Heavy huffs exasperated the turtle's lungs. Sweat beamed off his body as he spun on his toes, dodging multiple metal stars, swatting them away with the edge of his sword. The turtle doubled over, tightening his grip on the duo of hilts that resided in his palms. His eyes widened as an object plummeted towards his face from the side. He immediately blocked the oncoming attack with his blade. Little did he know that was just a distraction.

Another attack came from the other side, the turtle let out a small gasp as he turned his back towards it. He felt a sharp pain in his back as the metal penetrated his shell. The yokai hissed through his teeth and a laid-back voice passed into his ears.

"You have been hit! Training exercise over dude!Better luck next time!"

Leo sighed as he stabbed his katanas into the ground, groaning as an overzealous Shelldon buzzed around him. Wind swirled as he circled the red-eared slider's head.

"Dude! That was totally radical! Way better than the last three rounds!"

Leo drew his sabers from the splintered wooden floor, holding them carefully in his hands as he stood straight. He walked over to a cushion that perched against the wall. He set down his swords carefully on the ground before taking a seat himself.

He let out several winces as his tender body ached through his system.

It's been about a week since Leo has been grounded, he's spent his free time studying medical procedures and training. He occasionally spends some time with his brothers but he preferred to be alone nowadays.

Leo held this grimmer tone recently. Believe it or not, his spending time with you has changed him. For better or for worst? Who's to know? Though he has matured a bit. The old Leo would've hated taking responsibility, but the new him was eager to prove himself.

Leo groaned as he reached behind him, patting his shell as he searched for the weapons embedded in his back. The turtle let out an angry grunt when you discovered that the stars were just beyond his reach.

"Shelldon, I require assistance please"

"On it brosive!"

The purple flying turtle zipped to Leonardo, hovering above his back as he examined the damage.

"You got four gnarly stars stuck here, dude"

Leo sucked in a gulp of breath while rubbing the skin between his eyebrows.

"Just- just please remove them"

"No problemo!"

The robot immediately got to work, his robotic ar extensions shooting out and plucking ninja stars from the turtle's back. Leo winced when one of the metal devices was really wedged in there so Shelldon had to wrestle it out. The slider yelped as the star was freed from his shell.

Leo repeatedly patted his hallowed exterior as he coped with the pain.

"Ow ow ow! That's so uncool!"

He whined to himself and possibly Shelldon as well, but mostly himself.

"Sorry, bro! But you did tell me to pull them out"

Leo glanced up at the machine, sighing as he let his arms fall onto his crossed legs.

"No, no, you're fine Shelly. I'm not mad at you... Honestly, I'm mad at myself"

Leo glanced down at his hands, air exasperated from his nose as his eyes burned a hole in the ground.

"How am I supposed to be a ninja if I get hurt before being able to help anyone?"

Shelldon's eyes softened with worry as Leo slide his hand up his head.

"I'm hopeless"

"Aw come on, don't say that! You just had a- a- wack start! Yeah! You just need to jump back in! I'm sure you'll do better this time!"

Shelldon stated with a smile, Leo gazed up at the little robot. A smile formed on his beak as he reached up and patted the small turtle on the head.

"Thank you, Shelly"

"N-No problem Leo!"

The embarrassed machine sputtered out before hovering a little bit away from the organic turtle. Leo closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath before hauling himself up to his feet. Grabbing his twin katanas on his way up.

He's been using these backups ever since his father took away his Odachi, though Leo was not allowed to carry them around the house. Only when he was training in the dojo was he permitted to use them.

Leo looked down at his blades, feeling resentment eat at his chest. Tomorrow was going to be Friday, and he wasn't going to see you.

He broke his promise...

Leo sucked in a breath as she tightened his grip on the hints of his swords. Bitterness entered his being as he got into a fighting stance.

"Shelldon, begin training sequence, hard mode"

The robot buzzed, his eyes furrowing as he brought out a convertible launcher. The turtle bucked his hips into the air as a star flew past his plastron. Blades clashed as the turtle whipped around in a frenzy. His form is a bit sloppy but his focus is unflattering.

Hot heavy breaths left his chest as he defended himself in my heart and I made it out on my way to go from the machine. The skilled robot zipped through the air spitting out shurikens from left and right. Sweat beamed off Leo's body as he swatted away each one.

