A/N: I was gifted with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows movie on DVD for Christmas, and needless to say, I've watched it that many times I almost have it memorized (almost). Can anyone say...addicted? *blushes* Anyway, I usually write TMNT stories in the 2003 universe, but I've grown to love the 2014 Turtles so much that I've decided to try my hand at a story set in that universe. I hope you enjoy the story.

Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated as they help me grow as a writer. Flames and negativity never helped anything (just watch the news. The world is screwed up enough as it is, please don't add to it). If you don't like the story, simply...don't read it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with TMNT, they belong to their respective owners. I only own the OC. The rest I'm just burrowing for fun.

He stood on the edge of the Chrysler Building. The wind whipped at his mask tails. Blue eyes gazed out over the sunlit metropolis below him. What was he doing out during the day? He was going to be seen. Leonardo reached for the radio pinned to his shoulder to call the others. He looked down when he found it wasn't there. His radio and his weapons were gone. Leonardo gasped in shock and surprise. He was out in the open defenseless.

The building suddenly shook. Leonardo caught himself before he could fall. He looked down to see giant metal panels zooming underneath him. He turned his eyes upward, heart dropping like a brick into his stomach at the sight of the Technodrome. It wasn't possible. They had sent the warship back through the portal. They defeated Krang.

"Leo!" came a terrified scream.

Leonardo's head snapped around. His eyes landed on a figure hanging from another ledge. He cried out when he realized it was April. Leonardo made a move towards her, but then he heard his name coming from a different direction. He looked over his shoulder. His brothers were fighting against Krang on the still constructing Technodrome. They were getting clobbered. Leonardo's eyes widened in horror when Raphael was thrown off the platform.

"Raph!" the blue masked leader cried as he watched his brother plummet towards the earth.

"Leo!" April screamed again.

Leonardo looked between April and his brothers.

"Which one? Which one?" a deep, haunting voice whispered.

Leonardo turned around. The breath left his lungs when he beheld the turtle before him. At first glance he looked like Raphael. Same build, same facial structure. But, his eyes were wrong. They were a dark, fathomless black. The turtle wore no mask, only a pair of tattered pants.

"Can only save one, fearless leader," the turtle said. "Which is it gonna be?"

"Who are you?" Leonardo asked, his voice no more than a whisper.

The turtle gave him a dark stare. "Me?" he asked, stepping forward. The building seemed to vibrate with his powerful gait. "I'm the one you couldn't save. Just like you can't save them."

"Leo!" April's voice rang with the voices of his brothers.

"Can't save us all, fearless leader," the turtle said. "So, choose!"

Leonardo cried out as the turtle pushed him backwards. He was falling for a brief moment before his shell hit a piece of the Technodrome.

Blue eyes shot open, breath coming out in raspy gasps. Leonardo sat up in bed, his skin covered in a cold sweat. He put a hand to his chest. His heart pounded painfully against his ribs. Leonardo put a hand over his eyes. He could feel his hand trembling. He jumped and cried out when the bedroom door suddenly burst open. Leonardo's head snapped up, his eyes wide. Raphael stood in the doorway, his own eyes wide and fearful.

"You okay, bro?" the red masked turtle asked.

"I'm fine," Leonardo replied. "Why do you ask?"

Raphael moved towards the bed. "You were cryin' out in your sleep," he answered.

"Was I?" Leonardo asked, feeling his face burn with embarrassment. "I didn't realize."

His heart continued to pound, but now it hammered with relief. To see Raphael here, in front of him, living and breathing, it was a welcomed relief to know that what he had seen had just been a dream. The mattress shifted as Raphael sat down on the bed.

"Who was it, this time?"

Leonardo looked up at his brother, eyes questioning. However, he could see in his sibling's eyes that Raphael already knew the answer. Leonardo swallowed thickly and looked away again. He could still hear himself cry out his hot-headed brother's name.

"You'd think something like that wouldn't affect you," Raphael commented. "After all, we should be used to saving the city from power crazed maniacs."

Leonardo's eyes drifted upward. Raphael's face was haunted, his amber eyes distant and locked on the floor.

"You'd think," Leonardo muttered.

They fell into a heavy silence. Leonardo thought he was going to suffocate.

"I still have nightmares about the first time we faced off against Shredder," Raphael suddenly spoke. "Seeing you, Mikey and Donnie in those cages...your blood being syphoned out of you...but, I never make it. Mikey and Donnie are already dead by the time I get there. I pull you free, but only to have you die in my arms a short time after."

