Hey guys. This story was kind of posted on my old fanfic account, but I decided to completely scrap some of the ideas from that story and rewrite and revamp it. So this is what I've come up with. I hope you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles. I wish I did.

His life would be changed forever.

Leonardo ran from the lair, tears beginning to blur his vision. He had no clue where he was going. He just knew that he wasn't going home, to face his family's tear-stained faces. He couldn't take it. Landing on a rooftop, he sat on the ledge, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He sighed softly as he pulled his knees up to his chest and wept. He recalled the conversation he had with Donatello:

"Leo, you have cancer." Donny told him softly, he didn't know how to tell him, so he just ripped the band-aid off.

"What kind?" Leo asked him, trying to hide his emotions. He felt like crying but he held it in for his brother. His eyes implored Don for an answer.

"Leukemia." Don told him, brown eyes glazed over with tears.

Leo nodded, "explains all of the bruises, being tired, and feeling weak." he said softly. "Do the others know?" he asked his brother, hoping that they didn't.

"Splinter does, he found the results when he came to check on me one night I fell asleep in my lab." Don said sheepishly.

Leo smiled a little at his brother and hugged him. "I'm going on a run, you can tell the others, I don't think I can stand the pity I know will be in their eyes." he said softly and released his brother and headed for the lab door, "I'll be careful." he said softly, and then he was gone.

Leonardo had waited until he knew everyone was asleep before he came home, he wasn't sure if Don had told the rest of the family yet or not, but he didn't want to risk it. He didn't want the looks or the pity. He walked into the lair, making no noise as he went up the stairs and to his room. The moment he reached the sanctity of his room, he closed the door and panted slightly. He despised feeling weak. Winded just going up the stairs? That was crazy. He slowly made his way to the bed, sitting down. He removed his pads and swords, placing them on the bedside table and hanging his swords on their mount. He laid down, reaching over and turning the light off. He rolled to his side and he fell asleep with his mask on.

**Morning**

Donnatello was up early, pacing the kitchen. He was trying to prepare himself for what he had to tell his family. He knew that Master Splinter would help, after having caught Donnie's initial breakdown when he first found out, but he also knew that the health questions would be aimed at him. He went to the pot of coffee for what was now his third cup. Sitting at the table, he put his head in his hands and scrubbed at his face. He had text April last night, requesting her and Casey to come over for breakfast. He didn't want to worry anyone else that night. Now it was morning and he had no clue what to do, let alone what to say.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a tired Casey and a fresh looking April. She wasn't too much of a morning person, but she would try her best to be put together. She held Casey's hand as she practically dragged him to the kitchen and pointed him to the coffee pot.

"Where is everyone?" April asked Don, curiously as she went to the fridge and helped herself to a bottle of water, sitting next to the turtle.

"Good morning April, Casey," He bowed his head in greeting before he went to the stove to put on tea for his father and anyone else who would want tea. "I just woke them, they'll be here shortly," he wrung his hands a little before he sat back down at the table. He wasn't meeting her gaze, not looking at April or Casey. His own gaze trained down, looking into his coffee. His hands were slightly shaking as he took a sip of his beverage.

April looked over Donnie's head, sharing a look with Casey before looking back to Don. "What's wrong?" Her eyebrows raised as she demanded an answer from the purple banded turtle.

"Not yet," Donnie whispered, shaking his head slightly, he was waiting on his brothers.

Mikey and Raph came into the kitchen, Mikey looking happier than his grumpier older brother.

"Wha' we doin' up so early for? An' where's Leo?" Raph asked everyone, sitting in a chair across from Don, Mikey following suit.

Donnie gave a shaky breath, his gaze lingering on his mug as he tried to find the words, trying to find out how to break the news. "I've… As you might have noticed I've been stuck in my lab a little more than usual."

Master Splinter had chosen this time to come into the kitchen, pour himself a cup of tea before sitting on the other side of Donatello. He rested a hand on his son's shoulder, squeezing it, giving him comfort and support as the purple banded turtle gave the worst news he could ever give to his brothers. To his family.

A loud grunt caught his attention and Donnie's soft brown eyes quickly moved to his red masked brother.

"An' that's newsworthy because….?"

Donatello knew well enough of his immediate older brother, knew how impatient he was, especially when it came to his work. But he decided to take his time as he spoke, if he said the wrong thing it might cause an explosion from his temperamental brother, and there would be no stopping it, not with the news that he was burdened with.

Don took another breath and started talking again, more courage to his voice this time around. "As I was saying, the work I have been doing isn't some invention or an appliance Mikey broke."

"Hey!" Mikey interjected.

