Chapter Text
Leonardo blinks open his eyes. He didn’t remember closing them.
The sky was darkening, but it wasn’t red. It was so much calmer and clearer than he remembered.
Glancing around, he saw buildings, several of which were standing on their last legs, toppled completely over, or just in obvious need of repair. Others stood tall, with various chunks missing from them, mostly near the top. He couldn’t see a giant portal or even the technodrome, and he sits up slowly.
He pauses and reaches to his wounded side, flinching and pulling his prosthetic arm back. Yep. This wasn’t a dream. He stands, awkwardly, leaning against the wall of the alleyway he arrived in. Rubble covers the New York City streets and he feels anxiety bubbling up. Had they lost again? Could they even try again? At this point, he was considering going back in time to remove his younger self completely, then they wouldn’t have to deal with this. He breathes in and starts running. There was bound to be some way to help. He must have been sent back for a reason.
He runs for a while, ignoring pain in his side. He needed a better vantage point, and he eventually scales the side of a mostly unscathed office building. Once he reaches the top, he looks around for any sign of the portal… The portal that wasn’t there.
There was no way all this wreckage happened without a portal... Unless they closed it before it was too late. Before they lost all hope.
He feels hope swell in his chest at the thought, and he climbs back down the building, wincing at the feeling in his side. It felt like he was kicked by a horse. He breathes in and immediately starts searching for any sign of his brothers, sister, dad and Casey. Maybe they had arrived home.
Home…
Just the word, knowing that home was still a possibility after all that had happened.
He feels tears prick at his eyes but shakes his head, blinking to clear his vision. He needed to make sure his brothers, Casey, April and dad were okay.
_________________________
Donnie silently examines his twin’s shell as Raph holds Leo, a horrified expression on his normally tired face. Leo starts to doze off and Donnie immediately flicks his forehead.
“Ow!” Leo whines, rubbing his forehead.
“You need to stay awake.” Donnie glares at his twin and silently turns to look out into the water separating them from home. The wreckage covering the shore both here and on the other side was covered with various pieces of the Kraang’s “ooey gooey disgustingness”, and he started to feel sick just looking at it.
“I can go to sleep,” Leo argues, interrupting his train of thought and squinting grumpily at him. “Raph, tell him!”
Raph shakes his head, just shuffling Leo closer against his plastron as he holds him.
“‘Nardo, Raph can’t really tell anyone anything right now.”
“Why not?” Leo asks, rubbing his forehead again.
“I mean, I suppose he could if he wasn’t carrying you but he went nonverbal just a little while ago. Gosh, how bad did you hit your head?” Donnie inquires, frowning as he finishes typing into his wrist tech and holds up a hand for Leo to look at. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
Leo goes cross eyed and blinks uncomfortably. “Two?” he says, not confident in his answer.
“You don’t seem sure. Is this your final answer?” Donnie asks, expression unchanging.
“Yes. That is my final answer.” Leo nods quickly, feigning confidence.
“Yes. You are correct, but your hesitance tells me it’s either very blurry or trying to double right now.”
“Nope,” Leo responds immediately. “Not at all.”
“Leo, please don’t start lying about this. We just got beat up by some aliens, you are more than allowed to be not okay right now. We know for a fact you’re hurt right now, and the rest of us are, too. In fact, if it were just a concussion and not the copious other injuries littering your decrepit body, it would be fine for you to take a nap, but first we need to see just how bad all the damage is.”
Leo nods tiredly and his eyes start slipping shut again, before he’s flicked once again.
“Hamato Leonardo.” Donnie glares daggers at him.
Leo flinches at the use of his full name and whines quietly.
Mikey pats Leo’s head, giving him a comforting smile. “Hey, we’re just glad you’re okay!”
“He is, by all definitions of the word, not okay. Oh, right. I will contact April, papa, and the future boy. Let them know you’re not dead.” Donnie gives a pissed smile to Leo. He turns back to his wrist-tech and speaks into comms. “Casey, April, and Splinter. I have an announcement to make.”
