A/N: A Leo one-shot inspired by a request from Flaux-pg. Hope you enjoy it! (Thank to Ravenshell for being my beta and for her clever scene suggestion!)

Leonardo sighed. He and his brothers were finally starting to find a sense of normalcy in their lives since Master Splinter's untimely death. It had been difficult to say the least, but each brother found solace in their own way, latching on to their personal hobbies as they slowly healed from their loss. For Leonardo the healing process seemed never-ending. In his brooding disguised as meditation, his brothers respectfully left Leo to his solitude and grievance.

As leader of the Hamato clan now, Leonardo knew it was time to stop being selfish. It was time to come out of his shell of bereavement and reach out to his brothers. They needed him, Leo convinced himself as he denied the pang of loneliness that had saturated his spirit over the past month.

It was settled. He would spend more time with his brothers to ensure they were emotionally stable and handling Splinter's death in healthy ways. Leaving his room, Leo followed the sound of grunts and angry cries coming from the dojo. It was no surprise that he found Raphael there stabbing at a rotating wooden dummy. Leo removed his katanas from the weapons rack to polish them. He watched his immediate younger brother fight with his usual passion and fury.

"You planning on cutting paper dolls with those or are you ready for me to kick your shell six ways to Sunday?" Raph twirled his sais with the flick of his wrists, his back still toward Leo as he jabbed at the wood again.

"Neither." Leo smirked accepting the open invitation to spar. This would be the perfect bonding activity with Raphael.

With a traditional bow, the two ninjas engaged in their fight, metal meeting metal, step for step.

"Dang, Leo. Your katanas aren't the only things that need polishing. It's only been a week since we busted Purple Dragons topside and you're already rusty!" Raph mocked Leo as he thrust the butt of his sai into his older brother's plastron.

"Yeah… well…" Leo paused, avoiding the sharp point of a jabbing sai. "Your offense sucks more than a… than a suck machine set on 'sucks a whole lot!'" Ha! He could trash talk just a good as Casey, maybe even better.

Raph snorted at Leo's laughable smack talk. "Lame. I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and crap out a better comeback then that."

"I know you are, but what am I!"

"The 90's called. They want their corny smack talk back."

"You fight like a potato!"

"What?" Raph narrowly avoided a katana nick to his arm as he gave Leo a look. "That doesn't even make sense!"

Leo's wayward trash talking was enough of a distraction to flip a dumbfounded Raph on his shell with a grunt. "What the shell, Leo?!"

"Don't be a sore loser, Raph. I won fair and square."

"Dude, did you just call me a potato?"

"Yeah, pretty cool right?"

"No. Not cool Leo." Raph deadpanned as he shook his head. "Who even says that?"

"Well, nobody, obviously. I made it up."

"Do me a favor and never trash talk again. Ever. That was just all kinds of embarrassing. Worst then your stupid Space Heroes quotes," Raph muttered, shaking his head as he shoved his sais in their holsters before glowering out of the dojo.

Leo huffed, holding his head a little higher. His comebacks must have been pretty snazzy if Raph was jealous of them.

"Hey, Mikey!"

"'Sup, Leo?" Mikey greeted him in his usual cheerful manner as he grabbed a mixing bowl from the cabinet and placed it on the wooden table of the kitchen.

"Nothing much. Raph's pouting because I beat him in a sparring session. What are you up to?"

"Making brownies. Wanna help?" Leo smiled at his baby brother's eagerness to spend time with him. Certainly this would go better than it had with Raph.

"Sure thing, Mikey."

"Suh-weeeet!" Mikey fist pumped the air before pulling Leo by the arm, leading him toward the table with the mixing bowl. Upon further observation, Leo noticed the table was also littered with bottles of spices and flavoring, milk, eggs, and kitchen utensils that the eldest turtle knew very little about. "Okay, so I'm making triple chunky chocolate fudge cheesecake brownies. Here's the recipe. Can you call out the ingredients for me?"

"Um… yeah, sure," Leo said, a bit put off. He wanted to actually do something, not read a bunch of directions from a piece of paper. He obliged with a sigh. "In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and ½ cup white sugar."

