Chapter 16: Flare (Part 2)

An intense ringing silenced the world around Raphael. It disoriented him, hindered his moves, and he felt as if he were floating when he lifted his head from a concrete slab.

'What happened?' he thought while bringing a hand to his temple. Hold up; it was bare, and covered with a light, grainy substance. 'Wh—where's my helmet? Screw that, where am I?'

The mutant glanced around, shifting against the hard ground below his spread body. Blinking served little purpose; his vision remained cloudy—though distinct, orange shapes roused worry over a biting heat through his Nightwatcher uniform.

'Why am I in a burnin' building?'

Raph's subsequent growl grew into a violent cough. Then he blinked away ash that settled near his eyes. The distinct taste of blood and dirt in his mouth cleared his mind a little more, but he could barely hear the crackling flames that encircled him. Suffocating pressure kept him from twisting. When he glanced over his shoulder, he realized a fallen shelf pinned him in placed with its heavy load of wooden creates.

Oh, great.

After a groan, Raph narrowed his eyes at the stamped text closest to him. 'Fireworks. Right. That crazy Pierce was tryin' ta blow us sky high. So where are the others?'

The mutant glanced ahead, ears filled with the prominent sound of fire eating crate after crate through the scarred warehouse. He swore they ate through his gut as well, and a glance down the shelf pinning him solicited a curse. Panic set in as he struggled away from the flames creeping along the fireworks over his carapace. It added little strength to his otherwise shell-shocked body, reiterating the close danger.

His leg burned under the contact. Although he could barely curl it, he had no intention of enduring a face full of mortar. So, with a loud roar, he pushed his arms beneath him then did a push-up fueled by the adrenaline coursing through his veins. A satisfying clunk then clink sounded beside him, yet he also heard the sizzling, which drove him to his unsteady feet.

One step warned him of his current weakness. He swayed through the ash rain and shook his sweating head for some concentration in the furnace. However, he had no idea where he stood. Or where the exit was. Every way looked the same: an orange-white haze filled with insurmountable heat and the possibility of more fireworks.

'Kuso!'

Figuring some direction would be better than none, the mutant turned right when prompted by the cackles behind him. He immediately met a rough force that tackled then rolled him across the concrete towards a shelf engulfed in flames. Coughing towards the dusty ground, he glared at the figure that laid part-way on him; yet Melody tucked his head below her arm while covering a greater part of his body with her own.

Just in time, too. A high-pitch whirling filled the smoky air, which was soon followed by several more like it. Judging from their range, they must've launched from the direction Raphael had been heading for, so he didn't fight the cyborg's shield until the rockets' climaxes were reached. Their bone-rattling booms shook him senseless, and he hit the side of his head, frowning at the returning ringing.

"That clears the exit," Melody said, straightening. She spoke calmly, although her eye was wild, studying the fire as if it owed her an answer.

"Then let's get the hell out 'a here before the roof caves!" Raph countered through a wheeze. He coughed again, stood—only Melody brushed him off as soon as he tugged her shoulder.

"C—can't, Raphael. You go."

"Are ya kiddin'? Donny would kill me. Now let's go!"

"No!" It'd been months since the Chūnin last heard Melody's voice break, so it threw him off when the cyborg staggered away.

He almost yelled in return until his voice died at the sight of her burned flesh. While her cyber suit kept the fireworks' gun powder from her back, her exposed bicep and neck was blackened, red and glossy. The reality of why thickened Raph's breathing. 'All 'cuz she was keepin' the brunt off me…'

"P—Pierce took Kanker, but he didn't…" The cyborg swayed then fell to her knees by a pile of red-hot debris.

"Come on, Melody!" Raph insisted. He ignored his whitening vision and clouded lungs to grasp her robotic bicep. She pulled it back, leaning over the low-burning material to shift through it wildly. "What are ya doin'?"

"It has to be here!" she retorted. Then, she moved to another pile.

"Melody, this place could cave at any minute. We've gotta move!"

Still, she shoved him backwards, her eye round with horror. "You go. I—I can handle this. I can find it."

"The briefcase?"

The cyborg stumbled towards a larger section filled with fire then pushed over several expended crates for a new view.

"Shit, Melody!" the mutant bellowed after her. "I know it's for Sensei, but you can't—"

"No, you don't know!" she shot back venomously.

Tears lessened the intimidation of her half-human glare, and Raph scrambled to stop her the moment she physically reached through the flames to move more crates. The temperature beat against his face to the point where his eyes watered, yet he kept pulling until his arms circled her waist. She kicked her feet in a clumsy attempt to uncovered more debris.