The turtle's heart pounded against his chest as his thoughts ran rampant through his mind. A snarl of frustration left his beak as he bore his teeth.

Everything that festered inside the back of his mind started to come forward. Every swipe and movement becomes more and more aggressive. He flipped back as Shelldon started to swarm him, noticing that the robot was starting to be fierce.

Leo blocked an incoming attack, glancing down at the new weapon that Shelldon had just launched at him.

Kunai...

They were a lot bigger than shurikens, Leo had to be more careful. Getting one of these logged in his shell or even worse, his skin; would be very painful. Leo deflected and dodged, jumping about the room like a swift rabbit.

Leo escaped another kunai, jerking back towards the entrance of the room. Shelldon readied his next attack and the turtle shifted his feet. Prepared to bounce away and evade the pointed blade.

"Leo? What are you doing in here?-"

Leo's eyes widened, everything happened so fast. The blade was screaming at him, he knew that if he moved it would impale Raph who had no clue what was coming. There was no time to think, he just had to do what he needed.

The turtle quickly turned his back towards Shelldon, darting at a scared Raph as Leo wailed in pain. The dagger dug into the boy's shell, cracking off bits and pieces as it made its home.  When Shelldon said he was in the hard mode he wasn't kidding. The force of the shot had driven the blade half of its way into Leo's hollow exterior. 

Leo had taken the hit instead of his older brother...

This probably won't mean anything in the future.

Leo sucked in shaky drags as he stared at Raph, the room filled with Leo's raged breathing before the turtle slowly went to his knees. Setting down his blades as he dealt with the pain in his back.

"Leo!!"

Both Shelldon and Raph called out as they rushed toward the injured turtle. Raph fell to his knees as he looked at his brother's shell, cringing a bit as he saw the kunai implanted in his back. Tiny trickles of blood slide down Leo's hollow exterior as the boy hugged himself getting his breathing under control.

Shelldon looked at the damage feeling incredibly guilty about hurting his surrogate uncle.

"Oh dude, Leo I-I'm so sorry, I'm-"

Leo hissed through his teeth as she shooed the purple turtle away, dismissing the thought entirely.

"N-No... You're okay Shell- Shelly, It's not your fault"

"But- But it is! I calculated from your previous fighting styles that you were going to dodge it! I was wrong"

Leo glanced up at the sad robot before lifting a shaky hand and placing it on his metal shell.

"I was going to Shelly, I stayed there on pur- purpose. It isn't your fault"

Leo shot the small robot a smile, and the eyes of the purple machine widened before glancing over at Raphael. Finally getting the notion that Leo allowed himself to get pierced so Raph wouldn't.

Raphael felt like he was out of the loop until he took a double take on Leo's actions and words.

How he gave Raph this look of resolve and fright, scared him. Leo had taken the blow when he should've. Way to go, Raphael, you hurt someone else again. Raph shook off the feeling and went to pick Leo up, who protested by swatting the boy's massive hands away.

"No! No! Raph"

"B-But Leo, you need medical attention"

Leo was about to protest but then sighed and relaxed, tenderly setting his twin katanas on the ground.

"Alright.. Bring me to the med bay"

Raph nodded his head and carefully scoped Leo in his arms, the boy winced as he balanced himself on Raphs chest. The older turtle stiffened a bit, feeling as if he had hurt Leo. When the snapping turtle realized he didn't, he began to walk out of the room. Shelldon hovering after him.

The red-clad turtle held his little brother tightly as he embarked over to the ladder, he scaled up the bars carefully.

"We really need to get some stairs"

Leo muttered which earned a low chuckle from his brother.

"Yeah, I think it would make things a lot easier"

Leo and Raph made it to the second floor and into the med bay, the older turtle set the twin down on the bed. Leo sat up and placed himself at the edge of the mattress, facing his shell towards Raph.

"Raph, could you take a picture of my shell so I can see what I'm dealing with?"

"Um I totally would little buddy but I left my phone in my room"

The red-eared slider let out a sigh before beckoning Shelldon over.

"Shelldon take a picture of my shell and airdrop it to my phone"

"On it!"

The purple machine zipped over and scanned Leo's back. A small ding could be heard in Leo's holster so the turtle slipped his phone out from the small bag and looked down at it. His snout scrunched up in disdain when he saw the photo.

