Work Text:
Title: Truth Serum
Day: Febuwhump 2024 Day 20
Prompt: Truth Serum
Fandom: TMNT 2003
Word Count: 2349
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: T
Characters: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, Master Splinter
Warning: NA
Summary: When Leonardo gets a dose of truth serum, a few things he thought he had dealt with come back out into the open. Fortunately, his family is, as always, there for him.
Notes:
Truth Serum
Leonardo was not sure what Hun had injected him with, but he was sure that whatever it was, it wasn’t a good thing. When someone who had captured you injected you with something, it was never a good thing. His brothers, come to rescue him, had not quite been in time to stop it. Instead, they had rushed to free him and to whisk him away out of there before the effects of whatever it was could make themselves known.
Leo had, of course, fought as soon as he was able, and he had been doing alright. At least, he had been doing alright until a few minutes ago. He was starting to feel unfocused, and his thoughts were harder to keep a hold of. It had to have been evident, because they stopped, sitting him down on a rooftop, while Don looked over him.
“You alright, Leo?” he asked. “Are you feeling anything unusual?”
“I feel kind of lightheaded and off balance,” Leo said, almost before he realized what he was saying. “And unfocused.
For a fraction of a second, everyone paused, including Leo himself. He hadn’t meant to say that.
“You’re admitting it?” Mikey said.
Leo blinked. “Apparently.”
Don frowned. “If you’re feeling bad enough to admit to it without me having get past layers of ‘I’m fine’ first, then we probably need to get you back to the lair. Think you can make it?”
“I should be able to,” Leo said. “And besides, it would probably be a good idea to get out of here.” He glanced back in the direction that they had come from. “We’re still pretty close to the warehouse.
“You’re right about that,” Don said. “Besides, I want to analyze whatever this was that he gave you.”
“Alright, let’s get moving then,” Raph said, reaching down to help Leo up.
Although the trip back to the lair was quick, Leo’s symptoms only grew worse. His brothers sat him on the couch, where he leaned his head back, trying to stop the dizziness and fog that was swirling around in his brain. It didn’t take long for Splinter to come out to check on him, and Leo could hear the worry in his voice.
“My son? How are you feeling?”
“Terrible,” Leo said, before he could stop himself. “I’m dizzy and my head feels foggy. My tongue feels dry, and my arms and legs feel heavy. It’s hard to focus.”
He could hear shifting steps around him. “Leo? Can you open your eyes for me?” Don said. “I just want to check your pupils.”
Leo nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”
Leo opened his eyes and let Don do whatever else he wanted to do, including taking some blood samples. He drank the water he was given and did whatever else was requested of him. And then, finally, when Don’s tests were over and he had things running, the question was asked.
“Leo, what happened?”
Despite the brain fog he was feeling, Leo started talking. He recounted how the Purple Dragons had gotten the drop on him during the fight, taking him back to the warehouse, where they restrained him, and Hun injected him with whatever it was he was injected with.
“…I’m just glad it was me and not one of you,” he finished up with, looking at his brothers.
Raph’s head shot up. “What? What do you mean by that?” he asked.
Leo blinked at him. “I mean it was clear that they were targeting us. They wanted one of us. And I’m glad that it was me and not one of you that they ended up getting. Besides, I deserved it.”
His family was staring at him, aghast.
Wait—what had he said?
“Why would you say that?” Mikey burst out.
“Because it’s true,” Leo said, before he could stop himself.
“Hang on,” Don said, cutting in before Raph could. “I mean, I understand not wanting us to get hurt, but—is that the only reason you think that?”
“No, not at all,” Leo said with a shake of his head. Why couldn’t he stop talking? He was laying out his thought process for all of them, and it didn’t feel like he could top himself “I mean, yes, that’s part of it, but—Don, you’re the one that can figure this kind of thing out. It’s better for it not to happen to you. Mikey, you’re the most skilled of us. If something happens and you really focus in, you can easily take point with better results than the rest of is. Raph, you’re stronger than me, and your protective drive is strong. You’d fight to the last for someone. If the three of you are together, then you can break through almost anything.”
