Author's Note: Reposting this on here. Just some grammar fixes and what not. Probably expand on it if I get time.
Author's Note: Hello all and thank you for checking out my little story. This is kind of a character case study I guess and as of right now this will just be a one-short. However, I am thinking of adding a few more chapters into it. I don't know I'll just have to see how I feel I guess. Anyways, here we go.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the shirt on my back and I barely own that.
A Hero's Deed:
Chapter 1:
The darkness seems endless. However, I know how to make the darkness disappear. It's so simple; all I have to do is open my eyes, a task so incredibly automatic that it's crazy how difficult it is at the moment. However, my eye lids feel like they are made of lead and it takes all of my strength to force them to open just a crack. Even though my surroundings are dim, I feel as though I am staring into the sun. My vision is blurry and I have to force myself to blink a few times to refocus my sight. Once my mind is clear and focused, the pain hits me full force. Despite my resistance a small groan escapes my dry lips and every breathe I take feels like a hundred fires burning through my side. Out of reflex my hand goes to my left side to try to ease the pain. I feel a warm liquid run across my fingers and I pull my hand up to my face to inspect the strange substance on my fingers. Red. That's all I can see dripping off my fingertips. It takes my hazy mind a few seconds longer than it should for it to register what the liquid on my hand is. Blood. Of course, now my brain is running full speed and questions are running through at a hundred miles an hour. The biggest question though is: What the shell happened?
I push the pain out of my mind as I try to focus on what happened. Memories of my brothers and I patrolling run through my head. Then, the memory of an explosion flashes across my mind. My Brothers! Panic rushes through me at that one particular thought. Without thinking I began to try and get up to find my brothers. That however, stops abruptly as the pain I forgot about suddenly explodes through me. The blinding pain causes me to gasp out loud and quickly lean back against the half of a wall I'm propped up against. I grit my teeth and close my eyes to fight off the agonizing pain. My brief attempt at meditating through the pain is cut short by what sounds like whimpering.
"H-H-Hello?" I barely manage to ask, my voice deeper and scratchier than usual due to my throat feeling like I'd swallowed sandpaper. I hear a gasp as the source of the whimpering desperately began trying to quiet its cries. Despite its attempts at quieting down I could still make out a soft whimpering sound. It almost sounds like a child. I could feel the over protectiveness of being a big brother whelm up and the need to protect the child forces me to ignore my current pain. With a strength I didn't know I had left I forced myself to my feet, using what was left of the wall behind me to stand. The pain was excruciating and darkness began to creep into my vision, but I forced myself to push that aside and focus. As I was catching my breath I took in my surroundings and the night came rushing back to me.
Raph had been trailing some Purple Dragon goons the night before and tracked them to this apartment complex. This particular group of Dragons had been selling illegal drugs on the street for weeks now and we were planning on finally shutting these punks down. We busted the window in and proceeded to kick some Purple Dragon butt. The night was going well, all according to plan, until suddenly one of them pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. We all froze as the last Dragon went down with an angry hot-head's fist to the face.
"Well guess his phone call didn't go through." Raph growled out laughing as he put his sais away and grinned at his handy work. It is then that I heard it, the quiet tick-tick-ticking. It was then that it hit me what it was.
"Run! Run!" I yelled shoving my youngest brother towards the door and grabbing my red-banded brother behind me. As I watch my brothers exit the door, I turn to grab the Purple Dragon goons. It was then that the room exploded in an intense heat and everything went black.
I shake my head clearing the pervious thoughts of the explosion from my head. I didn't think that there was anyone else living in these apartments, but I guess I had been wrong. I could see that the blood was now over flowing through my fingers. With a sigh I remove my knee pads and belt to at least try and stop the bleeding and to keep pressure on the wound. I grit my teeth as I tie the belt in place, the pressure dulls the pain slightly and allows me to push it aside for the moment. I hear the quiet sniffling again and slowly begin making my way towards its location. After a few feet I find what I am looking for. It's a young boy probably four or five years old. He has short dirty blonde hair with piercing blue eyes that are overflowing with tears. He reminds me so much of my younger brothers when they were his age that I feel my stomach twist at the sight of his pain. I quickly take in his appearance, a few scratches here and there, but overall he seems fine physically at least.
