animegamefanatic – aftermath of Worlds collide Raph talking to Casey and Slash about what happened to Mikey and etc. Or Mikey while he's asleep dreams of Splinter

Raph P.O.V

Downing his third can of 'Wake Up' energy drink, Raph shook his head, attempting – an failing – to drown out the screams of his little brother being disintegrated which had not stopped ringing loudly in his head in a constant echo.

Yet sadly, the caffeine only increased the terrifying sounds…

Smashing the can into a flat circle, the red banded turtle pulled out his phone and checked for new messages – one from Casey saying he would be five minutes, and one from Slash telling he would be there soon.

But not soon enough.

Seeing Mona Lisa had been great, yet the joy from that had worn off the moment Newtraliser had sent that bolt of electricity at Mikey… And there was that thought again… He needed to focus on the positives… Mikey was alive. That was all that mattered. But before he could help it, the tears he had been holding back build up once again and Raph found he had to pinch his eyes to hold them back.

"You there, brother?" The gruff voice almost made Raph jump. He honestly hadn't expected his friend to be there that soon.

Hurriedly wiping his eyes, the red banded turtle stood and went over to his friend, but the look his former pet gave him meant he was clearly not hiding his emotions well.

"What happened, Raphael?" Slash's expression was clearly concerned. "What happened with the aliens?"

Despite not being with them for the main battle, the Mutanimals had been busy on the ground, holding back the wave of flying bugs in an attempt to protect all the humans they could. From the frantic texts that had passed between them during the day it sounded like they had managed quite well all things considered.

Raph realised Slash was waiting for an answer and coughed lightly in a ploy to clear the tension.

"Um… Yeah. All's good, Spike – sorry – Slash." Then he collapsed. Sinking to his knees, Raph choked back a sob and he felt his friend's hand on his shoulder. "Mikey nearly died. He got zapped and – and…" Raph put his head in his hands, "All I was thinking was: what the hell was the last thing I said to him? Heck!" Beyond the point of caring, the red banded turtle threw his hands in the air, tears escaping down his cheeks before he could be bothered to hide them. "I probably yelled at him for something stupid! What if he had been killed? After Splinter –" At this stage, Slash's grip tightened and he turned Raph suddenly, so the two turtles were face to face.

And then Casey had to clamber over the roof's edge.

There was a long pause when each of the trio swapped looks and tried to understand who was going to speak first. Eventually Casey spoke.

"So are you two like a thing or…"

If Raph wasn't in the process of having a complete meltdown, he would have had some resort ready or even a sarcastic comment, but at that moment in time, all he could do was look to the ground – his energy spent.

Casey must have been having a similar line of thought as Raph, for he looked to the smaller of the two turtles with a smirk, obviously expecting some kind of banter, yet as Raph failed to provide anything, Casey sobered up. It was Slash who spoke up first.

"You hear what happened?" The larger turtle asked the human as he knelt next to Raph. The teen shrugged.

"I was busy round my place taking out the aliens. No time for catching up, dude." Slash nodded and put a hand on Raph's shoulder.

"Shall I tell him for ya?" Raph closed his eyes and nodded slightly, his face clearly showing that he didn't want to talk much. "Michelangelo nearly got killed." Casey's eyes went wide with shock and understanding.

"Man…" He breathed. "Is he…"

"I'm guessing he's fine." Slash cocked his head, "Right Raphael? He's recovering now?"

Raph let out a shaky breath, and for a moment, his friends thought he was going to burst into tears, yet to their surprise, the red banded terrapin began to talk, his voice barely above a mutter.

"It wasn't like that… Not like he got hit and injured… He was… Obliterated… Like when Donnie…" when it was clear Raph couldn't finish that sentence, Casey nodded in understanding, letting his friend know that they understood what he was trying to say. The memory of what April did to Donnie was still all too fresh in their minds. Raph shook his head to try and focus, "The Newtraliser had some electrical powers and he was shooting lightning out and… one bolt… hit Mikey…" Raph looked visibly shaken, so unlike his usual tough demeanour, "He screamed… And…" More tears escaped and the turtle covered his eyes, ashamed of how weak he was seeming, yet knowing that it was better to do this with his friends rather than have a complete breakdown in front of his brothers. "And he vanished… Like he had been disintegrated… We all thought… we thought we'd lost him…" Within a second, both Casey and Slash had put their hands upon Raph's shoulders, silently offering their support. Raph gave a small, yet sad smile. "But he's fine. I'm just being stupid…" His friends looked on confused, worried at the growing tension in Raph's voice. "Everyone's getting on with life, but I'm here, stressing out because I can't stop hearing his SCREAMS!" Raph shot up and turned, punching the wall behind him hard. A sharp crack followed, but Raph didn't even blink.

"Raphael!"

"Dude! Calm down!"

"How?" Raph rested his head on the wall next to his bleeding fist. His voice was small. "First Leo when that invasion happened, then Donnie getting blown apart, Splinter… You know. Now Mikey disintegrated…" He spun round, facing his friends, torment clear in his features, "one day one of us isn't gonna make it. What's gonna happen then? And the city will never know what we've done, and-"

He was cut off as Casey punched him – hard – in the jaw. Raph blinked, just as shocked as Slash.

