I wanna say thank youu to Hollybunch95, ImpossiblyPossible33, baby-kitsune9 and everyone who as supported me and read my story and gave it a review. YOUU GUYS TOTALLY RULE! THANKS! Here's a new chapter…so read it…I hope you like it.

11: Communication Is The Key

(LEO'S POV)

It's been two months since he's been gone. Sitting alone above the rooftops of New York wasn't my normal behavior. But, I'd rather be alone than be missing one valuable player in my team. Was it my fault? If I had put an end to they're actions, maybe Raph would still be here.

"You're suppose to be a great leader! But, what are you now?" I stood up unsheathing my double bladed Katanas.

Slicing through the midnight air, I let my anger drive me. What else could I possibly do? I was nothing but a failure. To myself. To my team. To my family. But most importantly to Raphael.

(DON'S POV)

I wasn't sure what else to do. I've ran every possible search, test, everything. But there was no trace of our brother. Maybe I'm not as smart as I thought I was. Maybe science isn't my area of study. Perhaps, I've been told a lie and all these years of research was for nothing. I mean a great scientist would've found him by now. I'm sure. It'd be easier to call the cops, but how would the react if we called about a giant missing mutant turtle. So many questions that need answers.

(MIKEY'S POV)

I've been in my room most of the time. Don's been trying to cheer me up by buying me comics. But, they're just not helping. I've already read every single one he's handed me. My phone buzzed, I hesitated to look at it. I really didn't want to open it unless it was Raphael…but my curiosity did kind of peak a little.

Erin: Hey Mikey. I just wanted to let you and others know that I'm leaving for South America tomorrow. My sisters will be coming to watch my apartment. Hopefully you'll get to greet them.

Me: I'll send Leo and Don over when they're free. What time should they stop by?

Erin: They'll be in tonight around six. If you guys want to stop by then..

Me: Like I said, I'll have Leo and Don stop by. I want nothing to do with you or your family.

Erin: Mikey, I'm sorry. How many times do I have to tell you that!?

Me: You can tell me as many times as you'd like. I will NEVER forgive you until Raphael comes home.

She never replied to me. I was kind of glad she didn't. Like I said, I wanted nothing to do with her. She was nothing to me anymore. She took my brother away from me. I rested my head in my hands before entering into the livingroom.

"Hey guys, I just got a text from Erin she wants to know if we could stop by later, around six to greet her sisters. They're gonna watch her apartment while she's gone. But I'm not going." I walked into the kitchen grabbing a soda can.

"Where is she going?" Don asked actually moving away from his computers.

I sighed. "South America."

Leo started to head towards our small circle, if you want to call it that, with his arms firmly crossed over his plastron. "We'll all be going. Whether you hate her or not. Raphael did this on his own. We will go over and greet her sisters."

"I'm not…" I started to say until I was cut off by Leo.

"You are. And that's the end of it. So get ready in your best human form. Cause we're heading out of here in about four minutes." He turned and walked into the dojo.

"What bit his tail?" Don asked confused.

"Beats me." I shrugged my shoulders flipping my watch. "Man, I wish I had more clothes."

"You know Mikey. While I've been looking for Raphael, I kind of have been working on possible upgrades for our watches. Look, you can search any outfit on the web in your watch with this new software I designed. Download the image, and the outfit is yours." He held his hand out waiting for me to hand him my watch, which I did.

I watched Donnie let the software download, click a few buttons, then handed it back to me. "Try it out."

I nodded my head carefully looking at the many outfits. Then, I finally found one. I downloaded it letting the clothes form to my new human form. Donnie held a body mirror up to me. I carefully studied myself. My dirty blonde hair was wavy touching just above my eyebrows. My blue eyes were looking back at me. I was wearing a black snapback with a grey sweatershirt that read Swag in big black letters. My jeans were black with fitted. There was a steel chain that went from my front pocket to the back. My shoes, didn't match anything but they looked good. They were purple keds. I looked at Donnie smiling.

"Bro, this is exactly what I wanted!" I stroked my chin observing myself.

"Let me try." Don's watch was already updated before any of us.

Of course his look was kind of dorky. His brown hair was cut short, but had a small spike in the front. His eyes were a maroon kind of color. His outfit was a red shirt with thin white stripes going across and white long sleeves underneath. He was wearing regular blue jeans, with red converse shoes. He looked up smiling at me.