The looks on his family’s faces were less than reassuring.
“That holds some amount of logic,” Don said carefully, “and I think you’re selling yourself short, but I’m more concerned with the last part of what you said earlier. What do you mean that you deserved it?”
“I mean that I deserved it,” Leo said, feeling even a little more out of sorts. He leaned forward a little, rubbing at his head. Why were they pushing this? Didn’t they understand? “I’m the leader. I’m responsible for all of you. And if I lead us into a trap or an ambush, then your safety is on me. If you get hurt, it’s on me. If you’re injured or captured or injected, it’s on me. I’m responsible.”
“That’s not true,” Mikey said, clearly upset. “You can’t be responsible for us all of the time! We do stupid things on our own!”
“It is true, Mikey,” Leo insisted, pushing the point further. It felt important for them to understand. “I’m the eldest and I’m the leader.”
“Nuh-uh,” Raph said, standing up and stalking towards Leo. “No. No way, Leo. You don’t get to get off that easy—”
“Easy?!” Leo exclaimed. They didn’t understand. Leo stood, too, meeting Raph head on. “Easy? What makes you think any of this is easy? Do you know what it’s like, Raphael?” he demanded. “Do you know what it’s like to hold your family’s lives in your hands every time you go out? Do you know what’s it’s like to feel responsible for that?”
Leo took a step towards Raph. “Every day when we go out, the entire world is against us! At any moment something could happen! We could get attacked by an enemy we know! We could get swept up in something we can’t control! A mob of people could find us! Someone with a sniper rifle could just take us down! And I have to be ready for that! I have to be prepared! I have to have a plan and know how to jump into action!”
He moved a step closer. “Do you know what happens if I don’t? If I’m not ready? Do you? When I’m not ready, you get hurt. I wasn’t ready, and April’s shop burned down, and the Shredder nearly killed us all! I wasn’t ready and Master Splinter was hurt so badly the Utroms had to put him in healing chamber! I wasn’t ready and we nearly got killed in an intergalactic war! I wasn’t ready and I got us caught up in a crime-power struggle! I wasn’t ready and giant wasps almost took us out! I wasn’t ready and I was poisoned, and the universe nearly ripped apart! I wasn’t ready and Don got captured and tortured by Triceritons! I wasn’t ready and we were nearly dissected by Bishop! I wasn’t ready and we were thrown across the multiverse! I wasn’t ready and we almost died on Shredder’s ship! I wasn’t ready and all of you almost died when I was gone! I wasn’t ready and Donnie got double mutated! I wasn’t ready and I almost died from using a sword that wasn’t mine! I wasn’t ready and we did all die! I wasn’t ready and we were almost turned into mindless aliens! I wasn’t ready and Master Splinter almost died! I wasn’t ready and April and Casey’s wedding was attacked, and everyone almost died!”
He moved closer to Raph, his chest heaving, air becoming harder to take in, but he still reached up and pushed Raph back just a little. “When I’m not ready, it can cost you all your lives!” He took in as deep a breath as he could manage, his head spinning as the words just slipped out of him. “So yes! When these things happen, I deserve it! Because it means that I failed all of you, that I wasn’t good enough, and that it’s my fault!”
Suddenly, there were arms around him, holding him tight, almost crushing him. Leo let in a sharp breath as he realized it was Raph.
“It ain’t your fault,” Raph said, his voice low, calm, but steady. “You can’t control what life throws at us. You can’t control all of that. Yeah, you’re responsible for us as a leader, but we’re responsible for each other as a family.”
“You can’t control the future,” Don said, and Leo felt his brother’s hand on his shoulder. “You can try to stop what you know is coming, try to prevent it, but in the end, there’s always going to be other factors that lead to other situations. You can’t be responsible for that.” Don’s head squeezed his shoulder. “I know that all too well.”
