Hello all, so a little bit of Leo talkin with Leo, kinda angsty I guess.=) Anyway we will be getting back to Katherine soon!


Chapter 11

Leonardo knew darkness had fallen and that the shift was finally over, which meant that they were now on T'lae-ran. He needed to find Darkness. He needed to fall down on his knees before her an beg her to forgive him for being such an ass, and for not realizing sooner that she had suffered a great deal by being bound within Darkness, and that he would help her, however she needed to be helped.

"Castellum." He called out. The Castle's avatar appeared in front of him. The Will of Darkness was the Will of the Castle, so if Darkness still didn't want to be found the Castle would not tell him where she was. "Where is Darkness?" He asked hoping Darkness would want to be found.

"In the spare Bedroom with Raphael." The young man answered as he disappeared. He strode out of Darkness' bedchamber and towards the central ring of bedrooms.

He quietly opened the door and saw his brother lying with Darkness wrapped in his arms. "Raph." He said quietly. His brother opened his eyes. They widened in shock.

"Got your soul fixed I see. One of our counterparts steal your room?" He asked quietly. Raphael looked at him. "So did you spend time with her or did she just fall asleep?" He asked as he sat down on the bed.

"Why Leo, you want to join in?" Raphael asked.

Leonardo looked at his younger brother. Raphael was teasing him he knew. He and Raphael were rarely in bed together with Darkness, they just didn't play well together. "I was an idiot." He said softly brushing a piece of shadow out of her face.

"Apparently." Raphael said as he sat up.

"I just, I put Goddess up on this pedestal, and even though I love Darkness, I still loved Goddess and my mind and body had separated them like they were two different people, which they aren't. They are the same woman, but because they weren't exactly the same I kept thinking they were different. But they aren't. Sure there are small things here and there, and sometimes she acts a little more like Goddess than Darkness, and I am an idiot and I have to apologize to her because even though she never said a word, I know that she knew exactly how I have been feeling." He said as he touched the velvety softness of her cheek.

"Heh. You are an idiot, doin' the same damn thing Daemon did." Raphael said with a shake of his head.

Leonardo looked at his brother and nodded before stopping mid nod. He looked at his brother's unmarked and unscarred chest. It wasn't his brother, but rather the other Raphael who Darkness had decided to crawl into bed with. Anger, and jealousy ripped through him as he realized his wife was with another version of his brother.

"Calm down Leo." Raphael said with a shake of his head. "She crawled in here and went to sleep. I have my own version of Katherine waiting for me at home. I ain't going to spoil it by doing something with your...wife. That sounds so strange." He said softly.

Leonardo's anger and jealousy receded as he realized that Raphael's Katherine was in danger at the moment. Granted he was still not pleased to find him in bed with his naked wife. On the other hand he knew Darkness, and she tended to not do things without a reason.

"Even if I wanted to marry Katherine, I couldn't, not really. It wouldn't be anything the human world would recognize." He said softly. "And let's not forget that if I get her to choose between us, I may lose her and even if she does choose me, it will break her heart because she loves my brothers as well."

"Sharing isn't so bad." Leonardo said as he smiled at Darkness. "Right Darkness?" He asked his sleeping wife. He frowned when she didn't move.

"Darkness?" He questioned as he shook her lightly.

"What's wrong?" Raphael questioned.

"She never sleeps, not like how a human sleeps." But she was sleeping now. "You wore yourself out, didn't you?" He asked her sleeping form. He stood up. He would have to apologize later. "Are you coming or are you going to sleep some more?" He asked Raphael. As much as he wasn't comfortable with him sleeping with his wife, he understood it, and knowing Darkness she had probably known that Raphael had needed her for some reason. Raphael looked conflicted as if he wasn't sure what the right answer was. "If you need more sleep, sleep, you need your rest. Darkness needs the company and I think you need her right now." He walked to the door and let himself out.

"Daddy!" Starbright yelled as she launched herself at him. He hugged his daughter closely. "Me and Starlight were playing with other daddy." She said happily.

He frowned slightly. "You and Starlight are supposed to be in the training yard warming up."

"But daaad, we just got home." She whined. He sighed. She was right. They had been gone for nearly a month and was the worst month of his life, and that was saying something. Having discovered that Raphael's daughter and his own had vanished without a trace, had instilled within him a new level of horror and anxiety he hadn't even known existed.

