Chapter 2

Leo P.O.V

At first, Leo didn't know what to do. Should he try and move or should he speak- but then if he did, what should he say? Hi? Where are we? Where're the others? What happened? But before his sluggish brain could decide, Raph had leapt off his stool and fell to his knees next to Leo.

It was then Leo realised he was in a bathtub with a leaky tap. That explained the sensation and sounds of water.

"Leo! You're awake! You're alive!" Raph grasped his brother's hand as tears began to drip down his cheeks from behind his red bandana. He closed his eyes, his voice coming out as barely a whisper, "I'm sorry. I thought we'd lost you."

Leo could only watch- startled and concerned- at his brother. Had he really scared him so much? Had his fight left him so dangerously close with death?

"Where's-" The eldest's voice broke and had to restart- "Where's … Don and… Mikey?" He hated how weak he sounded and how he could barely form the shortened forms of his brother's names before losing his voice again.

Raph opened his eyes and jumped to his feet, suddenly embarrassed by his show of emotion, yet the relieved grin did not fall from his face.

"They're downstairs. Probably watching Crognard." Leo raised an eyebrow, silently asking Raph to elaborate as well as to mask the pain which suddenly shot through his body. "Oh… Right." Raph seemed flustered, "It's this new show Mikey's hooked on. I haven't let him watch more than five hours a day." He added bringing a smile to Leo's face. The eldest had attempted to enforce this rule on his youngest brother so that Mikey got enough training done, however the rule was a reasonably loose one.

"Where… are we?" Leo questioned, taking in the odd bathroom. He didn't recognise the room at all.

"April's farmhouse- upstate." Raph shrugged, "We still haven't adapted. Too quiet." He added and Leo recalled how Raph had once confided in him how he was unable to sleep without the sounds of the subway above his head. Leo understood and nodded. Raph turned and threw open the wooden door, yelling,

"Guys! Get up here!" before turning back to his brother.

There was a thunder of footsteps and a wide eyed Donnie rushed in, closely followed by Mikey with April and Casey behind them.

"Hey, guys…" Leo smiled, breaking the deathly silence which had descended upon the room. The fact he spoke brought smiles to everyone's faces and before another word could be spoken, Mikey rushed forth, barging past Donnie, and wrapped his arms around Leo's head, tears running thick and fast from under his mask.

"Leo!"

"Ah! Get off me Mikey!" Leo grunted from beneath his brother's powerful embrace, "Ow." He muttered as Mikey yanked him sideways, causing another wave of pain through his body, "That hurts."

"Take it easy," Raph hurriedly stepped in to Leo's rescue, patting his brother's arm. "Let's get you outta here." Mikey and Donnie automatically reached out to help Leo out of the tub, causing him to blush at his current frail state.

"We'll be downstairs." April called from the door and out the corner of his eyes, Leo saw the red haired teen shove Casey out of the way.

So everyone was here- but where was- Then the pain decided to wash back, forcing Leo to cringe in his brother's arms even worse than before. To his shame, he couldn't mask his reaction to the pain and his brothers all noticed.

"Leo!"

"Bro!"

"What's wrong?"

Leo winced as his brother's concerned faces watched him- fear in their collective eyes.

"Knee…" The leader gasped out through the pain, allowing Raph to set him down on the edge of the bath tub. Donnie bent down and began to examine the joint.

"Leo-" the scientific turtle met his brother's gaze for a moment, "I… I just wanted to apologize for the way I second guessed your orders- you were right-" Leo shook his head, the memories of the argument slowly coming back to him. From all his time in the void he never even considered the heated words exchanged with his brother- the matter seemed insignificant against the battle he had fought with the Shredder. He cut his smartest brother short, seeing in Donatello's eyes that he hadn't been able to forget so lightly.

"No… it wouldn't… have… mattered. Both of our… plans were… flawed… I should have… listened to you… more."

Donnie reluctantly bowed his head in acknowledgment then returned to examining Leo's knee. Meanwhile, Mikey and Raph had filled up a small dish with water and with it they brought over a cloth.

"To clean yourself up!" Mikey stated with a cheery grin, nodding at Leo's shell. The leader looked down and to his surprise, realised that there was a water line across his front, meaning that it most probably continued across the back of his shell as well. How long had he been out for?

He realised Mikey was still holding the bowl out, an expectant look on his face, so Leo nodded and took the cloth. He dabbed it in the water and rubbed the line across his front, hiding a wince as he went over the place where Shredder had caught him. To his horror he could clearly see the scarring on the side of his shell- a harsh white line snaking across his front. It also didn't help that it was tender to the touch.

"Mikey." Leo looked at his brother once he had finished his front, "Would you mind?" he twisted his head backwards, slightly ashamed that he had become so weak he couldn't even twist around, however this was masked by the realisation none of his brothers could get to their shells with ease, often asking for assistance if they had to clean up their backs. Sadly that was part of being a mutant turtle.

Mikey gave a thumbs up in reply and took back the cloth just as Donnie raised his head from his examination.

"Good news or bad news?" Donnie rubbed his eye in a slightly tiresome way.

"Both." Leo gave his brother a faint smile, yet it masked the sudden clenching of his heart. Donnie had his deathly serious face on.

"Okay." Donnie sighed, "Good news is that given time and as long as you don't exert yourself- you'll heal completely." Donnie paused.

"And the bad news?" Leo prompted.

"Oh… yes… um, your knee bone has been shattered. Completely. From the swelling I can see it's healing right- most probably thanks to your mutated DNA- but it still has a way to go before it's back to normal." The scientific turtle's face turned apologetic, "You'll have to take it easy and not put too much weight on it. That means no strenuous activities until I give you the all clear. Okay?"

Leo took the information in. He couldn't place when or how he received his injury. Shredder took him out with one blow and his goons hadn't caused him that much pain in the fight unless-

"Leo?" Donnie interrupted his thoughts, "You zoned out on us there. You alright?"

"'Cause he's not, Don!" Raph stepped forward, knocking Mikey aside, who in turn dropped the cloth in the bath.

"Ah well," the youngest sighed to himself, turned to Leo and smiled, "You're all done, bro!" Leo dipped his head to thank his youngest brother yet his attention was on Raph.

"What do you mean?" Donnie glared at Raph.

"He's just woken up and you've told 'im he can't train- the first thing he's gonna want to do!"

"Actually-" Leo interjected, reminding his brothers that he was still present, "I would like someone to explain what's going on- what happened to the Kraang invasion and why we're here- Wait." He paused as he watched his brother's faces darken, "We've retreated." It wasn't even a question but all his brothers nodded. "Right," Leo met all of their gazes, "Someone needs to talk."

Sorry for the long wait but that's how it's got to be! I'm amazed by the support everyone's shown at the moment so thank you everyone!

So here's the questions:

Will Leo listen to Donnie? (even though we all know the episodes!)

What will Leo say about the invasion?

Will he open up to his brothers?

How did Leo get his damaged knee?! (To be explained around chapter 7!)

Thanks to you all- you guys are amazing, but if you leave a review- you are even more so!

LL99 out!