Which TMNT Write Fight fics were your favorite to write/read?
I only published one, Sky Clearing Up, that I’m still writing and I’m having lots of fun writing it!
I haven’t read all of them yet, I’m working my way through the collection but it’s slow going 😭. Of course I loved the one remrose wrote for my batman prompt, not a single person here who’s worthy. There’s a bunch I’m so excited to read, I’ll be reblogging them later once I’ve read them. I’m so impressed with how much everyone wrote 🩷🩷🩷
I’ll be posting the complete story later! I hope you like it :3
@whattraintracks Prompt #2 - Reimagine the first episode and/or backstory of your favorite iteration somewhere that ISN'T New York City.
For the @tmnt-write-fight
Title from Sky Clearing Up | RADWIMPS
The only way out was through Yoshi’s prison of seven years, The Battle Nexus. He knew there had to be other ways but he did not know the ins and outs of the Hidden City well enough to waste time looking. He had precious cargo. He refused to risk the innocent creatures' lives when he knew the fastest way out already. Even if the idea of going back to that place terrified him.
He knew where this portal was because of a previous escape attempt. Yoshi also knew there was some sort of building above it, a human building. While trying to find a way out he had stumbled upon a room with a large window overlooking a vast forest. Unfortunately it had been one of those bullet proof ones so his attempt at breaking though it just resulted in bruises.
It had been the first time he had seen the sun in two years.
The only reason he had been recaptured was because he mistook some cloaked yokai for actual humans. He thought they could help him. He was stupid. He knew there being disguised yokai above had to mean Big Mama was controlling the area the portal came out to. He would have to not trust anyone to evade capture this time.
Big Mama liked-no, loved control. Even when he only knew her as a regular human that love had been obvious. A red flag he should have paid attention to. From the destruction of that freak show's spooky lab Yoshi could easily see The Battle Nexus. Which meant Big Mama could see the lab. Yoshi was now relying on her love for control and hatred of stealing what she considered hers.
She would be looking for him there along with her employees considering it had been a little over a day since he had…left. At least, he hoped she would. He never thought that would be something he wished for but that was before he was kidnapped, again, by a yokai even more homicidal than her.
Yoshi continued to make his way down to the lowest level of the Battle Nexus, careful to avoid detection. When he finally made it to where the portal was, no one was around. He would have to move fast once he made it to the other side. Who knows how much of the area on the other side she controlled.
He took a deep breath then dove into the portal. As soon as he was on the other side he didn’t stop moving. He rammed into the door he knew to be locked from last time, tearing it straight off its hinges. He ran clear past others moving straight down the hallway on the other side. Shouts started up behind him; whether from him knocking people over or from a yokai recognizing him, he did not want to know. His mind was only focused on dodging anything in his path and running as fast as possible to escape the building.
As he ran he passed a few doors on either side of the hallway, all labeled but none that appeared to be an exit. As more shouting and the sound of running got louder he began to panic. Could one of the doors behind him have been a better choice? He kept running, not having much of a choice.
Finally, at the end of the hall was a set of double doors. He sped up even more and pushed through one of the heavy steel doors. A wave of noise hit him while flashing lights assaulted his vision. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. It didn’t help with the overwhelming noise. Overlapping music, clearly several playing at once, and what sounded like hundreds of voices. He opened his eyes and quickly took in the absolutely gigantic room he had found himself in.
The ceiling was high with a chandelier and what looked like paintings of bloody battles. The flashing lights came from colorful, loud machines lining the room in rows. He could see a grand staircase leading to a higher level lined with tables. Yoshi’s eyes passed over the area to the left of him before snapping back. His eyes landed on what had to be the exit. A line of glass doors with people either walking in confidently or stumbling out drunk.
He was sprinting with a single minded focus towards his way to freedom in the next second. He darted through a door someone was entering. They jumped away and shouted curses at him. He ignored them, still running. He glanced over his shoulder to see the distant metal doors hadn’t been opened. His relief was short lived before a horn blared. He jerked back, headlights now blinding him. Only his fast reflexes allowed him to slide over the hood of a car he could barely see without dropping the creatures he cradled. He stumbled across the concrete. Then ran again onto a patch of grass he spotted. He did not want to become roadkill. He stopped to catch his breath while taking in everything around him.
It was night out but the light from the building lit up the area around him. A highway with cars mostly turning into the building's entrance was in front of him. A large parking lot was to the left while another highway carrying more cars was to his right. Beyond that highway was a distant bright city. He stumbled a bit back and hit something. He looked up to see a large TV screen sign that shuffled through what appeared to be events happening. When he looked back at the building he saw colorful, large lights across the side, Grand Nexus Casino.
Yoshi had no idea where he was.
He knew he had to keep moving though, who knows how much of this area Big Mama controlled; and she obviously controlled at least this casino considering the name. He looked away from the building and towards the highway directly across from the building. It was hard to tell with the headlights of cars but it almost looked like a large forest. Yoshi took a deep breath then winced. It appeared stopping for even as brief as he did brought back the pain of his changing body. What had that green ooze done to him?
He could not dwell on it, he had to keep moving. There was too much traffic towards the city, too many lights as well, and it was far away. For now his safest bet was the trees. He took all this in within seconds. He was across the highway then into what was thankfully a dense forest faster than he thought possible. Imprisonment wasn’t exactly good on his body and he did not exactly exercise while protesting fighting. The strength and swiftness was probably the adrenaline, he hoped it would last him a bit longer.
He turned only briefly once he knew he was hidden in the forest. He could distantly see two figures dressed in Big Mama’s uniforms looking around frantically. He turned quickly and continued deeper into the forest, light from the full moon lighting his way. He ignored the pulsing in his legs, the painful itchiness everywhere and focused only on running.
He could not focus on any of the pain until the tiny creatures in his arms were safe.
When Yoshi finally stopped running it was only because midway up his calves was suddenly drenched. He looked down to see ripples coming from the water where he now stood. In the next second his legs gave out. His knees splashed into the water. He felt them sink into the muck. While the fall was unexpected he still managed to keep the little bodies above the water that he was now waist deep in. While cold it immediately soothed an ache he was now aware of. He told himself he would just rest for a few minutes then figure out where he was.
Five minutes passed. No thoughts. He just stared ahead at the gentle moonlit water. A lake it had to be. The waters were calm.
Fifteen minutes. It stretched out in front of him. It was all he could see. He couldn’t even see if there were trees on the other side.
Forty minutes. He began to shake from the pain that trickled into him, the coldness of the water no longer soothing him. He groaned behind clenched teeth. He didn’t want to scare the creatures by screaming, even though he desperately needed to. He was in agony, even his organs were on fire. His bones ached. He wanted to scratch his skin off with the new claws he was trying not to think about. He wanted to rip those off at the same time.
An hour. He closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep. He couldn’t even keep track of the time anymore.
Time passed. He jumped when light flashed behind his closed eyelids. A booming clap of thunder followed, shaking the ground. He opened his eyes to see that the water was no longer moonlit. Its inky depths called to him. The little creatures in his arms started crying out just as rain began pouring from the sky. The sound of raindrops hitting the water calmed him. The feeling of them sliding down his body comforted him, they were warm. This time when he told himself he would only rest for a few minutes, he did just that. Then he began trying to take in the area.
While he had lost the advantage of the moon, the lightning was bright enough to illuminate the area. Even if it was sparse and only for a few seconds at a time. He looked down at the water just as lightning struck again.
A monster stared back at him. He jerked away falling onto his butt. Water splashed while he frantically rushed backwards until he was out of the water, breathing heavily, terrified. Was that him? Was he hallucinating? He inched forward again to the edge of the lake, staring down at it and waited. When the world lit up again he knew it was real. It was him. If a choked sob escaped from him, no one had to know and he would deny it. He nearly spiraled again until wiggling in his arms and crying brought him back. Right, the creatures. He could not focus on that whole situation right now
He shook his head roughly then attempted to take in his surroundings for a third time. He was in what looked like a small clearing next to a lake. The trees circled behind him and along the lake towered high in the sky above illuminated by the dense rain clouds with lightning running through them. It was pitch black, he shouldn’t be able to see anything without the help of the lightning.
Yet he found himself being able to dimly see some of his surroundings. It was because of this that he was able to see a black shape blocking out some of the trees to the left of him. When the sky lit up next he gasped at the house that came into view. In the brief moment he saw that the door was gone. He hoped that meant it was abandoned.
He did not second guess himself. Getting to his feet was a struggle. He succeeded, albeit with a limp as he started to head to the house. More details of the house came into view the closer he got. There were wooden stairs leading up to a porch in front of the house. The wood was rotting with cracked holes and there were missing slats. It looked more like a log cabin with two intact windows on either side of the door. He was careful as he climbed the rickety stairs. The wood creaked under his weight.
The lightning didn’t do much to illuminate the inside. He was more focused on getting away from the elements though so he went deeper inside. He could not see any furniture on the inside. A door was to the left and two more to his right. He decided to just go straight to the back of the cabin. It was there he slid to the ground facing the doorway. He sat cross legged and set the creatures in his lap.
The storm continued with booming thunder and bright lightning. The adrenaline had long ago worn off. All he felt was pain. Fear. Disgust. He let the pain consume him. It wasn’t even the blankness of before. Everything done to him, everything about the ways his body had changed was all he could think about. He brought a hand up to his face as sobs wracked his body.
It was only when the movement in his lap finally registered after who knows how long that he looked down. One of the creatures, the one with a spiky shell, had curled up with arms wrapped around Yoshi’s forearm. Two others curled up together in the middle of his lap. The one with stripes on top of the one with a strange shell. The littlest was staring up at him waving a tiny fist in the air. Yoshi’s shaking hand reached towards the little one who snatched up his hand and curled contentedly into the palm of it.
