Hello again!

So we finally get to see what is going on in Raph's head. I hope you all enjoy:)

A giant thank you to The Nerdfighter, adventuresstime, I love Kittens Too, rinpup14, Ougi-san, Diana Fay, CrazyGeekyLove, Kimmie98 and SleepingSeeker for all of your wonderful reviews! You guys are so awesome!

Also a giant hug and thank you to SleepingSeeker and CrazyGeekyLove for all of the shout outs and amazing feedback and encouragement from you both! I really appreciate it!

p.s Raph has a bit of a potty mouth in this chapter and drops the f-bomb a few times, just letting you know;)

And now...

Chapter 10

Raphael was furious. He had known what his brother was about to say, about disobeying him, and that one of the times he had snuck out from the lair...

That was a lecture he had never received when he had finally made it back home; probably because the consequences of his actions had been punishment enough. He shoved these thoughts from his mind because he didn't want to think about them.

Instead he focused on his anger. The problem was he didn't know why he was so angry. No, that was a lie, he knew why he was angry, it was more a matter of too many things had made him angry and he wasn't able to focus upon just one particular anger at the moment; which left him feeling oddly overwhelmed.

Of course the anger wasn't his only problem. Anger had been coupled with jealousy, and frustration, and these emotions had swirled together into a giant ball of thoughts and feelings that he couldn't cope with. This only confused him, made him miserable, and thus even more angry than he already was.

Pulling up outside Casey and April's apartment he noticed that the windows were dark. Raphael pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called his friend. It went to voice mail three times before his friend finally answered the phone.

"Hello?" the words were slurred and thick with sleep.

"You awake? Good. I'm coming up." He hung up not even waiting for a reply before shoving his phone into his pocket and making his way up the fire escape.

He slipped through the unlocked window and encountered Casey in the living room, looking angry and dishevelled from sleep.

"You'd better be dyin'," Casey grumbled as he ran a hand through his long and slightly mussed dark hair.

Raphael stared at his friend and found that he was unable to unclench his jaw enough to actually speak. And even if he could, he didn't know where to begin.

Casey stared at him for a moment and then nodded. "That bad, huh? I'll go get my coat."

Raphael gave a quick nod and climbed back out the window, making his way to the roof and trying to get his thoughts in order.

He paced back and forth as he reviewed his night which hadn't gone at all according to plan. Not that there had actually been a plan, but still...

The night had gone from bad to worse, starting with Elizabeth flat out telling him that they weren't on a date; he had experienced another 'attack' and had come within a hair's breadth of assaulting Elizabeth; he had been completely shut down when he had asked for a date -twice- and finally, had his ass kicked in the batting cage by a lithe, petite woman who had driven him insane, in more ways than one.

He stopped pacing and took in a deep breath of chilly night air, hoping it would cool both his temper and his body, which seemed uncomfortably warm.

He had been thwarted, outwitted, outmaneuvered and outplayed by Elizabeth. If he hadn't known better he would have sworn that he had spent the evening with Catherine.

Watching Elizabeth hit the ball was probably the most impressive and gracefully beautiful thing he had seen in a long while. She had shucked her coat and wore a form fitting black t-shirt underneath. Hips swaying as she swung the bat back and forth she focused her attention upon the pitching machine before correcting her stance, body pulling taunt she swung the bat, the ball never standing a chance as she annihilated it.

And it was hot; so, so very hot.

He appreciated her ability as well as the way every curve of her toned body was accentuated by the quick movements she performed. Unfortunately it also had the adverse effect of pissing him off because she was so much better than he was.

After a few rounds she walked from the cage allowing him to attempt the pitching machine again, and even though he knew she wasn't taunting him, her 'helpful' suggestions had made him furious.

Competition had been fired within his breast and he had been determined to hit the ball, even if it took him all damn night or killed him, whichever came first. But no matter how many times he tried, he had absolutely no success.

Panting and muscles weak with exertion he had finally given into her assertions that she could 'help' him. Deciding to get back at her and accepting her offer, he fully intended to wipe the smug, laughing smile from her face when he kicked her ass.

