I've been wanting to post this for a while but I've been so busy! And I've been scared about posting a human!war!AU but here it is!

This is a war Au so be warned! There is some bad language and there is violence. I don't claim to know everything about the Army so some stuff may be wrong but, you know, just go with it, Okay?

Seven days until wake up is an Army term meaning seven days until the end of a deployment. One could also say something like One month until wake up (one month until the end of a deployment) and so on.

I own nothing!

Seven Days Till Wake Up

"They were soldiers, and sometimes that meant having to do things that sane people never would."

"If only Donnie and Mikey could see me now," Leonardo mumbled to himself as he ran his dirt crusted fingers through his brown hair. Sweat dripped down the side of his face from his helmet. The helmet was too big for him, it slid down over his eyes obstructing his vision and generally annoying the shit out of him on a daily basis. The oversized pack on his back with four long, heavy antennas sticking out of it tore into his shoulders and pulled at his aching body.

Seven months he had been in Central America fighting with a squad from the 31st Light Infantry Division. Seven months of getting eaten alive by bugs and harassed by snakes and terrorized by rats the size of small dogs. Seven months and only a few letters from his brothers who were back home in New York, safe and sound and probably out protesting the war that Leonardo was fighting.

They're probably marching in the streets with their other war-hating friends preaching for peace, Leonardo thought bitterly. His younger brothers didn't understand what was going on. They didn't understand why their older brother went to war. For the first month after Leonardo had been shipped over to Central America Donatello hadn't even written to him, he was too angry. When Leonardo did get the chance to Skype home Don hadn't even wanted to speak with him.

"He's just angry, Leo. He'll get over it soon," Michelangelo had promised.

"Why's he so mad, Mike?" Leo had asked as he tucked himself away in the corner of the tent that his squad of ten men shared. There had been no one in the tent at the time but all the same, Leonardo wanted even a small bit of privacy.

Mikey had shrugged a little, the iPad he was holding wobbled. "I don't know, man. I mean… you didn't really even tell us you were leaving."

Leonardo scoffed, "Yes, I did!"

Mike shook his head slowly. Even though they were thousands of miles away Leonardo felt like he could reach out and run his fingers through his youngest brother's smooth blonde hair.

"You know how we feel about this war, dude. It's stupid and you don't gotta be there in the first place. Why're there? Why did you hav'ta go even when we told you that you shouldn't?" Tears pooled in Mikey's eyes, he looked away from the camera. Leo lost his breath and had to bite his tongue to stop the wave of emotion that flowed through him.

Why did he join? Leonardo had asked himself that same question hundreds of times. He was eighteen, had his whole life in front of him, had a girl who loved him and a family that had hated war ever since their father had been wounded in Vietnam… So why did he join? Maybe it was all of the recruitment posters that lined the streets of New York with their pictures of strong men and weak enemies. Maybe it was their catchy slogans of Join the Army, become a man, defend your country! Protect your family, join the fight! America will always fight to defend the weak!

Maybe it was because he'd graduated High School with no plans and no real want to go to college. He wasn't like Mikey who could barely show up for class yet always manage to get acceptable grades and he wasn't like Don who was already in college level classes and sweeping through them. He had to work hard, put long hours into his books and pay attention to everything and he just didn't want that anymore. He liked shooting guns at the gun range and he liked fighting and learning karate at the dojo his father owned, he just liked different things than his brothers and they couldn't understand that.

"This war is wrong, Leonardo. We shouldn't be over there. You should be here, bro," Mikey had said after a few minutes of silence. Leonardo had to look away from the face on the screen so his baby brother could see his anger, his disappointment.

Yes, we need to be here.

Central America was the new 'zone'; it was the new threat on the United States. Drug Lords and Cartels and weapons depots and caches of billions handed under the table to local militias was the new Act of Terrorism. Local Militias plagued the jungles of Central America terrorizing the people who inhabited the villages and small cities. Small villages that were otherwise innocent would be the sights of brutal and bloody massacres from the militias. It got so out of hand that now, two years after the first reported attack on a village, fifteen thousand people – men, woman and children – were dead. The United States of America, thinking themselves a higher God that needed to swoop down to save all the poor countries in the world had decided to take it upon themselves to save the people in Central America.

