Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The city never slept, but tonight, even its usual hum seemed quieter—muffled by the cold air, heavy with silence and a biting chill. Leo sat hunched on the edge of a rundown rooftop in Brooklyn, fingers curled tightly into the sleeves of his blue hoodie, shivering with each sharp gust of wind that blew past the perch. His breath came out in pale clouds, disappearing into the darkness.

His shoulders ached—not from battle or from training, but from carrying too much .

The slider rubbed his hands together roughly, trying to summon some warmth, though it felt more like a distraction from everything else. He pulled the fabric down farther, trying to cover the fins that jutted out from his forearms. The sight made his gut twist. He clicked his tongue in frustration, eyes narrowing.

He hated them.

He hated this .

The fight with Raph echoed fresh in his head, sharp and raw, the words ringing louder than the cold ever could.

"How are we supposed to be heroes when you’re over here looking like a monster? "

Leo flinched.

Monster.

The word bounced around in his chest like a ricocheting blade, carving itself into every soft part left inside him.

He stared at his hands, the faint shimmer of webbing between his fingers catching the distant glow of a neon sign. His gaze drifted lower—his tail gave a slow twitch on its own, like a serpent tasting the air. It didn't feel like part of him. It never had. Just another thing he couldn’t control.

Just another reason to agree with Raph.

"Monster."

A groan tore from his throat as he dropped his head into his palms. His fingers curled against his jawline, wishing— wishing —he could peel it all off and go back. Back to when he was just Leo, the cocky one, the funny one, the one who didn't have to lead anyone or carry a curse in his veins.

This wasn’t his fault. It wasn't . He just knocked over a stupid vase. That’s all it took. One dumb mistake in some museum, and now…

Zarynthia.

Even her name crawled through his thoughts like ice.

He could still hear her, sometimes, slithering through his mind when he tried to sleep—her voice sweet, but coiled with venom:

"You are mine now, little leader."

"No one will understand you. Not even your family."

Leo clenched his jaw, shaking his head as if he could toss her out like water in his ears. But her whispers never left for long. He was haunted , and worse—he was cracking under the pressure. Two weeks in, and it already felt like he couldn’t breathe.

Too many expectations .

Too many changes .

Too much.

Leo let his arms drop, leaning his shell against the rusting AC unit behind him, gaze cast toward the starlit sky above the towers of Manhattan. His voice was barely a murmur, lost to the wind.

“This sucks…”

He crossed his arms tightly over his clothed plastron, the fabric of his hoodie pressing awkwardly against the rise of newly developed fins on his arms. His tail thumped once against the rooftop, as if echoing his bitterness.

He hated that he ran.

But how could he not?

When every look from his brothers held worry or fear, when even Splinter didn’t have answers, when he didn’t even recognize himself in the mirror anymore… what else could he do but escape?

Stillness settled over the rooftop. Distant sirens wailed, a dog barked three blocks down, and the hum of the city slowly returned to his awareness. But Leo remained unmoving—shoulders curled inward, alone with the cold and the stars.

He should head back home, it’s been an hour already and surely they must be wondering where he went off to. But Leo didn’t really want to go. Not yet. Not when he just knew he was going to be smacked with more arguing when he returned, and quite frankly he simply didn’t have the energy to face that right away.

He sighed and reached for his swords, fingers brushing their hilts like old friends.

“Hm… maybe a trip to Hawaii would do me good.” He tried a grin, weak and crooked. “Catch a wave, drink a coconut… get sunburned in five seconds flat.”

The joke fell flat in the silence, but it was enough to get him moving. He rose to his feet, brushing dust from his knees as he took a breath, focusing his mystic energy. He’d gotten better at this. Not great, but passable. He just needed a clear mental image.

“Only one way to find out. Hawaii, here I come.”

Leo lifted his katanas, twirled them with flair, and slashed the air in front of him. A glowing, spiraling portal burst to life with a familiar whoosh . The cool blue light flickered over his green skin and hoodie as he stepped up to it with a proud whistle.

He took a step through, grinning—

And immediately started falling.

“WAAAH—!”

The drop wasn’t long, but it was jarring. He slammed down on his side with a whump , groaning as the air rushed out of his lungs and left him breathless. Somewhere, something clattered and someone shrieked.

“Nardo?!”

Leo blinked, dazed. That voice…

Wait.

