A/N: Thanks to Amonraphoenix and Darkunderworld for beta-ing for me. And thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed thus far. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

Disclaimer: see chapter one

Leonardo yawned as he left Donatello's room and made his way downstairs, heading towards the kitchen to get himself some breakfast when he heard a faint voice coming from the infirmary. Making the detour to the infirmary, Leonardo stepped into the room to find Michelangelo sitting in a chair beside Raphael's bed with a book in his hands. Every so often, Michelangelo would stop reading to stifle a huge yawn before continuing reading again. Leonardo headed further into the room and saw countless magazines, comic books, and novels strewn across the floor around the chair Michelangelo was sitting in.

"Mikey?" Leonardo asked hesitantly. "What are you doing?"

Michelangelo looked up at him with exhausted blue eyes. "Reading," he replied, as if the answer should have been obvious due to the fact that he was holding a book.

"How much sleep did you get last night?" Leonardo wanted to know.

Michelangelo yawned again. "What's sleep?" he mumbled drowsily.

Leonardo frowned in concern. "How long have you been up?"

Michelangelo glanced at the clock, the numbers blurring together. "Dunno… all night, I guess."

"That's not healthy," Leonardo commented.

"Neither is being in a coma," Michelangelo countered bitterly. "I know Donnie does a range of motion exercises with Raph and all that jazz, but he doesn't keep Raph's mind entertained..." He trailed off as he yawned again. "Raph's bored."

Leonardo looked at his comatose brother. Raphael's face was as still as a statue. Donatello had taken him off of the ventilator a week ago, so Raphael was breathing on his own again; however with that came a serious infection which Donatello was continuing to treat with antibiotics. And through all of that, Raphael never stirred, not once or made a sound. Donatello had quietly told Leonardo that they had to face the fact that Raphael might be brain dead and never wake up. It was something neither of them had told Michelangelo, mostly because they didn't have the guts to tell their baby brother that his hero could be a vegetable and might still die from complications.

"How can you tell?" Leonardo asked curiously.

Michelangelo rubbed his eyes. "Tell what?"

"That Raph's bored," Leonardo asked curiously. "How can you tell?"

Michelangelo shrugged. "I just get that feeling," he replied, his eyes slipping closed. "I mean, I'd be bored too if I was doing nothing but lying in bed motionless twenty-four seven."

Leonardo walked over and took the book from his brother's limp hold. Michelangelo began to protest but Leonardo stopped him.

"You need sleep," his elder brother said firmly.

"I'm fine," Michelangelo argued, reaching for the book.

Leonardo kept it out of his brother's reach. "No, you're not. You're falling asleep while trying to argue. Going without rest isn't healthy."

"But, Raph needs me," Michelangelo whined.

"He needs you to be awake and alert," Leonardo countered.

Michelangelo tried to give his brother the sad puppy dog eyes and pout, but Leonardo stood firm. Finally, Michelangelo gave up and stood from the chair, stumbling his way over to the bed beside Raphael's. Leonardo looked at the book cover and frowned when he discovered that Michelangelo had been reading "The Hobbit," of all books. Michelangelo couldn't sit still through the "Lord of the Rings" movies, how was he able to sit still while reading one of the books?

"Mikey?" Leonardo spoke softly.

"Yeah?" Michelangelo asked as he crawled into bed.

"Why are you reading 'The Hobbit'? It's not exactly one of Raph's favorite books," Leonardo pointed out.

Michelangelo shrugged as he snuggled down beneath the blankets. "It's mostly for the descriptions," he replied. "I thought if Raph could see what he was missing in this world, he would want to wake up."

"Mikey…" Leonardo began.

"Master Splinter once said, 'The voice of a loved one can guide a lost spirit back to its home'," Michelangelo explained sagely, closing his eyes and letting out a soft sigh. "I'm just trying to bring Raphie home."

With that, he fell soundly asleep. Leonardo looked from his baby brother to the book in his hands. He opened it up to the page Michelangelo was reading from, sat down in the chair, and began reading. He wasn't sure if reading was helping, but it certainly wasn't hurting; and besides, Leonardo would try anything to get Raphael to wake up.