That was why Leo had been deployed to these harsh jungles. To help stop those massacres. Mikey just wouldn't understand, he hadn't seen that things Leonaro had seen. Mike hadn't seen the children who were just skin and bones and sunken eyes and who begged for food that the soldiers just couldn't spare to give. Mikey hadn't had to call in airstrikes or pull the trigger while aiming his gun at another human being. Mikey never had to scrapple on the ground with another man in hand-to-hand combat as the enemy soldier held a knife to his throat – that one had been a close one and the thin scar that ran across Leonardo's neck was a permanent reminder of what had happened.

"You… you just wouldn't understand, Mike… I'm here so you don't have to be." Was all Leo said. They had both been silent for a minutes before the opening of the tent Leonardo was in was pushed aside and Salls and Hollywood – men in Leo's squad – came walking in holding a loud conversation with their guns laid across their backs ready to grab and fire at a moment's notice.

"I-I gotta go, Mike," he'd said quickly. Mikey opened his mouth to protest but Leo had cut him off, "Tell Dad that I said I'm doing okay and don't overfeed Klunk, that poor cat is getting fat from the pictures I've seen. Also, tell April that I said hey and that I'll give her a call here pretty soon. And… and tell Don that I said that I love him and I'll write to him the next chance I get even if he doesn't look at my letters'. Bye, Mike, I love you." Leonardo closed his laptop before Mikey had the chance to say anything back.

"Hey Hamato," Colonel Cotter, Leonardo's Commanding Officer whispered as he knelt down next to him in the dirt pulling the teenager from his thoughts. They had their backs to a large tree whose bark had been peeled away from a Napalm airstrike a month ago. The four other guys in the small scouting party were all hunched behind their own trees. Their camouflaged uniforms melting into the trees and foliage so perfectly only the whites of their eyes stood out. Leonardo licked his lips with a dry tongue and pulled the book that held the Codes from his back pocket. "Call in an airstrike near four-three-Alpha-ten. Then when you're done tell the chopper to give us ten mikes so we can get the hell outta here before the bombs drop."

"Yes, sir." Leonardo answered already dialing in the orders and translating them into their Code. After relaying the information to Command and getting the; "Order understood, proceed to your rally point. You have fifteen mikes until Napalm drop. Command out." Leonardo turned back to his CO and nodded.

"Move out men," ordered Cotter.

A large, heavy hand came down across Leonardo's shoulder starling him as he walked back to the Communications tent to put away his gear. Leo whipped around to see Raphael smirking at him with a crooked grin. Leo swatted his hand away.

"Jesus, you scared me," he laughed.

"I ain't Jesus, Blue," chuckled Raph as he used the nickname the men in their squad had given Leo. He huffed a sigh. Dad sends me one pack of bright blue socks and it's like no one will ever forgive me for not sharing them.

"Call me Blue one more time and I'll call you Raphie for the rest of your life," Leonardo warned. Raph put his hands up in surrender as they fell into step with one another.

"Fine, fine, fine no more Blue. So, I heard the mission this afternoon went off without a hitch."

"Yep, it was fine you know, SSDD."

"Yeah," Raph gave out a hearty laugh as they rounded the corner to head into the Communications tent. "Same shit, different day."

Leo smiled and looked over at his friend. Even though they were in different squads Raphael was still one of the best friends Leo had ever had. Standing at a lanky six-foot-tall frame with bulky shoulders and fiery red hair, Raph stood out like a sore thumb. His hair was so red and grew so fast that Cotter made him lather it up with mud before every jungle mission because he claimed, "Your hair is a Goddamn beacon announcing our presence to the enemy!"

Raph entered the tent first then pulled it aside to let Leo and his massive backpack through. With a few grunts, some curses and a heave or two Leo unbuckled his pack and threw it on one of the two tables in the tent that weren't cluttered with important papers.

"Did Stockman go out with you guys today?" questioned Raph looking at a stack of papers that Leo was sure he wasn't supposed to be looking at. Leo plucked them from his hands. "Of course he was."

Raph shook his head and took his helmet off placing it on the table, crumpling some papers. "That fucker has been riding my ass for a week. I'm just glad he finally got off his ass and went on a mission instead of tryin' to command by proxy like he's doing since he got off the plane."

Leo rolled his shoulders trying to get all the kinks and knots out. His neck popped. "You gonna go to the mess and get some chow soon?"

"Na, I got a care package from home that's a shit ton better than the shit the Canteen is cookin'." Raph sat down in Leo's chair and took out his bowie-knife to hack away at the piece of wood that was always in the back pocket of his cargo pants. Little pieces of wood scattered over the table of papers with codes that Leonardo had yet to decipher for his squad. "You hear from yer brothers this week?"

