As promised, this is the alternate version where Raph stays. And personally, I like this one better :). Also, I'm really sorry that my posting schedule has been really off, it's just that I am going to be doing my ACT soon (wish me luck!). But I love to post stories and will always put you guys first. Thank you to everyone who is currently supporting my stories! Please R&R!

*I own nothing*

TMNT

"Please don't do it."

Raph looked at his younger brother with sad eyes, his hands trembled with the exceeding weight of his red duffle bag.

"I have to Mike. I just can't stay here anymore, listening to Leo always japing at me, or Donnie trying to change me. It's just too much!" He argued. Truth was, he didn't want to leave. But it was a matter of emotion, and his emotional status was rather unstable.

But Mikey wouldn't understand that. And as much as Raph wanted him to understand, the red-masked brother didn't want his youngest brother to go through that. He was already suffering, why have someone else suffer?

Mikey wiped away a few tears. "Please don't leave Raph. I need you, and it doesn't matter how bad the others treat you because I'll protect you!"

"How?!" Raph madly gestured with his hands, "How are you going to fix this?" Raph gestured to his body. "Mikey I'm a mess! And no matter how much you protect me, I will never change for them. Apparently, that's not enough. That sickens me, I will never change for them!"

The tone in the air had changed, but it felt rather mad than tense. Raph was angry, but not in the way he had expected.

"But I need you, Raph!" Mikey sobbed; tears drew down his pale cheeks. His hands twitched with every jerk of his head. He was beyond reasoning with, defeat wasn't an option.

"Stop being selfish, you're just trying to keep me here," Raph scoffed, "Can't you see I'm miserable! By trying to keep me here, you're trying to tell me to continue to suffer. Just let me go…..." His voice went oddly soft. "Please Mikey, let me do this."

"NO RAPH! Never or ever am I allowing you to do this! You're my brother, and last time I checked, we're not allowed to give up so easily!"

Mikey ran over and grabbed his hot-headed brothers' arms, but Raph shrugged him off with a small jerk. "Mikey, there's nothing you can do to stop me. I'm leaving…and that's final." He watched Mikey fall into a small heap on the floor, tears struck his own eyes at the sight. "It's not like I'm trying to hurt you Mike, but this isn't a matter I'm willing to discuss. I must leave, and for that, it should be enough."

"No, your just being a quitter," Mikey looked at him from the floor with venomous eyes, "You know, I get it. Life is hard, but you don't see me trying to run away from all of it."

Raph couldn't believe his eyes, Mikey had been completely devastated one moment, and now he was becoming angrier?! He was supposed to be the hot-headed one, not his little brother.

But it seemed the tables had turned.

Mikey got up and stomped over to Raph, so close that he could kiss him. "Don't think that I don't have my struggles, because trust me, I do. But I never threaten to run away, because I know that it would devastate each and every one of you! I set my problems aside, but you don't. And that for some reason makes you, my hero. But I don't know what to really think anymore."

His voice was quieter than before. "I want to say that I'm angry, but I'm not. I'm scared Raph, scared that if you leave, you wouldn't come back."

Raph didn't know what to say, for once in his life, he was speechless.

"Raph, leave if you want. I can't make you stay."

Mikey looked his brother in the eyes and leaned forward to gave Raph a hug. To which Raph accepted and hugged him back harder.

"But you're my older brother Raph, and I can't stand to see you leave."

Raph wanted to stay, but in his heart, he knew that it wasn't the right decision. His mask was cracking, and the pain underneath had only begun to show. Leo and Donnie weren't helping that matter. And it didn't matter what Mikey would promise, for the safety of his family, he needed to leave.

"I'm sorry Mike, but I can't stay," he sighed, feeling tears streak down his chest. He wanted to cry to, everything that had brought him down to earth was now crumbling to pieces. There wasn't a single pole for him to attach himself into to. Simply, Raph was floating away.

Metaphorically of course

"Then I'm sorry," Mikey gave a strangled breath, "I should've protected you, or at least been there for you."

Raph held his brother a little tighter, "But you already have Mikey."

-0-

*Flashback*

"Ralphie! Please don't hurt me," Mikey squealed as he turned right. Raph wasn't far behind him; his skin painted a soft pink.

