A/N: Another chapter already? Wow, I'm on a roll! (well, actually I'd finished this chapter already, so I decided to post it now XD)

I hope you guys like this, even though it's probably a little shorter than the others are DX

I OWN NOTHING!

Enjoy!

Chapter 5

It was the middle of the night when Leonardo was abruptly awoken from his sleep by the sound of shifting fabric, followed by careful footfalls upon the cold concrete floor that trailed off deeper into the lair, before fading entirely.

His brows furrowing, he sat up in his bed and looked up, blue eyes searching the darkened lair for whoever was awake and wandering. Everyone else was still asleep, with two turtles each sharing a bed. He could hear both Raphael's; the snoring pair were bundled up in the blanket they'd completed together earlier that evening, and had been knocked out within seconds of falling onto the bed. He could hear the two-part chorus of muttered techno-babble from Donatello's bed, and on the couch, he could faintly see Michelangelo cuddled beside his father, blissfully aware of nothing at all as he snored faintly.

However, as he looked over at where the other Mikey and the other Leo were sleeping, he immediately noticed that Mikey, looking very small and fragile in his sleep compared to the loud bouncing ball of energy he'd been only hours earlier, was the only one occupying the bed. There was no sign of Leo.

Leonardo raised a brow, already rising from his bed with mounting worry. Where had he gone? None of the lights were on in the kitchen or in the dojo…

Surely he hadn't gone off to find the Kraang base on his own, had he?

It would make sense, though, in a way. Aside from Raph, who'd stormed off to punch a wall until his hands bled, until Raphael had found him and brought him back, Leo had taken Mikey getting injured very hard. He'd openly blamed himself for what had happened, going into a near panicked state at the sight of the blood dripping from his younger brother's shoulder, and had refused to leave his side until now…

So it was inevitable that he'd decide that the best way to get to the Kraang portal, without anyone else getting hurt again in the process, would be for him to go off on his own and bring it back himself.

The only reason why Leonardo knew this to be the case was because, if he'd been in the same situation, he'd have done the same thing…and also because, well, they were the same person. Only a 'Leo' would ever think of going to such drastic measures to protect his family with little thought or regret.

And it was in knowing this that Leonardo hurriedly got out of bed, grabbed his swords and dashed out of the lair as fast and as quietly as he could manage, without waking the others. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to go too far to find his other self before it was too late.

However, after running through the sewer tunnels for what felt like an eternity, it was only until he journeyed above ground that he finally found him.

He was standing at the edge of a rooftop, merely a few blocks away from the warehouse the Kraang had decided to make their temporary base. He was staring at the old building, not moving an inch from the edge of the rooftop, his mask tails fluttering in the soft breeze. Leonardo couldn't see his face, but as he watched his fists clench, he knew that his other self was restraining his fury.

And he knew that he was being watched.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to tell me why you followed me here?" the shorter turtle asked, his voice low and laced with a thick layer of ice that Leonardo had only ever hard coming out of his own mouth. He knew himself well enough to know that this was a threat, but he ignored it, squaring his shoulders as he took a step towards the double of himself that refused to face him.

"You know exactly why I followed you here," he said evenly, watching as the muscles in Leo's arms tensed, ready to move and grab the Katanas strapped to his shell if need be. "I'm here to stop you, and bring you home."

"Hm," the other turtle said, nodding once. "Then you must know I'm not going to let you do that," he added with a growl.

Leonardo fought the urge to smirk confidently. "Yeah, I figured as much. We're pretty stubborn after all," he shrugged, stopping just inches behind the smaller terrapin. Neither of them made another move, nor made a sound as they stood there, glaring over at the abandoned warehouse beyond. An eternity seemed to have passed, until the silence was finally broken…

"You can't stop me. I'm going in there, no matter what you do or say," Leo said, shattering the moment of tense silence, his tone once again lowered and challenging.

At that, Leonardo shrugged one large shoulder indifferently. "You can try it. But I will stop you. You may be strong, but I'm stronger."

Finally, Leo snapped his head around. The ice in his voice was reflected in his glare as he directed it up at Leonardo, his mouth set in a thin line and his fists clenched. "This coming from a boy who learned ninjitsu from a book?" he snapped harshly. "You may be bigger than me, maybe a little stronger, but that's all you are. You don't have the skill, or the speed, or the experience that I do."

