So, how was your Halloween?! Mine was amazing! I had seriously one of the best weekends of my life! Two parties and what-not, and then saw a play! Amazing!

But I digress...

Anyways, hope your weekend was as good as mine! Here's to the end of a great weekend!

(I should warn you, this chapter has a LOT of background information. I wrote it a long time ago, and I felt it was needed, even though it's not. But I like, 'cause it makes the story seem professional... :) So, if you don't like it, then just skip over it. I won't mind) :)

Disclaimer: I own them not... :(

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Dusk.

The state or period of partial darkness between day and night; shade; gloom.

Dusk is a funny time of day. The sun has not yet set, but the moon has already begun to take control of the sky. Two of the most interesting things in the world. We know so little about the sun and then moon. But they continue to perplex us day and night, the times they rule sky. It's so very interesting.

But we will never know all their secrets...

But I digress...

Dusk is full of shadows, long black strips that play with your mind and your vision. It's about the time of day that everything begins to ind down; mothers get the children ready for bed, fathers get home from work, teenagers and young adults do their leftover schoolwork...

But it is also the very beginning of night. For some, the fun starts now. Young people go out for a good time, crooks come out to play, and children sneak out to do only they know what.

But for our friends, this is the time of day in which they feel most at home. They have shadows to conceal them, yet the city is still as busy and bustling as it was in the middle of the day. It gives them shelter, but it also gives them light.

It gives them hope.

TMNT

This is the perfect time for our young friends to come out of hiding and prowl the rooftops, searching for someone in need of their help. They run the rooftops, leaping and flipping from one to next, never looking back, always aware.

It is on this particular night that the turtle's lives will be changed. Things will be lost, others will be gained, and new information will be learned.

But all in good time, my friends. Let's focus on what happens one moment at a time.

As I was saying, it is midnight in the great city. Where everywhere else is dark, New York's lights shine for miles and miles, never extinguished. It is for this that the turtles seek refuge in the shadows of the rooftops. Never straying to far into the full moon's bright, silver light, they play a game.

Follow the Leader. Ninja Style.

Oh, the joys of being young! Your body is capable of doing things everyone dreams of, and it doesn't think twice about doing them. For following the leader, this is no exception. The other three brothers must copy the leader's moves, and at the same time, try to tag him as they fly over the rooftops.

Tonight, Leonardo is in the lead.

Of course, every night Leo leads. Sure, it starts out with one of the other brothers leading, but Leo soon overtakes them and takes the lead.

No one has ever beaten Leo.

Tonight was no different. He led the brothers over the roofs, doing very complicated and impressive moves that each one had difficulty repeating. Finally, on what seemed like the five-hundreth rooftop, Leo slowed to a stop, barely breathing heavily.

His brothers joined him shortly, each breathing heavily and covered with sweat. Mikey collapsed on the floor, spread eagle, his mask tails spiraling from the back of his head. Donnie sat down beside him, while Raph slumped against the railing. Leo stood on his feet, looking at his brothers.

"You guys are more out of shape than I thought," he said, smirking slightly.

"Well, while some people had the luxury of swinging vines in Central America for two years, others in New York City were busy with other things," Raph replied testily.

In the dark, no one saw the playful smirk drop like a brick off Leo's face. He took a deep breath and went to the edge of the building.

"Take fifteen minutes to rest," he said, his eyes scanning the surrounding city.

"Dude, fifteen minutes 'ain't gonna cut it," Mikey was able to gasp out.

"I feel your pain," Donnie agreed, clutching at a stitch in his side.

"Leo just likes to show off," Raph said, looking at his younger brothers, then turning his eyes on his older one.

Leo let his eyes glance quickly at Raph, then flicker quickly back to the city. He had one foot on the railing, his left arm draped, relaxed, on it. His right arm hung at his side, loose, yet ready to react at any moment.

Raph wasn't about to let that look go unnoticed. He knew exactly where they had stopped, but he wasn't sure whether or not Leo did. His brother could be so unreadable at times, not even Master Splinter knew what he was thinking.