Mikey didn't seem to notice the lack of enthusiasm in Leo's monotone voice as he read the directions. Leo scanned the instructions as Mikey mixed the ingredients while humming a little tune. Leo frowned in confusion. If this was a cheesecake brownie, where was the cheese? Leo glanced over at Mikey, who seemed oblivious to his error. What would his baby brother do without him? Leo shook his head with a patronizing smile. 'He would have completely ruined the brownies, that's what he would have done,' Leo thought with a conceited arch of his eye ridge.

Being the awesome big brother that he was, Leo grabbed another bowl like the recipe called for and created the cheesy mixture, enhancing the recipe where he saw fit. Mikey hadn't paid much attention to his brother's improv mixology and just seemed happy to have Leo in the kitchen with him. Mikey poured his brown mixture in the pan first, followed by Leo's batter.

"Awesome A-B team work, bruh!" Mikey cheered as he put the brownie pan in the oven and hip-checked the oven door shut.

"Yeah, and I saved your brownies from an epic fail," Leo gloated, waiting for Mikey to acknowledge his keen observation. Mikey stared, not yet grasping Leo's so-called save.

"Mikey, you're making cheesecake brownies and you forgot the cheese," Leo said in a matter-of-fact tone as he gestured to the cheese grater and the remaining crumbs of what once was a wheel of sharp cheddar cheese. "No need to thank me, that's what I'm here for."

"Dude, you're supposed to use cream cheese, see?" Mikey pointed a stubby finger at the crinkled recipe, tapping the handwritten ingredient that Leonardo overlooked in his rush to be helpful. "Everyone knows you only put cheddar cheese in macaroni and cheese brownies! Now I'll have to wait 'til April can bring down some more of the ingredients I need," Mikey whined. "I really had a taste for some cheesecake brownies." Mikey flopped down in a chair before dramatically laying his head on the table with a groan.

Leo huffed at Mikey's ungrateful and dramatic display. This was the thanks he received for helping his brother? How rude. Without a word, Leo turned on his heels, heading for the lab. Surely, Donatello would appreciate his expertise.

Inside the lab, the blue-banded leader could hear the echoing clanks of tools in use. Strolling around the corner, Leo could see his genius brother's legs sticking out from underneath the Party Wagon. His brother's feet occasionally moved whenever Leo heard a clank or clicking noise from beneath the vehicle.

"Hey, Donnie. What are you up to?" Leo asked, his back straight and his hands behind his back as he rocked on the balls of his feet.

"Hey, Leo," Donnie said from beneath the van. Though his face was hidden from view, his large feet seemed to subconsciously gesture his greeting for him. "Ah, just changing the oil in the Party Wagon," he answered as his right leg stretched out and he rocked his foot side to side.

"Need some help?" Leo offered with a smile, though Donnie could not see the hopefulness in his countenance.

"Mmm… actually, I'm almost finished," Donnie replied as he shifted something under the van as his right leg retracted back into the knee-bent position of his left leg. There was more shifting below as Donnie pushed a bucket of oil from beneath the van before fiddling with something else unseen to Leo.

Leo hummed to himself. Apparently the bucket of oil was the old oil that needed to be drained, so Donnie hadn't put the new oil in yet. Leo smiled with confidence as he saw a red funnel connected to a opening in the hood of the van and a fresh container of oil the rolling cart beside it.

"Don't worry, Donnie. I'll go ahead and pour the oil in for you."

"Uh-huh… sure, Leo…. wait, what?!" Distracted, Donnie was not paying full attention to what his oldest brother said until it was too late. "Leo, no! I'm not—"

Leo poured the container of oil through the funnel and into the oil pan which Donnie had not screwed the plug onto yet. Donnie's legs went rigid and he spit and spluttered from beneath the van. "….Finished," Donnie completed his sentence in a rather irritated and deadpanned tone and he rolled himself from beneath the van.

Leo looked down at the sound of Donnie's loud spitting and coughing, and his face fell instantly. With a deadly glare, Donnie stood; his face covered in a coat of black oil that dripped like inky tendrils down his plastron and the inside of his shell. Without a word, he held out his hand. Leo eyed the container of remaining oil in his hand and slowly extended it to Donatello, who wordlessly snatched from his hand.

"You said you were almost finished."

"Almost being the operative word, Leo." His voice was alarmingly calm as he wiped his large hand down his face with more force than necessary, sending loads of oil splattering to the ground with the single gesture.

