Author's Note: Hello again and thank you for clicking on this new chapter! I'm sorry about the longer wait for chapter eight to be posted but I hope you like it all the same. Please leave a review if you enjoy the read!

Chapter Eight: Towards the Light

"-eo? Come…on…broth-. Wa- up. Plea…come ba-…Leo. Please…

In the cold and dark nothingness, a familiar voice was calling out for him, pleading him to come back towards the light.

But, Leo was sinking.

He could feel it; his body was being pulled further and further down into the final dark, the coolness enveloping in and dulling everything. Slowly, he began to forget where or even who he was, as everything simply slipped away, like a melted down candle barely clinging to life.

He was empty and weightless in the darkness, drifting along in the absolute silence.

Except it wasn't silent, as the voice again called out for him again, more desperate this time and piercing through the veil.

"-ease Leo! Come on, -n't -eave us. Please, don't leave m-me…"

Someone needed him.

Leo focused and reached upwards towards the voice, trying to somehow wade his way out from the clutches of death. The voice became clearer.

"Come on Leo. Please brother, just come back. Wake up, Leo. Please…"

Leo knew the voice.

Please, please Leo. Don't die in my arms. Don't you even think about it. Don't you fucking go! WAKE UP! COME ON!

Leo knew those angry rash thoughts.

Raphael.

Raph was with him.

Warmth pierced through the cold darkness then, as Leo suddenly felt a hand placed on the side of his face, cradling his head ever so gently and turning it to the side for fingers to push against his neck, feeling frantically for a pulse.

The warm touch electrified Leo's senses and reality slammed back into him, bringing with it a pain which was throbbing across his entire body, aching, burning and freezing at the same time. He felt himself shivering, his fingers vibrating on the cold cement floor beneath him, his body unable to process the pain and going into shock.

"That's it Leo. I know you can hear me!"

Leo grounded himself in his brother's voice, pushing aside his vertigo and attempting to open his eyes which still rolled around in the darkness, glued shut with sticky crust.

He could hear the violent hammering of his heart beat, as it rang in his ears, his body desperately trying to keep him alive.

Leo drew his attention to his right arm and attempted to reach upwards towards Raphael and instantly he felt the calloused and strong three fingered hand of Raphael grip onto his own.

"Yes! Yes, that's it Leo. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me. Come on bro…"

Leo breathed and focused on his hand, managing to tighten his fingers around Raphael's own three, ever so slightly, before releasing again.

"Okay, okay, I hear you. You gotta open those eyes for me now bro. No sleeping, alright?"

Leo felt the crust over his eyes cracking as he struggled to slowly open his lids. Leo blinked, his vision swirling but slowly coming into focus as his eyes landed on Raphael's red bandanna. Above him, Raphael smiled encouragingly, absolute relief washing over his face.

"Good job Leo," Raphael said. "Just stay still and breathe."

Leo tried to do as asked, taking a ragged breath in, but the air burned his throat, inducing a coughing fit which sprayed flecks of blood onto his plastron.

There was a pressure on his chest and Leo looked down to see that Raphael was pressing hard against the Katana wound, trying to stem the blood which was still dripping from the wound.

"S-sorry," Leo whispered. "I'm s-s-so so-rry."

Raphael shook his head whilst fumbling for his t-phone with his other hand, finding it on his belt before he hurriedly punched in a number, pressing far too hard on the buttons. Leo frowned. He didn't understand. He had hurt everyone. He had ran and yet his brother was still there with him and looked down at him with love and understanding. Leo watched as Raphael recklessly allowed the phone to clatter to the floor, near to his own head.

"You've nothing to be sorry for," Raph said as the phone rang.

The t-phone stopped ringing and Casey's voice came through as he picked up the line.

"Raph? You better be calling with good news man. April and I found the Odachi but we've been searching all over town for Leo and we've just got nothin' man."

"I found him," Raph replied. "We're at the abandoned lot of warehouses downtown, off Canal street."

Casey's voice rang through the t-phone, along with the screeching of tires. "We'll be there in ten minutes."

