Chapter 7

General P.O.V

Donnie continued to drag Mikey towards the barn even after Raph and Leo had vanished into the dense woodland- that was up until Donnie realised Mikey was asking him something amongst his pleas to be released. Donnie obliged and turned to his directly younger brother.

"What did you say?"

"I said: what up, D?"

The scientific turtle sighed,

"I still want to know how Leo got his injuries- his story doesn't correspond to any of his wounds except the scar on his side and- wait a second." Donnie paused taking in the way Mikey's face had paled. "Michelangelo-" his voice grew steely, "What do you know?"

To Raph's surprise it didn't take Leo too long to catch up, however he must have overexerted himself as he was wincing with every other step. Raph had quickly dried his eyes as he saw his brother emerge from the trees and kept his distance until he was certain his eyes were no longer red and puffy.

"Come on Leo- you gotta build up your muscles, you've gotten supper weak." He teased, hoping Leo would take it the right way. Leo grunted, but there was a small smile on his face.

"Don't… rub it in…" Although his voice was weak, the reply brought a grin to Raph's face up until the moment he heard a cry and a thump. He spun round to find Leo on the ground at the base of the small slope, clutching his knee with the most pained expression Raph had ever seen on a turtle. He met Leo's gaze just as the eldest released his knee, tightened his grip on his crutch and whispered,

"I don't… I don't think I'm ever going to be the same again."

Raph's heart clenched, unused to such a clear confession of defeat from Leo. So that's what was on the eldest's mind when he was telling Donnie he would be healed within a week.

"Don't talk like that!" he turned, an annoyed expression placed firmly upon his features to mask his concern for Leo's pitiful tone, "That's not the Leo I know- now come on- let's cross this creek." He jabbed a thumb behind him and jumped across a couple more rocks. Hating how harsh he sounded, but knowing deep in his heart that he was only saying out loud what his brother must have been thinking.

He listened as Leo struggled to his feet, let out a small gasp and get out the mutagenic medicine bottle Donnie had given him, yet it was only after a long silence followed did Raph turn around to check on his brother. The red banded turtle felt his eyes widen as he saw Leo was shaking violently, his entire body vibrating at a manic rate.

"Leo?" He asked and his only response for a while was Leo raising a shivering hand holding the bottle loosely, which slipped through his weak grasp and to the floor. Thankfully, Leo eventually spoke- but it was clearly strained and in pain.

"Oh man- I'm gonna-" then in one sudden movement, he spun around, collapsing to his knees as he vomited violently. Within an instant, Raph was by his elder brother's side and placed a hand on Leo's shoulder as the leader wiped his mouth with one hand and clutching his side tightly with the other.

"Y…you okay, bro?" Raph stammered, shocked at the weakness Leo was displaying. He followed his brother's squinted gaze at the puddle of puke containing only bubbles of the medicine he had been taking and it was then he realised how much of the stuff Leo must have been privately taking- obviously attempting to heal himself faster. He would speak to him about that later.

"I think it's that medicine Donnie gave me…" Leo's voice was barely audible as he leaned into Raph's side as if what he said pained him, "I'm not feeling too good."

To Leo's surprise, Raph wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders and held his shaking form close.

"So you can actually admit something like that then?" The second eldest teased, shooting Leo a small smile which was returned- but Leo eyes flickered momentarily. "What is it?" Raph quickly questioned before Leo could hide the fact he revealed any emotion. The eldest paused for a long time before answering, and when he did, he didn't sound certain.

"I hate this." He almost questioned, as if he were not sure if he could say such a thing, "I mean- I hate holding you guys back- without me you'd all be back in New York city months ago, and…" he cleared his voice, "I'm barely able to walk- let alone help you guys out…" He sighed heavily, disappointment and anger directed at himself written all over his features. "You should all just head back and leave me here…"

Raph blinked.

"Is that why you're not wearing your mask?"

It was fair to say, Raph had not expected to ask about that little detail so outright, and that Leo was not expecting that as a reply.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Leo muttered, turning his face away from his brother, yet Raph still held him in an embrace, ensuring the eldest couldn't run off.

"I've cleaned your mask and left it by your bed for you but you haven't even looked at it." Raph paused, "You never wanted to take it off when we were younger so why won't you put it on now?"

"That was in the past." Leo's voice was dark, a clear sense of anger hidden beneath the words, "That was before the Void…"

Raph's eyes narrowed,

"What is it about this 'void' you keep mentioning? It couldn't have been that bad, could it?" The words were meant to come out gentle, yet Leo winced as if they were razor sharp.

"You can't understand."

"Then help me to. There's no good in locking yourself up like this!"

Leo held his torso tighter, appearing much younger and even more vulnerable than he was.

"The void was something I wouldn't wish upon anyone else- not even… Him." Raph felt Leo shiver once again, "It's your worst fears, your failures and sufferings all rolled into one and you cannot escape." Leo subconsciously raised one hand to his face, where his mask used to rest, "We wear masks which reflect our personalities, yet now…" He turned to Raph, "What did mine symbolise?"

