Chapter Text
The sun was starting to peek in around the blackout curtains in Leo’s room. It was still early, and the halo around the curtains was only a pale blue, but as Leo lay on the floor, staring at the sliver of light he could tell it was getting brighter quickly.
Leonardo had not slept last night. Not at all. He had laid awake, ears straining to hear anything from beyond the locked door to the room. Any movement, any voices, even traffic from outside. All he heard was the gentle breathing from his sleeping brothers beside him.
He glanced down at the two of them, now that it was light enough to see anything in the room.
Donatello’s face was scrunched up into a frown, even as he slept, framed by tangled, greasy hair that was getting longer than Leo had ever seen it. His breath whistled out through the gap in his front teeth. While the noise probably should have annoyed Leo, instead it was comforting. He always knew that Donnie was sleeping and not dead. Leo glanced at the dark bruise that stubbornly would not fade on Donnie’s collarbone. He flinched at the memory of Donnie being hit, and him flying across the room, gasping and coughing as he clutched near his throat. That was close to a week ago, and the bruise had turned to nasty splotches of purple and yellow. Donnie wouldn’t let Leo take off his shirt to look at it properly though, insisting he was fine, that it didn’t hurt, and that they had bigger things to worry about.
That much was probably true.
He turned to look at Michaelangelo. He was curled up close to Donnie, arms sprawled out on top of him. Leo had been tangled up in Mikey’s arms earlier in the night, but as it became clear that Leo wasn’t going to sleep no matter what he tried, he had removed himself from the pile. Mikey’s face was relaxed as he slept. Mikey only ever looked relaxed when he slept these days. When he was awake, Mikey would often be watching their surroundings carefully, ready to jump in with a placating word, or a distraction to try and avoid making their captors mad. He was always tense, waiting for his time to jump in and play mediator, and so, whenever they would get a few hours alone, he would always be the first to fall asleep. Leo could remember when they were younger, Mikey had a lot of energy. They were always playing, and Mikey was quick to tackle any of his brothers and pull them into a play fight session, tumbling head over heels until Splinter stopped them with a gentle word.
The sudden memory of their father had Leo’s eyes welling up in unbidden tears. He quickly rubbed at his face to force them away. Sure, he missed his dad. When he did sleep, he would often dream of him, burying his face in Splinter’s clothes and feeling Splinter’s hands wrap him up in a hug. Sometimes he swore he could hear a soft chuckle from his father, or a quiet comforting word. He almost felt the vibrations that came with the sound in his chest. Then he would wake up, and everything would come crashing down.
He didn’t cry when he would wake up from those dreams anymore. Instead he would focus on his brothers. Protecting them.
But he had already failed at that. He only had two of his brothers in the room with him after all.
Leo looked towards the locked door. He debated trying to pick the lock again, or break down the door, but he knew it wouldn’t matter. He had tried to get out last night, when the three of them were thrown in the room. He had tried everything he could think of. He had screamed, threatened, messed with the lock and thrown his small body against the wood of the door until his shoulder ached.
Nothing worked.
He knew Raphael would probably be ok. He was tough, could take a beating and bounce back. And Leo knew that they probably wouldn’t just kill Raph. They wanted them alive, but Leo couldn’t figure out why.
When their home had been invaded, it had been ninjas that had flooded into the house, blades glinting and flashing as they attacked. Leo could still hear the panic in his fathers voice and he told them to run. Leo could see him turn his back to them, and prepare to fight back.
Leo had run, grabbing his brothers and moving as fast as he could. He could still hear Splinter cry out in pain as the ninjas cut him down.
They hadn’t even run far before they were caught, attackers surrounding them. Raph had tried to fight back and had gotten hit so hard he bounced off the ground. He didn’t get up. When Leo had rushed forward to help him, one of the ninjas had kicked him in the stomach so hard that he had vomited. By the time he got up again, they were holding Donnie and Mikey tightly, their hands pinned behind them, and the fight was over.
