Zionist or Neutrals, proshippers, tcesters and minors DNI
Both SFW and NSFW content but I’ll add warnings
I’ll only write about the Leos who are adults by the end of their iteration (2012, IDW, Mirage, 2007, 2003, and maybe Bayverse) and I won’t write about any of them as minors in adult situations because that’s disgusting. The only time is if it’s a flashback
When the world throws a punch, you want to punch harder. This time, the punch was time travel, and the punch didn’t land on you, but on your friends. Lita, or Lita from the Future, came to prevent the timeline she came from from happening. At first, it was a lot to process, especially for you and Jennika, who were thrown into the deep end. Learning about New York becoming New Mutant City was already a surprise, but the future Lita painted hit harder.
Raph and Alopex becoming rival bounty hunters, Donnie transforming into a cyborg in isolation, Mikey turning his family’s life into an exposé and severing ties, and Jennika reverting to a life of crime were already enough to deal with. However, nothing hit you as hard as hearing about the fate of your partner, Leo. According to Lita, no one knows what happened to him. One day, Leo just vanished. No trace or sign of where he went, as if he never existed. A few whispers about what could have happened have echoed in your mind since—was it anguish, or something else that took him away? The way Lita avoided details makes you wonder if there is more she isn’t saying. That information made your insides swirl together; something just didn’t seem right. Before you can even process it, the Splinter Clan is off to rescue Karai from a helicopter crash.
While left to marinate on this info, part of you still can’t process it. Parts of the story sound accurate with the turtles you know, especially Raph and Alopex, but Leo? Your partner, the one who’s so fiercely devoted to his family and duty to protect others. It’s how all the turtles were raised by Splinter, after all.
Back when Splinter, their father, took leadership of the Foot Clan, something in him shifted. He grew more distant, even cold, choosing power over the principles he had once taught. It was a turning point for the family, and as Splinter became more entrenched in the Foot’s ruthless ways, the brothers had to adjust. Leo stepped up, holding fast to Splinter’s original values and becoming the new leader of the group, even as their father’s vision for them was blinded by fear and domination of the city. Then came the Triceratons' invasion and the EPF. Against the impossible odds and even facing Splinter as an enemy on the battlefield, all of them stood their ground together, refusing to back down. Mikey may have been the first to leave that life behind, but Leo is the one who stepped up to keep everyone together. His undying loyalty to his loved ones is what drew you to him, which is why him leaving in the future is hard to believe.
The rest of the evening phases into a blur. The next thing you know, Karai, Koya, and Bludgeon are in the spare room getting patched up from their wounds. You stay in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall near the curtains. Jennika, beside you, has her arms crossed and her eyes to the dull tiles. Donnie is carefully wrapping Bludgeon’s tricep, while Leo covers Karai’s wrist in a bandaged cocoon. After that, everyone went their separate ways for the night.
Despite how late it is, that feeling deep in your stomach won’t disappear. In a half-asleep attempt to shake that sensation away, you decide to go for a walk around the Dojo. You wander down the halls, ensuring to soften the contact your heels make with the floor. In this family, it doesn’t take much for someone to hear a peep. After a couple of minutes of this, your exhausted brain’s patience is limited. Maybe it’s time for some fresh air, you think to yourself.
As you tread up to the balcony and open the door to the roof, your eyes squint from the illumination of Leo’s greenhouse. When the T.V. static vision, as Mikey coined it, fades and your vision returns to normal, a glimpse of a familiar silhouette catches your gaze. Leo is donning a cool grey sleeveless hoodie with rolled-up indigo denim pants. His eyes are down at his flowers, plucking dead heads off of them and into his compost bucket. While it’s not unusual for Leo to be a night owl caught reading or doing one of his hobbies, his expression is what grabs your attention.
Leo’s lips are pursed together tight, his browline drawn up in the inner corners. His hands work with such precision that it almost looks like he’s working on autopilot. Your feet move before your mind can catch up.
Inside the greenhouse, three gentle knocks snap Leonardo out of his solemn state of mind. His honey gold eyes widen briefly, but soften when he sees you at the other end of the door.
“Hey…” Leo murmurs, holding the door ajar, “What are you doing awake?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” you reply candidly, shrugging. You glance over his shoulder to look at the full compost bin of dead-headed flowers.
“What are you doing awake?”
His beak scrunches partially at the ridge, and his eyes dart from making direct contact.
“I…couldn’t sleep either.”
In an attempt to grab his attention back, you, albeit youthfully, poke his scrunched-up beak. It works in grabbing his attention, paired with a baffled expression.
A soft smile forms across your face, “Penny for your thoughts?”