Leo shook his head then turned away from Raph so the other teenager couldn't see the hurt on his face. "April sent me a package a few days ago and my dad emailed me but nothing from Mike or Don."

"It's okay man," Raph said sincerely. "They'll come around and besides it's only a week till wake up, you'll see them soon."

Looking up at the top of the tent Leo sighed and smiled slightly. Yeah, seven days until this deployments over and I can finally go home.

"What is the first thing you're gonna do when you get home, Raphie?" asked Leo shuffling old papers with codes that didn't exists anymore out of the way so he could take out the new papers and organize them. Raph leaned back in his chair with a small smile grazing his grizzled face.

"Kiss the ground then kiss my girl," he answered dreamily. "Then I'm gonna go to PJ's Burgers on the corner of 5th and High Street and order two of the biggest, fattest, juiciest burgers on the menu."

Leo's mouth watered at the thought. "Why two?"

Raph tilted his head to the side to give Leo a dumbfounded look, "One for me and one for you, dumbass."

"Sounds good," was all Leo said as he continued to work.

"And hey, I was thinkin', when we land back in the states I could introduce you to my brother, Casey, and I could meet your girl, April, then we could all go out for a drink." Leo nodded, that sounded like the best idea Raphs' ever had. Even if neither of them were old enough to drink, if they sauntered into the bar like they owned it with their dog tags hanging out of their shirts and deep tans on their skin from the Central American sun glowing in the dim lights of the bar no one would question them if they orders a beer and a few fingers of whisky.

"Deal," said Leo.

"Great, I think it's about time for my – "

A face popped into the Communications tent cutting Raph off. It was Mooch – Private Nathan DeSaw – and he was scowling at Raph. "Hothead, it's time for our watch duty. Actually, it was time to watch the Line about five mikes ago," he glared at Raph before turning to Leo. "Hey Blue, what's up?"

"Nothing much," Leo answered.

Raph hoisted himself up from Leo's chair then stuffed the chunk of wood into his back pocket and sheathed his knife. "Later Leo," he threw over his shoulder as he left the tent.

"Be safe," Leo called back to them as the flap of the tent swished shut.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly and without much incident. There were no casualties from bullets or snakes or tarantulas or giant man-eating rats. All the men in the 31st Light Infantry Division were unnaturally cheery in the hot, dense jungle. They were about to go home. Seven days – one week – they could go home. All the fathers could return to beautiful children, husbands back to doting wives, sons back to their worrying mothers and fretting fathers. One week and they could all go home and try to forget about the horrors of war. They would talk away their troubles or drown them with alcohol. Either way they would be leaving this jungle soon.

Leo was peering over a large map of the surrounding area. Small black marks dotted the map in places where the Charlies – the enemies – were thought to be hiding while larger gold bars marked the places where American Forces were stationed. The eighteen-year-old was too busy decoding the most recent message then adding corrections to the large map to notice the first shot that rang through the musky air. Gun shots were common, an everyday occurrence. It was the second burst of machine gun fire that caught his attention making him look up from his map slowly. A scream sounded through the unit's camp so loud Leo flinched.

"Ambush!"

The scream was silenced almost before it was heard. More gun fire answered the enemy fire, Leo could tell, from their side. The sound of running boots past the tent he was in made him stand up with a start from the map. He quickly removed his thick rimmed reading glasses after hearing the screams of men a ways from the closed flapped tent. More sounds of boots hitting mud sounded in Leo's ears. Someone was running towards his Communications tent.

"Third Squad follow me!" Someone yelled, it sounded like Sergeant Stockman.

Leo grabbed for the automatic that was always near his side. The gun was big and whole in his hands. If he were to be attacked he wouldn't go down without a fight. He would not die here. Leonardo felt his heart thump faster. His muscles tightened in anticipation and fear fueled his need to protect himself, to not die. Suddenly, the flap of his tent jerked open. Leo aimed his gun, ready to blow whoever it was away.

The dirty, sweaty face of Raphael peered into the tent. He was breathless; a slim line of blood ran from his temple. His too-red hair stuck out from under his helmet and was plastered to his forehead by sweat. Dirt and mud and blood caked the greater part of his face. His chest was heaving, his eyes looked wild. This was a whole new Raphael than Leonardo had ever seen.

