Hey everyone! I hope you guys are ready for a massive chapter (3,000+ words). I will see all of you down below ;)

Disclaimer: I still don't own TMNT.

-x-

Raphael's breath came in heavy pants as he and his brothers made their way to Murakami's Noodle Shop. He grinned when he noticed just how loose and smooth his muscles felt after their patrol tonight. He growled with pleasure as his mind went back to the Purple Dragons he had pounded into a dazed submission to "teach" them not to break into an electronics store again. 'They never learn.'

"Leoooo! Are we there yet?" Mikey's voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Not yet, Mikey." Leo's tired and slightly annoyed response came. Raph had to suppress a chuckle at how Fearless' patience was beginning to wear thin.

"According to my calculations, we have about 1.34 blocks and 2 meters until we get there."

Raph rolled his eyes. Of course Donnie had calculated the distance between their current position and Murakami's. After all, April had been the one to text them, reminding them not to get so caught up in "hitting people" that they forgot their monthly visit to their blind friend's business. When Donnie's phone buzzed with the incoming message, the science geek had been so beside himself that he had left himself open to an attack from behind by a Purple Dragon's heavy pipe. It was a good thing that Raph had seen the attack coming and tackled the offender to the ground before Don got hurt.

As much as Raph loved to taunt Don about his obvious feelings for April, he had to admit that seeing his smile filled him with the pride that only an older sibling could hold for their younger brother. Not that he'd ever let his brothers know that. Raph had a reputation to uphold.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Leonardo had stopped suddenly. Plowing ungracefully right into Leo caused the tense leader to stumble forward a few steps with a sharp hiss.

Raph felt the full force of his brother's heated glare and felt both defiance and embarrassment surge through him. "What's the big idea, Fearless?!" he growled, narrowing his eyes as he fought to maintain some amount of dignity.

"We're here." Leo stated calmly, already returning his attention to the noodle shop. Raph wasn't too sure, but he thought he saw the tiniest flash of anxiety in his brother's blue eyes. 'Something's up' he thought, keeping one eye fixed down below and the other eye fixed on his leader.

"Well I'm going," came Mikey's exuberant voice cutting through the tense atmosphere that had settled around them. Before Leo could get a word in edgewise, Mike had already jumped down and was rushing into Murakami's excitedly.

"I'm going too" Donnie exclaimed as he followed suit. Raph could tell by the grin on his face that Don was looking forward to spending some time with April.

Raph glanced at Leo's face, watching as frustration morphed into reluctant acceptance. "We can't leave them on their own, Leo" he said with a slight smirk. Without waiting for a response, Raph jumped down and shortly after he landed he heard Leo's familiar footsteps padding along behind him.

Just as he was about to enter the restaurant Donnie exclaimed, "KARAI HAS APRIL?!"

Raph felt his stomach turn to ice and he heard someone – he wasn't sure if it was he or Leo – suck in a sharp breath. His heart began to pound heavily as he felt his rage begin to flicker to life within him. A deep growl began to rumble in his throat as he shoved his way past his panicking younger brothers to stand right in front of Murakami-san who was seated on a stool.

"How could you?!" he spat angrily at the blind man. "We trusted you! Why would you betray us like this?!" His hands became tight fists as he began to shake violently with his anger, which only rose when he felt his eyes begin to burn with tears. Grabbing Murakami's collar, Raph hoisted the chef, who was protesting and struggling vainly to break free although Raph was too far gone to pay attention, and began preparing to take out his pain on the man whom he had trusted, believed to be a friend. Disgust raced through him as he grumbled to himself, "I knew we could never be friends with humans!"

"Hold it, Raphael!" Leo's voice rang out, containing the familiar authoritative tone that pervaded his voice whenever he was giving an order.

Raph hated that Leo's voice adopted that tone most whenever it was directed at him. He considered going ahead with pummeling the defenseless human, but he stopped when the unwanted memory of the last time Leo had used that tone flashed through his head. He reluctantly set the man back on the stool and turned around with a grumpy "humph!" so he could glare at the wall. 'As you wish, oh Fearless One' he thought bitterly.

