So the timeline of this chapter can get a little hard. It starts in the end, goes back and tells what happened, and then goes back to the actual time. It'll make more sense when you read it. It was inspired by the episode with the mighty Mutanimals. Slash called all of the turtles brothers, but in particular Raphael. So I decided to write a fic centered around their friendship. With the brothers too, of course. Don't be surprised by the extremely dramatic first line of the fic.
Chapter 16-Old Friendships Never Die
Leo's POV
Raphael is dead.
He's dead. He's dead. My younger brother is dead. He's dead. Raphael is dead. Dead dead dead dead dead.
It rings like a mantra in my head.
Raphael is dead.
Don's POV
Gone. I can't believe he's gone. I can't…I can't.
Mikey's POV
Raph isn't dead. He can't be dead. He can't be… he just can't. He can't be.
We just saw him a week ago. He was yelling and growling and stomping. He was so…alive.
He can't be…dead. No. Not now. Not before we could apologize. No…please. Please don't let him be dead. He can't be dead. He just can't.
Third Person POV
One week previous…
"Raph be reasonable!"
"Why should I be reasonable Leo? You're trying to blame me for something that wasn't my fault!"
Donatello stepped in front of Raph. "Raphael, the wall wouldn't have come down if you hadn't been fighting quite so…aggressively."
Raph growled dangerously. "Don't you start Don! I didn't mean for the wall to fall down!"
"I know you didn't Raph," Leo stated, trying to calm Raph down a little. "But the collapse almost killed Donnie!"
"You can't blame me for that Leo!"
"I don't blame you, I blame your irresponsibility!"
"Gee like that's any better!" He yelled. "Come on, Mikey, you don't blame me, do you?"
Michelangelo looked at him. "Well…Raphie…"
Raph was absolutely livid. "Great, even my little brother believes I'm responsible! I can't believe it. I always knew you three were ganging up on me!"
"Raphael will you calm down!" The leader yelled.
"I don't have to do what you say!" Raph yelled back. Donatello rubbed his temples and sighed. At this rate this fight would last all week.
"Yes you do, I'm the leader!" Leo countered.
Raph scoffed. "No shit, Leo! But just because you're the leader don't mean you can control me! Leave me the fuck alone! All of you! I don't care if I never see your faces again! Fuck you!" he yelled furiously.
"Raphael!" Sensei's reprimanding yell came from the dojo.
Raph threw an arm off in the direction of the dojo. "See! Even he's against me! You guys will never understand!" He growled. "I'm leaving." He stormed out.
"Raph…" Leo said, his voice now sounding slightly remorseful.
The door slammed.
Little did we know that was the last time we would ever see him.
Raphael stormed through the dark back-alleys of New York City. It was a cloudy night. Rain fell lightly on the ground and the people were scurrying about like ants.
It was late. Long past the time Raph usually stayed out.
He just couldn't bring himself to go home and apologize. Sure he had overreacted, but it wasn't just his fault.
Honestly, that fight had shook him up to the point where he wasn't sure how to feel or what to think.
After mulling it over for a few more moments, Raphael decided that he would take refuge in an abandoned warehouse for the night.
He went to a warehouse he often used in situations like these. He used to do the same thing back when he had Spike. He and the little turtle would spend the day in the warehouse, just talking. Raph talking to Spike that is.
Raphael climbed the old, rickety fire escape with the skill and stealth of a true ninja. His eyes were white with suppressed emotion. The tails of his bright red eye-masked trailed behind him in the wind.
He saw that the skylight had been replaced by some kind of sliding entrance panel. He raised an eye-ridge. The red-masked ninja slid his sai silently from his belt. Ever forceful, he wedged their pointed ends into the gap and used all of his strength to pry it open.
He dropped into the warehouse and landed with a soft thud, his sais drawn.
It was dark. Pitch black, in fact.
Raphael glanced from side to side. He could feel another presence in the room. But before he could act he was bowled over and pinned to a wall.
