A/N: Almost done! This chapter plus an epilogue and then the story shall be complete. Thank you for sticking around.

Leonardo stroked a dark ashen-green arm gently as the owner of said arm turned away from him with a grimace. Donatello had just finished securing the IV bag on the metal stand and started the dripping through the catheter attached to Raph's wrist. He'd never been very good with needles. They had started the treatment about a month and a half ago after Donnie's tests finally brought results.

"HA!" Donnie's triumphant cry sounded throughout the lair and he immediately ran out of the lab and into the living room where the others were sitting. He waved a test tube with a slightly glowing green-blue liquid. "I found it!"

"What is it? What did you find?" Leonardo stood up without letting go of Raph's hand, squeezing it slightly in anticipation.

"The serum! It's based so closely off the mutagen we naturally have in our blood stream and cells that I didn't find it the first time. The formula is significantly changed, we weren't looking for something like this."

"Does that mean you can give him a cure or something?" Mikey piped up, a happy grin on his face as his brother's enthusiasm spread.

"It degrades on its own. A cure isn't necessary nor will it be effective."

"But if it degrades on its own why isn't he getting any better?" Leonardo asked.

"That's what I still need to find out. My theory is that they've used something more difficult to detect than the worms and harder to get rid of. I think that's what Raph was trying to tell me. The cuts weren't there to disguise the trackers, or rather, not the only reason. I think they're covering up the source of whatever is constantly feeding the serum into his system. Until I find and get rid of it he won't get any better."

The excitement between the brothers had been short lived after Donnie had returned to them with a grim expression. He had performed a biopsy and found the source of the serum: microscopic mutant organisms similar to bacteria that were surprisingly resilient due to the mutagen. There were millions upon millions embedded into his muscles and bloodstream, spreading like a cancer. It was why they were treating him with chemotherapy enhanced with mutagen, the only thing Donatello had been able to find that worked.

Master Splinter didn't ask where the medication came from. It was better that way, Leonardo didn't want to have to defend the honour of his actions to his own father. The drugs used in chemotherapy were expensive and not easy to come by. None of them questioned what they would have to do to get their brother back even though they understood it would be something illegal. Their theft was even on the news and none of them were happy about it but it was the only way to get their brother the treatment he needed.

Leonardo looked down at Raphael, laying on the infirmary cot, who winced and pulled his arm away from his touch. He made a soft mumbled apology that Raph ignored. Sighing, Leonardo retrieved the cold packs from the little fridge in the lab and placed them on his brother's hands and feet. He knew the chemicals were burning through him and causing him discomfort though Raph would never say it. He had read up on the side effects of chemo after Raph started shutting him out and getting increasingly sick.

Raph received treatment every day for a week and then had a week off while his body recovered. In humans the time between sessions was longer but they didn't have mutagen to speed their recovery nor were they combating mutant-cancer that reproduced and recovered quickly between doses. They had been so hopeful at first, though a little scared. After the first couple days of treatment Raph started talking again, he was more himself every day and they were thinking this wouldn't be too bad. He seemed to be feeling fine and they just thought that maybe a mutant turtle was more resilient to the side effects.

Raph was sharing his bed again and even though they hadn't spoken about their arrangement Leonardo understood that now was not the time for that discussion. If he still needed him this way throughout his treatment he would not deny his brother. He would do anything if it would ease even just a tiny bit of his discomfort. Maybe he was being too much of a mother-hen but he was so worried.

"Raph, you need to drink more." Leonardo had said after his first few days of treatment as he placed a glass in front of him and nudged it in his direction. He also put some pills by the glass of water. "Antiemetics." He responded when Raph raised an eye ridge at him. "They're for the nausea."

"What nausea? I'm feeling fine, I don't need no stinking pills I'm already taking enough drugs as it is."

Leonardo couldn't be annoyed at his brother's words. He was so relieved he was talking and fighting him again. It brought back a normalcy that dissolved the tension he wasn't aware he had been enduring.