He wondered briefly if he had sounded as patronizing as she had when offering to 'help', and he was pretty sure he had and that she was now mocking him.

He had then smiled to himself when he realized that she wasn't about to shout orders at him or get him to mimic her, but rather, she was going to get up close and personal with him. He almost palm slapped his forehead for being so thick. She wanted to 'help' him, which meant she intended to flirt with him.

Suddenly the whole night was not going to turn out to be so bad. He was imagining in his mind that she was going to slightly 'adjust' his arms, running her hands along his biceps, and being impressed with how strong he was; only she hadn't come up towards him to 'adjust' his arms. Instead he had watched her as she reached out towards his thigh, telling him that his stance was wrong.

Heat burned a trail across his leg as her fingers slid across his thigh pulling his leg back ever so slightly. His mouth went completely dry and he had to force himself not to flinch and pull away when her hands spread out to either side of his carapace and twisted his torso just a little more.

He almost dropped the bat that he held in his hands as her fingers moved his arms, shifting both his grip upon the bat and the position of his arms; raising them up higher.

He stopped breathing completely, afraid to even move. She was looking over his arms again shifting back his shoulders her face so close to his own that he could smell the sweet flowery scent of her body, mixed with the scent of leather and something very faint, almost smoky like incense.

Heart beating almost painfully in his chest he was powerless to do anything because he felt nearly blind with panic and terror.

Elizabeth had stepped back observing her handiwork, her face not at all flirtatious, but serious and speculative. She had no idea what her touch had just done to him because she was being true to her words and was actually trying to help him with his swing.

She stepped forward again and he swore he was going to flinch, but he didn't move as she grabbed either side of his head, gently turning his face towards the pitching machine.

"The ball comes out of there," her words had been soft and contained a hint of amusement, but he wasn't laughing because his body and mind were fighting a vicious and bloodthirsty battle with each other.

Terror gripped his heart as the actual ramifications of a relationship hit him; his body on the other hand didn't give a shit what his mind was screaming about because it was too damn busy burning from the outside inwards; a incendiary flame of lust and aching need tearing through him and robbing him of any and all ability to think, reason or act.

His lungs screamed for air and he managed to drag in one deep, shuddering breath after another.

Closing his eyes he blocked everything out, ignoring Elizabeth's soft scent. His eyes snapped open as the ball shot out from the pitching machine and he moved the bat connecting with the ball with such force and speed that the stitches on the ball actually burst.

"Wow," Elizabeth breathed out, clearly impressed. "Now THAT is something to brag about. See and you didn't think I could help," she teased.

But he had barely heard her teasing words, heart gripped with fear and uncertainty which only made him furious with himself and with her.

He had said something infuriatingly cocky and he couldn't even remember what he said, but whatever it was she had smirked and rolled her eyes, shaking her head in exasperation.

They had left shortly after, Elizabeth taking the equipment and putting it away while he waited for her outside, silently fuming. He had stewed all the way to the Brownstone, leaving her before she even had time to take off her helmet, telling her he would 'catch her later'.

Raphael looked over his shoulder as he saw Casey appear on the roof, which dragged his thoughts back to the present.

He stopped pacing only long enough to take the proffered beer, crack the can open, and take a swig before he began pacing again.

Casey watched him pace back and forth not saying anything, just waiting until Raphael decided he was ready to talk. That's what he liked about Casey, he never pushed, never questioned, just let him do his own thing until he was good and ready to talk, if he even decided to talk.

"There's this girl," he began finally coming to a halt and looking out over the city skyline, the downtown core lit up brightly in the far distance.

"This one of these sisters you said you met a while back?" Casey asked coming to stand beside him.

"Yeah," he agreed as he sat down on the edge of the building, his anger finally regressing from a boil to a slow simmer.

"Are me and April ever gonna meet these chicks?" Casey asked.

"Dunno," he answered truthfully. "Maybe? It isn't like we haven't wanted you guys to meet them, it's just never happened."

"Fine," Casey waved this away. "Back to the chick."

"She completely shut me down," he admitted bitterly.

"Ouch," Casey winced in sympathy.

