Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leonardo sighed, checking and double checking the list Draxum had left for them before he’d taken off for his visit to the Cleveland facility. Ideally, their sorta-dad-sorta-not would have been here for this experiment, but nearly ten years into the end of the world, warrior alchemists were in pretty short supply, and his expertise was needed elsewhere. That didn’t mean any of them liked it.

Michelangelo especially wasn’t doing great with having the closest thing they had left to a parent so far away, but he managed. They all did. Splinter may have been gone, but at least they still had their brothers, they still had April and Casey ( both Caseys at that, because of course Cassandra Jones would adopt a dumpster baby just to name it after herself). They still had family, which was more than a lot of people could say these days.

Even if his family included three different flavors of overprotective older brothers, the youngest of which would not stop checking and rechecking his vitals.

“Alright, Mikester, are you sure you’ve got this on your own?”

Michelangelo huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Leooo, you’re babying me again.”

He raised an eyebrow, resting his hand on his hip in a pose that absolutely screamed overworked single mom.

“Mikey, we’re talking about ripping open the fabric of space and time, you need to take this seriously!”

“I am, I am, it’ll be fine! Just a teeny little window, no big deal.”

He sighed.

“And you’re sure you don’t want me to stay with you?”

“You’ll only distract me, and there’s no telling what’ll happen if your ninpo collides with mine. The whole base could explode! Or worse! …I’ll call you if I need to, promise.”

Leonardo sighed and nodded.

“Alright… good luck, Mikey.”

“Thanks, Leo. I can do this, I promise. I know I can.”

Leonardo chuckled and grabbed his cheeks,leaning down and pulling Michelangelo’s head forward so he could bonk foreheads and kiss between his eyes.

“No one believes in you more than me, Little Brother.”

Michelangelo laughed and fixed his hair before shooing him out of the room and sitting back in a meditative pose.

“You can do this, Mikey, you can do this.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his spots glowing as he focused all of his energy on creating a doorway, hardly big enough to stick a hand through. He ignored the way his vision started to swim and his head was pounding, too proud of himself to care.

“Yes! Yes! I did it! Leo, you-”  He turned to his side with a grin before remembering that he was alone. “Oh… right, right, heh. Whoops.”

He laughed all the way to the ground as he went from supporting himself on his hands to laying down, succumbing to the sudden crushing fatigue and passing out on the floor.

A few minutes too late, the portal flickered and petered out behind him.

Leonardo rapped his knuckles against the doorway.

“Hey, Miguel? You good in there? You didn’t come to lunch, so I just wanted to check in on you.”

He waited for a response and frowned, getting none.

“Alright, sorry for the privacy invasion, but I’m gonna pull a big brother.”

He pulled open the curtain to Michelangelo’s room to find him lying face down on the floor with candles still lit all around him. The air still had that warmth and slightly uncomfortable pressure to it that always followed when Michelangelo overdid it with his powers.

“Eugh boy. Hermano, we’ve discussed this, haven’t we? You gotta cool it with the mystic, you’re gonna hurt yourself.”

He moved to scoop his brother up, but stopped, seeing a tiny moving lump underneath his cape.

“What the…”

The lump whined, getting tangled up in the fabric. Leonardo sighed, crossed his fingers, hoping it wasn’t some kind of weird new kraang trap, and used the tip of his sword to pick up the corner of Michelangelo’s cape and toss it over his head.

Well… shit.

“Hey, Mikey, bud? Now would be a really good time for you to wake up and explain why the hell I’m looking at a baby version of myself.”

The tiny Leo blinked, staring up at Leonardo with wet brown eyes that looked almost too big for his face.

“...Papa?”

“Ah, fuck.”

Chapter Text

<<2030>>

Raphael laid on the floor with his chin resting on his hands, watching Casey Jr study the little Leo who refused to come out of his shell. Casey watched Raphael and copied his pose, trying to peek inside Leo’s shell with little luck.

“So you’re telling me you just found him on top of Mikey? And you’re positive this isn’t one of Donnie’s experiments?”

Leonardo huffed, adjusting his glasses. He paused his typing to take a long sip of coffee before responding.

“Believe me, I checked.”

Raphael raised an eyebrow.

