Okay…so maybe laughing in Writer's Block's face wasn't such a good idea. It hit me hard with this chapter. It was one of those times when you know where to go just not how to get there. :/ But I got there…eventually. If Imagine Dragons and OneRepublic didn't exist, I would be in so much trouble. XD Thank the heavens that they do, so welcome to Chapter 8! I can't believe that I've written 8 chapters. :O Oh, another thing I can't believe is that I turned 19 yesterday. O.o That's another reason why this chapter is a little late. I spent the day stuffing my face with strawberry shortcake and spending time with friends and family. It was an awesome birthday! :D …I don't feel 19. I'm defiantly still a kid, on the inside at least… :P Now that I have given you my excuses, let's go and check in on our favorite turtles. :)

Madness

Chapter 8: Contained

Donnie laid in his bed and stared at the ceiling. His brother's screams and words echoed in his mind. "It is your fault…Your fault." Donnie thought back to the day of the accident wishing he could take it all back. It is my fault. If I had just listened to Leo, none of this would've happened. Because of my selfishness, it has cost me one of my brothers. Donnie squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the tears back. He couldn't believe that it was only four days ago. It has felt like a century. Donnie could still see his brother falling into the mutagen, changing life as he knew it. Donnie opened his eyes and searched for a distraction from this growing weight of guilt. He went over to his shelf and grabbed one of his favorite books. A biography about Albert Einstein. Donnie sat back down on his bed and started to read, absorbing every word. He had always been amazed at not only Einstein's genius, but by his astounding wisdom as well. Donnie was reading the same page he had seen a thousand times before, but this time a single quote stood out to him the most.

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don't do anything about it."

Donnie threw his book down on the floor and got out of his bed. A new fire was ignited within him. It's time to do something. Donnie grabbed his staff and headed over to his lab.

Donnie slowly opened the door to his lab and heard Leo's snores. Good. He's asleep. Donnie went to his desk and started to work in the darkness. About twenty minutes passed when Donnie heard a door open. He immediately hid in the shadows waiting to strike on Leo, but it wasn't him. It was Mikey. What is he doing? Donnie watched as Mikey approached the cage. "Mikey, don't." whispered Donnie, but Mikey was too focused on Leo. He didn't hear him. "Leo…," Mikey whispered, "Leo? You up, bro?" Leo shifted, but didn't answer. "Dude!" Leo shot up, flailing his arms. "Who?! What?! Huh?!...oh." Leo relaxed and let out an embarrassed laugh. "Hey, Mikey. What's up?" Mikey sat down in front of the cage's gate. "I was just wonderin'…did you mean what you said? To Donnie?" Leo scooted over and sat in front of his little brother. "No, Mikey, of course I didn't. I would never say that to him. This was not…well it is sort of. The idiot didn't listen to me. Some genius." Leo shrugged his shoulders. "He should've just listened to his leader." Mikey was getting confused. "You just said you didn't mean it, but then you said that it was his fault. You're soundin' like Splinter, dude." Mikey prepared his best Splinter imitation. "Yes…and no." Leo laughed. "That was pretty good, Mikey." Leo joined in. "The first rule of being a ninja is 'do no harm.' Unless you need to do harm, then do lots of harm!" Mikey's face lit up, and his goofy grin returned. That's not like Leo. He would never make fun of Splinter. Donnie thought to himself. Mikey started to shift around in his spot, he looked nervous. "Hey, Leo?" Leo smiled. "Yeah, Mikey?" Mikey's eyes dropped to the floor. "Why did you leave us?" Leo looked hurt by the question and started to reach out for his little brother but pulled back. "I left because I needed…to get away." Mikey raised his gaze from the floor and to his big brother. "Away from what?" Leo's face hardened. "You." "But what did I do?" "You're a distraction, Mikey. You were always interrupting my training. Interrupting me when I gave orders. Interrupting me when I was trying to focus. When I was trying to focus on the Kraang, your interruption led me to the upper level of TCRI. It's because of you I was on that platform. It was because of you I had to jump, only to land into mutagen." Mikey scooted closer to the iron bars. The only thing that separated him from his brother. "But Leo, I told you that 'cause we needed to stop them. I didn't do it to get you mutated." Mikey reached through the bars and placed his hand on Leo's knee. "You're my bro." Leo placed his hand on Mikey's. "I know I'm just…tired of you." Leo's grip started to increase. "Leo, dude, let go." His grasp only intensified. Mikey took the pain and looked into Leo's eyes. "Leo…let me go." He said calmly. Leo's face contained no remorse, but Mikey saw something in Leo. There was a fight in him, and he believed that Leo wasn't going to lose this time. Leo's hand grew tighter, causing Mikey's bones to grind. He didn't pull away, but the tears of pain were beginning to flow. "L-Leo?" Mikey's blue eyes pleaded, but nothing changed. Leo pulled Mikey's arm, causing his face to crash against the bars. A familiar sinister smile formed on Leo's lips. "I will never give up, Mikey." Mikey spoke through the pain. "That makes two of us." Leo squeezed his hand once more, emitting a nauseating crack into the silent Lair. "Mikey!" Donnie ran over and pulled his brother out of Leo's grip, and the tears began to flow out of Mikey. Donnie looked down at Mikey's hand. It was shattered. He ran over to his desk and got the shot out from the drawer and put stuck it in Mikey's arm. "I'll be right back, Mikey." Donnie placed him on the floor and then walked over to Leo who was now standing, holding onto the bars. "Hey, traitor." Leo smirked. "Help anyone else lately?" However, tears were rolling down Leo's cheeks, staining his mask. "Leo." Donnie ignored Leo's face and focused on his eyes. "Fight." Leo laughed. "How can I fight, Donnie?" He continued to ignore Leo's words, because they were not truly his. "You've always been there for us, no matter what." "To bad he can't protect himself." Donnie's expression hardened. "You, shut up. Leo, fight. I will do everything I can to fix this. I will figure it out." Leo reached out his hand and placed it on Donnie's shoulder. His grip started to get tighter, but it relaxed. Leo's mouth said "You can't, Donatello.", but Donnie didn't listen to the puppeteer's performance. He focused on the passion in Leo. The fire and will his brother was gifted with that made him the person his is. The drive to succeed. "Come on, Leo! Fight." Leo rested his other hand on Donnie's remaining shoulder and this time, it stayed relaxed. Then a small whisper gave Donnie the hope he desperately needed. The one thing Donnie needed to hear, and his brother managed to say it.

