"I did and said some things to you the other night that were disrespectful and dishonorable and I'm ashamed of myself. I hope you can accept my apology," Usagi said. He paused for a moment and watched Leonardo's blue eyes examine him.
Leo didn't respond. If anything, he took a small step back. The last time Usagi had been this open with him, it hadn't ended well. He silently cursed Raphael for leaving him alone, which was ridiculous because how would Raph know Usagi would show up on their island? And more importantly, Leo reminded himself, he could take care of himself. But his thoughts still flew to the last time he'd been alone with Usagi. Leo had been caught completely off-guard and now, standing here alone with Usagi, he tried to shake off the extreme vulnerability that was creeping up his shell.
"I also wanted to say that I am happy to hear that you will still be training my nieces and nephews. I had just assumed that it would be your preference to break all contact with my whole family. I am sorry that my assumption led Violet and Akito to disappear the way they did."
Leo could see that Usagi looked truly remorseful. He turned himself towards the ocean so they weren't face to face anymore, but he kept Usagi directly in his peripheral so that he would see any movements the white rabbit made. The vulnerable feeling was beginning to make him angry, especially when he knew Usagi was counting on him to listen and directly forgive him, even though Usagi hadn't listened to anything Leo had said during that very uncomfortable night.
"Do you know what upset me the most about that night, Usagi?" Leo finally said.
Usagi thought for a moment. Unfortunately, there were quite a few things he could possibly name, including the bruise on the back of Leo's head that he'd noticed when they had been searching for the teens together.
Leo watched him and when it was clear Usagi didn't have an answer, he spoke again. "You didn't listen to a single damn thing I had to say about my relationship with Raphael. You completely discount it." He watched Usagi's eyes narrow at him before the rabbit turned towards the ocean as well. "What was that look for?" Leo asked. "Tell me."
Usagi didn't hesitate. "He deserted you during the search for your own son," Usagi said, his voice stressing each word. "Then, you had to stop looking for your son in order to look for him. You were ambushed in your search and injured. Now, granted, Violet and Akito were in that lab as well, so the end result was the discovery of our missing teens, but that was a lucky coincidence. As a teammate, he let you down. And as a lover," Usagi stopped and shook his head in disgust. "And yet, you still think he's perfectly suited for you. When he -,"
"You don't get to judge him," Leo growled, finally cutting Usagi off. He didn't get a chance to say anything else, though, because in the next moment an emerald fist connected with the side of Usagi's head before Raphael tackled him from behind.
One look at Leo's tense body posture when Raph had finally spotted him standing on the beach with the bunny and Raphael could see how uncomfortable Leo was. He supposed there was some dishonor in attacking someone from behind, but he pushed that thought away when he thought about Usagi's prior attack on his mate and the discriminating things the rabbit had just been saying about him to Leo.
Usagi was typically quite skilled in hand to hand grappling. But he grunted as he was shoved into the sand and soon discovered that he was no match for the pin Raphael had quickly placed him in, which was compounded by Raphael's bulky weight on his back.
"What are ya doin here, rabbit?" Raphael growled with his mouth close to one of the long white ears beneath him. He didn't lift his eyes to Leo and so far, Leo wasn't physically or verbally asking him to release the samurai. It was all the encouragement Raph needed to stay where he was.
"I was apologizing to Leonardo," Usagi said, trying to twist his arm out of Raphael's tight grasp. In response, one of the red-clad turtle's elbows pushed down on his shoulder from behind, forcing him to remain pinned to the sand.
"That's not what it sounded like to me," Raphael snarled at him.
Leo stood silently by for a moment. He was angry with Usagi as well but knew he was going to have to force Raph off of him. And soon, too, because although they were currently quite a distance down the beach, he could see Master Splinter, April and the girls turn and begin to head back towards the direction of the house.
"Raphael," Leo said. His voice was soft but he knew Raph would hear him.
"I want you out of here," Raphael growled at Usagi before he released the rabbit's arm and lifted himself up off of him. He didn't look at Leo when he stood but he turned his shell to the rabbit and moved to stand next to Leo. His breathing was ragged and he could feel anger heating his face as his fists trembled. One of Leo's cool hands suddenly gripped one of his forearms and he was finally able to take a deep breath and try to calm his breathing.
Usagi had hopped quickly to his feet and turned to Leonardo while glaring at Raphael's shell. "I think I have said all I came to say. I understand that we cannot be friends right now, Leonardo, but you know how to reach me if you need me."
Raph could feel Leo's hand tighten around his arm and Raphael had the urge to spin around and attack the rabbit again when he glanced at Leo's face and saw how openly angry Leonardo appeared in that moment. But Raph realized Leo was pulling strength from his presence as much as he was pulling strength from Leo to be calm. So instead of turning to strike, Raph lifted his other hand and quickly covered Leo's hand with it.
