A/N Raphael finally screws up. I see a butt kicking in his immediate future. :)

Raphael was, in a word, pissed, and not in the British definition of the word either. He had his younger brothers had been in this mixed –up dimension for nearly a week now, and not once had he been able to get anywhere near Leo alone. One of Leo's annoying new brothers was always with him, most usually Raphael's infuriating duplicate. Neither Donatello nor Michelangelo had had any more success in getting Leo alone either.

One thing this enforced role of observer had done was demonstrate to Raphael just how much happier Leo was now. Unlike the Leo Raphael had grown up with, this Leo laughed and joked, a lot. In fact, Raphael had the unsettling experience of watching Leo prank his youngest brother, the self-proclaimed king of pranks, so thoroughly that all Mikey could do was stare at his oldest brother in complete shock before breaking into gale s of appreciative laughter. Finally, Raphael was forced to admit it: he was jealous, and feeling guilty as hell. Although Donatello and Michelangelo had done their part in alienating Leo, it had been Raphael's devastating behavior that had broken him. To this day Raphael could still recall with perfect clarity the image of his brother's body, kicking and jerking, hanging from his ceiling. Most disturbing of all, though, had been Leo's hands. They had been clasping the edge of his shell so that he wouldn't tear at the rope that was slowly strangling him to death. By the time it had dawned on Raphael that Leo truly did want to kill himself, it was too late. Leo's body had gone lax, and then it had disappeared all together.

From that night on, Raphael had been living with the guilt of what he had driven his brother to. Instinctively, Raphael knew it had been his words that night, that Leo didn't deserve a place in their family anymore because he had proven to be a disgrace to his training and his family, which had driven Leo over the final edge. Unfortunately, it wasn't until Leo was gone that Raphael realized that he hadn't meant it; that he hadn't meant any of it. His hateful behavior all along hadn't been aimed at Leo, but at himself. Raphael had weaknesses; he knew that, he just didn't like to admit to them, so he had attacked his strong, invulnerable brother instead. Except, Leo had proven not to be so invulnerable, and then he was gone before Raphael had the chance to apologize. And now that Raphael had found him again, Leo had a brand new family who obviously adored and supported him the way Leo's own hadn't. And now that family wasn't letting Raphael deliver the apology he so desperately longed to give.

So Raphael had come up with a plan. After observing the past several days, he had learned that Leo was in the habit of heading into the dojo an hour or so of personal training, before his brothers joined him for their evening practice. Tonight, Raphael planned on sneaking into the dojo for a little one-on-one with his big brother, with a little help from Donatello and Michelangelo to distract Leo's bodyguard at the door.

For once, things seemed to be working in Raphael's favor, for Mikey was on guard duty outside the dojo. After giving Leo about half an hour to himself, Raphael gave the signal. Immediately, his younger brothers started yelling at each in the kitchen, the farthest room from the dojo. At first, Mikey hung tight at his post, until he heard the first crash. A quick glance around to make sure no one was lurking about, and then Mikey rushed to save his precious cooking implements. Moving with long trained stealth, Raphael crept into the dojo.

Once inside, Raphael hung to the shadows along the walls, created by the few candles Leo was using to light the room. Watching his older brother, Raphael found himself a little breathless at the grace and precision demonstrated by Leo as he completed a complicated set of jumps, twists, blocks, and blows with his katanas. Watching him like this, there was no denying Leo had only gotten better in the year he had been away from his family.

Raphael was so intent on watching his brother, that he jumped a little when Leo suddenly said, "I have nothing to say to you. Get out."

Just like that, the leash on Raphael's temper snapped, and he lunged out of the shadows at Leo, never noticing the way his older brother cringed away from him, or the fear that filled Leo's face as Raphael approached him.

