Gentle Hands I Don't Recall
Chapter 1: There's Something Wrong/ With Somebody Like Me
Leo, during the time he is in the Prison Dimension, loses his memories. He gets saved, but is he still "Leo" when he can't even remember who these masked faces are?
Welcome to GHIDR, hope you enjoy this new au me and Robbie ( @mostlyvoid-partiallyturtles ) are writing!! First of all a big shoutout to @oddpocalypse for this idea!! Another big shoutout to Banjo @little-banjo-frog for the name!!
We have been working on this au for a while... hope you enjoy it!!
ROTTMNT || 1505 words || Leo centric hurt/comfort amnesia au || click here for ao3 || GHIDR masterpost TBA
Thanks for reading!! <33 -☆ (Nighty)
Chapter title is from Good Morning by Two Door Cinema Club! -🛸 (Robbie)
The first thing he felt was pain. The second thing he felt was cold. The third thing he felt– or rather noticed was the ringing noise.
He opened his eyes.
It took him a second to notice he was laying down. He was… holding a picture? What..?
…
Where was he? It was so dark and there were rocks and stuff all over the place. And who were these people in the picture? Why– Wet? His face was wet. Were these tears? Why was he—
“–pest!” As the ringing in his ear faded he heard the voice, and noticed the metal suit right in front of him. He barely managed to hold on to the picture as the metal fists hit him, sending him flying into…
…into… he didn’t know.
It hurt a lot.
A sob escaped him. He wasn’t sure why.
The picture. He didn’t know who they were but he pulled it close. The whole picture looked like a direct contrast of this place. Colorful people looking at him. Why..?
He looked at the void. Who had hit him? His ribs hurt. Was it coming back? Were they coming back? Why…
Why couldn’t he remember what he was doing here?
His grip on the picture lightened. He didn’t remember anything. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, but he didn’t care. He…
He was gliding in emptiness. He couldn’t remember. He…
…
Who was he?
He didn’t know. This couldn’t be good. What…
It was quiet and lonely. His attacker wasn’t around. He was still gliding in the emptiness. Wasn’t there anyone else that could help him? Was he… all alone?
The thought terrified him. It felt wrong.
Why? Why was it wrong?
Suddenly a bright, yellow light appeared in the middle of the void. It was close to him, and despite the pain he managed to turn and look at it.
Three faces looked at him. Teary eyes grew big in disbelief when they saw him.
They… they were the same people from the picture. Orange, purple and red. Where was blue? He wasn’t exactly sure why, but he was happy to see them. Maybe they could help him. Maybe they knew him. As if on cue, the red one took a step behind and did something that he wasn’t sure how to describe. He saw red one’s left arm shine in red and a hologram of it surrounded it. It, with powerful force, reached towards him. On instinct, he reached back. He didn’t want to be alone. Warm red light surrounded him and pulled him towards them. He let the grasp hold and pull, he didn’t have much power to fight back anyways. Nor did he want to fight back. Shock had left itself to determination, but suddenly he saw it shift onto fear on the three’s face. He saw where they looked. He turned, and saw it. Metal armor, bright red light.
It… it was here to finish what it started, wasn’t it? To kill him?
He looked back at the strangers. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t even know what was happening, where he was, and- who- who was he?
He couldn’t die like that. Not without knowing who he was. He didn’t want to die, please. He didn’t—
A purple hologram– a drill– passed by him and hit the pink face in the middle of the suit (he didn’t notice that before). Where did the drill come from? He looked back at the strangers, and realized it must’ve been the purple one’s doing. He heard the metal suit following him though. But he was so close to them. With one last quick, he was no longer gliding. Instead, he felt gravity and he fell onto the ground on his back. He groaned before opening his eyes.
The ground was cold, and he wasn’t floating anymore. Here– wherever here was– was warmer, nicer. The strangers were around him; the orange one was the last one to run towards him. They looked at him in worry. “Leo?”
Leo? Who was that? They all looked extremely worried. They all also were still watching him. It must be his name then. The longer he didn’t talk, the more worried they looked. They had just saved him– he didn’t even know why they did that! But he was grateful, and it stung to see them like this. They clearly knew him… and he must’ve known them. He had a picture of them, still in his hand. He… he didn’t want to worry them.
