"Let me go." He looked up at his red masked brother with tear filled eyes.

The older brother felt his heart ripping at that request.

"Please. Raph…I need you…to let me go." The younger brother coughed, blood dripping down his chin.

"How can ya ask me ta do that? Huh? How the hell can ya ask me ta do that?"

"For me…Please. It…hurts Raph. I know…I won't…make it. Too much blood…loss. A major artery…was severed." He answered in between labored breaths. "Not to mention…the stomach…wound."

"I shoulda protected ya!" He growled, hunched over his brother's bleeding form. There was red everywhere. The smell of iron filled the air.

The red banded mutant pounded the roof with his fists, causing them to bleed slightly. The drops joined pool of blood already staining the rooftop.

"Shut up." The younger of the two coughed in response. "You're being…an imbecile."

"What do ya expect me ta do? What da hell can I do?" The red masked ninja lowered his head. Hot tears streamed from his weary eyes. "How can I save ya?"

"You can't."

"We need ya! I…I need ya. Yer always there fer me. Lettin' me talk ta ya when I need ta get somethin' off my shell. Lettin' me freak out and bitch ya out fer no reason so I don't kill Mikey when he's pissin' me off. Given me advice when I get inta it with Leo. Donny, ya can't leave me!"

"Raph, I can't…go peacefully until you…let me go."

"Yer my brother, Don! I'll never be able ta let ya go!"

"You…know what I mean. Give me permission."

"Donny!"

"Please." Donatello closed his eyes, his breathing becoming more labored.

"I…I love ya, Don. I shoulda protected ya." He clutched his brother's hand tighter. Raph let out a choked sob.

A smile flickered across Don's beak. "Be strong…big brother."

Raph waited, holding his brother's hand.

Gentle raindrops bounced off of his cold, leathery skin. He quietly watched the rise and fall of Donny's plastron became steadily slower.

A combination of tears and rain muddled his vision.

Raph moved his dying brother's head into his lap. His soft side that was rarely ever seen was coaxed out of him, as he gently caressed his brother's temple.

"It's kay, Donny. I understand." He whispered. "It's too much. Ya know ya can't cheat death dis time. I won't hold it 'gainst ya."

The genius's eye lids fluttered in response. "Thank…you. I love…you…Raphael. Be strong." Donny wheezed so softly, Raph barely heard it.

The genius began coughing violently. It was several agonizing minutes before it stopped.

Blood still trickling from his wounds, the younger brother's chest stopped moving.

Raph sat there in silence. His dead brother's head was still rested in his lap.

He sat there for a long time. Crying…thinking…hoping…wondering…hating. But he would never hold this against his brother. Although he desperately wanted someone to be mad at and hate besides himself and a dumbass Foot ninja, Donatello had done everything he could to cheat death. However, death had finally caught up with him. And, as usual, Donny had realized this before he had even had the chance to consider that death was an option.

Raphael picked up his brothers corpse with numb hands. He made his way back to the Lair in silence. Nothing would bring Don back. He knew that. Yet Raph would always remember him as the one he could always come to for advice. The one who would always take time to listen to his problems. The brother who always knew how to cheer him up. The brother he spent long hours working on his motorcycle with. The brother that had first taught him to be ok with who he was, and helped him to realize that he didn't need to be perfect.

Donatello would always, and forever be, his little brother.