The boy let out a sigh and then tilted his head toward his older brother.

"Hey, Raph I need you to do me a big favor and just yank out that little knife there would ya?"

"What!?"

Leo cringed a bit from his brothers' surprise but he just turned to Shelldon and started to list off items he needed.

"Okay Shelly, I'm going to need some bandages, gauze, rags, hydrogen peroxide, and maybe some metal hooks depending on the crack width"

"Okay! Leave it to me"

"Oh and rubber bands!!!"

Leo called after the zipping turtle. Leo shook his head as he let out a sigh. He slid his hand over to the back of his head with closed eyes.

Him only opening them when Raph piped a question.

"How do you know all that?"

"Huh?"

Leo glanced up at his brother, halting his neck rubbing.

"All that uh! Medicine stuff!"

Raph explained, continuing his question. Leo smiled softly, slipping his hand away from his neck and to his thighs. He leaned over a bit while he spoke softly.

"I um, have been learning how to perform some tasks. I borrowed some textbooks from Donnie"

Raph gaped at Leo, a little shocked. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy his brother wanting to learn more, but Leo had never shown interest in anything medical-related before so he was a bit confused.

"That's great and all but why did you start um learning? You've never been interested in any of that stuff before"

The younger turtle felt his throat clench up a bit while he stared at the ground. Flashbacks of you leaning your body toward him as your blood spilled on the concrete flickered through his mind. The howls of pain you lurched out as your free hand subconsciously held his, squeezing as tightly as you could. To you, it was just another Tuesday but to Leo... 

He never wanted to experience anything like that again, just getting shoved to the sidelines as you suffered. The people he loved in suffering, he wasn't going to abide it.

"So what made you do this?"

Leo opened and closed his fists, one of them still sore from the cut that branded the inside of his palm.

"I... I did this... I wanted to... Ugh never mind. It doesn't matter"

Leo snipped as he turned his head towards the side and away from Raphael. Who tilted his head in confusion as he looked down at his brother.

"No, what were you going to-"

"It's not important"

Leo growled, his beak forming a small snarl as he placed his palm into his face.

"Leo I don't see why-"

"Just drop it, Raphael!"

The boy snapped out, jerking his head towards the older turtle with a snarl. He didn't mean to. He really didn't. But Raph was pushing and Leo didn't want to remember or talk about his reasons for doing what he wanted to.

Raph clamped his beak shut, his tail flicking a bit as he gazed down at his brother. Leo was pushing him away, putting up walls, and becoming secretive. The snapping turtle didn't understand, He and Leo used to be so close, and now...

Raph trailed his eyes off to the side before sighing and taking a seat in one of the empty chairs. They had them there so people could rest after taking care of a patient or visit. The boys sat in silence before an entity zipped to Leo with all the stuff he asked for in his extended claws.

"Uncle Leo-! I mean uh Nardo! I brought the stuff for you"

Leo looked up at Shelldon and chuckled, and gently took the items from the bot.

"Thank you Shelly and uh,"

Leo quite his voice a bit as he leaned more towards Shelldon's "ear".

"You can call me Uncle Leo if you want"

The robot seemed to shine with light as his face lit up with joy, the little robot did a little twirl in the air as he exclaimed.

"Radical!!"

Leo shot Shelldon an amused smirk which his nephew noticed and shyly changed his tone.

"I uh mean- Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool."

The robot slid out while hovering back a bit, Leo chuckled before looking down at the items. He placed what he needed aside and told Shelldon to give the rag and hydrogen peroxide to Raphael.

The machine flew over to the turtle and he took the items in his hand, gently fumbling around with them as he stood to his feet, walking over to Leo's shell.

"Leo, what bout the Kunai?-"

"Pull it out, then apply pressure with the rag until the bleeding clots or slows down, and then-"

"Whoa! Whoa! Hey, I'm-"

Leo's instruction was interrupted by a distraught Raph, who was worriedly waving his hands about.

"Are you sure you want me doing this? Don't you want Donnie or Dad-"

"No, I believe in you. You got this. Besides... I don't want to talk to Pops"

Raph raised an eyebrow at his little brother, leaning down and placing his hand on the hilt of the blade that nested in his sibling's back. Leo winced a bit, which made Raph hesitate. The red-eared slider caught his composure and clenched the sheets of the mattress.