For a small moment, Leo’s face contorts in thought. Eventually, he exhales, closing the door to the greenhouse behind him.
“Let’s talk out here. It can get stuffy in there.”
While the two of you stand together leaning against the roof, you make sure to stay silent until Leo speaks up. Neither of you really pries too hard with each other. In the past, it usually just put the other on the defensive. After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence, Leo’s low timbre breaks through.
“Sorry. I’ve just been lost in my head today. It’s been a crazy twenty-four hours.”
“That’s fine,” you say, “Is it just the day overall that’s getting to you, or is it something more specific?”
Leo sighs, looking down at the cityscape below.
“I keep getting fixated on that future Lita painted for us…” Leo confesses, tapping his fingers against the brick. You listen carefully.
“We got so cooped up in the war in front of us that we had been forsaking our community, our values…just like father did.”
“But you’re not your father, none of you are,” You affirm, putting your hand over his, giving it a loving squeeze.
“No, I’m worse.”
Your eyebrows raise in surprise, “What do you mean?”
“In that future, Lita says I disappear…I just abandoned everyone. What kind of leader does that? If I left, there must have been something I failed to do…something I failed to see coming that let everything get so messed up.” Leo lifts his hands up in exasperation, gripping his hands together, but reels in his emotions as quickly as they came. He reaches for your hand, holding it tenderly.
“ It’s my job as a brother, a friend, a partner, and a leader to protect the ones I love…and I couldn’t even do that. I failed you. I failed everyone and ran away like a coward.”
“Leo,” you pull his hand closer to you, keeping your tone levelled but firm, “You’re not responsible for one possible future. Everyone played a part in what happened. You’re blaming yourself for a series of events. It can’t all be your fault.”
“It’s my job to see things coming our way,” Leo tries to reason with you, and maybe his own weighing mind too. Before he can continue, your hands cup his chin and turn his head to face you. Leo is left looking like a deer caught in headlights.
“It’s not your job to do anything but be part of a team.” You reply, leaning in a little closer.
“Your job isn’t to call the shots on people’s lives…but we also have the chance to make things right. Lita is here, and she said we’ll be able to stop this from happening if we can make a truce with Karai and help Jenny start a band.”
To your surprise again, Leo huffs out a breath and even chuckles a little.
“Sorry…I’m not laughing at you, hun,” Leo apologizes, leaning into your touch, “It’s just that it’s a tall order.”
You recover quickly and snicker, “I’m not going to lie to you and say it’ll be easy. I’m just saying there’s a way to fix this.”
He grins your way, the smile slowly fading and his resolve returning.
“But still…” Leo exclaims, “I don’t want it to ever get to that point. For everyone’s sake.”
One of his hands reaches up to take yours once more. He gives it a gentle tug; a subtle cue asking for your consent. You relax your hold on him. He guides both your arms downward, placing your palms against his plastron.
“I…need everyone to be okay. I can’t fail.”
“It’s not all on you,” you reaffirm, making an effort to push your hand against the smooth but thick keratin of his plastron. “There’s still so much you are going to do and be, Leo. Don’t let this one version of yourself make you forget who you are, please. You can still choose your own future.”
There’s a flicker of something behind those honey eyes of his. You start to think that you finally got through to him when his boyish smile returns. When he leans in to press a soft kiss to your forehead, you smile back.
“You’re right, and thank you…” Leo responds, pulling away, “I just needed a reminder of what we’re here to do. What this dojo and Splinter Clan are here for. We’ll keep passing on his teachings, and stick together doing it.”
Your arm manages to snake around his neck, pulling him closer to you for a close embrace. The corners of his mouth crease into a broad smile. Not long after, he eagerly returns the hug, holding you close to him.
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll hunt you down to the ends of space and time until I find you again,” You mutter, offering a cheeky grin. A snort escapes him with genuine fondness behind it.
“I don’t doubt it. But I promise, I’m not leaving… especially not you.”
For a while, the two of you stay and enjoy the comfortable silence of nighttime. Even though the city is littered with light pollution, both you and Leo can catch sight of a few stars scattered about. That’s enough for now. To just be in the present moment and not worry about a future that could happen. With the team's help, you can have faith that things will get better and that Leo will be by your side through it.
Scanlan is allowed to be messy and angry because his horrible mental state is related to a family member in someway (screwing things up with Kaylie and the rest of the party doing a prank with his corpse and involving his daughter) but when Pike is messy and angry because her horrible mental state is related to a family member in someway (Wilhand dying and Grog getting teleported and presumed dead), suddenly it's "bad writing" and "out of character"
