Leo jolted up, the phantom pain being intense enough to wake him from his nightmare. He sighed, wiping the cold sweat off. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He surprisingly didn't panic too long after waking up, which was good, but he was frustrated that he was having nightmares again. He looked at the nearest window, seeing that some sunlight was starting to spill through. He carefully stretched and got up from the couch, heading to the kitchen. He rubbed his neck as he searched for some breakfast. He got a weird hankering for bananas in milk and decided, what the shell, might as well. He cut up some bananas and put it in a bowl, pouring milk in it. He poured some cereal in there just for a better breakfast to fill him and ate. He went upstairs, checking to see if Mikey was up. He asked Mikey if he was up for katas today, and even though Mikey was doing better than yesterday, Mikey didn't feel like doing katas today. Leo nodded and left, going outside and starting to do katas by himself. After that, he lifted weights, then ran some laps. He finished his warm up for training by the time it was 10 in the morning, and no one had come outside yet. He sighed, unsure of what to do now. He played around with the chickens to pass the time.

Finally, Donnie came out. "Morning."

"How'd you sleep?" Leo asked, backing up from a pecking chicken.

"The car was a better bed than the couches. Those couches betrayed me. Made me feel sore."

"Okay, I thought it was just me. I woke up feeling sore, too."

"Well, you did do a lot of training yesterday," Donnie chuckled. "Remember?"

"Well, yeah, but... shut up," Leo laughed as Donnie gave him a smug look. "You eat?"

"Yeah, I kinda want coffee, though."

"Hooooow about tea instead?" Leo suggested heavily.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I don't need to get hooked on caffeine again or whatever."

"Sooooo... tea?"

"Fine," Donnie sighed. "I can't even have one cup?"

"Can you make sure you don't get hooked again?"

"I can," Donnie replied. "But I know I'm getting tea anyways so I'm not getting my hopes up."

Leo snickered a bit. "Sorry. Maybe you can have some later."

"I didn't know how funny you were- - why haven't you shown your comedian side more?" Donnie asked sarcastically as he and Leo headed inside. As they sat down and Leo started up some boiling water, Donnie noticed something off about Leo. "Hey, you alright?"

Leo raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Your eyes- - they're squinted. Your eyes hurt or something?"

Leo raised his hands to his face, lifting his mask and rubbing his eyes, lowering his mask back down after. "Oh, ah, it's probably just because I rubbed them a lot after I woke up from my nightmare."

This alarmed Donnie, and it was apparent. "Is it the same one?"

"Yeah," Leo sighed, rubbing his neck. "I had one last night, too. I don't know why they're back, though. It's annoying."

The fact that Leo was addressing his nightmare situation casually was calming Donnie a bit. "You're not too bugged out when you wake up from them now?"

"Not as much, no, but the pain is worse than before. The phantom pain, I mean."

"Phantom pain?"

"Like, I feel the pain of when Shredder busted my leg when I wake up, and that phantom pain makes actual pain happen."

"How is your leg feeling right now?" Donnie asked, eyeing it.

"It's fine now. I've been up for a while, so there was a good amount of time for it to go away."

"How long have you been up for?"

Leo thought for a moment. "What time is it now?" Donnie gave him an exasperated look. "I woke up around seven."

"When did you sleep?"

"Around ten, I'm sure."

Donnie sighed. "At least you got enough sleep. Are you sure your leg is okay? I really don't want you training if it's acting up, it's too risky."

Leo chuckled a bit. "It's fine, Donnie. Look." Leo swung it around and demonstrated some kicks. "No pain. It's all good."

Donnie glared at him. "I hate that you did that."

Leo laughed. "Why?"

"You'll use your stubbornness to get your way- - if your leg actually did hurt, you might have still done that just to throw me off."

"Ouch," Leo fake whined. "You think so little of me? Shame on you."

Donnie rolled his eyes, balling up some paper towels and throwing it at Leo. "Whatever." They shared a laugh as Leo poured tea, serving himself and Donnie.

"Yes, coffee!" Casey strolled in and headed for the pot of hot water.

