Disclaimer: …I don't own it, but the voices say I do.

Chapter Two

Leo looked up at the clock.

'Six thirty. Hm, they've been gone for two hours.' He sighed, a hand absently running over his bald head. Donny and Mike had left two hours ago, that being around the same time he had began watching the kitchen clock. Somewhere between that time and now he had pored himself a glass of orange juice, but neglected to drink it. It still rested on the wooden table, growing warm with the passage of time. But still, Leo sat. Waiting. Worrying.

He watched the clock.

It watched him back.

It was ironic, between the two of them, none of their faces could turn away; and none of them did. The clock in its place, unmoving; the teller of time. Leo watched its face as the time passed.

A vicious cycle.

Silently entranced he couldn't help but worry.

'Shouldn't they be home by now?' The thought only added to his growing anxiety. However, another voice told him otherwise.

'Leo, it takes about a half an hour to get to that manhole. Therefore, they've only been on the surface for about an hour and a half, not nearly enough time to do…whatever their doing.'

Yeah, that was the other thing. What would they be doing? What exactly would Owen be teaching them?

'Well, it's you turn tomorrow to escort Donny, so you'll find out eventually, won't you?' He sighed.

He really didn't agree with any of this, but once again, his mind chided him; telling him to give it a chance.

It was not like they had a choice.

It was either take a risk, or to say goodbye to Donny. He didn't like any of the choices, but he knew that it had to be one or the other.

That was life. It was the way that things just had to be.

He sighed again. That was it. He couldn't handle this anymore. Before, complete leadership over the group would have been a god send, but now, he didn't feel so lucky.

"How did Splinter do it?" He couldn't help but ask himself. How was Splinter able to handle the worry, the fear, the anxiety; the responsibility of having people's lives in his hands? One wrong move, one wrong order, and they were all dead or scientist bait, which could be one in the same.

Before, it was easier. Although Leo was always proclaimed the "leader" of the group, it had always been Splinter that held the group together.

He somehow always managed to keep Michelangelo at bay, keep Raph from killing himself, and pry Don away from his computer in order to gain a social life. All of this while managing Leo's ever growing ego over the success of the group.

Leo hung his head in belated shame.

He remembered how he had always acted; bossy, pompous, arrogant. He had honestly believed that without him, their group would be nothing.

But now, he knew better.

He barely played a role in anything. Splinter was always the brains behind the team.

But now, Splinter was gone.

'And with him went all sanity…' The thought only succeeded in making Leo sink farther into his shell. Ever since he "took over," everything seemed to go from sane to loopy almost instantaneously. It was under his rule, his leadership, that Raph got injured, that Mike became manic depressive, and that Donny…

Well, that was just another story all together.

As fate would have it, just as Leo sunk completely into his shell, Raph walked in. Rubbing the grogginess from his eyes, he absently grabbed Leo's orange juice, drinking it down without a second thought. It was not until his second look did he realize that his brother was indeed headless.

"What's the matter Leo, you lost another M n' M?" Raph chuckled at his own little joke before sitting down across from the listless brother. However, it did not take long for him to realize that something was wrong. Usually, there would have been some curt remark from the turtle in blue, but this time, none came.

The turtle sat perfectly still.

Raph tired again. Leaning forward, he rapped his knuckles against the edge of Leo's shell. He knew that from the inside the rapping was earth shatteringly loud, just enough to annoy even the calmest of brothers. He hoped that Leo would be no exception.

"Knock Knock! Nap time ended an hour ago, Leo." Perched next to Leo's shell, he awaited the inevitable. A punch, a kick; anything to tell him that his brother was still alive. But nothing came

Not a peep, not a twitch. Leo sat motionless.

Something was definitely up.

'Do I even want to ask?" His immediate mind told him no, he shouldn't get involved. He should just head back to his room and count his losses. But, a deeper, stronger voice told him otherwise. Leo was his brother after all. An egotistical, stubborn jackass of a brother, but a brother none-the-less. Besides, brothers took care of brothers, regardless of how much that first brother disliked the second.

"Leo, what's wrong?" He leaned over, just able to spot the top of Leo's bald head from where he sat.