“Checked or interrogated?”

“...it’s not Donnie, all that matters. He must have snuck his way through Mike’s portal while he was passed out.”

“So this is actually really tiny you from the past. …That doesn’t make any sense, you never went missing as a baby, Pops would have said something about it.”

“I don’t know, thinking about time travel too hard gives me migraines, let the nerds handle the logistics. I’ll worry about keeping the little twerp alive until we can boot him back to where he belongs.”

“He’s just a baby, be nice to him. Poor little guy has no idea what’s going on. He must be so scared.”

Raphael made a low soft rumbling noise, trying to coax Leo towards him. Leo let out a tiny chirp and poked his head out ever so slightly.

Raphael grinned, trying to keep his tail from wagging too hard and scaring him back into hiding.

“Hey, lil guy. It’s okay, you can come out. Big Raphie won’t hurt you.”

“Big Raphie, huh? We’ve had the kid for a couple hours and you’re already going soft on him.”

“Oh shut it, Leo. He’s just a scared baby, he’s not a threat.”

“He could be !”

“I don’t think he’s even two, yet. Come on, imagine if it was a little Mikey, you’d already be sewing him little blankets out of old shirts.”

“Yeah, well, if it was a Mikey it’d be different,” Leonardo withered under Raphael’s judgemental look, ducking slightly into his shell. “Sort of… a little… okay, fine, not really. It’s different to me, I guess.”

Raphael sighed and shook his head.

“You’re working on it, I get it. Maybe this is some sort of a lesson. You know, teaching you to be kinder to yourself.”

“You think the universe is trying to trick me into liking myself by dropping an infant version of me on us?”

“As if that’s any less believable than anything else in our lives?”

“...You know, Raph, I hate it when you’re right sometimes.”

“Happy to help.”

Raphael cleared his throat and tried to mimic Leo’s chirp, but the bass of it scared Leo back into hiding. He sighed and thunked his forehead against the ground.

Leonardo snorted.

“Your accent is terrible.”

“Bite me.”

“Nah, I know where you’ve been. It’s more like, uh, like higher pitched.”

Leonardo cleared his throat and attempted his own chirp, coming much closer than Raphael had.

Leo chirped back hesitantly.

Leonardo responded with a soft churring, trying to get across that he was safe here.

Leo slowly came out of his shell, staring and nervous.

“Hey, mini me, it’s okay. You’re safe here, you’re safe. We’ve got you.”

Leonardo sighed and kneeled down, holding his hand out.

Slowly and cautiously, the child walked towards him and laid down on his palm, nuzzling against it.

Leonardo grinned and Raphael tried his best now to look jealous.

“How come Bitty likes you better?”

“Dude, you think I have any clue? …Also, Bitty?”

“We gotta call him something, don’t we?”

“Yeah, fair enough. Don’t be so jealous, Raphie, I’m sure he’ll get bored of me eventually.”

Raphael huffed and laid his cheek on the floor, scooping Casey up and cuddling him like a teddy bear.

“I hope so. I want my turn for teeny Leo cuddles before we send him home.”

“There’s always regular Leo cuddles.”

“Meh, Bitty’s cuter. …And smells better.”

“Mean. Just don’t go getting attached to him, he’s not staying.”

“I’m more worried about you getting attached.”

“Don’t be, I don’t even like him.”

“Bitty, kid, I’m trying to work.”

Leo huffed and climbed on top of Leonardo’s cup, almost falling in before he got caught just in time.

“Woah! Gotcha, I gotcha. That was a close one, bud, don’t scare me like that!”

Leo chirped and nuzzled Leonardo’s palm.

“Stop being cute, I’m busy , kiddo, I can’t play right now.”

Leo huffed and chirped crankily.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I don’t like it either, but these plans need to get drafted before Tuesday- oh crap, it is Tuesday, isn’t it?”

“Crap.”

“Hey! Hey, nononononono, your Uncle Raph is gonna kill me if he hears that. Crud , buddy, I said crud .”

“Crap!”

“Ah, shit.”

“Shit!”

“NO!”

Donatello smirked, clearing his throat from Leonardo’s doorway.

“Aaaand that’s another addition to the blackmail horde.”

