Donatello jolts with a snort as he lifts his head from his desk, grimacing at the puddle of drool spread over the surface, and he can feel the sticky substance dripping down the corner of his mouth. He rubs his hand over his mouth, blinking blearily at his surroundings. Eyes settling on the oxygen tank that had rolled to the far end of the table and the various tools scattered across the surface, he assumes that he had fallen asleep in the middle of one of his attempts to repair the diving gear he had salvaged. The purple cladded turtle reaches into the side of his belt and his fingers fumble around his phone. He winces as he holds the bright screen to his face, giving an annoyed frown at the blinking numbers: 2:37 AM. He huffs, leaning back in his chair to stretch, before going to his feet he and begins to make his way towards the kitchen for a glass of water before he forces himself into his bed.

Donatello skids to a halt as his eyes glued to a shadowy figure standing a few feet away from the turnstiles. Seeing the bulky stature which could only be attributed to a shell, he allows his limbs to tense and he visibly slouches, letting out a soft sigh of relief. He pulls out his phone again, swiping down on the screen and turning on the flashlight application. The light streams down on a pair of royal blue mask tails dangling down the back of a shell, and the purple cladded turtle cocks a brow at the sight. Then his eyes pop open and he nearly slaps a palm against his face as he recalls his oldest brother's newly renewed sleepwalking habit. He can't help the tired slackening of his face at the prospect of having to guide his lethal-weapon brother back to the bad, and a pang of slight guilt that eats away at his insides for being more worried about getting his shell handed to him than the fact that something was very obviously wrong with his brother.

Leonardo doesn't register his presence, for he keeps his back to him and his head his bowed as he lowly utters," I'm underwater...deep deep underwater. I'm drowning," He stops talking briefly, letting out a shaking breath, then he gives a slow nod,"...Yes."

Donatello gulps audibly as he tiptoes around to his brother's front, nervously facing him as he whispers, "Leo...Leo? Come on, let me get you back to bed," He gently settles his hands on his shoulders, squeezing them as he spins him around and begins to lead him in the direction of his room,"...You're probably not going to remember this - I know you won't...Which is probably the only reason I can say this... You're a fool of a brother. You're too responsible for everything and you neglect yourself. You rush into risk your life without a moment's hesitation, almost as if you were...fearless. I just wish you'd rely more on us sometimes."

"I have great comfort from this fellow. Methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect gallows," Leonardo chuckles to himself before the sound abruptly dies in his throat.

The blue cladded turtle's hand fastens around the latter's wrist, the fingers curling into a bruising grip, then without so much as a grunt or even a slight shift in his facial expression, and throws him over his shoulder. The purple cladded turtle shrieks aloud in a mixture of pain and shock as he's slammed onto the back of his shell, and his head knocks against the concrete flooring below him. He blinks rapidly as he attempts to clear the twittering canaries from his vision, and a discombobulated groan escapes his gaping lips.

"First off: ow," Donatello hisses as he lifts his head, one hand gripping the side of his face, "Secondly - And he's walking away...Hold up, where are you going? Leo... Leo! Oh, this is great," He tosses his head back and groans a second time as his sleepwalking brother begins to embark past the turnstiles, "Just great. Guys. Guys. Guys!"

The only reply was Leonardo's quickly fading nonsensical murmuring, "Show me the path...Show me..."

"Oh, c'mon," The purple cladded turtle exclaims as it's made evident he won't be getting any assistance from his other deeply sleeping brothers, "I know I'm going to regret this...I am so going to regret this. This is going to be bad...bad bad bad bad..." He trails off as he takes off at a brisk jog after his blue cladded brother.

The blue cladded turtle abruptly stops, his body stiffening as he slowly cranes his head in the direction of his brother who's trailing after him. "This is not your path," He says in a monotone voice, his glazed eyes blinking at him, perplexed.

"Leo, buddy...pal... Let me just get you back into bed..." Donatello comes out with as he slowly inches his twitching fingers towards his brother's hand, and he exhales shakily when his brother takes it," Okay, see that wasn't so ba - Ahhhhhhhhh!"

———

"I have so many regrets," The mutant turtle slouched into the couch with an ice pack covering his face and a heating pad over his abdomen, and a thick pillow fluffed up behind his neck.

