Rating: MA - Sexual content

Thanks again for reading my story everyone :)

Raphael couldn't believe his eyes. The ceiling had undergone an orgy of destruction that was chilling in its intensity. Sidorov knew a prison sentence awaited him if Danny MacAteer's video surfaced and must have given explicit orders to his men. Do whatever it takes to find it. Don't stop until you've torn the whole damn place apart.

Raphael hated the idea that their efforts had been rewarded, but the video's hiding place had been completely gutted. He looked at the mess on the floor. How could anything as fragile as a DVD have survived?

"Do you see it?" Wilson said.

He hesitated. If the evidence to punish Danny MacAteer's killers had vanished, then so might the agent's interest in the deal he'd made with Raphael. To buy time, he said, "I need to get a chair to reach it."

He glanced at Brooke. When they'd first met, he'd told her that she asked too many questions, but now he looked forward to any ideas or insights she might have to offer.

"Ask if the DVD was left loose or attached to the tile," she whispered.

She hadn't given up on finding it. And while he appreciated her positive attitude, it was hard to share it.

"Well? Is it there or not?" Wilson was losing patience, which increased the risk that he'd assume the worst and disconnect. If that happened, it was unlikely they'd ever be able to find him - or Leo.

Raphael repeated Brooke's question.

The agent's response was enlightening. "I didn't hide a DVD. I hid a micro SD card. It's taped to the underside of the tile."

Raphael felt the first glimmer of hope. Wafer-thin and small as a thumbnail, the object could be somewhere in the jumble at his feet.

Setting down the phone, he began rooting through the debris in the corner. Brooke hunkered down on her heels to help. It was slow going due to the miniature size of the object they were searching for and the quantity of material to sift through. Everything was coated with a fine white grit from the smashed tiles. Wilson demanded frequent updates, which further grated on Raphael's nerves.

After ten disappointing minutes, his fingers encountered a small raised section on the broken tile he was handling. His pulse sped up as the white powder gave way to reveal a tiny card.

"I got it," he called out.

"Thank God."

"It's time for you'z to fulfill ya side of our deal. I want to see Leo."

"Will you go after Chernov's boss for Danny's murder?"

"If the video has what ya say it does, there shouldn't be a problem in gettin' a warrant for his arrest. I'll figure that out after I see Leo."

"I'll call you in two hours. That should give you enough time to watch the video."

Raphael agreed and put away the phone. He had trouble separating the card from the chunk of ceiling tile, either because his fingers were too big or because his hands weren't entirely steady. Things were winding down fast. Soon he would find out if Leo was alive or dead.

"Let me try," Brooke said.

He glanced over at her. White powder smeared her right cheek, perspiration beaded her upper lip and clumps of hair stuck to her neck. A vision of stunning beauty she certainly wasn't at the moment... so how did she manage to make him want to fuck her here and now?

She extended her hand, waggled her fingers. "Admit it, Raphael. You need my help."

He needed more than her help, he realized. He needed her.

Whoa. Where had that crazy notion come from?

Anxiety over Leo must be throwing him off kilter. Obviously, he was grateful to Brooke. She was the reason the gallery owner had called his father, and Raphael was now in the possession of evidence that could put away Sidorov. And there was no denying he was drawn to her. She was smart and sexy and spectacular in bed. But that didn't mean he needed her... or did he? It had been so long since he fought, practiced his art since he met Brooke. His life felt so different than what it was before and he wasn't sure how he felt about that realization.

Unwilling to pursue that line of thinking, he placed the tile in Brooke's palm. Her lips curved as her long thumbnail sliced through the tape, and the card popped off.

"Thanks," he said.

"Anytime." Her smile faded. "It's sickening to think what's on it."

"It'll be worth watching if it means Sidorov finally gets what's comin' to him."

Brooke nodded in agreement, her eyes searching his. They both stood there in the rubble, the silence filling the questions in their minds and their breathing began to match rhythms.

"Brooke.." he began to say, but Brooke interrupted him as she walked to him, reached up and grabbed his face with her hands and kissed him hard. She needed it. They needed it. All their work was coming down to a conclusion and whatever the outcome was, this attraction that sizzled between them still needed to be dealt with. Will it go away when it was all over? Did she want it to be with him below the city in the shadows? Raphael didn't want that life for her, he hated his existence before Brooke fell into his life but now... for the first time since Splinter passed, Raphael desired more. Not fighting goons and thugs under the streetlights. Not practicing to only protect himself, but her, too.