"Let me go." Raphael growled dangerously. Whoever or whatever it was didn't secede to his demands. Fine. They had their chance. His eyes narrowed. He thrashed out of his captor's grip and hit the stranger with a high kick.
The strange figure dodged and hit him in the plastron. He was knocked backwards into a wall.
"What is going on in here?" A raspy voice asked from off to the side. There was a moment of silence. "Raphael?"
Raphael knew that voice. "Slash?"
The lights in the warehouse snapped on.
Raph put a hand up in front of his face at the sudden change in lighting. Other than that he made no movement and instead glanced around the warehouse. It seemed as though the Mighty Mutanimals had made a decent home base out of this old dump.
"You alright Raphael?" Slash asked, seeming concerned. He approached the turtle slowly and offered a hand.
Raph accepted the hand and allowed Slash to help him up. "You turned this place into a lair?"
Slash smiled. "Yeah, you like it?"
Raphael glanced around again. "Like it? This place is awesome!"
"Well I certainly hope so." Doctor Rockwell chimed in, "We've only been working on it for the past four weeks. It's probably still a little structurally unstable." He stated dryly.
"Personally, I think it needs more bread crumbs." Pigeon Pete added.
Leatherhead rolled his eyes. Then the huge alligator mutant then turned back to the hotheaded turtle. "Where is Michelangelo? And the others?"
Raphael's smirk melted into an unreadable expression. His eyes clouded and his lips pressed together in a thin line.
Slash's expression was much the same and he nodded in understanding. "Hey guys, give Raph and me a moment alone will ya? We need to talk."
The hotheaded turtle glanced over at the larger turtle. "Slash I—"
"Sit down." Slash said softly, his voice gentle and encouraging.
"I'll stand." Raph stated.
"Suit yourself" Slash said, sitting down on a smooth, oversized, concrete seat.
There was a long moment of silence. Slash gave Raphael a sympathetic stare and finally spoke. "What happened?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Raph answered, his eyes wary and his expression guarded.
"Yur upset." The larger turtle stated.
Raphael brushed it off. "So? I'm upset, why should you care?" Slash looked hurt by that comment. Before he could say anything, Raphael held up a hand. "Sorry Slash. I'm still a bit riled up. I didn't mean anything by it."
There was a moment of silence as Slash's eyes ran over his friend. Raph's shoulders were tense, which was never a good sign. His eyes were red, which indicated he'd been crying, or at least teary eyed about something. The most telling fact however were his hands. They were restless, moving about constantly, flexing into fists and then relaxing.
"Raphael, you can talk to me. Just the way you used to. I'd be happy to listen."
"I…I don't know. I don't really…It's different. I-I mean, it just doesn't feel the same. You're…"
Slash frowned, but his eyes stayed soft and understanding. They steeled over, "Then you should go talk to your human friend. I've heard you've been hanging with him a lot lately."
"Sure, Casey's a good friend, but he doesn't know me half as well as you. He and I just understand each other that's all."
Slash raised a disbelieving eye-ridge.
Raphael's eyes narrowed. His temper flared. "Oh come on! You honestly think someone could just walk right in and replace you?! You were my best friend for like eleven years! I wasn't just about to forget!"
That put a small smile on the bulky turtle's features.
Their eyes met. Raph spoke, his voice hushed. "It wasn't easy learning to get along without you."
Slash smiled softly at his oldest and dearest friend. "I missed you…brother." The big turtle gave Raph a strong hug and both of them chuckled. Then the conversation took a darker turn.
Raphael grew more serious, his voice lowered. "Do you remember the time I spent an entire week in my room because Leo called me fat?"
The bigger turtle nodded solemnly. That week had been extremely hard for both of them. Raph was an emotional wreck and Spike had just wanted him to take care of himself. Raphael sighed. Slash's eyes narrowed.
He didn't like the sound of that sigh. There was a wistful sort of pain in it that worried him. Raphael hated to show pain in front of anyone. Even him.
"Well this is kinda like that time. I'm not sure that I ever want to go back…"
"What happened?" Slash asked softly.
