Leo sat back in his chair, swallowing hard as he digested this bit of news.

The Shredder was back. Stronger than ever.

"He's the one that destroyed the old lair, wasn't he?" he realized, putting the pieces together. "And Karai's old headquarters. This new Shredder is the one that attacked you."

"Yeah…" Mikey exhaled. "That's the first time we met him. He really kicked our shells, bro. Bad."

"But we're okay! Everybody's okay! We were just taken by surprise back then." Raph hurriedly tried to reassure him desperately. "We have everything under control now, Leo. Karai is on her way right this moment with back up, April and Casey are currently bunkered down and protected in one of Karai's safe houses…"

"Wait, what?!" Leo's head shot up, truly alarmed now. "April and Casey were forced to retreat to a BUNKER?! When?! Why?! What happened?! Were they attacked?!"

Raph's wince was almost tangible as he immediately backpedaled, trying to keep Leo from worrying. "What? Oh! No! They're okay! I didn't mean that they were…! They aren't in any….!"

"They're completely fine! April and Casey are okay, Leo! It's just a precaution." Donnie hurried to jump in and help reassure him. "Some of the NeoFoot approached them trying to find us, but they weren't attacked or anything."

Leo narrowed his eyes skeptically. Okay, things just weren't adding up. Why would the NeoFoot do that? They weren't usually so straightforward and direct. What were they trying to accomplish? He really, really wished he could see his brothers' faces right now! Were they still hiding things from him?

"So… You're telling me that the NeoFoot, a group that so far has always been a hostile and aggressive faction, now led by this new Shredder, just walked right up to Casey and April... to just talk?" Leo raised an eyeridge skeptically.

"Ah. Yeah? Sounds like it?" He could almost visualize Mikey's shrug. "They waited for them outside their jobs, and then just peaced out after talking for a few minutes."

Leo blinked, incredulous. "When did this happen?"

Donnie hesitated, which probably wasn't a good sign.

"Donnie..." Leo's tone warned him that he didn't have the patience for vague answers. Not now.

Donnie shrank down under that tone submissively. "This morning." he meekly informed him.

This MORNING?! Leo blinked, trying to process this. This whole fiasco was going on right under his nose?! And his brothers didn't say anything to him! They lied! Right to his face!

"Why didn't you guys tell me?!" It was getting more and more difficult to keep his tone even and calm.

"We didn't want you to worry, Leo!" Donnie protested.

"Our family is in danger, and you guys weren't even going to warn me of the danger out there?!" Leo couldn't hold it back anymore, snarling. "You guys were seriously just going to let me sit down here, twiddling my thumbs and playing PINBALL while my family and clan is being hunted down by… by this new Shredder and the NeoFoot?!"

"You just went through HELL, Leo!" Raph reacted to Leo's outburst by bristling up aggressively again. "We didn't want you to come back and immediately get buried under all of our problems while you were still recovering!"

"Recovering?!" Leo said in disbelief. "From what, exactly?! I'm not hurt. I'm not injured. I don't have my sight, true, but I still have all my other senses! I made my way across the world dodging NeoFoot just fine!"

"We just… wanted to let you finally feel safe for a little bit, bro." Mikey squirmed in his chair guiltily. "We weren't trying to… to… y'know. Hurt you or anything…" He trailed off, muttering, "We just wanted to keep you safe."

"We're dealing with a crazy cult being led by a freaking demonic version of Shredder!" Leo threw up his hands in disbelief. "That's not the kind of information you hide from me! I'm not some fragile, broken flower that's going to fall to pieces at the first sign of danger! I'm a ninja, a warrior, and YOUR BROTHER! I'm a part of this too!"

"Of course you're our brother! And we're here to take care of you, like you've always taken care of us!" Raph snarled, as if by saying it loud enough, he'd finally drill the concept into Leo's thick skull. "Like I said, Leo! We have things under control! You don't have to worry!"

"It doesn't sound like things are under control!" Leo was well past the stage of losing his patience, and stood up as he confronted his brothers. "And of course I'm going to worry! It's my JOB to worry! I know you guys are just trying to protect me, but I still need to know things like this! You can't keep hiding things from me!" He starting to pace angrily. "I'm not helpless! You can't possibly think that I'm going to just stay back on the sidelines! I can still fight!"

"And that's exactly what we're afraid of, Leo!" Raph's chair clattered against the floor again as he shoved it back to stand up and intercept Leo's pacing, grabbing him by the shoulders. "That you'll go out and do something stupid!"

"Stupid?! You mean like LYING to me and leaving me completely unaware of the danger we're all in?!" Leo pushed back hotly.

