Archive of Our Own

Sometimes, loving your family means wanting to punch them in the face. Donatello didn’t dwell on that thought long, not when Splinter told him this morning – as much as it was a shock, coming from his father. He was told so after he only haphazardly avoided hitting one of his brothers in the jaw. For confidential reasons.

And now wasn’t the time to think about it either. Donatello swung his tech-bo around, sending two Foot Clan members crashing into a nearby trash container. Beating bad guys sure had its charm and helped him blow off some steam. Behind him, Michelangelo kicked another ninja into the same container. The same turtle cheered loudly, shouting a proud “27!” across the street to their other two brothers, both busy with their share of enemies.

“What– When?!” Leonardo screeched and whipped around, the hilt of his katana blocking an enemy’s kick. “No way!” he hissed and portalled closer to Mikey. The oldest of the brothers huffed at the unspoken challenge, kicking the last one of the Foot Clan fools.

“You’re just slow, Leo,” Mikey snickered when the red-eared slider shook Michelangelo’s shoulders, too stubborn to admit his defeat. And then Leo fought hard against yawning, turning on his heels as if to hide it. Unbelievable. Impossible. Donatello rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

“Am not–! Look, why’d we even have to–”

“Enough, you two,” Raph sighed while walking towards them. “Donnie’s tech alerted us of a Foot Clan raid, an emergency. It’s better that we deal with it,” he answered before Leo, or anyone really, could complain more. Yes, it was rather late on a Wednesday evening, Raph knew, but they were heroes – this was their duty. “We’re already going home,” he smiled reassuringly.

“Say no more, Raphie,” Leo mumbled, quickly twirling one of his katanas in the air to create a sparkly blue portal. “No need to thank me,” he grinned, yet his smile dropped when Mikey and Raph entered the portal. He stared at the blue portal, silently waiting for Donnie to also step through.

“You should go to bed right away,” Donnie commented, his tone monotone and eyes fixed on his wrist gauntlet. “You’ve been awfully slow, lacking, you almost cut Raph on one occasion and you did trip Mikey twice. Insomnia or not… try to get some sleep, Nardo,” he didn’t notice the small wince of his brother.

Leo shook off the shock and laughed. He turned to face Donatello. “I’m fine. Step through the portal, Tello,” he hummed, gesturing with the tip of his katana. “We’ve talked about this.”

“Yesterday, yes.” Donatello gave his brother a side glance and stepped through the portal. Not before he added: “You can’t go much longer without sleep.”

Leonardo smiled softly and followed Donnie. They argued about it this very morning. And the morning and evening yesterday. The day before, too. He was just tired, but what could he do, if he either couldn’t fall asleep at all, or woke up minutes later covered in cold sweat and a racing heartbeat. It wasn’t a welcome experience. Plus, at least he had an excuse to either play a game on his phone or re-read his Jupiter Jim comics.

Back in the lair, he noticed Mikey just disappeared into the kitchen and Raph made a beeline for the living room – they left during an episode of his new favourite show about knitting. He turned to look at Donatello. “What’re you planning on doing at this beautiful time of day?”

“It’s half past ten in the evening, Leon, and it’s none of your business, really. You should focus on going to bed and that’s it,” the purple-themed turtle said without looking up from his gauntlet.

“You worried about me? Sending me off to bed like I’m a little kid?” Leo chuckled.

“I’m not going to argue with you again. You’re insufferable.”

And Leo was left alone in the open area of their shared skating room. He rubbed the back of his neck, thought about following his youngest brother into the kitchen, but decided against it. He didn’t feel like watching a knitting show either. Annoying his slightly-older twin also seemed out of the question. What a day, truly. He didn’t try to stop or hide the yawn this time. He was tired, he was well aware. But did he want to risk another nightmare? Not really.

Then he chose a different approach. He’d just tire himself out completely! Then there would be no doubt he’d fall asleep and sleep through anything for a couple of hours. Surely. He whistled as he went into his room, closing the door and locking it. A weird experience, considering he never locked his door, but he’d rather not risk anyone walking in on him… missing. He chuckled to himself – what a genius he was. He was no Houdini, if his door was locked, it only made sense he was inside and wanted privacy, right?

Leo placed his phone on the night table, took off his strap and belt, placing them on his bed. He knew Donatello had a tracking app on everyone’s phones and he found the little tracking device stuck to the strap. This way, he was in his room the whole time. He smiled at his two katanas, kissing the blade of one of them for good luck. With a swift movement of his wrist, he opened another portal and, with a little giggle, stepped in.

He observed the city New York beneath him, the beautiful lights, the loud noises of night life. He liked it, liked the freedom it seemed to offer. He sat on the ledge of the roof, feet dangling in the air dangerously. It was really high, Leo thought as he glanced at the tiny cars and even smaller people deep under him. What a high building he congratulated himself, yawning again. He had to be staring for a while, because his eyesight got slightly blurry, but he just rubbed his eyes and blinked the dizziness away. Soon, he hummed with satisfaction, he’d return home and finally get some well-deserved sleep.

A little parkour over the rooftops of New York city’s skyscrapers seemed like a decent idea to tire himself out even more. Tired of staring at the same street, Leonardo jumped to his feet, taking in a deep breath, fresh and cold.

“Now or never,” Leo whispered to himself as he leapt off the rooftop with a loud ‘Wooo!’ howl of excitement. He closed his eyes, counting quick seconds as he allowed himself to freefall. Wind whipped his face, almost bringing tears to his eyes. Still, it felt amazing. He felt so alive. He enjoyed this, even after the terrible experience with Draxum on top of the Grand Nexus Hotel. This – this was different. This was his own choice. The tiny ant-sized people were starting to grow bigger and the slider didn’t hesitate to open a new portal just under himself, safe distance from the concrete streets of the city, and appear on top of another skyscraper, landing harshly on the rooftop and rolling to soften the landing.

Leo got to his feet, laughing, and started running, jumping over to the next building, and then to the next one, and another. He did tricks; frontflips and backflips, risky turns and twists of his limbs to test his flexibility and agility. He laughed like a child on a playground – the night city was his playground, he thought, flinging himself over another gap between two structures. He was filled with adrenaline – the parkour helped him clear his head and focus on timing his jumps and tricks correctly, so as to not risk an injury. Reasonable enough to know that explaining an injured arm or leg would be difficult if he wanted to claim that he was in his room the whole time.

He lost track of time. Hours passed.

Leonardo was breathing heavily when he finally stopped. He felt great now, felt less tired than before– adrenaline, he reminded himself and he knew he might be sore and exhausted later. He hoped so, at least. Ultimately, this should make him tired enough to sleep through the whole day. What an achievement, Leo patted himself on the back. The sky was still dark, but he felt it was colder, as it often was in early mornings, which was a sign to return home. Leo was ready to catch some Z’s.

A simple swing of his sword opened a portal leading home.

His room was empty and locked, just as he’d left it. Perfect. His things were exactly where he’d left them, too- another good thing. After unlocking the door, cringing at the clicking noise that seemed awfully loud, he plopped down on his bed, closed his eyes, smiled and yet…

There was silence and it was pitch dark. His body felt like jelly once the remaining adrenaline wore off. The room was a safe place and his brothers were just behind these walls, if there was a need to call for them.

Yet Leonardo couldn’t sleep.

It was 5:30 AM, he spent hours and hours running outside, but he couldn’t sleep for even ten minutes. Awful. Extremely annoying. Slightly worrisome, but all the blame went on insomnia, as always.

~*~

The lair came back to life just as the morning came. There were noises coming from outside of the slider’s room. There was happy chatter, indicating that Mikey was in a good mood, and Raph who likely decided to humour Mikey for a while as they passed by Leo’s room. Then there was some angry huffing, followed by a robotic voice, S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N., who tried to calm down Donnie. Minutes later, the slider’s phone rang, announcing a message from one of his brothers.

A tired yawn forced its way out of Leo’s mouth: “Might as well get up now…”

The kitchen area was as loud as every morning. The brothers were talking, asking each other about the plans for their day. Mikey let everyone know he was planning to cook dinner and so no one was allowed to skip it. Raph tried to brighten the upset Donnie by asking about his newest inventions. It was going well, Donnie snapped back, which meant things weren’t going great in his lab. Raph offered to fill Donnie’s empty mug with more coffee, and that finally seemed to do the trick to lighten the softshell’s mood. See, Donnie also wasn’t taking a healthy sleeping schedule seriously, so why should Leo.

Speaking of the Devil, The slider literally slid into the kitchen in his unicorn slippers, seemingly beaming. Donnie lifted his sore eyes from his freshly filled cup of coffee to observe his twin. Leo’s words, not his. Apparently in high spirits, with way too much energy and way too loud so early in the morning. No, Donnie mused and corrected himself, it was already past eight. Not so early, then. Still, something seemed slightly off, but Donatello couldn’t put his finger on it. Not yet, at least. That was his second cup of coffee, empty again. He handed the cup back to Raph, wordlessly asking for a refill.

The oldest brother refilled the softshell’s cup with hot coffee once more, and while standing by the kitchen counter, the snapper reached for one more cup, a blue JJ one, put a tea bag in there and poured water in it. It only took a few steps for Raph to place the two mugs on the table in front of the twins.

“Sleep well?” Raph asked while he rubbed Donnie’s stiff shoulder.

“Oh, you know it, big guy,” Leo snickered. Mikey placed a plate with pancakes on the table in front of him and Leo barely thanked him before eating. “Sorry to be late,” he started with a full mouth, successfully grossing Donnie out. “Any plans for today?”

“First off, gross,” the disgusted softshell groaned. “Second, you and I are meant to help April at her new part-time job, remember? Ring a bell, you dingus? Stop eating with your mouth open! Yuck!” he faked a cough, or something mixed with a cough and a ‘bleh’ sound.

Mikey snickered while Raph applied more pressure to Don’s shoulder, this time to gently tell him to knock this off. It was too early to have another Leo-Donnie argument, and it would be too frequent for anyone’s comfort.

“Oh that,” the brother in question seemed to remember. “Sure. Yeah. I know what’s up. It was the ZOO part-time, wasn’t it,” Leo hummed, this time with empty mouth. Donnie sighed and nodded. “Great then, that might be fun. A guide? Perfect, We’ll just blend in with the group she’s guiding and call it a win,” Leo said between taking the last bite of the pancakes and taking a sip of his tea. “Thank you, Raph,” he said, giving the red brother an apologetic look for the late gratefulness.

“I’ll be making dinner tonight, so you better be back before then, bring April with you!” Mikey joined the conversation, reminding everyone of his plans. Leo asked. This was an allowed repetition. “And Raph said he wanted to visit the make-a-plushie store that opened, right?”

There was just a shy nod in response, but everyone smiled warmly. Everyone was pretty much fond of Raph’s love for plush animals. It was adorable. And now with the knitting hobby, Raph would be able to make cute little outfits for his plushie friends. Donnie glanced at Leo, who seemed to have the same thought process, and both of them cracked a smile.

When Donnie turned to look at his phone again, Leo’s smile dropped slightly and the slider stifled a yawn by forcing himself to take a big sip of his tea. Thankfully the turtle didn’t choke on the still hot drink. Ah, it was coming back; feeling tired.

After breakfast, everyone parted their ways to get ready for their individual plans. Mikey went to annoy their dad, Splinter, who slept through the breakfast and was still snoring soundly in his favourite armchair. Raphael grabbed his phone and made sure to announce he was leaving, not before reminding everyone to behave the best they could (they all said yes, but Raph knew better than to trust them with this). That left Donatello and Leonardo, there still was time before they had to go meet up with April. The twins shared a look, one annoyed while the other slightly less enthusiastic than a few moments ago, and decided on a time they’ll meet by the entrance. Until then, each had a couple spare minutes to do what their heart desired.

Donatello watched his brother lean back in the chair and stretch, a groan left his lips as his back cracked, surely a satisfying feeling. And yet. The slider seemed… off, even without saying anything, even if he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Donnie sighed and stalked back into his room, brows furrowed in deep thought and thumbs were tapping on his phone.

~*~

“Guys! There you are. I almost thought you’re gonna be late!”April waved at them, cheerful as ever, even if she lightly punched their shoulders for arriving 5 minutes late to their rendezvous point. “What stylish outfits you guys have, perfect for a day in ZOO as my partners in crime,” came the compliment, appreciating that the two brothers put on appropriate disguises for once.

Leonardo laughed, smiling at his sister as she slipped her arm around his shoulder to pull him into a hug. Warm, comfortable. The slider leant into the offered gesture of affection, wrapping his arms around her to steal more of the warmth for himself. He inhaled deeply to stop another yawn threatening to leave his mouth. If April noticed the small shudder, she didn’t mention it. She knew her brother’s awful sleeping habits and insomnia, but she figured he was reasonable enough.

Donnie’s hug was way shorter. The battle shell’s metal arms stretched from under his hoodie and patted the girl’s head instead of returning the affection properly. Looking sideways, he could see Leonardo rub his face. Donnie, of course, pretended he didn’t see that, but he already set his mind on talking to his dumb brother very, very soon.

“Lead the way, O’Neil, show us your magic,” Donnie offered helpfully. April shot him a bright smile. She hooked her arms with her two turtle brothers and pulled them along, towards the gate of the ZOO.

The human girl bought the two tickets, saying her goodbyes for now since she needed to get her uniform from her boss. “Meet you by the guide's starting point, you two!” was the last thing they heard as she ran off.

“Shore-ly a short meeting, wasn’t it,” Leo hummed as they navigated the paths of the ZOO, watching the small and big animals on either side of the path.

“We’re not even by the shore, Nardo,” Donnie pointed out with a tired sigh as he looked up from his phone. His brother rubbed his face again, although he was still stifling a giggle caused by his own joke. Donnie swallowed the worry. It was just a small confirmation that his brother was indeed still as tired as ever, probably even more than before.

Donatello didn’t waste time: “You haven’t slept at all, have you?”

“Not really, no,” Leonardo admitted with a small huff, surprising both of them by the honesty. Usually, he’d snap back, deny and laugh at Donnie for ‘being like mother hen Raph’. “I mean, you haven’t slept either,” was an attempted bite.

“Had work to do. You bozos break everything all the time.”

Leonardo smiled faintly and yawned, showing just how tired he was in front of Donnie. “Thanks, we appreciate that....” he said truthfully. “But you should think about your own health- ouch!” Donnie jabbed him in the side and they both laughed.

“Insomnia?”

“And nightmares,” the slider confirmed softly. “Tried to tire myself out all night, but no success, as you can tell,” he added, pointing at a raccoon that very likely wasn’t part of the ZOO’s staff and Donatello snapped a quick picture of it to send it to their group chat. “Just more tired.”

Donnie didn’t comment on how worried the slider’s statement made him, but he just managed to shrug at his brother. He could try to program a sleeping app to monitor his twin’s sleeping habits and then, based on a proper analysis, they could come up with a solution to somewhat solve this problem. Insomnia was a bitch, the twins knew better than anyone.

They didn’t talk much while they circled around the guide’s starting point. They bought themselves drinks, joked about how the animals should be getting paid for their hard work, while Donnie commented that they were, in a way, getting paid by being taken care of. Should Leo ever want, Donnie would gladly help him find a spot in the ZOO as an exemplar.

They were laughing when people started grouping up by the starting point and April appeared out of nowhere behind the two turtles, saying: “Oh gosh, I am so nervous.”

“Chillax, April,” the blue-themed turtle smiled. “It’s gonna be a-okay, we’re here if anything goes wrong,” he reassured and Donatello nodded to support his brother’s words.

April beamed at the two. She dragged them over to the group of waiting tourists and shoved the duo close to them to help them blend in. She introduced herself to the group as their guide for today, informed them of the supposed route, smirking while mentioning the turtles they were going to see, and mentioned the breaks they’d take in case anyone wanted to buy some snacks and drinks, or simply to use the restroom. It was as simple as that. Donnie and Leo were sure nothing could go wrong: it’s just walking and talking about animals. Donnie remembered April video-called him days back to check facts about the animals with him. Easy and simple.

Nothing could go wrong.

Everything went wrong.

“It’s like all Hell broke loose here!” Donnie called over the screaming visitors and animal noises, swatting an oozesquito away from himself with a metallic arm of his battle shell. As if stating the obvious could make this whole fiasco easier. “Everyone, get away from here! N-Not that way...” he tried to direct the panicked people in the right direction of exit, perhaps his monotone tone wasn’t the most convincing voice ever. What a disaster.

