Chapter 13: Blood on His Hands
A/N: I know it's been a little while since I updated this, but I DID say it would depend on how I felt, and I've had some sinus trouble. However, I'm in the mood to post again, so here's the next chapter. Thanks to all of those who have read and reviewed thus far. It means the world to me that you're sticking with this despite my infrequent postings. I hope you enjoy this chapter, too.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and Madison.
Leo moved through the series of katas, making sure his movements were fluid and graceful. This is what bothered him the most right now and he would continue to train as long as he wanted to. His brothers coaxed him to join them in watching marathons of Super Robo Mecha Force Five and even Space Heroes, but Leo declined. He didn't deserve any leisure time right now. He shook his head free of these thoughts and tried to focus again.
As he moved into the next series of katas, his eyes strayed to something lying on the dojo floor. Sighing, he made his way over so he could pick the item up but jumped back in surprise when he laid eyes on the body of Lynn Obiero. She was splayed out exactly as she had been when Leo pushed her off of the water tower. As he stared at her, Lynn's eyes flew open and she sat up, her eyes fixed on Leo.
"You killed me, Leo," she said. "You will suffer for your crime."
"I had no choice," Leo replied. "You were going to kill me, too."
She snorted. "Was I, Leo? Is that really what you think I was going to do to you? Just admit that you did it because you wanted to do it."
"I never wanted to kill you," said Leo. "I had no choice. I'm so sorry."
"It's too late for apologies, Leo," she said. "The blood's on your hands, and you can't wash it off." She pointed to Leo's hands.
He looked at them and found that they were covered in blood. He tried to wipe the blood off with no success. Then he looked up and saw Lynn coming toward him. He saw the hatred in her eyes and looked away, hoping this was just a dream. He looked up again, but she was still coming at him.
"No!" he begged. "Get away from me!"
Lynn didn't answer and continued to come toward him. Leo knew he was done for and that there was no way anyone could help him. He braced himself for whatever Lynn was going to do, but instead he felt something hit the side of his head, causing him to fall to the ground. Leo blinked and saw that Lynn wasn't there at all. He looked around and saw Splinter staring at him, a concerned look on his face. Then Leo realized that Splinter must have hit him.
Leo rubbed the spot where Splinter had struck him. "What was that for, Sensei?" he demanded.
"I am sorry, my son, but I had no choice," Splinter replied. "I was talking to you, but you did not hear me. You were shaking and looking at something. What were you looking at?"
Leo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I saw Lynn, Sensei," he answered. "I've been seeing her a lot since it happened. I think she's haunting me because of what I did to her."
"Or perhaps this is a manifestation of you punishing yourself," Splinter mused. "You should not punish yourself, Leonardo. You did what you had to do in order to save yourself and your brothers."
"But I still killed an innocent person!" Leo protested. "I deserve to be punished."
"No, you do not," Splinter contradicted. "You had no idea Lynn was not Robyn, and you were just trusting your instincts. You need to learn to forgive yourself, my son. None of us judge you for your actions, and you should not judge yourself. Though Lynn was not working for Robyn, she is still not innocent with the way she acted toward you. You must let this go."
Before Leo could respond, his T-Phone began ringing. He picked it up and saw that Madison was calling him. He hadn't talked to her since Lynn's death because he felt she didn't deserve to be with a killer.
"Who is it, my son?" Splinter asked him.
"It's just Madison," Leo replied. "I'll call her later."
"You should answer it," urged Splinter.
"But I'm talking to you," replied Leo. "I'll talk to her when I'm done."
"We are done with this conversation," declared Splinter. "You may answer it."
Sighing, Leo did as he was told. "Hey, Maddie, what's up?"
"Leo, I thought you'd never answer me," she replied. "I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight. We haven't seen each other in a while and I've missed you."
"Sorry, Maddie, but Master Splinter scheduled a training session for tonight," replied Leo. "We'll have to get together another time." Leo was about to say something else, but then Splinter snatched the phone away from him.
"Madison, this is Master Splinter. I am happy to inform you that the training session has been postponed and that Leonardo has my permission to come and see you. Yes, you can expect him to be there at seven tonight. It was nice talking to you as well. Goodbye, Madison."
After his father hung up and gave Leo back his T-Phone, Leo began to fume. "What did you do that for, Sensei?" he demanded.
"I was merely doing a kind service, my son," answered Splinter. "Your brothers have noticed that you have been avoiding Madison, and they are concerned about it, and so am I. Why are you avoiding her?"
