Chapter Text
Raph was dreaming.
It was an odd dream. A lot different to the ones he was used to. There were the good dreams, ones of him and his brothers battling monsters, running and flipping across the sky, or even just simply hanging out watching stupid TV shows. There were also the weird dreams that made absolutely no sense and were most likely forgotten when morning came. And then, there were the nightmares. Lots of nightmares.
But this dream felt… different. He was floating? Maybe? Raph wasn’t sure. There was nothing solid he could touch, and all he could see around him was a dark, cloudy grey. The air was humid, smelling like the warm city streets after a rain. The mist seemed to churn around him, like it was being rolled by a gentle wind. It was almost as if he was hovering in the middle of a storm cloud, the moisture heavy and the slight smell of ozone threatening lightning.
There was a low whispering coming from all around him. He could barely discern it from the soft sound of the wind, but there were clearly words being said. He strained to listen, trying to hear any word out of the hundreds of voices hissing feebly against his ears.
Feed…
Raph felt a chill go up his spine. The word sounded as if one of the voices had leaned forward, whispering right behind him. He jerked around, but there was nothing, just the endless grey fog.
Raph tried to speak, but found that nothing came out, the words seeming to die in his throat. He was starting to panic now, the whispering rising to a low, buzzing roar.
Feed…
There it was again, the voice hissing into his ear. He whipped his head around frantically, looking for the source. Figures seemed to move within the mist, though he couldn’t see who they were through the haze. The whispers seemed to reach a crescendo, causing Raph to cover his ears, closing his eyes as if it’d help him hide from whatever was taunting him.
Feed…
Grow…
Must become…
Stronger…
FEED
.
.
.
Raph sat up with a start, feeling as if his heart was beating out of his chest. He turned to his T-phone alarm, which was trilling a gentle, upbeat song. He turned it off quickly, falling backwards in his bed with a loud huff. He breathed slowly, allowing his heart to settle.
Geez, what was that all about? He thought, staring up at his ceiling. He sighed, pushing himself back up to a sitting position and stretching his arms while letting out a groan. It took all of thirty seconds for Raph to leap to his feet and throw on his mask, the strange dream forgotten for the time being.
“Patrol! I almost forgot!” He exclaimed excitedly, clumsily making his way out of his room. His body began prickling with anticipation as he quickly made his way down the hallway.
It had been nearly ten months since the Kraang attack left them all unable to fight normally, let alone protect the people of New York. But finally, after many months of rehab, physical therapy, and a lot of mental health work, Splinter had given them the ok to begin patrolling the city again. And Raph couldn’t be more thrilled. He couldn’t wait to get back to what he did best: Being the best damn protector this city had ever seen.
Raph barged into Mikey’s room, giving a loud, “Mornin’ Mikes!” to his sleeping brother. The younger turtle let out a soft groan, rolling over and snuggling deeper into his covers. Raph made his way over to Mikey’s side, grabbing his brother’s mask from where it was hanging on the turtle’s nightstand. “C’mon Mikes, it’s patrol time!” He said, unable to keep the excitement from crawling into his voice.
Mikey let out another groan, but pushed himself into a sitting position. He crawled over to Raph, not even bothering to open his eyes. The small turtle pulled himself up onto Raph shell, slumping his body over Raph’s shoulders with a huff.
Raph grinned, setting the orange mask up by Mikey’s arm before turning and heading towards Donnie’s room. As he approached the door, he bounced up and down a few times, like he was preparing for a jog. Then, he swung the door open.
Immediately, Donnie’s battle shell, which hung dutifully by his bedside, fired a taser aimed directly at Raph’s chest. Raph masterfully dodged, stepping to the side with practiced accuracy. He’d done this a time or two.
Raph strolled towards Donnie, calling out gently as he did. “Donnie! Mornin’ patrol!”
Donnie didn’t look up, instead quickly reaching under his pillow and drawing out a dart gun, firing haphazardly in Raph’s direction. Raph once again stepped to the side, watching as the tranq dart impaled itself in Donnie’s wall with a thud.
