Somebody loses their somebody every day

But you'll never really know what it's like

'Til you wakе up to some real bad news

You'll nеver really know how it feels

'Til it happens to you

***

"What do you mean there's no point!?" Leo unfolds his hands from behind his back to point at his fellow leader accusingly. Slash puts up his hands as if to ward off an attack as he barks, "You said it's been their stronghold for months!"

"Yeah, until Vizioso got carted off to prison!" Slash growls. "A bunch of stuff got shut down or moved! They've been quiet for weeks, scrambling around tryin' to find a new leader! We haven't heard a single peep outta them!" 

Leo lets out a brief, mock laugh as he rests his fingers on his forehead. "Great. Another gang leader with a thing against mutants. That's just what we need!" 

"Dudes, if they got 'im, we gotta get him outta there." Mondo speaks up from where he's nervously fiddling with his skateboard. "Those guys are the total opposite of rad." 

"That's great to know and all, but the hotel was our only lead." Leo snaps as he turns to glare at the lizard, masking his panic with determined anger. Mondo holds up his board and shrinks under it, so the leader in blue huffs before looking between Slash and Leatherhead. "Is there anywhere else they might take captives?" 

"Not that we know of." Leatherhead admits, almost sheepishly. "We have been guarding TCRI at your request, and did not think to turn our attention on the gang." 

"Why not?" Leo challenges, more bite in his tone than he meant. He'd trusted them to keep an eye out- All of this could have been avoided if they had just been doing their job! "We haven't seen any sign of Kraang lately! What are you guys even doing over there?" 

"More than you!" Slash steps up, drawing Leo's glare from Leatherhead and meeting it with the same intensity. "Rockwell's got all kinds of stuff monitoring portals- and in case you forgot- our place burnt down. We've had other things to think about!" 

Leo remains unmoving, but his heart is no longer in the glare. He wilts uncertainly, and Leatherhead lays a patient hand on Slash's arm. "My friend, this is not the time-"

"Back off!" Slash tears his arm away, never breaking eye contact. "He's not going to stand here and tell my team what's what! My guys have been keeping an eye on your precious city, while your team can't even be bothered to get out there and get your hands dirty! " 

Despite the tension locking his muscles, Leo flinches.

He's right. They haven't been doing much of anything since they'd taken down Kavaxas, and Leo can only blame himself for that. 

It's not that he meant to let some new crime boss take over the Italian gang, but it looked like they'd finally covered all their bases, and he'd opted for his team to take some downtime. He'd been nervous to go out while he's second-guessing his every move, wondering if Splinter would advise him to do otherwise. 

The constant notion of something being missing kept throwing him off-balance. He thought it was a good time for him to recuperate, to get used to dealing with each crisis on his own, but clearly this was a bad move. He's the leader. He's the sensei now. There's no one to blame but himself for the fact that one brother is still down and the other is missing. 

No, worse than missing- kidnapped, and by a gang that despises all things mutant. 

How could he let this happen?

"Leonardo, I..." The anger that hardened the gruff tone is gone, and Leo realizes that he's been staring at their father's altar. Leo wonders how long he's been silent, immediately facing their guests, confused by the regret in his gaze. Slash is the one in the right here. Leo deserves to know that. He isn't being fair. 

"..I didn't mean-" 

"No." He interrupts with a brisk wave. "No, you're right. Thank you for keeping an eye on the Kraang. It was wrong of me to try and pass the blame on you." 

Slash looks hesitant, so he forges on, cupping his chin between two fingers. "We could always check the restaurant, but it's been pretty desolate since Vizioso's imprisonment. Our best bet might be to locate the Fulci Twins, and see what information we can wrangle out of them. Even if they don't know where he's being kept, they have to know something that could give us a solid lead." 

He hits his fist against his palm in satisfaction and turns to the three others in the room with him, looking between them expectantly. He's used to a chorus of arguments or agreement, usually some constructive criticism that tends to be a little more harsh than its meant, but he gets some nods of consent, followed by Mondo bouncing to his feet and pumping his board in the air with a very Mikey-esc, "Let's do this!" 

