Ahaha. Hi. I've come back.
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~Roof, New York~
Leonardo Hamato was the yin to Raphael's yang. Leo was calm, cool, and collected. And if Leonardo was good at anything, it was reading people. He knew how people worked. He could read a person. Leo was aware of Raphael's crush on April before he was. He knew Mikey felt stuck in Donatello's shadow.
And he understood.
Raphael might disagree with his eldest brother, but he trusted him the most. And that is how Raphael found himself on roof with his opposite. "Raph, we need to talk. I want to talk."
"Well, I don't want to. Go home, Leo."
Leonardo shook his head and sat down next to his brother, their legs dangling off the building. "Raphael," Leo said trying to get his conflicted brother to look at him. "What the shell, Leo. What the shell," was all he could say.
His mask felt torn. Raph had painted a beautiful and dangerous picture of a rebellious teenage guy who didn't accept anyone's crap. He wanted people to stay out of his way. Raphael wanted to maintain his image of the tough guy. But slowly it crumbled away on this roof. "Would you rather be loved or feared?" Raph muttered, as if stating a fact instead of asking a question.
Leo shook his head; he reached over and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. The younger brother accepted it at first but shrugged it off and stood up. "This isn't me, Leo. I'm not this!" he shouted the last part. "I'm sick of this, all these stupid shell thoughts pounding in on me!"
"Emotions are what make you human, little brother. You fell in love and now these feelings are catching up to y-"
"I'm not in love," Raphael cut him off quickly, no softness in his voice. "You feel betrayed," Leo suggested.
"I don't feel anything."
"Raph," Leo look concerned now. Raphael was obviously a little heart broken but now he was just being silly. 'Drama queen.' Leo thought to himself.
"I'll be back tomorrow morning, good talk." Raphael turned and began to disappear from the scene into the night. "Raph! Raphael! You are acting like an emotional teenage girl, y'know…" Leonardo called into the lonely night.
~Lair~
April played with her hair as she inspected Leonardo's bedroom. She was a bit surprised to see posters of Captain America, James Kirk, Superman, and Abraham Lincoln. "Whaaa…Oh! All great leaders, right. Way to be you, Leo."
She passed by a dresser decorated with framed pictures. The redhead giggled at one of Mikey after taking a pie to the face. He was smiling in the picture and giving a thumbs up. Oh the Hamatos. A couple more pictures caught her eye, but one really stood out.
She gently picked up the picture nestled into a 'Brothers Forever!' frame. The picture was of Leonardo and Raphael; April's breath caught in her throat. Raphael was rolling his eyes, his arms crossed, but he still had a goofy smile on his face. Leo was right by his side and laughing at his brother.
'Oh, my boys,' April smiled uncontrollably. "Knock, knock," said someone at the door. The teenage girl quickly jumped to the door and a serious looking Mikey invited himself into Leo's room. He fell onto his brother's bed.
"Yes, Mikey?" April released the doorknob and sat on the floor, leaning up against the dresser. Mikey didn't answer her and silence fell upon them for a couple minutes. Finally, he sat up, "He really likes you, y'know."
"I really like him too," her voice got quieter towards the end of her confession. "Not like he does," Mikey whispered, staring at the bed and then at her.
April sighed, "I'm so stupid, my dad is out there and I'm here playing truth or dare!" she curled her knees towards her torso.
"April, I promise you we are trying very hard to get him back. Even Sensei is in on it." He reached down and grabbed her elbow. "I promise."
~"I'm fine. It's just my dad…" she crossed her arm over waist, clutching her other elbow and tilted her head down "I think something bad happened to him." Not expecting to hear that, Raph lifted her chin up with his finger so they now had eye contact. "I need more information."
She was about to continue when the door of the basemen opened. April tore away from Raph, taking a step back "Hey Ape? Mikey said you were down here," Donnie called through the doorway. "I'm right here, Donnie. I'll be up in a second!" she replied. Raph grabbed her hand as she turned to leave, "Tell me more later and whatever is up, I promise that I'll help."~
The memory hit April and she tried to shake it off. "Thank you Mikey. It means a lot…" Michelangelo pulled her to her feet and then into a hug. "G'night, red! Happy birthday." April gave him a half smile, "Good night Mikey."
Now with the room to herself, April realized her dilemma; she had no pajamas. "Crap," she whispered. She suddenly came up with an idea…that could either go very well or very bad. But hey, it was her birthday. April crept out of her room and into Raphael's.
"Where the heck do you keep these things, Raph?" April dug through drawers before finally finding a t-shirt waaaay too big for her. Deciding she could deal with wearing the same skirt two days in a row. Changing into Raph's t-shirt (A Foo Fighter's tour shirt) she calmy fell into Leo's bed.
