Author's Note: Here we have a little more of exhausted Leo- less of Casey though. Shinigami's still bringing her trouble, but she means well, doesn't she?

Hamato Leonardo's First-Person P.O.V.

I'm in absolutely no mood to deal with this. Raph is competing with his bandana for skin color, Donnie is vibrating with too many emotions, and Mikey- I think Mikey gave up trying to keep us happy. Right now- we deserve to let loose some emotions. So that's what I'm planning to do.

I touch Don's shoulder, earning a gasp from him, "Come on Don, let's go for a walk,"

He begins to shake his head, but I speak to my other brothers instead, "All of us," I add after a beat, "We need some fresh air."

Raph pauses, but he shoots visual venom, "You need some fucking sleep,"

He's not wrong, but I don't tell him that. Instead, I make a far-stretched promise, "I'll sleep after we walk out all this pent-up energy,"

Mikey leaps from the chair, arms stretching in quick mimic of waking up, "Rightio Leo!"

At least I could always count on Mikey to support me- Donnie remains on the floor while Raph acts as though his shell is glued to the couch. It takes me a second to realize that he has no blanket- and neither does Mikey. I glance at Don, and I sigh to find him in his same faithful blanket from minutes ago. But the air is still chilly- and I should have known that I would soon be suffering again for some much appreciated warmth. At least Raph doesn't notice -yet.

Donnie pushes himself from the ground, rubbing his eyes as though that would work to have his vision clear again. Raph follows shortly, but his arms remain folded and his suitably scarlet headphones lay curled around his neck like a comfortable snake. Mikey is already bouncing on his feet- energetic as always.

Raph gives Mikey a frown, and jabs a thumb in my direction, "Yo Mike, think you could give some of that energy to Workaholic here?"

I open my mouth to protest, but shut it. I don't have the energy to deal with Raph's attitude today.

"He fucking needs it," Raph concludes with something akin to pity and worry. He completely ignores my jab at him to watch his language.

It's trying times like these that remind me just how much I have to watch my tongue.

A slip like that out loud would prove more consequences than I deserve. Raph curses, so does Casey- less Casey now since I'm asking him to avoid it. Don's a rarity, almost as much as April. And when Mikey curses… heaven breaks into hell to freeze it with dry ice. And me? I need to watch my mouth- I have an image to keep up, an example to set.

"Bzzz!" Mikey waves a finger in my face, promptly causing me to snap back, "Energy transfer activated!"

I wait- just to humor him, then shake my head and reply, "Guess it doesn't work."

Donnie speaks up, eyes strained at the white doors, "Where are we going for the walk?"

I'm not sure just how safe this building is. Karai claims it to be private- and I trust her. And while this floor may be secure, how safe are the top and bottom levels? Safe enough to carry my brothers for a dramatic and maybe gut-wrenching conversation that shall throw us all off our game because of hormone imbalance?

I open my mouth, and say, "Upstairs,"

Mikey rocks on his heels, "Can we?" he looks at our entrance point and beams, "I call dibs on pressing the button!"

We don't answer him, instead, I look to Karai. She and Casey were having a low conversation- something I couldn't catch. If I try harder I just might- but whatever they're speaking of should hold no use to me… right?

I jab a thumb to the ceiling, catching Karai's complete attention. She arched a thin brow, completely shutting out whatever Casey had been saying to her. She nods, answering me without a single word- and I relish that. Mutual communication.

Casey raises his head, meeting with Raph and asking, "Where you guys going?"

Raph shrugs, and I could feel some of his irritation wash away, "Fearless is taking us for a walk."

Do I have to remind him that I don't agree with his nickname? Casey just grins and tells us to stay out of trouble. Mikey laughs and replies, "No promises!"

With those words, Casey nods and gives his attention back to me, "Take care guys,"

Karai blows off a sigh, "What's up with the sentiment lately?" and she shoots Casey a look, "They're not babies you know,"

Don snaps his head up, and Mikey whispers a lone word to Raph, "Triggered…"

It isn't me who tells Mikey to knock it off- it's Raph. And I turn around to lead them to the elevator. I spare another glance at the white doors- and I want to tell Casey to…

Casey stands up, "Can I go check up on April?"

Don whips around, fist raised and this time, it's not me, but Raph who pulls him by the mask tails and into the elevator. Mikey pushes Donnie by the shell until it takes both turtles to subdue their nerdy brother. I'm left standing rather stupefied for a moment, and it isn't until Raph gives me a quick nod do I realize just how much I'm in need of rest.

Karai walks to my side, and gestures to the elevator door, "I'll stay with April," her voice drops into something softer, "You go with your brothers,"

The response is automatic, "Hai."