“Ugh, great. Please tell me you’ve got good news and you’re not just here to bother me.”

“Well, I have… news.”

“I don’t like the sound of that. Come on, how do we send the little guy home?”

“We, uh… we can’t.”

“ Excuse me? ”

Bitty chirped in distress, being squished in Leonardo’s hand.

“Shit! Sorry, kid, sorry. Donnie, what do you mean we can’t?”

“That portal was a one time thing, I can’t replicate it. I don’t think Mikey even did it on purpose . But bringing him here split the timeline, he’s not from our world now.”

“So- So what? He’s just stuck here for good? His timeline’s family is just stuck with no Leo?”

“I’m still working on it, but it’s looking that way. I don’t like it any more than you do.”

Leonardo groaned, rubbing his eyes.

“Do we even have enough supplies for him to live with us?”

“It might be a little tight for a bit, but we should. We’ll manage, we always do.”

“I hate this.”

“I know you do, I’m not exactly a fan of it myself, one Leo is already more than I can handle most days.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome! Oh, and dinner’s ready, bring the kid.”

“Like I have a choice, the thing won’t get off of me.”

“Maybe he thinks you’re his dad.”

“Ew.”

Leonardo sighed, watching the determined little creature march his way back to him, no matter how many times he set him on the other side of the room.

“You know, you’re making it hard to not like you, kid.”

Bitty chirped and started to climb his leg, immediately falling off. He blinked up at the ceiling, trying and failing to get back up off of his shell. He gave a pathetic little whimpering sound that cut through Leonardo’s heart like a knife.

“Ugh, you’re evil. Fine, fine, you win.”

He scooped up the baby and tucked him into his scarf.

“Better?”

Bitty chirped happily and nestled in, quickly falling asleep.

“Stop being so cute, that’s not fair.”

“Not getting attached, my ass.”

“Raphael, my darling brother, whom I love and respect so so very deeply .”

“Yuh oh.”

“If you show Donnie that footage, I’m hanging your shell on the wall.”

Raphael snorted.

“That’s not a very good example to set for the little guy, Uncle Nardo .”

“Casey called me that one time, let it go.”

“Never.”

Leonardo sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, figured I wouldn’t have much luck with that. …I hate that he’s here.”

Raph growled and crossed his arms.

“No, shut up, not like that. I mean that he’s not with his family. This is no place for a baby to grow up, it’s bad enough that Junior has to grow up with all of this. And poor Dad, he must be losing his mind!”

“All we can do is hope things get better, I guess. I get it, though. I mean, if I lost any of you three, I think I’d lose it.”

Leonardo looked at his sword where a scrap of one of Splinter’s robes was tied on like a ribbon.

“Yeah, same… best not to think about it, I guess. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“No.”

>>2005 <<

The rat who was once Hamato Yoshi rubbed his eyes, holding his three sons close to his chest and trying not to wake them with his crying.

“My Baby Blue… I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Papa?”

“Go back to sleep, Raphael.”

He pulled back his hood, taking in the neon lights of the Nexus Hotel sign in front of him before smiling softly, sadly, at his children. Donatello’s cheek was still concerningly warm against his chest.

“Daddy’s finding us a new home.”

Chapter Text

<<2043>>

“Are you sure you can handle this, Leo? Maybe one of us should go with you two.”

Bitty huffed, pausing his stretches to send him a grumpy half hearted scowl. It might have been almost slightly effective if his mask tails weren’t currently flopped over and covering his eyes nearly completely.

“Uncle Nardo, stop worrying so much, it’ll be fine! We’ll ninja in, ninja their faces, ninja out. Just like you did when you freed that kraang labor camp.”

Bitty grinned, bouncing up out of his stretch and back on both feet. He bounced back and forth from foot to foot and flapped his hands.

“Bitty, kiddo, we’ve talked about this.”

“Ugh, I know. I know, I’m not you, you’re not me, and you’ve got more experience than me so I need to be more careful.”

Nardo smiled at his petulant groaning and leaned down to wrap his prosthetic arm around his shoulder. As always, Bitty was absolutely dwarfed by it.

“You’re forgetting the most important paaart,” He smacked a big wet obnoxious kiss to Bitty’s cheek. “You’re your own kind of Leo, you don’t need to be like me to be awesome, you already are.”