"Yeah. All I wanted was…and then… And she..." his words weren't even making any sense to him. His thoughts tumbled around him as he remembered the infuriating night. "What the hell was I thinkin'?" he downed the rest of the beer in one gulp, crushed the can and threw it angrily to the street down below.

"Hey, Bro, listen, she don't know what she's missin' out on."

"Yeah, I'm a real fucking prize," he snarled bitterly.

"Raph-"

"Case, I thought maybe, you know, for like one brief fucking second, and then you know what happened? I realized that there was no way in hell it was gonna work."

"So it didn't work out with this chick, that don't mean-"

"The hell it doesn't," he interrupted. "I've got nothin', Case. I live in a sewer, I don't have any money, and there ain't no white picket fence or any of that shit in my future. No wonder Leo was sittin' there drinkin himself stupid after his date."

"Leo had a date?"

"I ain't talkin' about Leo," he bit out, furiously. His brother had a woman that actually wanted to be with him and the jealousy he felt over this fact was nearly overwhelming.

"I'm a freak, Case, me an' my whole damn family, but at least-" he cut himself off, realizing that his hand had drifted up and across his plastron. He froze slowly pulling his hand away and hoping that his friend hadn't noticed the movement.

"Raph-" Casey's voice was gentle, almost coaxing, indicating that he knew exactly what Raphael was thinking.

Quickly Raphael stood. "-they ain't fucking broken," he finished

Casey stood as Raphael stared down over the ledge, remembering all the times he almost let go; let himself just fall over an edge just like this one, and into blissful oblivion. Those had been dark days; days after his body had healed, but his mind had still been utterly broken and shattered.

But he had pulled through and hadn't had an 'attack' in almost a year. He hadn't had a violent episode in almost two. But apparently he was still messed up.

"You ain't broken," Casey told him fiercely.

He wanted to tell his friend that he was, and how he had almost attacked Elizabeth tonight, but instead said, "Bad enough having to deal with this," he motioned to his face, "but then having to deal with...with this shit," he said as he moved his hand across his torso in disgust. "It's too much."

The fell into silence, Casey obviously searching for something to say, and Raphael feeling oddly drained, tired and just wanting to go home and forget about women in general.

"Chicks dig scars," Casey offered up feebly.

"Scars, sure, bein' disfigured is completely different."

"You aren't disfigured," Casey protested, but Raphael was done talking.

"Whatever," he waved off his friend's comment. "Doesn't matter." He shook his head and smiled almost ruefully. "I mean, she hit the 75 mile an hour ball just to get out of a date with me."

"Whoa. Are you serious?" Casey asked in awe.

"Yeah, three times, just to show me that she could."

"Dude, that's…kinda hot."

"I know," he growled. Oh, he knew. It was so damn hot and maddening all at the same time.

"So...it's good she turned you down?" Casey asked in confusion.

"I don't know, Case," he admitted dragging his hands down his face in frustration. Elizabeth was right, he didn't know what the hell he wanted. "And she didn't really turn me down. She said 'not right now', or some stupid ass-"

Casey grabbed his arms and spun him around to face him. "So she didn't flat out turn you down?"

"Well... I mean she shot me down when I asked her for a date, but it was more 'I don't want anything serious', 'I was hurt in the past', 'let's just keep things the same and see what happens', blah, blah-"

Casey grinned almost crushing his arms with his tightening grip. "That's great!" Raphael frowned. "That's just woman speak for 'try harder'."

"Try harder?"

"Yeah. As long as she didn't tell you flat out 'no way in hell', you're golden."

"It sure as hell didn't feel golden when she handed me my ass on a platter when she hit that ball, just so she wouldn't have to go out on a date with me."

Casey waved off his comment. "She was just…posturing, you know, showin' off. She can't make it easy for you. She wants you to chase her."

Raphael continued to look at him dubiously, as if not quite believing him.

"Listen, I know you got the whole…" he moved his hands up and down, indicating Raphael. "Mutant turtle thing going on, and you're freaking out about the whole white picket fence and the scars, but...you're thinkin' too much and takin' things too fast."

"Too fast?" Raphael asked feeling completely lost.

