Raph growled as he tightened his grip around Leo's throat. He ignored Donnie and Mikey's cries of pain echoing in his ear.

"If this is it, I want you know I finally understand. And that I'm sorry."

For a brief second, Raph felt a tear in his eye. But only for a second when he was once again filled with rage. Raph let out a roar as he wrapped the tentacle tighter around his brother's neck. Leo yelled in pain before his body went slack.

"LEO!" Mikey and Donnie's screams drew Raph's attention to the other turtles. He dropped Leo to the floor before turning in their direction. The pair looked at him in shock, pain and tears filling their eyes. With another roar, Raph shot a tentacle towards his brothers.

Raph awoke with a start. Breathing heavily, he looked around to see Mikey snoring softly nearby. But Donnie was gone, and Leo's bed was empty. Raph started to panic as he leapt to his feet, being careful not to disturb his baby brother, and walked out of the room towards the kitchen.

"It…it was just a dream, Raph. Leo broke through. He saved me. And…and we saved him." No matter what he told himself, Raph still felt the tears welling up in his eyes and dropped to the floor. He couldn't stop the tears yet tried to sob as quietly as possible, so as not to wake anyone else up.

"Raph?" He looked up to see Donnie and Leo standing over him. He couldn't stop himself from grabbing them both in a tight hug. He refused to let go until Leo let out a pained grunt.

"I'm sorry, Leo. I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay, Raph. I'll heal." Leo gave him a half-grin.

"No, it's not that. I…I almost killed you. I wanted to kill you." Donnie and Leo exchanged a look while Raph continued to sob. With Donnie's help, Leo carefully knelt beside his big brother and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Raph, that wasn't you. That was whatever the Kraang did to you."

"You've never tried to hurt us, Big Raphie."

"Raph, you need to talk to us."

"I…I knew everything I was doing. From the moment you freed me from that slimy cocoon, I knew what I was doing but, I couldn't stop. I felt every punch, every kick. I felt it when I…" Raph stopped and buried his head in his arms. He barely moved when he felt a hand on his shell.

"When you what, Raph?" Donnie's voice was soothing. Raph's response was muffled by his tears, his arms or both.

"Raph?"

Raph looked up and, for the first time, seemed to notice the wounds covering Leo's body. He moved a shaky hand towards the bandaged cracks on his little brother's plastron. Right before making contact, he drew his hand away, trembling, afraid of hurting Leo, again. When Raph spoke, his voice cracked and he stuttered through the sobs.

"I…I felt it when we were f-fighting on the Kraang ship. When I h-had a tentacle wrapped around your neck, I…" Raph stopped and buried his head in the crook of his arms, again. Donnie and Leo just sat there, waiting. When Raph spoke, again, the sobs had gotten stronger.

"I…I could f-feel it when…when I t-tightened that t-tentacle a-around your…your n-neck and I…I c-couldn't do anything to…to stop it. I…I'm s-sorry, Leo. I'm so, so sorry."

"Raph." Leo's voice was just above a whisper. The larger turtle didn't make a move to respond. Donnie started to say something, but Leo held a hand up.

"Raphael, look at me." At the sound of Leo using his full name, something he never did, Raph slowly raised his head and looked at his little brother.

"Whatever the Kraang did to you, you broke free. You saved my life when I was stupid enough to go after the key. And when Donnie and Mikey were thrown off the ship, you rescued them." Leo placed a hand on his arm.

"We knew you would never hurt us. We never gave up on you, big brother." Donnie placed his hand beside Leo's.

Raph looked up at his little brothers. Ever since they had rescued Leo from the prison dimension, the only thing he saw when he looked at his family had been failure. Not on their part, but on his. Ever since they were children, Raph had always taken it upon himself to protect his family. After being possessed by the Kraang, he felt as if he had failed in his job. Now, sitting here looking at Leo and Donnie, all he saw was concern. And for the first time since they had stopped the invasion, Raph gave his brothers a genuine smile, knowing that no matter what came their way, they would be able to handle it together.