Yes, I have updated!

Well, make way for a new member of my family! My little sister was born this Friday! Yay! She's so cute!

Did anyone see the new episode this Saturday? I am so glad that it was an alternate reality future! (cries) Everybody died! It was a good episode, but why'd they have to die?

Okay, enough of the blubber hour.

Disclaimer: I could tell you that I own the TMNT, but you wouldn't believe me, would you?

&&&&&

"Wow." Silhouette circled in place, looking slowly at each detail of the lair. "This is so cool! I didn't know they made homes in the sewers! Anybody else live here?"

Donny laughed softly. "Well, Leatherhead lives a little bit farther away, but other than that, no."

"Leatherhead?"

Mikey came up from behind her. "He's a friend of ours. A giant crocodile."

Silhouette threw herself on the couch. "Great. Now I know four mutant turtles, a rat, and a crocodile. Plus, I'm sitting in a sewer! I had no idea I was gonna be here when I woke up this morning to a bowl of soggy cereal."

Casey had called someone not to long after they'd left the remains of the orphanage. The little girl turned her head, watching as Raph and Leo explained the day's events. She smiled and waved at Leo when he looked her way. He returned the smile before turning back to the conversation.

"So," the little girl drew back to the turtles in front of her, pointing to each one, "You're Mikey, and you're Don?"

They nodded.

"Good. I gotta get you're names down. And," she turned back around, "that's Raph, and that's Leo?"

Donny nodded again. "Right."

"Okay. Now, what do you call the rat?"

"That's Master Splinter." Said Mikey.

Casey walked over to them. "So what're we talkin' about?"

Sitting on the arm of the couch, Don explained, "Silhouette was just making sure she knew our names."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure mine was the easiest to remember."

The guys rolled their eyes.

Casey just shrugged. "Any how, April'll be comin' in a few. She wanted to make a quick stop somewheres."

The orphan tilted her head. "Who's April?"

Mikey laughed, "April? She's a friend of ours. And Casey's girlfriend!"

The vigilante turned red with embarrassment while they all laughed. "She is not!"

This time, Donny joined in, jabbing Silhouette's side with his elbow. "No, April's not his girlfriend… Casey only wishes she was!"

"Aw, now that's it!" With that, Casey jumped on the two turtles and they began to wrestle on the floor.

Silhouette laughed on the couch, clutching her stomach. She'd never really had so much fun before. Although she couldn't remember a time when she'd ever really been alone, she'd never had any real friends; never had any basic social memories to look back on.

But these guys were nice. A lot better than some of the kids at the orphanage. They were funny, smart, well, except for Casey, and good people. Even if they weren't people.

Soon, Raph came along to join in the wrestling on the floor with the rest of them. Leo just chose to sit in the couch besides Silhouette, which was fine by her. She liked Leo. She could already tell that he was a great guy. But something felt kinda weird about him, like he wasn't himself, even though Sil couldn't tell, since she didn't know him well.

Then, behind the couch, she heard the rat, Splinter, clear his throat. To his side, a pretty young woman with red hair stood, holding a brown bag.

Splinter smiled at his sons. "I believe that is enough rough-housing for the day. Now, Miss Cole," Silhouette beamed at being acknowledged so formally, "this is Ms. O ' Neil. I am sure you will enjoy her acquaintance."

Immediately, Silhouette got up to shake the hand that April offered. Her mom had always taught her to be polite.

"So you're April?"

The red-head nodded. "And you must be Silhouette."

"Yep, that's me."

Mikey was up in a flash at April's side, trying to peer into the bag she'd brought. "Hey, what's in there, April? Did you bring me a present?"

April quickly moved the bag to her other side, protecting it from the orange-clad turtle. "No, Mike. These are just some things I picked up for Silhouette." She reached into the bag, pulling out two shirts and two pairs of jeans. "I didn't know you're size… Casey said you were twelve, though. These might be a little big," she handed them to the girl, "but that'll just give you time to grow into them."

Sil took the clothes in awe, looking over every thread. "You got me clothes?"

"Well, I figured you might need some after the fire-"

"You actually got me clothes?" She noticed the price tags still hanging from the material. "You bought me clothes?" Then she peered closer, examining the price. "And you paid good money for them, too!"

April smiled. "It was nothing, really."

Silhouette looked up in gratitude. "This ain't nothing! My whole life, I've always worn hand-me-downs! Even when I was living with my mom!"

April placed a hand on her shoulder, extremely happy that the girl liked the present so much. "Well, why don't you go and try them on?"

"Okay!" With that, Sil ran at high speed towards the bathroom to change.