"….Do you want a towel or—"

"GET OUT," Donnie screeched with his shoulders drawn upward in angry tension as he pointed to the exit.

Leo cringed as he shrunk away from Donnie's sudden outburst and eased himself out of the irate mechanic's lab.

Later that evening, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey were lounging in the pit, looking through a crate of VHS tapes. "Ooo, what about this one?" Mikey asked as he pulled out a tape from the bottom of the crate and wiggled it in his wrist, rattling the tape a bit in the process.

"No." Raph slapped the tape from his younger brother's hand. "The last time we watched 'Night Terror on Willow Road' you peed your shell."

"I was five!"

"You were in my bed!"

"You promised you'd never speak of this!" Mikey hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Raph.

Donnie rolled his eyes at his immediate older and younger brother. In his peripheral vision, the genius turtle caught a glimpse of Leo walking toward their bedrooms.

"Hey, Leo, why don't you pick a movie before these two get started again?" Donnie's shoulders shrugged to his ears as Raph and Mikey tumbled to the floor with dull thump in an improv wrestling match in which Raph appeared to be winning. "Okay, so maybe that was inevitable, but you should still pick out the—"

Leo stopped in his tracks with a frown trained on Donnie. "Oh, now you want my help? …Figure it out yourself," he huffed, continuing his sulky path to his room.

Donnie blinked wide-eyed at the blue-banded turtle's sharp tongue. Raph dropped Mikey from a choke-hold and stared curiously between Donnie and Leo's retreating shell as he sported a frown of his own.

"Hey, Fearless! What's biting your shell?" Raph asked bluntly as he crossed his arms. "You've been actin' weird all day!"

Leo paused, turning slowly to face his brothers.

"Yes, you have been a bit out of character today," Donnie mused.

Mikey gasped. "Dude, he's totally a pod person."

Leo continued to stare at his younger siblings, completely affronted by their allegations. "Why is it so out of character for me to take an interest in my brothers' hobbies, to actually try and spend time with you guys?" Leo gave none of them a chance to answer as his voice rose with newfound frustration. He continued to plow into his younger brothers with his rant. "Is it so wrong for me to check on my brothers after everything that's happened? ….After Master Splinter…" He choked on his last sentence, his voice lowering to a more somber tone. "All day I've been trying to spend time with you guys, be there for all of you. I know everyone's still struggling with this, but hey, apparently the well-being of my brothers isn't any of my business." The sarcasm was there but its bite stung and shamed his brothers in an entirely different way.

Remorseful, Donnie moved toward him, but Leo curtly motioned with an open palm for him to stop. "No, I know when I'm not wanted. Just…. go back to your movie." If his brothers no longer needed him as their keeper, then so be it.

The three brothers stared flabbergasted as Leo skulked to his room, closing the door behind him.

"My statement still stands: definitely a pod person….. ow!" Mikey pouted as he rubbed the sore spot on his head where Raph smacked him.

Sitting at the head of his bed, Leonardo flipped the page of the small album book in his hands. His fingers rubbed the plastic covering of a photo of Master Splinter smiling beside his seven-year-old self. He and his brothers had just earned their wooden practice weapons. Leo remembered how proud he was, how proud Master Splinter had been.

Leonardo had never felt so alone and lost as he felt right now. If his brothers didn't need him what good was he? Sadly, this was something deeper than the desire to be needed.

"Leo." A soft knock at his door made Leo squeeze his eyes shut for a moment. "Mind if we come in?" He didn't reply, hoping his silence would be enough to answer Donnie's question.

"Oh, for the love of… we're coming in!" Raph's annoyed voice boomed from the other side. Leo sighed, wishing he had locked the door when he closed it earlier. The door swung open with a swift kick from his immediate younger brother.

Leo ignored the commotion in his room, training his blurry eyes on the photo album in his lap. Donnie pulled a chair beside his bed, and Mikey opted to belly-flop onto his mattress. Raph stood at the foot of the bed with his usual stoic demeanor.

"Leo," Donnie started with caution, "we wanted to say we appreciate you taking a sudden interest in our individual hobbies. However, you—"

"You stink at 'em."

Donnie cut his eyes at Raph. "What Raphael means is you don't possess the unique skill sets needed to assist in our unique activities, yet you insist on dominating the activity in a manner in which you unsuccessfully try to appear as if you are an expert in said activity."

