Chapter 3: Shared Hatred
A/N: And here's chapter three. There's not much for me to say except to thank everyone for the reviews so far. They mean a lot to me, and I'm happy you're enjoying this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and that's it.
Leo sat bolt upright in bed. He'd just finished having another nightmare, and it scared him again. Why was this happening to him? Why couldn't he have a normal night's sleep without dreaming about the attack? He really hated Shredder for doing this to him. It just wasn't fair.
"Leo, are you okay?" Raph asked, hurrying to his side.
"No!" Leo snapped. "I had the dream again!"
"Okay, calm down, bro," Raph soothed, rubbing his hand on Leo's shell. "It was just a dream. It wasn't real."
"But it was real, Raph! I keep dreaming about what happened to me in New York. The only difference this time was that you were there and you didn't help me. You just watched it happen."
"You know I'd never do that, bro," Raph said. "I would have helped you if I had been there."
"But you weren't there, were you?" Leo retorted. "You were off with Casey fooling around."
"Hey, we were lookin' for Karai like you asked us to!" protested Raph. "Don't blame me for what happened to you!"
"Then who should I blame, Raph?"
"Shredder, that's who!" Raph answered. "He's the one who chose to attack you, not any of us! Stop getting mad at other people who had no control over what happened to you."
Leo closed his eyes and tried to take deep breaths. "What's wrong with me, Raph? It's like I'm coming apart!"
"You're not, Leo. You're just scared about this, and I understand that. Hey, remember that episode of your show?"
"Which one?" Leo asked.
"The one where Captain What's-His-Face had that nightmare. You remember what he did to stop it?"
"It's Captain Ryan, Raph, and I do remember. He summoned memories of his greatest victories and it helped him get through it."
"Then maybe you need to do the same thing. Just think of us and some of the cool times we have. Think about Space Heroes and how much you love the show. Maybe it'll help you out when you're scared."
"I guess I could give it a try," Leo mused.
"Great. Are you ready to go to sleep?"
"Yeah. We have training in the morning, so we have to rest up."
"Okay. You want me to stay here, or are you good to sleep alone?"
"You can stay if you want to."
Raph nodded and settled down next to his brother, stroking his shell with soothing circles. It was something they had done for each other when one of them had a nightmare, and it was something Splinter had done, too. Leo sighed and let the feeling wash over him as he settled down and drifted off to sleep, his dreams much better than the nightmare he had faced.
22222
Raph really hated Shredder. This was the thought he had as he walked with Leo in the woods. These walks were a regular occurrence since Leo couldn't train with the others at the moment. It made Leo feel left out, even though Raph had caught him trying to do katas by himself once. Raph had nearly hit Leo upside the head for being so stupid, but Leo had protested that he had to adapt to his injury and try to fight. Donnie had given him a stern lecture about injuring his knee further that put one of Leo's usual lectures to shame, much to Raph's amusement. Leo had bowed his head in shame and apologized for his error in judgment. But Raph could see that not training had taken a toll on Leo both physically and mentally. Usually, Leo was the type to train more than the others because he loved it and saw it as a fun exercise, but with his injury, he was to be seen sitting on the couch most of the time or sleeping in bed when he wasn't taking these walks with Raph. Mentally, Leo was always alert and ready for anything that came his way, but after the attack, his reflexes were slower. That had been proven when Mikey had snuck up on him, and Leo had been so scared, he'd fallen backwards and backed up in fear. They had been confused about it until Leo told Raph that Shredder had snuck up behind him and slashed him with his gauntlet. Mikey had apologized, and it was a rule that they couldn't sneak up on their brother anymore, even in fun.
Then there was the time that Raph had wanted to teach Donnie and Mikey about Turtle Hunt. He and Leo had played the game many times, and Raph had wanted the chance for Leo to help out, but he was too injured to even do that. Raph could tell it hurt Leo that he couldn't even have that much fun with his brothers because of his injury and that he had to constantly stay on the sidelines. This was why Raph hated Shredder. He had changed Leo and had hurt him both physically and mentally. Raph longed for the day when he'd be able to teach Shredder a lesson about messing with his brother.
"Are you okay, Raph?" Leo asked, glancing at his brother in concern. "You look like you want to hit something."
"I do," Raph answered. "I wanna hit Shredder's ugly face."
"Ah, I see. Is that what you've been thinking about?"
"Yeah, I've been thinkin' about what he did to you and how it's changed you. You can't do the things you used to do, and I know it hurts you. You couldn't even do a simple game of Turtle Hunt because of your knee, and you were really bummed about it."
"I know, but I found my own way to amuse myself."
"What did you do?"
"Watched a marathon of The Real Housewives of New Jersey with April," Leo replied. "I tell you, those twins are crazy, and Amber's husband is an asshole."
"Did you watch it because Splinter watches it?"
Leo laughed. "Yeah, and I figured once we go back, I could fill him in on what's going on."
"I bet he'll get a kick out of that." Then his face darkened. "I just hate Shredder, you know? He really needs to pay for what he did to you."
"Sometimes revenge isn't the answer, Raph," Leo said softly.
Raph gaped at him. "Are you serious, Leo? Don't you wanna pay him back for what he did to you?"
"That's not our objective, Raph. Our objective will be to find Sensei and to stop the Kraang. Then we can focus on Shredder."
"But if we get to Shredder first, do you want your revenge?"
