Disclaimer: Sigh. Again? Alrighty, you know the drill. I don't own the TMNT, Eastman and Laird do. I could make a shirt that says that and save myself the time of writing this each chapter…but you wouldn't be able to see the shirt through the computer, so I'd be right back where I started. It's a vicious cycle…

And, as always, excessive thanks to Tewi, Digmon Girl, Pi90katana, BubblyShell22, Longing for Leo and bionicle-girl for reviewing the last chapter. You guys rock my socks! And my shoes, too, even:D

And now I give you the outrageously long Chapter 10. Mazeltov!

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Leo broke the tense silence first, pushing himself to his feet. "I…I'm going to go get some air. I'll…be outside."

Raph stood as well. "Like shell ya are. Ya ain't ready ta go topside."

The blue-clad turtle whipped around to face him, a trapped look in his eyes. "I just need to get some air, Raph."

"I'm telling ya, Leo, ya ain't ready."

"Fine! Then I'll just go in the sewers," Leo said, his tone hard and brisk. "I'll keep to the tunnels near the Lair. I'll be back in a bit, I promise." He stumbled to the door of the Lair as fast as he could, struggling in some places.

Raph growled and took a step to follow him. "Leo-"

"Stop it, Raph." Mikey stepped in front of him, placing himself between Raph and Leo.

Raph stared in disbelief at the brother who was blocking his way. "Say what?"

"I said stop it. Leo needs a little time."

At these words, Leo shot a grateful smile at his youngest brother and hobbled out of the door to the Lair.

"Dammit, Mikey, he don't need ta be out there!" Raph snarled.

"Yeah, he does," Mikey said. "Raph, you weren't there when he woke up from that nightmare; you didn't see him. Bro, he was so freaked he asked me to lie to him."

"So he'll get over it," Raph retorted. "He needs ta rest, not go traipsin' around out there. I don't wanna haul his butt in again." He pushed Mikey to the side. However, as soon as he got past that brother, the next one took his place.

"Raph, just give him a little time." Don spoke firmly, ready to detain Raph by force if necessary.

"What tha shell is it wit' you two? He can have "time" in here. He don't need ta go out there. I ain't gonna let him get hurt again!" Raph's outburst surprised even him, and he quieted suddenly, angry at the feelings he'd revealed.

Splinter, forgotten until now, sighed and pulled Raph down on the couch. "Raphael, this situation is affecting Leonardo more than you know."

"Sensei, he jus' wants ta prove he's ready ta go back topside."

"Raph…" Don's sigh followed Splinter, though his was decidedly more frustrated. "For all that you complain about Leo, it escapes me why you build him up so much."

"What tha shell are you talkin' about?"

"Raph, he's scared," Don stated bluntly. "This dream, this whole mess with Iganna is scaring him."

Raph snorted. "Leo don't get scared."

"Just because you give him the nickname doesn't mean he's actually "fearless"!" Don snapped.

"It's not just that." Mikey spoke up suddenly. "It's not her he's scared of."

"Then what, Mikey?" Raph asked sarcastically. "Tha boogey-turtle?"

His response was a pillow in the face.

"He's scared for us," Mikey stated, his voice becoming more sure. "When he woke up after that dream, he was scared of what he saw, because he was afraid of it coming after us. He's afraid of us getting hurt."

The revelation rendered all of the turtles silent.

"But it's more than that," Splinter added. "Leonardo fears not just what he saw."

His pause caught the turtles' attention. "Yeah?" Mikey prompted. "Then what else is it?"

"We do not know exactly what kind of connection this woman holds with your brother, nor do we know what she has done or is doing. And in that your brother finds his fear," Splinter explained. "Leonardo fears not being able to protect us."

The silence following this statement was heavy with thought.

"…You're right," Don said quietly. "It's not just the possibility of one or all of us getting hurt that's bothering Leo. It's that he knows he won't be able to protect us because he doesn't know what to try and protect us from."

"Exactly, my son," Splinter acknowledged.

Raph shoved himself to his feet, pacing in front of the couch. "Why does he think he's always gotta protect us?" he demanded angrily. "We don't need 'im holdin' our hands all tha time. We can look afta ourselves. It ain't like we need a babysittah or nothin'."

"Leonardo's fears and behaviors do not stem from a lack of faith in any of your abilities, my son," Splinter soothed. "He has faith in all of you. But the burden of a leader is a hard one to bear, and the worry rests heavily on your brother's mind. The responsibility of looking out for this family is one he has borne for years, and such worries cannot be abandoned easily. Leonardo has spent years putting his family before himself, and as such, he is always concerned first for our safety, then his own."

Raph's muttered comment about overbearing turtles was quickly cut off by the door to the Lair opening. "What, ya decided ta listen to me fer once?" he asked, expecting it to be Leo and not bothering to look as a dark figure walked into the Lair.

"Now why would I do that?"

"Huh?" Raph whipped around to see April instead of his brother. "Oh, hey, April. I though ya were Leo."

"I get that all the time," she teased, her eyes sparkling. "Where is Leo, anyway?"

