Ch 29. Something's Different.

Leo awoke slowly and looked at the digital clock on the nightstand next to his bed. It took him a moment to focus and note the time was five o'clock in the morning. He yawned and stretched, slowly sitting up and taking a deep breath. His eyes suddenly widen and he had to do a double take at his clock.

"It's five am?" He yelled out in a panic. "Oh no, I've missed Raph's party!" He jumped out of bed and ran into his bathroom, "I can't believe I've been asleep all this time," he jumped into the shower and quickly got himself ready for the day. "Maybe I can make it up to him if I spend New Year's Day with him."

After getting dressed, he looked around for his cell phone, "Where is it? Where is it?" He muttered as he frantically searched his whole room. After going through his room, he made his way downstairs trying to remember the last time he saw it. 'I remember trying to leave yesterday and father stopped me…." He tapped his chin with his knuckle, "he grabbed my arm and took the phone out of my….." Leo stopped his musing and looked down at his left arm. It suddenly dawned on him that his arm no longer hurt and he had been using his fingers as though he didn't even have the splint on. He ran his right hand along his arm and stared at it in disbelief. He walked into the living room and began to remove the splint.

"My arm," He muttered after removing the splint and rubbing his arm while moving it all around, "I can't believe it, it's as though it was never even injured." He creased his forehead and stood up, "I need to get in touch with Raph." He got back up and walked over to his father's study. Without a thought, he ran in and began rifling through his father's desk.

"Leonardo," Saki walked in and watched angrily as the turtle began to remove papers from the drawers, "What are you doing?! " He demanded as he stomped over to Leo.

He reached out to grab the turtle but was stopped before he could get his hand on him. Leo saw his hand coming toward him and without hesitation reached out and grabbed Saki's wrist and suddenly twisted his arm behind the large man and before Saki knew what was happening, Leo shoved Saki away from him and watched with furious eyes as he fell to the floor on his front.

"Where's my phone?!" Leo screamed at him while panting hard. "What did you do with it?!"

Saki rolled onto his back and stared at Leo for several seconds before finally picking himself off the floor and slowly walked, while his eyes continued to watch Leo, over to his coffee table. He moved a few papers and produced Leo's cellphone. He tossed it over to him and watched as Leo easily caught it than began to anxiously push a button over and over again.

"I have to call Raph," Leo muttered in obvious frustration, "Why isn't it turning on!?" He yelled as he pushed the button harder and shook the phone as though he was trying to strangle it, "Damn it, why won't this thing turn on?!"

"It appears to be dead," Saki told him as he slowly walked around his desk, cautiously making his way over toward his son.

Leo looked at him and shook his head in bewilderment. "I just charged it yesterday," Leo whispered as he continued to stare at his phone all the while feeling lost and confused.

"You haven't charged your phone in almost three days Leonardo," Saki told him in a low voice as he walked behind him.

"Leo looked at him and narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?" He demanded as he turned to face him, "You got me out of bed yesterday after I had my panic attack and…."

"That was on Monday, December thirty-first," Saki told him as Leo placed a hand to his head, "Today is Thursday, January the third." He leaned in close to Leo's ear, "And I believe you have school today." He leaned away from him and leered down at him, "Don't you?"

Leo looked at Saki incredulously, "School starts back up on the second of January," He whispered anxiously. He shook his head, "I've been asleep for over three days?" He sat down in Saki's chair and looked around as he attempted to focus on what was happening to him.

Saki watched with growing anticipation as Leo continued to look around him in consternation. "I see you removed your splint Leonardo," He said causing the young turtle to look up at him, "I take it your arm is feeling better," Leo nodded slowly at him, "Very good; what about the rest of your body?" He queried while placing a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Does any part of your body hurt?"

Leo began to move various parts of his body. He remembered when he awoke, he was sore and in a lot of pain in just about every part of his body, but now there was no pain, no aches of any kind and his arm felt as though it were as good as new. "I feel fine," Leo whispered to his father as Saki leaned down close to him. Leo looked up at him, "Every part of me feels fine but…how?" Leo slowly stood up and started toward the door, "This just doesn't make sense."

"The drug Leonardo," Saki reminded him, "You passed out from the drug we gave you and in that time, the drug has been working on your system." Leo watched as his face twisted in a morbid grin. "The formula must be a success."

