Symbiosis

|Chapter 4|

~One Week Later~

POV 3rd Person (Leo):

'They still haven't come for me yet..', Leo stared off into the empty void that surrounded the technodrome he lived inside, the only place he lived inside for the past week, and yet he felt so lonely despite knowing he lived with two beings, a ship and the another...an experiment. A creature that bonded with Leo against Leo's wishes, yet the creature wanted to protect him, he wanted to stay with Leo despite everything he heard about the human race from his creator, he chose Leo over his own kind...why. Leo sat on top of the technodrome with his legs crossed over one another, trying his best to imitate the pose he once saw his dad do, yet for some reason it felt wrong, his legs hurt as they were over-extended beyond what he was used to, but knew he needed to get used to it. Closing his eyes, he listened to everything around him, the rubble hitting against the ground, debris tapping as it made contact with his prosthetic legs, he listened to every single sound...his legs...Leo could feel a strange itch on his shin, he reached for it, searching for the itch as he kept his eye shut, but as Leo continued to search he could never find it, 'Where-', He opened his eyes and stared at his legs...his useless legs. Staring at the prosthetic, Leo was confused, there was no leg to itch, only metal, but as each minute passed the more his leg itched, it wanted to bite it, tear through the metal, he wanted to scratch that itch, he hated this...Leo never wanted this, he didn't want these legs...Leo didn't want to be here.

Breathing slowly, Leo felt the nitrogen and air fill his lungs, filling them until they were full to the brim, and let out a gentle relaxed exhale, Leonardo needed to breathe...he needed to meditate, something his father and Raph did to become stronger...something he should have done to become stronger

--------------------------------

"Happy Birthday-"

Leo slowly opened his eyes when he heard such familiar voices, "Guys?", as he opened his eyes he no longer sat in the dim void he sat in moments again, instead he was home, his family and friends sitting at their fairly large table, each one with a big smile on their face, everyone...is safe. "Come Donnie... it's your birthday! Make a wish!-", none of this felt real, none of this felt right, 'Donnie's Birthday?...would they really move on this quickly-', but as Leo watched his family cheer for Donnie, the more Leo felt the atmosphere, the air thickening by the second.

"Audible sigh...I wish...", Donald's voice sounded so low, so tired, and Leo knew that tone, a pitch that meant he wanted to be alone, to be by himself in the room he called his lab, Leo knew that tone, "Leo...was here". Leo knew they couldn't see him, but as he walked closer to the table, staring down at the cake they shared every single year, for a second Leo could have sworn Donnie was staring at him. Donnie sat up in his chair, leaving the table with the rest of his brothers and April confused and saddened, Leo heard a sigh and turned back, watching as Raph pinched his snout, "Donnie come on-"

"I'm going to be working on my projects", walking out of the room, Leo followed after Donnie as he stormed into his lab, slamming the door shut, "Why did you leave...", Donnie stared at Leo, glaring as he stormed towards the slider, stopping a foot away from Leo's face, Donnie's teeth grinding against each other, snarling loudly as the air rushed passed his teeth, "You can see me-"

"Why did Dad make you leader-", Leo wanted to finish his sentence, but as his brother's said those words his throat stung as he stared at his twin, watching Donnie glare at him with so much anger, "If Raph stayed leader...you would still be here"

"I did that to protect you guys-...to protect New York-"

"And you think I wanted this! That any of us wanted this...you...are so selfish Leo!!!", Leo knew that at any moment Donnie would have broken, falling apart and placing all there on his brother, Leo needed to be strong, he couldn't be weak, not right now, not ever. "You trapped yourself in there and you knew you could have just escaped yet you did that! That! Holy Banana Pancakes- I could have escaped that Kraang! And I'm a fucking soft shell turtle for Enstein's sake...", Leo's hand reached up and covered his mouth, hiding his trembling lip from his brother, 'He's right...I could have done better...', at this moment Leo felt even more alone than ever, he wanted to see his brothers again, he wanted to see April, his dad, hell maybe even Draxum, yet all he could do was laugh, clearing his throat as he walked towards Donnie, "Damn you're right! Dad shouldn't have chosen me hah! He should have chosen you-", Leo nudged Donnie as he turned around, his hands rested behind his head, walking towards Donnie's large security door, "Heh...Happy Birthday, Donnie..."