Hey everyone. :) So if you haven't seen the season 1 finale of the 2012 show, I highly suggest you stop what you are doing and watch it immediately because it is just that awesome :) Lol. Well that and there are some slight spoilers (okay, maybe not slight) in the flashback sequence of this chapter. If you'd rather not have it ruined for you, SKIP IT. Please, it'll make you happier because I didn't spoil anything for you (although you should still watch the finale in my opinion heheheh). Now that the SPOILER WARNING is out of the way, please enjoy ;) Oh, and this chapter takes place the day after chapter 1 (you know, the day Karai mentioned having a little surprise planned?)

Disclaimer: I still don't own TMNT.

-x-

Leonardo drew in a deep breath, enjoying the rare quiet that had settled over the lair from within the confines of his room. He had decided that he would take this opportunity to practice meditating since it required the utmost concentration and focus. It was not easy to get that when his three younger brothers had a tendency to wreak havoc during the long periods between their training sessions and their evening patrol. He let his thoughts turn inward as he began to tune out the outside world.

Things had been quiet in the streets above since they stopped the Kraang invasion two weeks ago. Leo felt that this peace was a mixed blessing. He felt like they needed the break, or at least he did. A shiver passed through him as he remembered that night.

-Flashback-

Almost everything had gone wrong with their mission. There was a force field around the Kraang portal that resisted the blast of the Micro Fission Omni Disintegrator. Leonardo had been so sure that the MFOD would work that when the portal remained intact he turned on his brother Donnie, who had assured him that his calculations were accurate, and yelled in surprise, "There's a force field?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Well, because I wanted us to fail." Donatello had said with a sarcastic grin on his face. When Leo narrowed his eyes, thoroughly unamused, Don continued, "Obviously, I DIDN'T KNOW!"

As the Kraang started to open fire on them, Raph asked, "Anyone got a plan B?"

Leo's mind raced, repeating 'Need a plan…need a plan…' He remembered when Master Splinter had told him in the past that plans rarely hold throughout the mission and that success was determined by how you adapted to the unexpected. With a mental sigh, he felt embarrassed at how he forgot this important lesson.

As he dodged and jumped around the rock giant, he glanced up at Donnie and asked, "Donnie? How's that plan B coming?" His mind was too spent to think of anything other than surviving the rock giant's heavy steps and lava attack. Since his younger brother was much smarter than he was, a part of him hoped that if anyone could come up with a good plan, Donatello would. 'After all,' he thought despondently, 'my plan failed.'

Donnie used his bo staff to hold a Kraang droid in front of him as a shield against some laser blasts as he responded, "I'm thinking!"

"Think faster!" Leo yelled, his frustration at his own uselessness making him sound angrier than he intended. When he whirled around to blow off that big boulder's approaching hand, he heard his brother call out to him.

"I can probably hack into the Kraang system if you give me enough time!" Don snapped, and Leo flinched as he heard the irritation in his brother's voice.

But he quickly recovered and replied, "Great! Do that!" He knew he was right to have faith in Donnie's mental abilities. Now he just had to buy his little brother enough time to hack into the system. That was something Leo knew he could accomplish. 'Just got to keep the giant busy.' He thought to himself with a smirk.

He was doing alright for a while, the MFOD was definitely slowing the enemy down, but at a cost. It kept taking longer and longer for the device to fire off another blast and then a horrible realization hit him. "This thing's running out of juice!" He announced to his brothers loudly.

Then Michelangelo called out, "And guys, look!" As everyone turned to look where Mikey was pointing, the youngest continued, "The portal!"

'Oh shell' Leo thought as he watched the portal adjust itself into a different position. Turning a desperate expression toward where Donnie was working he told the braniac "Whatever's coming through the portal will be here soon."

As Donnie started tapping his T-phone more frantically, Raph's impatient voice rang out, "When's that force field coming down, Donnie?"

Donnie replied immediately, "I'm working on it!"

Leo looked around as Kraang and the rocky alien began to attack again. With a giant leap, and a little help from a Kraang he had kicked, he managed to get close enough to deliver a blast to the creature's chest, sending heavy limbs and appendages flying in all directions as it crashed to the ground.

As the unattached blocks of granite started to return to the fallen enemy, Mikey cried out, "I forgot he could do that."

