Chapter 14

September 22nd; 0:04 a.m.

The splitting sound of the gunshot clamorously bounced off the rock-hard surface of the brick walls, leaving a haunting echo in its lethal trail, one that seemed to linger forever in the midnight air. With his halted heart caught in his tight throat, Raphael stiffly rose to his full height, instinctively turning around to look for the source of the sound. Before he even had the slightest chance of reacting, another bullet ripped through the air, penetrating the eerie stillness for the second time that night.

Standing by the open backdoor was yet another mugger, his back turned to Raph while his front was locked with the oldest of the turtles, who'd miraculously appeared out of nowhere. Their stance led Raph to believe they were struggling over something. The gun perhaps? Oddly, none of them moved, but just stood there - face to face - looking at each other while stunned waves of silence passed between them.

And then, everything changed.

Leonardo's knees suddenly gave way, folding to the heavy weight of his body like a stringless marionette, leaving him on the back of his shell on the wet pavement. Still standing in the same position, as if physically nailed to the ground, was the forth robber. His right hand was raised at the level of his waist, trembling beyond his control; and locked in his cramped grip was a black gun, smoke still fuming from the dark barrel.

The red masked turtle stared at the scene with wide eyes of disbelief, not a single breath departing from his frozen lips. "...no," he fearfully whispered, his voice stolen by the shock, strangled by the clammy hands of terror. Blinking furiously at the darkness that seemed to conquer his vision, the turtle ripped his soul open and screamed with every feeling that burned within his being, "NOO!"

Without even knowing it, Raph recklessly dashed towards to gunman, tearing open the naked skin beneath his feet, leaving faint prints of his own blood on the rough concrete behind him.

The human was violently woken from his trance by the furious cry of the turtle, turning around in shock just in time to meet his attacker, the gun still shaking in his limp hand.

There was absolutely nothing he could do to stop the mad ninja from tearing his body apart to the point beyond recognition.

Blinded with the forces of rage, desperation and revenge, Raphael fiercely spun a kick to the teenager's jaw, sending him flying a few feet away from Leonardo. His momentarily weightless body half whirled through the air like a spinning football, until gravity once again decided to kick in and forced the thug to crash on the asphalt, one of his hands locked underneath his chest. Reaching for the gun that had conveniently landed only a small arm's length away from him, the scared teen desperately scrambled to his feet, stress controlling his fingers as he worked to cock the trigger, watching in fright as his attacker steadily approached him, reaching inside the trench coat for his dependable weapon.

Tightening his hold on the handle of the sai, Raph effortlessly crossed the distance between the two in the matter of a single second, forcefully embedding his weapon in the wounded man's abdomen, causing his victim to gasp at the powerful stab of pain.

The black pistol helplessly slipped through the man's loosened grasp, landing on the wet asphalt with a screeching bounce.

Clasping the human's right shoulder with his left grip, Raph forced the pointy steel of his peculiar sword deeper inside the convulsing body, leaving the tip of the sai peering out through the lower part of the back, a warm trail of blood seeping out from the circle shaped hole. He remorselessly looked into the petrified eyes of his target, gritting his teeth in unmasked pleasure as the human breathlessly coughed on the pool of red liquid that rapidly filled up his insides.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" he sadistically questioned with a raspy breath, boring his rigid stare into the wavering depths of the wounded. With a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, Raph violently twisted the miniature trident in the human's flesh, causing him to once again gasp in pain, floods of blood gurgling inside his choking throat.

Unable to do anything, the young man only blinked at the warm tears that burned in his squinting eyes, spilling uncontrollably down his pale cheeks.

With a swift move of hatred, Raph roughly pulled back his sai, leaving a gaping hole in its place, reaching all the way through the man's abdomen. Warm, sticky blood covered the dark blue college sweater the teenager wore underneath his leather jacket.

Deciding to desert the shooter on the brink of death, Raphael flatly released his hold on him, watching with an emotionless expression on his face as the sapless thug dropped to the ground, a pair of trembling hands reaching for the wound in his stomach, hyperventilating and shaking uncontrollably.

Even within the deepest corner of Raph's eyes, there was no regret to be found; his entire being was drunk with a sense of bittersweet justice.

A faint whimper behind him suddenly caught Raph's attention. Remembering his older brother, he quickly turned around and spotted him, lying helpless on his back, his eyes facing the endless ceiling of distant stars. His bald head was exposed to the light of the moon as the fedora had been dropped to the ground beside him.

"Leo!" Raph cried, sliding his bloody sai back inside his belt as he rushed up to his sibling. Upon reaching him, he discovered his big brother's trench coat to be completely drenched in blood. A sudden pang of distress blossomed in pit of his stomach, leaving his throat tight and sore. "Shit.." he breathed in horror, instantly dropping to his knees before his sibling, his hands slightly hesitating before he managed to bring himself to tear the bloody garment open, uncovering his brother's red painted plastron. "Shit!" he repeated, this time a little louder than before, a little more desperate.

