Leo chucked another piece of rubble across the ruined cavern to shatter against a wall. A damaged machine of some kind followed quickly after. The slider shrieked as he heaved another charred lump across the vast space. Burning, furious rage had driven him from their home and to the only place he could still vent against the source.

Draxum's long abandoned lab was the last place Leon could go to properly destroy the man's property without damaging something that might actually be useful. He'd bolted from the Lair after the full implications of what Draxum had done hit him like a truck. If he hadn't left when he did…. This isn't enough. Switching gears, the swordsman moved to a different kind of exertion.

Drawing his twin katanas, Leo slashed a portal into existence under a larger piece of debris. Another swing to produce a portal above and he let gravity accelerate the object. Once he was satisfied with its speed, he sent the mass hurtling into a wall, embedding it deeply into the surrounding structure. Leonardo did it again, and again, and again, and again, until he had multiple portals flashing in and out of existence, flinging rubble about the cavernous space in a woven symphony of light and speed. Eventually he tired and allowed it all to finally collide with a thunderous impact at the center, pelting him with shrapnel as he slumped to his knees.

"Impressive." Splinter's deep, resonate voice just about knocked the exhausted turtle onto his tail. Whipping around, Leo spotted his father carefully picking a path around the destruction his son had wrought. All he could do was stare as the diminutive rat bounced over one last obstacle and landed in front of him.

"Oh." Splinter said while taking one of Leo's hands into his own; knuckles bleeding sluggishly from where he'd punched a console earlier. "Do you have some bandages in your butt bag?" the rat asked.

"Fanny pack."

"Whatever."

Leonardo rolled his eyes a little. "Yeah." Splinter stopped him reaching for it though and dove into the supplies himself. While he was busy with that, the adrenaline was wearing off and Yep, I can feel that now. Both his aching hands and the twinge in his side were now voicing their opinions of his vent session. They weren't happy. He winced a little as his father carefully wrapped green fingers, turning the white gauze red for the first couple layers.

Injuries addressed, Splinter picked up and handed over Leo's discarded blades. Once his weapons were safely stowed away, they just sort of, sat there for a while, quietly waiting for each other to start the conversation.

"Your shadow is about 20 yards up that tunnel over there." Splinter pointed to one of the former conduits that had supplied Draxum's lab complex. Leo thought he'd spotted Casey at some point during his flight from the Lair; the boy's continued loyalty tugged at the slightly older turtle's heart. "He's a good kid." Leon replied, then sat there, legs crossed, playing with his fingers for a bit longer. "Sorry for taking off like that."

Yoshi huffed. "You just had a bomb dropped on you; I don't blame you for wanting to run." He perched on a rock next to his much larger son. "When I left, April was seeing to Purple, and Red was taking care of Orange. He was quite upset as well." This tore at Leo again, forcing him to close his eyes and turn away to try and contain his reaction. The grey rat placed a clawed hand on his scaly shoulder. "Blue." Leo braced his forearm between his beak and a knee. "Leonardo." The use of his real name shocked him into facing his father.

Splinter's yellow eyes were full of aching sympathy. "It will be all right my son." It was too much. The slider sprung up, "How can you say that?!" and begun pacing back and forth. "Mikey loved Draxum. He called him Dad for crying out loud! I left because I knew the second he said something about the old goat being a changed man I was gonna turn around and punch him!"

His REAL Dad grabbed Leo's hands, stopping his pacing. "And I am proud of you for that. I wish I'd learned to walk away before losing my temper by your age." A wry grin twisted his muzzle. "It would've saved me a lot of fights with your Oji-San." Leon wasn't in the mood for jokes though.

"C'mon Dad, this is serious." He stepped back, hugging himself tightly. "Look I get why Mikey forgave him, I really do. And I do think that he was changing, Mike's just that amazing how could he not?" He started pacing again to conceal the shaking in his legs. "But this? I don't think I can forgive this, Dad. I don't think I can listen while Mikey talks about that guy like he was family." Leo hissed a little, "The worst part is, I was actually starting to..." trust him. And didn't that hit like a brick to the skull.

Splinter took advantage of the blue-clad turtle's shock. "And you don't have to. Son," he grabbed his boy's hands again, "however you were starting to feel, it was based on what you knew at the time. Now you've learned something that changes how you feel. That is fine. It makes sense." The rat shook the hands in his grip to make sure he had Leo's attention. "And your brother will understand that. He is more concerned with how you see him, than how you see Draxum."

"I just," Leo looked down at their joined hands, "I don't want to hurt him."

