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Chapter Text

Leo didn't know how he ended up in this situation, all he knew was that he was in it. 

"I'll have your money by tomorrow, promise." Beads of sweat occupied his forehead.

"You have twenty-four hours to comply." The Yokai in front of him said. "Big Mama doesn't like to be kept waiting. One second more and it'll be your head."

Leo chuckled nervously, hiding his terror. "No problemo, señor."

"We will text you the address in twelve hours." The otter Yokai stood up, the chair he was sitting in screeching as it slid across the ground. 

Leo held his breath as he walked out of the room, only releasing the air once he could no longer hear footsteps.

The blue turtle stood up as well, leaving the building as quickly and quietly as he could. It was raining in New York City at this time of night. On a normal day, Leo would have loved to stick around and dance in the rain, smiling up at the sky with content, even if he was alone. But today was not that day. Tonight was a night of desperation and haste.  He had everything on the line. His brothers, his dad, his adopted sister, his home. If Leo didn't bring in the cash, and the yokai went through with his threat, the ninja knew Big Mama would stop at nothing to get her way. He could care less about what happened to him, so long as his family was safe. He would find a way. 

"Donnie gets his cash illegally." Leo thought out loud as he ran across rooftops. "But if I ask then he'll know something's up." 

He jumped down, landing on a roof closer to the ground than he would have liked. 

"Hueso might know something." Leo realized. "And if not his brother." He smirked to himself, switching course to the Run of the Mill pizza. 

Once he reached the graffiti wall, he gave a silent prayer to the pizza Supreme in the sky that the entryway would open for him. He stepped forward, initiating the Italian hand gesture thing that served as the password into the establishment. Leo inwardly cheered as the graffiti turned into a mystic doorway. 

The restaurant wasn't as busy as Leo was used to, but it still had a decent amount of Yokai dining in. He looked around, finding Hueso taking some octopus-looking Yokai's order. Leo made his way to the Bone man, reaching him as soon as he finished with his customer. 

"Ah Pepino, will your brothers be joining us?" Hueso greeted.

"Hopefully they never know I'm here, Señor Hueso." Leo told him. "I'm in a bit of trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" The bone man asked, seeming a bit annoyed, like he's had to deal with Leo many times before.

"I got in a little bit of debt." The turtle explained.

"With whom?" This seemed to peak Hueso's interest, as Leo had never come to him for this type of help.

Leo hesitated before answering. "Big Mama?" 

The entire restaurant seemed to go dead silent. 

Hueso chuckled before pushing Leo. "Let's talk in the back, shall we?"

Once they were in the back, Hueso smacked Leo's head.

"¡¿Estás estúpido?!" He yelled. "Do you know how much danger you are in?"

"Lo siento, señor." Leo rubbed his head in shame. "Do you know how I can get money fast?"

"How much do you need?" The bone man asked.

The blue turtle handed Hueso a piece of paper. "That much."

Hueso studied the strip of paper for a moment before looking back up at Leo. "You are lucky, I know how you can get this amount easily. But you'll have to sacrifice something."

"Anything to keep my family safe." Leo said with determination.

Hueso sighed. "There's a dark market in the Hidden City, very few know about it. Emotions are selling for very high prices. Especially emotions like love, and joy."

"Hold up." Leo interrupted. "Emotions? What is there like a way to physically bottle up emotions and sell them?"

Hueso gave a dark chuckle. "Yes, exactly. You can go to Witch Town and get one of their people to bottle your emotions for you."

The thought scared Leo more than he'd like to admit. "Would that mean I won't have those emotions anymore?"

"No, they will grow back over time. Usually a few months." 

"How many emotions do I have to sell?" Leo asked. 

"I'm not sure, if I'm being honest." Hueso bowed his head. "You should bottle all of them, and if you have any extra you can take them back."

Leo thought about it a little more. He's had practice faking his outward emotions, but he didn't know if it would be the same without actually being capable of those emotions. This was to protect his family, and his emotions would grow back. 

He sighed. "Are you coming with me? Or are you gonna tell me how to get to the Dark market and who to find?"

"I will take you to the market." Hueso said. "But I will not enter its vicinity with you."

Leo nodded. "Makes sense. When are we going?" 

"Tomorrow night." The Bone Man explained. "You must go to Witch Town before then."

"Tomorrow night? That's when I have to meet up with Big Mama's goons." Leo told him.

"Then we'll have to be quick." Hueso shrugged.

Leo groaned. "Okay okay, I'll become emotionless before we go." He unsheathed a sword and created a portal. "I'll meet you outside of Witch Town?"

"I guess that would be fine." The Bone Man nodded. 

"Alright, see you then!" And he left through the portal, leaving Hueso to wonder what the young turtle could have done to be in debt to Big Mama. He seemed to be acting more responsible than Hueso was used to.

Leo's portal opened up to his bedroom. He was careful not to slip on anything or make any loud sounds. He couldn't risk waking his brothers. He knew there was a high chance Donnie had stayed up all night on his computer again, but at least he would be too busy to notice Leo's coming and going. 

He sheathed his katana once more, cringing slightly at the sound it made as it clicked into position. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew only he could hear the noise. But that didn't stop him from worrying that someone else had heard it. 

He had hours to kill before going into the Hidden City; a whole day. Leo didn't know if he could keep his nerves under control. He didn't know if he'd give himself away. He just couldn't let his family find out what he was doing. He couldn't let them know just how badly he screwed up this time. He could do this. He had to.

Leo knew he wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night. He figured he might as well do something productive. He quietly pulled out paper and a pen from his desk, picking the laptop that rested on top. He was about to lose all of his emotions, he wanted to do research on them. Find every one there was, and ones he used to need. 

Jeez, I'm already thinking as if I already sold my feelings, Leo thought.

He flopped onto his bed, opening his computer. For the first hour or so, Leo spent his time reading through different articles explaining emotions. He took notes as he read, retaining the information he was reading. If he was being honest, he hadn't meant to go down this rabbit hole, but he found himself enjoying it and found it all interesting. He sighed, he would miss these feelings. Maybe he wouldn't even know what missing was.

The thought of losing his feelings was scaring him more and more as he continued to make a list of every emotion he read. The only thing keeping him going was the thought that maybe he could keep a few. 

Before he knew it, Leo heard a clatter in the kitchen, snapping his head up at the noise. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when he remembered Mikey usually liked to get up early to make breakfast. Leo decided to leave his room to join his little brother. 

When he made it to the kitchen, Leo found Mikey rummaging through the fridge. He noticed there was something bubbling in a pot on the stove. 

"Everything okay?" Leo asked, startling Mikey to the point where he almost dropped what he was pulling out of the fridge.

"Oh, Leo." The box turtle recovered from the slight shock. "Yeah, sorry, did I wake you?"

Leo shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about it. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Mikey gave his bright smile. "Yeah! The pots just fell."

Leo chuckled. "Raph still doesn't know how to put them away, huh?"

Mikey giggled. "Yeah, no matter how many I try to show him."

They both came to a soft laughter that filled the room. This is what Leo was giving up. The fond moments with his brothers. He wasn't sure he really wanted to do this anymore.  Even though Leo knew he didn't have a choice, his heart was no longer in it. 

"Anyways," the red eared slider said. "What are you making?"

The box turtle turned back to his work. "Just some breakfast ramen. Haven't in a while so I thought I'd make it today."

"That sounds delicious." Leo smiled softly. "Need any help?"

Mikey thought for a moment. "I don't think so, but I would enjoy your company." Leo could see a sad smile slip onto his brother's face.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah!" Leo noticed a quiver in his voice and a shake in his arms.

Leo sighed. "I know you're supposed to be Dr. Feelings and everything, but you can tell me what's wrong, okay?" Then he added, "I want to know why my little brother is sad."

Mikey was silent for a minute, making Leo wonder if he said the right thing. Before he could do anything about it, Mikey sighed and stopped chopping the vegetables in front of him.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" His voice was barely above a whisper.

Leo gave a vulnerable smile. "Promise."

The orange turtle took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I've been having nightmares recently. It's the same every night. I wake up in the old lair, and I hear screaming. Don and Raph are yelling at each other, it gets so bad they pull out their weapons and start physically fighting each other. I try to stop them by taking out my own weapon, but instead of stopping them from hurting each other..." Tears have started falling down Mikey's face. Leo stays silent as he takes a stuttering breath before continuing. "I hurt them. Badly. So badly their blood mixes and pools around me. That's when you walk in, so much terror in your eyes, and instead of being horrified by what I did, I start running after you. The last thing I hear before I wake are your screams."

An uneasy silence filled the room. Mikey still had his eyes closed, as if afraid opening them would make his dream a reality. Before Leo could open his mouth to say something, Mikey spoke once more.

"I know it's not real — and never could be, but what if it somehow does?" Mikey finally opened his eyes and looked up at Leo with star-y eyes. "What if I can't do anything to stop it?" 

Leo studied his little brother. His arms were trying to wrap around himself, and he was visibly shaking. The tears flowed at a steady rate. Leo stepped towards him and pulled the shivering turtle into a warm hug. Mikey instantly sank into it, crying into his older brother's chest. 

"Even if what you saw became a reality, you wouldn't have to fight it alone. You'll never be alone. These are just 'what ifs?' Nothing more." He pulled Mikey closer. "I could add more. What if I was there to help? What if you stop the fighting this time? What if it's just a dream? What if you're not alone. You aren't alone. I can promise I'll always be here, fighting by your side."

The small turtle hugged him tighter. "Promise?" His voice broke.

"I promise." Leo whispered. 

They held each other for a minute more before Mikey broke away. "I should probably get back to making breakfast."

"Do you want any help?" Leo asked. A similar question as before, he knew, but worded differently enough that Mikey might actually say yes.

He hesitated before nodding. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Mikey gave him instructions on what to do and soon they were working in rhythm. Leo cherished this moment. He knew it'd be a while until he could feel this way again. But he was also grateful that he could help his little brother before everything could happen. Leo wouldn't let his last day of emotion be filled with sadness and regret. He wanted it to be full of comfort and joy. He kept a smile on his face.

Chapter Text

With Leo's help, they were able to finish cooking before Raph had woken up. Leo served the both of them as they waited for their brothers, sitting down at the counter in the middle of the room to eat. This time the silence was warming. 

"When do you think Don will wake up?" Mikey spoke into the quiet.

"I guess it just depends on when he fell asleep." Leo replied, watching his noodles fall from the chopsticks he used. "Do you want me to check on him?"

"Yeah, Raph should be here any minute." He sounded tired, and Leo couldn't blame him, with everything he'd just learned. 

"I'll be back then." Leo said as he stood up, leaving his still steaming soup — and Mikey — to wait for him. 

He decided to check Donnie's room first. He knew the odds of his brother being in there were small, but they weren't zero. Once he stood in front of his door, Leo lightly rapped his knuckle against the door before slowly pushing it open. 

"Donnie?" He whispered as he stepped into the room. It had been kept clean, save for a pile of gadgets and metal on the desk. 

To his surprise, he found Donnie asleep in his bed. He smiled at the scene. He hated to wake him up.

"Donnie." Leo spoke louder, nudging Donnie's shoulder, trying to shake him awake.

"Go away." Donnie mumbled, his words slurred together.

"Breakfast is ready." Leo said softly, trying to convince his twin to join them. 

Donnie just groaned, turning his back to Leo. 

"Mikey made ramen." He tried. "He wants you to join us."

He heard a heavy sigh. "Fine. Just give me a minute."

Leo smiled at his victory and turned to leave. "Be quick!"

Another thing he wouldn't feel for a while. The joy of winning. Once again, he pushed the thought into the back of his mind. He would NOT let the fear and sadness stop him. He refused.

He made his way back to the kitchen, walking quickly so as to not waste any more time. He found Mikey hunched over his bowl, slowly chewing whatever he had just put in his mouth. He should really try sleeping again. 

Just as Leo was about to sit down next to his little brother again, heavy footsteps rang from the hall. Moments later, Raph appeared in the entryway. 

Mikey gave Leo an almost pleading look. Leo smiled knowingly in return, giving his little brother a light noogie.

"Good morning Raphie." Leo cood, moving towards the stove. "Are you hungry this morning?"

"Raph is offended, you had to ask." Their oldest brother sat down across from where their bowls stood. He smiled at Mikey, who gave his best smile back, and returned to staring at his soup.

"What's the agenda for today?" Leo asked as he set a bowl full of ramen in front of his oldest brother. 

"Well I'm going to the junkyard." Donnie had finally joined them, and Leo served him as well. "I need a few more parts for a project I'm working on."

Donnie sat at the end of the table closest to Leo's spot. Leo came back to his seat with his twin's breakfast, returning to his own, now lukewarm ramen.

"A family trip to the junkyard then!" Raph exclaimed. 

"Oh we should invite April." Mikey suggested.

"It was really just gonna be a solo m–" 

"I've got nothing better to do." Leo said truthfully.

"Guys–" 

"It's settled then!" Raph slammed a fist down. "Mikey, call April. Leo, pack refreshments. Raph will grab the entertainment."

"But–" Donnie was cut off once again.

"Sorry little bro," Leo patted his shoulder, "you've been out voted. Get ready to spend some quality bonding time with your brothers."

"I'm literally older than you!" Donnie argued, but said nothing against his family joining him.

"No you're not." Leo stood, grabbing both of their empty bowls. 

Mikey and Raph giggled as Donnie grumbled something that sounded like, "Yes I am."

"I'll go call April." Mikey stood as well, taking his and Raph's emptied dishes. "Would you mind washing these, Leo?" 

"No problemo." Leo smiled as he placed the dishes in the sink in front of him. 

"Thanks!" The little turtle called as he ran from the room. 

Leo was a little worried about him, and resolved to keep a close eye on him while at the junkyard. Needless to say, the blue turtle thought that this outing would be good for all of them.

"I'm gonna go pack." Raph announced. "We'll leave when Don's ready."

Once Raph had left the kitchen, the only sound was the running of water and the occasional clink of ceramic. Leo could sense Donnie staring at his back.

He turned his head to look behind him, catching his brother's eye before he avoided Leo's gaze. Leo smirked as he turned back to his work.

"Something on your mind?" He asked.

Donnie coughed and squirmed in his chair. "I mean– no."

"Then why don't you go get ready with Raph and Mikey?" Leo continued.

"Well– are you almost done?" 

"Yeah, I know that Mikey likes to dry and put the dishes away so Raph doesn't though." Leo explained as he turned off the sink and shook the water from his hands. "So I'll be done in like ten minutes."

"But then Raph told you to prepare, and I quote, 'refreshments.' Remember?"

Leo chuckled, drying his hands and leaning against the edge of the counter to fully face his twin. "So what you're trying to say is, I've got time."

