The thugs looked quickly at each other, and then back at Raph.
"RUN!" They shouted, as they bolted down the alley and back to the street.
The leader hid between two buildings, taking a cellphone from his pocket and pressing it to his ear.
"Boss... It's me." He said softly. "We got ourselves a problem."
Raph let out a small chuckle as he watched the thugs run away. Once they were gone, he turned to the dumpster.
"Hey kids, it's ok; you can come out now." He said, in the calmest voice that he could muster; the one he used when Mikey had nightmares. "I'm one of the good guys."
The lid slowly rose, and Raph could see the older boy eying him warily.
"Honest." The red-banded turtle said, raising his left hand and drawing an X over his heart.
The young brown eyes still looked at him cautiously; they looked down briefly, before the lid began to rise.
"What are you?" He asked cautiously.
"Ima turtle." Raph snickered, knocking on his shell.
The boy smirked, and turned to the younger boy; whispering something to him, before they climbed out of the filthy trash bin.
"What's ya name kid?" Raph asked, kneeling down to their level, laughing to himself as the little boy hid behind the elder one. "Well?"
The older boy suddenly decked the red-banded turtle across his nose.
"OW!" Raph exclaimed, as he rubbed his sore nose. "Cute, real cute kid." He said sarcastically. "Now just calm down an...OWW!" Raph shouted as the kid hit him again.
"Man I hate kids." He grumbled, as he rubbed his nose. "Ok, so we're past the scared part, but..."
The boy moved to hit the mutant turtle again, but Raph caught his hand, and frowned.
"Right now, we're Raph - 0, kid - 2; but that's gonna even up real quick if you don't keep your hands to yourself." Raph growled, his patience wearing thin. "Let's try this again. What's ya name kid."
"I'm John Owen." The older boy said, still not trusting his mutant savior.
"An' what's his name?" Raph said, gesturing to the little boy, still hiding behind John Owen.
Blue eyes peeked from behind the brown headed boy, and a soft voice followed.
"I-I'm Kylan."
Raphael smiled at the little boy. "Well hello John O, an' Kylan; I'm Raphael."
Kylan giggled and came out further from his young protector. "Why do you wear a mask? Are you a ninja?"
"Yeah." Raph chuckled. "I'm a mutant ninja turtle."
"Do you go around beatin' up guys, an' savin' people all tha time?" John Owen asks with a smirk.
"Not all tha time." The red-banded turtle tells him. "But enough about me; why were those guys chasin' ya?"
"We can handle this ourselves!" John Owen exclaimed, pulling his brother behind him as Kylan started walking towards the green turtle.
"Oh really." Raph said sarcastically, before turning around." Fine, I was in the middle of somethin else anyways."
"I'm just gonna get you two somewhere safe, and then..."
Raph stopped, as he turned around and saw the two boys running down the alley. "Great, just great." He grumbled.
"Come on Kylan." John Owen said to his little brother, as he pulled him down the alley. "Oooofff."
Both boys were knocked to the ground, and looked up; only to see Raphael standing in their way.
"You can't sneak away from a ninja kid." He told them, as he twirled a sai expertly in his hand, before putting it back in his belt.
"Leave us alone!" John Owen growled, but was ignored, as Raph continued.
"And you can't go messing with those mob goons on your own; you're gonna get hurt!"
"You're not the boss of me!" John Owen yelled, as he stood up.
"Oh yeah!" Raoh shouted back.
"Yeah!"
"STOP IT!"
The two stopped their petty argument, to look down at Kylan, who was still on the ground. Tears filled his eyes, and were streaming down his face as he looked up at them.
"Stop fighting!" He shouted, as he burst into a fresh wave of tears.
This broke Raphs' heart, because it reminded him of Mikey; when he and Leo would fight.
"Hey, it's ok." Raph strained, in the calmest voice he could manage. He moved to the little boy, and picked him up; rubbign circles on his back, as he let him cry on his plastron. "It's ok Kylan, you're safe."
Raph turned back to the older boy. "I just wanna know why those guys are after ya." He said calmly.
John Owen sighed before replying. "Our dad was a reporter, and he had this recording of some bad guy, that was going to put him in jail for a really long time." He began. "I guess they found out about the recording, because last night, these men broke into our place, and started trashing everything. They kept shouting about the recording, and where was it; but our dad wouldn't give it to them."
"He kept the goons away from Kylan and me. We climbed out onto the fire escape, and hid under the window."
Kylan began to cry more, and Raph did his best to soothe him, as John Owen continued.
"But I knew that the goons wouldn't find it, because before they got into our apartment, my dad gave it to me and told us to hide." The boy explained. "We stayed out on the fire escape, as they got into our room, and trashed it looking for the recording. When they didn't find it, they started threatening our dad. Saying that they would find us, and hurt us if he didn't hand it over."
The boy stopped, and gathered himself before he could continue.
"He told them no, and then we heard gun shots." John Owen said, as he began to cry too. "The goons left, and we looked b-back inside... and we could see him through the door."
"He was just laying there, not moving at all."
"It's ok kid, you can stop." Raph said gently, as he kneeled down and wrapped an arm around the kid; letting him cry on his plastron. "I promise that I'm not gonna let those guys get to ya."
"In fact." He said, standing back up. "C'mon."
"Where are we going?" Kylan questioned, as they began moving towards a manhole.
"I'm takin ya to my home." Raph explained, as the boys looked between him and the sewer hole skeptically. "I've got family that can help."
John Owen nodded, and began climbing down the ladder, before Raph followed; little Kylan still in his arms.