Chapter Text
The orange glowing hue shut behind him as Leo was pulled into a hug by his biggest brother; he could still hear the primal growl of the Kraang ringing through his tympana, causing him to push further into Raph’s plasteron, uncomfortable as it was. Then there was silence, just heavy breathing and the sound of Raph’s heartbeat before it was ripped away as light assaulted his retinas. He blinked a few times, trying to bring the world into focus. He couldn’t hear properly what was being said to him; all he could focus on was the fact that they were alive, all of them.
He cracked a smile as he cocked out. “Ugh- Are we on Staten Island?” Three pairs of eyes all blinked back at him before their faces broke into smiles. Raph even cracked a laugh at the absurdity of the situation. “Yeah, little brother, we are.” He croaked out. “Ugghh-” Leo moaned, pulling himself up to his feet without much success as he immediately felt the world around him go into a static blur, his heavy body toppling towards the ground.
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Leo opened his eyes, groaning as he sat up. Another day, well, night. He was still tired, having gone to sleep only two hours earlier. But it was time to get up. He winced as he heard his bones crack and groan as he forced his body to move. He’d not been doing his PT, which of course resulted in his knee screaming at him in protest as he stood. He was honestly just a mess, yet here he was, still alive, still breathing, still- wait, was that eggs he smelled? His stomach churned a bit, spirits how he hated eggs. They were all slimy and gross! His body shuddered just thinking about sticking the food from hell itself into his mouth.
Shaking his head he fastened his knee brace and grabbed his crutches, even though in his opinion he didn’t need them…. Okay, but he did. “Would Dr. Leonardo say you need it?” Mikey had asked, with his hands on his hips, and Leo just deflated in defeat, leading him to where he was now, hobbling around on crutches like he was some weak baby bird.
Speaking of birds, Leo’s mind wandered back to those eggs. Those disgusting, slimy abominations! Who even thought it was a good idea to eat what came out of another animal's ass? Speaking of that, who discovered milk? What were they doing to goats and cows to even discover that? Leo’s face twisted into one of bewilderment. It had to have been someone perverted. But now it was just everyday stuff. Huh- Weird how things happen.
Leo shuffled his way into the kitchen, giving his best ‘I’m better than you’ face as he flipped his non-existent hair with his hand. “Good morning hermanos~” He hummed, receiving various greetings in response from his turtle, and human, and rat, companions.
Mikey was busy cooking away at the stove with CJ peaking over in amazement. The two were talking about different foods CJ still wanted to try. It’s hard to believe that just a year or so ago, CJ could barely keep anything other than stale bread, milk, and cut ham down, and very little of those, all things considered. The boy was malnourished by the time he came to them, but now he was at a considerably healthier weight, and the boy ate like it was his last day on Earth, though in a way, he used to just live like that. At the table, Raph and Splinter were talking about something in hushed tones, but from the little laughs and smiles the two had, Leo doubted it was any of his concern. Then there was Donnie, who was typing away at his phone, biting his hoodie as he did. No doubt, either extremely happy or extremely upset.
Either way, Leo wasn’t going to bother him; he’d do something to indicate one or the other, and Mikey would take care of it if it wasn’t too bad; otherwise, Donnie would come to Leo later.
Leo made his way over to the table, taking a seat at the end closest to the door. He’d been given this designated spot thanks to his wonderful brothers looking out for him and his limpy needs. On the table, there were already a variety of other foods aside from the eggs Mikey was making, and thank the spirits for that. There was bacon and sausage, along with hashbrowns and tater tots. Frankly, Leo wasn’t sure how they could even afford all of this had the kind people of New York not given it to them for free. Well, Mama Carol and Uncle Elijah, to be specific.
April had brought them down while the turtles were recovering; it wasn’t exactly the right time, but Carol was a doctor and Elijah a neurosurgeon, so they were kind of needed.
The four honestly expected worse reactions, but in all things considered, they reacted well. They worked alongside Draxum and Splinter, hell, even Big Mama got involved after something Casey said to her, and the family healed. Leo just wished he’d healed more.
