Author's Note: Hello! Yes, I'm talking to you, the wonderful person reading these words right now. I hope that you are having a fabulous day and that you enjoy this chapter. Please leave a review at the end. Thanks!

Chapter Three: Training of the Secret Kind

*Two Years Later*

A loud obnoxious buzzing woke Leo.

He blinked, his sharpened eyes seeing through the darkness of his bedroom.

Leo stretched. Another day…

The buzzing intensified to a deafening level, as if an insect had found its way into his brain. It was agonisingly loud to say the least, and Leo furrowed his brow in focus, trying to block out the noise.

Embracing his heightened senses, Leo slowed his breathing, soon locating the small fly which flew about his ceiling, as he could feel the ripple of air against his skin with every flutter of its wings.

Having found the bug, Leo focused on tuning it out, instead enlarging his focus to his surrounding environment and slowly the intense buzzing faded.

Leo sighed.

His head was aching.

Having a headache was not uncommon for him, with his mind constantly working in over-drive to maintain the walls that shielded his mind from everything and everyone.

Swinging his legs from the bed, he winced as his head gave a painful throb. With his feet on the cold floor, Leo stopped. Before doing anything, he had to check that the walls inside his head were strong. He couldn't hear the thoughts of his brothers, which was always a good indication that the walls inside his head were okay, but he always had to check for weak spots. Just to be sure. To be safe.

Closing his eyes, Leo reached deep within himself, concentrating on his mind whilst breathing deeply. Finding the literal walls inside his head that he had worked on building for two years, stone by stone, Leo inspected them closely. They seemed okay.

Tired and strained but okay.

Good enough for training.

These days, his life consisted mostly of training.

Over two years of hard training and dangerous experimenting, Leo had discovered that he could control his heightened senses through focusing and narrowing his mind. It was irony in its purest form, that his second mutation had heightened his senses even further, as he could now feel, touch and hear things that even the greatest Masters of Ninjutsu could only dream of.

It had been hard – New York had been overwhelming and loud at first - but gradually he had learnt how to keep everything at bay. He had learnt that he could hone his senses through expanding and restricting his mind.

Sitting on the bed, Leo expanded his mind and focussed on his fingers, on his sense of touch, and then suddenly he could feel every individual woven fibre of the knitted blanket Master Splinter had given him. It had always been the blanket Leo used to cover his bed, but he had found a greater appreciation of the effort his Sensei had gone to, with every woven stitch now revealed to him.

Pushing himself off the bed, Leo's head gave another painful throb.

It's going to be one of those days, Leo mused, as he headed for the door and made his way to the dojo for his morning training.

Well, for his secret morning training.

Leo smiled sadly, very much accustom to his routine. For two years now, he had been training in secret, attempting to harness his abilities, as on the 27th of December when he was thirteen years old, Leonardo had experienced his second mutation.

A mutation of the mind, as he liked to put it.

With this, Leo tip toed across the dark and quiet living room and entered the dojo, silently sliding the door shut behind him.

Leo smiled.

The dojo was graced by a soft candle light. The centre tree was a lush green and perfectly kept, casting a soft canopy over the practice mat. The overnight candles were nearing the end of their lives, flicking, melted down to tiny wax stalactites, hanging off the mantle. The room was beautiful. A place of balance and serenity. It always had been to Leo.

Leo glanced at his Katana, lying elegantly on the weapons rack, the blades beckoning him with their metallic shine.

He walked into the centre of the dojo, positioning himself in its heart on the training mat.

He outstretched his hand, felt the tug in his gut and pulled with his inner mind. His Katana blades soared through the air for him to catch and grip in perfect timing, just before he launched into his first kata with graceful fluency.

His blades and limbs cut through the air, as he performed a complicated kata. Concentrating, his blade, body and mind became one.

The mantra in his head started. Blade, body and mind. Blade, body and mind.

For Leonardo, the connection between the three pillars was quite literal, as he had learnt that his mutated mind was indeed a force to be reckoned with. Dangerous even, if not controlled.

