Disclaimer: I don't own anything TMNT. I just own Alex and her bros.

Chapter 11

"Prodigal Son"

It was unfair to say that his brothers and father took precedence over finding Alex, because it wasn't. It was, however, the the initial instinct of Leonardo to feel. He had to find his family. And Alex was family, but in a much different way than Raph, Mikey, Don, and his father. Tracking down the others was the easiest thing. He could follow the trails, and he knew where they would most likely hide out from the clues.

Alex, on the other hand, was far harder to track. There were no clues, there was no wreckage like the others. She was simply just a ghost. He staked out the apartment where her brothers were living, and there was no sign that they were hiding her, and they looked far more devastated and depressed then they should have if they were pretending.

After getting word from April after discovering the lair in ruins, she told him that his family, and Alex, were all dead. Or, so Kurai claimed. But as of yet, there was no sign of any of them so what other choice was there for them all to believe? Leo wasn't convinced, mostly because of denial, but as he discovered one family member after another, he knew Alex had to be alive somewhere out there.

He just had to find her.

To start off, he made sure she wasn't at Aprils. She wasn't at her brother's, nor the dojo. She wasn't at the school or library, and nor any of her friends places (which took him quite a while to track down seeing as he only knew them by their first names). There was only one place left to look.

The cemetery was eerie, no doubt about that. It always seemed far more peaceful when he was there with Alex. But as he looked for the girl in a last ditch attempt to find her, he couldn't help but let the dread sink of that just maybe, it was too late, and he wouldn't be able to find her.

Kneeling at the foot of her parents gravestones, Leo said a silent pray, asking them to help guide him to where their daughter was. There didn't seem to be an answer as he remained frozen in place for far longer than he could afford to.

Without much hope left, Leo got up and turned to leave the cemetery, but as he spun, his eyes caught a dim light up in the distance, up on the hill overlooking the cemetery. There was where he had said goodbye to Alex before leaving for his training, and that was where they had taken shelter.

"It couldn't hurt to try," Leo muttered as he worked his way up the hill.

The mausoleum was colder than he had remember it, and even though the candle had been burning in the stain glass window for what appeared to be a couple hours, it did very little in brightening up the small room, or heating it.

The light did provide just enough light to prevent him from tripping over the body on the floor on the other side of the stone bench. Kneeling, Leo could clearly see Alex's read hair, and her familiar figure. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and the other on her hair.

"Alex?" he asked gently. He didn't want to scare her. But his attempt failed. Alex remained asleep. It was clear that the events that had transpired took their told on her. She was beaten and exhausted. Not to mention soaking wet. "Alex, can you hear me?"

It was strange. The first reaction wasn't to shake her hand like a man would, like he had done with reuniting with his brothers. No, Leo wanted nothing more than to engulf her in an embrace and never let her go again. He had hurt her far too much, had feared losing her to want something so simple.

Leo pulled her into his arms to hold her. He rocked her gently, rubbing her arms to try and warm her freezing skin up a bit. As she gradually warmed up, her eyes fluttered open and scanned his face. He smiles down at her, so thankful that she was safe and awake with him.

"Leo?" she asked softly, barely above a whisper. "Am I dreaming?"

Leo shook his head and pushes some of her hair out of her face. "No, I'm here. I'm real."

A soft sigh escaped her lips, and her head nestled into the crook of his neck. "I knew you'd come back," she muttered, her eyes closing again.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. He stood up, carrying her bridal style so she wouldn't have to exert more energy. From what he could she, she wasn't too bad. Some cuts and bruises here and there, but she was mainly just cold and exhausted.

She tiredly shook her head against his neck, nestling as much as she could to steal the warmth he was providing her, which of course, made Leo blush. Thankfully she wasn't looking at his face or she'd notice, and that would just embarrass him even more.

"Good, I don't know what I would've done if you were," Leo said. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here."
"You have….nothing to apologize for," she told him. "You're back. That's all that matters. Did you find the others?"

"I did," he informed her. "Everybody's okay. You were the last to find, and you did a hell of a job hiding."

She smiled against his neck, which sent a shiver through his entire body. "Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Welcome home."

Alex slumped, putting more of her weight into him. He smiles softly and kissed the top of her head, as she would never know. She had fallen asleep. He was just happy she was okay, and that she wasn't angry with him.

Leo had his Alex back. He also realized that she finally had her Leo back as well.

I know this one was really short, and I know that sucks after being so long without having a chapter, but I just wanted to leave their reunion simple and sweet, just like the two of them. Next chapter will have a lot more interactions between the two as they set up the new Lair, so I hope you guys are excited for that! Please leave a review and let me know what you think, and don't forget there is a link to the schedule up on my profile!

Thanks go to the following for their reviews on the previous chapter:

Pinnney- I'm glad you liked it and it made your morning!

dream lighting - Yes, I am back. I'm trying to be a lot better with my upload schedule and forcing myself through writers blocks. Yes, plural. I'm making on exception and posting this on your birthday, just for you, so happy birthday!

erica. phoenix16 - You are most welcome!

SkytauriUzumaki - Yes, I am back, and I'm hoping to be better with uploading and writing. I hope you liked seeing Leo, even if it was very short. And yes, Alex will be in Turtles Forever, as well as the 2007 TMNT movie.

pokemonjkl- Thank you! I'm glad to be back! lol. Of course Leo will, he's just protective off his family.