SUMMARY. You thought Casey had taken to the room quite well, but then, every night, without fail, he would wake one of you, face scrunched up in distress as he asked if someone could keep him company until he fell asleep.
“It’s a new space,” Leo said after the third time it happened, nuzzling his snout against your temple in a soothing gesture. “The last base was all Case knew, it makes sense he’d be homesick. Give him some time, mi vida.”
And you try to. Really, you do.
(In which you’re worried about Casey adjusting to the new resistance headquarters, and Leo holds your hand through it all.)
RATING. general
WORD COUNT. 1.6k
RELATIONSHIPS. Leo/Reader, Casey Jones II & Reader
WARNINGS. none that apply
TAGS. No use of Y/N ; POV Second Person ; Gender-Neutral Reader ; Established Relationship ; Krang Invasion Timeline (TMNT 2018) ; Parental Reader ; Parental Leonardo (TMNT) ; Leonardo Acting as Casey Jones's Parental Figure (TMNT) ; Future Leonardo (TMNT) ; i think this counts as family fluff??? but it's bittersweet due to the Circumstances ; mostly Casey-and-Reader-centric at first but Leo's there i promise
AUTHOR’S NOTE. the very first Leo/Reader I ever read for the fandom had them be parental to Casey JR, and it left its mark on me if you couldn't tell
btw, Leo is 27 here (also, pre-arm loss), Casey is 4, and Reader’s age is mid- to late-20s
(title is from ‘things that make it warm’ by cavetown & divider is by @enchanthings)
The new resistance headquarters is a downgrade for many reasons. There isn’t enough space to give each member a bed, much less space for that bed, especially one in Raph’s size. Then the infirmary's ceiling collapsed two weeks into the ingress, forcing you and your med team to relocate to the war room as a temporary set-up. And now Donnie and his engineers report that heliplane production is stalled until they can rebuild the heavy machinery they had to abandon during the emergency evacuation.
Overall, it’s taking a while for everyone to settle in and stop missing a home you can’t return to, not without the promise of Krang zombification or worse.
The one having the hardest time adjusting, though, is Casey.
Because space and privacy are a privilege a resistance can’t afford, his new room is a storage closet attached to the room you and Leo took as your own. The decision makes sense, all things considered. You both agreed that keeping Casey’s quarters nearby was non-negotiable, and putting yourself between Casey and any possible threat that would try to hurt him while he slept calms the raging beast named ‘parental instincts’ in you. So, you and Leo furnished his room to the best of your abilities, and Casey gave you both a hug and cheek nuzzle for your troubles.
You thought he’d taken to the room quite well, but then, every night, without fail, he would wake one of you, face scrunched up in distress as he asked if someone could keep him company until he fell asleep.
“It’s a new space,” Leo said after the third time it happened, nuzzling his snout against your temple in a soothing gesture. He was at Casey’s bedside for barely five minutes before sliding back into your bed—which is a lumpy mattress on the floor—and telling you Casey was out like a light. “The last base was all Case knew, it makes sense he’d be homesick. Give him some time, mi vida.”
And you try to. Really, you do. But it’s been a month since it first happened, and Casey doesn’t even have to wake you anymore since you’ve learned to expect him. Tonight, when the door to his room creaks open like clockwork, you’re already sitting up in bed and turning on the lamp. You don’t have to worry about waking Leo with your movement since he hasn’t turned in for the night, still discussing tomorrow’s mission logistics with his brothers and Draxum.
It takes a while before Casey steps through the door, but when he does, you see he’s clutching Doctor Hugginstein to his chest (which isn’t new) and tear tracks are trailing down his cheeks (which is).
“Oh, kiddo,” you coo, arms stretching out toward him. “C’mere, sweetie.”
Casey takes your words as the invitation they are and leaps into your hug, burying his face into your chest. You let out a small ‘oomph’ as he knocks the breath out of you, but at four years old, Casey isn’t as heavy or tall as he’s supposed to be. When he crawls onto your lap, he’s too light, and you have to force the rage off of your face. You don’t want to scare Casey, don’t want him to think your fury is aimed at him and not the Krang.
His hitching breath knocks you out of your thoughts. “I-I tried—” Casey tries to say before a hiccup cuts him off. “It was too—”
Without thinking about it, you tuck his head under your chin and start rubbing his back. “Shh, take a breath first, Casey. I’m right here, it’s going to be okay.”
You spend ten minutes consoling him before Casey’s tears start to peter out, his breathing coming close to something even and normal, and it’s even later after he’s calmed down when you finally ask him, tone as gentle as can be, “You wanna talk about it?”
When Casey only shakes his head and hugs you tighter, you decide not to press.
“You wanna go back to your room?” You barely even finish the question before he shakes his head again, this time more adamant. “Okay, that’s okay. How about this: you stay with me and Leo tonight, and tomorrow, if you’re up for it, you can tell me what’s wrong. That sound good?”
Casey pauses, considering, before he pulls away just a bit to look up at you and nod. “Yeah, th-that sounds good.”
”Good,” you say, gently wiping Casey’s dried tears away now that you can properly see his face. “C’mon, let’s get you settled in before your sensei comes and hogs the bed.”
That gets a giggle out of Casey, drowning you in overwhelming fondness at the sound. You press a kiss to his forehead to release some of that affection before sliding him off your lap and onto the middle of the bed, keeping him in your embrace all the while.
Pillowing his head on your arm, Casey turns to lie on his side to look at you. “Doc?”