~Lair~
"Raphael William Hamato! What are these?!" Leonardo yelled as he pulled Raph's bangs above his face up. Raphael winced, "Nothing." He tried to pull away but Leo wasn't having that. "Raphael you better have a good explanation for this. And I mean good."
{Flashback}
Casey Jones spun around to greet his competitor. "You exactly showed," his mask muffled his voice, but holy cow did he have an accent. Raph didn't say anything, he honestly didn't have his head in the game. Tonight had been a revelation for him. He didn't feel like fighting this obnoxious jerk.
But boy did this obnoxious jerk feel like fighting him.
It started off light, Casey swung, missed. Raph dodged. They threw sarcasm and mockery at each other. Raphael found it boring; his mind was somewhere else…and so was his heart. The heart he wanted everyone to believe wasn't there. But he did have a heart and by George, someone special had found it.
Casey swung again and Raph ducked, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind him. He released him once he cried out in pain. "Yay, I won. Don't get yourself into too much trouble, kid." Raph said dryly as he began to head for a manhole "You think we're done here?" Casey wiped his mouth. Raphael groaned but before he turned around, he hit the ground. "Thanks for the deadleg lesson!" Casey now thrust a punch to his stomach. Raphael tried to get up, but Casey was on top of him.
The supposed "sportsmaster" knocked a punch to his jaw and Raph was now the one in pain. After a couple more of Casey's blows, Raphael had had enough. Growling, he grabbed the native New Yorker's fist and twisted his wrist like he had earlier. Using Casey's pain he pushed the teen off of him and to the ground. "This isn't a game. Go home."
"You're…you're s-scared." Casey got to his feet, but he was obviously not fit to continue . "We are done." Raph muttered and fled the alley.
{End}
"Raph…" Leo rubbed his temple. "C'mon, let's fix these. Don't let Sensei see you like this."
~The Next Morning~
April awoke early that morning, she rolled out of bed and did her hair up in a messy bun without a mirror. Trudging through the hallway she reached her destination, the kitchen. 'What do these guys eat for breakfast?' "Apriiiiilll," Mikey whispered behind her, she jumped. "Mikey!" slipping on the rug below her she fell to the floor. "April! Holy mayonnaise! I am so so so so sorry!"
Walking in on that last part, Raphael rolled his eyes. "Great Mikey, what did you do n-" Raph stopped when his eyes spotted April in his shirt. Mikey had helped her up and April regained her balance. "Oh, good morning Raphael. Yes, Mikey, I'm fine, thanks." The youngest brother shrugged and quickly skateboarded off, feeling the tension between the two.
"So why are you in my shirt?" April's green eyes met his cold ones. She fingered the shirt, "Sorry, I uh, I… sorry." Raphael continued to stare at her, and she swore he could see her soul. Finally noticing his scars, the redhead freaked. "Oh my gosh, Raphael!" April quickly moved towards him and placed her hands on the sides of his face, staring at the bruises. "What the heck happened?!" Raphael didn't say anything, he remained expressionless as he took her wrists and pulled her hands off. The warmth was gone. "…Raph?" she whispered. He continued to stare at her until he quietly said "Good morning." And with that he spun on his heels and walked out.
April quickly decided to change back into her original shirt before Donatello saw her. Once she was changed she knocked on her boyfriend's door. "Uhnnfff," was the reply. She took that as a 'come in'. Donnie was still in bed, half asleep. "Hey, I'm going home. Catch you later, okay?" He cringed from the light the hallway brought, "Rnnnnnhhh." April waved, "Bye, Donnie." She closed the door and made her way to the exit. Once she got to the sewer she remember something. "You promised you would walk me home," she whispered, praying for a reply. The teenager was filled with joy when she heard a deep sigh. The boy emerged from the shadows he hid in. Fully aware Donatello could be following them, Raph didn't say a word until they were in front of April's apartment.
"Later," he said as he turned to the elevator. "Raphael Hamato, wait!"
"What?" Raph turned.
April didn't answer at first, she just kinds stood there, thinking about what to say. "Thanks, for walking me home and taking me out last night." She smiled. Raphael nodded and replied with a "You're welcome," he turned around again. "Raph!" April bit her lip. "What is it now?" the slightly annoyed teen kept his cool, or at least tried to. "Your shirt, I accidentally threw it into my purse, do yo-"
"Keep it."
"What?"
"I said you can keep it. Looks better on you, anyways." And this time, April let him leave without anymore questions.
~Unknown~
"He won't talk. We need the girl. Bring her here, and do not fail me," a voice threatened.
"I promise, master. I will bring her to you. I've been observing her... constant heroes. I infiltrated them. They will not be a problem this time, you have my word." The girl bowed and quickly left the room. Taking out her phone, she dialed a number. "Leo! Hey, what do you have planned this week...?"
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