Author's Note:
Hello All! I just want to say a great big THANK YOU! To all my readers. You guys are amazing! Beyond amazing! Every time I get a review it literally makes my day! I love them! To see you guys reading and adding me to your favorites makes me feel so good about this story and continuing on with it. There will be times where the chapters come a lot faster than others however, I am not giving up on my boys!
I also wanna add something that shocked my to my core. There are Spoilers so, if you are a reader TMNT comics and haven't read issue 44 yet please just continue to the story.
Anyways...
They kill off Donatello... Like... Dead. I am disgusted by this! You can't kill off one of them! Especially not Donnie! I mean, I get multi verses and different story lines, however killing off a brother? I'm sure they're going to make him into some kinda of robot or something... BUT HOW? Donnie is the machines! How's gonna build it Leo? Raph? MIKEY? Doubtful! I'm just... ugh... I'm not happy with the writers of this particular comic.
OK that is all... Back to the story! :)
CHAPTER ONE: Same Ol' Same Ol'
The city fell quiet as night engulfed it in darkness. The sounds of car horns and useless chatter echoed through the shallow walls of the alleyways as the brothers banded in colors stood overlooking their home. Since the start of the Dojo and the fall of the Shredder the city streets no longer exploded with violence and vengeance. It was nearly serene and eerily quiet, the rapid crime in the city dwindling as days turned to months and months into years since the fall of the Saki name.
"This sucks." Raphael growled, sitting down hard the ledge of the building they stood atop of. Leonardo looked to his right at his hot tempered younger brother with a roll of his eyes.
"It's just a precaution..." Donatello said with a shrug, leaning heavily on his bo staff, behind his older brother.
"It's not like the good ol' days bro. We kinda put out that fire." Michelangelo said, sitting beside Donnie on the ledge.
"It's what we wanted." Leonardo added, as all this brother's looked to him.
"Well, I want a fight." Raph said, getting to his feet and stalking towards his older brother. Leonardo rolled his eyes and turned towards Raphael.
"I want to pay attention to the streets. The police radio said that there had been some activity at the store across the street lately. I didn't just bring you here to watch the pretty view." Leo sighed, putting his large green foot on the side of the ledge and leaning over for a better look.
"Oh..." Raph said, looking towards the old music store, with lights out aside from a few neon signs glowing in the back. "Looket you listenin' to police scanners." Raph chuckled as Leo rolled his eyes.
"Trust me brother, playing teacher to a lot of pre-teens is about as fun as it can be. I still need..."
"That itch scratched." Raph said with a smirk, looking over at his brother with a smile as Leonardo returned it.
"Exactly." The sound of breaking glass made the four of the brother's look towards the music shop they have been watching. "Looks like you'll get that fight after all little brother." Leo said with a smile before leaping down the side of the building to the fire escape below.
Raph, Donnie and Mikey follow their leader quietly to the other side of the street, keeping towards the shadows. Leo held his hand up as they turned the alleyway corner to the back entrance of the music shop.
Felicia sat her new queen size mattress in her new apartment, shared with her new roommate Elizabeth O'Hare. She glared at the cursor blinking at her, almost in mock as she tried to write the finishing paragraph to her final paper that would be the resounding end to her college career. She had it blank for weeks now, asking Willow for help seeing as though she was an English teacher. Willow's response of course was she graded teenage papers that had more grammatical errors than an MTV reality show, so barking up that tree was close to useless. Donnie was some help seeing he was at her apartment often enough, but that almost felt like cheating.
Feeling the window open to the cool air of fall billowing into her bedroom she smiled a little, turning to see her beautiful savor make his way inside, a lot slower than usual. She furrowed her brow, getting up quickly from her position on the bed and rushed over to help him. When she grabbed his large green arm, she felt the warm gush of sticky blood flow into her palm. She sighed, helping him towards the bed.
"What happened?" She sighed, looking at the gash on his arm and outside of his thigh.
"Just some thugs, nothin' major. Don already took a look at me." He said with a groan, sitting on the edge of their bed. He laid back with a sigh, closing his eyes.
"Well, you're still bleeding so he didn't do a very good job."
"It just opened back up because of the climb, it'll stop in a minuet... Where you goin'?" He asked, sitting up a little as she glared at him, stomping her way down the hallway to the bathroom. Donatello was already in there gathering a small amount of gauze and antiseptic.