He watched his brother ignore the pills and reach for the glass, take a sip and grimace. "This tastes awful! What did you put in here?" He looked at Leonardo suspiciously.

"What? No! I just got it from the tap." He took the glass from Raph and sniffed it, then tasted it. "It's just water, Raph, it tastes fine."

Raphael snatched the glass from him, spilling some on the table as Leonardo rolled his eyes and dumped the rest in the sink. He filled the glass after rinsing it and sipped again with the same results. "It must be the chemo, Donnie said some things would taste differently to you."

"Huh." Raph answered but left the glass in the sink after making a face when he tried to drink some more.

That night Leonardo awoke to Raphael scrambling out of his grasp and tumbling on to the floor before retching on his hands and knees. His body shook as he just kept gagging and retching what little water he had been able to drink and even less food he'd had for dinner. Leonardo rose from the bed, startled, and knelt by him, a hand on his carapace and another on his plastron as he tried to lift him up slightly to keep him from falling forward into his vomit.

He helped Raphael up when it seemed he was done, practically lifting him himself and steered him out of the bedroom and into the bathroom which was the door right next to his room. To Leonardo's alarm his brother's arms and legs were trembling and he was having difficulty holding himself up. Instead of going to the sink he pulled himself to the toilet where he continued to retch, dry heaving violently after expelling everything in his stomach.

When it looked like he couldn't stop and he kept whimpering and feeling weaker, Leonardo cried out for Donatello. His frightened call for help immediately drew his brothers and father into the bathroom.

"Go away." Raphael groaned at the others before gagging again. Donatello took one look and ducked out the door, returning with a glass of water and some pills. Master Splinter placed a hand on his shoulder but feeling his son tensing at the action he decided to leave them quietly. Raphael had his hand over his head, partially covering his face and the other over his stomach as Leo held him up kneeling in front of the toilet. He was covered in cold sweat and couldn't stop his body from shaking, leaning into his brother who was taking most of his weight.

He took the items from Donnie, swallowed the pills and sipped some of the water. He didn't even ask what they were and Leonardo bit back any reproach he might have had about Raph not taking the antiemetics earlier when he told him to. Not even a minute had passed before he was retching up the water and medication.

"That's okay. Lets wait a while for your stomach to calm down and we'll try again." Leonardo said as he tried not to wrinkle his snout at the sharp smell of bile.

When he continued to dry heave into the toilet. Mikey tried to sit down on his other side. Raphael shoved both he and Leonardo away. "Stop! Just, go to bed. I'm fine." He said through pants.

He held onto the toilet seat with both hands. Raph must hate looking so weak in front of us. Leonardo thought to himself. He guessed it was part of the price of having him back and he found himself wishing that maybe he would have taken longer to recover his mind so he wouldn't have to suffer through this before he was better. He immediately dismissed the thought. He should be happy his brother regained control so quickly, he just didn't want him to suffer.

Donnie left another dose of medication by the sink. "Let me know if you need me again." He said before turning to leave, he stopped by the door when Mikey didn't follow. He was whimpering softly, shifting from foot to foot by Raph. He didn't want to go.

"Mikey," Leonardo started and caught his little brother's attention, "in my room... on the floor..." He hesitated and looked at Raph. He didn't want to make him feel more embarrassed. "If you could put some paper towels on the floor, I'll mop it up when we're done."

"No. I'll do it. Don't-"

"It's fine, Raph. You're sick. Not like you've never taken care of me when I've been sick." Mikey interrupted Raph who was struggling to talk through his nausea. He gave Leo a relieved smile knowing he could do something to help instead of trying to go back to sleep while his brother tried to throw up his insides.

Raphael didn't resist Leo's touch after they were alone again. He relaxed slightly into his brother's firm embrace and let him hold a cold wet towel against the nape of his neck and to his brow. Raph had practically melted into his arms, dozing lightly against him before Leo decided they should try the medication again. It didn't work, it just started the retching all over.

