Hey guys! I don't have an ongoing fic right now, so I figured it was the perfect time for another One-shot from the Shall My Brother Be universe! I'm currently working really hard on transforming that story into an original, and I figured to help me unwind I should edit this little one-shot. I wrote it ages ago, but since I don't have anything else to post I'll post this! LOL

Warnings: Arguing, hitting (don't worry everything turns out okay)

Enjoy!

"Leo, you need to get milk on the way home from work tomorrow," Karai said, poking her head into the room. Leo opened his eyes, staring at her tiredly.

"Milk?"

"Yeah," Karai said evasively, walking over to him. "Two jugs of one percent."

"I know what kind of milk we need," Leo said, slightly irritable. Karai walked over and started rubbing his shoulders. Leo sighed and rubbed his face.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Leo sighed softly. "It's just been a long day."

"Aw, I'm sorry baby," Karai said. Leo sighed.

"Don't… call me that please." He grumbled into his hands.

"Sorry."

"I thought you got milk this morning." Leo finally said, not lifting his head, "after you picked Vee up from practice."

"Well… I did." Karai said.

"Then why do I need to?" Leo said, throwing his hands in the air, annoyed.

"Well, Venus was helping me bring in the groceries," Karai said softly. "You know how she gets…"

"Distracted?" Leo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah. and she was carrying the milk jugs, but I guess she dropped them. And of course, they had to explode everywhere, totally soaked her sneakers…" Karai laughed lightly, though it sounded fake. "I'm sorry Leo."

"It's fine," Leo said, standing up. He reached for his jacket and Karai frowned, following him.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get milk," Leo said, feeling annoyance bubble up inside him. He was tired, he just wanted to sleep and maybe meditate.

"You can get it tomorrow," Karai said, putting a hand on his wrist and absently rubbing the thin scar there. Leo jerked away from her loving touch, scowling.

"I'm going to get milk," he said again.

"Leo!" Karai said, grabbing his shoulder. "You're tired. You can get milk tomorrow."

"I can do it now, so why don't I just go?" Leo asked, voice slightly louder.

"You're obviously stressed," she said, pulling his jacket back off his arms. "You need rest and we can make it through the day without milk."

"That's stupid, I can just go get it now!" Leo said, pulling out of the jacket and letting her hold it. "You're being ridiculous Karai!"

"No, I think you're being ridiculous!" Karai said, her voice rising as well. "Why can't you just get milk tomorrow as I asked?"

"Because the store is still open right now, Karai!" Leo said, throwing his hands in the air. "I can just get it now and we won't have to worry about it!"

"Don't yell, Venus is sleeping!" Karai said, then bit her lip.

"I'm not yelling!" Leo yelled, spreading his hands. "I just don't get why-"
"Leo, stop it!" Karai snapped. Leo groaned, turning around.

"I'm going to get milk," he said. He had to get out of this house before his head exploded. He grabbed the door handle and Karai grabbed his arm. Before Leo knew it, he whirled around. "I'M GETTING MILK!" Karai had stumbled back, tears already rolling down her face. Leo stared at her, confused at why she was crying, and then he saw the bright red mark across one cheek. Holy crud.

"Leo…" Karai said, lifting one hand to her face.

"Oh, my- Karai…" Leo felt his hands shaking. What had he done? He just… he just slapped her. He slapped Karai. He slapped his wife. "Karai, I didn't… oh my god…" He reached out to her as her shoulders started to shake, then froze, unsure. What was he doing? Karai backed up, shaking her head as more tears pooled in her eyes. Leo could see them from where he was standing, and he couldn't believe he'd done that. Leonardo spun around and walked out, leaving his jacket and car keys behind.

"Leo!" the sob came from inside but Leo ignored it, he kept walking. What had he done? The man caught sight of his reflection in the car window and nearly jumped when he saw the face looking back. It was… his father. Not the one who he called father, but the one who had haunted his life. The one who'd run over his baby brother, the one who'd torn their family apart, the one who'd kidnapped Leo himself. The one who had hit his wife.

