((A.N - The first chapter is here! I really have nothing else to say about this except I hope you like it! Also, I should probably preface this now, but there's one part in this where it talks about how proud Splinter feels about Leo taking more responsibility but he also warns him about the consequences. It's kind of... 'hypocritical', if that's the right word, because I wrote Splinter a bit differently in the prologue. I want to make him more fatherly and not just there to make Leo feel like a sissy xD. I'm still trying to get their personalities down, so constructive criticism is welcome! Thanks for reading all of this! More notes at the end!))


New York City: A place that brags to the surrounding, lesser areas with its bright, fluorescent signs mounted to the walls of towering skyscrapers. The buildings that stretch upwards, rising from the ground and kissing the overhead sky while flashy residents remain constantly on the move, out every day from dawn till dusk, soaking in their city's diverse culture. The majority of people found pleasure in chatting to one another in the crowds of buzzing movement, while others stood alone, like dark statues shrouded in mystery, against the sides of buildings hidden deep in the shady alleyways. And then, there were the few who avoid human confrontation at all costs, opting to slip further into the sea of bodies without leaving so much as a trace behind.

But, unknown to the majority of civilians who inhabit New York, there were many more unfortunate souls who prefer to keep thoroughly unseen, unheard, and most importantly, a secret. Some of these beings were trained to stay invisible to the human eye. Others feared humanity. Some wanted it to perish while a portion had nearly succeeded in that notion. Thankfully, though, the latter was rather scarce after the Kraang vanished. Most people hadn't even been aware that their precious planet was infested with aliens bent on world domination until their full scale invasion was launched. It had been stopped, and only a few years later the Kraang disappeared with no tangible proof of their existence, save for minor security footage captured by the Channel 6 News camera. But this too, was confiscated by the EPF.

However, ignorance is bliss as they say, and no human far below in the bustling streets noticed that, far above the roads, on the flat ledges of the rooftops, the peaceful sound of white noise was sliced open with a scream. It was a scream that begged for the attention of someone to come to their aid. But, with the honking horns and cackling below, it was an impossible feat. No one below was able to hear the desperate cry for help, so high overhead… the loud, pained, distressed-

"Mikey!"

At the sound of his name being used in such a scolding tone, the orange masked ninja was quick to shut his mouth. Over the years, along with trial and error, he had found it was better to follow orders when Leonardo sounded as though he would not hesitate to resort to physical discipline. Translation: A possible kick to the face. So, with that in mind, and as innocent as he could possibly muster, Michelangelo gazed over at his three irritated brothers with big, puppy dog eyes in hopes of melting away their disapproving looks.

But when he instead earned an unimpressed scowl from the leader, who crossed his arms as though awaiting an explanation, Mikey tried smiling instead. No dice.

Leonardo could see the victimised look in his brother's dewy eyes, and he took in a deep, calming breath. As the oldest, he knew he had to keep his younger brothers in line. He was oldest, and therefore he could not afford to lose his temper. He had to be calm and collected… just like his father, Master Splinter.

And yet, his tone still reflected irritation; "I'm gonna regret asking this, but…what are you doing, Mikey?"

The fearless leader wasn't sure whether he wanted to hear an answer or not, knowing full well how many ridiculous excuses and/or made-up scenarios his brother was capable of dishing out. Mikey was already slowing down their patrol with his overly-persistent pestering over when they ought to head home. Leo was certain the others did not want to hear Mikey's explanation to this new scheme of hollering at the sky for no good reason, because the moment the question left his mouth, he could hear them groan. After all, the memory of the last time he tried to confront Mikey was still fresh in his mind… and so was his wound from having to pry one of the orange-masked ninja's action figures out of the electrical socket. But lately, their baby brother had been making mountains out of the molehills that were their nightly patrols of the city, and obviously, tonight was falling into a similar fate.

"Dudes, I'm so bored!" Mikey complained dramatically, putting his own entertainment above their priorities. "This is worse than when we had to get all those mutagen canisters, like, a million years ago! Can't we just go home and call it a day?"

However, as the saying goes, eyes are windows to the soul, Mikey soon found himself the cause of their psychy's aggravation. His request had been met with rejected stares, and he slowly sunk to the ground, sitting on his knees with a weary expression. However, the victim card was always in his hand.

"We've been out all freaking day. I'm so tired! And starving!"

