Disclaimer:

The TMNT and TMNT universe are copyright Nickelodeon and Viacom Entertainment, based on characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. This story is non-profit and free to the fans.

Warnings:

- Strong language

- Graphic violence, scenes of torture

- Adult themes

Three Weeks

by demonsweat

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Prologue

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Three weeks.

Three long weeks had passed. They hadn't talked about it of course, but the thought was always clawing at the back of their minds. As they pushed on each night, searching, scouring; hoping that the most likely outcome wasn't true, pleading with anything or anyone that it wouldn't be true. Please don't let my brothers be dead, oh god please let us get to them in time…

But so much time had passed. The years had been rife with war and they had delivered hundreds, possibly thousands, of dead Foot soldiers back to their enemy. Not that it made much difference. Like cockroaches, no matter how many were dispatched, they continued to breed as an infestation upon the city. Expendable though they may be, the body of every dead soldier only served to fuel the deep hatred towards their family, an animosity that reached back a generation before.

Incredibly, cutting the head off seemed a small wound to them; even with the Shredder gone, the Foot clan continued to thrive somehow.

It was their one real weakness. Killing Foot after Foot had little effect on their enemy overall. Yet to them, the loss of but one life would unravel everything.

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That night. What had gone so wrong? They'd fought the Foot so many times before, that night shouldn't have been any different. They were four masters at their craft, little could overwhelm them, nothing could surprise them. Moving fluidly, they swept through each foe without mercy. A katana slices neck, a sai buries itself in an eye. Nunchaku crushes skull, bo staff cracking bone. Like thousands of fights before, nothing was different.

Then she arrived.

Karai had always held a presence among the Foot; powerful and deadly, beautiful and mysterious. Held in the highest regard by Saki himself, she had led the Foot Clan in his absence. Unbeknownst to Saki, however, she followed a code of honor outside the oath of her brethren. This had led her to aid the brothers in the past, and it was this tentative allegiance that perhaps allowed them to lower their guard on that night.

She cut a perfect silhouette against the full moon. A moment held breath as she locked eyes with Leonardo; he realized too late what he saw in them.

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Chapter 01

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Raphael plodded into the kitchen in his usual callous manner. Resident tank and overall badass of the group, he often acted indifferent to most things around the lair, but he was a pretty intimidating force when he wanted to be. When you needed someone to charge headfirst into an impossible amount of foes, he was your guy. In those adrenaline fueled moments he became like an animal; a slicing, tearing, killing machine. Pain and injury meant nothing to him, which was why his skin bore more scars than any of his brothers. A constant source of mild frustration to Donatello, who always had the task of stitching him back together. Raph knew after a night out with Casey he was sure to face a serious eye-rolling from their house doctor.

And much to Don's chagrin, he and Casey had been going out a lot lately. It was to be expected. Raph and Leo were on each other's last nerve and like clockwork, every time a fight broke out between them Raphael ran off to let off some steam. Today wasn't any different.

"All I'm saying is, your attitude could be a little better." Leonardo stood in the kitchen, arms crossed in that way he always did when lecturing one of his brothers.

Donatello and Michelangelo were both seated at the table. Mike was munching loudly on some cereal; Don was reading the paper, drinking tea. They shot each other a tired look: Here we go again.

"Yeah, I wonder what could be makin' me so damn negative." Raphael crossed the room, going to the cupboard and rummaging around for something to eat.

"Maybe you should try to get in at a reasonable hour, get some actual rest before training," Leo's brow furrowed. Same old argument.

"Hey, someone's gotta clean up this shithole city, I don't see yer ass out there catchin' bad guys, o fearless leader." The nickname was one of Raphael's favorites. He'd always been sore about having to take orders from Leo and his tone now was oozing with bitter sarcasm.

"That's because I'm here training, studying… preparing for the next Foot attack. I actually care about this family, I'm actually doing what Master Splinter taught us to do…."

"Is it lonely up there on yer pedestal, Leo?"

Jeez. Can't even get one cup of tea in peace lately, thought Donatello. He looked over at Michelangelo. Oh, no. Mikey was getting that look in his eye. He looked down and saw something in Mike's lap.

Donatello looked at Mike wide-eyed, shaking his head slightly. Don't do it Mike, you know what he's going to do to you…

But Michelangelo was too far gone. He had that crazed look in his eye and a mischievous smile was turning up one corner of his mouth. Slowly he eased the whoopee cushion onto the chair next to him.

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about. You have no respect for me, for this family, for anything!"

"Right. Like I'm gonna respect ya when ya nag me alla the time. Y'know what? You can go fuck yerself, Leo." Raph sat down in a huff.

BRRRAAAAAAAPPPPPPP!

There was a split second of silence. Then:

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Mike actually fell out of his chair laughing.

"Oh, you are DEAD!" Raphael lunged at the younger turtle, chasing after him as Mike scrambled out of the room.

Well, got to hand it to him, at least he broke up the argument, thought Donatello. Maybe now I can enjoy the rest of this morning with a little peace and quiet.

The sound of glass smashing came in from the living room. "C'mere ya little runt!"

"AH - AHHH! NO! GUYS HELP! HE'S GONNA KILL ME!"

Donatello sighed. Then again, maybe not.

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In his room, Leonardo sat in quiet contemplation. He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, listened to his heartbeat. I must stop this, he thought. There must be a way to get my point across without angering him so much. A part of him wanted to blame Raphael, to believe that it was entirely his fault, that there was nothing he could do. But it was impossible for him to truly believe that. As the leader he was supposed to be able to deal with anything, especially dissention within the ranks. Maybe it was too late – maybe too much damage had been done, maybe Raphael would always hate him like this. Have I failed? He wondered.

There was no worse feeling to the eldest turtle than failure. He spent all of his time training to be perfect, knowing full well that any slip up could cost the lives of his brothers. A tactical genius, he'd led his brothers to victory time and time again. But Raphael, the one thorn in his side, was constantly defiant; he knew it was only a matter of time before this dissention got one of them killed. It was his job to fix this. Their lives depended on it.

Leonardo stood up and stretched. He'd been feeling a bit cooped up, some fresh air would probably be good for all of them. Maybe we should do some topside training this week, he thought, it would probably calm Raph down a bit, anyways. Before doing so, though, it would be prudent to check on their current stash of medical supplies. He'd been meaning to get with Donnie at some point and do a quick inventory. No time like the present, I guess. He walked out and headed towards Donatello's lab.

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After satisfying his need to punch something (in this case, the unfortunate Michelangelo), Raphael also retired to his room. Stupid Leo, he thought, why can't he jus' leave me the hell alone for two minutes…

He may have been a powder keg, but none of his brothers would ever question his loyalty. They all knew, Leonardo included, that Raphael's heart was in the right place. For one, he was always fiercely protective of his brothers. In many fights with the Foot Clan, it was Raphael's berserker fighting style that turned the tides in their favor. He was just y'know - a pain in the ass to live with sometimes.

But it was getting dangerously out of control and they all knew it. Things had been escalating between him and Leonardo, and the fearless leader had been getting under his skin in just the right way. Accusing Raphael of endangering his family was an excellent way to piss him off, whether that's what Leo intended to do or not.

Mr. 'high and mighty' always gotta be better than me. Whatta jerk. Deciding he didn't want to think about this anymore, Raphael went downstairs to see if Mike wanted to play some video games instead.

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