#Fic: New Body. New Me

[takaraphoenix]

Also just holy shit I need to write approximately 50 more post-Nogitsune Stetopher fics.

I forgot that Peter was the one who came up with how to save Stiles.

I forgot that Chris was fully ready to kill Stiles to defeat the Nogitsune.

I also FULLY forgot that Stiles got a whole new body. This one fucks me up so badly I am so angry that I already wrote so many post-Nogitsune fics and didn't get to angst about Stiles' all new body.

[usedtobecooler]

the sinclairs' new neighbour arrives out of the blue on a random friday night in may and subsequently becomes the object of eddie munson's desires.

tw: explicit sexual content, 18+ minors dni. virgin!eddie, oral male receiving, eddie's pov. pathetic amounts of pining. no use of y/n.

you've been around after every hellfire meeting for a month now, waiting with legs crossed and swinging from a fold-out table as you sit patiently for them to wrap it up, and fuck if you're not the most distracting thing eddie munson has ever laid eyes on.

you join in on the end-of-game conversations every week, a genuine little interest in the lilt of your voice as you ask questions and join in with the banter, which usually consisted of ribbing mike wheeler for being a little shit.

and, eddie's not dumb, okay? he knows you're only here because you're picking up the sinclair siblings every week, taking a bit of the load off steve harrington, who's been designated chauffeur for a year now, much to his own dismay.

but, sometimes, he thinks you maybe like being here and spending late friday evenings in their presence. and it's a nice little delusion for eddie to live in until he's home and safely tucked under his sheets, thinking of your cute laugh and your flirty smile when he slides a hand under his sleep shorts.

he's only a man. a pervert of a man, absolutely. but he'll feed into his delusions and feed into his daydreams, because it's not hurting anybody but himself in the confines of his room.

things are shadowy and hazy this particular friday, and eddie sure as shit is not on his game. he's stuttering and fumbling over his words, which wheeler is using to his advantage like the dickhead he is, mocking eddie with every fuck up with that stupid fucking face he makes.

eddie calls it a day earlier than usual because his head just isn't in the game damnit, and henderson claps him on the back on his way out, giving him this sincere smile which eddie kind of hates because dustin usually takes every opportunity to add himself into their shithead-ery.

oh god, he was worse than he thought. he needs to hang his hat up and give his job over to zombie boy byers immediately.

eddie doesn't get out of his head quick enough to realise that harrington arrived and left with all of the kids in tow, the sinclairs included.

so when you arrive at the door a half hour later, a confused look on your face, eddie's face fucking falls.

"damn, did harrington want his old job back that badly he kidnapped my kids?" you laugh quietly, all sincerity and jokes as you look around the empty room, eyes landing on eddie with a sparkle.

"it's my fault, i let everybody go early and i-" eddie groans, putting his hands on his hips then dropping them to his sides, "i didn't think. sorry, sweetheart."

sweetheart. why'd he fucking say that? someone needs to get the shotgun and put him down like old yeller.

eddie makes himself busy by packing away all his stuff, pointedly not looking in your direction because he's an idiot piece of shit, and who knows what other mess will come out of his mouth if he keeps letting himself look at you.

"you seem stressed, eddie," you observe quietly, a statement. you cross your arms behind your back, fingertips linking together, "is there anything i can do to help?"

eddie lets out this little self-deprecating laugh, a mirthless smile on his features, "unless you stop showing up here, no, there's nothing you can do."

a hurt look flashes across your face momentarily before it disappears again, masked over with a confused furrow of your brows, "oh. i'm sorry, have i done something wrong?"

eddie's fucking this up. he's a fucking idiot, who apparently can't talk to any girl who isn't ronnie or little erica sinclair.

"just, y'know, consuming my brain so much that i can't focus on anything else lately, so." eddie admits, deflated as he slumps into his chair and rolls his neck until he's looking up at the ceiling. his throat clicks audibly, dry and scratchy.

"oh." you say again, a relieved sigh escaping you as you kick a leg out to bash his shin lightly with the toe of your boot, "why didn't you say something? that's- that's okay. lucas kind of figured, he told me your moon eyes were annoying him."

eddie's kicking them all out. hellfire will be no more. he's sick of these damn kids.

he covers his face with his hands, rubbing against his two day stubble with calloused fingertips. a useless groan escaping him, "sorry, i wasn't trying to be obvious. girls don't. hmm."

eddie stops himself with a grunt, trying to narrowly escape the word vomit that threatens to spill out. he's nervously jiggling his leg, the chains on his jeans clattering together obnoxiously loud in the otherwise quiet room.

he feels your presence enter his orbit, the soft press of your hand on his knee stopping the motion of his jerky leg.

"don't be so nervous," you scold playfully, voice light like you're trying to hide a smile, "i'm not anybody to be nervous around. i like that you noticed me, that i'm somebody you're interested in."

eddie's hands fall away from his face at that, and he blinks blearily, head lolling until he catches sight of you crouched down in front of him, staring up with these gorgeous eyes that eddie just wants to get lost in.