He stabbed right, twisted and followed through with his left Katana whilst also reaching out with his mind to the weapons rack, seizing Raph's Sai, forcing the sleek blades to cut through the air, plummeting themselves into the head of the punching dummy.

Leo smiled at his success, revelling in the feeling of control, as its very loss was what he feared the most.

He had lost control before.

Too many times in the past, he had come close to hurting one of brothers. The very day his 'gifts' had become known to him, he had nearly lost complete control, unable to shut off reading Raphael's thoughts, resulting in his panicked and pained mind causing the light bulb to explode.

He had been terrified and completely out of control.

Gliding through another kata, Leonardo shuddered at the memory knowing that the day could have easily ended in disaster, if he hadn't first blacked out from the pain.

There had been another time though.

Where he didn't black out…where he had lost control…and someone had died.

Leo shook his head. He would never stop punishing himself for what he had done and he took it upon himself to remember every detail on the dying stranger's face, as the man gurgled and rasped, choking on his own blood. Leo thought about it so much that the image was now seared permanently into his brain.

He would never forgive himself and he would never forget what happened on that stormy night, one year ago…

*Flashback*

A flash of lightning illuminated the angry night sky.

Leo knew that he had to get home.

Sneaking out had been a mistake. A terrible mistake.

The storm, it seemed, had come out of nowhere and now it was bearing down on him, stretching across the night sky as far as Leo could see. The clouds were angry, pitch black and menacing.

He had only wanted to get out for a while.

The Lair had been too much.

He hadn't been able to stop hearing his brother's thoughts. All day and then into the night. He had tried fixing the wall inside his head, which usually kept the invading thoughts out, but every time he replaced a stone, another would fall from a different place entirely. He felt power building within him and he was scared.

He hadn't known what to do but one thing had been for sure - he had to get away from his family before something happened. Before he hurt them. He didn't want to hurt them. Not ever.

Leo ran across rooftops, as hard and fast as he could.

And then it had started.

The rain.

The heavens opened, pouring down.

The rain dashed across his ultra-sensitive skin. It was bitter cold and stung like a million bee stings all at once.

The rooftops quickly gathered a sheet of water, the gutters unable to manage the sudden downpour. Leo's feet splashed across the water. He was freezing, already shivering.

He was so far from the Lair.

Too far.

This is bad. This is bad. This is bad. Leo's thoughts overwhelmed him. Come on Leo! Think! Where can you go?

The sewer.

He could hide in a sewer.

Find a man hole and get underground. It was easy.

It was a solid plan. A simple one.

Leo scooted down a wall into a back alley. The alley was small and tucked away. Overflowing garbage bags lined each side, stacked high and glistening in the rain. A family of scavenging rats scurried away when they noticed Leo, squeaking into the darkness.

Desperately wiping rain from his face, Leo located the manhole cover in the middle of the alley. Walking to the grate, he lifted the steel and his heart sank. Down below, water violently rushed through the sewer. It was way too strong and Leo knew that he would surely be washed away.

He had to find somewhere else.

Slightly panicked now, Leo's heart was thumping in his chest as he started to climb a fire escape up to the roof once more. The steel beneath his fingers was slippery and cool. He could feel its imperfections under his fingertips.

Nearing the top of the ladder, Leo reached with his next hand and then a deafening boom rumbled across the sky as thunder made itself known to the whole of New York.

The noise detonated in Leo's ears. His senses screamed. He hadn't been ready for it.

Terrified, he gripped the ladder tighter, flattening himself against the rungs and that's where he stayed for a few moments, his ears ringing until very slowly he began to think again. He had to keep going.

Gritting his teeth, Leo pulled himself up the ladder and found his feet once more on a flooded rooftop.

Scanning the city, focussing his mind on his sight, Leo searched through the dark and through the rain for somewhere, anywhere, he could hide from the storm.

And there it was.

A row of warehouses, a few blocks away.

A haven; away from the thunder, lightning and rain. Away from everything that was making his heightened senses scream.

Without a second thought, Leo ran across New York city towards the warehouse. Overhead, lightning danced across the sky and thunder crashed.