Donnie fiddled with his fingers, keeping his eyes on the floor. 

Leo sighed, a smile still present on his face. "What do you wanna talk about?"

Donnie stuttered. "Well I don't wanna stop you from working."

Leo snatched a towel from the rack and started drying the dishes. "Better?"

The purple masked turtle hesitated. "...Yeah."

"So what did you wanna talk about?" Leo prompted again.

"It was...actually about that project I've been working on." Donnie started as Leo continued to put away dishes.

"The one we're going to the junkyard for?"

"Yes." He was wrangling his hands. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I've actually been trying to...to rebuild S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N."

Leo's eyes widened. He knew how much the robot had meant to Donnie. They had all grieved when their original lair had been destroyed, but Donnie had seemed to take it the hardest. Leo assumed it was because he also lost S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and all of his tech.  

"How's that been going?"

"It's been hard." Donnie admitted. "I'm not sure he'll be the same. I've been trying to build him with exact replicas of each part I used the first time I made him...but I'm struggling to replicate the code."

Leo thought over what his brother said. Replicating the code would be one of the key elements to recreating the bot they once knew. Leo remembered screwing with the code.

"Maybe I could help rewrite his code." He offered. "Since I tweaked it the first time around."

"I still haven't forgiven you for that." Donnie glared, but it held no real threat. His look softened. "But I would really appreciate that, thank you." 

Leo smiled at him. "Anything for you."

Having just finished with the dishes, Leo left the towel back on the rack. He moved to the fridge.

"What should I make?" He asked.

"Probably just sandwiches." Donnie replied. Leo nodded as he pulled out what he needed.

"I'm just...I'm scared he won't be the same. I'm not sure how I'll fix him if he's not." Donnie continued. 

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Leo reassured, bringing out a cutting board and knife. "If anyone or anything could, it's you." 

Once again, Leo realized that after tonight, he wouldn't be able to sympathize with his brother. He didn't know if he would remember how to tell if someone was sad or scared or angry or even happy. He was getting more scared by the minute. The red-eared slider had to remind himself that this was the only way to keep his family safe.

"But what if I can't?" Donnie's voice shook. "What if I just can't rebuild him?"

Leo paused what he was doing and looked his brother in the eyes. "Then you ask for help. Not everything can be done by yourself. And it's okay to need help, especially from your family." He went back to chopping. "We're always here for you, whether you like it or not."

Donnie laughed softly. "I'll take your word for it. Thank you, though, if I need help I'll come to you."

Leo grinned, but it soon turned fake. He wasn't taking his own advice. He wasn't going to his family for help. He wasn't letting them know he was in trouble. He told himself that it was just because he didn't want to worry them. That telling them would put them in danger. But that wasn't true, was it. Maybe he should tell someone. 

A series of stomps and a slam came from the hallway, ending in a Mikey bursting through the entryway.

"APRIL'S COMING!" He yelled.

"Great! Are we ready to go?" Leo asked, packing up the snacks.

"Yeah, April's meeting us there. Do we wanna take the tank or a portal?"

"Portal would be faster." Donnie said, much to Leo's surprise.

"Okay! I'll let Raph know. We'll be in the garage when you're ready!" With that, Mikey ran out of the room.

Leo smiled, glad his little brother was happy after what happened this morning. He turned to his twin.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, I just gotta grab my stuff, it'll only take a minute." He stood up, leaving Leo to finish his own work.

The blue turtle grabbed the bag he'd placed the food in as he started towards the garage. He made a quick stop to his room to pick up his gear. 

When he made it to the meet up spot, he found Mikey and Raph waiting. Raph had a bag of what Leo could only assume was beach toys and games. Mikey only held his phone, presumably communicating with April.

"Where's Don?" Raph asked.

"Here!" The turtle in question jogged in, sporting his battleshell and a duffle bag.

"You got everything?" Mikey checked.

"Yep." 

"Alright Leo, portal time." Raph said.

"One portal coming up, big brother." Leo unsheathed a katana and whipped it through the air, creating a sparking blue portal. 

"Let's go!" Mikey cried, jumping head first into the portal.

"April's waiting, he doesn't wanna leave her alone in the junk." Raph laughed just before he followed the box turtle.

"You're turn Donnie." Leo gestured to the gateway.

"See you on the other side." He replied menacingly as he too walked into the blue.

Leo jumped in after him.

Raph was the first to speak. "So where are we setting up camp?"

"I vote Mikey decides." Leo said.

"I second that." April agreed.

"Aw you guys!" Mikey blushed, playing along.

Donnie only shrugged, signaling he was in agreement.

Mikey led the way through the piles of scrap metal and junk, only stopping when he found a comfortable clearing surrounded by mountains of trash. The tall mounds would provide cover for them as they laid down their things and roamed about the junkyard.

"Don, do you know what you're looking for?" Leo asked as he helped Raph lay out the blanket. 

"Yes, I made a list in case I forgot." He responded, quickly adding, "Which I won't."

"Then I think we should split up to look for your parts." Raph said, sharing ideas with Leo. 

"So we can come back here quicker and all hang out for longer." Leo continued for his older brother.

"And so you don't have to be alone!" Mikey finished.

April laid out plates onto the blanket. "I like this idea. Who gets to pick teams?"

Before Leo could talk, Mikey beat him to it. "I think you and Leo should go, since he can portal you guys out of a sticky situation. Don, Raph and I can go together, since Raph can't be alone and we can hold pretty well on our own."

The blue turtle let out a sigh of relief. While he had wanted to keep an eye on his little brother, he had wanted to go with April. However, he couldn't tell if Mikey's comment had been a compliment, saying he was stronger than them unless they combined forces, or saying he was a  useless fighter. He decided not to dwell on it, knowing that he had bigger things to worry about.

"Meet back here in thirty minutes, or when you find everything on your half of the list." Raph announced.

Donnie handed Leo a torn piece of paper, keeping the other half to himself. "They shouldn't be hard to find, but I sent you pictures in case you don't know what they are." 

Leo thought that his twin was taking this whole 'work together' thing pretty well. Usually he would argue and fight his way out of doing things like this. For a moment, the blue turtle wondered if it had anything to do with how much S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. meant to him. Maybe he felt desperate. 

He was shaken from his thoughts when April started pulling him along. "Come on! We gotta get this done quick!"

Leo smiled as she started to run ahead, jogging to catch up. He looked over the list, memorizing everything on it before handing it off to April.

"This shouldn't be too hard." She commented. 

"Not unless we run into Repo." Leo joked, earning an elbow from the human.

"Don't jinx us." She scolded, but with a light tone.

Leo checked his phone for Donnie's message, but instead found a new notification from an unknown number. The payment spot. He shoved the phone into his pouch.

They searched in silence for a few minutes, Leo building up the courage to admit something and April finding half of the parts on their list.

Leo sighed and finally spoke. "I have something to tell you."

April paused her searching and looked at him worriedly. "What is it?"

"You have to promise not to tell my brothers." He said seriously.

This made April even more concerned, but nodded. "Okay, I promise."

The blue turtle let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "I may have fallen into some debt, putting me and my family in danger unless I pay it. I already talked to Hueso on how to...acquire the amount of cash I need. But in order to do that, and hear me out, I need to sell my emotions."

"WHAT!?" She'd stayed silent up until then, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. "How is that even an option?! How did this happen!"

Leo held his hands up in attempts to calm her down. "They would grow back! But apparently they're pretty valuable. I need to go to that Witch Town in the Hidden City tonight to bottle my feelings before I can go to this Dark Market to sell them."

"Who do you owe debt to!?" She yelled.

Leo hesitated. "Big Mama? The deadline is near midnight."

April pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why didn't you just ask your brothers for help?" 

"That's complicated, and there's not enough time for the arguing I know will happen if I tell them."

April sighed. "I can't stop you, I know that, so let me help you."

This surprised Leo, he'd expected more yelling.

"What?"

"I have a friend in Witch Town that owes me a favor, she can probably help with the bottling." April explained. "I just need you to keep me updated on your situation. How long will they be gone for?"

Leo took a minute to process this newfound information before answering her question. "They grow back after a couple months."

The human nodded. "I don't want to get into all the complicated details, I'm trusting you know how to handle this." 

"Yes, I've done my fair share of research. But do you think you can help keep my brothers in the dark?"

"I can do the best I can, but I think you'd be better off letting them know."

Leo sighed, know that they would inevitably figure it out. "I know, I just don't want them to worry." 

April nudged his shoulder with her own, smiling at him. "Well then, let's finish up here so we can enjoy your last hours of happiness."

Leo smiled back, eternally grateful for her help. Soon they found the rest of the items on their half of the list, running back to the meet up point before the other three turtles could return.

"We beat you!" Leo and April cheered as they saw Mikey jogging towards them, his arms full of metal. 

"No fair you had less items!" He pouted.

"Sorry Miguel, but I split the paper perfectly in half." Donnie came up behind him. "Also Raph got stuck."

"Hey!" The brother in question joined them. "Raph didn't see that trash pile!"

"Excuses excuses." Leo smirked, shaking his head in mock disappointment. 

"Hey, at least we now have a nice snack to enjoy." April laughed.

Mikey dumped the scraps in his arms onto Leo and April's pile, the metal clashing in an almost satisfying way. 

They all gathered on the scratchy blanket, sitting in a circle. Mikey passed out the wrapped sandwiches Leo had prepared. There was light conversation as they ate, a comfortable chatter of noise letting them all relax. 

Raph brought out a volleyball, having lost their football, and started a game. Mikey kept score, calling fouls whenever he felt like it. Leo and April held the top score, leaving his other two brothers to struggle to catch up.

They'd stayed there longer than planned, anxiety and dread filling Leo as he noticed the sun beginning to set. He shared a look with April, who knew enough to speak up.

"This was fun, but I gotta get going. Having a human family and all."

"Oh, yeah." Mikey said. "I guess we lost track of time, we should get going too."

"I'll pack up." Leo offered as they all began to stand up. Mikey helped him put everything away as Raph accompanied Donnie in carrying his scraped parts.

"Leo, if you wouldn't mind." Raph said.

"Yep!" The blue turtle unsheathed a katana and cut a rip in the air in front of him, letting Raph and Donnie return to the lair. Mikey followed them, carrying the rest of what they had brought with them.

"When you get free, come pick me up so we can get to Witch Town together." April told Leo before he went after his brothers.

He nodded. "See you then." His voice shook. He was even more scared than before.

"See you."

The last thing he saw was April's worried expression as he stepped into his home.

Once he closed the portal, he could hear footsteps and laughter ring throughout the lair. 

The anxiousness he felt doubled, and he could feel adrenaline start coursing through his body. Leo was shaking now, his chest tightening as breathing became increasingly difficult. He stumbled to the kitchen, keeping his composure as he faced his family. They all had agreed it was time to go to sleep, and to Leo's relief, he was able to get away quickly.

He grasped his plastron as he shut his door, the fear building inside him, making it harder to push it down. He wouldn't be able to feel fear in an hour. The thought scared him more.

Leo took a few deep breaths, pushing away all thoughts, feeling that he would change his mind. He didn't have the time for that now. He made sure his door was locked, and created another portal, this time leading to April's apartment.

She had been waiting for him, obvious to the way she sat on her bed with a bag hanging from her shoulder. 

She quickly stood up. "Let's go, you're running out of time."

Without another word, Leo made a portal to the gates of Witch Town.

"Who's this friend you have?" He asked once they entered the town's gates. They were greeted kindly, much to their surprise. 

"Her name is Gentry. She helped me with a science project a while back." April explained.

"Huh."

The human walked up to a plump lady. "Is Gentry around?"

"Why yes, she's just gone home." 

Leo looked around as she asked for directions. This part of the Hidden City wasn't much different from the rest of it. The only thing standing out was the absence of mystics, being replaced with magic. Leo didn't know how he could tell, but there was something different about the way the Yokai's hands sparked. The way colorful vines wrapped around light posts and fences. The way glowing bugs flitted around in the air. 

"Thank you again!" April's voice cut through his thoughts. "Her house is this way, come on."

The human led the way through what seemed like a maze of houses and shops. The further they ventured into the town, the more beat up and old the buildings looked. 

They finally came upon a house much smaller than all the ones around it. It had large, spiky plants growing along the frame, with purple grass surrounding the front door.

They stepped up to it, April taking the lead. She knocked on the door twice, waiting in the silence that ensued. 

After a moment, a rattling could be heard coming from behind the door, and it swung open, revealing what appeared to be a young woman with green hair and tired eyes. However, they lit up when she saw who was knocking on her door.

"Arpil!" She exclaimed. "What brings you here?"

"Hey Gentry." April said politely. "I actually need a favor."

"What for?" Her friendly expression turned to one of confusion as she looked past April and locked eyes with Leo. "Who's that?"

April pulled him forward to stand next to her. "This is Leo, Donnie's twin brother. He's in a bit of trouble and needs your help."

Leo gave a feeble smile and waved.

"What do you need?" The witch asked, still looking at Leo. 

He cleared his throat. "I have some debt I need to pay, and quickly."

"He wants to sell his emotions." April finished for him.

Gentry's eyes shot wide open, her jaw hanging slightly in shock.

"Do you know how dangerous that is?!" She gasped.

April placed a hand on her hip. "He says he does." 

Gentry seemed to hesitate. "Okay, okay. Come inside."

She stepped aside, holding the door open as the two visitors walked in past her. Leo stood awkwardly as she shut the door behind them. 

"You came here to ask me to do the extraction process." The witch said matter-of-factly.

"Do you know how?" Leo asked, his voice cracking.

Gentry nodded. "I specialized in it before it became illegal."

"Illegal?!" April yelled.

"No one ever said I was getting cash legally." Leo shrugged.

April glared at the turtle as he turned back to the young witch. "If you do this for me I'll owe you one. Any favor you might have in the future."

Gentry seemed to think about it, unsure of whether or not it was worth it to commit such a felony. Finally, she nodded again. 

"I'll do it, but I'll need to make a Bounded Oath." 

"What's that?" April was the one who asked.

"Just a precaution to make sure you follow your end of the deal." The witch raised her hand, offering for Leo to grasp it. When he did, she held tight.

"Do you swear by the life that flows through the earth that you will grant me one favor of any condition in return for this act of magic?" She chanted.

Leo watched where his green skin met her purple as a glow started spreading from their fingertips, slowly crawling up their arms. He lifted his head, looking straight at the purple haired girl. 

"I swear."

The glow started beating, as if powered by a human heart. 

"Then I swear to perform the spell you so desire." Her eyes began to glow, gaining a purple hue.

The light that encased their joined limbs grew brighter, making Leo squint his eyes. He could feel heat radiating from the glow all along the arm it wrapped around. He couldn't see it, but his markings had started to glow too. April could only stand back and watch the scene that played out before her.