"really?" he asks dumbly, brain short-circuiting at the sight of you knelt down like this in front of him, his stupid mind wandering into filthy territory.

"really." you nod, smiling up at him with this thousand-watt thing that he's sure could power the whole of hawkins, "i'm interested, too. in case i wasn't being obvious enough by hanging around here willingly every week."

you weren't obvious at all. not at all. or maybe you were and eddie's just a fucking moron.

"can i help relieve some of that stress now?" you ask, head tilted to the side in question, "i'm only down here anyway."

eddie's brain melts out of his ears, he's pretty sure. his tombstone is sure to say here lies eddie munson, killed by the insinuation of a blowjob.

"oh, you don't have to- you really don't have to, ha, your hands are on me, fuck-"

the conversation kind of fades out after that, and you're all action dropping from your deep squat to thud your knees against the floor softly.

and you're so pretty on your knees for him, eyelashes fluttering across the apples of your cheeks that are flushed and warm. eddie practically melts into his chair as you paw at his jeans, fluid motions and featherlight touches like you've done this before, and god he doesn't want to think about that right now, that you've done this for other guys before him. not when you're laid out below him and nudging in between his spread legs with pursed lips, spitting over the flushed head of his dick to dampen it further.

"you should- you should know i've never done this bef- fuck, fuck," eddie stutters over his words, fingers clawing into the arms of the chair when you begin mouthing hot and wet over the leaking slit that continues weeping pathetically with every lave of your tongue.

he tried, okay? he tried to tell you, but he's a weak man and - and you're fucking looking at him with these pretty, knowing eyes like you had a clue from the beginning, and fuck was it really that obvious?

he clenches his eyes shut, trying to will away the images of a neon sign over his head that scream eddie munson, adult virgin.

you start off slow and savouring, lapping at him with these kitten licks and mouthing down the bulging vein on the underside. eddie thinks he's delirious, because he's surely imagining the way you're inhaling the musky scent of him, moaning prettily as you do.

"mm, fuck," eddie groans quietly, hips shakily punching up when you finally sink down over the head of his cock properly with your lips wrapped tightly around your teeth, the wet heat of your mouth enveloping him in a way that makes him feel fucking insane.

he didn't know it would feel like this. his brain is gonna explode, scanners style.

your hand reaches blindly for his, guiding his fingers to slide into your hair, and his eyes fly open to meet yours, a pretty haze covering your orbs as you nod slightly to give him the go-ahead to curl his fingers.

"ha, you're gonna fucking kill me," eddie murmurs, but he's gently pulling ever so slightly from the root at the base of your skull, because he may be a virgin but he's not fucking clueless, right? he's read enough skin mags to know how to pull hair properly.

you whimper high pitched and your eyes finally flutter closed, letting eddie move you up and down with his firm hand as you alternate between sucking and drooling all over his length.

he's aware that he's looking at you like he's in love, okay? he can't help it. you're literally sucking the soul out of him, moaning around his girth and running your tongue over him like he's the best thing you've ever tasted. like he said before, he's weak.

"you- you're so good at this, oh my god," eddie's eyes roll back into his head when your free hand runs from where it's gripping the meat of his thigh to slide between his obscenely wide legs and cup his balls, rolling and squeezing them between your fingers.

the room is filled with the whining, high-pitched noises that eddie's really trying his best to hold in at risk of sounding like an absolutely pitiful virgin, and the wet noises of your mouth working over his cock, the slick slide of your fist jerking off what you can't quite reach.

eddie's stomach clenches, and holy fuck this is over too quick, but he can't find it in himself to be embarrassed because, because-

"i'm coming, you're making me come, holy fuck-" eddie's words die with a groan that sounds breathy and pathetic even in his own ears, his fingers burying so tight in your hair and pulling as he arches in on himself and jerks his hips in aborted little thrusts. he feels the plush of your lips brush against the wild, untamed curls at the base of his cock and he lets out a weak grunt, feels his length throb and spurt out another weak dribble of come at the sensation.

he's so delirious when he finally comes to that he's all but dragging you up from where your knees have to be aching on the floor, dragging you into his lap, and fuck sake his soft cock is still out and covered in spit and come and-

your mouth is on his in a hot press of lips and teeth and tongue, eddie's so out of his element here but the taste of his own spend on your tongue is as addictive as it is mildly disgusting.

"you got a mattress in the back of that van of yours?" you mumble between kisses, smiling into it.

"mhm, yup, a-ha," eddie nods wildly as he chases your mouth with his own, "i think i need some more stress relief. i hear burying your face between a pretty things legs helps."

eddie definitely does feel like he's dying when your thighs wrap around his ears and lock him in face-first.

and what a way to go that is.