There was a short pause before Raphael began. His voice was no more than a whisper. "We were on patrol. Got into a fight with some of Shredder's gang. They attacked us and we did what we had to, you know how it is. Well, one of them threw me straight into a wall. Hurt like shell and nearly broke my arm, so I got mad. I didn't notice that the wall was coming down. Practically killed Donatello." Raph's voice cracked.
Slash stared at his friend with sad eyes. "It wasn't your fault, Raph. You couldn't have known."
"Leo says I should have been more careful. I should have noticed. I could have protected him better. Warned him. Or something."
Slash stood and put his hands on his friend's shoulders. "You can't change it now. Whatever you did, that was all you could do at the time. Let it go."
Raph's green eyes flashed. "Donnie could have been hurt. If Don gets hurt our entire team falls apart. I could have cost him his life, Spike! I just can't—" Raphael was so upset that he didn't even realize he'd called Slash Spike. The turtle dropped to his knees so listlessly that, for a moment, Slash feared that Raph's legs had given out.
Once Slash was quite certain that Raphael was not severely injured, he pulled the red-masked up off the floor. "Why don't you spend the day here with us? It's too early for you to go back to the lair now."
Raphael checked his t-phone. Slash was right. It was almost three o'clock in the morning. "Wow. Guess I've been out longer than I realized."
"You're more than welcome to sleep it off and hang with us for the rest of the day." Slash offered again.
"It's not that I'm trying to avoid going back to the lair, I just…" His voice faded to no more than a whisper, "Leonardo said that I need to be more vigilant. He was right. I feel like I need to prove myself…Somehow." He brooded for a moment.
"Raph, Leonardo isn't always right. But if you want to prove yourself…" Raphael's bright green eyes stared into Slash's luminescent ones. "Why don't you spend a few days with me and my team? Show us what you're made of. If you can prove yourself to them, you can prove yourself to your brothers."
Raph seemed to consider that for a moment. "What if your teammates don't like the idea?"
Slash smirked. "Why don't you ask 'em?"
The other members of the Mighty Mutanimals emerged from the dark hallway. Raphael stared.
"Did they hear our entire conversation?"
"Only the last few minutes of it." Rockwell stated.
"So what do you guys think? Can Raph spend a few days with us?" Slash asked.
They exchanged glances. Raphael shifted nervously from side to side.
Pigeon Pete was the first to speak. "Fine by me. He's pretty well known among some of my pigeon buddies. They say he's a good guy."
That made Raph chuckle. It was true. When it came to pigeons, Raph was something of an impromptu king. With a little persuasion he could get them to do just about whatever he wanted. Like the time they rescued Leonardo from Karai. Strangely enough, pigeons were always an effective diversion.
Rockwell sighed. "Fine. As long as he doesn't get in the way of my experiments."
All eyes shifted to Leatherhead. His eyes were stern.
"What about your brothers? Won't they be worried?" The alligator asked.
Raphael shrugged. "I'll message them to tell them I'll be gone for a couple days if it makes you feel any better."
Leatherhead nodded. "That will be a comfort, yes."
Raph picked up his t-phone slowly. He chose to send a group text to all three of his brothers. They were probably all asleep by now, but he decided to send it anyway. After a few seconds of staring at the blinking cursor on the screen he slowly began to type:
Got to think things through. Be back in few days. –Raph
Leo was sitting on the couch. He must have drifted off a few hours ago. His eyes caught the clock on the table. Holy Shell! It's four in the morning! Where was Raph?
I was waiting up for him. He thought.
Where is he?
Leo glanced around. Mikey was next to him on the couch, asleep, and there was a light on in Donnie's lab. "Donnie?" The eldest called softly.
The genuis' tired face poked around the corner of the lab door. "Yes Leo?"
"Raph come back yet?" Leo asked sleepily, rubbing his temples.
Donatello frowned. "Guess you haven't checked your t-phone."
Leonardo didn't like Donnie's tone. "What is it?"
