Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The corners of the envelope are folded.

Leo stares at Draxum, who hasn’t stopped glaring at him. The letter isn’t addressed to any of them; it’s written to Draxum, and he’s yet to explain what it is or why it’s left him in such a poor mood. Or why, it seems, to be Leo’s fault.

Raph turns the envelope over. It looks tiny in Raph’s hands, and he seems oblivious to the glare Draxum is pointing at Leo. Mikey, too, leaning over his perch on Raph’s shell, but Donnie keeps glancing curiously between Draxum and Leo. He says nothing, does nothing, and eventually, his focus shifts toward the envelope.

“What is it?” asks Donnie as he flips his goggles over his eyes to observe it closer.

Draxum crosses his arms, look morphing into one he’s undoubtedly picked up from Raph whenever he’s disappointed. He simply says, “An invitation.”

Raph’s thumbs slide under the envelope’s slip.

“An invitation? To where?” asks Raph; simultaneously, Mikey cheers, “Yay! A party!”

Draxum doesn’t respond. He doesn’t smile or cheer along, just continues glaring at Leo. Leo resists the urge to squirm beneath it, forcing himself to tilt his head curiously to the paper Raph slips from the envelope.

It doesn’t look significant: a simple white page filled with Carlisle typeset. At his current angle, Leo can’t even make out the words. Only the way Raph’s fingers tighten so much that Leo momentarily worries that he will rip it before he gets a chance to read it.

“Raph,” Leo starts to whine, reaching, but Raph jerks it out of reach.

The divot of Raph’s forehead deepens, but there’s no way the most prominent emotion overtaking Raph is fear. His fingers tighten around the page almost protectively, as though to protect it from Leo. Leo can see Donnie mirror his own confusion on the other side of Raph’s shoulder, but Mikey makes a soft, choked-out sound.

“Is this a joke?” Raph demands, a razor-sharp edge to his words.

When he looks at Draxum, there’s anger vibrating across his muscles. A faint tremor, like the aftershocks of an earthquake, and it’s rare for something to make Raph this type of angry.

Draxum blinks, and his glare softens into confusion, a puzzlement that has him blinking in slow realization.

“None of you knew,” he muses, thoughtful but still untroubled.

It feels as if he came with the envelope and letter, expecting it’ll make Raph mad in a way Raph never is. Mikey hugs Raph tighter, sitting on the verge of tears, and that doesn’t faze Draxum either, and Leo can hit him.

“What?” Donnie demands, plucking the letter from Raph’s fingers.

Raph blinks. “Donnie, wait—”

Donnie gasps. An actual sharp inhale, and Leo’s fury rises in his chest as he reaches out to snatch the page from his brother’s nerveless grasp. All three ready to protest; Raph lunges, but Leo’s expecting it and moves accordingly.

“Big Mama joyfully invites you to the wedding of Miyamoto Usagi,” he reads aloud, pauses, before finishing, “and Hamato Leonardo.” He looks at Draxum’s impassive expression. “I don’t understand.”

“Clearly, the rat has never warned you from making deals with Big Mama,” Draxum replies dryly, and his brothers’ eyes narrow accusingly at Leo.

Leo balks at it and protests, “I haven’t made any deal with her. I haven’t seen her lately, and I’ve certainly never heard of this Usagi.”

Draxum rubs thoughtfully at his chin and says, “Now, that is troubling.”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Raph says, “Why would she be sending out wedding invitations? And why did she send one to you?”

“You don’t think she’ll steal Leo, do you?” Mikey nervously asks, jumping to cling to Leo’s neck to prevent him from being whisked away.

Raph growls, and Donnie clutches the air with a furious twitch of his fingers. It’s a reaction usually reserved for whenever one of them says something to annoy him and isn’t anything they’ve concerned themselves with before.

It lifts the burden in Leo’s chest, the knowledge that Big Mama will not force him into anything without a fight first. But it doesn’t make sense for her to send invitations and then wait to snatch him.

“She’s not going to kidnap me,” Leo says, meeting Draxum’s gaze, “is she?”

“Doubtful,” Draxum concedes, but it does little to alleviate the tension in Leo’s brothers, “A thing like this is best given freely. She gets nothing by forcing you.”

“So, why send anything at all?” Mikey asks.

“She clearly thinks she has leverage to convince you to agree.”

Mikey’s hug tightens so much that it’s becoming difficult to breathe. Leo shifts under his brother’s weight, shifting to pull him closer without also compromising his windpipe. Mikey allows it, muscles vibrating under the intensity of his emotions.

“It doesn’t matter,” Raph says, authoritative and bossy, “She doesn’t.” A pause. “She doesn’t, right Leo?”

Leo shrugs. An awkward motion impeded by Mikey’s body, but he can come up with a reasonable thing she could say to get Leo to go along with whatever plan she has. Mikey hugs him tighter.

“Why even bother with the wedding planning?” Donnie asks, “How does she benefit?”

“By marrying one of her own, Leo will become of service to her. He must have something that she desires. Or impressed her in some manner. A difficult and impressive feat—one she’s not forgotten or is willing to easily give up.”

“Leo?” Donnie asks incredulously, but Leo hears the quiver in his voice.

Tension mounts in his shoulders, and his fingers continue to twitch. It’s bothering Donnie, whether because he doesn’t have all the information or at the prospect of Leo marrying a stranger. Either way, Leo feels his chest begin to burn with the warmth of his affection.

Leo loves his brothers. Without them, he’s nothing.

Except for whatever it is Big Mama wants from him.

“It doesn’t matter,” Raph repeats. “Whatever it is, she can’t have him. You know that, right Leo? While I’m around, she isn’t going to touch you.”

A concerning statement made worst by the promise in Raph’s eyes, in Raph’s voice, and the rigidity of his shoulders. It’s not something Leo wants to contemplate, but he’s dangling too close to the edge for Leo to poke at with lighthearted jokes.

Instead, he asks, “Do you know who Usagi is?”

Impossibly, Draxum’s face darkens further, and his voice is grave as he admits, “Only by reputation. He briefly fought in the Battle Nexus and was apparently a force to be reckoned with. It’s little wonder what Big Mama seeks to gain from him. He’s said to be merciless, and it’s rumored that just mentioning his name is enough to—”

“Alright, alright. Jeez. Sorry, I asked.”

“You fail to comprehend the weight of this situation. Usagi is said to be a complete savage who had to be pulled unexpectantly from the Battle Nexus. Marrying him, tying yourself to him, could be detrimental not just to your physical well-being but—”

Leo clears his throat, glaring.

Mikey’s physically shaking, and the side of Leo’s face he’s pressing into is wet. Raph’s chasm is practically a canyon, and Donnie looks close to throwing up, pale and shaking. Draxum blinks in realization but doesn’t bother apologizing. Or retract his statement, allowing Leo’s brothers to fester in whatever dark path their minds lead them to.

“She needs my consent, right? If I never agree, then there’s nothing to worry about.” Still, Leo’s mind has found a situation where he would agree and can only hope Big Mama hasn’t also come to that realization.

An empty comfort, he’s sure, because this must have been thoroughly thought out. Big Mama never does anything on a whim, and that’s her problem.

“We should tell Dad,” Mikey says, voice wet.

Donnie nods, and Raph says, “Agreed.”

But Leo protests with a bravado he doesn’t feel, “For what? I haven’t agreed to anything, and I won’t. C’mon, dudes. She’s probably just trying to rattle us.”

He doesn’t remind them that Dad is technically Big Mama’s ex or all those times Dad’s lamented about marrying them off. He doesn’t because there’s no point. Dad would be aghast, horrified, and might even shred the wedding invitation. Those are things Leo wants him to do, and there’s too much inside him that wouldn’t be able to deal with the consequences if Dad doesn’t.

“This is serious, Leo,” Raph says, disapproving and suspicious, “Why aren’t you more upset?”

“Will it help? Admitting that Big Mama stripping my free will and marrying me off to some stranger so she can use me makes me feel like I’m going to pass out?” Leo challenges before realizing what he did. “Wait, I didn’t mean—”

“We’re not gonna let that happen,” Raph again promises, but Leo shakes his head because the words don’t offer him comfort.

“This does sound like something your father would like to know,” Draxum says, “If you ask my opinion on the matter.”

“We didn’t,” four voices snap.

Draxum rolls his eyes and shrugs.

“We’ll figure this out,” Raph again promises, setting a massive palm on Leo’s shoulder and tightly squeezing as if that’ll be enough.

Leo closes his eyes to block out the way the room is spinning and nods. He doesn’t trust his voice to continue hiding the shaky sickness slowly overtaking him. However, Mikey’s still clinging with a rare desperation—a new fear that one day he’ll wake up and Leo won’t be there. A lingering gift courtesy of the Krang.

“I’m going to see what I can dig up about Usagi,” Donnie announces, voice casual and collected. Still, he leaves to go data collecting, so his nerves must be alight and blazing.

“Great. Mikey can help,” Leo volunteers, and despite Donnie’s frown, he reaches out to accept their brother.

Raph doesn’t move, hand heavy on Leo’s shoulder. Leo avoids his gaze because if he looks, he’ll break, and he just can’t. It won’t help, it will only make his brothers feel worse, and there’s probably so little time before Big Mama’s next move. They don’t have time for Leo’s nervous breakdown.

“Leo, look at me,” Raph goads.

Leo doesn’t.

Raph sighs. “Dad needs to know.”

Curling his fingers into fists to stop them from shaking, Leo closes his eyes. For some reason, his air feels sharp against the walls of his throat. It makes breathing difficult, and Raph must see and know but doesn’t comment. Just curls his fingers tighter around Leo’s shoulder.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Leo whispers, voice raspy and tiny.

Raph closes his eyes and says, just as quietly, “Okay.”

:: ::

It takes his brothers, mostly Raph, two days to convince Leo they need to tell Dad. Leo suspects the only reason they haven’t yet told Dad without Leo is because none of them has heard anything else about it.

If Draxum never came to berate Leo into talking himself into a marriage, they would never even know.

But Draxum did, and the weight of the knowledge that Big Mama is plotting something weighs heavily on their consciousness—especially Raph’s. He wears it as plainly as his red bandana.

It’s never been a secret that he feels that the well-being and happiness of his brothers are his responsibility. Or that the thought of losing one of them is one of his greatest fears. It’s why Leo’s tried so hard to not let his annoyance at the constant hovering and Raph’s overbearing, overprotectiveness show on his face. Or in the inflection of his voice. Or in the stiffness of his posture.

It lasts two days until, after sparring, Raph grabs him by the elbow and jerks him to one of the darkened corners. Donnie and Mikey stop and stare, offering their support though Leo isn’t sure if it’s for Raph or him. Either way, Leo laughs, waving them away, and keeps his smile stretched brightly over his features as he turns back toward Raph.

“What’s up, big bro?” he asks, and Raph crosses his arms, muscles bulging dangerously, as he gives a familiar glare.

“Why is everything a joke to you?” Raph demands, “You need to get serious about this.”

“Raph—”

“No, Leo, listen to me. Big Mama is targeting you specifically in a way that’ll tie you to her servitude forever. Do you not understand that?”

“What’s with Big Mama and kidnapping, anyways?”

Raph growls, red sparks flickering over his knuckles. The heavy internal weight shifts, and Leo sighs.

“What, Raph? What do you want me to do? You want me to get angry like you? Or start moping around like Donnie? Or cling like Mikey? None of that will help and just upset all of you more, so I have to act like this, or I’m going to lose my mind trying to figure out what angle Big Mama is trying to play.”

It catches Raph off-guard because he blinks, and his anger falls as quickly as it rises. But the gentle gaze Raph regards him with makes Leo’s insides squirm as he refuses to be something delicate in need of special protection. He isn’t a baby, and he’s not fragile.

Which has never been a problem before—not with Donnie and his softshell or Mikey, the literal youngest, who had captivated the worst of Raph’s mother-henning growing up. Instead, Leo has always stood in opposition, someone Raph doesn’t have to worry about pushing too hard because Leo can handle it.

But Raph is Raph, and a threat is a threat regardless of which brother it’s directed at. Leo knows that if it had been anyone else, Leo would be physically shaking.

“We need to tell Pops,” Raph says, “This isn’t a burden you have to carry alone.”

Leo’s face twists in his apprehension, causing Raph to frown and nudge his knuckles against Leo’s shoulder. His voice has dropped to a soothing baritone, urging Leo to believe his words. He’s never given Leo a reason not to, but this time feels different.

Probably because Leo’s listening to that little voice in his head that’s telling him that Dad always wanted this. Not this exactly, but it’s something dangerously close. Leo doesn’t want to watch his father pretend that it’s something he’s against.

“Leo…what’s wrong?”

“What if Dad sides with Big Mama? What if he thinks my getting married is best for the family? And what if he’s right? It will get her off all of your shells, and by resisting, it might turn into another Krang situation, and I—”

“Leo!” Leo’s brain falters under Raph’s tone, not because it sounds angry but because it’s stern and severe in a way it rarely is; his hand rests heavily against the back of Leo’s neck, and Leo doesn’t resist as Raph reels him into a hug. His voice softens several decibels as he enfolds Leo in his arms and just holds him. “I need you to listen to me, little brother, because nothing anyone says before or after will be more important than this. You are not expendable. They’ll be other bad guys that threaten the world and raise the stakes, and me and Dad pushing you to adopt more responsibility, for it comes from wishing you would take being a hero more seriously. But you, Leo, my pain-in-the-spikes little brother that cheats on the chore chart and eats the last slice of pizza, are not expendable. And if for even a second, Dad considers marrying you to some potentially dangerous stranger is somehow a sensible solution, then we’ll take you somewhere they’ll never find you.”

“I have heard good things about Tahiti this time of the year,” Leo instinctively says, looking up at Raph with a grateful grin.

Raph matches it with a nod and firm pat and agrees, “Tahiti, but first, we gotta tell Dad, Leo. He deserves to know.”

“Alright,” Leo agrees, nodding, and though Raph beams victoriously, he waits for Leo to take the lead.

They find Donnie and Mikey leaning over each other in the hallway; they collapse sheepishly on each other. Raph frowns, forehead furrowing, but Leo can’t stop the affectionate smile from overtaking his features. He loves them so desperately and finds it difficult to begrudge them of their barely concealed concern over.

Even as Donnie nervously rambles, “Salutations, brothers. Micheal and I were just admiring the walls and not listening to your conversation. Nailed it.”

“Then neither of you knows that we’re going to consult Dad,” Leo plays along, smiling, and Mikey opens his mouth to correct him but stops when Raph lays a hand against his forearm.

:: ::

Dad isn’t happy, and the invitation begins to tear before Leo snatches it back. Slowly, carefully, he begins smoothing out the creases for no reason other than to distract his racing thoughts. It’s rare whenever Dad shows real anger around them, but he does try to conceal it once he notices the look on their faces.

But his silence is deafening, and Leo stumbles at the sudden weight of Mikey leaping onto his back. Wrapping his arms and legs around Leo’s neck and waist, his cheek pressing into the side of Leo’s face. He murmurs, whimpering, reminding Leo why he can’t let Big Mama’s scheme from overtaking his thoughts.

“Draxum said Big Mama can’t force Leo into marriage,” Donnie says, sounding clinical and bored, but the fact that he says anything is testimony to how the situation is bothering him.

“She wouldn’t gain anything from it, no,” Dad muses thoughtfully, “but she’s no fool. Do you know of any leverage she might have, Blue?”

Leo swallows and lies, “No.”

Dad’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t call him out on it; there’s no need because Raph growls, “Leo.”

“None of this matters as long as I just don’t agree,” Leo says, “So I just don’t have to say yes.”

The words bring little comfort to his family, but Dad does try to smile and nod. He even agrees to stay inside for the night to watch a movie. Nobody even protests the movie, either, allowing Leo to set up his favorite Jupiter Jim film before settling on one of the beanie bags. In return, Leo doesn’t protest their closeness, and it’s easy to forget the looming threat dangling over his head.

However brief it proves itself to be.

:: ::

Patrol is fine whenever Leo finally manages to sweet talk his family into allowing him out of the lair several days later. There’s no point in keeping him locked away—Big Mama knows where they live, and whatever she’s planning seems to make sense only to herself.

It’s cold, but the weather does little to deter crime. But most of it is the petty human crime that’s usually resolved just by their arrival, so it does little to refresh his brothers’ dour moods. Leo sighs, turning his attention away from the scrambling mugger to turn his gaze skyward.

Daylight begins to illuminate the skyline in its soft, pastel glow.

“We should head back,” he says, decides, and isn’t meant with any resistance.

Not because his brothers are tired or even wary about being upside when the sun comes up. They’ve done it before, adapted in all possible ways to conceal themselves from humanity. It helps that their upside is New York City, infamous for its penchant for attracting the weirdest of the weird. Four giant turtles wandering around barely signify a second glance.

New York City, what a town.

More so, it’s Leo’s town, and he will—and has—gladly give his life for it. A fact that his family is recently coming to terms with, and it’s humorous. Things like that rarely seem significant until you’re being forced to confront it, and with Leo’s current guillotine dangling overhead, there’s a lot they’re being forced to confront.

And Leo doesn’t know how to help, to assure them, except to increase their training and lengthen their patrols in hopes of tiring them out. It doesn’t seem to work, but Leo’s determined and persistent.

The sewer is dark and damp like it always is, so it’s weird whenever the back of his neck begins tingling. An instinct, a warning. A thing his body reacts to automatically as he pivots and jumps, vaguely aware of his brothers mimicking his movements. He twirls midair, landing gracefully with the others, and watches, unmoved and unimpressed, at the red-suit army of Big Mama’s employees.

Leo sighs.

“Hello, turtly-boos.”

Raph clasps onto Leo’s shoulder as Mikey and Donnie step closer, and the four of them turn towards the glowing red eyes regarding them from the darkness. Big Mama’s smile is sharp and curved, revealing an uncomfortably amount of teeth.

Together, they shout, “Big Mama!”

“I was wondering when you were going to show your ugly mug!” adds Raph.

Her grin grows as she makes a weird clicking sound, but she doesn’t attempt at subtlety when she shifts her gaze toward Leo. Her smile broadens, making Raph uncomfortable because he shoulders his way between them.

“What do you want?”

“So forward,” Big Mama coos, “I do admire a strong personality, but not what I’m currently looking for.”

“I hope you’re looking for a fight,” shouts Donnie, gripping his titanium staff overhead, “because that’s what you got!”

“Well, that all depends on you, baby blue…hm. Whatcha think?”

Raph growls and snarls, fingers curling into shaking fists. His entire posture is rigid, stiff, and clearly uncomfortable. “Whatever you want with Leo, you’re not going to get.”

“Yeah!” Mikey affirms.

Even Donnie seems stressed, inching closer and closer to Leo, and despite it being improbable, Leo quietly worries that Donnie is going to break his staff in half.

“Besides,” says Leo casually, flipping his hand in front of him in hopes of draining some of the tension from his brothers’ arms and shoulders, “it’s not like you can do anything. Not without my consent.”

“Hm. True.”

“And you’re not going to get it, so you might as well just leave.”

“We’ll see about that.”

A red-clad wolf lunges, but he’s not aiming for Leo, and it’s not even close as Leo's side jumps away, spinning in time to catch sight of the wolf’s massive paw against the side of Mikey’s skull. Mikey chokes, red flashing under the dull luminescent lightning, and Leo’s heart falls with his brother.

“Mikey!” he screams, hearing it echo in Raph and Donnie’s voices.

Overlaying each other as they lunge forward, wide eyes watching as Mikey crumples lifelessly. Before hitting the ground, the wolf grabs the back of his neck and flings him upward. A stream of sticky white webbing hits his chest, pinning him midair as he continues to droop, the whites of his eyes the only thing visible, and all Leo can hear is the echoing drip, drip, drip of the rolling droplets off the side of his skull.

From the corner of his eye, Donnie is struck from behind. Raph soon after, and Leo falters before stopping completely when the wolf takes hold of Mikey’s head. Their claws are out, tapping threateningly against Mikey’s cheeks.

“Any further escalation of violence is unnecessary,” smoothly says Big Mama from behind, and he doesn’t have to look to hear her smirk, “and time-consuming. And we’re on a rather particular time crunch.”

It’s difficult to hear her voice over the ringing inside his skull. Leo turns slowly, mouth dry and thoughts wavering, and she must know, must listen to, because her entire expression darkens into a self-satisfied smirk. But she doesn’t speak. Just silently watches, waiting…

…Leo feels like crying, is probably crying, but nobody speaks. No one breathes, all caught, waiting, hoping, knowing. Because Leo wears his affections for his family as easily as Dad wears his (worn, disgusting) robe—a choice between his loved ones and his freedom is barely a choice.

“Okay.” The word wavers, no more than a whisper.

Big Mama’s grin grows as she prods, “Hm…?”

“I…okay. You win. Just don’t—don’t hurt them anymore.”

“You have my word that your family will remain firmly out of my crosshairs. All I need is for you to say the words.”

Leo blinks because he doesn’t know…. “What?”

She stares, and understanding creeps over him with the beginnings of dread. The uncomfortable pull of his insides returns.

In his cocoon of spider goop, Raph wiggles, shouts, begs, pleads, “Don’t do it, Leo! Please, don’t!”

The afterimage of Raph leaning over him, pink tentacle millimeters from penetrating Leo’s eye, flickers in the back of his mind. It twists his insides, acidic and painful, and he can’t focus; he can’t concentrate, or do anything…

…except lifelessly say, “I’ll marry Usagi. You win, Big Mama,” over Raph and Donnie’s protests. It hollows out his chest, but that doesn’t matter over the weight of his brothers’ lives.

Big Mama chirps, cheerful and pleased. “Excellent. Let’s go.”

She reaches behind her, pulling out a pane of glass with blue veins branching like katsugi in the clear surface. Though it’s impossible, Leo swears he can see his empty-gazed expression reflected in its surface before she tosses it to the ground and smashes it against the floor. It scatters, blue light opening up into a portal. Unlike Leo’s, its presence sucks all the air from his lungs, draining his hope, and he doesn’t even have the presence to think appropriately.

There’s no plan, no scheme. He’s trapped, stuck, and the only path is forward.

“Leonardo!” Raph screams but is betrayed by how his voice cracks through the middle. It’s instinct, honed by years of following Raph everywhere, that has Leo turning towards it. Wide eyes meet Raph’s desperate gaze, and Leo instantly regrets it as Raph’s voice drops several decibels to something soft and pathetic. “Don’t do this. Please, please, please….”

Leo’s gaze flickers to where Mikey’s unconscious figure continues to droop, webs keeping him upright. Beside him, Donnie is glaring, tight and furious, as he pulls at his own bindings. It takes only a handful of breaths before he tilts his head to meet Leo’s gaze, and it softens to something…else.

Something gentler, more desperate. An expression rarely reserved for Leo.