By the next day they were handed off to two new captors, goons named Xever and Chris Bradford, they were stuffed into a van, and they started driving. Leo didn’t know where they were going or why they were going there. He had tried to gather as much information as he could, but precious little made it to him. He did know one thing though.
Today, they were leaving the country in an airplane.
The thought of leaving the United States in the hands of these criminals sent shivers down Leo’s spine. He had been capable of protecting his brothers so far, but they needed to escape. Leo didn’t know if he could escape after they left the country.
They had to escape today.
Donnie had helped him come up with the plan.
“We grab a spoon, or knife, or anything metal.” Donnie had explained in a hurried whisper the day before. Raph was keeping their kidnappers busy, kicking and punching and biting as viciously as he could. Donnie had asked him to create a distraction so they could discuss how to escape, and Raph took to his task with vigor.
“It has to be metal,” Donnie continued. “Hide it in your underwear. When you go through the metal detectors, they’ll pick it up, and they’ll have to do a full body check. They’ll take you into a separate room, away from Xever and Bradford, and then you can ask for help.”
“How are we going to steal a spoon?” Leo had asked. The shouts from Raph and Bradford were getting louder.
“I don’t know,” Donnie said. He scrunched his eyes shut and tugged at his hair. “Just keep an eye out for any chance to grab anything metal that you can. I will too.”
A loud smack echoed from the other room. The yelling and fighting had stopped. Raph had bought them as much time as he could.
Xever walked into the room where Leo and Donnie were planning, dragging Raph behind him. He tossed him unceremoniously aside, and Leo could see one of his eyes was starting to swell shut.
“Nice going Bradford.” Xever had hissed. “How are we going to cover that to get through security?”
“The brat had it coming.” Bradford replied.
“Maybe, but if we can’t board that plane because they call CPS on us, you know there will be consequences for us!”
As the two adults argued, Raph looked at Leo. His bright green eyes seemed to bore into Leo. They seemed to be asking a question. ‘Is there a plan?’
Leo flashed him the tiniest thumbs up he could muster. Raph had replied with a tiny nod.
Unfortunately that was the last time Leo had seen Raph. Xever had locked him in a separate room for the rest of the day as punishment for his outburst.
And Leo hadn’t gotten a spoon. He had wanted to steal one at dinner time, but they were given sandwiches with no utensils. Leo had asked for a knife to cut his, but Xever had only sighed, and cut it for him, muttering something about ‘stupid brats’. Leo had offered to do the dishes after dinner, and had gotten as far as filling the sink with water and soap, until Bradford had come stumbling drunkenly into the kitchen, and had shoved Leo onto the ground for no reason except to laugh at him. Leo knew better than to bother Bradford when he was drunk, and so he had reluctantly scurried away.
No other chances had presented themselves before they were locked in the unfurnished room they slept in for the night.
The light coming from outside had grown significantly brighter as he had sat ruminating. Beside him, Donnie started to stir as he woke up. Leo mumbled a hushed ‘good morning’. Donnie didn’t reply at first, rubbing at his face, and pushing his tangled bangs out of his face.
“We’re running out of time.” Donnie said, and Leo could hear the panic suppressed in his tone.
Leo curled up as small as he could, hugging his knees to his chest. “I know.”
The dull thumping of Bradford walking through the hall echoed into their room, and Mikey jolted awake just in time for the door to fly open.
“Up.” Bradford said, and the three of them scrambled to their feet. Bradford beckoned them to leave the room, and they obeyed. Bradford walked behind them as they made their way to the kitchen. Leo’s heart leapt as he saw Raph already sitting at the table beside Xever. When Raph looked up at him, Leo could see slight swelling around his eye, but if it had bruised, it was covered in makeup. He didn’t look hurt at all from a distance.
When Leo Donnie and Mikey sat at the table, Bradford moved to the cupboard and pulled down four small bowls and an old box of cereal. He started dishing out the cereal, and when a bowl was pushed in front of Leo, he noticed that it was more than he was used to.
Xever seemed to have noticed as well. “You’re spoiling them.” He spat.
“We can’t take it with us.” Bradford had explained. “And I don’t want to have to feed them again while we’re flying.”