"See for yourself." Don stated crabbily.
Leo frowned. He pulled his t-phone from his belt and read the latest message.
Got to think things through. Be back in a few days. –Raph
Leo didn't like the sound of that. He immediately began to text back, but a hand landed on his wrist. Donatello had crossed the room and was now holding him back.
"Don't Leo. He probably needs this. Just let him go it on his own for a day or two."
"But Donnie, I—"
"Let him go Leo." Don insisted. "We were too hard on him." He stated, almost as an afterthought.
Leo's dark blue eyes narrowed. "Raphael needs to be more vigilant, Don. That stunt today could have killed you!"
"He didn't do it on purpose! You can't expect him to be perfect, Leo!" Donatello retorted, now wide awake.
"I don't expect him to be perfect. I expect him to be a good ninja!"
Don's brown eyes glinted dangerously. "Raph's the strongest member of this team Leo. And he's a damn good ninja! If you were in his place today, could you have guaranteed you'd have noticed the wall was coming down? Somehow I think you would have had exactly the same problem Raph did!"
Leonardo took a step back. Don's comment stung, but he had a point. Leo's eye-ridges furrowed. "You're right. I've been unfair to Raphael. Looks like I'll have to apologize to him for that." There was a long silence. Then another thought occurred to the blue-clad turtle. His dark blue eyes flicked towards the dojo. "Does Sensei know Raph's still out?"
Don shook his head. Leonardo sighed. "Guess I'll have to tell him then. Go to bed Don. I'll carry Mikey to his room after I'm done talking to Sensei. Get some sleep."
The brainiac gave him a doubtful stare. "Who can sleep? The thought of Raph out there alone gives me insomnia."
Leo nodded. "Me too. But we'll just have to do our best. He'll be back in a day or two. No need to worry."
Silence descended upon them. Maybe there was no need to worry. But that didn't mean that they wouldn't.
Slash sat in his room in the Mighty Mutanimal's new hideout. It was really nothing fancy, but it was good enough. They had a roof over their heads and that's what mattered. Unfortunately, the large mutant turtle was thinking about something very different at the moment. He and Raph had talked a lot today. Probably more than they had since after he was mutated.
It felt good to be reunited with his old friend.
But Slash was worried. Raphael was very upset. And he really wasn't sure how to go about comforting him. Besides offering reassurance there wasn't much he could do.
Slash was also worried about Raph's brothers. Raph had said he let them know what was going on, but somehow Slash felt that Raph wouldn't exactly explain.
That was always Raphael's biggest fault. When it came to his own feelings, he was reluctant to share them with others. He believed that they wouldn't understand. And when his feelings were hurt through some altercation with his brothers, he would never say so. Which tended to lead only to further hurt. Raph was soft hearted, and he cared deeply for his brothers. The insinuation that the wall nearly falling on Donatello was his fault had hurt him very deeply. More deeply than he had let on.
Slash knew that. He knew it better than anyone else.
And he was concerned. He was afraid that if the other turtles weren't aware of Raph's feelings, Raphael would never truly let go of his guilt.
Slash would do anything to help Raphael. Even though Slash wasn't sure what he could do. He decided he'd just have to make sure he was there for Raph. In case he needed anything.
The next night the Mighty Mutanimals went on patrol. Raphael went with them, though he told Slash he just wanted to hang back and watch how the team functioned.
It wasn't long before they found something interesting.
The Purple Dragons and their new leader, Hun were hustling some guy who looked like a courier. The Mighty Mutanimals and Raphael watched from the roof of a nearby building. Slash's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Raphael knew that look. And he knew what it meant.
The Purple Dragons had it coming to them.
All five of them, Raphael included, jumped down.
The red masked turtle joined in a little of the bashing, but for the most part he just pulled back and let the Mighty Mutanimals pound the Purple Dragons into submission. The three weaklings were taken down easily, but Hun proved to be a bit of a challenge. The Mighty Mutanimals had never confronted the leader of the Dragons before, and that gave him an edge.