"Right now you're planning your marriage, where you're gonna live, how many kids you're gonna have and-"

"I'm doing what?!" Raphael squeaked in horror, his voice reaching a high note he didn't think he would actually be able to hit as he interrupted his friend.

"Get her to go out with you first, then worry about all the other crap later."

"But the crap will still be there later," he huffed angrily, knowing his friend was trying to help, but there wasn't anything Casey could do to fix everything that was wrong with him and his situation.

Casey waved off his concerns. "You find the right chick, and all that stuff isn't gonna matter. So all you need to do is get her to go out with you."

"And how the hell do I do that?" he shot back angrily, feeling slightly overwhelmed by Casey's words.

"I have no idea." Casey answered with a shake of his head.

"Some help you are," Raphael growled in dejected anger.

"But girls like romance."

"I ain't getting her flowers or chocolate or…or stuffed animals or jewelry…or whatever the hell is considered 'romantic'. Forget it."

Casey waved off these suggestions. "That stuff comes later, you know, for important occasions or when you've screwed up and need to beg for forgiveness," he told him seriously. "What you need to do is make her realize that you two got something so she'll give you a chance."

"Like what?!" he snapped in frustration. "I got nothin' Case, remember? I can't take her anywhere or-"

"Not that kind of something." Casey interrupted him. "It's that science thing...What's it called?"

Raphael stared at his friend in bewilderment. "Science thing?"

"Yeah you know. When two people are attracted to each other... "

"Like...magnets?" he offered, still completely confused at what Casey was getting at.

"Well...yeah, but not quite. It's the one with the vials and beakers; the stuff Donny does all the time."

"Chemistry?" Raphael offered up after a few moments.

"That's it." Casey said snapping his fingers.

"And how do I make her think we got somethin'? And what if we don't?" Raphael asked completely out to sea and so caught up in his friends words that he was no longer thinking about the reasons he shouldn't pursue Elizabeth.

"Kiss her."

"Kiss her?" Raphael asked in shock, as if he hadn't heard him correctly.

"Yup."

"How the hell is kissin' her supposed to do anything?" He asked in frustration. "Hell, I kiss her she might just scream and slap me."

"Well if she slaps you, you'll know that she ain't interested and she was just tryin' to be nice and let you down easy when she turned you down." Raphael glared at his friend as Casey hastened to explain further. "The thing is this, alcohol isn't the only thing that makes women make bad decisions, hormones can do that too."

"Hormones?" Raphael asked in confusion, completely ignoring the 'bad decisions' comment because he had no idea what the hell his friend was talking about.

"Sure. You gotta play up your strengths."

"My strengths?"

"Yeah, as in literal strength. You got a set of pipes on you, so use 'em. Women liked to be swept off their feet. And I ain't talkin' the 'Hey, Babe, let me show you my private island and we'll get there on my million dollar yacht' kind of sweeping...Though women like that too. I'm talking about the kind where you drag her up and kiss her till her mind stops workin', then you'll be good to go and she'll agree to anythin'."

Raphael looked at his friend dubiously. "You seriously think that'd work?"

Casey nodded. "Women always say they're lookin' for a guy who's sweet and sensitive, well, I call bullshit. Women think they want that, but what they really want is a guy who'll take charge, got a little bit of danger to him and who makes 'em all weak in the knees."

"Casey-"

"Hey, all I'm sayin' is that there's a reason that all those stupid romance books that they read have a half dressed buff dude on the front, usually tearin' the clothes off the chick that's powerless against him. And I can tell you this much, the back panel don't start out 'He was a passive, gentle, guy who liked to talk about his feelings'." Casey shook his head back and forth, making a slicing movement with his hand that spilled a little of his beer. "They're always , 'He was dark, dangerous, aggressive, strong and made women beg to have just one look from his smouldering eyes'."

Picking his jaw up off the ground Raphael grinned widely. "Just how many of those romance books you been readin' Case?"

"Shut up," Casey growled. "My point is, kiss her, go from there."

He was about to ask his friend how he would know if they had any chemistry but stopped himself, because it was too damn embarrassing to admit how out of his depth he was, and how he had no idea how to deal with women.

Raphael frowned and contemplated his friend's words.

A kiss.