When sweeping his trembling fingers across the sea of blood that covered Leo's entire lower plastron, Raph soon found the source of the flow. There was a small bullet hole at the very center of Leo's abdomen, blood pouring out from it at a lethally dangerous pace.

Keeping in mind what his purple masked brother had once told him, Raph feared the essential aorta had been punctured.

No..

"..Raph," Leo weakly mumbled, his fragile body shaking frenetically as he tried to raise his seemingly heavy head from the ground to look at his brother. "I di…I didn't freeze up," he tiredly murmured, a hint of satisfaction twinkling in his frightened eyes.

"Lay down," Raphael quickly ordered, guiding his sibling back down with his gentle yet urgent touch. "No movin'." He carelessly tore his own trench coat open, hurriedly pulling it off himself. "Just stay calm, a'right? I know what ta do," he mumbled in a hoarse tone while at the same time crumpling the tattered coat in his hands, using it as pressure to stop the blood flow. He heavily pressed the ball of clothing to the wounded area of his brother's stomach, determined to do everything in his power to save him. He had almost lost one of his brothers because of massive blood loss once before; he sure wasn't planning on giving another one of them up this time.

Not now, not ever.

While his pulse drummed madly in his temples, as if trying to punch a hole in his skull, Raph vigorously fumbled for the cell phone he kept tucked inside his belt, his blood-smeared fingers almost dropping it in the midst of panic. He quickly flapped the small device open and pressed speed dial before he brought the phone to his ear, holding his breath once the familiar dialing tone emerged from the tiny speaker of the phone.

"Put Donnie on," Raph shortly ordered once his youngest brother picked up on the other end. "I don't give a fuck if he's asleep! Leo's been shot, dammit! Put Donnie on the phone!"

He breathed heavily once silence followed and pressed both of his hands to the already wet coat, pinching the phone between his head and right shoulder as he waited for his brother's voice to appear on the other line, his heart beating ferociously in his rigid chest.

"Leo's been shot," he hastily repeated once the reply came. "I dunno, some fuck. Ye need ta get 'ere!" he quickly commanded, trying to keep his focus on the quivering sibling in front of him, watching in terror as consciousness gradually faded from Leo's bewildered gaze. "Right outside a' Stacey's," he added, "back in the alley...

"Stay calm?" he suddenly yelled into the phone. "How the fuck am I supposed ta stay calm when there's a fuckin' hole in his stomach!" he cried, outrageous. "I did," he replied, this time much calmer. "My trench coat, but it ain't helpin'. H-he's loosin' too much blood, I..." He paused for a moment as Donatello interrupted him.

"No, but the co--"

Again, he was cut off.

"Whaddaya mean 'I can't move 'im?' He called the cops, Don!" Silence followed his statement.

"Juz get the hell over here!" he finished in irritation, leaving his brother with the order as he flapped the red cell phone shut, sticking it back inside his leather belt. "Help's on the way," he instantly told his brother, finally being able to focus all his senses on him.

Leo shook violently, as though he was lying in a ditch filled with cold, unmerciful snow, freezing to death. "Y-you need to leave," he stammered, his voice dangerously weak as he spoke, yet the concerned look in his eyes spoke volumes of the determination behind his words. It was the first time in months he had spoken like the true leader he was, worried about his little brother's safety.

Raph stubbornly pressed his hands harder to the bullet wound, feeling his brother's warm blood beneath them. "Like hell I will," he hissed, avoiding his brother's stare as he fought to stop the bleeding. "You juz stay calm and Don'll be here any minute." He could easily recognize the denial in his own voice, but he had made himself swear not to admit it, not even to himself.

"Raph," Leonardo breathed unsteadily, "the cops.."

Raphael looked up from underneath the parasol of his filthy, brown hat and met his brother's gaze, tenacity shooting from the mahogany brown pools of his own. "I ain't leavin'," he said sternly, simply. He caught the silent layer of understanding that washed over the blue masked turtle's eyes, along with the tears that brimmed in them.

The fabric of the crumpled coat was quickly becoming soaked with blood; Raph could even feel the warm liquid as it filled up between his tightened fingers, staining his precious hope with its vital reality. "Dammit, Leo," he gently swore. "Why d'ya hafta go n' do that?" his voice came as a mere whisper, and sad eyes rested on his perishing brother, who seemed to grow paler by the second, his body shaking beyond all control.

Leo managed the smallest of smiles, even in the deepest of pains. He weakly lifted his right hand and placed it on top of the both of Raphael's, fondly cupping them. "You.. you saved me, Raph," he breathlessly whispered, a warm tear sliding down his left temple. "M' just returning the favor."

Raph felt his throat contract and had to use both mental and physical force to swallow the lump that threatened to surface with a powerful sob. Even so, it didn't keep his eyes from stinging, like needles burning his vision. "Juz hang in there," he managed to let out, adjusting one of his hands to squeeze Leo's grip. "He told me they'd be here soon. Real soon," he quietly added in sync with a stubborn teardrop that managed to escape the prison of his control and slid down his face, leaving a wet trail along the slope of his beak.

