Brave by Sara Bareilles was my song of inspiration. Pretty fitting for once. lol Enjoy!

Alopex makes out better than Raph. Her wounds are well enough so that she can do most anything by the next day. Raph, however, is confined to the couch. Donnie says moving will only exacerbate the wounds and then he'll be stuck on the couch even longer.

Raph naturally does not take it well. The only he solace he has is that Mikey is practically glued to his side now. In any other case his brother would be following Alopex around and just the thought makes his blood boil. What's worse is now she has the card of 'saving his life'. He just can't win.

But while it may be enough for everyone else, it isn't for him. Who cares what she does for him? It's only to win everyone else over anyway. She doesn't really care about his brothers. It's all a clever game that she plays perfectly. Foxes were always cunning, deceitful. No, it won't be enough. Not ever. He refuses to let her worm her way in.

Mikey tries not to mention it, to only talk about things that will raise his brother's spirits. But after so many cold glances and growls aimed at Alopex as she passes from time to time he just can't stand it any longer. He takes in a deep breath and steels himself as he voices his worst thoughts. "You don't have to be so mean, you know." He immediately regrets it.

Raph turns his blazing eyes on his little brother. He knows instantly what his brother is referring to. His fingers curl inward and form tight fists. "What was that?" He gnashes his teeth and waits with words already coiling his tongue.

Mikey swallows hard. Of course he's not really afraid of Raph. His brother would never seriously hurt him. Still, he doesn't like upsetting Raph. And even though he likes Alopex and enjoys her company it is not worth the backlash. "You glare at her practically all day." Mikey tries again, this time more timidly. "What's the point?"

Raph snorts. "What's the point? What's the point?" He shakes his head and sneers. "She's a monster." He says it with more confidence than Mikey's seen in him in a long time. "She's a threat to our family and if you all aren't going to do anything about it then I will. That's the point."

Mikey frowns deeply. He shakes his head sadly. "She saved your life." He whispers. His eyes shine in a way Raph can not understand. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Raph flinches as he hears the unspoken words. It means everything to me. He barely stops himself from grimacing. Of course it does. Mikey adores him. And he saw the tears in his baby brother's eyes when he first came to. Still, he finds it in him to say, "She's only doing it to trick you." He shakes his head. "And it's working."

Mikey drops his gaze to the floor. His brows knit together and his frown spreads all the way across his face. "Not everyone is out to get you…" He mutters weakly. He lifts his gaze and stares sadly at his brother. "Sometimes they can mean it…" He rises slowly, not breaking eye contact. "…no strings attached…" Then he walks off. He goes to make lunch.

Raph watches after him. He stares blankly after his forlorn sibling. The sight makes his expression twist in confusion. Mikey has never looked like this. His shoulders are even slumped slightly. Why is this so important to his little brother? His stomach rumbles and he quickly moves on. Either way he hopes Mikey will bring him something too. He hopes his cold words regarding Alopex do not make Mikey spiteful.

No one notices him. They haven't since his outburst at Alopex. But he's listening. He sits off to the side, down on the floor and up against the wall. Even as low as Raph's words are he hears them perfectly. When all one has is silence to wrap around themselves it's surprisingly easy to pick up on everything, sometimes even without trying.

One thing he intentionally forces out though is her. She passes every so often either to eat, to pester Raph in his bedbound state, or to follow Donnie wherever they go. In particular he notices the pair leave near nightfall. There are times when he considers following, but he notices the wheels in Raph's head already turning and knows that his hothead brother will do it for him the instant he is well enough. So he stays out of the way and simply continues to watch everyone else move about.

Leo doesn't just sit all day though. He eats and goes out for little stints. Not to the surface, but just out in the tunnels surrounding their home. It is a nice breather, being away from all that tension. Or maybe it has nothing to do with everyone else. Maybe it's just him dying to escape his own mistake. Things actually are better than before to be perfectly honest. Only Raph has deep rooted issues with Alopex and himself…he…

Leo bows his head. He crosses his arms and a tight grimace stretches across his face. He doesn't cause problems, but the air is definitely thick with his conflictions. She's not bad. She saved Raphael. But…she killed people. Even Karai never did that. She didn't exactly prove her worth either though. But…how can such a cruel act be forgiven, even when she saved another life in turn, a life so precious to all of them. His eyes drift Raph. A life so precious to me.

