The days following Leo's return and April and Casey's visit was a period of adjustment. They soon fell into a pattern of sorts where the family would take turns sitting beside the generally passive Leonardo while the others took care of the normal duties of the household. Master Splinter made a valiant effort to restart at least some of the training sessions that had tapered off during Leonardo's absence and presumed death. He found that the best way to accomplish this was to hold two sessions a day with one son participating in both, rotating sons each day, so that they could still spar and train with one another while still leaving someone free to keep an eye on their oldest sibling.

Michelangelo's daily activities were not much curtailed by this new schedule. He still found time to watch his movies and play his games, and, of course, he could read his comics anywhere- regardless of what he was doing, though, his eyes and thoughts were drawn to the lab where his oldest brother lay. Raph chafed more under the restrictions, especially since visits to the surface had been explicitly forbidden by Splinter. He had to content himself with abbreviated runs through the sewer, working on his beloved shellcycle in the old warehouse, and, of course, his old staple of beating the stuffing out of his punching bag. Even this wasn't really enough to curb his restlessness, especially not with the added stress and feeling of helplessness that Leo's condition added. However, he was making a real effort to contain himself, especially when taking his turn sitting beside his brother. Donatello could often be found in the Med Lab even when, technically, it was not his shift. When not with Leo, he was usually ensconced away and communing with the computer in his own, smaller lab area, researching and planning whenever he could. One thing he quickly ingrained into them all was the importance of taking note of anything that either upset or caused any sort of recognition in their brother, and several items became readily apparent.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

The first they had already noticed. Leonardo was now extremely uncomfortable with physical contact. Admittedly, he had never been the attention hog that Michelangelo was, but neither did he shy away from brotherly pats on the shell, helping hands in the sewers, or any assistance in either battle or training. He knew that a team had to be comfortable and familiar with each other if they wished to remain alive- those beliefs being separate from his natural compassion and brotherly feelings that extended to 'nightmare banisher' and the occasional bouts of roughhousing. Now, however, Leo would either flinch whenever someone approached unexpectedly, or worse, if contact was made, he would tense, freeze up, and his breathing would increase dramatically. To avoid this, the turtles discovered it was best to make sure that their approach was slow and observed. If that failed and Leo still became agitated, they found that holding out one of their hands where their brother could see them quickly calmed him.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

The second was discovered quite by accident one morning when Donatello entered the Medlab to take over watch from a now slightly sleepy Michelangelo. The engineer had taken to carrying around his coffee in one of the metal cups that humans used when they were traveling. It kept the caffeine endowed substance warmer for much longer than the traditional mugs and helped prevent spills- both 

being major pluses for the purple banded turtle, who would often get so caught up in his work that he would completely forget that he had even brought a drink into the room. After numerous occasions of getting a mouthful of stone cold coffee, several spills, and sometimes both in one day, he and Mikey had gone off on a mug finding expedition. They had found an amazing number of the discarded things, both metal and plastic, and Don had been using them almost exclusively since. As such he had given no thought to wandering into the Medlab with one clutched in his green hands. It was a chilly morning, and even Mikey, who usually went in for hot chocolate, was eyeing Don's cup with more than a little longing. The entire family usually avoided the dubious combination of Mikey and caffeine whenever possible, but the youngest had been up a good portion of the night and still had morning practice with Sensei and Raph to get through.

"There's still a fresh pot in the kitchen, Mikey, just as long as you forget that I'm the one who told you," Don said, waving the metal mug for emphases. Mikey was about to respond in kind when their attention was immediately diverted to their bed ridden brother.

The nothingness had receded slowly to show him the BrightHimCreature and the ThinkingHimCreature standing beside him. The ThinkingHimCreature had been the hardest for him to identify. It had initially reminded him of the LookingHurtingBadCreatures that had been at the bad place, but the HimCreature was warm were they were cold, and though it did do much looking and touching, it did no hurting, gave food, and always made soft noises. He was happy to watch the BrightHimCreature, who seemed brighter than before, and the ThinkingHimCreature as they made noises at each other, at least he was happy until he saw the glint of metal in the ThinkingHimCreature's hand. 'Shiny, shiny and sharp- hurting-hurting now?- no, no ,no hurting'- he was taken by a flood of images and feelings from the BadPlace where bright, sharp, and quick things brought only much hurting. He felt an almost overwhelming desire to call out for the FatherCreature, no LookingHurting, or SharpShiny BadCreatures would hurt him if the FatherCreature was near- but he could not call out, not even if he could remember how, because it was very important to be silent. He only hoped that no hurting would come to the HimCreatures.

Their oldest brother had yet to make any noise besides soft grunts and whimpers in his sleep, and that one, heart wrenching almost scream when he had seen April and Casey, so the only warning they had of his distress was his slight shifting and increasingly labored breathing. Both were surprised to find Leo staring, apparently at Donatello with abject fear in his eyes.

