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Chapter Text

“GRAB A SLICE!!!” And with those last three words, Leo tossed Casey through the portal and into the past. The kid’ll be fine. He’s survived so much worse and come out the other side even stronger. If anyone was going to save the world, it was him.  

Enemies surrounded Leo on all sides, and he fought as hard as he could. Well, as hard as he could while bleeding profusely from his chest. He managed to knock away some of them, but it was only a few seconds later that he saw the blinding, red light of a laser beam charging to his left. He barely had time to register it before an all-consuming fire engulfed his entire body.  

The pain was the most intense thing Leo had ever experienced in his life. His nerves seem to burst into flames and white-hot agony shot through him. Thankfully, it only lasted a moment.  

As quick as it came, the pain was replaced with numbness. Pure nothingness surrounded Leo as he seemed to float through infinity.  

This is it, he thought. I’m coming home, my brothers.  

———    

Leo’s ears rang like a bomb had gone off next to his head.  

Ugh, my bones.  

He felt like it too.  

Slowly but surely, the ringing turned into the constant noises of a city. Cars zipping by, music from nearby street performers, hundreds of voices all engaged in different conversations as they walked by.  

But….. that’s not possible?  

New York has been dead and gone for so long. There’s just no way that he could be hearing this. He has to be hallucinating. Maybe it’s his version of his life flashing before his eyes.  

A groan escaped his throat without his permission, and he slowly opened his eyes to see….. something even more impossible. Skyscrapers, billboards, gray clouds in the sky, people walking along sidewalks.  

Did Casey do it? He must have. How else could this be happening? How else could there be New York standing tall and proud while still being the dark, grimy city Leo had grown up in?  

Except… if Casey succeeded, then their timeline must be gone. So how is Leo here? How did he get taken to this alternate version of reality when he so clearly remembers dying?  

Grunting in pain, Leo rolled onto his side, nausea threatening to take over. He tried to get his prosthetic arm under him to lift himself up but a quick glance down shows him that won’t be possible considering he doesn’t have his prosthetic. In fact, he doesn’t have any of his gear. Even more confused, Leo uses his one remaining arm to push himself into a sitting position.  

Glancing around, he notices that he is on the roof of a small building, probably only a few stories high. It takes another few minutes before he feels stable enough to attempt standing up. The process takes longer than he would like to admit, but he manages.  

Leo scans his surroundings and focuses on a particularly secluded back alley. It’s currently daytime and the last thing he needs is someone to see him and panic. So he sneaks over the edge of the building and quietly lands on the ground below, stumbling only slightly. He presses his back to the wall, hiding in the shadows. It’s still not very ideal. Anyone could easily come back here and find him.  

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Leo spots something. A round, metal disc, built into the ground. A manhole cover! Moving quickly but silently, Leo makes his way over and rips the cover out of the ground. He climbs down onto the ladder and replaces the cover back over top of him.  

Once at the bottom, he realizes he knows this place. It’s a sewer tunnel that is very close to where his family’s old lair used to be.  

I wonder…  

———  

“Okay okay, but…. You guys go on amazing adventures all the time! Why do you need to watch movies about them?”  

April and the turtles had been trying to explain to Casey why they loved the Jupiter Jim movies for the past hour, but for some reason he just wasn’t getting it.  

April sighed for what had to be the fiftieth time that night. “It’s not about the adventure! It’s about the characters and the interesting situations and th-“  

“AND THE AWESOME FIGHT SCENES!!!” Leon interrupted.  

“AAAAAND THE AMAZING TECH!!!” Donnie followed up with.  

“AAAAAAAAAAANND THE COOL VISUALS!!!” Mikey chimed in.  

“Don’t forget the EPIC SMASHING!” Raph oh-so-helpfully added.  

“I think that’s included in the epic fight scenes, big bro,” Leon snarked, rubbing his temples.  

Raph grabbed Leon and playfully wrestled with him, almost hitting the projector in the process.  

While the two boys tumbled, April went back to talking about the character arcs and clever writing. Donnie and Mikey simply sat next to her, occasionally nodding along.  

All in all, it was another hour before they managed to wrangle everyone up and get them sitting down for movie night. Splinter sat in his usual chair and Mikey sat on the armrest where he could easily reach the popcorn. Donnie lay on the floor on his stomach with a fuzzy blanket underneath him and a certain blue turtle sitting on top of his shell. Casey sat just to their right and Raph sat just to his right, effectively blocking him from escaping the movie. April sat on the beanbag, clearly fighting the urge to fall asleep as she yawned every few minutes.  

They weren’t even halfway through the fourth movie in the series when Splinter, Mikey, Raph, and April were all knocked out cold. Donnie scrolled through his phone, not needing to see the movie to know what was going on. Leon was still on Donnie’s back and mouthed along with every line. He seemed to be oddly tense. Randomly clutching his head and wincing whenever there was a loud noise. Slightly concerned, Casey sat back and watched as Jupiter Jim fought more aliens. It was amazing how many times the same thing could happen in one movie franchise. Still, it was entertaining. Even if it felt a little repetitive.  

Very carefully so as to not wake Raph, Casey stepped over the sleeping turtle and walked to the kitchen to get some water. The sounds of ray guns and dying aliens faded away the further he got.  

As he was filling his cup from the sink, a small but noticeable thunk sound echoed from deeper into the sewer. Shutting off the water, Casey’s mind went on high alert as he listened for any other noises. Quick reaction time and the ability to listen were a few of the skills he learned from the apocalypse that he was grateful for.  

It was another minute before he heard it again, that thunking sound. Then just after that, there was another, then another. They were definitely getting closer. Silently, Casey grabbed a nearby knife and fell back into the shadows. If anyone was going to get to his family, they would have to go through him first.  

Thunk, THUNK, THUNK  

The sounds became clearer and clearer as they continued closer. Footsteps. Casey clutched the knife a little tighter. He could yell for the others, but that would give away his position and let the attacker know he is aware of them. Stealth is key here. Just have to be patient.  

Movement caught his eye as the shadows on the ground shifted. They were almost here. Almost….. almost…… NOW!!!  

Just as a figure entered the doorway into the kitchen, Casey lunged forward with a cry and tackled them. His opponent was big, much bigger than him. But he had the element of surprise so pinning the stranger was a simple task. Placing the knife against their throat, Casey finally got a chance to breathe and look at who he was fighting.  

No, it can’t be!  

———  

Leon’s head snapped up to look at the kitchen when he heard the sound of a yell and a loud bang. He regretted the movement instantly as his head pounded in protest.  

Man, this headache is getting really annoying.  

Looking down at Donnie, it was clear the soft shell had heard it too. Jumping up, Leon booked it for the kitchen, Don no doubt right behind him.  

“CASEY!!” The slider yelled.  

Rounding the corner to the kitchen, Leon summoned his katanas and prepared to portal chop whoever it was that was attacking Casey. What he wasn’t prepared for was the sight of the human teen crying and clutching onto a figure who was flattened beneath him.  

Chapter Text

Donnie skidded to a stop just beside Leon, Bo staff in hand, ready to fight. If anyone was attacking his family, they would pay for it dearly. However, the scene in front of them made him pause.  

“…. Casey?” Leon tentatively called out once more. The words seemed to startle the boy as he turned to face the twins. Tears streamed down his red and splotchy face but there was also a huge smile on it. 

“Guys!” Casey said, “You won’t believe who’s here!”

He quickly scrambled to get off of the poor soul he had trapped on the ground. A pained but familiar voice groaned as the person sat up. 

“Great Galileo,” Donnie muttered under his breath. 

The intruder was Leon! But… not? They were much larger than Leon and the face was more mature. He was also missing an arm. Wait. What? 

Later, Donatello. That’s something for later. He thought to himself. 

However, despite all the differences, it was still clearly his twin brother. He still had the same markings and the same shell and the same glint in his eyes. That mischievous spark that kept you guessing whether he was being sarcastic or serious. This was his brother alright, just… a different version. 

Fascinating. I need to get him to my lab. 

Old Leo glanced around the room warily but then he and Leon locked eyes. There was a strong emotion behind them but Donnie couldn’t quite make out what it was. 

The two turtles were startled when the newcomer stood up, Donnie and Leon both holding their weapons a little firmer. Casey seemed to be in a state of awe if his dropped jaw was anything to go by. Once he reached his full height Donnie couldn’t help but join Casey.

HOW TALL IS HE?!

After a moment of adjusting, Old Leo took a step. It looked like it was painful for him to walk, but he did it anyways. Inching closer and closer till he was only a few feet away from Leon. Old Leo’s eyebrows were pinched together in… pain? Concentration? An unclear, probably unpleasant emotion. It was a few moments that felt like an eternity before he spoke in a coarse, scratchy voice that was still clearly Leo. 

“Wow, I can’t believe I was ever really that short.”

Then he collapsed and the whole room broke out into chaos. 

———

Mikey was always a deep sleeper. It would only take a second for him to get comfortable enough to fall asleep thanks to his shell. And his internal clock always woke him up at the right time, never too early and never too late.

So he was very confused when he woke up and glanced at the small, digital clock only to see it was 4:17 AM. 

What???? I’m never up this early so why am I…

Raph rapidly shaking his arm answered his question. Now fully alert, Mikey jumped up. “Raph? What’s going on?”

Raph hesitated for a moment, clearly trying to put words to something. After a few more seconds, he sighed, seemingly giving up. “The others found… Someone. You’re gonna have to see it to believe it. Come on.” Raph got up and started leading Mikey down the hall. 

Mikey raised a non-existent eyebrow at that. He has fought demons, cultists, aliens, and a talking hippo. He lives with a rat in a sewer. He’s a mutant turtle with magical abilities. Not much can surprise him anymore.

Arriving at their destination, which was apparently the med bay, Raph once again hesitated. Glancing down at Mikey, he asked “You ready?”

“Born ready. Trust me, I sincerely doubt you can shock me anymore.”

Raph made a non-committal noise at that and opened the doors. The scene in front of them was… well, shocking. Leon and Donnie were both tending to a mutant who was lying unconscious in the medical bed. Donnie was watching vitals signs while dabbing a cloth on him and Leon was hooking him up to various wires and other medical things. Walking into the room, Mikey realized he should probably tell Raph he was right. Because the figure on the bed was Leo but older. Glancing at a very happy Casey, everything started to click. And reaching out with his ninpo, he was able to feel the truth for himself. That was the same bright, blue spark that lived in his older brother. 

Turning to the human, Mikey asked “Casey, how is he here?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea. This shouldn’t be possible. I saw him die. Yet, here he is. Alive.” He looked ready to start crying so Mikey let him be for the time being.

April and Splinter had joined Raph at the entrance of the room. The three of them seemed to be having a rather solemn discussion. Turning back to the newcomer, Mikey felt a pang in his chest. He didn’t actually know this person. And yet it still hurt. After a few minutes, Leon proclaimed that he was done with whatever it was he was doing. He and Donnie chatted for a few seconds before he turned back around to address the group. “Our visitor here is mostly healthy. He does have a few problems, but they’re nothing some good old-fashioned rest can’t fix.”

Donnie chimed in, “He has some first and second-degree burns on various areas of his skin. He also suffers from slight malnutrition. All in all, Leon is right. Rest along with proper dietary supplements should get him back to normal.”

Mikey sighed, relieved. It’s a strange feeling to worry about someone you technically don’t know. But family is family. And nothing, not even time and space, can change that. Leon went on to usher everyone out of the room. Well, everyone except for Splinter and Casey. Splinter insisted on staying by Future Leo’s side until he woke up. And Casey… Well, nobody wanted to try and separate the two. And Mikey pitied the poor soul who would. 

———

A few weeks passed by without incident. It seemed to become routine to Leon. Wake up, eat, check on the older turtle who looked scarily like himself, go to sleep, rinse, repeat. 

Leon decided to put the older version of himself on an IV drip on day two. His vitals had stabilized pretty quickly but there was always a chance of his health taking an unexpected dip. There was no way that Leon would let Casey lose his master twice so it was multiple times a day that Leon would vigorously check over Old Him. 

Man, this is getting confusing. We should really figure out the whole name thing soon. 

It was late in the evening that the old turtle finally stirred. Casey had come running down the hall, shouting for Leon, Donnie, April, or anyone to come and see. 

Luckily, Leon and his twin were just in the other room. The trio burst into the room just in time to stop the old man from getting up. It was clear Old Leo was still pretty out of it. 

Leon rushed to the cot. The sight of the younger blue turtle seemed to sober him up some. 

“H… how?” He asked. 

“Not sure,” Donnie responded. “It’s possible that the portal that brought Casey here dragged you through as well.”

“Oh,” Old Leo’s voice cracked from who-knows-how-long of not being used. He seemed to stare at Donnie like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. Donnie in turn seemed to be holding back his discomfort, if the way he was shifting from leg to leg meant anything. 

Old Leo only made things more awkward and confusing when he said “Donnie, I’m so sorry.”

———

An alarm was blaring somewhere nearby. It was loud and distracting and exactly what they DIDN’T need right now. Disintegration rays blasted around them. Comrades screamed, both out of pain and determination. 

It was supposed to be a simple supply run. Get in, grab the supplies, get out. The only reason Leo and Donnie had even agreed to go on such a small mission was that they didn’t have enough arms to carry the haul. 

And yet, here they are, in the middle of a war zone with very little on their side in terms of advantage. The “Disaster Twins” (name courtesy of Mikey and April) were on the scene, causing chaos. 

“Eat science!!!!” Donnie shouted as he unleashed another barrage of missiles. The horde of kraang robots was undeterred by the attack and simply continued swarming their team. Leo had called a retreat a while ago but escape was always easier said than done. It was getting to the point where their weapons were low and their numbers were running even lower. The twins tried to stay near the rear since they had their mystic powers which didn’t require limited ammo. 

As another member of their team got disintegrated, Leo realized they needed to do something drastic if the rest of them were going to make it out of there in one piece. The only question was what?

A plan began to formulate in Leo’s brain. It wasn’t great but it just might work. He turned on his comm to talk to his brother. 

“I have an idea!”

“Oh dear, that’s not good,” Donnie snarked back. 

“Oh haha. Just shut up and listen, k?”

A grumble was heard from the other end but otherwise, there was silence. 

“See that ridge over there? We need to get our people behind it. Then we can defend it and drive back the robots enough to fully escape.”

There was a moment of quiet on the other end, Donnie was probably thinking it through. 

“One problem, Leo,” a grunt, undoubtedly from Donnie fighting some kraang soldier, “We can’t get over there without turning our backs on the kraang. And last I checked, that is a good way to end up dead.”

He wasn’t wrong. One of the first things they taught new soldiers in the rebellion was to never take their eyes off the enemy. Generally speaking, that would end up being the last thing you’d ever do.

“It’s alright, I have an idea on how to cover us,” Leo assured him. 

“I don’t like the sound of that. You’re starting to sound all heroic and that’s never good.”

Leo laughed at that. So what if his idea was a little bit self-sacrificing? It’ll be fine. They’ve always made it out alive and they weren’t about to stop now. Not if Leo could help it. “Just start building up an arsenal for when I give the command.”

A sigh was the only response Leo got. “Hey,” he said, “don’t worry about it, Don Ton. I’ll be fine. Just make sure the others get to where they need to be.”

Leo began guiding the survivors towards the ridge. He gave the signal to run for it. Most hesitated to turn tail and run, but after a stern look, everyone was heading straight toward cover. Glancing at the sky, he saw an entire wall of translucent-purple weapons hovering above the battlefield. 

Smirking, he ran to stand between the rebels and the horde of pink flesh monsters and robots. Katanas in hand, he stood his ground. The army seemed to almost be on top of them but Leo held fast. It was still too soon. Another moment passed. Still too soon. Another moment. And another. And another. 

I need them to be as close as possible for this to work. 

After another moment Leo gave the command for Donnie to fire. 

Explosions rained from the heavens. Pure and utter destruction fell upon the kraang. Whatever enemy was unfortunate enough to be within Donatello’s reach was soon obliterated. 

This gave Leo the opportunity he needed. Dodging the fiery demise around him, he created a massive portal around the entire remaining group of enemy soldiers. With a final flick of his swords, he activated it and the pink flesh monsters went screeching down into the electric, blue portal. 

It seems they didn’t want to go down without a fight, however. One of the monsters closest to Leo lashed out an arm and grabbed the blue turtle by the ankle. He quickly lost his balance and began to be dragged towards the portal with it. He dug his katanas into the ground to stop himself from being pulled through, but the grip on him was tight and his hands were slippery from blood and sweat. It was only a few seconds later that he lost control and was sent tumbling backward.

Thankfully, right before he reached the portal, a purple blade cut through the limb. Leo’s momentum was stopped and the monster went through the portal screaming, enraged that it was unable to bring him with it. As the portal closed, he looked up to see Donnie wielding a mystic knife. 

“Not that I’m complaining about the rescue, it was impeccable timing as always, but knives aren’t usually your style.”

Donnie “scoff”ed in response. “I simply chose what was most effective in the moment. Also, you primarily use blades for your weapons so I don’t think you should get a say, Nardo.”

That got a laugh out of Leo. Donnie’s metal arms helped Leo up and gave him support as he regained his balance. Donnie’s actual arms were occupied with harsh scratching. It was a bad habit he’d picked up after the invasion. If a kraang even slightly touched him, it would send a repulsive feeling down his spine and resonate through his whole body. The only way he could get rid of the feeling, he says, was by itching it. It would often lead to red arms and small cuts and rashes. But if Leo was being honest, they all had unhealthy coping mechanisms in some way or the other. And that wasn’t even in the top 50 of the worst ones he had seen in his years at war. 

Leo did put a hand on him, careful to only touch his battle shell and not his skin, just to remind him to not go too far. Donnie slowed his scratches, making them more into slower scrapes than obsessive scratches. He didn’t stop. But that was fine. 

Leo looked over at the ridge everyone had evacuated to and saw a fair amount of his team had made it. That was more than he could have hoped for. He radioed ahead and told them to start heading back to the base. He also informed them to not wait for them because he and Donnie would be bringing up the rear. 

In reality, Leo was just too tired to get moving right now, and from the look of it so was Donnie. To be fair, they had both exerted a lot of mystic power in that battle and while it wasn’t a finite resource, it still took a certain amount of energy and mental focus to use. 

“Where did you send them?” The question caught Leo off guard. 

“Que?”

“The kraang. You portaled them somewhere, where was it?”

“Oh,” Leo shuffled a bit and tried his best to speak nonchalantly, “somewhere around Jupiter, I think.”

That caused Donnie to pause. “Jupiter?” He asked, sharpie eyebrows knit together in confusion. 

“Or somewhere close to it. I don’t know, I just wanted to send them far away.”

The silence was deafening as Donnie stared at him incredulously. He had stopped itching his arms and grew incredibly stiff. 

“You sent them… to Jupiter,” Donnie clarified. 

“Yup,” Leo popped the P on the end of the word. 

“And you almost got dragged through with them,” Ah, so that’s what this is about. 

“Yeah, but I’m fine! You saved me just in time!” Leo spread his arms wide to emphasize his point, trying very hard to ignore the way his brother’s face was twitching. 

Gritting his teeth, Donnie turned away from him and started trudging back to their headquarters. Leo quickly followed. He ran in front of the seething turtle and turned around to face him, walking backward as he tried to explain himself. 

“Hey, hey, hey, come on, Don. I knew you’d be there to catch me if I fell. Plus it’s not like I’ve never dealt with a kraang bot before. I would have been fine. I’m always fine-“

Donnie abruptly stopped walking, face trained on the ground. It was that moment when Leo saw the way his fists were clenched and his frame was shaking. 

“Do you know what your problem is, Leonardo?”

Oh boy. Full name. Never good. 

“Uhhh, heh heh, no? wh-“

“You always assume everything will be fine. Like the universe will just make things magically work out for you, no matter what. Like consequences don’t apply to you. Like you don’t think anything bad will happen to you,” a sigh, then “Listen to me, Leo. You aren’t invincible. Just because you think everything will go well doesn’t mean it will. It is one thing to have hope, it is another to foolishly rush into a situation without proper precautions. You could have died back there. In fact, you came very close to it. If I had been a second later you would have been sucked into the cold, dark vacuum of space and lost forever. Can you imagine how Mikey or Raph would feel when they found out you were gone forever? How April or Papa or Casey would feel? How I wou-“

He choked on the last words and a single tear slipped down his face. Leo was frozen unsure of what to do. “I- I’m sorry, Don. I didn’t realize-“

“WELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE!” Donnie’s eyes snapped up from the ground to stare directly into Leo’s eyes. It was an odd, almost terrifying situation to be in. “You could have died and the resistance would have been down a leader, our family would have been down a member, the world would have been down a hero. Think before you rush in to sacrifice yourself next time.”

Leo had no words. What was he supposed to say to that? 

“Come on,” Donnie said, voice cracking slightly, “They’re expecting us.” And with that, he pushed past Leo, leaving him frozen behind him with the past few minutes replaying in his head.

Slowly following behind Donnie, Leo gave him some time to walk ahead of him. It was probably best that he give him some space.  About halfway home, faint cries sounded from up ahead. Rushing forward, Leo summoned his katanas once again. His group was so far away and he could feel the ground shaking from impacts and explosions.  He should never have gotten so far apart from them. Finally turning a corner around some ruined buildings, Leo froze at the sight in front of him. Almost every single rebellion member lay on the ground, dead. And even worse, his brother was nowhere to be seen. There were a few that were still alive and their groans pushed him back into action. Dashing to the survivors, he started helping them through a portal. Using his mystic magic in the open like this was similar to lighting a beacon for the Kraang to find, but right now that was the least of his worries. Every time he helped someone up, he asked them where Donnie was. And every time they told him that they didn’t know.

“He fought them off.” “He saved us.” “I think he flew off somewhere.”

Nothing useful. Gritting his teeth and pushing through, Leo got the last of the survivors to a safe place. When he went to help the last one, an older woman who had lost three children (he knows, he was there), she had tears in her eyes and explained to him with a sorrowful voice “I’m so sorry, sweetie. He was fighting the kraang and… He saved all of us. But those… those… those bastards got him. They killed him and dragged him to their ship.”

Leo didn’t know what to say. He tried to default to his leader voice and say something comforting like “He’s not dead” or “We can save him” but deep down Leo knew. He knew that if you got taken by the kraang, you were dead. So when he opened his mouth to respond, all that came out was a strangled cry. He fell to his knees and desperately tried to hide his sobs. But when the woman hugged him and held him as Splinter used to, he couldn’t stop it. His brother was dead and he only had one thought running through his head. 

What a fucking hypocrite. 

Chapter Text

Ugh, my head hurts. Why is everything so fuzzy?

Sitting up was a struggle, especially with this weird feeling of someone pushing him back down. Looking at the hand on his chest, Leo realized it wasn’t just a feeling. A younger version of himself and his twin brother were here. Glancing around, he saw the many wires that were attached to him. He fought the urge to swipe them off. 

“H-how..?” Leo’s voice sounded like he had been asleep for years. But that wasn’t what he was focused on. Donnie had replied to him but he hadn’t been listening. He was frozen in place. His twin brother, or at least a younger version of him, was standing there, right in front of him. 

After a beat, Leo realized he should probably say something to whatever it was this younger Donnie had just said. 

“Oh,” was his intelligent and well-thought-out response. After another beat of silence, Leo realized something. 

The years after Donnie had died flashed before his eyes. All the times he wanted to see him just one more time. For so long he had been strong and carried on. He had a resistance to lead after all. But in the back of his mind, he just wanted to tell his twin he was sorry. Sorry that he had been so reckless. Sorry that he had scared him. Sorry that he didn’t think through his actions as much as he should have. He wanted to tell him he was right and that he would try to do better. That he would be better. In a perfect world, he would get to say that and then they would probably hug and cry and laugh. 

He never thought he would get the chance to talk to his brother again but here he was. Leo swallowed before saying what he never thought he would get to say. “Donnie, I’m so sorry.”

But, of course, this wasn’t a perfect world. This Donnie had no idea what he was talking about, what he was sorry for, or why he felt the need to say that. This Donnie hadn’t been through what his Donnie had. He hadn’t gone through the war and the fighting and the death and the heartache. 

Leo’s chest felt tight. His thoughts started to spiral as the world around him disappeared from view. Distantly, he heard someone speaking. But he didn’t fully register anything they said. His mind was stuck in a constant loop of loss and misery. His brother is dead, and Leo isn’t. Why isn’t Leo dead? How is he here? Who put him here? Who decided that he deserved to live and his brothers didn’t? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

“Master Leonardo?” Casey’s voice cut through the chaos. 

Oh, god, Casey. 

In Leo’s guilt, he had forgotten about the human boy who was right next to him. The fog faded and he saw his boy lingering a few feet from the bed, arms crossed and head slightly bowed. He seemed to be just barely trembling.

“Hey, kid,” Old Leo’s face broke out into a smile at the sight of his student. The last of the sorrow vanished. His heart felt warm seeing him in casual clothing instead of battle armor. It was a small thing but the idea of Casey getting to be a normal kid was a welcome one. 

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Casey’s smile matched Leo’s and he rushed forward to hug him. Leo grunted lightly as he slightly aggravated his injuries, but he couldn’t care less. He was hugging his boy again. His boy who, despite being Cass’s originally, had grown up with turtle uncles and one human aunt. The boy who he had helped raise and train. 

“Ya know,” the younger version of Leo said,  “I’m starting to think he likes him more than us.”

Donnie hummed in agreement and Casey turned around to playfully glare at them. “So maybe I do. What’s it to you?”

The younger turtles put their hands to their chest in mock offense. They both gasped in perfect sync in what was obviously a practiced gesture. 

“How DARE you?!” Donnie yelled dramatically. 

