Chapter Seven

Hospitals. They creep me out. Ever since the day I woke up in one of these places, I never wanted to come back. The lingering smell of death is everywhere.

I had push all of my memories of this place aside, not wanting to remember the chaos that went on here. All of those news reporters, shoving their pads of paper into my face, wanting a statement from me about my dead partner, none of them caring that I had just woken up from a stressed induced coma and learned of Leo's death only minutes before. Vicious pigs.

Just like the circus that came in here after word got out that Manhattan's Chief of Police was attacked and shot in Trinity Cemetery, and was saved by yours truly.

Well, okay, it was a slight stretch of the truth, but I don't think anyone would have believe a washed up cop like me if I had said Raphael tried to commit suicide, then tried to kill me in the process. That's another part of the dark side of life in the city. What the public doesn't know, won't hurt your reputation.

So, am I crazy for helping my brother after all that he has done to our family? Now that I think about, I probably am. But like I said before, Raph has a heart buried under all of that hardness, and I'm going to make him dig deep and use it.

One thing that still bothers me about all of this. What is this 'grudge', or whatever it is, that Shredder had against Leo. Of course only now I realize it was working both ways. Maybe Leo knew he was done for in the first place, and he figured he could hold his honor by charging into battle. Five years, is what he told me. Five years he had been waiting to take The Shredder down. But, why? And I as stare out over the city skyline from this dreary, thirteenth floor hospital room, a memory floats in from my subconscious, taking me back five years to when Leo's romance with revenge first began...

I had just poured a steaming cup of coffee when the frosted glass office door flew open and slammed shut just as fast. I turned in time to see Leo fly past me in a furious rush, and begin to sling paperwork out of his neatly organized filing cabinets, mumbling incoherently under his breath. I calmly sat down, enjoying the bitter taste of the freeze dried grounds, not knowing if I should bother to ask my partner what was going on. When Leo gets like that, something is not right in the world, and it's usually best to let him sort it all out.

He finally finds what he's looking for and shoves the drawer back into the cabinet, causing the drywall behind it to crack from the force. Leo moves back to his desk and slams the tightly packed manilla folder down, then plops down behind it, not caring that his little earthquake just caused me to dump half of the hot contents from my mug into my lap. I hold back my squeal of pain and push my chair away from the desk, giving Leo more room to shuffle his little ball of chaos around.

My curiosity grows at a fast pace as I watch Leo lift paper after paper, skimming over them, then discarding them to the floor like falling snow. The age lines on his face become more apparent as his brow narrows. I've never seem him this upset about anything before. I lean over and read the label marker on the folder.

"The Foot?" I say out loud, not meaning to, but it slips. " What are you doing with those old case files?"

Leo freezes in place, then looks at me through the tops of his eyes. No, not looks, glares.

"Sorry." I shrink back down into my seat and away from Leo's cold stare. I should have known better than to interrupt his concentration. So, I keep the rest of my thoughts to myself.

The Foot, the biggest and scariest mob this side of Jersey. Why would Leo suddenly be so interested in them? The cops can't touch them! The Feds have been trying for years to get a hold of them! And Leo was the one who told me he would never take the case. So, why now, Leo? What's going on?

I hear a loud sigh from across the desk, and I looked back at Leo. His posture has gone from tight and tense to tense and more tense, with a hint of blind fury mixed in for good measure. He leans back into his brown leather chair, streaming his brown eyes over the single piece of paper in his right hand, his left hand busy massaging his forehead. I still don't know what to say. I'm almost afraid to breath in here. The fury in his eyes suddenly melts away, falling down his light-green face in the form of a tear. The sadness that replaces it shoots out and hits me, and it took a lot for me not to cry along with him.

"Then, it's true," Leo whispers to himself. I guess he forgot I was in here with him. He continues to stare into the paper in his hand as more tears fall down his face. It hurts me to see this guy, my brother, so worked up like this. He's always been so strong. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen him cry!

"Don?"

I circle my eyes around the room, hoping that he didn't notice I was staring at him.

"Yeah?"

"Did I ever tell you about my family?" I notice he never even lifted his head up.

"A little." I reply, my throat feeling a bit dry all of the sudden.

Leo sighed again and this time turned his wet eyes to me, feeling no shame about his emotions. " I thought I was the luckiest kid in the world to get those people. My mother, was just- just so kind and beautiful. And my father-."

Leo paused for a long time. I could tell his heart and his head were fighting over the right words to say.

"I thought my father was the bravest, strongest, smartest person that ever walked the earth. He was such a great guy. He would do anything in the world for you." His eyes drifted back down to the desk and he stared into nothingness as he spoke more.

"When you're a kid, you think everything is right with the world. You have great parents who love you and take care of you, and you never question anything. It's only when you grow up and realized how cruel the world really is, that you wonder why your parents ever bothered trying to protect you from things."

We locked eyes again, and I knew I could see a new hardness forming inside of Leo, and from that point on, I knew he was never going to be the same.

The beeping of the heart monitor brought me back to reality, and I turned my attention away from the window. My thoughts of Leo were pushed aside as I watched Raph's face twist in his drugged out sleep. It was a strange thing for me to see him laying there, helplessly plugged into three IV tubes. You know, if it wasn't for the slight difference in our skin tones, I swear it was as if I was seeing myself in that bed.

