BTW: This is my first fanfiction ever. I'm still learning the reins, and probably will be for a while. Comment anything you'd like, and helpful criticism will be appreciated, even if it's comments about purpose, or tone, or mood, or perspective, line spacing (if your eyes get tired) or etc. Any questions about why I did something, feel free to ask and if I figure out how to respond, I will. Or, I'll respond at the start of my next chapter, if I continue it, which I want to. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline. All characters and rights go to their respective owners. This is simply for entertainment, not trying to claim any rights to anything. Thanks!

Chapter 1: Reality

Michaelangelo was trying to pay attention, really he was. His bros had just gotten back together two weeks ago- Well, fifteen days ago. Today was day sixteen. So a bit more than two weeks... sixteen sevenths of a week…?

"Focus, Michael. You can do this. You are the Nexus Champion! I can watch them argue.
Sooner or later they'll get tired. I can speak up then."

Mikey had learned a bit from the last time, contrary to popular belief, that it was better not to blindly butt into arguments between Leo, Raph, and especially ones between Raph, Leo, and Donnie.

Don hardly ever partook in small arguments. Unless he thought it would play a role in ensuring their safety.

"Well, he used to not argue anyway" thought Mikey. Now though, it was hard for Mikey to recognize his brothers. Don argued a lot recently. But, he supposed, they all had changed. And he couldn't say he really recognized himself in the mirror either.

But, as Master Splinter would say, "It is only through understanding that conflict can be avoided." A pang of sorrow goes through Mikey's chest at his master's wise words. The wounds from previous events were still too sharp, too intense to grasp, and certainly too uncomfortable to muse while sitting on the living room couch while his brothers were fighting over something.

"What were they fighting about anyway? Dang, I must've spaced out for a while...why are they talking about that?"

"-since tha first time we went above ground, ya always ordered us around, Leo!" Raph yells.

Leo looks a bit surprised at the statement and responds calmly, "I'm the leader, Raph. That's what I'm supposed to do, in order to keep us safe."

If it was possible for Raph to look even more pissed, he did. "Yeah, but Masta Splinta didn' make ya leada so ya could boss us around and run ou` lives, Leo! Ya just a leader on the field, not at home!"

Leo looks even more surprised at Raph's words, but before he can open his mouth and say something, probably defend himself and explain, Don cuts in,

"What he means, Leo, is that you're our brother too. And since you've been gone a while, you can't just come back and rule our lives with stuff you learned and basically tell us the way we are living is wrong-Just because you learned new stuff. You can teach us stuff in training, but not in our individual lives."

"Aren't they the same thing?" Leo says. Mikey inwardly cringes. He said it so bluntly, so innocently, that it's kind of hard to get upset. Mikey could almost hear Leo's confusion. But Raph managed, looking even more angry than before over the fact Leo wasn't getting it.

And Leo, thank his observation skills, cuts in, "No, I mean seriously, Raph. We are a team, and brothers, at the same time! What I mean is, one thing affects the other, so is there a line? We are still brothers on the field anyway."

"He has a point" thought Mikey, "But he's missing their frustration...again."

Mikey had sat through many 'talks'- as Leo called them- like these. Although, he mused, this one was going rather smoothly. Only Raph was yelling, though that's normal for him. Time for him to try to come in and save the day before it stopped going so smoothly.

"Guys, regardless of our perspectives on our lives, could we get going? It's already 8:15 and we have the lower half of the city to patrol tonight. And if we hurry, maybe we could actually talk, without yelling, when we get back?" Mikey finished, looking down a bit.

Due to looking down, Mikey couldn't see his brothers' surprised expressions. No, they hadn't forgotten he was there... But, they forgot we was part of the team at that point, in the conversation. Leo wondered how their little brother had managed to stay so quiet.

Don spoke up first in a slightly tired, worn voice, "Yeah, we should get going. I'm not sure about talking when we get back though, considering the Foot and the Purple Dragons have been causing a lot of trouble lately."

"So what, we can't talk now?" Raph responses, a bit too sharply. He looks like he regrets it a bit right after, Leo notices. "Raph, regretting his words? Since when?" Leo thinks. It's Mikey that surprises him though, with his cool, slightly crisp response.

"Regardless of when we get home, we won't get together tomorrow just to share our feelings, so it'll be best if we do it tonight,"- And Leo can't help but notice that Mikey looks a tad bit sad when he says this, but just as soon as the look comes on his face, it's gone the next second with his next words- "Besides, word on the street is both gangs aren't planning anything yet, just gathering info on each other. There is one single shipment of supposedly dangerous 'electric guns' or something along those lines down by a warehouse at the edge of Brooklyn. No one really knows what, but they're both going to duke it out for it."

