Chapter 1: Falling for Her

Author's Note/Disclaimer: SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS FIC IN RELATION TO THE 2014 MOVIE! If you haven't seen it, you don't want to read this...spoilers! Sooo...it's an excuse for y'all to go see the movie! Hiya folks! This is my first TMNT fanfic, so be gentle! It's revolved around the events towards the end of the 2k14 movieverse. It's a Raphril fic! I just watched the movie for the third time today, and I can't help but love the small moments we get of them! I want MORE! So I am writing this from Raph's 3rd person (turtle) perspective towards her. I don't own anything TMNT, and I didn't copy the last scene line for line...I changed it up to be more Raphril-centric! ENJOY, my lovelies! If you want me to continue, let me know!

"Don't move a muscle...we stay where we are!" Leonardo's encouraging, resolute words barely registered in Raphael's mind. He watched the powerful samurai striding towards his older brother and leader, and his anger surged.

"Leo!" he warned in a growl. "I'm going to let go!" He was about to explode with rage, but it would mean the collapse of the metal above them, and the toxins would leak out into New York City and kill innocents. Innocents like April O'Neil. He stayed where he was, holding up his piece of metal shakily. His muscles strained to keep up the massive weight pushing against him, but he thought of their Sensei, and it fueled his strength. Shredder began to strike Leo in the gut repeatedly, which was causing Leo pain, and he shifted his weight to try and move from the brunt of the hits. He did not break, no matter how much the punches increased in force. Raphael had to give his brother credit. Leo was a force to be reckoned with when he was determined, and he was not going to go down easily.

"SHREDDER!" A familiar and distinctly female voice pierced the air from the other side of the rooftop, making Raphael's blood run cold as he froze. Everyone looked to see April holding the container of green mutagen tight in her grasp, including a fierce Shredder, who tensed and tightened his metal fists at the sight of her.

No...April... Raph panicked when Shredder turned his full wrath and attention on the beautiful and courageous woman. He moved an inch towards her, and the falling piece tumbled harder against him. He grunted in effort but never took his eyes off of April. What the hell did she think she was doing?! Shredder would kill her without blinking an eye!

When Shredder jumped into the air and landed next to her, she almost took a step back, her eyes widening at his speed and agility. Raph and the others watched all but helpless as she stood her ground in front of their mortal enemy. She gripped her leverage tighter and tighter and eyed the armored menace who was threatening her. Raphael glanced over at Leo for a split second, seeing the many emotions on his face and knowing that he was trying to decide what to do next. However, he did not need to think for long, as the beams above them cracked and gave out, toppling over past the turtles. They all watched, horrified, as it fell towards April and their enemy.

Dust began to gather around them, and they hopelessly fought it off with their hands to get a clear view of the scene happening about 50 feet away. April glanced over at the four brothers in distress, trying to look for their large shapes in the dust. At that moment, while April was distracted with the well-being of her friends, Shredder moved quickly. Raphael yelled out for her to move, seeing the larger shape running towards the smaller one of April.

"April! Look out!" Mikey cried out, running up beside Raphael. Mikey called her by her name, and Raphael never saw Mikey with a serious face. It was alarming. Shredder body-slammed April right off of the roof, sending the four mutants into panic mode. There was a horrified scream that ripped from April's throat, and Raphael's chest tightened painfully with a mixture of horror for April and fury at Shredder. The dust thickened as more debris fell and gathered around them, making them unable to see much of anything.

"Raph...Raph!" Donnie shook him from his terrifying mental images of April falling to her doom. She had trusted them, put her life in their hands, and they blew it. When April had first flashed into their lives, he was dismissive, bitter, and suspicious, especially of her. That was, until they heard Splinter's shattering explanation: April was their savior. Their hogosha. She had always been a part of who they were, and since then, she had proven herself a true ally and a friend to each of them. If he was being honest with himself, though, he'd admit that she wasn't simply his friend. He had witnessed her trying to save Splinter when they were attacked by the Foot Clan and Shredder. She had screamed out his name before Shredder started to crush his shell. She was afraid for him. She wanted to distract Shredder to save Raph, the same turtle who was threatening to harm her the first time that they met.

He found himself feeling something for April O'Neil that was turning him into an overprotective soft shell towards her. It was the way she cared for him, for all of them, even though she barely knew who they were now that they were grown and mutated. She had such a kind heart but never just lay down to take things lightly. He admired the sheer determination that she fought with when she had an idea in her mind.

"Raphael! The dust cleared! Let's go!" Leo's voice snapped him back into reality, and he ran right for the edge of the roof just as he heard a glorious and yet concerning sound. April was screaming. It didn't sound too far away, which meant that she was alive, but she was also in trouble. What had Shredder done? He took a deep breath, steeling himself for whatever he was about to see, and peered over the side. The fallen piece was dangling between two rooves with April and Shredder hanging on for dear life. Shredder was trying to move towards the screaming young reporter, and Raph's protective instincts kicked in.

With a growl, he leapt gracefully over the rail and landed on the piece, running across the metal. The other brothers were on his tail, each concerned for their new friend. Raph kept his eyes trained ahead of him on the scene. It killed him to see April in pain and scared. This could have been prevented if they had protected her better.

