Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The original characters and plot, however, are mine. No copyright infringement is intended.

This Epilogue has been slightly modified due to sexual content. Please visit my profile for AFF link for the full smutty version.

Two weeks after Leo's departure

Goddamn she is beautiful, he thought stealing a glance at her as she pulled on her black riding boots. But she was with Leo and he would respect that. He had hurt his brother once when he and Claire slept together. Back then, he didn't know Leo had feelings for her. If he did, he would have never let it happen. He tried fighting it but he had fallen for her, hard. He would never admit it, but that night they spent together was special for him. The way her body felt under his, the way she had moaned his name when she came. Even now, her scent still lingered in his bed sheets. He just couldn't bring himself to wash them of her. It had hurt when she said it didn't mean anything; that she didn't have feelings for him. It's always about Leo, he thought bitterly. His eyes wandered over to Claire again as he pulled his bulky, muscular arm through the metallic sleeve. She had that look in her eyes; the one she got right before they went out to fight. But Raphael knew her too well. Behind those hardened brown eyes was sadness. She missed his brother. He hated seeing her unhappy. It invoked this feeling within him: protectiveness, a need to take care of her. It took all of his self-control to not scoop her up in his arms and rub his scent on her. After Claire's near-death incident at Club Blu, Leo's scent had been all over her. He must have rubbed himself on her every day. The rational, human part of Raphael knew that this helped him to keep his distance from Claire; she was already claimed. But the animal within desperately wanted to challenge Leo for her.

Leo's scent was already beginning to disappear from Claire and that made it even harder. He inwardly sighed.

Doesn't matter, I'll be there for her. I'll be whateva she needs me to be. Raphael could never tell Claire how he felt about her. If Claire knew, then she might stop spending time with him. He loved being around her too much. He couldn't let that happen. They were cut from the same cloth; she was the only one who truly understood him. In the highly improbable event that it didn't work out with Leo, he would be there waiting. Like that would ever happen, he thought darkly. Leo almost fucked it up when he pushed her away the first time. He's not stupid enough to do it again. If he did, he doesn't deserve her.

Claire examined her katana on the wall as she suited up in the garage. Beside her, Raphael was attaching each piece of the dull, gray armor to his body. She zipped up her black leather jacket and looked over at him with a smile. It had been his idea, going out at night together to patrol the streets. He embraced his new persona; took it very seriously. It was a genius idea, really. Not only were they able to keep their identities a secret to the family, but they could monitor the city.

She walked over to the shiny, jet black bike sitting next to Raphael's red one. She had bought it with some of the money Grams left her. She ran a black, gloved hand across the handlebars; she loved having her own bike to take out. She wondered what Leo would say about it when he got back. It had only been two weeks since he left, but it felt like an eternity to Claire. She pulled her hand back from the bike and sighed. She couldn't stop thinking about him. Leo was everywhere. He was in every movement of her katana, every time she watched Space Heroes; hell, anytime she saw the color blue.

She exhaled and stretched her legs out before pulling herself onto the bike. She sheathed the katana on her back, securing it in place and gathered her long blonde hair into a ponytail before pulling her helmet on. She looked over at Raph; he was sitting on the bike fully armored and looked intimidating as hell. A dark prince of the night, she thought to herself, smiling beneath the sleek, black helmet. Raph revved his bike, waiting for her signal.

"Let's go get 'em, Watcher."

Three months after Leo's departure

Somewhere in Central America:

Three months had passed since Leo left New York. He never thought he would miss the bustle of the city, the sounds of the subway rattling their underground home. But he did. Since arriving in Central America, he had done a lot of soul searching; living off the land, protecting the people who inhabited the town there, but he still hadn't learned how to be a better leader. I'm failing, he thought to himself miserably. I can't go home a failure. Maybe I won't go back at all.

It was pouring and the streets in the small, dilapidated town were nearly empty. With his cloak drawn tightly around him, he caught a glimpse of an old, fuzzy television in the village's only bar as he walked the dark streets. Was that the Empire State Building? He stopped outside the door, eyes drawn to the dirty television. Chopper footage was showing a large figure in dull armor surrounded by a group of ten or so people. Leo squinted to read the headline: "Vigilantes in NYC". Beside the large figure was a much smaller one, dressed in all black, a mask covering most of their face. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the smaller one fight the men off. He knew that style anywhere. Claire and Raph. He felt the goose bumps travel over his body.

Before he left the lair, he sat down and had a heart to heart with Raphael. Leo knew that Claire would be out there on the streets fighting while he was gone and he felt that she would be the safest with Raphael. His brother promised him that would never make an advance at Claire and would take care of her while Leo was away. Even if Leo didn't fully trust him, he had no choice. He didn't want her to be alone.