He felt Leo's gaze sweep over him and then turn back to a very shaken Murakami-san. In a calm and much friendlier manner, Leo immediately went to work trying to rectify the situation and smoothing things over. Raph tried to ignore most of what was being said. He was certain Leo was blaming him for the outburst and that everything was his fault and blah blah blah. It wasn't until April's name was brought up that he began to tune back in to the conversation.

"So…about April…"

"That girl, Karai, she came by earlier. She said that she had April-chan and to meet her in the Bradford dojo."

"I see. Did Karai say anything else?"

There was a short moment of hesitation and Raph found himself turning around to stare the chef in the face. Finally, Murakami spoke, "She said to hurry otherwise April-chan would become her new toy."

Everyone stiffened at once and all the air left the room in a rush. Raph exchanged worried glances with his brothers. No one was able to speak, but eventually Murakami shuddered and began to apologize profusely for his blindness and utter uselessness. "I am so sorry, Turtle-san. I wish I could do more. If only I could see then I may have been able to keep April-chan from Karai."

Raph flinched as Leo fixed him with a stern glare. Raph knew what that look meant. A slight blush appeared on his face as he began to feel self-conscious and hyper-aware of all his brothers looking at him expectantly. With a hard swallow, Raph bowed and mumbled just loud enough for Murakami to hear, "I'm sorry. I take back everything I said. I thought you had sold us out to Karai. I was wrong."

He lifted his gaze and saw that Leo was wearing an approving smile and gave him a thumbs up. 'I'll get you back for this' he thought determinedly, although he wasn't really angry. He just didn't like that he had screwed up and Leo got an easy chance to look good.

"You all saved my life. I would never betray you." Murakami declared solemnly, seeming to feel better and even had a determined smile on his face.

"Thank you for everything, Murakami-san." Leo said while bowing respectfully.

Donnie had already started to head toward the door, "Can we go save April now?!"

"Of course we are!" Raph declared, his muscles tingling as he began imagining himself punching the daylights out of Karai.

"Ah yeah! Rescue time!" Mikey exclaimed in eager anticipation, rushing over toward Donnie to give the scientist a reassuring pat on the carapace.

Raph noticed that Leo was keeping silent and seemed to regarding all of them thoughtfully. Raph opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Murakami's desperate warning, "Be careful my friends."

"We always are, Murakami-san," came Leo's immediate and soft reply. Raph watched Leo's gaze linger on each of them as if he was trying to burn the image into his memory forever. Then Leo gave a smile and ordered, "Let's go guys!"

Raph let Leo push past him, uneasiness settling in his gut as he tried to get inside his brother's head. Donnie always mocked him and Mikey for being the "shell-brains" of the group, but the whole thinking thing just wasn't Raph's style. He left that for Leo and Donnie so he could make sure that no enemy laid a hand on them while they were coming up with the master plan. But that didn't mean he was clueless.

As he fell behind his brothers, Raph became increasingly distracted while he tried to figure out the source of his unease. 'He wouldn't be thinking what I think he's thinking…would he?' Raph thought, feeling his stomach seize as the horrid idea began to take root in his mind. His throat tightened, making breathing difficult as he watched Leo move ahead unflinchingly, leading them right to where Karai was. 'NO! He can't! Not again!'

Raph froze when Leo stopped, raising his hand to signal the others to keep quiet and alert. When a few tense seconds ticked by, Leo whispered, "Okay guys. We are most likely walking straight into a trap. Raph, you stay with Mikey. I'll stick with Don. The objective here is to save April and get out. If at all possible we want to avoid a big fight."

"What if we have to face Karai?" Mikey asked, his tone becoming serious.

Leo straightened his shoulders and boldly stated, "I will deal with Karai if we have to."

Raph, Don and Mike exchanged solemn glance with each other before giving Leo a brief nod. Leo gestured with hand signals that he and Don would go in first and Raph and Mike would follow in shortly afterward.

'Always the optimist,' Raph thought sullenly as Leo and Don set out to initiate the first step of Leo's plan. He felt Mikey start poking him in the plastron and growled, "What are you doing?"

"Just trying to get Mr. Grumpy Shell to go back to his normal angry self." A bona fide Mikey-grin plastered across his face, his light blue eyes shining with mischief.

