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Chapter Text

Leo grew up with 4 of his soulmates within reach. For as long as he could remember he had them buzzing against his soul. Mikey was their sun. He still hadn’t ever gone up to the surface with Dad and seen the sun, but he imagined it felt just like Mikey. Raph was like a mountain or the tunnels they lived in. He was solid and protective and covered them. Donnie was his twin. He knew it because he felt like it. Donnie knew to zig when Leo zagged and Leo knew how to zip when Donnie zapped. If Leo was the water in the tunnels, then Donnie was the wires that he had tapped into. 

Donnie was always talking about how water and electricity shouldn’t ever mix because it was dangerous but Leo thought that described them pretty well. Besides, it wasn’t dangerous for them- just others. 

“What do you think it does,” Leo asked his twin as they stared at the heap of metal in front of them. Donnie was only 6, just like him, but he was so smart. Donnie poked it with a stick before walking up to it. 

“I think it’s a computer,” Donnie said after a moment, pushing his glasses back up. 

“I thought you said people didn’t like to throw those out,” Leo pointed out, “Aren’t they espenseeve?” 

“Expensive,” Donnie corrected absently as he pulled apart the computer, “They are expensive but I think this one is old.” Leo looked it over. The machine was pretty blocky and scratched up. There was a puddle leaking under it from the sewer water too. 

“Is it junk then?” Leo asked.

“No,” Donnie hummed as he studied the wires and little green panels inside, “Parts of it are okay.” He had that look on his face that said he wanted to try something. 

“What’re you gonna build with it?” Leo questioned. What do you need me to help with?

“If we got enough old computers to replace the broken bits…” Donnie trailed off as he yanked out a piece.

“We could build another computer?” Leo guessed. Donnie nodded, flapping his hands in excitement. “Alright” Leo nodded, “I accept this mission.” Donnie rolled his eyes at Leo’s ‘dramatics’ as he called it, but Leo knew Donnie loved it. “How’re we gonna get this home though?” They both stopped and looked at the giant mess of metal and wires. 

“Raph,” they agreed in unison before running off to grab their big brother. 

Donnie growls from where he’s been wrestling with the computer. Leo looks up from his comic to see his twin looking annoyed. He’s pushed the computer aside and Leo lets out a sigh before draping himself over his twin.

“Whatcha doing?” he asked

“Suffering,” Donnie growled, “I’ve been trying to rewire the pieces to avoid the water-damage until I can replace them but it’s not working!” He groans and slumps. “I don’t know what to do.” Leo looks over the computer. He doesn’t know what parts do what no matter how many times Donnie’s tried to explain, but….

“Do you want a distraction or help?” Leo questioned. Donnie just shrugged and huffed. Yeesh, he’s really frustrated. Leo drummed his finger against his plastron as he thought. “...Whaaaat if we went on a little adventure?” Leo asked. Donnie gave him a skeptical look. “Didn’t Mikey finish mapping the sewer lines?” Leo asked, already knowing the answer, “and he included landmarks from up top. I thought I saw a library on one of them…” 

“You’re not suggesting we sneak into the library are you?” Donnie asked. 

“You need more data right?” Leo fired, “Where better than the library.” Donnie thought for a minute before nodding.

“They’re shouldn’t be anyone there at this point of night… and we can just grab something quickly,” Donnie agreed.

“Yeah,” Leo said, “ ‘Sides you’re always saying libraries are made for sharing.” The disaster duo looked at each other and grinned before grabbing a bag, a copy of Mikey’s map and heading out. 

The library was huge! It wasn’t very far from their Lair either. Leo picked the lock on one of the windows on the second story and they snuck into the dark building. It was still and quiet inside with only the whirring of air conditioning above them. 

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Leo hissed in excitement to Donnie. His twin shoved him off before answering “What do you mean? It was your idea!” 

“Yeah,” Leo huffed, “But it’s our first time leaving the sewers! I was starting to think we’d never get to come up here.” 

“That’s illogical,” Donnie said, “We would need to come here eventually. Most things can’t be found in the sewers and Dad can’t grab everything for us.” Neither of them mentioned how Dad had been having more bad days lately and how he hadn’t been going up top as often. 

“So where’s the books you need?” Leo asked, pushing past the gloom that seemed to cling to Dad. Donnie hummed and looked around before hurrying to a sign hung on one of the book shelves. 

“That way,” Donnie said, before humming under his breath. Leo grinned at the mumbled words and started trying to beatbox along with the rhymes his brother was coming up with. 

“Donnie D ‘n’ Leon too, looking for books around the nook. 0 to the 0 to the number 5, then off to sixty-two thirteen. Pages turn and we do too but we give these new books a try,” his brother rapped.

The two brothers snagged several books on everything from electrical engineering and computer programming to a Jupiter Jim comic that they hadn’t read before.  Donnie handed Leo the books and he started stacking them up into a fort around himself. He was starting on the outer walls when Donnie let out a happy gasp

“What? What is it?” Leo popped up, knocking down one of the towers. 

“They’ve got computers here!” Donnie hissed.

“Really?” Leo asked, clambering out from his book castle. Donnie nodded and pushed up his glasses again. 

“In the back,” Donnie nodded, “I can log on and get a library card for us to use and then we check out the books for real.” Leo had been fine with just taking them and promising to return them later but this was probably better. Besides, Donnie was super excited. 

“What are we waiting for then?” Leo asked, “Race ya!” He took off before he could hear Donnie’s response and sprinted towards the back of the library. Leo beat him, obviously and Donnie plopped himself down in front of the computer before booting it up. 

Leo sat next to him in one of those rolly chairs and tried to sit still as his twin was sucked into the computer. He drummed his fingers on the table, kicked his feet, tapped his hands on his legs, spun around, hummed, made popping noises with his mouth and sighed. 

“Donnieeeee! I’m bored,” Leo whined before slumping over the desk. 

“Go do something then,” Donnie told him, “I’m busy.” Leo peeked over his shoulder at the computer screen. It was covered in small rows of words. Ugh . He sighed, it wasn’t as fun exploring without his twin but it was better than this. Leo melted out of his chair and wandered off. Donnie paused in his typing as he walked off before calling after him, “Don’t get lost! I don’t want to have to tell Dad or Raph!” Leo threw a thumbs-up over his head before walking off to wander among the shelves. 

It was like a maze. The shelves were a lot taller over here than they had been by the Jupiter Jim comic. Leo ducked between them pretending he was Lou Jitsu sneaking through an ancient temple like in Lou Jitsu Meets the Mummy Ninjas. He turned the corner- carefully not getting lost Donnie!- and came face to face with a big display case.

It was a bunch of tables set up with books, panels, and posters all about doctors and medical stuff. Well, if this was like Lou Jitsu Meets the Mummy Ninjas, then this would be where the treasure was! Leo hurried up and started exploring it. There were thick medical textbooks that would have been great for his book fort, diagrams showing medical procedures and even a plastic model of a human that showed all of the gross inside squishy bits. 

Leo stopped in front of a big poster with a picture of a girl with glasses on it. They looked just like Donnie’s. There was a picture of a big machine on it too. Leo could read this, it was like a comic. It was about how doctors were able to help people with disabilities like glasses. Sometimes they could be fixed like the girl’s bad eyesight, but other times they couldn’t fix it and were able to give people something to use to make up for it. The girl had bad eyesight so they gave her glasses but later, they were able to help by using a laser to fix her eyeballs. Cooool. 

Leo started looking at the posters more to see what else he could find. There were stories about people learning to walk again and one about a guy who got his arm cut off like in that one Lou Jitsu scene that Dad always made them cover their eyes for but instead of dying this guy lived and got a new arm! There was another about a deadly disease and vaccines and how this crazy scientist man figured out that mold could be used to fight it because he forgot to clean up. Leo read through poster after poster before turning on the ones with less pictures and reading through those too. 

He stopped as he found a really big poster about something called depression. It talked about how it made it hard for people to do stuff and be happy even if they wanted to. 

“Like Dad?” Leo whispered into the dark. It said sometimes people’s brains worked different and sometimes worked against them, but it was okay because doctors and ther-a-pists could help. It said there was medicine that doctors developed that could help like canes helped people with bad knees. 

Leo knew that Dad cared about them. He knew it like he knew that Dad was the trash in the sewers. Maybe it didn’t always look cool but it could be anything. It was treasure and hidden secrets but it belonged. Some of his favorite stuff came from the junk piles in the sewer lines. Without it, his world would be empty. 

 Dad was always ready to listen to them or play with them unless one of his shows was on and he showed them Lou Jitsu and always tried to grab their favorite foods or anything they asked for when he came up here but Leo knew that something was wrong. Dad seemed like he was getting smaller. The bad-sad was lingering and it was getting harder and harder to get him out of his chair. But there was medicine to fight stuff like that? Leo fidgeted before starting to look around for one of the books about it. 

His family was always getting hurt somehow, even ignoring how Dad seemed to be fading away, if he could help fix that maybe- 

“What are you doing? Donnie asked.

“Eek!” Leo jumped, “Donnie! Don’t do that!” Donnie did that sly grin that meant he thought it was hilarious even though he apologized.

“What are you doing Nardo?” Donnie asked. 

“Nothing,” Leo said automatically. Donnie just looked at him. “I just found this stuff and it looked kinda cool, I guess. It’s better than nothing anyway.” Donnie looked at the poster behind him and at the other displays. 

“Looks squishy to me,” Donnie said, his beak screwing up in disgust. 

“Maybe,” Leo hesitated before saying, “But there’s cool stuff too! There was a whole poster about someone using a laser to help a kid see better!” Donnie perked up a little bit and Leo dragged his twin to the poster. 

“That is pretty cool,” Donnie decided, “I bet I could build that.” Leo grinned at the easy agreement. “Do you like this stuff Leo?” 