Xever glared at Bradford for a few seconds, before letting out a resigned sigh. “You might as well use up the last of the milk then.”
Leo could feel his heart hammering in his chest. They usually ate their cereal breakfast with their fingers, neither of the adults wanting to wash anything they didn’t have to. But if they were going to get milk, then they would have to use spoons, and then Leo could grab one.
Bradford got the milk out of the fridge, and poured some into their bowls. And then he handed out the spoons. When Leo grabbed his it was cold, and it felt like the metal was almost burning him. Despite his fingers feeling like they were freezing, he felt his face start to heat up, and he felt vaguely nauseous. He could not let them take this from him.
Luckily, neither Bradford or Xever seemed too concerned about the kids once they started eating. Beyond Xever muttering “Lucky brats,” neither of them said anything. They didn’t even seem to pay too close attention to the four brothers as they ate silently.
Once they had all finished, Leo had started to gather the dishes to move them to the sink. He moved purposefully, not wanting either of the kidnappers to sense his anxiety. Neither of them did. Xever glanced once at him, but once he saw where Leo was headed, turned his attention down to his phone.
As Leo reached the sink, Xever suddenly spoke, making Leo jump, almost dropping the dishes he was holding.
“Bradford, do you have the tickets printed?”
Leo turned to look at the table where everyone else was sitting. Xever was still looking at his phone, and Bradford’s attention was suddenly focused on Xever.
“I’ve got them on my phone, why would we need to print them?”
“Incase something goes wrong with the phone, idiot” Xever had shot back.
“Oh, and what do you suppose would happen that would suddenly make us unable to use our phones?”
“Battery?”
They were properly arguing now, not paying attention to any of the kids at the table, or to Leo. Donnie’s eyes locked with Leo’s from across the room. His eyes were wide. Panicked. Leo, not looking away from Xever and Bradfords fight, slipped a metal spoon into his pocket.
He moved back to the table, and forced himself to breathe normally, not wanting Bradford or Xever to pick up on how panicked he was. The spoon in his pocket felt like it was burning him through the fabric.
“Enough!” Bradford shouted. “We don’t have time for this, we need to leave soon if we’re going to make it on time.”
“I need to go to the bathroom!” Leo blurted out. Xever looked at him with disgust.
“Fucking kids, always needing to piss.”
“Take him,” Bradford told Xever, and Xever got up from the table. Together they walked down the hall towards the small bathroom. Leo ducked inside, closing the door on Xever’s face. The lock was broken, Leo thought it was probably deliberate, but he prayed that Xever wouldn’t open the door on him. Xever rarely did. Bradford would sometimes open the door and yell at them to hurry up if they took too long, but Xever didn’t seem to mind waiting.
Leo quickly used the washroom for its intended purpose, before doing what he really wanted to do behind a closed door.
Leo pulled the spoon out of his pocket, and placed it in his underwear, so that it would lie flush against his hip. He twisted it so that it was more secure, and positioned it so that the waistband of his pants went over top of it too, further securing it.
He pulled his hands away from it, hoping that it stayed put. Miraculously it did. The cold metal against his skin was almost soothing. He could feel it no matter how he moved. Their ticket to freedom.
Xever knocked loudly on the door, making Leo jump. The spoon stayed put.
“Kid, wash up already,” Xever said. “We need to go.”
Leo washed his hands quickly, not bothering to dry them. When he left the bathroom, Xever grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the front door, where his three brothers were waiting, along with Bradford and three suitcases.
The five of them piled into a van, and they sped off towards the airport. Every once in a while, one of Leo’s brothers would glance towards him, as if they wanted to say something to him, but they remained silent. As they got closer to the airport, Leo began to find it harder to breathe properly. With every bump in the road, he half expected the spoon to fly out from its hiding place, and clatter loudly on the floor. Xever and Bradford would see, and it would all be over. They would take his brothers away from him, and he would never see them again. They would hurt them and-
The van stopped at the airport. Xever and Bradford pulled them out of the van, and led them in through the revolving doors.
