Yay Here it is Chapter four. Sorry it took so long. Please read and review!

-Leah by Michelangelo

Ch. 4-The words you never had to say

Leonardo Hamato sat on the couch with tears in his eyes. One button on a detonator. That's all it had taken. One press of that button had taken his little brother away from him.

It had started out as a normal, everyday nighttime run. We were investigating an old abandoned warehouse down by the docks. Rumor had it that the Foot had been using it as base.

The four of us crawled in silently through the skylight. I crept through the rafters and peered down into the space below. The room was filled with large stacks of crates bearing the foot symbol, and there was what would appear to be a large central computer. Definitely a Foot hideout, I thought to myself, question is: Where are they? Something's not right.

I motioned to my brothers and we jumped down into the warehouse. Donatello headed straight for the computer and began to hack it. I drew one of my Katanas and looked around warily. This has got to be a trap. I told myself.

I turned to my immediate younger brother. "This is way too easy." He nodded and I said 'keep watch' with hand signals and he nodded again and moved over to the door.

Donnie was about to download files off the computer to his t-phone when the screen went dark and I got a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. A loud clanging noise made me look up as all the doors and windows were being blocked off by heavy metal seals sliding down in front of them. We're being caged in.

"LEO!" Raphael shouted.

I turned to my emerald green brother to see him struggling to hold his own against the giant trap door. Sweat ran down his face as he struggled to keep it up. I ran towards the door and motioned for Mikey and Donnie to follow. I may not know Shredder's reason for trapping us in here, but I'm not going to wait to find out.

Raph was slowly losing his fight to keep the door open. I sent Donnie and Mikey on ahead telling them to fetch the Shell Raiser. The two of them ducked under and left the building as fast as they could.

That was when all shell broke loose. Raphael's muscles couldn't take the abuse and the door slipped, the muscular turtle giving everything he had to catch and hold it at waist level. "What the shell are you waiting for Leo? Go!" He yelled urgently. I crawled under to the other side and took hold, trying to help lift it for my brother, but it was still slipping. Raph's strength was giving out and I wasn't strong enough to lift it myself. "I can't do it, Leo. I can't hold this thing up any longer!" Raphael's voice growled out, his breathing growing shaky and uneven.

"Hang in there Raph, if I can just get a better grip…" I stated, my voice wavering when I tried, and failed to lift the door a little higher.

"No, Leo. Just go. I'll catch up."

"No! I am not leaving you behind!" I shouted to him as I fought the door in vain, tears forming at the corners of my eyes.

"Sorry, big brother," he paused for a moment and I could hear his silent resolution. No! "But you don't have a choice." My younger brother stated, his voice soft and filled with emotion. Raphael released his grip. The weight became unbearable and the door fell with a sickening thud.

I stared at it for a moment, tears rolling down my cheeks. I turned and ran the rest of the way out of the building into a nearby alley where the Shell Raiser was waiting. I jumped in, landing with a thud, making Mikey and Donnie jump. "Donnie! Raph's been trapped in the building we've got to get him out!" My younger brothers stared at me wide-eyed and fearful.

Donatello must have seen the desperation in my eyes and he nodded. All of a sudden we heard the sound of an explosion and the ground shook as my heart dropped to my stomach. The three of us exchanged glances and practically flew to the monitor screens. My heart stopped. There on the screen, the building where my little brother was trapped was no more than a burning pile of rubble. No…

I stared from the screen to my older brothers, then back at the screen again. No! This couldn't be happening! Raph couldn't be… Tears formed and within moments I was crying like a baby.

I looked to my eldest brother for comfort and Leo wrapped me in a hug. "Don't give up Mikey. I'm going to search the wreckage." I would have assumed that Leo was just offering words of comfort, but something in my big brother's tone gave me a tiny shred of hope.

My blue-masked brother pulled away and left Donnie and I in the Shell Raiser.

