A/N

Did you guys have a good Easter? If you don't do Easter, did you have a nice day anyway? I hope so!

I struggllleeedd with this chapter. but then again, when do I not. ha

I grilled my best friend with questions about the sentences and the flow and the characterization in this chapter, trying to make sure it wasn't bad (she eventually got annoyed with my incessant questions, lol). I still feel like it's kind of messy, though (or something), ugh. But I was afraid if I tried to work on it any longer I would want to scrap the whole thing and start over, which. That wouldn't be good, ha. So I figured I should go ahead and post it.

Also, oh my god. guys. So many faves and follows. My goodness :3 I'm like, honored that so many of you are enjoying this... Like. Thank yoouuu so much, guys, seriously c: I always start grinning like a doofus when I get a notification for this story

Rock Legend 166- Ah, friend, thank you, that's very sweet (ᵔᴥᵔ) I'm really glad you like the story... and I hope you continue to like it! (Also, yes, we're meeting Mikey in this chapter! I got a little impatient for him to show up, so I decided to go ahead and write him in, lol)

JamesBondfan007- Here he is, friend! ;) Hope you like this chapter!

Windschild8178- Thank you so much :) I always worry about whether or not I'm writing characters correctly, or keeping them consistent, all that good stuff. It's nice to know I've done alright ^-^ I guess this chapter can mostly count as Leo's introductory chapter. Sort of. It's not quite as in-depth as I tried to make Donnie's, but I hope to further expand all of their characters as the story goes on. Thanks for the review- I hope you like this chapter!

Hotaru Imai- lol, I'll try to update faster next time! Thanks for the review, and I'm super glad you like the story- I hope you enjoy this chapter c:

Arya Dela- Thank youu- I hope this chapter is to your liking ^-^

Renard bleu- Thank you so much, friend! I'm glad to hear the story's been interesting so far- I hope I can keep it that way. Mikey's my favorite turtle, too :3 And, honestly, after reading your review, I really considered making him a girl... it would definitely be an interesting change of pace! But I'll have to stick with classic Mikey, for this one, I think, since I'm still kind of testing the waters in terms of writing these particular characters. Also, I'm really glad you're excited for all the turtles to meet Mikey! I am too, honestly. I mean, they do technically meet him in this chapter, but with the way I've left it, I wouldn't count it as an official meeting, yet. I hope to tackle that in the next chapter, though :) Thank you so much for following and reviewing... I hope you like this chapter! (Also, don't worry about it, dear, your english is perfectly fine! ^-^)

Guest I (o sister mine)- (◕‿◕✿) I'm glad you like the characterizations so farrr. I hope I don't ruin that with this chapter 'cause I go a bit crazy with the dialogue and wow lol is that difficult for me. Especially when the characters argue. It suddenly gets 1000 times harder to keep them from going OOC

The Glitter Ninja- Ah, I'm super glad you liked that scene :)) Like, I'm always really scared to have the characters crack jokes in my stories, because like, do they really make sense? Have I just written something ridiculous that nobody will like? And failed jokes are like the literal worst, so I try to avoid that as much as possible. So, like, it makes me really happy to know that scene worked out alright :) Thanks for the review, friend, and I hope you like this chapter!

Guest II- Thanks, friend! I've been trying to have the characters do little things that show how their lives are different w/out having grown up with Mikey... I'm glad you're enjoying it so far ^-^ Hope you like this chapter, and thanks for the review!

So, this chapter is a little longer than the others I've posted so far. I'm not sure how that happened? Maybe I can keep it up! (Also, side note, I've set out on a mission to title every chapter something cheesy and silly). But, anyway, without further ado, I present chapter three!

Not that Leo was expecting any different, but, Donatello did, in fact, fall asleep before patrol. And Leo may not have actually dragged him from the lair by his mask, but he had half a mind to.

He liked to think he was just being super nice and lenient that day by choosing not to tell Donnie off for his unhealthy sleeping habits, but, really, it was almost certainly the shame of causing his brother to have to fix the toaster again that kept him from making a fuss. This time, anyway.