All at once his spiraling mind was silenced. He could only stare in awe at the four little creatures. They were sleeping. Even with the raging storm outside. They trusted him. They needed him.
He was a father.
He was a father.
He was a father.
He was a father and he’d raise these innocent, precious babies up to be happy and loved and safe.
When Raph was eight years old, the twins decided they needed their own bedrooms and, like with all other things they had ever decided, they made it everyone else’s problem. As a united front, the two of them had the capacity to wear down a squad of Navy Seals in a manner of days, let alone one overtired single father.
The campaign for separate bedrooms turned out to be a long con. Donnie had been denied an evil science laboratory by Splinter multiple times, on the grounds of it being dangerous, and Donnie being seven, and evil being bad. But a room of his own could be whatever he wanted, and he wanted a lab.
It took most of a week for Splinter to discover that the twins were still doubled up in the room that was ostensibly Leo’s while Donnie’s was being used for nefarious purposes, but by then Donnie had installed an electronic lock on the door that he built out of components gutted from old kitchen appliances and was fully ready to die on that hill.
While Pops and Donnie were locked in a contest of wills that would ultimately go in Donnie’s favor (because Splinter’s achilles heel back then—and even now—was that he thought little turtles at their most sulky and unreasonable were just adorable) Raphie had looked at Leo with a confused frown on his face.
“How come you went along with it, Lee? You didn’t even get your own room.”
Leo shrugged, bright gold eyes shining with interest as he watched his twin and his father argue back and forth. He was following it carefully, probably ready to join in if it looked like Donnie was going to lose—more engaged than he ever was playing video games or flipping through comics.
At the time, all Leo said was, “Just wanted to see if I could.”
Raph thought it was because he was a troublemaker, and he maintained that idea up until Mikey—intuitive beyond his years, even as a sweet little six year old—said he figured it was just that Leo’s head went as crazy fast as Donnie’s did, only in ways that didn’t involve breaking and building things.
A full decade later, Raph knows Mikey was right on the money. Looking back, he sees a kid who was wickedly smart and terribly understimulated. Leo didn’t create trouble for the heck of it, he just liked having problems to solve. He wanted conversations and tricks and puzzles, he needed hoops to jump through like dolphins did on TV, or else he’d get cranky and sneaky.
Their world became a much simpler, more peaceful place once Leo got his first phone and discovered an online chess app with a leaderboard.
All this to say, Leo has had a mind for strategy since before he could talk in full sentences. He’s a natural-born leader, and after the failed Krang invasion, he really stepped up and took it seriously. Raph is so proud of him he doesn’t have words big enough to contain the size and shape of it all. It isn’t as hard as he had imagined it would be to let go of the reins and give Leo the room he needs to shine.
Some days are better than others. For the most part, Leo says jump and his brothers don’t even ask how high, they just shoot for the rafters. Their teamwork is cohesive, as solid as it was when they initially realized their ninpo, and Raph thinks he’d feel sorry for the Shredder if that guy showed his face in their town again.
But there are also days like today, when Leo says something that Raph’s big brother meter pings as Leo being silly, stirring shit up for lack of better thing to do, and he doesn’t linger on it past that initial knee-jerk impression.
They’re working with a group of mutants out of Hell’s Kitchen, mutants who are walking the line between vigilantism and outright crime. They’re rough around the edges, but good-natured for the most part. The turtles kept bumping into that other group as they crisscrossed around the city until finally their leader, Old Hob, said, “Why don’t we just get on the same program instead of stepping on each other’s heels?” and a tentative partnership was formed.
It’s been a week since then, and in that time Raph and his brothers have been firmly adopted by the grown-up mutants, who ask pointed questions about what time they went to bed the night before and whether or not they had a decent breakfast and how their online classes are going.
“This must be what having overbearing aunties is like,” Donnie said to April on the phone none-too-quietly, and Sally, feline mutant and aforementioned overbearing auntie, knocked her knuckles on his battleshell reprovingly. But that about summed it up.
There was one spanner in the works, and that was Liam.
——
“Anyone else getting bad vibes from that guy by the way?” Leo says one day.
There’s something performative about it, his usual pomp and charisma with a plastic edge. Mikey tilts his head like a service dog who just caught the scent of a potential medical emergency. Donnie looks up from his phone, eyes keen the way they only are when he and his twin are about to communicate with the telepathy they’ll deny they have.
But Raph is having a bad pain day, and his well of patience for shenanigans is much shallower than it normally is.
“Leon, don’t start,” he says, rubbing the slider’s head playfully to take any sting out of the dismissal. “If I have to put up with any middle child nonsense today I’m gonna scream.”
There’s a beat, his second-youngest brother visibly hesitating on a mental fork in the road. He’s gotten so good about being forthcoming but his first impulse is still to play along, deny, conceal-don’t-feel. He still has this idea in his head of what a good leader is supposed to be, and he’s still willing to whittle parts of himself away that don’t fit that mold.
To his credit, Leo tries again. “I don’t like him,” he says with less certainty.
“You don’t have to be best friends with the guy,” Raph replies. There’s enough warning in his tone that Leo knows to drop it. “Just get along until we go home.”
He works his shoulder, trying to do something about the solid ache it’s become, and Leo’s eyes drop to the mass of scarring there and then flit away. He starts to outline the route their patrol is going to take, reaching into his belt bag for the jar of Tiger Balm he’s taken to carrying with him and handing it over to Raph as he talks.
Raph smiles, the warmth in his chest ballooning up to swallow the impending impatience and annoyance brought out by pain. That warmth stays with him through their whole run, even as Donnie video-calls April and deadpans “POV you’re tailing some guy who didn’t get the memo that armed robbery is cringe as hell,” even as Mikey goes out of his way to jump and tumble off a fire escape in time to give Mondo a high-five as he skates by in the opposite direction, even as Leo progressively gets quieter the closer they get to their two AM check-in at the Mutanimals’ railyard base.
Looking back, Raph can count all the red flags he missed and hates himself a little more for each one. Leo sometimes causes problems for fun, and he likes to see what trouble he can get away with or get himself out of, and he is a downright menace to society when he’s bored—but he’s good. He’s sweet, and charming, and wants to help. He wouldn’t have raised an issue with the other group of mutants, potentially cutting ties with useful allies, unless he had a decent reason to.
And that reason, Raph discovers that night—after information has been exchanged and all that's left is to hang out at the base watching TV and playing table tennis until Splinter inevitably texts to remind his sons of their curfew—is Liam.
He doubles back into the meeting room where he left his phone and sees the goose mutant has put himself between Leo and the only exit, head lowered on a serpentine neck, beak open to show a flash of sharp teeth in a display that Raph’s animal hindbrain reads clearly as threat.
His grip on the doorframe causes it to crack.
“Leo,” he says in a voice he doesn’t recognize.
His little brother’s head jerks up, half-hopeful, half-disbelieving. Later, Raph will hate himself for putting even a sliver of doubt in Leo’s mind, for unknowingly invalidating his feelings. Leo should never be surprised that his big brother showed up for him. He should never have been left to fend for himself in a situation that made him uncomfortable, especially after he found the courage to be upfront about it.
“C’mere,” Raph says, lifting an arm—a little turtle’s cue to tuck themselves safely against Raph’s side.
Whatever his expression is doing, it’s caused dead silence to blanket the room like a foot of packed snow. Liam looks markedly unhappy to see Raphael standing there, but Leo all but runs to meet him.
A strategist, a faceman, a leader, and barely seventeen years old.
“We were just talking,” Liam says with a lightness that rings as false.
“Next time I find out you and my brother were just talking, I’ll wring your skinny neck,” Raph replies, matching his tone. Liam may be twice Raph’s age, but he’s half Raph’s size, and Raph has gone head-to-head with the Krang general and the Shredder and walked it off each time. Raph is fully prepared, in this moment, to murder this fucking goose.
Leo taps on Raph’s carapace, just as one of his violent inner voices is lifting its head in the back of his brain and considering making an appearance. On Leo’s end, a warning that someone else is coming from down the hall. On Raph’s end, a reminder that his first priority is the one he’s holding.
He turns, keeping Leo beside him, in time to see Hob appear around the corner. The cat mutant stops dead in his tracks, slitted eyes moving from Raph, down to Leo, to the doorway beside them, and back again.
“Problem?”
“We’re going home,” Raph says, a rumble in his voice he wouldn’t know how to temper even if he wanted to. “And we’re not coming back. Don’t call us unless someone’s dying or there’s another alien invasion.”
“Knock on wood,” Leo mumbles near-silently.
Old Hob doesn’t answer right away. It’s impossible to tell what the older mutant is thinking on a good day, outwardly recalcitrant and unfriendly, even though he has never snapped at Mikey’s cheerful rambling or Leo’s wheedling attempts to goad him into yet another chess match or even Donnie’s accidental ninpo-related shortage of every appliance in the Mutanimals’ kitchen. He and Sally and Ray and Herman all go out of their way to make their base comfortable and accessible to the turtles and Mondo and Pete, like it really matters to them that the younger mutants have a safe place tucked away that they can fall back on.
And Raph had appreciated that, up until now. Up until they proved it wasn’t safe, actually. Up until he’d seen a grown man leering meanly at his baby brother, just because he thought he could keep getting away with it.
When Hob does speak, all he says is, “Get home safe, boys.”