Leo frowned with irritated confusion. "What?"

"Like I said you stink. You can't trash talk to save your life; you sure as shell can't cook; and you don't know the first thing about changing oil in the Party Wagon, but you act like this high and mighty know-it-all when you don't know jack."

Mikey looks between Donnie and Raph before putting his two cents in. "Yeah. What they said."

Leo looked up at his brothers; their expressions only confirmed what he knew in his heart—they didn't need him. He hid his feelings of rejection, looking down at the photo album again. "You guys made your point quite clear, so if you don't mind, I would like to—" Before he could formally dismiss his brothers from his room, Michelangelo crawled up the length of the bed, bouncing beside Leo as he swiped the picture album from his hands.

"Dude! I was wondering where this disappeared to!" Mikey mused as he flipped casually through the photos.

"Be careful with those!" Leo snapped a little too quickly as he took the album back from Mikey and held it tightly between his hands as his fingers stroked the worn cover. Leonardo felt like cold glass, transparent and ready to shatter should any warm sentiment touch his fragile spirit, but he refused to let his brothers see this weakness. He didn't need them… wasn't supposed to need them in the same way they needed him, or at least in the way he thought they needed him.

However, his brothers were far more perceptive than Leo gave them credit for. Even as Leo struggled to keep his emotions at bay, his siblings shared a look with one another and realized the true reason behind Leo's sudden clinginess.

For a month, each of them had been absorbed in their own hobbies to take their minds away from the tragic loss of their father, while Leo spent his time alone in supposed meditation. In actuality, the eldest was absorbed in grief and on the edge of depression, reaching out to his brothers as a last resort to heal his aching heart. His annoying cocksure attitude was almost obnoxious enough to fool his brothers and hide his pain…. almost.

"Ya know, Fearless, I don't mind sparring with ya… long as ya keep your trap shut. You fight better when you're all silent and moody anyway," Raph said as he cleared his throat of any trace of softness.

"I'm thinkin' about making some mac and cheese brownies next week; I could totally use some help shredding cheese, bruh." Mikey smiled brightly at his oldest brother.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to teach you some basic maintenance for the Party Wagon to avoid future oil spills." The sarcasm was light and when Donnie offered a lopsided smile, Leo returned it with an apologetic one of his own.

Leonardo's brothers were quick to call him out for his conceited behavior with little hesitation, and were equally as quick to forgive his blunders and still invite him into their personal space so he would not have to grieve alone.

"I'm sorry, guys, I was kind of a nuisance today, huh?"

"You're a nuisance every day, but we don't hold it against ya." Raph's teasing brought a chuckle to Leo's lips.

The oldest turtle took a breath as he tried to recollect his thoughts. "I… I just… I'm trying… I just really…."

"I miss Papa, too," Mikey said, his expression subdued to something more forlorn as he wiggled close to Leo's side. Leo welcomed his youngest brother's comfort, draping his arm over Mikey's shoulder with a small squeeze.

"We all do," Donnie agreed with a grim sigh as Raph rubbed at his beak while looking at the floor. "We should do more things together." Each other was all they had, after all.

"Master Splinter would like that." Leo placed the photo album on his nightstand. "So… movie night?…." The warmth of brotherhood and suddenly the heaviness in his soul didn't seem so unbearable.

"Yes!" Mikey threw his fist in the air as Leo rubbed his brother's head affectionately. "'Night Terror on Willow Road'….please…." Mikey pleaded with his big brother as he batted his big blue eyes.

"Fine," Leo conceded with a eye roll and a light-hearted laugh. "But you're not sleeping in my bed. Last time you completely wet the—"

"You promised you'd never speak of this!" Mikey hissed for the second time that evening, leaning away from Leo as he poked him in the shoulder.

"Am I the only person whose bed you haven't urinated in?" Donnie looked at Mikey, a mixture of shock and disgust on his face.

"Oh, he has," Raph confirmed. "You were in your lab that night."

"Mikey!"

"Raph!"

Leonardo laughed at his brothers as Donnie fussed about bed sheets and Mikey pounced Raph for ratting him out. They didn't need nor expect him to be a leader right now. Simply being their non-trash-talking, cooking-challenged, mechanically-inept brother was enough, and honestly, that was more that enough for Leo.

The End