[kaiscumsock]

evan peters evan peters evan peters

[ruvviks]

to celebrate nearly three years of posting about these bozos, have the clown brigade in all their glory (please for the love of god click for better quality)! bios are in order of the individual pictures! vincent "v" mayer [he/him] >> the living legend of the afterlife. a resourceful and skilled merc working for vitali dobrynin and many other fixers in night city vitali dobrynin [he/him] >> a high profile fixer from wellsprings, and v's partner. offers high risk / high reward gigs and is well known for joining his mercs on the job cato wu [she/her] >> one of kang tao's most wanted. becomes head of security for vitali after mikhail koshechkin steps down from the role shiro nakano [he/him] >> ex arasaka security turned assassin and security expert. handles vitali's most dangerous assassination gigs huxley byrne [she/they] >> skilled gunner and (getaway) driver. used to run with the moxes before becoming one of vitali's most trusted eddie wolfe [he/they] >> ex bouncer turned mercenary. handles most bodyguard-type gigs at vitali's office and provides on-site security lauren dimas [she/her] >> a skilled netrunner and techie from t-bug's circle. has known vitali since college and handles all of his office's cybersecurity mikhail koshechkin [he/him] >> vitali's ex head of security and main medic at his office. regularly tags along on gigs when no one else is available thibault lajoie [he/they/xe] >> ex doll turned mercenary. specializes in stealth operations and provides on-site security with eddie wolfe

taglist (opt in/out)

@nistarot, @deadrlngers, @euryalex, @ordinarymaine, @mojaves;

@shellibisshe, @dickytwister, @mnwlk, @rindemption, @ncytiri;

@calenhads, @noirapocalypto, @faithchel, @radioactiveshitstorm, @strafethesesinners;

@fashionablyfyrdraaca, @radioactive-synth, @katsigian, @estevnys, @devilbrakers;

@aezyrraesh, @carlosoliveiraa, @adelaidedrubman, @fromgotham, @wardenevka;

@samuraifics

[bagelqaq]

the cutest girl perhaps ever! and definitely the normalest

based on transfer stations by airblue

[myokk]

Trick or treat my beloved moot 😇😇😇

Here is a 10 min sketch of your princess🥹🫶

I tried to capture her personality!!!

And, your fic is NEXT on my to-read list💘

Everyone should check her blog out!! Beautiful writing & beautiful screenshots🤌

[libr-0-cubicularist]

A thing I made based on the wonderful fic Corruption Loves Company by @hey-adora (clicheusername5678 on Ao3) ft. Biblically Accurate Vio

[eiitsuya]

some of you writing de-aging/age regression fics have never interacted with kids and it shows

[tightjeansjavi]

updating my theme is literally just me frantically trying to find a color palette that matches the vibe I’m trying to convey 😭

Anyway, new theme! 🔮✨🌞🌛

[calmlb]

Soukoku Height Difference —Reference

for any fic writers or artists who need it, here’s a reference for skk’s height difference at 15, 16 (according to dead apple), & 22

[cinnbar-bun]

“Im inside you” / “Inside the river you drowned me in.”

[bobfloydsbabe]

Songwriter Bob Floyd is happening.

[sorryiwasasleep]

fuck yes fuck yes fuck yes new hunger games content, 50th games centered (2nd Quarter Quell!), focus on the idea of implicit submission, governance of the many by few, and propaganda, and FUCK those are TIMELY as she ALWAYS is and i cannot wait for another poignant as fuck political commentary and I sincerely hope that that messaging ACTUALLY gets through to the readers/viewers/reviewers who continue to ignore the commentary in her work or play it off as hyperbolic fiction in a dystopic future that will NEVER happen and not what it is— a distorted mirror of our reality, highlighting the most ugly brutal and violent aspects in gorgeous prose.

i literally do not even care what point of view this book comes at us from, I’m so fucking excited

[mischievousspooks]

Some Dreams Aren't Just Dreams

Greetings and salutations, my fellow tumblrites! After taking a month off to recover from the holidays (and do a LOT of proofreading) I have returned with NEW CONTENT! Last year was all about the visual art; this year written work is where it's at. I present to you, rottmnt fans, while chewing off my fingernails, the first fanfiction I've ever written! Or at least, the first chapter of it (there are MANY more chapters to come).

This story picks up near the end of the rottmnt movie. The brothers, having successfully rescued Leonardo from the Krang Prison Dimension, find that their work isn't over yet. Yes, they saved the world. They changed the future. They even got Leo back to New York. But even Heroes can get hurt, and having won doesn't mean you didn't lose.

This mostly falls into the genres of hurt/comfort and medical drama, at least for now. This chapter isn't shy with depictions of battle injuries, blood/gore, pain, and potential loss of a sibling. It also includes Draxum trying to be a good dad, Casey being extremely competent in emergencies, and Donnie struggling against a panic attack that's causing him to become nonverbal. In future chapters we follow various characters as they deal with the aftermath of the Krang invasion.

So, if medical drama interspersed with many sweet family moments sounds up your alley, then I invite you to

Part 1 - in which the heroes return home

The portal slammed shut. Mikey turned his full attention to the brother they'd just rescued. After really believing him gone, their relief at his voice overpowered everything else that had happened that day. Mikey and Raph must have been having the exact same thought, as Raph scooped them all up into a group hug. Even Donnie didn't hesitate. The hug was cut short, though, as the brothers felt a weirdly crunchy squish from Leo a split second before he let out a wail of pain. Mikey froze but Donnie extracted himself from the hug and jumped immediately back into emergency mode. Putting his goggles on to scan his brother, the only words that presented themselves were "Oh no… guys, this isn't good. We need to get home, now." 

