Follow me home

Vanessa shuddered as Leonardo rose and placed her gently on her feet. The air had grown damp and chill during her midnight crisis. In fact, she realized with a feeling of disorientation, she didn't know what time it was anymore. When she gathered the courage to glance over the ledge one final time, halos of light and mist were forming around the street lamps stories below.

Leo noticed her forlorn look and wrapped his arms around her from behind. His plastron pressed tight to her back as he bent to rest his chin on her shoulder, following her gaze.

"What are you thinking?"

His voice was tender, worried.

She wasn't sure how to answer that question. When Raphael asked such things, they were usually rhetorical and sarcastically judgemental. But Leo was not his brother. He valued words and did not use them unnecessarily. If he was asking, he genuinely wanted to know.

Not that she had deep thoughts worth sharing. She flushed a little, still stunned by his revelation and the evening's turn of events.

"I-I was just admiring the light… and the shadows."

Light and shadow. That described the situation perfectly. Raphael burned brightly. Demanded her attention and affection. Needed her to feed the flames until she had no more to offer. She had burned out, scorched by his heat. As cinders, she was no use to him. He didn't even want her around.

Leonardo was the cooling darkness of the shadows. A part of the light, yet apart from it. The beautiful halo formed by the joining of the two. Only visible when conditions were perfect.

She turned in his arms to look into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Leo."

She couldn't explain all of the other thoughts churning in her head. None of them would be still long enough for her to grasp them.

"I'm sorry, Leo."

There were so many emotions tied up in that phrase he didn't know where to begin decoding them. Her eyes were full of shadowy thoughts that made him tighten his grasp ever so slightly.

He couldn't tell if any of them were fatal.

Despite the revelation of his own feelings, she was still trying to deal with the pain of rejection. Raphael had torn her world down tonight and left her standing in the rubble, whether he meant to or not.

A convertible pulled up out front, parking on the street in front of the building. A couple were kissing in the front seat, the top down despite the drizzle.

The soft piano from their stereo drifted up and instinctively he started to sway. Nessa laid her head over his heart as he began to hum along.

Say you have a little faith in me,
Just close your eyes and let me lead.
Follow me home

Need to have a little trust in me,
Just close your eyes and let me lead
Follow me home, to where the lonely ones roam

Leonardo understood loneliness. His brothers had each other, April, Casey and a handful of trusted others. And even though he knew in his bones they always had his back as well, he couldn't totally relax around them.

He had to be the leader, shoulder the responsibility of keeping the family together and… safe. Not just physically, but emotionally. They came to him when they needed help. He had to remain strong.

It was necessary for their survival and he hadn't regretted or resented it. Until Vanessa came along.

Leonardo turned their sway gracefully into a gliding dance as the next verse began, their feet moving in perfect rhythm over the rooftop. It felt right to hold her this close. To feel her match his movements as they paced away from the danger of the edge.

Won't you come out, I've been waiting for you
Holding my breath, til my body turned blue
We've got everything to lose, Yeah I'm waiting on you

Nessa was beautiful, intelligent, curious, and unafraid. She exploded like a meteor into his life and changed everything. He'd lost himself to her easily.

It was the most natural thing in the world. They fit. They meshed in every way that mattered. He thought she felt the same.

Sun's come up, and there's no one else around
Meet me in the shadows, Won't you tell me what you found
You've got everything to lose, yeah I'm waiting on you

She and Raph were complete opposites. Brash to shy, loud to quiet, spontaneous to strategic. He never would have imagined them together. But they say opposites attract.

The day Leonardo realized he wasn't alone in his affections for the gorgeous girl had been one of the darkest in his life.

Yet how could he impede his brother's happiness? Especially when she made the choice?

Say you have a little faith in me
Just close your eyes and let me lead
Follow me home

Need to have a little trust in me
Just close your eyes and let me lead
Follow me home, to where the lonely ones roam

He trusted Nessa knew what she needed. Though it practically destroyed him, he didn't protest when she ran to Raph's side. Instead, he watched over her, hiding the pain, as their relationship developed.

She was good for Raph. He learned patience. More of his innate kindness came through. But it was a wearying battle for Nessa. Leo could see her wilting day by day.

