I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. How many times do I have to say this?
Quiescence
The silence in the lair was deafening.
There was no talking, no arguing, and no sounds of recreation or sparring.
Just silence.
Cloying, horrible silence.
Casey had to admit that a completely silent lair was one of the creepiest things he'd ever come across. He was leaning against the door frame of the infirmary with a hand on Raph's shoulder to prevent him from outright attacking Leo. Mikey sat on the other side of the door, shooting a venomous glare at his eldest brother every few minutes.
As for Leo himself, he was sitting on the stairs at the other end of the room with his knees drawn up to his chest, rocking back and forth slightly. His eyes were fixed on the floor a few feet ahead, filled with a mix of grief and fear.
There was a feeling of despair in the atmosphere, the kind of thing that makes your heart clench even if you don't know why. And, thought Casey, an awful lotta bad vibes from these two, all directed at Leo over there.
He sighed. This was going to get nasty soon. Whatever had transpired that had caused the twins to set the emergency beacon, none of them knew. All they knew was that Raph and Mikey had found Leo kneeling on the rain-soaked concrete holding the limp and bloodied form of his twin brother, and the blue-masked ninja hadn't spoken a word since.
Not only that, but there had only been one gun among the discarded weapons on the roof earlier, and nobody else could have fired the bullet that April was now trying to remove. They had come to the conclusion that it had been Leo who had shot Donnie almost point-blank in the left side of the abdomen – but they didn't know why.
Leo's doubtful sanity was a current topic of discussion – when anyone spoke at all – and his tear-stained silence wasn't helping otherwise. He hadn't moved from his current position for at least half an hour, not even responding to Raph when the other threw a nasty look at him – which was often.
And that was just not normal.
It was two hours later that the door to the infirmary opened and April emerged, pulling off her gloves. 'I've removed the bullet and stitched him up the best I can – the rest is up to Don. Keep an eye on him at all times – this period is critical. If he doesn't wake up within 24 hours, he's not likely to wake up at all. What we do then will be a decision we'll have to make together.'
Raph nodded solemnly, then shot a last backward glance at the eldest before entering the infirmary. Mikey stayed in his spot for a minute, his gaze shooting daggers into the wall behind Leo's head, before getting to his feet and following Raph.
Leo flinched visibly at the sound of the door closing, but his eyes didn't waver from the spot on the floor. After a few moments, he got up and padded slowly and silently up the stairs and into his room. The click of the door caused April - washing her hands at the sink - to look up, her brain registering that something was missing from the room. She rinsed the soap off her hands, dried them on a towel, and headed up the stairs, stopping outside Leo's door. She knocked gently on the wood. 'Leo? Can we talk?'
There was the scratching sound of a pencil, then a piece of paper slipped under the door. April picked it up and read:
I DON'T WANT TO TALK. PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME.
'Why not?'
More scratching. Another slip of paper.
BECAUSE EVEN DOING IT THIS WAY IS HARD.
'Talking might help, Leo. You've said it yourself; it's good to tell someone about things.'
NOT THIS TIME. IT'S TOO DIFFICULT. I DON'T WANT TO TALK.
'Leonardo Hamato, what would your father say about this sulking?'
I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT. HE MIGHT EVEN HAVE THE SAME THOUGHTS AS ALL OF YOU.
'I don't understand, Leo.'
YOU HATE ME. YOU ALL DO. I CAN SEE IT. IN YOUR EYES, THE WAY YOU ALL AVOID ME.
'I don't-' The scratching sound cut her off this time.
REALLY? THE DOOR'S UNLOCKED AND YOU HAVEN'T COME IN. IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO TALK, WOULD YOU EVEN TRY TURNING THE KNOB? WOULD YOU?
April said nothing. Would she have? She wasn't sure of anything right now.
I THOUGHT SO.
The lock clicked, and April decided it probably wasn't a good idea to pursue the issue. She felt a tear trickle down her cheek as she went back downstairs. Oh, Leo. What happened up there? Why won't you say anything?