No answer.

Raph tried again.

"Leo…" He rapped the skin of Leo's cranium. That earned him a slap as Leo swatted his hand away.

"Lef E E-oon." Leo spoke from inside of his shell, his voice becoming muffled. Raph leaned forward even more.

"What?" He strained to hear, but soon realized that he didn't have to. Leo's head popped up just enough to glare at the turtle in red.

"Leave me alone!" His head disappeared once again. Raph smiled. At least he got something out of the turtle in blue. Now all he had to do was get him to come out of his shell permanently.

He smiled wider, he always loved a challenge.

"Why?" He asked. Leo blinked in the darkness.

"Vuy Wat?" Raph raised an eye ridge. He understood that easily enough. He got up only to lean in, completely looking into Leo's shell. Leo felt the change in demeanor, and looked up. Raph smiled down at him, suddenly smug.

"Why should I leave you alone?" Raph asked, his voice defiant, rebellious.

Leo grinded his teeth. He could just feel the smugness in Raph's voice as he talked. Looking up, he glared daggers at the offending brother.

"Because I said so." He snarled between clenched teeth.

Raph, still smiling, whistled low and long.

'Man, if looks could kill…'

Boy was Leo mad! But that never stopped Raph before, so why would it stop him now?

"And since when do I listen to you, oh fearless leader?" The small amount of respect that Raph had put into those words only the night before was now completely gone.

All that was left now was just blatant mockery.

Leo seethed, his rage boiling. He would teach Raph a lesson that he would never forget. Popping out of shell, he grabbed Raph by the throat, a hand pulled back to deliver a blow to his smiling face. However, a voice sounded out before he could complete the death blow.

'Tsk. Tsk. Leo, you should know better. What would Splinter say if he saw you behaving like this?' Leo froze, his hand in mid air.

What was he doing?!

He looked down at Raph, the bandages still covering most of his body. Some of them had even bleed through. Disgusted, he dropped Raph. He wasn't disgusted over the turtle in red, of which watched him heatedly as he rubbed his sore neck.

He was disgusted at himself.

Leo flopped down, suddenly deflated of all that he was feeling.

Now all he felt was nothing, just worthlessness.

Raph watched him carefully, his hand still lingering on his neck; it throbbed considerably under his hand. Leo looked up, only to recoil in horror.

"Raph, your bleeding!" He stood, prying the turtle's hand from his own neck.

Raph's hand came away red.

Raph looked just as surprised as Leo, looking back and forth between the turtle and the bloodied hand. Without a second thought, Leo whisked him away to the small med room. In the bright light, he was able to see the problem.

One of the larger cuts on Raph's neck had been successfully reopened.

And it was all his fault.

By now, Raph was facing the wall once again, absently eyeing his red hand. He felt, rather than saw, Leo move over to sink, the water running, before he returned back again. Raph then felt the familiar coolness of the rag against his skin, but this time, it was on his neck. Along with it, he heard a soft murmur. At first he wasn't too sure exactly what it was, but soon the words fell into place in his ears.

Leo was apologizing.

"I'm sorry, Raph. I am so sorry." His voice quivered as he talked, the sound barely above a whisper. Raph smiled a little. So, the truth was finally coming out. He knew that there had been more to what Leo was worrying about than met the eye.

He was his brother after all; he could read him like a book.

In usual circumstances Raph would have rubbed it in, but he couldn't do that, he knew he couldn't. Not now. He could feel Leo's trembling hands as he washed away the blood from off of his skin.

"It's ok, Leo." A small wave of his hand dismissed the argument. However, Leo did not see it his way.

"No! It's not ok, Raph!" He exclaimed before sighing, defeated. Once again, he felt all of the fight drain from his body.

"It's not ok." Was all that he could muster before dropping his hand.

Raph turned, looking Leo in the eye.

This was deeper than he thought.

He expected Leo to walk off, like he usually did when he got this upset, but instead Leo just sat there, his eyes down. Raph watched him expectantly, but Leo did not move.

He just sat there, very much like he had done at the table, except this time, his head was in plain view. Raph watched as Leo absently eyed the pan of red water in his hand.

