Chapter 10: Scars of War

a/n

uuuuggggh why are the titles so baaad? Ididn't think the story would be so loooonnngg and I'm ssoooo tired, I just finished this at 2:42 am on a school night….*sobs*

enjoy

OH!

Question from Violet Tiger again! They wanted to know whether or not Raph killed anyone when he was looking for Donnie after Hayate had him kidnapped.

I always left that idea opened, because it was always a question of 'how far do you think he'll go?' to get him back. But, if i had to say , I honestly don't think even Raph would know if he did. He was pretty 'rampaged'' up

gimme more questions please! I like'm!

Scars of war

Leo pulled his head away from the med door. Just like a hour ago, the younger guest was still sitting in there reading the numerous books they had. But also like before, he knew that the food he had left in there would go uneaten.

It had been 4 days

He had to eat sometime.

As much as he just wanted to go in there and TELL the young turtle to eat, he knew it wouldn't work. He had a hard enough time trusting Leo as it is. He knew that from his reaction whenever Leo entered the room, the guest would close whatever he was reading and watch him.

It was almost hurtful to see someone who looked so much like his brother giving him such a untrusting terrified eyes.

He made his way back across the Lair, the weight in his heart deepening at the sight of Don's lab. AT the news he knew would come from there. Leo's hand reached to press against the door of the subway cart, his head poking in, "Don?"

His second youngest brother looked over at him, a welcoming smile on his face, "Hey Leo, how's Mini-Me doing?"

"Still reading, still not eating."

"You should talk to him; he's thin enough as it is."

"If it doesn't work on you, I highly doubt it would work on him." He smiled, his eyes falling ot the familiar green mechanical stick on Don's work bench, "Is that the portal stick? Did you get it to work yet?"

"Not yet, I don't understand why it's not working. I tried rebooting it; I tried putting it back together."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. It was iffy before right?" Leo leaned over Don to look down at the work table. It sure looked normal Then again; he probably wasn't the best person to ask. That' was Don's job. It was one he trusted Don with his life. "It's not like anything wrong him. We'll keep him safe and keep an eye on his lungs." He smiled down to his younger brother, his hand reaching down to rub his shoulder.

Maybe it was their different lifestyles but he couldn't remember the last time he had even gone to Don's lab, other then to drag him out or make sure he was still alive, only to realize he had gone off with Mikey or Raph for a run.

He couldn't remember the last time his younger brother had asked him of anything

"I have faith in you little bro."

(#)(#)(#)#)

Trained as a warrior, Leo was used to spending one moment reading a perfectly good book on feudal japan (or that one he had found on tea ceremonies that he hid deep within his room ) and spending the next moment sucked into an alien world and being forced to live there for a week. So sleep was never an issue for him. But he was never one to fall asleep in random places like Mikey was (or rarely Don). So the fact he woke up with a blanket pulled over him and his head resting on recliners back cushion. Though his neck almost immediately regretted moving he lowered his head back to the cushion

The dull fuzz of static almost lulled Leo right back to sleep, he was lucky to be a almost fully grown adult and not a child. But the blinding light in his eyes also helped enough to burn his retinas. He always wondered why they had such a big TV (he never saw the need for it).

Shell what time was it? Late enough for all the lights to be off (The lights normally stayed on for 23 hours a day, eco-friendly or not, which burnt up a lot of power). He reached for his belt to draw out his shell-cell to light up the screen. 8am? That wasn't so bad. Alteast it was morning, and morning meant breakfast-

A small moan reached his ears, causing him to turn his head. He wasn't sure how he had forgotten the younger interdimmensional houseguest sleeping on the couch. His body was covered in blankets. The only way you could actually tell there was a body in the mess was the light green scalp resting on the pillow and the plastic tube that ran to the nebulizer. Leo could just barely remember laying Donnie on the couch yesterday after his coughing fit. He had given him a list of herbs he used for his medicine and Leo had, in turn, given that list to his Don.

By the time he had gotten back to the young kame, he had already fallen asleep. Leaving Leo with the task of getting the nebulizer out to the living room and covering him up in blankets. Because the young kame didn't even wake up when Raph had gone into his 'I'm gonnna kill him this time' Mikey rants. He had given Mikey permission.

Maybe that's' why he had fallen asleep, Mikey's 'anime' shows always made him fall asleep. it was nice they hadn't tried to drag him to his room.

He could always appreciate that

But he didn't appreciate the kink in his neck.