"Leo?" Don asked, taking a tentative step forward. The older turtle shrunk back, his eyes never moving.

"Donny?" asked Michelangelo, unsure of what he should do as the signs of Leonardo's discomfort increased.

"Hold on a second, Mikey," Don cautioned softly , absently putting aside his coffee mug as he desperately attempted to placate his older brother. It was then that he realized that Leo's eyes were not tracking him, but rather the mug. That gave him a moment's pause, for he had brought coffee into the room before and it had never bothered Leo. In fact, the purple banded brother had rather thought that 

the smell comforted Leonardo. Then it hit him- all of those mugs had been plastic. "Mikey, just stay with him for a second, you don't have to do anything , just- watch him for a second." Mikey gave a small nod and Donatello backtracked his steps as quickly as he could without causing further alarm. He deposited the mug out of sight in the main room and hurried back to find Michelangelo's hand captured by Leonardo who was staring at the youngest turtle as though to be sure he was not hiding any injuries. After a moment of seeming contemplation and another look around the room, Leo relaxed, though he failed to release Michelangelo's hand.

"What can I say, dude, I just have a calming effect on people," Michelangelo said with a smile, abeit a bit shaky, in response to Donny's questioning look. Don smiled back, glad that Mikey could still manage a joke after that, and confirmed that Leo really was calmed down before detaching him from Mikey and sending their little brother off to practice. After that the turtles took care to avoid bringing any more metallic surfaces than necessary into the Medlab.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

It was Raphael who discovered the next 'item' to be avoided. He had been sitting beside Leo for what seemed like hours, trying to focus on being the guardian that he felt he should be, had to be with Leo down, but the silence was beginning to press uncomfortably on his shell. He wasn't like Michelangelo who always needed someone yammering away, be it Mike himself, the TV, or his cobbled together mp3 player. It was just that he had sat here in silence for hours, every day. At first it didn't really bother him, or, it bothered him as little as possible considering what had been done, but he was hardly a novice at waiting for one of his brothers to regain consciousness- their life wasn't what you would call gentle. Heck he had even done that for Casey a time or two, though Leo would have something to say about that- not that Raph was crazy enough to ever tell him. But this was different than that. Leo wasn't unconscious. Right now he was just staring at the walls. Raph felt like telling his lost older brother about some of his and Casey's more boneheaded escapades just to try and make him snap out of it.

"So, Leo, uh, you need ta come back soon- not that I want ta push ya or anything, but, uh, it's just not right without ya," he trailed off awkwardly. 'Oy,' thought Raph disparagingly, 'I am becoming Mikey'. He was about to drop his head into his hands when he noticed Leo actually looking at him. "Leo?" His older brother's head tilted slightly and it seemed as though he was actually listening to Raphael. "Leo, do ya understand me? Listen, ya gata remember, or at least try ta. You know that you're home right?" Leo's face creased in a slight frown. Raph took this as an encouraging sign and leaned forward in his chair. "Leo, you know were ya are? The Lair?" he reiterated, hoping to pull his brother out from wherever he was lost.

Something, something was- the LargeHimCreature, making noises, strange. The LargeHimCreature almost never made noises. It sounded rough, as always, though he thought it was trying to be soft. Somehow he knew that the LargeHimCreature could be much more loud and rough but was not. As for the noise making, he wasn't sure how he felt, it was new, and that meant it could hurt, 

but part of him was… curious. The BadCreatures often made noises, but he had never listened; don't listen, don't make sound, don't re-

What was that? That wasn't right. No. no, no, no, no! This was bad. He knew those sounds, he knew that tone. He wasn't going to make noise. He would not, he could not. Nothing, nothing, knows nothing, says nothing- no noises- can't make, have to, have to be quiet. Why, why, why in the SomeplaceElse? No more BadPlace, no more hurt, no more, no more.

Raphael's earnest attempts go get his brother to respond were abruptly cut off when Leonardo's eyes widened dramatically and he started rocking himself from side to side, pressing a hand to the side of his head.

"Donny!" Raph called desperately, appalled and horrified at the thought that something more could have gone wrong,

"Raph, what the shell happened here?" asked Donatello, unconsciously stealing Raphael's line as he skidded into the room.

"I don't know. It was quiet an I started talkin, an he was listenin, so I talked more, an then this," he said, waving his hands a little erratically. Don approached their brother slowly.

"You didn't jump or raise your voice?"

"No. I ain't stupid, Don."

"And you left your sais?" asked the younger turtle, ignoring the other's comment.

"Yeah," Raph acknowledged awkwardly, hands automatically going to the empty spaced on his belt. It had been a hard thing, leaving his weapons, but after hearing how Leo freaked out over a coffee mug, well, Raph didn't want to think about how he'd react to the red banded turtle's sais. Which was not to say that he was unarmed, but that the weapons he carried were more easily hidden, and not quite so shiny.