Leo draws his knees up to his chest and flops his face forward into them. He moans softly. He wishes he was anyone else right now. Mikey – so carefree and at ease with Alopex. Donnie – closer to Alopex than anyone and not even questioning moralities. Even Raph – so sure in his stance of Alopex being downright rotten. But no…Leo can not be so blindly faithful nor stubbornly hateful. He's not like his brothers in that regard. He never thought he needed to be. Not until now.

"You must like being alone." A voice cuts through his self-admonishments. It pales his face and makes his body go rigid. He snaps his head up to confirm what he already knew. A soft gasp escapes his lungs and he jumps sideways, away from her presence. A slight tremor works its way through his body and he hates himself for it, but he can't control it.

Alopex smirks at his reaction. At the same time she can't help but be offended. He acts like a startled animal. Sure, he is part turtle, but he's human too. There's no reason for him to be so frightened, especially not by her. She has the right mind to call him out on his idiocy, but instead she acts as if it didn't even happen – isn't happening. "Do you learn a lot like that? Watching everyone."

Leo inches farther from her. His nose itches, at least he imagines it does. It's probably just an excuse to validate getting farther from her. He eyes her warily. What is she even talking about? She can't possibly believe he's like this all the time. What idiot would sit and watch people all day? Normally he'd be commandeering the television from Raph and forcing him to sit through a Space Heroes marathon.

Alopex doesn't move closer. She lets Leo keep his distance, but she plops down to sit near him. She isn't stupid. This isn't him. The days before this were enough to tell her that. The day she brought Raph back from the surface though, that's when he changed. She just can't understand why. Raph is fine. No one died. It baffles her. "You mute?" She says a bit rudely.

Leo blows out a deep, aggravated breath. "Please," He looks anywhere but at her. "Leave me alone." He turns his body so that his back is mostly to her, but quickly changes his mind. He jumps a little in place and spins back around. He doesn't want to take his eyes from her. But he knows now it has nothing to do with Raph or her past crimes and everything to do with that night from their fight.

Alopex blinks at him. Is he…afraid of her? She makes a face. That's right though. Back in the tunnel two weeks before, when Donnie brought her back to help, he's shuffled away from her. Still, it was nothing like this. It was on a logical level. So what is it now?

Leo lifts his hands up and wraps them around his arms. He grips tightly to try and force his tremors to cease. It does no good. He bites his lips and looks hard at the ground. Watching her is important, but perhaps ignoring her will make her go away. Then he won't have to be on alert.

Alopex stares for a long moment. She lets out a soft breath. This is going nowhere fast. She knows she just has to say it. "You're afraid of me." He keeps her head facing forward as she says it. Still she makes sure to watch him closely from the corner of her eye.

Leo stiffens. Not that it wasn't terribly obvious. He silently curses himself. He's the leader. He's supposed to be brave. He can't be afraid of something so stupid. He hangs his head. But he is. "No…" He doesn't bother putting effort into the lie.

"It's alright you know." She tilts her head in his direction. "You can be afraid. Just because you lead them doesn't make you immune to feelings." Technically everyone's the leader of their own lives anyway, so it's more logical to say all leaders fear.

Leo doesn't move for a long moment. Then slowly, stiffly, he shakes his head. "It's stupid…" His voice is barely a whisper. And it's not even the whole of it. Before, the fear was concealable. But now the guilt weighs heavily on his heart and something had to spill forth. Unfortunately it was the fear. Yet thankfully it was not the guilt. If only it could be both.

Alopex scoffs. "Hardly." Her golden eyes flicker with intensity as she looks fully on him. "I could kill you." She sees him flinch and feels bad. "Well, I could, but that's not what you're afraid of." She swishes her tail, moving it daringly close. "It's what I'm made of."