Leo felt Raph's warm hand over his and didn't say anything in response to Usagi before he turned and walked away.
"I'm sorry for interruptin," Raph said in a low voice.
"No you're not," Leo said plainly.
Raph's green eyes flashed back over to Leo and he found that Leo's face was blank of expression. His eyes moved past Leo's face and he spotted Master Splinter, April and the girls approaching them. He briefly wondered how much they'd seen of his interaction with the rabbit.
"I'm really glad you showed up," Leo said, bringing Raph's attention back to him.
Raph lifted one of his hands and let his thumb trace down the side of Leo's face. "You okay?"
"I will be," Leo said, taking a deep breath. He tried to force a small smile.
Raph's arm moved around Leo's neck so he could pull him close and Leo quickly leaned forward and met Raph's mouth for a kiss right before he felt Machi plow into his legs and excitedly begin to show him the shells she'd collected.
Master Splinter sent Raphael an inquisitive look. Raph could tell that his father was really only asking if he was okay and was not actually asking him to explain what had just happened. He returned the look with a quick nod.
"If you need me, I'll be upstairs holding my new grandson," Master Splinter said, leaving them on the beach to head into the house in search of Gabriel.
"You two go pick up our sand toys," April said, herding Shadow and Machi away from them before she turned back to Raph and Leo.
"How much did ya see?" Raph asked dryly as he recognized the determined look on April's face.
"Enough that I had to explain to the girls that you were merely playing with Mr. Usagi," April said. "I'm not going to ask you any questions, especially since I can probably guess what happened. But are you both alright?" She watched them both nod at her as the girls rejoined them with their bucket of sand toys. "Well then, I guess its time for everyone to be brave as we go find out what Sam and Miwa put together for dinner."
When the entire family reached the third floor for dinner, they did not expect to see freshly delivered pizza waiting for them.
Leo looked to Miwa with a raised eye ridge, as Mikey lifted her in a bear hug, and she managed to say, "Sam and I got distracted-,"
"TMI," Mikey said, setting her down on the ground to bounce into the kitchen for plates.
"-talking. And it turns out neither of us can cook. So I may have sent the ninjas staying out on the jet for a pizza run."
"You sent the jet out for pizza?" Casey asked, laughing as he chose to forgo a plate and scooped a large piece of pizza out of one of the boxes. "I love this family."
April elbowed him and handed him a plate before she pulled a slice for Shadow and sat her down at the table next to her dad.
"Where's Little G?" Mikey asked, excitedly, searching the room until he found Sadie and Donnie at the other end of the long table with Gabriel. "It's time for his first bite of pizza!"
"He can't eat pizza yet, Mikey," Donnie said, not taking his eyes off Gabriel as he watched Sadie feed him a bottle. "Formula only for a while."
"Not even pizza-flavored formula?" Mikey asked in a sing-song voice. "There's a blender out in the kitchen, bro. And I bet I'll be his favorite uncle after he gets a taste of that!"
"No," Donnie said, finally raising his eyes to his little brother's face to give him a stern look despite the smile that was trying to creep onto his face.
"I'm sure he'll love all your cooking, later," Sadie said, smiling as well.
Woody laughed as he pulled Mikey into a seat next to him. He let a hand slide up Mikey's leg under the table and grinned at him until Mikey lost the pout and turned his full attention towards him.
"We're always out serving other people dinner with the truck," Woody said. "We rarely get to sit and eat dinner together."
Mikey nodded and scooted his chair a little closer to Woody. "When we are home for dinner it's to serve Sunday night dinner for this group. Maybe we should pick our least busy night with the truck and just stay home that night instead."
"No customers. No family."
"Just us."
"Love it, Mike," Woody said, grinning as he watched Michelangelo swallow a churr and narrow his eyes at him when Woody pinched the extra-sensitive skin at the top of Mike's leg.
"You're in big trouble when we're alone," Mikey murmured over to him.
Woody chuckled. "Bring it on, big guy," he murmured back.
"You guys hoggin the plates?" Raph asked as he leaned over them and grabbed enough for his family. He filled them with pizza slices and dropped them in front of Leo, Machi and Akito before he sat himself down next to Leo. He glanced over at Leo and noted that although he was talking to their son about the sights Akito had seen during their run through the forest earlier, Leo looked distracted. And uncomfortable. There was a slight, tense shift of his muscles with every move and Raph could hear an unfamiliar strain in Leo's voice.
He glanced across the table and could see Master Splinter examining Leonardo. Raph could tell their father could see the differences as well. He watched Master Splinter slide his eyes over to him and Raph gave his father a quick subtle nod, assuring him that he would take care of Leo.