"I will."

The next morning, Donnie, Raph, Mikey, and Splinter were all gathered in the dojo. They were all standing in the middle of the room getting ready for morning training. When Splinter was about to give instructions, Donnie interrupted. "I think I have found something, Sensei. Something that could help Leo." Mikey's eyes lit up. "Really?" "Yeah. When Raph and I were at Kraang headquarters before you and Leo showed up, Raph had grabbed that shot and a good handful of flash drives. I was able to hack into them, and it revealed the plan they had for that pod in the middle of the room. It was an experiment testing the stability of the mutagen. To track their progress so to speak. One of the containers had mutagen-" Raph rolled his eyes. "We already know that, genius." Donnie glared at his brother. "I know that. You never let me finish, Raph!" Donnie took a breath and continued. "The other one had different form of mutagen that was going to act like a reset button." Mikey jumped up and threw his hands in the air. "It's tryagainagen! No, no! It's undoagen! Because, ya know, before your mutated and then after-" Raph reached out and put his hand over Mikey's mouth. "We get it!" Donnie rolled his eyes and continued. "So the uh…undoagen would reset whatever they had mutated in that pod if it didn't meet the desired result." Splinter came up behind Donnie and put a paw on his son's shoulder. "What are you saying, Donatello?" Donnie turned around and faced his father. "What I am saying, Sensei, is that if we went back to Kraang headquarters, we could get some of the undoagen and use it on Leo." Splinter shook his head. "Donatello, we are not sure if this undoagen will help Leonardo, or only cause more harm." Donnie nodded his head. "I know, Sensei. I would have to get my hands on it and run tests to be sure, but by knowing what's on the flash drives themselves, I know for a fact that it will be risky" "How risky, Donnie?" asked Raph. "Well, it is undoagen. If I use too much," Donnie looked at the floor, "it could revert Leo completely." Mikey interrupted "You mean that Leo would look like Spike? That's terrible!" "Hey!" Raph pushed Mikey's shoulder. "Don't make fun of Spike." "You don't need to be pushing me, Raph. I'm injured." Mikey pointed to his hand while wearing a smug grin on his face. His hand was now perfectly fine. "You're just gonna ride that till it breaks, huh?" Mikey nodded and his grin widened. "Yep." Donnie sighed and put his face in his hand. "Guys, really? This is serious." Raph shrugged. "So is Mikey's stupidity." Donnie gave up and faced Master Splinter. "If I did use just enough, Leo would be cured." "Are you sure that there are no other options, Donnie?" said Raph "Last time we went into TCRI, we almost got killed." "I'm sure." Donnie said "I've tried using everything I have at my disposal. I even went to the military junk yard, but nothing I found helped. Trust me guys, I wouldn't have told you this if it wasn't a last resort. The only other thing we can do is wait and hope that Leo can push away whatever it is that's eating at him, and I am not sure how much more Leo can take." Splinter spoke up. "Kneel, my sons." The three turtles took their places and focused on their master. "We do not know how much time Leonardo has left, so we need to act quickly. Donatello, go through with your plan. You will leave tonight. However, you all must be silent and knowledgeable of your surroundings. You must not be detected. Understand?" All three turtles stood up and bowed. "Hai, Sensei."