However, Raphael had. Or at least, he had seen the guy fight. Hun back-flipped out of range of Slash's fists with a smirk.
"Raphael, isn't it?" Hun said smoothly. Raph growled in response, his green eyes narrowed in apprehension. Hun smiled. "Nice to meet you too." He gestured towards the Mighty Mutanimals. "I've had just about enough of these amatuers, haven't you? I say you and I finish this. One brawler to another."
Raph growled again. "I know who you are, Hun."
"Indeed? Then you know just what you're up against." Hun stated with another smirk.
Raphael met Hun's gaze with a smirk of his own. "I know I'm up against a guy who talks bigger than he acts."
Hun snarled.
"Well? Let's see what you got, tough guy." Raph goaded.
Hun growled and flew at the turtle. Raph dodged expertly, drawing his sais from his belt.
They spun, throwing punches, dodging blows, until finally Raph's sai grazed Hun's face.
Hun's hand reached up and touched the side of his face. He stared at the blood on his fingers for a moment with wide eyes before they narrowed in anger. "Why you—" he began.
But he was cut off by an altogether different voice. "Hun."
Every muscle in Raphael's body tensed. He stood frozen, his heart pounding erratically. Finally he pushed his fear aside and straightened. Raph could feel that the Mighty Mutanimals were behind him, but he wasn't sure where. Good thing he had backup.
He growled as a figure emerged from the shadows. "Shredder."
Slash saw Raph tense, and heard the low growl. His eyes filled widened. Shredder? The Shredder? Oh no. Slash's fists clenched. Raph was definitely going to need their help.
Hun turned to face Shredder, who was currently glowering at the leader of the Purple Dragons with disdain.
"Well turtle. It seems you can best Hun." Shredder flexed his right hand.
Raphael's eyes narrowed. Shredder's gauntlet looked different somehow. It looked more…Stockman-esque. Techy.
Slash advanced, pushing in front of Raphael, the mighty Mutanimals close behind. Raphael's grip on his sai tightened.
Shredder glanced at the other mutants. "What is this? More freaks?"
"Shut up, Shredder. You threaten our friends, you threaten us." Slash stated angrily. Leatherhead growled from behind directly behind him.
"A pity you side with the turtles, mutants." Shredder stated. "Otherwise I might have let you live. Now you will all die."
Slash growled and lunged at Shredder. Oroku Saki dodged and whipped around. His gauntlet began to glow. He jumped and landed behind Slash. As the turtle began to turn, Shredder drew back his fist.
"SPIKE!"
A sickening howl filled the air as the gauntlet made contact…with Raphael's shoulder. The emerald green turtle dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks. Laser green eyes fell shut. His hand twitched and fell limp out in front of him. One of his sais rolled out onto the roof.
"Raphael!" Slash shouted.
Shredder approached Raph's limp form. He pulled the red mask off the turtle's head with a flick of the wrist.
All Slash could see was red…
Not only did Shredder threaten his team and the turtles he called family, Shredder hurt Raphael.
Shredder hurt Raph. His former owner. His best friend. His protector.
Shredder was going to pay. He was going to pay very dearly.
Slash's eyes were burning and he let out a horrific battle cry.
The giant turtle charged Shredder with all his might. He struck down the strange weapon that had hurt Raphael with pure hatred. The gauntlet began sparking.
Shredder growled as he was bombarded by Slash's never ending assaults.
Shredder raised his other gauntlet and Slash prepared his mace. Shredder's blades met the mace with a mighty clang. Slash's eyes glowed with indignation and determination. He put all his strength, all his anger into this battle. The large turtle let his anger take control.
Shredder's gauntlet blades shattered from the pressure of Slash's mace. Shredder took a defensive stance. Slash growled and his eyes narrowed as he honed in on his target.
"Slash, we must retreat." Came the voice of his second-in-command, Leatherhead.
Slash's voice was menacing. "No. I can finish him."
Leatherhead grabbed Slash's arms just as the turtle was about to lunge for Shredder once more.