“Aw, man…” He muttered from his position on the floor, rolling onto his shell and groaning. “Did I seriously portal myself back ho—”

He froze.

Standing across from him, framed in the violet glow of flickering lab lights and surrounded by scattered tools, was Donatello. But not his Donnie.

How did he know it wasn't his Donnie? This Donnie had wings that flexed as if they would react to the sudden disturbance. A spiked tail coiled behind him, and his markings were different too, extra stripes on his face and arms.

Both turtles stared at each other like they were seeing an alien.

Leo slowly straightened up from the floor, his brain scrambling to catch up. And then, without thinking, he blurted…

“Since when did you get wings ?!”

Donnie gaped and snapped into action, eyes darting from Leo’s tail to the webbing between his fingers. “Since when did you get a tail ?! And are those fins ?!”

Leo instinctively wrapped his arms around himself, trying to hide the offending features. “It’s a curse , okay?!”

Donnie threw his hands up, and when he paid closer attention to them, they had much longer claws. “I didn’t say anything!”

With panicked breaths, Donnie fumbled over his cluttered work desk, scanning his eyes over the messy space to look for his cloaking brooch, “Wait, don’t look at me! This is- it's just a costume for the next Comic Con!” He frantically shouted out. Leo squinted at him doubtfully, before this cosplay version of Donnie eventually grumbled under his breath, exhaling and then giving in.

“Ah, pizza supreme, I’ve already been spotted.” He pouted to himself, shaking his head and clearing his throat before warily eyeing Leo who scratched his head in utter confusion, observing Donnie.

— ⋯ —

Donnie clenched his fists and crossed his arms in an attempt to hide the way they trembled from Le— no, the intruder, if there was any facade he wanted to maintain the most in this moment, it was his emotionless one.

The moment an unidentified person fell through a suspiciously familiar mystic blue portal, was the same moment his gut dropped and proceeded to roil with internal panic. He wasn't supposed to let anyone see him like this! Let alone one of his brothers, no one in his family knew about the secondary mutation, and he was determined to keep it that way.

Staring at the wide-eyed turtle, laying stunned on the floor of his lab, he can kiss goodbye to that notion.

Donnie drew out a silent breath, eyebrows drawing down and wrinkling his snout. He narrowed his eyes, taking this time to analyze the sudden and ungraceful appearance of what he can only assume is his twin brother.

He’s been discovered, ambushed in his own lab! By a Leo that looks like Leo, but simultaneously not . And worst of all, he’s uncloaked and visible . The brooch was recently lost within the scattering of knickknacks; Donnie had taken it off when he needed a reprieve from its side effects, and had assumed he could easily find it again later. Curse his messy lab! He’s been meaning to tidy it up for 2 weeks now, but kept putting it off in favor of using that time to multitask between projects left half unfinished, ones that had taken up any and all available flat surfaces.

Maybe he can salvage this situation, the intruder hadn’t run screaming in fear or panic yet, so… when in doubt, data collection!

Donnie knew he saw Leo only a few hours ago, and he was definitely sure that he hadn’t changed all that much in such a short time frame. This Leo had wholly different markings all together, extra stripes on his face, his eyes slightly different, and he definitely recalled how the Leo he saw before didn’t have a tail or fins nor resemble a fish with a turtle shell.

“Gasp, could it be…?” He mumbled, humming in curiosity. He released one of his arms from its tensely folded position and tugged the goggles on his head down over his eyes, leaning in close as the programmed software he designed in the goggles did the rest of the work, scanning Leo’s body like a vulture observing its prey.

— ⋯ —

“Uh…?”

Donnie moved forwards and circled him a couple of times, even grabbing Leo’s arm and lifting it up to his eyes, then poking at the tail that twitched at the sudden contact.

“Fascinating… somehow your entire physiology is completely altered. Even your signature is different!”

Leo watched him, puzzled by what he was going on about, “You care to fill me in, Dee?”

Donnie stepped back, pulling his goggles up to rest on his head as he clasped his hands together. “Judging from, uh, well… everything, you are not the Leo that I’m familiar with. Your whole signature—according to the data I received from my goggles, is different. It’s like you have something else in you.”

Leo felt the beginning of a nervous sweat beat on his forehead, chuckling awkwardly. That was to be expected considering he did have something else in him, literally.

The two stared at each other for another beat of baffled silence, breaths heavy and uneven.

“…So,” Leo finally said, adjusting his hoodie, “This isn’t Hawaii.”

