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Summary: Raph is sure he can't take Leo's almighty attitude any longer. He channels his rage through the Nightwatcher, a mask he puts on to beat down criminals of all kinds. However, when Raph (as the Nightwatcher) is captured by desperate criminals, he begins to realize how much he really needs a leader. He also might have found love in the process. RaphxOC, M/M SLASH! Don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT. I don't profit from this, either.

Raphael broke a sweat under his heavy metal disguise as he raced along the rooftops, his eyes desperately searching for any illicit activities. He craved the fight like it was a drug. In many ways, it was-it got his heart rate up, he got out of his head. He wanted his escape.

Obsessing would get him nowhere, he decided. Raph slowed to a more leisurely pace and listened. The scene wasn't quiet (it never was in this city), but there were considerably fewer people milling around in the streets. Not many liked to get out this early in the morning, when the sun had not yet touched the earth and the last dregs of go-hard, nightly partiers were vacating suspicious bars that claimed to be open 24/7.

Then, he heard it. A stifled cry, a rustling to his immediate left, down in the alley. Raph smirked grimly as his rage called to the adrenaline that coursed through his veins. A robbery, for sure.

He launched himself off the roof, landing softly in the dark alleyway, for all his bulk. The scene that greeted his hungry eyes could not be misunderstood. A rather short man, dressed in a ratty brown trench coat and clutching a metal case to his chest, was backed up against the wall of the closest grimey building. Three men, a leader with a pistol and two more with clubs, towered over the guy. Raphael could hear their gruff voices, and their victim's shaking one.

"C'mon, just give us whatever's in that shiny box of yours, and we won't cause ya no more troubles," the leader grunted, and his two cronies laughed cruelly behind him.

"You.. You can take all my money, or whatever else I've got, just leave the box, please," the short man stammered, and the robbers laughed again.

"Now you know that ain't gonna.." the leader began, but never got a chance to finish as one of Raph's chains slammed into his skull. He went down real easy, but one of the club guys managed to stoop down and grab the pistol. Raphael snarled as he was forced to dodge a few wayward shots. The victim shrank against the wall, cradling his case and ducking his head.

Raph laughed as one of the guys made to swing at him with his club. With ninja reflexes, he side-stepped the blow before it could even get close to him. A surprised criminal got a full-metal punch to the face, knocking him out, too. Raph was beginning to get bored.

Raphael vanished into the shadows as the last man standing fired off a few more shots. He reappeared behind the guy, pulling him into a choke hold that forced the criminal to drop his weapons.

"Now you tell the rank scum that you call your friends this," Raphael made a point to say to the criminal gruffly, even as the man gasped for air. "The Nightwatcher.. Never stops watching. I will find you all, eventually."

He dropped the wheezing man to the floor carelessly, and the would-be robber scrambled for his pistol. He came to a dead stop in his search when Raph kicked him across the alley.

"If I were you, I would start running," Raph sneered behind his armor. The man looked up at his full form, wide-eyed, and promptly fled.

Raphael turned to find the short man still cringing on the wall. Sighing, Raph walked towards him slowly, so as not to startle the man.

"Hey, uh.. They're gone," Raph said awkwardly, shifting his weight around on his feet. This was by far his least favorite part of fighting, though he'd never had a victim stick around this long before; mostly they just high-tailed it outta there as soon as he distracted the bad guys. Raph resisted the urge to stare at the ground. His adrenaline diminished, and he was beginning to get tired.

The short man looked up, a wide smile across his face. From what Raphael could tell upon closer inspection, this guy was pretty old, and he had definitely seen better days. The beginnings of a beard lined his jaw line and stretched upwards to his chin. He really needed to shave.

"I owe you my life, my friend," the man began, and Raph almost jumped back in shock. Now the people he saved were actually speaking to him? What was the world coming to?

"Um," Raph began intelligently, then cleared his throat. "All in a day's work?"

