Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT. I do own Lindy.

A/N - This takes place a few days after the last chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 10 - Sweet Dreams

Leonardo kicked his opponent in the jaw, forcing his attacker to the ground, unconscious. His mind raced, as the adrenaline pumped through his body.

One minute, there had been nothing, just the five of them, and the next… it had gone dark and they were surrounded. He could hear the sounds of weapons coming into contact with bone, and the cries of the intruders as they fell.

He glanced up quickly, seeing Don fight off two attackers. Leo spun quickly, avoiding the attack from the assailant who'd tried to sneak up behind him. He stole another glance up and saw Michaelangelo. Mikey wasn't looking at the fight. He wasn't looking at the attacker who slipped nearer.

He was distracted, Leo realized in a horrified moment. He opened his mouth to call out to him, but he was too late. Leonardo saw the blade imbed itself deeply into Michaelangelo, and then all Leo saw was blood, and his brother falling…

Leonardo sat up in bed, gasping for air. He looked around at his surroundings wildly. He was in his room. He flopped back down onto his pillows. It had been a dream. A nightmare. He hadn't had one of those since… Well, it had been almost two years. He glanced down at his hands. They were trembling. He looked down at his arms. He was covered in a cold sweat. He groaned, putting his hands onto his head. It had seemed so real. After a minute he slowly sat up, and swung his feet over to rest on the cold ground. He wouldn't be getting back to sleep tonight.

He padded into the living room, walking quietly so as not to wake anyone else, and went to sit in the kitchen. He put his head into his hands. He let out a shuddering breath. It was so real, so lifelike. He couldn't get the image out of his head.

"Leo..?"

Leonardo spun around, surprised by the voice. He hadn't even heard him approach.

"Leo, you OK?" Raphael spoke lowly, so as not to awaken anyone.

Leo nodded quickly. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, Raph, I'm good, I'm… I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Raph sat down across from him, staring at him, studying his face intently. "What happened?"

Leonardo sighed. "Nothing… It was… nothing."

"'Nothing' doesn't just wake you up in the middle of the night. 'Nothing' doesn't make you pale and distracted." Raph went on.

"OK, OK." Leo sighed. "It was a dream… A bad dream. A nightmare." He finally whispered.

"A nightmare?" Raphael repeated, and Leo steeled himself for the ruthless teasing he knew would be coming. But Raph just whistled low and shook his head. "Musta been a doozy." He said quietly.

Leo nodded, grateful that he hadn't asked him about it. "Yeah." He said. "A real doozy."

Raph nodded slowly. "You OK?" He asked Leo.

"Yeah, I, uh… I will be."

"OK. Good." Raph said simply, then got up from his chair and turned to leave the room.

"Raph." Leo called softly, not loud enough to wake the others, but enough for Raphael to turn and look at him.

"Thanks." He said. Raph looked at him for a moment, then nodded again. "Yeah." He said. "No problem, Leo." Then he was gone, back into his room.

Leonardo sat back, sighing heavily. He put his arms on the table, resting his head on them. He hoped he would be fine, too.

*******************

Don sat on the chair, dividing his time watching TV and looking at the clock. Mikey had gone out for pizza, and they were starved. He glanced over at the kitchen, and saw Leonardo, restlessly tapping his foot and fingers. He'd been doing that for almost ten minutes now, and it was beginning to annoy him. Leo was looking off into space, a distracted, far away look on his face.

Don opened his mouth to say something, but right then, Michaelangelo burst through the door. Don looked away from Leonardo to look at Mike, a deflated look on his face.

"Mikey." He hissed. "Quiet down, will you? I just got Lindy to sleep, and I don't want you…" He broke off as he heard a wail coming from the other room. He groaned, and turned to Mike, who had a sheepish look on his face.

"Sorry, dude." He apologized, looking at Don. "But now we can all eat." He went into the kitchen and set the pizza down on the table. Leo jumped and looked at them, as if not noticing Mike's arrival.

"Hey, wake up, Leo." Mike smiled.

Leo looked up at him, and Michaelangelo could swear that he'd turned a little pale.

Mike frowned slightly. "Hey, you OK, Leo?"

"Yeah. Sorry." Leo mumbled. "Startled me is all."

"Are you sure?" Mike prodded. "'Cause you look kinda…"

"I'm good, Mikey, I'm just… tired is all." Leo stood up to leave, when Raphael walked in.

"Jeez, Mikey. Will ya stop interrogating the poor guy?" Raphael walked up to stand by Michaelangelo. "I kinda woke him up last night, isn't that right?" Raph threw an arm around Mike's shoulder.

Don, who'd stopped to watch this from Lindy's doorway, looked at Leo. He and Raph shared a glance, then Leo nodded slowly. "Yeah." He said, looking away from Mike. "Yeah, Raph kept me up last night."

Mike shrugged. "OK. Whatever." He opened the pizza box and breathed in deeply. "I love the smell of fresh baked pizza." He dug in, seemingly forgetting about the conversation.

But Don didn't. He looked at Leo, and then Raph. They seemed to be sharing a silent conversation with their eyes. Leo shrugged, then looked down, shoulders drooping.