Don answered over Raph's growl. "He went out to get a little air. We had…a talk about a few things, and he needed a little break."

"'A talk'?" April asked, her eyebrows arched. "A talk about what?"

Don glanced at Splinter, a question in his eyes. When the old rat nodded his acquiescence, Don placed a hand on April's arm and guided her to the couch. "It's a long story. Let me explain…"

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A quarter of an hour and several questions later, April had been filled in on the situation with Iganna.

"Wow," she commented softly. "That's…"

"Creepy?" Mikey supplied. "Yeah, I thought so too."

"It's creepier than you know, Mikey," April said, pulling a small purse out of the bag she'd been carrying. "I came over to show this to you guys."

The three turtles and Splinter stared at the handbag, then back at April. As she noticed the blank looks on their faces, the expectant one on her face faded. "Don't you guys know what this is?"

Raph, Don and Mikey all exchanged glances, each seeing in the others' eyes that they were all equally lost.

Don spoke up first. "Um, don't get us wrong, it's a really nice purse, April," he offered weakly. "But…"

"But it's just not our color," Mikey joked.

"What?" April was visibly confused. "Wait, no!" April protested. "It's not like I brought it over here to give it to you guys."

"Then why did you bring it?" Mikey asked.

"Because it's Iganna's."

These words instantly transformed April's audience into four very attentive listeners.

"But April," Don asked, "how'd you get it?"

April gave him a guilty grin. "Well, that's also kind of a long story. See…I had thought Iganna was acting a little weird. I mean, she took the whole…um…"

"Tha whole 'meetin' talkin', mutated turtles' thing?" Raph supplied.

"Yeah. She was taking it really well; I mean, I remember how I reacted, and she wasn't fazed a bit. That and she was asking really weird questions about you guys when I drove her home."

"What exactly did she ask, Ms. O'Neil?" Splinter inquired, a sharp tone in his voice.

"Don't worry, Master Splinter, nothing about the location of the Lair or anything," April assured him. "Not even anything about how you guys came to be…you guys. The only thing she wanted to know about was Leo."

"Ooo, Leo's got a girlfriend!" Mikey caroled in a singsong voice.

"Mikey…" April sighed. "Nothing like that. They were weird questions: was he normally healthy, was your lifestyle dangerous, did he get hurt a lot, things like that. It didn't seem normal, and for some reason the questions freaked me out, so I just kind of rambled talking about you guys practicing Ninjitsu. Fortunately, it was a pretty short ride, so I dropped her off soon after that. Then I just got this weird urge to go check out the alley where…Leo got shot." April faltered here, and Splinter patted her comfortingly on the hand. She squeezed his paw in return and continued. "I didn't have anything better to do, and I remember Master Splinter commenting on following your instincts, so I went over there and prowled around a bit. And that's when I found Iganna's purse; it had gotten kicked under the dumpster."

Raph laughed. "Detective O'Neil. It's got a nice ring, April; maybe you should change yer job."

April rolled her eyes at the turtle. "Thanks for the support, Raph. Anyways, I thought I'd take a little peek inside, just to see if I could find out anything about her, and I found this." April drew a small book out of the purse and showed it to the guys.

Don reached out and took the book from April, opening the first few pages to show several different pictures. He shrugged and handed it back to her. "It looks like a normal photo album to me," he said.

"That's what I thought too, until I turned the pictures over." Saying this, she removed a picture from its slot and showed the back. On the reverse was a piece of paper.

"It's a…newspaper article," Mikey asserted, glancing down at the picture and back up at April. "So?"

"It's not an article, Mikey," Don countered, taking the picture to inspect it more closely. "It's an obituary."

"You got it, Don," April affirmed. She flipped through the book quickly, showing them all the pictures, each with a small clipping attached to the back. "All of these pictures have them too."

Raph asked the question on everyone's mind. "So why's this dame collectin' pictures of dead people?"

"Wait a minute." All eyes turned to Don. "April, let me see that book real quick." April wordlessly passed it over, and Don disappeared with it into his lab. He returned a minute later with a sheaf of papers and an odd look on his face.

"What is bothering you, my son?" Splinter asked.

"These pictures…" Don began slowly, removing each one and spreading them facedown on the table, "all of these pictures and obituaries are of the people who died in Forli and in the city in Maine that Iganna was in before she came here."

Raph hissed, realization dawning on his face. "They're trophies. This whackbag is carryin' around pictures of all the people she's killed!"

"We don't know for sure that she killed them, Raph," Don pointed out. "It could just be-"

"Why're ya makin' excuses fer her!" Raph exploded, knocking pictures and papers everywhere in his anger. "There ain't any othah explanation fer what's goin' on! An' now fer some reason, she's aftah Leo!"

Don tried again. "Raph, we don't have any solid evidence. And besides, we've all seen her; she hardly has the manner, appearance, or even physical build of a killer."

"Yeah? An' Saki don't look like a freaky little alien thing eithah, but he is." Raph challenged Don, but his brother had no response for that. The rest of the room's occupants were quiet as well, and Raph, not getting the answers he wanted, quickly lost patience. "Screw this; I'm gonna go look fer Leo."