"Hey." I ask as softly as I can, trying desperately not to frighten the young boy anymore. The boy looks up and as he takes in my appearance I can see him visibly gasp and try to move away from me. "Shhh, it's okay. I won't hurt you." I spoke again crouching down to make the child more comfortable and I reached out my hand hoping the child would trust me.
"W-w-who… who are you?" The young boy manages to stutter out as his blue eyes pierce into mine. I try to use my eyes to reassure him that I am a friend. It appears to work because he visibly relaxes and takes my hand in his tiny one.
"I am Leonardo and I'm here to get you out of here." I state simply still trying to keep my voice soft and comforting. I watch as he takes this information in. Nodding his head he uses my hand to pull himself to his feet.
"I'm Christopher, but you can call me Chris." He says as he now looks down at me. I smile softly and pull him into my arms. He frowns slightly at the moment probably upset that I am treating him like a baby.
"It's nice to meet you Chris. You can call me Leo and I'm sure you can walk just fine on your own, but we need to leave as soon as possible and I'll be much quicker if I can carry you." I state trying to get the boy to see my side of things. He nods again apparently understanding and giving me permission. I lift the small child into my arms, trying desperately not to cry out at the pain that moment causes. I am successful and when he is securely tucked against my uninjured right side I ask him if he's ready to go. He nods his head against my shoulder. I decide quickly that it's best if I just bring him to the lair. That way I know he will be taken care of and after he is examined April and Casey can help us figure out what to do with him because I highly doubt his parents survived that explosion. I can only hope my brothers made it out and had sense enough to head back home too. So off we go to find the lair.
We have been walking for what feels like weeks now. I take in my surroundings and find that I've only managed to make it about two miles. Meaning we still have a good solid four more miles to go before we reach the lair. I feel the small child in my arms slowly starting to drift to sleep, which concerns me since he could very well have a concussion or some kind of head injury. I remember Donnie telling us as kids that you shouldn't fall asleep right away if you have a concussion, so with that being said I proceed to try to keep the poor child awake. "Hey." I say softly waking the boy up from his dozing. "You need to stay awake for me. Do you think you can do that?"
"Yeah." He responses sleepily as he rubs his eyes, trying to erase the sleep from them. I know it will be next to impossible for him to stay awake if I don't give him something to focus on. So, I attempt to make small talk in hope it'll keep him awake and perhaps even distract me from the growing fire of pain in my side.
"Do you have any siblings?" I ask hoping maybe we will have something in common. Sadly, he shakes his head and I immediately try to think of another topic. However, Chris surprises me by speaking up before I can ask another question.
"No, but I always wanted a brother or a sister. Do you have any siblings?" He asks suddenly turning the tables on me. I smile talking about my brothers is something I enjoy.
"Yes. I have three brothers." I reply the soft smile still playing on my lips as I look down at the boy in my arms.
"Wow!" He exclaims his eyes lighting up at my statement. "That must be a lot of fun!" I chuckle softy and then successfully fight back the cry of pain that threatens to follow.
"Yes, it usually is fun especially with Mikey."
"What is Mikey like?" The child asks quickly, eager to learn about my family and I am more than happy to indulge him.
"Well, Mikey is the baby of our family so of course he's a spoiled rotten brat." I say and as I finish my sentence I hear Chris chuckling. The sound of his laughter makes the smile on my face even wider. "Can I tell you a story about him?" I ask and I feel the boy eagerly shake his head yes against my plastron. "Ok it starts like this…"
I think we were twelve or thirteen at the time, but one day I was trying to train peacefully in the dojo when Mikey came busting in. He was whining and complaining about how bored he was. "Leo!" He yelled making me break my concentration and turn to look at him. "I am sooooooooo bored." I sighed knowing I had become the victim of Mikey boredism and there was no escaping for me.
