AN: I'm on a roll! I think it's the reviews that are inspiring me! You guys are great, you know that! Thank you:)

Reviews:

Sassyblondexoxo: I'm glad I was able to shock you with Mike's reaction, I'm also glad that you could see why he did it. The hardest part for me was showing the reason behind it, but you noticed so I must have got it right! I agree that Leo's suffering shows just how strong he is, it isn't easy to write just what he went through, it makes me sad to visualise and write it! I feel for him and I'm the one making him suffer! I have an ending in mind for this, a sad one and I hope I can pull off the emotion as well as I did with chapter 3! Thanks for the review:)

Reinbeauchaser: Firstly, I'm so glad you reviewed! It means a lot to me! After all, you were my very first reviewer ever! It's nice to know that my fics are still up to scratch! Leo's psychosis is something that I've worked hard at to make sure that its right, its not one of the easiest things to do and I think this story has had an effect on me. All doom and gloom is not making Gemma a happy bunny. LOL. The torture aspects are difficult to write, physical isn't the problem but getting into someone's head and messing that up, now that is hard. Thank you for the reviews:)

Pacphys: Heh, I'm glad I was able to shock you like that! Don't let this chapter fool you, there's much more tension to come! This chapter is a little Don orientated so I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the review:)

Spootycup: Will it get better? Well you know I can't answer that, you'll just have to wait and see. Although, I can say that it might not be a happy ending, I haven't decided yet! Thanks for the review:)

Pi90katana: Wow, I made you cry? Really? Heh, sorry about that! Do you want a tissue? I think you'll need it with the way this is going! I think because this story is so dark, it's difficult to write Mike, he's the happy, fun-loving type. Thanks for the review:)

Rev: Heh, we've already talked about this so you should know what I think! Thanks for the review:)

Digmon Girl: As requested, another chapter! Thanks for the review:)

Hazlov2004: I noticed your post at The Brawl! Thanks for reviewing here too:)

Thank you guys! Now on with the show!

Chapter 4

"Don't hurt me… please…Saki, no more… please… Mike, don't… hit me…no…"

Don closed the door to Leo's room quietly after giving him some herbal tea to ease him back into sleep, he took one last glance at his brother's sleeping form and shook his head, letting out a long, tired sigh. Walking quietly along the corridor, he contemplated the damage that had been inflicted and how both he and his family were going to repair it. He clenched his fists at the situation, after all this time, all the effort that everyone had put in to helping Leo pull through this, he started to think that maybe it was all futile. Maybe Leo wasn't going to get better, maybe he was destined to stay this way and no amount of effort on his part would help. Maybe they shouldn't stop him the next time he tries to kill himself. Maybe…

"He okay?" Don looked up from the floor and noticed Raph standing at the top of the stairs, he looked so tired that Don couldn't help but frown. He was angry with both of his younger brothers for making things worse.

"What do you think?" he spat sharply; "He's having nightmares about his own brothers hurting him as well as Saki" he threw his arms in the air and let them slap against the side of his thighs. "Dammit, Raph! We don't need this right now!"

"Hey, hey come on. Calm down will ya?" Raph moved forward and draped his arms around Don, pulling him into an embrace, Don resisted for a moment before slumping against him, "We'll deal with this, okay? We'll figure it out."

Don pulled back quickly and turned away, his form stiffened and Raph knew that he was in for a lecture, "What were you thinking, Raph? Its bad enough that Mike slapped him but what you did made things even worse! After all of the violence that Leo's suffered, everything they put him through, you had to show him more of it!"

"Hey, its who I am! I can't change…"

"Shut up!"

"Don…"

"No, Raph! You listen to me and you listen good. I don't want either you or Mike near him, you stay away until I say otherwise, do you understand me?"

Raph stepped back with shock, his face wide-eyed and disbelieving, "Don, you can't be serious about this"

Don glared at him, "I'm deadly serious! I doubt very much that Leo will want you near him anyway with what you did. He can't handle it! My God, Raph, I don't even know if we can fix this!"

The fight left him as quickly as it came and he lent against the wall, his forehead resting on his arm, "We're fighting a loosing battle" he whispered.

Raph bristled, "Don't you dare say that! Leo's a fighter! He'll beat this!"

Don turned once again, his voice still sombre, "He was a fighter, Raph. He's lost interest…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Are you so blind? Don't you see that he's given up? He doesn't care anymore and even if he did make some kind of recovery, he'll never be the same, the damage has been done and there's no turning back from that. He doesn't want to live anymore and why should we stop him…"

Raph pinned him to the wall, his fingers digging into Don's shoulders, "Leo ain't gonna kill himself! I won't let that happen, no fucking way! I can't believe you, Don…"

Don pushed back, he glared at Raph before heading to the stairs, "Just stay away from him"

Then he was gone.