Leo nodded slowly, closing his eyes as he fought to control his labored breath, shuddering savagely. A crimson trail of blood surfaced at the corner of his mouth.

"Leo," Raph called, knowing his brother had to stay conscious in order to stay alive. However, there came no reaction from the eldest. "Leo!" he cried a second time, this time causing his older brother's eyes to shoot open, awareness missing in his flickering stare. "Stay with me, dammit!" he brutally commanded, a lifetime of fear laced within the anger of his words.

The wounded turtle began to cough violently, his body shaking on the ground while his throat quickly filled up with dark blood. But it was as though he was too tired to cough, for even through the contractions of his torso, his heavy eyelids inevitably began to drop.

"Leo!" Raph yelled, practically ordering his brother to stay awake as he moved closer to him, his padded knees digging into the right side of Leo's waist.

The leader's hazel brown eyes shot wide-open once again, yet all signs of intelligence were lost in their foggy stare.

"Leo!" Raph cried, the name dying in his throat with a choked sob. He frantically moved one of his hands to cup the left side of Leonardo's face, lifting his clammy head from the ground only to witness the dull eyes shut themselves again, the pupils glazing over beneath them. "No!" he yelled, adding his left hand to be able to frame the stiff features of his brother, the gore on his hands mingling with the blood that covered the tremoring ninja's lips.

More than ever, the eldest shook in his arms, his rugged breath turning into pants of hyperventilation, while the trembling vibrations of his body evolved into a full-blown seizure, cramping feverishly. Not knowing what else to do, Raph held his brother closer, a weeping fire burning fiercely within the walls of his throat, successfully tearing his soul apart, piece by piece.

"Leo.." he harshly murmured in his brother's ear as he squeezed his convulsing form in his arms, willing for the endless spasms to stop.

Finally, after hugging his sibling for a few twenty seconds of unendurable agony, they did.

Startled, shocked and - more than anything - scared, Raph loosened his hold on the turtle, lifting his burning face to be able to look at his brother.

The leader laid still in his arms, limp. His pale head was heavily lolled to one shoulder, prints of blood left on both sides of his face where Raph had grasped him; his chin was spattered with coughs of blood, following a red trail down his jaw line. But there was no life in his face. No pain, no nothing.

He was hollow, empty.

"...no," Raph breathed in a whisper, instinctively moving one of his hands to clutch his brother's right wrist. He strongly pressed his thumb against the skin, listening for the soft brush of the pulse.

There was nothing.

"No!" he cried in denial, desperately moving his hand to check the sweaty throat for a pulse, all while maniacally repeating the words: "no, no, no," to himself. With his fingertip pressed to the clammy skin of the throat, the ninja once again held his breath, waiting for the ever so familiar thumping that was meant to take place beneath his touch.

Nothing.

"No!" he furiously cried, tears of anger and sadness turning the healthy white in his eyes into a broken red. Wanting to hold his big brother in his embrace, needing to feel him, Raph hysterically gathered the slaughtered body in his arms, the blood stained arms hanging limp from his bone-crushing hold. He woefully squeezed his flooded eyes shut and buried his chin in the small dent of Leo's tearstained temple, weeping.

Never in his entire life had he felt so alone, so utterly abandoned.

As sobs of disbelief were released in the consuming darkness of the alley, Raphael frantically searched his brain for a change that might have been able to save his brother, a move just a little bit faster to stop the bullet from plunging into him. An endless list of 'should haves' came to life in his mind, taking over it. He should've heard the thug as he came out the door, or at least considered the possibility of there being a forth one. He should have expected him. He should have seen it coming. He should've. He should've…

But he didn't.

Clasps of regret curled around the clay, Raph's muscles cramping because of the fierce hold he had on his sibling. Soon, silent sobs rocked his body, his shoulders heaving rapidly in anger, endlessly.

In the distance, he could hear the wailing siren of a police car, echoing in the tragic night like a brutal reminder of his dead brother's words.

Y-you need to leave.

Raphael breathlessly blinked away his persistent tears and lifted his head from Leonardo's damp skin, his face dripping with drops of immortal sorrow. Looking up from under his fedora, he turned his attention to the yellow source of light that slipped inside the alley through the street outside of it.

Raph, the cops..

He took a deep breath in order to fill his lungs with a fresh dose of strength and weakly staggered to his feet, holding his brother's heavy body by his limp shoulders, the back of the shell facing his knees. Hunched over the corpse, Raph hurriedly walked backwards down the alley, dragging his fallen brother with him towards the convenient manhole he'd spotted by the entrance of the alley, disappearing into the shadows.

The screaming noise of the siren grew louder with each second, now barely a mile away from the scene.

Lying in the narrow alley were the four thugs, still unconscious on the ground; and the only trace left of the two ninjas was the torn trench coat and fedora, that and the large pool of blood in which they laid.