The inside of the airport was huge. The entire front wall was glass, and early morning light flooded into the foyer. People milled all around, forming massive lines, pulling suitcases, and frantically looking over tickets and passports.
A sudden thought hit Leo. They could just run for it. There was such a large crowd that it would be easy to get lost in it. They could find a security guard and ask for help. They could do it right now.
Beside him Michaelangelo squeaked. Bradford had grabbed Mikey’s hand in his. Leo saw Mikey try half-heartedly to pull away, but they all knew from experience it was futile. None of them were strong enough to pull away from Bradford when he wanted to hold them. Bradford glanced at Raphael, who glared at him.
“Stay close” Bradford warned.
Leo wanted to cry. Of course Bradford knew they would want to run, and he knew how they would all do anything to protect Mikey. And of course he would use it against them.
Pulling Mikey along, Bradford walked towards one of the smaller lines.
“Let’s go, boys.” Xever said, and the three of them followed.
They waited in line for what felt like an eternity. Mikey began to bounce on his heels, craning his neck to see around the crowd of people. Mikey’s hyperactivity often annoyed their captors, to the point where they would yell or hit him. And with Bradford still stubbornly holding his hand, their arms would bounce every time Mikey moved. It was only a matter of time before something snapped, and Mikey would end up crying.
When Mikey started jumping, feet leaving the ground entirely, Leo flinched, waiting for the explosion of anger.
It didn’t come. Bradford simply muttered “Kid, stand still,” While glancing at the people around them.
They couldn’t hurt them in public. Donnie and Raph glanced at each other, and Leo desperately hoped they didn’t do anything reckless. They might not be in danger with hundreds of people around, but Bradford was still holding onto Mikey’s hand, and could drag him away.
Leo felt a wave of anxious nausea flood over him, and he clenched his fists tight to avoid letting anyone see how upset he was. This was beyond his control. He couldn’t protect them, not with Mikey in Bradford’s clutches, and not if Donnie or Raph did something stupid.
They reached the end of the line, and they moved up to a counter. Xever began talking to the lady behind the counter, handing over passports and tickets. It enraged Leo how likable Xever sounded when he talked sometimes. He sounded normal, pleasant, like he wasn’t a kidnapping monster.
The lady behind the counter smiled at something Xever said, before peering over the counter to look at Leo.
“This your first time flying?” She asked him, smiling.
Leo felt Bradford and Xever whip their heads around to look at him. His face felt impossibly hot, and his fingers frozen. When he glanced at Xever, a clear warning was in his eyes.
“Yes.” He said, his voice squeaking a little.
The lady behind the counter smiled harder. “Don’t be nervous,” She reassured him. “I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun.”
And then Xever was taking back their papers with a smile, tucking them away in his pocket, wishing her a good day, and ushering the kids away into the next line.
As Xever and Bradford argued about something about security, Leo took a shaky breath. He caught Raph looking at him with veiled concern, and Leo wondered if he did the right thing there. Should he have told that lady what was going on? Should he have screamed and fought back against Xever and Bradford, and begged passersby for help? Maybe he should have, but he couldn’t ignore how Mikey was being dragged along by Bradford, who never seemed to loosen his grip even for a moment.
He still had the spoon. He could feel it digging into his hip with every step he took, and focusing on the feeling of the metal on his skin grounded him.
He had a plan. He could get them out of this.
“What about their weird implants?” Xever had asked, dragging Leo out of his thoughts. Xever knelt down behind him and tapped the small metal device embedded in his neck. He fought the urge to bat his hand away and panic once more flooded through him.
Xever and Bradford had asked about the implants the first night they watched the brothers, but none of them could explain beyond “It’s from the doctor.” He desperately hoped that Xever wouldn’t try to remove them before going through security. They were the only thing keeping them human after all. He didn’t know exactly how it worked, but he could remember being a turtle before Splinter had given them the implants. Splinter had said that he wanted the five of them to have a chance of a normal life, but it was vital that none of the humans learned that they were really only pretending.