“I thought we’d caught all these oozesquitoes a while back?!” Leo guessed, partly regretting he didn’t sneak a weapon in - April had prohibited them from taking weapons to the ZOO. What an understatement. It was the first thing she apologized for after Leo picked her up in his arms and jumped away from a swarm of those little modified mosquitoes that came out of nowhere. “I’m so gonna have a talk with that damned sheep yokai!” Leo gasped for air as April clung to his neck and the turtle kept his distance from the dangerous insect. April felt his arms tremble, his fingers dug into her waist and thigh, an attempt to keep her safe and close. An attempt to distract himself from the protests of his own body.

One moment they were enjoying the relatively calm tour, the people were chatting excitedly and April gave her speech and fun facts about every animal they passed. It was safe to say everyone was enjoying themselves. They were probably halfway through the tour when someone screamed “Oh my! That’s a huge insect, is that part of the exhibition?” and the trio immediately knew things were going south. “And it’s glowing!” squealed a little child, oddly happily.

And the next thing they knew, they were in this predicament.

Leo set April down next to Donnie and found a stick on the ground to use it to fend off the flying nuisances. April hid behind the turtle with the blue bandana. “Guide the people into the nearest building!” Leonardo ordered, voice serious. His leader mode activated. Swinging his trusty ol’ stick, he cleared a path for April and Donnie.

Neither dared to protest against the command, and they parted with Leonardo and hurried people into the safety of buildings while Leo kicked, poked or smacked the oozesquitoes away from going anywhere near him or his friends. And the other visitors of the ZOO, he guessed with a click of his tongue. Raph would kick him if he only suspected Leo did this for his family alone. The slider was fast, admirably so, and seemed to stand his ground with no troubles. That’s what it looked like to most. April noticed a little slip up, while she was picking up a lost child, about to enter the nearby shelter. She couldn’t bring herself to shout out to her brother, in fear that’d cause him more troubles. Donatello noticed the quick rise and fall of his twin’s chest. Too rapid, considered the usual amount of fighting and his brother’s stamina. The lack of sleep was showing. Donnie, too, didn’t find the courage to call out his brother’s bluff. He, too, was worried it’d throw off Leonardo’s rhythm, probably the only reason Leo was still standing.

Once everyone was safe, April stayed in the building with them, Donnie ran out to join his brother. “I contacted Raph and Mikey, they’re on the way. They’ll bring my tech-bo and your katanas,” Donnie called. Leo glanced in his brother’s direction and nodded curtly. Donnie’s eyes widened when an oozesquito charged for Leonardo’s arm and he tackled his brother to the ground. In their fall, he wrapped arms around Leonardo’s head to protect it from impact. Leo was sweating and shivering, he noticed. The few minutes of fighting alone took a toll on his twin. The few sleepless nights did, Donnie knew. The softshell pushed himself away fractions of time later, his metallic arms keeping the insect far enough during this period. Leo took longer to get back to his feet, he rubbed his eyes quickly before shooting his brother a bright smile. Donatello tried to smile in return but failed, he didn’t want Leo to get hurt.

“Awesome,” Leo reacted to Donatello’s announcement, a silent thanks mouthed after that. “We should try to contain them somehow. Actually…” he glanced sideways, eyeing the nearest pavilion. “Did–”

“No, not really.”

Leo’s eyes shined at that, he’d let Donnie eat it later: It’s a twin telepathy, that’s how Donatello knew what Leo wanted to ask. “Perfect. Go check if it’s really empty and then keep the door open for me, mi hermano,” Leo voiced his thoughts. “I’ll bait them all inside,” he continued, slapping Donnie’s arm and waving his stick in the air – it was questionable that it’d survived so long - before he reached for the nearby trash can and lifted it.

Donatello grimaced and noted to himself to keep his distance from this dumb menace of a brother. He nodded in acknowledging Leo’s plan, enjoying the seriousness and lack of jokes for once. While his brother attempted to catch a couple of the oozesquitoes into the trash, smashing others in the process, Donatello approached the mammal pavilion. Swinging the door open, a quick scan with his goggles didn’t notify him of any humans. The animals were safe behind the glass. This was promising. He turned on his heel, placing a hand to his mouth to try and amplify the volume of his voice: “All clear! Guide them here!”

Spinning on his heel, Leonardo balanced himself on a railing, squishing a mutated mosquito against the side of the trash can. He noticed the wave Donnie gave him, shocked to realise his vision was blurry and his brother was a purple smudge in the distance. Another rub at his eyes, and the slider slipped off the railing, barely landing on his feet. A joke came to mind, hiding his horror: “Come for a guide, my fellow parasites,” he snickered as he banged the stick against the trash can filled with a number of half-dead oozesquitoes.

Surprised to actually gain attention of even more of the dangerous insect, he started running towards the pavilion his brother was keeping open.

“Close the door once they’re all inside! Close the door once they’re all inside!” Leonardo shouted, voice panicky as he closed the distance. Donnie stared with wide eyes at the huge swarm of insect that followed his clearly exhausted brother.

“Wait– there’s no second exit?!” Donnie reasoned, his own voice cracking with panic at Leo’s suggestion. No, no– not this again–

“Just do it!” Leo growled as he passed by his brother, disappearing inside the dimly lit construction. All the oozesquitoes followed close behind, buzzing with what Donnie would consider a murderous intent, but he knew better – they were brainless little suckers that knew and felt nothing except for their desire to infect the humans. There was a maniacal laughter, Leonardo’s, coming from the pavilion, and taunting words followed. Donatello feared that Leonardo was having a little bit too much fun. As the last oozesquito flew past Donatello, the softshell hesitated. He stared into the room swarmed with mutated mosquitoes, his stomach flipping as he couldn’t even see the blue tails of his brother’s bandana. His hands were shaking as he closed the door reluctantly, preventing anything from escaping the pavilion.

“The other’s are gonna be here soon,” he reasoned. He scanned his surroundings for any more of those little pests. Nothing. The buzzing from inside of the pavilion made him nauseous.

A scream from inside of the pavilion made Donatello gasp and clutch at his plastron. His blood ran cold at the horrible shriek. It wasn’t his brother’s. It wasn’t his brother’s. It wasn’t–

“Donnie! We’re here!” he heard a familiar voice huff. Donnie’s eyes focused on Raph and Mikey as they ran towards him. Mikey was carrying Donnie’s staff and Raph had Leonardo’s katanas safely in one hand. “Where’s Leo?!” the eldest asked, frantically looking around for the missing slider. Donnie locked his brother in there with those monsters.

“I-Inside-” Donnie stuttered, but a chuckle from above him made him pause. He lifted his gaze to be met with the half-lidded and, dare Donnie say, slightly unfocused eyes of his twin. The same eyes that were usually filled with wit and hope, now there wasn’t any of that shine. He wanted to punch that smirking face.

“Leo!” Mikey beamed. “How’d you end up up there?” he laughed, waving Donnie’s staff as a hello. Donnie snatched the tech-bo and leant against it, the pure relief that he hadn’t locked his brother in there with a god-knows how many oozesquitoes was immense.

Raph smiled, though his smile wavered as his brother jumped off the height and landed ungracefully, securing himself on Raph’s forearm. He offered him the katanas, which the slider took with a wink.

Donnie still stood in one place, stunned and shocked, and stared at his twin in utter disbelief. He was glad Leonardo was alright. Thank goodness. Oh, thank Pizza Supreme.

“My brothers,” the slider’s tone was cheerful as he spoke. “I took a shortcut through the vents and ended up on the roof of the pavilion,” he said, as if it was nothing. Mikey laughed, Raph rolled his eyes but still smiled at this Leo-like response.

“There was a scream inside,” Donnie brought them all back to the problem at hand. “I– I thought there was no one left, but there… Someone had to be there– it wasn’t you, Nardo…” the softshell frowned slightly, eyeing his twin for a sting-like injury, a new arm or head, maybe.

Raph frowned. “We should check it out.”

“We can’t go inside either,” Leo clicked his tongue. “Alright, actually–” he looked down at his beloved katanas and twirled one in his hand. “Nevermind that statement. I’ll open a portal, peek inside, see what we’re dealing with.”

“No–! No peeking inside.” Donnie rushed to say. “It’s a two way portal, remember? They’ll come flying out once you open it,” he grabbed Leo’s wrist to stop whatever the slider wanted to do. Very quickly he released his brother’s wrist.

“We need to get the person, DonTron,” Leo smiled softly. “I’ll be quick, promise,” his smile widened while it remained warm and hopeful. But Donnie shook his head.

“We’ll call Draxum over,” April suggested, startling three of the four turtles. Leo seemed to have noticed her in time. “He’ll know what to do– they’re his creations. Though I am still surprised there’s so many of them…” she rubbed her arm.

Raphael nodded, his eyes followed Mikey’s movement as the youngest went and clung on April’s arm. “Okay, that’s fair. Good idea, April,” the snapper agreed. “But we still have a person inside… Who could it even be?” he mumbled quietly, as if to himself.

“A caretaker,” Leo guessed. “I noticed a little staff door in the back, which would explain why Don’s scanner didn’t locate anyone inside. He must’ve gotten infected by now, though. I mean– based on the scream, right?”

Always the saviour.

The turtles and April hummed in agreement. There wasn’t much they could do, not without risking that the insect would break free somehow. They all turned to Mikey, who seemed to be the most fond of the mad scientist and warrior. The youngest didn’t need to be told as he dialled the sheep man, a video call. Everyone leant over the youngest’s shoulder to see the man on the screen. Everyone but the blue reader who wasn’t fond of the yokai in the slightest.

Leo felt exhausted. He was tired, in a desperate need to lie down. Soon. He stifled yet another yawn, placed his katanas aside and leant against the wall of the pavilion. No one paid him attention and he felt free to rub his eyes, pinch his arms and try to shake the soreness out of his limbs. His vision was positively terrible, unable to focus, he felt dizzy. He felt sick – like he wanted to throw up, but not really. It was difficult to keep his thoughts collected. He’d need a minute. He’d need–

“–see you in a bit then, Barry!” Mikey’s cheerful voice brought the leader back into reality. “Now, that takes care of that, we just keep a watch until then!” Mikey beamed. Raph and Donnie gave small hums in response. April high-fived with the box turtle. Leo felt he had to join with a tiny ‘yay’.

“I’m still bothered by the human– well, mutant, I suppose,” Raph mumbled, gaining everyone’s attention. “Leo’s right. They must’ve mutated by now. But.. it’s just the buzzing of the bugs, but no...” a vague gesture of his hand substituted whatever Raph wanted to say. Roars, trashing and crashing. Now that they turned their focus to the pavilion, they realised there wasn’t all that much buzzing going on either. Weird. Unsettling.

Leonardo blinked, unconsciously reaching for his katanas. “Alright, big man. This is… just wrong…“ he voiced everyone’s thoughts. “I’m checking it out, whatever.”

“Leo– NO!” a combination of voices screamed, all turtles and the girl attempted to get a grip of the fourth brother, who smirked, saluted and fell down through a portal he opened under his feet. “NO! No– Nardo–” Donnie frantically tried to reach the portal, falling on the ground just as the mystic energy dispersed. Donnie’s hand clenched into a fist full of gravel.

Everyone went silent, holding their breaths.

Seconds later, startling everyone, the door was kicked open, revealing a very confused Leonardo and the floor littered with presumably dead oozesquitoes. No, scratch that, they were buzzing so very quietly it was barely audible. In the far back, a big brown mountain was rising and falling as the mutated person inhaled and exhaled.

Before anyone could exclaim or attempt to strangle Leo, in the worst case scenario, the leader put a finger in front of his lips in a shushing gesture. He nodded towards the enormous pile of fur. Donnie took the initiative and scanned it.

“Ah, that’s our caretaker,” Donatello rolled his eyes. “Partially human… and… oh man, that’s some tough luck, you’d actually need that more, Nardo, because he’s partially a sloth,” he explained with a little devious chuckle. Ignoring his eldest brother’s scolding ‘Donnie!’ or Leo’s ‘I didn’t know you can crack a joke, twin dearest,’ Donatello glanced at the inactive insect. “Asleep. I, well, I assume it’s the Sleeper’s work. That’s the sloth mutant, by the way. A fitting nickname,” he clarified when he was met with some confused noises.

Leonardo leant against the open door. “Perfect,” he said in a hushed voice. “We just wait for Draxum then. Easy.”

“That’s what you said about my part-time job and look at us now,” April sighed dramatically, leaning against the slider, who secretly welcomed her weight and warmth. It grounded him. April felt the slider relax against her and she leant into him more.

“You’re a weird magnet, sister,” Leo smiled faintly and Donattelo caught himself nodding, his clever eyes trained on the two. So April knew, too, Donnie came to the conclusion. The slider was barely standing.

“We shouldn’t just– keep it like this though, should we?” Mikey looked around himself. “The humans-” he didn’t want to point at all the people who started exiting the building they were hiding in. They were staring, they were curious. They were drawn in by the scandal. Most importantly, they were being loud. The other turtles also glanced around, noticing just how busy it was getting.

“Right.” Raph cracked his knuckles.

“I’ll take care of that,” April quickly offered, pulling away from her brother, although unwillingly. Leonardo held onto her jacket as long as he could.

The girl marched towards the staring bystanders. “There’s nothing to see here! Just some difficulties in the Mammals’ pavilion, but don’t concern yourself with it! It’s being taken care of, and you shouldn’t let this inconvenience ruin your visit! There’s plenty of other animals worthy of seeing!” she encouraged the people to slowly move and walk in a different direction. She didn’t realise just how much noise she was making.

Michelangelo and Donatello glanced inside the dim pavilion, grimacing as the huge hill in the back stirred. Mikey grabbed Leo’s arm and dragged him away from the door and Donnie shut it as quietly as he could. They were focusing on the noise coming from their sister and the other humans, but forgot to consider the animals still inside the pavilion.

None of them thought of the animals in the pavilion, albeit a Mammals pavilion filled with some vocal animals.

Donatello thought it a good moment to share some trivia about sloths, like the one they might be dealing with later. Donnie started off simple, claiming they were rather peaceful and didn’t oppose a threat to humans. On the off chance that they did end up getting bit by the sloth (“As I said, slim chances. Surely, you’re not gonna stick your limb in its mouth, are you, Angelo?”) Donnie informed them that sloths were, in fact, not poisonous and neither were their fur or claws. As the scientist that he was, curious about all good and bad, he did warn them about the possibility of infection in the rare case they offered themselves as a snack to the mutant sloth, though.

He was going to browse into the topic of sloths’ sleeping habits, but was promptly interrupted by Leonardo’s groan, a not-so-happy welcome of the sheep yokai, Draxum.

“I see you’ve handled this rather well,” the ex-evil scientist praised. The turtles made way for him and the sheep man explored the pavilion. “Perfect execution,” he said, patting Mikey’s head despite himself. “I will get rid of the oozesquitoes, but I shall leave the growling pile over there for you to deal with,” he said matter-of-factly and started wrapping each individual bug in his vines, pulling them all into a single heap.

That bastard, Leo thought simply, pinching his forearm to push away the worsening dizziness. Wait a second–

“That growling pile?” Raph repeated, beating Leo to it.

“Oh yes, over there. Seems rather upset. I should not want to intervene in what you have started,” Draxum snapped his fingers and the oozesquitoes all disappeared into Draxum’s conveniently small ball dimension – pocket dimension, if you will. At least one problem was off the table. He shot the turtles a short glance, venom on his tongue. “This won’t be a problem, will it? Just tie it down, call animal control. The usual deal,” he smirked.

“We don’t call–”

“Don’t bother, Michael, he’s making fun of us,” Leo rolled his eyes.

Draxum appreciated Leonardo’s wit by smiling, more kindly this time. “You’ll manage. Here.” he tossed a smaller version of his own pocket dimension into Mikey’s hands. “It’s brand new from the Hidden city. I want it back.”

With that, he disappeared like a villain in a smoke of purple, just as the growling pile actually picked itself up, revealing a massive sloth, with claws scratching the concrete floor of the pavilion and snout wrinkled, enough to reveal teeth.

The four turtles talked over each other at that very moment:

“Oh no,”

“This… doesn’t look like a fun rodeo…”

“This is not a bull, Nardo.”

“Aww, he’s kinda cute!”

“Mikey!” three turtles sighed in unison.