"What happened?" Felicia asked again, crossing her arms over her tank top covered chest. Donnie gave her a small smile, noticing then brunettes agitation, trying to calm her mood.
"Nothing major just..."
"Some thugs? Really? Did you rehearse this?" She asked with a roll of her eyes as Donnie furrowed his brow at her. "Raph said the same thing."
"Then it must be true, right? Now, let me just wrap it up and he'll be right as rain." Don said, making his way to her and Raphael's bedroom where Raph was starting to take off his gear from the evening.
"Let me help." Felicia said, kneeling in front of her boyfriend, slowly sliding his knee pads and unroll his tape from his legs. "So, these thugs...Did they have anything to do with the break in at the music shop that seems to be all over the news because someone was able to tie them up with guitar strings?" Felicia asked, unwrapping Raphael's knee as he smirked down at her.
"I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout." He shrugged, looking over at his nerdy brother who shared a knowing grin.
"Uh, huh. I swear, Willow's dad giving Leo that police scanner was the stupidest thing he's ever done." She growled, getting from the floor and sitting next to her turtle boyfriend.
"So you say, however the crime rate is down by ten percent and we've only been at it for a week and a half." Donnie said, focusing on Raphael's bullet graze. "There, all done. The bleeding already stopped. Nothing to worry about." He said, looking at Felicia who looked over his work.
"Yeah, you're right. Nothing to worry about... Just my boyfriend getting shot. Ya know, same ol' same ol'." She sighed as Raphael leaned over to kiss her cheek.
"It grazed me for a reason. I moved out of the way, I know better than to stay put when a gun is pointed at me." He said, taking in a breath of her hair as Donnie smiled at them leaving their room and closing the door softly behind him.
"And when you don't move? What happens then?" She asked, moving away from him nuzzle against her neck. He sighed, looking at her as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you guys ever going to stop this? They're not exactly teenagers anymore."
"Which is why we keep ourselves as active as possible." He shrugged. "So, speakin' of action..." He smirked, moving into her neck again as she sighed and got up from the bed. Raphael sighed now too, putting his head down towards the empty space that she once sat. "What do ya want me to say Fee? This is what we do, ya knew it goin'..."
"I know, I know. I knew going in that you are what you are but... It's scary Raph, OK?" She sighed, wrapping her arms around herself, and closing the window from the cool, fall air. "I'm scared to death every time you go out there, all of you. What happens when..." She stopped, turning to look back at him, standing close to her. His body grazing against her back, putting his large hand on her shoulder and gently guiding her to look at him.
"I'm not goin' anywhere." He said, his eyes fierce and surrounded by red. She smiled, reaching up to his cheek, slipping the mask away from his face and gripping the old, ratted fabric in her fist.
"And you know that for certain?" She asked, dropping his mask to the floor and taking his large hands into her own.
"No." He shrugged. "But, I know that it's gonna take a hellva lot of men to bring me down if it means I'm away from you." He said, as she smiled a watery smile, tears welling in her eyes. "I love you Fee. It's gonna take a lot to break me."
"Not so much to break me..." She sighed with a drop of her head. He lifted her face back to his, wiping a tear away with a finger. "I love you, so much it literally hurts sometimes when you're gone. When I don't know where you are... When... I think you may not be with me anymore, alive... I-I can't..." Tears started falling harder now as Raph wrapped her tightly in his strong embrace.
"Baby, stop worryin' yaself, please. Ya stressed with finals... I know that. Don was talkin' 'bout it. Betty is too I guess..." He sighed, pulling back from their bodies enough to just see her face. He leaned down, kissing her damp cheek. "What 'bout this... I will hold off on goin' out so much with the guys as soon as you're done your papers and finally graduate?" He asked as she smiled, looking up at him.
"You'd do that for me?" She asked as he shrugged.
"It's been pretty slow lately and we need to get back to focusing on the Dojo. Get the word of mouth out there. I can only post so many fliers at the shop before my boss rips 'em down." He chuckled as Felicia joined in. She leaned up on her toes, kissing his mouth softly. "So... 'bout that action?" He asked as she giggled, turning into a squeal as he picked her up over his shoulder and flipped her back on her mattress.
"I'm throwing it out." Willow said, holding up the portable black radio in her hands. Leo sighed from his seat on the couch. Mikey hissed in pain as Riley glared at him, rubbing the gash on his bicep a little harder than she should with antiseptic.