"YOUR DEAD!" he shouted making a sharp right turn. He got on the couch and leaped unto Mikey's back. The young toddler struggled to get out of his grip.

"Please! Spare me mercy!" Mikey cried out, slightly giggling from the pink aura coming from his older brother. But Raph didn't budge. He instead grabbed Mikey's arm and begun to pull. Hard. He was completely unaware of the pain written on his younger brother's face.

"Raph…Please that actually hurts!" The younger toddler yelled, tears streamed down his face, it felt like his arms were being pulled out of his sockets. Fire, that's what it felt like.

"I mean it Raph! IT HURTS!" Mikey pleaded, he let out a small sob. "RAPH, STOP!"

Raph knew the difference between someone faking a cry of pain, and when someone was hurt. And this was no fake cry. He immediately pulled back as Mikey curled into a ball.

"I'm s-so sorry Mikey! I didn't mean for this to happen," Raph said softly, he gave a small shake of the head as a familiar feeling rested in his throat. It was tight, constricting, and beyond unfamiliarity. He reached to touch his younger brother but pulled away feeling ashamed. It was planned to be all fun and games, but this was far from any game he knew.

And he hated it.

Mikey uncurled himself, he tried to move his left arm, but it only dangled. "Raph! What's wrong with my arm?!" he shrieked.

Fear immediately embeamed itself into Raph brain, he felt afraid and sick at the same time. He had dislocated Mikey's shoulder.

He had hurt his own brother.

"DONNIE!"

Donnie came rushing into the room, almost instantly, he ran over to his younger brother. Feeling shushed away, Raph walked away to his room.

There wasn't a place for him anymore.

-0-

It had been a good four days before Mikey's brothers allowed him to go visit Raph. For the being, Raph had confined himself in his room.

"Raph?" A timid voice asked from his dark doorway.

Raph immediately knew who it was, that annoying voice only belonged to one person. Yet, he was afraid to face him, after what he had done, he didn't deserve to be called a brother to anyone.

But Mikey headed in anyway, he walked over and sat on Raph's bed. Looking over, Mikey laid his hand on top of his older brothers. "Hey Raph, it's been awhile."

Raph pulled his hand away. "I know, now please leave."

"Why? Did I do something wrong?"

It wasn't what Mikey did, but it was rather what he did. Distance was the safest option right then.

"I just need some time alone Mike," he sighed. Truly, he didn't want to be alone, he had felt very afraid lately, and it was hard to not rely on anyone but himself. But he couldn't please everyone.

The young toddler shook his head. "I'm sorry Raph, but as brothers, we should never have to go through things alone."

"But I did that!" Raph gestured to Mikey's sling, "I hurt you! You should be scared of me!"

"But it was on accident. I should know, I make a lot of those."

Raph was flabbergasted, how in the world was Mikey not running away from him?! If it was him, he would be cussing out whoever had caused his injury. But Mikey wasn't like that, he was different. Way more compassionate, and caring than any of his brothers could manage themselves.

But even then, Mikey was pretending. After living with him for all those years, Raph knew when his youngest brother was truly suffering.

"Your not telling the truth," Raph argued, "I know that you want to say that I shouldn't be called your brother! And I agree…I've been a very bad boy."

Mikey shrugged, "Does it matter if I'm just a little hurt? What matters is that I still love you. And that your my hero."

The hot-headed brother felt tears coming to his eyes. He couldn't come up with what to say, if it weren't for Mikey, he might have just left.

Raph turned and gave his brother a heartfelt hug. And for once, he didn't care who saw.

*End really sad flashback*

-0-

"You have brought me so much joy Mikey, and I want to say thanks for that. You've always been there for me," Raph choked out. Mikey burrowed himself deeper into his brother's chest.

"I can't believe this is the last time I'll be crying with you," Mikeys muffled voice cried out, "Or that the last dinner we would have together was tonight, or that last night was the last patrol! I can't even come in your room when I have nightmares! You see how much I need you Raph, your my everything."

"Your my everything to Mikey," The hot-tempered brother whispered.

Gimps of past memories, of movie nights and dinner failures. Training, patrol, the hypocritical questions his youngest brother had managed to ask; filled with mind with grief. How could he just walk away?