And silence took over them as the Sleeper, Donnie’s nickname, stood to its fullest, scaring them slightly by its obscene height, even Raph felt small in comparison. Weren’t sloths meant to be rather small? The brothers all took a step back, making sure they were in open air, away from the doorway as the Sleeper slowly approached.

“We’ve got to immobilise it fast or we’re done for.” Leo assumed as he turned to his brothers, earning a quick agreement from all three of them, but before he could spill any more wisdom, the Sleeper stalked closer to them, surprisingly quiet for such a huge mutant, and attempted to whack them with its clawed paws. Leo pushed his brothers aside, allowing them to drop through his mystic portal and fall out of it behind the sloth, in safety. He himself dodged barely by doing a backflip. The end of his bandana tail got ripped in the process, however, which scared Mikey. A dangerous realisation that his reactions started to be more delayed.

“Ohmigosh, Leo?!” the youngest cried out, using his mystic nunchaku to wrap it around the Sleeper. With one swift tug, Mikey sent the sloth flying and crashing against the pavilion’s wall. The sloth wiggled against the restraints as Mikey huffed and tightened them more.

Raph rushed over to Leo’s side, the kneeling slider laughed it off as a bad day for quick time events. Raph didn’t find it as amusing, nor did Donatello who just almost witnessed his twin getting his head slapped by a giant sloth’s paw.

The sloth managed to break free, yanking on Mikey’s chain and throwing off the youngest’s balance. Donnie was quick to grab his brother’s arm to steady him, which resulted in the sloth growling and tossing the chain back at the turtle duo. Donatello used his tech-bo engulfed by mystic energy to shoot at the sloth, but the mutant dodged. It was Raph’s turn to join the battle and the eldest didn’t hesitate to punch the Sleeper in the jaw. The sloth fell backwards, leaving behind a destroyed bench and railing as he fell into an open air exhibition; it was empty at the moment, thankfully, as it was under reconstruction. Raphael jumped in after the sloth, set on giving him a few more whacks for good measure.

Leonardo cheered for his red-themed brother. He glanced at Mikey and Donnie and gave them thumbs up. “Mikey, with me! Donnie, watch our backs!” he called as he portalled over to Mikey and opened another portal leading right into the exhibit next to the sloth. Mikey nodded, following Leo into the cluster of mystic energy. Donatello worried his lip and stood on top of the railing, overlooking the exhibition – or an arena, as Leo managed to shout to catch the sloth's attention. Donatello caught how his twin blinked and furrowed his brows – an obvious try to focus on the target.

“Here, big guy! Come catch me! Aren’t you just a slowpoke!” Leo taunted, laughing when the sloth screeched.

“I’ll show you ‘slowpoke’,” the sloth finally spoke, gritting through his teeth, in an extremely slow way that made the slider howl louder. “You’ll regret messing with me!” he stalked closer towards Leonardo.

Delighted, Leonardo leant against one of his katanas, pointing the blade of the second one towards the Sleeper, and smirked: “Oh, show me, this should be interesting.”

As the sloth charged at Leo, Mikey jumped aside and rejoined with Raph who was rubbing one of his hands after landing a few punches to the sloth’s jaw and ribs.

“Just what is it about the mutated people always picking a fight with us?” Mikey wondered, not really expecting an answer, but he still got one in the form of Raph’s shrug and unknowing grimace. The youngest twisted the nunchaku in his hands and sent it flying towards the sloth to trap him once more. He didn’t fully realise the Sleeper was blocking his view of Leonardo, or it wasn’t really that important to the box turtle, really, but he definitely didn’t expect the sloth to suddenly step aside, making Mikey’s chain miss the intended target and instead— Leo had the breath knocked out of him. He landed on the ground, on his shell, and gasped for air, there was an awful ringing in his ears and he could swear someone was screaming his name. His eyesight was unfocused and he moved a hand around to find at least one of his weapons. Instead his hand landed on a furry foot.

“Eeugh boy–” Leo managed to wheeze, retreating his shaky hand quickly. He tried to roll aside, gain at least some distance between himself and the angered sloth, but the mutant stomped down on Leo’s right shin, making the slider cry out in pain at the sharp claws cutting through his black knee-high socks with ease and ripping the skin, too. Leo managed to sit up, twisting his pinned down leg slightly, and looked up at the mutant who grinned sadistically. “Wait, wait, wait–!” Leo tried to focus on the Sleeper, vaguely recognising the huge paw and long claws that wrapped around his neck. One quick yank and it’s over, Leo thought with a hint of fear, he couldn’t look anywhere else but at the mutant that had caught him. The Sleeper shifted his foot, dragging his claws down the turtle’s leg further and leaving a trio of nasty rips. Then he removed the foot from the slider’s leg completely. Leo wanted to cry and pass out at the same time.

“Who’s slow now?” the sloth lifted the poor turtle up by his neck, blood dribbled from the slider’s shin, and the sloth’s own foot left a bloody print on the ground. Leo wrapped his hands, tiny in comparison to the Sleeper’s, around the mutant’s wrist and tried to kick himself free, but to no avail.

“S-Still you?” Leo gritted through his teeth, still smirking despite the pain.

A chuckle escaped the sloth’s mouth. “Aren’t you a funny one, little turtle?” he brought the turtle closer to his face, making the slider frown and turn his head slightly. “I’ll end you for turning me into this,” he whispered. Leonardo’s fingers dug into the sloth’s wrist, before he moved one hand to push the Sleeper’s snout away.

“Your breath is funny,” Leo managed, kicking his feet again helplessly. When the sloth growled and snapped at Leo, the slider jerked his hand away. “Easy there!”

Raph held Mikey’s shoulders tightly, stopping his little brother from making any regrettable decisions. He, too, watched with dread as the Sleeper wounded their brother and then proceeded to lift him by his neck. Just like– back when–

“Raph– Let me go!” Mikey struggled against the snapper’s grip. “We need to help Leo!” he shouted. As a last resort, he shrunk into his shell. The movement surprised Raph who lost his grasp on the box turtle and the shell hit the ground next to the snapper. Before Raph could bend down and pick up his brother, Mikey sprang out of his shell and rolled from under his brother’s hands. Raph let out a frustrated groan as he gestured towards Donatello to do something. Then he took after his youngest sibling who swung his nunchaku and wrapped it around the slider’s waist, ready to get his brother away from the sloth in one swift movement.

“N-No! Mike, don’t!” Donnie yelled hysterically, barely avoiding a disaster in the form of a snapped back if his brother did yank with the chain. The youngest retrieved his weapon that instant, wide-eyed and searching for his older brothers’ guidance. Raph was by Mikey’s side again and the smaller turtle jumped on top of the snapper’s spiky shell. Donnie inhaled sharply, the catastrophe that almost happened brought new possible scenarios into the genius’ head, he didn’t like any of those.

The softshell was frozen in place. He stood on the railing above the arena, his heightened position gave him the perfect view of the scene that unfolded before him. It was horrible. He couldn’t move. Leo was hurt, there was blood on the ground and Leo’s leg–

Donnie raised his tech-bo and rested it against his shoulder, forming it into a sniper gun with his mystic energy, then he aimed at the Sleeper’s shoulder. It was just a shock dart, it was meant to shock the Sleeper, make him drop Leo. “I’ve got you, Nardo. Don’t worry,” Donnie whispered the little promise as he steadied his aim and shot. It struck him a little too late that the electricity would get conducted.

There were two screams when the shock dart hit the Sleeper’s arm. The Sleeper’s scream, who involuntarily squeezed around the turtle’s neck and dropped him, and the slider’s scream, who was both surprised by the tiny shock he got, too, and the sudden pressure on his throat. On the ground once more, Leonardo gasped for air and rubbed at his abused neck, ignoring the tingling he felt in his left hand. The slider scrambled to his feet with a pained hiss, finally getting a hold of his two swords. The Sleeper, furious, growled and turned to glare at Donatello. He clenched and released his paws, taking long steps towards the edge of the arena, getting closer to Donnie’s position. Biting the inside of his mouth, Leonardo tried to strike from the side, thinking he had a chance to land a hit, but the sloth swatted his arm and hit Leo’s cheek, leaving three claw scratches across the slider’s face.

The sloth grinned, baring teeth, as he only glanced at the wounded slider, who dropped one of his swords and was now covering half his face with a trembling hand, blood trickling between his fingers. Then the Sleeper resumed his walk towards the softshell, who frowned and stood his ground. If Donnie was shaking, it wasn’t fear. It was bubbling rage.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Mikey called, throwing his nunchaku and wrapping it around the Sleeper’s legs to stop him. At that very same moment Raph charged at the sloth, his fist surrounded by red energy connected with the sloth’s jaw.

The big mutant tried to balance himself out, but the chain around his ankles made him trip instead. Rolling on the ground, he grabbed at the chains, tugged and roared, but they didn’t budge. Mikey tightened them with a steady pull, a victorious smile on his lips when he saw the sloth’s struggle. Raph glanced at Donnie, who still stood on the railing with his sniper gun aimed at the Sleeper, ready to get another perfect shot, and gave the softshell an approving nod.

This time, the dart was a tranquiliser. Donatello smirked as he pressed the trigger, satisfaction spread through his chest like a warm wave. The effects were immediate. The second it hit the sloth, the Sleeper’s struggling died down and so did his growling. He went limp on the ground and remained still, his breathing deepened and slowed down. Donatello allowed himself to join his brothers down there in the arena, getting a pat on the shoulder from Raph. Maybe he should’ve done this sooner. Things were relatively under control until now, Donnie argued with the regret that replaced the satisfaction. But they could’ve gone way better.

“Woah! That was so cool, Dee!” Mikey complimented, still on his oldest brother’s back. The little turtle reached for Donatello’s tech-bo and shook it lightly to get his brother’s attention. The softshell raised his eyebrows at him. “You absolutely have to teach me how to snipe like that next time we play games!” Mikey beamed and Raph smiled at his youngest brother’s silly comparison.

“You saved us a lot of trouble, you nerd,” Raph said affectionately, his hand on Donnie’s shoulder squeezing once more, before the hand got removed. Donnie appreciated the lack of physical contact.

“This isn’t a game, Angelo. It’s not quite the same,” Donnie reasoned, smiling anyways. “Now, brother! Trap the sloth in the little pocket dimension Draxum gave you,” he hummed, eyeing Mikey who gave a small nod and pulled out the little ball. He stared at it confused and it prompted Donnie to ask: “Well? What, in the name of John Amos Comenius, are you waiting for?”

“I– uh, wasn’t given any… instructions?” Mikey said, unsure. He pointed the ball at the sloth and nothing happened. He tried throwing it at the sloth, but Raph quickly caught it in fear it’d break upon impact. There were a few more attempts, like snapping his fingers and pointing at the Sleeper, or perhaps touching the ball and the sloth at once? Nothing.

“Should I make an assumption,” Donnie started, only feebly annoyed. “Perhaps using your mystic energy would do the… trick,” the softshell offered with a raised eyebrow, not an unkind ring to his voice.

Mikey bit his lip and smiled. “Right. Totes. Makes sense, Don,” and surely enough, Donnie was right. Mikey took a deep breath as he focused on the pocket dimension, he felt his mystic energy dance through his fingertips into the magic ball and it started radiating a soft orange shine. Mikey just as much as thought of transporting the sleeping sloth into the ball and voilá, the Sleeper got sucked into the ball. For the three turtles it was both fascinating as it was creepy. “And done!” the youngest said proudly, tossing the ball in his hand.

“Good job, you two,” Raph nodded. He patted his two brothers’ shoulders at their cooperation.

“Thanks, Dee,” Mikey smiled at the older softshell, a metallic arm came up and patted the box turtle’s head. They seemed like they accomplished quite a lot. They had a reason to be proud and happy.

Gaining more compliments from both Raph and Mikey, Donnie turned to look at his twin, expecting the same kind of praise and validation – or maybe some joke. However, the moment his eyes landed on the slider, he gasped and cried out in shock. “Nardo–?!” the softshell rushed to his twin’s side and dropped on his knees next to his brother in blue. Mikey and Raph, with equal fright, followed the softshell.

All three surrounded the slider, talking over each other as they tried to help in their own way. Leo barely heard any of it, though. He was just kneeling there, using his hands to support himself. His brothers’ voices were just a white noise in his otherwise ringing ears. His face and right shin were stinging like crazy, awfully painful sensation, Leo wasn’t dumb to ignore the deep scratches. But no, those didn’t worry him as he knew a few stitches would fix those. The slider was perplexed by the tingling in his left hand. When he looked down, he saw blood was pouring from a bite mark on his hand. When did–? He felt so tired. It was already too much for him. And now? Oh, Pizza Supreme.

“Leo?! Leo, can you hear me? Do you know where you are…?” Mikey’s panicky voice brought him back to reality. Maybe Leo shook his head ‘no’ at Mikey’s question. Later, he’d make it up to Mikey for being a liar.

“It’s okay, Leo, Raph’s here. You’re fine,” Raph cut in, too, placing a heavy hand on the slider’s shell. It felt too heavy, like it’d crush Leo, but the slider didn’t dare say anything, this gesture was supposed to be calming. It did calm Raph down a bit.

“Stop you two, he’s likely in shock and overstimulated,” Donnie shooed the two worried turtles away. A hand landed on Leo’s shoulder. It was light and gentle, it rubbed circles into his skin. “Hear me, Nardo?” Donnie asked. “Can you nod for me?”

Leonardo did. It was barely noticeable movement, but it was a nod nonetheless. He heard Donnie sigh in relief. Through ragged breathing and teary eyes, he managed to look at his twin. It hurt him to see Donnie so concerned. He’d have to apologise later. He only managed to whisper one word before his eyes rolled back, the world faded black and his body collapsed on the ground.

“Nardo?!”

They turned Leo on his back, resting his head in his twin’s lap. Raph couldn’t remember the last time Donnie was in so much haste and panic. It was difficult for the snapper to watch the older of the twins to tremble as he patted Leo’s cheek and then slapped his shoulder a little too hard in Raph’s taste, a desperate action to gain a reaction from the unresponsive turtle. Donnie shook Leo’s shoulders, all reason stripped from him – it didn’t cross the softshell’s mind to simply scan the slider. That’s what fear and stress did to people, strip them of all wit and ideas.

Raph glanced over his little brother’s wounded body. He wanted to trace his fingers over the torn skin on the slider’s face – Raph hoped they’d heal perfectly, Leo was set hard on having the perfect looks. He also wanted to touch the deep cuts on Leo’s right shin. The snapper held a false hope that they were just… surface scratches; that’s a lie, Raph was well aware of the seriousness of the wounds. In his peripheral vision, the eldest noticed Mikey’s shaking. On instinct, the big turtle pulled the smaller one into a tight hug and together they watched Donnie fuss over his twin.

“H-H-His hand, Donnie, his hand?” Mikey stuttered, tears threatened to roll down the box turtle’s face. Raph held the younger turtle tighter as he glanced at the bloody hand in question. A bite mark that looked way too big on the slider’s left hand. And the amount of blood seeping from it wasn’t any better.

“Right, right, calm down, Angelo. It’s– everything’s as fine as possible,” Donnie rambled, grabbing Leo’s left hand. He smeared the blood, hopefully out of the wound to see it properly. Stitches. All of those wounds needed stitches. And there was the word that Leonardo whispered just before falling face first on the ground. “Sleepy, huh…” Donnie repeated, more to himself than anyone else. He finally took the initiative to scan his unconscious brother. To the softshell’s surprise, the twin’s vitals were doing okay. Way too okay, the softshell doubted. It was almost like…

“He’s just sleeping,” the genius then stated, the utter worry he felt seconds ago dispersed like morning fog and was replaced by rage. He was worried for nothing. That dumbass was just sleeping. Moron. Idiot. His fool of a brother got him all worked up for, what, falling asleep? Oh, he’d make Leonardo eat dirt later. No. Perhaps he’d amplify their dad’s snoring and make Leonardo suffer.

“We should get him to the lair,” Raph stated softly, bringing Donnie back from his thoughts. “He should get those treated,” he didn’t point at anything in particular, but by following his eyes, Donnie guessed it’s about the scratches on Leonardo’s face. Right, Donnie almost smiled, his twin was the faceman and cared about his looks.