"Raph," Mikey protested, "he wanted some time alone."

"Yeah, well, he's had time alone, an' I wanna talk to 'im."

"Raph…"

"Look, he's gotta know what's goin' on. I know he's freaked, but if he knows what tha shell is happenin', then he can figure out what ta do 'bout it. That's what's really ridin' his shell; he don't know what's goin' on, so he can't be tha "Fearless Leadah"."

"Raph has a point," April pointed out. "That does sound like how Leo thinks."

Don relented slightly. "I'll give you that one, April, but still…we can't really tell Leo what's going on when we don't know."

"Maybe not," Raph admitted, "but he don't know 'bout tha pictures April found, an' someone's gotta tell 'im." With that, Raph strode out of the Lair, one of Don's trackers in hand to find his brother.

Mikey watched with Don as Raph left, then as Splinter returned to his room to meditate on the new information. April bid the remaining turtles good night and set off for her apartment. Mikey then turned to his brainy brother. "This isn't gonna end well, is it?" he asked. "The whole "Raph-going-after-Leo" thing?"

Don sighed as he gathered up his papers, casting a weary eye at the door to the Lair. "Does it ever?"

Mikey actually seemed to take the question seriously. "Well, there was that one time with the…oh wait, no. Well, how about when…huh; nope, not that one either. Um…oh, I know! What about that time with Leo and Raph and the punching bag?"

The purple-clad turtle looked at his brother in disbelief. "Mikey, that incident resulted in two grounded turtles, three second-degree burns, and a broken leg."

"…Oh, right. I kinda repressed that part."

"Not surprising. It was your leg."

Mikey trailed after Don as he reentered the lab and filed his papers. "So now what do we do?"

"The same thing we always do, Mikey."

The younger turtle grinned, unable to resist the joke. "'Try to take over the world'?" he quipped.

Another sigh escaped the engineer. "Not exactly." His papers back in place, he and Mikey walked out. "We wait for Raph and Leo to get back and try to prevent any and all fratricide." As Don turned off for the kitchen, Mikey came to a stop, a confused look on his face.

"Fratricide? But we don't live in a frat house…"

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"Stupid Leo," Raph grumbled as he trudged through the sewers, doing his best to locate his brother. "'I'll keep to tha tunnels near tha Lair', he says. "Near" my foot. I been walkin' fer ten minutes an' I still ain't found 'im. This stupid tracker a Don's ain't good fer sh-"

"Language, Raph," a mild voice said quietly.

Raph whipped around. His older brother was standing behind him, leaning casually against the wall of the sewer tunnel. The hothead studied him carefully for a moment, then relaxed, satisfied; no new bloodstains showed on his bandages, and no new injuries decorated his body. The haunted look was gone from his face as well, replaced by Leo's normal look of calm and control. Raph mimicked his brother's stance, taking up a position on the opposite wall.

"So where ya been?" Raph asked. "I've been followin' yer shell all ovah tha sewers, an' no dice." He gestured to the tracker. "Stupid thing keeps sayin' I'm right on top 'a ya, but ya ain't there."

Leo walked over to Raph and took the tracker, then pressed a few buttons and chuckled. "That's probably because you've been tracking yourself, Raph. You had it set to your signal."

"What?" Raph snatched the device back, glaring at the screen. He then swore under his breath and stowed the tracker in his belt. "Piece 'a shell."

"So what was so urgent that you had to follow me out here?" Leo inquired.

Raph smirked. "I missed ya an' yer charmin' personality."

"I'm touched."

"In tha head? Yeah, I know," Raph joked. He snickered, then grew serious. "Actually, ya missed somethin' when ya left; April came ovah, an' yer not gonna believe what she told us. Let's head back an' I'll fill ya in…"

By the time the two turtles made it back to the Lair, Raph had brought Leo up to date on the situation with Iganna. "…An' so that's why I came ta find ya. Jus' thought ya might wanna know." He punched in the code for the door and waited for Leo to precede him.

"Thanks…I think," Leo managed. He sighed, sitting down on the couch heavily. "It's always just one more thing, isn't it?"

"You got it, bro. Jus' anothah day in tha life of a teenage mutant ninja turtle."

"My sons." Both turtles looked up to see Master Splinter emerging from his room. "I am glad that you are back. Leonardo, is everything well?"

"As well as can be expected, Sensei," Leo replied, bowing carefully.

"Good. Michelangelo and Donatello turned in for the night not too long ago, once I assured them that I would wait for you to return, and I believe that we should all retire now. It is late, and you need your rest, especially you, Leonardo." The rat nodded to his sons and made for his room. "Good night, my sons; I shall see you in the morning."

"Good night, Master Splinter," the two turtles chorused. The brothers headed up the stairs, separating to go to their rooms. Raph turned to Leo before his brother closed the door.

"Hey, Leo."

"Yeah, Raph?"

"I'll be right in here if ya need me."

Leo smiled at his brother. They both realized how much that phrase echoed Raph's words from the last time Leo was injured.

