Summary: Human AU: After Raphael disappeared at the age of five, his family was devastated. They never stopped searching for him, but after eleven years, they fall to the conclusion that he must truly be gone. But when the Hamato family receives a phone call early in the morning, they are overwhelmed to hear that Raphael is alive and well. But after such a large time gap, and a crude upbringing, is the Raphael they knew still inside this hardened shell of a teenager.
Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT or its characters. All rights go to produces.
A/N: Please be gentle on me. This is my first TMNT fan fiction, so please be nice.
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood." ~ Tom Robbins, "Still Life with a Woodpecker"
Chapter One: Lost and Found
"Wait for the rest of us, Raph," Leo called. Leo glanced back over his shoulder to Mikey and Donnie, who were tagging along on their skateboard and rollerblades, respectively, before glancing up ahead again to Raphael. "LEO," Donnie cried, beckoning his elder brother to his side. "Mikey tripped me with his skateboard."
He saw Raph come to a slow halt on his bike and glance impatiently over his shoulder at Leo and the others. The bike was brand new-a gift from their father for his fifth birthday- and Raph had ridden it the majority of the day yesterday. He had begged to go out riding again, and he could only go out riding if Leo was with him, and although Leo had a pile of homework to do, he enjoyed seeing his second youngest brother happy for a change; he was usually such a miserable child.
"I did not," Mikey retorted, "Donnie fell on it."
"That's only because you stopped in front of me, Mikey."
Leo glanced over at Donnie and Mikey who were sporting cuts on their hands and knees from colliding and hitting the pavement together. He glanced over to Raphael, who looked rather impatient. Leo trailed behind Donnie and Mikey back towards their house. Once he had cleaned and bandaged Donnie's knees and Mikey's palms, Leo went to sit out on the front porch and wait for Raphael while his other two brothers jumped on the trampoline in the backyard. Instead, there, in the gutter, was Raph's Red Rocket bike, tipped on its side, one of the training wheels slowly spinning. And next to it, lay Raph's bike helmet. He glanced up from the bike and down the street; there was no sign of his little brother. "No, don't think like that," Leo growled to himself. He took in a deep shaky breath and exhaled, forcing himself to regain some of his calm. He ran back to the house and stampeded through the halls until he had the phone in his hands. With shaky hands, he dialed the number for his father's dojo. His father picked up the second ring. "Leonardo, what is the problem? What is so urgent that I must return home so suddenly?"
"I'm going to take Donnie and Mikey back home to clean their cuts."
"I want to keep riding," Raph stated firmly.
"Okay," Leo replied reluctantly. He knew that he shouldn't be letting any of his brothers out of his sight, but he didn't have the time or energy to fight with Raph at the moment. "You can ride down to the end of the street and back home, okay?" Raph nodded an affirmative and pedaled past Leo.
As five minutes turned into ten, Leo was starting to lose patience. It couldn't possibly take that long to ride from one end of the street to the other. Now annoyed, Leo got to his feet and made his way down to the end of the street. As he neared the end of the street, he spotted something lying in the gutter. At first, he thought Raph might have hurt himself somehow, but as he got to the corner of the street, he saw no sign of Raphael.
Panic flooded Leo's chest as he began to search for his brother.
"Raph," he called out. He turned the corner onto the next street. "RAPH!" Desperately, Leo looked around, his heart beating faster with each passing moment. Where could he have gone? Did he even run off? Or did someone take him?
His first thought was to call the police, but decided to call their father instead. Leo remembered hearing that the police only involved themselves in missing person cases after forty eight hours.
"Father," Leo cried, struggling to contain his tears, "You need to come home immediately."
Leo glanced over to Donnie and Mikey, whose heads were poking around the corner of the living room, silently watching their big brother. He didn't want to appear weak in front of them. Turning away from them, Leo wiped hastily at the tears that had begun to stream down his cheeks.
"I lost Raph."
