A/N: Getting back into that Reverse Turtles swing. Nothing gorey so don't worry but if you don't like the concept of Rev turtles then skip this chapter. I know a lot of people didn't like them for whatever reasons.
1. Reverse Tier
. Raph picked his friends but not his family .
warnings - none
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"Can't take it? Huh? Can't even take a punch?"
He bounced on his feet, purposely mocking at the tearful brother and grinning proudly. Although it didn't take much for Raphael to cry nowadays but it felt satisfying for Mikey to accomplish it. He stopped bouncing around and his grin faded into a scowl. His fist raised again and the tearful turtle flinched. Mikey slammed his fist hard into his brother's forearm. Raph stumbled back.
"M-Mikey, stop!" He shouted.
The youngest shoved him once more and made Raph fall backwards. Mikey was on top of him, punching him and spitting wildly with wide eyes. All the turtle could do was shield his face. "Don't tell me what to do! Don't tell me what to do! Don't tell me-" Mikey roughly slapped Raph in the head and grit his teeth, "..what..to do!"
"Are you done?"
Don had been watching from his table with a look of disinterest. He was tired of the noise and constant wailing. It was bad enough that they had company within their mists. It was hard enough to deal with the brothers he had to put up with now. But one by one..he would make them silent. Starting with the most damaged and already obedient one out of them. Donnie eyed Mikey one last time, daring him to say anything before turning back to Leo. The eldest was trembling with pain, holding the left side of his cheek with watery eyes and staring down.
In the background, Mikey rang in a high tone mimicking Donnie's 'are you done?' as he made a beeline to the kitchen to eat something. Casey was here, right? He was a lot more fun than April was. Where was April anyways?
Raph was still curled up on the ground, crying softly but listening in on Don's 'experiment'. He had no where else to go, Mikey threatened to hurt him if he ever stepped foot outside. It wasn't like Raph trusted to leave his family alone by himself anyways.
"Stay still..you're moving around and it'll hurt more, idiot." Donnie muttered. He roughly pushed Leo's hand away from his mouth and forced him to open up again. Blood oozed out and ran down Leo's chin. A small hole where his back tooth was was visible and raw. "It's fine. Go put ice on it. You're lucky I only took one." Donnie said.
"D..do ..you wan' more?" Leo asked with a pain filled smile as he held on his cheek again. He was happy to give Donnie whatever he wanted to make him happy. Don was always doing something important. The genuis looked at his older brother in pity and chuckled.
"Really? Doesn't it hurt or are you that stupid?"
Raph had sprang up from the ground to quickly grab the eldest before he could offer himself. Leo didn't understand most how much he was being belittled and played. He had to get him out before Don decided to take his arm or a kidney. Leo recently followed Raph, rubbing carefully at his cheek with a weak smile and groaning. It was typically like this but Raph was still having trouble processing everything. He remembered when Don wouldn't even dare lay a finger on them.
And he never heard Leo scream.
"Here, Leo, look.." Raph set Leo down in front of the television set and switched on his favorite cartoon. Leo looked at the screen. Leo claimed to hate Space Heroes for a few seconds before being completely silent and watching the show over and over. He would rewind some parts to play over and over and memorize some words and lines. Raph thought this was the closest to normal Leo would be. He use to remember heroic lines from these characters..
He left him alone and carefully headed into the corridors that lead to their rooms. A headache was starting to glow on him after the pounding Mikey had given him. He just wanted to lay down, forget the bad and play some good over in his brain.
He missed his family...
Raph opened the door to his room and quietly closed it behind him. He heard Mikey shout angrily over something with Don outside. He only hoped they would leave Leo alone and not make a mess. It wasn't like anything could stop them. Not even dad-..uh..Splinter..
He slumped down as the tears started to come through again. He was startled when he heard voices close by. Raph flipped on the light switch and was startled to find April- hanging upside down.
"Aww..I thought you were Donnie! Could you get him? My head feels like it's about to explode!"
"It's Raph?"
Casey slowly crawled out from under Raph's bed and sighed heavily. "Ra..Raph..hey..this is awkward."
"What are you two doing in my room?" Raph asked, looking fearful and ready to bolt out. Casey was harmless but it was April that made him uneasy. She was.. a little insane.
"Can you help me get her down? I..I don't want to make any noise." Casey said nervously. He stood up and dusted his sweater off while keeping his eyes now on April. She looked ready to pass out. Raph slowly walked up to them and began to cut the ropes around April's ankles and the one uncomfortably tied around her waist. What in the world was Donnie thinking? Raph could have guessed it was just a way of keeping her out of his way. April had the tendency to crowd his brother. Casey grabbed her and slowly lowered her down.
"Thanks, dude. Uh, sorry.." Casey said.
"It's..alright. They're outside."
On cue, Mikey's high pitched laughter sounded before something slammed against the wall. Raph winced automatically and rubbing his shoulder.
April looked completely out of it and remained still. She must have been hanging for a while but Raph hate to admit that he preferred her like this anyways. "Why are you even here, Casey?" Raph asked him. The guy was the only sane person to willingly subject himself to his family.
Casey shrugged, "Her..I..love her." He looked down at April's less than pretty face at the moment. She was red and partly looked drunk. Raph didn't see it but he didn't say anything more. Casey ..was sane to him at least until he heard that explanation.
"But all she ever talks about is him. I don't get it." Casey fumed softly. "Maybe..if I'm here for her, she'll see- I don't know.."
Raph didn't understand much about love, only through the years with his family when they were happy together and not broken. Not like this. Raph still loved his brothers...even now..
"You can camp here for a while if you want." Raph offered him. Casey smiled.
They talked for a while longer, listening to the commotion outside occasionally that sounded nothing like roughhousing or playful banter. Raph was glad to have an actual conversation with someone for once. One that didn't involve him fearing for his life.