“Yes, of course. Raphael, carry him. Please,” Donnie looked down at his brother’s face. It was calm. So very calm. “We’ll have to clean the bite before it gets actually infected… like I’d warned all of you and he, of course, didn’t listen,” he rambled as he allowed Raph to scoop the slider into his big arms. Donnie huffed as he stood up and pulled on Mikey’s arm to make him come along.

They came in disguises, but carrying an unconscious being seemed rather suspicious so they chose the sewers instead. Normally, neither would really complain, but now Donatello huffed about every drop that fell from the ceiling – because he’d hate it if his work was harder if his dumb twin’s wounds got infected. He pestered Raph to go faster and Mikey to stop splashing, as if that had any impact on Leonardo. Mikey didn’t make much of it as he could read his brother’s worry for the slider’s safety. Mikey wondered how Donatello could be so rough while at the same time showing so much concern for their brother. Not that Mikey would ask. Raph seemed to be thinking the same as the red and orange themed turtles exchanged looks after another of Donnie’s ‘be careful what’s falling from the ceiling. I hate those gross germs and bacteria.’

~*~

Their father, usually asleep in the living room watching TV, caught their quiet and distressed chatter as they entered the lair with a remotely annoyed “Get him to the med bay right now and don’t bump his head on the doorway!” aimed at the snapper, probably, based on the gruff that followed. The rat furrowed his brows, slid off his beloved armchair and followed the hushed voices. His concern deepened when he heard his youngest son’s whimper. Still, without revealing his presence, the father peeked inside the med bay, allowing himself a silent gasp at the scene.

One of his sons was placed on the bed, blood coloured the white sheets within a blink of an eye. The one on the bed, his Baby Blue, wasn’t showing any signs of being conscious. The otherwise lively, loud and cheerful son was now lying there, barely breathing. His three brothers were around the bed, two were worried sick while the third one showed signs of irritation. Splinter wasn’t sure who the emotion was targeted at, nor did he want to guess, really.

“He’s– He’s gonna be okay, right, Donnie?” Mikey whispered, his hand placed over Leonardo’s bloodied one.

“The moron’s just sleeping,” Donnie clicked his tongue, slapping Michelangelo’s hand away, not too roughly, in order to clean and disinfect the bite. “Raph, don’t just stand there, bring me the needle and thread, he needs stitches. Sterilise those before you give them to me. Also I’ll need a needle driver, tissue forceps and scissors as well,” the softshell ordered around. The snapper didn’t waste a second as he ran to grab the necessary items.

“Wh-What about–,” Mikey had to pause, choking on a small sob, now that the adrenaline wore off and the feeling of victory subsided, Mikey got a good look at the slider’s wounds and his stomach did a flip. He wanted to hug his older brother, and wanted to protect him, but the slider needed medical treatment first and foremost. “T-to kill the pain, d-dull the pain,” he finally said.

“Anaesthesia.” Donnie provided as he fetched a bowl of water and a couple of gauze pads. “No,” the purple themed turtle cracked a smile. “He’ll be fine,” he said nonchalantly and the smile was gone. No, no, he didn’t want Leonardo in pain, he just wanted to have him awake – complaining, or guiding him while Don was tending to Leo’s wounds. Any reaction at all seemed worthy of the excruciating pain, right? Donnie promised himself he’d give Leo some pain relievers right after the slider woke up.

Mikey didn’t like that response, but he was no doctor. Leo was, to some degree, and Donnie knew some things. Mikey, however, couldn’t really imagine poking someone’s raw wounds with a needle, or anything really. The youngest glanced at Raphael who came back with the requested supplies and placed them on the little table next to the bed.

“Do you want me to stay?” Raph asked, looking for signs of discomfort in the softshell’s face. There was hesitation, then a nod. “I’ll do whatever you tell me, then,” the snapper promised and grabbed a clean gauze pad to join Donnie in cleaning Leo’s wounds. The box turtle sat down on the chair next to Leo’s bed and reached for the sleeping brother’s good hand. “He’ll wake up soon,” Raph noticed the puppy eyes the youngest turtle was giving Leonardo. And so silence fell upon the three.

“I’d like an explanation, my sons,” Splinter startled the trio as he revealed himself and marched over to his sons. Enough of just watching the show, his son was just lying there, how could he ignore this any longer.

“Dad!” Mikey hurried to pull his father into a bone-crushing hug. “Leon and Donnie were– And a call–! And Raph and I–” the box turtle started sobbing into his father’s fur. The rat cringed at the wetness, but he hugged his son close.

“He’s just asleep, he’ll wake up now,” Donnie said defensively, even if Splinter’s attention was on the box turtle.

“There, there, Orange,” he rubbed circles on the youngest’s shell, his eyes landing on the snapping turtle that was just shooed away from Leonardo’s shin as Donatello went to prepare himself (and Leo) to stitch the cuts back together. Raph looked at Donnie’s skilled hands and his nose twitched at the smell of blood and alcohol-based disinfection, now more prominent when he wasn’t busy doing something. “Raphael?” the rat inquired. Everyone knew that things were really serious if Splinter used their given names.

Raph pinched the space between his eyes and he turned to face his father. Quietly, as if his rough voice could mess up with Donnie’s handiwork, he started to describe the whole situation, or what he knew of it, in the deepest detail so their father knew. Maybe, Raph hoped, the rat could come up with some ideas. Maybe. Hopefully.

Donnie tuned out his brother, listening to classical music in his headphones, and when he thought he was ready, he patted his unconscious twin’s knee. “Here we go, Nardo. You better wake up now,” the softshell practically wished that would be the case as he attempted to stab his brother with the needle near the cut. No reaction from the slider. Donnie worried his lip between his teeth. “Any time now, then. No need to hurry,” he tried to say casually. Again, it was more to himself or the slider than the rest of his family. He felt his hands were shaking, more so as he progressed and stitched each of the nasty cuts. It had to be painful, Donnie thought somberly, it had to be a terrible experience without  anaesthesia, so where was any kind of reaction from his brother. It was scary. Donnie was scared.

“D-Draxum g-gave me a pocket d-dimension to catch the– the mutant,” Mikey’s voice was quiet after Raph was done explaining the details. Mikey rubbed his puffy eyes, drained of all tears. “We captured it, I– Would Barry be able to help Leon?” he asked softly. “He wanted the ball back, anyways,” the addition was unnecessary, everyone knew the mad scientist never forgot if anyone borrowed anything from him, but Splinter appreciated it nonetheless.

“Perhaps,” the rat nodded, already considering the option. So Draxum had helped them, in a way, by managing the oozesquitoes and then again by lending them the mystic pocket dimension. He’d have to thank the yokai later. Splinter patted Mikey’s cheek and freed himself from the tight hug. Rather gracefully, not to disturb the sleeping son, he jumped on the bed beside Leo’s head. He observed as Donatello treated each wound with utmost care. The softshell caught Splinter’s gaze, eyes wet with unshed tears. “You’re doing fantastic, Purple,” Splinter nodded and offered a smile. Donnie didn’t find the strength in himself to return the warm gesture and instead he looked back down at the slider’s face and finished the last stitch. Splinter saw the distress written all over the softshell’s face. His twin – someone Donatello had spent most of his life with, shared secrets with, trusted the most, was now lying on the bed, barely breathing.

“He’s just asleep,” Donnie repeated once more. “He… He’s going to wake up soon. He was exhausted,” the turtle explained as if that was the only correct way to interpret the whole situation. “Don’t give me those looks,” he felt offended by the troubled expressions he saw on his brothers' faces, he hated the pity he received. Donnie wasn’t the one lying in the bed, covered in his own blood. Donnie was alright. Leo, however– Leo was— He couldn’t bear it any longer. This was too much. He excused himself, practically running out of the med bay. “I have to go.”

Raph let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He looked down at Leo’s unmoving form and watched as Splinter caressed the sleeping turtle’s calm face, careful to avoid the fresh stitches. His dad looked collected, but even Raph noticed the tenseness of the man’s shoulders. He listened to the rat’s soft words aimed at the slider: “You’ll be fine, Baby Blue, I’m sure of it. You’re a strong one, my son.”

“Should we… let April know?” he wondered out loud, more to distract his brother and father. Mikey perked up at the mention of his sister. That was a good call, then. Raph turned to face the little turtle. “I’m sure she’s curious about how we dealt with the Sloth… she only saw him while he was still asleep,” Raph nudged the box turtle. A little smile was all he could as for at the moment.

Mikey grabbed his phone and stumbled out of the med bay, already dialling April’s number to get April on the track with all the events. He planned to invite her over and tell her all about it, while in the safety of blankets and a hot chocolate in hand. If his voice was wavering while calling April, the girl didn’t mention it. But she did agree to be there as soon as possible.

That left the rat and two turtles in the med bay. Splinter still had a hand on Leonardo’s good cheek. “Go, Raphael. Be with Orange,” Splinter suggested. “I’ll look after Blue for a while. Get some rest, you fought well, you did well protecting your family,” he assured his son who hesitated. He watched as his son opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Then Raph opened his mouth again, letting out a quiet thanks. Splinter only nodded and Raph left the med bay slowly. The door closed behind him, leaving just Leo and his dad there.

Alone at last, Splinter huffed in frustration and moved to sit on the chair next to the bed. He reached for his son’s good hand and squeezed it. He would be there for Leonardo, he promised himself. He wouldn’t leave now. Splinter rubbed the back of Leo’s hand in self-assurance. Oh, his poor Baby Blue. He noticed how tired his son was during the previous days, but decided against commenting on it. Maybe he should have. Maybe he should’ve stopped Leo from leaving in that state. “I am so sorry, child.”

~*~

April arrived barely an hour after her call with Michelangelo was over. She was catching her breath, gripping her chest in a dramatic way to convey how much she rushed to get there. Both Mikey and the girl threw excuses at the other the moment they saw each other.

“I’m sorry I took so long to get here!”

“No, no! I am sorry for calling in such a hurry–” the girl grabbed Mikey’s arms and pulled him into a tight hug and the poor box turtle melted into the hug and whimpered, the worry for his older brother overwhelmed him once more. “Shhh, it’s okay, Mikey. I’m here. Leo’s going to be fine, he’s a strong dude, remember? He’s gonna be alright in no time,” April cooed, rubbing comforting circles in the boy’s shell. She moved the crying turtle over to the couch and plopped down on it with the turtle curled up around her. “Here, Mikey, tell me about the fight. How cool was it? What did I miss?” she let the box turtle tighten the hug and then watched him pull away just barely enough to allow himself to look at her worried face. Poor brother, still crying. She let him talk at his own speed. She didn’t disturb him, didn’t question anything. April knew she could prolong the conversation by asking additional things after the box turtle let it all out at his own pace. So, the girl sat there, her little brother in her arms, and listened to him retell how the fight went. She would chirp in now and there: “Oh my god, that’s so cool,” or “You did that!” which earned her a delicate nod.

“–and now we’re here, with Leo just… sleeping… I– Donnie thinks he’ll wake up soon, of course,” the turtle finished his story and looked at April’s face. There was a small frown, which was quickly replaced by a tiny, yet unsure, smile. “He will… wake up soon, right, April?” he begged her to lie just to give him some comfort. Deep down, she couldn’t know, but on the outside, she complied and agreed. Yes, Leo would wake up soon. Yes, their brother was just sleeping.

Raph joined them during Mikey’s explanation. The big guy sat next to April quietly as he listened, sad that both of their versions matched while they described the brutality their blue brother went through. April gave him a side glance to which Raph allowed himself to hum in grave agreement. “I didn’t know… and not to mention…” Raph trailed off and frowned.

“Neither of us could’ve known it’d turn out like that… I… also noticed how tired Leo was, but didn’t do… anything about it,” April admitted, remembering the unusual clinginess of the slider and how he faltered when she pulled away from the hug,  and she reached out to place her delicate hand on top of Raphael’s big one. “We couldn’t have known any better,” she reassured, rubbing up and down the giant’s forearm.”And now that you caught me up with the events,” she wondered out loud, “what even happened to the pocket dimension?”

Mikey felt two sets of eyes on him. “I texted Barry to come pick it up… and… maybe he’d tell us a thing or two…” he explained. “He’ll be here soon.” The lack of reaction made him doubt everything. “He will help us, help Leo…”

The trio cuddled together on the couch, Raph had his strong arms wrapped around the smaller duo as if nothing. It was that kind of hug that made everyone feel safe and protected, the hug that helped them calm down. Very quickly, this whole predicament turned into a waiting game.

~*~

Donatello ran away. He left when his twin needed him the most, left without even looking back – he ran, like a coward, when more than one bad scenario crossed his mind. He escaped, because he couldn’t handle the pitying stares he was getting from his family. His head was throbbing and he felt wet tears stain his purple mask. Didn’t he wipe his eyes just a second ago? Why all the fluid? He had no reason to be crying. His brother was—

Leonardo was just sleeping. He’d wake up soon. There was nothing Donatello should be worried about, not after the perfect medical care he provided to his stupid twin.

“That’s right, it’s the idiot’s fault,” he concluded, slamming a fist against his table in blind and sudden rage. “Stupid fool should’ve slept when everyone told him to– When I told him to! Why should I care?” he frowned and grabbed the nearest tools to tinker with a newly acquired pure sample of neodymium; it was just a coincidence that Leo brought him this piece of chemical element a few days ago (slightly useless for Donnie’s purposes, but anyways). Donnie suspected Leo stole it on the Hidden City’s black market, as there was no way the slider could obtain it naturally in metallic form or unmixed with other lanthanides. The metal cracked and Donatello just sighed in frustration. Maybe it wasn’t his day to mess around with rare-earth metals.

Donnie considered checking on Leo later again, when he was sure others weren’t around. The softshell had a bad boy persona to maintain and he didn’t plan to let it get ruined by his… worry… for the red-eared slider that was currently bedridden in the med bay. No way. No way. With a spark of brilliance, Donnie remembered he had surveillance cameras all over the lair. He set aside all his tools and turned to his main computer. He skipped through a few applications, pausing at one that was meant to monitor his brothers’ vitals. All seemed to be normal. Why did that feel like a lie? And, aha, there was the icon for his recorded footage of anything that had ever happened in the lair. And, yes, that’s the med bay’s folder and here’s the live recording.

Donatello clicked on the live camera option, opening a new window with a video and sound. He slouched in his chair as he watched quietly. His brother was still out of it and their father was crying quietly. The softshell turned up the volume to understand the rat’s mumblings. The turtle wanted to turn it off, but he couldn’t. He needed to hear their father’s reassuring words to the unconscious slider. Donnie wanted Leo to be reassured that they were doing what they could to bring him back– to wake him up. That’s what it was. To wake him up, because Donatello refused to accept any other possibility.

Donnie couldn’t tell how much time had passed since he started watching the screen, but he was startled when Baron Draxum, the sheep yokai, appeared out of nowhere in yet another puff of purple smoke and marched over to the bed with Leo in it. Eyes wide and glued to the screen, Donatello watched every of the yokai’s movements. By the slow rise of Splinter’s head, Donnie assumed their father wasn’t surprised. Sitting back in his chair, Donatello listened and watched.

Draxum clicked his tongue and picked up a small vial on the table next to the bed, Donnie’s bad for leaving it there, and smirked. “This ought to do,” the yokai pressed his other hand to Leonardo’s neck, as if simply checking the pulse, but by Splinter’s wince, that wasn’t the case. He moved the glass vial closer to the slider’s neck and to Splinter and Donatello’s horror, the vial filled with red liquid.

“Draxum!” the rat hissed with a frown, swatting the yokai’s hands away in a haste, and rather roughly. “What do you think you’re doing! He’s been bleeding until a while ago! He must’ve lost a lot of blood! Don’t you see all the bloodied sheets!” Splinter growled, one of his hands on his son’s shoulder, the other clasped over the tiny wound on the slider’s neck. “You crazy fool–!”

“I need fresh blood to make proper tests on it,” the yokai dismissed Donatello’s father with a wave of a hand. He twirled with the vial slightly, the crimson red stained the walls of the glass container. “I’m going to talk with Michelangelo now. I hope he still has my pocket dimension, since he was the one to beg me to come. I’d like it back, with the captured mutant included.”

The rat grumbled and checked his son’s neck – it didn’t bleed at all, thankfully – before he turned to look at the yokai. “Presumably. Don’t you do anything funny, I’m warning you.”

