Thanks for the review, Silverfox22. I will keep it the way it is.

Chapter 12

Don slowly crept into Raph's dark room. Raph was laying in his usual position. Facing away from him and curled up in a ball. Don made his way over and sat on the edge of the bed. He was never entirely sure what to say to his brother because he would never say anything to him in return unless he was telling him to go away. Don sighed. This was never easy.

Don eventually decided to go with the caretaker approach. After all, that's what he does best. "Hey Raph, you hungry?" he asked, unsure.

He knew in the back of his mind what Raph was going to say, but he really wanted to hear him speak. As expected, Raph responded with a raspy "No."

"Do you want something to drink? Some water maybe?" Don persisted.

"No." he repeated a little bit louder.

"You should really eat something."

At that, Raph curled himself up even more. "No." he stated as defiantly as possible. "Leave me alone, Donnie."

Don ran a hand through his short, brown hair. He thought about giving up and leaving him alone, but he couldn't. The last thing Raph needs is for someone to give up on him, even with the small and simple things like eating. Besides, if it turns out that his sons are truly alive then he's going to want to be at least a little bit healthier. At least that was Don's thought process. Don exhaled softly and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Come on Raph, you need to gain your strength back."

Raph brushed the hand away. "What for?"

Don thought for a second. Should he really bring up the fact that Leo and Mikey went to go meet Jonah? What if it turns out that it wasn't really him? What if it was him and he has no intention of coming back and he had set up a trap for his brothers? And what about Aiden? Leo never really brought him up. If this is real, then what happened to him? Did he die? Either one of these scenarios would break Raph's heart and Don didn't think his older brother could take anymore emotional stress, but he also couldn't lie to him. "Because... we might be paying a little visit to a couple people." Don said, keeping it vague.

This caught Raph's attention. 'Visit a couple people? For what?'

Maybe they're finally tired of taking care of you, so they're sending you away. The voice in his head was back and as relentless as ever.

"Quiet." Raph muttered.

Don heard this and quietly said his name, but Raph was no longer paying attention to his brother. Curiosity about these visitors were gone, choosing to listen to the dark voice in his head. I told you they'd get sick of taking care of you.

"Shut up." he growled. Pressing his hands against his ears in another failed attempt at silencing the voice. "Go away."

The younger brother became worried when he began talking to himself. "Raph..." he gently shook his brother.

Raph seemed startled at the contact and turned toward Donnie. By the sympathetic look in his eyes Raph knew that he had heard his mumbling. So much for keeping that a secret. "Don't look at me like that." Raph said, sitting up.

Don blinked. "Like what?"

"Like that." Raph pointed an accusing finger in his little brother's face. "Like you pity me. I don't need or want your sympathy."

"Raph, I'm just worried about you." Don said.

Raph shook his head. "Well, stop." his dull gaze locked onto a crack in the wall.

"I..."

"When are these visitors coming?" Raph interrupted. He really didn't want yet another pity party. If talking to him would get him to leave faster then he would talk.

"Well, they're not coming here. We'll be going to them." Don assumed. As badly as Leo wanted to believe that his nephews were alive, he wasn't going to bring anyone to the lair. "And we may not get to see them today, but hopefully we will soon. Leo and Mikey went to go meet with them."

Raph looked to Don. "Who are they?" he asked simply.

"You don't need to know that right now." Don responded, unsure of what to say to satisfy him.

See, they're keeping it from you. They must be trying to get rid of you. Send you off to a crazy house without you knowing.

Raph winced as the dark voice was starting to get to him. He wasn't letting this go. "Who are they?" he asked again.

"I..." Don shook his head. "I can't tell you that. Not yet."

Raph was getting very suspicious. The voice in his head was starting to make a lot of sense right now. "Who is it, Don?"

Don stood up. "I really shouldn't say anything because I don't really know the details. You'll just have to wait for Leo and Mkey." he was getting ready to head for the door when he felt Raph grab him by the elbow.

Raph forced himself up out of bed, so he was standing eye to eye with Don. "Tell me what's going on Don. I can handle it."

'I really don't think you can.' Don thought. 'Bringing this up was a mistake. Oh well, no turning back now.' he sighed before speaking out loud to his brother. "Listen Raph, you really don't need to worry about it. We may not even have to see them. I just wanted you to gain some of your strength back in case we do."

Bullshit. Don't believe him.

Raph reached up and clenched onto the collar of Don's shirt. "What are you doing? What are you planning?" he questioned almost desperately. The voice had Raph hanging off his every word. What if they were trying to send him away?

Don could sense that things were escalating more than he had wanted to. "We're not planning anything."

Liar.

"Liar!" Raph yelled becoming frantic. In that instant, Don saw something he hadn't seen in a long time in his brother's eyes. For the first time in years, Don saw flashes of the old Raph. Right now, this wasn't the same sad, cold, glazed over look that he had become so used to. Unfortunately for Don, these were flashes of the old, angry Raphael. The one that would go completely ballistic if someone kept ticking him off. Which was often. "Don't you fucking lie to me!"

"Raph, take it easy." Don tried calming him. He could hear footsteps coming their way. Raph's desperate yell most likely alerted whoever was coming. "No one is lying to you."

"Dad?" Donnie could hear Warren calling him from outside the door, before he opened it. Once he got a glimpse of what was going on, he instinctively stepped forward to help.

"Stay back, Warren." Don ordered without taking his eyes off his brother and Warren obeyed. "Listen Raph..."

"I'm done with your bullshit, Donnie. Who are you talking about? Who did Leo and Mikey go to meet?"

