Rating: M for language, Raph will be Raph after all.
Disclaimer: Only mine in my head. In reality, TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.
Warnings: Little bit of foul language and mentions of past character death. Unbetaed.
Summary: Lost and alone in another reality, one turtle must try to find his way home. All while trying to forge a place amongst a family who lost one of their own under horrible circumstances and seemingly resents his very presence. No OC's. Set: 2k3 up until 'Good Genes'. 2k12 up until 'The Good, the Bad and Casey Jones'.
Comments, thoughts and concrit is always welcome.
And One to Grow On
Ch - 2
Casey had essentially made his choice, there was nothing else Raphael could do but leave. Raph decided all he could do now was go back out the window and wait on the rooftop for Donatello and Leonardo to come meet him but just as he was about to go out the window and head up, he heard Casey's footsteps returning. Raphael looked back towards the doorway Casey had gone through previously and waited for him to approach.
The former hockey player's face was still unreadable and Raph dimly noticed he held something in his hands. All of a sudden, Casey moved and the object was flying hard and fast, directly at Raph's face!
In Raph's shock, he almost allowed the thrown object to slam into him but at the last moment, his nineteen year developed ninja reflexes automatically kicked in and he caught the cold object.
'Wait a moment, cold object?' Raph tore his shocked gaze away from Casey to look down at the caught item; a cold can of beer. Raph stared, dumbfounded until an amused snort of laughter caught the turtle's attention and he looked up again, seeing Casey doubled over with laughter and barely holding himself up against the nearby door frame.
“Good thing ya looked... away... when ya did... ya bonehead!” Casey struggled to get out between his fits of laughter. “Seriously dude... I couldn't hold... that straight face... any longer!” He slid down the door frame, unable to remain on his feet he was laughing that hard while Raphael stood there twitching as he watched.
Raphael felt completely indignant. Casey had just made light of his sincere apology!
He didn't make those things for just anyone!
Apologies meant putting aside your pride and Casey had just stood there having fun at Raphael's expense!
He... he...
Raph's mouth twitched up at the edge against his will.
Casey had acted just like Casey.
Raph smiled, of course his friend forgave him. He knew exactly how it was to have to reign in a temper. It was a small part of why they always got along so well.
“'sides, bro, my gramma would've knocked me down harder 'an you!”
Raph couldn't help but start to chuckle, laughing for the first time he could really remember and walked over to help Casey up. He extended his hand down to his friend and Casey managed to stop laughing long enough to grab it but instead of allowing Raph to pull him to his feet, he suddenly yanked the turtle down to the ground as well, guffawing in amusement at Raph's expense once more.
As Raphael crashed down, partially on top of his best friend, it was that moment that Raph knew for sure that he and Casey were good.
- . - . -
The next couple of nights patrolling were pretty much as uneventful as the previous night had been. Raph, Donnie and Leo foiled a few muggings and a couple of break-ins. Casey joined them for a few hours once before leaving, uncomfortable with the still somewhat strained atmosphere between the three turtles, though Raph promised Casey that he would join him alone for a night within a few days. Leo wasn't pleased to hear that but Donnie sure was. He felt, after so long of staying home, that going out patrolling every single night was just too much and he knew that he would relish a night off to relax with a project or two.
It was nearly eleven pm and the night so far had just been too quiet. The three brothers were considering just heading instead, to their stakeout spot when they heard a loud voice laughing with abandon.
Donatello gave a tight smile, “It sounds as though someone is at least enjoying themselves.” he commented, looking sideways at his brothers. “They aren't far away either.”
“It has nothing to do with us.” Leo dismissed. “Come on, we need to get a move on.”
Raph rolled his eyes as Leo began to lead the way away from the laughter when Leo suddenly paused, cocking his head as a familiar sound reached his ear slits. He turned, watching and listening in the direction the sounds were coming from. The faint tinkle of metal and thwack of wood striking flesh; of piping smashing into brick and chains slamming into hard concrete and the hollow, metallic thud and rattle of them hitting a mostly empty dumpster; yells of pain, annoyance and anger and of mocking; the familiar sounds of battle, though not like any they'd heard for quite some time.
Raphael immediately began running, jumping over the edge of the roof and dropping down the side of the building, small distances at a time. Donatello and Leonardo were right behind him. Donnie shook his head at the blind insanity his younger brother displayed. As far as he could tell, Raph hadn't even paused to check for any fire-escapes, ladders or even any protrusions he could use to arrest his fall.