Bitty tried and failed not to giggle, pushing away Nardo’s face.

“You’re embarrassing meee! I know I don’t have to be like you, you say it like all the time,” He put his hands on his hips and smirked. “I’m gonna be even awesomer.”


Tello rolled his eyes, grabbing Bitty’s arm to do some last minute checks on his communicator. 

“Awesomer is not a word.”

“Maybe not yet, but it will be after I kill it on this mission and make you all proud!”


Tello smiled and patted his head.

“Insert sappy Raphael-esque comment here about how we’re always proud of you.”

“Raph ain’t sappy, Raph just has a lot of feelings.”

Bitty jumped and looked up to see his kaiju of an uncle grinning over him. It was absolutely unfair that someone so huge could still sneak around so silently.

Raphael scooped Bitty up and kissed the top of his head.

“Uncle Raphieee, you’re ruining my cool. I’m trying to be cool over here.”

“You’re always cool to me, little man. The coolest Leo I know.”

He gave Bitty a squeeze, being careful not to squish him, and stuck his tongue out at Nardo who was huffing. 

(Mostly to save face, since everyone knew well that he completely agreed.)

Nardo crossed his arms, looking every bit the mother hen he was.

“If you get into trouble, you portal straight back, alright? Promise me.”

“I promiiiiise. I promise. Come on, don’t you trust me?”

Bitty stuck out his bottom lip, letting his eyes get big and glossy.

“Nope! No, you put those puppy eyes away, mister, I’m not falling for it. That might work on Uncle Raph, but not on me. I know your tricks, I invented your tricks.”

Raphael snorted, tickling Bitty’s sides.

“Uncle Raph doesn’t fall for it,” he looked away as the four other turtles in the room gave him incredulous looks, including Bitty himself. “...every time.”

Bitty wiggled out of the hug, landing (safely) on one foot.

“It was worth a shot. We’ll be back as soon as you know it!”

Nardo sighed and smiled, rubbing Bitty’s head.

“Alright, alright. Be safe, okay? And if you can, I want you to do me a favor.”

“Anything!”

Nardo patted him firmly on the shell.

“Grab me a slice, okay?”

Bitty giggled and saluted.

“You’re on! Come on, Casey.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Moooooom, I gotta go!”

Cassandra chuckled.

“One more kiss, for luck.”

“You already gave me like thirty! I’m lucky enough! That’s too much luck!”

She stuck her tongue out and grabbed his face, giving him one more smooch on the forehead.

“Then there’s thirty one! Look out for your brother, okay?”

“Always. I’ll be home soon, Mama, I promise.”

Bitty waved and took a deep breath before opening the portal. He grinned and blew one last kiss before backflipping through it, waiting for Junior to make it in after him before closing it.

>>2019<<

Leo gave a little swooshy flourish of his sword before sheathing them, grinning at Casey who just rolled his eyes. 

“Leon, why do you always have to be so extra?”

“It’s just my charm. Alright! You go for the herbicide, I’ll nab the key.”

“You what ?! We never split up! Being alone gets you killed, and you know it.”

Leo huffed and leaned on his sword.

“Ah ah ah, being alone gets you killed in our world. Come on, there’s no Kraang here, it’s totally safe!”

“You don’t know that! And why are you even going for the key anyways? Master Michelangelo was gonna grab it next mission.”

“Oh, spare me with the Master thing. Uncle Mikey’s bald enough already, I’m just sparing him some stress is all! And the sooner we get the key, the sooner we can kick those pink losers off our planet.”

“I don’t know, Leo, this seems like a bad idea.”

“You’re just being paranoid, Case, it’ll be great! Just think of how proud Aunt Cass is gonna be when we come back home with both .”

Casey huffed.

“Alright, alright, fine . But you better keep your comm on this time.”

“Oh, it was one time .”

Casey crossed his arms.

“Alright, two. I’m leaving it on, pinkie promise. That way I can come rescue you when you get yourself into trouble.”

“I’m not the one who’ll need rescuing. You’ll be the one who needs to be rescued.  Like last time. And the time before that, and the time-”

"Ughh alright alright, I get it. But this time's different! No mess ups, promise!"

