A/N: Thanks so much to Amonraphoenix and Darkunderworld for beta-ing for me.

Disclaimer: see chapter one

A numb Donatello sat on the floor, his back to the loveseat where his late eldest brother had been lying a few short hours ago. Both Michelangelo and Leonardo had been moved to the spare bedroom; their bodies reverently wrapped up in blankets, awaiting burial. Donatello closed his eyes as fresh tears ran down his cheeks. He didn't know how he was going to break the news to Raphael when he woke up, or Splinter when he returned from his visit to the Battle Nexus.

What a great time for Sensei to be away for a visit, Donatello thought bitterly.

But, how was Splinter supposed to know that something like this was going to happen? He buried his face in his folded arms which were propped up on his knees and allowed the silent tears to fall freely down his face. He had lost two brothers in the same night; devastating didn't even begin to describe the heart stopping, soul destroying pain he was experiencing at the moment.

Donatello looked up at Raphael who still lay unconscious on the couch , blissfully unaware of what had a occurred. "I couldn't save them, Raphie," he breathed, his voice sounding too loud in the quiet house. "Mikey died on the table and Leo...Leo died without me even knowing. What was I supposed to do?" Tears continued to well up in his eyes when his brother didn't wake up and offer him any kind of answer or comfort. "We should have stayed home," Donatello whimpered mournfully. "It would have been safer and Mikey and Leo would still be-"

He trailed off as the words caught in his throat. Two brothers, one night. It was someone's idea of a sick joke, and he wasn't laughing. Donatello continued to stare at his unconscious brother and wondered how Raphael was going to take the news about Michelangelo and Leonardo's deaths. It wasn't fair; they did nothing to deserve this.

Donatello buried his face in his arms again, but looked up when Raphael moaned softly. The red masked turtle began to stir as he finally regained consciousness. Donatello slowly stood on legs that shook so badly that they could barely support him. But somehow he managed it and stumbled over to the couch, kneeling down beside his remaining brother. He gently touched Raphael's shoulder and his brother blinked his eyes open slowly. Raphael looked around the room and saw no one except Donatello.

"What happened? Where is everyone?" the sai wielder whispered.

Donatello swallowed thickly, pushing down the lump that was forming in his throat. "April and Casey are outside," he replied quietly.

"And Leo and Mike?" Raphael asked in confusion noticing his brother's avoidance of mentioning their oldest and youngest sibling's names and where abouts. When Donatello didn't answer Raphael began to fear the worst. "Donny, where are Leo and Mikey?" he demanded very slowly, and in a very punctuated voice that was still hoarse, and wavered with vulnerability.

Tears began to well up in Donatello's eyes, he couldn't help it. He had tried to stay strong, knowing that he had to tell Raphael the horrible truth, but he couldn't. He wasn't the strong one, the one that everyone leaned upon for support, that was Leonardo and he was...His breath caught in his throat and he looked away, squeezing his eyes tight with raw grief.

"Donny, where are they?" Raphael snarled again.

"Raph, I-" Donatello choked out. "I couldn't...I tried everything...but, Mikey...Leo… they're..."

Raphael pushed himself up and off the couch, stumbled towards the kitchen. He heard Donatello telling him that he shouldn't be walking around since he had sustained a serious head injury, but Raphael wasn't listening. He looked around at the bloody mess that was still evident in the kitchen. His heart hammered painfully against his ribs as pure, raw horror churned in his stomach.

"Mikey!" Raphael roared, his voice booming in the too silent house. "Leo!"

He clumsily made his way to the stairs. The front door opened and April and Casey came in just as Raphael was making his way upstairs with Donatello following close behind him.

"Raph, stop!" Donatello pleaded. "Let me explain!"

Raphael ignored his plea and took the stairs two at a time. He threw open the door to the spare bedroom and stopped dead in his tracks. On the bed lay two motionless bodies wrapped up in thin blankets. Raphael went through four of the five stages of grief in five seconds as he dazedly walked over to the bed and hesitantly pulled back the top of the blankets covering his brother's faces.

"No…" he choked out in denial, shaking his head madly back and forth as if he could disperse the image and the situation from his mind. But when he opened his eyes, he was confronted again by his brother's faces; motionless and peaceful in death. "NO!"