Xever and Bradford didn’t know they were actually turtles in disguise, and Leo didn’t want to find out what they would do if they knew the truth. Especially if they were suddenly forced back into being turtles in the middle of a crowded airport.
Leo couldn’t breathe as he felt Xever’s fingers brush over the metal.
“You can’t take it out!” Donnie shrieked, and Xever’s fingers pulled away. “It’ll kill us!”
“I’m sure medical transplants are ok,” Bradford said. “They’re not the first people to have metal in their bodies. We’ll just warn security before we go in.”
“What if they ask what the implants are, or what they do?” Xever shot back. “We don’t even know why they have them”
Bradford shot something back and they were arguing again, but Leo couldn’t bring himself to listen. He was gasping for breath now, quietly hyperventilating. They weren’t safe here. Even beyond Xever and Bradford, what would the airport staff do if they found out these four kids were actually animals? Splinter had always warned them that no one could ever know. But what if he couldn’t stop them from finding out.
Mikey grabbed his hand and squeezed. When Leo looked up at him, his bright blue eyes were wide and filled with concern. Leo held his breath to stop hyperventilating, and let it out slowly.
He had to keep it together. He was the only one with the spoon. He had to save them. He couldn’t do that if he passed out because his stupid body couldn’t breathe.
He pushed his hand against his hip where the spoon was hidden, forcing the metal to dig into his skin. It wasn’t cold anymore, but the slight pain forced him to focus on his goal.
“Relax kid,” Xever said, looking down at him. “We won’t do anything that will kill you.”
Leo wasn’t sure that he believed him, but no one was touching the back of his neck where the implant was, so he forced himself to continue breathing.
Bradford and Mikey started moving towards the security check, and the rest of them followed.
Leo wasn’t sure what he was expecting from airport security, but it was overwhelming. There were security guards everywhere, dressed up in vests and walkie-talkies looking sternly at the people passing through. There were large conveyor belts that people were putting their bags and coats and hats in. The bags would then pass through a large box, and someone sat beside the box looking at a computer screen. After that, people would walk through a metal arch. Sometimes it would beep as the person walked through and they would have to be checked by a security guard. There was also a large tube that people would stand in, stick their arms out, wait while the walls of the tube moved, and then would step out of. Leo wasn’t sure what any of the objects in the room did, or why anyone was doing what they were doing.
“That’s an x-ray machine!” Donnie pointed at the box where the bags were going. “They check to make sure nothing dangerous is in the bags. And those are the metal detectors!” He looked at Leo as he said this, and pointed at the arch way. “If you have anything metal on you, it’ll beep, and they’ll have to check to see what it is.”
“What about the tube?” Leo asked. He could tell what Donnie was doing. This was where their plan had to come into play. This was it.
“It's to do a full body scan without touching you,” Donnie explained.
“Come on now kids,” Bradford said, gesturing for them to move towards the conveyor belt. They stepped up, and Bradford let go of Mikey’s hand just long enough to pull several shallow bins from a stack. “Put your jackets in here,”
They did, and when Bradford told them to empty their pockets, they did too. Leo’s heart skipped a beat as he realized that if he hadn’t put the spoon in his underwear, he might’ve failed. But his pockets were empty, and the spoon was still hidden away.
Xever explained the implants to one of the security agents. The agent took a quick glance at the back of Leo’s neck, and said it wasn’t a problem. Medical devices won't affect the metal detector.
Bradford walked through the metal detector first. It didn’t beep.
Mikey was next in line, but glanced nervously back at Leo when the agent waved for him to go through the archway.
“Come on, Michelangelo,” Bradford called from the other side of the archway. “It’s not going to hurt you.”
Mikey walked through. It didn’t beep.
As soon as he was on the other side, Bradford grabbed Mikey’s hand again.
Leo was next in line. The agent waved for him to go through the detector.
He felt like his body was moving through maple syrup instead of air. Everything was so loud, the people talking around him, the noises the conveyor belt made as they moved bins full of bags, the occasional chirp of the walkie-talkies on the agents vests.