“And to think you were our friend,” Leon added, shaking his voice to sound tearful. 

“We shared our Jupiter Jim movies with you!”

“And our pizza!”

This went on for some time with the twins going back and forth as Casey defended himself. The familiarity of it all hit Leo like a ton of bricks. Painful nostalgia gripped his mind as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. 

God, I’m tired. 

Donnie was quick to notice and suggested that everyone get some rest. They could talk in the morning once they got over the “sting of betrayal from their former comrade”. 

———

The next day held a lot of confusing discussions, followed by a few hours of processing, and ended with the family collectively deciding to stick with business as usual for the time being. 

Donnie was excited to have another mystic subject to perform (non-lethal) experiments on. Mikey drilled Future Leo on all the different things Future Mikey could do. Raph asked him about what the future was like and how they managed to survive so long. April brought in some food and tried not to cry as Future Leo ate it as if he had never had a good meal in his life. Splinter…. No one really knows what happened when he talked to him. The only thing the others know is that they both had tears on their faces at the end of their hour-long talk. 

Over time, they all fell back into their old roles. This time they just had an extra person. To make things at least a little less confusing, they decided that Future Leonardo would just go by Leo while Present Leonardo would go by Leon.

Once he was fully healed, Leo tried to make himself useful to the group by doing chores and other things they asked of him. He never turned down a request. If he wasn’t working, then he wasn’t being useful. And if he wasn’t being useful, then they had no reason to have him around. Sure, Casey would probably fight to keep him, but he didn’t want to put the kid in that position. So, for the time being, Leo gave them every possible justification to let him stay.

One day he realized that regardless of how hard he tried to stay beneficial to the team, he wasn’t going to get anywhere without fixing one key issue.

———

The lights in the lab were dimmed. They had been far too bright for Donnie’s taste. Normally he didn’t mind the brightness of the overheads (he was the one who had installed them, after all). But after the last few weeks, he had gained a headache that just wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t too painful. Just always there, lurking behind his eyes and between his temples. 

Popping another painkiller into his mouth, Donnie continued his work. The joints in his jetpack battle shell have been making a creaking noise whenever he moved which could prove very distracting during a fight. 

He didn’t hear the door open but he did hear the subtle sounds of footsteps coming closer. Pretending he didn’t notice, Donnie stealthily summoned his staff underneath his desk. Evidently, it wasn’t stealthy enough as the footsteps paused and a familiar voice said “Oh, my bad. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

Grumbling, Donnie got rid of his staff. No one was getting bonked today. Unfortunately. 

“It is quite alright, Leo,” Donnie said while going back to work. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Not really… uh, well, I guess there is something.”

“Sigh. I figured as much. I’m assuming it’s about the tracking device I placed on you? You don’t need to worry about it. I’ve already-“

“Oh, no I’m not talking about that,” Leo said, cutting him off. 

Donnie paused and turned back around to face him. “Then what are you talking about?”

Leo shuffled a little bit, glancing around the room. Donnie tried not to let his frustration show but his eye twitched slightly. Apparently, this Leo knew him well enough to know he was getting irritated. “I wanted to ask if you could make me another arm. I realize it takes a lot of resources and I understand if you don’t want to waste them. You see, you from the future made me my first one- well technically it was for Raphie but he didn’t end up needing it because he could just make one using his powers- and I don’t know if you even have the schematics for it, but I kinda need it if I’m gonna be doing stuff around the lair. Of course, if you’re busy you don’t have to. I just-”

“I’m going to stop you right there, my futuristic friend. You needn’t worry about such trivial things. I’ve been working on a new arm since you first arrived.” Using his metal arms, Donnie opened up his “Current Projects” cabinet. It was full of technically discarded projects, but he reached around those to the topmost object. Pulling down the prosthetic, he glanced over it once more to see if there were any imperfections. The arm was made of dark gray metal. He hadn't yet made it look nice, but in the interest of time, he was willing to leave it. For now. After a minute of looking, he was satisfied with it and handed it to Leo. The older turtle held it with stars in his eyes. Almost as if it were muscle memory, he attached it to his shoulder. Donnie watched as every clasp and joint moved perfectly into place. Once it had settled into position, Leo tested it out. He stretched the fingers, then closed them into a fist. He raised and lowered it, bending the elbow joint.

Leo’s eyes were wide with delight as he turned and said, “Thank you, Donnie.”

Chuckling, Donnie replied “Don’t thank me just yet. Come and sit. I’ve got some tests I’d like to run, as well as show you a few of its features.”

Face suddenly turning suspicious, Leo slowly walked over and sat on a small stool that was next to Donnie’s workbench. “What do you mean by features?”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing dramatic. Now, outstretch your arm.”

Leo followed the command, still appearing unsure.

After having him do various movements, Donnie was finally pleased with his work. “Excellent. Now for the fun stuff.”

Leo sucked in a breath through his teeth. His hesitancy was getting a bit annoying.

Future Donnie must have really traumatized him.  

Trying to be reassuring, Donnie pat Leo’s shoulder. It must have been as awkward as it felt because Leo just gave him a weird look. Donnie just shrugged and turned back to his desk. Opening a drawer full of mystic tech, he grabbed a small chip. He turned back around and, grabbing the prosthetic, placed it into a small opening just below the shoulder. Once the chip was inserted, the gap closed automatically. Donnie snatched a small, electrically-charged, metal rod from his toolbox and held it up to Leo’s new arm. “Tell me if you feel anything.”

Before Leo could respond, Donnie gently pressed the rod to the thumb of the arm. Leo quickly flinched back, holding his hand. “Ow! What was that for?”

“So, it hurt?”

“Yes!”

“Where?”

“On my thumb where you touched it!”

“Ah, good. That means the chip is functioning.”

“What? You mean that thing you put into the shoulder?”

“Exactly. That chip has both technological and mystic properties. I programmed it to give the wearer the feeling of nerves throughout the arm. Aren’t you curious why you felt it in the thumb and not just at your shoulder?”

Leo didn’t respond to that. His mouth was seemingly stuck open as he gaped at Donnie. Donnie just gestured to his arm. Snapping his mouth shut, Leo started to move the arm again. But this time he would randomly touch things. He lightly brushed it against his real arm and gently ran it over the metal top of the desk. He poked at different areas of his new arm and reacted each time he felt the sensation.

Feeling like he had done a good job, Donnie was about to ask him to leave. But Leo’s words stopped him.

“This is amazing, Donnie. Thank you. I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Donnie simply nodded in response. But on the inside he was confused. Part of him wanted to accept the praise of the parental-aged adult, but the other part of him knew that this was still technically his twin brother. What to do? How to feel?

Emotions are bullshit.

Having had enough interaction for the day, Donnie ushered Leo out the door. Closing the lab door behind him, he trudged back to his chair. Flopping down, he rubbed his temples. He has already taken the recommended limit on the painkillers, but the headache still won’t go away.

After a few minutes of attempting to go back to work, Donnie finally gave up. He walked over to his bed and flopped down into it.

Maybe some sleep will make it go away.

…

…

Wait, did he call Raph “Raphie”?

Chapter Text

“Quick! Before all hail breaks loose!”

Leon’s smug expression was audible as he gave out another one of his lame jokes. Multiple groans were heard over the comms as Leon laughed to himself, the only one amused by his pun. 

The villain of the week, a penguin mutant with ice powers, only grew more enraged at the quip. 

“Aww,” Leon cooed teasingly, “he’s so cute when he’s angry!”

The mutant roared and fired a round of icicles, and Leon expertly dodged every one of them. Making sure to stay in front of the villain, he continued to shout terrible puns and insults. 

“I would say it’s ice to meet you, but that would be too cold.”

Another round of icy daggers. 

“I wouldn’t wanna ruffle your feathers!”

More attacks. 

“Hey! Those jokes are just the tip of the iceberg!” 

Mikey closed in behind the screeching penguin, nunchucks flaming. Unfortunately, the sneak attack wasn’t sneaky enough as the penguin snapped around and shot large chunks of ice at the younger turtle. Mikey was quick to react but not quick enough as he evaded all the incoming hail except for one piece. The ice hit him in the side of the head. Hard. It wouldn’t have done too much damage if it weren’t for the wall right next to him that it knocked the box turtle into. The thud sound that his skull made against the brick was painful to hear. 

A roar was heard from above as the penguin mutant looked up, only to be met by the fury of a large, protective big brother. Raph smashed down onto the villain with all of his weight and knocked him out instantly. Huffing, Raph stood up and walked over to Mikey. 

Mikey was, of course, perfectly fine. And he made sure to tell the red turtle exactly that. 

“I’ve been hit by a building before and walked away scot-free! Why did you think I would be taken down by a chunk of ice?”

Raph grimaced and looked down at the ground, at least having the decency to look sheepish. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry, lil bro. Guess I got carried away. It’s just the principle of the thing, ya know?”

Leon swaggered up to them and leaned against Raph like a wall. “Yeah, hermano. That wasn’t very…”

“Leon…”     “Leon, don’t you dare,”

“Cool of you!”

“Uggghhhhh”    “Whhhhyyyyy?”

“Hey, if I have to be the distraction, then I get to make my witty puns! It’s fair trade, plain and simple.”

Raph and Mikey both glared at Leon. 

“Hey, hey, come on! Don’t give me the…”

“Ah geez…”      “Oh, not again!”

“COLD SHOULDER!!!”

Mikey and Raph’s cries of pain were cut off by Leon’s phone going crazy. Pulling it out, he saw that there was one notification taking over the screen: “Temporal activity detected!”

Donnie was stuck at home today. He has been having a bad past few days and today has been the worst of them all. Whenever that happens, Donnie will stay home in his room, under his blankets, and redirect all the alerts and notifications he would normally get to one of his brothers’ phones. Typically it was Leon’s. Leo had volunteered to stay home with him since Splinter and April were both out. 

“Uhhh, guys?”

Raph and Mikey both looked at the alert, confused. Leon tapped on it and it brought up a file. It had a bunch of stuff talking about what signs to look for, how to locate the event, and…. When it last happened. 

Leon read out the last part, “‘Last known occurrence:…… wait, that’s the day that Leo showed up!”

“Lemme see,” Raph grabbed the phone, checking the file and figuring out how to find it. Thankfully, Donnie had created an automatic locator. Opening it up, a map of New York filled the screen. Not too far from where they were currently standing, a large, red dot was blinking. It was on top of a nearby factory. 

“It’s not far from here,” Raph said, starting to walk out of the alley they had been fighting in. “Let’s go check it out.”

———

Looking down at the large, gray building, it was clear that it had been abandoned for years. The windows were smashed, the doors were boarded up, and massive holes covered the walls. A faded sign above the front entrance read: “Smith & Sons Car Manufacturer”.

Mikey returned from his perimeter check, reporting that there was nothing abnormal. “Just a whole bunch of spray paint art.”

Raph nodded and said, “I wish we had Donnie here. His tech could probably get a closer look at what we’re dealing with.”

Leon checked his phone again. No message from Donnie saying he was feeling better. They were on their own. 

Leon began to work out a plan, offering ideas for the group and assigning potential roles. But he was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise erupting from inside the factory. The three turtles all leaped to their feet. Leon swung his katanas and opened a portal. They all charged through it and into the building. Looking around, there wasn’t much of note. Various car parts on conveyor belts, old papers scattered around the floor, and a thin layer of dust coating it all.

In the far corner of the room, there was a dark, narrow hallway. Looking closer, Leon saw a faint glow emanating from it as well. 

Signaling his brothers, Leon pointed towards the area. He wordlessly communicated a plan of stealth and Mikey and Raph both nodded in agreement. Using their ninja skills, they quietly moved to the other side of the large room and peeked through the doorway. 

Multiple rooms broke off from the hallway, but only one of them had a bright, yellow light shooting out from it. Raph gave a countdown and on the command, they all charged into the room, weapons drawn and ready for action. 

What they were met with, however, was something unexpected. 

A large, purple-clad mutant was unconscious on the ground. The yellow glow had been coming from a portal above the mutant that he had seemingly appeared from. The portal dissipated quickly, blanketing the room in darkness.

The three brothers instinctively flared their mystic powers. Mikey lit his fire, Leon made his katanas glow, and Raph created a bright, red projection. The mixture of light sources was just barely enough to make out the features of the figure on the ground. They had a purple cloak and mask on, and there seemed to be a dark liquid seeping through the back of the cloak. It was hard to make out anything more about them since they were curled over themselves. Are they in pain? Do they need help?

Movement from Leon’s side startled him out of his thoughts. Mikey was moving closer to the person, nunchucks gone and posture non-threatening. 

“Mikey,” Raph whispered sharply, “what are you…?”

Mikey shushed him and continued his approach. He knelt down beside them and gently put his hand on their shoulder. The second he did so, however, the person shot up and grabbed his arm. He tried to throw Mikey toward the wall but Mikey was not having it. Instead of Mikey getting tossed, he moved his weight so that he was able to kick and then pin the stranger beneath him. The mutant thrashed and hissed viciously but was ultimately unable to escape. 

Glancing at Raph, Leon saw an expression of… pride? 

Mikey relit his nunchucks and held them near the person’s face to illuminate their features. What he saw must’ve been pretty strange because he gasped and, in his surprise, loosened his grip enough for the stranger to break free. He was then thrown across the room into his brother’s arms. 

Helping him up, Raph and Leon flared their mystic powers once again. The stranger clearly sensed danger as they made a break for the door. Raph tried to block them, quickly forming a projection to stop them. However, the stranger was too fast and they just barely slipped past him. 

Raph growled in frustration and gave chase. 

Mikey still looked pretty shaken. So, assuming Raph had it under control, Leon stayed back with him. 

“Mikey?” Leon asked. “What’s up, buddy? What did you see?”

“I- I thought th- I didn’t think..” Mikey was looking down at his arms. There was blood coating them. When did that get there?

“What? What is it, Miguel?”

“It’s… it’s Donnie…”

“What? What about him? Isn’t he at home?”

Mikey shook his head in frustration. “No, no, no. You don’t understand. I’m not talking about him.” A sigh “I should’ve known when I felt his ninpo. It’s the exact same as his.”

Leon was about to ask him again to clarify what he means when their comms crackled to life. 

“Guys!” Raph said, urgency clear in his voice, “You should definitely come and see this.”

Pulling Mikey behind him, Leon headed out to join Raph. Following the trail of destruction and chaos, the two ended up outside of the factory. In an unused street that was lit only by the light pollution from the surrounding city, Raph stood facing….

Oh no, that’s not good. 

The mask the stranger had been wearing had been torn in half. One side still loosely clung to their face but they quickly grabbed it and ripped it off. Tossing it aside revealed that the mutant was a turtle. And a familiar one at that. This was very much Donnie, just… from the future. His face was nearly the same and his build was also quite similar.

His eyes were a completely different story, however. They were crazed, like those of a wild animal who had just been cornered. The scars around them spoke of pain. Like lines of suffering permanently etched into his face. Blood trailed down from them into his shirt and disappeared from view, presumably continuing down further. His teeth were bared and low growls emanated from him.

He summoned a bo-staff and seemingly hundreds of mystic missiles. All of which were aimed directly at the three of them. Leon and his brothers braced themselves. He felt his heart rate spike and the adrenaline started to flow.

Mikey made an attempt to calm him down, calling for him to take a breath and put down his weapons. But it seems that Future Donnie wasn’t having it. He primed and charged his missiles. 

If it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he gets.

Without any warning, Future Donnie launched the missiles. Each one seemed to lock in on the three of them. Leon made use of his portals to confuse them and make them crash into each other. Mikey was using his chains to wrap them up and throw them back toward Future Donnie who would get rid of them before they even got near him. And Raph, in true Raph style, created a projection around himself to take the hits. Any projectiles that Leon and Mikey missed, Raph would reach over and catch them, taking the damage with only a slight grimace.

After realizing that his method of attack wasn’t working, Future Donnie changed tactics. Rapidly charging forward, he shot himself through the air. As he soared, his control of the missiles faded and they disappeared. But he didn’t seem to mind as he tackled Leon to the ground. Donnie knocked away his katanas and Leon kicked his staff out of his hands. Now weaponless, the two wrestled. Mikey and Raph ran up to the two but were hesitant to enter the fight. Now that he was up close, Leon could see that Donnie’s eyes were glazed over. He didn’t seem to be fully there. Leon was quick to gain the advantage. Donnie’s moves were sloppy and almost desperate. Taking advantage of an opening, Leon pinned the older turtle to the ground.

Future Donnie was still growling and snarling. He even snapped at Leon’s hands a few times as if he was trying to bite him. But as Leon kept him down, the fight seemed to drain from his eyes. He slowly quieted and stopped thrashing, and eventually, he seemed to pass out. Leon let go of him and stepped aside. Trying to catch his breath, he looked down at Future Donnie. The purple turtle was beaten and bloody. Raph leaned down to pick him up, gently hoisting him into his arms. He seemed to almost be cradling him.

“Come on, guys,” Raph said. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter Text

Deep breath in, deep breath out. In and out. In… Out.  

This was the mantra Michelangelo had been repeating in his mind for the past hour. With the rebellion growing every day, he rarely had time to meditate anymore. So many things needed his attention, and he couldn’t just ignore them. Now, finally, he had managed to find a minute of peace. In his room, he hovered just inches above the floor. He had been half-heartedly trying to focus on his mystic energy, but the desire to sleep was growing with every passing second. 

Deep breaths. Just breathe. Calm. Quiet. Steady. 

…

…

… Oh, who am I kidding?

Groaning, Mikey lowered himself back to the ground. He ran a hand through his hair. Because that’s a thing now. He has hair. It’s long and black and sleek. Leo had been so jealous when it started growing. And so, out of pure little-brother pettiness, Mikey decided to grow it out as far as he could. 

Mikey stood up slowly. He wasn’t fully awake yet, and he didn’t need to hurt himself by falling over like an old man. Stretching his arms above his head, Mikey resisted the urge to yawn. He carefully stepped over the candles he had lit, not wanting to extinguish them, but not wanting to burn himself either. 

Finally giving in to his wants, Mikey slid under the thin blanket he had on his bed and closed his eyes. Some sleep would probably do him good. The scent of smoke from the candles lightly wafted through the air and the warmth lulled him to sleep. 

His sleep was dreamless for the most part. A very welcome change to the scarce and oftentimes restless sleep he was used to. 

Suddenly, the peaceful energy was interrupted by a bright flash. An intense, feeling of panic ripped through Mikey’s mind. He shot up from his bed and landed on his feet, nunchucks at the ready. Looking around his room, he realized he was still alone. No one was around. 

Then where did that come from? 

Sitting back down on the ground, he tried to meditate again. Reaching out into the universe through his ninpo, Mikey tried to see if he could find where that feeling might have come from. Minutes passed and nothing happened.

Before he could question it any further, April came barreling through the door. She was incredibly out of breath but still managed to say three words, “Donnie’s been taken.”

The world swept out from under Mikey’s feet. His stomach dropped and he couldn’t breathe. 

“Come on,” April said, still breathing heavily. “They need us.”

Nodding, Mikey wordlessly walked with her to the strategy room that they had set up. Inside were Leo and Raph. Leo was sitting in a chair, head in his hands. An occasional sniffle could be heard from him. Other than that he was silent.

Raph was the complete opposite. He was pacing the room and fully geared up. When April opened the door to the room he had been yelling about something. He paused when he looked over at the two standing in the doorway. At first glance, the look on his face appeared to be angry. But Mikey knows his brother, and he knows that look isn’t anger or rage: it’s fear.

Raph’s rant may have stopped, but his pacing only picked up speed. April squinted her eyes at him and said, “Raph, what’s going on? Fill us in on the details.”

Raph sighed and placed his one remaining hand on the table in the center of the room. “Leo just got back from the supply mission he and Donnie were on. They- they were ambushed. The kraang killed most of the team they were with. We’ve been able to locate all of the bodies, except for Donnie’s. He’s still out there.” Raph punctuated his sentence by slamming his fist onto the tabletop.

April crossed her arms in thought. “Well,” she said, “if we’re going to act we need to do it now. There’s no telling what they‘ll do to him.”

“Exactly right, Commander O’Neil,” Cassandra said, walking into the room. Her bladed hockey stick was on her back and she was fully armored up. “I’ve gathered a group of those willing to go with us. They’re the best of the best. I would know. I trained them. We can lead the charge and the rest of you can go look for your brother.”

April shook her head. “No. This has to be a small mission. We can’t storm the gates and expect to get far. The last thing we need is another massacre.”

“What are you talking about?!” Cass said, voice raising. “This is the best time to strike! An opportunity like this doesn’t come often!”

“So we’re supposed to just blindly run in?! Storm the ship, guns blazing, and in the process lose more people?! That’s stupid!”

“It’s not stupid, it’s necessary. You talk about family so much. Don’t you want your brother back?”

“OF COURSE I WANT HIM BACK! Don’t ever imply that I don’t! I’m just saying we need to be strategic here. Raph, back me up.”

Raph sighed. “She’s right, Cass. I want him back just as much as anyone, but I also know better than anyone that this isn’t going to be easy.”

Leo groaned and shook his head from where he sat. He looked up from the ground and stared at each of them individually. “No. He’s been taken. Do you hear me? He’s been taken! No one comes back from that! They’re just going to torture and kill him like the rest. As we speak, they’ve probably already gotten all the information that they need out of him. His body is most likely in a ditch somewhere, rotting.” Tears streamed down his face as he spoke, and his voice broke halfway through.

Mikey ignored the way the words tore through his heart. Instead, he attempted to return to his meditation. It was a bit of a long shot. But maybe… just maybe.

Closing his eyes, Mikey tried to tune out the overlapping arguing voices. It was hard. They were practically screaming in his ears. But he pushed through. He felt for his ninpo. Using it, he reached out into the world, searching. He had to be careful not to use too much power. The kraang had somehow come up with a way to detect large spikes of mystic energy. The voices around him faded, and he felt the warmth of his mystic powers flow through him.

All was quiet. He saw the red flare of Raph’s energy, the blue spark of Leo’s, and the green flame of April’s. Moving past them, he ventured outside their base. Physically, he hadn’t left the room, but spiritually he was far away. Sensing darkness, Mikey carefully moved toward a feeling of evil. He pushed forward slowly, trying to get a sense of where he was in the real world.

Suddenly, he felt a crack of pain rip through his soul. It consumed his whole body. Each part of him was burning. Flashes of something briefly appeared before him. He only got a few glimpses, but what he felt was terrifying.

He could feel the alien sifting through his thoughts like sand. Each memory disappeared just as fast as it appeared, unable to hold on to one for longer than a split second.

Oh, God. No. Not Donnie. Please. Not his brother.

Large gashes streaked across his shell revealing red flesh beneath. Now that he thought about it, he could feel the warm blood dripping down his back.

The images grew more vivid as they continued to appear and disappear.

Itching, tearing, probing. 

Mikey was on the verge of blacking out. And he must have for a moment because he opened his eyes to see Leo and Raph kneeling next to him. April and Cass were calling his name as Raph cradled his head. Mikey’s head felt foggy. Keeping his eyes open was a struggle. He grimaced in pain as more flashes came and went.

“Mikey? Bro? Are you okay?!” Raph’s worried voice broke through the searing pain in his shell that most definitely didn’t belong to him.

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” he tried to dismiss him. How could he convey that he wasn’t feeling his own pain?

With a little effort, Mikey managed to sit up. He rubbed his head but waved off any help the others offered him. “We need to get to him and fast. He’s in pain. I’ve only caught glimpses of where he is but…”

Hesitantly, Mikey reached back for his ninpo. The second he did so, however, a final blast of agony ripped through him. A scream tore its way out of his lungs. All eyes turned back to him. Thankfully, the pain wasn’t long-lived. But what followed was so much worse. A calming wave of mystic energy washed over him. It almost felt like static. A buzzing sensation, similar to a gentle electric shock all over. That wasn’t the bad part.

The bad part was the implication. Mikey could recognize his brother’s ninpo anywhere. And this was it. This was his ninpo dispersing, returning to the universe. And the only reason it would do that is…

Mikey, I’m so sorry. Tell the others I tried.

“NO! NO! NO! God, please no!” Mikey’s voice was hoarse as he yelled.

Raph was calling for him at his side. “Mikey?! What happened?!”

Forcing his words through his sobs, he said, “He’s gone. We’re too late. He’s dead.”

———

Raph ran into the lair with someone in his arms. At first, Leo thought that he was carrying Leon or Mikey. But they were running in just behind him. And last he had checked, Donnie was still in his room. Splinter had been dragged to visit Draxum by April so that ruled out the two of them. And Casey was on the couch next to him. So who was Raph holding?

Whoever it was must have been injured, because the three younger turtles booked it straight for the med bay. When Leo made his way over to them, he carefully stepped over the trail of blood left on the floor. Leon was giving out instructions while Mikey hurried to follow them. Raph laid the person down on the cot. The very same one that Leo had woken up on only a little while ago.

Now he was getting concerned. He rushed over to Leon’s side and asked “What can I do to help?”

Leon’s face was apprehensive. He seemed to be contemplating his response before he finally said, “I think you should take a look at who we’re working on before you offer that.”

Confused, Leo looked over at the medical cot. His heart stopped when he saw who it was. “Don?” he whispered. “Donnie? How?” It was at this moment that he got a good look at the condition his brother was in. Mikey had removed his cloak so they could have a clear view of the extensive damage on his shell. It was covered in cracks and blood flowed lethargically out of it. The skin on his arms was ripped open in multiple places. Even his face had streaks of torn flesh cascading down it. Leo rushed over to his side and grabbed his hand, clinging to him like a lifeline. 

Who did this to him? How did he end up like this? There’s no way that the others did this. And these injuries don’t look like they could have been caused by their weapons anyway.  So who then?