Casey watched Leo take off through a portal and flipped his mask down.

“Be careful for once, Leo. Please.”

Less than a minute later, Casey, not paying enough attention to his surroundings, swung directly in the way of a speeding vespa and got knocked out.

Splinter picked up the mask, frowning at the red stripes on it.

“I didn’t know what else to do, so I brought him here. And then I saw that picture and- Geez, Splints, this is such a mess!”

“April, April, calm down. Please. I will handle this.”

April chewed on her thumbnail, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I mean, the boys aren’t here, and I can’t fight.”

Splinter rolled his eyes.

“ I will do the fighting, should it come to that.”

“Yeah, no offense, but you’re barely on your feet right now. I mean, what’s even in this stuff?”


April picked up the bottle from the table, peering at the label. Splinter huffed and snatched it out of her hands with his tail, setting it back on the table.

“It is none of your concern, April, I am fine .”

Before she could reply, the boy tied to the chair started to wake.

“Mmm Leo? Wha-”

Splinter’s eyes widened.

“How do you know that name?”

Casey looked up and gasped before breaking out into a wide grin. 

“Ohmigosh! You’re Master Splinter, aren’t you? I’ve heard so many stories!”

Splinter’s eye twitched, clenching and unclenching his fists. 

“How do you know that name?!”

“My uncles told me all about you! You’re one of the greatest ninjas to ever live, I’m so happy I can finally meet you! I mean, you’re Hama-”

Splinter hissed and wrapped his tail around Casey’s mouth.

“Quiet. Not that name. You said Leo, I heard you. How do you know that name?!”

Casey blinked and looked down at the tail over his mouth. Splinter sighed and let him go.

“Okay, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but you have to believe me. I’m from the future. Master Leonardo, Uncle Raphie, Uncle Mikey, they all helped raise me, they’re my family. And you are, too! You died before I could remember you, but you’re like my grandpa! And you, you’re my Aunt! Well, a little bit more than an aunt but- wait no, spoilers. Leo’s gonna be so excited! Oh, I gotta call him! Hey, Shel-”

Splinter wrapped his tail around the boy’s mouth again.

April frowned, putting a hand on Splinter’s shoulder.

“Splints, what if he’s telling the truth?”

“April, he’s talking about time travel , don’t be ridiculous.”

“This is the picture I found on him. That’s Leo, isn’t it?”

Splinter huffed and took the photo from her, his eyes immediately blew wide open at the sight of not one, but two mutated red eared sliders in blue masks, leaning against a massive turtle that was undeniably an older Raphael.

Casey nodded frantically, trying to wiggle out of the ropes.

“What sort of twisted mind game is this?”

“Splints?”

“If- If this is some new trick from Big Mama, I swear I’ll- I- I-”

Splinter felt the fur on the back of his neck stood up and he heard a throat clear behind him. He drew back his tail, ready to strike.

“If the rest of that sentence involves anything happening to my brother, I suggest you don’t finish it.”


Casey relaxed, looking back and forth between Leo and Splinter.

“Your knight in shining armor has arrived, you can thank me with your dessert tonight.” Leo sauntered past Splinter and April, both of whom were staring, flabbergasted. “These guys don’t even lock their bathroom window, how’d you manage to get caught by them? You’re slipping, mi hermano.”

Leo sliced away the ropes, looking almost bored as he did so, but Casey knew him well enough that he was covertly checking him for injuries. 

“Leo, turn around right now.”

Leo tensed up and spun, keeping his grip firm on his swords.

“Holy shit, is that Auntie April?! Woah, that’s weird! And is the ra- wait- wait wait wait, no, you can’t be- tell me he isn’t-”

“Leonardo?”

“...Dad?”

April shoved Splinter behind her, crossing her arms.

“Hold up, hold up, Auntie April? One, I don’t even know you, creepy. Two, I’m like, what, a year older than you?”

“Two years,” Splinter corrected without turning around. “Baby blue? I thought- I thought you-”

Leo grinned and chucked his swords to the ground, giving absolutely zero warning before shoving past April and scooping Splinter up and twirling him, giggling almost manically.