Michelangelo gingerly lifts the ice pack away from his older brother's face, wincing at the black and blue splotches trailing down the side of his moss green cheek. "Bro, what'd you do? He usually only leaves bruises like this on the bad dudes," He jokes, as he tended to a bruised and humiliated purple cladded turtle,"...There's only one explanation: brain-washed cyborg zombie. The sewer is probably infected - Leo had to have been bitten, which can only mean that one of us is totally next..."

"What - no. I told you already, he was sleepwalking I got impatient and I stupidly did what you're supposed to never do to a sleepwalker," Donatello clarifies as he snatches the ice pack back, grunts in pain at the sudden movement, before slowly settling it back down over the side of his face,"...I made a very poor attempt to wake him up. As made obvious by the walking, talking bruise you see before you, his sleeping-self didn't appreciate it and beat the living daylights out of me."

Raphael snorts at that. Donatello's eyes narrowed and he cocked one eyebrow as he crosses his arms over the heating pad on his abdomen. He crossly asks, "Something to say? You've been unusually quiet."

"What? You guys used to frickin' laugh it up back when we were little tots. You know, when I was the one gettin' my shell waxed, tryin' to lead him back to bed," Raphael points accusingly at the latter as he sniggers," Karma's a bitch, ain't it?"

"Ugh! To be fair he was a lot smaller then. It was the equivalent of getting hit by a golden retriever puppy's tail," The purple cladded turtle retorts," Now, since our dear older brother is falling into old habits, I think we should take some precautions."

The orange cladded turtle inquires curiously with his lips creased," Like what - duct tape him to his bed?"

"S' not a bad idea," The red cladded turtle concedes with a shrug.

"Don't encourage him," Donatello chides, but his brows slowly hover upwards as he contemplates the idea, but he dismisses it with a quick shake of his head," We could maybe just, I don't know, install a lock on his door, or if worst comes to worst I could attach some bindings to his bed. But I was actually thinking of maybe some form of treatment...a realistic one for a mutant turtle that can't exactly casually waltz into a psychiatric office."

Raphael asks him doubtfully," And what exactly counts as 'realistic' for us?"

"More than any sane human would care to admit. Much more," Donatello answers, then goes on after a beat," But this will be a bit odd though even for us. But I assure you I've done extensive research and it is completely safe - the worst that could possibly happen is that it wouldn't work."

"So like what is it," Michelangelo questions with his mouth scrunched up, his baby blue hues wide in anticipation.

Looking embarrassed despite his short but insightful explanation the purple cladded turtle states," Hypnosis."

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Raphael utters, clearly unimpressed.

"Bro...that is so...awesome," Michelangelo squeaks, eyes practically sparkling as he slaps his hands over his cheeks and gapes dumbly at his two older brothers.

Raphael waves a hand in the direction of the youngest of the three, shouting incredulously, "See?! If that blockhead thinks it's a good idea you know that it ain't!"

"Though you make a good point -"

"Hey!"

"-I assure the science behind it is sound. I wouldn't even suggest it if I didn't believe so. You know I wouldn't! He's my brother, the only one with any sense mind you, so it's not in my best interest to scramble his brain. Plenty of studies show the effectiveness of hypnosis on breaking the cycle of sleepwalking patients," The purple cladded turtle explains shortly, his eyes meeting his older brother's scrutinizing stare. Then his mouth twists as a subtle blush flashes across his cheeks briefly and he goes on to mutter," Plus...we just so happen to have a smart and beautiful chinchilla of a psychic on hand -"

The red cladded turtle throws his hands into the air and shouts, "Oh, dammit! I should've seen that one comin' from a mile away! Course you're usin' the situation to get two steps closer to April!"

"That's not true... it's just an added bonus," The purple cladded turtle mutters as he pouts his lips and crosses his arms over his yellow platted chest.

A smirk slowly melts across Raphael's lips as he teasingly adds, "I hate to tell you, Don, but we all know that if April was gonna go team-green it would totally be for Leo."

"What?!" Donatello shrieks in a high pitched voice, making the other two mutant turtles recede into their shells a tiny bit, "That's ridiculous - ridiculous! I-I won't even float the idea! I-I mean...it's Leo we're talking about here! Leo-stick-up-the-ass-nardo! He's not...not..."

"What," Michelangelo demands trying to hide his mocking smile as he muffles his giggles into his fist, "Brooding and cool like Batman? Sensitive to others' needs? Has big sparkly blue eyes like an anime girl? Basically fearless -"

Raphael bitingly cuts in, "Think about it, bro. They have been spending more time together lately. And they even had a sleepover. Plus, she's always been a little red-faced and nervous around him."