“You’re not all knowing.” He felt Mikey’s hand come up on his other shoulder. “And we don’t expect you to be. You’re our brother, Leo, and you don’t deserve these things any more than we do.”
Leo was having trouble seeing even Raph’s shoulder clearly, and it took him a moment to realize that it was because there were tears in his eyes and that he was crying. A gentle paw reached up and wiped the tears away. Leo squeezed his eyes shut.
“Oh, my son,” he heard his father say. “I never meant for you to carry such a heavy burden. I am truly, truly sorry.”
Leo couldn’t help it anymore. Wrapped tightly in his strongest brother’s arms, he wept.
Things were a bit of a blur after that. At some point he finished crying, but he felt more than drained. The embarrassment over his outburst kicked in, and he wanted nothing more than to go hide in his room. Unfortunately, Don wasn’t about to allow that, not with an unknown substance running through him, and the best Leo could do was cover himself with a blanket on the couch. He still found himself answering questions far too easily, but considering how tired he was, he wasn’t too surprised. Eventually, he fell asleep, dozing while leaning on Raph.
A few hours later, he woke to Don shaking him awake.
“Mm, Don? What is it?” he asked.
“An explanation to everything,” Don said, kneeling down in front of Leo. “Here—let me give you this while I talk.”
He held out a needle and Leo made a face.
“I’d rather not,” he said.
“I know,” Don said. “Just like I know you’re telling me the truth right now.”
“Uh, what are you talking about?” Mikey asked.
Don took Leo’s arm and prepped it for the shot anyway, even as the family listened in. “I finished analyzing what was in that syringe,” Don said. “And in layman’s terms, it was a very powerful truth serum.”
“A truth serum?” Raph repeated.
Don nodded and put a piece of gauze over where he had injected Leo, pulling out some bandages to wrap it up. “Yep. Different than many other truth serums, but a truth serum, nonetheless. With just a little pushing, Leo wouldn’t have been able to help himself and would have answered any question Hun would have asked him.”
“That explains Leonardo’s outburst earlier,” Splinter said. “He was under the influence of this truth serum.”
Don nodded. “And I just gave him something to counteract it.” He looked up at Leo. “Of course, what you said is still out there, and, knowing this, it’s something that you believe to be true. There’s no denying that.” He gave Leo’s knee a squeeze. “But we can work through that together.”
Leo was still feeling a bit foggy headed, but he nodded. “I know,” he said. “I thought I had dealt with it, but, well…”
“Sometimes, things linger, my son,” Splinter said. “We can use our minds and our reason to work through them, but they still linger and catch us when we are unaware.” He smiled at Leo. “Do not worry, Leonardo. We are all still with you.”
Leo let out a breath and leaned back. “Well at least there’s a reason for it,” he said. “And yeah. We can work through it all together.”
Raph nudged him. “You bet we will,” he said.
“So… how long will this thing take to work?” Mikey asked.
“Somewhere around fifteen minutes, maybe longer,” Don said.
Mikey grinned. “In that case—Hey, Leo, where’s your hidden stash of sweets.”
“Behind a false panel I figured out how to put in my desk drawer,” Leo answered automatically, before realizing what he’d said. “Wait—no!”
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Mikey said. “Tell us—who’s your favorite broth—"
“Mikey!” Raph lunged at his brother, leaving Leonardo behind on the couch. Mikey screamed and ran, and the game of chase was on.
Don chuckled and sat beside Leo.
“Are you going to ask me anything?” Leo asked.
Don shook his head. “No. I’d rather you tell me in your own time. Although I am curious as to the answer to that last question.”
“Considering Mikey never finished asking it, I suppose we’ll never know,” Leo said.
“I suppose not,” Don said.
He leaned into Leo a bit, a silent encouragement, and Leo leaned back. Perhaps the pressures of leadership got to him more often than he wanted to admit. But at least he knew that even in his weak moments, his family would be there for him.