Raph's eyes flicked from Mikey to the opening of the alley, his teeth clenched in a silent growl. If any of those Gawa grunts dared to follow them, he'd rip them apart before they so much as touched his little brother. Leo's quick, tense voice came from behind, lowered to try and keep the conversation quiet.

"April, sorry to call you so late, but we're in big trouble here. We had a… run-in with someone, and Mikey's hurt, badly. He can't go on much longer, and we're closer to your place than…"

He stopped talking for a few moments, and the relief in his voice was palpable.

"Okay. Thanks… thanks, April."

Raph felt a surge of relief himself, but a moan from Mikey quickly drew his attention. He hurried over to where his orange-banded brother was resting against the wall, being monitored by Donnie and Grace. Hamari remained on guard near the entrance of the alley, but Raph had seen her casting concerned glances every so often… not just at Grace, but Mikey too. The hothead ran his eyes over his ailing brother and felt his heart start to pound. Mikey certainly hadn't looked good before, and Raph didn't have nearly the medical expertise Donnie had, but it didn't take a genius to tell the youngest turtle was already worse off… not much, but still worse. His breathing was heavy, his entire body tense and his face pale. Grace was holding one of his hands in both of hers while Donnie held the wrist of his other, mumbling to himself as he counted the pulse rate. Their grim expressions only served to add to Raph's fear, and he had to order himself to keep his voice steady.

"How's he doin'?"

His immediate younger brother looked up, and Raph could tell he was reluctant to tell him. But he let out a quiet sigh.

"Hanging in there, but he's in rough shape. The sooner we get him off the street, the better."

Before Raph could say anything in reply, the sound of quick footsteps made him turn to see Leo approaching.

"April's on her way with the van," he said, his tone composed but with noticeable gravity. "She doesn't have as many medical supplies as we do at the lair, but it should be enough."

He looked at his youngest brother, his eyes softening with concern.

"Don, how's Mikey?"

"Stable for now," the genius replied. "But he's lost a lot of blood. His injuries need cleaning and proper bandaging before infection sets in, and we need to get that stab wound stitched up. Thankfully there isn't much traffic in this neighborhood this late… April should be here in enough time."

A soft sob drew the turtles' attention to Grace, who was gazing at Mikey with distraught eyes as she ran her hand over his in slow, gentle circles.

"This is my fault," she whispered. "All of this. I never should have kept meeting him alone… I should have known someone was following…"

Alongside his consuming worry for his brother, Raph felt a surge of sympathy for the girl who clearly cared just as much for Mikey as he did for her and blamed herself for what happened to him.

"It ain't your fault," he said, almost without thinking. Grace blinked and looked up in surprise, as if she couldn't quite believe what she'd just heard. Did she really think they would blame her for this mess, after everything she'd sacrificed to save their brother? Leo stepped forward with an appreciative look at Raph.

"It isn't. You're not the one who hurt him, and you're not the one who betrayed your honor." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You gave up the only life you ever knew to save his. As far as meeting him, none of us regret that. You helped him in ways we didn't, help we never even knew he needed. We owe you more than we can ever repay."

Grace looked up at him, her eyes wide. Then she looked away again.

"But… Hamari… she's lost everything because I…"

Her friend's stern voice interrupted from her post.

"Now you can stop right there. This was my choice… I don't regret it now, I never will. And I haven't lost everything… I have friends and family right here, and they all need my help now. A ninja must make sacrifices for the sake of honor… that was one of the first things we were taught. Sensei may have abandoned that, but I won't, just as you didn't." She cast a warm smile toward Grace. "I'm proud to follow your example, senpai."

Grace's eyes continued to grow brighter with tears as Hamari spoke, and for a while she seemed to be speechless. Then a gasp escaped her, and she looked down at hers and Mikey's enjoined hands; Raph assumed he'd squeezed it, and his theory was confirmed when Mikey's eyes cracked open, gazing straight at her. His face twitched into a weak smile, but then his eyes closed again with a shaky sigh as his head drooped and his body began trembling. Grace tightened her grip on his hand, her expression becoming scared again. Feeling a surge of alarm himself, Raph knelt beside her and placed a hand under Mikey's chin, tilting his face up.

"Mike? Mikey, can ya hear me? Mike!"