Leo muttered as he ran, “At least he jumped around the side from the battle.”
When the two finally reached the ground, they found Raph waiting, tapping his two-toed foot impatiently. “What took ya both so long?” However, he didn't wait for a response. The sounds of battle had just stopped
Raphael ran around the nearby corner, Leonardo and Donatello at his heels. Raph stopped short so suddenly that his brothers weren't able to stop in time. Donnie thumped hard into the back of Raph's shell but Leo being Leo, somehow managed to sidestep, gracefully enough to avoid the same fate, just. He too quickly stopped short at the sight in front of them.
Splayed out ahead of the brothers were three thugs; low ranking Purple Dragons based on their tattoos. Nearby each unconscious body was a fallen weapon; a two meter long chain in a heap; a wooden baseball bat, splintered nearly in two and a length of metal piping.
“Well, someone sure went to town on these goons.” Leo observed, stating the obvious as he looked from one body to another.
“They could've left some for us, geez!” Raph kicked the ground in disgust. “There's barely been anyone around causin' trouble for me to crack open for a week now!”
“Well, they left one of the Dragons alone.” Leo commented wryly, pointing down the street at a distantly fleeing figure.
Raphael glanced up grunting, “Too far gone now to take 'em.” He turned to look back through the darkened area, noting the nearby street light that was recently smashed.
Donatello looked towards Raph for a moment before turning back to take in all the details of the scene. “You mean it's been quieter than usual for the last few days?”
“Yeah, 'bout eight days now. Been makin' it so hard to work off my anger some before returnin' home. Guess I know why now.”
Donatello spoke softly, as if afraid to spark an argument. “I had wondered why you started coming home so much later than usual.”
Raph smirked, moving into the alley to look for a fire-escape. “Didn't really think anyone noticed.” He shrugged. “You certainly had your head down, snorin' on the keyboard every night, uh... mornin'.”
Donnie grinned sheepishly, “I may have sequestered myself into my lab more than I used to but I was still concerned enough to set the alarm systems to send time-stamps of any comings and goings to my computer.” He paused before adding more quietly, “and you can't think that I didn't have the tracker keeping me apprised of your whereabouts in case of an emergency. Don't worry! I didn't tell anyone where you were or anything, I just used the information to assure Master Splinter that as long as your signal didn't halt in one place for too long, that you were fine!”
“It would have been nice if...” Leo suddenly cut off his own reproachful statement as a sound of rolling wheels from the rooftop caught his attention. “Someone's up there! Come on turtles, let's go!”
The three ninja ran up the fire-escape, as fast and as quietly as they possibly could, jumping up levels wherever and whenever they were able. It didn't take them long to reach the top and they looked around wildly, looking for the source of the noise, whether it was a spy, the mystery assailant of the Purple Dragons or even just some civilian enjoying the late night air on the roof of the building they lived in. Raphael was the first to spot the figure now two buildings over and distancing. He smirked with delight.
“There!” he pointed out, watching as the figure grinded the edge of the roof it was on before jumping high and flipping its skateboard into the air catching it as they neared the edge of roof. They didn't stop, just ran forward several steps and leapt to the next roof, throwing their board in front of their feet and jumping back on without missing a step, riding once more.
Donatello and Leonardo watched, mouths agape in pure surprise. They had never seen anyone riding a skateboard like this. Leonardo in particular hadn't truly believed in Raph's tale until that moment but now he, like Donnie, didn't only believe but was truly floored by the sheer ability the rider displayed as he performed. They watched as the mystery rider, the unknown turtle, as they saw from the silhouette, executed a spectacular flip, holding the board in hand and landing skillfully back on top.
“I told you what I saw was true.” Raph exclaimed, not bothering to hide the smugness in his voice. “Come on, before we lose 'em.”
Once again, Raphael didn't bother waiting for his two older brothers, he just started the chase however Leonardo and Donatello were quickly able to shake off their surprise and follow. The chase was on!
Raph, Donnie and Leo raced pell-mell after the the retreating figure but to their utter disgust, they realised whoever it was, being on wheels most of the time except for occasional jumps from one building to the next, was just too damn fast. The brothers were losing ground steadily. Leo however, quickly realised the unknown rider was heading straight towards the building that was beside the manhole cover Raph had lead them to the other night. He told Raph to continue following from the rooftops and he and Donnie would come from below ground.
As Raphael descended the ladder into the sewers, Leo and Donnie approached him from within the tunnel, the latter ever so slightly breathless.