Soon, the light dimmed, and Leo could feel the magic seep into his body as the deal was made. Gentry released his hand, her eyes returning to normal.

"You are now bound by oath to keep your word." She said.

Leo looked at his arm, watching it glow for a moment more before it faded away. He could feel the binding, tugging at his soul.

"Now you'll do the dark magic?" April spoke up, reminding the two of her presence. "Leo's running out of time."

"Yes, and don't worry, it's a fairly simple process." Gentry smiled warmly. "Let me go grab a few items." 

She ventured deeper into her house, leaving Leo and April to wait.

It was silent for a minute, the witch's words hanging in the air, the only noise intruding was the tapping of April's foot. Leo rubbed his magic-tainted arm.

"Hey, April?" He spoke delicately.

She turned to him. "Yeah?" 

"I just want to say thank you – for helping me." He suddenly became very interested in the floorboards, continuing to hold his arm. "I probably won't be able to feel grateful for your help once we're finished here, but I am. I just wanted to let you know."

April's hard expression turned soft, her eyes studying the turtle in front of her. 

"You're welcome." Her voice was caring, almost fragile. 

Leo started to hug himself, and when he spoke again, his voice was thick. "Please don't ditch me after this. I still need your help."

April moved to stand in front of him, grabbing his shoulders to force him to look at her.

"I'm not going anywhere." She said sincerely. "I understand what's going on, and I'm here to help."

Leo could feel his eyes start to burn as he kept eye contact with his friend. They broke away as Gentry reentered the room. She was carrying a small box that was encrusted with pink gems and a satchel that hung from her shoulder.

"Let's get started." She smirked. "Come lay down over here." 

She pulled Leo over to a table too big for the room and pushed him down to lay on it. 

"April, I would step outside if I were you." The witch said as she opened the box.

"Good luck." April sighed as she left the house.

Gentry turned back to Leo. "I'm obligated to warn you that this process has the potential to be painful."

Despite her vague warning, she moved fast. She reached into the box, pulling out a dust that fell over Leo. He felt cold, like a blanket of snow had landed on him. Maybe that's what the dust was. Leo realized he couldn't see the room anymore, a white, fuzzy screen overtaking his vision. He could hear a soft voice whispering, but he couldn't make out individual words. 

Leo felt a tug at his head and his chest. The last thing he heard before being lost to oblivion was his own screams.

Chapter Text

Hueso was waiting just outside the gates when Leo and April came through them. He was tapping his foot in what Leo could only assume was agitation. 

"There you are!" The bone man shouted when he saw them. "What took so long?"

"It took longer to get here than expected." April answered for both of them. 

Hueso sighed. "Do you have the bottles?"

"Yes, they're in the bag." Leo gestured to Gentry's satchel, his tone bland; matter-of-fact.

Hueso looked at Leo with a small frown and furrowed eyebrows. Leo recognized it as a sign of worry. 

"Let's get going then." Hueso said. "Will you be accompanying us Ms. O'Neil?"

"Yeah, I just wanna keep an eye on Leo." She said. 

"You are a very good friend." He smiled at the human. He then brought out three hooded cloaks, handing one to the two teens. "Keep these on in the Dark Market, mostly as a precaution."

Something scratched at the back of Leo's mind as he put on his own garment. "I thought you weren't coming into the Dark Market with us." 

Hueso's eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened briefly. Shock.

"I thought you might need more help dealing with illegal trades." Hueso shrugged off the hesitation and shock. 

Leo nodded, realizing this was a time he should express gratitude. "Thank you."

"Let's hurry now." April reminded them. "We don't have too much time left."

Hueso led the way through busy streets, weaving through thick crowds.

"There's a lot of people for such a late hour." April commented.

Leo only nodded, having noticed the pack of Yokai.

"It's mostly a cover for the Market." Hueso explained. "We're almost there."

Before exiting the crowd, Leo ran into something fuzzy and white, almost falling.

"Sorry!" He heard someone yell in his direction, but when he looked around, the white figure was gone. Two armored guards ran past him, but he thought nothing of the whole ordeal.

Once the three had cleared the streets, Hueso showed them to a clearing surrounded by broken down shacks. They entered one that was still being supported well enough to not collapse on top of them. Inside, a cave leading underground took up the whole floor.

"Woah." April breathed. 

"The ramp leads to the Market." Hueso said. "Keep your faces covered."

They all pulled their hoods closer to their faces. 

As they descended deeper into the earth, Leo noticed small, bioluminescent torches lining the dirt walls. On instinct, he thought that Donnie would be interested in them. Leo knew he would have smiled at the thought, but he felt no attachment to it, leaving him blank. 

A few minutes passed before they started to hear a murmur of voices deep inside the tunnel and a brighter glow than the torches nearing the end. The tunnel opened up to a large cave, the ceiling covered with what appeared to be glowing mushrooms. Tents and stands littered the ground, Yokai of all kinds roaming about. Everyone wore something to cover their face, from masks to hoods. A smell of burnt hair and rotting wood wafted through the space. Leo could see April cringe at the smell. 

"Alright, let me do the talking." Hueso said in a hushed voice. "Speak to no one, and keep your guards up."

April pulled her hood down, letting the shadows help hide her humanity. Leo did the same, though slightly unsure as to why it was necessary, he knew his judgment wasn't the best right now.

They followed the Bone Man to a large tent that sat at the edge of the market. It was fairly bland, drab colors and a faint light from the opening slit. Hueso pulled aside the tarp flaps, letting the two teens enter first. 

"Smells a lot nicer in here." April whispered to Leo, who nodded in agreement, even though he wasn't sure he could tell what smelled nice and what didn't.

Leo looked around the shop, finding bottles upon bottles of strangely colored liquids lining the shelves. There were a few tables in the center of the tent, each showing off various crystals. Aside from the products and topsiders, the place seemed empty. 

Hueso walked up to a desk near the back, ringing a bell while April and Leo checked out one of the shelves.

"Are these emotions?" April asked, tapping one of the glass bottles.

"They look like it." Leo responded, staring into the bottle the human had just touched. 

"Then why would they need more?" April questioned. "Are they even selling?"

"Maybe they just like collecting them." Leo suggested, trying to think of all the possibilities.

April looked up at the turtle with a sad expression. If he hadn't relieved himself of feelings, he probably would've made a joke to try to get April to stop worrying. Now he barely recognized that it was worry at all. Most of what Leo classified as emotions was based on past instinct and the facial expressions and body language he'd spent so much time studying. 

"Hello!" A voice sang, clearly startling the human next to him. "How may I assist you this lovely night?"

The two teenagers walked up behind the bone man, finding a Yokai that could only be a foot tall with casual clothing standing on top of the desk.

"We came hoping to sell my friend's emotions." Hueso said, keeping his voice steady even though Leo could see his bones rattling. 

The little Yokai's eyes lit up. "The Kappa? I haven't seen one of those in forever! His emotions will be a delightful addition to my collection." Their voice was raspy, on the deeper side.

"Would you be willing to share how much you'll pay for them?" Hueso asked.

"Tell me how much you need and we'll go from there." They placed a hand on their hip, a knowing smirk on their face.

Hueso pulled a piece of paper from his cloak, handing it to the shopkeeper. The Yokai raised an eyebrow when he saw what was written. 

"That's quite a bit." They nodded. "But I can make that work. It'll just cost you every bottled emotion you have, assuming it's all of them."

Hueso hesitated, but Leo couldn't afford that. He couldn't completely remember why he needed to do this. He only remembered that he was supposed to care for his family, and that this was how to keep them safe. He remembered feeling a strong attachment to the idea, but it was beginning to fade. Leo stepped up, removing the satchel from around his head and placing it in front of the Yokai.

"This is what I have."

They rushed to open the bag as if thirsty for more. They rummaged around inside before pulling out a half-filled bottle with a glowing blue liquid. The Yokai stared at it with hungry eyes.

"This will do." 

It jumped off the desk with the satchel and ran behind another tarp. Leo could see Hueso sweating, fidgeting with his hands as if afraid the Yokai wouldn't make the trade. After all, it was an illegal trading site.

The Yokai came rushing back with a burlap bag. It hopped back onto the desk and handed the bag to Leo. 

"If you want to count it go ahead, but all your cash is in there."

Leo opened the bag to look inside. April came up to him too, picking up a wad of the paper money. She looked over it for a moment before speaking up.

"I think we can trust them." 

Hueso let out a breath. "Thank you for your services."

The Yokai just smiled and nodded as the three turned to leave. Once they made it out of the tent, it was April's turn to let out a sigh of relief.

"That went way better than I thought it would." She said.

"I think they just wanted the products. With the way they reacted you'd think it's a drug." Leo commented, having put some thought into the situation.

"I guess that makes sense...if you think about it in a certain way." April shrugged. 

"Let's just get to the meet up spot before it's too late, ¿comprendes?" Hueso sighed, leading them back out of the market. 

"Sí, señor." Leo said.

Leo could agree that the trip had so far been uneventful. The trade had gone without a hitch. No pickpockets, no yelling, nothing got in their way. Maybe Yokai were just more respectable than humans. However, Leo knew that if tonight followed the constant pattern of his life, something was soon to go wrong.

"Where's the meet up spot?" April asked once they'd exited the tunnel, walking back into the crowd. 

"The prison." Leo said. "Where Raph hid the thieves last time we were all here."

"I never did hear that story." The human chuckled. 

"Can we please hurry?" Hueso begged. "I don't want to get caught in the crossfire."

Leo began to walk faster, knowing he should listen to what Hueso said. He WAS helping him after all, and he wasn't sure how to thank him other than following his orders.

This time, Leo took the lead, making the two others follow him to what looked to be a manhole cover surrounded by trees. 

"This is how we get in." He said.

"There's sewers down here?" April asked, a bit unbelieving.

"No, there are tunnels like these everywhere." Hueso explained. "They are primarily used by thieves and gangs."

"This is the one Raph used." Leo finished.

He then knelt down, sliding his fingers under the cover. He slid the cover off the hole it was hiding, revealing a ladder that descended deeper into the ground than necessary.

Leo let go of the metal cover before heading down the hole first, continuing to lead the way. 

The tunnel was dark once they reached the bottom. Hueso — being the last to enter — resealed the opening. The bone man took out a lighter from his pocket, flicking it on. Even with the minimal light, Leo could tell that the space was small, making him wonder how Raph had fit down there. He knew his older brother was severely uncomfortable in small spaces. Maybe only the thieves he'd been with had used it. Either way, they had a bit of a walk ahead of them.

Hueso had taken the lead once more, using his lighter to guide the way. Leo counted his steps, reaching 364 before Hueso stopped walking, causing Leo to bump into him, and April to bump into Leo. 

"What's the hold-up?" She asked, a hint of annoyance creeping into her voice. 

Leo had never been able to focus that directly on something, but now that he'd been shaken from his counting, he could see that they'd reached another ladder, this one leading up.

"We're at the end of the tunnel." He informed the human.

Hueso was about to begin climbing when Leo grabbed the Bone Man's shoulder. 

"I need to go up alone." He said. He couldn't explain why, but something inside him wouldn't let these people get hurt. He knew they were friends, he remembered considering Hueso his family. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't question it once. "Just stay down here, I'll be right back."

"Are you sure?" April asked, not wanting to leave the emotionally challenged turtle alone.

"I'll be fine." He responded, something he knew he used to say in situations like this.

Without another word, he moved past Hueso and began to climb, the bag of cash clenched tightly in one hand. Leo had to mentally prepare himself for the encounter with Big Mama's lackeys. He was aware that he was lacking the ability to feel emotion, but he didn't know if he could replicate the facial expressions and body language to fool, well, anyone.

He made it to the top, pushing open the hatch door that resided in the room's floor. When he lifted his head out of the opening in the ground, he found the space to be empty. Leo figured he must be early.

He picked himself up out of the hole, closing the hatch behind him. He checked the time — only a few minutes early. Big Mama must like her lackeys being punctual. 

Leo didn't have much time to think and plan for the interaction before a door creaked open. The blue turtle turned to face the noise.

In the doorway was an owl Yokai he recognized as one of Big Mama's right hands. Leo quickly found out that he wasn't alone. Behind the large Yokai was the fox Leo had spoken to with his dad. Leo was smart enough — even without gut feelings — to know that he wasn't in the best situation.

He stayed silent as the two Yokai in front of him moved away from the door, revealing the one person he hadn't planned on seeing. 

Big Mama herself. Luckily using the cloaking broach. 

Leo forced his eyes to widen, knowing that the spider Yokai would be expecting him to be shocked that she came along. 

"Why hello, turtley boo." She wiggle her fingers at Leo, her voice sickeningly sweet.

Leo grinned, already a master at faking confidence. "Good of you to join us." 

"Yes, let's take a walk, shall we?" Big Mama extended an arm, walking towards Leo and grabbing him by the shoulders. 

"Where are we going?" Leo did his best to slip in a sound of fear in his voice. It's all an act, just act. 

"Just follow me." She said as she led the turtle out the door she had just entered through. 

"Now," the rich Yokai started as they walked down an empty hallway, her right hands just behind them, "I have reason to believe you have brought my money."

Leo nodded and he handed her the bag. "I do." 

The woman had a glint in her eyes. "Excellent. You wouldn't mind if we counted it, would you?"

They entered a space with prison cells, each one holding two or three Yokai. Leo shook his head. "Of course not, count away." 

Big Mama just smiled at him, and Leo had a feeling that's not all she wanted. She led him to a cell that was almost virtually empty, except for what appeared to be a rabbit yokai sitting solemnly on a mattress. 

They stopped in front of the rabbit's cell, making him look up with what Leo could tell was confusion. He tried to mimic the rabbit's expression. Big Mama continued to smile at Leo as she snapped her fingers and pointed to the cell lock. Her lackeys moved towards it, the owl unlocking the door and the fox opening it, gesturing for Leo to enter. 

The broached yokai stood behind him and grabbed his shoulders. "Just to make sure you don't riddly run away." 

She then pushed the turtle into the cell, nearly running into the rabbit, who scooted out of the way. 

The door banged shut behind him as he turned back to face them. He furrowed his eyebrows and did his best to scowl. Leo leaped to the bars, grabbing onto them.

"Let me out!" He tried yelling, but he struggled to put feeling into it.

Lucky for him, the Spider didn't notice, nor did she respond. All she did was toss the bag to the fox, ordering him to start counting. He let out a sigh and sauntered back towards the mattress, plopping down next to the rabbit. 

"What happened?" The rabbit asked hesitantly. 

Leo looked over at the new yokai. He raised an eyebrow, assuming this was the appropriate time.