"I don't know. I don't want to stoop to his level. He spent all his life resenting Sensei and that led to him killing an innocent woman. I don't want to do the same thing."
"You mean you'd rather he live and get away with what he did to you?"
"No, I just don't want any innocent people to get hurt, Raph. That can happen, you know. You guys could go down with me if I make that choice. It can't be a rash thing."
"Do you hate him as much as I do?"
"I hate what he did to me and what his motivation was for doing it. It's all about getting back at Splinter, and I think that's the worst thing about it. He's just a troubled man who really needs to look at what his hatred has cost him. I don't hate him personally for anything because I can't dwell on that. I have to focus on you guys, and that's what I'm going to do."
"Well, I hate him!" Raph spat. "If I get the chance, he's goin' down!"
"Careful with that anger, Raph," warned Leo. "You don't want to end up like Shredder and be consumed with hate all of your life."
"If I beat him, I won't have to be consumed by it," retorted Raph. "He'll be dead, and our lives will go on as always."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Raph. The Foot still have servants who could take over like Tiger Claw or Rahzar. They'd still continue on, and the war would never end. It could even get worse for us."
"I'm not afraid of that," Raph boasted, bringing out his sais and twirling them. "Bring it on!"
Leo sighed. "I guess there's no changing you, is there, Raph?"
"Look, when it comes to my family, no one messes with us. I'll go down if I have to, but I won't stop protectin' you or any of the others."
"I appreciate that, Raph. I just want you to be careful about it and not be rash, okay? We don't need anyone else to get hurt."
"I'll try my best, Leo," Raph said. It was all he could say.
"That's all I ask," Leo said. 'I think it's time to head back again. My knee's telling me it's had enough for one day."
Raph nodded and helped Leo back to the house. He even got him some ice for his knee and helped to set it there. He knew what Leo said was true, but Raph couldn't help but hate Shredder for what had happened to them, and he was determined to make sure Shredder paid for everything he'd ever done to their family.
22222
"Hey, Leo, I've got an awesome idea," Mikey said. "Why don't we have a dance contest?"
"I can't dance, remember?" Leo reminded him.
"Have you even tried it?" Mikey asked him.
"No, but I don't think I'm up for it."
"You'll never know unless you try, bro. C'mon, it'll be fun. You haven't done much since you've woken up, and it'll be good exercise for you."
Leo sighed. "Okay, I guess I could try."
"Sweet!" Mikey cheered. "Dance contest it is!"
"You know I'm gonna beat your ass, right, Mikey?" Raph boasted.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Mikey retorted. "C'mon, bros. Let's do this!"
April turned on the radio that was in the living room and tried to find music that would be perfect for the dance contest. A few stations were just news stations, but then she found something that played a variety of music and figured that would work. The first song was a slow one, but then "Blurred Lines" came on and Mikey jumped up.
"Aww yeah, this is my jaaam!" he said as he began to dance to the music. He even did some twerking which caused everyone to burst out laughing. "Aw yeah, son. Like a Turtle do! Beat that!"
"I think I can do that," Casey bragged as Michael Jackson's "Beat It" came on next. Casey totally owned the song, even doing a moonwalk which impressed April though Donnie made a show of rolling his eyes.
"Sweet moves, Case," Raph commented. "Hey, Leo, you wanna try next?"
"I guess I could," Leo said.
"Sweet! They're doing Taylor Swift after the commercial break so you can totally nail that song," Mikey said.
After the commercial was over, Leo went out there and tried to dance to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" a song he really enjoyed, too. At first, he was doing great, but then his crutch caught in a floorboard, causing him to topple over. Luckily Raph made the save before Leo could hit the ground.
"Sorry guys," Leo said dejectedly. "I guess I'm not up for dancing either."
"Yes, you are," Raph said. "I'll help you bro. C'mon." He helped Leo out to the floor and with his arm around his brother he began dancing to the rest of the song. Leo copied him as best he could, and it turned out that he really was having fun. Raph ended it with dipping Leo down as the song came to an end.
"Bros, that was awesome!" Mikey said. "You guys rock!"
"Definitely was a good routine," Don said. "You could go on Dancing with the Stars if they let mutants on there."
"Thanks," Leo said. "And thanks for helping out, Raph."
"That's what brothers are for," Raph said.
After another love song, Don got out there and danced to "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees, complete with disco moves and everything. April countered that by dancing to "One Less Problem" by Ariana Grande while Raph danced solo to "Can't Touch This" by M.C. Hammer.
"Okay, so who calls winner?" Mikey asked.
"I definitely vote for Leo and Raph," Don said. "They were great."
"Me too," April added.
"Everyone else agree?" Mikey asked.
"Yep," Casey, Raph, and Leo said.
"Okay, you guys are the winners!"
"So what do we win?" Leo asked.
"You get off of cleaning duty for a week," Mikey said.
"I think we can handle that," Raph said. "That was fun."
"Oh, it's not over yet. I think we need to do a group number."
"Love Shack" by the B-52's came on, and suddenly everyone was on the floor and made up a group dance to the song. It was a lot of fun, and Leo was happy that he could finally participate in something with everyone else. He no longer felt upset, and while he still hated what had happened to him, he knew he could rise above it and get past it as long as he had the support of his family.
A/N: And that's the end of another chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Not sure when the next chapter will be up or what it'll be about, but I'll think of something. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.