"Leo, look I'm sorry about-"

"I don't want to talk about Raphael"

Leo growled lowly waiting for Raph to pull the knife out of his shell. Leo glared, needing his wound to get patched so he could get away from this goddamn hellhole.

"I just think that-"

"Raph would you just pull the damn- JESUS!!!!"

Leo screamed out as his brother yanked the kunai out of his shell, blood splattering out onto the bed and Raph's head.

The alligator snapping turtle quickly regretted his burst of anger that compelled him to rip out the weapon as quickly as it happened.

"Oh my God- Leo! I'm so sorry!"

The slider breathed heavily, trying to calm himself as tears pricked his eyes.

"Just- just put the rag on it!"

The boy hissed out as he dug his nails into his thighs. A few tears slipped down his chin, as he felt his brother harshly shove the towel into his wound.

"Woah, dude! Is- Is there anything I can do to help?!"

A very concerned Shelldon hovered above the brothers, watching as Raph hurriedly soaked the rag with Leo's blood.

Raph stayed silent as he harshly applied pressure to the wound. He had a very hard hand and was kinda sloppy at this. The turtle was also freaking out on the inside, so he was shutting down. That made Leo take it upon himself to try to calm his nephew down.

"Shelldon, I need you to make sure no one comes into the med bay, especially Mikey. He would just misunderstand the situation"

"But Leo-"

Leo reached out his hand beckoning him to come over, and the little robot complied, softly drifting over to his uncle.

"Look Shelly, I'm going to be okay. It's just a minor shell crack, but I don't want anyone else to see because they might freak out okay?"

The slider gently held Shelldons face in his palms, running his thumb over the purple turtle's metal cheek. The small robot closed his eyes as he nuzzled his face into Leo's hand. The older turtle chuckled under his breath and gave one final pat to the small boy before sending him off.

"Okay now go to your post soldier"

Leo gave the little man a salute, whose eyes sparkled, and mimicked the motion before soaring over to the entrance of the med bay. Leo sighed, running his hand over his neck while he glanced back, watching as Raph slowed the blood flow in silence.

"Raph..?"

The snapping turtle didn't respond, just kept working on suppressing the blood with a blank look on his face.

"Raph"

Leo spoke a little louder this time but it was ineffective.

"Raph!"

The turtle snapped which seemed to pull his older brother out of the trance he was in. His green eyes met Leo's blue ones, something was masking Raphs eyes. Was it fear? Disgust? Enervatison?

"Yeah, Leo?"

"I think you can start cleaning the wound out with the hydrogen peroxide"

Raph blinked a bit before taking the bloody rag off of Leo's shell, the white towel was now a bright crimson. Raph glared down at it in disgust, he really didn't have the stomach for this stuff. It wasn't because of the blood, but it was the fact that it was his brother's blood. He knew that it was Leo's blood, it was on his mind on repeat. His little brother was bleeding, bleeding a lot, and he was a bundle of nerves.

Raph tossed the rag aside and grabbed another clean one. He uncapped the antibacterial solution and poured it onto the rag. Dabbing it into Leo's open wound. Leo hissed through his teeth and held himself. Shutting his eyes tight and waiting for the stinging to stop.

After Raph cleaned out the wound, he wiped away any access blood left on Leo's shell.

"Okay, so I just bandage it now?"

"Yes, I would suggest using the patches and make sure to put some extra gauze on my shell, lots of bleeding can and or will happen"

Raph nodded and grabbed the large bandage. He plucked a few square gauzes in his hand and carefully stuffed them in the larger crack in Leo's shell. The snapping turtle peeled open the seal for the bandage patch and placed it on Leo's shell.

The older turtle studied his handy work, nodding his head slightly when he felt satisfied with his services.

"Okay, I think you're good"

Leo glanced back at Raph, trying to look at his shell by straining his neck but he was still unable to. Unlike Donnie, he can't extend his neck that far.

"Shelldon!"

Leo called out for the small machine, who soon came racing down the med bay over to the green duo.

"Yes, Uncle Leo!? Are you okay?!"