"I fell into debt, she's being picky." He paused. "How'd you get in here?"

"Oh, uh, I'm kind of new to the Hidden City." The rabbit shrugged with what Leo could tell was an embarrassed smile. "Apparently it's illegal to own unregistered mystic weapons. Which doesn't make any sense, as what I own isn't even really a weapon, and I don't know if it's actually mystic."

Leo noticed the rabbit's rambling, and knew that if he hadn't sold those damn emotions earlier, he would've laughed. The best he could do was give the white rabbit a smile. He could sense his innocence from where he sat, and thought about helping the young yokai escape with him. That was something the old Leo would do, right?

"What's your name?" The turtle asked. 

"Yuichi Usagi." He said proudly. "But my friends call me Usagi."

Leo offered a hand. "I'm Leonardo, but just Leo is fine." 

Usagi met his hand, shaking it gently. The rabbit smiled, and Leo did his best to return it.

"This counting is gonna take awhile." The turtle said. "Which gives us time."

"Time for what?" Usagi tilted his, making his ears flop over. 

"Was your weapon confiscated?" Leo avoided the question.

"Yeah, the guards took it when they caught me." 

Something hit the turtle. "You're the one who ran into me earlier."

The rabbit's ears stood up in surprise as his eyes widened before shrinking in on himself. "Oh, yeah, my bad."

"Don't worry about it." Leo waved his hand. "If I know Big Mama, and I do, she's gonna leave me here. Lucky for you, I have a registered mystic weapon that can get us out of here and friends waiting for me to leave."

The words flowed out of his mouth like a second language that he'd developed over time with practice. He thought he sounded legit.

"How?" The white rabbit asked. "This is the most secure prison I've ever been locked in."

"Yeah well, this is the only prison I've ever been locked in." Leo challenged, another thing that was second nature. "Once Big Mama leaves, we're gonna have to move fast."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Usagi leaned away, squinting his eyes in suspicion. "Why are you even trying to help me escape?"

Leo paused, thinking through the different possible answers he could supply. He could tell that the rabbit had a habit of trusting people so quickly, given that he'd been rambling moments earlier. He must be working on that. Leo had momentarily forgotten about the cloak he was still wearing, and took it off to try to seem like less of a threat.

"You seem like the kind of person I'd like." Leo went with. "Besides, it's the kind of thing I do."

Leo gave his signature smirk, watching as Usagi shook off his shock.

"Okay." He said. "But how are we getting out of here?"

Leo turned back to the tricky spider yokai just outside the cell. "Just follow me."

At that moment, Big Mama turned back towards Leo. "Well, turtly boo, you did come through with all my teetily treasure. I suppose you will not be dying today."

Leo stood up and walked back over to the bars. "Now you'll let me out, right?" He was getting good at this acting thing, wasn't he?

Big Mama put a finger on her chin in faux thought. "Hmm, no."

She swiftly turned away and clapped her hands, signaling her right hands of their departure.

Leo rattled the cell bars for extra dramatics and growled. When Big Mama was far enough away, he turned back to the rabbit. Leo unsheathed his katana.

"Let's go." He said, reaching his free hand out to Usagi. "We won't have much time once I sound the alarms."

Usagi took his hand. "What alarms?"

"These alarms." Leo whipped his sword through the air, imagining the weapons vault. As soon as the portal appeared, a siren blasted throughout the prison, lights painting everything in red.

Leo jumped into his portal, pulling a yelling Usagi along with him. 

They emerged from the portal into a room filled with sharp knives and swords. The siren still in full effect. Leo closed the blue rip in space and let go of Usagi's hand. 

"Grab your weapon, quickly." Leo instructed.

Usagi stumbled into action, nearly falling before scooping himself back up. Leo watched as he ran to a shelf, reaching up to the top. When he came back, he held a yo-yo in his hand. 

Leo didn't know what he had been expecting, but it wasn't that. However, he knew he didn't have the time to think it over. He swung his sword once more.

"No time to lose, hop in." 

Usagi hesitated for a moment, and a moment was all it took. 

The doors to the confiscation room burst open, two large, heavily armored yokai standing in the entrance. Each of them had a spiked bat ready for whacking.

"GO!" Leo yelled over the alarms. 

This time, Usagi didn't wait another second before diving headfirst into the portal. Just as the guards started charging at him, Leo hopped through behind the rabbit, one of the yokai swinging their club at him.

As soon as Leo exited the portal back into the hide-out room, he closed it, but not before getting nicked by the bat, portal-chopping it in the process. 

Leo didn't have time to look at the damage, he immediately moved Usagi out of the way and opened the hatch in the floor. 

"Closed it on your way down." He told Usagi as he jumped down, grabbing the ladder as he started to slide down it. He heard the slam of the hatch closing and a grunt as Usagi joined him in hurrying down the chute. 

Leo looked downward, and once he could see the faint light of Señor Hueso's lighter, he yelled. "RUN!"

"What, why!?" April yelled back. 

"What happened? Why were the alarms set off!" Hueso joined her. 

He landed in front of his friends. "Just GO!" 

Leo began to push the two forward, back to where they had come from. He looked behind him, finding Usagi looking at him with confusion, but following nonetheless.

"Let's save the talking until we're out of here." 

A few moments after they started running, they heard a blast not too far above them. They found the trap-door. 

"They're following us, hurry!" Leo commanded. 

The tunnel shook as they ran, and looking back past Usagi, Leo could see more guards coming after them in the distance.

If Leo still had his emotions, he knew he would be panicking right now. But he wasn't, he kept a cool head and pushed forward, reaching the end in no time.

"Pepino, what did you do?" Hueso cried as April began to rush up the ladder, the bone man right on her tail. 

"Can't this wait?" Leo started climbing as well, looking down to make sure the rabbit was still following them.

Another blast erupted behind them, once again shaking the tunnel. Still looking down, Leo watched as Usagi slipped, beginning to fall back down. Leo quickly reacted, shooting his hand out to grab Usagi's extended arm. The rabbit had his eyes shut tightly, and he dangled there for a moment before opening them and looking up at his savior.

Usagi took hold of the ladder again and they resumed climbing.

"Thank you." He breathed. 

"Don't mention it." Leo responded.

They made it to the top in record time, April helping Leo out of the hole, and Leo pulling Usagi up with him.

"Who is that?" April almost screamed as they started running again.

"Hi! I'm Usagi!" The rabbit waved at her.

"We can do introductions once we've gained distance between us and the guys who are after us!" Leo yelled. "I need to portal out of here, quick!"

"We can go to my restaurant!" Hueso suggested, and Leo knew they didn't have time to argue. He ran ahead of the group, cutting the air with his katana, creating hopefully the last portal of the night. 

The turtle stood by as everyone jumped through, making sure they all made it. This time, he hesitated to follow them, watching as the guards exploded from the trap-door. That entrance was gone for good. Without another thought, Leo dove into his portal, shutting it as soon as he was through.

Chapter Text

Leo paused to catch his breath, placing a hand on his plastron, noticing that the others were doing the same. April was bent over, her hands on her knees so he couldn't see her face, breathing as deeply as she could. Hueso was leaning against his kitchen counter, his eyebrows scrunched up. Usagi had slid down the wall, his head back and eyes closed.

No one spoke, the only sound being the heavy breathing that filled the restaurant's kitchen. After a moment, April looked up at Leo, and Leo looked back. April's eyes drifted to his arm, widening them as they caught on something.

"Oh my god." She gasped, both for air and what Leo recognized as shock. "Leo, your arm."

Leo lifted his right arm to get a better look at it, and found that it was mostly covered in blood. The cut was directly in-between his shoulder and elbow, gushing more blood than he knew was medically okay. He realized he could feel it, he knew that what he was feeling was pain. Looking at his face, you would think he didn't even realize it was there. 

Leo looked back at April. "It hurts." He said, gulping down more air. "A lot, actually."

"I'll get the first-aid kit." Hueso offered, his breathing having leveled out enough. 

As the bone man exited the kitchen in search for bandages, April stood straight again. She gently grabbed Leo's bloody arm and led him to a sink. Usagi got back on his feet and followed, seemingly wanting to help.

April turned on the tap, helping Leo lean into the sink so his arm would fall under the running water. 

"It hurts." He said again, watching the blood turn the water pink as it cleaned his limb. "It hurts."

Leo only recognized that he felt the pain. He could feel the sting of water running into his wound. But he wouldn't cry, wouldn't wince, wouldn't react. He only knew that it hurt.

"I know it hurts." April let out a long breath. "But we need to get it washed up." She then turned to Usagi. "Rabbit boy, find some clean towels would ya?" 

Usagi jumped into action, scouring the drawers and cabinets for the desired item. April continued to hold Leo's arm under the now clear water until the rabbit came back with a red towel.

"Appropriate." Leo nodded as April took the towel from Usagi, quickly removing Leo's arm from the sink and replacing the water with the towel to continue to staunch the blood flow. Usagi closed off the water from behind the human as Hueso rejoined them.

"Has the blood stopped?" He asked.

"Almost." April answered. "I just started putting pressure on it."

"Let's give it a minute then." The Bone man sighed. "We need to check how deep it is in case he needs stitches."

The human nodded. "That means we have time for an explanation."

"Where do you want me to start?" Leo asked, staring at his arm.

"How about when you spoke to Big Mama?" Hueso prompted. 

Leo began to explain what had happened during his time in the prison. He told them about how the spider yokai took him on a short walk through the prison, and locked him in the same cell as the rabbit. He told them about how he decided to help Usagi escape with him once Big Mama had ditched him. He explained why they had portaled into the weapons room, setting off the alarms. Finally, he told them how before portaling back out of the weapons room, the guard had swung and hit him. The story ended when April and Hueso had once again entered it.

"Hold on." April gave what Leo remembered to be an exasperated chuckle. "You're telling me, that you risked your life, for this guy's yo-yo?"

"Well- hey, it's not just a yo-yo." Usagi defended himself. "It's a magical tool capable of tracking down anything I focus on and trapping yokai spirits."

"The Hidden City is where yokai live." April deadpanned.

The rabbit's eyes widened dramatically, his smile becoming one of embarrassment as his fur took on a pinkish tint. "That- that explains a lot, actually."

"Señor Hueso here is a yokai." Leo said as the bone man took April's hand and slowly removed the towel, showing that the blood had stopped. "But if we ever come across another evil yokai, we'll hit you up."

That was something he'd say. He remembered making jokes like that before.

"Ay Pepino, we're gonna have to stitch this closed." Hueso said in an apologetic tone upon inspecting the cut.

Leo only nodded, signaling he'd heard what the bone man had said.

"I can stitch it!" Usagi volunteered. "I used to have to for all my friends all the time back where I'm from. I've gotten pretty good at it."

April left Hueso to disinfect Leo's wound and stood close to the white rabbit. "How do we know we can trust you?" 

"We can trust him." Leo said, still staring at his arm.

April turned towards the turtle. "Are you really the best judge of character right now?!" 

Leo lifted his head, meeting April's eyes. He could tell she was aggravated by the way she was almost yelling and shooting daggers at everything she looked at. 

"Yes." Leo said. "The rabbit himself is a bit too trusting. He's okay."

"Uh, thank you?" Usagi shrugged. "I'm taking that as a good thing."

"I agree with Leonardo." Hueso interjected and he threw away the disinfectant wipes he'd just used. "The rabbit is somewhat naive."

Usagi crossed his arms. "Now that's not a good thing." 

"Alright! Alright." April held her hands up in the way one would surrender, but seemingly more forceful. "But I'm keeping my eyes on you."

"I promise I'm not a threat." Usagi put a hand on his heart. Then he added, "Unless you are."

"We're not." Hueso threaded a needle. "But if you could stitch him up, that would be great. I do not have enough practice."

"I can do it myself." Leo interjected, another thing he remembered doing before.

"Yeah no." April shut him down immediately, causing Leo to feign a sigh. "Usagi?"

"Of course!" Usagi smiled, his eyes seeming to shine in the dim light of the kitchen. He took the threaded needle from the bone man and stood in front of the turtle. "You don't want anything to numb your arm?"

Even before Leo couldn't react to feeling pain he would've denied being deprived of sensation. However, he would usually have a numbing serum injected into his wounds by Donnie despite his objections. Logically, he didn't have time for it right now, as he knew his youngest brother would be waking up sooner rather than later.

"No." He said. "Just go as fast as you can."

Usagi hesitated before beginning the medical process. "Okay."

Leo felt the needle pierce his skin. He winced — mostly for show — as the thread moved through his cut. The rabbit's furry hands felt soft to his touch as they wove the needle in and out, tying graceful knots. Meanwhile, April and Hueso cleaned up the excess blood Leo had spilled onto the floor. They worked in a comforting silence, taking the time to relax after the rushed events of the past hour. 

"There." Usagi sighed as he finished the last stitch. "Do you guys have any gauze?"

"There should be some in the kit." Señor Hueso pointed.

As the rabbit walked towards the white box on the counter, Leo looked over the cut. He had received eleven stitches, all of them neat and tidy. He lifted his left hand and poked at it, sending pain shooting through his nerves. The more pressure he applied to the newly stitched cut, the greater the pain he felt. The feeling wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't pleasant either.

Leo dropped his hand as Usagi came back. He gently but firmly wrapped the turtle's arm in the gauze. 

"How are you gonna hide that from your brothers?" April asked, hands on her hips. 

"Why do you need to hide this from your brothers?" Usagi questioned as he tied off the bandage. 

"They don't know about my situation." Leo said blankly, lifting his arm up and down, testing its mobility.

"What!? Why not tell them?!" Usagi's voice rose in volume, indicating anger, or maybe shock. Leo wasn't really sure which one it was. 

"I don't want them to worry." That was something Leo remembered telling himself. "They don't need to get involved."

"They're gonna get involved sooner or later." April added with a sigh, but if it was of disappointment or general tiredness, Leo couldn't tell.

"Okay, it's getting early, we should get going." Leo dismissed the subject, something he was already good at.

"What are we gonna do with rabbit boy?" April asked, jerking her thumb in his direction. 

"I would offer to let you stay at my place." Leo started, cause that was the right thing to do. "But again, they think I'm sleeping right now."

"He can stay here." Hueso offered, finally rejoining the conversation. "For now. I want him out as soon as possible."

Leo put on a smile. "Don't worry about him, he's just super protective of his kitchen." It was a fact, something both him and Mikey had learned the hard way.

"Alright." Usagi nodded. "Will I be seeing you again?"

"I'd be surprised if you didn't." Hueso chuckled. "Pepino here comes in every week."

"My family survives mostly off of pizza." Leo explained. "But yeah don't worry, I won't leave you hanging."

The rabbit seemed to deflate, and Leo noticed his shoulders untensed as a small smile creeped upon his face. 