Leo let out a quick breath before loosening his finger slightly from the trigger. He looked down at Raph's gun. It was practically smoking in his hands. The magazines that usually crisscrossed his chest were gone, probably already having been used.

"Everything is FUBAR up man, we gotta go, we gotta go now!" Raph rushed into the tent, Leo stayed frozen as another bout of gunfire peppered overhead.

Then he heard it, it was just like deep whistle that got closer and closer as the second ticked by. The whistle of the rocket was silenced for less than a split second before the ground beneath Leo's boots shook and the cries of men assaulted his ears. Stacks of papers slipped off of the makeshift table and tumbled into a mess on the ground. There was more popping of gun fire, cries of men trying to organize the chaos, someone in the distance was pleading for a medic.

Raph was still breathing hard, he gripped his rifle with white knuckled hands, "It's a cluster-fuck out there Leo, our whole company's up Shit Creek without a paddle. We gotta go man, we gotta go!" By the time the last words left his mouth Raph had grabbed a hold of Leo with shaky, gunpowder blackened hands and was hauling him towards the flap of the tent.

Another whistle, the ground shook harder, Raph stumbled.

"Wait!" Leo had to yell over the sounds of war behind waged outside the tent. "The codes! I can't leave without them!"

"We don't have time! There comin'!" Raph growled forcing Leo to move. His eyes were on fire.

Leo dug his feet into the ground forcing them to a halt. "We are the United States Army for Christ's sake! There's no way the local militia could break our perimeters. We-"

"We've only got a unit worth of men! A few squads, that it dumbass! Everyone else is with Colonel Trapper for their mission Command sent of last week," Raph dug his nails into Leo's arms. "They brought their whole damn army!"

"Colonel Cotter would never-"

"Colonel Cotter is dead, man. They breached the perimeter."

That's not possible, Leo thought, a knot forming in his throat. Their perimeter was always secure. It was half a klick out of the Commanders base, were Leo and Raph stood now.

Raph's hand tightened again. "The Charlies killed Mooch in front of me. Jameson tried to call for back up but he bit it too and the transmission got cut. Holloway, Fox and Salls went to go check it out..." Raph paused, his voice sounded hollow. The pepper of gunfire sounded closer. "Their all dead. We gotta go!" Raph pulled him aggressively. He was finished talking, it was time to go.

Leo dug his feet into the ground further stopping his friend from pulling him out of the tent.

"I can't go without the codes!" he yelled in Raph's face over the bullets shooting outside. He knew that those codes in the hands of an enemy could spell disaster. Those codes could be used to uncover secrets that were supposed to stay secret save for the few cleared individuals, like Leo, who were allowed to know them. "I gotta take them with me!"

Raph's eyes were big and wild as he looked around the two tables that held maps and schematics, codes and partially decoded messages. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, "Do you have them memorized?"

Leo stopped his frantic flinging of papers into his camouflaged army pack. He nodded once before grabbing the next set of papers and stuffing them into the bag.

"Burn them, all of them. We don't have time, we gotta go now!"

Leo looked up just in time to see a small lighter being flung at his head. He used his reflexes to catch it but held it in his hands for a moment. If he burned these papers and he didn't have them memorized right... Oh hell, he'd be in so much trouble. "I can't. I-"

He was cut off as a spray of bullets tore through the top of the tent. Leo hit the ground hard a second after Raph did. His cheek stung and when he pulled his hand from his face crimson blood pained his fingers.

Oh shit.

"Leo!" screamed Raph already moving out of the tent. Leo didn't even think twice, he couldn't think, everything was happening so fast. He grabbed the papers from his bag then lit the ends and edges like he's seen villains on TV do to evidence when they were tormenting the hero. The first paper went up like dry leaves. The second was soon to follow then the third went until all the papers were at some point of burning.

"Come on!" Raph was practically begging, his helmet askew on his sweaty head. Leo chanced one more second to grab his gun before he was out the tent.

Fire, almost like the fire that was burning through the Communications tent spread in front of him. Men were running from the woods towards him - American men with flags on their shoulders and camouflage shifting with their bodies. It was loud and disorientating. Behind him he felt the heat of fire licking up from the burning tent but in front of him he could feel the same fire a thousand fold as it raged across the jungle.

