Raph's POV

Where the hell am I? Last thing I remember was the alley… I had that bastard just where I wanted and I think I asked him for my brothers' location. Whatever happened after that, I don't remember.

Well, just pain on my side and I think I was bleeding. That son of a bitch must've had a knife or something. Why I didn't see that coming?

Aww crap, just remembered I left my bike on that alley! My poor baby…

Don's gonna kill me when he finds out. He worked on that bike for hours last time I asked him to repair it… because I crashed it.

Hey, not my fault!

Mikey wanted me to teach him some tricks and then some Purple Dragons started shooting at us; I had to throw them something! And… well… it had to be my bike. Poor choice but it was worthy.

Ow! Damn, it hurts to move!

Hmm… smells like coffee, Don's coffee. I must be in the BattleShell but how?

"So, you finally woke up"

Uh oh, I don't like that voice.

End of POV

…

Raph blinked a couple of times; wherever he was now, it had a little light. He was lying on the mattress he had placed inside the truck, except for one thing: he wasn't in truck anymore. Wooden walls and broken windows surrounded the red-clad turtle; definitely an abandoned house or something. Beside him, there was his purple masked brother looking at him with a serious face and holding a cup of coffee.

"Hey Don" Raph smiled weakly. The genius turtle sighed loudly; clear sign of exasperation.

"Well, at least you're out of danger now. I can finally sleep" Don started to walk away. "By the way, you've been sleeping the whole day" he added.

Now a little more awake and aware of his surroundings, Raph could confirm he was in an abandoned house and it was nighttime again. He also felt a little pain on his side; it was then when Raph noticed the bandage on that area. The loud sound of the door being closed harshly made the red-clad turtle come back to reality; something was definitely wrong with Donatello. Raph decided to follow his brother downstairs ignoring the constant pain on his side. He found Don sitting in a very old couch with his head resting on his hands.

"Hey, something wrong buddy?" Raph asked a little hesitantly.

"You asking?" Don asked back giving him a glare.

Raph had never been scared of anything but his genius brother's deep, angry voice and fiery eyes made his blood freeze. He tried to remember the last events before he passed out on that alley…

The thought hit him like a brick. "The alley, of course!"

Raph sat beside his brother; the latter didn't even flinch and focused his attention on a random spot in the wall. Raph sighed loudly.

"Donnie… look, about yesterday…"

"Don't even mention it" Don interrupted him abruptly.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry…" Raph continued "…I shouldn't have…"

"I should have left you there" Don said coldly. Raph let out a gasp of surprise and disbelief; had Don just said… it was impossible! He just couldn't believe it, he refused to believe his gentle brother had said such words and possibly without regrets.

"Excuse me?" Raph finally spoke after what it seemed an eternity.

"That was a stupid move you did yesterday and you do a lot of stupid ones" Don added.

"Hey! Hold it right… "

"I told you to wait for me!" Don replied while standing up "I told you we could bring that guy down together… Together! Do you even know the meaning of that word?"

Raph stood up wincing "Relax, Donnie! I…"

"Don't tell me to relax!" Don pushed Raph away. The red-clad turtle grunted, feeling his wound reopening slightly.

"You don't know what else could have happened there if I hadn't had found you on time!"

"So the guy had a knife, big deal. But look at me now, I'm fine!" Raph replied.

"Yes, sure! But you're alive because of me!" Don replied back.

"And now you want a gold star for that?" Raph yelled angrily. Don's inhalations were short and sharp; he felt his blood boiling in anger but he still had a little of self control in reserve.

"Get out" Don hissed.

The purple-clad turtle walked towards a small table; he picked something and threw it at his brother. Raph's ninja reflexes allowed him to catch the object, avoiding his face. He opened his hand and noticed Don had just thrown him the bike's keys. He felt a hand grabbing his arm tightly and almost dragging him towards the exit door.

"The bike's repaired and has enough fuel for a week. Should be good enough because all we need now it's to find the two last pieces" Don informed. Raph managed to free himself from his brother's grip and confronted him.

