Ok this was a one-shot for a short time but like, no one read it, so I decided to repost it as a chapter story. Maybe the 10,000 words one-shot was difficult to read for some people so here it is in chapter form.
I don't own TMNT.
"Thanks for the help April," Leo said as he stood up from his friend's kitchen chair, "Sorry about the blood."
"It's ok," April said, grabbing a towel off the back of another chair, "I've gotten quite used to it by now."
Leo sighed and stared at the ground.
"You are going to go back, right?" April asked, staring at the wound she couldn't believe that braised the turtle's plastron.
"Of course I am!" Leo said very loudly and quickly then softened his voice, "I just need a little time to get my head strait."
Leo's shellcell began ringing but he ignored it. It was lying on the table and April was tempted to reach for and answer it herself but she held back because of the look in Leo's eyes. After all he did just have to knock Casey out to stop him from running off. The vigilante was now unconscious on her living room couch. Leo grabbed a second towel and helped her finish cleaning up.
When everything was clean April turned back to Leo, "Ok are you ready to tell me the whole story? Your explanation isn't giving me much."
Leo sighed and sat back down at the kitchen table.
"I'll make us some tea," April said.
"It's really nothing April, just another argument."
"Just another argument!?" April yelled and slammed the cabinet door she had opened, "Leo if it was just another argument you wouldn't have come stumbling into my home at midnight with a heavily bleeding chest wound!"
Leo stared at her then rapidly dropped his gaze to the floor.
"I'm ok," he mumbled.
April groaned, "Leo, you're not ok. You're going to be feeling that wound a lot in the next 24 hours."
Leo placed a hand over the wound and took a deep breath. It was difficult to breathe but he managed a few shaky breaths before he looked back up at April, "I was just trying to make him see reason. I know he's perfectly-"
"Leo, wait a second," April said as she handed him his cup of tea, "Take a drink first, calm down a bit. You're still very tense."
While Leo did just that April turned to put up the tea bags and then flipped on something under the table when she sat down. Leo thankfully, didn't notice.
"So you were saying?" April asked when the turtle seemed to have calmed down a little.
"It was just an argument, honestly. Raph and I argue all the time."
"Why do you argue all the time?" April asked, taking a drink of her tea to hide her smile.
"I can't help it, I know he's capable of taking care of himself. Shell, he's the strongest one on the team and always ready to charge into battle. He's the fearless one, not me. I'm scared every time he runs off on his own. Maybe it's the whole big brother thing but I just can't stand seeing him lying out there, cold, alone and possibly-" Leo choked back his tears.
"You don't cry a lot do you?"
Leo took another deep breath and shook his head, "No, it makes me lose my patience and focus."
"And this is always a bad thing why? You know it's ok to cry."
"April, anger can do a lot of things. My brothers are blessed to be stronger and better fighters when they're angry. I don't share that trait. As the leader, a position I'm never allowed to forget mind you, I'm responsible for them. Every wound is my fault and if I lost even one of them, we'd all fall apart and there'd be nothing I could do but I would be expected to fix everything."
Leo took another drink of his tea then continued, "Sure Don's fixes things around the lair when they're broken and the injuries we receive but if anyone's feeling sad or angry I have to fix it because stuff like this happens."
Leo gestured to his wound that still bled through the bandages a bit but was nothing to worry over.
"I still don't understand why you had to go after Raph, he always comes home doesn't he?"
Leo nodded, "Yes, he does but-"
"You can't help but worry?"
"Yeah."
"Do you blame him?"
"Of course not!" Leo almost yelled, "He was just angry."
"He could've stabbed you and killed you Leo."
"Could've but he didn't." Leo took another drink of tea, "Even if I did die in such a way. I'm sure there'd be a logical reason."
"I highly disagree with simple anger being a logical reason to shove a knife through your chest."
Leo was silent.
April sighed, "You wouldn't blame him?"
"No, never."
"You'd still love him?"
"Of course, he's my brother! Nothing could stop me from loving him, any of them."
"What about Mikey and Don?" April asked.
"Mikey's the one who makes us happy every day. Donny's the genius we probably rely too heavily on. They're both blessings in our lives. I was extremely proud of Mikey for winning the BattleNexus Championship."
"But doesn't he brag about it all the time?"
"Yes, but truthfully I think he does it to more than just brag. He had so much pride in him that day."
Another long pause.
"I know I'm the best at nin-jutsu, Raph's the strongest and Donny's the most intelligent. When we first began becoming who we were I often caught Mikey muttering that he felt he was insignificant to us because he wasn't good nin-jutsu, stronger or smarter. That victory at the BattleNexus proves to us that he has something that we don't, something of his own that he can be proud of."
April nodded, encouraging him to continue, "And what about Donny?"
"I know we'd all be dead if it wasn't for him, that's for sure. I'm still astounded how he can hold all that information in his head and pull out exactly what we need when we need it. He could give Einstein a run for his money. I wish I had his patience, perhaps it could help with Raphael."
A long minute went by before April asked her last question, "What about you?"
"What about me?" Leo asked back, forcing her to break her last question into many questions.
"Well, first of all, what do you think of yourself?"
Leo shrugged, "I'm me."
"Leo?"
He sighed, staring down into his now empty tea cup, "I'm going to be there when my family needs me. I'm scared of the day they don't need me anymore. I'm not going to know what to do. My life is centered on nin-jutsu and caring for them. I'll get lost when both of those jobs are completed."
"Leo, they're always going to need you."
"No, one day they're going to all agree that they can take care of themselves. That they won't need me, I'm here for them until then."
"Leo, if they do say that, they have to understand that it's going to wound you in the worst way."
"Guess I'll have to prepare for that day if I'm going to live through it."
April shook her head, "Leonardo, you are impossible."
Leo laughed then stood up, "Thanks for the tea and talk April, I really needed this."
April sighed, "You know you're welcome anytime Leo but seriously they're always going to need you."
"Ok," Leo said although his voice sang a different tune.
Leo walked over to the window.
"Leo wait. One more thing?"
"Hm?"
"I know it's random but you mentioned if one of you was gone. Well, what if that one was you?"
"I'd expect Raph to take my place. He's a good leader. Hopefully, when the time comes he'll be a better leader and older brother than me."
With that Leo jumped off the windowsill and to the next building before April could question him further. He took the longest way home he could think of and let his mind straiten itself out before he returned home. He found his brothers, all three to his relief, talking in the kitchen. He snuck past them and went to bed, after all he had leadership training at 5:00. He listened later that night as Don entered the room and climbed into his bed above Leo's.
Yeah, neither of them could sleep with Raph's snoring or Mikey's mumbling.
Yeah, I'm basing this off their second lair, where they didn't actually have doors just doorways and I never actually saw them sleeping in their rooms other than in the episode, "Hunted". It was clear Raph and Mikey had their own rooms but I never actually could figure out if it was showing just one room or two when it showed Donny and Leo sleeping.
I did notice Raph snored like a chainsaw and Mikey shouted out random things in his sleep so I think the only two that could actually get along in the same room would be Donny and Leo because when they sleep they barely make any noise. Let's face it, there would be extreme circumstances mixing it any other way.
Mikey and Donny-Donny wouldn't be able to sleep and things would get broken
Raph and Leo-You don't even need common sense to see this is a very bad idea! O_O
Mikey and Raph-Whoever thinks this is a good idea needs to be hit with an anvil. (No offense)
Donny and Raph-Once again things would get broken and Donny would get no sleep.
Mikey and Leo-This is a nightmare waiting to happen. Who's going to go crazy first? Leo because he's getting no peace or Mikey because he's getting bored?
~Moonsetta