After all, how could he really expect his brother to take a lecture from somebody who couldn't even operate a freaking toaster without supervision? It was just embarrassing.

Really, some wise leader he was.

Sneaking into the lab as quietly as he could manage- which was very quietly, thank you- he crept up to Donnie's desk, where his brother was passed out hunched over what looked like blueprints for like, thirty different things. He was snoring quietly, but otherwise silent and moving very little, truly dead to the world.

Leo almost hated to wake him up.

Almost.

He reached out to plant his hand on Donnie's shoulder, giving it a gentle shake.

"Don, hey, bro; it's time to wake up," he said quietly, only- he realized as soon as the words left his mouth that he'd slipped into his "caretaker" voice, which Raph often commented made him sound like a middle-aged mom (which, for a nineteen-year-old mutant turtle, was like, the worst insult). He cleared his throat, then, tried again, because Don was apparently not hearing him, "Donnie- wake up. We're heading topside in thirty minutes," he paused briefly, waiting for a response, and continued when he didn't get one, "Can you hear me?"

A jumbled groan of syllables that sounded suspiciously like "bug", "off", and "Leo" came muffled through Don's folded-over arms (his makeshift pillow, apparently), before he huffed some sort of exhausted sigh, and said, much clearer, "Give me a few minutes."

"Alright," Leo said, smiling, even if he technically did know Donnie couldn't see it (it was the thought that counted, right?), "We'll be waiting."

Giving Donnie's shell a soft, encouraging pat, he slunk back out of the lab, closing the door quietly behind himself.

This was routine, for Leo. Before patrol, Donatello had to be fetched (often awakened from an ill-timed nap), and Raphael could usually be found in the living room, utterly loathing the fact that he had to wait on everybody else to get ready before he could leave, and making his misery everybody's problem by being sulky and extra irritable.

And lo and behold, just as he suspected, Raph was lounging on the couch when Leo found him- some show about monster trucks playing on the T.V., which was so Raph-typical Leo almost laughed. If he had some sort of death wish, he might've.

"Is he comin' or what?" Raph questioned (bordering on demanded), glancing only briefly at Leo when he sat down beside him on the raggedy loveseat.

"I gave him thirty minutes," Leo said, glancing at the television and cringing internally when he caught sight of a truck, like, three times the size of the Shellraiser rolling right over a crown vic, and just crushing it like it was nothing. He wondered, for just a fleeting second, how on earth this stuff could possibly interest his brother, before continuing, "I thought it might give him some time to wake completely up before patrol."

"Well, he better get his ass in gear, like, now," Raph muttered, sinking further into the couch cushions and huffing irritably, "I'm not waitin' all night on you guys. I'll go by myself if I have to…"

"You will not," Leo said seriously, facing his brother and taking on his authoritative, "leader" tone- the one Raph said made him sound like a bossy asshole.

Come to think of it, Raph had an awful lot to say about the way he spoke.

Raph's only response to that was a nice and dramatic eye-roll and a sarcastic, sort of quiet, "Whatever you say, Fearless."

Leo bit back the urge to say anything else, settling instead for chewing on his cheek and turning his focus to the T.V., so he wouldn't have to look at his brother. He knew Raph didn't take his warnings seriously, half the time; but he wasn't just doing this for his own health, okay? It was his job to worry about this stuff.

Was he naggy? Yeah, maybe. But if he had even the slightest chance of keeping his brothers from doing something stupid and getting into trouble, shell- he'd nag until he was exactly six feet under, whether Raph thought he was annoying, overbearing, bossy, what have you, or not.

For the next few minutes Leo tried paying attention to Raph's show (which he'd gathered was called Metal Monster Madness- Fight to the Top) - really, he did, but to say that it wasn't his cup of tea would be the understatement of the century.

No- the millennium, surely.

Apparently, he would just have to add Metal Monster Madness to his already expansive list of things he didn't get about Raphael- just one more silly place where they didn't see eye-to-eye.

It didn't matter, really; it was just a dumb show. But still.

Sometimes he wished he and Raph could have something like a dumb show in common. Something inconsequential that they could sit down and just enjoy together- without spiraling into an argument. They were always arguing, lately. It was kind of exhausting.

