Chapter Text
You find yourself waking up in a cold sweat again- hands shaking, pupils constricted like the sudden light of the room is too much.
You grip your sheets lightly as you regulate your breathing, running a shaky hand through your hair.
Every night, for three nights in a row now, you've been getting nightmares. Ones that made your limbs jerk in your sleep, a river of cold, dreadful shivers running through your entire nervous system. They're really starting to piss you off.
Why? Well, every time without fail, you've been waking up at 3AM and not being able to get back to sleep. No matter how hard you try, you just end up tossing and turning and just looking at the backs of your eyelids helplessly, unable to find slumber for the life of you.
It's exactly the same this morning. You tug at the roots of your hair, giving up on any thought of sleeping and just resigning to getting ready for school. You're pretty sure you have an exam first period; what was it, trig? Algebra of some sort? You don't really care. You'll pass anyways;
being a massive, dorky nerd has it's perks, huh?
Maybe.
You find yourself stripping in the bathroom and stepping into the shower, boiling hot water streaming down your body- rivulets of nerve-spiking temp simultaneously waking you up and putting you further into a sleepy stupor.
You wash your hair and scrub yourself down completely on autopilot, humming faintly to yourself as you go. You try to ignore the faint stinging of the scars over your back and shoulder blades; the water brings them to the forefront, but you end up just grumbling softly and ignoring the faint, tingling pain.
You rinse off and step out of the shower, catching a brief glance of yourself in the mirror as you reach for a towel to dry off;
You wrap that towel around yourself and flex an arm in the mirror with an exaggerated huff. Your working out the past few years is starting to actually pay off, the muscle defined and prominent in your arms and shoulders- you feel a sense of pride seeing the fruit of your efforts.
After you dry off and coax your hair into behaving, you slink back into your room and proceed to pull on the comfiest getup you own- your favourite shirt, some baggy faded black cargo shorts, socks and legwarmers, and your leather boots with too many straps.
Are you going for an aesthetic? Maybe. Do you rock it? Yes.
You meander into the kitchen to ready yourself some food; leftovers? No, none left. You sigh as you close the fridge. You'll just have to buy something in town- not really much of a complaint-worthy decision.
You turn to the serial, some of the same old muesli you've had seven hundred times, and pull out a bowl, pouring out enough-and then pouring in some milk. You also manage to make yourself a coffee, still barely conscious, and get back into your room, sighing and leaning back in your chair. You glance over your desk- monitors, PC sitting happily on the side, 80% keyboard chilling in the middle- half covered by several varying-in-size books- scientific theoreticals, comics, some fantasy, three textbooks, and about five other random completely insane looking note-books.
Yes, it's a little bit of a mess, but you like it like that. Is it maybe because you're on a little bit of the tism? Nobody needs to know that. You absentmindedly munch away at your coco pops as you boot up your PC, tucking your earbuds in as you start up some music up in the backround. You stray to several different activities as you go- writing random tidbits for one of your books, reading some wiki on physics, scrolling through socials a little, reading a little more- a rinse and repeat cycle.
Eventually you end up starting to rewatch your favourite show, half zoning out as it plays, and you consume your food that you're mainly only eating because it tastes like chocolate and your stomach seems to need to burden you with the need for food. Most of the time you're so busy in your head that you end up accidentally skipping meals, and your stomach punishes you with very loud grumbling and gurgling in mornings.
Man, having a body and fulfilling it's basic necessities sucks.
Eventually it hits 5:00AM, and you decide you want to go out extra early just to roam around before the inhabitants of NYC wake up and ruin the serenity of a quiet, cold morning in the city. You stuff your backpack with the day's subjects books, a bottle of water, your wallet, a notebook, your laptop, and a singular pen.
Then you layer up- it's cold out, this week, plus rainy. Hoodie, old and soft and too big, and a jacket- black canvas, with many pockets and many patches sewn on.
You sling your backpack over your shoulders, pull your headphones on, and head out the front door, making your way down your street with your head bobbing along to the music in your ears- totally at ease.
Usually, these streets are full of people, completely full of chaos- kids running off to school, shit tons of traffic, etc etc.
This morning is clear- it's still fairly dark out, stars still aglow, but the air is clear and crisp, and you feel very fresh just existing outside at this time. Are you socially inept, and hate large crowds, maybe?
Yes.
That's why the lack of life in the early morning is absolutely spectacular.
And you can also start dancing as you walk along the path, jumping from foot too foot and prancing around like nobody's watching- purely because nobody is, and you feel like your rights have seeped back into your bones.