Raph shoulders around him, and collects Donnie and Mikey from the main room immediately. Mikey says, “Woah, are you guys okay?” and Donnie shoots a poisonous look behind them, like if he glares hard enough he can see back in time to what happened to put those expressions on Leo and Raph’s faces.
“We’re peachy, Miguelito,” Leo says. “Just a difference of opinion.”
“Stay out of Hell’s Kitchen until I say so,” Raph adds sternly.
Raph tells dad about Liam when they get home, because there is no universe where that doesn’t happen, and Leo immediately gets hauled into Splinter’s room for what sounds like a very serious conversation. Raph, Donnie and Mikey cluster shamelessly outside the door to eavesdrop, and some frightened thing in Raph’s heart lets out the breath it’s been holding when Leo says, “Nothing happened, papa, I promise. He was just weird.”
“Let him be weird to my Baby Blue one more time and I will show him exactly why your father was the undisputed Battle Nexus champion,” Splinter says. He cups Leo’s face and rubs his thumb over a striped cheek, as if he’d like to keep his son right there where no one had the capacity to hurt him. “Thank you for telling us. I’m so proud of you. I will actually kill him if he looks at you again.”
Leonardo smiles brightly, daddy’s boy of the family and glutton for attention that he is, those leftover dregs of anxiety in his eyes finally melting away.
“I think we should let dad kill him,” Donnie announces, eyes icy, tone flat.
“Nah,” Mikey says, disingenuously cheerful. “Next time we run into Liam I’m setting him the fuck on fire!”
“Language,” Raph scolds by rote, but his heart isn’t in it.
He can’t get that scene he walked in on back at the railyard out of his head. He can’t help thinking what if something worse had happened because I didn’t listen?
It feels like there’s a ghost in his chest, rattling his heart. He’s haunted by the what if.
——
After dinner, Leo looks at Raph meaningfully and points at the infirmary. Doctor Leo’s orders supersede all others, 100% of the time, so Raphael sighs and surrenders his controller to Mikey’s grabby hands without bothering to make the token argument. He keeps driving Princess Peach off the track anyway.
“Have you been stretching?” Leo says, feeling along Raph’s upper arm, where the muscles are visibly knotted. Even his careful touch hurts—that whole side of his body is tender with pain. Raph can’t help but flinch when his shoulder spasms and Leo hisses. “Shit, sorry, I know, I know it hurts. God, Raphie, you gotta say something before it gets this bad. I’m not afraid to bench you, big guy.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Raph says, amused by his little brother’s no-nonsense tone, warmed by the care Leo always takes with his family when they’re sitting in his infirmary and putting their hurts in his hands.
There’s nothing performative about him here. It’s just Leo, stripped of every false layer.
“Let’s try to massage it out,” Leo says, all his attention bent to the task. “Then we’ll apply heat.”
Raph hums, watching him work. His arm radiates pain, and he has to grit his teeth as Leo goes to work on the knots and the ache flares close to unbearable and wanes to a dull throb and then flares again.
“Hey,” Raph says before he can overthink it any more. “What would you have done if I didn’t see you and Liam?”
Leo pauses, but only for a split-second. He’s as good as cornered here, because there’s no way he’ll leave Raph when he’s in pain, and there’s nowhere to hide. Thankfully for Raph’s sanity, he doesn’t try to pretend he doesn’t know what they’re talking about, even if he takes a long moment to finally answer.
“Would’ve made Angie make me a Portal Promise to never be alone with him,” Leo admits. Flushing slightly, he mumbles, “It’s, uh, a thing we do—we both make portals, you know, so—it just means we have to keep that promise no matter what happens or what rules we have to break, and we won’t get in trouble later as long as we’re honest.”
Raph’s heart hurts. His little brothers are so sweet, and people exist in the world who would hurt them, and he has no idea how to reconcile that. He hates that both things could be true at the same time.
“Tello doesn’t need to be encouraged to stay away from people, and I’m pretty sure he can read my mind? But I would’ve told him anyway,” Leo goes on. “I tell him everything. I’d try to word it so he didn’t get angry enough to do something drastic, like, cut the brake lines on Liam’s Toyota Corolla. And I’d have to make it sound like you and I were on the same page, otherwise he’d go to you about it, and you’d—uh, be annoyed that I didn’t drop it, I guess.”
Getting impaled by the Krang hurt less than this, Raph thinks. He feels sick.
“Leo—”
“I know,” Leo says quickly, a little too loud. “I know that I don’t always take stuff seriously. It’s not your fault for thinking—you know. You didn’t do anything wrong, Raphie. I just gotta grow up.”
This kid, who—like the rest of them—has already matured well past his age, well before he should have had to. Who’s terrified of letting his family down, who has so much he thinks he needs to live up to. Any perceived failure weighs on him like the death penalty, and Raph knows he had a hand in that.
He needs to listen. Even when he’s aching and short-tempered. Even when Leo is talking around something that scares him. Maybe especially then.
“Can we make a deal?” Raph says, reaching up to hold Leo’s hands still under one of his own. Leo is staring hard at Raph’s plastron and doesn’t seem willing to lift his eyes for love or money, but he jerks his head in a nod. “Next time I’m not hearing you, and it’s something serious like today was serious, tell me, and I’ll stop.”
Leo’s mouth twists a bit. If it were for anyone else’s sake, he’d get in Raph’s face and make himself heard no problemo, but it’s an entirely different story when it’s his own safety in question. That part of Leo that wants to always rely on his brothers is constantly at war with the part that believes he’s not supposed to need anyone’s help anymore.
It would be impossible for him to plant himself like a tree and refused to be budged and demand Raph’s attention if he thought for one second that it would make Raph angry at him.
“What if we came up with a code word?” Raph offers, squeezing Leo’s hands. “If I’m being a stubborn punk, you can tell me the code word, and I’ll listen, and I won’t get mad. Even if it turns out to be a mistake or a misunderstanding. Okay?”
He finally gets a peek of gold as Leo dares to make eye contact. He looks embarrassed, like they’ve made a huge deal out of nothing, and hiding inside his shell until everyone promises to pretend like nothing happened is looking more tempting by the second.
But he’s Leo, their fearless leader. He stared down that portal into the prison dimension without flinching. If he can do that, he can do anything.
“What word?” he finally says.
“You pick,” Raph tells him.
A smile creeps onto Leo’s face, picking its way carefully across shaky ground.
“‘Goose’,” he suggests. Raph lifts his good arm and drags him into a solid hug, ignoring the twinge in his back and side. His little brother scrambles to return the hug, shoving his face against Raph’s unscarred shoulder and clinging for all he’s worth. Which is a lot. He’s worth so much.
Later, when Raph’s got the electric heating pad on his arm and he and Leo are watching TikTok compilations to pass the time, Mikey comes through the infirmary door at top speed, waving his phone above his head like a maniac.
“Look what Mondo sent me!” he shouts at full volume. “I put it in the group chat!”
The video shared in the Mad Dogz chat shows Liam being kicked out of the railyard, his bags tossed into the road. Sally is going off at him at the top of her lungs, and Hob is standing by with his arms folded like he’s fully ready to let her maul the guy, and the rest of the grown-up mutants are making it pretty clear with their body language that the goose isn’t welcome anymore.
“Dunno what they saw on the security cam, but they effin’ hated it,” Mondo says in the recording, unbothered by the absolute chaos unfolding in front of him. “Good riddance, Liam sucks. Oh, Mikester, Hob wants to know if you guys’ll be back in the Kitchen for Herman’s D&D campaign on Saturday so he knows how much food to order. He said you should bring your dad around this time—as if we need another boring old man in the group, ugh. Anyway, let me know and I’ll pass it along, dude!”
A weight Raph hadn’t even realized he was still carrying melts off his shoulders. Leo huffs under his breath, a disbelieving little laugh.
“Can we go, Raphie?” Mikey asks with wide eyes. “Don worked so hard on all our character sheets. He even 3D-printed custom figurines.”
“My bard is going to carry this team,” Donnie says loudly from the next room, because he’s never met a private conversation he wouldn’t shamelessly listen in on.
It’s so important to the Mutanimals that their young friends feel safe with them, and here’s proof of that in Mikey’s hands. Raph doesn’t fully understand why they care, but he’s grateful that they do. It didn’t hit him until now how much it hurt to have the railyard taken away—and how relieved he is that they can go back, after all.
He squeezes the arm he still has around Leo’s shoulders, prompting his brother to look up at him.
“What do you say, Fearless?” he says warmly. “Your call.”
Hi!! I love gift exchange events, but I haven't seen any for tmnt this year, so! I decided to be the change I want to see in the world and start one :]
If you're interested, please fill out this quick survey right here <3
@tmnt-write-fight gift fic for @duckythetoddscout for their first prompt:
Batman crossover- Dick Grayson (any age), or any other batkids really, meeting the turtles. Any iteration.
wordcount: 2844
this is the absolute peak of self indulgence, as i've been into batfam for over ten years, so this prompt sung to me. i really hope you like where i took this haha :) title from idle worship by paramore. warnings for kinda panic attack but otherwise nothing big.
[]
If asked, Leo would claim that he'd borrowed one of Donnie's tablets so he could watch deep-dive video essays.
And he did. Sometimes. But mostly, he'd poked Donnie into info-dumping about the different tracking apps he'd developed so Leo could set it up and watch for anything... weird.
It was a totally normal reaction. Even though he'd had to listen to Donnie explain that blah blah blah mathematical model of a four dimensional continuum measuring relativistic effects -- whatever. What mattered was, Donnie had a map of New York corresponding to a graph of time-space-junk, and if it spiked, shit was happening. And it was so totally normal of Leo to sleep with that graph playing on the tablet next to his head. Just to make sure that nothing weird was going on. Right?
