AN: BlingThing: And there comes Leo's turn! I hope you enjoy.
Nightshadegirl: I'm glad you're enjoying this story! And I'm sure Donnie will choose the shows carefully, he doesn't want to traumatize his brother. Thanks for reviewing!
Techno Dawn: Absolutely. But it still felt good to write him say it aloud…
Hawkfeather: Thank you so much for your kind words! I must say I enjoyed that part… Poor Raph, though! I see you're concerned about Leo's well-being. Well, he doesn't hate himself and he's not the leader yet, so he isn't burdened with this responsibility. (That's basically why I chose to place the story before Splinter makes him leader.) So he should be fine, right?
Where Two Turtles Are In Trouble
Donatello managed to wait an entire week before testing the truth serum on Leonardo. It had been necessary to let things settle down a little. Raphael's reaction to the serum, although really funny from Donatello's point of view, had awoken his family's suspicions.
Leonardo had been especially worried about Raphael's well-being. He had come to Donatello and asked him if such a reaction could be the symptom of an illness. Donatello had clouded the issue while still reassuring his anxious brother, pretending that Raphael's sudden and brief burst of sentimentality could be due to a temporary tiredness and that he would be fine after a good night's sleep. Leonardo had seemed dubious, but he hadn't pressed the issue, to Donatello's utter relief.
Master Splinter had said nothing, but Donatello knew that he was concerned too. When Raphael had mercilessly beaten Michelangelo during their next sparring session and boasted about his victory for hours, the ninja master hadn't say a single word to reprimand him.
Raphael had his suspicions too. He had asked Donatello if he had put something in his food while preparing dinner. Donatello had played the offended turtle with shameless conviction, helped in that by the fact he was being sincere. Besides, Michelangelo had finished Raphael's plate, so the food was out of the picture. This argument had convinced Raphael, who had shook his head and left grumbling. May their orange-clad brother be blessed for his endless appetite.
Speaking of Michelangelo, the orange-clad turtle was becoming restless. He was harassing Donatello with his pleas for more Truth Water Balloons. It kind of compensated the fact that he kept his promise and didn't prank the genius. Donatello wondered if it was it some sort of revenge. At least the purple-clad turtle had the pleasure to watch educational scientific channels with his brother. Michelangelo's pitiful expression when the genius turtle had switched on the TV with a wide grin and motioned for the orange-clad turtle to take a seat and watch a three hours long report on the building of a new particle accelerator had been priceless. Okay, maybe Donatello had exaggerated a little on this one. He didn't want to put Michelangelo off science – not that the shorter turtle had been into it at some point, but still…
But now, Donatello believed that the incident with Raphael was, if not forgotten, at least behind them. It was time to move on. This time, the purple-clad turtle had planned to use his serum during their training session. It had been Michelangelo's idea.
"That's the least probable place where Leo would talk nonsense," Michelangelo had said excitedly. "It's going to be fun! And maybe Raph will be too distracted to seriously spar with us."
That last part had convinced Donatello. He could do with a lighter training session today. After all, he had spent a considerable amount of time reading under his new opaque quilt last night and he was tired.
That's why Donatello had discreetly dropped off some of his serum on the hilts of Leonardo's katana while Michelangelo distracted their blue-clad brother, just before their training session. If everything went well, Leonardo wouldn't touch them until he had to unsheathe his katana for weapons' practice.
And everything went well up to this part. While Donatello took his bo staff to go through kata who required their weapons, his eyes watched his blue-clad brother anxiously. Would Leonardo notice that his hilts were slightly damp?
But the four turtles were already far in their training session, and they were sweating. To Donatello's relief, Leonardo didn't appear to feel the difference.
During the whole time Master Splinter ordered them to go through kata, Donatello's heart was beating faster with anticipation. It made him make a few unusual mistakes and he glimpsed an amused look on Leonardo's face when Master Splinter had to correct him. If only you knew, Leo, Donatello thought excitedly. I don't think I will be the main attraction today.