Less of a leader and more like a drone is what my own actions remind me of- isn't the room awfully cold? The elevator isn't any better- and I have to blink twice as hard to avoid going into autopilot. Raph and Mikey are behind me, and Don's exceptionally quiet. The elevator door begins to slide and all of a sudden- breathing becomes harder.

Loud. Everything's loud again, and I bite my tongue to keep from cursing that witch's name.

"Shinigami?" I shout, and far too quickly I'm on the floor because I'm too loud for my own hearing.

I stare at my brothers' feet, and I don't know how long I spend slowly breathing because this is the second time today and it usually is weeks apart. I inhale, my own nostrils deceptively loud and the air is stiffer than it ought to be. I close my eyes, squeezing them shut but everything's so… loud.

Footsteps- soft ones- and I know they belong to Shinigami. I look up, and the girl stands before me with a forlorn expression.

"Leonardo," she says, "There's trouble."

I put in twice the energy to stand, but yet, it irks me that I have to lean on Raph. I turn to him, and for some reason, he still holds that raw concern in his eyes that doesn't hinder even when he's gripping Don's shoulders back. Mikey's resting on Don rather than holding him, but his grin falters in that one moment time froze. It frightens me- to see that sadness in Mikey. But what truly terrifies me, is the fact that Don's anger has faded into nothing. His eyes could very well be glass for all they're telling.

I look at Shinigami, "What's wrong?"

Her boots glint at me, and it takes me a second to realize that she's in front of the white doors, "It's about April- they're something you have to see."

"Well that's sudden,"

I push myself off Raph and it isn't long before I'm steady again on my two feet, "Who is it? What is it?"

She pushes at the door, earning an unnecessarily loud whoosh, "Magic and mutant alike," she gestures me to follow, "There's more you need to know,"

Time's ticking away- and I'm not the only one who ought to be worried about two frozen time moments in the same day, "Can we hurry?"

Shinigami disappears behind the door, "We have to be quick- look at this."

When I enter- I see nothing amiss. April's asleep on her bed- curled into one side and I don't have to hear her to know she's crying again. I frown- mentally preparing to visit her within seconds of my return. I haven't forgotten that I owe my brothers a short walk- but Shinigami leads me towards the window and I have to wade slowly.

"Yes Shinigami-san?"

"Look," she pointed in a distance, and I squint through the frozen sunbeams to spot a trio of figures in the distance. From the looks of it- mutants.

"There're from another dimension," Shinigami's whisper is like a travelling breeze, "But the female is pregnant, the other males are guiding her."

I rub my eyes- forcing myself to peer again, "What do they have to do with April?"

Shinigami gives me a glare- that I ignore, "Mutants? Pregnant? Ring a bell…" and she gestures at April, "They might be coming here,"

I point again, "They're not even looking here," and I finally give her a sigh, "They might not even be concerned with April."

"We don't know that,"

"No… but…"

"Are we really going to risk it?"

I open my mouth, then close it. I can't muster enough energy to speak, so I turn to her and I say softly, "Was it really necessary to freeze time again?"

She nods quickly, "I wanted to make sure this family isn't in any more danger,"

I drop my face into my hands, "By putting me in even more stress?"

Shinigami winces, and gives me a half-sorry half-regretful look, "You can handle it."

"I have to," I wipe my eyes again, but they burn. Like they're under water all over again- like I'm struggling to breathe but the air is so heavy.

Shinigami reaches out to me, and she says softly, "Go back to your brothers… I'll put back time."

I nod, and it's too easy to go to autopilot out those white doors. I see Casey and Karai standing- and it's not an easy thing to walk straight by them. Casey's half-smiling but Karai is full-out grinning. What were they even talking about? I shouldn't care- yet I do. By the time I'm at the elevator again, my brothers are breathing as usual. Except Donnie- he's awfully still. A bit more than I should expect- that moment when there's that still before the storm. Where I just know he's going to explode at any given moment- but I can't do anything about it just yet. Not yet- not now. I have to get my head focused- sleep. One hour even- why did she have to freeze time twice?

"Yo Leo?" Raph snaps my attention, "You sure you wanna go?"

I lean against the back of the elevator- cold steel against my arms, "Yeah- we have to clear our minds… rest a little. Donnie? Bro? Hang on for a while, okay?"

Mikey presses down on the elevator button, "Guess we're all going downhill from here."

I raise my head to him, "Up Mikey- we're supposed to go up."

"Oh well," Mikey shrugs, but his grin is ever-present when he jabs another button, "Going up!"

But yet… I can't ignore this dreaded feeling that things are just going downhill from here. The door pings shut, and we wait. In silence, I push all my weight onto the door, letting the feeling of initial movement take me away. We go lower, and lower. I have the odd sensation of my stomach being left there. And wait, weren't we supposed to be going up?