Leonardo winced in sympathy with every gag. Raph's groans were echoing around the tiled bathroom. He was weak and tired and feeling miserable. They had given up with the medication and concentrated on getting tiny sips of water into his body and trying to keep them there. Leonardo half carried him back to bed, thankful that Mikey had cleaned up earlier.

They couldn't get him to eat anything during the day. He was exhausted and slept through most of it anyway. Donatello brought the IV bag on its stand into Leo's room before motioning him to talk privately outside.

"He's not getting enough water." Donnie said right away.

"I know but he says it tastes really bad, metallic and bitter. It makes him gag just drinking a sip. I don't want him throwing up all over again."

"I'll put him on a drip but we need to get him something for the vomiting. The pills were a bad idea, he can't keep them down long enough to have any effect. We're going to need to raid another pharmacy." Leonardo frowned at that and couldn't help his glance towards the dojo and Master Splinter's room. "We don't have a choice, Leo! If he isn't hydrated the toxicity level in his blood could become fatal. I don't want to wait to see if he gets better on his own."

"Okay, we'll go tonight."

Leonardo frowned at the memory. Raphael had not been happy about the suppositories Donatello brought to him that night, but he couldn't deny they worked. They helped immensely with the nausea and he knew better now than to stop taking them even if he felt okay. He was still losing so much weight so quickly though. It wasn't so much from the nausea but because everything tasted bad to him. Water was the hardest thing to make him take but he was hardly eating either. He should have read up on it all sooner. He wouldn't have made the same mistakes.

They had brought pizzas a day later as a treat, when he was on the antiemetics and not vomiting everything he ate any more. They had meant to cheer him up.

"What's that awful smell?" Raph had said from the pit where he was dozing off while watching some mindless show on the TV.

That should have been his first clue about what a bad idea this was. They called him to dinner and he walked over grouchily, then looked surprised when he sat down in front of the boxes of pizza on the table.

"Chocolate peperoni, your favourite!" Michelangelo said as he opened the boxes in a grandiose gesture as if he were revealing the big prizes on a cheesy (ha!) TV gameshow. All of the pizzas behind doors number 1, 2 and 3 were the same so he couldn't complain about someone taking his slices when he didn't like the other toppings as much.

Raphael looked at the pizza and put a slice on his plate but waited as he watched the others scarf theirs down hungrily. They all pretended not to watch him as he took a bite, his eyes widened in surprise and he covered his face with a hand as he chewed quickly. He seemed angry. After a few seconds he shot up and walked quickly to the garbage bin where he spat out his food. With an angry growl he grabbed his plate with the remaining pizza slice and smashed it against the wall. He stormed out of the kitchen as the others watched in silence.

He couldn't stand the taste of pizza.

They ate their dinner in silence. Mikey tried to hide the fact that he was crying quietly as he chewed and after he shrugged off Donnie's hand on his shoulder, the others pretended not to notice. Leonardo went to him after cleaning up the broken bits of ceramic and the greasy tomato sauce off the wall. He brushed his teeth quickly before entering his room and found it empty.

Raphael spent the next few nights in his own room and Leonardo didn't push him or question him about it. He'd be there if he was needed. He knew better than to push Raph when he needed space. He wouldn't even come out to the living room or for his meals.

The self-imposed solitary confinement didn't last long anyway, not after the fatigue settled in. Raph had been angry at not being able to train with the others while he was on treatment but he stopped complaining after he collapsed the first time.

He'd have bouts of fatigue where he would just be completely depleted of energy suddenly. He'd just sink to the floor, not being able to hold himself up any longer or even bring a glass of water to his lips. The first time they found him like that Leonardo had freaked, for lack of a better word. They found him on the floor of the living room after coming out of training, curled up as if he'd sunk to the floor on all fours and then tipped to the side on his way to his bedroom. He couldn't even push himself up or out of his position so they had to carry him to the infirmary. After Donatello's assessment Leonardo had taken him to his room and they had slept together again every night since then.