Leo kinda wanted to play it off but Donnie was his twin so he sucked in a huge breath and nodded. 

“It’s cool how doctors are able to help people,” he mumbled, “and I like it when I get to put band-aids on Mikey’s knees and kiss them better. It feels good to help and make the bad stuff go away.” Leo wasn’t strong like Raph or smart like Donnie or nice like Mikey. He couldn’t protect them like Dad either. He just wanted to help and make them feel better. 

“Nice,” Donnie said. 

“What?” Leo questioned his head shooting up from where it had sunk to look at the floor. 

“Nice,” Donnie said, “We need someone who knows how to fix injuries and illnesses. Dad only seems to know how to help us so much because he’s a rat and we’re turtles. You’d make a good doctor, Leo.” 

“Really?” Leo asked. 

“Yes, really,” Donnie huffed, “You’re good at figuring stuff out. Besides, if you want I can help. I would need to teach you how to use any medical tech I make anyway.” Leo knew he was thinking about that eye laser thing but he imagined Donnie making other stuff like an x-ray to see their bones or a heart monitor. 

“Let’s do it,” Leo said. Donnie grinned and handed him a little plastic card. Leo flipped it over to see ‘Leo Splinterson’ on the back. 

“They needed a last name,” Donnie explained almost sheepishly. 

“It’s perfect, twin,” Leo said. Donnie twitched and smiled again before looking at the medical books around them.

“Which one do you want to start with?” Donnie asked. Leo groaned at the thought of reading that many books but inside he was shaking with excitement. 

“I’ll grab them if you go grab your computer books,” Leo offered, jumping to gather the books. The twins bumped fists before tearing off through the stacks and gathering as many books as they could carry in the bags they had brought before toddling out of the library and back into the sewers. 

They almost made it all the way home before Raph and Dad caught them. 

“Where on Earth have you been?!” Dad asked, grabbing them both by the shoulders. “I’ve been worried sick!” Leo shared a look with Donnie and they both knew that they were gonna be grounded because of this but the twins couldn’t help but grin. They had gotten books, made new plans, and Dad was out of his room. The sewers might have been a little cold, but all Leo could feel was warm.

Chapter Text

Dad had been upset that they had snuck out and gone above ground. They got grounded for two whole weeks but luckily they got to keep the library books. Donnie kept his promise and helped Leo through the thicker medical books he got by defining the words he didn’t know and helping him figure out how to say it right. It would be so embarrassing to try and tell someone that they had pneumonia or something and have them start coughing harder because they were laughing at how badly he had messed the word up. 

Mikey was pouting and hanging around them a lot complaining about how they hadn’t brought him. Leo promised that next time they made it up there they would grab some cookbooks for him. Mikey countered by saying next time they went up there he would go with them and get the cookbooks himself. Mikey was a pretty good cook considering he was 5, but Leo was down for anything that meant he would stop trying to use gummy worms as noodles. 

“What have you got there Blue?” Dad asked. Leo looked up from the medical textbook he had been struggling through before trying to hide it. Everyone else had gone to bed hours ago but Leo couldn’t fall asleep. Reading the big book was better than staring at the ceiling. 

“Nothing really,” Leo said. Dad waited patiently and Leo realized that this was one of those times that he wasn’t going to wander off. Slowly, he slid it over to his dad. Dad picked it up and flipped through it. 

“You can understand this?” he asked. Leo shrugged again, his silver tongue failing him. 

“Yeah, kinda,” Leo mumbled, “Donnie helps with the big words.” 

“That’s very impressive, Blue,” Dad said, “First aid is a very valuable skill to have. It’s not easy either.” Leo beamed at the praise. “It takes a lot of practice to become something like a doctor.” Leo huffed and fell back on his bed. 

“I know. I’m trying to understand all the words but its so hard. It’s like I’m swimming in words. Like what even is a ‘tennis elbow’? Does someone have a tennis ball for an elbow?” His dad coughed suspiciously. 

“Tennis elbow is when the muscles on the outside of your elbow get overworked and hurt,” Dad explained, “Most of the time, you just need to ice it and let it rest. Sometimes wrapping it tightly in a compression sleeve or a tight bandage can help too.” Leo sat up suddenly.

“Dad, You know about this stuff?” 

“Well, a little,” Dad admitted, “I used to get hurt a lot and had to figure out how to fix it.” 

“Can you teach me?” Leo begged, giving him the big turtle eyes. 

“Uh…” 

“PLEASE!!” Leo begged.

“Alright, Alright!” Dad crumbled, “I don’t know a lot but I can teach you what I know. 

“YES!” Leo yelled, fist pumping.

“After little turtles get the sleep they need!” Dad added on, shaking a finger at him. 

“Aw,” Leo said, falling back down onto the bed. He grumbled but Dad held firm and tucked him in before placing the book next to his bed.

“Goodnight Baby Blue,” his Dad whispered, kissing his head, “You and your brothers are going to be amazing.” 

Dad kept his promise and started teaching Leo everything he knew about first aid. It was weird. He didn’t know how to help a cold but he could set a broken bone or pop a dislocated shoulder back into place. He didn’t know the average temperature of a fever but he could do stitches with one hand and how to use a scarf to make sling until you could find some mud, clean fabric, and glue to make a cast. 

Leo didn’t really understand it, but Dad was really good in emergencies that seemed like they would come from fighting or being outside for a super long time. He even knew about heatstroke! Who knew the sun could suck up all the water and make people overheat and pass out! Dad couldn’t explain why but he showed him how to fix it and recognize if Leo had it. Leo hoped he would get to see the sun one day even if he really hoped he didn’t get heatstroke. Leo decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and wrote it all down to give Donnie for his secret conspiracy board. Having a task seemed to help Dad fight the gloom too, at least a little. Dad never skipped his shows though, and he did still have bad days, but Leo would take anything he could get. 

After they got ungrounded, Dad had to admit that Donnie and Leo had been able to keep out of trouble and that they could be at least a little responsible. Dad had nearly cried when they showed him their library cards. He started taking them up on short trips. Mikey and Raph got to go first which Leo guessed was fair but it was so boring. 

It was weeks before Leo finally got the chance to go up again. Dad had decided to try and take them all to a hockey game together. All of them shared two marks related to hockey. Brownie had a hockey mask and Turtle had a hockey stick!  This was going to be even better than the library trip! 

Dad had them layer up in their winter gear before they even started heading over to the stadium. By the time they got over there, Leo was sweating. Mikey had given up and gotten Dad to carry him even though he was almost too big. Leo looked at Raph before jumping up on top of his shell. 

“What-? Leo!” Raph exclaimed. 

“I’m tired!” Leo whined, “And you give good rides.” Even though Raph was only a year older than him, he was a lot bigger. “Please?” 

“Alright,” Raph gave up, “I guess I can give you a ride.” 

“Yes,” Leo hissed before curling up on Raph’s shell and poking his tongue out at Donnie. Donnie stuck his tongue out too but he was just jealous that he hadn’t had such a brilliant idea. 

Dad had them sneak like Lou Jisu into the arena. They had to be quiet and keep to the shadows as they snuck up to the rafters. It actually was cold in the building so Leo was glad he had his coat. According to his books, there were a lot of ways to get sick because you got too cold. Dad said it was probably worse for turtles. 

“Okay boys,” Dad said, “We can watch from here. Just be careful to keep out of sight.” 

The family settled down and watched as the hockey players took to the ice. Raph was letting off his excitement stink and Mikey was cheering with Leo as they watched the players slam into each other. Donnie pulled down his goggles and started zooming in on the individual players. 

“Hey Dad?” Donnie asked as they hit halftime. 

“Yes Purple?” Dad responded absently.

“Why don’t any of them look like us?” Donnie asked. Dad froze between them and all the boys stopped to look at him. 

“W-Well, that’s, uh, you see-” Dad sighed, “We’re not exactly normal.” 

“Why?” Mikey asked with big eyes. 

“Most people -humans- aren’t like us. We’re special. But people aren’t always nice to people who look different.” 

“What’d you mean Dad?” Raph asked. Dad hummed for a minute before snapping his fingers. 

“It’s like that show you like, Jupiter Jim! Jupiter Jim is a human, and that sidekick character- the red one-”

“Red Fox!” Donnie supplied.

“Yes! Red Fox is a different species. She’s a different kind of people,” Dad said.

“But Red Fox is an alien?” Leo pointed out, “We’re not aliens right?” 

“No, no,” Dad promised, “You’re earthlings like everyone else.” 

“But you just said we’re not like everyone else,” Donnie said, “Is that why we’re always hiding?” 

“Well,” Dad said, “Yes, but what I meant is that you were born on Earth like I was.” 

“But if we’re earthlings, why are we always hiding?” Mikey whispered. Dad looked between them all. Raph’s worry stink was floating through the air, Mikey looked like he wanted to cry, and Donnie was holding himself tight. Leo stepped in and grabbed his twin who started to squeeze his arm. He squeezed back. 

“I’m sorry boys,” Dad said, holding out his arms for them. The turtles all hurried into the hug as they fell back. “People - Humans are often scared of what they don’t understand. We’re different a-and special but most people won’t have ever seen anyone like us. They might get … scared or they might not understand how wonderful you are. So we stay hidden because it keeps us safe.” 

“People could be scared of us?” Mikey stammered, “But we didn’t do anything!” Raph looked upset. 

“People can be scared of new things,” Donnie repeated, “But they shouldn’t be! We didn’t do anything!” 

“What about our soulmates?” Raph asked as he scratched at his chest where his soulmark was. “What if they’re scared of us?” Leo sucked in a breath as he clutched at his arm. Dad seemed heartbroken. 