Draxum smiled. “You wound me, rat,” but there was no bite in his voice. He turned on his heels, about to leave the med bay, but some thought seemed to stop him. With his creepy ways, he looked straight at the camera that Donnie was using, causing a shiver to run down the softshell’s back at the possibility of being discovered. “I’m not doing this for… any sort of sick research about my dear mutations, just so you know. I am simply curious, and inclined to help. From what I see so far… this might be a little more complicated than any of you are willing to admit,” the sheep man said. Donnie genuinely couldn’t figure out if it was directed at him, or at his dad. What did Draxum mean by that? How could it be more complicated? Leonardo just needed to sleep it off!

“I hear you, Draxum. But my sons come first, I’ll hunt you down if you hurt him.” Splinter was dead serious as he stared at the back of the yokai’s head. He refused to move away from the sleeping turtle.

“As if you didn’t know where I live. Either way. Thanks for the sample,” Draxum laughed, Donnie tried to pick apart the tone of his voice and the laughter. He tried to detect any ill intention, but, with sheer miracle, there was none. The yokai resumed walking, leaving the med bay.

The short exchange was confusing to Donatello as it was to Splinter himself. The rat remained seated beside Leonardo’s head with a small frown on his furry face, eyes followed the yokai until he disappeared and then Splinter rolled his eyes. “Unbelievable,” he huffed. “He better help you, Blue, or I swear I will shave all of his hair off.”

Donnie clicked his tongue and switched the cameras. He followed Draxum’s path and sure enough he found himself watching the live recording of the living room where his other two brothers were, April included. He watched with slight interest as the yokai closed the distance and positioned himself in front of the couch to have a good look at the trio. Raphael frowned lightly and sat up more properly, his hold on his siblings didn’t cease. April’s lips were pressed into a thin line, but she refused to talk first. Donnie admitted he was glad she didn’t speak. Mikey, however, was eager to get away from Raph’s hold. He stood up quickly and looked at the yokai with high expectations.

“Barry! You’re here! Can you help Leo? You can, right? Ohmigosh!” Mikey bounced on the balls of his feet and pulled out the pocket dimension. “Are you here for this?” he questioned the obvious and already placed the orb on the sheep man’s extended hand.

“What’s that?” Raph frowned as he noticed the vial in Draxum’s hand. The smile that followed wasn’t a pleasant one.

“Your ‘sleeping’ brother’s blood. For the required tests,” Draxum said, paying extra attention to the word sleeping, as if that was the biggest lie of their lives. “I shall let you know of the results soon,” he hummed.

“He’s going to be okay, right?” April chimed in, frowning just like Raph. “You’re… actually going to help?”

Draxum’s eyes scanned the girl head to toe, unimpressed. “Human, I am not going to let one of my greatest creations go to waste because of some mediocre mutant.”

“Don’t say it like that, Draxum!” Mikey huffed, the worry written all over his face, and Draxum found himself softening. He put the vial and the orb in his pockets as he reached to pat the youngest turtle on his head. It was a surprisingly gentle gesture, but then again, Mikey was the yokai’s favourite, no questions asked.

“As I told the rat,” Draxum started, his hand still on top of the box turtle’s head. “I will do a few tests to determine what is going on with the annoying one. I will let you know the moment I get anything useful,” and there it was again, the look at the cameras as if the yokai knew about Donnie’s spectating. Another shiver ran down the softshell’s back, this time more intense. “I hope you’re right about him just sleeping, but I will know more when I am done. As you recall, the oozesquitoes, as you so inelegantly call them, were in a similar state when you opened the Pavilion door, remember?” he paused, examining the trio’s facial expressions. He could see the shock in their faces, perhaps he wondered what face Donatello, the genius, was making. “Good bye for now, younglings,” the yokai thought to say just as the trio started a debate between themselves.

Donatello found himself shifting uncomfortably on his chair, his eyes followed the sheep yokai as he left without saying another word. He didn’t even pause when Michelangelo called out to him, asking about how long it was going to take him to do his experiments.

For a little longer, Donatello stalked his two brothers and sister as they exchanged looks. Raph sighed and shrugged, obviously lacking patience with the yokai. April seemed to be on the same boat as the snapping turtle and she shook her head, arms crossing over her chest and she lacked words to describe whatever just happened, or, to be exact, she lacked polite words. Donatello would rather sympathise with the two, he couldn’t understand the slight joy that radiated from the youngest turtle. Mikey smiled at his two siblings, his tail wagging enough to be noticeable. He was being hopeful, the others recognised the shine in the box turtle’s eyes. “It’ll be fine, you’ll see. Draxum will come up with something!”

Donnie noted the awfully quick shift in Michelangelo’s mood, unsure if it was a good shift or not. The little turtle seemed against the experiments at first, he was quite wary of them, then he bent under the promise of helping Leo and the thought alone made Mikey beam with hope. In a twisted way, since Donnie himself felt unable of such trust towards Draxum and he was still set on his ‘Leo is just asleep’ theory, he categorised Mikey’s behaviour as brave.

Sighing loudly, there was a set of mouse clicks and the view changed, displaying the med bay back on the genius’ screen. Scrolling, the camera zoomed in on the patient in bed. There was nothing that could be done at the moment, so Donatello left his screen as it was and turned away from it to continue with his tinkering on his sample of neodymium.

~*~

It’d been a couple of hours since they came back to the lair and Draxum left with Leo’s blood sample and his mini pocket dimension orb. Mikey, Raph and April took turns to visit Leo and their dad in the med bay. They always stayed there for a while to talk with Splinter, to hold Leo’s hand tightly, to try and reassure both the sleeping turtle and themselves that everything was going to be alright soon. The rat nodded softly along with them.

When April visited, she kissed Leo’s forehead and threatened to find him a pretty yokai girlfriend if he didn’t wake up soon, Donatello just glanced up at his screen when that happened, a tiny smile creeped on his lips as he imagined Leo would cringe and whine that she was ruining his gay vibes, but then his smile dropped when there was no such reaction. He’d visit his twin later, ideally when there’s no one else around. After dinner, maybe. Speaking of which, his phone announced a message from none other than Chief Michelangelo himself. So it’s already dinner time? That was… fast. Too fast. So much time had passed, yet Leonardo was still asleep. Feeling stiff, Donatello kept his screen as it was, giving it one last glance as Splinter also left the med bay to join his sons for dinner.

The kitchen, most of the time loud and full of laughter, was for once rather quiet when Donnie entered. He nodded at his family and sat on his designated chair, glancing at the empty spot next to himself that belonged to Leonardo. “No jokes tonight, huh,” Donnie muttered, trying to sound indifferent or even happy about the change.

“Have you visited Leo yet?” Raph asked softly instead of reacting to Donnie’s jab, he watched as the softshell squirmed in his seat. “We should take turns to watch over him anyways. You’ve been there for a long time, you should get some rest, dad,” the snapper placed a hand on their dad’s shoulder. Splinter tried to argue, but Raphael’s grip tightened and the old man resigned. It is hard to leave your child alone when you know they’re not doing well.

“I’ll watch him overnight, then,” Donatello blinked, jumping at the opportunity of looking after Leo during the night, being able to keep him in check, and be the first to scold him when he finally wakes up. It wasn’t as if he’d be sleeping anyways. If not by Leo’s side, he’d just tinker the night away. This was just a convenient option.

“Maybe we should do it in pairs?” Mikey suggested softly, placing plates of delicious food on the table. He frowned when Donnie stabbed his perfect breakfast with a fork and completely ruined the composition.

“You’d fall asleep anyways, and Raph had done enough for today, so did pops,” Donnie argued lightheartedly. “Plus, neither of you really manage to stay up all night…” he shrugged. Maybe he sounded as if he was accusing others of their proper sleep schedules. That’s okay, they knew he didn’t mean it in a bad way.

“The shifts wouldn’t be that long, Dee,” Raph chuckled, but there was a soft smile tugging at his lips as he saw through Donnie’s schemes. He watched with slight amusement at the way Donnie’s shoulders dropped. “It’s fine, you’re right. You’re most fit to watch over Leonardo at night… I can always check up on you as well,” Raph hummed, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Or I. I don’t have to worry about school tomorrow since I don’t have classes this Friday, and then there’s the weekend,” April joined in, happy when the turtles with red and purple masks nodded and seemed to like the idea.

They didn’t get the chance to talk about it any longer because Mikey scolded them that his perfectly good food was getting cold and so losing its deliciousness. April apologised and was the first one to taste it, trying to compliment the chief on his masterpiece. They continued to eat in silence, but everyone  glanced at the empty spot next to Donnie every now and then. Counting silently, Donnie found out he had looked at the unoccupied chair the most.

They said their goodnights. Mikey and Raph decided to stay in the living room with Splinter to watch one or two Lou Jitsu movies to lighten their sour moods. Maybe some turtle cuddle pile would happen as Mikey requested it with his ‘secret technique of puppy eyes’. April and Donnie went back to the med bay. Donnie suggested to April to get a blanket from his room to keep herself warm on the way. As she patted his arm in thanks, she turned to make a quick stop in his room. Donnie didn’t wait for her and he picked up speed as he nearly ran towards the med bay.What if his twin woke up? Leo was a baby; either he’d complain or try to get out of the bed. Both options were welcome and dreaded at the same time.

“What are the chances,” Donatello laughed at himself quietly, feeling silly as he got his hopes up, and pushed the door open. His eyes landed on the patient immediately and Donnie swallowed the disappointment that stung in his chest. “Of course, you would do this, Nardo,” the softshell sighed with a roll of his eyes and approached the bed. He checked the slider’s vitals and then leant over every of the stitched cuts to examine them as well. “See? I did a perfect job. You should be thanking me, call me a god, for there won’t be a single scar on your dumb face after it’s healed,” Donnie muttered as he pinched Leo’s good cheek. Normally, Leo wouldn’t let Donnie anywhere near his face, even going as far as drawing his sword and disappearing in a portal. Even if Donatello found that annoying (he only wanted to check Leo’s teeth that one time, and didn’t even stick a straw in the twin’s nose since they were like… five).

“Aren’t you a touchy one,” April chuckled behind Donnie and Donatello nearly jumped out of his shell, if it was biologically possible, and proceeded to slap Leon’s shoulder, which made April snort with amusement. Oh, dear brother.

“I’m just checking the wounds… and trying to see if he'd wake up,” Donatello looked elsewhere, finding the turtle body diagram on the wall far too interesting.

“I’m sure you are,” April smiled softly. She joined the softshell next to the bed and placed a hand over Leo’s biceps. “He’ll be okay, you’ll see. You said it yourself, he’s just sleeping,” she comforted the softshell, earning a small huff in return. At least he was listening, instead of spiralling into possible scenarios. “And when he wakes up… we’ll be there for him,” April squeezed the slider’s arm shortly, then proceeded to rub up and down his arm. Donnie supposed she was doing that to affirm her words, he’d like to believe her – and himself.

The softshell huffed with faked amusement. “I know that. He’s my twin, of course he’s gonna be fine,” he watched as April sat in the chair, wrapped in his purple blanket, probably comfortable enough. He smiled, more genuinely, as she still reached to hold Leo’s hand – similarly as Mikey and their dad did before to ‘be there for Leo’. Staring long enough, he said: “Just keep a watch, I’ll be over there,” he simply pointed at the station, a big table with shelves and whatnot, where they kept all the medical equipment. Well, no, Donnie corrected himself, it was where Leo kept all the medical things and books. There was a nod from the girl and the turtle shuffled over to the table.

Donnie didn’t have time to look at this properly before, when he was about to stitch his twin’s wounds back together, but now he noticed the number of health-related books opened on the table, sticky notes here and there, Leo’s illegible writing all over the pages. Donnie suppressed a snort at the ridiculous curves and questionable symbols as he flipped through a couple of papers. Leo was diligent when it came to learning all about medicine that he could, Donatello remembered well how Leo begged their dad to get him one particular publication regarding eye problems; ophthalmology. Why? Simply because Donnie was as blind as a mole when he was younger and Leonardo was curious. Donnie smiled fondly at the memory. Glasses fixed it for a while, then contact lenses, then a secret surgery in the Hidden City.

From the corner of his eye, he saw April rest her head on the edge of the bed while she still held his brother’s hand tightly. She had to be tired. Maybe Donnie should send her off to get some sleep. Or, maybe rather not. It might be better to wait for her to fall asleep and then carry her to the living room? That way she wouldn’t argue back that the softshell shouldn’t be watching over Leo alone. Scoff, he could take care of that sleeping dumb-dumb.

His attention returned to the papers on the desk, his hands restless, just picking up things and putting them where he thought they belonged. Maybe he shouldn’t be re-organising Leo’s chaos. But that was a problem for the future Donnie. There was an abrupt stop to his actions when he lifted a book about sleep disorders. He read the title, getting more caught on the sticky notes that read ‘No sleep for  4   5  6 days’ a startling note for sure. Donatello was pretty sure he'd read that a human went about eleven days without sleeping, and even if Leonardo didn’t top that record, those six days were alarming enough.

Donatello glanced at his two siblings, a small relief washed over him in relation to the horrible notation. Leonardo was asleep now. He’d replenish his energy, he’d be well-rested. He’d be fine. He had to be. There was no point in dwelling on that now.  The softshell shook his head and walked back to the bed and simply sat cross-legged on the end of the bed by Leonardo’s feet. It was lucky the bed was sized for Raph so Leonardo’s relatively small form (in comparison to Raphael) didn’t take up much space on the flat furniture.

Nothing interesting he could do, other than stare at his sleeping siblings, Donatello was left with no option but to pull out his phone. He scrolled on the social apps, saving a couple of videos to show to his siblings later, when they’re awake. Social media soon bored him and Donatello considered accessing his computer via his app to continue working on his new code to improve the defence system of the lair. So that’s what he did. Writing a code on his phone was rather annoying, but it proved to be a good way to pass time.

Except not much time had passed when he thought the code was done and ready to be tested. The turtle pouted, for once he didn’t feel proud of finishing his work so quickly. Now what? His sister was snoring lightly just over there, clinging to their brother’s hand like it was a lifeline. He shuddered at the word. Donnie didn’t have it in him to carry her to the living room.

Donnie didn’t remember falling asleep.

~*~

April woke up around 6 am. It was way earlier than normally, but it was a nightmare that forced her awake. She took a few deep breaths, squeezing Leonardo’s hand– ah, it wasn’t a terrible dream, then. It had happened. April felt cold and quickly fixed the blanket around herself to bring some of the warmth back. Right after that, she went back to squeezing her brother’s weak hand. Still a little startled from the unpleasant fantasy, she glanced around to locate Donnie.

To her utter shock, the usually stoic and distant turtle was now curled next to his brother’s side, definitely on the very edge of the bed but stubbornly set to be close to his twin. She almost ‘aww’-ed out loud, barely stopping herself. It’d be awful to wake up the softshell when he finally allowed himself to rest, too.

Resting her head on the bed beside Leo’s arm again, she rubbed her thumb over the back of Leo’s hand. April couldn’t help to wonder how long it’d take for Leo to wake up, she wanted to believe Donnie’s theory that the slider was just taking a well deserved sleep. Another question that crossed her head was about Draxum. The yokai left them all with more questions than answers and April just wasn’t sure how she liked that position.

For the next hour she just remained in her spot, wondering about everything and nothing at all. She missed Leo’s jokes that would be so stupid, yet they'd never fail to make her laugh. She wanted to hear his ridiculous one-liners that sent his brothers groaning and left them with ill thoughts on how to get back at Leo. She wanted to poke fun at her brother’s utterly incoherent explanation on why the white rabbit yokai working at Señor Hueso’s was, in fact, not Leo’s crush. All of that had to wait until Leo was back in tip-top condition though.

At 7 am, April decided she’d go make breakfast to distract herself. She stood up, shook the blanket off her shoulders and then wrapped it over the sleeping softshell, still curled up next to the slider. Against her better judgement, she snapped a couple of pictures of the twins. Checking that the photos were in focus, she smiled to herself and left the med bay. She stopped by the living room, the huge pile of pillows and blankets widened her smile. Here, too, she couldn’t restrain herself from taking a picture or two. Her family was so cute, when they were asleep. She loved the family cuddle piles – such as this one, where Raph was surrounded by many pillows and everyone would just snuggle close to the snapper. Here, Mikey and Splinter were both embraced and held close by the big snapping turtle. Usually, it didn’t take her this long to get to the kitchen. Usually, she didn’t melt over how sweet her family could be.

