Disclaimer: I don't own them, I occasionally write stories about them for fun.

AN: Thanks to spootycup, Digmon girl, Tewi, jaunt, Pi90katana and Ivory novelist for their kind reviews. I truly don't deserve them, you're all too kind. :)

WARNING: Some occasional swearing in this chapter, Raph and Leo need their mouths washing out with soap.

Chapter 3

Mike watched Leo closely as he sat staring at his plate, his elbow leaning on the table whilst the other forcefully scraped the food from the plate onto the fork and into his mouth. He sighed dejectedly at Leo’s obvious anger, not really too sure where it came from and knowing that it would incite his brother’s anger further, he leaned forward and smiled. “You okay, Leo?”

“I’m fine.” Came the curt reply.

“You sure? ‘Cause you don’t look like you’re fine.”

“I said I’m fine.” Leo replied sternly.

Silence descended the room once again and Mike spared a glance towards Don, who returned the same tired and worn expression. That was the end of it; the meal would be another silent affair.

“What crawled up your ass and died?”

Oh boy, here we go. Mike suddenly became far more interested in his own plate. He heard the distinct clatter of a fork thrown down onto the table.

“Excuse me?” Leo’s voice was pitching lower every time he spoke; only highlighting the fact that he wasn’t in any mood to be sociable.

“What? You’re deaf as well now? I said, ‘what crawled up your ass and died?’” Raphael’s own cutlery was laid to rest as he faced Leo at the opposite end of the table.

“I heard what you said, what’s your problem?” Leo responded sharply.

“My problem?” Raph scoffed, “I ain’t the one who snapped at Mike for a small question of concern.”

“I did not snap at Mike!”

“It sure sounded like it from here!”

“Mike,” Don interjected, “this meal’s great, I don’t recall having this before, is it new?”

Mike glanced up from his plate and wasn’t oblivious to Don’s attempt at distraction, “Yeah, I saw it on one of those cookery shows on TV, thought it looked good.”

Don nodded approvingly, “It is. You’ve excelled yourself on this one-”

“So it’s okay for you to be in a funk but no one else? We’ve all got to be good little boys except for you, is that it?” Leo’s palms slapped against the table and he stood glaring down at his red banded brother.

“Sit your ass back down and finish your food! Mike didn’t slave over the stove for you to walk out and leave it for the trash!”

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

“The way you’re acting, it feels like I’m talking to a five-year-old!”

The two stared at each other, a silent battle of wills flowing between them. “Now you know how we all feel when you’re acting up. I’ll do you a favour and leave since you obviously don’t like my mood right now!” He turned quickly and headed for the door.

“Leo.” Raph growled in warning moments before the door slammed shut.

---

Since dinner, the lair had an atmosphere that could be cut with a knife, Don and Mike resigned themselves to their rooms with nothing to do but contemplate what happened in the kitchen hours earlier. Whereas Raph spent the evening in the dojo working out the frustrations that had built up, he punched the bag into oblivion, performed every kata he knew over and over again and still he couldn’t shift the annoyance he felt at Leo. Why had his mood turned so suddenly? Last night he was whimpering like a child and now he snapped at anyone who rubbed him up the wrong way. He was going to get his answers out of Leo one way or another.

When he heard someone walking across the living room towards the kitchen, he knew exactly who it was; Raphael huffed and steeled himself as he walked out of the dojo.

Leo stood leaning against the sink with a glass of water in hand, he glanced up briefly at Raph as he entered and quickly finished his drink, not wanting to talk to him. As he headed for the door Raph stopped him with a hand to his chest, “We need to talk.”

“Not in the mood.”

“Tough shit, ‘cause we’re talking whether you like it or not.”

Leo shoved Raph’s hand aside but Raph reacted fast and pushed his brother against the wall, his hands gripping Leo’s shoulders tight.

“I’m sick of this attitude of yours; now either you start talking or I’m gonna beat you until you do.”

“Go ahead, I don’t care.” Leo replied with a growl, his eyes turning dark.

Before Raph even had time to blink he found himself flat against the table with Leo’s arm across his throat, “You think you can take me down, Raph? Come on then, show me just how good you are!”

