What’s in a Year
Chapter 4
It was quiet.
It had been quiet for a while.
After Donnie’s announcement, no one had been able to say anything. Mikey wanted to, he wanted to say something, but… he just…
…
He couldn’t.
He’d spent months fighting to get Leo back. Pushing himself past his limits, despite the pain, even when his hands turned numb and his arms shook so badly that he could hardly hold them up anymore. He’d almost died, and… and he’d been fine with that. He’d been fine with that, if it meant he could get Leo back.
He'd been so angry when they made him stop. Mikey understood why, now, but then?
It broke something in the family bond. And no one had been able to recover it since.
…No one had even tried to recover it since.
But now Leo was back. Leo was back, because of something Donnie did. Donnie managed to achieve the impossible.
Mikey needed to know how. But he couldn’t manage to push the words past his throat.
When they finally arrived in the lair, Donnie made a beeline for the med bay, dragging an uncomfortable looking Leo along with him. Raph and Mikey trailed after them. Hueso and Sunita had stayed back at the restaurant. They didn’t want to interfere with a family matter.
Mikey pushed open the med bay doors, slightly taken aback at the state the room was in. A bunch of gear was already set up, including ones that would’ve taken several hours to prepare.
…
Donnie had been known this was going to happen. Today. And he didn’t say a word.
Leo sat on one of the beds, watching Donnie hook him up to machines with wide eyes. He looked just as confused as Mikey felt. He looked… exactly like Mikey remembered.
Exactly.
If Mikey hadn’t lived through this entire heart wrenching year, looking at Leo, he’d think the invasion hadn’t even happened.
“This is crazy,” someone whispered, and it took Mikey a moment to realize it was him. Leo took his eyes off his twin to look at Mikey.
“You’re telling me,” Leo laughed. He held up his arm, which was hooked up to some medical device Mikey didn’t recognize (the medical stuff was always left to Leo and, when necessary, Donnie. These days, CJ took care of that stuff.) “I dunno about you, but spawning in the middle of Hueso’s injury free with a hairy Mikey? Not something I would’ve imagined happening. Like. Ever.”
Something about the way Leo said that sent icy chills up Mikey’s spine. It sounded almost like…
“I don’t understand,” Donnie murmured. “You’re… completely fine.”
“Great! Why’d you say that like it’s bad news?” Leo asked cheerfully.
Donnie lifted his head to make eye contact with Leo, pushing his goggles up as well. “It doesn’t make any sense. We were all banged up after… everything. There’s no way you weren’t.”
Leo was quiet for a moment. “Well, I was hurt, but…”
A crash outside the med bay followed by Raph’s panicked voice interrupted their brother. Mikey just realized that Raph hadn’t followed them inside. The reason why made itself apparent in the form of a short, gray rat mutant.
Everyone fell silent at the sight of Splinter, up and walking around of his own volition. His gaze was frozen on Leo.
“…Blue?” Splinter asked. Leo just looked even more confused.
“…Yeah?” He replied hesitantly. Splinter’s eyes watered as he slowly approached Leo. Donnie stepped to the side, pointedly looking anywhere but their dad.
Splinter reached out to Leo, but hesitated. Leo, who obviously didn’t know what was going on, still opened his arms in offering. Splinter accepted.
“Holy cheese,” CJ’s voice breathed, startling Mikey. He didn’t even realize he’d come in. That’s what happens when you’re raised by a bunch of ultra powered ninjas… “How?” CJ continued, directing his question to Donnie.
“Raph’d like to know that too,” Raph grumbled as he finally joined them in the med bay.
“I, uh, have a lot of questions also,” Leo chimed in, confusedly patting Splinter’s back.
Donnie pursed his lips. “I… yes. I suppose I do owe you all an explanation. You see—“
“Wait,” Leo interrupted, wincing as Donnie’s expression soured. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just… uh…” Leo rubbed the back of his neck. “…how long has it been. For you.”
Mikey’s stomach dropped.
“…How long has it been for you?” Donnie asked, throwing the question back at Leo.
“I… I don’t know. Maybe. Five minutes? Give or take? I wasn’t exactly counting.”
…
Five minutes.
Minutes.
Donnie looked pale. Raph seemed to have difficulty swallowing.
CJ was the one who stepped up. (He was always the one to step up.)
“Sensei… Leo. It’s been. It’s been a lot longer than five minutes.”
Leo just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I figured. Just. Just tell me.”
CJ hesitated. “A year,” he finally said. Leo’s eyes widened. “Today was actually the anniversary. We were going to… celebrate. You.”
Your death.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Donnie hissed out. “I thought for sure I’d gotten the math right. All calculations pointed to…”
“Pointed to what, Donnie?” Raph snapped. Donnie snarled up at Raph.
“To pulling Leo out at the same time in his life as ours. I didn’t build a machine for time travel, Raphael!”
“You did this with a machine?!” Mikey yelled.
“Of course I did! How else could it have worked? You already proved that life force is insufficient!”
“How would that have even worked??”
“I placed one of Leo’s katanas inside and used my ninpo to power it, while the machine used the residual ninpo residing inside the weapon to locate and pull him out, for a simple explanation.”
“How?!”
“I’ve spent a year working on this, Michael, and it clearly worked, so I don’t think you have any room to question this!”
“We have plenty of room to question this!” Raph roared. “You brought our dead brother back to life and didn’t even bother to tell us you were planning it! We would’ve helped you!”
“Like you helped me with this?!” Donnie countered, holding up an arm and pointing to his exoskeleton. Raph recoiled as though Donnie had punched him. “If you hadn’t been willing to help me with something that important, how could I possibly trust you to help with this?”
“W— but… but this is different…!”
“What, is Leo more important than me? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Of course not, Don…”
“Really? ‘Cause that’s what it sounds like you’re saying!!”
“Stop it!” Mikey cried. “That’s not the point of this conversation and you know it, Donnie!”
“I was the only one who didn’t give up on him!” Donnie snarled, turning on Mikey this time. “Just because you had to stop with your mystics didn’t mean you had to stop entirely! I was the only one who cared! So no! I’m not sorry I didn’t tell you anything! You would only have—“
“STOP!”
Everyone froze. Leo had gotten up off the bed, standing in front of his brothers.
His eyes were red and puffy, but he wasn’t crying anymore. He looked livid.
“What. The. Hell just happened here?” Leo hissed out. Raph flinched, but stayed silent. Nobody could find it in themselves to meet Leo’s eyes.
“Sensei…” CJ began.
“No, Casey, just… no. I’ve never… we’ve never fought! Not like this! What…” Leo shook his head. It looked like he was going to start crying again. “What happened to you guys?”