The old turtle luck running true to form.

Leonardo could tell by the expression on Raphael's face that he was thinking exactly that as the group of defeated ninjas walked back home through the sewers. Not a word was spoken between the brothers. They marched side by side in a silence that was broken only by the steady drip of water in the underground tunnels.

As if dealing with the Purple Dragons wasn't enough, the Mob had also decided that tonight would be a good night to cause some trouble. The turtles had started out stalking a group of Purple Dragons, who had been raiding a jewelry store and finished breaking up one of the Mob's underhanded business deals downtown.

Both times Leo had devised a perfect plan and both times, Raph had defied him. As always, the red-banded turtle had decided to do things his way and jumped into the fray of criminals with both feet. Without thinking, Leo had yelled at his brother to wait, instantly blowing their cover, and then jumped down after him. Don and Mikey had followed to lend a hand and try to prevent their older brothers from getting hurt.

No one had, thank goodness. They all escaped relatively unscathed. A few new purpling bruises dotted their green-hued skin. The four had done their best to thwart the bad guys' evil plans. Although their efforts had stopped the Dragons and the Mob from successfully completing their illegal activities, they had ended up getting their shells handed to them. Once sirens began to wail the warning of approaching police, the villains and vigilantes had scattered.

Out of sight high up on the rooftops, Leonardo had confronted his temperamental sibling. Another perfect plan had gone down in flames simply because of Raphael's failure to listen. Of course, Raphael didn't like to be told that he was the reason they had lost their battles. Mid-lecture, he had taken a swing at Leonardo and just like that, another fight between them had ensued. They tussled, kicking up the dirt that had settled over the tar-covered roof. For several minutes as Donatello and Michelangelo watched, neither one willing to intervene for fear of getting involved.

Leo couldn't say for sure what ended the fight. It stopped abruptly when Raph had shoved him away. Completely winded, the blue and red turtles had stood glaring at each other while they tried to regain their breathing. To Leo's great surprise, Raph had obeyed the order to return to the lair. Now, the only thing Leo had to look forward to was facing the wrath of his father, Master Splinter, for what had happened tonight.

As they trudged home, Leo used the time to reflect on Raph's attitude. Lately, Raph's ideas had been getting out of hand. His actions were reckless and his temper more hair-triggered than ever. Fights between them were occurring with increasing frequency and escalating harm. Even Don and Mike could see the changes in Raph. They wisely stayed out of the fights, only stepping in if absolutely necessary.

When the four brothers stumbled into the lair, Master Splinter was waiting for them. It didn't matter that he was a brave and battle-trained ninja: whenever Leo saw his father angry, he felt a tremor of fear race down his spine. His heart began to hammer as Splinter beckoned him forward, no doubt to demand an explanation for their defeated state. Swallowing his nerves, Leo followed Splinter into his private room.

Already, Leo felt like everything was his fault. He couldn't stop Raph from doing what he did. No one could. it seemed. Yet, his father was making sure that he felt the weight of that responsibility.

"What happened?" Master Splinter had asked simply, but with harshness in his voice.

Leo stumbled through a hasty explanation of the night's events.

"Master, I tried everything I could, but Raph wouldn't listen to me." Leo finished with a lame excuse.

"You must learn to stand up to him and get him to listen," Splinter scolded, his nose twitching with anger. "That is one of your duties as a leader."

"I do try, but he just doesn't want to listen. He wants to do things his own way."

Splinter wasn't the least bit satisfied with that response. He spent the next several minutes reprimanding Leo then let him go with the order that he send Raph in. Leo left Splinter's room feeling very down on himself that he couldn't have been a better leader tonight.

He immediately sought out Raph in the dojo. The big turtle was releasing his anger on the battered punching bag. His ferocious punches caused some of the sand that filled the bag to leak out and fall to the floor. Leo didn't get too close, as he didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Raph's punches.

"Raph," Leo spoke loudly enough so his brother would hear him.

"What, Fearless?!" Raph growled loudly without slowing his motions.

"Master Splinter wants to talk to you."

"Great! Just great. First it's you, and now you have to drag Master Splinter into this!" Raph snapped, increasing the speed of his punches.

"These fights have been getting us nowhere, Raph. You have to get your temper under control on our patrols. It could get us all into trouble some day." Leo stated in his defense.

"I could do just fine without you screwing me up! You don't have to tell me what to do! I'm not a kid anymore!"

"With this behavior, you sure do act like one!"