"I know, Raph. Thanks."

"Anytime, bro. Anytime."

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(Alrighty, time for another timeline update. Just so this is clear, because I'm worried I might be confusing some people, here's what's going on: Splinter and the guys left April's house after dinner, so we'll say they ate around 6:00-7:00, and then got back to the Lair. Then came the whole episode with Raph and Leo, Leo's dream, and then the big family discovery talk. Then April showed up, so just imagine with me that it's about 9:00-10:00 when she comes over. Then Leo goes for his little stroll, Raph goes after him, they come back, and then everybody hits the hay. Yes, they had a very busy day, and a very late night. Also, another note for the story to come, again, I am pretty much guessing at all medical stuff. I checked on times for healing on a medical website, and they're pretty close, but I'm still pretty much winging it, alright? Alright. Now that that's all cleared up, back to the story!)

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The next week passed without anymore major incidents. Leo recovered at pretty much his normal speed, though over the first few days he got tired rather easily. His stitches came out, and the gunshot wound began to heal. However, this in itself presented more problems. While the rest of the family was happy at the speed of his recovery, Leo was chafing at the inactivity. And Don, as the turtle who was making him take it easy, was suffering from Leo's impatience the most.

Leo had been wearing on Don's patience with his frequent attempts against Don's orders; not two days after the had brought him home, Leo was out of bed before all of them, down in the dojo at 7 in the morning practicing katas. Both Don and Splinter had nearly had an aneurism, and Leo was confined to his room for the rest of the day. But this exile had only made the injured turtle sneakier. He was often found by his brothers or sensei quietly practicing in his room. The third day home, Splinter had had to confiscate Leo's katana in order to keep him quiet.

This had worked for two days. However, on the morning of first week after he got shot, Leo was discovered attempting to pick the lock on the weapons cabinet when Splinter had awoken for a cup of tea. He was once again banned to his room.

Where, two hours later, he was found to be doing push-ups.

At that point, both Leo and Don had to be sent to their rooms with a guard; Raph went with Leo to keep him from practicing, and Mikey went with Don to keep the brainy turtle's normally dormant homicidal tendencies at bay.

"But Don, if you kill Leo, doesn't that kind of defeat the point of keeping him quiet? You know, so he'll heal?"

"Yes, but he won't listen! He'll never get better if he doesn't rest and give himself time to recover and heal. Besides, he won't be trying to exercise if he's dead!"

"Bro, he won't be doing much of anything if he's dead."

Don was released half an hour later, after Mikey had finally convinced him not to kill their oldest brother, nor imprison him in a full body cast. However, when the two turtles went to check on their older brothers, they discovered that Raph had made significantly less progress. Upon entering Leo's room, they found their very irate leader bound to his bed with the sheets and a very smug-looking Raph sitting on the immobile turtle's legs, sharpening his sai. When asked for an explanation, Raph said that Leo wouldn't listen to him and rest.

"So you tied him to the bed?" Mikey asked in disbelief.

Raph shrugged, no trace of remorse on his face. "I warned 'im not ta go fer tha hand weights, but he wouldn't listen."

At that point, all the turtles (except Leo, of course) realized that some serious action was needed. Don was nearly at the end of his rope, and neither Mikey nor Rah knew how to deal with the normally passive turtle when he was upset. Raph disappeared into Splinter's room, ordering Mikey to keep Don away from Leo and to keep Leo inside. The second task was easier than the first, seeing as how Leo was still secured firmly to his bed; they could tell this from the muffled cursing and thumps coming from upstairs. Raph emerged ten minutes later, saying that Splinter was going to talk to Leo. However, not a few minutes after that, Splinter exited Leo's room, shaking his head. He handed Raph a packet and went in search of tea and Advil, a headache developing from trying to make his eldest son see reason. Raph then handed the packet to Don, who stared at it uncomprehendingly.

"What is it?"

"'s a sedative," Raph replied. "I got Sensei to agree to a deal; he'd try ta get Leo to agree ta yer medical orders, but if he couldn't, you could drug 'im."

Don looked at the packet like it was the Holy Grail. "Raphael, you are officially my favorite turtle in the world." He immediately went off to prepare something for Leo, intent on getting the turtle to rest. At lunch, he sent Mikey into Leo's room to deliver the food. Mikey emerged a while later, reporting that Leo had eaten everything and was now resting. The injured turtle remained sleeping for the rest of the day.

"By the way, Don, how'd ya get Leo to sleep this late?" Mikey asked at dinner, curious as to why his brother was still so quiet.

"I drugged him," was the candid reply.

"Say what!"

"Master Splinter agreed to it; Leo has to rest or he could make himself worse."

"It's okay, Mikey," Raph said, reassuring his youngest brother before he turned to Don. "By tha way, Donnie, how much did ya use?"

"Half of it."

"Half! Don, Splinter said a pinch of tha stuff was enough ta put 'im out like a light fer a couple hours!"

