Stranger Whistles

by TJ HECTOR

-Warnings:

25 f-words. (I actually counted it and impressed myself Lol)

Meaningless babbling. A lot.

Cruelty and violence. If you think you can't handle this, skip the first part (in italics).

-A/N:

Thank you all for your kind reviews: ducky mikey, Guests, cup-mikey-gertha, MissCookiiie, tmntlover2013!

And yeah cup-mikey-gertha, writing a badass Raph certainly gives me a lot of enjoyment!

I said in the last chapter that this story is getting darker...this is the start of downfall. I hope all of you stay with me! We will pull through this darkness-I'm not gonna say in no time-but at least I can promise a bright ending.

Enjoy & review!

-Disclaimer:

I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (in this case, humans!).

Chapter Four: A Shattered Bottle

[Raphael]

The rain had stopped finally. And thankfully the lady had gone into the night with her purse and her clothes wrapped up back properly. Now there were only he, Casey and over a dozen of Purple Dragon thugs.

"Let go." Raphael snarled dangerously, but his arms were firmly locked in the iron grips of the guy behind him.

He growled as someone tore off his mask.

"Hey. Why didn't I think it was you." The one with his mask uttered in surprise.

"Is that HAMATO?" Someone yelled a few feet away. "Look what we got here, it's that Jones guy. Jake said he's from the hockey team. "

"Interesting. And Hamato here was once our beloved teammate, too." The guy in front of him dropped the mask to the ground. "So you know us all along."

"Yeah, Fang." Raph grunted. It's a trap. It's a fucking trap. Even if Case and him were half wasted after a few shots, he could still tell these guys had been waiting for this chance for a long time. Of Course. He and Casey had been blasting them for over a month now.

"Twenty against two? Yeah, this one is full of Purple Dragon's styl—fu…" Fang kicked him beneath his waist, and watched his reaction in amusement.

"I wanna try that." Another guy came into Raph's vision, and Raph received another series of kicks and punches. The one who grabbed him from behind had loosened the grip and let him fall helplessly to the ground.

"I'd like to see you stop playin' hero and be a whining baby." Fang smirked. Raph held up his arms trying to protect himself, but the gang members were around him. All he could see were their shoes and grinning teeth.

"Hey, you, hold him still." Fang said suddenly to a heavyset guy standing beside him, "I wanna show you how our coach made him beg. Man, he was a softie, all crying and pleading like a pussy. Bring that hockey mask nut here." Raph felt himself being dragged from the ground, and the guy with powerful wrists were behind him once again.

Fang snickered. "Hey you there," he commanded a scrawny kid. "Kick Jones in the gut, will ya." Raph watched in horror, as his friend was being pushed to the ground and kicked hard in the lower belly.

"Yeah. One more time…very good." Fang ordered. "Now, Hamato, just say it and we won't hurt him any longer."

"Raph, don't list…list'n ta 'em!" Casey managed to cry between the attacks. Raph felt his arms stiffened, shaking violently. He struggled to pull free, but there were more hands on him now and he was pinned.

"Com'on, Hamato." Fang displayed another savage grin. "I'm waitin'."

"'M sorry…" He heard himself said in a croak, "I shouldn't interrupt your business…"

"Well, ya might wanna speak a little louder." Fang approached him until their noise almost bumped.

"I said I'm SORRY." Raph hollered.

"And?" Fang pulled out a pocketknife and pointed it at his throat.

"PLEASE DON'T HURT MY FRIEND…" He could hear Casey cried out in pain. No matter how he begged, they'd kill Casey. He knew it and it only made him more furious.

"And then? I want to hear you say it. 'Stupid vigilantes ain't gonna messes with Purple Dragon no more…'"

Raphael repeated Fang's words. The cold tip of the blade slid down a bit, a white, burning pain protruded from between his skin and the knife.

"STOP HURTIN' HIM, PLEASE…" He pleaded.

Fang said something and he repeated as his brain gone blank.

"NOBODY MESSES WITH THE PURPLE DRAGON…"

"—Boss, it's the cops!" Someone whispered.

"Let's go." Fang said quickly. The weight pressing and pulling his body was off, and he dropped to the pavement like a ragged, empty bag. Blood and tears blended together and blurred his vision. Somewhere out there Casey's still groaning.

He heard Fang chuckle before saw him turning his heels and leave.

"Nobody messes with the Purple Dragon."

Officer Stern (so wrote on her desk) offered the redheaded teen a handkerchief, but he shoved it away.

