Chapter Text
Patience is known to be one of a ninja's greatest qualities. It was also something Leonardo infamously lacked. It was common knowledge that he despised sitting still and silent for more than a couple seconds. So Mikey and Raph were surprised to find him sitting by the entrance to the lair, staring forlornly down the dark, dripping tunnels of the sewers. They cautiously approached him and, though he didn't acknowledge them, they knew he was aware of their presence.
It was so strange seeing their brother like this, although, deep down, they knew it was how he really was. They were soused to the jokey, careless Leo with whom they spent their days in their carefully constructed masks that seeing him looking so lost made them hesitate.
"Leo?" Raph ventured. "You... okay?"
Leo laughed bitterly, keeping his eyes forward. "Who is?"
Mikey and Raph shared a worried glance before going to sit on either side of their brother. After a moment, Leo spoke again. "We'd both still be awake about now. Just talking... He could never sleep. I guess I picked that up."
"Are you thinking about tomorrow?" Mikey asked.
Leo nodded. Each year he seemed to dread the approaching day more and more. It almost felt like an annual reminder of their constant lack of success. He could still remember twelve years ago, on his sedond birthday- their second birthday, when they'd finally been given some craved freedom and were allowed to roam a small section of the sewers without their father or, more likely, Raph breathing down their necks. They'd found a half-soaked comic on the ground, which they'd pored over for hours when they got back home, despite only being able to make out half the words.
Their father, along with a determined one-year-old Mikey, baked them a cake decorated with the words 'Happy birthday Leo and Donnie!' in blue and purple icing. Later on, not long before they'd usually get sent to bed, Donnie had insisted on going back for a piece of scrap he'd spotted earlier with Leo. Even as a toddler, he valued his independence and managed to convince everyone to let him go on his own.
"Don't worry, I'm not going far."
Leo, Mikey and Raph sat for hours, waiting for him to return. They never did. They searched every inch of the sewers, they even ventured topside, but they found no trace of their brother. They spent every waking hour and every dream in fitful slumber trying to convince themselves and each other that, one day, they would find him and life would go back to how it always should have been.
The lie had held up until now.
Now, what were they? Incomplete. A half-truth. Nothing but the people they weren't. Nothing.
"You'll be fine," Raph said, though he wasn't certain who he was trying to reassure.
"Or I can just keep pretending to be," Leo said, finally turning to face his brothers. He looked noticeably tired, even with his mask on, and he seemed almost... hollow. As if he'd just given up.
Mikey sighed. "We all can. We have to." There was a brief pause before he added, "He's out there, I know it. We just... haven't found him yet."
"Face it, Mikey," Leo scoffed, "he's gone."
Mikey would have usually retorted, defended what he believed. Or, at least, what he wanted to believe. But, in the end, he knew Leo was right.
Their brother was gone.