“What’s up, Dee?” comes April’s voice. Her voice cracks slightly. “Splints is with me right now,” she says.
“HI, APRIL!!” Mikey shouts into Donnie’s comms, to which Donnie responds by jumping back and stumbling as he tries to catch himself, his arms flailing wildly.
“Hey, Mikey,” April responds, trying to sound cheery. “How are y’all holding up?”
“Michael, I would prefer it if you did not scream right by my ear, and Leo and Raph would both also probably appreciate it if you did not,” Donnie snaps at Mikey, glaring.
Mikey chuckles, embarrassed. “Sorry Dee- Got excited-” April interrupts him, shouting out, “LEO?! HE’S WITH YOU??” And while she’s screaming, they can vaguely hear Splinter’s wet voice, quietly and hopefully asking about “Baby blue?”
Donnie yelps, jumping back again, though he can’t exactly get away from his comms. He sighs, rolling his eyes. “April, please, I understand your concern and excitement. It is to be expected from all of you, but do you have to yell?” It’s not a biting tone. In fact, it feels more fond than anything. He quickly types something into his wristband, and then speaks again into his comms. “April, Casey, and dad, do any of you know if the lair is safe? Do we need to find another place to patch up all of our wounds?”
“I can hear you, master Donatello,” comes Casey’s voice from his comms.
“Ah, perfect.” Donnie pauses, turning to Leo and flicking his face again. “Stay awake, ‘Nardo.”
“I don’t think the lair is safe. I can go check, if you need, but last me and Splints were there, it was covered in the Kraang stuff. Pretty sure the lady one broke a bunch of pillars when chasing us down, too, so I don’t think it’d even be stable enough.”
“Fuck,” Donnie breathes out, and it’s followed by an angry huff from Raph. “Calm down, El. I need to let off steam somehow.” Raph glares silently but doesn’t fight it, quickly shaking Leo, as his little brother had started falling asleep again.
“Heyy-” Leo protests, frowning. “I’m not going to sleep, I’m just… gonna close my eyes… for a sec-Ow!” Leo is immediately interrupted by Donnie smacking him (albeit gently) in the face.
“Leo, please listen to Dee,” April says from the comms.
“Oh my lemon bars-,” Donnie says, exasperated. “Pinching should also work.” He turns to Raph. “Raph, what do you think we should do?” he asks, taking Leo from his arms and waits silently. Leo struggles, trying to get to the ground so he can stand, which Donnie does not let him do, just lifting him further from the ground.
Raph shrugs, looking embarrassed.
“Oh right, you’re still working on sign language. Hmm… What should we-”
“I got a notepad!” Mikey offers somewhat loudly, interrupting Donnie. “And a pen!”
Raph nods gratefully to Mikey, smiling and putting his right hand up just in front of his chin, palm facing in and lowering it with a gentle smile, signing “thank you.” He quietly starts writing, trying not to fill the entire page with just one word.
Mikey reads out loud from Raph’s right shoulder as Raph writes. “Look… for… foob? Raph, I think you meant to put a ‘d’ not a ‘b.’” Raph huffs in slight annoyance and Mikey apologizes. “Heh, sorry- anb-and a hops-? Hospital!”
Raph silently hands the notepad and pen back to Mikey, huffing angrily and pounding his fists together loudly.
“Sorry, Raph,” Mikey says, frowning guiltily and hopping down from Raph’s shoulder. “Love you, bro!” he says and a soft smile replaces the frown on Raph’s face. Raph leans over and hugs his youngest brother for a few seconds, Mikey immediately returning the hug.
Donnie turns back to his wrist-tech and speaks into comms. “Hey April, Casey, dear papa, can you please look for some sort of hospital or something. Doesn’t matter yokai or human, if they have the tools and heart monitors, I can deal with it.”