"You can't fight the Shredder anymore, Leo!" Raph sputtered. "Not while you're… you're…"

"Blind!" Leo exploded angrily. "Yes! I'm blind! But I'm still a ninja! I'm still a warrior! I'm not helpless, and if you'll just let me show you, I've learned how to still do all the things I used to be able to. Sometimes even better than before! I can still fight by your side!"

"No, you can't!" Raph snarled, shaking Leo by the shoulders in raw frustration. "Not while you're fuckin' BLIND! Stop being an idiot!"

Leo stiffened up, and his voice went ice cold again. "Get your shell in the dojo. NOW! I'll show you what I can and can't do!"

"Dammit! I'm not going to fight you, Leo!" Raph shoved him away.

"Obviously, the only way I'm going to get you to listen to me is by pounding in your thick hotheaded skull!" Leo hissed dangerously. "So either we fight in the dojo, or we fight out here! Your choice, Raph!"

"No! Nobody is going to fight, especially right now!" Donnie stepped in, his voice cracking slightly as he pleaded with Leo. "Leo, bro! Please! I know you think that you can still go out there and fight to protect us, because you're fearless and brave and you never ever give up, even when everybody else would have! You're amazing for that and we love you and admire you for it, but trust me when I say that we know what's out there! It's far more dangerous than anything we've ever fought before! You may think you can do this, Leo, but you CAN'T!"

"Yes! I! CAN!" Leo tried to will his brothers to just LISTEN TO HIM for once! "I can handle this, and I'm not going to leave you guys to fight this battle alone! I can be there, at your side, and we can do this together! You just need to trust me!"

Raph grew quiet for just a second, inhaling through his nose and obviously fighting some inner turmoil. Then he quietly said, "Are you willing to bet our lives on that?"

Whatever Leo had been planning to say died instantly on his lips. He had been preparing to counter anything his brothers threw at him, expecting an argument. But not those words. Not that implication.

It was so unexpected, and packed such a gut wrenching punch, that he couldn't do anything but freeze in his tracks.

"I hope you're one hundred percent sure that you can do this, Leo." Raph continued slowly, all anger now completely gone and his voice cracking as if each word was painful. "Because if you go out to fight the Shredder, and you're wrong…" He paused and took a deep breath, before continuing, his voice low and pained. "You know as well as I do that all three of us, without hesitation, would throw ourselves in front of his blade to save you, Leo. I know I speak for all of us when I say that we won't let him kill you, even if we have to sacrifice our life to save you. So… If you go out there and act like a brave idiot, you have to know that you're not putting your life at risk. You're risking our lives. Me, Donnie, and Mikey."

Leo slowly straightened up. His face had gone from scrunched up and furious to completely blank and expressionless. All of his indignant anger had evaporated in an instant, leaving him feeling only cold, empty, and numb.

Raph swore softly under his breath, and suddenly Leo found himself wrapped in a strong hug. "Fucking dammit. Leo, I'm sorry! THIS is why we didn't tell you! We didn't want fucking THIS to happen!" Raph crushed him close, his voice cracking with desperation. "I swear to you, big brother, it's going to be okay! We have this under control, and nobody is going to get hurt."

Donnie and Mikey's warm bodies quickly lunged out of their chairs and joined the crush, their auras roiling with distress and an urgent need to comfort their broken brother.

"This is just temporary, Leo!" Donnie hurriedly tried to reassure him, squeezing him tightly. "We're going to fix your eyes! You're going to regain your sight again! I promise, I'm not going to give up until I find a way to fix your eyes! Somehow I'll figure out a way! This… this darkness isn't going to last forever!"

"And then things will go back to how they used to be! Everything will go back to normal!" Mikey hurried to snuggle up under Leo's chin. "And then you'll be able to see again, and we'll all take turns kicking Tengu Shredder's butt and being awesome heroes who save the day, together, like we always do! So just let us take care of things for a bit until we get your eyes fixed, 'k? We got this, big bro!"

His hand reached up to pat Leo's snout hopefully.

Leo didn't respond to his touch. He didn't move or speak. He just stood there, arms down by his side and staring straight ahead as if in a daze.

"Dammit!" Raph growled, squeezing Leo tighter. He pressed his forehead into Leo's, as if wishing desperately to absorb all his brother's hurt and burdens himself. "Dammit, Leo, everything's going to be OKAY!"

Leo closed his eyes and exhaled slowly out through his nose, standing completely still and allowing his brothers to cling to him for a long minute. Then he quietly stepped back, peeling his brothers off of him one by one.

"If you three will excuse me, I require a few minutes to myself in the dojo." he told them, his tone distant and strangely calm.

