Chapter Text
The Hamatos moved to the living room to give the immediate family room to process their emotions while Yuichi kept Casey in the bathroom trying to soothe his panic attack. Draxum moved to sit on his bed beside his daughter, brushing the sweat off her forehead when her eyes flickered open.
“D-dad?” Her voice was hoarse but Mona perked up and made her way to her sister's view. “Mo? What's going on?” The goat gently cups her cheek and with heavy eyes she looks up at him with their matching family red eyes. Her eyes were a soft burgundy, the usual fiery orange was snuffed out leaving her eyes hollow and empty.
“It's a lot to explain my Star, why don't you tell us what you remember and then we can go from there.” She nods in his hands but even that simple gesture seems to be too much for her and her vision starts swimming. The painted turtle pinches her eyes shut and leans her head back against the warm pillow.
“I remember a nightmare and then I went looking for you but I don't remember getting there,” she winces and her shaking hand goes to her head. “I don't remember anything else. How long have I been out?” Mona and Draxum share a look and Venus pinches her brows closer together. “How long, guys.”
“Twenty days,” Draxum says flatly. The turtle's eyes flash wide and a shock courses through her.
“TWENTY?!” Mona nods and moves to sit by her feet.
“You had a sort of magical induced coma as a reaction to that nightmare.”
She groans and rubs her face. “That sounds like bullshit.”
“It's not. That nightmare came from your future self and your magic reacted to it before your brain could catch up. Putting yourself in defense as the magic overloaded your bloodstream and nerves and put you in a constant state of shock and defense against everything.”
Her younger sister scoffs and looks to her right finding a sleeping form of her partner and her eyes widen. “CASS!” She pushes herself up in the bed, swallowing the stomach acid back down her throat as she shakes her thin shoulders. “WAKE UP!” Mona pulls Venus back from roughing Cassandra to roughly but her sister elbows her as she cups the others face.
The human’s eyes slowly flutter open, her eyes milky white, her usual near black brown eyes are that of a spotted egg, brown with white flecks spotted within their shells. “V-Venus?”
OOF Her next words are cut off by Venus’s arms wrapping around her. The turtle chirps with relief as she nuzzles her partner. Tears are flowing down her face. “I-I was so worried! You died in an explosion and then the Brownie Scouts hated me and I-I had to kill them and it was horrible!!”
A sinking feeling settles into Mona’s guts and she pulls herself out of the room. Memories of the logs push to the forefront and she shakes her head trying to push them away. A cold hand prickles her scales and she turns, finding Donnie looking back at her with Raph behind him.
“You okay Mo?” Raph asks.
She starts to nod, brush him off with her hand when she pauses in her movement. “N-no those files Don, Venus must've seen them too.”
“What do you mean?” He asks and the red banded turtle looks between them.
“She’s awake, they both are and she must've somehow gotten the same memories from her future self and thought it was some sort of dream- we cant let her know-”
Raph grabs her shoulder now and the two taller siblings look each other in the eyes. “Raph thinks everything will be okay, a good explanation goes a long way. No more secrets,” he looks at the two of them. “Promise?”
Her tail thunks to the ground with defeat and her shoulder slumps. “We promise,” they say.
“Good, so how about we all get together, April included, and we talk about what’s going on. Sounds like a plan?”
They nod and Raph slaps them both on their backs, leaving the two slightly winded before he calls their other older sister. Soon they were all back in Draxums bedroom, a room that was slightly too small to fit this many people. So they spilled out into the living room. Where Casey stayed by Yuichi and Leo’s side. April was in the corner with Mikey by Cassandra who was still on bedrest. Splinter stayed beside Draxum who was sitting at the foot of the bed while Venus was sitting up in the bed. Mona and Donnie were standing in the middle of the room. All eyes and ears were on them as they told them what they knew from the files and how it matches with what Echo had told them.
“I also took samples of Casey when the invasion ended, needing to check that they weren't carrying any future diseases or any other concerns that should be worried about and I matched them up with other DNA samples taken from their parents at different points in time.” He pulls up a hologram with charts, numbers and percentages that made little sense to those outside of him and Draxum. “Their DNA matches to both parental genes, there is no question that Venus and Cassandra are Casey’s child from the future.”
Everyone settles into a pause as they digest the news.
Until Leo spoke from outside the room. “I mean it was pretty obvious, they look just like that human tasmanian,” his snarky tone was casual. A poor effort to uplift the mood in the room.
“I don't look like her Sensei…” a meeker voice comes from beside Leo. Mona shuffles to get a better view but instead Venus pushes her legs to the side of the bed.
“Could we get a moment?” Venus asks and the rest of the room makes their way out of the room with the soft click of the door closing behind them.
“Come here kid.” Her voice was flat as she pats the space on the bed beside her. After a pause Casey comes shuffling over onto the bed, her weight bary making the old mattress dip. Leo’s saggy clothes covering her frail frame and her limp, black hair was sagging in front of her face. “Look we already knew that Cass was your mom, it was a matter of knowing if I was in the picture is all and well,” she grabs her daughters hands and with a small squeeze she smiles at her. “It looks like we got that information.”
