Chapter Nine

When he woke up the next morning, the first thing Leo noticed was that Arella was gone. The second thing he noticed was that the early dawn light peeking through the half-open slats of the window blinds made his eyes tear.

Wincing, he pressed a hand to his eyes and rolled over to face the wall. He felt terrible. His body was leaden, and his hands felt strange, like there was a fuzzy piece of cloth wrapped around his fingers, blocking his sense of touch.

Eyelids squeezed to slits, he rubbed his fingers together until, painfully, normal feeling returned. Then he sat up, as slowly as he could, but that still didn't stop his head from lurching like he was on-board a ship in the middle of a storm.

He expected to feel nauseous, but he didn't. Encouraged, he planted his legs on the floor, but it was several minutes before he gathered enough strength to stand. Leo took a look around the room, which wasn't easy - the light was horrible, and it only got worse as the sun continued to rise. He slowly grew used to it, though it still stung and made him squint as he took a few cautious steps.

The takeout boxes were gone, and candles and incense burned and filled the room with a warm fragrance that hid the scent of Arella being sick last night. The finished painting was propped on the chair by the window.

He saw the stain that was giving Arella such a hard time and understood why; it looked like it had imbedded itself permanently into the pores of the wood. It looked blackish-brown; probably spilled paint.

Leo waited a while, but when it became clear that he wasn't going to feel any better anytime soon, he picked up the painting carefully and wobbled down the ladder.

When he reached the ground he took the ladder down and tucked it behind the Dumpster; he didn't want someone finding it and sneaking into Arella's room - or anyone else's, for that matter.

When he stumbled into the den, Raph was sitting on the banister that cut through the center of the stairs, pumping a hand weight. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Well, hi, Raph," Leo said sarcastically. "Nice to see you, too."

Mikey looked up from the bag of chips he was munching on. "Seriously, where've you been? We were worried."

Leo set the painting down on a table and slumped onto the couch. "I was at Arella's."

Mikey bugged his eyes out at him. "You slept at a girl's house all night?"

Leo shot him his darkest look. "She slept somewhere else," he snapped. "And I wouldn't have slept there at all, but..."

Actually, he wasn't sure where Arella had slept. She could have slipped into bed next to him for all he knew; he had been so out he would never have noticed. And he wasn't sure what had happened to him, either. He remembered Arella being sick and trying to comfort her. After that things were fuzzy.

"We had some bad takeout," he said weakly, rubbing his eyes. "Arella puked, and then I passed out. She probably slept at a friend's. I don't know; she wasn't around when I woke up."

"Did you puke, too?" asked Mikey, sounding sympathetic.

"No," Leo murmured, hand pressed to his eyes.

His head was still swimming, his legs still felt like he had rocks strapped to his feet, but his stomach had been fine - until now, that is.

Having never lived anywhere else, at least not for any amount of time worth mentioning, Leo was used to the smell of sewage. The foulest odor, the fumes; he was so used to it all he never noticed. Until today.

Today, as soon as he dropped down below street level, the stench had been like a slap in the face. He had gagged most of the way home, and while the odors were faint in here, he could still smell them.

Mikey was peering at him; Leo glanced at him between his fingers. "You need anything, dude? You look pretty terrible."

"Thanks," Leo said icily.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah, well, help from you turns out to be the exact opposite of help, dude."

For the second time in two days, Mikey retreated from him with a pained look on his face. He hurried up the steps and ladder and was gone. Don was shaking his head. "Seriously, what is your problem? You're acting like a real jerk."

"Takes one to know one," Leo shot back. Even though he couldn't remember the last time Donnie had done something that placed him even remotely in jerk territory.

Don glanced at Raph with a look that read 'Is he serious?' Raph shrugged and walked away.

"You're really pale," Don noted, his concern apparently stronger than his annoyance with Leo's rudeness.

"What's a pale turtle look like?" Leo wondered as he sank to the couch, resting his head on the arm.

"Terrible," said Don, echoing Mikey. "You don't look right at all."

"I'll be fine. Just keep it down. And turn that light off, will you? It's giving me a migraine."

Frowning, Don switched off the lamp he had been reading by and went to sit at his computers. Leo fell asleep after that and didn't wake up until after three in the afternoon.

He still felt fuzzy-headed, but his limbs didn't feel like lead anymore. He got off the couch, stretched, and headed up to the ladder.