"Make it five," Raph replied before cutting off the call.

Leo doesn't have long…he just doesn't have long…

Raphael's thoughts seeped into Leo's head.

In the back of his throat, Leo groaned, trying to block out the crippling pain which engulfed his entire body. Everything ached. His hands were clammy with sweat and he could feel his chest tightening as the poison leaked into his veins. His shoulder burned. He looked down at his shoulder and grimaced. The black spindle-like lines of poison covered his entire plastron now and travelled down both arms. Leo looked away.

The warehouse surrounding him and Raphael was utterly destroyed. Windows had been shattered from Leo's telekinetic blast of energy, allowing a cool bite of wind to enter the warehouse and the once upright shelves were in ruins on the ground, with Leo and Raph at their epicentre. Leo squinted up at his brother, struggling to make out his face but needing to warn him all the same. "Y-you sh-shouldn't b-be here," he whispered. "I don't want to hurt you."

Again, Raphael shook his head. "You won't. I trust you."

Leo breathed wetly, a rattling coming from his chest. "I c-can't contr-ol it any-anymore. Please-"

"Cut the crap Leo," Raphael firmly interjected. "I'm not leaving you here, no matter what you say. Ya got that?!"

Leo's eyes sunk closed but he snapped them open again as a mild convulsion shook his body, making his legs shudder involuntarily. His gut tightened as his telekinesis responded to the pain and he held his breath, ready for his brother to be propelled skyward or worse, but the power burst never came. Leo breathed out and focused on his brother and on the grounding feeling of his hand on his chest, stemming the blood. "Got it. Is M-Mikey okay?"

Above him Raphael's smile wavered. "Yeah, he was pretty banged up but Donnie said that he could fix him. He'll be f-"

"Raph!"

April's voice rang through the warehouse and suddenly she and Casey were there also, leaning over Leo, their worried faces taking up Leo's vision.

April brought her hands to her mouth in shock. "Oh Leo…"

Casey was holding the Shell Raiser's keys, rattling them to emphasise his point. "We parked out front, as close as we could. Think you can manage the walk?"

Leo nodded and tried his very hardest not to vomit or pass out as he was pulled gently to his feet.

He succeeded in neither.

"Gah, Raph-"

Laying on the floor of the Shell Raiser, Leo couldn't help the plea that slipped from his mouth. He scrunched his eyes together as the muscles in his neck contorted. Suddenly he gasped, as his airways felt as though they had closed, his muscles spasming. His lungs seared, abruptly starved of oxygen. Instinctively he reached out towards Raphael who was hovering above him, still talking to Donnie on his t-phone, just like he had been for the last 10 minutes of the drive, relaying to Donnie everything which was happening.

Raphael pulled the phone away from his head for a moment and clasped Leo's outstretched hand.

"Breathe Leo," Raphael urged. "You gotta breathe man."

"I'm t-tryying," Leo wheezed.

His airways constricted, tightening further and Leo gulped for air, but received nothing. White spots bobbed around his brother's head as Raphael begged him to breathe again and the colours within the Shell Raiser began to blur together.

"Just fucking breathe Leo!" Raphael urged, his voice sounding distant.

Leo chocked and gasped, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out from his head.

Vaguely, he registered hands on him as Raphael gripped him by the shoulders.

No-no-no-no-

Even struggling to breath, Raphael's thoughts seeped into Leo's brain, mixed in with April's and Casey's.

This can't be happening, April denied, worriedly watching from the front passenger seat with the Odachi blade carefully sitting on her lap.

But we're so close to the Lair, Casey thought. Come on, drive faster!

Leo could just barely make out that Raphael's lips were moving as he spoke to him, but his words were lost on him, unheard as he frantically wheezed and struggled for life sustaining air. Raphael yelled something into the phone. Darkness pressed in around Leo's vision.

There was a tug in his gut.

Leo's panic rose for a second more.

He needed to warn his family.

