Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT , all previou warnings apply and there is only one more chapter of this story left!
The morning that followed, Raph wasn't surprised about the arms around him this time, but as his eyes laid on that communication orb, he felt guilt seep in. Leo had got them all together after dinner, telling them all to have a good rest and he 'd tell his plan in the morning. Don was pulled to the side, but Raph didn't make a huge issue of it. He was sure it was about the plan, but he was lost to what his brother was planning to tell them this morning.
Casey's arms tightened around him, as though the teen knew he needed it even though he was sure the dark-haired vigilante was sleeping. Raph was between letting him sleep or not, with it being the weekend he wasn't sure if Casey needed to hurry to his little sister Izzy faster or not.
"Whatever it is you're thinking so hard about, stop." Casey's chuckle surprised him as he looked at the teen giving him his signature gap grin. "Unless you want something else?"
Raph snorted, nearly pushing the other teen out of bed at his wiggling brows, "And just when I was worried about ya ass."
"For what?" Casey's brow rose as Raph let out a breath, it was always hard to broach this subject with his boyfriend. Plenty of times he'd know exactly what was done to Casey, but he'd never outright say it.
He chewed his lip, feeling Casey's eyes on him. "About ya sister…with ya dad." He could feel the other teen stiffen and nearly retracted his words but decided against it. "You know I'm here for ya, and my room's always open. I just, I know with Izzy it has to be harder…worrying if today might be the day he snaps and does something to her."
"Yeah…" Casey slowly relaxed, getting up from the bed so silently that Raph feared maybe he went too far in bringing it up until Casey continued. "She's with Angel right now. She's a good friend, really good with how much I take her over there. But…"
"She's over there now?" Raph asked as Casey gave a slow nod. "Ya could bring her here." He saw Casey' surprise and didn't blame him, it wasn't like he was thinking this through, but he couldn't see the harm in it. "Mikey would love Izzy, and it would keep him outta Don's lab as much, maybe. Leo gets someone he can try and order around, and dad really likes kids."
"What about Irma and Karai? Don't they live here now?"
"Karai is barely here bro, pretty sure it would drive Leo crazy if she didn't stay in his room…not to mention dad. And she's not all bad."
"Damn, she really did get on ya good side," Casey smirked, earning a middle finger from Raph. "It's not a bad thing though, I mean sooner or later ya'll either have to be cool with each other just to keep the peace."
"True…"
"And Irma?" Casey repeated the question, and Raph couldn't blame him as he thought about it. Irma was still a mystery to him, a mystery of a time bomb though she proved to be fine in the kitchen, or Mikey's room. Don had stopped the sedatives to keep her calm in the lab, claiming he didn't want her dependent on them. For the most part, though she avoided all of them except Mikey and April, being near a ghost in the lair.
"Pretty sure she won't go near Izzy. It took her awhile just to be comfortable enough to go to different sections of the house from what Mikey told us one day. She does some weird shit sometimes. She did it one time at breakfast, just holding a spoon in her hand and started crying as she shoveled it all into her mouth."
"Okay….?"
"Yeah, I don't get it either. Don said it was because she remembered something…" Raph sighed, thinking back to the scene." and from what he says anything can be a trigger. Even a smell."
"I don't know…" Casey moved a hand through his hair and started to pace. "If something happens to Izzy…"
"It won't." Raph kept his voice firm and watched Casey slowly nod. "Ya gonna go and get her?"
"Yeah, I just gotta pick her up from Angel's." Casey grabbed his shoes, putting them on and going for the door but paused, making Raph's brow ridge rise. Casey turned coming closer, and Raph tilted his head.
"Forgot somethin', bonehea-" A kiss stopped the words in their tracks, Casey's tongue touching his as it slipped into his mouth and Raph grabbed hold of the other teen wanting him closer. The kiss turned rough and passionate, their tongues battling for dominance as one tried to get over the other until Casey pulled away leaving them both breathless. "Damn…"
"Fo'real." Casey's fingers went to his cheek, and his eyes traced over Raph, burning his skin. "I need to go, or I ain't ever leaving." Casey chuckled huskily with his mouth close to Raph's ear hole as the red-masked turtle tried to think of a rebuttal, but his brain had left as Casey's whispered in his ear, his breath making him shiver. "Unless ya want me to stay a bit longer…"
It was tempting, very tempting. Raph could feel the kiss close to the hole of his ear and a hand to his thigh. Casey could easily have him done in right now. Raph knew all he had to say was the word as that hand traveled closer and after his boyfriend's declaration, he felt more than ready to reveal himself and let things happen.