She had just finished with the jeans and was starting to put on a light brown t-shirt when she heard voices coming from the living room.

It didn't take long for her to realize that they were talking about Leonardo. At first, it was just a few concerned questions. Then she heard shouting.

Raph. His voice was the easiest to sort out among the group, whereas Leo hardly said a word.

The more temperamental of the bunch was at it, but she could only make out pieces of the conversation. "…don't sleep…actin' like a total nutcase…Stockman…wrong with you!"

The more Silhouette listened, the more confused she got. But now she knew one thing for certain, there was something wrong with Leo. At least, his family though so.

And if they were right, then maybe she could help.

&&&&&

A small crack in the floor had suddenly become interesting to Leonardo when this conversation had started. What was the big deal with his well-being all of a sudden?

Raph was yelling again. He'd already made it known to the entire room that Leo wasn't sleeping good or thinking right. He'd explained how out of control he'd been during the fight with Stockman; how he'd had the chance to beat him but had almost gotten killed instead. He also didn't forget to let out the fight with the Purple Dragons.

Leo couldn't take it anymore. What right did Raph have to judge him? He didn't hear those kids. He didn't wake up three times a night from the same dream!

Leo stood up. "SHUT. UP."

All went quiet. No one could remember a time when Leonardo had said those two words in the same sentence.

Raphael was the first to recover. "Leo, you better-"

"I said shut up, Raph! You have no idea what's going on-"

"So there is something?" Raph shouted.

Damn. Leo had just gotten himself trapped by his own words. And Raph knew it, too. Anyone could tell from the grin on his face.

He clenched his teeth.

Then, a small figure came slowly into the room. Leo lowered his head. Silhouette must've heard them.

The twelve-year-old looked nice in her new clothes, although the jeans were a bit long. They weren't smeared in soot like the old ones.

Silhouette clasped her hands, twiddling her fingers. "Is everything okay?"

April quickly went over to her, trying to cover things up. "Oh, yeah. Everything's fine! Oh, you look so great in you're new outfit! Does it fit okay?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh. It's good."

The red-head smiled. "Uh, great. Um… Casey! What do you think?"

"Huh?"

"Doesn't Sil look lovely in her clothes?" April asked, trying to hint to him what she meant.

"Um, yeah! Ya look… really good. Like a… really…good-looking person!" Casey finished with a broad smile, hiding the fact that he was totally clueless.

The rest of the group went on telling Silhouette how nice her clothes are. After Leo had done so, he happened to catch a glare from Raph that said: We aren't through talkin' yet.

Leo didn't respond.

Two hours later, he was sitting on the floor, staring at that crack again, while everyone else was having fun in the center of the living room.

Raph had just beaten Casey in an arm-wrestling match. Casey flexed his hand while Raph spoke, "Anytime ya wanna get whooped again, Case, just come see me. All right, next victim!" he laughed, "As if any of ya want to!"

Silhouette folded her arms. "I bet I can beat you!"

Raph laughed again, then put on a tough-guy look. "Bet not."

"Ya wanna see?"

"Be my guest!"

"Okay, then!" She moved to Casey's spot, placing her arm on the table. Mikey got in between, playing referee.

"Ready! Set! Go!"

Boom. Sil's hand went down. "No fair! I wasn't ready!"

Smirking, Raph said, "Sorry, but that's how the game goes."

She took a quick look at Mikey, who grinned, then turned back to her red-clad opponent, also grinning. "Betcha five bucks I win this time!"

Raph placed his arm back on the table. "You're on."

Mike started the game again. This time, Raph played along, doing nothing as the little girl tried with all her strength to budge him. "C'mon, Sil! You can do better than that! You still have to beat me, ya know."

"I…know." She glanced up at Mikey. "Now's a good time as any."

In the next instant, Mike had added his hand to Sil's, pushing Raph's to the table.

Silhouette smiled, sticking her hand out, palm open. "Five bucks, please."

"What!" Raph looked at his hand on the table. "Hey, that was cheatin'!"

"Un-uh! I said I would beat you. I never said Mike would help me! And I was playing against you. Mikey just backed me up."

"No way! It don't work like that!"

Donny stepped in, holding a remote like a microphone. "Well, what do the refs have to say about this?"

He held the remote out to Mikey, who took it proudly. "Well, Donny, Sil had some great techniques going for her. I'm gonna call it good."

Raph gritted his teeth. "Now he don't count!"

Don took the 'microphone' back. "Then it's a good thing we have another ref here. Casey, what do you have to say?"

Casey took the remote with a malicious glint in his eye. "I never did see Raph take her down. It seemed that she was doing really good up against him. I think that Mike was just hurrying the game up."