“Okay, O’Neil, get it together,” she accused herself, pinching her cheeks. “Breakfast time it is. Breakfast!” she hyped herself up. It wasn’t everyday that she had a chance to prove her cooking skills; not because she was bad, per se, but Mikey just preferred to be the family cook.

She decided to make scrambled eggs with toast. It couldn’t go wrong. No one would get insulted by that type of breakfast, right? Yeah! She hummed as she moved around the kitchen, minding her own business to the point she didn’t realise someone had joined her in the kitchen. It wasn’t until she heard a snicker that she turned around, butter and a knife in her hands, as she stared at her youngest brother.

“Mikey! I thought you were sleeping?” she looked around, almost tossing the things she held on the counter next to her.

“My Cook senses were tingling,” the box turtle mused as he scratched his chin, a devious smile on his face. “What are you making, sister dearest?” he waltzed closer, apparently in a better mood. That was great, April smiled.

“Was thinking of simple scrambled eggs. Ya know? Nothing to go wrong with that one,” she admitted, nodding towards the pan on the stove. Mikey gave a small hum in response. “Mind filling the kettle with water?”

Mikey was already halfway towards the sink with said object in his hand and he shot her an amused look. “On it,” he sang, all in all seemingly amused by the sight of April in the kitchen.

“Oh shut it,” April mumbled, finally catching on.

“I haven’t said anything!” Mikey pretended to be offended, letting the kettle do its thing. Still, his eyes were twinkling. “Yet.”

“You’re thinking too loud,” the girl said, defeated. “So, what am I doing wrong this time?” she asked. Mikey clicked his tongue as he approached her. She eyed him warily as he started doing his kitchen magic. “I see. You’re not even gonna tell me, you’ll just mock me in silence!”

Mikey only laughed at the accusation as he started explaining that she had to do the eggs differently for each member of the family as they all had their preferences, and so it would be a waste if she continued the way she was headed. Even if it’d turn out good for him or her, Mikey reassured her with a chuckle, there would be a rat or a turtle that’d find it lacking.

Donatello didn’t make it for breakfast. April was quick to inform everyone that the softshell fell asleep and that it was for the best if they let the second-oldest rest. No one would argue with that statement. Splinter even nodded slightly, relieved that his son got some sleep after all.

They decided on checking on the twins once an hour, if anything was to change – for better or worse. Everyone tried to remain calm as they went about their day, making themselves busy by whatever activity they could find. April settled for working on her homework and Mikey would hang with her, playing a game on his phone. Raph and Splinter discussed their next steps; not that there were many options to pick from. Splinter, with a heavy heart, only hesitated to agree when Raph asked him if waiting for ex-evil-now-good Baron Draxum was their only reasonable choice. Before anyone could do anything productive, it was the evening again, and then the next morning.

Donatello joined them for today’s breakfast, but didn’t dare to ask about yesterday; partly because he felt ashamed for falling asleep like that, not to mention waking up drooling on his unconscious brother’s shoulder. It was drool, not snot and tears. Leonardo wouldn’t let him live that down, if he somehow knew, so Donnie was not going to mention it at all. Precaution.

Splinter decided to distract his children today by sending them topside to fetch some medicine they were running low on and to try and find this extremely rare Lou Jitsu merch. Donnie sent him a suspicious glare, seeing through the well-meant lie, but then the son averted his gaze and hummed to encourage his two brothers further. After all, he had cameras in the med bay and he could check Leo’s vitals at any moment. And while Don didn’t want to leave his twin’s side, he had to admit he needed a little distraction. Splinter was grateful for that.

The moment his sons left the lair, the old man went to see his fourth child, where he spent the whole day. He held his son’s hand, prayed for him to wake up, promised him all the things his little child could wish for; all a weak attempt to bring his son back.

~*~

The same routine repeated for the next couple of days and they haven’t heard from Draxum ever since, their son and brother still didn’t seem to be waking up. Everyone was growing impatient and nervous; frustration obvious. They caught Mikey crying by Leo’s bed a few hours ago and Raph, instead of comforting the youngest turtle, joined in. Donnie remained stoic, his expression unreadable as he hid his trembling lips behind the knuckles of his hand in a thoughtful manner.

The softshell spent whole nights and days by his brother’s side, checking every little detail about the slider’s vitals. He made sure the temperature in the med bay was perfect for Leo, that he provided the slider some water by any means, the sheets were clean – even if it was a hassle to change the bloodied sheets since he didn’t want to move the unresponsive turtle too much. Donatello did it all, so where was his stupid brother’s gratitude?

It was one of those moments, as he was putting Leonardo in the freshly changed bed, when he thought he heard a little pained groan from the other turtle. Donnie gasped as he pulled back quickly, his hands on Leonardo’s wrist to check the pulse the old way, his eyes focused on the slider’s face. “Leo? Nardo?” he asked softly, but there was no reaction. Damn this dumb hope. Damn Leonardo. Donatello squeezed Leo’s wrist tightly, enough to hurt. “Can you hear me? Nardo, do respond right now, or I will– I will–” his voice cracked and he lowered his head. Did he just imagine that sound?

“Wasn’t he,” Draxum replied from somewhere behind Donatello. The softshell startled and turned to face the yokai. “I’ve made some discoveries. Where’s the rat?” he only regarded the sleeping twin by a glance. “Lead me to your father, young turtle.”

“What did you find out? Tell me now!” Donatello barked back as he rubbed the back of his hands on his eyes. They stung for no reason. Draxum only clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. Donnie was almost ready to jump at the yokai and get the information out of him using violence. No, no, that would be counterproductive. “Scoff. Alright, follow me,” he hissed. He rubbed Leonardo’s shoulder as he circled around the bed and continued towards the door. Draxum was right after him, his steps loud and sent shivers down Donatello’s spine.

After receiving an urgent message from Donatello, three turtles and a rat were sitting on the couch in the living room as the sheep yokai towered over them. Raph and Donatello seemed sceptical, Mikey and Splinter had the look of hope on their faces. Raph couldn’t bring himself to ground the two, neither did Donnie, obviously. The sheep man eyed the four in front of him.

“Spill it already, sheep,” Donnie growled impatiently.

Draxum laughed. “Oh my, what a temper you have,” he cracked an ugly smile, making Donnie squeeze closer to Raph. “Anyways, as I’ve noticed, the Blue turtle still hasn’t woken up,” he started with the obvious, observing the way everyone tensed up. “And while you likely hoped there was a chance that he’d wake up naturally, the experiments said otherwise. He might never wake up–”

“What?!” Mikey screeched, Splinter clasped a hand over his own mouth in shock.

“What do you mean he might never wake up?!” Raph roared as he was about to get up, when he felt Donatello’s shivering and he stopped to keep his shaken brother close.

“–unless he’s given an antidote. And before any of you interrupt again, I am in the process of developing it, don’t fear,” Draxum raised a hand to silence them.

“W– What’s the cause of… his slumber?” Donatello asked, Draxum could almost see the wheels turning in the softshell’s head. That’s what he liked about the softshell, he was actually using his brain every now and then.

Draxum rubbed his chin in a short thought. “Actually, that’s a really good way to describe it. In a way, it’s almost answering your question, too, considering the enemy that caused this,” he nodded and crossed arms over his chest. “To put it simply, the bite carried the sloth’s saliva that had poison in it, albeit sloths generally are not venomous, the toxin in the spit is what’s causing the Blue one to be in this state. I suppose it’s not helping that he was rather lethargic before the bite even happened,” the yokai shrugged. He caught himself fascinated by the way everyone’s shoulders slumped in guilt. So they all noticed and didn’t do anything about it.

Donatello, still trembling in his big brother’s arms, let out a small desperate noise before he could form a sentence. “The– The sloth put him to sleep? Then–! What are you even doing here! Hand the sloth over! I can do experiments just as well as you, and I will come up with the antidote way faster!” he huffed, and perhaps Raph wasn’t holding him down to protect the softshell, but to protect the yokai. “You could’ve just texted this! Why waste time coming here!” the softshell continued with his angry meltdown.

Amusing as it was, the evil scientist wasn’t there to get yelled at by a kid. “Shut your mouth, turtle. I am doing what I can. I doubt you’d even get the same results as me, within the same span of time, with your repulsion towards mystic powers,” he snorted. “I brought an experimental antidote. I am not sure it’ll work to wake him up, but it’s just the first prototype and I have some guaranteed results either way.”

“He’s not a labrat!” Splinter hissed, catching Draxum’s entertained look. “No puns intended,” he felt the need to add.

“It won’t do him any harm, I assure you,” Draxum rolled his eyes, though his expression still showed that he was enjoying the situation, sadistic as that may sound. “The least it will do in any case will be to make him a little more… responsive…” he glanced back at Donatello. Ah yes, that was the right thing to say. “Right now his sleep is so deep he shows absolutely nothing on the outside, just a peacefully sleeping face. After this–” he made a show of pulling out a small vial filled with dark brown liquid, “–he should be at least a little conscious of the world around him, react to pain and such,” the yokai shrugged.

It was tempting to have Leonardo at least partially back. Draxum knew what strings to pull to get his way with the turtles. Of course, now all Donatello was thinking about was how Leonardo didn’t react to his wounds being stitched – how causing pain was Donnie’s attempt to bring Leo back, unsuccessful. Mikey was hooked on the idea of Leo being able to acknowledge their presence, somehow, and Raph– Raph wasn’t really buying this at all, but he had to hope. It was Splinter’s call to make.

Their father rubbed his chin, pulled at his grey beard, thinking over the facts he’d just heard.

“To sum it up,” Draxum thought to help. “Leonardo is asleep; he’s in a coma– so deep he has no idea what’s happening around him or to him,” he raised the vial up a little to make everyone look at it. “This might not wake him up from the coma, but it will make him more aware of the world, which I would consider a big step.”

There was silence, the brothers looked at their father, eyes wide as they waited for him to decide.

That made sense. The yokai was right, even if it didn’t wake Baby Blue up, it would still bring him back, a step closer. Splinter gave a weak nod. “Yes. Yes, let’s give him the antidote–”

“But papa!”

“–no, Donatello!” Splinter turned to his middle child, crawled over Mikey to stand on Donatello’s legs to cup his son’s cheeks. “It’s something. It’s still something, alright, my son? It’s the only thing we have right now,” he rubbed and squeezed the softshell’s face, the turtle nuzzled into the touch and let out a shaky breath. “You’re worried about your twin–”

“Not my twin,” Donnie whispered, an automatic reaction he nearly regretted.

“He’s going to be okay. Let’s give this a shot,” Splinter retreated his hands and Donnie almost chased after those warm hands to feel the comfort again. The rat jumped off his son’s lap and faced the tall yokai as if there was not a huge height difference between them. The man craned his neck just to look up at the yokai. “There. Let’s do it,” he ordered and walked in the lead towards the med bay.

They all surrounded the bed, Donnie and Draxum on each side of Leonardo’s head. Mikey was on top of Raph’s shell and Splinter in the snapper’s arms to have a good view. The yokai opened the little vial with his thumb and Donatello caught the cap effortlessly as he glared at the sheep man. Then the ex-evil scientist grabbed the slider’s chin and tilted his head back slightly, pouring the disgustingly coloured liquid into the turtle’s mouth. Donatello cringed, but didn’t look away; he stared at his brother’s throat until he saw it bob as the potion was swallowed.

Draxum could tell they all were holding their breaths, expecting immediate results. He dragged a nail across the slider’s neck and tapped the plastron. “It’ll take a bit to take effect.” He watched as Donnie swatted his hand away, the turtle’s hand resting on the slider’s plastron instead. A protective act. It also showed distrust towards the yokai. “Alright then. I shall wait in the living room until the antidote starts doing its magic,” he mused as he turned on his heel. “Come, rat. Let’s have tea and discuss this further.”

Even if the yokai only addressed the father, he was followed by the sons as well. Mikey decided to make some tea, a sweet gesture as Draxum commented on it, while Raph and Donnie stuck around their father as they all sat down on the couch and Draxum was left to sit on the beanbag. Thinking back to it, perhaps it was so they had ‘the higher ground’ and could look down on the yokai. They sat in stretched quiet until Michelangelo came with a tray, cups and a kettle on it. When each held a cup filled with the hot drink, the conversation slowly began. The words they exchanged didn’t really carry any informational value, but it helped them pass time.

Just when the topic shifted from the amount of mutants to a generic theme of how expensive the groceries were getting (Raph had slight doubts they had any financial problems, definitely not with Donnie’s clever hacking skills), Donnie’s wrist gauntlet notified of the slider’s activity. The softshell sprang to his feet, eyes glued to the little screen.

“Donnie?!” Mikey yelped, surprised by the sudden movement. The others also raised their eyes to look at the standing turtle.

“I– My app to monitor Nardo’s vitals just went off– I need to go check on him!” Donnie waved his hand in an indefinable gesture and didn’t wait for his brothers to react. Mikey wanted to follow his brother, the shake in Donnie’s voice made the youngest one uncomfortable. The purple themed turtle sensed it and turned to his little sibling. “I– sorry, Mikey– It’s nothing bad,” Donnie, to everyone’s shock, reached out and patted the box turtle’s head. “Just– an activity,” he said, almost guiltily for startling Mikey.

“What kind of activity?” Mikey pressed on, leaning into the rare physical touch he was given. Donnie’s hand paused, pinching Mikey’s cheek softly. The little squeak that left Mikey’s mouth would be a reason to laugh… in any other situation but this.

“I– Well… How do I put this? Just– a slightly different heartbeat? And breathing?” Donnie struggled to put his racing thoughts into words, and while his app provided him enough info, he wasn’t sure what exactly those meant. The signals could mean a lot of things. Leonardo could be waking up, or there could be some complications– no. No! Donnie was careful when handling Leonardo. There was zero chance of any problems, right? The slider could just be having a dream.

“Go check it out, tell us what’s up after, big guy,” Raph nodded, tempted to wave the softshell off. It was just obvious the middle child was eager to rush off. Thankful, the softshell turned on his heel and ran into the med bay. As he disappeared from their sight, Raph turned to look at Draxum. “What kind of activity?” he mumbled, either confused or simply filling up the silence.

Draxum sipped his tea, watching the snapping turtle over the rim of his cup. He lowered the cup slightly to say: “If not waking up, it could be a simple reaction to the pain he must be going through, or he might be having a dream, his fingers could twitch. I am convinced your brother made sure to get notified of the slightest movement, even breathing if it got even remotely out of the standard.”

Raph could understand that, even appreciate the extra care on Donnie’s side. “The pain you mentioned…”

“The wounds, of course. I heard there was no anaesthesia during the procedure of sewing him back together,” the yokai let out a quiet chuckle, earning a glare from everyone – especially the father. “However, since he was totally out of it during the stitching itself, he might just experience the pain in a sort of a dream. And the wounds might just be sore,” the sheep man took another sip of his drink.

“And the dreams?” Splinter inquired, already guessing the answer was going to be similar to what he just heard.

“Oh, rat. You know better than to ask. But if you feel like listening to all the troubles your, heh, son is going through– who am I to stop you? The dreams, basically, could be any of his memories. Good and bad, the usual stuff. He could very well be dreaming of when he was still an ordinary turtle, in that case that wouldn’t be much of a nightmare. On the other hand,” he paused, measuring everybody present with a clever glance, “he could be dreaming about the Kraang invasion. The– what did you call it – the Prison dimension. Doubt those are pleasant memories.”

The father let out a breath, squeezed the cup in his hands and averted his gaze. Mikey bit his lip but couldn’t think of anything to say to lighten up the mood. Raphael decided it would be suitable to change the subject to Draxum’s other experiments. Thankfully the yokai loved to share about his own exciting activities.

~*~

Donatello rushed to the med bay, crashing into the swinging doors to open them in his hurry, a small grunt escaped his lips at the impact, but it definitely didn’t make him slow down. He was by the bed in no time, hands landing beside his brother’s sleeping form. A quick glance, from head to toe,  at the slider and Donatello was able to calm his mind. He came to the conclusion that his twin was having a bad dream; nothing too bad as the breathing was back to normal by the time Don arrived.

“Hi, Nardo, it’s okay. Don’t worry,” Donatello muttered as he still checked the wounds and applied a healing balm to them. The softshell looked at the little lotion container in his hand. “I remember you bought this at the market in the Hidden City, let’s see if it’s as useful as you thought, hm?” Donnie rubbed the balm between his fingers and smelled it, surprised by the soft sweet aroma. He set it aside, wiping his hands on Leonardo’s shoulder.