"I wan-"
"Raph," The sound of the door opening had him jump as Casey pulled back, "Leo says to be ready to talk in about an hour, before prac…tice…" Don stared at the both of them as his eyes went from Casey back to him, "I'm just…going to go…"
"Ya do that…" It came out a growl more than he meant as Raph watched his brother scurry away and glanced to see Casey shooting his own glare after the tallest turtle. "Hurry back." Raph looked over at Casey, wanting to finish what they were about to start as the other teen winked at him and took off out the door.
Once he was gone, Raph took a long breath, trying to steady his own raging hormones as his eyes went to the communication orb. The sight of it was a douse of icy water as he realized what he planned to do while still with someone else. "Damn it…" He rubbed the back of his neck, getting up and grabbing the thing as he wondered just how much Mona tried to call after he shelved it.
His fingers moved over it, as he thought back to the instructions of how to use it and sent out a call, almost hoping she was busy. It continued to go unanswered, and he let out a sigh, going to turn it off until Mona's face appeared.
"Raphael?" He blinked, she was as gorgeous as he remembered, and he realized this would be harder when than he thought. He loved Casey, but he cared about Mona still, maybe not the same as before, but she was still important. "Raphael?" She repeated herself, and he knew she was staring at him for some type of response.
"Hey…" Her brow ridges furrowed, and he tried to think of a better response but came up with a blank. "I…" He went quiet again, and slowly her expression changed. "I wanted to say…"
"This is goodbye…isn't it?" She looked at him, her head tilting as he slowly nodded. "I thought so."
"But it's not you. It's me…I just…"
"That's an earth phrase, correct? One before what we have, I finished."
"Yeah…I never meant for this to happen. I really wanted us to work but…" He thought to Casey, and couldn't picture being without him. "but none of this is how I pictured I guess. You're smart, beautiful, strong. Any guy would be lucky to have you and…"
"Is it the earth being? Is it him?"
"What?" Raph blinked. "What are you…?" He looked at her longer until his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry…I am. I…"
"You're not the same guy from before. You've grown some, but I can tell there's someone else."
"I'm sorry…"
"Me too..." She went quiet, and the screen went blank, leaving Raph with his thoughts. Too many emotions swirled inside him, anger at himself for hurting someone who didn't deserve it and then for not just picking Casey earlier to avoid all this. A part of him was angry for not just dealing with the relationship and trying harder to make it work, his grip on the communication orb got tighter around as his eyes closed and he gritted his teeth.
An urge to throw it came over him until a hand went over his making him look over his shoulder at dark eyes peering back at him.
"Case I…"
"Shut up and come on." Casey turned to leave again, as Raph rushed to put on his gear and followed the teen out. He could hear Izzy's giggles along with Mikey's laughter as they left out the lair, going towards the surface. Thoughts of last time hit Raph, and he nearly paused as Casey suddenly turned around as they reached the top, and a hoodie and pants were thrust at him.
They made their way up, going from roof to roof and Raph no longer realized where they were headed. Once they were down, they were at a park Raph didn't even know existed. "Where are we…" His words died in his throat at the sight of a lone grave under the tree. "This ain't a park…"
"Nah, ain't…" He could feel Casey's eyes as he crouched down, his fingers moving over the letters as realization hit him.
"This is…"
"My mom's grave." Casey breathed out, moving towards him crouching down. "I know that had to be hard for ya, and for a sec, I thought about us just hittin' something but…you did some super important shit…" He trailed off, and Raph glanced at him, not recognizing this side to his boyfriend. "Never showed anyone this…" He moved to stand up, going to a hole in the tree as he pulled out a bag and out tumbled a few books as Raph went to grab one.
"Shakespeare?"
"Othello was one of her favorites…mine too." He could see Casey fidget, and he was surprised at the other teen's shyness right now. "I love to read. It ain't that I hate school…it's just. Every time I read a book, even a stupid textbook, I can't help but think of all the times she'd be right there making a story even outta learning multiplication. She was fun…had a bad temper…and when shit gets so bad to where even kicking someone else ass don't help I come here." His eyes went to Raph as he slowly came over, "I read her a story like she did for me. Then…I go to you."