"Leo?" He asked uncertainly. He didn't know what to do. Never in his life did he ever see Leo like this, so he was at a complete and total loss.

Leo looked into the metal bowl, his eyes distant. Raph watched him, still at loss on what exactly to do. However, as fate would have it, he didn't have to do anything at all. Almost suddenly, Leo's quiet voice filled the car.

"When did everything start to get this crazy, Raph?" Leo spoke, but did not look up. Instead, he looked into the bowl, the red waters playing as they danced waves. Their only barrier, the metal walls surrounding them. Leo watched their taunting masquerade. He continued.

"When did everything change?" He looked up, meeting his brother's eyes. Although he wanted him to, he knew that Raph would not answer. They both knew the answers to Leo's question anyhow.

Everything changed after Splinter's death.

Leo looked down into the bowl once again. He couldn't help but worry over their current situations. Everything had disintegrated; When Splinter died, everything that they had ever known, ever believed in, disintegrated before their very eyes. Now it was all down to this…

The red waters did their dance, the metal playing off if its surface.

Their entire lives, their beings, were all brought down to just two rudimentary elements.

Blood and water. Two elements necessary for life, for survival, and nothing more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don and Mike trudged awkwardly along the dark, blackened, dirt. Walking for a little less that two hours, they trudged off main sidewalks eons ago. Both of them were in unfamiliar territory, a manhole no where in sight in the woodsy terrain. Slightly ahead of them Owen walked, his hands still in his pockets. He had not said a word since they left, only adding to Mike's uneasiness over the entire situation. Before, he had asked where they were going, but Owen had refused to answer.

Clearing his throat, he tried again.

"Um, where are we going?" Mike's voice sounded foreign in the air.

He noticed the vast amount of trees that surrounded them. They must have been in a park of some sort, but he didn't recognize any of his surroundings. The only park he knew of was Central park; but this park was too large to be Central, so he crossed that off of his list of variables.

Despite the darkness, the trees spaced out as far as he could see. No park that he knew of was that large. Therefore, he waited for Owen's answer. Just as he had expected, it never came. Owen just kept walking, his strides long, his head forward.

Mike watched him silently.

He couldn't help but notice the little things this stranger did; such as bending slightly while walking, his hands always finding their way to his jacket pockets. It was hard to believe that all of these little quirks could belong to a creature of the night.

He almost smiled.

If this guy really was he said he was, he would have to prove it.

He was too human to be a vampire.

But there was still those other features. The black eyes, the white hair. Very odd, but not dreadfully so. Still, Mike decided, there would have to be proof.

A sniffle from Don's direction caught his attention. He turned to Donatello, observing him as well. The turtle in purple was also dead drop quiet during their little hike, although that in itself was not unusual. It was the fact that Donatello had been completely quiet for the whole night that unnerved them. Ever since they had left the lair, Donatello has been basically silent. Even when it was just the two of them, Don hardly said a word. Usually, when it was just him and Donny, techno babble would fill the air as Donatello ranted and raved about some new invention. But nothing came tonight. Just silence.

'No quantine fubulators, no vortex collaborators, no nothing.'

Just silence.

'Well, maybe if I-'

"We're here." Owen suddenly stopped, turning around. He smiled triumphantly at the turtles, his eyes dancing. The turtles stopped, their faces mirroring each other's confusion. However, it was Mike that spoke first.

"Here…where?" He looked around, it was all just a bunch of trees, no different than what they were walking though just moments before. He turned back for an answer, but stopped short. Owen just watched them now.

Well not them.

Owen watched Donny.

Mike looked between the two of them as he felt the sudden rise in tension. However, it was not until Owen drew his sword did the turtle pick up on what was going on. Owen quickly closed the gap between himself and the lucid turtle in purple, bringing the blade forward. His intended, target, Donatello's throat.

Mike heard a cry sound out from the darkness, only to realize that it was his own.

***

Oooo, tricky stuff. I bet you don't know WHAT'S going on. To tell you the truth, neither do I. Lets wait for the next chapter to see what happens. R and R