There was a moment of silence as Donatello expected the slider to reply, a little jab back for the doubt on Leo’s medical expertise. None came, not a verbal one, at least. Donnie almost gasped out loud when he noticed the little twitch of Leo’s uninjured hand. The softshell brought a hand to his mouth to keep any sounds in. Oh sweet Galileo–!

“Nardo–” Donnie managed to say and then he chuckled: “You bastard. Alright.” The turtle couldn’t believe Draxum’s serum actually did something, even if it seemed dubious at first. He didn’t feel like overthinking this at the very moment; not when he caught himself filled with stupid emotions. Once again, the softshell checked over Leonardo’s wounds. “You owe me so much, brother. I spent literal days here, wasting time on you when I could be working on my fantastic experiments,” Donnie decided to say, the silence weirdly uncomfortable, the whole lair lacked the slider’s dumb remarks and jokes. When the slider’s lip twitched, Donatello reconsidered his words briskly. “No, I– It wasn’t a waste,” he apologised, his hand on Leonardo’s plastron; the rise and fall of Leo’s chest were a calming variable. “I’d do this anytime. I know you would, too.”

Donatello noticed the way Leo’s face relaxed, maybe that was a good sign.

“Mikey and Raph… they cried… when they visited you earlier…” A sudden need to confess overwhelmed the softshell. He sat down on the chair next to the bed, his hand remained placed on the slider’s plastron, but he couldn’t look at his twin. Instead, he chose to lower his head, resting it against the edge of the bed. This seemed as good a time as any, Leonardo couldn’t really judge him, and Donnie just wanted to share his heart’s pains for once. “I’m sure… you can only imagine that I didn’t cry at all,” he chuckled wetly. “It would be useless. Tears would have no purpose, logically–” Donnie stared down at his own lap, a wet drop fell on his knee, then another and one more. “Plus there’s no reason for tears anyways, I know you’re going to be fine.” There were tiny trails as the unwanted salty liquid slid off the softshell’s legs. But the turtle was still stubborn. “I only cried for you once. That time was way more serious, so you don’t deserve them now anyways–” and his voice cracked and he hiccuped.

No more words left Donatello’s mouth, but he pressed his hand against his twin’s plastron tighter and shut his own eyes, in denial about all the droplets that fell freely from his eyes, stained his purple mask, hit the skin of his legs and then fell to the floor. He tried to calm down his own breathing to match it with his twin’s peaceful one, and tried to stop the desperate sobs.

He didn’t know how long he spent slouched like that, with his head resting against the edge of the bed, his back bent uncomfortably. Apparently a while, because when he looked at his phone, the device in one hand while the other rubbed the snot from his nose (it was disgusting, Donatello cringed at himself and ran to get a paper tissue), he noticed three missed calls from Raph and over a dozen of messages from Mikey. Donnie appreciated himself for having his phone on the silent option, because the ringing would be annoying. He was also thankful his brothers let him have this moment and didn’t just rush in when they got no response the first time they tried to contact the softshell. The respect for his privacy was highly appreciated and wouldn’t go unnoticed in the future.

Based on the messages, they wanted to know about his and Leo’s well-being, and they wanted to inform him that Draxum left after the fifth cup of tea. Dad, as Donnie read the following texts from Michelangelo, was just trying to cheer the two brothers up by random stories from their childhood. Mikey and Raph hoped everything was alright and hopefully Donnie would give them an update soon. Straight to the point, Donnie liked that. There was a quick response from him: ‘Come visit Leo.’

Only a couple of minutes passed and the two turtle brothers, oldest and youngest, burst into the med bay, their dad in the snapper’s arms. They stopped by the bed, opposite of Donatello who had just enough time to make himself look decent again.

“Took you guys long enough,” Donnie chuckled weakly. Mikey shot him a stern look, but it quickly changed into a curious, concerned stare. “He’s… doing better,” the softshell answered the unspoken question. Before he could add anything else, Mikey jumped to the other side of the bed and grabbed Leonardo’s hand, squeezing it multiple times.

“Leo, you’re missing out so much,” Mikey croaked and Raph laughed at that. “We miss you. I hope you can hear me, too,” the box turtle stared at the slider’s face intently. There wasn’t much of a reaction but a long exhale from Leo. “Yeah, yeah. I don’t believe you’re tired. Just wake up already, you lazy bum. You’re missing all of my amazing cooking!” Mikey rolled his eyes, Donatello caught the slouch of Mikey’s shoulders. “You promised to teach me new tricks on skateboard, too,” the youngest insisted, at this point lifting and lowering the slider’s hand. Up and down, as if the circular motion could better interpret the orange themed turtle’s feelings.

The box turtle pulled back when Splinter touched the slider’s cheek. “Draxum is still working on the antidote, but this is still an improvement, don’t you think, my dear Baby Blue?” the father asked his quiet son. Perhaps there was a quirk of Leo’s brow ridge, easily missable. Splinter huffed out a little laugh. “I know, you don’t like him. But he’s doing what he can to help you, Blue,” the rat hummed, pleased to know his son got the message.

Raph also felt relief wash over him at the tiny gesture. He felt awkward touching his brother – not only because Leo’s hand was taken by Mikey, and pops was caressing the slider’s cheek, but because his hands felt too big and clumsy for Leo’s fragile state. He opted to simply place his hand on the bed, a resemblance of a brotherly affection. “That’s right, big guy. The sheep is helping us so you can spend time with us again.”

“Did… um, did Draxum mention anything of interest?” Donnie decided to throw the bait. Not because he was truly interested in the yokai, but to get his brothers’ attention.

Mikey, who was still moving Leo’s hand up and down, looked up at Donnie. “He said he’s going to take a few more days to try and come up with an actual antidote… We just… have to wait a while longer,” the youngest said hesitantly, knowing his older brother’s thoughts on just sitting around, doing nothing. “You know… you can just work on your projects, Don. Raph and I– we can take care of Leo, too…” the box turtle released the slider’s hand, turning to face Donatello properly. “It’s not your responsibility alone, even if you make it seem like it…”

“I don’t–”

“Well, no–? But you know what I mean,” Mikey scoffed softly, earning a pout from the softshell. “What I meant is… you need some time for yourself, Donnie. You did a lot, you barely let us here to do anything but to talk to Leo,” Mikey offered a smile as his brother walked around the bed to stand next to Raph.

“I noticed how tired he was, yet I haven’t done anything about it…” Donnie whispered.

“Neither of us,” Raph corrected the softshell. A heavy hand landed on Donnie’s back. “We all overlooked just how exhausted Leo was, but you’re not to blame yourself for it, little bro,” Raph rubbed his brother’s carapace. In the last few days, Donnie spent less time with his battle shell on. “You hear me?”

“M-hm,” Donnie only sighed, lacking the words. Raph was probably right. “So we just wait now?”

“We just wait,” Raphael nodded.

~*~

It was worse now that Mikey and Raph practically kicked him out of the med bay. They decided it was their turn to take care of Leonardo. So, all that he could do now, was to crawl back into his lab for an unspecified amount of time to ‘chill out’, as Mikey said and flicked Donnie on the forehead. On any other occasion Donnie would be nearly thrilled to be left alone. Now? He’d prefer one specific slider’s snarky comments and quirks.

Not allowed in the med bay, unless it was to ‘Hi!’ to Leo, or the person who was just tending to the slider, Donatello only stalked the restricted room via his camera system. He’d get a disapproving look now and there, Raph and Mikey just somehow knew when the softshell was using the cameras, though he didn’t let that discourage him from stalking some more.

And with that being said, they were in for another waiting game. This time it took longer. It was agonising at this point; Splinter started to worry about Leonardo dying from starvation, even if the turtle brothers reassured him that they managed to make sure the slider got fluids, nutrients, and any medicines needed to keep his body as healthy as possible. It was a little tough as they used a tube inserted in a vein or a feeding tube that brought it directly to the stomach. Mikey couldn’t do the vein approach, Donatello felt sick if he saw the feeding tube. Often, it was left to Raph, who lied and said he didn’t mind.

Each day, they’d talk to Leonardo, getting the smallest of reactions in the form of a twitch of a hand, or an illusion of a smile – or a frown. It didn’t feel right.

Similarly to previous experiences, Donatello was sitting by Leo’s bed, feeling as drained as ever and more tired than he’d ever felt, when he got an urgent message from Raph: ‘Living room. Now. Draxum.’ Donnie let out a noise of anxiety as he squeezed Leonardo’s hand for the last time and then ran towards the living area.

The living room was already filled with shouting voices, one belonged to Mikey and the other to Splinter, the two were yelling at Draxum to give the medicine to Leonardo as soon as possible. They sounded so hopeless. The yokai didn’t even try to calm them down, enjoying the attention. Raph stood with arms folded over his chest, glaring at the yokai. The snapper noticed first when Donatello approached.

“Just in time,” he grumbled, not bothering to hide the annoyance he felt. Donatello only nodded.

“So then!” Draxum rubbed his hands together. “I’m so glad all of you made the time of the day to witness a true miracle, the peak of mystic alchemy, my genius and–”

“We get it, Barry! Please just help Leo!” Mikey interrupted with an urgent tilt to his voice.

“–right,” the yokai cleared his throat. Donatello had to roll his eyes at that. “I do, indeed, have the antidote, I am sure of it, it’s tested.” the sheep man claimed proudly. This time, he pulled a little pill from his sleeve. “See? It should take effect in no time.”

“What do you mean you tested it?” Donnie asked, curiosity getting the better of him, even if he wanted to disregard it as unimportant – as long as Leo was going to be okay. Yet, he was true to his intelligence and so he motioned to Draxum to explain.

“So glad you’re asking,” the scientist snickered, none of the present Hamato members liked the sound. “I managed to bribe a mutant to be my test subject for the sloth’s saliva and my antidote. The mutant in question, however, begged to stay anonymous and who am I to break that promise?” he glanced at the turtles but they didn’t seem interested anyways. “Ehm, as I was saying, this should wake up the Blue one in a very short amount of time.”

“Then… What are we waiting for? Why didn’t you drag them into the med bay right away? Why’d I have to come?” Donatello gritted through his teeth, the feeling of time being wasted was once again occupying his mind. Raph was surprised the softshell wasn’t screaming already.

“I just like to drag you to places,” Draxum guessed, ironically. “No, actually, there was a good reason. I simply wanted to warn you, before I – or you, should you want to – give him the antidote.” There was silence and Draxum knew they waited for him to continue. “There might be a side effect or two,” he licked his lips, expecting one or two of them to lash out at him.

“What side effects are you talking about?” Splinter sighed, tired of the drama Draxum was creating. “And stop dragging it out, you fool! I want my son back!”

The yokai chuckled quietly at the last comment. Maybe he’d make it up to the rat by inviting him to the Hidden City someday. Perhaps. “I found out there might be… some memory issues. I am not sure what’s the cause of that, I suspect one of the ingredients I used, because they’re used in memory-related potions, too, in Witch Town,” he said, noting the grimace on the Purple one’s face. “The other thing I discovered was a lasting nausea… it’d last about… a few good hours. I think those are rather… unimportant, as long as the Blue turtle wakes up, am I right?”

Well, Donatello was positively fuming. What a clown! What a fraud! This was ridiculous! What kind of side effects were those?! And was there really guaranteed that his twin would wake up? Preposterous! “You son of a–!”

“Donatello!” Splinter stopped his son by a slap to the turtle’s leg, the softshell grunted in pain at that. “A memory loss? How serious?” the rat asked, worry present in his voice.

“My test subject experiences long-term memory loss.”

Donnie held his breath, unable to form a coherent thought. Mikey and Raph exchanged nervous looks. The father watched his sons’ reactions, but that didn’t change that he was determined to allow the ex-evil genius to give the pill to his fourth son. “Alright. Let’s go. I cannot wait any longer to have my Baby Blue back,” he decided and smacked Donnie’s leg one more time to get him going. The softshell yelped once more and glared down at his father half-heartedly, but he moved.

All of them walked to the med bay, Draxum felt the need to explain the complicated process he had to go through to achieve this perfect antidote. Donatello wanted to snark and laugh, having his own opinion about the matter, but Splinter’s tail seemed to always reach and slap the most sensitive part of Donatello’s leg; the softshell was confident there would be a few bruises left. Mikey and Raph nodded along, not knowing much about the mentioned procedures and ingredients. They had a silent agreement to ask Leo, the medic of their family, later.

Surrounding the bed, not differently from the last time that Draxum was there with them, the yokai looked at the softshell. A glint in his eye as he said: “Do you want to give him the antidote? Or should I? I do feel obligated to remind you of the possible memory loss and nausea.” It felt like a challenge, one that Donnie should refuse.

“Yes. Give it to me, I don’t trust you near him,” Donnie huffed as he offered his hand, palm up, for the yokai to drop the little ‘miracle’ into his hand. “Just so you know, I will obliterate you if this hurts him,” he warned, venom seeping from his voice.

The yokai simply laughed as he let the pill fall into the turtle’s hand. “Indeed. Be my guest.”

Donatello shook his head disapprovingly. He glanced at his father, seeking reassurance. Splinter gave a curt nod. “Alright, here we go. Alright. It’s all good,” the softshell whispered, feeling everyone’s staring at him. He took a deep breath and held it as he inched closer to his sleeping twin. He held Leo’s chin and opened his mouth, dropping the pill in. Then he pressed the slider’s mouth closed again and rubbed the throat until Leo swallowed the medicine.

Okay. Moment of truth. It’s going to be okay– Nothing could go wrong. Nothing–

Seconds passed, but there was no movement from Leo. The softshell was ready to leap over the bed and his twin to maul the smiling, overconfident, yokai. Just as he put his hands on the bed to push himself over it, there was a sharp inhale. Immediately, all eyes were focused on the slider. The hand that Mikey was squeezing suddenly returned the pressure and Michelangelo squealed in joy. Almost everyone let out excited shouts.

“Leo!” the box turtle cried out. “You’re awake! Ohmigosh!” he chirped happily, holding onto the slider’s hand as if his life depended on it. Raph, sharing the same enthusiasm, dared to place a big hand on Leo’s knee, smiling.

There was a quiet grumble from the slider and Splinter shushed everyone as he cupped his son’s face. “My baby–” he whispered. He watched with anticipation as the slider’s eyes opened slowly. The boy blinked a few times, forcing the blurriness away, letting his eyes adjust to the world around him. “How are you feeling? Please, talk to me, Leonardo,” Splinter begged, thumbs rubbing over the slider’s cheeks, one fine and the other stitched, in a tender motion.

“Wh–? Hm?” Leo finally let out a sound, even if it sounded confused and disoriented, and Donatello thought it didn’t suit his twin at all. The softshell wanted to smack some sense into the baffled turtle.

“Nardo, stop playing stupid,” Donnie whispered, surprised by the softness of his own voice and then he cleared his throat to regain some of the roughness: “You’re being dramatic.”

Leo lifted his half-dazed gaze from Splinter to Donnie and his confusion seemed to deepen. Donatello clasped a hand over his own mouth at the slider’s next words: “I– I am sorry, but… who are you?”

Well that stung. It hurt, so bad! Donnie could only shake his head in disbelief. Even if he couldn’t exactly name what he was feeling – aside from the pain that stole his breath away – he knew tears were threatening to spill.

“W-What? Don’t you recognise us, little bro?” Raph chuckled awkwardly, catching the way Leo retreated his hand from Mikey’s grasp. The smaller turtle seemed wounded by that and hugged himself. “Leo, stop this right now. This really isn’t funny!” the frustrated snapper squeezed the slider’s knee, accidentally forcing a soft yelp from his brother. “S-Sorry– Leo–”

This is a very bad show, Draxum thought bitterly. Not one he was really planning for. He was expecting the Blue one to wake up and be alright, simply because that’s how the Blue turtle was. Even so, he did come prepared. Baron Draxum, the scientist and warrior, was no fool and he knew a thing or two about mystic potions. He observed, with concern disguised as shame, as Leonardo curled up, now he even seemed scared, which was another wave of ache for the family. All of them but Splinter stepped back.

The rat stayed beside the slider, it was clear as day that the father was holding back tears of his own. “Leonardo, my son, please— don’t be afraid, we’re your family–” the man whispered to the teen, who was hugging his knees despite the pain he had to be in; pulling at the stitches like that. “Leonardo, look at me…” he reached out to his son when the turtle decided to peek over his knees.

