The blue eyes were icy. Cold. And terrifying. He was frozen in place, which was fitting since he'd been shoved into one of the back freezers of the restaurant kitchen. If he lived through this, he was so quitting this job. What kind of coworkers didn't bat an eye when a sword-wielding turtle came in and basically kidnapped one of their most experienced waiters during the dinner rush?

His salamander skin had long ago begun to shiver and, under different circumstances, he probably would've wondered how the turtle wasn't also showing signs of being cold. But right now his main goal was to keep his eyes downward so he wouldn't have to look at the turtle's glare as he felt a trail of blood drip down his neck from the katana blade.

"So you don't put the poison in the food?"

"N-no," he replied.

"And you're just following orders when you put the plate of poison in front of someone?"

"Y-yes." The shivering was becoming stronger and he wondered if the turtle would move the katana away before he shivered the cut on his throat involuntarily deeper.

"So you think I shouldn't hold you at all responsible for the fact that at this very moment someone is in the hospital suffering due to your actions?"

He didn't answer. He couldn't see any answer being the right answer. Another violent shiver and he could feel the katana press harder against his neck as a result.

Leo glared harder. "Who gave you this order?" he growled.

The salamander finally lifted his eyes and did his best to meet that cold icy glare. He could only hold it for a moment before his eyes flew to the side again.

"Who?" Leo growled.

"You're not going to be able to stop them," the salamander said quietly. "They are going to get those foxes back."

Leo's wrist twisted and the hilt of his sword was slammed into the side of the salamander's skull and Leo watched as the creature slid unconscious to the ground. He left him there and stalked out of the freezer, his chest heaving in deep breaths as he felt anger roll over his shoulders and down his arms.

Leo re-entered Raphael's dark hospital room and found Donatello standing by the window with his arms crossed and a dark expression covering his face. It was a good position to keep his eyes on Raphael as well as to watch anyone who entered the room. And Leo proudly thought that Donnie looked rather imposing and knew that he was right to trust Don to watch over Raph while he was gone.

"Well?" he whispered as he sat immediately beside Raphael and pulled one of his hands into his own. It hadn't taken the hospital long to confirm that Raphael had been poisoned. They said the toxin was meant to attack his organs. Liver and kidneys first. Eventually his heart. But, they were told, Raphael had expelled most of the toxin himself before any real damage was done. It had exhausted him, though, and he'd fallen asleep before Leo had left on his mission back to the restaurant.

"He's no longer dehydrated thanks to the IV saline. And they gave him some medication to help with the stomach spasms, which they said would probably make him drowsy as well," Donnie said. Leo had ordered him not to leave Raphael's side while he was gone, not that he would have with Raphael so sick, but Donnie had the unnerving feeling that Leo believed Raph had been targeted. And that he may still be in danger.

Leo let out a shaky breath and stared down at the IV stuck in the back of the emerald hand he held. His eyes moved to Donnie when he heard a dry laugh from his tall brother. "What?" he asked.

"It just figures," Donnie whispered back, shrugging his shoulders. "Raph almost never gets sick, right? Like his body refuses to let viruses or microbes or infections invade. So someone tries to poison one of us and they pick the one turtle whose body immediately puts up a fight. Immediately begins rejecting and expelling the poison. His body refused to be poisoned, Leo."

Leo knew Dr. Donnie wouldn't be joking unless Raphael was truly out of danger and Leo let out his own dark chuckle. He couldn't completely relax though, because he knew that Raphael hadn't been randomly selected.

"Did he notice I was gone?" Leo asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah. I tried to tell him you just went back to check on the kids, but I'm a terrible liar."

Leo chuckled again. "Yes, you are."

"Did you find the bastard?" Donnie asked, the mirth gone from his voice.

"Yes," Leo said, but he didn't elaborate.

