Chapter 1

For weeks, it had been the same thing. Wake up early, train with Master Splinter and the guys, eat breakfast, more training, patrol in the evenings, wash, rinse, repeat. For weeks, his family had been safe.

Until Shredder decided to take matters into his own hands - literally - and fill his own veins with experimental mutagen. Then dubbed "Super Shredder" by Mikey, Oroku Saki had killed Splinter in front of them all. Leo had been right there, and he had failed to save his father's life.

Nobody blamed him for Splinter's death - nobody but Leo himself.

And so the leader found himself kneeling on his bedroom floor, blood welling up from his skin and running down his wrists. Again.

He didn't know exactly when he'd started cutting. It had been years ago, that much was obvious - both from the ever-shrinking supply of his own personal bandages and from the significant amount of scars that had built up on his wrists. The scars weren't all the same size, and they weren't all neat, white lines. Some of them were ugly, jagged things, from times when his failures had been greatest.

Such as the moment he watched his father die in the most brutal way the seventeen-year-old could imagine.

Tears stung at the back of Leo's eyes as the memory flooded his brain, but he pushed against both. He would not show weakness. He had to be strong, strong enough for his entire Clan.

It was very late, almost two in the morning now. So when the blue-banded leader heard the knock on his door, he jumped.

"L-Leo?"

Mikey. Leo's cobalt eyes widened in alarm, both at the sound of his youngest brother's voice, and at the still-opened drawer that held his guilty secrets. He can't find out.

As quickly as possible, Leo wrapped up his bleeding wrists and threw everything back into the drawer, not caring how untidy it was. He'd straighten it up later. Still, the clank of the glass bottles made him wince as he shut and locked the compartment, then walked to the door.

Mikey stood on the other side, tears tracking down his face. "I had a nightmare," he whispered, clutching his well-worn, duct-taped teddy bear tight to his plastron.

Despite the stinging of his wrists, Leo's heart squeezed. He knew they all had nightmares about that night - even Raphael, though he never said anything about them. He pulled Mikey into his bedroom, letting him crawl into his bed. Mikey curled up next to his big brother, his lower lip still quivering.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Leo asked.

The orange-clad turtle shook his head. "Maybe tomorrow," he said hoarsely. Nodding in understanding, Leo pressed a kiss to his brother's forehead as the youngest drifted off.

"I've got you, Ototo," he whispered. "I promise."

So this was mainly introductory stuff, but we'll have something a little bigger coming up in Chapter 2.

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