“Oh, I know a few hospitals ‘round here! I’ll contact y’all if I find one that’s stable!” April says. “C'mon, Splints!” she adds, clearly facing away from comms. “Hang in there, Leo!" she calls back into comms, before turning it off.
“Thank you, April,” Donnie says, relief flooding through his voice.
April’s comms flicker back on just for a moment for her to say, “Anytime.”
Just then, one of Donnie’s battle shells arrives, landing immediately on his own soft shell. Another appears immediately after, and he snatches it from the air with one arm. At the contact, it drops and Mikey catches it for him.
“Ah, thank you Michael. Could you put it on Leo’s shell for me?” Donnie asks.
“Put what on my shell?” Leo asks, suspicion in his voice.
“One of my battle shells. I built it specifically in case of a situation like this, as it is meant to wrap around any new wearer’s shell, though it is too small for Raphael . It’s meant specifically for you and Michael, as your shell shapes are relatively similar. The reason I made it was just the thought that either of you could get fractures in your shells, especially with how many villains we fight monthly. I was right to make it, though it did take several different tries to get the shaping right. It has gauze lining the interior as well as temperature regulators throughout its base frame for-”
“It’s on, Dee!” Mikey says somewhat loudly. “If you wanna tell me about it, you can, but we should probably make sure we’re all safe first,” the box turtle suggests.
“Ah, thank you Michael. I’ll take you and Leo over first. Think you can hold onto him and keep him awake when we get over there?”
Mikey examines his hands, flexing and balling them into fists and then nods to Donnie. “Yeah, I’m all good, baby!”
Donnie nods and looks up at Raph and his panicked expression. “It’s alright, bud. I don’t think anyone is going to try fighting them when they reach the other side. Besides, April, Splinter, and or Junior will likely be there with them by the time I come back here. And if you try swimming with those wounds of yours, I am forcing bed rest upon you. You will be on Leo duty even if he actually doesn’t try running. Don’t try me.” He turns to face the other side of the water again.
Raph doesn’t seem very comforted, and Leo looks tiredly over at him, giving him a smile. “Don’t worry bud. You should be able to see us just fine. We’re not leaving your sight, promise.”
Raph relaxes slightly at this, smiling back at his little brother, though his brow is still taught with worry.
“Come along, Angelo. ‘Nardo, I swear if you try falling asleep on me, I will personally fill your lungs with battery acid.”
“ Eughh boyy, ” Leo responds uncomfortably, while Mikey climbs up onto the top of Donnie’s battle shell.
“ Donnie, ” Mikey protests. “Stop being mean-”
“How about you help me actually keep him awake instead of pestering me,” Donnie snaps, glaring as he lifts into the air with the help of his hover shell.
Mikey sighs. “Fine, fine- So, Leo,” he starts. “Wanna talk about your favorite JJ movies and comics-?”
“OH YES-” Leo responds excitedly before quickly covering his face with his hands and groaning in pain. “Agh!”
Donnie frowns and continues heading toward the shore, the waves below them calmly flowing, as if nothing had happened.
_________________________
Leonardo stares at the wreckage of the lair, and panic starts to fill his chest. They had to be out. They weren't here. They shouldn’t be.
He cups his hands over his mouth and shouts. “HELLO? DONNIE, RAPH, MIKEY? APRIL, SPLINTER, CASEY?? IS ANYONE HERE?” he calls out, and upon receiving no answer, he feels slight relief and worry at the same time. They were hopefully okay.
“WHO CALLS UPON THE NAME OF CASSANDRA JONES?” a voice shouts from the surface. “IS IT THE BLUE ONE?”
Leonardo suddenly feels a grin force its way onto his face, and he climbs up a ladder out of the abandoned subway. “Casey!” he calls out excitedly.
“WOAH, WOAH! LEO, DID YOUR TWIN PULL ONE OF THOSE EXPERIMENTS ON YOU AGAIN??”
Leonardo holds in a laugh at first and then feels worry building up again. “Maybe a little one,” he answers with a laugh. “Have you seen my brothers or April?”