Leo glanced down at the MFOD, concerned that the device was about to die out on him and muttered, "Not good."

Then Donnie's excited voice rang out, giving all of them hope as he yelled, "Guys, I think I got it!" And when the toaster popped and a pink shimmer washed over the portal, the genius exclaimed, "Yes! All hail me!"

Then the portal started up, a pink ball of light forming in the ceiling as the sounds of its activation whirred in the atmosphere. Leo's thoughts came to an abrupt stop as he felt panic seize him for a moment. He heard Don and Mike say something in the background, but he was not paying attention to them anymore. He was crossing his fingers and praying that the MFOD would be able to last one more shot. The Kraang surrounded them and Leo didn't notice that all his brothers had gathered behind him as he muttered, "Come on baby. Come on baby. Come on baby!"

Then the device made its chirp that signaled that it had charged up a blast and, feeling quite certain that this time everything would work as he aimed the MFOD straight for the portal, he yelled, "YES! Say 'Goodnight' Kraang!"

And then, the device died, without getting the shot off. As they all stared at the device and each other in surprise, Donnie yelled, "What the heck happened?!"

"I think the batteries died!" Leo explained.

Then Raph chimed in, "And we'll be joining them, unless someone thinks of something."

"What's plan C, Leo?" Donnie asked, his exhaustion starting to show in his voice.

Leo's mind raced as he struggled to think of a way to still manage to pull off a success somehow. 'This was not supposed to be this difficult.' He mentally scolded himself. As he glanced around him, his eyes landed on the power cell and a drastic idea hit him. Not knowing of anything better to do, he asked, "Donnie, what would happen if I ruptured the power cell?"

Donnie glanced at him in surprise as he warned, "The whole place would go up, with US IN IT!"

Leo made up his mind, determined to see this through once and for all. He unsheathed one of his katana as he ordered his brothers, "Go!"

They all glanced at each other in fear and concern and then Donnie asked, "Whoa, Leo. You aren't thinking what I think you're thinking?!"

Leo didn't respond, only turning around to quickly start taking out as many enemies as he could to ensure his brothers would be able to escape without suffering any more injuries. As he dashed away from his brothers he heard Donnie exclaim, "He's thinking it!"

He saw his brothers exit the tower in a hurry, and he grinned as he took down Kraang after Kraang. His heart was pounding and adrenaline coursed through his veins. He felt his ninja instincts take over and he felt pleasure at how much faster, stronger and agile he became when he gave in to them. 'I've got this in the bag!' he thought with pride as he turned his attention back to the power cell. With a yell, he dove for the target, his blade sinking into the highly vulnerable device.

Then the portal began to explode. Leo knew he had to get away quickly, so he performed flip after flip until he finally jumped out of the window. For a moment he thought, 'I did it!' When the building followed suit, smoke and debris surrounded him as he began to fall to the ground. A feeling of weightlessness settled over him as he realized he had forgotten a very critical detail. Turtles don't fly.

Panic set in as the ground continued to approach. 'I'm falling! I'm FALLING!' he thought as he swung his arms in the air, a pointless resistance against the forces of gravity. 'I'm not going to make it' he thought sadly as he realized he was all out of options. He didn't have the wings, they were likely a smoldering pile of debris by now. He didn't have his grappling hook, it was also most likely incinerated by the explosions. As his life flashed before his eyes, his thoughts turned back to his family. 'At least they made it out.' He hoped they knew how much he loved them as he braced himself for the end.

Then he became aware that someone had grabbed him, saving him. It was Raphael. As Leo's mind processed the fact he was not dead, he heard Raph holler, "In your face, gravity!"

With a relieved sigh, Leo looked up at his brother and said, "Thanks Raph."

"Any time, buddy."

With a nervous chuckle, Donnie joined in, "I can't believe it! We saved the world!"

"Yeah!" Mikey said with a grin.

…

And then they learned that the Kraang had April in their TechnoDrome. Leo and his brothers could only stand in shock as they listened to Mr. O'Neil tell them what had happened while they were at TCRI.

It had been a long fight to reach where the Kraang had April held captive. The fact that there was no sense of gravity in the TechnoDrome definitely threw Leo off at first. But eventually, he and his brothers managed to locate the room where a giant Kraang had April attached to an assortment of strange machines.