Don calmly carried his dishes to the sink before facing his brothers (Splinter ate in his room, discovering long ago that the eating habits of his sons had the ability to put him off of food for days). "I'm aware of that. But we all know that Leo won't fall for the same trick twice, and after this he'll be wary of anything we give him, and the last thing I need is him refusing to eat or drink as well. I had to get as much out of this at one shot as I can. The amount I gave him should have him sleep until sometime late tomorrow afternoon, but it won't hurt him. Besides, I'm hoping this will act as an ultimatum and show him I'm serious about him taking it easy." The turtle left the kitchen serenely.

The remaining turtles watched him leave, wondering at his change in character. Mikey broke the silence first. "Raph?"

"Yeah, Mikey?"

"Where's the rest of what was in that packet?"

"Dunno. Why?"

The youngest turtle regarded his plate with a look of fear. "Donnie cooked dinner tonight."

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Don's tactics had worked, and Leo was docile for the next four days, spending his time furthering his meditation with Master Splinter rather than trying to practice before he was ready. And Don, as a token of peace and compromise, had started him on exercises to build his strength back up. Many of the exercises Leo was already doing, so Don made another concession and told Master Splinter that Leo could pick back up with some mild weapons training with the practice weapons. Leo's wound had mostly closed by now, and Don figured that at the two week mark, everything would be healed and there would be sufficient scar tissue for Leo to get back to his normal lifestyle.

Or at least, as normal as life could be for a katana-wielding mutant turtle.

Don was now sitting in his lab, hiding from his oldest brother. With freedom so close at hand, Leo was almost worse than he'd been at the beginning. Don had enjoyed five hours of peace and quiet thanks to his Ninjitsu skills; by using the shadows and his stealth, he had managed to evade Leo for the better part of the day. He was resting now, before attempting to make a run for the surface. Don was usually the least likely of his brothers to go topside for fun, but he needed a break. However, just as he was about to take his chance, Leo walked into the lab.

"Hey Don."

Don sighed. So much for a break. "Hey Leo. What's up?"

"I finished the exercises you prescribed, and I was wondering if there was anything else you could suggest."

Don crossed his fingers, knowing his next words weren't likely to succeed, but determined to try anyway. "How about a nap?"

"But Don," Leo said, "I'm fine! I don't see why I need to take a nap. I'm a grown turtle!"

"I never said you had to take a nap, Leo," Don responded, his tone strained; Leo's constant insistence that he was healed was taking its toll. If it wasn't for Master Splinter's support of my medical orders, I wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in shell of keeping Leo quiet. "But can't you at least take an hour a day for bed rest?"

"That's the same thing!"

Don sighed, rubbing furiously at his temples in an attempt to alleviate the nearly constant headache his brother seemed to inspire lately. "Fine, then don't sleep. Read a book, or meditate or something. Just go upstairs and rest in bed. Okay? Then it's still bed rest."

"Fine." Leo stormed off to his room, nearly plowing Mikey over in the process.

Don sighed and resumed work on one of his experiments; he had a sinking feeling that if he tried to go topside now, it would only make Leo worse. After a few successful trials on his work, Don checked the clock, realizing that he hadn't heard anything from Leo. He made his way to his brother's room to check on him…

And found Leo doing crunches on his bed.

A strangled scream nearly forced its way from the brainy turtle's throat. "That's not resting!"

Leo cocked a calm eye ridge at his brother's hysterics. "Of course it is. I've been resting between every set of twenty."

Don's migraine was back in full force. "Leo, I swear, if you don't take it easy I'm going to drug you again. I'll do it! Or I'll…I'll send him in here."

The blue-clad turtle froze mid-crunch, slowly sitting up to face his brother. "You wouldn't."

Don met him glare for glare. "Try me."

Leo held his brother's gaze for several minutes, a faint glimmer of fear in his eyes, before he broke the contact with a snort. "Don, we both know you don't have it in you." When Don turned and left the room without another word, Leo smiled and returned to his exercises, certain that he had been right. However, he was interrupted again just a minute later by Mikey bursting into the room, his arms full of comic books.

"Hey bro!" the turtle exclaimed, plopping down on Leo's bed. "I figured you might be gettin' kinda bored, so I brought the whole first season of my "Justice Force" comic books! Twenty-three episodes of action-packed, crime-fighting goodness!"

Leo's eyes grew wide in panic at the sight of the mound, as well as at the thought of that much time with an energetic Mikey. Ordinarily, Leo would be able to refuse; but ever since he had been shot, Mikey was sticking to him like glue, and Leo didn't quite have the heart to send him away. "Um, really, Michelangelo, it's alright. I'm sure you've got things you'd rather be doing…"

"No sweat, Leo! There's nothing like a little brotherly bonding!"

Mikey continued to ramble as he shoved the glossy magazines into his brother's arms. Leo was wracking his brain, trying to think of a way to get out of his current situation, when he noticed a movement at the door. Don was leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed in front of him, with a satisfied smirk on his face. Leo's eyes narrowed as comprehension dawned: his brother was the cause of this torture. He had no opportunity for retribution, however, because Don gave him a little wave and shut the door, and Mikey began his attack.