"You're not going to throw it out." Leo said with a shrug, crossing his arms over his plastron as Willow arched an eye brow in challenge.
"Really?" She asked walking over to her large bay window, overlooking her fire escape.
"Nothing bad happened." Leo said with a sigh as Willow's eyes widened in shock.
"Nothing bad happened? Nothing bad happened?!" She asked, her voice raising in aggravation. "Raphael got shot, you nearly broke your leg and Mikey got stabbed! Nothing bad happened?"
"Nothing we couldn't handle." He corrected as Willow growled, going over to the window and opened it up. Leonardo went to her side quickly, grabbing her raised arm that help the police scanner. "Willow, calm down." He said to her softly. She let her glare on his brown eyes wrapped in blue soften as he smiled at her, letting her hand drop to her side.
"It's stupid." She said, crossing her arms over her chest with her radio still grasped tightly in her hand.
"Why is it stupid now but, wasn't years ago?" He asked with a shrug as Willow sighed.
"You have a business to run, we're married, you're older. Several reasons." She said with a mocking shrug back. He sighed, holding his hand out for the radio. With a roll of her eyes she handed it over as hard as she could against his large green palm. "Whatever." She said, walking past him with a shoulder nudge into the kitchen.
Riley and Mikey looked up from their conversation as Willow banged pots and pans around the sink. Mikey grimaced as the refrigeration door slammed shut and a bottle of wine opened.
"Maybe, we should go to our room?" Riley asked, looking up at Leo as he glared at the kitchen.
"Good idea babe." Mikey said, getting to his feet steadily with a small limp. Riley helped him as best she could down the hallway to their room, closing the door off to the agitated couple.
"What?" Leo finally said after standing outside the kitchen, watching his wife mutter and scrub an already clean pan from the previous night.
"What?" She asked back, turning towards him with soapy hands. "I thought we were done?" She asked, turning back towards the sink.
"You're obviously not." He said, walking closer to her as she sighed shaking her head.
"No, I'm not." She said through clenched teeth, slamming the pot down in the water and splashing soap all over herself. She turned towards him, crossing her arms over her damp chest. "What the fuck Leo? I told you as soon as dad gave you that stupid thing to get rid of it and you end up going out listening to break ins and shit? How is that even a little productive? What would Splinter say if he, was still here...?" She asked, her voice trailing off slowly in the end as her head dropped. "Oh God, Tiger I'm so..."
"No, it's fine. He would be fine with it." Leo said, crossing his arms over his plastron. "That's why he raised us as he did, to protect this city." He said with a shrug.
"Really? He'd be fine that Raph got shot, that Mikey got stabbed? I'm sure he'd have no problem with that." She said in a mocking tone, turning back towards her pot with a shake of her head.
Leonardo glared at the back of his wife head for a moment before turning his back on her. He knew he couldn't say anything further without it resulting in a fight. He knew that she may have been right about his father. Walking down the hall, he entered his Master's old bedroom. His belongings still set as they were when he was living. His robe folded neatly over the quilting he had brought up with him from the sewers.
Walking over to the bed, Leonardo ran his large hand over the familiar fabric of his father's worn robe. The soft cotton sliding over his palm easily as he folded the sleeve back in place. With a sigh, he turned towards the fire escape.
Since moving to their new apartment, closing to Willow's school and the Dojo the fire escape to the building was no longer attached to the large bay window in the living room. It sat on the outside of his father's room, their guest room. Walking over to the window he lifted it slowly stepping onto the cold metal and climbing the narrow stairs.
He stood on the roof top, his hands gripping tightly to the cement ledge as the city sang around him. Sires, voices carrying from down below, car horns all rang out as he closed his eyes, letting his head fall between his strong shoulders. Looking down at the small black box that got him into his predicament, he picked it up, shaking his head at his own ridiculousness.
"Let me see the scanner Leonardo." He heard come from behind him. His head raised slowly to the familiarity of the voice. He turned to his father holding out his paw. Leo sighed, handing over the small radio. "Paul gave you this with good intentions however, you and your brother's have done enough good for this city. You will keep doing so with your Dojo, I know it but, this... Going out still to do work that is not yours to do. Leave the small crimes to the police my son. You should have known better." He said with a sigh, dropping his head. "What if you had gotten caught? What if the police had shown up before you had, or worse in the middle of your battle? What then? What of your invisibility training have you been able to use against a police squad Son?"