Raph responded, "Home? Shouldn't we get him to, you know, a hospital or something?" 

“No, I’m…” Leo tried to move, but that crunchy squishy sound came again, followed by another scream. He curled into a ball on the concrete between Raph’s knees. His left leg didn’t follow the rest of his body, dragging awkwardly as he rolled. Mikey unfroze, wiggling out from under Raph’s arm and taking a few shocked steps back. His eyes were screwed shut as though he didn’t want to see any more, as though he couldn’t stand seeing any more. 

Raph, panic barely contained in his voice, scolded his brother. “Leo, don’t move, you’ll make things worse. And DO NOT try to tell us you’re fine.” Leo moaned, his body shuddering. Raph could see red fluid starting to pool under him. Panic now even less contained, he bellowed “Donnie!!” pleading for help. 

"We can't go to a human hospital with… this whole situation… and a Yokai hospital wouldn't know what to do. My research has shown that Mutants and Yokai aren't as similar on the interior as our exteriors would have you believe. Unfortunately, the truth is that we, and by that I mean I,  am the most qualified." He couldn't keep the horror and disgust off his face, there was so much damage… his internal monologue picked up where his spoken words cut off. *Oh no, I’m the most qualified… we are absolutely screwed, I have no idea what to do. Oh no, oh no, oh no…* He could see the back of Leo’s shell now; it scarcely resembled the shell it had been only minutes ago. Now it looked like a hardboiled egg that someone had been about to peel, crushed and mangled. *You’re supposed to apply pressure to stop bleeding, but how do we apply pressure to his whole shell, let alone without making things worse? Oh no, oh no, oh no…* The blood puddle was growing, too fast for Donnie’s liking. *Maybe Barry will be able to help? He made us, maybe he knows enough to fix this… But where is he? Did he survive today? Oh no… oh no, oh no, oh no…* Leo was struggling to breathe, his chest expanding only the smallest amount before the pain of it had him gasping. *Focus, Donatello, think. What to do?* 

Mikey caught up then, looking at Donnie, "But how do we get there? Do you think April can come get us?"  

*Thank goodness, a question I can answer.* Pulling up traffic information on his wristband holoscreen, Donnie scanned it. Hopelessly he reported, "No, the traffic jam of people trying to evacuate hasn't cleared yet, she'd never be able to get here on time. And my jet pack can't carry us all that far. Raph, any ideas?" The panic thoughts were growing louder. *Oh no, oh no, oh no…* 

After a few agonizingly long seconds of thought, Raph looked down at Leo, curled into half a ball on the ground. He didn't look completely conscious. Raph could only see half of his face, but it wasn’t pretty. There was a gash on his scalp that was bleeding profusely, his cheek had a big dent in it just under his eye, bruising staining it black, there was a similar bruise around his jaw line, and a trickle of blood oozing through his lips. His eyes were closed, but it wasn’t gentle; it was a determined grimace. He was probably putting all of his attention into trying to breathe without screaming again. The last thing anyone wanted was to ask the injured brother to do something except focus on not dying, especially as the bloody puddle under him kept spreading, but lacking other options, Raph had to try. "Leo, buddy, you with me?" A groan, which sounded like it hurt, acknowledged the question. "Leo, we need to get home, as fast as possible. I know you're hurtin' bad right now, but can you manage one more portal? At least enough to get us back to the mainland?" 

Both of Leo’s fists clenched, as did the toes on his left foot, as he inhaled enough to speak. He didn’t scream, but he did moan. His words came out mushy, interrupted by pained panting. "Errrrmmm, yeh, anything to get off… uuuug… Staten Island… oh, um… aaah… anyone… seen my… eugh… swords?" 

Raph looked to Donnie again. He shook his head as he answered. “No, Leo, you didn’t have them when you came through Mikey’s portal.”

Donnie jumped onto the next course of action. “I’ll call dad. We should let him know what’s going on, and maybe he’ll know how to get us home.” Raph nodded. 

Donnie heard Leo mutter something about “thrown out before Casey pulled the key,” as he took a step away. Raph’s fear stink was potent, but the smell of blood and burnt flesh had crept into Donnie’s nose too, and it was making him queasy. As he lifted his arm to remove his goggles and access his gauntlet, he realized he’d started scratching. *I’ll deal with those consequences later.* Pulling up his holoscreen, he found an error message and realized that the system had crashed, triggering a fresh wave of *Oh no, oh no, oh no!* He was surprised that he hadn’t noticed or wondered why no one on the other end had been talking to them. *Must have been too preoccupied with… this whole situation. Mikey’s portal’s energy surge must have triggered the automatic reboot. Doesn’t seem to be permanently damaged, though. Well designed, Donatello, well designed indeed.* He tried to quiet the panic with reassurances. With one swipe he archived the error message to read later. With another swipe he pulled up the comms system. There was a second of static as it reconnected to April, Splinter, Casey, Raph, and Leo. Mikey’s just gave further error messages. *I’ll deal with that later, too.* 

“Dad, April, come in, do you read me? Dad, April, do you read?” 