And here they had come to the hardest thing ever. Leo had been avoiding her because he had been holding off the moment when he would have to end his relationship with her. Once she found out about what he'd done, she would never want to speak to him again. Leo didn't want to lose Madison because she was an important friend and a good one at that. But Leo knew that in light of what he did, he didn't deserve her as a friend or even as a girlfriend anymore. She would be better off with someone who was worthy of her love and not a cold-blooded killer. The thought of breaking things off with her shattered his heart in two, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He would just have to get it over with.
"Leonardo, you are not answering my question," reprimanded Splinter.
"I'm avoiding her because I'm thinking of ending our relationship," responded Leo.
"And why would you do that? She is a valuable ally."
"Because she doesn't deserve to be with a murderer." His voice cracked on the last word, betraying his true emotions, something he always tried very hard to hide.
"We have been over this, my son. You are a ninja and you have killed many times. Madison knows this and she has still stayed by your side. Why do you think she would suddenly abandon you?"
"Because this time, it's different!" snapped Leo. "We've been over this, Sensei! Lynn wasn't Robyn and I had no right to kill her! I should have spared her life since she had the answers we needed. Instead, I pushed her to her death before we could find out who she really was. Do you understand that, Sensei? I killed her in cold blood, and then I told my brothers to leave her there instead of getting help for her. We could have saved her life, but I ordered Donnie and the others to leave. It was a terrible thing to do, and I hate myself for it."
Splinter mulled over his son's words. "I understand why you would feel that way, but you should not be so rash in your decision to end things with Madison. Be honest with her and see what her reaction is before you do anything."
"Hai, Sensei, but I know she'll be mad at me," Leo said sadly.
"If she really cares for you as much as I know she does, she will understand," Splinter reassured him.
Leo wanted to believe Splinter's words, but there was a part of him that wasn't so sure she would. Still, he said nothing and bowed to his sensei, thanking him for helping him before leaving. There was nothing else he could do now but visit her and see how things turned out.
"Leo, are you okay?" Raph asked as Leo exited the dojo.
"I'm fine, Raph," Leo reassured him.
"We're still gonna watch wrestling tonight, right?"
"Sorry, Raph, but I'm going to visit Maddie tonight."
"It's about time," teased Raph. "You guys haven't seen each other for a long time. Looks like you two will have to get back to basics."
"Something like that," said Leo cryptically. He didn't want to tell his brothers or Miwa about his plans to end his relationship with Madison because he knew they would protest and say that he belonged with her. But Leo knew better than that. He didn't belong with anybody. He decided to go to his room and meditate for a bit before seeing Madison. Maybe everything would work out if he just cleared his head.
Sadly, it didn't work, and Leo was even more confused than ever. There was nothing else to do except go to Madison's and tell her everything. Whatever came after that would be dealt with in a mature way. He said goodbye to his family, and they wished him a good time. He felt bad that he wasn't being honest with his siblings, but he knew they wouldn't be happy with what he was going to do.
Madison was waiting for him at the window and smiled as she let him in. "It's so good to see you, Leo," she said as she led him to the couch. He returned the smile though it wasn't filed with his usual warmth.
"You look good, Leo," she commented.
"So do you," he answered.
Her eyes traveled to his face, and her look changed from one of joy to one of concern. "Is everything okay, Leo?" she asked. "You look like you have something on your mind."
Leo knew this was the moment of truth, but he couldn't help but feel some trepidation in his stomach. "Yes, there is something on my mind. We met this girl named Lynn Obiero and thought that maybe she was April's sister in disguise. We started getting messages from A again, and we figured Lynn had to be Robyn. One night, we met her on top of a water tower. She started acting strangely. She acted like she was going to hurt us, and I scared for myself and my brothers. We struggled, and then she dangled me over the water tower. I managed to get up, but then she charged me again. I kicked her, and she fell off of the tower. She died instantly, and on the news, they said that Lynn Obiero was her real name."
"So that means she wasn't Robyn," Madison said softly.
Leo nodded. "She was an innocent girl, and I killed her. I know you must think I'm a monster for doing that, and I came here to tell you that maybe it would be best if we didn't see each other anymore. You deserve to be with someone who isn't a cold-blooded killer." He hung his head and waited to hear what she would say.
"Leo, look at me," she commanded. He did so, and then Madison slapped him across the face just like Captain Ryan did to his commander.
"Ow!" he yelled. "What was that for?"