It was becoming too much.

Every sense was in overdrive and Leo couldn't keep up with it.

His head was thumping.

He felt his gut tightening.

No. No. No. He knew that feeling. Not now. NOT NOW!

Leo ran. He reached the warehouse, leaping down onto its tin roof and sliding down its slope. It was high but at the edge of the roof, Leo lowered himself from the gutter to hang and peer through the top windows into the dry warehouse below. Inside was dark but he could see if he focussed, thanks to his 'gifts.' The industrial shelves were mostly empty, a carpet of dust covering them. A dormant forklift was parked in the corner of the large space, now only being used by spiders.

"Looks abandoned," Leo whispered to himself.

It was perfect.

Pushing the window inwards, Leo was surprised when it creaked inwards, unlocked.

He climbed inside.

Silent, like a shadow, he dropped from the window and onto the ground, rolling to soften the fall. The sound echoed through the empty warehouse.

He stood, dripping wet. His bandana and gear absolutely soaked.

But he was inside. He was safe.

The thunder outside rumbled on, but slightly muffled now. Leo felt the vibrations under his feet. His mind however could finally rest. He breathed slowly and checked the walls inside his head. They were bad. The thunder and the rain had taken their toll and there were even more stones missing.

It made him uneasy. He needed the wall. Even if it was inside his head, he had learnt that he needed to visualise something to keep the thoughts of everyone in New York City out of his head. In his mutated mind, he needed something solid. Something real.

Already with only a few stone missing, he could hear whispers starting to sneak in. He could hear sleepy dreams and random words of those around him in New York.

He scanned the pitch black warehouse, warily listening and searching the darkness. There was no one. He was alone.

He let out a breath. His head was throbbing.

Backing into a corner, Leo unsheathed his Katana blades. He couldn't let them sit wet all night. He prided himself on their gleam and perfection. Out of his brothers, he felt like he had the strongest connection to his weapon, with them being a mere extension of his arms. They were a part of him.

He held the blade in his hands, feeling their comforting and familiar weight. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his raging and aching mind. He found his voice, "Okay Leo. You're okay. Just breathe and rela-"

CRACK!

The lightning strike hit the warehouse.

Everything flashed white.

Leo's head exploded.

His gut twisted.

His blade flew.

"GAHHH!"

The gruff scream filled the warehouse.

Leo froze.

Leo's vision was blurred from pain but he could see the outline of a man, straight ahead, standing between two shelves. He had a slight hunch and wore an unzipped weathered jacket, with the dirty woollen collar turned up at the back. His eyes were kind with deep smile lines, as if he had laughed every day of his life. An unkept mouse brown beard grew from his chin, with stands of wise silver throughout. The hair of his head was still brown but tangled and like wire. And his hands were working hands, wrinkled and rough and shaking over his stomach…where Leo's Katana was embedded.

His grey shirt was blooming a red flower, as blood started to soak through it.

"Oh my god," whispered Leo.

The man's knees buckled and Leo rushed forward, sprinting between the shelves, catching the stranger before he hit the ground.

Gently, Leo lowered him to the cement floor, cradling his head.

The man's breathing was shallow. Raspy.

"I'm sorry," whispered Leo, "I didn't…I didn't mean to."

Even as the words left Leo's lips, he knew that it was hopeless. The blade had pierced something important. There was so much blood – it was already pooling around the man on the cement floor.

The man opened and closed his mouth, trying to speak, but he only spluttered flecks of red blood onto his own face, choking.

Leo shook his head, though he knew the man couldn't see it. To the stranger, Leo was just a kid, a voice in the darkness, "I can get help. I can-"

The man's eyes widened, petrified and tormented. His face wrapped and his body gave a violet convulsion in Leo's arms. A sickening gurgling came from the back of his throat and then his body stilled, becoming awfully heavy in Leo's arms.

And with that, the stranger with no name was gone.

Leo held him.

He held him for hours, this man in the dark, whilst the rain poured down outside.

Leo lost track of time. Everything felt numb.