But Donnie doesn’t say anything. Leo idly wonders if he feels the same tightening force squeezing Leo’s throat, swallowing any potential bargaining as he fights the internal battle between what he knows has to happen and the denial of what that is.

Leo watches, heart fracturing and pulse leaping in his throat, at Donnie’s minuscule shake of his head.

Big Mama says a little more forcefully from behind, “Come along, turtly-boo.”

“Don’t.” The word bursts halfway out of Raph’s mouth, evaporating into tasteless smoke. Leo wants to cry probably is currently crying, but that still doesn’t feel like enough. He should speak and find the words to explain. To rally his brothers and make them understand.

But he can’t. He doesn’t.

Shamefully, he turns towards Big Mama’s portal and steps through it.

For some reason, Leo half-expects for the wedding to take one or two days, at least, but when he steps from the portal, it’s to the front of a large, high-ceiling room. The roof is slanted and has a line of colorful glass pane windows; the pictures are of different moments in, what Leo assumes, crucial moments in yokai history.

None of it makes sense to him.

The room is split in two separated by neat lines of white wooden chairs with large blue ribbons tied in elaborate bows to their backs. A plush red carpet leads to an altar with a white and red rose arch. Green vines spouting light pink, blue, and yellow bus dangle in the empty space underneath.

“Take our dear groom-to-be to his room so he can prepare for his big day,” Big Mama commands, grinning, and Leo feels bile crawl up his throat. She winks at him. “After all, you only get married once.”

:: ::

For all of Big Mama’s pomp, for her insistence and presentation, the ceremony is a muted, somber affair.

Leo cries in the middle of it and is so hollowed out inside that he’s incapable of feeling embarrassed over it. If Usagi thinks lesser of him for it, he doesn’t comment, and it doesn’t show on his face, and in different circumstances, Leo would have spent the ceremony contemplating how Usagi was everything he hadn’t been expecting.

For one, Usagi is strangely cute.

For another, his appearance isn’t as formidable as Leo thought it would be. He’s several inches shorter than Leo but is noticeably broader, wide-shouldered, and visibly muscular beneath his neatly ironed suit. Long white ears are tied back, a tuft of carefully combed bangs dangling over ocean-strong eyes.

And the first thing Leo hears him say is the affirmation of their eternal vow to each other.

What a joke.

Then the night worsens as Big Mama announces to the packed room that they will all get a chance to personally congratulate the happy couple during the after-party next door. Leo and Usagi don’t exit the same way as everyone else, instead are led through a back door by a snake dressed in the same red suit as everyone else.

They’re set at a long table with a six-tier cake at the far end. Usagi’s posture is immaculate: shoulders squared, back ramrod straight, and hands placed properly in his lap. His fingers fiddle with his half of their wedding ring set, and it’s apparent that he’s trying very hard to focus on anything except Leo, which is fine.

It is.

Perfect, fantastic even.

After all, they don’t know each other, and now their fates are forever tied together. And they’ll have a long time to get to know each other after this.

Which is fine. Leo’s fine.

Everything is fine.

Leo loses track of time, only vaguely aware of the stream of well-dressed strangers approaching their table to present their gifts. It’s not something he’ll ever remember, not with the way he’s staring blankly toward the back wall. Occasionally, he’ll pick at his plate, but he doesn’t have much appetite.

“Sirs?” Leo’s gaze flickers toward the grinning fox, fluffy tail flicking behind him. Sparkling green eyes flicker from Usagi’s blank expression before focusing on Leo’s dissociated stare. “Congratulations to you both. Or condolences. Whichever is proper for this situation.”

He’s met with twin blank stares. The fox uncomfortably clears his throat.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Katsuro, and I’m an…acquaintance of your benefactor, and hopefully will have the opportunity to better get to know you both,” but his stare is pointed towards Leo, which adds to ice mounting in his veins.

Thankfully, Katsuro doesn’t wait for a response or acknowledgment before moving on. Leo wishes that is the end but suffers additional discomfort the rest of the evening. Every time he tilts his head to chase the prickling sensation, it’s to meet the fox’s grinning gaze. Turning quickly, Leo diverts his gaze and focuses on his plate of food, which would have usually been delicious but just turns his souring stomach.

It’s a physical relief whenever Big Mama announces the party’s end, and they’re led to a hotel room. The hotel employee, whom Leo thinks might be the manager, scuttles nervously under Usagi’s bored stare. So clearly familiar and not much of a fan.

Leo mentally considers it and wonders what that means for his future. Donnie hadn’t been able to find out much about him and had announced that he was a rabbit before Raph smashed the screen with a fearful yelp. At the time, it had been comical.

At this moment, Leo regrets eating as much as he did.

“If you require anything, don’t be afraid to ask,” the nervous employee says but keeps his focus on Leo; Leo’s certain he detects an air of pity in his expression.

Still, Usagi politely bows before entering the room. Leo goes to follow but is halted by a hand on his shoulder.

“We have an extensive medical staff,” they whisper conspiratorially, “Don’t hesitate if you need anything. Anything at all.”

Leo forces a smile because that’s all he can do. All he is a pretty face meant to conceal all his doubts and uncertainties. It keeps his voice even, at least, as he says, “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

Then steps into the room. The room is lit in a lamp-light glow, the color of ocean-kissed land and rock. The white tile is cold beneath his feet, adding to the impending doom of whatever it is everyone is expecting to happen.

In the far corner is a canopy bed, where Usagi is fiddling with something on the nightstand. The side doors on the adjacent wall are open, leading out into a patio overlooking the city’s slanted rooftops. On the other wall are several dark-lacquered bookshelves filled with colorful spines. Donnie would have loved it, which is a weird thought to have, all things considered.

Even weirder, though, is the fact that the thought considerably calms Leo’s racing pulse.

Ignoring Usagi for the moment, Leo wanders over to the loveseat. There’s a pink rug beneath it; in front of it is a low glass-top coffee table with a laminated menu and a handwritten note from Big Mama. Curiously, he picks it up, but there’s not much to it. Just an assurance that they’re welcome to treat themselves to any of the hotel’s many accommodations—an offer most people would be ecstatic to hear.

But to Leo, it feels like the tightening of the leash.

Setting the note back on the table, he reaches for the remote to flicker on the giant plasma television, filling the room with the energetic voice of the Battle Nexus announcer as two figures dance on screen.

“Can you turn that off?”

For some reason, Usagi’s voice startles Leo. He jumps, spine-tingling, but as he turns to regard the rabbit, the beginnings of something else curl into his bones.

Usagi is ramrod straight, dark shadows lurking in his eyes. His ears are pointed upward, and the fluff around his neck and shoulders are puffed out. It’s not the look of annoyance or anger; it’s fear. The kind that doesn’t settle quickly, not even after Leo turns off the television, though Usagi does return to whatever he’s fiddling with.

Leo awkwardly toes at the rug, his voice oddly loud in the quiet of their room. “Is it alright if I take the first shower?”

Without looking, Usagi nods, “It’s yours.”

The bathroom is a hexagonal room pressed into the right side of the room. Like everything else, it’s large and lavishly decorated: porcelain bathtub that looks capable of fitting three or four Raphs, two conjoined sinks with neat toiletries spread across the marble countertop, and a glass-door shower that could comfortably fit two. Leo steps up to the sink, ignoring the shower for the moment, but a glance reveals how poorly he looks.

His eyes are red-rimmed and puffy from crying. The beginnings of a headache are already blossoming in the back of his mind. Pairing with how his complexion looks so pale and shaky forces another lurch in his stomach. Clearly unhappy, isolated, and alone, and for the first time since walking through that portal, the beginnings of dread penetrate his protective numbness.

Big Mama took his phone, and the only thing he has to wear comes from a basket of loose clothing that he doesn’t have the energy to sort through it. Just picks out whatever is on top and step into the shower, but even that feels hollow and empty as the tears return.

His hands are shaking as he changes. The shirt hangs down to his thighs, and the band of the pants sits loosely around his waist, but they’re undoubtedly comfortable: soft and silky. And everything feels heavy as the prickling pressure returns to the corners of his eyes.

He’s alone and isolated, and everyone is afraid of the only person that can understand.

But he thinks of the blood on Mikey’s face. Of how easily Big Mama overpowered them and of all the times she’s tried coercing them into joining her Battle Nexus. Of how she had forced Dad to once. At least this way, his family is safe—Leo ensured that much, and he’ll suffer worse than this to protect them.

Usagi is by the bookshelves when Leo again enters their room but doesn’t seem to be paying attention to whatever book he’s flipping through. His ears twitch at the door opening and closing, but he doesn’t turn. Doesn’t look, and it’s not much comfort knowing that Usagi is clearly as unhappy as Leo thinks he feels.

“Are you hungry?” asks Leo, wandering back over to the coffee table, “I didn’t see you eat anything.”

“No. I am not hungry.”

“Uh…oh kay. The shower is free if you want, and I…er…I’m okay with sleeping on the couch if you want the bed.”

Usagi turns to regard him; his eyes so, so blue.

Leo awkwardly turns his head, rubbing the back of his neck as he considers the wall. Usagi follows it, forehead furrowing in confusion but doesn’t comment, doesn’t ask.

Just quietly says, “Okay.”

:: ::

In many ways, this arrangement is leagues better than the previous one. The room is luxurious, the hotel safer, and the bed softer, but a cage is a cage. At least this way, he won’t add to the scarring, though he’s undecided about his contractual tether.

Leonardo is quiet and unashamed by the continuous tears over his cheeks during the ceremony. Usagi kept waiting for Big Mama to snap, to walk over, and force him to stop, but she never did. She noticed; she had to be always perceptive and omniscient about everything, but for whatever reason, she didn’t care. Whoever Leonardo is must be unique.

Or, maybe, she felt guilt for pairing him with Usagi because Leonardo’s reputation might be nonexistent, but Usagi’s is not. And he’s not blind nor stupid, and he knows of the gazes everyone had regarded them with throughout the night.

They’re scared of him and pity Leonardo. Like they expected him to go savage the moment the two were alone. Like they expected him to take his frustrations out on the other desperate fool who sought Big Mama’s assistance. That was expected and easy to ignore, but Leonardo’s tears had been more difficult. It hurt.

Probably because Leonardo isn’t some unknown face whose presence he has to suffer for a couple of hours and then never see again. Leonardo is his husband, and he’s already terrified of him.

“Just great,” sighs Usagi, alone in the giant bed as he pinches the bridge of his nose and takes several calming breaths: and he picked up while competing in the Battle Nexus.

He supposes he and Leonardo should talk and map each other’s expectations for this arrangement. It’ll be okay. They just need to speak, and hopefully, they can go on a conversation without Usagi’s presence, throwing Leonardo into a panic attack. Great, awesome. Perfect.

Closing his eyes, Usagi welcomes the dawning helplessness to overcome him. The loneliness isn’t new, but he had been able to combat it by building up a fearsome reputation. Something to make people think twice about messing with him, but now he has someone else to think about. To protect and cherish, like he vowed to do, they can’t even look him in the eye.

It might be better to blow off his mounting steam before they talk.

This doesn’t seem like a problem because the couch is empty when he climbs from bed and glances to where Leonardo had laid down the night before. It doesn’t even look slept in, adding to Usagi’s dismay. What did Leonardo believe Usagi was going to do to him so that he couldn’t comfortably sleep in the same room as him?

They definitely need to have a conversation, but Usagi must first figure out a way to keep Leonardo comfortable in a room with him for longer than a few minutes.

Showering quickly, he slips on the oversize pullover and matching black pants. Big Mama took his sword, but it’s clear he didn’t need it to keep people wary, which is fine. He’s not in the mood to speak with anyone, anyways, not when Leonardo’s apprehensive face is burned in the back of his mind’s eye.

Despite not eating the night before, Usagi decides against seeking out breakfast as he instead looks for a hotel gym. Anywhere that will allow him to punch something as hard as he can, but the hotel is a confusing maze.

His displeasure must show on his features because a visibly shaking staff member eventually steps up and meekly squeaks out, “Can I help you with something, sir?”

When Usagi turns, they cower away. All he does is raise a curious eyebrow, and they flinch. Idly, he wonders how they were chosen for this. Some part of him wants to tease them, to watch them uncomfortably squirm because Usagi never wanted his fate tied with anyone and because of it, he’s woken in a lousy mood. A worse than lousy mood, something foul that thickens his blood and makes his head throb.

But he directs his gaze elsewhere and asks, “Where can I work out?”

After another squeak and flinch, they lead him down several floors to the gym. It’s split into two parts: a place to work out and a fighting dojo. Curiosity draws Usagi to the dojo, where a group of sweaty guests competes. At Usagi’s approach, they quieten down. They do well to school their features, but Usagi still sees the tension building on their shoulders.

He smiles, hoping for friendly, but it must be too sharp, too pointed because they give a slight, fearful shuffle as they glance nervously between them.

Still, Usagi feels compelled to ask, “Room for one more?”

“Nah, man. Sorry, and we have this room reserved until twelve-thirty, so….”

“Oh.” The same looming dread that’s followed Usagi around since the announcement of his father’s illness creeps back on him, but Usagi refuses to show it on his face. He doesn’t regret the decisions that led him here and would make them all over again. “I understand.”

That doesn’t make this easier.

He decides against working out, too. Wanting nothing more than to disappear in his room for the next year, except he winds up lost. Again.

And admittedly, he is beginning to feel the first pangs of hunger.

“Hey, Usagi!” A voice calls without an ounce of fear or hesitation in his voice. Instinctively, Usagi spins toward it, ears twitching; Leonardo matches his stare with a clearly exhausted smile, but he does look better than he did last night as he jogs to catch up to him. “Hey!”

“Good morning, Leonardo,” Usagi states stiffly, unwilling to move and pop the current carefree atmosphere. At least Leonardo isn’t crying anymore. “Did you sleep well?”

Leonardo shrugs, still smiling, though his eyes continue to flicker. Not at their surroundings but over his eyes, his nose, and his mouth, and there’s not an ounce of fear in Leonardo’s gaze, in his posture, even as his smile turns sheepish and he offers a tiny shrug.

“I didn’t get much sleep at all. Too distracted, you know? You get it.”

Something slithers inside Usagi’s guts, but it’s not cold or slimy. It feels warm and fuzzy, and Leonardo is looking at him without bursting into tears. “Yeah.”

“Yeah.” Leonardo awkwardly smacks his lips; he’s shifting, rocking on the heels of his feet, his arms crossed behind him. “So…are you hungry? Or…?”

“I can eat.”

They go somewhere close because neither really understands the hotel’s layout, and without any external distractions, they spend it talking. Not about anything important, not about themselves, and Usagi spends the entire time waiting for Leonardo to remember who he’s with, whom he tied himself to, and suddenly recoil in fear and disgust.

He doesn’t. Just smiles, ordering for them both since whenever the waitress looks at Usagi, she shakes so much that she can’t write down his order. Usagi doesn’t remember anything they talked about, only that he excitedly jumps at Leonardo’s suggestion of heading back to their room.

“Have you played many video games before, Usagi?”

The question catches Usagi off-guard. Mainly because, up until this moment, he hadn’t been listening. Too busy relishing being in the presence of someone who doesn’t flinch at Usagi’s every sudden movement. It certainly doesn’t help that he doesn’t know what a video game even is.

His confusion must be plain across his features because Leonardo squints, laughs, and there’s no annoyance in his tone as he leans forward and asks, “Have you heard a single word I’ve said?”

Then, again, must see Usagi’s guilt because Leonardo laughs, carefree and twinkling, as he leans back in his chair, still smiling, still laughing. Still unconcerned, uncaring about the numerous nervous sideways glances pointed in their direction.

It tugs at the threads around Usagi’s heart, loosens it, and he’s the most relaxed he’s been for some time as he confesses, “I don’t know what video games are.”

And, for some inexplicable reason, Leonardo gasps. It’s exaggerated and loud, but the corners of his mouth continue to turn upward as he declares, “Well, we’re just going to have to change that.”

:: ::

It takes half a round before it becomes clear that Usagi is really bad at video games. Leo grins, slightly amused by the apparent frustration because Usagi’s undoubtedly adorable with how his eyes furrow and tongue sticks out from the corner of his mouth. Leo finds himself distracted for most of the next round.

The game isn’t even that fun, some generic 8-bit brawling game, but it had been all the front desk had. Or, maybe, playing it has just begun to remind Leo of his brothers, and with that, returns the longing for his family. But he can’t allow himself to falter, and he has to do this to protect them from Big Mama.

Either way, the game ends when Usagi snaps his controller in half. The sound it makes as it splits into two parts shocks Usagi from his deep concentration and frustration. He blinks, eyes wide, and looks so young and confused that Leo can’t help but laugh.

“Sorry,” Leo apologizes as that wide-eyed gaze swings his way, “I’m not laughing at you. I promise.”

Usagi (adorably) pouts.

He turns, considering their square-shaped avatars on screen, before declaring, “I’d like to see how cocky you are after I beat you several rounds in chess.”

Chess is Leo’s specialty, but only Donnie plays with him anymore. He once asked if Donnie could reprogram S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. to play with him, but nothing came from it. Mikey told him that he thinks Donnie’s just afraid of losing his chess partner since Leo’s the only person that consistently beats him.

But Usagi doesn’t know that, and the thought of a new challenge has excitement bubbling inside Leo’s stomach. He keeps it tampered with, carefully schooling his features as he side-eyes the rabbit.

Grinning innocently, Leo says, “I heard the rules of chess are complicated.”

Then, an hour and a half later, Leo mimics the same innocent expression as he shrugs. Says, “That’s some crazy beginner’s luck. You want to go again?”

:: ::

Leonardo wins the next game. And the next. And the next.

:: ::

Eventually, the days begin bleeding into each other, and there are only so many people Leo can trick into playing against him in chess before even that gets old. Usagi doesn’t always join him though his presence has becoming increasingly more frequent. Leo thinks Usagi just tags along to see how many people fall for Leo’s beginner routine, and it’s almost embarrassingly easy.

And, at first, it had been fun. At the very least, it was entertaining, and it took the clearly unwanted attention off of Usagi, however temporary it proved to be, and Leo doesn’t mind the attention. He thrives under it and enjoys watching their cocky assurance twist into shocked confusion.

Afterward, they’ll go get something to eat and talk about nothing. They haven’t yet approached the conversation about their families or life before each other. Instead, contemplate how long Big Mama is planning to keep them in her hotel or craft life stories about the other guests. Even as they move far away from wherever they’re set, sending nervous glances in Usagi’s way.

Usagi rarely appreciates the looks. Sending him into withdrawal, picking at his food before announcing that he’s tired and wants to return to their room. It’s increasingly apparent that Leo is the only willing person in this hotel to spend any time in Usagi’s proximity. Likewise, Usagi’s the only person Leo trusts to not run off and report him to Big Mama at their first opportunity.

It’s part of the reason Leo suddenly announces, “I think I’m going exploring today.”

He’s upside down on the couch, legs dangling over his back as his head hangs over the cushions. The television is off, and the only available channel is the Battle Nexus, another thing that upsets Usagi. So it remains off, and Leo is bored.

From his spot curled onto the matching chair, Usagi hums and turns the page of his book without looking up. He looks weirdly, domestically comfortable in the way he only ever does while in their room.

Leo continues, “I’m thinking of heading to the west wing. I don’t think I’ve been there yet.”

After all, Big Mama’s hotel is massive. This one somehow, impossibly, even more massive than the one in New York, but he doesn’t let his thoughts linger on it for long. It’s too soon, too depressing, and Leo’s found that keeping himself busy hurts less.

Leo tilts his head, staring. If Usagi notices, he doesn’t comment, look, or move besides flipping to the next page. Unlike Leo, who hadn’t touched the library besides the one time he scanned it for any comic books, Usagi’s found his interest captivated by the well-packed novels, which turned into his weird, nightly ritual, leaving Leo to entertain himself.

Leo’s contemplated going to the front desk and asking for a replacement gaming console or even inquiring about requesting something better but has always found himself distracted by something else. Either fiddling with the chess board, which has made a permanent home on their coffee table, to fiddling with the room’s complementary silverware.

Anything to keep his interest occupied. Usagi doesn’t seem to mind—Leo’s presence, Leo’s pacing, Leo’s fiddling—so Leo hasn’t found a reason to stop.

But, still, he feels compelled to ask, “Do you want to come with?” because since last week’s incident the only times Usagi leaves the room is whenever he goes somewhere with Leo.

Leo still doesn’t know the details: only that Usagi announced that he was going to the gym to train and returned several hours later weak-kneed and hollow-eyed. His voice was shaking, synchronized with the tremors of his hands, as he called out Leo’s name before collapsing at their doorway. Leo, who had been going through various chess moves he’s seen Donnie use, bashed his shin, trying to get to him.

He crouched in front of the trembling rabbit, keeping his heart calm as he tentatively called Usagi’s name. It took three attempts before Usagi finally looked at him and four more before his eyes finally focused.

Racking his brain for anything helpful, Leo said, “I need you to name three things that you can feel. Can you do that for me? Hm?”

Leo added at Usagi’s blank stare, “I can go first. The tile beneath my feet is cold, and my shirt is almost ridiculously soft. Big Mama needs to hurry up and visit so I can ask her who her tailor is. Or do you think she even has a tailor or if she just makes all the clothes herself? You know, like silkworms except with her—actually, nope, gross. Don’t think about that.”

“The door is hard and firm,” Usagi’s shaky voice interrupts, and prompted by Leo’s encouragement, Usagi continues, “The floor is cold—no, wait. You already said that one.”

“That’s okay. It was a good one. What else?”

“Well, the…err…the band around my ears is quite tight.”

“Good. Great. Now, what are two things that you smell?”

“You smell like the fancy rich people soap Big Mama provided us.” For some reason, that burns Usagi’s cheeks a bright red as he hurriedly continues, “I can smell the leftovers in our fridge. We should throw them out soon, and they’re about to go bad.”

“And one thing that you can see?”

“You.”

They both turned away at that, cheeks hot, but Usagi was noticeably calmer as he slowly rose to his feet and announced he was going to shower. Leo asked if he wanted company, then felt like an idiot because that’s invasive and weird, and backtracked into going to find them something to eat.

Neither spoke about…it. It hung around them for the next few days, demanding to be heard and said, but they would just turn their attention elsewhere whenever their eyes met. Mentally, Leo thinks it’s one of those close proximity things, and their dependence on that heightened their feelings for each other.

Otherwise, someone like Usagi wouldn’t give Leo a second thought.

Usagi does now, tilting his head to regard him with a curious gaze. Leo grins upside down, kicking his feet in the air, but he’s steeled against rejection.

So, it takes him off-guard whenever Usagi says, “I’ve been meaning to stretch my legs.”

Halfway through wandering down the hallway, Leo catches himself talking about his brothers. He never has before, their conversations carefully tiptoeing around their personal lives, but once he starts, it’s impossible to stop. It twists his insides, reminding him how much he misses them and how intrinsically his self-worth is tied to them.

