Holds out final chapter as peace offering

Ok we came to the end of the famous quote but I chose another quote to end this story. Well I read the reviews and among the words there are a lot of people yelling about a twitch. May I remind people that it was a flinch, not a twitch. Yes, I believe there is a difference either way I guess it's debatable but time for the seventh and final chapter of My Own.

Enjoy! ^_^

I don't own TMNT.

Quote by Aristotle.

Hope is a waking dream.

Raph froze, but scowled and then growled. Another bug! Would these da-

"Raph?" asked a choked voice as Raph's eyes fell to the floor. A hand ensnared his wrist and suddenly, it was all to much, it was all too real. So real, that it just couldn't be reality because acceptance came and it could be…

Raph's limbs began trembling, his lungs couldn't seem to decide whether to shrink or grow, his breaths came in short, rapid gasps, his mouth grew dry, spikes flew through his heart like tissue paper, saltwater tears built behind his eyes, the floor seemed to turn into a thin sheet of ice, suspended in the middle of a dark ocean and he heard some noise, unusual for it sounded like something between a heavy gasp, a whimper and a cough. When the salty tears fell from his eyes and ran across the tight line his mouth was drawn up into, the salt taste stained his lips but he suddenly didn't have that energy to move much. With a deeper cry from the back of his throat than usual, he turned, and buried his face into a green shoulder. He released his hold on Leo's hand and tried to keep his jaw clenched while his hand sought a surface desperately, only to meet empty air. He leaned forward against the body close to his and his breath caught in his throat as his fingertips grazed the cool temperature of the plastic cot.

A sigh escaped the nearby being before a voice broke through the calm. Raph's eyes parted slightly as the words were spoke, his tear stained eyes stared into two eyes with chocolate hues. Then, he looked away, for he couldn't meet that gaze.

The door was open…

"Raph," those eyes seemed to speak on their own without their owner and Raph was forced to stare at them again, "Come on."

Green skinned arms forced him towards the open doorway. Raph glanced back at the white sheet on the floor while another green hand reached for it. He forced his gaze upward and met worried blue eyes. Mikey sighed and turned back to the cot.

Leo was still there, cold and frozen as ever. He had never moved.

Mikey scowled at the sight of a fly on Leo's face. He swatted it away and covered the corpse with the white sheet again before turning back towards the door where Raph was being forced back into the main room by Don. The youngest flashed a sad and worried look at his now, oldest brother and then glared at the back of his immediate older brother's head.

"What's so wrong with keeping up hope?" he murmured as he glanced back at what used to be Leo.

His throat tightened but he forced his limbs to tremble, somehow it helped him keep it together. If Raph was going to break down, Don was going to yell at everyone and Splinter was going to keep himself locked away, then who was there for him? A corpse in this room, his brothers in the main room, their friends a phone call away and his father in the next room.

Mikey had never felt so alone.

He clenched his hands into fists and growled. He pushed roughly away from the cot, hearing the metal legs scrape against the stone floor. It felt like a pair of giant metal spiked boots just decided to use his heart as a doormat. He straitened and took a deep breath before walking towards the still open door. When he reentered the main room, he found Raph sitting on the couch, a pillow at his feet was torn into shreds, Don wasn't anywhere in sight and no sound had even escaped Splinter's room. Mikey wasn't really sure what to do, Raph was now staring into space but his eyes were moving slightly towards the once again closed lab door every few seconds, before staring strait ahead as before, staring at something beyond their home and the reality that surrounded them. Maybe he was reliving memories…

A soft clank came from Don's room. So their genius brother was hiding like their sensei too. Typical…

Mikey glared at his immediate older brother's door and was about to take a step towards the room to break down the door, for some reason he wasn't sure of, when Raph finally spoke.

"It could be that," Raph said softly, staring at his hand that rested on top of his knee, palm up.

"Could be what?" Mikey asked with a sneer, the hidden jokester in him claiming it as his 'Grumpy Raphael' impression.