"I-I wasn't thinking of..."
"Exactly you were not thinking. You were leading your brothers into danger for some thrill. I know what you must be feeling Leonardo. I know that without someone to fight there is very little for you and your brothers to do to feel complete. You have always helped this city, fought for it, protected it. But, the time has come to move on my son."
"It was just one night..."
"And then the next would have been two? Then three? It is a horrible thing to be addicted to violence Leonardo."
"I'm not addicted to..."
"You thrive for it. You need to feel the weight of your katana in your hands..." Splinter said, walking closer to Leonardo, pulling his hands out in front of him. "The heat of their blood as it gushes onto your palm." He said, looking into his son's eyes. "I can see in your eyes the thirst for it. It was similar to my own. I have known that feeling my son. It can blind you, make you want nothing but the hunt and kill. But, those days are over. The time in your life is done. Close that book and start a new with your beautiful wife."
"I don't know if it will be that easy Master..." He sighed as Splinter smiled, kissing the top of Leonardo's head.
"You'll need to make it that easy my Son. You cannot keep chasing something that is no longer there. Those days have ended. Your days of hiding, searching for an evil to keep your family safe doesn't exist anymore. You and your brother's need to realize this now before you push those away who love you."
"Willow wouldn't..."
"You cannot see into the future as I have. If this continues my son, your searching and fighting..."
"Willow will leave me..." Leonardo said slowly, feeling the pain of his words ache in his heart.
"Yes my son... Along with your brother's and their companions. This isn't something that should be taken lightly..."
"This is why you came to see me? To tell me that if I keep fighting, something that you taught me all my life, that my wife will leave?" Leo asked, getting slightly irritated now. "You told us our whole lives what we needed to do, how we needed to protect our family, this city! And now you come here and tell me to stop?"
"I am asking you, for your own sake my son to put your swords down. Rest. Live your life that you are now granted. Be happy in it. Do not live in my mistakes. I wish that I taught you boys more than just to fight, but how to live."
"Father, you did teach us..."
"Then follow those teachings Leonardo! Be a man I know you can be! Be that for your wife, for your brothers! They need you now in this more than ever. They need their leader to show them the way to a happy existence. Be that for them now." Splinter said, gripping tightly onto Leonardo's shoulders. Pulling him down to his level and kissing his forehead. "I love you my son." He whispered softly.
Leonardo stood, still bent with the lingering feeling of his master's strong hands on his shoulders. He opened his eyes slowly, looking at the empty roof top ahead of him. He sighed, looking back over to the ledge at the radio that laid there.
Picking it up, he threw it down to the alleyway below, waiting to hear the metallic sound of it landing in the dumpster. He sighed, looking down into the darkened below before heading down back the narrow stair way.
Looking into the room he saw his wife sitting on his Master's old bed. With a meek smile he climbed through the window, closing it softly.
"Hi..." He said leaning his shell against the window.
"Tiger I'm..."
"I'm sorry." He interrupted, going to her and kneeling in front of her. "You were right. I shouldn't be chasing something that doesn't exist anymore. That's what the police are for. I-I'm not going to say right now that it won't happen against because honestly... I can't promise that. Not right now..." He sighed, putting his head down so it rested against her knees. "Put, I can promise that I am trying. I am going to try and stop this. I don't want you upset. I don't need to put that kind of stress on you..."
"Tiger I'm..."
"No. I need to just say this..." He sighed, looking up at her. He reached to her face, wiping the tears that ran down her cheeks. "I love you, so much Willow. I can't lose you."
"I'm not going anywhere Leo..."
"Yes, not now. But, you will. We can't fight like that all the time and expect our relationship to remain strong."
"It's healthy to fight..."
"Not about this, not like that." He said with a shake of his head. "I am going to stop. I'm gonna have a meeting with the guys, we're not going to go out anymore."
"Leo, I know you. I know that when you hear the police sirens at night your whole body tenses. You look out to see where it is, what's happening. I don't expect something so deeply rooted in your self to just end. It can't."
"I'm going to try." He said with a stern nod as Willow sighed. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, just as his father did moments ago, feeling the remaining tingle. "I love you." He sighed, looking up to his wife's beautiful face and kissing her lips.
"I love you Tiger."
"I agree with Leo. We keep goin' out like that it's not gonna end good."
