Race. [TMNT 2012]

3. The Runaway; Raphael

I am startled out of a deep sleep the next morning.

   "Well, Casey Jones is going back down there, whether you sissies come with him or not!"

"You might run into trouble."

"So?! I ain't helpless! I have hockey sticks for a reason."

I pull myself to my feet, grunting at the stiffness in my injured leg. I notice it has been wrapped in cloth; Donatello must have done it while I was asleep.

I limp to the kitchen doorway and peek in. I see Leonardo and April sitting at a table, while Casey was leaned over it, looking quite angry. He has his face-paint on, something he does when he's planning to go out.

"Wait until it's dark and we'll go with you," Leonardo argues. I can tell he is struggling to stay calm.

Casey's frown is engraved into his face. "I need to find out who started that fire, and it's hard to do that at night when you can't see anything!"

I roll my eyes. Casey can see just fine in the dark; he is wanting to leave for other reasons. I just don't really care what they are.

Casey and I haven't exactly been "tight" since he betrayed us to the Shredder. Since then, he has reclaimed that he is only loyal to us. However, I can't make myself believe him, and neither can my brothers. How do we know Casey isn't reporting to Shredder the Dictator behind our backs in this very moment?

Leonardo shakes his head and rubs his temples. "Casey, we need to stay low profile for a while. If you go back to the fire site now, there might be an ambush waiting for you."

"I can handle it!" Casey insists stubbornly.

"You're being unreasonable," April steps in, the familiar hurt towards him still in her voice. "Just wait it's dark and we'll all go together, ambush or no ambush. We fight better as a team."

Casey gives her a look of resignation. "Fine," he agrees grudgingly. "But I'm still going out. See if I can find some traces of my dad and sister."

I feel a poke at my heart. So that's why he wants to leave. He's still determined his family is alive. Though we never say it out loud, I know my brothers, April, and I agree they're gone. But we don't dare tell Casey that. If he wants to hold on to a single, itty, bitty strand of hope, then he can. It's not like it matters to me one way or another.

"Stay away from the abandoned pizza shop," Leonardo calls after him, to which the teenager ignores.

"Hey, Raphie!"

I spin around to see Michelangelo looking at me. He has a wide grin on his face and I am instantly annoyed.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" I growl.

"Uh..." Michelangelo taps his chin and tilts his head to the side. "Sixteen? I don't know, I can't count that high!"

Elizabetta appears in the room beside Michelangelo. Her green eyes look refreshed from a good night's sleep. She gives me a sympathetic smile as she glances at my leg. "How are you feeling?" she asks.

"Fine," I grunt, barely making eye contact with her. The truth is that my leg is more stuff than a board, but I'm not about to admit that. Especially not to her, a girl who barely even knows who I am.

I kick myself over such a harsh thought. It's not her fault she doesn't remember. It's her father's fault. If he hadn't injected her with an alternate personality serum, she wouldn't have forgotten about us.