He had killed someone.

He had done this.

He stayed this way, frozen and unable to move, until the shelves around him turned a pale sleepy blue. The sun was rising. The rain at some point during the night had eased with the storm moving on.

As if cradling the most precious cargo, Leo lowered the man's head to the ground. He looked around, not knowing what to do.

Feeling sick, he looked down at his Katana which was still embedded in the man's stomach. Leo gripped the handle and slowly pulled on the weapon, almost throwing up at the sound of slushy flesh against his murderous blade as he freed the weapon from the man's stomach.

The Katana was covered in blood. The blood of an innocent.

Katana in hand, Leo stumbled backwards, away from his crime.

He couldn't stay…but he also couldn't leave the man alone in an empty warehouse for no one to find.

Leaving the body, Leo numbly weaved through the shelves and found where the man had clearly been living. A used sleeping bag was sprawled across the floor, along with some possessions and a half eaten bag of chips. The man had been homeless, with no-where to go. A shabby backpack of street essentials was propped up against the wall, but a perfect and pretty pink birthday card and snapped pencil were placed on the top.

The card caught Leo's attention. Maybe it had an address. Maybe a clue as to who this man had been. Hesitantly, Leo took it in his hands and inspected the cover, where a cartoon elephant was holding out a birthday cake. Taking a breath, Leo opened the card and began to read the careful handwriting -

To my darling Suzie,

Happy 9th Birthday!

I'm sorry that I'm going to miss your party this weekend but I promise that when I see you again, I will bring the biggest present ever! Daddy is trying his hardest to find a job so that I can get back to you.

I love you with all my heart, to the moon and the stars and back again.

Happy Birthday my darling girl. You make me proud every day.

Love, Daddy xoxoxo

Leo's breath hitched in his throat. Tears welled in his eyes but he didn't allow them to fall, blinking them away. With trembling hands, Leo closed the card, placing it perfectly on the backpack once more.

This was too much.

The man had a family, a child who would now never see him again. There would be no more happy birthdays or reunions where Suzie would finally see her Dad again. Only death and never knowing what really happened to him.

Walking back to the man's body, Leo unhooked his T-phone and dialled 911. The police wouldn't be able to track the called, thanks to the T-phones advanced specs, but he couldn't simply leave the man. It wasn't right.

Leo put the phone to his head to hear it ring once before a woman answered on the other side of the line, her voice clear and calm – "911, what is your emergency?"

Leo gripped the phone tighter, "Someone's been hurt. Please come help…please-"

"Okay sir, you said that someone has been hurt," the voice interjected, "Can you describe their injury to me?"

Leo nodded, "They've been stabbed…through the, the, stomach."

"Okay sir, do you know the person? Are they conscious?"

A wave of fresh guilt washed over Leo, "No, I don't know them. He's not, he's not, not conscious. He's…d-dead."

"Okay, sir, I need to stay calm. Do you know CPR?"

"No, he's been, been, been dead for…hours. I can't stay here. Please, please just send someone. I'm in an abandoned warehouse downtown, near Canal Street I think."

"Sir, I need you to stay where you are. I'm sending someone right now but I need you to tell me what has happened."

Leo stiffened, "I-I-I did this. I'm sorry."

He lowered the phone, still able to hear the woman calling out for him and saying that everything would be okay if he stayed on the line and remained where he was.

But that was impossible.

Leo ended the call, cutting the 911 operator off mid-sentence. An eerie silence filled the warehouse once more. It all felt so wrong.

Leo glanced up at the window in which he had come through so many hours beforehand. He had to leave. Bending down, Leo placed a hand over the man's still open and terrified eyes, finally closing them. He studies the man's face, vowing to never forget every detail. To never forget this night and to never let anything like this ever happen again.

Leaping up onto the shelves and through the window, Leo left the scene of the crime whilst police cars with flashing lights arrived below him.

*End Flashback*

Leo grimaced at the memory, starting a new kata in the dojo.

After that night, he had intensified his training, vowing to himself that he would learn to control every aspect of his abilities.

