Characters, settings, and situations are from the 2003 TMNT series episodes "The Big Brawl parts 1-4." I do not own them. Please enjoy anyway free of charge since I don't want to make any money from this. Because of the latter fact, please, true owners of these episodes, don't sue me!

Missing scene from episode 4.

Leo smiled and laid a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "We won, Don."

Usagi's soft voice came from behind them. "The Daimyo …"

Leo turned to see the Rabbit softly tiptoeing up to the side of the old man, or old whatever kind of powerful being he was. Usagi knelt down next to him. His eyes crinkled in concern.

Donnie's head snapped around. His eyes seemed to search for something. Then he looked back to Usagi. "Where are the healer and guards? I haven't seen them since a few minutes after the smoke cleared. They couldn't have moved off so soon by themselves, could they, Usagi?"

Leo felt his stomach squeezed by a familiar fist. He looked to his little brother. "Smoke?"

Donnie answered his spoken and unspoken questions. "Just knock out gas. Didn't touch Usagi or me just took out two guards and a healer."

Leo looked to Usagi who'd drawn back the Daimyo's coat to examine his chest. "I believe, Donatello, I recall my sensei telling me when he first brought me here that if a guard, healer, or servant of the Daimyo fell asleep on duty, after they stayed asleep a certain amount of time, they would disappear from their posts and reappear in cells like many lawbreakers here. The process is much like what happens to those defeated in the Battle Nexus Tournament, when they disappear in the arena and reappear in the Recovery Pavilion."

Donnie made a face. He raised a hand to scratch at the back of his head. "Yeesh. That's … harsh."

Usagi raised his gaze and stared at Don with narrowed eyes. "Falling asleep on duty is a very serious offense Donatello, whether it is a soldier standing guard against assassination of his lord, a healer watching over a patient hovering on the edge of death, or a servant watching a fire to make sure it neither goes out nor escapes, the one charged with such a task can be the difference between life or death for others. In this case, the measure might have saved the guards' and healer's lives. They could not fight back when the assassins came for the Daimyo nor get out from under our feet as we fought."

Leonardo broke in with a tense voice. "The guards and healer will be punished then?"

Usagi looked back to what Leo assumed must be a wound of some sort on the Daimyo's chest. "I think the circumstances of the ninja assassins using the smoke against them being the cause of their sleep will be taken into consideration. The Daimyo is known for kindness and mercy. I believe they will not be."

Leo nodded and swallowed before asking. "How is he?"

Usagi sat up. "He needs his bandages changed." Leo noticed his friend looked next to his brother. "Donatello, could you go out and gather the necessary supplies for me to do so?"

Donnie smiled. "Of course." He turned and rushed out. Leo tried first to lean back to watch Donnie through the open doorway. When that didn't work he took a few steps backward until he could.

Usagi's voice startled him. "You make a very good guard, Leonardo san."

Leo smiled without taking his eyes off his brother. "Thanks, Usagi." Then he frowned in thought. "How long have I been here in the ..?"

"The Healer's Pavilion, Leonardo san."

"Yeah … thanks again … how long has it been?"

The Samurai glanced up at the window the light he examined the Daimyo by came through. "I would say less than four hours, Leonardo san."

Leo felt his own eyes widen. "What's been happening all that time?"

Donnie snorted and called out from where he was gathering healing supplies. "What hasn't?"

Usagi's head shot up. He sent a narrow-eyed, quizzical look in Don's direction. The Samurai raised his voice and enunciated carefully. "None of us have died here during that time, Donatello san."

Curious, Leonardo looked from Usagi to his brother. Donnie paused as he reached for something to slump and shake his head. Then he straightened and raised his head again before picking something up and putting it in the crook of his arm.

Leonardo smiled. Then he turned back to Usagi and saw "he" was now on the end of the Samurai's inquisitive and somewhat disappointed gaze. Leo's smile fell away. "I'm sorry Usagi. You're right. None of us died. And that's something to be grateful for all things considering. Domo arigatou for your part in that, my friend."

Usagi gave a small, relieved smiled. "You are welcome, Leonardo san."

