Here's chapter six. A huge thank you to my good friend, theincreidbledancingbettty. Without her, this would have twice the mistakes! Thanks to all me reviewers, you guys have been great so far!


"Keep it down Mikey." Don ordered his little brother. "Raph could've heard you."

The three brothers, using Don's special binoculars, had spotted Raph talking to some girl in the distance. Don had designed them himself to be able to see people from a great distance and hear them as clear as day.

When they had told April where they were heading, Casey demanded he brought along. After all, he was Raph's best friend and anything that the others would be doing to bring him back, he'd be a part of.

"What are we going to do?" Casey asked.

Leo remained calm. As bad as he wanted to rush to his brother and drag him home, he knew better. "We wait." He told them. "Don, see if you can hear them talking."

Don flipped a switch and their brother's voice flooded through.

"Maybe they won't come." A girl's voice said.

"Maybe," Raph sounded unconvinced. "I could have sworn I heard one of them though."

Two turtles and one human shot the youngest turtle a dirty look.

"Sorry." He whispered.

"So what were they like?" her voice asked.

Raph gave her a small chuckle, it sounding weird through the microphone. "Well there was Mikey, the youngest. He had a wild imagination and a big heart. He had the bluest eyes; dang I can't count the number of time I was jealous."

"I think you're cute with brown eyes." The girl told him.

Mikey wriggled his eyebrows at this brothers. "Raph's in love."

"Thanks for that Suri." Despite the sarcastic tone, there was an edge of pleasure in it. "Well, then there was Don. Our very own Albert Einstein. Give him a piece of chewing gum and a wad of foil and the guy could make a armored vehicle in a matter of days."

"Sounds like you had a lot of respect for him." Suri told him.

"I wouldn't call it respect-just …I don't know. I mean, how many families do you know that have a genius in the family who read the dictionary at age six? I guess I was kinda jealous of him, too.

"What about the oldest brother?"

As Raph paused, Leo felt his heart start to pound beneath his plastron.

"Leo? I…I used to call him my best friend. I guess we were the closest growing up; we'd do everything together. But when Splinter named him leader, he forgot about us. It's like all of a sudden, we were no longer his brothers. Now we're just pupils in training. Don't do this. Don't do that. Or, one of my favorites, a real ninja wouldn't behave as you are. He was starting to sound like Master Splinter. Only all the time."

Mikey turned to Leo, to see his reaction. The blue masked turtle was listening with a face of steel, unflinching.

"He became so grownup all of a sudden, I guess he forgot that he was just a kid like us. He would train till he couldn't move, and still he would go on. When he did that, I was left out with my younger brothers, waiting I guess. Waiting to be let in; to train with my best friend." His voice was no more than a whisper and the listeners had to strain to hear him.

"I stood outside that door when I was younger for hours, waiting for him to stop acting like another father and start acting like my brother: hours of just waiting. Sometimes he would be in there all day and I would fall asleep outside the door, waiting for my turn. As the years went by I realized something," Raph said with tears in his voice. "Leonardo, wasn't going to let me in. I stopped waiting after that and I guess that's when my patience reached a low point. I was tired of waiting; of being patient. I lost it at some point, along with my best friend."

Suri reached over and let the turtle cry on her shoulder. Within minutes, her black shirt was wet, but she didn't care. For once it was nice to be able to help someone else. It was good to be able to return a favor.

"Shh." She whispered as she rubbed his shell in soothing circles. "It'll be okay. They're part of your old life; you don't need to wait to be let in anymore." She went on strongly. "The doors are open and the red carpets been laid. There's thousands of adoring fans, waiting for you inside. A big red sign is flashing you name."

She could hear the chuckle and felt his body shake.

"And for once, you don't have to worry about anyone leaving you out. Why?

Because you can't get out any more than we already are." She said with wave of her hand towards the night, trying to lighten the mood. "Can't you hear them? All the pretty girls yelling 'RAPH! RAPH! RAPH! The music is so loud you can't hear over it. So, if anyone does call from out there, we'll just tell them that you're too busy to talk. K?"

Raph started with a weak laugh that grew until he was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. He finally said" Yeah! I can see them now, trying to find a way to sneak in anyway and being told by Sammy that they would have to make an appointment! And that the next one available is in two months!"

Casey was in shock that the normally red clad turtle would ever even think, let alone laugh at that thought. But at the same time, he felt a burst of anger. That girl! Raph should have come to him, not that strange girl.

Mikey was deep in thought. If Leo had let him in, would Raph be the way he is today? Probably not. But…

Shock was to weak a word to describe what Leo was feeling; betrayal and anger at not only himself, but at the Splinter. He and Raph would still be together and close if he'd just found a way to balance everything. He didn't want to disappoint Master Splinter but he didn't want to lose his brother either. They should be at home right now wrecking the place with a food fight, just like when they were young.

"So Raph," Suri said with a smirk. "Like my idea?"

Raph gave her a light shove in mock protest. "You forgot the part where they all run screaming the minute I take off my cape and top hat."

"Oh no," Suri slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles. "They do run screaming all right, but not away. Until you grin that is."

"Thank a lot." Raph gave her a look before turning back to gaze at the city. "You know what's funny?"

"What?" Suri asked as she laid her head on his muscular shoulder. Her hair split in two, covering his plastron and shell.

"They say that in New York, even the brightest star can't shine through because of all the lights we have down here." He gestured with his hand to the busy streets below. "But up here, the stars seem to be brighter than anywhere else."

"Hmm," she gazed at the starry sky. "I might have to disagree with you there. In the country is where they're the brightest."

