Archive of Our Own

Donnie's Bedroom

Age 6

One final scan to make sure no one was looking, and Donnie closed the cover to his room. Screwing it shut, he then turned to look at his brothers. Raph was sitting on the floor, drumming his fingers on his knees while Mikey rocked back and forth on the three-legged stool. Sighing, Donnie strode over to the large whiteboard and flipped it over. "Welcome to the first meeting of the 'Leo Lovers League', or Triple L if you must speak about it in public." The softshell pulled the black marker from his hoodie pocket and tapped it against the name written. 

"Uh, Donnie?" Raph awkwardly raised his hand. "Isn't this the second meeting? We did this last week too."

"It would have been, Raphael. However, someone-" Donnie glared at Mikey, who stuck his tongue out at him. "-Used up our entire meeting time because he didn't like the original name."

"Your name was mean!" Mikey shouted, pointing at Donnie and nearly tumbling onto his face. 

"Slander!" Donnie yelled back. "'What the F Happened to Leo?! League' was both informative and accurate! No one would wonder what we were doing with that name!"

"You don't even know what the 'F' means!"

"Offended gasp! Neither do you, you-"

"GUYS!" Raph immediately stepped between the pair, sporting his patented 'Big Brother' look. "We're supposed to be quiet, remember? We don't want Leo to hear!" 

Stifling a growl, Donnie slowly counted back from twenty. Once he hit zero, he turned back to the whiteboard and tapped the picture hanging from the sole magnet. It was Leo, grinning brightly. "Quite right, Raphala. We should begin. Now, as we all know, our usually vivacious brother has been acting...oddly for the past month." Donnie uncapped the pen and wrote in big letters 'Weirdness'. "Clearly, this is not going to fix itself. So it is up to us, his family, to fix things for him. All in favor?" Three hands shot into the air. "Motion carries."

"So," Raph asked. "How do we do that?"

"Using the scientific method, of course!" Donnie underlined the 'Weirdness' and then moved to write out 'Hypothesis', making sure to spell it right. (Sure, Raph and Mikey wouldn't know how to spell it correctly, but Donnie would know!) "We collect all the data we have from our observing of Leonardo," he began, pointing to the 'Weirdness'. "Then we form a hypothesis based on the data. Finally, we attempt to correct the issue suggested by the hypothesis. Repeat as necessary until Leonardo is back to normal." Donnie added 'Correction' to the board, and connected the three words with arrows. Nodding, he capped the marker and turned back to his brothers. "Any questions?" Mikey and Raph rose their hands. "Annoyed sigh. Any questions not relating to what a hypothesis is?" Both lowered their hands. "Excellent. Let us begin." 

Donnie dramatically pushed up his sleeve and pressed a button on the watch he'd altered on his wrist. Nothing happened. His smile flickered as he rapidly button-mashed again and again until the rolling stool he'd motorized shot out from the corner and crashed into the opposite wall. Mikey giggled and Donnie stalked over, grumbling under his breath as he dragged the stool over to the whiteboard. Angling it just under the 'Weirdness' line, Donnie sat down and uncapped the pen. "What is some of the changes we've seen in our brother?"

"Saying sorry!" Mikey exclaimed, not even bothering to raise his hand. Raph nodded along with him. "Leo's saying sorry all the time now!"

Nodding, Donnie carefully wrote 'apologizing' as their first data point. "Yes, Nardo has been apologizing to all of us without prompting, or requiring us to fix something he broke. Completely out of character." The softshell swallowed the lump in his throat, remembering Leo's tears and panicked rocking from a month ago. Desperate pouring through medical textbooks finally gave Donnie a definition: panic attack. 

"He's been doing his chores," Raph added. He glanced at the door and then lowered his voice. "And he's not complainin' 'bout it. And he's goin' slow and doin' it right the first time. Sometimes, Raph sees him doing chores that ain't even his!"