At the same time, the purple-clad turtle couldn't help feeling a tingle of guilt. If Michelangelo had brought his fate upon himself and if Raphael had quite deserved his own due to his smug behavior in the dojo, Leonardo hadn't really done anything to cross his genius brother. I'm just collecting more data for my research. Two people aren't a wide enough statistical sample, Donatello thought with bad faith.
After the kata, Master Splinter motioned for his sons to kneel in front of him.
"My sons, we will continue our training session with one-to-one sparring. Donatello will face Leonardo, and Raphael will face Michelangelo. Then the winners will face each other."
Raphael smiled smugly.
"You can name them, Sensei. We all know who it will be."
Splinter frowned at his arrogant son.
"The outcome of a fight is never certain, my son. Overconfidence can be deadly."
The ninja master looked at his four sons.
"Do you understand?"
"Hai, Sensei," Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo answered respectfully.
But Leonardo didn't. Splinter turned to his son, surprised. He was usually the first one to agree with every word Splinter pronounced, a habit his brothers teased him regularly about.
Raphael was as surprised as his father. He looked curiously at his brother. On Leonardo's other side, both Donatello and Michelangelo exchanged discreet excited glances. Would their brother dare to openly contradict their father? This was better than what they had expected.
Leonardo seemed to be caught in some kind of internal turmoil. Donatello tilted his head, intrigued. Was he trying to resist the serum?
"Leonardo, do you want to say something?" Splinter inquired, raising an eyebrow.
Leonardo finally blurted out.
"But Raph is right," he said while his blue eyes widened in horror, "the probability of either Donatello or Michelangelo winning the fight is so low that you don't need to take it into account."
His three brothers gasped. Master Splinter found himself speechless. This was extremely unexpected. Out of consideration for Leonardo's usual good behavior in the dojo, he decided to leave his son a chance to amend.
"Do you really think so?"
Leonardo closed his eyes, as if he couldn't bear to witness his father's reaction at what he was going to say. For an unknown reason, his tongue wasn't obeying him.
"Yes, I do. Donnie still leaves himself too open to a disarming attack and he doesn't take advantage of his long-range weapon. Mikey focuses more on having fun than on beating his opponent. Neither of them is a challenge right now. They do have potential, but they still have a long way to go."
"Hey!" Both affected brothers exclaimed indignantly while Raphael whistled, impressed in spite of himself by his brother's boldness.
"Leonardo! It is not your place to say so," Master Splinter said severely. He couldn't believe that Leonardo was being so disrespectful towards him and his brothers.
"I know, Sensei," Leonardo answered miserably. "I can't help it."
Splinter took a deep breath.
"You all have a long way to go before you truly master ninjitsu," he said. "Maybe you need to be reminded of that. Leonardo, stand up."
His son opened his eyes and obeyed, not daring to look at him.
"Fight me, without leaving yourself open for an attack. And don't forget to take advantage of your own long-range weapon."
Leonardo bit his lip. He had no doubt that he would be unsuccessful at both suggestions, and that it would hurt. With a deep sigh, he obeyed his father's command.
And it did hurt, when his body suddenly and violently came into contact with the hard wall while his katana scattered on the floor. He hadn't even seen his father coming. His brothers' laughs were ringing in his ears.
Ashamed, Leonardo sat down. What was happening to him? He knew better than to contradict his father. But it was as if he had had no choice but to speak his own mind.
Without paying attention to him, Splinter turned to his other sons.
"Change of plans. Donatello and Michelangelo, you spar with each other. The winner will fight Raphael. I don't think that Leonardo is in shape for another fight just now."
Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael laughed again.
Donatello and Michelangelo faced each other and began circling. They were both smiling from ear to ear. This scene had been fun to watch and was a true balm for their hurt ego.
Raphael went to his fallen brother and extended his hand to him with a smile.
"Thanks for the support, but I'm surprised you didn't think this through," he whispered.
Leonardo groaned and took the offered hand to stand up.