"I kinda like it." He finally said.

"It's you dude! Come on let's get Leo!" I ran into the Dojo pulling him out. "Let Donnie update your watch real quick."

Leo shrugged his shoulders handing his smarter brother the watch. It took a few minutes but Leo finally got his property back. "Now what do I do?"

"Go look for an outfit. Download it, then watch." I grabbed the mirror and held it on front while he carefully looked for a good outfit. When he finally found one, I let out a sigh.

Leo's hair was kind of cool. The back and sides of his short hairstyle was cut neatly up and around the ears blending into the top which is jagged cut (Author's Note: Similar to Bieber's new cut). His eyes were a darker blue than mine. Close to the crayon color. His outfit showed authority. At least in my eyes it did. He had on a grey long sleeved button up dress shirt with a white tie. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Over top of that was a black vest. He was wearing a black leather belt, with black pants, and black dress shoes.

"Nice." He smiled. "You guys ready?"

We nodded our heads, and followed Leo out of the lair.

(ERIN'S POV)

I was so nervous. I didn't want the guys to hate my sisters.

"They'll be here soon." I spat out loud.

"Calm down Erin. They're just guys." Lana laughed playing with her black hair.

"Lana they're not just guys…they're my best and only friends." I replied.

"They'll love us. I mean from the pictures you showed us they seem pretty cool." Emma laughed lightly tapping his sister on the back.

"The one with the maroon eyes is kind of cute." Kahlani blushed a little.

"That's Donatello. But cuteness doesn't matter!" I freaked out breathing heavly.

"Is the one with the blonde hair coming?" Lana asked batting her eyelashes.

"No." I firmly replied. I was about to explain why when…

"Hey dudettes!"

I turned to Mikey smiling along with Leo and Donnie.

"You guys came!" I exclaimed hugging them.

Donnie let out a small laugh "Why wouldn't we?"

I finally let go, and looked over at my sisters. "Guys, these are my sisters." I pointed over to them smiling. "This is Lana. She's the youngest."

(MIKEY'S POV)

The one she introduced first had black hair, curled, and her bangs swooped to the side. She was wearing a light pink dress with light pink flats. Her eyes were a big green. Like an emerald crystal. She stood there smiling. Her smile kind of made me nervous. I'm not sure why.

The second one she introduced as Emma. Emma had two different colors in her hair. The left was blonde and the right was a mahogany red. Her eyes were a dark brown. She was wearing a red tank top that flowed at the bottom, dark jeans, and black heels. She waved at us. I looked over to see Leo's jaw slightly opened.

"Leo you're droolin dude!" I blurted out laughing.

He quickly snapped it shut. "Michelangelo."

I flinched. I hated when someone used my full name. It always meant I was in trouble, or inappropriate.

Erin went to the last girl. Her name was Kahlani. She had long wavy dirty blonde hair and eyes just like Donnie's. She was wearing brown combat boots, camo leggings, and a black long-sleeved shirt.

Leo stepped in front of us. "I guess it's our turn to introduce ourselves. I'm Leonardo." He then pointed to us in the order he said our names. "This is Michelangelo, and Donatello."

We just waved as we were introduced. Lana moved closer to me just lookin into my eyes.

"I like your blue eyes." She then spoke.

"Uhh….thanks?" There was so much unease in my voice. I'm pretty sure she could hear it.

A few moments passed and everyone was comfortable with each other talking and getting to know each other. Except me. I sat on the fire escape looking out onto the town.

"Where are you Raphael?" I sighed.

A noise caught my attention. I turned to see Lana looking at me. All color drained from her.

"I-I'm sorry. I just heard you talking and you were out here alone. I just wanted to know if you were ok…"

"Yeah Lana. I-I'm….fine." I lied straight to her face. She knew.

"Come on. You don't gotta lie." She then rested her hand on my shoulder. "I heard you talking about a Raphael. Who or what is that?" Her green eyes cutting into my soul.

"My brother. The last one, who isn't here." My shoulders dropped.

"He's in a better place Mikey…"

"NO LANA! I mean no..he's still here. Just not in New York. Where he should be. He…He ran off, and no one knows where he is." I explained only becoming more depressed.

