Disclaimer: Y'all know the drill.

Friendly warning- Some swearing in this one. Which can kinda be understood, ya know? It's Raph, what can I say...

And as a forethought- I don't write lemon. The one time I DID, it was really, really bad. There are no words to describe how brutally awful it was. So no matter what a scenario may look like, it's all innocent. I like you guys too much to subject you guys to... that.

And on with the show!

"You mean…" Donatello said, his voice shaking.

Splinter bowed his head. "Hai. I performed an emergency cesarean, of sorts. With no surgical implements or drugs, there was no chance for any of them to survive. Through the death of your mothers, the four of you live today."

Splinter's final words were met with a disbelieving silence. Splinter looked at them all with sorrow filled eyes. "Perhaps I should not have waited this long to tell the truth of the matter. Perhaps… many things. I can only hope that you all will be able to forgive me, and perhaps trust me again, with time."

Donatello and Michaelango kept their gazes down, seemingly fascinated with the ragged rug that decorated the floor. Raph was rapidly spinning his sai and appeared massively conflicted. Leo suddenly spoke.

"I don't know if I can do that…" He started backing up, away from Splinter, betrayal evident on his features. "You've lied to us for so many years. Everything that was once real and concrete you've twisted around and changed… How do we know that you won't do it again? How do we know that you… that you…" Suddenly his voice took on an angry tone. "You dare to call us your sons after you kept that from us!"

Splinter opened and closed his mouth like a fish, clearly trying to say something, but being unable to. His brothers stared at him disbelievingly. Of all of them, they thought that Leo would have been the one to support Splinter in whatever he had done. Leo barely spared any them a look as he tore out of the room.

Splinter, crushed, started to get up to follow his beloved son. "I-"

"No, Master Splinter. If ya' go after him now, you'll lose him forever." Raph stopped fiddling with his sai and stuck them roughly in his belt. Splinter sat down again, an impossible-to-read look upon his furry face.

"Raphael… I know that-"

"Don't." Raph said though clenched teeth. "Jus'… don't. Jus' 'cause Leo was th' one who got to run out with a tormented speech this time doesn't mean that I'm not a hothead no more. I'm just as…" He looked his sensei in the eyes and he unclenched his teeth, slowly. Those eyes showed Raphael that Splinter was utterly torn apart inside. Raph sighed, and broke eye contact. "I… I'll try to talk some sense into him Sensei." With that, he bowed and left the room.

Splinter then turned to his two younger sons. Don and Mike looked at each other, then simultaneously stood up. "Sensei, we're gonna go too. We… just…" Donatello quietly trailed off.

Splinter nodded, somewhat sadly. "I had thought you might. Please…" He stopped mid-sentence. I have no right to ask of them any more then I already have.

"Yes, Sensei?"

Splinter looked at the two of them, then shook his head. "It is of no importance." The turtles looked uncomfortably at each other, then bowed and left the dojo. Splinter let his head sink onto his chest hopelessly.

Suddenly Michaelangelo popped his head back in.

"Hey, Master Splinter?"

Splinter snapped his head up. "Yes, my son?"

"We…we promise to come back." Splinter's eyes began to water at Mikey's most sincere declaration.

"Thank you, my son. Domo arigato."Mikey nodded, satisfied, then ducked back out of the room. Seconds later Splinter heard Donatello's mechanical door open and close, and he was left alone in the cold and silent sewer that he called home, hoping that he had not just destroyed everything that he held dear.

Raph knew where Leo was headed. The rooftop of this particular building overlooked Central Park, and it had been the first rooftop that they had ever been allowed to climb on. Flat, sheltered, secluded… It was Leo's most favorite of all the rooftops in New York City.

Raph quickly scaled the fire escape ladder, and poked his head over the edge. Leonardo was in the center of the roof, performing a kata at an accelerated pace, his twin katana cutting through the air with quick and precise movements. He had an irate look upon his face.

Raph finished climbing onto the roof before speaking. "Hey Leo. Looks like ya' got some frustration there."