"See, it starts with the Silver Sentry meeting up with Lady Lightning…"

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A grueling three hours later, Leo had been put through all twenty-three episodes, and had just managed to escape his youngest brother. His first action as a free turtle was to seek out Don. He found the brainy turtle in the warehouse, hard at work on some modifications for the Battleshell.

"That was low, Don," Leo said without preamble.

Don glanced up from the beneath the hood of the vehicle, then back down again with a chuckle. "All's fair in love and war, Leo. And you can't say I didn't warn you. And don't even try any of that "you betrayed me" nonsense; I'm doing this for your own good."

Leo merely glared at the back of his brother's head. "You know how the saying goes, Don: evil deeds never go unpunished."

Don's only response was a derisive snort. He finished his adjustments and closed the hood, then turned to face Leo, folding his arms casually across his plastron. "And just what are you implying, Leo?"

"All I'm saying is there's a lot of very fragile equipment in your lab, isn't there, Don?" Leo remarked mildly. "And it would be a shame to think what would happen if Mikey were told that you agreed to give him unlimited access to it."

Don blinked, images of the chaos and destruction their youngest brother could cause flashing through his mind before his calm mask was back in place. "Except that I would never tell him that."

Leo studied his hands with feigned disinterest. "No, you wouldn't…" he agreed.

The brainy turtle narrowed his eyes at the veiled threat. "You wouldn't dare…"

The blue-clad leader raised his gaze to meet the eyes of his younger brother. "Try me," he said, echoing Don's words from before.

The two turtles glared at each other for several minutes before Don broke the silence.

"What do you want?" Don refused to bend or admit defeat; he was positive that there had to be a way out of this. However, it never hurt to get all the facts.

Leo smiled, seeing that the threat on his brother's delicate research had hit home. "Want? Who says I want anything? I might just be here for payback; three hours of Mikey and his comics would be enough to cause even Buddha to seek revenge."

"Come on, Leo," Don scoffed. "We both know you're here for something. If you only wanted revenge, you would have just gone to Mikey already; you wouldn't have come and told me what you're planning. You're keeping that threat for leverage; what is it you want?"

"Very well." Leo's casual, innocent demeanor dropped like a lead weight, his face displaying the mask of determination he normally only wore in battle. "I want you to tell Master Splinter I'm better. I want you to let him know that I'm ready to go back on patrols and back to training."

"You've been training, Leo."

Leo sighed, his frustration evident. "I mean real training, not this "rehab regimen" you have me on. Don, I miss Ninjitsu; I miss patrolling, I miss leading you guys on training runs, shell, I even miss sparring with Raph."

The wild look left Leo's eyes, replaced by an almost lost one, and Don saw clearly how serious Leo was. They all knew how much Ninjitsu meant to Leo, but never had Don thought being out of commission had affected their leader so badly. And yet, no matter how much he missed it, there was no getting around the irrefutable fact that Leo just wasn't ready to be back to normal. Don would have gladly told his brother to pick back up with his regular training, if only for the peace it would result in; but the doctor and concerned brother part of him couldn't in good conscience pronounce Leo ready. However, Leo's threat on his lab was still very real.

"So because of that, you're trying to blackmail me into talking to Master Splinter?" Don asked in disbelief. "Leo, somehow I doubt that blackmail is in the code of Bushido." Certain that Leo was just messing with him, Don called his brother's bluff. "You wouldn't tell Mikey that, and even if you did, he knows better than to think I'd change my mind about him being in my lab."

Leo shrugged. "People, and turtles, have been known to change their minds. There's no telling what I'd do, Don; desperate times call for desperate measures. And besides, it's not blackmail; no one's forcing you to do anything."

"Leo, bullet wounds like yours need at least two weeks to heal," Don tried again. He was starting to get worried; Leo didn't look like he was joking. "You've had a week and four days!"

"And I'm fine now, so obviously I don't need the extra three days," Leo replied, his tone clearly stating that he found no flaws in his argument. "So what's it going to be, Don? Mikey in your lab, or talking to Splinter?"

Don studied his brother carefully. He was no poker player, but he knew the rules of the game. Right now Leo appeared to have the high hand: Mikey and his destructive tendencies. And Leo's poker face revealed nothing, though Don suspected Leo was just desperate enough to actually be serious about his demands. However, Don knew one of the most important things about poker: when the stakes are high, always have an ace in the hole.

And Don had his ace.

"You know what you said, Leo? That saying about love and war? Well, there's another saying, too."

"And what is that?"

Don stared his oldest brother down. "Mikey's got three more seasons of "Justice Force"."

Never before had Don seen a turtle turn so pale, nor so quickly. "No…"

Don felt a slight twinge of guilt at the horrified expression on his brother's face, but shoved it away, telling himself that it was for the best. "It's true. And they're all twenty-five episodes long."

Leo became deathly silent. "You have no honor."

Don couldn't help but chuckle. "Ah, how the tables have turned, huh Leo?" His brother glared at him, death in his gaze. Don strode over to him and threw an arm around his shoulders, taking pity on his brother. "Come on, bro; walk with me, talk with me. There has to be some way we can figure this out without things having to get ugly."