"That figures." Came a patronising remark from the red-masked turtle leaning against the side of the wall. "Ya wasted all your energy complaining instead of sucking it up."

Raph was busy twirling a single sai in his left hand, lazily catching the handle ever so often. It was an action that greatly signalled his growing impatience and told the others a ticking time bomb of pent up frustration was in their hands… and he planned to take most of it out on anything that got in his way. Leo had to wince at the comment, slightly scrunching up his nose as he noticed Mikey's pouting face begin to redden.

Then, there was a sarcastic smirk from his right.

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black." Donatello retorted with a deadpan tone, his bloodshot eyes not once gravitating away from the intensely bright screen of his T-phone. With work keeping him up most of the night, alongside training and patrolling, it didn't leave much room for sleep, and it clearly showed. And though Leo constantly pestered Donnie to 'hit the hay' at a reasonable time, his concern had gone unheeded. The leader was certain the constant all-nighters Donnie was enduring had resulted in his abnormally sharp tongue.

Or maybe it was the anticipation of what was to come that caused all of their unusual, short tempered behaviour, especially now with the Kraang gone. Something else was bound to take their place, and this thought put all of them on edge. Perhaps it was something more. A few days prior, Leo had overheard Raph complaining to the others, speaking frankly about how overprotective their leader had become. At first, Leo found the comment absurd, but he did not announce his disapproval. He could still remember, as clear as day, the thoughts which ran through his mind during training later that same evening. I'm just trying to protect them. That's my role! That's what I'm here for! Don't they understand that?

But much to his own surprise, Leo's concern toward the well-being of his brothers did not earn him the praise he thought it would. Clearly, his father was proud to see his son was taking more responsibility over his family, but he warned Leo that too much strain could be bad for the spirit and mind. His own brothers, on the other hand, did not fully appreciate the persistent 'mother hen' attitude. And as much as he hated to admit it, the growing number of constant, trivial squabbles his brothers were fighting amongst themselves all started because he made it his mission to keep them safe from harm. And this made it hard not to believe that something worse was approaching on the horizon.

But right now, Leo was more than thankful that it was not Raph losing his cool over Donnie's accusation. He simply snorted rather than returning with a stinging comeback. He ignored Mikey, who childishly stuck out his tongue at him, obviously trying to take some sort of credit for the comment that managed to knock Raph out of the short-lived argument.

"Whatever." Raph slightly rubbed his forearms as though they were cold. "Can we get a move on? If I stand here any longer, my feet are gonna grow roots to the building."

Leo decided not to risk his physical health by asking Raph what time he expected to bloom, though it wasn't enough to scare away the ironic mental picture of a beautiful flower with Raph's angry face in the centre. As the image (unfortunately) ingrained itself into his mind, it all of a sudden no longer upheld its oddly comical and appealing state. Leo instead shuddered. He figured he it would be for the better to get his team moving before they made any more snide remarks or his mind brought him someplace weirder.

"Alright guys, regular patrol for the East side and then we head back for the night. Got it?"

His brothers verbalised their approval in turn and Donnie tucked his T-phone into his belt. Raph sheathed his sais. And Mikey...?

Well, Leo had heard the approval of everyone except Mikey, who still clung onto the microscopic shred of hope that they'd turn back… After all, there was a new video game back at the lair and it was collecting dust because he wasn't at home and playing it! Leo could tell Mikey was itching to get back home and make sure his totally epic video gaming skills weren't getting too rusty just by looking at him. After all, it was only Mikey who told the others that he strongly detested their new schedule of patrolling the city for two to three hours straight each day… twice.

But Leo wanted to make sure his city was safe. And so, in an attempt to pull Mikey back down to Earth, he purposely raised the level of sarcasm in his voice, "Got it?"

Their baby brother quickly nodded, way too enthusiastically, topping off his obviousness with two thumbs up and a wide smile. A few seconds later, he rightfully received a smack across the head from Raph.

"Ow, man! Not cool!" Mikey shielded himself with his arms, half retreating his head into his shell with a pout. "I didn't do anything!"

"That's the point." Raph smirked at the reaction, abandoning his post by the edge of the roof to stand beside Leo; he was already bunching up the muscles in his legs, ready to spring himself forward. Carefully eying the rooftop below them, about twenty feet down, he searched for the easiest route to take.

A thin smile appeared on his face and he gestured for the others to follow. If there was anything strange going on in New York, they'd find it, and they'd put a stop to it. No one messed with their city.