'Is that why the dishes were done?' Donnie wondered, thinking about how he'd rushed out in a hurry last night to do the chore he'd forgotten, only to find a bunch of cleaned plates in the drying rack. Shaking his head, he added 'doing own chores and others' to the list. 'Speaking less' was written underneath. "It's not just the lack of complaining," Donnie added. "Leo's been quieter overall for the past month. I haven't had to tell him his jokes weren't funny in weeks." At first, it had been almost a relief to have the quiet. But Donnie couldn't admit that he'd been missing the puns that his...brother loved, or the movie quotes, or bad one-liners that had everyone groaning.

Raph hummed thoughtfully, and then smacked his fist into his palm. "Oh! Raph hasn't been pranked by Leo! Not since...well...before."

Donnie's eyes widened as he ran through his memories. "Neither have I," he admitted. "Michael?"

"Uh..." Mikey swayed from side to side. "The day after Leo cried, I found Leo in my room. He was putting my crayons back because he messed them up before. He said he was sorry and he wouldn't do it again." Mikey blinked at them. "Does that count?"

Donnie didn't respond, merely turned to the board and added 'No pranks' to it. "Nothing new in weeks and attempting to fix or restore attempted pranks from before..." he mumbled. "This is good. More data!"

For the next fifteen minutes, the space under 'Weirdness' was filled in more and more. Leo hadn't been asking for specific foods for meals. Leo had been spotted reading alone in his room. (A careful quizzing of Michelangelo and a check of the family bookshelf suggested it was a biology textbook.) Leo had been complimenting them all more often. (Donnie's notebook of compliments his family had given him had double the filled in pages from a month ago, and almost all of them were from Leo.) Leo hadn't fought over Mikey wearing the Jupiter Jim costume when watching Jupiter Jim Sails the Seven Galaxies. (This meant that Donnie actually could see the ending for the first time, and wow, was it amazing!!!) 

Capping the marker once more, Donnie pushed the stool back a little to take it all in. "Okay. Okay okay okay. Is this everything we've noticed?"

"Leo's not smiling right." Donnie and Raph both froze before turning to look at their little brother. Mikey had gotten bored at some point, abandoned the stool, and was now coloring on the floor. 

"What do you mean he's not-wait. Where did you get that paper?!" Donnie stalked over and attempted to grab the graph paper Mikey was drawing on. "You know I need the graph paper for my blueprints!"

"It's mine!" Mikey crawled on top of the paper, snapping at Donnie's fingers. "And you love e-vi-dence so I'm making some!"

"That's not what evidence is!"

"GUYS!" This time, Raph just picked Donnie up and carried him to the other side of the room. "What you mean by that, Mikey?"

Mikey rolled off the paper and held it up in the air. "This is how Leo smiled before." The green turtle with red markings in the drawing has a smile that almost reached the side of his face, with little black eyes and teeth showing. "And this is how he smiles now." The box turtle held up a second drawing. This one showed a similar turtle, but the smile was barely there. There were blue dots at the corners of his eyes, and despite using the same crayons, the turtle looked smaller somehow. Dimmer. "See? E-vi-dence!"

Donnie huffed and jerked his arms away from Raph's grip. "Evidence," he grumbled, storming over to write 'Fake smile' on the board. "Fine then."

"Ya did good, little man," he heard Raph whisper. 

Scowling, Donnie whirled around. "Is there anything else anyone can think of?" When no one responded, Donnie smacked the board. "Then I declare this first meeting of the Leo Lovers League adjourned. That means it's over," he added when his brothers exchanged looks. Usually that meant they had no idea what he was talking about. "We will meet again next week to go over any new data and I will reveal my hypothesis. Now..." He strode over to his door and unscrewed the cover. "Get out of my room."

Sighing at being kicked out, Raph reluctantly stepped outside. Mikey lingered, gathering up the crayons he'd scattered during his drawing and rushing after Raph. He paused right in front of Donnie. "You can keep the e-vi-dence, Donnie!"