Raph gave a deep chuckle. "Not what I meant. It means that even in what's supposed to be the darkest and most dangerous place in the US, you can still find some sort of peace and comfort. All you have to do is look." He grinned. "Or in our case, climb."

A moment of silence overtook them as they starred at the stars. To Raph, he's never found more peace in his life then he did now.

"You know Raph," Suri snuggled in closer to the turtle. "I enjoyed tonight."

"Me too Suri." She wrapped an arm around her slim shoulders. "Me too."

"Sorry to interrupt." A voice growled.

Raph spun around, reaching for his sai's, which weren't there. A masked man stood behind them, tapping a baseball bat against his gloved hands.

"Casey?" Raph gaped. "What are ya doin?" His eyes narrowed as three more figures jumped behind him. He pushed the girl behind him. "Stay behind and out of this Suri."

"What ya doing here Raph?" Casey growled. He swung the bat in Suri's direction. "And with her?"

Raph starred at his old friend, anger in his voice. "Keep Suri out of this Casey. What are you doing with them?" he motioned towards the figures.

"Trying to get you to come back." Leo pushed in front of the vigilante. "Raph, you need to come home. Stop this childish tantrum you're having."

"I got a home." Raph spat. "The minute Splinter kicked me out, I found a place where I can help people face-to-face. I got people who want to be around me and hang out with me. I got friends."

"You already had friends." Casey yelled. He swung his bat at his chest. "What do you call me?"

Raph pointed at Casey. "You stay out of this! You would've sided with them! And you-" he rounded on the eldest turtle and said in a deadly calm voice. "Leave me alone."

"What have you got here Raph?" Leo swung her arms out. "A cold warehouse to sleep in; a bunch of homeless people who probably only want you around to protect them?"

"He's got me." Suri put her arm through Raph's shaking one, his whole body quivering in anger at them finding him. "And he's got people who love him, dangerous or not."

Raph felt himself start to calm down as the girl spoke. "He's told me things that he'd probably never confess to you. He's fun to be around because of who he is, not because of what he is or what he can do."

Don spoke up. "Suri is your name, right?" When she nodded he went on, " you don't understand what it's like up here for us. It's too dangerous for us to stay so visible all of the time. There are always men out there who would love nothing more than to get their hands on us, no matter what. They'd kill a bunch of homeless people like you in an instant, all in the name of science. After all," his voice saddened. "There's only four of us and billions of you; who do you think he'd pick if it came down to it?"

Suri shrugged. "Then let them come. I think one thing people underestimate about us is that we're too stupid to get a job or anything. But you see, here it takes a lot more brains to survive. Anyone can survive with everything, but can everybody survive with nothing?" her voice hardened.

"That's not that point Suri," Leo starred at the girl through his blue mask. "Surviving being homeless and surviving being shot while you're homeless aren't the same thing at all. One is doable, the other is just dead."

"I will protect them." Raph stepped closer to Leo, anger rolling off him in waves.

"All of them?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "Raph, stop! Think about what you're doing. This is not only hurting you, but it's putting the people you're with in danger. Can't you see how selfish you're being?"

"I can see why now Raph no longer want to call you family." Suri spoke quietly. " Family looks out for each other. But the best of families don't try to manipulate each other. You haven't once asked about your brother or his feelings. How's he doing? All I've heard is what you want." She looked around at them all and slowly shook her head. "I wouldn't want you for my brother either."

Leo opened his mouth to speak, but no words of wisdom came out. He was at a loss. "Fine then," he whispered to Raph. His calm words were layered with anger. "You no longer understand what it means to be a ninja."

"So, to be apart of your family, they have to pass certain rules?" Raph shook his head. "So if I'm no longer able to be a ninja, say I loose a leg in battle, I'm no longer able to be apart of your family? Wow bro," he shook his head. "What a way to ask me back."

"Come on Raph," Suri grabbed Raph's hand and started to pull. "Let's go home."

Raph started to follow her, ignoring Don's harsh words to Leo, when he heard a small, pained voice call his name. Raph turned slightly, seeing Mikey reach out towards him. His eyes were tearing.

Raph looked at him sadly for a moment, then shook his head and turned and left with the girl.

"Good going Leo." Don hissed angrily at his brother. "We're supposed to be asking him to come home, not making him angrier."

"He has to understand how selfish he's being!" Leo insisted, "He's going to loose one of those people! Can't he see that?"

"Right now I hate you, too!" Mikey suddenly screamed. "We were supposed to be bringing him home! Not keep reminding him why he left in the first place!" He shook his head angrily.

"Whoa… Mikey," Don laid a comforting arm across Mike's shaking shoulders. "You're right bro, we're sorry. Next time, we'll do better."

Mikey moved out from under the arm and away from the turtle. "Next time?" he asked in disbelief. "You really think there's going to be a next time? After how you treated him?" he shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

Leo wanted to console his youngest brother, but he doubted he was the last thing the orange masked turtle wanted. "Mikey?" he asked gently.

Mikey turned towards him, tears leaking.

"You're right, Mikey. We made a serious mess out of this." Leo stepped towards his brother, gathering him in a hug. He felt the young turtle's body heaving in sobs that he tried so hard to control. "We will get Raph back, Mikey. I promise."

"How? After what was said…" he whispered.

"The past is just something to learn from, not re-live." Leo told him gently as he rocked him. "We ruined the past, now we have to fix it."

Mikey was soothed by his brother's words. Still, he couldn't get out of his head the way Raph looked disgusted at them even talking to him.

"Oh Raph," he whispered. "Where are you?"


Hmm, this was kinda of a brotherly moment. It was a little more action, but the better stuff is coming up...promise...anyway, update please!!!