Chapter Text
It’s been several months since Usagi joined the resistance, and several months since Leo has been outmatched in charm. He sits in the corner of the training room, wide-eyed as he watches the yokai in a heated sparring session with his youngest brother.
The pair had a great flow when they practiced, both being very agile and adaptable. On top of their fighting styles, Usagi was one of the few resistance members capable of keeping up with any of the brothers when their mystic powers were involved.
Mikey launched a nunchuck into the air, looping it around a rusted pipe to pull himself up and dodge a swipe from the rabbit’s blade. He flew over the perch, unwrapping the chain, before aiming for and latching onto Usagi's ankle. Once landed, the turtle yanked the opposite end of the nunchuck, sending the swordsman flying toward a wall. The attempt to finish off his opponent, however, was thwarted as the rabbit landed with his feet against the concrete. He steadies himself for a split second before swinging his caught leg to the side, repeating Mikey’s actions from the opposing end, this time successfully throwing him into the concrete with a smack. The youngest turtle flops onto the ground and groans.
Leonardo’s eyes follow Usagi’s every move; Slipping his blade back into its sheath, straightening the sash over his hips, and rushing to the box turtle’s side to ask if he is okay, genuine concern thick in his voice. Leo smiles as Mikey nods and reaches up for assistance. He practically melts when Usagi cracks a joke and snorts at the youngest while pulling up to his feet. He almost dies when the yokai looks up and makes direct eye contact with him for more than several moments.
God, he’s so attractive.
“This is pathetic, ‘Nardo.”
“Uh! Um!? Excuse me , ‘Tello, but did I literally even say anything to you?” Leo lifts an offended hand to his chest, scowling at his twin.
“No, you didn’t verbally communicate with me at all. Or anyone for that matter. That’s the problem, you see. You’re drenched in sweat and your eyes practically have stars, but you refuse to acknowledge it.” The purple-clad turtle is typing away at his phone. Leo looks over his shoulder to see he’s arguing with a rando on Discord.
The older twin huffs and rolls his eyes, “Leave it to you to be capable of having several arguments at the same time.”
“Don’t change the subject. And don’t lean over me, you’re like an ice-cold water bottle that got left outside in the summer sun.” Donnie looks up from his phone, glaring daggers as he shoves an accusing finger into his brother’s chest. “You guys have made it abundantly clear that you are into each other and yet you’re still single. Why? That makes no sense, Leon.”
A shadow appears over the pair, “Hey guys! Whatcha talkin’ about?” Mikey rolls his shoulder, trying to stretch out some of the soreness from his match.
“Donnie’s fighting with strangers on Discord, again .”
“That is-! No. We were discussing Leo’s apparent inability to make actual moves on the guy he’s been flirting with, obnoxiously often might I add, since he showed up on our doorstep.” Donatello’s robotic spider-arm swoops over to clutch his phone and pocket it into his battle shell. “Leo, I don’t see what the issue is here! I’m getting tired of you coming to my lab and distracting me from my, y’a know, world-saving work to tell me about your nonexistent boy issues.”
Leonardo lets out an exasperated sigh and leans his head against the concrete wall.
Mikey raises his brow in confusion. “Wait… I thought you guys started dating, like, months ago. I’ve been referring to you as his boyfriend to him!!” He folds up his hands nervously and shivers as a cold sweat breaks out across his skin.
“ You what?! ” Leo would’ve fallen out of his chair had he been sitting in one. “Mikey! I thought you were just calling him my boyfriend when you were talking to me for shits and giggles! We’ve literally never even held hands!”
“I’m sorry! It’s just you guys are always flirting with each other! No one ever corrected me! I thought maybe you were just taking things slow or maybe he had, like, touch aversion or something!” The youngest hugs his arms over his plastron defensively.
Donatello cackles from beside Leo, wiping a single humored tear from his eye. “ Oooooh , this is too good. See, brother? This just proves my point. I’m right, you’re wrong, please for everyone’s sake just ask him to be ‘official’-” The soft shell lifts his fingers to mimic quotation marks, “-or whatever!”