Donatello came back into the infirmary to switch the empty IV bag out for saline. Raph was done with his treatment for the week. Leonardo stood by his side with his arms folded so Raph could reach out and lean on him if he was needed. He wouldn't help him unless he asked or he saw he clearly needed it. He knew better now. He made no comment when Raph brushed by him. It was not the time to ask how he was. He knew he would only get an angry glare if he got any reply at all. He'd probably nap until it was time for dinner.

Instead of heading for the bedroom he went over to the pit bench and sat down. Leonardo sat wordlessly beside him and turned on the TV. Raph wouldn't mind what was on his concentration was shot with the meds. He couldn't read for a significant amount of time and could barely follow what was on though he liked to lie down in front of the TV with it on instead of staring into space. "Chemo Brain" they called it on the pamphlets he had found in Raph's trash bin. They didn't mention it out loud, Raph disliked the term or really talking about anything to do with his treatment.

Leonardo sat with him in silence and made no comment when Raph slid down the bench and put his head on his brother's thigh. His knee pad was probably in the way of his view of the TV but he didn't mention it or move to fix it. He was silently pleased at the gesture and didn't want to say anything that could bother him or provoke him to storm off to his room.

He kept his hands off the turtle, not sure if his touch was welcome yet. It wasn't in the infirmary. Raphael sighed and reached over to pull the pad slightly down to Leo's calf but left his hand on his thigh. Leo took this as an indication from Raph that it was okay to be touched now. Leonardo tentatively laid a hand on the other turtle's carapace and when he didn't move or complain he started tracing the grooves between his scutes in soothing, slow motions as he watched the TV. He decided he wouldn't move until Raph would.

"Where's Mikey?" Raph mumbled sleepily against Leo's thigh a couple hours later. Leo's hand had moved to the soft skin between his shoulders right above the lip of his carapace and Raph moved his head forward a little to there would be more space for his fingers.

"Hmmm? Oh he's in the kitchen preparing something."

"Oh Raaaaaphiiieeee!" Mikey called from the kitchen as he made his way to his brother. "I have something for youuuu!" He practically bounced over to Raphael, pulled him up and over to the kitchen. Raph complied even though he seemed annoyed.

"Why are you so smiley and why did you drag me here?" Raph grumbled as Mikey pushed him through to the kitchen.

"Youuu'll seeeee!" He sing-songed and then scrambled in front of him to pose. "Tadaaaaaa!" He exclaimed as if he were a magician that had just pulled off an incredible feat.

Raph looked around on the table in the centre of the room. There were jugs filled with coloured water, the empty packets strewn over the surface by them. Behind that there was bowl filled with different kinds of fruit, a plate with cooked veggies, another with cheeses and cold cuts and an assortment of candies, sweets and sauces.

"What is all this? I'm not hungry, Mikey." He looked over everything sceptically. They had only figured out recently that he could tolerate potatoes and only if they were plain. They didn't really taste of much but they at least didn't make him gag.

"I had an idea! Water tastes gross to you so I thought... Kool-aid!" Raphael walked over to the coloured jugs and sniffed them experimentally. "and, and," he continues excitedly, "then I thought that well, you don't hate the taste of everything, right? So we just have to figure out what you can eat now!" He swept his arm towards the display.

Leonardo smiled from the door and went to get glasses and plates, setting the first one in Raph's usual spot at the table. "We'll eat the stuff you don't like, don't worry about wasting food. Great idea, Mikey." Leo said as he rubbed Mikey's head affectionately. "I'll go get Donnie and Master Splinter for dinner."

Not everything was horrible. They made a few breakthroughs, thanks to Mikey who had always been the most empathic of the family. He had been very upset about Raph's inability to enjoy any food, specially pizza, (who'd want to live in a world without pizza!) and shared their worry at seeing Raph lose weight and muscle mass so quickly. The kool-aid water was a great discovery. No one could wipe off Mikey's happy grin after Raph tentatively tried a sip and then smiled at him gratefully before drinking some more.

Four months after the end of his treatment, Leonardo sat with Raphael on the ledge of a rooftop. They had gone out for a light training run along with April and Casey. Since Raph was with them they would be calling it early and heading back to the lair for a movie night.