Yeah. Right. So totally normal. Which was why he told absolutely no one about his quiet little obsession, and why he more often than not laid awake staring at the screen instead of sleeping.
He'd grown used to the little anomalies, after sneaking out multiple times to check on blips. He'd yet to find any connection, whether it was latent mystic energies or some weird science thing due to gravity, he had no idea. Leo stopped having an irrational lurch of panic in his stomach at the small fluctuations on the screen. However it did not prepare him for the huge spike he saw at two thirty in the morning when he should've been sleeping after a long night of patrol. He'd almost convinced himself to fall asleep, too, when the screen suddenly lit in a red flare twenty times the size of any anomaly he'd seen so far, right in middle of Soho.
Leo's blood went cold. His brain ran through multiple possibilities, as his body moved, grabbing his swords and lighting up in an instant -- portalling directly to the coordinates.
The air was sparking when Leo emerged. Crackling pops of electricity fluttering to the ground. And despite what Leo's brain was anticipating, there was no pink fleshed aliens, there was no mechanical suits lit with red, there was only a groan from the rooftop, distinctly human and annoyed.
For a too-long moment, Leo's brain sprinted to catch up with his body, as he'd left his sense in the sewers. He was still wearing the hoodie he'd slept in and his swords were cooling down from his frantic portal. He was barely awake, despite the stop-start surge of panic, and it was damn lucky that there wasn't some alien waiting here for him, as he was woefully unprepared. And alone. What had he thought he was going to do?
"Well, shit." The person laying on the roof said. He was crackling with his own electricity, sparks fading slow, and appraising Leo with a watchful eye.
Which. Now that Leo was pivoting to the human beside him, was dressed quite… unique. A black body suit, with blue stripes arching finger to finger over his shoulders. And a mask on his face, hiding his eyes completely, with a head of dark hair. When Leo looked at him, he grinned.
"Hi. Are you the welcoming committee?" The stranger asked.
"I'm…" Leo shook his head, gathering his bearings, and extended his sword out to face the intruder. "Something like that. Who are you? Where did you come from?"
Bemusedly, the stranger raised his hands up, showing himself unarmed. "I'm not recognizable? Have I landed somewhere that doesn't have heroes?"
Heroes. Leo's hand shook for a moment, as his body struggled to keep the sword up. That was a concept Leo really didn't want to think about, especially not at two in the morning when he'd been scared half to death thinking for a split second that the Kraang had returned and he was a failure to everyone who ever had the misfortune of believing in him.
"That's… we don't have anyone like you." Leo decided to answer, instead of claiming himself to be one.
"Is everyone in this universe green?" The hero asked, cheerful about it. Even though Leo could tell he was still sizing him up, shifting into a better position.
"Not many." Leo said, flat. "Mostly human. Like you are, I'm assuming."
"Human. Unless you ask my brother after I've subjected him to the fifth Disney movie in a row, at which point I'm apparently considered a monster. Any chance we could lower the sword now? I'm promise I'm one of the good guys. Here, let me introduce myself. I'm Nightwing." Heedless of the sword, Nightwing stuck out his hand to shake.
Leo juggled conflicting desires, wanting to stay on guard versus wanting to play along and gain information, and compromised by lowering the sword but not taking the hand.
Nightwing didn't actually seem to expect him to, pulling away just to lean back on his palms and look at the skyline. "Woah, is this New York? It's been ages since I've been here, but you don't forget that view."
"Where are you from, then?" Leo prodded, keeping his sword at his side, ready. Tense. Feeling small and kind of stupid in the hoodie that was too big for him with the effortless sheen of the costume before him.
"Gotham City."
"Never heard of it."
"Strike two for alternate dimension. That's fine. I won't be here long anyway."
"No?" Leo wondered.
Nightwing seemed to be enjoying the view, unbothered by his armed welcoming party and no longer sparking with energy. "We were fighting a gentleman who installed a dimension hopper into his weaponry, so there's contingency plans in place. As soon as my family is done kicking his ass they'll swing by and pick me up. I give them… twenty minutes. Maybe half an hour, if Babybird and Little D get arguing without me to break it up."
Leo couldn't help but glance around at the scenery, trying to see what had enraptured the hero so much. All he could focus on was the construction cranes and the holes in the skyline where they'd lost infrastructure during the invasion. If Nightwing truly hadn't been to New York in a long time, maybe he didn't know the difference. Or maybe it was different in his universe altogether.
"Your whole family are heroes?" Leo asked instead.
"Everyone of them." Nightwing's mouth twitched at the corner. "Even the ones who maybe should've waited a little longer before getting into the family business, but who am I to judge?"
Leo got the impression he'd been doing the gig a long time himself, just from the lazy grace that he carried in the suit. Reluctantly, he let the swords relax at his sides completely.
"Those are beautiful katannas." Nightwing complimented.
"Thanks." Leo said reflexively. He held up the blades, marvelling for a moment how the ninpo markings disappeared and left no trace.
"You popped over here pretty quick. I wasn't expecting my appearance to make any waves. The last time this happened I ended up taking a nap on a beach for a couple hours. Welcoming committee, protector of the universe, whatever you wanna call it."
Leo was already shaking his head. "That's not me. I just… I stole some of my brother's tech and I was just watching for any time-space bullshit and caught the wave you made. So I portalled over to make sure it wasn't something coming to take over the world, or whatever. It's stupid."
"Doesn't sound stupid." Nightwing smiled at him, and it kinda hurt for some reason. "Well, hey, you better stick around and make sure I don't take over the world in the probable-twenty-five minutes I spend in this universe. Have a seat, kid, pull up some roof."
"I'm not a kid." Leo protested, but slowly lowered himself to sit, folding his swords over his knees and tugging at the edge of his big hoodie.
"You're what, seventeen?" Nightwing guessed, right on the money without even trying. "Same age as my second youngest brother, though he's probably a bad example on what does and does not constitute a kid since he was briefly the world's youngest CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. The point is, I'm twenty-four, and I've been doing this hero biz for more than half my life, and I can give you some hot tips if you want."
"I'm not a hero." Leo immediately denied, tongue feeling big in his mouth and heart going too-fast.
"You don't need a fancy suit to be a hero. You just need to show up when things need protecting." Nightwing gestured at him. "And look at that! Here you are."
"Not me." Leo's face burned and he didn't want this guy to get the wrong idea. "Maybe my brothers are heroes, but I'm the screw up. I'm just trying to… make up for my mistakes."
"Ah." Nightwing's smile tinted a new colour. Shaded sad. "Listen, kid. What's your name?"
"I don't have a superhero name like yours." Leo said.
"Hell, there's no secret identity to protect here. My real name is Dick. Well, Richard. But my friends call me Dick."
Oh come on. Leo had to do it. He quirked a little smile and asked, "How do you get Dick from Richard?"
"You ask nicely!" Dick crowed, delighted. "Oh, thank you! No one ever sets me up for that one anymore."
Leo chuckled, shoulder loosening, and said, "It's Leonardo. Just Leo is fine though."
"Da Vinki?" Dick memed in a pretend gasp.
He couldn't help but laugh again. "Yeah, that's me. All my brothers and I are named after renaissance artists. Or, alternatively, by our colour coding. So I'll answer just as fast to 'blue'."
"Hell yeah blue." Dick wiggled his blue finger stripes at him. "Got a red brother? Mine is a pain in the ass. I love him but if he 'borrows' my motorbike without asking one more time I'm gonna make origami out of his classic lit collection."
"Red brother, yeah. That's Raph. I'm probably more of a pain to him than he is to me. And he's not into books, that's Donnie. Books and tech."
"Ah, tech is all Tim. The walking contradiction – genius level IQ who dropped out of high school. Picture a kid skateboarding in a suit to his board meetings. Though I'm not sure what colour we'd assign to him now, probably yellow since Jason's got a pretty firm hold on red." Dick tapped off his fingers, looking fond.
Leo hummed and said, "Yeah, Don's purple, and my youngest isn't yellow but orange. Mikey's like that too – bright like the sun. Loves with everything he has. Joy and warmth and all that."
Dick burst out laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach, and dramatically wiped a tear away. "Oh, boy, yeah. No. The similarities very much end there. Our youngest is a baby assassin who we have to remind daily that he cannot maim people for minor inconveniences. But he's doing great, really. He's come so far from where he started. And despite the severe exterior, he really loves animals and art."
"Hey, there's something. Mike loves art. Actually, do you wanna see? I've got pictures on my phone." Leo tapped his foot at top speed, a little excited, because he never got to interact with normal people who didn't already know Mikey and get the opportunity to show off his talent like this.
"Hell yeah I do." Dick shuffled closer, leaning in to see his phone and exclaiming over the bright pieces Leo had treasured in his camera roll. Then Dick showed off some remarkably lifelike pencil art pieces done by his youngest brother on his own phone, as well as the zoo of animals apparently he kept. Including a cow?
"Are you the oldest?" Leo asked, when Dick made a comment about 'all his baby siblings'.
"I am. There's more of us, a couple sisters and another brother, but I'm the oldest of all of them." Dick didn't seem too concerned. "Let me guess, you're the second oldest?"
"Depends on what order my twin and I are deciding on for the day, but yeah. Raph's the oldest." Leo said with a shrug.
"That makes sense." Dick said.
Leo scowled and tried to elbow him. "What makes you say that?"
Dick dodged effortlessly and huffed. "You remind me of my second oldest brother. He feels like he has a lot to prove. And no idea that we don't need him to prove it, we'd just rather he was there."