Before Leo can wonder how Mikey knows that, Raph responds, "And the supplier? Where is he 'n this?"

Mikey replies, "Haha dude, if I knew, I would've lead with that. No one knows, the dude or dudette covers his or her tracks too well to trace. But the showdown is suppose to happen at 9:30 tonight."

"And the Kraang?" Don asks.

"No idea. They don't have any tellers or non-Kraang members. Their club is too exclusive for that, not that anybody is looking to join, so they're the wild card for this." Mikey informs. After a pause, he says. "Though some are expecting us to crash the party. Have the electric fences ready. Case says he and April are busy tonight, but to watch out for it. And the Foot Elite will probably be there too, to greet us."

"Great...So, we'll have to blow the place up then." Don says.

This got three distinct reactions, shock from Leo, something resembling glee from Raph, and interest from Mikey.

"Wait! Hold on a minute! Mikey, how do you know that!? And Don, you actually want to blow something up!? What is going on here, guys?" Leo asks, losing just a bit of his composure.

Mikey eyes lost a bit of their mischief and took on a look of pity toward his big brother. Don kept his face neutral, and Raph just looked mad again before his face took on a tired expression.

Taking a breath, Raph tells Leo as bluntly as he can, "Look, Fearless. Mikey gathers info from up above, as do Don an' me. Mike usually gets tha most though. And if we don't have da element of surprise, judgin' by the amount of enemies that'll be there waitin' to kick our shells, there is no way we can just take da guns. So, in orda to not let them get'em, we hafta destoy'em."

"And Leo,"- Don says after a moment's hesitation- "After you left, our team had to compensate for the-uh...loss. So, we each took over some of your jobs. I somehow, don't ask me, became 'appointed leader'. And, seeing as this is our first patrol run back together with you, how about you sit back a bit and help us with our plan?"

Mikey held his breath. He heard it. Shell, Raph and Leo probably heard it too: the unspoken challenge. Don just challenged Leo to say something about the plan. But, Mikey thought, this was getting ridiculous. If that was the case, they'd still have to load up. And they were going to run out of time.

Mikey and Raph both looked at their oldest brother. Leo kept his features unemotional, and coolly responded, "No, Don. That's fine. I just wasn't aware. Whatever you want to do, that's fine."

And, surprisingly, Raph seemed to calm at hearing this. It was Don who looked a bit riled up, shoulders tense and arms crossed over his chest in a defensive demeanor. But, Don sighed and said, even more worn than before as the fight suddenly left him,

"Fine then. There are some carrier bombs in my lab. I made them recently actually, so I'm sure they're live. I'll go pack them and I'll give them out as well as the plan on the way there. Raph, can you get our black bandanas and weapons from the closet in the garage? We'll need them. Mikey, I need you to get our protective tinted goggles from the box under your seat in the Shellraiser and your 'hacking' kit. We'll need it too,"

And, as if almost in an afterthought, Don adds, "Leo, you should go with Raph and change the bindings of your swords." Then, addressing everyone, Don adds, "We meet at the dojo in five to change our weapons and then we're out the door." And with that, everyone went their separate ways.

"Well. I don't think that could have realistically gone any better." Mikey thinks as he walks to the garage after Leo and Raph. It was weird for Mikey to have Leo back. In reality, it was probably weird from everyone to have Leo back. Regardless of the bumps they had, Raph, Don, and Mikey were now a well oiled three turtle team. Or, as well oiled as they could be.

Now, the challenge was going to be if they could survive the night of patrol. After two years of being one turtle down, Leo's return could give them an edge over their enemies. But, the question was could they still work together as team? If not, it'd be a repeat of their first day above ground...And Mikey wasn't looking forward to that.

It could've gone gone a lot worse. Much, much worse. Raph new that. And yet, he still felt disappointed over the way things had gone. Don had already given the orders. And although Raph knew even he himself isn't a fan of blindly following orders, did Leo really have to question everything Don did? It was friggin irritating Raph to no end. And Don, letting Leo just come in and take the lead like that...

Sparing a glance at Mikey, Raph saw he was alright, just a bit withdrawn. Not that Raph could blame him…

"Shell! Things're so messed up right now! How 're we supposed ta come through with da plan if we can't even talk with eachotha?" Raph wondered.

Raph knew it was a bit hypocritical of him to be mad at Leo for questioning Don, since Raph himself used to do the same thing.

