Chapter One
The air was silent and still. No lights cut through the darkness surrounding him. It was the perfect setting for a good night's sleep. But sleep would not come to the former leader.
Leo had been tossing and turning for the better part of five hours and his mind refused to stop spinning. He sighed again and rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.
"Look at us, Leo. We're really messed up, aren't we?"
"Yes, we are," he whispered into the inky black of the bedroom. "We are - I am - and I don't know how to stop it. I don't know how to get better."
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and he sat up, flicking on the bedside lamp just as the door opened. Raphael stood on the other side looking haggard and weary. "Don and I...um...we've been talking. About everything, I mean. And we...well, he wants you in the living room."
Dread curled in Leo's gut but he followed his twin downstairs anyway, where Donnie was holding court on the worn out couch. "Where's Mikey?"
"Still asleep," Raph replied quietly. "I checked on him about ten minutes ago and the kid's sacked out. I didn't want to wake him."
Probably smart. "What's this about, Don?"
The genius sighed and met Leo's gaze, and the latter couldn't help but shiver a little. Those chocolate brown orbs couldn't conceal the hurricane underneath - whatever was about to happen wouldn't go over well. "Something has to change. This situation keeps getting worse, and either it somehow magically fixes itself or you two do something and I won't be able to save you." He swallowed. Took a breath. "We're taking away all the blades around here, Leo."
A heavy weight settled onto the blue-banded turtle's shoulders and his heart climbed into his throat. No, they can't seriously be considering... "What does that have to do with me?"
He got no reply. Those eyes bored into him, like they were peering into his very soul.
A cold sweat broke out on Leo's brow and he shook his head. "No, Donnie. No. I haven't...I would never-"
"The temptation is there," Donnie cut him off gently. "It's always there as long as they are."
"I haven't even touched them since we came up here! They're still hanging on the wall upstairs!"
"Right. Upstairs, where we can't see if you use them or not."
Helplessness washed over Leonardo and he turned to his other sibling. "Raph, come on. You guys can't be serious." The brawler just looked at the floor. Leo shook his head in disbelief. "You're both okay with this? Really? Does Mikey know?"
"We've already confiscated the kit. It's just another step to healing you guys." It wasn't an answer and Donnie knew it. "Leo, it's not forever. Just...just until you're on the mend."
And how long is that going to take? the turtle wanted to scream. How long until you've deemed that I'm "okay" enough to own what's mine? He'd earned those katana through years of blood, sweat, and anguish. He'd poured his soul into them...and now they were being ripped away.
"Leo, please...don't make this any harder than it already is."
Hot tears stung at Leo's eyes and he shook his head, backing up slowly. "No. No, you can't...I won't..."
"Leo-" Raph reached out for him but missed. "Bro, come on. We're trying to help."
But his pleas went unheard as the front door slammed; the last syllables evaporated into the air and the two remaining brothers blinked at each other in shock and distress.
By the time that they ran outside, Leo was long gone.