"Maybe it's just…maybe," Raph muttered and then glanced over at the closed lab door, his eyes changing slightly with some unusual emotion running across his expression.

The youngest turtle watched as his red masked eldest brother got to his feet and walked back towards the door to Don's lab, the unclassifiable expression still blanketing his face. Mikey growled again. Looks like the moment of acceptance didn't last, he was right back in denial. Figures. Where was Leo when you really needed him? As the bottom of the lab door scraped against the stone floor Mikey breathed out angrily and glanced towards the dojo. There was still a punching bag in there after all and he knew no one else would come out of their rooms anytime soon.

The walk to the dojo, became a blur.

The first punch was as fast as a strike of lightning.

The rest of the punches seemed empty, separated from the time and dimension itself.

Across the brick embedded place the mutants called home, if you listened closely, you could hear the genius turtle's repetitive footsteps. The purple masked ninja turtle found himself pacing, but no matter how he changed his course, speed or direction, he always ran into something.

Clank!

A random pipe.

Crash!

A small container of machinery odds and ends.

Bang!

A random invention of his.

Thump!

A large book on engineering.

"Engineering," Don sneered, looking down at the thick book, "Useless."

Why couldn't he have had the brain or instincts of a medical expert? That would've been more helpful. Don then thought back to the scene that had occurred at Winters Corp. Well, ok even if he had had the knowledge of a professional doctor, it wouldn't have helped.

AT ALL…

Leo had been limp, barely moving or breathing and then had been pulled back into the shadows by Serpiente and Mono. Where, unknowingly to the team, they had broken Leo's neck. There was no blood shed and no screaming, just a broken neck and a horrible silence. If science was golden, Don could easily feel the crimson rain running down his body like a swarm of spiders. Little demons that littered the earth, ready to prey upon him.

Yes, if silence was golden, then this emptiness was purely crimson.

Back in the lab, the room remained mute except for the red masked turtle's breathing. Raph walked right up to the supposed corpse and threw away the sheet. He had hope again because he knew something wasn't right. Don was smart though, he knew how to classify the dead from the living didn't he? Mikey would be able to do that. So the quiet hothead found himself stumbling more over the common sense in his brain than the outside reality. This just didn't make sense. His mind was running a million miles a minute. Don would've caught something like this. These factors just didn't seem to make sense. How could their local brainiac miss all this? Could it leave hope? Or crash and burn?

The skin decomposition of their skin was very rapid.

Leo had been dead for over 14 hours.

Why was his skin not decomposing?

Your skin could absorb heat.

If you put your hand against cold reptilian skin it became cold.

So why was his hand not ice cold, but mildly warm?

Raph carefully reached out and rested his hand on Leo's shoulder. Leo, because it could. He could be…

Ten minutes ticked by with the help of no clock, Raph lost himself in memories and just waited.

Twenty minutes passed, and although he was stiff from not moving, Raph still remained standing still, his hand on Leo's shoulder. Yes, it was Leo because this couldn't be a corpse.

Because…

A corpse didn't flinch beneath your fingertips. Raph smiled and raised his hand before placing it over Leo's eyes. He waited still, for it could've simply been a prolonged twitch of the body remaining still for so long. The simple jerk could be a release of unused energy but this was hope. So it couldn't die. There was hope, so Leo couldn't give up.

When another flinch came Raph removed his hand and then let it fall to his side as his eyes widened and his breath grew short.

This wasn't a corpse…

Because a corpse…

Didn't stare back at you with such life in it's eyes.

"Leo?" the red masked turtle whispered, afraid that, once again it was a dream that he would be woken from any moment now.

Leo said nothing, only stared, his shoulder flinched again, but he was alive.

It took a few seconds.

...

...

...

...

...

But it finally hit the younger turtle like a steel pipe batted against his skull.

Leo…

Was alive…

LEO WAS ALIVE!