Leonardo's jaw clenched, and he fought the near irresistible urge to punch the kid square in the face. It was true that their knowledge of ninjitsu was limited compared to their other selves, and they'd shown how well they could fight; the way they'd flipped and spun on their feet with the grace of cranes, the strength and speed they possessed as they weaved their way through the army of Kraang robots…it was uncanny how good they were. However, if the kid dared to degrade his father's teachings, just to get under his skin…

No…that wasn't it. His words had been cold, yes, but they'd been born from frustration. He wasn't thinking clearly, hence why they were standing on a rooftop, in the middle of the night, right next to a warehouse crawling with alien robots that would blast them to pieces if they so much as caught a glimpse of them. There was even a glimmer of regret in Leo's eyes at what he'd said, what he'd allowed his frustration to unleash. However it was quickly banished as he turned to face Leonardo fully, shoulders bristling.

"You fight me, I will beat you," he snarled. "I don't care if you're me from another dimension; nothing will stop me from getting my family home! If you really are me, you'd understand instead of trying to stop me -!"

"And I do!" Leonardo snapped, grabbing Leo's shoulders despite how wide the other turtles' eyes became, or how his first reaction was to try and push his larger self away to no avail. "And if you really were me, you'd know how much of a bad idea this is!" Leonardo pressed on. "Going solo into the enemies' base never usually works out, in case you didn't know, Mr Experienced!"

"Let me go!" Leo grunted, grabbing Leonardo's wrists and fighting to pull his hands off his shoulders.

"NO! Not until you get through your thick skull that what you're doing is suicide, and unless you just really want to die tonight, you'll shut up and listen!" Leonardo growled, his grip firm and unyielding on his smaller self, who suddenly went still and stared up at him with wide eyes.

Swallowing thickly, he continued. "You feel awful about what happened to Mikey today, and you want to make sure it doesn't happen again, I get it. But going after the portal by yourself, plunging head-first into a whole army of alien robots…what do you think would happen if you never came back, huh? If you go in there, and you died, how do you think your brothers would feel knowing they'd lost their brother, how Splinter would feel knowing he'd lost his son, forever?"

He paused, allowing his words to sink in. And as Leo's downcast eyes lost their heated spark and lowered to the concrete, his hands slipping off Leonardo's wrists and hanging loosely at his sides, the larger turtle knew that it was working.

"You're very brave, Leo," Leonardo said gently, regaining the smaller turtle's attention as he looked back up at him. "Your willingness to do what others couldn't, just to keep your family safe, is remarkable and admirable. But if it means you lose your life, leaving your family behind to grieve, I know for certain that they would rather be stuck here in another world, than go back home and live the rest of their lives without their older brother."

It was then, much to Leonardo' shock, that tears began to pool in the other turtles' eyes, dampening his blue mask as they trailed down his face. He lowered his head once more, letting the tears fall to the concrete as he shut his eyes, his lower lip trembling as he fought to keep his sobs at bay.

"…I…I just…" Leo began, his voice wavering dangerously, barely above a whisper. "…I just want them to be safe. I just...I don't want my family to be separated again. I'm tired of losing them, losing Splinter, losing her, and…I just want it all to stop…"

All the while, Leonardo didn't say a word. Instead, as he watched Leo lift up a hand to wipe away his tears, but failing as more quickly took their place, he let out a soft sigh and shook his head, before gently pulling the smaller turtle to his chest, wrapping his arms around him. As he closed his eyes, he felt Leo go ridged in his embrace, but he didn't pull away.

"I know. I know you're tired," Leonardo said. "But all we can do to make everything right again is to keep fighting. We will get you, your brothers, and your Sensei back home again. And this time, we'll do it right. And we'll do it together."

In that moment, Leo became undone. And Leonardo felt his heart ache for his other self as the smaller terrapin let his head fall against his chest and finally succumbed to his tears of bottled up frustration, fear, sadness…

Leonardo wasn't entirely aware of what his other self had been through in their dimension, but it was clear it had taken its toll on the young leader. And it seemed that this recent disaster, from being teleported to an alternate world, to being separated from their father, and finally watching his baby brother come so close to death by the hands of their enemies, had been the final nail in the coffin for Leo. He'd been fully prepared to throw himself into a very literal death trap, on his own, just to reunite his family.

But it was just as he'd told Raphael the night they'd ran into their Hogosha for the first time.

"We all stick together."

Tonight's mission had been a failure. But Leonardo swore that no matter what, he and his brothers would get their counterparts back home before their time ran out. And they would do it as a team.

As a family.

A/N: Poor baby Leo :(

FYI, this was originally going to be a much darker chapter...but I wagered that 2012 hasn't reached that point just yet. But I hope you guys liked it anyways, and more are on the way!