Usagi listens patiently. His expression is soft, ears floppy behind him, and his shoulders are relaxed and his stance comfortable. Usagi is always so collected and calm…

…is the impression Leo’s mentally crafted of him until Usagi stops him with a hand to his chest and excited, “Leonardo, look!”

Leo does and is taken off-guard by the Battle Nexus gift shop nestled between a shop promoting some paper sale and a grocery store hosting a special deal. Leo frowns.

“Are you sure?” he asks, but Usagi excitedly grasps his wrist and rushes inside.

Leo allows himself to be dragged along, cheeks flaming. He doesn’t really understand why Usagi seems so eager to enter a store dedicated to selling paraphernalia about the one topic Usagi avoids. But, then, Usagi heads straight towards a shelf labeled ‘Hug Your Favorite Champion.’ The frames are lined with neat plushies of the various Battle Nexus Champions: Usagi, Shredder, and even one of him, though it’s clearly an unfavorite.

Usagi ignores them, reaching toward the back to pick out a Lou Jitsu figure. It’s his human form: long and skinny and not as soft as the original, but Leo’s hands are shaking when he reaches out to take it from Usagi. From over Dad’s smiling plush head, Usagi frowns.

“Is everything alright, Leonardo?”

“Yeah,” Leo lies, “I’m great.”

But his hold is noticeably tight, and tears prickle the corner of his eyes as he hugs it against his chest, burrowing his nose into the black pompadour. When he closes his eyes, the tears slip free, and something akin to dying builds in the back of his throat. Usagi blinks, clearly uncertain how to handle the situation but respectful enough to grant Leo this moment.

Peaking out at him, Leo tilts his head to consider the shelf of plushies. Raph would love them; Raph would want to buy all of them to add to his collection—especially Leo’s. Usagi follows his gaze—must have—because he delicately plucks it off the shelf.

“I was unaware you participated in the Battle Nexus,” he says, blue gaze tracing along its simplified features.

“Uh…yeah. It was a one-time thing, and I didn’t do it alone.”

“And she let you leave? Just like that? Even though you won?”

Leo hums before admitting, “We needed something to destroy something, and Big Mama had it, but part of the deal was that we just fought once. Besides, I don’t think she cared too much about me. Though, evidently, I was wrong.”

Usagi doesn’t comment. Just stares at it, fingers gripping the soft, green cloth in a desperate vice. Blue eyes stand out against the dark, troubled shadows around them, and it is only because Leo’s spent so much time with him that he recognizes that the expression isn’t a natural one for the rabbit.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Leo gently inquires.

“When I wasn’t in the arena, I was shoved in a dark, damp cage where I was fed rations. There would be large gaps where I never interacted with anyone; even then, it would be an opponent. And they wanted me dead. It was—not a pleasant experience.”

Leo squeezes the Lou Jitsu doll tighter, closer.

“I—that sucks, man.”

Usagi blinks, and his expression shudders back to an impassive face. “It was my decision, Leonardo. One I would make again, even after hindsight.”

“You must have really needed whatever it was from Big Mama.”

“Indeed.”

Tilting his head to the side, Leo blinks. It’s clear that…whatever this is, is haunting Usagi, and Leo doesn’t like the hollowed-out look in his eyes. Leo picks up an Usagi doll and puts Lou Jitsu back on the shelf. Like his own, it doesn’t seem to be a favorite; clearly overlooked by Lou Jitsu, which for some reason doesn’t surprise Leo enough to garner much thought.

“You think I should get one of you, and you get one of me? We could post it on my social if Big Mama didn’t confiscate my phone, but it could still be cute.”

Usagi’s head tilts, ears quirked at weird angles, and he sounds as confused as he looks. “What’s a social? And what’s a phone?”

“Ah, dude, only the greatest invention since the beginning of ever. This little device allows you to speak to anyone, anywhere—even on the other side of the planet. Donnie, my stupid genus of a brother, is like a tech wizard.”

“Your brother is a wizard!” exclaims Usagi as his face twists into something much more excitable, practically choking Leo’s doll.

“Er…not in the sense that you’re thinking; he’s astute and good with computers and stuff. Social is short for social media, which is just a place on the Internet where you can post things about yourself: pictures, videos, and even just blurbs about your life. Humans eat it up.”

“They eat it?”

“Uh…”

Usagi’s face twitches up into a mischievous smirk as he says, “I’m joking, Leonardo, though numerous human traditions aren’t shared in the Hidden City. We don’t have phones, but we share something similar.” He blinks down at the plushy still in his hands, gently smoothing the front of its face. “Do you think we should also get the Lou Jitsu one? Are you also a fan?”

Petting the Usagi doll’s ears, Leo shyly says, “Something like that.” Then, asks, “Have you seen any of his movies?”

“One or two. My friend Mariko found them in some shady shop she probably had no business being in, and we stayed in and watched them. What about you, Leonardo?”

“Oh yeah, Dad’s a big Lou Jitsu fan,” because suddenly announcing that his dad is Lou Jitsu seems disingenuous. “He trained us on them.” Then adds at Usagi’s confused blink, “My brothers and I are ninjas, and we…what? What does that look mean?”

But instead of responding like an average person, Usagi hugs the turtle plushy to his chest and declares, “We should leave.”

“But what does that look mean?”

Usagi shoves past him, and the sales clerk waves them past like everyone else in the hotel. Despite the messed up twist of this situation, it is nice to go anywhere, get anything, and not worry about costs. Leo doubts Big Mama can keep that up forever, but he supposes that depends on what she’s hoping to gain from them.

Leo picks up the Lou Jitsu dolls and smiles pleasantly at the bored employee to chase Usagi into the hallway. Neither speak for the rest of the day, though Usagi keeps a firm grip on the Leo plushy as he cleans their room. Leo returns to the chessboard but soon grows bored of it.

“I think I’m going to head to the pool,” he announces and is again ignored.

He does stop by the concierge to ask for a movie player and some Lou Jitsu movies to help pass the time. He’s met with the same sugary sweet smile and assurance to look into it, which isn’t much of a reassurance, but there isn’t anything else for him to do, so he moves on.

The pool is long and full of hotel guests, who all give Leo pitying expressions and long distances. It’s a testimony to how long he’s spent here that he doesn’t even have the energy to be surprised about how easy they are to ignore. It doesn't take long to slip into a complementary tube before he’s dozed off.

When he wakes, the shadows have considerably lengthened, and the pool has mostly emptied out. He yawns, stretches, and contemplates getting something to eat before going back to the room. Usually, it’s not so bad because Usagi is pleasant company, but Usagi is upset, and Leo doesn’t understand why.

(That doesn’t stop him from getting Usagi something to go.)

Usagi’s waiting for him on the couch. His legs are crossed under him, hugging the Leo plushy to his chest, but it doesn't show on his face if he’s relieved or annoyed by Leo’s return. Just a slight glance upward, meeting Leo’s gaze and holding it.

Completely unprecedented, Usagi announces, “Shinobi are sanctimonious cowards who siphon all good things from life. They know nothing of honor or dignity, so I cannot like them for these reasons. Do you understand?”

“Uh…sure.”

“Despite everything I just said, I do like you, Leonardo. Our…situation may have affected my judgment, but no matter how hard I try otherwise, I find that your company is much more bearable than I previously expected. What’s more shocking is that even after the confession, I still consider you my friend. Or whatever the appropriate equivalent is.”

Leo's stomach twists at the term friend, but he easily swallows it down as he smiles and admits, “I like you too, buddy.”

Usagi smiles his rare, bright grin that Leo easily matches. That morning, he’s rudely woken by slamming at the door. One of the staff coolly informs him that his request has been completed and their movies will soon be delivered.

:: ::

Usagi has found himself considering Leonardo’s sleeping habits much more frequently. He thinks it’s one of the first things he should have seen, but he had been so caught up in his own problems that Usagi forgot that he isn’t the only one suffering.

And Leonardo seemingly never sleeps.

He’s still fiddling around when Usagi crawls into bed, and he’s always doing something, usually taking a bath or rubbing the various creams and oils across his face, whenever Usagi wakes. That’s what Leonardo is currently doing. The bathroom door is open, so Usagi can see him dance around like he’s running on hours of energy.

The one-time Usagi asked, Leonardo had puckered his lips and declared, “You don’t get this pretty by just genetics.”

Wisely, Usagi kept his comment about beauty rest to himself.

Usagi leaves him to it, walking over to the couch. It is not a particularly uncomfortable couch, he thinks as he sits. Then lays down. Closes his eyes.

He opens them to their door opening at Leonardo’s return.

“Oh, hey,” Leonardo warmly greets, “I didn’t want to wake you, so I grabbed some pastries. We can eat them while we watch some Lou Jitsu movies or just chill or….”

Usagi blinks, feeling well-rested and relaxed, as he sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Evidently, the couch isn’t a problem which means it’s a Leonardo thing. A concerning realization because a sofa can be fixed, but insomnia is never something he’s thought much about.

His throat is dry from his nap. “That sounds nice.”

And it is, though Usagi finds himself distracted for most of it. They sit on opposite ends of the couch, the Lou Jitsu doll hugged tightly against Leonardo’s stomach, and Usagi realizes he’s found another Leonardo habit he doesn’t like: Leonardo never seems to eat. Even with the pastries, Usagi ate most of the box before forcing himself to stop, hoping Leonardo would idly reach over and eat one or two.

He does not.

Agitatedly, Usagi’s foot thumps against the ground as he edges himself into saying, “I was thinking, Leonardo. We are familiar enough with each other that there’s no need to further split our sleeping arrangement, and the bed is more than adequate for both of us.”

Long, slender fingers pet the top of the plushy’s head as Leonardo considers the television. It’s a weirdly entertaining dramatic action scene, but Usagi’s focus continues to drift elsewhere.

“I’m okay on the couch, Usagi. There’s no need to force yourself to agree to anything on my account, especially if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Thump-thump-thump.

“I wouldn’t suggest it if I felt it would make me uncomfortable, Leonardo.” Thump-thump. “It’ll be like a sleep-over, and we can stay up late talking about our favorite books or hobbies or more of these human films you’ve seen.” A pause, the slightest of hesitations. “Did you ever have a sleepover, Leonardo?”

“Hm. Sort of. April, our best friend, has slept over a few times, but we don’t exactly have a surplus of friends considering…” he gestures to his face, which is pinched in a weird expression, “…this whole situation. What about you, Usagi?”

Usagi feels himself perk up: shoulders rolling back, spine straightening, and ears twitching. The string of conversations is meant to get Leonardo to care for himself, but the thought of his childhood excites him. “Oh yes. Two of my best friends and I would choose where we would sleep after our classes.”

Most of the time, they had been fun too. They are undoubtedly some of Usagi’s favorite memories, but it had been far from idyllic. Fighting with Kenichi was significantly commonplace as they grew older, and Mariko’s presence only made them act worse. It’s not her fault, and he doubts she enjoyed constantly being forced into dealing with them.

It couldn’t have been fun, and Usagi hoped she believed all the times he’s apologized.

Leonardo’s fingers scratch the doll’s pompadour, eyes distant and thoughtful. On-screen, Lou Jitsu screams about soup as he breaks someone’s face.

“Do you want to talk about them?”

As it turns out, Usagi does. He spends the next several hours talking about them, their dynamics, and his rivalry with Kenichi. For some reason, it hurts less to tell Leonardo about it even as every day he feels less like a stranger. It’s just…Leonardo is so easy to talk to.

And Leonardo doesn’t interrupt or judge, and maybe that’s part of it too.

It’s not until Leonardo begins shivering does Usagi remember himself. Most days, they leave the doors to the patio open, but recently the nights have turned cold, so Leonardo usually curls under several blankets as to not bother Usagi. Usagi lets his story petter out as he regards the turtle with a soft smile.

“We should get some sleep.”

Leonardo goes without further arguing, which is not an exceptionally comfortable change. His shell is cold and hard, like sleeping with a boulder, but it settles something inside Usagi. An uneasiness grows every day he sees the shadows under Leonardo’s eyes darken paired with the sharp contrast of his weight loss.

Big Mama had been intentionally vague about her reasons for choosing Leonardo to bind Usagi, but it feels obvious. She needed something to tether Usagi with; not too many people are foolish or desperate enough to ensnare themselves in her web. He was probably her only option, which unironically worked well in her favor.

Though Usagi had always planned on protecting Leonardo, he never expected to like him as much as he does. It’s genuinely easy to be in his presence, and it’s one of the few times Usagi feels like he’s allowed to relax. That had been the most significant surprise, and he often catches himself with his guard down when it’s just the two of them.

And part of it must be because Leonardo never treats him differently. He never recoils from him in fear and never feels the need to act cautiously, and it’s something Usagi so desperately missed during his time in the Battle Nexus.

Usagi stays awake, waiting for Leonardo’s breathing to even out in sleep. It doesn’t take long, which is surprising, but he doesn’t get to contemplate it before his thoughts sink into the blissful abyss of sleep. Dissolving all his thoughts and worries with it.

:: ::

The days pass quickly, and Leo’s not allowed himself to forget about the constant eyes on him and Usagi, but it’s not all bad. For one, he’s sleeping better than he thinks he ever has—despite waking up every morning with white fur in his mouth and eyes.

For another, and probably the most important thing, he’s found himself opening up about his life. Likewise, Usagi has started to do the same, and Leo can listen to him talk for hours. His voice is a deep, soothing baritone that—even on Leo’s worst nights—never fails to lull him into a dreamless slumber.

And on Usagi’s worst days, Leo makes himself present. Rarely are there any words—not since that first time—because Usagi had softly admitted that he just needs to touch, hold, cling to something. Leonardo is happy to be that for him because the only thing they have is each other. And there are some, not many, where Leo considers it a blessing.

Maybe it’s because, with Usagi, everything Leo talks about is just stories. He hadn’t lived through it with Leo, so his perception isn’t clouded with his own guilt and anger and concern; therefore, Leo has no reason to talk around those things like he often feels he needs to with his family. As a result, Leo often finds himself more willing to admit to and open up about. It feels weirdly cathartic.

Mikey suggested it might, and he’s rarely wrong, but it’s something easier said than done.

Even so, they spend most of their time either by the pool or in their room watching Lou Jitsu movies. One night, Usagi asked about Leo’s other favorite films, and Leo spent the next several hours explaining Jupiter Jim lore. But as lovely as it is, Leo can’t stop wishing they had met under different circumstances.

Then, one day, Usagi bounces into the room clutching a flyer. He’s jumping from side-to-side, blue eyes wide with his excitement. Leo, who had been contemplating one of Donnie’s favorite chess strategies in an attempt to convert it to this different version, curiously glances up.

“Whatcha got there, bud?” inquires Leo.

Usagi, still happily dancing, thrusts it in Leo’s face even as he speaks in one long, consecutive segment, “You know how we’ve been talking about the different classes but never found one? Well, there’s this dancing one that starts at the end of this week, and since the only place I’m allowed to train is our porch, I figure this would be a nice chance to actually get some exercise in, and it might be the first time any type of shinobi training will come in handy.”

“Remember to take a breath,” Leo says as he accepts the sheet of paper, still smirking even as he skims over the advertisement.

Usagi does. Sucking in dramatically until his chest swells up before releasing it in one long, nosy exhale. Blue eyes shiningly watch him, expectant and clearly excited.

Which is how they start the class, which has a weird start. Everyone is apprehensive of Usagi’s presence, and it’s sapping the rabbit’s joy. Leo chews the corner of his lip, but his glare goes unnoticed by everyone. Why wouldn’t it? To them, he’s a nobody. Just the poor unfortunate soul tied to the savage, unhinged (longest-lasting) Battle Nexus Champion.

Usagi avoids their gazes, hands trembling and blue eyes defensively hard, and he startles whenever Leo takes his hand and jerks him close. Leo can feel his heartbeat echoing in his temples, and there’s no moisture in his mouth, but he grins mischievously at Usagi’s shocked expression.

“What’s the matter, silly rabbit?” Leo asks, a teasing (and it’s probably more than a little flirtatious, but no one is around to mercilessly tease him over it) lilt in his words, “Shall I remind you that this was your idea?”

The familiar competitive crease crosses over Usagi’s face, and Leo can’t pinpoint the moment he’s found himself thinking about Usagi less and less as ‘just a friend.’ As Mikey would have said, Leo likes-likes him, and it’s the first real crush he’s ever had. But Usagi is so thoughtful and attentive and strong and…

…Leo has it really bad.

“Careful to not get too far ahead of yourself, Leonardo,” Usagi warns, hands fitting (almost perfectly, but that can just be Leo’s head) around his hips and the back of his shell. “Shinobi are notoriously clumsy and are rarely capable of thinking for themselves.”

Leo’s grin broadens.

That had been another pleasant surprise after Usagi confessed to his true feelings over ninjas—it greatly heightened Leo’s competitive nature, and Usagi quickly matched it. And though there’s no doubt in Leo’s mind that Usagi believes the things he says, he always says it in jest.

Usagi bends over to whisper against Leo’s head. His breath is warm, and Leo stiffens at their proximity.

“And I only say rarely because there are exceptions to everything,” Usagi continues, oblivious to how Leo’s heart rate is pounding, “and you, Hamato Leonardo, are nothing except exceptional.”

Warmth explodes inside Leo’s chest, making his fingers and toes all tingly. When Usagi pulls away, though, he’s smiling that soft, teasing expression, and Leo knows Usagi doesn’t think about him that way. He’ll share his support and won’t treat him any differently, but he’ll know, and Leo doesn’t want him to.

So, he just smiles, swallowing down his attraction, and deals with it like he does everything else: ignore it, hoping it’ll eventually fade away.

Sometime between Leo getting pummeled by the Krang and that blessed, wonderful day Donnie agreed he was fine enough to move on his own, Mikey suggested they all settle into a routine of sorts. When Mikey proposed this idea, he had claimed it’ll help alleviate any bouts of melancholy their sudden sedentary lifestyle may bring.

It wasn’t until later that Leo realized what Mikey had secretly avoided telling them was that the proposal was meant to combat the beginning onset of depression, and by then, Leo already had settled into his own comfortable routine. Truthfully, Leo’s realization only helped affirm what he already knew: Mikey has an eerie sixth sense of their emotional needs and is persuasive enough to trick them into an agreement.

But the hotel felt different. Routine became difficult when everything advertised a break in ordinary life, so Leo felt himself leaping at the opportunity of the weekly dance classes. For the routine, he silently told himself, and the sub-sequential intimacy with Usagi is an added perk.

But he keeps that to himself, even after telling Usagi the story about Mikey. They’re in bed, lying beside each other at as much distance as their size allows. Whenever they sleep, they usually position themselves, so their backs are facing each other, but whenever Leo exited his bath Usagi had been curled in a corner, dark shadows under his eyes.

Speaking didn’t help, but it never did, so Leo hadn’t. Usagi doesn’t give him a chance considering that the moment Leo knelt in front of him, he latched onto him and jerked him forward. It takes him longer than usual to come down from the worst of it, and even then, all Leo can manage is to move them to the bed and start talking.

“Your younger brother is wiser than most adults I know,” whispers Usagi.

“Yeah. Mikey’s pretty exceptional; all my brothers are; Raph’s stupid strong, and Donnie’s a literal genius.”

“Kenichi and Mariko would have loved them. Mariko’s the biggest nerd I know, and the stuff I’ve seen her come up with blows my mind, and Kenichi picks up on everything instantly.”

“You must miss them a lot.”

“Every day. Kenichi visited me once during my time in the Battle Nexus, and though everything he said was angry I…I don’t know. It felt like he was worried, and I couldn’t find it in myself to get angry back. Contrarily, all the sadness and messed up, twisted jealousy from our childhood suddenly made sense. Kenichi never hated me, and that made me so ridiculously happy.”

Especially since Usagi told him that Big Mama never allowed visitors, Kenichi would have had to sneak in.

In the morning, Leo wakes to breakfast on his nightstand and Usagi humming in the bathroom. It’s something Leo’s never heard before, and he’s never been as musically inclined as Raph or Mikey. Usagi stops at the soft squeaking of the mattress under Leo’s movements.

Usagi smiles, bright and cheerful, as he greets, “Pleasant dreams, Leonardo?”

Leo hums, stretching his arms over his head, and asks, “Do you need help brushing your back or something? We can ask for a hairbrush if you don’t have one you like or….”

Usagi makes a face, mouth a razor-sharp line cutting across his face, and it sounds painful for him to admit, “I don’t really brush my fur.”

“It doesn’t hurt or get itchy? Or just become an overall discomfort?”

“I mean,” Usagi shrugs, “sometimes, but it is more uncomfortable to have it brushed.”

“It’s not soothing?”

“Soothing…no? It’s horrible and tortuously overstimulating. Is it different for you? With your shell?”

Joining Usagi in their bathroom, Leo bends over to start collecting the fancy little bottles he requested at the front desk. Most of it is the high-priced, overly luxurious stuff Leo had zero hope in ever affording, but Big Mama can and if he had to act like a total diva to convince the front desk, then that’s just the sacrifice that needs to be done.

Initially, it had been part of his petty plan to stick it to her, but his complexion improvement is hard to argue with.

Puckering his lips, Leo replies, “It is, but that doesn’t stop my idiot brothers from fighting it every chance they get. And since the only way you can get siblings to do anything for you is to offer them the same service….”

“I could brush it for you if you’d like.”

“Would you?”

“For you, Leonardo? Of course.”

And with some guidance from Leo, he quickly gets the hang of it, and deciding to do it on the lip of their bathtub turns out to be a mistake when Leo catches himself drifting back to sleep. He forgot how relaxing it can be, and not even conversing with Usagi is enough to keep him awake.

He doesn’t even remember going back to bed. Only when he wakes up darkness curtains their windows, and Usagi is reading on the couch. His ears perk up again when Leo begins shifting to awareness.

“Hello, again. I hope you’ve slept well.”

“Yeah. I forgot how soothing that can be. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Always, Leonardo. Always.”

When Leo exits the bathroom, Usagi says, “I found a brochure detailing all the accommodations the hotel offers and thought we could go to one of the nicer establishments for dinner. I thought it might be nice and, I don’t know, maybe it could become a new type of routine. In honor of your brother’s wisdom.”

Like a date, Usagi doesn’t say, and it probably doesn’t cross his mind, but it does Leo’s because he’s spent the past several weeks yearning after the unfairly adorable, kind-hearted, compassionate rabbit.

And Leo’s proud of the way the stuttering of his heart doesn’t show on his face as he easily agrees, “That sounds great.”

Dinner is nice, too. The food is good, though Leo is starting to desperately miss pizza (and Mikey’s cooking); he’ll even settle for Lou Mike Tony’s at this point, but it is one of the few times they’re outside of their room that Usagi looks relaxed. The waitress’s hand shakes the entire time she has to talk with him, and nobody tries concealing their staring.

But it’s the first time Usagi doesn’t seem to notice, and it pleases Leo more than he thought it would, knowing that he’s acting as the focal point of Usagi’s attention. His good mood carries over to their slow walk to their room.

