Don't own them.

Thanks to Raph's No. 1 Girl for beta reading this!

Enjoy!


"No Leo!" The second the young turtle saw his brother fall to the floor, he immediately stopped, and spinning around, he started to rush back to the fallen Leo.

"No Mikey!" Don shot forward, grabbing his youngest brother and halting him in his tracks. "We can't go back there!"

"But Leo --" Mikey protested, struggling against Don's iron grip on his arm. "We can't leave him!"

Don glanced up, paling when he saw the men barging through the once locked door. A few stopped by Leo while the rest rushed at him and Mikey. "Mikey, we need to leave. We will rescue Leo later." he stared into his brother's huge, frightened blue eyes. "I promise."

Mikey just stood there, frozen, until a dart landed inches from his foot. With a yelp, he shot backwards and once again running from the crazy thugs with guns. Don was beside him, his chest heaving for breath and his legs protesting every step he took. His heart thumped wildly and he suddenly felt a slap of guilt.

This was the second time he gave up on a brother. First with Raph, he'd almost left him in that burning building and now he'd left Leo behind with them. If not for Mikey, Raph would be dead for sure. Now Leo was gone and Don understood what that meant. With Leo captured, and Raph out cold, that left one turtle to avenge Raph and rescue Leo; one turtle to set things right; one turtle to lead the other.

Him.


"Guys, you're alright!" April cried, jumping to her feet as soon as the lair door opened. She nervously brushed a hand through her hair as Donny and Mikey walked through, but no Leo. "Where's Leo?"

Mikey just stared at the floor. Don gave a nervous cough as Splinter tapped his way into the room. His ear gave a nervous twitch at only seeing two of his sons. He was sure he'd sent away three.

"My sons?" he questioned, feeling the tension in the air. "Where is Leonardo?"

"They took him." Don whispered hoarsely. He was about to go into details when a low, pain filled voice stopped him.

"Who took him?"

Despite everything, his heart fluttered with joy. He felt Mikey tense beside him as they both spun simultaneously.

There, looking pale and tense, sitting in a wheelchair with one leg propped, wrapped tightly in white and up in front of him and with Suri at his side, was Raphael.

"Raph!" Mikey screeched as he lunged for his handicapped brother. Don grabbed him by the shell, inches from his brother. Mikey stopped suddenly, and a sheepish grin filled his features but his voice was still filled with unimaginable happiness. "Raph."

Raph tried to appear tough and act like he didn't care. But one look at his baby brother's face broke whatever tough act he tried to put on. He held out both arms in the orange wearing turtle's direction with a sigh of defeat.

"Come here, knucklehead."

Nothing, no brother, wild horses, or Shredder himself, could keep Mike away from his brother. The same brother who they'd saved and healed; the same brother who'd been missing for over a month; the same brother who Mikey was proud to call a brother.

A brother he loved with every fiber of his being, with every ounce of his soul and every inch of his heart. And nothing, time or space itself, was going to change that.

The second Mikey fell into Raph's arms, even though they weren't the usual thick muscles he was used too, he broke out into tears. He pressed himself tightly against Raph, holding onto him, making sure he was really there. The tighter he hugged, the more real it all became and the more reluctant Mikey was to let go.

The second Mikey fell into his arms, Raph thought he was going to break out into tears, sobbing hysterically like his younger brother was doing on his shoulder. He didn't, but he did let a few tears slip silently down his cheeks and onto Mikey. The orange clad turtle must have felt them somehow, for he started bawling harder, his sobs wracking his body. Raph hugged his youngest brother as tight as he dared without injuring or agitating his wounds further. He was so glad to see him. He'd missed him so much it almost hurt.

Raph loved Mikey's hugs, but while injured with bruised sides and broken ribs, it kinda hurt.

Actually, it hurt A LOT.

"Mikey," Raph gently tried to break Mikey's death grip on him. "Mikey you're kinda hurting me. Can ya let go?"

Mikey instantly released his crushing hold, leaping back as though a rattle snake was about to bite him. He gave his brother a nervous smile; he prayed he hadn't hurt him. That was the last thing Mikey wanted to do was damage Raph and make him mad so he would leave again. The girl beside him, Suri, gave him a smirk as she gently squeezed Raph's uninjured shoulder.

Don gave an uneasy grin at Raph. He definitely did not expect a welcoming hug like Mikey had received; a simple wave of the hand, a smile, or a hello would make his day.