Raph narrowed his eyes at the knucklehead's grinning face, unsure as to whether or not to pound Mikey into the ground for the taunt. He decided against it, but thwacked his brother's carapace in a good-natured way. "You –"

"APRIL!" Donnie's sharp scream burst through the still night, jolting Raph back into reality. Raph met Mikey's gaze full on, seeing his own concern and worry reflected in his baby brother's eyes. In silent agreement, they both charged in without a moment's hesitation.

When Raphael took in the situation around him, his blood began to boil. The first thing he saw was that Leo was alone, facing at least ten Foot plus Karai all by himself. "Where the shell is Donnie?" he grumbled, irritated that Don had apparently forgotten that he was supposed to stay with Leo so that this wouldn't happen.

"D is with that girl over there. Raph, you don't think she's…" Mikey muttered quietly as he pointed over to where Donnie and a familiar red headed girl in yellow shackled to a water pipe were. Only problem was that this girl was covered in injuries and her clothes were ripped to shreds. Almost as if…

Raph felt his heart begin to pound heavily as the fires of rage burned within him. He cast a glance over at where Leo was fighting Karai, both of them moving gracefully as their blades clashed. His hands began to twitch as he reached for his sais. Karai would pay for kidnapping and torturing their sister!

Raph took two steps toward Leo and Karai before the other Foot noticed that he and Mikey were even there. Suddenly Raph found himself staring into the masked faces of ten Foot, all of whom were getting into threatening positions, as if daring Raph to make the first attack. He licked his lips as he growled, "Bring it!"

Then Leo's authoritative voice butted in, "Raphael! No! Stick to the plan!"

Karai sniffed, "Do what your brother says, Raphael. Let the adults handle things over here."

Raph took another angered step toward them, desperately wanting to dish out some pain to get back at the Foot for what they did to April. He stopped when he heard Leo snap, "Raph! Help Donnie and Mikey with April! Now!"

Raph reluctantly turned around, hissing, "I'll pummel you later, Karai." He dashed over to where Donnie and Mikey were frantically trying to use anything they could to unshackle April. Raph rolled their eyes at all the discarded items they had already tried. Rocks, broken tools, sticks and other random objects lay strewn about them. 'They seriously thought blunt objects would get the job done?'

As if Donnie had the ability to hear thoughts, he hissed, "Of course we didn't! But we were seeing if making a temporary chisel would work!"

Raph exchanged a wide-eyed look with Mikey, shrugged, drew one of his sais and muttered, "Use this." He had turned his attention back to where Leo was dueling Karai. Something about the way the Foot were completely ignoring him left a bad taste in his mouth. 'This seems almost…too easy.'

"I got it!" Donnie's excited voice interrupted Raph's thoughts. Don was gathering an unconscious April in his arms, trying to be gentle and not jostle her more than necessary. Upon closer examination April didn't seem to be as injured as they had all feared. But nothing would be certain until they got April back to the lair so Don could check on her.

"Leo! We've got April!" Mikey yelled out, sounding more upbeat than he did a few moments ago when he first saw April chained up.

Raph saw Leo shove Karai back a few feet and heard his brother reply, "Good! Now get out of here!"

Raph noticed that Leo was panting heavily and looking exhausted. He took a step forward and growled, "Not without you, Leo!"

"Your brother is right, Leo." Karai teased with a smirk on her face. "They won't be leaving without you."

Leo's eyes narrowed and he growled, "Karai, I warned you what would happen if you went after my brothers."

Raph started to move forward, wanting to lend his brother a hand. This was turning out almost like that night two weeks ago. If his hunch was right, Leo was going to…! "No!" he whispered, sending up a silent prayer to anyone who may have been listening that he was wrong.

Sure enough, Leo's next words proved that Raph's instincts were right on the money. "Raph, get everyone out of here. I'll buy you as much time as I possibly can."

That damned authoritative tone was back in Leo's voice! Shaking his head stubbornly, Raph argued, "No, Leo! We're not leaving you again!" He felt Mikey and Donnie stand behind and next to him, each giving Leo the same pleading look that they wore two weeks ago.

Leo seemed to wilt just a tiny bit under the combined powers of his brothers' earnest gazes. Raph was thrilled, this meant that Leo would reconsider his stupid self-sacrifice plan and come up with a better one.