Leo wrinkled his nose. "Dude. Come on. You don't have to put me on blast like that."
"Sorry." Dick laughed. "I'm a detective. And I'm really bad at turning it off, especially when I jump into a alternate dimension faced with a kid in a hoodie and a sword who's shaking way too hard to be doing okay."
Shit. That was a bad first impression. Leo groaned and covered his face with his hands.
"Can I ask you one thing, though?" Dick wondered.
"Might as well. Dig the knife in." Leo mumbled.
"Why did you come alone? If your brothers are more like heroes than you, why is it just you in the middle of the night?"
"I wasn't thinking." Leo said, too quick, and it wasn't really the truth. He sighed. "I told you, I'm just trying to make up for my mistakes. They… they didn't need to be dragged into this if I could just fix it myself."
"Hm. Well, get ready for the hot tip, because once I'm in big brother mode there's no stopping me. I told you that being a hero is showing up when people need protecting, but being a hero for a long time is not showing up alone. You shouldn't be wandering around New York by yourself to face an unknown threat, especially if you're not ready for it." Dick leaned in closer, rather serious.
Leo shook his head, annoyed, turning away and tugging at the end of his sleeve. "Now you're really reminding me of Raph. Now all you need is a hot temper."
"Oh, believe me, I've got that too." Dick winked, but there was a severity that rang true. "But that's not necessary in this moment. If I'm your Raph and you said that you're more of a pain to him than he is to you, then yeah, you're my Jason. But listen. I don't care that Jason's made mistakes. Because that kid suffered more than anyone could believe, but he came back to us, and he is trying. And there's no amount of pain that he could cause me that would ever eclipse how much more I love him."
That was… seriously uncomfortably close to his own experiences. Just thinking about the idea of suffering sounded a lot like the snap of a portal closing him into hell. And coming back from it, and trying to be the hero he never could.
"You don't have to prove anything to them." Dick said, quietly. "They'd just rather you were there. And if your tech brother is half as good as mine, he probably knew the moment the energy spiked and I bet they're wondering where you are."
It was that moment that Leo realized he'd left his phone in his bedroom, plugged in and charging, and if they had been trying to contact him he'd have no idea. He groaned and covered his face again. "Shit."
"Go home." Dick said. "My ride'll be here any minute."
"Yeah. Yeah." Leo shook his head, like he was trying to shake out the cobwebs. There was no way Donnie hadn't realized what he was doing with the tablet now, he was going to have some explaining to do, especially at the part where he ran off to deal with a threat entirely alone without telling anyone where he was going. He gave Dick a sideways glance and said, "Your Jason loves you too, you know. He's stealing your motorbike so you'll have to talk to him. We always listen more when you're yelling because that's when we think you're telling the truth."
"Maybe I'll yell at him more how much I love him, then." Dick shrugged, amused. "Get it through his thick skull."
"Thanks for being patient." Leo said, and realized in that moment he probably really needed to verbalize that one to Raph.
"Thanks for coming home." Dick replied, sadder.
Behind them, the rooftop shimmered with a different portal.
"Ah, great timing. They're early, someone must've gotten antsy." Dick grinned, hopping up to his feet with an acrobatic stretch. "Hey, Leonardo?"
"Yeah?" Leo said, getting up too.
"It was great to meet another hero." Dick saluted, approaching his portal.
Leo's mouth was dry. He nodded back, and said with a small croak, "Yeah. You too."
He watched until Dick disappeared. Then before he could summon his own portal, he heard three voices gasp, "Leo!" before he was tackled to the ground.
His hands were shaking again as he held onto them. He didn't really have to go home, when home came to him.
Turtle tots and post invasion whooo, already on ao3 :D was supposed to be very silly but ended up only a little silly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Title from Time With Family | RADWIMPS
Everyone knew about Leo’s childhood magazine photo collection of feet. It was weird but not weird considering he’d been collecting the photos since he was at least two and stopped when he was seven.
The odd hobby was first discovered by Splinter and it went like this; Splinter was gathering his sons for dinner. Now, should he know where a one year old, two two year olds, and a three year old were?
Yes. And he did! Technically. There were only three places for them to be after all.
Raph was tasked with watching his brothers while their dad “borrowed” groceries and other supplies from the surface that day. Which meant at least Mikey and Raph were in the walkway coloring or having a tea party with Raphs plushies in the family's shared bedroom.
Donnie would no doubt be trying to make something by tearing apart something else. Leo would either be bothering his brothers or waiting for Splinter as close to the entrance as he could get without getting in trouble.
(So far Leo had made it right to the edge and was able to peek behind the makeshift curtain into the tunnel. Not that Splinter knew that since he always retreated back before Splinter made it to the curtain. He worried about his dad every time he left. They used to go with Splinter but hadn’t in a long time. Leo liked being able to hear Splinter’s familiar approaching steps. He had to get close to the curtain to be able to hear them.)
The walkway was just a concealed slab of concrete that led to two rooms, their bedroom and a bathroom (the bathroom being the main reason Splinter chose this place to settle. The other being that it was relatively hidden and seemingly forgotten. They have lasted 6 months here so far). They usually used the walkway as a living room, kitchen and dining room.
Splinter knew they would need to find a permanent place deeper in the sewers soon. This one could be discovered at any time just like their previous homes. Raising four tiny turtle toddlers alone wasn’t exactly ideal for “sewer-home” searching though.
It was only in the last couple of months he had to start leaving to get food alone. Raph growing rapidly from a palmful to two handfuls, his brothers not far behind Splinter suspected, combined with this area being safe for so long pushed him to leave his sons behind for short periods of time. He thanked his ancestors Raph was such a good boy who wanted to help watch his brothers. He’d only explored deeper into the sewers a little since then. It was slow progress finding a more permanent home but progress nonetheless.
The walkway was empty when he entered, making that two places his boys could be, so he went about setting up the food at their wobbly table. He could hear distant talking coming from the bedroom. They sounded fine so he set the other groceries in their proper places.
He had found multiple places that were easy to borrow from. He tried to not go to the same place multiple times in a row. He hated being away from his boys for long so he always focused on gathering foods that would last. It didn’t make for much variety but the boys never noticed so he couldn’t complain. They had two large coolers to keep rats out, other than Splinter of course. One for food though it rarely had things that actually needed to be cold in it. The other was solely for water bottles. Canned foods were placed in a crate next to the cooler.
Once he was done he made his way to the bedroom. As he got closer he heard a loud bang before the clear sounds of high-pitched screaming and things falling. He took a deep breath before shoving aside the torn blanket acting as a door.
Today it looked like their activity was what started out as a tea party but was now a warzone. Raphs plushies were strewn every which way. Tea cups and plates knocked over on the tiny table or thrown on the floor. The culprit stood on said table, likely the source of the loud bang, holding a weird looking thing above his head. Two little turtles hid on the other side of the family's shared pillow nest-bed.
Well one hid. The other stood and glowered at the purple culprit. He clearly wanted to get closer but the hidden one held him back by a single arm wrapped around his chest.
“Donnie ruin tea pa’ty!” Mikey shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the cackling softshell.
“I did not! I en-hance-d it! This teapot was boring before, now it will do so much more! Like-”
“Purple,” Splinter sighed heavily, eyeing the hastily glued cardboard and scrap metal to what must be the pink toy teapot he’d found on one of his trips to the surface.
No doubt Donnie had grand plans for the teapot but the two year old didn't exactly have the supplies to make them come true. He certainly didn’t lack imagination though. With how advanced they all were, Splinter just knew Donnie would be trouble when he was older.
Good trouble but still trouble.
Donnie turned slowly upon hearing the affectionate name from his father. He lowered the teapot just as slowly to try and hide it behind his back. He tried to look innocent but could never quite get it right, unlike his missing twin. Splinter would worry about that in a second.
“Ah, Papa-”
“No,” Splinter said, raising a hand while Donnie pouted, “Fix the teapot after dinner. Go get cleaned up, all of you. Where is Blue?”
Raph tentatively climbed over their nest-bed, now holding Mikey in his arms who continued to glare at their brother. Donnie sighed heavily and got down from the table. He set the teapot down before pointing towards the right side of the room behind Splinter.
Splinter turned and saw his last son sitting in the corner facing the wall. He walked closer while his other sons made their way out and to the bathroom. Once he was close enough he heard the sound of soft, slow ripping. He looked over his son's head and saw a magazine held in one hand while the other carefully ripped it.
Splinter often brought them back since they were so easy to find. They helped in teaching his sons English and how to read. Or at least that was his intention, they more often got used for arts and crafts, or science experiments somehow.
Next to Leo was a small cardboard box with what looked like already ripped pages. There were too many to be from the same magazine he was currently ripping. Splinter bent down next to the tiny tot and touched his carapace as he reached forward and tapped the box.
Leo glanced at him before nodding and going back to his task. Splinter reached into the box and brought out some of the pages. The more he looked through the pages the more he noticed a strange theme. So far all had been magazine pages, some waterlogged, some surprisingly supreme but all the same subject.
Feet.
Splinter glanced at the pages Leo was currently ripping and noticed each one was also feet, some had shoes or socks and some didn’t, but still…feet. Splinter watched bewildered as Leo finished his task of tearing out the feet in the magazine.
He threw it next to him then started glancing carefully over each picture. He would discard certain photos, throwing them onto the magazine next to him while others he carefully put in the box. Splinter couldn’t tell why some of them were discarded yet others deemed acceptable, it all seemed very random.
And how was he to react to finding his two year old ripping and collecting magazine photos of various feet? How long had this been happening? Was his Baby Blue insecure about his own feet? Should he be concerned?