"Retreat! Why'r you just standing there Blue? Run you son of a-"

The man running toward him – Sergeant Stockman – was cut off as the ground exploded next to him and he was thrown sideways. Leo looked on in horror as he saw the blood start to pool around the side of Stockman's caved-in head.

More screaming. More bouts of gunfire. They were being overrun.

Someone, something, grabbed his hand that wasn't holding his unused gun bringing Leonardo back into reality.

"We gotta go, man! We gotta go!" screamed the voice in his ear. Raph forced him along by the sleeve of his jacket. Quickly, Leo turned around to run.

Without thinking and just letting his feet take control he ran after his friend. They entered into the jungle that wasn't cleared, where the vines still licked at their feet, tree roots made them stumble before they even knew they were falling and plants blocked their view for more than three feet in front of their faces.

Walking through the jungle was hard without a machete. Running, borderline impossible. In training at basic it had been beaten into Leo's head to always pick up his feet while in enemy jungles. IED's, hidden explosives that the locals annoying planted into the ground was only one thing that could go wrong by taking a bad step. One fowl step and you'd be sky-high even before you knew what was happening.

His legs were burning, Leo thought they were about to fall off. He forced his legs to go faster to match Raph's who was taller, a bigger stride. They needed to put as much distance between those Charlie's that were murdering they're unit as they could. In front of him, Raph disappeared into the vegetation a few seconds before Leo broke through and ran head first into his back.

"Raph, what the - "

"Shhh!" Raph clamped his hand over Leo's mouth, his eyes were blown wide. Leo looked over into the clearing that a small village had molded itself into. There, standing in the middle of the village were Charlie's with guns in their hands and what looked like half the village herded into a pile. They were talking in Spanish, their gruff voices echoed to Leo's ears.

Raph and Leo hesitated, what was there to do? They couldn't turn around - the militia was right on their heels. They couldn't go forward. They were stuck.

"Soldier... Soldier!" A voice hissed from the side. At once both boys looked over to the mouth of the jungle. Leo saw nothing, only more green jungle and canopy leaves, so he turned back to the villagers that hadn't yet realized they were there. The Charlie's in charge were still yelling at the people, brandishing their weapons threateningly.

"Soldier!" The voice said louder.

"Dude," Raph said patting Leo's shoulder looking over to where he heard the voice, "I think there's someone over there," he finished on a whisper.

A girl, no older than fifteen came out of the jungle just far enough to be seen. Her tan skin and brown hair looked clean but her clothes were dirty. A stark contrast. She made a gesture to follow her then started to walk away, back into the jungle.

Leo looked over to Raph who shrugged, "Stuck between a rock and a hard place already. What the hell." And he turned to follow her. Leo wiped the sweat from his brow then trotted to catch up to them. They entered back into the jungle but kept to the shallow side. They were following the girl as she skirted the village, giving the place a wide berth.

"Think we can trust her?" mumbled Leo into Raph's ear.

"Best chance we got. I saw at least fifty Charlies back at camp."

"Are…" Leo licked his lips losing his voice for a moment. "Do you think… Doc and Ryan and Salls. Do you think, I mean - "

"Their dead, Leo." Raph didn't turn back to look at him, he kept his eyes on the girl. "They're all dead. We weren't ready. Everyone starting slakin' 'cause we're supposed to be goin' home in a week."

"Soldiers, please," whispered the girl turning to them and putting her finger to her lip trying to silence them. They were almost clear of the village.

Leo bit his lip hard then murmured, "This wasn't supposed to happen. What about Colonel Cotter's new baby and Duke's wife? We gotta go back, man. I know I saw Stockmen get hit but he might still be alive. We gotta go see, Raphie."

"No, Blue," Raph said darkly. "It's… It's no use, their gone."

Leo stopped in his tracks, "What happened to never leave a man behind?"

Raph stopped and turned sharply on his heals ready to grab Leo again. "What happened to you not being a stupid idiot? Everything is FUBAR man, its shot to hell. Now move."

A lump formed in Leo's throat… dead. His entire squad, dead.

"Get it together Leonardo! This is war, shit happens," Raph hissed before turning around and taking another step. Leo begrudgingly took another step after him.

Something hard came down across Leo's face. He couldn't stop the scream that ripped from his mouth as the heavy object came down again on his forehead and everything went black. The ground beneath his feet started moving, was someone dragging him? His face felt wet. Was he crying? No. He was a soldier, soldiers don't cry. It had to be something else.