Brooke's hand slid down his plastron and stopped right before the end cusp that his manhood hid beneath - Raphael's thoughts dissolved quickly and refocused his attention on what was happening in the moment. Worry about those thoughts later.

Raphael groaned in pleasure as he grabbed Brooke's waist and turned her so that her back was now against the wall, her breath came out in a gasp at the unexpected movement. He laughed softly against her mouth, she didn't realize how light she was compared to the weights he pushed in his makeshift gym in the lair. It was cute at her constant surprise sounds.

Kissing between them was getting easier and easier, their tongues found and kept a sexual pace that got both of their heart beats racing quickly and Raphael noticed how natural it felt to do this with her. Not like with...

No. Get her out of your thoughts.

Brooke grinded her hips against his, begging for Raphael to release himself. Intense desire rushed through him at her responsiveness, he wanted to give her what she wanted. Willing himself to relax, his member dropped in satisfaction.

Before Raphael could make his next move, Brooke dropped to her knees. Oh, shit.

His dick was quite bigger than the average human male, but Brooke was determined to still satisfy him somehow with her mouth. She gripped his long shaft with her delicate fingers, feeling the pulse of blood that continued to fill him even larger. His girth was impressive, her thumb and fingers couldn't meet together like with Ronnie's. Fuck him, he never brought me to tears from pleasure.

She licked her lips, Raphael noticed and swallowed quickly. His hands went to the wall quickly to hold himself steady as he prepared for what she was going to do. He felt her wet mouth against the tip of his member, and his dick jumped. A moist tongue circled around the top and her eyes gazed up at him, watching his reaction. Oh and did he react.

The sensation of her mouth sent tingles up his spine, and Brooke began to stuff his member more into her mouth - literally stuff. Her small mouth could barely take in the width of him. His ego inflated slightly, but his mind went wild as she began to suck AND lick. Fuck an ego, he was at her will.

She used that skilled mouth to almost make Raphael's knees buck. And he thought sex felt amazing, but this, this, was something else entirely. Jolts of pleasure pulsed through him matching her sucking pace, and he noticed he wasn't going to last much longer if he wanted to take her right there in the middle of the rubble.

Getting her completely naked was going to take too much time, so Raphael put his hands on her shoulders to signal her to stop. Brooke, who kept his member in his mouth, looked up at him waiting for his next move.

"I need ya now, babe. If ya keep that up, Imma lose it," he gasped roughly. "We ain't got a lot of time -"

Brooke immediately removed his dick from her mouth, stood up and began undoing her pants. Raphael stepped back, panting, his shaft throbbing even more at this visual in front of him. Debris was everywhere, the scene was chaotic and seeing Brooke breathing heavy, her face showing her arousal was sending him. She is so fucking beautiful.

The moment she slipped off her panties, Raphael made his move - without letting her know what he was about to do, Raphael grabbed her by the waist and lifted her way above his head and placed her moist heaven on his mouth. The ceiling was thankfully high enough for him to achieve this position, and by the sound of Brooke she very much appreciated it too.

Her legs dangled behind his head and laid on his shell, his hands squeezed her ass to hold her in place as he devoured his meal. Cereal was now his second favorite meal of the day, he thought heatedly.

Brooke grasped the back of Raphael's head to gain balance, her body was quivering with ache as she had no choice but to accept his mouth doing sinful things to her pussy. Another new position for her. Finding the SD card was a major win for them and all she wanted to do was celebrate... and the only celebration she had in mind was exactly this. To ease Raphael's tension. To give him release. What she didn't expect was to be lifted up into the air and placed on his mouth like a 5-course meal. She was getting so close, again.

"Raph, fuck, that feels amazing. I'm-I'm building again -"

With ease, Raphael withdrew her heat from his soaking wet mouth. He looked at her with a question in his eyes, Yes?

She nodded impatiently, and that's all he needed. He settled her right above his pulsating dick, his tip teasing her entrance. Brooke had no control and it both drove her crazy and excited her altogether.

He held her still, making no move to fill her up to her core. His non-existent eyebrow shot up as he asked with a thick accent, "Ya know what I'm waitin' for."