"Witness the end of your kind!" The giant Kraang said in an oddly coherent way. This confused Leonardo since most of his experiences with the Kraang involved them speaking a very broken and very grammatically incorrect English.

Pushing his thoughts aside, he narrowed his eyes as he yelled, "Not if we can help it!"

"Turtles?!" The giant Kraang exclaimed in shock. "Kraang will not be stopped by pathetic mutants!"

"At least we're not stupid aliens!" Michelangelo taunted.

Leo turned his attention to Raphael and ordered, "Raph, quick!"

Without hesitation, Raph dove into the Kraang, causing the giant alien to scream in agony while Donatello leapt forward to free April from the restraints and head device.

Leo kept his attention divided on both the Kraang who was still crying and April who was being held by Donnie. He smiled a bit as April looked into Donnie's eyes and whispered, "You're my hero." He knew how much his brother cared for the redhead, and he held back a taunt as the shy turtle blushed and chuckled nervously.

"Hey, Chuckles." Raph said, growing slightly impatient with his brother's antics. "We've gotta get out of here."

Leo blinked, remembering that they would have time for celebration as soon as they got April out. He quickly helped place April on Don's back and they all started to climb out of the room.

"Let's go!" Donnie exclaimed as they left the Kraang's room.

Leo believed wholeheartedly that they had defeated the Kraang, so he boldly led the way out of the TechnoDrome. 'Just have to get home. Then we're safe.' He thought as he began to let himself relax. Sure there were the small typical Kraang that tried to stop them from escaping, but Leo and the others took them out without too much difficulty. That was when an ominous feeling began to form in his stomach. 'This seems…too easy.' He thought hesitantly.

An explosion occurred not long after he sent a small Kraang falling down to the bottom of the tower they were using to escape. That was when the ship started to tilt, turning the tunnel on its side. He and his brothers held on tight and the room's gravitational pull shifted. 'And I thought having gravity was a good thing' he thought tiredly. After the ship stopped moving, they continued their dash for an exit of any kind.

"Leo? I have a question!" Mikey called out between breaths.

As Leo pounced on another Kraang, he felt a twinge of irritation sweep through him as he asked, "Can it wait?"

"Not really! Did we beat that big Kraang thingie?"

"Yes, Mikey. We did." Leo chanced a moment to glance back at his baby brother over his shoulder.

Michelangelo's next question stopped Leonardo's blood cold. "'Kay, then why is it following us?!"

'Oh shell' Leo thought as he turned around and saw the giant Kraang from earlier chasing them down. 'C'mon legs! MOVE!' he silently ordered himself, and as the Kraang approached, he followed his brothers in haste.

It didn't take long for the Kraang to catch up to them. Leo found himself listening for the sounds of his brothers' footsteps to make sure that they kept on moving forward. Then he heard the familiar sound of the energy beam attack that most of the little Kraang had in their hover cars. As explosions rang out on all sides, Leo found himself thinking back to when he ruptured the Kraang power cell earlier that evening. 'I'm fine. I'm ok. I'm with my brothers.' He thought to himself, fighting the terror that threatened to take hold of him.

"Everybody, there's one last escape pod up ahead!" Donnie called out, clearly relieved that the mission was nearly over.

Then Leo heard Michelangelo cry out as he tripped and found himself in a seemingly bottomless pit. He watched in horror as the Kraang started to charge up an energy attack that would definitely hit his little brother if given enough time.

Driven by his protective instincts, Leo rushed in and yelled, "GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" He performed a somersault and sliced right through the Kraang's weapon, allowing the device to fall through the crevice. When he reached down for his brother, a wave of relief swept through him as he saw his brother was not hurt or that far down. "Hurry Mikey!" He called out.

Mikey pulled out one of his nunchaku and hoisted one end into Leo's outstretched hand. As Leo lifted his brother out of there, the Kraang threatened, "There's nowhere for you to run, mutants!"

Leo and Mikey started to dash away, desperate to reach the escape pod. As he saw his brothers jump into the pod, Leo stopped, whirling around to face the Kraang. He wasn't too sure what he thought he'd find, but a part of him hoped that the Kraang would be farther away from them. That there'd be more time for them to get away before the Kraang reached them.

Unfortunately, that was not what Leonardo found when he turned back to face the Kraang. It was practically in his face, just meters away from where his brothers were in the escape pod. As Leo stared directly into the Kraang's eyes, the Kraang growled, "All of you will die here."

