The Perfect Son

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of the heroes in a half shell.

Chapter Twelve - Discussion

Christine settled onto the couch, in the lair Mike plopped down beside her while Don and Raph took the arm chairs, "I told Leo I had an emergency come up at the vets and not to wait for me, it may take a while," She explained, before taking a deep breath and then began rather hesitantly.

"I don't know if I'm making too big of a deal out of this, or not. For all I know this is really insignificant but a part of me tell me, that Leo should be remembering something by this point in time." She gave a faltering grin, "I know it shouldn't be my place to judge Leo. I hardly know him."

"But in many ways you know him better then we do at this point, so your judgement on him is probably very valid and we appreciate the help that you've given to us, and to him," Don was quick to assure her.

"We thought we knew him. But not anymore, right now you know him best Christine," Raphael grumbled and crossed his arms over his plastron.

Mike shook his head, "Why can't we just give Leo more of a chance. I mean he has to remember something some time doesn't he?" Mike pleaded, he looked quickly around at the others waiting for some assurance that yes, everything was going be all right.

Christine shrugged, "I don't know. I'm not so sure any more. The Leo that you boys used to know is locked up somewhere inside of himself- I think it is hidden deep within his subconscious," She explained slowly.

She seemed to be picking and choosing her words with extreme care. "Usually, with amnesia it doesn't take much to connect to the hidden part, the past memories." Christine gave a frustrated shake of her head, "With everything that you boys have told him about his past, about yourselves he ought to know more then what he does at this point in time."

Raph nodded, "Keep talkin' yer makin a lot of sense," He drawled.

Christine raised her head and gave him a small smile, "Even the practice he saw yesterday didn't make any connection with him and from what I've heard that should have had bells going off for him."

Don chuckled softly, "Is there anything Leo admits to knowing?" He inquired as he leaned a little forward in his chair.

Christine scowled a little and bit at her bottom lip, before replying. "He is aware of what he refers to as feelings. Such as having a feeling that he had a family somewhere, and that the name Raph meant something to him. He confessed that he felt at ease when he was here visiting, and I did see that he looked relaxed here." Christine continued, "I'm sure some part of him is blocking those memories as if the door is closing tighter growing more secure, instead of becoming weaker."

She raised her hands and ran them through her hair, "I know how ridiculous this must sound. But I still feel that it is true, but I don't think he is doing it intentionally. If I am right, we have to figure out a way to allow that part of him, to open up," Christine took a breath, " I think the fight he was in, is playing a major role into the return of his memory."

"It's not the first time Leo's been badly hurt. Hell, we all have our nightmares. Trust me on that," Raph stated, his voice cold. With every word Christine had spoken so far, had only confirmed his worst fears regarding his brother.

Leo didn't want to remember!

"Leo can be very stubborn, if he doesn't want to remember then I highly doubt we could change things. We've all ready tried that route and you've seen where it has gotten us so far." Raph said.

Christine cocked her head gazing into Raph's dark eyes, his gaze was firm and hard upon her, "I'm not doubting you all have your nightmares, but Leo seems to be suffering very much from his at the moment and you seem all right," She countered delicately.

"Raph's right we have all gone through, seen and dealt with some incredible experiences in our lifetimes and we aren't even really all that old, we are still teenagers after all. I've often wondered if because we are so strange that we seem to draw strange things to us, or if it is only mere coincidence," Donatello conjectured, " We have battled the ninja clan known as the Foot, defeated their leader Shredder, also known as Oroku Saki, in battle. The Foot clan have knowledge of ancient remedies that are unknown to modern people, they used their knowledge and skill to restore Shredder to life."

"Are you sure he was dead?" Christine asked.

"He threw a bomb at us, I hit it back at him. Trust me he didn't survive." Don insisted firmly. He paused and then continued with his story, "About three years ago, on Christmas Eve Leo went out for a training run, the rest of us stayed behind at home - cooking dinner and trimming the tree. He had been gone for quite some time, and it wasn't natural or normal for Leo to do so without checking in," he explained. "We were suiting up getting ready to go out looking for him, when he was tossed through a window, he'd been badly beaten and our enemies attacked us then in large numbers, we barely escaped."

Don paused and took a deep breath, "We went to a friend's place in Northampton it was a farm where Leo could recover. A year later we were still there, and Raph was eager to return home."

"Farm life just ain't for me," Raph shrugged.

"Leo was waiting for the right time. Raph and he got into a fight and then Raph returned to New York so we followed after him. In the end Leo killed Shredder for the second time and this time we burned the body to insure he wouldn't arise again," He finished his explanation. "Leo has never spoken of what went wrong on that training run, at least not with us- maybe with Master Splinter. I think it is safe to say he was over come by sheer numbers, probably much as what happened this time."

Christine turned her head to look at him "You're saying that he is scared?"

"Leo has never shown fear outwardly." Mike declared.

"He is like a lion himself bold and courageous, he's quick thinking calm, level headed. He can plan a strategy for days or change it in a moments notice. He can take in everything going on around him, quicker then any of us can. " Don said.