"Ahhhh, I think you are underestimating your brother. He understands these 'feelings' things. Talk to him, you'll be ok." The second youngest searched his father's face. "You're getting better at these 'feelings' things yourself, Pops."

Splinter blushed a bit and waved a negligent hand. "Yeah well, turns out therapy isn't just a bunch of hot air after all."

That was new. "You. Are in therapy." His clear scepticism made Splinter defensively cross his arms. "Whaaaat? It's been good for me. What with the family drama, being kidnapped by my girlfriend then turned into a lab rat? I needed all the therapy. I started going after that whole Shredder mess."

The brothers had noticed their father's gradual improvement over the last few years, but Leo'd never considered that he'd actually gotten professional help. But he's right though, isn't he? He's been through so much. Leonardo slowly knelt to get on the other's level. "Dad… I'm proud of you." The blatant surprise on Splinter's chubby face broke his son's heart. Ah Pops, after everything that happened to you….. Leo couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "Why don't you hate us?"

It was something Leo'd wondered about more than once ever since they'd learned the truth of their origins. They were made by a monster, to be monsters, through monstrous means. One more violation heaped on top of everything that'd been done to Hamato Yoshi. Parents dead. Raised by his own grandfather to die in a blaze of glory. Finally builds the life he wanted only to be betrayed by the woman he loved and enslaved as a modern-day gladiator. Then taken and used to make living weapons by a genocidal maniac. And as a final indignity, rendered homeless on the streets after being turned into a rodent. Honestly, they were lucky he'd just been neglectful and lazy due to depression; he could've been warped by his experiences in far worse ways.

Splinter outright pounced on his kid after that question. "I could NEVER hate you. I love you all." The ferocious hug he'd caught Leo in proved the old man was still pretty strong himself. "I can be unhappy about how I got you and still be happy to HAVE you." One clawed hand cupped the back of Leon's head. "My boys were the silver lining in a very dark cloud. Honestly, if it weren't for you four …" he shuddered a bit, "I don't know that I would've cared enough to carry on." Echoed feelings wracked through the young leader's body. We're so alike, aren't we? But Splinter was still talking. "I know I never told you boys I love you enough, and I haven't been the best parent.." Leo had to cut in, "You've been a great dad, especially with everything." He got that now, he really did. They were starting to talk over each other at this point. "I messed up, and didn't give you boys enough attention, but I NEED you to know that I love you so much my son. When we thought we'd lost you … it was worse than everything that had come before." The elder ninja pulled back to cradle his son's face with both hands now, wiping away silent trails of tears. "But none of you can be held responsible for something that someone else did before you even existed."

"I get that in here," a green-scaled finger pointed at Leo's head, "it's convincing this that's the problem." He finished with a hand over his aching heart. "I don't understand how you can look at us and not see all the bad things that were done to you."

"Sometimes I do." Ok, ouch. Splinter quickly added to his statement, "Don't Red's eye and Purple's mechanical arm things sometimes remind you of the Krang?" Leo winced. "Does that make you love them any less?"

Leonardo stopped for a moment to digest that. Sometimes they trigger flashbacks, but that's just a reflex, then I get control of myself and it's just them. "Okay, I see what you're saying." He sighed and started to pull back inside his walls. "I guess I just have to keep reminding myself." A claw under his chin drew his eyes back up. "And I am always happy to provide more reminders." Then Yoshi smacked his son upside the head. "Maybe we'll finally get through that thick skull, hmmm? 'This is the only way Casey,' my furry butt."

Leo barked a laugh. "Please no. I've seen more of your butt than any kid should. Ugh, slippery whippery woo. So wrong." He stood and smiled. "Thanks Dad."

The squinty grin he got in return sent warmth surging through him. "Anytime Baby Blue. Now, let's collect that kid of yours and go home."

"Oof," Leo started walking, striped arms folded behind his head, "teenage dad to a teenager, and I didn't even get to do the fun part first." That earned him a snort.

Halfway across the expansive floor Leo piped up, "Y'know he killed her right?" Splinter sighed a little. "I'm sure he wasn't planning to send me on my way with a juice box and thanks for my contribution. One step at a time Blue. We'll deal with it one step at a time. Purple will definitely find whatever there is to know about her before too long. In the meantime…." There was Casey, patiently waiting for his sensei, while he fiddled with the phone Donnie had recently gifted him.

The boy looked up and smiled softly as the two approached. "Better?" He asked.

"Yeah." Leo said while Splinter gave him a wink and wandered off ahead. "Hey Case, you got a second?"