Leo jumped in surprise and nearly dropped one of his katanas. "Raph!" He yelped. He recovered quickly and frowned fiercely at his brother. "What do you want?"

Raph held his hands up in submission. "Hey, I don't want no trouble, I just wanna' talk."

"Pfft. Yeah, right." Leo went back to his kata, and Raph took that as permission to join his brother on the roof. He took a seat on the edge of the building and rested his head on his hands, and simply watched Leo.

After a few moments of tense silence, Raph spoke. "So…"

Leo didn't stop doing his kata as he snarled back. "So… what?"

"Hey, gimme a break here- I'm usually the one with the chip on 'is shoulder who has to be talked down, bein' on the opposite side is somewhat of a new experience fer me."

Leo snorted and continued the silent movements.

Raph sighed and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "He was pretty upset about you leavin' like that, ya know."

Leo paused before continuing his next movement. "Why should I care?"

"Cause he's our dad, that's why. He spent years doin' whatever he could to keep us alive, to keep… our moms alive. Hell, he introduced us to pizza fer' Christ's sake, doesn't that count for anything?" He pushed off from the ledge and stood up, walking towards Leonardo.

Leo sheathed his katanas with a grunt. "He's a hypocrite. A lying hypocrite."

Raph's grin disappeared. "Where the fuck did y' et 'hypocrite' from?"

Leo whirled around, going face-to-face to Raph, his eyes red. He started speaking very fast.

"What he did goes against EVERYTHING he has ever taught us! 'Do not steal for your own benefit, do not kill unless there is no other option.' He did BOTH, yes, and more! How can you be okay with that!"

He started to pace back and forth on the rooftop, overflowing with righteous anger.

"WE TRUSTED HIM! He should have told us this years ago!"

Raph snorted. He had backed away from Leo and was propped up against a wall, his eyes narrowed, watching Leo pace. "Yeah, so he could confuse us? I mean, c'mon Leo, you know better 'n all of us that we weren't really the sharpest crayons in the box. You had to deal with the rest of us makin' stupid mistakes, remember?"

Leonardo paused, then turned to Raph. "So you think that it was RIGHT that he lied to us for 20 years?"

"No, o' course not. I think it was right that he was protectin' his kids from somethin' that they couldn't understand. THINK for a minute, why don'cha? Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you would have been able to understand any of this when you were 5? 10? 16? Hell, we're freakin' 21 and some of it STILL went ove' my head!"

Leo shook his head in disgust and turned to look out over the horizon, his fists opening and closing convulsively.

Raph walked over to stand next to him. "Look, Leo, I understand that you're… uh… feelin' some deep shit right now, and if throwing a temper tantrum like this is gonna make you feel better, then so be it. Actually, all that this right now is doing is pissin' me off. You should go an' do something' productive, bro. Go beat up some punks, drown yer sorrows in a bar, get a hooker, I don't give a shit." He sighed.

"Jes'… jes' don't pretend to yerself that you can ferget about this, push all the icky feelings away, crawl into a little hole and roll around in yer misery."

Leo didn't say anything.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Fine, Ms. Prissy-pants. I'll leave you to angst and do whatever it is that you need do to blow off some steam. Hope it helps you clear your head." He looked at his older brother long and hard. "An' if you don't go back to him, Leo, so help me God, I WILL find you, and I'll MAKE you go back, you understand?"

Leo barely twitched. Raph exhaled loudly, then laughed mirthlessly. "Jesus, total role reversal, here, huh? I'm usually the one given an ultimatum, eh?" He stretched, bones popping, and then started walking casually toward the edge of the building.

"Well, someone had to act like a prick." Leonardo said suddenly.

Raph whirled around. "Excuse me?"

Leo shrugged. "The role reversal thing. If you're being the enforcer now, someone had to be the prick who the enforcer… enforced. Great to find that really everything has been turned on its head, huh?"

Raph snorted. "Nothing's changed. You acted like a prick before he told us. I'm no more enforcer then you can cook."

