A/N: I'm sorry for my late update. I don't have an excuse unless you can call laziness an excuse. But alas, here I am with the next chapter!

On another note, I just watched Walk The Line for what I think to be the hundredth time (it's a movie about Johnny Cash). I love it so so so so so so much! It's so powerful, adorable, and it's Johnny Cash, for goodness gracious!...sorry, I'm just kinda having a fan attack over here...

Chapter 13: trece

Disclaimer: I own my extreme love for Johnny Cash, not TMNT.

Warning: *sigh* here we go again, folks. How 'bout I make it simple? Turtlecest in story.

"Raph! Help me, Raph!" The voice echoed though there was nothing for it to bounce off of. He was surrounded by black with just a little path of light to follow.

"Leo! I'm coming, Leo, just hold on!" He hurriedly followed his small path, searching urgently for his lover.

"...Raph..." The voice was so close, so quiet.

"Leo? Where ya at?" He asked, looking around frantically.

"...Over here, Raph." He was sitting in a small meadow; the perfect place for meditation. A circle of light protected him from the darkness on every side of him.

"Leo." He hugged his lover before sitting up abruptly. "...You said you needed help. From what?"

The raised finger shook considerably as it pointed into the black. "Him."

All of a sudden, a figure leaped out of the shadows, tackling Raphael. They wrestled viciously, rolling around in the grass. The unknown character stood, grabbed a hold of his opponent and swung him into a tree (where had a tree come from?). Before the hothead could stand, the figure was already in front of Leo, sais raised. He looked back at Raph, the light catching perfectly in the light. The frantic ninja gasped in horror.

It was him.

The evil figure was him. Raph. Leo's scream brought him out of his horror and into a new one. The figure, he was slashing away at the vulnerable ninja.

"Leo! Get up! Run! Just-"

"Raph! Help me! Do something!" he cried between screams of pain. Raphael stood and prepared to launch an attack, but his feet were rooted to the ground. He couldn't move.

"Raph..." the voice got weaker as he lost blood.

"LEO!" he screamed. "LEO! FIGHT BACK! GET UP!"

"...Raph..."

"LEO!" he screamed as the figure raised a hand and viciously sliced his neck. Leonardo fell to the ground.

"LEO!" he sunk to his knees in defeat, in heartbreak. For the first time in forever, he sobbed.

"Raph!" he was being shaken. "Raph, wake up!" His wet eyes opened to the worried face of Michelangelo.

He swallowed painfully. "It...it was me," he murmured.

"Huh? What was you?"

"That...That monster...me..."

Mikey laid a caring hand on his brother's arm. "Raph...it was just a nightmare. It's alright, bro. You're here, you're safe."

"But...he's not."

Donatello entered the room as Mikey whispered, "Raph...where's Leo? Where's your mask? What happened?"

Raphael tried to swallow the lump rising in his throat, but to no avail. "You...You better bring Master Splinter in here. It'd be easier if ya all heard it at once."

After the youngest turtle got their Sensei, Raph shifted uncomfortably. Where should he start? At the argument? But then they'd have to know about their secret relationship and were they ready to know? Should he just start at the beginning and tell them all of it?

"My son, it would be best if you started at the beginning and told us all that has occurred," the rat said, seemingly reading his mind.

"Uh, okay. So..." How was he going to say this? He..he couldn't do it. No, he had to do it, for Leo. "I love Leo."

"I understand, my son. He is your brother."

"No...Not like a brother...more," the look on his family's faces was enough to kill him.

"What?" Mikey exclaimed in surprise.

"Raphael? Did I hear your correctly? You are in love with your brother?"

"Well...it does make sense," Don stated, surprising them all. Three pairs of wide eyes turned on him. "Well, every creature has a yearning for companionship. It's built into us. Even though animals in the wild don't normally stay in contact, except for those in packs or something of the sort, they come together to mate. But we are the only of our kind, so it only seems logical that we search for companionship in each other, whether it is in friendship or more intimate actions."

Having a reasonable answer to their relationship caused something to snap in Raphael's mind. Suddenly, his mouth was jabbering away. He told them about how they've been together for years now, keeping it a secret from the rest of them. He told them how his lover's absence had affected him. Made him feel heartbreak, terror, and pain beyond anything he'd ever felt before. How he made the vow to himself never to love again. He told them about his struggles when Leo came back. How the blue clad turtle affected him. Finally, he told them about their fight. About the vicious words exchanged and the merciless slices and slashes given and received.

"And when I woke up, they were all gone," he concluded.

"So you're in love...with Leo?" Mikey asked, ditsy tone drifting in his voice.

"Is that all ya care about?" Raph screamed at his little brother. "Our big brother is out there, injured and kidnapped, and all ya care about is that I love him? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's just...I don't know. I just can't picture you two together."

The hothead sighed angrily and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "You can stand here and try to picture it as much as ya want; I'm gonna go rescue him."

"If you think you can do it alone in that condition, you're mistaken," Don intercepted his path. "Forget Mikey's stupid rambling; we love Leo too, just not like you do. He's our brother and we're going to rescue him together."

"Then I think we should get moving," Splinter said as he led them out of Don's lab and, after grabbing their weapons, out of the lair.

Vengeance was soon to be theirs.

A/N: Review, please! :DD