“I HAVE NOT- Oh, I got a message,” Cassandra responds, turning on her phone and a giant, evil looking grin appears on her face immediately. “APRIL HAS RESPONDED TO MY MESSAGES!”
“Can you ask her where she and the others are?” the large red-eared slider asks.
“OF COURSE I CAN!!!” Casey responds, typing furiously with one hand and continuing to beat up the kraang zombie while doing so. “SHE SAYS SHE IS ON HER WAY TOWARD STATEN ISLAND WHILE SPLINTER IS IN SEARCH OF A HOSPITAL- Wait- no my bad. She is searching for a hospital while MASTER SPLINTER is on his way to Staten island. Why are they looking for a hospital- DID THEY GET INJURED?!?!?”
Leonardo takes in a sharp breath and nods. “Thank you, Casey.” And with that, he sprints toward Staten Island.
“WHERE ARE YOU GOING??” Cassandra calls out.
“TO FIND THEM!” Leonardo shouts back, not stopping or even slowing down.
Even after decades of a drastically changed New York City, he still remembered every alleyway, every street, and all the buildings like the back of his hand.
He needed to get to them.
_________________________
April turns to face Splinter after the revelation of Leo being safe, with his brothers. A smile crosses her face, and tears join in. Splinter stares in shock, the light immediately returning to his eyes. His son was alive.
“You go get them, I’ll find a hospital nearby,” April says, waving him along and quickly rubbing the tears from her eyes. Her little brother was okay. She didn’t want to even imagine a universe where she lost him, or any of her brothers for that matter.
They part, rejuvenation filling their steps, bringing back energy that was previously lost.
_________________________
Casey Jones Junior uses his grappling hook, swinging past buildings, some standing and some torn to the very foundation, until he reaches a hospital. The closest one he could find. It wasn’t exactly in one piece, but it was in better condition than any others he found. He didn’t know where “Staten Island” was, but he could certainly find them and maybe another hospital on the way, if this one didn’t work.
He lands on the ground by the hospital and stops, staring, as someone he never thought he’d see again runs past. Moments pass by before he can get his bearings, and he screams to the mutant as loudly as he can. “MASTER LEONARDO!”
The mutant skids to a halt, turning to stare at the kid, having his own moment of trying to figure out if what he was seeing was actually real.
Casey sprints toward him and wraps his arms tightly around his waist, hugging him tightly. Tears were streaming down the kid’s face, and he starts shaking with relief. “I thought- I th-thought you died-” he cries and buries his face into Leonardo’s plastron.
Leonardo hesitates for only a moment before wrapping his own arms around the kid. “Hey- hey it’s okay. I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere,” he says. “Not permanently at least,” he adds in a joking tone, and slowly starts to let go of Casey. “I’m going to get my brothers, April, and... and Splinter,” he says quickly. “Do you want to come with-”
“Yes, I’m coming with you.” There’s not a moment of hesitation in the boy’s voice, and Leonardo can’t help but smile at that. Casey lets go, standing up straight and looking directly into his sensei’s eyes.
“Alright, let’s go get them,” he says, before suddenly wincing and tightening his grip on the wound in his side.
“Wait, you’re still injured!” Casey exclaims, fear in his eyes. “I forgot- Maybe you should-”
“Don’t worry, I-” he starts, grunting in pain before nodding in the direction of Staten Island. “Your mom told me the others are at Staten Island. It’s that way. Tell them to come back here. I’ll be right here. I’m gonna try stealing a room for them while you’re out.”
Casey stares for a moment, trying to process what he said and nods at Leonardo, who sends a soft grin back his way.
“I am absolutely telling them you’re here,” Casey warns him, with a mischievous grin.
“Get outta here!” Leonardo laughs, waving him off and then heading toward the hospital.
Casey aims his grappling hook at a street lamp a good half mile off, and he swings himself all the way to the water separating him from Staten Island.