"No," Donnie sighed. "It's tea."

"You made tea?" Casey asked, genuinely shocked.

"Not me," Donnie replied. "I wish. Leo made it."

"Lamesauce." Nevertheless, Casey made himself some tea and sat down.

"How are you gonna knock it if you're drinking it?" Leo snickered.

"A, I'm lazy, two, it was already hot."

"Valid points," April replied. "I'm following that mindset, if you don't mind."

"Of course not, Red." Casey watched as April and Raph stepped in. "Sup, Raph."

"Sup," Raph yawned. He eyed the pot of water. "It's tea, isn't it." Everyone nodded, and Raph groaned. "This sucks."

Leo sighed loudly, standing up. "You're all babies. Fine, I'll make coffee."

"Oh thank shell," Donnie whispered to himself, going to the sink and pouring out the tea. Leo gave him a 'what the hell?' look and started sputtering as everyone else followed suit. Donnie shot Leo another smug look. "The odds are stacked against you, Leo. Donnie wins."

"If you talk in third person, no you don't." Donnie rolled his eyes at Leo, making Leo and everyone else laugh. He and Leo were really glad things between them were finally good again, no tension lingering at all. Once the coffee was done, Leo made everyone's the way each of them liked it, serving it to them. "If any of you get hooked on caffeine, I have the right to kick your shins."

"Ouch," April smiled. "Loud and clear."

Leo made a cup of coffee and tea. "I'ma go see if Mikey wants any. Be back." He headed upstairs, announcing he was coming in and walked to Mikey's bed. "Hey, I've got coffee and tea. Do you want either of them?"

"I'll take the tea," Mikey replied, sitting up and grabbing the tea from Leo.

"Wow, no coffee? Everyone downstairs were being butts about me making tea and not coffee."

Mikey snorted. "Typical. Besides, coffee makes me tired, and I'm not planning on sleeping, so it's pointless."

"Gotcha. How you holding up so far?"

"Things are chill. If everyone weren't awake right now, I'd go downstairs. I hate being stuck in here."

"I'm sorry," Leo sighed. "You'll get there, though."

"Yeah, I just wanna snap my fingers and just get to that point already, y'know?"

"I get that. That's how I felt- - feel- - about my leg healing."

"How is your leg?"

"It's okay right now. It's not too bothersome- - only when I have nightmares. Don't worry- - it's not very often."

"Okay, good. Y'know what, though?"

"What?"

"I feel okay enough to talk to Casey or April, but I dunno how to do that when I'm up here."

"Do you want me to bring one of them up here?"

"You think they'll wanna?"

"They miss ya, Mikey. I'm pretty sure either of them are up for it. Is there anyone you wanna see first?"

"...probably April. I know she's going through the same thing, I wanna catch up with her."

"Okay, I'll go get her for you." Leo stood up, rubbing Mikey's head. "You're doing great, Mikey." Mikey chuckled a bit, and Leo left to fetch April. "Hey, April, can you come up for a second?"

"Sure." April followed him upstairs, and they stopped at the top. "What are we doing?"

"You are going to talk to Mikey. That is, if you want to."

April was surprised. "Is he okay with it?"

"He asked me to come get you."

April smiled warmly. "Alone?"

"Yeah. You up for it?" April nodded. "Alright. You two have fun, then." He opened the door for April, waving to her and Mikey as he shut the door. He went down the stairs, heading outside. He saw that Casey, Raph and Donnie were all out there waiting on him. "What's on the agenda?"

"Same thing, but we're gonna try to fit in the sparring today. That sound okay, or you wanna hold off on that until another time?" Donnie asked.

"Nah, I can do it." Leo smiled. "Let's start with..." Leo charged at Casey, throwing him off. "Jonesy."

Casey collected himself and laughed, putting his arms up. "Put 'em up, Leo, let's go."