“Hah, nice try Dontron.” He said, shooting a smug look in Donnie’s direction.
The purple turtle sighed, opening a single eye to give Raph a withering glare. “Worth a shot.” He replied grumpily before reaching to grab his mask and TechBo, climbing to his feet. “Some of us are insomniacs you know.” He complained as he fell into step behind Raph as they headed towards Leo’s room. “We can’t all be excited to be up at the ass crack of dawn. Also, hi Angelo.” Mikey just hummed in response.
“Listen, I’d love to sleep in too.” Raph emphasized as he reached for Leo’s doorknob. “But you know as well as I do we can’t patrol when there’s humans about. Otherwise, they’ll be patrolling for us.”
Donnie simply rolled his eyes, letting out a soft huff of annoyance. Raph held back a gloating grin. He knew Donnie hated when he was right.
“Leo!” Raph called as he swung open the blue turtle’s door. “It’s time for- “
“Patrol, I know.” Leo interrupted, already pushing past Raph into the hallway. Raph blinked in amazement at Leo’s punctuality. In the past, he practically had to pry Leo from his bed for a morning patrol. Even Donnie looked surprised, his drawn-on eyebrows raised slightly. Mikey just continued to snore.
Leo must have sensed his brother’s bewilderment, his face flushing as he played with his mask ribbons. “I uh, just figured since I'm the leader and all I should probably be on time.” He said nervously, looking uncomfortable.
“Oh, right.” Raph replied, forcing a smile. Things were… weird between him and Leo, to say the least. Because of everything with the Kraang, then everything that happened with Mikey in the past months, they had never really actually sat and talked about Splinter making the younger turtle leader. This would be the first time in a long time that they’d be doing actual team exercises up on the surface. Obviously, they needed a leader. It just felt weird to Raph that it wasn’t him. Raph shook away his irritating, negative thoughts, trying instead to encourage his brother. “After you, Leo.”
Leo smiled gratefully, with a flicker of something else behind his eyes. But just as quick as Raph saw it, it vanished, and Leo turned to lead the brothers up to the surface.
As Raph walked, he reached up over his shoulders to poke Mikey in the forehead. “Up an’ attem, buddy.” He said fondly as he prodded the sleepy turtle’s skull.
Mikey groaned, but slowly slid down Raph’s shell, tying on his mask. Finally, he opened his eyes, blinking groggily. Raph was still thrown off a bit by his mismatched irises, a direct effect from the mystic debacle he’d gone through a few months prior. He shook off the memories, instead rubbing Mikey’s head gently as they followed after Leo.
“How did we ever get up this early?” Mikey mumbled tiredly, letting out a yawn.
“A better question would be why did we ever get up this early.” Donnie replied, stretching his shoulders using his TechBo.
“C’mon guys!” Raph said, running ahead and nearly jumping onto the ladder. “This is our first step into becoming awesome vigilantes again! The four mutant ninja brothers who protect New York City from any monsters that threaten her! We’ll be heroes again!”
Donnie and Mikey groaned, while Leo looked down at the floor, his face unreadable. Raph felt his spirits waver. He was losing them.
“I’ll buy ya coffee.” He coaxed, causing the brothers to jerk their attention back up to him.
“Now you’re speaking my language!” Mikey said, appearing to get a burst of energy as jumped up onto Raph, using the older turtle’s shell as a base to launch himself up the ladder.
“Yeah, that seems fair.” Donnie added, activating his battle shell and jetpacking up behind Mikey.
Leo hesitated, and Raph paused, his eyes scanning his little brother. It was almost like he was waiting for Raph’s permission. Raph felt a pang of sadness, but only for a moment, before reaching out a hand to Leo.
Leo blinked a few times, then grabbed Raph’s hand, hoisting himself up onto the ladder and beginning the ascent. Raph followed behind him, trying not to dwell on the awkwardness in their relationship at the moment. What mattered was they were getting back out into the world, back to what they were good at: Being heroes.
That is what Raph lived for.