Leo jerks back. The swift movement stirs the air and he gets a whiff of her and he feels it in his nose. He leans his head back and it jerks forward again with his sneeze. He frowns, but it is more at himself and his weakness than her. Then he sneezes three more times and his eyes quickly grow watery.

"Sorry." She doesn't put much sincerity into it. She focuses on her next words. "But just because you can't smoother yourself in my fur like Donnie doesn't mean you have to avoid me like the plague." Her gaze hardens. "So come on. Talk to me."

Leo resists the urge to grab his inhaler. He hates himself for taking comfort in it being in his hand. If he needed to use it it would be different. But as it is it just makes him look even dumber – weak. "Sorry…" He shakes his head.

Alopex makes a face. Sorry? Her eyes snap open and her mouth hangs open slightly. It hits her like a brick. He hasn't become too terribly different than what he's always been around her. Not really. He was always standoffish with her. That's the fear. But this new behavior – separating himself from everyone – it comes from the day she brought Raph back. It must be guilt, from what he called her.

Leo sees the recognition flash in her eyes and it only makes him feel worse. He bows his head and a soft moan leaves his lips. He lifts his hands over his head, his elbows covering the front of his face.

"That's ok too." She leans forward to try and see through the slit between his arms. "I'm not mad. You didn't hurt my feelings or anything." She chuckles at how ridiculous it sounds.

"Why not?" He says softly. "I called you…" He can't bear to say it aloud. Not again. "I judged you before I knew everything. I was horrible…"

Alopex scoffs. "No worse than April." She frowns. On second thought… "About ten times better than April actually. That little witch called me every name under the sun – and meant it."

Leo narrows his eyes instinctively. "Don't talk bad about April." He was there. He knows what happened. And yeah, it was pretty bad, but it was also very un-April like. Not to mention completely validated. Alopex had attacked her.

Alopex blows out a heavy breath. "Right, I forget you all are like her brothers or whatever." She flips her hand about. "But she isn't my sister. I don't have any love for the girl. You have to understand that. All I have are stories Donnie tells about toying with his emotions."

Leo let's hi hands slip away from his head and he looks tentatively over at her. She just won't go away. Can't she just let him think some more about what's he's supposed to do with her. As if it's even my decision. "What do you want from me?" He moans, letting the April topic go.

"I want you to like me." She says bluntly.

Leo starts. His eyes widen and his brows knit together. Why? She already has the blessing of Splinter. She isn't going anywhere fast. So why does it matter what he thinks? Isn't it enough he leaves her alone, unlike Raph? Or doe she thrive on attention – negative or not. Maybe his inattention burns her up inside.

Alopex sighs. Nothing, huh? "I see you over here every day, looking absolutely miserable. I don't want that. You may not be the ultimate authority like I once thought and you may not be my friend, but I'm not a monster." She cringes as she repeats his word, the word nearly everyone has called her now. "I don't want you to suffer."

Leo frowns deeply, pitifully. How can she say that? With every minute she makes him feel worse and worse about what he said. She's a better person than many. Oh why couldn't she be cold and cruel? Justification is long gone from him now. He lowers his head.

Alopex frowns and a scowl flickers across her face. Now he's just pissing her off. "Damn, just take the freaking reprieve why don't you?"

Leo snaps his head up. Her language catches him off guard. She sounds just like Raph that way. "But…I was wrong." He hasn't tried to kill him either. Although his fear still pulses strong. Even if she isn't out to get him, her presence is still rather off-putting.

"Oh my God." She face palms. "Are you serious? You're one of those?" She throws her hands up in a shrug. "Ok." She says the word slowly, collecting herself. "Then I'm gonna have to go through the same thing I went through with Donnie." Only Donnie's was for being too apologetic.

Leo blinks up at her.

"Ok, look," She points her whole hand at him. "People mess up. You mess up." She sees him cringe and smirks slightly. "Sometimes badly." Suddenly she changes her tone and with her next words sounds very soft, "But it's not the end of the world. You can hurt feelings and hurt people, but if you just ask, generally they'll forgive you."