"Get a grip of yourself, man!" Casey almost shouted. "You are –" He gestured in the air wildly as if words failed him. "You think you're the only one who's like that?" The teen began counting off on his fingers, "Leo was falling apart at the farmhouse, worried about you after the whole Creep incident, asking what the point of carrying on was; Donnie was super stressed about the whole retro mutagen thing – which – if I recall correctly, helped the entire city yet no one knows he did it; and Mikey – didn't that kid mention something about mutant wasps which nearly killed you guys and Splinter wasn't around to see how he saved you guys?"

Raph was struck down at his friend's words. Had his brothers really all felt the same?

"Ya know what, Casey's right, Raphael. You shouldn't be out here with us sulking, you should be home with your brothers. If you're like this – what the shell are the others like? What can we offer that they can't?"

Despite everything, Raph couldn't help but smile, this was the exact reason he had called his friends. If anyone could give him something to drown out Mikey's screams, it was these boneheads. He looked down at his bleeding fist and winced, the pain finally getting through to him.

"Thanks guys." He muttered, "I needed that."

"No problem, brother." Slash clapped him hard on the shell. "Now what was this about a new member for my team?" Raph had almost forgotten about that.

"Oh yeah, Mona Lisa's this Salimandrian warrior who's gonna be staying on Earth –"

"What?! You're girlfriend's gonna be staying?" Casey interrupted. Raph felt his cheeks heat a little, but he hoped no one noticed. The smirks he got revealed they had. He coughed.

"Yeah, she's staying. So is there a space for her?" Slash nodded.

"You say she can fight?"

"She's incredible!" Raph exclaimed before he could stop himself. Smooth move genius, he cursed himself mentally, way to act like an idiot in front of your mates.

"Then she's in. We have spare rooms as well if she wants to stay over." Slash smiled. "Now get yourself back home, Raphael, I think we've done our part."

The red banded turtle smiled and with a nod, he jumped down from the roof and headed towards the nearest manhole cover. As the others watched him go, Casey muttered,

"Yo, Slash, you think he'll be alright?" The large turtle smiled.

"Yeah. He just needed to be reminded that he ain't alone. None of us are anymore…"

*BONUS*

By the time Raph got back to the sewers, everyone had turned in for the night, the day obviously leaving everyone in need of a good night's sleep. Before he followed suit, Raph headed to his brother's rooms to check how they were coping. First he stopped at Donnie's room, amazed to see the genius in his bed for once rather than slumped over his desk, although there was an open laptop next to him, suggesting he had tried to do some work before falling asleep. Raph saved his brother's work then shut the screen, moving it out of Donnie's way. He could carry on in the morning.

Next stop was Leo's room. Raph's elder brother was flat on his back on his bed, on top of the covers.

"Hey Raph." He muttered, not opening his eyes. "Glad you're safe."

"Go to bed, you idiot." Raph replied, hiding the secret feeling of relief that his brother had clearly waited up for him, to check he was alright. Leo always worried too much.

Leo sat up, his mask-less eyes meeting Raph's.

"He's sleeping. I keep checking on him, but he seems alright. You should go. It'll make you feel better. We'll speak in the morning." Without another word, Leo pulled the covers up and disappeared under them. Smiling at his brother's ability to know what he was thinking, Raph left to follow Leo's orders – to check Mikey for himself.

His little brother was snoring loudly, his eyes closed and a smile on his face. He was alive. Raph put a hand on Mikey's and smiled. Casey was right, he couldn't forget about his brothers, if they were to get through this – they would do so together, as they always did.

Little did Raph know how right he really was.

…

…

…

Inside Mikey's head, the youngest was deep in a dream. He didn't know what he was doing or where he was, but he felt peaceful. Then he saw him. Splinter.

Mikey felt himself run towards his father, yet no matter how fast he ran, he could not get closer to his father. So he shouted.

"PAPA! WAIT FOR ME!" Despite the distance, Mikey could see his father smile.

"My son." His voice was like a wave of relief washing over him. Mikey fell to his knees, savouring the voice he thought he would never hear again, "I will always wait. But you almost reached me today. I wish you to be more careful."

"I'm sorry papa." Mikey felt like he was crying, but he was happy.

"I will always be with you, my son. Your brothers as well. We are all here for you, never forget that. But you cannot be with me yet. It is not your time. One day we will meet, but until then, remember I love you all very much. Now go – go and live."

"PAPA!" Mikey cried, but Splinter was gone again. He found himself in a golden field under a cherry blossom. He closed his eyes and he felt his father's presence, not right next to him, but close enough to be known. Mikey was happy. He wasn't alone…

I am so sorry how long it has taken to update. I struggled with this one, not gonna lie! I need to work on my Slash and Casey writing! ;P Hope it was alright though.

Leave your thoughts and let me know if you have new requests! I'll be happy to write them!

LL99 Out!