A very alert Shelldon skimmed the carefree turtle with anticipation, eagerly awaiting his orders. The red-eared slider smiled as he reached up to the young robot, patting his shell to calm him down.

"That's what I need you to find out, I need you to do an injury analyzes scan on me"

"You got it"

Shelldon's eyes lit bright orange as the scanner activated and shinned over Leo's shell.

"Scanning complete, you seem to have several fractures in your carapace, it seems to be a comminuted and greensticks factures"

"Is-Is that bad?"

Leo glanced over a worry-stricken Raphael. The turtle's eyes broadened, him feeling this overwhelming urge to shelter Raph from grim news.

"Psh it's fine, it'll only take about six to eight weeks to heal fully"

Raph stared at Leo confused.

Six to eight weeks? How long was that?

Raph began to count how weeks would go into a month, staring down at his fingers as Leo and Shelldon talked.

"It could take longer Leonardo"

Leo glanced back up at a scolding Shelldon, a frown reaching his face.

"It'll be fine, besides it's not like I'm going anywhere for half of that time haha!"

Leo popped out a "joke" like he always did. But this time no one laughed or groaned in annoyance. All that was accomplished was the small gaze of dismay that sat on Shelldon's face.

Leo clicked his tongue against his teeth as he glanced away.

"Oh don't look at me like that Shelly. It just a few cracks-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE GONNA BE HURT FOR A MONTH AND A HALF!?"

Leo's and Shelldon's souls jumped out of their bodies as Raph yelled. Guess he finally figured out how long it will take to heal.

Leo poked his finger to his ear and rubbed his head.

"Ow! Could you be any louder!?"

Leo whined in discomfort as popped his ears.

"Oh, what are we gonna tell Pops? You're gonna have this big ass crack in your shell for basically two months!"

"Sh sh sh! Someone is going to hear you!"

Leo frantically glanced around while pressing a finger to Raph's beak. Raph screwed his face down at his little brother.

"It's not going to matter in the end since this thing is going to be here for two months!"

Leo paled a bit, and a few drops of sweat formed on his face.

Raphael was right.. This was going to be brought up eventually, Leo couldn't hide it forever. The boy sighed and faced Raph, sitting criss-cross on the bed.

The older boy, who sat at the edge of the bed, studied his little brother as he placed his small palm on Raphs massive shoulder.

"We'll figure it out okay? It was just an accident"

Raph blinked a bit as he gaped down at his caring brother. The teen smiled a bit before patting the smaller boy's head.

"Yeah, we will..."

While Leo and his brother were having heartfelt moments in their med bay. You and your older brother were having your own situation.

After the... Tranting exercise in that horrid VR box thingy. You woke up in a haze, throwing up onto the floor of the dark dusty med bay.

You didn't even have anything to puke, so it was just bile. Sidney kneeled next to you, trying his best to soothe you as you wept. After that scene, you had to treat the new burn marks that labeled your body. What was miraculous about this was that you finally got to take off the restraints around your neck, wrists, and ankles.

Your chared skin felt the cool air of the night for the first time in months. You hated this little device, it was small enough to look like a chocker or a bracelet, but it was deadly enough to pump your body with volts of electricity so fast you could drop dead.

You were so used to it though, you had no idea how many shocks it would take to make you finally kick the bucket. You shivered as you leaned into Sidney's chest.

The goat wrapped the blanket around you more tightly as you snuggled on the bed. The boy sighed as he climbed onto the mattress and gently took you into his lap.

You moaned out in agony as a spasm rippled through your body. The ringing in your ears blocked out the sweet hums of your brother as he rocked you back and forth.

Sidney honestly felt helpless, he knew how to help you but he wasn't provided the materials. How is he supposed to treat patients if they don't supply him correctly?

So he just provided you comfort the best he could. He began to run his hooves through your hair as the tune he was humming formed into words.

"...You are my sunshine~ My only sunshine... You make me happy when skies are gray..."

Sidney has never been good at singing, you were similar in that sense. Due to the burn marks around your neck, you would actually never be able to speak properly again. You always had this rasp to your voice that made you sound like a smoker.

So you never sang before, you know it would sound ugly. Sidney was just a bit pitchy when he sang, but that's alright. You didn't mind. You were just happy he was with you right now.

"..You'll never know dear.."

Sidney gently skimmed his hand on your face and bopped your nose making your screw your face with a weak smile.

