A/N: I think using my art tablet just calls for more typos except of the correctly spelled variety 7.7 It works though enough to get this epilogue done. =D Hurrah!

Someone was talking. A lot of talking too. It seemed so odd to me. Is this what it's like after death? Strange. I never thought about it much. I always just thought it would be like an endless nothing. When bodies die, there's nothing left of who they used to be. Where do they go? It is dark here too. Too dark. It's like I'm still in there. The darkness. The quiet. But it's not quiet. It wasn't quiet than either, but this is a different kind of noise. A real one. Not an absence of sound that plays tricks on the mind, but real sound. I want to be there. Not here in the dark. I've been here in the dark too long. I can't take it another second.

I reach my arms out, fighting against the dark. It only fights back more strongly. A frantic but quiet voice joins the chaos of noise as I struggle not to be overcome by the pressing darkness. I can't let it defeat me again. I have to try. I have to fight!

"Donny!"

The voice slams against my conscious mind and my eyes snap open to blinding light. A dark green blur hovers over me against the light and I struggle to focus as things begin to make sense again.

"C'mon, bro. Relax. Take your time."

"Raph?" The blur slowly morphs into my brother and I relax.

"Yeah, it's me." I can see his smile as his hands release my arms, "Another one, huh?"

I take a breath of the fresh air of my own room, the familiar smell of it doing more to calm my dream-dazed state. I turn away as Raph moves to sit on the edge of my bed. "It's normal. It's only been a month. It's not even close to chronic until six."

"I know. Ya told me b'fore." I hear him sigh in his usual gruff manner as my eyes stay on the unfinished projects left behind from before. Some of them are important projects. It would be good to get some work done.

"This is gettin' ridiculous."

I groan at Raph's words before I move off the bed and head to my desk. I can feel his eyes on me, but I ignore him. I push aside the scattered scraps of junk without care. The sound as they hit the ground is enough to justify their destruction. It wasn't like I could have used them anyway. It always was the trash I never had the heart to throw away.

"Don," Raph growls from behind me. For some reason, I just don't care if I'm pissing him off.

Now that the desk is clear, I can do some work. I make a cursory glance over the broken items, upgrades of various completion, and gadgets collected from the junkyard that have yet to serve a purpose other than clutter. My eyes stop on the blueprints Mikey wrote up months ago of a secluded oasis getaway he wanted to offer as a Father's Day gift for sensei. There were still many things I would need to make that work.

I hear Raph's instinctual light footsteps rush me before he whirls me around to face him. He has my arm gripped hard enough to possibly bruise. "Listen ta me! Ya can't keep doin' this shit. What'm'I here for? Ta babysit? Ya know how much I hate that shit. I should leave ya here right now."

"Fine. Go. I don't care." I try to turn away, but his grip's too firm. I don't want to have this conversation right now.

I don't even flinch when he shoves me against my desk. "I didn't listen ta some stuck-up bastard talk about how fucked up I am jus' so I can see ya wastin' yer life away like this."

"I'm fine." My voice is harsh as I glare at the arms that hold me firm. My breath hitches at his closeness. He won't let me move away. I can't move. Images of my dark prison swim through my mind. I can't breathe…

"Dammit, Donny!"

My room fades back into existence by my stinging beak. I can only assume he slapped me, but he's not holding me anymore. My eyes find Raph sprawled on the floor before I realize I've punched him. "Don't… don't ever touch me again!" I nearly gasp out. I back away from him before running. I have to get out of here. I need air! I don't get very far before his hand closes over my ankle and I fall hard to the ground. "I need to go…!" I beat the floor with my fist before I try to get up.

"I ain't evah been good at this, Don." He sounds…odd. Almost like his choking on an emotion that's not his usual anger. "Ya need ta suck it up! It's over! He ain't even out there ta do it again! I took tha bastard out myself. He got no power over you. So stop actin' like he does!"

"I'm…" The word "fine" catches in my throat before I could voice it. He knows as well as I do that I'm not fine. I'm far from fine. I'm a mess and I can't keep denying it… "I can't…"

"Can't what?" He sounds much calmer now, though I doubt it will last long.

I finally look at him then. "What do you expect me to do?" I feel an odd rage overcome me.

"Stop hiding and deal with it." The look in eyes dig at me deeply and it takes me a moment before I can speak again for the lac

But then I don't have to. It was so simple, but he was right. I haven't even tried.

"'Least fer us."

I never break eye contact and neither does he. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but I was the first to smile. "You ca n let me go now," I say as I glance his already loosened hold.

"You gonna come out wit' us?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Finally, he smiled too. Maybe it would be easier to share with my brothers. It's over. Now it's time I remembered that.