"Well I have something to say to you," Raphael snarled. "I'm tired of you ignoring us, of you treating us like we're second class citizens. In case you've forgotten, Leo, you're our brother, not theirs. Or have you gotten so caught up in this sycophantic fantasy that you've forgotten where you really belong? Answer me damnit!" And with that he grabbed Leo's wrist with bruising force, ignoring the visible trembling that filled the horrified figure in front of him.

Before Raphael could do anything else, however, he found himself flying across the room and hitting the wall hard, thanks to a powerful kick from Raph. The red-accented turtle had been headed for the dojo to set up for that evening's practice, which he was in charge of running, when he had heard his counterpart screaming at Leo. It had been when Raphael had grabbed the shaking Leo, oblivious to the older turtle's terror, that Raph had interceded.

Turning his back on the downed turtle, Raph went to Leo's side. Keeping his movements slow and his voice soft, Raph was able to collect his traumatized brother into an embrace.

"Easy there, big bro, it's just me," Raph soothed as he rubbed his brother's shell. "Whoa, whoa, it's okay," he added as Leo tensed at the sound of pounding feet approaching the dojo. "It's just Mikey and Donny."

Turning to look at his approaching brothers, Raph glared at Mikey, who was supposed to have been watching Leo's back. The look softened, however, at his youngest brother's teary, guilt-filled look. Raph knew there would be no need to reprimand Mikey for his inattention; his own guilt would be punishment enough.

As soon as the two younger turtles saw the scene before them, they knew what must have happened. Likewise ignoring the fallen Raphael, they hurried to where Raph had Leo in a secure, comforting embrace. Once there, they added their own reassuring touches to let know Leo know he was safe once more. After a few moments, Leo's trembling stopped, though he did not withdraw from the security of his brothers' arms. Leaning against Raph, Leo whispered something too soft for anyone else to hear, to which Raph nodded. Slowly and carefully, Raph helped Leo to his feet.

Turning to his brothers, and gesturing at the three other turtles now present, he ordered, "Don't let any of them leave. I'm going to take Leo to my room, and when I get back, tonight's lesson will begin."

TMNTTMNT

It took Raph a few minutes to get Leo settled in the bed, so by the time he had returned to the dojo, the candles had been extinguished and the lights returned to normal.

"All right," he growled as he came prowling back into the dojo, "I have had enough of you bozos. Every time I think I've seen the worst of what you could do to my brother, you prove me wrong by doing something worse."

"But—"Michelangelo started to protest, but Mikey cut him off with a hard thump to the head.

"Sit down and shut up, rocks for brains," he growled at his older counterpart.

"You see, we were hoping that maybe, just maybe you three creeps would have the smarts to learn by observing," Raph continued. "In our world, we don't abuse our brothers. We don't leave them to fend for themselves after they've been wounded. We don't verbally, physically, or emotionally attack our brothers, especially brothers as amazing as Leo. Do you three realize the damage you did to him? Or did his attempt at suicide just go over your heads?"

"You morons wouldn't believe what we've had to go through the past year to restore Leo to what you've seen up until today," Donny said, taking over the harangue. "When he first got here, Leo was sick from an infected wound you," he pointed accusingly at Donatello, "didn't 'have the time to see to.' In addition, Leo was practically afraid of his own shadow, and he acted like any touch was a prelude to a beating. You had him so beaten down mentally and emotionally that he hated himself and couldn't see anything worthwhile. He confessed to us that your family, including your sensei, saw him not as a member of the family, but as a weapon to be used solely in the family's defense. Then, when that weapon proved to have the same faults and weakness as anyone else, you threw it away."

"Well, now it's your turn," Raph said, stepping forward once more. "You three seem to think attacking someone is the only way to get your point across, so we're giving you a chance to prove it. Except this time, you won't be facing a scared, hurt turtle who has been trained his whole life to kowtow to you." Raph pulled his sais from his belt. "Like I told you before, attention on me, bucko. Let's dance."

For those of you who might not know, to be pissed in Britain is to be drunk. ;)