A/N: So nobody, including myself, caught my slipup in the last chapter (or if you did, you were just super nice about it, haha). I had Don confront Leo with the fact that he didn't tell Mike about his blindness, but i never had Don tell Leo that he knew. My bad. XD

Blame

Raph figured it out six days later.

He'd been in the lab on and off each of those days, but it wasn't until he brought in a movie for them to watch on his battered laptop that things started going wrong.

"I don't feel watching a movie right now, Raph," Leo told him quietly. The katana-wielding ninja carefully kept his eyes closed and his face turned away. "I've got a headache and I really don't think that watching a movie would help."

"All you've been doing since you got home is laying here and sleeping," Raph retorted. "C'mon, bro, this'll be good for you. If your headache gets worse we can always turn it off."

With no way out, Leo gritted his teeth and agreed. The movie turned out to be one of his favorites - at least he knew each scene well enough to fake watching it. But around the halfway point, Raph realized something.

"You're not enjoying it."

"It's Red. Why wouldn't I enjoy it?"

He could feel the weight of the heavy green gaze on his face, watching him. Taking in his posture and his expression. "You tell me," came the even-toned response.

The leader blinked, scowling at the ground - or, at least, the approximate location that the ground occupied. "I'm tired, like I told you before. I've still got a headache. And staring at a screen with Bruce Willis on it isn't exactly helping me out at all. So I'm sorry if I'm not enjoying the movie to your specifications, Raphael. Maybe next time you should listen to me when I tell you how I'm feeling."

There was a beat of silence and then Raph stiffly closed the laptop. "Alright. If that's how you feel then I'll just leave you to wallow in self-pity."

"I'm not-" Leo began before he could stop himself. He picked up his brother's scent long before Raph's face was shoved into his own, and closed his eyes as a reflex.

"You are! You haven't really eaten, you haven't come out to see the rest of us - you haven't even looked at anybody! And while you've been in here sulking like some stuck-up jerk, Mike's been crying himself to sleep every night because even though you're back you still aren't back."

The news came as a shock to him. His eyes flew open. Mikey was that upset? "I never realized..."

"Yeah, well...guess he's a better ninja than you th-" Raph paused midsentence, and his sibling felt a wave of shock roll off of the stockier turtle. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

Oh no. "What do you mean?"

"They're all... they're all glazed and stuff. Cloudy." There was the barest hint of worry in Raph's voice, but he hid it well.

Leo, on the other hand, was a horrible liar. "Allergies. Probably not used to the sewer air anymore."

There was a beat of silence. "I'm getting Don."

"Raph, don't-"

"Donnie, get in here! Leo's- mmph!" Quick as a viper, Leo's hand shot out to cover Raph's mouth.

"Shut up!" he hissed.

The hothead jerked away and fixed a glare on his face - not that he could see it. "Why? If something's wrong, he needs to know."

"Donnie already...he already knows," Leo replied quietly, his shoulders sagging.

"Knows what? Leo, what the shell is going on?"

"I... well, it's...it's hard to explain. I can't, um..."

Raph said nothing as Leo tried to figure out how to break the news - and ultimately fell into silence. After a while, the red-banded turtle spoke up. "Leo," he said softly, "You're blind, aren't you?"

And there it was, in stark black and white. The leader's breath caught in his throat and his heart skipped a beat. He blinked through hot tears and bit his lip, trying desperately not to cry. His reaction was answer enough.

Strong arms slid around his shoulders and pulled him close. He buried his face in Raph's neck and breathed in a mix of woodsmoke and gasoline and cinnamon, all lighter notes of his brother's natural musk.

"I'm sorry," he wept. "I'm so sorry."

Raphael, meanwhile, was trying to come to grips with the situation. His mind was spinning. Leo was blind.

Leo was blind.

But there were hot tears running down his neck and plastron, and a shaking, sobbing Leonardo was wrapped in his arms. Raph's own breakdown would have to wait until he was alone and his brother didn't need him to be strong.

"You got nothing to apologize for," the brawler said firmly. "This isn't your fault."

And then, so softly it was almost impossible to hear: "No...it's Mikey's..."

A/N: Boom! Cliffhanger! XDReview? Please?