He let out a small groan before moving over to the couch. His internal stomach clock demanded food, and he knew Little Don hadn't eaten since he had. And he was quite sure if 'Little Don" knew of his inner private nickname for the young kame, that he would certainly have something to say about it (or something to throw at him) but he always told himself that it wasn't NEARLY as bad of a nickname as ' lil' Don (as Mikey loved to refer to him as). The only difference being Mikey's' nickname made him sound like a child rapper and Leos' private nickname was simply endearing)

Leo yawned into the back of his hand before moving around the back of the couch to lean over the back of it, "Come 'on Halfshell its time to get up." he reached out and poked the bundle lightly, "you can't sleep all day, you'll give Mikey ideas. " He poked the bundle again. Yanking on the blue material that just barley stuck out. Switching his fingers to pull on at the barely visible purple mask. He had to remind the kid not to wear it in his sleep. He might choke on –

A small moan came from the bundle drowned down by thick coughs, the blankets shifting around till Donnie's' face found its freedom. The form rising up on his elbows as his eyes struggled to flutter open coughing into the back of his hand before looking in his direction, " M-Morning?"

Oh shell. Leo quickly move around the couch to kneel by the struggling teen, "Hey its alright, stay down, you don't need to get up." his hand going up to rest on the boys shell (He assumed it was his shell) trying to ignore the water tired eyes looking at him with confusion. His free hand brushing up against a burning forehead

"B-But its morning-"

"It's alright, don't worry about it." he pressed a little harder on his shell, till the young kame lowered himself back onto the couch, Though the confusion was still there. Leo looked down to the ground and snatched up the spare blanket from floor and pulling it over the mountain of blankets, "y-you're drowning me Leonardo-"

"Just stay here Half-shell." he smiled lightly. The sound of creaking doors reached him, the sound of a waking lair. But he did his best to ignore it other then giving a quick wave to someone who wished them good morning. Leo thought back to where April had told him where she had left the medicine she had brought. "Stay." he pointed at the confused youth, Leo flipped over the couch and hurried back into the kitchen where Mikey was messing through the cabinets

"Hey Leo! Want pancakes-"

"Not NOW." Leo ran to the white cabinet that housed the 'lesser' of medical supplies'. He pulled it open, where the shell was the cough syrup and fever reducer?! He demanded to himself. A small plastic container caught his sight full of the sickly sweet purple 'ooze' that would ease all the ailments currently troubling the young kame.

Leo jumped back over the couch and twisted open the cap, pouring the liquid into the lid before reaching out and placing his hand back onto the bundle of blankets, though the child's eyes indicated he had never left his sight, "I need you to take this alright?"

"W-why?"

"It'll make you stop coughing, so come on. Bottoms up." he urged lightly, he ran his hand over Don's scalp, helping him raise his head up. Donnie's fingers rose up to take small plastic cup, while giving him a accusing glare and taking off his breathing mask with his free hand, though it was off put by the light brown eyes, and sipped it. Even though his face twisted up , he took all the medicine ( a lot better than Mikey would of) when he was finally done, Don handed the cup back to him before lowering his head back down onto the couch putting the mask back into place, "I-I don't have to get up yet?"

"No just rest." Leo gave him a smile before running his hand back down the pile of blankets. The smell of cooking batter reaching him, It churned his stomach in hunger but he fought it long enough to rub Little Donnie's scalp, a smile on his lips," I'll wake you up later, so I can get you some food."

Don gave him a smile, though his eyes said his true feelings, "Anata wa jōshida." he smiled before lowering his head back onto the couch. Light brown eyes watching him for a moment before they fluttered shut, indicating descent into sleep.

"Smart Shell" Leo pulled the blanket back up his shoulders. He wasn't even sure when little Don had heard that phrase (or translated it) but it was nice to know he wasn't as terrified as he had been) He reached over for the bowl of water (surprisingly forgotten) He reached to take the younger kame mask before resting the cloth on his forehead

Even if he couldn't get the kid home, alteast he could make him more comfortable.

He probably would have went back to sit in the recliner if his stomach didn't absolutely demanded food. He glanced back to the sleeping turtle before moving back up to the kitchen and the promise of baked breakfast.

Splinter never joined them for breakfast (he wasn't sure why). But it was a meal never missed by the four brothers. Not that they missed any meal , (Don usually did if he was busy) but even the purple masked turtle made an appearance, though he was currently guzzling down some fresh coffee he loved so much. The fresh stack of pancakes towering over the paper. Leo wondered how Mikey managed to make so many pancakes with such little batter.