The door opens—

“Hello, Leonardo,” greets Draxum.

—and closes.

Chapter Text

“Hello, Leonardo,” war-criminal Baron Draxum says without glancing at Usagi, and Usagi feels his insides burn at the gall of the demon sheep.

Leonardo doesn’t reply, eyes wide, so Usagi shoves his way defensively between the two. Whatever Baron Draxum wants from Leonardo, he’s not going to get. Not with Usagi in the room with them. As if hearing Usagi’s silent conviction, Leonardo tugs tentatively at Usagi’s elbow. Not enough to actually move him but it recaptures Usagi’s attention.

“Don’t,” but at Usagi’s unimpressed glare, Leonardo corrects, “It’s alright, Usagi.”

“No. It isn’t. This man is dangerous and is a wanted war criminal.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Usagi nervously glances between an exhausted-looking Leonardo (Leonardo always looks tired, but this seems more than usual) and Baron Draxum’s blank expression (Is he bored? Impassive? Curious?). “I don’t understand.”

“Like I said, it’s okay.”

Usagi resists the urge to tap his foot in his annoyance, instead focusing on sensibility—Baron Draxum is waiting for them in their room, obviously here for Leonardo, but he will have to go through Usagi if he wishes to harm him. And not just because it’s Usagi’s duty as Leonardo’s legal husband but because they are friends.

In reply, Baron Draxum smiles.

It’s not quite as sharp as Usagi expected, but it also doesn’t escape Usagi’s notice that the sheep’s eyes remain focused on Leonardo. Even acting as Leonardo’s physical shield, Usagi might as well not exist.

Blue eyes distrustfully narrow, and, despite Leonardo’s reassurances, he hasn’t pushed Usagi aside. No. He’s stayed where he is, safely behind Usagi’s bristling figure; his expression flat and indifferent.

Baron Draxum sighs, equally tired, before saying, “I have come to fetch the turtle, rabbit. You need not concern yourself in our affairs.”

“Fetch? Like a summons?” Usagi tilts his head. “Are you working for Big Mama?”

“No,” Leonardo and Baron Draxum say together.

Leonardo sighs, sounding as tired as he looks, and replies, “You know why I can’t do that, Barry. I can’t…go back.”

“Big Mama will be of no further concern for you. Not after her…discussion with the rat.”

Leonardo perks up, eyes bright, as his voice gives a funny wobble. “Dad? What happened? Is he alright? What did they discuss?”

Baron Draxum raises a blasé eye, looking and sounding incredibly bored. “I imagine the manner of your imprisonment.”

The meaning of the words tickles something inside Usagi’s brain. A tingle, a promise, but he pushes it aside in favor of focusing on Leonardo.

“Leonardo, what is he saying?”

“I thought I said to not concern yourself,” Draxum coolly interrupts, eyes piercing from his spot across the room.

It’s the same stare everyone who has watched him compete in the Battle Nexus gives him. Like he’s the monster. Like he’s to blame for every terrible thing Big Mama has done. Just because she chose to label him her new champion.

“Leave him alone, Draxum,” Leonardo intervenes, but his voice is back to being lifeless. “Why are you here?”

If anything, Baron Draxum looks more bored. He keeps looking at Usagi like he carries the brunt of all the blame, which is unfair, considering there are two. False labels may not have been forced upon Leonardo, but he’s tied himself under Big Mama’s service just as Usagi had.

But then Baron Draxum shifts, switching his crossed legs, and plainly says, “I’ve come to return you home. Big Mama won’t bother you any longer.”

Beside him, Leonardo perks, like this is good news. Like he’s not the cause for his imprisonment, and now that everyone else has dealt with it for him, he can just happily leave. Father always warned Usagi about how treacherous the shinobi have historically proven themselves to be, and Usagi always believed him.

But it seemed he failed to prepare Usagi for how utterly charming they can also be. A dangerous type of seduction that slipped past all of Usagi’s defenses and left him vulnerable to betrayal.

Leonardo must pick up on his thoughts because he reaches out, fingers brushing against his elbow. A few hours ago, Usagi would have labeled it as supportive but now it feels to just add to their tricks. “Usagi? Are you feeling alright? You look tense.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Father warned me, yet I didn’t listen.”

“What? Usagi—?”

“Do not touch me. I should have known. I did, somewhat, but I allowed myself to become complacent. Open to your tricks.”

Leonardo flinches; Baron Draxum sighs, “Speak plainly, rabbit.”

“All shinobi are honorless cowards that prefer hiding in shadows than confronting your consequences. Or, evidently, taking responsibility for them.” It’s Leonardo’s turn to reel back, eyes wide, but Usagi swallows the stab of guilt to continue, “I allowed our situation to cloud my judgment, but you, Leonardo, have been so kind to remind me of the truth of your nature.”

“I—what?”

“It matters little, Leonardo,” Baron Draxum assures, voice weirdly soft and gentle. “The cause of the rabbit’s ire is insignificant, considering the two of you will never see each other again. Now, come. Your family awaits.”

Usagi sneers, “Yes. Go. Run. Hide. That’s all you shinobi are good for. I said to not touch me!”

“I can explain if you would just listen to me—”

“I no longer desire to pollute myself with your lies. Go or don’t. It matters so very little now that I know your true nature.”

Without waiting for a response, Usagi hurries from the room. The door slams behind him, and his chest is tight despite knowing that this pain is no one’s fault but his own. He’s always been aware of their nature but allowed himself to believe Leonardo was different. Not that it’ll soon matter; though he doubts its happiness that’s squeezing his chest.

Inarguably, Leonardo had made Usagi’s imprisonment seem less like shackles, but the knowledge that this suffering hadn’t been shared hurts too. He wonders if it’ll be better without Leonardo, but, in the end, it doesn’t matter.

Leonardo chooses to stay, but the damage has already been dealt.

:: ::

The first time Usagi witnessed one of Father’s episodes, he had been seven and had just returned from Mother’s funeral. They were still living in the Hidden Kingdom, then, and Usagi didn’t want to be alone. That was why it was also the first time Usagi disobeyed a direct order.

“To your room,” Father said, large hand warm against the blades of his shoulders. “Try to get some sleep.”

Truthfully, Usagi wasn’t tired. He was sad and confused; sleep had yet to cross his mind. The adults at the funeral, friends of Mother, told him that everything would come after. That the worst will come once the shock resides, and when the time comes, he needed to remember that she found her peace. That she had been sick for a long time and was no longer suffering.

Though he wouldn’t recognize it until much later, they were right, and their words brought him eventual comfort. It was even longer before Usagi realized that Mother hadn’t been the only parent who was sick.

At the time, however, Usagi had huffed a childish, “I’m not tired.”

“Do as I say.”

“Where’s Katsuichi-sensei?” Usagi hadn’t seen him at the funeral.

“Still on his trip, Usagi.” Father withdrew his hand and walked across the room, settling in one of their wooden chairs. His eyes were wide, nearly vacant, as he rubbed tiredly at his temples. “He’ll be back in the morning.”

“He was Mom’s friend, too.”

“Yeah.” Father dropped his hand, blue eyes blank. Usagi waited, stomach tying itself in knots as he continued to wait and wait and wait…

“Dad?” he asked, voice young and fragile. When Father still didn’t answer, didn’t move or blink, Usagi edged closer. It seemed to take forever on slow, timid feet before he was close enough to reach out to settle a trembling hand against Father’s forearm. “Dad?”

Father didn’t move. He just continued to sit, staring.

“Daddy?”

Father jerked, and because Usagi stood so close, his hand struke him in the chest. It didn’t hurt but was unexpected enough to knock Usagi off-balance; Father knelt quickly beside him from his spot on the ground. Large hands cupped either side of Usagi’s head, Father’s blue eyes wide with a ferocity Usagi’s never seen before.

“Usagi. Usagi. You’re alright. There you are. That’s right. Look at me.” Father’s voice wobbled, and his smile was weak, disbelieving. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—I’m sorry.”

Sometimes, whenever Usagi feels isolated, he’ll remember this moment. The warmth of his father. The way he seemed to tremble as he clutched him to his chest as if Father feared Usagi might to disappear if he were to let go. He’d been too young to understand it, and sometimes, whenever he allows his mind to return, he thinks there’s still much he’s failed to grasp.

But he knows this is the moment things begin to change. For the first time, Usagi realized that they are all they have left.

This time, the memory happens upon him suddenly. Slowly sneaking up on him until it’s too late. Without time to mentally prepared himself for it, he gasps, body shuddering; he has to physically steel himself against the shower wall and remind himself to breathe.

It’s one of the few times nobody is around to judge him for his sudden lapse of weakness. A sob works itself from his throat, and his hands shake. Outside, the room is empty. Leonardo gone by the time he woke this morning, and it still feels weird waking in a room that he shares.

The room is still empty whenever he leaves the bathroom. The bed is made, which Usagi now does. Initially, it irritated him, but then he realized he’s the only one using it. That Leonardo hasn’t crawled into bed like they’d done for days. It’s not unsurprising considering they’re not talking, but Usagi’s mind still likes to drift back to that day.

Back to war-criminal Baron Draxum and the earnest way he looked at Leonardo and said—

“Big Mama will be of no further concern for you,” Usagi murmurs, shaking fingers smoothing down his ears, “What does that mean? What did he mean?”

But the thought of Leonardo comes the new-found surge of anger and resentment that leaves him feeling shaky and ill. He doesn’t want to dislike Leonardo. At this point, he’s not entirely sure he’s capable, but there’s power in promises. Big Mama knows this, capitalized upon it, and just because she always comes out on top doesn’t justify attempting to back out of it.

There’s no honor in it. No dignity or respect.

Glancing down, Usagi realizes that he’s begun scratching his wrists’ underside. It takes a conscious effort for him to stop; the itch instantly spreading across his arms. Lurking just beneath the surface, where Usagi can’t quite reach despite how hard or deep he scratches.

A distraction. Usagi needs a distraction.

He returns to the gym looking at the wooden practice swords. He skims his fingertips over their hilts in consideration, head tilted to the side. Leonardo’s mentioned how he also uses swords, and they’ve been meaning to come down here to spar but never got around to it.

The thought of being with Leonardo now just heightens his sour mood: irritated at himself for not wanting to be angry with him, annoyed at Leonardo for lying, aggravated at this place and this situation, and how everything is too much all the time.

The first practice dummy splits in two at the force of Usagi’s swing. Sand spills out onto the floor, and, at any other time, Usagi would have felt reticent, and he would have stopped, gone to find someone to apologize to, and offered to pay for repairs.

But it belongs to Big Mama, like everything else in this place, so he doesn’t. Just impassively watches the tiny golden-brown particles tumble, gathering in a small mound at his feet. It might as well be a mountain, something insurmountable. A burden that felt easier to carry, but now the weight is too much, too heavy, and he’s unable to escape out from underneath it.

“Whoa! Buddy!” someone shouts; Usagi startles and realizes that everyone is staring.

His gaze flickers from the mound of sand to the wooden swords in his hands. It seems that even this place ruins training—a time he previously felt comfortable losing himself in. Until he can work through whatever is mentally bothering him.

Handing the swords to one of the onlookers, Usagi says, “I will take my leave.”

He doesn’t bother apologizing or saying anything else, and nobody tries stopping him. They wilt, quickly scrambling away with familiar wide-eye looks of terror.

Even now, they’re afraid of him. They pity Leonardo—the liar, the dishonorable, the shameless shinobi whom Usagi wishes he could distance himself from. Maybe that’ll make it easier. For both of them. For neither of them. He isn’t sure.

Only that Leonardo is in the room, standing by the sink, whenever Usagi returns. He’s making a cup of tea, and just the sight of him sparks Usagi’s anger, his helplessness; it’s not entirely Leonardo’s fault, but he’s not blameless either. Until Usagi can separate his emotions from fact, he isn’t sure this feeling will ever reside. Even though it’s been days already.

Turning to watch Usagi’s entrance, Leonardo’s dark eyes are wide and clouded over from days without sleep. His skin looks paler, the skin beneath his eyes dark enough to be bruises. Tired of being continually watched wherever he goes, Usagi turns away.

Still, Leonardo asks, “Tea?”

Usagi strips off his jacket, dropping it in the black wire basket they keep for dirty laundry. He can feel Leonardo’s eyes linger on him, but it’s not until he again speaks that Usagi realizes that he’s not the only one feeling the effects of whatever is occurring between them.

“What’s your plan, Usagi?” demands Leonardo, voice high-pitched in anger, “Never speak to each other again? Are you even going to ask me what happened?”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before making a deal with Big Mama, but I’ll give you credit where it’s due. You had me fooled. Despite everything I know to be true, I failed to see your true nature.”

“And what is that? That I’m a sanctimonious coward or that I siphon all good things from life? What about you? We haven’t spoken since Draxum—”

The words return the tension curling inside Usagi. Winding around and around his bones and muscles, making it difficult to think or breathe. His jaw aches, sharp pain splintering from where his teeth are grinding against each other.

Leonardo glares back, eyes narrowed and nearly burning in his fury. His shoulders are squared back, angry and defensive, as his grip tightens around the counter’s edge. But there’s this other thing, which it seems neither will be able to move beyond without first discussing it.

“Is this the part where you defend a wanted criminal?” Usagi demands.

Leo closes his eyes. Inhales. Doesn’t exhale. “No. Of course not. I just—I think there’s been a misunderstanding, and we haven’t had a chance to talk through it.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yeah.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes, Usagi! If you just listened to me—”

“No! You want to know what I know. You made a deal with Big Mama. I don’t know what I never wanted to push. For a while, it was okay. But then I found out that you were just biding your time, waiting for your family to clean up your mess, and just like that, you were ready to run off and leave the rest of us to deal with the fallout. Because that’s all the shinobi are good for. Lies. Betrayal. Broken promises.”

“Is that what you’ve decided all on your own, then? So smart, so clever.”

“Do not patronize me, Leonardo.”

“I would never patronize the great Miyamoto Usagi. Not a lowly, self-serving shinobi such as myself. Maybe I should bow. Or build a shrine in your honor. Maybe then you’ll actually start listen to me!”

The words give an unexpected sting. Painfully twisting Usagi’s insides, and it hurts. It hurts so much. Another thing Usagi still hasn’t learned to deal with it. Like with Mariko or Kenichi or his father or anybody else Usagi loves and repeatedly hurts with his shortcomings.

He’s not strong enough, smart enough. Patient enough.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he says instead of facing these emotions, the swell of longing, pain, guilt as he realizes that, maybe, he’s not brave enough, either.

:: ::

The shower does little to alleviate Usagi’s mood but gives him time to resign himself to what he’s been avoiding. He needs to speak with Leonardo. They need to work through this, and figure it out, because it’s physically impossible for them to pretend that the other doesn’t exist. They’re trapped, forever bound together, and can’t afford to be against each other.

Except, when he returns to their shared room, it’s to find Leonardo asleep on the couch. His face is pinched, twisted in bad dreams, and his body is still. Motionless in a way Leonardo rarely is, and though he’s always attempted to be considerate with Usagi’s boundaries, there’s only so much one can prevent once sleep takes them.

And Leonardo is restless. Constantly moving, his shell hard and cold and unforgiving.

There’s none of that now. Just a young turtle pushed into an impossible situation, isolated and depressed, and Leonardo must sense Usagi’s presence because he gives a soft murmur. A quiet chirp that does little to alleviate the tension creasing his forehead, and for whatever reason, it makes Usagi uneasy. A sudden desire to correct it, despite the lingering negativity between them.

Maybe, by the time Leonardo wakes, Usagi will find enough courage to speak.

Glancing up, he notices the cup Leonardo had been fixing when he’d entered. It’s tipped over on its side, a dark puddle spilling onto the countertop. A transgression Leonardo usually wouldn’t have allowed, but he hasn’t been sleeping. He hasn’t been eating, either, and he looks unwell because of it.

Maybe they’re both due a visit to whatever health clinic is nestled in this hotel. They’ll have to go separately. Usagi doubts he’ll be allowed in the same room as Leonardo when the questions start. A scenario he’s replayed countlessly within the safe confines of his own mind.

They’ll start simple and easily explainable.

How are you feeling, Leonardo? Are you enjoying your stay? Have you found everything you need? Are all these requests yours: the lotion, concealer, and lavender-scented candles?

Then, they’ll turn more direct.

Is there any pain? Are any bruises easily concealed beneath clothes or make-up?

Before changing to something unavoidable.

You’re in a safe space, Leonardo. You can tell us. Is Usagi hurting you? Have you been beaten? Is that why you don’t sleep? Don’t eat?

No. Leonardo does all that to himself, and Usagi cannot figure out why. Some days, it’s like Leonardo has resigned himself to a fate he didn’t want, but that’s impossible. Whenever people come to Big Mama expecting to make a deal, they know what they’re doing. They know, and only the cowards try to avoid it.

But Leonardo isn’t a coward, and he’s not stupid. Whatever he wanted, whatever Big Mama gave him, he should have been expecting a fate far worse than this.

Usagi picks up the cup, tentatively smelling its contents; he reels away in shock, nose wrinkling at the unmistakable scent of Dream Root. A plant nearly impossible to find or grow, and Father traveled across the world for access to it. It’s part of the reason they moved to the Hidden City, hoping to score big with its elite, but it proved futile. Everything involving Father’s illness led to a dead-end, a completely pointless endeavor, and soon Usagi was counting the days until he was truly orphaned.

It’s one of the few harmless treatments Father had pursued, but nothing is without risk. A sedative, regardless of how natural, is still a sedative.

From the couch, Leo gives a choked-off little sound. Usagi glances at him and then back to the cup.

“Oh, Leonardo,” he whispers, “Where did you get this?”

Predictably, Leonardo doesn’t answer. He remains still and silent, skin pale and shadows stretching across the panes of his face. Usagi sets the cup back on the corner so he can return to the couch’s edge, picking up one of the many blankets tucked around the room. Unfolding it, he stares down at Leonardo’s sleeping face before spreading it over him.

There’s no way Leonardo could have found Dream Root, and Usagi doubts he had previous knowledge of it. Or that Big Mama would have given him any even if he had.

He spends the next several hours settled in the chair beside the couch, a book he’s not really reading open to a page he’s not paying attention to. It’s meant as a distraction but does little in terms of actually distracting. Eventually, lurking agitation has once again found him.

The book audibly snaps shut as Usagi jumps from the chair to begin pacing, scratching his forearms. Has the room always been this small? This narrow?

He needs space. He needs air. He needs to—

Making a decision, Usagi announces, “I’m going to get dinner, Leonardo. I’ll be right back.”

There are plenty of places nearby that they both enough, but Usagi decides upon the modest dumpling place he and Leonardo have visited a few times. It’s a little further away but is one of the few places Leonardo consistently eats, and Dream Root has a reputation of making people wake hungry.

Most importantly, though, the teenage hostess doesn’t instantly recoil at the sight of him. Her hands tremble, and her shoulders square defensively, but she forces a smile long enough to take his order and give him a wait time.

It’s funny. Over time, with Leonardo, those things stopped mattering. Nothing else mattered as long as Leonardo stared at him and only at him. Nobody else mattered.

Perhaps that was Leonardo’s greatest trick: breaking through the terrifyingly savage Miyamoto Usagi’s protective exterior before slipping forever out of reach. Even now, he’s a dark cloud shadowing Usagi’s decisions.

And, just like that, the frustration is back.

Stepping out of the shop, Usagi crosses his arms and tries to content himself in waiting, but soon, his foot begins tapping. Then comes the itch and the scratching. The pacing.

“My, oh my, what a dreadful picture you make,” a woman’s voice tuts, tongue clicking in the frame of her grin. “Honeymoons are meant to be joyous affairs.”

Stiff and angry, Usagi turns. His voice is flat when he greets, “Big Mama.”

In response, her grin broadens.

:: ::

Father never liked Big Mama. He claimed he didn’t trust her and refused to listen to any of her sweetened promises. It irritated Usagi because they’d recently discovered that Father’s illness was curable, and Big Mama had the resources to save his life.

“Usagi,” Father tried whenever they returned home from their most recent meeting with a health specialist and being told they simply cannot afford the treatment or the cure.

It was on the cusp of another fight, another argument, and more silence. Father went ignored, Usagi stomping towards his room and slamming the door. It wasn’t like Father could do anything to him. Not in this weakened state that’s progressively worsening.

The door opened because Usagi hadn’t bothered locking it. Father’s broad silhouette glared disappointingly at him. Usagi turned his back to him to start pacing, fingers scratching his wrists. The most recent episode had lasted longer than any of the others, and the aftermath was the most terrifying moment of Usagi’s life. He still saw Father’s vacant stare whenever his eyes closed, sending ice throughout his veins.

Father shouted, “Usagi!”

“She can help you,” shouted Usagi back, staring accusingly back at Father’s trembling figure. “Why are you fighting this?”

“Because she’s not offering this for free. Why can’t you see that her price is higher than we should be willing to pay?”

“Willing to pay? Willing to pay? This isn’t getting two front-row tickets to the Battle Nexus. This is your life.”

“And we’ll figure it out.” Father stepped towards him, catching his biceps and squeezing with a desperation that he rarely allowed Usagi to see. “Together. Please, son.”

Any other time, Usagi might have relented. He’s always been weak to his father’s whims and desperately wanted to appease him.

But not today.

Knocking away Father’s hands, Usagi demanded, “You would have me watch you die? Seriously? With everything I know?”

Father caught him by the wrist, jerking him back around, and snapped, “Regardless of what you may think you know, I am your father, and you will listen to me.”

Usagi continued to fight against his hold, but he refused to let him go. Teenage petulance rose sharply inside his chest, and it was not often Usagi allowed himself to indulge in it. Father needed him to be patient, compassionate, and understanding. He needed him to be stronger.

But Usagi was tired of swallowing down his constant fear that one day he would wake up and be fatherless. Just the night before, he overheard Father and Katsuichi’s plans for Usagi whenever the time came. When, not if. Like they’ve given up. Like Usagi was the only one still trying.

Stilling, Usagi narrowed his eyes and said, “I’m tired. I would like to go to bed.”

Father hesitated for so long that Usagi momentarily worried that he caught onto the lie. It wasn’t often Usagi lied, another one of his many responsibilities he wasn’t expected to share because Father lied. Katsuichi lied. Big Mama couldn’t be trusted because she lied.

But then Father nodded, releasing his wrists to cup the back of his neck and press their foreheads together. It was almost enough to deter Usagi’s renewed determination to protect him but when he shakily exhales, he realizes that this was something he must do. Because Father might fear the consequences, but Usagi was more terrified of losing him.

“We’ll talk in the morning,” Father promised, but they never did because, by morning, Usagi was competing in the Battle Nexus.

:: ::

Despite Leonardo’s insistence that they talk and clear up the misunderstanding, Usagi sees very little of him. In the morning, Usagi usually finds a box of pastries and a missing chessboard. At night, Leonardo kneels at the table, quietly shifting the pieces across the board’s surface while Usagi reads.

