Chapter Three

"Leo, are you here?"

My eyes open slowly and I find myself floating, surrounded by darkness. "Am I...dead?"

"Nah. You ain't dead yet, bro. Came close, though."

Wait. I know these voices. "Guys?"

My brothers appear beside me, bring with them a light that cuts through the blackness.

"Hey, Leo," Donnie says quietly.

"What...where are we?"

"We're on the astral plain," my brainy brother tells me. "At least, that's what Sensei said."

"The astral plain?" So I'm meditating. "Why is it so dark?"

Raph shakes his head. "I dunno. Normally it's a lot brighter than this, but..."

"Leo," Mikey begins. "We felt...we felt you die."

My heart stops. "You felt me...oh, Mike..." I pull him close and he wraps his arms around my shell.

"What did that creep do to you?"

Raph's question has me flushing with shame. I feel dirty, suddenly. "He...he took my chi," I whisper.

All three of my brothers gasp. "Leo," Donnie says softly, touching my arm. "I-"

I can hear the pity in his voice, and hot tears rush to my eyes. "It's...it's okay. I'll be fine. I just have to find a way to get back, and-"

"You can't," Raph says. "You can't get back without your chi. You're stuck here, unless..." His eyes light up suddenly. "Unless we kill him."

"He's dangerous," I reply automatically. "I don't want you guys going near him."

"And what's the alternative?" he retorts. "Going on without you? Leaving you trapped here?"

"It's better than you getting killed!" Mikey flinches away, and I sigh. "Look...I just...I don't want you guys getting hurt trying to save me. I'm not...I'm not that important."A tear slips down my cheek. "Please, Raph..."

He takes a deep breath. "Leo, if you think for one minute that you ain't worth crap to us, you're dead wrong." Donnie pales at our brother's choice of words, but Raph keeps going. "We need you, Fearless. Shell, we're always gonna need you. You're our leader." He puts a hand on my shoulder. "Our brother. And we ain't leaving you behind."

Warmth wells up in my heart, and I pull him into a hug. "Thanks, bro. So what now?"

"Now, we're gonna get going," the hothead says.

"Where?" Mikey asks.

Raph's face has become a mask of cold rage, and right about now I'd hate to be Firion Wolfe. "We're gonna go kill the scumbag that took our brother."

TMNT/TMNT/TMNT/TMNT

"Mr. Wolfe, what would you like us to do with his body?"

Wolfe stares at Leo for a moment. "Hang him on the wall in my study."

"But Lord Shredder said-"

"Lord Shredder won't find out about it, will he?" Wolfe asks, his voice dangerously low.

The messenger gulps. "N-No, Mr. Wolfe." He snaps his fingers and two Foot 'bots move over to the still Leo, picking him up and carrying him out of the room.

Not two minutes later, Wolfe hears a thump and a scream from the hallway. He runs out to see Raph and Mikey standing over the bodies of the three, their weapons drawn. Donnie is trying to resuscitate Leo, and having little success.

"Give our brother back his chi," Raph snarls.

"You want it?" the man asks. "You can have it!" Summoning some of the energy, Wolfe hurls it at the turtles in a bolt of blue lighting.

Mikey yelps and dodges it. "Not cool! How is he doing that? Leo couldn't do that!"

Wolfe laughs. "I did my research, you pathetic freaks. I know things about chi that you haven't even dreamed of. This, for example." He lets out a yell and fires a huge mass of energy at Raph, whose eyes widen.

The energy catches Raph right in the plastron, and he screams in pain before dropping like a rock. "Raph!" Donnie cries, rushing over.

Wolfe watches him check Raph, who is barely conscious. The man is so intent on the older two that he fails to notice Mikey sneaking up behind him.

"This is for my brother!" Mikey yells, locking his nunchucks around Wolfe's throat.

The villain chokes, digging at the chain with his fingers. But the harder he fights, the tighter Mikey pulls. With help from Donnie, Raph stands up and painfully limps over.

"You took Leo away from us. Now we're going to take everything from you." There is no remorse in his expression. Only cold, hard rage.

And that is what scares Wolfe the most. "You...won't live...to see his...power returned to him," he gets out. He grabs the chain around his neck and fires lightning into it.

Mikey lets out a scream of agony, twitching from the pain and the force of his brother's power. Finally, he lets go of the nunchucks and falls to the floor, his eyes rolled up into his head.

No! Raph's eyes snap with fire. With all the strength the hothead has left, he pulls the sai from his belt and launches himself at Wolfe.

The man dodges the attack, sending Raph to the floor. "Pathetic," he sneers, stepping on the red-banded turtle's plastron and pressing down hard enough to make Raph's ribs crack. Raph cries out as white-hot bolts of pain shoot through his chest. "Did you really think that I could be defeated so easily?"

