Leonardo cowered in a dark corner of the basement, his body tense and his mind filled with anguish. Everything that made him feel safe had been taken from him: his katanas, his blue bandana, his bandages, his belt. Everything that identified him as the leader of the turtles. He felt stripped, vulnerable, exposed. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to choke back the tears that threatened to overflow. Splinter's words echoed in his mind like a warning he had ignored: "Humans can be dangerous, my children. They fear us because they don't understand us. Don't trust them so easily." "Sensei... I should have listened to you," Leonardo murmured, his voice shaking. This man was not like the people he once tried to protect. This human saw him as a simple experiment, a specimen, no matter how much knowledge or compassion there was in his heart. Leonardo had fallen into the hands of someone cruel, and the stories that had terrified them as children seemed to be coming true. He remembered his brothers, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael. He wanted to be with them, he wanted to fight, but he was alone... and without his weapons, he felt helpless. He missed the warmth of his family, the dojo, the lair... everything he had known and loved. Leonardo looked up, his blue eyes meeting his captor. The man watched him as if Leonardo were nothing more than an object he could use and discard. The man wanted to take away the only thing he had left: his voice. His ability to speak, to express himself. It was something he couldn't allow to be taken away from him. He had resisted, he had fought to keep his dignity, but now... now he just wanted to survive. He didn't want to lose the last thing that connected him to the world. "No... I won't talk. I swear," Leonardo said, his voice broken, almost pleading. He knew he had to show submission, he had to make the man believe he was not a threat. Why did he have to suffer so much just for existing? Why was life so cruel to him, simply for being a mutant turtle?