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It’s been months since the Kraang attack on New York. After all the clean-up and recuperation efforts, the city was mostly back to normal. A new normal, anyway.
Leo sat at the kitchen island, munching on the last slice of leftover pizza as he thought about all the changes he and his family had been going through lately.
They had all talked about and dealt with most of the fallout of the Kraang. It was hard, but necessary. Leo hated having to watch all his brothers live through each of their experiences all over again, every time the subject was seriously brought up. The healing was almost harder than the pain, weirdly enough.
Shaking his head, Leo tries to stop himself from spiraling back down that rabbit hole. He didn’t like how conscious of his own emotions he was becoming. It made him jumpy, on edge.
It also made him a lot more hyper aware. Not just of himself, but of his brothers too. He found himself becoming much more of a helicopter parent of sorts. It came with being the leader, he supposed. Didn’t make it any less annoying.
As he swallowed the final bite of pizza, Leo’s thoughts went to Raph.
“Where is that guy anyway?”
It wasn’t like Raph had to be at the lair the same time every night. He was free to do whatever he pleased! But it was nearly 7 PM, and Leo hadn’t seen heads or tails of Raph all day.
Going out on ‘solo missions,’ volunteering to grab pizza, take out, what have you. Raph had a clever excuse for every time his brothers asked where he was going. Leo noticed that he was taking longer and longer to come back each time, but that wasn’t enough of a reason to be suspicious.
In his lab, Donnie was casually checking in on everyone’s pins during a break from his video game when he saw it. Raph’s little red icon was nowhere on the map. Was his tracker glitching out or something?
“Not possible,” Donnie seethes. “My tech is immaculate.”
He zoomed out to get a wider view of the sewers. It was only a 10 mile radius, but surely Raph was somewhere around.
Nothing.
He zooms out again, looking at a 15 mile radius.
Zip.
“What…?”
He didn’t usually keep tabs on his brothers like this, but Donnie was starting to get worried. Quickly, he taps into the city’s surveillance systems and gets a complete view of New York. Far off on the other end of town, near the docks to be precise, Donnie saw a red dot blinking away.
“Ah. He’s probably busting up a mafia ring or something. Yeah!” Donnie nods to himself.
Couldn’t be anything else.
Suddenly, the blinking stops. Donnie scrambles to the edge of his chair to grab at the computer screen. Raph turned off his GPS…
“Okay, that’s it.”
In the rec room area, Mikey had been pacing around for a while. With board games and phone in hand, he was starting to panic. Tonight was supposed to be family game night, and Mikey was the only one who showed up. Even Splinter bailed on him, having accidentally passed out on his bed after dinner.
“This is so not cool. I had the games picked out and everything!”
Right as Mikey drops the box of Scrabble and the container of dominos, Donnie storms in.
“This is ridiculous.”
Mikey spins around, equally exasperated. “You’re tellin’ me! Can you believe it?”
Leo had sauntered in as well, his curiosity piqued when he heard the commotion all the way from the kitchen. Crossing his arms, he leans up against the entryway.
“It’s so frustrating. Is it so much to ask for a little communication? A little honesty?”
Donnie and Mikey approach, nodding their heads furiously along with their brother.
“Right!”
“Precisely!”
The three of them stand there for a second, in total silence. Leo slowly blinks his eyes open.
“What are we talking about? I mean, I know what I’m talking about.”
Donnie points at his wrist. “I’ll tell you: Raph, our brother, has just turned off his tracker. How did he even do that? It’s subcutaneous!”
Leo clears his throat with a furrowed brow. He was just going to ignore the fact that Donnie somehow managed to implant tracking devices inside all of them. For now.
“He couldn’t have chewed it out. Mine’s all the way back here!” Mikey spins around, grabbing pitifully at the back of his neck. “Dang, almost.”
“Wait— He what? Lemme see that.”
Leo grabs at Donnie’s wrist, scanning over the map display. “You didn’t happen to—“
“Near the docks, I already committed it to memory.”
Donnie gives his brothers a haughty grin as they applaud his excellent memory.
“Impressive!”
“Very sneaky,” Mikey smirks.