Leo tares with slowly widening eyes at her. He opens and closes his mouth around empty words. He drops his gaze and then lifts it again after a moment. Then he says, "So…you forgive me?" He holds his breath. With this off his chest he won't have to look so terribly stupid with his fear.

Alopex smiles with surprising genuineness. "Of course."

Leo lights up. He smiles and his eyes shine with relief and gratitude.

Alopex snorts softly, his expression amusing her. "You were only protecting your family from what you thought was a serious threat." Her eyes flit to Raph. She scowls fleetingly. "You're not like him. You don't hate blindly."

Leo cringes. While he doesn't condone Raph's actions, especially not now, he can't let his brother's emotions be belittled either. "You don't understand…" He says softly. He ducks his head slightly as her intense eyes fall on him before they soften again. "He's not hating you just to hate you. He…he just doesn't trust easily."

Alopex snorts. "Why?" She wrinkles her nose. "You all grew up the same, didn't you? What happened to him to make him so different?"

Leo shakes his head slowly. "No, that's not it. I mean, that's the thing. We aren't the same. We all grew up the same, but out personalities, that's what set us apart." He glances at his brother, bedridden just across the room. "Even when we went through the same things, we reacted completely different. So…when certain things happened…" Leo grimaces. "Raph reacted with severe mistrust. In order to protect not just himself, but everyone. If you're not family you're not anyone."

Alopex makes a soft sound of acknowledgement. She frowns thoughtfully. She never did understand those kinds of people. It's one thing to mistrust when given ample reason and sometimes even when nothing is done yet nothing proven either, but she is different. Sort of.

Leo lets out a breath. He shouldn't say it, actually he shouldn't have said what he did already, but he does. "It's worse because he only sees in black and white." This catches Alopex's attention and he carefully proceeds. "You're either good or bad – there's no in between. So…you…" He fidgets slightly. "You killed people. Good people aren't supposed to kill innocents. So to him…you're bad."

Alopex rolls her eyes. Of course. Just compound the issue with as much force as possible why doesn't he. But there are always exceptions to rules, even personal rules set out to live up to. Raph must have one – a way in. And if not…she shakes her head. No, she can't think that way. It would hurt Donnie and all of them. And yet…it would be so deliciously perfect. Well, for now she'll just file it away. Maybe she won't need it. If she does though she won't leave it forgotten. For now though, she moves on. "What about you?" She eyes his carefully. "Do you think I'm bad…because of then."

Leo slinks back instinctively. "I…" He bites his lip. He frowns deeply and casts his eyes down. "I don't…" He scrambles through his thoughts to find the best way to say it. "I appreciate what you've done for us…"

"But?" Alopex knows that tone well. There's always a but.

"But," Leo simpers. "What you did was terrible." He could easily hide behind this excuse and be justified. But he was never any good at lying. "And…" He pushes two fingers together. "I…" He swallows hard. He hates himself and his stupid emotions. Still, she said it was normal. So now, just in front of her, he admits it in a tiny voice, "I am afraid of you…"

Alopex nods in knowing. "Well," She says slowly. "What do I have to do then?"

Leo lifts his head and his gaze. "Do?" He blinks at her.

Alopex nods. "Yeah, in order to win you over." She flashes him a smile, but it isn't like the ones she sends Donnie's way. There's no smugness or deviousness. It's again startlingly sincere. "There must be something."

Leo shrugs. "Not really." There's nothing to really do about being petrified of her killing him, intentional or not, because of his allergies to her fur. She can't stop being a fox. "I mean…it's just who you are." Unfortunately.

"Hmm…" Alopex's ear twitches thoughtfully. "Then I won't do anything." She notes the slowly rising confusion in his eyes and elaborates. "I'll just go around like usual and talk to you here and there to prove to you I'm not going to do anything bad. Not to your brothers," She meets his blue eyes head on. "And not to you."

Leo considers her. His lips press tight together as he thinks. Slowly, surely, he nods. "Ok." It might take a while though. He can feel his skin crawling just from her eyes looking directly into his – piercing him with their intensity.