Raph laughed and ran to the door, unconsciously he ripped it off the hinges and as soon as he stood in the main room, Don's door flew open and the purple masked turtle almost got a chance to glare at his older brother before he was pulled from the doorway, pushed into his lab and forced to the side of his oldest brother. Whose eyes were wide open, who was breathing, who was trying to move, but only succeeding in moving his shoulder. A sudden struggling for breath and the feel of fingertips on his hand made Donatello look down. Leo's hand was wrapped around his wrist, his arm was trembling like it was near impossible to hold up. But how? It couldn't be.

"LEO!"

Don turned his head sharply to see Mikey in the doorway ready to rush forward when dark green hands held him back from rushing towards their oldest brother.

"Look Mikey," Raph said with the largest smile his brothers had ever seen on his face, "I'll let you go if you don't tackle the poor guy."

"Ok!" Mikey shouted and Raph released him.

Mikey's orange mask became a blur as he rushed to Leo's side, pushing Don aside in the process. Don's hand was ripped from Leo's in the act but before Don could protest anything Mikey had hugged their oldest brother gently, his tears falling onto Leo's still trembling shoulder. The purple masked turtle couldn't bring himself to speak as his little brother moved as close as possible to the blue masked turtle.

"Leo," Mikey whimpered, pulling back as the tears falling from his face continued to fall onto Leo below, this time dampening his face as the young blue hues stared into frozen but comforting dark chocolate. While Don watched this all with an observant eye he watched his red masked thankfully not oldest brother now walk to Mikey and Leo's side.

Raph was still wearing his wide smile and he reached out to touch Leo's hand that was now lying on the white sheet that barely clung to the edge of the cot. Leo's hand was warm. Raph frowned and narrowed his eyes. He reached out and touched Leo's other arm, it was still ice cold. Could it have been like his dream a meditative state? No, then Splinter would've sensed his mind. Raph touched Leo's hand again and Leo forced his hand to take hold of his brother's. As Mikey stared back at the comforting gaze that had been absent for so long he noticed as Leo's eyes shifted behind him to Raphael. The orange masked turtle frowned at the command in his oldest brother's eyes but nevertheless, he stepped back and let Raph take his spot.

"Leo?"

The blue masked turtle managed to take a strangled gasp before his voice came out scratchy and without it's normal tone, it sounded fearful, "Cold," he shivered, "Temp-…so cold."

The eldest's eyes fluttered for a long few seconds before they fell closed.

"Leo!" Mikey and Don shouted.

"Cold, temp? Temperature?" Raph thought, "What does it have to do with-"

Leo's eyes opened and the answer hit Raph. Suddenly, it all made sense! Chalk it up that Leo found a way out yet again. The red masked turtle's brain subconsciously went into leader mode. Raph turned sharply to Mikey and Don.

"Mikey, get a towel and a bucket of warm water, Donny, get every blanket you can find."

"But Raph-"

"Now! Do you want Leo to slip back into a hibernation mode and really die!"

That sent Mikey spiraling out of the room at top speed but Don remained standing there, "But his neck should be broken, this is impossible!"

Raph growled, "Who cares if it was impossible! Just get those blankets!"

"But, it can't be," Don said as if he was in a trance reaching out to feel the broken bone in Leo's neck, "His neck's broken. This can't be real."

Curious Raph reached over as well, feeling the bone, immediately coming to a conclusion, "Some genius you are, yes the bone's broken but it hasn't broken all the way through. Now are you going to stand here or get those blankets!"

Don jumped and then turned to the door before running out and nearly running into Mikey. The youngest turtle stepped out of Don's path before barreling into the room and handing Raph the bucket and towel.

"Nice job Mikey," Raph said with a soft smile before setting the bucket on a table a few feet away and dampening the cloth in the warm water.

"Raph he closed his eyes again!" Mikey shouted.

"Move!" Raph ordered and pushed Mikey aside, "Leo?"