Then, Leo brings them all in for a short conference.
“Okay, it’s clear to me now that Raph is most certainly hiding something. He’s not in trouble, or else he’d be calling one of us. Right?”
Mikey whips out his phone and dials Raph. “Let’s see…”
They watch with bated breath as the line rings. Raph wouldn’t ignore a phone call from his youngest, goodest brother, would he?
“Hey, you’ve reached Raphael! I can’t come to the phone right now—“
“HYAH—!” Mikey tosses his phone against the wall. “Not the voicemail!”
This wasn’t like Raph at all, they wonder to themselves.
Surely he, of all people, would want to keep his loved ones close after the invasion. He didn’t have to stay put in the lair all the time, but he could have at least had the decency to keep his tracker on. Leo nods, making the executive decision.
“Then it’s settled.” He pulls out his sword and slices through the air. “C’mon.”
Leo calmly walks through, with Mikey and Donnie following close behind.
Raph’s been doing something in secret, that much Leo knew. And tonight, his brothers are gonna get to the bottom of it!
—
Quietly, Raph hops in-between shipping containers. He was running late, so he resorted just to using his ninja skills to get him to his destination.
He didn’t even check his phone when he felt it buzz.
“No time! Can’t talk!” He speaks to the inanimate object before stowing it away.
Finally, he sees it. Albeartoland!
Raph zeros in on the silhouette of the roller coaster in the distance before flash-stepping. It wasn’t like he would be breaking in, there weren’t exactly any security around the place, but Raph tried to creep in as stealthily as he could.
It was never in great shape before (the Mad Dogs made sure of that when it first opened), but Albeartoland was officially closed after the invasion. The NYC Clean-Up Project just didn’t have it in the budget to refurbish a dilapidated amusement park.
The rides were all mostly destroyed, the main roller coaster barely being held together. The ferris wheel was somewhere in the ocean below the pier, most likely. But what didn’t rely on electricity was still intact.
Carnival games, abandoned food stands, and walkable attractions. It wasn’t ideal, but Raph hoped to himself that they would be enough entertainment for tonight.
Once he finally made his way to the entrance, he quietly surveyed the area.
“She must have left already…” Raph sighs to himself.
“Nope, still here.”
Suddenly, Raph twists around to see you standing just behind the front gate. You smile, giving him a small salute. “I wouldn’t give up after only…15 minutes of waiting?”
You glance down at your phone, checking the hour. “Plus, you actually gave me enough time to find the breaker. Maybe you can use your brute strength to kick it on and we can see if this place has any juice left.”
His spirit lifts immediately as he brings you into a spine-breaking hug. “You’re the best!”
You weakly fight back against his hold, blushing as he places a couple of smooches on the top of your head.
“I know! Now put me down before you break something.”
He gives you one last kiss before setting you back down. His face was starting to heat up as well.
“You’re right, you’re precious cargo.”
Chuckling, you lead him over to the power breaker in the center of the park. You didn’t really have any knowledge about circuitry, but most of the wires were either torn out or fried. Couldn’t hurt to try it anyway.
“After you. I’m pretty sure you won’t get electrocuted…” You shrug, moving to the side to allow him to pull the main switch.
“Pfft, I’m sure it’s fine.” Raph spits onto the palms of his hands, rearing up to grab ahold of the handle. “Stand back, wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
You back away, putting your arms up defensively. “From the sparks?”
“No, from the gun show.” He smirks, flexing his impressive arms.
You ogle him from afar as he pulls the switch up. With a loud mechanical sound, the power kicks back on and the park slowly begins to light up. You get momentarily distracted from Raph as the twinkling lights blink on around you.
“Not bad, Red. You better start charging me admission.” You slink back over to him, letting your fingers walk along his toned muscles.
In the distance, you swear you hear something. Maybe it was all in your head, but you swore you just heard someone vomit.
“Hm?” You look behind you.
Nobody. Weird.
You feel Raph begin to pull away from your touch, flustered at your compliment.
“Ahaha…” He smiles goofily at you. “Why don’t we take a walk around? There’s probably a game that isn’t completely trashed.”