Taking a deep breath, Leo steeled himself. His brother was in danger and needed help. “What can I do to help?” he repeated, looking over at Leon. 

Leon looked him in the eyes and, approving of what he saw, nodded and said, “Grab some gloves. We’ve got work to do.”

Chapter Text

“Hold him down! He’s moving too much!”

“We’re-  SHIT OW!- we’re trying!”

“Well, try harder!”

A few minutes after they had started trying to treat Future Donnie he had woken up. Well, ‘woke up’ isn’t exactly accurate. He’s certainly conscious, but whether or not he’s actually aware of his surroundings is up for debate in Leon’s opinion. Raph and Leo were both given the job to keep him still while Leon bandaged his shell. Out of all of his injuries, it was at the highest risk for bleeding out or infection.

Unfortunately, it is also Donatello’s weakest point. And because of that he is incredibly protective of it. This was clear to see in the way that he thrashed and fought each time Leon came even close to him.

Leon had been trying his best to keep a stoic leader face on while working, but there is a part of him that just can’t get over the fact that this is his twin brother screaming and trying desperately to escape. It made him want to stop what he was doing and hug him until he calmed down. But if he didn’t get medical attention soon he probably wouldn’t make it. That was the only thing keeping Leon going through the whole process. 

Dodging another one of Future Donnie’s swipes, Leon waited for Raph and Leo to get a good hold of him again. They had sent out Mikey to get more anesthesia ages ago since keeping him down like this was very dangerous for everyone involved.

Maybe I should have sent Raph. Mikey’s powers would come in handy right about now.

Leon didn’t have much time to contemplate this as Mikey came barreling through the door a second later.

“Good timing, Miguel. What do we got?”

Grimacing, Mikey handed over the small container of anesthesia. “Sorry, Leon. This was all I could get. Supplies are already pretty low in general, so grabbing something that people won’t miss isn’t easy.”

Trying to hide his worry, Leon just nodded and pat Mikey’s back. “Don’t worry about it, bro. Any amount helps.”

Grabbing a syringe, Leon carefully injected the liquid into the IV tube that Raph had been fighting the whole time to keep Donnie from ripping out of his arm. Praying that it would work, Leon backed away slightly. Sadly, luck was not on their side.

A moment later Donnie managed to get the upper hand and knocked Raph back into a table. Leo tried to hold him down, but soon he also was on the ground. However, Donnie didn’t make an immediate break for the door like Leon feared he would. Instead, he backed into the furthest corner away from the group.

Leon took a step towards him but quickly stepped back again when Donnie hissed and snapped viciously at him. Having been on the receiving end of Donnie’s bites in the past, Leon knew when to back up. Glancing back, he saw that Leo was helping up Raph who was holding his shoulder. He must have hurt it when he got pushed.

 Okay, we’ve gotta put a stop to this before something really bad happens. But how?

“Guys, any ideas?”

Leo was busy tending to Raph, but Mikey looked like he had a plan.

“Mike? What’s going on in that big old brain of yours?”

“I want to try something. I just need everyone to back off for a minute.”

Ready to try anything at this point, Leon agreed and went to help the others up and out of the room.

“Wait! Leo, stay behind!”

Leo seemed confused but stayed nonetheless. Leaving the room with Raph, Leon gave one last smile before shutting the door behind him.

You got this, bro. 

 ———

Leo felt his heart race in his chest. It had been easy to calm himself at first. But as time went on that resolve seemed to slowly fade away. Now here he is. Standing in the med bay with just a younger Mikey between him and his brother. He’s been in far more dangerous scenarios in the past, yet this is the moment that his willpower decides to break down. 

Donnie had stopped threatening them but was still clearly on the defensive. He was huddled in the corner, back to the wall where it was the most covered. But his eyes aren’t as wide as they were, and his posture is more slumped than it was. He scratched at his arms and shoulders which only caused more blood to flow from the wounds. Leo almost reached out to calm him like he used to, but the manic energy in Donnie’s eyes stopped him.

“Mikey? What’s your plan?” Leo’s voice was quiet but still disturbed the silence more than he would have liked.

“Give me your hand,” he responded, tone completely neutral.

Taken aback slightly at his change in demeanor, Leo obliged and offered him his non-prosthetic arm. Mikey took his hand and held it in his own. He sat crossing his legs on the floor a few feet away from Donnie and pulled Leo down to do the same. Still confused, Leo watched as Mikey closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Donnie was a little more tired looking than before but still very much alert. He glared at them suspiciously.  

Suddenly, Leo felt a pull in his chest. It was like a small shock that resonated through his gut. He recognized it immediately. That was his ninpo reacting to something. Taking one last look at Donnie, Leo made the probably unwise decision to close his eyes. With them shut, he was able to truly focus on the pulling sensation. He could sense the heat from Mikey’s ninpo right next to him. And, when he really concentrated, he could see Donnie’s too. It was small and almost skittish, shying away from their presence. Nothing like what Leo was used to. Normally, it was this bright, buzzing purple that felt like static. It had been slightly disconcerting at first, but after a while, it felt like home. Now it was a shadow of its former self, like Donnie himself.

Leo’s mind darkened at the thought of his brother never being the same again. He observed as Mikey carefully reached out with his ninpo to Donnie’s. At first, Donnie’s pushed further away. But when Leo joined him, trying desperately to be gentle and not scare him away, Donnie seemed to recognize him.

The purple static moved towards the blue electricity that was Leo’s ninpo. For a moment they interacted and Leo got a brief look into Donnie’s mind.

Graphic scenes of torture and pain filled his head. But those gave way to what Donnie was seeing right now. And it wasn’t the med bay. Opening his eyes, Leo saw the world through Donnie’s sight. They were in the technodrome. Pink Kraang flesh covered the walls, and pieces of alien tech were the only things in the room with them.

In that instant, fear filled Leo’s heart. It was like he was back there, back in that damned timeline. Where the world was burning and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Where his friends and family were all dead. Where the sun had set one day and never risen again. 

But there was something different this time. There was an orange light beside him. It was warm and bright like a star. Mikey.

The light seemed to burn away the illusions. They aren’t in his timeline. They’re in the past. A timeline where they won. We’re safe.

And with that thought, the world faded away. A new world took its place, the real one.

We’re in the med bay. The Kraang are gone. You are alive.

With a sharp breath, Leo opened his eyes. Mikey was quiet and shaking slightly next to him. Still a little dazed, Leo raised his head to look at Donnie. It took a moment for him to come into focus. But when he did Leo couldn’t believe it.

“Where… Where am I?” These were the first words Leo had heard Donnie say since he died. A wave of joy washed over him as he made eye contact with his brother again. For the first time in years, he had his twin brother back.

“Donnie? Are you- oh God… are you back?”

“Leo?” Donnie squinted at him then his eyes widened in surprise. “LEO!” Donnie tried to stand up but quickly stumbled and started to fall. Leo was there in an instant to catch him.

“Woah, woah! Slow down. You’re hurt.” Helping him onto the cot, Leo carefully made sure he didn’t aggravate any injuries he had. Which was difficult because he had a lot.

Mikey got up to join them looking a little more put together. Donnie’s face twisted in pain and he clung to Leo’s arm. “It hurts,” he whispered. “It hurts so much.”

Leo pulled a chair up to sit next to him. “I know, Don. Don’t worry. We’re gonna get you fixed up in no time.”

“I can still see them.”

Leo didn’t need to ask to know who he was talking about. “They're not here. Your safe. Just rest. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“No, they’re right there.” He pointed at an empty part of the room. “They’re so loud.”

Leo shook his head and swallowed back the lump in his throat. “No. It’s just us. I’ll be right here. You just need to go to sleep.”

“Okay. I-I trust you.” Donnie frowned as he shifted his arms. He shut his eyes tight as if he was trying to block out the world.

Mikey from the other side of the bed reached out and very carefully set a hand on Donnie’s shoulder. Donnie for his part only slightly flinched. Leo noticed the slight warmth of Mikey’s ninpo once again. Soon Donnie’s breathing evened out and his expression was finally peaceful.

Yawning, Mikey stood straight and stretched his arms. He had dark bags under his eyes as if he’d been awake for days. “Leo, we should probably-“

Mikey cut himself off when he looked at Leo. Confused, Leo tilted his head at him. “What is it, Mike?”

“Oh, uh, nothing. You stay here. I’ll go tell the others he’s calmed down.”

Leo nodded and watched as he left the room. He shifted in his seat to get more comfortable, careful not to jostle Donnie. It was then that he noticed the warmth running down his face. With his free hand, he reached up and wiped his cheek. His hand came away wet with tears. Laughing slightly to himself, he realized he probably looked like a mess.

Donnie groaned in his sleep and clutched him even tighter. Exhaustion overcame Leo in that moment and he settled back in his chair. He wouldn’t let himself sleep. Not yet. Not when Donnie still needed him.

The others came in and finished the process of bandaging and stitching him back together. It was impressive that they managed to finish as quickly as they did. Leon said some things to Leo about what to keep an eye on and how to take care of certain things. Leo tried to listen to the kid. He really did. But the second he finished, sleep overtook his tired mind and the words were forgotten.

Chapter Text

Shouts. Yells. Cries. Doesn’t matter what you call them, they woke Donnie up way too early. Today was supposed to be a sleepy day. A whole day to recover and be lazy. A way to make up for yesterday’s misery. 

Unfortunately, with all the commotion going on outside, it wasn’t looking like that would be the case. 

Stretching his arms above his head, Donnie groaned. He sat up and pulled off his headphones and blanket. It took him a minute to work up the strength to stand. And even when he did, he wobbled a little. Once he could fully function, he trudged out to the kitchen, ready to yell at whoever was making so. much. noise. 

“You do realize the last time the lair was this noisy was when Leo appeared?” Donnie snarked at his brothers who were hanging out outside of the med bay doors. Leon, Raph, and Mikey turned in surprise at his words, clearly not expecting to see him there. They each had a few small bandages on them, but Raph had a sling on his shoulder and Mikey’s hands were wrapped. Donnie ignored the small spark of concern in favor of staying annoyed at them.  

“Oh hey, Donnie!” Mikey said, chuckling nervously while picking at his bandages. “Didn’t realize you were awake!”

“Tsk tsk, Michelangelo. How could I possibly sleep with this racket going on outside my door?”

At his words, Mikey cringed guiltily. Turning to Leon, Donnie asked what was going on. Leon pointedly ignored him and instead swatted at Mikey to stop messing with the wraps. Looking at Raph, the red turtle quickly turned his eyes down to the floor. Finally, he glanced at Mikey again. The orange turtle was too slow to avoid Donnie’s gaze and was stuck making painful eye contact. 

“Mikey?” The purple turtle asked. “What’s going on?”

“Uhh, um, well… thing is…”

Raph sighed and spoke up, saving the youngest from having to explain the situation. “Donnie, you’re gonna need to see something.”

Noting Raph’s unusually serious tone, Donnie silently followed the snapper turtle into the med bay. 

Inside were Leo and Casey, who were both sitting on chairs next to the bed they had previously used for Future Leo. Casey was beaming. His smile was wider than Donnie had ever seen it. Leo was… in shock? His face seemed to be stunned into a permanent state of surprise. 

As Donnie was about to comment on the “old man face” he had just developed, he stopped himself after seeing who was on the bed. 

It was… him. But older. An older him. Like Leo. 

“Okay… this is getting weird.”

Casey huffed at that. “You can say that again.”

The older Donnie looked like him, obviously. But there were scars that spiderwebbed around his face and down his neck. He could see them on his arms and torso and everywhere that wasn’t obscured by the thin, blue blanket they had placed on him. His purple markings were also much more extensive. While Donnie only had a couple on his arms and legs, this version of him had marks that lined the entirety of his arms. Dozens of little, purple dashes ranged from his shoulder to his fingertips. 

Caught up in his observations, Donnie didn’t even notice the way his future self tensed up. Thankfully Leo did. And when Future Donnie jumped up, lunging forward seemingly to attack, Leo was quick on the draw. He sprung into action and held his brother down. 

Raph was right behind him, putting himself between Donnie and… other Donnie. Casey quickly joined Leo in holding back Future Donnie. He thrashed and screamed in their grasp. All the while he seemed to be panicking. Shouting unintelligible words. Like he was trapped. 

“Donnie… Donnie… come on, Don. Come back to me, please” Leo pleaded with his twin. Leo’s eyes were closed, but Donnie could still see the faint glow of mystic energy emanating from them. 

Slowly but surely, Future Donnie started to calm down. The mania in his eyes faded away and left behind a tired-looking turtle. His screams also became more recognizable. 

“GetitoutgetitoutgetitoutpleasejustgetitoutstopstopstopstopSTOP!”

And with a final desperate gasp for air, Future Donnie collapsed into Leo and Casey’s arms. His body shook with sobs and he clutched onto the two of them tightly. Tears gently traced the scars on his face.  

Raph stepped up to Donnie and put a hand on his shoulder, lightly tugging him towards the doors. “We should probably let them be for now,” he whispered. 

Nodding, Donnie walked out of the med bay with Raph. 

———

Leo whispered soft words of encouragement, gently rocking his twin brother in his arms. He was so torn on what to feel in this situation. Should he feel happy that he gets to see his brother after thinking for so long that he would never be able to again? Should he feel distressed by the fact that his brother is in pain and confused and so so lost despite the fact that he’s as close to home as he could be? Should he feel tired from all the emotions he’s been experiencing this past month?

So many clashing emotions, each one battling for the top spot in his mind. 

Doesn’t matter. Just focus on Donnie. 

After a few more minutes, Donnie was silent. Not yelling or scratching or writhing. Just… silent. 

Did he fall asleep?

Glancing down, Leo was quick to find that he wasn’t sleeping. He was just eerily quiet and seemingly dead to the world. But his eyes were open and taking in the room around them so he couldn’t have been unconscious. 

“Hey, Case?” Leo whispered gently, trying not to startle Donnie.

“Hmm?” The teen responded. 

“Can you go check on the others?”

“Uh… yeah, yeah sure”.

Leo nodded his thanks and Casey left the room. The kid was smart and recognized it as a discreet request for privacy. 

Oh, Casey. You’re too good for this world.

Shifting his position, Leo moved from the chair he was awkwardly half-sitting in over to the bed. This way he was able to hold onto Donnie more comfortably. He made sure to leave room for him to move away though. The last thing Donnie needed was to feel trapped. 

Donnie settled in beside him. Leo kept his arm around him and they sat side by side, not talking. Not yet at least. Not until Donnie was ready. 

———

“So, it happened again?”

“Yup.”

Donnie sighed. He was getting a little irritated at the lack of knowledge they had. They didn’t know why people from Casey’s timeline kept popping up, they didn’t know how it was happening, and they didn’t know what it meant.

So many unknowns. Too many variables. We need to figure this out before someone less savory appears.

 An idea arose in Donnie’s head. “Let’s run some tests.”

“What?” Raph asked.

“On my future self. I’ve got some things I want to test out.”

Raph huffed lightly. “Uh, Don. I don’t think he’s in the best condition to be experimented on.”

“Oh, the tests will be non-invasive. Don’t worry.”

“That’s not really the-”

 “Hey, Donnie?” Mikey called from across the room.

“Yes, Mikey?”

“Let’s leave the probes and needles for… I don’t know… Our second day?”

Leon high-fived Mikey from where he was sitting next to him.

Donnie just frowned slightly but let it go regardless. “Well, then. Nardo, can I speak with you?”

“Sure, Don. What’s up?”

“… alone?”

Leon raised an eyebrow at that but nevertheless agreed. The twins made their way into Donnie’s room. Donnie sat down in his chair and Leon leaned against the desk. 

Donnie sighed, thinking through his words. Eventually, he just decided to outright ask. “Did you happen to experience any headaches or… pain the day before Leo showed up?”

The slider was clearly taken aback by the question. He ceased the drumming of his fingers he had been doing and pinched his eyebrows in confusion. Or possibly thought? Either one. Maybe both. 

Donnie was patient and waited for him to answer on his own time. Which ended up not being very long as Leon found his words a few seconds later. 

“Yeah, I did. I kept having these crazy dreams about the future and me dying. I figured they were just trauma or something. Maybe my brain was trying to prepare me for the worst. I also had a killer headache too. It wasn’t bad enough to call off movie night. But it certainly put a damper on my mood.”

“Interesting.” Donnie quickly turned on his computer and began typing various notes into it. Leon, curious as to what he was writing about, walked over to him and leaned against his chair. He watched as Donnie’s fingers flew across the keys and words appeared on the screen. 

“Soooo… why do you ask?” Leon drew out the “o” sound in so. 

“Huh? Oh, it’s because I felt the same thing before my future self appeared.” Donnie’s response was off-handed like it was an afterthought. But to Leon, it was anything but. 

“Waitwaitwaitwait…” Leon said shaking his arms side to side, “Your theory is that the headaches are connected to our future selves appearing in this timeline? Woah, dude. That’s crazy.”

Donnie smirked and didn’t even look up from his work when he answered “No, it’s not crazy. What is crazy, however, is you thinking that an event happening only twice is enough evidence to uphold a theory.”

Leon just scoffed and rolled his eyes, smiling while he watched Donnie somehow manage seven different tabs (yes, he counted) at the same time. 

Casey Jr. soon knocked on the door, announcing his presence. “Hey guys, how are you doing?”

“Spectacularly, my dear friend,” Donnie replied, face displaying an intense and gleeful smile that only science and data collection could bring about. 

“We’re doing just fine, hermano. How goes it with Leo and… our newest guest?”

Casey winced lightly at the mention of future Donnie. “Better. He’s completely calmed down now. He hasn’t spoken yet but Leo’s staying with him so he should be fine.”

Leon nodded. “Cool. So what brings you here?”

Sighing and scratching his head, Casey said “Leo kinda wanted to have a moment alone with him. Which is completely understandable, of course! But I don’t really have anything to do until Master Donatello is up for talking again. Mind if I stay with you guys?”

“But of course!” Donnie replied. “You could assist Leon in his quest to grab me a cup of coffee.”

Leon scoffed but ushered Casey to follow him nonetheless. “Alright, alright. You heard the turtle! Let’s go brew a batch of bean juice.”

“Wuh- bean juice?” Casey’s voice could be heard as he was led from the room. 

Donnie shook his head at the pure innocence he had in regard to Leon’s dialect. Apparently, Leo didn’t use the same vernacular. Probably a part of being the leader of a massive rebellion during an alien invasion. 

But still… you think he’d teach the kid at least a few memes. 

———

“… L-le-“ a coughing fit. 

Leo adjusted his grip on Donnie, helping him sit up and wait out the process of hacking out his lungs. 

Once he calmed down, he tried to speak again, but Leo stopped him and handed him a glass of water. “Hey, hey, slow down, mi hermano. No need to push yourself.”

Donnie finished his drink and shook his head. “No, we need to talk. I don’t understand? Where are we? Why is Casey here? Why are you here? Are we dead?”

Leo snorted at the laundry list of questions he fired at him. “Okay, well, first and foremost: no, we’re not dead.”

Donnie seemed even more confused by the answer than he did the question. “But then… how are we here? I felt myself die. I died! I know I did!”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m just as lost as you are on that one. I just know that for some reason or another, we are in the past. Specifically, the timeline that we sent Casey to.”

Donnie’s eyes widened at that. “You mean… you used Plan Z? The ultimate backup?”

Leo nodded, gaze downcast. 

Donnie sputtered in confusion, “But that means that…” he sighed, “Everyone? Every last one?”

“All dead. There was no one left to save. No one left to hold out for. So we used Plan Z and sent him back to fix it.”

Tears welled up again in Donnie’s eyes. “Raph… Mikey… April… even Cass?”

A nod. 

Donnie’s breath shuddered as he exhaled through his mouth. He leaned up against Leo, trying to calm his racing mind. Gently, Leo tapped his arm twice, their silent code that asked whether he was okay with hugs at that moment. Donnie shook his head no, and Leo just nodded, letting him relax onto his shoulder. 

It only took a few minutes for Donnie to fall asleep again. Leo didn’t move. He needed this so much. They both did. 

Chapter Text

The next few days were a vicious cycle. 

Future Donnie wakes up screaming and shaking, Leo or Casey is there to calm him down, they talk for maybe a few minutes, Donnie gets tired, and he goes back to sleep. Rinse and repeat. 

Finally, on the fifth day, Donnie was up for moving around. He hadn’t been woken by nightmares the night before and actually felt energized for once. 

Casey took it upon himself to reintroduce the purple turtle to his childhood home. While there were a few small changes here and there, it was exactly as he had remembered it.  There was spray paint covering the walls. Pizza boxes lay discarded on the floor. Various mystic relics were haphazardly strewn about. The tour went fine until they came to their last destination. 

Donnie’s lab. 

Walking in, Future Donnie glanced around at the sheer amount of papers and gadgets scattered across the room. Stacks of half-finished drawings were piled across various desks alongside empty coffee mugs and miscellaneous tools. 

He took in a deep breath, taking in the scent of motor oil, smoke, fresh coffee, and other various smells. It smelled like comfort. Slowly walking around the lab, he thought back to when he had one just like it. He thought back to all the inventions he would perfect. All of the times this was his safe space. His sanctuary. And then… he thought about when it was all ripped away. When the kraang attacked and everything he had built, everything he had known, was suddenly gone. Thrust into an unfamiliar world, he tried to recreate the feeling in their various bases during the war. But… it was never the same, was it?

Younger Donnie was sitting at a computer, coffee in hand, eyes glued to the screen. He must’ve been really in the zone because he didn’t seem to notice him and Casey coming in. 

“Donnie?” Casey called out. 

The younger soft shell jolted up. He came dangerously close to spilling coffee on his laptop. Older Donnie cringed at the thought. 

“Ah! Hello, Casey and…”

He paused at Older Donnie’s name.

“Ah right. We should figure this out sooner than later.” Older Donnie said. 

Casey looked confused. “Figure what out?”

“The whole…” young Donnie hesitated, “name situation.”

“Oh,” Casey nodded in agreement. “So, what do you guys wanna go by?”

Younger Donnie spoke first, “Well, I prefer to go by Donnie. But I’m assuming it is the same for you?”

Older Donnie nodded. Thinking for a minute, he eventually sighed.

I’m the one intruding on his timeline. His house. His family. He can keep the name. 

“I can go by Don if that makes things easier.”

Younger Donnie nodded once in thanks. 

Smiling brightly, Casey said “Sounds great guys! Ooh! I should let the others know. Be right back!”

The teen bounded out of the room, running off to wherever the others were. The lab got painfully quiet without him. After a second of the two of them silently fidgeting, Don decided to break the silence. 

“What are you working on?”

Donnie seemed caught off guard by the question. He swiveled back around to face his computer and pulled up some files. Don walked over and leaned an arm on the desk to get a proper view of the screen. Donnie brought up a timeline he had put together of various events and readings. Reading through them, Don quickly realized what he had been doing. 

“Fascinating… and this has happened every time someone has come to this timeline?”

Donnie nodded. “Yes, keeping in mind we’ve only had a few people come back since I started tracking it so it could still be a coincidence,” the younger one’s face scrunched up slightly. 

“Sigh,” Don said. “It’s never a coincidence in this family.”

“Agreed. I’ve been wanting to see if Mikey could use his ‘mystic hands’ and maybe recreate the phenomenon, but we’ve all been very busy with… you guys showing up left and right.”

Glancing at Donnie, Don said, “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“What? Why not?”

“It’s dangerous. My Mikey always talked about how making a portal through dimensions was incredibly painful. Leo mentioned that he died making a portal through time. If you can save your Mikey from that same fate, I would recommend it.”

Donnie took in a shaky breath. He didn’t say anything in response. Just sat there staring at the data on the screen. Don wanted to say something, but he stopped when an alarm went off on the computer. Donnie muttered something to himself before quickly checking a map and running out. Don just stared after him. Eventually, he looked over at what he had seen. The notification read “Temporal activity detected!” Looking over the rest of the data, Don swore under his breath and joined Donnie in running out of the room. 

———

Raph was getting tired of hearing the words “I’m sorry”. It seemed everyone around him felt the need to pity and sympathize with him. And it was getting on his nerves.

That isn’t important right now.

What is important however is the meeting he’s currently in. He and the other leaders are discussing potential places to set up a new base. He’s been advocating for a particular spot that has a great tactical advantage, but April thinks moving there would be risky and that they probably shouldn’t be risking anything right now. He tried telling her that they needed some form of an advantage, but she wasn’t having it.

The meeting ended after hours of talking and debating. Once again they accomplished nothing in Raph’s eyes. Walking down the halls of the complex, he couldn’t help but feel the piercing gaze of everyone he passed on his back. They whispered under their breath around him too. It’s like they think he can’t hear or see them.

What he doesn’t understand is why everyone feels the need to do that. Nothing’s wrong and the rebellion has been doing well. There isn’t anything that happened recently that was any worse than what the world is always throwing at them.

Lies… a voice whispered.

Whipping around, Raph tried to see who said that word. The hallway was empty save for him and a few crates. So who said that?

Shrugging, he continued walking. A few minutes later he arrived at his destination. The room they held the weapons in. The stress of the meeting had gotten to him and he felt like doing something menial to take his mind off of it. Plus he had been meaning to get around to it soon. What better time than now?

Other people were running around the large room but Raph elected to ignore them. He took a deep breath and opened the first box. He spent hours organizing and cataloging various weapons. Occasionally he stopped to clean a particularly unkempt one. It was all going fine until he got to the last set of boxes. Opening the lid, he was greeted with the sight of a replacement artificial arm. This one was specifically designed to function as both an arm and a blade interchangeably. The machinery involved in it was pretty intricate and there was clearly a lot of work put into it. Raph recognized it right away. It had all the signature trademarks of Donatello’s handiwork, right down to the literal trademark.