"It's not evidence!" Suddenly angry, Donnie shoved Mikey out the door and slammed it shut. Once it was locked again, he rested his head against the metal. "...Sad sigh." Pushing himself back, Donnie began picking up his room. The stools were pushed back into corners, the wrinkles in the rug were smoothed out, and the pictures Mikey had drawn picked up and placed under the magnet that held up Leo's picture. Now, there was nothing to distract Donnie from sitting there and staring at everything under the 'Weirdness' column. Everything that had changed about Leo. 

It was like someone had taken his brother and inverted his entire being. From loud and unapologetic to quiet and always saying sorry. From selfish and illiterate to never asking for anything and reading textbooks that Donnie sometimes found difficult. (Not that he'd ever admit that to anyone, not even Dad.) From teasing to complimenting. (From happy to...) If Donnie from a month ago had been asked if he'd prefer a Leo like that, he'd have jumped on it. Of course, he would prefer his most obnoxious and annoying brother be anything than that. Anything other than...himself. 

"He's not smiling right," Donnie whispered to himself, absently scratching at his arms. Mikey was right, Donnie just hadn't noticed or ignored it. But Leo's smile this past month was small, tired. Less like he was happy, and more like he was trying not to flinch. His happy-go-lucky brother was now anything but. And a small part of Donnie wondered if it was all his fault. 

"No no no!" Donnie instantly stopped scratching and smacked his cheeks. "Leo was angry when he went to his room. Not sad, angry! It..." His breath hitched and he shook his head. "Faulty hypothesis. We're missing data, that's all." Nothing in the data suggested it had anything to do with Donnie not wanting to be Leo's twin. (Not even the fact that Donnie had said he'd pick anyone other than Leo to be his twin, and Leo was now acting completely unlike himself...) Growling at himself, Donnie stalked over and grabbed the psychology book he'd left by his bed. Somewhere in the text was the answer. Donnie would find it, he would fix it, and everything would go back to normal. Leo would be back to his obnoxious, annoying, (happy) self in no time.

(Right?)

Raph's Room

Late Night

Despite the late hour, Raph couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning, Cheech tucked under his chin. Something was wrong with Leo, and Raph didn't know what to do. He was the big brother, he was supposed to look after them all. But Leo was acting weird and it was weird enough that even Donnie couldn't figure out what was going on and if Donnie couldn't then who could!? Not Raph. Raph was better when he could hit something until it went away, like the big bug that had crawled under Mikey's bed yesterday. He couldn't just hit Leo until he was back to normal, and he didn't want to anyway!

Sighing, Raph finally got out of bed. Maybe he'd make some hot milk to help him fall asleep. But he'd hafta be real quiet so he didn't wake up his family. He tiptoed over to the curtains to push them aside, and then he saw it. A shadow, darting across the atrium and into the TV room. Raph instinctively fell back behind the curtain, clutching Cheech tightly. 'Should I go get Dad? No, I can do this! I can fight him off! Like a boss!' Nodding at Cheech, Raph picked up the three pound weight he kept by the side of the door. He knew he could throw it really hard, so that should scare off the thief, right? 

But before Raph could leave, the shadow came back. Raph ducked again, just in time for the figure to step into the light. It was Leo, carrying the large plastic sword that Raph used during their games. In Leo's hands, it looked massive! Despite himself, a glimmer of hope lit up in Raph's heart. Maybe Leo was going to do a big prank, where the sword would come crashing down to scare Raph when he got up in the morning. Normally, that would make Raph mad, but this would be Leo going back to normal and maybe this was all just some huge set-up for...

Leo paused, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. Then, he started swinging the sword in rhythmic movements, pausing every so often to position his feet before starting again. 