Oh well

Atleast they tasted good.

Leo took a fork from the table and stabbed down a stack of pancakes onto his plate. He could just see Raph reaching for the coffee pot only to have a olive green hand smack it away with a growl. If there was a 'favorite' part of the morning routine' it was seeing Raph trying to tease Donnie out of some coffee. The familiar smell of sweet cooking meat reached him as a plate of bacon was passed over to him, "Thanks Mikey."

'No prob bro, how' Lil Don doing?"

"Probably happy he doesn't' know your name for him." Leo gave him a small smirk before leaning over for the butter, "He's still warm and is coughing pretty bad, but the cough medicine is helping a little bit. "

"So I can watch tv today again?"

"Just don't wake him." Not that Leo thought it would be a problem. Yesterday, after keeping sabbatical over Little Donnie for hours, Leo had gone on to the dojo to train for a minute, but only till the blaring music of "Die Hard" rang through the Lair and sent him running in expecting to see a feudal age turtle freaking out at the massive explosions and guts blowing over the massive screen.

Weirdly enough the young turtle didn't even wake up . Then again he was probably used through sleeping through chaos.

Leo didn't know why he thought that

But he did.

He dug his fork into the pancake to cut off pieces before looking back to his coffee deprived brother. His head resting on his forearms and raising his lips up to sip the caffeine elixir free. But his search for caffeine sent his plate clean of all food.

AGAIN.

Leo popped a piece into his mouth before stabbing the stacks of pancakes and shoving them onto his plate, "Eat Don, it'll give you more energy than that coffee will."

"Experience proves otherwise , "But Don rose his head to smile over his forearm, "It does look good though that does smell good."

"Course its good!" Mikey smirked, Leo was unsure why Mikey always used 2 bottles of whipped cream on his pancakes, but he seem to like it, "I made it the same way I make anything."

"Galleons of sugar?"

"Galleons of OTHER things, I made enough for little buddy if he's willing to eat something other than rice."

"Thanks Mikey." Leo turned back to his stack. It was almost half done but he found himself glancing back over to the couch. But he had no doubt the younger kame would still be asleep. His fingers reached across the table to touch Don's arm, (halfway to stuffing a pancake into his mouth), "Why didn't you tell me you had a asthma attack last night?"

Dons' arm froze in mid 'biting' position. The movement at the table all but ceasing (Raph even stopped in mid headslap to his Mikeys' head), Don's eyes met his for a moment. Almost pleading with him, but Leo kept his gaze hard, but kept the grip he had on Don's wrist soft, till a soft breath left his lips in defeat, "It just wasn't a big deal bro. I was fine afterwards,"

"But you DIDN'T tell me. We had a agreement." he could just see Raph's fist rest on the table, almost a warning but Leo knew nothing would happen. He had learned his lesson from last night, "You can go out alone to get your tools, but you have to tell me when you have an asthma attack. Every attack, you promised so I know something happened."

Don sighed again. Leo always though that all his brother s were the same size (Raph was just a bit taller and more muscular then the others and Mikey and Donnie were just a bit shorter than the rest. And Don was always the lightest) but right now his brother never looked smaller. It sent his heart hammering in his chest, struggling to keep his grip soft and his tone calm. He didn't want to send Raph punching him in the face, "It-it really wasn't bad. There was a skirmish."

"With who?"

"Purple dragons."

Purple Dragons. That could have been worse, he almost was afraid that the Foot clan had broken their truce, "What happened?"

"WE took care of them pretty easy but we got separated for a bit. I guess I might of irritated something."

"That's when you had your asthma attack."

"I tried to use my inhaler but I must of dropped it in the fight. But Raph was right there after that with the inhaler he carries. So I was fine, I didn't think it was that big of a deal-"

"Did you ever find your inhaler?"

Don's head ducked down again. That alone told Leo everything . Why he really hadn't told him the truth

"I found it on the floor of the garage when we got back. "His tone so soft that Leo knew he was almost hoping he wouldn't hear him. But he did. He heard, he could just see Raph and Mikey still looking at Leo. Mikey with his worried expression, Raph with his glare, his 'daring' glare.

But Leo knew what he had to do, what was HIS responsibility as a leader.

What he didn't want to do

"3 days, no patrol."