"Depth, stability, trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence and truth." Raph recited off by heart. Splinter had drilled each of their colour meanings into their minds so they could never forget what made which of them unique and a part of the team. Leo nodded.

"Exactly. I don't feel worthy of such powerful meanings- I will wear it when I feel like that again, but not now…" He met Raph's eye, "Y…you won't tell the others will you?" He smiled when Raph nodded in agreement. "Thanks Raph."

Awkwardly, the second eldest patted Leo's shoulder and stood before bending down to help Leo stand. Raph coughed, attempting to find something to say but as he saw Leo put a little weight onto his bad leg and wince, the hot head looped an arm around Leo and assisted him up the bank.

"Come on. You need some rest." Leo gave a pained grin and replied sarcastically,

"What, more than three months' worth?" However there was a slight sour undertone to the statement. Raph rolled his eyes.

"You just said yourself that those months weren't exactly peaceful. Anyway, you didn't sleep much last night either. When we get back home, there won't be any more chances for long sleeping periods!" Leo met Raph's gaze and smiled. Sure, it was still weak and laced with suffering, but at least it was heart felt. Cocking his head sideward as an invitation to move, the two brothers began to make their way back into the farmhouse, a little bit closer and a step closer to healing.

Donnie P.O.V

It felt as if it had been a couple of hours since Mikey had explained everything, but then again- it may have just felt that long. The evidence was barely ten minutes long and he had only played it through completely twice- so adding another half an hour on top of that for the time he spent studying each frame only totalled fifty minutes- nowhere near the time which felt like had passed.

"Donnie?" Mikey sat glumly on a stool opposite the scientist in the barn, looking extremely guilty. He had only moved when they had heard their brothers returning from the forest and went into the house. Mikey had overheard Raph telling Leo to take a nap before Donnie had pulled the youngest back into the barn, in the fear that he would have to confront Leo before he was full composed.

Donnie looked up from the bench to meet his brother's eyes.

"I just don't get why you didn't say anything before?" He held up the device, waving it in front of Mikey's face, "Why did you hide it away? I could have used it to tend to his injuries more effectively."

The youngest twisted on the stool nervously before answering.

"Raph would have got angry and you would have blamed yourself. If you seemed to be struggling I may have told you- but after Splinter…" Mikey faded off. The first week at the farmhouse had been a difficult one, and Mikey had a good point. Everyone's emotions were already strained to their limits- this would have been too much.

"Go get Raph." The scientist placed the T-phone down with a sigh, "Leo should be still asleep."

Mikey poked his two middle fingers together in his innocent way,

"But what about April- or Casey- or waking up Leo?"

"I don't think we should show April and Casey without Leo's permission. This is something for us as a family… We'll explain to them later, but right now, I want Raph's opinion." Mikey looked sceptical, but went off all the same leaving the second youngest to curse himself for not thinking of sucn an obvious answer.

"They did WHAT?!" Raph screamed once Donnie had finished explaining about the contents of the T-phone. Out of the corner of his eye, Donnie saw Mikey bury his head in his arms and muttered a barley audible,

"Told you so."

The scientist rolled his eyes.

"Calm down, Raph. You heard me the first time." He put the T-phone down and gestured for Raph to look. He did so, and the next ten minutes were tense as Raph's face morphed from shock, anger, disgust and horror. As Donnie did not wish to view it again, he moved over to Mikey's side and waited for Raph to speak.

"There gonna pay." Raph growled looking up from the phone, "I'm gonna-"

"You're not doing anything now, Raph." Donnie snapped, ignoring the way Mikey flinched, "The most important thing is to help Leo recover!"

"But if that's the case then why hasn't he told us about…" momentarily lost for words, Raph held up the phone.

"Because of whatever they injected him with at the start. Quite possible a mix of anaesthetic and a paralysing toxin- an interesting-"

"Just stop it!" Mikey suddenly shouted, gazing teary eyed at his elder brothers, "This is why I didn't show you when I found it!" The youngest then put his head back into his arms and began to cry silently.

Just as Donnie managed to find it in him to try and move, the barn door opened and Leo hobbled in. He took one look at the crying Mikey and turned to the other two turtles.

"What's going on?" He limped over to Mikey's side and placed a hand on his youngest brother's shoulder. Then he spotted his own T-phone on the desk. His eyes narrowed, "Donnie?"

Struggling to form an answer, the smartest of the turtles found himself lost for words so twisted his hands nervously.

"Um… Well… We, uh… found out how you were injured…" He nodded at the T-phone but just as he opened his mouth to continue, Raph butted in.

"Basically, Shredder's goons tortured you and those sick monsters filmed every second of it on there. Mikey's been hiding it for the past three months."

DUN DUN DUN!

Oh, tension, don't we all love an annoying cliff hanger!

So:

What did they do to Leo?

How will Leo take it?

How will April and Casey take it when they hear?

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, your ideas and comments are all fantastic so thanks!

LL99 out!