'Why's Leo playing with my sword at night?' Raph squinted, watching for a bit, and then his eyes widened. The moves Leo was doing...they looked like some of the tutorials for sword fighting that their dad sometimes pulled up to watch. Leo wasn't playing; he was training. 'Weird, definitely weird.' And it was way too late at night for Leo to be acting weird so Raph pushed open the curtains and strode out. "Leo!"

Leo let out a noise that might have been a scream if his mouth hadn't been clamped shut. His left leg slipped, and he fell hard on his face. The fake sword clanged down next to him as Raph jogged over. "Ow."

"Leo, you okay?" Raph lifted Leo up by the arms and gently placed him on the ground. "Sorry, Raph didn't mean ta scare ya." He carefully scanned Leo up and down, checking for new cuts or bruises. The slider didn't meet his eyes, gaze fixed on the floor. Raph fidgeted a little, his worry stink filling the air. "Leo, whatcha doin' up so late anyway?" When his brother didn't answer, Raph crossed his arms. "Leo."

Leo chewed his lower lip before whispering, "I couldn't sleep."

Raph bent down to pick up the sword. "And you thought this would help?" When Leo didn't answer, Raph sighed. His younger brother had stopped lying in the past month, sure. Now, if he didn't want to answer, he just didn't say anything. "Just...stay here." Raph quickly ran to the TV room to put the sword back. Thankfully, Leo was still standing there when he got back, hands twisting together in front of him. "C'mon." 

Half pushing, half guiding, Raph got Leo up to the second floor and into the kitchen. The used microwave currently sat on a wooden box, powered by the outlet Donnie had managed to fix. Raph picked Leo up and set the slider down in the nicest chair and then hurried to grab two mugs. He filled them with the milk their Dad had gotten earlier that day, and then popped them into the microwave. Forty-five seconds later, he plucked the mugs out and set the blue one down in front of Leo. "Warm milk always help Raph when he can't sleep," he explained, taking a sip of his own drink. Leo just stared at the cup blankly. Then, to Raph's horror, tears started welling up. "Leo, what's wrong!?"

"I-I-" Leo rubbed at his eyes with one arm. "I'm-I'm sor-" 

"Leo, why you sorry?!" Confused and worried, the scent filling the air, Raph scrambled out of his chair and pulled Leo into his lap. Remembering what Splinter did, he started rubbing Leo's shell and rocking him gently. "It's okay, Raphie's gotcha."

"B-but-" Leo wept, turning to bury his face in Raph's sleep shirt. "But you sh-should be sleeping a-and you're taking c-care of me and-"

"Raph wants to do that though!" Hugging Leo tighter, Raph tucked the slider under his chin. "If you're feelin' sad and alone at night, then I want to be right there with ya."

"But you shouldn't have to!" Raph blinked at Leo's sudden statement. "You-you deserve to be taken care of too, Raphie! You shouldn't-" Leo swiped at the tears still running down his cheeks. "You're a kid too. I-I shouldn't be causing trouble for you. It's my fault. It's-"

"Leo!" Raph gave his brother a little shake. "Leo, Raph knows he ain't the smartest. But you feelin' bad, that's not causin' trouble!" Wishing he was better with words, Raph wiped away Leo's tears with a thumb. "It's not your fault, Leo. You didn't do anything wrong."

Instead of comforting his brother, Leo gave Raph the most miserable look the snapper had ever seen. But before either of them could say anything, another shadow appeared in the doorway. "Red? Blue? What are you both doing up?" 

"Hey Dad," Raph waved over Leo's shoulder as their father walked into the room. "We couldn't sleep so I made us some warm milk."

"It's my fault," Leo whispered. "Don't blame Raphie."

Splinter faltered, pausing to give Raph a questioning look. Raph just shrugged, he still wasn't sure what was going on. Sighing, Splinter walked to the table and picked up Raph's abandoned mug. "I am not angry and no one is in trouble, Blue. Now, drink your milk." Raph reached over to grab Leo's mug and pass it to the slider. By now, it was more lukewarm milk, but it was still tasty. Finishing their drinks, Splinter placed the cups on the table and took Leo's hands. "Now come, it's time for both of you to be in bed." Still sniffling a little, Leo let himself be pulled out of Raph's lap. Splinter led the pair back downstairs to their rooms.