Don's head bowed down again, but he nodded ever so softly, "Understood ." he stood from the table. Just barely one pancake was eaten, leaving a massive perfectly buttered stack on the table. Only the coffee mug and pot disappearing with him.

The door to Don's lab had barely closed before the sound of scraping chair followed. Leo barely had time to turn his head before a hand shoved his shoulder hard. His chair flipping back and sent him flying to the ground with the cracking of wood. Leo's head hitting the ground and sent disoriented colors into his sight. A dark shadow falling over him

""you just love playing God don't' ya Leo?! Can't get through the day unless you have a taste of 'power' you fearless bastard-"

"STOP IT RAPH!" Mikey suddenly over him, "It's not funny-"

"I'm not TRYING to be funny, he just LOVES finding excuse to make Donnie stay underground , it won't be too much longer before he finds reasons for YOU to stay here-"

"You're just being stupid-"

"Oh really!? Aint that YOUR job-" Raph's words suddenly cut off. Leo wasn't sure what had shut him up , but he turned his aching head back towards the living room.

He wasn't' sure at what point the young turtle had woken up. But all he knew was that right then Little Don was sitting up and staring right at them. Eyes having regained some of their lucidity and all that remained was the horror in them.

Leo looked back in time to see Raph suddenly back up a step, amber eyes meeting his for a moment, a almost disgusted snarl going across his face. But Leo knew better than to think that Raph was disgusted with him. He knew Raph was disgusted with himself if only because he had drawn such a horrified look from someone so young. Someone who so resembled the very brother Raph was trying to defend

"Drop Dead Fearless."

The tallest turtle stormed away, the door to the garage slamming behind him. Leo let his head fall back to the ground for a moment. A breath escaping his lips before he rolled over and climbed back up to his feet. He felt a hand grab his shoulder, "You ok big bro?"

It was almost painful to know his youngest brother was so worried about him. It wasn't Mikey's' job to worry about him, it was Leos' job to make sure his brothers were safe. That they were happy, even if it wasn't with him.

It was the price he paid as leader,

Leo put a smile on his face long enough to smile to Mikey, reaching his hand up to go over his brothers , "Yeah I'm fine, Raph's done worse in his temper tantrums."

"Don's not mad at you man-"

"I know but he's not happy with me either." Leo glanced back to the young turtle on the couch, before looking back to Mikey," I'm going to go meditate, can you watch out for Little Don?"

Despite the frown on Mikey's face, he nodded. Leo gave him a grateful smile before looking back to the couch. He gave Little Donnie a small wave before walking away. Heading to the one place he could focus and think without threat of drama or sadness. The dojo door closing after him.

The emptiness of the dojo always embraced him.

It never rejected him

The dojo was already pitch black, his candles he used for meditation were in his room and he didn't want to go them, he didn't want to risk going by his brothers again. The old of the room bit into his skin, but he ignored it as he sat down on the floor, legs crossed and hands on his knees, taking deep breaths.

A light cough interrupted his descent. He wasn't even sure he had heard it till the cough came again, though smothered it was still there. Leo opened his eyes, even in the darkness he could see the thin form standing in the doorway, The light illuminating his shape. Leo didn't realize how much the clothes had hung off his body till now. Little Don's hands gripping the other, mask tied back around worried eyes that weren't' nearly as 'tired' as they had been.

A thought entered Leo's head to ignore him and hope he went back to couch, maybe Mikey would get him to eat. But instead he sighed, turning back to look at him as he rose back to his feet, giving the young turtle a smile," What are you doing in here buddy? You should be resting."

"I-I was b-but I was worried about you."

"I'm a big turtle, you don't have to worry about me, go back to the living room."

A small frown went across Little Donnie's face but it wasn't' in confusion so much as in irritation, "You hit your head, you're NOT alright so let me loo-look at it."

It was probably the longest sentence he had heard THIS Don say. And it was the first time the little kame had actually demanded something. Though his eyes screamed the politeness his voice had lacked, "Ok you can look." he wasn't sure if it was just to make the kid feel better. But it seemed to make Little Don feel better, the boy walking over and reaching up, a hand pressing hand on Leo's shoulder indication for him to kneel down. Leo could help but roll his eyes but did as he was told. Luckily the tatami floors were soft under his kneepads. He put his hands to his lap. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Little Don kneel by him, hands moving up to his mask to loosen the knot behind his skull and let the material fall around his neck. Hands moving his head around, Leo wasn't sure why but he had to fight the urge to laugh, his fingers reached to poke Little Don in the knee, only to have the hand moving his head around smack his hand away, "Shinai." before moving his head back around again to peer into his eyes, finally releasing his head, "You're ok. You didn't get hit too bad."