“No,” Dad said, hugging them tighter, “Your - our soulmates will be wonderful. My m- family, they used to say that your soulmates were the people that you could rely on the most. That the marks were symbols of how important they were and how they were part of our clan. Anyone lucky enough to have your mark will love you just as much as I do.” 

“Okay,” Raph whispered.

“Our family motto was- is ‘Anata wa hitori ja nai’,” Dad told them.

“What’s that mean?” Mikey asked. 

“It means ‘you are not alone’,” Dad said. He held out his own hand where the little green pizza with their soulmarks sat on his hand. “Even before I found you, I had you with me. Even if it takes a long time to find our soulmates or they don’t recognize us at first, we’re already together.” 

“I guess you can say we’re stuck to each other?” Leo joked. Dad let out a little laugh and the others giggled. 

“Yes baby blue. We’re stuck to each other.” 

“Do you think we can head home now?” Donnie asked, “I think I’m done today.” The turtles all nodded in agreement before Dad agreed and the family headed back to the sewers. Leo rubbed his hand as they walked quietly home. 

The next four years were a blur of adventure. Leo helped Donnie do the LASIK surgery on his eyes and they both got grounded. Dad showed them their weapons and helped them learn how to do it safely after Mikey gave himself a concussion. It was great practice for Leo but he really didn’t want to have to see Mikey so miserable again. They played sport ball and sewer hockey. They helped Dad stop Donnie from eating the goldfish they found and then stopped Raph from eating it before Dad found a fishbowl for her. Donnie even made himself a battle shell. They had to sneak out to the junkyard but Raph helped them carry stuff back. Mikey did too. For being a little brother, he was pretty strong. 

Still, they had spent almost their whole lives underground and hidden away from everyone. Even if maybe, somewhere out there, their soulmate was a mutant like them, how were they supposed to find them if they were always hiding!? Luckily, they got a break when Leo was 9. 

“What are you up to Mikey?” Leo asked.

“OH! Hey Leo!” Mikey exclaimed as he shoved something under his bed.

“What’re you doing buddy?” Leo repeated as he craned his head around Mikey’s outstretched arms.

“Just cleaning up a little,” Mikey lied, glancing back at his bed. Leo grinned and nodded. 

“Oh yeah, I need to do that myself I’m just gonna-” Leo ducked around him and grabbed the bag out from under the bed. 

“LEO!” Mikey yelled. Leo ignored him and zipped open the duffel to see spray paint. 

“Why’re you hiding spray paint under your bed?” Leo asked, “You spray paint all the time down here.” 

“It’s none of your business Leo!” Mikey grabbed the bag. Leo spotted a map sticking out of the bag and snagged it. 

“Are you planning to paint topside?” Leo asked as he looked over the map. 

“Who cares!” Mikey said, “It doesn’t matter; I can handle myself.” He tried to grab the map, but Leo held him back with his other hand.

“I never said you couldn’t,” Leo said, “Do you have a spot picked out already?” Mikey stopped trying to get the map from his hand and looked at him. 

“Maybe? Why?” 

“Do you need someone to be your look-out?” Leo asked. 

“What?” Mikey exclaimed, flabbergasted.

“Tech-nically,” Leo sang, “Graffiti is illegal. People get arrested for this kinda stuff.” 

“I know,” Mikey said, “I just - my mark is that spray-painted heart. I thought if I snuck it into some art around New York, maybe our soulmates will see it.” 

“You don’t even know if any of them live around New York though,” Leo pointed out. 

“I know!” Mikey groaned, “Forget it, it was a bad idea.” He slumped. 

“Hey, I never said that,” Leo grabbed him by the shoulders.

“It’s not a bad idea, Mikey. It might not work, but weren’t you and Donnie talking about how some artists get popular enough to be posted online. It’s way better than just hiding around down here waiting for them anyway.” 

“Really?” Mikey breathed.

“Really,” Leo confirmed, glad to see his brother smiling again, “Did you want me to come along as a look out?” 

“Maybe for one or two,” Mikey said, “But I can handle myself.” 

“Never said you couldn’t,” Leo smirked, rubbing the top of Mikey’s head before grabbing his bandana and twisting it around and over his eyes.

“LEO!” Mikey shouted again before trying to tackle him. Leo cackled and sprinted off before he could grab him. 

In the end, the two little brothers came up with a plan. Mikey would scope out the area where he wanted to paint. If it was concealed enough, then Mikey would paint by himself and Leo would distract the others. If it was more exposed, Leo would hang out with Mikey and keep an eye out for him. Mikey was really excited about it and Leo loved seeing it. For once, it felt like they were actually doing something to try and find their soulmates. 

Donnie was definitely putting the clues together, but Pops was pretty sucked into his newest show and Raph hadn’t caught on so it was fine. They were working around through the different neighborhoods based on the vibes. Leo didn’t really get it, but Mikey was excited so Leo went ahead and covered for him. They had been doing it for a few months before Mikey started on another painting and he burst into the lair late and nearly got them both caught.

Chapter Text

“Where were you?” Leo demanded as Mikey ran into the sewer late. “Raph’s been asking where you are.” 

“Sorry!” Mikey said, “What’d you tell him?” Mikey wriggled out of his paint clothes that doubled for a disguise. 

“I said that I thought I saw you heading out to paint,” Leo told him, “Said you mentioned something about finding a really great spot down in the tunnels.” 

“Thanks!” Mikey replied.

“Why for the love of Pizza Supreme were you so late?” Leo repeated, “I thought you were just going to finish up that flower painting.” 

“I did!” Mikey cheered. 

“Keep it down!” Donnie shouted through the walls. The two little brothers froze. 

“Well did something happen?” Leo whispered, after a moment. Mikey bit his lip and bounced on his toes before nodding. A grin was threatening to break out on his face. Raph burst in before he said anything.

“Mikey!” their older brother shouted, “Where were you?”

“Painting,” he chirped, “Didn’t Leo tell you?” Raph squinted at the two brothers who beamed at him innocently. 

“Right,” he sighed, “I just worry, little man.”

“Little?” Mikey squawked, levering an impressive glare at the snapping turtle.

“I mean big guy. Raph just wants his brothers to stay safe.”

“And we will, big guy,” Leo promised, patting his arm. “We’re safe down here. I mean what’s the worst that could happen?” 

Apparently, the worst that could happen was Mikey could run off right after breakfast and still not tell him why he had been back late. Raph was stinking up the Lair with his fear stink and Donnie was working on something in his lab and Dad was watching his show so Leo was dealing with full-blown worrywart Raph. 

“Look,” Leo snapped, giving up, “He probably just found a new spot to paint or something. I’m sure he’s fine, Raph.” 

“I know, I know.” The turtle paced back and forth before turning towards the tunnels. “I’m just gonna check on him.” 

“Mikey’s not going to like that,” Leo warned.

“I know,” Raph repeated before making awkward eye contact and backing away into the tunnel. Leo sighed and put down his comic book to go grab his katana and first aid packs and settled down to wait. Someone had to keep a look-out, anyway, Leo really wanted to finish reading his comic. 

Leo was wrong, that was not the worst that could happen. The worst that could happen was a human girl strolling into their Lair right behind Raph and Mikey. Leo felt his breath stutter as his eyes darted over the girl. 

She was probably as tall as he was with poofy brown hair. She had red glasses and a yellow jacket with matching shoes. She had a drawstring bag slung over her shoulder and what kinda looked like a baseball stuck sticking out of it. 

“Alright, nobody panic, BUT I think we’re being invaded,” Leo announced, shifting to what he thought was a better defensive stance. The girl looked over him and something clicked in her eyes before she stepped forward and offered her hand. 

“Hi! April O’Neil, Flashlight,” she introduced herself. What? Okay, not a threat. He looked down at her hand to see their soulmark. The symbol behind it looked like the best cheese pizza and their marks were scattered in the spaces around the sunny yellow circle. He could see where Raph’s mark occupying the space where Flashlight’s did on theirs. Wait-?

“No way!” Leo exclaimed. Does he hug her? Is that allowed? “Finally met a human and it’s our soulmate! What are the chances of that?” Mikey and April shot a quick glance at each other and Leo put the dots together. So Mikey’s plan worked and this was probably why he was late yesterday. 

“You’re Leo,” April guessed. Leo felt a thrill of excitement at the fact that she knew his name.

“The one and only,” he said, flipping his bandana ties, “I guess my brilliant brothers told you about me.” 

She snorted -she liked his jokes!!- and offered the hand with her soulmark to him. “It’s nice to meet you Blue.” She sounded so sincere! He looked at the soulmark again and hurried to take off his glove to show his. They were on opposing arms and his was a little further up than hers. April tapped the little flashlight on his arm and he felt something shift and settle. It was like something that was just quintessentially April had shoved her way into that place where he could feel Raph and Donnie and Mikey and Dad and just sat down. She was kinda like those breaths of fresh air that blew down into the sewers or maybe she was the lights of New York that lit up and were calling for him to come explore and try new stuff. He didn’t know her; but Leo knew April. She was April.

She smiled at him and he tapped her mark and she seemed to shudder before grinning. Oh he recognized that grin. It was just like Donnie’s ‘Plotting Face’. 

“Does this mean I met you before Donnie?” He asked as the thought struck him. April nodded and Leo whooped before calling for his twin. He had to come meet their soulmate! 

So, apparently Donnie had already met April but Leo still met her in person before Donnie did so hah! April fit into the turtle pile like she had always been there. She curled protectively around them like Raph, softening his smothering. She cuddled up to Mikey and fed into his excitement, matching his love. She quipped with him and Donnie, fitting in like a third twin and joining their word battles easily. She laughed and lit up the room and suddenly Leo understood what Dad had meant when he said their soulmates would be wonderful. She didn’t even care that they were turtles. She told them about her home and how “By O’Neil Law and Tradition, you are all my little brothers now.” Leo grinned as Raph squawked as she dubbed herself “Oldest Sister of Her Four Little Green Brothers.” 