"Just leave me alone!"

Raph finally stopped hitting the punching bag and turned to go talk to Splinter. He made sure to hit Leo in the left shoulder as he passed by. Turning, Leo glared at the back of his brother's scarred shell.

How was this ever going to be resolved?

…

Across town, new enemies had assembled. They had been hired by Hun himself, who was still quite angry that the turtles had fouled his last heist. He had lost many valuable goods because of it. Desperate, he had sought the new assassins with the expectation that they would take down the turtles or at the very least, one of the freaks to send the others a message.

These new assassins were an army of big, muscle-bound men assembled as a private organization. They came well-equipped with the various weapons of both hunters and ninjas - knives, throwing stars, bows and arrows, chains, and the like. They were warriors and killers, that much was obvious.

Hun showed them pictures of their new prey. The photos were mostly blurred or grainy. It was incredibly difficult to get a clear shot of mutant turtles when they were trained ninjas. Still, the assassins were able to get a general idea of what the four teenagers looked like. While the assassins studied the photos, Hun supplied them with more details about the turtles – the weapons, the colors of their masks, and their names. The Purple Dragon leader then instructed his new hires on which turtles were of higher importance.

"The blue-masked one, Leonardo, is the leader," Hun explained. "You take him down and the rest will fall much more easily. Then there's the red-masked one, Raphael. He can be a rebel. Him and Leonardo are the toughest of the bunch."

"Then we'll take care of them," the leader of the assassins assured Hun.

Though he didn't express it, Hun hoped these guys could follow through on their promise. Everyone else who had tried to take out the turtles had always been beaten, even his old ex-boss, the Shredder. He would pay these assassins very well if they fulfilled their end of the bargain.

…..

Not for the first time, Leo had tried to get along with Raph, to make him understand that telling him what to do was for his own good. Yet, Raph was still refusing to listen. He was angrier than ever since Splinter had punished him by ordering him to stay below ground for a week, cleaning the lair, and spending extra time meditating - all things that Raph hated. Leo did not have to suffer the same punishment as his brother, but he was subject to Splinter's disappointment for what was happening. That, to Leo, was way worse than having to clean the bathroom.

Don and Mikey hated seeing their two oldest brothers at odds with each other. Donny wished there was something he could do to make the fighting stop. Perhaps he could try talking to his brothers later on when they were calmer.

Mikey knew that now was not a good time to agitate Raph unless he wanted a good pounding and also knew that Leo wasn't in the mood for games either. In the meantime, he and Don continued to go about their day as they usually did. Don spent countless hours working in his lab and Mikey played his video games when he wasn't reading his comics.

All of a sudden, there was a yell from the dojo accompanied by what sounded suspiciously like someone had hit something. It brought Don, Mike, and Splinter running to the dojo.

The three arrived to find Leo trying to get up off the floor. A little blood dripped from his mouth and there was a mark on his face that looked like he had been punched. Raph was standing a few feet away, panting heavily. His face was twisted in an angry glare.

"What happened in here?" Splinter demanded.

"I was tryin' to blow off my steam, but Fearless here thinks he's just going to show me up in a fight. I don't think so." Raph snarled.

"I wasn't trying to egg you on, Raph. I was just trying to get you to tell me what is going on with you lately," Leo replied as he held a hand to the right side of his face.

"I just want to be left alone! You're my problem right now! I don't want you anywhere near me!"

"Raphael, that is enough!" Splinter yelled.

"Leo, let me take a look at that injury," Don spoke up.

"I'm fine, Don. It's nothing," Leo insisted angrily. He turned and began to exit the dojo, but called a warning back over his shoulder. "This isn't over, Raph."

"Raphael! There was no need to do that to Leonardo." Splinter said.

"I just need time for myself. I don't need him checking on me every 5 minutes," Raph protested. "He made me do it just to get him off my shell."

Don and Mikey were at a loss for words. Now the fighting was turning physical. But their father then said, "It is another 5 days doing all the chores around here."

"Agh!" Raph groaned.

"Do you want to make it another ten?"

"No." The red-banded turtle held up his hands in surrender.

Irate, Raph went back to blowing off his steam on the punching bag. Don, Mike, and Splinter left the dojo. While the latter two went back to what they were doing before, Don was determined to check on Leo to make sure he was really okay. But just then he heard the door to the lair open and close. Leo had gone out. Sighing, Don made it his top priority to see Leo as soon as he came home.

Also worked on with MissMoMo1990.