“Hey guys.” He smiled. It must’ve worked because their faces turned to relieved ones and they pulled him into a tight hug. He barely heard one of them say “Come here!”. Everything hurt, but even though he couldn’t recognize them, he had to admit this was nice. Much better than being punched. He relaxed a bit. They knew him, and they for certain cared for him. He might not remember or understand anything, but it was definitely better than being beat up in a void by a metal suit. What even was that thing?..
“Leo,” He heard the big, red one talk. Leo, right, that was his name. The big guy continued, “Never do that again.”
Oh, what had he done that this guy was about to cry? He’d figure it out eventually… hopefully. “I won’t, you can be sure I’m never doing that again.”
“Good, because…” Red sniffed. “I… I’ll… ah, who cares. You’re back and safe now.”
“And we’re never letting you go. Ever!” Orange chirped in.
Purple was silent, but he felt his and everyone’s hug get tighter. It was a bit overwhelming, and his… everything hurt, but it felt nice. It felt safe.
“I’m fine with that.” He responded to the orange one. His mood changed once he started coughing though. It hurt to cough, and it took a bit for it to stop. The familiar strangers called his name, and they were worried again. They became even more worried after he stopped and whined in pain.
“Is that… blood?” Orange whispered in fear.
He hadn't noticed he had shut his eyes. Opening them, he saw it. It was indeed blood, and that couldn't be good.
“Donnie.” Said the red one. A new name? Who?
“On it.” Purple one answered. So he was Donnie. Good to know. Donnie put on his goggles, and with one hand on them he stared at him. What was he doing? Donnie pushed the goggles back to his head. “He needs medical attention immediately.”
He didn't like how this sounded.
Red grabbed them all (he was really strong…) and got on his feet. “We need to go back home!”
“You can't run all the way back from Staten Island, Raph.” Donnie said. Another name. Raph was the red one… All he was missing was the orange one's name.
“What do we do then? We hafta do something!” Raph yelled. Ow. His head hurt…
“Shh, he must have a headache guys!” Orange one said, (rather loudly, in his opinion).
He groaned. “Thanks.”
“Guys!” A girl's voice was heard from Raph's… wrist thing? “Guys? Can you hear me?”
“April!” Raph gasped. April? He heard sobs faintly coming from the device.
“Raph? Are you guys okay? Is Leo–”
Raph brought his arm closer to himself. “Leo's with us, but he's injured!”
“Leo's with you?!” April shouted. Why was she so surprised? Wasn't he supposed to be with them? He also heard a loud gasp coming from the device.
“Splinter! He's with them!”
Splinter? So many people…
There was a second of quiet.
“Blue? My son?” He heard a trembling voice coming from the device. He didn't understand until he realized everyone was looking at him. Blue was also his name, okay… And… son?.. His head hurt so much– “Blue?” Splinter (he guessed) called again.
“I'm here.” He quickly said.
“My son…” A sob responded. Son– he– he forgot… he forgot his dad. He wasn't sure if he felt sick because of how much everything hurt or because he didn't remember having a dad. The man sounded so heartbroken. He gritted his teeth, “I'm fine… dad.”
“You're injured and need medical attention!” Orange glared at him.
“Y-yes, my son. Hold on. We'll help you.” Splinter said. “Boys, where are you?”
“Staten Island.” Raph answered, and by his side Donnie shivered.
“Ugh– okay. April–”
“I got this. We can meet. I-”
“Sensei?” Another voice, small yet clear, came from the device.
“Casey? Are you alright?” April called. So the guy who sounded like he had cried was called Casey. All this information has been making him dizzy. Or was it the pain? The pain was kinda numb though. So was it really that? He didn't exactly feel it…
…
He was getting sleepy…
“Leo?”
And it was nice. Raph sure was good at hugs… Good to learn…
“Leo, open your eyes!”
But he was so comf– oh when had he closed them?
“Leo!”
He couldn't fight it. The sleep… it felt… nice…
…