_________________________
April arrives at the same hospital Leonardo and Casey were at just a moment ago and stares as this giant mutant with suspiciously similar markings on his back to her little brother’s shell enters the hospital. Obviously, being the curious girl she is, she follows, wide eyes, and throws her bat over her shoulder, preparing to beat the shit out of the mutant in case they were hostile.
Chairs and fake plants were knocked over, even a clock was shattered on the floor of the white and blue waiting room, and April could feel her heart suddenly pounding in anxiety. Papers from the front desks were scattered all over the floor, and even a computer was lying face first on the ground.
She sneaks after the mutant silently, stepping as lightly as possible. The mutant rushes up the stairs and at a quick glance around before heading up after him, April can see maybe four people scattered around, only one obviously working here, hiding under a desk. The woman stares in horror at the mutant, and honestly, April has to agree. Whoever it is, their general vibe is just off.
The mutant heads into a room after reaching the fourth floor, somehow empty of anyone. The room was unscathed, the worst damage simply being the open cabinets and a few tools scattered around from all the shaking. The mutant turns to face April as she peers in and she stops, staring in total shock at this old version of her little brother. There was a deep tiredness in his eyes, much worse than her younger brother's worst depressive episodes, and a gentle smile that Raph wore so often. Grime covered him head to toe, and clearly he hadn’t had a good bath in years. The red stripes over his eyes were unchanged. Numerous scars covered his body and head everywhere she could see. Even behind this barely familiar face, she could see that same glint of hope in his eyes as Leo always held. She takes a step forward, staring as if the moment she blinked he would disappear.
Big Leo ? She wasn’t sure what to call him. He keeps smiling, huffing out a quiet laugh. “Hey, April,” he says, and April feels her heartstrings being pulled. She hated hearing her little brother so tired, even if he wasn’t technically her brother.
She walks forward and gives him a tight hug, and can feel him tense up, obviously on the verge of tears now. She suddenly pauses when she feels blood seeping into her sleeve. She looks at the wound in his side that she hadn’t noticed before. She looks up at him, fighting back tears. “Let’s get you patched up, ‘kay Leo?” she asks, giving him a soft yet worried smile.
He smiles back down at her and nods. “Sure, thing, sis.”
April laughs quietly and he joins in her muffled chuckles. “So, you’re from future boy’s timeline?” she asks after a bit, collecting disinfectant, a roll of gauze and bandages into her arms, bringing them over to him and motioning for him to sit.
Leonardo sits down by the window and nods. “Casey?” he asks with a slight grin. “Casey Jones Junior,” he elaborates with a smile.
“Cassandra had a kid? ” April balks, shock clear on her face. Even so, she pulls out the disinfectant wipes and shoves him over on his shell before she starts dabbing at the blood on the edges of the wound, looking for pieces of literally anything inside the wound.
He tenses up, wincing in pain, and April chuckles fondly. “So, how exactly did Cassandra of all people get a kid?” she repeats. “You still can’t be a good patient either, it seems,” she teases as he squirms in discomfort.
“Shut up,” Leonardo huffs, trying to keep from laughing, himself. “I’m not- entirely-ow- sure-” he starts, pausing every moment the disinfectant makes contact with the cracks in his plastron. “Said it was- because she was the most powerf-aGH!” He pauses for a few seconds. “The most powerful asexual ever,” he finishes with an amused grin.
April cackles, stepping away for a bit to catch her breath. Once she gets it together again, she returns to cleaning his wound. “Yeah, that’s our girl,” she agrees, grinning. “Bet she found him in a dumpster or something. On the topic of sexuality, how long did it take-”
“Oh my gosh,” Leonardo interrupts her, laughing in embarrassment. “I don’t know… Agh- a good year or two after today?”
April covers her mouth with one hand, desperately keeping the laughter at bay as she finishes disinfecting his wound. She knew she needed to be serious, but right now, she kind of needed this. And Gossip worked wonders.
