Summary: Human AU: After Raphael is kidnapped at the age of five, his family was devastated. They never stopped searching for him, but after eleven years, they fall to the conclusion that he must truly be gone. But when the Hamato family receives a phone call early in the morning, they are overwhelmed to hear that Raphael is alive and well. But after such a large time gap, and a crude upbringing, is the Raphael they knew still inside this hardened shell of a teenager.

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT or its characters. All rights go to producers. I just put their characters into my story.

Chapter Eleven: The Past Returns

"Why the hell do I have to go to this stupid party," he demanded, slamming the front door to the house. Leo glanced at him over his shoulder, clearly annoyed; this had been the third time Raph had repeated the question, and he had yet to receive an answer.
"Because we were all invited," Leo explained, as he walked around to the driver side of the truck. Raph allowed Mikey and Donnie to pile into the vehicle first before he jumped in, slamming the door shut.

"The only reason she invited us is because you're her boyfriend and we were sitting right in front of her; she ain't doing it because she likes us, she's just doing it to earn more brownie points with you," Raph growled in response. Leo's eyes narrowed, his hands momentarily tightening on the wheel, before he turned towards his brother.
"Karai doesn't need to earn any brownie points with me," Leo explained, his voice cool, "Are you making an assumption about her, Raph?" Raph noticed how Mikey and Donnie had both slumped in their seats, both of them physically uncomfortable at being literally caught in between the two.

"No, I ain't making any assumptions," Raph snapped. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure if he was trying to make an assumption about Karai, he just knew that he wasn't particularly fond of her. Ever since he had spotted that Purple Dragon tattoo, he couldn't shake the thought that she was involved with them. But he was more than likely paranoid, which didn't bother him in the slightest: a little paranoia never hurt anyone.

The drive over was agonizingly long for Raph; the very thought of being near all those warehouses bothered him. All through the night he had debated with himself about whether he should tell Leo about his problem with this part of town, but after several hours, and several slaps to the face later, Raph had decided against it. He would just have to grin and bear it.
The warehouse was one that was closer to the docks, so the stench of salt water and garbage was very pungent. From the amount of cars that loitered about, parked haphazardly, Raph assumed that there was already a lot of people here. He couldn't help but groan; just what he needed, more unwanted social interaction with a bunch of strangers.

As the four of them entered through a side door, they were assaulted with a deafening noise of electronic-techno music, strobe lights, and fog that lingered close to the ground. Besides the flashing of the strobes, and the dancing of the colored lights that swung about, it was pretty dark. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, he could see that there was a decent sized crowd that hovered near the middle of the warehouse, all of them moving to the drop of the bass as it vibrated through the floor and into his chest..

He assumed that Karai was either very wealthy, or she had friends in high places that could get her such things as a DJ, strobe lights and such for a discount.
"Okay guys," Leo yelled over the noise, "Go have fun, but no drinking. And don't take anything anyone offers you." The three of them gave an affirmative before the four of them parted ways. As his brothers headed towards the mob of dancers, Raph slid along the wall, stopping short of where a refreshment table sat. He was not going to get involved in that mosh pit of people; the very thought of being surrounded by that many people made his skin crawl.

He hated parties, especially the ones that involved alcohol; it wasn't so much the party that was the problem, it was the people. He hated being around drunks and how unbelievably stupid they could get. The people that he had seen pull out of the crowd momentarily for a breather did not seem drunk, not yet at least, but more so high. Even in the poor lighting, he could see that something was being passed back and forth between these three girls.

More than anything, he just hoped that one of his brothers would want to leave soon; here's hoping on Donnie. But Raph really couldn't see that happening anytime soon; he had been glancing at his watch since they had arrived, and they had only been here for fifteen minutes. And despite neither Donnie nor Leo being one to party hardy, Raph could see that they had their reasons to stay. Leo stayed for Karai, and Donnie stayed for April.

Lost in thought, he hadn't noticed that there was someone else lingering along the walls of the warehouse. But unlike Raph, this person was not watching the crowd, he could feel the stranger's eyes on him.

His heart froze as he took a side glance at the man standing uncomfortably close to him. He was large, both in height and muscle. His hair, a light, almost platinum blonde, was tied back into a pony tail that hung just above his shoulders. His eyes were hidden under a dark pair of shades, but the smirk that he wore on his face said that he was amused.

"That's a nice necklace you got there," he yelled over the noise, his gaze drifting down to the silver bird that hung around Raph's neck. He barely heard the words over the blaring of the music, but he understood as much by the way the man briefly pointed up to his neck. Raph gave a nod in thanks and turned his eyes back to the dancing crowd.

A brush of air by his head and a sudden weight on his shoulders and suddenly this stranger had his arm around Raph, pulling himself close so their heads were almost touching.
"It looked just as good on Angel as it does on you," he whispered. Raph felt his blood freeze despite the warmth the room gave off from all the people inside. Other than his dreams, he hadn't heard that voice in years.
Hun pulled Raph close, keeping him in a python like grip.
"Who'd have thought that the runaway puppy would find its way home?"

His heart hammered against his ribcage, the blood pounding in his ears, drowning out the whine of the techno music. He wanted to scream, to move, anything to get someone's attention, to get away from this monster that had ruined his childhood. But he was frozen to the spot as flashes of memories assaulted him, stealing the very breath from his lungs. Suddenly, he was drawn from his mind as he felt a round object being pressed against his spine.

"Cause a scene and you get a bullet in the back, understood," he growled, his lips pressed against Raph's ear. He straightened his body, muscles stiffening as he felt the muzzle of gun pressed against the small of his back. Hun shoved him in the shoulder, urging him to move.
From where he stood, he could see Leo and Donnie out in the crowd, the two of them sticking out due to their height advantage; they were so close. He stared at them, hoping that they'd feel someone's eyes on them. Reluctantly, he dragged his feet and moved, Hun directing him with one of his baseball glove sized hands on his shoulder, the muzzle of the gun nudging him in the small of his back.

Leo couldn't ignore how the feeling he was having, as though someone had just walked over his grave. He glanced away from Karai's face for a moment to regain his bearings for a moment. He scanned the dance floor, looking for each of his brothers in the dimness and the chaotic flashing of strobes and colored lights. Donnie was near the edge of the crowd with April and Casey, who Mikey had invited moments before they left the house. Mikey was close to the DJ table, watching enthusiastically as the DJ spun his records. He turned his attention over to the far wall, nearest the doors, where he had last seen Raph, who was now no longer there.

He scanned the room, squinting in the dark as colored lights flashed about and a sea of bodies swam around him. Leo began to feel a familiar sense of panic build in the pit of his gut that spread to his chest the longer he searched about; Raph was nowhere in sight.

The last several times he had looked, Raph had been standing against the far wall of the warehouse, close to where the entrance was. Perhaps he had left to get some air, but there was a sick feeling in Leo's gut that Raphael wouldn't do such a thing. Ever since the mention of the party, Raph had been very reluctant about going. He had wanted to stay at home, and Leo had forced him to come.
And now he was gone. Again.
And it was his fault.

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone; here is a gift to you all! I hope you enjoyed this and, again, I am sorry for the long wait for an update. I will try to update again before the New Year, but that may not happen…So, yeah. Anyways, happy holidays and thank you to all of you once again; you are an inspiring, encouraging group of people. : )