“Ohmigosh! Hi, Dad! I’ve always wanted to meet you, this is so cool! Wow, Uncle Raphie wasn’t kidding when he called you tiny! I thought he was exaggerating! Are you, like, even three feet tall? Ohmigosh, have you unlocked your powers yet?! Can you show me?! This is, like, the best day of my life! Hey can we-”

“Leonardo, let me breathe!”

Splinter smacked Leo on the forehead with his tail and gasped for air, being set back down on the floor.

“Sorry, sorry! I just got excited, my bad.”

“It’s fine, just warn me next time, please,” Splinter tugged his robe back into place, smoothing out the wrinkles. “Now, let me get a good look at you, my son.”

Leo blushed and gave a twirl, then a slower spin so that Splinter could actually see him, then kneeled down to meet Splinter’s eyes.

Splinter sniffled, eyes welling up with tears, and cupped his cheeks.

“You are beautiful, my boy. I’ve missed you so much, all these years… where have you been, Leonardo?”

“Well, uh… would you believe me if I said the future?”

Splinter raised an eyebrow and darted his eyes over to Casey Junior who waved excitedly.

“I suppose stranger things have happened… You look healthy, if a little thin.”

“Yeah, rations are a little low right now, we had a blight problem, but Uncle Donnie fixed it.”

April crossed her arms.

“I’m sorry, Uncle Donnie?”

“Oh! Yeah, I guess that sounds kinda weird to you guys. I got raised by my uncles and aunts, Uncle Angelo kinda grabbed me by accident as a baby with a portal. But it’s okay! They did a really good job, I think. They love me a lot and teach me stuff. Uncle Nardo is the coolest with his swords, you should see! One time he made, like 50 portals at the same time and killed a whole pack of Kraang hounds with one bullet! It was awesome!”

Splinter could have sworn he’d somehow managed to have three heart attacks simultaneously.

“A pack of what hounds?!”

“Oh! Yeah, we’re kinda from the apocalypse, oops. It’s okay, though, we’re winning right now!”

“I- you- bu-”

“Hey, hey, Splints. Deep breaths. It’ll be awkward if you pass out.”

Splinter took a deep breath and clasped his hands.

“This is the strangest day of my life.”

Casey rubbed his wrists.

“Oh, and I’m Casey Jones! Leo’s my brother.”

Splinter choked.

“Oh my god, future me had a human baby.”

“What? Ew, no, no no no, not like that.”


Leo grinned.

“We’re not, like, blood brothers. But we’re still brothers! We were raised together, his Mama is so cool! Ohmigosh, do you even know her yet?! Her name’s-”

Casey huffed and smacked his arm.

“You’re not supposed to give them spoilers, you’ll break the space time continuum or whatever Uncle Tello said.”

“Okay, one, ow. Two, I’m pretty sure that’s from Doctor Who and not a real thing. Three, you literally have the same name as your mom, it’s already spoiled.”

Splinter chuckled, watching the two bicker and slowly started to take longer in between blinks, barely keeping awake. The medication hit him so fast and strong it made him dizzy. April noticed and wrapped her arm around his back, helping him stay standing.

“C’mon, Splinter, you need to get to bed.”

Splinter whimpered.

“But my son.”

April looked the boys over.

“I’m sure they’ll still be here when you wake up.”

Leo and Casey traded looks. Casey cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry, Master Splinter, we ha-”

Leo smacked his hand over Casey’s mouth.

“Of course we’re staying!”

Casey glared.

“Leo.”

“You can go if you want to, but I can’t. He’s my Dad , man, this is a dream come true. Maybe I can even meet my brothers!”

“Uncle Raph is gonna murder me.”

“I’ll talk to Uncle Raph, don’t worry about it. I’ll be back before you even know it!”

“I don’t know, Leo, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“You have a bad feeling about everything. It’ll be fine, chill out.”

As if on cue, due to the universe’s need to constantly prove him wrong, the door to the apartment slammed open.

“Woah! Donnie?!”

Donnie looked him up and down, unimpressed, and clicked a button on his cane. There was a soft whirring before it started to glow and the foot of the cane now revealed a barrel to what Leo knew was a very high tech and very terrifying gun. Which was now pointed directly at his forehead.

“Who the fuck are you and how did you get in my house? You have ten seconds.”