Donnie’s brow twitched. “ No , it is not. But it’s also not your home dimension anymore either.”

Leo’s eyes widened slightly. “Wait. Dimension ?”

His face twisted in utter bewilderment, he even swore he could hear the gears turning in his own head, mouth slightly hung open, as one hand pressed up to his temple as he tried to process the nerdy words he just heard come out of Donnie’s mouth.

What did he mean by that?! Was he being played?! Was Donnie twisting his arm—

Donnie’s wings drooped a little as he pinched the bridge of his snout. “You must have made a dimensional jump. Your mystic abilities must be… horrifyingly unstable.”

“Rude.”

Donnie jabbed a finger at him. “ Accurate .”

Leo narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms but tilted his head briefly, watching Donnie. Taking in his appearance. Large wings that could easily shield him if Leo stood behind them, his tail curled tightly around his feet where he stood, and while it wasn’t like Leo’s, the slider at least saw some sort of similarity between him and this strange looking soft shell turtle that resembled his brother. He still had the same purple bandana, same fancy shmancy wrist tech and goggles, same haughty air to his expressions. Just now with… extra features?

With a scoff of ignorance, Leo grinned, eyeing the purple clothed mutant. “So, what were you hit with? Did you get combined with a bird? No, wait, wait! Don’t tell me, scorpion, right?”

He moved a little closer, throwing his hands out dramatically, walking behind Donnie and unable to resist the urge to reach out and touch the feathers, ignoring the way Donnie shuddered and flinched at the sudden sensation of someone feeling his wings.

“Hey!”

“Wow, did myself from this dimension seriously let you leave the lair like that? Or wait , did you decide to Frankenstein yourself—“

Donnie groaned, rolling his eyes as his wing rose and flicked out to whack Leo away, imitating a slap of sorts. Which, ow, that was kind of strong. He then tucked both wings behind himself as much as possible and out of reach.

“Excuse you, don’t you know it’s rude to touch people without consent first!”

Leo held his hands up, mocking surrender as he backed up, trying not to laugh when he realised how ridiculous those words sounded when taken out of context. “Okay, okay. Yeesh , hit a nerve or something there?”

But Donnie didn’t reply, and instead they both paused in semi-awkward silence. Leo found himself glancing around the lab, noting the different tech, the subtle color palette differences, the slight wrongness in the air he could feel now that he focused on it. He looked back at this other Donatello—one who… didn’t know about the Sea Serpent goddess or the vase, or actually any of it. Huh.

Leo blew out a long breath. “Okay. This is fine. Not a total disaster.”

“You crashed through your own portal into my world.” Donnie deadpanned, making Leo wince before chuckling as he waved off the comment.

“Okay. So, a slight disaster.”

Donnie crossed his arms again. “What were you trying to do?”

“…Vacation.”

Donnie blinked owlishly.

“Vacation…” He repeated, in a tone that read, ‘ that is the dumbest thing I’ve heard all week.’

Leo gave him a sheepish grin, tail flicking behind him like a guilty cat.

“Well…” Donnie sighed, already rubbing his temples. “I guess since you're here… you could tell me what the hell happened to you. And I could help you try and get home. And do not touch anything .”

Leo raised his hands in surrender. “Scout’s honor.”

“You weren’t a scout.”

“I was a Todd Scout. It definitely still counts.” 

Chapter Text

The soft hum of machinery and the occasional flicker of overhead fluorescent lights were the only sounds in the lab—aside from the steady thunk of Leo’s elbow repeatedly hitting the worktable as he leaned on it in an overly dramatic fashion, bored out of his mind.

He sat on a stool, slouched like melted cheese over pizza crust, lower lip puffed out in a deep pout. His tail dragged lazily on the floor, twitching every now and then with the same restlessness burning behind his tired eyes. Screws and bolts skittered across the floor with a faint tinkling sound when the finned end brushed them away.

He startled when something behind Donnie began flicking from side to side, and had to remind himself that yes , this version of his brother somehow has a longer tail as well. One that even has spikes! And what seems like a barb on the end of it! Which was hard to believe, it made him look like an impatient cat, and a mildly spooky one at that silhouetted by the glow of all his tech.

Across the lab, this universe’s Donatello—wings partially unfurled as they rested by his sides, which again Leo was still struggling to comprehend he actually had—was hunched over a massive console of glowing screens, muttering equations under his breath as his hands skimmed across a keyboard.