"What do you want me to do about it Mike?" I asked sharply the irritation obvious in my voice Mikey however, didn't pick up on it or just didn't care that I was annoyed since he just continued on anyways.
"Well you see I haven't pranked Don and Raph in a while and I gotta keep 'em on their toes you know, so I was kind of hoping you'd help me out since you're the strategist and all." He asked me the hopefulness written all over his young face. As much as I wanted to say no and go back to my peaceful training I could never resist the puppy eyes my youngest brother was giving me. So with a heavy sigh I gave him my answer.
"Fine. I will help you, but you have to promise you won't prank me for three months. Got it?" I told him trying to at least get something out of this. His face exploded with happiness and that look alone probably would have been enough to make me agree, but I wouldn't tell him that.
"Deal!" He exclaimed reaching his hand out for me to shake. I shook on our deal and quietly started to tell him my idea. We collaborated for a few minutes before we finally agree on a good plan.
First up on our hit list was Donnie. It was so predictable to find him, of course he would be in his lab tinkering. I took in my surrounds as Mike and I sneak up on him. The gadget he was tinkering with wouldn't be damaged by a little water, so now was the perfect moment to strike. I gave Mikey the signal and we both let loose our water balloons.
"Ahhhh!" We heard Donnie yell and instantly Mikey began laughing.
"Haha, you should of seen your face dude! Haha, it was priceless!" Mikey laughed out and I could see Don's face turning red with anger. I had to admit it was pretty funny, especially when it's not you who's soaking wet.
"Mikey." Donnie growled out through clenched teeth." And Leo?" He asked in shock as he finally saw me. The anger all gone as confusion over took his face. "I expect this from Mike, but you Leo?" He asked again obviously trying to figure out my motives. I simply shrugged as I gave him a playful grin. He laughed as he spoke again. "Okay, if that's how you guys want to play. I'm sooo going to get you both back." He mocked as he turned back to what he was working on and Mike and I left the room.
"Dude! That was so awesome!" Mikey exclaimed as soon as the door behind us closed. "Man, we so should team up more, bro. We make a pretty awesome team." The smile lighting his face made my day and I couldn't help, but smile just as brightly back at him.
"Yeah, I agree. Now let's find Raph." I replied with a wicked gleam in my eye, which Mikey picked up on and squealed with delight at the chaos that was sure to follow.
Raph was just as predictable to find. He was as usual in the living room punching the living day lights out of his poor worn down punching bag. I held my hand up to signal Mikey to halt. He stopped and gave me a questioning look. "I want to go over our plan one more time." I explained Mike let out a sigh of frustration.
"Dude, we've been over it like a thousand times." He whined before continuing. "I'm going to sneak attack Raphie with a water balloon and in rage he will come after me. When that happens I run towards the kitchen where the bucket of water is set on the door frame, Raphie will trip the wire causing the bucket to dump on his head, and then you hit him with some more balloons." Mikey repeated back to me and I felt proud of him to be able to focus on a task, too bad he couldn't have that kind of focus in practice.
"Excellent, Mike. I think we are ready to commence operation angry bull." I replied back the pride seeping through my voice and I could tell that Michelangelo picked up on it by the way his eyes were shining with accomplishment. I gave the signal and my orange banded brother made his way over towards our target as I went to get into position. I heard the smack of a balloon busting and the angry growl that followed.
"Haha." Mikey laughed as he teased our Sai wielding brother. "Oh man Raphie; you should see your face!" He yelled as he came running into the kitchen carefully avoiding the wire. Raph on the other hand tripped the wire and was met with a bucket of water over his head. He paused in shock and that gave me my opening, I let loose pelting him with the few water balloons I had next to me. For a few minutes confusion sidelined his anger as he just stared at us. Mikey of course was laughing his shell off already and I couldn't help the smirk that crossed my face.
"You!?" He roared pointing at me, his anger quickly returning. "What the shell, Leo?" He asked his voice still not at an inside level. The only reason he hadn't tried to pound me yet was the need for an answer. I was feeling smug though and refused to give him one, I simply shrugged my shoulders at him. This of course infuriated him even more. "Oh you guys are so dead!" Raph exclaimed as he run at both Mikey and me.