"No, Raph, EVERYTHING has changed! You're being Splinter's toady, following orders and coming to get the 'rogue' turtle! Why can't you see that?"

Raph shook his head, then walked back toward Leo. "Leo. I'm not, and never will be a toady to anyone. You should know that, of all people. I do this outta' respect fer the guy that raised me. I got honor too, ya know. And no, nothin' has changed except that you're throwin' a rather spectacular hissy-fit."

"But-"

"Leo, I want you t' look at me for just a second, okay?"

Leo eyed him suspiciously. "What for?"

"I just thought of a good metaphor." Raph grunted. "Now, look at me and tell me what y' see."

Leo paused. "A giant turtle with a dirty red bandana tied around his head."

"And how am I related to you?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Is this going somewhere?"

"Yeah," Snarled Raph. "Now answer th' damn question."

"You're my brother. Though apparently not by blood anymore…"

Raph shook him. "Yeah. Your broutha'. That hasn't changed, has it? I'm still Raphael, out t' challenge your authority every chance I get. Mikey's still a clown, Don's still a brain, and Splinter is still our father. It don't matter that we're not genetically related, it don't matter that Splinter had to … kill our moms so that we could live, or that he didn't tell us about it 'til now. We are, and always WILL BE family, no matter how much you angst and whimper and deny it."

"But… he lied… to US!"

Raph snorted. "You mean, 'he lied to Leo,' right? That's the kicker that's eatin' you up inside, ain't it. Listen, Leo, there's bound to be stuff that he's not gonna' tell us. I've come to terms with it, 'cause it's a parent's right. Hell, it's a personal right. I mean, look at me! I lie to you all the time and you're not broken up about it, are ya?"

Leo glared at him. "That's not the same, and you know it."

Raph glared right back. "Fuck yeah, I know it. I also know that right now, he's cursing every day that he didn't tell us. Leo, he's utterly distraught. If you leave him now, if ANY of us leave him now, he. Will. Die." Raph grabbed both of Leo's arms and shook him. "Do you understand? He loves us, all god-forsaken four of us so much that if you continue to deny him, t-to reject him like this, he is going to curl up in a little fur covered ball and he's going to fuckin' die. He deserves more then that, and somewhere in that thick head of yours, you know it."

Leo stared at the ground. Raph kept his hold on Leo's arms for a moment more, then roughly pushed his brother away. "Fuck this." He stalked over to the edge of the rooftop. He reached the fire escape ladder and opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and jumped over the edge to land with barely a clatter of metal. I need a drink.

Then Leo was left alone with his thoughts and the sounds of the New York night.

It was a little after eleven o'clock when April set the kettle on the stove and sat down at her kitchen table with a sigh. She hadn't heard from the turtles in almost two days, which meant the news was probably less then sunshiny.

She rested her head on her hands as the kettle merrily bubbled away. God, I hope they're all right. Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on the window.

She whipped her head up to see Donatello wave at her wearily. "Finally." she muttered to herself as she ran to let him in.

"What's up?" She asked anxiously as he crawled into the room. Donatello was followed by a shell-shocked (A/N Bad pun, sorry!) Michaelangelo.

"Would you mind if we stayed here tonight?" Donatello asked. They both looked emotionally torn to shreds.

She frowned. That was definitely not a good sign. "Of course, you guys are always welcome here." She looked warily at Mikey, who was weaving back and forth on his feet and looked as if he was going to fall over at any moment. "Here, Mikey, you look exhausted. Come on, we'll get you set up on the couch." He nodded sleepily and went into the living room without a word. April mouthed 'Wait here' to Donatello before leaving the room.

A few minutes later, she reappeared. "Alright, what in the world happened down there?"

The kettle started to shriek, and she rushed to take it off the heat before it disturbed Mikey in the next room. "D' you want any?"

"What? Oh, no, no thank you." Donatello took off his mask and rubbed his eyes.

April sat down across from him, steaming mug in her hands. "So… what did you learn?"