Raph contemplated following after him but the sound of a door opening behind him made him turn, Mike stood at his open bedroom door, leaning on the frame for support. He looked drained and his eyes reflected Raph's, he moved forward wearily, still unsure at how his brother would take to him after the night's events. Saying nothing, he waited for Raph to speak.

"You heard that?"

"Yeah, I really messed things up, huh?"

Sensing his brother's pain and regret, Raph wrapped his arm around Mike's shoulders, "Let's take a walk"

Splinter broke from his meditation on the hillside and stared down at the farmhouse, it was so small from this distance with the forest around it creating a protective barrier that towered above their temporary home. He let out a sigh when his son approached, "Hello Donatello"

Even though he was angry with his absent father, he couldn't ignore his polite introduction, "Hello, Sensei"

"Why are you not at the farmhouse with your brothers?" he stood slowly and brushed a hand over his robe, removing the creases that had formed during his seated position

"Why aren't you there?" Don shot back quickly, he was still angry from his confrontation with Raph that he couldn't hide his frustration at his father. He wasn't planning on staying long here, Leo would need him soon and his imposed ban on Raph and Mike meant that he was the only one who could help Leo if the need arose. He thought that he would at least try to make Splinter come back with him, after all, he'd been away from the farmhouse for so long that he must be famished, although he knew his father and sensei could survive in the woods with nature's own supplies. It was becoming harder by the moment to hold the family together.

"I cannot return yet."

"Why the hell not?"

Splinter gave Don a disapproving look for his use of profanity but quickly dropped his gaze when he realised that he was in no position to argue. He knew what he should be doing, he should be with his sons, helping them all, helping Leonardo, but he couldn't.

"I simply cannot" he replied regretfully.

"Do you have any idea as to what's going on down there?" Don waved his hand towards the farmhouse, "We're falling apart!"

Splinter's head dropped, "I know" he whispered.

"And you still won't come back?" now Don's voice had lost its strength, he was growing tired.

"You see as I see, Donatello yet you accept it, whereas I cannot. You are truly braver than I"

"At least I'm fighting it! You can't even look at him! How do you think that makes him feel? He needs you, dammit! We all need you." His voice grew weak again and Splinter barely heard the last part.

"I'm sorry"

"So am I"

Don walked away, leaving his father staring at his retreating form.

Leo crept along the hallway, his steps quiet and carefully planned. His vision was blurred with tears and a sound ahead of him caused him to duck into the open doorway on his left, he waited for the Foot soldier to walk past. Once clear he continued on and silently descended the stairs heading straight for the door at the back that led to the outside. To freedom.

The grass was beautiful and soft against his feet, the scent of flowers causing him to smile, freedom felt good. A sound to his right caused him to turn and stiffen in fright, they couldn't have found him so quickly but there they stood, he couldn't be caught, there was no way that he was going to let them take him back. He wouldn't be taken alive!

Two Foot ninja stood staring at him, one carrying a pair of sai, the other carrying a pair of chucks. He stepped back and shook his head, eyes wide, they can't take him, oh please God don't let them. He turned and ran and heard them call out, screaming at him to stop. He wasn't going to stop.

He ran for what seemed like hours but in reality it had been only minutes, as he glanced back he didn't see the figure in front of him and they slammed into each other both dropping to the floor in a heap. Leo looked up and stared into his brother's eyes, Don stared back, his shocked expression telling Leo that he hadn't seen the same thing. Leo grabbed his brother by the shoulders and tried to pull him forward, trying to force him to get up and run.

"Leo! What's wrong? What's going on?" Don grabbed Leo and held him fast, stopping him from moving further away. His head turned at the sound of rustling and he noticed Raph and Mike coming through the opening in the foliage that Leo had come through only moments ago.

Leo just pointed a shaky finger in their direction. Don glared at them, thinking they had done something to upset Leo, "What have you done?"

Raph raised his hands in defence, "Whoa, hold up Don. We didn't do anything, he took one look at us and then he ran. That's all, okay?"

"Well you better go because you're obviously upsetting him. Leave him with me"

Shrugging once, Raph let out a sigh and walked away. Mike resisted, "Don…"

"Go Mike, please" Don sighed.

"No, I… I can't. Don, I need to talk to him, I need to apologise" Mike stepped forward and Leo recoiled, pushing himself as far as possible into his brother's grip.

"Now's not a good time, Mike. Maybe later, huh?" said Don as he struggled to keep Leo still.

