Chapter 7

I awoke the instant I felt the warm rays of sun touch my carapace. Even though I was more familiar with awaking to the damp darkness of the sewers, I knew if given the choice I would sleep every day outside just so I could be woken by the sun. I opened my eyes to see the form of my small brother before me. He was starting to stir and I knew that in a few moments he too would awaken. I inhaled sharply as wave of nausea rushed through me. The hell? What's wrong with me? He hasn't even opened his eyes and I already got butterflies!

A visceral shiver ran through me, but I quickly rearranged my pained expression into a scowl because Leo's eyes were now open.

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Mmmmm… Soooooo… waaaarmmmmm…

A wonderful heat was soaking through my shell. I was on the verge of consciousness when I heard an inhale of breath and froze. I listened sharply and abruptly knew I was not alone. I braced myself and opened my eyes to be met with the glare of two large amber eyes. Raphael was before me.

I blinked rapidly in disbelief thinking that I was still dreaming. After frantically chasing my brother – the one I thought I was finally reconnecting with – upriver all day – the majority of which was spent thinking how utterly pointless it was – only to collapse in complete exhaustion – even though I was this close to catching him – to abruptly awaken – I had been so warm damn it – to said brother trying to kill me with his glare, left me well, more than a little pissed. The calm happy thoughts I had only a moment ago quickly disfigured. My thoughts were no longer tranquil. Instead they were forged from the chaos of pain and wrath. I abruptly sat up (all too aware of my exhausted muscles' protests) and returned my brother's stare, "WHAT. THE. HELL. RAPHAEL? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU PUT ME THROUGH YESTERDAY?"

Through his glare I saw the faintest trace of a grimace and although I lowered my voice I angrily plowed ahead, "Not only did you make me swim a marathon's distance in an attempt to keep up with your insane pilgrimage, but then out of some cruel sense of humour do you decide to come to me! God forbid you from growing enough of a pair twenty kilometers sooner so that you'd have enough balls to stop and face me before my limbs were ready to fall off!"

I stopped for a moment to catch my breath only to now be faced with a yelling and slightly sick-looking Raphael, "YOU FUCKER! IN CASE YOU MISSED THE MEMO I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO FOLLOW ME! MAYBE IF YOU STOPPED BEING AN ASSWIPE FOR FIVE MINUTES YOU WOULD HAVE REALIZED IT WAS THE ONLY OPTION!"

Only option?! Was he insane? I went to stand up so I could face him head on – only to have my legs embarrassingly collapse right in front of him. I cursed in pain and frustration as I hit the ground, "SHIT!"

The instant I fell Raph's face swiftly changed from mad as hell, to confused and concerned. He leaned down to examine my legs, "Shit Leo, you ok? God I'm such an idiot! Of course you're not ok! You – I pushed you too hard Leo. I'm tired after that swim. I can only imagine how you must be feeling."

I grumbled as I massaged my aching legs, "See this is the kind of epiphany I wish you'd had sooner."

Raph shook his head and this time I could have sworn that he grimaced again, "I didn't stop because I didn't want you to catch me Leo. As it is I only stopped here because I thought I'd finally ditched you. How did you find me anyway? The river gets pretty confusing in these parts…"

My thoughts briefly returned to Bobby, "Uh lucky guess?" And changed the subject. "What about you? How do you know about this place? Are we even safe to be out in the open like this?"

I inwardly cursed at my lack of discipline. First Raphael sneaks up on me and now I hadn't even thought about who we might run into here. "Don't worry about it Leo. This is protected land. Humans aren't supposed to go here. They have wardens patrolling it and everything. Only access is the water. I uh been here before lots of times. One of the places I'd go to get away for a bit. To you know, clear my head."

I did know and it explained how he managed to disappear for days at a time without leaving a clue as to where he'd been. Although it irked me that he could be so careless, I decided to leave that source of irritation alone for now. "So is your head clear enough to come home now?"

"What? Sigh. No Leo I'm not coming home. Look I am sorry for not stopping and facing you sooner. I get you're probably pretty pissed about how sore you are, but it wasn't until last night when I could have easily ditched you that I realized I need your support to do this. When I…. When I mutate again I'm gonna be a danger to you guys and I just cannot risk it. You heard Don even he had no real solution. He… You can't fix this. I'm a ticking time bomb so you must know it's for the best that I leave."

So that was what this was about. Raph playing lone ranger yet again and going off to deal with his problems on his own. Typical. I was so stupid to think anything had changed. I didn't know how, or more accurately trust myself to answer. So that's what I chose. I looked away from his pleading amber eyes and said nothing.

The silence continued and grew so thick I slice through it. Finally Raph choked looking visibly nauseous, "Leo please… You have to understand… I'm begging you to understand… I'm doing this so I don't hurt you."

His words stung me into response and I was embarrassed to hear my voice shaking with emotion, "Hurt me? Hurt me? How is this not hurting me now Raph? Seeing my brother condemn himself as a monster? Again? YES, AGAIN RAPHAEL! Did you not listen to me when we were in the sewers? I thought we were finally rebuilding at least a semblance of the connection we once had! I know I can be a bad listener but it goes both ways Raph! But you know what really rubs salt in the wound? The fact that you don't trust us, trust me enough to even let me attempt to help you! You know why this doesn't seem fixable? Because you're tackling it by yourself! But you know what? Enough is enough Raphael! If you want to-"

BRIIIIING! BRIIIIING! BRIIIIING!

We both started at the sound of my shell cell. I pulled it from my belt to see Mikey's number on the display. As I brought it to my ear I couldn't help but feel something slosh within the phone. Great and now there's water in the phone! This day just keeps getting better and better!

"Leo?"

Mikey's voice answered and I couldn't help but notice the static coming from my phone. The water is probably messing with it…

"Mikey, what's up?"

As I strained my ears to hear Mikey's response I was frustrated when I heard Raphael's voice instead, "Leo…"

I barely even glanced his way. Instead I waved him off and walked several feet away (my legs screaming as I moved) putting my left hand over my other ear so I could hear Mikey better. "Say that again Mikey I can barely hear you."

"Leo! Master Splinter - CHHZZZ - believe who's – CHHZZ – robot – CRACKLE – aliens – CHZZZ – you get back."

The static was so bad. I had no idea what he was talking about. Master Splinter? Robots? Aliens? Wait it can't be what I think? Can it?

Again Raphael interrupted, "Leo… Please…"

I half turned my head, "Raphael shhh! Sorry Mikey, can you please talk louder. I got water in my phone and it's not working properly."

"CHZZZ – him all along – CRACKLE – saw – FIZZ – help they took him – CHZZZ – wounds – CHZZZ – accident in the warehouse and they – CRACKLE – the lair and Don and one of the – FIZZ – Raph with you – CHZZZ – come back –"

"Le…o…"

Geez Raph is really pushing it now!

I turned towards my brother, "Raph can't you see I'm…"

"Leo? CHZZZ – Bro – CHZZZ – You there?"

"Mike, I'm going to have to call you back."

Click.

A/N For those of you wondering CHZZZ, CRACKLE, and FIZZ are my sad attempts to mimic the static on a phone.