"Things have already gotten ugly," Leo muttered, relenting slightly as they walked back to the elevator. "I hate those comics."

His brainy brother grinned. "And I hate the migraines I get from having to ride your shell and having to ride your shell. We both want something, Leo; I want you to take the rest of the prescribed two weeks to heal, and you want to get back to the way thing normally are. There has to be a middle ground. So here's my proposition: you wait the three days-"

"How is that a compromise?" Leo demanded.

Don sighed. "You didn't let me finish. You wait the three days before you start patrols again. But in the mean time, you can pick back up with the regular training sessions. And, if Master Splinter agrees with it, I'll give you the okay to come topside with us tonight."

Leo stared at his brother. "You're serious?"

"I'm serious." Don grinned at the expression on Leo's face. "I know you've been anxious, to say the least, to get out of the Lair."

"'Anxious' is an understatement, Don." The relief in his voice was evident. He sighed, putting one of his hands on Don's arm. "I'm sorry, bro."

"For what?"

"For being such a pain in the shell lately. I know I've been driving you nuts, but…I just can't handle not being at my best. I can't take it, not being in shape to do moves and exercises I've done for years. And mainly…I can't handle being useless."

"What do you mean, useless?"

Leo dropped his gaze. "I can't help but feel, when I'm hurt and on the sidelines like this, that I'm useless to you and Mikey and Raph. I just end up being in the way. What am I if I can't be the leader?"

"Our brother." Don looked at Leo, wondering why they all hadn't realized before what was bothering him. "Leo, you're more than just the leader, just like I'm more than the brain, Raph's more than the hothead, and Mikey's more than the comedian. Those are just parts of us; they're not all of us."

"I know that, Don; really, I do. It's just…it's hard. I'm so used to being with you guys, looking out for you, being the leader. And it gets to the point where I spend almost all of my time, especially when Raph goes topside alone, worrying; so then I train, so I don't have to worry. It's like…if I train more, I get better, and that means I can protect you guys better, so I won't have to worry about you."

Don though quietly about what his brother had just said. "I think understand where you're coming from Leo, but you don't have to worry about us all the time. There is such a thing as being too selfless. And Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"I mean this in the nicest way possible, but…maybe you should think about getting a life."

"What!" Leo's surprise and hurt at Don's statement were all over his face.

"Wait, that came out badly. I didn't mean it like that," Don said quickly. "I mean a life outside of being the leader. That might be why this is so hard for you. Like you said, the biggest focus you have is watching out for us. So when you're out of the routine like this, you don't know what to do with yourself, which leads to you trying to exercise before you're ready, so you can get back to a point where you do know what to do. But, we're older now, Leo; we don't need protected as much. I'm not trying to say we don't need you, but…well, Raph said it best. It's like you don't have faith in us, like you think we're not good enough, and so you need to protect us."

"Don, it's not like that," Leo assured him. "I know you guys can take care of yourselves, I just…"

"I know, Leo. But it would do you some good to take a break once in a while. Find something you like to do. Take advantage of downtime like this, 'cause we don't get it that often. We still want you as our leader; even Raph does, though he'd never admit it. And maybe that's what's caused a lot of the tension between you guys. You know Raph sees you as a rival, and when you're always practicing, it causes more stress between you two. We don't expect you to be a perfect leader, Leo; only you do."

Leo gave a fake sigh. "But it'd be nice. The ultimate achievement, the undying awe and adoration of my brothers…"

Don snorted, entering the elevator behind Leo. "Right. More like the undying attacks from your brothers. Raph would worry about you getting a big head, and would personally see to it that you didn't get full of yourself. Plus, it'd probably drive him insane." They both laughed. "No one can be perfect, bro. We're fine with you the way you are, but you don't have to be just the perfect leader. We'd rather have you be our leader and our brother. And we miss having you lead us; we're just not the same when the four of us aren't together."

"I'll keep that in mind. So about this new "life" of mine; what new pastime would you suggest?" Leo asked, a grin growing on his face. "Knitting? Baking? Interior decorating?"

The purple-clad turtle laughed. "Knitting? What are you, Martha Turtle? Get serious, Leo. If you took up knitting, Raph would never let you live it down; not unless you knit him a noose. Baking…bro, we know you have many talents, but cooking is not one of them; I think we'd have to swear off eating if you took that up. As for interior decorating…you might be able to pull that off as Feng Shui, but we don't really have any furniture that could go anywhere else."

"There goes my lifelong dream of becoming cultured," Leo joked as they stepped out of the elevator and into the Lair.

"You want cultured?" Don inquired, a considering tone in his voice. He thought for a moment, then smiled. "Why not turn to your namesake?"

"What do you mean?"

"Leonardo da Vinci; scientist, architect, sculptor…and artist extraordinaire."

"Art?" Leo asked incredulously. "Really?"

