The Perfect Son.

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own them.

Chapter Seven- Left with Questions

He let out a long slow breath as the minutes ticked by, telling him, those who had been here were truly gone for the moment, he recalled their words that they would be back and he grimaced a little at the very thought.

'They called themselves my brothers, but nothing they said connected to me. There was no feeling of having known them at any time. But the swords,' He gulped as he recalled the scabbards held out in the hands of the one called Raph. ' I did feel something about those weapons, he said they were mine. Once. I didn't really remember anything specific about them but I did have a feeling of foreboding, a sense of not touching them.'

He scowled his brow furrowing with his concentration as he turned to return to his chair. The very thought of fighting, of using weapons had filled him with a sense of dread. He didn't want to fight, didn't even want to think about fighting.

Leo, is that who I really am? He couldn't help but ask himself.

They didn't help me all they did was give me more questions, no solutions and not even any answers for that matter. I don't want anything more to do with them, he thought.

He shivered slightly as his thoughts turned to Raph, he highly doubted that the turtle would give up, and telling him no probably wouldn't earn him much either.

I wonder what he meant about giving me a lecture on responsibility?

He moaned and lowered his head into his hands, realizing he had a headache, he hadn't had one of those for awhile. Personally, he was rather hoping that he was finished with those.

Christine came in to the living room, for a moment she looked at Leo, his hands rubbing his temple, a small flicker of a smile played over her face, "Your brothers leave?" She asked, to let him know she was there, and more importantly was willing to talk -or listen- if needed.

"I'm not sure if they are my brothers, but yes they are gone." He answered simply, dropping his hands from his face, "With threats that they would return some other time."

Christine nodded, as she walked over to the couch, "So nothing they said opened any doors for you," She stated matter of factly, "And just because it didn't help you at this moment you are willing to believe that they aren't your brothers."

"I don't remember a bit of it." Leo announced sharply, "there should be something."

"You said yourself that you do have family, you felt that much." She couldn't resist reminding him of that fact, "they do bear an awful close resemblance to you, that I would accept their words as truth. You might not remember them now, but perhaps given time, and patience something might come back."

"I don't know" Leo shook his head uncertainly.

"Tonight was different, it was like meeting them for the first time. They might have been expecting you to instantly known who you were. But it is also highly possible that this time, you need more time to be with them before something clicks for you." Christine explained, "After all there was awkwardness and uncertainty, I think for everyone and when people are more relaxed there is a better chance of them acting in a normal way, and when you are at ease it might make it better for your memories to surface."

"I guess you do have a point," Leo agreed reluctantly, "I should give them more of a chance then what I did tonight. But…" he paused letting his words linger.

"But what Leo?" Christine urged.

Leo blinked and gave her a startled look, "Are you calling me Leo now too?"

"Well, the name Raph seems to be taken amongst your brothers, and it might get confusing when the two of you are together" She pointed out logically, "Just sort of makes sense to call you by the name they know you by, it is probably the correct one."

"True," Leo gave in, "But I don't know if I feel like a Leo."

"Hmmm," Christine pondered, "Leo the lion. Leonardo Da Vinci the renaissance artist, and a genius well ahead of his time."

" See, Don is the genius according to Raph, though he did say our father had named us after the renaissance artist, rather strange knowing that I don't think I'm that creative."

Christine chuckled, "So you'll believe what Raph says about Don with no proof, but you won't accept his words for things to do with you."

"It's different Raph knows Don, I'm not so sure he really knows me. It seems strange being called Leo now, because Raph meant something to me, it had meaning. Leo, I'm sorry it…"he faltered, "there's nothing."

"Well I could still call you by Raph if you prefer," She offered kindly.

"No," he gave a negative shake of his head, "it makes sense to call me Leo, if I am their missing brother then maybe the use of that name will help break down the walls, and besides they'll be calling me that when they visit."

He gave a deep sigh, " I really don't know what to believe, because their life seems centered around fighting. I'm not interested in fighting, I don't know how and I don't care to learn, I'd rather have nothing to do with it."

