So Close

"Raph, Splinter...raped me."

For all intents and purposes, the whole world might have been frozen; neither ninja moved. Neither ninja blinked.

Raph clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw ached. His vision tinged red and his hearing cut out - and if it weren't for the sob that somehow made it through his haze, he would've probably done something irreparable.

But Leo was shaking like a leaf, with the most utterly heartbreaking look on his pale face, and in that moment Raphael wouldn't have left his side for anything. "I'm s-sorry," the smaller turtle was saying tearfully. "I know it's gro-oss and wr-wrong but I couldn't stop him and he threatened Mikey and I couldn't le-let him touch him, Raph, and I know you probably don't even want to loo-ook at me anymore but ple-ease don't lea-eave-"

By the end of his stumbling, stuttering, tearful confession, Raph could barely make out the words, but it didn't matter.

"You think I'm gonna leave? Why?"

"He sa-aid that everyone would leave m-me if they found ou-out, but I couldn't le-et him do it to M-Mikey. I'm sorry I didn't sto-op him-"

"Leo, hold on! You don't need to apologize for- gods, Leo, you were frikkin' raped and you're apologizing to me for it!"

This conversation was too familiar for Raphael's liking - far too similar to the one held in Leo's "bedroom" before their trip.

The beefy turtle wondered something, then, and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to know the answer. "...how many times?"

"W-What?" Leo hiccuped, trying to wipe his face off on blankets that were too sodden to be of much use.

"How many times did he hurt you like...like that?"

The younger mutant was silent for so long that Raph thought he had fallen asleep. "Just once."

How can such a good ninja be such a bad liar? Raphael wondered distantly. "Leonardo..."

There was another long pause, as if Leo was deciding exactly what to divulge, and then came the quiet, heartbreaking answer. "I stopped counting after forty-three."

"Forty-three," Raph repeated.

His brother nodded dully, not quite meeting his eyes.

Gods above. Leo had been sexually abused since he was nine years old.

Oblivious to Raphael's mental torment, Leo soldiered on in his shaky explanation. "Look, I didn't- if I stopped him, he would've gone for Mike instead, and I couldn't- I wouldn't let that happen, Raph. Not while I had any control over the situation." Leo bit his lip and curled up, hugging his knees to his plastron. "I'm sorry that you guys have to deal with the fallout."

Eventually, the smaller mutant gathered the courage to look up - but instead of the disgust or hatred or any of the other emotions he'd expected to see on his brother's face, he saw only a sort of horrified shock tempered by a fair amount of... admiration?

"I wish the whole world could see how brave you are..."

Leonardo flinched as if he'd been slapped. His expression grew deathly pale and still and cold. "Don't call me that," he whispered, climbing to his feet. Before any questions could be voiced, he bolted through the entrance of the tent, past a startled Mikey and Donnie-

-and disappeared into the gathering darkness of the surrounding woods.

"Leo!" Mikey cried out in dismay. He would've followed were it not for the firm grip Donnie had on his forearm.

"What did you say to him?" the genius demanded as he turned to face their leader without relinquishing his hold. His eyes snapped with fire, and Raphael shrank at the sight.

"I-I didn't say anything! We were just talking and then he got this weird look on his face and ran."

Mikey was as pale as a ghost. "What are we gonna do?" he shakily asked. "It's getting dark and- and- what if something happens to him?"

"We'll go after him in the morning," Donnie replied firmly. "It's too late now. He's smart. He can manage."

The end of his sentence went unsaid, but they all knew what he was thinking.

I hope.