He sensed his brothers hesitating around him, their auras wavering indecisively with worry.

"I can sit with you for a bit if you'd like, Leo." Mikey offered, and Leo heard him take a step forward. "Keep you company while you get this all sorted out in the ol' mind brainy-roo."

"No thank you." Leo said simply, stalking away. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added tersely, "Be back in fifteen minutes or so."

As he put distance between them, he heard Donnie uncertainly shift his weight from foot to foot behind him, before whispering to the other two with concern, "Should… should we follow him?"

Raph's low, shaky exhale spoke volumes, and Leo overheard him mutter softly to the other two, ""Just… give him a moment."

Leo ignored them for the moment, his steps even and methodical as he made his way across the lair, leaving their whispered voices to fade away as he strode towards the dojo. As he walked past the kitchen, he deviated from his path slightly to pass a certain wooden crate left sitting on the counter, pausing only slightly to feel out and grab a few of the kumquats piled up in it before moving on once more.

He reached the dojo and, without pausing, headed directly back to the shrine he knew was located in the back.

There were spots for three altars set up here, one to Master Splinter, one to Tang Shen, and one now conspicuously bare, as it had been discreetly cleared off when they thought Leo wasn't paying attention. Because, of course, the brother it had been to was discovered alive and it wasn't needed.

But Leo had a purpose for it in mind.

Quietly, without a word, he knelt down. His movements felt mechanical and automatic as he went to work. Setting aside the small pieces of fruit in his hand, he reached over to slide open the wooden doors of the small cabinet off to the side containing all the supplies, pulled out candles and an incense stick, and closed the doors. He then turned towards the shrine, and carefully set it up, placing a candle on each altar, with the incense stick in it's holder in the center.

He exhaled, and carefully struck a match. There was a small blob of lighter grey in his vision now. He could faintly see the light if he concentrated, but he couldn't see the flame that made it. Everything was too murky and opaque. Far more clearly, he could hear the small flame crackle to life and feel the small heat against his fingertips as he touched the small sliver of wood against each wick in turn, lighting them even though his world remained murky grey.

He shook out the match, and then bowed low, first silently murmuring a prayer to Master Splinter's, then Tang Shen's, and then, finally, gently placing the kumquats in front of the third one as an offering.

That done, he slid back away from the altars a few feet and slumped back, his shell scraping the wall as he leaned against it for support. Miserably, he drew up his knees and buried his face in his arms.

He sat there, worthless eyes closed, forehead pressed firmly against the scales of his arms as he concentrated on keeping his breathing even and steady. He felt at the same time both numb and icy cold, and ready to burst with a storm of emotions raging deep down.

The realization of what was really going on made his stomach sink and churn uncomfortably. His brothers didn't trust him anymore. They didn't trust him to lead them. They didn't trust him to protect them. That knowledge cut deep, down to his very core, and Leo didn't know how to fix this.

He could hear the soft snap and crackle as the small flames he couldn't see danced and flickered on the candles set upon the altar.

And then there was another sound. The sound of somebody biting into a juicy piece of citrus fruit and chewing appreciatively.

"Quite a mess, huh Kumquat?" a familiar voice said thoughtfully.

Leo didn't raise his head. "They don't trust me." He whispered, his voice muffled against the crook of his arm.

"Oh... Oh, Leonardo." The Ancient One's old, crackly voice was sympathetic as a familiar short, chubby presence settled down next to him against the wall. "That's not true, and you know it. Your brothers love you very much."

"I know they love me." Leo whispered harshly. "But they don't trust me. Not anymore. They've made that quite clear."

The Ancient One sighed sadly. "Kumquat... Right now, they are very afraid. And that fear has overwhelmed them and blinded them to what's right in front of their eyes. They are lost in the darkness right now, just as much as you were when you first landed on the island."

Leo reached up to angrily wipe away at the tears building up in the corners of his unseeing eyes. "But... What if… what if they're right? What if I… I can't… And because I can't, they…?" He gave an involuntary shudder, immediately cutting off the train of thought before it could conjure up images he couldn't bear to see in his mind's eye.

"Kumquat, if you've already decided that you're going to fall out of the tree when you start climbing it, then you'll achieve your goal." the Ancient One reminded him softly.

Leo gave a snort as he remembered that particular lesson. It had taken weeks to heal up from that. Now… It felt like a lifetime ago.

The Ancient One leaned back with a sigh. "It appears as if your brothers fell out of their own tree while you were gone. Now, they are too afraid to try again. They have already decided that they can't win this fight." He shook his head. "That is why they're so afraid. In their minds, they've already lost. And they're terrified of what that means. Of what they have to lose."