Brooke knew exactly what he was waiting for and she really wanted to disobey him. But her pussy was arguing against that decision. SAY IT.

"PLEASE."

He pushed into her with a smooth, long stroke. His dominance over here and the unadulterated contentment in having him inside her, stretching her to the hilt again had her moaning loudly. Raphael lived for those moans as he held her close, making eye contact with her while he pumped her in his arms. She gasped as the eye contact was increasing her building orgasm. His beautiful honey eyes were golden now. She saw her reflection in them and she was almost undone from the experience.

She saw his jaw tighten. He's close, too.

"Cum with me," she rasped, her arms gripping tighter around his neck.

Raphael's eyes widened at her unexpected request. His strokes didn't stop their rhythm and her orgasm was on the brink alongside his. Her moans got higher and higher and she was there.

She cried out.

Raphael grunted loudly as his orgasm rocked him, ejected his heavy seed to her center. He felt his cum mix with hers and it began dripping out of her glistening pussy down onto the ground below them. His dick throbbed inside her as the last bit of his orgasm shuddered through him.

There was only silence and their heavy breathing. Brooke leaned her forehead against his, as she maintained her eye contact with him. This is insane. How is it possible that sex with a turtle could be this good?! And the fact that he's never done this before prior to meeting her.

They disengaged from one another and gathered her pants and underwear before looking at one another again. A silent message past through them that neither of them spoke on. Something was shifting between them that was completely out of their control. And neither of them wanted to fight it. Whatever it was, it was getting stronger each moment they shared...

As they got themselves together, they left. The return trip was uneventful, and they were soon sitting on the couch viewing the surveillance footage on Donny's laptop. Wilson hadn't misrepresented its importance or ugliness. Acting on Sidorov's orders, Chernov had inflicted excruciating pain on Danny MacAteer until he had agreed to everything they wanted and begged for mercy.

As the disturbing video concluded, Brooke rubbed her arms as if she were chilled. "That was horrible. MacAteer didn't stand a chance against those two brutes."

Raphael nodded as his fingers flew over the laptop keyboard. "I'm sendin' the file to Angel right away so she can start workin' on the warrant at the department. The sooner Sidorov's picked up, the safer everyone will be."

"What about the dirty cop? If he told Sidorov about MacAteer's visit to the police, he's an accessory to his murder."

The memory of their fucking earlier sizzled in Raphael's brain, but this problem in front of him was dousing the fire pretty damn quickly. "When Sidorov's in custody, he'll be questioned about that... Imma make sure to let Angel know." Raphael breathed in the distinctive scent of her hair and rested his hand on her toned thigh. "Right now I want to finish the conversation we started outside the gallery."

Her expression turned wary. "So much has happened since then, I'm not sure I remember where we left off."

Although he doubted her claim, he gave a quick recap. "We agreed to swap war stories. You'z tell me 'bout gettin' shot, and I dish up the dirt about Leo and me."

"Or we forget the whole thing," she suggested.

"Do ya really want to do that?" If she wasn't ready to open up to him now, then she might never be, and the need was all on his side.

She hesitated, then shook her head.

He cupped her face in his hands. "If ya do it fast, it won't be as bad. Think Band-Aid removal."

Her lips curved in a faint smile. "I always have to psych myself up before ripping those suckers off."

"How about I go first, so you'z can prepare yaself."

"You trust me not to chicken out?"

"I trust ya." Settling back on the couch, he got straight to the point. "I ain't been one hundred percent honest about bein' around a woman."

Brooke's eyebrows shot up. He purposely tried to forget her constantly. Raphael continued, "Her name was Ashley. We were gettin' close, but not what you'z think. She liked me but it was more of a fetish. She had a blog she ran and she was usin' me to get views. Leo and I fought 'cause he ended up sleepin' with her. The circumstances were bullshit, but I started to care about her. When I caught her takin' pics of me sleepin', I cut her off. I already was a freak to the world, I ain't need her to remind me."

Raphael grimaced at the memory like he ate a lemon. Ashley made him believe she cared for him and he was too caught up in believing she would try something like she did. He learned his lesson.

"Anyway, when she met Leo, she came on to him. Leo knew I was pissed off, but he knew I wasn't ova' her. He fucked her anyway."

"Do you know why?" Brooke asked.