The same training they did the previous day was going smoothly again throughout the day. There were a few hiccups here and there, but none too serious. Leo was already getting better and gaining the upper hand through the different sessions, and his confidence was staying put. The only thing he was mindful of was to not strike so hard with his bad leg, and he was doing well at that. They went through the training like a breeze, and before they knew it, it was time to spar. Donnie went up first to warm Leo up to it and to give him pointers on what to and not to do when it came to his bad leg, and had Leo practice with it. When he saw that Leo was doing well, Donnie felt good and called up the next person, which was Casey. To make it realistic, Donnie said that Leo's opponents should aim for Leo's weak spot, since it had to be realistic, but to not inflict any damage on it. It was mainly to get Leo to warm up to counter attacks and defend himself against those kinds of attacks, and it was paying off. After a lengthy session with Casey and a break, it was now Raph's turn. Raph was holding back a bit at first, hesitant to heed Donnie's advice for going for Leo's bad leg. After Leo assured him that it was fine, Raph started following the instructions, and since nothing bad happened, he put in all his effort, especially seeing that Leo was, too. It was a lengthy and intense session, but nothing went wrong. They were both starting to get winded, finally, ready to end the match. Leo charged at Raph, ready to try to strike at him. Raph readied himself to counter, noticing the sparkle in Leo's eye again. He shot Leo a smile, and Leo smiled back. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Leo jumped up and was fixing to send Raph down crashing with an aerial kick attack. Raph quickly went into a defensive position just in time. Leo's leg connected with Raph's arm, and since Leo threw Raph off, Raph fell down anyways with the advantage Leo had.

Raph laughed, raising a hand up as he dusted himself off and stood up. "Okay, ya got me, I'm done," Raph smiled, looking up. He was puzzled when he didn't see Leo and thought Leo was trying to do a sneak attack, so he turned sharply and was ready to defend himself again. His smile quickly dropped when he saw Leo on the ground, his hands clasped tightly around his bad knee. "Holy shit- - Leo, I'm sorry- -" Raph quickly knelt down next to him.

"Don't be," Leo breathed out. "It wasn't you, it was me. I put all my weight in that attack. It was my bad."

Raph was pained as he saw Leo hissing and shaking from the pain. "...I'm sorry."

Leo gave Raph a soft look. "Raph, please don't be too hard on yourself. You didn't do anything wrong. I'll be okay. It's not your fault."

"I know, I'm just... I'm sorry it hurts so much. What can we do?"

Donnie ran over, kneeling down. "Is it just the knee?"

"Yeah," Leo replied. "I'm sorry, I put all my weight into that attack. I'm just used to using this leg with that attack, I didn't even realize 'til it happened."

"Let's get you inside," Raph said. "Can you stand?"

"Uh, lemme try." Leo lifted up his good leg, managing to get up a bit. He lifted his bad leg carefully, taking some steps forward. The pain was intense, but at least he could walk- - "nope nope nope, I need help," Leo laughed sardonically as he felt his bad leg cramp up and give out on him. Luckily, Donnie and Raph were right by him and caught him before he could fall. "Damn."

"Don't," Raph said softly. "You did great today, bro."

Leo offered a small smile. "I'll try not to, Raph. You better try, too."

"I will."

"Donnie, you too."

Donnie nodded, not wanting to add onto the subject. "Yeah. Alright, here's the couch- -"

"Whaaat," Casey said as he watched them carry Leo in. "What happened?"

"I'm a dumbass, that's what," Leo joked as he carefully sat on the couch. He caught Donnie and Raph giving him looks, and he smiled sheepishly. "I'm kidding. Sorta."

"He put his weight on his bad leg and just fell to the ground," Donnie said, to answer Casey's question. "How does your knee feel? Did it feel like something shifted?"

"It just feels like it's gonna explode from pain," Leo replied, trying to compose himself. "When it happened, it felt like my knee was getting crushed together like in a garbage truck or something." Leo's head suddenly started pounding. He lifted his hands up to his head, trying to get it to stop. "Fuck this hurts," Leo breathed out.

"Well for some stupid reason you're trying to not release any sounds of pain," Donnie pointed out. "Holding that in isn't the best thing."