And he knew a dumb show wasn't going to fix that- but there was no way it wouldn't be a step up from where they were, now.

Leo didn't have time to dwell on it, however, as, true to his word, Donatello came shuffling into the living room five short minutes later, pulling his gear on as he walked and practically dragging his equipment bag behind him.

One thermos-full of coffee later, they were finally ready to leave, and Leo, ignoring as usual his suddenly sky-high anxiety levels, led his brothers toward the outside world- against every self-preserving instinct in his body, toward the blasted danger. Because that's what leaders did.

Even if he hated the chances, even if his heart clenched in fear whenever his brothers left the lair, and even if there was always that lingering possibility that one of them wouldn't be coming back with the rest in the morning, it was his job- his leadership was what he had to offer them, and he was going to see it through to the best of his ability.

For the longest time, patrol that night was routine, mostly uneventful, and, as Raph made sure to reiterate at least every twenty seconds, boring.

That was perfectly fine by Leo. A night with minimal crime was a night where he couldn't possibly make a mistake- where his brothers had almost no chances to get hurt.

But, suddenly, from seemingly out of nowhere, he heard something weird echoing through the alleyways below them. It sounded like- well, he wasn't sure, really. A motor, maybe?

"Guys, hold on," Leo said, putting his arm out to stop his brothers from running ahead, "Listen."

For a second there was nothing. Whatever he'd heard, it had just- stopped, suddenly. Only the hum of traffic from somewhere a few blocks away and a beeping horn here and there cut through the silence.

That was, until Raphael scoffed, facing Leo and leaning back against the nearest wall, an eyebrow raised.

"You losin' your touch, Fearless?" he taunted, not a little smugly, and apparently in a much better mood since leaving the lair, "There's nothin' here-"

"Raphael! Could you possibly find it in yourself to be quiet for, like, a second?" Leo snapped, his hard gaze resting heavily on his brother, and if looks could kill, man- Leo wouldn't have stood a chance.

But before Raph could dish out what Leo had no doubt was going to be a high-quality, extra sassy retort, the sound started up again- the unmistakable rumbling of a large truck engine, very nearby.

Leo tried to hide the small smirk that made its way onto his face, but Raph had been looking for it, and scowled dirtily when he caught sight of it.

"Oh, shut up, Leo," he said, then, grumbled, "Come on," stalking kind of grumpily to the edge of the rooftop.

Donatello fell into step beside Leo as Raph took up the lead, heading in the direction the noise seemed to be coming from.

"Don't mind him," Donnie said quietly once Raph was out of earshot, the slightest of smiles playing at his lips, "He hates being wrong."

"No kidding."

They followed Raph onto the next building, then the next, until, finally, their target came into view.

They found themselves near a large, open space with a line of warehouses, lit every few yards by a flickering streetlight that bathed the lot in a faded orange color. Parked directly in front of a warehouse with the number thirteen painted on it in big, bold letters, was the source of the sound they'd been hearing: a large, white, eighteen-wheeler truck that kind of screamed shenanigans, as far as Leo was concerned.

Leo tapped his brothers' backs, urging them into a crouching position, and made his way just this side of soundlessly to the edge of the roof, careful to stick to where the shadows were the thickest.

There were about ten, maybe fifteen foot ninja bustling about the lot, many of them lugging crates from the warehouse and loading them on the truck.

It was nothing they couldn't handle. It would be hard, maybe- foot tended to be some degree tougher than your run of the mill Dragon, but it was certainly doable-

"Nice- maybe this night doesn't have ta be a total waste, after all."

-As long as they were careful, at least.

Leo glanced over at Raph, who- sure enough- had that excited, pre-fight gleam in his eye that rivaled even Donnie's "ooh, new gadgets" look.

His hands hovered carefully over his sai, his fingers twitching with energy and one hundred and twenty percent ready to rip the weapons from their holsters at a second's notice.

When Leo whispered his name, Raph didn't look his way- didn't even seem to notice he'd said anything. His eyes were glued to the humans below.

"Raph," he tried again, and this time Raph's head turned so fast he worried for a second that he might sprain something.

