-Redemption-

Summary: Takes place during the 2007 CGI movie. Leo finds out who the Night Watcher is in a completely different way...

Disclaimer: I do not own the turtles. *Images what it would be like if I did and grins evilly*

A/n: I know I'm starting another story when I'm already trying to work on like four others but, this was actually the first idea I had for a TMNT story. I just haven't tried writing it until now. When I was watching the movie, I was wondering what would happen if Leo didn't find out during the fight that Raph was the Night Watcher. So then I thought, maybe he could find out a different way, and poof, this idea was born. Also I wanted to see what the other turtles reactions would be to finding out that Raphael is the Night Watcher, it's not shown in the movie :(

Warnings for swearing and blood.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Things weren't meant to get this bad. It was supposed to be just a regular night, patrolling the town from the rooftops, bustin' up a few thugs, maybe savin' a person or two, but not this. How did things change so quickly? How did things change from me chasin' a couple of goons to them chasin' me? How did I become the one who is being chased instead of the one doing the chasin'? All I know is that, if I don't think of something soon, and I mean real soon, then I'm goin' to be in some serious trouble.

It's been a week since Leo got back from his precious jungle, and already I feel like I'm suffocating again. We've been forbidden to fight until we 'stop fighting each other.' Leo's been on my shell for days now, reprimanding me for the smallest thing, playin' up the leader role and bein' a general pain in my shell. I feel like the walls are closing in on me. I can't breathe down here, can't think properly. I'm suffocating and need to get out before I go stir crazy. But it seems that my dear old brother has other plans.

"And where do you think you're going?" Leo asks, folding his arms across his chest.

"Out," I growl, not bothering to turn around and look at him. I can feel his stare burning a hole through my shell. He's definitely cranky. Good.

"No," Leo says firmly, jaw set. "Master Splinter said we're not allowed to go to the surface."

I turn around and face Leo slowly, feeling my body begin to shake with barely suppressed anger. "He said we're not allowed ta' fight," I growl lowly. "He said nothin' 'bout not bein' allowed ta go topside."

Leo gave me a measured look, unfolding his arms slowly and letting them rest limply by his sides. "Going topside is a bad idea," Leo said evenly, fixing his golden eyes on me. "Especially when you're in one of your brazen moods.' We don't need any unwanted attention."

I took a slow, threatening step towards Leo, pointing at him angrily, "you can't come back here after a year and expect us to fall in line again, like your little soldiers Leo."

"If you have something you want to get off your shell Raph, I'm all ears," Leo said, frowning at me through narrowed eyes.

"Oh I have a lot I want ta' say ta' ya'," I growled. "But right now, I'm goin' out."

"What part of 'no' do you not understand?" Leo said sharply, moving forward and grabbing my wrist, pulling me back to him.

"Let me go Leo," I snarled, jerking my wrist free. "I'm goin' out and you ain't gonna stop me."

"Wanna bet?" Leo growled.

"If ya' want ta' fight me big brother, bring it on," I said, hands twitching for the sais in my belt.

"I'm not going to fight you Raph," Leo said, taking a deep breath. I could tell he was starting to lose it, and was trying to reign in his temper before it got out of hand.

"If ya' not tryin' ta' fight me, then leave me alone," I growled, turning my back on him and making my way towards the exit.

"Why do you have to be so difficult all the time?" Leo called after me, his voice quivering with his anger.

I stopped and turned back around to face him, eyes flaring with anger. "Why can't ya' just leave me alone once in a while?" I shot back. "Ever since ya' got back ya've been goin' on and on about you, about how sorry you are for not returning sooner. How you're a much better leader now. I swear ta' God Leo I can't breathe with you yelling at me every God damn hour of the day!"

"I'm not yelling at you," Leo narrowed his eyes. "I'm trying to figure you out Raph. Your rogue attitude is doing nothing for your training or your family."

"What are ya' sayin'?" I asked lowly, feeling a low rumble revibrate through my chest.

"I'm saying that your constant anger and disregard for following my orders almost had us killed when we fought that monster on the roof the other night."

I moved so fast I don't think Leo even saw me. One moment I was by the door, the next I was centimetres from his face, eyes narrowed angrily at him and burning with Hell's fire. "You think I would purposely endanger my family? What the fuck is wrong with you? I would never hurt this family Leo, do you understand me?"

"Of course you wouldn't, not intentionally anyway," Leo said, straightening up and sending me a measured look. "But from what I saw last night, your anger could have gotten one of us seriously hurt."