I had been poking about in the wreckage calling my brother's name. This warehouse was so out of the way that the incident probably won't be reported until morning giving me plenty of time to search. I couldn't think of any way that Raph could have survived, by I can't give up until I've eliminated all doubt.

Wait…what was-? A flash of red caught my eye and I crouched down, trying to ignore the terror that was growing in my stomach as I pulled away the pieces of concrete and rubble to get at it.

I recoiled with a gasp as tears clouded my eyes. Raphael's sai was slightly bent and charred practically beyond recognition. But that wasn't all. My brother's bright red mask was tied securely around the handle.

He knew. He knew he was going to die so he did this. What little remained of the hope in my heart was snatched away by grief and I collapsed to my knees, taking my brother's final message in my hands. I carefully untied the slightly charred mask and gripped it in one hand, pressing it against my face. "Farewell, Ototo." I whispered, barely audible.

More tears rolled down his face as he re-lived the events of the night for the umpteenth time. His purple-clad brother had fallen asleep beside him on the couch, clinging to him for comfort. The blue-clad turtle looked up as the youngest of his brothers came towards him with tears in his eyes. Leo opened his arms and Michelangelo snuggled up opposite Donatello, sniffling. "I-I miss him so much, Leo."

The eldest rubbed the younger turtle's shell comfortingly. "We all do Mikey. Master Splinter says that sacrifice is the ultimate act of love. Raphael died for us Michelangelo. He sacrificed himself because he loved us. We must honor his sacrifice by pushing through this."

"Actions speak louder than words." Donnie whispered as he straightened, having heard the entire conversation. Leo looked up at him in confusion and he explained. "One time Raph and I were playing this game where we had to think of a phrase to describe ourselves. That's what Raph chose. I never realized how true it was until now."

Leo absorbed the information and nodded. "Yeah. He hardly ever said he loved us-"

"But he didn't have to." Michelangelo finished for him. "Raph could leave the words unsaid because his actions did all the talking. Like the time he comforted me after Chris Bradford turned out to be an enemy, or the time he flipped out when I knocked out by Snakeweed. And that time when we thought you went down with the Krang ship and he said he would have treated you better. And how he chose us over Slash and lost his best friend. He never had to say that he loved us, because we already knew."

"Doesn't mean I can't say that I love you guys." A familiar voice echoed from the entrance of the Lair.

The three brothers jumped off the couch and stared. Mikey was the first to run over and embrace his brother hesitantly, as though he feared that Raphael would disappear at the slightest touch. Raph chuckled and pulled his little brother into a strong hug as Michelangelo burst into tears. "We thought you were dead!" the youngest wailed.

"So did I, little brother, so did I." Raph said softly as he rubbed the younger turtle's shell. Leo and Donnie finally recovered from their shell-shocked state enough to approach their supposedly dead brother in much the same way as Mikey, before all three smothered him in a giant group hug. It seemed like hours before they finally pulled away with relieved smiles and tears of joy at having their brother back.

"But how-how did you?" Leo stuttered out, still in a state of awe.

"There was a safe, combination lock, a little bit larger than the other crates. Old fashioned, you know, the kind used to store valuable materials. I crawled in at the last second and, amazingly, I fit. Sometimes it's good to be a short turtle." He said with a shrug and a small smile that his brothers returned.

At that moment the doors to the dojo slid open and Master Splinter stepped into the room, his gaze lowered, looking grieved, not to mention ten years older. "My sons, I know that it has been a terrible night, but the three of you must get some sleep." He finally looked up and stared in shock.

All four of his sons stood before him, including Raphael who was missing his facemask. The man-turned-rat, rushed to his second son and yanked him into a fond embrace. He could not stop the tears from leaving his eyes as he held his child close. The turtles stared at him in wonder and surprise for they had never before seen their father cry. "Raphael, my son, my son…"

The other three brothers watched with smiles on their faces before Raph reached over and pulled Leo into the hug and motioned for the others to do the same. The four turtles and their father cherished this moment of joy in their hearts, relying on their love to keep them strong.

*Sniffle* I just love happy endings!