A/N: Thanks to Amonraphoenix and Darkunderworld for beta-ing for me. And thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed thus far. Glad you're enjoying the story.
Disclaimer: see chapter one
Leonardo stared at the shell fragment with the tracking chip attached to it. Horror and guilt consumed him in an instant. His brother was missing and he had just sat idly by while Raphael endured torture. Donatello's heaving had stopped and the purple masked turtle tried to catch his breath. He looked up, panting for breath as he leaned against the wall.
"How much pain do you think Raph was in?" Leonardo asked quietly.
"Don't do that," Donatello told him hoarsely. "Don't torture yourself like that."
"I hope for his sake he didn't know what was going on," Leonardo continued morosely. "Why didn't we look for him sooner?"
"We thought he was safe," Donatello answered quietly.
Leonardo got to his feet and went over to his brother. "Go home," he said quietly.
Donatello looked up at him in shock. "What?"
"Go home," Leonardo repeated. "Look after Mikey. I'll look for Raph."
Donatello nodded. "Be careful," he said. "Don't push yourself too hard."
Leonardo placed a hand on his brother's shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm going to bring Raph home, Donnie. I won't stop until I have him in my arms."
"Where are you even going to start looking?" Donatello asked. "How do you search an entire city?"
"As Raph once said, one block at a time," Leonardo replied. "I'll find him. I promise. Take care of Mikey, but don't let on that Raph's missing and hurt. He doesn't need to be worried sick."
Donatello nodded again and Leonardo patted his shoulder. The leader headed for the fire escape as Donatello went over and picked up the shell fragment. Not wanting to leave Michelangelo alone any longer then he had to, Donatello took off towards the lair as fast as his legs could carry him. He hoped and prayed that Raphael was still alive. Donatello was sure that if anything happened to his hot-headed brother he would never forgive himself.
"Raphael…Raphael," came a hauntingly, familiar voice.
Raphael moaned as he slowly woke up. He couldn't remember passing out, but he felt extremely light-headed and dizzy. He looked up and his eyes blinked open. A man stood a few feet in front of him. His brown hair was neatly combed and framed around his pale face. His brown eyes gleamed in the dim light of the chamber. He wore a thick turtle neck sweater, snow pants and snow boots. Even in a daze Raphael knew who the man was.
"Alfredson," he rasped out in disbelief.
The former serial killer smiled oily. "So glad you still remember me," Alfredson said.
"What are you doing here?! You're dead!" Raphael said, his voice barely more than a whisper.
Alfredson walked over to the turtle and grinned. "You know better than that, Red. As long as I'm up here..." He tapped Raphael's forehead hard with one finger. "I'll never be truly dead."
Raphael groaned and his head tipped forward. What had Travis given him? He was drugged and hallucinating, that much was certain; another one of Travis' many torture techniques. First it was the physical torture, now it was psychological torture.
"What do you want?" Raphael asked. He shook his head. Can't believe I'm talkin' to a freaking hallucination.
"Red, I'm hurt," Alfredson said in a mocked hurt tone. "After everything we've been through together, you think I'm some mere figment of your imagination?"
Raphael shifted when he realized Alfredson had guessed the thought that had rolled through his head, but winced as sharp pain tore through his body. "Yes," he stated simply. "You're dead… I killed you. Travis obviously gave me a hallucinogenic drug and now my mind thinks that you're in the room with me."
"And yet you're still talking to me," Alfredson pointed out.
"I've got nothing better to do," Raphael grumbled. "Might as well entertain your friend and make him think I've gone crazy."
Alfredson smiled, "You went crazy the night you put your sai through my chest."
Raphael swallowed hard at the memory of having someone else's blood spill onto his hands. "Low blow," he hissed.
"What of Leonardo and Michelangelo?" Alfredson asked.
"What about them?" Raphael shot back.
"Don't play dumb with me, Red," Alfredson said. "I'm a figment of your imagination. What you know, I already know. And I know that you stabbed Leonardo and sliced Michelangelo's throat." He shook his head. "I told you this would happen. You coldly spilled your own brother's blood. So tell me, how did it make you feel? Did you relish the look of betrayal and fear that passed through Michelangelo's eyes before they slid shut?"
Raphael clenched his hands into fists. "Shut up," he snarled.
"There must have been something," Alfredson said. "Confusion… Fear…" At Raphael's glare he added, "No? Well, then, how about pleasure?"
Raphael jerked against the clasps around his wrists, ignoring the stabbing pain that pulsed through his broken arm. Alfredson laughed and took a step back.