It had been like this for a while now, a few hours most likely since his arrival. They had tried seeing if Leo’s portals would bring him back to his own dimension, but each time he sliced the air and stepped through the makeshift blue portal, he’d ended up falling face-first back into Donnie’s lab. Not his Donnie’s lab, but this other dimensional Donnie that he seemed to be stuck with.

So Donnie decided to try and maybe, just maybe, figure something else out. Leo briefly heard him mumble about a teleportation device, but who knew what Donnie was actually coming up with.

With a hefty sigh, he scanned over the lab, quirking up a nonexistent brow, noticing the way this lab actually seemed pretty familiar. And duh, of course it would, being Donnie’s lab in the lair full of all of his purple nerdy things, but it wasn't just that.

Wait a second…

Leo widened his eyes, unaware that his pupils briefly became slits out of surprise before reverting back to normal. The spines on his shell prickled up from under the hoodies fabric as well, but not enough to pierce through.

This lab was really familiar! 

Because it was the same one that Leo knew for years until it was destroyed by Shredder. And while it had been a few months since the defeat of the demonic entity, Leo’s memory still held strong on the fact that this lab, this dimension, must still have the old lair.

So… they haven’t faced Shredder yet?

He eyed his surroundings again in both puzzlement and disbelief before shaking his head. His brain began throbbing from trying to process this whole new discovery.

With a clear of his throat, he spoke up to fill the silence. “So…” Leo finally drawled, swinging his legs like a kid at detention, “Are we close? Like... ‘I’ll be home by dinner’ close? Or ‘stuck here forever’ close?”

Donnie didn’t respond right away, fingers flying over glowing purple keys. 

Then he sighed. Well, he actually said, “Sigh” as he sighed.

“Come on , Dee.” Leo pressed, tone laced with a teasing whine. “Isn’t there something in that big ol’ braincase of yours that can help out a stranded brother from another mother?”

A vein pulsed in Donatello’s temple. He turned slowly, very deliberately, swiveling in his chair to stare Leo dead in the eye like a predator sizing up prey.

“Big. Head.” He echoed, voice level.

Leo grinned, shameless. “Endearing, not insulting. You’re welcome.”

Donnie closed his eyes, took a breath like he was meditating through an oncoming rage headache, then opened them again with forced calm.

“Excuse me if I’m a little slow.” He said, shadows bending as the tail lashed once behind him. “It’s just a bit difficult to calculate interdimensional displacement when neither of us know how you even got here in the first place!”

He stood, wings fluttering open and closed with an irritated snap, arms flinging upward in exasperation. Clearly, this Donnie needed some coffee, or a good nap.

Leo leaned back, raising both hands innocently. “Hey, whoa, no need for that . You asked. I answered.”

Donnie gave a frustrated huff, pacing now. “You stepped through a portal.” He mocked, deepening his voice to imitate Leo’s and making pincer motions with his hands, “‘And boom , I’m here.’ That’s not data, that’s vague nonsense , nothing substantial!”

Leo snorted, resting his chin on his hand. “Sorry, Professor Quantum , but I didn’t exactly take notes mid-fall.”

Donnie stopped pacing, pinching the bridge of his snout. “You’re giving me secondhand migraines.”

Leo shrugged, shadows moving as more loose screws were sent rolling when his own tail lazily swished across the floor, showing his mirrored frustration. “Join the club.”

The silence that followed wasn’t exactly tense, but it buzzed with a mix of helplessness and static frustration. Leo let it sit for a moment, then softened his posture.

“…I didn’t mean to end up here, you know.” He muttered, eyes now fixed on the floor. “Was just trying to get away for a bit. Didn’t think I’d wind up in another dimension .” It’s kinda ironic when he thinks about it, he must have really wanted to get out if the universe sent him to a whole new dimension.

From the corner of his eye Leo watched as Donnie glanced over at him, his drawn on eyebrows relaxing slightly. The wings folded back against his shell and feathers smoothed out in what looked like a concentrated effort.

“I am trying.” He said, not unkindly this time. “But if your mystic signature is unstable—which, judging by how you crash-landed into my lab, we need to isolate the unique frequency that resonates with your dimension. Otherwise you’ll keep boomeranging back here no matter where you try to portal.”

Leo lifted a brow. “So... what I’m hearing is, I’m basically the worst boomerang ever made.”