"Spite. Fearless and I buttheads all the time over his 'plans' and how he leads me and my brothers. We were gettin' to the age where we were grown and Leo hated that he ain't have the hold on us like he did when we was teenagers. It was around the same time his ex, Karai, betrayed him and I ain't help the issue by prodding the bear with 'I told ya so' and 'ya can't be a leader when ya lead with ya dick'. He neva forgot that. So when he saw the chance to get back at me, he made it count."

"Do your brothers know about this?"

He nodded.

"What's their take on it?"

That was an easy question to answer as his brothers never made it no secret of their opinion. "Their view was Leo ain't intentionally try to hurt me. His ego was blown up by Ashley's attention after Karai broke his heart and acted without thinkin'... which ain't like Leo. Afterward, Leo regretted it, but I was too pissed to believe em."

Brooke's next question made him realize she was more attuned to him than Ashley. "What aren't you telling me?"

He shrugged. "Donny says our big brother did me a favor. Without his interference, I might have tried to go after her again and work shit out. It would have been a mistake." He added, "I ain't want to think 'bout it that way for a long time, but he's probably right."

"About Leo or Ashley?"

"Both," he admitted. Leo was set in his ways, but not a vindictive one. And Raphael knew he would never have been truly happy with Ashley. Spending time with Brooke had made him realize that. His gorgeous, intuitive PI got his brain clicking, his blood pumping and his emotions stirring. He didn't want her to disappear from his life after Sidorov's arrest. He wanted to keep seeing her. He wanted her to want him. All of him. Accept him for the turtle he was and his circumstances to stay hidden for his safety. Would she? But before he spent more time thinking about the future, he had to deal with the past. "I'm sorry I misled ya 'bout my relationship with Leo. I liked the carin', brother-to-the-rescue image ya seemed to have of me, and I ain't wanna wreck that."

"You shouldn't have worried about that. Families are complicated. I know better than anyone. The important thing is you came looking for him."

His next words slipped out before he could stop them. "I just hope he's alive."

"He is," she insisted. "Wilson believes you won't arrange for the arrest warrant until you see Leo."

He shook his head. "Wilson knows that if Leo's dead, I'd have more reason to go after Sidorov."

Her upset expression made him regret his candor. Although he needed to prepare himself for the worst, he shouldn't have unloaded his worried onto Brooke. He reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Forget what I said. I'm on edge, that's all babe."

"I believe Wilson will take us to Leo, and he'll be okay," she said solemnly.

He nodded, hoping she was right.

The silence stretched between them. It was her turn to talk about her scars, but he wasn't going to rush her. Let her take a few moments to organize her thoughts, figure out where to start. He didn't care about the details. He cared only that she trusted him enough to share the experience that had changed her life.

Stop procrastination, Brooke chided herself. Suck it up and spit it out. It didn't matter how she described it. The events of that awful night couldn't be altered by her by her choice of words or tone of voice. Nothing could change what had happened or the truth she'd had to live with.

Raphael's advice drifted into her mind. If ya do it fast...

So she did, blurting out, "I killed my partner."

His shocked expression gave her a morbid sense of satisfaction. He'd probably assumed she'd been reluctant to share her memories because they brought her pain and fear. He had no way of knowing it was the guilt and regrets she found unbearable. The knowledge that she was responsible for the death of a good cop, a husband and a father, had scarred her more deeply than the bullets that had riddled her body.

"Help me understand this," he said. "Ya pointed a gun at ya partner and pulled the trigger?"

"Not exactly," she muttered, though the result had been essentially the same.

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Why dontcha tell me exactly what happened?"

She lowered her gaze to her tightly clasped hands. "We got a call one night. B and E at a private residence, the home owner threatened with a knife. When we arrived at the scene, we saw someone who matched the description of the intruder fleeing, so we gave chase. Cliff Danes, my partner, was fifty-two and forty pounds overweight, so he fell behind after a few minutes."

"But ya kept goin'," Raphael guessed.

"I didn't want the suspect to get away. But even more than that, I wanted to prove I could do the job, even if I was a rookie and a woman."

Raphael nodded in acknowledgement.

She shook her head. "I was furious because we'd argued at the beginning of our shift. Danes told me that my go-it-alone attitude was going to put me in harm's way, and then he'd be stuck saving my ass." Her partner's words had turned out to be eerily prophetic, yet at the time she'd focused only on how much they'd stung, how much they'd reminded her of her father's repeated criticisms.

