A/N: Hey guys! It's my birthday, and so, in true Hobbit tradition, I have decided to give you guys a present- I hope that you enjoy! (this isn't edited though, so there is a possibility that it may change slightly later and is now so changed!)
It was good to have Leo back, better than any of the turtles could possibly express, and yet it was strange as well. Not strange because they had gotten use to him being gone, never that, but rather strange because he wasn't quite the same turtle he had been before. It had been a few days and though Leo was now speaking much easier, he had yet to say a word of what had happened while he had been held by the Shredder or anything of the time he spent apparently in his own mind. Not that his family were all that tempted to bring the subject up themselves, but they did notice .
.o0o.o0o.o0o.
Donatello kept waiting for Leonardo to insist that he be allowed to begin training once more, but he had yet to even inquire about the whereabouts of his weapons. On principle, Donatello did not believe in looking a gifthorse in the mouth, but it was odd. The only explanation that he could think of was that their older brother was in far more pain than he let on. He watched Leo carefully, hanging around as unobtrusively as he could, though, honestly, stealth had never been his strong point. Luckily for Don, Leo either did not notice, or chose not to comment. No doubt the later. Unfortunately his efforts failed to turn up any new data.
.o0o.o0o.o0o.
Michelangelo noticed that Leo wasn't being as 'up and go' as usual. It sort of reminded him of the weird mood his oldest bro had fallen into out at Casey's grandma's farm- but it was different too. Leo wasn't depressed or anything. In fact he seemed to be really happy to be back and listened as the youngest filled his ears with a Mikey-ized take on what took place while Leo was absent, physically or mentally. This slightly biased version of events, most notably neglecting to mention Leonardo or Michelangelo's more embarrassing moments, while highlighting those of the rest of the family. Especially Raphael's . Mikey's imitation of Raph tearing up the Lair looking for Leo almost had the eldest turtle in tears, though afterwards it was decided that laughing that hard was probably a bad idea at the moment.
He even listened without complaint when Mikey read him his Justice Force comics, complete with voices and sound effects, and while he explained the convoluted plots of the Turtle Titan's own slightly bizarre and whimsical tales. Heck, he had even consented to play some video games with the youngest turtle, though Leonardo lost even more spectacularly than his usual dismal showing.
'He just wants some down time,' Mikey tried to tell himself, 'Shell, look at the guy! If anyone deserves a break, it's Leo.' But even as he thought that an insidious voice was whispering, asking him if maybe it wasn't more than that. He tried not to think about how clumsy Leonardo's hands had been on the controller, or how the turtle who practically lived and breathed ninjisu hadn't so much as tried a katka. But most of all he tried to convince himself that Leo would tell them if something was really wrong, that if Leo couldn't fight anymore he would tell them, that he wouldn't just pretend everything was fine. 'Not that anything is wrong, of course,' he amended hastily, 'everyone needs a break, even Leo. Yeah, that's it,' he concluded before unconsciously curling closer to where his brother sat.
.o0o.o0o.o0o.
Raph was keeping busy. Honestly, he liked it better that way. It meant that less stuff got broke, and he figured that Don and Mike would be better for Leo right now anyway. He was no good at that touchy feely stuff.
Instead he ran perimeter checks for Donatello, though he still stuck to the tunnels around the Lair, and ferried news and supplies between the Lair and the warehouse where he would meet with April and Casey.
The turtles had told their human friends the good news after everyone had settled down a bit the day after Master Splinter had retrieved their Fearless Leader. But April and Don, after a hushed bout of gobeilty gook, had decided to wait a bit before showing up at the Lair. Raphael didn't really get all their reasons, but he trusted their two brains to do what was best by his older brother, and just shrugged at Casey's puzzled look.
All that wasn't to say that he didn't keep an eye on 'Fearless', and he definitely noticed how strangely he was acting. Splinter Jr. not train? Was the world ending? The red banded turtle also noticed that Mikey was the only brother who seemed to be talking. He didn't think that Leo had said word one about what had happened when the Shredder had him. Raph wasn't big on the talking and 'sharing feelings' crap-and he knew that Donny would have some nice, impressive sounding words for it- but even he figured that you really should do some talking after something like that. Especially Leo.
Of course, Leo could have talked to Master Splinter. Could have. So Raph just watched. He would have his leader's back.
.o0o.o0o.o0o.
Leonardo gingerly rolled over on his pallet and huffed out a sigh. He had spent a few days on the couch before moving back into his room. According to Michelangelo, he been wandering around the Lair for weeks, apparently sneaking off whenever Raph was supposed to be watching him, but the oldest had no idea how he had managed it. His muscles had been killing him, stiff and sore, though they worked down to an ignorable level pretty quickly. Even his hands were getting better at doing what he told them. Honestly, he had been more than a little worried. Even now, below the leather wristbands they all wore, deep scars from the restraints circled his hands.
What truly still plagued him was his plastron. It was tender were the flesh showed through the plating, and there was an uncomfortable shifting in his chest whenever he put pressure on it. He had gone as far as to ask Donatello about the feeling, even with the engineer being in full mother hen mode. Unfortunately there hadn't been much that Don could do. He offered Leo some more pain pills, which he politely declined, and said to keep the area as clean as a life in the sewer could possibly allow. Then Don had asked him if he remembered how it had happened.
"Shredder's foot," he had replied, more shortly than he had intended. It wasn't until later that he realized that Don probably hadn't considered that he was being literal.
Leonardo sighed as he shifted position yet again, 'That's right, My plastron. That's what's bothering me.' He ignored the sarcasm of his inner voice as he finally found sleep.
A/N: Poor turtles, it seems that I live to cause them turmoil, even on my birthday! Still, I am eager to put this arc behind me so I will update as soon as possible. (and don't worry, I'm going to get review reply out to all you guys who dropped a line last chapter- I haven't forgotten, I just wanted to get this out today and I have only a half hour to go!)
In the mean time, I cannot think of a better present then a review! Please drop one off if you have time!