TV Room

Next Day, Mid Morning

Normally, Splinter would be watching reruns of 'The Youthful and the Active', but not today. Instead, he stared at the blank screen and pondered. His Baby Blue was acting oddly, and Splinter had a bad feeling as to why. 

As a baby, Blue had been the hardest to handle. His brothers would let you know if something was wrong through noises and panic and biting (especially with Purple). But Blue, he only was loud if nothing was wrong or if he wanted attention. No, when he was hurting, that was when he got quiet. Splinter had learned to watch for Blue, for when he hid himself and made no sound. And now, his loud laughing Leonardo was quiet again. He was hiding and flinching and Splinter...Splinter didn't know what to do. 

A rattling noise made Splinter jolt, and he turned to see Blue stumbling into the room. A plate with a slice of cake and a fork was clutched in his hands. The slider froze when he realized Splinter was watching him. "...Hi Dad. I...I brought your cake." 

"Thank you, Blue." Splinter took the plate Blue offered and then set it aside. "Now, I'd like to talk to you." Blue swallowed, and then sank to his knees like he was waiting for a scolding. "You're not in trouble," Splinter promised. "I just want to talk to you. How are you, Blue?"

"I'm fine." That...didn't soothe Splinter's mind. Before, Blue could go on and on about his day and his brothers and how he was feeling. Now, just two words. Two words that told Splinter nothing. 

"There's nothing going on?" Blue shook his head. "Nothing involving your brothers?"

"Huh?" Blue looked up at him in confusion. "What are you saying, Dad?"

Splinter folded his hands in front of him, and forced himself to ask the question. "Blue, are your brothers bullying you?"

"WHAT!?" Blue shouted, shooting to his feet. "NO!! Why would you-how could you-No! No they're not bullying me!"

Tension leeched out of Splinter's shoulders and he sagged back into his chair. "Oh, good." 

"How could you think that!?" Blue angrily stomped his foot. "Mikey's the nicest and Raph's the sweetest and Donnie might say stuff, but just when he gets grumpy and I deserve it and-"

"Stop." Blue immediately paused and Splinter leaned forward. "Blue, what do you mean 'you deserve it'?"

"Not like that!" Blue protested, waving his arms. "I mean when I bother him when he's busy or I get too loud when he's trying to focus or I-" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "Donnie's not a bully! He only says stuff when it's my fault first!" Splinter frowned. On one hand, it was relieving to see that Blue's fire hadn't gone out entirely. On the other, perhaps he needed to have a talk with Purple... "NO!" To his shock, Blue sprinted in front of the door, blocking it with his arms spread. "I know what you're thinking! You're wrong, Dad! I won't let you hurt Donnie!"

"What?" Now Splinter was the one confused. "Blue, why do you think I'm going to hurt Purple?"

"Because you are! Donnie cares about what you think, he really really cares, and if you go and talk to him like he's done something wrong when he hasn't, then you're gonna hurt him!" Blue was shaking, but there was an unfamiliar look in his eyes. A determination that Splinter wasn't expecting. "I won't let you do it! Donnie doesn't deserve it! You haven't really talked to him in months, and I'm not letting you do it!"

"M-months?" Splinter sputtered. "That can't-"

"It is right! You're never there!!!" Splinter's jaw dropped as Blue shouted at him. "You're not! You just...you just sit here and watch movies and you wave if we try and get your attention and you don't think it's important and you make Raph take care of us and you never tell Donnie how smart he is and Mikey sometimes forgets to put you in the family drawings because you aren't there!!!" Splinter tried to protest, but the words didn't come out, wouldn't come out. "I-I know that something bad happened, Dad. I know you're hurting. A lot. I'm sorry it happened. B-but Raph shouldn't have to be our parent. Donnie shouldn't have to be the one repairing everything. Mikey shouldn't have to be the one telling us it'll be okay. They're just kids, Dad! You're the adult! They shouldn't have to be!"