And if Master Splinter didn't know what one of his sons were thinking, then… well, no one but the thinker knew.

Raph took a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart and approached his brother. Leo didn't move and the only thing that told Raph that his brother acknowledged his presence was the flicker of the eyes that seemed to happen more often than not.

"So, uhh," Raph began, unsure exactly how to begin. "You know where we're going?"

The flicker of the eyes again.

"Yes," the reply came.

"Where?"

Flicker. "You'll see when we get there."

Raph was getting annoyed. "Leo, are we already there?"

That got Leo's attention. He turned his head toward his younger brother. "What?"

"Leo, you do realize that this roof is the one where we had our fight a few months ago?" Raph asked.

Leo looked at the surrounding roof, the large, red neon sign behind them that read "Red Eye Club", and small, seemingly insignificant red spot on the ground but a few feet away from him.

"So it would seem," he said. He turned his attention back to the city.

"That's all you have to say?" Raph asked, getting angry. That was a night that hurt both him and his brother in ways that could be fixed quickly. But now that Raph was trying to fix it, Leo was just pushing him away.

Flicker. "Raph, I really need to-"

"Hey, Leo! We're right by April's!" Mikey called, energized by the short little break he had taken. "Can we visit?"

Raph glared at Mikey, upset. He was in the middle of a very important discussion and he was sure that Leo was going blow him off, but he didn't care. He didn't get a chance to talk to his elder brother that much, so when he did, Raph always found it a little special.

But no one would ever know. He planned to keep that a secret for as long as he lived.

Leo looked back at his youngest brother, thoughtful. His eyes scanned the city once more, and then he nodded.

"Sure," he said. "We'll visit for a short time, and then we'll head back home."

"Yes!" Mikey cried happily, punching the air with his fist. "Come on! Let's go!"

Mikey started off at a run, Donnie following, close on his heals. Leo smiled fondly at the pair of them, than turned his attention to Raph.

"I'll take up the rear," he said, indicating for Raph to go first.

Raph nodded, still silently fuming to himself over what Leo was doing. He followed his younger brothers and thought about it.

Did Leo really not remember that it was that rooftop that had held perhaps the most significant… "squabble" of their young lives.

Pause.

Okay, my friends. It is here that I feel obliged to inform you on what exactly is happening here.

You see, about two years ago, Master Splinter sent Leonardo to Central America, by himself. Splinter felt that in order to become a better leader, Leonardo had to take some time away from his brothers and… "find himself", if you could say.

Leonardo's training period was supposed to last a year, where after he would return home and take up his position as the official leader of the team.

A year passed without word from Leonardo, and his family eagerly awaited his return. But on the night he was supposed to come back, he never showed. One year later, while the turtle's friend, April O'Neil, one of the very few people who actually know about them, was in Central America when she stumbled upon Leonardo.

She had tried with all her might to get him to come back, but he would not be budged. When she returned home from her trip, where she was recovering an ancient statue for a client of hers, she came home alone.

A few days later, Leonardo showed up at home. And while Master Splinter didn't seem angry at Leonardo for staying longer than he should have, and his brothers were able to go back to life as it was before Leonardo had left, Raphael was unable to let go his feelings of abandonment and betrayal.

Several nights later, they came upon a monster attacking the Foot clan, the noble servants of their dead archenemy, the Shredder. After a few other nights of inspection, the turtles, along with April and Casey Jones, yet another of the few people who knows about the turtles, discovered what was really happening.

The client of April's, who was collecting the statues, turned out to be a warrior from over three thousand years ago, who had opened a portal to another world. That portal released thirteen monsters, froze the warrior's team, and family, to stone, and made the warrior immortal.

Winters was his name, and he was trying to capture all of the monsters by a certain night, the night when all of the stars aligned perfectly with one another. His family, brought to life, but still stone, was his retrieval team, and the Foot clan was his eyes.