"Maybe he just needs his space. I bet he misses you guys." She gently began to rub my back, it made me feel a little better.

"Everyday for these past two months I've thought about how he was feeling or what he was thinking about."

My phone began vibrating. I pulled it out of my pocket to see a private caller trying to contact me. I sighed. Just as I was about to slip it back into my pocket, Lana grabbed it and answered it.

"Hello…Yeah…Well he's right beside me. You don't have to be a fluffnaggle!" She turned her nose up and handed me the phone. "Here Mikey. Whoever that is needs some serious manners."

I laughed speaking into the phone. "Hello?"

"Mikey, who da fuck was dat!?" My brother's voice boomed over the line.

"Just a friend Raph…wait…Raph?" I couldn't believe it. He was really talking to me.

"Who duh hell else would it be Mikey? Ya know sometimes you're a real knucklehead. But you're my knucklehead."

His rogue laugh brought back many memories.

"It's good to hear from you bro. Everyone's been worried about you." I started to slowly walk into the house. I stood in the middle of the room and pressed the speaker button.

"Ya know Mikey. I can't come back. Not afta what I did ta Erin. She probably hates me. Leo probably thinks I've abandoned everyone 'nd my responsabilities. Ya know for once in his life…he's right. I ran away from everything. But Mikey I had to. I'm not right in da head…"

"Raphael? Is…is that really you?" Tears began to fall from Erin's eyes. "Raphael we've all been so worried about you. Please, you have to come back."

"Erin I can't. You wouldn't understand. None of ya would ever understand. I'm sorry." He replied.

"Raphael. Do what you must. But know that we'll always be ready for you to come home." Leo always knew just what to say.

"Thanks Leo." Our hot-headed brother replied. "I'd betta get going. Got things ta do. But I love ya guys."

"We love you bro!" We all screamed back.

Erin stood frozen. "I-I love you Raphael." She managed to squeeze out.

I looked at the life being sucked out of her. She didn't want to leave New York. Not without Raphael. Maybe, she really did love him. But again, maybe this is an act just for me to stop being angry towards her. Whatever it was, it was working. How could I hate a person that had such a big heart for my complicated brother. Lana made it in hugging me.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." She whispered snuggling her face into my sweater.

I just stood there a little dumbfounded. I've never been this close to a girl and felt completely hopeless. I finally gathered enough courage to hug her back. My embrace got tighter as I pulled her closer. I finally let go of her. I looked down to see her smiling at me. I smiled back. My insides were giving me a fluttery kind of feeling. I dismissed it, and turned my attention to the guys.

"So…what now?" I asked primarily looking at Leo.

"We just play the waiting game." Leo replied firmly crossing his arms over his chest.

I sighed and burrowed my hands into my pockets. I noticed Emma was observing Leonardo. Leo didn't notice…he was too busy thinking. Probably about Raphael. I mean we all were thinking about him of course. But I knew his absence hit Leo the most.

(LEO'S POV)

At this moment I wasn't interested in meeting Erin's family. I was interested in the fact that my brother had just called home for the first time in forever and still refused to come home. I didn't want to be here in this human form. I needed to be free. I needed to go back to whom I was. My Katana's were calling for me. I tried my hardest to stay put, to give Erin's family the best welcome. But I couldn't my mind and heart wasn't there.

I pulled Erin aside to have a small word with her. "Erin, I can't stay. I got to get some air if you know what I mean…"

"Turtle form? Go ahead Leo."

I smiled at her before climbing out the window and disappearing up the fire escape. I sat on the roof allowing my blue bandanna strings to drift in the wind. I looked down at the busy streets of New York City. If Raph was here he'd be scavenging to bust some skulls. I silently laughed to myself. My brothers were the only thing that mattered to me. Some kind of anger just boiled in me. I can't explain it.

"RAAAAAAHHHHH!" I was enraged. My fists clenched tightly. I punched the steel door that led back into the apartments. Each dent made with more and more aggression. "WHAT…IS…WRONG WITH ME!?" I screamed continuing to fight the inanimate object. I pulled back to swing again when someone grabbed my arm stopping me. My chest rose and fell as I continued to feel the anger.

(ERIN'S POV)

I just got off the phone with Mama Jace…they changed flights. We leave today. I sighed getting ready to tell everyone the horrible news. Well to me it was horrible news. I was hoping to spend time with everyone tonight. I grabbed my one arm slowly walking back to the crowd of people.