Leo continued his task while Splinter’s mind had completely left the sewer. Leo frowned at the pages in Splinter's hands before taking them. He shuffled through the new pages and put them back to what Splinter guessed was their original spot.
While Leo did that Splinter jumped when he felt a tiny hand take his. He turned and saw Raph next to him with a frown, “Donnie is gonna eatted Mikey if you don’t come feed us.”
Leo perked up at the mention of food. He picked up the box and pushed it into a little hidden nook Splinter had never noticed before. He turned back towards Splinter and grinned at him. Splinter shook his head and decided to forget about it.
Considering how much mischief his tiny boys could get into, this was tame. If his most mischievous yet silent child (only in voice, Splinter was constantly surprised at the amount of noise the mute boy could make when he wanted) was entertained quietly by tearing apart magazines that was a blessing.
He picked up his boys under each arm like they were potato sacks. They giggled while trying to tug on eachother. Only Raphs arms could get close to Leo. He kept tugging on his little brother's fingers who giggled and yanked them back before reaching towards Raph again. Rinse and repeat. Time to feed his rambunctious boys.
That was the story Splinter told once the boys were older and had discovered their brother‘s collection.
It had only grown from what Splinter had seen. Leo had never actually shared it willingly. Though he never cared when Splinter checked in on it. Splinter never knew the true reason for the collection but he respected it.
Afterall, Raph spoke in the third person, Donnie considered objects (and later his inventions) his children, and Mikey had an obsession with the marbles in spray paint cans. His boys were weird and he loved them.
With his other son's discovery of Leo’s collection there was of course the teasing. Splinter never saw it again since Leo now knew it was a bit strange. They never learned why but they knew it continued based on the strategically torn sections of their magazines.
Leo always insisted it was just research when the teasing questions occurred once there was a reminder of it. Once Leo was allowed to go to the surface at age seven Splinter noticed the magazines slowly stopped having those torn pages. He remembered intending to ask if Leo completed whatever research he was conducting.
He never did though. He regrets it now. He doesn’t remember when he stopped asking his boys questions. When he stopped knowing all of them in all of their being instead of just things from when he was involved.
By the time of the Foots and Shredders attack he knew he needed to change. He knew he couldn’t live with that regret.
Splinter regretted a lot of things as he stared at his Baby Blue breathing raspily in the stolen hospital bed of their Medbay three weeks after the Invasion. There wasn’t a part of Leo’s body that wasn’t injured. They had to resort to Draxum calling in professionals he knew just to make sure Leo lived. They didn’t know if he would walk again.
That was a funny thing to worry about considering he was in a coma. Yet, Splinter did worry. Leo had been such an active child. He grew into an active teen. Even as thoughts of walking and recovery raced through his head he still didn’t miss the small movements that began in Leo’s fingertips.
Splinter gasped. He gripped the bed's railing, trying to get as close as possible to his son to confirm he wasn’t seeing things. At Splinter’s gasp Donnie darted over from where he had been reading on his tablet. Mikey and Raph followed right behind him. Casey and April were just as quick to abandon their task of restocking some supplies. Soon they surrounded the bed all leaning in as close as possible.
There were small twitches, centered around Leo’s hands and face. Tears began pouring down Splinters face before Leo even opened his eyes. Splinter quickly wiped them away, not wanting to miss the sight of those beautiful eyes blinking open. When they finally did open the sounds of sobbing filled the room.
Leo’s eyes seemed to gain more focus as he slowly took in each face surrounding him. The corner of his mouth curled like he wanted to smile. The rest of his face remained completely placid though. All of his family were sobbing while trying to get as close as possible to their injured loved one.
There was a device Donnie gave Draxum. Its twin sat on the table next to Leo’s bed, to be used when Leo woke up. Splinter turned away briefly to push the button. Before he could turn back to Leo, Draxum was stepping from a portal. He ushered them away from the bed. Splinter’s family gathered close together behind his chair.
As Draxum began his examination he described Leo’s new condition. Splinter was so focused on Leo’s increasing awareness that most of what Draxum said was background noise.
“-I cannot say if this is true awareness-”
“Uh…go..fff” Leo interrupted Draxum. Even mumbled and incoherent, his voice was music to Splinter’s ears.
“What.” Draxum said bluntly, never happy to be cut off. He began to rub his knuckles on Leo’s chest while yelling Leo’s name loudly. Splinter personally thought he had terrible bedside manner.
Leo let out a loud huff then widened his eyes at Draxum, “Mm on th’ goo’ st’ff, n’t deaf.”
Draxum raised his eyebrows incredulously. Splinter laughed and cried and began shaking from pure happiness. He wasn’t the only one. The room filled with laughter as it was such a relief for all to hear him speak after three weeks of silence.
“That wasn’t even that funny,” Donnie said while fruitlessly wiping the tears from his face. Leo turned towards them. He finally smiled. His eyes closed. His breathing evened out yet the smile stayed. Splinter felt no fear, knowing this was a natural sleep.
Leo woke up and it didn’t matter if he would walk again. He would be around to complain about it. That was all Splinter could ask for.
Later that night, Donnie was scowling from where he sat on the other side of Leo opposite of Splinter. It was the middle of the night. The others were asleep together in the living room. It had been turned into a giant nest-bed reminiscent of the ones Splinter made when the boys were small.
Donnie could not be convinced to leave Leo’s side though. He’d probably cried the longest after Leo went back to sleep. Splinter observed his son, trying to figure out how to convince him to get some sleep.
He had long abandoned crying for seething anger now, it seemed. His eyes were narrowed in a tear filled glare. His chin wobbled no matter how deeply he frowned. His fingers tapped an anxious pattern against the arm of his chair.
(Donnie had not understood his thought processes or emotions for weeks now. He would jump from terror to sadness to anger and disgust and despair and- it never ended. So he tried to ignore it all. He slammed the door on the conflicting, loud voices and threw away the key. Now it appeared that the door had burst open upon hearing his stupid, idiotic, dumdum twin. Again everything was jumbled and confusing.)
“Ex-cuse you- I am the funniest- guy- ever,” Leo suddenly croaked out. Splinter jumped. He saw Donnie do so as well. Leo’s eyes were now open though clearly unfocused, blinking over and over again.
Donnie leaned forward as much as he could. Leo’s head slid towards his brother and he smiled once his eyes landed on Donnie. Donnie’s scowl was immediately gone. Now his beak was firmly clamped shut as he reached forward and took Leo’s hand.
Splinter stayed silent and watched the sight of his twins together. A sight he thought he might not see again for a time.
Donnie visibly relaxed, clenching his jaw before breathing in shakily, “Hey dumdum, what are you talking about?”
“Mmmm…you said… wasn’ funny,” Leo rolled his head slowly around the pillow, looking around the dim room. His eyes never really focused on anything until they landed on the ceiling directly above his head. His eyes squinted as he tried to focus on it.
“Is tha’...drawing of… feet?” Leo mumbled, voice confused.
Splinter looked up too and saw there was indeed a drawing of feet duct taped on the ceiling. They all stared at the picture in befuddled silence, then his boys said together, “Mikey.”
The two giggled quietly, though Donnie’s sounded tear filled while Leo’s were breathy.
Splinter didn’t want to live with regrets.
“Blue, why did you collect those pictures? I know you stopped so I assume you got your answer to your research.”
Donnie raised a drawn on brow at Leo, clearly wanting an answer too. Leo, in this state, couldn’t talk circles around his family as well as he usually could. This became obvious when instead of his usual dodging attempts, he actually answered.
“I just wan’ed to find someone with two left feet, ya’know? I coul’ just look at people’s feet when we went to the surface so I didn’ need to get pictures anymore. I never did find anyone though. It’s like a conspiracy.”
Donnie stared at Leo in disbelief. Splinter knew his own expression had to match.
“Leo…why would you be looking for someone like that? Actually no-how did you even know about that medical condition at age two?”
“What?” Leo stared at Donnie, face confused, “I just wanted to see it, ya-know- since Pops told us about that guy having two left feet. Sounded cool.”
Donnie looked at Splinter for an explanation but Splinter was equally baffled. He just shrugged. He looked back at Leo when he spoke again, appearing confused too, “‘member, we were having to hide again, an-and some guy fell, dropped all his tools and fell again when he got ‘em all back,” Leo looks at Splinter now, “you said he had two left feet.”
“Oh Pizza Supreme, Leo, that is a metaphor!” Donnie said in disbelief, letting go of Leo’s hand to slap it against his forehead.
“You remember that?” Splinter said simultaneously, “That had to have been at least six months before I found your collection.”
“Don’ call it a collection,” Leo whined, his face was getting red, “It was research!”
“It was not research either, Leo! It was an obsession!” Donnie was laughing now, leaning back in his chair.
Leo glared at him, it wasn’t very intimidating considering he couldn’t even properly focus on Donnie, “Nuh-uh, research! I had to know what two left feet looked like and how many people had it! Like people who are left handed.”
Donnie laughed even harder at that. He nearly fell out of his chair and had to quickly grab the railings on Leo’s bed before he crashed to the floor. He continued to laugh though and now Splinter joined, albeit more quiet.
“Stop laughing!...are there really no people with two left feet?”
“No! Well, yes, but not like people being left handed. It just means someone is clumsy, Leo, like you,” Donnie said, still chuckling even as he explained, “I suppose you could say you were looking for yourself the whole time.”
“Shut up,” Leo said, pouting and refusing to look at either of them, though he ended up seeing the picture again and blushed even more.
“Why did you not just ask me, Baby Blue?”