"Fuck you," I growled, feeling anger and pain at Leo's harsh words. "You listen ta' me Leo; I would never hurt this family. Never. You on the other hand, wouldn't think twice about doing it again."

Leo narrowed his eyes at me and stepped forward. "When did I ever hurt this family Raph?"

"When you left!" I yelled, feeling my anger bubbling up to the surface. "When you left and didn't come back! That's when you hurt this family. And I'd be damned if I let you do that to our brothers again."

"You know why I left," Leo said, fighting to keep his voice under control. "I did it to-"

"I know," I cut in. "To become a better leader. Well guess what Fearless, ya' failed."

"Raphael get back here!" Leo yelled after me as I ran towards the exit.

"No!" I yelled, stopping briefly to turn around and fix Leo with a cold stare. "I'm done with you. I'm done with all of you!" I yelled louder, knowing that the others had been listening to us fight from the kitchen.

With that I whipped around and disappeared through the door, slamming it behind me. I needed air. Had to get air now. Chocking. Smothering. Can't breathe...Can't breathe...

The crisp night air, usually so calming, was doing nothing to help dampen my sour mood. I bit my lip to fight off the scream that I so desperately wanted to let lose, but I couldn't. Instead, I forced my legs to go harder, faster, across the roof, jumping and twisting my body over the gap in-between buildings. I don't know how far I've run. I don't care. I've got to much energy, too much anger still inside of me. I have to get rid of it. I have to find my release.

It's hard to run with my Night Watcher gear on. The metal adds more weight to my body, and the helmet gives me limited vision, but I don't care. I feel safe when I'm encased within the metal. No one can see me. No one knows who I am or what I am. They can't see all the weakness that's raging underneath, all the anger and hurt and hate.

I guess I've always been what you might call a maverick, an independent person. A lone wolf. But that's just who I am.

Breathing heavily, I circle back to where I left my bike, hidden behind a dumpster in a dark alley.

I'm about to drop down into the alley when a faint noise stops me. Crouching low on the roof, I peer into the darkness, searching for the source of the noise. Uh huh.

"If ya' know what's good for ya' you'll stay down!" A man yelled, gun cocked in his hand, a sack of money in the other.

I grinned behind the helmet. This was exactly what I needed; a good chase and a chance to punch someone. Dropping into the alley, I pulled my bike out from behind the dumpster, turning it on and revving the motor loudly to get the guy's attention.

He turned towards the sound of my bike and gripped the money closer to his chest upon seeing me.

"Hasn't anyone told ya' it's not nice ta' steal?" I asked, ready to touch the accelerator when the guy made to escape.

"Night Watcher," the man sneered, gun still clenched tightly in his hand.

"Oh, heard of me have ya'?" I smiled. "I'm flattered, really."

"Well, come and get me then," the guy smirked, before turning on his heel and racing across the road, dodging oncoming traffic in his haste.

"All right, let's party," I muttered, revving the bike and punching the accelerator.

I don't know if I was in a calmer mood I might have seen the warning signs going off in my head like flashing lights. The first one being the guy actually said out loud who I was. Not a lot of thugs did that, they just ran. They usually also looked scared. This guy didn't. He looked smug and...happy. To happy. And that taunting sneer...it wasn't right. But, at the moment, I wasn't worried about these small details. My anger was clouding my judgment. All I wanted to do was chase this guy down and teach him a thing or two.

So that's exactly what I did.

Tearing out of the alley way, I reared my bike up on its back wheel and gave chase, cutting across traffic and swerving to avoid a head-on collision. The thug tripped over his own feet in his haste, but regained his footing and turned into another dark alley, bag of money still clutched protectively to his chest. Realizing that the guy had come to a dead end, I smirked and followed him, my bike roaring in the night and my headlights cutting a path through the darkness.

I stopped at the mouth of the alley, letting my bike idle silently. That's when I felt the pang in my gut, that feeling you get when you know something is wrong.

The guy I had been chasing had disappeared. In his place sat a large black truck, headlights on low and engine purring softly. I squinted and was able to make out the five shadowy figures inside the car.

I growled lowly in my throat. These people, whoever they were, meant trouble, I was sure of it. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a large hairy arm emerge from the open window of the front seat, gun in hand.

My senses went into overdrive as my instincts took over. Revving the bike, I quickly spun around on the back wheel and high tailed it out of there. The truck was surprisingly agile, as it careened out of the alley after me, hot in pursuit. I growled and punched it, swerving through traffic in hopes to lose the truck.

But, turtle luck was running true to form, and the traffic was starting to thin out. I growled even lower when I realized the only way for me to go was forward. There weren't any side roads or alley ways this far up ahead, which meant they were chasing me out onto the State Highway.