"You can't throw me out!" he yelled.

"You seem to work perfectly on your own. Now get out and don't call unless you find something"

Don turned around giving his back to Raph. The latter stepped forward closing the distance between his brother and him; Don stiffened when he felt Raph's hand on his shoulder

"I ain't leaving until we solve things out" Raph said while turning Don back to face him.

"I said I don't want to discuss anything with you!" Don slapped the hand away.

"And I say I ain't leaving!" Raph yelled banging his fist on the old table which collapsed at the impact. Don turned around when he heard a metal artifact clashing in the ground, smashing into pieces. It was the shell cell he was trying to repair in order to find his lost brothers.

"Look what you've done!" Don yelled angrily.

"Me? You caused this; you and your stupid moodiness! I thought I was working with a ninja, not with a pussy!" Raph said bitterly.

The next move was fast and unexpected; Don stamped his fist on Raph's face, the red masked ninja had been totally caught out of guard. Don took advantage of this and dragged Raphael out of the house once and for all. When Raph's dizziness dissipated, he heard the door slamming shut behind him.

"Don!" Raph banged on the door repeatedly "Don, open the door!"

He tried to kick the door down but Donatello was behind, preventing his brother to do something.

"Open the door or I'll tear it down!" Raph threatened.

"Good luck with that. You can barely stand straight with all the blood you lost, you moron!" Don yelled. Raph hated to admit his brother was right; he was still weak and could barely stand up.

"Very clever, genius! Sending your brother out in this condition… and you call yourself the smart one?" Raph replied.

"You're always bragging you're so strong and brave and invincible! Prove it! NOW LEAVE!" Don shouted as loud as he could.

"Well, I'm not leaving till you open this door!" Raph folded arms and stood defiantly in front of the door.

"Suit yourself!"

…

Raph's POV

Who the hell does he think he is?

He can't just throw me out and get away with it! Oh no, no sir! He's so gonna get it when I'm totally healed.

Stupid Don. It was just a fucking stab; I wasn't bleeding that much!

Well, sure I'm a little dizzy and cold… and I feel a bit tired… and hungry…

Ok, ok! Maybe I'm not in my best shape but that doesn't give him the right to kick me out and order me to continue the search by my own! Heck, Don giving me orders? Not in this shitty life! I don't even listen to Leo sometimes and genius wants me to listen to him?

HAH! Excuse me if I laugh.

And I just remembered… the lil' shit punched me in the face! What the fuck!

That did it; that totally did it! I'm gonna have a few words with that cry baby, I'll let him know who the older brother is!

End of POV

…

It was almost dawn when Raph woke up; he didn't know how or when he had fallen asleep but little did that matter now. It was payback time. Raph looked around the house hoping to find another way to get inside without warning Don and soon he found it: a broken window located in what once was a kitchen. Once inside, Raph looked at his surroundings but didn't see his purple-clad brother there.

He decided to check upstairs.

Raph opened the door very slowly and noticed his little brother moving constantly in the bed and it seemed he was mumbling something; for a moment he thought it was Mikey the one in the bed. The image of his baby brother came to his mind and all trace of anger vanished in that moment.

Mikey… his baby brother… he wouldn't want his brothers to be distanced like this. Raph knew he couldn't get mad with Don, he was his little brother too and now Don needed him. The red-clad ninja walked towards the bed and placed a hand on Don's shoulder shaking him gently.

"Don?"

The purple-clad ninja had his eyes tightly closed and cold sweat ran through his forehead.

"Donnie, wake up!" Raph shook him insistently until the sleeping teenager woke up gasping for air, his eyes wide opened and tears wetting his mask.

"I… I killed him… I…" Don whispered.

"Shhh, it's ok. You just had a nightmare" Raph soothed his brother as he helped him to sit down.

"It was…" Don statement was interrupted by his own sobs "… it was an accident, I swear!"

