Chapter Text
Leo woke up early in the night. He’d guess it was around 5 am. If he wanted to get back home at a decent hour, he should probably start walking now. He dragged himself up off of the ground after convincing himself to stand.
“I’m dead. I’m so dead. Dad’s gonna KILL me!” The turtle whispered to himself, starting to pick up the pace. He was walking with a purpose, and that purpose was to get home as soon as possible.
After passing a few familiar landmarks, he finds a manhole. Not the manhole that directly led to his home, but he knew that this tunnel connected to it. He lifts up the metal circle, crawling inside and closing it again.
He drops down to the ground, sewage water splashing at the impact of his feet hitting the floor. Leo luckily knew where he was and where he needed to go, due to his many years of living in the sewers.
Leo’s eyes are flashed with a bright white light, seeming coming from a flashlight. Mikey was the one holding it, and Leo could feel the absolute terror radiating off of his younger brother.
His face twists into one of anger, stomping towards Leo with slight tears in his eyes.
“You-! You- What is WRONG with you?!? I can’t believe you, Leo! Leaving to ‘go for a walk’ and just disappearing? We texted you! All of us! We thought you were kidnapped, or dead.”
“I’m sorry, Mikey.”
“You better be! And I don’t wanna hear, ‘Oh Mikey, it’s not that big of a deal!’ because it IS THAT BIG OF A DEAL! I’m allowed to be scared, and I’m allowed to be worried about you. You hear me?!”
Leo stayed silent. He knew Mikey was right, and that what he did was stupid. He follows Mikey back to the lair. When they get back, Mikey picks up his phone to call Donnie and Raph.
“…Where are they? And where’s Dad? Leo asked, starting to fidget with his hands.
“Donnie was going to go to the police station, and Raph was looking for you with Dad. You had everyone worried sick, Leo. God, you’re such an idiot! I care about you Leo, but sometimes you do the dumbest… dumbest shit!”
“Language, Mikey.”
“I don’t care!!! I think that this is an appropriate time for me to be swearing!”
After 20 minutes of terrifying silence, Raph and Splinter walked into the living room. Donnie walked with them as well.
“You guys, I can explain!” Leo exclaimed, already starting to curl in on himself.
“Explain then. Explain why you disappeared throughout the night!” Donnie shouted, hands clenched and jaw tightened.
“I was just trying to take a walk, but I lost track of time! I found a safe place to sleep since it was too risky to try and walk home!”
“A walk? You were just trying to take a WALK? And that walk lasted until NIGHTIME?!” Raph was trying so desperately hard not to just scream at him, but Splinter was helping him take deep breaths.
“…yes.”
“Leonardo, this behavior is unacceptable. You had us all terrified. We thought you had been kidnapped, or worse- killed. You are grounded for a month. I want your phone, video-games, and katanas. No more walks until you can prove that we can trust you, and no hanging out with friends.”
“WHAT?!” Leo screeched. He balled his hands at his sides, trying not to lose his composure.
“Nothing even happened!! I’m FINE!”
“I don’t care! You’re still grounded!” Splinter stood firm.
“This is BULLSHIT! AUGH!” Leo snapped, turning around and walking away.
“Do NOT raise your voice at me!” He snapped his head to look at his son.
“I’LL RAISE MY VOICE AS MUCH AS I WANT TO!” Leo yelled.
“2 MONTHS!”
“I DON’T CARE!!” Leo was practically screaming at this point.
He walked to his room, snatching his phone, videogames, and his beloved katanas. Leo stomps back to the living room, putting his katanas down somewhat calmly, and then just violently tosses his other items onto the couch.
Leo turned back to walk into his room. He flops onto his bed, and starts screaming into his pillow as loudly as he can. He’s violently kicking his feet as well, just hoping that none of his brothers would walk in.
He didn’t really have any other way to cope. He tried to meditate, but the feeling of his bandana tail brushing against his neck made him freak out even more. He was angry, starting to get overwhelmed, and he had no real way to channel his emotions.
Leo was too scared to work on his comic. He’d tried to draw before when he was angry, but he always just ended up snapping the pencils and getting angrier.
So he kept screaming.
And screaming.
And more screaming.
…Is he done?
Oh, no. More screaming. And the kicking is getting more aggressive too.
Leo pulls his face out of his pillow, throwing it across the room full force. His throat hurts, his eyes burn, and he feels like crap. All because he got grounded. Yeah.
He felt so stupid. Really stupid. These were the consequences for his actions, and he was getting upset over them. He’s trying not to cry at this point. He pulls his blanket over him and reaches for his phone, only to realize it wasn’t there. He faces the wall, and eventually just falls asleep.
A few minutes later, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie peek their heads into the bedroom. Leo was out. His pillow that had been thrown across the room, was warm and wet. He must have been crying into it.
“Dude, he seriously needs to calm down sometimes.” Raph said, sitting down on his bed.
“Yeah… I guess he’s just not used to getting in trouble. It feels like a personal attack on him.” Donnie responded.
“I’m just glad he’s okay.” Mikey admitted, climbing up to his bed.
All 4 of the brothers were pretty exhausted from staying up so late. The day was mostly spent napping, getting up to eat and use the restroom, and more napping.
Leo wasn’t as polite as he usually was to Splinter during dinner. He was obviously still a bit upset about him being grounded for two whole months, so this was kind of his way of showing it.
The night came quickly, and everyone got ready for bed. Donnie had to drag Leo to the sink to brush his teeth, as usual.
Leo had an idea while brushing his teeth, however.
If he left the sewers while everyone was sleeping and before everyone woke up, how would they even know he was gone? This was risky thinking… but it could work.
He’d just have to try.