"Listen!" she yelled, words shaking like her body. "He's getting worse. He's needs a specific regiment and it must start with those antibiotics."

"They ain't worth your life, Gray," Raph countered against her neck. It required all his strength to keep her in front because working his way backwards was akin to towing a muscle car stuck in reverse.

"But they're worth his."

Raphael stiffened at Melody's sob. His hesitance left him doubled over after Melody elbowed him for freedom, and he shallowly sought poisoned air while the cyborg returned to the debris.

"We have one chance," she said over the roaring flames. "If we're forced to start Chemo first, th—the sickness could get worse. And if he can't breathe—if his lungs…No. We need too much. One chance. It's always one chance."

"Melody." Raph could barely speak; lost oxygen was taking its toll, and he swayed in the suffocating heat. His foot slid frontward, but rather than fight for her attention, Melody gave it willingly, her expression lost.

"It's not here, is it?" she asked softly.

Raph didn't answer. Movement drew his gaze upwards and instinct drove him forward. He gathered Melody in his arms, diving away from the thundering crash of what used to be part of the warehouse's roof. He sat up through the churned ash clouds then dragged the young woman further away when smaller ceiling pieces followed like dripping hot iron.

After standing, he glanced down at the listless cyborg in his hands. She was pliable to his guidance, which felt unnatural; however, he had little time to consider why. He pulled her behind him by the hand, his body protesting for sleep every inch of the way, and he need only overturn a cargo shelf to clear the exit Melody had pointed out earlier.

Sweet relief met him in form of cold air, which struck his flesh and purged his lungs with long, deep coughs. He made it several feet out the loading door before collapsing and he hated how his body struggled to keep him on his hands and knees. Cursing Turtle Luck, he gave into the weakness, taking a seat so he could attend the cyborg who fell along with him.

"A—are ya—okay?" he questioned through dry coughs.

Melody kept her vision settled on the cracked pavement below them. It was a surreal sight, honestly; Raphael had become so accustomed to her cool glares and dead stares that he gaped under the unseeing gaze of her dirty face lit by the warehouse's flames.

'The last time I saw her so frantic was when Don was dyin'…'

"Oi, Melody." He tried shoving her shoulder for an angry response, except she didn't budge. "Come on, i—it was just some antibiotics, right?"

"No," she croaked. Not yelled, not snapped—croaked. Her square jaw shook with her next words and she made no effort to retaliate the mutant's actions. "I needed those. He's entering the late stages."

"S—Splinter?"

"She's taking too long. They're taking too long. You guys just don't get it."

"I think I get that my father's really sick," Raph snarled. He glared after another coughing fit; though the wounded stare he earned shot through him with overwhelming emotion.

"But you haven't been down this road like I have," Melody said, low. "You know he's sick, yet you haven't seen what's going to happen next. You don't have the foresight of how hard it will be near the end."

"End? What are ya—?"

"You think it will go away over night? Like a cold? Cancer doesn't work that way, Raphael. It comes silently then at its closing stages strikes without mercy. There's pain, weakness, and mental suffering—worse than any flu—and the only way we can help him is carefully."

"Ain't that wh—what ya've been doing?"

At the mutant's pointed stare, Melody's expression darkened. "What has Donatello told you?"

"That ya've been workin' wit' Nia's IgRs, that…ya're tryin' ta recreate Recro-12, minus any permanent effects like wit' Kaiya n'…him 'n Leo."

Was his answer amusing? Raphael didn't think so, and frowned as the cyborg's sardonic laughter evolved into a deep hack.

"He hasn't mentioned the plethora of dead ends, has he?" she asked.

"He just says ya're workin' on things."

"Heaven forbid he tell the full truth."

"Which is what?"

Melody met Raphael's challenging tone with a glossy eye. "Cancer is hard enough for a regular human, let alone a mutant. Splinter could very well react badly to one drug, yet take well to another. If we don't have those drugs to test, however, we'll only succeed in wasting time wondering 'Will this work?' And you know what could happen?"

The mutant kept quiet only because his tongue was so dry, it felt bloated in his mouth.

"He could rapidly decline," the cyborg whispered, chin rising as if it kept her strong. "It happens. Mother functioned fine for years. Then, within a month, everything about her changed. She decayed before my eyes. T—to anyone that's difficult. But for a twelve-year-old?" She shook her head. "It was frightening. My world crashed, and I wasn't ready for her to go. I wasn't ready…."

"Th—the briefcase," Raph cleared his throat, though it did little good, "was there more than antibiotics in there?"

Melody released a shuddering sigh then glanced at the burning building. "I never got the chance to find out. Thanks to you."