Mike sagged and relented, following slowly after Raph. Don sighed and tightened his grip on his upset brother, rocking him gently whilst whispering comforting words.

"Its okay Leo, they're gone now. There's no one here but us, it's going to be okay"

"The Foot… they've gone?" Leo mumbled into Don's chest, afraid to look up.

"The Foot? You thought…oh man, Leo it was…yeah, they've gone" Don contemplated revealing that it was only Raph and Mike but decided against it, there was a time and place for that and whilst Leo was like this there were more important things to deal with.

"Talk to me, Leo. Let me help you through this"

Leo's shaking increased and he began to sob, "Please don't make me. I don't want to."

"You need to bro, this is important. You want to get better don't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, you need to talk to me. Do you think you can do that?" Don shifted on the ground to make himself more comfortable and pulled Leo up next to him, leaving an arm draped over his shoulder and brushing away some dried leaves from both his and Leo's legs. Leo rested his head against Don's shoulder and closed his eyes, drawing in from Don's calming influence and feeling the serenity of the trees around him.

"There's so much to talk about. So much happened to me that I can't bare to think back, I don't want to relive it."

"You need to relive it, it'll help you much more than you know. But I don't want you to think that you're on your own here, I'm with you. Take me back there with you, let me be there your anchor. If you start to feel… overwhelmed, I'll be there, right by your side. Just focus on that." Don gave Leo's shoulder a small squeeze and Leo smiled in return. They sat in silence for sometime before Leo spoke.

"They gave me electric shock treatment, you know," he said, almost casually. Don looked up from his steady scrutiny of the grass in front of him, no surprise on his face but his hand gripped Leo's soothingly. Leo didn't expect him to be shocked by that news, after all Don had been the one to examine him when they brought him back. He was well aware of the torture that was inflicted upon him.

"I was hanging by my wrists…"

"Pain is a fascinating thing, Leonardo. And I must say that I'm impressed with just how much of it you can take. You are indeed a fine specimen, a shame that it has come to this. If only you would accept my offer." Saki circled Leo, like an animal circling it's prey. Leo hung limply from the chains around his wrists, the blood trickling down the length of his arms and continuing its descent. The sewer water that rained down from the purposefully broken pipe above his head made the cuts sting, but it was a small pain in comparison to what he has suffered so far.

Saki prodded Leo with his blades, never once cutting flesh but still, it made Leo jump with every touch, his smile was sickening and Leo wanted to rip it clean off. He backed away and motioned for his ninja to step forward, giving Leo a clear view of the treatment he was about to receive. The generator was wheeled closer and the cables were connected where necessary. Leo shuddered and he couldn't help but allow his eyes to go wide. Saki smiled with the satisfaction he felt running through him, he didn't like to show the emotion but with the plans he had for his prisoner he decided that he had every right to let some of it to show, it made Leonardo nervous.

Leo twisted and yanked at the chains but with his feet far from the ground, he knew he had no way of escaping the coming punishment. The chains that wrapped around his ankles were touching the ground below and Leo groaned. He prayed that this wouldn't last long and steeled himself.

He barely felt the sponge touch his sensitive side as the electricity courses through his body, shuddering violently and under complete control of this unbiased killer. His eyes are shut tight and every muscle in his body defies his own demands, it feels like a lifetime has gone past and the sponge is withdrawn. His body relaxes of it's own accord and the muscles throb with the forced exertion, he sighs and pushed his head up to stare Saki in the face.

"Now that was fun. I think I need to see that again." Saki crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, the ninja took the indirect order and moved forward.

Leo shook his head weakly, his body already drained from only one exposure to today's torture and he didn't want anymore. Saki stopped the ninja just before the sponge touched.

"Is there something that you want, Leonardo? Do you want this to stop?" Saki waited, wondering if Leo would actually beg for this to end.

"I'm not giving you the satisfaction. You can go to hell!" Leo replied, lifting his head and looking down at Saki.

With a nod, it continued.

"Four hours later and still I hung there, Saki sent his men away and then just took a seat, he never said anything, he just watched me. Another two hours later and I was dragged back to the white room. I couldn't touch the water that was left for me, I couldn't even look at it. I was so thirsty and yet I really thought that if I touched the water, I'd be in pain. I didn't drink for a week and after that, they forced me, they didn't want me to die." Leo fell quiet and rested his head against Don's plastron. He felt his brother's arm tighten around him and was grateful for it, pushing further in to the embrace.

"I'm sorry, Leo" Don whispered and Leo looked up to see tears spilling silently down Don's face, he shifted and wrapped his arms around him, Don copying his movements. They sat there, holding each other tight.