"Hamato Leonardo, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!" Madison scolded. "How could you think that I wouldn't want to be with you? You were just acting on instinct, and you didn't know she wasn't Robyn in the first place. If I had been in your shoes, I would have done the same thing. Self-defense is not murder, Leo. And even if Lynn wasn't Robyn or working for Robyn, she wasn't an innocent person if she was trying to hurt you. As far as I'm concerned, she got what she deserved."
Although Leo was grateful to Madison for not pushing him away, he still felt guilty for what he did. "You do have a point, Maddie, but it's hard for me to come to terms with what I did," he said.
"Are you going to leave me?" she asked him.
"Not if you don't want me to," he responded.
"I don't want you to," she replied. "Look, I know you're going through a lot right now, Leo, but give me the chance to help you." She brightened. "I know what could cheer you up. How about if we have a slumber party tomorrow night?"
"A slumber party?" Leo repeated.
"Yeah, a way to try and forget about all of this craziness," she said. "We could invite Irma and Lucindra and maybe bring Angel over for Mikey so he doesn't feel left out."
"I don't think Angel would consent to come," Leo pointed out.
"Oh, I'll persuade her," Madison reassured him. "Come on. It'll be fun."
Leo sighed. "I know you mean well, Maddie, but I don't think it's a good time for a party."
Madison wasn't defeated. "It's the perfect time for a party," she insisted. "You guys can't mope around forever. It's time for you to move on."
Leo wasn't sure he could move on from this. Images of Lynn falling to her death haunted his dreams and even his waking hours. He couldn't escape what had happened no matter how hard he tried to. What made Maddie think having a party would change any of it? But Madison was stubborn and would cling to this notion until he gave in no matter what, so he had no choice.
"I'll talk to the others and get back to you," he finally answered.
She squealed ad threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Leo!" she said happily. "You're the best!"
Leo didn't answer because he didn't feel like the best. He still felt horrible for what he'd done despite Madison's reassurances. He knew he would never truly be over it, and the nightmares would continue. It would be branded on him like the scarlet A was branded on Hester Prynne's dress, though his would be branded in his heart and it would say, "Murderer" instead of being a scarlet A.
"So do you want to watch a marathon of Space Heroes?" Madison asked, snapping Leo out of his thoughts as she pointed to the DVD she had.
"Not tonight," he replied. "I told Splinter I wouldn't be out too long." The truth was he didn't feel like watching Space Heroes. Captain Ryan would never have done what he'd done. Not in a million years.
"Well, okay," said Madison. "You'll come back though, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'll come back," he told her.
That cheered her up. "I'm glad," she said. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Okay."
"If you need to talk, you know you can call me any time."
"I will," he promised.
She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips. He let her and tried to enjoy it even though he wanted to pull away and leave. She sensed his reluctance and pulled away, giving him a look of concern. He braced himself for her telltale question of, "Are you okay?" but it didn't come. She kissed his cheek and said, "Be safe, Leo. I love you."
"I love you, too," he said back. Although he was glad Madison still wanted to be with him after what he did, part of him just wished she would end things with him. His eyes fell to the couch where a piece of fabric was laying on one of the arms of the couch. He pointed to it. "What's that?"
Madison followed his gaze. "Oh, that's the scarf I'm knitting," she replied.
"You knit?" he asked her. He always thought that knitting was something elderly people did in their spare time.
She nodded. "My grandma taught me. It's a great stress reliever for me. It could help you, too."
Leo wrinkled his beak. "I don't know about that, Maddie." He could just imagine what his brothers would say if they caught him knitting something.
"Well, I'm sure you'd be good at it," she urged him. "I could teach you now if you want."
Leo shook his head. "Now's not a good time," he replied. "But I'll come over again and you can show me then." Despite the way he felt about knitting, maybe it could help him get over everything.
She smiled. "Yeah, that would be great. Just let me know when you can come and we can start. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay," he answered. "Take care. I love you."
"I love you, too, Leo," she said back.
Leo smiled at her one last time before exiting her apartment and heading home. He felt nothing but joy as he thought of what Madison said to him. She still loved him after all he'd done, and she didn't think he was a cold-blooded killer. But at the same time, he still felt bad for Lynn and her family. Lynn probably didn't want to hurt them at all and was just messing with them. Leo wondered if Robyn had done something to Lynn to make her comply to what she wanted to do. That would definitely be something Robyn would do.
Leo's thoughts were interrupted by a pair of voices yelling in one of the alleyways. Curious as to what was going on, Leo followed the voices until he came to the spot where they were coming from.