"But I….I just lost three, almost four days and…" Leo grabbed the sides of his head as he processed the information, "WHAT THE HELL HAS YOUR JACKASS SCIENTIST DONE TO ME!?" He screamed as he stood up and looked his father in the eyes.

"They have possibly cured you!" Saki yelled back as his eyes seem to grow large with an insane look in his eyes.

With tears streaming down his face, Leo backed away from Saki and quickly walked over to the door, "I need to get to school," He choked out as he tried to compose himself, "I need to see Raph and …" Saki suddenly grabbed Leo's arm and the two stared at each other.

"Think of it Leonardo," Saki whispered almost anxiously, "If you are cured, then this…" He backed away from his son, "This vaccine can and will do so much for so many," He smiled at Leo with a crazed look in his eyes, "We can save so many people!"

Leo slowly nodded as he opened the door, "Yeah," he responded watching as his father quickly made his way over to his desk. "I'm going to leave now," He told him clutching his phone to his chest, "I'll see you when I get home," With that, Leo made his way quickly out the door and back to his room where his backpack was. He took a look at himself in the mirror and stared in shock at his face. The bruises and cuts had miraculously faded away to where they could barely be seen and the swelling had gone to down to where it could barely be seen. He forced himself to turn away and, feeling as though he were in a trance, began to gather his things. After he made sure he had everything he needed, along with his new classroom schedule, he ran back down the stairs and toward the bus stop.

Saki watched Leo leave then quickly picked up his phone, "Stockman," He said urgently, "As soon as you're able to leave TCRI, pick up Falco and get over here" he ordered, "I have news." He hung up the phone and started picking up the papers as he thought about what he had to tell them, "Yes Leonardo," He whispered to himself, "The vaccine will do so much for so many," He started laughing, "But mainly for me."

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Leo sat on the bus and stared straight ahead, still feeling in a state of shock as he continued to move his arms, legs, hands and feet. His mind reeled with the information he had just received from his father and he continued to shake his head in disbelief. But the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but think of how he was currently feeling. 'I'm definitely feeling better,' He thought to himself, he continued to run his hands over his arms, 'No, I'm feeling great!' He suddenly realized everything about him felt absolutely amazing. 'I feel as though I could run a marathon,' He started to laugh, 'maybe run around the world a few times.' He shook his head. 'Keep it together Leo,' He told himself, 'Dad and those maniacs shot you up with something that may have cured you but could also have done something else,' He continued to move his fingers and toes, 'Still, I do feel incredibly amazing!'

The bus came to the stop in front of the school and Leo eagerly bounded off the bus and toward the front doors, he was anxious to see Raph and tell him everything that had happened to him, but as he neared the school, it dawned on him that there would be others around them and he wanted to speak with Raph in private. 'Maybe we still have study hall together,' He told himself as he quickly walked up the steps to the third floor.

Raph slammed the door to his locker and looked over to the entrance of the hall. "Damn it!" He yelled causing his brothers and friends to look at him in surprise, "Where the hell can he be?" He looked at his phone, "For the last several days I've been calling him and leaving voice mails, and not once has he called me back or even attempted to get in touch with me in some way." He threw up his hands, "Even his own aunt has no idea what's happened to him...,."

"There he is." Renet said, pointing to the hallway entrance.

Everyone looked over and watched as Leo came running in looking very anxious, but instead of going to his locker like he normally would, he ran over to the group.

"Well, it's about time Leo," Raph almost exclaimed, "Do you know ho ummp…."

Before Raph could get another word out, Leo grabbed Raph's face and crashed their lips together. Raph eyes widen in surprise while looking from his brothers to his friends who were staring back at them in shock and bewilderment as Leo continued to kiss Raph hard for several long seconds.

Finally, Leo pulled apart from Raph and looked him up and down while panting hard. "I'm so sorry Raph," He told him, "So much has happened since I saw you last and I really need to speak with you," He looked at the group that was still staring at him with their mouths gaping open in shock, "In private if possible," he pulled out his new class schedule and handed it to Raph who was still trying to clear his head. "Do we still have any classes or study hall together?"

"Uh..." Raph, still taken aback by Leo's sudden show of affection, slowly looked down at the paper now in his hand. He frowned and shook his head to clear his thoughts, "Leo babe, slow down," Raph told him. "What the hell's going on?" He demanded, "And what was all that about?" He looked from his brothers to his friends, "Don't you know we could get in trouble if we're caught kissing in the hall?"