The mothers share a look and Cass speaks next. “I don't know how things will be, we are only a few years older than you. You're what, eighteen?”
“Fourteen,” she mumbles.
Cass squeezes Venus’s hands for a split second to compose herself. “Okay, younger than we thought but that's okay. I don't think I’m ready to be a mother-” the girl's head whipped up; fear building in her eyes and Cassandra quickly continued. “BUT- but I’m okay with being a big sister type of figure like I am with the Brownies Scouts.”
The fear and rising panic didn't dissolve from her eyes and Cass reaches out to grab her hands and lowers her voice. “It’s okay if you need time you don't have to answer right away, this is just an option. We’ve barely started dating and things are really confusing right now but we aren't abandoning you.”
“You’re our kid,” Venus chimes in with a slight tilt of a smile. “Future or not it's plain as day that you're ours and we’re going to love you and take you in but we have no idea how to be parents.”
Cass nods. “I was raised by a cult after running away from home. Leaving my baby brother alone with those alcoholic-dicks.”
“And I had Draxum but he was kicked out of the government for unethical experimentation. We don't have any good ideas on what to do…”
“Can you just be here? Be alive?” Her voice was so quiet as if she would get in trouble for asking such a simple thing.
Maybe they were over complicating it. Afterall she wasn't a baby or a toddler that needs constant attention. An idea perked in her and Venus smiled wide.
“How about this? I’m living with Cassandra right now but that has left Draxum feeling lonely and out of sorts in the human world by himself. How about you stay with him for now, as a temporary situation. He can be your legal guardian and he could even help you attend school! How does that sound?”
The teen’s face pinched up in confusion as she thought things over before slowly nodding. “Okay, I think that's okay?” She looks up at them. “Will we still get to be together?”
The human nods. “Yeah! It could be like a weekend thing? We all have family dinners and hang out, we can show you around New York and then once we get into a comfortable routine Venus can use her portaling device so we can see more of the world! That was our plan after I settled things down with the scouts; weren't they?”
She nods, her smile wide. “That sounds perfect,” she chuckled. Her panic attack felt like last night even though it has been some day since then.
“What's so funny?” Cass asks.
“Turns out we were a family after all!” The turtle pulled the kid to her chest and on her partner's shoulders until they were touching. “It’s a little wonky and we’re gonna have a lot to learn but man, I am so relieved to know that you didn't date Raph in the future and we stayed together the best we could!”
Raph squawks from the other side of the door. Mikey and April look at each other with sly grins as they look at the big fellow whose face grows as red as his mask. “Oooooo~ turns out your little crush is unrequited Raph-a-doodle~!” April teases and the big turtle’s jaw drops.
“I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON CASSANDRA!!”
“Mmmmmhmmmm~ suuure buddy,” Mikey adds with a smug grin and his glasses perched on his beak.
“I DON'T!” He whacks Mikey in the back of the head, who simply ducks into his shell. “I ALREADY HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!”
“WHAT?!!” The whole room turns on the gentle giant. The one who can't keep a secret, and loves telling others what's going on in his life, has been keeping a new girlfriend a SECRET?!
“WHO IS IT?”
“BEEN HOLDING OUT ON US BIG MAN?”
“WHO SAYS YOUR OLD ENOUGH TO DATE?!”
The family in bed laughs as they listen to the rest of the family interrogate the tallest boy on his secret girlfriend. Casey awkwardly rests her chin on her mothers chest, looking up at the partial match of facial markings. Her eyes were red like hers but brown like her mothers too, same with her black hair.
She really was a perfect blend of both of her parents. A soft smile grows on her lips as she rests on her chest, faintly hearing her heart through her carapace as she falls asleep among the voices of her family in the arms of the one who raised her and kept her safe all those years in the apocalypse.
A lone teal butterfly watches from the windowsill as Venus’s eyes droop down with exhaustion and the family rests in bed taking a short nap together for the first time in any timeline.
Mona leans away from the door, turning her back and smirking at the blushing red turtle. “Say, buddy,” she draws out the last syllable and he turns a wary eye on her. “It wouldn't be that cute little fox about yay high,” she hovers her hand around her mid-thigh, “that works for Big Mama is it?”
Oh if looks could kill she’d be dead in the second it takes for everyone else to make that connection click.
“YOU WHAT?!” Splinter shouts and Draxum whacks him with a vine of his own.
“Enough of this madness!” Splinter hits him back with his tail at his thigh and the goat snorts. “They are sleeping so you all best help me with dinner or get the hell out of my apartment!”
The group laughs before Draxum threatens them with a vine whip which gets the group scrambling out of the room. Mikey, Splinter and Draxum are in the kitchen while Leo and Donnie are picking up supplies at the store with their granny disguises. April and Raph are getting extra chairs from her apartment above and Mona was on the phone with Danny catching him up with everything.
“So your sister and everyone are okay now?”
She shrugs despite him not seeing it. “Yeah I guess so for right now? Hard to tell, it's been a lot lately.”
“Yeah I know that's why I wasn't trying to add anything on top of it.”
She hums out, chewing her lip as she thinks over her words. “Is that why you’ve been acting so differently lately?”