He worried about this constant wearing down. Worry became concern. Concern became anger. He and Raph had confrontations they kept carefully out of her sight. Leo demanded in no uncertain terms that Raphael shape up where she was concerned. The way he was acting, he was going to lose her. Or worse yet, drive her from their lives.

Roam with me
Come down to where all of the others fell
Get lost in the dark to find yourself

Raphael was not the partner Nessa needed. He never was. Tonight he almost killed her. That wasn't something Leo could easily forgive.
She shivered again in his arms and he leaned down to kiss her hair, drawing her closer yet.

Just remember what I said
No it isn't over yet

It wasn't over. He wouldn't let it be. Their chapter was just beginning. He would cherish her the way Raphael could not. Nourish her spirit. Bring her back to life. He had the strength and the will to see it through. When he said forever, he meant it.

Say you have a little faith in me
Just close your eyes and let me lead
Follow me home

Need to have a little trust in me
Just close your eyes and let me lead
Follow me home

To where the lonely ones roam

As the haunting melody ended, Nessa turned her face up to his.

"Leonardo, please... Would you take me home?"

She was asleep, exhausted from the strain when he returned to the lair with her in his arms. Leonardo was glad of it. Home, a place he usually felt a reasonable measure of peace, tonight conjured nothing but anger.

Three pairs of eyes looked up from the late-night TV movie marathon to watch him enter, two startled and one terribly dismayed. Without a word, Leo jerked his head to Donatello and stalked noiselessly down the hall, bypassing the room Nessa had been using in favor of his own. He eased the door open and laid her out gently on his bed before clearing the way for Don to check her out.

The genius assessed her silently, then cautiously pulled down the covers, removed her shoes, and tucked her in. He drew Leo to the hall and started to close the door, but Leo flattened his palm on the surface, keeping it open so the hall light fell in on her sleeping face. He positioned himself so she was still in his line of sight as he faced Donatello.

"Leo?" Don asked, worry in his tone, "What's going on? What happened?"

"Is she ok?" Leonardo asked, ignoring the questions.

"She seems to be, but I don't know what I'm looking for. Her vitals are good and there's no obvious sign of trauma or injury, though it looks like she's been upset. Her eyes are swollen."

The blue-clad ninja nodded, his eyes cold.

"She had reason. Raphael broke up with her."

"Ah," Don said tactfully. "Well that explains why he came back alone."

"He also," Leo continued in a soft but deadly tone, "told her not to come back to the lair."

"What?"

Don's shocked expression might have been comical under other circumstances. Leo had never seen his brother look so bewildered.

"You mean he asked her to give him some space?"

"No, he told her not to come back. Ever."

"He can't have," Don said faintly. "Are you sure you didn't misunderstand somehow?"

Leonardo turned on him with a vicious glare so filled with rage the genius took a step back, but not before he noted signs his brother had been weeping himself.

"Nessa was less than a step away from a multi-story drop with a sudden stop on 37th street. So, NO. I don't think I misunderstood," he growled through clenched teeth. "Another half second and I couldn't have caught her."

His voice broke and he covered his eyes with one hand as the image of his love poised on the edge of that building flashed through his mind. Face white and twisted with agony, dark hair whipping her skin.

He shuddered and leaned against the door frame as Donnie gently gripped his arm.

"She's suicidal?" Don asked.

Leo dropped his hand and didn't even try to hide his fear.

"I looked into her eyes and she, she just wasn't there anymore. They were flat, like the eyes of dead things. She struggled to get away from me. She wanted to throw herself off that ledge."

"What are you going do?" Donatello asked worriedly, as Leo glared toward the living area, murder in his gaze.

"I'm going to take care of her," he said flatly, turning to enter the bedroom.

"What about Raph?" Don called after him. "Shouldn't he know?"

Leo paused and threw a strange look over his shoulder. A mix of rage, sadness, and love. One Donatello was utterly unsure how to interpret.

"Raphael," the leader said distinctly, "can go to hell."

A/N: The song they are dancing to is "Where the lonely ones roam" - by Digital Daggers. All versions of the song are good, but I love the piano version. I'd put a link, but they frown on that so you'll just have to look it up yourself or find it on my facebook page!