Leo shook his head, "Sorry, no I didn't," he said breathlessly. "So do we have any classes together?"

Raph looked down at the paper, "Um, it's Thursday so we don't have gym today," He looked at him quickly, still wanting to speak to him about what was going on but he forced himself to push those thoughts away for now. "We no longer have art, we now have music together but the teacher is a stickler about having us do our work and tends to give detention to anyone who talks when their not suppose to, but we do have still have study hall together so we can see each other then." He told him.

Leo took the paper back, "Great we'll speak then," He looked to the others, "Anyone got Professor Honeycutt for first period?" He asked. "That's where I need to go."

"Follow me Bro," Mikey told him, "That's one great thing about being Seniors, our schedules don't change much."

"Leo wait," Donnie placed a hand on Leo's arm. "Why not tell the rest of us what's going on?" He asked, clearly looking perplexed. "We're all willing to help you."

But Leo shook his head. "Sorry everyone," He told the others, "I really need to speak with Raph alone and when I get to lunch, something tells me I'm going to want food," he suddenly started laughing, "I haven't even had breakfast yet so I know I'm going to be starving by then." He took a breath, "And since I missed class yesterday, I'm sure the teachers are going to pile homework on me." He looked at Raph with desperate eyes, "I"ll see you at lunch."

"Um, sure Leo," Raph said as his green eyes narrowed in confusion.

Leo nodded and quickly ran over to his locker. The others watched as Leo seemed to be in a frenzy while gathering his books. "Is Leo okay?" Casey asked. "He looks like he just ran from his house all the way here."

"I have no idea," Raph whispered back as he ran his fingers over his lips, "But wow, something really is different about him."

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Mikey followed Leo through the hallway, finding it rather difficult keeping up with him, "I thought you were following me?" Mikey said as they took their seats. "By the way, what happened to you yesterday?" He asked, watching in concern as Leo began to wipe the sweat that poured down his face. "And are you okay?"

"I'm fine Mikey," Leo told him breathlessly. "I just feel like I have all this energy stored up inside me." Mikey nodded then turned to watch the professor as he began the lesson.

After class, Leo told Mikey he would see him at Lunch then quickly took off leaving the younger turtle behind and feeling more confused than before. He picked up his books and was just about to leave when the Professor came over to him.

"I see Leonardo is here today," He commented, "Has anyone had a chance to speak with him about talking to Dr. Rockwell?"

Mikey shook his head, "Not yet Professor but Raph will be talking to Leo in study hall." Honeycutt nodded and watched the small turtle walk out of the room.

Later, at Lunch, Leo walked toward the table carrying a tray with four slices of pizza. The others watched wide eyed as Leo quickly scarfed down the pizza then went back for more, "I know I didn't have breakfast but I don't know why I'm so hungry," Leo said in between bites. "I just feel like I have this overwhelming need to just keep eating for some reason."

"Leo," April came over to him and put a soothing hand on his shoulder as she sat next to him, Leo stopped eating and looked at her. "Talk to us," She implored, "Just tell us what's going on with you?"

Leo swallowed and looked at his friends that were looking back at him with deep concern showing in their faces. "I…" Leo took a breath and looked over at Raph who was watching him with a worry gaze, "I know what the problem is," He told her, "it's just that," He looked nervously from Raph to the others, "I really just want to talk to Raph about it first."

"Leo," Renet now sat on his other side, "We all know what happened..." She hesitated slightly, "That night you were...you know," She told him softly, "But it is okay to talk with us about whatever's bothering you."

Leo nodded and looked at his friends, "Thanks everyone," He told them while he continued to stare at Raph, "But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather just speak with Raph about it first." The two girls nodded then went back to their normal seats by their boyfriends.

The next few classes couldn't go fast enough for either turtle but soon enough, study hall came and the two turtles eagerly made their way to the library and found a quiet corner to sit and talk. "Okay Leo," Raph said anxiously, "Tell me what's been happening," He looked Leo up and down as the turtle continued to wipe his face of the sweat with a paper towel he had taken from bathroom.

For the next several minutes Leo told Raph about all that had happened to him since he last saw him on that fateful night he had encountered Jeffrey. "I haven't even been able to recharge my cell phone yet," Leo told him showing him the dead phone.