"Anyways," Don rolled over the complaint of his brother, hoping he wouldn't be interrupted again. "This work concerns Leo." Now the room was silent, all eyes in the room focused on the purple masked turtle, knowing he had the attention of his family, he continued on.

"I've been running some tests, specifically on blood and the results were.. Distressing." Dontello waited for another outburst but only silence followed. His eyes moved from each figure in the room, he could easily see the concern in their gazes. "The blood tests I ran showed an anomaly. I had hoped they were incorrect, but after repeating the test several times, I discovered that Leo's blood had been creating immature blood cells."

"I'm no genius Donnie, but you make that sound like a bad thing," Raph interjected.

"Regrettably it is, immature blood cells means that they are defective which also means that they die." The eyes around the room widened and Donnie's eyes moved back to his mug. He hadn't realized how tight he was holding his mug. 'If I keep this up, I'll end up breaking the mug and cutting my hand. I have to relax and just get this over with' he thought to himself.

"There are numerous conditions that could cause this, one I thought that it might have had to do with our mutation but it actually turned out to be something different… something I never thought could happen to us, something I thought I could control, could at least…" Tears began to burn the purple masked turtle's eyes. An unexpected rage began to rise within him and his hands had started to shake. Donnie was startled when a pair of small feminine hands grabbed his and his water brown eyes met April's. A gentle yet concerned smile graced her lips and it made the turtle feel more miserable.

"The results are irrefutable.. Leo.. Leo is sick and it's spreading too quickly.." he began to ramble.

A rough pair of green hands tore Don away from April, grabbing his shoulders. Donnie looked up to meet a pair of fiery amber eyes. Raphael's body was tense, his hands started to tighten on his shoulders but Donnie didn't flinch.

"Donnie, what's spreadin'? Wha' ain't ya tellin' us? Stop spittin' out this science crap and just say it!"

"Leonardo has Acute Myeloid Leukemia!" The words left Donnie's mouth so fast he hadn't even realized he had said them until he saw the look of dread that washed over Raphael's face.

Tears began to fall down from Donnie's soft brown eyes as he stepped back from his older brother. He frantically looked at his loved ones, each one showing pain, despair, grief. It hurt knowing he was the one who brought on this misery. But it had to be done. 'I did the right thing, they needed to know'. Tears continued to roll down his cheeks, his eyes trained on the floor as he continued to cry.

A sudden animalistic roar shook Donatello out of his thoughts. Raphael had erupted and struck the table with his fist, watching the wood crack and start to splinter.

"Raphael!" Came Splinter's stern voice. "Yame! Calm down!" he told his second eldest, knowing that his voice would be the only one to break Raphael out of his anger.

Raph slumped in his chair when his father spoke. "Sorry.." he muttered. "I'll find a new one later," he crossed his arms in defeat.

April looked up and she locked eyes with Donnie, "What are we going to do?" her voice breaking and hoarse from crying, tears still streamed down her face as she spoke. She wouldn't be bothered to wipe them now.

"For once.. I really don't know.. There's so much that we don't know about Leukemia, the equipment needed, let alone how our mutation would react to the chemotherapy. There's a lot I need to do and I have more tests planned. I'll be contacting Leatherhead and I was hoping that you'd help us along the way with the tests." he looked at her, reached out, squeezed her hand before he turned on his heel and headed to the lab. "I'm going to get started." he took his coffee with him as he left.

April watched him go with great concern and then she looked to Mikey, who had been uncharacteristically quiet. He was sobbing silently, he didn't have anything to say, unsure of anything right now.

"He'll get through this, Mikey." she stood and she walked to him, crouching beside him and taking his hands in hers. "It's Leo we're talking about," she gave him a small smile. She wasn't sure of this AML, but what she did know was that she needed to be a good big sister for her found family.

"You're right," he relented, smiling a little through his tears at her, he leaned forward and hugged her tight.

"It's going to be fine," April told him softly, rubbing her hand up and down his shell, holding him tightly. "I know it.."

Raph went to the dojo, Casey following him, not wanting his best friend and brother to be alone. Especially at a time like this. Casey watched as Raph took everything he was feeling out on the punching bag, knocking it off of the chain. He watched Raph sit on the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"Man, he's Leo, he'll be okay. He's a fighter," Casey tried to reassure his friend.

"How can you fight what you can't see?" he asked rhetorically, shaking his head before he stood and went to the weights. He began to grab the dumbbells and he began to lift them. He would have preferred to go up topside, but it was daylight and he knew that his family would worry. He didn't want that on his family, as of now, they had enough to worry about.

"You just fight to live," Casey shrugged, watching Raph. "I don't know about this kind of thing, never knew anyone with it.. Or much about it."