“I– I don’t understand– Wh-What’s going on? Wh-Why can’t I–” the child choked on a sob and hid his face behind his knees again. “I-I am sorry– I just– I don’t remember…?” he jerked away when the stranger– his ‘father’ placed a hand on the turtle’s forearm. It was heartbreaking for those present in the room.

“Shh, I know…” Splinter shuffled closer to the crying slider and the turtle allowed himself to be hugged and comforted. The rat only held Leo tighter.

“What happened…?” Leonardo managed to say after a couple of minutes of weeping loudly and thinking about this whole situation. He was wounded, his thoughts were all over the place– how was he still tired if he just woke up from what felt like a really long nap? He wanted to know. He needed to know. There was no time for drowning in self-pity. This whole time, no one dared to speak. And so Leonardo pulled himself together, one deep breath after another.

Feeling collected enough, the slider pulled back slightly to take a look around once more. He saw the softshell was shaking with silent tears, averting his eyes, the box turtle was hugging himself, biting his lip, and the snapper– the snapper looked utterly helpless; it felt wrong to see those teenagers in such an anxious state. Leo had the urge to go and comfort them, protect them– Why? Why would he do that for people he didn’t know? Then his eyes landed on the tallest of them all, a sheep yokai, that seemed indifferent about the whole situation, his eyes were monitoring every one of Leonardo's moves. Creep. The rat man remained silent for a while and the slider turned to face him, leaning closer to the man that claimed to be his father. “What happened?”

The voice that answered didn’t belong to the rat: “You were exhausted. You fell into a coma after you got bitten by a mutated sloth. You wouldn’t wake up unless you were given an antidote.” Leonardo eyed the yokai who approached once more. Deep inside, Leonardo knew he should get away from the tall man, however his body didn’t move. He only pressed further into the rat’s embrace. “It seems, though, the antidote had a side effect.”

“So it caused me to lose my memories,” the slider frowned.

“Oh, bravo. Smart one, you are,” Draxum hummed and nodded. “Precisely so.”

Leonardo’s hard expression didn’t change as his theory was confirmed, and yet he seemed to be missing a puzzle piece. His head was starting to throb. “You made the antidote. You knew this side effect was possible?” the turtle asked, those usually soft eyes were now ice cold as he stared at the yokai, demanding the whole truth.

From his position next to Leo, Splinter admired his son’s quick wit and mind. Leonardo woke up only a couple of minutes ago, but he was already trying to figure out what was wrong. The same could be said for the slider’s brothers, they, too, were stunned by how fast Leonardo calmed himself down; regained self-control. From a crying mess, into a man with purpose who was searching for answers, asking all the right questions.

“I was aware of the possibility,” Draxum interrupted the family’s train of thought. The frown on the slider’s face deepened. “Don’t give me that look, you doubt I’d come prepared? I’m wounded.” The yokai was about to approach the bed again, but a hard hit to the chest with a tech-bo made him pause. At the other end of the staff was a very angered softshell.

“What crippling game are you playing, Draxum!” Donnie growled. “You let us– You just watch us as we suffer?! What is wrong with you! How dare you!” he snarled, and he’d swing his staff at the yokai again if Raph didn’t catch it. “No, Raphael! He’s toying with us! He knew this would happen! He watches us– like– like we’re his dumb guinea pigs!” the softshell fought against his own brother, an useless attempt to rip his tech-bo from the snapper’s grip.

“So you do have a potion for this, too?” Leonardo spoke, effectively silencing his furious brother. “Give it to me,” he reached out, palm up.

“Leo–”

“Michelangelo, don’t stop him. He wants to be able to remember you,” Draxum said softly and tossed a weird looking fruit towards the slider, who caught it rather effortlessly.

“Nardo– don’t!”

The slider didn’t listen, didn’t hesitate as he downed the suspicious fruit. He coughed and gagged at the taste, cringed at the texture, but this seemed like the only option right now and he was willing to risk it. He doubted for a second when he experienced an immense throb in his head, causing him to double over and hold his head in his hands. He let out a strained scream that positively caused everyone’s blood to run cold for a second.

Perhaps he passed out from the pain, because when he woke up again, similar faces were looking at him with ugly concerned stares. He cracked a smile, every wound letting themselves be known now, as he whispered: “You look horrendous with those pathetic expressions…”

There were some groans, some relieved huffs, but all of them leant to hug the slider as tenderly as possible, but enough to let him know he was home, and he was loved. The slider held back a pained groan as he nuzzled his face into Mikey’s cheek and then into Splinter’s. He squeezed Donnie’s hand that was tightly gripping his. He let out a small chirp to acknowledge Raph’s careful touch on his plastron. Yes, he was very loved.

But maybe he should ask about why Draxum was swearing somewhere in the background and complained about ‘the restraints being too tight’.

Donnie forced everyone to leave, claiming Leonardo needed some time to recover a little more from this… unwanted emotional trip. It was almost hilarious as he single-handedly (with the use of his mystic powers and the tech-bo) threw Draxum out of the med bay. He clapped his hands together in satisfaction as he turned and walked back towards the slider’s bed.

"You know… I think I've had more than enough sleep for a century… considering our usual sleeping habits," his twin said softly as Donnie hesitated to sit on the edge of the bed. He felt more convinced to do so when Leo patted the spot next to himself and chuckled at Donnie's troubled face.

"You did," Donatello agreed with a small smile, yet it fell as quickly as it appeared as he continued: "But… this was really… really scary, Nardo… now, that's two really's, so you know I'm being serious. If you were struggling that bad about falling asleep before– if you were in that much discomfort… Why wouldn’t you just say something? I could have…"

Leo's smile was warm and his eyes twinkled with mirth. "Don't beat yourself over it, Tello…" he hummed, leaning his head on Donnie's shoulder. "I didn't mean to worry you before… and I guess saying that now, after what happened doesn't make it any better, clearly…" the slider heard his brother’s scoff, he could imagine the eyeroll, too, but Leo still laughed weakly.

"Obviously. You know I was– everyone was… extremely worried about you," Donnie sighed. “And then you woke up and you didn’t… remember me– us…? The way you looked at us?” his voice was quiet Leo almost begged him to repeat.

“You think I’d forget my favourite twin?” Leo teased.

“Scoff. You literally did, Nardo. That’s the problem,” Donnie huffed, slightly annoyed by the slider’s playfulness. He realised too late he didn’t correct Leonardo on the twin term. Donatello wanted to save himself, but his brother was already grinning ear-to-ear. “Oh Galileo, I hope your face hurts!” the softshell laughed, not even serious.

Leonardo pretended to be hurt by those words, whining dramatically and placing a hand over his stitched cheek. “The pain! The agony! Oh, shall I ever be forgiven?! For– for what, again, DonTron?” he opened one eye to peek at the softshell who was barely keeping it together. “Right! Yes– for calling myself your twin! Your sibling! The better and handsomer half!”

“Woe is me!” Donatello snickered, but was startled when Leo’s laughter suddenly died.

“Wait, I am no Galileo, I am Leonardo!” the slider exclaimed with a happy ring to his voice. “Seems like I still am the twin of the genius and mastermind, Donatello Tomato,” his face was stretched with a new teeth-revealing smile.

Donnie burst out laughing, finally feeling all the stress that accumulated over the past days lift off his shoulders. He snorted and slapped Leo’s arm, the slider only giggled and settled on a small grin. Donatello managed to stop his outburst, noticing his brother’s happy smile.

“How are you feeling, Donnie?” Leo asked warmly.

There it is…, Donnie thought as he eyed his twin. The care Leonardo had for others, the way the slider immediately tried to lift Donnie’s mood and worried about his well-being.

“Tired. I was worried sick,” the softshell admitted.

“Take a nap, I’ll watch over you,” the blue-themed twin offered. “You’re already hogging half the bed, might as well get some sleep for yourself,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

“I do not. Move over some more…” Donnie rolled his eyes as he wasn’t about to argue back, enjoying his brother’s voice. He didn’t actually wait for Leo to shift, the two simply laid down, shoulder to shoulder as they stared at the empty ceiling above them. “Promise me you’ll be here when I wake up?” Donnie pleaded quietly.

“Pfft– Of course, my body hurts too much to actually make a run for it. I’ll be awake, and we’ll talk more. I so need to catch up on what’s been happening,” Leo snorted.

“Hmhmm, I’ll tell you all about it…” Donatello promised as he closed his eyes and fell asleep to his brother’s voice, the words didn’t carry any deep meaning – simply recalling previous nights like this one when they would lay awake in their beds and talk.

~*~

With his head turned to watch his sleeping twin, Leo let out a small amused huff. He rolled his eyes and focused on the ceiling once more. He had to worry his family a lot. The bite on his hand was a weird reminder of it, too, and Leo couldn’t look at it for long. How many days have passed? He’d make it up to his family somehow, for all the troubles his family had to go through for him. He replayed the amazing hug he got from everyone when he woke up, the way everyone expressed how much they cared about him.

“Feels good to be loved,” Leo whispered to no one in particular.

He heard the med bay door and glanced in the direction. Mikey was there, rubbing his shoulder shyly. Leo raised a hand slightly to wave the younger brother over, then lifted the same hand to his lips to signal to Mikey to keep it low. Michelangelo understood the moment he stopped in front of the bed and saw the softshell curled up next to the slider, face pressed into Leo's shoulder, with drool dripping down from his mouth. Mikey suppressed a snicker, but he did glance at Leonardo with an unspoken question. The slider rolled his eyes and even if he was down for all bad and chaotic, he wasn't going to betray Donnie's trust like that. Mikey pouted, but accepted that he just wasn't allowed to take a photo of the sleeping and peaceful Donatello.

"You seem to be doing better…" Mikey spoke in a quiet voice. He placed a hand on Leo's other shoulder, the one that wasn't hogged by the softshell, and squeezed. "Are you…"

"No, no. It's all good," Leonardo hummed, his voice soft, maybe a little tired, hoarse, from not being used for days. Mikey didn't catch that before, but he just felt the slider's vocals weren't at their best. "Thank you for taking care of me."

Mikey chose to stay quiet, his hand still on Leo's shoulder. He eyed as Leo glanced back at Donnie, who simply mumbled in his sleep, and leant his forehead against his twin’s for a moment. Mikey was always jealous of the close bond those two had, but he could definitely understand as to why the middle children – the twins were so connected. They were two mischievous minds, an inseparable duo, the Disaster Twins (Leo said that, Donnie didn't disagree, it stuck).

Then Leo raised his head again and looked at Mikey when the box turtle spoke: "Can I…?"

Leo smiled, so bright and wide, his eyes were squinted and teeth showing. "Of course, little brother. Come here…" the slider reached out slightly, using Mikey’s arm as a guide to the youngest’s neck. He tugged Michelangelo down, their foreheads bonking together lightly. Mikey closed his eyes and let out a quiet happy chirp, which Leo returned. The two brothers stayed like that for a moment.

“Thank you, Leo…” the youngest whispered. “Glad to have you back… I should… probably let you rest… I am sorry, I was impatient to see you,” he admitted quietly.

“Happy to be back…” the slightly older sibling whispered as he relaxed into the bed again, his hand slipped from Mikey’s neck and ended up resting on Leo’s plastron. He watched as Mikey shot him a smile and left the med bay. He could hear the box turtle call for Raph to tell him about how Leo and Donnie are doing; just chilling.

~*~

Raph stopped by hours later, long after Donatello begrudgingly left for his lab. Leo had a while for himself and he spent it trying to move his sore limbs. Raph entered just as the slider attempted to lift and bend his wounded leg, but ended up crying out in pain instead. The snapper was by his side that instant, helping Leo back into a more comfortable position. The slider was shaking in Raphael’s much larger hands.

“What are you even trying to do, big guy?” Raph mumbled, more concerned than annoyed, and wrapped the slider in the covers more to prevent him from further moving. He huffed at the slider’s groan.

“Stretching, Raph! Ouch!” Leo complained, freeing one arm from under the sheets to swat at the snapper, but no results.

“Stop it. You should rest and let everything heal. Don’t do stupid stuff…” Raph rubbed the bridge of his snout. “Don’t look at me like that…” he sighed, averting his eyes. He didn’t want to break under the slider’s intense stare. “Seriously, stop. You’re hurt. Heal.”

“But Raphael, I want to give you a big hug, hermano,” Leo smiled. “Aren’t you happy to have me back?” his eyes almost had stars in them, he giggled as Raph looked frustrated and conflicted.

“You know I am. Of course, Leo…” Raph hesitated to pat Leo’s plastron. “I am so glad to have you talking again, little brother,” he finally smiled. Leo made puppy eyes at him and the snapper leant down to press his forehead against the slider’s, both letting out a quiet chirp. “You’re so manipulative,” Raph laughed as he pulled back, towering over his brother.

“I happen to be the faceman of the team, gotta use the charm somehow if I am going to be bedridden for a while…” Leo replied with a laugh of his own, trying to sound dry as sand, but coming off cheerful.

Raph spent some time there, they talked about their next steps. Although he didn’t want to burden Leo with any leader-tasks, he couldn’t not-include Leo, either. So he simply mentioned that Draxum and Donnie decided to do more tests on the Sloth’s powers, since it could be used to help with their insomnia and some other things that Raph didn’t bother remembering (the two scientists were just acting off, Raph didn’t want to stay near them); Leo wasn’t a fan of that, but he trusted Donnie. Next, the snapper offered to take Leo to his own room once he was in a better condition, both agreed that Leo’s own room would be more comfortable for recovery than the med bay. Lastly, Raph thought it would be nice to let Leo know that Mikey decided to cook all of Leo’s favourite meals for the next few days. During their conversation, Raph watched as Leo went from very attentive to slightly drowsy, until the slider’s eyes slipped closed completely.

Raph huffed out a laugh, he patted Leo’s plastron softly and left the slider to sleep peacefully.

~*~

Leo eventually recovered, or at least he was doing way better. Most importantly, he was full of energy once more, back to his usual self. He wasn’t allowed to train yet, no, but he could take short walks around the lair, could join his brothers in the living room, the kitchen, or their rooms, for daily activities. No missions for him, obviously.

He was just sitting in the living room, when all of his brothers came from topside like a hurricane. Raph collapsed into a beanbag with a groan. Mikey and Donnie plopped on the couch next to him, Donatello even leant into Leo as he sighed in relief, head on Leo’s shoulder.

“That was one awful mission,” he groaned as he actually tossed his tech bo behind himself, it clanked on the floor behind him. “I am jealous you didn’t have to come, Nardo,” he claimed, relaxing more when he felt Leo’s head against his own.

“It was so stupid! So tedious!” Mikey threw his arms out in the air. “We got in so much trouble, because someone’s – and I mean Donnie’s – tech didn’t work! And it gave our position away!” the box turtle complained as he, too, leant into Leo. The two turtles squished the slider, but he was comfortable with their touch and attention, almost giggling in his joy.

“Scoff. It didn’t… totally fail,” Donnie clicked his tongue, though Leo could tell there had to be some truth in Mikey’s words, judged by the way Donnie didn’t spiral into a lecture on how his precious tech was flawless (most of the time) and exceptions happen (to prototypes, which this one apparently wasn’t).

“It got us totally busted, Donnie,” Raph mumbled from the beanbag and Donnie tried to kick the snapper, but he was too far. Raph turned to look at Leo. “How was your day, little brother?” he asked expectantly.

Leo, still resting his cheek on Donnie’s head, hummed in thought. “I had a marathon of my favourite JJ movies. Dad made popcorn for me–”

“What?! He never makes popcorn when I ask him!” Mikey gasped.

“–heh, yeah. And April stopped by to show me photos from her date with Sunita…” Leo continued, this time Donnie groaned; he thought April would show the photos to him first. “Lastly, I was given a personal apology from Draxum, that was totally cool. He was so awkward. I feel bad I didn’t take a secret video,” Leo counted on his fingers.

“You shouldn’t really, it was an apology,” Raph commented, but everyone could tell he’d watch the apology video, too.

“Quite an eventful day,” Leonardo concluded with a cheeky smile. His brothers all laughed and agreed, partly jealous of the slider’s enjoyable afternoon. “I still have two movies left, if you’d like to watch them with me?” he said softly and they all were quick to nod their heads. Leonardo resumed the movie, his brothers made themselves as comfortable as possible as they watched with him. It didn’t matter that they’d already seen this movie countless times. They’d watch it again and again, if it meant spending time together.

THE END.