-Redemption-

Summary: Takes place during the 2007 CGI movie. Leo finds out who the Night Watcher is in a completely different way...

Disclaimer: I do not own the turtles. *Imagines what it would be like if I did and grins evilly*

A/n: Sorry for leaving you all off like that, I just love cliff hangers! Thankfully I finally know what direction I want to take this story in, so writing for it should be a whole lot easier. Plus, it helps now that my Muse is working. Right now it won't turn off! Must…write…next…chapter…!

Warnings for swearing and blood.

April's breath hitched as she stared down in disbelief at Raphael, her mind and body going numb and freezing with horror and shock.

"Raphael?" She whispered softly, her words shattering the deathly silence that had washed over them.

"He…no," Casey breathed out in shock, staring disbelievingly down at his friend, his best friend. "He's…no…he can't be dead!"

The numbness that had been gripping them both seemed to shatter at that moment, as panic unfroze their blood and spurred their minds and bodies into overdrive.

"No!" April screamed, suddenly launching herself at Raphael's prone, still form. Nudging his legs apart for more room, April quickly climbed up onto the back seat and settled herself between Raphael's legs, her chest rising and falling with sharp breaths that never seemed to reach her lungs. Strands of hair fell out of her bun and hung in sweaty strands in front of her eyes and across her face. She was sure she had leaves and twigs mattered in her hair as well, but she didn't care. Her mind was now focused solely on the task of bringing Raphael back.

Blocking out the ghastly black and blue bruises that mottled his chest, and pushing aside the fact that he had broken ribs, April leaned forward and pressed her hands over his heart. She started to perform frantic CPR, compressing down on his chest several times before leaning forward, pinching his nose, and breathing into his open mouth. She ignored the taste of bile and blood that was in his mouth, instead repeating a prayer over and over again in her head as she worked frantically.

Please Lord, don't take him way. Bring him back to us…please Raphael, wake up.

"Come on Raph," April muttered, moving to start compressing his chest again. "Come on…breathe damn it!"

"Don't do this to me buddy, don't do this," Casey said in a broken voice, his tears falling shamelessly onto Raphael's still form. "Come on buddy, breathe!"

"Please Raphael, please!" April whimpered, sliding forward again to breathe into his mouth, hoping, praying, that he could somehow hear her, would somehow find his way back to them.

April took a deep breath and leaned forward again, desperately trying to force air back into Raphael's still lungs.

April thought she felt a twitch under her, but didn't have enough time to think about it as Raphael suddenly gasped and arched up under her.

"Raphael!" April exclaimed, moving back and watching in disbelief and overwhelming relief as his chest shuddered as he inhaled a few shaky and unsteady breaths.

"You're alive!" Unable to contain her joy, April moved forward and wrapped her arms around Raphael's shoulders, pulling him towards her and kissing him in relief.

"A..pril?" Raphael coughed weakly, his voice strained and gruff as he slowly cracked his eyes open a few centimetres to look at her.

April thought she would never see those golden/amber orbs again. "Oh Raphael, thank God," she whispered, leaning her head against his chest and letting out the tears that she didn't even realize she had been holding. Her body shook as overpowering sobs of relief wracked her body.

"Wha…?" Before Raphael could fully comprehend, or even begin to understand what was happening around him, or where he was and why he was here, he felt a pair of familiar strong arms engulph him as Casey leaned down and hugged him tightly, burying his face into Raphael's shoulder.

"Raph…you're alive," he croaked in a broken voice, tears staining his face and falling onto Raphael's skin. "Thank God you're alive. I thought…I thought I'd lost you."

"Is…'kay," Raphael mumbled, his head drooping as he fought to keep his eyes open. "A..n't goin…nowheres…"

Casey pulled back from Raphael and smiled down at him with relief. "I'm glad to hear it."

Leo snapped awake, his world spinning around him. He was confused and disoriented, and it took him a few moments to figure out where he was and what had happened.

"Leo?" A pair of concerned baby blue eyes looked down at him from a familiar green face.

"Mikey?" Leo murmured, finding his voice scratchy and parched, like he had been screaming for a long time.

"Leo, are you okay bro? What happened? Donnie asked from the driver's seat, looking over the back at Leo, his eyes narrowed in concern.

"Yeah, what happened bro?" Mikey asked, resting a warm hand on Leo's shoulder and helping him sit up from the ground. "Your eyes liked rolled in the back of your head and you fainted. You started twitching and mumbling about something under your breath."

"How long was I out?" Leo asked calmly, taking a deep breath to calm his rattled nerves.

"About five minutes," Don replied. "We couldn't wake you up."

Leo nodded once, letting out a deep sigh before bowing his head to the floor and closing his eyes. "I…I don't know how to describe it. I just…I felt something. Something pulling me towards Raph. I could feel his conscious, and it was slowly slipping away. I think he…"

"Don't say it," Don interrupted him in a firm voice before he could finish. "We nearly there now."

Leo took a deep breath, willing his hands not to shake. He had to stay strong, for his brothers. He couldn't panic, his brothers needed a leader, and needed to know that he had things under control, though his heart was beating wildly against his ribcage and his brain was numb. In truth, he had no idea what to do, and that scared him. His brothers expected him to be the one who always had a solution to everything, and to make sure everything was alright.

He didn't think he was doing a good job of that at the moment.

He was broken out of his thoughts by Donnie's sudden exclamation.

"There they are!"

Sure enough, through the darkness of the late night, the battle-shell's headlights lit up the road ahead, shining a beacon on April's parked car, and the silhouettes moving inside.

Leo was up in an instant, and ran to the door and pulled it open quickly. He was instantly blasted with cold night air, sending goose-bumps along his skin and sending shivers down his spine.

Leo jumped out of the car, his feet hitting the rough asphalt before Donnie could even stop the car. As soon as he felt the rough texture of the road beneath his feet, Leo took off in the direction of April's car.

And then, it started to rain.