"I could of told you that."

"But I'm a I-sha so that makes it official." There was a small satisfied smile on his face. Leo could have sworn that the little turtle had even sighed with relief. Leo smiled but he pushed it from his face ,moving back to sit lotus style, "You should go back to the Living room now. I'm fine." he closed his eyes, hoping to 'finalize; his words. But he didn't hear the sound of footsteps leaving, instead a small cough reached his ears, smothered by a hand but not escaping his senses, a sigh escaped his lips but he kept his eyes shut, 'Go back and put on the nebulizer."

"I-I don't want to. Y-You're the one who said I-I need to g-get u-used to the air."

"I don't' want you to get sick to do so Halfshell."

"And I don't want to leave you."

Leo squeezed his hands lightly before opening his eyes again, looking to the young kame at his side, who had wrapped his arms around himself in response to the cold. He knew he could very easily of just carried Little Donnie out of the room against his will (he had done so to his own Donnie a few times). But he didn't want to disrespect the turtle. Instead he allowed a last sigh to escape his lips, but replaced it with a smile, "Do you meditate?"

"I know what it is, my mother thought fighting was the best meditation. MY teacher meditated to help with his anger. But I can sit here quietly if I can't."

A small laugh escaped Leo's lips; he reached his hand out to rub the young kame's scalp before settling back into a sitting position. Little Don copying his position, glancing back at Leo to make sure that he copying his position. Leo couldn't help but notice the small shivers still running over little Donnie's arms. HE settled back into his body closing his eyes. A bandaged hand touched his lightly, not in a stroking manner but squeezing it ever so lightly before releasing it.

(#)(#)(#)(#)

Leo wasn't sure how long he had been meditating, but it was long enough to feel the cold of the dojo fade from his skin along with the small throbbing of his scalp. His breath becoming his focus. But slowly a presence touched his, not a spiritual one, not like the ones Splinter would do when they were meditating together in an attempt to encourage his spiritual presence. But this was a physical one. It almost irritated one, not till a sound reached his ears that dragged him from his state

Whimpering

"Halfshell?!" Leo all but threw himself out of the spiritual state ( a quicker path then his normal descent.

He turned to the kame sitting next to him, when he had last stolen a glance to check on him, the young turtle had had a frown on his face. A similar one to what his Donnie would have when trying to meditate himself. But the young turtles lotus style had all but fallen. He hadn't even heard the young kame fall on his side or curl up into a little ball, shivering overtaking his body matching the shakes of a seizure, arms hugging himself so tightly that his fingers were digging into his forearms.

"Donnie!?" he called, hoping to wake the kame up, but he quickly moved over to this side, "Donatello!?" Leos' hand catching Donnie shoulders

A tortured scream tore from the kame, a fist met Leos' face, pain exploding from his jaw but nowhere near a force that would do anything more than bruise. The scream doing more heart wrenching pain then actual punch. Leo grabbed his other arm , but hand shot out again this time Leos' fist caught the fist in time, pressing it against the young Kame's chest. Pressing his palm against Don's face, his skin ice and almost painful to touch, "DON!" he shouted louder, shaking him a bit harder.

Light brown eyes shot open pained shooting around like a rabbit on adrenaline, searching the room for some sort of attacker or perp. The eyes fell on him, panicked and blood shot like a rabid animal. Leo knew a chokehold would send the boy into a painless slumber-

Arms suddenly flew around his neck, Leos' body shot into adrenaline, tightening with a defensive tight muscles earned from many fights. His hands braced against the ground and digging into the tatami floors. Then it began

The small form with his arms around his neck began to shake. Strangled sobs began to burst from the turtle clinging to him. Warm tears running against his plastrons," Watashi wa zan'nendatta, to nobetaga, shikashi, karera wa hitori de watashi o hanareru koto wanai. Samu-sa ni, watashi-

Leo was ashamed on how long it took for him to react. He released the ground to wrap his arms around the child, wrapping him up in his arms, "H-Halfshell calm down, I –I don't know what you're' saying, you're talking too fast." he whispered above Don's sobbing, "Whats wrong? What happened?"