I should probably check in on him tonight. I haven’t seen him in a little bit, and you never know when something might happen.

It already did.

The voice startled him once again and he dropped the lid to the box. Quickly turning around, he called out, “Who said that?”

A couple of people glanced at him, but other than that there was nothing. Feeling slightly frustrated, Raph grumbled and began to put everything back in its place. He managed to get a pretty good look at almost everything so he could afford to take a break. And with how hectic things have been lately he certainly wanted one. It seems like his workload has only gotten heavier lately.

Locking the door behind him, Raph headed down the halls once again. This time he stopped at the tiny closet he called his room. He set down the list he had made on his bedside table. Groaning, he walked over to his bed and plopped down on it. He put his head in his hands and sighed.

Thoughts of tasks he needed to complete flooded his mind, and he immediately felt guilty for resting. Everything has been so hectic lately and it feels like a lot more responsibility has been put on him.

Oh well. Nothing new and certainly nothing I can’t handle. Although I should probably see if my brothers can help out with some of it. Maybe Leo could lead that training session I have coming up and Mikey would be way faster at moving boxes.

Raph sighed and shook his head. If he had been put in charge of more things then his brothers probably were too. But Donnie probably found a way out of it. He’s clever like that. Raph chuckled at the thought of Donnie convincing the work managers that he was already swamped and couldn’t possibly do any more work. And if that’s the case then there’s no point in disturbing him anyways.

That’s not why you’re avoiding his room and you know it.

He clasped his hands over his ears but he could still hear the voice. Frankly, he was getting a little annoyed at it. Electing to leave that as a problem for the morning, he laid down and tried to fall asleep. It must have been hours that he sat there unmoving. But he did end up sleeping so that was something.

…

…

Waking up was painful. The dreams he had still flashed in his mind, but they faded the more he thought about them. Someone might have been screaming and there was a strong sense of panic, but other than that it was all a blur. He glanced at the clock to see it was early morning. Not quite feeling up to getting out of bed, Raph continued to lay there for a few minutes.

He finally got moving when a knock sounded at his door. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and called out “Come in.”

The door opened to show none other than April O’Neil. “Hey, Raphie. How are you doing?”

“‘M fine, thanks. What about you?”

April leaned against the table as she spoke, “I’m doing better. I’ve been talking a lot with the others and it’s really helped. You know, if you ever wanted to, we could always talk about it together.”

“No thanks. I’m alright.”

April narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Are you sure? It seems like you’re just trying to distract yourself.”

Getting annoyed, Raph stood up and grabbed his list just to have something else to look at other than April’s scrutinizing gaze. She means well, he knows she does. But he wasn’t lying when he said that he was okay.

“Listen, April. I’m happy that you’re getting over… whatever this is. But I don’t need help. I don’t need to talk to someone or do anything like that. Really.”

“Raphael Hamato. You are not okay. I don’t care how stoic or leader-like you are, you can’t just ignore this.” She was gesturing with her arms as she got more and more passionate. “I know it’s painful, but Donnie is-“

Her words turned to static in Raph’s ears. He could still see her talking, but a loud drone had taken over his mind. It was getting louder by the second and Raph closed his eyes in pain. They couldn’t have been closed for more than a minute, but when he opened them again, he was sitting alone in his room. April was gone and the lights were off. When he went to stand, his joints ached as if he had been sitting there for hours. Opening the door, he saw a clock on a nearby wall. It said it was late in the evening.

That can’t be right. Can it?

He shook his head to clear the remaining fog in his mind. Before he could question it further, a member of the rebellion came running down the hall, calling his name. Running off to take care of whatever emergency was currently happening, the missing time fell to the back of his mind where he inevitably forgot about it entirely.

———

Raph was leading a large group of people through the rather treacherous terrain of a destroyed New York suburb. The dark, pink sky loomed overhead. Clouds of smog blocked out the sun, yet the group still kept going. There had to be dozens of them, but they all needed to move as soon as possible. The kraang had found out about their old base, so it was time to go. Didn’t matter if someone was fit to travel or not, it was move or die. They have had to hide from multiple kraang patrols already and they weren’t even halfway to their destination.

Raph was carrying a large bag of supplies that they’d managed to grab before leaving. Some of the others had them too, but the vast majority of the group was too weak to handle them. Only a few of them were even remotely trained in combat, never mind full-blown soldiers. All they could do was move quickly and quietly and pray that they didn’t encounter any enemies.

So far it had been working. No one had gotten injured and they still had all their supplies. Of course that all changed when they were halfway through the journey. Walking along a cliff that Raph had known was precarious, one of the people holding the bags tripped and rolled their ankle. The weight of the pack almost pulled them over the edge, but thankfully the other people nearby managed to catch them.

That was why they had stopped to rest. Raph didn’t think it was fair for them to keep going for so long. And they were so far out of the city the kraang weren’t a serious threat. And he was right. They weren’t. It was nature that was out to get them this time.

They settled down on a wider part of the path and passed around water bottles and food. All was going well until a large rumbling noise sounded. Looking across the camp, a huge chunk of the cliff face was breaking off and tumbling down the massive drop below.

 Landslide. Not good.

“Everyone get clear!” Raph shouted.

He ran over to where the ground was giving way. Grabbing as many people as he could he ran them to safety. Unfortunately, some of them had already been taken by the landslide. Their screams echoed throughout the area.

Raph and some of the others started moving people far from the area. They kept moving until nighttime when they were on solid ground again and everyone collectively collapsed from the physical and mental trauma. While the rest of the people slept, Raph gathered the organizers who had come with them.

“What’s our status?”

The young man who was in charge of supplies winced and looked away. “We don’t have much left. Only the stuff that people have in their personal backpacks. And even those are few and far between. We lost most of our supplies in the rockslide.”

Raph ran his hand down his face, trying to keep up an appearance of control. Sighing, he asked “And how many people did we lose?”

The two people in charge of controlling and counting up the crowd looked at each other. One nodded before the other spoke, “We lost seven people in the accident.”

Raph only nodded in response. He didn’t want to show his emotions so he swallowed them back and asked “Does anyone have our comm?”

“We lost it in the slide,” the supply manager answered. “How are we going to communicate with the others? Those are extremely valuable and we can’t exactly make more…”

Raph waved him off and said “Donnie can always build more. We’ll be alright until then. Make sure everyone is okay then get some sleep. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”

At first, no one moved. They all just looked at each other with confusion, and a couple of them glanced at Raph with that same pitying stare he’s been getting used to. Raph just ignored them and stood up, intent on getting one last patrol in before he would sit and watch. That got them moving and soon everyone was off doing their jobs.

He moved in a wide circle around the camp, staying away from any of the people. He didn’t feel like talking anymore. They really did need to replace that comm. It isn’t good to go for a long time without checking in with the rest of their people. Leo, Mikey, and April were all leading their own groups. They had all left at different times and took slightly different routes. So it was unlikely they’d see each other again until they reached the new base. But it was just like he’d told the others.

Donnie could always make a new one. 

Chapter Text

Most of the turtles and Casey were all in the living room chatting. Casey and Leon were recounting the speech Casey had given him during the invasion. Leon chuckled and rubbed his neck when he talked about how the kid gave him a much-needed kick in the shell. Leo sat on the couch while he listened with a proud smile on his face. The kid seemed to have picked up more than just fighting skills from him. From what they had described, it sounded like he gave an incredibly similar speech to what Leo used to give to recruits that were misbehaving. Nodding along, Leo pretended his heart wasn’t melting and that he was feeling completely normal emotions about the whole situation. Suddenly, Casey’s story was interrupted by Donnie running into the room. 

“I just got another alert!” Donnie said, firing up his battle shell. 

Immediately, everyone sprang into action. Mikey, Leo, and Leon summoned their weapons and hooked them onto their respective belts. Casey grabbed his mask and utility belt from his room. Raph was a little slower to get up. He didn’t summon his sai but was still up and ready. Leo gave him a look, but the snapping turtle just shrugged. Deciding to ignore it for now, Leo walked over to Don who had followed Donnie into the room. Lightly bumping his arm with his fist, he whispered “Hey, you sure you should be here for this? You’ve just started being able to walk around.”

Don raised an eyebrow at that. “I am perfectly capable, my brother. Don’t worry about me. If anything, we should be more focused on the mission ahead of us. Donnie?”

“Right you are, Don,” Donnie said. “A few seconds ago there was a slight increase in temporal activity around Times Square. Hopefully, it won't require us to go to the surface. But in case of emergency, I have prepared cloaking devices for everyone.”

Opening his battle shell, Donnie passed around various bracelets and rings. They each had the symbol for Genius Built Apparel on them in purple. Once everyone had one, he briefly explained how to activate them and that they should only use them if absolutely necessary. They were still new pieces of tech and overuse could prove to be harmful to the fine-tuning they require.

———

Leo led the group with Donnie hovering at his side, guiding him where to go. They traveled through the sewers so they could avoid as much human interaction as possible. Raph hung near the back, watching their six. Leo noticed this, just like he seems to notice everything, and let Donnie take the lead and fell back to meet him.

Raph was fidgeting with the silver ring Donnie had given him. He turned it over in his fingers and rolled it around in his palm. The actions made Leo subconsciously reach for his own cloaking device. His was in the form of a black bracelet.

“Raph, are you doing okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You just seem a little, I don’t know, down?”

Raph snatched his hand closed around the ring and pocketed it. Summoning his sai, he spun them around in his hands and slipped them into their sheathes. “Well, I don’t feel down. Just have a bit of a headache, if anything. Really, I’m okay.”

Leo nodded, but he still looked unsure. Thankfully, he didn’t seem eager to press. 

From just in front of them, Leon snapped around to face the two turtles. “Did you just say that you have a headache?”

“A small one, maybe. Why do you-” Raph didn’t get to finish his sentence as Leon yelled for Donnie. The group halted as Donnie flew over to meet them. Now, effectively having the attention of the entire group, Leon told him about what Raph had just said.

After hearing what he said, Donnie looked to Raph for confirmation. “You have a headache?”

Raph was getting frustrated at this point. “YES! I have a headache!” he shouted loud enough for the whole group to hear. Mikey winced lightly at his loud tone which made him immediately regret raising his voice. “Why does everyone need to know about this?”

Don’s face was one of contemplation as he pressed his hand to his chin, clearly thinking hard about something. Donnie was doing something with his wrist monitor. And Leon was watching carefully over his shoulder. For what it was worth, Mikey and Casey seemed just as confused as Raph felt.

Raph’s frustration only built as Leon and Donnie whispered to each other about something, probably him. “Well?!”

“Hmm?” Donnie looked up from his typing. “Oh, yes. I haven’t gotten the chance to mention this to the group yet. I have detected a pattern in our behavior whenever a new one of us appears.”

Mikey gaped from next to Casey. “And you just forgot to mention this?”

“Scoff. I didn’t ‘forget’, Mikey. I simply didn’t have enough time to tell you yet.”

Casey shook his head. “So, what is the pattern?”

“An excellent question, Casey. I’ve noticed that whenever a new person from the future shows up, their counterpart from our timeline experiences headaches, nausea, and other various symptoms that typically involve body pain.”

All eyes once again turned to Raph. Six pairs of eyes all boring into his soul. He started to sweat. “It’s not that bad of a headache?” He attempted to assuage them. Don raised an eyebrow. “I mean…” he stuttered. “It’s only been going on for the past day or two.”

“Yeah…” Leon said. “We should probably start talking to each other more often.”

Various murmurs of agreement broke out across the group.

“So, that means that Uncle Raphie is going to show up next?” Casey asked. 

“Raphie?” Leon snorted under his breath.

“If Donnie’s observations are correct,” Don said, “then yes. Most likely.” There was a small smile on his face as he spoke. A slight flicker of excitement shone behind his eyes. It lightly mirrored Casey’s expression of pure joy.

“This is great!” Casey said. “I got to meet Uncle Don and now Uncle Raphie? Isn’t this great, Sensei?”

Leo looked up from where he had been staring at the floor. “Oh, uh. Yeah. Yeah, it’s great.”

Michelangelo hummed. “Leo? Why do I feel like you’re not telling us something?”

“Yeah,” Leon chimed in. “You’ve been really quiet since we started talking about this. What’s wrong?”

After a long pause, Leo sighed. “There’s something you should know about Raphie before he died.”

“What? What is it?” Casey pried.

“He wasn’t exactly… himself. Near the end.”

“In what way?” Mikey asked.

“Well…”

Chapter Text

“I just… I don’t think he’s… you’ve seen him, right? You know he isn’t himself right now.” That was April’s voice.

“Yeah, I get it. I just don’t think that I can do anything about it. The mind is a fragile thing and messing with it while it’s already… broken could just make things worse.” And that was Mikey’s. Why are they..?

Leo knocked on the door to the room the two were in, cutting off April’s next sentence. “Guys? Can I come in?”

“Uh,” Mikey hesitated. “Sure?”

Whispered protests could be heard from April until Leo opened the door. The two were standing in an unused conference room that was supposed to be for storage. April’s eyes darted away from Leo, and Mikey crossed his arms over his chest.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Leo said. “But, what are you guys talking about?”

While April continued to stare at the opposite wall, Mikey answered for the both of them. “April just wanted to talk about Raph. She’s- we’re concerned about him.”

“Oh.”

“I mean,” April spoke up, “you’ve seen the way he’s been acting. It’s like nothing even happened! And the way he talks scares me sometimes. I’ve seen denial before but this is ridiculous!”

Leo hummed. “Well, everyone has their own way of grieving. And we can’t force someone to move on before they’re ready.”

April fully turned to face Leo. “I know that! I’ve seen it time and time again. But… this is different. He acts like- like- Donnie’s still here. One time he said he was going to go to his lab and ask for help with a project. And when I went to encourage him to talk to us, he just zoned out the entire time. It was like I wasn’t even there.” Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. “He just ignored me and eventually I gave up and left. Then I saw him hours later as if nothing had happened.”

“Other people have started to notice too,” Mikey added. “I’ve gotten multiple reports from organizers and other leaders that he’s been completely out of it for long stretches of time. A few even said that he was going to try and talk to Donnie about something.”

“Leo, I know you haven’t been here very much lately. God knows you’re probably hit the closest by this. But if we don’t do something to help Raph soon I’m worried he’ll just get worse.”

Suddenly feeling very tired, Leo pulled over an old chair and sat down on it. Mikey wasn’t wrong. He’d been gone from the main base for a while. Too many things just reminded him of Don. So he distanced himself. Doing more and more work that required him to leave the confines of their new base. After the incident, some of Don’s responsibilities had been put on his shoulders. And there was so much he didn’t know how to do. Of course, Don had left guides behind on how to upkeep basic security measures and where to find schematics for his tech. But there was still so much they lost of him. And more than anything Leo just missed his twin brother. He missed being able to bounce off of him and banter with him in a way he couldn’t with anyone else. Most of the rebellion respected him more than they cared about him. Mikey had been so dedicated to his mystic training. And Raph and April were both so integral to running the rebellion that they hardly had time for family anymore. So it had mainly just been him and Don. The disaster twins. Causing chaos and taking names. Don was his last anchor to his old life. And with him gone… nothing was the same anymore. He didn’t have anything from his old life to cling to anymore. And that left him drifting. Without someone to tether him down, he felt like he could just up and vanish at any point. After all, what was the point? He didn’t have any of his old life left. So what was there to fight for?

That’s not true. You do still have something to fight for. Your family is still here. They’re standing right in front of you. And one of them is somewhere out there. In danger. You have to keep fighting for them.

Looking up at April and Mikey, Leo took a deep breath. “What can we do to help him?”

“Well, I suggested that we use Mikey’s mystic powers to help, but he turned that down.”

Mikey sighed. “I don’t think we’re dealing with a mystic issue here. I’ve seen things like this happen in psychology textbooks.”

Leo and April looked at Mikey quizzically.

“What? I read sometimes!”

April snorted. “Okay okay, mr Booksmart. Go on.”

“Thank you. Anyways, the way he’s almost intentionally forgetting details and zoning out is something that’s been observed in patients who’ve undergone some sort of intense trauma. I just don’t know how we can help him.”

“Intense trauma, huh?” April said. “Yeah, that fits alright.”

“So, basically we have nothing that can get him better?” Leo asked, hoping he was wrong.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Mikey nodded. “Unless you guys are holding onto some deep psychological training that I don’t know about.”

Leo scoffed. “Yeah, no.”

The group went silent for a minute.

Eventually, April broke it. “I guess all we can do is be there for him.”

———

Over time, Leo began to notice the behaviors the others were talking about. A few days after their talk, Raph mentioned that Don hasn’t been up-keeping the cameras like he normally does and asked Leo to tell him to get on it. Leo had been so shocked at the time that he just nodded and watched as Raph walked away.

Then a little later on he caught Raph staring at nothing. For hours. He had passed him in the halls gazing at the floor. And when he passed by him again a few hours later, he was in the exact same pose. Leo went up to him and shook his shoulder which seemed to snap him out of it.

Finally, when Raph once again said something about Don not getting his work done, Leo snapped and shouted at him. He doesn’t remember exactly what he said but it wasn’t pleasant. It was something about how Donnie is dead and not coming back. And he can’t just avoid that. He needs to acknowledge it in some way.

What Leo failed to say was that Raph was scaring him. That he wanted to help him but he didn’t know how. That he already lost one brother and he couldn’t bear to lose another. But no matter how much he wished he did, Leo never said that. He just yelled pointless and worthless accusations at him while his eyes became less and less focused. At some point, Leo just shut his mouth mid-sentence. Raph had adopted that same vacant look he’d had in the hallway.

And in that moment Leo knew his brother wasn’t there anymore. So why bother?

———

But it all came to a head one fateful night.

Ever since the whole “yelling thing”, as the entire rebellion had taken to calling it behind his back, Leo had been avoiding Raph like the plague. He intentionally missed missions that he was on, took the long way around the building so he didn’t have to pass his room, and strictly evaded the topic of conversation. Most of the people were too scared to ask him about what happened. But to be honest, he was scared of telling them. How do you explain to someone that you screamed at your brother because you were concerned? Thankfully, everyone was too intimidated by Leo’s large stature to ask.

This went about as well as he could hope for until he was assigned to the same mission as Raph. There was no getting out of it. It was a serious mission that needed as many heavy hitters as they could get.

When they were preparing to head out, Leo did everything he could to not make eye contact with Raph. But for some reason, Raph wasn’t doing the same. In fact, he didn’t seem to be avoiding him at all. He was acting like nothing happened.

“Hey, Leo, could you pass me my gloves?”

“What?”

“My gloves. You know, the ones right next to you?”

“Oh. Yeah sure, Raph.”

The whole team seemed to go silent at the words. Everyone stared as Leo casually tossed over the pair of black gloves. Internally, Leo cringed at the attention. Instead, he tried to focus on something else, anything else. And that’s when he saw it. Raph’s hands were bleeding. From the brief glimpse he got of them it looked like they were cracked and torn from dryness.

Without thinking, Leo stood up and walked over to him. Raph seemed confused until Leo pulled off his gloves. And it was so much worse than he thought. There seemed to be patches of skin peeling back and blood seeped out from the open wounds. Looking closer at the rest of him, the same thing seemed to be happening on his face and arms as well.

“Raph,” Leo said, voice slightly shaky. “How long have you been like this?”

Raph sighed and grabbed his gloves back. Putting them on, he said “A few days now. It isn’t that bad. I’m fine. The mission is more important.”

And in that moment Leo completely forgot about everything that happened between them. All he could think about was the what-ifs. What if Raph is sick? What if it’s irreversible? What if it’s too late?

So, having made up his mind, Leo dragged Raph to the makeshift infirmary they had set up not too far from there. Raph protested the whole way saying that he was strong enough to handle it and that they needed him on the mission.

Leo ignored all of it until they got to their medic station. He called over some of the others who worked there and sat Raph down on a large cot. He quickly got to work checking him over.

The silence that filled the air was stifling.

After some questions and quick checks for symptoms, Leo and the other medics quickly concluded that he had a virus. This specific strain developed after the apocalypse and they only found out how to cure it through lots of trial and error.

“Alright, Raph. Lucky for us the fix isn’t too hard. You will need to stay home from the mission though.”

Raph groaned. “Ugh, is that really necessary, Leo? I don’t feel sick at all!”

“Yes, Raph. It is.” Leo went on to explain how the virus feeds on the water in its host’s body so all they need to do is dehydrate him for a while. Just long enough to kill it. “Like I said, the fix is pretty easy. But it needs to happen now or there could be serious consequences. So there’s no use in arg-“

“Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Fine. I’ll do it. You guys go on the mission. I’ll just be here. Not drinking water.”

“And staying close to a heat source,” Leo added. “But… you aren’t gonna fight me on this?”

“Nope. There’s no point. You’re stubborn like me. No way you’d let me change your mind.”

“Oh. Well. Okay then. The others can help you and check on you periodically.”

The other medics nodded. A few ran off to grab heaters and blankets.

“Alright then,” Leo said, still a little shocked that Raph listened to him after so long of ignoring him. “I’ll update you when we get back. Trust me, I’ll fill you in on every single detail. It’ll be just like you were there!”

“I bet,” Raph said, a small smile on his face.

Leo left the room and went back to his team. They had waited for him before heading out and one of them had even gotten Mikey to help fill Raph’s spot on the team. After quickly reassuring Mikey and the others that Raph was fine, they headed out.

(“I just wish I hadn’t trusted him to stay on his own.”)

Chapter Text

It was in the heat of battle that Leo got the message.

A frantic communication came through from the home medics. He almost ignored it, thinking that it probably wasn’t more important than the fight he was currently in. Thankfully, the last of the kraang bots went down easy. So, he was able to check his comm. Pulling it up, Leo stared wide-eyed at the two words on the screen.

“Raph’s gone.”

Leo wanted to message them back immediately, but he thought better of it at the last second. Them receiving the message was already a massive risk since the Kraang have been known to track them through the signals. So sending another message would just double the risk they were already in.

But still. If his brother was missing, then he had to find him. He couldn’t lose a brother. Not again.

The Kraang facility they were currently in had a lot of different rooms. A brief look around showed a mostly empty one nearby.

“Everyone!” Leo called out to his team. “Regroup and follow me!”

Some fell into line pretty quickly, while others helped the injured limp forward. Leo himself supported a couple of others and spotted Mikey a short distance away doing the same.

Once they all made it into the room, they sealed and covered the door. Leo assigned some of the rebels to various roles in giving medical attention and counting how many people they’d lost. While they did that, he pulled Mikey aside.

“I got a message from the home medics.”

“What? Did something happen?”

“They said Raph’s gone.”

Mikey frowned. His eyes started to glow in what Leo recognized as his mystic power. “I’ll try and search for him.”

Leo nodded, but after a second of thought, he realized something. “Hey, Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I know where he might have gone.”

Mikey’s response was cut off by a large explosion that shook the whole building. Rebels looked up in alarm and cries of fear were heard throughout the group. Another loud noise was heard, followed by a slightly quieter one, until everything went quiet. Whispers filled the room as everyone tried to figure out what had happened. So far they had only taken out some security Kraang and a couple of strays. Nothing that should’ve caused any alarm and certainly nothing that would cause an explosion of thatsize.

Mikey immediately began shouting out commands. He charged some of the leaders with staying behind and watching the group while others were to find a way to get them out safely. This mission had required stealth for the main part of it and that was out the window. So their best option right now was retreat.

Once everyone got moving, Mikey looked at Leo and he nodded, understanding what they were going to do immediately.

Leo opened a portal to the other side of the door and the two took off running down the twisted hallways of the facility. The sounds of battle picked up the farther in they got. The constant crashes and shouts were worrying, but the worst was when they stopped. All went silent as Leo and Mikey skidded to a stop just outside of a massive storage room. The wide bay doors were open and darkness seemed to envelop the large space.

Instinctively, the two flared their ninpo to light up the area. For a brief moment, a shadowy figure appeared and then disappeared in front of them. They both flinched back, each reaching for their weapons. Mikey growled in frustration and shot flaming chains out into the room filling the space with an orange glow. It was faint but it would have to do.

Leo charged into the room, blades at the ready. Mikey was just behind him, no doubt flaming with anger.

Now that he was inside, Leo could more clearly see what they were dealing with. The room was multiple stories high and stretched forward for hundreds of yards. Every wall was smothered in pink Kraang flesh, and various Kraang bots and Kraang-ified people were standing at the edges of the walls.

While at first Leo expected a fight from them, he was shocked to find they didn’t react to him and his brother’s presence. Instead, their eyes were transfixed onto the floors, almost as if they were sleeping. With their eyes open.

Freaky, Leo shuddered.

Scanning his surroundings, Leo focused intently on finding what- or who-  caused those noises. He was so focused, in fact, he barely heard the small shifting noise above him. He had hardly registered it when he saw a massive shadow on the floor move. Mikey cried out in pain and the world went dark. Literally. The chains around him that were previously lighting up the room suddenly vanished. Now in the pitch black, Leo tried to find what had gotten to Mike but soon enough something struck the back of his head and he blacked out.

———

Waking up was a process. Not only did he have to fight the usual grogginess that Leo associated with mornings, but he also had to battle the pounding headache in the back of his skull. Groaning in pain, he lifted his head and looked around.

Shock jolted him fully awake as he took in where he was. They were still in that building they had been running through. But why?

All he remembers is finding the large room, running in, then waking up. He went to run his hand over his face but found his movement was blocked by a heavy chain wrapped around his wrist. Moving his other arm he found that it was also chained. Panic started to set in until he heard a shuffle beside him. Just to his left, also chained to the wall, was Mikey. But he was in much worse shape.