He was an older brother, an Ani to his two precious younger brothers. How could he just walk away and leave them? It wasn't fair for them to have fearless always constantly bossing them around.

It just then occurred to him how much he would be losing.

"Don't splash me, Raph!" Mikey chocked out as water splashed into his mouth. Raph chuckled and continued to splash his squirming brother while treading his legs in the water.

"You agreed to this little brother!" He yelled with a hidden sense of no remorse.

*Memory Fades*

"Never leave me Raph," Mikey whispered while cuddling with is nightmare-ridden mind.

*Memory Fades*

"Shut up Raph, we know your not that strong," Leo chucked. But Raph continued to do whatever he pleased; the couch wasn't in the right position anyway.

"I know what I'm doing fearless, the couch just needs to be turned a little bit."

"But why?"

"Because the TV isn't visible from where it's at."

"Whatever," Leo gestured with his hands, "I'll leave that up to you."

Raph chuckled. "Love you to fearless."

"Love you to Ralphie."

"LEO!"

*Memory Fades*

"I know you think you don't matter," Donnie grabbed Raph's hands, "But no amount of research is needed to be done to clear up the message that you do matter."

Raph scoffed. "As if, I bet there's a nifty little file in that little laptop of yours that can prove quite the opposite."

"Why would I save that? You know I only save useful files."

But the red-masked brother wasn't buying it, though he surely did show it. It didn't matter what his younger brother had told him, the internet was a fascinating place for smarter individuals. Especially for learning about people with conditions like 'his'.

"Cut the act Donnie," he said firmly, "You don't have to hide the real truth from me."

Donnie set the laptop down with a clunk. "But I'm not lying. You mean the world to me." To show emphasis, he grabbed his computer and dropped it into the trashcan. "I mean it."

Raph knew when his brothers were telling the truth, and in his words, Donnie's eyes were practically radiating the truth. And although he felt a new sense to give a small hug, he just leaned back and gave a small smirk.

"Fine I believe yah dork."

The relief that filled his younger brothers' eyes almost made the Raph start to chuckle.

"Thanks Ani," Don whispered. He leaned forward and Raph gracefully accepted the embrace. But even as they pulled away, they still sat down where they implanted themselves.

"Hey Don?"

"Yes Raph?"

"Your going to get your computer out of the trash, right?"

"….yes…"

*Memory Fades*

It hadn't even occurred to the young teen that his family had done so much for him. And what was he doing? Running away. Just like Mikey had said, Raph was becoming a quitter.

A huge one at that.

Here Mikey was crying in his arms because of him. Leo and Donnie would probably shed a small tear for him. He was really just going to take the easy way out.

The shame that filled Raph's system made all the tears feel like daggers piercing him in the heart.

"I'm sorry Mike," he whispered. But Mikey didn't respond, the young teen had passed out in Raph's arms.

Raph stroked Mikey's arms and picked him up. Lying him down on his bed, Raph made a decision.

He wasn't going to leave.

He was not a quitter.

His brothers needed him, they needed each other.

As Mikey had said earlier, the pie isn't complete without all the pieces. He himself was a piece, and his family was far from complete without him.

And even if Leo and Donnie didn't treat him right, he would stay for Mikey. Cause Mikey didn't deserve to miss out on his love and comfort, the kid only deserved the best.

"Good night Outoto," Raph said softly, he tucked his youngest brother in.

But before he could retire, he walked over to Leo's room. Opening the door, Raph felt a smile come to his face when he saw his older brothers face in a perfect relaxation state.

Sure, Leo had his faults. But they all did. And sometimes all it took was a 'running away' attempt for him to see that, but he saw it. Loud and clear.

"Good night, Ani," he whispered.

Closing the door, Raph walked over to Donnie's room. He opened the door and felt the same peace settle over him as he watched Donnie's chest rise up and down.

"Good night Outoto," he said softly once more. He closed the door shortly after that.

It was then that Raph could retire to his room.

His room.

Not anyone's else, but his.

TMNT

Sorry for the rushed ending, but I hope that the rest of the story is good. Thank you for reading! Please R&R!