"I don't wanna ruin Mikey and April's time upstairs- -"

Leo drew in a sharp breath, looking around frantically and grabbing a pillow, smothering his face in it and letting out a blood-curdling scream. Thankfully the pillow did its job and muffled it, but Casey, Donnie and Raph could get the jist of how loud it would have been if there was no pillow. His leg was jolting from the pain, making his screams seemingly endless. Raph quickly offered Leo his hand. Leo grabbed Raph's hand so tight so quick, Raph immediately jumped from the sudden pain in his hand. He readjusted his hand and then let Leo clasp it afterwards. While Donnie was wrapping and putting the splint on Leo's knee, Leo kept screaming and crushing Raph's hand. Casey went and retrieved some lukewarm damp towels and dry towels, an ice pack, and some pain medication to give to Leo when everything was done. At one point, Leo's vocal chords gave out on him and he couldn't scream anymore without straining himself. His voice was raspy and sounded weak. At some point, he couldn't even squeeze Raph's hand anymore. Raph noticed this.

"Is it starting to hurt less?" Raph asked as Leo's hold loosened. Leo didn't reply. "Leo?" Raph shook Leo's shoulder a bit. Leo shrugged Raph's hand away and kept his face buried in the pillow. Raph realized what was happening and eyed Donnie as he finished up. "Everything all done?"

"Yeah," Donnie replied, letting out a sigh. "He definitely needs some down time."

"So do you. Why don't you and Casey head on out? I'll watch Leo for a bit."

Donnie was about to object, but Casey interrupted him. "We can work on the car for a bit, just to clear our heads. 'Sides, I know ya been dyin' to get back to it." Casey lifted Donnie up on his feet. "C'mon, kraang-breath, let's get back to the grind." Casey looked back at Raph, mouthing 'you're welcome' as he led Donnie and himself out of the house.

Raph silently thanked Casey for getting the hint. Raph turned to look at Leo, who still hadn't raised his head from the pillow. "Ya wanna lower that, Leo?" Leo shook his head, turning his head away from Raph. Leo quickly lowered it to wipe at his face, turned the pillow around and put his face back into it. Raph sighed, trying again at offering a comforting gesture. He placed his hand on top of the pillow. "Leo, come on. It's just you and me now. I promise."

Leo didn't move for a while, and Raph's hand didn't move from the pillow. Finally, Leo let out a sigh, his grip on the pillow loosening. Raph gently pushed the pillow down from Leo's face and grabbed it, tossing it aside. Leo turned his head away from Raph, not wanting his brother to see his face yet. Leo roughly wiped at his face and rubbed his eyes. He took off his mask, tossing it across the room in a fit of anger. Raph got up and retrieved it, keeping it with him as he sat down. Leo finally tilted his head up to look at Raph. He looked terrible. He knew he did. His eyes were puffy and narrow, he looked pale and flushed. He didn't know how he would sound, but he knew he'd sound awful.

"Casey brought some things to help you out. Here," Raph handed Leo the lukewarm damp towel. "That'll probably help with your eyes. Here's some medicine and water, too, 'cause I know you're still in pain. And I'ma put the ice pack under your knee, alright?" Leo nodded. He lifted the towel up to his face and closed his eyes, placing it on them. It felt really nice and soothing, a very big contrast as to how he was currently feeling. Leo took the medicine and downed the water, feeling thirsty all of a sudden. Raph lifted up a water bottle, handing it to him. It was pretty big. "I know it's huge, but I figured you'd be wantin' a lotta water." Leo quickly took it and gulped it down. Raph finished setting up the ice pack and grabbed the dry towel, dabbing Leo's head. "Hell, you're like a swamp, dude." Leo shot Raph a look. "Sorry, too soon to joke around?"

Leo sighed, dropping his stare. "No- -" Leo quickly stopped himself as soon as he heard himself. He impulsively lifted his hands up to his throat. He tried clearing it, but it hurt. He winced, shaking his head and drinking some more water. Raph grabbed the damp towel and put it on Leo's forehead. "Thanks. I'm gonna try not to talk a lot, so sorry if I'm too quiet."