But that’s not the point. Leo immediately reached for a sausage just to be smacked away by one of Donnie’s spider arms. “Angelo said no one eats until he’s done cooking.” He muttered, not even bothering to look up from his phone.
‘Fine. You wanna play that game?’ Leo put on his most serious face and looked directly at Donnie. “Donatello.” He started, interrupting Raph and Splinter's conversation as they looked up at the two.
Donnie slowly looked up from his phone, eyebrow raised.
“Are you wearing your battle shell this early in the morning?”
The room stopped and stared at the two, the only sound remaining in the kitchen being the sizzling of the eggs. “Well?” Leo prompted.
“So what if I am, Nardo? I know my limits,” Donnie responded, waving a hand as he leaned forward to look at his twin at the other side of the table.
“You know you’re only supposed to wear it during missions now. You’re gonna injure your shell even more.”
“Scoff! I know well enough on how to take care of myself and my shell. I’ve been living with it for seventeen years!” The indignation in his voice only served to make Leo’s eyes roll. This wasn’t worth the fight, Leo decided. Besides, Donnie felt safer with his shell on, especially after the attack.
Leo put his hands up in defeat. “You win, hermano, but you'd better make sure to take it off every hour for ten minutes at a time.” Leo crossed his arms, satisfied. He’d done his job, he’s protecting his brothers, but then why… Donnie made an odd expression at Leo. He wasn't sure what it meant; he was usually good at reading everyone. He looked at Raph, then Mikey; they were all giving him that same weird look. “What?” He asked, with a little more urgency than he meant.
“What?” Donnie replied, as if they weren’t all staring at him.
“... nothing. Just..” Leo stopped, putting on his facade that he'd let slip. “Look, I know I’m the best looking in the family, but it doesn't mean I want you, and your big forehead, to look any uglier.”
“Offended gasp!”
“Come on!”
Mikey interrupted, putting a plate of eggs on the table. “Breakie is ready!”
The tension in the room seemed to evaporate as if it never existed, as everyone immediately began to dig in, especially CJ, who was attacking the sausage and cheese with military precision. So how it was when it came to him. The guy had grown up with nothing but military precision; it’s hard to break that habit even in a time as short as just a year. Though CJ had made progress for everything he’d been through, they all had.
The Kraang attack left all of them broken, physically and mentally. For a whole month, no one would let Leo out of their sight as if they were afraid he’d disappear should he be left alone. Not that Leo was much better, watching his brothers like a hawk, despite being repeatedly told to stay in the med bay and stay in bed. As for everyone else towards each other, though? It was just as bad. Raph became even more clingy than usual, insisting on a turtle pile in the med bay every night, not that anyone objected. Everyone was worried about Donnie and his random seizures he’d have and of course, Mikey would wake up screaming with nightmare after nightmare. It was all over a messy and devastating time for them all.
But they made it through, all of them were still alive, all of them were together, and all of them were safe. After all, after the attack, their enemies seemed to want to lie low and hide away. Some found their way into the hidden city and integrated into life as pseudo yokai, some even changing their names back to what they’d had in their before lives. It was nice.
Now they got to sit around the table and eat the delicious food Mikey had made. The chatter that filled the room warmed Leo, made him feel whole. He was really only half paying attention, but he was still focusing on his family.
All of them talked and chattered along, each of them smiling. Leo couldn’t help but tear up a bit seeing them like this.
“So anyway, like I was saying, Barry wants us to visit him soon, for a check-up. Especially me, he wants to make sure my ninpo is in check and not overflowing again.” Mikey said, taking a bite of sausage.
Splinter nodded in agreement. “Yes, that is wise.” He was stroking his chin fur as he thought to himself. “Perhaps I shall stay here this time.”
“You mean perhaps you sneak off to see Big Mama?” Leo interjected.
“Wha- No! How dare you insinuate such things!”
Leo just smiled and shrugged. “Okay, Pops, whatever you say.”