And then! Then! She got Dad to open up. She didn’t even do anything, just exchanged soulmarks and Dad came to her rescue with her mom. He covered for her like Leo had covered for Mikey and Leo had to wonder if maybe that was where he got his silver tongue from. He had never heard Dad sound so smooth. 

“So, would you like to stay for lunch,” Dad asked.

“Would you like to stay forever!” Leo shouted from where he had fallen off the turtle pile.

“LEO!” everyone yelled, but April snorted and blushed and Leo knew he had said the right thing. 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” April answered. And Leo grinned. 

April kept her declaration. They didn’t meet Mr. and Mrs. O’Neil or Grammi in person, but April pulled them all into her orbit. Donnie had set them up with phones and internet pretty early and now they were finally using them. April was always darting down here, Leo knew that some of the others had plans to make her a room down here but April was always pulling them into turtle piles if she stayed over for a night. Leo wondered if maybe she had ever gotten lonely before she found them. He stared at the mark on his arm and wondered what it would have been like if he hadn’t grown up with 4 of his soulmates: almost half their soul group. He didn’t like that thought. 

He did like how kind the O’Neils were. He ignored the little voice that whispered that they wouldn’t be so nice and welcoming if they knew what they were. Mr. O’Neil -call me Kirby- told bad jokes and always greeted Leo with a pun. Grammi was kind of weird but in a Donnie-like way. She had layers and secrets. Maybe even more than Dad. She offered to teach him how to gamble. He mentioned he liked card tricks and she offered to help teach him that too. Leo got really good at counting the cards and shuffling the cards in intricate patterns. Grammi had a lot of comments on how poker was a good life skill and how to apply those lessons in real life. Leo didn’t mention those to his brothers. Even if the idea of shuffling someone’s ideas around to get a better deal on something was really cool and something Leo was going to try on Donnie next time he said they weren't twins. 

Mrs. O’Neil was the absolute coolest though. She was an EMT! Leo mentioned that he wanted to become something like a doctor and she started telling him stories from her shifts. When he got up the courage to ask her about stuff that he and Donnie hadn’t figured out yet, she was willing to explain, offer up an example, and answer any questions he had. Dad was a good teacher but Mrs. O’Neil knew more than his really weird and specific first aid lessons. She seemed just as worried about the kind of situations where that would have been needed too. Which to quote Donnie ‘Sweet Parental Validation!’ 

“So what happened then?” Leo asked as he sprawled over his bed. Mrs O’Neil- sorry Mrs. Carol- was telling him about the last call she was part of before she went home to the O’Neil apartment. 

“Well, we showed up at the address and we see this guy stumbling around outside some antique shop and his head was on fire,” Mrs. Carol said, “So Simmons grabs the fire extinguisher and aims it at his head and fires. ‘Course he’s yelling like a commando as he does it. I’m trying to stop him so we can check on the man and make sure he’s not drowning in the foam and then the guy just rolls away.” Leo laughs and Carol continues “That’s what Henry did too. The guy sounded like a chain smoker -don’t ever smoke kiddo- and he starts yelling at us about what the big deal is. His head it still on fire, but the foam from the extinguisher has given him a beard and covered his hair, but he’s still on fire!” Leo snorts. “So I tell him that his head is on fire, and sir, you should probably stop drop and roll because apparently my partner missed with the fire extinguisher.” 

“Oooh,” Leo responded.

“You know what the guy tells us? ‘Oh, that’s normal.’!” 

“No way!” Leo shouts.

“Yes way,” Mrs. Carol says, “Then he looks really caught out and explains that he’s not actually on fire, or at least not in that way, no, it’s a costume. He made it sound like a question but we’re all just staring at each other and the man’s head which is clearly on fire before the guy runs off.” 

“You’re joking!” Leo laughed.

“I’m completely serious!” Mrs. Carol promised, “We all just looked at each other and agreed that if he was more upset about the foam from the fire extinguisher than the fire on his head, then he was probably fine.” 

“Man, New York,” Leo huffed.

“New York,” Mrs. Carol agreed, “So how did that practice test April brought over go?” 

“It went great!” Leo grinned, “I wanted to ask more about CPR though.”

“Go for it!” Mrs. Carol replied

“How do you think you’d do it on someone with something hard around their chest?” 

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Carol asked. Leo shuffled a little on his bed.

“Like, say someone is wearing some kind of stiff body-armour or something and you can’t get it off. How would you perform CPR if you couldn’t get it off?” 

“Huh,” Mrs. O’Neil sounded, “That’s a pretty creative question.”

“It’s fine,” Leo said back-pedalling.

“No-no, give me a second,” Mrs. Carol interrupted. “CPR kind of requires some sort of chest compressions. You know, the point of CPR is to keep the blood flowing and oxygen moving to keep someone alive until their heart starts back up again.” 

“Right,” Leo agreed.

“Well, I think you’d either need to work around the body armour or find some way to remove it.” 

“What if it was like a turtle though?” Leo asked, bouncing nervously.

“What?” Mrs. Carol exclaimed.

“Like, if a turtle was drowning and you had to give it CPR…” Leo trailed off.

“I’ve never had to give a turtle CPR before,” Mrs. Carol smiled, “Let me look it up.” 

“Kay,” Leo hummed. There was a moment of silence and clacking keys before she came back. 

“Well, according to this website, you need to extend the turtles neck and hold it upside down so the water will come out and then place them belly-side down and move their front legs out as far as you can. Then push them in as far as they go and out like you’re doing chest compressions.” 

“Thanks Mrs. Carol!” Leo grinned. 

“You’re welcome Leo,” Mrs. Carol smiled, “Though I wonder where you get these ideas.” Leo froze before Grammi’s lessons and his silver tongue kicked in.

“Probably my winning imagination,” Leo joked. Mrs. Carol laughed and they chatted for a little bit before hanging up. Leo looked down at the notes he had taken and carefully filed them into the emergency medical plans folder he had been trying to put together. Hopefully they would not have to test that. Leo thought back to how Mikey had fallen into the river yesterday and nearly choked before he got out and shuddered. Better to be safe than sorry. 

Still, as good as Mrs. Carol and the other O’Neils were, April was still the best. For now, Leo would argue that she was probably one of the best humans period. He didn’t tell her that of course, but April was awesome. She had apparently tackled Mikey in the alley before following his turtle brother down into the sewers. She fit right in. 

They had stayed below-ground for the most part before April but she was constantly pulling them out into New York and showing them all the things a true New Yorker knew. She brought pizza and they spent weeks going to all the different joints around NYC before rating them using a modified version of April’s popcorn rating system. They showed her their tunnel system and how to sneak into the different stadiums and recording studios while she let them into stores and malls that she worked on. For being so amazing, April had a surprising ability to get a job almost anywhere and then get fired from them. She seemed a little frustrated about it, but Leo thought it was pretty sweet. 

Not to mention, they often forgot to ask for the keys back. Even if they didn’t April had snuck into Dad’s heart. He claimed that he was just worried about her walking in the dark -like they wouldn’t protect her- and had started trying to train her up. April had the foresight to schedule their sessions around Dad’s shows so between that and their roof-top races, April was starting to get as fast as them. She wasn’t as fast as Leo of course, but she could keep up. 

That ended up being important after the Mad Dogz started to get into some serious conspiracy territory besides Donnie and April’s Secret Splinter Conspiracy Board. Draxum, Big Mama, Hypno, Meat Sweats, Ghost Bear, and all kinds of other mutants and yokai were suddenly gunning for Leo and his family. Now his family was amazing, Leo knew that, but these people were actually experienced. They had years and years of experience and actually knew what they were doing. 

Ghost Bear tried to beat him up, Meat Sweats tried to eat them, Hypno nearly disappeared April permanently, Big Mama kidnapped his brothers and almost threw them into the Battle Nexus even though Leo had known she was up to something, and Draxum threw him off a roof! Sure, Raph caught him, but Leo had been terrified that he was actually going to die before they got to meet the rest of their soulmates. He was going to die because Raph didn’t realize that Draxum wasn’t bluffing: that he was willing to kill one of his ‘precious’ experiments. 

And what was that about?! The guy goes on and on about how impressed he is that they survived and turned out so well and then decides he’s worth it to drop him off a roof to get back some bugs. I mean, Leo knew he wasn’t the most valuable member of the Mad Dogz, but Draxum couldn’t have picked that up from their limited interactions right? 

A-Anyway that wasn’t the point. The point was that things just kept getting bigger and bigger and Leo was having to patch up his brothers and sister more and more often until they got the hang of their new mystic weapons and skills. Raph was a great leader, but he kept missing the obvious points like how Big Mama wasn’t someone who should be trusted. Leo just sucked it up and dealt with it and tried to make sure that he was ready for anything. 

After the Shredder the first time and April beating the Shredder-Draxum combo up with a baseball bat, Leo thought stuff would wind down. Surely after that they had seen everything right? Nope. Their next soulmate pushed the envelope further than ever and nearly pushed them all over the edge. 

Chapter Text

Leo crept through the dark sewer on edge. Every scrape made him jump. Piebald was back and had gotten every single one of his family. Leo spared a single thought to be grateful that April wasn’t here to be kidnapped like the others. Leo peeked around the corner to see Dad and his brothers tied up over the sewer drain. 

“You know what a scream sounds like underwater?” Piebald crooned as she rocked them back and forth like some kind of demented swing. Leo paled.

“Okay, I should have thought this through. Come on Leo think!” He couldn’t risk April and the O’Neils, he didn’t have time to go grab a weapon- He rubbed his face and felt the wet paint of the wall stick to his scales. Ew. Wait!

