#anon I love u thank you for the inspiration ajdhgkdjgfkd

[toothlesshat]

YOOOOOOOO. LEO CONFRONTING SPLINTER?

LEONARDO?? AKA THE PERFECT SON? AKA SPLINTER JR?

IM SO IN FOR IT. I dunno what angle you would take, whether itll be super angst or Leo being some sort of calm anger but I LOVE IT EITHER WAY.

Especially after the episode where Leo lets Raph lead the team because he is sick of having to deal with their complaints and he goes home and Splinter basically tells him "It doesn't matter if they complain, you are the leader. You wanted to be the leader. Its a thankless job but you wanted to do it so you HAVE to."

BUT AU LEO CONFRONTING HIM LIKE "No, I'm not doing it. Not anymore. I don't care I can't do it anymore" AND THEN RUNNING AWAY. So much potential for one scene. I can't wait to see what you come up with(whether its a drawing or written out in a fic, idc i'm excited to see it)

ANON I'm going to be honest this ask got me so excited about the idea that I finally started writing the rogue Leo fic lmaoo AND I've decided to drop the first draft of the confrontation here >:) It might change by the time I actually finish the fic, but just know it'll go something like this

...

“I’m done.”

His words command silence, immediately quieting his family as they cross the threshold into their home. His brothers turn to look at him, confused to hear such a vague statement from their leader who they couldn’t get a word out of as they walked home. Even Splinter, who usually takes no interest in their conversations, has pricked his ears in Leo’s direction, a frown resting on his muzzle. 

They wait for Leo to elaborate, but his heart is pounding too fast to say anything, so Raph speaks up instead. 

“We’re all done,” he says matter-of-factly, crossing his arms, “that’s what the end of a mission means.”

Leo jumps to glare at him, but he stops to look at his family, inspecting them one by one and becoming more disheartened as he goes. Mikey’s ankle is bruised from where Tiger Claw tangled him over the furnace, Raph has a slight limp from the fight and is primarily standing on his left side to hide it, and Splinter’s eye is greatly swollen- who knows when he took that hit. Even his own mask tails are burned from that furnace, and his arm throbs from Tiger Claw scratching at his arm. But it doesn’t matter when these things happened, all that matters is why. Leo is why. He couldn’t stop them, he couldn’t protect them. Every single night he goes out with his brothers never knowing if it could be their last, and the responsibility to protect them lies solely within him. One bad call or wrong move could spell out the end, and it’s all on Leo if it does. He’s so, so tired. 

They look back at him expectantly, and it occurs to him that he could turn back now. He could agree with Raph, tell them he’s going to get some rest and pretend he wasn’t thinking about this. Things would continue as normal, and he’d… he’d still be their leader. 

That thought alone terrifies him enough to snap. “No,” his voice booms through the lair, “I’m done being your leader.”

It takes a second, maybe two for them to process what he’s said, but as soon as they do, the room becomes a mess of chaos.

“What’re you talking about!?” Raph gawks. 

“Leo…?” Mikey whimpers.

“You can’t just quit being leader,” Donnie chimes in. For some reason, that’s the complaint that riles Leo up the most. 

“Why can’t I!?” He demands, silencing them for the second time that night, “you don’t know anything about being the leader! You don’t know how hard it is to- to put your family’s life on the line every night!”

“That,” Splinter begins, drawing all eyes to himself as he walks up to Leo, a patient sort of tenseness in his expression, “is why you must continue as leader, Leonardo. You know the great lengths you must take to protect your family, and you will learn to overcome the fear you feel today as you did with the fear spores.” 

Leo grimaces at the memory of the fear inducing mushrooms he faced only weeks ago. He defeated them, yes, but he also admitted to not being over the experience entirely. Surely Splinter knows that?

“It doesn’t matter that the burden is heavy, it matters that you carry it.”

He’s heard that before, a long time ago on a similar night when Leo let Raph lead the team after a ridiculous fight. He remembers telling Splinter the same things he’s said tonight, that he’s tired of leading, that they don’t know what it’s like to be in his position. He remembers taking back the role because he was told to, he remembers Splinter telling him those exact words and they never spoke about it again.

Fear grips his mind tight as he realizes that this is the exact same conversation as before. This whole thing is rehearsed, just with the addition of his brothers to watch it go down. And, even more terrifying, if something doesn’t change now, it’ll end the same with him being leader and his family’s lives on his shoulders. 

“I don’t want the burden,” he growls. It surprises Splinter, whose eyes go wide in shock.

“Leonardo-”

“No, Sensei, this isn’t your choice to make anymore! I don’t want to lead this team, I don’t care how angry you get, or what you think about me.”

“So you’ll just leave us!?” Raph demands, making their younger brothers flinch at his tone.

Leo glares at him, the memory of his berating over saving Mikey all too fresh in his mind. “You never listen to me anyway! Isn’t this what you’ve been wanting?”

Donnie steps up next, though not as angry. Just confused. “But, then who would lead us?

Mikey frowns from beside him, “Raph wanted to-”

“Nobody,” Splinter firmly cuts in, keeping his gaze locked on Leo, who has returned it in a challenge. “Leonardo is your leader, and he will-”

“Not anymore.”

“Enough!” Their master snaps, somehow shaking the concrete floor with his voice alone. The others cower back, as expected, but Leo forces himself to hold his ground no matter how scared or nervous he feels. “You will do as you are told!”

 And where were you, his mind supplies bitterly, why did I ever fear calling you for help? Why was I so scared of what you’d think of me needing you to rescue us? He doesn’t say these things out loud, knowing it’d only lead into a bigger, much more dramatic fight than he has the energy for, but it’s there in the back of his mind. Why doesn’t his father understand where he’s coming from? Why doesn’t he care how Leo feels about any of this? 

He doesn’t say anything, actually. Instead, he undoes the straps across his chest, unbuckles the belt around his waist and throws them to the ground, his swords and sheath included. There’s a quiet gasp from one of his brothers, he’s not sure who, but he pays it no mind. He keeps his eyes trained on his father, his master, and takes a step back, leaving his weapons in between them. 

“I’m no longer the leader,” he announces. Then he turns around and leaves, not once looking back.

“Leo, come back!” Mikey begs him as he crosses the threshold once more. 

“Come on, we can talk about this!” Donnie adds before he hits the subway tracks. 

“Leo!” Is all Raph can say by the time Leo is out of sight. 

He takes only a second to crumble, stumbling back on his feet as the weight of what he’s done settles over him. All at once he feels sick and relieved, terrified but somehow safe again. It’s a strange feeling, one he wants to unpack further or at the very least try to understand, but he can hear his family begin to fight in the lair. They ask Splinter for guidance, and he offers nothing. It hurts too much to listen any longer, so Leo runs. He runs as fast as his legs will go, ignoring how exhausted they are from the fight just hours before, and heads for the surface. He doesn’t know what he’ll do there, but he decides that doesn’t matter. He’s just going to run.