"Alright guys, the sooner we get started, the sooner we get home. Let's move."


Their rooftop run was luckily undisturbed, for the most part, as they swiftly bounded through the lively city unseen. Only once did Mikey over calculate how far he needed to leap in order to safely land onto the oncoming roof, resulting in him crashing directly into Donatello and nearly sending both of them plummeting into the alleyway several stories below. Luckily, an open garbage dumpster would have broken their fall… probably.

Quick thinking from Leonardo and Raphael allowed the two other turtles, precariously hanging onto the thin lip of the building, to not have a first hand experience in dumpster diving. It was there Mikey received his second smack to the head, and Leo urged them on before a full scale feud would erupt. Mikey was already shooting Raph a death glare every time the older turtle turned his back on him. From then on, their trip was taken in almost complete silence until a half-hour later, where they all paused on a secluded apartment rooftop to catch their breath. It was there Mikey let out several faked, hacking, dramatic coughs and complained he was starving once more. He emphasising this by collapsing onto the roof and curling into feeble ball.

"Pleeaaase Leo! Can we get pizza?" Mikey begged, not making a move to get up. "I'm dying here! I had no lunch or dinner today!"

Leo stared at his youngest brother in a mix between disbelief and annoyance. He snuck a weary look over at Raph, who was about five feet away, attention completely consumed by the human commotion on the streets below.

"I thought you ate before we left the lair…?" Leo wondered aloud once he averted his attention back to Mikey.

"Actually, that was soap. He thought it was an ice-cream sandwich." Donnie put in.

Immediately afterwards, Mikey's eyes shot daggers at the brother who ratted him out. "Dude!" He shouted offendedly, scrambling onto his knees. "I thought we had each other's backs-"

Appearing as though he was about to scold Donatello, something caused him to suddenly pause. Leo guessed he was greatly reconsidering Donnie's words, as before long, Mikey's face had contorted into an expression of absolute disgust.

"Wait, you mean that wasn't…"

"No, we're not getting pizza now," Leo interrupted sternly before Mikey could fully comprehend what he had done. But he had been a little too late, as the youngest brother at once leaped to his feet, sticking out his tongue as far as his mouth would allow and tried to wipe it clean with his hands.

Ignoring him, Leo waited, motionless, for his depleting stamina to build back up.

"No sign of any street gangs so far," He sighed to himself, a hint of disappointment hidden in his tone once he regained the ability to talk and breath at the same time with ease. His eyes scanned over the brightly lit city. Bummer. I never thought I'd miss fighting the Purple Dragons… Even if they were pretty lame…

He gazed over at his team- his brothers, realising just how much the thugs and rouge mutants of the city had shaped their lives. Before, it had been a miracle to return home with no scratches or gouges. But now, without these low-lifes, it had become a challenge to attain such injuries, and though Leo was quite thankful for this change in a way, it also symbolised the end of an era. He wasn't sure whether it was nostalgia or the itching urge to bust bad guys that made him feel this way.

Without the Purple Dragons, Shredder, Tiger Claw or even those damned Kraang freaks, there really was nothing to spice up their patrol. Donnie had returned to staring blankly at his T-phone, squinting against the stark brightness while Mikey tried his best to suppress the nausea flooding his system. And Raph…?

Leo sighed. Raph was getting more like a live grenade everyday, where any contact whatsoever could result in an explosion of either physical violence or a torrential storm of colourful words. With the tides changing, Leo sometimes wished that Master Splinter hadn't chosen him to be leader. Though the thought was a bit selfish, he couldn't help but feel his role as leader grew more and more demanding every day.

What I wouldn't give for a day off… Leo fantasied, all while absent-mindedly staring at the place where Raph had stationed himself.

He blinked once and narrowed his eyes, noticing that something had changed by where Raph was standing, but not being able to pinpoint exactly what it was. The realisation hit him within sheer seconds.

Nothing was there.

Leo froze as he felt his pulse skyrocket.


((A.N. Hey Leo, you better find the rest of your team!

Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for reading! I'm still working on how I want this story to unfold, so the next update might take a long while. Also, I'm not exactly sure what 'timeline' this takes place in. I believe it would work best right around the end of season 4, when Shredder and his gang leave New York and hide elsewhere. Reviews and favourites and very much appreciated! Thanks for reading and I hope to see you later on!))