“Piebald may have camouflage, but I have pajama-flauge,” Leo quipped. He quickly covered himself in the paint-mud-'I don’t want to think about it' and started climbing up to the ceiling. Piebald was monologuing to his family. “What’s with every villain telling us their backstory,” Leo mumbled as he anchored himself between the stalactites while Piebald described nearly getting eaten by the Trash Wizard. 

“Now you losers can feel what’s its like to be mutants and live in the sewers!” Piebald finished. 

“That’s already our thing! Surprise attack nigh!” Leo shouted before launching himself at the overgrown fish.  She flickered out of view and Leo stumbled before turning around to face her with his family at his back. 

“Now that the whole family’s here, it’s time for my Flushing REVENGE!” Piebald growled as she reappeared. Oh boy-

"We never meant to flush you. It was an accident, honest,” Leo begged, “How about we make it up to you with a nice dinner of our own? Sushi, I mean fish and chips, er branzino. Why can't I stop suggesting fish?" He gulped as Piebald cackled and swung the hook down at him. He barely managed to catch it as she pressed down on her attack. 

Leo’s shell was pressed into the grating as his arms shook. He looked back at Dad and his brothers. “Sorry Dad, It was me who made everyone keep the secret from you.” He looked back at Piebald. It was his fault and if he had a choice between them paying for his mistakes or himself then it was a no-brainer. “Flush me and let my family go,” Leo offered to Piebald. 

“Let your family go?” Piebald giggled, “I love that idea.” She pulled back and slashed at the rope holding his family up. Leo stared frozen as they fell towards the drain before darting to the edge and reaching after them.

“I LOVE YOU GUYS!” Leo screamed after them, desperate for them to know in any way that he was sorry. The rope suddenly snapped up and they bounced as the bottom of the net that they were in brushed the water before jerking back up to land on the platform next to Leo. 

Leo ran and pulled them into a hug, “Guys!” before he heard Dad cackling behind him. He turned to see Dad standing next to Piebald. What?

“And that is why you always tell the truth,” Dad grinned.

“Got ya! You should see your faces!” Piebald laughed. It sounded less murderous and more teasing though. 

“What?” Leo asked over the shouts of confusion. 

Piebald smiled at them, “After a year, I made my way home only to find a googly eyed rock living in my fishbowl. Poor form guys.” 

“I was shocked to discover you boys had lied to me,” Splinter said, “So we planned this whole thing to teach you a lesson.” Leo had the sudden realization that Splinter used to read Piebald horror stories before bed like they were fairy tales. 

“I don’t kno-w … how to feel now…” Mikey stammered out, head sinking into his shell. 

"My sons, you know I love you, but you only remember lessons when you learn them the hard way,” Dad shook his head, “So remember, lying is bad and Dad is good. Night, night." Dad turned around and walked off to reveal Franken-Foot on his back. Huh, glad to see that guy survive. 

“Later Turts!” Piebald grinned and winked at them before following after Splinter as the turtles stared after her. 

Leo honestly wasn’t sure when he got up that morning if he hadn’t dreamed that all up before. But nope, Piebald sitting at their kitchen table and enjoying one of Mikey’s waffles. 

“Uh, hi,” Leo said as he snagged some waffles. 

“Hey Leo!” Piebald grinned, “How are you?” 

“Good,” Leo hummed, carefully sitting across the table from the fish-mutant. Piebald smiled and dug back into her waffles. At some point she had changed out of her creepy hooded cape and into what looked like one of Raph’s sweaters. It was a dark purple that wouldn’t look out of place on Donnie if it wasn’t so big. Her top fin was styled like hair. Kinda like a cross between a side-buzzed haircut and a mohawk. There was a longer part in the back that kinda looked like a ponytail even. It didn’t seem like she was going to go after them in a murderous rampage again. 

“We’re good then?” Leo double-checked. Piebald grinned as she finished off her waffle.

“All good Blue-fin,” She nodded and ruffled his head. 

“Blue Fin?” Leo questioned. Piebald blushed.

“Well, I don’t remember everything from before I was mutated,” Piebald explained, “But I remember the important stuff. Stories with Dad, games with you, getting flushed, my actual mutation. But fish brains aren’t the best at names. I always called you Blue-Fin.” She tugged on his mask tails and smiled. 

“Huh,” Leo said, “I kinda like it. Soooo, what’d you call Donnie?” 

“Purple People Eater,” Piebald dead-panned. Leo snorted as he realized Piebald probably remembered his twin nearly eating her. “I’m glad to be back though.” 

“Yeah,” Leo grimaced, “Sorry for the whole flushing thing … again.” 

“No worries,” Piebald said, “I mean, I definitely missed my bowl and all of you but if you hadn’t flushed me then I never would’ve been mutated. Gotta say, fingers are kinda worth it.” She wiggled her fin-gers before picking up her fork and taking another bite. “Besides, it was something that was probably gonna happen one way or another.” 

“What do you mean?” Leo asked. Piebald smirked before pulling the sweater away from her neck to show her soulmark. Leo did a spit-take as he recognized the Hamato pizza this time in a vibrant pink with their marks scattered around it. She cackled as Leo nearly choked. 

“You’re- I mean-” he coughed. 

“I’m Goldie Shark!” Piebald declared throwing her hands up in victory. Leo remembered how often Piebald had been part of their arguments about whether the mark was a goldfish pretending to be a shark or a shark that looked a lot like a goldfish. 

“B-But” Leo coughed and cleared his throat, “You didn’t have that before.” Piebald shook her head. 

“It showed up sometime after I mutated,” She said, “It took a while to see it from this angle. Dad said it was probably because being mutated counted as my ‘birth’ since soulmarks never show up before you’re born.” 

“Huh,” Leo said, “Wait! That means you’re actually our sister like twice over.” Piebald nodded and her fingers danced over the mark. 

“Yeah,” she smiled softly, “It was really nice having this here. It was like a promise that I’d find you all again.” Leo smiled even though his heart clenched in guilt. He reminded himself that if he hadn’t accidently flushed Piebald then she would have never gotten her mark. 

“Course,” Leo scoffed before scooting over to lean against her. He pulled off his glove and offered his arm to her. “You’re one of us. This just makes it of*fish*al.” Piebald cackled before delicately touching her mark on his arm and letting Leo do the same to the cards that made his mark on her neck. 

Piebald was mischief and glee. He shivered as that sense of Piebald swam into that place in his heart where he held the others. It reminded him of good scares and pranks and the sharper edge of family. Knowing that they could hurt you the most but trusting them to keep your back and push you when you needed it. Piebald felt like the kind of person to knock you over the head if you messed up, give it a kiss and drag you off to go fix whatever you had done. 

Piebald smiled down at him, “Thanks Blue-Fin.” 

In the end, Piebald stayed for about a week before heading off. She was kinda great when she wasn’t scaring them out of their minds. She and Raph worked together to corral their crazy even though she and April were definitely helping fuel it. She played pranks on them all and pulled Donnie out of his lab to tell him about the things she had seen and learn while she was gone. She talked out the whole ‘Sorry for scaring you and making you think I was going to kill you’ with Mikey and took a crash course in cooking. Mikey loved having someone that was he got to teach for once. She was always willing to play with them and hang out. Sure, she still tended to appear out of nowhere and scare them out of their shells but eh, what was family for? 

“Alright you squirts,” Piebald said, pulling them all into a hug, “I’ll be back soon.” 

“We’re gonna miss you Cherry-Pie,” April told her. 

“You too, Lemon Drop,” Piebald responded. “Stay out of trouble, Turts. Thanks for the recipes, Guppy.” Mikey grinned and pulled her into another hug. Raph patted her back. 

“Thanks for sticking around,” Raph said. 

“Like you’ll ever truly get rid of me, little bro,” Piebald grinned. Donnie and Piebald pretended to glare at each other before Donnie broke.

“Don’t get eaten,” he said, hanging her a phone and emergency button, “Make sure you stay in contact. I want to see if you actually find any of these quote cryptids unquote.” 

“No one will eat me!” Piebald declared, “I’m way too robust.” 

“Exactly,” Leo added, “But just in case, I packed you a bottle of hot sauce along with all the medical supplies. You can use April’s old family recipe of ‘too much hot sauce’.” Piebald grinned and took the belt from him before hanging it around her shoulders. 

“Is that from my kitchen Leo?” Mikey yelped. 

“Whaaaat? Nooooo!” Leo lied. He ducked behind Raph before Mikey tried to bring out Dr. Delicate Touch

Piebald turned to Dad and softened. She knelt down and pulled him into a hug as the old rat let out a few tears. 

“I never thought I’d have to see one of my children off so soon,” Dad cried. 

“I promise I’ll come back,” Piebald said, “I’ve just seen too much of the world to stop exploring now that I found home.” 

“You will always be welcome,” Splinter told her. She grinned and stepped back, hanging her hook over her shoulder along with her travel bag.

“I’ll see you guys later!” Piebald said cheerfully, giving them all a last hug before she turned and set off into the tunnels.

“Don’t be a stranger!” Leo called after her

“We love you Piebald!” Mikey added

“Stay away from strangers!” Raph advised.

“Don’t take a whole year to come home again!” Donnie instructed 

“Don’t leave me to find out you’re back from these bozos!” April yelled.

“Take care, my child!” Dad shouted. 

“I WILL!” Piebald’s voice echoed back to them. 

“She’ll be fine,” April said confidently, “I’m gonna keep an eye out for new fish cryptids on the news though.” Donnie groaned and Leo grinned.

“Yeah,” Leo said, “I mean she beat up all of you when she first came back.” Leo ignored the part of how she had beat him up too. “She’s got this.” 

Chapter Text

Piebald kept her promise and kept them all updated on her life. Some of the stuff she got into sounded crazier than their adventures. She battled pirates and explored mazes, broke into haunted houses and mafia headquarters, terrorized criminals and teenagers, and started a YouTube Channel. Leo loved watching Piebald’s videos and even though Donnie kept complaining about them being a security risk, he knew who had taught April how to edit them.