Donnie blinked, deadpan. “Yes. But louder and more obnoxious.”

Leo snorted again, this time with a flicker of genuine amusement. “Alright. Guess I’m staying a while.”

“Guess you are.”

Another moment passed, quieter now, a little easier between them.

Leo trained his eyes on Donnie, taking mental notes of everything that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar for him that he was beginning to notice more clearly. This Donnie wasn’t looking at him like he was a freak, a monster. If anything he seemed relaxed around him, like how Donnie used to be with him before Leo got himself cursed for breaking that stupid vase.

It was almost nostalgic, smiling softly to himself, he quite liked this change in comparison to what he was getting from his brothers back at his own home dimension. He tried to not think too much about that thought, it would only bring his mood down again and he quite frankly didn’t have the energy to deal with that whole mess.

Leaning back on the stool, looking up at the vibrant purple ceiling lights, Leo hummed out of curiosity, speaking his mind. “You think the me in this world is any smarter?”

The corner of Donnie's mouth rose in a small smirk, and without looking up from his screen he spoke. “No chance.”

“Rude. If your Leo is anything like me, he’s totally smart!” Leo grinned playfully, propping himself up on the work table as Donnie rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to retort back, but neither of the two had a chance to speak when a knock from the other side of the lab reached their ears.

“Donnie, we got dinner! Pizza baby!”

Leo shut his mouth with a snap of his jaw, perking up at the familiar tone of voice that clearly came from none other than Mikey. Donnie on the other hand flailed for a moment, quickly getting up and glancing around frantically, the way he was not so subtly panicking put Leo on high alert.

“U-uhh! Just a moment!”

He ran around his lab, a confused Leo watching him like a curious cat as Mikey’s voice echoed once more. “Do I need to drag you out of there?” Mikey spoke, a threatening edge to his voice making Leo’s blood pressure rise, the door of the lab made an ominous creaking noise to show he was beginning to open it.

Donnie seemed to gulp down his nerves, but soon let out a wobbly breath of relief when he found whatever he had been looking for, quickly placing it on himself and swiping his hand over the gem to… to activate it? Leo flinched back and sat up when he saw the tail and wings disappear completely, in a flash of green and purple mystic energy.

He recognised the brooch immediately, making him wonder how Donnie got his hands on one. Because that's what it was, he somehow had an actual cloaking brooch! The only people Leo knew who had a cloaking brooch would be Sunita and the yokai from Big Mama’s hotel. Although Donnie's brooch did look a little different, it still had the gem, but the metal encasing it seemed techy, like he’d somehow replaced or added stuff to it.

Before Leo could even begin to question his other dimensional twin brother, he was snatched by the wrist and dragged over to a pile of scrap heaped up in a pile and shoved in the corner.

“Ow!” Leo hissed, rubbing his arms when pointy objects pricked at him. He tried to stand up, only to wince and yelp again when Donnie practically buried him with more random pieces of junk from the pile. He was burying him in the scrap pile?!

“Do not make a sound.” 

Donnie left Leo, who huffed and crossed his arms, listening in as he heard the familiar hiss of air that meant the lab door was opening.

“Mikey, what did we say about opening my lab doors without giving me a chance to simply get myself sorted?”

“You were taking forever bro! Plus, I wanted to make sure you got food in ya while it was still hot and fresh.”

The scent of pizza filled Leo’s nostrils, the slider resisting the urge to drool over the scrap heap as he heard Donnie sigh again for what was probably the fiftieth time since he arrived. “Okay, okay. Thank you brother. Now, I have important work to do!” Donnie exclaimed through what sounded like gritted teeth. Leo could also hear the crumpling of cardboard, which could only mean Donnie snatched the pizza box out of Mikey’s hands.

— ⋯ —

“You're not eating with us?” The young box turtle frowned a little, showing such an open act of concern towards Donnie as his shoulders began to slump, that it would be hard to miss. “You’ve been staying in your lab loads lately. You're not sick or anything, right?” He innocently inquired, making a show of looking him up and down with a finger pressed to his chin and putting on a studious face. Donnie’s grip on the lab door tightened, his eyes darting around nervously, and a surge of internal panic washed over him.

But he couldn’t let Mikey know. No one should know. It was bad enough that one other person already knew, he didn't need anyone else knowing. He needed to get rid of Mikey before he started asking questions that he didn't have a convincing excuse for.