As I finish my little story I can feel and hear the young boy in my arms laughing loudly at my brothers and me. Despite the pain his laughing cause to my wounded side, I can't help but smile at him.
"Wow! Mikey sounds crazy. I wish I had a brother like that, to play joke with and stuff." Chris declares as he looks up at me his eyes shining even in the dimness of the sewer. It reminds me a lot of Mike and I can't help the sinking feeling in my stomach at the thought of him. I still am unsure of where my brothers are and if they are even alright. I shake my head, forcing those thoughts out of it. All that matters right now is making sure this child gets to a safe place.
"What are your other brothers like?" The little boy asks me softly quickly pulling my thoughts to the here and now, which I am thankful for, because as much as it helps the child stay awake to hear about my brothers. It also helps me focus on something other than my worry and pain.
"Well my next youngest brother is Donatello or Donnie for short. He is the genius of the family. I can't even begin to tell you how many cool things he has built for us, but I do remember this one time."
I think we were fifteen at the time and I again was trying to meditate in the dojo, when I heard Donnie try to quietly make his way over to me. Before he could even take two steps I spoke just to catch him off guard.
"What can I do for you Donnie?" I asked without opening my eyes. However even without seeing him I knew I had startled him from the grasp he let slip.
"Man, Leo how do you do that?" He asked after having his breathing settle back down. "You always about give me a heart attack." I chuckled softly finally opening my eyes to take in my brother before me. He looked tired and just plain defeated, which was not the Donatello I know.
"What's wrong Don? You look exhausted." I asked my brotherly concern coming out.
"It's just this project I have been working on." He sighed and slumped his shoulders before taking a seat in front of me.
"Don no project is wroth killing yourself over." I stated making sure he understood that I would rather have a brother than some stupid machine.
"I know, I know Leo, but I can't sleep because I keep thinking about it and it's starting to frustrate me." He told me his voice rising slightly with each word he said. I nodded in understanding I knew what it was like to have something eat away at you every day and night.
"Okay, what can I do to help you?" I asked hoping there was something I could do. I hated feeling helpless whenever one of my brothers were hurt or upset.
"Well I was hoping you could help me meditate. Maybe it would help me relax so I can solve the problem." He asked shyly looking down as he spoke. I was shocked. None of my brothers had ever shown any interest in meditation, but at the same time I was excited to share something I loved with one of my brothers.
"Of course!" I responded probably a little too eagerly, but can you really blame a guy. "Sorry, of course I will help you Donnie." I recovered trying to cover up my outburst.
"Great! What do I do?" Don asked his eyes sparkling again with the hope that was absent moments ago.
"Get into a lotus position and then just focus on my voice. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out." I don't know how long we sat there with him meditating and me helping to guide his path, but after a while his eye snapped open and he shouted.
"I got it!" He grabbed my shoulders as he yelled his eyes radiating with happiness and I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face. "By switching out the power core with a new updated power core and replacing the cooling system I should be able to get some power, but then I'll have to also completely reconstruct the hard drive, which I should have enough pieces for and then boom it should be finished and completely functional. Thank you so much Leo!" Donnie finished his little techno rant as he pulled me into a fierce hug. Slightly caught off guard I returned the hug, unsure of why he was thanking me, he had solved the problem on his own.
"Yeah no problem Don, but you figured it out by yourself. I didn't help at all." I told him and he pulled out of the hug quickly to look me in the eyes.
"I know you won't believe me, but you really did help Leo." He told me right before he stood up to leave.
"Whatever you say Do. Now go fix your project." I told him with a gleam in my eye. He smiled widely back before running off to fix whatever he was working on.
A couple hours later I was interrupted once again this time by Mikey. "Yo, Leo! Donnie wants us all in the living room pronto. Something about a cool new toy. Hurry up!" The youngest yelled at me through the door. I sighed; I guess meditation was over anyways.