You glance back one more time before going to catch up with Raph. “Yeah, right.”
For a while, the two of you busy yourselves with trying out various attractions. The sledgehammer bell game instantly caught your eye. A test of strength would be the perfect thing to impress Raph, you thought to yourself.
With a bit of swagger in your step, you make your way over to the game. “Check this out, stud.”
Lifting himself out of a toppled food cart, Raph looks up at you with a piece of funnel cake in his mouth.
“Dude, how old is that?” You grimace as you lift up the hammer.
Swallowing the rest, Raph wipes away the crumbs. “Tastes pretty old.”
He giggles watching your face twist with disgust.
“Whatever. Prepare to be amazed!”
You lift the hammer high over your head before bringing it down. The rubber collides with the sensor, causing the dial on the machine to shoot up. It bobs a bit near the top before dropping to the middle, right around the ‘weakling’ marker.
You stutter, feeling sheepish. “That…that one didn’t count.”
Before you know it, Raph walks up behind you and politely offers his hand. “These games are all rigged. Here, let me.”
Raph gives you that warm, confident look that always fills your stomach with butterflies. Blushing, you hand the hammer to him.
“Well, you’ll probably just break it anyway. Go ahead.” You scoff.
He squares his legs to about shoulder-length apart, almost like he’s about to tee off at golf. Raph takes his sweet time getting ready before finally hitting the sensor.
Gingerly, he brings his arms up and taps the hammer. “Boop.”
You throw your head back, rolling your eyes. “Okay, wise guy. How ‘bout you try for real now?”
Raph tosses a snarky look your way, his fang poking out of his mouth.
“If you say so.”
In a flash, you watch as Raph summons his mystic powers. His red, glowing arms expand out to grab ahold of the hammer. It was dwarfed by his large hands, but his grip remained tight. With a boost of speed and power, Raph reels back and practically smashes the sensor.
The dial on the game goes much higher this time, unsurprisingly. Just when you both think it’ll hit the bell at the top, it sinks back down to the lowest marker.
You blink, stepping forward. “What does that say…? Wimp?”
Smirking, you hear Raph shuffle next to you.
“No. That can’t be right!”
“Oh yeah, you’re right. It actually says ‘Shrimp.’ My bad.”
Raph’s face breaks out into a deep red color before he shakes his mystic fist at the game. He sure did like to talk to inanimate objects a lot.
“Callin’ me shrimpy, huh? You wanna go?” He growls.
Then, he leaps up high into the air, locking his fists together. If the hammer wasn’t enough to prove his strength, his fists certainly could.
You nonchalantly walk back a safe distance, watching him relentlessly smash the sensor with his massive hands. He moves on to just destroying the rest of the game in a blind rage, flattening the bell with a resounding crunch.
With a dry chuckle, you walk back up to him after his mystic energy disappears.
“You sure showed it who’s boss.” You kick at the remnants of the game.
Raph pouts, folding his arms across his chest. “Serves it right.”
You have to stop yourself from ‘aww’-ing at his angry face. He was just too adorable! Thinking on your feet, you skip away from Raph.
“Hold on!” You shout.
You look around at all the nearby booths, digging through the rubble and debris. To your disappointment, there really weren't any carnival prizes left. All the plushies were either taken by young delinquents raiding the park or destroyed in the Kraang invasion, apparently.
You nearly give up before you walk past the last booth. There was exactly one Albearto plush left, hanging sadly on the side of the counter. You snatch it up and quickly try to dust it off.
You tip-toe back up to Raph, plush hidden behind your back. He was still sulking, but he had moved to sit at the edge of the dock. His beefy legs dangled off the pier.
You smile cheekily, poking his shell. “Since you did technically hit the bell, I think you deserve a prize. The law of the amusement park demands it.”
Raph peeks up at you, still scowling. “Whaddaya mean?”
You present him with the Albearto plush with a flourish. “Ta-da! I know you hate kinda hate this guy, but…”
Before your slightly embarrassed ramblings can go on, Raph takes the toy from you. His eyes go wide and watery at your kind gesture.
“F-For me?”
You and Raph stare at each other lovingly.