“Not sick. It’s like I said, I have very important work to do. Thank you for dropping by with a pizza.” Hah, and that wasn't even a lie! He actually does have very important work to do, namely finding a way to send this extra copy of Leo back home, sooner rather than later. Leaving his lab to socialise with his brothers will only result in a setback and take up time that could instead be used for researching interdimensional travel.

With that, Donnie shooed Mikey away with his other hand and closed the lab door before he could say another word, locking it this time and letting out a breathy exhale of relief. He felt guilty for basically shutting out his littlest brother like that, but it was for the best in this moment.

“Come on out now.” He called out to Leo, who began shoving himself free from the pile he had been buried beneath.

“Dude, you got pizza?!” Leo exclaimed, a massive smile stretching across his face, something was wagging excitedly and eagerly behind him and it took him a moment to realise it was Leo’s errant tail. He sauntered over as Donnie set the pizza box down, already reaching for the lid. His hand went up to take the brooch off, but it faltered. He bit the inside of his cheek as he debated his choices, but let his hand fall back down when he decided that it was best to leave it on for the time being.

“Go nuts. I have tons of work to do.”

— ⋯ —

Leo paused with his fingers hovering over a deliciously warm pizza slice, blinking owlishly as he observed his brother from another dimension. “Are you not going to eat?” He asked, frowning as Donnie waved off the comment dismissively.

“Mmn, not hungry.” He responded, his bare shell facing Leo as he went back to typing away on the computer screen.

Leo however narrowed his eyes in thought, before decidedly grabbing a slice and stepping towards Donnie. “No brother of mine is going to starve! Eat.” He demanded a bit playfully, bumping the pizza against Donnie’s cheek as he leaned over his shoulder slightly.

“Nardo—“

“ Eat .”

“Would you quit that—“

“Nope. Eat with me.”

Donnie groaned, clicking his tongue in annoyance. “I’m not eating!” He hissed only for Leo to huff and cross his arms stubbornly.

“Then I’m not eating until you do.” He compromised, making Donnie stare with bewilderment as he tried to talk, only to stumble over his words.

“Y-you! You can’t just…! Argh! ”

Donnie couldn’t form the words to express how stupid that was, he didn’t want to be held responsible if this Leo was going to starve himself just because Donnie hadn’t eaten in awhile.

Leo remained silent, smirking to himself slightly as he knew that this would work. If this Donnie was anything like the Donnie he knew, Leo just knew that eventually he’d give in and eat, not wanting to be accountable for Leo’s own decision of refusing to eat.

Twins. Such annoying creatures.

Using his arm to push back Leo as much as he could, eyeing the slice of pizza before grabbing it. “Fine. But only because you’re being annoying.” He gave in, munching on the cheesy food as Leo snickered happily.

“As your twin, even if I’m from another world, it’s my sole duty to be annoying.”

“Ditto.”

The two were quiet, enjoying each other's presence as Donnie took a side glance at his twin. He wanted to ask how he got to be this way, why he had a tail and fins. He said he was cursed but what did that entail exactly?

Donnie wasn’t the only one who had questions inside his head. Leo was no better, he kept wondering why Donnie was the way he is right now. He had wings and a tail and he seemed to be wanting to hide that from his brothers.

“So… did you also get cursed?”

Donnie slumped his shoulders at the question, “Don’t want to talk about it.” He responded, which only made Leo ache with more curiosity, he licked his fingers clean from the pizza he just ate before grabbing Donnie’s shoulders and somewhat shaking him.

“Come on! Share with me! I’ll keep it a secret.”

“Knock it off.”

Leo huffed, reluctantly letting go. “You’re no fun.” He teased, walking away to look around the lab, returning to processing the fact that this lab was scarily similar to the old lab he knew from his home dimension.

“So, am I sleeping here or…?”

Donnie widened his eyes, clicking his tongue and scrunching his face. He didn’t think that far ahead about the fact that Leo would probably be here for a while. “I guess…” He grumbled, unaware of how Leo grinned playfully.

“Aw, it’s just like when we had sleepovers as kids.”

“Except instead of a bed, you can sleep in the scrap pile.”

Leo gasped, hand splayed over his plastron, “Seriously bro?” He deadpanned, a bit offended as Donnie grinned.

“Relax, I’ll give you a blanket.” He assured, turning around and smiling at Leo who exhaled and softened his expression.

Amused as he knew Donnie was joking.

…right?

