A/N Thank all of you for your patience. With finals, graduating (finally!), and packing my stuff up, it has been very busy around here for the past several weeks. In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it is a bit shorter. We are finally moving on to Leonardo, though. Have fun.

Upon waking the next morning, Raphael, Sr. found himself being used as a pillow by both his brother and Donny. To his surprise, he wasn't uncomfortable with the situation like he thought he should be. Instead, it was as his younger self had said the evening before: having the two younger turtles cuddled up against him was indeed a comforting sensation. Carefully craning his head, making sure not to disturb either of the sleeping turtles next to him, Raphael was able to see that the others were similarly situated around the room. Leo was snuggled between the Menaces, while Donatello appeared to be trapped beneath the sprawled out Brats.

Raphael was about to close his eyes for a few more minutes of sleep, when the sound of quiet whimpering drew his attention back toward Leo. One of the Menaces, he couldn't tell which one since neither was wearing a mask, was apparently having a nightmare. Leo just pulled his younger brother closer. The older Raphael could tell the young leader was murmuring something to his brother, but he was too far away to hear exactly what. Not that it mattered; whatever Leo was saying worked, for his brother settled back down into peaceful sleep. As he closed his eyes and thought about the scene he'd just witnessed, the one-eyed turtle couldn't help remembering back to when he and his brothers were younger. Back before Donatello was…gone, Leonardo had been that loving and open with his caring; stubborn, honor-laden, black-and-white world view, hardcore ninja, yes, but also incredibly caring. Well, Raphael decided. If I can apologize to Michelangelo and make things right with him, I can do the same with Leonardo. As young Leo and his brothers keep pointing out, Leonardo is my brother. It's time I remember that and do something about getting my big brother back where he belongs.

TMNTTMNT

As with the morning before, Donny and Donatello were dismissed from morning practice to work on the exo-suit. They had assured Leo that all they should probably need was just that morning, and then the battle armor would be operational and ready for use. As for the rest of the family, Leo had once again set them to sparring with their twins. This time, however, he had mixed things up by asking the two older turtles to work with their younger selves. It would introduce a new dynamic to the routine, and allow the younger turtles to get some pointers from someone who, for all intents and purposes, knew them inside and out. Leo himself spent the morning pulling his brothers aside one-by-one for a little one-on-one work. None of them were aware that they were being scrutinized from the shadows.

As Leonardo watched his two brothers work with the younger turtles, he felt an unexpected pang of sorrow in his heart. When he had reached the decision to leave for good, he hadn't realized it was going to hurt this badly. The oldest turtle forced the pain aside and strengthened his resolve. He was doing this for his siblings. They would be much better off without him. Besides, it wasn't as if they needed him anymore anyway.

Stepping out of the shadows, Leonardo stood silently, expectantly at the edge of the room. It didn't take long for the others to notice him. As soon as they did, all motion came to a grinding halt. Forcing himself to look each of his brother's eyes, Leonardo said, "I came to tell you I'm leaving. For good. I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming battle, but I cannot stay."

"Won't stay, you mean," the oldest Michelangelo muttered bitterly. Leo placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"Mike, you may not be able to see it, but I'm doing this for you," Leonardo said, his voice just shy of sounding desperate. "You, Raphael, shell, everything will be much better off once I'm…gone."

"Like shell we will," his youngest brother responded, turning away from his brother so that Leonardo could not see the hurt and fear filling his eyes. He "heard" what his older brother wasn't saying. When Leonardo said "gone," he really meant dead. "You're leaving because it's easiest for you. Because it's easier to be a coward and go out and get yourself killed than it is to admit you messed up and that you want your family back. Well, fine then; if you're going to be that way then just go. We don't need you anyway. You're just a lousy, spineless failure anyway."

The one armed turtle didn't see his brother flinch, but Raph and Raphael did. They looked at each other in concern. Things definitely weren't going well, and their older selves would never completely heal if Leonardo left now; an event which, sadly, it looked like no one was going to try and prevent.

Leonardo turned to leave, ignoring the pleading look his Raphael was giving him. The one-eyed turtle looked to dejected it almost made the oldest turtle change his mind. Steeling himself against the unexpected doubts, Leonardo looked away and continued toward the door. He had just reached the safety of the shadowed hallway, when he found his way blocked by Raph and Raphael.

"Move you two," he said, though his tone was more tired than forceful.

"I don't think so," Raph said. "At least, not until you explain why you're so desperate to hurt yourself and your brothers this way."

"It's none of your business," Leonardo replied. "Besides, you wouldn't understand."

"Try again, bonehead," Raphael growled. "Remember what I told you last time? I've been there; I know it seems so much easier to walk away and abandon those you that need you than it is to face up the fact that they do depend on you. But you know what, it isn't. They haunt you; the ones you leave behind. And getting yourself killed isn't going to help. I've seen what's on the other side. You will just face an eternity of regretting what you've done, but you won't have any way of fixing things."

"Just shut up," Leonardo demanded, his hands clenching into fists. "I don't want to hear this."