The punch to his face hurt but Raph didn’t let it show, he hit back just as hard and brought his knee up to Leo’s stomach doubling him over for a moment. He used that time to stand and rush his blue banded brother, piling into him and forcing them both to the ground. They grappled harshly, kicking and punching and trying to overpower the other, Raphael was surprised at the determination he was feeling from Leo. His whole body screamed how wrong this was, he knew his brother couldn’t possibly best him because he still wasn’t ready if ever it came down to it. Still, his own anger had peaked and he was going to prove to Leo just how unprepared he really was.

“You think you’re ready? You think you can beat me? You couldn’t even take April down with your crappy fighting, you know that?” Raph slapped Leo hard before following with another punch to his side causing Leo to retaliate.

Raph dodged to the side easily avoiding Leo’s attack. “Sloppy!” He screamed, “You couldn’t punch your way outta a paper bag, how the hell can you believe you’re ready to beat me in a fight?”

“Shut up!”

Leo clenched his fists and charged towards Raph, the two collided and the fight quickly moved into the living room as Raph pushed Leo out of the kitchen, the ambience in their home changed rapidly as the two battled it out. Raphael was sure he could hear the remaining members of his family leaving their rooms, probably curious and concerned at the shouts and crashes that they were producing, he didn’t spare them a glance knowing it would be dangerous to look away from Leo for a minute.

“Guys! What the hell are you doing?” Mike began to rush towards the two furious brothers but was stopped by the raised arm of his Sensei; he spared a glance at him to see that Splinter was watching his elder brothers intently.

“I thought you said you could take me! You’re not doing a damn good job, are you?” Raph yelled as he easily blocked the punches that Leo was throwing at him.

Leo growled and bared his teeth, the strain of the fight had already begun to show on him and he still wouldn’t give in; he kicked out and Raph dodged it easily spinning with it and coming up behind Leo.

Raph wrapped his arms around his enraged brother and held him tight, Leo resisted but couldn’t break the hold so he threw his head back and tried to knock his brother away. Raph ducked to the side and returned with a kick to the back of Leo’s knee, toppling his brother to the ground but still keeping his grip on him.

“Still think you can beat me? Huh?” he shook Leo hard in the bear hug, “You can’t even get out of this, can you?”

“Fuck you!” Leo continued to struggle, his arms were pinned to his sides and his knees were tucked beneath him, it left him trapped. He didn’t like to be trapped.

“Let me go!” He screamed, “Get off of me! Let me go!”

“Not until you calm down.” Raph replied, “And not until I know you’re not gonna swing around and try to take my head off as soon as I do.”

“Raph let him go.” Don calmly walked towards the two that were huddled in the middle of the room, “He doesn’t like that, you’re upsetting him.”

Raph looked up at Don surprised, “You talking about the same turtle that’s been trying to tear me apart? He’s the one that wanted to prove he could beat me, now we know he can’t. He can’t beat me, and he certainly ain’t ready to beat Shredder.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed in pure fury and he swung his head back at the unprepared Raph, the impact of their heads echoed throughout the room but it didn’t stop Leo from snatching the sai from his brother’s belt and wrestling him to the ground. The sai was pressed hard against Raph’s throat and he stared at Leo in both shock and fear, his brother’s face told him that Leo could very easily move his weapon just that little more and really hurt him.

“Leo!” Don’s eyes widened. He stepped forward, his arms held out in front of him, “Leo, put the sai down.”

Leo didn’t move, he stared at Raph with a piercing hatred that he had never ever felt before, he was infuriated. Raph also remained motionless, his hands rested palms down on the floor as he allowed his brother a moment to calm down. They stared at each other but Raph soon realised that Leo wasn’t staring directly at him; it was like he was staring through him.

“I don’t think he can hear you.” Raph whispered.

Leo’s breathing came short and fast, his eyes staring at nothing and his whole frame shaking in absolute anger. Splinter approached his sons and looked towards Raphael, he acknowledged that he was alright for the moment but his expression didn’t show that he was overly confident with that assessment.

“Michelangelo, Donatello, please position yourselves either side of your brothers. Raphael do not move and do not speak, stay perfectly still.” Splinter knelt before them both and refrained from reaching out with his hand to Leo, it was too much of a risk to do it with his son currently holding off from killing Raph.