His heart yearned for Claire. He missed waking up next to her, missed the touch of her soft skin, the way she laughed at his failed attempt at a joke. Seeing her fighting only made him that much more determined to return home successful; giving Claire what she deserved. He narrowed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He turned away from the bar and running, he crossed the street and made his way into the jungle. He wouldn't emerge until he had gotten what he came for.

12 months after Leo's departure

New York City:

Claire sighed, plopping herself down on Leo's bed. She had just come back from a night of patrolling with Raph and was completely exhausted. They had run into a particularly difficult group of Dragons and Claire had taken a few nasty bumps. She pulled off her boots and unzipped her black jeans, pulling them down over her navy blue, lace thong. She pulled the tie from her hair, unleashing blonde waves down her back and reached up to pull her black tank top off, tossing it onto the floor. She nearly jumped when a figure stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room. "Claire."

The sound of his voice made her heart soar. "Leo?!"

He quickly closed the distance between them, his hands gripping her waist as he buried his nose into her hair. "Claire, god, I missed you so much," he whispered into her neck. He pulled back to look at her; his eyes roving over her lean, toned body, happily noting the choice of her undergarment color.

Her lips found his in the dark and she kissed him hungrily. She slid her hands along the side of his mask and twirled her fingers into his bandana tails as she rose up onto her tiptoes to press herself into him.

"Leo, I love you."

With a soft growl, he hoisted her up into the air and she squealed at the sudden movement. He tossed her down onto his bed roughly and climbed up on top of her, pinning her down in between his legs. He leaned in and slowly, sensually rubbed his face all over her neck and exposed chest. Her breath hitched; it had been nearly a year since he had touched her. "Leo," she groaned out to him, placing her hands on either side of his face, pulling him back to her lips. Desperately she kissed him again and again, panting as she came up for air. She felt her thong slide slowly down her legs and come to rest at her ankles. She quickly kicked it off onto the floor, bringing her legs up around Leo's shell. She ran her hands across his plastron, paying careful attention to the new nicks and scrapes he had acquired in Central America. She wrapped her arms around his chest and brought her swollen, pink lips to his shoulder, kissing and licking the sensitive skin there. Leo moaned, throwing his head back as he gripped the headboard. "Leo, make love to me," Claire said softly. He pulled his head back down to look at her, his eyes a dark, hungry shade of blue. She reached around to quickly unhook her lacy bra. He grabbed her hands that were resting on his shoulders and pinned them on the pillow behind her head with one hand. Claire reveled in the feeling of being dominated by Leo. She squirmed as the feeling travelled down in between her thighs, knowing that Leo could smell her heightened arousal. She felt a bulge press up against her thigh and she knew he had released himself.

"Please, Leo, I am so close," Claire groaned. They had barely begun, but it had been a long time since Leo had taken Claire and the feeling was overwhelming.

He intertwined his fingers with hers and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She moaned loudly as she felt her release, curling her plum colored toes. Gasping for breath, Claire ran her fingertips over his muscles; they seemed to have grown larger while he was away. Again, he rubbed his cheeks across her face and neck to mark her, finally satisfied with the amount of his scent he had transferred to her. He rolled off Claire and drew her body in close to his, her back to his plastron.

He gently ran his fingers through her hair as she caught her breath. "I love you," he said in her ear.

"Mmmm," she responded, pulling his arms that were wrapped around her even closer. "I love you too, Leo." They lay silent for a moment before she spoke again. "So, how was Central America? Were you able to find what you were looking for?" She bit her lip. Even though they had just made passionate love, she needed to hear him say that they would be okay.

"You have nothing to worry about, my little tenshi. Everything will be alright. WE will be alright." He gently kissed the back of her head.

"But how? How did you –" Claire began.

"Shhh. There will be time for that tomorrow. Right now, I just want to hold you." He heard Claire sigh and felt her nestle her head further into the pillow. Stroking her hair, he listened to her breathing slow and grow deeper as she drifted off to sleep. He felt his own eyes droop and he allowed himself to fall asleep feeling an inner peace. All was right in the world.

Tokyo, Japan:

A small, dark figure gazed out of a large window onto the bright lights of the city; steely gray eyes surveying the streets below. "And what of my buntai? Have they been assembled and trained?"

"Yes, Mistress. All but the yellow-haired one. She proved…difficult to persuade. We were ultimately unable to acquire her."

"Pity. No matter. Phase Two of the operation will proceed as planned. I'm looking forward to seeing our green friends." Her tiny red lips curved into a sinister smile. "And an old lover," Karai murmured to herself.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who read/reviewed Seeing Red. It means a lot to me :) Be on the lookout for a one-shot that takes place while Leo was away. I will probably be posting that sometime in the next 2 weeks. I may also write a sequel to this story, but that wouldn't come for a few months. 3