It’s also the only time Usagi ensures Leonardo is eating. A lesson learned from spending years caring for an ailing father.

Then, out of nowhere, Leonardo says, “I saw Big Mama today.”

Glancing from the book he isn’t reading, Usagi asks, “Oh?”

“She asked who taught me to place chess.” It’s also said without looking up as Leonardo moves the queen in check. “She seemed pleased that we were getting along.”

“Maybe she was just shocked to see you still here.”

“Perhaps.” Leonardo moved the king to safety. “You ready to have that conversation?”

Usagi’s fingers thoughtfully tap the book cover but he settles on, “My father was dying. When I made my deal with Big Mama. He was for a long time—long before my mother died—but it worsened afterward. We had little money, and moving to the Hidden City was expensive. It pleated many of Father’s resources, so we couldn’t afford to cure his illness when we discovered how to.”

“But it was curable?”

“It was curable.”

“That’s—I can’t imagine. My family is all the best parts of myself. Losing any of them would be—”

For some reason, the words catch Usagi off-guard. Some of it is probably attributed to the plain certainty the words are said, but most of it stems from the depressed downturn of his mouth. Setting the book to the side, Usagi moves to settle next to him on the floor.

“Yeah,” agrees Usagi, bumping their shoulders together. “I know.”

Leonardo doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t have to. The responsibility, the fear, the trouble of inserting all your self-worth into someone else’s life because accidents happen. People get hurt. Loved ones die. It’s a burden they both carry, even while Leonardo is acting dumb.

But that feels infinitesimal in the tender quietness of this moment. It’s the first time Usagi’s allowed himself to believe that everything will be okay, despite now knowing Leonardo’s true nature. Or, perhaps, because of it because at the time it hadn’t felt like their visit from Baron Draxum matters.

After all, Baron Draxum went. Leonardo remained. Whatever remains, whatever is going to happen, can be faced together.

So, naturally, the following day, Leonardo goes missing.

Though surprisingly, Leonardo’s disappearance isn’t the first bad news reaching Usagi. That comes shortly after his morning jog, having been unable to shake Katsuichi’s stern internal monologue that marriage is little excuse for allowing his training to falter. If anything, it should only further prove how essential it is.

Though Leonardo is far from the wilting flower everyone in the hotel seems to consider him. Usagi supposes Leonardo has the good fortune of coming into this engagement anonymously…and that Usagi’s reputation is an excellent shield for his more devious nature.

It granted Leonardo a freedom he probably wouldn’t have otherwise gotten, but he’s still the first to come to Usagi’s defense. The other day, he heard rumors that Leonardo terrified a well-meaning employee who had stopped to ask if Usagi was still beating him. Usagi had smiled at the news, warm and pleased. It wasn’t until later that he remembered why he was mad at the turtle.

Fiddling with his towel, Usagi dabs it across his cheeks and throat. They still haven’t talked because it makes Usagi irrationally angry. However, the realization that Leonardo still jumps to his defense, Usagi’s realized that they can’t avoid being split. As a result, they’ve found an awkward in-between. Last night was the first time they started sorting through all their wedding presents—a task they procrastinated on because it hurt too much.

It was nice, though, and all the presents were expensive. Nothing either of their families could afford, though Leonardo began telling him about all the fantastic things his brother, Donnie, built for them. From the scraps they dragged out of the trash.

Usagi drops the towel in the designated basin, already thinking about what he can grab for lunch. There’s a sandwich place nearby that Usagi’s gotten addicted to during the time he and Leonardo were avoiding each other. And it’s near Leonardo’s favorite frozen yogurt place.

He’s waiting for his order whenever two women who must’ve married rich walk past, speaking far too loud for someone talking about someone else’s life.

“—or dear,” one says, “to not only be married to that absolute savage but to have Big Mama change the terms of their agreement like that.”

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who their target of gossip is, and, typically, Usagi consciously tries to ignore it. Whenever he’s with Leonardo, it’s easy to do—especially whenever the turtle hooks his finger with Usagi’s in silent support. It’s harder to do whenever he’s alone, though he usually manages.

This time is different. It isn’t about him; it’s about Leonardo.

“Especially when one considers the rumors that she ensnared him first. I heard his entire family wanted nothing to do with her.”

And it’s immediately apparent that neither realizes he’s standing there until he turns around to intercept their path. Both flinch, cowering behind their recently manicured nails and wall of bags. They are taller but noticeably thinner, and Usagi’s been raised to respect his elders. For that reason alone, he steps back.

There’s a low growl in the back of his throat as he demands, “What are you talking about?”

The room quietens. Everyone watches, and it doesn’t escape Usagi’s notice that nobody offers to help either.

“We—we—” stutters the cat; her hands shaking.

“Big Mama changed her agreement?”

In unison, they nod; impatient, Usagi snaps, “To what?”

“You haven’t heard? She tied his to yours—evidently, his own had been lacking.” Usagi’s expression at the news must have been frightening because they recoil, still trembling. “It was publicized and everything.”

Which explains the baron’s arrival. But that isn’t right either. If Big Mama wanted him enough for this, she wouldn’t have allowed such a weakness to slip beneath her notice. She would have been more innovative, more meticulous.

Unless she knew Leonardo wouldn’t leave because what she held over him was far greater than any contractual obligations. Unless she had been threatening something he loves. Or someone. A group of people.

They really need to have that conversation.

To the older women, Usagi says, “I have to go,” before sprinting back to their room.

You didn’t, Leonardo. Tell me you didn’t.

But Usagi knows he would’ve if Big Mama threatened his family, and Usagi never gave him a chance to fully explain. When he’s been suffering by himself all this time.

“Leonardo!”

Why didn’t Leo just leave? When he doesn’t owe Big Mama anything? It doesn’t make sense.

“Leonardo!” but the turtle isn’t there, which isn’t surprising—especially during their time of not speaking to each other because Usagi was being unreasonable and moody, and Leonardo allowed it.

The chessboard sits on the table. Whatever strategy Leonardo has been working on is still in place, but even that isn’t abnormal. If it’s something he’s interested in or desperately wants to work through, he prefers that over trying to swindle the other guests.

But there’s an uncomfortably heavy weight pressing into Usagi’s chest; the tips of his fingers brush the soft underside of his wrist.

Something isn’t right. Usagi isn’t sure what yet, but he needs to speak with Leonardo and understand and know. Then he’ll be able to face whatever consequences and won’t have to do it alone. There won’t be a need to, and he’s shocked by how suddenly he wants to share this burden.

Usagi sits on the couch, propping his elbows onto his knees and burying his face into his hands. He rubs his temples and consciously focuses on steadying his breathing. Another thing he hasn’t noticed Leonardo helps with until his forced absence.

Closing his eyes, Usagi mentally goes through the steps Leonardo sometimes walks him through. Name five things that he feels and then four things that he sees. What does he hear? What is putting him on edge? What isn’t? Why does he only want to ground himself in something familiar, something safe? And why is that Leonardo?

All he has to do is wait for Leonardo to return, but it doesn’t take long before his stomach reminds him that he hasn’t eaten and he’s exercised today. Running always makes him hungry, and the lovely meal he planned to share with Leonardo has been abandoned. The shop is too far away, and Usagi doesn’t feel like again making the trip. Still Leonardo needs to eat, must be reminded to eat, and there’s no family here to bully him into it.

No brothers or friends to force Leonardo into breakfast and dinner, so Usagi must. And doing it with Leonardo does make it easier for Usagi—similar to what Leonardo’s brother said about the importance of routine in preventing and combating depression, which Usagi’s never worried about until Leonardo brought it up.

Lately, it seems to be all Usagi can worry about. For both of them—especially since they haven’t been speaking or doing the usual things together. Another reason Leonardo’s absence from the room isn’t abnormal, though certainly unwanted, because it’s been days, and Usagi might have been wrong in his initial assumptions.

Usagi murmurs, “It’s alright. I’ll ask him when he returns.”

Except Leonardo doesn’t return. Even after Usagi gives up on waiting and goes to fetch something quick, his absence turns so distracting that reading or playing any of their video games (which Usagi is still terrible at it) works as a suitable distraction, so he ends up turning on the television to begin sorting through old Battle Nexus fights.

It’s hard at first. The swell of the crowd’s chant mixed with the visuals quickly puts Usagi back in his waiting cell, back in the arena. All the fear and pain and—

—he finds Leonardo’s fight, which has a lot more presentation than all the usual ones. Things reserved for significant events meant to attract larger crowds. It might have occurred before Usagi’s deal because he doesn’t remember it. The fight is relatively short, too, and though initially, the rat (presumably Leonardo’s father) appears to be the crowd-pleaser, it doesn’t take long before Leonardo steals the show.

Usagi pauses the television on the image of Leonardo in that silly outfit, smiling wholly and smugly, unafraid of his dealings with Big Mama. He looks unbothered, almost happy, and Usagi suddenly gets what Leonardo always says about his best parts being tied to his family. It’s such a calm strength that Usagi’s yet to see, and he supposes some of it also stems from the fact that he’s not yet a prisoner.

Clutching the Leonardo plush doll to his chest, Usagi thinks about his desire to see that carefree expression in person. That thought follows Usagi down to his dreams, and Leonardo still hasn’t returned when he wakes. Not even to change, and that’s never before happened. It’s the first niggling of concern that Usagi doesn’t immediately dismiss or attempt to justify away.

But it’s not until that night when an employee casually asks about Leonardo’s whereabouts that Usagi realizes what has gone wrong: Leonardo has vanished, and nobody seems to know where he’s at.

:: ::

In a room identical to his own, Leo wakes. His throat is dry from the drugs slipped unknowingly into his drink, making his skin itch; he’s yet gained the strength to act upon it. Just keeping his eyes open is sapping most of his strength.

“Ah. You’re awake. Good,” a familiar voice says as if pleased by this outcome. Leo tilts his head just far enough that he’s able to catch a glimpse of Katsuro’s smiling face. “We have much to discuss.”

:: ::

Sleep is impossible, and though the bundle of Dream Root is in their cabinets, it feels perverse to go through Leonardo’s stuff with him not here. Without Leonardo’s presence, remaining in the room also feels suffocating, and it doesn’t take long before Usagi returns to the gym.

He breaks another training dummy. Still, the violent insistence burning under his skin aches like rot beneath tree bark. Scratching doesn’t alleviate it, and he’s beginning to lose clumps of white fur. Big Mama used to give him vitamins—the same ones sitting in one of their cabinets—but it improved so much in Leonardo’s presence that Usagi forgot about them.

Fitting that it’s also starting to fall apart in Leonardo’s absence.

Training isn’t helping, which Katsuichi has always warned acted more like a band-aid. It’s never been something Usagi thought about until now. Food doesn’t interest him, and his usual activities aren’t enough to turn his thoughts away from his wayward husband. His mind continues to turn around and around…

Leonardo hadn’t willingly left because Big Mama changed his agreement to match Usagi’s. If he’d done something to break it, then Usagi would have already been punished.

If Leonardo had unwillingly left, the best chance of finding him is to send someone with similar stakes. Someone who would have wanted Leonardo to live because they share an obligation, but other than asking if he’s seen Leonardo, Usagi hasn’t been approached.

So, Leonardo is still in the hotel and somehow avoids detection despite eyes watching their every move. The same eyes that watch Usagi return, agitated and fur-bristling, to his (their) room. For a while, it had been the closest thing to a safe haven Usagi had but recently…

Now, his mind reminds him that there’s a fourth option causing Leonardo’s disappearance, but it’s darker than the other three. It upsets him more, anyways, and if something irreversible has happened to Leonardo, then Usagi might do some very bad things to those responsible.

Isn’t that a weird thought? A weird certainty?

Walking over to the double doors overseeing their balcony—another thing that’s gone mostly unused—Usagi throws them open with such force that the door handles dent the room’s walls. The terrace is relatively small, with only enough room for one chair that neither has used. Usagi had little interest in coming out here; Leonardo claimed the view was tragically uninspired.

His exact words were: this whole hotel, and she gave us the balcony overseeing the parking lot.

But Usagi didn’t know what a parking lot was, so Leonardo spent the next several hours explaining it to him. The conversation ended with Usagi plainly telling Leonardo that he still didn’t know what a parking lot was. He hadn’t been lying and expected Leonardo to scoff and berate him for wasting their time.

But Leonardo had smiled, warm and bright, and said, “I’ll have to show you sometime.”

Even the memory unwinds some of the pressure building on top of his chest; Usagi settles a hand against his chest and repeats the words he said then. “I look forward to it, Leonardo.”

“It’s a date!” the memory of Leonardo chirps back then turns so alarmingly red Usagi feared he managed to get sick, though Leonardo recovered quickly and never explained what was wrong.

“I have things to show you too,” Usagi whispers, hand gentle against the door’s side. “So…stay alive.”

The view is lackluster, though Usagi doubts he’ll have ever noticed. Due to Mother’s untimely death and Father’s persistent illness, Usagi grew up accustomed to near nothing. Mariko and Kenichi’s parents seemed almost luxuriously rich in comparison, but Usagi was quick to ruin both those friendships.

He should have never chased that lizard, but he’d been young, easily impressed, and never really intended for Kenichi to follow it to the cave.

“You lured me to that cave on purpose!” Kenichi had accused, red-faced and angry in a way only children can be, “From now on, we’re enemies for life!”

They never spoke again, though they occasionally saw glimpses of one another. Naturally, their rift also punished Mariko as the two boys demanded she pick a side. Usagi wasn’t sure why, but he’d been confident she would choose him. She didn’t. Of course, she didn’t. She yelled at them both and soon all three weren’t speaking.

Then Father took a turn for the worse and another turn and another until Usagi made his deal with Big Mama.

He only ever saw Kenichi after that. Once. After, he broke in to yell at Usagi, demanding to know if he was fully aware of the damage Usagi had caused. But Big Mama honored the deal and saved Father’s life; for him, Usagi would sell much more than his freedom.

Turning to stare up at the hotel’s surface, Usagi considers it. Hands on hips, he tilts his head while blue eyes flicker between the various climbing points. It’s the one thing he hasn’t yet attempted, though he always enjoyed before his imprisonment. There haven’t been many opportunities, and Usagi was determined not to accidentally upset Big Mama.

Knowing that Leonardo can just disappear, Usagi isn’t sure he wants to keep the peace—especially not knowing that she altered Leonardo’s deal, though he’s yet to break it. She was just looking for control, knowing Leonardo could not stop her.

Usagi jumps.

It’s a solid leap, too, and his fingers expertly dig into the surface’s natural dents and grooves. He’s never cared for the material because it’s relatively smooth and harder to climb but not impossible. Just enough to ward off thieves and those intending to enjoy the perks without paying. Usagi has little interest in either of those things and scales diagonally until he can stop beneath one of the identical balconies lining the surface.

The door is shut, and the curtains are drawn whenever Usagi flips on top of it. His movements are silent, and he lands sure-footed and graceful despite his lapse in training. Then instantly shutters.

“This feels far too much like shinobi work,” he whispers. “Moving around in shadows and silence and—”

The room is silent, the lights off, when Usagi taps on the glass. Nobody screams or cries for help, so he tries the handle and calls, “Leonardo?”

Leonardo doesn’t call out for him either, so huffing, Usagi climbs on the balcony’s banister and leaps to the next one over. This time, he can hear voices inside, but they sound drunk and happy and not discussing the whereabouts of Leonardo. They seem uncomfortably intimate, quickly sending a red-faced Usagi scurrying to the next room.

It must take him hours because he’s hot from climbing in the morning sunlight by the time he reaches the roof. His muscles are shaking from the exertion, so he starts to shake it lose while considering the view. It’s much nicer, extending a far greater distance, and Usagi cannot help staring.

The sky is the typical splash of orange and purple, swirling together like paint on a canvas. Kenichi always called it inspired and, at least whenever they were younger, would spend hours mixing two colors to find the perfect hue. The other kids loved picking on him for his near obsession with detail. Then inevitably asked for his help with their masks whenever the Lilin festival came around.

Usagi never thought he’d be able to miss someone so much—especially considering how terrible things went between them. Maybe if Kenichi hadn’t visited, hadn’t looked at him with that wild-eyed expression he adopts when he feels powerless…

Maybe if he hadn’t done that, then Usagi’s mind wouldn’t keep coming back to it. He had looked worried and it felt like he cared, and Usagi thought he could handle much worse if it just meant that his friend didn’t hate him.

No wonder Big Mama ensnared him so entirely in her web. He’s a fool, and now Leonardo is missing without any leads. Not only that, but he’s been gone for almost three days, and it took two before Usagi realized something was wrong.

“Forgive me, Leonardo,” whispers Usagi, eying the horizon as if the answers will fall from the heavens to bless him. “Forgive me.”

:: ::

“Of course, this ultimately depends on you,” Katsuro tells him, holding out a wooden cup. “How’s that old adage go? The enemy of an enemy is a friend.”

Raph’s voice screams at him to not accept or drink from it, especially since Katsuro has already proven himself untrustworthy. It’s sweeter than Leo had been expecting. Cold despite its lack of ice.

Swallowing, Leo asks, “What are you thinking?”

Katsuro grins.

:: ::

Considering how everyone avoids him, finding any hint of Leonardo’s location is nearly impossible. Apparently, for good reason, as there are two broken practice dummies he’s responsible for. He’d typically spend hours overthinking and trying to put the appropriate words together in apology, but there’s nothing ordinary about the last three days. Leonardo is missing, and he can’t physically leave him here. Which means something else has happened, and something else is rarely good.

So very badly does Usagi want to dismantle this hotel. Catch it on fire and let it burn until it spits Leonardo back out, and then deal with whatever fallout, whatever ensuring consequences. At least then he’ll know that Leonardo is alive.

Leonardo better be alive, or whoever took him isn’t the only one who will have to confront Usagi’s ire. The point of bringing them here is to keep them safe, and if Big Mama cannot appropriately keep track of her assets, then Usagi will make sure she lives long enough to regret it.

Usagi shakes his head. Physically hoping to dislodge the dark, violent thoughts. They’re unhelpful and only serve as a distraction; he cannot afford to be distracted. He’s wasted enough time being angry and not talking.

Because Leonardo isn’t a pawn or an employee. He’s just unfortunate enough to find himself in Big Mama’s crosshairs.

It’s the first time Usagi’s confronted with how attached he seems to have gotten, though it doesn’t come as a shock. They’ve spent days together and have each seen the other at their darkest points. Faced the parts of themselves that they wish to keep hidden but cannot due to the forced proximity. And they’ve learned to adapt, to keep the other from succumbing to the waiting enemies in their minds.

And that dependency breeds trouble.

“Usagi?”

Usagi stops, blinking. His mind is playing tricks on him, but his body reacts to it anyway. Spinning hopefully around only to stare at Leonardo’s perplexed expression. His forehead is creased, shaking hands clutched to his chest, and his dark eyes are wide in almost concern. Not for himself but for Usagi because all he ever seems to do is worry for Usagi.

“Leonardo.”

“Ah…what’s up? Listen, I know you probably don’t want to speak with me, but we really need to have that conversation, and I—”

The words cut off beneath the force of Usagi’s weight colliding into him, and they probably would have toppled over if not for Usagi keeping them upright. Momentarily, Leonardo tenses before relaxing, his entire body shuddering with soft tremors. His skin is cooler than usual and several shades too light.

But he doesn’t flinch or cry out in pain. Just continues to frown uncertainly as Usagi pulls away and begins his thorough search over his head, neck, shoulders, arms…

“Uh…everything alright there, Usagi?” asks Leonardo with an uncertain little laugh, “People are starting to stare.”

“Let them stare,” but Usagi does stop to consider Leonardo’s face. “You were gone for three days.” Leonardo’s pupils are wide and dark from whatever drug he’s been slipped. “Are you alright?”

Leonardo smiles and lies, “Oh yeah. I’m great.”

Usagi’s frown deepens; he crosses his arms in disapproval, earning a nervous chuckle from the turtle, but he isn’t wrong. They are attracting an uncomfortable amount of attention, and there’s no need for this to be so public. Leonardo doesn’t even fight him when Usagi takes his wrist to drag him back to their shared room.

Not much has changed, but Leonardo visibly relaxes at the sight of it. Instantly heading towards the couch and the Lou Jitsu plushie he had been sleeping with before his disappearance. Until recently, Usagi would have let him.

They would go back to not speaking, pretending they’re okay whenever it’s clear they’re not. It’s how Big Mama keeps her control—by tricking them into thinking they’re okay when that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Resigned to their fates, at least.

Usagi catches his wrist. Leonardo startles and then immediately looks away. The tension has returned, and Usagi hates that he’s the reason it’s there. But this is important, and it can’t afford to go ignored. After all, Leonardo proved how easy it is for them to disappear for a few days, weeks, ever.

“You’re shaking,” is what Usagi says. “Are you cold or…?”

“I’m fine.” Liar.

“Sure you are.”

“Are you seriously wanting to do this now?”

Usagi tilts his head and innocently asks, “Do what, Leonardo?”

Leonardo spins around, eyes smoldering, but it’s too much movement, too fast. He falters, legs buckling, and he collapses into Usagi’s arms. His skin is near ice to the touch, yet he continues to fight against it. Clearly, whatever he wants to say, he’s tired of not saying.

But Usagi beats him, whispering, “You need to sleep.”

“We need to talk.”

“It cannot wait a couple of hours? At least until whatever waning drug wears off?”

“I—it’s fine, Usagi,” at Usagi’s continued silence, Leonardo adds, “It was just a mild sedative. Donnie has experimented with worst.”

“Tell me, Leonardo. What did you do next when your brother injected you with strong sedatives? Did you talk, or did you sleep?”

Leonardo doesn’t answer; his silence says more than if he had.

“Just lie down on the bed, and we can speak there,” Usagi compromises, which is more than he’s offered since Baron Draxum’s arrival; still, he cannot resist adding, “Promise.”

For a moment, it looks like Leonardo will continue to protest. But his exhaustion evidently wins out, and it takes no time before Usagi has him curled in bed. However, unlike what he planned to happen, Leonardo doesn’t immediately fall asleep. He sits on his knees and waits expectantly for Usagi to join him.

Usagi sighs and Leonardo pulls him beside him on the bed whenever he still doesn’t sit. His fingers linger around his wrist, where clumps of Usagi’s fur are missing.

“When was the last time you groomed yourself?” Leonardo asks, voice whisper-soft and painfully worried.

“Does it matter?”

“Usagi.”

“I’ll tell you what. You get some sleep—just until you burn the drugs out of your system—and I’ll let you brush me when you wake. Then we’ll have that long-needed conversation. When both of us are clear of mind and don’t look like we’re going to fall apart at any moment.”

Leonardo stares. For a long time, he stares.

Then, finally, concedes, “Alright.”