"Wait," a gentle voice called.

Leo paused and saw that Splinter was watching him. "Where are you going?"

"To Arella's," Leo said shortly. "You said I could."

He felt his eyes narrow. "You're not going to punish me for arguing with Mikey, are you? News flash: siblings bicker. It's nothing to get your ears in a knot over."

Leo could scarcely believe his own brashness. He never talked to Splinter like this - no one did. Not even Raph when he was as upset as only he could get. Even then, he still respected their sensei. Leo was being anything but respectful right now.

Splinter looked shocked, too. He gave his head a shake. "Something is very wrong with you, my son," he whispered. "I do not know what it is, or what is to blame, but...it frightens me."

"I'm a big boy," Leo grumbled. "I can look after myself."

Without waiting for a response, Leo mounted the ladder and hurried to Arella's. Or at least he tried to hurry; he still felt sluggish, so it took him longer than usual to get there. When he finally reached the alley, he was dismayed to find that the ladder was propped outside one of her windows.

He mounted it in a hurry and looked inside - and felt a surge of red hot anger shoot through him.

Mikey was inside the small apartment, straddling the chair he had moved from its spot by the window as he watched Arella paint. He was munching on a bag of candy and kept offering some to Arella; she kept shaking her head.

Leo vaulted through the window, marched over to his brother and slapped the bag out of his hand. Mikey jumped and stared, mouth open, as candy scattered across the floor like pebbles.

"Two questions," Leo began, through clenched teeth, "one: how the hell did you find this place, and two: what the hell are you doing here?"

"We were just talking," said Mikey, getting off the chair and backing away. He looked uncertain - frightened, even. Good, thought Leo.

"That doesn't answer my first question," he said blackly.

Mikey fidgeted. "I followed you yesterday," he admitted.

Seething, Leo pointed at the window. "Out."

"Hey, I don't have to- "

"Get out!"

"I don't have to go anywhere or do anything you say," Mikey hollered, his fists balling at his sides. "You're starting to act like a total psycho, you know that?"

"Oh? You think I'm not fit to lead anymore or something?"

"Maybe," Mikey said dangerously.

Leo calmly grabbed his brother by the back of his shell and shoved him toward the window; Mikey staggered and fell against the glass, crinkling the blinds in the process. "Feel free to go home and discuss that with the others," he said coldly. "And by that I mean if I ever find you anywhere near here again, I'm going to break your freakin' neck."

Mikey was gawking at him. "Jeez, what is your problem, dude?" He gave his head a shake. "You're really starting to lose it, Leo."

"If I have to say 'get out' one more time..."

"I'm going," Mikey snapped, exiting through the window.

Leo waited until he was gone before slamming the window shut and latching it. He closed each blind in turn, his tired eyes thanking him as the room dimmed. He then turned to Arella, who had been quietly painting the entire time.

"I hope he didn't bug you too much," Leo said as he moved the chair back to where it belonged near the window.

Arella set her paintbrush down and held out her arms, and he went to them gratefully. "He wasn't a bother, but..."

Leo coiled his fingers into her hair as he pressed his cheek against hers. "But?" he pressed grimly.

Arella let out a quiet sigh. "He shouldn't have spoken to you like that, and he shouldn't have followed you yesterday without your consent. I don't believe he respects you at all."

Leo felt something inside him tighten unpleasantly. "No," he agreed in a low voice, "I don't think he does either. I don't think any of them do."

When it came down to it, if Splinter didn't say that he was in charge and his brothers had to listen to him, would they?

He didn't think so. In fact, if Splinter wasn't around, he was pretty sure all three of them would defy him and mock his position every chance they got.

Growling low in his throat, Leo pulled away. "All I can say is that he had damn well better not show his face around here again," he muttered. "And he'd damn well better stay out of my way tonight."

Arella reached a hand out to him, trying to comfort him, but for once he didn't want to be in her arms. The sun was setting, and suddenly he felt oddly energized. There was a fire burning in his veins that he hadn't felt in ages.

"I'm going out for a while," he decided, his eyes on the sky. "I need to blow off some steam."

Arella watched as he unlatched the window, a small frown on her face. "You'll come back later, won't you?"

Smiling now, Leo reached over and touched her face. "Nothing can keep me away from you."