I stepped into the living room to see Mike and Raph waiting for Don to unveil his latest creation. Raph was pretending not to care and Mikey was bouncing up and down barely able to contain himself. I smiled; typical. As soon as Raph noticed my presence he of course had to encourage Don to hurry up. "Let's go nerd-atello. I don't have all night ya know?" He growled out at Don, which was just ignored as Don began his speech.
"Gentlemen and Raph I present to you the all new and improved hover-skateboard!" He exclaimed as he revealed four sweet looking skateboards each in our respective colors. I was immediately drawn towards the blue board. Mikey and Raph had already picked theirs up and were eagerly awaiting the okay to test them out.
"Well I think this calls for a test run. Don't you think so Don?" I asked as I grabbed my blue skateboard. Don nodded his head eagerly in agreement and our two other brothers cheered as we all ran out of the lair to test our new toys.
I finish up my story about Don and quickly take in my surrounds. Looks like we are only about mile from the lair now, which is good because I can feel my body starting to shut down and my vision is getting blurry. I have to press on though for the child's sake.
"Man that's so cool!" Chris exclaims as I finish my second tale. "Donnie sounds awesome; I hope I can meet him some day. Maybe he can teach me how to build stuff."
"I'm sure he would enjoy that." I respond back, however the last word comes out as a hiss as the pain in my left side flares up again. I know I do not hide my reaction well as the boy looks at me with concern in his eyes.
"Hey Leo sir, are you okay?" He asks his wide eyes scared and his voice shaking at the thought that I may be hurt. I nod my head in response.
"Yes, I am fine. I just have a scratch on my side and I must have bumped it." I tell the young boy, for a second he seems unconvinced and I am fearful I will have to try to persuade him more. However, he seems to let it go as he asks me another question.
"Okay, so you have one more brother, right?" I let out a sigh of relieve that he's moved on from my injury and I nod my head in agreement.
"Yes Raphael or Raph for short." I tell him as I try to focus all of my energy into just putting one foot in front of the other. It's difficult I can feel myself slowing down, yet I force myself to keep moving forward.
"What's Raph like than, Mr. Leo?" I smile finding it humorous that this child keeps calling me sir or Mr. I also have to force myself not to laugh at his question. What is Raph like? Man, could I write a freaking novel on Raph and I's relationship. We fight, we fight, we fight, and then we're best friends, then the cycle repeats. It's crazy how we can go from wanting to kill each other one second to if someone tries to touch one of us in a fight, the other is right there to rip the bad guy's head off.
"Well Raph is the second oldest right behind me, so we always been in a competition with each other. Since Raph is kind of a hot-head it tends to end in a lot of fighting. However, in battle there is no one I would rather have by my side then him. It's just like this one time."
It was about six months ago we were out patrolling the city to make sure the bad guys were staying quiet. It seemed like it would be an easy night, nothing was going on, which was making Raph restless. I could tell he was itching for a fight, must have had a bad week. I let out a sigh knowing I'd have to deal with an angry Raph as I spoke to my brothers.
"Alright guys let's head back. It's quiet out here." I ordered them getting two nods of agreement and as I had predicted an angry Raph right in my face.
"What the hell, Leo?" He yelled and I forced myself to take a deep breath and remain calm. "We've only been out here for a few hours and ya want ta head back now!? Some fearless leader ya are! I'll just go on my own. I don't need ya!" He ran off as soon as he finished his little rant. I yelled for him to come back and as usual was ignored. I let out a frustrated sigh. Great, now I'm going to have to track the hot-head down. I turned back to my other two brothers, who were trying to look anywhere, but at me.
"You guys head back home. I'll go get Raph." I told them with a sigh as I headed off in the direction Raph went.