For the girls though, it had only been a little under two weeks. They had tried to get to them as close to the time when that had fallen into the parallel universe, but they had been off. He hoped that Donatello and Darkness knew what they were doing to get back the exact moment they left, so that Katherine wouldn't be in Hell any longer that she needed to be.

He pulled his daughter in closer. "Where is Leonardo?" He asked as he finally let her go.

"We're having a tea party in our playroom." She said happily as she pulled him along.

He followed her down the spiral staircase and into their playroom. His counterpart was sitting awkwardly at the little kids table drinking 'tea' with Starlight. His counterpart's baby brother was also in the playroom watching and marvelling at Trick and Treat's abilities.

At the moment they were in their turtle forms. Along with being able to change to human form, float through walls, raise the dead and thin barriers between the realm of the living and the dead, they were also able to impersonate voices very well. Right now they were both doing a very convincing impression of Raphael when angry. Michelangelo was in stitches rolling on the ground tears running down from his eyes.

He was at least happy that Michelangelo could still laugh, even knowing that Katherine was in danger.

He lifted an eye ridge as his brother's sons began a rousing impersonation of himself. His counterpart had stopped and was now looking at Trick and Treat. He sighed. Unfortunately with children they tended to be like mina birds, if something was said they could throw it back at you months later. Trick and Treat were especially bad at hearing things they weren't supposed to hear because of their ability to literally float through walls. Darkness was able to tell where all the children were at all times so she would cut them off if she knew they were listening, but when it was he and his brothers alone, they didn't have that advantage so they had taken to discussing serious topics either during the day or in the Control Room where they couldn't spy.

"Raph, how many times have I told you not to lose your temper, especially in front of the kids!" His voice growled from Trick's mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry Leo, but when you start lecturing me I can't help but get pissed off." Treat growled out in Raphael's voice. "And it's not my fault Mikey's kids can float through the damn walls!"

"You aren't supposed to be wandering around on Darkrealm Raph. Earth yes, but Darknrealm, if the gods catch you..." His voice said angrily.

"Maybe I want to be caught Leo. I am so sick and tired of pretending and hiding. I did enough of that when I was still alive. I hated it then and I hate it now!" Treat yelled.

"Raph," His voice had dropped into a frustrated sigh. "This isn't our world, if Darkness says this is the best way, it is the best way. Don't go out anymore."

"And what if I do, whatcha gonna do Fearless, you know you can't beat me in a fight anymore." Treat said tauntingly.

"Don't push me Raph." Trick growled.

"Okay you two." Leonardo finally said.

Michelangelo was still in whoops. "That is so Raph and Leo." He said laughing.

Leonardo looked at his counterpart who was looking at him. They shared a commiserating moment of total understanding. His counterpart stood and walked over to him. Starbright happily skipped to the table and began pouring 'tea' with Starlight.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" His counterpart asked.

He wanted to say no, but he figured he didn't have much of a choice. He wasn't sure how long their counterparts were going to be here for and it was better to clear the air between them. He nodded. He led the way back up to the Control Room.

They found Donatello in the Control Room sleeping on Magi's control panel.

"I see that Donatello has the same habits." He observed. With Donatello being a god, he technically never actually had to sleep. This meant he could devote considerable energies to helping Darkness keep an eye on things. The only time he had found Donatello sleeping was when he was with Darkness, if he wasn't sharing her bed, he was usually sitting in front of Magi.

"Yeah. Katherine's been good for him." Leonardo said softly. "He actually pries himself away from the computer and his workroom. She's been good for all of us." He said quietly. The pain in his counterpart's voice was almost tangible. "All I ever did was fight with her." He said wretchedly. "She made me so out of control. I lied to her, I handled her roughly and ended up bruising her arm because I couldn't control my anger, my jealousy. I was possessed by an angel and nearly raped and killed her." His counterpart looked at him in anguish. "I don't even deserve to stand in the same room with her, let alone be with her!" He shook his head. "How do you share? I know myself, I am not okay with her being with all of my brothers, especially Raphael." He looked him in the eye.