"God…" Leo felt like he was going to throw up. Before he knew it he was a block away with his cell phone to one ear, silently praying for him to pick up.

"What happened." of course Raph could know something happened. It was ten at night on a weekday.

"Raph… heck…" Leo hadn't realized he was crying. He heard muffled noises on the other end.

"Leo, talk to me," Raph said, voice tense. "Did something happen?"

"Yes…"

"Is anyone hurt? Did something happen to Vee?"

"N-no… Vee's asleep." Leo choked out, stopping on the corner. "Oh, my- Raph… I…"

"What is it?!" Raph said sharply. Leo let out some kind of strangled sob again.

"Raph, I hit her," he said. "I hit Karai." dead silence came from the other end and Leo broke down, leaning on the side of the bus stop. Neither of them spoke for a moment, until...

"Where are you?" Raph asked. Leo heard his engine running.

"Raph, don't…" he whispered. "I- I'm.."

"Where are you?" Raph asked louder.

Leo told him the street names, feeling numb as it started to sprinkle rain. Raph hung up without saying anything else and Leo closed his eyes hating himself. His phone beeped and he barely saw the message was from Karai. What had he done? He was a monster, just like Oroku Saki. What felt like moments later, but was probably at least twenty minutes, he saw Raph's red rusted truck pull up next to him. Then Raph was there, grabbing both his shoulders.

"Leo, you hit her?" he asked, Leo could see the pain in his eyes and managed a nod.

"I don't know what happened." he whispered, "one minute it was just some stupid argument and then she- then I… oh my hell." Leo closed his eyes. "Raph, what am I supposed to do?"

"You hit her and just ran off?" Raph asked incredulously. Leo didn't answer, he avoided his brothers eyes. A ringing slap rocked his head back and Leo's eyes widened. He finally looked at his brother, shocked. "You're an idiot."

"Ok,y." Leo said, trying to compose himself. What the heck was going on? He was so freaked out, he really wasn't thinking well.

"Get in the truck." Raph said, turning away from him. Leo closed his eyes and nodded. Why did he call Raph? His closest brother and best friend probably hated him now, why did he do that? They rode in the rain in silence for a minute before Raph spoke.

"How could you do that?" he finally asked, obviously upset. "After everything… after Mikey… how could you just hit someone? After what happened to us when we were kids, how is that something you could ever do?"

"I…" Leo pressed his knuckles into his forehead. "I don't know Raphael! I didn't want to hurt her, I don't want to hurt anyone… it happened and I didn't mean it, and then… I messed up Raph."

"Hell yes, you did," Raph said, turning a corner. Leo's eyes widened.

"You aren't- we aren't going home are we?"

"Of course." Raph said. Leo's phone beeped again and he sighed, seeing the ten messages he'd already racked up. "That her?"

"...yeah."

"What does it say?"

"I dunno, I'm scared to even try and read it." Leo muttered, looking away.

"Come on fearless, you know that's stupid." Raph said as they passed the park. Leo sighed and opened up the messages. His eyes immediately filled with tears. He felt like such a crybaby…

Leo come back.

Where did you go?

It's raining

Leonardo, please

Don't just leave

Leo?

I love you, just come back we can talk.

Babe, seriously.

LEO

Please just call me or something. I want to know where you are.

"What am I supposed to do?" Leo whispered.

"Find a time machine and knock yourself out earlier today." Raph said sarcastically. Leo groaned. "You can't change what happened, genius."

"I know that!" Leo snapped. Raph sighed as they came to a stop outside the house. All the lights were off. Leo sighed softly as he looked up at the familiar windows. The tower room with a ladder to the roof, the shed Donnie built after he blew the first one up… how could he sit here after what just happened?

"I forgot how late it was." Raph sighed as they looked up the driveway. "Mom and Dad are asleep by now."

"Yeah, but that's-" a light turned on in the front room. "Fine…" Leo groaned, putting a hand over his eyes. "Great. Just great."

