I hope you all like this so far so please review! I don't own them - if I did, they would be in trouble :)
Big thanks to Mike11 for sticking with me to update. All lateness in updates are to be blamed on my job.
Leo carefully placed each foot, eyes straining through the darkness. The steady drip of the water hit the cement floor with a soft sound. Hand reaching around, he silently drew his katana. No light gave the blade a glitter, but Leo could still feel the deadliness of the blade.
A soft whooshing sound caught his attention and he froze. A brief flash of red caught his attention to the left and he let a grin come over his face.
There you are.
Leaping forward, following his instincts, he struck the faint flash of red. There was an echo of yelps and the sound of something hard hitting concrete.
"Get off me Leo!"
Leo grinned as he moved off the struggling and cursing figure. "I could see you a mile away bro – stealth was never one of your big things, was it?"
Raph could only grumble as he shoved his older brother off his plastron. "Whatever." He growled. "Just get the shell off me!"
Leo complied, swinging off his brother and back onto his feet. Standing back a few feet, he tried to hide the smirk as his brother struggled up. Even since Raph had decided to stay with them until his leg healed at least, he'd been back to training, trying to regain his
muscle strength he'd lost.
Although he tried to hide it well, Leo knew he missed being able to fill his stomach whenever he chose and the warm, dry bed to sleep in alone. He also knew Raphael missed the attention Mikey saved for him and the current and constant check ups of Don.
Leo could still sense tension between the hotheaded turtle and Splinter but he chose to ignore it. It was better than him flat out ignoring the aged rat.
"Again?"
Raph shot the leader a glare, fire filling his amber eyes. "Ya know bro, you'd better be glad this ain't for real. Then I'd really take you down."
"I'm sure."
"Don't mock me!" Raph's voice rose and a growl followed the words.
Flinching, Leo stepped back. He couldn't fight with Raph…not now. "You're right." he soothed.
"No you're a…what?" His voice was shaky, unsure. That was the last answer he'd expected Leo to give.
"You're right." Confirmed Leo. "That was wrong of me. Forgive me?"
"Umm…" this wasn't anything like he'd expected. It was almost like a dream – a dream where for once, he was right. He was the perfect son and Leo was second best.
He couldn't help himself, but pinched his right arm, closing his eyes. There was a small sting of pain and he opened his eyes again. Leo was staring at him with slight confusion.
"You alright." He stepped forward, thinking he might be in pain from their tumble.
"I'm fine." Raph snapped, stepping away from the probing hands.
"Then what were you doing?"
"Stuff."
"Stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Um…okay." Leo tilted his head, studying his younger brother. Raph had never been the sharpest pencil in the box but he made up for it in pure raw muscle. While Leo was an expert fighter, he never had the brute force Raph had, which made him a valuable asset in battle. "Wanna go again?"
"No, I'd like to head home."
I must be dreaming. Raph always wanted to get out…and he said home. Pride swelled through the eldest turtle, like a balloon waiting to burst. "Okay, whatever you say."
Raph himself thought he was dreaming as well. Twice in a row Leo has agreed with me? Let alone, twice in a day? I must be on a roll. A smile passed over his features.
"What are you smiling at?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Yep."
Leo could only roll his eyes, but he felt the thankful swell again. They hadn't joked around since they were kids…maybe Splinter was right and it was all for the better.
Although Leo was pleased with having his relationship well on the way to being fixed, he couldn't help but think it was too high a price. He'd missed Raph like shell when he was gone but was it really worth it? Was a measly get-along relationship worth almost loosing his brother?
"Okay then. How about we head over to Casey's tonight?"
Raph hesitated. "Can't." he mumbled.
"Why not?"
"I promised Suri we'd spend the evening together." The words came out almost shameful.
Swallowing the disappointment in his throat, Leo nodded. "Sure Raph. Whatever you want."
"Thanks Leo." Raph smiled gratefully, like the weight of the world had suddenly been lifted off his shoulders.
"So what were you two planning to do tonight?" Leo smiled. He was glad his brother had found someone so close to him. Suri has always seemed so overprotective of Raph – never wanting to share him with anyone else.
For once in his life, Leo was baffled. He couldn't imagine who she had competition with – there wasn't exactly a line up for girls to date them.
"We're planning to go out."
"Out?" Leo tensed at the words. Out for Raph usually meant a few bloody knuckles and a black eye to match.
"Just up Leo. We're going to walk in the park and do stuff like that…nothing dangerous."
"I see." As much as Leo didn't believe him, he really didn't have a choice. That was part of their relationship problem – neither of them wanted to believe each other. But he was going to fix that starting now. "Have fun."
"Thanks Leo… thanks a lot." To Raph, the very praise of his brother meant more to him than he ever thought it would. So used to the constant word no, he never thought have fun was in his oldest brother's dictionary.
With a smile at Leo, Raph turned away, ready to head home and get ready for his 'date'. Even though Leo had announced his approval for Raph's date, something still seemed missing.
"And Raph?"
Raph hesitated, half turning back towards Leo.
"Be safe."
And now it was complete.
"I understand!" her voice was desperate, pleading. She ignored the odd looks fellow New Yorkers were giving her and she hugged the payphone, fiddling with the chord with her fingers. "No sir."
"They must be found." The voice was low and raspy. "The buyers are coming soon and they must be ready."
"I...I understand sir. We're trying as hard as we can but now Raphael seems determined to stay with his family."
"Well he won't be so determined if we take his precious Suri away from him."
A smile spread across her features and blue eyes twinkled. "Yes sir. I'm sure something…special, for the girl can be arranged."
"Good."
She could almost imagine him smiling.
"Very good."
Um...please review :)
Still think Suri is evil? Review and let me know!