"I think tonight is a perfect night for a beach bonfire," Master Splinter said, rising to throw away his plate.
"And we brought supplies for s'mores," Woody said, jumping up to grab what they'd need from the kitchen.
"Machi, will you help me roast marshmallows?" Miwa asked, holding her hand out for her niece who quickly jumped up and excitedly took her aunt's hand.
Raph reached over and gripped the top of one of Leo's thighs, holding him in place as the rest of the family cleaned up their plates and quickly made their way outside. He made a show of eating the pizza he still had on his plate so no one questioned them when they didn't immediately follow.
Leo looked at him with a raised eye ridge once they were alone but Raph didn't say anything. He stood and pulled Leo up as well to lead him downstairs and into their room where he closed the door behind them and then leaned his shell against it. He watched Leo stop to stand in the middle of the room, his face blank.
"What's got ya angry, Fearless?" Raph finally asked in a low voice.
"What makes you think I'm angry?" Leo asked in a level tone.
"You think I don't recognize anger?"
Leo stood silent.
"Is it because you asked me not to attack the rabbit and I attacked him anyway?" Raph finally asked. His first instinct was that Leo was upset with him for not doing what Leo had asked. But he watched Leo's eyes lift to his face and watched the blank expression disappear as an earnest look replaced it.
"No, Raph," Leo said. "I really just didn't want you attacking him in his dimension."
Raph didn't have time to feel relieved as he watched Leo's arm muscles bunch again in discomfort. "Then what is it, Fearless?"
"It's stupid," Leo murmured as his eyes lowered to the wooden floor beneath his feet.
Raph stood still and waited. Keeping his hands off Leo when he desperately wanted to comfort him was difficult for him. So was standing still and being quiet. But he forced himself to stay where he was. He wanted to give Leo time to think.
"I am angry," Leo finally said. "But I'm angry at myself. I've been thinking about that night with Usagi in the alley and now again tonight. What kind of ninja gets caught off guard so easily?"
"The kind that trusted that he was with a friend," Raph growled, his own mind picturing Leo trapped in that alley.
"I saw him earlier and instead of feeling immediately angry like you would've, or like I probably should've, instead I felt-," Leo paused for moment and swallowed. "Vulnerable," he finally said, shaking his head in disgust.
Raph finally shoved himself off the door and immediately wrapped his arms around Leo. He began to whisper fiercely into the side of Leo's neck, "Of course you did, Leo. He attacked you. And he wasn't some bad guy where you would've known to have yer guard up. You trusted him." He pulled his face back far enough to be able to see Leo's face again. "It's not stupid," he said with emphasis. He watched as Leo still kept his eyes focused down on their floor. "I should've stayed back and let you deck him. You'd probably feel a whole lot better right now," he added and watched as a small smile finally appeared on Leo's face.
"You didn't punch him just because you saw him standing there," Leo said, finally lifting his arms to return Raph's hug. He hated that Raph had heard the nasty things Usagi had said about him. "He had no right to say those things about you."
Raph huffed out a small laugh. "Stop tryin to comfort me. I'm comfortin you right now." He felt Leo's face press into his neck as Leo huffed out a small laugh as well. "Besides, I know some of what he said was true. I just didn't like hearin it comin outta his mouth."
Leo lifted his face and frowned at Raphael. "Not true, Raphie," he said. "And considering he was the cause of your extra stress, he certainly doesn't get to criticize."
Raph rested his forehead against Leo's and took another deep breath. "Can we forget about the rabbit for the rest of the trip at least? I don't want him spoilin yer beach."
Leo moved his face the inch or so necessary to cover Raph's mouth with his own. "Nothing is going to spoil this beach you've given me, Raphael," he whispered into Raph's mouth.
Raph pushed his tongue forward into Leo's mouth and quickly twisted it around Leo's tongue. He felt Leo's muscles relax against him and almost sighed in relief that Leo was willing and able to let go of the moments with the rabbit and focus here. On him.
"You want to join everyone else for the bonfire?" Raph murmured to him as he trailed his mouth down to Leo's jawline.
"Need s'mores of you," Leo said and grinned widely as he watched Raph throw his head back and rumble out a loud laugh.
"Aishiteru, ya dork," Raph said, focusing his attention back to Leo's smiling face.
Leo pushed the hothead backwards so that Raph fell back on their bed. He quickly followed and climbed on top of his emerald turtle. "I wasn't kidding," Leo said, a small smirk still on his face. "And I love you too, Raphie," he said as he smiled softly down at his favorite turtle. He rubbed his lower plastron against Raphael and was pleased when he felt Raph's hips already rising to meet him.