Leo reached up and touched a place in the back of his neck. Ow. "What caused me to pass out earlier anyway?"

Usagi's face went straight and serious again. "A dissolving poison dart. Almost impossible to detect. Whoever aimed it at you wanted you dead under mysterious circumstances, Leonardo san."

Leo frowned to himself. "I think I know who." Then his eyes widened. "Wait … how am I still alive then?"

"It was all Usagi."

Leonardo spun to see his quiet-stepped brother at his side with an armload of healing supplies. He carried these past him and placed them down beside Usagi. The Ronin smiled at them. "That was fast work Donatello especially for one unfamiliar with these surroundings." He began to reach for something in the pile.

Donnie sat up and stared at the Samurai. "Are you kidding? What did you think I'd be doing while trying to lower Leo's temperature? I studied the shelves trying to figure out where everything was in case any of it was needed to save Leo, or Splinter, or anybody!"

Leo smiled somewhat sadly. His intelligent, prepared brother always looked to prepare the next thing so they'd all be safe in an emergency. Then Leo frowned to himself. It wasn't usually "him" his little, brainy brother was worried about, though.

Usagi nodded to Don as he worked over the Daimyo. "It was a wise thing to do indeed, Donatello san."

Leonardo frowned and stuck out his chin toward the Daimyo. "How is he?"

Usagi bit off a length of bandage before he replied. "The wound seems to have been caused by the slash of a blade rather than a stab from one." Leo nodded. That could be good. He listened as his new friend continued. "They were aiming to give him a cut that would cause him to bleed out, I believe. If that is the case, they only nicked what they meant to slice through. This could have still been deadly had he not gotten the quick attention he did. The healer also caused him to fall into a deep sleep, which is why he did not wake during the battle for his life."

Leo gave a sigh of relief. "So, if that was how the Daimyo was saved, how was 'I?'"

Usagi gave a soft smile. "Donatello exaggerates my role in that and neglects his own."

His little brother gave a quick burst of disgusted air through his lips. Leo smiled softly. Usagi continued. "He helped by bringing your temperature, which was spiking, down while the healer consulted his scrolls on common poisons and how they are delivered. However, when the Daimyo arrived, he immediately became the healer's priority. I then stepped in to see if I could prove my own guess as to what had poisoned you."

Donnie jumped in. "'Usagi' found the source of the poison within minutes. He might have done so within seconds if I hadn't kept trying to stop him from even touching you ..."

Leonardo's head jerked up. Donnie's head was hanging and his eyes were closed. His hands were clasped together in his lap too. Don had not just been scared. He now blamed himself for not letting Usagi help him sooner.

Leonardo frowned. Before he could put words together to respond, though, Usagi replied in a gentle voice. "You were very worried for your brother, Donatello san, and I was fighting him before he fell in front of your eyes."

Leo jumped in and shook his head. "But that didn't mean anything, Usagi."

The Samurai looked up and met his gaze with a frown. "It meant much to your brother, Leonardo san. You are his 'leader,' and you fell while striking your blade against mine. 'I' would have felt the same way had it been my leader and family."

Donatello's head spun around to stare at the rabbit as the Samurai tore off another end of a bandage with his teeth and tied off what he'd wrapped around the Daimyo's chest. Leo nodded toward his patient. "Usagi, how do you think the Daimyo will be now?"

Usagi smiled. His voice sounded low, steady, and rich with triumph. "I believe he shall recover soon."

Donnie grinned, folded his arms over his chest, and tilted his head in his direction. "Like Leo, right after you put those herbs over the entry point of the poison dart."

Usagi shrugged his own eyes closing and head tilting away from Don. "Drawing a poison out with those herbs, especially when they are thoroughly dried, is a common remedy to many poisons introduced through the skin. Anyone in my profession should carry such a supply with him."

Leo's eyes widened slightly. "And what profession is that, Usagi?"

"A yojimbo."

"A bodyguard for hire?"

"Indeed, Leonardo san."

Leo nodded. Why was he not surprised?

What do you think?

God Bless

ScribeofHeroes