A/N: Hello brave readers! This fic has almost nothing to do with Darker than Black, instead I only used a few of the concepts from that universe. Please give this story a chance and read on.

Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT.

Two years.

No matter how many times he thought those words, he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that Leo had been gone for two years now. A year ago, he wouldn't have thought much of it. Then again, everything was normal a year ago. South America still existed a year ago. No one knew how or why it happened, but that giant continent had just disappeared from the map. It was gone, and it had taken his eldest brother with it. Leo had been training there for a time. He was supposed to come back a year ago, but he didn't. He sent a letter that said he had failed at his mission and he couldn't come back until he knew what he needed to learn.

A few months later, South America was gone. Wiped out. Eradicated.

Don had some crazy idea that it had something to do with the stars. The stars? That was stupid. What would stars have to do with a missing chunk of land? Maybe, it was because the stars disappeared that night. They were replaced by new stars. Different stars. The new stars were ever-changing. Some fell almost as soon as they came into existence. The stars tended to fall a lot. It was disconcerting. Maybe Don wasn't so crazy to think what he did.

Then again, ever since the stars and South America, Don had lost it. The resident genius was usually so calm and collected, but just as soon as he found out about what happened, he lost it. He began babbling about random things and he would switch between moods often. It was creepy to say the least. He had actually started to break his own machinery and rebuilt it afterwards. It was weird. It was like Don had no control over himself anymore. He couldn't even speak normally anymore. He either babbled or yelled.

Speaking of speaking. Mikey. Mikey was the opposite of the new Don. He was silent and still. He never moved unless told to. He never spoke unless spoken to and even then, he either nodded or shook his head in just the slightest way. He hadn't touched a single thing. Once in awhile, when he was being bathed-since he could not bathe himself anymore-he would move. It was slight, but it was there. He would cock his head to the side and dip his hand into the water. It was the only thing he would do on his own.

On his own. That's how Raphael felt. The red masked terrapin was trapped in solitude. He had no one to talk to. His brothers were incoherent and out of character. Leo was dead. Long gone to wherever South America had gone. Raphael was alone. He carried the burden of caring for both Don and Mikey. He now understood his older brother after all of these years. He understood Leo's pain and loneliness. It was too bad that Leo died before Raph could have ever realized it.

Death had taken the only other person who could have dug Raph out of his pit. Master Splinter.

His father had simply passed. He had been old and there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it. Master Splinter died not long after South America vanished. He claimed to have felt a searing pain and stated that Leo was gone. His connection with the blue masked katana wielder had been severed. Splinter spent the next few days on his death bed. He was frail and weak. Don couldn't help him with anything other than dulling the pain. Splinter died in his sleep and was cremated afterwards before being buried in an urn.

So Raphael was alone now.

The red masked turtle sat at the kitchen table, a bottle of whiskey in hand and his other hand cradled his chin. He stared at his youngest brother, who sat on the couch, still as ever. Never moving. It creeped Raph out at first, but he had gotten accustomed to it. It was certainly easier to deal with than Don's tempers.

Mikey rarely slept, but with his inactivity, he really didn't need to. It wasn't much of a difference when he slept and when he was awake. The only change was that his eyes were open and then they were closed. His muscle tone was nearly gone, but he hadn't gained any weight. Mikey had the frame of a slim teenager. He had no visible body fat and he only ate when Raph told him to. He was comatose according to Don, but the cause was unclear. It could've been their father's death or the realization that Leo was dead and gone. They might never know.

Raph lifted his bottle to his lips and gulped. The whiskey raced down his throat like fire, but it didn't burn him much. He had become accustomed to the taste of whiskey over the years. It was the only normalcy in his world. It always stayed the same even after South America. It always burned. It always numbed.

He set the bottle back down on the table and rubbed at his eyes.

"Raph! You broke it again?!"

That was Don. Raph glanced in the direction he had heard Don's voice come from. Whatever it was that had broken, Raph knew that he hadn't broken it. Don tended to think that it was Raph who broke everything these days, but Raph never did anything other than errands, care for both of his brothers, and train. He also drank but he made it a rule to never touch anything that Don made. It wasn't safe anymore. The resident genius had turned crazy. He was bipolar or schizophrenic. Either one would explain his behavior.

Don stormed into the main room, he held a broken shell cell in his left hand. He walked up to Raph and slammed the device on the kitchen table, smashing it and sending pieces flying. Raphael sighed and glanced up at his brother. He had learned to be patient with Don over the years.

"How many times do I have to fix the things you break, Raph?!" He snarled angrily. Raph set his bottle of whiskey aside and stood up. His amber eyes held a sad sort of calm.

"Don, that's your shell cell. I didn't break it. I never touched it."

"Really? Then why is it broken? I know I didn't break it."

"Alright, I'm sorry, Don. I didn't mean t'break it." Raph sighed in resignation. There were just some days where he couldn't reason with Don. He had become used to it and could predict when Don would be unreasonable. Now was one of those times.

"I already knew that. Much good it'll do me now." Don huffed before turning on his heel and heading back to his lab with the shell cell in hand.

Raph rubbed his eyes. He didn't know much more of this he could take. His life had become a real living hell.