"April!" he called out worriedly. She glanced up, her eyes softening but her hands slipping.

"Raph!" she cried, her knuckles whitening from her death grip on the bars. A cold chuckle emitted from the armor, sending a shiver down her spine.

"The turtles have a weakness..." Shredder taunted, taking out his blade with one hand. "Let us see how they handle this."

"No..." she began to panic, thrashing around and trying to pull herself up. "Don't..." He flung his blade at April's hands and laughed evilly as it struck her, slicing her across the hand. With a painful scream, she finally let go of the bar and began to fall.

"No!" Raph stopped in his tracks as he watched the blade fly, but he moved in a quickened heartbeat as April fell. He ran full force towards the woman he had grown to care for. He was not going to watch her die. "April! No!" he screamed as his heart jumped into his throat. The red-clad brother sprung from the metal rails and sailed down towards her as she plummeted, closer and closer to death.

"I'm not letting go, Raph! Go!" A green hand wrapped around his ankle, and he reached out his own to April.

"C'mon...c'mon April!" he urged frantically, unable to hear anything beyond his own rapid breaths and her cries of terror. She held out her hand to him, stretching and making contact after a few heart-stopping moments. A sigh of relief and a flutter in his chest made him realize that he had actually gripped ahold of her. He held tight, feeling guilty that the pull of his brothers had come to a stop so abruptly that in grabbing April, she jerked upwards, dislocating her shoulder and tearing a wail of anguish from her lips. He hated gravity in that moment.

"I have you, April. I've got you..." he soothed her, which was quite uncharacteristic of him. But, seeing as how he had almost lost his brothers, her, and perhaps already lost his father in one day, he didn't care at that point. He was more trying to soothe himself, repeating internally that she was indeed alive and real there in his hand. April looked up at him, in obvious pain but immensely relieved to see his worry-stricken face. As she stared back, he saw just how happy she was to see him there. His brothers fought off further blade attacks from Shredder, yet his eyes remained on hers. She reached up with her other hand to cover his, and he felt a slight twitch of his lips at her. She was all right, for now, because they acted quickly.

"Raph...swing me...towards Shredder...hurry!" she managed in between heavy gasps of air and sobs of pain. He started to shake his head, his eyes wide and stubborn. He felt a tug on his ankle and glanced up at Leo, who nodded at him that it would be all right. With one more desperate look, he frowned in concentration and used his thickly muscled arms and chest to propel and swing them back and forth together. With a determined yell, she struck out at Shredder's face with all of her remaining strength, and her feet smashed into his helmet, knocking him off of the bars and sending him spinning to the ground below.

"Yeah!" Leo yelled triumphantly, while Mikey made a smug comment about his "girlfriend." The turtles pulled themselves up to safety, and Raph gently moved April to where she could stand and helped her grip the bars. He could tell the shoulder was causing her intense pain, as was the blade wound on her hand so he took her tiny hand in his larger one to take a closer look. It felt weird to hold her hand for the first time like this, but it was also a comfortable gesture. And she wasn't pulling away. She stared at him kindly, biting back hysterical sobs. He had such a calming effect on her, as she did to him. He opened his mouth to speak; except, he was interrupted when the piece they were on decided to break. He pushed her shaking hand back to the bars and waited until she had a tight enough grip before throwing his arms around the bars and bracing himself.

Looking at his brothers, who were panicking and confessing about random things, and then back at April, who was trying not to slip, he hung his head and let loose all of his guarded emotions and secret feelings about his family. In the midst of knowing they were all about to die, everyone stopped and stared at the one of them who never showed anything save for sarcasm, distance, or contempt. From a sideways glance, he could see the sadness in April's eyes as she listened to him.

"Uhm...dude...Raph..." Donnie shook him again, smirking.

"We made it. We're really alive...we didn't die!" Mikey was whooping, and they were teasing Raphael about crying, which he brushed off. He heard a shaky breath next to him and turned just in time to see April looking at her hand against her side and sinking quite hastily to the ground, her head lolling to one side.

"Guys!" he called, halting all laughter as he sped to her and caught her just in time in his strong arms. He pulled back her hand and found it covered in blood. She must have been struck by a sharp piece of Shredder's armor when he had tackled her over the railing. His jaw tightened nervously. She was barely conscious. Mikey hovered anxiously, all jokes thrown out the window as he asked if he could help. Leo rushed over and glanced her over, giving Raphael a look of unease that chilled him to the core.

"If we don't leave here now, they'll see us. Bye bye, vigilantes, and hello news rooms!" Donnie told them.

"Turtles, move out!" their leader spoke in an authoritative voice, which Raph didn't argue with this time. "Raph, bring April! Hurry!" With a curt nod, Raphael swung the now unconscious woman into his arms, holding her under her knees and cradling her against his chest safely.

"Stay with me," he spoke to her under his breath, brushing her hair back and frowning deeply. Together, the brothers jumped into the sewer, eager to save their master and to figure out exactly what happened with April.