“Leonardo?”

Still there was nothing from Leo, no reaction at all from him.

“Please, Leonardo, you must understand what you are doing. That is your brother, he is not a threat to you, release the weapon.”

Raph suddenly felt the sai biting into his skin; he tipped his head back and gasped. “Leo…”

It moved in closer.

“Leo, you’re killing me.” Raph whispered pleadingly.

Leo’s eyes suddenly widened, his grip on the sai loosened and he dropped it. He watched the blood trickling from his brother’s neck and pushed himself back in alarm, he scrambled away and numbly felt hands trying to reach for him but he pushed them aside and fled to the bathroom. Someone was calling his name but he didn’t respond, he slammed the door shut and locked it before rushing to the toilet and throwing up the food he had eaten earlier that day.

He’d nearly killed his brother.

His own flesh and blood was lying on the living room floor because he had tried to pierce his neck with his brother’s own weapon.

His blood.

He collapsed onto the floor and leaned back against the door, his head tipping back and his eyes sliding closed. He breathed deeply in slow steady motions and tried to calm his racing heart.

There was a gentle knock on the door and Leo merely turned his head slightly towards the sound, he opened his eyes for a moment as he waited to find out who it was.

“Leo?” It was Mike, which meant that Don was most likely tending to Raph’s injury. “Leo, please open the door.”

“Go away.” He mumbled back.

There was a pause.

“I can’t do that, bro.”

Leo saw the door handle move, “Go away, please.”

“Not until I know you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” he sighed, “Raph’s not, go and check on him.”

“He’s more worried about you, we all are.” Mike’s voice was soft and calming, but Leo was definitely not going to open the door no matter how much his brother tried to coax him to.

Leo didn’t answer, he decided that if he stayed quiet then Mike just might go away but he knew they wouldn’t leave him alone in here for too long. He heard a shuffling sound and whispered voices; someone else was at the door now.

“You gonna open this door or am I gonna have to break the thing down?”

Raph tried to make it sound convincing but even he couldn’t hide the worry in his voice. He had let Don wrap his wound and immediately hurried towards the bathroom and his brother, feeling somewhat guilty that he’d allowed the whole thing to go this far. He felt to blame for allowing the fight to get out of hand knowing his elder brother wasn’t one hundred percent still. He’d been so tightly wound since Leo’s disappearance that with all of the emotional turmoil that was flowing around, he simply had to uncork the bottle. It was just unfortunate that he decided to allow it to do so now; not knowing the true facts about why Leo was so upset and thinking a fist fight would hold all the answers. He was wrong.

“Leo, open this door.” He wasn’t going to allow the anger to build this time, but he was still going to make sure that he at least got to see his brother before he left him alone. He turned around and slid down to the floor with his shell against the door.

“You can’t stay in there forever.” Raph started to think he was having a conversation with himself, “Will you at least say something?”

There was a small sound from behind the door but Raph didn’t hear it clearly, he turned his head towards the door with a frown, “What?”

“I’m sorry.” Came the quiet reply.

Raph sighed, “Yeah, me too.”

The silence descended again, neither one wanted to say anything more but both didn’t want to move either.

“Let me in.” Raph remained leaning against the door, knowing that it was a long shot and that he probably wouldn’t do it anyway. When he heard the lock click he pushed himself up and waited for Leo to open the door, as it did he moved inside. Leo wouldn’t look him in the face so he reached up and lifted Leo’s chin. Leo eyed Raph’s bandaged neck.

“I can’t believe I did that, I tried to kill you.” Leo sounded stunned.

“Yeah, but you didn’t. I don’t blame you for this.” Raph raised his hand to his neck and touched it gently, “You could’ve hurt me bad but you didn’t, you gained control of something that took over you. I pushed you too hard and something happened, what was it?”

Leo turned away and gazed at his reflection in the mirror, “Him.”

Raph nodded, “I thought as much.”

“I thought I was over the worst of it, the nightmares settled, then after the fight in the park they came back and he was there. I hate him.” He spat the last three words.

Raph watched the anger build up in Leo’s expression, “We’ll get you through this, together as a family.”

“Well it better be soon because I don’t know how much more I can take.”