Panting for breath, Leo and Splinter stared at each other. Leo still shaking, Splinter eerily still. "And you, Leonardo? How have I failed you?" Slowly, carefully, Splinter reached out and touched Leo's cheek. "You've told me how I've failed your brothers. How have I failed you, my son?"

"I-I-" The righteous fire blazing in Leo suddenly vanished, faded to embers as the new fearful version of his son returned. "I'm fine. It...it's not about me. It's about them." Leo looked up and gave a weak smile. "I'm your least favorite anyway. It's okay."

There had been times before that Splinter had felt ashamed of himself, had hated himself. But nothing, nothing, could compare to this one moment. His son, looking up at him with a smile, telling him that it's alright he's Splinter's least favorite son. A coal of self-loathing now burning in his gut, Splinter pulled Leo into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Leo. So very sorry. You are not my least favorite son, and I'm ashamed that I have made you feel that way for even a moment." He kissed the top of Leo's head. "I love you, Leonardo. I love you and your brothers, all equally."

For a moment, Leo was frozen in Splinter's arms. Then his arms came up to return the embrace, burying his face in Splinter's chest as he began to cry. "I-I'm sorry Dad. I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I-"

"Shh, Leonardo. Shh." Splinter leapt backwards, pulling Leo with him so they landed, cuddling, in Splinter's easy chair. "You have nothing to be sorry for, my baby blue. Nothing at all." 'I do.'

In Front of Donnie's Room

One Hour Later

Splinter stood in front of Donatello's room, and hesitantly knocked. There was a silence, and then the sound of the cover being unscrewed. "We aren't supposed to meet for another fi-" Donnie trailed off as the door opened. "Dad? What are you doing here?" 

"Hello, Donnie. May I come in?" Splinter asked hopefully. He'd had some time to think after Leo had fallen asleep in his arms. Time to mentally go over his behavior, his actions towards his children. Leo was right, Splinter was the parent. It was high time he started acting like one. Hopefully, it wasn't too late to repair the damage. 

Donnie hesitated before pushing the door open. "Am I in trouble?" 

"No, you are not. Why do you think that?" Splinter carefully walked inside, glancing around the room. There was a large whiteboard dragged to the center of the room he vaguely remembered rescuing from the dump, and a toolbox on the ground next to a rolling stool. 

Donnie shrugged, closing the door behind him. "You don't normally talk to us unless we're in trouble. And you don't come to our rooms either."

The words were said calmly, but Splinter fought the urge to flinch. "I see. Donatello, I want to apologize to you."

"Huh?" The softshell gaped at him. "A-apologize? To me? Why?"

Splinter sighed, taking a seat on the ground. "Because thanks to a conversation with Leonardo, I have come to realize I have failed as a father to you. You and your brothers," Splinter clarified. "It was unintentional, but that does not mean I did not hurt you. I'm very sorry, Donnie."

"...Oh." Donnie sank to the floor, hands idly scratching at his arms. "Um. It's...okay?"

No, it wasn't, but Splinter wasn't going to push just yet. Instead, he glanced over at the stool. "What is it you're working on?"

Donnie's eyes lit up and he stopped scratching. "I'm working on a motorized stool! So that if I'm working on my blueprints, I don't have to get up and push the chair over to the workbench to start working. I can just press my button here-" He shoved up his sleeve to reveal a watch. "-and the chair will go where I want it to!" Donnie pushed the button on the side, and to Splinter's shock, the stool whirred and rolled to the side, pausing right in front of Donnie's workbench. "It works? It works!" Donnie beamed at Splinter, and then his face fell a little. "I-I mean-"

"Amazing." Donnie blinked as Splinter gently patted the top of the softshell's head. "Donatello, I'm very proud of you. To create this all by yourself..." 