"It's..."

"If you say it's nothing I swear I'll..." Raph started.

"It's Jonah." Warren blurted out trying to keep the brothers from fighting. He wasn't really worried about his father, he was more worried about his uncle. If he got too aggressive then there was no doubt in Warren's mind that his father would take him down and possibly hurt him in the process. Both of the adults turned to him. Warren's breath caught in his throat when Raph glared at him, but he didn't look away.

"What?" Raph growled, he let go of Don and turned his attention toward the teenager. "What did you just say?"

Warren stood his ground and stared at his uncle, confident that nothing would happen. Amber eyes locked onto deep green ones. "I said it's Jonah. Uncle Mikey and Uncle Leo went to see your son."

They've got their kids trying to lie to you now. Both of your sons are dead. Tell him that. Remind him.

"My son. Is. Dead." Raph warned, dangerously. "They are both dead and they're never coming back." tears began to well up in his eyes. He let them fall freely and didn't bother to try and stop them. "Don't talk about them ever again."

Don winced at how easily he said those words, but he couldn't dwell on that at the moment. The now frenzied Raphael was approaching Warren, and the teen looked like he had no intention of going anywhere. Don quickly moved in front of his brother, stopping his advances toward his eldest son. "Raph, stop." he ordered. "Think about what you're doing."

Raph blinked a few times and rubbed his head, letting his fingers run through his chestnut brown hair. It seemed like he was calming down from whatever made him snap in the first place. He turned away from them, wiping the tears from his face. "Get out."

"Uncle Raph, I..." Warren started.

"I said, GET OUT!" Raph snapped.

Donnie flinched and without saying another word, he led his son out to the living area. "I'm sorry Dad." the teen stared at the floor apologetically. He sat down on the old couch with a sigh.

Don shook his head and sat down next to him. "Don't worry about it. I appreciate what you tried to do for me. Just do me a favor." he placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Don't tell your mother about what just happened and from now on, leave your uncle to me."

Warren looked up into his father's worried eyes. "Why did you say it like that?" the way he said this and the look he was giving him, kind of upset him. Did his father think that his uncle would harm him? "You know Uncle Raph wouldn't hurt me, right?"

Don sighed. Normally he'd say that he definitely wouldn't hurt anyone. He wanted so desperately to say those words, but now he wasn't entirely sure. That crazed look in his amber eyes, it made Don remember a time when he and his brothers were teens. They were all here in the lair when Raph had gotten so angry with Mikey that he nearly caved the youngest's head in with a pipe. They were sparring and Mikey had been teasing him relentlessly. Luckily he and Leo were there to stop it, but that didn't change the fact that Raph could've killed Mikey in a blind rage. The same thing could've happened just now with his son and he couldn't risk that. "...I don't think he would." he spoke the exact opposite of what he was thinking. More for Warren than anything else.

But his ever observant son noticed this. "You don't think?" Warren questioned, seeming hurt.

"Warren..."

"No, you said you don't think, that means there is a part of you that believes he would. How can you think that?"

He should've known better than to think he could pull a fast one on his eldest son. "Warren, listen, your uncle is very... unstable right now. There's no telling what he might do. I'm just looking out for your safety."

"You make it seem like he's some sort of maniac." he crossed his arms, glaring daggers at his father.

Don didn't falter. "That's not what I'm trying to say."

"That's how it sounded."

"Warren, trust me when I say that I understand." Don tried reasoning with him. "I understand that you hate seeing him this way, I understand that you just want him to get better. No one wants that to happen more than me, but I also understand that right now things are only going to get worse before they get better. You need to understand that." this came off as more of a lecture than he intended, but he had to get his point across.

Warren stood up and without saying another word, he stormed off. Leo and Mikey walked in through the door just in time to see Warren sulking as he headed into the kitchen. They both moved to the couch where their genius brother was rubbing his temples. "What happened, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Don ran a hand through his brown hair and sighed. "There was an incident with Raph and Warren."

"What happened?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "At least, not this time. I couldn't risk him lashing out at Warren like he does with us. And now Warren can't stand the fact that he might be dangerous. Anyway, do you guys have any good news."

"Well, I think so." Mikey said.

"Was it really Jonah?" Don asked quietly so Raph couldn't hear anything if he was actually paying attention.

"I think it is." Mikey said.

Don looked to him questioningly. "Weren't you convinced that this was a trap?"

Mikey half shrugged. "It could still be a trap, we could be getting played. That doesn't change the fact that the person we met up with couldn't be anyone else but Jonah."

Upstairs, Raph shut the door after his brother and nephew left. As soon as the door closed, he collapsed to his knees. Chest heaving as sobs escaped him. You idiot. There's no way they're not sending you away now. Raph didn't bother responding. He just sat there on the cold, hard floor, trying to stop the sobs from escaping. That was easier said then done. He couldn't believe that he even thought about hurting his nephew. What's wrong with me?

You know exactly what's wrong. Shut up, I'm not listening anymore. Don't blame me. You did it. Yeah, because I listened to you. I could've hurt my nephew because of you.

Raph forced himself off the floor and headed back to bed. Leave me alone. he wrapped his arms around himself. I won't listen anymore. I can't listen anymore. those words became almost like a mantra. He kept repeating them over and over in his head. That's what he did for the rest of the night.

There you go, I thought I'd give you a bit more of a Raph breakdown before the big meet up. Hope this is okay and sorry it took so long.

Next chapter, Raph gets to officially see Jonah for the first time in ten years. How will it go? Only I know right now.