While Leo still had that stinging pain on the back of his head, he could tell it was probably just going to bruise. Mikey on the other hand was really roughed up. Cuts and gashes ranged all over his body with massive bruises starting to form around them. His lip was split and blood slowly dripped out of his mouth. And while Leo was only chained on his wrists, Mikey was chained around his wrists, ankles, and neck. He didn’t even have any mobility. He was stuck directly to the wall and floor.

“Mikey? Mike?!” Leo whispered, trying not to alert anyone who could possibly be nearby to the fact that he was awake. Unfortunately, it was in vain. As he tried to call out for his brother, he saw the hulking form of Kraang step over towards them. Whipping his head over to look at him, he let out an involuntary growl and thrashed in his binds.

The Kraang just tutted at the display and tilted its… head? upper neck? at Leo. “Oh, you simple creature. Struggling will get you nowhere. Besides. I assume you wouldn’t want to leave.”

Huffing in frustration, Leo slammed his hands onto the ground and yelled “Oh, yeah?! And why is that?!”

The Kraang just gave that infuriating smile. The one that said “I know more than you do”. Turning and walking away, the Kraang called out “Because I have something you want.”

Already tired of these games, Leo decided to ignore the alien in favor of checking over his brother again. “C’mon, Mikey. You gotta wake up. I can’t take this guy on alone.”

The Kraang kept talking but Leo just kept ignoring him. Apparently, it’s pretty easy to get under their skin that way because it was only a few seconds later that the monster roared in annoyance. “QUIT IGNORING ME, PEST!” He stomped over to Leo and grabbed his face, forcing him to look at him. Leo simply jerked his head sideways and bit down into the Kraang’s arm. It pulled away from him, hissing in pain. But the victory was minor as it went for his arm this time around.

Leo inhaled sharply as its tendrils dug into the flesh of his right arm. He bit his lip hard to not give it the satisfaction of crying out. Desperately, he called out for his little brother again. “Mikey! Mikey, please tell me you’re at least alive!”

He was cut off by the Kraang ripping out of his arm, slicing through muscle and tendon as it went. Leo could feel blood running down his chin from how hard he was biting down.

“Well, then…” the Kraang trailed off as it spoke, his eyes catching on something a few feet away. Using the little remaining strength Leo had, he lifted his head towards what he was seeing.

“RAPH!” Just across from him was Raph. He was covered in Kraang tendrils that held him in a kneeling position with his head down. Blood still fell from cracks in his skin and his eyes were wide open.

The Kraang’s smile returned tenfold. “As I was saying, little pest, I have something you want. If I recall correctly, this is your brother, isn’t it?”

“Let him go, you bastard!”

Raph showed no signs of hearing them. It was like he was unconscious. Completely dead to the world.

The Kraang simply laughed. “If that is what you wish.” Leo’s stomach dropped at the way he said the words. The pink tendrils that had been holding his older brother captive fell away and Raph dropped to the ground. Someone screamed. It might’ve been him. He renewed his efforts to break free and yanked viciously at the chains around his wrists. Raph hadn’t moved since he collapsed and there was no telling what the virus or the Kraang had done to him.

Suddenly, the bonds fell away of their own accord. Wasting no time, Leo ran to Mikey and undid his restraints. He managed to undo all of them, but before he could wake Mikey up a large Kraang arm wrapped around his torso and yanked him backward.

Expecting it to be the Kraang, Leo summoned his katanas and swung around, ready to impale whoever had grabbed him. But he stopped when he saw the face of his attacker. Raph. In shock, he dropped his swords and was flung to the ground, landing awkwardly on his side. He felt something give in his shoulder. Clutching tightly to his arm, he looked up at Raph who was now standing tall above him. Pink flesh squirmed around his face and torso. The tendrils lined his limbs and sunk beneath the skin in multiple parts. His eyes were the wrong color too. One was a sickly yellow and the other a vibrant pink. His missing arm was replaced by Kraang flesh.

“Raph?” Leo whispered. “Is that you?”

He gave no response as he raised his Kraang arm to attack. Leo regained his wits and dodged just as the limb came down where he had just been. Rolling to a stop a few feet away, Leo stood and recalled his weapons once more. Raph was quick to aim another blow. This time Leo blocked it with the blades of his swords. The two clashed, metal against flesh, yet somehow the flesh was winning. The tendrils wrapped around the hilts of his weapons and ripped them from his grasp. Raph tossed them aside, uncaring. Leo swallowed and fell into a defensive stance.

“Come on, Raph. You gotta wake up.”

As Leo and Raph fought, the Kraang watched from afar. “Oh, yes, pest. Call out for your brother. I’m sure he’s listening. The only problem is that he can’t do anything. His body belongs to the Kraang now.”

Leo jumped away from another powerful strike. The end of Raph’s new Kraang arm barely grazed Leo’s hurt arm and he flinched back. Kraang seemed to take note of this. “My my. Is the pest injured? Red one, pin him down.”

Raph followed the command and soon enough Leo was slammed into the ground. Tendrils pinned him down and he couldn’t move at all. He called his swords but the tendrils began to crush his wrists to the point that he couldn’t keep a grip on them. They clattered to the ground.

“Raph,” Leo called as pain shot up his arms, “you have to fight him!”

As Leo struggled, the Kraang laughed. “Oh, pest. Haven’t you figured it out? It can’t. It is completely under my control. It was remarkably easy thanks to that little virus that had weakened it for me. Oh, what a sight it was to see one of my biggest annoyances come limping through my door practically asking me to take control of it. And who am I to refuse such an opportunity?” Kraang chuckled in amusement. It slithered over to the brothers and loomed over them. “Now, red one. How about you take care of that little injury your brother has?” His gaze turned to Leo. “I’m sorry, pest. I’m afraid we’ll have to amputate.”

“What?” Leo was confused until he saw Raph grab one of Leo’s swords. “Wait! No! Raph stop!” Raph didn’t listen. Everything slowed down as the blade lingered above Raph’s head. For a moment, Raph froze and shut his eyes tightly. They opened and they were back to their original color. “Raph!” Leo called out.

“Leo…” he wheezed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Raph, please. You have to fight it!”

“I can’t. He’s too strong. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you before. I love you.”

Impatient as ever, Kraang sighed. He grabbed ahold of Raph’s head and pushed more tendrils through his skull. The unnatural colors returned to his eyes and all emotion left his face.

“No…” Leo said breathily as the katana swung down.

He didn’t feel the pain at first. The only thing he noticed in those initial moments was that his shoulder could move freely again. There wasn’t anything holding it down. What he did feel was the blood splatter across his face and he saw it on Raph’s.

The Kraang just laughed cruelly. “Now I see the family resemblance. Red one, kill the orange one.”

“No!” Leo screamed. He tried to turn on his side and get up but there was no arm there to hold himself up with. He fell and hit his head on the ground. The world blurred and to his side, he could see his severed arm on the floor. Blood covered the entire upper half of it and Leo felt his stomach churn at the sight. Then he looked down at the stump on his shoulder where it used to be attached and he vomited. The stench of the bile mixed with the blood only made the problem worse. Once he stopped he again tried to sit up. After some struggle, he managed to succeed. Kraang had left the room which left behind just Leo, Raph, and… MIKEY!

Leo quickly grabbed the blood-covered katana and charged at Raph who was currently posed to bash in Mikey’s head. He cried out as he stabbed through the Kraang arm. Raph let out an alien-sounding screech and turned to face Leo. Mikey, of course, chose that moment to groan and open his eyes. He blinked and glanced at the scene in front of him before his eyes snapped open and he scrambled to his feet. “LEO?! RAPH?! What happening?! What happened to your arm?!”

“Took you long enough, little bro.” Leo felt the world start to tilt as he lost his balance. Mikey rushed and caught him before he hit the ground. Raph roared and pulled the sword out of his arm and threw it across the room. Mikey was fast and started making a break for the door, pulling Leo along with him. It was best that he drag him as the room began to spin in Leo’s eyes. Pain slowly but forcefully crept across Leo’s upper body, agony branching out from where his arm used to be. Tears blurred his vision and the blood made Mikey’s grip on him slippery.

They managed to stumble out into the hallway with Raph hot on their heels. Raph let out another unnatural scream as he chased them through the winding corridors. Leo was fading in and out of reality. The warm lull of sleep tried its best to pull him away from the pain and fear. Mikey noticed this and transferred some of his mystic power into Leo to jolt him awake again.

Eventually, the trio burst through a wall and tumbled into the outdoors. They rolled to a stop in a barren field of rock and dirt that was next to the building. Leo recalls throwing up again. He could feel his senses starting to shut down as he lay on the ground next to Mikey. Raph had fallen a few steps away from them and was currently face down in the dirt. Mikey took this opportunity to use his mystic chains to hold Raph down. Raph growled at them but otherwise didn’t make much of an effort to move.

“Okay, Leo,” Mikey said soothingly. “You’re gonna be fine. Raph’s gonna be fine. We’re all gonna be fine! We’re gonna go home, fix you up, get that pink stuff off of Raph, and everything’s gonna be fine!” Leo wasn’t sure whether he was convincing Leo or himself at this point.

“Of course, pest. Listen to the orange one. It’ll all be fine.” The small moment of peace shattered as the voice of Kraang rang out through the area. “I see that my little experiment didn’t kill you two. Oh well. I suppose the fun couldn’t last.”

“Shut up!” Mikey screamed. He summoned forth dozens of flaming chains and flung them at Kraang. The alien simply grabbed them and cast them aside. “Tsk tsk. You’re getting sloppy in your anger. Now, watch how a master does it.” Kraang then shot out multiple tendrils knocking the chains off of Raph and sending Mikey flying back. “If it can’t be of use to me then I’ll just have to do what I did with the last one. Kill it.”

“No!” Mikey yelled.

“No?” The Kraang said as if he were entertaining a child. “And how are you going to stop me? Red one, come here.”

Raph stood and walked over to the Kraang, kneeling at its feet.

“I won’t let you!” Mikey said. Hundreds more chains burst forth from the ground and aimed directly at Kraang.

Kraang sidestepped them and instead launched himself across the field. Leo tried to follow them but struggled to even move. All he could tell was that Raph had followed Mikey and Kraang.

The trio fought and moved around the field eventually landing back where they started. Mikey looked incredibly tired and Raph was once again kneeling.

“Now then,” Kraang said. “As fun as this has been I really must be going. Red one, terminate yourself.”

Leo’s vision was fading, but he could hear the sounds of Mikey’s screams. He could feel the vibrations of Raph’s body hitting the ground. He could hear the laughter from the Kraang.

Everything faded away and Leo finally succumbed to the warmth of unconsciousness. His body felt like it was numb. Like there wasn’t any sense of feeling, good or bad. Just pure, blissful nothingness.

And because Leo has never been allowed to keep anything good in his life, he was quickly ripped out of it by a surge of mystic energy pulsing through him. The pain in his shoulder returned with a vengeance.

At first, he thought that Mikey had used his energy to wake him up again, but after a second of feeling it course through his veins, he realized that this wasn’t the gentle, orange glow of Mikey. This was the bright, red flare of Raph.

And that could only mean one thing.

Leo snapped his eyes open and sat up from where he was laying on the ground. His stomach lurched at the sudden movement but he ignored it in favor of focusing on his little brother who was just across from him. There was no sign of the Kraang anywhere, presumably he had done his job and fled. But just past Mikey was a beaten and broken figure.

Leo dragged himself over to where the two were. Mikey had both of his hands on Raph’s torso in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding from multiple different wounds. An orange glow emanated from them as he used the mystic healing powers he had been practicing for the length of the war. But they were doing nothing.

Using his years of experience in the medic tent, Leo was able to quickly realize that this was a lost cause. There were simply too many shattered parts of his shell and bones. Too many exposed muscles and tendons. Too many scratches and tears in the skin.

Mikey hiccuped and sobbed as he continued his losing battle of keeping their older brother alive. But then Leo put his hand on his shoulder and Mikey turned to look at him. “Mike, it’s over.”

“No…” Mikey whispered. “NO!” He screamed, fury bleeding into his voice. He went back to trying to save Raph who was completely gone now. Leo could feel the mystic energy surging through the air. Touching Mikey felt like touching the sun now.

“Mikey! You need to stop! He’s gone!” Leo tried to yell over the rush of wind swirling around them. Fires started around them as the world seem to be set ablaze.

“No! Not when I can still save him!”

“But you can’t! He’s gone!”

“No… he’s… NOT!”

“Mikey!” And with that Leo pulled him away from Raph. He crushed him in a tight one-armed hug. The edges of his vision went fuzzy but he ignored that in hopes of calming his brother down.

Mikey finally released the power he was gathering and the flames went out. He sunk into Leo’s hold and tears and sobs began to flow freely. Leo tried not to hiss as Mikey wrapped his arms around him. Together, the two sat there. Mikey stopped crying a while ago but neither of them had the energy to move. Mikey had expended so much of his mystic power that he was too drained to even move a muscle. And Leo was pretty sure that the blood loss from his arm was preventing him from doing the same.

When help finally arrived in the form of their teammates finding them, Leo was almost entirely unconscious. He hardly registered the group of people swarming around him. And when they picked him up to take him back to the base he fully went under.

Chapter Text

“Raphael died an honorable death in battle. He went down as he lived, fighting the Kraang and saving lives.”

It felt weird having a random organizer give the announcement that Raph was dead. But there wasn’t anyone better who could. Mikey had strained his mystic powers to the point of sheer and utter exhaustion, April was on the other side of the state, and Leo was stuck in bed. He had lost so much blood that it was dangerous for him to even move, never mind give a speech without passing out.

So here he sat, listening to a person he didn’t even remember the name of telling everyone in the rebellion that Raph is dead. His older brother is dead.

The people around him were unusually solemn. April had broken down when she’d heard. Cass had mourned a few days and then went back to running most of the rebel forces.

But Leo… didn’t know what to feel. He didn’t think he even was feeling anything. After losing Donnie, he may have ignored his anger and sadness. But at least he still felt it. He had still gone through the agony of having a loved one ripped away from him.

But now?

It was like his heart had been in shock. Almost as if the pain was going to set in any moment but it never did.

These past weeks had seemingly prepared him for it. He had already lost Raph in the mental sense. It’s only logical that he loses him in the physical as well. His brother’s sanity seemed to be hanging on by a thread and any small thing could have pushed him over.

Mikey seemed to be incredibly broken up over the whole thing. Which Leo supposed was fair.

God, you’re so callous now. That’s your older brother you’re talking about. What happened to giving a shit when someone you loved died?

Leo’s mind wandered away from the guilt he felt at his lack of sorrow and over to how they were going to move forward. Because no matter what they were going to keep moving. Nothing was going to stop them.

While reassigning jobs in his head, Leo came to a startling realization.

I’m the oldest brother now.

It was just him, Mikey, and April left. And Leo was the oldest. There was no more going to Raph for hugs. No more asking his older brother for advice. No more venting to his bigger, stronger brother. Leo was the biggest now. The strongest, at least in the physical sense. He was the oldest. Immediately the pressure started to weigh on him. His chest tightened as thoughts of spending the night with Raph when he couldn’t sleep filled his mind. Raph had always been a very routine sleeper and got up really early. But despite all that, he would still hang out and talk with Leo during his bouts of insomnia. More and more memories of Raph flooded in. Times when he would effortlessly carry him around, when he would be there to take a heavy hit in battle, and yes, even when he lectured him on being a hero.

Then he thought about how it all fell apart near the end.

God, I shouldn’t have yelled at him. I shouldn’t have left him alone. He was so clearly hurting and I just left him.

Leo remained in a depressive state after that. He barely found the motivation to get up in the morning even after he was fully healed.

———

“Oh,” Mikey said under his breath.

Raph just stared wide-eyed. At some point he had grabbed onto Leon and Donnie, holding them close. Leon was returning the hug but Donnie just let him cling.

“But sensei,” Casey said. “I never saw you like that. Were you just hiding it the whole time?”

Leo smiled fondly. “No, kid. I wasn’t hiding it.”

“Then how come you weren’t sad whenever I saw you?”

“Because that all changed the day Cass came home with a very special announcement.”

———

“ATTENTION EVERYONE!!! I am now a mother!”

Leo spit out his water at the sudden declaration from Cass.

“You’re pregnant?!” Mikey yelled from across the room.

“No! Foolish of you to assume any man would be worthy of such an honor!”

April crossed her arms over her chest. “Then, how are you a mother?”

“Simple,” Cass said, a large grin on her face. “I found a child who was strong enough to survive in the rubble for who knows how long. He is suitable to become part of my line.”

“Uh-huh,” April said. “And this has nothing to do with the fact that you love every baby you come across and have always secretly wanted one?”

Cass gasped loudly. “Firstly, no! How dare you insinuate such a thing! I adopted him because he is simply of a higher standard than most babies! Secondly, I told you that in confidence! And I will not take kindly to this betrayal of trust!”

Mikey snickered behind his hand while Leo just stood there stunned.

“Now!” Cass said, turning to leave, “Come and see my son.”

April laughed as she followed Cass out of the room. Leo looked at Mikey who just shrugged and went after the two women.

In the corner of the medical tent, a small baby checkup area had been sectioned off. In the arms of a nurse was a baby boy. He couldn’t have been more than a year old. A mop of black hair sat on his head and he was wrapped in a blue blanket.

Cass walked up to the nurse and held out her arms. The nurse carefully handed the baby over. “He’s in amazing health,” she said. “You said you found him in the rubble?”

“Yes,” Cass responded. “He’s a strong one.”

The nurse laughed lightly at that before going back to her other various duties.

Cass turned to the group and moved the blankets away from the baby’s face to reveal a peaceful and sleepy smile. April and Mikey started cooing and fawning over him immediately while Leo just watched from a distance.

“So what are you going to name him?” Mikey asked, not looking up.

“I’m going to name him after the most powerful warrior I know.”

April raised an eyebrow at that. “Oh yeah? And who’s that?”

Cass smirked with pride. “Me! His name shall be Casey! Casey Jones.”

Leo snorted at that. “Yeah, that tracks.”

Cass just smiled bigger. “Here, Leonardo. Hold him.” She then handed over the baby to Leo.

Leo protested all the way until Cass had adjusted his hold on the baby so he was holding him correctly. He sputtered lightly and tried to give him back until baby Casey opened his eyes and looked up at Leo.

Leo froze as the boy reached a tiny arm up toward his face. Casey made little grabby-hands up at him. Unsure of what to do, Leo looked to Cass for help. She just huffed and grabbed one of Leo’s hands that wasn’t supporting Casey and moved it above the baby. Leo was even more confused until Casey giggled and grabbed one of his fingers. He clutched onto it as tightly as his little baby hands could manage.

The rest of the world fell away. All that was left was Leo, Casey, and a strong feeling of protection growing in Leo’s heart  

No harm will come to you no matter what. As long as I’m here you will be safe. I promise that.

———

“From that moment on, I swore that I would fight for our world. If only so that you would have somewhere to grow up. And just before your mother died… she made me vow to keep you alive. She told me you were everything she had fought for all those years. And that if I let anything bad happen to you she would kick my ass.”

Casey laughed at that last note, his voice a little watery from tears he was holding back. “Yeah, that sounds like mom.”

“That’s… so sweet!” Mikey sniffled a little as he spoke.

Leon and Raph were in a similar state of near-tears. Don lowered his head in memory of his friend. Donnie just sat there, awkwardly patting his twin’s back.

Raph cleared his throat. “Alright guys, we gotta get moving.” He gave one more sniff and turned to continue marching down the tunnel. The others nodded and followed his lead.

“Yeah!” Shouted Mikey. “For Future Raph!”

“I think you mean ‘Raphie’,” Leon said.

“For Uncle Raphie!” Casey cheered.

Everyone else shouted their agreement and soon the turtles and human were back on their route to find their lost brother.

Chapter Text

They reached the location of the signal relatively easily. There was a close call with a construction crew that was working in the sewers, but Donnie and Leo managed to lead the group around them without being spotted. From that point on, Casey was put in front of the group. At least if he got seen they wouldn’t have to explain… that whole situation.

“It’s just not fair,” Casey said. “You guys saved the world. Why would anyone still fear you?”

Donnie glanced up from the screen he was staring at. “Humans are scared of a lot of things that don’t make sense. We just so happen to be one of them. It would probably do you some good to develop at least a little cynicism. The whole ‘I have faith in humanity’ thing is great when you’re saving the entire world from an alien invasion but not so practical in the day-to-day.”

Casey deflated slightly at Donnie’s words and continued trudging forward.

“Hey, leave the guy alone.” Leon’s words were defensive. “Not like he had a great role model to begin with.” But his tone was almost accusatory.

Leo actually turned to face Leon at that. “Wow, that was… unusually cold.”

“Was it?” Leon asked, a puzzled yet innocent expression on his face.

“Origin of the signal, dead ahead!” Donnie shouted back at them.

“We are so talking about that when we get home,” Leo whispered to Leon.

“Alright, Dad,” Leon mumbled.

Walking out of the sewer tunnels and into a large, multi-story room that was quite similar to their lair, the group collectively winced at the sudden burst of daylight. The roof of the place was under construction and was currently only made up of a thin, clear tarp. Just beyond the tarp was a large building. The first few floors were completed but, like many places post-invasion, the top of it was only half finished.

“According to my tech,” Donnie said, “the readings are coming from somewhere up there.” He pointed upwards at the building.

Mikey groaned at that. “Looks like we’re gonna need to use our cloaking devices after all. Where in the building does it say he is?”

Donnie hummed. “My calculations are precise but not that precise. All I can tell you is that he’s probably going to appear somewhere up there.”

“Great,” Leon sighed. “Alright, guys. Plan time.”

The group huddled up into a circle. Immediately, Raph, Leo, and Leon all started to speak.

“I think-“  “We need to-“  “Here’s what-“

The three all froze and stared at each other. There was an awkward silence as they tried to figure out who was going to come up with the plan through the sheer power of intense eye contact.

Leon was first to speak. “Dad made me leader so I should give the plan. Trust me, it’s a really good one too.” The shit-eating grin on his face said otherwise.

Raph laughed at that. “We’re supposed to be co-leading. Remember that? Working together? Sharing the load? Any of this ringing a bell?”

Completely ignoring Raph’s comment, Leo said “Well technically he made me the leader too. And I’m older than both of you combined so…”

Leon snorted. “Just cause you’re super old doesn’t mean you get to make the plan.”

“Leon,” Raph said, tone teasing, “you should respect your elders. We can hear him out then totally ignore him like we do with Dad.”

“Ooh, that sounds like a plan!” Leon and Raph high-fived.

Leo just rolled his eyes. “Seriously, I can’t believe I was ever this disrespectful.”

Don, who had up until this point been simply observing the chaos of three leaders fighting for top spot, decided to interject at that moment. “Uh, Leo, I seem to recall you behaving exactly the same way in the future. Remember the Brooklyn Incident?”

Leo pointed accusingly at Don. “THAT WAS NOT MY FAULT AND YOU KNOW IT!”

Don raised an eyebrow. “Sure…”

“I didn’t ask for them to throw that flaming car at us!”

“True. But I distinctly remember a certain elder of yours saying that they would. And you didn’t listen.”

“That is so not fair.”

“Oh, dear Nardo. All is fair in the game of callouts.”

The bickering continued for a while until eventually, Mikey chimed in. “Hey, guys? We have a plan.”

“You… you do?” Raph asked.

Donnie smirked. “While you all were arguing, we,” he gestured to himself, Mikey, and Casey, “were actually getting some work done.”

There was silence as Leo, Leon, and Raph stared slightly slack-jawed. Don huffed a laugh at the sight of the three leaders all suddenly quiet. “Well then, smaller me. Any of you three care to share?”

Smiling, Mikey began to explain. “Alright. The building up there is made up of different office spaces. Each floor is dedicated to different companies so the odds of everyone who works there recognizing each other are slim. This is how we get past undetected.”

“Right,” Donnie jumped in. “We will use our cloaking devices and try to blend in as another group of coworkers. As long as we keep moving and act natural no one should suspect a thing.”

Casey nodded and said “Now here’s the tricky bit. Donnie only has a few devices that can track the signals so we’ll have to split up into three different teams. Each team will have one person with a locator. You’ll need to thoroughly search your level without drawing attention.”

“You will need to be subtle,” Donnie said, glancing at Leon, “Do you think you can handle that?”

Leon just rolled his eyes and mumbled something about hypocrisy.

Donnie grabbed his locators and handed them out. “Here, Raph. You and Leo are a team.”

“Sounds good to me,” Raph replied.

“And this one’s for me,” Donnie said while putting his on his wrist. “Casey and I are a team. And the final one is for Don. You’ll be teamed up with Mikey and Leon. Apologies in advance.”

Leon hissed like he’d been burned and Mikey just quietly said “Hey.”

Don laughed and accepted the locator. He put it on and stepped back with his two teammates. His face twisted into a grimace after it clicked into place but he fought the rising nausea down and swallowed harshly.

“Okay, team. We ready to go?” Leo asked.

Everyone nodded in response.

“Good.” Turning to Raph, Leo smiled and said “Let’s do this, Mad Dogs!”

Chapter Text

Raphie had felt bad about lying to Leo. But there wasn’t much he could do about it now.

Grabbing his gear and slipping away from the medics had been easy enough. He’s a trained ninja after all. The hard part was getting past the multiple groups of soldiers who would instantly know he wasn’t supposed to be there.

He moved through the halls as swiftly and quietly as possible. There were a couple of times when he almost ran into some people, but he was quick enough to evade them. Normally he would be able to get out of there in minutes. But because of this stupid virus or whatever Leo called it, he was slower and weaker. He broke into a sweat from just running around for a little bit.