“We found... no sign of them.” Donnie panted upon sighting his younger brother.
Raph smirked at Donatello's expense, “You really gotta leave that lab more often, bro,” he said, turning to face the opposite direction and ignoring Donnie's glare.
“Enough bickering,” Leo stated, all business now, “We have a mystery mutant to find.” Briskly, he stalked by Raph to continue down the tunnel, simply expecting his two younger brothers to follow.
As they walked, all three turtles kept a sharp eye out for any sign of recent passage. Donnie had on a pair of specialised goggles, watching the ground for any latent heat readings and holding a tracker in front, searching for any unusual readings. Both Raph and Leo continued to watch and listen intently for any sound that might give away the presence of another being. To their dismay, they soon reached a split in the tunnel and there was still no obvious signs of recent life.
Leo frowned, “We'll have to split up but be very careful. We don't know who it is we are trying to track. They may be friendly but for all we know, they could be one of Bishop's experiments, out to take us down.”
Raph snorted derisively, “Right! It could also be the turtle tooth-fairy for all we know!”
“I'm just saying, Raphael, that we need to be on our toes. We don't know who or what we are dealing with!” Leo retorted exasperated.
Donnie looked from Leo to Raph and back again in dismay. “I do hope you two aren't going to start a fight now, of all times.” At the protest he could see forming on the mouths of his brothers, he continued, not allowing them to get in a word edgewise. “I doubt very much this has anything to do with Bishop but,” Donatello held up a hand to stop Raph's triumphant comment, “Leo's right, we need to be careful.” He reached into his duffel and pulled out three headsets, passing one each to Raph and Leo. “I suggest we keep an open channel at all times.”
Accepting his headset, Leo nodded, “I agree. Donnie and I will take this fork, Raph, you take that one. If you find anything, let us know immediately. Do not try to take it on by yourself.”
Raph rolled his eyes for the second time that night as he adjusted his own headset, “You're bein' ridiculous, Fearless, but fine, if I find anything, I'll call for backup like a good little turtle.” With that, Raph stalked down his own tunnel, eyes and ears pealed for anything.
Leo sighed as he and Donnie started down their own tunnel. Raph was still impossible, like always. Though he had to admit, at least for the last few days, he seemed to be trying.
Several uneventful minutes passed, with nothing to show for their efforts in either tunnel when Leonardo suddenly jolted to a stop. He crouched down, close by the edge of the water they were walking beside and reached down a finger.
“Leo?” Donnie inquired, “Did you find something?”
Leo smiled slowly in satisfaction; that faint mark he noticed was dampness. Someone or something had passed through here, walking carefully through the water. It was obvious they were trying not to splash and leave tracks but they didn't do as good a job of hiding their trail as he and his brothers would have. It was almost as though whoever they were trailing had turned suddenly, possibly distracted by something from behind which in turn caused a slight ripple in the water.
“Raph, come join us.” Leo spoke softly into his microphone, “We've picked up the trail.”
“'bout time,” Raph grumbled, “I'm on my way.”
Leo and Donnie continued slowly forward, ever alert for any other signs of movement as they waited for their younger brother to catch up to them. It didn't take long as only a few short minutes later, he arrived, running close by the wall so as not to disturb any other signs.
Leo, Donnie and Raph continued walking, spread out across both sides of the waterway and less than five minutes later, they came across the tunnel's end, the water disappearing into the wall. The brothers looked around and at each other.
“Whoever that turtle was cannot have gotten through that small gap!” Donatello exclaimed in dismay. “How the shell could we have missed them?”
Raph and Leo exchanged glances as Raph poked at the spot the water was disappearing into with his sai.
“We must have passed them.” Leo commented faintly. “It's the only explanation.”
“But how? There was nowhere they could have been hidden!”
Leo surreptitiously pointed up.
Raph stood straight, turning his head to look at his older brothers. “I'll go back to the intersection and stand ground.”
“Okay,” Leo agreed, “but be...”
“Yeah, yeah, I know bro.” Raph waved a hand dismissively as he and the other two turned to face the direction they came from.
Raphael, Donatello and Leonardo froze, as the strange turtle dropped down from the pipes in the ceiling of the tunnel, raising his weapons in each hand, only meters away from where they stood.
The stranger glared in obvious trepidation with a healthy dose of curiosity mixed in, “Who are you dudes an' why were you chasing me?”
- . - . -