Casey's obnoxious cackling could be heard cutting through the hoots and woops of the others. The teen had called a Battle Royale – winner takes all, challenge. Raphael had been the first to fall, he was still not in very good shape but he was glad they weren't going easy on him. His brothers had only struck out tentatively but Casey had gone all out and knocked him out of the competition right away.

"Sorry, Raph! Gotta take advantage while I can still beat ya!" He'd grinned wildly at the turtle on his ass before jumping his leg as it swung out to trip him with a laugh. Raphael had laughed back at him and tossed him a colourful insult and that had snapped the others back into the fight, not realising they had all stopped to watch the downed turtle.

"You should just give up now! I'm gonna make you all watch the sickest anime you've ever seen!" Casey called as he sped away from Donnie's spinning bo-staff on his skates, showing off with a spin as he winked at April.

"Don't be so sure about that, Jones!" Donnie answered as he caught the edge of one of the wheels before he was out of range and toppled the teen over. "HA! In your face! In! Your! Fa—"

His gloating was cut short as April took advantage of his distraction to get in a kick in the back of his knee that made him almost go down. He dropped and rolled quickly to recover, lifting his eyes with a hurt puppy expression at his aggressor. "I thought we were teaming up for this!"

"I never agreed to your deal. I am NOT watching documentaries the rest of the night!" She high-fived Mikey as he ran passed on his way to attack the olive turtle.

"Team romantic comedy FOR THE WIN, BOY!" Michelangelo wooped as he ran towards his brainy brother, letting loose his kusarigama chain hoping to tangle his long limbs but Donnie blocked it with his bo-staff and yanked as the chain wrapped around it, nearly unbalancing him.

Leo chuckled at the sight and Raph's eyes were drawn to him. Feeling observed, Leonardo turned to Raph raising an eye ridge at his thoughtful look. "What is it?"

Raphael looked away, "Nothing, it's just... This rooftop I..."

Leonardo looked to the rooftop-turned-battleground and sighed. This was the rooftop where Raph had kissed him while he was still mind controlled.

Raphael huffed and tried again. "About us... I'm really sorry Leo, I-"

"Don't." Leo cut him off before he could continue. It was true they hadn't kissed again since he was back but even without that physical aspect of their relationship he knew something had been irrevocably altered between them. "You didn't make me do anything I didn't want." Raphael looked at him with wide eyes and he continued. "I don't regret a thing. I'd do it over again if I had the chance." He breathed in, gathering his courage. "I love you, Raph."

Raphael ducked his head and the pensive look was back. Leonardo faced his other brothers' fight thinking the conversation was over but Raphael spoke again in a quiet voice. "What about Karai? I thought you loved her."

"I thought so too." Leonardo said after a long moment, weighing his words carefully.

Raphael's head snapped back to him. "So what happened?"

"You kissed me." Leonardo answered with a smile.

A purple blush spread over Raph's cheeks and he turned his head away, facing the breeze as he blinked quickly, a shy smile on his lips. After a while he coughed and continued, "You going to let them pick romantic comedies for the whole night?" He faced Leo again but didn't look up at him. If his eyes were a little bright and wet, Leonardo pretended not to notice.

"Hmmm... I'm more in the mood for something with action." Raph's eyes lit up and his shy smile turned into a bright grin. "Yeah, with explosions, lots of explosions." He added before leaping off the ledge and into the fray.

Raph laughed as he heard his brothers and April whining "No fair!" to Leonardo as they nursed their bumps after being quickly knocked over by the blue-masked turtle. Hearing the sound of his brother's mirth he looked up at him and moved his head to indicate they were leaving.

"I think I'm in the mood for 'The Quick and the Angry 9' what do you think, Raph?" He pulled Raph to him and slung an arm over the shorter turtle's shoulders.

The others groaned at his choice and it made Raph's grin even wider. He moved his arm behind Leo's carapace, hooking his thumb on the leather strap attached to his katanas. "I think that's a great idea, brother!" He said as they started walking home.