A small part of him, the same part that felt bad for lying, was saying he shouldn’t be doing this. It was saying he should just go back and rest. Focus on getting better.

But the larger more overwhelming part of him was screaming at him that his brothers were going to go into battle without him. They were going on a very dangerous mission and he wouldn’t be able to help them if something went wrong. So, despite his better judgment, Raphie continued onwards.

Don would probably side with me on this. He gets what I’m going through.

HE’S DEAD HE’S DEAD HE DIED YOU COULDN’T SAVE HIM YOU COULDN’T DO ANYTHING HE WAS TORTURED HE WAS BROKEN HE WAS SHATTERED BEYOND REPAIR WHY DIDN’T YOU SAVE HIM WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP IT?!?!

The voice screeched inside his head. It wasn’t usually this loud. It was always a quiet and almost subtle force in the back of his mind. But this time it shot to the forefront of his mind and made its presence known.

Your brother is dead and it’s your fault. Yet you still refuse to acknowledge it.

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!” Raphie grit out through his clenched teeth. His hands flew to the sides of his head as if they could block out something that was coming from the inside. “He’s not dead. He isn’t. He can’t be.”

The voice cackled, a cruel laugh echoing through his mind before it once again went silent. Taking some deep breaths, Raphie forged onward to the outside world. He was able to recall exactly where the team was heading from their previous meeting discussing it.

———

When he finally reached the facility, Raphie didn’t waste time sneaking in. He went straight up to the wall and blasted his way inside. The entire building shook with the force of the blow. Normally, he might’ve worried about the whole thing coming down on him, but he was just too tired to be bothered.

Walking through the rubble, he marched into the building. Some Kraang robots were there to stop him but he quickly managed to destroy them and keep moving. He ran down one of the nearby hallways, following the random twists and turns that presented themselves to him.

After a minute or so of searching, Raphie had to stop for a moment to breathe. He leaned against a nearby wall and took heavy breaths. His entire body felt like it was going to break down any second. Every wheeze he made burned his lungs, his skin was cracked and bleeding, and his pulse was faster than he could ever remember it being.

Fatigue started to overcome him as he leaned more and more into the wall. The urge to slide down onto the ground and just fall asleep was so strong he had to force himself back up into a standing position lest he gives into the desire.

Can’t stop now. Have to save my brothers.

———

Raphie had pushed onward for a few more minutes before another fight inevitably found him. All things considered, he would say he held his own relatively well. Explosions shook the walls and punches shattered the ground. At first, he was winning. There seemed to only be some low-level robots left to guard this place. But as time went on more and more advanced machines and Kraang creatures came to stop him. Raphie used his mystic arm to sweep a dozen Kraang-possessed people out of the room and into a ditch. Some drones tried flying and shooting at him from above, but he was quick enough to stop them. But in the process of throwing them across the hall another force stepped into play.

Apparently, Kraang himself had heard about the little scuffle he had been causing and came over personally to put an end to it. Raphie growled at the alien and charged at him full force. But the battle had worn hard on him and he was slower, weaker.

Kraang laughed at him as he attempted a punch. The alien caught his arm and lifted him up. He slammed him into the ground and Raphie’s world spun as he was rag-dolled across the room. Everything started to fade away. There was a muffled voice speaking to him as consciousness slowly left him. Raphie tried to discern what it was saying but he was too out of it.

———

“Ah, you’re waking up. Finally.”

“W-what?” Raphie groaned and looked up around at where he was. He barely managed to register the large storage room they were in before the Kraang pulled his head down to face the ground. Growling, he tried to break free of the tentacles holding him. But his arm felt like it was made of rubber and his mind was slowly turning to mush with every passing second. Even as he shifted he could feel how disgusting his skin was.

Okay. Maybe I should have stayed home.

“Tsk. Struggling? In your sorry state? I wouldn’t recommend it. Not only are you stuck in my grasp, but you’re infected with… something. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s been very helpful in delivering you to me.” The Kraang’s smile was audible through his voice. If Raphie could look up right now he’s sure he would see it stretching across his face. “Now. Let’s see what delightful information you have for me.”

“No…”

Kraang laughed. “Oh, you poor creature. You don’t have a choice.”

Raphie screamed as tendrils invaded his mind. He could feel his memories being picked through. He could tell which ones were given more attention than others. He could feel the distaste that the Kraang had for him and his family. Every time one of them came up, disgust would emanate from him in waves. Eventually, after it had sifted through most of his life, it pushed further to the back of his mind. A very broken and cracked place that was normally covered by darkness and neglect. But now it had been thrust into the spotlight. A critical eye was turned towards it as Raphie couldn’t fight back.

Kraang seemed confused at first. Images and beliefs flashed around as he went deeper. Once he reached the bottom, he reached out and took in every little detail.

All was quiet for a while until…

A laugh. A pitying, cold, condescending laugh.

“Oh, this is rich,” Kraang said, chuckling to himself. “You’re denying the very reality you live in.”

Raphie froze up. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course, you don’t. Your mind won’t let you. Seems as if you’ve blocked this little fact out.”

“Shut up.”

“Ah, yes. The Hamato brothers. You and three others. Each of them younger than you.”

“I said shut up.”

“You were the oldest so naturally you took charge and led them through battle. I can relate to that.”

“Stop it!”

“Leonardo and Michelangelo, I recognize those two. But… this third one. Donatello, is it?”

“Stop!!!”

“He was a particularly big thorn in my side. Especially with all his little toys.”

“Get out of my head!”

“But he was always the weakest, wasn’t he? Sure, Michelangelo was younger, but you feared more for Donatello’s safety than his. That soft shell of his certainly didn’t help him near the end.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about! Don is one of the strongest people I know! He can kick your ass in a heartbeat!”

“Well, he could. He can’t now.”

“Yes, he can!”

“I’m afraid he’s dead, you stupid little worm.”

“…”

“What? Got nothing to say to that?”

“… no, he’s not.”

“Fascinating. Even when presented with the truth you still deny it. Of course, he’s dead. I killed him myself.”

“No!!!” Raphie yelled as they suddenly moved away from his mind. Flashes of memories that weren’t his own were pushed into his head. Images of Don on his knees, restrained by the Kraang. Much like Raphie is now. Don’s battle shell was gone and blood poured from multiple wounds. His face was one of agony. Tears were freely falling down his face. Raphie’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces. His little brother. Dying. Tortured by that evil alien.

No, it’s not true. He tried to cover his eyes. But it was no use because the images were in his head and his arm was stuck in place.

You knew that you would have to accept it someday. If only it had been somewhere safe. Somewhere with your family there to help you. Instead, you let your grief blind you and ignored it until the enemy got its hands on it.

“My brother. My brother’s dead. He’s dead. God. Why?”

Kraang smiled in satisfaction. “Yes. He died in pain. Panicking until the very end. Knowing that no one was there to save him.”

Why didn’t I save him?

Tendrils swirled through his mind and slowly began to take over.

Why wasn’t I there?

More and more of him faded away.

He needed me. He was hurting. And I couldn’t save him.

Soon all that was left in his mind was Kraang.

Chapter Text

“See you guys on the other side,” Raph said as he stepped out of the cramped elevator. After the doors closed behind him, he took a moment to process his surroundings. The design of this level was entirely open floor. Dozens of large tables filled the floor with very little separating them in terms of walls or dividers. Small groups were sitting at each table. All of them were dressed in formal business attire. He put his hand on his cloaking device to silently assure himself that it was still there. On a logical level, he knew that if Donnie made it then it would work. But a small part of him still felt a little freaked out by being so close to all these humans. Leo, on the other hand, didn’t seem that weirded out at all. He was just walking forward, eyes focused on the locator they’d been given as if they weren’t surrounded by people who would totally freak out if they knew what they were.

“Leo?” He whispered, trying desperately not to draw attention to them.

“Yeah?” Leo said not even glancing up from the steady readings on the locator.

“How are you so calm?”

“A leader has to be calm at all times. You never know when something might go wrong and a level head is all you need to overcome adversity.”

“That felt… rehearsed?”

Leo stopped in his tracks. He sighed and put his hand on his head. “That’s because it was. I’m sorry. I’ve been answering questions like that for so long that I’ve just stopped putting effort into what I say.” He chuckled lightly. Turning to look at Raph, he said “Why do you ask?”

Raph glanced around them nervously. “Because we’re surrounded by humans and you’re just… so… I don’t know… CALM?!”

A couple of nearby workers glanced up at the sudden volume change. Leo just smiled and waved them off and they went back to walking. “Let’s just say that being a leader in an honest to god apocalypse can force you to overcome some of your self-doubt.”

Raph nodded and took a deep breath. Attempting a casual smile, he stood a little straighter and walked a little more confidently. Even though he still felt like curling up into a ball, he kept moving. Over the years of leading, he learned how to keep his emotions close to his chest. But in those moments he has his little brothers there to give him a reason. He had to stay focused for their sake. But now they weren’t there. At least, his versions weren’t.

Raph couldn’t lie, he probably wouldn’t ever get used to Leo being older than him. And wiser. Mainly the wiser part.

The two continued their trek around the tables. Occasionally they would get a curious glance from one of the workers but they mostly went unnoticed. After completing as many sweeps of the level as they dared, the two radioed in that they hadn’t found anything.

“Hopefully the others will have better luck,” Leo grumbled.

———

Donnie and Casey got off the elevator on their designated floor. Casey glanced around. Apparently, this level was dedicated to an accounting business. And judging by the rows upon rows of beige cubicles, that was correct.

Glancing at his partner, he saw that Donnie’s eyes were once again glued to the screen on his wrist. He didn’t seem to look up very often which probably wasn’t good for his spine.

Casey followed the disguised turtle through the building and around the cubicles. Donnie’s broach depicted him as a man in a business suit. A perfectly normal person to find in this environment. Yet he still seemed a little shifty. He probably sensed all of the eyes on him and was very determinedly not looking back. Casey’s broach had simply changed his attire from armor to a button-up and slacks. And even that small change made him uncomfortable. So he couldn’t imagine how Donnie was feeling right now. His best bet was probably to distract him.

“So, Donnie,” Casey said not quite sure how to strike up a conversation with no prompting.

“Yes?” Donnie answered back. Quick and to the point. This probably wasn’t going to go well.

“How have you been?” Casey cringed at the awkwardness of the statement.

“Very well, thank you.” He didn’t even look up.

“That’s… that’s good, I guess.” Glancing around he tried to come up with something, anything, to say. “Do you think Uncle Raphie’s gonna attack us like Uncle Don did?”

Donnie tensed.

Whoops. Definitely not the best topic to chat about during a mission.

Thankfully, Donnie recovered fairly quickly. Without missing a step, he said “I suppose it’s a possibility. Although, you were the one who knew him. So I suppose I should be asking you that.”

“Right. Right. I’m sorry that was weird of me to ask.” Casey rubbed his neck sheepishly.

“On the contrary, it is an important question. We must consider whether or not he’ll choose to go with us peacefully. If anything I would have liked to ask Leo or Don that.”

Casey hummed. He was grateful that Donnie didn’t seem too on edge anymore. Instead, he appeared to be more himself than he was earlier. At least that’s what Casey thinks. It’s still a little hard to tell under the human disguise he currently wore. “Getting any readings on that thing?”

Donnie mumbled out something that sounded like a no.

Casey sighed and went back to looking around. He smiled and waved at a group of workers standing near a snack table and they simply returned the gesture without even noticing he wasn’t meant to be there. Then he and Donnie turned a corner into a hallway where they were out of sight.

“What are you doing?” Donnie asked. He seemed a little panicked.

“Just being friendly. We need to blend in, right?”

“Yes, but...” Donnie took a deep breath. “Try to avoid communication with the humans.”

“But why? They’re just people. It’s not like they want to hurt us.”

“You.”

“What?”

“They don’t want to hurt you. Me, however? If they knew what I truly look like they probably wouldn’t hesitate to…” Donnie paused as he searched for words, “I don’t know but it probably wouldn’t be good.”

Casey narrowed his eyes. “You don’t know that. Most people aren’t like that!”

“Huff. In my experience they usually are.”

“That’s because your experience is just fighting criminals and yokai who want you dead for reasons other than your appearance. Trust me. In my timeline, humans don’t care if you’re a mutant turtle or a human. As long as you weren’t Kraang, you were just like everyone else.”

“I suppose after years of war most people would drop any prejudice they may feel against others. But last I checked that didn’t happen in this timeline.”

“Maybe not. But these are still the same people. Plus you saw the positivity online after we saved the world. Everyone was just happy to be alive. They didn’t care that their heroes were teenage mutant ninja turtles!”

Donnie’s expression dropped into one of fond annoyance. “I can’t believe that is the name we’re sticking with. What was wrong with Mad Dogs?” He shook his head. “In any case, I understand where you’re coming from. But we should still probably avoid contact with the people working here. Just in case.”

Casey smiled. “Yeah, sounds good.” Looking at the locator on Donnie’s wrist he frowned at the lack of activity. “Still haven’t gotten anything?”

Following Casey’s gaze to his wrist, Donnie realized what he meant and held it up to get a better look. “Unfortunately not. Perhaps another scan of the floor is in order?”

“Sure. Race you to the elevator!”

“I would advise against-“ but Casey was already gone and Donnie was left in the dust to catch up.

Chapter Text

“No. No. No. Ehhhh, no. Ooh, absolutely not. Oh wow no.”

“Leoooon,” Mikey whined. “Stop changing your appearance! Donnie said using our cloaking tech too much could break it!”

Leon didn’t turn from the elevator mirror he was currently standing in front of when he answered. “Hey, it’s not my fault that none of these settings actually look good.” He changed his device to a particularly outrageous-looking outfit. “Ha! And Donnie thinks he’s the stylish twin.”

Mikey and Don shared a glance. He had been adjusting his look the entire elevator ride up. And Mikey was worried that every time the doors opened to let someone out that he would be seen. So far he’d managed to avoid any prying eyes but it was still a bit risky. Mikey adjusted the buttons on his shirt. He and Don had both gone with business casual like everyone else they’d seen so far.

“Ya know, this one’s not bad.” Leon gave himself an approving look in the mirror. The outfit was tan slacks and a blue polo. Not exactly the business look he needed.

Mikey was about to protest the lack of formality in the design he’d chosen, but Don put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

“Just leave it, Mikey. We should be glad he chose one.”

Leon did and undid the buttons at the top of his shirt. “I can hear you guys mumbling over there.” He turned to face them, a grin on his human-disguised face. “Let me guess. You’re jealous of my swag.”

Don rolled his eyes. “You call that swag? You look like an old man about to enter a golf tournament at his country club.”

Mikey snickered at the comment. Leon just scoffed and turned back to face his reflection. Thankfully for everyone’s sanity, he stuck with his current look.

The doors to the elevator opened at the uppermost floor. Don was the first one out and cringed as he took in his surroundings. Leon followed him and laughed as he did the same. Finally, Mikey was the last one out and was greeted with the sight of an entire floor of casually dressed workers. Most of the humans on the floor were wearing plain T-shirts and jeans. Heck, he even saw someone in sweatpants. Mikey self-consciously tugged at his formal shirt.

Leon’s face read clear as day: “I was right.”

Before any bragging could take place, however, Don pulled up his locator and began following it around, scanning everything he could. Mikey did his best to keep his head down and let Don take the lead, but Leon kept winking and greeting people as they walked and it was hard to keep a low profile. Eventually, when he went to wave at some random person Mikey smacked his hand down and gave him his best glare. Leon sadly didn’t back down from the challenge and glared right back all while raising his other hand to try and wave again. Mikey knocked that one down too. The worker who had just been trying to be friendly awkwardly scooted away from the two as they play-fought in the middle of the walkway while Don kept on moving, seemingly oblivious.

The fight slowly evolved into wrestle-walking as Mikey tried to pin down Leon’s arms and Leon tried to get Mikey in a headlock. It was brought to an abrupt halt when Don who was a few feet ahead growled in frustration and tapped frustratedly at the screen of the locator. Fearing he was annoyed with their behavior, the two quickly separated and acted as if nothing had happened. But that didn’t seem to be the case when Don took a sharp left into an empty office and sat down on a chair. He pulled out some small tools and began tinkering with the tech he had been given.

“Careful, Don. Donnie doesn’t like it when you mess with his stuff,” Leon pointed out.

“I know,” Don huffed still messing with said stuff. “He’s me, of course I know that.”

Leon looked unsure. He stared off to the side as he said, “True, but you haven’t ever been on the receiving end of his- er, your rage.”

Mikey nodded. “He’s right. It’s scary.”

“Please,” Don said, “I’m not exactly scared of mini-me. I’ve lived through a war. Or at least part of one.” His eyes got distant near the end of his sentence. The careful movements of his hands across the delicate inner workings of the locator turned sloppy as his hands shook. However, he didn’t seem to notice until it was too late. The small, screwdriver-like tool in his hand scraped loudly and quickly across some of the more fragile pieces. “Damn it!”

Two workers that were passing by stopped at Don’s exclamation. “Are you guys okay?” one of them asked.

Mikey smiled and frantically waved them away. The humans just shrugged and kept moving. The second they were out of earshot, he ran over to Don and whispered “Please tell me you didn’t break it! We kinda need that!” He put his hands on Don’s shoulders and shook them for emphasis.

Don just stared at his shaking hands. His breathing was unsteady and his eyes didn’t seem fully focused.

“Don? Don Tron? You in there?” Leon called out from behind Mikey.

Don didn’t respond, instead just whispering something under his breath. Leaning in, Mikey could faintly make out what he was saying. “I died. They took me and I died. They’re going to kill me.”

“Uh, Leon? What do we do?”

Leon made sure that no one was nearby before responding. “How should I know? You’re Dr. Feelings! Psychologize him!”

Don had his hands on his knees and his head was hanging low. Mikey tried to think back on some of the psych lectures he’d watched online. None of them were very clear on what to do in this sort of situation.

“They’re coming back. It’s so cold. I miss my brothers.”

“I think he’s having a flashback,” Mikey said more confidently than he felt. “Don, Donnie, can you hear me? You’re safe. We’re here. No one’s going to hurt you.”

“Everything hurts. My shell, my skin, my head. My head. My head. GET OUT OF MY HEAD.” He screamed far too loudly. His hands flew up to his head and he clutched it tightly. Small hisses of pain came with each breath he took.

“Leon, make sure no one comes in here! We need privacy.”

Leon nodded and turned around just in time to stop some concerned workers from crowding in. He was saying something about them needing space, but Mikey tuned it out.

“Donnie, you’re not back there. I think… I think you’re having a flashback. What you’re seeing isn’t real!”

Don didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, he continued talking to himself. Mikey, now convinced he was entirely in over his head, started trying some breathing exercises and asking Don to follow along with him.

How the hell do you help a war veteran through a flashback where they die at the end?

Eventually, when Don seemed to have worn himself out, he looked up and saw Mikey there. He shakily followed the motions of breathing deeply, holding it, and slowly breathing out.

Once they were both satisfied with his state, Don sighed and looked away. He almost seemed embarrassed. “Sorry, Mikey,” he said not making eye contact. “I got lost in my mind for a minute.”

Immediately, Mikey stopped that train of thought. “You have nothing to be sorry about,” he said firmly. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah,” Don whispered, not convinced but still trying.

“We good, hermanos?” Leon asked, leaving his post at the doorway.

Mikey glanced at Don warily. The older turtle just nodded before standing up and stretching. Leon and Mikey shared an unsure look as Don picked up the locator again.

The screen was glitching out too much to make anything out. But the sudden shrill sound of an alarm was unmistakable.

Suddenly on high alert, the three crowded around the broken tech.

“Can you make anything out?” Mikey asked.

“No,” Don answered. “But! If I remember correctly, it should…” he paused dramatically as he walked over to the door. The beeping got louder as he did. “get louder as you get closer!” He finished.

“Alright, let’s go!” Leon called already moving out of the office. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m excited to meet this Raphie I’ve heard so much about.”

Don smiled weakly. “Yeah. It’ll be nice to see him again.”

Trailing behind Leon, Mikey called back, “Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go get him!”

Chapter Text

There was a bright, yellow light shining directly into his face and then darkness.

Raphie felt… weird. Like every inch of his body should be in pain and yet he wasn’t. It was that strange, anticipatory feeling that might happen just before a punch to the face. Where any moment now agony was going to start ripping through you, but it never did.

Eventually, the sensation subsided and he was able to feel his body again. His arms and legs felt stiff, and his head gave the indication of an oncoming headache. Slowly but surely movement came back to him as well. He opened his eyes just barely, squinting against the blackness of the dark place he found himself in.

Echoes of a scream bounced around his mind, and he wasn’t sure whether it was his or someone else’s.

His first instinct was to push it all down. To shove it all aside and decidedly not deal with it. But then he remembered. And oh God did he remember.

He remembered Leo coming back to headquarters with a limp and a horrible message. He remembered Mikey breaking down as he felt Don die.

He saw every time he blocked out someone’s words. He saw all of his lost memories. He saw Leo yelling at him.

He saw…

He saw.

Everything is wrong. His little brother is dead. Donatello is dead. His nerdy, purple brother, the one who always has a piece of tech for every situation, who always has a sarcastic comment to rival Leo’s, who would burn himself out by working on his machines for too long trying to get them just right, is gone. And he’s not coming back.

He’s gone and you knew. You knew this whole time. How could you not with everyone constantly reminding you, screaming at you, about it? So you took the safe route. The road least painful. After all, you had a rebellion to lead. So you broke off a part of yourself. You dedicated it to the suffering, the agony, the pain you couldn’t seem to handle. And you ignored it. For as long as you could, you ignored it. Until a force that was much too strong to be ignored made you face it. Made you look your grief in the eyes and stay there even if it broke you. Admit it. A part of you died the second you heard what had happened.

That damned voice broke through the walls of Raphie’s mind. It permeated his entire being, breaking the silence he had found himself in. Using his newfound mobility, he clutched his head with one remaining arm. He curled up on the scratchy ground he didn’t remember laying down on. Too weak to do anything more, he sat there as the voice in his head berated him and tore him down. More and more of his lost memories surfaced and joined the rest of his consciousness. All of the worried glances from his family, the comments from the soldiers, and the time he spent pretending everything was fine.

Everything was so, so loud. And he just wanted it to stop. Why won’t it stop? Just make it stop!

———

Donnie stepped out of the elevator, Casey, Leo, and Raph close behind him, just in time to get barreled over by a disguised Leon.

“Donnie!” He yelled with delight, a wide smile on his face. “We got an alert!”

Donnie shoved his twin’s face out of his. “Personal space, Nardo. Where is it coming from?”

“Um… about that?” He said sheepishly.

Fearing the worst, Donnie turned to Mikey and Don who were fussing over their locator. “What happened?” He asked.

Mikey grimaced at the question.

Stepping closer, Donnie saw that the screen was completely broken and some parts were out of place. It was almost like someone had taken it apart and tried putting it back together. Donnie felt his eye twitch. “Leon,” he said quietly, carefully, calmly even. “What did you do?” He turned around to the incredulous face of the red-eared slider.

“Donnie!” He said, hand over his mouth in shock. “How could you just assume it was me? Your own brother! Your own twin!”

Donnie stalked closer as he spoke. “Because I know you. What did you do to my baby?”

“Donnie…” Mikey tried to speak up.

“Not now, Angelo,” Donnie hissed. His eyes narrowed dangerously at Leon.

“It wasn’t-,” Leon looked at Don’s still shaken face. “It wasn’t intentional. Th-this time, at least.” He chuckled nervously as now Donnie was the one to get in his face.

“Oh, yeah?” Donnie asked. “Then why did you do it?”

“It was my fault, mini-me.”

Donnie stood up straight in shock and turned to look at Don. Confused, he asked “You?”

“Me,” Don answered.

Donnie spluttered, “B-but… why?! You of all people should know how to handle-“

“It doesn’t matter, Donnie,” Mikey cut in, putting himself between the two turtles. “Because you have another one, right?”

“And we have one too!” Leo joined in, holding up his and Raph’s locator.

“See?” Mikey said. “We aren’t exactly hurting for them!”

Donnie paused for a second, processing what Mikey said. “I suppose you’re right. But I’m still confused. How did this happen?” He looked closer at the damaged locator. It wasn’t in as bad a shape as he had initially thought. The audio indicator still functioned after all. It could probably be easily fixed with the proper tools.

An awkward pause filled the room. Casey Jones was the one who took it upon himself to break it. “Uh, guys? We should probably keep looking for Uncle Raphie.”

The tension snapped as everyone started moving and talking.

“Ohmigosh, how did we forget that?!” Mikey nearly yelled.

“Right, right, right!” Leon said.

Donnie and Leo synced their locators with the new level, Leon and Mikey kept chattering about what was probably nonsense, and Raph and Leo started gathering the group. Amidst all of the chaos, however, Don managed to pull Casey aside for a second. “Thanks, kid,” Don said.

Casey smiled at him, “I got you, Uncle Don.” And he gave him a quick hug before rejoining the group, leaving Don to stand frozen. Then slowly he melted and a small smile broke out across his face.

I don’t know how, but Leo did a good job with that one.

“Alright, everyone,” Raph called out. “Let’s move!”

Chapter Text

“Sensei?” Casey called out into the dark and empty room. “Uncle Leo?”

No response.

“Where are you?” Uncle Michelangelo had asked Casey to find Leo a little bit ago but he wasn’t in any of his usual spots. He’d checked the meeting table, the armory, and now his bedroom. Yet, there wasn’t a trace of him.

