Disclaimer: I don't own 'em or try to make money off of 'em. I just write about 'em.

Leo wasn't reading the book in his hands. No. He was hoping it would somehow distract him from the pounding and the grunting coming from the dojo. Or, rather, he was hoping it would distract him from the one doing the pounding and the grunting coming from the dojo.

They had done it again! Another fight! It seemed like that was all they ever did now, him and Raph. And with each flight, the reasons grew smaller and smaller as the frequency grew greater and greater.

Leo, losing grip on his on his emotions for a moment, growled quietly and smacked the book down on the couch. He leaned back and rubbed his temples.

Things hadn't always been like this, between them.

Something snapped him back to reality. But what? He looked around, trying to place it. Donatello was in his lab, tinkering away. Michelangelo was in his room, buried in his comic books, both having made their escape to avoid Leo and Raph's latest episode.

Splinter was... Well, he just was.

But none of that was what had disturbed Leo from his brooding.

Then it hit him. It was a sudden silence.

He looked to the dojo. The pounding and grunting had gone quiet.

He started toward it to see what was happening. But before he got there, Raph appeared in the doorway.

The red-banded turtle looked as disturbed and miserable as Leo felt. His mouth was frozen in something between a frown and a growl. And his eyes hung nervously, drifting about as if they were searching for something to see.

But Leo knew better. This was the Raphael who wasn't really looking at anything. Not anything outside his mind, anyway. This was the Raphael who knew that, once again, he had gone too far. His eyes momentarily locked onto a cut in Leo's right shoulder, but then yanked themselves away.

Leo opened his mouth and tried to form words. But somehow, they wouldn't come. He knew why. If he'd been just a bit slower in dodging the sai, that cut could've been a hole in his neck, instead.

"I'm... Goin' out," Raph muttered listlessly in his heavy New York brogue. Grabbing a trench coat and fedora disguise from the wall, he turned toward the door of their sewer home.

Leo just stood there, somehow in a daze. Most other times, those words would've set him lecturing his brother on how they weren't supposed to just go up topside anytime they wanted and how it was dangerous. In fact, that was what had started their fight earlier. Or at least, Leo was pretty sure that was what had started it, anyway.

Or was that the last one? Or the one before that?

Leo couldn't bring himself to venture down that road again. He just watched as Raph drifted out the door. His brother's head hung low and his mouth muttered quietly. So quietly, in fact, Leo wasn't even sure Raph could hear himself.

The heavy metal door clanked shut.

Leo shook his head and sat back down. He should stop Raph. He really should. But what would that do besides start another fight?

Why did he always have to be the one responsible? Why did he and Raph always have to clash?

They hadn't always clashed.

Leo reached out for his book.

Then…no. He shook his head and fell back. He threw his hands out with a loud grunt. It hadn't always been like this! He was sick of it being like this!

He jumped to his feet and grabbed his own coat and hat.

This had to end, now.

There he was, Leo thought with surprise. Raph wasn't topside, after all. What had made him come here?

Raph's coat hung limply from his hands as he leaned back against the wall of the sewer tunnel some ways away from their lair. His arms were crossed and his mouth pressed into a tight line as he stared up through the sewer grate at the glistening, silvery moon.

Leo steeled himself and took a spot next to his brother. "Familiar place," he uttered, directing his look toward Raph.

"Yep."

Back when they were kids, they had been playing a game of ninja tag. Raph had wandered off too far from the lair and had gotten lost. It had been Leo who had finally tracked him down—here—and then led him home. That was just a little while after Leo had been named leader.

"Always knew where you were goin'," Raph muttered. "I got lost; you pulled me back."

Even in those quite words, Leo could sense the taint of recrimination. He sighed; Raph was almost as good at self-blame as he was. "That's what brothers do, Raph."

"Just wanted to get out, ya' know," Raph said suddenly. "Get away for a bit." He looked to Leo, threw his hands out, and scowled. "Didn't want it to blow up like this!"

Leo, guessing that he meant their fight from earlier, nodded.

"Course," Raph continued, "You were always the smart one—not me."

Leo blinked in surprise. "Me?" he asked. He shook his head. "Don's the smart one."

Now Raph shook his head. "Nah. Donnie's the science brains. You're the history and book brains," he pointed out. "I mean, what was that one you were reading tonight? Had that guy on the cover? The one with the statue near St. Patrick's?"

"Atlas," Leo said simply. "Mythology's interesting. It's got a lot to say about how we think."

"Think. Yeah," Raph said as if Leo had just made his point for him. "Like I said, Donnie's the science brains; you're the book brains; Mikey…he's the knucklehead brains." A smile slowly spread across his beak, then flattened again into a frown. "Me," he said, shaking his fist forcefully. "This is what I am."

Leo eyed Raph's fist for a moment then loosed three words that stunned them both. "Good thing, too."

Raph stared up at him, wide-eyed.

Leo recovered for a moment then realized what he had really meant. "There's no one quicker to protect us than you are. I know it gets out of hand sometimes—and I had a hand in that too, by the way. Especially now."

Leo looked around. "Back when we were here, I was named leader. Now, I am leader," he said with not an ounce of scolding or warning. No, just a wish for the way things had once been between them. "The duty's a lot more real now."

"Things ain't like they used to be, Leo," Raph muttered solemnly. "Keep changin'." He paused for a moment then added, "Guess I haven't changed, though—still pushin' away to see what else's out there."

"And that's what I'm glad about, Raph," Leo continued. "You didn't change. You would've stopped yourself tonight, even if I hadn't dodged. You know it and I know it. I know it because I know you." He stopped, letting that sink in for the both of them.

Then, he smiled. "And you've never been just a fist. Remember, we kind of took the scenic route home from here because of you."

Raph rested his head back and chuckled—genuinely this time. "Yeah. And we didn't do it quiet, neither. We let it go like we didn't care who heard us."

Leo nodded. "Of course, Splinter punished us because someone might've. Guess we deserved it, though, what with how un-stealthy we were being." A sudden wave of heaviness—of longing—washed over him at the mention of the name. He looked over at Raph. His brother's face fell, just like the feeling in Leo's gut.

Again, Leo sighed. "The point is, Raph, you've always been the adventurer. Half the living I've done I've done because you 'Just wanted to get out.'"

The two of them said nothing for a moment. Then Leo glanced down at his shell-cell's time display.

"Huh. Five minutes," he said in surprise.

"What's that?" Raph drawled.

"Five minutes," Leo repeated. "That's how long we've been standing here NOT arguing."

Raph grunted humorlessly. "Gotta' be some sorta' record." He pushed off the wall and started back toward home. "Let's blow this place. We take off for too long after that fight and ol' mother hen Donnie'll start scourin' the city with one of his gizmos lookin' for where we killed each other."

Leo chuckled then nodded.

Suddenly, Raph stopped and turned back to him, a huge grin on his face. "Course, we could always take the 'scenic route,' Bro."

A little while later, a powerful red motorcycle roared out onto the streets.

"Yee-hah!" Raph, crouched over the handlebars, also roared.

Behind him, Leo held tight. The two of them had exchanged their disguises for helmets, told Donnie and Mike not to wait up, and taken off (leaving their brothers very confused).

"You," Leo happily cried over the wind, "Are…without a doubt…nuts!"

"Nah! Just livin'!" Raph retorted with gusto. "Like you!"