You wander around for an easily nother two hours, eventually scoring a hot coffee and burrito at some takeout place, along with an extremely delectable looking biscoff donut that has no right looking so damn good.
At some point, your phone starts to buzz- your friends starting to wake up slowly, talking too much like they always do.
You smile faintly as you read through the messages, not really jumping around anymore but still happier than usual. Casey is yapping about the exam you have, complaining, Mylo complaining too, Harri shutting them up, Caine bragging about how easy he thinks trig is- the works.
You're a bunch of stupid sixteen year olds- you're even worse when you're actually chilling together irl.
You start heading in the general direction of your school, hands shoved deep in your pockets as you trudge along- through slushy snow and a lot of rain settled on the ground. You find yourself scaling up the side of a building- pretty much automatically- and make it onto the roof, jogging along the space like you've done a million times. Your average route to school usually has a little roof-top traversing involved, just because you feel like it sometimes.
Why?
Why not. The view is nice.
Your boots are loud against the concrete as you walk, and you're humming softly to yourself now- the fog has settled over the city now, and you’re pretty sure the amount you can see is up to about ten metres. The way to school is uninterrupted, and nobody sees you jumping over buildings like some weirdo vigilante- well, you kind of are.
when you get to school, Casey is waiting outside the gate expectantly, face lighting up a little as he spots you jogging over lightly.
“Oh, hey (Name)! I see you got breakfast sorted for once?” He jokes, and you take a big bite of your burrito for emphasis.
”I sure did, asshat.” You chuckle, clapping his shoulder gently. “Y’seen the others, or were you just sulking around waiting for me to show up?” You hum, wrapping an arm around his shoulders casually and starting to walk towards the building.
He shrugs, nonchalant facade suddenly in full swing.
”No? I was just- I was just chilling by the gate. Cuz I could.” He excuses, and you let it slide.
”sure, sure. I believe you.” You say, before you release him and shove your hands back in your pockets- one headphone skewed off so you could hear him, the other ear blessed with laufey playing softly.
’today is gonna be a good day.’ You think as him and you walk side by side into hell.
classes go by quickly- math up first, with the exam, which you breeze through- then, science. Some boring theory work about forms of energy and some other intro to physics work.
then, recess comes by and you’re thankful for the food break. You sip on your juice box absently, your friends talking around you; you’re half listening at first, but then you kinda stop and zone out. Caine, your best friend, is tucked against your side like an awfully cuddly, emotionally attached puppy. He’s ridiculously unprepared for the weather- sweats, an old Megadeth shirt he swears he didn’t steal from you, and some old zip up hoodie of his.
he’s freezing. You’re like a heater, and he’s like a leach, half snuggled into your shoulder- glasses askew, eyes half lidded, totally chilled out.
You’re a pretty affectionate person, and you honestly don’t care that he’s doing it. Pretty used to it, actually, and also quite fond of it.
after that, you have English, then art, lunch? and then after that you have music. You spend the entire time practically blowing the soundproof booth with Mylo, shredding chords on one of the school’s guitars like your life depends on it.
life is great.
before you know it, school is over, you’re saying bye to your friends, and you’re out the gate. you text your mom that you might get home late because you want to go into town, and she tells you that’s fine- she’s working a late shift at the office anyway.
you tell her you’ll get dinner.
you go into the depths of the city, spending money on random shit that catches your eye- your saved up money from your job really comes in handy, especially if you’re a nerd obsessed with your hyperfixation’s merch.
your backpack is stuffed full of the things you buy after an hour or two, and you’re full with donuts, boba and Pez.
‘It’s gettin’ late, I should maybe start heading home.’ You speculate, finding a nearby alleyway and climbing up onto a roof- travelling over top’s way faster anyways.
The jumps between buildings are about five metres max, and you clear every gap naturally like it’s the easiest thing ever. it’s natural, this kind of movement; you fall into the flow of it like soaking up the presence of an old friend.
after a little more rooftop traversing, you land like a frog on a window’s ledge, not sparing a glance in the room the glass onlooks-
Because your eyes are already trained on something else much more worth your attention.
a manhole, down in the alley below you, is being pushed up by someone underneath.
You can hear a little grunting from within- sounds like a dude- and, with sudden force, the circle of metal is flung a little to the side, revealing a humanoid person with green, faintly speckled scaled skin, and a blue bandana tied around his head- focused, deep blue eyes darting around and taking the view in.
he jumps up onto the concrete of the alleyway, and four other dudes with different coloured bandanas appear one after the other behind him; red, purple, and orange.
the orange one is the smallest, with little freckles on his shoulders and cheeks, and the tallest is also the lankiest- maybe just a little shorter than you, at about 5’6 and a half?