He shook off the thought and looked towards the locked door. He wanted to see the lair again. Before it was destroyed. He missed his home that he grew up in, he didn’t want to admit it but he had been pretty devastated when it was ruined by Shredder.

He had great memories here. Memories of when he wasn’t looking like this whole situation.

“I know that look. You can’t go out there.”

Leo narrowed his eyes slightly in some annoyance, “Not even for like, 5 minutes?” He asked, he could feel the spines on his shell perking up eagerly but Donnie just raised his brow, silently daring Leo to start arguing with him.

“Ugh…” 

Stubbornly, Leo dragged his eyes away from the lab door. “There’s gotta be at least something for me to do then.”

“Play the silent game.”

“Ha-ha. Funny.”

Donnie snorted, shrugging his shoulders, “I keep telling you guys I’m the funniest.” He stated with pride, Leo rolled his eyes at the comment.

“Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that bud.”

Donnie smirked in amusement, standing up and walking off towards a cabinet to the side, Leo watched with brief curiosity, noticing just over Donnie’s shoulder that he was grabbing what appeared to be bedsheets. Leo softly hummed, smiling fondly to himself that Donnie was going to perhaps actually make him a little bed for later.

But since he was distracted… Leo saw this as the perfect opportunity to slip out of the lab unnoticed. He just wanted to take a brief look around the old lair. For memory sake.

He stepped back, keeping his eyes focused on Donnie until he reached the door, cautiously unlocking and opening it, trying to keep it to minimal noise before he glanced back at Donnie, he hadn’t noticed.

Sorry Dee. Just for a second I’ll be gone.

Leo impishly grinned to himself as he snuck out as quiet as a ninja. Once he was outside the safety of the lab, he quickly dove to the side, sticking to the shadows as best as he could, listening and watching for anything that might risk him being caught.

He moved with the shadows, his tail flicking in curiosity like a cat as he made his way towards familiar surroundings, but thankfully not throwing off his balance or revealing his location.

Whoa… the kitchen. It’s exactly the same as it was back home.

He smiled at the sight, walking away and heading quietly towards the gaming room, peeking inside and chuckling softly to himself. Everything was the exact same it seems.

This is so cool…!

— ⋯ —

Donnie on the other hand, had no clue he was now alone in his lab. Humming along to some 80s jam that popped up in his head as he grabbed the materials he would need to set up a comfortable place for his other dimensional twin to sleep in.

He wasn’t actually going to leave Leo to sleep in the scraps, no matter how tempting that idea seemed. 

“Okay, I collected the essentials. I’ll set up a bed for you next to mine—“

When he turned around, expecting that Leo was going to be standing there with a bored grin plastered all over his face, he came to an abrupt pause, blinking widely as he observed his quiet lab.

Quiet and empty, save for himself.

“…Nardo?”

A beat of silence ticked by and Donnie dropped the bedsheets, realisation crashing down on his brain.

“That dumb-dumb!”

He could feel his wings reflexively fluff up in annoyance behind the cloaking brooch. Stomping his way towards the unlocked door, he now had another new priority to focus on.

Find Leo.

Where did that fish-brained idiot go?

Donnie could feel his heart pounding harder and faster the longer he had Leo out of his sight, eyes darting around for any sign of the other Leo. He checked his Leo’s room, and then the garage, but saw no sign of the slider. 

He quickly made his way to the indoor skateboarding room they had, but froze when he ran into his brothers, who were currently perched at the top of the skateboarding ramp, clearly having been using it moments prior.

Leo. His Leo, spotted him first before he could do anything else, let alone duck back behind the archway entrance he came from.

“Donnie! You joining in?”

He grinned happily at the sight of the softshell, who was currently processing the fact that he now had to somehow dodge his own brothers before he could resume his search for the other Leo.

“Can’t, I’m uh… busy.”

Raph tilted his head, raising a non-existent brow at his little brother. “Busy? With what?” He inquired curiously, tone laced with a hint of concern, Raph must have noticed the way Donnie had been avoiding them.

“Looking for Leo.” He answered automatically, only just realising the mistake a moment later when he made eye contact with his own blue brother. It was too late to pretend the verbal blunder never happened, as the slider in front of him began chuckling awkwardly to himself. “Uh… you found him then? Right here, hermano!”

I'm not looking for you .

He wanted to groan, and wanted to explain what he meant by looking for Leo. But he couldn’t. He shouldn’t. They probably wouldn’t believe him or even understand what he was going on about.