Leo sat in his cage, curled up in a ball, forcing himself to stay silent. The darkness of the room enveloped him, making it easier to ignore the crushing pain. Donnie left the lights on for him during the day; but when night came, he turned them off hoping that his brother could find a few hours of sleep. Usually, they never came. If he was lucky, he would get a few minutes to close his eyes; but he was always awakened by his visitor. When a few hours of sleep were blessed, it was filled of visions of him killing Alice and her father. Leo would never forgive himself. His brothers have tried to convince him that it wasn't, but the blood was on Leo's hands and he would never be able to wash them clean. "It is your fault, Leonardo." Leo shot up and looked around the lab. "Who's there?" He saw a pair of eyes lurking in the shadows. "Who are you?" The eyes revealed themselves, and Master Splinter stepped out from the shadows. "Oh, Sensei. I thought you were someone else." Splinter's face was stern, no love was to be found. "It is your fault, Leonardo. You attacked the innocent. Your honor as a ninja is tainted. Your place in this family is no more." Splinter got closer to Leo's cage. "Your place in my heart is no more." Leo stood up and faced Splinter. "But Sensei, what do you mean? I am your son!" Leo was confused. "You can't just give up on me." Splinter shook his head. "How can I have a son who kills out of selfishness?" Leo reached through the bars out to his father, but he backed away. "Master Splinter! Please! I'll get better. I promise." Splinter placed his staff in front of him creating yet another barrier between himself and his son. "No, Leonardo. I cannot hold on to false hope." Leo gripped the bars as tight as he could and focused his gaze on Splinter's eyes. "Sensei, I can't lose you. You've taught me everything I know. You're the one who has filled my life with love and hope. You're the one who has always put faith in me, always believing that I can do the impossible. You have believed in me through everything else. Why can't you do that now?" Splinter walked over to Leo, still remaining cold and distant. "I cannot because your strength is running out. You cannot control yourself. You have committed something that can never be undone, and you will never be able to fix that. I am sorry, Leonardo." Leo's eyes and throat began to burn. "Sensei! Don't give up one me. You can't go!" Splinter looked away from Leo and made his way to the door. "Please, don't leave me." Splinter continued to head towards the door. "Stop, father!" Splinter froze in his tracks. "I can't do this without you." Leo begged. "I need you." Tears started to run down his cheeks, he shouldn't have to persuade for his father's love. "I love you, father!" Leo hung his head down, resting it between the bars. "Please, I still have a chance! I am fighting. I am trying to come back. I will come back to you!" Leo looked up. His eyes were red from the tears. "I will be the best son I can. For you." Splinter looked over his shoulder. "You are no longer my son." With that Splinter left the room shutting Leo out from his life. Leo slid down the cage's cold bars. He placed his head in his hands and for every moment he remained strong, he let himself break. All of the emotions Leo had contained in order to remain intact, were released. They flooded out of him, and Leo cried like he had never done before, making his entire body shake. This had pierced him straight down into his soul. This pain had no measure, and it was wrenching him from the inside out, leaving nothing behind. Leonardo had shattered.

I told you. He never cared. He never will.

I understand.

I am sorry, Leonardo, that it had to come to this.

At least I know now. I can only trust myself.

Life is easier without attachments.

Yes. It will be.

In the other room, Splinter was drinking tea hoping that his other three sons would return carrying with them the cure that would bring Leonardo back to him.

And Chapter 8 comes to a close! Y'all…I made myself tear up over this. :'( Leo has always been so close to Splinter...just ugh! DX Ok…enough with the feels. Thank you all for reading and giving my story over 700 views! :O This was totally unexpected. It's probably not that much for other people, but to me it totally is. For this being my first fanfic and full blown story it's just…wow. Thank you! :D I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Till next time! ;)