"That's fine, don't worry, bro." Raph offered Leo his mask back, but Leo shook his head and looked frustrated. Raph retracted his hand. "You're right; I should wash it first." Leo made a little scoffing sound, a small smile on his face. Raph smiled a bit seeing this. Raph quickly lost his smile, making Leo confused. Seeing his questioning look, Raph sighed. "I'm gonna tell ya somethin'. Ya don't gotta say anything, I just need ya to hear it. Okay?"

Leo couldn't hold back the question in his head. "Is it bad?"

"'Course not, dude. Just sit back and listen, alright?" Leo nodded, deciding to lay down since sitting up felt like too much work. Raph eyed Leo. "Comfy?" Leo rolled his eyes, waving his hands at Raph as if to say 'so you were saying?' Raph cleared his throat. "Right. I know you're probably feeling like you're useless and stuff like that because of your injury, and that you're holding everyone back. Well, you aren't, alright? You needa learn to stop thinking like that. Just because you're injured doesn't mean you're less valued or can't do as much as everyone else. You're just as strong as anyone else here, and you shouldn't let your injury hold you back. Sure, things will be hard sometimes, but you can do crafty and unique things we couldn't do, injured or not. I've seen ya do some pretty impressive shit these past couple of weeks that I couldn't even do. Just because you're injured doesn't change who you are. You're still the same person, you're still Leo. You can still kick ass, you're still our dorky brother who geeks out about space and can't shut up about dork things. I'm not sayin' this won't be a part of you, 'cause it will, but it doesn't have to be a bad thing as long as ya don't make it. You've kicked our asses the past two days in new ways we haven't seen ya do before, and that's with an injury! And I'm not tryna invalidate your feelings, either. You're allowed to have bad days and get frustrated, but you are so much more than your injury. It doesn't have to hold you back. I've seen you use it to push you forwards, and you did real great, Leo. I know it doesn't feel like all of that is true right now, but I'm not gonna lie to you about this. You've fucking got this, Leo, alright? I believe in ya, we believe in ya- - it's time you put faith in yourself for a change." Raph glanced at Leo, who was staring at Raph with a bit of an agape mouth. Raph rubbed his neck. "So, yeah, that's that."

Leo propped an arm up and sat himself up. He looked at Raph, his throat tight and his eyes looking intense. Raph, assuming Leo was upset at his words, was about to say something when Leo threw his arms around Raph, hugging him tightly. Raph froze for a moment, but quickly embraced his brother back.

"Can you do something for me?" Leo asked in a whisper.

"What?"

"Can you try to not be blaming yourself for what happened? Thanks for saying all that- - I really needed it- - but I don't want you blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault and is out of your control. Things happen, and that's okay. I'm tryna come to terms with that, too. I want you to try to, at least, okay?" Raph nodded. "I love you, Raph." Leo somehow hugged Raph tighter, as if he let go, Raph would fade away.

Something about the way Leo said those four words and how he was being held just broke Raph. He shuddered "I love you too, bro," and started heaving a bit. Leo repositioned himself to have Raph more comfortable as he started to cry. Leo couldn't help but to get sentimental as Raph cried. They held each other like there was no tomorrow. And if there wasn't, they'd be pretty content as this being their last figurative day.

April and Mikey laughed, really enjoying each other's company. "Holy hell, I've missed you, Mikey. It's just so good to see you smiling and hearing you laugh."

Mikey smiled a bit, but it felt empty. "That's kind of sad."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I've been here this whole time, but... I dunno, it's just all sucky. I thought you guys were doing better without me."

"Hell no, Mikey. Things aren't the same without you. I'm glad you're doing better."

"Are you?"

"I think so. I feel like it. There's some moments here and there, but for the most part, yeah."

"That's good. Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Did you think I was mad at you or something? Or hated you? 'Cause as happy as you are up here with me, you seem kinda... I dunno, like you're expecting something bad to happen? I only think so 'cause you look like Raph did when this whole thing kinda started."