"Why not? If I remember correctly, you drew a lot when you were younger. Leo, you manage to express yourself through Ninjitsu; why not try doing so through art as well? It could be sculpting, painting, or maybe drawing. We've got a leftover kit of pencils and paint stored around here somewhere, I think from one of Mikey's many escapades, and I'll put it in your room; you could start with that. Maybe try a still-life."

"You mean like a bowl of fruit?"

Don grinned as he made for his lab, turning back around to toss something to his brother. Leo caught it without a second thought, his attention still on Don as he waited for an answer.

He didn't have long to wait.

"They say you're supposed to draw what you love, so I was thinking more along the lines of…a pair of katana." The engineer smiled at his brother before disappearing into the subway car.

Leo looked down, and in his hand was the key to the weapons cabinet. He couldn't believe it; it had been a week since he'd held his blades. The turtle quickly made his way over to the dojo, unlocking the cabinet as swiftly as he could. There, waiting on a stand, were his katana. He lifted them out slowly, a content smile unconsciously growing on his face at their familiar weight in his hands. Leo sheathed them without a thought, the motion as natural as breathing to him. He relocked the cabinet and went to his room, where he found the art supplies, as promised.

Leo sat down and picked up one of the paintbrushes carefully. The utensil felt natural in his hand; he was used to this from writing kanji. But when he tried to paint a simple picture, the style was too different from penmanship, making him feel clumsy. He set aside the brush, pulled a clean sheet of paper towards him and made a few practices strokes, this time with a pencil. The turtle spent several minutes trying to re-accustom himself to the feel of it; it had been years since he'd drawn anything, years since he'd actually taken some time for himself. He then tried a small drawing of the sword stand in his room, and surprisingly, it turned out well. Soon, the pencil almost felt as natural to him as his katana. Leo grabbed another sheet of paper, determined to draw something to show Don as a way to thank him for returning his katana and reminding him of his love of drawing.

He stared at the blank paper for several minutes, trying to find some inspiration, when he recalled Don's words.

Draw what you love.

Leo smiled as he thought of what to draw and instantly got to work. He remained in his room for the rest of the afternoon, working fervently. He took special care to make each figure as well as he was able, his perfectionism showing even through his art. Lines and shading soon filled the paper, bringing his thoughts to life. The work was slow, due in part to his constant erasing and fixing of mistakes. He ignored the call for dinner, choosing instead to work through the meal. Nearly six hours later, he was finished. The drawing was fairly simple, but to his mind not bad for him being rusty. He put his pencils aside and cracked his neck, then sat back to admire his work with a critical eye. Satisfied, he picked up the picture and left the room. He jumped down to the main floor, then entered Don's lab. Without a word, he walked up to his brother, handed him the paper, and walked back out.

Don watched as his brother left, confused. He then looked down at the paper he was holding and gasped.

In front of him, in stunning detail, was a small, hand drawn portrait of them and their friends. Him, Leo, Raph, Mikey, Splinter, Casey, April, and Leatherhead were all there, smiling up at him from the picture. And at the bottom of the picture was another work of art; Leo, in the graceful script of kanji that they had been taught when they were young, had written an explanation for his art.

You said to draw what I love. And so, I drew my family.

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A/N: Holy crap! This sucker was 21 PAGES! X.X (Crawls into a corner and dies) I feel so bad that this was so late, but my schedule is not working with me, and getting the chapters to come out well enough to satisfy me is hard. I don't want to give you guys bad work, so it takes me awhile to get something that I'm happy with that I also think will contain enough to keep the story moving. I think this one turned out well, and hopefully the insane length will make up for its delay. I had originally planned this chapter out differently, but then I would have been hitting you guys with another cliffhanger, and I didn't want to do that twice in a row, so I wrote until I came up with a good ending. The next chapter should be way more action-oriented, and depending on how things turn out, it may be the second to last chapter or the last one. It's crazy to think of this story being nearly done, and I honestly had no idea it would turn out like this; I only had the main plot in mind when I started, so it's like I'm reading it for the first time too:D Also, in case this has any mistakes, I apologize now, but it took me so long to get it out that by the end I was tired of reading through it.

In this chapter, Leo is a bit looser than he normally is, but I think that he has the ability to joke around and be a teenage boy like his brothers; however, he's denied himself the chance. So now, I'm just trying to share what I think Leo could be like were he not so "Mr. Responsibility"-ish all the time. And there was a nice Don/Leo moment in there too, because I think that theirs is a relationship that isn't explored as much, but that could and should be. Plus, I think everything needs some humor in it, so that played a part in how Leo was portrayed as well. Also, I like the idea of Leo as an artist; he strikes me as having the artistic soul in the family, and I personally think it's time he found a hobby. And, for the sake of having Leo be talented enough to draw such a good picture, I gave him a background of drawing, so it'd be like he was rediscovering drawing. I figure, heck, if I'm going to have artistic license, I might as well use it. :D So anyways, love it, hate it, either one, just please let me know how his characterization struck you guys in this chapter. Thanks so much for reading, and I will be incredibly happy and gratified if you would click the little button down yonder on the left. I'm still chugging along on this story, never fear; as usual, the next chapter will hopefully be up as close to a week from now as I can manage. See you next time!