While Leo was distracted, Karai seized her chance. Whipping out a blowgun, she aimed it right for the blue-clad warrior.

Raph saw it coming and he yelled, "Leonardo!"

Leo turned back around just in time to see the dart coming straight at him. It hit him square in the chest, just above his plastron and he began to stumble around almost instantly. Raph noticed that his eyes were completely blank before he finally collapsed to the floor in a heap. Raph's stomach dropped as the thought 'Is he dead?' crossed his mind.

Raph was suddenly aware that April was thrust into his arms and Don was yelling something about hurrying and getting out of there and that he was going to check on Leo to make sure that Leo still had a pulse. Raph mumbled a coherent "muh?" as his brain struggled to process the chaos that was surrounding them. Time slowed down as Foot soldiers on all sides were whipping out their own blowguns.

"Raphael! Get Mikey and April out of here! I'll be right behind you!" he vaguely heard Donatello yell out.

Raph jumped when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist, his green eyes huge as saucers as he mumbled, "Mikey?"

"Let's go bro! Donnie will get Leo out! We have to get April out for him!"

Giving his head a shaky nod, Raph instinctively evaded incoming darts on all sides as he followed his baby brother out of the disastrous mess their rescue mission had become. His thoughts were a hazy blur and he tried not to think about how he had abandoned Leo and Donnie in order to ensure their mission was a success. 'This is almost exactly like last time.'

After he and Mikey reached a rooftop the next block over, they stopped, both of them frantically scanning the shadows for their brothers. Raph was counting his heartbeats, and when thirty went by without any sign of either Leo or Don, panic began to set in once again. His mouth became dry and Raph felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead.

Finally Mikey broke the tense silence, "You don't think Karai…do you?"

Raph cringed at the teary note that pervaded his normally cheerful brother's voice. Unable to swallow, Raph forced his thick tongue to form words, "Stay here, Mikey. I'm going to head back and check on them. They probably went the wrong way or something."

"O-okay."

Raph forced his body to move despite how unwilling it was. He desperately wanted to believe that Leo and Don had gone a different direction and were laying low until Karai and the Foot gave up and left. He had to stay strong, at least for Mikey's sake. Of course, his brain was yelling at him, insulting him for being so naïve as to even believe for a moment that his brothers weren't in danger. 'I'm such a moron!'

He stopped when he eventually reached a building adjacent to where he and Mikey had abandoned Leo and Donnie to the Foot. Voices reached his ears and, both startled and curious, Raph crouched down low and crawled to the edge of the rooftop. His heart leapt into his throat when he heard Karai's proud sneer hang in the still air.

"Yes Father. I have successfully captured the turtles. We will bring them to headquarters right away for your inspection."

Raph flinched when he heard what sounded like van doors closing and then the screeching of tires grated on his nerves. "No…" he whispered, despair piercing his chest right near where his heart lay. How was he going to explain this to Mikey? To Master Splinter?

Certain that no one was around, Raph stood, determined to make it up to everyone he had let down. He was the protector. Because of his pointless hesitations, not only had Leo been shot but Don had been captured as well. He searched within himself, seeking the source of his strength. When he found it, he grabbed a tight hold, making a fist and holding it in front of his face as he snarled, "I promise I will bring you both back home if it's the last thing I do! No one will keep me from my brothers! You hear me, Foot Clan?! You'll all pay for this!"

As he turned around, feeling his vow energize his body and mind he growled ominously, "Especially you, Karai!"

-x-

Well I hope you guys all enjoyed that. So Raph has a few issues mainly because I love how in the new show he panics under extreme pressure and he needs someone less emotionally driven to help bring him back. Now that he doesn't have them, he needs to find it within himself to focus on what really needs to be done so that he can take care of little Mikey. (Although I'm sure a lot of you will be upset with me for making him out to be like this, oh well). I left some things unclear because in another chapter you'll see a different outlook on how this whole "capture" went down. Until then you all can theorize and I look forward to reading your thoughts on the whole thing. What do you think will happen to Leo and Don? What do you think happened to April? Hahahaha! I love you guys and I'll see you all next time!

-Ariane