A shiver went through me, shaking me slightly, and also irritating the injuries that Raph had inflected upon me. I forced myself to slide back down into the uncomfortable maroon chair next to Raph's bed. I don't think I'll have to worry about falling asleep in this thing. It's worse than the crappy mattress in my apartment.

After getting somewhat situated, I glue my eyes to my sleeping brother, wishing and cursing him to hurry and wake up. I'm sure he'll be in a lot of pain, but at least he'll be sober, which for me means a slightly more intelligent conversation this time around. You know, as I watch him, I almost, repeat, almost, feel sorry for him. I know how bad him and Mikey had it growing up, how they had no money while me and Leo grew up without having to worry were our next meal was coming from. I also know that Raphael spent a lot of his teen years skipping school, getting into fights, and making his dad a worrying wreck of a man. And that Raph earned cash on the side by selling drugs around his neighborhood, and he admits it. At least he was smart enough not to touch them. I'll give him that.

Maybe that's why he was drawn into the Shredder's lifestyle in the first place. Shredder has money coming out of his ass, which of course is from his many drug and weapon smuggling rings. He gave Raph the life he also wanted, the life that Leo always had. It's sad that he had to pay a big price for all of it, though. I want to be angry with him, but at the same time, he's the only brother I have left. I need him now more than ever.

The bed in front of me shook a little, and a loud moan escaped from Raphael's lips. I stood up and went to his side, giving him a small smile as he looked up at me.

"Don-Donnie, where-," He moaned again from the pain. "What happened?"He lifted his head up and looked around. "Hey, what the hell am I doin' in here?"

I jumped back when his eyes returned to me, his index finger wanting to burrow a hole into my face.

"You! I fuckin' shot ya! You're supposed ta be dead!" Another moan escape, and he quickly discovered the source. "What the fuck did ya do ta my leg?"

I clenched my teeth together, but only to hold back the highly inappropriate laughter in my throat. "Yeah, see, the thing is, you were the one that was shot."

"What?" Raph bolted upright, almost ripping the IV's out of his arms. "That's crazy! I had ya on the ground! I pulled the trigger! I heard the fuckin' gun go off!"

I can't help it. This is just too funny! I let a small giggle escape, and I sit back down.

"Raph, when I jumped at you and knock the gun out of your hand, I hit the safety lock on it. When you went to pull the trigger, I pulled out my gun and fired at you, to make you think that you hit me." I pointed at the large amount of gauze that was wrapped around his upper thigh. " I hit you down there, just enough to stun you. But, apparently you can't handle the sight of your own blood, and you passed out on me."

I just wish I had a camera or something to capture the dumbfounded look on Raph's face right now! Priceless! I let a mischievous grin grow, and after a few seconds, Raph starts to laugh along with me.

"Man, Donnie. You are one clever son of a bitch, ya know that?"

I shrug my shoulders and pretend to be modest about it. "So I've been told."

Raph slowed his laughter down, then hung his head. "Look Don, about what happened, I just-,"

"No, Raph, don't." I held up my hands to stop him. " There's no need to apologize. I've been thinking a lot about our situations, and how we're linked together in the whole mess, and I think it's best if we put all of that stuff aside and focus our energy on finding the Shredder."

Wow, did that just come out of my mouth? What happened to the long, angry speech I'm been waiting to give to him for the past four hours? I think Raph's a little surprised by it too.

"Ya know, for a moment there, ya sounded just like Leo." Raph's comment hit me really hard, and I totally agree with him. It only proves my theory about Leo shoving the two of us together like this.

"Okay, so, uh, where do we start?" Raph carefully pushes himself back and leans up higher on his pillows. " Shredder is impossible to track down! And plus he pays off every guy he deals with." Raph then frowns. "How do ya think I got so much dough?"

"It can't be that hard to find him." I said, trying to keep an optimistic look on things. "Leo was able to do it. How hard can it be for us?"

Raph crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. Maybe we can do it in four years instead of five!"

And there it goes, shot down in a blaze of glory by Raphael's sunny sarcasm.

I sigh and scratch at my head. "There has to be some way we can get to him. Is there anyone you know? Any, like, henchmen or something?"

"Well," Raph wrinkled his forehead. "He's got this guy who a firearm and bomb expert. Calls himself the Rat King."

"The what?" What is with these gangsters and their idiotic nicknames?

"Yeah, it's stupid, I know," Raph shook his head. " The guy is mental, by the way. Complete nutcase. But he knows his shit, and Shredder uses him a lot."

"Okay," I stand up and pace as my thoughts come together. "We have a way in. Now we need to find someone who can undercover for us and get this Rat King character to led us to Shredder."

" Who the hell would be stupid enough ta volunteer for that job?"

The door to the room opened slowly, letting in the warm rose scent that had held me to my knees all those years ago, and our lovely redheaded friend stepped into the room.

"Hey," April said softly, and I could tell she was trying to avoid making eye contact with Raph. " I'm glad you're awake. Do you need anything?"

There goes the little light bulb in my head!

"April!" I said as I moved closer to her. "We can use her!"

"No, no, no, no!" Raph shook his head and his hands. "They've all seen me with her. They know her face! It'd be like sendin' her ta die, Donnie! It won't work."

"Whoa, slow down there!" April eyed us both. " What are you guys talking about?"

I move around her and shut the door, then pull April closer to Raph's bed. I have a plan, and it's not going to be easy to carry out. Leo, if you're really out there somewhere, I hope you're looking down on us. We're going to need all the help we can get.