"Thanks, ma'am. But I like 'em on my face." He muttered.

His face was covered in blood, which was probably the result of his bleeding nose and his injured forehead. When other two officers were dragging him in through the front door, she had seen him limping. Besides the visible bruises, there was a deep cut on his lower lip and a gash just beneath his collarbone—the front of his shirt had been torn. They had asked him whether he wanted to be sent to a hospital for a detailed check, but he refused. They had to send the other teen to the hospital anyway.

He was humming lowly.

"What song is that?" She frowned.

He met her gaze, pulling his injured lips into a crooked smile.

"A song I love." He singsonged.

"Listen, kid—" She sighed as he interrupted her.

"—Got a name and it's Raphael." He sang.

"Okay, Raphael. Listen. The lady said you and the other boy saved her, but you're drunk, and you're fighting with a bunch of teenagers. However, you're just a kid. I have to call your family."

"Am not a kid. I'm fuckin' thirty years old. Ma'am."

"You can't lie to me." She sighed. "You're only sixteen; I knew it already. Now just give me a phone number and your folks' gonna come and pick you up."

"My mother's a hooker. Ya know that?" He sang.

Stern shook her head. "I have to call your family—"

"Donnie hacked into the database of the charity. We saw all the profile. 'Course they didn't say it. But it's obvious. So I guess there's no way knowing who's our father. Bet he's a crazy red-haired punk good-for-nothin'." The teen's bright green eyes looked vacant.

"…Got this chick fuckin' love my hair color. Crazy bitch. Last summer. Always sayin' she wanna ta be an artist like some phony prick…" Raphael chuckled.

She stared at him.

"…We broke up after three days because I fuckin' bit her lip and she got scared…"

Stern put a hand on his shoulder, wanting to stop he from blabbering inanely.

"…And I yelled at her face told her ta fuck off and she cried like a baby. Fuck. Everybody so sensitive. Hate it when they all get so sentimental. Pretentious motherfuckers. Bunch of sissies. Have to gather twenty people just to corner two guys. Pussies." He stopped, suddenly looking confused.

"You wanna give me the number of your home?" Stern offered again in a low voice.

"…Yeah, sure." Raphael singsonged. "Of course."

She went to make the call as Raphael lay himself down on the bench, still humming the song he loved.

O-O-O

"Com' on." The dark-haired, tall boy dragged his brother from the bench. Despite the worried looks hidden behind the elder boy's reticent, dark shade eyes, there was no other way to tell the two of them were brothers. They looked nothing alike.

"Yo. Fearless. What bring ya here? We're havin' a…part-ty. Pick yer partner. The dance's about ta start…"

"Com' on, Raph. Knock it off."

"…You know what? Ya could totally be a monk, yer so boring…"

"I'm sorry." The boy who claimed to be Raphael's brother turned to face Officer Stern, ignoring Raphael's babbling. "I'll make sure he doesn't wind up in here again."

"Yeah." Stern smiled. "I'm used to it, though. Wait…" She frowned a little. "You don't think he's arrested or something, do you?"

The boy with grave face raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't he?"

"No. No. He's not. We just wanted to know what happened…and, it wasn't the best idea to let him wandering out there in the night like this."

"Thank you. Anyway." The slightly older brother nodded, supporting an arm around Raphael's waist as they stumbled towards the door.

Once they were in the car, Leo let his anger emerged to the surface.

"What do you think you're doing, Raph?" He said while getting the engine started.

"Fucking you?" Raph chuckled.

"Jesus." Leonardo snorted.

"Screw you, Leo." Raph snapped. "Screw you screw you sscrrrew youuu."

"Are you drunk?" He smelled the raw, unpleasant scent of blood, but under that, he swore he smelled alcohol.

"Yeah? No. I'm sober. SSSSoberrrr."

Leonardo ignored him during the rest of the ride.

[Michelangelo]

Donnie had persuaded me to go to bed. I didn't know why I listened to him; maybe I was afraid of what I might see when Leo came back from the police station. Maybe Raph was arrested and they would send him to jail. Maybe Raph had killed someone.

However, when I heard our front door opened and shut, I sneaked out of my bed immediately. I didn't want to let them know I was awake though, so I just stood beside the door and listened. If I went out there Leo'd probably send me back. I knew they liked to hide ugly truths from me.

"Thank God you're back." I heard Donnie's worried voice. "Wow, that's quick."

"Yeah, they let me bring him home, without much trouble." Thank God he was back.

"You're okay, Raph?"

"He's fine."