Raph looked his way and for many seconds they stared; eye to eye. No harsh words were passed or disgusted faces, only a stone hard stare. Don finally broke the silence; unable to stare at the turtle he'd hurt all these years.

"Hey." Don gave his brother a pleading look.

Please don't hate me. Please…

"Hey Don." Raph finally spoke. He stared hard at him for a few more seconds before a grin settled on his features. "What? No thorough checkup? No questions? No "How are you feelin'? What thoughts are currently passin' through your tiny brain?" None o' that?" he narrowed his eyes, staring hard at his brother as though he could see through him. "Ya feelin' okay?"

Don abruptly let loose the grief he'd been holding those weeks without Raph around. The tears started slow, as if afraid to show themselves to the outside world, then came rushing out like lava from a volcano. Raph was clearly expecting this and held out his arms in a similar manner as he did with Mikey.

Don suddenly found himself needing his brother more than at any other time in his life. He didn't care that April, Casey, Splinter or even Mikey saw; he just wanted his brother. Raph was always so strong, passionate, and almost immortal to Don, he'd never imagined anything could get the red clad turtle crying. But now he did.

They stood there for several minutes, locked in an awkward embrace, having to kneel on the floor and to the side so they wouldn't disrupt his leg. Mikey had joined in after watching them for a while. He wasn't the one to be locked out of a brotherly moment such as this.

Within minutes, everyone had gathered around and was hugging each other tearfully, all embracing (or trying too) Raphael. If they couldn't get close enough, they simply hugged the person who was touching Raph, feeling they would get the same effect as if they were actually touching him.

Nobody knew how long they sat/stood there, crying. Casey was the first to recover, backing up and wiping the tears from his red eyes. He managed a brave smile.

"Good ta have ya back Raph." He gave him a friendly (and light) punch in the shoulder.

Raph playfully growled, raising his fist in a mock attempt to smack the man. "Casey, I swear when I get outta here…"

"You'll do what, crippled?" Casey shot back.

Raph just laughed. It was good to see their faces again. Even though he still had some stuff he needed to talk with Splinter about, and probably Don as well. He faced the purple clad turtle. "So who got Leo?"

The lairs cheerfulness quickly died off as everyone remembered the problem at hand. Mikey spoke up in a pained voice.

"We…we went to search out the Black Demons."

Raph's face showed his shock. "How'd ya know bout them?"

"You informed us about them while you were unconscious Raphael." Splinter said.

Raph wanted to kick himself. How could he have done that? By doing that, he'd gotten Leo captured. "So you went and searched them out. Find them?"

Mikey gave a small nod. "They're the ones who have Leo."

"WHAT!!!" Raph yelled. He started to lift himself up by the arms, determined to stand. They left Leo in the hands of those loonies?

Don reached forward and with Casey and Suri's help, forced the turtle back into the seat of the wheelchair. "Calm down Raph." He protested against his brother's struggles. "We will go get him."

Raph instantly calmed down and felt some of his old anger rush back to him. The month he'd been missing, he and Suri had worked on his anger control issue. He was proud to say he was doing pretty well. Until now that is.

"Leo could be half way around the world by now." Raph hissed angrily. "Those goons operate quickly and quietly. Do you realize the second you left they could have been packing up? By the time we get there, there won't be anything. No goons, no boxes, no furs," his voice lowered, hard and cold. "No Leo."

Mikey froze. Leo could be gone? "Then what are we waiting for?" he demanded.

Splinter nodded, agreeing with the urgency to hurry. "Joey," he turned to the teen. "Will you stay here with Raphael and Suri…?"

"No, take Suri." Raph smirked as the black haired girl smiled at him, cracking her knuckles. "She can kick butt almost as well as I can."

Splinter hesitated, and then nodded. "Alright then, Joey will you stay with Raphael and Sammy? The rest of us will go and free Leonardo."

Joey gave a small bow as a sign of respect. "Yes Splinter."

"Very well then," Splinter gave a flick of his tail. "Let us depart."

As the rest of them left, Joey and Raph exchanged a grin and snickers.

"They really thought they were going to leave us here?" Raph chuckled as he started wheeling away to the elevator.

"Apparently." Joey laughed, following the turtle. Sammy rode on Raph's lap, her face lit up at the thought of seeing Raph like in his stories. She couldn't wait.


I hope you enjoyed it.

Big congratulations to 54Viruses for noticing the small clue I left in the text in the last chapter about the breed mix and how he was talking. Here's a challenge, at random I'll hide clues like that. See if you can find them! LOL

~raphfreak