Part Two: Failure

The snow fell from the dark clouds above, muffling the warring state around him. It was cold, and his heart pounded an anxious rhythm in his chest. But Leo could not focus on that now as he stood before him. Every step the Shredder took towards him, armor rattling with each movement, was sending warning bells off in Leo's head to turn and run.

No! That wasn't a choice anymore. He had to stay and fight.

With one sword snapped in half, and the other one still whole, he stood his ground. There was no possible way he could back down. His whole world was at risk. Everything he strived to protect, everything his father had fought for, was on the line. If he were stopped now, all of it would be lost.

Yet he knew he was utterly outmatched. Painstakingly, he made a final stand.

The pain lanced like lightning through his bones. The wind hit his skin, but now he was pretty much numb. Leo couldn't move his limbs with the usual swiftness necessary for combat. With every breath it felt like frost had formed in his lungs, freezing him to the core.

The enemy advanced, and he tried to defend himself.

He was too weak.

In an instant he was struck down to his knees and Leo could only look on at the inevitable as he was surrounded by the eyes of the enemy. His heartbeat ticked the seconds by. He knew what was coming for him, and yet was unable to anticipate the severity of his situation.

He blinked and the Shredder stood before him, raised his arm, and then cut him down.

Leonardo had failed.

His scream rang out through the house. Leo could still feel the phantom pain radiate throughout his body, his lungs felt strained. He quieted and tried to catch his breath. It was only a nightmare, or rather a very vivid replay.

He tried to calm himself, repeating that it was nothing more than a dream. Leo was safe now.

Until the door to his room opened suddenly. He had to fight the urge to bolt from his bed. But really there was no where he would even be able to go. Leo was crippled by his injuries, and ultimately trapped in the bedroom.

A shadow moved swiftly from the door over to him and came to his bedside, and another scream worked its way into Leo's throat.

"Dude!" the shadow called to him. "Leo. Leo, it's Mikey. You're okay, don't panic. It's all right now."

Without realizing it Leo had begun to hyperventilate, his breathing was much too rapid to form a response, but he could make out Mikey's face in the dim light of the moon that came in through the bedroom windows. It was his little brother standing before him, not that monster wearing the mask of a man.

It was just Mikey, and he's safe. Leo was safe. He repeated the word to himself as a mantra, and attempted to hold fast to its meaning.

"Was it a nightmare?" Mikey asked quietly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Leo shook his head. Talking about it was not going to help. The memories were too fresh, and he did not wish to relive them so soon.

"All right, bro. Do you want me to stay with you for a while? Until you can fall asleep again, at least." Mikey offered.

With that suggestion he quickly realized he really didn't want to be alone again. That's how he had been struck down before…being separated from his family. "Yeah, please stay," Leo's voice was still rough from disuse, and it actually hurt to speak.

"Got it, bro. I won't go anywhere. Mind if I sit next to you? The bed's big enough."

Leo nodded his approval. Mikey smiled and walked around to the other side of the queen size bed, and climbed up into it; his shell made a light thud as he leaned against the headboard.

Mikey's hand comes up to rest on Leo's shoulder, "Why don't you lay back down? You need to sleep."

Leo hadn't realized he moved into a sitting position. It must have happened when he screamed himself awake. So Leo gently laid back down, trying not aggravate the aches and pains in his body.

Leo glanced sideways at Mikey, but he was looking out the window. He wasn't ignoring Leo, but he did it in a way to respect Leo's privacy as he settled back onto the bed. Mikey could see it was difficult for Leo to be in such a weak state.

"It's weird," Leo whispered after a moment.

It caught Mikey's attention and he looked back over to Leo. "What is?"

"Being in this house."

Mikey thought on that for a moment before he responded. "It is. You know I like it though, being able to wake when the sun's up, and sleep when it goes down. I mean sun came in through the grates in the lair, but this is all the time here," Mikey smiled. "It's nice."

"Like if we were normal teenagers," Leo said.

Mikey paused for a moment to consider that. "Yeah, I guess so. I do miss home though."

If Leo and his brothers were normal teenagers, Leo wouldn't have been fighting a war-crazed master ninja, vicious robots, and renegade mutants. Or at least it would certainly be less likely. They would have this life all the time, rather than having it be their hideout as aliens invaded their city.

Leo also wouldn't have been in a coma for three months of his life, hibernating in a bathtub because his body simply could not handle the damage it had endured.

"Bro," Mikey said softly. "I can't read your mind, that would be cool though, but I think I sort of know what you're feeling right now. Actually, I think we can all relate some."

He looked over to his brother. Mikey couldn't possibly know how defeated he felt. It was something that clawed at his very soul.

"Don't look at me like that," Mikey said with a frown. "I've been smacked down my fair share of times too. There was that one time with Snakeweed in the sewers, another time with Slash…twice in the same night, man. That was pretty brutal. And…and that time in the butcher shop."

Leo could hear a small tremor to Mikey's voice, something that didn't present itself often with his youngest brother. Tiger Claw had beaten Mikey into unconsciousness. It was understandable that it upset him. At the time he had been out for at least a day and a half afterwards. When he was lying in bed Leo didn't know if he would be okay, and watched over him vigilantly until he woke up again. A smile being the first thing to grace his lips.

So maybe it wasn't so outrageous of an idea that Mikey knew where Leo was coming from. He really was empathetic to his feelings.

"I know," Mikey said, breaking Leo's train of thought. "That it's scary, bro. And maybe my experiences don't quite add up to yours, but you're not alone. Ever." Mikey had started to slouch down further into the mattress. His head resting on the second pillow in the bed. "So I guess whenever you feel like talking about it, I'll be around to listen."

Leo smiled at his brother's words. The comfort they provided was something that he greatly needed. Even though he goofed off a lot, Mikey had his moments when he was able to pick up on exactly how to comfort and make a situation better.

"Thank you," Leo whispered. But Mikey had already drifted off to sleep in the bed. And that was fine.

There was a light a knock on the doorjamb. Leo looked up to find Donnie and Raph standing in the doorway.

"Everything okay in here?" Raph asked. Knowing them they had probably been there the whole time, but didn't want to interrupt.

"Yeah," Leo managed to answer. His throat protested speaking, and he had to fight the urge to cough.

Donnie walked over to him, a glass of water had apparently materialized in his hand, but Leo wasn't going to complain. Donnie handed it over to Leo, and he took a sip of water. It was something he had desperately needed, and was grateful that Donnie considered to get it for him.

After Leo had his fill, he passed the glass back to Donnie. He placed the half full cup on the bedside table where Leo could reach it again if he needed it.

Donnie took a step back, and gave Leo a smile. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

Leo didn't really have the energy to form a verbal response. Talking was something he was still getting used to doing again. So he returned Donnie's smile and shook his head.

"Okay, we'll let you get some sleep then. We'll be just down the hall if you need us."

Donnie walked back over to Raph, who was waiting quietly in the hall. Before he left, he wanted to make sure Leo had everything he needed.

"Do you want me to take him back to his room?" Raph pointed to Mikey who was completely passed out. Again Leo shook his head. "Okay. Night, Leo." Raph said, and then he and Donnie went back to their own beds.

For tonight, Leo could use the company.

Thank you for reading! I hope you like. For this section of the story there was a wonderful piece of art done by Prideling on tumblr. You can find it on her account.