He looked up at Donnie, who was examining their brother closely with a serious, focused expression, and struggled to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Donnie, what's goin' on?"

His genius brother pressed his lips together.

"He's showing early signs of shock. If we counter it quickly, it might…"

Hamari's hissed voice interrupted.

"Incoming… vehicle coming our way."

Leo quickly moved to join her, then let out a soft breath as his tense frame relaxed a little.

"It's April. Come on, let's move."

Donnie immediately pushed Mikey into a forward position, then carefully hooked his arms under his shoulders.

"Raph, give me a hand here, quick!"

The red-banded turtle immediately moved to take Mikey's legs, and together they lifted him off the ground. Grace hovered beside him, still holding his hand, but let go with clear reluctance as they began carrying their unresponsive brother out of the alley. April had stopped the van just a few feet away by the curb and was jumping out as they emerged onto the street. Raph saw a brief flash of confusion when the woman saw their two new companions, but then her gaze fell on Mikey and the confusion turned to alarm. She rushed over, her eyes scanning the sea green turtle's limp form.

"What happened? How bad is it?"

"Stab wound, inside of the shoulder," Donnie said grimly. "Not big, but deep. He lost a lot of blood and he's going into shock… if we don't treat him soon, I don't think he'll last the night."

An ice-cold wave of fear swept over Raph on hearing those words, and he heard another stifled sob from Grace. Clenching his teeth, he ordered himself to focus as April raced to pull the back doors of the van open. Leo jumped in first and turned as Raph and Donnie carried Mikey over.

"Here, hurry!"

Carefully and as quickly as they dared, the turtles lifted their badly wounded brother into the van. As Donnie jumped in too, Raph looked at the two girls. Before he could ask, Hamari looked at Grace and placed a comforting hand on her arm.

"I'll ride in front."

With a brief, grateful smile, Grace jumped in the back of the van and Raph followed. The hothead immediately moved to kneel by Mikey.

"Here," he said. "I'll take him."

Right away, Leo and Donnie laid the youngest turtle down so his head and shoulders rested on Raph's lap, then the genius gestured.

"Grab that blanket," he ordered. "We've gotta keep him as warm as we can."

Leo made a move to obey, but Grace snatched it first. As she and Donnie tucked it over Mikey's prone, shivering form, Leo pulled out his Shell Cell.

"You guys look after Mikey, I'll call Master Splinter."

"I called him and Casey on the way," April said as she jumped in the driver's seat. "They're heading over. They know the basic situation, but I couldn't go into details."

Leo nodded.

"I'll fill them in… hurry!"

As the van jerked into motion, Donnie moved to kneel beside Mikey and felt his neck for a pulse. Grace was already kneeling on his other side, a hand resting on his chest.

"How is it?" she asked anxiously.

Donnie kept his eyes on Mikey, tugging back the blanket to expose the wounded shoulder. Raph felt his throat tighten when he saw the traces of blood seeping through the bandages, and Donnie's grim voice only added to his fear.

"Holding steady but getting weaker."

Grace pressed her lips together as her eyes welled, but instead of crying she took a long, deep breath, bowed her head, and closed her eyes as if concentrating hard. For a brief second Raph wondered what she was doing, but then he focused on Mikey. Despite every effort to stifle it, his voice quivered when he spoke.

"Don, is… is he gonna make it?"

There was brief hesitation, then his purple-banded brother spoke in the same serious tone.

"He's hanging in there so far… if we can stabilize him, he has a chance."

It was better than knowing the situation was hopeless, but still wasn't much comfort to Raph. Swallowing hard, he pulled the blanket back over Mikey's shoulder, his hand brushing his little brother's pale face.

"Hold on, Mikey," he whispered. "Keep fightin' for us, bro… you can do it. I know ya can… we know ya can."

Mikey didn't answer or open his eyes, but his head turned just a little, leaning into Raph's hand. The hothead felt his throat tighten again; even now, after everything, Mikey still trusted them. Raph swore to himself right there… from now on, no matter what, he would never betray that trust again. Never.

That's a promise, little bro.

AN: So sorry for the wait... I'm working now and more pressed for time. I'll do my best to keep up my regular writing schedule but I can't guarantee wait times won't get longer. But the story won't go unfinished, unless something drastic happens. Hope everyone is willing to stick with me!