"Guys, I have some news. The flights are switched. I leave today. Like in an hour…"

"So you have to leave now to beat the traffic and any other unfortunate events that might cross your path." Donnie explained doing all this math and mapping out every problem that could happen.

I sighed. "Yeah." Grabbing my bag I headed to the door. "See ya guys soon."

"Good bye Erin." Don smiled waving.

"Uhhh…see ya duddette." Mikey smiled giving me a high-five.

I noticed Leo never came back in. "When you guys see Leo…tell him I said bye and maybe…I don't know if Raphael calls you again…could you tell him that…I miss him." I opened the door and disappeared before they could see my tear stained cheeks.

I hated this empty feeling. I know it's similar to what all the guys were feeling. Especially Leo. Poor Leo was unbalanced. He felt like a failure. I guess it was because Raphael left, he couldn't get him to come home, and he had lost him temper on multiple occasions. I rolled my luggage down the street, I climbed into the Limo and didn't look back at New York.

The whole flight this lady wouldn't control her baby. It squealed, it cried, it barfed. It did everything in between. I really wanted off this plane. I was probably really close to just jumping out an emergency exit. What made it worse was the fact that I couldn't text any of the guys. The obnoxious flight attendant made that really clear. I mean like really clear. I closed my eyes for a little while hoping that'd ease the pain of boredom. Hours later there I was in South America. I looked out the window to see tropical forests, vibrant colored birds, and just tropics everywhere.

"Wow…" I mumbled under breath looking at the beautiful scenery.

I felt so lucky to be here. To be in such a wonderful place. Mama Jace smiled at me, watching my face light up. Btu she could also see the part of me that wanted Raphael to be here.

"I don't know what's going on between you and that young man…but we'll be here and back before you know it Erin. Then you can go home to…"

"Mama, he's not at home. He left. He ran off. No one knows where he went." I could feel my heart finally break. "He called us yesterday, and I heard his voice. I missed him and hearing his voice made me miss him more." I started to pull at my hair.

Mama Jace moved my hand down. The pilot's voice boomed over the speakers. We landed and next thing you know we were being toured through the tropics.

"My name is Juheelee. I will be your tour guide for today."

His smile flashed and shined against the sunshine light. I just smiled back.

"For beginners, you will all be staying here. In these huts." Juheelee pointed out for us to see smack huts that overlook the clear blue seas.

I was speechless. I stopped the driver and ran into my hut. I flopped myself onto the bed laughing. My hair a mess, I rolled over getting ready to smile at….but he wasn't there. I remembered that. I sat up on my bed and brought my legs to my chest.

"Oh Raphael, where are you?" I asked out loud.

I knew no one was going to answer. But I still wanted to ask. I pulled my phone out and decided to text the guys.

Mikey: Hey Erin..

Me: Hey Mikey. Where are the others?

Mikey: Well…Leo is talking to Emma, Kahlani has been making coffee for Don, and I've been with Lana.

Me: Oooh la laaa. Sounds like my boys got a crush on my girls. Huh?

Mikey: Ew! What? No! Anyways, what's up down there?

Me: It's a nice place. I'm a little lonely. But I guess I'll make the best out of it. But hey I'll text you later. Alright?

Mikey: Alright, I'll be waiting. See ya!

Me: See ya!

I closed my phone up, and sighed. First day here…I ditched the tour and now I'm stuck here bored. The world must really hate me. Everything bad has always been passed to me, it honestly sucks. I looked at the clock and it read nine thirty. I figured why not turn it in early. I changed my clothes and climbed into bed. Maybe tomorrow will be better. I think that every time these eyes close.

(RAPH'S POV)

Da guys really seemed like dey cared. Like dey really missed me. But da one thing I can't shake off is Erin sayin' she loved me. Did she really? Or maybe she wanted it ta seem like she cared. I don' know what ta think about it all. It was jus exhaustin. No one could care for me like dat. I don' believe dat she loves me like she says she does. She can't. I'm not right. Not stable. I couldn' give 'er what she needed. I never could. She don' deserve someone like me. No one does. Not even my brothers. Maybe God'll finally see how much of a screw up I am 'nd take me…soon. Please?