They'd gotten separated, and that was the worst thing that could have happened. Alone, his youngest brother hardly stood a chance against the Hive. He had been MIA for hours. Leo didn't want to let go of hope, but the terrible odds were that Mikey was either dead, or worse, turned. He couldn't bear the thought of his brothers being forced into mental subservience by the vampiric, alien things that were the Hive.

Most of New York had already succumbed.

Leo skidded around a corner in the sewer, racing to the next meeting spot. They had several, just in case the others were compromised. This would be the fifth he had checked, three more he hadn't yet. He glanced around, but the layer of undisturbed dust told him all he needed to know. Leaving a brief note in code and kanji, he ran on to the next safe house.

Straightaways were a ninja no-no, but as he wasn't being pursued anymore, Leonardo took the most direct route he could, and let out a cry of relief when he spotted the familiar shape of Michelangelo in the dim light of the sewer. "Mikey!" he called.

"Leo!" His brother trotted forward a few paces, then halted, putting up a hand so that Leonardo would do the same, and drew his nun-chucks. "Are you still safe? Did you get bit?"

"No, I'm clean. You can still trust me. You?"

"You can trust me too," Mikey stated, starting to blubber as he fell into his big bro's arms. Leo allowed himself some comforting sniffles as well while he rubbed the littler turtle's shell. They had been through a lot; a moment to mourn the lost and count what blessings they had was in order.

"Raph's still out there."

The blue-banded leader nodded with a sigh.

From the earliest reports about the nature of the invaders, they had heard of the two types: the Brains and the Brawns. Brawns tore apart everything in their path… strong, but fairly mindless. Brains retained their sentience and therefore deceptiveness. They could still communicate, convince, seduce, lure, contrive… acting just like their host had.

They had lost Donnie early on… to their two closest allies.

Of course Donnie had been at April's side the minute she entered the Lair and called out to them… such an easy victim. Donatello sustained several tentacle bites, too trusting of the woman he loved. If he had fallen to just April's bite, there might have still been some vain hope of reverting him and the rest of the city, the world. But then Casey got to him, tore out his throat and left him gaping in a puddle of his own blood as the rest of them fled.

Raph had been missing in action longer than Mikey. Leo knew better than to lose hope, but in these circumstances…

Raph had led Casey off, sacrificing himself to get the Brawn off his brothers' tails. But April continued pursuing them relentlessly. Normally, even with her psionic powers, any of the turtles could easily overpower her… but now that she was one of the Hive, she used her psychic ability to summon more of the turned to her, each with their own array of six eight-foot long, lashing, biting tentacles, plus two mandible-tentacles. The remaining two turtles had been forced to run, even after Leo had slashed three of her chomping mouths off and Mikey ripped another free with his nun-chucks.

They might have even taken her down, if her backup hadn't arrived. She ambushed them with a wave of Hive coming not only from behind her, but another from behind them. Pushed apart in the fight and being closed in on, Leo commanded Mikey to run, and given the alternative, Mikey did.

Leo was left fighting a battle of attrition, with many of the Brawns that had been after Mikey turning to come after the more ready target before them instead. Where Leo moved swiftly and easily down a pipe, the Brawns all tried piling in after him, getting wedged and stuck in place, so that the sword-wielder could easily lop off each tentacle as it came within his reach. Now and again one of the alien vampire victims would crush or eat their way past the bottleneck, only to be dispatched by the waiting ninja and become an obstruction for its fellows.

Then another dozen came at him from a different direction, and he would have to retreat and fight anew. She was trying to box him in. But Leo knew the sewers like an old friend, much better than April ever had, and once he got the chance to run, not even her powers could track him through the labyrinth of the underground world.

Leo clung to his sobbing little brother as if he were a lifeline. They both cried for their lost brother and friends, worried about Raphael, then forced down some crackers and canned beans, and unrolled a pair of blankets to bed down.

"Leo?" Mikey asked meekly as Leo prepared to turn out their lantern. "Can… can I sleep with you?"

The blue-banded turtle smirked warmly, knowing this question from every time Michelangelo had a nightmare, at every thunderstorm, any time the little turtle was ill at ease. He held the blanket aloft for his brother to crawl under, both of them still with their gear on, in case they needed to get out fast.

Just as he was drifting off, a sharp jab to the back of his thigh roused him. "Ow!"

Mikey shifted a little, looking up sleepily. "Oh, sorry, bro… One of my shuriken must've come unwrapped…"

Leo rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly as he settled back down. "'Night, Mikey."

"G'night, bro."

When Leo awoke, it was to a feverish sweat, and he was alone. He startled up, searching the bolt-hole for his brother, and not finding him. "Mikey?" he called, even though Michelangelo was definitely absent from the ten-by-ten foot room. He leapt to his feet to go search for his brother, and that was when he noticed the swelling and heat in his leg… the one his brother's shuriken had pierced. He set his teeth, wrinkling his beak. It would do him no good to evade the Hive only to die of sepsis from an infected cut. He wished Don was around to help him tend it, give him the proper medications to stave off infection, but that was when he remembered… Don would never be able to help him or his brothers again.

He set mourning aside. His brother who was still alive—or at least had been the previous night—was highest priority. He dashed into the main passageway. "Mikey?!" He paused, listening. Instead of an answer, faint shouts and the clangs and smacks of weapons reached him. Wasting no time, he pelted toward the source of the noise, ninjaken drawn and ready. "I'm coming, Mikey!"

Michelangelo backed across the tunnel intersection before him, kusarigama out and whirling, but what Leo didn't expect was to see the one pursuing him…was Raphael.

"Whoa, guys! Stop! What's going on!"

Mikey changed the angle of his retreat so that he sidled up to Leo, still holding up his defense against his bruiser brother and only lowering them at Leo's behest. "You said not to trust anybody, that anybody could be a vampire," the orange-banded turtle reiterated the eldest's words. "What if Raph's a vampire?" He gasped in sudden horrific realization, hands going to his mouth. "What if I'm a vampire?!"

"Get away from him, Leo; he's already infected!" Raph snarled back, pointing a sai at Mikey.

"He's lying," the youngest said lowly, squinted eyes shifting between Leo and Raph. "He's got a bite mark on his shoulder!"

His voice hadn't been low enough, though, as Raph fired back, "I told you, I caught it on some wire as I was coming below! Then this genius slashed it with his blade and reopened it!" he spat, pointing furiously at Mikey.

"He's a Brawn… Who'd be a better Brawn that Raph?"

"Hey, shut it, before I come over there and smack some sense into you!"

Mikey cowered behind his older brother. "Leo… I'm scared! I don't wanna be torn apart by Raphie!" The irony was that this was one of Raph's typical offhand threats to his siblings, which they all knew he wouldn't actually carry out. Now, Leo was left doubting…

"Mikey, go back in the safehouse and lock the door. Don't come out until I say it's clear." The little turtle hesitated. "Go!" Leo insisted.

Before obeying, his little brother grasped his shoulder and whispered, "Don't trust him."

Leo entered a fighting stance, one sword ready to slash, the other up to block. Mikey's footsteps receded behind him, barely echoing in the dark tunnels.

"You aren't going to believe him over me, are you?" Raph said, fighting through his cloud of battle-rage, and then rolled his eyes. "Never mind… of course you are…"

"That depends. Where were you?"

The other turtle scuffed a foot, looking sheepish. "I… went to check on Spike."

Leo's brow furrowed in annoyance. "We get separated during an invasion where the enemy can turn us into themselves, and you run off to check on Slash?"

Raph stomped a foot, indignantly pointing at his brother. "Spike is as much a part of this family as any of us! Though you've never wanted to acknowledge that!" He huffed, pacing in a tight circle. "Spike and whatever happens to him is my responsibility! I gotta look out for him." The last was said almost tenderly. Through the gloom, Leo could see the glimmer of tears in his eyes.

Leo lowered his swords. "Did you find him?"

With a sniff, Raph answered, "No. The Mutanimals' lair was ransacked." Staring at the ground, he added, "They're gone."

"Were you bit?"

"Naw. Just took me forever to find a clear route back to the sewers… The Hive are everywhere out there. It's like the Christmas rush! Then I get down here and rip my shoulder up… prob'ly gonna need a tetanus shot… and Mikey's up in my biz about it. 's not like him. You sure he's okay?"

Leo stepped forward on his infected leg and staggered as a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he shook his head to clear it. Raph's face paled and he took two steps back, emotions playing across his eyes. "You did get bit…"

"It's just an infection. Mikey poked me with a shuriken when he was cuddling up to me."

Raph's face curled in a snarl. "Mikey. Of course, you automatically, implicitly trust Mikey… And you just took whatever he said as fact, didn't you? He just pulled some sob routine on you and you bought into it—"

"He's our brother!"

"He used to be our brother! Now he's one 'a them!"

"No!"

Raphael's anger stepped back up again, voice rising to a near yell. "We all kind of treat Mikey like an idiot, but he's pretty sly when he wants to be. There's only one way to know for sure. Where's your bi—Where did he get you?"

"Back of my thigh," Leo stated.

"Turn around, then. Lemme see it."

Something pinged in his mind. He couldn't, wouldn't let his brother see it. "No," he said, stepping back into form with his swords raised.

Raph sighed, holding his position for a moment as the light went out of his eyes. "Alright. I'm sorry, Leo. I love you. I'll make it as quick and painless as I can."

Leo startled as his bruiser brother charged him, sai catching his swords. "What?! What're you doing?!" he said, suddenly having to put all his strength into fending Raphael off.

"I'm not gonna let you turn!" he ground out through clenched teeth. I'd rather put you down while you're still you than let you turn into one of those Hive things!"

Nothing more was said as swords and sai clashed.

Leo panted, exhausted, bruised and bleeding from a number of gouges and puncture marks. The battle had lasted hours, both combatants in peak physical shape and skilled fighters. Raphael's anger usually burned off after a couple of good bouts, but fueled by love… that kept the brawler going until the bitter end. But Leo's blades and superior skills had overcome, and Raphael eventually bled out… a literal death from a thousand cuts.

He dragged himself back toward the bolt hole, a pronounced limp slowing the step in his left leg. He wasn't sure if he wouldn't join Raph in falling down and dying on the filth-laden concrete. Perhaps it would be better that way…

But the door swung open before he reached it. He still had one brother he needed to protect. Michelangelo stepped out into the hall. "Bro!"

Leo was too drained for irritation that Mikey had opened the door before he came back as planned. He didn't even want to think about planning time for a proper lecture, a true sign of his exhaustion.

"Raph?" his little brother queried.

He gave a weak shake of his head. "…dead…" was all he could manage, too tired even for tears.

Mikey looked like he wanted to run in and help him, but paused, at least following one part of procedure. "Are you turned?"

Once more, Leo shook his head, then faltered and fell to his knees, his legs giving out while Mikey approached.

"Dang," he said, propping Leo up by his plastron. "Knew I shouldda put more juice in it! Never mind, though," he added, tentacles slithering out from beneath and above his shell, the two mandible-like ones sticking out of the corners of his mouth. "I've got plenty." Leo's eyes went as wide as he could manage, a weak adrenalin surge propelling him back, out of his brother's grip, but no further.

"It's okay, bro… You'll be fine soon," Mikey crooned around his oral appendages as he leaned in, tentacles reaching for Leo's exposed limbs, but suddenly stopped as the tip of a blade protruded from between his eyes. "Oh, snap!" His jaw dropped in shock, and his eyes crossed as he tried to get a look at the object. "That's nuh… guh…" he uttered as his brain slowly wound down. He collapsed on his face as the sword was withdrawn, tentacles sprawled out slack around him. Leo's jaw dropped slack with a stricken, weak cry, barely able to lift a hand to reach toward his fallen baby brother. After a moment, he looked up to the wielder of the blade.

Karai turned her eyes away, solemn. "I'm sorry, Leo. I truly am. I never would have wanted this." She knelt to shoulder part of his weight, hefting him to his feet. "It wasn't really Mikey anymore. The Hive keeps working the brain like it's the same person once it's taken over, but it's just a manipulation. Camouflage, used to get close to you."

Each step took an eternity, but she eventually got him to the unrolled blankets in the safehouse so he could collapse properly. She closed and locked the door after them, and picked through the provisions stored there, settling on a can of chicken broth, which she warmed on the hotplate and spooned into his mouth, shoving his jaw closed to force him to swallow at points where he didn't seem to manage.

When Leo had recovered some of his strength, the first thing he did was weep bitterly over the loss of his brothers, one dead by his own hand, one ravaged by the monsters, one claimed by the Hive and then slain by Karai. He wanted to scream at her for killing him, Hive or not… that there had been some hope out there of someday restoring him… But that was as likely as bringing back Raphael or Donatello. All that was left was to mourn. Karai remained pressed to his side as he did.

"What about the rest of the Mutanimals? Shinigami? Raph went out to find them; he said their lair was wrecked…"

Karai shook her head. "We were overrun. We fought, but there were too many." She drew her sword, staring at it. "I was the only one with a blade to cut those things' tentacles off." She threw it to the floor, where it landed with a clatter. "I was too late to save any of them! In the end, I only ever save myself!"

"You saved me," Leo corrected, turning her to look at him. "In the nick of time, seems like."

She gave a little snort. "There is that. No one I'd rather spend the end of the world with."

He pressed his lips to hers. She pressed hers back, then spread his lips apart with her tongue. Tears streamed down both their faces as they continued making out.

Leo's strength didn't last as long as he would have liked, still recovering from the earlier battle and the sudden shock Mikey's betrayal, along with his worsening infection. He and Karai shared the pile of blankets; with him spooning her, there was just enough room for both of them to get some sleep, between bouts of tears.

He woke with a stunning sense of clarity, feeling much better and recovered, the fever and irritation in his leg gone. Karai gave a sleepy, satisfied sigh as he pulled her close with the arm he'd had draped across her chest. He grinned down at her, and latched his mandibles onto her neck.