Leo groans irritably and envelopes his face with his hands. His shoulders slouch over. “I… I don’t want to ruin this, guys… He’s… special. But, I haven’t exactly been the best decision maker in the past.” His hands slip down to his cheeks as he gazes longingly past his youngest brother at the tall rabbit, picking up training gear and reorganizing it upon a shelf. He watches as Usagi observes the pieces intently, and smiles when he finishes finding the right home for each of them. His heart catches in his throat when the hare turns and lifts those handsome, dark eyes to meet his line of sight. He attempts a grin and waves. The yokai returns the gesture before leaving the training room.
Michelangelo and Donatello both give their brother the same ‘really?’ face.
“Look! I- I know what I want us to be. But I don’t… I don’t want to rush this. Talking big is one thing, but I can’t even think about holding his hand without feeling like I’m going to throw up.” He stares down to a couple scars across his palms, “And besides… We have enough going on…”
Mikey and Donnie exchanged a knowing look, both of their demeners softening. The more emotionally inclined of the brothers kneels down before Leonardo, gently wrapping the blue ninja’s hand in his grasp. “Hey… You deserve to do things that make you happy. Besides-“ He smiles proudly over to the other twin.
“Your team supports you on this one.” Donatello smirks and rubs Leonardo’s head with a metallic arm. “Just this once, though.”
“Take the time you need, bud, and we’ll be here to back you up and cheer you on. M’kay, bro?” Mikey plops beside Leonardo and leans against his shoulder.
The slider’s lips turn up slightly. Maybe he feels a little better now. “Who’re you callin’ bud, bud?” He clutches Mikey’s shoulders, pulling him into a headlock in his lap. “Stop sounding so old!”
The youngest brother laughs and squirms relentlessly as Donatello rolls his eyes, an affectionate smile spreading across his face.
“RAPH!!” Leonardo watches in horror as a slimy, pink tentacle shoots down toward this unconscious brother. He hears Mikey screaming from an adjacent building as the scene unfolds. Leo swings his katana, slicing a portal open and leaping through. Please, no, please, please, please!!
He stumbles through the gateway and brings himself to an abrupt halt. This isn’t what he expected. He whispers, finding himself in shock, “U… Usagi?”
The rabbit is defending Raphael, blade extended, blocking the brute force of Sister Krang with every ounce of strength he can muster. He shouts back to Leo, “ Get him out of here!! ” His arms are shaking violently in over-exertion. Leonardo had taken several blows from the alien before. He couldn’t imagine trying to hold off such a direct hit for so long.
The blue-banded mutant catches a glance at Donatello approaching quickly from the other side. “I’ve got you! Here!!” He taps quickly across his arm monitor, sending a red pod launching out of his battle shell and latching around Raphael.
The escape pod zips off just as Usagi’s stance falters. The Krang sister retracts her limb for the slightest give before bringing it down upon the rabbit, slamming him into the concrete with full force. Leo cries out as he hears the loud ‘thok’ of a skull ricocheting off the pavement. The sister moves to make a deadly blow, only to be beaten off course by Donatello’s tech hammer. He taps again on his arm, sending another pod for the yokai. “Let’s wrap this up before she knocks anyone else out, guys!” The tech-wiz upper-cuts the invader. “Mikey! Get those people out of here!”
“On it!!”
Leonardo watches as the pod encases his friend. His friend.
“Leo!”
The slider grits his teeth and adjusts his grip on his swords. He shakes his head to regain focus. “I’m here, Don!” He slices the air, blue sparks crackling and zapping from the opening, and lunges through the portal. “I’ve got your back!” He appears instantaneously beside his brother, swinging his blade down across the sister’s eye.
Leonardo anxiously waits as Mikey ushers the last of the civilians through the portal. Donatello is taking notes beside him. “Shit… This is bad. I don’t know how many more people we can take in. I’ve been expanding the base as much as I possibly can, but this is impossible to keep up with!” He mutters under his breath, “Maybe if I continue the west sector down and… No, that tunnel is compromised… We’ll have to clear it first, but we need everyone to recover… We need more medical supplies… and food while I’m at it… I could-“
Leo cares. He does genuinely care. He wishes his brother would sleep. He wishes he could take off his stress of being the most capable for defending everyone else. He wishes he could tell Mikey he doesn’t need to pretend to be happy right now. He wants to, but he just can’t think about anything besides getting to the med bay at this immediate moment. He knows his brothers are anxious too. Mikey is forcing a comforting smile towards a small family that had managed to survive in another local base before being discovered by the Krang, but sweat is beading across his temple. Donnie’s bouncing his foot faster than should be mutantly possible as he vigorously logs every detail of today’s events. Once the last group is through, he snags both of his brother’s arms and yanks them into the portal to the hideout.