Don walked slowly into the room, Lindy in his arms. He walked up to the table.

"What's going on?" He asked.

Michaelangelo looked up from his pizza.

Leo glanced slightly at Mike, then looked away quickly. "Nothing." He mumbled.

Don opened his mouth again, but Raph cut him off. "You know, this 'interrogation room' atmosphere in this place is gettin' old. I'm goin' for a walk."

"A walk sounds good." Leo stood and hurriedly followed him out the door.

Don looked at the door after they'd left. "Something's going on."

"You're telling me." Mike said, from his place at the table. "All this pizza, and we don't have to fight anybody for it."

"No, that's not what I meant." Don sighed, placing Lindy in her highchair. "They're hiding something from us…"

**********************

Leo stopped walking through the tunnels and slumped against the wall. Raphael walked up to him.

Leo sighed as he approached. "Thanks Raph." He said.

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?" Raph walked up, leaning against the wall beside him. "I've never seen you so… not like you before."

"I just can't get past it." Leo said. "I know I should be able to, but I can't." He closed his eyes. "I can't even look at Mikey in the face anymore."

"I noticed." Raph said, then shook his head. "But, Leo, it was only a dream. You know that."

"I know." Leo sighed. "But it seemed so real."

"Realistic or not, it was still just a dream. Nothing happened, everyone's OK…"

"It was my fault." Leo whispered, so low that Raphael didn't even hear him.

"What?"

"In the dream. I couldn't stop Mikey from getting hurt. I opened my mouth to, but nothing came out. I… I panicked." He looked away from Raphael's glare. "I was responsible for it… I… you wouldn't understand."

"Why wouldn't I?" Raph asked.

Leo let out a shaky breath. "Because it's… it's…. I don't want to be responsible for another family member's death."

****************

"There is something going on here." Don said, sitting down across from Mike.

Mike shrugged. "So? What else is new?" He took a bite of pizza, chewing it thoughtfully. "You're getting paranoid, Donnie. What makes you think they're hiding something from us?"

"You mean besides the hidden glances and Raph covering for Leo? How about the fact that they haven't so much as made one sarcastic comment to each other all day?"

Mike thought about that for a moment. "OK, you're right. They are definitely up to something…"

"I know." Don sighed heavily. "I hope they're not going out there to… you know, go find them."

"The Foot?" Mike's eyes widened. "Don, unless Leo's been taken over by an alien life form, he would never…"

"He was acting nervous, Mike." Don glanced at the door. "I just wish I knew what they were doing."

"Donnie, if it were that important, you know they'd tell us. They probably want to go for another round before supper." Mike sat up, a smile forming. "Maybe they called a truce."

Don looked at the door again. "Yeah, you're right, Mikey. They probably went for another look around…"

*****************

"Leo, that was not your fault." Raph said, astonished.

"It might as well have been!" Leo shook his head. "There had to be something more. Something else I could've said or done to make it turn out differently. Just like in the dream."

"Leo, that was just a stupid dream, and you know it." Raph said. "You have never done anything during a fight, ever, to jeopardize any one of us." He looked down. "You've been nothing but perfect." He mumbled. "Just like you always strive for."

Leo looked up. "I'm not perfect." He said simply.

"Well, close enough." Raph shook his head. "You know there was nothing any of us could've done. You know that. Don't you think each of us has questioned that a million times?"

Leo looked away.

Raph continued. "It always comes down to one person. One person's fault. And you know who that was."

"Shredder." Leo spit out the name.

Raph nodded. "Right. And he got his." After a moment of silence, Raph grinned. "Now, all this heavy talk aside, d'you think this has been a long enough walk? I'm starving." That was his way of getting out of a heavy conversation, and Leo knew it.

Leo smiled. "Yeah." He said, pushing off the wall. "Let's hope there's some left." They began walking down the sewers, heading back to the lair.

"You better?" Raph looked at Leo seriously for a moment as they walked.

Leo nodded slowly. "I will be."

"Good." Raph got a mischievous look on his face. "Then you won't be too upset when I leave you in my dust." He said, then took off. "Just like when we were little." He called back over his shoulder.

Leo loped forward, feeling suddenly youthful again, and caught up to Raph easily. "Hmmm." He said, jogging beside him. "Do you remember when we were little?" He shook his head. "See you at home." He sped up, leaving Raph behind.

Raph narrowed his eyes. "Always gotta be in first place, huh?" His eyes lit up at the thought of competition. Then he began to run faster, catching up to Leo.

He looked over at his brother as they ran. He knew this wasn't over. He knew his brother was still troubled. Leo was overcompensating, trying to make Raph think he was back to normal. But he gave up too easily, he was distracted. He just wasn't acting like Leo. Raph sighed. For once, he actually missed the old Leo. He took a glance at his brother again. But not enough to let him win this race.

They both ran, burning off the extra stress and aggression they felt, heading back to the lair.

Neither noticed the figure in the shadows. Neither noticed when he turned and ran in the opposite direction; but not before bringing his knife up to the wall and carving a small symbol into it, circling it.