It doesn't take me long to catch up with the hot-head. I have always been the quickest out of my brothers. Plus, I could hear his growling and punching about a half mile away. I shook my head at his carelessness. How someone hasn't spotted one of us yet still baffles me. Silently, I made my way over to the roof top he was occupying and drop down a few feet behind him. My sudden appearance doesn't faze him at all. I am sure he heard or sensed me coming a mile away. "Go away, Leo." He all, but growls out. The tone in his voice indicating he still hasn't calmed the stormy seas of his anger quite yet. However, I can't afford to leave him alone to sort out his rage. Splinter wanted us all to return home after patrol and if I return without a brother he will have my head.
"I'm not leaving without you. Now come on Splinter wanted us home right after patrol." I ordered as I turned to head back to the lair, not giving him a chance to argue with me again. My attempt was unsuccessful however, when I felt a 175 pound mutant turtle crash into me. I ended up face first on the hard concrete of the rooftop. I struggled underneath my heavier brother however; I managed to flip over so we were face to face. I could clearly see the anger written all over his face. "Get off, Raph." I growled out through clenched teeth, trying desperately to keep my boiling temper in check.
"No!" Raph yelled slamming a fist into the concrete right next to my skull. "I'm sick of ya and ya's holier-than-thou attitude. Ya just think ya are so damn perfect. Dontcha Fearless? Well, guess what? Ya're not!" Raph ranted and screamed in my face as I attempted to remain calm and allow him to get it all out of his system. Raph continued his ranting, but I hardly heard any more of it. Something wasn't right. My whole body tensed up and Raph noticed immediately as his ranting quickly stopped.
"Raph," I whispered to him as I sensed the looming presences around us. "When I say run, we run, okay?" He nodded his head in agreement, the anger and the argument quickly forgotten about in the face of this danger. I sensed rather saw the arrow flying straight towards us. I quickly rolled us both out of the way and was on my feet in seconds, weapons drawn. Raph was beside me with his sais out ready to go. I had a different plan; retreat. "Let's go." I yelled as I block an oncoming attack from a foot ninja's sword. In the heat of the battle and when our lives were on the line Raph doesn't hesitate to follow my orders. We tried to retreat back towards a manhole, however we were cut off and it looked as though we were going to have to fight. Well I guess Raph will get his fight after all. We didn't need words to communicate in battle, one look could tell the other everything he needed to know. So here we were shell to shell surround by foot ninja and the funny thing was they don't stand a chance. We flung ourselves into battle. I found myself falling back on instinct. Block with the left swing up with the right. Kick to the stomach. Turn to block a boa staff coming from behind. All in all it was a pretty easy fight despite the overwhelming numbers. I glanced over towards my hot-head brother, who despite the exhaustion I'm sure he was feeling, was grinning like a fool at our handy work. I couldn't stop the smirk that crept on to my face.
Suddenly though something felt wrong, very wrong. Before, I could figure out what it was though I felt my red banded brother crash into me again for the second time that night. Confused I looked up at Raph from my spot with my shell on the rooftop. I noticed that he was working hard on controlling his breathing, which you usually meant he was hurt. Oh shell! What had happened? I frantically searched around me and that was when I finally noticed the lone archer a few rooftops away. I tossed three throwing stars in his direction and he took off running. Rolling Raph off of me I flipped him over to see how badly he was injured. Looks like he just took an arrow to the shoulder, nothing life threatening. He opened his eyes to look up at me.
"Ya ok Fearless?" He grunted out his voice laced with pain though he tried damn hard to hide it. I couldn't help but laugh at his question. Of course, when he's lying there bleeding he's concerned whether I am okay.
"I think I should be the one asking you that." I responded as I helped him sit up. "What the hell were you thinking Raph?" I asked softly the fear seeping in to my words. He just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
"Ya woulda done the same thang." He responded and I can only nod my head in agreement with him.
"Yeah, we need to get out of here. Can you walk?" I asked as I stood up. He nodded his head yes and I offered him my hand, which he accepted and used to pull himself to his feet. "Okay I'm going to cut the end of the arrow off so it's not sticking out as far, but we had better leaving it in there until we get home so Don can remove it." I told him and again he nodded in agreement. After a quick slice from my blade the arrow was now a much more manageable length. "Alright let's go." I ordered him as I helped him walk across the alley and to the closest manhole. "And Raph." I said and he turned to look at me. "Thanks." He smirked before responding back.