Her face burned with shame. "I didn't listen to him. I thought I knew what I was doing. I didn't respect his expertise or experience." She shook her head, her throat tight. "I wish I'd shown him the respect he deserved. I wish I could go back that night and stop it all from going so horribly wrong."

Raphael rubbed her shoulder, the longing to pull her into his arms was strong but he knew she needed to get this off her chest. "Tell me about it."

This was the hardest part, the reason for her nightmares. Inhaling deeply, she forced out the words. "When the suspect ran to the next street, I drew my gun and followed. I should have waited for backup, but I was confident I could handle some short, skinny guy with a knife. The next thing I knew I was flat on my back with my ears ringing and blood gushing out of me. Then he came at me again, and I saw the shotgun in his hands. I would have been killed, but Danes showed up and drew his attention, taking the shot intended for me. I watched him take the hit, saw his body fall and waited for the next shot that would finish me off. But Danes was wiser than me. Before he followed me, he'd called for backup. The shooter heard the sirens closing in on him and hauled ass out of there."

"Did they catch him?" Raphael's blood boiled. The fucker almost killed her.

She shook her head. "No, he got away. I found out later his MO matched that of a cop killer in Nevada. The B and E was his favorite ruse to lure police to the scene."

"Ya couldn't have known that, babe," Raphael pointed out.

"I don't blame myself for what I didn't know. I blame myself for what I didn't do." Swallowing the bitter taste of guilt, she continued, "If I'd waited for Danes, if we'd gone into that street together, a good cop wouldn't have ended up on a slab in the morgue."

"Or ya partner might have died anyway."

"Look, I appreciate you making excuses for me, but Danes was right. I don't play well with others, and I never should have become a cop. It took his death to make me face that truth, and it's the reason I got m PI license. So I can go it alone - without relying on anyone else and with no one else relying on me."

"I ain't trying to argue with ya," Raphael said, "but hindsight is always twenty-twenty, as my dad always said. I told ya I was once beaten and locked in a shed. What I ain't tell ya was Leo wanted to let this mission go. I refused. I told him it was too dangerous, that we'd probably be killed if we tried to leave, and he actually agreed to sit tight until the bust went down."

She felt sick as she remembered the rest. His cover and Leo's were blown, Leo got out but Raphael had barely escaped with his life. "If you had acted differently, the outcome might have been the same or worse."

"It took me a long time to accept that truth," he said in a husky voice. "How long is it goin' to take you'z?"

She stared at him, jolted by his question and the similarities between their experiences. They had both made choices they regretted. They had both struggled to deal with the aftermath of their torment.

Her eyes stung as she considered the possibility that she wasn't at fault - at least not entirely. That maybe she'd taken on more than her fair share of blame. And maybe she'd been wrong to punish herself with crippling guilt and terrifying nightmares. She might finally be ready to reevaluate the past - but only because a ninja turtle with painful memories had coaxed her into revealing hers.

It was hard to believe she'd known Raphael for such a short time. They'd been through so much over the past few days, and she wasn't ready for their time together to end.

But of course, it would. As soon as he knew his brother was fine and Sidorov was arrested, he'd return to his vigilante lifestyle. Return to being the ninja that protected this city. His city. Underneath the feet of unknowing people.

And she'd go back to being a PI, working alone, living alone.

What she'd once considered the ideal arrangement had now lost its appeal. She didn't want to be on her own anymore. She wanted to be with someone who understood her demons and accepted her anyway. Someone who made her smile, made her burn. Only one person was capable of all that. Raphael. A future with him by her side would be -

Her brain wouldn't finish the thought. Instead it offered up her partner's damning character assessment of her. As much as she wished otherwise, those words hadn't been the griping of a cranky colleague. They had been objective and all too accurate. She was a solo act, not a team player. That was why none of her romantic relationships had lasted beyond a few months. Because her bed partners eventually caught on to the fact that, except for sex, she didn't need them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of Raphael's phone. He glanced at the caller ID. "Casey," he said, pushing the TALK button. "Where are ya? Wilson will be callin' soon to arrange the meet."

She turned away so he couldn't see her disappointment. She should have been relieved the final countdown was about to start, thrilled that Raphael would soon be reunited with his brother and Sidorov would be locked up. Except that then her time with Raphael would also be over. And she would go home alone.