But it was clear Donnie was too wrapped up in his sobbing. Leo could only sigh, raising his hand to rest on the back of his scalp shushing him. He could feel Donnie's fingers wrap around the back of his mask. Leo shushed him lightly before hugging him tighter.

He hadn't realized how cold Don had gotten before he held had held him. It had even sank into the boys clothes and into his skin. Leos hand reached to the back of Donnie's shirt pulling out the hood and yanking it up over his scalp. If only to help the warmth seep to his bones. His arms rubbing up and down Don's arms.

Cold

He knew that word.

Slowly the sobs began to soften; the shaking began to fade away, till the boy turned limp. Though the arms remained tight around his neck, He ran his hand back over the back of Donnie's scalp, "Halfshell? do youwant to talk to me?"

"n-nashi."

"I need English here buddy, please." his Japanese was weaker then it had been. He needed to practice more practice, "What happened? I need words here."

"I-I c-can't."

"Yeah you can, those were words." How often had he had this same conversation with Mikey? It is all about being gentle, encouraging. Coaxing a child out of a nightmare, "I need more of them though, I need to know what happened."

A strangled sob left Donnie's lips, the fingers tightening around his trails, "C-co-cold."

"Cold? Are you still cold ?"

"B-B-Bad th-thins h-ha-happ-happens in the c-cold."

"You're not cold anymore though, so nothings bad's going to happen. Right?" he asked softly, his hand going back up to rub the back of his scalp, "That means you're safe."

The breathing began to soften, the head turned back to look up at him. Tears still streaming down his face like blood from a fresh wound.

Leo could still remember when he and his brothers had begun going to the surface. When he had first started fighting the Shredder, the blackouts that would follow, his brothers would tell him of the screams that had occurred. The fear in the eyes of his younger brother, the sight of the oldest crippling psyche

He knew this reaction.

Stress triggers.

Trauma.

And it wasn't the first time Leo had thought the younger Don had experienced trauma. Those scars on his arms had screamed that tenfold,

It terrified him to think about who had done it

It was something he needed to know, the thought of it made his arms wrap tighter around the young turtle, "Halfshell."

"Y-Yeah?"
"I-I ,I need to know who hurt you." his voice remained soft, grateful that Don's harsh breathing had softened, but the last thing he wanted to do was to send the younger into panic, "Did your family hurt you-"

"No!" Don almost jerked out of his arms, eyes wide, "My family never hurt me!"

"Don-"

"They wouldn't ! My family loves me! My Mom, my Kuma-ni, my brothers , even my uncle l-loves me. "his voice cracking head shaking, "Th-they tried to pr-pr-protect me. th-ey tried-"

"Ok ok I'm sorry. I believe you. I believe you. I believe you buddy." he leaned over to rest his forehead against Don's scalp, "I didn't mean to say that." He felt Don lean into his hug, much like on that night he had found the little kame freezing in the sewers the grip on his mask tails finally loosening his arms pulled to his chest. Leo watched Dons hands take Leo's, though his arm stayed wrapped around his shell, he pressed his thumbs into the palm of Leo's free hand for a few moments as though testing something, but his hands dropped his. Returning to his chest, Leo's free hand returning to wrap around the kids front. Maybe he should just drop the-

"H-he was someone I tr-trusted." Dons sleeve shot up to wipe his eyes, though the tears still remained, "H-he got me locked up in a ce-cell. It-It was-was cold. It was always cold."

"Why did they lock you up Halfshell?" a noticeable shiver went through his charge. A beak returned to his shoulder

"I-I don't want to talk about it, o-ok?"

"That's ok." Leo nodded, resting his head down to rest against his again. Though he felt a familiar pain down his back, "You know this scar? The one on my shell?"

"Yeah?"

"Someone I trusted gave me that. I thought she had honor, I thought a lot of things about her, but I was wrong." He drew a hand away to reach over his shoulder, his fingers brushing into the deep scar in his shell, "I had nightmares about it for weeks, months. I wasn't even myself; I was a pretty much a jerk. To put it kindly, " he gave the younger a smile

"My-My Kuma-ni h-has a scar like that."

"How'd he get it?"

"S-savng me, i-its what he does best."

"Its what all big brothers do best. Am I 'Kuma-ni'?"

"N-No No, that's Raph. He's Kuma-ni."

"I don't get a cool nickname? Is other me that uptight?"

"No. "Donnie laughed softly" I didn't even know you for a long time. You're Aniki. Usagi's just 'Big brother."