Leo's eyes managed to open just barely, "Just stay awake bro," Raph said, "We'll get you warmed up and then you can start moving and talking again ok? Just relax," Raph advised as he draped the cloth over Leo's face.

Where was Don with those blank-

"Here!" Don shouted, pushing the pile of warm fabric into Raph's hands.

Raph grunted his thanks and quickly threw the blankets over his older brother.

The they all exhaled breaths they never realized they were holding.

A mumbling came from beneath the towel a few seconds later and Raph reached out quickly to remove it.

"Leo?" the three turtles asked.

"I- I…just…I…uh…the…"

"Mikey go get a glass of water," Raph ordered and Mikey darted out of the room to follow the command, "Don, go-"

Raph looked over to find Don's eyes still on Leo's supposed 'broken neck'. The red masked turtle reached out and placed his hand on Leo's neck, feeling the bone underneath his fingertips. Leo hissed.

"Sorry bro," Raph murmured and then set the damp towel down to feel at the same bone in his neck.

"Ah…so that's it," Raph muttered.

"What!" Don shouted, his body tense.

"Feel here," Raph said, directing Don to feel the top of the broken bone.

"Wait," Don said, "Leo I'm sorry if this hurts."

Leo closed his eyes, a strange noise escaping from the back of his throat as Don pressed in on the lose bone in his neck.

"Raph?"

"Hmm?"

Don pointed to a cabinet at the side of the room, "Look in there and get me the small gray box."

Raph nodded and walked over to the cabinet right as Mikey came in with a glass of water.

"Here's the water," Mikey said in a quiet voice when he noticed Leo had closed his eyes again.

"He'll be fine Mikey," Raph said as he reappeared by them and handed a small gray metal box over to Don.

The purple masked turtle flipped it open and took out a few small bands o f metal and bandages, "As soon as I get his neck wrapped he should be able to drink that water."

Don felt like he had a million eyes watching over him as raised Leo's head to wrap the bandages around his neck, taking great care not to wrap them too tightly. When he lowered Leo's head back onto the cot the eldest opened his eyes and glanced longingly at the water that Mikey was still holding. He may be shivering but the thought of cool water running down his throat was like an out of reach dream. Raph spied the movement and took the glass from Mikey.

Turning back into the leader mode he wasn't aware he was taking Raph said he'd take care of Leo.

"But Raph-" Don protested before his immediate older brother cut him off.

"Look, Leo's been supposedly dead for too long, he's probably hungry, Mikey go fix something for him to eat, preferably some hot soup, he could really use some," Raph ordered glancing at how Leo was still trembling under the mountain of blankets, "It's a good thing the bone just splintered," he muttered and then looked to Don, "Speaking of Splinter, Don you go inform him that Leo's up"

The youngest turtles nodded and slipped out of the room. Raph watched them then turned back to find Leo was trying to sit up."

He watched for a few seconds before Leo's arms started to tremble and the few inches he managed to raise himself quickly fell to zero once again.

The red masked turtle sighed as Leo tried yet again, "You're more trouble than Mikey on a rainy day. Here, I'll help you," Raph said, setting the water down on a nearby table before reaching out and helping his older brother sit up.

The blankets slipped off but the younger turtle was quick to wrap them back around his older brother, "You sure know how to scare people, you know that?" Raph asked as he scooped up the water.

He noticed Leo trying and ultimately failing to lift his arms. He almost fell back again but Raph reached out and wrapped his arm around the eldest's shoulders, "Hey, easy now bro. Here, not too much at once though," he advised.

Raph raised the glass to Leo's lips where the blue masked turtle drunk until not a drop remained.

"Thirsty huh?" Raph asked with a sideways smile, he was still living in the moment, he decided he'd have to prepare for the shock of all this later.

Leo was breathing heavily and still shivering but finally his voice came out clearer than it previously had, "Raph?"

The red masked turtle smiled and sighed in relief, "Don't worry, Mikey's fixing something for you and Splinter will be here any minute."