"R-Ra-," Leo struggled. "I cn't-t s-stop it-"

SCREECH!

The wheels of the Shell Raiser lost all traction with the road, the vehicle hurtled sideways, sliding across the bitumen as a wave of Leo's telekinetic energy hurtled out from within him and pushed against one side of the vehicle.

"SHIT," Casey yelled.

Leo was pressed against the floor by his brother, Raphael practically laying on top of him in order to prevent him rolling and slamming into the side of the Shell Raiser. Together, they slid, Leo's shell scratching against the floor.

The Shell Raiser swung back straight again, driving on.

"That was close," Casey breathed. "You guys okay back there?"

Leo took a ragged breath and revelled when oxygen flooded into his lungs, his neck no longer twisting and contorting against his will. Atop him Raphael sat up and nodded.

"Yeah, we're okay, right Leo?"

Leo gave him a shaky thumbs up.

It was all he could manage.

Leo didn't really remember making it to the Lair.

He did, however, know the definite pang of guilt as he was held upright and guided by Raphael and Master Splinter past the scorched doors of the dojo. The doors were ruined; the once beautiful Japanese artwork was unrecognisable due to the charring and the umber panels were smoking in places, with glowing red embers still in the wood.

"It is in the past, my Son," Master Splinter reassured from one side of Leo. "There is no need to dwell on it."

Turning his head away from the destruction that he had created, Leo's legs trembled as he took each unsteady step towards Donatello's lab.

Just a little further, encouraged Raphael in his own mind, his thoughts leaking into Leo's head.

Okay okay, I just need to turn the serum. This should work…this better work…this has to work. Donnie's thoughts were crashing and colliding as Leo's genius of a brother tried to create a antidote. His rambling thoughts ached in Leo's head.

Leo's wall was gone.

He had neither the energy nor even the ability to rebuild it.

Walking into the lab, Leo squinted at the harsh lighting. Casey and April were already assisting Donnie in making an antidote, but instantly Leo's eyes fell upon the all too still figure of Mikey, laying on a lab bench with his leg elevated, wrapped and held together with a makeshift splint. Mikey's eyes were closed and his body unmoving. Instinctively, Leo pulled towards him, abandoning his own path towards another vacant bench and breaking free of his family's gentle hold, almost forgetting about the unadulterated pain rippling across his entire body as he stumbled towards his brother, almost crashing into him.

"Mikey?" Leo's heart was in his throat.

He had done this.

He had hurt his brothers, Michelangelo most of all.

"Mikey, can you hear me?" Leo repeated himself, his voice cracking with desperation for his brother's eyes to flicker open and for that goofy smile to light up his face before he would tell Leo that it was just a prank and that he was fine.

Instead, Mikey remained uncharacteristically quiet, his chest rising and falling, his face too peaceful and too pale.

"I had to give him a mild sedation in order to set his leg," Donnie informed from his work bench, where chemicals bubbled and brewed, calling over his shoulder whilst he hands still stirred and flurried over what Leo assumed was an antidote. "He's just sleeping Leo."

Poison pumping through his veins or not, Leo would have stayed right by his brother's side all night if he could have, but it was at that precise moment that he legs decided to finally give out, his knees buckling. And suddenly he was falling backwards.

He would have collided with the labs floor if Raphael and Master Splinter hadn't caught him once more, one arm under each armpit, each taking a side and catching him before he could truly fall.

Leo scrambled, trying to find his feet, but his legs were numb and uncontrollable. The floor beneath him suddenly became waves, uneven and furthering the feeling that he was about to vomit everywhere. His eyes rolled, everything becoming hazy.

"Whoa whoa, steady Leo," Raphael told him.

The thoughts of those around him continuously streamed into Leo's head.

I just need three more minutes, Donnie pleaded, glancing over to Leo as he was guided to the second lab bench, which had been cleared as a makeshift bed.

Just sit down before I make you, Raphael thought, although his face was still showing that of unusual kindness.

Leo knew that he had to look like utter crap for Raphael to be this gentle.

