Brotherhood III:

Leo shifted uncomfortably as he led Lily to the guest room with his hand on her shoulder, unwilling to risk letting her hold his hand before he had a chance to explain things.

Maybe it was what he might lose when she learned he wasn't human. It had been strangely pleasant to pretend, however briefly.

Maybe it was setting someone else up in that room. They'd originally put it together for April when she'd needed to stay with them for a time, but that had always been a temporary thing. Although she'd barely stayed in this room a day or two, it was supposed to have been Karai's room…permanently. Giving it to someone else seemed wrong. Like he was giving up on Karai.

But, like April, Lily's stay was only temporary. It was like Karai was just lending the room to her. That would be ok. Maybe.

She listened quietly as he moved her around the room, identifying the various pieces of furniture that she could use, trying very hard not to think about her vision of him. He'd need to process that later, by himself.

"So, anyway, I know it isn't much but I hope you're comfortable. And we have a friend that can bring you some hu…girl clothes."

"Thanks Leo…for being willing to help me out." He was taken aback when she finally spoke. She sat on the bed gazing off to the corner of the room, the bed being an unfurled futon. He sat down on the bed too, but kept a large gap between them.

"Your welcome, but obviously by helping you I'm helping myself, so that makes it a bit less noble." He tried to smile at his own joke.

"But you didn't know that. Not at first, when I barely had anything to go on and probably wasn't acting like a very rational person. I kind of got the impression that you weren't supposed to bring me home, but you did even though we only met once and you haven't seen me in years and I couldn't have sounded at all credible with my impossible mission. Thank you for taking me seriously and helping me."

He wasn't sure what to say to that at first. She was right. Anyone else would probably have just tried to dump her off at a shelter and forgotten about her. But they were used to helping complete strangers out of crazy situations and he believed her visions. And he knew why she needed to do it.

"You had that vision about Karai, right?" She nodded.

"I know what it's like to fail someone important. I didn't want you to have to feel that too."

"Is she dead? That girl, Karai?"

"No."

"Then you haven't failed her yet. Don't give up on her." He smiled. That's right. Things might look bad now, but Karai was alive. Lost and mutated, but alive. Donnie had made retro-mutagen before for Mr. O'Neil. He could do it again. In fact, it should be easier the second time around. And if they could track down Kraang stealth ships, they ought to be able to track down Karai. Yes. It wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

"Thanks Lily. For that and for coming to help me. I kind of feel like you risked a lot to do it." She shrugged.

"No big deal."

"Is that really true?" She sighed.

"No. I was hoping to be able to check myself out of the…place I was staying in when I turned eighteen and might have been able to with good behavior, but now…" She'd given up her freedom on a long shot to help him?

"I'm sorry Lily."

"Don't be. I'd rather you be alive."

"But…"

"Sure, it's a setback, but I'm not giving up either. It may take longer than I planned but I will be out someday. Don't worry. I'll find a way." He couldn't help but smile at her determination.

"Well, thanks anyway."

"Anytime, Ry…Leo. Hmph. I've been thinking of you as Ryan for years. That's going to take some getting used to." He let out a chagrined chuckle.

"Sorry about that. It seemed like a good idea at the time." She laughed too.

"I still can't believe I didn't catch it after all your gushing about Space Heroes."

"Well you might have been distracted by the sheer awesomeness of discovering that show." She giggled.

"It almost sounds like you still watch it." He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Uh, no way. That's kid stuff." She arched an eyebrow, almost at him.

"Fine. Yes, I still watch it when my brothers will let me. And when we're not watching Super Robo Mecha Force Five."

"Good. I never did get chance to experience it. Maybe I'll listen in when you do." He grinned. This was fun. The problems they'd been having were far from his mind as he bantered with his childhood friend. It was nice and easy and now he had to ruin it. The grin faded.

"Lily, there's something you should know, if you're going to be staying with us for a while. It's better not to find out on your own accidentally. Please don't freak out." Her happy expression morphed into quizzical concern.

"Does it have something to do with the crazy sword fighting you were doing in my vision? Or the freaky sci-fi space ships?"

"Well…actually yes…"


Lily listened, immobile and silent as Leo awkwardly related his family's unique history. She really was listening and absorbing it. Well maybe not completely, that would take some thought and time.

She was mostly stuck on the start where he'd said that he wasn't human. He was obviously a person. Other than being better than most people, he'd never struck her as being particularly different from anyone else she'd ever met.

He said that he was a mutant turtle. She'd table the ninja part for now. That could be figured out later. She didn't have any experience with turtles. She'd never had a chance to hold one or even be in the same vicinity as one and knew only the roughest description of them from her limited education. They had shells and they were slow.