Alopex smiles. "Alright then." She leans forward and pulls herself back quickly. Shit. She nearly screwed that up. She clears her throat and her smile is tinier now. She's been around Mikey too much. She never would have even contemplated hugging him before she met the energetic turtle. "See you later." She stands slowly and nods to him.

Leo started with her motion, but he forces himself to remain in place. She's trying. So he has to try too. Once he calms the storm of his mind he processes her words and smiles weakly. He nods back.

Alopex takes her eyes from Leo then and strides across the room. She glances back to see if he's watching, but he's already drawn back into himself. It's not like before though, he looks much better now. So she's good. She smirks deviously as she comes up behind the couch where Raph lays. "How's the view?" She snarks.

Raph growls loudly. He jerks his head around and glowers at her. "Go to hell." He snaps back. His fists clench and he grits his teeth. "You mangy mutt."

Alopex laughs, grinning from ear to ear. Even her eyes light with his biting comment. "At least I'm not stuck on a couch for a week." She narrows her eyes and her lips curl devilishly, but there is no anger in her golden orbs. "Cripple."

"I swear," He slams his fists down on either side of him. "When I get up I'm going to tear you apart." He would be throwing his sais at her right now if Donnie hadn't taken them from him after he tried the first time. All she got was a light reprimanding. Such crap.

Alopex snorts. "You'd think you'd be a little happier to not be dead." She frowns disapprovingly. Her expression quickly jumps back to smugness. "But then you'd have to actually be nice to me." She gives a single syllable laugh. She crosses her arms. "And we all know you can't be nice."

Raph growls furiously. Her flashes his bared teeth. "Leo!" He hates to have to call on his brothers to fight hi battles, but she won't piss off otherwise.

Alopex grins. "Alright, alright," She waves her hands in mock defeat. "I'm going." She walks off and even as she leaves him her impish smile does not fade. She heads for Donnie's lab and as she goes a thought hits her. Does she really want to lose such a high source of entertainment? As much as she loathes him, he's highly amusing. At least for now. Unfortunately he probably won't stay that way.

Leo is up by Raph's side in the next instant. He watches after Alopex, already knowing without seeing or being told that she was riling Raph up again. It is her new favorite pastime aside from disappearing with Donnie late at night.

Raph glares up at his brother. "Are you just gonna let her talk to me that way?" A growl bubbles in his throat. "Huh?"

Leo looks back to Raph. He shrugs helplessly. "She's not hurting anything." He tries to smile, but it looks all wrong. "And I mean, you could try to be nicer." Leo rubs his arm nervously. "She's not so bad."

Raph chokes on air. "What? Are you kidding me? You too?" He lets out an aggravated sigh. "I can't believe this…" He shakes his head. "You've lost it. Every last one of you."

Leo cringes against his brother's condemning words. If anything, once his fear and guilt are gone, Raph's opinion is the one thing that makes him dread befriending her. He doesn't want to lose his brother in exchange for some girl he barely knows.

Raph continues to shake his head. "Go on then." He doesn't look at Leo anymore. He glares ahead of him. "You've done enough."

Leo lowers his head slightly. He frowns and casts his eyes down. "Alright Raph." He starts to leave, stopping a few steps later. He lifts his head, resolve setting in. "But know this – when you end up all alone, it will be no one's fault but your own." Then he continues on to the kitchen.

Raph stares with a gaping mouth after Leo. His shock quickly sweeps into fury. He scoffs. "Yeah, whatever." He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "Family always comes first." But as he turns his gaze away from his brother his expression falls. At least I thought so…

So what did you think? I hope you didn't think Leo was unnaturally or too suddenly afraid. I had in mind that it's the distance that generally keeps him even headed. The other times he was close she was restrained and hurt so he wouldn't have been as scared.

On another note, unfortunately, updates might slow down. College is starting back and I should focus on that. But you never know. My better judgement seems to go missing when it comes to school vs. writing at times. So we'll see what happens. Please review!