She cuts some gauze from the roll and wraps it over his wound, gestures for him to sit up, and wraps several layers of bandages around his shell and plastron to keep the gauze snugly in place.
“This’ll have to do until Dee gets here,” she states, shrugging. “And he’s absolutely going to hook you up to any blood bags he can find after taking care of our Leo. ”
“Your Leo? Is no one else hurt?” he asks, incredulously.
“Oh, we all are, but for me and Splints at least, it’s mostly superficial. Nothing serious from us. Pretty sure future boy is okay, and I dunno about the other boys. I just know Dee was telling Leo to stay awake over comms. I heard Mikey talkin’ to Raph, too.”
“Serves him right,” Leonardo says under his breath, the moment she mentions Leo needing to stay awake.
“Excuse me?” April asks, a scowl making its way onto her face. “You did not just say that about my little brother. None of us asked for it! He had no clue what would happen and knowing the foot clan, they would just steal it again in a sneakier way. No one would have a clue until it’s way too late! He didn’t- He didn’t deserve that. Assuming you did the same, you didn’t deserve what you went through either. Don’t fucking say that shit about my little brother, capiche?”
Leonardo stares silently at her and tries thinking of something to say, just for his tongue to come up dry. Sighing, he nods. “Understood,” he says, frowning.
April nods back. “Good. And don’t go beating yourself up over it either. You both saved this world. With the rest of our help, of course,” she adds, searching for more disinfectant.
Leonardo looks out the broken window silently. What did this timeline’s version of himself do?
_________________________
Junior stops just in front of the water and hears shouting from a little ways off. He looks toward the shouting and sees Mikey waving frantically at him with one arm, the other being used to hold Leo up, who’s tiredly clinging to him, head resting on his shoulder, and one of Donnie’s battle shells on his own shell, his arms and legs wrapped around Mikey to help hold him up.
Casey swings over, landing right by them, and looking over at Staten island, he can see Donnie struggling to lift Raph with his hover shell.
“I found a hospital that’s in one piece,” Casey states, speaking into his own comms so Donnie and Raph can also hear him. “Leonardo and Michelangelo, are you okay if I take you there?” he asks. The slider just nods tiredly and Mikey gives him a quick thumbs-up, dim yellow cracks spidering along his hand and forearm.
Casey nods, wrapping an arm around Mikey, just under his shoulder and shooting his grappling hook back the way he came. He hopes Master Leonardo had found an unoccupied room with enough medical equipment.
_________________________
Spotting an open window(well, lack of window would be more accurate), and a familiar face right by it, Casey shoots his grappling hook at the spot just above the window, swinging in with both Mikey and Leo, letting go of Mikey, who immediately takes note of the giant mutant and his eyes go wide at seeing a much older, war torn version of his brother sitting right in front of him.
“ Leo? ” Mikey asks, staring in shock, and the younger Leo turns his head to look, his own eyes going wide.
Casey quickly jumps out of the window, quickly swinging back to where he found Leo and Mikey, to get Raph and Donnie.
Leonardo reaches out just a bit before pulling his arms back, and Mikey takes that as a sign he should hug him, so he does. “Hey, man! How’ve ya been?” the box turtle asks, grinning.
Leonardo gently wraps his own arms around the box turtle(and younger Leo in the process) in a Raph size hug, tears start pricking at his eyes and he chokes on quiet, relieved laughter. “Hey, Mikey… I’ve been good,” he responds quietly, a soft smile on his tired face.
“Doesn’t seem like the case,” the younger slider comments. “Considering you were in an apocalypse, anyways.” He has a knowing look on his face, though along with the empathetic frown, his eyes spark with curiosity and some excitement.
Leonardo frowns deeply at the comment from his younger self but doesn’t bother looking in his direction, essentially ignoring the younger slider.
April collects a bunch of equipment and takes it all over to the bedside table, placing it down quickly. Just then, Casey comes through with Splinter in tow, who immediately starts towards Leo, only to freeze in place at seeing the older version of his son. Donnie climbs in through the window and stares for a moment at the towering being, before immediately rounding him to clean his twin’s wounds.