"You think we'll be missed down on the beach?" Leo asked as he sped up the rhythm with his hips.
"They should know better than to come lookin for us by now," Raph said, chuckling as he reached his hand down to curl his fingers around Leo's tail.
"I don't think we've ever had this whole house to ourselves before," Leo husked down to him, closing his eyes to enjoy the fingers fondling his tail.
"Is that yer way of tellin me its okay to be loud?" Raph asked before he openly moaned at the feeling of Leo rubbing against him. He pulled Leo's face closer to him so that he could run his tongue over Leo's neck. "Cause I'm gonna want to hear you too."
"Raph," Leo groaned out as he felt Raphael's fingers move away from his tail and push into his entrance.
Raphael groaned as well as the bulge growing in his lower plastron grew uncomfortable. Leo recognized Raph's expression, especially since his own discomfort was growing as well. He let himself drop down and rolled them to their sides so that when Raphael dropped down a moment later, he could pull both of them into his palm and begin stroking them together.
"Oh, yes Leo," Raph groaned out as he adjusted himself in their new position and continued to move his finger into Leonardo.
Leo's eyes popped open and he gasped out Raph's name a moment later when that finger brushed across his sensitive bundle of nerves. Raphael groaned in response as Leo's fingers tightened around them and his wrist sped up.
Raph quickly hoisted himself up onto his hands and knees over Leo. "If you don't cut that out, we're gonna be finished here real soon."
"Your fault," Leo muttered back, his darkened blue eyes staring up at Raphael looming over him. He panted as he took in Raph's emerald face. Those green eyes shining in their darkened room. The muscular arms that easily held the bulky turtle up above Leo. Leo shifted himself onto his shell and lifted his hips towards Raphael.
The movement pulled Raph's attention away from Leo's darkened, lust-filled blue eyes. "Eager, Leo?" he teased. He watched Leo scowl at him and made it up to him by covering Leo's mouth and quickly twisting his tongue greedily around Leo's. He placed one of his palms gently against Leo's neck and then teased Leo again by sliding it extremely slowly down his plastron.
"Raph," Leo groaned out, lifting his hips again, desperate for contact. He practically sighed in relief when he felt Raph's own hard shaft begin to press into him. He wrapped both of his arms around Raph's shoulders and pulled him down in order to kiss him.
"Leo," Raph groaned out before he slumped down on top of Leonardo, stilling all of his movements.
"What are you doing?" Leo asked. He nipped at Raph's jawline when Raph didn't immediately respond.
"Savorin," Raph said.
"Now?" Leo said, trying to shift his hips forward to force movement. "Right now is when you've decided to practice patience?"
Raph churred when he felt Leo's hips move and smiled when he heard Leo's responding churr. He lifted himself and began thrusting into Leonardo so quickly that Leo gasped in surprise and tightened his hold around Raph's broad shoulders. He threw his head back and began loudly moaning out Raphael's name repeatedly as he felt Raph begin stroking him at the same speedy pace that his hips were moving.
Raph sped up his already fast pace as he heard his name flying out of Leo's mouth. He watched Leo's face and felt Leo tremble beneath his moving palm. He dipped his head seconds before Leo's face flew forward to latch his teeth into Raph's neck and smiled as he felt Leo hold him in place by his neck.
He wasn't sure what pushed him over the edge in the next moment, whether it was Leo's muscles tightening around him, or the feel of Leo's teeth biting into his neck or the knowledge that he had just thrust Leo over the edge. But he didn't focus on it for long as he felt Leo let go of his neck and he was free to convulse over him before collapsing once again on top of his mate.
Leo panted for a few more moments as his fingers traced over the grooves in Raph's shell. "You take great care of me, Raphie," he said after a few moments. He opened his eyes and found Raph's green eyes staring back at him.
'I'll always take care of you," Raph whispered back. "Just like you take care of me."
A/N: The end. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you thought of the story!
Also, I wanted to include a little something here as well about the picture of Leo & Raph I use for my profile photo and the cover art for all of these connected stories. That picture was a gift presented to me right after I finished writing "Replacement" and since I was in between stories, I didn't get to mention it during a normal chapter post (there is a blurb about it on my profile but I'm not sure if anyone reads those profile descriptions). So, do yourselves a favor and check out the original picture in all its glorious detail (the fanfiction site crops it a bit). It can be found on Breathe2Life's profile on the DeviantArt site. It's called "Aishiteru ~ A Promise to you for Forever: LeoxRaph". And thank you again, Breathe2Life (also known as WhoAmI659 on this site), for this gorgeous picture of our guys. It's still just as incredible to me now as it was the first day I saw it!
And, since you've made it this far, it might be time to read the one-shot prequel I wrote called 'Secret'