"Raph," Leo said in a serious voice

Raph looked up and their eyes met, a million emotions and words flying in the air between them.

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(Would you hate me if this turned out to be a dream too?

Readers- Glaring, raising pitchforks and torches.

Ok just wondering O-O')

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"Leonardo, my son," said an aged voice from the doorway.

The red masked turtle stepped back as his father and immediate younger brother shuffled forward. With a look that was one part sadness and three parts hope, he slipped out of the room and headed to the kitchen where he could smell Mikey's cooking. The unusual bright light of the kitchen made him blink rapidly to clear his gaze.

"Is Leo doing better?" Mikey asked as he noticed his older brother walking in.

"Yeah, Splinter and Don are with him."

"And you're not why?"

"I just have to get my thoughts together," the older turtle muttered.

"Yeah," Mikey said, turning to focus on the boiling pot of soup, "Still getting used to him being alive. How did he do it?"

"I don't know," Raph said with a shrug as he leaned against the counter, "He's Leo."

"Yeah," the youngest turtle said with a strange emotion in his eyes, "He is."

An hour later the door to Don's lab opened and the purple masked turtle stepped out behind his father.

"Leo's doing great, the temperature of his body has risen and he can move freely again although he is still a bit stiff. Of course, that's only to be expected."

"But how did he do it?" Mikey asked from where he and Raph were sitting on their couch, "He was in a hibernation mode right?"

"Yes," Don said, "There is a way through advanced meditation techniques that you can trick your heart to slow down, your breathing to become so shallow it's pretty much nonexistent and for your body temperature to lower so drastically to pull itself into a state of suspended animation."

"Anime what?" Mikey asked and paid little attention as Raph climbed to his feet and walked around the tech loving turtle and their sensei to slip back into the lab.

When he shut the door behind him with a resounding click, the room went silent and Raph could swear his heartbeat was the loudest sound and everyone in New York state could hear it.

"Raph," Leo said and the red masked turtle forced his gaze up to stare over at his brother.

Taking a deep breath, Raph finally decided what he needed to do. He forced his gaze to the ground and walked over to Leo's side. The blue masked turtle was confused by his little brother's actions but he knew Raph wasn't one for words, so the eldest simply watched and waited. In under second Raph's head shot up, their eyes locked and the younger turtle sent a fist flying forward hitting Leo in the jaw.

"That's for scaring me," Raph said through gritted teeth.

"I deserved that," Leo thought, he would've raised hand to his now sore jaw, but his body was still cold, it was amazing that he had managed to sit up before his arms gave out so his arms just lay at his sides, not very responsive.

Then Raph leaned forward wrapping his arms around Leo's shoulders before pressing his face into his older brother's shoulder. Although Leo's arms felt like lead he forced them to move so he could wrap them around his little brother and pull him close.

"This is for coming back," Raph whispered.

"I missed you," Leo admitted, his voice a little rougher than before.

"I missed you too bro."

"L-Leo I- Look," Raph said pulling away, "I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you. I will."

Before Leo could respond Mikey and Don reentered the lab, giving Raph the opportunity to slip out wondering what he could do to make Leo forgive him.

He was still wondering this a week later when Leo could move without difficulty, they were all gathered in their small living room, Leo telling them what had happened after he had been pulled back into the shadows.

"She told Mono to 'silence me' so he went to break my neck, which would've indeed killed me."

"But how did you get out of it?" Don asked, he was the one most confused by this.

"Well, I had to make him think I was dead or I wouldn't have been able to get away alive at all, so I used an advanced meditation technique Master Splinter taught me a few years ago," Leo explained glancing gratefully at his sensei, the elderly rat's face lit with a small smile, "With the technique it caused the slowing of my heart and breathing."

"The state of suspended animation," Don concluded and Leo nodded.

"But wouldn't your neck like let out a cracking noise when it's broken?" Mikey asked, "Wouldn't they have known they really didn't break your neck at all?"