"Tough," Raph told him. "You're going to hear it regardless of whether or not you want to."

Leonardo unsheathed his sword. "No, I'm not," he said quietly. "Now move before I make you move."

Without a pause, both younger turtles drew their weapons as well. "You're going to regret this," Raph warned him.

"I highly doubt that," Leonardo said. Then he charged the two sai-bearing turtles. Raphael met him head on, catching the single katana with his sai. At the same time, Raph leaped over his head and was about to attack from the rear, when Leonardo pushed Raphael away from him and kicked out at the leather-masked turtle, catching him straight on in the chest. The Menaces went tumbling in opposite directions, but they instantly regained their feet. Looking over Leonardo's head, they met each other's eyes. A flash of communication passed between them, and they both nodded. This confrontation needed to end, and quickly. It was time to stop playing nice and show Leonardo just what they could do. Immediately, Raph launched himself at Leonardo. He was moving so fast, the older turtle didn't even have time to react. Hitting Leonardo in the chest, Raph bore him to the floor. The mostly blind turtle had barely hit the floor, when he felt his sword arm grabbed and the loud clang of metal on concrete. Leonardo tried with all his might to yank his arm back, but he couldn't move it. A quick glance revealed this his arm had been pinned to the floor by one of Raphael's sais, his katana knocked loose and lying a few feet away on the ground.

Leonardo tried to buck Raph off his chest, but he could barely move. Instead, the younger turtle just sat patiently while the older turtle squirmed ineffectively for several minutes. Finally it became clear that he wasn't going anywhere, and Leonardo stopped fighting. Closing his eyes in defeat he asked dejectedly, "Why won't you let me go? I'm a useless has-been who has failed his brothers too many times to count. My brothers don't need me, and you're all better off without me."

The all-too familiar refrain had Raph and Raphael looking at each other in increased concern. "Leonardo," Raph said gently. "I want you to listen to me. You are neither useless, nor a failure. You have faced a number of horrific events that would have destroyed most people, and yet you have survived. As for your brothers, they need you far more than you seem to realize."

"You don't understand," Leonardo said hopelessly. "It's all my fault. I failed to keep Donatello safe. I failed to save my father or protect my brothers. And to top it all off, it's my fault our home was attacked and destroyed."

"How do you figure that," Raphael asked. "You give the Foot directions to the Lair and invite them in?"

"No, but I had the chance not long before the attack to kill Karai, and I didn't do it," Leonardo replied. "I had her at my mercy, and I let her go. Then, thanks to my stupid compassion, she led an army into my home, and destroyed my family."

Thump! Raph smacked the older turtle smartly on the chest. "Don't you dare call your compassion stupid. That is one of your best traits. It's one that your brothers depend on."

"But if I hadn't let Karai go—"

"Then you wouldn't be the leader your brothers depend on," Raphael interrupted. "You wouldn't be you. And right now, it's you that your brothers need."

"Why would they need me," Leonardo asked gruffly. "They have you and your brothers."

"We're just the pinch-hitters," Raphael told him. "We're only filling in until you can come back into the game."

"Besides, even if they don't seem to need you, you need your brothers," Raph said. "Aren't you tired of being alone and hurting? Don't you miss your brothers? Don't you want to be part of a family again?"

"But—"

"No 'buts,' just yes or no," Raph said.

"Yes." The response was quiet, almost inaudible, but it was exactly the breakthrough the twins were waiting for. If Leonardo could admit that he wanted his family back, then there was still hope that matters could be fixed. With a grunt, Raphael pulled his sai from the floor, freeing Leonardo's arm. Raph stood up, reached a helping hand down to the prostrate turtle. Leonardo considered the hand for a moment, and then reached up to grab it. Raph pulled him to his feet, and Raphael returned his sword to him. Leonardo took the weapon, then looked at the younger turtles expectantly. "Now what," he asked.

"Well, that's up to you," Raphael said. "It's clear you have some things you need to say, but we're not the ones who need to hear them. So, we can either go back to the dojo and hash this out altogether, or we can go get just your younger brothers and talk things over with them."

"No," Leonardo immediately protested. "Not all at once. Please."

"What if we brought them out one at a time," Raph suggested instead. "That would perhaps be the best choice." Leonardo could only nod. "All right, who do you want to see first? I'm thinking Raphael might be a better choice. Mike's really angry with you right now, so it might be better to let him cool off some."

"Raphael's fine," Leonardo whispered.

"Good," the younger Raphael said. "Then the two of you stay here, and I'll fetch the Captain." And with that, he turned and disappeared down the hall.

"The Captain," Leonardo asked Raph once his twin was gone.

"Our name is rather hard to come up with a third variation of," Raph explained. "So last night at dinner, Mikey suggested that with only one eye, your Raphael looked like he ought to be some sort of pirate captain. Since then, the name just kind of stuck."

Leonardo didn't have the chance to respond to that, for the sound of the two returning Raphael's reached them at that point. Taking a deep breath, Leonardo turned and braced himself to face his brother once more.