"...Really?" Donnie's face was frozen, but Splinter spotted his feet tapping back and forth in a little happy dance. "You're really proud of me?"

"I am. I always was. I'm sorry that I ever made you believe I wasn't."

"Oh." Donnie inched closer, and then laid against Splinter's side. "Thanks Dad."

"Hey Don-" Donnie's door flew open as Raphael and Michelangelo rushed inside, only to freeze. Well, Raph did. Mikey just kept going until he leapt onto Splinter. "Hi Dad! Is Donnie in trouble?"

"No, he is not," Splinter protested. He had a feeling he was going to be asked that question for a long time. He probably deserved it. "I was just telling Donatello how proud I was of him." Donnie made a little noise, his feet moving even faster.

"Oh!" Mikey beamed. "That's good!"

"It is," Splinter agreed, stroking Mikey's back before turning to look at Raphael. The snapper was standing awkwardly, halfway out the door. "I also wish to apologize to both of you as well. I...I haven't been a good father to either of you. Neither of you deserved that. I'm very sorry."

"Dad," Raph whispered, finally stepping inside. "It's okay. You've been goin' through a lot."

"Yes, but that does not make it right." Splinter reached out to take Raph's hand. "Raphael, I am ashamed that I put so much on you, even though I am very proud of how you bore the weight. I will do better. I promise."

Raph was quiet, searching Splinter's face before giving him a bright smile. "Thanks Dad."

Splinter nodded before glancing down at his youngest son. "And you, my Michelangelo. I have not been as involved in your life as I should be. I'm sorry." 

Mikey blinked up at him. "So, you wanna spend more time with me?"

"I do," Splinter nodded. 

"Then can we color together?" 

"Yes we shall!" Mikey squealed and jumped up to hug Splinter's neck. Splinter returned the embrace. 'I will not fail them. Not again.' 

"Hey Donnie? Can Dad join? Please?"

"Join?" Splinter blinked, turning to look at his older sons. "Join what?"

"The 'Leo Lovers League', or Triple L for short," Donnie explained, walking over to flip the whiteboard. "We're trying to discover what is going on with Leo. Raph said he had new intel." 

"It's about last night," Raph explained bashfully. "Donnie says if we have enough data, we can form a hy...uh..." He squinted at the board for a few seconds. "Hy-poth-eh-sis? Then we can use it to try and help Leo!"

"I see." And Splinter did see, looking at his three sons, all worrying and caring so deeply about their brother. How could he have ever thought they were bullying Leo? "Then yes, I would like to join. If all of you agree."

"Yeah!" Mikey cheered.

"All in favor?" Donnie asked. Three hands shot into the air. "Motion passed! Welcome to the 'Leo Lovers League', Dad!"

"Thank you for having me, my sons." Splinter bowed, and then paused. 'Do I really want to be in a club that implies I am my son's lover?' Hastily, he added, "But...perhaps we can discuss changing the name?"

Donnie's face twisted. "Exasperated screech!!!" 

"What did I say!?"

Leo's Room

Same Time

Leo watched as the cover to Donnie's room slammed shut, and laid back on his bed. "So, Dad joined too, huh?" he whispered. Leo had heard his brothers last week, yelling about the 'What the F Happened to Leo?! League'. He hadn't gotten an invite, and given Raph's 'I have a secret' stink floating around, it wasn't hard to put together it was a secret club. 'Probably to talk about how stupid I am and how I can't do anything right.' Leo sniffled, rolling over to latch onto Skye.

It had been a month since Leo remembered. And what has he done? Nothing! Nothing but yell at Dad and make Raph worry and make Donnie hide in his room even more and Mikey constantly ask if Leo was okay and...A sob slipped out and Leo choked it back. 'Stop. Stop being such a crybaby. It's not about you, remember?' But the tears wouldn't stop, so Leo cried alone in his room, with only his bear for comfort.