The moss-green hue of his skin practically fades away as Donatello's mouth creaks open like a rusty doorway in a horribly comical way as the other two mutant turtles snigger amongst themselves. "You know what - No! I think you two shell-heads are just feeding into my insecurities and I won't have it. Laugh it up!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Raphael blows through his lips, "So how are we pullin' this off anyway?"

"Considering he just beat me into pulp the least he can do is submit to some experimental treatment...And since he's apparently trying to whisk away the girl of my dreams..." The purple cladded turtle whispers the last sentence with shadows dancing across his face as his red-hued eyes narrow dangerously, and the other two mutant turtles exchange slightly horrified looks, "We'll confront him when he gets back from his run and I'll go ahead and call April," Donatello informs the group as he pulls out his phone, his attention flickering down to the screen.

Michelangelo gushes in a feminine voice as he batts his eyelashes and interlocks his fingers, holding them to his chest, "Oh, me! Oh, my! That nitwit, toothless Don is calling me! Oh, where is my sweet, sweet Leo? My Prince Charming in a half-shell!"

"Hey, it's a gap! Not a crevice!"

———

Leonardo tosses a small stone from hand to hand, before throwing it in the direction of one of the glass beer bottles set up in a line on top of the dumpster. The bottle shatters and the emerald green glass sprays across the brick wall behind, clattering down behind the dumpster. He takes another stone in his grip, clenching it in his fist and bringing it to his yellow platted chest before pitching it across the area between himself and the dumpster. Another beer bottle is decimated. He's palming another stone in his hand when his ears prickle and his entire body stiffens as he feels a slight fluctuation in the air. He whips his head around slapping his palms together to halt an arrow in midair that had been hurdling towards his defenseless back.

Leonardo examines the arrow, finding a small piece of paper curled around the thin wooden rod and he mutters to himself, "Okay, it's not your regular mail. I guess Mikey would call it..." He raises his voice into a falsetto tone in a poor imitation of his youngest brother,"...airmail, dude."

There's a slight bulge underneath the paper he notices as his fingers run over the shaft of the arrow. The blue cladded turtle unrolls the scrap of paper and his eyes skimmed over the thick black ink that formed Japanese lettering: 私はあなたの秘密を知っています. He frowns in worry upon reading it, his throat bobbing as he gulps audibly and he takes the object laying beneath the paper into his hand, his eyes flickering to the flash drive laying on his flat palm. His fingers tighten around it and he quickly shoves it into one of the leather loops on his belt.

Reading aloud, Leonardo utters the contents of the note,"...' I know your secret.'"

"Always had a flair for the dramatics, didn't you," A female voice inquires, her voice oozing sarcasm.

Leonardo immediately draws one sword and whips around, resting the sharp tip against the delicate milky flesh of Karai's throat. "Trust me when I say I am really not in the mood," The blue cladded turtle seethes and he emphasizes his statement by slicing the point of his blade across a small section of her throat, drawing a single bead of blood.

"Ooo, touchy," Karai purrs pleasantly, nonchalantly brushing her finger against the tiny cut at the base of her throat. She suckles at her finger, her tongue flicking across the bead of blood she draws away, "Have you been eating out of Raphael's bowl?"

Leonardo shakes his head. "What do you want," He asks sullenly, "If you're the one that tried to send that arrow through my back, I've got to say you're a lousy shot."

"I am. We all have our weapons, Leo," The female ninja admits shamelessly, "But that wasn't me."

The blue cladded turtle states doubtfully as he eases his sword back into its sheath, "Sure."

"You're being unusually tactless this time around, Leonardo. Sheathing your weapon without knowing my intentions," Karai observes.

Leonardo shrugs noncommittally and tells her in a dry tone, "If you're here to kill me you'll just have to get in line. But if you want to skip ahead be my guest."

The female ninja blinks stupidly at the mutant turtle, surprised. "So it's true..." She murmurs, taking a tentative step forward, before she begins to circle him, "I had only guessed...But I didn't really think - How is this possible?"

"What are you getting at," The blue cladded turtle demands icily with an air of impatience.