Blood? Was it blood that dripped down his face? He didn't know.

"Let him go, jackass!" shrieked a voice from behind him that sounded like Raph. The ground came up to meet Leo's face so fast he couldn't even put his arms out to stop his fall. He slammed against the dirt with so much force that he moaned involuntarily. His vision blurred. Voices, rough Spanish voices and lighter feminine voices cut through the haze that had settled through his head. Someone screamed. It was high and shrill, the brave girl that had tried to save them maybe?

Again the ground moved, no he was moving. Someone had grabbed him and was now hauling him away. They threw him up against something hard – a wall maybe? – that he slid down. His chest was heaving trying to catch his breath. His head hurt, it made his eyes water as his head pounded in tune to his heart. He felt his arms being pulled up and looked up at the person touching him. The man was sweating and dirty. His face was marred with stubble on his chin. He was tan and wore a deep green uniform. He was a Charlie. The enemy.

"You are codes officer, yes?" The man's accented voice asked loudly grabbing at the rank markers on Leo's shoulders. The noises around Leo seemed to stop. Raph quit yelling, the girl who tried to save them quit screaming. It was quiet. Leo said nothing. The man pulled his gun up to Leo's head. A cold ring pressed hard against his pounding forehead.

"Get away from him!" Raph screamed again.

Leo overcame the fogginess in his brain as he heard the urgency in Raph's voice, the fear. Leo could feel himself shaking. The barrel of a gun was pressed against his head. He was surrounded by hostiles. He was going to die. At eighteen he was going to die.

Mikey... Donnie, I'm so sorry, he whispered in his head.

"You are code keeper," repeated the man above him.

"Get away from him!" yelled Raph again. Leo looked over and drew in a breath. Raph was on his knees not twenty feet in front of him, another man held a gun to the back of his head.

Leo grabbed his voice from deep in his chest and tried to sound in control. "Raphael, shut up," he attempted to sound calm

"Quiet!" hissed the Spanish man jabbing him in the head with the gun. "You know codes? Answer or friend dies." The soldier who stood behind Raph pressed the barrel of his gun into his head.

"Leo, don't say –"

"Quiet!" The man behind Raph ordered.

Leo stuttered, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't think, his head hurt too bad. "Y-yes. I am," he said finally. The Charlie above him nodded, a smile curled around his yellowing teeth.

"Good, we want you," In quick Spanish he called to the men holding the gun to Raph's head, "Kill him," he ordered.

Leo lurched forward, screaming, "NO!" The look on Raph's face was one of pure terror. "STOP!"

The sound of a body hitting the ground reached Leo's ears before his brain registered the body - his body, Raph's body - crumpling against the dirt. Leo couldn't even remember if he'd heard a gunshot or not.

Leo wanted to scream, his heart stopped. His throat burned. His body wouldn't move. He wanted to run, to hide, to fight. He wanted his gun so he could shoot the man that shot... The man that killed his best friend.

He wouldn't, couldn't move. His body was numb, he was shaking. His heart exploded, his chest was empty. He wanted to run but he was frozen. He wanted to fight but he couldn't move. He wanted to scream but he had no voice. He wanted to cry but he couldn't find the strength. He was numb. The only kind of numb one felt when they lost someone.

He couldn't breathe, was he breathing? He couldn't move, where was his body? The world melting away until it was just Blue and Hothead. Just Leo and Raph.

No, it wasn't Raph anymore, it was just his body. Just a body. A broken body that once belonged to his best friend.

"R... Raph..." Leo's haggard voice felt foreign in his ears. He couldn't take his eyes away from the crumpled form of his best friend. They had made a promise that they would, no matter what, stick together and look out for each other. They would be together even when they came home from war. They would always have each other's back but now... Now Raph... He was. He was...

The hands that were holding Leo suddenly let go, Leo fell to his knees unable to hold himself up any longer. He'd seen people die before but this… this was Raph, Raphie, Hothead. This was his best friend, his brother.

Leo couldn't take his eyes off of Raph's body. His mind didn't even register the fact that there was no blood pooling around the body. All he could see was Raph's crumpled form.

Then the world stopped as soft moan came from Raphael's body. His finger twitched, then his leg moved. Two words registered through Leonardo's numb mind.

Not. Dead.

Leo never had the chance to scream Raph's name. The butt of a rifle was brought down across the back of his head plunging his world into darkness.

First attempt at an AU! Thanks for reading :)