Raph put the weights back on the rack, he was unsettled. He had to get out for a bit. "I'm going for a walk through the tunnels," he stood and he walked off and out of the lair after he stopped to let Master Splinter know where he was going.

He proceeded to walk out of the lair as fast as he could. So he wouldn't be stopped by anyone. He wanted to leave the lair before anyone saw him cry. He didn't want anyone to see him that way.

The tunnel was dark and the sound of rushing water could be heard echoing throughout the tunnels. Raphael's fast pace escalated to a full on run. His vision blurred as the tears began to form, and the area that surrounded him began to mesh into the same dark image.

Raph's lungs burned as he frantically ran, trying to stop the tears. A sudden burst of exhaustion hit the gruff turtle and he immediately stopped and started looking for a dry space to sit. To his right, he found a dry patch and he sat down, pulling his knees to his chest. Burying his face in his knees while he wept. He wept for what seemed like an hour. He loved his big brother, regardless of how much they argued, he didn't want him sick, let alone die.

But what could he do? He wasn't a genius like Donnie, he wasn't a caretaker like April, or a person who can lighten the mood like Mikey. He was Raphael, a rough and tough ninja who only knew how to fight. 'Can't fight what I can't see, which makes me freakin' useless' he thought to himself.

How was Raph going to fight an invisible enemy? An enemy that was killing his brother right in front of his eyes. Oh shell, what are we going to do? A terrifying thought raced through the red masked turtle's mind. If Leo's gone, what would happen to the family? To the team? Raphael's breathing quickened as he started to have a panic attack.

He shot up from the ground, pacing, the burning of his lungs started to return. 'I can't let this happen! I can't let him die!' he thought before a roar erupted from his lips and he looked for the closest thing he could begin an assault on, the wall. Punch after punch, the frustration came to life and then the horrific thoughts began to leave, being replaced by the pain in his fists as he struck the brick wall.

With a long sigh, the red masked warrior moved away from the wall, not even bothering to look at his hands, feeling the blood drip from them, he sighed and he sat on the ground again before speaking out loud. "We need you Leo.. I need ya'. Please fight."

Leo turned over on his side and turned the lamp on. Sitting up on the side of the bed, he stretched his arms above his head and winced when he felt pain. He looked down on the floor and picked his gear up, putting it on and looking at the clock. It's past noon… must mean Donnie told everyone. Leonardo opened his bedroom door, hearing multiple voices down stairs. Guess I can't avoid them forever. Slowly the blue masked turtle made his way down the stairs, feeling a jolt of pain with each step he took, seeing April, Casey, Splinter, and his brothers.

"Leo!" April smiled at him and went to hug him, she saw him wince when he hugged her back.

"Hello April" he smiled a little at her. He pulled away gently and looked at the others. "I realize that this is a delicate situation, but I do not want to be treated any differently." he told them sternly. "I couldn't stand it if you all treated or looked at me differently, the only thing is I'll have to be more careful, and you will too. I bruise more easily." he told them with a look in his eye.

"Of course." April responded to him with a small smile, speaking for everyone.

"Where's Raph?" Leo asked, noticing the second eldest wasn't there. He looked at them curiously.

"He went for a walk around the sewers." Don told him, with a slight frown, "It's been a couple hours.."

"I'm going after him." Leo said as he pushed past them and headed for the door.

With Raph

Raph was sitting on a wooden crate, leaning forward, his face in his hands. He was crying. He couldn't break in front of his brothers. That's just not even an option. He's the one who needs to be strong. He'll be the big brother soon… he doesn't know how to be the sole big brother. He's always been the second oldest, never the one that his little brothers look up too..

He was terrified, he didn't know how to act or even how to feel at this point. He hated feeling weak, especially since he wasn't even the one going through this ordeal. His head snapped up when he heard soft footsteps, ones you wouldn't hear unless you were trained to hear them. He drew his sais and spun them rapidly, prepping for a battle, but he sheathed them as soon as he saw it was his big brother.

"You shouldn't be out here. Who knows what kind of diseases are around here?" Raphael protested when he saw his brother, he wiped his eyes quickly, not wanting him to see him cry.

"Not my biggest concern when my brother is sitting in the sewers crying." Leo retorted back to his brother. "I'm okay, Raph." he told him softly, walking closer to him. "I'm just going to be a little weak." He held his arms out to his little brother, waiting for him to put his pride away and give him a hug.

Raph sighed and he stepped forward, wrapping his arms around his big brother and taking a shaky breath. He felt Leo's arms wrap around him tightly and protectively, holding him close.

Leo rested his forehead against Raph's. "We're going to get through this. I'm not giving up." he told him before he pulled away, leaving one arm around Raph's shoulder. "Let's go home, Raphie."