Taking off in a run down the halls, his legs were still too small to get anywhere very quickly, Casey kept moving through their newest base. Only a week ago, the Kraang had found where they were and sent a massive army to try and kill them. Thankfully, most of them made it. But Casey was old enough to recognize what happened to those that hadn’t. He saw the faces of those around him. He knew what that sadness meant. There used to be four other kids his age, now there were three. There used to be a lady who would watch over them, but she was gone now. There used to be an old guy who would roam the halls for hours, just walking and occasionally talking to some people. He would smile at Casey whenever he passed by. He had such a kind smile. But that was gone now too.

Some of the adults had tried to tell him that they were just at another base. And that may have worked with the younger kids. But Casey was a big kid now. He didn’t need them to tell him made-up stuff. He and the adults just nodded and looked sad for a little bit. Because there was work to do. And you can’t get it done while being sad.

Speaking of work, Casey continued his dutiful search for his recently appointed sensei. Knocking on random doors, he asked people if they had seen Master Leo anywhere. Most of them just looked confused and shook their head. Casey would thank them and move on.

He had almost given up when he heard faint sniffles coming from his left. There was a door there that Casey had never been through before. Apparently, it was really important. But so was Casey’s mission, so through the door he went.

The room was dark, only lit by candles that lined the walls. There was a shrine set up on the far wall with red and purple cloths draped across it. And at the foot of the shrine sat Casey’s mission: Sensei Leonardo.

He looked very small as he knelt at the shrine, facing away from Casey. His shoulders were hunched and his head was bowed. Almost like he was praying.

Light from the hallway spilled into the room and cast a sharp glow across the once-dim room. Leo looked up when he saw the light hit the wall he was facing. And when Leo turned around to look at who had entered, Casey saw that his cheeks were wet with tears.

“Casey? What are you doing here?” Leo tried to wipe the tears from his face but the effort was futile as new ones quickly fell in their place.

“Uncle Mikey told me to find you. Are you crying?” Casey carefully stepped into the room, slowly inching closer to the older man.

Leo shook his head, but his eyes betrayed him. They were dull and gray instead of their normal black.

Not quite sure what to do, Casey rushed forward and gave Leo a big hug. Leo quietly returned it. The two sat there for a minute, basking in the warmth of the embrace. Eventually, when Leo’s breathing evened out some, Casey pulled away and looked up at him.

“Come on, Master Leonardo. Uncle Mikey’s waiting for us.”

Leo just nodded and let Casey lead him down the halls.

Casey’s mind was racing as the two walked. He thought about all the adults he had thought didn’t cry. He had figured that once you were older you didn’t get as sad anymore. Maybe that’s not true. Maybe you were just as sad, but you knew how to hide it. You cried where no one could see you. And then when you were done you came out and got to work. Casey wasn’t dumb. He knew what the red and purple cloth was for. Apparently, Leo and Mikey used to have two other turtle brothers. But they were gone now. Just like the girl who used to be in the nursery with him and the lady who would help watch them and the man who walked the halls. They were all gone. And nothing could bring them back.

Soon enough, they made it to the west entrance. It was a small one. Only a single door and one lone guard to watch it. The guard nodded at Leo and unlocked the door for them as they passed by. Stepping out into the impromptu training yard, they were greeted by the sight of Michelangelo, Master of the Mystic Arts. Or, as Casey knew him, Uncle Mikey.

“Hey, kid,” Mikey called out. “You finally found him?”

Casey smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “It took a long time, but I found him!”

Leo huffed. “I’m not that hard to find.”

Casey looked up at him skeptically. Mikey raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, well, it’s not like I was trying to hide!”

Casey giggled at Leo’s exasperated tone while Mikey just sighed.

“So, where were you, Mr. Not-that-hard-to-find?”

Leo’s eyes dimmed a little and an uncomfortable silence filled the air.

Casey, being the master of saying what adults are so afraid of saying, said, “He was in that dark room with the candles and the shrine.”

“I see,” Mikey said, his voice suddenly a lot sadder and a lot more knowing. “Hey, Casey? How about you show Leo that kata I taught you earlier? I’m sure he’d love to see the progress you’ve been making.”

Excited at the idea of showing off, Casey ran to an open part of the yard and got into a fighting stance. He began moving through the motions while Leo and Mikey watched from a distance.

“So,” Leo started awkwardly. “You taught him a kata without me? I thought I was supposed to be the sensei.” He chuckled, dry and humorless.

“Leo,” Mikey said in a warning tone. “You can’t just ignore this.”

“Ignore what?”

“You were in the shrine room again. It’s been years. You need to move on.”

Leo tensed up. He kept his gaze trained on Casey as the kid hit each position with surprising accuracy for someone his age. “They’re our brothers. We can’t just forget them.”

“I’m not saying to forget them. I’m saying live your life. Keep them in your heart but move forward. Grieving can only last for so long before it starts to weigh you down. And with the life we live, you can’t afford to carry any extra weight. Not with the fate of the world at stake.” Mikey spoke about the world, but his eyes were also only looking at Casey.

Casey finished his demonstration and turned to the two turtles to see what they thought. Leo and Mikey both cheered and praised his technique.

“See that, Sensei? I’m gonna get so good at fighting! Those stupid Kraang won’t stand a chance!”

Leo and Mikey grimaced slightly at his words but kept up their cheery attitudes nonetheless. “Yeah, kid,” Leo said. “You’re gonna kick some alien butt.”

Casey grinned and went back to his spot to practice throwing some random punches.

Mikey sighed. “Look out, world. Here comes Casey Jones Jr.”

“He’s right, you know,” Leo said. “With the amount of spirit he’s got, those aliens really don’t stand a chance.”

“Yeah,” Mikey said, still seeming apprehensive. “I just wish he wouldn’t have to. Who knows? Maybe the war will be over before he gets to that age.”

“I’m just glad he’s on our side.”

Mikey laughed at that. Leo patted his little brother on the shell and they watched as Casey tripped over himself while trying to kick an invisible foe. Like a true hero, he got right back up and kept moving.

An ache settled in Leo’s chest at the idea of the kid being a hero. He’s too young for any of this. And yet here he is practicing his moves in the middle of a thrown-together training yard just outside of a functional military base.

This wasn’t the life Casey deserved. It wasn’t the life any of them deserved. Yet here they were, smiling and laughing. Living. Breathing. Alive. So many others didn’t get this opportunity. And there was no way in hell that Leo was going to let it go to waste.

“Hey, kid! Let’s see how you fare against a real target!” Leo jogged over and held his hands up. Casey jumped into his fighting stance and punched at Leo’s open palms. Leo occasionally moved them to create a slightly more challenging experience. All in all, the kid kept up incredibly well.

After a while, Leo saw that Casey was getting tired so he decided a little break was in order. Mikey reclaimed his spot in the yard as Leo and Casey sat down to take a breath.

“You’re doing really good out there, Casey. I’m sure we’ll make a warrior out of you yet.”

“Thanks, Sensei.” Casey watched Mikey do his mystic training with intense focus. Everything was quiet, and Leo took the time to lay back and enjoy the silence. Casey clapped and cheered each time Mikey did a particularly impressive move, but other than that he was still.

Leo felt the calm wash over him, and as it did his walls in his mind began to break. Because calm brings silence. And silence brings empty space. And his mind just loves to fill empty space with whatever it can. Leo thought back to where he was before Casey found him. He thought about what he was doing, why he was there, and what he was thinking about.

God, I miss them.

“Sensei?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“What were they like?”

“What were who like?”

“Your brothers.”

Leo froze.

“You don’t have to tell me, Sensei. But I know why you were at that shrine and I was just wondering… I’m sorry. Never mind.”

“No, it’s alright. You just caught me off guard for a second there. Let’s see. Well, there was my twin brother, Donnie. He was really smart.”

“How smart?”

“Like, super smart! You know all the security drones and cameras and fighter tanks we have?”

“Yeah?”

“He made those.”

Casey’s eyes lit up. “All of them?!”

“All of them.”

“Wow!”

“Yup. He was a genius.”

“But if you’re twins then how come you’re not a genius?”

Leo gasped. “Excuse me! I am plenty smart, young man.”

“Yeah, but did you make a bunch of really cool tech?”

Leo snorted. “You got me there, kid.”

Casey smirked with pride. “So, he was smart. What else?”

“Well, he really liked purple.”

“… seriously?”

“Yup.”

“He was smart and liked purple. Is that it?”

“He could be a little insufferable at times. Always asking questions, loved being right, pestered me all the time.” Leo stared at Casey very pointedly as he listed off the traits.

Casey rolled his eyes. “I get it. I get it. I won’t ask any more questions… for now.”

“Good. Now, there was also my older brother, Raph. He was very brave. Always threw himself in the line of fire to protect those around him. He used to be the leader of the whole operation even before the invasion. He was very protective of us. Didn’t like throwing people into dangerous situations. Got into a lot of fights with your mom about it.”

“My mom? She liked danger?”

“Liked danger? Kid, she loved the stuff. Couldn’t go two minutes without starting a fight or making a scene. She was very skilled at combat and could keep up with the best even without mystic powers. She was a damn good warrior and a great friend.”

There was a somber note in Casey’s voice when he said, “She sounds awesome. I wish I’d gotten to know her like you did.”

Leo brought him into a tight hug. “I wish you did too. She loved you so much. And she would be so proud of you.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“Thanks, Sensei.” Casey returned the hug, squeezing with all his might.

Releasing him from the hug, Leo stood up and stretched. “How about we head inside and see if we can get some food?”

“Ooh, yes please!”

“Hey, Mike! We’re gonna go eat dinner! Want anything?” Leo called out.

Mikey glanced over. “Thanks, but I’ll be right behind you. You guys go on ahead.”

Leo gave a thumbs up and led Casey through the door towards the kitchen.

Chapter Text

A group of seven humans moved through the halls of the office building. At least, that’s what everyone else saw. As far as any of the workers present knew, they were a weird, rambunctious group chatting about some project they were working on.

In actuality, however, they was only one human. The rest were mutant turtles wearing cloaking devices that made them look human. None of the people in the office were aware of this fact, though. What they were aware of was the loud thudding noise that sounded in a dark, and supposedly empty, corner office. There was silence following it and some coworkers glanced at each other in a silent question of “Did you hear that?”

It was quiet following that and only the people who were brave enough to stand next to the door heard the whispered words that emanated from inside. There seemed to be someone frantically trying to stop something. But what it was remained indecipherable.

———

Donnie followed the locator’s signals as the group trailed behind him. Some of the others talked amongst themselves as he navigated everyone through the surprisingly complex hallways. At first, he had tried to keep them quiet so he could focus and watch his tech, but he’d since remembered who he was talking to and given up.

The only ones who apparently weren’t feeling chatty were Mikey and Don.

Don was shaky. His feet dragged as he walked and he kept rubbing his eyes as if to wipe away something he was seeing. And Mikey hovered next to him, watching out of the corner of his eye. He flinched every time Don so much as wobbled, acting as if he was made of glass and about to shatter at any moment.

Donnie’s observations came to a halt as he froze in the middle of a hallway. Leon, who hadn’t been paying attention, ran face-first into his back and let out a muffled “oof” before stumbling backward.

“Hey,” Leon said rubbing his face. “Why’d you stop?”

“Quiet,” Donnie said. “Mikey, do you feel that?”

Mikey, who had still been staring in concern at Don, finally seemed to notice his surroundings. He glanced around confusedly for a moment. “Feel? What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Donnie looked him directly in the eyes, “do you feel that?”

Mikey’s eyes lit up with understanding. “Oh! No, I didn’t fe- HOLY SHELL WHAT WAS THAT?!” He took a staggering step back. “That was huge!”

Donnie only lightly felt the mystic wave of energy that surged around them, but he knew Mikey was probably the most in tune with their powers out of all of them. So he believed him when he said it was big. Turning back to his locator, Donnie frantically tried to increase the accuracy of its pings.

As he did so, however, a loud crash sounded from not too far away. A few cries of fear came from the same direction.

———

Everyone instinctively summoned or grabbed their weapons and Leo led the charge towards the slowly increasing chaos that only seemed to get louder. Rounding a corner, the group was greeted with the sight of dozens of workers fleeing the area. None of them gave a second glance at the group as they focused on getting to safety. Which was probably for the best.

At the center of the panic stood a single, open door. A red, flaring light pulsed in the darkness of the unlit room it led to. Leo recognized it immediately.

Not wanting to scare his brother, he got rid of his weapon and disengaged his disguise. He then signaled for the others to do the same. Stepping slowly and carefully up to the door, Leo felt everyone stop behind him, clearly wary. He couldn’t blame them for it. The way his own heart raced in his chest would have been worrying if it weren’t for the circumstances. And if anything it was probably for the best that they stayed back. There was no way of telling how he’d react to a bunch of people all at once.

Leo entered the darkness of the office and squinted against the occasional flicker of ninpo coming from the corner. He tried to hold in his gasp as he saw him.

“Raph?” He called out into the silence.

No reply.

“Raphie? You with me, big bro?”

The only answer he got was a small whine of pain.

Creeping ever closer, Leo knelt down next to the figure who lay curled up on the floor.

“Why- of all of the-,” the oldest turtle murmured. “I can’t- he’s- it’s not…”

Leo gently placed a hand on his older brother’s shoulder. “Raph? Hey, can you look at me?” He tried to sound encouraging but the shake in his voice betrayed him.

Raph flinched at the contact and his head shot up to see who was next to him. His eyes were wide and glassy as they stared unseeing into Leo’s. Leo gave a small smile that even he could tell was tense.

“Hey, man,” Leo breathed. “It’s okay. Your safe. It’s me, your brother.”

“Wrong, wrong, wrong,” Raph said his hands raising to clutch his head. He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled his knees to his chest. “Everything is wrong now.”

Something twisted in Leo’s gut. Tentatively, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Suddenly, Raph’s eyes were clear and he looked into Leo’s with a shocking amount of clarity and awareness. He stayed there for a moment.

Leo felt panic tear through him before he calmed himself enough to ask, “Raph? What’s-“

“He’s dead,” the snapping turtle interrupted him sharply.

“What? Who-“ and suddenly Leo understood.

The others outside must have gotten worried as Casey, Leon, and a bleary-eyed Don made their way into the room. Casey and Leon stuck to the walls and out of the way, but Don, seemingly exhausted, clung to the door frame and took in the scene in front of him.

Leo watched as Raph’s eyes widened and he clutched his head even harder.

Not good.

Raph started mumbling to himself again, louder this time. He almost seemed to be chanting with the ferocity of his words. Don took a step into the room. Raph scrambled to stand up and Don instinctively flinched away from him. Leo got up as well and held his hand out placatingly towards Raph in a silent plea.

Raph ignored it.

Chapter Text

Leo saw red. Literally. A bright flare of crimson covered his vision one second, and he was flying across the room the next. His shell hit the wall behind him and he fell down, slumped on the floor. He gritted his teeth and opened his eyes. Casey and Leon each made panicked attempts to stop Raphie but the red turtle was unstoppable like this. Leon got a fist slammed down onto his head. His skull cracked against the nearby wall and was sent stumbling out of the room with the force. Casey received a kick in the chest and dropped to his knees clutching his stomach. There was a loud crunching noise that accompanied it.

Don, still seeming distant, put up his hands to defend himself from any incoming attacks. But Raphie just briefly met his eyes before looking away. Don tilted his head in confusion and backed away slightly.

Leo used his sword as a crutch to stand. Raph swooped in to get Mikey and Casey away from Raphie, and Donnie frantically checked over Leon as the turtle swayed in a daze. Leo locked eyes with Donnie and, even with the years of age difference, read his face perfectly. What do we do?

Leo wished he knew the answer.

Raphie swung at Mikey and Casey again, but Raph deflected the blow and was able to move them out of the way in time.

Come on! Think, think, think! God, this time in the past has made me soft.

Leo’s eyes darted desperately around the room and slowly a plan formed in his mind. “Raph!” He called out. The younger version of his older brother turned to face him from where he was hovering over Mikey and Casey. “Help me hold him down!”  Raph nodded and together the two closed in on Raphie. Despite the fact that they were the two strongest in their group, they were only barely enough to keep him down. Raphie thrashed in their grip and growled in pain. Leo’s hands slipped and he nearly lost control, only barely managing to hold onto his brother. This wasn’t going to work.

“Mikey! Get your chains out and help us keep Raphie still!” The orange turtle nodded and pulled out his nunchucks, wrapping the chain securely around several steel beams. They began to bend almost immediately at Raphie’s strength.

“Leon!” Leo shouted. “Portal us out of here! We need to get away from here!”

Leon straightened at the sound of his name and clutched his head in pain shortly after doing so. “Wuh- portal?”

Donnie’s face got even more concerned. “He can’t. The blow to his head may have caused-“

“I DON’T CARE!” Leo snapped, cutting Donnie off. “We need a portal out of here and we need it now!”

“As I was saying, he can’t! Look at him!”

“What he can and can’t do is irrelevant! It’s for the good of the rebellion!”

Donnie looked ready to say something but Leon put a hand on his shoulder before he did. “‘Nardo?” Donnie whispered. The blue turtle didn’t reply. He simply pulled out his swords and tried waving them in front of the group. Only a few sparks shone at the edge of the blades. He groaned and tried again, eyes clenched shut. This time a small swirl of blue lightning formed but it quickly fizzled out.

The building supports around them started to creak in warning as Raphie pulled the chains around him taut. Before Leo even got a warning out, Mikey realized what was happening and released the chains. The metal beams were bent at odd angles and clearly weren’t stable. Hopefully, the civilians had heard the chaos and evacuated already. Hopefully.

But with the chains gone, Raph and Leo couldn’t hold on any longer. Raphie broke free and immediately ran away. Unfortunately, his chosen path was through a wall that contained one of the last structurally sound supports. When Raphie broke through that wall, the entire place started to collapse. Raphie jumped off the edge and onto the roof of a nearby building. Cries of alarm filled the air as Leo instinctively swiped his own sword and created a portal underneath the whole group.

Everyone tumbled onto the pavement just down the block from where they were. Leo frantically got to his feet and surveyed how far they were. They had landed in an alley nearby. Looking closely, he could see a large, green figure making its way across rooftops. “We can make it!” He said, breaking into a run without even turning back to the group.

He could hear the footsteps of everyone behind him. As he arrived at the end of the alley, however, he realized there were humans walking around. Which wasn’t an odd sight but certainly an inconvenient one. “Disguises up, guys!”

Soon enough, they all had their cloaking devices activated once more. All except for one, that is.

“Come on. Come on,” Leon mumbled as he messed with his device. It was flickering on and off until eventually, it died altogether. “Why?!” He cried. Donnie, now disguised as a human, huffed and stepped over to his twin. He fiddled with the settings until he squinted and opened up the internal mechanisms. Then, as politely as he could manage, asked Leon if he’d messed with the settings a bunch like he told him not to. Leon looked strained as he tried to think back to only a few minutes ago. Mikey sighed and that told Donnie all he needed to know.

“His cloaking device is fried. It’s not going to work unless I fix it with my tools… which I have back at home.”

Leo made an anxious noise. “Alright then. Donnie, you stay here with Leon. Mikey, Casey, and Don, you’re with me.”

Mikey grimaced and looked at Don while he stared blankly at the ground.

Casey just clutched his stomach and quietly said, “I think my ribs are broken,” in a soft, wheezing tone.

Taking in the absolutely damaged state of his team, Leo gave one last look at his disappearing brother in the distance. He swung his sword and a portal back to the lair opened up. “Donnie, Raph, help Casey get to the medbay. Mikey, get Don resting. Me and Leon will meet you guys there in a minute.”

Mikey gently led Don through the portal, and Raph held Casey up while Donnie started to check him over as they followed close behind. The portal closed behind them leaving only the two blue turtles behind.

“Why didn’t you open the portal?”

Leon looked up at Leo. “What?”

Leo clenched his jaw. “I gave you an order, why didn’t you follow it?”

Frustrated, Leon scoffed and said, “I don’t know. I just couldn’t. My head was too foggy and I… I just couldn’t, okay?!”

“Well, that’s not good enough!” Leo whirled around to face Leon and pointed a finger in his face. “People could have died back there because you were too busy thinking about yourself!”

Leon smacked Leo’s hand out of the way. “Yeah, but no one did. It’s not like it’s my fault that I got bashed in the head. Have you ever had Raph punch you full force into a wall?”

Flashbacks to a mission gone wrong went through Leo’s mind and he pushed down the rising emotion in his chest. “Something like that.”

Leon looked confused but brushed it off and stared anywhere but at Leo.

“Listen,” Leo said, voice harsh and almost parental, “you have to stop focusing on yourself and think about the team. If you want to live up to your responsibilities as the leader then you have to start acting like one. You have to be reliable. Otherwise, you end up letting a key get stolen and trigger the end of the world.”

“Oh yeah?” Leon was getting defensive. “Well, at least my world didn’t end! At least my timeline is still here! Unlike someone’s!”

“The only reason you and your family are still alive is because of Mikey and Casey. Without them, your recklessness would have killed everyone you know!”

Silence filled the air and Leon crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“I’m not like that anymore,” he whispered.

“Like what?” Leo asked impatiently.

“How I used to be. Or I guess how we used to be. I’m getting better. I don’t run into situations unprepared or without backup. I try and talk to Raph about plans. It’s hard and I mess up sometimes, but I am trying. I know you think I’m stupid and careless but I’m going to be better. I have to be.” Leon avoided Leo’s gaze like the plague. But even then Leo could still see the tears in the corners of his eyes.

And it was at that moment he realized what he was doing.

“Leon. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have- I didn’t-,”

Leon just rolled his eyes, trying to be dismissive, and summoned his swords. Without much thought, the younger turtle opened a portal to the lair. “Hey, look at that. ‘M not totally useless.” As he started to step through, he looked back. “I’m sorry I messed up your plan. I promise we’ll get Raphie back soon.” And with that, he was gone.

Chapter Text

Those idiots. I can’t believe they went without me.

April stormed through the halls of the turtle lair, angrily huffing to herself the whole way.

Making her way into the main area, she took in her surroundings. There wasn’t a single soul in sight. The worry that she had been pushing down started to surface, and she felt her heart begin to race.

They’re fine. Donnie said they were fine. Injured, but still alive.

“Guys?” She shouted into the empty room. Her voice echoed down the halls and bounced around the entire lair. That had been one of the first perks, and downsides, that they had discovered shortly after moving there. No matter where you were, you could hear someone yell from anywhere in the place.

“Medbay!” Was the echoing response she got back.

April’s chest tightened again, squeezing her heart. She ran down the halls, then she burst through the door to the medical area. Inside was Casey on a cot trying desperately to convince Raph and Donnie that he was fine. Raph tried to calmly tell him that he really shouldn’t be moving, and Donnie was wrapping up the human’s rib cage. When Casey moved a leg to stand up, Donnie intentionally tightened the bandages just a touch. Casey hissed at the pain and, seeing the look on Raph’s face gave up and laid back down on the cot, grumbling.

April walked over to sit at Casey’s side, opposite Raph and Donnie. She put a hand on Casey’s and smiled reassuringly when he met her eyes. He gave a lazy grin back before suddenly relaxing and falling asleep.

Confused and slightly concerned, April looked at Donnie. He simply gestured to the sleep aid pills he had apparently gotten Casey to take.

“There was no way he was going to truly rest on his own,” Donnie stated matter of factly.

April snickered. “Donnie, you are way too comfortable with knocking people out.”

“It is a talent of mine. Now, if you two don’t mind,” he stood and yawned, stretching his arms high above his head before flopping them back down, “I’m going to check on Don and then get some rest myself.”

The purple turtle grabbed his tablet that he had placed on a nearby cart and walked out of the room.

Now all that remained was April, Raph, and a sleeping Casey.

“Raph.”

“Yeah, April?”

“What happened?”

The snapping turtle winced at what April assumed was the memory of their most recent mission. He fumbled over his words for a few seconds, presumably trying to find the best way to describe it.

“If that’s too much, can you just tell me if everyone’s okay?” April asked, hoping Casey was the worst of it.

Raph sighed. “Donnie already mentioned that Don isn’t doing too well. I wasn’t there for it but I think something triggered some sort of flashback thing. I don’t know. Mikey’s always been more in tune with that psychology stuff than me. What I do know is that seeing Raphie made it way worse. He won’t look at any of us and keeps talking about things that aren’t there.”

“Oh wow.” Then April bolted upwards, sitting straight in her chair. “Wait, Raphie? You mean your future counterpart?! He’s here?!” She turned around to look at the doors as if he might suddenly be just outside.

“Uh, not exactly.” Raph rubbed his neck and looked down at the ground. “We kinda lost him.”

April’s mind blue-screened. She swears she could hear the modem dial-up noise play in her head. Taking a deep breath and turning back to Raph, she decided now wasn’t the time to deal with that whole situation. “Alright. How is everyone else?”

“Well, Mikey’s with Don. I think he got out pretty unscathed. Donnie’s had to deal with a lot of crap today, but some rest will do him good.”

“And Leon? Or Leo?”

Raph hesitated. “They’re… I’m not sure. They haven’t come back yet.”

Once again, April’s mental processing stopped. But this time she was going to press. “What do you mean?! Where are they?! Did you get separated?!”

Casey groaned lightly at the rise in volume. April froze. Lowering her voice to only a harsh whisper, she said, “Raph, what is going on?”

The red turtle was about to respond when a bright, blue glow bathed the room. One of Leon’s portals. April breathed a sigh of relief. She stood up from her chair and walked over to where Leon was now stepping into the room. He had a hand on his head and his balance wavered for a second as he found his footing. April instantly was at his side with a hand on his shell to help steady him.

As she led him to a nearby cot, Leo came out of the portal just behind Leon and the electric gateway shut the second he was through. Raph moved to go check on Leon and Leo immediately took his place at Casey’s side.

Despite the fact that he was now seated, Leon continued to sway in place.