Don let out his breath in a long sigh. "Well… it's complicated and long, but here goes…" Then, in halting, emotionally detached tones, he told her the entire story.

When he finished, April had a horrified look upon her face. "Oh my god… Well, that clears up a lot of stuff. But where are Raph and Leo? I would have thought that after hearing something like that, you four would stick together…"

Don sighed and shook his head. "I have no idea. All I know is that after Splinter finished telling us, Leo started yelling about how we couldn't trust him, and ran out. Raph went after him, and then we left." H shook his head. "It hit us all differently. I don't think Mikey really understood what had happened until we were out of the sewers. He just got so quiet…" Don trailed off, tracing imaginary patterns on the tabletop.

"And how are you taking all of this?" Don raised his head and met April's eyes. His eyes were like molten pools of pain, and April shivered at the intensity of his emotion.

"For the first time in my life, I…I don't understand everything, and I can't for the life of me figure out how I could understand it! I'm…" He broke eye contact and stared at the table again, tears forming in his eyes even as he tried to hold them back. "I don't… Oh, God, April, I don't know what to do…" Tears started to run freely down is cheeks. April, tea forgotten, moved her chair next to his and took him in her arms as he broke down.

She made reassuring noises as buried his face in her shoulder and snaked his arms tightly around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Oh Donny… You don't deserve this… I'm sorry…" She whispered, running her hands comfortingly over his shell.

The clock over her sink struck twelve.

"…And that marks the end of the opening game for the Yankees, 3-2 against the Red Socks. Well Bill, what d'ya think, is this a good sign for the rest of the season?"

The television set blared over the emptiness of the barroom. Raph sat in a corner booth brooding with a bottle of Jack Daniels. He downed a shot, grimaced at the taste, then poured another one. The numbness that it brought balanced out any bad taste that it had.

"Yo, buddy," The bartender suddenly called out. "We're closin'."

"All righ', all righ', keep yer shirt on…" Raph finished off his last shot, dug in his trench coat pocket for some cash, then threw the bills on the table and walked only a little unsteadily out.

The neon sign for the bar flickered in and out of existence, giving the alleyway eerie lighting. Raph kicked a can, then thrust his hands deep into his pockets. The night was still young, and there were plenty of wanna-be criminals who were just waiting to meet the business end of Raphael's fists. And he couldn't wait to introduce them.

You see, Raph liked black and white situations- mugger takes purse from little old lady, Raphael knocks mugger out, returns purse, the end. The whole process required little thought. This situation, on the other hand, was as grey as they came… and it wasn't looking to be getting any easier.

He sighed. Yes, the night was aging quickly. If he wanted to find any peace that night, then he needed to start looking for criminals to punish. He hunched his shoulders and melted into the chilly autumn night that can only be found in New York.

April blankly stared at her bedroom ceiling. It was two in the morning, and she had been trying to sleep for an hour. Her mind, however, was racing at a thousand miles an hour, trying to comprehend the amazing story that Donatello had told her. They don't deserve this kind of heartache…

A light knock at her bedroom door caused her to sit up, covers clutched to her chest. "Donatello?"

He poked his head around her door. "April… I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"Uh, no, no you didn't. Donny, what's the matter?"

He started fidgeting. "We can't sleep."

April frowned in sympathy. "'We?' Mikey's awake too?"

"Yeah."

April sighed. "Yeah, I'm having trouble too. You two try counting sheep?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"But what? What do you need?"

He continued to fidget in the doorway as April watched him. Suddenly she heard an exasperated sigh and Mikey pushed his way in front of his brother. "Jeze Don, you're really doing a bad job of this. April, what my dear brother was trying to ask you- Can we sleep with you?"

April stared at Michaelangelo. "What?"

He continued quickly. "Nonono, not like that. We're not propositioning you or anything, just sleeping, I promise. Y' see, when we were kids, we only had a one space heater to heat the whole lair, and so we all kinda' slept in one big pile to keep warm, and it's been like a comfort thing for all of us since then, and me and Donny tried it already and we didn't fit on either of the couches, so could we maybe possibly sleep on your bed with you and at least TRY to get some sleep tonight?" He finished his speech in one breath.