"No problem, Fearless."
"Raph sounds cool, Mr. Leo. If I ever have any siblings I'm going to protect them just like you and Raph do." The young boy responses as I finish talking about my final brother. At this point we are only a couple hundred feet away and I can see the secret entrance in front of us. That's a good thing since I can't seem to focus my eyes anymore and the need to lie down is overwhelming me. Even talking is becoming extremely difficult as I barely breathe out my reply.
"I'm sure you would be an excellent big brother." I can feel my side explode and suddenly it's hard to breath. The boy notices since I no longer have the energy to hide how badly injured I am.
"Mr. Leo?" He asks the concern evident in his wide eyes. "You are hurt, aren't you?" He studies my face after asking a question I am sure he already knows the answer to.
"Yes, but we are almost there. It'll be fine." I assure him though I don't think my voice sounds all that reassuring at the moment. We finally reach the door and I lean against the wall beside it in exhaustion as I press in the secret button. The door opens with an audible hiss and relief washes over me. We made it. I take the last few steps that I can as I enter the main room of lair and with my final bit of strength I set the boy down. I hear someone yell at me, but the voice sounds as though it is coming from under water. Maybe I'm the one who's under water, I don't really know.
"Leo it's 'bout time you got home dude. We were just getting ready to go search for you." I can't respond to the noises I know are words and I can't understand what they mean. Standing has become too difficult and I feel myself fall forward. I hit the ground I am sure, however the only pain I can feel is burning through my wounded side. "Leo!" I hear more yelling I think I recognize the word as my name, but maybe not who knows. "Donnie! Get in here!" More yelling and then the patting of feet as more people rush into the room. I feel something touch my shoulder and roll me over onto my shell. Something soft and warm goes under my head and it is comforting it reminds me of childhood.
"Mikey what the hell is all of the noise…Oh fuck Leo!" A different voice yells as another presence rushes towards me. I feel something small shake my shoulder and I feel tiny droplets of water fall on to the skin of my arm.
"Mr. L-L-Leo?" A small, shaky voice asks and I fight to response to it. "Please wake up." It begs as it now sobs on to my arm. The need to confront this voice is overwhelming and I fight just to open my eyes. The scene that greets me when they finally do open makes me smile despite the fact that I know I am dying. My family is there; Mikey cries softly as he begs me not to leave them, Don is working franticly trying to fix me; a lost cause, Raph is encouraging me to fight it to be stronger, and Splitter is holding my head and whisper soft words to me just like he use to when we were children. I smile and with what little strength I have I manage to grab Don's wrist. He looks up at me his eyes questioning me, begging me to tell him that I'll be fine. However, I can't lie. There is nothing he can do and I'm sure that's exactly what he sees in my eyes because he starts to cry.
"T-t-take care of him." I say in a small voice glancing in the direction of the young boy by my side. All the members of my family nod their heads and I can feel the darkness trying to pull me away again. However, there is so much I need to tell them. I need to tell Mikey to keep smiling because his smile is what makes the dark world we live in livable. I want to tell Donnie how proud I am of him and to not lock himself away in his lab because this family needs him not just his stuff. And Raph. There is so much I want to say to him. I need to apologies for everything. All the stupid fights. All arguments. Everything, but most of all I want him to know that he'll make an excellent leader and that even though we haven't said it in a while I love him. I fight with every fiber of my being to say all this, but talking is too hard now so I use my eyes to portray my thoughts.
"Come on Leo, you going to be alright." I hear the gruff voice of my red banded brother. I lock eyes with him and he seems to understand that this is it. That he now has to look out for our other two brothers on his own. I see the silent tears make there way down his cheeks and with my dying breathe I manage to utter one last thing.
"L-l-love you all." I manage to breathe out my last dying words. My eyes closing softly after and the pain fading. Millions of thoughts run through my head, but I can only seem to focus on one.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry guys.
Goodbye.
I love you.
And then the darkness finally over takes me and everything disappears.