And truthfully, watching Leonardo sleep isn’t all that exciting, but it settles something inside his chest, and it’s one of the few times Usagi feels himself sinking into the present. He’s not worried about the future; he isn’t haunted by the past.

Usagi clenches his hand, watching the tendons pop before relaxing back under the surface. The itching demand for violence has settled considerably, knowing that Leonardo is safe and unharmed. If something has happened, if Leonardo has another ghost residing in the darkest corners of his mind, they’ll deal with it. Together. Whatever it is, whatever waits, Usagi isn’t going to let him face it alone.

On that thought, Leonardo groans, eyelids fluttering, as he hoarsely asks, “Usagi?”

“I’m here,” quickly assures Usagi. “How are you feeling?”

“Weird,” admits Leonardo. “It feels like I’ve had cotton shoved down my throat, and my bones ache. I—oh, thank you.” He pauses to accept the cup of water Usagi hands him and, under Usagi’s watchful gaze, takes several tentative sips; Leonardo blinks back at him and says, “You don’t look angry.”

“I heard what happened with Big Mama—”

“Oh.”

“—you shouldn’t have stayed.”

Leonardo blinks owlishly back, mouth open though words seem to have abandoned him. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Usagi reaches out to take hold of his hand. Their fingers slot perfectly together, but Usagi refuses to let his mind linger on that.

This conversation needs to be had first. It demands to be had, and then they can figure out what they mean to each other.

So squeezing Leonardo’s hands, pulling him so he’s the only thing Leonardo looks at, he asks, “You didn’t make a deal with her first, did you?”

Soundlessly, Leonardo closes his beak and shakes his head. He looks sad.

Suddenly mindful of their position, Usagi lets go, but he fiddles with his ring because his hands have nothing to do to distract roaming thoughts. He’s kept it on, though he has never been able to justify why; it just felt right, like it bound him with Leonardo, but that feels too possessive, so he buries that too deep inside of him.

“I should have allowed you to explain. It’s just…everything I heard and believed was that people always went to Big Mama first. She was just really good at twisting situations into her favor, and it never occurred to me that she may seek someone else to force them into compliance.” And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out a way to get Leonardo to do what you want.

“Usagi—”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have allowed my pride to take over as it did. I shouldn’t have refused to speak with you. I should have listened. It’s the least I could have offered you.”

“It’s alright. Really.”

“It isn’t, Leonardo. You deserved better, and Big Mama had no right to force you. Or changing your agreement to further tie yourself to me.”

“Usagi!” shouts Leonardo, and then softer says, “I fully expected Big Mama to change my agreement whenever I brought up how much it would suck. I wanted her to.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s complicated—especially recently, and I’d love to discuss it with you, but your fur is bristling, and you made me a promise.” Leonardo bats dark eyes meaningfully at him; Usagi sighs, having hoped to avoid it but is too tired to fight him on it.

They move to the bathroom, where Leonardo situates him on the bathtub’s edge before opening all their drawers in search of a hairbrush. By the time he returns his attention to Usagi, Usagi is fidgeting so much that he’s nearly vibrating. Leonardo smiles gently, climbing into the tub behind him.

“I’ll be gentle,” he promises softly, voice a breathy whisper that crawls along the knobs of Usagi’s spine.

Usagi doesn’t respond. He’s been here enough and knows what to expect; the anticipation makes him tense, but Leonardo’s hands are warm when he brushes his fingertips against his elbow.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Usagi lies. “Just…do it.”

“Usagi—”

“Leonardo.”

“Alright,” huffs Leonardo, but then begins, and it doesn’t hurt. It’s not too much and doesn’t make Usagi feel like he’s crawling out of his skin.

It’s intimate, and it’s not until Leonardo touches his shoulder that Usagi startles out of his weird fog-clouded thoughts.

Leonardo asks, “Should we stop?”

“No,” Usagi says, “It’s weirdly pleasant. Where did you learn to do that?”

“I read the comments on an Internet article.”

Usagi’s ears twitch as he asks, “Really?”

Leonardo smirks mischievously back at him; he pokes Usagi’s forehead with his finger, “No. We’re not allowed access to the Internet, remember?”

Smiling sheepishly back, Usagi says, “Right. I knew that. Now, remind me again, what exactly is the Internet?”

Usagi can’t help the chuckle that breaks from his chest at Leonardo’s indigent gawk and the comical sound he makes. He reaches back out, taking the wrist of the hand holding the hairbrush, and guiding it so the bristles are touching the fluff at his throat. Catching on surprisingly quick, Leonardo shuffles so he’s standing between Usagi’s legs. Staring down at the pleased lift of Usagi’s mouth.

“You should brush yourself more.”

“And you should bath more, stinky sewer boy.”

Leonardo’s grin broadens, and, at such close proximity, Usagi’s neck is reclined all the way back; yet, they just stare. For a long time, they stare, and the thought of being trapped in Big Mama’s hotel feels like the furthest thing from his mind.

The moment ends far too soon when Leonardo frowns and steps back. After spending three days uncertain about his fate, Usagi isn’t sure he wants him to.

“Usagi,” Leonardo starts, fidgeting with the hairbrush while avoiding eye contact, “You asked why I wanted Big Mama to change the terms of our agreement. It’s because there were no terms. She just showed up, threatened my family, and the next thing I knew I was getting married, and we—it—I never meant to deceive you, but it wasn’t until Baron Draxum that I realized that you thought I sought her out.”

“The blame is mine. I shouldn’t have assumed—”

“I realized something else then, too. I realized I didn’t know why Big Mama wanted me. Did she just want someone to keep you in line? Was I meant to punish my dad? Was I collateral for something else, something greater? What was she planning?”

Usagi feels the edges of his claws tickle the skin of his wrist, but he doesn’t allow himself anymore. Leonardo continues fiddling with the hairbrush in distraction.

“So I hoped by Baron Draxum’s presence, Big Mama would make her presence known. After all, we’re both assets, and the only thing she had keeping me here was the threat to my family. My assumption was eventually proven correct. She came.” Usagi remembered. “And she approached me under the guise of playing chess.”

A terrible thought suddenly occurs to Usagi as he pulls away and asks, “Was she the one who gave you Dream Root?”

“Dream…no. That was…someone else.” Leonardo swallows, looking uncomfortable. “But she finally told me what she wanted from me. My innocence. My anonymity. She wanted me to steal something from a very powerful adversary. Katsuro, do you remember him? He was at our wedding.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He has this…orb. Big Mama called it a trinket. Priceless beyond imagination, she said it was a travesty that he was determined to keep hidden.”

“And your thoughts?”

“At the time, I wasn’t sure. She’s never struck me as the type interested in the liberation of the arts; everything she wants or does has a purpose. Nothing is ever on a whim, but I thought, ‘if I do this, then I’ll be free,’ but then I thought of you, and I couldn’t—”

He cuts off, tilting his head to regard them standing in the mirror. Leonardo leans against the adjacent wall as Usagi continues to watch him.

“That was the time I started making comments. Little things to plant seeds in her mind, as subtle as possible. I’m not an expert at it yet, and I didn’t have to feign my shock whenever she announced she had tied my fate with yours. Altering the agreement at the last second. That’s what she always says, always claims, and I’ve dealt with her enough to know that’s how I can get her. That’s her fatal flaw.”

“But why?”

“Because you deserve to be free, Usagi, and I won’t abandon you here.”

“But by doing so, you’ve just imprisoned yourself here.”

“Only if we allow ourselves to remain trapped.” Leonardo slowly slides down the wall, eyes alight with something akin to excitement. “Usagi, I have a plan to get us both out of here.”

Chapter Text

After an uncomfortable long time, Usagi asks, “What?”

He shakes his head as if that’ll make the words make sense; it doesn’t.

From his crouch, Leonardo blinks up at him; he’s still fiddling with their hairbrush, twirling it almost mindlessly. Spinning it around and around and…

The turtle’s smile would shame the sun. He feels himself lean towards it, chest twisting at the reminder that their relationship could have been much different if their meeting had been different. Would they have gotten along? Would they have allowed their affection to blossom into something more?

Or would they have disagreed? Would they even get along, or would all Usagi see is some deceitful shinobi?

Usagi wants to believe they would’ve gotten along. This warmth splintering throughout his chest is too addictive, and its weird that his first reaction to the promise of escape is the wait-stop-panic of losing this familiarity. But that soon fades beneath the promise of returning home, of seeing his father, and he can’t help the mimicking smile from splitting across his face.

“Strategically, we have the upper hand,” says Leonardo with a confidence that Usagi blindly trusts; the turtle holds up a finger and says, “Big Mama believes she has us trapped. That we cannot do anything because of your deal with her and my clear attachment to you.” Leonardo raises a second finger. “Granting us insight into her mind without offering anything in return. Unlike us, she’s blind to our wants or desires and has little interest in learning them, leading to” the third finger rises, “our final advantage: we know what she wants.”

“An orb,” Usagi fills in as he allows himself to slip from the bathtub’s lip so he’s sitting on the floor, meeting Leonardo’s bright-eyed gaze.

He’s looking better, the remaining effects of the drugs fading from his eyes and posture. Leonardo grins even as he blinks in shock, as if the idea that Usagi had been listening takes him off-guard. Like Usagi isn’t usually entranced by everything he says and does.

Tilting his head to the side, Usagi reminds, “But we don’t know what this orb does,” before he blinks and—oh. “We don’t need to know what the orb does. Only that Big Mama wants it and needs you to get it.”

“And we know who has it.”

Then something terrible clicks inside Usagi’s brain because Big Mama isn’t directly responsible for Leonardo’s disappearance. And it wouldn’t make sense for Leonardo to go missing for three days only to miraculously return with differently shaped pupils.

“Katsuro drugged you,” Usagi says, voice dangerously flat as he curls his fingers into shaking fists.

Leonardo waves his hands flippantly as if those details don’t matter. Like his physical well-being doesn’t matter, and Usagi’s heard enough stories about his brothers to know they’re not responsible for Leonardo’s lack of self-perseverance. And they’ll be furious if they discover that Usagi allows it to fester and grow.

“Leonardo,” warns Usagi.

“He was anticipating Big Mama’s trap, is all. Since the wedding. Because it is so obvious. Don’t you see, Usagi? Big Mama needed to draw Katsuro somewhere she had the upper hand.”

“Her hotel.” Leonardo nods; Usagi wrinkles his nose, furrows his forehead, and continues, “But that would only work if he came willingly, which would take a monumental event.”

“Like a wedding and not just any wedding. The marriage of one of the most prolific and popular Battle Nexus fighters. One who seemed to come from nowhere and dominate every fight he was a part of. One Katsuro has made a small fortune on.”

“Me.”

“But you were too young, still a teenager. She couldn’t marry you to just anyone. It had to be someone your age. Someone she knew she could control. Someone who’s proven themself clever in the past.”

“You.”

“And then announce the location of the new happily marry weds before offering a sweet discount to all the wedding guests. Everyone booked a room.”

Probably to see how severely Usagi would take the situation out on Leonardo. Considering the empty looks and boiling rage Usagi regarded Leonardo since Baron Draxum’s arrival, they weren’t exactly wrong.

“But if Katsuro knew that Big Mama was scheming something, why risk it? If this orb is so important, coming seems almost foolish.”

Leonardo shrugs. “Boredom, I guess. It’s like a game between them, and we’re just the mindless pawns shifting across the board under the mercy of their whims. Which is our greatest advantage. They allowed themselves to underestimate us.”

Understanding dawns suddenly, like a backhand, and excitement bursts inside Usagi’s chest. His fingers curl around his wrist, nails scratching at the tender flesh as he twitches his feet. Leaning forward, Usagi feels almost breathless when he finishes, “That’s our out.”

Then the words, this conversation, filter to the forefront of his mind. He’s scheming against Big Mama, who saved his father. Whom Usagi willingly approached in hopes of striking a deal, and he previously believed it his duty to honor that.

But she lied. She deceived Leonardo, trapped him, and left him marooned from his usual support system. Then Katsuro took him, and though Leonardo’s never given details, Usagi knows they made a deal. And a deal with the fox might just be as bad as making one with the spider.

Leonardo closes the distance, and for one startling heartbeat, Usagi thought it was to kiss him. More surprisingly, however, is how much Usagi wants it. His heart flips over, and his breath catches in his throat. Except Leonardo’s fingers wrap around Usagi’s wrist and gently separates his claws from his flesh, face gentle and caring. Disappointment floods Usagi’s chest, eyes frantically flickering across Leo’s serious features. Completely absorbing them, memorizing it all for later.

“Usagi, will you help me dismantle Big Mama’s plans?”

“Leonardo,” Usagi smiles coldly. “I’d like nothing more.”

:: ::

Usagi doesn’t leave Leo’s side for the next couple of days. It’s strangely reminiscent of his family and their tendency to hover. Sometimes it’s nice; other times, it’s suffocating.

But it’s also different with Usagi.

Most of it is due to their circumstances. It’s hard to forget that they’re prisoners together, and Mikey would have warned about that harboring a dangerous dependency. Leo knows it. Leo hears it but has enough self-awareness to realize that he needs it because he’s been flirting dangerously with his self-destructive tendencies.

He hasn’t been eating. He’s barely been sleeping, and he never takes breaks.

And Usagi’s no longer allowing it.

While working on their escape, Usagi’s also taken it upon himself to ensure Leo lives long enough to get there. In the morning, they go get breakfast. At night, they go get dinner. In between, they sit by the pool or spar or watch movies. Whenever Leo challenges someone to a chess game, Usagi dutifully watches. Leo’s shell has never been as clean and well-maintained, and even sleep has come easier.

Though that might have been due to exhaustion.

All taut strings snap eventually.

Donnie’s fond of telling him that, which is ironic and unfair since Leo’s the one who said it to him first. But now he’s starting to feel it, so it’s not all that surprising whenever it comes crashing down.

One morning when Leo opens his eyes, it feels like it requires all his strength. He must have slept in, too, because the curtains are drawn, Usagi gone, and the rabbit’s side of the bed is cold. The room is still quiet, and Leo isn’t even sure what has woken him; nor does he have the energy to care.

Rolling over, Leo drags the cover over himself, but whatever’s chased away his sleep persists, leaving Leo to stare blankly at the wall. Time passes. It must, as that is what time does, but it filters unnoticed over him, and if he was in a conscious headspace, he’d recognize that the metaphorical string has certainly snapped. Dangerously so.

“Leonardo?”

The word is feather-soft, matching the gentle touch pressing against his arm. Leo hadn’t heard Usagi return. He blames that lapse of awareness on how his stomach flips and his entire body jolts. Instantly, the hand disappears, as does the comforting shadow pressing against his side.

Leo flips over to his shell to meet Usagi’s blue stare. His forehead is furrowed in apparent concern, and this isn’t new. They’ve both had bad days, their greatest enemies trapped in their heads, but something about this feels different.

He forces himself to say, “Hey.”

Usagi smiles pleasantly back, picks up the white cup from the nightstand, and holds it out to him; he says, “Here. I made some tea.” He shifts, though the change in his expression is slight, Leo’s spent enough time to recognize the sudden uncertainty taking over Usagi. “You like tea, right?”

Warmth floods Leo’s insides, and that feeling grants him enough strength to drag himself upright. “I do. Thank you.”

“Always, Leonardo. Always.” But Usagi remains hovering awkwardly at the edge of the bed, as if uncertain about his role in the situation.

Leo shifts, gesturing for Usagi to slip down beside him so he can settle his head against his shoulder. It’s warm and soft, and he smells like Big Mama’s soap. Usagi allows it. He doesn’t seem to mind, palm pressing supportively over Leo’s knee.

“What do you need?” Leo doesn’t respond, doesn’t have the strength to speak. Even the cup feels heavy. “Let’s move to the couch. I brought you some of those fried dough balls you like. The ones stuffed with fruit gelatin and preservatives.”

“Preserves.”

Usagi hums. His hands are supportive and gentle as they urge Leo out of bed and across the room; Leo wraps the blanket around his shoulders, settling against the couch’s armrest, and smiles, warm and pleased, as he accepts the expertly stacked plate.

“ If you weren’t a samurai, you’d have to creatively fulfill yourself elsewhere; a real macaroni necklace type of guy. Or bunny-rabbit.”

Though Usagi’s face remains open and affectionate, his nose twitches in confusion. Leo hides his smile behind a sip from the cup.

They’ve gotten various flavored teas before, always asking the front desk, but Leo had been under the impression they were out. Usagi must have gotten more, physically preparing upon realizing that Leo had slept in, which he never does. Not even at his worst. Not even on his darkest days.

Before, whenever this happens, his brothers are lovingly relentless and make no attempt at concealing their hovering. It’s not that it bothers him, nor is it ineffective. They cage him in, supporting him with their presence, and even Donnie can’t seem to resist offering the constant affirming touch.

Usagi doesn’t, though Leo wouldn’t mind. Except he appreciates the respective distance Usagi inserts between them, settling on the other end of the couch. Leo expects him to start reading, like he always does, while Leo does whatever Leo’s about to do.

He doesn’t feel like doing anything. The only reason he’s nibbling on the gifted food is because Usagi handed it to him.

In a subversion of expectations, though, Usagi turns on the television. A burst of bright colors and a familiar voice fills the room; Leo’s chest instantly tightens, spine straightening as his attention snaps to the screen. Lou Jitsu bounces on frame, and though the face has drastically changed, the smile has remained the same.

How did they never notice? All that time, utterly oblivious.

“Oh no. I’ve messed this up,” whispers Usagi, horrified. “You’re crying.”

Numbly, Leo’s fingers press against wet cheeks. A low whine leaves his throat at the loss of Lou Jitsu’s smiling eyes. Just as quickly, though, Usagi is there. Kneeling at his feet, fingers circling around Leo’s ankles with an expression of genuine concern.

Leo smiles and assures, “It’s alright, Usagi. Just missing home, s’all.”

“Me too.”

Leo nervously bites into one of the balls, the proximity warming his cheeks and neck. It’s unfair how attractive Usagi is, even while angry and distant, but since Katsuro’s forced meeting (it’s not a kidnapping because Leo is not a kid…besides, Katsuro let him go), Usagi’s been much more attentive.

Usagi smiles, oh-so sweetly, and asks, “What do you miss most? Can I ask that? Is that too personal? I—”

“Pizza,” Leo interrupts, which is the safest answer because thinking about his father, brothers, or April, Casey, Sunita, or even Baron Draxum feels too much.

“What’s pizza?”

“Oh, only the greatest food invention ever conceived. Alright, alright, alright. Picture this…” which is how they spend the next several hours; Usagi even moves back on the couch, thighs close enough to touch.

The conversation doesn’t linger on pizza, though Leo’s impressed by how easy he found it a topic to speak about. Then it shifted to Señor Hueso and DIGG. Usagi talked about the Hidden Kingdom, then the Hidden City, and the yokai’s caution towards humans.

Why else do you think cloaking broaches were invented? Usagi had asked; Leo shrugged, only noticing that he’s finished his plate whenever Usagi leans over to grab several more from the table. The conversation circled back to macaroni necklaces, which had been challenging to explain to someone who’s never seen a macaroni noodle.

Even then, despite the good mood and light atmosphere, Leo’s melancholy returns, causing him to droop. His eyes begin to itch and, just like that, all the bottled emotion bursts like those videos of people rolling glass bottles down a flight of stairs.

He presses his palm painfully into his eye, tears streaming freely down cold cheeks. When he moves his hand away, Usagi’s suddenly there. Leaning close, pink nose twitching, Usagi’s blue eyes peer intently at him.

“I’m sorry,” murmurs Leo, realizing he’d been about to bop his temple with the palm of his hand, but Usagi caught it. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Usagi stares. For a long, almost uncomfortable amount of time, Usagi stares. Then—

“We can survive anything as long as there’s an end in sight,” says Usagi, which sounds ridiculous and out-of-place yet is somehow weirdly successful.

Leo asks, “Are you quoting Jupiter Jim? The same movies you say are somehow simultaneously convoluted and mindboggling mundane?”

Usagi twitches but responds honestly, “I thought it could be something we could discuss. They are…not good.”

“Those are fighting words, cottontail.”

“There’s just so many of the same thing.”

“It’s called cinema.”

Usagi snorts, an adorable sound that pushes Leo into tossing the couch’s pillow at his face. Unsurprisingly, Usagi catches it but doesn’t throw it back. He leans back, using it to prop the back of his head against the armrest as he considers him with a lowered gaze.

“Maybe it’s just the company,” Usagi says thoughtfully, “Maybe I just need to watch them with someone with encyclopedic knowledge on the subject. However, niche it might be.”

One of the later movies is playing whenever Leo wakes up the following day, still curled on the couch with the side of his head pressed against Usagi’s chest. He doesn’t immediately recoil, either, closing his eyes at Mikey’s voice assuring him that slow, unproductive days aren’t a sign of weakness.

:: ::

They hear the news by accident as they are wandering past one of the many lounges they avoid (too many people, not enough entertainment); the televisions are flickered onto some news channel, the long-necked yokai reporter talking about the recent destruction to Big Mama’s hotel in New York City.

Even then, the message comes to them in pieces, disjointed by the distance and the hotel’s ambiance, “…unprovoked…hostile…ninja…attack…closed…irresolute…”

Leo doesn’t have to guess what had happened. After all, Big Mama is here, leaving her other hotels undefended.

Usagi, who normally would have scoffed and turned his nose up at the mention of an unprovoked ninja attack, knocks their shoulders together and says, “Good for them.”

:: ::

Usagi is fiddling with one of the screws on the lounge chair by the pool while Leonardo is asleep in one of the purple and white tubes stacked in the corner. They’re meant for children, so the other guests glare disapprovingly at the turtle.

Leonardo doesn’t care, is too exhausted to care, and everyone is too nervous about Usagi to do anything more.

The screw comes loose as Leonardo snorts, eyes fluttering open. His long limbs paddle so his tube flips around as he seeks out Usagi.

“Usagi,” pleasantly says Leonardo, “I’m hungry.”

Usagi closes his hand around the screw, eyes never leaving the turtle, and  replies, “Me too.”

:: ::

Though Usagi’s first slice of pizza is enjoyable, it’s a little weird with the wide-eyed, expectant look directed at him from Leonardo. The turtle’s own slice of pizza sits untouched in front of him, and while some part of Usagi is aware that all eyes at the pool are directed at them, it’s akin to being vaguely familiar with gravity.

Swallowing, Usagi smiles and says, “It’s good.”

Leonardo grins, but it morphs into something mischievous as he leans over and asks, “Better than Jupiter Jim Sails the Seven Galaxies?”

“Oh, a hundred percent.”

A blue fire bursts several centimeters over their pizza. Usagi blinks, confused, but Leonardo reels back, eyes wide and arms held defensively before him.

Curiously tilting his head, Usagi asks, “The surface doesn’t have fire messages?”

“Absolutely not,” but the initial fear is beginning to be replaced with adolescent intrigue. “What is it? How does it work? Who’s it from?”

“Big Mama.”