Leo took deep breaths, steeling his nerve as he tried to ignore the pleading calls of his brothers. Sensei's words from earlier that afternoon were ringing clearly in his head. "With the world at stake, the only thing of importance is that you complete your mission. No matter what you have to sacrifice…or who." 'Hai, Sensei. I know what I must do.' He thought as he prepared himself for his last ditch effort to keep his brothers, and the world, safe.

As the Kraang started to launch an attack, Leo pounced, using Michelangelo's kusarigama to tie the Kraang's arm tentacle behind its back. He began to pull backward on the chain while the enraged alien continued to try lunging for the escape pod.

"Leo!" He heard Raph cry out in protest.

"No! Get out of here! Now!" Leo ordered, not in the mindset to allow for any resistance from his stubborn brother.

"What are you talking about?"

"Dude, you can't do this!" Now Mikey was arguing with him.

"Go!" He yelled more desperately than before. His grip on the Kraang was starting to loosen and he yelled, "I can't hold it back any longer!"

"Leo!"

Finally Donatello stepped in and dragged Raphael back into the escape pod while Mikey closed it shut. "We gotta go now!"

When the pod rose, Leo allowed himself to utter "Sayonara, watashi no kyodai." Then the chain restraining the Kraang snapped and for a moment Leo feared the pod would not get away from the Kraang in time. Fortunately for everyone, the pod sped away just before the Kraang could reach it with its tentacles. A small smile formed on Leo's face as he made peace with himself.

In a fit of rage, the Kraang whirled on him and wrapped a tentacle around his torso, lifting him up so that the alien could look him in the eye. It hissed, "You, mutant, will pay!"

Leo let out a frightened gasp as he realized that the Kraang was going to throw him down a pit similar to the one Mikey had fallen down. 'No!' he thought frantically, desperately wanting nothing more than to get away.

The Kraang grinned sadistically as Leo struggled vainly to wiggle free. "Is the mutant afraid of falling?" It teased cruelly.

That gave Leo pause as he stared with wide eyes at the alien. 'Afraid? Of falling? Impossible!' He thought stubbornly even though his body betrayed him by trembling more violently. 'Stop shaking! Stop shaking! Stop shaking!' His eyes defiant, he growled at the Kraang, "Never!"

The Kraang was unconvinced and smirked as it reared back, purring "Kraang will test you, mutant!" Then it threw Leo as hard as it could down into the crevice.

Leo screamed as he felt himself falling in the darkness. A part of him hoped that somehow, his brothers would come through for him and save him. 'I'm a fool.' He thought, pushing that hope away almost immediately, 'my brothers won't come for me.' As he braced himself for impact, he muttered, "I guess I really am afraid."

Then, instead of an impact against some metal, the air rushed out of him as he hit a liquid concrete with a giant SPLASH. He sunk into the wet substance, unable to move for the stinging pain along his carapace. Opening his mouth to breathe, he tasted salt water, and opened his eyes wide in surprise. 'I'm alive!' He thought as he neither rose or sank further into the watery depths. His survival instinct kicked in and he struggled to swim to the surface, ignoring the way his shell continued to protest to the movement.

When he broke the surface, he drew in deep gasps, looking around wildly as he regained his senses. About ten meters away, he saw the Kraang's TechnoDrome fall into the water and marveled at how close he had come to sinking along with the ship. 'Almost like Captain Ryan' he thought in exhaustion.

As he saw pods start to rise to the surface, he realized with a gasp that he had no idea where his brothers were. Tired and sore, he found a piece of the TechnoDrome's outer part and used that to help keep himself afloat while he weakly kicked with his legs to move and find his brothers. After about a minute of swimming around, he found a pod that had drifted away from the others, and the figures inside it looked very familiar. As he drew closer, a smile formed on his face as he overheard Raphael talking to the others.

"I gave him nothing but a hard time. If I had to do it over again, I'd definitely be nicer."

With a mental shrug, Leo decided that was about as close as he would get to his brother actually allowing himself to become vulnerable around anyone other than Spike and so, with a hint of mischief in his tone, he swam up behind Raph and asked, "Really?"