The tension between Leonardo and Raphael had been building, where upon Leonardo and Raphael had a very heated battle, right on the rooftop of where our young heroes had just stopped to rest.

While Leonardo had been away, Raphael had grown to anxious in the Lair in which they called home, far beneath the sewers of New York. He had dawned a metal suit and patrolled the city at night, under the name of "The Nightwatcher".

No one knew it was Raphael under there, except Casey, who accompanied him on these outings. So, when Leonardo had the chance to attack the night vigilante, he took the opportunity, not knowing it was Raphael. After discovering that his brother was under the mask, Leonardo had tried to stop, yet Raphael was too pent up with anger that he persued the fight.

In the end, Raphael had come mere inches from plunging his sai into his brother's face, and had run from his nightmare that he had just fulfilled. Leonardo had been left alone, only to be attacked and taken by Winter's stone family, who planned to betray him.

To make a long story short, the brothers rescued Leonardo and they defeated Winters, sending the warrior's family and monsters back to the other world, and Winters was allowed to finally rest.

Sorry to interrupt, friends, but that information was very relevant to this story. And, we may continue.

Our young turtles made it to April's apartment, where she and Casey were cuddled on the sofa, watching a movie. They entered through the window, Leo the last one in. He looked around before entering, making sure that no one saw them. Then he climbed through the window, shut it, and drew the blinds.

"Hey, guys," April, a pretty, slender red-head greeted, her green eyes sparkling.

"Hey, April," Donnie replied. "Hi, Casey. We were in the neighborhood and thought we'd stop in. Hope we're not disturbing anything…"

"No, no," April said. "We're always happy when you guys come over."

"What movie you guys watching?" Mikey asked, looking at the face of Nicholas Cage paused on the small television screen.

" 'National Treasure' ", Casey replied. He was a broad-shouldered, dark haired man with a short fuse. Him and Raph got along great. "You guys want to join?"

"Sure!" Mikey exclaimed, sitting cross- legged on the floor in front of the couch.

The two middle turtles looked at Leo, making sure it was okay. He looked at them, then at Mikey. He nodded.

"Why not?" he said, sitting in the chair next to the couch.

Donnie smiled and sat next to Mikey, and Raph sat on the sofa next to Casey.

"We actually just started it, so you guys didn't miss much," April explained. "You want us to rewind it to the beginning?"

"Naw, we're fine," Raph said. "Just start it up."

Ninety minutes later, credits rolled up the screen to the theme music playing in the background.

"Wow, what a good movie!" Donnie cried. "Only a few historical errors, and very clever!"

"I agree!" April said.

"Ah, I like that Ian guy," Raph , twirling one of his sais.

"You would," Mikey said. "I liked Riley. He was the comic relief."

"Just like you!" Raph ducked as a pillow came flying towards his head.

"Okay, that Abigail Chase character was really-"

"Finish that sentence and you'll wake up tomorrow hanging by your toes from a tree in Central Park," April cut Casey off, an evil glare shot towards her boyfriend.

"I think she means it Case," Leo said, chuckling.

"Shut up, Leo," Casey grumbled, shooting the blue banded turtle a look.

Leo held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I was just trying to-"

Leo stopped mid-sentence. Everyone looked at him, his brow suddenly furrowed with worry.

"We've got to get home," he said suddenly, standing up and moving toward the window.

"Why?" Mikey asked, standing up as well, the smile gone from his face. It worried him to see his brother worried like this.

"Something's not right," they heard Leo mutter. He opened the window and turned back to his family.

"Let's go!" he ordered, his eyes roaming over his brothers.

The three younger brothers flew out the window. You did not want to mess with Leonardo was in leader mode. You did not want to mess with Leonardo when he was in big- brother mode. You did not want to mess with Leonardo when he was in "son" mode. And you especially did not want to mess with Leonardo when he was a combination of all three.

And right now, the brothers could tell that he was a combination of all three. Which told them something else that made them move.

Something was wrong with Master Splinter.

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