The throngs of the metal chair scrap unpleasantly across the concrete as Leonardo drags it so they’re sitting beside each other. Their shoulders are pressing into each other as they read the message.

“Due to recent developments, neither of you is permitted to leave the hotel under any circumstance,” reads Usagi.

At the last word, the slip of paper bursts into a cool flame. It dissipates into nothing, which always fascinated Usagi whenever he was younger—especially considering that it’s not hot and doesn’t blow away in ash. He imagines his childhood expression is similar to the one Leonardo is currently wearing.

“How? What?” Leonardo asks, reaching into the space it disappeared from.

Mimicking the words (and probably the fond tone) Father always used, Usagi says, “It’s magic, Leonardo. It’s not real.”

:: ::

“I am pleased you and young Miyamoto have reconciled.”

Leo jumps. It’s nowhere near as high or impressive as what Usagi’s capable of. Nor is it graceful. His limbs flail midair as he twists, arms held defensively before him as he squints, eying the smiling Katsuro distrustfully.

It doesn’t help Leo look any more innocent or non-suspicious. Somewhere, Dad’s illusionary form sighs, shaking his head but resists the urge to lecture the same ninja lessons he seems to always be going over. And, honestly, it feels weird seeing Katsuro standing in the middle of a public bathroom—even if all the hotel’s extremities are well-maintained.

Katsuro’s hands are folded in front of him, eyes twinkling, and it’s that smile that makes it easy to forget how Katsuro’s a predator. It’s warm and welcoming, which Leo’s learned is his most dangerous deception. Weirdly enough, it makes Leo slightly admire him.

Leo’s learned the hard way to avoid getting caught within that expression…even when everything about Katsuro’s physical appearance screams that he’s harmless. Even mental Raph is conflicted by what he knows and what he sees.

But the last time Leo allowed himself to drop his defenses around the yokai, Katsuro had drugged him, and Leo woke up paralyzed and itchy. Usagi said he had been missing for several days.

So when Leo lowers his hands, attempting to mimic the easy way Katsuro smiles unassumingly, he imagines the terror lurking in the shadows and within the planes of Usagi’s features for the first couple of days after Leo’s return and says, “Life is funny like that.”

“Indeed.” Green eyes are shining, almost fondly, and it’s so easy to forget that Katsuro does not have Leo’s best interests at heart. “You are looking well. I’m pleased to see you have taken a turn toward recovery.”

“Recovery? I was never sick.”

This time, when Katsuro’s smile twitches, it adopts an almost sad expression. His hands smooth the front of his suit, and Leo thinks he’s going to say something else. Instead, he nods and steps away.

When Katsuro passes, he pats Leo’s shoulder and says, “There are many forms of sickness, young Hamato. Not all are physical.”

Later, once Leo finds his way back to where Usagi’s lounging reading some yokai thriller, the bunny’s attention instantly turns to him. He smiles but then immediately picks up on the shift in Leo’s mood.

He frowns, forehead wrinkling, and he asks, “What has happened?”

“Nothing,” Leo poorly lies, winces before redirecting, “I want to go spar, and maybe you can teach me that move you did the other day.”

“Leonardo.”

“Usagi.”

Raph would have pushed back. Donnie would have picked a fight. Mikey might have respected the unasked request for a distraction but was likelier to break into a lecture or a firm reminder that he’s not alone and loved.

Usagi stares back before closing his book and sighing, “Alright.”

The slightest bit of tension unwinds from Leo’s chest as he smiles and follows.

:: ::

“If something has upset you, Leonardo, we should discuss it.”

Stretching striped, green arms overhead, Leo ignores the words in favor of saying, “How do you keep doing that?”

Usagi gives him a flat look but moves back into position. Leo ignores the mental image of Dad’s disappointed scowl, hiding behind a carefree grin that Usagi glares at. Their next round lasts less than a minute and ends when Usagi sweeps Leo’s ankle from under him but catches his wrist before his shell strikes the mat.

“Thanks. I’m gratefall for your assistance.”

Usagi lets him go.

:: ::

“I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of officially meeting you,” a voice says, sharp claws brushing against the groove of Usagi’s elbow.

Usagi startles, stumbling back. He places a hand over his chest as if to calm a racing heart.

Katsuro smiles, neither meek nor apologetic. “Apologies. It was not my intention to sneak up on you.”

Usagi doubts that, though he offers an understanding smile and says, “You’re not to blame. I’ve just been on edge.”

“Understandable. It’s quite wicked what Big Mama has put you through.”

Usagi consciously keeps his smile as he assures, “I knew what I was getting into when I approached her for assistance.” Then, posing it like an afterthought, muses, “I heard you were a fan of my fights.”

“They were very charming,” agrees Katsuro, “Your technique is impressive for someone your age.”

“Oh, I’m sure Katsuichi-sensei would say otherwise—especially considering Big Mama’s lack of accommodations.”

Katsuro’s ears twitch, even as his expression remains the same; Usagi pretends to not notice as he innocently asks, “Do you have any training?”

“Only in the loosest sense of the word.”

“Oh, really? I’d love to discuss it with you sometime,” says Usagi, smiling pleasantly; Mariko once told him it’s unnerving how quickly that smile can disarm defenses.

(Usagi now hopes that’s true.)

Usagi continues, “Leonardo is pleasant enough company, but I cannot sit through a discussion about the differences between shinobi and samurai training.”

If the words make Katsuro uneasy, he hides it well. Perhaps Leonardo was on to something whenever he said Katsuro’s fatal flaw is pride. An assurance that he’s the smartest in the room and attempting to combat him is a lost battle.

Smiling, Katsuro says, “I’ll let you know if my schedule frees up.”

Usagi nods and doesn’t watch Katsuro leave.

:: ::

The next of Big Mama’s hotels that get destroyed is one Leo’s never heard of, but Usagi admits it is one of the more affordable ones in the yokai world. Smaller, less luxurious, and much closer to NYC than where they currently are.

“How did you know your family would attack like this?” Usagi asks him, reading over Leo’s shoulder after the turtle snatched the newspaper from the news rack. “Especially since they already found you once.”

Leo grimaces and lies, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Usagi side-eyes him, the look clearly indicating that he hears the deception within Leo’s voice and face but has enough self-awareness to not speak it out loud in public. Leo folds the paper, tucking it against himself, and considers his last conversation with Baron Draxum.

At the message he’d asked him to convey and how he’s painfully aware of what his appearance was, of how concerned Baron Draxum looked despite his attempts to remain impassive and unattached. He tried to explain the situation, but there were so many things Leo didn’t understand. He imagines there’s quite a bit he still doesn’t, but that matters little.

Big Mama and Katsuro capitalize on secrets and lies, on half-truths and warped promises. And they’ve gotten away with it by targeting people like Pops and Usagi. Honorable people who would rather fall on their blade than back out from their word.

It angers Leo. Never more than during Usagi’s darkest days, whenever he’s trapped in those terrible memories of the Battle Nexus.

Big Mama finds them at lunch, which isn’t unexpected despite all her careful planning to make it appear so. But it’s crucial for Leo and Usagi to act surprised to see her, even as her eyes shift to the folded newspaper between them.

There was no need for it to be there, but since Leo had been expecting her, he felt compelled to leave it as a reminder of what happens whenever someone threatens the Hamato clan. Usagi didn’t protest, didn’t offer it a second glance, so he must be feeling the same pettiness as Leo.

“Greetings turtly-boo,” she says, lips twitching in apparent pleasure at how they both startled like she caught them off-guard, “your family has been causing quite a ruckus.”

Leo blinks innocently, tilting his head and asking, “Have they? That’s quite a shame.”

“Yes. Quite.”

Her stare remains intense and unrelenting, making Leo uncomfortable. Especially while grappling with the knowledge and acceptance that she and Dad were once together. Intimately. Even after Big Mama did everything to poison that relationship, Dad cared about her well-being. He believed she was capable of being better.

And, for a while, Leo allowed himself to believe it too.

Now, staring at her, Leo wonders how they could be so naïve.

“Are you confident that the attacks are from Leonardo’s family?” asks Usagi, stirring his tiny spoon in the little white cup. “Even despite his contract with you?”

Big Mama’s eyes flicker to him, mouth frowning in disapproval. Which is unfair, considering that Usagi’s only here because of her. Every bad night, every nightmare was because of her, and she doesn’t even care.

Never before has Leo wanted to ruin someone as much as he does her.

“Ninjas are not known for their respectable attributes.”

“Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be,” quotes Leo, which had been a thing Raph once said after reading online in the hope of sounding impressive and philosophical.

April gave him a flat, unimpressed look and said, “I’ve read Anna Karenina, dude.”

They teased him for months after that.

Neither Big Mama nor Usagi must have because they look at him with wide, impressed gazes. It’s funny and slightly ironic, considering how they look down upon humans.

Leo smirks, sipping the tiny coffee cup. Donnie would love it. Usually, Leo would love it, but the absence of the very pillars Leo’s built his life upon is leaving him imbalanced.

Usagi hides his smirk behind his cup, directing his attention back to Big Mama, and asks, “Can we help you with something, Big Mama?”

This time when she directs her attention toward Usagi, she holds it for a long, uncomfortable moment. Even Leo begins feeling it, and it’s a conscious effort to not uncomfortably shift beneath it. If Usagi feels similarly, he hides it well.

He calmly meets her gaze and holds it. Usagi looks like a Battle Nexus champion and everything that concerned Leo about his inevitable fate. It’s not something Leo’s seen before—not even while Usagi was furious and not speaking to him.

A weird twinge twists within Leo’s chest, but it’s not the fear or trepidation that haunted his family until Big Mama made her move. It lurches, cheeks growing hot, and Big Mama must feel it because she smiles, stepping away.

“Nothing to worry your precious white head about,” she says before leaving.

Usagi watches her go then his gaze flickers back to Leo. It softens, smiling sweetly and so unlike his previous expression.

Leo matches it.

:: ::

“You are quiet.”

Leonardo glances up from his chess game, long, thin fingers fiddling with a black pawn. Usagi meets his gaze, hoping to convey support. He doesn’t like it whenever Leonardo is quiet. The last time he was, he disappeared.

“I’ve just been doing a lot of self-reflection lately,” admits Leonardo.

“Ah.” Usagi nods. “That’ll getcha. Want to talk about it?”

“No.” A pause. “My family acts frustrated whenever I get these plans, and I’ve never understood it. But now I think that they just didn’t know. Because I didn’t tell them.”

Usagi hums.

“In hindsight, I should have realized this sooner. They’re not exactly shy about telling me, but I would—I don’t know—get so defensive about it. Like it was a matter of trust. Or lack thereof.” Suddenly uncomfortable by the room’s atmosphere, Usagi moves to sit next to him. “But now that there’s no one here telling me I’m acting as an individual and not as a team, I realize that’s what I’ve always done. What I’m still doing.”

“Hey, none of that now, Leonardo,” says Usagi, bumping their shoulders and offering a shy smile. “I trust you, and you never have to justify yourself with me.”

Leonardo remains quiet. Usagi considers the chessboard, and though Leonardo’s health has vastly improved under the promise of returning home, there are still lapses where he retreats so deeply into his mind that Usagi worries no one will be able to reach him.

Rising to his feet, Usagi nudges Leonardo’s thigh with his foot.

“Come on,” he says at Leonardo’s wide-eyed look of confusion, “I have something to show you.”

Leonardo still looks uncertain but follows without protest. And Usagi can hear his thoughts, the need for answers, as they step out on their balcony. The remaining slivers of light splash across the sky, but that’s steadily fading.

Leonardo doesn’t comment but looks unimpressed.

Usagi smirks; asks, “You think you can keep up?”

Before Leonardo gets a chance to ask or protest, Usagi leaps onto the wall, and if his movements are exaggerated and purposefully graceful, no one is present to call him out on it.

Just Leonardo and his adorable little, “Oh ho ho boy.”

:: ::

Leonardo wins, but his smile is leagues better than the reserved quietness he’d been earlier projecting. Usagi settles into the chair he strategically stole from the pool (piece by agonizing piece) and pulls out the pizza box from beneath his chair.

“It’s a little cold,” warns Usagi as Leonardo settles into the chair beside his, eyes sparkling in excitement.

“Are you kidding me?” Leonardo demands, already biting into a slice, “Cold pizza is the best.”

:: ::

Leo’s half-asleep when a knock at the door startles him. His eyes were closed, head cushioned against the pillow he skillfully positioned against the armrest. Usagi’s legs are laid on top of him, his breathing pleasantly evened out, and he must be exhausted because he doesn’t stir.

The window is dark, though the room is awash in the soft glow of the television.

It must be late, but not too late, because the person knocks again. Loud, incessant, and impatient.

This time, Usagi groans. His legs twitch as he rolls over, grumbling lowly, but still he doesn’t stir. In the quiet of the room, Lou Jitsu kicks the bad guy’s face. A smug smile Leo desperately misses is spread across his human face.

Careful not to accidentally wake Usagi, Leo rolls off the couch. From the ground, he arches his body into a stretch, yawning, and it takes a moment before his feet find themselves underneath him, and he lumbers to the door.

Leo has no expectations, but, if he did, it still wouldn’t have been Katsuro looking unpleasantly disturbed.

“Wha’s up, dude,” yawns Leo, rubbing tiredly at his eyes.

A colloquial greeting he wouldn’t usually give Katsuro, but the late hour and good mood from Usagi’s surprise are making Leo’s brain soupy with happiness. Katsuro blinks, evidently taken off-guard by the sweet tenderness of Leo’s smile. His gentle, soothing words are as softening as almond butter.

Leo’s only vaguely aware of this effect, though he’s never considered it. It’s just been one of his many natural talents, an easy charm he’s always subconsciously depended on, but Katsuro is under-prepared and therefore caught off-guard.

But this isn’t a casual visit from Katsuro, either, and despite rehearsing what he wants to say, he instead says, “My orb has gone missing.”

Alarm rattles Leo’s insides, but not enough to awaken his mind. He does blink, smile replaced by a thoughtful expression. Katsuro takes this in, and Leo’s been right whenever he pegged Katsuro as a self-proclaimed master of observation.

Because he believes the genuine shock and surprise that Leo unabashedly allows to crease his features. This leads him to conclude that Leo is not responsible and knows nothing about it.

Leo sees the assurance, recognizes that Katsuro’s guard has dropped, but instead of pointing any of this out asks, “Do you have any leads?”

“You were my lead up until a few minutes,” muses Katsuro, finger to his chin, before saying, “This is troubling.”

Still gazing with his almond-butter expression, Leo conspiratorially whispers, “You think Big Mama snatched it?”

“I do not, but that offers little reassurance—all things considered. Someone else might. Someone like you. Someone working alongside her.”

“Well, you’ve narrowed it down to just about everyone in this hotel.”

Pinching between his eyes, Katsuro sighs, “I’m well aware, Leonardo. Thank you. I hope that you are now mindful of the urgency of this matter. Unless you’ve forgotten what we’ve discussed.”

The threat is clear, but Leo smoothers it under the continuous reminder that he can’t allow Katsuro to see his panic and fear. That he did what he had to do to get home, though he might have traded one oppressor with another.

The door opens as a sleepy Usagi steps out and asks, “Is something wrong, Leonardo?”

“Not at all,” assures Katsuro, “Apologies for disturbing you. We’ll speak more in the morning, Leonardo.”

Leo suppresses a shiver, hearing the threat within the warning, and reminds himself that he’s doing this to return home. If he can survive long enough to make it there.

:: ::

If Big Mama has the orb, she doesn’t reveal it in the following days. Slowly, the furious panic within Katsuro ebbs away, though with it comes a new concern.

Big Mama might not have it, but someone does.

And it’s near impossible to discover who that might be.

:: ::

“It seems our boy has been busy,” greets Big Mama with her predatory smile as Katsuro thanks the hostess before claiming his seat. “You both must take me for a true silly nilly.”

“No more than you do me,” Katsuro replies, matching her smile and adding, “Leonardo is a remarkable asset. Pity his weakness is so apparent…or that it’s so easily exploitable.”

Big Mama hums, smile sharp and dangerous. All the things Katsuro admires her for, and now that he’s confident that she doesn’t possess his orb, this game is all the more exciting. Unfortunately, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that Leonardo will burn himself out attempting to keep up.

It’s not his fault; they should play nicer with their toys. They usually do, but something about pinning Leonardo against the other while knowing he can never be trusted is exhilarating. Big Mama must feel it too, considering how well she looks despite the current sieges on her hotels.

Hotels can be repaired. Orbs can be reclaimed. They’re just parts of the bigger picture within the confounds of this game they’re addicted to, and the pity Katsuro shares with the realization that Leonardo will never truly be free, that he probably won’t survive to adulthood, is minor. Easily ignored.

“He might have even tricked me if your purpose hadn’t been so transparent,” Katsuro continues, “but that’s not why you invited me here. Is it?”

“No.” Big Mama pours him a glass of human wine, supposedly cheap on the surface though nearly impossible to find anywhere else. “Though I must confess, this wizbang of ours has been most enjoyable, I suppose it’s about time to wrap it up.”

“Oh yeah?”

Big Mama hums. “A trade for a trade. Since the turtly-boo’s alliance has shifted—and my most current nuisances have proved themselves relentless—I’m willing to offer you these documental thingamajigs.” She lays down Leonardo and Usagi’s contracts on the table and adds, “I’ll even throw in my lost Champion.”

Stroking his chin, Katsuro adds, “I’ve been sharing some conversations with the samurai. Not very clever, that one.”

“No, but entertaining nevertheless. Besides, I’d hate to break up the set.”

“And you’d get…what? From this deal?”

“You’re a collector of unique and rare thingamabobs. I’m sure we can work something out. For my next auction, of course.”

“Naturally.”

“And the pretty little turtle may keep his life.”

Katsuro taps the side of his glass, nods, and says, “Allowing him to mature into adulthood might be dangerous. He’s hoping to pin us against each other. He came close to succeeding. Still might, given enough time.”

Big Mama’s smile broadens, leaning over the table and saying, “But just think of how much enjoyment we’ll get by watching him try.”

:: ::

“You were right,” says Usagi, handing the cup of tea to Leonardo, “Katsuro gave Big Mama our contracts.”

Leonardo hums, not looking surprised. Though, concerningly, his forehead furrows as the haunted look returns to his expression. It ages him.

Tapping Leonardo’s forehead with his finger, Usagi implores, “Leonardo?”

“I made a deal with Katsuro,” confesses Leonardo, and for the first time looks uncertain, “I told him that Big Mama would after she realizes what’s happening with her other hotels.”

Crouching down so they’re sitting beside each other, Usagi asks, “Why? If you knew what was going to happen?”

“Because it was the only way to free you. Katsuro agreed, but not of his interest in me; he wanted my swords.”

Usagi nods. Leonardo mentioned his mystic weapons, which sound fascinating, but it’s evident they are practically useless without Leonardo. Though mysticism is highly valued in the Hidden City and Hidden Kingdom underworlds.

Not necessarily for Big Mama, but Katsuro…

“So, without your swords…?”

Leonardo shrugs, and the turtle looks lost for the first time since speaking in their bathroom. Probably because, without his family to ground him, he’s practically freefalling. He’ll hit the ground soon, if he’s not careful.

“There’s no way to get them—especially not now that someone’s stolen Katsuro’s mystery orb,” says Leonardo, leaning over to nestle his head against Usagi’s shoulder. “He’s not going to let them out of his sight. Not without a strong incentive.”

Usagi wordlessly nods, considering a spot on the wall. Anger burns within him. A scorching heat surges at the continuous revelations that the adults are determined to punish them for their vices regardless of what they do or try.

“Chin up, Leonardo,” assures Usagi, “It’ll work itself out.”

“I don’t know, Usagi. My luck might have finally run dry now that Big Mama and Katsuro have me under the microscope. The fact that they did their dealings in a public setting is proof of that.”

Usagi also felt concerned upon realizing that they almost shamelessly flaunted their dealings in the open. It’s the first time in years that they have. Finally finding a common enemy in Leonardo’s secret dealings.

In hindsight, Leonardo might have been banking on it. It’s not a stretch of the imagination considering he threw himself into a portal with a monster, forever trapping them in a hellscape.

Then, Leonardo’s brothers pulled him free.

Now, it’s Usagi’s turn.

“Chin up,” repeats Usagi, sitting with him until his eyes finally began to droop and his breathing evened out.

It takes a while, but time matters little in this place, and even Leonardo’s stubborn insomnia has limits. Carefully, Usagi maneuvers Leonardo so that he’s lying on the couch; after dropping a cover over his still form, Usagi turns off the lights and slips from the room.

:: ::

The door opens and closes.

Katsuro blinks at Usagi’s casual appearance, sprawled across the hotel room’s couch. He’s fiddling with a familiar grey orb, blue eyes tracing along its surface. Usagi doesn’t watch him enter, but he doesn’t have to. He’s aware of his entrance like one is aware of an oncoming truck.

“The turtle is a better liar than I anticipated,” says Katsuro, “I believed him when he acted like he didn’t know who stole it.”

Blue eyes flicker, so they’re focusing on Katsuro’s easygoing appearance. They’re bright, no longer concealing the brewing tempest lingering underneath.

“He doesn’t know,” replies Usagi. Smiles, “Leonardo isn’t the only one capable of keeping a secret. Isn’t that right, Kat-sur-oh?”

Katsuro hums. “I must confess, I’m pleasantly impressed.”

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

Katsuro considers the teenager’s appearance and realizes that he might have underestimated him. An unintentional mishap, for sure, but nothing that can’t be easily resolved. He is, after all, a mere child; one that already allowed himself easily entrapped by Big Mama.

Dramatically spreading thin arms in front of him, Katsuro says, “Pardon my bluntness whenever I confess you’re the first unexpected thing that’s happened in this whole opera.”

Usagi says nothing. He remains impassive, head tilted, and blue eyes unnaturally cold. The expression is vastly different than the easily impressed child Katsuro previously dealt with. Not even during his time in the Battle Nexus, where he looked like he’d given up, did Usagi resemble this dangerous creature holding the most valuable thing Katsuro owned.

The irony that several hours prior Katsuro had been condemning Leonardo for his exploitable weakness isn’t lost on him.

Smoothing his hands on the front of his suit, Katsuro steps further into the room and casually says, “I suppose you’ll want to talk.”

“Leonardo thinks your pride will be what leads to your downfall,” says Usagi, “but I think it will be your arrogance. What do you think, Kat-sur-oh?”

“I think you should speak more respectfully while dealing with your betters.”

Usagi snorts. He sits upright, cradling the orb between his legs, never removing his gaze from Katsuro’s purposely calm façade. But his eyes betray him. They continuously flicker to the orb as if checking it’s still present and intact. An exploitable weakness. A costly one, at that.

“Perhaps I should just smash this orb, then. So you can prove just how outclassed I truly am.” Usagi’s head tilts, not missing the barely perceived flinch. “No?”

“You are a child hiding behind a temporary shield.”