"What?" he growled, his impatience practically something that could be felt, and seen, and touched.

It was that dangerous energy that sometimes led Leo to doubt Raph, as much as he hated to think it. They were partners in combat, along with Donnie- Leo put his life in his brother's hands on a near daily basis, and trusted him deeply.

But there was a sort of discipline that Raph was just- scarily lacking in, sometimes.

And since Leo was the leader, he took it upon himself to quell the rising storm, so to speak.

"Control yourself, okay? This is going to take some tact."

And, boy- was that ever the wrong thing to say.

There was a short, very tense pause where Raph just sort of stared at Leo, before finally speaking in a rough, contained whisper, as if he was really struggling to keep his voice low.

"I'm sorry," he began, narrowing his eyes, "You're right, yeah. I wouldn't wanna do anything rash, like, fucking breathe."

"Don't be ridiculous, Raph," he let out a long-suffering sigh, fighting the urge to roll his eyes, very aware of the lack of helping it would do, "I just don't want you to go charging in there guns blazing and drawing unwanted attention to us."

"And how the hell do ya know what I'm goin' to do? Yer- what, gut instinct? Ya just know I'm about to fuck up?"

"Well, you do it fairly consistently, so," Leo tossed right back, staring hard at his brother, "Forgive me for being cautious."

"Oh my god, please, you two," Donnie muttered from Leo's left, and he turned his head to see Donnie rubbing his temples, eyes clenched shut, the actual embodiment of exasperation, and looking like he would literally rather leap into a volcano than be where he was now, "Maybe you haven't noticed the horde of enemies just six yards from us, but trust me, they're there. So if you could kindly postpone this discussion until- I don't know, any other time that would be excellent."

"Oh, please don't… This is just getting interesting."

Leo froze.

That- he didn't know that voice.

Suddenly not very concerned with the foot ninja below him, and whether or not they would see, he stood up and whipped around, facing the unfamiliar speaker and brandishing his weapons, as fast as he'd ever done- maybe faster.

Beside him Donnie and Raph took up their own defensive stances, and all thoughts of their almost-argument melted away to be replaced by the fighter's thoughts in him. Find the danger; protect your brothers; eliminate the danger; protect them.

Leo glared at the shadowed figure that stood on the roof with them, almost companionably close, like he had a right to be there.

"Whoa, down, boys… I just wanna talk!" the guy spoke, almost- lightheartedly. Almost like he meant it.

Leo heard Raph growl very lowly in response, but other than that, none of them moved, or so much as made a sound.

"I'll take that as a yes," the guy said, chuckling almost imperceptibly- if Leo's senses hadn't been on overload he may not have caught it at all. "For starters," the figure stepped just a little closer, and finally, some of his features could be seen by the dim light available, and it was obvious just by the curve of some of the shadows on his face that they couldn't be looking at a human, "You wanna explain what you were planning on doing with my men down there?" He gestured with a tilt of his head to the lot, where, by the sounds of things (or, lack thereof, of any sounds that weren't shuffling crates), they still hadn't been noticed.

Donnie was the first of his brothers to find his voice.

"Your men?"

The figure nodded.

"Yep- first time leading my own battalion. Pretty sweet, huh?"

Well, Leo would hardly call the group a battalion, but he wasn't going to say that.

And anyway, that wasn't the weirdest thing about what the guy had said. It was pretty weird- to Leo, anyway, that the guy was so eager to relay this information to them. Even if it wasn't technically important, wasn't there some- foot ninja code, or something? Don't talk to the enemies? Like, at all?

"But, anyway," the figure stepped closer again, further into the pitiful light, but stopped, suddenly, and blinked at them, as if really seeing them for the first time.

Leo felt his brothers tense beside him, and his own stomach flipped uncomfortably in surprise at the now completely visible kid- yes, definitely kid, probably not far from their own age, standing just a few feet from them.

But, the fact that he was younger than expected wasn't the real kicker. Not to Leo- surely not to his brothers, either.

"Huh," the guy said, his shock made evident in every part of his tone and stance, "I thought I was the only mutant turtle in New York..."