"I'm getting to the fact that I saved your lousy shell - hell all of our asses," The female ninja declares boldly as she halts her pacing, and abruptly pushes the turtle up against the wall, "A cocky new recruit, one of the few that hasn't been replaced with a robot, came bragging about how he had finally put a blade through the leader of the turtles. Needless to say, when some scouts saw you running around very much alive, my father was none too pleased when I told him. He thought that the soldier lied just to further his position in the clan, an act punishable by death. When my father returns his head will decorate our wall. Dead lips can't sink ships."

Leonardo tips his head forward and their faces are mere inches apart, so close that he can feel her warm breath beating against his skin. "Get to the point."

"...I don't know if it's some kind of secondary mutation or what...But somehow you can't kick the damn bucket," Karai proclaims with her eyes narrowed dangerously, "At least not easily."

"Really now? That's your theory? Tell me how did you get to this conclusion," Leonardo drawls, letting out a burst of mocking laughter.

Karai replies swiftly, "Gladly. As you know my father has been away in Japan for several weeks now. So I've been interrogating some Krang in my free time. Girls just wanna have fun, huh," She lets out an airy laugh as she simultaneously rolls her brown hues, before going on, "They're after you, Leo. And they want you...bad. Now, they're either very loyal or very, very stupid because they wouldn't slip why. But don't let the streaks of blonde in my hair throw you off because I am far from dumb."

"So no proof? Just a few loosely connected threads," Leonardo concludes with a scoff. His heart flutters frantically in his chest like a tree in a storm, but his face is neutral.

"Would you like me to test my theory? Either I'm right and you bounce back from getting my tanto embedded in your stomach. Or I'm wrong and you just have a tanto in your stomach for no good reason...other than being a back-stabbing freak that is. Either way, it's going to hurt like hell and I'm going to enjoy it," Karai questions the mutant turtle, the soft hiss of metal resonating as she draws out her tanto blade. Her painted red lips scrunch up into a tight smirk as her brown-hued eyes glitter with excitement," Or you can choose door number three: you can just fess up."

Leonardo grabs the hilt of the sword and guides it to the section of his plastron that shields his fast-beating heart. "Go ahead. But I'm going to tell you right here and right now, Karai. You don't want to piss off someone you can't put a permanent end to," He hisses in response and meets the latter's scrutinizing stare, "I'm waiting."

Karai is silent for a split second, before she throws her head back and laughs, sheathing her tanto. "The world just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it? You know it's backward when I just saved this stupid world by not letting my father get to you," She gives him a wolfish grin, "I guess you're not boring."

Leonardo rolls his eyes and states, "How sweet. Can I go now?"

"No. God, no," The female ninja takes a step back and continues as she slowly shakes her head. She places her hands on her hips, cocking one to the side, "I thought you knew me better than that to think that I would meet you here and tell you all of this if I didn't have an ulterior motive. I know your secret, Leo. And I plan to use it."

"Grand. Just grand. And just what would that be? I'll be honest, seeing as I apparently can't die there's not much you can do in terms of motivating me."

Karai snorts, moving her arms over her armored chest as she cooly commends the latter, "Well, look at you. The sheer hubris. You've grown a pair, Leo."

"What do I have to fear if not death? Definitely not an uppity little daddy's girl," Leonardo jests, but there is little humor in his voice.

The female ninja glared at the latter, her mouth twisting as she huffs out, "Fair enough. But who said I was threatening you? It's pretty damn obvious that the rest of your freakish brood is in the dark as to your, er..." She waves a hand as she continues,"...condition."

"An apt description. And no, they don't know and I don't want them to know," The blue cladded turtle confirms as he runs a hand down his face, more irritated than concerned, "So I'm going to take a gander and guess that you're going to blackmail into whatever the shell you're planning with that little tidbit of knowledge."

Karai clicks her tongue and winks simultaneously, then says, "Right you are. You're catching on."

"Let's make this quick then and skip all the pleasantries - what do you want," Leonardo questions with his nostrils flared and his eyes slack.

"It's not so bad. Like you, I don't want the world to be reduced to ashes because I happen to like the simple pleasures of pillaging and the occasional stabbing," Karai tells him plainly, "My father isn't satisfied with it. Far from it in fact. I can't have the Foot or the Krang getting their sticky hands on you or we're all screwed. All I want is for you to keep me in the loop regarding the Krang and help me when you can. My foolish father is refusing to deal with the issue of their presence and at this point inevitable invasion. I've got people to protect too so if he won't do something...I will. Or we will. And since I've already saved your sorry shell but keeping my lips zipped you owe me one."