My hands are shaking, April worried as she carefully stirred another liquid under the direction of Donnie. What if it damages the antidote? April looked towards Donatello."Donnie, am I doing this right?"

Casey looked over towards Leo and their eyes locked. Come on Casey. Pull yourself together man. It's just Leo…I don't get what the hell is happening, but he's your friend. You got him home, because he's my friend! He's just Leo…

Leo looked away, casting his gaze downwards. His friend was right in doubting him. He was dangerous. Maybe he would leave after the antidote was administered and save them all the trouble of telling him to get out. Raphael had assured him that they wouldn't leave him, but he was still dangerous. He needed to find somewhere completely isolated, where he could live out the rest of his days without hurting anyone, especially his family.

That was if he made it through.

Maybe dying of poison wouldn't be the worse thing to happen.

Two more minutes and I'll have the antidote, Donnie's thoughts interjected into Leo's brain. Almost there…

Donnie's thoughts snapped Leo back to attention and he realised that he had been supported up onto the bench. A shiver found its way into his neck and travelled down his spine from where his head touched the cold lab bench.

Master Splinter must have noticed, as carefully Leo's head was lifted by caring fur covered hands before a pillow was placed underneath. Leo wanted to say thank you but wasn't sure where to direct his attention, with the roof of the lab twirling.

The blurred faces of Raphael and his Sensei came into view, hovering over him.

Keep holding on, Raphael thought. Just keep hol-

Raphael's thoughts abruptly stopped.

There was a confused moment where Leo looked up at his brother.

Everything became hazy, like a dream.

And then his head snapped against the bench, the pillow doing little to protect his head as it violently smashed backwards. Faster than he could blink, an agony unlike anything he had ever experienced erupted in the back of his skull, sending tidal waves of pain throughout his body, down to his very toes. Muscles across his body spasmed retardedly, like he had been hit with a lightning bolt, tightening and then releasing again. His spine arched and his shell lifted off from the bench. Vaguely Leo felt hands on him and Raphael was yelling.

"DONNIE! We need that antidote!"

"One more minute!" Leo heard Donnie call back.

"We don't have a minute, Don!"

Leo's gut twisted and tightened. Even in the throws of a seizure, Leo knew the feeling and it ripped him apart, as he knew what was coming.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut, trying to smother the telekinetic energy building within him. He held his breath, as if starving the telekinesis of oxygen would put the raging fire out.

His spine arched further against his shell and the scream which was pulled from his mouth was raw and wild.

An explosion detonated inside Leo's stomach and its telekinetic shock wave hit the lab, blowing apart experiments and sending apparatuses into the air.

Leo wanted it to stop.

He wanted everything to stop.

But his body contorted on the bench.

Airborne instruments of science, along with paper and debris began to swirl overhead with Leo in the centre of the tornado. Bricks were torn from the walls to join the fray and desks were uprooted and spun out of control, flying around the room becoming deadly missiles. His family and friends were yelling.

Raphael, gripping onto the bench above Leo, was shouting. "Donnie! Sedative or antidote! Now!"

"There's no sedation! The antidote won't work yet-"

Leo's head snapped to the side and his eyes widened as a desk hurtled towards Mikey who was still blissfully unaware of the chaos around him.

"NO!" Leo outstretched with his mind and the desk was flung backwards to crash against the wall with such a force that it splintered into pieces.

In the thick soup that was his brain, Leo somehow knew what had to be done.

"Gah! Raphael," Leo cried. "Punch me!"

"Don't!" Donnie yelled. "He might not ever wake up!"

"DO IT!" Leo yelled. "PLEASE!"

Salty tears streamed down Leo's face. He reached out to his brother and pleaded with his mind, trying to tell him that everything would be okay if he just did this one thing. 'Please,' Leo mouthed.

Raphael's face softened above him.

His reply was barely a whisper, but Leo heard it all the same.

"I'm sorry bro."

Raphael's fist connected with Leo's face, hard and swift.

Everything went black.

And Leo knew no more.

To Be Continued…

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