“More importantly,” Donnie leaned forward to try and catch Leo’s eyes who just closed them to ignore his brother, “Why did you not just look it up on the internet once we had it?”
“I thought they were real! I wan’ed to find them on my own!” Leo insisted. He kept his eyes closed, but he was smiling now too. He let out a yawn before they could continue questioning (teasing) him. Splinter realized he must have closed his eyes for more than just ignoring troublesome brothers. Donnie must have too because his slowing laughter died down completely.
Splinter leaned forward and rubbed his palm against Leo’s head, “Sleep, my son, we will be here when you wake up.”
“Yeah, see you soon, Feet Boy,” Donnie took Leo’s hand again.
Leo let out a snort but his breathing evened out in sleep.
Splinter looked up at Donnie, “You should get some sleep too, Purple, Blue won’t be happy to find you haven’t slept.”
Donnie kept staring at Leo, all traces of humor gone. Replaced with relief and sadness. He huffed out his nose, “Yeah, okay, but I will remain here.”
Splinter just nodded, knowing he wouldn’t win that particular fight. He settled back in his chair. At least that was one regret he wouldn’t have.
“Hey, Donnie, was finding out people with two left feet aren’t real, real or was I dreaming?”
“No, Leo, you were not dreaming.”
“What are you-?”
“Please don’t ask Raph, He’s mentioned this every time he is coherent.”
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Likes: I like lots of things and will generally read anything. Mostly read angst w comfort. Fluff. Love AUs, turtle tots, human turtles, disaster twins but also Leo's relationship with all of his brothers in general. Leo is my fav for sure :D
Squicks: Not a fan of April/any of the turtles. Probably won't read gore/violence if it's drawn out/heavily detailed? Just DM if unsure. Don’t usually read unhappy endings. Don’t really like if one of the turtles is like a genuine bad brother ( if it’s like a curse/misunderstanding that’s fine)
(I’m sorry I don’t think about likes or squicks often lmao, these are just off the top of my head things I like/avoid)
Favorite Iteration(s): Rottmnt! I also love MM, the Batman movie, 2012, Bayverse, and 2007. I will read, and have read, any iteration though. Those are just the ones I've fully seen/read.
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Prompt #1
Batman crossover- Dick Grayson (any age), or any other batkids really, meeting the turtles. Any iteration.
Prompt #2
MM reacting to Kendrick Lamar-Drake diss tracks (prompt by my sister). "Drake is the goat" -Raph
Prompt #3
One of the brothers (your choice of who) has to save the other three who are out of commission. The one doing the saving is also injured but hides it. Any iteration.
Prompt #4
Binx the 6 week old kitten who watched over 3 2 week old kittens. One of the turtles is older and taking care of the others until Splinter finds and begins raising them. Any iteration. (I know probably Leo for most but making one of the others the oldest would be great too :D)
Prompt #5
Any iteration being born after an (or that iterations) apocalypse, how it goes, how they survive, etc.
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Rottmnt post invasion fanfic. It's already on ao3 (see link in title). I've been meaning to post it here too <3
CW- mentions of blood and injury
Title from Spring 1 (Levitation Mix) | Max Richter
After the event Leo often dreamed.
They were strange dreams, not ones he would expect after what his family and he had gone through. They were never nightmares like the ones his brothers had. They were just peculiar. He simply opened his eyes while walking in his dreams.
In the first few weeks of having these dreams all that ever happened was this.
He would walk past the rail cars that had been turned into his family’s various rooms On his way deeper and deeper into the tunnel systems of the subway. The walk was always a blur and he went in different directions each time but he always ended up in the same place.
Their old Lair.
He’d stumble over the ruble in front of the destroyed entrance and continue to the center of the atrium. He’d see the graffitied walls, years of artwork by his precious baby brother and feel nothing. He would just stare ahead at the wall centered between his and Raph’s old rooms.
A hunched body wrapped in shadows would stand facing the wall. It’s fingers twitching at its sides and looking like it would collapse at any second. It whispered softly, harshly.
Every time it was the same. He just stared and listened. Listening to its jagged words but not understanding them for what felt like eons before waking safe in his bed.
It was three months after the event. He’d spent two of those months in the med bay. Draxum and Donnie, mainly Donnie, had been meticulous about his healing progress. It had only been a month since he’d been back in his room that something changed.
He had gone to bed early after Mikey tried and failed to get Donnie to attend dinner, as was often these days. Raph was fed up with it and had gone to talk to Donnie himself, also missing dinner in the process. It was a strange reversal of the months after Shredder, with Donnie replacing Leo in arguing with their older brother.
Mikey and Leo were left to eat alone as the minutes passed by until it had been an hour since Raph left. Leo knew Mikey too could hear the distant shouting given his slouched shoulders and faraway eyes. They both perked up at Raph’s heavy footsteps coming closer, but they simply passed by and were followed by the slamming of Raph’s railcar door.
The silence between them stayed as they packed up the leftover dinner. They began making their way to their rooms but before Mikey could go into his, Leo snagged his hoodie sleeve and pulled his baby brother along to his own room. Mikey’s smile was wobbly as he followed Leo readily.
Leo’s room was lit with fairy lights that he couldn’t sleep without anymore. His bed was soft, his blanket cold as he slipped under it. He dragged Mikey in after him, no words exchanged as they clung together. He tried to stay up until Mikey fell asleep but another change to their lives was Leo’s newfound ability to fall asleep.
Despite his best efforts he could feel his eyelids drooping and he fell into slumber quickly to the sound of Mikey’s breathing.
The dream started much the same as always. Leo felt content as he always did in this dream. It was nice, the quiet. No arguing or sadness or the new pain in his shell and knee. Just…peace.
The only difference was the sound that he started hearing, a pair of footsteps.
They were definitely not his own, his never made noise. They sounded some distance behind him and were actually pretty soft. Leo probably wouldn’t have heard them if they weren’t so out of place in his dream.
He was curious about the sound but continued on, not concerned as he usually would be if he’d been awake. Whoever it was stayed a steady pace behind him until Leo arrived at the entrance of his family’s old home.
The steps faltered and stopped as Leo made his way to the center of the atrium staying just outside the entrance.
Leo didn’t know how long he stood there listening to the whispers. He never did. It could be seconds or hours that he stared at the body. Eventually he became aware of the steps approaching, even softer than before.
As they began to walk around him, his pursuer came into view in his peripheral.
It was Mikey. Leo’s focus was broken from the still twitching body as his gaze turned to his baby brother. Mikey seemed to be observing him with a face Leo couldn’t decipher, something that was unusual for Leo who could read his brothers like a book.
Mikey’s mouth was moving yet Leo could hear no words. His lips were wobbling, his eyes shining, and his hands shaking. Leo only felt a sliver of emotion, something he couldn’t identify.
Movement from the body gained his attention, his eyes snapping back to it. Mikey’s head turning to look towards it as well barely registered.
It was turning, its body tense in a way it’d never been before, practically shaking in what Leo knew to be rage. Its hands were curled up tight, smothering the twitching. Funny how he couldn’t tell at all what Mikey or himself was thinking yet he knew. He knew down to his very core that it was angry.
Leo was barely aware of a tugging on his arm. Mikey was clearly trying to get his attention but he didn’t look away.
He had to know.
He had to see.
Mikey’s face filled his vision before he could though. For the first time Leo felt something, fear.
Deep, primal fear.
Then, agony, as claws wrapped around Mikey’s head and ripped.
Leo woke up screaming.
He wasn’t in his bed.
He was still in the atrium, the center of it, standing upright and shaking harshly.
Was he still dreaming?
His eyes darted frantically around a place he hadn’t stepped foot in in months, not since their very last scavenging trip for any still intact possessions that had been missed. His breathing picked up and he felt his muscles tensing rapidly in contrast to how loose they had been in the dream.
Before he could enter full blown panic mode a hand gently touching his shoulder pulled him back. He flinched but saw who the hand belonged to before he could react beyond that. It was Mikey.
Mikey, who he’d just been dreaming about. Mikey whose face he just saw ripped to shreds. Felt his warm blood splatter upon his skin.
He was able to stop the tears from falling but he couldn’t stop himself from gripping Mikey’s face frantically and looking rapidly for any scratches that matched the ones inflicted violently in his dream. Nor could he stop the harried, whispered assurances to himself of, “you’re okay, you’re okay.”
Mikey endured the treatment. When Leo spoke, he even attempted to smile and reassure Leo, “I’m okay, Leo, you are too.”
Mikey wasn’t the best actor though, never had been a good liar like Leo was.
His voice was wobbly like his smile, eyes shiny and hands shaking, the same expression it had been in the dream. Only Leo now knew what it was. He was terrified. Leo hated seeing Mikey like that.
The desire to comfort his brother was too strong to ignore. He crushed Mikey to his plastron and stroked his baby brother’s head shakily. Mikey held on just as tightly and Leo heard a few sniffles escape the smaller boy. He felt tears against his shoulder.
The first to pull back was Mikey. Leo reluctantly lets him go, though he doesn’t take his eyes off him for one second. He felt too scared and protective. Mikey wiped at his face to clear the tears. When he looked up at Leo, he was wide eyed but looked calmer.
“Leo…” Mikey’s voice was strained, rough. Leo still wasn’t used to hearing him sound like that. Even though he’d heard it numerous times since the event.
He wished everyday he would never hear that tone again.
He wished everyday that Mikey’s energetic, happy, free voice would come back.
It had yet to come true.
“Leo, what are you doing here?”
Leo didn’t know. Leo almost felt he was still asleep. He said as much.