As soon as I was free from the rest of the traffic, I accelerated my bike, punching it as hard and fast as it would go. The air ripped past me with such force from the speed that I had to grip the handle bars tighter. I sure as hell was glad I was wearing my suit; otherwise I was certain that my skin would have been ripped off.

I glanced a quick look over my shoulder and my heart sank to my gut. Whoever owned the truck had obviously rigged up the engine with illegal parts, because there was no way in shell that it should be able to be going this fast, but it was. The sleek black body of the truck blended in with the dark surroundings as the road grew curvy with more hills, the city being replaced by open space and rolling hills.

Glancing down, I realized with shock that I was almost out of fuel. I was so screwed.

Suddenly I was blinded by an overly bright light. I brought my arm up to shield my eyes, realizing that whoever was chasing me must have put their high beam lights on. It was dirty but effective. I couldn't see a thing in front of me or behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder again, I squinted into the bright light, just being able to make out a shadowy figure. That's when my blood froze and my heart stopped beating. Because I could just make out the haze of one of the thugs leaning out the window, gun loaded and pointing right at me.

I heard the gun fire and braced myself for the searing pain I knew was to come. But it didn't. It was like everything was happening in slow motion, though I realized that it happened in less than twenty seconds.

I heard the front tire pop and realized that the bullet had hit my tire, puncturing the thick rubber. I didn't have time to think after that as my bike wobbled beneath me before giving way entirely. I was flipped over the handle bars, air born for all of three seconds, before crashing into the unforgiving ground. Instinctively, I shot my arm forward to catch myself. There was a sickening sound as all of my weight landed on my arm, before my head came into contact with the road. The force of the impact slammed my helmet free and sent it flying in the other direction. The impact caused me to roll several times, flipping and hitting the ground repeatedly at an alarming speed.

I hit the ground again, this time landing awkwardly on my leg, before I skidded fifty metres across the asphalt until I hit the safety rail. I had a moment of clarity before my bike slammed into me, pinning me to the guard rail. I heard cheers coming from the car that had been chasing me, as it sped past and disappeared into the darkness.

I managed to lift my head from the ground and open my eyes. A wave of nausea hit me and made me groan and close my eyes. I was breathing heavily and my whole body ached. I felt something wet drip down my face and knew I only had moments before the adrenaline that was coursing through my veins would disappear and the pain of my injuries would hit full force.

I screwed my eyes shut tightly and focused on my breathing. God it hurt to breathe. I was content to just lie here for the rest of the night. My body protested loudly against moving any part of it. Maybe I could just stay here and wait the pain out.

About to let unconsciousness claim me, I closed my eyes and welcomed the enveloping darkness. Suddenly a sound in the distance made my eyes snap open. The approaching sound of wailing sirens grew louder and louder and I knew that a police and ambulance squadron would be here any minute. Obviously someone had seen that I was being chased down by a truck whilst I had fled the city.

"Fuck," I breathed. I couldn't stay here. I was sure a news van would show up with the cops and ambulance. I couldn't let them find me. I could only imagine what would happen when they realized that the Night Watcher was really a giant, mutant turtle.

Gritting my teeth in pain, I shifted under the weight of the bike, biting my lip to stop the strangled cry of pain that wanted to escape my lips. Feeling sweat trickle down my brow, I closed my eyes tightly and moved my good arm up, pushing my beloved bike off me.

I couldn't stop the scream that left my lips as the bike shifted over my pinned leg. Pain flared to life all over my body, making me whimper pathetically. Damn, why did it hurt so much to move? I just wanted to lay here and sleep, to forget about the burning pain in my body. But the wailing of the sirens growing louder spurred me on, giving me another boost of adrenaline.

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get free from my bike and stumble to my feet. My right leg was numb and limp, as was my right arm. Supporting myself on my left leg, I managed to stumble along the guard rail, looking for a means of escape. The decision was made for me when I tripped and stumbled over the guard rail. Hitting the ground on the other side, I rolled down the steep embankment, screaming in pain every time my body hit the ground, until I came to a stop at the bottom.

Seeing the flashes of red and blue lights above me, I reigned in the last of my strength to crawl over to the thick underbrush and tall trees. Crawling into the thick foliage, I kept going until I was completely hidden from the highway above me, before blackness crawled across my eyes and I fell to the ground. The last thing I thought of was what Leo was going to say when he found out what had happened. But then I realized he didn't know anything. He didn't know I was the Night Watcher. Not being able to come up with the energy to care, I let my eyes close as I fell into the waiting darkness.