At the reminder of his little brother, he strides for the main room, leaving it open for the mutanimals to stay or follow as they please. He misses the way that two pairs of knowing eyes look at the altar and then each other, before Slash goes to stop Mondo from touching the weapons. 

Leo's demeanor softens when he spots his little brothers, one sleeping with his head in Mikey's lap, and the younger resting a hand on his shell as he messes with his t-phone, a small bundle of red and pink curled on his shoulder. 

"Where's Rockwell?" Leo questions as he walks over to kneel next to Donnie, instinctively checking his temperature. He's still pale and there's a notable hitch his breath, but his heartrate is stronger than before, so he hopes that means he'll come out of it soon. 

"Lab." Mikey's attention is solely focused on one of the puzzle apps that seemed to enthrall him more recently, and he takes the hand off Donnie so he can scratch the top of Chompy's head with his finger. "Borrowing Donnie's stuff, I think. Kept muttering about primative." 

"Primitive?" 

Mikey's phone cheers and his face lights up, using both hands to rapidly swipe away at the brightly colored boxes. "Yeah, that." 

Leo rolls his eyes in exasperation and Chompy makes a sort of squawking sound. He stomps his front feet against Mikey's shoulder and his body shivers with an untold joy, watching Leo as if he's the sole object of his desires, and he hasn't seen him in months. It's obvious he wants attention, but the turtle who would be happiest to give it to him isn't there. 

The leader offers a sympathetic smile and takes the alien off Mikey's shoulder, cupping him in one hand and scratching his shell as he starts for the lab. Despite knowing that he's probably not going anywhere any time soon, Leo reminds, "Keep an eye on Donnie. Let me know when he wakes up."

"Can do!" 

He enters the lab. "Rockwell?" 

"What is it?"

The psychic monkey in question is at Donnie's desk, looking through a microscope with his little brother's vials and equipment scattered around him. It's weird to see someone else working in his space, but Leo dismisses the notion, asking, "What's the verdict?" 

"The state of the equipment in this lab is horrendous. Your brother really should be more receptive to my advice. I would never let my lab fall into such a state." 

"I'll make sure the message is passed along." Leo lies as he sets Chompy on his shoulder, freeing up his hands to begin collecting the unused vials, if only for the sake of something to do.

Just because Rockwell had connections from his time as a human scientist did not mean he had any right to judge his brother who could only do the best with what he had, but Donnie didn't need defending, and they had more important topics to focus on. "And the tranq?"

"Oh, yes. That." He dismissively turns back to the microscope and Leo looks up to roof as if praying for patience, offering Chompy a small smile when he headbutts the side of his neck. 

He's not exactly sure what to do with him, so he pets the top of his head as Rockwell states, "This tranquilizer dart was manufactured by the same person or people who make the weaponry and gases. Their skills don't seem to truly lie in alchemy, for there are far too many chemical discrepancies in this one vial, likely in all the others as well. Something that won't change much in a gaseous substance made to be deadly, but is in poor design if you want to keep the mutant you're hitting alive." 

Leo's gotten more clearly answers out of Donnie in a mad scientist rant. Panic wells up, but he keeps it under wraps. "So... Is Donnie in any danger or not?" Breathe, Leo.

"Theoretically."

"I'm not asking for theories. I'm asking for answers."  His fists clench. Donnie could be actively dying in the other room and he's stuck trying to pry an explanation from the most narcissistic mutant out there!

"Gonna have to give it to us straight doc. Is it gonna kill him?" Slash comes to Leo's rescue- or, more accurately, Rockwell's rescue, because every one of Leo's instincts are geared up and ready to inform the mutant ape exactly what he thought of him and his assessment. 

Leo settles for fuming in silence as they're joined by the larger of the Mutanimals. 

"Seems unlikely." Rockwell reassures after giving Leo a dirty look. "However, I don't believe it has any plans on vacating his bloodstream in the near future. Keeping him from doing anything strenuous would be in his best interest if he doesn't want to suffer a stroke or heart attack."

