Not really into character death because killing a character off has a pesky way of ending the story. But I'll make an exception for this songfic because it looks so awesome in my mind. Yeah, it's another Raph. But I have other songs for the other three, so don't fret. Can't believe I just wrote a deathfic. Bah. Shame be upon me. Let's pretend that Don saves him somehow after the last line. We'll leave it open to interpretation.

Song is "Letting the Cables Sleeping" by Bush. Again, more awesome 90's alternative. I guess you can see where my allegiance lies.

Was all this blood his own? Surely, some of it must belong to the future John Doe who was lying across the alley. Raphael bent his head painfully in the direction of the asshole that had put him in this position. A lying on his face in a hot dirty alley, unable to move position. And of course it was dark. It was always dark, as far as he was concerned. He was never topside in the daylight, so did it even really exist? He put his hand on his side and pulled it back to see blood dripping off his fingers. He was lying in a pool of it. A great big swimming pool of his own blood. He liked his blood best when it was in his own body.

You in the dark
You in the pain
You on the run
Living a hell
Living your ghost
Living your end

Where was his phone? He didn't move to look. He knew that it was at home on his bed. His bed. He wished he were at home in his soft bed that smelled like his sweat, listening to Mikey tell a story about a six foot tall gerbil. Then he would tell him to shut up and that if he wasn't quiet in ten seconds he would hog tie him. Why didn't he ever let Mike finish his little stories? Was it too much for him to give up half an hour of his day to let his brother entertain him?

Raph needed his phone. He bent his other arm slowly from under his plastron and felt something warm and metallic where it didn't belong. That's the son of a bitch. That's the knife. It was still in him. He grasped the handle and then let go. You shouldn't pull things out that are stuck into you. You'll bleed out.

His blood puddle was reaching up to his face and he tried to move away.

Never seem to get in the place that I belong
Don't wanna lose the time
Lose the time to come

At least it didn't hurt now, he thought. He wanted Leo. He knew that there was no way that Leo could know where he was, but it didn't change the fact that he wanted him there. Things always worked out alright after Leo showed up, no matter how many times Raph tried to screw them up.

He should move. He should hide. He was lying in the open, in the heat and the alley light was shining over him. Raph's legs wouldn't move.

Whatever you say it's alright
Whatever you do it's all good
Whatever you say it's alright
Silence is not the way
We need to talk about it
If heaven is on the way
If heaven is on the way

There was something that he needed to tell Leo. What was it? It was important.

You in the sea
On a decline
Breaking the waves
Watching the lights go down
Letting the cables sleep

He'd seen many men die and he had held them in his arms and felt the life pass out of them. Raph had savored the fear in their eyes, imagining the pain and horror of death filling them by his own hands and reveling in the power of it. But that was all wrong. He didn't feel any pain now. The alley was quiet and his body was heavy. He could feel his blood seeping up into his mouth, but didn't particularly care. At least it was his own.

I'm a stranger in this town
I'm a stranger in this town

What would happen when his body was found? The police would send him to a university lab for an autopsy. Scientists would cut him open and peer around at his guts and tell the world that a monster had been found. And then his brothers would know what had happened. Maybe they would mourn. Maybe they would be relieved to be rid of him. Things would be easier for them.

Don was holding him in his arms. When did that happen?

"Raph, I'm sorry," Don said. That was meaningless. Sorry for what? It was his own fault wasn't it?

He had to tell Leo. It was important. "Tell Leo…"

"What?"

"Tell him that I hid his model airplane glue," Raph said, with the dull realization that scientists wouldn't tear his body apart after his death. "I taped it to the inside of the toilet tank."

Don let out a choked and tear strangled laugh and nodded.