He and Mikey race down the corridor, Donnie walking more cautiously in tow. The now-expanded (thanks to Donnie, again ) med bay is lined with cot after cot of injured civilians and fighters, and laying in the middle of it all are Raphael and Usagi.
Donatello meets the other two in the doorway with worried eyes. They look toward their brother and let out a breath of relief when they see he’s sitting up and speaking with the nurse.
But Usagi…
A swarm of yokai and human paramedics alike surround the rabbit. He’s awake, but Leonardo can hear his pained gasps from here. He sees blood. He sees a broken arm. He sees white light clouding his vision.
“Leo? Leo, can you hear me? Mikey- Mike, grab his other arm.” He can barely make out a purple blob in front of him before he loses consciousness.
Leo’s heavy eyes flutter open. He scans his surroundings and gratefully recognizes his fairy lights and Jupiter Jim posters, lining his subway car. He runs his fingers against the soft material of a hoodie someone has pulled over him; his favorite navy blue Santa Cruz one.
“Hola, hermoso… Guess who’s keeping an eye on who now.”
That voice. Leonardo launches upright, almost flinging himself into the form sitting on the edge of his bed. “You!-“ His eyes well up. “Why are you!?- Usagi you should be!-“
A soft hand cradles his cheek. “Hai … It’s okay, aoi… I’ve been put on bed rest by the doctor, but they didn’t care where I slept, so I holed up here. I wanted to make sure you were alright…”
“ Make sure - Usagi, you were crushed! I saw the blood, a-and the-!” The slider’s hands lift up beside the rabbit’s shoulders, wavering and maintaining a buffer, scared to lay a finger on him.
Usagi smiles sweetly, “Yeah, it hurts, but I’ve been healing for a few days now. Raph is up and moving again, and I’m stable enough. You were pretty exhausted.”
Leonardo’s lip trembles, “I… No, I wanted to be there for you! You- you saved-“ He feels the tears finally overflowing down his cheeks. “You saved him. B-but, she- she…”
The hare slips his hand over the turtle’s shoulder and behind his neck, pulling him into a gentle hug, avoiding his injured arm. He buries his face into his collar. Leonardo feels a buzzing in his chest as Usagi’s breathing tickles his skin. “I’m okay, Leo… You needed the rest. You hardly ever sleep… We’re all here, and we’re all okay now.” He chuckles quietly, “Now please hug me back… I could use it right now… I was worried sick about you too, kame…”
The mutant nervously and carefully winds an arm around the yokai’s fragile frame. He tries not to hyperventilate when he thinks about how warm the rabbit is, or how soft his fur is. He clings to Usagi’s shirt and presses his snout into his shoulder. They sit quietly, but Leonardo’s brain is flooded. His free hand tugs anxiously at his hoodie strings, fighting the urge to bite at the ends.
You could’ve lost him. He saved Raph’s life. He kept an eye on you while he was still recovering. He’s here. He made sure to be the first person you saw when you woke up. He’s next to you. He’s holding you. He’s so, so close to you. Don’t let him leave. Don’t let this go. Tell him. Tell him.
Usagi speaks first. “I…” He pulls back. No. “I'm sure you must want to see your brothers, but they’re out on a mission and… And I think you should eat something before-”
“Come back.” Leonardo’s voice is airy, scraping against his throat.
The yokai’s eyes widen at the order, a confused look directed at the turtle. “Leo, are you-“
“I need you to stay.”
His brow furrows, “I-I wasn’t going anywhere.”
Leonardo shakes his head slowly, “No, Usi, I mean…” His mind is screaming at him and his heart is bursting at the seams. Do it. Just do it already.
You’ll regret this moment the rest of your life if you let him go.