Leo takes a slow breath in, and then lets it out. Finally, a diagnosis that he can work with. "Fine. Thank you." 

Rockwell mutters something under his breath, and Leo doesn't waste any energy figuring out what he said. Chompy moves and he glances down, finding that he's readjusting his crouched position, glaring at the mutant ape as if he'd personally wronged him. 

He catches Leo staring, and seems to relax his stance, squeaking curiously and tilting his head like he was asking if they were finished intimidating the monkey. 

Leo feels some annoyance leave as he scratches under the purring alien's chin, now having some idea of why Raph found himself so attached to his pets. 

Raph.

"Rockwell, would you happen to have any idea of where the Fulci Twins are lurking?" Leo asks as he takes on his most polite tone, hoping to get some information out of him while he still seems to be in a sharing mood. 

He gets the stink eye, but Rockwell consents to his command. "No, not really. It's possible that I might be able to locate them if need be, but a lot about their operations were comprised with your team sending Vizioso off, and most of his higher goons dropped off the map. For all I know, they might not even be in New York anymore."

That... Would definitely throw a wrench in his plans. 

Why did everything have to be so hard?!

"Okay." Leo mutters instead. "So how about we- no, that won't work." 

He bites his lip, several ideas flashing in his mind, but he's not sure if any of them are good enough. He needs a solid plan, something that's more than the Mutanimals usual 'run in and hit them', but they're already down two of his teammates and he can't live with himself if he's also the cause of taking down their third. 

Sensei always said that patience is key, and not to run into a battle that he's not ready for... But he's been avoiding battles and look where it's gotten him. No leads, two brothers out, and he could be gearing up to lose another. 

He doesn't know what to do, and he can't ask because everyone is looking expectantly at him, like he should know, and maybe he should, but how is he supposed to do this without-

An abrupt squeal makes him flinch, and then Chompy leaps from his shoulder and ducks into his shell, carapace knocking all the vials over like a bowling ball meeting pins. Leo scrambles to grab them before they hit the ground, suddenly aware of how hard his heart is pounding. 

He sets them on the table and takes a steadying breath, watching the proud Chompy prance about and ignoring the cautious "Leonardo?" from Leatherhead. 

He needs to be in control. Why does he keep freezing like this?

He clears his throat, ignoring the sensation of it closing on him. He can't seem to switch off the constant anxiety, and Donnie said that too much stress could trigger that. Just one of the annoying leftovers of the coma. "I might need time to think on this. There's really not much to go on here."

"I say we go looking for a base and whack the answers out of them!" Slash proclaims triumphantly, as if he'd solved all their problems in one go. 

Leo shakes his head. "Bad idea. If we go in guns ablaze then they'll think we're willing to jump to drastic measures, and might do so themselves. Whatever their intention is to take us, we can't do anything that might make them speed up their plans or just decide to dump his body and be done with him."

He swallows thickly, and presses on. "Our best bet is to take a stealthier route until we know where Raph is being kept. Ninja stealth all the way." Slash frowns, but Leo presses on. "The first step should be looking into who's running the mob so we know who we're dealing with. Rockwell, do you think you-"

"Leo!" 

The moment the urgency in his little brother's voice reaches him, Leo's shoots out of the lab and darts to the back of the couch, finding a panicky Mikey hovering over a trembling Donnie, one hand tightly squeezed in his own. Their brother's other arm jerks and twitches as he stares blankly up at the roof, each inhale sounding like a wheeze, eyes wide open and unblinking as numb tears slip down his face. 

"What happened?!" 

Leo drops by Donnie's head, instinctively slipping a hand under his neck to brace it, hoping to stop the wheezed breathes. Donnie doesn't react to the new contact or the worried voices that chime in behind him, and Mikey bursts, "I don't know! It looked like he was having a nightmare, so I tried to wake him up, and then- this!" 

"It's a seizure." Rockwell reports immediately. "The nightmare must have triggered a rise of distress and therefore a rise in blood pressure- egads, man! Turn him on his side, what are you waiting for?!" 