"That is sort of understandable, considering how hurt you were when I found you. Not to mention you have many old scars from somewhere, it is quite possible that you are afraid to fight because you might get hurt again." Christine suggested delicately. "After all you might not get lucky enough to survive next time."

"That makes sense in it's own way," Leo nodded. "I just wish I had a choice in seeing them."

"But you do have a choice Leo," Christine declared firmly.

"No, Raph made it quite clear that I was going be seeing far more of them then I wanted to, they made up their minds for me." Leo corrected.

"See he does care about you, and I believe all of them do." Christine sat back with a triumphant smile on her face, "Besides don't you want to see them too?"

"Maybe," Leo allowed that small bit of information out, "I just wished I had something to confirm that I am who they think I am."

Christine knew this talk was going in circles, but she was aware that some people needed to do things that way to better sort things out in their mind, she had seen it numerous times at the vet clinic. She was quite sure some people were just trying to insure they had all the facts to base an important decision that they wouldn't regret later.

"How many turtles do you think, are out there that look like you?" She countered, "As a vet I've seen many species of turtles and yet I've only seen four turtles who are bipedal and can speak." She paused, " Physically you have about the same build as they do, though you don't seem as muscled but then you lost some of that with your long illness. Those two things alone, Leo" She insisted, "Seem to speak of the fact that you know them some how in some way."

"You're saying that I do know how to fight?" He demanded a little sharply. He snorted a little contemptuously, "If that was the case how did I end up getting beaten up so badly, wouldn't I have been able to defend myself" He countered.

"That all depends, if you were alone and out numbered, they might have over come you just by the fact that the odds were on their side and not yours." Christine paused.

For a moment they sat in silence, then Christine leaned forward in her chair, "You know Leo for years I took a self defence courses when I was a kid. I didn't stay with it but I practiced what I had learned frequently, and when I moved to New York I decided to take a bit of a refresher course," Christine revealed, " I thought it would be wise, because a girl, or woman alone can use all they can to prevent becoming a target of some creeps who see them as easy prey."

She took a breath and moved a stray wisp of hair behind an ear before continuing, "I met your brother's outside when I was taking out the garbage. These four guys came out of the shadows took me by surprise, a couple later pulled out weapons. If Raph and Mike hadn't been there to help me…well, let's just say I don't want to contemplate what might have happened."

She swallowed hard and took some deep breaths, noticing that her hands were shaking a little, delayed shock from the evening's events setting in. She had some earlier too, and had made tea for all of them to drink, so she would have something to do, as well as, hopefully, calming herself down.

"What I'm trying to say Leo is once in a while life stacks the deck against you. Tonight, I was lucky -next time maybe not. You might not have been meant to survive what happened to you. But I found you and with luck was able to help you survive." Christine gave a weak smile, "I'm glad you did make it Leo."

Leo nodded at her words they made sense, and he knew Christine spoke the truth. Still, he knew deep within himself that he didn't want to fight - and all right it was possible- that he didn't want to fight because he was afraid. But he had a feeling that it wasn't just fear that was holding him back, that there was more to not wanting to fight then fear alone.

What it was he couldn't say or determine at the moment, it was just one of those strange feelings, like the feeling that he had family somewhere.

Christine's next words interrupted his thoughts, " Your brothers can't make you see them if you truly don't want to. That should be your choice alone Leo," She rose from her seat, "I'm going have a hot bath and then I'm going call it a night, it is late and I want a couple hours sleep before going to work in the morning."

"Thanks Christine, and good night."

"Night, Leo."

Leo watched as she left the living room, he knew he had a great deal to consider. He sat back in his chair puzzling over the night's events, while questions galloped wildly through his head, some were going so fast they kept returning again and again.

Am I Leo? Can I really fight, and do I want to? Who am I really?

He finally came to the exhausted conclusion that some questions in life were not meant to be answered, and it was rather irksome to realize that his questions about himself, and his life, seemed to fall into that category.

TBC