"How much I love you.."

The goat tenderly set his head on top of yours, your body still trembling as he breathed out the lyrics softly.

"Please don't take my sunshine away..."

You nuzzle your face into his chest fluff, combating the urge to throw up again. Seizures of muscle spasms were a common side effect of electric shock. It was taking everything in you to breathe correctly. Your heart was going a million miles a minute. 

"The other night dear.. While I was sleeping... I dreamed I held you in my arms"

The boy squeezed you a bit more as he watched your frail body shiver under him. It broke his heart, he felt himself losing his confidence. His eyes watering as he deeply cradled his baby sister.

"When I a-awoke, dear.. I was mis-mistaken"

Sidney felt a smile form on his face from the irony of the lyrics silent tears damping his fur as he chuckled through the verses.

"So I hung my head and cried"

The chorus was coming up again so you decide to join your brother in the song. Whispering the lyrics as you closed your eyes and fall limp in his arms.

"You are my sunshine.."

Sidney grinned as you croakily mumbled the words, the corners of his mouth turned up and his tears warding off.

"My only sunshine"

You let out a small yawn as the goat gently trailed his hooves on the left side of your face, calming you down substantially.

"You make me happy when skies are grey.."

Your body leaned more into Sidney as you started to black out again, you didn't want to sleep but you were so exhausted you couldn't urge yourself to stay awake.

"You'll never dear, how much a love you.."

Sidney huffed air through his nose in amusement as you fell asleep in his arms, him finishing the song in a whisper.

"Please don't take my sunshine away..."

Sidney grinned softly as he relaxed, laying his head on top of yours in a way to protect you. He felt like a shitty brother sometimes, you didn't deserve any of this. You were about 12 when you showed up in his med bay. He was 14 when he first saw you and weren't you a sight for sore eyes?

You looked like you hadn't had a bath in a week. Your clothes were torn, your hair was a lot longer and kept then. The main thing that was most concerning though was the gushing of blood that painted everything around you.

The day you first met Sidney was the day that you had your first battle, the day you earned the scar that brandished the right side of your face.

This was what defined you now, you consider this day to be that you died. The day that you slaughtered the little girl you used to be and replaced her with what you are now.

A monster.

That's at least how you saw yourself. Sidney never saw you this way. You have always been the little girl that stumbled into his med bay, terrified, hurt, and in a need of comfort. He actually still had the earrings that you wore when you were younger, the ones that showed the past life you lived before entering this nightmare.

Unfortunately, he was forced to confiscate them from you but they're the reason for your pet name.

Strawberry.

They were two strawberry earrings, the cutest little things really. They were stained with blood and dirt though so they didn't obtain their full charm but it was enough to win Sidney over.

So from then on, he called you Strawberry and decided to take you under his wing.

You were both just kids then...

Sidney sighed, gazing down at you as you gently snored under him. He played with your hair as you slept.

This tender moment was soon killed by a bright yellow light cracking open. Followed by the click of heels in its wake. The goat growled as the devil herself walked into the room.

"How is she?"

Sidney scowled as he gently slipped you off his lap and stood up. Padding over to the smaller woman with crossed arms.

"Better. No thanks to you"

He softly hissed at the woman, Big Mama stayed neutral through the whole interaction. Not showing a lick of emotion.

"Well, that's good. I didn't want my favorite champion to go up and die from a little shock like that"

The goat bristled at this statement, feeling anger burning in his chest.

"Little?! They have second-degree burns on their hands and third-degree on their neck! I had to use the last of the regeneration potions to reconstruct her skin"

Sidney was starting to rise his voice a bit, which he immediately regretted when you started to toss and turn. The boy instantly hushed himself and glared back at Big Mama with clenched fists.

"Oh bloody hell, she's gone through worse"

The spider woman waved the boy off, rolling her eyes as he sneered.

"Just get me more potions."

The boy spat lowly before turning his back to the woman and walking back over to you.

"Now, don't you get too cocky Sidney. We have a contract."

Big Mama bellowed, making Sidney hesitate in fear a bit before shaking it off and taking a seat next to you in bed.

The middle-aged woman simply padded out, closing the door behind her with an audible creak. This didn't wake you though, you'd gotten used to the sound of chaos.