As the blue banded brother left Donatello's lab, it was his peripheral vision that picked up a flash of red since the leader had no intention of making eye contact with his younger brother.

"All cleaned up I see."

"Yeah, Donnie helped fix me up."

"Great. Ya wanna spa? I mean, we didn't even get started before you took a blow to the head. I was surprised that Mikey managed to clock ya."

"Hehe. He has his moments."

"You sure you wanna do this?"

"I'm fine, let's just go."

"Alright then, and about time!"

Their sparring match started as somewhat concentrated but tense as neither of them said a word. In Raphael's mind he wished his brother would show some sort of emotion other than being the distant fearless leader he portrayed. In Leonardo's mind he wished he was back in his room to focus on blocking the thoughts of his brothers judging him for letting them down in their morning practice.

After 20 minutes of sparring in the dojo, the rule for the absence of words was finally broken.

"I can't understand why you still wear those." Raphael clearly indicated the leader's coverings.

"It doesn't matter."

"Well, clearly it does since my question is bothering you so much."

"Whatever, Raph. You're just trying to get under my skin like you always do."

"And it seems to be working. It seems to be the only thing we can do that gets a response from you nowadays. C'mon Leo, it's like you've got no soul, no fire. Where's that warrior spirit?"

"Buried..." Leonardo muttered.

"What was that, Fearless?"

"Nothing."

"Pfft. As always, you don't have the guts to say what you wanna say, or what you need to say, especially now that sensei no longer has your back."

Leonardo quelled the flood of anger that threatened to envelop him and summoned every ounce of courage to stop the oncoming flow of tears. He clutched his katana tightly as his whole body tensed up, including his chest which began to constrict. It was as if the Shredder himself was squeezing his heart.

I'm not ready for this…

Leonardo stood up straight, relaxing his posture and pointed his katana to the ground, clearly offering a forfeit.

"I think we're done here."

"No, we're not!"

Raphael quickly dropped his weapons and raced towards his target as Leonardo's heart rose in fear in response to a sudden flashback of stabbing Michaelangelo earlier in his dream. Taking in to account his brother's safety, he immediately dropped his precious katana and raised his arms in a defensive stance. The enraged turtle charged into his brother, successfully knocking both to the ground where the fight continued. Leo's attacks were entirely in self-defence in a desperate and rather fickle attempt to stop the fight.

Despite the regular training exercises they had maintained, Raphael was surprised at how weakly his brother resisted. Unfortunately for the eldest, Raphael currently had the advantage. He was now pinned down on his front and defenceless as Raphael held his left arm in a tight grip behind his back, both breathing heavily from the ongoing struggle.

"I know what it's like. We were all there when that son of a bitch murdered Splinter before we went back in time."

No, I don't want to hear any more.

"And the last time…I was there, Leonardo. I was there when it happened. You weren't."

No…I wasn't

Raphael released a long deep breath he was holding once he realised his brother wasn't going to say another word. As Raphael was about to let go of the leader's limb, he heard and felt a sickening pop radiate from the shoulder as Leo's arm gave way by an inch.

"GAAHHHH…UGH, STOP!"

"Leo! Bro, I'm sorry!" Horrified by his actions Raphael quickly retracted all body contact as Leo slumped against the floor. From the angle the dark emerald coloured turtle stood, the leader's arm looked uncomfortably out of place, almost deformed.

"Shit! It looks like your shoulder is dislocated. Isn't that the same shoulder as the one Shredder messed up from the fight?"

Leonardo carefully sat up and winced as he cradled his weakened limb that was now tucked against his plastron. He also bent his head down as far as it would go and began to rock ever so slightly backwards and forwards. Raphael silently knelt down and suddenly recognised that his brother's breathing was becoming quicker.

"Leo, you alright? Say something." He tried to peer under the now shaking turtle to see if he could get his brother's attention, but to no avail.

"Shit…" Raphael quietly cursed to himself.

"Don't move. I'll get Donnie."

Despite feeling short of breath the hunched turtle refused to move from where he sat, not intentionally following Raph's order. He felt he deserved the discomfort that was radiating from his chest and separated joint.

Your brothers inflict the wounds upon you as I did before.

They didn't mean to. My brothers would never harm me.

Oh, but they did. You try to hide your weaknesses, but your family see you as the failure that you are. You cannot lie to yourself.

They shouldn't have to see me like this. Why did I have to let my guard down?

Trapped in your own guilt, like a rat in a trap. The more you struggle, the more confined you feel. How fitting.

Donatello quickly sprinted over from the exit of the dojo with Raphael in tail. Leonardo was true to Raphael's command in that he hadn't moved.

"What happened? He only left me a few minutes ago."

"Donnie, just help him, quick!"

Donatello knelt down and visually scanned his brother who had now folded in on himself, still clutching his injured shoulder. His emerald green skin was unarguably paler - a noticeable contrast to his blue bandana that was gradually soaking up beads of cold sweat.

"No no no don't touch him." Donatello batted Raphael's hand away that was reaching out for the leader's shell.

"What's wrong with him, Donnie?"

"I think he's having a panic attack."

"Leo doesn't have panic attacks."

"At least that we know of. Leo? Can you hear me?" Donatello looked for any sign of recognition but saw no change.

"Raph, what happened before this started?"

"We were just sparring. Then talking. Then more fighting."

"Did he say anything to you just before?"

"No, not really."

"Huh. The shoulder I can take care of, but what we're looking at is something that runs much deeper."

"Well, fearless has never been one to open up about anythin'. That's what I was tryin' to get at before this happened."

"Yeah, I'm sure…" Donatello was not so sure as he knew Raphael wasn't the best diplomat in the city.

"Go get Mikey."

"Are ya sure that's a good idea? He might freak out."

"It also might help Leo to calm down if he can hear more familiar voices talking to him."

"I think Mikey left the lair to visit Casey. I'll give him a call."

"No, never mind Raph. On second thought it's probably best that he doesn't see Leo like this. I'll talk to him later."

"What d'you want me to do?"

"Right now? Nothing."

"What?! No, I'm not just gonna stand around here doing nothin'."

"If on the high probability you did trigger this attack, I don't want to risk making this worse."

"I didn't do anything! Okay I admit I may have gone overboard when talking to him about Splinter - and accidentally ripped his shoulder out..."

"Well, that was a wise move(!) Grieving takes time."

"He's had time. We've all had time."

"And it takes a lot of courage to face it and find a way to work through it. Clearly we've made assumptions and overlooked Leo's inner turmoil. I'm worried he's near breaking point."

"He should have come to us."

"Fighting isn't going to help this! Now shut up whilst I try to get through to Leo."

"No, shellferbrains, a minute ago you said I should get Mikey so that we could all talk to him."

"No, brainiac, that's not what I said. By the way I hope you detected the obvious sarcasm there."

Listen to them. Arguing. It amuses me that you are the cause of their misery.

They care about me, even though they probably shouldn't.

Hmm, they might actually miss you if I let you go now.

What do you mean if you let me go? I can go whenever I want.

What I'm saying is that it would be too easy if you took your own life now. Perhaps there's more fun to be had with you.

You're wrong! I'm not going to take my own life. My brothers need me. I'm done listening to you.

Very well. But I'm sure you will see things differently soon enough.