Hello! Welcome to chapter 4 of Watching Over You! I'm really glad you're liking this fanfic, I know it's not perfect but I'm still not really used to writing fanfics and since english is not my first language, well, it just complicates everything. But I'm trying! Anyway, let's go to the reviews!

MiniAjax: Well, you know, I don't really mind ;) Hahah! I'm really glad I made your search worthy! Thanks for the review! :)

dondena: ... I LOVE you! I completely forgot about Klunk (now I feel really bad ), thank you for reminding me of him! Thank you for the review! :)

Summary: Raphael have been missing for weeks, and the turtles are quickly losing their hope. But what they didn't know is that their brother was closer than they thought. They just couldn't see him.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles


-Cats and Ghosts-

"My son... I know you're in there..."

Raphael couldn't move nor say anything, he was in shock. His father, he-he-he spoke to him! And before he could regain his senses again, Splinter spoke once again, crushing Raph's hopes.

"Raphael... I cannot hear you, or see you... But I can feel you, my son... And I fear that the worse has happened..." At this point, tears could be seen on Splinter's face. Raph hated to see his father like that, and he couldn't do anything.

"What happened, my son? Are you really no longer between us?" Splinter waited for a response, but silence was the only thing that he heard. With a deep sigh, he left his son's room, almost stumbling on Klunk. With a small smile, he lowered himself and proceeded to pet Klunk, that, oddly enough, did nothing. He didn't purr, didn't hiss, didn't even move his tail, all he did was stare at one direction, a spot inside Raphael's room. Splinter stared at the same spot, trying to find whatever was taking the cat's attention. He found nothing.

He realized.

Leonardo's POV

I watched as Master Splinter entered Raph's room, he always did this, he said that he would keep the room clean for Raph when he come back. He said that he would need to rest, and a dusty room would do no good for him. I didn't have the heart to tell Master that, knowing Raph, he would be able to sleep in any room that was falling apart. If it didn't have any bugs, of course. Heh.

After 5 minutes, Master Splinter finally left the room. He seemed really down, well, we all did. But Master... I think I'm so used to seeing him being so calm and controlled that it kinda shocked me... Well, what did I expect? Raph is his son as well, any father would feel like this. ...Damn it Raph, even when you're not here you keep giving me headaches. Why do you like to torture me so much? Hm?

"Leonardo." Master's sudden voice pushed me out of my monologue, bringing me back to reality.

"Yes, sensei?"

"Call your brothers, there's something I want to speak to you three." Sensei's voice was calm, but it didn't carry the confidence that I was so used to hearing to.

"Yes, sensei..." I tried to remain calm, but something in Master Splinter's voice made me really anxious. I watched as Splinter retired to the dojo, probably waiting for his sons to meet him. With a sigh, I went towards Don's room, the sound of the keyboard getting louder as I approached. I knocked two, three, five times before I finally lost my patience and entered the room. As I expected, Donatello was completely focused on the computer, probably trying to find any clues about the marks of tires that we saw earlier. Seeing his expression, he didn't found anything. Again. I didn't blame him, he was doing his best, I know that. But it is frustrating, I won't deny it.

"Don."

Nothing.

"Donnie."

Still nothing.

"Donnie!"

The sound of the keyboard still hadn't stopped.

"Donatello!"

Finally, he turned to me, an annoyed expression in his face.

"What, Leo? Can't you see that I'm working?"

"Yes, I can see that. But Master Splinter is calling, he wants to speak to us." At this, Don's expression eased a little, though he still seemed annoyed. Getting up of his chair he followed me to the kitchen, that's where Mikey usually stays now. When we arrived there, we saw him in a crouch position under the table, apparently looking for something.

"Mikey!" Donnie called, scaring him. Mikey jumped under the table, which resulted in his head banging agaisnt the table above him.

"Ouch... Dude, could you be more gentle next time? My head would thanks that." Michelangelo said as he got up, his right hand on his head as he tried to relieve the pain.

"What were you doing?" I asked, trying to hold my laugh.

"I was looking for Klunk, I didn't see him since today's morning. He's been acting strangely, didn't you guys notice? He keep staring at nothing! They say that cats can see ghosts... What if there's a ghost living with us? We should exorcize this place!" Mikey said panicky.

"Mikey... There's no such things as ghosts." Donnie said deadpan.

"Oh yeah? Have you ever seen one? No? So how do you know that they don't exist?"

"And you? Have you ever seen one? No? So how do you know that they do exist?"

"Hey! You can't use my own argument against me!"

"Can and already did."

"Guys!" I had to interrupt their little discussion, otherwise, we would stay here for the rest of the day, and more. "Master Splinter is waiting. Let's go, shall we?"

They said nothing, only followed me as they kept glaring at each other. I sighed deeply. Oh shell... As I approached the dojo, that anxious feeling came back. I didn't know why though, maybe it was the way that Sensei spoke, or maybe it's just me. Maybe he just wants to update us with something about the trainings. Maybe...

"Leo?" Mikey voice brought me back to reality, I didn't even realize that we were standing in front of the dojo's door. Ugh... I'm getting too distracted, too much.

Slowly, I knocked three times, then waited for a response.

"Come in." Sensei's voice was quiet, quieter than the normal. Hesitant, I opened the door. The mood was gloomy inside the room, I didn't feel that peace that seemed to follow Master Splinter wherever he was. Apparently, Donnie and Mikey felt that too, since they stopped glaring at each other and stood with their mouths shut.