His gaze dances up the yokai’s jawline and across his cheek. He can see the faint pink that makes its way to the surface of Usagi’s soft and rounded face. His mouth hangs a little slack as he desperately searches for words. As his awe-filled eyes land on Usagi’s concerned and questioning ones, time seems to slow down. The faint, warm lighting of the string lights fades in and out, making the moment feel hazy. The room is pretty dark; He assumes the yokai is avoiding bright lights. He would never wish a concussion upon anyone, but thanks some higher being for the lack of lighting. Maybe, just maybe it’ll make this easier.
“L-Leonardo? Are you-” The slider steadily moves his calloused hands to cup Usagi’s jaw, tugging him forward into a kiss.
The rabbit’s eyes widen in surprise, his shoulders tensing at the touch. After a moment, the turtle pulls back suddenly, noticing Usagi’s rigidity. He panics when he sees the yokai frozen in place.
Oh no.
“Shit- Usagi, I- I’m sorry! I thought that you!- I’m so sorry- I must’ve-” He starts to push himself away, only to be gripped by the collar and pulled back in.
The hare scrunches his eyes shut as he demands another kiss, startling Leonardo for a moment before he melts into the wanting sensation. This was everything the teen mutant had wanted and somehow more. His shaking hands return to Usagi’s jaw, trying to close in the space between them as much as possible.
The room is silent save for the rustling of fabric as they finally part after several sporadic heartbeats. Leonardo lets out an unsteady breath, fingers slipping down to Usagi’s collarbone.
The yokai purses his lips, biting back the biggest smile he thinks has ever tried to grace his face. He fails and lets a watery chuckle escape his lips. “That took you so long…”
Leo shakes his head, laughing quietly at the comment, “At least I did something!...”
“I know, I know…” Usagi’s eyes glisten, tears threatening to spill from the edges. Leonardo gently reaches to brush his thumb across the rabbit’s cheek, wiping away the evidence of crippling worry and overwhelming relief. He ignores the wetness across his own cheeks as his friend leans into his palm. Friend? That needs to change.
“So…” The turtle grins, “Are we, like…” He motions between the two of them, raising a questioning brow. “Y’a know…”
Usagi shoves the turtle back by his plastron, “Yes! Of course, you-” He can’t finish his sentence over the ach erupting from his chest. He pauses for a moment, watching the slider rub tears of a mix of laughter and adrenaline from his face. He hesitates before deciding to climb up beside him and lay down against Leonardo’s chest.
Leo’s breathing hitches, his arms unsure of where to rest. He eventually sets one behind his own head and the other over Usagi’s back, gently wrapping his nervous fingers around his arm, avoiding the cast.
“Would it be too soon to say I love you?” The rabbit’s voice is hushed.
Leonardo places a gentle kiss upon his head. “It’s okay… I think… I don’t want to wait for it to be too late.” He nestles his snout into Usagi’s hair. “So… I love you, too…”
He receives a quiet hum in response. It buzzes against his plastron. He decides he’ll let Usagi rest now.
2044, a few days before Mikey opens the portal to go back in time…
“Buenas tardes, mi amor…” Leonardo whispers quietly in his dimly lit room. “I haven’t… talked to you in a while…” He lifts his gaze to an old photograph of his late husband, smiling, holding a baby Casey Jr. He smiles back, if only for a moment.
“The last year has been… really hard without you… We all miss you. Case talks about you sometimes. He misses your sword fighting lessons. You took such good care of him when I was busy… I wish he’d had more time with you…” He stares down at a smooth silver ring in his palm. “Everyone is pretty tired, to say the least. Mikey and I have been making some tough decisions… We haven’t told Raph or April. I wanted to, but Mikey wanted to keep it between us…”
“We’re desperately low on numbers and power. We’re going to try one final stand, but… I don’t know-” His voice cracks as his hand clenches into a fist around the band. He squeezes his eyes shut. He lets out a shuddering sob and gives himself a moment to calm down, practicing his breathing exercises. Once he feels composed enough, he unfolds his hand to stare at the ring again. “I… I don’t know how we’ll make it out of this, but…” He looks to his partner, smiling bittersweetly, “but if we fail… at least I’ll be with you and Don again…” Fighting back another bout of tears, he sets the wedding band beside the photo.
“I love you, Usagi…”
He blows out the candle, delving the room into darkness.