"Will you just leave me alone, Casey?" begged a girl who looked to be at least Leo's age or a bit younger.
"No, because your grandma told me you've been sneakin' out again, Angel," the guy called Casey replied.
Leo recognized this guy as the one his brothers had talked about. He wasn't sure what Casey's relationship to this girl was, but he reminded Leo of himself and how he always strived to protect his brothers. Then his eyes spotted a group of Foot Ninjas sneaking down behind Casey and Angel. The Ninjas didn't notice Leo, and that was a good thing. Silently, Leo leapt down and grabbed one of the Ninjas who was sneaking up on Angel. The girl whipped around in surprise as the Ninja fell to the ground. Casey caught wind of what was going on and joined in the fight.
"Well, this is great," he grumbled. "Just what I need right now. Thanks a lot, Angel."
"I had nothing to do with this!" she snapped back. "I don't even know who these guys are."
The fight didn't last long and Casey and Leo defeated the Foot Ninjas. Leo scanned the area for more, but there weren't any.
Casey stuck the weapons he'd sued on the Foot Ninjas in his gear bag. "Nice moves," he commented. "I can't believe there's more of you."
"Only four," Leo told him.
"So you guys fight crime or somethin'?" Casey asked.
"Sort of," Leo replied. "What about you?"
"Yeah, I guess you could call it that," he responded. "It all started after this friend of mine was killed. I wanted to find out who did it and bring them to justice. I never got the chance to do that, but I've always been focused on helpin' others in need and stoppin' crime."
"Well, you might still be able to stop April's killer," Leo said. "We think Robyn's still out there and we're trying to catch her."
"Yeah, your brothers told me about the sister who killed her."
"We were shocked when we found out," Leo told him. "I think you'd be good at helping to catch her, but you need to be careful. You also need to keep that temper of yours in check." At the look of surprise on Casey's face, Leo laughed. "You really did a number on my brother, Raph."
"He told you about that?"
"No, I guessed by his injuries and the way he talked about you. Mikey and Donnie told me about their encounters with you, but all they said was that they met you and that you knew April. Usually, they're pretty open with anything, but they didn't know much about you. Raph was pretty mad though, and if there's one thing I know about Raph, he can stay mad for a long time."
"Yeah, I can see that," Casey admitted.
Leo turned to Angel. "Now, I know you don't want Casey tracking you down, but he's only looking out for you. You should be grateful that Casey cares about you instead of acting like a spoiled brat."
"Stop lecturing me, you freak!" she spat. "And don't you dare say anything against me! You don't know anything!"
"I know that you're rebelling just because you're mad," Leo told her. "You need to accept what's happened and let it go."
Angel gave him the middle finger and said some things that would have gotten her a detention in school. Then she turned and stormed away.
"Angel, get back here!" Casey called, but Angel ignored him. Then he turned to Leo. "Thanks for helpin' me out with those weird guys."
"No problem," Leo said.
"I better go after her and make sure she doesn't get hurt," Casey said. "See you around." He waved at Leo and then turned around and ran in the direction Angel had taken off in.
Leo heard his T-Phone chime and thought it would be another text from A, but it was from Raph.
Leo, get home now It's an emergency.—Raph.
Leo's heart started hammering. Had something happened to Master Splinter? Had something happened to one of his brothers? He texted Raph that he was on his way and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. There was a feeling of dread in his stomach, and he didn't like it one bit.
When he came into the Lair, he found his brothers, Miwa, and Splinter gathered in front of the television. Raph noticed him and motioned for him to join them.
"There's been a new development in the murder case of Lynn Obiero," Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe reported. "An anonymous person just delivered a photograph to the police station that shows who may have murdered Miss Obiero." A picture was shown on the screen, and the Turtles gasped. This was taken the night they'd met Lynn to get answers. It showed Lynn falling and showed a clear shot of all of the Turtles gathered around her and Leo pushing her off. "Police are on the lookout for these people in turtle costumes and feel they may have been responsible for Oyuki Mamishma's death as well."
"That is so not true!" Mikey yelled.
Before anyone could respond, their phones chimed. Leo pulled his out and saw that he had a new text message. Upon opening it, he saw the photo that was on the news and below it was a text.
Your secret's out, freaks. There's nowhere to hide now.—A.
A/N: And so ends another chapter. Yep, now the Turtles are going to have to deal with this now. So how did A get the photo? How will the Turtles get over all of this now that they've been exposed? Stay tuned to find out. In the meantime feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.