He collapsed to the floor as his legs gave out from underneath him. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think. This had to be a hallucination caused by the head injury. His brothers couldn't be dead; they just couldn't be. Donatello walked up and knelt down beside him, wrapping his arms around his brother and burying his face in Raphael's quivering shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Raph," Donatello sobbed. "I couldn't save them."

Raphael's body shook with uncontrollable sobs. "I did this," he moaned in anguish. "I killed our brothers."

Donatello tightened his grip around his remaining brother. "You did no such thing," he refuted vehemently.

"I was the one driving," Raphael pointed out bitterly. "I wasn't paying attention, and now Leo and Mikey are both dead."

"This wasn't your fault, Raph," Donatello said. "Please don't blame yourself."

Raphael continued to sob, his hand reaching out, unwrapping the blanket from his older brother's side and clutched Leonardo's limp, lifeless hand in his own. "I'm sorry," he whimpered wretchedly. "I'm so sorry."

"This wasn't your fault, Raph," Donatello pleaded again. "Please don't blame yourself."

Raphael continued to sob, his hand clenching Leonardo's cold, unmoving one. He put his free arm around Donatello and pulled him into a one armed hug. "Then you don't blame yourself, either," he said in a quavering voice that held a hint of fierceness.

"I could've saved them," Donatello whispered in anguish. "I should've been able to save them." The tale tumbled from his mouth then, the branch that had impaled their baby brother… his and Aprils' frantic, but futile efforts to save Mikey's life.

Raphael shook his head from side to side fiercely. "From the amount of blood I saw in the kitchen, there was no way Mikey could have survived. You did everything you could, Donny. It was...It was just Mikey's time."

"I was horrified when Mikey stopped breathing," Donatello said with a grief-stricken hiccup. "I can only imagine how scared he must have been."

Raphael nodded in agreement, only able to hold onto the faint hope that his brother had died peacefully, and perhaps even unaware of his life slipping away as his blood spilled upon the floor of the kitchen.

Raphael looked up at Leonardo's still and peaceful face. "H-how...what happened to Leo?" he asked softly, wondering what grievous injury had caused his older brother's death.

"I...I don't know," he whispered wretchedly. "I was with Mikey and Leo was fine...I thought he was fine with minor injuries...but I-I...he was just gone. It was like, like his heart just...stopped.

Raphael's grief was momentarily forgotten as a moment of clarity hit him. He looked at his older brother wondering if he had done what he thought he had. "I think...I think Leo...was worried about Mikey," he whispered with a sadness tempered with understanding.

"I don't...what are you saying, Raph?" Donatello asked.

"I think Leo let go…" Raphael replied voice trailing off before continuing. "He probably knew how scared Mikey had to be and he let go so that Mikey wouldn't be alone."

Donatello looked up at his eternally sleeping brothers and smiled. "I guess even in death Leo was looking out for Mikey."

Raphael hugged his brother, pulling him close. "And we still have each other," he pointed out softly.

Donatello groaned sarcastically. "I guess this means you're going to be the over-protective, pain in the shell big brother now, huh?" he asked with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, the grief he was experiencing still too fresh and raw.

Raphael gave him a wry smirk, tears still shimmering in his eyes. "You'd better believe it, Brainiac."

Leonardo and Michelangelo watched their brothers in the crystal clear waters of the river. They were now standing on the oasis side of the vast river. The water no longer dark and dangerous, but clear and calm.

"They're going to be okay, right, Leo?" Michelangelo asked worriedly.

Leonardo put an arm around his brother's shoulders. "They're strong," he answered. "They'll make it."

"I just wish we could have said good-bye," Michelangelo said sadly.

"It's not good-bye," Leonardo told him. "Not really. We'll see them again."

Michelangelo continued to watch his living brothers in the water. "What about Master Splinter?"

Leonardo thought about it for moment. "He'll grieve, as will Raph and Don. But they have each other to lean on, as well as April and Casey. And besides, we know where to come if we ever want to check on them."

Michelangelo nodded and smiled, happy with the thought of seeing his family again in the future. "And until then, Donny can keep Raphie out of trouble," he said with a smirk.

Leonardo burst out laughing at the thought as they made their way into the lush forest of the oasis behind them. From his place in a tree, the human boy watched as the two turtles disappeared into the forest and smiled. He jumped out of the tree and gazed down into the river, watching the two remaining turtles grieve for the loss of their brothers, but also laugh and smile at the fond memories that they shared. With a wave of his hand, the image rippled away with the current, the sound of laughter filling the in-between.

And together we'll cross the river

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