Donnie takes his battle shell off his twin brother, who whines in pain. Donnie gently pets the top of Leo’s head, shushing him quietly and quickly taking some disinfectant to clean Leo's wounds.
Leonardo breathes in sharply, watching how his brother acts, as well as staring in shock at the numerous cracks along his counterpart’s shell. Maybe April was right. That looked… awful. He had his own fair share of cracks and chips in his own shell, gained over the decades of the apocalypse, but… The kid's was over the course of one day.
He shakes his head and looks away, though finds himself immediately snapping back to look when the younger slider shrieks. Donnie was just stapling the countless cracks. He was careful and meticulous, and he quietly shushes his twin, whispering softly into his ear, calming the poor kid. Leonardo felt himself sagging in relief and sighs loudly.
He silently turns to Splinter. His dad had only died during the last battle, but gosh, he missed him.
Splinter takes a tentative step forward, almost immediately embracing this future version of his son tightly, April and Mikey joining after only a moment.
Raph awkwardly ducks and enters through the door sideways, attempting not to destroy the doorframe or walls around it, and somehow succeeding. Suddenly, once again, there is a silent staring contest.
The large slider feels tears pour down his face, and he smiles. Joy and sadness, worry and relief, every feeling was clashing together in a chaotic unity. Everyone was here, but it wasn’t his family. Even so, he was so happy to see them all. Tears form in his eyes and roll down his face.
Raph looks at his younger brothers, April, Splinter, and even Casey, before looking back at the old version of his injured brother. He slowly starts forward, not speaking a word, and peers quietly into Leonardo’s wet eyes.
Casey and Splinter take a few steps back and Raph wraps him up in a hug, keeping it gentle so as not to aggravate either of their injuries.
They stay there, hugging for a good few minutes, tears pouring down Leonardo’s face as he shudders, returning the hug and trying to keep it just as gentle. Splinter and Casey quietly separate them after some time, Casey starting to work on Raph’s injuries, while Splinter checks over April’s work. Raph had no problem being patched up, though he did seem uncomfortable whenever Casey went anywhere near his right eye, which, despite Leonardo not being able to see that side of his face, he did notice, and he saw his younger self fixing Raph with the same look.
The older slider stares at the hole in the top of Raph’s shell silently. He felt both horror and some morbid curiosity peaking at the same time. He wanted to know but he didn’t want to ask. Thinking about damaged shells, he looks back at his younger counterpart and the horrific amount of cracks splintered across the kid’s shell, now all sealed with ointment and staples.
Donnie bandages Leo’s countless injuries and hooks him up to a few monitors. He asks Mikey and April to see if they can find food and water, and they immediately head out to search together.
Casey and Splinter finish patching up and looking over the damage on their respective patients, and Donnie asks them to keep Leo awake while he checks their work on Raph and Leonardo. Donnie looks with a raised brow at the prosthetic. “How long have you had this on?” he asks, a glare seeping into his face.
“I haven’t taken it off for a few years now,” Leonardo responds honestly, glancing over at his younger self, dad, and Casey. “Had to keep it on. Didn’t know when it was safe to take it off, so I just never did.”
“Well, I’m confiscating it.”
“What?”
“You have lost your arm privileges.” Donnie looks over the arm and Leonardo stares silently for a few seconds before reaching up at the shoulder of the prosthetic and pausing. He inhales and exhales, triggers the release and lets the arm drop from his shoulder, leaving the stump bare.
“Thank you,” Donnie says after a moment, struggling to lift the arm and then taking it to another part of the hospital room. Donnie then leaves the room, calling out, “I will be back shortly!”
Leonardo silently looks over Raph’s and Leo’s injuries. What did the Kraang do to them?
He feels a pang of guilt, wishing he could have gone through the portal with Casey. Maybe they would all be okay then.