just by the thickness of the air, the stillness around him, that he was too late. He felt his hand shake as he reached out to push open the rickety door to what looked like an abandoned warehouse. The smell hit him almost immediately and it was only good training that kept him from stumbling now, when it was so overpowering. The stench of blood.
He stepped over a corpse, male and human, his face covered much like the foot's had been, though the garb had its differences. Beyond him lay what appeared to be the dead man's allies. Corpses, some stacked atop one another fallen at weird angles littered the floor, left where they'd fallen. He couldn't imagine that Raphael could have survived such an onslaught alone, but in some grim way he felt hope in seeing none, of what must be the enemy, left alive.
He looked up sharply as a soft sound came to him and moving carefully, avoiding bodies and blood he made his way toward it. He felt relief wash over him, even as worry settled back in when he saw his brother sitting on the floor and bent over a body he was cradling in his arms, his shoulders shaking and the soft sounds of crying very hard to mistake.
"Raph?" Leo warned him gently of his arrival, as not to startle him, but the turtle didn't move in either recognition or fear. Leo replaced the sword he'd unconsciously drawn back in its sheath and padded over to Raphael, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Standing above and behind him gave Leo a better vantage to see the body his brother cradled. Very pale skin, the chin tilted back in death, her long black hair trailing on the cold concrete, it's tips stained red with the blood from her slit throat that pooled all around them. A few long faded scars the only proof that she'd led an unsheltered life. Small hands, a petite form, the swell of her belly unmistakable.
"Leo?" Raphael's cracked voice broke the stillness, as though he'd only just become aware that he wasn't alone.
"I'm here Raph," He promised his brother, moving around to kneel facing him, his arms outstretched to take the burden of the woman.
Raphael looked torn for a moment, but something snapped and he let Leo take over, gently nestling the slain girl in the other's arms. Stumbling to his feet when Leonardo rose to his.
Raphael was obviously exhausted, his body every bit as bloody as the woman he'd held. Leo could make out fresh slices and deep looking punctures, but his brother was on his feet, his breathing hysterical, but not labored. It was too early to ask him what happened, or who this woman had been, Leo would just get them out of here and deal with the details later.
Weaving a trail through the bodies, Leo managed to make their way to the door, pushing it open with his shell; very careful of the precious cargo he carried. Raphael winced at the bright light of day as he stepped outside; there was no telling how long he'd sat there with her. Indeed she was already stiff with rigor mortis.
There was a beat up pickup truck in the parking lot a few feet away. Either it had been the woman's or Raphael's or belonged to one of the corpses inside. Regardless, Leonardo planned to make use of it. As he headed over to it, he turned his head to watch Raphael produce a key. His brother seemed to be walking as though through a dream, but at least he was functioning.
Once the door was unlocked, Leonardo carefully situated the young woman in the back seat, reaching to shut those unseeing blue eyes before turning back to Raph. The other turtle didn't look as though he was seeing much either, just sort of leaning against the truck and staring off into space. Leo took the key out of his hand and put a hand on his shoulder, forcing his gaze to come back to the present.
Raphael blinked and made eye contact, and Leo almost faltered for a moment seeing the complete and utter despair mapped out so plainly in his brother's eyes. The hand on Raph's shoulder squeezed supportively.
"I'm here. I'll take care of everything," Leo promised him, silently adding to himself, I'm so sorry I didn't make it in time, Raphael. Raphael nodded slightly, indicating he'd heard him. He just wasn't ready to deal with anything yet.
Leo got him into the cab of the truck and shut the door before going to the driver's side. They all needed to get as far away from the carnage in that warehouse as possible. They had to find someplace nice to bury the woman that obviously meant a lot to Raphael. The only spot that came to mind was April's old farmhouse.
Sucking in a deep breath he started the pickup and backed out of the parking lot, and shifting, onto the road that ran down from the main highway to the wharfs. He chanced glances at Raphael along the trip, his forehead pressed against the glass of his window, just staring out, looking pale.
He probably hasn't eaten anything in days, Leonardo realized, wishing they could chance a drive through or something, but he'd have to hold out until nightfall at least. Leo fought his own tension as he changed lanes and got onto the Interstate. It would be a drive to upstate New York, especially with a corpse in the back and his brother not saying anything. He'd give him a little while and then try to draw him back out again.
Leo's eyes raked over the other turtle's form as he drove. He took in the wounds he was most concerned about; he wracked his brain about how they were going to tend to them without even the trench coat disguises that they usually wore. His had been discarded as excess bulk on his way to the warehouse, opting for ninja stealth and warrior instincts over plain costume.
Still, Leo didn't plan to make his brother's wounds wait until New York; something would have to be done. After much inward struggle he decided at nightfall he'd break in somewhere and take what he needed, leaving the money for it. He didn't have much, but he'd have to use it.
His mind traveled on to the woman his brother had been so lovingly holding upon his arrival. Who was she? It had been two years, and he supposed anything was possible. A friend in need perhaps? But that bulge in her stomach and the way that Raphael was nearly comatose now with grief…it wasn't possible was it?
He and Donatello had discusses it in length before, the probability that they were even capable of procreating with something that wasn't of their abnormal species. Since technically, they were half human, mutated to be that way by the strange ooze created by TGRI, Donatello had speculated there was a small chance of conception, though he couldn't imagine what sort of creature would be the result of such a union.
Being honest with himself, Leonardo hadn't really thought any of them would ever get the opportunity to worry about such a thing. Of course, he had no proof that this was the relationship between his brother and the dead woman, and in all likelihood it wasn't. No, he decided, she was a friend. Probably a very good friend, and Raphael was helping her out in her time of need. Maybe the father of the child was a violent man. He felt proud of Raphael at the thought.
Leonardo acknowledged the guilt he felt about this. He'd been gone, and out of contact too long with his brothers. Anything could have happened. And it had. He felt a swell of sudden worry for Donatello and Michelangelo, Master Splinter and April…and Casey. Raphael was the most bullheaded of the group, the most prone to trouble, but two years was a long time, anything at all could have happened to any of them.
With a glance at his brother then, Leo wondered why he'd been the only one contacted. Was it possible his other brothers were on their way to find a warehouse full of corpses and no sign of Raphael? He sighed after a moment, realizing there were too many questions he needed answered.
"Did you contact Mike or Donnie?" He broke the silence apologetically.
Raphael looked up at him, blinking to clear his mind and then shaking his head in answer. No, he hadn't contacted them. It had only been Leo. He'd believed Leo would make it in time. Damnit Raphael, why did you put all of this one me? One of the others might have been closer. One of the others might have made it in time.
"Where we goin'?" Raph asked in an absent, uninterested tone.
"The farmhouse," Leonardo answered, glancing at Raphael to judge how he felt about that. He received a slight nod. He was fine with it. He would have been all right with following Leonardo back to Japan, or Hell.