"Looks like I hit a nerve," the serial killer noted. "Maybe I'll tell my friend how to find your beloved former brothers. You know you can never go back to them. You killed Michelangelo brutally in front of Leonardo and Donatello; they see you for what you really are…a blood thirsty monster, just like me. If Leonardo succumbs to his injuries, your brother Donatello won't be coming to rescue you, but to avenge their deaths. Maybe he'll take part in your torture after he learns who is holding you," Alfredson mused thoughtful.
"Shut up! If you weren't already dead I'd kill you before you even got the chance," Raphael growled.
Alfredson gave him a dark smirk. "Who are you talking to?" he asked. "Me?"
To Raphael's horror Alfredson morphed into Leonardo, his mangled shoulder bearing the marks of a sai attack. "Or me?" his older brother gurgled through blood stain teeth as he changed into Michelangelo, a ragged, gaping gash appearing across his throat as fresh blood cascaded down his neck in a grisly waterfall.
Raphael closed his eyes and looked away. "You're not real," he said defiantly shaking his head in denial.
"Oh, but I'm very real, Raphie-boy," Michelangelo rasped. "And I have you to thank for my new look."
"I didn't mean to, it was an accident," Raphael moaned wretchedly.
Michelangelo sneered. "Doesn't matter if you meant it or not, you still did it," he accused.
Raphael never saw it coming. His head snapped to the side from the force of the blow Michelangelo delivered to his jaw. He didn't know which hurt more, the punch or the fact that he just got hit by his dead baby brother. Michelangelo glared at Raphael with loathing and hatred burning in his blue eyes.
"All I was trying to do was calm you down, and stop you from hurting Leo any further…" the youngest spat angrily. "What's wrong with you? Are you so messed up in the head that you would try to kill your own brothers? Hell, you did kill one of your brothers!"
"I wasn't trying anything! I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt!" Raphael defended himself.
Michelangelo punched him again hard. "You stabbed Leo and sliced my throat. What do you call that?"
"It wasn't deliberate," Raphael told him. "You scared me. It was an accident."
Again, Michelangelo struck him. "You killed me! Your baby brother, the brother you swore to protect with your life! What kind of sick monster are you?"
Raphael cringed at the word "monster". He didn't have a defense for that. There was no excuse for what he had done. He should have stayed to make sure Leonardo was taken care of. He knew in his heart that it was already too late to save Michelangelo. He had put the lives of two strangers before his own brothers. Blood was supposed to be thicker than water.
"I'm sorry," Raphael whimpered miserably. "I'm so sorry."
"'Sorry' doesn't take the pain away," Michelangelo said, slamming his fist into Raphael's stomach. "'Sorry' doesn't change the fact that you ran away and left Leo for dead," Michelangelo added.
Again he slammed his fist into Raphael's jaw. Raphael struggled to look up at his brother. The look in Michelangelo's eyes made the red masked turtle want to curl up inside his shell and never come out again.
"Sorry doesn't give back the life you stole from me! I hope you burn in Hell for what you did," Michelangelo snarled vehemently. He shook his head. "No, Hell's too good for you. You took something valuable from me and Leo, so I'm gonna take something valuable from you."
"What are you talking about?" Raphael asked hoarsely as his brother stepped closer to him.
"You left Leo to die, and despite Donnie's best efforts…we both didn't survive the night," Michelangelo explained sadly. "But, like I said before, death is too good for you. So I'm gonna give you a fate worse than death." Michelangelo took a hold of Raphael's head and twisted his neck until there was a soft pop. "Enjoy your life as a quadriplegic, Raphie," the youngest said maliciously with an evil sneer. "You're never going to move again."
Raphael tried to move his arms, but nothing happened. He couldn't move! He couldn't feel any part of his body except his head. Tears burned their way down his face as he closed his eyes in the grief for what he had done to his brothers. Unaware to Raphael, his body began to tremble through his anguish. The door opened, which was followed by the sound of footsteps padding across the hard floor. The footsteps stopped in front of him, but still Raphael never looked up. He didn't need to look up to know who it was.
"I can make it all go away," Travis said in a smooth voice.
"Make it stop," Raphael whimpered. "I'll do anything. Just...please...make it stop."
Travis smiled. He had done it. He had broken the unbreakable. "There's just one thing you have to do."
Raphael looked up, tears still streaming down his face. "What is it?" he asked.
Travis leaned forward so that his mouth was beside Raphael's ear. "Die," he whispered hauntingly before darkness claimed Raphael's senses.
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