The speaker on Donnie’s wrist crackled with his dad’s lifeless voice. “Donatel-”

“DAD! Dad, we need to get home RIGHT NOW. Leo lost his swords and I have no idea how to find them, so we can’t make a portal home, but we need to get him back to the MedBay AS SOON AS POSSIBLE or he’ll bleed out. There’s a miles-deep traffic jam so we can’t drive, even if we could steal a ca-”

“Donatello,” Splinter interrupted, a little more force to his voice now, easier to hear over the background noise. “Slow down. Start over, I don’t understand. Who is bleeding? What is happening?” 

Donnie took a breath, trying to organize his thoughts through the chatter, and started again. “We got Leo back. He’s alive.” There was a collective gasp from the speaker. “But he’s hurt, badly. He might…” Donnie couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence as emotion threatened to take away his voice entirely. “We need to get home. Can you help?” 

“What is your location?” This time it was Casey’s voice issuing from the speaker. His microphone started picking up the sound of wind; he must have started running. 

Donatello responded, “We’re on the north shore of Staten Island, west of the September 11th Memorial.”

“Master Splinter, have you and Commander O’Neil changed location?”

“No. April is still engaged with the Krang where you left us.” 

Donnie’s fear spiked and his stomach turned. “There’s one left on the planet?!” 

Casey sounded equally horrified as he asked, “It’s still alive?” 

“It won’t be for long.” Splinter's voice was ominous, and perhaps a little fearful as well. That made the background noise make sense, at least… April was whooping victoriously, continuing to beat up the Krang. It sounded like she’d been expressing her grief through anger and violence… and was now celebrating with the same. There was no sound of protest from the Krang. 

Donnie and Casey spoke in unison, “Remind me not to get on her bad side.” 

“Yeah…” Splinter trailed off.

After a brief shared shudder, Casey went on, “Master Splinter, I’ll be at your location in less than three minutes. I have one of Master Leonardo’s swords. Do you know how to use it? I never quite got the hang of it…”

“Yes, I can make a portal.”

“Hurry, Casey!” Donnie added, somewhat frantic, “Three minutes might be more than we have.”  

“Yes, sir!” Casey’s voice issued from the speaker, the wind behind him picking up. 

Donnie left the comm line open as he rejoined the group. He filled them in quickly, “Casey found one of Leo’s katanas. He’s bringing it to Dad, who will use it to come fetch us and take us home.” 

No one responded. They all just stared at their brother for a moment, listening to the radio chatter from Donnie’s arm. Splinter was quiet, but April was still shouting and laughing as her bat made repeated contact with something squelchy sounding. Casey’s mic had auto-muted when he stopped talking. Mikey was clinging onto Raph’s right arm, looking down at Leo, clearly afraid to touch him. Leo was motionless aside from very quick, shallow breaths. The only indicator that he was still conscious was the crease between his eyebrows, which kept shivering and shuddering, and the tears steadily flowing from his face onto the concrete. They turned pink as they mixed with the blood flowing from several cuts and gashes. Donnie’s worry wasn’t lessened, but at least it wasn’t worsened, by his assessment of Leo’s continuing blood loss. The puddle hadn’t grown too much. The sight of it made his nausea worse, though. *Hang in there, Nardo. Gosh I wish we could apply pressure and slow the bleeding, but how? Everything is so broken, I’m afraid to touch any of it.* 

“Raph,” Donnie struggled for words for a second, resisting the urge to dry heave, “can you… can you pick him up? We should be applying pressure to slow the bleeding, but since it’s his whole shell… I don’t know, maybe your hand is big enough to do something? Even if not, we’ll need to move him, and it would be best if you could carry him.”

Raph, looking terrified at the thought, made eye contact with Donnie for a moment before acquiescing. “I’ll try, D. Leo? Leo, buddy, I’m gonna have to move you a little. Let me know if I’m doing something wrong, okay?” 

Leo grunted, making fists again and bracing for the pain. Mikey ran to hide behind Donnie instead. Raph moved slowly and deliberately, shifting his weight to go from full kneeling to having one foot flat on the ground. That would make standing up smoother once he had a hold of his bleeding brother. “Alright, Leo, I’m gonna touch your shell now, okay?” Leo nodded. Raph carefully lined up his arm against Leo’s back, grabbing his limp top leg to bring it into alignment for best scoopabillity. 

“AAAAAAAH!!!” Leo’s sudden scream made everyone jump, including Raph, who flinched away and let go of the leg, making Leo scream a second time. “AAAAAH!” 

The sudden sound hit Donnie like a bus, leaving him reeling. His ears rang. His thoughts were a cacophony. *Oh no, oh no, oh no… that made it worse! Why did I suggest picking him up? Isn’t there a better way? Oh no, oh no… what if we can’t get him home? No, no, no, no… there has to be something… something I can do… I can’t take him screaming like that again. Oh no, no, no…* 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t even touch your shell yet! What happened?” Raph looked mortified.