(note- yeah, you’re around 5’7 in this. cuz I can. Also, I’ve given them all heights that I think are pretty close to canon??)
you blink a little dazedly; they’re turtle people. turtle people.. who are armed and just came out of the sewer.
you watch intensely, not moving and barely breathing, as they look around like it’s the first time they’ve ever been outside.
which, unbeknownst to you, is actually the truth, and they’ve never been outside before; they’re totally in awe right now.
The smallest one, freckles, is the first to speak.
”Wow… it’s beautiful…” he says, baby blue eyes sparkling as he looks around at everything reverently.
The purple one replies, his hand landing on freckles’ shoulder. You notice, immediately, his gap tooth as he starts to talk.
“Yeah; I never could’ve imagined how this could be like in actuality. It’s… breathtaking.” Gaptooth says, and freckles nods wordlessly.
blue hums softly, and the other one- similar size to blue, with the red bandana and emerald green eyes- smirks at blue.
”what, too shocked to say anything?” He teases. Blue nods, seemingly stunlocked, as they start to walk as a group out of the alley, hugging the wall.
you follow along, balancing along the ledge on the side of the building to keep them in sight.
‘They’re a bunch of turtle people. Should I be freaking out? No. Nah, they seem kinda like kids, actually. Maybe my age? I don’t know. But they’re not the boogie man, they’re just dudes. Maybe even chill dudes.’
they don’t even seem to be doing anything at the moment- just walking around in shadowed areas, whispering and pointing at things like giddy little kids.
you’ve figured, because of the way they’re acting, they might not have actually seen the outside before.
You follow along for a little while longer, quietly observing with a curious eye- no bad intention, completely innocent.
most things you do are done with innocent intrigue, and you don’t overthink them a lot at the time. Maybe that’s why you don’t seem to have any enemies- you’re an open book, and a laid back one at that.
eventually, though, you stop.
Because they’re climbing onto the roof. You get off the ledge and hide swiftly behind a vent, almost completely silent.
“Mikey, what’re you doing?” Gaptooth asks, tilting his head.
freckles, who’s name seems to be Mikey, frowns, turns in your general direction- and you freeze, stopping breathing entirely. You turn and press your back against the vent, like you’re trying to disappear into the metal.
you’re not scared of them in particular, but you do not want them to know you’ve been following them for twenty minutes.
’…shit.’
Mikey blinks. “Did you guys hear that? I thought I heard something moving earlier, and I heard it again over there somewhere..”
your heart almost stops- it skips a few beats.
Blue perks up. “Actually, I think I heard it too.” He says smoothly, squinting at your hiding spot.
Gaptooth clears his throat.
“Uh… is-is anyone there?” He calls out meekly, and red punches his shoulder lightly.
”Way to sound like a total dork, Donnie.” He sneers.
Donnie frowns and rubs his arm- they’re all waiting for any sign of life from you, now.
You’re contemplating just bolting down a gutter pipe and flooring it down the street until you can dart down an alleyway to escape.
You kneel, starting to lean forward in prep to jump over the side of the building-
And then a shadow falls over you.
your lungs stop working, and you look up too see red staring you down cautiously- pupils dilated, expression tight but curious. You grunt in surprise, half rolling half scrambling to your feet- standing and almost immediately towering over him a little.
The other turtles freeze. Mikey gasps, Donnie’s jaw goes slack, rustic brown eyes going big and round, and blue takes a small step back.
For a moment, nobody moves.
Then, you clear your throat hastily, hands shaking a little.
“U-uh- s-sorry? I- um- uhh-“ you shuffle your feet a little, staring down at your boots. Just as Mikey is about to say something, opening his mouth, your pupils completely constrict, and you (admittedly to show off a little) backflip off the roof, landing with your hands wrapped around the gutter pipe on the side of the building, sliding down it like a fire station pole.
as soon as you hit the ground, you’re bolting full speed down the street- you barge past people and don’t care for once, just focusing solely on thundering down the street as swiftly as possible.
eventually, you look back over your shoulder to check if they’re following- they are- and run into a poor someone’s back.
you yelp out a soft ‘sorry!’ And whip your head around to see who you just ran into, and you’re met with a baby blue gaze- you immediately recognise her.