"That was...never the plan," Raph wheezes, fighting to stay awake. "We were...just the distraction."

Wolfe's eyes widen, just as the blade of a katana appears in the front of his chest. The man gags, choking on his own blood as Master Splinter pulls out the sword.

"That was for my son," Splinter hisses. Wolfe is dead before he hits the floor. Donnie pushes past his sensei, stepping over Wolfe's body and crouching beside Raph, checking over his brother.

His face grows solemn. "Your ribs are definitely broken," the genius announces grimly.

Raph chuckles, then winces as the movement makes fresh pain lance through him. "I could've...told you that."

"Hey, guys?" Mikey begins, sitting up slowly. The dazed look is fading from his eyes as he looks around. "What about Leo?"

"What about me?"

TMNT/TMNT/TMNT/TMNT

I try and look stern as I lean against the wall for support, but I can't hide the smile in my voice. Raph's gaze lands on me and a grin starts growing on his face. "You sly son of a Kraang," he says lowly.

Mikey looks up, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, and Donnie and Sensei are both blinking back tears. My youngest brother runs over, throwing his arms around me.

"Easy, Mike," I caution. "I'm not exactly up to full-" He squeezes me hard, and pain flashes hot against my ribs. "Strength," I finish weakly, gasping a little.

Immediately, Donnie is at my side, helping me sit down. "Let me take a look at that." As he pokes at the gunshot wound, I tell my family what happened when they killed Wolfe.

"I was in the astral plain, waiting for you to come back, and suddenly there was this flash of light. Then this...energy flowed into me. It felt warm and cool all at once. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on the ground, and you guys were standing over Wolfe."

"Hmm," is all Master Splinter says. I feel a rush of fear...and shame. Is he disappointed in me?

Before I can ask him, Donnie pipes up. "I'm going to have to remove these stitches and clean this out. There's no telling what kind of infection you could get. It doesn't look like whoever stitched you up cleaned up the wound very well." His keen brown eyes catch sight of the cuts on my wrist, black with dried blood, and he gasps. "Leo...what is this?"

"That's how he took my chi," I admit quietly. "Symbols drawn in my blood."

"Shell," Raph mutters.

Donnie shakes his head and pulls me to my feet. "Let's get back to the Lair. I have a lot of work to do, and you guys need to rest up."

"We all need to rest up," I correct him. "You've already done a lot of work, Don. And traveling to the astral plain like that is no easy feat. Trust me on that." Giving me a half smile, but not challenging my decision, the genius heads over to help Raph up. I follow, slipping an arm under my immediate younger brother's. "I've got it, Don."

"You sure?" he asks, raising an eye ridge. "You said yourself that you aren't in the best shape."

"I'm sure. I can still walk."

Raph rolls his eyes, then grunts as he shifts most of his weight onto me. But it's a weight I'm grateful for. I'll happily bear him - and the rest of my family - as long as it means that I'm still here. As long as I'm still alive, still able to care for them and protect them, well...I'll take their load on my shoulders any day.

About ten minutes from the Lair, Mikey's head is drooping. Donnie chuckles and picks him up, carrying him the rest of the way. Our brainy brother settles us all on the medical beds in the lab, but as soon as the genius leaves the lab, I feel a weight settle onto mine. Arms wrap around me from behind, and I glance over my shoulder as Raph nuzzles my shell.

"Raph?" I whisper. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up, Fearless," he replies, the words muffled by my carapace. "We almost lost you earlier, and I ain't lettin' you out of my sight anytime soon. So suck it up and deal."

I have to stifle my laugh, but a small smile appears on my face. "Goodnight, Raphie."

"Night," Raph mumbles, yawning. Soon enough, he's sound asleep. My eyes close again, but not for long as Mikey joins us on the bed, facing me.

"G'night, Leo," he says sleepily.

Pressing a kiss to Mikey's forehead, I tuck the blanket around him. "Goodnight, ototo."

When Donnie comes back into the room, his eyes widen. I hold a finger in front of my lips and the genius nods, his face softening. With a small chuckle, he climbs in at the foot of my bed.

I pull my brothers close, a warm feeling settling inside my chest. Nothing will ever separate us again, I vow silently, drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

The End

Hey, guys! Thank you all so, so much for reading this story! And to 5mississippis, thank you for reviewing! Those reviews were the things that had me posting the next chapters so early, haha.

I hope that this story answered your questions about what happened to Leo - and why he can't do the Healing Hands so often - in Wolfe's lab. If you enjoyed this short story, please check out my other fanfictions, "The Girl With Two Faces" and "When Light Fades" (which are the sequels to this one)!

Until next time, COWABUNGA!