April stood next to the turtle. "So can you take me home now?"

"Yep, let's go." Leo grabbed his katana, ripping another hole through space. "If you don't make it just text me."

"See y'all tomorrow." April waved as she walked through the portal.

"Chao, Pepino." Señor Hueso dismissed, a soft look in his eyes.

Leo opened another portal as April's closed, waving goodbye as he left the restaurant.

When he entered his room, he could hear soft sizzling coming from the direction of the kitchen. He hadn't realized it was that early. 

Despite not having slept for two days now, Leo didn't feel tired. However, he noticed that his eyes felt heavy and his muscles were sore from exertion. He could accept that he needed to sit down and rest a little, but he didn't see the need to sleep. He figured that if he was awake now, he might as well join his little brother. He quickly grabbed his blue hoodie, slipping it on to hide the bandage.

As Leo left his room, he thought to himself about how he should respond to whatever Mikey would say to him. He remembered wanting to keep an eye on him, since he had seemed tired the day before. Leo came to the conclusion that if he were to keep his lack of feeling from his feelings brother, he had to feign worry, but also keep a joking manner.

Walking down the hall and into the kitchen, Leo had the weird feeling he'd done this before.

When he entered the room, he found his little brother flipping pancakes on a frying pan. When he turned, Leo could see a smile playing on his face. The smile seemed to reach Mikey's eyes, and Leo took this as a sign that he was happy. 

Mikey caught his eye. "Oh! Morning Leo! You're up early again, everything okay?"

Leo returned his brother's smile as best he could. "Yeah! I'm fine, sorry if I worried you. I just woke up randomly and couldn't go back to sleep."

The lie rolled off his tongue with ease, barely giving it a thought. It seemed to satisfy Mikey — as far as Leo could tell.

"Okay, well, if you could set the table with toppings for the pancakes that'd be great." 

Without another word, Leo moved to find all the things he knew his brothers liked to top their pancakes with as Mikey turned back to laying more batter on the pan. As they worked on their separate tasks, Leo studied Mikey a bit more. His mask was a bit dirty, but if that was dirt or paint, Leo was too far away to tell. He stood taller than he did yesterday, but noticeably slouched and his eyes stayed half closed as he worked. Leo concluded that his littlest brother was still tired, but doing much better.

"Did you get good sleep last night?" Leo asked, remembering their conversation the morning before.

"Yeah, actually." Mikey continued to smile. "I think talking really helped. I know I always have you guys talk to me, but I guess I just didn't think I'd also need to talk sometimes."

Leo softened his smile. "Well, that's what I'm here for. You can always talk to me about anything."

That's something Leo would say, right? He remembered caring about how his brothers were feeling. He remembered wanting to help them. If he was gonna keep up this facade, he was gonna have to do a lot of remembering. Why did he wanna keep up this facade? So his family wouldn't find out that he had put them in danger. Again.

The turtles shared a smile before Leo sat down and Mikey continued with breakfast.

Leo took a second to think, remembering his promise to help Donnie. He wondered when his twin would ask for help, since he didn't exactly know if Donnie would see through his play.

"Hey." Mikey pulled him from his thoughts. When he looked up, he found Mikey leaning on the table across from him so their eyes were level. "Are you sure you're okay? You look really tired."

Leo looked into his little brother's eyes. In them, he found what he realized to be worry and genuine concern. For a moment, Leo thought about telling Mikey what he'd done, but that moment quickly passed as he remembered why he hadn't told any of his brothers in the first place. 

Leo just put on a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just been...stressful lately." He struggled to find the appropriate word for his situation, having had to quickly run a list of emotions and what they meant.

"What have you been stressing about?" Mikey seemed to pry.

Leo was about to dig himself a hole he couldn't climb out of, and he knew it. He let out a sigh and started fidgeting with his hands, setting up the act.

 "Just...growing up." He looked away from Mikey and to his hands. "Time just goes by so quickly these days, and I haven't been...appreciating the time I have as much as I should. I guess subconsciously, I've been staying up later and waking up earlier to get back some of that time."

Maybe the Leo before had felt like that, so it was a plausible excuse, it was believable. The only problem with it, was that it was believable. 

"Oh my gosh, Leo." Mikey's eyes were wide, as if taken aback. "I had no idea you felt this way."

"It's okay, I can deal with it." Leo tried to brush off the conversation, knowing he didn't have the emotional capacity to maintain his mask. "I just don't wanna miss out anymore."

Mikey's scrunched brow softened and a small smile worked its way into his face. "Well, you can always start helping me with breakfast every morning if you want."

Leo did his best to mimic Mikey's smile. "I'd like that a lot."

Mikey's smile grew, reaching his eyes. He pushed himself off the counter, standing straight once more. 

It was at that moment when Raph came through the door. Leo turned to greet him like he normally would, noticing that his older brother looked tired, but from physical excursion rather than lack of sleep.

"Morning Raph!" Leo smiled. "You trained this morning?"

Raph took the seat next to the blue turtle, sighing as he wiped his forehead with his arm. "Yep, hope I didn't bother you guys."

"Don't worry, I couldn't tell, I dunno about Don though." That was a Leo joke, he thought.

Raph chuckled. "I guess we'll see if he joins us."

No one spoke as Mikey finished the cooking part of breakfast, setting a stack of pancakes in the middle of the table. He sat where he had the day before. In the quiet, Leo thought about patching up any holes in his story, having to keep them all in order.

"Hey, maybe I could train with you one of these days?" He asked Raph.

"You? Train?"  A voice called from behind him, sounding what Leo could place as flabbergasted. Donnie came around Leo's vision, coming up to him and bringing a hand to his forehead. "Are you ill?"

Leo forced a laugh. "I'm fine." He shared a knowing look with Mikey, and the orange one gave him a smile. "I just figured I should stop slacking off."

Donnie squinted down at him, not quite accepting the excuse, but not pushing it further. "Interesting."

Donnie joined them around the counter as Raph started to pile pancakes on his own plate. Leo realized he didn't feel hungry, only a small sense that his stomach was empty. He wouldn't feel relief from eating, but he knew he had to anyway, both to keep up appearances and that fact that it was a means of survival.

A normal enough conversation ensued, Leo jumping in wherever he thought he might have the day before. He caught Donnie staring at him several times, his fake eyebrows lowered in what had to be confusion. But every time Leo met his eyes, Donnie returned to the conversation incredibly smoothly. Donnie wasn't known for being the best liar, and while technically he wasn't lying, Leo knew something was different.

"Anyways." Mikey said, breaking Leo from his observations. "I'll be going out soon for groceries, does anyone wanna come with me?"

Mikey looked at Leo specifically, but he knew the question was open to anyone. Before Leo could volunteer, Raph spoke up.

"I'll come, I need to get a few things too." 

"I need Leo for something." Donnie didn't look up from his empty plate. "So we'll just be here."

"Do you think you could get some supplies for the med bay?" Leo asked, recognizing their need to restock. "I'll text you a list."

"Yep! If you wouldn't mind cleaning up again." Mikey smiled, a strange spark in his eyes. 

Leo tried to mirror his expression. "Already done."

"Thanks!" Mikey stood, his chair rubbing against the floor as it was pushed back. "Let's go Raph."

"See you guys!" Raph called as the two exited the room, leaving Leo to pick up plates and Donnie to put away the condiments.

"You know you don't have to help, right?" Leo looked over at his twin. That was something he'd say, right? 

"I know." Donnie responded without stopping his work. "I just want you to be done faster. I'll wash while you dry and put away."

This wasn't something Donnie did often, so Leo took it as a sign that he needed to act surprised. 

"Oh! Okay, thank you." He made room for Donnie at the sink, making sure he was staring at Donnie with wide eyes. 

Leo wiped down the table of any residual syrup and crumbs as his purple brother got started on the dishes. They worked in mostly silence — aside from the running water and clink of plates — as Leo began to dry the dishes. The movement pained his arm, but he didn't slip up. 

He was doing this to keep up appearances, he didn't necessarily feel like he had to do the work. There was no motivation or determination behind anything he did, just a sense that if he didn't, his brothers would find out about his problems. It was getting harder to remember why he didn't want them to find out. All he remembered was constantly telling himself that they couldn't. 

"So." Donnie broke the silence between them. "Do you think you could help me with the coding now?"

The coding, he'd almost forgotten. Leo had promised Donnie that he would help with rebuilding S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. How would he act during this confrontation? Happy? Surprised? Excited? Maybe even all three. 

Leo looked up at Don, raising a brow and putting on a smile. "Of course! You wanna do that once we're done here?"

"If you have nothing else to do, yes." Donnie quickly glanced at Leo.

Leo nodded, the smile still tugging at his lips. He was beginning to notice just how much work it took to smile, it was easier to maintain a neutral look. But if he did, he'd be caught in no time. Leo had always used a mask to hide what he was really feeling. Now he was using a mask to hide what he wasn't. 

As the two turtles finished up with the cleaning, Leo mentally prepared himself for all the fake smiles and determination he'd have to provide. 

"Okay, let's go." Donnie dried his hands, leading Leo to his lab to begin their work.

Chapter Text

"Do you see anything?"

"Not yet, I didn't edit this part."

Leo continued to scan S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.'s code, looking for the pieces he had tweaked.

"And this is the original code?" Leo asked.

"Yes, it's an exact copy of the code he was programmed with before I revealed him to you all." Donnie explained. 

"Well there's your problem." Leo gave his twin a smirk, something he knew he did often. "You originally programmed him to be like your number one supporter. After I changed the code, you set it to be more of a helper, and somehow gave him a personality."

"He still had residuals of your code." Donnie challenged. "That's why he spoke like a...just the way he did." 

Leo stopped scrolling through the code, clicking a line to edit. 

"Then we need to change this." He typed away, replacing Donnie's code.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Donnie seemed to whine.

"I've done it before and it worked fine." Leo shrugged.

"You replaced me." The softshell deadpanned.

"Technically, you replaced yourself." Leo looked down to where Donnie was sitting. Leo himself stood beside him, leaning over the desk as he watched the computer. "And you almost destroyed the lair."

"No, that part was all you." 

The sibling bickering seemed to come easy to Leo, spitting out words without thinking them through. He must have done this everyday since they could talk, given that it didn't take much to make a comeback. All Leo had to do was add feeling into his voice, so he didn't sound robotic. It was a lot more challenging than it sounded.

"Hey." Leo changed the subject. "Do you think his personality had anything to do with your ninpo?"

Donnie raised a false eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

Leo began to think out loud. "Well, since your ninpo is tech based, maybe when you first built him, you leaked power into it. Since we hadn't had the strongest grasp on our abilities yet, you did it unknowingly. So now that you do know how to use your ninpo, you can try to give S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. some of it in a controlled manner."

When Leo finished speaking, Donnie looked at him with wide eyes, and blinked.

"Are you sure you're not ill?" It didn't sound like a question.

"Yeah, why?" 

"That's a really good idea." Donnie continued to stare at the blue turtle, squinting his eyes. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Leo tried to sound worried, or at least something similar.

Donnie took a second before answering. "Nothing science can't answer."

"Well, anyways." Leo once again moved to a different subject. "Do you want to finish changing the code before trying the ninpo trick?" 

"Yeah." Donnie said, his gaze drifting back towards the computer screen. "With this new insight, it shouldn't take too long. Just find the code you changed before."

"Yes sir." 

What Donnie meant by 'it shouldn't take too long,' was that it wouldn't take all week. What it did take was all day. Mikey and Raph had returned long before the twins had finished. Donnie had snapped at them to get out of his lab when they came to check on them. Mikey brought them lunch — and eventually dinner — but it went pretty much uneaten. Only Donnie had taken a few bites of the food that had been prepared for them. Leo hadn't felt hungry, and he pushed down the thought that he didn't know what hunger felt like anymore. He just kept working alongside his brother, taking care to say the right things at the right time. 

By the time they had finally gone through all the code three times, Leo couldn't stop himself from yawning, and noticed Donnie was faring the same.

"Okay." Donnie said. "I think that's good, if not perfect."

"So do you wanna try infusing the machine with ninpo now?" Leo asked. "Or wait for tomorrow?"

"I think it is tomorrow." Donnie looked down at his phone, presumably checking the time. "We should get some sleep. Besides, using mystics is easier when we're rested."

Leo nodded. "Right."

Leo couldn't say he was tired. All he felt was the soreness of his eyes and the growing ache of overused muscle. He recognized this as fatigue. Some part of him knew he needed sleep, and prolonged neglect of rest would harm him both physically and mentally. The other part of him didn't find it necessary. If he wasn't tired, he didn't need to sleep. The last part of him knew that Mikey would be on his back about why he had larger bags under his eyes and why he seemed so...tired.

"Okay." Leo agreed. "I'll see you whenever we wake up."

"Yeah." Donnie stood up and grabbed Leo's arm. "Thank you, for helping me."

Leo recognized the pain shooting up his arm where Donnie touched him. What he didn't recognize was the sincerity in Donnie's voice. All he knew was the proper response. 

Leo smiled. "Anytime!" 

Donnie's fake eyebrows once again scrunched up, making a face that would usually correlate with worry or confusion.

Donnie let go of his arm, letting Leo leave without another word. 

By the time Leo made it back to his room, he noticed that his eyes burned and that he couldn't grasp onto a thought very well. He knew that this meant he should sleep, that it would damage his body if he didn't. He had nothing against sleeping, but he also didn't feel like he had to. However, he couldn't think of anything else to do with his time. It was just past the middle of the night, and physically, he needed sleep. 

Leo gave into what his body seemed to want, since he couldn't want anything himself. He stumbled over to his bed, falling onto the soft mattress. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was unconscious.

Leo sat in a white room, the chair beneath him made of an old wood. From what he could tell, there were no windows or doors. He was trapped in a box.

He stood, the chair falling away until it was as if it had never been there. Leo walked to one of the four walls, placing a hand on it. Where his skin met the flat surface, it turned black, and slowly it began spreading along the wall. 

The blue turtle stepped back, the dark pigment encasing his hand, stopping once it reached his forearm. But it hadn't stopped growing along the wall. 

Leo watched as the black crawled along the ceiling above him and the walls surrounding him. The room was losing its light, growing dimmer and dimmer as the darkness began making its way toward him, snaking along the floor. 

Once it reached his feet, it stopped, leaving Leo blind in the darkness. He could feel his hand begin to burn — the one that had been tainted. The burning spread to the middle of his forearm, just where he knew the black had stopped. 

Leo's limb burned hotter and hotter, so hot it started to glow. The blue turtle couldn't do anything but watch as the light took on an unnatural brightness, forcing him to squint. It engulfed Leo, and when he finally closed his eyes, they opened.

