Leonardo slept deeply. He had no perception of the amount of time that had passed when he stirred, but he felt a lot better than what he remembered from the night before. He had a vague recollection of being carried, and he was pretty sure he could recall the first insertion of a mobile IV line in the back of the Avalanche. Other than that, he was drawing a blank.

He tried to look at his watch, but the timepiece wasn't on his wrist. Leonardo raised his head to look around, and was immediately met by one of his brother's voices.

"Leo?"

Leonardo glanced across the room and saw Donatello sitting up.

"How are you feeling?" the purple-masked turtle asked.

"So-so," he replied, propping up further on his elbows to see him better. "A little lost."

Donatello chuckled. "You'll get caught up, Bro, slowly. Doesn't it feel good to just relax?"

Leonardo heaved a giant sigh. "After all the sleepless nights and anxious days…it's almost hard to believe that it's over. I didn't dream all of last night up, did I?" He gave Don a wry smile.

"No, you didn't. And a whole lot of people woke up alive today because the crisis was averted. I don't think Takashi had any intention of allowing a confrontation to take place. The Akiudo was using a new type of stun weapon last night, and one of their guys told Sayuri that Takashi meant them for us."

Leonardo rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "So he wasn't going to play fair; now that's a shocker," he said sarcastically. "What was his move after that?"

"Get as far away as possible so they could trigger Indian Point, I suppose. I don't think we'll ever know how many people would have been affected. The Akiudo was set up to use a thermonuclear weapon in conjunction with a massive meltdown, Leo. I don't want to imagine how bad it could have been. The only comfort is that we might not have lived to see the aftermath."

Leonardo shivered at the thought. "A thermonuclear weapon? That's like something out of a nightmare."

"Tell me about it, Leo." Don shook his head. "Judging from the stage of set-up their scientists were in, I think they were preparing to trigger it within hours of the time that Takashi wanted to meet us."

"This is about the scariest thing I've ever heard."

"You're lucky you didn't have to see the weapon. On another note, it's a good thing that Brandon and Jazz ended up out there."

"Yeah, I…" Leo trailed off as he realized what Donatello had just said. "Why was it a good thing?"

"Because after Greg and Kelley got into trouble, Sayuri and Tim were focused on first getting away, then staging the escape. That left Brandon and Jazz to take care of the rest."

"What rest?"

Donatello laughed once more. "We'll get there, Leo."

Leonardo turned his head as he heard the door opening, and smiled when he saw Luke. The blond-haired doctor nodded to acknowledge Donny, and headed straight for Leo's side.

"Am I going to make it?" the blue-masked turtle asked impishly.

Luke gave him a withering smile. "I'd say your chances are pretty good, Leo. Feeling any pain?"

Leo shook his head. "Not at the moment. Am I actually down, Doc, or is this situation temporary?"

"Leave it to you to be the most impatient out of all your brothers."

"It's just a question, Doc," he protested.

"You should be able to move around later today without much trouble, Leo. You lost quite a bit of blood last night."

"I noticed," Leo said dryly. "I guess Takashi hit something important. I didn't have time to figure it out in the middle of everything."

"I wager you lost over four pints of blood in a short period of time; it's no wonder you went into shock."

"I guess not." Leonardo exhaled softly. "Thanks for helping me pull through, Doc."

"It's nice to be able to help in some way, although I wasn't hoping for someone to get hurt," Luke said meaningfully.

"I wasn't planning on it either. Is anyone else injured?"

"Amazingly, no. Among all the gunshots and hand-to-hand fighting, no one suffered anything worth mentioning. The effects of those stun weapons were thankfully short-lasting. I didn't find anything unusual from Raph's vitals, not to mention Greg and Kelley."

"Raph?" Leonardo echoed. "What about him?"

"He didn't mention Yukiko's horror film recovery from hell?"

Leonardo's brow furrowed. "No, that didn't come up."

"Take your time, Leo," Donatello reminded him from across the room. "The whole story will come out."

"Do you feel like you could talk to someone else?" Luke asked.

Leonardo thought the man was possibly just trying to change the subject from Yukiko, but he nodded anyway.

"Kelley's been hanging around just to have the opportunity to speak to you, despite the massive amount of phone calls he's been getting."

"Oh. Yeah, Doc, send him in." Leonardo worked to sit up further as Luke left the room, swallowing as nerves leaped up in his chest.

The anxious energy must have been noticeable, because it warranted Donatello to speak up. "Relax, Leo. He's on our side."

Leonardo laughed humorlessly. "After what he probably went through last night, I find that hard to fathom."

"As if it was your fault?" Donatello said incredulously. "All of you had your parts to play, Leo. No one was pressed into doing anything except for Marc, but that was an emergency."

"What are you saying about Marcus?"

Donatello shook his head as the door to the Lab opened again. "Later, Leo."

Leo watched the large figure of Matthew Kelley slip under the door frame. "Hello, Director."

"Leonardo." The man spoke only the one word as he approached.

"I'm glad you're all right," the blue-masked turtle told him.

Kelley's eyebrows rose as he lowered into a chair. "Me? I'm just happy to see that the entire Team Suicide made it home."

Leonardo cleared his throat. "Yes, well…as you noticed, these things are often more complicated than they appear to be at the beginning."

"You can say that again," Kelley said quietly, his normally booming tone suddenly quiet. "If you'd told me a few months ago that I'd be here right now, I wouldn't have believed you," he continued. "It's hard to accept that all of it is real. I know that it happened, but…You know what I mean, don't you?"