“And you are an adult who gets an ego boost by bullying children.” This time, Usagi smiles, flashy and vicious. “So, let’s talk.”

:: ::

Leonardo doesn’t cheer up, though he pretends to. Usagi wonders if he believes it’s reassuring or if he’s actually convinced that as long as Usagi walks away free, everything will be okay.

It isn’t, but Usagi’s planning on forcing Leonardo to uphold his promise that they’re both walking away from this mess. So whenever the first fire bursts from the bathroom air vent, Usagi ensures that Leonardo is within eyesight.

When the second one pops, the other guests begin glancing nervously around each other. Usagi hears their frantic whispers as they discuss the attacks on the other hotels. Except it’s not Leonardo’s family that’s attacking.

Technically, no one is, but they don’t need to know that.

Then comes the third and fourth fire.

By the fifth, they finally see Big Mama, who has to consider the possibility that it could be Leonardo’s family. She can’t risk that not being true, but she hesitates long enough for the sixth and seventh to burst. On the eighth, Usagi and Leonardo are being swept away.

When Usagi blinks, standing in the hotel’s parking lot surrounded by panicked guests, it’s to Big Mama baring menacingly down at them. Behind her, the hotel begins to burn; the sudden light blinding. It won’t be long until the monstrous waves of black smoke will begin pouring upward, swallowing the sky and building.

Due to recent developments, neither of you is permitted to leave the hotel under any circumstance. That’s what Big Mama changed their contracts to, then quickly adding the sub-clause that the responsible party must be deftly punished. It had meant to act as an incentive for them to stay and to keep Leonardo’s determined family uninvolved.

But now the contract is broken, and neither Usagi nor Leonardo broke it.  Considering Big Mama is the responsible party, she won’t find it necessary to punish herself. She’ll chalk it up to extenuating circumstances.

Except…

“A pity you already sold our contracts,” Leo says, eyes smiling.

The turtle tilts his head, eyes focusing on something just over her shoulder. Big Mama glances over to where Katsuro’s standing, staring at Usagi. He looks contemplative, like he finally understands something that’s been bothering him for weeks.

“You wanted Big Mama to give away your contracts,” says Katsuro.

Leonardo grins, and it’s almost convincing. Katsuro already told Usagi about how Leonardo talked through the pros of accepting that agreement with Big Mama—a thing neither had considered until a few nights ago. At the time, Katsuro felt there was no downside for him.

He gets Leonardo, a mystical weapon, and his orb remains safe. The addition of Usagi never mattered because Usagi is just a dumb little bunny. A child that’s impressive in a fight.

Big Mama gets what she really wants, which isn’t the orb. She never did, though Katsuro had been too arrogant to realize that. Of course, she wanted his orb because, to him, it was priceless, so it must also be for Big Mama.

Leonardo had been the one to figure that out. Though he couldn’t figure out what she had been vying for instead. Usagi was the one who told Leonardo about Katsuro’s hidden auctions—one of the few places Big Mama cannot penetrate, regardless of how hard she tried.

“And what exactly was the point of that?” inquires Big Mama, not yet insulted though definitely intrigued.

“Because you were the one who technically broke it,” Leonardo says, “so Katsuro gets to decide your punishment. I’m sure you can guess what it’ll be.”

Realization dawns, and Usagi allows himself to revel in her horrified expression—considering everything she’s done, Usagi doesn’t pity her. It quickly morphs into something mean and spiteful.

“Not as clever as you may believe,” she mocks.

“No,” agrees Leonardo, “but Usagi’s contract has broken. You have no further control over him.”

“A predictable outcome for a predictable weakness.”

“Everyone has one.” Usagi’s eyes shift to where Katsuro’s observing them. “Isn’t that right, Kat-sur-oh?”

“You claim I’m arrogant. You spent this whole time hiding behind Leonardo.”

Usagi grins sharply and replies, “You make judgments far too quickly. Both of you, and without recognizing that, you feed off each other’s paranoia. Big Mama worried about Leonardo’s family swooping in and taking him away. You planned on trapping him here. You indirectly threatened his family with your altercations.”

“While Katsuro worried I was still plotting on stealing his orb for her,” Leonardo finishes, and this part still confuses him; Usagi feels bad for keeping the secret, but it’d been necessary to get what he wanted from the fox, “but it wasn’t her that stole it.”

“No,” agrees Katsuro, “It wasn’t.”

Leonardo glances at Usagi and asks, “Usagi?”

“It wasn’t difficult. Kat-sur-oh was so worried about Big Mama and Leonardo that he allowed me to slip right through the cracks.” Usagi takes out the orb, dramatically holding it out like a trophy; Leonardo beams.

“You’d make an impressive ninja, Usagi,” teases Leonardo, “Perhaps we should start your training.”

Usagi shudders good-naturedly but keeps his gaze on Katsuro’s contemplative expression. They’ve both outed themselves, probably made two very powerful, very dangerous enemies, but Usagi finds that he doesn’t care, not under the promise of freedom, of knowing that Leonardo will soon be free.

Katsuro snaps his fingers, and someone steps forward carrying a clothed bundle. They’re Leonardo’s swords, which must be challenging to part with, but Katsuro must. He cannot risk someone other than him to possess this thing none of them know anything about.

A predictable weakness. An exploitable weakness.

And an arrogance that caused him to overlook the danger Usagi posed.

Usagi waits until Leonardo has stepped away, swords in hand, before dropping the orb into the awaiting hands. Neither Big Mama nor Katsuro look happy about the current revelations, but everyone will walk away. Until next time, Usagi is sure.

It probably won’t take long before either attempts to lick their wounded pride by proving their superiority over two teenagers.

But that’s a tomorrow’s problem for tomorrow’s Usagi, so he matches Leonardo’s grin—the first one not weighed down by invisible chains—and says, “I think it’s time we bounce.”

“Say less.”

Leonardo slices through reality with a flick of the wrist. The portal, as unique as everything Leonardo does, is a clean slice through reality. It shimmers, wavering, and as Usagi peers through it, he can see a familiar cobbled road. Usagi gasps, eyes wide, as excitement swells inside his chest.

“You continue to impress, Leonardo,” praises Usagi, shifting closer to where Leonardo stands, sword in hand.

Leonardo grins cockily back, but his body trembles. The tremors are minute, a consequence of his exhaustion, but his stubbornness keeps him upright. Not for long, Usagi knows, but he won’t need to keep up the appearance forever.

Taking hold of the turtle’s forearm, Usagi leaps. They both crash through the portal, landing on a random Hidden City street corner; it doesn’t take long before Usagi recognizes it, but as he’s about to turn around and gush about it with Leonardo, the turtle finally falters. He wavers, eyes blinking, and that’s all the warning Usagi gets before he collapses.

It’s enough.

Usagi catches him and keeps them upright as he leans Leonardo’s weight against his side. An affectionate smile spreads across Usagi’s features as he rearranges Leonardo’s weight so it’s pressed against his back. Leonardo’s grip around the sword has gone slack, so Usagi takes that too.

“You can rest now, Leonardo,” reassures Usagi, “I’ll take it from here.”

:: ::

The walk takes several minutes, but Usagi doesn’t mind. It gives him time to think, muttering his practiced apologies and explanations to his imaginary father. None seem adequate, and dread builds inside his stomach when he reaches the small house that served as his home until his deal.

He considers turning around until his thoughts are better collected when the door opens. Usagi freezes, his hands protectively tightening around Leonardo’s knees.

“Usagi?” Father’s deep baritone asks, the word wavering uncertainly.

“Uh…hi.”

“Usagi,” Father repeats, and his tall shadow steps towards them. “Son, are you—is this real? Are you—how is this possible?”

Usagi steps back. Unease curls in his stomach as memories force themselves to the forefront of his mind. After all, his last act had been one of defiance.

“Well, that’s kind of complicated,” Usagi murmurs, then jostles whenever he realizes Father’s moved into his space.

Large hands grip the sides of his arms; though the hold is solid, Usagi can feel the trembling. It jostles him out of his thoughts as panic surges, splintering throughout his chest.

“I thought you were better,” Usagi says, “Big Mama told me the treatment worked.”

“What? Usagi, are you well? You’re shaking, and oh—who is this?”

Again, Usagi startles before realizing Father’s attention is directed toward Leonardo’s limp form. He self-consciously steps back, shifting the weight more securely against his back. His family is surely worried, but until Leonardo wakes, there isn’t anything Usagi can do. He doesn’t know where they live.

Head tilting sideways, Usagi says, “It’s complicated.”

“I see,” Father nods before his eyes lighten up, and he exclaims, “Hurry now. Come inside and warm up. I’ll fix you some tea over rice—your favorite.”

He doesn’t wait for Usagi to respond, hurriedly guiding him through the doorway and securely locking it behind them. It’s weird after Usagi’s forced independence, but it’s undeniably nice. His tension has already begun receding from his aching muscles.

Nothing has changed, which is comforting. Tears gather in the corners of his vision as Usagi steps into the living room to gently drop Leonardo on their couch before draping a blanket over his snoring figure. Usagi hesitates, laying his palm flat over the turtle’s forehead as he considers what to do next.

There’s no illness. No deal or promised battle, and no hotel.

Just Usagi and all his dark, collected memories he isn’t sure how he’s going to recover from. Then again, the recent ones feel rather sweet, Leonardo’s compassion tinting them with a unique warmth.

“Usagi,” says Father from the doorway, “eat.”

So caught up in his thoughts, Usagi missed his reappearance. It startles him, causing him to jump as his body twists, positioning himself defensively in front of the couch, but his body instantly relaxes at the sight of Father watching. He’s cradling a white bowl, a weird expression on his face, but he smiles when his gaze catches Usagi’s.

Moving to obey, Usagi worriedly asks, “Are you well, Father?”

Cupping the back of Usagi’s neck, Father presses their foreheads together, and the strength catches Usagi off-guard. Father had been so weak the last time they saw each other. The last time they spoke. The last time they fought.

“Son…” Father’s voice trails off, something wet and sticky catching in his throat, but he clears it and asks, “How is this possible?”

“It’s a long story, and I look forward to telling you the whole thing.”

Father smiles in that way only fathers seem capable of, gentle, loving, and soothing. Despite the adrenaline rattling Usagi’s bones, he relaxes under it.

“Me too, son. Me too.”

:: ::

Leo wakes and, suddenly, Usagi’s there.

“Hey,” says Usagi, and Leo’s never been in love before.

He’s found others attractive; he’s flirted plenty, but it never felt serious. Leo never thought himself capable, too carefree and foolish to fully commit to someone other than his family. But Usagi looks at him, and Leo’s stomach flips, heart speeding up, and he thinks this might be it. And, suddenly, returning to a life where he may never speak with Usagi again physically hurts.

Ignoring those thoughts, Leo mimics a breathy, “Hey.”

He sits upright, Usagi shifting to accommodate him. There’s no universe that Leo’s family will blindly believe that Usagi’s not as bad a person as they may think, as Baron Draxum surely lead them to believe, but there are no longer any ties binding them together.

Suddenly, it feels like they have all the time in the world.

“You feeling alright, Leonardo?” asks Usagi, still worried, still attempting to soothe, and Leo smiles and nods.

“You?”

Usagi shrugs, leaning forward to shyly admit, “It doesn’t yet feel real. I think it’s waiting to strike me all at once. When I least expect it, I’m sure.”

Leo hums, eyes absorbing the easygoing image of Usagi smiling sweetly at him. It’s a good picture that’ll keep Leo’s chest warm for a long time. For all the moments when he’ll wake up and realize Usagi isn’t there to speak through his nightmares with. One of his brothers will undoubtedly be available, but they’ll never understand. Not in the same way. Not like Usagi.

Leo’s chest twists at the thought of finally returning to his family. He hasn’t allowed himself to think about them this whole time but is suddenly eager to return home. It directly combats Leo’s desire to stay with Usagi.

“Stop thinking so hard,” Usagi chastises, “You’ll give yourself wrinkles.”

Leo pouts good-naturedly, fingers fiddling with the corner of the blanket Usagi loaned him. It’s hard to admit that Leo’s family will blame Usagi for things he’s not the cause of.

“Hey, Leonardo, none of that,” says Usagi, “We’ll figure it out. After a decent meal and actual sleep instead of whatever you’ve been operating on.”

Leo hums consideringly, eyes never leaving Usagi as Usagi bends over to pick up Leo’s swords from the nearby table and press them into his hands.

Usagi smiles, confident and reassuring, as he repeats, “It’ll be okay, Leonardo, but your family needs you. And you them.”

Which is true, but something is preventing Leo from stepping away. As if he’s consciously aware that they may never speak together again. Usagi smiles, patting his knee, before stepping away from the couch.

“Don’t be a stranger, Leonardo,” Usagi says.

Leo smiles and vows, “Never.”

:: ::

Everyone is sleeping whenever Leo slips into the lair, and he’s unsure if that’s predictable or not. Truthfully, he hadn’t known what to expect, but now, slipping silently into the room, he fondly considers the large pile of all the best parts of himself.

They’ve pushed the furniture along the room’s walls, moving in large corkboards filled with pictures connected by a tangle of red string. It’s a mess, but something about it is comforting. Knowing that they won’t let go so easily and Leo sometimes needs the reminder.

It’s nice, at least, knowing that you’re as important to the people you love.

Quickly, Leo goes to his room to drop off his swords and slip into his sleepwear. There’s a tiny tinge knowing that it’ll be the first night without sleeping next to Usagi, but it slips underneath the overwhelming urge to return to his family, to bask in their presence.

Again, none of them stir as Leo approaches, and his chest aches at the thought of them running to this level of exhaustion. But even that seems minor under the weight of his joy.

Raph’s on his stomach, Mikey curled against his left side. Donnie’s sitting upright in an incline against Raph’s side, legs propped over Mikey’s shell. April, Cass, and Sunita are slumped over each other on the couch; Dad snoring gently over the couch’s back. On the ground, sprawled into a position that cannot be comfortable, Casey twitches and moans before rolling over.

Baron Draxum is nowhere to be seen, probably because he never told them where Leo was. Leo begged him not to, and Baron Draxum eventually conceded—deciding that he trusted Leo to free himself. Still…it feels unfair that Draxum is getting shunned because of Leo.

Another of Leo’s many messes he’s responsible for cleaning up…

…in the morning.

“Raph,” whispers Leo, nudging Raph’s massive arm needily, “C’mon, big bro. Make room.”

Raph grunts and remains asleep as he shifts to accommodate Leo’s forceful presence; a smile tugs Leo’s lips as he nestles into his older brother’s warm body, closing his eyes and letting the exhaustion take him.

It’s the first time in a long time that his sleep remains dreamless.

:: ::

Mikey’s the first to wake up, bleary-eyed and restless, as he masterfully wiggles to freedom. They ran out of red string (and leads) yesterday, but that matters little. More red string can be purchased; new leads can be bullied out of others.

There’s only one Leo and Mikey desperately wants him back.

Still half-asleep, Mikey walks to the kitchen. The first thing he does is start a fresh pot of coffee, and Donnie shortly stumbles in. His eyes are still closed, but he picks up his cup and fills it with liquid as easily as he would have if they had been open.

Turning to open the fridge, Mikey opens it, but his mind’s too exhausted to focus on what he’s seeing. He shuts it, leaning his forehead against it.

“We’re out of bread,” informs Mikey. “And eggs.”

“The girls and Casey are planning to go on a supply run,” assures Donnie, gaze focused on the tiny screen emitted from his wrist.

Mikey hums and settles on waffles. He’s just finishing the first batch when April, Sunita, and Cass wander in; Casey soon joins them, looking as if in immense pain.

Casey politely declines a proffered cup of coffee, settling beside Donnie so he can lean over and watch whatever he’s doing on the screen. Everyone’s mood remains muted, minds going over and over all the things they need to do that day, and it acts as a constant reminder that they’re incomplete. That they’ve been incomplete for so long.

When Dad joins, he announces, “I’m going to go have another talk with Baron Draxum.”

Like he’s done every day without any progress. Whatever Baron Draxum found, wherever he found Leo, he’s refusing to tell any of them.

“It will only worsen the situation. Have faith,” is all Baron Draxum says, face impressively emotionless as they snarl and insult him.

They shouldn’t. Mikey knows they shouldn’t.

But it’s Leo.

In the other room, Raph wakes and instantly regrets it. His cheeks are wet in reminiscence of his nightmare; at the images of Leo, bruised and bleeding, tearful demand to know why his brothers abandoned him. When Raph tried to speak and explain, Leo had taken off, and it wasn’t long before Raph lost sight of him completely.

Used to waking alone, Raph sighs and shifts.

Pressed against his side, Leo groans; Raph freezes, eyes wide and pulse-quickening, but his movements are slow and methodical as he pulls back his arm and rolls to his knees. Leo makes another low sound of protest, eyelids fluttering, but he remains asleep.

“Leo?” whispers Raph, half-worried that he’s still dreaming and is about to be knocked so far back that he might never recover. “Leo, wake up.”

Leo looks small, but he’s always looked small. Has he always looked that small, though? He doesn’t look malnourished, though he has dark smudges under his eyes from a collection of sleepless nights. Raph isn’t sure if that’s a bad sign or not.

He’ll decide the moment he’s sure this is all real.

Raph’s hands nearly engulf half of Leo’s shell as it settles against him and gives a gentle jostle. His rabbitting pulse is making it hard to think.

Please be real. Please, please, please.

Leo jostles awake just as Raph’s mouth finishes his name, and there’s a moment where he looks perplexed. Like he’s not certain where he is, but then recognition flickers and he tilts his head upward to match Raph’s wide-eyed expression.

“Hey, big brother,” yawns Leo so, so casually. He reaches out to boop the tip of Raph’s snout. “Why the long face?”

A thousand things try to leave Raph, yet all he manages is a strangled sound. Leo smiles like he heard it all anyways; knowing Leo, he probably did.

“Yeah, yeah,” Leo agrees, “I know. I have a lot of explaining to do.”

But that’s the least of Raph’s concerns. Large hands fold around Leo’s shoulders, anchoring him to this reality.

It doesn’t feel real.

It can’t be anything except real.

Leo smiles, easy as anything; his fingers circling around Raph’s wrist. “I missed you too, buddy. So, so much.”

Raph’s chest hitches, an ugly sob breaking free from his chest. With it comes a slew of other sounds, none  pleasant, while his mind decides that the distance between them is too vast, and Raph desperately needs to rectify that.

Leo doesn’t protest, doesn’t fight, as Raph drags him tightly against him. There’s a commotion from the kitchen as everyone rushes to see what’s causing him to make these strangled, inhumane noises. Raph’s only vaguely aware of them. Of their far-off voices and words that no longer matter because Leo’s here, Leo’s safe, and Raph’s world finally finds itself right side up.

:: ::

Leo spends the following days surrounded by everyone. He doubts they are anticipating another orchestrated attack, so it hurts more when he realizes he’s only half-right.

They’re not worried about Big Mama; they’re concerned about Usagi.

This realization comes after he finally convinces his brothers to let Baron Draxum know he’s back. If Draxum’s shocked by his sudden appearance, he hides it well.

Just gives Leo a brief once-over, nods his head, and says, “You look well.”

Giving a sheepish smile, Leo scratches the back of his head and says, “Yeah. Sorry about asking you to keep that secret. It wasn’t really fair of me.”

“No, but I was the one who choose to honor it.” Turning away, Baron Draxum considers his nails and asks, “Have they sought retribution against the rabbit yet?”

“Usagi?” asks Leo, blinking in genuine surprise, “No. Why would they?”

Baron Draxum just hums, which is probably the worst thing he could have done. It’s all it takes for Leo’s mind to go haywire, and soon after, he starts picking up on the little things. The subtle changes in the atmosphere when Leo enters the room; the way they not-so-innocently inquire about Leo’s ring, and his time in the hotel, and all the surprise sessions with Doctor Feelings.

Even after the realization, they patronize Leo with their sure Leos and if you say sos every time Leo attempts to clarify the situation. And it shouldn’t be a surprise—Leo had been anticipating their refusal to let him go so quickly—but their refusal to accept that Usagi is as much a victim as Leo is…infuriating.

And it’s the first time ever that Leo finds himself siding with someone against his family. Despite knowing he’s technically alone because Usagi’s too good-natured to condemn their paranoia, but the only reason Leo got out was Usagi.

The only reason Leo tried was because of Usagi.

Maybe that’s why Leo began indirectly punishing them with extra training. Though the nightmares certainly factor into the decision.

Leo often wakes to the image of Katsuro grinning above his family’s limp, lifeless figures. Or of them entrapped in Big Mama’s web. Or of Leo standing alone, the Kraang’s mocking laugh echoing within the darkness.

They aren’t new dreams, but Usagi’s proximity helped soothe them. Now Usagi’s gone, and Leo can’t risk sharing this weakness with his family. Not while they’re still walking around like he will disappear any moment. Leo can’t make it worse for them, not when he’s the problem.

So, they train, and because Leo’s brothers love him, they put up with it. They reserve their concerned glances for whenever Leo’s back is turned, and they whisper about ways to free Leo. None of them want to talk about Usagi, and Leo’s not allowed to see him.

He doesn’t know how to fix this, and sometimes the dreams are of Usagi’s pinched expression, blue eyes narrowed as he steps away from Leo’s joyful leap toward him.

“You didn’t fight for my friendship,” accuses Usagi, “You didn’t even try.”

“I’m sorry,” but that’s not good enough, so Leo begs, “Forgive me.”

Usagi’s expression remains cold and angry, making Leo want to cry. “How can I? You clearly don’t care.”

Leo wakes then, hand outstretched and cheeks wet. And, suddenly, sleep feels like a chore, a burden, and Leo’s not sure he’s strong enough to shoulder it. Instead, he starts lurking in different rooms’ shadows. First, in the living room, while Dad watches infomercials; then, in Donnie’s lab until he accidentally causes something to explode and gets kicked out.

One day, he’s fiddling with a fidget toy Cass got him in the kitchen when Mikey bounces in with a handful of mail. It’s not theirs, but Baron Draxum apparently can’t be bothered to sort through it, and Mikey likes using the free magazines for font references.

Leo smiles at his entrance, leaning curiously over the counter for a better look. “Anything good, Miguel?”

“Not really.” Mikey drops the pile on the countertop so Leo can curiously thumb through them. “It’s mostly just bills Barry should definitely be paying.”

Leo laughs. Pauses.

Across from him, Mikey twitches before tentatively asking, “Do you think you feel well enough for skateball, Leo?”

Leo forces himself to meet Mikey’s eyes, smiling that nonchalant, easy smile that’s fooled his loved ones for years. But that no longer feels enough, so Leo nods and follows the suddenly overjoyed Mikey out of the kitchen. Donnie and Raph are already waiting for them with their skateboards, and it’s distracting enough that Leo forgets about the expensive envelope with his name etched onto the back in fancy cursive. Next to it is the sender’s name: Katsuro.