Slow didn't seem to describe Leo. The closest comparison that she had was that vision of his brother. Tortoise, he mind recalled as she tried to picture Spike from memory. Was that different from turtle? It walked on four legs. Leo walked on two and he had hands. He fought with swords and did backflips. There was no way Spike could do those things. She simply couldn't picture him.

He'd finished his explanation and was now waiting expectantly for her reaction. If he did look as strange as he said, this was probably a nerve wracking moment for him. From what she knew, people didn't react well to anything that looked different from what they expected.

"Wow. I guess that's why you weren't supposed to bring anyone here."

"Uh yeah." He sounded stunned.

"So, you're ok…with us?" She smiled and shrugged.

"One of the few nice things about being blind is that I'm more concerned with who people are than what they look like. You're still just my friend Ry…Leo to me. Nothing's really changed to me."

"Really?"

"Really. So…sword fighting huh?"


Mikey hummed cheerfully to himself as he baked a fresh pizza for dinner to celebrate their new friend. Everyone had insisted on ordering Antonio's tonight, which was cool, but he was still going to make something special. It wasn't everyday they got a new human buddy. Plus he was hungry too.

Too bad Leo was probably going to hog this one, the way Donnie did April and Raph did Casey. When was he going to get his own human? It didn't seem fair that he was last. He was the most fun and would be a great friend if someone would give him a chance.

With flourish, he put the finishing touches on his candy, cheese puff and tomato pizza, some of his most rare and precious ingredients. Maybe sour gummy worms weren't the best choice, but it was all he'd been able to find recently.

And besides, maybe it would be good. You couldn't go too wrong with pizza. It was the ultimate comfort food. Well the ultimate food really, but he could use some comfort. At least he was feeling better now.

Sure he'd been horrified when Lily was going on about Leo dying and had to run to the bathroom to throw up at the end of it, but he was mostly ok now. It wasn't going to happen, so everything was good.

She'd told Sensei and he was going to take care of it. Plus, Leo always knew just what to do, Donnie could fix anything and if anyone else ever really tried to hurt one of them, Raph would pound them into dust. It was all under control now. He hummed to himself as he prepped the oven.


Raph pummeled the punching bag with a vengeance, knowing full well, he'd have to practically rebuild it afterwards. He didn't care. It was worth it. He couldn't get that stupid girl's story out of his head. Where did she get off graphically describing his brother's death like it was nothing? What was wrong with her?

His next punch detached the dummy's body from its head, spilling filling all over the floor. Frustrated, he punched the metal support pole, denting it and sending a radiating wave of pain up his wrist and through arm. Damn. Resting his head against the pole, he waited for the pain to recede to a dull throb. He should probably get some ice for it.

"Aayyyeee!"

"Hey, you met Ice Cream Kitty!"

"Mikey!" Sounded like Leo's home tour had made it to the kitchen. He'd wait. He sighed. It wasn't really her fault. She was trying to help. He just couldn't help but wonder if it was his fault and he hated that. Was it some order he'd disregarded or reckless action he'd taken?

He couldn't count all the times Leo had been in serious danger, some of which nearly costing his big brother his life. More of those were his fault than he liked to admit. After each time, he'd always intended to do better. Actually listen to Leo's plans, wait for orders, and not give his brother so much crap. But every time he fell back into old habits.

Was this time going to be the screw up he kept fearing? The one that did Leo in? No! It wouldn't be! One way or another he'd get Leo through this. Somehow.


Donnie sat in his lab, staring numbly at his computer screen. Normally, a text from April made him giddy, even if it was just an acknowledgement of a text he'd sent her. Like when he'd asked her to bring some clothes for Lily.

But that story of Leo's death. His memory couldn't let go of the details, carefully examining and cataloguing every one. As it should. Anyone of those details could be essential. He just wished he could shield himself as he did it.

He knew in horrifying scientific detail exactly what each of those injuries would do to Leo. How irreparable the injuries would be even without the gruesome final blow. How painful. Granted the plastron was less sturdy than the carapace, but the actual puncturing of either would be unpleasant enough on its own without the inevitable effects of a gut wound. Well several gut wounds.

He tried not to think about how Leo would struggle for breath with punctured lungs or how his consciousness would interpret having his own head sawed off while he lived, however briefly. He felt like he had to do something. He just didn't know what and this stillness was killing him.

He was always in motion, well not like Mikey, but he was always doing something. Planning. Building. Experimenting. Calculating. Researching. There was always something that could be done and the progress of accomplishment always soothed and comforted him. But he couldn't stop thinking about Leo's death and it was paralyzing. He needed something to latch on to. If he could find a starting point, then he could get to work and fix it.

Hmm. Lily had mentioned the space ships. It was going to happen during the Kraang invasion. That's right! If he could just determine when that would be and stop the invasion or at least finish his new weapon, Leo would be safe. Quod erat demonstrandum. With a sigh of relief, he opened his laptop. Yes, he could totally fix this.