"No, you're letting him get away!" He yelled frustratedly as Leatherhead held him back.
"Then you go after Shredder and leave Raphael to die?"
All the anger was suddenly sucked out of Slash's eyes within seconds. Raphael!
Slash's mutagen colored eyes glanced frantically about. Finally they came to rest on Dr. Rockwell, who was leaning over an unconscious green form. Running over to their side, Slash couldn't help but wonder if it was too late.
"How is he?" Slash asked, his heart dreading the answer.
"We have to get him back to the hideout. I can do nothing more for him here."
Slash nodded. "I'll carry him."
"Be careful. He really shouldn't be moved at all in this condition. But we have no choice. It isn't safe out here."
"Hang in there brother." He whispered to the form in his arms. Belatedly he realized just how small Raph really was. The hothead had a larger-than-life personality that compensated for what he lacked in height. But now that he was injured and in Slash's arms he seemed incredibly small. And so fragile.
Slash vowed that he would do anything and everything in his power to save Raphael's life.
They sped back to their hideout as fast as they could. Pigeon Pete took to the sky and functioned as a lookout for further Foot interference, but there was none. Apparently Shredder had had enough for one day.
Or at least…so they thought.
Shredder had a different plan in mind. He had Baxter Stockman send mousers down into the sewers. It was only a matter of time before the turtles stumbled upon some them. They were programmed to carry messages, like the one he'd sent down after he'd gotten his hands on April O'Niel.
Imagine the look on Hamato Yoshi's face when he finds out what I've done to his son.
The turtles were wandering the sewers just before evening patrol when they heard the sound of clanking servos on metal pipes. Leonardo destroyed the mouser with one slash, rendering its head from its body. Donnie then grappled a little with the wiggling head until he could fuse the wires.
"Come on guys. Let's take it back to the lab and find out what kind of intel we can glean from it. The others nodded.
After they explained to Master Splinter what had happened, the rat and the other two turtles joined Donatello in the lab.
As soon as they entered, Donnie whipped around with a horrified expression on his face. "You guys have to see this." As he typed away on the computer, which he'd hooked up to the mouser he explained, "This mouser wasn't just wandering the sewers. It's carrying a message. It was down here for a reason. Playback transmission."
-"Greetings Hamato Yoshi"- Shredder's voice stated evenly.
Master Splinter growled.
-"If you want to find out what's happened to your son, I suggest you listen carefully. If not, you'll never learn of his fate. It really is too bad he can't tell you himself."- Shredder laughed. It wasn't even a real laugh. It was a guttural noise. A sound that made their stomachs twist into knots.
-"Meet me at the docks at midnight. If you don't…then your red-masked son's fate will forever be a mystery."- The transmission ended. There was only static.
"Raphael?" Splinter said, his voice literally shaking. His brown eyes narrowed. "No, Oroku Saki. I will not allow you to take another loved one away from me. Come my sons, we must save your brother."
When they reached the docks, they found Shredder already waiting for them.
"Where is my son?" Master Splinter demanded forcefully.
They didn't have to see Shredder's to know he was smiling. "You mean where is his body? I'm afraid it's probably already it's probably already rotting away in a dumpster somewhere."
Anger soared up in Leonardo and he retorted, "You lie!"
Shredder looked straight at the eldest of the turtles. "Do I?"
Leo's eyes were white with anger.
Shredder's words threw all but Leonardo into a state of doubt.
"I finished him off yesterday."
"Prove it!" Mikey contested.
Shredder held out his right hand and all the members of the Hamato clan gasped. Clutched tightly in Shredder's gauntlet was Raphael's mask. There were several new tears in the fabric, but it was definitely his.
"No!" Don exclaimed.
"You're lying." Leo insisted.
Shredder chuckled. "How naïve you are. Do you want to know how he died?" Shredder proceeded without an answer. "He died too quickly. I should have made his death slower. He didn't deserve the curtesy." He paused, then decided to toy with the turtles' feelings. "Tell me, what kind of family leaves a child to die alone?"