“You don’t need a carnival game to tell you that you’re literally the strongest dude alive.” You wink, moving closer to scratch underneath Raph’s chin. Right where he liked it.
In the background, another voice calls out. It was…cheering?
There it was again! You spin around toward the source of the noise. Was someone following you?
Raph’s contented sighs of happiness soon drown out your errant thoughts. You were just paranoid, you thought. Facing him again, you give Raph a couple more scritches.
“That’s so weird.” You whisper.
“Mmm…what is, baby?”
His cute pet name sends a bolt of lightning straight to your heart. You think it might actually stop beating for a second.
“What did I tell you about calling me that?” Your eyeball twitches, trying to reign in your emotions.
Raph sighs, lumbering to stand up. He moves your hands away so that he can slide his up to your face.
“You said that you’d probably have a heart attack and die. But I think you were lyin’ to me.” He smirks.
You tuck your head into your shirt collar, feeling positively bombarded with affection. Raph knew that whenever he called you that, you melted into a human puddle.
“Stop! I’ll push you off!” You joke, playfully slapping his hands away.
Raph laughs, moving away. “Okay, okay. Do you think the carousel still works—“
The wood plank Raph was standing began to creak and whine under your combined weights. Maybe the park was in worse shape than he thought. Suddenly, the edge of the pier shifts, the weather-worn wood snapping.
All Raph can do is stare dumbly into your eyes as he starts to fall. Even his ninja reflexes weren’t quick enough to catch him.
“Raph!” You shout, reaching your hands out to somehow catch him.
Without even thinking, your body launches forward on instinct. You knew you didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell, but you knew you had to save Raph. Even if it meant dislocating your shoulder.
Your hands shoot out as you fall to the ground. The wood was weak, but it had you up. The splintered edge dug roughly into your stomach, but you didn’t care. You grit your teeth, feeling your hands grab onto something.
Somehow, you manage to grab a hold of Raph’s wrist.
Raph gulps, his voice shaky.
“I thought you were kidding.”
You quickly grab him with your other hand, trying with all your might to pull him back up. It didn’t help that Raph weighed…well, as much as an insanely jacked mutant turtle weighed.
“Shut up and get back up here!” You groan.
You don’t even pay attention to the sound of something landing behind you.
Raph strains a bit, but swings his other arm up. He catches the edge of the pier with his index finger and slowly pulls himself back up.
“Thank God I didn’t skip arm day,” he hisses.
Finally, you pull Raph all the way up. Dragging you both over to the prize booth nearby, you pant and try to catch your breaths.
“T-Thanks,” He wheezes, grabbing his chest. “I almost took a swim.”
You bend down and lean onto your knees, shooting Raph an apologetic frown.
“Don’t thank me. You did most of the work.”
“You’re probably right, but your bravery was commendable. Well done.”
A nasally voice echoes behind you, giving you a half-hearted clap. Donnie walks forward, cocking his head to the side. He was sizing you up, analyzing your face.
“Woah, who’s the babe?” Leo pops his head over Donnie’s shoulder, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
You feel yourself start to sweat under their scrutinizing gazes. You definitely knew Raph had brothers, you’ve seen their blurry images on social media. But you’ve never officially met them. Raph and you have had many conversations about it, whether or not he should tell them about your relationship. You both came to the conclusion that, at least for now, it’d be best to keep it on the down-low.
With the blue and purple-clad turtles eyeing you up and down, however, that might be a little difficult.
You gulp. Time to make a good first impression.
“Hey, isn’t there an orange one?”
Well, maybe just an impression.
“That’s me!”
Mikey slides in and places an arm over your shoulder, bringing you into a friendly side-hug.
Soon enough, the three brothers crowd into your personal space, trying to get a better look at you. Their heads press up against one another, making you snicker.
“Uh, hello.” You take a step back.
“Wait—!” Raph marches over to stand in-between you and the others. “What are you bozos doin’ here?”
Taking the lead, Leo pushes himself forward.
“We’re just here to check up on our dear older brother. We didn’t look up your location and follow you all the way out here to snoop, because if you’re thinking that, you’re dead wrong.”