"Chill." Raph said, "I'll talk to Dad, okay?" Leo didn't say anything as Raph turned off the car and got out into the rain. Dad was on the porch now, for some reason wide awake. Leo buried his face in his hands as the two started to talk. His phone beeped again and he glanced at it.

I'm coming.

She was coming? Coming where? Coming here? Leo groaned, grabbing his hair. How did she know where he was? What about Venus? Everything was going to heck and he couldn't stop any of it.

"Leonardo." Leo didn't look up when dad opened his door. He was an adult, he shouldn't need this, he shouldn't have hit Karai. He hadn't meant to… it was an accident. "I know what happened, Leonardo, it is al-"

"It's not alright!" Leo snapped, turning to stare at Dad and Raphael behind him. "I hit her! I hit Karai! I would never do something like that, but I did. I hit the person I love more than anything, I… I'm just…" he slammed his head against the headrest. "I'm just like him Dad, can't you see that? How can I face Karai after what I did?"

"Leonardo!" Dad yanked him out of the car and Leo stumbled, surprised. Raph's eyes were wide as well. "If I hear you say that you are like Oroku Saki again, I may have to ground you."

"What?" Leo asked incredulously. "You haven't grounded me since I was seventeen Dad, what are you talking about?"

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard." Dad said firmly. "You are nothing like that man, Leonardo."

"But I-"

"You regret what you did." Dad said, interrupting him. "With every ounce of strength you have. I can see it even in how you are holding yourself." Leo didn't say anything, what could he? "What you did was wrong, but you are not going the right way to make it right again." Dad said.

"I…"

"You need to see Karai." Dad said, voice gentler now. More like the one Leo always knew. "She called me, she is coming here to see you." so that's how. Of course, Karai would call Dad… after hers passed away he'd basically adopted her like he'd adopted the rest of them.

"I can't." Leo said weakly. "Dad… I can't…"

"You can and you will." Dad said, shaking Leo slightly. "Or I'll make you."

"You sound like Raph." Leo complained. Dad grinned.

"He had to learn it from somewhere."

"You mean you learned it from me." Raph said, leaning on the hood of his truck. Dad chuckled, and then they stood in silence until Leo heard the familiar engine of a car. Karai's car.

"I can't." Leo tried to turn away, and to his surprise, Dad let go and stepped back. "Dad?"

"You are an adult, my son." Dad said, and Leo realized just how old his father was getting. Nice going, wake up the grandpa in the middle of the night. Leo took a deep breath and turned toward the street as Karai pulled up. As soon as he saw her, he couldn't stop himself from running to her side. Karai gasped as Leo hugged her tightly, ignoring his tears.

"Karai, I am so sorry." he choked out. "I can't… I can't tell you how sorry I am, I can't fix it, but I-" Karai smiled, putting a finger to his lips.

"Then stop rambling, it's annoying." she teased softly. Leo stopped speaking and gently ran a hand over her head, hesitating before caressing her cheek. It wasn't bruised, she seemed fine.

"I didn't mean to." he said softly.

"I know." Karai said softly. "I told you you were too stressed."

"Yeah, I should listen to you more." Leo said, smiling painfully. How could he be smiling now? Karai laughed and it sounded amazing, like music. Leo remembered how much he loved her, and wondered how he could have been so annoyed at her before.

"After six years and you're just realizing that?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm not a genius like Donnie." Leo said. He absently noticed Raph was getting back in his truck to go, but didn't want to let go of her.

"But…" Karai leaned her head on his chest. "This is still going to be complicated." Leo nodded.

"I know…"

"We'll need to figure it all out." Karai said, softer than ever. "But I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Me neither."

There we go, just a lot of angst I guess! Hope you don't hate me now LOL. If you don't know what Raph and Leo were talking about - or the part about Saki kidnapping Leo - You probably haven't read Shall My Brother Be. It's a Human Au I finished about six months ago, I think, and you can find it on my profile! Just a warning, there's 55 chapters! So make sure to have time before you start reading! LOL

Anyway, yeah! Thanks for reading and please review!

Until Next Time,

-C.J.

(I am changing what I go by on my fanfictions, sorry there's no more 'Jelly'!)