Leonardo stared at his brother in stunned shock. He never knew Raphael had nightmares. He was always so guarded. Burying his feelings underneath a wall of anger that all anyone ever saw was the rage. Sometimes Leonardo shamefully forgot that Raphael had other feelings besides anger. However, his brother so rarely let them show that it was easy to forget.

"What we do...it's not easy," Raphael continued. "It leaves scars...scars that no one can see, even when the visible ones fade."

He quickly glanced over at his brother, cleared his throat and abruptly stood up, catching Leonardo off guard. The blue masked brother didn't miss the glistening in his brother's eyes.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're okay, Leo," Raphael said.

He headed for the door before Leonardo could say anything. The leader sat in bed, mind reeling. What had just happened? Did Raphael...open up to him? That never happened. Raphael never opened up to anyone, not even Splinter. There was probably no one in their small circle that knew what truly went on inside Raphael's mind. And, there probably never would be.

From downstairs, Leonardo could hear a door opening and excited laughter. Donatello and Michelangelo were home. Leonardo pushed back the blankets and got out of bed. He grabbed his mask and swords and headed downstairs, tying the mask around his eyes as he went.

"Those dudes were such pushovers," Michelangelo was saying as Leonardo descended the stairs into the main area of the lair.

"Training go okay?" Leonardo asked.

"I can't believe Master Splinter gave us permission to share our knowledge of martial arts with the police," Donatello said.

"The Foot clan is still a threat," Leonardo told him. "And we can't always be there as backup. The police need the proper training to handle ninjas."

"But, still. We're working with humans, dude," Michelangelo said. "It's like...a dream come true."

Leonardo smiled at his little brother's enthusiasm. He was still wrapping his head around it himself. However, the golden key that hung on the side of his mirror was proof that they had earned the trust of at least the police department.

"Where's Raph?" Donatello asked, looking around the lair. "I thought he stayed home."

Leonardo frowned and looked around the lair. "He did. I was just talking to him. He must have gone out just before you got here."

"Well, in any case, you two missed out on a great day," Donatello said. "Or...technically a great night."

Leonardo smiled. "Next time," he said.

Donatello and Michelangelo headed off to their own corners of the lair. Leonardo headed for his training platform in the middle of the lair. He unsheathed his katanas and started his katas. He hoped that Raphael was okay. There seemed to have been something else that was weighing on his mind. Leonardo felt a slight hope rise in his chest that maybe Raphael would come to him if he needed to talk. He knew that they rarely saw eye to eye, but they were still brothers. They could do more together than just fight with each other.

Come home safely, Raph, Leonardo silently prayed.

Raphael ran his hands over his face as the warm summer air danced over his skin. He breathed in deep, trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind. His confession about his nightmares had left a weird feeling in his stomach. He had never opened up to anyone about anything. Admitting to his brother that he had those kinds of dreams was like confessing his deepest, darkest feelings.

Raphael leaned up against the edge of the roof and gazed out over the brightly lit city far below him. A tired smile crossed his lips. Man, he loved this city. He didn't understand why anyone would want to do it harm. His smile faded as he thought about his most recent string of nightmares.

He was always standing in a mirrored room. Nothing but his reflection in all directions. There was nothing special about it, it was just his reflection. Then, as soon as he blinked, it changed. His gear vanished, his mask disappeared, and his eyes turned from amber to soulless black. And then, like a phantom, the reflection stepped out of the mirror. The look in the other turtle's eyes was enough to turn Raphael's blood to ice.

"Who are you?" Raphael whispered in horror.

"The one you left behind," the reflection hissed back in his voice, but it wasn't his voice, it was deeper, darker. "You think you're so tough? So honorable? So did they."

The other turtle then proceeded to smash the four mirrored walls surrounding them. When the glass shattered to the floor a different member of his family was lying lifeless behind it.

"You did this," the other turtle seethed venomously. "They'll all fall by your hand. Your brothers...father...even those three humans you care so much about."

"Raph," would then come a choking gasp.

The dream would end as he looked down at the lifeless bodies of Vern, April and Casey.

Raphael shook his head, banishing the memory. "It's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen," he repeated to himself. "You're not gonna kill your family."

But, how could he be so sure? It was no secret he had rage issues. What was to stop him from hurting one or more of the others when he lost himself? He had often wondered how hard it would be to take Leonardo out when he was in one of his rage filled hazes. Of course, he always had someone to pull him back. But, what if there was no one to pull him back next time?

"It was just a dream, Raph," Raphael whispered. "Nothin's gonna happen."

He pushed away from the wall and headed back towards the lair. He didn't notice a figure move in the shadows. Soulless black eyes watched as the red masked turtle disappeared over the side of the roof. A dark grin crossed over the figure's lips.

"Found ya."

Reviews are welcome, flames are not