"Accident? What are you talking about?" Raph looked at Don in confusion. The latter couldn't explain anything because of his sobbing fit.

"Aww, c'mon Donnie. Enough with the tears" Raph rubbed his brother's shell comfortingly. He wished Leo was there; he was the expert on those situations.

"How the hell Leo deals with this?" Raph thought as he continued comforting Don with no words or hugs, just his presence. After a few moments, Don's sobs stopped a little altogether with his shivering hands and the sweating.

"So… wanna tell me what's bugging you?" Raph asked; Don shook his head negatively.

"You know you can't keep it inside forever" Raph insisted.

Don took a deep breath. "Something happened while I was looking for you"

"Go on" Raph encouraged him to continue.

"Since your last call, I was very worried about you so I wasn't paying attention to anything else… I was driving; the street was pretty dark…" Don felt tears threatening to come out again.

"C'mon Donnie, keep it together"

The memories from that night were still fresh on the genius' mind; the face of the guy when he hit the truck, his blood on the pavement, the guy's legs and arms hung at odd angles… Donatello wasn't the kind of turtle that liked the idea of killing someone, no matter how bad he or she was; it was still a human being.

"I didn't see the guy running until… until I… "

Raph nodded, understanding what his brother was talking about.

"The worst part is… that guy I killed… he was the one who almost killed you and I don't know why I'm making a big deal of it! I mean, I shouldn't be feeling like this! He almost takes the only brother I have left away from me and… and he worked for that bastard that has Leo and Mikey captive. He… he deserved to… he had to pay, right? But… then, why… why do I feel so bad?" Don buried his head in his hands, letting the tears flow freely.

The distraught teenager felt an arm pulling close to another being. Raph simply allowed his brother to rest his head on his shoulder while he held him in a one arm hug. Don was trembling terribly bad and the red-clad turtle knew it couldn't be helped; Don wasn't suited for being a killer, not even an accidental killer and he knew this would haunt him for a while. Raph waited until Don had calmed down a little then tilted his face to meet his gaze.

"Listen, it wasn't your fault. And you're right, he worked for the enemy… somehow, he got what he deserved"

Don wasn't completely convinced with his brother's statement and more tears escaped from his dark brown eyes.

"Donnie, you said yourself: it was an accident. He didn't see it coming, happens all the time in the humans' world, we watch it on the news… it's kinda normal" Raph tried again but Don was still crying, not as bad as a few minutes ago though.

"Man, I suck at cheering people up" Raph sighed.

"It's ok… thanks anyway. It was a nice try" Don said wiping his tears away.

"Well… you ok now?"

"I'll try not to think of it; it's not gonna be easy though" Don said sadly.

"Not if I help you" Raph smiled softly.

"After how I treated you, I don't deserve any help" Don sighed.

"You sure are Leo's brother" Raph snorted.

"We all are" Don replied.

"Yeh, but you and Leo have the same self blaming thingy. You gotta learn to chillax once in a while" Raph chuckled.

"Chillax? Ok, you and Mikey have been hanging out way too much. You sound just like him" Raph laughed at the comment; Don just smiled sadly.

"Raph, I'm sorry I… you know…"

"Yelled at me, kicked me out, punched me in the face, and treated me like shit?"

"Ok, that's enough. I got the point already and I'm really sorry"

"Don't sweat it, bro" Raph punched Don playfully in the shoulder.

"I guess I was just… scared" Don hugged his arms around his knees.

"That's usually Mikey's territory but… why you were scared?" Raph asked.

"I thought I was gonna lose another brother and I just couldn't bear it" Don confessed. Raph hugged his brother tightly, not caring about the pulsating pain on his side.

"I'm still here Donnie; we're gonna get our brothers back and we'll make that motherfucker pay for what he did to all of us"

"Very flowery speech, Raphael" Don giggled.

"Oh shut up, genius" Raph noogied him.

With their differences solved, both turtles packed their things and set off in order to find the last pieces they would need to reunite with his brothers. At least that's what they thought.