Raph looked at Leo in growing apprehension. "Are you kidding me?" He whispered harshly. "That phone should be the last thing you should be concerned about." He grabbed Leo by the shoulders. "That drug knocks you out for over three days, and you wake up looking like you've gone ten rounds with Brock Lesnar," Leo gave Raph a confused look. "WWE's universal champion and one of my favorite wrestlers," He quickly explained.

Leo nodded at him. "But Raph, I'm feeling great, better then great, I…" Leo looked at Raph excitedly. "I feel better then great, I feel like I can take on the world and then some."

"Leo," Raph placed a tender hand on his cheek, "You don't know what that drug could be doing to you, what if…"

"That drug may be saving my life," Leo told him adamantly, slapping Raph's hand away from him.

Raph flinched then scowled angrily at Leo, "That drug may also be killing you," He snapped back. "You said yourself you weren't sure if you were even sick or not," He took a breath and leaned away. "Leo, I spoke with Dr. Rockwell and he wants to speak with you…"

"You went behind my back and spoke with him anyway?" Leo demanded angrily. "I told you my father already has these two scientist, Stockman and Falco, working on…."

"Falco?" Raph looked at Leo in concern. "That's where I heard that name before," he said with a snap of his fingers, "You told me about him." He now looked at Leo with frantic worry, "Leo please you've got to listen to me," He implored, "This guy Falco is not a scientist, he's a murderer."

"What are you talking about Raph?!" Leo could feel the heat rising within his very core as the anger within him grew.

"Dr. Rockwell was at our New Year's Eve party and told me he had worked with a Dr. Falco," Raph said and quickly explained to Leo all that he'd been told.

Leo looked at Raph in dismay as he listened to what he had to say. He shook his head and slowly stood up backing away from Raph slowly. "How could you?" he said in disbelief.

"Leo, what…" Raph began but Leo quickly cut him off.

"How could you go behind my back after I told you I would take care of it?!" Leo yelled while jumping up from his chair.

Raph's mouth gaped open and he looked at Leo in total shock. "What are you saying?" He demanded as he too jumped up and grabbed hold of Leo's shoulders. "I'm trying to help you and keep you safe from your father and all you can do is…"

"So now you're saying my own dad is trying to kill me and I shouldn't trust him." Leo pushed Raph away from him. "Maybe you're the one I shouldn't trust."

"Boys!" Irma quickly walked over and stood in between the two turtles. "Why are you being so loud?" She demanded. "Don't you know you're in the library?"

Leo grabbed his books and gave Raph an angry look, "I thought you cared about me," He said then turned to his Aunt, "Sorry Auntie," He said and quickly left. Irma watched Leo take off then turned to Raph. "What is going on Raphael?"

Raph watched Leo leave the library with a dejected look as April and Donnie hurried over to him. He then turned to Irma, "Ms. Langinstein," Raph began, "Do you know what Leo's father is doing to him?" he asked her.

Irma looked at Raph with an uneasy gaze. "Well," She started hesitantly, "I know he is trying to find a cure for a cancer Leo may have but other than that, I really know nothing else about it." She answered then furrowed her brow. "Why Raphael? What is this all about?"

Raph sighed and, along with Donnie, explained to Irma what they had learned. She listened intently, nodding on occasion as they told her everything they were aware of. After they were done, she patted Raph on the shoulder and smiled sympathetically at him, "I can't imagine Leo's father would let any harm come to him," She assured, "But if you like, I'll talk to him and see what he does know about this Falco person, okay?" Raph nodded and started to pick up his books. "And don't worry about Leonardo," She added, "He does have a lot going on right now." The bell rang and Irma watched as the three teens gathered their things and, after saying goodbye to each other, went off to next classes.

Irma went to her desk and nervously started cleaning up. For the rest of the day, she attempted to concentrate on her job but found it very difficult. After school, she went home and angrily threw her purse and coat on the floor. She went to the kitchen and made herself some tea in an attempt to calm her nerves but she was too wound up with everything she had just learned. 'I've got to do something,' she told herself. She walked over to the pictures that lined her mantel and picked up the one that showed her ad her sister Venus as children, "I will not let your son be harmed sis," She whispered as tears began to fall. "I'll figure out some way to help him." She turned to put the picture back on the mantel. "I swear I will." She said as she turned to go back to her kitchen.

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Thanks again to 'Guest' and Turtlecrazy714 for those reviews, keep them coming, I love reading them. Thanks and Peace :)