"But it's all Leo's fault!...No, it's not! But...if he hadn't left in da firs' place...But still, Leo didn't know…"

Raph didn't want to blame Leo for not knowing things he wasn't around to learn. He couldn't be expected to just learn in two weeks. And yet, he still found himself resenting the fact Leo was behind. Shell, it was so irritating! And now, Mikey was getting dragged into it too…

*Flashback*

Mikey and Raph watched as Leo and Don went back and forth. The irony could be felt between the both of them watching the two 'level-headed' turtles yelling at each other. On a roof top, no less! What happened to stealth?
"Really, Leo? My plan sucks? Where were your plans these past two years? Nowhere! Because you weren't here to make them! So, I'll have you know, this isn't my firs-" Don yelled.

"Master Splinter allowed me to go for training! To get stronger! For the team! And I'm just trying to help! If you want to be leader so bad, then do it! I just don't understand why you're being so-" Leo responded, just as fiercely.

"Bros! You guys wake up the whole city yet? We are supposed to be stealthy. Why don't we-"

"Michaelangelo, how about you stay out of this right now? You're the least stealthy one out of all of us and I'm trying to figure out why the shell Don won't let me help the team. Even if I'm not leading, it's still dangerous what we are doing. Which I know doesn't really concern you, so-" Leo stopped himself, his face instantly morphing from frustration to shock as he processed what he just said.

Mikey paled, but managed to see the shock on Leo's face. Raph saw that Mikey did. And yet, that didn't help Leo's case at all. Seeing Mikey's baby blue eyes get watery, any restraint Raph was willing to use toward Leo conveniently decided to take a hike at that moment.

"Leave Mikey outa this, Leo! Mikey ain't got nothing to do with this, you just need to mind you're own business! If ya aren't going ta help-" Raph angrily said.

"Guys, it isn't really worth the fighting over me or what I just said. Or what Leo said back. Or Donnie. We have other things to take care of." Mikey said coolly, only feeling slightly hurt at Leo's words and cutting the others off. This time, he did see the surprised looks his brothers sent him over the quick change in his character.

Don's calm strong voice rang out, "It's okay, Raph. You're right Mikey, we are going to get caught." Continuing in a softer voice, Don said, "Leo, I'm just trying to tell you the team has changed since you left us. Right now, this is the plan we have: Mikey opens the back door while Raph goes in and distracts. Then the rest of us go in through the front door and drop the bombs all over the place. I'll have most of them and then the blinding ones will go off. We'll leave, followed by the damaging ones 25 seconds later. Then, we'll hide out back through the sewer entrance or call the Shellraiser if needed. If you have a better one, great. I'd love to heard it. But, we're going to run out of time and honestly, a new plan could be rough since we can't work as a team right now."

Raph saw Mikey shiver, as if he were cold, at Don's final words. He said it. After two weeks of denying it and trying to pretend everything was fine, that the team wasn't completely broken. That they were just distant due to the time spent apart, that things would fall back in place, Don spoke the truth…

"We aren't much of a team anymore. Not a team of four, at least. Both teams operate completely differently. We've all changed..." "Raph thought.

Leo continued in a quiet voice, "You're right, Don. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for snapping at you, Mikey. You're right too, and it isn't you I'm upset at. We should talk about this when we get home. For now, we should go through with the mission like old times. It just seems risky to let Raph distract on his own…"

"You gettin' worried for me, Fearless?" Raph asked with a cocky smirk. Mikey hadn't seen one of those in a while.

"Just a bit. If I went through with you and set the blinding devices, the enemies would have a harder time tracking two enemies that look nearly the same. That way, when Don and Mikey come in, some of the devices could've already gone off and Don could rig the guns in the chaos if we moved the detonator back until about two min thirty seconds." Leo finished in a breath.

"That could work... It sounds safer." Don said easily. "I like it. It'd only take a second to rig them. Let's do it."

But-" Raph started. Mikey spoke up.

"It's safer, Raph. Now, we really have to move our shells. We've got, twenty-five minutes to cover fifteen minutes worth of ground at top speed. We're going to be tired out before we even get there. Let's get a move on."

End Flashback*

Leo takes the lead to the edge of Brooklyn. Raph sends Don a look Don returns with a, "what? His idea was better" look and Mikey pretends not to see. All Mikey can think about is the fact that they may be about to face all three groups of their local enemies tonight and they haven't even had a training session between the four of them for more than an hour each day. Little did he know, Raph, Don, and Leo were all thinking the same thing.

-end of Chapter 1: Reality