April rubbed her arm. "Honestly, yeah. I mean, I just... felt bad about the entire thing. That was your personal thing, and you weren't ready for everyone to figure that out. And then I just kind of shared it with everyone once I was given the go-ahead."

"Can ya please try not to be so hard on yourself? It's not your fault. What happened happened. We can't stay stuck in the past forever, 'cause if we did, we'd never be happy again. I gotta believe there's always a rainbow after the storm. You were just lookin' out for me, and I'm not mad about that. I was never mad at ya, and I could never hate ya, April. Alright?"

April chuckled a bit. "I'm thinking you're the real Splinter Jr. around here."

Mikey snorted immediately after she said that. "Oh my god stop I'm gonna choke," Mikey laughed, wiping at his eyes. "You're a real comedian."

April laughed along, playfully shoving Mikey. "So do you feel like you'll be okay enough to come out and be in the same room with everyone soon?"

"I think so," Mikey replied, sounding wistful. "I hope so. I'm tired of feeling like this, but it's so hard to break outta it."

"You're doing great so far," April said, giving Mikey a hug. "You take your time. Do things when you're ready." Mikey hugged her back, smiling. She pulled away. "I don't mean to make you feel like I wanna leave, but I'm gonna check on the others real quick. Do you want me to bring anyone back up here? Do you want me to come back up when I'm done?"

"Nah, that's okay. I just wanna be alone right now."

April grew concerned. "Oh no, did I say something wrong?"

"Nah, nah, it's not a bad alone time. I just needa recharge, is all, y'know?"

April smiled again. "I hear you there." She stood up. "Can I come back up tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Mikey chirped. "Definitely. Tell the guys I said hi. And you better get some good sleep."

"You too, Mikey," April chuckled. She left the room and went down the stairs, peeking her head in the living room. She saw Raph and Leo on the couch asleep. They looked pretty exhausted from afar. She assumed training was just a lot and went to go find Casey and Donnie, who were working on the car. "What's up, guys?"

"Hey, Red," Casey replied, setting down his tools. "How were things with Mikey? Is he alright?"

"He's doing better, he looks more happy. He said hi, by the way." She eyed Donnie, who was transfixed on whatever he was working on. "Donnie, you alright?"

"Huh?" Donnie poked his head up. "Oh, hi, April, how was your talk with Mikey?"

Casey and April smiled a bit. "It went okay, D. Mikey said hi. He wants to be alone for the rest of the day, said he needs to recharge."

"That's good. Did you see how Leo was holding up, by the way? Did he look alright?"

"Well, he and Raph went to sleep, so I'm guessing yeah? Training must have been something today, I guess."

Casey and Donnie glanced at each other, then looked back at April. "Guess she doesn't know." April eyed Casey as he said that. "Training was goin' good, then Leo pulled some sorta ultimate move I guess and hurt his bad knee. He was pretty outta it, was in a lotta pain. Raph said he'd keep an eye on Leo for us, so we came here to distract us."

April sighed. "Maybe they just tired themselves out after the adrenaline wore off. Maybe a rest is good for them. You guys alright?"

"I feel kinda bad, but I'm trying not to," Donnie replied.

"I feel bad 'cause I wasn't there to help when it happened," Casey added.

"Jones, I told ya, there wasn't really anything any of us could do at that moment, don't feel bad."

"Oh wow, I magically feel better!" Casey cheered sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Donnie. "I know you're right, D, but I can't just ignore how I feel."

"Guys, calm down," April interjected, standing between them. Before things between them could get any more heated, April had an idea. "How about we watch some movies?"

Leo's eyes opened slowly as sounds of talking and loud sounds woke him up from his sleep. He was surprised that he didn't wake up from a nightmare this time, but he wasn't going to complain about it. He blinked a couple of times, noticing the room was dark but that there was some light coming from somewhere. He turned his head carefully, seeing Donnie, Raph, Casey and April on the ground, gathered around the TV. "What are you guys doing?"

"Shhh!" Casey hissed. "We're watching a movie- - hey!"