"Really…" Raph replied before noticing that he recognized the voice. Leo watched as Raph turned around, his eyes wide with shock as he hesitantly called out, "Leo?" And when Raph saw Leo, the green-eyed brother yelled, "Leo!"

Leo paddled up to them, chuckling as he took in the surprised and thrilled expressions on his brothers' and April's faces.

Then in true "Raph"ian fashion, the hot head growled happily, "Leo, you dork! You scared the heck out of us!"

-Present-

Leo shook his head as he found that his thoughts were anything but meditative. With a sigh, he muttered, "I haven't been able to meditate lately." He frowned as he started to get out of the proper position. He had hoped that meditation would help him work past this newfound fear of falling. 'I jump between buildings! I run on rooftops! Why?!' He punched his fist into his pillow as his frustration mounted. A voice rang through his head, 'Well think about it. You did nearly fall to your death twice in less than twelve hours. Any normal person would be afraid after that.'

"But I'm a ninja!" He growled in frustration. "I'm supposed to be brave! I'm not supposed to be trembling like a frightened child!" The voice called out to him again, 'Calm down. You're better than this.' Leo stopped himself, and started to take deep breaths, allowing himself to settle his rolling emotions back down. 'That's better.' The voice said.

Leo grimaced as he turned his attention away from the inside of his head to the clock on his wall. He stood up with a groan as he muttered to himself, "Well, it's time for me to get the guys ready for our nightly patrol." As he exited his room, he found his brothers scattered about the lair.

Mike was busy watching television in the living room, and Raph was busy pounding away at the Shredder dummy. Leo didn't see Don physically, but he guessed that judging from the sounds coming from the lab, that his brother was busy running some experiment or test. As he approached his brothers, he heard his Sensei call him from the dojo "Leonardo. Come here."

Uncertain, he chanced a glance at his brothers to see if they had any idea what was up, but aside from confused and curious stares, he got no information. Straightening his shoulders, he entered the dojo and knelt down in front of his father.

Almost immediately, Master Splinter turned around and asked with narrowed eyes, "What is wrong, my son?"

Leo's mind went blank as he stammered, "W-why nothing is wrong, Sensei! Why would you think something like that?" He put his hand behind his head as he grinned nervously.

He felt Sensei's disbelieving gaze rove over him before settling on his face, staring him directly in the eyes. Leo couldn't help but swallow as he felt like all the secrets of his soul were being exposed. Finally Master Splinter let out a sigh as he whispered, "You know you can trust me, right Leonardo?"

Leonardo nodded enthusiastically as he replied, "Of course, Sensei."

A long moment stretched between them and Leo felt like he shouldn't even dare to breathe. Finally, his father spoke, "My son. Do not forget that it is due to the existence of fear, that we can know what it means to be brave."

Leo found himself surrounded in the warm and knowing gaze of his father, and tears threatened to form in his eyes as he thought 'Of course he knows.' With a respectful bow, he muttered, "Hai, Sensei."

As he stood up to leave, he heard his father warn "Be careful on your patrol tonight."

He paused and turned back to gaze warmly at his father. "Of course Sensei." And as he walked out, he found all three of his brothers waiting anxiously right outside the dojo.

Raphael grinned at Leo and asked, "All ready, Fearless?"

With a brief nod, Leo ordered, "Let's go guys!" As he and his brothers left the lair to run through the sewers, he found himself feeling a little lax. 'Not like anything is going to happen anyway' he thought calmly.

-x-

Uh-oh. Famous last words, don't you think? Hahahaha. Well I certainly hope nothing happens to them. …Pfft! Who am I kidding? You guys read the summary and chapter 1. Little do they know a certain someone is plotting a certain something for some certain teenagers. ;) Lol. Anyway, so this is a very long chapter (4,052 words!) and I just couldn't find a spot where I could cut it or where I particularly wanted to cut it. So I apologize for making you guys read so much in one sitting. Rest assured however, this will probably be the only one this long. I try to keep my chapters between 1,500 and 3,000 words. But think of it this way, it's been a while since I updated this story so I felt like you guys deserved a long one.

Oh, and I did take a moment in the chapter to put my spin on how a certain turtle survived a certain incident in the finale. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what you guys all thought of this addition. :) See you guys next time!

- Ariane

P.S. "Sayonara, watashi no kyodai" basically translates to "Farewell, my brothers."