I don't own TMNT.

If It Comes Back To You,

"My sons," Splinter spoke slowly and carefully, "We must leave before humans come and discover our existence."

Don and Mikey nodded and wiped the tears from their faces before stepping forward to pick up their fallen eldest brother.

"Why?" Mikey mumbled.

"Why what?" Don asked as they made their way down the stairs into the brightening day.

"Why didn't I just grab Leo when I could've and stopped him from-" Mikey stopped as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"There wasn't anything you could've done Mikey. I should've immediately went to him when he was pulled back into the shadows maybe they wouldn't have killed him," Don said as they carried Leo between them, the eldest turtle's head turned to the side and resting on Don's shoulder.

The purple masked turtle shifted and felt his shoulder push aside a bone under Leo's skin. He knew then for sure that Leo couldn't be alive.

No one could live after having their neck broken…

Don suddenly wondered what Leo would want. A burial? Cremation? If a burial, then where? If the cremation, then what were they to do with the ashes? What would happen to them? Their family? They couldn't even manage to remain a family when Leo was away training. How would they now that he was-

Don forced himself to stop thinking, which was very difficult with the questions now caught in the gravity of his mind. He'd have to prepare everything once everyone made their decision. He'd have to organize the funeral, he'd have to go find Raph, drag him home, he wouldn't, no doubt, get any sleep that night, Mikey would have nightmares. All the questions tumbled around in his mind and he pushed aside emotions for now. That was just it, a leader couldn't let his emotions cloud his mind, he had to think what was best for the team overall.

Then, it was like a crack of thunder shook his mind. How many emotions had Leo hid all his life?

Mikey stared down at the form covered with a white sheet in Don's lab. His childlike mind was yelling his denial to the world. This just couldn't be true! Just days before Leo had come home after a two year absence. The youngest turtle hadn't believed it for a second until he ran and hugged Leo. He felt his physical form and knew it was real. He spent that night clinging and soaking up his presence.

Mikey choked back a sob and turned away from the, he swallowed at the thought…corpse. Eyes suddenly stinging, he stepped out of the room. It wasn't fair! He was gone two years, he came home, only to be taken away! He was gone again, but this time he couldn't just hop on a plane and come home!

Don found himself pacing by the front door. They couldn't decide or do anything until Raph got home. Where was he? Every few minutes, Don ducked back inside his lab and checked again, to see if he had missed the vein previously, and tried desperately to hear a heartbeat.

"This is crazy," Don yelled at himself in his mind as he covered the body with the sheet again, "You're the factual one! There's no breath, there's no pulse! Give it up! He's dead and there's nothing you can do about it!"

The purple masked turtle told himself that every time he went back into his lab. He wasn't sure why he kept coming back and checking for a pulse and breath that didn't exist but it was if his heart was telling him that he was missing something. That something just wasn't right. Well, the whole situation wasn't right but the death itself, seemed wrong. Like there was something obvious he should be thinking about. The answer always floated near but flew off when he reached for it.

What was wrong with this? He was missing something obvious but he couldn't pinpoint it. Growling in frustration he ducked back into his lab, hoping that some invention of his would provide a distraction from the world around him. The beeps and ringing of the machines around the genius turtle proved as a distraction for every few seconds before his eyes would wander over to the sheet covered figure. Still, every few minutes he climbed to his feet and checked again. No pulse, no breath.

Don fell back into his computer chair, where he had been previously sitting to work on an invention that he suddenly couldn't remember even starting, and then sighed. What was wrong with this? He had always relied more on his intelligence than his instincts but something kept pulling at his mind. With another long drawn out sigh Don forced his mind back on a logical track. They had decide what to do soon, after all, his previous studies concluded that because of their mix of human and reptile attributes the normal rate of skin decomposition was much higher than that of reptiles and humans. In fact…

Don sat up stiffly when he heard the door to his lab creak open. He turned to see it was his youngest brother. Mikey glanced around curiously before his gaze met Don's. The youngest turtle opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as Don spoke.

"Yes, I checked for the 32nd time, he's dead Mikey," the purple masked turtle said in a voice embedded with venom.

Mikey's eyes fell to the floor and he ducked back outside, closing the door behind him. Leaving his immediate older brother to sit alone in the murderous silence once again. Don turned his mind to the facts once again, the skin would start to decompose very soon, darkening as the cells broke down. It started after a few hours. The genius turtle glanced at the clock…

Three hours had already passed.

The door creaked open again and Don sighed, but only silence followed.