“I’m dreaming… I was dreaming?” His words were mumbled and unsure. Mikey’s face grew more and more concerned as Leo rambled on, “I think I’m still dreaming… Mikey… I don-… I dunno.”
He felt the panic coming back but Mikey simply took his hand and started leading him away. Leo followed obediently, not even able to crack a joke.
As they climbed over the rubble to exit the atrium Leo could’ve sworn he saw the body from the dream standing where it always was out of the corner of his eye. When he twisted around to look, nothing was there.
It turned out the dreams weren’t dreams, Leo was sleepwalking. Leo had no idea how to process this information so he didn’t. He stood and watched as his brothers argued, his indifference eerily reminded himself of the way he felt in the now-not-dreams.
Before he’d been content having the dreams. It was nice to be able to have a blank mind after a long day of emotional turmoil both inward and outward. Now, it made him sick to think how compliant he’d been, not once thinking something was off.
He tuned back into his brother’s argument just as Raph and Donnie started shouting at each other. It was disconcerting to see the two fighting, their stances too similar to Raph and Leo’s fight just three months ago, and the many before that.
“How could you not notice he was leaving every night, Raphael? You are right next to his room!”
“C’mon guys, can we be calm-” Mikey was getting between Raph and Donnie, trying to push them away from each other, yet they didn’t notice him.
Raph just stepped even closer, pushing Mikey away gently, and scoffed, “Don’t put this on Raph, Donnie! You’re the one determined to have nothing to do with us! He’d have to walk past your lab, why didn’t you notice?”
Leo hated this.
Seeing the helpless look on Mikey’s face was unpleasant. Leo had hoped that with his own determination for change that they’d go back to normal. He had been the problem after all.
That hopelessness in his baby brother's face gave him the strength he needed to push himself up and pull Mikey away from their older brothers and towards the kitchen. Donnie and Raph didn’t notice.
Once in the kitchen, Leo set about pulling out the ingredients to Mikey’s favorite comfort food, hash brown casserole. It took a little under an hour to cook, and they always had plenty for two casseroles, so Mikey wouldn’t have to worry about lunch or dinner. They’d probably be sleeping awhile after it was done anyways considering how late it was.
Mikey watched quietly while he finished finding all the ingredients and turned the oven on before finally speaking up.
“What’re we doing?” Mikey asked while Leo was putting the shredded hash brown in the microwave to defrost.
“Makin’ a snack, bud,” Leo tossed a smile over his shoulder at Mikey, taking in quickly his hands that were twisting around each other anxiously.
“Shouldn’t we be figuring out what’s goin’ on with you, though?” Mikey came to crouch next to Leo.
“I’m just sleepwalking, Michael, I’m sure it’s nothing that serious,” Leo waved away the concern and even though he believed it was just that, he had a knot in his stomach he couldn’t explain.
Mikey hummed, though clearly not in agreement considering his pinched face. They both turned to watch the bag turn in the microwave, neither speaking again even after it finished.
They just got to work on making the casserole. Leo melted the butter. Mikey added the spices to it while Leo began scooping in the sour cream and the cans of cream of chicken. The spiced butter was added and then the shredded cheese.
Mikey stirred it all together while Leo crushed the corn flakes and added more melted butter to the cereal. They each put together two dishes with the crunchy cereal on top. The one Leo put together first went in the oven while Mikey’s was stored in the fridge for later.
Leo turned and sat against the warm oven, Mikey following suit. Leo appreciated the warmth against his still tender carapace.
“What if it’s not just sleepwalking?” Mikey’s voice was small, “I followed you Leo, you looked like you were wide awake.”
“What else could it be?” Leo asked, “Sure, it's a little weird, but weirder things have happened, weirder things still happen. Like when dad gets sick.”
“Yeah, but dad always does that, you’ve never sleepwalked,” Mikey’s voice was tinged with frustration, like how it got when he thought Leo was being stubborn, “Plus your insomnia is practically gone, you’ve had that for forever!”
He leaned forward to get a better look at Leo who refused to look at him then continued, “You screamed and could barely speak, the only times you’ve sounded that scared was-“
Leo winced. Mikey’s mouth clamped shut. He let out a loud huff and slumped back against the oven. Neither spoke until the sound of their missing brothers came closer at a rapid pace.
“Leo! Did you seriously wander off while we’re trying to figure out what’s going on with you-uh- wandering off!?” Raph growled once he caught sight of Leo.
“Oh, so I’m not allowed to walk around my own home anymore?” Leo said sarcastically, knowing he wasn’t helping his case but feeling too tired and raw from the near mention of past scares.
“Leo! You said yourself your knee is taking longer to heal than you expected, this is why! You can’t avoid that.”
“Raph’s right Leo, you cannot just keep leaving when you want to avoid tough conversations.”
Leo scoffed, staring incredulously at his purple clad brother, “You’re kidding right? You’re like, the king of avoidance! Plus, you weren’t even talking to me, I didn’t realize I was part of that conversation”
“Of course you were part of it, ‘Nardo, it was about you,” Donnie’s glare was weak, as it had been since the event no matter what Leo did to annoy him, intentionally or not.
Leo was going to explode, there was no more denying the frustration and resentment bubbling in his chest and stomach. He stood up abruptly, not acknowledging the twinge in his knee and pointed at the causes of his volatile emotions.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me! You two are so focused on me and making sure I’m okay that you’re falling apart. I’m just sleepwalking, is that probably why my knee is taking longer than it should? Maybe.”
He hadn’t spoken this much in weeks because of his neck injury so his voice was rough now as well, “But that doesn’t excuse you two blaming each other for something no one noticed. So sorry I didn’t want to listen to shouting at two in the morning. And that I wanted to take Mikey away from that.”
Leo was breathing heavily by the end of his little speech. Donnie and Raph were pale and stock still. Leo sighed and deflated, when he spoke again his voice was a raspy whisper, “We’re-we’re supposed to be together, as a team. As a family. We shouldn't be fighting anymore, I thought things would get… better...”
He twisted his hands together anxiously, “You worked so hard and got hurt trying to teach me that, Raphie, and I don’t understand why you’re still coddling me. And you don’t even talk to me Donnie. I’m not…broken. I’m your brother.”
All at once Leo felt the energy leave him and he slumped to the floor, sliding back against the oven again. The heat soothing his aching carapace. Mikey, who had remained rooted to his spot on the floor, took Leo’s hand and gave him a wobbly smile that Leo returned.
It was quiet except for the sounds of Raph and Donnie slowly settling in front of Mikey and Leo. Even those sounds died down though and they were left in a strange silence that didn’t usually permeate the lair.
“You’re right.”
The hoarse words spoken by Donnie cause Leo and his brothers to gape at him.
“You-You’re both right and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’ve been fighting you Raph and avoiding you Leo, you too Mikey. I just- I almost lost all of you. All of you nearly died and I wasn’t able to do anything. Raph was kidnapped and brainwashed, Leo had to sacrifice himself, and Mikey was cracking. I was useless and I have been trying so hard to make sure that does not happen again, that we’re- that I’m prepared for the worst.”
“What?” Leo said, feeling gutted and guilty as he usually did these days, “Donnie, you saved us with those escape pods.”
“And you faced your fears with those gross tentacles to get the ship back enough into the portal that it got destroyed when Casey closed it!” Mikey added, fragile enthusiasm in his voice.
“Don, you gotta know no one could’ve seen any of that comin’. We never would’ve been able to be prepared for it. We got lucky,” Raph said, putting an arm around Donnie slowly who tiredly leaned into it.
He remained against Raph’s side as he spoke again, “I- I think I know that, logically. But… it doesn’t help.”
Donnie’s words were all too true. Leo didn’t know how or when they’d be better, but he knew he didn’t want his family to suffer forever because of his mistake. Nor did he want them to neglect themselves out of fear of losing each other.
The dreams had caused a sense of false contentment, a way to escape the turmoil he felt in the waking hours. He could see that now. Donnie was right too. He really had been avoiding his family again, even if he didn’t realize it.
Leo knew just what to do.
“Dontron, you’re part of that almost died for a family member club too considering the whole getting punched off the side of a floating skyscraper thing,” Leo said in an as annoying brother voice as possible, throwing on a smirk that was only twenty percent fake, “Plus you almost got crushed in and by the tank, I think you got us beat, yeah?”
Mikey’s answering mischievous grin at Leo’s ribbing was rewarding to see and his smile became a hundred percent real when Mikey joined in, “Yeah, Donnie, you gotta be the president of our club at this point!”
“Wha-? Seriously?!” Donnie leaned forward and scowled which was a sight for sore eyes.
Leo’s eyes were bright with mischief as he continued, “Actually, Mikester, I think it
should be Raph, he did it first when he jumped off a tree! On purpose!”
Raph started sputtering and waving his hands frantically but it was too late. Mikey jumped on him at the reminder and Leo guffawed loudly when the two fell back against the kitchen floor. Donnie scooted away from the two now wrestling brothers and slid next to Leo.
They watched content as the oldest and youngest playfully wrestled. Leo couldn’t help but lean against Donnie’s side as he usually did. He was surprised to feel Donnie not only lean against him as well but also wrap an arm around his shoulder. He felt any remaining tension drain at the returned affection from his touch averse brother, relaxing even further into Donnie. Leo smiled and closed his eyes.
Yeah, they all probably needed to talk seriously about the near death experiences and self sacrifice and even the sleepwalking. For now though Leo just wanted to enjoy this moment for however long it lasted.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Correct / Better Episode Order
With Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles being on Netflix I figured I'd make a better way to watch it! Some eps are a bit out of order so I hope this helps bc I def want more ppl to watch this awesome show. Lmk if I made any mistakes!