“Hey, April,” he said, words slurring together slightly. “Why’s the room spinning?”

Not sure how to respond, April just gave him a look. But then Leon clutched his stomach with one hand and threw the other over his mouth. His body convulsed and April quickly grabbed a nearby waste basket. Just in time, she handed it to him and he hurled into it. Gasping for breath, he coughed and kept heaving.

“Raph!” April called out in alarm.

“Already on it!” He said while running out the doors.

Leon looked up at her and then around the room, dazed. “Where’d he go?”

“Raph’s gonna be right back, Leon.” She rubbed his shoulder soothingly. And once she was convinced he wouldn’t throw up again, she took the basket and tossed it into a large sink. Turning back to her brother, she saw that he was lying down and closing his eyes. “No! Leon! Don’t fall asleep!” She ran over and shook him back awake, trying not to jostle his head.

He whined and clutched his head, curling up in a ball on the cot. “Head hurts. Stomach hurts. Still spinning.”

April glanced nervously at the doors to the medbay. “You might have a concussion. Just stay here, but don’t fall asleep.”

Leon nodded and clenched his jaw tightly.

“Leo, you’re the medic in your timeline too, right?” April asked, not looking away from her shaking brother.

A low grunt was the only reply.

“Could you come over here and help me find out what’s up with him?” She said, trying not to let annoyance creep into her tone.

“Why’s Casey asleep?” Leo asked. There was a slight tremor to his voice. Was he… afraid?

April glanced over her shoulder and saw the older turtle hunched at Casey’s bedside, the human’s wrist in hand.

He’s looking for a pulse, April realized a second later.

“Donnie gave him some medication to help sleep off some of the injuries.” April stepped towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. “He’s fine. Just sleeping.”

Leo nodded, eyes still fixed on Casey.

Giving his shoulder a squeeze, she said “Come on. Help me with Leon.”

Together, the two set up the cot to be more comfortable. They gave Leon blankets and a pillow before hooking him up to an IV. Donnie and Raph ran back into the room. Donnie’s eyes had heavy bags underneath them, and April wished he had just gotten to rest. He immediately began performing some tests and was able to quickly come to the same conclusion that everyone else had.

“He most certainly has a concussion. He can sleep, but he is going to need constant monitoring through the night.” Donnie pulled a chair over and sat down on it. “Everyone else should go to bed as well.”

April was about to tell Donnie that there wasn’t a chance in hell that he was going to be the one to stay up, but she was interrupted before she got the words out.

“Donatello, I will watch him,” Splinter called from behind the group.

Everyone in the room flinched back at his sudden appearance. April let out a huff and shook her head. She forgot that Splints could be a ninja when he really wanted to.

The only one seemingly not taken aback by his spontaneous arrival was Leon. “Dad!” He called out weakly.

Donnie stood up to protest, hands already gesturing wildly.

Splinter just shushed him and started ushering everyone except for the patients out of the room. “The boys will be safe in my care. Purple was right. You should all go to bed.” At the sound of various disagreements, he scooted them out and closed the door behind them. “That was not a request! I am going to count to three!”

And with that threat, the group finally dispersed. April lagged behind and watched through the clear doors of the medbay as Splinter walked over to Leon’s bedside. The blue turtle smiled at his father and Splinter gave him a gentle hug. Then he turned and made eye contact with April, raising an eyebrow as if to ask why she hadn’t gone to bed yet.

Letting out a quiet squeak at getting caught, April zipped out of the hallway and down to the small room she had cordoned off for herself when she stayed over.

She put her hand on the doorknob, then paused. Not far from here was where Don had set up shop. His room was one of the various extra spaces that they had yet to find a use for before people from Casey’s timeline had started appearing.

Curious if Mikey was still with him, she stepped away from her door and walked down the hall. When she arrived at his door, she heard what sounded like harsh whispers emanating from the room. She gave the door a light knock.

“Donnie?” Mikey’s voice called out from inside.

“Not quite. Can I come in?”

“Oh, April! Uh,” There was the sound of some frantic shuffling before Mikey opened the door.

April leaned to the side and glanced around him to see into the room.

Don was thrashing and twisting in his bed, his covers were long abandoned on the floor and his forehead shone with sweat. His eyes were screwed shut, and his mouth was twisted into a painful-looking grimace. Random strings of words fell from his mouth as he twitched and turned on the mattress.

Mikey followed her gaze and his eyes fell as he looked back at her. “He’s been like this pretty much since we got home. Almost right after we got through the portal he started freaking out. I managed to calm him somewhat with my ninpo but…”

“But, what?” April said, tearing her eyes from Don.

Mikey sighed and suddenly his shoulders were much more slumped and his frame seemed so much smaller than it had a second ago. “It’s been a long day, and I used a lot of mystic energy during the mission. And combining that with keeping Don from lashing out…”

April pulled Mikey into a warm hug. The orange turtle sunk into her hold and she felt his exhaustion weighing on both of them. “Go to bed,” she said.

“But, Don…” he started to fight back, but a stern look from her was all he needed to give in and sigh. He thumped his head once, twice against her shoulder before pulling out of the hug and walking past April down the hall. His feet dragged as she watched him turn the corner to where his bedroom was.

Once he was out of sight, she turned back around to face Don. As quietly as possible, she shut the door behind her and took in the situation fully. Tears streaked down his face and he was scratching violently at his arms. Blood was starting to draw and she ran over to sit in the chair where Mikey must have been.

Not entirely sure what she was doing, she went with what her gut told her. And her gut said to reach for the mystic power that she kept on reserve for moments like this. The green flame of power flickered to life at her request and she focused on drawing the energy through her torso to her arms and into her fingertips. The flame didn’t bend easily to her whim but after a moment it was back under her control. It didn’t burn as it surged through her, but she could feel the heat.

Normally this is where she would redirect it into her baseball bat. But now she had a different place in mind.

Gently, her fingers grazed the surface of Don’s bloody forearm. He didn’t seem to notice the touch and she took this as a sign to keep moving. Lightly grasping his arm, he froze before leaning into her.

Now granted the closest thing to permission she could probably get from this scenario, April put more of her effort into increasing the amount of ninpo she shared with Don.

His breathing began to slow ever so slightly. And the tension on his face started to retreat.

Through what must have been instinct, his ninpo reached back for hers, searching for a sign of comfort in whatever hell he was trapped in within his mind. The static buzz of his ninpo intermingled with the fire of hers.

And together they sat, side by side, as Don finally went to sleep. And April, as much as she wanted to stay up and watch over him, soon followed him into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

The blaring of car horns. The shrieks of terrified people. The flashes of cameras. The smell of exhaust. The feeling of blood dripping down his arms.

Was it his blood? Raphie couldn’t be sure. There were memories flitting through his mind. Brief glimpses of a fight, of him hurting people. People that he cared about. But every time he tried to grab ahold of the recollection it would dance just out of reach and he’d be left floundering in the dark.

Every part of him ached, and it seemed like each of his senses were being constantly assaulted. It was strange. He hadn’t felt this way since living in the city.

He had managed to drag himself into a slightly quieter, more secluded area. Feeling around, his hands brushed something soft and plush. Deciding it was good enough for his purposes, he pulled himself over toward it and laid back onto it. The slight give of the material felt wonderful on his shell, and with the silence and dim lighting, he could almost fall asleep.

Almost.

Instead he sat there, awake, mind still swimming with images he didn’t understand. He swears he saw Leo, but there was also a younger Leo? Raphie had heard of seeing double, but that probably wasn’t it. And Casey might’ve been there, and Mikey too.

And…

No.

That wasn’t possible. He was dead. Mikey had seen it, and Raphie sure as hell had felt it.

But, that stupid voice hasn’t said a word since then. And even though he knew that his little brother was gone, a small part of him wanted to believe that somehow, he had found his way back to them.

Just for once, in this godforsaken war, Raphie gave himself a little bit of room to hope. Even as tears pricked his eyes, he allowed the warmth in his heart to creep out into his bones and keep him safe.

And, as if that was the permission his drooping eyes and slowing breath had been waiting for, the world around him faded and he slipped into a much needed sleep.

———

“Leon, I swear on our ancestors, if you don’t get back in your bed right now!” Raph yelled.

Mikey covered his mouth with his hands as he tried to stifle a laugh. Donnie didn’t even glance up from his latest project, and April set down her comic book to look over at the scene. The group was all chilling in Donnie’s lab as he worked, and Leon and Raph had just interrupted their peaceful moment.

“Hey! No swearing on Gram Gram!” Leon retorted. “Just say ‘fuck’ like the rest of us!”

“Leon!” Raph screeched indignantly.

The blue turtle in question had been getting out of his bed a lot lately. And every time he did so, Raph saw fit to chase him down and make him get back in bed. Leon, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care for the idea. He would come up with the lamest reasons to prove why he had to get up.

“Relax, bro,” Leon said while dodging Raph’s grabs expertly, “I just wanted to make sure Mikey wasn’t messing with my comic books again.” There was a momentary glare sent their way as Mikey squeaked in annoyance.

Mikey stood up. “For the last time, Leon, I’m not the one stealing your comic books!”

Leon scoffed and moved away from Raph’s continued attempts to snatch him. “Oh, yeah? Then who is?”

“I don’t know!” Mikey said, “but it isn’t me!”

“Don tron?” Leon said in a sing-song voice. “I know you’re jealous of my collection, but to steal from your own twin? For shame.”

Donnie still didn’t so much as glance up from his work. “Please, Nardo. Skip the theatrics. We all know it was April.”

All eyes turned to April as she flung the book behind the chair she was on and sat in a completely non-tense and totally-casual position. “What? No! How could you possibly think it was me?” She gave an innocent grin.

Raph, who had just managed to catch Leon and was now holding him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, said, “April, we all saw you throw it behind you.”

Mikey nodded in agreement, and Donnie went back to ignoring them.

“Ugh, fine it was me.” She slumped over just slightly.

Leon’s eyes narrowed at her in betrayal. “How could you?”

April crossed her arms and glared back at him. “Hey, it’s not my fault I’m broke. Plus, these latest issues are so hard to come by!”

“Why not have Donnie order you one with the infinite, fake money he has that we take advantage of and don’t question?” Leon asked, still draped over Raph’s shoulder.

April rolled her eyes. “Because this is easier. Now, I’m pretty sure someone is supposed to be in the med bay right now?”

Raph huffed a laugh and started towing Leon out the door toward his forced resting spot. Leon protested half-heartedly the whole time, but he must have worn himself out with the whole chase sequence he had gone through earlier because his words were more mumbled than spoke.

Once the door closed behind them, April grabbed the comic book and flopped back into place on the chair.

Time passed quietly in the lair. Occasionally an small alarm would go off and Donnie would get up to check on his patients in the med bay. But it was obvious he wasn’t built to be the team medic.

When the latest alarm went off and interrupted the turtle’s work again, he looked ready to snap and throw it across the room. But April just got up and stretched. She put a careful and calming hand on his battle shell, just light enough to feel the pressure.

“How about I go check on them this time?” She offered.

The purple turtle let out a shaky breath. But he surprisingly, and worryingly, didn’t put up much of a fight. “Fine. Be sure to double-check their vitals and-“

“And make sure they took their medication,” she finished for him. “I know. I’ve been watching you long enough to get the hang of it.” And with a wink and a step she was out the door.

Her first stop was the med bay. Inside, Leo sat reading by Casey’s bedside while the human slept. He hadn’t left his side once that April could remember. A quick glance at the tray on Casey’s bedside table confirmed that he had taken his medication. And with Leo constantly hovering at his side, occasionally glancing at the vitals, she didn’t feel too worried to check them.

A little further back was Leon’s bed. He sat up, blanket tossed over to the other side, and had his arms crossed as he watched videos on his phone. For all intents and purposes, Leon was about as healthy as he could get. But their family had learned to be cautious in these situations. So, an extra week of bed rest was ordered.

Noticing the tension in the air, April was starting to get a good idea of why Leon was avoiding the medbay so much.

She sat down on his bed and was ready to start a conversation before Leon wordlessly moved to sit side by side with her and rested the phone between them. He was watching one of those over-dramatic baking shows that Mikey loved so much. And one of the contestants had created a particularly egregious bake. The look on the judges’ faces was enough to send April and Leon both into a fit of giggles, earning a quick look from Leo. The two quieted down some, but still whispered scathing comments between themselves as they watched the episode.

When the credits rolled, April realized she should probably continue her rounds.

With a hug and a promise to hang out more later, she exited the med bay and went to see her final patient.

As she approached the door to Don’s room, Raph opened the door and stepped out of it. He carefully shut it behind him before seeing her and giving her a confused look. She explained how Donnie had been getting frustrated at having to constantly check on everyone so she had volunteered to do this one.

Raph’s eyebrows creased in concern and he frowned at the floor in front of him.

“Don’t worry, Raph. He’s strong. And once Leon gets better he won’t have to do nearly as much work.” April gave him a reassuring smile.

Raph sighed and put his hands over his eyes. “I guess. But it feels like it’s getting to be too much, ya know? For me, and for Donnie.”

April wasn’t sure what to say to that. So, like any well adjusted person, she just changed the subject. “How’s Don?”

“Sleeping. He’s actually been out for a while now.” Raph’s frown deepened.

April grabbed his arm and gently started ushering him down the hall, away from Don’s room. “I’m sure that’s just his way of recovering. Now,” she gave him one last push, “you need to go get some rest yourself.”

Raph opened his mouth to argue but April just held up her hand and pointed toward Raph’s room. The red turtle sighed and gave a mocking little salute before trudging off to get some much-needed shut-eye.

After confirming that he had left, April turned around and walked back over to Don’s room. She opted not to knock for the risk of waking him outweighed her guilt at intruding.

The room was dimly lit. And the only sound was the light breathing of Don as he continued sleeping peacefully. It was a welcome change from when she’d last come in here.

Checking that nothing seemed amiss, she took a quick breath. Don’s expression seemed so calm like this. A small, scared part of her almost wanted to check if he still had a pulse. But she shoved that anxiety down. He was alive. The machine next to him said so. No point in disturbing him more than necessary.

But… just to be sure.

She closed her eyes and reached deep into herself. There, like always, was that same green flame. Taking a moment to wrangle it under her control, she used it to reach out. Just lightly brushing along the edges of Don’s ninpo, she felt that telltale static buzz. He was alive for sure. But something seemed… different. Almost like there was another, red and flaring, ninpo alongside it. But the feeling was gone as quickly as it appeared.

Letting her power settle down once more, she headed out of the room. Maybe she could convince Donnie to take a break too.

Chapter Text

Reality slipped like sand through his fingertips.

It shifted at the whim of the winds of his mind.

The ground beneath him sunk under the weight of his soul.

Where in Galileo’s name am I?

Don couldn’t quite make out his surroundings. And every time he tried to, they would morph into something new. There was a vague sense of recognition to the place, but nothing specific. It was familiar in the same way that the various wastelands of the future were familiar. He might not have been there before, but he knew it by heart.

If he concentrated hard enough, he could gain some semblance of a physical form. But that was far too much work, and he did not have the energy to try for much longer than a few seconds.

Settling for the numbness of a nonexistent body, he wandered the long stretches of everything and nothing. And wander he did, for a long while.

Every now and then, he might catch a glimpse of something.

In the distance, if he truly fought for it, he could see swirls of colors, greens and blues and oranges and reds and yellows, and he could hear the faintest sounds of laughter and screams and whispers. But it was too far away for him to do anything about it. Each time he thought to move closer, the colors and sounds would vanish. And he would be left with the phantom feeling of warmth and pain and joy and fear.

While he might have normally found this scenario disturbing, Don didn’t feel anything. There was no rising panic, no instinctual fear, there wasn’t even any curiosity. Just emptiness sitting where his heart should be in his chest.

This continued for a while. Moments would come when the colors and the sounds would return. Each time they did they were slightly different. There would be less blue and more purple, less laughter and more whispering. And then the next time it would be something else.

Don had gotten comfortable in this world. He knew what to expect. And that’s why the first true pang of fear struck him as hard as it did.

It came over him suddenly. It probably wasn’t even that strong, but the sharp contrast from the eternal nothingness shook him to his core. Spinning around, he desperately tried to locate what had caused it. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he settled down again and tentatively returned to his new habit of simply being.

When a sudden flash of confusion burst through him, he decided that he needed to figure out what was happening. He finally had some peace and quiet, and now it was being interrupted. Don would not stand for it!

“Hello?” He called out into the emptiness.

No response.

“Who are you?” Don felt a spike of irritation. So, his emotions were returning. Wonderful. “I would advise against hiding. I can feel you here.”

Colors and sounds materialized in front of him. Bright red and forest green, the sound of a struck match and a flare.

A knot formed in Don’s chest at the sight. And it only tightened when they flickered in and out of existence. Despite his previous experiences with them saying otherwise, he found himself surging forward to meet them, suddenly desperate for them not to go. He couldn’t explain why he reached out to them, he just knew they felt like home.

When he was close enough to touch them, the colors and sounds did something strange. They grew stronger and more vivid. Emboldened by the sight, Don forced himself into a semi-material form and shoved a hand forward to grab onto it. He wasn’t sure why, he only knew that he needed to do something, anything, to stop those colors and sounds from fading.

As he held the brightening senses in his hands, he felt his ninpo begin to activate. At first, it confused him. He hadn’t called on it, and it wasn’t as if his power had a mind of its own. Then he realized it was reaching towards the shifting figure in front of him. Trusting his instincts once more, Don let his ninpo flow forward.

The colors became sharper and sharper, there were tans and blacks and whites joining the red and green. The fizzling sound that reminded Don of a sparkler or a firework shifted into something more organic. It almost sounded like someone hissing. Don pushed further in with his ninpo, curious to find what was with him in this strange unreality.

The image and noise became clearer. The sound was definitely a voice crying out. But the image…

Black eyes snapped into focus. They stared fearfully into Don’s soul for a split second before widening in recognition.

Don froze. He knew those eyes. Those belonged to…

“Raphie?” Don said, voice barely a whisper.

Don’s hands trembled and his ninpo wavered slightly. But when it did, Raphie’s face became blurry again.

“No! Wait, come back!”

Don put all of his strength into pouring his ninpo into Raphie, and at one point, he felt Raphie begin to pour back.

“Yes! Yes, fight it!” Don wanted to cry out of happiness. But he had to finish the job first.

Together, the two combined their power and with one final push from both sides, Raphie came into full view. He fell to a nonexistent floor and took shaky, frantic breaths. Don, now finding himself in a semi-stable body, dropped down next to him and awkwardly hovered while he calmed down.

After Raphie’s breathing had slowed significantly, Don worked up the courage to ask, “Raphie? Are you with me?”

Raphie looked up from where he was staring at the ground. His eyes fixed themselves on Don, and Don felt a prickle of uncertainty at the intense eye contact.

“Uh, Raphael?”

Instead of responding, Raphie reached a hand out towards Don. His expression seemed hesitant, perhaps fearful? Don wasn’t sure. He had never been the best at reading people.

Letting him take the lead, Don let the other turtle put his hand on his shoulder, even if his instincts made him want to flinch away from the touch. Raphie seemed to notice his discomfort as he quickly dropped his hand away from him.

“Don?” Raphie asked in a voice rough from lack of use.

Don felt his heart soar at the first words that he had spoken. “Yes! Raphael, it’s me, it’s Donatello!”

Moving in closer, Don awkwardly hovered near him, heart beating rapidly in his chest. He sat there unsure about what to do until Raphael asked him, “Don, is it alright if I hug you?”

Forgoing an answer, Don jumped forward and tackled his brother in a hug. Raphie let out a startled yell before returning the hug with just as much, if not more, vigor.

“You’re alive,” Don heard Raphie whisper into his shoulder.

Don felt himself melt into his brother’s arms, warmth seeping into his bones. The two sat there for a while until Don felt a tear roll down his cheek. He pulled away and scrubbed it from his face quickly, looking down at the ground.

“Apologies for the waterworks. I had forgotten how good at hugging you were.” Don chuckled to himself, slightly embarrassed.

“Don’t be,” Raphie responded. His voice was choked and hiccuping. Looking up from the floor, Don saw that Raphie’s face had tear tracks streaking across it. He unconsciously scratched his arm.

Not wanting to sit in an uncomfortable silence, Don immediately asked him, “How are you here?”

Raphie seemed taken aback by the question. He straightened up and looked around them, “I’m gonna be honest, Don. I don’t exactly know where here is.”

Don took a brief look around at the fading wastelands they were surrounded by. “Fair enough. I suppose I was hoping you would at least have an idea of what was going on.”

Raphie hummed and nodded. He moved to get comfortable sitting next to Don as the two stared out into the infinite beige abyss. “What’s the last thing you remember? Before this place, obviously.”

Don continued scratching his arm, the pain never fully materializing in his half-physical state. “The last thing I remember is…”

Don’s face pinched in concentration. His eyes darted from side to side as he worked through his memories. “We went on a mission,” he started. “There was something we were looking for, no, someone we were looking for. We split up in groups, then we got back together, and then…”

Don’s eyes widened as the last part of the mission came flooding back. He clutched at his head and shook it as if he could ward off the hurt through that action alone.

Raphie turned to look at him, “And then? Don?” Raphie didn’t put his hand on his shoulder, but he kept it close in a semblance of the same gesture. “What happened?”

In a voice much more small and vulnerable than he would have liked, he answered, “You.”

Raphie leaned back like he’d been slapped. “Me? Did I do something to you? Did I hurt you?!” There was desperation in his voice, a pleading that what he was hearing wasn’t true.

“You hurt Casey and Leon. You gave Leon a concussion and broke Casey’s ribs!”

Raphie tried to ignore his accusatory tone. “No, I would never do that. I would never hurt them!”

Don’s arms shook from where they clutched his head. “But, you did. Why?”

“I-I don’t know! How-how could I? I don’t…” He curled into himself and shut his eyes tight.

“Raphie? Raphael!” Don’s voice raised in alarm.

Raphie’s body had begun to fade away again. In a panic, Don reached for his ninpo and pushed it towards his brother. Raphie reached out with his own in turn and together the two repeated the earlier process of bringing him back to a more stable state of being.

Once the danger was gone, Don went back to sitting beside Raphie, staring into nothing. “What do you remember?”

Raphie grimaced in thought. “The Kraang… killed me.” His voice cracked in the middle of the sentence but he forged on nonetheless. “And then I woke up. I thought I was dead. And I was so scared that I couldn’t think straight. Everything was so loud, and I wanted to see my family again so badly. I remember running. Then being stopped. It felt like the Kraang were tying me up again, so I fought.”

Raphie gave Don a sideways glance, “It wasn’t the Kraang, was it? That was you guys.”

Don sighed. “That was likely Mikey restraining you. I’ll admit, I was a bit out of it near the end, so I cannot tell you for sure. Most of what I remember is hearing what happened to the others.”

“That’s alright,” Raphie said, “Talking about it now, I feel like I’m getting a more clear picture of what happened.”

The world around them continued its gradual shifting, and the two sat there, uncertain as to what they should do.

“Time travel is real.”

Raphie spluttered briefly in confusion before looking at Don like he’d grown a second head. “What did you say?”

Don tried his best not to smirk at how well he’d managed to catch him off guard. “Michelangelo figured out how to create a portal across time and space. It’s how Casey got to the past.”

Raphie huffed. “Plan Z. We had to go through with that, huh?”

“Indeed we did. Apparently, a lot happened while you and I were gone.”

Raphie laughed, it was a short and gruff sound. “Leave it to our brothers to do all the cool stuff when we aren’t there to see it.”

“Precisely what I have been saying!” Don straightened up, waving his hands wildly. “I had such great things planned for when time travel was proven!”

“Yeah, yeah. Lottery numbers for your past self. Real heroic of ya’.”

“Hey!” Don said, tone offended. “I’ll have you know that I was only going to use the money for science!”

“Evil science, more like,” Raphie said under his breath.

“No! Not evil science! Neutral science.”

Raphie gave Don an unimpressed look. “Neutral science? Really?”

Don looked up at the sky, “Well, perhaps there would have been a little bit of evil science.”

Raphie snorted. “Uh-huh.”

“But it would have been balanced out by the occasional bout of good science!”

“In that case, I guess it’s alright,” Raphie said, contentment settling into his voice.

Don was once again struck by how much he had missed his older brother. “I appreciate your support.” A small smile made its way onto his face.

The winds of the weird landscape blew gently across them as they continued in their vigil. A sense of peace overcame Don. It was stronger than he had felt in many years.

Before he even realized it, he asked Raphie, “Is this a dream?”

A thoughtful look passed over his brother’s face. He tapped his finger to his chin. “I guess that makes sense. I mean, wherever we are obviously isn’t real.”

Not wanting to tell his brother that wasn’t quite what he meant, he simply followed up with, “Makes sense.”

“If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up. What if I hurt you guys again?”

Don immediately turned and faced Raphie. “You won’t. I won’t let you.”

“Don,” Raphie had an anguished expression on his face, “you can’t promise that.”

“Yes, I can and I will. I promise you right now that you will not harm any more of us. We are going to wake up from this dream, and then I am going to find you and bring you home.” The determination in his voice surprised even him.

Raphie looked at where his hands sat in his lap. “But, what if-“

“Ah, ah, ah!” Don interrupted him. “None of that talk! You are going to come home with me and we will all get to be a family again.”

Raphie gave in, a gentle smile warming his face. “Alright. A family. Just promise me you will find me as soon as you can? I don’t want to be out in the world too long.”

Don nodded. “I’ll find you, brother.”

“Thanks.”

Looking at Raphie’s figure and then his own hands, Don saw that they were both beginning to fade. This time, however, they let it happen.

The last thing Don recalls before waking up in his bed is the small, but hopeful smile on his brother’s face.