"Of course, Sensei." He then froze as Leon grabbed him in a hug. "I'm pretty sure things are gonna get uglier before they get better, so I wanted to tell you something before I forget." Then right into Casey's ear he whispered, "Thank you Casey Jones. Thank you for saving my family, thank you for giving us back our futures, and thank you for giving me back my life." The sixteen-year-old shuddered, then broke. He wept into the turtle's shoulder until Leo could feel the tears slipping under the top of his carapace. Eventually he cried himself out, and managed a soft little "You're welcome." After a couple little back pats, the two separated, collected Splinter and portalled back to the Lair.

They were promptly greeted by Michelangelo wailing at full volume. Casey was alarmed at, what was to him, uncharacteristic behaviour. The two more senior members of the Hamato clan weren't surprised at all.

I'm gonna be all hugged out by the end of this. Leon waltzed over to where Raph was holding their little brother and trying to hush him like a giant baby. Over the youngest's shoulder Raphael mouthed, you ok? Leo nodded and held out his arms to take the tornado siren from his big brother. Hand off complete, the eldest moved off to have a whispered conversation with their father.

The moment Mikey realized who was now holding him, he wrapped himself around his brother in blue. "Leo! Leo I'm so sorry! I didn't know! I love you! I'm sorry!" Rinse, lather, repeat. The slider squeezed back as much as he was getting, and took up a corresponding murmur of, "It's ok. I know. I love you too. It's ok." Eventually, the smallest turtle wound down to wet sniffles in Leo's neck and he knew it was time to try and actually tackle this.

"Sshhhh, Mikey just listen for a minute, ok?" After his only little brother nodded a bit, Leo continued. "It's ok. I know you loved … him, and you're allowed. The fact that you found the good in him, you amaze me, Miguel. I just …. I'm not as kind as you Mikey. Ssh it's fine, most people aren't." He gave the box turtle another little squeeze and then pulled back to look into his caramel eyes. "Could I ask …." He huffed in frustration, "I don't know if I can handle hearing people say nice things about him for awhile. Or maybe even ever. Your relationship with him and memories are yours and you have every right to them, but could you not mention him when I'm around please? I just can't."

Michelangelo's face crumbled. "Of course, Leo! That's fine! I'm so sorry about all this. I was afraid you would hate me because I was close to him and he hurt you guys so much!"

Hurt, murdered, potato, tomato. Leon sighed pushing their foreheads together. "Never Mikey. I could never hate you." They just stood there awhile, swaying back and forth, dancing to an inaudible song. "So," the orange-clad turtle hesitantly began, "are we good?"

Leo felt a broken smile crawl across his face. "We're awesome, little brother. Never doubt that."

The younger suddenly pulled back. "Do you think Donnie will be ok with me?"

"Yeah, Mikey. I think he'll be fine, but he'll probably be extra crusty for a bit, so be nice.

Angelo nodded chewing on his lower beak. "Don said he was gonna look for more info about your Mom in … his records. Maybe we can find her?"

Leon winced. "Mikey, back then, Draxum's whole thing was killing humans. I'm pretty sure he didn't keep her alive." But the optimism of Michelangelo Hamato knows no bounds. "Dad got away from him, maybe she did too!"

"She didn't." Everyone turned as Donatello's flat voice rang out across the Lair's central space. Leo's heart sank. He knew what was coming, but it needed to be done. Turning around, he saw his twin descending from the lab, April a grim shadow behind him. While Don's expression didn't give anything away, their dearest friend was emoting plenty for both of them. Whatever they'd found, it wasn't good.

Leo walked to meet his brother. Normally they'd hold a more open circle for getting a Donnie info dump, but this was more personal; he felt a need to be front and center. "You found her file."

The softshell nodded. "I found her file." He began typing on his wrist comp, pulling up a holoscreen for all to see; and for the first time in his life, Leonardo laid eyes on his mother. She wasn't a super model, but Leo thought she was reasonably pretty. A young white woman, chestnut brown hair liberally shot through with chunky blonde highlights; a bright and cheerful wide grin across her face lighting up a pair of blue/green eyes crinkled over her freckled cheeks. A pang gripped his heart. She looks like she was around our age.

