Raphael squinted his eyes slightly as he skimmed the internet on this Julius guy that Wilmarie kept on going on and on about. It's true that he's been the background whisper of a lot of shootings and crimes for almost five years now. His hand froze when he saw one of the recent articles pop up with a man who had Will's eyes and a girl who had a short pixie hair-style in the picture. It was the article of the killing of her father, as he skimmed down he noticed a picture of the burial with a woman and two other daughters. His eyes softened when he noticed Wilmarie on her mother's left side, leaning into her mother and crying on her shoulder. Raph heard a sound from behind him, making him jump and slam the laptop down as he looked over his shoulder to see Donnie there with his latest tech in hand.
Donatello gave him a look, "What was that you were looking at?"
"At recent news. Just because I'm underground, doesn't mean I don't like knowin' what's goin' on about my head" Raph remarked.
Donnie didn't ease up, "About an officer that was killed in action? That hasn't happened since a few months ago"
"You know about it? Do you know who did it?" Raph looked over his shoulder.
Don looked up to the ceiling as he tried to think back to what the news said, "If I remember correctly, he was killed in a driveby. Somebody recognized him, I'm assuming"
"Julius" Raph mumbled under his breath, "Makes sense to me. He was out of the streets exactly three days before he died. He was huntin"
Donnie was about to ask his brother what he was going off about when Mikey suddenly skateboarded down the stairs as he whooped. He circled around his brothers a couple of times before Raph stuck out his foot and tripped Mikey into crashing into the ground. Raphael chuckled to himself as Donatello rolled his eyes, and Michelangelo groaned from the ground. Don was about to tinker with his machine yet again when he noticed a notebook with a couple of scribbles by Raph's side. Since when did he ever care about notorious crime lords?
"So whatcha y'all doin' right now?" Mikey jumped up and sat on the armchair cross-legged.
"Oh, you know same old, same old. Making special modifications, doing super science stuff, and Raph here is just looking up cold cases" Don let out.
"Is that a crime? Ever since Leo left we've been doin nothin but sittin on our asses all day" Raph retorted.
Mikey perked up, "Speaking of crime, did you hear what happened last night? The Nightwatcher struck gold again!"
"I guess he's getting comfortable with himself here. He's been popping up more and more now" Donnie commented.
Raph mumbled, "He should. Someone has to pick off where we left off. We cleared the streets of the Foot and now crime is peaking again. Makes you wonder if we should all go out every once in awhile"
Before Donnie or Mikey could speak, Mikey's eyes became alert as he jumped up from the couch and stood up straight. Raph didn't even have to turn around to see that his father, Master Splinter just came in through the room. He turned around and looked at the rat who had a stern look on his face. Raph didn't even have to guess what was going to come out of Splinter's mouth next.
"You must not resurface until your team is complete" He said for the 114th time.
Raph sighed, "I hate to break it to you, Masta, but Leo ain't coming back. He was supposed to be back four months ago and he's done nothing but abandoned us"
"Maybe something happened to him? Don't you think that we should go down there and check on him?" Mikey pondered.
Donnie reminded his brothers "We got news back from the temple, remember? Leo had finished his training and was on his way to coming back when we lost touch"
"I guess he just didn't want to say good-bye. That good for nothing golden boy liked his damn freedom too much" Raph mumbled.
A stick slammed down, echoing in the halls, "That is enough, Raphael! We will not talk about this subject anymore! I stand by what I told all four of you nearly a year ago; no more returning to the surface until Leonardo is back! Understood?"
Donnie and Mikey both mumbled a yes as Raph humphed, picked up the laptop and notebook and walked out of the room. He couldn't believe his family was blinded by how much faith they put behind the eldest turtle. In a way, Raph got lucky, because he knew that if Master Splinter didn't care so much about Leo, he probably would've already figured out that Raph was actually the Nightwatcher from the very beginning.