"Is that so?" the older man replied, his eyes twinkling kindly, though Raph swore he could see something hard behind them. "Well, someone who works as hard as you do-Mr. Nightwatcher, is it?-should definitely get some kind of relief from all that stress."

"What?" Raph asked, confused and not just a little bit skeptical.

"This here case," the man explained, "contains a very fine wine. Few in the world have ever tasted it, but my employer adores it. It is laced with a little something that gives it an extra attribute, a better buzz, if you will, than just any old alcohol."

"Oh," Raph nodded, understanding.

"I would like to give this one to you, as a gift for your honorable service," the man said, pulling out a huge bottle of the liquid. "Compliments of my employer."

"Nah, I couldn't take that-"

"Go ahead," the man interrupted. "Trust me, he won't mind. And it really is delicious!"

The short man looked up at Raphael, beaming, and Raph just couldn't say no. He took the wine, promising himself he'd pour it down a drain later.

The rest of the night was rather uneventful. All of the criminals seemed to have cleared out, the police had come and taken what was left of the men Raph had beaten down away, and Raph had vanished to the rooftops again. Raphael made a mental note-in the future, he would never let one guy escape to spread his reputation. It was much cooler when it happened in the movies.

After a while of lazing about, Raph began to get jumpy. He sat on the edge of a tall building, so he could not be seen from the street below. Gradually, his thoughts turned back to Leo and his family.

We need to train together, so that we can fight together.

Leo's words echoed in his brain, from just earlier and from years passed. Always Leo's voice, because Leo was their leader who always knew right. The only one worth hearing out. All of Raph's plans had usually been dismissed on the spot.

Remember the ninja code.

Raph remembered it. He was pretty sure it did not include sitting at home, watching TV while others with lesser ability were being injured, or worse. Raphael grew more and more agitated; his metal-clad hands balled up into fists.

I'll bet the Nightwatcher has lots of issues he needs to straighten out.

Copy that! Raph slammed a fist down on the roof, but only succeeded in bending the metal around his fingers. Jagged pieces stuck inwards and bit through his skin. Raph cursed, probably more loudly than was necessary, and picked up his bottle of wine, popping the stopper.

If this really was fine wine, no sense wasting it, huh? Raph really needed a drink. He took an unsophisticated swig, draining about a fourth of the bottle in one go.

Raph- he heard Leonardo chastising him in his head. Raph stumbled to his feet, he needed to get back on solid ground if this was how it was going to go down. The something else in the wine was already beginning to take effect, making Raph's movements lethargic. He had to get Leo out of his mind. Perhaps he could beat him outta there? He drained another fourth of the bottle.

"Raph, don't do that, Raph, stop it, Raph, Raph, Raph!" he slurred mockingly, keenly unaware of his uneven stumbling until he almost tripped as he jumped down into an alley. Close one. Not to be deterred, Raph drank some more. The wine was almost gone now. Mm, it was good, though. He smiled through the haze of his warm buzz, for a moment forgetting all about Leo, or the fact that Leo had ever existed.

He thought it would be fun to sit down; his vision was swimming, anyways. Raph rubbed at his bleary eyes, but to no avail. His vision wouldn't clear.

He sat down hard, down amidst the dirt and the garbage that usually disgusted him but now welcomed Raph home. He belonged here in the trash, as far as his family was concerned. Raph smiled sadly. He knew Splinter probably wouldn't miss him if he didn't come back.

Raph frowned. These were sad thoughts. How could he get rid of sad thoughts? Oh! The wine! He had just a little bit left. Raph downed it in great haste, eager to chase the thoughts away.

Funny thing about anger, let it consume you and soon enough, you lose sight of everything.

Leonardo gave him one last lecture before Raphael blacked out.

Oh, no. What's gonna happen? Guess you'll have to read the next chapter to find out. And yes, I'm aware of how evil I am.. Heh.

Please R&R anyways!

-DauntlessAdrenaline