"No, Raphael can't be! He isn't!" Leo shouted.
"If his prized mask wouldn't convince you, perhaps this will." Shredder threw something down at their feet. They stared down at it in horror. It was Raph's sai. He never left one behind unless he was injured, or under pressure from his brothers. It couldn't have been the second, so he must have been injured. But he couldn't be…Raph just couldn't be…
About a week later… (Slash's POV)
I'm waiting by Raphael's bedside. He's been out for days now. I still can't believe that he took that hit for me. Why does he always do that? He's been doing that since before I was mutated. Always taking hits for others. Always the hero. Always the one who gets hurt.
I can't stand the moments like this. I never could. Most of my memories from my time as a normal turtle are still blurry, but I can remember when Raph was hurt or sick. When I would wait by his side, hoping he would get better. Feeling sad that he wasn't feeling well. I didn't like it when Raph wasn't feeling well.
But now it's so much more than that. Raph is willing to call me brother. That changes everything. I bet if it had been Leonardo rather than me, Raphael wouldn't have gotten hurt. Stupid! I should have known better than to let Raph take the fall for me. I put Raphael in danger.
Rockwell said that the weapon that shot down Raph really hit him hard. Apparently it was really a high voltage generator. It gave him a really hard electric shock. For a while his heart rate was worryingly unstable, but now it seems to have evened out a little. He has really bad scorching on his shoulder where the shock had entered his body. He had burns on other parts of his body as well. They had been wrapped in light bandages and should be completely healed in a couple of weeks.
Rockwell said Raph is lucky to be alive. A shock that voltage should have killed him.
I don't want to face Raphael when he wakes up. I know he'll say it wasn't my fault and that I can't blame myself. "But it was." I muttered to myself. "It was all my fault and it's because of me he's hurt. If he hadn't jumped in front of me. If—"
"Don't focus too much on the ifs or you'll never get out. This is the present, Slash. Get out of the past. Let it go."
I bow my head in shame. I don't have to look at him. I can't look at him. I don't have the strength. "It was my fault."
"How is my taking a hit for you your fault?"
"You took the hit for me. I should have known. I should have seen it coming."
"Shut up. There is no way you could have done." Raph stated. His voice was a little weak, but other than that he was hotheaded as ever.
"Then it's your fault." I stated. "You took an electric shock at a voltage that should have killed you! It would have had a lesser effect on me. And you wouldn't have been hurt."
"Quit with the hypothetic bullshit Slash! There's nothing you can do to change it now. It's done! Please let it go. For my sake."
I sighed. Raph knew that I would never refuse him anything.
"On two conditions." I stated.
Raph gave me a confused stare, but he nodded.
"First tell me how to get to the lair from here. We have to tell your family what happened."
Raphael let out a long wistful sigh. "Guess I still have to apologize for knocking that wall down on Donnie."
I was quick to soothe him before he could get even more upset. "No. They won't even be thinking about that. Now tell me how to get to the lair.
"Slash I wanna sleep." Raph said tiredly and meekly.
"I know but you have to tell me the way to the lair first. I don't want to leave your brothers in a state of anxiety as to your whereabouts."
Raph told me where to go. Yes, he was sleepy, and probably not entirely lucid, but his directions would probably at least give me a starting point.
As I started to leave Raph was falling asleep. But just as I was heading out the door he called out.
"Spike. You said two things. You only asked one."
I smiled. Just like Raphael. Always needs to know.
"Well the other one is pretty straightforward." I said softly.
He glanced at me with tired eyes.
"Get better."
Raphael smiled, "I will."
That's the end of the first part. Do you think I got Slash and Raph's friendship alright? I really saw them as brothers. Since they've known each other so long and everything. But please review and tell me what you think. Thanks. Don't worry there's more to come! Unfortunately there was too much for me to squeeze it all into one chapter. I'm also still working on the other chapters! So I'm looking forward to your reviews! See you next chapter!