You stifle a smile at the title. Despite the family’s best efforts for Casey to call each of you ‘uncle’ or ‘auntie’, he still can’t help but parrot the way the resistance members refer to you all. Clearing your throat to hide your chuckle, you softly ask, “What’s up, kiddo?”
“Can I have a song, please? Just ‘till I’m sleepy.” He asks, hugging Doctor Hugginstein tight. He looks hesitant as if you’d ever deny him anything.
Smiling, you say, “Always, kiddo.” And then, just to make him laugh again, you start to sing Jupiter Jim: The Musical’s opening number.
“Noooo, not that song!” Casey whines between giggles. “The cradle song, the one with the stars.”
”Ah, that song.” You exclaim in mock-realization. “Why didn’t you say so!”
Casey pouts, and for all that Leo isn’t his natural father, you can’t help but think they furrow their brow the same way. “Okay, okay, kiddo, settle down,” you say, and you boop him on the nose to get another giggle out of him. When his face smoothes out, you start singing, but you don’t even make it to the second cycle of the chorus before Casey’s eyes have fluttered shut.
You’re finishing the lullaby, brushing back Casey’s bangs from his face as you do, when Leo opens the door without a sound. Obviously not expecting you to still be awake, Leo jolts when you make eye contact, but then he takes in the scene and his face softens. Despite the gooey, sappy heart-eyes Leo’s making at seeing Casey asleep in your arms, you still notice the worry and confusion in his expression, most likely wondering what could’ve been bad enough to have him unable to sleep alone.
On silent feet, Leo moves toward the bed, removing his knee pads and belt along the way. He props his sword against the wall near his bedside—keeps it within arm’s reach like he has every night since he was 16 years old—before sliding under the covers and curling an arm around your hip to pull you close. “Nightmare?” He whispers into the sliver of space between your faces.
“He wouldn’t tell, but yeah, I think so. Got him to agree to talk it out with me tomorrow though.”
Leo purses his lips, and you already know what he will say. “I can stay with y—”
“No,” you insist, stern but not unkind. “Casey knows you have that recon mission. He wouldn’t want to take you from that.” At your words, Leo frowns, his love for his family and his duty to the resistance vying for supremacy. You press a thumb to the middle of his brow ridge and smoothen out the crease forming there. “Watch out, handsome, your Raph chasm’s showing.”
Just like with Casey, your words pull a laugh from Leo. “Oh god, do not remind me.” He chuckles, silent so as not to disturb the boy between you.
Joy is a wonderful look on Leo, his peals of laughter making you glitter in delight in turn. Then, as an added nudge to ease Leo’s nerves, you say, “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got this.”
“I know you do,” Leo says, eyes going soft and sweet as he looks at you. Gently, he pulls your hand—fingers still pressed against the middle of his brow ridge—to lay his cheek against your open palm and kiss the pulse point on your wrist. It’s like magic, how he turns you into poetry and light under his hands, under his lips. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“Of course, only the best for my champion.” You tease, charmed by Leo’s responding chirp.
“I missed you today.” Leo keeps nuzzling into your palm, twining his fingers with yours. “Wish I had meetings with you instead of Barry. We’re getting sick of each other, more so than usual.”
You giggle, and when Leo pulls you close to kiss you, you hope he can taste the laughter on your lips. But the mention of meetings has you sobering, and you sweep your thumb across his cheekbone to catch his attention. “Hey,” you say, tone serious. “Be careful out there tomorrow. Come home to us.”
“Always will.” He promises, and his dark eyes hold the steadfastness of a warrior. “You’re not getting rid of me for a long time, mi vida.”
His reply has you rolling your eyes good-naturedly. “As if I’ll even try.” You say before pressing your lips to his for one more kiss.
Both of you fall asleep soon after, Leo holding your hand cupped between Leo’s own and his cheek.
AUTHOR’S NOTE. in my heart, the lullaby Casey was asking for is 'sa ugoy ng duyan' (which can translate to ‘to the rocking of the cradle’) coz I think it fits him. it's a song abt missing the bygone days with your mother because being in her arms meant safety n comfort n protection, and you think about how the song she used to sing to you is a song full of love uwu
also, don't ask me what the new resistance headquarters is coz I don't kno. is it a tunnel system they found? a bunker Donnie preemptively designed in case of a Krang attack? some safehouse in the hidden city that Draxum used in the past? idk.
Bless you for picking the exact reaction Stella would have had to such a compliment ngl LOL
I wasn't sure whether to clean up/ink/color this legit or not so for now I'm just doing a cute sketch. Might ink/color it at and rb with an updated version at a later date if I feel so inclined. I also wasn't sure which version you were thinking of so I just went with 2k12 bc tbh I love her design there and I think thats the most well known one she has? So yeah hopefully this brings joy lol.
Tommaso Hamoto in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Bayverse(2014-2016).
In every universe, Tommy, a human boy, is always found in the trash or in the sewers by Master Splinter and raised alongside his four turtle mutant brothers, trained by their father Splinter as Ninjas.
In this universe, while scavenging for food for himself and his sons during the winter time, Splinter ends up finding an abandoned baby boy and ends up taking him home to help warm him before the cold could kill him. While Splinter was trying to figure out a way to safely leave the child so that a human could save him, he noticed that the baby and his four sons instantly bonded with one another. After a few days, the thought of separating the child from his sons and himself started to pain him, but what's more is that this child reminded him so much of the little girl that saved him and his son's life, April O'Neil. Then Splinter finally came to the decision that he would raise this child alongside his sons and gave him the name Tommaso.
