My thanks goes out to the ever talented, why-are-you-doing-biology-when-you-should-be-a-writer Dierdre for being my beta on this story. All good things will come in good time...:)

This is my first official AU fic, I have another one in mind but let's how well this one does first, hmmm?

Renegade Ninja: Raphael

Chapter 1- 'A Small Miracle'

Working fervently and quietly, Raphael picked at the inside of his wrist with the tip of his sai. Although he was extremely careful to not cut the main artery, he knew that bleeding was inevitable. The tracer was too deeply embedded in between his muscles to get it out without a hitch, but he had to do it.

He just had to.

It was a matter of life or death this time, foreven a ninja as skilled as he was couldn't avoid detection forever. The dumpster that he was currently seeking refuge behind was only temporary, until he could find an escape route out of New York City. Raphael silently cursed himself for not having a well thought out plan beforehand. That was usually Leo's department. But he couldn't ask for his brother's help now…

A glaring light from overhead made Raph stop what he was doing to press himself deeper into the shadows. As the helicopter passed by him, apparently detecting nothing amiss, Raph suppressed the desire to heave a sigh of relief and instead decided to get a move on. Still keeping to the shadows, he ran down the length of downtown NYC, noting the many wanted posters surrounding him. All of them showed his face, as he was the nation's number one criminal right now. Passing by the television store, he saw that the newscast was on, and that a crowd had gathered around it. On the screen the reporter was talking about a murder that took place six hours ago, of renowned mayor and hero: Oroku Saki.

What made the whole thing worse was that Raphael was the one who hadmurdered Saki. He had been sloppy in the attempt and ended up leaving his other sai behind when he hadambushed him. He was good at being sneaky and sly, but someone was bound to notice a lifeless, bloody corpse in Saki'sprivate office,as well as the signature weapon that belonged to one of NYC's top police officers. All of that information combined would automatically make him the suspect, and if they caught him he would be dead. That is why he needed to get out of the city, or at least that was one of the many reasons. He hurried by the many bystanders on the street. As long as no one noticed him, he would be fine…

"Uh, mister, are you okay?" piped up a little voice from behind him. Careful to keep the collar of his jacket up and, of course, staying in the shadows, he turned around to face that young speaker. The child's face looked positively frightened and Raph had a slight clueas to why, since his own face was being broadcast all over the media. But he never expected the boy to point at his right arm instead and, looking down, he found that he was bleeding from where hehad tried to cut his wrist. In fact, he had been bleeding the entire time he was running, leaving a nice little trail behind him.

The little boy's eyes were full of concern; about the wound, that is. Which was nice, as the heart of a little kid never ceased to amaze even the most cold-hearted of people. But Raph knew that his blood trail would mean something else to a certain organization…

"There he is!"

That shout got him running again, although the kid tried to call him back. Didn't that kid know anything? Hadn't he been watching the news or even seen the wanted posters? But none of that mattered now, for police quickly surrounded Raph, jumping down from therooftops and coming out of the shadows. They made a tight circle around him, trapping him. He looked for an opening and found none. They were good, way too good. He should know; hehad helped train them, along with a certain other ninja master.

And there, stepping out of the circle and into the middle with him, was that ninja master.

His brother, Leonardo, was looking regal in his all-black uniform, the same as Raph's and all the others surrounding them.

A crowdhad formed another circle around the original, consisting entirely of people wanting to know what was going to happen next, even though the answer was obvious. They watched asLeo walked up to Raph slowly, either stretching out the moment or trying to add suspense, Raph wasn't sure which. But there was one thing he did know, and he voiced it aloud.

"Are you going to kill me now?"

Leo didn't need to respond, for his brother already knew the answer. Raph glared at him.

"So you would really take out one of your own just to fulfill your sense of duty? What happened to family, man? Don't you even care about what happened to Mikey?" Raph told his brother in a quiet yet clear tone. Leo paused for a moment, staring at his brother. Raph was trying to pull his strings.The murder didn't have anything to do with Mikey…did it?

"Don't listen to him, he's trying to stop you from killing him. Using the 'brother' tactic, what a bunch of bull," one of the officers shouted at him. He was right, too. Leo was just wasting his time listening to his younger brother ramble. He pulled a katana out of the mid-sized tube that he carried on his back and swung it upward, preparing to strike. For Raph, it felt like time had slowed down. As he watched the katana rise into the air, he thought, What the hell am I doing? I can take him on. Idon't need to put up with this. I'm a ninja; I'm supposed to fight!

With that thought in mind, he grabbed his brother by the waist and threw him over his shoulder. Leo landed outside the circle and the momentary distraction allowed him to flee. He had a coupleof seconds head start, but the knew that the others would eventually catch him again. He needed an escape route now… and fast.

Running into the worst of the city, Raphael stopped in the middle of the intersection to catch his breath. This was it, it was over, and he was doomed. There was nowhere to go now. He put his hands on his knees, which were shaking, along with the rest of his body. He also felt tears starting to run down his face, one he should have shed for his dead brother when he first found him. The sight of Mikey's mangled body tormented him and overrode any other memories that have been made after. It was the major reason for the death of Saki, but not the only. Without his brother to help bear witness with him, there was no chance of convicting Saki ever. Not that he wanted to, it gave him great pleasure to watch him squirm and flop around like a fish out of water, drowning in his own blood. But now that satisfaction was replaced with fear, fear for his remaining brother's lives and safety, it was only a matter of time…

Unless he could get to them first.

A shout from his left shook Raphael out of his thoughts. Looking in that direction, he was surprised to find that the boy who was trying to help him earlier was now waving for him to come over. Cautiously, and after scanning around, he ran over to that boy. The boy looked up at him with a smile, admiration written all over his face, and Raph could not understand what he did to make the boy like him so. He bent down on one knee, so he can better look him straight in the eyes and asked, in a much gentler and more patient tone than he was used to using,

"What are you doing here, with me of all people? Your parents would be worried sick by now. Go on, go home, there's no need to get involved in my messes."

But the boy just shook his head sadly, "No home." He told him. Then he took Raph's hand, the injured one, and told him, "I can help you."

Raph was shocked how in the world was a kid…?

Then out of nowhere, pain shot up his arm. He felt like someone was trying to dig something out, and the next thing he knew, he was staring at the boy, who now possessed a thing that looked like, and was no bigger than, an average pill capsule…

The tracer…

Looking down at his wrist, he saw that he was bleeding much more heavily than before. Raph looked back at the boy in horror.

"What? How did you get that out? What are you trying to do-"

His questions were cut off by another shake of the boy's head; he was beginning to look familiar now, if only he could place the memory…

But the boy just grabbed his injured wrist again, and led him into an alleyway. There, much to Raph's surprise, was a vortex, circular in shape and glowing a white and blue, right there on the ground. All he could do was stare at this, before giving an inquiring look at the boy. But the sound of footsteps stopped any possible questions, and with an unnaturally strong push, Raph fell in the hole, the last sound he could make out was a shout of rage…