"I didn't think we'd be going for a team-up again, seeing how well it went last time."

"This time around I have something to keep you in line. Now, let's agree to stay out of each other's way for now and pretend this little conversation never happened," Karai finishes, before offering her gloved hand.

Leonardo cocks a brow, then he slowly closes his fingers around it and gives it a firm shake. "It's a deal," He pulls away his hand and inquires curiously," So if you didn't fire that arrow than someone else is trying to send a message... Who?"

"Dunno," The female ninja answers, not interested," You'd best get on that. We may not like each other, hell we may want to cut each other's throats, but in this and this alone you can trust me."

———

"Of all the confidants I could have," Leonardo scoffs to himself, as he folds his arms behind his head and slows his gait.

Leonardo eventually goes completely still, standing stiff in the shadowy area that conceals his presence behind the turnstiles that lead into the lair. He closes his eyes, taking in a long, deliberate breath. He bites at his lip as his eyes flutter open and they dart to the tunnel leading in the opposite direction, and at that moment he contemplates just running with nothing but the swords on his back. And it's not the first time. Like any teenager, he'd contemplated running away more than once in his life, but there had never been a legitimate reason... Other than his brothers dropping one too many biting comments, or playing a cruel prank that acted like the straw that broke the camel's back. But as his blue hues stare long and hard into that winding tunnel with a true, genuine longing he'd never felt, this time it is his brothers, his family, that keeps him from tucking his tail and walking out on them.

Leonardo runs his hand down his face as he exhales loudly, then he emerged from the shadows and feigns casualness as he walks into the pit of the lair. Blowing air out through his nostrils he slouches as his eyes take in the sight of his three younger brothers and their two human friends all sitting on the pit with their eyes glued to him. The blue cladded turtle doesn't even have the grace to act surprised. He has to bite back an annoyed groan and he has to physically restrain himself from forgoing his earlier revelation that he doesn't want to run out on his brothers. His eyes flit to the exit and he bites at his lip, actually contemplating bolting for a second, but with a conceding sigh, he walks into the living room and takes a seat beside his orange cladded brother.

"So what's this all about," Leonardo inquires at last.

Donatello awkwardly clears his throat and shifts in his seat, before answering honestly, "It's a little bit of an intervention, Leo. But it's not a bad thing! Not at all. It's just, well," He gulps thickly, his throat bobbing as he clasps his hands together,"...Raph?"

"You've been a real pain in our asses lately," Raphael states shortly, and his arms are strewn over the back of the couch, "Well, more than usual that is, bro. And that's saying a lot!"

April facepalms as she lets out a long-suffering sigh before she turns her head to Leonardo and gently presses, "Not the most delicate way of putting it. I think what your emotionally-constipated brother is trying to say is that we're all worried, Leo. Very worried," She tucks a stray hair behind her ear and continues, "We know that you're keeping something from us, which isn't like you...at all. But we're not going to press you to tell us. We all agreed on that -"

"Hey! Don't count me in with you guys. They agreed to it. Majority rules is for the birds," Raphael cuts in as he cocks his head at the latter, and he only shrugs when he's given a menacing glare in return.

April pulls out one of the dingy throw pillows from behind her back and tosses it at the red cladded turtle, silencing him as he grunts at the impact. Huffing, she goes on, "Anyway, Don was thinking...Don?"

The purple cladded turtle gives her a small smile of appreciation and picks up from where she left off, "We want to help you, Leo. You're our big brother and our leader, so I've been doing some research and I think I've found a way to at least remedy your sleepwalking."

The blue cladded turtle, doubtful, asks stiffly, "Really? And how's that?"

"You're like totally gonna get hypnotized, dude," The orange cladded turtle squeals in excitement, propping up his chin on the arm of the couch.

Leonardo immediately demands, "You're kidding right?"

"Okay, that's an understandable reaction. Anything coming from Mikey is usually pure nonsense that I just tune out a good percentage of the time -"

Offended, Michelangelo shouts, "Hey!"

Donatello goes on with his explanation, pretending he didn't hear his little brother's brief outburst," But hypnosis is actually a fairly realistic option for you. I can assure you it's perfectly safe. Plus, we have a psychic-in-training on hand that will definitely increase the chances of penetrating your mind. At worst, it won't work," He holds up his hand and assuringly adds, "Scout's honor."