Leo jumps a bit at the abrupt command and then hurries to obey, cautiously rolling him onto his left side and balancing him there, heart in his throat as Mikey rubs up and down Donnie's arm, shushing him and whispering gentle reassurances. There's no evidence that Donnie knows that they're there at all, and Leo's heart practically stops when he feels his entire body stiffen with a choked breath- then his eyes flicker shut as he goes still and limp, letting out a soft exhale. 

"That's it, Donnie. You're okay. You're okay." Mikey mumbles in a tight voice as Leo lays him back on the couch, resuming the stroking motions on his upper plastron. "It's over now. We're here. We're right here. You're okay." 

Leo opens and then shuts his mouth, finding that his voice isn't responding. 

Mondo asks for him. "Is he okay?" 

"As I said, his nightmare must have triggered a rise in blood pressure and it's quite possible he almost gave himself a stroke, which would have triggered the seizure." Rockwell states sharply, though his expression could be mistaken as one of concern. "And this probably won't be the last time either, as long as the tranq remains in his blood stream." 

Leo doesn't think he can handle watching another seizure like that, and he doubts Mikey can either. He wonders if Raph has been hit with one of the darts too, and his stomach twists at the thought of him going through this without them nearby to at least be there for him. He doubts they can do much more than that. Donnie didn't even know what to do when Karai wasn't on their side and April was bitten by her venom, and Sensei ended up having to use the-

"Healings hands." There's conversation going on around him, but it halts at his realization. He shrivels in his spot, completely conscious of stupid he is for not thinking of it sooner, and how hoarse he sounds, but he forces himself to calm. 

The entire room stares at him and he takes a careful breath. Just breathe, Leo. Breathe.

He clears his throat, and his voice comes out stronger. Good.

 "Leatherhead. Can you take Donnie to the dojo? I have something I want to try." 

Leatherhead nods and Leo shakily gets to his feet, pretending that he doesn't notice the way that Mikey's watching him. He's not the one they need to be concerned with here. 

Leatherhead crosses around the couch, kneeling down to carefully scoop him up. Donnie's brow furrows in the scaley arms, releasing a faint whimper of discomfort, and Leatherhead whispers a sympathetic, "You are safe, my friend."  

Leo can't help the rising urge to make the large beast put down his fragile brother, but Mikey goes to his side and takes his hand, and it's easier to repress. He squeezes Mikey's hand in an offering of comfort and then removes his from his grip, making his way towards the dojo. 

He can't mess up; he can't get anything wrong, so he strides for the scrolls to find the one that he needs, gingerly looking through some of his father's most prized possessions. Splinter wrote them himself over the years, dragged from meditation memory, and he always said that the secrets of the clan would belong to the eldest and his brothers someday. 

Leo just always thought he'd be around to teach them. 

He opens the scroll that he needs, looking over the Japanese's writing, and then glances over the paper to where Mikey's hovering. Leatherhead sets Donnie down on the mat Mikey's pulled out. Mondo walks over to the youngest terrapin with an anxious red shell pacing in his hands- oh, right, he forgot Chompy in the lab- and Leo looks back to the paper. 

"What's he doing?" 

"Healing hands, bro."

"Healing what-now?"

"Healing hands. Sensei taught it to us. Gonna banish the tranq right out of him!"

"Rad! Wait- how come he didn't do it before?"

The letters are all blurring together. Leo has to manually force his hands to stop squeezing the paper before he crumples it. 

"Dunno. Maybe cause it wasn't as bad?"

"Think your bro'll be okay?" 

"Totally. Leo'll fix him and then we'll all go find Raph."

There isn't a glimmer of hesitation in Mikey's answer and Leo ignores the guilt writhing in his chest. He can't let his brothers down. He can't.

"Leonardo?"

He glances over at Slash, wondering when he'd come up behind him. "Yes?" 

"Um. So. Just..." Slash can't seem to find a place to land his skittish gaze, and that draws Leo's attention more than anything. "Leader to leader- are you... Okay?"