He forced his legs to move, even as he couldn’t breathe. He could feel Donnie and Raph’s eyes on him behind him, and he could see Mikey staring at him as he moved. He had to do this for them. He had to save them.
He passed underneath the metal detector. It beeped.
Bradford’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Behind him he could he Xever gasp.
“Have you got anything in your pockets?” The agent asked. “Any coins? Keys?”
Leo shook his head, not trusting himself to speak without crying. He turned his pants pockets inside out, showing the agent he had nothing.
“Are you wearing a belt?” The agent asked. Leo saw his eyebrows knit together.
Leo shook his head again.
“Alright, that’s ok,” the agent said, his voice slipping into a voice you might use to soothe a toddler. Leo was 7 now, and shouldn’t need to be spoken to like a baby. But it did help him take a shaky breath.
“Ok kid,” the agent was moving towards the tube now. “We’re just going to do a scan to see what might have set off the metal detector.”
Leo nodded, his heart sinking. They were supposed to take him to a separate room! That’s what Donnie said they would do, but they weren’t doing that. They were going to use this x-ray machine to see that it was just a spoon, and Bradford and Xever were right there, and he wouldn’t be able to ask for help.
The agent instructed him on how to stand, how to hold his arms out, and Leo obeyed. The agent pressed a button on the outside of the machine, and the weird walls spun around for a few seconds.
Leo stood with his arms outstretched, even as the machine stopped moving. The agent was calling over another agent, and they both looked at the results of the machine on a screen. They spoke to each other in hushed tones, before looking at Leo, who was still inside the machine.
Panic began to overtake Leo, and tears pooled in his eyes and he began to shake. ‘Did they see that I’m actually a turtle?” Leo thought suddenly, and one of the tears silently fell, and his vision tunneled so he couldn’t see much of anything.
“Hey kid, can you come with us for a moment?” The agent was asking, and Leo couldn’t answer, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t force air into his lungs.
The agent put a gentle hand on his back, and guided him out of the machine. He could hear Xever talking anxiously to an agent. He couldn’t make out the words. The agent pulled him out of the line, away from the crowds of people, away from Xever and Bradford.
Away from his brothers.
Distantly he heard Mikey start to talk, high-pitched and panicked. Leo heard him start to cry. Leo wanted to turn back to Mikey, to send him a thumbs up or a smile or something. He needed to show Mikey that he was ok, that he was in control.
He didn’t turn around.
Another tear fell as he let the agent guide him into a room. The door closed and the sounds from outside were suddenly muffled. He couldn’t hear Mikey any more. The agent got him to sit down in an uncomfortable plastic chair. His feet didn't reach the ground.
He still wasn’t breathing. Tears began to fall in earnest as the panic took over, and he gasped desperately for breath. His head was pushed gently to rest between his knees, and he heard the agent calmly instructing him how to breathe.
“In- two- three- four-”
Leo breathed in too fast.
“Hold- two- three- four.”
He held his breath, focusing on the voice of the agent.
“Out- two- three- four”
His breath escaped him in a rush, too fast once again. But instead of instantly gasping new air in, he waited.
“Hold- two- three- four.”
They repeated this several times, the agent counting calmly, and each time he got a bit better at the timing. And each time, the panic subsided slightly. His vision began to return, and he saw that there were three agents all in the room with him, looking stern and concerned.
When he had stopped hyperventilating, the agent who had been counting spoke. “You ok, kid?”
Leo nodded.
“Think you can answer some questions for us?” One of the other agents asked. She was an older looking lady with a stern frown. She held a clipboard and had a pen poised, ready to write down what Leo said.
Leo nodded again.
“Are you being taken somewhere against your will?” She asked.
Leo nodded, and fresh tears ran down his face. This time they were tears of relief. He had done it.
He had saved them
“My brothers,” He suddenly choked out, “You have to help my brothers!”
The stern lady nodded towards the third agent, who stepped out of the room.
“What’s your name?” The first agent asked.
Leo breathed easily for the first time all day.
“My name is Leonardo Hamato”