Leo blinked, the ceiling above him the same dark color it has always been. He realized he was laying on his back, different from how he fell asleep.

Sitting up, he rubbed his sticky eyes with his right hand. Bringing it down, he found that it was stained black, just like his dream. When he rolled up his sleeve, he confirmed the thought that the black was still on his arm as well.

His family would notice this if he didn't do something.

For lack of a better idea, Leo pulled down his hoodie sleeve and got up from his bed. He made his way to the bathroom without running into any of his brothers. What time was it?

Leo stuck his hand under the sink, turning on the water. Slowly, despite previous thinking, the black began to wash away. He rubbed his arm, watching as the skin where the black had been was left a paler green than before. Leo didn't think anyone would notice, as long as he didn't bring any attention to it. 

He dried his hands, staring at his right hand. What did this mean? Even Leo knew that this wasn't normal. He couldn't tell if the pale skin was scarring, or if the black had taken the color. It didn't feel any different, he was able to move his hand regularly too. 

Sticking the hand into his pocket, he found his phone. He pulled it out to check the time, learning that he had missed breakfast and lunch. Which meant he hadn't been able to keep his word about cooking with Mikey in the morning. He also learned that April had spammed him. She seemed....what was the emotion? Worried. 

Leaving the bathroom, Leo let April know that he was still alive and that he'd helped Donnie all day and night. That all he'd been doing when she messaged him was sleeping. Sleeping for a lot longer than he'd thought he would. However, Leo didn't tell her about what happened to his hand. He kept that to himself, though he wasn't sure why, it just seemed like something the old him would do. And he was trying to act like the old him, right? This is what he had wanted, right? He thought so at least, with the given knowledge his memories provided him. 

He shoved his phone back into the pocket, leaving his hand inside as well. He entered what they called their living room, finding their dad's chair empty. That wasn't something that happened often.

Leo walked back to Donnie's room, and when he found his twin still asleep, he decided to leave him alone. He didn't know where his other brother's were, and the lair was quieter than usual. Leo thought that maybe he'd find Raph in the training room.

He was right. As Leo approached the dojo, the sound of grunting and chains grew louder. Looking inside, he saw Raph using the punching bag that was chained to the ceiling. His back was to Leo.

The blue turtle walked up behind his big brother. His steps were unintentionally silent.

"Hey, Raph." 

The snapping turtle jumped and spun around, his fists raised for combat. When he looked down and noticed Leo, he lowered his arms and stood straighter. 

"Holy crap, Leo." Raph's eyes were wider than usual. "You scared Raph."

A smile, that's what he needed to do right now. Maybe a small chuckle too. Leo did his best on both accounts. The laugh sounded real enough to his own ears.

"Sorry big brother." He continued to smile. "Do you know where dad is?"

"Mikey took him to try to bond with Barry." Raph shook his head. He turned back to Leo. "How was your coma?"

Leo simulated an annoyed look, rolling his eyes for added dramatics. "I stayed up all night helping Donnie, so it's fine."

He should probably text Mikey too, letting him know he was sorry for not making breakfast with him like he said he would. At least, he thought that was the right thing to do. 

Raph chuckled. "I'm assuming Donnie is still asleep then?"

"Crazy right?" Leo tried, seeming to remember that Donnie would go forever without sleeping when he was working on an important project. "Once in a lifetime occurrence."

"Yeah." Raph said. "I'm glad he's sleeping though."

Leo nodded. "Me too."

That was the right thing to say, wasn't it?

"Anyway," Raph started, "would you wanna train with Raph? I'm almost done so it shouldn't take long."

Leo thought that saying no would be the best course of action, but thinking back to the day before, he realized he was wrong. He'd only refuse because of his bandaged arm, but he had to accept, since he said he would yesterday. 

Leo put on a smile. "Yeah sure! Let me just text Mikey really quick."

Raph's smile reached his eyes as Leo moved towards the bench on the other side of the room. The blue turtle once again opened his phone, shooting his little brother a text, apologizing for missing breakfast. Mikey's response came immediately, saying that it was alright and that he was just happy that he got good sleep. 

Leo then set his phone down on the bench, but kept his hoodie on. 

"You're not gonna take that off?" Raph asked when he walked back to him.

"This won't take long, right?" Leo gave his best smirk. "I think I'll be fine."

Raph was standing on the sparring mat. This was something Leo remembered doing a lot more before the Shredder. He also remembered that both he and Raph were very...competitive. He would have to put all of his effort into making this match seem legitimate. He couldn't slip up this early. His biggest problem was that it took roughly the same amount of focus to smile as it did to fight, and he couldn't do both at the same time without failing at each of them. 

Leo decided to keep his expression neutral — the only expression he could make subconsciously. He mimicked Raph's stance, adjusting his footing for balance. 

"Ready?" Raph asked.

"Set." Leo nodded.

"Go!" 

Raph lunged first, forcing Leo to go on the defensive. He blocked the first punch with his arms, pain spiking where his cut was. On the second punch, Leo jumped, landing on top of his brother's arm. Leo was able to leap onto Raph's back, and he pushed off forcefully. 

Raph stumbled forward, but stayed standing. The two turtles faced each other once more in a short standoff. Raph made the mistake of staying on the offensive, as Leo had seen his next move coming. As the snapping turtle rushed in with another punch, Leo grabbed his fist and used his big brother's weight against him, flipping him over. Leo had won this match, placing a foot on Raph's shell to ensure that he couldn't get up.

"No fair!" Raph cried, but there was a smile on his face.

Leo put on a smirk and decided to take off his hoodie — even though he knew of the consequences, throwing it off the mat. "Best two out of three?"

Raph noticed the bandage. "Is your arm okay?"

Leo nodded, attempting a shrug. "It's nothing bad, a small scratch that Donnie overreacted to."

The lie was easy, and believable since he'd spent the day before cooped up in Donnie's lab. He just had to make sure Donnie never found out about the lie. Why was he supposed to care about that? Leo couldn't remember, just that he and April had talked about it before. He assumed it was the right thing to do.

Leo released his older brother, who jumped up quickly, both of them resuming a fighting stance. 

"You're on!"

The two continued to spar, going on for longer than the three rounds they'd agreed to. If Leo could feel anything, he would've felt happy, and thought that this was fun. He could only show that he felt like that, even though he was empty, a fake smile to tie it all together. 

Hours had passed, and once they'd finally agreed to end, the turtles were leaning on the walls, breathing heavily. 

"Good game." Leo said through gasps.

Raph let out a breath, something similar to a laugh. "Yeah, you too."

Leo slid onto the ground, assuming a similar position to the one Usagi had been in after they'd escaped the prison. Why was he thinking about the rabbit? Probably because he promised to check up on him. He needed to do that soon.

Leo coughed as he stood up, walking over to the bench that held his phone. 

"Mikey's asking if we wanna get pizza from Hueso's for dinner." Raph said from behind him.

"Yeah I just got the text." Leo responded. "I'm cool with it."

Leo needed to go there anyway. Even if it was just a short visit, he needed to let Usagi know he hadn't forgotten about him. 

"We'll have a drawing when Mikey gets back." Raph chuckled. 

"Of course." Leo thought a smile would be best for this occasion as he moved to pick up his hoodie. He ended up wiping the sweat on his face with it. 

Before Leo could leave the dojo to shower, Raph stopped him.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" He asked. "Raph's no doctor feelings, but you know you can talk to me, right?"

Leo froze mid-step. Had he slipped up? If his brothers were catching on, that was bad, right? He remembered it being bad. He had told himself it was bad. He had told himself he couldn't let them know. That he had to keep it a secret. Even if he didn't know why, it was the only thing keeping him going. 

"Yeah, I'm okay." Leo tried to play it off. "Why do you ask?"

Raph took a moment to think. "I dunno, something just seemed... different when we sparred." 

Leo searched for a response. "Maybe because I was taking it more seriously?" 

Raph hummed. "Maybe, but don't get too serious, that's my job."

Raph ended his statement with a laugh, and Leo looked back with a smile and nodded. It seemed to...satisfy Raph.

They were silent for about two more seconds when they heard a slam and yelling. The yelling consisted of their names and the slam was probably from the back doorway. 

"LEOOO. RAAAPH. DONNIEE." Mikey's voice rang throughout the lair. 

Leo exited the training room, only to be bombarded by a Mikey. 

"Leo!" Mikey... exclaimed as they separated themselves. "Sorry, I didn't know you were in there."

"Don't worry about it." Leo forced another smile. "I was training with Raph." 

Mikey's smile was bright even to Leo as he looked behind him to find his oldest brother waving at them. 

"Where's Donnie?" Mikey asked, looking back up at Leo. 

"Last I saw him he was sleeping." Leo explained. "But that was a few hours ago."

Mikey sighed, but nodded. "I'll go wake him up for the drawing."

"I'm gonna take a quick shower, I dunno if Raph is but I'll meet up with you guys soon."

"Sounds good!" Mikey called as he ran off in the direction of Donnie's room.

Leo could feel the sweat cooling as he made his way to their showers, making his skin feel slightly sticky. Finally stepping into hot water, Leo felt the difference of both temperature and sensation. From a sticky cold to a dripping heat. The warmth almost made him forget he had to get back put, simply because it was something he was used to. Something that he remembered comforting him. He thought that maybe he could pull on that feeling, but when nothing came, he quickly cleaned himself and turned off the water, drying off as quickly as he could to rejoin his family. 

He threw his towel on the rack, not able to care how or where it landed. He just had to keep up appearances around his brothers. It was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do. He had to, he just had to. What else was he supposed to do? 

Leo made his way to the kitchen where he knew his brothers would be. Where the drawing would be held.

Chapter Text

"Pick a card, any card!" 

Mikey spread out the deck on the table. This tradition had started with the simple drawing of straws, but now it was up to whoever was in charge of setting it up. Mikey had chosen cards this time.

"Whoever draws the lowest card goes." Mikey explained. "Ace it highest, and one is lowest."

Raph drew first, letting out a breath he'd probably been holding as he showed the Ace he'd drawn. "Raph's not going out tonight!"

Donnie drew next, the corners of his lips turning up as he revealed his five. 

"There's no chance either of you will both draw a lower card than that." He seemed to taunt. 

"You're next Leo." Mikey said.

Leo nodded, pretending to focus on which card he really wanted. He snatched one, and when he looked at it, he had to feign a wince. 

"I got a Jack." Leo set the card back on the table. 

Mikey quickly took a card, throwing it down on the table with a laugh. "Seven, baby!'

Leo mimicked a groan, knowing that was how all of his brothers expected him to react. In reality, he couldn't care, but it did happen to make checking in with Usagi faster.

"Remember, get literally anything but Hawaiian." Donnie said.

Leo knew that in the past, he would have defended Hawaiian, even if right now he didn't know why he should. "You guys just don't know what good taste is."

"Just be quick, I'm starving!" Raph had a smile on his face. 

"Yeah, yeah." Leo started to exit the kitchen. "I'll be back."

Leo made sure to grab his gear before heading to the surface. Once he was clear of the lair and any human witnesses, Leo created a portal to the restaurant. Stepping through it, he found himself in Hueso's kitchen. 

Looking around, he could tell it was a slow night. The kitchen staff consisted of Hueso, a few seemingly new hires, and the one and only Usagi.

"Ah Pepino." Hueso said when he noticed Leo. "What brings you here?"

"I was sent to pick up pizza." Leo noticed that the white rabbit had started to listen in, given how his long ears twitched. "But I also promised to come back and check on Usagi."

"Bueno, I'll get your family's usuals started." Hueso said. "You can talk to the rabbit while you wait."

Leo nodded and Hueso turned back to his work. The turtle moved towards Usagi. 

"He's got you paying rent, doesn't he?" Leo decided to open with.

Usagi seemed to tense up as Leo came up to him. 

"Sort of." Usagi had a small smile. "I felt kind of awkward just sitting around. How's your cut doing?"

"It's...better, I haven't changed the bandage yet though." Leo admitted.

"I can do that for you really quick, hold on." The rabbit wiped his hands on a dry towel as he moved away from his work. He reached into a cabinet above him, pulling out the first-aid kit before Leo could say anything.

Usagi came back to Leo and began to unwrap the old bandage, which had become a light brown over the few days. Usagi threw away the old wrappings and pulled out a sanitizing wipe, cleaning the area that had the stitches. He then held up new bandages, once again wrapping it around Leo's arm with the same level of knowledge he had when he first did this. 

Usagi finished quickly, putting the first-aid away and washing his hands before returning to his work. "You really should be changing them everyday."

"Yeah." Leo nodded, leaning against the counter. He watched for a moment as Usagi expertly chopped different pizza toppings.

"I can always try seeing if you can stay with me and my brothers." Leo blurted. "I don't know if I already mentioned it, but we live in an abandoned subway. I can tell my brothers I met you here, and happened to learn you need a place to stay. If you want you can still work here, I'm sure Hueso wouldn't mind the extra hands. But it's up to you."

Leo noticed Usagi's face turn a light shade of pink. 

"I think that'd probably be the best decision." The rabbit nodded. "At least for now. Are you sure your family would be okay with it?"

"Even if they're not, they would come around eventually." Leo spoke from experience, but he didn't actually know if his brothers would let Usagi stay. "I'll talk to them over dinner."

"Thank you, Leo." Usagi glanced at him a couple times, unable to keep eye contact.

Leo remembered to smile. "Of course."

Then he remembered the fact that he couldn't feel emotions. 

"Actually." Leo started. "If we're gonna be hanging out more, there's something I should tell you."

Usagi turned to face the turtle, leaving his work momentarily forgotten. "What is it?"

"The night we met, when I had to pay Big Mama, I had actually gotten that money illegally." Leo explained, and Usagi stayed silent. "I had to bottle up my emotions and sell them."

"Wait." Usagi said. "Like literally removed your emotions?" 

Leo nodded. "They'll grow back in a couple months though."

Usagi hesitated as he thought about it, but eventually let out a breath. Leo watched as the rabbit's chest deflated. 

"How will this affect you?" Usagi asked. "If I end up moving in with you, will you want help hiding the fact that you can't feel anything? Can you still read emotions? This is surprisingly fascinating."

"I don't know. Probably. A little bit." Leo answered his questions in turn. "I've come to the conclusion that my ability to read and mimic different emotions will worsen over time. But it's only been a few days."

"So are you mimicking the way you acted when you had emotion?" 

"Trying to at least." Leo said. "Some things come naturally and other things take analysis and thought."

"And Hueso and that girl April know about your situation?" 

"Yes."

"Okay." Usagi said. "This is kind of a lot to take in. But I'm willing to learn and help."

"Thank you." Leo said, because that was the right thing to say.

"Yuichi!" A shout came from across the room, making the rabbit jump. "Why aren't you chopping!? Just because we have less guests doesn't mean you can slack off!"