April shoved Casey. "Don't be so rude. You wanna join us, Leo? It's getting good!"

"Might as well, it woke me up, can't go back to sleep with you loudmouths and the loud movie." They flashed him innocent smiles, diverting their attention back to the screen. Leo eyed Raph, reaching a hand out and placing it on Raph's shoulder. Raph turned around, looking at Leo. Raph gave him a small yet gentle smile. Leo smiled back, dropping his hand down and letting Raph get back to watching the movie.

"The movie is really good," Raph whispered to Donnie.

"It is! Sorry we woke ya up earlier, though."

"I can always sleep later."

Donnie snickered, fist bumping Raph. "I hear that."

He watched as everyone's eyes were glued to the screen. They seemed really happy and like they were having a good time. Was he up for this? Could he do this? Would he let himself do this? He sighed, stepping in the room. He quietly crept his way in, making sure he was up for it. Once he was sure he could do this, he drew in a deep breath. "What are we watching?"

Everyone turned around as soon as they heard him. Their eyes on him made him immediately anxious, but he focused on his breathing to calm him down. This was his family, his friends. People he could trust, people he loved, people who he cared about and who cared about him. It felt like forever, though, with how long it was quiet and how long they were looking at him.

Casey broke the silence. "It's some sorta barbarian movie, it's pretty funny and intense. Wanna watch with us, Mikey?"

Mikey was so glad Casey could make things feel so casual even at the most weirdest times. Mikey smiled softly. "Yeah. Got any room?"

Leo lifted his legs up and patted the empty space next to him, offering Mikey a smile. "C'mon, you're missing the good parts."

Even though Mikey's heart was racing like crazy, he smiled and sat down next to his brother. Even though he was nervous, he felt a sense of comfort and joy being around everyone again. Casey turned to look at Mikey, giving him a peace sign.

"Glad to have ya back around, dude. Now I've got someone to back me up when I critique these shows and movies."

Mikey chuckled. "Casey and Mikey: the critique dream team."

Casey chuckled, patting Mikey's knee and turning his attention back to the movie. Mikey looked at Leo, who gave him a warm smile. Mikey couldn't help but to smile back. He got a bit closer to Leo. Leo gripped Mikey's shoulder, letting him know he was there for him as he turned his attention to the movie along with everyone else. Mikey wasn't sure what compelled him to leave his room, to go down the stairs, to finally tell his anxiety 'screw off' and get back control of his life. Temporary or not, Mikey wasn't regretting this a bit. As the night went along, everyone was talking and getting along great. Things felt smooth, casual, fun. Mikey's worries were lessening, and he felt like he was getting back to his old self again as he started cracking jokes, critiquing some things, talking to everyone and most importantly: genuinely feeling happy. Temporary or not, Mikey was determined to keep this night as a good memory.

"Pause it!"

"Okay, okay!"

"What's happening?"

"It's happening again."

"What?" April questioned.

"He's having a nightmare," Raph replied, he- - along with everyone else- - looking as Leo started to shake and mumble things in his sleep. Raph bit down on his lip. "Damnit!" He hissed.

Mikey placed a hand on Raph's shoulder, averting his attention to him. "Raphie," Mikey said quietly.

Raph sighed, trying to calm down. "I know, I know. I just hate it."

"I still don't know the best way to snap him out of his nightmares," Donnie said, worriedly looking at Leo. "If we try waking him up ourselves, he's going to wake up and be frantic. If he wakes up by himself, he's going to wake up and be frantic. If he feels us huddling around, he'll panic and wake up. I really don't know what to do." Donnie looked pained as he said all this. Mikey placed a hand on Donnie's knee, trying to comfort him.

"So, what, we just do nothing?" Casey asked.

"I don't know what else to do," Donnie sighed.

"Let me try something." April stood up, going over to Leo.