Leonardo says with a tentative tone of voice, "I don't know...It still sounds just a tiny bit, well..." He twiddles with his fingers as he adds under his breath,"...stupid -"

"Oh, is that the word you'd use to describe it? 'Stupid', huh? Let's see if we can find other situations that can be associated with that word. Hmm, let me think," The purple cladded turtle taps his chin and swivels his eyes towards the ceiling as he hums, "Oh, wait - I've got it. Why didn't I think of it before? What was it...? Oh, yes - HOWABOUTGETTINGTHROWNINTOASEWERPIPEATTWOINTHEMORNING!"

"Alright, alright! Jeez, point taken, Don. If it really means that much to you..."

Donatello states plainly as he situated one hand on his hip and points into the air with his other hand, "Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. Alright, peanut gallery, clear out."

"Dudeeeee...I wanna seeeee..." Michelangelo whines as he tosses back his head and lets out a long stream of nonsensical noises.

Casey objects, "Yeah, it sounds pretty sick, yo - Hey," He barks out as the red cladded turtle grabs the back of his hoodie and drags him and the orange cladded turtle in the direction of his room, "I thought you were on our side!"

Raphael slams the door in the pair's face, ignoring the muffled babbling and turns to face the small group still gathered in the living room. Eyeing all of them with his emerald hues narrowed, he crosses his muscular arms over his yellow platted chest. "Which one of you is gonna embarrass themselves by trying to make me leave?"

Donatello cocks a brow at the latter, then with a slight shrug, he turns his attention back to Leonardo. "Alright, Leo. I'm going to be the one to actually performing the hypnosis. April is just here to try and free up your kind so that there's less resistance," He turns to face the red cladded turtle, who cracks his knuckles in return so he quickly turns back to the blue cladded turtle. In a calm, collected voice the purple cladded turtle utters, "Your eyes may feel heavy and want to close. Let your body sink naturally down as your muscles relax. Listen to your body and my voice as you begin to feel calm."

April rests her hand in his palm, her warm, smooth skin making him feel small prickles up and down his arm. 'It's okay,' She mouthes.

"Breathe in deeply now, filling your chest and lungs," Donatello commands and Leonardo inhales noisily. Then the blue cladded turtle breathes out,"...slowly let the air out of your chest, completely emptying your lungs...Good. Now, I want you to focus your gaze on a fixed point...try and focus on the space right between my brows."

Leonardo's blue hues flicker into the space between Donatello's brow, just over his eyes. Donatello kids in encouragement and goes on, "You are letting yourself slip deeper and deeper into a calm, peaceful trance. Sinking down, and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down, shutting down completely," A long, slowly fading breath exits the blue cladded turtle's lips and he begins to slacken, then the purple cladded turtle tells him to, "Now, I want you to imagine yourself leaving the lair...Imagine a door or a staircase. Tell me, what do you see?"

The blue cladded turtle whispers, "I'm imagining a pathway. It's dark, so dark...but I see a door at the end. It's so far away."

"It's okay, Leo. Take one step down that path and feel yourself sinking deeper. Each step is a step further and further into your subconscious. Your body feels like it drifting away..." The purple cladded turtle says his voice barely audible and he carefully waves a hand over the latter's vacant eyes. He quickly turns to the human girl and gives her a stiff nod, "April is going to be joining you now. She'll help you find the door."

April brings both of her hands to her temples and she clenches her eyes shut. "I...I see the door, too. Leo...I'm here," She reassures him softly.

Leonardo growls in frustration and his eyes flash open as he drawls lowly, "Look this obviously isn't work - Oh," He let's out a startled breath as his blue hues goggle at the door mere inches from his face, "The door...It's here."

"Can you open the door," Donatello asks in the distance, his voice echoing in the darkness. A cool breeze follows and he shivers.

"A door that was made special for you. The answer is right in front of you. The path to the door. But you must decide. It's the only way. You will understand in due time."

The door was solid metal. Nothing was going to budge it. The surface was flat and shiny like the outside of the stainless steel refrigerator they'd salvaged from the landfill. There was no handle, no lock, no hinges, nothing to get a grip on. The top and bottom, even the sides, lay so utterly flush with the frame that there was no hope of jemmying it open even if he had a crowbar, but they had nothing of the sort.

"No, I can't. There's no handle or anything," Leonardo answers softly, his palm resting on the cool metal.