He chuckles nervously over the phone. “Is it that obvious?” She makes a noncommittal noise and he sighs. “Yeah I guess so. It's just that when something happens I feel like I get pushed to the side and I don't know how to be there for you. I’m just a boyfriend with a criminal history and you're a hero. A pretty damn impressive hero,” his voice flutters out and she blushes before composing herself.
“You're not just a ‘boyfriend’ Daniel do you hear me? You're my partner and I want to spend my future with you by my side. I don't want to waste another day without you knowing how much you mean to me.”
There is a pause on the other line and Mona worries that she overstepped when he speaks again. “Can you teleport me over? I need to see you.”
She hangs up the phone, pushing herself to standing and opens the portal in front of her. Danny comes through after a moment in his nicest suit on, his hair slicked back under his short fedora and his tail nervously flicking behind him. “What's the special occasion?” She looks him up and down. Gaze lingering this time taking every inch of the way the fabric pulls in the crevices and how they're smooth under his toned muscles.
Her heart picks up speed when he kneels in front of her, his back to the sunset and he pulls out a small box. His eyes sparkle as he opens it up and reveals an eight pointed star made from pink diamond and a rose gold band with small regular diamond dotting the space in between the points to look like more stars. “D-Danny?”
He swallows a lump in his throat before speaking. “Mona, Daughter of Baron Draxum, would you do me the honor of spending the rest of our lives together as equals? As my wife and I as your husband?”
Tears rim her eyelids as she nods, her overbite grabbing onto her lip. Danny beams with happiness and relief as he slides the ring onto her thick fingers. He looks up at her before kissing her hand, a gesture he’s done since the first day that never fails to set her heart beating like crazy. He stands up straight and she pulls his face close, leaning down to kiss him and he’s on his tiptoes. Their tails grabbing each other as their kiss deepens and Mona lays back on the roof of the building with him on top of her. The two of them lost in their blissfully happy world together.
Soon the two were entwined with each other, their passion and love for each other keeping them warm against the night's cool air.
“Mona! Dinner is ready-” Mikey’s voice calls out and the couple snaps out of their trance, their tongues returning to their own mouths when the roof’s access door opens carrying Mikey and Donatello’s shocked face. Mikey takes Donnie’s hand to cover his face while Danny scrambles to get out from under his fiancé and pull his pants up and Mona fixes her outfit to cover her scales while Danny acts as a shield.
“COVER UP MAN!” Mikey shouts and Donnie nods, face horrified.
“WE’RE TRYIN’ TO!” Danny shouts back, his nerves instantly wound tight again, making his accent thick.
Mona’s snout nuzzles the space behind his neck, mumbling ‘it's okay’ and He nods, a frown still on his face as he stands protectively in front of his taller fiancé. Danny and Donnie stare at each other before the younger sighs. “We came to get our sister for dinner, we’re not starting without everyone there.” He raises his sharpie brow at the rat. “I’m guessing you're staying for dinner then?”
“Got a problem with that?” He says through his teeth, embarrassment tightening his face and the younger purple rolls his shoulders.
“Not after I remove that scene from both our memories,” he mumbles. Mikey nods in agreement.
Danny sighs and grabs his girlfriends- fiancé's hand and gently kisses her hand while looking her in the eye. He adds a little wink at the end and her tail thumps on the roof’s grimy floor.
The older shoulders the scientist out of the way when their ball of sunshine grabs Mona’s other hand, stopping them in their tracks.
“Um, Mona? I wanted to ask you something about what older Venus said?” His eyes glowed ever so slightly in the darkness of the stairwell.
She took her hand from his and rubbed the fringe behind her head, it was sore with new growth. “Yeah I know she said a lot of stuff Mike, I really want to take a day to process it and not really think about it right now.”
“But what about Renet?” A humming glow brim under his scars. “Who is she- what is she? What if-”
Donnie places his hand on top of his youngest brother's head stopping his rambles as his wide eyes turn towards him. “I’ll keep an eye and ear out. I got some new hacking codes I wanted to test out but Mona is right. It’s been a month for all of us, we’re still recovering from the invasion, so let’s just take tonight to enjoy dinner as a family and whatever that thing is over there that's leeching onto our sister.” He juts his thumb over at the older rat with a smirk as the other’s teeth chitter in annoyance.
“I’m your new brother in law you little shit!” There wasn't any malice in the swear but Donnie shocks nonetheless. Hand goes to his chest as he gasps the loudest he can.
“BROTHER IN LAW?!”
Mona lifts her hand from Danny’s grasp to show off the ring and his face blushes in the darkness. Now it was Mikey’s turn to gasp. “NO WAY!” He turns towards the rat and continues. “THAT IS SO PRETTY DID YOU STEAL IT?!”
Danny gasps almost as dramatically as Donnie did and Mikey and Mona begin laughing. Hers were brighter while he hid the worries that clouded his heart. The four of them made their way to Draxum’s apartment but the thoughts of this mystery Renet person and what does their prescient mean? What will they bring to this world?
Threat?
Destruction?
He glances at the city’s lights, wishing he could see the stars behind the city’s smog.
Was it naive of him to wish for rebirth?
For once something to go good for them?