So, yeah. It's been a while. My life has been crazy stressful since May. In that time I had a new nephew adopted by my brother and sister-in-law, spent a month out west, moved to Nevada, and started a new job. Right now I only have internet access on my Ipad, which makes writing a pain, and my new job keeps me crazy busy. So, while this is not the best chapter I've ever written, I do you enjoy it as it is setting things up for more action to come.

After two days of looking after Leo, Raphael came to the conclusion that the sickroom was well outside his comfort zone, even a sickroom as odd as this one. For one, the room was more like a fairy garden than a hospital room. According to the strange little doctor in charge of Leo's care, all the plants served some sort of medical purpose, from cleaning the air to providing the necessary antibiotics necessary for Leo's recovery. More than that, however, was how still Leo was. Raphael wasn't used to seeing his brother so motionless. Raphael knew from the many nights Leo had sought comfort from his nightmares that the oldest turtle did not sleep with such stillness.

By the third day, Raphael knew something wasn't right. No one had said anything, but there was a certain tension in the way Donatello hovered over Leo, and the increased presence of the little winged doctor. Leo was truly in a fight for his life, and there was nothing Raphael could do to help. He wasn't even sure just what was wrong. Finally he pulled Donatello aside and demanded some answers.

"You're right," Donatello admitted. "Leo's sicker than he ought to be, and we're not sure why. His brain scans indicate a lot more activity than ought to be present. Maggie and I have done everything we can, run every test we can think of, and we have nothing conclusive. We can't find any sign of infection, the poison and drugs from the original wounds have all but cleared out of his system, and his other injuries are well on their way to being healed. He should be waking, and he hasn't."

"So, what do we do," Raphael asked.

"What we've been doing," his brother replied. "Waiting and hoping; the rest is up to Leo. This is his fight to win."

TMNT

Donatello's words couldn't have been truer; Leo was indeed fighting for his life. At least, Shadowblade was fighting for their life. The warrior part of the oldest turtle was doing what he did best: fighting to protect Leo from the darkness trying to encroach once more upon his mind. Each of Leo's "personalities" had a role to play in their survival. It wasn't that Leo was schizophrenic; he wasn't crazy, but more that he allowed certain parts of his personality to step forward as needed to shield him from the horrors he faced at the hands of his master. Shadowblade was the soldier, the one willing to make the difficult choices. He could, and had, killed in order to stay alive. He knew how to follow orders, and how to get around following orders.

On the other hand, Shadow represented Leo's innocence. What some might see as weakness was, in truth, a childlike mental and emotional flexibility. Shadowblade had kept them alive, but Shadow had kept them sane. Like a child, Shadow was submissive, meek, and willing to submit to whatsoever his master had inflicted upon him. That mental and emotional suppleness meant that while he was bent and strained to the breaking point, he didn't actually break. And like a child, under the care of his brothers, he'd been able to begin healing.

The final part of the puzzle that had kept Leo alive was Leo himself. It was Leo that provided the balance between Shadow and Shadowblade. Total control by one or the other would have resulted in their destruction. Without Shadowblade's strength, Shadow would have broken, and without Shadow's innocence, Shadowblade would have given into the bloodlust his master tried to instill in him. But it was Leo that maintained the fragile equilibrium between the two.

Right now, Leo was allowing Shadowblade to take the lead, as he had since the attack by the Hunters the other night. However, this was a far different kind of battle. Unlike that night, this was strictly a mental battle of wills. Unbeknownst to any of them, in addition to the poison that had attacked his brain, those blasted knives had been coated in substance meant to leave the victim vulnerable to mental attack. It was what they used on new trainees as part of the bonding process, as it stripped unbounded minds of their mental walls and emotional shields. If Leo had truly been a Drudge as his master had intended, the drug would have caused intense mental agony by inflaming his raw and broken bond. He'd have been begging his unexpected mental invader to bond with him. He'd have given this potential new master anything he wanted to put an end to the pain. However, Leo wasn't unbonded, and so the drug merely allowed the merest sliver of an opening in his mental defenses. If Leo wasn't otherwise hurt, it wouldn't have been an issue. But as his body was busy healing, it gave the Chi'Tarri all the opening he needed to try and override Leo's bond with his brothers.

"So, thou hast found a replacement bond," the cold voice whispered in his mind. "No matter. I wilt have thee as mine."

"Not in this lifetime," Shadowblade hissed back. "What I have found here is unbreakable."

"No bond is unbreakable, drudge," the invader told him. "These Terrans are as weak-minded as thou wert when we claimed thee. It will no matter to shatter the pathetic bond thou hast formed with them and claim thy mind for my own. Thy former master was too soft of thee. Thou wilt bend to my will, and I will own thee completely."

"I think not," Shadowblade responded. "I'm not the lost child I was when you first stole me away. I have found myself, and my family. Unlike before, I have something to fight for; something far more important than myself. That gives me a strength you can't begin to understand."

"Family? Bah! They are only a weakness that wilt destroy thee," the Chi'Tarri disparaged.

"You don't know my brothers," Leo replied. "And you certainly don't know me. Now, get the shell out of my head!" And with that he threw himself at the mental invader with all the fervor he'd displayed in his physical battle several nights before. It quickly became obvious the Chi'Tarri was outclassed, and had no hope of defeating his desired conquest.

"The battle is thine," he hissed. "But no matter. This war has only begun, Traitor, so take care. We are coming for thee. There is nowhere thou canst go to escape our vengeance." And with that, he was gone.

TMNT

With a gasp, Leo sat straight up, startling his brothers. Ignoring their startled cries and questions regarding his well-being he said, "Tell Bishop the Chi'Tarri are on their way."

"Correction," the human said, entering the sick room un-announced. "The Chi'Tarri are here."

So Leo is now awake, but the bad guys are on the doorstep. We still have to deal with all the emotional baggage from the previous chapters, plus the threat of the Chi'Tarri. Oh, and I'm beginning to figure out how my Blended Family universe is going to intersect with this one. Please have patience, though. I will work as fast as I can, but RL is kinda crappy right now so it might take me a while.