It was simple enough. He could handle that.

"So are you gonna at least show me a picture of this chick or what?"

Raphael froze. He had told Casey the truth when he had told him that they hadn't been purposefully keeping the twins away from Casey and April. It was more they had never crossed paths. The women had only been to the lair twice maybe four times at the most, and other than that, Leo had kept most of their time with the women short and almost strictly at the Brownstone. Of course Raphael had snuck out of the lair on more than one occasion so he had actually been around the women more than any of his other brothers.

Giving a one shouldered shrug and pulled his phone from his pocket and threw it to his friend. He felt uncomfortable about showing the pictures that he had of Elizabeth because he was worried that his friend would take one look at her and tell him he didn't have a chance in hell with her, and to stop dreaming.

Casey was silent for a moment before he let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Are you kidding me?" he finally asked.

Raphael winced inwardly. "Yeah, I know," he agreed solemnly as he reached out for the phone that Casey pulled away before his fingers could grasp the device.

"She is hot. I mean like...smokin'." Casey turned icy blue eyes upon him. "And this chick hit the 75 mile and hour pitch, dude you gotta get with her," he turned the phone towards him and Raphael blinked in shock at the picture. It was one of Catherine looking at him furiously. Her expression was blank but he could tell she was angry because her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were flashing, and her arms were crossed over her chest which only served to pull the fabric tightly across her ample breasts.

He refused to acknowledge at how his heart sped up and his mouth went dry. It was only because both sisters looked alike, that was all, he thought furiously to himself. Instead he grinned. "That's Catherine, Elizabeth's sister. I needed to get a pic of her face after I said something just to piss her off. I think I told her that she was a nice piece of ass, and that it sucks that she keeps ruining it with her personality."

Casey gave a slight smile. "Is she stuck up and thinkin' she's better than you? Or is she just high maintenance?" Casey asked.

"She ain't high maintenance. She's just uptight and thinks she knows everythin'; like Leo. I like saying shit just to see if I can get a reaction outta her. She's so damn…calm. It drives me nuts."

"Okay…"Casey looked at the phone again, "So this is...?"

Raphael looked over at his phone again. "Yeah that's both of 'em standin' outside their place over on 81st ," he said of a picture of the two women standing together just outside of the Brownstone. It was a candid shot, Catherine was looking at Elizabeth, her face unreadable, while Elizabeth had a huge grin on her face, motorcycle helmet in hand.

"Catherine's the older one, so she's got a complex like Leo. She's bossy, thinks she knows everything, is overprotective, overbearing and a general pain in the ass. Leo likes her. They play chess and talk about books no one's read for like ever and art and stuff." He shuddered theatrically.

"And Elizabeth?"

"She's the fun one. She has a sweet black crotch rocket and she likes action movies and sports, and even though she likes comic books I don't hold it against her. And she don't talk down to me and treat me like I'm stupid. Both sisters are like night and day; one's fun, the other's boring."

"They look kinda young," Casey observed.

Raphael frowned. "They're Twenty one. They had their birthday just after New Years."

"Robbin' the cradle there, Raph," Casey teased with a smile as he scrolled through a few of the other pictures on Raphael's phone.

"They're barely five years younger," Raphael defended.

"So what do they do?" Casey asked curiously.

"Catherine works at the museum. She's got one of those fancy degrees in something... It ends in -ology. Something to do with history or humans...But she's got a lot of books on bones and muscles and stuff; medical stuff. I think she works on the exhibits at the museum. And Elizabeth does something with computers, designing stuff...like posters." He shrugged. "Never seen her do it. She's usually at the comic book shop, or at an art studio."

Casey nodded. "So this is the chick Leo went out on a date with?" His finger pointed at a picture of Catherine.

Raphael took a quick looked and frowned, feeling jealousy fill him over the fact that his brother had gone on a date and he hadn't...yet. "Yeah," he answered in a strained voice.

"Lucky bastard."

Raphael silently agreed.

"Hey, don't worry, Elizabeth won't stand a chance."

Raphael sighed and hoped his friend was right.

Hmmm does anyone think Casey's plan is actually going to work? Guess you will have to keep reading to see:D