Donnie had never been an earlier riser, and hearing the phone ring at seven in the morning on a Saturday made him groan in displeasure. He had lost track of time working with his latest addition to his numerous inventions, and had only just gone to bed two hours earlier. Never being a deep sleeper, Donnie was the only one among his brother's that heard the incessant ringing of the phone. Either that or they were ignoring it, hoping someone else would answer it.
His feet dragged along the carpeted floor and his hand fumbled for the phone that rested on the table in the upstairs hallway.
"Hello," he moaned, stifling a yawn, "Hamato residence, Donnie speaking? Who's this?" He heard some shuffling on the other end of the phone line, followed by someone clearing their throat.
"I'm so sorry to be calling at such an early hour," a woman replied, her voice gentle, "But may I speak to Yoshi Hamato."
"Just a moment," he replied. He wandered his way down the hall towards his father's room. Donatello was rarely in his father's bedroom. When he was younger, there had been the odd time when he had crawled into bed with his father to chase away his nightmares, but other than the odd house chore of vacuuming or laundry, Donnie never passed the threshold of his father's door.
Quietly, he pushed the door open and shuffled over to the side of his bed. As gently as possible, he shook his father's shoulder, rousing him from his slumber. He could see the subtle confusion in his father's eyes as he blinked away the sleep.
"Donatello-"
"There's someone calling for you," he said curtly, offering the phone out to his father. Yoshi propped himself onto his elbows and took the phone from Donatello's hand.
"Yoshi Hamato speaking; how may I help you?"
"Yes, this is officer Munroe calling from the downtown police station. I'm calling to let you know that your son is down at the station, waiting for pickup."
"My son," Yoshi repeated, slightly confused. He glanced to Donatello, who was beginning to fall asleep on his feet. Gently, he nudged his son, who startled to alertness.
"Donatello, would you please make sure that your brother's are home." With a slightly confused expression, Donnie did as he was told and quietly peeked into Leo and Mikey's bedrooms to see them both bundled up beneath their covers.
"Yeah, they're in bed," Donatello muttered.
"I'm sorry, officer Munroe, but I think that you have made an error; all of my sons are…"
His voice trailed off as he felt his heart clench tightly. Was it possible?
"Raphael…Is it Raphael," he asked hesitantly. His throat was suddenly dry as the desert as he struggled to find his words. His second youngest was alive? Could it really be true?
All those years ago-eleven years- and there was not a day that went by when Yoshi did not think about his son. He had searched aimlessly for months on end, hoping against hope that Raphael was somewhere out there. Yet, deep in his heart, he knew that if children were not found within the forty-eight hour mark, it was likely the child was dead. But, he reminded himself, that was only if he was abducted, and there was some small part of him that refused to believe that his son might have been kidnapped. Somewhere around the four year mark, his logic began to speak to him that if they had not found Raphael by now, it was more than likely he was lost to the world.
The very thought that he might reunite with his second youngest sent his heart soaring into a frantic beating as fast as a humming birds wings.
"Yes, sir," officer Munroe responded, sounded slightly confused, "It is Raphael."
"I'll be right over as soon as possible. Thank you." Hastily he placed the phone on the bedside table and untangled himself from his bed sheets. Grabbing a pair of pants and a shirt, he quickly dressed before running out into the hallway. He spotted Donatello leaning against the doorframe to him room, his eyes closed.
"Donatello," Yoshi cried rather loudly, again startling his son to sudden alertness, "Wake your brothers. We must go to the police station."
"Why," Donnie asked, his eyes half closed. Right now, all he wanted to do was go back to sleep.
There was creak of hinges as Leo's door opened, revealing his eldest son standing in the doorway, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"Father, what's going on," he asked sleepily. "Why were you raising your voice?" Yoshi placed a hand on his two eldest sons' shoulders. He could not keep the smile off of his face.
"They have found Raphael."
A/N: Okay, so there is the first chapter. What do you all think; should I continue? I plan to have more flashbacks throughout the story, along with POV changes. I appreciate any and all reviews; constructive criticism is welcomed.
~dendragon14