"Sit" We all sat, not saying a word. Our heads high, but our shoulders tense.

"As you all know, it's been a month since your brother, Raphael, disappeared." So, that's what it's all about... "And, believe me my sons, I do not want to crush your hopes. But it's a cruel world and we all have to be prepared..."

"W-what are you trying to say, Master Splinter?" Mikey's voice was nervous, timid.

"What I'm trying to say, Michelangelo, is that..." Master's voice trembled, which made us all more worried and nervous. He took a long and deep breath, then he tried again. "What I'm trying to say, my sons, is that we must be prepared if the worse has happened..."

"What do you mean?" This time Donatello spoke, his voice going a pitch higher at the end of his sentence.

"My sons, you are not children anymore... You know that each day, hour that goes by, the chances of Raphael being still aliv-..."

"No! You're wrong! Raph wouldn't die so quickly! He wouldn't! Do you know why? Because he is strong! He's the strongest person that I know! He won't die!" Mikey suddenly started to yell at Master Splinter, getting up from the floor. His voice was filled with sadness, panic, fear, and hope... Hope that was about to be crushed. His face hurt and scared. I closed my eyes, I wanted to believe in what Mikey said, but I also knew that Sensei was right. There's a high chance that Raph would be...gone... by the time we find him.

"Michelangelo! Do you think that I do not know that? Raphael is a strong being! I know that! But he is not immortal like you think he is! Your brother has a strong soul, he won't lower his head to no one! And that is what I'm afraid of..." I understood what Sensei was trying to say, putting in simpler words, Raphael didn't know when to stop, even if his life depended on it. He would always challenge himself, we feared that, one day, he would never come back. Like now.

Mikey stood quiet, before sitting again, his head low. His eyes drowning in fear and sadness. I couldn't watch him like this, so I closed my eyes once again. Donatello didn't say a word for a long time, and I knew that he was in the same condition as Mikey. I heard Master Splinter sigh quietly before he finally dismissed us. We couldn't wait to get out of there, the air was heavy and depressed. Mikey and Don went straight to their rooms, quiets as ghosts... I need a cup of water. Heading to the kitchen, I almost stumbled on Klunk. He was sitting in the middle of the entrance, staring at what seemed to be the table. I remembered about what Mike told us, that Klunk have been acting strange lately. I poked him. Nothing. I petted him. Nada. He just kept staring at nothing. I looked for a bug or something that would draw his attention. There was absolutely nothing. A ghost maybe? Heh. I'm starting to think like Mikey... I really need a cup of water. I thought to myself. Heading to the cabinet, I grabbed a cup, and, before I could close it, it closed by itself, making a loud thud. Again, Mikey's theory about a ghost living with us came back to my mind. Come on Leo, a ghost? Really? That's what Raph would say to me if I ever mention something about a ghost. Heh. It was probably just the wind, or something like that. Though we don't have windows... Nah, just forget it. I turned to go take my water, but something made me stop. Turning my head I saw Klunk. Ok, let me rephrase that, I saw Klunk staring at the cabinet that had just closed by itself. I tried to draw his attention to me, but his eyes didn't move. I looked at the cabinet's door, trying to find what was drawing Klunk's attention. I touched it. It was cold, really cold. Which surprised me, because the lair wasn't cold, it was warm, really warm.

A ghost.

Come on, Leo! There's no such things as ghosts! Suddenly, I felt my whole body shiver, the whole kitchen started to get really chilly, then, everything came back to normal. Klunk turned to face the table once again. What the heck was that? Quickly, I went to go take my water and get out of there. Finally, Klunk left. After 2 minutes, he came back, but this time with something in his mouth. A toy.

"What the..." It wasn't just any toy, it was that toy. He went with that toy to the chair on the back of the table, the spot that he kept staring. He put that toy on the floor, as if waiting for someone to take it. That freaking toy. The red ball with tiny latex spikes on it. The toy that only one person in this house used to play with Klunk.

Raphael's toy.

-Somewhere far away from there-

Daniel smiled as he watched Raphael's body, it was greatly preserved thanks to the abandoned laboratory's freezer that he had used to torture Raph. It has been a month since he accidentally killed the ninja, at first he was upset, really upset. After all, he didn't want to end the turtle's misery so soon, but what was done was done, he couldn't bring him back.

"You're really a lucky freak, freak." Daniel said with a smirk in his face, his eyes staring at the hole in Raph's plastron. Suddenly, he started to laugh, an insane laugh. "See, bro? I killed it! I killed the turtle! Hahah!"

Getting closer to the body, Daniel contained his laugh, now with only a smirk in his lips. Slowly, he leaned in and whispered to Raph's corpse.

"But don't worry turtle, I know someone who will take good care of you... Someone who will make your body something useful..." Hearing steps, Daniel turned his back to the body, so that he could greet his new guest. "Welcome! I'm glad you're here to take this trash, I can't stand it anymore."

"Where is he?" said a rough voice.

"Here, in the freezer. And in good conditions as I promised you." Taking a step aside, he motioned to the body. Now, the steps were closer, the figure of a giant man now visible.

"Hello, turtle. It's been a long time." Hun said with a smirk in his lips.


Oh no, respect the dead, Hun! You're so I know, how the heck did Daniel use an abandoned laboratory's freezer? Well, maybe he could fix it, I didn't really thought about it when I wrote it. I'm sorry!

So yeah, Leo is going crazy, or he just can't see his brother. That's saaad.

Aaanyway, I hope you liked it!

-GW