Raph could see him fidget, looking unsure now as he tried to think of what to say and then he remembered this was Casey as he smirked slightly. "No wonder you an' D got along, you're a closet nerd."
"Fuck you." There was a punch to his arm as Casey plopped down and Raph moved closer to him, for a moment it was silent until Casey looked over at him and Raph could see the question in his eyes.
"What's up?"
"Wanna…read with us?" The question was careful, and Raph could see the other teen holding his breath.
"Yeah, would love that." Raph chuckled, hearing Casey release the breath he was holding as he picked out a book to get started. He had never known his boyfriend was such a great storyteller, but he supposed he should have known with how Izzy would beg her big brother for a story every night.
Raph listened to him weave the tale, bringing to life each character with his voice and animated gestures. He could almost imagine the scene playing out, and could almost forget what was hanging over all their heads. As Casey drew the story to a close at the end of one scene, his hand went upwards, seeing the sun as it touched his skin.
"Ya ready?"
Raph looked back; he had barely noticed Casey had got up now as he nodded his head while standing up. "Yeah." He went ahead and let Casey take off first, letting the sun touch him a bit more before going after him.
The moment they entered the lair, his brothers and April were gathered as Mikey quickly let Casey know Izzy was with Splinter. Leo's eyes were on him; his mouth opened to say something and Raph could already hear the lecture for going outside in the daylight coming.
"Glad you took precautions this time."
Raph stared at him in surprise. "Yeah…" Maybe all of us growin…changin'…He and Casey both sat down on the couch, next to each other. Mikey was in his spot, with April and Don sitting elsewhere as Leo stood.
"Okay, so I talked to Don last night," Leo looked at each of them, "We've gone through a number of places of where the girls might be hiding and living, and most likely we'll find Song there."
"And the Elite guard?" Raph looked over at his brother as Leo nodded to Don, his younger brother's fingers went over his watch as a projection of the blueprints of a familiar warehouse came up. He could see four red dots close to the entrance. "Let me guess. They're guarding the place."
"From what Karai says, yes."
"Karai?" Raph repeated.
"What did you think I was doing last night?" Karai entered the room with a smirk as Raph rolled his eyes at her entrance. "From what my team gathered, Leo was right about them being in the warehouse."
"Wait…" Raph squinted, thinking farther back. "That's the same building I saw Irma near…"
"Probably because she escaped from the place…" Don pulled up more screens for them to look at, "I thought more about her appearance when we first got her, she was badly hurt, and Karai denies she put a hand on her. At first, I thought it was just her denying it." Don pointed out as Karai rolled her eyes, "But I had taken recordings of the markings, the bruises on her were done by a man. And from how old they were, it wasn't Karai and her people. Then I looked through some more files. There's some on a brown-haired girl who was once a prisoner of them."
"But then, how she'd get from the Song guy from the pink alien brain things?" Mikey scratched his head.
"Most likely the same thing as me, a person who was around them as a prisoner and was used for their experiments…" Karai sat down, crossing her legs. "You'd expect them to know more about mutagen and from how happy Stockman would get about the stuff, it's a geneticist dream."
"Especially a mad scientist one who wants a monster." Don sighed. "The place is supposedly an abandoned lab. It was bought out by an unknown buyer but then closed its doors to the public. They most likely held Irma there, a place for Song to continue his experiments close to his master while also keeping up with his experiments in Japan on the girls."
Raph shook his head at everything he heard, though it wasn't hard to believe it was insane. "Still ain't hearin' a plan."
"Simple, Karai and her people are going to take the front while we sneak in close to the where we believe the girls are located. Maybe if we can get to them in time, and talk…" Leo's eyes went to Karai for a moment. "We can at least save the girls."
"And if they don't listen?" Raph looked at April as she said it, though he was thinking the same thing, he knew why Leo hadn't. Karai looked away quickly, making her way out the door.
"Karai…" Leo went after her quickly, grabbing her arm. "We're going to do everything we can to save them."
"I know…" She looked back at him, though her eyes were sad, "but promise me, if it comes down to you and them." She leaned in, brushing her lips against his. "Choose you." She looked back at all of them, before leaving out the lair as Leo stood there.