Piebald was a great person to complain to about Draxum too. Leo knew Mikey considered him their other ‘dad’ but Leo still had reservations. Namely that Draxum threw him off a roof! Piebald pointed out that their first interaction had been her pretending to kill them off. It still felt different though. Piebald had terrified him but she was Piebald. Leo had flushed her and then lied about it. Not to mention Piebald had apologized and Draxum hadn’t really done that for the roof specifically but… That had kinda been the first time Leo had ever really feared for his life. Here’s this guy who made them, who had answers to their questions about where they came from and he didn’t even care about them? He just considered them weapons and experiments and disposable. Leo didn’t tell Piebald that. He didn’t mention how he still sometimes worried that Draxum could tell that Leo wasn’t as useful as his brothers. That he wasn’t really anything without them. Leo thought Piebald might have known anyway. 

Either way, Piebald was a part of their lives just as much as they were of hers. Leo wished she had been here to meet Karai in person though. Gram-Gram was awesome. Sure she wasn’t the weapon that they thought they had been grabbing but Leo would say that getting their way-too-many greats great grandma out of the Twilight Realm was a pretty good deal. 

Of course Turtle Luck struck and suddenly Raph was dragging Leo away from Gram-Gram because the Shredder was destroying their home and they had to go now. Leo didn’t know which hurt more, that Raph had to drag him away or that he had to hold Mikey back later when Dad and Draxum sacrificed their escape to hold back the Shredder and let them get away. Suddenly, Leo wasn’t sure whether he was glad Piebald wasn’t here or not. 

“As long as there are Hamatos there is hope.” Sure, great, but hope for what? Gram-Gram was gone, Dad was gone, April had been sent off to who knows where with all of New York and they were stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with lemons and gardening tools. Leo could recognize that it was very nice of Todd to make them ‘weapons’ but there was no way they were gonna be able to use a gardening trowel to defeat the ancient evil that had been slowly killing off their family for generations. 

And then April showed up and suddenly maybe they would be able to use a gardening trowel. Maybe there was more to hope for than he realized because April their guiding light of a sister who had shown them New York was here and she had literally had New York in the palm of her hand and Gram-Gram in her head and then she was guiding them to unlock their ninpo and Leo could feel it! 

Raph fell backwards off that tree and something inside him broke free. It was that same jittering rush he felt when he made a portal but it was better because he could feel his family around him and the push-pull of their ninpo dancing around each other. It was like the Ninja Mind Meld but better because even though he couldn’t hear their thoughts, he could feel his brothers and sisters and he knew what they were doing.  

Fighting off the Shredder to get to Dad felt like that first portal after his adventure with Senor Hueso. It was the sudden rush of possibility and just the realization, the 'click', that you could do it and go anywhere. It was like his twin sense with Donnie and the Ninja Mind Meld but better because it was with everyone. This time, Leo knew when Donnie zagged to zig, he saw April go in for a blow and moved out to cover her and let her hit. Leo zapped when Mikey zipped and Raph went for the left and Leo covered his right. He teleported away and let Raph get a hit in before coming back in to slash after April’s bat slammed into the Shredder’s head. 

Through the adrenaline pounding through him, he saw the Foot Recruit free Dad before the Shredder could eat him. He heard Dad call Foot Recruit Brownie. He saw the ghosts of the Hamato clan grab onto the spear and thrust it into the Shredder’s chest. Through the swirling energy, he felt Piebald grab onto the spear, holding on alongside Brownie whose ninpo stretched awake alongside Turtle’s before falling back asleep. Leo kinda thought that he wanted to fall asleep too as Karai and the other Hamato ghosts said goodbye and faded away.

He leaned on his katana as he looked over their group. Draxum: minor rope burns, Mikey: bruised, check for broken bones or torn muscles later, double-check for soreness in arms, Raph: scratches on fists, check for further damage, Donnie: shoulders were probably bruised, double-check shell later, April: scrapes and scratches, seems like Karai helped keep her safe, Dad: exhausted, clutching chest, check with Draxum for mystic side effects from nearly getting eaten by an ancient demon, Cassandra: scratches on arm, may need stitches, kinda looks like she might be going into shock. Ooh boy - better try to head that off if he can.

“Hoo boy,” Leo said, looping his arm around her neck “So did I hear wrong, or did Pops call you Brownie?” He tried to surreptitiously (yay book words!) check her pulse. 

“You heard right, Blue Turtle!” Casey exclaimed, pushing him off, “I believe I am one of your soulmarks.” She seemed nervous but her pulse was settling. Leo smiled and offered her his arm. She tapped the mask and brownie symbol before offering her shoulder. Leo could see his blue cards standing out proudly against the red-brown Hamato crest. 

Casey’s ninpo was loud in his ears. It was defiant and it wanted and shouted out to the world that it was here. It was like April in that it pushed forward and Raph in the loyalty and determination to protect what was hers. She stormed into his being and sat herself down with the others. Leo compared her to the New York City traffic that he was grateful he never had to fight. Leo grinned and gave her a squeeze before handing her off to his twin. She seemed almost dazed. Score another 1 for Leo ‘meeting’ their soulmate first! 

And then Leo realized that they were going to have to tell Piebald that she had missed their first meeting of another soulmate and cringed. He’d deal with that after all the injuries that he was sure his family was hiding. He groaned as he realized that his medbay had probably been destroyed. But Mikey was pulling them all into a hug, and his family was safe, and they could rebuild. He huffed out a little sigh before burying himself into the hug. He was really glad hugging was a thing. He just settled in. Everything else was Future Leo’s problem.

Chapter Text

Well, now Future Leo’s problems were Leo’s problems. That’s just great. Look, Dad had appointed him leader so that meant he was in charge. But Leo wasn’t the leader- Raph was their leader, he had been their whole lives. He couldn’t replace Raph. But Raph was encouraging him to take charge and Dad was saying that he would do a good job but that just- that wasn’t Leo. He was the faceman, the hype man, the medic after it was all over. He couldn’t be what they wanted him to be. But he couldn’t tell them that.

So he tried to do it himself. He deflected and joked and made sure they didn’t get close because if they did they’d see how wrong they were and how little Leo could actually do. And then he just had to mess up on what turned out to be the biggest mission in their lives and let the Foot Clan nearly start the Apocalypse that Casey Jones Junior had come back in time to stop. 

He tried to fix it. If he was really the ‘greatest ninja master the world has ever seen’ then he should be able to fix it but everytime he doubled down and tried he made it worse. And now, he was trapped in the dark with a time traveller and their ninpo was gone (he couldn’t feel the others..), Raph was still missing, and Donnie and Mikey were facing who knows what and it was his fault.  

“Casey!” Leo called, pushing off the crushed metal and stone as he blinked awake. “Casey! You okay?” Where was he? Where were the others? 

Casey stood up at the top of a pile of rubble. Okay one down. Leo hissed as he moved and grabbed his side. That didn’t feel right. He pushed himself up and pulled out his comm.

“Donnie, Mikey, anybody?” There was no response. Leo felt at his ribs. Ow. Okay, maybe broken maybe just bruised. Here’s hoping that enhanced healing factor Draxum boasted about kicked in soon. 

There was a skidding and Leo looked over to see Casey heading over to him. 

“What the heck was that?” Casey demanded, crouching down next to him. 

“Some kind of drippy crazy Krang monster,” Leo said, double-checking to make sure he wasn’t bleeding. 

“No, I mean you!” Casey said, “Why weren’t you listening to anybody?” 

“Because I was trying to get us into the other side of that fight and into the building!” Leo looked away.

“Well that sure worked out well,” Casey scoffed. Leo looked over to double-check that he wasn’t hiding any big injuries before looking away again. 

“But I was doing everything right. How could it go so wrong?” Leo questioned. 

“Because you weren’t listening to your team! You don’t have all the answers all the time!” But that was why Dad had made him the leader wasn’t it? Because he ‘saw the angles’? 

“But I’m the greatest ninja the world’s ever seen, you said that,” Leo said instead. 

“I was wrong,” Casey breathed coldly. The sudden whisper was a dagger compared to the angry shouts before.

“What?” 

“You're impulsive, you're arrogant, and you don't see that every decision you make could cost someone their life!” Casey stood up and shouted.  Leo turned away but he kept shouting. “You want to know what really happens to your brothers in the future? They die. Everybody dies fighting the Krang. Our entire family is dead.” Casey bit back a sob and Leo glanced at the teen as the blood drained from his face. Everyone? Leo grabbed his arm and rubbed his soulmark.

“The world needs Master Leonardo. And all we got is this guy,” Casey finally spat before tossing down the photo from before and stalking off. 

Leo looked down at the crumbled photo. What was he going to do? What could he do? All Leo had done was mess things up, just like he always did. He just messed it up so much that the world was gonna pay for it because he couldn’t suck it up and be the leader his team deserved. 

Leo sighed, Raph would have been so much better at this. He looked over at Casey, digging through the rumble who had seen everyone die. Raph would know what to say to him. Mikey would have been able to help Casey smile. Donnie would be able to make something to get them out. April would have some crazy skill she picked up about structural integrity or something. Cassandra wouldn’t have given up, she wouldn’t have lost the key and Piebald wouldn’t have been caught. But Leo was just Leo. All he had were words, non-mystical swords, and a bruised rib. He couldn’t talk his way out of this one. 

He sighed. Words huh? What good were words? As long as there are Hamato, there is Hope. drifted through his mind. Hope? Hope for what? Hope that Leo would stop messing up before he got his family all killed? Anata wa hitori ja nai. You are not alone. 