Leo stares at him for a long moment, and then reluctantly lowers the scroll. "Sure. Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just seemed like... You know..." The snapping turtle is an exact replica of Raph when he's struggling to fight past the awkwardness of a heart-to-heart because of genuine concern. Leo sometimes forgets that this turtle used to be Spike, and that most of his mannerisms probably did come from Raph. 

Slash can probably read him as well as his brothers can.  

Leo feels his walls crack and he sighs. "I'm worried. I've got one family member down and I'm not sure where the other is. I don't like knowing he's out there."

"I'm worried about Raphael too." Slash admits gruffly. "But we'll get him outta there. He's the strongest outta all of you, and he's not going to give them an easy time."

Leo chuckles airily, "Yeah." 

"If you need anything, I got you." 

I need Raph home. I need to know this'll work. I need my father.

Leo nods. "Thanks, Slash." 

Slash makes his way back to the circle of mutants. Leo does one last scan over the scroll, carefully rolling it up and then putting it away. He needs to stop stalling. He has a job to do. His family is counting on him. His family...

His family isn't all here, are they? 

Ergh. He's in the worst brain space today.

"Mikey." He walks over to his younger brother with his best I'm-totally-in-control voice and Mikey straightens importantly, saluting him. "Check in with April and Casey. See if they can take off school early. And call Karai. See if she's open to offering her assistance- but, you know, don't push anything if she's busy with clan stuff."

"Gotchya bro!" Mikey eagerly pulls out his t-phone and begins dialing, so Leo takes the free spot next Donnie's chest, folding his hands. He can sense the curious stares around him, but he ignores them for the sake of centering himself. 

Breathe, Leo. 

In, and out. In, and out. In...

"Mu. Ryo. Ju. Son..." There's a chorus of gasps as his arms flicker with that unexplainable light, but he closes his eyes to keep his attention on his spirit. "Ryo. Ju. Son. Mu. Ryo. Ju..." He can feel the energy tearing away from his ki, flowing outward and causing his arms to tingle, and he focuses it. "Son. E. Sai. Nyu. Rai..."

He lays both hands on Donnie's plastron, connecting their bodies and spirits, and he lets it spread. It's quickly taxing, as his spirit isn't nearly as strong as Splinter's, but Donnie's ki seems to welcome to boost of energy, and their connection strengthens. He can feel the weakened flow as his brothers spirit tries to reject the invading substance in the body, so Leo deepens his push. 

Donnie gives a strangled gasp, and Leo keeps his eyes shut, his mind centered on his task. 

"Mu. Ryo. Ju. Son. Ryo. Ju. Son. Mu. Ryo. Ju. Son. E. Sai. Nyu. Rai..."

"Mu. Ryo. Ju. Son. Ryo. Ju. Son. Mu. Ryo. Ju. Son. E. Sai. Nyu. Rai..."

He offers one last flush of energy and then he pulls away, because he knows his limits, and trying to give any more will only succeed in being detrimental to himself. He's breathing heavily when he blinks his eyes open to nervously study his younger brother, finding that his face isn't nearly as pale. 

Donnie groans, and Leo's heart lurches, leaning over to cup the side of his face when he blearily opens his eyes. "W-wha...? L-Leo?" 

Leo sometimes forgets how young they all are, but he's always reminded when his brothers are too weak or tired to hide behind their masks of maturity. Brown eyes are misty and his words are slurred, but they're enough. 

He smiles, and his younger brother's expression relaxes. "Hey, Dee. I'm here."

"Mmm." Donnie takes a shaky breath, and then blinks sluggishly. "D'n't fffeel so good." 

Leo brushes his thumb over his cheek. "You're safe, and you're home. Go back to sleep, little brother. We can talk later."

Donnie's eyes flicker shut and Leo pulls away his hand, letting the feeling of victory settle over the pressing anxiety. As his little brother's breaths even, he finds that his are too, and his thoughts shift to the final brother still in danger. His resolve hardens, and he gets to his feet, looking over the awed Mutanimals. 

"Now then. Let's see what we can dig up about the mob boss that took one of our own."