“Aaah… no, Raph, it’s… rrraaa… it’s my leg… I can’t… rrrr… I can’t move it. You’ll have to… aaah! You’ll need… grrraaaah…” 

“Hey, Leo, it’s okay, it’s okay. Do you want me to try again?” Raph said. 

*No, we can’t try again, not if it hurts that much, there must be something else we can do, oh no, no…* 

“You’ll have to. Rrrr… just don’t stop this time. I don’t think I… nnnyeh…  can be quiet… so you just… gotta do it anyway.” Each word out of Leo’s mouth sounded like it cost him something, interspersed with pained gasps and moans. 

*No, we can’t, don’t do it, don’t make him scream again, it’s too much, don’t…* Donnie’s thoughts kept spiraling but he couldn’t turn them into spoken words. 

“Are you sure, Leo?” Raph asked. 

“YES.” Leo nearly shouted. Raph got back down onto one knee, aligned his arm again, and this time he used his other hand to support the immobile leg while he rolled Leo onto his arm and stood up. The extra support didn’t help and Leo let out another gut-wrenching wail of agony, blood splattering against the pavement. 

*No, no, no, no…* 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Are you alright?” Raph asked Leo. 

“Eeeeh…” His scream trailed off into heavy, pained breathing. One of his hands reached up to pat Raph’s chest, then just rested there. “Yeh.” 

Raph brought his comm to his face, “Casey, how much longer?”

Casey’s out-of-breath voice answered, “Less than a minute.” 

Raph’s voice diverted Donnie’s attention despite the internal cacophony. “Mikey, your hands… was that from the portal?” Pulling his eyes away from the horrific sight of Leo’s distressed and disfigured face, Donnie felt a fresh wave of nausea roll through him as he finally looked over his youngest brother, noticing for the first time that there was a network of cracks and fissures covering his arms. A steady trickle of blood was seeping through the cracks, dripping quietly from his fingertips, and it seemed like there was still a faint gold glow beneath the crimson streams. 

Mikey looked down at his wounded arms, then closed his eyes again and crossed them in front of his chest. "Yeah. I think you've got it, too, and probably Donnie." A quick look at his own right arm told Donnie that yes, indeed, he seemed to have some burn damage, but it wasn’t as bad as Mikey’s. He wanted to check Raph, but the arm he’d held onto Mikey with was now supporting Leo and coated in too much blood to make out anything. He couldn’t even tell if any of that blood belonged to Raph. *It’s so much blood, too much… oh no, oh no…* Mikey’s fear was evident as he started talking again. "It'll be okay. It has to be. There's nothing we can't do when we work together, right Raph?" Mikey was clearly doing his best not to cry. 

Before Raph could say anything to comfort him, however, a blue light shone behind them and out stumbled Casey, immediately being leap-frogged by April. Mikey was the most available of her brothers so she tackled him first, knocking them both to the ground, doing a full somersault hug, then landing on her feet and launching herself toward Raph. The sight of Leo in his arms brought her up short though. Splinter came through the portal last, somehow holding both swords, and closed it. With one fluid swipe through the air he opened a new one. Donnie wondered idly how he got the second sword, but didn’t have time to worry about it. Finally, they could get Leo to some decent medical equipment! 

Splinter caught sight of the amount of blood on the concrete. A look of shock crossed his face, his eye darting immediately to the bleeding boy in Raph’s arm, and he issued one command. "Quickly, my sons." 

Donnie led the charge without hesitation, trying to drown out the worry by prioritizing the tasks ahead. *IV, gauze, sutures, what else? What can I delegate? Eugh boy, keep it together Donatello.* Gravity shifted for just a moment as he passed through the swirling halo of blue light, then righted as his foot made contact with the smooth concrete of the lower landing, just outside their MedBay. He had only taken half a step toward the door when he heard a yell from up the stairs. 

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I’VE CALLED YOU EIGHTEEN TIMES!!!” Barry’s hooves were stomping down the stairs as he hollered, but came to a screeching halt as Raph and Leo emerged from the portal. Donnie saw his eye twitch as he struggled to process the view before him. 

*I don’t have time to explain.* 

Donnie could tell he was on the verge of a meltdown, starting to go nonverbal, so there was a slight relief when the next words actually made it out of his mouth rather than staying locked in his brain. “Raph, put Leo in the hospital bed on the left; it’s the better one. Lay him on his side.” April and Casey tumbled through the portal as he spoke. “Casey,” the boy stood to attention when addressed, ready to go, “Do you have experience with these kinds of injuries?” 

“Yes, sir, I do.” He looked a little sheepish as he added, “A… a lot of it.” 