Donnie glanced up when he tipped his head back to stare forlornly at the ceiling, and immediately paled as much as a green skinned turtle could do, when he saw a silhouette crawling across the ceiling beam.

It was the other Leo he was actually looking for! The Leo that came from a whole new world, balancing himself like a smug cat as he smiled giddily like a kid on the playground, his tail swishing side to side slightly playfully.

“Leo!”

Once again, the brothers shot puzzled expressions towards the soft shell. “Dude, I’m right here. No need to yell.” His brother deadpanned at him, Mikey jumped and slid down the ramp to stand in front of Donnie, his face scrunching up with concern.

“Are you sure you're actually feeling okay?”

“What? I mean yes! Yes I am fine .”

Donnie shook his head, mentally scolding and telling himself to try and look as normal as he possibly could. He kept his eyes fixed firmly ahead of him to not make it obvious that he’d spotted something.

“Brethren of mine, wouldn’t it be more fun if we watched some Lou Jitsu movies? In the living room.”

Donnie just needed to get them interested in something else, preferably something that didn't involve his physical health. He was also thinking of any plausible excuse to get them out of the room before they noticed the extra brother in the ceiling.

He did catch sight of the other dimensional Leo crawling across the beam, peering down as he spotted Donnie, even having the sheer nerve to wave at him as he did so.

I’m gonna kill him.

If Donnie had hair, he’d be ripping it out right after this.

“Lou Jitsu movie marathon? I’ll make popcorn!” Mikey beamed, already running off as Raph sighed.

“I’ll go secure the couch.” His oldest brother added, heading out as Donnie looked to his twin who hummed with a furrowed brow. 

“Are you sure you’re doing okay?”

“Totally!”

Not.

Leo didn’t say anything, just observed him quietly. “All right. I’ll see you in the living room then.” He walked by, smiling lazily as Donnie waited a moment to make sure everyone was actually gone.

Once he was sure that it was just him, he looked up.

“Leo! Get down—“

He blinked when the sight of the other Leo wasn’t even up there anymore. “What…?” He mumbled, tilting his head in confusion.

“What are we looking at?”

With a shriek of surprise, Donnie recoiled and jumped back, clapping a hand to his plastron when it felt like it was trying to beat its way out. The other Leo stood beside him, smiling as the tip of his tail flicked from side to side in a mischievous fashion.

“How did you?!”

“I’m a ninja.”

Donnie could feel his eye twitch, taking a deep inhale. Since when could Leo be so stealthy and silent? “Look, either your brain has the memory of a goldfish—“

“Rude.”

“Or you just purposefully choose to ignore my advice. But I told you to stay in the lab. So, I need you to get back. I cannot risk the others seeing you.” Donnie scolded, furrowing his brows and crossing his arms over his plastron as Leo rolled his eyes at him stubbornly.

“Ugh, no offense but your lab is boring! I wanna watch that Lou Jitsu marathon.”

“Well that is most definitely not happening. You can’t be seen .”

Leo pouted, grumbling under his breath. “So not cool.” He clicked his tongue, grunting in bewilderment when Donnie began forcefully shoving him forward towards the exit.

“Go on. Back to the lab with you.”

“Can you at least bring back some snacks, and something tasty to drink for me?”

Donnie nodded in agreement, “Yes, I’ll do that. Just go back and don’t be seen!” He hissed in a hurry as Leo gave a mocking salute, walking out of the skating room and once again, eventually sneaking his way back towards the lab.

— ⋯ —

Leo paused just as he was about to open the lab doors. His eyes caught sight of Leo around the corner, barely visible from this angle. The Leo from this world obviously, who was laughing along to whatever Mikey had just said.

He was normal. 

No long tail. No webbed hands or fins. No spikes on his shell. No extra markings.

Just normal .

Something inside Leo twisted for a second, perhaps a sense of jealousy? Bitterness? He couldn’t quite tell as he quickly dismissed the feeling and finally entered the lab, closing the door for privacy as he walked over to a table that was shiny enough to see his reflection.

Monster.

That’s what Raph called him the last time he was back home.

Leo was a freak. At least that’s what he thinks, he already knew he wasn’t exactly normal given the whole giant, walking, talking mutant turtle aspect he had going on.

But now add the whole curse situation on top of it all? 

He couldn’t fault anyone for seeing him as a monstrosity.