"Sorry!" Usagi quickly began working again.

"Pepino! Tus pizzas están listo." Hueso called.

"¡Uno momento!" Leo called back. "I'll talk to you later, Usagi!" 

"See you!" The rabbit smiled. 

Leo walked over to Hueso, grabbing the four boxes from his arms. 

"Before you go." The Bone man stopped him from moving. "Be careful around the rabbit. I can tell he really likes you, don't break his heart."

Leo didn't know what to do. He didn't know what it was to like someone, or he'd forgotten. But he still knew how to be careful. 

"Okay." He said. "Thank you."

Hueso only nodded as Leo turned to make another portal, this one bringing him home.

"I'm back!" Leo called when he closed his portal.

"In the living room!" He heard Mikey's voice.

Leo carried the boxes in that direction. When he walked into the living room, he found his brothers all set up for a movie night. Their dad sat in his usual chair, though he looked upset with how his arms were crossed and he seemed to be pouting. Donnie sat between Raph and Mikey, all of them in front of Splinter.

"Hey, dad." Leo greeted. "Everyone."

"Did you make sure to not get Hawaiian?" Donnie asked. 

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Leo asked as he passed out the boxes.

"No, as long as it's food." Raph said as he took a box. 

Mikey pulled Leo down next to him, whispering in his ear. "Don't ask dad about the bonding time. It went better than he liked."

Leo nodded in response, handing Mikey his box. "What are we watching?"

"Dad's favorite Lou Jitsu movie." Donnie answered as he grabbed a slice from his own box.

"To cheer him up." Mikey whispered again.

"I can hear you, you know." Splinter finally spoke. 

"Uh, you want a slice, dad?" Leo took one and offered it to him.

The rat took it without another word. 

"Is everyone ready?" Raph asked.

"Actually," Leo decided to take this chance. "before we start, I have a question." 

"Go ahead." Donnie said, dropping his attention from the pizza to his brother.

"I met this yokai that Hueso just hired." He started. "We talked for a little, and I learned that he doesn't actually have a place to stay. So I was...wondering if it would be okay if he lived with us. At least until he sorted things out."

"What kind of yokai is he?" Mikey has a smirk on his face.

"A white rabbit." Leo said. "Very polite too. His name is Yuichi Usagi."

Raph rested his head on his hand, leaning against his own thigh. He also wore a smirk. "So he's polite ." 

Donnie joined in. "Is he funny?"

Even Splinter abandoned his sour mood. "Can he cook well?"

It took Leo a moment, but he soon realized that they all thought he liked this new yokai. At least, that's what he imagined was going on.

At this point, the pizza had been forgotten.

"You guys didn't answer my original question." Leo pointed out.

" Some one's changing the subject." Mikey held back a laugh.

"It's literally the same subject!" Leo pretended to be flustered, because that's what his family wanted.

"Invite him over." Splinter said. "Then we'll judge him, and see if he's fit for you."

"What pops means is that we'll see if he's got what it takes to stay with us." Raph was still smirking. 

"Thank you." Leo forced a sigh. "Now can we get to the movie?"

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about this 'Yuichi' fellow more?" Donnie asked.

"I think he prefers 'Usagi', actually." Leo corrected. 

"Already so defensive." The rat sighed. "They grow up so fast."

"You guys better not act like this around Usagi." Leo scolded. He knew his family was expecting it.

Mikey couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. Leo crossed his arms as his father had moments before, recreating the image. The rest of his family joined in on the laughing.

"Okay, okay." Mikey wheezed as he finally calmed down. "We're done, let's start the movie. Raph, hit the lights."

Raph did just that, he hit the lights, turning them off effectively. Mikey turned on the projector, starting the movie. Everyone started eating, paying attention to the screen. Leo didn't feel hungry, and even though he knew he should eat, he chose not to. However, every so often, Splinter would tap Leo's head. A request for a slice of pizza that Leo always returned, reaching over his shoulder to hand his father the food. 

"Hey, Leo." Raph whisper-yelled. "Are you gonna finish that?" 

He pointed to Leo's box, which was now half empty. To keep up appearances, Leo took one more slice before passing off the box to his older brother. Having nothing better to do with it, he ate the slice in his hand. Despite not feeling hungry, he still knew he should at least eat something today. 

The rest of the movie went on in a silence, excluding Splinter's numerous comments about how they did some of the stunts, or giving updates on how some of the other actors were doing in this day and age. Leo and his brothers made sure to acknowledge each time their dad spoke, knowing that this was all to make him forget about the day.

Mikey had eventually fallen asleep against Leo's shoulder, and their dad was snoring loudly as the credits rolled. 

"Do you want Raph to carry Mike to his room?" Raph whispered as he turned off the projector. 

"I got it." Leo replicated the whisper as he stood up, the box turtle in his arms. 

"I've got the boxes." Donnie said, already starting to pile them. 

"Are we leaving dad here?" Raph asked.

"Why not?" Donnie said. "This is where he usually is."

"Just wondering." Raph shrugged. 

Donnie nodded and Leo began to head towards Mikey's room. He made the trip quick, placing his little brother in his hammock without waking him up. Leo wasted no time in getting back to his own room, not even stopping to say good night to his other brothers. He didn't think he had to. 

He quietly shut his door once he made it into his room. He brought out his phone, dialing April's number. 

She picked up after the first ring.

"Leo! Is everything okay!?" April's voice shouted through the speaker.

"Yeah, I just thought I should let you know that I told Usagi." Leo said.

"About your whole situation?" She asked, something that reminded him of disbelief in her voice.

"Well yeah, I invited him to stay at my place with me and my brothers, since he doesn't have a place of his own." He explained. "My brothers are okay with it, too. But they think I have a...a crush on him."

April was silent for a moment, and all Leo could hear was static. Then all he heard was booming laughter. 

"I'm pretty sure it's the other way around." April finally said when she calmed down. "Though I think he is your type. You two should go out once you get your emotions back."

"I'll take that into consideration." Leo said.

"But this is good." April continued. "He can help you act right around your family."

"Usagi said the same thing." Leo noted.

"It's a match made in heaven." April said, and Leo could hear a clap in the background. "But seriously, if you really do still want to hide all this from your family, he's gonna be a great help."

Leo didn't know if he wanted to keep it a secret. In fact, he couldn't really want anything. He only remembered telling himself and April that he just had to keep this from his brothers. He couldn't remember why, but at this point, he had nothing else to push him forward. At this point, it was the only thing keeping him alive and awake. 

"Yeah." Was all Leo said.

"Okay Leo, get some sleep." April told him. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Yeah." He said again as the connection was cut. 

Leo had thought about telling the human about his dream, and how it had somewhat come to life. But that would only add to her...worry? That's what she had said. That she was worried about him. And the black would worry her more. She would tell him to get help from his brothers. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't. He just couldn't. 

Leo knew April had told him to sleep, but he didn't feel the usual tiredness that came after a long day. He recognized that his body was only slightly sore from sparring with Raph, and the bags under his eyes were becoming darker. He just knew there was no need to sleep if he didn't feel the fatigue. 

He took off his mask, really looking at it for the first time that week. It was crusted with dirt, looking worn and overused. No one had commented on it, which made Leo think they either hadn't noticed, or didn't think it meant anything. 

Leo decided to wash the mask, just in case it tipped his family off that something was going on. He waited for about half an hour, to give his brothers time to fall asleep. He couldn't let them know he was still awake. He couldn't. 

When the time was up, Leo left his room silently, making his way to the bathroom. As he got closer, he could hear something that resembled a soft crying. It got louder each step he took, and when he reached the door, he could also hear a repetitive tapping. 

He stood outside the closed door, just listening. The longer he listened, the more he recognized the crying as Donnie. 

Leo didn't know what to do. He knew his past self would rush in to see what was wrong with his twin. But he also knew that he wasn't capable of that anymore. He didn't know if he could fake it. For a moment, he thought about telling his brothers again, but immediately shot it down. He couldn't. He'd told himself so many times. He just couldn't let them know. Maybe he didn't know why, but it was all he knew. 

Leo decided to check on his twin, even if he knew he lacked the emotional knowledge. He lightly knocked on the door.

"Donnie? Is that you?" Good enough.

Instantly, Leo heard the crying stop, replaced by scrambling to potentially stand up or hide something. The tapping had also stopped, in its place the soft thump of footsteps making their way to the door. Donnie didn't unlock it.

"Yes, sorry, I thought everyone was asleep." His voice was thick. "Do- do you need to use the bathroom?"

Leo went over a mental list of things to say. 

"Is everything o-okay?" He stuttered, not knowing if that was the right thing to say.

"Yes, everything's fine." 

Leo knew that was a lie. You don't cry if something isn't wrong. At least, that's one of the things he remembered from one of Dr. Feelings' presentations. 

"Do I need to get Dr. Feelings?" Leo decided to ask, both knowing he was better suited for this situation and to get Donnie to stop lying.

"No!" Donnie yelled through the door. He brought his voice down. "No. I'm fine."

"Then why won't you open the door?" If Leo was being truthful, that question stemmed from logic. If everything is fine, why not open the bathroom door? He obviously wasn't using it.

There was a moment of silence.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone if I let you in?" Donnie asked, his voice barely audible.

"I promise." Don't tell anyone about Donnie's situation. Don't tell anyone about Leo's situation. It made sense. If he couldn't tell anyone about his situation, he couldn't tell anyone about Donnie's .

Leo heard the click of the door unlocking, and it cracked open. When Donnie didn't open it further, Leo pushed in. He found his twin curled in a ball on the ground, his own purple hoodie on, just clear of the door being able to hit him. He closed the door behind him.

Donnie didn't look at Leo. Instead, he continued to stare at the floor. Leo took this as a sign to sit down next to him. 

"Why are you crying?" Leo asked, making sure that his voice was soft. 

Donnie didn't answer, he only dried his eyes with his wrist before hugging his legs again. 

"Do I need to guess?" Leo asked again. If his brother would tell him why he was crying, the next best thing was to guess. He didn't know what was going on with Donnie, but he knew that if he tried, he could get him to talk, or at least figure it out.

Leo noticed Donnie glance at him for a second. Leo nodded. "Guessing it is."

Leo thought for a moment, humming out loud for added effect. 

"It's about S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. He's not working as you hoped. But if that was true, you would have come to me for help again." Leo hypothesized. He watched as Donnie hugged himself tighter. 

"One of your machines broke, and you can't fix it." Leo guessed again. "That makes you feel........useless, because you believe being the tech guy is your only notable quality."

Donnie looked up at him again, for longer this time. When he looked away, he rested his chin on his knees. If Leo could still read social queues as well as he thought he did, he knew that wasn't it, but he was getting close.

Leo hummed again, going through all possible reasons with the limited hints he had received.

"You're drained from rebuilding S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. and he's still not working. You feel....frustrated that even with all this time you have spent on him, he still hasn't turned on. That, mixed with how you feel about your place on the team, is so... overwhelming and it's breaking you down, because you're not taking the time to help yourself." Leo paused, and Donnie was staring at him now, his eyes were wide with what Leo recognized as shock. Leo came to a conclusion that would have terrified him days earlier, but now he only knew it wasn't good .

"How-?" Donnie started.

"Donatello." Leo interrupted him, turning to face his twin. "Let me see your wrists."

Donnie's eyes widened even more, and Leo knew he was right. Leo knew he had to do something. Everything he'd ever read and seen told him that he needed to help his twin. This is what pushed him to act.

"Donnie." He said as gently as he could. "Let me see your wrists."

Donnie wouldn't look at him anymore, but when Leo grabbed his hands, he didn't resist. He took Donnie's hands into his lap, taking his left hand. Leo slowly rolled up the sleeve, finding dried blood and hurriedly wrapped bandages that didn't do much to cover the open cuts. Donnie still wouldn't look at him. 

Leo was the medic, had been for a while now. He unwrapped his brother's messy work, tossing it into the trash bin. He stood on his knees, dropping Donnie's arms and going into the medicine cabinet. He pulled out spare supplies, wetting a cloth in the sink. 

He knelt next to Donnie, taking his exposed arm and using the cloth to clean it. Leo could tell Donnie was biting back a wince, but he still wouldn't look up at Leo. He had tears flowing out of his eyes again.

Leo left the bloodied cloth in the sink, taking out new bandages and re-wrapping his twin's arm. When he had finished, he pulled his sleeve back down, grabbing the other arm. He pushed it up as well, but it was clean. No scars or anything. Leo put the sleeve back down.

"What did you use?" Leo asked. 

Still without looking up at him, Donnie pulled out a knife from his pocket. It was in a sheath. It was Mikey's kitchen knife. 

He handed it over to Leo, who took it without a word. He pushed it onto the bathroom counter, out of Donnie's reach.

Donnie's shoulders started to shake, and his sobs became louder. For a second, Leo didn't know what to do, but he then remembered something he knew Donnie hated, but Mikey and Raph loved. 

Leo scooted closer to the soft-shell, and he slowly lifted his arms, remembering that Donnie reacted differently to being touched. He put them around Donnie, and as soon as he touched him, Donnie shot forward, closing any space between them for the hug.

Donnie dug his head into Leo's shoulder, and now Leo could feel just how much his brother was shaking. He knew Donnie needed this hug, that it was probably helping him a lot. But Leo felt nothing, only the shaking of his brother and the wetness of the tears on his shoulder.

After what seemed like a long time, Donnie finally stopped crying, and his shaking had lessened. He pulled away from Leo, signing a quick, "Thank you."

Leo forced a smile that just didn't reach his own eyes. "Let's get you to bed, shall we?" 

Donnie nodded, and Leo stood up, his brother's hands in his. He pulled the tear stained turtle up off the floor, helping him balance against Leo. Looking at his twin, he thought of something else he remembered them doing when they were younger.

"Do you want to sleep in my bed?" Leo asked, not knowing if 'want' was the correct word for this situation. 

Donnie nodded again, this time a raspy whisper followed. " Please don't tell the others ."

Everything Leo had ever read told him he had to tell someone, to get his brother...help. But Leo thought that not telling his brothers made sense. He wasn't telling them about his own...problems. It only seemed right to not tell anyone about Donnie's. Doesn't that mean Leo should tell Donnie? Sort of as an exchange?

"I won't, but if it happens again, I'm gonna have to tell someone." Leo decided to say.

Donnie nodded. " That's fair ."

"Let's go." Leo said, and he led his brother to his room, taking the knife from the counter and shoving it into the pouch he was still wearing, his dirty mask forgotten.

Chapter Text

Donnie was cuddled up next to Leo, who lay on his back staring at the ceiling. He could feel the steady rise and fall of Donnie's plastron against him. The softshell was obviously asleep, without distress. 