Leo looked at the picture and clutched it. Alright, enough pity party. Maybe this whole thing isn’t about him. He’s nothing without his brothers. Maybe some hope and a few words is all he needs. It’s not like he’s got any better plans. Leo walks up to Casey, careful of his ribs. The kid’s found a hole into the elevator shaft. He moves one of the slabs away and Leo grabs the other before. Casey ignores him.

“Look, I know I'm not the Leo you knew in the future, and maybe I never will be. This whole time I was sure my family needed me, but the truth is: I need them,” Leo admitted. If you couldn’t confess to your time-travelling future student from the end of the world who could you confess to right?  “If we're gonna survive this, we have to do it together.” Leo met Casey’s eyes for the first time since he realized that he had caused the apocalypse that Casey had lived through. Every single time one of his family had messed up, they had worked together to fix it. Leo had helped them. Maybe Leo could lean on his family a little. 

Casey looked at him and gave him a tight grin before they burst through the concrete wall. Leo kicked off another chunk before jumping onto the ropes. 

“Let’s go get your brothers back,” Casey said. 

“I like the sound of that plan,” Leo replied. He started climbing and hoped against hope that he wasn’t imagining the small spark in his chest that felt like his ninpo. Maybe this wasn’t over yet. 

Leo stared at the disfigured face of his big brother. The Krang tentacles covered his face and glared at him. It was the stuff of nightmares. Raph glaring at him with such anger and menace and disgust. Like he finally given up on Leo. 

Mikey and Donnie squirmed in the Krang’s clutches behind Raph.

“I don’t want to fight anymore,” Leo begged, “I was fighting you because I didn’t understand you, but now I get it.” He dodged at strike and back away as the zombie-like Raph stalked closer. Leo swallowed. 

“I always figured you were mad because you didn’t like the way I did things,” Leo admitted. Leo trips as he barely avoids getting stabbed. Not-Raph grabs him and hold him up by his throat. “But when I see what's happening to you and what's happening to them…” Leo looks at his brothers, half his family, his team, his whole world and continues “I realized it wasn't about me.” 

“You didn't yell because you were mad, you yelled because you were scared. It's scary to be responsible for the lives you protect. Your team... your family,” Leo struggles for breath. Just like he hid behind jokes and tried to brush it off. Raph was just as scared as he was. He wasn’t alone. Leo ignores the spikes protruding from Raph’s other fist, posed to strike. 

“But we do it anyway because that's what it means to be a hero,” Leo admits. He looks at his big brother, his hero who carried them through fights and poisoned pizza puffs and life and Leo lets go of the tentacle choking him. If it’s a choice between him and his brother, he knows which one he’ll pick. 

“If this is it, I want you to know I finally understand. And I'm sorry,” Leo apologizes. Raph stares at him before Leo feels something spark to life in his chest. Raph! Raph pulls away and roars clutching at the bulbous mass covering his eye. Leo falls to the floor as the tentacle slips away.

“Raph! Raph!” Leo shouts, “There you are! Come back! Your family needs you!” Raph twists before looking at him with one clear eye.

“Leo?” he questions. 

“Yes!” Leo shouts, his eyes watering as he sprints towards his brother. 

“No! NO!” the Krang on the throne screams, and a tentacle shoots forward, pushing him away from his brother. It twists and squeezes; Leo feels his bones and shell creak and pieces of the tentacle push under his skin. Leo winces, squeezing his eyes shut as he reaches towards the little bit of Raph’s Ninpo he felt in his heart. 

“Mikey! Donnie! We can fight this!” Leo calls, lifting his head, “Raph’s doing it for us, so we’re doing it for him!” He fans that little spark of ninpo he felt in the elevator shaft and it bursts into life spinning around Raph’s. 

“That alien jerkface thinks we're weak…” Leo says, as he see Mikey clutch his fist and feels sunny orange flare to life and dance “...because he hasn't seen what we can do…” Donnie’s electric purple zings back twining around them all. “When we fight together.” He feels something crack and give way. 

“It is pointless to resist Krang!” the monster on the throne declares, “Give up! You will be consumed like everyone else on this pathetic planet!” Leo and his brothers strain against the tentacle growths as Raph struggles and pulls on the parasite on him. 

“Fat chance. We're not like everyone else on this planet. We are…” Leo says, pulling his arm free. 

“The teenage!” Mikey yells as Dad’s ninpo leans into, grabbing and pulling them to safety. 

“Mutant!” Donnie adds as April’s lemon yellow sneaks through and shines through them, lighting the path forward. 

“Ninja!” Raph shouts, the Krang growth snapped off him and Piebald’s cackling pink rings through and slams against the barrier in his chest. 

“TURTLES!” Leo finishes as Cassandra strikes like a bolt of lightning, burning burning burning and the barrier between him and his soul, his ninpo shatters. He feels a teal bolt of energy gleefully embrace them and launch them forward. Turtle's ninpo. Leo grins. 

He yanks one his katanas free of its sheath and launches it. Blue shines through him, making his stripes glow as the blade digs into the Krang’s shoulder and Leo grabs onto it before teleporting back into the fight and leading the way for his brothers to strike back and protect their world. They can do this! 

Leo couldn’t be more proud of his brothers. That same feeling from their fight with the Shredder was back like it hadn’t been since Dad had made Leo the leader. But it wasn’t enough. Leo watched in horror as the Krang knocked Donnie and Mikey off.

“Raph go!” Leo ordered. 

“On it!” Raph replied, stumbling before taking off after their brothers. Leo spared a moment to slice open a portal before turning to face the Krang. 

Leo winced as he tried to stand. Definitely more than two broken bones- maybe three. The monster from beyond the stars stalked towards him. The red eye gleamed with malice as the shudder of its spiked metal tail whipped behind him. It sounded like the Shredder. 

“Casey. Casey Come in,” Leo called into his comm, pushing his katana into the ground and propping himself up. 

“Sensei, I'm here,” he answers, “And I've got eyes on the Key. Just tell me when you're home free, and I'll pull the plug.” He sounded so hopeful. Leo feels the pounding of his heart sync up with the stomping footprints of the Krang’s mech suit. He can’t stop this guy. 

“Casey, listen to me. When I get to the other side, you close that door,” Leo orders. 

“What? Sensei no!” Casey’s voice cries through the comm. Leo’s heart breaks a little more at what he’s about to make the kid do but.

“Casey, it's the only way,” Leo explains, “He's too strong. He's not gonna stay on the other side unless I keep him there.”

“There had to be another way,” Casey says as his voice cracks. 

“We tried everything, Case. This is the only way,” Leo holds fast.

“Leo, please don’t do this,” Raph begs. “Leo!” Leo can’t do this if he thinks about how much this is gonna hurt them. 

“You’re one to talk, big bro. Hero moves are totally your style,” Leo quips. I love you. I’m sorry. You know how it feels: if its a choice between you and your brothers, you know which one you’d pick. Now it’s my turn to return the favor. I’m sorry. Love you Red. He hopes they get what he means. 

The Krang stops to gloat over him and Leo can’t help but be glad for the chance to steady himself enough for this. 

“Outmatched and alone, yet you persist. For what? Honor, redemption? Sacrifice? All meaningless.” 

“We’ll see about that,” Leo says, tapping and leaning into his ninpo more than he has before and launching himself at the Krang. He slides under before reappearing in front of him and throwing his katana into the gaping portal. The Krang catches him and tosses him. Leo smacks against the building hard and gasps before the Krang is crushing him against it. 

“Leo please! I can’t lose you again,” Casey cries. Oh, so that’s what kind of relationship they had, Leo realizes. He said Leo the way Leo sometimes says Splinter. 

“Hey future me would be real proud of you,” Leo tells his not-son, “I’m proud of you.” It’s the best he can offer. 

“Weak words, weak actions,” Krang sneers, “I have forever known what you fail to understand. Strength always prevails.” Leo smirks and sinks his other katana into the Krang’s foot. 

“What you fail to understand is I missed on purpose!” Leo smugs before his crackling ninpo activates and he teleports them both into the prison dimension. 

“No, enough of your little tricks!” the Krang cries as he hits Leo hard enough that his katanas fall from his grip through the portal and back into the city. That’s it, no going back now.

“Casey, close the portal now!” Leo orders. 

“What?” the Krang gasps before turning to race back to the portal. It’s still open. Leo grabs onto the Krang’s face. He gets slammed for his effort but he can’t give in yet. “No! Let go of me!”

“Casey PLEASE” Leo begs. The portal closes. It hums and the Technodrome explodes as the portal closes on it. Donnie would love that explosion. Leo hopes he got to see it. 

“You’ve been portal chopped!” Leo catchphrases as he lets go of the alien to float back and admire the view. 

The Krang howls with rage before turning on Leo. He pounds his rage into Leo’s bones and demands his misery but Leo can only smile. He looks at the photo Casey had thrown at him, the family that made it through an Apocalypse, sent back their last and saved the world again. His family, that would keep living now. He clutches the photo to his chest and lets himself cry as the Krang blasts him and he floats back further into the cluttered void. 

He feels his ninpo stutter in his chest. It had dimmed when he went through the portal but now it's brimming with power. Leo thinks for a minute he sees Gram-Gram grabbing him in the same kind of desperate hug she had given her dad when they freed him for the Shredder. 

He floats around to see the sunny orange of Mikey reaching, cracking, and breaking into the Prison Dimension. Mikey, Raph, and Donnie staring at him from the otherside.

“Took you guys long enough…” Leo laughs. Raph shouts his name and his red ninpo grabs onto Leo's arm, just around his soulmark which joyfully burns at the contact. 

He yanks him out and Leo sees a blur of purple blaze past him to dig into the Krang as Leo is pulled through the portal into his family’s arms. 

“Leo?” Raph whispers. Leo groans in pain before blinking up at his brothers. 

