Work Text:
Back to the Past
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It was another quiet morning.
Leo had gotten up, ready to take on the day. He had put on his scarf and mask and then made his way towards the kitchen for breakfast. He wanted to at least have something small to eat before he had his meeting.
It was going to be another slow day of meetings for scavenger raids and planning.
Sure, he was the leader, but just because he was their best strategist didn’t mean his strategies were always the ones to use.
He sat down at the table and let his eyes rove over everyone currently sitting down. He was sitting beside Donnie while Mikey tried his best to make breakfast out of the scraps they had currently gathered together. April was sitting beside Donnie and little Casey had popped himself up beside him.
It was a nice spread.
It wasn’t like how it used to be, but they had to scavenge and leave leftovers for later.
It was the only way to survive in the world now.
The other survivors ate in the main lunchroom while Leo and his family ate together in the kitchen.
He never agreed with this.
He felt it was wrong to eat where all the food was kept and also to segregate themselves from all the other survivors.
He understood that having family time in such a situation was nice, but it still made his stomach turn.
He was the leader.
It felt wrong to eat away from the others even if he had every right to.
Another plate of food was put on the table causing Leo’s attention to lift towards it with surprise.
There was already enough on the table.
Why was his brother adding more?
“Hey Mike, don’t use up all the food we have, leave some food for later, okay,” Leo told his younger brother.
The orange turtle turned, giving Leo a confused expression.
“Leo, we have enough food. Don’t worry about it.”
Mikey nodded in agreement at the voice that had spoken up.
But Leo was frozen.
That voice…
He hadn’t heard that voice in years.
The voice of his older brother.
Why was he hearing Raphael’s voice?
Why…?
August 6th, 2020 - Sewer Tunnels; Turtle’s Lair - 8:18am
“Leo!”
The slider was shaken out of his stupor by his very much alive older brother. Raph was looking down at Leo with large amounts of concern etched onto his face with Mikey, Donnie and April looking at him too from their places at the table.
“Is everything okay, Lee?” Raph asked again, hand resting gently on Leo’s shoulder.
The feeling of his brother’s hand on his shoulder made the slider realise what had just happened.
He took in a deep, shuddering breath and nodded.
“Y…Yea, Raph…”
The snapper gave his brother one final look of concern before nodding, taking his arm away from the slider and returning back to his plate. Leo’s gaze looked down at his own plate that was filled with pancakes.
Unlike the measly meal of leaves and cooked nuts he had before.
“That was so weird. You never ask me to stop cooking, Leo. You actually sounded like an old man for a second there,” Mikey brought up, letting a small laugh escape his beak.
Leo’s eyes widened as he looked around at his family once more before it finally set in.
He stood up from the table and hurried away.
“Was it something I said?” He heard Mikey mutter out as he ran out, hearing the reassurances Raph gave to Mikey as he left.
Leo hurried into his room and slammed his train car door shut, leaning against it. He tried to get his breathing to calm down, but it wouldn’t stop.
He wrapped his arms around himself, staring at the floor with wide, horrified eyes.
This was the first time he had this happen.
He’s gone through so many loops that they’re starting to just blend together.
It feels like he’s just waking up back in the apocalypse sometimes.
He’d forgotten he’d died and restarted.
He honestly didn’t think that at one point due to how many times he’s had this happen to him now that he’d end up hallucinating; believing he’s back there.
There were indeed great times he has had in these loops and then there’s the horrors.
The horrors he has to repeat over and over and over again…
The fact that Mikey had said he had spoken like an old man really cemented to Leo that … he doesn’t know how to speak to his brothers anymore.
Well, his brothers who are teenagers.
His last loop he had died in his mid-thirties, so no wonder Mikey thought that.
He’d been raising Casey Jr and leading a Resistance at the same time.
He didn’t think this would be so hard.
And Casey … every loop he has to see the kid grow up only to die and start all over again.
It hurt that he couldn’t see Junior age past fourteen.
That he had to wait or even that he had to exist in a bad timeline.
The kid didn’t deserve that.
He really is thinking like an old man…
How is he going to stop this?
It’s already getting to the point where he’s probably mentally older than his brothers.
Maybe even his Dad too…
How long does he have to suffer this?
How can he stop the loops?
How can he stop the Kraang?
How…!?
He just wants this suffering to end…
But can he stop what he doesn’t even know what started it?