He didn't know where he was or how he got there, all Raphael knew was that he was in paradise. He was in a lush, green forest that looked like something out of one of Michelangelo's fantasy comic books. Strange birds sang in the trees and small animals frolicked around the forest floor, undisturbed by the giant, two legged turtle that had somehow found himself in their home.

Raphael looked up from where he was sitting against a large oak tree and gazed up at the sky that was half hidden behind the canopy of leaves. The sun danced through the leaves, making patterns on the forest floor. A gentle wind cascaded over Raphael's skin, momentarily cooling him from the humid heat of the forest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. A lazy calm settled over his body; he didn't want to move, it was too peaceful and beautiful. He didn't want to do anything that would disturb the tranquillity around him. The wind blew again and this time, Raphael thought he heard Leonardo's voice off in the distance, but it faded just as quickly as it had come.

"Weird," Raphael mumbled under his breath as he closed his eyes and listened to the birds sing.

He never wanted to leave, and hoped he didn't have to. However, something began to tickle the back of his mind. Why was he hearing Leonardo's voice? And, where was it coming from? Every time the wind blew his eldest brother's voice would come with it. He wasn't saying anything specific, it was just there. But, "Why?" was the question. Why was it there? Why was he suddenly hearing Leonardo's voice now when it hadn't been there before?

Groaning with the knowledge that he was going to have to get up sooner or later, Raphael chose sooner rather than later to figure out why his big brother was choosing now to bug him. The red-masked turtle grunted as he got to his feet and brushed himself off before heading in the direction the voice was coming from. Raphael trekked through the forest, following the sound of Leonardo's soft, gentle voice. The closer he got, the more Raphael could pick out what his brother was saying...sort of. It sounded like Leonardo was reading; but reading what, he couldn't tell.

Raphael stopped walking and looked around to see where he was. The forest didn't seem as inviting as it had before, and there were no animals and no birds singing now. It was like all sound had vanished from the world. Raphael knew he should be bothered by this thought, but for some strange reason, he wasn't. He continued making his way through the forest, still following the distant sound of his brother's voice. After a while, he came to a clearing that had a strange rock formation in the middle of it. Raphael tilted his head to one side in a questioning manner. What was a rock formation doing in the middle of a forest?

Raphael stepped into the clearing and the rock formation seemed to shimmer until a large cave appeared in the center. Something in the back of his mind told Raphael that he should run the other way as fast as he could, however, Leonardo's voice was coming from inside the cave. Going against his better judgement and instincts, Raphael headed into it.

Leonardo was just getting to the part in the book where the main character came face to face with an enormous dragon when he was interrupted by the machines Raphael was hooked up to going haywire. He immediately stopped reading and looked up. The heart monitor was going berserk, as was the blood pressure monitor. Leonardo dropped the book and ran to the door.

"Donnie!" he screamed in panic.

Michelangelo bolted upright in bed, his eyes wide with terror. Donatello came barreling into the infirmary and instantly got to work on trying to stabilize Raphael. His hands burned when they touched Raphael's clammy skin.

"He's burning up," Donatello announced grimly.

"What's going on?" Michelangelo asked, jumping out of bed and rushed to Raphael's other side, out of the way of Donatello.

"He was fine a minute ago," Leonardo said shakily.

Michelangelo watched as Donatello rummaged around for the proper drugs that would help stabilize Raphael. It unnerved the youngest that his ailing brother still wasn't moving. Donatello injected Raphael with a drug Michelangelo couldn't pronounce. The orange masked turtle watched Raphael's motionless face for any sign of movement.

"We're losing him!" Donatello said in a panicked voice.

"No! Raphie!" Michelangelo cried in anguish. "Raphie, don't go. Please!" He beseeched his older brother as he gripped one of Raphael's limp hands with his own.