Donatello watched Leo sit and stare hard at Raphael. He wished he could tell what Leo was thinking but despite spending their entire lives together, he'd never learned the nuances of Leo's subtle expressions. He was about to ask Leo if he should leave them and return to the others when Leo spoke again.

"He didn't want to come here," Leo said softly. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Raph's hand.

"This isn't your fault, Leo," Donnie said.

"It is," Leo said with a sigh. "It is, Donatello." He paused again and stared down at Raphael as he slept. "Donnie, the kids aren't safe here. I need you to go back to our rooms and bring everyone home immediately."

He waited to see if Donnie was going to ask any questions. But Donnie only moved around the bed to Leo's side and dug out something to hand to Leo from the bag he had slung across his shell.

"It's an extra transporter," Donnie said. "I thought I should carry one around while we were here," he said rather sheepishly. "I've got a few more back in my luggage. You can use it to transport yourselves home when he's discharged."

"Thanks, Donnie."

When he woke up, he immediately noticed something heavy on his plastron, although he didn't mind it, as it was putting pressure on his sore stomach in the best way. He lifted his arms and wrapped them around Leo's shell.

"Where the hell did ya go?" he growled at him. He couldn't see Leo's face but he could tell he was wide awake.

It was still dark in the hospital room, but Leo lifted his head and examined Raph's face. His emerald skin had lost the ashen look he'd had earlier and those eyes were shining brightly again. Leo smiled softly at those green eyes, despite the anger he could see in them. Pressure on his own plastron always relieved his own upset stomach so he'd planted himself on top of Raphael as soon as Donnie had left them earlier.

"How are you feeling?"

"M'fine."

Leo ducked his face back into Raphael's neck and inhaled Raph's scent. "I could've lost you, Raphie," he whispered.

"It's gonna take more than that to get rid of me," Raph said, gruffly as he tightened his hold on Leo.

Leo huffed out a small breath as he remembered Donnie's words from earlier. Indeed, it certainly would take a lot more to take down his strong warrior turtle.

"Don't think yer gettin out of answerin me," Raph said. "Where'd ya go?" He nudged Leo's shoulder to force Leo's face back up and was suddenly shocked to see Leo's face set in a fierce expression.

"Where do you think?" Leo said. He moved himself carefully off Raph's plastron and sat stiffly on the edge of the bed beside him with his hands formed into angry fists on top of his knees.

"We've got almost the entire clan here and ya ran off by yerself? Ya should've brought Mike or Don with ya. Or waited till I was out of this bed," Raphael growled, feeling his anger rise as his earlier fears were confirmed.

"They tried to kill you, Raphael," Leo growled in return, refusing to be scolded for doing what he knew needed to be done.

"Who? The resistance group?"

Leo sighed. He almost didn't know where to begin. "I may not have brought any of our family with me, Raph, but I didn't go alone earlier."

Raphael watched Leo's stony face and felt his stomach drop, an incredibly unpleasant feeling after what he'd just been through. "What the hell happened?"

"It's hospital policy to call the police and report attempted murder," Leo said quietly. "When the police arrived and heard the story, they asked me to help them. There have been other reports of people being poisoned connected to that arena restaurant. But the police haven't been able to pinpoint who's to blame in the restaurant, mainly because most of the victims die." He sent Raph a pointed look.

"So they asked you to figure it out? Alone?" Raph asked, incredulously. He wanted to sit up, mainly because he thought his glare would work better if they were at eye level instead of him lying on his back. But now that Leo's weight was gone from his plastron, he could feel how sore his stomach actually was. He wasn't about to budge.

"Not alone. The police were at the restaurant with me. And I did figure it out," Leo said, turning back towards Raphael.

"Ya could've been hurt," Raph growled.

"If you think for one goddamn minute that I was going to just sit here after they tried to kill you -,"

Raphael's hand pulling on the back of his neck cut him off as Raph managed to lower Leo's face enough to press their mouths together.

"I'm fine," Raph whispered to him after a few moments. "I'm gonna be fine."