Donnie didn’t want to dwell on the connotations behind that statement, choosing to be grateful for his presence and nothing more. “Good. We’ll need your expertise. I’m a bit out of my field with this, the medical stuff is usually Leo’s specia-” The sound of another scream issuing from the MedBay cut off the rest of his sentence. *Oh no, oh no… what went wrong?* Mikey had just come through the portal, and was looking to Donnie for instructions. What had he been saying? *Oh no, oh no, oh no…* the chatter in his skull was getting louder, he couldn’t stop the panic rising in him, completely filling his brain, his lungs... he couldn’t breathe… couldn’t speak. *Help, please, I have to help him… oh no, oh no, it’s too much, too much…* 

Splinter was the last one through. He ran straight toward Leo without even looking at the rest of them. The portal fizzled out when he dropped the swords. 

*RRRAAAAGH NO, I can’t lose it now! Keep it together, Donatello, keep it together. Just a few more minutes. Your brother needs you.* Pounding his fists into his head a few times and giving it a good thorough shake, Donnie rallied his thoughts, pushing down the feelings and the vomit that were rising in his stomach, forced himself to inhale, and did his best to finish his part of the task at hand. 

“Casey, medical supplies are in the cabinets to the left. Barry, Leo is very badly injured and in need of immediate medical attention. As the person who created us, and a formidable scientist to boot, I hope you have some expertise to lend.” Casey and Barry made eye contact, nodded, and ran into the MedBay. *Good. Next,* 

“Mikey,” Donnie looked at his youngest brother, which proved to be a mistake. The sight of the burns on Mikey’s arms, more visible now that they were in a well-lit space, had Donnie curling in on himself as he tried to restrain his urge to throw up. He looked away quickly. “April, are you hurt?” 

"I might have a few bruises from getting thrown off the shellhog earlier, but I'm good enough to help. Where do you need me?" 

"Take Mikey upstairs and clean the ~burp~ burns. Once cleaned, get them ~eugh~ covered. Hopefully that'll ~gag~… slow the bleeding *oh galileo*… and we can deal with them better after Leo is *oh, keep it down*… umm… stable. I’ll send ~oof~ Raph next." 

"Roger that, boss man. Mikey, come with me." She dragged him up the stairs. 

Donnie took a few deep breaths again, trying to settle his stomach before joining the crowd around Leo’s bed. He was marginally successful. Looking into the room, he could see that Leo was on his side, as instructed, with Raph’s massive arm supporting his shell. His other arm was holding Leo’s left leg. Barry had his face uncomfortably close to Leo, poking and prodding, probably trying to ascertain the nature of the boy’s injuries. Splinter was standing a little ways away, looking despondent and disoriented. Casey was opening all of the doors on all of the cabinets, taking stock of their supplies. 

Leo’s voice, weak and rough, carried past the group, "No offense, pops, but you look like a drowned rat." Of course he was making jokes. 

Draxum replied off-handedly, "To look like a drowned rat he would need to be considerably more wet, as well as no longer breathing." Leo's chuckle was cut off, a groan escaping through his gritted teeth. 

Donnie sprinted across the room without a thought. "Leo, don’t…” his voice stopped working as he got closer than he’d been since he’d left the group hug. All of his senses were bombarded by everything he could ignore from a distance, everything his goggles couldn't show him earlier, everything he’d tried to avoid. His tech ran diagnostics and gave him the facts. His actual body gave him a much worse picture. He had caught a whiff of the smell of blood earlier, but now he was overwhelmed by it. Draxum must have already started an IV, as well, because the scent of saline was nearly as strong as the noxious odors emanating from Raph. There was a tinge of alcohol, probably a swab to disinfect the insertion site, which in larger quantities might have lessened the nausea, but now only served to heighten the anxiety triggered by what he saw. Blood. So much blood. Flowing freely from uncountable cracks in his brothers shell. He hadn’t been wrong earlier, when he’d compared it to a boiled egg ready for peeling. The entire surface of it was shattered. Not a single scute was intact. None of them were even left in halves. The largest piece Donnie could see was no more than three or four square inches. But it was hard to see much through the sticky crimson stains. Then there was his leg. Raph was supporting it; something was obviously incredibly wrong. There was inky black bruising showing beneath the edge of his shorts, and another enormous swath of black wrapping around his shin. The skin there wasn’t broken, but Donnie could still see where one of the bones had been snapped, a sharp point sticking out, threatening to tear yet another hole. Worse still was Leo’s face. From further away, Donnie had already seen that it was pretty messed up, but now that he was so much closer, well, he was glad he could only see a side profile and not the whole thing. The gash on his forehead was actually one of several, all of which were still seeping copious amounts of blood. There was extensive bruising around his eye, cheek, and jaw. The area under and around his eye had the strangest texture to it, like a sock full of jagged rocks, and Donnie realized that it was caused by more tiny pieces of broken bone poking up into his flesh at odd angles. His mouth didn’t have the same texture, but if the broadening black blotches were any indicator, those bones hadn’t made it through the ordeal unscathed. Leo winced at something and the gravely texture of his cheek moved. One small shard of bone broke through the surface, a tiny speck of yellowish-white visible for a half second before being obscured by a small drop of red. Then there was the noise. The MedBay wasn’t exactly designed for good acoustics, so everything echoed, amplifying the sounds of Casey rummaging, Barry’s exasperated tsks and tutts, Splinter’s huffing and puffing and wheezing. The worst sound, though, was Leo’s breath. Each inhale was short and quick, each exhale accompanied by a tiny moan. The distress in that sound was potent. Even Donnie, who wasn’t usually affected by other people like this, could feel his own level of distress ramping up to meet Leo’s with each breath. His own breathing became the same staccato pace as his brother, his head spinning, the monologue of thoughts stuck in an endless loop of *no, no, no, no.* 