"He can't be fine looking like this…let me grab a towel."

"No, you don't have to, Donnie. Let's just get him into the bathroom…"

Then I heard the door of the bathroom thrown wide, and came the sound of running water.

"WATCH IT…shit." Raph grunted.

"No, you watch it. Don't you think you have caused enough trouble tonight?"

"Hey, Leo…easy….let me handle this, okay?"

"Whatever, Donnie."

"It's just abrasions. …Oh, that's a nasty wound, but we can fix it. You might want to get a few stitches though, so there won't be an ugly scar. But…guess you don't care."

"Couldn't've cared less…"

"Yeah? You don't care. That's the problem. You don't care even if you might get yourself killed, do you? Do you ever care about how dad feels or how Mikey—"

"Quit yelling, Leo." Donnie said.

"No, ya know what? I'd love to hear him yell—" Raph was chuckling loudly.

"—You two, stop it. NOW!"

Something crashed on the floor.

I heard footsteps, and my bedroom door was flung open; light flooded in.

Donnie came in, his face tired and frustrating.

"Sorry we woke you up, Mikey." He sighed, walking past me. "I just come to pick some clean towels."

"It's my fault."

"What?" His footsteps stopped.

"…It's all my fault. I should've told you everything."

"What thing, what are you talking about?"

"I was going to meet with Raph after school, but he didn't come."

"It's not your fault, Mikey. It's his own fault. He should've listened to us in the first place. But, like Leo said, he never listens."

"…And I overheard Miss Morris talking to him. Raph quit the football team. Some guy in the team was in trouble and somehow Raph got involved…and his teammates threatened him…"

"-It's still his fault, Mikey. He could've told us himself. It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. If I told you…if I told you earlier and none of this would happen and—"

"Mikey," Donnie grabbed my shoulders and turned me around so I looked up straight into his clear maroon eyes, "it's not your fault, okay?"

My lips were trembling so hard that I couldn't form the words on them.

"Mikey." Donnie's grip on my shoulder tightened. "This thing…it's over. And none of these are your fault. Raph's alright and safely back at home."

I wiped away a teardrop rolling down my chin.

He'll run away. Again. They're still fightin'. Nothing's gonna change.

But I didn't say these words.

"Yeah. I know." Instead I lied, forcing out a cheesy smile.

Donnie bought it, though. He smiled back.

"I'm going to make some tea." He said. "I let Leo take care of the wounds. Maybe you wanna come with me?"

"Yeah, sure…but I wanna see Raph first."

Donnie shrugged. I turned away, wiping off another tear threatening to fall.

O-O-O

The bathroom floor was white but tainted with dark red blood. A bottle of antiseptic lay shattered in one corner, and the liquid within were spattered everywhere.

Raph was sitting on the floor and leaning against the bathtub, his head drooping low. Leo was crouched next to him.

"Hey, Mikey." Leo glanced quickly at me. "You should go to bed."

I ignored him. "Is he alright?"

"'M fine." Raph muttered. "Casey's in the hospital, though."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Yeah, what happened, Raph?" Leo said motionlessly; it seemed like he had asked for countless times but Raph wouldn't tell him.

"It's nothing. A lady got mugged and we tried ta help her."

"That doesn't explain why y—"

"So what da ya wanna hear? I got beat'n up like a fucking punching bag?"

"Yeah." Leo said. "I'd like to hear that."

Raph's face went red.

"Alright." He roared, standing up. "I'm so gonna crack your—"

"STOP IT!" I cried, grabbing Raph's arm and yanking him back.

"I wanna hear you say it yourself, Raph. It's because your own recklessness you got beaten up like this. It's a lesson learned in the hard way, but it's a valuable lesson…"

"Ya don't know nuthin'." Raph smirked, his eyes wild and furious.

Leo stared at him. For a moment no one spoke, and then Leo turned to leave, slamming the door shut behind him.

Raph fell to the bathroom floor, scowling at the door.

I sat down beside him, picking up the wet towel from the basin. But when I brushed the towel against the skin below his collarbone, near his wound, he winced.

"I'm sorry." I drew back instantly.

"Nah. It's alright." Raph waved his hand. "You don't have to do this, Mikey." His voice was soft, but somehow I knew he didn't want me to be there. "Just…go to bed, will ya?"

He didn't want me to see him like this.

I said in a small voice. "I'll get Donnie for you."

I stood up and opened the door. Before I left, I glanced back once more and saw him stared into the white wall; his lower lip started to bleed again as he bit down hard.

—End of chapter four.