Leo's Memories

Chapter 22 Unhappy Times

Vern was bored. Splinter had gone to bed hours ago, and The Falcon was left to watch TV by himself. He's already watched half of the Harry Potter movies. It was well past midnight and the fam was still passed out. He should have gone with them. How bad could the leader's memories be anyway?

In all of the hype of Leo coming home, he had forgotten to take his medication. He was currently spasming on the floor of his secret room. It was scary what missing a few doses can do. He just wanted to hang up his drawings.

"Leo!" He heard the voice of his hot headed brother. What was he doing here? Leo felt his head get cushioned by Raph's surprisingly comfortable thighs, "It's okay big brother. I'm here."

Raph continued to whisper sweet nothings into his brother's ears as the seizure continued. It seemed to last forever. Finally, Leo's body calmed down. He couldn't speak and everything was in pain, but he squeezed his little brother's arm. God did he miss Raph. He missed his whole family.

"I thought you stopped having those," Raph whispered as his brother recovered.

"They... reappeared in... Costa Rica." Leo's hoarse voice rang out in the room.

"Are you taking medication?" Leo pointed to his small cigarette pouch. It was a small sachel strapped to his thigh. Raph reached over and opened the pouch, "Your solution to seizures is cigarettes?"

"Non addictive, non harmful, medical smokes. Inhaling the gas is the fastest way to the bloodstream," Leo took a cigarette from his brother's outstretched hand and sat up before lighting it.

"So it doesn't hurt you?" Leo shook his head as he exhaled, "How often do you take them?"

"Twice a day."

"For how long?"

"Not considering my unadvised break? A little under a year."

"And they prevent your seizures?"

"...No." Raph looked into his brother's beautiful eyes, "They only make the chances smaller. Though, prolonged use stops my tremors."

"You still have those too?" Leo looked away from his brother as he carefully unwrapped the bandages on his hands. He shakily spread his fingers. Raph gasped in shock and horror.

"What happened?" The red banded turtle asked carefully as he gently held his brother's shaking hands.

"I'll tell you one day."

"Is this why you didn't come back?"

"..." Leo stayed silent as he finished his smoke. Raph understood and proceeded to carefully apply new bandages.

Yeah. His memories are probably full of happy childhood dreams and awesome fights with the Foot. Vern is curious to know where he got all of the tattoos. He looked over at Leo's body. He had more tattoos than when he left. The pseudo tribal tattoo on his left bicep had been extended into a half sleeve. The turtle tattoo on his right bicep had also been extended to include more turtles, a couple of snakes, and some exotic flowers that he had never seen. All of his tattoos were black in color except for the small spider lily tattoo on his hip, which was red.

Leo exited the sewer entrance that led directly to the secret room at the police station. It had been added after the Krang invasion so that the turtles could meet with the police without being seen. The room was relatively small in size, though it fit a couple of couches and a coffee table. On one of the walls was a surveillance system in case Donnie's ever failed, though the likelihood of that was slim. There was also a coffee machine with a lovely box full of coffee k-cups and tea bags. Leo pressed the small red button next to the door. This let the Chief of Police know that he was there. A few minutes later, Chief of Police Rebecca Vincent walked into the room.

"Leonardo!" She said excitedly before rushing to hug him, "It's been far too long! I assume that the Winter's incident was the doing of you and your family?"

"It's good to see you too Ms. Vincent, yes, and why are you hugging me?" He and the Chief were on good terms, but they weren't that good. Rebecca blushed before pulling away.

"Sorry. Mikey is usually the one to visit, and he likes hugs. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she blushed at the mention of Mikey. Leo raised an eye ridge.

"You two have gotten close?" Chief Vincenf blushed harder.

"O-only as friends! I helped him get certified to entertain at children's parties."

"You know it's okay to like him. I won't kill you because of it," the chief sweatdropped. He had instantly thought of killing her.

"H-he just turned eighteen! I'm fifteen years his senior! That makes me a pedophile..."

"Actually, it makes you an ephebophile."

"What?"

"A pedophile is someone sexually attracted to prepubescent children. A hebephile is some attracted to an early pubescent child, 11, 12, 13, and 14. An ephebophile is someone attracted to late pubescent teenagers, 15 and up."

"One, that sounds wrong to know. Two, how do you know that? And three, is that supposed to make it better?"

"Well, one, it's hard to explain the difference without sounding creepy. Two, I read a lot, and I know way too many random facts. Three, not exactly. Also, you're not attracted to teenagers, you're attracted to Mikey. There's a difference."

"That doesn't sound like much of a difference..."

"Well, think about this. We are mutant turtles that have been hidden from society for the last eighteen years. We don't exactly follow social policies or norms," Rebecca got a pensive look.

"I didn't think about it like that."

"Think it over, and when you're ready talk to him." She nodded as he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Leo turned back to her, "Did you come here for something?"

"Just to say hi. Oh and to tell you that we're taking back New York. You don't need to worry about the Nightwatcher anymore."

"Ok. Well tell Raphael that the police totally didn't know that it was him," Leo just grinned before walking back down the tunnel.

Michelangelo was blushing as he processed the information. Of course he had gotten closer to the Chief of Police, and to the turtles, age was just a number. He just didn't think that a successful and brilliant human like her would want to be with a mutant freak like him.