"Sorry Raph, but I really didn't mean too. I don't know what has come into me," he whispered back.
Donatello and Michelangelo had finished their short-lived fight, the latter being the winner, and they had heard Leonardo's response.
"Don't worry, Leo, it happens to me all the time," Michelangelo told him comfortingly.
"Yes, it may be the biggest of your recent mistakes, but you'll get over it," Donatello added, twisting the knife a little.
"Oh no, it's not his biggest mistake," Raphael shook his head lightly before looking horrified.
Donatello immediately recognized this look. But Raphael hadn't been in contact with the serum recently, why would he feel compelled to tell the truth? Unless…
Oh no, Donatello thought. Some of the serum must have mixed with Leo's sweat and didn't penetrate his skin. It stayed on his hand, and Raph touched it when he helped Leo to stand up. Now he's affected too.
A part of the purple-clad turtle was dying to hear what Raphael had to say, but another part of him wished he would shut up. Leonardo was looking at his red-clad brother with dread and something like betrayal in his eyes, and it made Donatello uneasy. Michelangelo seemed to be in a similar state of mind, because he didn't ask either.
Unluckily for Raphael and Leonardo, Master Splinter had no such scruples.
"What do you mean, Raphael?" He asked quietly, with a hint of warning in his voice.
Raphael looked at Leonardo, pleading. He didn't want to tell this, it was a secret between the two of them, but he really couldn't help it.
"I was referring to the time we met those sewage workers," he said. "When Leo decided to play Captain Ryan On A Solo Mission."
"Raph," Leonardo uttered.
Splinter blinked. He couldn't believe his ears. Was this a bad joke?
"Leonardo?" He asked his son very carefully.
"It's true," Leonardo said in a dead voice. His face was more white than green. If he had thought he was in trouble earlier, it was nothing compared to how he felt right now.
"When was it? Who was involved?" Splinter asked, his voice still incredulous.
"Four months ago. Just Raph and I," Leonardo answered automatically. "And it was my fault, not Raph's."
Donatello and Michelangelo were astonished. Had their brothers really been in contact with humans? Had they been hiding that from Splinter? If it was true – and it had to be, considering that both of them were under the influence of Donatello's serum – they were in big trouble right now.
"Our training session is over," Splinter said in a strained voice. "Donatello. Michelangelo. Leave us. I have to talk with your brothers."
The two turtles obeyed. As they exited the dojo and then the living room to take shelter in Donatello's lab, not even daring to spy on the coming conversation, Michelangelo turned to his purple-clad brother and grabbed one of his arms.
"Donnie," he whispered with a dismayed look on his face. "What have they done? What have we done?"
"I don't know, Mikey," Donatello answered, putting his other arm around his brother's shoulder. "I don't know."
%%%%%
Splinter was pacing the dojo, trying to make sense of what had just happened and almost afraid to hear more.
Raphael and Leonardo were kneeling, their heads bowed, looking so guilty that their father had lost all hope of the whole matter being a mere joke.
Finally, Splinter stopped and took a deep breath, before kneeling in front of the two turtles. He closed his eyes for a second, finding his center and preparing himself to listen to his sons' story.
"Explain."
Leonardo and Raphael exchanged a glance without looking up at their father. Splinter sighed.
"Leonardo, you begin."
His blue-clad son found his voice. Although he was shaking slightly, his report was clear and surprisingly detailed.
"There had been this Space Heroes episode where Captain Ryan was exploring this new planet on his own because his crew was ill, and I thought it was so cool and I would do the same on a sewer tunnel. So I waited until you were gone scavenging with Mikey. I knew Donnie would take advantage of Mikey's absence to work peacefully in his lab, and Raph would play his video games. I sneaked out of the lair and I chose a tunnel I didn't know…"
Splinter frowned. A tunnel Leonardo didn't know meant a tunnel in an area his sons were forbidden to explore. As if it wasn't bad enough that he had left the lair alone.
"… I began playing, but then I heard noises, and it was Raph. He had followed me."