And so he went it alone, training every day in his desperate plight to understand his abilities - his 'gifts'. He kept it from his family, not wanting them involved in something that could endanger them all.

But, in his constant training and secrecy, he couldn't help but wonder what his family would think if they knew.

Leo swiped left, activating his heightened senses, to listen as his Katana cut the air.

Raph would probably want to spar and push his abilities to the max. The thought of an all-out spar with his brother, in which he could use his abilities and for once not hold back, made Leo's heart pump with excitement, but he just couldn't risk it. What if he hurt Raph? What if he went too far?

Leo pivoted right and kicked high, hurling his Katana into the air with a deadly spin before holding it there with his mind mid-air, as he continued the Kata.

Donnie would most likely and gently ask for a blood sample to study as he would try to understand Leo's powered up mutations. In all honesty, Leo didn't understand much about the origins or cause of his 'gifts', but he figured that maybe he had been maybe exposed to a greater amount of mutagen than his brothers, thus inheriting his dormant abilities, but only to activate them when he was 13.

Beads of sweat dripped down his face, the suspended blade taking its toll as it hovered still in mid-air above him.

It took control and concentration to keep the blade there. His ability to read minds he could control now, most of the time, thanks to his walls, but the telekinesis was unruly, responding to emotions and instincts. He had to keep it in check. He hardly ever felt in complete control, except when he was training alone, with all of his concentration poured into his mind, body and blade.

In the dojo Leo released the blade in his mind, tuning his heightened hearing to the blade which fell towards him, the sharp point aligned with his head. He jumped, twisting around the blade and meeting it half way to grip the iron hilt.

He landed back on the ground, continuing without hesitation.

Mikey, his little bro, would probably compare him to a superhero from his comic books. Leo had the same abilities he supposed, but he had stopped being the hero when he had killed a man. Leo knew that he wasn't the hero of this story. He wasn't himself around his family any more. He was guarded and misleading. Ultimately, he was a liar. And a killer.

But he lied to protect them.

He had promised himself to never reveal his hidden side, to never lose control of his gifts and to never endanger his family, even when he felt alone and desperate to just tell someone.

Anyone.

Leo finished his final kata. He bowed gently to no one in particular and twisted his mask around to cover his eyes.

Gently, he outstretched his mind, allowing for his Katana blades to be lifted from his hands and carried back to the weapons rack.

The clang of metal told him that they were secured in place and Leo fixed his mask, smiling to see his blades perfectly placed.

His smile faded however when blood appeared on one of the blades and dripped onto the floor, quickly forming a crimson puddle underneath the weapons rack. Leo blinked and just as quickly as the blood had appeared, it was gone.

Leo breathed.

His blade was tainted forever by the blood of innocent.

It was his burden to bear.

In the silence of the lair, Leo allowed himself the privilege of letting his guard down. He opened and relaxed his mind, removing the walls which kept his mind control separate to the rest of him and under control, knowing that in the early hours of the morning, it was the safest time to do so.

Like this, he felt whole and unrestrained, without the constant pain in his head which he permanently lived with.

He sighed in relief, his shoulders loosening.

Mikey's voice entered his head first, as his little brother dreamed, leaking mindless thoughts. Look guys – the pizza guy is here! Raph noooo, that was my piece.

Leo chuckled. He didn't need mind reading abilities to know that most of the time Mikey was thinking about comics, pizza, skateboarding, the love for his family or some ridiculous prank he was about to pull.

Leo heard Donnie next: I should probably get up. I should definitely have a shower before the guys steal all the hot water…

Leo could feel Raph approaching the dojo, thoughts reverberating in his own head, coming closer and closer. Bet Leo's already up. Teachers pet – he trains too hard.

Leo's heart warmed slightly. He replaced the wall in his mind, the strain and throbbing returning, whilst he mulled over what Raph had been thinking.

Raph thought that he trains too hard.

Leo couldn't help but smile as Raph had no idea about just how true that was.

To Be Continued…

Please remember to leave a review if you liked the chapter! Thank you! Have an awesome day!