Furrowing his brows the blue cladded turtle applies the slightest amount of pressure and the door moves underneath his hand. He startles as a small pale human hand extends forth from the darkness and cups his hand, pushing it a little harder against the door. The hand pulls away just as he hears the door open all of the way, its creaking noise bringing a chill to his spine. It sounded like some dying animal, crying out its pain and sorrow with its last breath. Neon pink light ebbs out from the space beyond the door, illuminating his features as his eyes are blown wide.

"The door is open, but I can't see what's inside. It's too bright," April hisses in the distance, her voice strained with pain, "Donnie, you need to snap him out of it -"

"I can't! I haven't even addressed what started this session -"

Leonardo stares emptily into the fluctuating bubble gum pink lights, almost as if in a trance. His mouth hangs open as he reaches a hand out, his fingers grasping at something that isn't there. The longer he looks fixedly into the warm light, the clearer an image in the distance is. He sees himself a young mutant turtle floating in a giant tube of pale green luminous sludge, an oxygen mask fitted over his tiny face with his eyes tightly clamped shut. A woman is standing in front of the tank, her long brown hair with streaks of grey is situated in a series of pins in a tight bun. Her fingers are flying across a keypad composed entirely of neon pink lights that form a composition of symbols that he doesn't recognize.

The woman presses one final button and a loud, shrill beep echoes across the chamber and the green sludge that fills the container begins to slosh around as it drains out the bottom. The frail form of the young mutant turtle thuds loudly to the bottom of the metal disk that resides underneath the tube and his eyes slowly blink open revealing a pair of dull blue hues. His lips part and a weak, strangled cough escapes him and he attempts to lift his head. A rush of water abruptly exits his lips spraying across the glass and he wheezes feebly as his body shudders in an irrepressible manner.

The woman turns her head and states in a cold, distant voice, "The subject is awake. Transfer him to the observation room immediately."

The blue cladded turtle's hand smacks over his mouth as his eyes take in the creature residing in the woman's abdomen. A great oozing mass of cartilage that shifts and wiggles in the confinement of its android body. A Krang. The mutant turtle shakes his head in mute denial as he watches a group of android bodies all hosting the brain-shaped aliens' file into the room, surrounding the poor, disoriented little turtle. The minuscule mutant turtle blinks blearily at his captors, his mouth opening and closing rapidly as he breathes unevenly. He scrambles up and harshly cracks his head against the glass, letting out a stifled cry as he runs his palms over the surface in a daze.

"W-where am I...?" The little turtle wonders aloud, his blue hues sparkling with unshed tears, "P-please, please, I-I'm cold...I-I can't breathe. My chest hurts. It hurts so bad."

One of the aliens turns to the young mutant scrutinizing him and in a low, eerily calm voice as it comes out with, "You're underwater...deep deep underwater. You're drowning."

The turtle's mouth goes slack as he responds distantly, "I'm underwater...deep, deep underwater," Tearfully he adds," I'm...I'm drowning."

"Do you want to come back up?"

"Yes."

"Then take a deep breath and...redux."

April groans as her head sways back and forth, and she grits out, "Don, I'm losing him. I can't see anything. And my head...Gah, my head! It hurts...!"

The human girl flinches violently as she hears one final stream of words. "You're underwater...deep, deep underwater. You're drowning. Do you want to come back up? Then take a deep breath and...redux."

Leonardo comes shouting back to life, thrashing violently as he springs up from his spot on the couch. Raphael immediately leaps towards him, moving to situate his hands over his shoulders. The red cladded turtle's hands barely grazed the skin of his shoulder blades and he suddenly found himself air born as his older brother seized his arm and sent him flying over the couch. The blue cladded turtle blinks rapidly as his wide eyes survey the his younger brother who was rubbing his head as he comes up on shaky legs from his crumpled position on the ground. Then his blue hues flicker over to the human girl and his purple cladded brother, and he sniffs lightly his jaw clenching.

Wordlessly, Leonardo walks out of the room and makes a beeline for the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it. After a second, he slowly sinks to the floor and he pulls his hands around his knees, hugging them so close that they dig into his chest. He hears someone's breathing outside the doorway. His mind flashes back to when he and his little brothers were small, delicate little things, a far cry from the pictures of strength and skill they were in the present. He remembers laying awake just to watch all of his little brothers' breath as they lay sleeping on their pile of dirty, sodden rags that served as their shared bed. Now with every intake he hears outside the door, he feels the invisible noose around his neck grow tighter and the door, the room, the sewers beyond are all the further away. He presses his face into his knees once he realizes that he's crying and he feels the warm beads of water dribble down in between his fingers. He doesn't make a sound as his eyes water painfully spilling forth like a leaky faucet, and his breath doesn't even hitch.

