Hey everyone! It's good to be back. Well, I'm happy for all the reviews and for all of you that sent me encouragement for my speech in AP English class.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I got an A on the assignment. You guys are the best!

Anyways, continuing on with the subject of school, Finals are coming up before our holiday break so I'll be busy completing reviews and taking tests every day, unless there's a snow day.

So I thought I would take advantage of the weekend and type up this chapter and what I deem part 2 of the story. Oh and the answer about that blue light question will be announced at the end of the next chapter.

Ok let's get to it! Oh and unfortunately, this will be a very short chapter. Also, just to inform you, the turtles have now settled in at Leatherhead's.

*Runs after Donny with a net* Get back here! You're mine Donatello!

"Someone get the crazy teenager away from me!"

"My friend, are you well?" Leatherhead asked the blue masked turtle.

Leo turned away from where he was sitting on the floor by a mattress that the three younger turtles were sleeping on and glanced back at the large crocodile, "I'm just a little tired."

Leatherhead would've normally, simply ended the conversation with a nod but there was something wrong with the blue clad turtle. He was tired, but he had been tired before, much more tired and he never moved this slowly. He was also very pale, his skin was strangely a dull, almost shale-like hued green. There were also dark circles below his eyes that peaked out from underneath his mask.

"I must insist you rest," Leatherhead said as he got to his feet and walked to the door of the subway car they were in.

"I'll try to get some rest," Leo said, raising his head to look at Leatherhead before grabbing at his head when his vision began swimming.

"My friend, please, allow me to do an examination, you are not well."

Leo stared down at his little brothers before nodding and getting to his feet, "Ok."

All through Leatherhead's lair there was silence, all except the click-clack of typing. Leatherhead sat before a large screen, typing away at a huge keyboard. It had taken a few months to gather what he needed to construct such a computer but the success resulted in a computer that rivaled Donatello's. There was just a pattern of the typing echoing in the crocodile's ears as he continued analyzing a blood sample he had taken from Leonardo.

BEEP!

Leatherhead's yellow eyes flew upward, stared at the screen and then his face fell in confusion. What was this? Continuing to keep his look of confusion Leatherhead got to his feet and looked to the vial that held the blood sample. He dropped it onto a small slide before examining it with a microscope. What he saw, made his mouth fall open in shock.

The cells under the microscope were vibrating while they continued to multiply. Then came the next shock, the cells, instead of one multiplying into to two, were diving into four!

This only meant one thing.

Leonardo was aging.

A stream of violent coughs woke up the three young turtle tots from their sleep the following morning.

"Aniki!"

Mikey and Don took a few extra seconds to rub the sleep from their eyes before glancing over to notice Raph standing by Leo, who was bent over beside the mattress, trying to breathe.

Don gasped and ran to the door, "Leatherhead! Something's wrong with Aniki!"

The mutant crocodile rushed into the room, nearly running over the tiny Donatello who stepped back just in time before he could be knocked to the ground. It was a long, torturous few minutes before Leo's coughing quieted and he was able to take deep breaths to revive the amount of oxygen he had lost.

"What's wrong with him Leatherhead?" Donny asked as the large crocodile motioned for Leo to lay on the mattress the turtle tots had slept on the night before.

"Aniki?" Mikey asked as he crawled onto the mattress beside his eldest brother, "Are you ok?"

Leo took two deep breaths and then raised his hand to rub Mikey's head affectionately, "Don't worry buddy, I'll be ok."

"I hate to bear unfortunate news, but that may not be true," Leatherhead said.

"What do you mean?" Raph asked as he climbed onto the mattress beside Mikey.

"Your cells are multiplying rapidly," Leatherhead explained to the confused blue clad turtle, "You are aging."

"What, but why?" Leo asked.

"That antidote," Leatherhead explained, "Dissolved when it hit the air after you shattered it. I hypothesize that you inhaled some of the vapors. If this is true then the process should stop when you reach your full height. In the meantime, your immune system will be weak. I believe you have caught a minor cold, being down here."

"So it was like what happened to us, only backwards," Donny reasoned, remembering his dream.

"I must depart this morning, the Foot have been roaming the city and I must find parts to update my security system if we are to remain hidden from our adversaries," Leatherhead said apologetically.

"That's ok, I'll be fine," Leo said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Yeah, we'll take care of Aniki," Donny said as he joined his brothers by Leo's side.

"Just like how he took care of us," Raph said with a smile.

"Thank you guys, but, I'll be fine," Leo stubbornly said, trying to sit up before three sets of green arms pushed him back down onto the pillow.

"No!" Mikey said decisively.

"You're staying right here!" Donny said.

"And you're going to rest Aniki," Raph finished.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of you," they all said.

Somehow, Leo didn't feel too secure about the day ahead of him.

All right. Not much happened in this chapter, but now we do know the consequences of Leo smashing that vial. Now what age do you think Leo will be since he's aging?

Now I'll update with a six page chapter after Finals are done with at my school.

Please review! Once again, sorry this chapter was so brief.

~Moonsetta