"There you have it!" Don took the remote back. "Everyone agrees that Silhouette Cole has just beaten Raphael for a grand prize of five dollars!"

Silhouette smiled sweetly. "Fork it up, tough guy."

Raph growled, but kept his temper down. He stood up, walking off to his room. "I'll be right back."

The orphan smiled proudly, turning back to the guys. "Thanks."

Mikey sat down. "No problem-o, Sil. I enjoy ticking off Raph on a regular basis."

Sil laughed, then bounced over to where Leo was sitting. She put herself right in front of him. "Hi, Leo! Did you see me beat Raph?"

Leo looked up at her. "Um, yeah. Good job."

She cocked her head to one side. "I bet you could beat him without any help!"

The blue-clad turtle forced a grin. "That's okay. I already had a fight twice with Raph today. It's not a good idea to tick him off too many times in one day, if at all."

Although her black hair had gotten in her face again, Leo could see a small hint of disappointment in her eyes. "You don't have to fight Raph. You could go against Casey or Mikey…"

Leo shook his head. "I-I don't really feel up to it right now."

"All right…" she lowered her head, "Well, I'd like to thank you for saving me today. Twice. If it weren't for you and your brothers, I'd either be a piece of charred flesh under a busted building, or in a forensics lab. Thanks."

"Your welcome."

Then, Splinter walked into the room with April. The woman stepped forward, slightly blushing. "Hey, Casey, I'm heading home now. Would you like a ride?"

The vigilante leapt to his feet, then tried to act cool. "Um, sure. I mean, if you want to."

Mike leaned in to talk to Sil. "See?" he whispered, "What'd we tell you?"

She laughed. Raph came in behind Splinter. "See ya, Case. Bye, April." He walked up to Sil, eventually deciding to hand over the five dollars.

April waited for Casey to get beside her before waving. "Bye, guys."

When they were gone, Splinter walked over to his sons and Silhouette. "I shall be going to bed now." He looked Leonardo over carefully before turning back to the rest. "I would suggest that you do the same, my sons."

The intention of his words was not lost on anybody. And Leo hated it.

The rat turned to Sil. "Now, Miss Cole. You will be staying here for the night. I will have one of my sons loan you their room for that time."

Sil squirmed. "Do I have to?"

Don stood up, stretching. "Well, there is the couch, but beds are a lot more comfortable-"

"No," she folded her hands in her lap, "that's not what I meant. I've-I've never really been alone once in my life, and I'm kinda afraid of spending the night in solitaire. I… know I'm a girl, but I could sleep on an entirely opposite wall. But please, I don't want to be alone."

They exchanged glances. Leo saw Raph tapping his fingers against his side. He was just waiting for the moment when he could talk to Leo…

"She can share my room." Leo looked up at his Sensei. In the next second, he wished he hadn't. If Sil stayed there, she might find out about his dreams.

But when he saw how happy the girl looked, he knew he couldn't change his mind. Maybe it'd turn out okay. Besides, it would keep Raph from saying anything for a little bit. He found his voice again. "There's lots of space in my room, anyways."

Master Splinter smiled. "Very well. You may show Miss Cole to your room, Leonardo. Good night, my sons."

They all said good night and then Leo led Silhouette upstairs. But not without missing a stern look from Raph.

&&&&&

Ninety minutes later, Leo was debating whether or not he should go downstairs to retrieve the katanas he knew he'd left down there. It was a little over half past eleven: he was almost positive that all of his brothers would be in bed by now. He'd heard Don and Mikey go to bed earlier.

Silhouette was sleeping peacefully on Leo's bed. He'd decided to sleep on the floor, that is, if he got any sleep.

Finally, the young ninja left the safety of his room to venture downstairs.

He searched the dojo silently in the dark. His thoughts were so jumbled that he couldn't really think about finding his twin katanas.

What did Stockman mean? What was he doing to these kids? What did this all have to do with him?

Leo sighed. How much longer can I keep this from the guys? He cocked his head, feeling a smooth, metal blade beneath his finger tips. It was funny. Raph hadn't come after him after Leo had taken Sil upstairs. It wasn't like his brother to just give up-

The sensation of light being poured into the dojo blinded him for a second. When his vision cleared, he saw none other than Raphael leaning against a wall, breaking him down with that stare of his.

Stupid. How could he have been so oblivious to what his sixth sense would've picked up on in seconds? He needed sleep…

"So," Raph stepped forward, "are ya gonna just stand there all day or do I have to give ya the third degree?"

Leonardo sheathed his katanas. "You can question me all you want, Raph. Doesn't mean I'll give you anything."

