Full Summary: Our favorite ninja quartet is growing up, and Leo decides it's time to step back from fun things and focus on his training. This creates unexpected distance between him and his brothers, but during his sudden feelings of loneliness, he encounters a mysterious woman. She becomes a source of companionship and comfort for him, a light in his existence that seems to grow darker every day...but is she what she seems? Or has he put himself - and his family - in a danger unlike anything they've faced before?

Standing in the shadow of our lies
To hide our imperfections
Doing anything we can to hide

Eyes wide open but still blind
To see what really matters
And insecurity won't go

See me in shadow
~Delain

Chapter One

Leo wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but he had suddenly stopped feeling like a part of his own family.

He could pinpoint the exact moment he first realized it; on a dull, uneventful night while they were out on patrol. A night where they had goofed off more than anything else, and it was on this night that Leo first noticed that something was different.

They were seventeen now, and their lives had changed so much in the last two years. They had put an end to The Foot, defeated Shredder, and even went through time. And one day, several months ago, something occurred to him; they weren't really kids anymore. They were growing up, and their main responsibility - to protect the innocent from those who would harm them - was nothing to take lightly.

His duty to lead them through this responsibility was something he took extremely seriously. That duty was something he wanted - needed - to carry out as flawlessly as possible.

One of his greatest fears was failing as a leader - or worse, putting his brothers in danger due to a lapse in judgment. So while his brothers sat and goofed around in front of the TV, he sat off in a corner and meditated. While they headed up to skateboard, he stayed inside and practiced his exercises. And when he wasn't training he was patrolling, either with or without his brothers - usually without.

He eventually grew used to his new routine, of keeping away from the things he enjoyed. His brothers had grown used to it, too - and the result was something Leo hadn't been expecting.

"I'm bored," Mikey suddenly announced.

They were perched on a darkened roof, watching the city streets below. They had patrolled for an hour or so tonight, but things seemed pretty quiet - they had been for a while now. But that didn't mean it would stay that way.

"It's early," Leo reminded him, "and we still have a lot of ground to cover."

Mikey let out a snort and leaned over the short wall that bordered the edge of the roof, letting his arms dangle over the side. "Dude, there's nothing happening tonight. Everyone's taking it easy; we should, too."

Leo opened his mouth to say something, but then Don darted forward and tapped Mikey's foot with his bo. "Hey," he said, voice playfully stern, "did you know that the arcade down the street puts all the machines that need repair in the back room on weekends? That locked, dark room that no one is allowed in to?"

Mikey hopped up faster than an over wound jack-in-the-box. "And a little minor repair is something you could do in, oh, five seconds or so, right?"

"And discreetly unrepair before morning," Don added with a grin. "So no one would ever notice."

"I'm way ahead of you, dude," Mikey shouted as he raced off.

Leo opened his mouth again - but they were already gone, leaping over the side and out of sight. Across from him, Raph was absently twirling a sai. He looked amused.

"I think I'm going to head back and have a talk with Splinter. Maybe I'll squeal on them while I'm at it; I haven't decided yet."

Smirking, he saluted and was gone. Leo stared at the empty place where Raph had stood as he pictured his brother sitting with Splinter, talking quietly amidst cushions and the glow of candles - an image so warm and comforting he couldn't help feeling a little jealous.

Raph was calmer these days, more relaxed and centered. Leo wasn't sure what they talked about, but Raph drifted to Splinter's room a lot these days. Whatever they discussed, Leo was glad; Raph was a lot less tense lately. He joked more. He acted...happy.

Mikey once called Raph 'the lone wolf in the middle of the pack', but those days seemed to be gone. Raph was much more comfortable with the idea of not facing everything on his own - that it was okay to lean on his brothers once in a while.

These private talks had been happening between the two of them for months, so it didn't surprise Leo that Raph would rather spend an evening with Splinter than stay out here - but Mikey and Don running off together did surprise him, a little.

The two had always been close - as close as any of them, at least - but they didn't spend any particular amount of time together. They were as opposite as can be; Don was the brain, and Mikey...wasn't. Mikey was a proud extrovert, Don was quiet, reserved, even a little shy.

But that helped them balance each other out. Don curbed Mikey when he was getting too carried away, and Mikey prodded Don when he was too wrapped up in his scientific tinkering.

It had always been that way, and Leo had never minded - until tonight. The two had gleefully run off together without even thinking about asking him what he felt like doing, if he was interested in breaking into an arcade and freely playing a few games until the sun came up. He would probably advise against the idea...or at least pretend to before giving in. But they had run off before he could utter a word.

So had Raph. It didn't occur to Raph that the two of them might enjoy hanging out for the night, or at least a couple of hours. But Leo knew it wasn't their fault. It wasn't anyone's fault - except maybe his own.

Leo felt an unpleasant coldness spread over him as it hit him; while he had settled into a new routine, so had his family. While he worked alone and harder than ever, the rest of them had adapted, coming together in new, different ways - ways that didn't include him.

He had become the lone wolf in the middle of the pack.

Giving himself a shake, Leo turned away from the edge of the roof and cut a path across the adjoining rooftops. He was tired and probably overreacting; he had been pushing himself awfully hard lately. It was time they all took a break - himself included. Tomorrow he would ease up on his training a little and spend some time with his brothers. Things would go back to normal after that.