He sighed and walked over to the small kitchen. He walked over and filled a kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil. "Sam is probably preparing breakfast, so you will be able to eat soon. It will give your brothers time to wake up." He said as he watched his younger counterpart clench and unclench his fists.

When he had been alive he had also been angry, but he could see the dark side of his counterpart rolling around in his eyes.

His younger self seemed to understand his need to collect his thoughts and asked instead, "Who and what is Sam? Everyone in this place seems to have two names. Darkness seems to call everyone by a different name, even Michelangelo."

Leonardo crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eye as he though how to answer the question. He opened his eye and looked at his counterpart. "Darkness has a thing for calling everyone by their proper names. The only two people who she calls by a nickname are..." Leonardo paused and grimaced. "Well, you'll meet those two soon enough. You see in the world of the gods, even in the mortal world, names have power. Knowing a person's or a Being of Power's real name, can give you a certain amount of power or influence with them. Azazel's chosen name is Samael. It was the name Raph and I knew him by when he was the Orientation Leader for The Pit. Sam was the one who looked after Raphael, protected him as much as he could and literally put him back together after some of the more brutal fights. Sam was a demon, but Darkness made him her...minion would be the best way I could describe what Sam is. Although never let him hear you call him that." He said with a smirk. "As for the children, Astrumlumen, Astrumlucidus, and Cleas, Féirín, those are their actual names, the names mortals call them by when they wish and pray. We call them by their English names because it is easier, as for Hitsuzen, her name is easy enough to say, and although her name means fated we don't actually know what she is yet, a goddess, a spirit, we're not sure. As for Mikey, I am guessing that Mealltair is his Trickster name. Which is a whole other thing we have to talk to Darkness about because I don't really even know what that means." He grumbled.

The water boiled and he busied himself by making two cups of tea. He handed one to his counterpart and walked over to the couch. His counterpart took the loveseat. He looked into the dark liquid and took a sip. "I never wanted to share." He began slowly. "I loved Goddess so much it hurt." He smiled grimly. "I was like you. Goddess and I fought constantly. She tipped my world so off kilter the only way I knew to react was to lash out at her with anger and mistrust. Raphael's mind and body were broken and she was the only thing that kept him sane. As much as I mistrusted her, Raphael needed her, and the fact that she hadn't chosen Raphael infuriated me more, even though my heart broke at the thought of her being with him." He paused as he gathered his thoughts.

"Goddess was so terrifying. You have no idea how frightening it is to have someone that powerful around. She could snap you in half like a twig if she wanted to, and her hunger." He shook his head. "She fed off of blood. We all knew this and the thought of her feeding was horrifying. After she began feeding off of Donny, I didn't really know what to think, and yet, I still loved her, still wanted her. And then it was too late, she was gone and then she was dead. After her death I would have given anything just to have her back. I would have shared her because not having her was a pain that cut so deep I didn't think I would be able to go on living, but I had to because I was the big brother. I was the one who had to keep it together."

"As you heard Raph left the night she died. So not only did I lose the woman I loved, but I lost my brother too. Our family broke and shattered. Donny and Mikey didn't talk to me for two years after Master Splinter passed away. They left the lair and Donny..." He stopped talking because that wasn't his story to tell.

"When Raph came back I was so relieved that he hadn't been trying to get himself killed, but I lost him the same night he came back. I hadn't seen him in 5 years and the night he came back he died in my arms. Pain like that is indescribable." He looked at his counterpart who was looking at him in agony. "Do Raph and I get along all the time? No. Do we share well? No. But we do it because after having found Goddess again, I wasn't going to let her go, even though I nearly walked out on her after she rose from Darkness." He rubbed the scarred side of his face. "I couldn't face her like this." He said. "I didn't want for her to have to look at my mangled body for the rest of eternity. She was alive, she was back, I could live with that. I nearly made it out the door too, but Darkness wouldn't let me go. I'm jealous of you." He continued softly. "You managed to keep your family together where I did not, and your body isn't a ruined mess."