"You gotta tell me that story sometime." Leo wasn't slow but it took longer than it should to realize what Don had said, his head lowering down to look at him "Usagi's your brother?"

"A-adopted, we s-sorta adopted each other, where's he here?"

"He sorta in his own world, but he's like my brother."

"Raph calls you two the 'honor twins.'"

"Fitting." Leo smiled down to the young kame, the streams having finally stopped running down his face. The shaking all but gone from his skin, though he had a feeling the younger turtle was still cold. The distant stare that had been plaguing his eyes was gone. A small shy smile taking its place. "Do you feel better?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm-I'm not cold anymore."

"That's good." his arms squeezed him a bit tighter, "Do you want to get out of here? I don't want you to have another trigger."

Dons eyes widen. Suddenly pulling free of Leos arms and standing up, making a few steps back away from him head bowing down to his chest. Leo was quickly back to the feet, "Donnie-"but his feet kept him firmly in place incase the younger tried to run for the door. Had he said something? What had happened- (it could be said he was confused)

"They're going to know I was crying."

Leo knew that Don was a doctor; he knew Donnie had treated hundreds of people before he was even 10. But when Donnie looked up to him, eyes bloodshot and face pale from crying for so long he was reminded of a simple fact. That years of being a I-sha hadn't' changed.

He was still just a kid.

HE closed the gap between them, his footsteps slow and his heart relieved when Donnie dint take off running in the other direction. Leo took a hold of Don's elbow, his free hand moving his wrist band up ever so lightly before raising it up, wiping his face and draining the streams from his face. Despite the way Don's face had scrunched up to glare at him meekly, he allowed another smile to grow across his face

"You'll be just fine Halfshell."

(#)(#)(#)(#)

"Leo why do you have that space heater?"

Leo looked back to his orange masked brother, he smiled to him and held up the portable heating box that Donnie had mass produced, " Its cold in my room, I thought it might be better to keep it warm so Little Donnie doesn't get sicker." Even in the summers the sewers got too cold sometimes. And after hearing about Don's 'cold triggers' he had decided ti was better to stay safe than sorry. He didn't like the idea of waking up in the middle of the night with Donnie stuck in another trance. It was better to be safe than sorry.

That didn't mean he was going to worry his brothers.

"Little guy still not feeling good? That why you were herding him to your room?"

"Yeah, he was coughing pretty hard before, he needed to sleep some more."
"He didn't eat yet."

"I'll get him some food later, when he wakes up." he glanced back to Mikey. His normally bright light blue eyes were darker, a clear sign of a worried Mikey (And a worried Mikey was never a good thing) , "What's up baby bro?"

"They talked about that crater Little Don made on the news again. "

"Haven't they been doing that all week?"

"Yeah but they had a certain 'government official' refuse to comment."

Leo paused, looking back to Mikey, "Can I guess who it was?"

"if it takes you more then one guess, then I get pizza tonight."

Not that Leo needed it. There was only one Agent that he could think of, and honest he almost wished it was that bumbling agent from 'Get Smart.' All he could do was sigh, "Bishop."

"I think he's the one leading the investigation. And we both know how his investigations go, I.E fake invasions, clones, dadnapping, pretty much anything on the black list."

"I know what he does bro," When they had gotten Little Donnie home, he had made sure someone was watching the news at all times to keep their eyes open for any report on Little Dons' 'magic' crater. Gratefully the initial report had said it had just been a street collapse.

Guess their luck hadn't been to good.

Leo knew he had been expecting too much

And he knew what the had to do

"What now bro?"

"We're locking down patrols' for a while, no surface activity. We have plenty of food and supplies, Casey and April can still come visit. I have someone on the surface who can keep an eye out for Bishop."

"Pizza?"

"We can still get pizza," Leo rolled his eyes lightly before reaching out, pushing on his younger brothers scalp. it was nice to know Mikey still had his back , he knew that if he needed Donnie or Raph they would be there. But he wanted to give Don his space. and He didn't want to risk getting his face smashed in by Raph.

"So who's this 'informant' you keep talking about?"

"Just someone I know."

"Is it that military friend you have?"

"Yeah." Leo turned back to his room before giving Mikey a small wave, "I"ll be back, I want to get this set up."

"I cant promise to save you any pizza!"