Leo didn't sleep. Nobody told him too, and he didn't think needed to. He was still used to tiredness and strain signaling the time for rest, but since he couldn't, he was still waiting for the feeling to come. He knew it wouldn't, but he couldn't stop himself from waiting, it was just habit. 

Leo had meant to wash his mask, but with Donnie having taken up his time, he had left it on the bathroom floor. He'd have to finish that task in the morning.

Leo didn't know if Donnie would wake up before he had to help Mikey with breakfast again. 

Before he could come up with a solution, Leo felt a buzz from beneath him. He must be laying on his phone. It kept vibrating — signaling a call — as he slowly moved his hand to reach the phone, making sure not to move so much as to wake Donnie. Pulling out his phone from under him, Leo found that Hueso was calling him. 

Leo picked up. "Isn't it a bit early for you to be awake?"

"I could say the same for you." Came a voice that definitely wasn't Hueso.

"Usagi?" Leo asked. 

"Hey, sorry, Hueso let me use his phone to call you, since I don't have my own."

"Did you need something?" Leo made sure his voice was lowered, as per his twin.

"I was just wondering if you had talked to your family?" Usagi seemed out of breath. "About me staying with you guys."

"Yeah, I was going to visit the restaurant in the morning to tell you." Leo said. "They want to meet you before making any final calls, so you can come over later today."

"I can come over early!" Usagi shouted, then toned his voice down. "I can make breakfast for your family, make a good first impression."

Leo thought for a moment. His father had asked if Usagi could cook, and this was a chance for the rabbit to prove that he could. However, Leo remembered that Mikey always got...upset whenever someone cooked in his kitchen. Leo had figured the only reason Mikey let him cook with him was because of his nightmare, and the fact that Leo had lied to him about wanting to do more with his life. 

"You would have to ask Mikey for permission to cook in his kitchen." Leo told him. "He should be listed as 'Tortuga Precioso' in Hueso's contacts." 

"I thought you were Hueso's favorite." Usagi said.

"Nah, he just thinks I'm the main reason we destroyed his restaurant." Leo explained. "Since I ended up turning the job into a contest."

Leo heard the rabbit hum in thought, but ultimately deciding not to press on the subject. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow!" 

"See you tomorrow." Leo said, just as Usagi hung up. 

The blue turtle quickly shot Mikey a text, letting him know of Usagi's intentions before dropping his phone onto the mattress beside him.

He looked down at his sleeping brother, whose head rested on his shoulder. He needed to watch him more, make sure he wasn't alone for long periods of time. At least, that's what Leo knew he would've done in the past. And it was the only thing he knew to do now.

After a moment, Leo could hear the light pad of footsteps growing closer. They stopped, and his door slid open. 

"Leo!" Mikey whispered-yelled, his silhouette outlined by the Christmas lights behind him, making his expression impossible to read. "Just because dad asked if your boyfriend can cook doesn't mean he can use my kitchen." 

Leo put a finger to his mouth. "Shhhh." Then he pointed to the figure beside him.

Mikey stood straighter, something that sounded like surprise lacing his voice. "Oh, my bad. Can I come in?"

Leo waved his little brother over, who — after closing the door — crawled over both his older brothers, and lay down next to Leo. 

"What'd you tell him?" Leo whispered.

"So you admit he's your boyfriend." Leo could see Mikey's sly smile in the dark.

"What? No, that's not what I'm saying." Leo denied, knowing it was what the box turtle expected. "Just- tell me what you told him."

Mikey snickered before answering. "I said he could use the kitchen, but I gave him...guidelines he needs to follow. Consider this my test."

"Wait, what do you mean your test?" Leo asked. "I thought it was just supposed to be a test."

"I probably shouldn't tell you this." Mikey started. "But each of us have decided that we are all gonna test him. I can't tell you what the others are planning, but you both need to be prepared."

Leo sighed. "This'll be great." 

Mikey laughed as quietly as he could. "I think it'll be fun."

Leo put on a smile. "Of course you do."

"If you two don't shut up I'm going to launch missiles at Germany." Donnie interjected, not moving from his position next to Leo, but making his point.

"Sorry, sorry." Mikey said. "Can I sleep with you guys?"

"No." Donnie mumbled.

"Yes." Leo said — with more force than usual.

"Fine."

Mikey giggled, scooting closer to Leo, using him like a giant stuffed bear. The small turtle gave a sigh as he closed his eyes, hugging his brother tight.

If these were normal circumstances, Leo would be smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. But these weren't normal circumstances, and he could barely recognize the significance of this scene. 

Leo didn't have any sense of time, being underground with no sunlight sort of did that to one. He didn't know when Usagi would arrive, he didn't even know if he knew where they lived. Leo decided that Mikey had already sorted all of that out, otherwise the rabbit would have called him again. Or Hueso told him all he needed to know. Either way, it was no longer important, and Leo didn't need to think about it any longer.

He stared at the ceiling, focusing on the steady rise and fall of his brothers' breathing. All he could do now was wait. That wasn't so hard, time seemed to fly as his vision blurred, the only thing on his mind was the sound of light snoring. 

Leo was brought back to the present as metal on metal rang softly throughout the lair. He didn't know how long he'd waited for, but Leo's mind went to Ugagi. Whatever time it was, he was here.

He nudged Mikey, who let out a groan. "What?"

"Do you want to supervise Usagi while he uses your kitchen?" Leo whispered.

Mikey was definitely awake now, as he sat up quickly, fumbling to get out of the bed. "He's here?!"

"Somewhere." 

Mikey fell over both him and Donnie, and onto the floor, scrambling on all fours to get up. He raced out of Leo's room, his footsteps louder than usual. Donnie grumbled in response to being tossed in his sleep, subconsciously moving closer to Leo. 

Leo wasn't excited for the day ahead — he couldn't be, but that didn't mean he could see the day being what he remembered would be classified as a good day. He knew what to expect: many tests from his family. He also knew that he'd have to keep an eye on his twin, Leo did think he'd be able to forget the scene from before. Or would he? Since nothing tethered him to the moment. 

"Leo?" A groggy voice asked.

"I'm here."

Donnie sat up, moving into Leo's line of sight. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, looking around the room he was in. As he came to a more conscious state of mind, his eyes widened. 

"You didn't tell Mikey, did you?" His voice had a quiver to it.

"I did not." Leo said, sitting up as well.

Donnie let out a breath. "Thank you, and...I'm sorry." 

Leo only nodded. "Do you wanna hang out in the kitchen? Usagi is making breakfast."

"I suppose Michelangelo informed you of the upcoming exams?" Donnie asked, composing himself and seeming to retake his special way of speaking.

"That would be correct." Leo said, mimicking him.

"Let's go then, shall we?" 

"We shall." 

Donnie put on his mask, making Leo remember he left his on the bathroom floor. To make up for it, he pulled on his hoodie.

The twins left Leo's room, making their way to the kitchen once more. Leo caught Donnie shooting him glances with furrowed fake eyebrows. Leo was sure he looked dead tired, and the lack of a mask didn't help his case. Even before he lost his emotions he was the family's insomniac, but he would still sleep a little every night, sleep always won in the end. Now he simply didn't, especially since it wouldn't affect his working hours anymore. 

Leo hadn't realized he'd zoned out until his shoulder hit a door frame, making pain bloom from the cut he'd received days earlier. Donnie gave him another look that Leo didn't recognize. 

The next thing that hit him was the sound. It wasn't loud; no yelling or dishes being banged together. Leo had expected some form of yelling from his brother to the rabbit. Mikey had always been protective of his kitchen. But Mikey only watched as Usagi fluidly moved around the kitchen.

"Something smells good." Donnie said, but Leo couldn't tell if he meant it.

Judging by their reactions, neither Mikey nor Yuichi had noticed them enter the room until that moment. They both whipped their heads to face the twins, eyes wide.

"GET OUT!" Mikey yelled, suddenly in front of Leo and Donnie. He spun the two around and pushed them back out. "You can come back when we call you!" 

"It's a surprise!" The rabbit called from where he stood. 

Leo chuckled, the action being harder to do than he remembered. "Okay, okay. No more peaking."

"You better not!" Mikey gave them one final shove.

Leo forced another laugh as his littlest brother went back into the cooking room. 

"Good to see Dr. Delicate Touch is still in business." He quipped. 

"When has he ever not been?" Donnie rolled his eyes.

Leo assumed Donnie was making a joke, so he performed his best snicker. It must've not been good enough, as Donnie raised one of his fake eyebrows, an action that was typically a sign of confusion. 

"Anyways," Leo changed the subject. "Do you wanna go bother Raph?"

He used to annoy his brothers all the time, so this would be in character. 

"That would be a suitable course of action, yes." Donnie nodded. 

Leo rolled up the sleeves of his sweater and began bouncing on the balls of his feet, mimicking an energetic attitude. He picked up his pace, moving in front of his twin. 

"Hurry up!" He called over his shoulder.

Looking behind him, he watched as smirk crawled onto Donnie's face, telling Leo he had made the right action. Donnie jogged up next to him, matching his pace once he had caught up. 

Raph's door was cracked open, just like it had been ever since the turtles were big enough to have their own rooms. Leo could remember knocking on Raph's door in the middle of the night, either having woken up from a nightmare or just because he missed his brother. He could remember Mikey and Donnie knocking too, and it happened so much that eventually Raph didn't close his door anymore. However, as they got older, the dependence on their oldest brother began to go away, and the need to keep his door open was all but gone. But it was a habit for the snapping turtle, and it still proved useful every now and then. Like when they wanted to make a turtle pile, or when they felt young and helpless again. 

Leo watched as Donnie pushed the door the rest of the way open, revealing a sleeping Raph. 

Leo followed the softshell into the bedroom, and Leo noticed Raph's breathing became uneven — like he was waking up.

Leo's hypothesis was proved correct when his older brother's eyes squinted open. "Don?"

"And Leo." Donnie said. 

Raph squinted at Leo next. "What's going on?" 

Leo could hear the sleep in his voice. He stood next to Donnie, making sure his smile looked genuine. 

"We're just waiting for Leo's boyfriend and Mikey to finish up in the kitchen." Donnie explained. "He's making breakfast as Mikey's test."

That woke Raph up a little more. 

"First of all." Leo cut in. "He's not my boyfriend. Second, why do you guys feel it necessary to test him?"

"So we can get to know him faster." Donnie said as he climbed into Raph's bed, resting on the snapping turtle's shell.

"And to see if he's right for you." Raph smirked. 

Leo took that smirk as the cue to roll his eyes. He followed Donnie's actions and climbed on top of Raph as well. 

"We came here to bother you." Leo said, feigning a pout. "Not the other way around."

"You're the only one that cares." Donnie said.

Leo glared at his twin — he knew that's the reaction his brothers expected — but he literally couldn't care less. "You're just jealous."

"Am not!" Donnie gasped.

"Then why are you being so defensive?" Leo put on another smile. 

"Because you are wrong." 

"Am I though?" 

"Yes!"

"Are you positive?" 

"Will you two shut up?" Raph finally intercepted.

"Hey, now I'm bothering the both of you!" Leo cheered, just like he used to. However, it was getting difficult to put on the same show.

"Raph's right, you should shut up." 

"Hey, he told you to shut up too."

"And neither of you are doing that."

"Are you still trying to sleep?" Leo poked the back of the snapping turtle's head.

"There's no point." Raph sighed into his pillow.

"Breakfast is gonna be ready soon anyway." Leo shrugged.

"Does he even know how to cook?" Raph asked.

"Given that Hueso gave him a job as a cook at his restaurant, I'm gonna go with yes." 

"How logical of you." Donnie said.

Leo noticed Donnie's use of words. Normally, this would've been something he said as a joke, or sarcastically. But Leo had been fairly logical in his assumption, using the evidence he had gathered. Donnie suspects something is going on, but he doesn't know what. Leo has to better his performance. 

"I know, I'm so smart, aren't I?" Leo played it off.

"They better be done soon." Raph grumbled.

Donnie chuckled, so Leo gave a small laugh alongside his.

The pitter-patter of footsteps growing louder made them all look towards the door. Seconds later, the footsteps came to a stop as Mikey appeared in the doorway.

"Breakfast is ready." He said with a huge smile on his face. "He passed."

"Your test?" Leo asked as he got off of Raph.

"No, away." Donnie stood next to him. "Of course the test, dumb-dumb."

"I'm actually really impressed with how things turned out." Mikey continued to smile. "And I hope you're hungry."

"Do you want me to get dad?" Leo asked, remembering that he lived with them too.

"Oh, yes please."

"I'll come with you." Donnie volunteered.

Leo knew better than to deny the offer, so he let Donnie follow him out of Raph's room and into Splinter's. 

"I can't remember the last time I was in here." Donnie said. "But I don't remember it being this messy."

"He's been using it more since you changed the channels on the TV." Leo informed his brother. 

All Donnie responded with was, "Huh."

If Leo was being honest — and he was — through all the commotion, he had forgotten to come in and tidy up the room. During past sleepless nights, Leo would find himself wandering the lair. Needing something to do, he'd start cleaning the different rooms in the new lair. No one seems to have noticed his work, but he was fine with that. Recently, though, he'd been distracted. His next sleepless night he'd start cleaning again. It was something to pass the time and something he'd put into routine. He might as well start it up again.

"Now to wake him up." 

Donnie nodded.

Leo walked up to the old rat, leaning down to poke his face.

"Dad." Leo tried. "Breakfast is ready." 

The rat continued to snore.

"I'll change the TV channels back to your favorites." Donnie offered.

Nothing.

"Maybe kick him." 

"You know I'd love to." Leo put on a smile, signaling that he was making a joke. 

"I'm not usually tasked with waking him up, what do you usually do?"

"Sometimes I'll offer him cake, but that hasn't been working lately."

Donnie hummed, crossing his arms in thought. 

"Usagi made breakfast?" Leo asked.

"Oh I know." Donnie's voice had a hint of what Leo remembered to be mischief. "Leo's new boyfriend made breakfast."

The snoring stopped. "Why didn't you say so?"

Splinter rolled out of his bed, passing Leo, who was still bent over. He walked past Donnie, who only watched with a smirk on his face. The softshell turned it to Leo, who glared back as Don knew he would.

"What are you boys waiting for?" Spinter faced them for a moment. "We have judging to do."

Leo sighed as Donnie cackled, and the red-eared slider pushed off his knees to regain a standing position. 

"Let's go." Leo said, trying to sound exasperated as he and Donnie followed their father. 

"Aww. Don't sound so glum." Donnie teased.

"You can be quiet now." Leo retaliated, pushing Donnie's head back as he began walking in front of him. Leo could hear the snicker from behind him as they made their way to the rest of the family.