Raph narrows his eyes. He looks over to a meek looking Mikey and Donnie, waiting to hear their excuse. They didn’t even try to lie, simply shrugging to him.
“You turned off your tracker. Could you blame us?” Donnie sighs.
“And, you missed family game night! We were gonna do our domino rematch like you promised.” Mikey’s lip quivers, giving Raph big puppy dog eyes.
“That was tonight? Ugh.” Raph slaps his forehead.
He did feel like he was pulling away from his brothers a little bit lately, but he was always sure to keep his schedule straight. There was family time, and there was you time.
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t…”
Raph looks back at you, politely standing off to the side.
You didn’t want to interrupt, or accidentally say anything stupid. This seemed like a more personal matter between brothers, so you just kept to yourself. When Raph looks back at you, eyes searching for the right words, you bite at your lip.
Quickly, you introduce yourself to Leo, Donnie, and Mikey.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take your brother away from you guys.”
Your heart was pounding in your chest as they looked at you curiously. You don’t know how else to behave in front of them, so you just bow. It’s a formal, almost awkward way to greet them. But how else could you react to meeting more of the people who basically saved the entire world from alien invaders.
“Thank you for saving New York. Not just from the Kraang, obviously…” You chuckle, looking at the ground. “But for all that other stuff.”
Suddenly, Leo breaks out into laughter.
You straighten your back, looking even more awkward. Did you say something wrong? Did your bowing offend them somehow? Your mind raced as Leo continued to guffaw at you.
Suddenly they all realize, in their own unique way, that Raph had a girlfriend. A real, flesh-and-blood girlfriend!
Leo was a little surprised, but proud nonetheless. He was just relieved that Raph wasn’t hiding some deep, dark secret about moonlighting as a vigilante or something.
“Holy shit! This one’s a card! Nice going, brother.” Leo playfully slaps at Raph’s back.
Donnie hangs back, seemingly trying to do endless math equations in his mind. If his brother had been dating, surely he would have seen all the signs? How did Raph manage to evade his expert perception for months?
“For no reason in particular, could you give me all of your personal information? Phone number, work place, social security number.” Donnie approaches you, notepad in hand.
“I’m gonna go with ‘no.’” You smirk, pushing him away.
Mikey was nothing but ecstatic! He jumped forward, wrapping you up in a big, cuddly hug. He was a little miffed at Raph for skipping family time, but how could he stay mad knowing that his big bro had finally found love?
“Welcome to our messed up family! Our dad’s a rat!”
You stumble a bit when he crawls onto your back, but you give his hand a friendly pat. “So I’ve heard.”
Raph watches with slight disbelief as Leo walks up and greets you as well. You all exchange your names and get all the pleasantries out of the way.
Was it always going to be this easy, you meeting all of his brothers? Suddenly, Raph felt pretty bad for being so nervous about introducing you. Not that he didn’t trust you, or that the others wouldn’t, it’s just that he didn’t know how to navigate that part of your relationship yet.
Then, Raph feels a pang of love deep in his gut. He knew that as long as he had his brothers and you, he’d be okay. He’d be more than okay.
“I didn’t know how else to react, okay? What, did you want me to say ‘thank you for your service’?’” You joke.
“Yikes, that’s worse.” Leo scratches the side of his head and laughs along with you.
Raph silently approaches, moving to stand behind you.
“Sorry guys. I know I’ve been kinda—“
“Ah-ah. Say no more. We know.” Donnie waves him off with a lazy smile.
“Yeah, you’ve only been dating for a couple of months. You were just taking your time!” Mikey flashes Raph a bright smile, giving him a thumbs up.
Then, you look back to Raph, quirking up an eyebrow.
“Should we tell them?”
Raph chuckles, a sweat drop running down his face.
“A couple of months, a year, what’s the difference?”
The five of you stand there for a second. You could hear a pin drop.
“WHAAAAAAT?”
Leo, Donnie, and Mikey collectively scream, attacking Raph and tackling him to the ground.
You cackle watching them playfully fight with each other. Your life was bound to become a lot more messed up now, but that was just fine with you.