April eyed the both of them, Mikey still looking exhausted but hopeful, and Donatello looking mortified beyond all belief. Yet he, too, was anxiously awaiting her response.

April thought for a few moments. Well, April, you can do one of two things. Tell them 'no' and send them back to the couch in their time of need, or let your friends share a bed with you. Well, you ARE wearing the most conservative pair of PJ's that you own… So it's not like they're going to get a peep show! And besides, it doesn't look like you're going to be getting any sleep tonight anyway… What's the harm?

She flipped the bedcovers up and smiled comfortingly at the two turtles. "Well, what are you two waiting for?" Mikey grinned and flopped under the covers, snuggling into one of her pillows and squirming around to get comfortable.

"Mmm. Remind me to ask for what kind of mattress this is in the morning… I definitely want one." She laughed quietly at his antics.

Donatello discreetly slipped onto the other side of the bed. He paused before putting his mouth close to her ear. "I know you didn't have to do this… but thank you. Mikey needed this a lot more then he let on."

She nodded in response, then moved into the center of the bed to give Donatello more breathing room before finally pulling the covers up and over her head.

"Good night, guys." She said quietly.

She received no answer, as they both were asleep, subconsciously moving closer to her for warmth and comfort. She quickly relaxed, listening to their deep breathing and soon, she too was asleep.

They were the only ones who found peace that night.

WELL! That chapter took far too long to write. I just couldn't get the conversation between Raph and Leo right. Finally I deleted half of it, and then everything fit. Hope it didn't seem TOO dragged out… And the whole bed thing with April was totally unplanned and written in last minute. I thought it was cute. Besides, it was yet another opportunity for me to sneak in a bit of April/Don Mush… Well, it WILL be April/Don mush, next chapter.

And I'm going to be going on vacation for the next week, so this will be my last post for a while.

Thanks for reading!

(And yes, Reinbeauchaser, I fixed the things you said I needed to fix! Coffee was an amazing invention...)

Shout Outs:

Pacphys- I'm honored that that chapter evoked such a powerful response from you! (Four wows- COOL!) Grins Hope this one was satisfactory as well!

The REAL Cheese Monkey- Yeah, I'd mark that down as a cause of death that I DON'T want to have! Lol!

Dierdre- LOL! I was giggling throughout your entire review. I loved hearing the different comments you had for each chapter- thanks so much for leaving the review! And there is at least one more chapter after this, so you still have SOMETHING to look forward too… lol!

Sassy - ! I made SASSY say 'Whoa…' I loved all the reactions that I got from people- It's so cool to know that I can make someone be so blown away that they write something like 'whoa' or 'wow'. Basks in readers' adoration lol!

Lunar-Ninja- Another 'wow'! dances happily When I finished that chapter, I knew it was big… but I was amazed at everyone's reactions… Thanks for reviewing!

Melodist- Hopefully this chapter was satisfactory! Thanks for the favs add! Also, I half can't wait, slash half dread the next chapter of Misadventures. I don't want it to end, but I also can't wait to find out more… I swear, I'm addicted!

FF Demon-Angel- Thanks for the review; this one is also kinda long… Yeah, I just checked, it IS longer then the last chapter. Go figure. lol, hope you liked it!

Buslady of SoCal- Glad you like this story so much! (I think I like it too… : P)

Chibi Rose Angel- Thanks for dropping by! Blushes Such high praise! Thank you!

Sunel- Well, I got kinda lazy this week… (The last chap. took a lot out of me!) Hope this chapter was okay!

Mister Fooch- Hey, I was wondering what had happened to you! Glad you're back, and I'm also glad that you are enjoying the story!

Tbreader­- WOAH ! Well, that excuses you from pretty much everything, for sure! Thanks for taking the time to review, and good luck!

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