Leo frowned but he stepped back a pace or two, respecting Don's wish. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Mikey glance sharply to the right and put a finger to his mouth. But he didn't really pay that much attention besides making a mental not of the fact. He didn't know what to say, what to do. Part of his was still furious. Part of him was hurt at the treatment he's been given at Donnie's hand. Part of him wants to rush forward to comfort him, so obviously hurting as well, that it instinctively triggered Leo's strong elder brother-fed protective streak. Both sides, he restrained harshly. If he said or did anything it would only drive Don even further into himself. It would drive him even further away from the rest of them.

Donnie didn't say anything for what seemed like a very long time. Leo heard a soft sound of stealthy footsteps behind him, but pair no more attention to it than to register the fact that it was there. When Don spoke at last, Leo almost couldn't hear him, he spoke so softly. It was as though he was speaking to himself. "So tired of everything right now, so tired, Leo. I failed."

His words, soft as they were, was so full of pain, so full of self-hate, that Leo could not just stand back and do nothing. He walked over quickly and put his hands on either shoulder gently. He ignored Don's sudden move as though to jerk away from him. Instead, he tightened his grip, suddenly afraid. Of what, he was not sure. The slenderness of the turtle before came to his attention like it never had before, the paleness of Don's skin. It was like Don was slipping away from them physically as well as emotionally. It was like he was willing himself to die.

"Donnie, you did not fail. You didn't fail at all. You were a good leader, while I was away. I would hate to have found out what could have happened if you were not here."

Donnie jerked away successfully this time, and glared sullenly. "Are you stupid or something? Or are you just sadistic?" He shouted, his tone full of rage and pain. "Yes, I did fail. It was an epic fail. And no pat-comfort fortune cookie little words of wisdom from you or mother hen act from Mikey, He added, with a sudden glare at the orange-clad turtle who was edging over to, if Leo was going to guess, try to smooth things over, "is going to change that! I was a rotten leader! I am a rotten Brother and son! I'm a rotten person. I failed Master Splinter. I failed Mikey. I really failed, boy did I ever failed with Raph!" He seemed to glance at something that was behind Leo for a second, then looked away quickly as though ashamed. "And I failed you, Leo. And here, here is the real kicker. You failed me when you decided you never wanted to come home again!"

Don stormed over to the lab, slamming the door hard behind him. Leo started after him, not really sure what he was going to see next, but was stopped when a hand grabbed his arm before he had taken more than a step or two. Startled, fully expecting to see Mikey when he turned around, he was startled all over again when green, not blue eyes met his inquiring gaze.

"Let him go calm down." Raph said softly, with a shake of his head. "He won't thank you for butting in now, ya know."

Leo felt his tension drop out of him, as weary resignation set in. His shoulders drooped, but he didn't care anymore. "Raph, how did everything get so bad?" Leo asked, lost for the first time in a long, long time. "How did he come to hate himself like this? To hate us like this? How did you, I mean, why did Mikey and you, I mean. Ugh, I need to think!"

"Know what you mean." Raph shrugged, as he crossed his arms before him. Leo didn't mind, Raph wasn't the touchy-feely kind. His idea of showing concern or comfort was to listen and try to fix a problem, not comfort them with shows of affection or words of comfort. "Honestly don't know what to tell ya."

"We kind of went our own ways." Mikey added, as he walked over, with Spike in his hands. His expression was both worried and oddly hopeful. "I, well, Donnie helped me a lot with Cowabunga Carl a lot. And Raph was always off doing his own thing, No offense, Raph."

Raph only shrugged.

"Splinter's been sick a lot, too. We all tried to take care of him, didn't we Raph? But, you know, Don's the doctor, you know?"

"Is that why you and Donnie was working?" Leo asked, startled. "Because Splinter was sick?"

"Yeah, we had to buy medicine and junk. Don said that he still got his job, and wants to try to keep it till he can do better. He wants to stock up a lot, especially the medical supplies…"

"Why should he work at all? We need to get back to shape as a team." Leo protested.

Raph snorted derisively. "Well, Don needs a lot of getting back in shape, that's for sure!"

"He's as quick as ever!" Mikey protested quickly.

"Sure, mentally, I'll grant you that. But physically, he really let himself go."

Leo remembered the bone-thin shoulders and shuddered. "You too cool it." He said quickly. "We had enough drama this evening."

"I say we let him work a little longer." Mikey said thoughtfully, a rare thing for him. "It's not like we don't need the money."

"True. True enough."

"So, well, Mikey continued, rubbing his neck self-consciously. "Don got the short end of the stick, like, a lot, I guess. I never realized it till a little while ago. That's why I was trying to take care of him better. I blame the Carl Job, myself. I got too focused on not getting hurt by brats to notice anything else most of the time!" He added with a sheepish little grin, and the gaze of a mournful puppy dog.

"What did Splinter want you for anyway, Raph?" Leo asked, after the slight pause that followed Mike's last words got too uncomfortable for any of them to bear.

"Well….Let's put it this way." Raph said after another pause, in which he spent most of studying his fingernails with an absent air. "Don will have the chance to get over being angry with you by being angrier with me instead."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked, wondering at Raph's tone. It sounded like he was trying really hard to be happy and excited about something and failing, badly. It made his radar go up, warning him of more drama on the way, and he did not want to hear about any more drama. For a year.

"Splinter is sending me out now."

"Out? What do you mean out?"

"Out like he sent you out, Leo. Geesh."