"So if you are so jealous of me, why am I so damn jealous of you then?" His counterpart growled. He looked at him in shock. "You seem to have done okay. You have the love of your life back, and you have added to your family. You have Starbright as a daughter, you were able to have a child. The love of my life is my brother's soul mate, Donny's bound to Katherine, who is in Hell right now, and if we even manage to get her home safely we will never be able to create a family of our own. I told her that she had to choose one of us when this whole thing was over, but..." His voice wavered and broke. "But I know that if we make her choose, she will never choose me." He finished softly. "You never even thought about having children." He accused, switching thoughts.

He looked at his counterpart in shock. "I never thought about having children because when I met Goddess I was 20 years old, and her mortal body was an undead vampire's body. Goddess couldn't have children." He said softly. "Then she was gone. I had loved Goddess for only 2 months, but I mourned her for over 12 years. I thought there was something wrong with me. I tried moving on, had a relationship with a human woman, but my heart was never in it. She had loved who I was on the inside, but she couldn't get past what I was on the outside. After that, Raph's death hit us all hard, then Earth was thrown into a war against alien invaders. We were all too busy trying to save the planet that I didn't stop to even think about having a personal life." He ground out. "But..." He thought about all that he and his brothers had suffered, and what he had now. "But you're right. I wouldn't trade my life now for anything. I love my daughter and would do anything and everything and to keep her safe and happy. I would do that for all of our children." He smiled softly.

"BUt you are right, we never thought about children after we all became Darkness' Consorts. I supposed we had all assumed that because Goddess was unable to have children that Darkness wouldn't be able to have children either. When she told us she was pregnant we all had one of those moments, like what you see on TV where you wonder how it had happened. Of course we knew how it had happened but it was so unexpected, and then Mikey was right, we all wondered who the father was. We all wanted to be the father, partly because we were in awe, partly because we as brothers are all so damn competitive." He said with an embarrassed smile. "Donny tried to figure it out, but according to Darkness the whole 9 month rule did not apply to gods so even if we knew how far along she was so we couldn't even go backwards to figure out who the father was. Darkness knew of course, but she wasn't telling. She finally told us about a week before the girls were born that, there were two fathers and two children. And that set us off again. When Starbright was born I had never seen anything so amazing. Darkness said 'hold your daughter, Leonardo.' And my world narrowed. I held her and realized I had been a fool to believe that she had been any part of a competition between my brothers. Then Starlight was born and Raphael held his daughter in his arms and we looked at each other in shock. We were so scared that we were going to break them."

He looked into the face of his counterpart. "My only hope for you is that you do not have to suffer what my brother's and I suffered. It all worked out in the end, but we did not know that it was going to. I lived for 12 years mourning the loss of the woman I loved and 7 mourning the loss of my brother. If anyone can save Katherine it will be Darkness. I'm sorry I've been acting like an ass." He said as he stood and held out his hand. Leonardo stood and nodded sombrely as he grabbed his hand and shook it.

There was a bang as two young blue skinned turtles tumbled into the room.

"Daddy Leo!" They said in unison. "Uncle Azzy says it's breakfast time." They said happily.

Leonardo looked at the twins in shock. "Why are you blue?" He asked them.

"Because we are sea monsters Rrraawwhhhh!" They answered in unison. They were both wearing shiny blue shirts and pants. He sighed inwardly. At least Starlight and Starbright only had the ability to grant wishes, Trick and Treat were just trouble, and now their father was the god of Trouble. It made sense though. "How are you blue?" He persisted.

"Neat huh?" Trick asked as he turned a sick shade of yellow.

"Neat." He said with a grimace. Darkness had said they would be able to change forms, this was probably one of the first steps. They shifted back and forth between their turtle and human forms with the help of their masks, but he supposed one day that masks on their heads would either disappear or change. "Tell Sam that we are coming." He said as he watched Leonardo shake his sleeping brother awake.

Donatello groggily opened his eyes. "Come on Donny, time to get something to eat." Leonardo said as he pulled his brother up.

Trick and Treat disappeared with a bang. They took the elevator down in silence. They ran into Raphael as he exited the spare bedroom. When he asked about Darkness Raphael had said that she was still sleeping, but seemed to have come out of her mortal-like sleep. His counterpart had given Raphael a strange look but had not commented. They stopped at Michelangelo's room and pulled the sleeping pair from the bedroom.