Splinter turned to Raphael, who immediately took over.
"I had my suspicions because Leo was trying so hard to play the casual guy, so I was watching him. I spotted him leaving the lair, and I was curious and a little angry that he hadn't invited me or Donnie. When I understood what he was up to, I was mad at him and I shouted at him and he shouted at me and people heard us…"
Splinter's ears twitched. He turned to Leonardo. The blue-clad turtle went on without even blinking.
"They were sewage workers. We disappeared in the shadows like you taught us too, but one of them had ta-taken a glance at Raph…"
It was the first time that Leonardo stuttered in his story. His father forced himself to remain calm. His sons were in front of him, perfectly safe. They hadn't been captured, they hadn't been injured. The story ended well. This had happened months ago. All Splinter could do right now was listen to his sons. Leonardo was talking without catching his breath now and his father had to focus to understand him.
"… and he was saying to the others that he had seen a giant turtle and they didn't believe him but he wanted to show them that he was right and he was coming at us so I used a flashlight and I made a shadow show like Mikey had taught me while I was supposed to help him with his homework and when the sewer worker said that he had seen an elephant too they laughed at him but I think that's the giraffe who convinced them - including him - that he was hallucinating and they left and we went home and I'm so, so sorry."
Leonardo finally breathed. Splinter looked at him, speechless. When he found his voice again, it was to ask his other son a question.
"Anything else you want to say?"
"That I want to? No, absolutely not," Raphael whispered truthfully.
"So," Splinter went on. He was trying to order his thoughts. "Are you telling me that you almost got noticed by humans because you were shouting at each other in a sewer tunnel you were forbidden to explore, because Raphael had followed Leonardo who wanted to impersonate a cartoon character, and that you only got away because Leonardo had been playing with Michelangelo instead of helping him with his homework?"
Splinter's voice had risen with a remarkable regularity during his speech, and it was now terrifying for the two poor turtles in front of him.
"Yes," they both answered in a very small voice, their eyes set on the floor.
Splinter clenched his fists. He couldn't believe that his sons – and especially the usually so reasonable Leonardo - had been so careless. This cartoon had obviously a bad influence on him. What was he supposed to do now? Maybe he should borrow Donatello's laptop and go again on this Internet forum with helpful advice for single parents. And how could he, Splinter, have failed to notice that something this important had happened in his sons' life? He knew he wasn't a perfect parent, but it was still painful. Besides, he was retrospectively scared. The situation could have degenerated so easily.
Splinter looked severely at his sons. His effect was somehow ruined by the fact that they still weren't looking at him. He made sure that his anger and disappointment showed in his voice, and his sons shrank.
"Leonardo, Raphael, I am very disappointed in both of you. You disobeyed me and put yourselves at great risk."
Splinter took a cleansing breath.
"Leonardo, look at me."
His son obeyed. Splinter's heart sank at the tears welling up in his blue eyes, but he went on.
"Your behavior has been unspeakable. You know very well that I forbid you to leave the lair on your own and to explore certain tunnels for a very good reason. You're not safe in the world of humans. I thought I could trust you, and I was wrong."
"I'm sorry, Father," Leonardo choked.
"Besides, you didn't tell me anything about it until now…"
Splinter abruptly stopped. And why had they decided to tell him the truth today? They had managed to hide this from him for months, and they had seemed perfectly fine until then. True, Raphael's tongue had slipped, but he still could have found an excuse. Ninja master or not, Splinter would never have guessed on his own what had happened. Not to mention that it was highly unusual for Raphael to tattle on Leonardo. And why had Leonardo's report been so precise, with details he could have conveniently left out, like the part with Michelangelo's homework? It made no sense. Something didn't add up here.
The ninja master took a deep breath.
"I need to think about these events. We will speak later about your punishment. For now, you are both confined to your rooms. You may go."
The turtles didn't need to be told twice. They stood up and disappeared from the dojo, leaving their father with the beginning of a strong headache.