April O’Neil. Firey hair, bright blue eyes, the works. Just as you’re both about to say something- probably a ‘oh hi! Nice to see you here!’, you register her dad is here.
then, you see the white van screeching to a stop by the curb mere meters away- and the literal MIB pouring out of it?
they all advance toward you, and you grab April’s shoulder, pulling her slightly behind you and tucking her into your side instinctively.
her face pales, and she clings onto your arm- you take a few steps back as they start to snatch up her dad.
You don’t see the turtles starting to come down to help- you just gently shove April backwards.
”Dude, bolt! I’ll try help your paps out!” I holler, giving her a firm nod- I’m not asking.
She nods back, albeit hesitantly- she’s scared for her dad- and starts to run off. You rush forward, arms up in an X against your chest, and you ram against the people hauling Kirby into the van.
you notice they’re oddly solid, and you only send them so far, but it’s far enough. You pull him to his feet and practically throw him to the side, glowering at the MIB- which seem like total clones of each other, aside from one dude in a tank top and jeans.
they start to close in on you- two attacking you, two already going after Kirby and April, who’re already about a block away.
You’re a good dodger, and you jump roll out of the way every time they come at you. They’re heavy, it seems, and their motor skills are delayed.
you’ve figured that they’re… probably not humans.
What does shock you, of all things, is that two of the four turtles boys from earlier land either side of you as you recover from a roll.
Donnie and the blue one- except now Donnie has a staff in his hands, and blue is wielding twin katanas, both their stances on the defensive.
”Are you okay?” Donnie asks tentatively, and you snap out of it, nodding choppily.
“Right as I’ll ever be, I guess.” You say, looking at the two bots, who now look a little more pissed of than before.
still mostly expressionless though. you fumble for the measly little knife you left in your jacket, scowling at yourself for not being more prepared; you have other gear, and none of it is here, and you feel useless.
the bots start to advance again, and the boys rush forward to attack them- though Donnie struggles a little. His staff is just a staff, and wacking these things don’t do much.
Blue is slicing his up, so you go in To help Donnie, grabbing the bot’s shoulder and yanking it backwards off balance, before stabbing it in the temple with your little knife as well as you can, twisting it. Sparks fly as you do, and you step away as it falls flat on its ass and twitches uselessly as its system fails.
You look to Donnie, giving him a relieved smile. You had worked together, even if you didn’t mean to.
behind him, the dude with the tank top is still there- but he just swears loudly as Blue takes the other bot down.
the man then slams the back doors of the van shut and gets in the front, immediately flooring it and U turning in the direction April and Kirby had gone.
Suddenly, it’s really quiet.
You turn to the two brothers.
“Hey, so… thanks. For uh, saving my ass. I was pretty much screwed for a minute there.” You manage out, and give Donnie a small, appreciative smile, before giving blue a little nod.
They both seem to let out a sigh of relief at your words, expressions relaxing.
“Think nothing of it, I think we owe you for scaring you earlier.” Donnie says sheepishly, stepping a little closer without even realising it as he rubs his neck.
Blue nods, not as sheepish as Donnie, but still clearly feels bad.
”yeah… why were you there, by the way? On the roof? Dont mean to be rude, but it just kinda seems a little odd for a human to be up there so late at night.” He asks, genuinely curious.
“Well, about that..” you try for a sensible explanation- and then you can it and just decide to tell them the truth.
”well, I don’t mean to make it awkward, but I saw you guys come out of the sewer, realised you were turtles, and I was really curious, so… I followed you.” You admit, frowning.
”yeah, sorry, that was creepy, but I didn’t really think about it.” You sigh, peeking up at them. Donnie doesnt look bothered whatsoever- actually, he looks half scared and also absolutely mesmerised- and blue is just looking at you in a gentle way that screams ‘I understand.’
You feel better already.
”dont sweat it, Yeah? You’re cool, we’re cool.” Blue chuckles, cheeks tinting darker a little as he steps forward, reaching a hand out and looking off to the side.
”I’m Leonardo, but you can just call me Leo.” He says.
You nod, and take his hand carefully, shaking it with a gentleness you didn’t know you’re capable of.
your hand is a little more than half the size of his- for a human, you have big hands- but these dudes have pretty huge ones. Well, at least Donnie and Leo do. You’ll find out about the others later.
”I’m (Name). It’s nice to meet you, Leo.” You say softly, releasing his hand.
donnie holds his out next, giving you a big, dorky smile, Gaptooth on full display- it’s kinda dazzling.
”My name is Donatello, but call me Donnie.”
You take his hand, giving it a firm but gentle squeeze and shaking it softly.
”Nice to meet’cha, Donnie.”