"He's also bossy, stubborn, takes responsibility and perfection too far. He always strives to be the best and didn't like failing, at least not in Splinter's eyes," Raph spoke up, "Or ours for that matter, after all if he made a mistake it would mean he's no bettah then the rest of us." His tone was tinged with sarcasm.

"That doesn't mean he can't be afraid of things, and if he has been badly beaten twice then maybe we ought to focus on that," Christine insisted, "Did Leo change any after the first fight?" she wondered.

"Yeah he didn't want to return home till Raph made him." Mike replied eagerly, "Besides as Raph says we've all been in tricky situations, hell Raph was demutated into a little pet shop turtle after a leech sucked his blood."

"Christine doesn't want to hear this Mike," Raph hissed.

"He had to ch--" Mike blurted then paused as a sai landed on the couch close to his shoulder.

"Let's not talk about blood sucker here, Mike. We are here to talk about Leo," Raph warned.

Christine nodded, obviously a very touchy subject for Raph and she was willing to agree to his warning, after all it was Leo they were hoping to help here.

"He's got a point, looks like a few of them," She remarked as Mike pulled the sai out of the couch and tossed it to back to his brother.

"Trying for two weeks of chores Raph?"

"That one doesn't count Mike," Raph informed him, "I haven't lost my temper yet!"

Christine sighed, "So you guys don't think that Leo is scared then?"

Don rubbed at his chin, "Not in the way you would perceive fear perhaps. If he feels fear it isn't in the same sense that you might feel it. Ninja are trained to have control of their bodies and minds, as well as aware of the environment around them," he explained patiently, "so fear for a ninja is something totally different then for some one like yourself Christine."

"All right so if it isn't fear what is hindering Leo from getting better?" Christine challenged.

Mike looked at her, "Are you sure he doesn't remember anything?"

"Mike are we going to fast for you? I can give ya the dummy version later if ya want. Christine is sure, and I am sure that Leo is stuck, stalled. He's not passing go and he's…"

"Alright all ready I get the picture Raph," Mike cut his brother off and rolled his eyes, he grinned. "I just don't understand Leo has always been the responsible one. Being responsible is who he is, why wouldn't he remember?"

Christine smiled Mike's way, "It may not be a matter of choice, as I said before he might be doing it unintentionally. He is purposely blocking off and keeping his memories at bay. If one memory were to slip through in an unguarded moment, others may follow."

Don nodded "The domino theory. Push one over and then they will all fall down in sequence. No memories of who he is happens to be safe at this moment, so he blocks off everything to block off everything." Don paused to consider things, "In a strange way it makes a lot of sense. The mind can do incredible things, we don't even use half of our brain power. Leo's mind is trying to protect him possibly from being hurt again."

Don brightened as he considered the idea, "Leo's subconscious is telling him that the damage was caused by a fight, so he now sees fighting and anything to do with it as a threat to his very survival. He has the skills and memories, they just aren't coming out."

Mike sighed, "Splinter would be able to figure it out," He said morosely.

"Only we don't have Splinter to solve this problem we have to do it on our own." Raph reminded Mike gently.

"Maybe, Splinter kept a journal or something that we can check through, perhaps we could find a way of assisting Leo through them." Don suggested.

Mike shifted uneasily, since Splinter's death none of the boys had entered the Master's bedroom, they had left it as it was, just as they had left Leo's room untouched. It seemed wrong to go in and rummage through the possessions.

Raph looked at his two brothers, "We may as well clean it out bros, he's not coming back. Besides he'd want us to do it to help Leo," Raph stated casually. His tone was soothing.

Christine jerked her head up shocked to hear the gentle soft tones that came from Raph, who was the most abrasive of all the turtles.

"One more thing boys lets not just pin Leo's problems down to the fight. Yes, it seems the most likely but I want to keep an open mind, which means having all options open to us. We'll keep in touch and maybe together we can narrow things down."

"Wouldn't it be wiser to go from one theory to another?" Don queried, not thinking much of Christine's haphazard suggestion of doing things.

"Not really, by focusing on one thing we could very well over look the obvious. I learned that in vet school, if all options are out there and we choose one as being the most likely, we know we can always keep an eye out for other things that might tell us, it was really one of the other choices."

Raph shrugged, "It works for me. One thing though if you are going be spending more time with us I suggest that you start doing some practice and training with us. I know you've mentioned before that you know some hand to hand." Raph paused, " I want you to keep your skills up and improve them, it might come in handy if your ever in trouble."

"I'd like that Raph," Christine agreed with a quick nod of her head.

"I'll escort you home then." Don offered rising from his chair.

"I'll be fine," Christine said.

Raph shook his head, "No let Don see you safely home. It is dark and your not walking home without insurance."

Mike laughed, "A ninja turtle the best damn insurance money can buy!"

"Don't I get a choice in the matter?" Christine demanded as she rose from her spot on the sofa.

All three turtles answered that in one quick voice "NO!"

"Well since you put it that way," Christine muttered, "Come on Don."

Don grinned at least tonight Mike could deal with Raph.

TBC