Leo nodded. "I do. Director, I respect the position that you hold, and I realize how difficult it was for you lay aside the law and throw in your lot with us."

The man rested his chin in one hand. "I wasn't sure how I'd feel today, after a night like that one. It's…unexpected."

"Unexpected how?"

"I thought there would be guilt, or at least nagging doubt. That's how I was feeling going into last night."

"How do you feel today?"

"Like a giant weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Like I can finally breathe again, knowing that the world is safe from that gang. Now that it comes to it, I'm not experiencing guilt. I'm just relieved it's over."

"So am I," Leo replied. "I wrestled with myself for days over facing Takashi again. I knew how it would likely end. But he is the one who forced my hand."

"You acted defensively," Kelley said quickly. "Everything you did, we did, was to stop another attack from being carried out on civilians. The only thing I was initially concerned about was the amount of physical evidence left behind at the ghostscraper, but Katherine explained her blood contamination method to me."

"That actually started with Tim." Leonardo grinned suddenly. "Are we okay, Director?" he asked pointedly.

Kelley smiled faintly. "You're better than okay; not that I'll ever be able to say so on the record. I've been avoiding the phone and the Authorities as much as possible, but I'm going to have to leave soon. Plenty of fear and questions have been roused over the two scenes, though I don't know if anyone has connected them yet. I'm not sure how long it will take them to make that leap."

"Being just as clueless as everyone else doesn't mean you can't help 'guide' them in the right direction." Leonardo smirked.

"I'll do my best." Kelley shook his head. "I think I'm better off leaving these missions to you guys though. I nearly got myself killed last night."

"Greg got caught too, and he's an old-timer," Leo pointed out.

"I'll be sure to tell him you think so." The man laughed.

"Everyone needs help from time to time, Director. That's why we have each other."

"What is it going to take to get you to call me by my first name?"

"Maybe when Greg and Kat can manage it, it'll be easier for the rest of us," Leo said honestly. "Keep in touch, and it's bound to happen eventually."

The man looked toward the door as if someone was watching. "You never know. There might be other things I need your help with occasionally."

Leonardo nodded solemnly, but couldn't maintain the serious expression. "Give us a ring anytime."

"I understand that there's been a shift in your paradigm."

"Our what?" Leonardo looked at him strangely.

"The Phantoms have been replaced," Kelley clarified.

"They have been, huh?" Leo said mildly. "I suppose the Watchmen have popped up in their place?"

Donatello groaned. "This is all my fault. I'm the one who accidentally started Mike on this 'name change' kick."

"I think it's appropriate," Leo countered. "After all, we didn't really create the 'Phantom' moniker. It was placed on us by the criminals first. We embraced it to help strike some fear of remembrance in their hearts, to hopefully prevent them from offending again. Watchmen defines us better; it's closer to the function that we try to perform for the city."

Kelley stretched out a hand toward Leonardo, and the turtle shook it. "I'll be in touch soon…and I hope you'll keep me in the loop."

Leonardo smiled. "I think you've earned that right."

It was close to 9pm before Leonardo emerged into the living area with a small hobble and Luke's blessing. He didn't mind staying in the Lab to keep Donatello company, but he wasn't about to stay down constantly if his injury didn't require it.

He was greeted by the welcome sight of his other two brothers lounging on the couch and recliner respectively. "Hey, you two," he said fondly.

"Oh brother, here it comes," Raphael said teasingly. "We never had our recap from the mission, huh? 'Course you weren't there for half of it."

"I wasn't gone that long," Leo argued.

The red-masked turtle grinned and waved at him to sit down. "Get off your feet, Bro. No sense in wasting energy."

Leonardo sat down in another chair facing the couch. "So I heard that the Phantoms are no more."

Raphael and Michelangelo exchanged a glance.

"Well, yeah, we were gonna tell you about that," Mike faltered.

"I'm the one that did it, Leo," Raphael said. "I made the call to 911 last night, and it just felt right."

Leonardo nodded. "It does feel right…especially considering that the extended team can fall under the same name. None of these complicated missions are pulled off without their help. Our humans had an important role of their own to play last night, didn't they?"

Raphael snickered. "You mean the way they saved the city and a few others from nuclear disaster? Yeah, I think that was important."

Leonardo's attention was drawn by a laugh that came from behind the kitchen door, and his gaze shifted as Brandon and Jazz entered the room. They were so engaged with one another that they barely seemed to notice the three turtles.

Michelangelo waved with an exaggerated motion. "What's shakin', you two?"

"Nothing," Jazz said demurely, leaving plenty to Leonardo's imagination.

When Brandon's golden brown eyes met him, Leonardo saw a flash of something that the man had been missing for months.

"Good to see you up, Leo. Are you feeling okay?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah; I'm gonna be fine." Leonardo noticed Jazz reaching for a nearby jacket. "Are you going somewhere?"

The young woman nodded. "We were just gonna get some air."

"My keys better be where I left 'em!" Raphael retorted.

Brandon barely contained a laugh. "The Battleshell is too much for me, Raph. You can have her."

"Gee, thanks, Bran," Raphael shot back.

"We'll be back," the man said lightly.

Leonardo stared after the pair, unable to miss the way Brandon pulled Jazz close to his side, but waited until they were out the door to say something. "Okay. What did I miss?"