"I'm not really sure, Raph," Don murmured as he maneuvered himself into Leo's line of sight, "Leo? Leo, what's wrong?" he asked as Splinter and Michelangelo spilled into the room as well, but the older turtle failed to respond to the questions besides becoming even more agitated.

"What is happening here, my sons?" Splinter asked, eyes darting from the frightened Leonardo, to the worried Donatello, and the worried and guilty Raphael. "Donatello?"

"I don't know Sensei; Raph said that they were just talking."

"Leo was talking?" interrupted Mikey, his eyes lighting up.

"No," said Don impatiently, eyes still on Leo. "But Raph said that he was listening, right Raph?" he asked, cutting over to the red banded turtle for a moment.

"Yeah, least I thought he was- I asked 'im if he understood but he didn't exactly answer," Raph replied, shifting uncomfortably. "Before I knew it, he started actin like this."

"Well, that's not- wait, you asked him if he understood?"

"Yeah," answered Raph shortly, not understanding the significance.

"Did you ask anything else?"

"I minght 'ave," Raph responded a little defensively to his brother's tone, "I just wanted him ta try an remember."

"What are you thinking, my son?" Splinter asked Donatello, unobtrusively playing referee.

"Look at Leo, Sensei. What is he doing?" All eyes turned to regard the reclining turtle. Leo's eyes had closed tightly at some point but he cracked them slightly at the abrupt silence, his hand hesitantly lowering.

"He- he was covering his ears?" asked Mikey incredulously.

"Yeah. I think I have to try something guys. Just- just be ready." Don once again positioned himself in front of his oldest brother. "Leonardo. Do you know where you are?" His words were still kind, but it was undeniably a question to which he expected an answer. The effect was immediate. Leo's eyes slammed shut and his unwounded hand pressed back against his skull.

"Whoa, dude-"

"What the shell, Donny-" his brother's overlapped words of protest were drowned out by their father's raised hand.

"Donatello has done what he must to ensure that we do not unintentional injure your brother in the future." Donatello bowed his head slightly at this absolution. "I will stay with your brother until he calms, then we will resume our regular rotation. And it seems that we will have to learn of what happened to your brother without questioning him directly." All three turtles nodded their obedience and slowly filed out.

The HimCreatures were leaving; taking their…wanting words with them and leaving him with the FatherCreature. He was still frightened, but he felt somewhere deep down that even if the FatherCreature ever made wanting words at him, it would never hurt him. The Creatures in the SomeplaceElse, the HerePlace, would not hurt him to try and get his sounds. No, no. No BadCreatures Here.

Raph paused at the doorway and glanced back at their Sensei seated beside their oldest brother and fearless leader, the old rat speaking quietly to a still wide eyed, but much calmer Leo. Raph hated this, but what could he do? He was just the muscle of the family, not the brains. Funny, that had been enough before.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Other odd quirks continued to show themselves as the family kept an unrelenting eye on the oldest turtle. It wasn't that they were frightened that he would intentionally do something to cause himself further harm, but rather that he would accidently slip, or become frightened and reopen old injuries, injuries that Leonardo would not be able to tell them reopened or pained him more than before. So they watched him.

Two weeks after they brought Leo home, Donatello was happy to report that their brother's physical injuries were healing nicely. Most of the superficial cuts had sealed already and the damage the Shredder's claws had done to Leo's arm and plastron looked like it would continue to heal without any complications. The bisection of his plastron was another matter. It had stopped oozing liquids and Don had done his best to keep it clean- not an easy task considering how tender it seemed to be. Besides that he was basically waiting to see how Leonardo's body would handle the injury naturally. In addition, Don still didn't want to put too much pressure on his brother's shell because he had not been able to ascertain the extent of structural damage. In fact, he hadn't really tried. He figured those kinds of tests were the last thing that Leo needed right now- no matter how the scientist in him protested.

As for his brother's mental state, he felt that he and his family were treating the symptoms rather than the disease. They had seen some improvement, and the less stress Leo put his body through by struggling against phantoms and memories, the faster his body could heal. Unfortunately neither Don nor April had been able to track down anything helpful. April had sent all of her information to Don through a purloined wireless connection, but nothing seemed to quite match Leonardo's symptoms. April promised that she would keep on it, but they could not help feeling a bit disappointed.

Donatello sighed and refocused on his book. April had gotten it for him, second hand. Still, it was in better condition than most of what he read, and he had brought it in to help keep him occupied on his watch. His brain had been about to explode after staring at the computer screen, but he also felt as if he would go crazy if forced to sit with nothing to think about. In the end quantum mechanics had sounded just perfect. On reflection, though, perhaps it wasn't the best thing to read when he had a brother to keep an eye on.

A/N: hm, don't worry, there is more to come, but this is what I had finished and this (full) chapter just keeps going for awhile more, so I figured I'd just give you what I have written so far. Reviewers always welcome (and adored). Till next time-D.R'N.