"You just said pizza 3 times within the same 2 minute conversation man. You have a problem." Leo turned and pointed at him with a small glare though his lips gave away his smile. He didn't mention that his military friend was out visiting a friend in the country. He didn't mention sneaking out that morning and stealing away to the rooftops. Meeting a familiar face dressed in black robe. The words between them only solidifying the truce that existed in between their clans.

Karai promised to keep an eye out on Bishops activities. Just before returning to their separate worlds, Leo could still remember her words, whispering after him though her form long since disappeared,

"You must of found something important, to ask for my assistance."

But he had knew bait when he heard it, a way for Karai to find out the cause behind such a massive street collapse.

So he left for the shadows to disappear into the night.

But she still kept her promise.

He didn't expect anything less from her.

Leo slid back into his room, moving to plug in the space heater . his room had never been cold but he didn't want to risk one of Don's 'triggers'. He glanced back to room to see the steady rise and fall of Little Don's sleeping chest. The faint hiss of nebulizer indicating clean deep breaths that made Leo himself breath better. He moved over to the side of the bed long enough to run his fingers back over the kids scalp. The heat was still there, but the fact that Don had felt well enough to follow him into the dojo was enough to tell him he was feeling better. That alone made a smile crawl across his face as eh took Don's blanket to pull further up his shoulders. HE had to steer clear of grabbing him by the wrists too. That was another trigger he had to remember.

HE could faintly hear the echo of Mikey's voice against the wall of his bed room. Yelling for the gathering of brothers and fathers for pizza. It wouldn't take long for the rest of their family to join them. Honestly his stomach was growling hard enough to urge him after them. But he knew he could always get some slices later, honestly after that morning he didn't feel like he had earned the right to eat with them.

Leo lowered himself down to sit on the edge of his bed, elbows resting on his knees when he glanced back to the sleeping turtle. His fingers reached out ot run over his scalp again. Though he only let his fingers linger for a moment before drawing them away

He didn't deserve that kid's trust.

(#)(#)(#)(#)

"the portal sticks still not working is it?"

Leo hadn't meant to scare his younger brother, but judging by the way Don had almost jumped out of his desk seat, screw driver in hand, his brothers brown eyes blinking in a wide range of 'waking up' till they finlly accepted clarity. With that, a sigh left Don's lips, a shaky smile as he sat right back in his chair. "Dang it Leo you scared the crap out of me-"

"Is the portal stick wrokign onr not" he reliterated

"Seriously, I could of stabbed you, or rather, 'screwed' you-"

"DON answer the question."

But his brother's eyes, torn and guilt filled said it all

"I'm sorry Leo."

"I know, I Know you're working hard on it Don." He could never assume that Don did anything less than 100% or above. There were times when Donnie was scared Don would work himself to death. Leo glanced back to his room, he had been out here to check Don's progress every day since the younger kame had gotten there. He hated to think he was stressing out his younger brother, Leo's fingers catching Dons for a moment, "The medicines not helping him too much Donnie. I think he's getting worse, he needs HIS both know that."

He didn't kown what was worse, giving the younger version of his brother medicine he knew wasn't helping him, or knowing there was medicine that could help him, that could end his ailment, but knowing none of those ingrediants existedin this world.

Knowing he was getting worse by the day.

Knowing nothing he was doing was helping him

," I was thinking, I know it's a long shot but maybe we can try Usagi's' spell to get to the Battle Nexus, the Daimyo can help."

'"I don't think so"

"Why? He helped us before, and we're on good terms. Little Dons just a kid, he wont just let him stay here-"

"Leo." A hand grabbed his, Dons' brown eyes bearing into his desperately, pleadingly. Leo had only seen that look on his face one other time. He looked back to the couch to ensure the kid was still asleep before looking back to his brother, a nod giving him permission to continue. His brother taking a deep breath, head bowed for a moment and hand tightening, "Leo I tried the spell. Me And Raph both worked on it all night. But the spell WONT open the portal. We tried rewriting it, we tried everything we could think of but I don't think that this is a coincidence that the portal stick or the spell won't work." Leo never claimed to be psychic. But he knew exactly what Donnie was trying to say

"the portals are all closed off."

Translations:

Anata wa jōshida: You're the boss

Shinai; Don't

Kare o karera wa, kakatta. Watashi no otōto, karera ga hanarete iku yō

Watashi wa zan'nendatta to nobe, watashi wa zan'nendeshita mōshiwake arimasendeshita, soreha, soreha, totemo tsumetai samukattashi- I said I was sorry, but-but they never leave me alone. Cold, I

N-nashi- no