"Hey, I was doin' my job! Pierce is the one who started the flare. Maybe if ya hadn't been workin' such a shady angle, things would've gone beddah."

"Had I told any of you, you would've never let me come."

"Ya don't know that."

"The Damn Mechanic already said no. He isn't willing like I am. I don't care if the drugs are bought from someone crooked. As long as I get them to save who I need, that's all that matters. That's all that's ever mattered to me. But no one if this clan seems to understand necessary means!"

"So that makes it alright for ya ta act on yer own?" Choking down a wheeze, Raphael jabbed a finger into Melody's collarbone. "This is Otōsan's life; we should all be a part 'a the decision process—includin' him!"

"I made the choice because you Hamatos are so damn stubborn," the cyborg countered with a hiss. "Don insists April and Gavin can get a hold of drugs without a license while Splinter refuses to admit he's likely developing pneumonia."

When Raph swallowed, it felt like biting down his thumping heart. "He's got pneumonia?"

"Yes. From an untreated case of Bronchitis that he's been suppressing with Licorice Tea. He's a melting pot of sickness and—and…" Melody placed a hand against the flesh side of her face, refusing to meet Raphael's gaze.

"I—I didn't know it was that bad."

"Because everyone is down-playing it. No one wants a panic, which is fine. But I could no longer ignore our best option. Or, what was."

"There's still a chance April 'n Anders can gather somethin', right?"

"Maybe."

"So why go behind their backs when they—"

"Forget it, Raphael." The young woman scoffed then twisted away. "You don't understand."

"That's why I'm askin'." Raph jerked Melody's shoulder back so hard that she had no choice except meet his frown. "It's weird for ya ta do somethin' like this when ya've been gettin' along wit' everyone. I thought ya wanted ta be part 'a the clan."

"I do."

"Well, we don't make choices like this wit'out consultin' at least one member. A clan is a team, remember?"

"No one wanted to be on my team!" Melody snapped in a whisper—a vulnerable action.

Raphael could feel his hand falling from her shoulder, his anger withering under her broken expression. He meant to hold her stare, but her gaze lowered to her hands, which curled into shaking fists against her lap as she continued.

"Not even Donny…I—I want to save Splinter more than anything right now. I can't watch this process again. What's more, I can't watch the clan endure it. I—I don't want Donatello—any of you—to feel what I felt when Mother died. Then go through it myself. I—I'm not that strong."

"There're people who would claim otherwise," Raph noted over her scoff. It was a weird feeling, wanting to touch her; however, he let his hand find hers, then awkwardly kept it there as she stiffened. "I would've been on yer side."

"Yeah, right."

"Really." When the cyborg glanced his way, Raph ensured every amount of seriousness reflected in his eyes. "If Sensei's gettin' worse, if the best way ta help him is through Black Market ties, then…that's what it would take. I mean, we don't have much choice, do we?"

"That's exactly what I tried telling Don," Melody muttered. "He wouldn't listen."

"Ya think he's hard ta convince? Imagine if Leo were here." Raph tried chuckling at his own quip, though it went unappreciated by both parties. So he gripped the cyborg tighter, speaking rigidly to the human he rarely conversed with. "Look, a clan won't always agree wit' ya; I know that beddah than anyone. But there's usually one exception, one sibling who's willin' ta give yer route a try. Not talkin' ta them all before ya go an' do somethin' stupid isn't givin' them a fair chance, is it?"

"What are you saying?" Melody asked in an undertone. Her words trembled and she drew a quick breath as if preparing for a treacherous leap.

"In this instance, I level wit' ya. If contactin' the Black Market means savin' Sensei's life, I'll do it. Which means if ya set up anymore 'a these deals, I'm comin' too."

"You'll have my back?"

While Melody spoke cynically, Raph sent her a pointed stare, saying, "Yes."

His simple answer erased her contemptuous smile into unease. The cyborg's blue-gray eye flickered towards him then returned to the warehouse fire while she gulped down surprise.

"Ya wanna help Splinter at all costs. So do I. So next time, call me."

"Who knows if you'll answer," Melody noted towards the side.

"Guess it depends on my mood," Raph shot back with a smirk. He wanted her to crack a light smile, and thankfully, she did. It was a vulnerable sign he understood well, so he drew back his hand to push himself off the ground. "Come on; we'd better get cleaned before headin' back. An' come up wit' one hell of a cover story…"

A/N: I've been eager for some hard-head sibling fluff. Raph and Mel have the potential for mutual respect and understanding, and I think they're on that path. I see them being a great power duo in future battles. :)

BTW, thanks so MUCH for reviews, guys. Seriously. They're really appreciated and motivating. Sometimes, it's just what I need. So, don't be shy. :D