Donatello started reading off the record Draxum had made of their mother. "Claudia Sullivan. Born July 6, 1981. She was pursuing her Master's in biomechanical engineering at Columbia. Obviously, she was something of a prodigy, which is why Draxum selected her." He looked down to his wrist controls again. "I researched her further online. Her missing persons file is still active. She was survived by her parents and younger siblings, two brothers and one sister." April put a comforting hand on his shoulder as Don worked his jaw a bit then continued. "Draxum abducted her March 3rd, 2000. He then … harvested … what he needed from her and," their purple clad brother paused, taking a moment to collect himself again, "and terminated her on the 6th. Fortunately, he saw no reason to interact with her at all, so she was kept sedated the entire time. She never knew what was happening to her. According to the file, her remains are currently in a preservation unit in one of his storage caches under North Brother Island." Donatello finished, took a moment then met Leonardo's equally glistening eyes.

Peripherally, Leon noted the family closing ranks. Mikey was still clinging to one of Leo's hands with Casey coming up to take hold of the other. Dad and Raph exchanged horrified, but also unsurprised looks off to his right. Everything slowly became white noise and static except for one repetitive thought ringing through his mind.

"Donnie, are you telling me that our mother's body is stuffed in a specimen jar on a shelf somewhere?"

Don blinked once and apparently decided against his usual insistence on accuracy. "Essentially, yes."

Amid the hushed whispers and stricken faces, Leo just resignedly closed his eyes. "Dammit Barry."

They'd all been awake far too long at this point, but no one would be able to sleep with the knowledge that an unwilling member of their family was still squirreled away in a collection somewhere like a common possession. This led the entire clan to be standing around while Donnie's drill (utility version) worked its way down to Draxum's storage unit in the miniature forest of North Brother Island. Once he'd been inside and seen the space, it would be safe for Leo to portal them back and forth.

The middle children were more in the middle than ever with their loved ones clustered tightly around making sure their support was felt, though they made sure not to overwhelm Donatello. He appreciated it dearly, but there was no way he could express it right now as touching his emotions at all would open the floodgates with no closing them for hours at least. The softshell focused on his controls and the drill's proximity to a void he'd detected at the recorded coordinates below them, unwilling to risk any of the cache's contents being damaged.

One thing he was acutely aware of though, was Leonardo. His brother, twin admit it already, felt like standing next to a seething pit of anger and hatred. One thing they'd all learned over the years was that a quiet Leo was a dangerous thing. Normally he'd be chattering, laughing or something. Even when he'd been so badly injured after the invasion, their brother had still been cracking jokes, trying to lighten the atmosphere, or muttering self-deprecations and pleas while fighting his exhaustion and pain at his lowest. Now he just stood there, radiating such darkness, that Don could not comprehend how the others could stand being so close to him in this state.

Finally, the drill reached a depth level with the floor of the room below and Don deactivated it for Leo to portal back to their garage later. Without needing to ask, Raph scooped up their mammals and jumped into the hole, his brothers following. Once on the bottom, the two eldest activated their powers and began carefully scraping away the dirt and plant material that made up the chamber's walls. As they cleared a path, shelving on the other side became apparent, and their younger brothers moved in to gently push it to the side allowing everyone to walk into the room.

Like the other caches, its walls were lined with shelving; storing boxes of data units, materials and artefacts. Fortunately, there was only one thing in the room large enough to contain what they were looking for. To their right, in a corner, was a long metallic looking box with a segmented lid, about the size and shape of a coffin. The twins shared a look and walked over.

Donatello stowed away his gear and laid a hand on the end segment closest to himself. It was warm and subtly vibrating. Just get it over with. He breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth and slid back the section of lid to see … feet? Oh, for the love of. … Looking up from the pair of feminine human feet floating in front of him, Don was startled to hear his brother in blue's aborted snort. Yes, Nardo thank you. Then he saw the moment Leo realised he was at the "right" end and decided to take pity on the slider.

Together they pulled aside the cover to reveal their mother's face. It was so cliché, but she really did look like she was just sleeping … while floating in glowing honey but still, it was undoubtedly the woman who's picture he'd found earlier. "She looks exactly the same." Leo whispered next to him, face dimly lit from below by the glow of the tank. Don sidled a little closer. "The fluid removes any microbes, enzymes, etc that would cause degradation and the filters purify the fluid. In here, she could theoretically last for a century or two without any noticeable decay." Her hair waving in the flow from the filtration unit was slightly hypnotic. He noted a small birthmark on her shoulder. Huh, it kinda looks like a mouse.

"We can't leave her like this." Leon said definitively, and Don couldn't find it in himself to disagree. "But what should we do, Leo? We have no idea what she would have preferred be done with her remains."

Raph's massive hands settled on each of the twin's shoulders, drawing their attention up to him. "You guys are her sons, whatever you choose to do, we'll help."

"Yes, we will." Splinter added, "But not today. We're all tired. We will take her home, and then you two can figure out what to do tomorrow."