Raph opened his eyes to find himself lying against the side of a sewer tunnel. He rubbed his eyes dry and sat up stoutly, shivering as he noticed the sudden drop of the atmosphere around him. The buzzing of a few insects near a stream of lights in the tunnel caught his attention and then he looked into the murky water below him. The light caused a slight, fuzzy reflection, that wasn't clear but showed enough to reveal color and basic shapes. Although it was hard to tell, Raph found his amber eyes had darkened. For some reason, he predicted and feared that they might turn black. Shaking off the thought he picked himself up and shivered again at the cold air surrounding him, trapped inside the pipe by it's thick, concrete walls. Half emotionally dead, he managed to drag himself home. He hoped neither of his, he gulped, remaining brothers, hated him.

The red masked mutant turtle traveled through tunnels that always seemed the same, no matter how different they truly were. Every rodent and insect running for cover was the same to him and at every turn he couldn't help but hope. This was just too much. How was he supposed to handle this? He knew Leo could, but no doubt, Splinter had prepared the eldest for such a thing, but Raph just couldn't do this. Finally, although it felt like no time and all time had both passed him by, the suffering turtle reached the familiar sewer wall that hid their home. As he glanced up at the handle that would open up the hidden door, his vision seemed to fall back for miles, as if he was staring down a tunnel with a goal that was impossible to reach.

Raph shivered again, but rather if that was from the cold air, water of the shock of everything, he couldn't tell. Maybe it took him hours, or maybe seconds, but finally, he forced his trembling hand to reach up and pull on the pipe that was actually a hidden lever. The stones in front of him shifted and rose into the stones above. Raph stepped through the doorway as the door slid back down behind him and he mentally smiled at the fact, that if Leo had seen that he would've gotten a lecture about checking the surrounding area to ensure no humans were near. Raph closed his eyes as his sight took in everything in under a second.

"Raph?"

The quiet turtle opened his eyes and locked his slowly darkening amber eyes with two eyes of bright, shining blue.

"Mikey," Raph said in a scratchy voice as he noticed the splash of bright orange in front of him.

The youngest brother stepped forward and asked with his eyes. Despite it all, Raph was still uncertain what the world around him was like. Finally though, after three long minutes of standing stock still, the older turtle spread his arms as his baby brother flew into his embrace, burying his head into his shoulder as he cried. The red masked turtle was beginning to think, that maybe he ran out of tears back at the Winters corp. building, but he just stood still and let Mikey cry.

"I'm sorry Mikey," Raph suddenly spoke out of no where, "I ain't Leo, so I can't make you feel better and I ain't Don, so I can't fix this."

Mikey pulled away and wiped at his face but noticed Raph was still hugging him, so he embraced his older brother more tightly. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who needed a hug.

"Mikey I-" Don began to say as he stepped out of his lab only to freeze when he saw his brothers hugging.

They looked over at him and pulled away from one another.

Don smiled in mock humor, "I'll be using that in the future."

The other turtles glared at him, Raph more so. The more angry turtle took a menacing step forward towards Don, his hands twitching towards his sais.

Don smiled patiently and gently, "Guys, he's waking up."

Raph and Mikey froze for a good long minute, their mouths falling open.

"Wh-what?" Raph asked in a voice that proved he couldn't quite grasp the reality of the world around him.

Don motioned for them to follow him. They all three entered the genius' lab, still frozen by his words. The purple masked turtle pulled the sheet away from what they had believed was a corpse to reveal a slowly gaining consciousness older brother.

"LEO!" Mikey shouted and ran towards him, arms stretched out widely for a hug.

"Woah, wait a minute little bro," Don said as he held him back, "First let me explain the situation. Leo was never dead, he slipped into a meditative state, Master Splinter was able to reach him and bring him back," Don explained, motioning to their sensei standing by Leo's side, "There was actually breath and pulse but the body cut down on it just enough to survive the stress of whatever happened to him and for me not to detect it."

"What did happen to him?" Raph asked with a worried frown as he slowly approached his older brother.

"I'm not sure," Don said as they all crowded around their oldest brother.

Raph leaned over the wakening figure and it was strange but he felt as if the shade of amber in his eyes was lightening once again, instead of falling into a deep shade of onyx.

"Leo?" he whispered carefully and quietly.

He saw a flash of dark chocolate and stared on as the green eyelids fought to open, but finally, after a torturous long minute those eyes opened all the way and then, the world suddenly made sense to Raphael once again. Water flowed, wind blew, grass grew, birds sung, flowers bloomed, clouds drifted across the sky and suddenly, it was all about the warm glow of those dark chocolate eyes.

Ok, that was actually tough to write but I did it! I'm gonna go get a poptart and some iced tea to celebrate. Let me see, chocolate chip, Strawberry milkshake or cinnamon roll? I guess I'll decide when I head downstairs and yes, I'm moved now. My family and I are finally settling in my new house.

Wish me luck in my new neighborhood!

Anyways, reviews please! I know that was long but Leo's alive, that's what you wanted isn't it? Well, this story isn't over yet, there's seven chapters in all so don't think the story's over. We're only half-way through the quote anyways.

R&R please?

~Moonsetta