The red-clad turtle's fists clenched. "Why can't ya just tell us what's goin on, bro? What do you have to hide?"

That was actually a very good question. Leo blinked. He didn't know.

Suddenly, he shivered. Leo felt that eerie feeling again. Something was watching him, he could swear. Now he was starting to get fed up. Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone?

"Raph, go away."

"No! I ain't leavin' 'til you tell me what's eatin' ya!"

"It's nothing-"

"Bullshit! You're a horrible liar, Leo, and I'm tired of taking your crap!"

The blue-clad turtle didn't even know that he'd drawn his swords; wasn't even aware of the fact that he was attacking his brother again. For the second time in one day, the voice of sanity had left him, but was trying desperately to win him back. Don't! Pull yourself together, Leo!

Before he could heed it's advice, Raph had pulled his arms behind his back, causing him to drop his swords. Apparently he'd been expecting that. Bravo, Raphael. You actually thought this through.

Raph held him tight, pressing the left side of Leo's face into the wall. "And what's with these bursts of anger all of a sudden? That ain't you, that's what I do! And don't you dare say you're fine! Everybody can see you ain't and if you can't, you're bloody blind."

"This doesn't concern you, Raph!"

"C'mon, Leo! Give us a chance! I might be able to help."

"No one can help me now." Leo was surprised by his own words. He tried not to believe them, but he couldn't. There was too much truth in them.

Raph's grip loosened a bit, but still held firm. "What're ya talkin' about, bro?"

Leo didn't know. And that was starting to scare him. "Nothing."

"For the last time, it's not nothing! Leo, I know ya well enough to see that somethin' is wrong with ya!"

Sanity left the soul of Leonardo again. His words came out, for the first time, in pure emotion. He laughed. "You don't know anything about me."

Before Raph could speak again, Leo intervened. "Did you know that I used to sneak into your guys' rooms just to make sure you were alive? Did you know I was afraid of heights? Did you know that used to practice Ninjitsu when I was sick just to be an example to you three?"

"No." The word was said in surprise.

"Did you know I tried to runaway twice when we were kids?"

A shocked expression was Raphael's answer. Leo didn't even have to see it to know it was there.

"What's my favorite food, Raph? What's my breaking point?"

Raph didn't have time to answer.

"Do you even know that I wait forever sometimes, just for it to rain, so I can go and sit on an abandoned rooftop that overlooks the city? Do you know why?"

His brother gulped. "Leo, I-I didn't know..." his voice became quieter, "any of that."

Leo turned his head, resting his forehead on the cool stone. His sanity rejoined him, but it brought a hitchhiker. Leo winced as seventy-seven screams echoed through his mind.

This was new. He'd never heard them before without being unconscious. He stopped. That would be coming any minute now. He had to get away from Raph before he found out! This was a private matter.

Leo hadn't even heard his brother speaking. When he realized it though, he was surprised to find it so soft. It made him wish he'd listened. All he caught was, "Leo, you should tell one of us what's goin' on. I'm sorry we don't know ya as well as we thought, but we can, if ya let us. I know you're in some nasty situation now." He let him go. "I'm gonna cut you a break tonight, but I want you to tell us soon."

With that, Raph left the room, hitting the punching bag on his way out.

Leonardo stood very still. He felt horrible, physically and mentally. He didn't have the right to yell at Raph like that, but, then again, Raph didn't have the right to poke into Leo's life like he'd done. Especially when he knew nothing about it.

But that was his own fault, too. Leo had closed himself off from his brothers in his attempt to be the responsible one.

He shook his head slowly as a bad case of nausea swept over him. Raph would be in his room by now; it was safe to go back up.

If he could make it that far.

As he climbed the steps, darkness began to eat at his vision. Then, he felt cold. It was like he had been thrown into a blizzard. Leo shook, still trying to get into his room, but doubting that he'd make it.

He was right, Leo had just about made it to the doorway when he lost all feeling. Again, he was paralyzed, but now in a world where children screamed for reasons he couldn't determine.

But, before his body went numb, he had the slightest perception that two little hands were guiding his body.

&&&&&

Okay, another chapter done! Whew! That took so much time! At the moment, I'm actually typing in super stealth mode. See, it's really late now. Just a bit past midnight. But if my stepdad catches me, I'm toast! But no worries! By the time you read this, I should be fine. I can only update at school.

Now, I'm going to do one more chapter of Dead of Night before I take a little break to perfect Chapter 3 of Suicide for you. That story is, by far, my most acclaimed fic yet!

Didn't I promise one of you that there'd be some confrontations between Leo and Raph? I hope I didn't disappoint.

Please R&R!