She stood behind his head, placing her fingers at the sides of his temples. She closed her eyes, trying to focus. Once she had, all the noise, the feeling of the others presences, the world around her started to fade away. She controlled her breathing, keeping her mind focused on the task: ease Leo back awake. She could do it with the turtles during that dream beavers situation, there's no reason she couldn't do it again. She had been training on her mind abilities, too, after all, so she might as well have tried it out. She felt the pulling feeling she felt last time, and she knew she had made it: she was in Leo's mind space. She searched for the active nightmare, and once she found it, she understood why Leo's nightmare always scared him to his core. It was really intimidating, dark, scary. It felt like there was a sense of defeat, hopelessness, nothingness around her. She saw dream Leo, stepping around with his katanas in his hands, looking around himself carefully.

"Who's there?" dream Leo shouted. He looked drained, petrified... lost.

"Leo, it's me, April!" April shouted to him.

Her shout only registered as a whisper. She kept shouting at him, but to no avail. Leo put up his guard, raising his katanas. "Guys? Casey? April?"

April was about to shout at him when she heard herself screaming. "Th-that wasn't me..."

Leo, immediately alarmed, started running towards the source. "Guys! Hold on, I'm coming!"

April was caught off guard for a moment, but she quickly composed herself and started running after Leo. "Leo, I'm here! I'm over here! That's not me!"

Leo stopped for a moment. He turned around, facing April's direction. He lowered his katanas a bit, something in him telling him to go towards that distant light. He bolted for it. He immediately froze as a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. It was Shredder. April gasped, jumping back a bit. Leo quickly raised his katanas again.

"There is no other ending for you other than me personally escorting you to your demise," Shredder bellowed.

Leo felt... off, but he wasn't going to lower his guard. "You're not real." Leo growled.

"And yet, I still have a means to hurt you. You're pathetic, turtle. I will always haunt you, and you can never escape. Reality or not, I will always be the one to end your life." Shredder raised his arm up, the blades in his gauntlet sliding out. He swung his arm down.

"No!" April yelled. Just as she yelled, everything paused. Everything froze, as if she had just paused a movie. She looked around. She sighed, trying to compose herself. She hadn't noticed that while everyone and everything froze, Leo hadn't. He was staring at her, looking shocked. She finally noticed, raising her head and looking at him. "Leo, it's me. It's really me."

Leo took a step forward cautiously. "...dream," Leo whispered to himself. "This isn't real. This hasn't happened before, so... why is this time different?"

"Leo, look at me." April walked towards him. She placed her hands on his shoulders, and they both felt a sudden pull and push effect as they made contact. Leo's eyes widened, and it finally registered. "It's me, I promise."

Leo let out a relieved laugh, hugging April tightly. "How did you get here?" Leo asked, pulling away. "How are you even here?"

"Remember when I told you how I got into your mind with the whole dream beaver thing? I'm doing that again. I didn't know if it was going to work, but it did!"

"Holy shit," Leo laughed, still in a state of disbelief. "That's wild."

"So... this is how your nightmare goes every time?" April asked. Leo nodded. "I'm so sorry."

Leo was about to say it's okay, but he stopped himself. "I'm just glad you're here. So what do we do now?"

"I don't know. Everything's frozen for right now- - I guess you can't wake up until someone strikes the final blow or something? Someone has to end the dream. All I can do is buffer for now, but the original people in the nightmare have to end it one way or the other."

Leo looked at the frozen dream Shredder. He raised his katanas, going over to him. Leo held them high, drawing in a deep breath. This was something he had always wanted to do ever since he had his first nightmare. He was ready. Before he struck, he looked at April, a warm smile on his face.

"Thank you, April."

His eyes shot open, his heart racing. Leo wasn't having any phantom or real pain. There was no cold sweats. He didn't feel the toll he usually did when he woke up from the nightmare. He looked around him, the faces of his family and friends giving him beaming smiles. He started laughing, feeling like, for once in life, he had control of something- - that everything wasn't doomed or nothing was never going to be good again. Everyone was glad he woke up in a better state than before. Leo turned around, looking up at April and giving her the biggest smile ever. He was about to thank her again, but she placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling back down at him.

"Anytime, Leo."