“Hey,” he grins. He looks around “Ew! Are we in Staten Island?” The others all turtle pile him and Leo hisses as they jostle his broken bones -not to mention their broken bones. Oh my gosh, he needs to get his brothers to medical immediately, but not before this hug. Hugs are good. Probably good for stress too. 

They call Dad and April and Casey who cry before hijacking a van and driving after them as Leo cheerfully informs them “By the way, someone should probably grab a medical kit. It feels like all my bones are broken!” 

The resulting yell of “LEO!” hurts his head and aggravates his probably concussion as his brothers nearly drop him and give him another in their haste to back off and make sure they don’t aggravate his other injuries. Leo glares at them. 

“Don’t think I won’t find a way to drag you to the medbay too,” Leo grumbles, “You all are probably just as bad as me.” 

“I swear Leo,” Mikey says, who is very suspiciously holding his shaking hands behind his back, “I don’t believe that.” 

“Uh-huh,” Leo yawns, “Donnie, tell Orange I don’t believe him and that he’s being a a-uh hippo-critic.” 

“Hypocrite,” his wonderful twin corrects. Leo grins. 

“Hey, Raph,” he whispers, his words starting to slur, “Imma take a nap real quick. Love you big bro. Tell Dad not to feed me the gross noodles.” 

“Leo Don’t you dare!” Donnie hisses but Leo is already asleep. 

Chapter Text

After that little stunt, Leo was grounded for a month. He did drag his family through the medbay by tattling on them to each other and threatening to try and escape if they didn’t let Draxum take care of their wounds. Turns out being a warrior-alchemist meant you had a pretty good understanding of mutant biology and healthcare. 

Was Leo exactly happy to have Draxum invading his precious medbay? No, but Leo could admit that the guy had changed and that he was their best chance of competent medical care. So he put up with it. Leo had been totally right about the broken bones, concussion and even the cracked ribs. They probably had been bruised that first time but the Krang had to slam him through all the debris and make it worse so he’d probably never know. 

Leo was definitely the worst off of all of them, though Dad had bruised ribs and a concussion, Raph’s eye was infected, Mikey was suffering from mystical overcharge and depletion at the same time, and Donnie had some kind of gnarly skin infection on his shell. Leo had nearly barfed when Donnie explained exactly what he had had to do. Draxum did a scan to make sure all the tentacle pieces were out and removed any that weren’t for proper disposal. April had sprained her wrist and had a few scrapes but was otherwise unharmed. Piebald was missing a few scales, and had a new split in her top fin, but other than needing water was okay. Cassandra has dislocated a shoulder, been stabbed, and used both of those to teach her Brownie Scouts First Aid so she was okay too. 

Casey was nearly in as much trouble with the others as Leo though because not only had he apparently been running off 2 hours of sleep the entire time, but had also been hiding bruised ribs, a slice on his leg, along with malnutrition and was covered in dust from the apocalypse from before he had time-travelled. Donnie went on a war-path and nearly incinerated the guy’s clothes before agreeing to decontaminate them instead. 

Now Casey was perched on Leo’s bed snuggled up in Leo’s pants, Mikey’s shirt, Raph’s oversized hoody, and wrapped in a blanket that Donnie had donated from his lab. April had donated several socks to the cause. Right now he was wearing a pair with kittens on it saying “hang in there.” Leo wondered if April had done that on purpose. 

“So, how you doing Case?” Leo asked from his own personal blanket burrito. 

“...I think I’m okay,” Casey Jones Jr told him. 

“Good,” Leo nodded.

“How are you?” Casey shot back. 

“Could be better,” Leo admitted. He was trying to get better at this honesty thing. Grammi's poker lessons had been too good. “I’ll get there.” 

“Good,” Casey said, nodding back. They sat there in silence for a moment. Almost everyone else was out either grabbing supplies, a nap, or trying to help with the clean-up. 

“Leo I need you not to ask me to do that again,” Casey burst out, “I can’t do that again.” 

“Sorry Case,” Leo winced, “That wasn’t fair of me.” 

“No it wasn’t,” Case agreed. He paused before he added, “It’s something my Sensei would have done.” Leo blinked because beyond that moment in the building Casey had avoided talking about his Sensei. 

“Master Leonardo was a brilliant strategist, the best ninja warrior, a-and,” Casey stuttered.

“A good dad?” Leo suggested. Casey glowed a brilliant red that matched Leo’s slider stripes. He nodded. Leo blushed too. 

“He was always helping out around base. He kept us alive and he kept us fighting. He was always making jokes and teaching me and letting me help even when I made a mess,” Casey said. Leo scooted closer as Casey started to cry. “He’d carry me around on his shell and would mess up my hair when I tugged on his mask. He taught me how to fight and the fought to make it so I wouldn’t have to. He taught me to play chess; his favorite piece was a knight and he’s the one who made the call for Master Michelangelo to open the portal.” 

“Sounds like a good dad,” Leo offered as Casey sniffed.

“One of the best,” he breathed before continuing his story, “He called for Master Michelangelo to make the portal and it took everything he had. And then he told me to ‘Find the Key, Stop the Krang’ and he threw me through while he stayed to guard it so nothing came after me.” Casey looked up at him and Leo raised his casts as best he could to offer the teen a hug. 

“Master Leonardo gave everything he had and it broke him. He always said I had to grow up too fast,” Casey hiccuped, “So you better not do the same. I saw what happens when one of your group sacrifices themselves for the others. Master Leonardo lived to the end, but everytime one of his soulmates died it gutted him. Don’t do the same thing to your family. Please!” 

Leo looked at the grieving kid in front of him and squeezed him as hard as he could. “I won’t,” he promised, “not unless there’s another way. And I trust you, my brothers, my soulmates, all of you, to help me when I mess up. It’s not all on me right?” 

Casey hiccuped, caught half-way between a sob and a laugh and nodded. “Deal.” They sat there together for a minute before Casey spoke up again. 

“Master Leonardo gave me another mission by the way,” Casey admitted.

“Oh no,” Leo said, dropping backwards onto the cot, “What is it? Dimensional war? The Plague?” 

“Uh,” Casey laughed as he wiped the tears off his face, “He told me to ‘grab a slice’? I don’t know what that means?” Leo sat up suddenly and stared at this poor poor unfortunate soul. 

“Hey guys!” Piebald suddenly said as she appeared. 

“ACK!” Leo yelped

“Eep!” Casey shouted as he jerked and went to hit her before getting caught up in the blanket and falling off the bed. 

“Ooh,” Piebald apologized, “Sorry!” 

“Scout Leader Piebald!” Casey exclaimed as he scurried to give her a salute. Piebald smugged at Leo over Casey’s head and Leo bit his lip to keep from laughing as Casey tried vainly to untangle himself from the blanket to give his salute. 

“Hey Goldie-Shark,” Leo said, “Casey here was telling me that he’s been given a mission from Master Leonardo to ‘grab a slice’. He’s never had pizza before.” Piebald gasped as she picked up Casey. Like any true Hamato-O’Neil-Jones family member, she understood the importance of pizza.

“Say it isn’t true guppy!” she demanded playfully.

“Pizza?” Casey questioned, still stuck in the blanket.

“I think Casey and you should head on a mission to see which of our top pizza places are still standing,” Leo said, “I think April’s still got the official ranking.” 

“Brilliant idea,” Piebald agreed before striding over and pushing him down. “You get some sleep, and I’ll go scouting with guppy.” Leo grumbled at having to take another nap but he was getting kind of tired. Draxum’s special medicine was great at speeding up their already speedy healing, but it zapped his energy like nobody’s business. 

“Fine,” Leo said. Piebald saluted him before hauling Casey up and over her shoulder and striding out. Casey’s panicked face sticking out from where he was still wrapped in a burrito blanket over his fishy sister’s shoulder was the last thing he saw before he fell back asleep. 

In the end, they went with the classic, the amazing, Run of the Mill Pizza by Señor Hueso who had shown up after Piebald and Casey Jr’s scouting mission with a coupon and a lecture for Leo to call him and let him known when stuff like this happened, pepino! Leo thought that maybe even though he was still healing along with New York that things were on the up. 

And then Casey turned out to be Turtle! And he had never told him! Casey! He hadn’t told LEO! Man! You think you know your kid. Karma got Casey though when the guy had to explain to Casey numero uno, Casey the first, Casey Senior, Cassandra Former Foot Recruit Jones that he was her kid from the future and her soulmate and he was so sorry for not introducing himself when she had stopped by the Lair earlier. Yeah, Leo gladly welcomed Case into the grounded club and carefully did not fall prey to Casey Jr's turtle eyes when he asked if Leo could un-ground him. 

Casey Jr’s ninpo fit perfectly in between their own. His ninpo was like a turtle. He was cute and cuddled up to theirs like a turtle in a sun-beam but he scratched and bit and snarled for them when something tried to get between them. He was innocent joy tempered in the fires of adversity. He was full of wonder and kept pointing out all the mundane things that they had grown up with and making them seem like the greatest thing since sliced pizza. Leo thought that he would maybe be those New York tourists that stuck out a little but it still wouldn't be the same without them. Yeah, Leo wasn’t happy with everything they had to go through to get Casey, but Leo wouldn’t give up the kid for anything. He was theirs now, sorry not sorry! Our little brother-nephew-son to keep! 

And stuff was different now, but it was good. Leo had grown up with four soulmates all in reach but now he had 8 all dashing in and out of the Lair and bringing sunshine and air from the world above. He had a reluctant kind of dad, a skeleton tio, a ghost Gram-Gram, whatever Todd was, a robot friend-nephew-brother, a yokai pet-friend, and April was making plans to introduce her parents and Grammi to them in person. Leo’s world was bigger than the sewers than he had grown up in and Leo decided that he liked it. 

...

And then it got a little bigger when Casey’s soulmark changed and a Knight from chess showed up with a few others around his mark.