"What?" Mikey asked, looking over at the second eldest as Raphael shrugged his shoulders. The brothers met at the Dojo before all their classes early the next morning. Leonardo needed to get them together to tell them what their Father had said to him and mostly, to see if anyone else had had a similar encounter. He couldn't have possibly been the only one visited by Splinter last night and if he was, was he losing his mind?
He had fought with the notion all the night before. Tossing and turning in bed, before getting up and pacing the living room floor as to not wake up Willow. His father's words and his fight with his wife playing over and over again. He hoped that one of his brothers had the same experience. They had to.
"It's true." Raph said. "Leo is right, we got nothin' to chase after anymore. Shredder is dead, Shredder junior is deader. We did what we had to."
"What about that itch being scratched?" Donnie questioned as Raphael sighed, running a hand over his human head.
"Listen, I'm not sayin' I like it. I'm just sayin' it needs to be done." Leonardo looked at his brother for a moment before a smile broke over his face. Finally Raphael had agreed with him on something.
"It needs to be done. We cannot keep playing cops and robbers. We have business to run, lives to lead. This isn't who we are anymore."
"I guess you're right." Mikey said with a shrug and a sigh. "But, what if like say we're all out for whatever reason and we see some guys tryin' to bust into a bank or something, we just turn and walk away?"
"No numb nuts. We obviously would do somethin'..." Raph sighed, as Mikey shrugged.
"Well like what are the limits here? Car being boosted, we stop it?"
"Yes." Leo and Raph said at the same time.
"Why are you going out at night in the bad neighborhood?" Donnie interjected as Mikey rolled his eyes waving off his nerdy brother.
"Girl being raped?" Mikey asked again.
"Yes." They said again.
"I would hope yes, Jesus..." Donnie muttered, jumping up on the bamboo desk of the Dpjo.
"Anything that is right there and then, without cops and we can stop it, we do. Simple." Leonardo said with a shrug. "We have the ability and power to do so, so we should. But, if the cops arrive, we leave."
"So no more roof top meetings..." Mikey sighed as Leo nodded.
"Sorry little brother. Those days are over." He said with a small smile as Mikey nodded.
"I guess it was time..."
"Casey is gonna be pissed." Raph chuckled as he took out his cell phone out of his back pocket.
"April will be pleased at least. She can stop worrying about all of us." Donnie shrugged as Mikey nodded.
"Yeah, ever notice those lines on her face now? Every time I see them I'm just like man... we did that..." He said, chuckling half heartily as the other brother's nodded.
"We should get set up for the first class." Donnie said hopping off the desk and tapping Mikey in the chest as he walked towards the large opened Dojo space. Mikey followed, eying the two eldest as they stayed behind.
"So, you finally agree with me huh?" Leo chuckled, going behind the desk and into the back office to change into his trainer uniform. Raph chuckled a little with a shrug.
"Well, it's like this... Felicia freaked out about the whole things when I got back. She was all concerned because I almost got shot..."
"You did get shot." Leo corrected, tugging on a white short sleeve t-shirt over his head with the Dojo's logo over his heart.
"Please, I was grazed." Raph scoffed as Leo rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I promised her I'd take a break for awhile until her finals are over..."
"Yeah, but this is indefinite." Leo said as Raph nodded.
"I know that, but she doesn't need to. She'll think it was all her fault or somethin'... It wasn't... I uh...Somethin', kinda happened and... Never mind it's stupid." He said with a shake of his head, turning towards the door to go help his other brother's as Leo grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
"No, what?"
"Well, when Fee finally fell asleep, I... Went to the roof, ya know to clear my head... And...I don't know maybe I'm crazy or somethin' but..."
"He came to you too?" Leo asked as Raph's eyes widened for a moment.
"So, I'm not crazy?" Raph asked in a chuckle as Leo smiled along.
"No brother, you're not... What did... Um, he tell you?"
"Basically, we're gettin' too old for this shit and we need to cut it out before Willow and Felicia leave us, and that if I needed someone to talk to... You'd..."
"You know I'm always there for you when you need me brother."
"Same here bro." He shrugged as Leo smiled, putting his arm around Raphael's shoulder and leaving the office.
"I think this is the first step to a new beginning, how about you?" Leo asked, optimistically as Raphael snorted a laugh.
"OK, I thought I was crazy but, now I think you have been smokin' somethin'." He chuckled as Leonardo shoved him forward playfully by the back of his head.