Raph was a bit scared of what his brother may do; he could see it weighing on him, the decision within itself. He turned from the entrance coming back to them with steel in his eyes, though Raph could see the mask. The one of a leader. They all watched him; his eyes went to the blueprint once more and back to them.
"If talking doesn't work, we take them out and destroy what files and anything we can. Shredder nor Song needs the advantage. We can't let either win. It's not an option."
"So, Shredder is back?" Mikey's question hung in the air as he looked at Leo.
"I don't know, but right now our biggest issue is Song and the girls." Leo looked at each of them, "We leave soon as it's dark, be ready." Leo didn't stop long to hear them agree, moving out the main room and towards where Splinter was. Each of them was quiet, and Raph felt a hand brush against him as his eyes went to Casey. He watched the growing smirk as he returned it, their hands lifting into a fist bump to each other.
We got this…He couldn't help but grin, but it shrunk at the look on Mikey's face. His baby brother's quiet moments always seemed wrong, but they could all feel the unease in the room. We mess this up…then what…
"Hi, guys!"
The sudden cheery voice had Raph snap his head to see Irma in some frilly apron with food in her hands trying to balance it. He wasn't used to seeing the girl come out like this or much at all since Irma usually avoided them. So why now? The sight left him at a loss for words but a glance at Mikey, he could see the smile that was starting. He suddenly understood what Irma was doing and saw how she was coming out her comfort zone for the youngest turtle.
"Mia!" Mikey's grin had gotten wider, and he went over to twirl her around while in a hug that had both of them laughing.
"Mikey! The food!" She continued to laugh as Mikey put her back on the floor, "Wanna help me with this recipe?"
"Sounds awesome, let's go." His hand was in hers before any of them could say a word, with both headed for the kitchen and Raph now fearing for his stomach. He had a bad feeling Mikey was going to be inventive.
"It's good Irma got Mikey to feel better,"
"Yeah, but if we all die from dinner, Then what?" Raph smirked over at April, who let out a laugh until her eyes landed on Don. He could hear the start of a video game as he glanced at Casey and saw his boyfriend had started it up. "And ya know what, maybe you and Don should talk."
"What?" His brother blinked, looking up from his studying of the blueprint as April blinked at him. "But we? What do we even talk about?"
"Figure it out, brainiac."
"No, Raph, if he doesn't it's okay. I get it, I messed up things and now…" April looked away, and Don let out a sigh.
"No, Raph's right." Don breathed out, and Raph grabbed Casey for them to leave.
"But I just started!"
"It's fine, Casey. You two can stay." Don looked at them then back at April. "I still like you. I like you a lot in fact. But I keep thinking how it took all this for you to give me a chance and that hurts."
"Donnie, I'm so so sor-"
Don quickly let up a hand, "Let me finish." He moved over near her and took her hands, "I want to try, I do because I do want to know if we could have been something or not. I don't want to have that question in my head forever. Just…are you fine with going slow?"
"Yes." April smiled back, moving to hug Don but stopped herself short of one, taking his hand and squeezing it instead. "Thanks, Donnie."
"Aww, look at the lovebirds Raph. Ain't they cute." Casey cooed, and Raph couldn't help the snicker as the Don and April glared at them both.
"Yeah, they are kinda. Took them what? Only forever?" Raph laughed.
"Remember when I said you both can stay?"
"Yeah?" Raph smirked at Don.
"I changed my mind!" Don stood up pointing at them both and towards the hallway. "GO AWAY!"
"Damn, we going now," Raph couldn't help as more laughter escaped and he made his way out, hearing Casey's footsteps behind him.
"And this is why I never get done with my games."
"Ain't my fault Donnie was nerd raging" Raph snickered until his shell hit the wall and Casey kissed him roughly, reminding him of what they started earlier. He pulled the teen closer, feeling Casey grind back against him.
"And can you two get a room!" Don screamed out, making both teens groan as they pulled away. The urge to hit his younger brother came over him in a rush as the back of his head hit the door.
"Case?"
"Yeah?"
"Still wanna live together?"
"Yeah, but that ain't gonna solve our problem" Casey laughed.
"Why…?"
"Cuz Izzy worse than little brothers."