Only they didn't. Even though he cut his morning exercises short the next day, by the time he joined the others, they were already wrapped up in their own activities. At he first he quietly dropped hints that he would like to join them, then grew less than quiet about it, but it was no use. They absently told him not to worry about it and go back to his training, before the three of them ran off without him.

Discouraged, Leo tried talking to Splinter, but he was busy mediating and advised him not to forget his own meditations. Leo wandered off, but he didn't bother meditating that day.

The following day was more of the same, and so was the day after that, and the day after that. Leo's training started to slip as he tried harder and harder to subtly get his brothers to notice him.

One evening he considered a not so subtle approach - stabbing the table they were playing cards on and yelling 'pay attention to me, damn it!' crossed his mind - but he decided not to. His brothers weren't excluding him on purpose; they thought he wanted them to keep out of his way.

When another evening rolled around and he found himself sitting alone while his brothers laughed and goofed around together, he decided he needed some air. A long walk to clear his head. He headed topside (no one noticed) and eventually climbed up a fire escape and watched the sun go down. After that he grew restless and moved through darkened back alleys, not heading in any particular direction. On impulse he turned and made his way to April's apartment.

He hadn't seen her in a while; none of them had. She had been busy and so had they - or so had he, at least. He hoped she wouldn't mind if he suddenly stopped by for a visit.

When he got to the apartment, April was in the kitchen, quietly humming to herself as she stirred something cooking on the stove. The air smelled warm and pleasant, and a little spicy.

"Oh - hi, Leo," she said when she noticed him at the window. "Come on in; I'm out of pizza, so I hope you don't mind chili," she added with a grin.

"That's okay," Leo said after he'd rolled in through the open window. "I'm not hungry."

And he wasn't. He hadn't had much of an appetite lately.

As April returned to the stove, she pointed at a baking tin on the nearby counter. "The corn bread should be cool by now; would you mind cutting it?"

"No problem," said Leo, trying not to sound too eager about it. It felt nice to be needed, even for something so simple.

While April sprinkled something into the pot of chili, Leo found a long knife and had the small loaf carved into thin slices in moments. "Anything else?" he asked, after flipping the knife into the air, catching it, and putting it back.

April set the spoon down with a clink and turned to him, her eyes oddly bright. She tapped the fingers of her left hand, one at a time, across her cheek. "You tell me," she said mysteriously.

Puzzled, Leo stared at her - and then his eye fell on the glittering shape on her finger. He felt his eyes widen. "Is that a - I mean, are you and Casey...?"

He was so surprised he couldn't even say it.

April let out the kind of sigh only those brimming with love and happiness could release. "Yeah, the big goon finally decided to make an honest woman out of me," she said, admiring her hand proudly.

A moment later she frowned. "Although I kind of have to wonder if this is worth as much as he says it is. Either he's exaggerating or...he and I are going to have to have a little talk about where a slacker like him got that kind of money."

"Ouch, that hurts, babe," said a voice from across the apartment.

Leo turned around, and April darted forward to embrace the figure coming through the kitchen doorway. "Since I can see you won't be happy until you know everything - my fault for falling for a reporter - I sold an old baseball card I had lying around to some diehard collector. I can do something right once in a while, you know."

Grinning, Casey pulled her closer in his arms, and Leo quickly turned away. This wasn't a moment he was welcome to share - he shouldn't even be here. He left quietly and dropped down to the street just as a light rain began to fall. He hardly noticed as he started walking, his mind processing this new change.

Granted, it wasn't a huge change - April and Casey had been a fairly steady couple for almost as long as he had known them, and they had lived together for the last few months. Still, this would take some getting used to - especially if they decided to have children someday.

Leo wondered how he and his brothers would fit into their lives then. Would they be kept a secret, or would they be allowed to hang around? He pictured them acting as four - extremely - distant uncles and chuckled to himself.

And then something rippled through him - something cold and unpleasant. He felt something, something as palpable as a hand on his skin. He had gotten too distracted, too lost in his own thoughts, so he hadn't noticed until he felt the sensation join the soft touch of the rain.

A pair of eyes were on him. Watching him. For how long he didn't know, but there was no turning back now. He had been seen, and he had to face whatever followed.

As he stopped walking and listened, he expected some sign of the usual reactions - a frightened shriek, a sudden thump as someone fainted - but everything was quiet. Well, as quiet as this section of New York could be. There was no sound of movement nearby. He didn't hear any frightened breathing. He didn't hear or feel a thing; just that steady pressure of someone's eyes on him.

He slowly turned around. Standing on the other side of the alley he had wandered into was a woman. She had her hands in her coat pockets and appeared to be watching him with a look of curiosity. He couldn't really tell; she was standing with her back to a yellowish light tacked above a door, putting her face in shadow.

There was a clack as she tapped the heel of her boot on the damp ground, making the light glint off its buckles. Leo didn't know what to think - was she dizzy with fear, or was she one of those who instantly thought she was dreaming? - so he continued to stare blankly. And then she chuckled. Such a deep, rich, musical sound. It made his skin prickle strangely.

"So. Looks like you're not a myth after all."