They made their way to the main kitchen of the Castle which was on the lower level through one of the doors that was not marked with any sigils. Donatello and Raphael were already sitting at the table eating as were Starlight, Strabright, Trick, Treat and Hitsuzen. Michelangelo looked at Raphael's back and began sneaking towards his eating brother. Michelangelo grabbed Raphael's shoulder. Raphael grabbed Michelangelo and put him in a one armed headlock as he stuffed a forkful of pancake into his mouth.

"You can let go anytime Raph." Michelangelo said in a strained voice. Raphael let him drop to the floor. He grinned.

He put his hand on Raphael's shoulder. "You two were successful?" He questioned as he slid into an empty seat.

"Yeah." Raphael said with a nod. Donatello abstractly nodded as he helped Hitsuzen with her breakfast.

Their counterparts slid into empty seats. The table was massive having been built to accommodate 20 people. And this was the small intimate family table they sat at. The banquet hall was something else entirely.

"Daddy!" Hitsuzen said happily as she got off her chair and crawled into Donatello's lap. Her hands were covered in jam and she hugged him close getting jam all over his face.

Donatello looked at her in shock. She gave him a sticky jam kiss and crawled off his lap to go sit back in her father's lap.

"I was feared on the mortal realm for thousands of years, I worked my way up and became a top general, and now look at me, flipping pancakes." Samael grumbled as he tossed Donatello a cloth to wipe off all of the jam.

Raphael chuckled. "Well it's your own fault Sam. You could have stayed in The Pit, or went back to Hell, or became a god, but no, you decided to become Darkness' minion." He pointed out.

"Well Sam your talents were wasted in The Pit, and in Hell, your pancakes are delicious." Michelangelo said grabbing 8 pancakes and putting them on his plate, drenching the stack in syrup and shoving an entire pancake in his mouth.

"I'm not a minion." Samael said angrily as he piled more pancakes on a plate.

"I'm sorry Sam, what would you call yourself?" Michelangelo asked with a grin as he dished out pancakes to their silent counterparts.

"He is my aide." Darkness said as she walked into the kitchen. Samael knelt down on one knee. "But I have to admit that there is a certain ring to the word minion." Darkness said with a chuckle as she picked Hitsuzen up off Donatello's lap.

"Mommy!" She said happily as she put a sticky hand on her face.

She looked at her daughter. "For a little girl you sure are messy." She said with a laugh. She looked over at Samael.

"If My Lady wishes to call me her minion, she may do as she wishes." Samael said with a bow.

Darkness handed Hitsuzen back to Donatello and walked over to Samael. She knelt down in front of Samael and tipped his face up. His form shifted from his human surfer form to that of his actual more serpentine form. Darkness had that effect on everyone. She could make anyone shift forms just by touching them. It was an ability that Goddess had had, and Darkness still held that ability. "Azazel I have told you time and time again not to kneel when it is just family. And you are not minion like in the least." She said with a gentle smile. "You are my servant, and the only one I have." She wiped jam from her face. "But I suppose this is definitely not what you signed up for." She said with a laugh as she helped Samael stand.

"You know I would follow you to the edge of nothing and beyond." He said seriously.

"I know." She answered quietly.

Leonardo knew that Samael was in love with Darkness, had been in love with her when she had been Goddess, but Samael was content worshipping her from afar. Samael didn't look like much, but he was imbued with many of the strengths and powers of Darkness herself. Samael would protect Darkness, and by extension them, with his life.

Samael nodded and went back to flipping pancakes. "You five had better finish up quickly we are expecting company." Darkness said to all of her children. "But you all have to help Azazel clean up and you have to be on your best behaviour." She said to them. "We have business to attend, so you will only get a quick visit." Darkness said crossing her arms and looking sternly at the children.

Angelic smiles were pasted on each child's face. They glowed with innocence. Darkness sighed as if she didn't believe them for a moment.

"Darkness, when you have a moment, I want to talk to you." He said to his wife.

Darkness looked at him and he realized that he had made a tactical error. Darkness was going to be really busy. Darkness was good at avoiding people when she didn't want to deal with them, and at the moment, he still fell into that category. He sighed in frustration.

Breakfast was eaten, dishes were cleaned, and they managed to make it to the throne room in time for their 'guests' to arrive.


Next chapter: the reinforcements arrive, yay! Questions will be answered like What does Hell want with Katherine's soul?