"Dee, I don't like when you trail off like that… nyuurg… please just… keep talking…" Leo broke off, coughing, followed by a low, pained, frustrated groan “nnnnrraaaaaa!”  His eyes were screwed shut as he involuntarily curled in on himself. His breathing was getting more labored by the second. A new trickle of blood started running from his mouth. 

Donnie had no idea what to do; he couldn't find the words, couldn't make a decision. Couldn’t think. He wanted to run but he was frozen. It was too much. He couldn’t take in any more information, he was overloaded, it was too much… 

Casey turned around, arms full of sterile gauze and alcohol wipes and tape, and saw Donnie looking at Leo, frozen. “Master Donatello. Hey, Donatello. Donnie! Can you hear me?” 

Through the ringing in his head, he recognized his name. Wrenching his eyes away from the horror on the hospital bed, he locked eye contact with the strange human, who seemed to understand what was happening. “Donnie, we still need your help. Do your goggles give you diagnostic information? The Donatello I knew had a pair that looked just like that." Donnie still couldn't find words, so he nodded at Casey. “Can you send them to me?” He nodded again, and with two taps and a swipe sent the readouts to the monitor behind Leo. It lit up with all the color-coded data he’d already gathered, as well as the new data the MedBay SmartLair system started monitoring the instant anyone stepped foot through the door. "Great, thank you." Looking over them with an increasingly horrified expression, Casey muttered something about pizza supreme, then turned to the group. "We need to act fast. Barry, right? Put on gloves and start packing gauze into the two puncture wounds just beneath his plastron. Raphael, put as much pressure as you can on whichever hole isn't being packed. Master Splinter, go get ice and as many blankets as you can, and if possible, get Commander O'Neil to come help too. Ma- uh… Donatello, we need a deeper brain scan. He obviously has several concussions, we need to know how bad they are and if anything in his brain is hemorrhaging." 

Everyone jumped into action the moment Casey addressed them. Donnie was extremely grateful that someone else knew what to do, and even more grateful that his job could be done from farther away. He wouldn’t be much help now; he recognized that he had reached his limit and could feel himself shutting down, but setting up a brain scan was easy. Familiar tech. Good thing that he had designed it to work without the need for physical contact. Good thing, too, that it was one of the tools that survived Shredder smashing up his old lab. It took a considerable amount of effort to get his feet to move, but once he had uprooted himself, he was running. Onto the landing, down one flight of stairs, then two. Most of his smaller equipment was stored on the second level of the lab. He ran around the catwalk until he reached the right door, blew through it, retrieving the portable brain scanner he’d made several years ago. He turned it on as he ran back upstairs, taking the steps three at a time. He hadn’t connected it to his new tekko or the MedBay SmartLair yet, but his tech had enough backward compatibility that it didn’t take any coding, merely enabling his Genius-Built™ PurpleTooth short-range radio device connections, to get them talking. While his tech skills had improved drastically since he’d first thought up this nifty little device, he was still rather proud of it. It had a directional mode, to scan one subject, or an ambient mode, which just detected any energy in the room that could be a brainwave, isolated and localized it, then recorded it. He switched it to directional as he entered the MedBay. Avoiding looking at anything except the device, he placed it on the counter on the right wall, pointed toward his brother. He used the readout on his holoscreen to focus it on Leo’s brain. He dipped back out to the landing before the smell could reach him again. It would take a moment to code the scanner to track just Leo, and to translate the readings into something resembling an MRI for Casey to read. 

*Keep it together, Donatello, just a few minutes more, then they’ll have all the information they need to make sure that dum-dum Nardo doesn’t kick the dum-dum bucket.*

[theriverbeyond]

“I’m dead,” Kiriona said, again. Her tongue felt swollen in her mouth, heavy as a rock before a tomb. “I have loved the dead before,” Harrow murmured. “Death could not stop me from loving you."

(or: The Corpse Prince is dead, and no power above the River nor below can make her alive again. Harrow shows her that she can still be loved.)

(or: Kiriona is having mad body issues and Harrow is like "darling that is NOT a problem for me, watch this" rolls up sleeves and gets to work)

(or: i listened to the new Hozier song Francesca 2 nights ago and promptly became possessed)

4k words; Rated E (18+); Chapter 1/2

[theinfinitedivides]

'get the doctor, Parker, now—' 'no need, it'll be over in a couple of minutes.' 'you don't get it, do you? Eliot's not like other foxes. he doesn't play games, he fights to survive! that's his training.'

Eliot's default fight-or-flight mechanism kicking in from whatever the f*ck he's been through for his entire life: