Hey guys! This is my first story! Hope you like it!

Edit 2/19/14 - hey everyone! I wanted to let you all know that this story has been nominated on StealthyStrories for the 2013 Best Leonardo Scene, Best Villain, Best OC's, Best Tragedy/Angst and Best MultiChapter Fic... (ahhhhh! Okay okay okay, let me just freak out for a second... Alright. I'm good now :) ) so anyways, thank you to anyone who nominated this fic, I love you so so much, and if you've never heard of StealthyStories I would defiantly say to go check it out. It's pretty awesome.
Good luck to everyone who was nominated and thank you for reading this fiction :)

Well, Without further ado...

How The Mighty Have Fallen

Chapter 1: Seemingly Forsaken

He entered back into the Lair after his nightly run. Sweat dripped down his forehead stinging the creases of his eyes and soaking through his mask as he made his way through the newly cluttered living area.

Wasn't this messy when I left, Leonardo thought to himself lazily grabbing a glass from the wooden cupboard and filling it with cool water. Oh, how he loved the efficiency of cool, running water. After almost two years in the harsh jungles of Central America the small pleasantry made him smile.

After finishing his water with a sigh and a quick rub of his mouth to dry the excess water away, Leonardo placed the dirty glass into the almost full sink.

I'll clean that up later, he assured himself.

Leo grabbed an apple from a small pile on the table and headed for the dojo planning to squeeze in some peaceful mediation. As he passed the couch he peered over and sighed at his orange banded baby brother, fast asleep, clutching the newest edition of Justice Force tightly in his hands.

Carefully, Leo tiptoed around the couch to a nearby blanket. In one swift motion Michelangelo was covered and warm. He gazed down at his littlest brother with soft eyes. A guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach made him grimace and frown slightly.

Two years. Two years he had been gone. To his brothers it must have been a long two years but to Leonardo those two years were an eternity. An eternity of literal Hell.

The peaceful look on Michelangelo's face almost made Leo forget the coldness that the youngest had shown towards him while in consciousness. The orange banded turtle was still apprehensive to Leo in the weeks that he had been home. Forever reminding him that he had been gone for not months as their Master had originally planned but years.

When first arriving home Mike had been giddy with his brother's return. Even going so far as to ask if this was all a dream because it must've been a dream to him. Leonardo couldn't finally be home, safe and sound. But then Leo had assured him, yes he was home. No, it want a dream. Then when fighting the Stone Generals any thoughts the youngest might have had of betrayal from his oldest brother for leaving for so long had been all but forgotten. But now, weeks later, they were starting to appear again. No longer could Mikey pretend that he was okay with his older brother's absence. No longer could he pretend that Leonardo leaving hadn't scarred him and scared him and brought on a new hardness to him.

After all, Michelangelo often thought, Leonardo didn't even write after the first six months. Not even one letter...

But the young jokester didn't know of the horrors the oldest faced while in that Jungle.

Leonardo lightly touched his shoulder as a flashback slowly dimmed his vision.

No, he thought to himself. Not now. Not in front of a sleeping Mikey. Slowly Leo stumbled behind the couch back facing the door. Softly he leaned against the back of the couch and screwed his eyes shut willing himself to forget the tortures he had faced in that horrible, horrible jungle.

Deep breath, he told himself, keep calm. Don't break now. He thought he was getting better at controlling his flashbacks.

Leonardo visibly tensed as he felt a presence enter the living area.

"Leo?" Came a calm voice. The oldest turned around to see Donatello with grease on his hands and dark tinted goggles on his forehead looking at him then eyeing the sleeping form of Mikey with a questioning look. A bead of sweat dripped down Leo's forehead as he forced himself to calm down and take a step away from his youngest brother.

"You know we don't need you always looking after us. We're big turtles now." The purple banded turtle looked at Leo with hard eyes. Leonardo nodded slowly and looked away gripping his apple tightly in his hand.

The same bitterness that was plaguing Michelangelo was also inside Donatello. It seemed that all of his brothers actually had been hard and cold to him in these long weeks since his return… Raph, though, was by far the kindest in his bitterness. The Stone generals had softened him some but Raphael still held some anger towards his older brother for leaving for so long with no word on how he was nor if he missed them.. No letters, no words… Nothing at all.

"Yeah" was the eldest's only answer as he swiftly left his two brothers. All thoughts of meditation gone as the last of his small amount of energy was used up trying to fight off his flashback and hold his tongue in front of his brother.

The once mighty Leonardo climbed the stairs one at a time. Normally he would just jump to the second level or take the stares two or three at once but Leonardo was still recovering. After all, a year of continuous torture, mind numbing drugs and sedative did leave lingering effects.

Don rolled his eyes and continued back to a waiting Raphael and garage; they had both been working all night. Donny had just needed to grab a spar part from his lab.

As the purple ninja made his way to the elevator he couldn't help himself from thinking of the strange way Leonardo seemed to move since coming home. He walked always silently and swiftly but when he sat or moved a certain way it always looked like he was stiff, as if he was in pain. The boldness his brother once had when he walked was gone almost completely. He traveled suspiciously always looking over his shoulder for unseen foes. His eyes never stopped moving when, on the off chance, they were aloud topside.

His eyes are what the brainy turtle noticed the most upon his leaders return. They once held a golden flame that brightened them and seemed to roar inside of the leader. But now the golden glint of fire was gone. His eyes seemed dull. It seemed Leonardo's brash boldness was all but gone…

The weight and muscle loss had been more than evident to the medic turtle when he first laid eyes on his brother. Not only did it look as if Leonardo had been starved for a time but also the complete deduction of muscle mass in the oldest turtles body was more than worry some. When asked about it all Fearless Leader had to say was, "yeah, that's what happens when you only eat jungle fruit for a long time" he said it in a small voice and the brotherly instinct in the back of Donatello's mind told him Leo was lying. But, like the brainy turtle seemed to do a lot lately he just brushed it off. Don had tried to talk to Leo about his health in the days of his return but all the purple banded turtle got back was small one word answers or Leonardo would just brush him off completely. Don was downright sick of it.

The one thing, though, that Don couldn't forget and didn't escape his notice was the complete distain to physical touch his brother had. Even when arriving home Don could feel how tense Leo was when he had given him a one armed hug. Then when Mikey almost tackled him to the floor Donnie could see the pure terror in his brother's eyes.

At the time it didn't seem that important but now that everything had winded down and the shock of homecoming and the winters incident was over all the subtle differences in his big brother were becoming blatantly apparent. Still though the genies turtle put on a hard face in front of his bro because that was the only way he knew to show him how hurt he really was. Someday maybe the purple turtle would forgive his brother for leaving for two long years but that day wasn't today and it wasn't tomorrow and it certainly wasn't the day after that. Leonardo never even wrote to them like he had promised he would. He still loved his brother but it seemed like lately the anger he had built up for so long in his absence was slowly coming out.

Swiftly Don exited the elevator and walked towards an even greasier Raphael who was standing behind the hood of their supped up armored truck the brothers had christened the Battle Shell years ago.

"Here Raph" Don said handing him the missing piece. Raph grunted in response.

"Try to turn 'er on now Donnie," Came his rough voice as he placed the piece inside the engine.

Carefully Don turned the keys to start the Battle Shell up. It purred nicely for a minute before a loud POP! and then a row of curses from Raph lit up the garage. The Battle Shell sputtered then died all together and sat in a smoking mess.

"Dammit!" Yelled Raph hitting the engine block only to have it explode in a geyser of tar and oil. "Are you kidding me!?" The hothead screamed before grabbing an already soiled towel and wiping himself off.

Don stifled a chuckle. This was going to be a long night.

Soooooo.. What do you think? Do you like it? Hate it? Want me to continue? Give me your thoughts please! :) but please please pweeze no flames I'm new at this :)

Have a good day fellow readers!