"You're drowning...drowning...DROWNING."

There's a knock on the door. "Leo? Leo," Donatello's voice is quiet, fretful, "You're really starting to freak me out. Please just come out, okay? Whatever it is we can talk about it. We can fix it."

Leonardo tries to say something, anything, but he can't. He parts his lips and his voice chokes off in his throat and he feels as if his air is cut off. The words of his brother made no difference at all. The mutant turtle was beyond all reason, beyond all-natural methods of calming. The blue cladded turtle wheezes painfully, clawing at his throat and his crying gradually rises in volume. He drops his head, feeling it loll weakly and allows the water to free fall from his eyes onto the tiled floor below. His hand slaps over his mouth and he moans into it as his eyes blink frantically trying to clear the watery blur from his vision.

"Oh my god, Leo, come on! Talk to me!" The purple cladded turtle's voice is no longer quiet nor calm, it is loud and panicking, "Are you hurt?"

"Don," The blue cladded turtle finally manages to gag out, "I'm fine. I just..."

"Don't even try and lie to me, Leo," Donatello hisses, his palm smacking on the door, "I'm serious, Leo. Open this door or I swear, I will go get the others."

Leonardo just can't. He can't face his brother, knowing what he'll have to tell him and he can't breathe. He can't breathe. He's underwater. Deep, deep... He buries his face in his arms and waits for the door to give in, waits for his brothers' collective angry voices to be mere inches away. To be shaken like a ragdoll when he asks for an explanation. Donatello doesn't kick the door down, and when it opens there's not a gathering of the rest of his siblings. The door opens, and his little brother is holding up a small hairpin with a sheepish look on his face. He crouches down on his knees in front of his left brother.

"I'm not seeing any injuries," Donatello realizes aloud, "So if you're not hurt..."

Leonardo stubbornly shakes his head and stays quiet, turning his head upwards towards the ceiling in a pathetic attempt to hide his watery eyes.

"So," The purple cladded turtle inquires, crossing his legs and leaning forward to bore holes into his brother's upturned head, "Now you're going to give me the silent treatment? You know, you're usually my favorite brother to be around because you don't pull the same childish antics as Raph and Mike."

"J-just go, Don. Please...please..."

"Leo. Come on, tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing. I swear," The blue cladded turtle sniffles childishly and sucks in a shaky breath. He grits his teeth and tries to stop his tears.

"You don't cry for nothing," Donatello declares boldly, his gaze narrowing at the statement, "I know you, Leo. You didn't even shed a tear when Raph pulled your arm out of its socket during a sparring match! Hell, you barely blinked! When you cry, it's bad. It's really bad."

Leonardo stubbornly wipes his face on his arm, and chokes out, "Seriously. I'm fine. I'm just being a baby."

"Come on. I'm out of guesses," Dean says as his hand runs over his face, "Something's wrong, something's really wrong and I don't...I can't fix it if you won't tell me what it is."

"Don't you see? There is no fixing this, Don!"

"How do you know that?"

The blue cladded turtle mutely shakes his head, before spitting out," Because it's me. Don't you see it? I'm the... the t-thing that's broken here."

Donatello's sharp intake of breath makes the latter flinch. "Don't say stuff like that. You're not broken. You're not..." He trails off, and he looks like he might start crying too," You are not broken, Leo. Whatever made you think that... Look at me. Look at me."

The blue cladded turtle glances into his younger brother's eyes, and his lips part ever so slightly.

"We're brothers, Leo. And I want you to know, I have always had faith in you. In the best of times, and even in the worst of times...you've always been there to lead us," The purple cladded turtle's voice was unsure and strained, making the latter's heart shudder," For once let us lead - Just let us lead you. For once you don't have to face this alone. You've always tried to protect and hide us, but who protects you? All I'm asking is that you rely on us...that you trust us the way we trust you."

"Don..."

"So you must choose here and now, if you wish to simply forget everything you've stumbled upon about yourself over these past few weeks, or if you want to keep going down this path, and eventually find the door."