Leo smiled and reached into his belt pulling out something, "Petrified wood, hard to snap but a resounding crack when broken."

"So let me get this strait," Raph said, "You escaped death using a stick."

"Pretty much," Leo said with shrug.

"What was I expecting?" Raph said, shaking his head.

"He is Leo," Mikey reminded his red clad older brother.

"Yeah," Don agreed, "He is."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leo asked.

"None of us could've done that," Don said, "Raph and Mikey wouldn't have ever thought of it and I wouldn't of thought of it in under the available 4.5 seconds."

"Well, you might have if you had the time," Leo said to Don, "Mikey wouldn't have."

"Hey! I resent that!" the youngest shouted.

"I'm sure Raph would've though, if he needed to."

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Raph asked with a curious eye.

Leo laughed, "Nothing little brother."

It would take three more days before an idea came to the red masked turtle but one night as he stopped to listen to the sounds of swords slicing through the air coming from the dojo, the idea slowly built in his mind. Over the next few days he would observe his older brother closely. Leo was still a sword master but Raph caught him staring at his new swords with a kind of lost gaze. Like he wasn't sure what to do with them.

The obvious thing hit Raph. Yes, Leo had swords but they weren't his. These two were just grabbed off the weapon rack, the weapons there were only ever used for temporary replacement until they fixed the damage to their own weapons. The idea full grown inside his head Raph headed topside that night. He found a hidden place to complete the work and even though it took awhile, the materials he needed. He found what remained of Leo's swords and set to work. It took a long time but a few weeks later, they were done. Two hand crafted swords, the steel reinforced. So it was immediately the next day that Raph found Leo in the dojo. The leader had his back to him, focusing on one of the thousands of katas he knew.

"Hey Leo?" Raph asked quietly.

Leo turned to stare at his younger brother and the katanas he held, they were in black sheathes. The blue banded turtle turned back to the wall and continued the kata, "I already have swords Raph."

"But don't you want yours back?"

"Mine were destroyed, if you remember," Leo reminded him with a slight venom in his voice that he couldn't bring himself to hold back.

"I know and I'm sorry, you deserve better than those though," Raph said, his eyes traveling to the discarded blades leaning against the wall.

"And how are those any different?" Leo asked, referring to the swords Raph was gripping tightly still facing away from him.

The younger turtle didn't want to screw this up, he had already made so many mistakes, he didn't want this to end in a fight.

Raph lowered his voice to a whisper, "I made them."

Leo froze and slowly turned around, staring wide eyed at his younger brother. Raph looked to the side in his way of embarrassment but walked forward to hold the blades out to Leo, "I found what was left of your swords and I reinforced the blades with stainless steel, so they're stronger and they won't get ruined and I-" Raph sighed and closed his eyes, "Leo, I'm so sorry and if you can ever forgive me I-"

He was cut off as he head was forced up and his eyes shot open, warm chocolate hues locked with his dull amber eyes, "I already have forgiven you," Leo said.

Slowly but surely Leo took the swords, sliding them out to find that the blades were indeed stainless steel. He wondered where Raph got all the materials to make these but the eldest decided not to question it. To his surprise, his name and the word 'brother' were written on one side of each blade in kanji characters.

"You made these, for me?" Leo asked, his eyes sill taking in the sight of the blades.

Raph said nothing but the silence said enough, before the red clad turtle knew it though, he was the one receiving a hug from his older brother. This time, with no hesitation whatsoever he hugged back, letting the small missing piece in his life click back into the puzzle.

Whew, 9 pages long. Go me! Although I must admit I type in 8 point font so 9 pages with 8 point font is like 15 pages with the default 12 point font. Well, I hope you enjoyed the story. I hope people are happy and no one comes after me with pitchforks and torches. Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing and I hope to hear from you all on my other stories.

The funny thing is this story is way off from what I originally planned but I guess it's good.

A last few reviews for this final chapter please?

~Moonsetta