Leo slowly lifted his head up as he absorbed those words. His fingers tapped against his arm absently, before he asked, "Can we win?"

There was a moment as the Ancient One took another bite of the fruit and chewed thoughtfully. Then he shrugged. "You know what you're capable of, and you know what your brothers are capable of. You also know what you can do when you work together as a team, and you have a lifetime of experience leading them into impossible fights. What does your gut tell you?"

Leo uncurled his legs and leaned back against the wall as he considered this.

"And your brothers do have faith in you, despite what you may think." The Ancient One continued. "They show it in the way they turn to you for reassurance and comfort. They want to see you as their leader and big brother. They want to follow you."

Leo frowned, considering everything in a new light. He mulled it over, and then slowly realized the real issue. "The problem isn't that they don't trust me. The problem is that they don't trust themselves right now."

"Seems that way." The Ancient One agreed amiably. He sensed the spirit beside him shrug as he finished off the kumquat. "My guess is that they need somebody to remind them not only of who you are, but who they are." The tone of his voice took on the hints of a small, fond smile. "You've found your way out of the darkness once before. You can be their eyes for them, and help guide them as they learn to see again themselves. Convince them to climb that tree once more, Kumquat."

Leo exhaled, tapping his knee thoughtfully. "But how? They're not listening to me."

The Ancient One chuckled somewhat deviously, and then Leo felt a small kumquat press into his hands.

"Oh my dear student! Have you forgotten?" the Ancient One said with a mischievous tone in his voice. "I've taught you everything you need to know already."

Leo pondered this as he rolled the small fruit between his fingers. Then he nodded, and pushed himself up off the floor, intending to stop in the kitchen first.

He had the feeling that he was going to need the entire crate for the task ahead of him.

"Man…." Mikey was sitting backwards on one of the chairs, arms crossed and resting on the metal backrest and looking up at his brothers with big, mournful eyes. "Leo's really upset." He sighed. "We messed up, didn't we?"

"The whole situation is messed up!" Raph snapped back defensively. "We're just trying to protect Leo from as much shit as possible!"

"As Raph hypothesized, Leo's self esteem took a major blow when he realized that he's not going to be able to fight like before." Donnie sighed, leaning against a pillar. "This could be bad. Leo does have the tendency to overthink things when it comes to his own shortcomings, and if we let him obsess over the Shredder, he could fall into a destructive spiral of negative thoughts and behavior. We're going to have to constantly reassure him that he's an important part of this family, and think of tasks and activities he can do to help so he feels productive and helpful."

"He's going to find that patronizing." Mikey warned as he rested his chin on his arms. "It's just going to make him more mad."

"Well, just what do you suggest we do, Mikey?!" Raph huffed in frustration. "Just let Leo wallow in misery without doing anything?!"

Mikey scrunched his nose thoughtfully, then shrugged. "I dunno. We could always ask Leo what he wants to do?"

"And when he says that he wants to rush out there and fight Shredder again, because he's a thick headed idiot with a martyr complex, what do we do then?" Raph crossed his arms with a scowl.

"Oh, give him some credit, dude." Mikey scoffed as he wiggled his fingers dangling off the back of the chair, his baby blue eyes focused on the moving digits and half distracted by his own movements. "Leo's been leading us for years, and he's done a good job so far. He's not stupid."

"You're talking about the same brother who once stole a spaceship and tried to solo the entire Triceraton fleet by himself because he was pissed off." Raph pointed out.

"Hm." Mikey frowned, pausing in the finger wiggles. "Point made. Okay. In the case of Leo Ultimate Self Sacrifice Last Stands, some babysitting may, in fact, be required." He suddenly perked up and turned in his chair. "Oh! Speaking of which, I think I hear Leo coming from the kitchen."

"That didn't take long." Raph uncrossed his arms. "Hope he's okay."

Donnie immediately straightened up, immediately plastering on a more upbeat smile. "Okay! Remember guys, maintain a positive and reassuring attitude. It's important that Leo feels like he's still a part of the team."

And, as he pushed away from the pillar to face his returning older brother, he was promptly hit in the face by an airborne kumquat fruit.

A/N

I gave Leo a whole crate of kumquats earlier. I am SHOCKED that nobody commented along the lines of, 'Oh yeah. Leo's going to eventually snap and those are ALL going to end up smashed in this brothers' faces, aren't they?'

Also the very talented Luescris on Tumblr made a wonderful piece of art for the last chapter about Leo's little reaction to finding out that his brothers had been hiding Important Things from him. It's amazing and lovely and go look at it and give the author much loves!