Leonardo felt a chill go down his spine as he felt a presence he hadn't felt since the time he had begged Raphael not to commit suicide in the chamber that led to eternity. Everything seemed to slow down and sound dimmed to almost being nonexistent. Something hovered just out of sight, in the corner of his eye. Leonardo didn't dare move in fear of bringing attention to himself; but he knew the presence knew he was there. It was the presence of Death.

Further and further down Raphael went. There seemed to be no end to the cave. Even though he couldn't hear or see anything, he felt as though he was in some kind of danger. The air buzzed all around him, warning signals going off inside his head.

Get out. Get out. Danger. Run!

Fear instantly overtook him and Raphael turned and bolted back towards the entrance to the cave. Just as the first rays of sunlight pierced the darkness of the cave, the ground began to shake and tremble. Raphael cried out as he was sent tumbling to the ground. He looked up when he heard the sound of shifting rock. Heart jumping up in his throat, Raphael hurled himself backwards as the ceiling caved in, trapping him inside. Dust rose up in the air, choking him. Raphael coughed and waved his hand in front of his face to try to dispel the suffocating dust. He shifted to his knees and felt out in front of him; his hands coming into contact with hard rock. The warning signals were still going off in his head, but he couldn't do anything; the exit was blocked.

Raphael sat down with his back to the wall and buried his face in his hands. He should have stayed in the forest where it was safe and peaceful. A cold shiver swept through his body and Raphael trembled. He looked up and tried to locate where the chill had come from. Raphael stood up and walked around, running his hands over the cave walls to see if there was a draft coming through; but the walls were solid stone. It was then that he felt thin, boney fingers wrap around his shoulder. Raphael cried out and jumped away from the icy touch.

"Is this not what you wanted?" a hoarse voice wheezed, echoing eerily through the darkness.

Raphael looked around the cavern, his eyes wide with fear and his breathing coming out in quick gasps. "Who's there?" he demanded. "Show yourself!"

"You know I can't do that, Raphael," the voice rasped, a wet gurgling sound coming with the intake of breath.

Raphael shivered again at the sound. The darkness seemed to grow thicker and darker. "Who are you?" he whispered in a small, scared voice.

Something seemed to solidify in the corner of his eye, but Raphael was too terrified to turn to see what it was.

"We're old friends, you and I," the voice rattled, taking in another gurgling breath. "I've been with you throughout your entire life, and especially your current ordeal."

"What ordeal?" Raphael asked fearfully.

"The ordeal with Travis," the voice answered calmly.

Raphael's eyes widened as horrific memories suddenly slammed into him. He cried out in pain as it seemed like he was being stabbed with thousands of knives. The pain became too unbearable and he collapsed. He gasped for breath as the pain seemed to settle.

"So sorry," the voice whispered apologetically. "I thought you remembered. I was mistaken."

"You..." Raphael growled. "You did that on purpose."

"I am not above torture," the voice told him. "You have cheated me too many times and for far too long. I am entitled to a little payback."

Raphael pushed himself up and took a calming breath. "Death," he grounded out through clenched teeth.

"Pleased to meet you again, Raphael. I hope you enjoyed life," the voice said coldly. "Because you won't escape me again."

"Where were you when I needed you?" Raphael snarled. "Didn't you hear me calling? Why didn't you answer me?"

"I'm answering now," the voice pointed out harshly. "I thought you wanted to see your brothers one last time before I took you."

Raphael flinched as if he had been struck. "I killed my brothers," he confessed quietly.

"Did you now?" the voice murmured, sounding surprised. "That's interesting."

Raphael used the wall to pull himself to his feet. He stumbled over to the caved in rocks and put his hands against them.

"You're not getting out that way, Raphael," the voice told him.

"There is no other way out," Raphael replied.

"I told you the last time we met, the only way you're getting out is if you open the door to eternity."

Raphael's heart sank. "I had forgotten," he said in a low voice.

Firelight pierced the darkness, causing Raphael to turn around. Behind him stood two large wooden doors with the symbol of eternity carved into them. Two enormous torches stood on either side of the doors. Raphael felt skeletal hands wrap around his shoulders as something came up behind him.

"So, what's it going to be?" Death whispered in his ear.

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