Leo let his forehead fall to Raph's forehead and breathed in his scent again. He was practically shaking with anger and did his best to calm his breathing as he felt Raph's hands move reassuringly up and down his arms.

"I'm so sorry, Raph," he finally said. "You didn't even want to come here. And I've already let you down once today. And now they've gone after you -,"

"Whoa, Fearless," Raph said, cutting him off again. "I fully agreed that we needed to come here and try to find Suzu."

Leo sat upright again before he stood and took a few steps away from Raph's bed. Sunlight was beginning to stream in through the window and Raph watched it hit Leo's shell where he stood. Raph fumbled with the buttons on the side of the bed until he finally figured out which one would lift the mattress so he could sit upright without upsetting his sore stomach.

"I've been thinking about what Usagi said earlier. He knew, Raph. He knew the resistance group was going to come after you."

"Why would the resistance group poison me?" Raph asked.

"They want Akito and Machi," Leo said, turning to meet Raph's eyes again.

"So why not poison yer food too?"

"Because they want me, too," Leo said, softly.

"That doesn't make sense," Raph said, although he frowned as he watched guilt creep onto Leo's face. "What didja mean when you said ya already let me down once today?"

Leo opened his mouth and then closed it again. After another moment he finally managed to say, "You love me because I'm a ninja. And I'm strong."

"Come here," Raph said immediately and lifted a hand until Leo got close enough to allow him to grab and then yank Leo back down on the mattress to sit beside him. "I love you because yer you, Leonardo. Because yer you. What is this really about?"

"I don't feel like a ninja when I'm around him, Raph. I don't feel strong. The way he looks at me. The way he smells me-,"

"Smells ya?" Raphael growled.

"- I freeze, Raph. And for every second of vulnerability, I know I'm letting you down."

Raphael ignored the twinge in his stomach caused by movement and pulled Leo into him. "You havin a normal reaction around someone who has betrayed ya in the past has nothin to do with lettin me down, babe. Those feelings are just yer body's way of tellin ya that yer not safe around him. You cannot blame yerself for his actions, Leonardo," he said fiercely, desperate to chase off the guilt and sadness he could see in Leo's eyes. He nuzzled his face into the side of Leo's face.

Leo lifted his hands and let them slide up Raph's upper arms, over his shoulders and to the back of his neck before he leaned forward to kiss him. He thought about Raph's words as their lips pressed slowly against each other. He knew that Raphael didn't say things that he didn't mean.

He pulled away to look at Raphael again. The sunlight hitting Raph's face made him glow, a thought he'd keep to himself, as those green eyes shined back at him with real sincerity.

"Thank you, Raphael," he finally said after a few moments.

Raphael smiled in response. It used to be a lot harder to pry guilt out of Leo's mind. Either Leo's guilt catcher was wearing down as they got older or he was getting better at chasing the feeling away. He loosened his hold on Leo only to allow him to sit upright next to him again.

"What does the rabbit have to with the resistance group wanting you as well, though?"

"I think Usagi must be involved with them now."

Raphael's eyes widened. "I thought he was on the side of the good guys here."

"He was," a new voice said from the doorway.

A/N: You guys are awesome. I just hit 100 reviews on this story (thanks again, yukio87, you were the 100th!) It reminded me of this quote I recently read from pro-antagonist:

"Sometimes it's really lonely being an author. Because when you're writing, you're doing it alone, and there's no one there to gush over silly feelings with you. And I suppose that's why reader comments are important to authors. It's not about the compliments. It's that we've been alone with our thoughts this whole time. It's an awesome feeling when a friend shows up to share them with you."

This quote will probably always stick with me because it's absolutely true. Sometimes your comments confirm that my thoughts came across the way I wanted them to in the story. Sometimes they give me a new idea for the plot (or for future stories). And sometimes they're just funny and I get a good laugh - in the best way.

So thanks again for showing up.